Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight and any of its enthralling characters.

Title: Gumption

Note: A Quil and Claire story. This is my first fan fiction, I hope you enjoy! Please feel free to review and comment, thank you! :)


Chapter 1: Anything Can Happen

8:37 P.M.

A wheezy voice drifted through the silence of the room, weaved through the beeping of the monitors and touched her ears.

Claire Young looked up from the IV she was currently flushing out, and furrowed her brow; unsure if she had heard correctly.

"Did you say something, Elaine?" she gently asked the fragile woman lying down on the bed; and moved a bit closer.

Though she was already sixty-two years old, it was clear to Claire that Elaine Beaufort had once been a beautiful woman. She had shocked Claire and the rest of the staff of Forks General Hospital when she wheeled herself through their doors only a little over three weeks ago; demanding that she be attended to immediately.

The elderly woman had explained to a slightly befuddled Dr. Cullen that her gut was telling her that something was wrong with her. Instead of throwing her to the psych ward, Carlisle had respected her wishes and run tests on her. Much to the staff's and even Carlisle's surprise, the results had been true to Elaine's gut.

She had acute Leukemia.

"I asked what you're still doing here, child," rasped Elaine, her dark eyes twinkling in amusement.

Claire gave her a confused smile. "I'm here to make sure your IV keeps you kicking. Didn't think cancer would make you forgetful too," she joked and the older woman chuckled.

Since Elaine was admitted here, Elaine had already gone through several nurses—each giving up on her and running out her suite when she'd yell and chuck a bedpan at them. Elaine didn't like to be pitied, and she most certainly didn't like to be treated like she was useless. Claire had suspected that about the woman the moment she had filled in for the last nurse; she had also been the only nurse not to run back to the nurse's station calling Elaine a mad woman.

"Well thanks for that," replied Elaine, sarcastically. "But shouldn't you be out partying like normal crazy young people? It is New Year's Eve after all."

Claire laughed and shook her head, knowing all too well what the occasion was. "You forget again Elaine, social functions plus Claire equals social suicide."

It was true. She had never been a social butterfly like Nessie, or a chatterbox like Winter. Even as a child, Claire had always been a shy and private person who preferred small and intimate gatherings over extravagant parties. It was just one of her things.

And it frustrated her more sociable family members to no end.

When she was eight, her mother decided to throw a huge birthday party for her. Claire was so mortified to find nearly half of the kids from playground there that she had literally clung on to one of the Quileute men's leg—was it Paul or Jared?—when her mother tried to drag her out into the yard.

Needless to say, everyone but Claire had fun at the party.

"I remember my tenth birthday…" Elaine's distant voice snapped her out of the memory. "I slugged Larry Higgins because he was making fun of my polka dotted dress," the bald woman chuckled at the memory and wiped a fake tear from her eye.

"Polka dots?" laughed Claire, raising an eye brow.

"Hey, during my time, that was the iiiin thaanng girl."

Claire laughed out loud. Elaine still had so much spunk left in her that Claire would sometimes forget the woman was very sick. "Please, don't ever let me catch you doing that again."

"Sure taught him…" said Elaine, still chuckling. "He couldn't walk for days!"

"Some angel you must have been," said Claire, rolling her eyes but grinning all the same.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," murmured Elaine, the ghost of a smile running along her features as she closed her eyes and slowly took in a deep breath. Claire watched her before carefully removing the syringe, and making sure that the excess blood had been flushed out.

A pang of sadness hit her hard in the chest. Elaine always looked tired nowadays. Maybe it was because of the chemo—or maybe she was just lonely? After all, since the day she got here, none of her six children had come to visit her. There was always a meeting too important to miss, a business trip too important to reschedule, or an art exhibit to wonderful to pass up.

And not once had Elaine complained.

Claire's heart went out to this brave woman, but she knew that beneath that tough exterior, she felt the loneliness an old and dying woman shouldn't feel with such a big family.

Bitterness suddenly overwhelmed her when she remembered her own family, but she quickly repressed this memory when Elaine spoke.

"Do you mind opening the curtains for me, dear?" she whispered, her eyes still closed. Claire said nothing and walked over to the bay window of the hospital suite.

Her own reflection and the pinpricks of light from Forks greeted her when she pulled open the cream colored curtains. It was a full moon tonight; it stood out in the midnight blue sky like a huge beacon, casting an ethereal glow over the forest tree tops. She could just make out the outline of the mountains from here.

A small smile graced her lips. It was nights like this that reminded Claire why she loved Forks so much. Both women were quite for a few minutes, admiring the view, both not thinking of anything in particular.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She saw Elaine's reflection give her a weary smile. "You know, I met my Gerry on a night just like this."

