Hey, just so everyone knows, I have two important things…one, this story could be a spoiler. I think some people learned that the hard way…sorry! And the other one is just that I don't think Claire and Charlie belong together (except their kiss was very, VERY nice, I must say—crap, another spoiler, I'm shutting up). They're too different and not compatible. So I hope you keep reading, but if you think you can't stand to see them apart, well, I won't be offended if you don't like my story. Now on with it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Lost. But I can still download pictures of the characters!
Chapter Four: Harmony
The Beach
No matter where she was, Kate was always torn.
Usually she was torn over whether or not to run. Everyone always assumed that she ran without thinking, but they were wrong. She always thought first. Still, after thinking it over, she always made up her mind to run. Finally she was on the island, a place where she couldn't run if she wanted to. And she found herself torn over something else.
Jack was the cliché good guy—sweet, committed, goodhearted, and loyal. Kate genuinely loved being with him, because he made her feel safe. She was always at ease around him. But then there was Sawyer, and he seemed to be so much of a better fit for her. He wasn't a cliché anything, but he was definitely a bad boy—tough, mean, and incredibly good-looking, but still having a soft side.
Her brain was screaming Jack, but her heart was screaming Sawyer. Her kiss with Jack had been tender and safe, but her kiss with Sawyer for the inhalers had been passionate and meaningful.
"Whatcha thinking about, Freckles?"
Kate sighed. He had a way with interrupting her thoughts. "Nothing," she lied, since she couldn't exactly tell him she had been thinking about him. "You?"
"Our little miss Claire," he told her. "I think she's becoming Jake's Eve."
Kate shook her head. "No, Jake's with Ellie."
"What, the redhead? No. She's too good for him."
That was another thing about Sawyer: no security. Kate wasn't even sure that he liked her. Well, she knew he liked her in a physical way, but she wasn't sure he wanted to be with her. She told herself he, like everyone else, wanted love, but there were times when his cold ways hit her so hard that she wondered if he was even capable of loving someone. And whatever it was that they had, which certainly wasn't love, didn't restrict him from talking about, liking, or flirting with other girls.
"Well, they're together," Kate said with a shrug. "Ellie told me they've been together since high school."
Sawyer groaned. "Not you, too."
"What?" Kate asked defensively.
"You're becoming a social butterfly with the shipwrecked kids," Sawyer explained. "I don't see how you guys do it. You've spent half your time with me and Jack! How do you have time for them?"
Kate shrugged. "Uh, by using the other half of my time?" she suggested blatantly. She wondered if he was right. Did she spend half her time with him and Jack? She hadn't noticed. She felt like she knew everyone so well that when they were together and apart, the time still ticked by the same way.
"Whatever," Sawyer grunted. "I just don't see how you have the time."
"What else is there to do on this island?" Kate asked.
He grinned. "I could think of a few things," he said suggestively. Kate rolled her eyes, laughed for a second, and got up to leave. She wasn't in the mood to flirt with him when she couldn't get her mind straight. And if her mind wasn't even straight, how was she going to listen to her heart?
The Expedition Survivors' Shelter
Ellie was struggling to remember what G sounded like. She'd always had a good ear, but she'd also had a tuner and a piano handy when she'd been at home. Now she had neither, and she had to search her mind to recall the tone G natural made.
Finally she separated it from G flat and sharp, ignoring the few people scattering around her, listening to see if she'd play any songs. But Ellie didn't like playing songs in front of people, so she kept playing scales until everyone left.
"You know, you have quite a handy ear."
Ellie rolled her emerald eyes. At this point, she was used to Charlie sneaking up on her.
"Hey," she said with a sigh.
"I was serious," he informed her with a smile. "I can't separate a G from an F to save my bloody life. Care to tune mine?"
She looked up to see him holding his guitar hopefully. It was an electric-acoustic, and she was pretty impressed with it. Her electric was worn, and it didn't have much use out here without its amp. So a chance to play a good guitar seemed good to her.
Still, she couldn't bring herself to accept his guitar. She felt like it was a metaphor, and it was like accepting Charlie as a friend. And as much as she liked having him around, she didn't want to admit it. Besides, he had Claire, right? He didn't need her. And she had Jake, whatever that meant. So she shook her head, lowering it back to her own guitar and plucking at it.
"You don't like me," Charlie stated.
Ellie didn't say anything.
"Okay, that's not true," he corrected himself. "You do like me. You just don't want to admit it, for some bizarre American reason, possibly?"
