Author's note: I don't love this chapter- I don't think it came out as well as I wanted it too, the fight isn't as intense as I would like it. I wanted you to know, Beth wasn't in the original draft of this chapter, but since you guys seem to like her so much I added her in. The only parts I think is funny is tree scenes. Something about them makes me giggle- I think its Sawyer. By the way Sid Vicious is the lead singer of the Sex Pistols, a band I assume Charlie would be into. Also in song from the last chapter was Macy's Day Parade by Green Day. Sorry I suck. By the way there's a funny little ditty at the end of the chapter, consider it an extra on the DVD.

Lauren- Your feedback was amazing and you brighten my day.

Jarlie- Sorry, but it wasn't a typo, its the main theme to this chapter

Lostjunkie-you'll get a lot more Charlie angst- fear not!

thanks for all your feedback!

Charlie was in the middle of packing his overnight bag when Claire and Aaron approached his tent.

"Nice morning, isn't it?' Claire called.

Charlie looked up at the cloudless sky. "Sure is."

"I guess you're spending the night with the Others tonight?"

"Yep."

"I've been thinking."

"Yeah." Charlie was looking for his toothbrush. For a man with so few possessions, how did he keep losing things?

"I think we should have a fight."

Charlie stopped, suddenly the toothbrush wasn't important. A pit started to form in his stomach, he felt the blood drain from his face, "What?"

"You heard me Chahlie; we should have a fight, a nasty one. Tomorrow, when you get back."

"What?"

"Have a good time tonight. Tell Daniel I liked the picture he drew for me. Give everyone my hellos," Claire walked away and waved as she left.

"What?" Charlie's jaw was a little agape. He couldn't understand. Things were going well, they weren't perfect, there were still moments of awkward tension, but still everything between he and Claire were light-years better. Why would she possibly want to have a fight? He came to a conclusion as he trekked through the jungle to find Jack.

Jack wasn't alone; Mr. Echo, Hurley and Sawyer were in the jungle with him. Sawyer was sitting with his back against a tree, reading.

Charlie scratched his head, "Are all woman bloody nutters?"

Hurley stopped chopping, "I heard all the words he's said and yet when you string them together in a sentence, it means nothing to me."

The comment went ignored; Charlie studied the men attempting to cut down a three hundred year old tree. "That's not going to work; the tree is just going to get stuck on the other trees."

"That's what I told them, VH1, but the Doc seems to think he's got a plan." Sawyer didn't even look up from his book as he spoke.

Charlie asked his question again, "Jack, are all women nuts?"

Jack paused for a moment, "In my experience, yes." He questioned Charlie, "What's all this about?"

"Claire scheduled a fight with me when I get back tomorrow."

All activity stopped, even Sawyer looked up from his book.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, she's nuts."

Charlie's growing anxiety wasn't eased by Jacob's response either, "Look I'm the father of three daughters; I think all women are certifiable." After consulting with the two men Charlie admired and receiving only validation but not comprehension, he turned to the Little Women. After his long day of putting up walls with Michael (who also believed Claire was insane), teaching music and putting Daniel to bed, he sat at a metal kitchen table with the women watching them drink beer. He on the other hand, was drinking grape juice from one of Daniel's zippy cups. Charlie had made a promise to Claire, but since he wasn't sure about her opinion of beer he opted to play it safe and stay away from it.

The women all had differing opinions, but all agreed on one level that Charlie should have a fight with Claire.

Beth sipped her beer, "Come on, after the fight you can have make up sex."

"What IS your obsession with make up sex?" Charlie finally asked.

"It's the best sex there is, passionate, hot, not out of habit or ritual. Great stuff, you know."

"I dunno know."

"Charlie you have had make up sex before, right?"

Charlie drank his juice and avoided eye contact.

"OH MY GOD! You haven't. What? Did you just break up with them as soon as you had a fight?"

Charlie looked at the fake wood paneling on the metal table. Amy leaned in and questioned farther, "Charlie you've had a girlfriend, a long term commitment before, right?"

When he didn't answer right away, Beth started to laugh. "Oh, you're a virgin!"

Charlie sat up straight and slammed his fist down, "I've had more sex in one week then most men have in a year. I was a rock star!"

