Author's note: This is my favorite chapter I love the idea but I don't know if I pulled off so let me know. Especially the part with Claire. Sawyer calls Hurley "Chuck" That's a reference to Goonies (one of the best movies of all time) Thanks Lauren for the awesome reviews! You're the best.

The ever present and mounting pressure in Charlie's head was beginning to make him a little dizzy. Jack came to pick Charlie up from the hatch but for some reason Charlie wasn't talking.

Charlie looked different, aside from the haircut and the clean shaven face, he looked pale and horrid. Jack was beginning to get concerned, "You ok man?"

"I'm fine." The truth was, quite obviously, he wasn't. Jack betrayed him last night. He told Charlie to move on and to give on his hope for Claire on the day she had smiled at him. If it had come from Sawyer, or even Kate, the wound might not have been as deep, but Jack was like a brother to him. Jack was going to help him win her back.

The walked in silence towards to The Other's village. The same pit formed in Charlie's stomach as he crossed the "neutral zone." For the moment, he was just grateful he didn't have to cross it last night with the children.

"The kids were cute, you're good with them." Jack called out.

"Hmm, oh thanks." Charlie called back. The pain in his head and behind his eyes throbbed and for a moment he wished a large pointy object would crush his skull to eradicate some of the pressure.

He felt something wet on his upper lip when he saw Beth and Amy walking down the hill towards him.

Amy started to run when she saw Charlie. "Oh my god, are you ok?"

Jack stopped, "Charlie what's going on?" He had been staring at the back of his counterpart's head for the entire walk.

"His nose is bleeding." Beth yelled at Jack, as if it was his fault.

Charlie touched his nose; his fingers became crimson and sticky. He sighed, "Bugger. Its no big deal, it just a sinus infection."

"How long have you had it?" Amy asked and Jack followed a half a beat later.

"I don't know, a week maybe two. Look I snorted heroin for years, I rotted out my nose, and I'm used to getting them every month." He sighed with frustration, but he looked hopefully at Jack, "but this is my first one since being on the island, that's a good thing. It means my body is healing, right?"

Jack nodded, but he was still uncertain. "Sure Charlie."

"I just need a good night's sleep I'll be fine."

Amy shook her head as she felt his forehead, "Nope, you have a fever you need antibiotics, fluids and more rest then your getting. You're staying here tonight, no working on the house." Amy diagnosed.

Beth started to lead Charlie up the hill. He had lost the battle. There was no need to fight the women any more.

Jack turned away wondering if maybe this would be the last time he saw Charlie.

Beth showed him to his sleeping quarters, "I'm down the hall, Daniel sleeps in Amy's old room and Jo, well, she comes and goes." Beth hesitated before opening the door. Charlie stopped her.

"In the book The Little Women, there were four sisters; here on the island there are three." He said softly. "Is the Meg's room?"

A sad smile inched it's way across her face, "Unlike my fictional counterpart, I don't have any interest in music, which was all Meg's thing. She was trying to teach Jo some cords on the piano, but when she died, all the music stopped. Until you came here, Charlie."

Charlie pushed the door open. It was just a bed room, nothing amazing, dusty or haunting. But the things that caught Charlie's eye were the bed, the pillows, comforters and blankets. His eyes grew wide, "I'm never gonna leave."

Jack's thoughts were heavy as he walked slowly to the caves. He preferred the caves when he wasn't in the hatch; the beach was too crowded and hot. But apparently everyone else thought that, too. Today the caves were filled with his friends.

Sayid was fiddling with a radio, Hurley was reading on a rock, Kate was cutting Sawyer's hair, which Jack could have done without. Mr. Echo was hacking away at his trees and Locke was filling up water bottles.

Jack wanted to make a comment to Sawyer about being jealous because Charlie had a hair cut last night, but didn't. Instead he cleared his throat, "Charlie's not coming home tonight."

Suddenly all action stopped, reading, hair cutting, fixing the radio, collecting water, even the rhythms of chopping. All eyes watched Jack, demanding a further explanation. "Charlie's been fighting a sinus infection; Amy's going to treat him there. He'll be back in the morning. I think."

