Winter Break (1/1)
Title: Winter Break
Pairings: Peter/Claire
Show: Heroes
Rating: PG-13 for now.
Summary: Claire agrees to spend winter break with her biological family in New York, not realizing she just signed on for one of the biggest emotion roller-coaster rides of her life.
Peter opened the door of his apartment, and quickly got out of his snow-drenched coat. He looked around. The place was bleak, uninviting, and colorless. It lacked any decoration, and everything was grey, white, or black. He found out today that he had a week off for holidays. No matter how much he protested the fact that he absolutely didn't need one, seven days by himself just seemed to be his destiny.
He had two new messages on his machine. One was a blunt, and awkwardly short message from his mom that told him to stop working so much, and the other was from Nathan.
"Pete," Nathan's voice said, from the small black box. "I called your boss, and he told me that you have a week off of work for the holidays. I uh, I miss you. A lot. So does Ma. And- we were wondering if you wanted to come and spend the holidays with us. The boys are going to be there, and so is Claire. Just- think about it, okay? Call me back when you've decided. Bye."
Peter stared at the machine, and dragged his fingers slowly across it. Even if it would be awkward, he decided he would go. What the hell, he thought. It's better than spending a week alone in this bleary hell-hole.
***
Claire folded her last shirt and tried to stuff it into her overflowing suitcase. She stood up an looked around, mentally replaying everything she packed just in case she didn't miss anything.
It was her choice, and her choice alone to spend the holidays in New York with her biological family. But, the more she thought about it, where else could she have possibly gone? Her dad lived alone and could barely care for himself, and her mom had some new guy in the picture who Claire couldn't stand. Ever since the creepy night with Gretchen, she had moved out of her dorm and into a single. Just her. No one else.
She desperately hoped that Peter was going to be there. He would definitely make things less awkward between her, Nathan and Angela.
Claire flipped open her cell phone and decided to give him a call.
"Hello?" He said.
"Peter," she breathed. She missed his voice.
"Claire? What's up? Is everything okay?"
"Peter- Shh- Calm down. You're staying at Nathan's this week... right?"
"Oh," he said. There was a pause. "Yeah, of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world."
She smirked. "Even though that sounds slightly sarcastic, I'll take it as a yes. I guess I'll see you later tonight?"
"Of course. Bye, Claire."
She slid her phone into her pocket, and looked up to see Gretchen standing in her doorway.
"You could have just told me you had a boyfriend..." She said.
Claire scoffed.
"Number one, he's my uncle. And number two, why are you listening to my conversations?"
"Oh please," Gretchen said, "Nice excuse. I saw the way you said his name."
"Wow," Claire said, dumbfounded. "You're ridiculous." She grabbed her suitcase and walked up to her door. Gretchen stayed put. "Excuse me," Claire said, obviously annoyed.
The girl stood her ground, and Claire pushed past her, letting out a frustrated sigh.
She was actually looking forward to this week. A break from this is exactly what she needed.
On her way out the building, she bumped into someone, sending everything in her purse flying to the floor.
"Oh crap!" She said, and quickly bent down to pick it up.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she heard a guy say.
Not even bothering to look up at him, she mumbled, "oh no, don't worry about it. It was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going."
"Is this you're cell phone?" He asked, putting his hand out with a pink sidekick. She looked up.
"Y-yeah," she said, stumbling on her words. In front of her stood the most attractive guy she had seen in a long time. He was about six feet tall, with curly light brown hair, and sparkling blue eyes. He held out her hand to help her up, which she gladly accepted.
"Thanks for helping me. Most people would have just kept on walking. I'm Claire, by the way," she said, extending her hand.
"Austin," he said, "Everyone calls me AJ, though."
She smiled at him. "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I gotta catch a train soon. Maybe I'll see you around?"
"Yeah, maybe. It might be easier if I had your number though," he said, pulling out his phone.
She laughed. "Oh, you're good. It's 555-522-2143."
"Okay Claire, don't forget my name, 'cause I'll text you," he said, and then walked off.
She smiled. That did not just happen. She proceeded to walk to her car, her pace a little more upbeat, and her face a little more happy than before. She had a feeling this winter break was going to be pretty amazing...