Autor's note: Not a whole lot to say about this one, the next one is super exciting. Thanks to anyone whose reading the story, hope your enjoying it. Lauren you rock my socks.
Charlie's eye started to heal, it hurt less, but his sinuses were still bothering him. It was three days before Jacob would let him work with the kids, as long as Charlie told the children why fighting is wrong. Jo commented she liked his battle scars, it made him look tough. Amy, the constant doctor, check to make sure it was healing correctly and commented that Jack was doing a good job. Beth's only comment was, "at least it distracts from your stupid hair."
Nearly a week a passed since Charlie gave Sawyer his glasses. He had spent most of his day rereading magazines and reading great works of literature. Maybe it was the fact Aaron was sleeping through the night, or that Sawyer wasn't causing any trouble, but everything seemed lighter, freer and happier. Even the spontaneous rainstorms ceased. Jack and Locke argued less, Jin and Sun seemed more affectionate, even Hurley and Libby seemed to be hitting it off.
But the most important change happened early one morning. Charlie left his tent and stretched as the morning light warmed his skin. He looked around for Hurley, then Jack, but everyone was off doing other things. He watched the water and he always did, but it was the sound of an infant's giggle that turned his head. Claire was tickling Aaron's foot. Charlie made a small noise, not quite a groan, not quite a laugh. Claire looked up at him. They were a good hundred feet away, as close as Charlie would let himself get. Charlie's stomach flipped and churned. Their eyes met like an invisible string connecting them, joining them. She smiled. Charlie broke eye contact to look around to see if there was anyone else around. There wasn't. He looked back, but she was preoccupied with Aaron. He couldn't hear what she was saying to the cooing baby, and it didn't matter. She smiled at him. It was going to be a good day.
Charlie's goofy grin was splattered all over his face; he was even able to ignore the increasing pain in his head. Claire had smiled at him, nothing else mattered. Beth greeted him and made fun of his hair, it was becoming their "thing". Charlie didn't mind, because Claire had smiled at him.
"I see, so since she smiled at you, she's going to forgive you, take you in her arms and whisk you away to some island somewhere?"
He rolled his eyes at Beth, "No, it doesn't, but you've got to see the big picture." They walked pass the children's center where Daniel sprinted towards Charlie, who promptly lifted the young boy on to his shoulders.
Daniel was the youngest of all the children on the island, recently orphaned and frequently picked on. The day after Charlie arrived at the Community he found a small rock on the piano. The next day a second rock appeared. When he asked Beth about it, she huffed, "Are you kidding me? You're here two days and he gives you rocks, but me, the one whose been taking care of Daniel since his father died, I only have six?" Charlie was still confused and Beth filled in the blanks. Daniel was a late bloomer and it took a long time for his speech to develop so he used non verbal forms of communications. He gives little rocks to people he likes. Jo has three rocks. Amy has five, because she gives out candy when children come in for check ups; even Jacob had two rocks.
Charlie had been coming to the community for three weeks now, and had accumulated nearly eighteen rocks. He was the obvious winner.
Charlie started lifting Daniel on his shoulders the fourth day into his arrival. Some of the "big boys", none of his students, thankfully, were teasing Daniel calling him "bad luck" and refusing to let him play with them. causing poor Daniel to burst into tears. Beth was the one who found him crying in his corner and brought him to Charlie.
"What's wrong, Little Man?" Little Man had become Daniel's new nickname.
Between the sniffling, Daniel was able to say he wished he was bigger. Charlie told him age and size were overrated, but the world does look different when you can see it better. Charlie promptly lifted Daniel up and placed him on his shoulders and it became his new home when they walked anywhere.
Charlie was still beaming from his early morning encounter with Claire. "Hi, Mr. Charlie! You seem SUPER happy today."
Beth, Charlie and Daniel walked towards the music room. "Well, Little Man, I'm having a good day."
"Miss Claire smiled at him." Beth rolled her eyes.
Daniel lifted Charlie's face up so he could look down at it and smiled brightly. 'Mr. Charlie, that's the BEST NEWS EVER!"
Beth's eye rolls became larger as Charlie stuck his tongue out at her, "See, he sees the BIG picture."
"Whatever."
Once they were in the music room Daniel ran to the piano bench where Charlie stored his crayons and paper and started to draw. Both adults lingered in the doorway.
Charlie cleared his throat, "You know I was thinking about writing again…"
Beth smiled, "I'll see if I can get you some paper, a notebook, maybe." They watched the child color, "What made you change your mind, a few days ago you were all, "We're not getting off this island, what's the point.""
