Pinholes in the Sky
Title: Pinholes in the Sky
Summary: Daniel and Charlotte see a shooting star.
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Dan/Charlotte
Spoilers: Season 4, up to the end of Something Nice Back Home.
Words: 744
Disclaimer: I don't own Lost. Pity.
A/N: I'm tired of "A ______" titles. I'm sure you are, too. So I have decided to switch it up a bit. *pokes title* Also, it feels like forever since I've posted any fics. Blame it on my muses. I was idea-less for quite a while. But they enjoy looking down on me and elbowing each other, saying, "Look at this kid," pointing at me curled up in the fetal position next to my computer (staring at the same blank Word Document for hours on end. Kind of.)... sorry for the rant. Anyway, I hope you like it. Reviews make me happy. Thanks!
Charlotte and Daniel sit in the sand, facing the ocean. The sun set a long time ago, and now they sit in darkness. They once had things to say, but neither of them are particularly good at making conversation. They both know it. So an airy silence sets in, but acts more like a blanket warming them instead of suffocating them.
Charlotte's gaze drifts from the darkened horizon to the ceiling of stars above them. The night is clear, and the millions of stars look like pinholes in the sky. She smiles, just faintly (and not enough for Daniel to notice, she hopes), for no reason except for the fact that Daniel Faraday is by her side. He seems to have that effect on her nowadays.
"Thanks for coming with me today," Daniel says finally, "to the medical station."
Charlotte puts her elbows behind her and lets them sink into the sand, slowly sliding backwards. She gives him a vague shrug in return.
"I, uh… I'm sorry I yelled at you."
Charlotte smirks, throwing him another shrug. "I get that a lot." She mumbles to the sky. "Except without the apology afterward."
Daniel laughs. A quiet, nervous laugh.
Suddenly, Jin's face flashes in her mind, and she half expects him to be standing behind them. Of course, he isn't. It still agitates her that she can scarcely look at Daniel without being reminded of that survivor's threat. How clear it made one thing in her mind.
"Look at that." Daniel says, tilting his head back. Charlotte takes refuge in these few moments of peace. She looks at Daniel, memorizing his face, before she too looks up to the sky.
A shooting star flies across the horizon and they are silent as it flickers and then disappears completely after just a split second.
"Wow." Daniel stammers finally.
"Yeah," Charlotte agrees, finding no other articulate words to describe falling star. She'd never seen one before. "You know, there's a myth about shooting stars." She grins to herself, barely realizing what she had just said aloud.
Daniel looks at her expectantly, but she looks away. Why did she even say that? Not much makes Charlotte blush, but when she does, she blushes dark red, not just the slight pink shade that most people do. She can feel her face turning hot, thankful for the cover of darkness.
"Hm?" Daniel prompts.
Charlotte shakes her head but continues anyway, "The myth that the person you see a shooting star with is your-" She stops, and wonders if he knows what she was about to say. Soulmates, lovers? Why the bloody hell did I say that? She thinks. The burning in her cheeks returns, just thinking the words that could have filled in the blank, had she allowed herself to continue talking.
Something in his eyes tells her that he heard it before she even began to say it. She thinks he's probably thankful for the darkness, too.
They look at each other for a long moment. The waves stop crashing down, Daniel stops mindlessly sifting through the sand, Charlotte stops thinking. Daniel is the first to look away, and the nervous movement makes Charlotte realize what she just did.
"I'm sorry," She mumbles, interrupting herself with a fragment of an ashamed laugh, "I didn't-"
"No, no." Daniel looks to her with a half smile, silently assuring her it's all okay again. Then his face fades blank, and he looks away again.
She already misses his smile.
The silence returns, this time not so cozy, though. At least tolerable, still.
"We were supposed to make a wish." Daniel says, apparently deciding to play along with her superstitious legend babble. He pauses and turns to her for approval, or maybe something else that Charlotte can't quite make out. "I think we missed the window, but I think it'll still work. You can have it. The wish, I mean."
Charlotte smiles wryly. She looks down, as if seriously debating, before she looks back up at him. "You know what?" She sits back up and her hand brushes his, giving both of them pleasant chills. "I think I'm good right now." She thinks of all of the clauses she could add to the end of that to tell him what she means, but she has a feeling he knows. He knows exactly what she means.
"Me… Me too." He nods, braving a brush of his hand against her. An unspoken warmth.
Charlotte smiles. At the sky, at the horizon, at Daniel. Most importantly, he smiles back.