5

Everything I Want
By obi's girl

Summary: Claire struggles with which college to attend and how it will affect her relationship with Peter...and gets some advice from an unlikely source about what to do…

Characters: Peter/Claire, Claude
Spoilers: None at this point
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters. Tim Kring, NBC, etc own them. No profit is made from this fic.

"Peter, are you up here?" Claire called as she walked onto the rooftop of their apartment building. Usually, when Peter was with Claude they'd be on the rooftop. Claude liked the open air and Peter wasn't afraid of heights, so it worked out perfectly for both gentlemen. Claire rarely ventured up there herself unless it was an emergency and needed to talk to Peter right away and now, was definitely one of those occasions.

It wasn't a matter of life or death emergency; rather it was something Claire needed to discuss with him. Something that could change her life for the next four or five years and Peter deserved to be a part of this decision, especially since they both had stakes in it.

"He's not here," a voice called back.

Claire looked around but didn't see anyone and realized that Claude must still be around, or fairly close nearby. That was one of the problems with having an invisible man around, Claire couldn't figure out if he was sometimes there or wasn't. In fact, she didn't even know what he looked like. The only thing that she knew about Claude, other than being invisible was that he was British. "Oh," she mused, "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"I don't know that piece of information, Claire," he said and Claire saw a flutter from the birds in the cages. "I sent him on a walk to help clear his mind. I can't teach him how to control his abilities if he's not focused," he said, "You wanted to talk to him?"

Claire smiled and placed her hands in her pockets. "I got back a lot of college acceptance letters," she cheered.

"Oh, congratulations, Claire!" Claude cried, "Peter will be very happy to hear that,"

"Well, I still haven't picked a school to attend," she mused, "I mean, they're all good choices but…"

"Claire," Claude said evenly, "What is it?"

She shook her head, looking down at the gravel beneath her, whispering, "It's nothing,"

"Claire, I may be invisible but I can see that something is bothering. Come on, let's have it," Claude boasted.

"It's just…I got accepted to a lot of good schools and I'm tempted to respond to many of them but they're out of state and I promised Peter that I'd try and stay in the city. But I really like these schools and I can see myself going to one of them," she cried, "Peter's going to be so disappointed…"

"What makes you think that?"

Claire shivered and removed her hands from her pockets, rubbing them together instead. "Because he wanted me to stay close by and go to a school in the city but I feel if I do, I'll be limiting myself," she paused, "I had a chance in Odessa to explore my abilities and I want to do the same for my education,"

Claude hmm'd and walked closer to Claire, sitting beside her. "Have you told Peter how you feel?" he asked.

Claire shrugged and looked up at the skyline. Claude smiled; she probably thought that he was standing close to the ledge and didn't know that he had moved. "No but I've been thinking about it though," she said.

"You know Claire, choosing the right university to attend is probably one of the toughest decisions in your young life. But it should be based on your feelings and desires, not someone else's wishes. If you want to attend an out-of-state school, do it, as long as its what you want,"

Claire smiled. "Thanks, Claude. I can see why Peter says you're a good teacher," she said.

Claude laughed. "I've been invisible for many years Claire. It was lonely at first but one thing I learned early on, is that when you have no one to talk to, you have a lot of time to think about life and the course of things," he mused.

"I almost wish I could hug you but I don't know where you are,"

"Ah!" he cried and tugged at her sleeve, "I'm sitting on your left,"

Claire blushed and turned to her left, spreading her arms to hug him. It was strange at first because she couldn't see him but then she felt a solid form hug her back. It made Claire remember an invisible playmate she had when she was eight; she called him Sam. But the difference between Sam and Claude was that Claude was a real person. And secretly, she wandered what he looked like. Peter probably knew.

"Thank you, Claude," she said again, pulling away.

"Peter cares about you, Claire. Sometimes I think you're often the reason why he's distracted," he mused.

