Disclaimer: Nope, none.

A/N: I KNOW I'M A HORRIBLE UPDATER! ESPECIALLY DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR! I PROMISE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE FASTER!

Chapter Seven: Chicks Dig That

"The first line on the first page
To the end of the last page
From the start in your own way
You just want somebody listening to what you say
It doesn't matter who you are
It doesn't matter who you are." Square One, Coldplay

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The day was practically dripping with sunlight and Charlie found himself walking towards the golf course, a club bag flung unceremoniously over his shoulder. All in all he had slept well, woken only twice by the annoying beeping of a wristwatch, the anonymous owner apparently snoring right through it. He had also managed to shake off most of the questions that were constantly being thrown his way by the other survivors ("Feeling better, Charlie?" "Healthy enough to help us with this tree?" or "You haven't used up all the Tylenol now? My back is feeling pretty sore myself…"). So, why not spend a nice day on The Green Stretch of golf heaven, relaxing and reflecting? This random "follow your feet" strategy was slowly becoming natural as odd as it seemed. Truth be told, he had never really fancied golf…

Could a day get any prettier? The sky was a brilliant cloudless blue, the grass a luscious green that practically begged him to take off his shoes and frolic in it. But he wasn't that crazy. He still had his share of manly pride…

The one-hole golf course was abandoned, accompanied only by a loud black bird that was pecking at a worm in the ground. Perfect: no one to disturb his thoughts and musings or pester him into helping slice a papaya.

Charlie closed his eyes, facing the sky and allowing his skin to absorb the warm rays. Was it really possible to be happy right now? His life appeared to have undergone a roller coaster of emotions in less than a week and yet he was standing here, feeling generally pleased. Claire didn't hate him. He didn't want drugs. And, the entire world just smiled at him. It sort of reminded him of some perfect, bright child cartoon: peaceful and uplifting.

Oh, God. He was comparing this moment to the Teletubes. Somebody slap me.

Charlie lowered the caddy and took out a long silver club. It was cool in his grasp, the metal smooth against his finger tips. He carefully picked a flat piece of earth to place the small round golf ball, focusing on the earth and the movement of his swing. It was nice to be concentrating on something other than drugs or Claire…

…Then again, he was supposed to be reflecting. He composed himself, standing a little taller, watching the sun's light curve along the metal club. He suddenly had an urge to play guitar, a wonderful (and truly missed) feeling. But the instrument was a while a' ways and he wouldn't risk going back to camp again, the likeliness of getting caught and horded with a new batch of questions was too great. He could hear the voices of other survivors echoing in his head: "Why aren't you helping us cut down the bamboo?" "How's Claire? I heard she had a meltdown yesterday…" "What, you think you're too good to help skin the friggin' boar?"

"Hey um, dude?"

Charlie jumped and his club collided with the ball and a near impossible angle, flinging with such force that the ball skidded off to his left, rebounding off a tree stump.

"Jesus, Christ…" Charlie could feel the nervous sweat collecting around his eyebrows as his fingers automatically shot up to wipe his brow. "Hurley, you son of a…"

"Love you too, man. Hey, uh, how's it goin'?"

If Charlie hadn't been so worked up by the unwelcome spook, he might have noticed that Hurley wasn't even looking him in the eye.

"Just peachy," he exclaimed sarcastically, waving his arms about for the effect.

Hurley walked up behind him and looked out to the golf course. "Nice shot there."

"What do you want?" Charlie tried to keep the frustration from his voice, which was proving to be difficult. This was supposed to be a good day; he didn't need to get all worked up over Hurley's appearance. He was supposed to be calm. Relaxed.

"Oh, just… walking around." Hurley's eyes continued to dart about the landscape, landing anywhere other than Charlie.

"Not helping with the bamboo?" Charlie asked, smiling a bit to himself. So, maybe he wasn't the only one desiring a scene that didn't involve large axes and heavy hunks of wood threatening to trample people's toes.

"Nah…" Hurley said somewhat distractedly.

