Chapter Three- The Indestructible Roots
Disclaimer: Own nothing but the plot. Everything else belongs to JJ and his crew/cast. I don't own the lyrics either, rightfully belonging to the incredibly talented Coldplay band.
A/N: I had a wonderful vacation and thank you all SO much! I hope you all weren't too bored out of your minds without an update… jkjk …Although I do apologize for being a few days behind. Being attached to a newly released Harry Potter book can do that to you.
And here you go…
"Oh, no, what's this?
A spider web and it's me in the middle.
So I turn to run,
Thought of all the stupid thing's I'd done."- -Trouble, Coldplay- -
The Indestructible Roots
Charlie sat down the next morning, staring intently at a weed growing up from the earth. There was something about weeds that got Charlie thinking and he suddenly got a flashback of his old neighbor complaining incessantly to his father, "Ruining the entire yard, they is!" And she was right. There was something annoyingly indestructible about weeds that frustrated nearly everyone with a yard. No matter how hard you pull at them, the roots will always remain somewhere deep beneath the surface. They may look like they've disappeared, but in a few weeks, you'll have to pull it up again, and again, and again, repeating the endless process of weeding. Why bother anyway, if it's just going to come back?
This island was infested with weeds. Suddenly, he remembered a commercial he saw once while he was younger. He imagined someone comically trying to spray Herbicide all over this place and he highly doubted even the strongest vegetation-demolishers would work around here. Besides, the weeds had kind of become a part of the island. So much, in fact, that it was nearly impossible to tell them apart from the grass.
Living in an apartment and going on tour constantly made Charlie too busy to think about grass or weeds. A couple of months ago, if someone had asked him a question about weeds and their purpose, Charlie would've looked at them as though they were insane. Who had the time to think about weeds, anyway? Not a busy bass guitarist on his way to a comeback! But now that he was on the island, he was thinking about this kind of thing everyday. Hell, he had plenty of time! Why not just sit back, relax, and watch a weed.
Blimey! Charlie thought incredulously, what's gotten into you, mate? You're comparing yourself to a weed! A WEED! A long stem of green fuzz pointing out of the ground-
"Whoa… Dude… You look like you ate one too many burritos!"
Charlie turned his attention to the rather large man standing before him, "Oh. Hello, Hurley."
"What're staring at the grass for?"
Oh just a little something to distract me from the increasingly-tempting baggie of heroin currently residing under my blanket. That's all. Unless you count the fact that I just ruined everything I had with Claire by telling her the truth.
And, I find certain similarities to this weed, and he is incredibly sensitive, so please do not insult him.
"No reason." Charlie said, rising to his feet and wiping his dirty hands against his jeans.
Hurley, looking a little sympathetic towards Charlie, said, "Hey… Um, you wanna talk?"
For some unbeknownst reason to Hurley, Charlie's face was growing contorted with anger. "No! Why does this keep happening to me? I don't need therapy, okay!"
Hurley, at loss for words, watched confusedly as Charlie stormed off somewhere else to find another friendly plant to converse with.
But Charlie had had enough with weeds. So, where should I go now? He couldn't go to Claire, seeing as she hadn't talked to him since last night. He couldn't go to the caves, or he'd be high before he could say "crumpet." He knew he couldn't go to Jack, fearing another long and pointless lecture. And he couldn't go to his guitar, his once peaceful and harmonic getaway, because that was in the caves as well. So, why not just lay here on this particularly soft spot of dirt?
Dirt: now that was VERY interesting thing to think about. The way it clung to you, smearing your cleanly washed hands. Or, Charlie noted to himself, looking at the knees of his jeans, the impossible stains it leaves on clothing. The dark color and the dampness and the sediments: all worth debating about. Yes, thinking about dirt is a wonderful way to spend an entire morning.
After watching the ground for an unbelievably boring five minutes, Charlie decided to lie back down and nap, hoping his dreams would be much more eventful than the past hour.
His eyes were closed for a few minutes before he heard a soft rustle of branches and footsteps approaching him. Once again annoyed about the interruption, Charlie sat up, "Stop following me, all right? I don't know what Jack told you, but I assure you, I'm fine!"
Charlie stopped quickly. There, standing before him, was Claire. Blushing slightly about his outburst, Charlie looked beyond her a little, into the trees.
"Sorry," She said apologetically. "Did I wake you?"
"No." He lied, "...I was just resting."
There was a pregnant pause as both of them interpreted the full embarrassment of the situation and remembering the details of last night. Then, they both started talking at once.
"What're you--"
"Please—"
Another uncomfortable silence was produced, causing Charlie to feel enormously stupid. He made a sort of nod-like gesture, signaling that she should speak first.
Charlie, who was expecting a full blow, was surprised as Claire kneeled down and reached for his hand. "Come with me."
Charlie's mouth opened at complete confusion. Claire didn't seem mad or happy, but her tone was stern with the tiniest hint of hope. "Please."
Without a reply from a very taken-aback Charlie, she stood up and began leading him through the trees. Charlie was so amazed at her that he didn't pay any attention to the fact that he was being whipped here and there by tree limbs that Claire had assumed he was holding back for himself. "What're you doing?" He asked as they were obviously not heading for camp.
