Charlie Pace
administration.
I calculate what I had done, like jumping from the bow yeah. Just to prove I knew how, yeah.
Posts: 196
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Post by Charlie Pace on Aug 21, 2008 20:56:13 GMT -5
Just realise what I just realised Then we'd be perfect for each other and we'll never find another Just realise what I just realised We'll never have to wonder...
Charlie jerked slightly, shifting between waking and sleeping. The sound of music from what Charlie figured was an alarmclock blared, and he groaned slightly, shifting, tangled in sheets and pillows and Libby. He barely remembered falling asleep, and he tried to get back to the safety of sleep.
"That was Colbie Caillat, on KTLA 100.5, and we've got some breaking news from KTLA Channel 5, our television sister station, Kevin. You remember those survivors of that plane crash? Oceanic 815? They just came back, right, from being on an Island? Well, two of them have been found dead at the Roosevelt."
"Are you serious, Becky?! Who was it?"
"James Ford. And, oh no, Kevin. There was a little child--"
"Wait, wasn't that Aaron?"
"Yes, the little boy's name was Aaron. Aaron Littleton. He's the nephew--Step nephew of Los Angeles' own Jack Shephard."
"Wasn't there a report that his mom, Claire, is in Saint Sebastian's?"
"No, worse, Kevin. Santa Rosa."
"My god. This is just horrible news. We've got to break, but keep it locked on Kevin and Becky in the Morning for all the latest news about this horrible tragedy. Back in a few on KTLA 100.5--"
"Apollo Bars! Kids demand them, parents approve them! The perfect chocolate-y bar for every kid and kid at heart--"
It was almost slowly, that Charlie's brain processed the news. He jerked slightly, pressing his face into Libby's shoulder before he jerked around to his back, unsure of why he was shocked. "L-Libby. Libby, love, what--" his voice was fogged with sleep, but he brought a hand over, tapping Libby. "What--what channel. They said--they said those Oceanic survivors." Charlie reached blindly for the remote, and clicked the TV on. He sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes as he flipped it quickly to Channel Five.
"Once again, police are still on the scene of the suspicious death of James Ford and Aaron Littleton, both survivors of Oceanic Flight 815--"
As Aaron and Sawyer's picture flashed on the screen, Charlie brought a hand up to his mouth. "Oh my god." he whispered, tears instantly coming to his eyes. Aaron. Aaron had been...Aaron had been the baby in the hospital!
But why was he crying? He hadn't know the baby any more than he had known Claire...but it almost felt like a part of his soul had just been ripped from his body. Tears slid down his cheeks in silence as he stared wide-eyed at the screen.
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Libby
new oceanic 815.
Take time to realise that I am on your side
Posts: 92
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Post by Libby on Aug 22, 2008 21:38:01 GMT -5
Libby hadn’t slept this soundly in what felt like years. Out of habit she had set her alarm the morning before as she always did, but curled up in her bed, Charlie’s warm body beside her, the music barely registered in her mind, instead seeming to work its way into the pleasant dream she was having.
Slowly she started to rouse, the voices of the DJ’s forcing their way into her head and pulling her from her dream. Feeling Charlie snuggle into her shoulder she smiled. It wasn’t so bad being woken from a wonderful dream when it turned out her dream was reality, or at least some form of it. All she knew was that Charlie was really here, that he had been here all night. The thought made her smile wider as she slowly blinked her eyes open.
Sleep fogging her head, Libby started to grow confused as Charlie frantically bounced around beside her, tapping her shoulder and stuttering something.
“Sorry, I always get up early,” she murmured, automatically reaching over to shut off the radio. There were still other voices, though. Blinking slowly, she rolled over to find her best friend sitting up, remote in hand, his eyes glued to the television. Sitting up behind him, she oddly felt her stomach sink as she saw the pictures on the screen, heard their names attached to a proclamation of death. She recognised the man immediately, one of the Oceanic survivors. One of the people she had been avoiding since they’d set foot in the Roosevelt for reasons she couldn’t even explain to herself, same as she couldn’t explain the pain and sorrow she felt seeing the news report.
Wrapping one arm around him from behind, Libby rested her chin on Charlie’s shoulder. She could feel his breathing hitch as he watched; she obviously wasn’t the only one affected.