Beth rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, DriveSHAFT, I know. I'll never understand why men associate their sexual prowess with their identity. No, Charlie you're a relationship virgin."

This was true. Charlie had been friends with women, and had plenty of sex with others, but the two lines had never been blurred. He knew fights lead to break ups and he had almost lost Claire once before. His brain understood facts and those were facts. But a fight with Claire was an unknown and that he didn't like.

The subject was changed when Jo saw Charlie was uncomfortable and one by one the sisters left. Jo, did linger around, "If you tell me about Sawyer, I'll tell you WHY Claire wants to fight."

Charlie sat up from the slouch he had been in most of the night. "His real name is James something; it's a car, Toyota, Honda, Chevy, BMW…." Charlie rattled off.

"Ford?" Jo tried.

"Yeah, that's it!" Charlie raised his eyebrow, "hey, if you spent most of your life on this island, how do you even know about cars?"

She rolled her eyes, "Henry Ford invented the assembly line. Keep going."

"Only Locke calls him by his real name. He likes to read, but mostly it's to keep his brain busy. When it's not, he comes up with evil plans to steal guns and stuff. He has an odd value system, but it's hard to pinpoint."

"What about woman?"

"He seems to be into Kate, but I don't know if it is because they have a deep rooted connection, or that she's a kindred sprit or that he doesn't want Jack to have her. Now, why does Claire want to fight?"

"She feels guilty; you just accepted her back without question or reason. She wants you to yell at her, vent. So all you wounds can heal. To deal with your past so you can move on with your future."

Charlie frowned, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

He crawled into bed letting the fluff and warm encase him. His eyes drifted towards the night stand where his collection of rocks grew daily. Daniel would sometimes rearrange the stones while he was away. Charlie tried to stay awake as long as he could, dreading the coming of the morning.

As if in answer to an unspoken wish, Daniel started to scream. The nightmares were coming less often; he was only waking up once a night, instead of three times. Charlie walked into the room, gently woke the child and cradled him until slumber took hold again. He rubbed Daniel's back, whispering that everything would be alright. His shirt was tear stained and damp when he left. As he trudged back to his room, Charlie thought about how big and frightening the world must be to a three year old, how many unknowns there are. The unknown scared the hell out of him and he was still in his twenties.

The first morning light broke through. On days he stayed in the community, he didn't go for a run. He woke up Daniel, helped him get dressed and ate breakfast with him. There was always something odd for Charlie in this ritual, it seemed so "normal", so mainland. It was such a contrast to what he knew was on the outside of these walls. Daniel smiled at Charlie as he slurped his milk and chomped on his cereal. Charlie, while mentally questioning how the Other's got their supplies, he never out right asked. If they wanted to tell him, they would.

Normally, when he spent the night, Charlie left the community early. Today, however, he lingered. He walked around with Daniel on his shoulders until they came to the valley's edge. He sighed deeply as he handed the child over to Beth. She smiled, "Now fight fair, don't tell her she's fat or anything stupid like that."

Charlie wanted to argue that everyone had lost so much weight, fat wasn't an issue. But he didn't. He hugged Daniel, holding on to something he knew to be true, something that would still be there in the morning.

He walked back slower than usual, only rushing through the neutral area which still caused his stomach to tighten as he trekked through it. He stopped where he found Jack yesterday.

Charlie pointed, "The tree got stuck." In fact, the three hundred year old tree was nearly a perfect 45 degree angle and caught on four trees in its path.

Sawyer looked up from his book. "The Doc's plan didn't work."

"Thank you, Sawyer, for your ever growing aid in the situation." Jack snapped.

Hurley was hanging off the tree hoping his weight to dislodge the tree. Mr. Echo stood in quiet contemplation trying to figure out the riddle of the tree. Jack continued to push at the tree, which would not budge.

Charlie sighed, 'Am I a failure of a man because I've never been in a relationship and it scares the hell out of me to have this ridiculous fight with Claire?"

Sawyer didn't look up from his book, "Not at all, you're still young."

"Is it wrong to want "more" with her, I mean sex isn't the kind of thing you do with someone you care about?" He asked shyly.

All activity once again came to a screeching halt. Sawyer looked up from his book, "Damn Charlie, what kind of freaky shit you into?"

Hurley blinked, "Dude, you are SERIOUSLY Catholic, aren't you?

