A/N: Hey everyone! I know, it's been awhile. Finally a new story! I re-enacted the flashback scenes, and did not look at a script. I just wrote it from memory. They might not be entirely correct. Not quite sure where I'm going with this story yet, I will figure it out along the way :) A bit of a drama, not at all fluffy. Ratings may change later on...

Summary: Takes place post Claire's birth/pre Claire finding the heroin statues. Claire still has trouble with her amnesia.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Lost and it's characters belong to ABC.

Claire sat in the sand writing in her diary. Every once in a while she would glance up at Charlie as he played his guitar quietly in the distance. She smiled as he cursed to himself after messing up. She shook her head and then looked back down at her diary. As she was writing she had a flashback to before she had Aaron.

Claire was lying on her back, when she heard something. She opened her eyes to find Charlie rummaging through her things. He grabbed one of her bags and began stuffing it with stuff.

"What are you doing?!" she asked sitting up.

"Packing your stuff." he replied as he glanced in her direction with a silly grin on his face.

"...You didn't...peanut butter?" she asked in delight

He smiled and reached for his bag. He pulled out an empty jar and held it out in front of him. Her smile faded as she stared at the jar.

"It...it's empty" she stated.

"What? No it's not. It-it's full. Full to the brim with rich, creamy...mmm....it's the best bloody peanut butter I've ever tasted...." he said as he dipped his finger in the jar and ate the 'peanut butter'. "Want some?"

She giggled and dipped her finger to join him. "Mmm" she said. He stopped and watched her eat the 'peanut butter'. He smiled and continued.

"Claire?.......Claire?........Claire?"

Claire jumped slightly as she looked to her left to see Charlie kneeled down next to her. Hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay? I've been trying to talk to you for about 5 minutes now."

"Oh yeah...sorry I-I just....I'm okay." she replied looking down at his hand.

He slowly removed his hand and cocked his head to the side.

"Are you sure? You don't look okay."

Claire glanced back at the ocean and then back at Charlie.

"Yeah...yeah I'm fine, Charlie. I just...I'm just a little...tired I guess."

He nodded and stood up.

"Well, I can take Aaron for awhile if you to take a nap or something." he replied offering his hand. She smiled and took his hand.

"Thanks...and...you don't have to Charlie, I'm fine. This is how it's supposed to be when you become a mother. No sleep."

He smiled and looked down at his feet as he walked back with her to her tent.

"Well, I can help you know. Usually, there's a dad that's supposed to help you know." he said and then regretted it afterward.

Claire stopped in her tracks and stared at her hands as she spoke, "You're...not his father, Charlie."

He looked up in surprise and raised both his eyebrows.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that--that I can help, you know, like a father--well not like a father, but just help you know."

Claire finally looked up and forced a smile. "Yeah, I know."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Claire took a deep breath, "Well, I have to feed Aaron now. I'll see you later, okay?"

He quickly nodded, "Yeah, okay."

She smiled and patted the side of his shoulder before turning back towards her tent. He sighed and went back to get his guitar. He brought it back to his tent and decided to take a nap.

Later on...

Charlie was sitting by a fire alone, eating his dinner. He didn't even notice when Claire sat down until she spoke.

"Hey."

He looked up and smiled, "Hey"

"I uh...thought I'd give you some company."she said taking a bite of her food.

"Thanks." he replied and continued to eat. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Claire broke the silence.

"I'm...I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean it like that."

He just nodded and continued to focus on his food.

"I mean, you're not my boyfriend or anything...I just thought it was a little weird if you took up the role of his father...because we're friends...and, I know it's just because we're on this island, and nothing is really normal here, but it still wouldn't happen if we were back in the...real world." she said rambling over each word.

He nodded, still ignoring her gaze.

"I know that you are just trying to help and all...I overreacted...I'm sorry."

He nodded again and picked at the remaining bits on his plate.

"Are you going to say anything, Charlie? I said I was sorry. It was kind of a lame apology. Sorry."

He just shook his head and stood up.

"I'm kinda tired, Claire. I'm going to go to bed now."

"Oh," she said taken by surprise, "okay, 'night"

He smiled, "'Night"

After Claire was done eating, she went back to her tent. She put Aaron down to sleep and took out her diary. She jotted down her events of the day. Then she suddenly had another flashback...

"Do you think you can make it back to the caves?" Charlie asked. He had his arm around her and her hand in his. She was pregnant. And in labor. Or so she thought..."I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"I-I think so."

