Claire stared in the mirror at the necklace she was wearing. She couldn't remember a time in the now almost eight years that she hadn't wore it. She thought back to the day when Hurley gave it to her.

--------------------

At first, she had been hopeful. She thought that Charlie left the ring just incase something happened to him, because he promised her he would be okay, and she wasn't about to forget that promise. After a few hours of worrying Desmond returned – without Charlie. At first Claire was in shock and unable to speak. Then Desmond walked over to her and whispered,

"I'm sorry." And that's when she broke down. She began sobbing uncontrollably as Desmond tried to comfort her. She shook her head and jerked away from him. She handed Aaron to Hurley, and began to walk away when Desmond placed his hand on her arm. She turned around and shoved him back.

"This is all your fault!" she yelled, tears streaming down her face. "You were there, you could've saved him!" she pushed him back for the second time. "You were there!" Desmond tried to comfort her, but she wouldn't let him. "Don't touch me!" Hurley walked over to him.

"Dude, I think it's best if you give her some space." Desmond nodded and reluctantly left. Hurley handed Aaron to Sun and walked over to Claire. She was sitting on the ground, and Hurley went and sat beside her.

"He was my best friend you know." He told her. She nodded, and wiped some of the tears that had fallen.

"I loved him." She stated. "I loved him and I never got to tell him." She began fingering Charlie's ring. "Everything was so great with us. Why did it have to happen now?" Hurley looked down. "I thought we were going to be a family. Charlie, Aaron, and me." She smiled slightly. "I even had the house we were going to live in pictured in my mind. Silly isn't it?" Hurley shook his head.

"No." he pulled a piece of string out of his pocket. "Do you mind?" He asked and motioned to the ring. Claire shook her head and handed it to him. He put the string through the opening of the ring, and then handed it back to her.

"I know it's too big for you, so this way you can always wear it." Claire smiled and tied it around her neck. Tears fell as she held on to the ring.

"I'm going to miss not seeing his smile, and not hearing his music." Hurley nodded as they stared out at the horizon together. After a few moments of silence, Hurley began to speak.

"I know you're angry with Desmond, but I really think you should talk to him. If nothing else it will give you closure." Claire nodded and stood up.

"Thanks Hurley." She said before going off to find Desmond.

Desmond was sitting on a rock reading the list Charlie wanted him to give Claire. It was smudged from being wet, but was still legible. Claire walked up behind him.

"Hey." She said quietly. He turned around, and she noticed the piece of paper in his hands. "What's that?" she asked. He held it out to her.

"It's a list Charlie made of the top five moments in his life. He wanted me to give it to you." Claire read the paper but stopped when she got to number one. Tears fell and she sat down breathlessly.

"He knew." She whispered. "He knew he was going to die. But how?" she wondered. She looked up at Desmond who had a pained look on his face. "You knew too." She stood up. "You knew and you let him die!" Desmond shook his head.

"Claire it wasn't like that. I--"

"I don't care what you did. All I care about is that the man I love is dead! And it's your fault!" Desmond grabbed her arm.

"I tried to stop him! Don't you think I tried? I knew the last thing he wanted to do was leave you, but he had no choice. It was his fate." Claire turned away.

"I don't believe in fate." She said angrily. Desmond released her arm.

"Yes you do. Fate is what gave Aaron to you, fate is what brought you to this island." He paused. "And fate is what brought you Charlie. Even if it was only for a short while, you were happy weren't you?" Claire still didn't say anything. "I know it's not fair, and I know you want nothing more than to blame me. But let me ask you this – would you rather have never met Charlie?" Claire shook her head and turned around.

"No." she whispered and looked up at him.

"He did what had to be done to save you and Aaron. He did it out of love. And for that, he is a hero. Not only to you, but to everyone on this island." Claire looked down.

"And is that fate too?" she asked. Desmond nodded.

"Everything is fate."

--------------------

Looking back on that day brought more tears to her eyes. She missed him, and there hadn't been a day that went by that she didn't think about him. They were rescued one month after Charlie's death. Charlie became a hero to all of the survivors. Claire now lived in the house she had imagined living in with Charlie. Aaron was eight years old, and today was his birthday. Claire snapped out of her day dreaming when she heard a loud crash, and ran quickly out of her bedroom.

"Sorry, Mom!" Aaron called. She sighed.

"Aaron Charlie Littleton! How many times do I have to tell you not to play ball in the house?" Aaron suddenly appeared beside her.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly. She smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Well, since it's your birthday, you are forgiven." She sat down on her knees in front of him.

"I have something for you." She told him. His eyes lit up. Claire pulled the necklace off of her neck and tied it around Aaron's. He looked confused.

"But it's yours. You said it was really special to you." She smiled.

"It is. But it was meant for you. I was just keeping it until you were old enough...Your dad would want you to have it."

"It was my Dad's?" Claire nodded.

"Yes." Aaron smiled.

"Did you love him?" he asked suddenly. Claire smiled.

"Of course." Aaron stared at the ring.

"Did he love you?" Claire nodded.

"Why so many questions?" she asked, but Aaron didn't reply.

"And he loved me, right?" Claire hugged him.

"More than anything." Aaron smiled.

"I bet he misses us." Aaron said innocently. Claire felt tears form in her eyes. She hugged Aaron and nodded.

"Almost as much as we miss him."

As Claire held on to her son she had a feeling that one day she would see Charlie again. You could call it a coincidence, the inevitable, or even destiny…but Claire liked to think of it simply as

fate.

my first lost fic -- I hope you liked it :)