It took a few seconds to fully register. "It's just one night, no big deal, right?" Hurley said, "Hey, guess what? Kate's horse was one of the ten different monsters on this island." He held up his survival manual as if it were proof.

"You've had that book for, like, three weeks and you're just NOW getting to the chapter about monsters. You would think that would be the first chapter you would read, Chunk" Sawyer scoffed.

"I was reading it in alphabetical order. M for Monsters is in the middle of the book. Anyway, there's a monster that looks like other animals, so I'm assuming that it was Kate's horse. There is one that when you look at it," he read from the book, 'provided the witness with a vision of beauty and hope when hope is lost.'"

Locke nodded, "Yeah, I think that's the one I saw."

"There's a big ass sea turtle that comes on shore once and a while. Hey, has anyone else seen any monsters?"

Mr. Echo spoke up, "I saw one, and it was black, swirling smoke. I saw a vision when I looked into it."

The ever present smile fell from Hurley's face, "Dude, was there anyone else with you when you saw the 'Swirling Mist of Doom Monster'?"

"Charlie was in a tree, but it was not near him. He should have been safe."

Hurley shook his head, " No! No! No!" He read from the book. "'while the Swirling Mist of Doom Monster is not harmful to anyone one who looks directly into it, there are residual effects to someone who sees the monster within three hundred yards. Often hallucinations of a violent and emotional natural will occur. Erratic behavior is quite common. The witness should be quarantined for seventy two hours after encountering the monster. Warning! Hallucinations will become more intense if an emotional trauma occurs'."

Silence took over the cave.

Sayid swallowed, "When did this occur?"

Mr. Echo's voice was thick but uneasy, "The day I crushed the Virgin Mary statue in front of Claire."

Silence.

Kate spoke next, "Didn't he say he was hallucinating?"

"But how could we trust him, he was hiding heroin?" Locke quickly defended.

"How did he get it in the first place?" Jack questioned.

Sayid sighed, "I took him past the air plane when we where rescuing Aaron."

"Why would you do that ?" Jack screamed.

"Well, if I knew he was a drug addict I would have chosen a different path!" He bellowed back.

Sawyer stood up, "Well, did anyone know that Charlie was a drug addict and about the heroin on the island." He eyed but Locke but didn't speak.

"Why was he carrying it around with him?" Kate questioned

"If I had known there was heroin on the island in little Virgin Mary statues, I would have told you. It's quite common for recovering addicts to hide the drug they were addicted too. It tends to make them feel safe." Jack recited bitterly.

"He could have been using, we don't know for sure." Locke's face was growing paler by the second

Sawyer snapped, "Oh come on! He wasn't using. None of the statues were broken and there was no way he could have gone through that much heroin without any of us noticing."

Guilt was the new emotion of the moment. They had all jump to conclusions, assumed the worst of him.

Hurley cleared his throat, "When he comes back tomorrow well just apologize and everything will be cool again."

Sawyer clenched his fists. "What makes you think he's coming back?"

The words were low, quiet and afraid, "Because we're his friends." Hurley tended to sound like a child whenever he confronted Sawyer.

Sawyer laughed "You think you're his friends? He needed you ONCE and you didn't have helped him. Sure he screwed up, but we've all screwed up." He eyes peered at the group, "Charlie made a mistake, but it didn't get anyone hurt? Jack, you wouldn't let Ethan take Claire and now Steve's dead."

"Scott." Hurley corrected.

Sawyer continued, "I'm not saying it's the same thing, but someone died because you made the choice. We buried Boone because of someone's mistake." Sawyer's eyes peered into Locke's. He threw his hands up in the air, "Hell, Ana Lucia punched me and shot Shannon. We're still cool with her. But Charlie freaks out one night and you label him as a misfit. Here's the best part about this. He never lied about who he was before he was on the island, he was the only one who told the truth and didn't hide his past. And in this crowd that's gotta count for something. The way I see it, one of us here has screwed up a LOT more then Charlie did, but since the Brit never killed a boar you painted him as a leper"

Locke turned and left the cave, Sawyer's words were hitting to close to home and playing on too many of his insecurities.

Kate hissed at Sawyer, "Sawyer, how could you say that?"