He nodded and they started their way back before Claire stopped dead in her tracks.

"What? Is it another contraction?" He asked with fright in his eyes.

"No, I think he just kicked." she replied grabbing his hand and sticking it to her stomach, "Here, you feel that?"

Charlie smiled and nodded. They stood there for a minute before they heard a voice.

"Hello there."

It was Ethan.

"Ethan, where's Jack?" Charlie asked.

Ethan stood there and stared at them. After a few seconds Charlie looked from him to Claire and wrapped his arm around her, protectively.

Then, she snapped out of it. Aaron was crying. She quickly ran over and shushed him. Then she sat down on her bed and took a deep breath. Her heart was racing. She could feel the fear all over again. She had forgotten all about this. She now better understood why Charlie was so nice to her. Why he cared so much about her. She felt so bad for what she had said to him. And now what? He was totally dejected and now won't even talk to her. What else had she forgotten? What other memories were still floating around in her mind? She laid in bed, tossing and turning all night. She couldn't stop her mind from racing...

The next morning...

Claire stepped out of her tent. She persuaded Sun into taking care of Aaron for a little while. Charlie was right. She needed a break. She walked down the beach and looked out to the ocean. The waves were huge. She could see two people out in the waves. She could tell one of them was Hurley, but she couldn't make out the other one. She stepped forward a little bit and saw it was Charlie. He was attempting to fish with Hurley. Claire quickly walked down the beach and shouted out to them, as they were quite a ways away.

"Hey guys, out fishing?" she asked.

Hurley looked back and waved, "Hey, Claire!"

Charlie turned back and nodded, "Trying to fish is more like it."

She smiled and took a step forward.

"Hey, Charlie?" she asked

"...Yeah?" he replied glancing back, and then back towards the water.

"Can, can I talk to you for a minute?"

He looked to Hurley and then back at Claire.

"Ooo, someone's in trouble...." he teased.

Charlie smacked him in the shoulder, "Shut up."

"Ow, sorry dude." he replied chuckling.

Charlie passed Hurley his fishing rod and then slowly made his way up the beach out of the water.

"Hey" Claire said again to him as he came to a stop a few feet in front of her.

"Hey" he said again and gave her a small smile.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"I, I actually wanted to talk in private? It's sorta crowed here, and the waves are really loud."

"Oh, sure," he replied and looked around the beach, "So...where did you want to go?"

"Um, up the beach a little ways?"

He nodded in agreement.

She smiled and started walking down the beach. He followed close behind.

After a few minutes, Charlie finally got the courage to say something.

"So, where's Aaron?"

"Oh, he's with Sun. She agreed to take him a for a few hours."

"Oh okay, well that's good."

"Yeah..." she replied awkwardly.

Claire looked over and could tell he was nervous.

"...It's okay you know." she said

"What?" he asked.

"You-you don't have to be nervous. I'm not bringing you out here to yell at you. I just-I just wanted to talk about some things."

"...I'm still nervous though." he said with a nervous laugh

She giggled and looked over at him, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

He smiled and then suddenly stopped, "Is this far enough?"

"Oh yeah, this is fine." she replied.

They both sat down. Charlie, Indian style, Claire with her legs out.

Claire took a deep sigh and looked over at Charlie. Charlie was playing with the sand in front of him.

"So, how was your morning?" Claire asked.

Without looking up, Charlie replied, "Good, it was good...", then a smile appeared on his face, "Hurley stepped on a clam and screamed like a little girl."

Claire giggled, "Is he alright?"

"Oh yeah, he's fine..."

Claire nodded and started picking at her finger nails. They were silent for a moment before Claire decided she should say something.

"So, have you written any new songs?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh no, not really..." he sighed and continued, "I haven't been feeling inspired lately.."

"Oh, right, right." she replied nodding her head.

"...So why are we out here, Claire?" he asked.

She finally managed to look over at Charlie, "Oh I just wanted to talk about some things..."

"...Are you mad?" he asked.

"What? No!" she started but then lowered her voice, "No, I'm not mad, Charlie."

"So, what did you want to talk about then?"

She took a deep breath and then slowly let it out.

"I just, I wanted to say I was sorry for what I said yesterday."

"You...you already apologized, Claire."

"Yeah...that's not all I wanted to say."

"Okay, well then what is it?" he asked still digging at the sand in front of him.

"I'm starting to remember things now." she said quietly. His head immediately rose up and looked over at her.