Jack glared at Echo, "See, this is why religion can be bad." He walked over to Charlie and explained he had nothing to be afraid of. Nothing he was feeling was wrong, but he should take his relationship with Claire seriously and if that meant waiting, that's fine too.

"So it ok if I don't get the make up sex tonight?"

"You're missing out on the best stuff." Sawyer muttered.

Jack slapped Charlie on the back, "Take your time. Hell, that's the only thing there seems to be plenty of on this island."

Charlie hung his head down low as he walked over to Claire. "Can I hold him for a few minutes before we do this?" he asked. She gave him the baby. He spoke in a tone he reserved only for Aaron, "You're mum and I are going to have a loud conversation. It's not about you and I don't want you to be scared…" Charlie stopped and looked at Claire, "Should I tell him good-bye?" It was such an honest question, hitting at the core of his insecurities.

Claire put her hand on his arm. "Charlie, you will still get to see him tomorrow."

"Promise?" He sounded so hopeful. She nodded and took the baby back. She had arrangement with Sun to watch Aaron while this was happening. While Charlie wasn't his father, she didn't want to fight in front of Aaron. Something about it just seemed wrong.

They walked to more private part of the beach. Charlie rubbed the back of his neck, "So how does this work? I mean are there rules, no hitting below the belt or anything like that?"

"Sure, no hitting. Ok I'll start, Sid Vicious is a hack."

Charlie stopped in his tracks, "No, there's no need to be mean."

"Ok fine, you think I'm a terrible mother." She couldn't look at him as she admitted her own insecurities.

Charlie shook his head, "I don't think you're terrible, you just are um, "new" at it. You never planned on keeping him," there was a hint of frustration in his voice, "so you didn't read up on the basics of parenting."

"You resent me for not wanting to keep him." She was amazing at how quickly this was turning bitter and vengeful.

"A family is the only thing I've ever wanted, Claire; I don't understand how anyone could give up a child."

She bit back, "I hate that you're a better parent then I am."

"There's not a whole lot I can do about that." His tempter was rising, his blood raced through his veins. "If you want help, tell me, but don't hold it against me." His voice was rising.

"I don't ever recall asking for you to stick around as much as you did." Her eyes narrowed.

"If you didn't want me around, you should have said something, but that would mean you would have to deal with Aaron all on your own!" Charlie started to find his venom.

Claire knew she was losing this battle and quickly changed tactics as women often do when they fight, "I did just fine what it was just me. Obviously, you couldn't be trusted, you were using again." She went for the jugular, Charlie recoiled, every emotion played out on his face.

All color, blood drained from his face, than he was enraged, crimson. He grabbed her ribs and dragged her into the jungle. "SAWYER!" He screeched.

A few seconds later, Sawyer, Jack and Locke emerged from the wooded area. Charlie's pupils were a pin head in a gray fabric. "Take her!" Charlie yelled, "Take her, and show her the statues under the fern by the oak tree! Show her! Take Jack and Locke too."

"Charlie, you know where it is?" Jack questioned.

"Hell, I knew the combination to the armory. I want you to know I could get it at any time I want, and I want ALL of you to see." He turned to Claire, "There are letters I carved into the bottom of the statues, and they form a word, come back and tell me what the word is." He threw up his hands in aggravation and stormed back to the beach. "I didn't want to have this stupid fight!"

Sawyer sighed, "Let's go."

Twenty minutes later, Claire humbly walked towards, "Promise the word is promise." Charlie didn't look at her, just continued to watch the waves breaking on the shore. "See you were really creative with that. In order to get to the drugs you would have to literally break your promise."

"I don't break promises Claire; men like my brother break promises." Charlie added darkly. It should have hurt him the way it had, he knew Claire assumed he was using. Everyone else had, why should she be any different? Maybe he had hoped she had seen him more than just a druggie. Maybe he wanted her to believe his words. Maybe he wanted her to know how much he given up for her, on faith alone. He would have believed her on faith; didn't he deserve the same kind of respect? Forcing her to see the statues, he felt cheated somehow.

"You hurt me Claire." He admitted, quietly. "When Aaron was sick and you wouldn't let me help, when you shunned me, when I risked everything for you and you wouldn't even look at me. Do you know what hurt most?"

