Heartbeat
By Lindsay
To Charlie, drugs had been the most incredible, elating sensation he had ever had. Nothing had ever compared to the buzz of heroine, the incredible high that it brought him.
But that was before he felt the kick of a baby against Claire's stomach. It was soft, yet persistent, as if the baby wanted nothing more than to get out of her stomach and be in the world, breathe the first breath of life.
He would take that over heroine any day.
It wasn't just the unborn baby either. As Charlie watched Claire, the ocean breeze rippling through her hair, a tender smile on her face as she ran her hand fondly over her bump, he thought that there was nowhere else he would rather be, even if he was on a desert island.
It didn't matter that he had been in a plane crash. It didn't matter that he had been chased by monsters and polar bears and god knows what else. All that mattered was that he had found Claire, and along with that he had found his reason for living.
He wanted to take care of Claire. He wanted to be there for her every second of the day, every day of the year, every year of the rest of their lives.
But right now, all he wanted was to finally gather up the nerve to kiss those beautifully pink lips, to stroke that golden blonde hair, and to tell this girl that he loved her.
But Charlie had never exactly won a medal for courage, so he had a feeling that it was going to be a while before he did any of those things.
"Isn't it amazing?" asked Claire.
"What?" asked Charlie, snapping out of his meandering thoughts and coming back to earth. He was still sitting on the beach with Claire, both of them sitting on the hot sand and facing the ocean. He had a hand rested on top of her stomach, though the baby had stopped kicking long ago. It was then that Charlie realized, and his heart skipped a beat at the notion, Claire had done nothing to indicate that she wanted him to remove his hand, even though the baby had long stopped its kicking.
"Isn't it amazing to feel the baby kick like that?" Claire clarified; looking dreamily down at the bulge, then back up at Charlie.
"Yeah," said Charlie softly, slowly removing his hand from her stomach and turning back to the crashing waves. "Yeah, it is."
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That night, back at the caves, Claire decided to stay up and sit by the fire. She hadn't been able to sleep lately, and she didn't want to toss and turn in her makeshift bed.
The flames danced in front of her eyes as they slowly began to go down. The dying fire cast a beautiful glow on her face that made Charlie's heart leap as he slowly approached her.
He swallowed hard once, then draped a blanket over her shoulders and sat down beside her, placing a tentative arm around her.
No words were exchanged between them, but the silence was anything but awkward. They seemed to have a sort of peace between them in which they both felt content.
Claire's head dropped onto Charlie's shoulder, and by the time the fire had died down, she was asleep. Charlie raised a hand and ran it through her hair lovingly, admiring the way it framed her face. He kissed her forehead gently, and then rested his head on top of hers.
The only sounds were of the crackling of the glowing logs and the soft sound of Claire's breathing, the latter of the two Charlie found to be both exciting and soothing at the same time. Soon Charlie found his eyelids were growing heavy, and he fell into a deep sleep on Claire's shoulder.
The fire fell to glowing embers, and the camp fell silent. The island was hushed. But the beat of their hearts stayed, strong and clear, full of love, all through the night.
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Please, post a review, chapter two is coming soon!
Love, 3
Lindsay