Title: Backstage Pass
Author:
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Charlie/Claire
Rating: References to sex, drugs and rock’n’roll.
Disclaimer: Charlie and Claire belong to Bad Robot.
Author’s Notes: Pre-series. Written for an icon drabble game.
Summary: “Do you want to know my favorite song of yours?”
His ears were ringing from the concert, but Charlie still grinned at the pretty blonde at the back of the crowd in the dressing room. “Contest winner,” Clive had said (and Liam joked sometimes that all managers were named Clive, it was part of the training) so Charlie put on his most charming smile to make nice with the locals.
“Hullo, I’m Charlie.”
“Hello.” Big blue eyes and heart-shaped face and an unexpectedly friendly smile. She wasn’t nervous at all. Good girl. “I’m Claire.”
He nodded, picking up a bottle of water and taking a slurp. “Y’from ’round here?”
“I’ve lived in Sydney all my life.” She looked around the room, and he followed her gaze—to Liam, who was chatting up a taller girl in a low-cut blouse.
“Friend of yours?” he said more sharply.
Claire laughed. “No. We were talking earlier. She said she’d go home with Liam. What do you think her odds are?”
“Good.” He drank more water. “Very good.” She just smiled and nodded, and he said, “Are you thirsty? There’s water, there’s beer, there’s champagne—”
“I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Okay.” He shrugged. He was knackered and thirsty and in need of a hit, and out of ideas to talk to the girl.
She said abruptly, “Do you want to know my favorite song of yours?”
“‘Everybody,'” he said with a shrug. “Everyone loves that fuckin’ song.”
“The River song,” Claire said quietly and picked up a bottle of water from the table.
He stared. “That’s not even on the album. That’s a B-side on a single that was only released in Germany.”
“I know. My local store does imports and so I bought it.” She unscrewed the cap and sipped. “I bought it for ‘Sunset Beach’ but I kept it for the River song.”
He looked at Liam again—looked around the room, at the roadies and fans and groupies and everybody, none of whom gave a moment’s thought about a little song about home.
“Do you want to get out of here?” he said to Claire, and she smiled and took his hand.
end