Author's Note: Well this is it. The complete end of the story. I'll be honest with anyone whose been reading; in the beginning of the story I loved it, but by the end I hated it. Love and Memories really served a different purpose then just a C/C fic. As many might know, I am in the process of turning the fan fic I wrote over the summer into a novel. This was the longest writing project I've ever stuck with. Anyway by November I was getting a little sick of the characters and I stopped feeling productive in the process. So I e-mailed Meagan (She's been reading all the new chapters) and told her my problem and that I had this idea floating around in my head for a fan fic. It was her who suggested I write it. Love and Memories provided me with the much-needed break away from my novel and now I am very excited to return to my characters.

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed over the past month.

Love and Memories

Epilogue

Ben's POV

Then the phone rings.

I stop.

Tom looks at me.

I look at him, "did you plan that?"

"No but it won't it be cool if I did?" Tom smirks.

I pick up the phone and I hear a very familiar voice. "Ben?"

"Charlie?"

"Are you still pissed?" My jaw drops, he's still worried about that? Charlie continues, "I just wanted you to know, I never lied to you about why I stayed behind."

I scrub my head, "Charlie, or should I say Joseph, I really don't think matters."

He's silent for a moment, "Oh, you know." He sounds disappointed.

"Yes." Ok I'm not going to tell him I found out five minutes ago.

"Oh." I hear him talking to someone, a woman.

"Is Claire there?" I ask.

He seems to clear up, "she's here."

"You two are doing well?" I hate small talk but if I don't ask the question I'm sure there will be many people very mad at me.

Then Claire's voice comes into my ear, "Charlie says we aren't allowed to even talk about wedding plans until we've been together for at least six months. But he says if I call my mom and try to start back up our relationship, we can start planning sooner. I'm this close to calling her." Does she realize I can't see her fingers?

"Baby, he can't see your fingers." Charlie whispers.

I can't believe SHE'S the one who rescued everyone. I start to rub my temples.

"Charlie is there a point to this phone call?"

His voice becomes cold. "Well I'll just get to the point here. There has been some restructuring at the Hanso Corporation and there will be some adjustments to your budget."

I slam my fist against the desk, "You're cutting my budget!"

There's some giggles on the other end of the phone, pissing me off even more.

Claire voice is light and airy, "That's not what he said."

"There will be a couple changes to your island. One, the supply drops every three weeks instead of six. Two, there will an internship designed from the top three university in the world which will be sending the top young minds to farther their understanding the biology and psychology in a contained ecosystem." Charlie says very professionally.

Claire pipes in, "This way Alex won't be stuck dating a complete tool like Carl. You know while he was in Fiji he was staring at my breast the whole time. Creepy little monkey."

"What?" I ask.

"Oh there will be a doctor in the first wave who is an expert on schizophrenia who is going to try to treat Danielle. Sorry he's what was took so long." Charlie says.

"I don't understand? Why are you doing this?"

There is a silence over the phone line and finally Claire speaks. "I am eternally grateful to you. You saved my life Ben; you were the one who made it possible for Aaron and I to leave the island. But mostly you were Charlie's friend when he needed on the most. So anything we can to make your life a little easier along the way, then we should do it."

I'm speechless.

Charlie speaks for me "Oh and by the way, if you had told me that you were trying to cure a horrible life threatening disease when I was on the island, I would have gotten you the equipment sooner. Now you're going to have to wait a month. Just call if you need anything else. You've got a friend on the board of the Hanso Corporation."

I've got a friend. God I'm such a loser, but I feel like I'm going to cry. Charlie says one last thing.

"Look you are going to need to get to drop site for the Pearl today. You're getting your first package. But you'll need to soon, I really don't want to bears to get it. This should solve all your problems. This is the best I can do for you Ben. By the way in about a year from now you might need to take s small trip off your island for a wedding. You don't mind do you? I'll talk to you later, bye Ben." Charlie hangs up the phone and leaves me with knowledge and the first glimmer of hope in a long time.

I hang up the phone and explain to Tom we need to get to the Pearl and I would explain what happened on the way.

When we get to the Pearl, the drop box has already arrived. It was two boxes. One box was opened and tons of small brown pellets little the ground. The second box is wrapped in a highly protective layer. There is a small brown fuzzy animal in the box.

"He sent you a dead animal?" Tom asks.

I pick up the animal and it wakes up slowly, blinking a few times and yawning, its tongue curling the whole time. I stare at the animal, "You can't stay mad at a guy who gives you a puppy." I look at his tag, his name is Charlie.

I play with the sleepy puppy during the long walk back, telling him about all the rules he's going to have to follow.

I stand outside of my house and I lift Charlie up and stare him in the eyes. "Listen, we've got one chance to get this right. Don't screw it up for me." Charlie blinks a few times and licks me on the nose.

I open my front door and let Charlie scamper through the house. "ALEX! There's something in the living room for you."

Alex comes out of her bedroom and bellows, "A PUPPY!" She scoops Charlie into her arms.

I feel an arm around my shoulder. "How did you get a puppy?" Juliet asks me.

"It's a long story, but it comes down to friendship, love and memories." I tell her as I kiss her on the lips as we watch our daughter play with her new puppy. "Have I told you how happy I am you didn't leave on the ship?"

"Sometimes in life, you need to love someone enough to stay behind." She kisses me back.