"Whatever reason I have," she mumbled, "it's not American."
He laughed. "Well, whatever grudge you have against me, it shouldn't stop you from playing a little with me, should it?"
Ellie said nothing.
"C'mon," he said with a convincing look. "Back in your old life, wouldn't you have wanted to play with me?" He didn't say it in a stuck-up way, just in a convincing way.
But Ellie couldn't stand it when people assumed how she would act. She didn't want anyone labeling her off or reading into her. That was probably why she said, "You don't know anything about my old life. And then and now I would say, go play your bloody guitar by yourself." She mocked his British accent again on "bloody," but this time it wasn't in a funny way. It was in a way that stung.
The Beach
"I don't get it," Charlie said, walking up to Jake disgustedly. Finally he had found someone he could relate to, and she had brought on a whole new set of questions. "I don't get her."
Jake had seemed to get over being mad at Charlie. He just gave him a quizzical glance, then said, "Oh. You mean Elle."
Charlie nodded. "Yes. I just…" He frowned. "Do you get her?"
Jake rolled his eyes. "Charlie, if there's one piece of advice I can give you, it's to lay off. Ellie isn't like other girls. I don't know what kind of weird British ambitions you have with her, but she's not easy."
"Then why is she with you?" Charlie demanded. "You treat her like sodding dirt!"
Jake's jaw quivered. "You don't know me, and you don't know her. Ellie won't do anything you expect her to. And if you expect her to play her stupid guitar with you, or if you expect her to be your little friend, she won't. The day you expect her not to is the day she will."
"So what, you just decided not to expect her to be your girlfriend, and she was?" Charlie asked. He was persistent for reasons he couldn't explain. He just wanted to understand her. Things were so rocky with Claire, and for once, he wanted a relationship he was in to work.
"I don't have to explain us to you," Jake said coldly.
"But you could. I'm not going to steal your girl, Jake, but she's the only person on this island worth talking to, and I'm sick of not knowing stuff."
Jake sighed. "Fine. We went out on a stupid dare. Ellie did it because everyone said she'd never, ever date a jock. And because of that, she did. On a dare. And it lasted five freaking years. You know why? Because I don't question her. And you're not going to get anywhere with her if you do."
Charlie stared at him for a few seconds. What was wrong with him? He seemed like a normal, decent, civil person until it came to Ellie. Sure, she was a pretty girl, but did she really have such a big effect on him? He didn't seem like he loved her, that was for sure. And yet, whenever he talked with Jake about Ellie, Jake got defensive and acted like he knew all about her.
"You know what?" Charlie asked. "You don't deserve her. Ellie deserves better than you."
Jake snorted. "And you think you're better than me? You're a freaking junkie!"
Charlie glared at him. He wasn't a junkie anymore, and he was getting really fed up with hearing about it. "Later," he said sourly, and left.
Outside Claire's Tent
Jake couldn't figure Ellie out any more than anyone else. His prying had led to him becoming her boyfriend, and once he was, he stopped it. All of it. And now this was where he was.
But was this really what he wanted? Everyone who knew Ellie thought of him as a heartless, sexist pig who had some kind of mind control on her. But he wasn't, and he didn't. He was a normal guy who found a wonderful girl and didn't know how to treat her. But was that such a bad thing? No one knew how to treat Ellie. She was confusing.
He'd liked his first two days on the island because they were different. Not all of them were, of course, because things with Charlie and Ellie were the same as usual. But he'd helped Jack and talked to Kate, and they'd both brought out the good side of him, the side he'd thought was lost along the way. And when he talked to Claire, he'd felt everything light up inside of him. Jake was a normal, decent person. Things with Ellie had just made him look like a complete fool.
Claire, he decided, was his best way out. He wasn't about to break up with Ellie—after five years with the mysterious girl, he didn't think it was possible—but he felt like he was winning back his conscience, his right to end it. Ellie had had some kind of hold on him that was very similar to the hold he had on her. And Claire, out of anyone, had done the best job of pulling him out of it.
"Hey, Jake," she greeted when he opened the flap to her tent. She was cradling Aaron in one arm and dangling a small toy in front of him with the other.
"Hey," he replied. "I was just wondering if you needed anything."
She shook her head. "No, thanks. But if you'd like to talk, I wouldn't mind the company."
Jake smiled, nodded, and sat down beside her. "If you don't mind me asking," he said timidly, "who's the father of your baby?"