"Oh Freckles, that was nothing. Charlie's not coming back because the only reason he has is Claire, and she's too ungrateful care. Look at what he's done for her. He was dead when you and the doctor found him in the tree."

Jack's head spun around as if being controlled by a spring. He and Kate had sworn not to tell anyone Charlie was dead ,and by some miracles he came back. Jack had kept his end of the bargain but apparently Kate did not. Sawyer took one step closer, "Charlie isn't like you and me, Freckles. He wasn't a killer before he got to this island, but now, he'll be standing in hell with both of us for Claire's sake. He stayed with her and helped her regain her memory. He ran into the jungle to save her baby and got one hell of a head wound in the process, Gee Sayid, how did you treat such a wound?"

Sayid looked away, knowing the treatment was worse than the injury. Sawyer turned his attentions to Jack, "A man doesn't go through all that if he has a "crush" on a chick. Would you? Seriously Doc, would you have gone through all that. No, you would have done the same thing I would have. Nailed her and left her, by now."

"Go to hell, Sawyer." Jack yelled, but it fell flat of any true emotion. He hated when Sawyer was right.

"The facts are, he's paying off a debt that isn't even his and you jerks are making it worse for him. How's your conditioner, Kate? Good use of the antibiotics Jack. Gee, how long was Charlie sick? You guys aren't his friends, so don't act like it. Claire the worst out of all you. He ran into the jungle and saved her child twice but she's too much of a bitch to see it."

A twig snapped. Aaron's whimpers echoed in the caves. Claire stood, pale, eyes watering as if caught in a trance.

"Claire." Hurley said as he stood and approached her.

She seemed to shake out of her trance but her voice quivered as she spoke. "I needed to speak to Jack, but I can come back." She turned and left.

Jack would have killed Sawyer with his bare hands but Kate's slap to his face hurt Sawyer more. They followed behind Claire in a feeble attempt to comfort her.

Sayid glared at Sawyer, "You knew she was there."

Sawyer shrugged, "So what if I did; Locke was trying to steal my "asshole of the year" award." He took a deep breath. By now most of his audience had left, "I don't like anyone of you, but I respected Charlie."

The rest of the day, people were on edge. As much as Hurley, Kate and Jack tried to comfort her, Claire wouldn't hear it. She simply sat holding Aaron focusing on nothing in particular.

"He's full of crap, Kate. Don't let his words get to you." Jack attempted kindness, but still hurt, she would defend Sawyer.

She lost her patience, "Look, Jack. Sawyer's a lot of things, but he doesn't lie." She walked away, "He doesn't lie because the truth will always hurt more."

As the sun's light left the sky, so did Hurley leave Claire's side. She put Aaron to bed, but it had lost a lot of the meaning it once had. Charlie used to sing to the baby, tell Aaron stories to make her laugh. She missed him; it was hard to admit even to herself. There was a void in her life, the monotony of everyday life wasn't filling. She tried to fill it with contempt for Charlie; he had lied to her, after all. But hating him wasn't as satisfying as she thought it would be.

Her anger was slowly digressing, dissipating. She remembered all the little things he had done for her, because when it came down to it, life was filled with the little things. He always made sure both she and the baby had food first, before he would eat. He had a steady stock of diapers always ready.

Still, Charlie had done so much more for her.

He had saved her life.

He had saved her baby's life.

Most importantly, he was restoring her faith in men.

She went to bed, alone and cold on the sand would wake up the next day in the same way Her mood darkened with each passing moment.

He was scarred because of her.

He killed a man for her.

He died for her.

She always assumed that when she was finished being mad, he would be there and come home.

She never realized how close she came to losing him before.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, she realized she did lose him.

He promised her so many things.

He promised she would always be safe.

He promised she would never wake up alone.

He was just another man, who made her promises and broke them.

Her birthday was today. There had been late night promises of lavish gifts and peanut butter desserts. She lay back in her bed with Aaron safely away in his crib. She dug in the sand, until she reached the cold layer with her fingers. She found what she was looking for, a shell, ornate, simple and perfect. Charlie had found it for her three days after Aaron was born; he told her he would make it into a necklace and she would be the envy of the every woman on the island. This was the only thing she kept after she kicked him out. She slept beside it and only dug it up when she ached for him.