He shrugged, "I don't know, hope, maybe."
The morning was filled with children coming and going, taking lessons, butchering classical music. Daniel sat on the ground perfectly content, drawing.
"Hey, Little Man?" Charlie sat next to the child.
"Yes, Mr. Charlie?"
"Do you think I have stupid hair?"
The child tapped his finger to his chin, "Nope, but I think you look like a lion."
"What?" Charlie was taken back.
Daniel put his chubby hands to Charlie's face and petted his beard. ""You've got a bushy mane."
"But that makes me look cool, right?"
"Nope it makes you look scary, but I like you anyway." The child returned to his drawing. Charlie sighed and knew what he had to do.
Later on, Charlie found Kate on the beach. "Hey, I need a favor."
She looked up from her magazine from the seventies, "Oh really? I seem to recall asking you for shampoo and being denied."
He pulled from his pocket, "I don't have shampoo, but I do have deep conditioning miracle treatment." Her eyes grew wide as she reached for it, Charlie wiggled his eyebrows, and 'It's supposed to make your hair, soft, shiny and manageable".
"What do you need?"
"A hair cut."
"How short?"
"Not Locke, short but a little longer than Jack short. I want it kinda styled a little in the front," he said with confidence. It had been the way he had worn his hair, pre Driveshaft fame. It was the only way he felt confident, like his true self.
"Go wet your hair, I'll get scissors."
Kate yelled at Charlie because he chose the exact moment she began cutting his hair to get creative and use his lap to write lyrics.
"You stopped writing a while ago, what made you start back up?" He didn't answer, mostly because he didn't to look like a dork. But he was extremely grateful she didn't ask why he stopped writing.
But she continued to pry, "So what's up with this sudden interest in your hygiene?"
"A three year old told me I look like a lion."
"Um, ok?" She snipped his hair and let it fall onto the beach. "So there's no girl?"
Charlie didn't answer but used an old standby he learned from watching an American Television show called "The West Wing," misdirection, change the subject. He picked up the bottle of conditioner and squeezed it into his hand. A white gooey blob, plopped onto his hand, Charlie began to giggle. "You know what this looks like?"
Kate looked down, "EWE!"
He put the rest back in the bottle, "Gee, sure hope it's really conditioner."
"We could always find out on your hair." Kate pushed his shoulder.
Charlie smiled and laughed, "But we won't, right?"
She laughed, "I dunno know, it's still early." It was nice to see Charlie laughing and smiling again, Kate thought to herself. Moments of peace, pleasure and joy were rare on this island. The water collided with the beach and the sun was setting giving the sky a red tint.
"You're done." Kate proclaimed. She walked around him to admire her work. He looked so different, younger but more mature, almost like what he had looked like when they first crashed, but he had changed so much. His scar was no longer hidden by his bangs and a smaller scar on his cheek seemed to shine in the fading sun. His eyes were still grey blue and filled with sadness and pain. She smiled, "You look good. But I think you should shave."
"That was the next step. I need to lose my mane." He smirked. His eyes looked passed Kate out to the water again as he tightened his grip on his paper.
"I think you should trim with the scissors first and then shave it, otherwise…"
"Gee, thanks Kate, because I haven't been shaving since I was fifteen."
Moments of peace and laugher were rare and frequently interrupted. Locke appeared from the Jungle, "Charlie, we seem to have some visitors."
Charlie turned around slowly and a pit formed in his stomach, two boys, Josh and Jason emerged behind Locke. Both boys were taking lessons from him, and there was only one reason they would be here.
"Hi! Mr. Charlie we came to visit you!" Josh bellowed.
Charlie turned white a blend of panic, fear and rage combated for control of his body, "You came by yourself?"
Josh nodded proudly, not fully understanding the complexity of the situation. Charlie rushed over to them, "It's getting dark, what were you thinking." His fist started to shake.
"We wanted to see you and all your friends." Josh shrugged. It was at this point Charlie noticed the younger of the two brothers, leaning on the older with one leg bend back slightly.
"Jason, what happened to your leg?" Charlie approached the six year old.
"He fell." Josh answered. Charlie's rage was unable to be contained.
He snapped, "You're his older brother, you're supposed to protect him. That's what older brothers are supposed to do." His own personal demons and scars overwhelmed him.
"Charlie." Kate called out to him softly, reminding him, he was talking to a child.
Charlie sighed and picked up the younger boy while looking at Locke, "Can you get Jack?"
It was the time of the day when the fires were lit, the sunlight was fading fast. He brought the boy towards one of the fires.