Claire rolled her big blue eyes in disgust. "Thomas," she said, "the most insufferable man on the planet."
Jake laughed. That was good. He wasn't too worried about Charlie standing in his way.
No, he reminded himself, it's not that way with her. I'm not that person. It's just with Ellie.
Why was he even with Ellie? Sure, she was good looking, but she had never been his type. They had nothing in common, and it was obvious that she didn't like him much. She gave him "pleasure" now and then, but there were always other girls who could do that.
"So he's not here on the island?"
Claire shook her head. "No, he's not. Remember that psychic I was telling you about?"
Jake nodded.
"I went to him after Thomas broke up with me. He told me that I had to raise the baby or give it to a safe home. He told me about a family in LA and put me on flight 815. He knew it would crash."
Jake raised his eyebrows. "You sure give a boy a lot to take in." He hadn't meant it as a compliment, but he knew that was how it sounded. "I mean, about the psychic," he added quickly.
She laughed lightly. "I know," she said.
"I meant," he added in a flushed voice, "that it's a lot for you to expect me to believe." He didn't say it in a snotty way, but only in a factual way.
Claire nodded. "I know it is. But you do believe it, don't you?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah. For some reason. I guess it's because you look fairly sane and believable."
Claire laughed, and they got to talking about normal things. Jake realized that he always either talked about incredibly bizarre stuff with Ellie, or they didn't talk at all. He loved being able to have a normal conversation with a fairly normal girl.
The Hatch
Kate looked nervously from Jack to Sawyer. They had both walked into the room at the same time, and for some reason, none of them had said a word. Now they were both staring at each other, each wondering what the other was thinking.
It had been at least a minute, and none of them could bring themselves to say anything. Finally Kate spoke.
"Um," she said, "I think we have some issues."
Jack and Sawyer spoke at the same time. Sawyer snorted and asked, "You think?" in a very sarcastic voice, and Jack shook his head and said, "No, we're fine."
Kate nodded. "Yeah, we definitely have some issues."
"Well," Jack said, "I just came to get some medicine for Sun."
"Why?" Kate asked quickly. "Is she okay? Is the baby okay?"
Jack smiled. "Relax," he said. "I just wanted some aspirin or something to calm down her morning sickness."
Kate did relax, but Sawyer just looked amused.
"Women," he said with a shake of his head, and left.
Jack went into the next room for the pills, and Kate was left alone to try to sort out her emotions. The relaxing doctor or the tense con man? She felt like the question was watching her every move.
The Expedition Survivors' Shelter
Ellie's head was spinning. Why was she treating Charlie so cruelly? Why couldn't she play her guitar right? Why did Jake keep leaving? And why hadn't they been rescued yet?
She wondered why she'd been able to play her guitar right when Charlie was around. Was it possible that he calmed her down? Whatever the reason, she wished he'd come back. She knew it was selfish, and she'd treated him like dirt the first few times, but something about him made her yearn for more of him.
As if on cue, a small knock sounded on one of the posts holding up their tent. Ellie smiled, because the tent didn't cover up Charlie's expectant face.
"Hey," he greeted hopefully, holding his guitar in one hand. "I was hoping you'd reconsider."
"Hold on," she said, and played her B again. Sure enough, she was able to recognize the pitch and change the B flat up a half step. Charlie was like a playing charm. She looked up at him with a smile and said, "Okay."
His smile widened as he sat next to her. They both helped each other tune their guitars for a few minutes. Once they were in tune, they simultaneously played some scales.
"What now?" Charlie asked.
Ellie considered. She could ask him to leave. Jake was gone, but he could be back any minute, and she didn't want anything to happen. Jake was still her boyfriend. Charlie was just her band mate, not even her friend yet.
Then again, why should she? Why did everything she do revolve around Jake? Couldn't she do something for herself for once?
Without saying anything, Ellie played something he knew she would recognize: the guitar solo at the beginning of You All Everybody.
Charlie grinned and played with her.
"Sing," she probed.
He shook his head. "I never sang You All Everybody. Just the chorus, and hardly that."
"What, when your brother was hogging the mic in all those concerts?" Ellie asked with a grin. "Yeah, I know. But you know all the lyrics. So sing."
Charlie took a deep breath and let her play to the second stanza. He exhaled, inhaled, and sang.
The few students in the tent all looked up in surprise at the strange imitation of Driveshaft. Charlie's voice was even better than Liam's—it was obvious that Liam sang because of his looks, and Charlie didn't sing because his brother did. But with Ellie playing electric (she didn't have an amp, but it was loud enough), Charlie playing acoustic, and Charlie singing, they sounded amazing.