There were a few minutes of silence, during which Charlie fiddled around with the caddy to ease the awkwardness. After the zipper on the carrier became excruciatingly dull, Charlie began scuffing the bottom of his shoe, watching itty bits of particles separate from the dirt and settle into the air.

"Do you believe in it?"

Charlie raised his eyebrow, starring inquisitively at Hurley. "What?"

Hurley made funny gestures with his hands that looked uncannily like someone writing with sharpie on their fingers. "You know… Fate."

The truthful answer was no, but the question had caught him off guard. Charlie thought as he raked his hands through the back of his hair, glancing up into the sunlight. "I dunno…" He paused, "What's this really about, Hurley?"

"Then what was up with the tape?" Hurley ignored the latter question, making the gesture again that indicated the time when Charlie walked around with FATE taped onto his fingers.

Charlie shrugged, taking a seat next to Hurley on a nearby uplifted tree root. "It just helped me handle it, the plane crash… I didn't really want to think about the fact that I might not go home again. Kind of like an excuse, I guess. Something to believe in… What's on your mind, Hurley? You're acting… strange."

Hurley fidgeted slightly. "You know that day… when you told me about your drugs… and I said I was worth a lot of money back home…"

This brought a panging sensation into Charlie's stomach. Yes he did remember the day, though not fondly.

"Well… I was telling the truth."

Hurley waited for Charlie to interrupt, but when the rocker said nothing, continued. "I won the lottery, see? And all this crap has been happening after it. I'm… not very lucky. I-I think it's my fault we're here."

There was another uncomfortable silence as Hurley prepared to be bashed about for saying something so stupid, but Charlie was kind. "You didn't make us crash, Hurl."

"Oh, yeah? Then why does all happen to me? Huh?" Hurley was suddenly on his feet, speaking with increasing volume.

"It was an accident, okay? Don't blame yourself." Charlie kept his gaze on Hurley. It was somewhat relieving to focus on somebody else's problems, to help them even. "We all feel that way, you know. Thinking about the things in the past –remembering the stupid stuff before the crash." There was a pause during which Charlie's mind was fiercely debating as to what would happen next. But before he could censer his words, they blurted from his mouth.

"I wasn't really sick Hurley."

Struck by the quietness of Charlie's voice and such a statement, Hugo turned to face Charlie. He watched as his friend's face became somewhat paler and solemn, his lips barely moving to form the sentences. "I told you I was a junkie. I… I was overdosed the other day. Not the flu, or anything else people have told you. I made Jack stop every bloody thing he was doing so he could help the screw up. I hurt Claire and broke her trust. It doesn't get much worse than that."

Hurley became more sympathetic, forgetting the numbers now. "But… where'd you get the fix?"

"I found some drugs in Boone's plane." Seeing Hurley's discomfort, he continued sighing. "I'm pathetic.

"You know, I had a really good thing going too. I was clean and making Claire happy was the biggest concern on my mind! And now what? She still likes me. Can you believe it? After all of my damn mistakes, she's still here! I don't deserve it. Not after the whole "one minute he's clean, the next he's flat out stoned" thing. And I still want to make her happy. I just… don't know what I can give her anymore."

Hurley was still, taking in this large quantity of information. It was a moment before he could think of anything to say. "You should do something; get her mind off… things. Talk to her about feelings and crap. Chicks dig that stuff."

What? And take her to some romantic place to dine afterwards? HELLO? Last time I checked, we're in the middle of no where!

"Wait! That's what I have to do! Bring everything to her!" Charlie, full of newly found enthusiasm grinned in his Charlie-ish way to the man next to him. "Hurley, you are brilliant!" And with that he set off to camp, his mind buzzing with excitement.

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A/N: Okay, I know this chapter was unreasonably short and that it is definitely not what you have been waiting a month for, but the next chappie will be much more satisfying. And don't worry, it should be up sooner. I won't make excuses about my timely updates but I'm sure you all can guess why (hint:hint: if you are a student of any kind, you will understand my pains). This was also a transition chapter, meaning it's all a bunch of scrap, mixed together in the most boring of ways simply to get you to the next major plot. And I assure you, the next chapter should NOT take as long. Unlike this one, it has a definite beginning and ending all planned.

