Chapter 2: Thoughts

A few days later, Charlie was walking through the jungle for no real apparent reason, but he knew that there could be something out there. He sat down and climbed up a tree and pulled out his water bottle. "Hey, Charlie, what are you doing out here?" Hurly asked.

"Just thinking," Charlie replied.

"Uh, dude, that's not such a good idea, sitting out here in the jungle."

"It's not like I have anything better to do."

"It's about Claire again, isn't it?"

Charlie got down from the tree and stood in front of him. "Whatever gave you that idea?" Charlie asked.

"Dude, she'll come around," Hurly told him.

"Hurly, it's been almost a month since she had me stay away from her and Aaron. I feel like my entire life has been ripped away from me."

Charlie sat down with a heavy sigh. "It feels like my whole world is falling apart. I never meant to make her think that she can never trust me. If only she would've let me explain. I can't live without her or Aaron," Charlie explained. Hurly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hang in there, man," Hurly commented.

"Yeah, sure."

Charlie got up from the ground and he walked back to camp.

As Charlie walked back to the camp, he rubbed the back of his neck and felt the scars from the hanging still there to haunt him. Sometimes he could still hear Claire screaming his name and sometimes he'll even feel the vines around his neck. He sat down and closed his eyes.

(Flashback)

Charlie could feel Claire's hand gripping his as he tried to leave a trail with the tape on his hands. He looked over to see the fear in her eyes and left another letter behind. "What are you doing?" Ethan asked. Charlie froze, knowing that Ethan had caught him. Ethan walked over and grabbed Charlie's arm to see some of the tape missing from his hand. "He's leaving a trail," he told one of the guys.

"He's too much of a risk to keep around," one of the men agreed.

Claire looked at Charlie as they dragged him towards a tree. "Watch what happens when you try being a hero," another guy laughed.

"Please, don't hurt her," Charlie insisted.

"You should be more worried about yourself," Ethan told him.

Charlie could see Claire fighting against one of the men as the vines were wrapped around his neck. "NO!" Claire shouted. Charlie felt his feet leave the ground and the air was being knocked out of him. He suddenly felt everything getting dark and he could hear Ethan dragging Claire away. "CHARLIE!" Claire screamed.

(End Flashback)

Charlie woke up from the nightmare and saw that it was getting dark and he still had to make it back to camp. He got up from the ground and went back to camp.

Back at the camp, Claire noticed that Hurly went in after Charlie, but came back alone. She started to get worried when it started to get dark and Charlie still didn't come back. However, she heard rustling coming from the trees and saw Charlie come out. She was relieved to see that he was okay, but there was still that anger she felt when he took Aaron. Claire bit her lip as she thought about that night, but then Aaron's gurgles brought her out of her thoughts. She walked over and picked her son up. "I'm glad you're doing better, sweetie," she whispered. She kissed her son's forehead and watched as Charlie took out his guitar and started playing again. Claire loved to hear Charlie play on his guitar his music always soothed her. Now she missed it. She missed hearing his music, his jokes, and kindness. However, there was one question that kept Claire from going to talk to him. "How can I trust you again, Charlie?" She pondered.