The sky's red hues started to darken. Claire wanted to reach out, but her hands were firmly at her side. "No, what?"

He stayed stationary, focused on the water, trying to control his voice as to not betray his pain. "Locke. You went to Locke for help. I spent weeks hating both of you for that. Why did it have to be him? Is that the kind of man you want?" He broke his contact with the water to glance up at her.

"I don't know." She swallowed.

"He's everything I'm not: mature, calm, he has everything together. He's everything I want to be, and everything I might never become." Pain laced every word.

"Chahlie." She whispered. He stood and shook the sand out from his pants. His anguish was apparent in his eyes.

"If that's who you want to be with, and then go, be with him."

Charlie always had been pretty clear about his train of thought, no matter what. Claire could understand him, but this last comment left her shaken. "'Be with him?' Why would I want that? Locke's like a father to me."

"What? You weren't sleeping with him?"

Horror washed over her face, "Oh god no! Gross! I haven't had sex in well over a year. You think I want my first time back in the saddle to be with a man who as old as my dad!"

A small smile started to form on his face. "Oh."

"Is that why you hated Locke so much? Why you helped Sawyer with the guns?"

That was a different an issue he really didn't want to bring up, he looked shocked. But Claire continued, "Oh please, Charlie everyone knew it was you. Sun even said you were the nicest kidnapper she had ever had… which does make me question how many times she's been kidnapped." Claire added that last part under her breath.

It wasn't a sense of relief that washed over Charlie, but a lifting of the secrets and angry that had been crushing his soul

Claire reached out, and brushed her hand up his arm, "Chahlie, I know I hurt you, far worse then you hurt me. But maybe over time you could trust me again." He faced her, his arms inching around her waist.

"Will you let me still see Aaron?"

She nodded and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Do you even want me around?"

She placed her head on his shoulders, tenderly, "Of course, thanks for asking this time around."

"I still think this fight was stupid idea." He grumbled.

"It had to be done, once we faced our past we can build our future." Her hair tickled his neck.

"We have a future?" Charlie asked hopefully.

"If we don't screw it up before then." She nuzzled deeper into his chest. "Do you want to help me put Aaron to bed?"

"In a few minutes, if you don't mind." As the warm ocean breeze and the stars started to appear in the sky, Charlie held Claire, content he was able to touch her, to share the same air with her, to have some sort of a future with her. Even if it was still undefined and unknown.

SO HERE'S A FUN LITTLE EXTRA-

Claire makes mention of this and it was a scene that was in my head but it really didn't fit in the original scene. It was written BEFORE The WHOLE TRUTH- and now it really doesn't make much sense. But hey, some joke are just for the writer and that's me! So here is it: Sun's kidnapping.

Jack, fearless leader stood in front of the cave's guilt heavy on his mind proclaimed, "From now on EVERYONE share's their secrets."

Hurley shook his head, "No Jack I don't think that's a good idea."

Sun held freshly picked vegetables in her hand, "What's going on?"

Kate frowned, "Charlie might not come back."

Sun thought it over for a second, "That's a shame he was the nicest kidnapper I ever had."

"WHAT!" Jack and Locke said in unison ?

Sun shrugged, "Yeah I knew it was him. He helped me up when I tripped, and he spent the entire time apologizing. He talked to me the entire time, it really wasn't very difficult to figure it out, after all he is the only man with a British accent."

Hurley's jaw dropped and remained open, "YOU EVER HAD! You've been kidnapped more than once!"

"Sure, one I was kidnapped by a Nigerian War Lord, he chopped off my pink toe and mail it to my dad."

Mr. Echo froze aspects of his old life filtering in to his new caused he to question Sun, "How old were you?"

"Ten."

He gulped, "I have to go pray."

"It really wasn't such a big deal, I mean 15 years of therapy and I'm fine. Besides my dad felt awful about the whole thing, he left the mob and bought me a pony, well two, one died mysteriously."

Sawyer spoke, "You don't get out of any of the Asian mafias, it just doesn't happen."

"Sure, it does, my dad did."

"Um no, he didn't." Sawyer shook his head.

Sun touched her face, "but, Jin worked for my father, you don't think he?... Oh Shit I have to go." Sun darted off to the beach.

"So Doc, you still think it's a good idea for everyone to share their secrets?" Sawyer mocked.