Once they reached the first chorus, Charlie grinned and nudged her. "I know you know the lyrics, too."
Ellie shook her head. She'd play, but there was no way she'd sing. But when he gave her a look that almost seemed hurt, she found herself covering it up. "Girls' voices suck," she informed him. "Well, except Karen O and Joan Jett. But they're exceptions."
Charlie laughed a genuine laugh and sang the chorus without her. Ellie kept playing and watched him in admiration. She knew he'd had a pretty terrible life, but you couldn't tell by his singing. The way it was with her and her guitar was the way it was with him and the lyrics. He sang them without thinking or breaking, and they flowed off his tongue easily. It was great to see and hear, and by now a crowd was gathering around them from the beach.
Charlie kept singing in the later stanzas, obviously enjoying the crowd. They obviously reminded him of Driveshaft's golden days. Ellie, however, didn't like the crowd. She found herself looking straight down at the dirt, trying to block out all the people she knew but still playing perfectly. Charlie couldn't believe how amazing it was that Ellie was hitting every note perfectly, and she'd never even been in the band. But Ellie looked like she did it with every song. She probably did.
By the second chorus, her head was up, sending small smiles to the crowd. Charlie smiled at the crowd, too, which now consisted of scattered 815 survivors he couldn't name, plus Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Michael, Eko, Rose, and Bernard. Almost all the college students were there, except Jake. Claire, Charlie noticed, was also gone, as well as Kate, Jack, and Sawyer.
Now the crowd was clapping along with the song. Charlie felt exhilarated, a warm feeling he hadn't felt in months, while Ellie looked embarrassed. Still, she looked like she was having fun, which was something she almost never felt.
They were halfway through the song. Ellie was smiling, even laughing, and having fun. And, for the first time in months, Charlie was playing and singing the way he used to. The two were creating a harmony that was almost unrecognizable.
Claire's Tent
Claire stopped mid-sentence when she heard music playing in the distance.
"Do you guys have a CD player, or something?" Jake asked in confusion. "Don't those have to be plugged in?"
Claire laughed lightly, her eyebrows still narrowed. "Yeah, they do, so it must be live."
"What, like Ellie?" Jake asked in surprise, turning toward the sound. "No. She's never played that well."
"I was thinking Charlie, actually," Claire said. "But maybe both of them?"
Jake narrowed his eyes. What was with Ellie and Charlie? Couldn't they just both live their separate wannabe-rock-star lives?
"Do you want to go listen?" Claire asked, obviously oblivious to Jake's anger.
He nodded. "Sure," he said slowly. Because as mad as he was at Ellie, he was that intrigued by Claire. So he left with her.
The Expedition Survivors' Shelter
Little did Ellie know, she and Charlie had done a lot more than just play for entertainment. The crowd gathered around them were dancing and clapping, actually having fun, like they were at a real concert instead of a tent on an uncharted island. They felt like they had on the golf course—they could momentarily forget about all the danger on the island and focus on the present: having fun listening to some great music.
But Ellie had to kick herself inside to keep playing when she saw Jake approaching them. He didn't look like he was having fun being caught up in the moment. Her heart felt twisted for two reasons: one, that he was going to be really mad about her playing with Charlie; and two, that he was standing in very close proximity to Claire, who apparently was drawn to him.
And even though Ellie sometimes felt like she would die to be free of Jake, she didn't like seeing Claire replace her in his heart.
Outside the Hatch
Once Kate got out of the back door of the hatch, she saw Sawyer sitting on a tree stump.
"Um," she said, "hi?"
Sawyer turned and nodded at her. "Howdy, Freckles," he said with a grin. "Now shush and listen."
Kate raised her eyebrows and sat down on a stump near him, not saying a word. Her ears finally caught a melody on the wind. She wondered if it was possible…was it really You All Everybody playing in the background? …But Charlie wouldn't play that by himself.
Sawyer grinned, enjoying the moment of harmony between him and Kate, but decided to interrupt it, anyway. "Sounds interesting, huh?" he asked.
Kate nodded. "Yeah, is it live?"
Sawyer nodded. "Oh, yeah. That new little college chick, Ellie, apparently has pop star radar. She's playing with Charlie right now."
"That's great," Kate said with a smile. "That should cheer Charlie up a lot, being able to play."
Instead of saying something sarcastic like Kate expected, Sawyer just nodded in agreement.
