Disclaimer- See Chapter One
A/N- Um...nothing really to say...for once I kept my promise, it has been less than a week! It is imperative that you read the A/N at the end of this chapter and then review and give me feedback, ok! But you must read this chapter before anything else...
Chapter Five
"So?" Liam said expectantly the next morning while the women were chattering away in the kitchen and feeding the kids, enough of a distraction to ensure them a few minutes to talk.
"Nothing," Charlie answered sullenly, flipping through the channels on TV, allowing no more than 5 seconds to each channel.
"Nothing? As in nothing nothing or something nothing?" When he received no answer he snatched the remote from Charlie and turned off the TV to gain his full attention.
"Hey!" Charlie said trying to make a grab for it, but Liam held it over his head making his mood even worse by reminded Charlie that he was about a foot taller.
"I swear you're menstrual!" Liam said, not helping Charlie cheer up any more. "Now, tell me what happened!"
"You're way too involved in this, you know," Charlie replied angrily.
"You're the one who made me involved! And I'm not going to be un-involved until you woo your girl! Now tell me what happened!"
"I told you, nothing! I mean, I almost told her, but some guy's cell phone rang and it wrecked the moment and I couldn't do it!"
"Charlie, what's wrong with you! It shouldn't be this difficult!"
"It's me though! I mean, I've done a lot of things dealing with woman, but never love. And I realize why now, it's more difficult! With those other girls it didn't matter what I said, or how I came off to them because in the end we wouldn't end up together. I never wanted a relationship with any of them, and I do with this girl and everything is new to me. This is very, very different. Different intentions, different type of girl, different feelings, and really, a different me. And I'm afraid if I tell her I'll lose her."
"Well, tell her because you won't lose her then!" Liam said, raising his voice. He was immediately shushed by Charlie and they both looked towards the kitchen, but there was no sign of Karen and Claire having heard Liam. Lowering his voice, he continued, "You do realize that if you don't tell her there's more chance of her finding another guy or leaving because nothing is happening between the two of you?"
"Yeah, I realize that…but I just keep running through a million bad-case scenarios in my head!"
"Do you actually have solid proof that she would say no?"
"Umm…"
"Exactly, you don't. There's more pointing to the chance she'll say yes. You can't just think of the negatives and seeing as you two have known each other for awhile I'm sure she'd at least be willing to give a more than platonic relationship a shot. And if that happens, and it doesn't work out, you'll most likely remain friends. And if you're nervous or something, try telling her without words. Trust me, Charlie, you have a lot going for you. She wouldn't be living with you if she didn't like you."
"So you think I have a good chance?"
"I think it's practically a given that she'll say yes. Now, I'm going to open one last window of opportunity for you. If you don't tell her then, you'll have to work it out without my help."
"I thought you said that you'd be involved until I wooed her," Claire retorted, earning a glare from Liam. "Well, I hope you're better at opening windows of opportunity than at opening a stroller."
Claire spoon-fed Aaron, a very difficult task seeing as he was used to just using his hands, while Karen poured a bowl of cereal for Megan, while the two adults talked about everything and nothing. It had been such a long time since Claire had had someone to talk to like that that it became the best thing about the "real world", better than actual mattresses, running water, even better than chocolate. On the island Charlie was her only real friend, the only one she would have actual conversations with, sure the other females were nice; but they only said "Hi" every now and then, not wanting to become too friendly for fear of becoming a baby-sitter. And even though Charlie said that that probably wasn't true, Claire knew it was by the way their eyes slid down to Aaron, who was always crying or fussing or pulling on her hair, and then back up to Claire with a hurried smile and then rushed away, the only exception being Sun, who would take Aaron for a little while, but none too often.
But Karen and Claire clicked immediately which Claire was extremely grateful for because she needed someone to share her newfound feelings for Charlie with.
"It's just so frustrating! Really, Karen, if major something doesn't happen soon I might have to estrange myself from Charlie. Because somehow it's just not the same talking to him when what I really want to do is reach out and kiss him!"
"Why don't you be the one to do the something major then?" Karen suggested, raising an eyebrow.
"Karen, let's be serious here," Claire joked and smiled, glad to have a same sex friend to joke around with again.
