Author's Note: Sorry, this is taking a while to start out, but i promise the action will start next chapter! Oh, and this was a really quick update for me, since i already had part of the chapter written- so I'm sry, but don't expect new chapters to always come this quickly.

Disclaimer: As much as i wish things were different, I do not own lost. Tear...

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Chapter 2- Change

Shannon retired to her tent after her argument with her brother, and immediately opened her bag of stuff and started to search through it. Then she stopped dead, and pulled out a picture, studying it as tears threaten her eyes.

FLASHBACK:

It was four months later, Shannon's last day in Raleigh. She was sitting at the country club next to Chloe, eating ice cream. Neither had said anything yet. Finally, though, the silence was broken.

"I'm really going to miss you, Shan. It won't be the same without you around; I'll probably be bored out of my mind."

Shannon sighed. "I know, it's not fair. You'll write though, right?"

"Every day. And call. And visit all the time!"

"Yeah, you'd better. Can you imagine me living with Sabrina and her son? We can barely get along for one dinner every once in awhile; how are we going to handle being together all the time? And I bet Boone is a male-version of her!"

"No, he's probably going to be a super-hot rebel, and you'll be head over heals in love with each other!" Chloe and Shannon glanced at each other, and then burst out laughing.

"Even if that were the case (which, by the way, it won't be), Sabrina would never let us do anything together. She'd probably send me off to some boarding school if I did so much as to ask him to pass the damn salt!" They burst out laughing again, and then Shannon's dad walked up to them. "Shan, it's time to go," he said, wiping the smiles off the girls' faces. "Say your goodbyes to Chloe and then come home, okay?"

Shannon nodded, attempting to smile at her father. "Sure dad, I'll be home in 10." Once her father had left, she turned towards her best friend.

"So, I guess this is it."

"Yeah," Chloe answered. "I guess so." She paused. "Don't forget me, okay? Whenever something exciting happens in your life- first kiss, you get a boyfriend, a break-up, whatever… I still want to be the first to know."

Shannon smiled. "Same with you, okay?"

"Deal."

"Good." They paused again. Then… "I should go."

The two best friends, glanced at each other, and in unison, burst out crying. Shannon quickly pulled Chloe into a hug, and they stayed that way for awhile. Then, finally, while she still had the courage, Shannon pulled back. Tears still streaming from her eyes, she whispered "Bye Chlo," turned around, and ran back to her house. It would be awhile before either girl saw the other again.

END FLASHBACK.

Shannon sighed, looking at the picture of her best friend. In it, Chloe was standing in front of a Palm Tree, her long wavy brown hair blowing in her face, as she laughed at something Shannon had said. Shannon carefully placed the picture back in her bag and stood up, unable to stay trapped in her tent any longer.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Hours later, Claire put down her diary, and just gazed out into the ocean, happy for one of the first times she could remember on the island. For once, she actually felt like having her child on this island, and raising her by herself, might not be so bad. She glanced up in surprise as a blonde girl sat down beside her.

"Shannon, right?" Claire asked after racking her brain for the girl's name for a while.

"Right," she said. They sat in silence for awhile, Claire wondering why she had sat down next to her in the first place. She'd like to believe that Shannon just wanted to accompany her, but after all those days of no one doing so, she wasn't sure if Shannon would really be one of the first people to do so.

Then Shannon said, "I don't know how you do it."

Claire looked at her in bewilderment. "Do what?"

"Everything you do. You're pregnant, on a deserted island with god knows what kind of creatures living out there," Shannon nodded her head at the jungle, "and you're still, like, the nicest person here. If I were going through all that, I'd be blowing off the head of anyone who came within 50 feet of me!"

Claire laughed. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I can't change what happened, and I figure I might as well make the best of the situation. You'd do the same thing if you were in my shoes; trust me."

"I don't know," Shannon replied. "My life was really bad once, and instead of making the best of the situation, I made the worst. I can see myself doing that again pretty damn easily."

"You're not making the worst of your situation here right now, and our's aren't that different. Who's to say you would if you were in my shoes?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Claire, while everyone else has been working hard to help us survive, I've been chilling on the beach, tanning or reading magazines. I'm known on the island as the resident bitch! If you don't call that having made a bad situation worse, what do you call it?"

"Having got off on the wrong foot? C'mon, I never knew you as the bitch of the island, I'm sure you're just exaggerating."

"Are you trying to tell me that you haven't heard anything from anyone about me being a useless little princess? Not even from Boone? Or Charlie- I didn't exactly start off well with him!"

Claire was silent for a minute. Before Shannon had sat down next to her, only the third person from the island to actually talk to her, Claire had thought the girl was selfish. Charlie had told her about the fish incident and such, but hearing her now, Claire had come to realize that she had been wrong. Sure, she had made some mistakes in her life, but really, who hadn't? Claire knew that she, herself, certainly had. The only difference between the two were how they had handled them. While Shannon had started pushing everyone away, afraid to get hurt, Claire hadn't changed. And that was why Shannon was thought of as heartless, and not Claire. But if Claire knew one thing, it was that on this island, everyone's lives had started over. It was time for Shannon's to as well.

"Okay," Claire admitted, "I did hear some rumors. But did they stop me from talking to you? No. You're just as human as the rest of us; just because you made some mistakes before, doesn't mean you're heartless or a bitch. Just start over; show everyone you changed. They'll accept it, and move on."

Shannon was silent for a minute, before saying, "My brother's on this island; you know Boone? Even if everyone else could accept me changing, he couldn't. He's been with me practically my whole life, seen me in the good and the bad. I can't change, because he won't let me. As long as I'm with him, the bitch in me will be in control, and I'll stay the same girl I've been for so long."

Claire stared at her for a minute, finally understanding. "It was something he did, wasn't it? When your life was so messed up for awhile, it was because of your brother. He was the reason you became what you are today, wasn't he? You changed to protect yourself, so that he couldn't hurt you again."

Shannon didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. The answer was written all over her face.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Christine- Don't worry, I'm definitely continuing this story. It's the first story i've started writing that i didn't get a major writer's block or get extremely bored of two chapters in! (I'm always posting a story, and tehn deleting it three days later!) Thanks for reviewing- you inspired me to finish this chapter so quickly! Hope it met your expectations!

Laura- Hope the Claire was worth the wait! Thanks so much for reviewing!

Orlando-Crazy- Thank-you so much for the review, you inspired me to finish writing this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!

Hope you liked this chapter, and please be really kind and reviews! Thanks, and I love you all!

Crazy4thesun