Claire continued onward without looking back at him. "I thought you might deserve a break."
Charlie could not think of why he had deserved a break at all. In fact, he had just been laying there. How could you deserve a break from resting? "From what," he asked.
It was the first time Claire had turned to look at him since they started walking. Her gaze traveled along the lines of his face, observing the wrinkles and bags under his eyes from sleep-deprivation. "…Moping."
She dragged him off again, Charlie thoroughly bewildered now. "And where's Aaron?"
"He's fine. Sun offered to watch him."
New questions were continuously regurgitating themselves from his mouth, "Where are we going?"
Claire slowed to a stop and faced him. For the first time, Charlie detected some emotion etched beneath her tired face. Was it sorrow? Or pity? That look made Charlie feel even more stupid and guilty, nudging him to explain himself fully to Claire.
"Look, about last night, I can explain…"
"Charlie…"
"I shouldn't have dumped it on you like that. I shouldn't have made you promise, and I shouldn't have showed you like that…"
"Charlie…"
Charlie was pleading now. "Please forgive me, Claire. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have taken it from the plane -"
But he stopped, because Claire was so close to him now that he couldn't breathe.
Charlie Pace had kissed many girls before. Some of the girls had blonde hair, some had blue. Some were groupies, some he had met in bars. Sometimes the kiss would lead to something else, or other times he would puke in their hair. But never had Charlie felt this way with any of them before. The kiss, so pure and innocent, was quick. A soft brush of lips and then it was over. The length of time didn't matter to Charlie. Instead, he thought about Claire. Claire, who had been left in the dust pregnant by some punk, Claire, who he had expected to be nervous about trusting guys, had just kissed him. Claire had cared about Charlie so much that she threw the past to the wind and kissed him.
And he couldn't help grinning as they broke apart.
Serenely, Claire raised her finger tips to his mouth, a blushing smile gently dancing across her lip. "I'll help you."
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"We're here!"
Charlie and Claire entered a large opening occupied by a gorgeous waterfall. Charlie smiled at the beauty of it (okay, he had been smiling ever since the kiss), but frowned nervously as Claire stripped down to one of her least-revealing pair of bra and underwear. She hadn't brought a swimsuit with her on the plane, seeing that she was pregnant at the time, and the last thing on her mind was swimming.
Claire was about to get in when she noticed that Charlie had been frozen on the spot for the past few minutes. "…Something wrong?"
Eyeing the large pool of water only a few mere inches from Claire's foot, he asked, "Uh… Claire… you don't expect me to… jump in the water, do you?"
She raised her brow curiously. "What do you mean?"
"I… err… can't swim too well."
Claire giggled, clearly thinking that Charlie was just messing around. "Don't be silly. Everyone swims."
Charlie shook his head, "Nope. I don't."
She stared, incredulously, "You're serious?"
"No joke."
"Oh, come on, Charlie, it's easy. Just move around and you'll float."
"It's really not that simple, love."
Claire, noticing his stubbornness, gave him a "well-if-you-say-so" look and dove in. The cool wetness against her skin was so refreshing. This was the most exposed she had allowed herself to become in public since the crash, guessing correctly that not too many people wanted to see an extremely pregnant woman walking about in a bikini.
Charlie watched Claire bob around in the water, finding a comfortable place in the shade to sit. He watched, feeling that now-familiar stomach swoosh as she smiled at the way the water tenderly tickled her neck. Not wanting Charlie to be bored out of his mind (obviously unaware that Charlie found watching Claire do anything MUCH more inviting than watching the dirt), Claire came over the spot where he was sitting, carefully supporting herself by holding onto the edge of clay and grass. "We can go, if you want."
"I'm fine here. Besides, you look like you're enjoying yourself."
"I am. Although, I would like it more if I at least had someone to talk to."
Charlie knew what she was trying to do. "You can always talk to me."
"Well, I mean, someone to keep me company while I'm in the water."
Uh-oh, a faint voice in his mind said, Can't wriggle out of this one, Charlie-boy.
"But, I told you, I can't swim!"
Claire could tell she was winning, "Then I can teach you."
Defeated, Charlie grudgingly dipped into the water, realized that he could touch the bottom, and kept himself from showing any expression of surprise.
"Now, this parts deeper," she said, indicating where she was now swimming, "But I think you should start where it's shallower."
Charlie slipped on a rock, panicked, and splashed out of the water to grab the nearest root to him. Claire smiled unnoticeably at his cute clumsiness. "Yes, well, that can happen."
"If I can't keep myself up when I can stand, how am I supposed to swim?"
"Patience," Claire said, assuming the voice of her mother.
"And how's patience going to help me with anything?" He asked, playing along with her impersonation.
Claire continued. "Don't question your teacher. Now, just… move your legs."
"Oh," Charlie joked, "very professional."
Claire rolled her eyes, taking her own voice back again. "Come off it, Charlie. Just try."
So Charlie moved his legs, which made no difference except made him wobble a little.
Claire laughed and Charlie smiled back at her. She knew he was just doing all this to make her laugh. "Ready to try it in the deep end," she teased.
