Claire cautiously rapped on the door, knuckles curling and eyes flitting back and forth across the front lawn. She reached down and took Aaron's hand in hers, smiling softly at the touch and exhaling, attempting to soothe her nerves.

Both of them - Claire and Kate - had decided that it was best to deliver a final closure to their two late best friends. Meaning, they were finding Charlie and Jack's relatives to deliver some words and hopefully soothe the families and their hearts.

Of course, that doesn't mean Claire wasn't nervous. Charlie hadn't often spoken about Liam, his former rockstar brother, and she'd never pressed. That being said, Claire had absolutely no idea what he was going to be like. (Am I going to regret this? Is Liam going to be some low life junkie? Will anything happen to Aaron?). The thoughts buzzed through her head like a swarm of angry bees, but she pricked her tongue and forced it all to the back of her mind, just for now, at least.

A slight creak on the other side of the house caused Claire to stiffen. She raised her head, breathing through her nose and making sure she looked as professional as possible while on the doorstep. "Hello?" she asked.

The door slowly opened and a clean-cut man stared back at her. His hair was an ashy brown, with soft eyes and a round face. He was wearing a maroon striped long-sleeve shirt with black pants and casual shoes. "Hi," he greeted. After a pause, he squinted. "Have we... met before?"

Claire paused. "No. We haven't. But.." She trailed off. It was hard to find the right words. "I'm looking for Liam Pace."

His eyes flashed. "That's me." Liam glanced down at Aaron, but quickly met Claire's gaze again. "Can I help you?" His voice held caution and suspicion, but she could also sense the curiosity there.

She sighed and looked down, squeezing Aaron's hand. "Yes," she murmured, heart wrenching in her chest. "I'm here about — about Charlie. I was one of the, the people that returned from where we were stranded. I.."

"Oh, of — of course." Liam stumbled back, looking hopeful. "Is he alive? Is there any way we can rescue him? No official stories have come out, so, so I just figured —"

Out of motherly instinct, she touched his arm gently. "I'll explain everything. May I come in?"

"Oh —" He chuckled and dipped his head, allowing her to step inside. It was a nice, homey place, with hardwood floors and an open kitchen with a dining room nearby. "Feel free to sit."

A woman suddenly poked her head out from behind another door. "Guests?" she asked.

"Err.." Liam lopsidedly smiled. "Kind of."

She narrowed her eyes slightly and strolled forward, tilting her head to the side. "What's really going on?"

Liam looked down. "It's about Charlie, Karen," he whispered.

The woman - Karen - seemed taken aback before her gaze flickered to Claire, warm and bright. "Welcome to the Pace household!" she exclaimed, grinning at Aaron. "Hi! Who is this?"

"Aaron Littleton," Claire smiled, heart resting easy in her chest at the knowledge that her son was in a safe place. Still, to this day, she worried whether or not her boy would be okay where she left him. That long time of being away really took a toll, but she felt like a better mother each day. Truly. "My son."

A small girl waddled out of one of the rooms, a smile widening on her face when she saw Aaron. "Play! Play!"

"Oh, this is Megan," Karen smiled, slinging an arm around Liam. "Our daughter. Do you want me to take the kids outside? She's only three, but.."

Claire clearly hesitated, looping her fingers through her other hand. "Of course," she finally said, "I don't mind at all." Karen didn't seem to miss that holdback, but nodded sweetly and ushered both children to the backyard. It's fine, Claire told herself, this is Charlie's brother. I can trust him.

She didn't wait to sit down, making herself comfortable in the chair and watching Liam carefully as he sat down. He didn't look grief-stricken, or anything of the sort, so Claire wondered if he had any idea his brother was dead. She wasn't completely familiar with the news coverage when the Oceanic Six had made their way back home, but knew Charlie hadn't been mentioned. That being said, Liam could easily be harboring feelings of false hope. That just made her even sadder, to the point where she felt numb inside.

"So - Charlie." Liam laughed awkwardly and leaned forward, pursing his lips. "Look, I don't know how you knew each other, and I'd love to hear everything, but please, just tell me how to find him, how can I find my baby brother again—"

"You can't." Claire's voice wasn't necessarily cold, just honest and matter-of-fact. "I'm sorry, Liam. He died a long time ago."

Liam's face paled and his hands began to tremble. "Dead? No, no... my brother was a fighter, he's not dead, he can't.. he.." A soft sob choked out of his lips and tears welled in his eyes. "Please, tell me you're lying, he can't be dead, not my baby brother.."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, voice hoarse and scratchy against the back of her throat. "I wasn't sure if you knew or not, but..." She trailed off.

"No, I didn't," he whispered, eyes screwing shut. "I had no idea. I thought he was alive, stuck on that god-forsaken island the Oceanic Six had come from. I didn't — I didn't even know more of you had returned, I'd just heard about the same group mysteriously disappearing again, and, and I figured that, maybe, just maybe, my brother was still alive. But... I.. I guess I was wrong.."

