A/N: Thanks again for all of the reviews! I've been busy, but I'll try to get another chapter up soon.
"I decided to keep the baby, I thought you should know." Claire was sitting with her ex-boyfriend Thomas at a coffee shop not too far from her home. It had been three months since she'd even spoken to him.
"Claire, I told you, I'm not ready to be a father yet. It's too much. I can't."
"I know. It's just..."
"I hope you weren't thinking that we would get back together because of this. I have a girlfriend."
"You have a girlfriend?" Claire repeated, hurt. She expected him to move on, but not so soon. It was a little insulting that he could just forget about her so quickly.
"Yeah, well I'm not dating you. We can see other people, Claire." She was about to reply when she looked over Thomas' shoulder. Standing there with his coffee was Charlie. He took in Claire sitting with some other guy and she could see the sadness on his face forming. She wanted to get up and go to him, tell him there was nothing going on with Thomas, but she didn't. It was the reason she was here in the first place, to get him out of her head. Their eyes stayed on each other for another moment before Charlie finally broke the gaze and hurried out of the restaurant. "Claire? You okay?" Claire jerked back into reality, and felt suddenly foolish in thinking that Charlie could be replaced with Thomas of all people.
"I need to go." When she got out of the coffee shop, she took a few deep breaths, steadying herself against the wall. It was impossible to be feeling what she thought she was feeling for Charlie. Exactly one week had passed from the day he bumped into her and made her spill her groceries all over the sidewalk, but somehow it felt like longer. Being with Charlie, even just as friends, was very comfortable. More then her entire relationship with Thomas was. Liam's words as well as the psychic's played over in her head again. "He is good...you can save him."
Claire looked around to see if she could still see him. Maybe she could catch him, but what would she say? 'I love you'? She didn't love him. At least, she didn't want to. 'I'm sorry'? That was a start, but really, what did she have to apologize for? Thomas stepped out of the restaurant and stood beside her.
"Are you alright? You ran out of there pretty quick."
"Your girlfriend wouldn't like you talking to me," Claire spat, her words coming out more rude then she intended.
"I'm just checking on you. You're having my baby after all." He smiled at her, and Claire was disgusted with herself for ever calling him.
"I'm fine, just leave me alone."
"Whatever, Claire." With that, she turned and started walking away.
- - - - - - - - - - -
That afternoon, Claire walked down the familiar brightly lit hallway to the room she knew too well. It was silent, as it usually was, except for the beeping of one of the machines. Claire went first to the television, that was her routine now, then to the chair next to the bed. Somehow she forced herself to smile, though these visits never got any easier. They got more difficult if that was possible.
"Hey mom," She said weakly. "I did something stupid. I...I called Thomas. He has a girlfriend now. I didn't tell him, but I met someone too. His name is Charlie, and I think I might have messed things up with him too. Just like I messed up your life, and my baby's life, and even my own life." The tears were sliding down Claire's cheeks quickly now and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She looked at her mother's lifeless body on the bed and grabbed one of her hands. It was ironic in a sense that before the accident, Claire never let her mother see her cry. Now she came to her mother just so she could cry and no one would judge her. She let out a few huge sobs, bawling until she felt raw inside. Through all of her tears, her mother did not wake up. Claire wanted more then anything for her to magically tell her it was going to be okay, but she knew that wasn't possible. A nurse came into the room and smiled sweetly.
"I'm sorry miss, but visiting hours are almost up-" Clarie nodded and was leaving the building before the nurse could even finish her sentence.
Her makeup had smeared, but she didn't care. She threw open her front door just as the phone started to ring. Her heart leapt, hoping that it might be Charlie. As she answered though, she realized it was just the psychic.
"What do you want?" she asked angrily.
"Please, Miss Littleton. I just wanted to tell you about this man you met..."
"Charlie?" Claire interrupted immediately.
"Ah, yes, Charlie. You can fight it all you want, but fate will lead you back to one another. He is supposed to take care of you. You and your baby." Claire didn't say anything.
"There's no such thing as fate," she nearly whispered this, as if Charlie was somehow listening into their conversation.
"I have to go, but please tell me you'll give him another chance." Claire was silent for a moment, then hung up the phone. This was ridiculous. Someone knocked at the door, making her jump. Claire opened the door and stepped back in surprise.
"Charlie? What are you doing here?" He held up a shopping bag in his hand.
"You left a bag of stuff with Karen and Liam. I told them I'd bring it to you. I know you said you were giving the baby up, but then I saw you with your ex-boyfriend so I thought maybe you would need it." Charlie set the bag down, and started to leave.
"How did you know that was my ex-boyfriend?" Charlie jerked back in surprise that she was even talking to him.
"I don't, I guess. I just assumed. I figured that you'd gotten back together or something."
"Well we didn't. Like you said before, he's my ex for a reason." Claire smiled just a little to show that she was willing to at least talk.
"I said that?"
"Yeah, the day we met. Don't you remember?" She didn't know about him, but Claire remembered every single detail about that day. The weather, the clothes she was wearing, right down to the groceries she bought that Charlie had replaced for her.
"I remember that I knocked you over and made you spill everything in your bag." Charlie smiled too, as the memory played over in his mind.
"Do you want to come in for a minute?" Claire stepped aside, leaving enough room for him to walk around her now enormous belly. The grin disappeared quickly from Charlie's face.
"Actually I've got some packing to do. I'm flying back to California tomorrow."
"Why?" Claire asked, in shock. She knew that he was upset, but she always assumed that he would stay in Australia.
"I was staying for you, you know." Charlie told her, lowering his voice. "And yesterday it seemed like you wanted nothing to do with me, so I'm leaving." Claire nodded, slowly processing this information. He stepped a little closer to her. "I just wanted it to be like how it was before."
"The thing is, there is no before. We are total strangers, we've known each other for what, a week? If you want to leave, don't let me stop you." Claire blinked as she struggled not to cry as she spoke. It wasn't fair that the minute she decided to give Charlie another chance, he decided to fly across the world and forget that he had ever met her. She had screwed things up again.
"Alright then." Charlie nodded. "Good luck with your baby."
"Good luck with your band."
"Bye Claire." Charlie paused a minute before turning away and walking down the hall. She didn't trust her voice to say anything yet, so she just picked up the bag that he'd left and shut the door behind him.