Summary: Boone gets Claire a present for her birthday.
Characters: Claire, Boone.
Pairings: Claire/Boone friendship.
Distribution: lost-forum
Disclaimer: Don't own them, don't sue.
Feedback: Completely necessary if you want the next part.

Note: Yay, I got three reviews again (one of which was HUGE::hugs meagan4dominic:) and I just want to thank meagan4dominic, msmith4815, Saraiyu, CriesofCapricorn and Emma Wemma for all their reviews throughout the past two chapters. And actually, the whole story. :) It's great. Keep reading and reviewing!

Claire smiled wistfully as she rubbed the bamboo cradle Locke had made her. A fire crackled a few metres away, warming her enough to regret wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

"Claire!"

She glanced up to see Boone rushing towards her, a large grin on his face and his backpack in his hands. She grinned and offered him the space next to her, which he gratefully accepted.

"Hi Boone, what's going on? The way you were rushing in here, you'd have though the monster was on your heels," Claire teased gently. It seemed since his confession just days before, he'd lightened up considerably. He seemed to be in a constant good mood around her, although she had seen his eyes darken on occasion when he'd catch a glimpse of Shannon or Sayid. For a moment, when he just stared blankly at her, she was worried she'd said the wrong thing, but the moment passed and his grin simply widened.

"Well, you see, I was at the caves an hour ago when Locke comes up to me. He told me how he spent the day making your cradle, then he told me a very interesting piece of information," Boone started, his grin turning into a full-fledged smirk. By that point, Claire was grimacing, knowing full well what 'interesting piece of information' Locke had told Boone. "See, Locke told me that it was a certain someone's birthday today. Of course, I was shocked. How could this certain someone not inform me, her best friend, that it was her birthday."

At this point, Claire knew it'd be vital to interfere if she wanted to save any shred of dignity. Considering Boone's recent carefree behaviour, she was a bit worried that he'd done something over the top, like try and bake a cake. Claire snorted inwardly at the image that rose to her mind of Boone doing that.

"Look, Boone, I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to make a fuss about it," Claire insisted, a weary tone in her voice. Boone shrugged off her words and started fumbling around in his bag.

"Anyway," he continued, as if he hadn't heard what she'd just said, "after hearing this fact, I knew I had to find you something unique. Since Locke has already given you a top present, I had to really think this over, but luckily, I bumped into Sawyer. See, he's got practically everyone's personal items stuffed away in his tent, so I bartered with him." As Boone finished talking, he produced what seemed to be a piece of paper from his bag. Claire couldn't help but feel immensely curious about what had gotten him so excited, and she smiled slightly as he handed it to her, a pleased look on his face. As Claire flipped over the paper, she was vaguely aware it was a photograph, but nothing prepared her for what she saw.

It was a sonogram photo of her baby, the one she'd carried with her in her luggage. She felt completely speechless, and she gaped at the photo.

"Oh my god," she gasped softly, rubbing her thumb over what she assumed was the baby's foot.

"Sawyer said it was in the jungle with some other people's odds and ends. Do you like it?" he asked eagerly. Claire glanced up at him and a large smile broke out on her face. She lunged at him and wrapped him up in a hug.

"Are you kidding, it's amazing!" she exclaimed in his ear. They both laughed lightly as Claire started to move back. Her nose bumped his and in an instant, their eyes met. Claire swallowed deeply, and probably loudly she mused, as she stared into the deep depths of his eyes, and she felt like she'd been here before. She slowly leaned in, desperately wanting to taste his soft lips, although she felt deep in her bones that something wasn't right. But the moment before their lips met, he scrambled out of her embrace, eyes flickering around wildly.

"Oh, um, I have to g-go. I'll, um, see you tomorrow," Boone stuttered lamely as he rushed out of the tent and into the darkness.

And somehow, Claire knew she'd been sitting here before.