AN: Charlie didn't take the drugs, he was just thinking about it. I just realized that I might not have made it as clear as it was in my mind. Sorry.
Claire sat in the caves, crying and rocking back and forth. Sun walked up to her. Seeing that she was crying, Sun came closer, "What's wrong? What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it…" Claire mumbled.
Sun nodded knowingly, "I'll take Aaron." Then, she left Claire, knowing that she needed to be alone. Claire curled her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her hands. She couldn't stop crying. Today had just been horrible and she just needed to cry. How could Charlie have done this to her? How could he have done this to Aaron? She thought he was going to take care of Aaron; she thought he was going to take care of her. Now, it was over; he had chosen the drugs over her, and she and Aaron were left all alone.
Back in the forest, Charlie was walking, but he didn't know which way he was going. Suddenly he stumbled upon his worst nightmare; the Nigerian plane. Charlie stared at it. He stared at the heroin that littered the ground. Stepping closer, he looked at the heroin again and wondered why he had ended up here. It had to be fate. After all, it wouldn't matter if he just sampled a little of it.
He looked at the drugs and decided to pick up a packet nearer to the plane that was already out of the statue because he felt bad smashing another religious figurine. Moving towards it, all of Charlie's feelings came together. His anticipation, his longing, his guilt. As he neared the broken statue, he saw something. At first it looked like just any empty jar, but to Charlie it meant so much more.
Memories from the past month and a half came back to him. The imaginary peanut butter, Claire being kidnapped, her diary, him shooting Ethan, and Aaron being born; it all flooded too him and hit him like a wave. It was then that he knew that he couldn't do it. There was no way that he could desert Claire and Aaron.
Charlie began running faster than he had ever run in his life; even faster than he had run from the monster. After all, it was his monster behind him that he was running from. He was running from his past, what he could've been; he was running from what he hated most about himself. Sweat poured off of his face as he sprinted through the jungle.
A branch snapped back and hit him in the face causing his cheek to start bleeding, but he didn't care. It wasn't what he was running from anymore. It was what he was running towards. He was running towards Claire, Aaron, and a new life for him. So he ran, his heart pounding and his purpose in his head. Finally, he reached the caves.
He could see her across the camp, Claire's back was to him, and all he could see was her long blond hair cascading down her back. Charlie's breath caught in his chest, and he walked over to her. When he got closer, he saw that he was crying. He felt a pang in his heart at what he had done to her and wanted to make everything better again. Without her noticing him, Charlie sat down next to her and said, "Hello, Claire."
Claire jumped up at his voice and retorted, "Go away Charlie."
"Look, Claire, Just listen to me," pleaded Charlie.
Tears fell down her cheeks, "There's nothing you can say Charlie. You've made your choice. I don't want to talk to you." She began to walk away, and he grabbed her elbow. She wrenched her elbow away from him and screamed, "Don't touch me."
Charlie looked out at everyone in the caves and lowered his voice, "Can I have five minutes, in private…please." She pressed her lips together and nodded apprehensively. He led her a couple of yards off into the jungle. Once they were away from the camp, Charlie turned to Claire, "What you saw…wasn't what it seemed."
Claire shook her head in disbelief, "What I saw, Charlie, was you, surrounded by heroin. You told me a long time ago that you were a druggie. That's one of the things I do remember. How is that not what it seems?"
Charlie looked at her sadly, "I need you to trust me Claire. I didn't take the drugs…I- I was going to," and at the self-assured look on her face, he added, "But I didn't. I couldn't. I care too much about you and Aaron."
Claire moved towards him and said seriously, "Charlie. Swear to me that you are telling the truth. Swear that you did not take the drugs."
He stepped up to her and put both his hands on her shoulders, "Claire I couldn't do that to you." She looked up him and he could see she knew that he was telling the truth.
His relief showed in his eyes, and Claire suddenly broke down crying. She didn't know why she was crying. She believed that he hadn't taken the drugs. Relief; that was why she was crying. In her mind she just couldn't believe that Charlie would do that. And he didn't. Leaning on his shoulder, Claire continued to cry, and through her muffled sobs, Charlie heard, "I knew Charlie. I knew you wouldn't do it. I knew you'd take care of me."
Charlie let her cry, and cradled the back of her head with his hand in a comforting way, "I will always take care of you Claire." They embraced for what seemed like hours until the sun fell around them. All that was visible around them was the stars and the moon as they walked back to the caves with their pinky fingers intertwined.