“Are you alright?” she asked, concerned. It was always tragic to hear of any senseless death, but that of a child so young was heartbreaking in any case.
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Charlie Pace
administration.
I calculate what I had done, like jumping from the bow yeah. Just to prove I knew how, yeah.
Posts: 196
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Post by Charlie Pace on Aug 22, 2008 21:51:10 GMT -5
There had to be a reason. Some reason why he was so affected by this news. Charlie remembered two or three weeks ago, a little boy had been left in a car in Los Angeles and died from neglect. That barely made Charlie blink, let alone cry. Two months ago, a couple was murdered downtown somewhere, and Charlie hadn't even paid it a glance. But now, there was a dead man and a dead baby, and Charlie was nearly sobbing...why?
"I don't--" he started, trying to stop his tears, but the more he thought about it, the more it hurt. "I don't know." He turned his head, looking back at Libby. "I--that was the boy. The--the kid at the hospital. I held him in my arms, Libs. I--I held him in my arms and he smiled at me and now--now he's dead?" he asked her, almost shocked. "I--I saw that Ford bloke, too. He was tossin' back beers with that Doctor. What was his name, they said? Jack? I saw him tossin' back drinks at the bar with that Jack. Got completely and utterly pissed outta their gordes. "W-Wait, did--they said that girl, Claire...she's at Santa Rosa? Isn't that the nuthouse down the street from that Serenity Heights, that Rehab Centre? The one you can see from Mullholland, yeah?" his brows narrowed in both sadness and thought. "But--but she wasn't crazy...not when I saw her, she wasn't--you know, crazy's a very loaded term, she--" He looked at Libby sadly. "She was so nice and that baby was...I only held him for a second and it was like I was holding my own child. I've never felt that before."
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Libby
new oceanic 815.
Take time to realise that I am on your side
Posts: 92
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Post by Libby on Aug 22, 2008 22:19:05 GMT -5
When Charlie looked back at her, Libby was surprised to see the tears streaking down his face even though she should have expected them. He had known them, he had held the child in his arms.
“I’m so sorry,” she said softly, brushing her fingers through his sleep mussed hair. When he mentioned Santa Rosa, though, she involuntarily pulled away, lowering her head and letting her long hair hid her face from his view. ‘The nuthouse down the street’, he called it. The nuthouse. He was so surprised that this Claire girl could have been admitted there because she wasn’t crazy; he might as well have slapped a ‘Crazy’ stamp on Libby herself.
Hurt wasn’t the only thing she was feeling. There was something else there, a twinge of jealousy as he spoke of Claire and the baby. This girl who was so nice and the child that felt like his own, like some instant family. She didn’t like how he was talking about them. She didn’t like how it made her feel. Bringing her knees up to her chest, Libby wrapped her arms around them.
“Yes, it is a loaded term,” she said quietly for lack of anything else to say. A loaded term, one she was sick of hearing.
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Charlie Pace
administration.
I calculate what I had done, like jumping from the bow yeah. Just to prove I knew how, yeah.
Posts: 196
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Post by Charlie Pace on Sept 7, 2008 15:50:34 GMT -5
As he felt Libby's fingers against his hair, he felt his eyes close, until with a sharp jerk, her hand was gone, and instantly, he heard the words that he had repeated. His mouth opened as he moved, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "Oh--Oh no. No, no, no, you know that--" he pulled his sleeves over his hands as he moved onto his knees on the bed, watching as she brought her knees up to her chest.
"I-I didn't mean---you know I didn't mean it." What exactly didn't he mean? Was it about the girl, Claire, was it about his feelings for her...or about the nut house comment? Was it that? He was almost confusing himself before he sniffed in, running his sleeve-covered hand against her cheek. "You know you mean the world to me, right? I'd never say anything wrong about you, never in the world would I say anything against you and mean it. It just--it just came out. You'll forgive me, yeah?" He asked, and shook his head slightly as he sighed out, moving to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. "It's--you know, I don't know what you lot go through when it's 'that time of the month', but I think I'm having one of those moments. They told me at the hospital that I'd have mood swings. Am I acting like a complete girl yet, or no?" he asked with a slight smile. "I think we should get the movies out and have a good cry, whatd'ya say?" he asked, and then moved, kissing her cheek. "I know you're not crazy, darling."
