Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own

-Hero Takes a Fall-

by CharliesHoodie

A/N: Hey, this is CharliesHoodie. This story is a roundrobin between kissbangx3 and I. Basically, it works this way: I write one chapter, she writes the next. Incase you didn't know what a RR was. Obviously, this is on her penname, so if you want to read any of my other stuff, check out my profile. Be sure to read kissbandx3's story Fate. It's wonderful! Anyway, onto the story.

Note: The time setting for this story is before Ana and Libby are shot. Michael is still in the jungle, but someone set Henry free—no one knows who. It is after Ana "used" Sawyer to get the gun.

-The Beach-

"Hurley, I've got it," Libby protested, pushing Hurley's hands off the metal pole that held her tent up. A storm had come through the beach the night before, knocking over shelters and blowing supplies everywhere. It was the morning after, and everyone was scattered around the beach, raising shelters and returning things that had been blown away.

"Just let me help," Hurley argued back, grabbing the pole from her and setting it up straight. "It's taller than you are."

Libby gave him a glare, but she was smiling, too. Hurley grinned at her.

"Get on the other side and stretch the tarp over the frame, and I'll stay on the other side."

The two worked together to fix Libby's shelter. Once it was completed, Libby sat on the sand next to it and patted the area next to her, looking up at Hurley expectantly.

Hurley sat down next to her carefully, exhaling loudly and blushing as he did so. Libby was so thin. He felt embarrassed when he was next to her. Libby didn't seem to mind his weight, but that was all he thought about when they were together.

"Is your shelter even up yet?" Libby asked, tilting her head toward him and smiling slightly.

Hurley shook his head. "No. It's still a pile of rubble."

"Well, you should have fixed it before you fixed mine!" She laughed, taking his hand in hers.

Hurley suddenly became aware of his sweating palms, and his blush deepened.

Libby still hadn't told him much about her. He knew he had seen her somewhere, though. But he couldn't place it. But from wherever it was that he saw her – he remembered she looked different. Darker hair, maybe. He wanted to ask her if she had ever been a brunette, but he was afraid he would sound ridiculous. Anyway, he had decided long ago that he would wait until he new her better to ask her anything more about her personal life.

"What do you think is up with them?" Libby asked, breaking Hurley's train of thought. His eyes followed where Libby was looking, and he saw Charlie and Claire a few yards away by Claire's destroyed tent. Charlie was scrambling around, trying to help her pick things up and Claire was holding Aaron against her chest, yelling at him.

Hurley sighed and shrugged. "Dude, they were crazy about each other until the whole drug thing. Now Claire doesn't want anything to do with him."

"Well, I don't blame her," Libby said. "She has a baby."

Hurley shrugged. He knew Libby and Claire were right, but Charlie was still one of his best friends on the island, and he didn't want to say or do anything to damage that relationship and trust, especially when everyone else seemed to be letting Charlie down.

-Claire's Tent-

"Charlie, I don't need your help," Claire told him icily, pacing around with Aaron pressed against her chest, shaking him lightly to settle him down as he cried.

Charlie was getting a headache – the withdraw, the crying baby, Claire's yelling. He could hardly stand it. And then the state her tent was in…he wouldn't even be able to fix it without all the distractions.

He stood up straight, smoothing back his sweaty hair with his hand and sighing. His eyes were fixed on Claire, and he was dying to tell her (again) that he was clean and baptizing-baby-dream free, but it wasn't going to work anymore. She was convinced. She was stubborn.

They weren't going to work anymore.

"Charlie," Claire whispered, looking at him pleadingly. "Go. Please."

Charlie opened his mouth to say something, but Claire cut him off immediately.

"Look, I don't want any kind of relationship with you right now. Later, we can maybe be friends. But not for a long time. Right now…just…no." She paused, her soft eyes glistening in the sun. "You scare me, Charlie."

Charlie bit his lip and felt blood leak out of it, filling his mouth with a bitter, metallic taste. He nodded slightly and quickly walked down the beach to his tent.

-Kate's Tent-

Kate was working on her tent independently, politely saying: "I got it" to anyone who offered to help. She was like that. She had always been like that. She knew she had serious trust issues, even with something as simple as helping with a tent. But over the years, she learned that the only person she could truly trust was herself, and sometimes even that got difficult and complicated.

After all, she trusted herself when she kissed Jack. She trusted herself when she did a lot of things, and there wasn't always a positive outcome.

"Hey, Kate," a voice said from behind her.

She turned around and saw Charlie, a forced half smile on his face. She smiled back at him brightly and turned back to her tent.

"You need something?" she asked without looking back at him.

"No, just saying hi," he answered with a shrug.

Kate stopped what she was doing and turned back to face him again, concerned.

"What is it, Charlie?"

He sat down, and she sat with him.

"It's Claire," he told her. "I think that we're over for good."