"You are?"

"Mmmhmm." she replied.

"...That's great!" he said grinning.

"Yeah," she replied shyly.

"So...what do you remember?" he asked giving her his full attention.

"...I remember when you gave me peanut butter." she said. Then she glanced over to see him grinning back at her. She looked back down at her hands and continued, "And...I remember when I went into false labor...and then you said that you'd always take care of me." She glanced over at him again. His smile was gone.

"Yeah, well, I didn't do a very good job, did I?" he said rolling his eyes.

"Charlie...it wasn't your fault." she replied still fidgeting with her hands.

He sighed and pushed on, "No, I told you I wold keep you safe, and then a minute later, you were kidnapped..."

She didn't say anything. She just listened.

"So much for keeping promises, right?"

Claire turned to face Charlie, "I...I just want you to know that...that I forgive you...I mean, if you feel guilty about it....you don't have to...if-if that's why you are so...protective of me, is because I was taken....is it?"

He ran his hand over his face and took a deep breath, "Claire, he took you, right out of my hands...and...I couldn't stop him..." he was clearly choking up so Claire her hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Charlie...I'm fine now, Aaron is fine...you don't have to be upset about this anymore..."

He fought off the tears and pushed her hand off his shoulder. He turned so he was facing Claire, and began to poor his heart out.

"You don't understand, Claire. For the past few years, I never really cared for anyone. When I...used...I wasn't myself. I didn't know who I was becoming...and I don't want to be that guy anymore..the irresponsible rock star. But once I got here, and I met you, I just...I don't know...I felt like I was supposed to be taking care of you...and when he took you, and I couldn't get you back, it was like I failed you, failed myself..."

"Charlie," Claire started.

"No, let me finish." he replied quickly. She nodded and folded her hands onto the sand in front of her. "...I was never trying to take the role of Aaron's father...I just want to help you. I don't really know much about being a father or anything but I know it's hard to raise a baby. I...I'm sorry, Claire."

Her eyebrows raised, "Charlie, you don't have anything to be sorry for. And you are doing a great job helping with Aaron."

"...Do you really mean that?" he asked.

She furrowed her brows, "Of course I do. I wouldn't lie about a thing like that. And, I should be great full that you help me so much. If...if we weren't here, I would be back in Los Angeles right now. And Aaron wouldn't be mine....And I would never have met you."

"Is that a good thing?" he asked.

She smiled and nodded quickly.

"So, I just want you to know, that I'm okay with you helping with Aaron," she said and then added, "and...me." under her breath.

He heard it though. He gave her a smile and they both looked out at the ocean. Claire watched the waves crash onto the beach, and then, all of a sudden, Claire had a flashback:

"Do you want a blanket?" she heard a voice say. She glanced up to see a scruffy mid-to-later-twenties guy offering her a small blue blanket.

"Oh, no thanks. I already have one." she replied

"Well, you're warming for two, take mine." he tried again. She smiled and reached for the blanket.

"Thank you." she replied.

He smiled at her and slowly took a few steps forward. He sat down across from her.

"So, first plane crash?" he asked. She sarcastically rolled her eyes.

"What gave it away?"

"Oh, you can always spot the newbies." he replied. She smiled again and then looked away.

"We're going to be okay, you know." he said. She looked back and hesitated before asking,

"...Are we?"

He nodded, "We're alive, we're on a beautiful island. We'll sleep under the stars, and before you know it the helipcopters will come and take us all away."

"You really think they'll find us?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't they?" he replied.

She smiled, "Thanks."

He nodded and then offered her his hand, "I'm Charlie."

"I'm Claire. Nice to meet you Charlie."

"It's nice to meet you." he replied looking her over. She smiled and looked away shyly. Then she glanced back up at him and down at the fire again.

"What?" Claire shouted suddenly.

"Hmm?" Charlie looked over and saw Claire looking confused. "What? What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh..it-it's nothing..."

"...It doesn't look like nothing. You just shouted....Claire, what happened?"

She looked up at him and then back at the ground again, "I...I just had another flashback."

His eyebrows raised, "What was it about?"

She bit her lip and then looked away. "It's nothing, Charlie." Then she stood up. "Should we be getting back now?"

"What about," he stopped himself,"...I guess so." he said and then stood up. He sighed and put his arm out offering the way. "After you."

She gave him a small smile and continued her way back.

To be continued...

Please rate & review! I promise this next chapter will be better.