Silence ensued broken only by Claire making soft, encouraging sounds to get Aaron to eat and him trying his hardest to grab it with his hands.
"Ugh!" Claire cried exasperatly, "He will have the worst table manners in history!" Karen laughed along with Claire.
"Hello, ladies," Liam said, walking into the kitchen with Charlie right behind, "And gentlemen," he added with a nod towards Aaron.
"What do you want to eat for breakfast? You better be able to get it for yourself, because I'm not making it," Karen said.
"Oh, nothing right now. Baby brother and I just hatched up a plan that I thought we should run past you ladies."
"Oh, boy," Karen teased. Liam laughed along with the others in spite of himself.
"No, but really, what would you say to an evening out to eat at El Dante's? Just us 4-adults--" Karen stifled a laugh and Liam mock-glared back, "--no kids. After 10 months on the island doesn't that sound nice?"
"Yeah, I'm all for it. What do you say, Claire?" Karen easily agreed.
"Well, I've never left Aaron alone…"
"Oh, we have a wonderful baby-sitter. After dealing with spoiled little Megan she can handle anyone, especially a baby like Aaron," Karen assured Claire, and when the boys turned their heads to hear Claire's reply Karen mouthed, "This is your chance!"
"C'mon, Claire, you deserve a night of relaxation," Charlie chimed in.
"Okay, it should be nice not having to deal with Aaron for a night," Claire agreed, even more encouraged when Charlie gave her that smile that made her weak in the knees.
Karen and Claire were at the mirror in the upstairs bathroom, finishing up getting ready for their night out.
"I noticed that you were oh-so-eager to go out after Charlie said something, but not when I said something," Karen teased gently. Claire blushed knowing that there was a hint of truth in her teasing. "So, what happened at the park last night? I've been dying to ask you all day but Liam and Charlie were always around."
"What do you mean?" Claire asked innocently, looking at Karen through the mirror.
"Right when you got home you and Charlie went straight to bed. Even Liam noticed, you know it's pretty obvious then."
"Nothing happened. I was just tired."
"So nothing at all out of the ordinary happened? Just your regular run of the mill day? Because Charlie never sleeps. Something had to be bothering him which means something had to have happened."
"Well, he said something like "I've been meaning to talk to you" but he was cut off by someone's cell phone and when I asked him what it was he was saying he just said that it was nothing." There was that phrase she hated so much. It was nothing.
"Are you serious! How come you didn't mention this sooner!" Karen said getting very worked up over nothing.
"Well, like you said, Liam and Charlie were around all day and it didn't seem very important to me."
"Claire, c'mon, it was VERY important! Otherwise he would've told you what it was! For someone who likes him so much, you are really missing all the signals here! You really have me convinced you're trying to now!"
"Why would I purposely miss the signals?" Claire said. It was the dumbest thing she ever heard, she wanted to see the signals, why would she block them out?
"I never said it was on purpose, maybe you're doing it subconsciously. I mean, you really got hurt by Thomas, right? So maybe you've just trained your mind not to let guys in."
"If that's true then I'm doomed!"
"Well, don't worry too much. What Charlie was about to tell you was really important, so if he's going to do anything, it should be happening soon. But when it happens, don't push him away or block him out! Just let him know that you feel the same way, don't worry about what your head says anymore!"
"Okay, I think I'll be able to do that…if he makes the first move of course, and we don't know if he will or not."
"Don't worry, Claire, it will happen in no time, I'm sure of it."
The night had passed smoothly so far. Claire was finally relaxing and not worrying about how Aaron was or whether some monster was going to swoop out of nowhere and eat him. El Dante's was a very nice upscale restaurant with an aura of romance around it, you couldn't help but feel calm and at ease there. They had already ordered their food and were waiting to be served when Liam pulled Karen over to the dance floor. Charlie and Claire watched them for a minute and Charlie decided to finally get things sorted out.
"Would you like to dance?" Charlie asked Claire. Her face brightened and she nodded eagerly. He took her hand and led her to the floor, by the other couple but keeping his distance from Liam and Karen. They swayed slowly to the soft piano music, too caught up in the moment to say anything.