"Not many know we're back yet. There's been little news coverage, and I haven't had enough time to make an official statement with the others.." She smiled softly at the memory of Sawyer and Kate, of how long they'd been friends. She briefly wondered if they were going to find some way to reconnect where they could actually live their lives. Claire knew Sawyer was still heartbroken over Juliet, and Kate over Jack, but maybe that was the best way to love each other.

A flicker of disappointment ran through Claire and she twitched her fingers, frowning. She missed Charlie so much, but the ache was a dull throb in the back of her head, and she could project that love onto the person she loved most in the world, Aaron. Damn Thomas. She really hoped he wouldn't reach out after their arrival became public, because that would be hell to deal with.

Realizing she'd spaced out for a few moments, Claire blinked and returned Liam's questioning and broken stare with a clear and sad one. "I'm going to write a book," she said suddenly. "It's going to be about everything that happened on the island, about all of the friendships I made, raising Aaron.. and Charlie. He was such an important influence on me and my son. He basically raised him alongside me."

Tears dripped from Liam's eyes. "He always wanted to be a father," he laughed, "maybe even more than I did." He twisted his head around, making sure his wife wasn't listening. "Megan, my daughter, you know, she was an accident. I didn't, I didn't think I could raise a child. But Charlie.. he always supported me. No matter what. Even when I was drugged out of my mind, he made sure he cared for me."

"That's just who he was." Claire's throat burned as she thought back to Charlie. "I met him the first night of the crash. He was so nice and welcoming. Funny and charming. Just a really, really caring person. He looked out for me — the pregnant girl, the girl everyone avoided — when no one else would."

Liam's eyes widened. "You were pregnant on the island?"

Claire chuckled. "Yes. Everyone avoided me like the plague. I was a ticking time bomb. Seven months.. no one wanted to deal with it." She blew out a sigh. "There was a lot of tension during that time. Jack wanted to go to the caves, Sayid wanted to stay on the beach, Hurley wanted to make a list of everyone... of course, one thing led to another and.." She trailed off. Claire hadn't ever told anyone in the real world about this, but she figured Charlie's brother deserved to know everything.

"And?" Liam prompted gently, leaning forward, eating up any information he possibly could.

"There was a man who infiltrated our people. Pretended to be one of us." Claire's voice fell into a snarl. "Charlie and I had a fight and I started having contractions. He ran off to find Jack, in case the worst was happening.." She tapped her forehead with her fingers as the memories flashed over her eyes, not seeing Liam's horrified look. "Instead, he found Ethan. He kidnapped me, then Charlie when he found me again. Ethan killed another one of our people and warned everyone to stay away, to not look for us. They didn't listen, so he hung Charlie from a tree, or so I was told."

Liam choked, closing his eyes when the pain clearly became too much. "And he died?" he murmured.

"No," Claire said quickly, watching Liam's head snap up in shock. "Jack revived him. He was okay. But me..."

"Ethan took you?" Liam asked slowly, chewing on his bottom lip. "Did they do anything?"

"They stuck needles in me to make sure Aaron wasn't going to be born with a disease, I think. They drugged me and Ethan convinced me that it was a good thing I was there." Her voice hardened and her jaw pulsed. "I believed it, but a teenage girl saved me. I returned to camp and didn't remember anyone. Charlie was traumatized from what had happened, but made the effort to reconnect with me.." She was surprised to find wetness trailing down her cheeks. She hadn't cried over Charlie in so long. It almost felt foreign.

"He cared for you, a lot, didn't he?" Liam tried to smile but it was dull and weak.

"He did." Claire nodded slowly. "More than anyone else there. I think he really loved me, and... well, I loved him back. And when Aaron was born, it was like we were meant to be."

"What about the drugs?" Liam winced after the words came flying out of his mouth. "I... assume you knew about that..?"

"The heroin? Yes." Liam's eyes widened at how coolly Claire spoke about it. "He didn't relapse, not once, even when we found a plane full of drugs later on. I was suspicious at times, but I was a new, paranoid mother."

Liam thought. "And Ethan — what happened to him?"

Claire narrowed her eyes, thinking back to that day in the jungle, when she'd been soaked to the bone in rain, when she'd seen Ethan claw his way out of the foliage and attempt to drag her back to that station, when the gunshot had rung in her ears.. "Charlie killed him. He had to."

"He... he killed someone?" Liam asked, shocked. His breathing became irregular. "That doesn't sound like him."

"The island changed all of us. For some, I can't say for the better. But Charlie did it to protect me. He did it so I'd know I was finally safe. Ethan's people — The Others — they were just as ruthless, though..." She smiled. "We eventually became friends. Isn't that such an odd thing?"