At first, Charlie didn't realize she was serious. As she backed away from the edge and effortlessly swam towards the center of the pool. "I don't think-" Charlie began, but Claire abruptly cut him off. "You can Charlie."
Wondering if Claire would be able to support his weight if he started drowning, Charlie slowly made his way off the elevated mud, pausing when he felt a definite drop of level with his foot. Claire didn't say anything. She was watching him intently.
'You can Charlie.' Her words echoed throughout his head as he took a step deeper.
'You can Charlie. You can.'
And before he knew it, he was as far out as Claire was, floating not-so effortlessly as Claire had done. It was odd, swimming was. He didn't feel right in the water. Kind of like a bassist playing piano. He was trying, but something was out of place. Nearing the land, Claire and Charlie both shared a gaze and she grinned widely at him. "I told you."
Swoosh.
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The roots of a weed may seem indestructible, but Charlie was re-thinking that theory. Why should he change his mind? Because when Charlie was with Claire at the waterfall, he hadn't thought about the drugs at all. Not once.
Maybe the bad roots could be removed if you knew how to replace them with better things.
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A/N: Well, I know the whole swimming thing was really cliché and well… corny, but I felt like it helped... somewhat. Okay, maybe it didn't, but oh well, it's already there, right? I am planning on this being a fairly short fic, maybe 6-7 chapters max. Maybe a sequel, but that's not what I'm concentrating on right now. Chapter 5 is a doozy, and I am having a little trouble with it myself.
I am going to milk this fluff as much as I can! Meaning: a whole other chapter of fluff before the drama really starts. I know too much fluff can be painful. I hope I'm not warding off readers already!
:Thanks To:
-Jou64()- Here's your update, although it wasn't soon…
-goblin monkey- Thank you! I'm sorry the update didn't work out with your vacation, but you can always read it when you get back. ;-) I actually came home on the 17… at 1:00 in the morning, so there was no possibility that I could update then:-(
-pokefreaks13- I miss you! I can't wait for the little Lost Pow-Wow over the holidays! It's gonna rock! Special thanks to you, who will be hosting it Here's the update, although you wouldbecause you're the one buying the stuff! have already read it from email, but as always, I appreciate your criticism and reviews. Lylas. (I just realized Love-You-Like-A-Cousin would spell lylac in a funky way! Lol!) I owe all of my lost-obsession to you, of course!
-Charlie & his Claire- ooh! Nice change in pen name. I, of course, have thought about changing my pen name multiple times… but I am so attached to redireas. I have no idea why. It's my screen name backwards, but I have thought it would be a nice change to something lost related. So far, however, redireas is my "neutral-ground." I'm glad you are enjoying the chapters, and I hope this one makes sense! I also REALLY hope the swimming scene isn't too corny! I felt it was kind of crucial though, saying "you can Charlie" as the sort of foundation of her commitment to helping him. Well… enjoy and thanks!
-Lostaway ()- so, Bailey told you about my story? Yay! I love feeling some sort of connection to my reviewers, even if it's just we like the same bands or whatever. I have had a lot of trouble getting any of my friends hooked on Lost. You see, they either think it's "too scary" or I rant so much they think I'm insane. Okay, maybe I am a little insane, but let's get back on topic. My dad asked me about the basic premises of Lost and, of course, I start with the plane crash and all and the survivors. But after a while, I can't stop talking about it and I drive my parents crazy. Which is why, I am sure, they are happy that I can talk to other people who will actually pay attention to my rants (such as Bailey, who will rant right back). Yeah, I mean, I've only seen about 8 episodes (first seven and then the final part of exodus). I do my research and all, or at least I hope this stuff is correct… If not, Bailey usually will find it in her reading before I post and correct me. Thanks again!
-crookedview- thanks! I know, Charlie really needs Claire's help on this one, and as you can see, she has agreed to be his 'savior.' Although, for now, she doesn't really understand what she's getting into. Dun-dun-dunnn….
-EllaJ.W- Thank you for the compliments. I hope this past chapter wasn't a bore… fluff isn't exactly my specialty. I love to read it in small doses. But writing fluff… it's sometimes hard to pull off. :-P
-Artistgirl727- ooh, pen name! If you didn't know this about me (and I can't see how you would) I love art! I'm actually going to a school next year that will offer about 2 hours of art each day. I don't know if I can handle that much, but I am hoping I will. I don't want to be an artist for a career, but it's a fun hobby! I'm hoping I interpreted your pen name correctly, lol. Anyways, back to replying to your review… I'm glad you're enjoying this. Charlie can't just drop the figurine into the fire and be clean. Right now, there is a huge internal struggle about whether or not he is ready to take on life without drugs. He really wants to be with Claire and to please her. But he's going to have a lot of temptation from Mary as well. Otherwise, there would be no story!
Oh goodness. Like I said, once you get me started talking about Charlie's struggles, I can't stop!
Well… Hope everyone liked the update. I would love some reviews ;-) I mean, they might play a role in how quickly I update… Not really. I don't bribe readers. But don't you like to make the writer happy?
;-)