Claire was in total rapture to be this close to Charlie. She wanted nothing more than to make this spot in his arms to be hers, only hers. She could feel his heart beating against her own and his arms around her waist warmed her entire body. Everything about him was perfection, the curl of his hair, the intensity of his eyes, his breath on her neck; and being in his arms made her feel perfect too. She wanted to scream out and tell him that, and everything else that had been building up inside her, but her experiences with men and her memories of Thomas's betrayal made her bite back her words.
Meanwhile, Charlie was running through everything telling him that he should tell Claire, and that she would say yes. First, there was the journal, she said she liked him in there, but she never fully got her memory back, maybe those feelings didn't return either. Then there was what Liam had said, "She wanted the sex and babies too…" but that was speculation based upon the fact that she had sent him away so quickly the first night. But what if she had really just been tired? Liam's voice floated through his mind again, "Trust me, Charlie, you have a lot going for you. She wouldn't be living with you if she didn't like you." That was a good point, and Charlie and Claire were best of friends on the island, how much different could it be once they were together? Liam was right, she probably would give a relationship a shot. Now that he finally a positive outlook on his chances, all he had to do was talk to Claire and let it all out.
"Claire," he finally whispered in her ear, his heart racing, palms sweating, feeling about to faint.
"Hmm?" she said, pulling back a little to look in his eyes.
Thoughts on what to say next raced through his head, everything seemed so stupid, his mouth felt like cotton, words were getting trapped in his throat, finally more of Liam's advice came to the front of his mind, "If you're nervous or something, try telling her without words."
Finally, he just leaned in and caught her lips in his. Neither were conscious of the fact that they had stopped dancing, or that the song had ended, or that their food was being served, or that Liam and Karen were clapping and hollering and making themselves look like total fools; they were only conscious of each other, that finally things were falling into place, that finally something good was happening to them, that finally something felt right in their lives, and most importantly, that finally they knew how they felt about each other.
The End
...maybe
A/N- Okay, now you all have to review and let me know if you want me to continue with this story. I wrote that last paragraph a loooooong time ago intending for it to be the ending, because I really like it as an ending, but I'd be willing to continue with the story, because I really grew to like the story, but I'm not too sure where to go with it...because although I like reading fluffy smut, I hate it when I'm the one writing it...but if that's what the audience demands, I'll give it a go. So let me know!
To my lovely reviewers-
CCnJexie4ever- Yes, the kiss was long overdue, but I had to pull the classic, get inturrepted, lose courage trick...originally I didn't do that and this was the fourth chapter (obviously, some things were a little different) but I decided that it wasn't long enough...plus I have this weird OCD thing were I can only have stories with 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 chapters...etc. (Actually I'm not OCD, but in that sense I am) I really don't think to hard about whether or not the characters are acting like themselves, and I've gotten lots of compliments about how I keep them in character, so obviously I'm doing something right! But in this story I did think that Charlie and Liam were getting a little out of character...but then I realized, we really don't know Liam anyway! Well, review me with whether you think I should continue!
IluvLost9393- Thanks for reading and reviewing, and thanks for the compliment. I hope that Charlie and Claire get married and have lots of sex and babies to...but I've been hearing some nasty rumours that Claire's going to get killed off! I really hope that's just rumours though, I'll be so depressed if she's gone, it's not Lost without watching Charlie and Claire flirt and pray for them to kiss and get together!
naxa- Yes, I too thought that Charlie was getting insecure, but I had this written because of that, so I agree with you on all terms and hope that this chapter countered that insecurity from the last chapter. This was going to be Chapter Four but I decided it was too short and added in the real Chapter Four...blah blah. But thanks for the advice, it was much appreciated!
rockstarhobbit- Thanks for the review, luckily this update was a lot quicker than the other for you...now they're together and everyone should be happy, the people in the story and the ones reading it.
Mome-wrath- Hey, glad you liked the scene with Charlie, Liam and the stroller...I had to throw it in even though it was very cliche, because Liam was getting very serious to me (told you I have a serious mindset!) and that seemed like a way to lighten him up. Well, Charlie finally got the courage, and did something about it! Yay! So...yeah, review me and let me know what you think if I should continue or not...