She looked over at the crib and mentally cursed Charlie. The shell was, to her, a piece of the life she had with Charlie. Because of it, she and Aaron never woke up alone.. Stupid Charlie, keeping his promises even after he was gone. She picked up her child and went for a walk.

There was an explosion of glee from the beach. Kate was the first to look up and see; she sprinted towards him and threw her arms around him, "CHARLIE! YOU'RE BACK!"

Hurley and Jack were the next one's to join in the glory. "Dude, we missed you."

"Are you feeling any better?" Jack questioned.

"Not really, I didn't get much sleep." Charlie admitted. "Here" He pulled two boxes from the bag he was carrying. "I brought everyone cookies, there's enough for everyone to have two." Suddenly there was a tidal wave of survivors.

Locke emerged from the jungle, rubbing the back of his head, "Charlie, I think I should apologize to you… I had no right to punch you or doubt your word."

Charlie looked at Locke like he had grown wings overnight. "Um, don't worry about it. I punched Sawyer."

"No Charlie, I was very wrong and it's a big deal."

Charlie rolled his eyes, "Fine if you feel really bad about it, take one of the cookies at the bottom, they have eggshell in them." Charlie explained to Jack, "See, letting a three year old break eggs turns out to be a bad idea." He handed Locke two of the egg shell cookies, "Seriously what's going on here?"

"When you were gone, lots of things fell into place." Jack patted Charlie on the back.

"Sawyer said you weren't coming back." Hurley added.

"Sawyer's a wanker. Why wouldn't I come back? You guys are my friends, my family. Besides, all my stuff's here." Sawyer came over slowly and Charlie called out to him, "Why are you filling these good people up will such bollocks? Come get a cookie and your sweatshirt."

Sawyer smirked, "Good to have you back." Although Charlie wasn't sure if he was talking to him or the sweatshirt. Sawyer took a deep breath in, "It smells so, so clean, like vanilla and lavender."

Charlie smiled, "I know. My shirt smells good too, I'll tell Jo you said thanks." He turned to Jack, "I need to speak to you. Kate, you're in charge of passing out the cookie. Don't steal any."

The two men walked away from the crowd. "Before you ask, no, I'm not tapping that ass, and that's not the reason why I'm saying this. But I think I'm going to start sleeping there once or twice a week." Jack's face dropped. "Let me explain, there's a kid there, Daniel. He's three years old and his mum died after his birth and his dad passed away recently. Beth and her family have been looking out for him, but it's putting a strain on them. Beth mostly. The kid has nightmares and screams at the top of his lungs. Hence, the strain on the family. Daniel seems to have taken to me, and I can help out. Jack, I'm not asking your permission, I'm telling you it's my duty."

Charlie walked towards his tent listening to people thank him along the way.

On the other side of the beach, Claire had seen the crowd but it wasn't until she saw Jack talking with someone that she knew what it meant. Charlie was back. Tiny butterflies flew around her stomach. She felt heat rush to her face.

She didn't rush towards him but her pace did quicken. She wanted to scream his name, tell him to come home in some romantic way, but his name was stuck in her throat. "Chahlie!"

He stopped at his tent and searched to find the voice. His heart pumped quickly and blood flowed quickly to his cheeks.

He gave her a small insecure wave, "Hi."

She became flustered and nearly choked on her words, "Um, I like your hair" Damn that was stupid. She cursed.

He touched his shorter hair, "Um, thanks."

There were so much she needed to say but she couldn't seem to find be the right words and time was slipping away. "Glad you're back."

He practically glowed, "Thanks. It's good to be home." He went into his tent, mostly out of fear that he was going to do something stupid.

She went back to her tent feeling stupid and small. She was worthless. She placed Aaron back into his crib and looked around her tent. A blue box waited for her on her pillow. She cautiously touched it. There was a note:

Happy Birthday, Claire.

I know you don't want me talking to you or going near Aaron. Understandable.

I just wanted to keep good on my promise.

Enjoy your peanut butter cookies and teething biscuits (That's for Aaron- if he likes them I can make more, just have someone give me the message)

-Charlie