He moved, laying back against the bed, shutting off the image of a smiling little boy and a strangely famlier man named Ford, and sighing out slightly. He looked over at Libby. "And even if you were crazy...it's a turn on. You're a right crazy sex bomb, how about that?"
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Libby
new oceanic 815.
Take time to realise that I am on your side
Posts: 92
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Post by Libby on Sept 7, 2008 16:56:56 GMT -5
If he didn’t mean it, why did he say it? Claire couldn’t have been crazy because she had seemed so nice, so what did that make Libby? She had spent time in Santa Rosa, did that make her a horrible person?
She couldn’t look at him right now, even as he touched her cheek. Instead of leaning into the touch as she usually did, she felt herself shying away. She knew she should be more understanding; he was going through a lot right now, but it was hard. It was hard to excuse his words because of how kicking his habit was affecting him, but it was still hard. What was harder was the grain of truth she didn’t want to face. Maybe she was so upset because it was true. Maybe she was so upset because she was crazy; she wasn’t nice and sweet like this Claire girl, and therefore she didn’t deserve Charlie. Even if she was the one here taking care of him, always here to comfort him and keep him on the wagon, she didn’t deserve him because she wasn’t nice and she was crazy.
She was silent as he spoke, covering his ass in all directions. He was having mood swings and he didn’t think she was crazy, but even if she was crazy it was still attractive.
Alright, so the way he worded it was funny and she did let out a strangled chuckle.
“Maybe I am crazy. All those other people that tell me I am... they can’t all be wrong, can they?” she replied, turning her head to the side and resting it against her knees. “Nevermind, it doesn’t matter. How about some breakfast?”
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Charlie Pace
administration.
I calculate what I had done, like jumping from the bow yeah. Just to prove I knew how, yeah.
Posts: 196
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Post by Charlie Pace on Sept 7, 2008 17:14:58 GMT -5
"All those other people can sod off."
Charlie moved, sitting up as he listened to her. "No one's really normal anymore, Libs." he told her honestly. "I mean, look at me. I had everything I needed in life. I had a band. A proper band that played on stages instead of empty garages. I had money. I had a girl, once. A girl that I thought I could marry. She was so good to me and she didn't have to be. I had everything..." He traced in between her fingers that rested around her legs. "And then..." he spread his fingers out, making the sound of a bomb going off. "I blew it. I blew it all away for a few white crystals and a syringe full of bad heroin. Anyone says that normal leads to happiness," he scoffed slightly. "They're the crazy ones, don't you see? I'm miserable right now. I'm at my lowest point in my entire life...and for some reason, I'm with you. You say you've lost your mind, and hey, maybe you have. But you have someone here who's just as crazy and lost as you are. So be crazy. Be absolutely bloody psycho if you want to." He rested his chin on her arms.
"This world's a bad, dangerous place. Maybe we're both just two ghosts wandering around this world because we're too scared to face what's to come. But can't you see the best thing about all of this? The positively perfect thing in this giant maze?"
"We're getting lost together."
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Libby
new oceanic 815.
Take time to realise that I am on your side
Posts: 92
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Post by Libby on Sept 7, 2008 17:42:26 GMT -5
It was odd. What might have sounded like a disturbing confession, and something that made them both sound miserable and unbearable was possibly the most beautiful speech Libby had ever heard. Raising her head to look at Charlie, their eyes now level as he rested his chin on her arms, she could feel the wetness in her eyes as she smiled at him. Moving her arms slowly until he raised his head, she placed one hand on either side of his cheek, she leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips before pulling back to look at him again.
“Promise me that whatever happens we’ll stay like this,” she said with a small smile. “Whatever happens we’ll face it together, because... I am scared,” she admitted, “But if you’re here with me I think I can get through it.”
They were each other’s strengths, and Libby couldn’t think of anyone else that she’d rather get lost with.
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Charlie Pace
administration.
I calculate what I had done, like jumping from the bow yeah. Just to prove I knew how, yeah.
Posts: 196
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Post by Charlie Pace on Sept 7, 2008 18:56:08 GMT -5
She was scared? Scared of what?