"Where does it hurt, Jason?" He asked tenderly, Josh lingered but followed behind.
Jason's voice was soft, like he had been crying, "On my knee and ankle."
Sure enough, a scraped knee and a swollen ankle. Charlie looked, "This isn't so bad, when I was a kid my whole leg fell off."
Jason smiled and started to giggle, "No way."
"Yep, I had to hop everywhere; it was really hard to play kickball." Charlie used a voice he only used for the kids.
Eventually curiosity started to take hold on the rest of the camp. People started to come over.
"So these are "Other" kids huh? They look pretty normal." Sawyer commented as he handed a stash of Band-Aids to Charlie and a water bottle. It didn't go unnoticed that Sawyer was not asked to help, but came over under his own free will. It didn't go unnoticed, but it did go on uncommented.
"What were you expecting? Horns, a tail?"
Sawyer shrugged. Josh eyed the Southern up, "Is this the guy you beat up, Charlie? He's a lot bigger then you."
Kate held in her snickers for a long as she could. Charlie shifted uncomfortably. Out of all his kids, Josh has a tendency to speak without thinking. He decided to go for the wise teacher mode instead of the jackass mode, "What did I tell you about fighting?"
Josh sighed, but Jason recited perfectly, "You don't like fights, because someone always gets hurt."
By this time Jack and Hurley had come over. Jack started to inspect the wounded ankle but his mind was trying to place why the words uttered by the strange child, who had most likely lived on the island his entire life, sounded so familiar.
Hurley nudged Charlie in the arm, "Dude, you're teaching these kids morals from "The Karate Kid?"
Charlie grinned but clenched his teeth, "Shut up, they think I'm brilliant over there." And it was true; he would spout of little gems of wisdom from Hollywood. The children and most of the adults thought he was a genius.
When Mr. Echo approached, the boys declared him to be the largest man in the world, as their jaws dropped. Jack followed behind Mr. Echo and started to tend Jason's ankle.
Goosebumps started to form on Jason's skin, and Charlie provided the child with his hoodie. The shirt was so large the boy could swim in it, the arms hung down to his ankles.
"Mr. Charlie, can I see Miss Claire and the baby?" His eyes were wide and watery.
Charlie shook his head, "No. The baby's sleeping."
"No, he's not, they're right over there." Hurley pointed to the tree line where Claire had been watching intently. Charlie glared at Hurley. He didn't want Claire to think he was irresponsible, well, no more than what she already thought.
The little boy didn't whine, but asked again is a sweeter voice, "Pllleeeease Mr. Charlie, we came soooo far just to see her."
Charlie sighed; knowing a six-year-old defeated him. "Hurley, can you ask Miss Claire if she will could come over here meet this gentleman?" Hurley nodded and disappeared. Charlie leaned in and went over the ground rules with the child, "You can't hold Aaron or poke him in the face." The boy rolled his eyes, he already knew that. "You will be respectful to Miss Claire."
"Yes. Mr. Charlie." The boy nodded. Claire and Hurley returned. There was a moment when Charlie made brief eye contact with her, and muttered thank you under his breath. He didn't linger, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable.
Jack approached, "You know we need to take these kids back."
Charlie nodded, "I know, the sun's setting, we'll need torches, a small party of four. I don't want to travel out there unarmed, so we'll need the handguns from Sawyer. I want to leave in five minutes."
Jack wasn't sure how he felt with Charlie giving the order, but in this situation he was the expert. Kate volunteered to go with Charlie. Jack would have refused but he knew she was just going to come anyway. She was also the only one who could get the guns from Sawyer.
Charlie turned his attention to Josh as soon as he comment, "Mr. Charlie, I'm so cold my nuts are going to fall off."
All color drained from Charlie's face as the entire camp stared at the boy, then at Charlie. Sawyer, who was in the process of coming out of his tent, went back in cracking up.
Charlie prompt corrected Josh, "First of all, that's physically impossible. They don't fall off, they shrink in, but that's something you need to talk to your dad about. Second, I didn't teach you that and I would thank you not to talk like that in front of my friends. Thirdly and most importantly, you do not EVER speak like that in front of ladies. Do you understand?"
The boy wasn't sure why he was wrong, but he had never seen Mr. Charlie like this before. "Yes, sir."
Sawyer handed Jason his sweatshirt. The boy's face soured, "It smells funny."
"Well, a boar did pee on it."
Kate was disgusted, "You mean you haven't washed it since then?"
"No, Freckles I can't get the smell out. I've been using your shampoo…"
"WHAT!"