The real reason why I am staying up late to update THIS VERY NIGHT is because of a most exciting event that will occur tomorrow at 9:00 eastern time zone…. THE PREMIRE OF LOST SEASON TWO! Meaning: the night I have been waiting for all summer will arrive tomorrow and I am totally psyched. Poo Desperate Housewives all right… I admit… I've never even seen the thing GO LOST!

:-)

And now to thank all of my many and day-making reviewers:

-artistgirl727: thank you so much! I know this chapter was a total… flop… and I am DEEPLY sorry. I think the next chapter will be so much better. My art classes have easily become my absolute favorite classes. Right now in drawing and painting we are drawing large plants in vases, and we are working with lines/cross hatching to gradually develop value. It's really awesome and I love how intense everything is! How do you like college? …Well, my update was NOT soon, so sorry. Thanks anyways for being such a wonderful and dependable reviewer!

-jou65: yes, well, as you can see, I have decided on continuing the story. It just made more logical sense. I love my French class, and she gives lots of quizzes so all the grades average out. It's really helpful, actually. We're moving along quickly in that class… I think. Thanks again for all of your great reviews! Hope this update was fractionally worth it.

-strongshol: I know. Shame on me. But, prat is a British word, and therefore I can use it whenever in British context! So, ha! JK. Miss you lots-es!

-Ponyboysgirl1: You cried? OMG! You are making me feel awful about this lazy, terrible update! I'm glad you are so into the story. I love it when reviewers write about what they actually like/don't like as opposed to just saying: it was great! Keep it up! Thank you so much, your review was amazing to read. I'm glad your liking the angst-ness, but you won't have to wait too long for fluff! You should expect a deal of fluff in upcoming chapters, so stay tuned!

-Sawyerslover: Your review made me laugh! Short, sweet, and to the point. I'm sure there will be more cussing for this awful update, but keep in mind next chapter will be longer and way more… exciting. 20 chapters? I'll see what I can do…

-pokefreaks13: I have a feeling I am going to get grief for this lousy update that you have been so eagerly awaiting. Sorry. As you can see, I decided to continue on the island… as of right now, I have a hard time picture any of them off the island, although I have definitely thought about that idea. I know! Xmas is WAAAY too far away, especially at this slow school-year rate. Argh. But great news… LOST TOMORROW! THE EPPY WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR! YAY! Lololol. Miss you much. LYLAS!

-lost lover: OMG! If you cannot tell already, I LOVE Coldplay. The song "Yellow" is incredible and I thought, you know, because it's a good song that it would fit into that chapter. I'm so happy that you listened to it, because some people completely scan the lyrics parts but that song is so great! The sequel would be the same plot that I am about to enter, only as a new story. I don't know… I just liked the idea of my first TRUE completed story. Guess that won't happen for a while, now that I've started the new stuff. Thank you so much for the descriptive review, those are always my favorites. I'm glad you like the story. Hope you don't hate me for such a… I'm thinking naïve just because it's not involved… update. Mucho sorry-ness!

-Colle: Thanks! Please keep reading! ;-)

-Jnr Cpl Scarlett: Ooh... you're from the UK? That's really cool. It's so interesting to hear about all the different nationalities that read fanfiction! I love the unique variety! –Excellent favorite character choice, by the way.—Thanks!

-S: Sorry for the long wait for such a… boring cliffhanger… chapter. Everything should be moving up soon and become more exciting! New plot: more fluff than angst this time. As for "whatnot" it just kind of means "etc," that sort of thing. Sorry, I know everybody has their own word or phrase they can't stand. Mine is "with that in mind" because my annoying English teacher says that every other minute. My cousin hates it when people say "pitch dark." Lol. It's funny how those little things can be so annoying!

Well… You know what to do…

No flames please, I already know this chapter was tiring and uneventful.

:-/

:-D