After listening to the music for a second longer, Sawyer said, "You know, those young little innocents over there spend a hell of a lot more time in relationships than us old folks."
Kate turned to him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
He shrugged. "Well, it was pretty obvious that Jake was gettin' some from Ellie, but now it's pretty obvious him and Claire are a thing, and you gotta notice the Ellie-Charlie thing. Plus there's another couple—Jenny and someone?—who are engaged, and they're what, twenty-two each? Maybe twenty-four, if they're doctors or whatever, but still."
Kate shrugged. "They're young. They flutter from person to person."
Sawyer shrugged. "Maybe. But we can't decide on anything, now can we, Freckles?"
The song ended, and Kate found herself staring straight into Sawyer's bold blue eyes. She'd been thinking the same thing for weeks, but why was it always her who had to decide?
Sawyer didn't want to pressure her, but he was sick of waiting, too. Still, the look in her soft green eyes gave him hope. He knew she didn't just consider him a friend, and he knew that between him and Jack, it was turning into a war.
The Expedition Survivors' Shelter
The applause wasn't, as Liam had sometimes referred to it, "deafening," but it was still reassuring. Charlie smiled widely as he set his guitar down. He hadn't felt so blissful in so long. But he turned to Ellie, and he didn't see happiness on her face. He saw panic.
"What is it?" Charlie asked, looking at her in a genuinely concerned way. "You sounded bloody brilliant, Ellie. Don't stress it."
Her eyes were on the entrance. Jake and Claire had left, and she was dying to go to Jake and straighten things out.
"Look, Charlie, this was really fun," she said honestly to him, trying to block his eyes from her sight. His cute, cloudy blue eyes looked confused and a little hurt, but mostly concerned, and she wasn't used to anyone feeling that was about her. No one ever did feel that way about her. So what was with Charlie?
"I'll be right back," she promised, and carefully set her guitar next to him. She weaved through the crowd with a fake smile plastered onto her face and left the huge tent. She scanned the beach for Jake, but she couldn't find him. She found Adidas tracks in the beach and followed them to what she assumed was Claire's tent.
Inside Claire's Tent
In the five years he'd been with Ellie, Jake had admired girls and flirted with girls. He'd done many disloyal things to her, but he'd never actually cheated on her—with a kiss, date, or otherwise. But now, staring at Claire from only a foot or so away from her, he felt desperate to. And he could tell she might just want it, too.
Claire wasn't a bad girl. And some things about Jake scared her. But he could commit, she could see that. He was great to talk to, and unlike anyone else on this stupid island, he was normal. The thought of being with someone normal made Claire long to be with him.
"You're Ellie's boyfriend," she said suddenly. It was all becoming almost scary now. Ellie was a nice (but troubled) girl, and Claire didn't want to make her unhappy. This wasn't right.
"Ellie's…" Jake tried to find the right word. Little did he know, Ellie was standing expectantly outside of Claire's tent, listening in on the conversation. "…different," he finished uneasily. "She's not like normal girls, and our relationship's not like normal relationships. I'm not saying it would be right to cheat on her, but I don't think she'd be surprised. What we have…it's kind of like it's for lack of something better, you know?"
Claire did know what he meant, but like he said, it didn't justify cheating on her.
"And I've tried breaking up with her. To be fair, I know she's tried breaking up with me. But we're in this situation where…I don't know…where neither of us physically can. And I'm beginning to think the only way we can beak up is because of another girl. Or boy, if the case may be. Besides, you saw her with Charlie. She's thinking about this kind of thing, too."
Claire looked like she was at least partially convinced. "So you're saying you'd tell her, if we…did something?" she asked slowly.
Jake nodded. "Yeah, I would. And it would finally be…" he inched his face closer to hers "…over."
Their lips joined for a kiss, and Ellie felt her heart snapping. She hadn't loved Jake, but he'd been all she had. And, like many people before him, Jake had betrayed her.
END OF CHAPTER FOUR
If you liked it, could you review? (puppy dog eyes) Sorry. I can't stand it when people are obsessed with reviews, but they make me happy, and if I'm happy, I write better, right? Heh…(grins) So review!
Next chapter will be very juicy…so be sure to check it out! There will be a minimum of two (2!) kisses, as well as at least one of the sci-fi why-are-they-on-the-island? moments. Plus…(gasp) someone will enter the jungle at the end of the chapter! BUM, BUM, BUM.
Loves,
KiSsBaNgX3