"Friends?" Liam laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. "That's definitely interesting."

"It is, isn't it?" Claire leaned back, eyes flickering to the backyard where she saw Aaron and Megan tumbling over each other, Karen standing nearby and watching them like an eagle. "It's a long story, and I'd never be able to get into it here, but maybe, if I do end up writing this book, you can read it in full."

Liam didn't seem satisfied though, and his voice dropped to a hushed and miserable whimper. "How did he die? My baby brother?"

Claire wasn't sure she wanted to tell him. She still remembered that day she'd heard the news, rocking Aaron back in forth in her arms and waiting for Charlie to return. He never had. All he'd left was..

"He left this for his family." Claire reached into her shirt pocket and carefully retrieved a folded paper, sliding it to Liam. "His greatest hits."

#5 THE FIRST TIME I HEARD MYSELF ON THE RADIO

#4 DAD TEACHING ME TO SWIM AT BUTLINS

#3 THE CHRISTMAS LIAM GAVE ME THE RING

#2 WOMAN OUTSIDE COVENT GARDEN CALLS ME A HERO

#1 THE NIGHT I MET YOU.

Liam was sobbing hysterically by the time he was finished reading the paper. He held it in his hands and dropped his head to the table, body shaking with each cry. "It's not fair, it's not fair... I should've been the one to die, it should've been me, not him! It was my fault.. my fault.."

"Shhh.." Claire wrapped her arms around Liam and pulled herself towards him, letting his head rest on her shoulder. She rubbed his hair absentmindedly, glancing off into the distance. "It wasn't your fault. He spent the last months of his life happier than he'd ever been before. He met me, he raised a son..." Her eyes brimmed with tears that fell and dripped off her chin. "And he died a hero."

Liam sniffled, shifting but not pulling away. "How?" His whisper was soft and mangled.

She began to cry, too. "He swam to one of the underwater DHARMA stations — these buildings with different uses that had been occupied by the company that had once lived on the island before dying. We found out a freighter near the island didn't belong to someone we thought it belonged to. He was locked in a room and water began to flood into it." Claire sobbed and buried her face in Liam's shoulder, not able to contain herself. "He was able to write 'NOT PENNY'S BOAT' on his palm to tell Desmond, but by then... it was done. He couldn't escape. He died more of a hero than anyone else on that damn island had. No one can ever convince me differently."

After a while of both of them sitting there, squeezing each other until they felt they could gather themselves again, both pulled away and stared at each other with red-rimmed eyes.

"Thank you." Liam began to cry again. "Thank you so much, Claire. Thank you. You have no idea... I always wondered what had happened to my brother, and now I finally know, and to hear that he was happy before he died... I just wish I'd been there with him." He smiled sadly and slowly stood up. "Would you like to have lunch with us? I'm sure Karen wouldn't mind, and it seems like the kids are having fun outside."

Claire wasn't sure she could bring herself to stay another minute here. She was grateful Liam had listened and allowed her to tell some of Charlie's story, but she was also exhausted and wanted to go home. It wasn't that far of a drive. "I'm sorry," she said slowly and carefully, "I just... I think I need to get home."

Liam nodded without question and slid Charlie's Greatest Hits back to her. "Take it."

"What?" Claire was shocked and gaped at him. "He was your brother. You should keep it, Liam."

"I can't." He shook his head. "It's not mine to keep, because it wasn't meant for me. You have to take it."

Tears once again welled in her eyes. "Thank you," she said, voice breaking, gingerly picking the piece of paper up and folding it back into her pocket. "I'll make sure the world knows his story and what a hero he was. I can promise you that much."

Liam exhaled shakily. "I wouldn't expect any less," he smiled.

Claire left that day thinking back to everything she'd endured on that island. She began to cry and relished the love she gave and received from Aaron, but only wished that Charlie could be here to share it with her. She would miss him until the day she died, and hoped that wherever she went, he would be there waiting for her, in the house they had talked about, raising Aaron in a sweet smelling home with lots of animals to play with on a block filled with their friends.

Claire knew that no matter what happened next, no matter how hard she had to push to make sure she was okay and healthy, she would tell Charlie's story. She would give him the last bit of fame he'd always wanted and she would make sure that when she died, they could both laugh about it up in heaven, and then finally be happy when Aaron eventually joined them.

The day that came was one she was so desperately waiting for, but Claire was living the best life she could with the best son in the world. And even if that meant Charlie wasn't here for it, she knew he was still watching from above and probably making witty jokes and sarcastic comments. He was with her, right beside her, in her heart.

And the love Claire had for Charlie would never cease to exist. She was happy, she was excited, but most of all, she felt like she was finally at peace with her circumstances. At the end of the day, she had a family to take care of, and lingering thoughts that trailed back to her first and last love.

And Claire loved him very, very much.