Meanwhile, Jason touched Aaron's cheek gently. "He's so soft." He commented to Claire. She smiled down at the child. "Is Mr. Charlie the dad?"
She shook her head, "No, he's not."
Jason frowned, "Oh that's too bad, Mr. Charlie's a good daddy. He's been looking after Daniel. No one wanted to play with him because they thought he was bad luck, but now that Mr. Charlie looks out for him, he cries less and I like playing with him."
Charlie called over to Jason as he walked towards them, wanting to give Claire fair warning he was coming near. "Jason, you ready, bud?"
Jason smiled, "Bye, Aaron and Miss Claire."
"Bye Jason, nice to meet you." She smiled kindly at the child as he hopped away.
Charlie lifted the child on his back; the long walk would have put too much a strain on Jason's ankle. "You're right Mr. Charlie! Miss Claire IS the prettiest woman in the whole camp!"
Charlie ears turned red and hot with embarrassment. "Come on, let's go."
Claire turned away from Charlie, hiding her smile.
Kate lead the way, fire in hand, Charlie with Jason on his back followed with Josh holding the torch. Sawyer and Jack followed behind, not commenting.
Charlie looked down at Josh, who made eye contact, "Mr. Charlie, don't you think Miss Kate has a nice butt?"
Charlie promptly smacked the ten year old in the back of the head, "that's another thing you don't say in front of a lady."
The boy looked confused, "But Mr. Charlie how will she know, if I don't tell her."
Snickering started from the two men behind Charlie, "Gee, Freckles isn't it nice to know you have options out there?" Sawyer smirked.
"I think you should be ashamed that a ten year old has said nicer things to me than you have." She grumbled.
Flickering lights in the distance caught Charlie's eye, "Great, Beth's gonna kill me." In a matter of minutes two groups converged into one. Beth, Jo, Amy and a man Charlie had seen before, but had never spoken to, approached them in the darkness.
"Hey Charlie, nice hair cut," Amy pointed out, as Charlie slid Jason off of his back. He touched his hair, forgetting what seemed so important a few minutes ago.
"Yeah, Charlie you look hot!" Jo winked at him, but her eyes scanned the other two males with interest.
"But it just draws more attention to your big ears." Beth laughed.
Charlie cocked one eyebrow, "Do you what's cute about you, Beth? Not a bloody thing."
"That's just 'cause you're a loser." She playfully gabbed.
"Do you know what would be great? If you did your job once and a while because this way kids wouldn't be escaping out of the camp." Charlie returned.
She frowned and in a tone Charlie was unaccustomed to she spoke, "I'm sorry, Charlie, I screwed up."
He put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, no harm, no foul. Be safe going home." He watched as his friends disappeared into the jungle, before turning back.
"Hey, who's the tall Zena chick?" Sawyer asked.
"That's Jo. She the oldest of the sisters, the sluttiest or at least that's what her sisters say, and the leader of hunting parties." Charlie stated without much thought.
"That Amy one is pretty cute." Jack added wistfully. Kate huffed, not enjoying this conversation at all.
"She's the head doctor over there. She's been married for three years and their trying for a baby." Charlie caught Kate's eye and smirked, giving her as much support as he could.
Jack seemed disappointed but a new question popped in his mind, "So Beth's pretty cool, you tapping that ass?"
Charlie stopped dead in his tracks. Sawyer's eyebrows were in the middle of his forehead. Kate started to giggle.
Charlie spoke first, "Um, Jack do you know what that means?"
"Sure." He shrugged, "I learned a new phrase and I was dying to put it into a sentence."
Charlie rubbed his temples as he continued to walk, pushing leaves out of his face. "No, I am not "tapping that ass," as you so delicately put it. We're just friends."
"I don't know VH1, but she seems to be pretty into you." Sawyer knew he was treading on a dangerous path, but his only fear was that Jack or Kate didn't see how dangerous it was.
Jack didn't, "You know, maybe you should get over your crush on Claire and try something with Beth." Jack was far too blunt with his delivery. Charlie could not hide his feelings of betrayal on his face.
Kate hissed at Jack and Sawyer headed back to the beach, alone. Charlie headed towards the hatch, "Um, I'm gonna finish shaving. Whose has hatch duty tonight?"
"Sayid and Ana Lucia." Jack stated, still not sure why Kate was mad at him.
Charlie though it over, "That sounds like trouble. Maybe I'll give one of them the night off and stay in the Hatch tonight."
Charlie walked towards the Hatch. Bitterness filled his mouth when he thought about Jack's comment. But still there was a level of logic. Should he give up on Claire? Move on? In the darkness of the night, he could think of no reason stay.