Chapter 5- The Call

I know… I know... I am the worst updater ever! This is going to be a very dramatic chapter, but not in the way you think. There's a big surprise for you in this chapter. Actually, I didn't know for sure if I was actually going to do this… I was afraid it may be too dramatic for some of you, but I left it like this. If I get a lot of bad reviews, then I'll change it. Oh… I'm probably scaring all of you right now… sorry, just read.

It was the next day and Charlie and Liam were gone to a meeting with their former band members to discuss putting out one more album. They wouldn't do concerts or gigs; they just wanted one more album for a proper retirement and farewell to their fans. Jack and Kate were watching the kids. Which meant Claire was home alone. She was relaxing on the couch when Charlie walked in the front door.

"Claire, you here?" He called shutting the door.

"I'm in the living room." She said sitting up.

"Ah, there's my beautiful wife." He said walking over to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She grabbed his hand and pulled him down to sit next to her.

"How did the meeting go?" She asked turning to look at him.

"Well, we're all going to come back for the album, except Lenny. He didn't see eye to eye with the rest of us, so we had to cut him loose." Charlie said wrapping his arm around her back and pulling her closer.

"How did he take it?" She asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"Not very well, almost hit Liam, but Tommy held him back." He said closing his eyes. Claire smiled; she could tell the day had worn on him.

"Why don't you take a nap and when you wake up I'll have dinner ready." She offered, looking up into his tired eyes.

"Nah, I've got too much on my mind and Liam is supposed to call me soon any way." He explained kissing the top of her head. "Did your mum call?"

"No, but she will or she'll just show up again." Claire said rolling her eyes.

"You told her to call."

"I know, but if she thinks I'll try to avoid her calls then she'll just show up unannounced… again." Claire explained.

"I still don't understand why your mum decided to show up now." Charlie said clearly puzzled.

"I don't either." Claire said shaking her head. The phone rang and Charlie stood and walked over to it.

"If that's my mum, tell her I'm not home." Claire said with a small smirk as Charlie picked up the phone. "Hello."

"May I ask who's speaking?" Charlie waited for an answer. "Why would you like to speak to my wife?" Charlie's eyes turned to shock as he listened. "I'll tell her. Yeah, thank you." Charlie said slowly hanging up the phone. He turned to look at Claire, who was now standing looking at him questionably.

"Charlie, what's wrong?" She asked searching his face for an answer.

"Claire, luv, I think you should sit down." He said looking at her.

"Charlie, you're scaring me." She said taking a seat on the couch. Charlie squatted down in front of her, taking her hands in his.

"Claire, I don't know how to tell you this…"

"Tell me what?"

"It's your mum, Claire. She… she passed away this morning." Claire's lips parted and tears welled up in her eyes. She scrunched her eyes together, releasing many tears down her pale pink cheeks.

"How, she was fine yesterday?" Claire choked out.

"Apparently she had a blood disorder and she knew about it, which is probably why she came to see you." Charlie explained massaging her hands with his thumbs.

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"She probably didn't want you to feel like you had to forgive her."

"But I was so mean to her. I yelled at her…"

"Claire, you can't blame yourself. She wasn't there for you when you needed her. You had a right to be angry."

"She probably thought I hated her." Claire said with a stream of tears running down her cheeks. "I didn't hate her, Charlie, I was just angry." Claire said with tears coming down fierce like the rain in a wild storm.

"She knows you didn't hate her, Claire." Charlie said pulling her into his arms. She cried until her eyes were dry and eventually fell asleep on the couch. Charlie called Jack and Kate to see if they would keep the kids a few days more, and of course they agreed.

Claire and Charlie went to the wake the next day and then the funeral the day after that. Charlie was there to be her rock and crying shoulder, because she needed that more than ever before.

The drive home was silent and a bit uncomfortable for Charlie. This was because he hated sitting there saying nothing in fear Claire might cry again. She stared out the window absent mindedly the whole drive. It was very hard on her, no doubt. She had just yelled at her mum a few days ago, she felt so guilty. Yet she felt angry too. Angry that her mum didn't tell her, that she kept it secret 'till her death. She had a right to know… didn't she? She was her daughter, one of her few blood relations still living. So there Claire sat feeling angry, bitter, guilty, sad, anything that could describe pure misery. Another tear strolled down her cheek and Charlie quickly took her hand in his. She looked over at him with a weak smile.

"I'm here luv." He said softly looking at her and then back at the road.

"Thanks Charlie." She said just as soft. "I love you."

"I love you too, Claire. Why don't you try to rest, close your eyes." He said giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Alright." She said closing her eyes, almost instantly falling asleep. Charlie turned off the ignition, climbed out of the car and shut the door. He walked to Claire's side, opened the door, unfastened her seatbelt, picked her up and shut the door. He carried her in the house, trying his best not to wake her. He carried her to their bedroom gently laying her on their bed. He took off her shoes and jacket, and placed them on a nearby chair. He pulled the covers over her body, tucking her in partially. He kissed her forehead and began to walk out of the room when he heard Claire's voice, he stopped.

"Charlie?" She called barely loud enough to hear. Charlie turned to look at her.

"Yeah luv?" He asked walking over to the bed.

"Can you just hold me 'till I fall asleep? I don't want to be alone."

"Claire, as long as I am here you're never alone." He said climbing into the bed and resting his back against the bed frame. Claire snuggled into his chest and closed her eyes. She was finally in peace after the long weekend, she hoped the moment would last forever… but as soon as her eyes would open, so would the pain. But at least she had Charlie and always would.

SO, I hope the writing wasn't terrible, and I hope you liked my little surprise. If you are way against this happening then let me know. If most of you are happy then I won't change it, but if most of you want to throw stones and flame me then I will. My reason for doing this is to make that bond between Claire and Charlie even stronger, because even bigger drama is going to be coming their way. It's gonna be good.

Thanks to these people for reviewing chapter 4:

LostChickenGothicWednesday723

Really? I thought it was a bit obvious. I'm glad you enjoyed. I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve.

bluejolteon

Well, it took me a long time to find time and get motivated at the same time, but I finally did it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Lara Chubb of Deephollow

Sorry, no make up. Hope you're not angry.

jesi0546

Not anymore… lol. Thanks for the review.

Lost Hobbit

Well, she's gone now. Umm… your wish is my command… lol.

FluffLover

Sorry it took me so long, thanks for the review.

ghost888

I did it again! It's just that school started awhile back and I have had so much to do between homework and volleyball.

CharlieandClaire

I'm SO SO sorry it took me so long. What did you think?