Kate looked at him sadly and sighed. "Maybe you guys just weren't right together. Sometimes it's just not meant to be. Trust me, Charlie, I know."

"Yeah, you're right. But I just felt good around her, you know? It's going to be hard getting used to."

Kate nodded. "Yeah, it will be."

Charlie felt himself turning red with embarrassment. A lot of the time, he just didn't feel worthy of anyone's company. Especially after what he had done to Claire and Aaron. After that, he felt like every time he said something, every time he felt something, people were judging him. And the sad truth was, he was probably right.

He had managed to rekindle quite a lot of relationships with people, though. Jack, Kate, Sawyer – to a point (hardly anyone was ever ok with Sawyer) Eko, Sayid, Hurley, Rose…and a few other people, as well.

Eko had been a huge help with the situation – telling people who asked what had really happened and how Charlie misunderstood some of the things Eko had told him. A couple people had actually turned on Eko, but Eko took it extremely well.

"Well…" a voice said, approaching Kate and Charlie.

Kate looked up, feeling a smile slip on her face. It was Sawyer.

"The rebel and the has-been. Never saw that one coming," Sawyer smirked, looking down at Kate and Charlie.

Kate rolled her eyes, a huge grin on her face. Charlie muttered something under his breath.

"Shut up, Sawyer," Kate said, tucking a section of curly hair behind her ear and looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Well, Freckles, your tent doesn't look like it was damaged much," Sawyer joked, nodding at the pile of tarp and poles.

Kate glared at him. "You want to fix it?" she challenged with a playful smile.

Just then, Jack walked up to the group – his face stern and hard as usual. Kate's smile vanished and her eyes moved quickly down to stare at her feet. As much as she tried not to let her feelings for Jack get in the way of her life on the island, sometimes it was impossible.

They were very mixed feelings, actually. For a long time, she had basically thrown herself in front of him. And he did nothing. When she literally threw herself at him, he still did nothing. She had basically come to the conclusion that he would always be the way he was, and there was nothing she could do about it. Sawyer, on the other hand, was so much easier to get along with than Jack. Most of the time.

"What do you want, Doc?" Sawyer asked, turning to face Jack and giving him an intimidating smile.

"Nothing, Sawyer. I'm going to the hatch to make sure Ana's there to push the button."

"Really? Is there a reason you have to come so close to Freckles' tent?" Sawyer asked, a grin spread across his face.

Jack ignored Sawyer's comment completely, meeting Kate's eyes as he passed her and into the woods.

"That wasn't a denial, now was it, Freckles?" Sawyer teased, his shiny blue eyes staring at her.

Kate furrowed her brows, her arms crossed over her chest. She was still staring at the ground.

-The Path to the Hatch-

Jack was trying to keep his distance from Kate.

And it really didn't help when Sawyer cracked jokes about them. Jack knew how Sawyer felt about Kate. It was obvious – anyone could tell. But he was beyond stooping down to Sawyer's level and getting him back. After all, they weren't kids anymore.

The truth was, Jack didn't feel anything for Kate. Yes, every now and then, but it was never anything long term. He cared about her a lot, but he cared about everyone on the island. He cared about keeping them safe and satisfied with what little they had. He couldn't distract himself from the duty assigned to him. If he were ever to consider having a romantic relationship on the island, it would have to be with someone who could stand beside him all the time. Not someone who stood beside him for a while and ran away when something needed to be done. That was how Kate was.

Too much depended on him – he never got a break from it. He couldn't stop in the middle of what he did on the island to counsel Kate on their relationship issues. And if he did, the counseling session wouldn't go well, either. As strange as it was, it seemed most of his arguments with her never ended in agreement.

The sound of a rustle in the bushes startled Jack and he stopped. He saw a flash of dirty blonde hair. An annoyed laugh escaped his mouth.

"Sawyer, come out."

"Aw, c'mon, Doc," Sawyer said, grinning as he stepped out of the bushes. "You know I couldn't pass up on some juicy gossip between you and Ana."

"There's no 'juicy gossip' between me and Ana," Jack said with a slight laugh, not looking at Sawyer.

"Well, you got caught in a net with Freckles, so who knows what could happen," Sawyer countered, his eyes flickering.

Jack frowned and started to say something, but there was another rustle.

"Did anyone follow you, Sawyer?" Jack demanded.

Sawyer threw his hands up in defense. "Jeez, Doc. People are allowed to walk here. You don't own this island, you know."

Jack silenced him by putting one hand up, stepping forward, towards the rustle.

In less than a few seconds, he felt his neck spasm with pain. He brought his hand up, and touched a dart.

Plucking it out, he fell to the ground; shaking and shuddering until all went black.

-LOST-

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. Kiss will be writing the next chapter, and I'm positive it'll be great.

-CharliesHoodie