As he felt her hands on his cheeks, his brows narrowed slightly as she said she was scared. "Scared of what?" he asked, scoffing slightly, but not at her. What could she be scared of? "You don't have to be scared." he told her honestly. "You don't have to be scared a bit because I'll take care of you."
"You'll never take care of anyone, Charlie."
Lucy's voice was still there, haunting him. He wondered silently if she thought of him ever. If whenever she saw a guitar, she smiled and remembered when he sang 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' for her when they had both been smashed. Smiled when she heard the song and how he used to call her Luce-a-duce...
He wondered if all she thought about was that cigarette case. Libby's lips pressed against his, and he felt his eyes close. He tried not to think that sooner or later, he'd hurt her. Because he didn't want to. Never for the world.
"I, uh...I don't feel much for breakfast, Libs. Can we just stay here for a little longer?"
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Libby
new oceanic 815.
Take time to realise that I am on your side
Posts: 92
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Post by Libby on Sept 7, 2008 19:22:24 GMT -5
What was she scared of? Libby just laughed at the question though it wasn’t a happy laugh.
“I don’t know, Charlie. I think that’s the scariest part. I don’t know what I’m scared of because how can we know what the future holds?” she replied, running one hand back to rest on the back of his neck as she leaned her forehead against his. But Charlie would be there, just like he said, to take care of her just like she had taken care of him last night. He would always be there.
That was what scared her the most. Not that he would always be there, but that ‘always’ sometimes wasn’t as long as one planned. Sometimes it just didn’t pan out, but that didn’t stop her from hoping.
“We can stay here forever,” she said softly, before chuckling at her own reply. “Or until we start to starve, I suppose.”
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Charlie Pace
administration.
I calculate what I had done, like jumping from the bow yeah. Just to prove I knew how, yeah.
Posts: 196
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Post by Charlie Pace on Sept 7, 2008 20:25:24 GMT -5
"We could stay here forever in this bed, all curled up together. And then in a hundred years when this building's all broken down and gone, we'll still be here, together. All bones and tattered clothing, sure, but still together. Like Adam and Eve."
It was a nice, if morbid ass hell thought, but a nice one. That they'd be together through everything. However, what he hadn't told Libby was that he was scared, too. There was something looming, he could feel it almost in his bones; something was going to go very, very wrong.
Laying back on the bed, Charlie fell silent for a moment as he laid his arm across her stomach. "Tell me something about you. Anything. I've told you my darkest darks." His fingers ran across her stomach, feeling smooth skin. And then, a thought hit him, making him laugh until he could feel her looking at him, probably confused. "No, I--I was just thinkin'...we've known each other for what, almost four months now? I don't even know your last name."
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Libby
new oceanic 815.
Take time to realise that I am on your side
Posts: 92
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Post by Libby on Sept 7, 2008 20:36:55 GMT -5
Maybe her sentiment wasn’t so weird as Charlie looked past her attempt to make it light and expanded on it. It was... somewhat disturbing, but then somehow not at all. To stay here like this, with him, forever sounded like Heaven, and once you reached Heaven then where else would you want to be? She could die happy in his arms, and that in itself was frightening.
Laying down, her hair fanned out on the pillow, she smiled when Charlie lay beside her, his fingers dancing across her stomach and causing her to shiver. It was a wonderful sensation.
“I’m like Madonna. I don’t need a last name,” she joked in reply, but suddenly the idea of revealing her darkest secrets wasn’t so terrifying. Charlie was always so open with her yet she still tended to keep so much hidden from him. “I... I was married once,” she admitted slowly, reluctantly, the humour leaving her voice. “His name was David, and he was a wonderful man. He treated me like a queen, gave me everything I could have ever wanted.”
It had been the best time of her life until now, the one time she could remember being truly happy and content. But happiness was obviously not meant for her as it was soon followed by the worst time of her life, a time of pain and loss, anger and confusion.
Medication and therapy. She didn’t want to think of those times.
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Charlie Pace
administration.
I calculate what I had done, like jumping from the bow yeah. Just to prove I knew how, yeah.
Posts: 196
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Post by Charlie Pace on Sept 7, 2008 23:23:33 GMT -5
"You're like Madonna?"