Claire blushed again and brushed some stray hairs from her face. "I'm just the cheerleader Peter saved at homecoming, Claude. He doesn't think of me like that," she defended. But Claire had always hoped that deep down with time, his perception of her would change but he had shown her no indication otherwise.

"How old are you now? Eighteen? Peter's twenty-seven. Trust me, that's not much of an age difference," he said flatly, "Mentally, you're a lot more mature than eighteen, Claire and Peter knows that,"

"Maybe," she whispered, looking once again at the gravel beneath her. "But even if he did, Peter would never take advantage of me. He knows what I went through in Odessa,"

Claude scoffed. "The quarterback raping you?" he said and Claire's head shot up, "Yes, he told me about that and as I understand it, he's still hurting girls because he thinks he can do anything he wants. But Claire, Peter is NOT him,"

"I know that," she retorted, "but he's still…"

"Oh, will you forget about that!" Claude cried, "Look, this is my last piece of advice and then I won't mention it again. All right?"

Claire shrugged. "Okay,"

"Ask him how he feels about you. If I'm wrong, you can tell me. If I'm not, then you'll know if going to an out-of-state school is the right decision. But make sure you tell him about school first and then bring up the other thing. Flipping it around will make it complicated," he suggested. Claire nodded and Claude got up, standing in front of her. "All right, I have to go now. If Peter comes back, tell him we're finished for today but tomorrow, I want to see him at 9 a.m." Claude smiled at her again and quietly left.

He passed Peter as he came up the stairs and they talked briefly before Peter came up to join Claire on the roof. She was sitting close to the ledge, looking out at the skyline. Peter felt his breath catch in his throat as he stared at Claire sitting against the pink-orange sky. She was beautiful.

Finally, she looked at him and smiled. "Hey," she said.

"I saw Claude leaving," he answered, walking closer to her, "He said that you wanted to talk to me about something,"

Claire put her hands in her pockets and looked at Peter. "I got some more college acceptance letters today," she said, "But a lot of them are out-of-state schools. I know I promised you that I would stay close but Peter, some of these schools, I'm really tempted to say yes,"

Peter sat beside her and smiled. "Claire, it's all right," he said and took her hands from her pockets, rubbing them together. "I know what I said and honestly, it would be great if you could go to a school in the city but ultimately, where you go should be your decision. You have so much potential, Claire, more so than your abilities and I don't want to hold you back from that potential,"

Claire's hands were warmer now as she looked back at him thoughtfully; Claude was right about school but what about the other thing?

"Before I started applying to schools, I was worried about going to a school far away from here…and you. I didn't think I could handle the distance, especially after everything that's happened in my life. I couldn't stand to be alone again," she confessed.

"You're not alone, Claire," he offered, "And you can e-mail me everyday and if your school isn't too far away, I can go up and see you or you can visit me,"

Claire looked down at her hands and Peter's. "What if I don't want you to visit me?" she wandered. Peter looked at her curiously, somewhat hurt by that comment. Why wouldn't Claire want him to visit her? As if sensing his feelings, Claire grasped his hands in hers and looked up at him. "I mean, what if I go to school in the city instead?"

"Claire, no. I don't want you to go school in the city to please me," he retorted.

"But it is what I want," she declared and smiled, "In fact, everything I want is here, Peter," Claire entwined her fingers with his, staring into his dark brown eyes.

Peter couldn't help but stare back into her green eyes and leaned forward, kissing her. Claire smiled, kissing him back and she realized that Peter was everything she wanted. Why did she need to go to an out-of-state school in the first place? To run from what she'd been feeling this whole time? Run from Peter? Because she was scared?

Peter touched his forehead to Claire's and smiled. For so long, he'd been denying his growing feelings for her and maybe it was selfish of him to want her to stay but now he knew how she felt. Claire bit her lower lip and looked at him, mouthing, "I love you," Peter grinned and said he loved her too.

And Claude grinned as he watched them from the door.

The End