Charlie asked, arching an eyebrow, and then he brought a hand up, pulling her shirt back only slightly before he felt his hand being swatted away. "What?!" he asked with a grin. "You said Madonna. Did you not see when she wore those cone thingies? I was both disgusted and completely and utterly turned on." He raised his eyebrows playfully, moving himself up to kiss her lips. "Wanna be my Madonna and turn me on?"
However, all the humour left his voice when Libby told him...she was married? His mouth opened slightly, shocked as he moved his hand across her stomach almost idly, as if trying to comprehend what she was saying. He listened to her talk, and for a brief second, he felt sad. What if David was still out there? Had she run away? This person sounded perfect; how could he, Charlie Pace, junkie rock star measure up? Of course he couldn't. He was a junkie.
"But you said was." Charlie said after a moment, looking at Libby. "Is he dead? Or...or is he still alive?"
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Libby
new oceanic 815.
Take time to realise that I am on your side
Posts: 92
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Post by Libby on Sept 10, 2008 15:05:23 GMT -5
Laughing lightly, Libby swatted Charlie’s hand away as he playfully tried to get a look up her shirt. His words, he was joking, but the suggestion behind them didn’t cease to make her heart beat faster, especially when he kissed her. Did he have any idea what he was doing to her? To him he was just showing his affection for someone he cared deeply for; a friend. A dear friend, a mere friend, nothing less, nothing more. Not to him.
As she spoke of her husband, though, Charlie put all joking aside to listen. Shaking her head at his question, she took a deep breath and continued.
“He... got really sick, and he...” she tried to explain but her voice hitched, her eyes shining with tears that had begun to build. “They all thought... I couldn’t handle the way they looked at me.”
She couldn’t stand the suspicious glances or accusatory glares. It didn’t matter that nothing could be proved either way, they had all made up their mind about her.
“I... I couldn’t live without him,” Libby practically whispered, closing her eyes as the hot tears streaked down her cheeks.
She didn’t believe in medication. She believed the body was strong enough to overcome everything if maintained properly. People who took pills for every ache and sniffle were only damaging their immune system in her opinion. She didn’t believe in taking pills but that night they had slid down real easy.
The entire bottle of them.
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Charlie Pace
administration.
I calculate what I had done, like jumping from the bow yeah. Just to prove I knew how, yeah.
Posts: 196
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Post by Charlie Pace on Sept 10, 2008 19:55:17 GMT -5
Fingers traced a cross on her stomach as she spoke about her husband, and then, as he processed and digested the information she was giving him, his fingers started to play imaginary keys to a song that only he could hear. As she cried, Charlie looked from her stomach to her face. "Yeah." he said softly. He knew how that was. When his mother died...
"When I was--" Charlie shifted slightly against Libby. "I couldn't have been more than...yeah, I was 21. We had just started touring real big; Driveshaft was on the radio. We were in a hotel room in Scotland when...when we got a call. It was my father, we--we had to go back to Manchester real quick because...well, she didn't have long." He brought a hand up, brushing away her tears. "We caught the next flight to England." Charlie shrugged slightly. "I remember Liam driving like a speed demon down the streets just to get there. When we got there, she was unconcious. The doctors said they had her on life support so we could get there. Karen was already there with dad...she just needed her boys." He took in a breath, and let it out slowly. "She died ten minutes after we got there. I remember going back to my dad's house, laying in my old bed. This was back when I didn't do drugs. I'm sure Liam had done a couple lines or something to ease the pain...but I just grabbed a bottle of vodka and a bottle of her old pain pills...and I stared at the pills the entire night. How easy it would have been to just...end it. To leave. I didn't know any other life besides a life with her in it. She was at our first show. She was the one that made us tea when we were in the garage. I wrote my first song on the piano that she gave me. We put it on the second album."
"And then, laying there drunk out of my mind with both bad vodka and bad memories, I realised something. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Those people who leave us...yeah, sure, they may leave us instantly, or they may leave us slow and drawn out...but they'd want us to go on livin', yeah?" he asked, looking at Libby. "And besides, I had tried to take some of them. I made it to five before I threw them all up. So I figure it wasn't meant to be, eh?"
But this was coming from someone who cheated death every time he pushed the syrenge down. Every time he inhailed. He laughed, hypocritically to himself. "Yeah, I'm a real good person t'be givin' you advice, love, sorry. I'm just bein' a bloody hypocritical sod."
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