Claire blinked. "Your husband?"

"Mhm…" Elaine closed her eyes again and smiled to herself; like she had such a delightful secret that she knew and the world didn't.

Claire was strongly reminded of her Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam. That was the way they looked whenever they talked about the other. It was the kind of look that showed genuine and sincere love; the look they reserved only for each other. Watching Elaine felt like de ja vu. And here Claire thought only those who had imprinted would ever wear that look…. The look of one who was truly happy.

She sighed.

True happiness. What the hell was happiness anyway? What was it like to be truly happy? Does this feeling truly exist, or is it merely an illusion? Would it make genuine smiles much easier to produce? Would it make you feel less… stuck? It had been so long since she felt truly happy. So long that sometimes she wondered if she just conjured those memories. Claire could repeatedly convince herself that she was content with the life she had now—a career she loved, caring relatives, a true friends—but that would be a lie. Something was missing; and something wasn't right. Like a chip on her shoulder that she couldn't quite find.

Everyone wanted to be happy, right?

"I'm already assuming that you've got plans tonight?" Elaine's dark eyes were opened and focused on her again. "And by plans I mean a date."

Here we go. Claire chuckled and turned around. "I thought we already talked about the dating issue?" she inquired, crossing her arms over her chest.

Elaine shrugged. "Claire honey, if I had your looks, I'd be out there snagging me the hottest man I could find. What are you, twenty-one? Why on earth don't you at least have a boyfriend yet?"

Claire cringed. She wasn't exactly big on the 'B' word.

"I just…haven't really found anyone who'd—well, want to date me, I guess," she shrugged, feeling uneasy. She never really liked it when people asked her about dating, or guys for that matter. She had no idea how to talk about it.

Elaine gave her an incredulous look. "Child, have not you seen the way the male nurses and doctors here stare at'choo? You're like the angel they've never seen before!"

"You're exaggerating," mumbled Claire, staring at her shoes and blushing bright red.

The older woman crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest and raised an eyebrow. Claire squirmed a bit under her gaze and threw her hands up in defeat. "I don't know Elaine; I just…haven't met that guy who could actually give me something… worthwhile and—don't look at me that way! I have tried dating a couple of guys, but they all ended horribly. So until I meet him," she suddenly felt like a little girl waiting for prince charming. It was silly. "No dating."

Instead of the laugh or the tease she was expecting, Elaine surprised her by giving her an understanding, yet somewhat sad smile.

"I know what you feel child, trust me— if I hadn't met Gerry, I probably would've been the old lady with nine cats and an obsession with knitting. I wasn't exactly a sweetheart then. But you…" Elaine gave her such a warm smile that Claire blushed again. "I've seen the way you take of me and the other patients around here. You deserve to be taken care of too." She added quietly.

Claire stared at the woman.

She honestly had no idea what to say to that; and she definitely didn't know what to think about that. She didn't deserve to be taken care of. Besides, she didn't think there was any love story for her. In love stories, the main characters fell madly in love with one another. That was Nessie's life with Jacob. But Claire played the role of one of the ordinary people, who had no love story written for them. She often wondered what happened to those people. Had time left them alone and forgotten? What about their stories?

She didn't know how to tell Elaine this, instead, she walked over to the bed and fluffed Elaine's pillow. Then she looked at the time.

8:51 P.M.

Claire sighed.

She had planned to spend the last hours of 2008 curled up on her bed watching the latest season of Gossip Girl while waiting for midnight. It had been a ritual she had fallen into for the past week that she had no intention of breaking.

Of course, Fate and Nessie Cullen worked hand in hand to concoct a plan that thwarted all hopes of quiet evening.

An intricate plan which included a rather large white tent in the Cullen's backyard, and about half the population of Forks and La Push.

She had seriously planned on ditching the whole thing, but she knew Nessie would just come hunt her down and drag her—and by drag she meant literally being thrown over Nessie's shoulder— to the party anyway. Claire frowned. Stupid, inconvenient half-vampire senses…

"I have a good feeling about this year, Claire."

Claire stopped mentally cursing her best friend and looked at Elaine. She was gazing out the window with a peaceful expression on her face. She must have felt Claire's confusion because she pointed to the window.

Claire slightly furrowed her brows and slowly turned to face the window again.

There wasn't really anything different. Her confused reflection still stared back at her, and Elaine still looked tired. The lights from the small town of Forks still looked the same, and the moon was as bright as ever and still—

"Look at the forest," wheezed Elaine. Still confused, Claire silently obeyed her.

There still wasn't anything different. The dark forest was still bathed in moonlight, and the trees gracefully swayed in the breeze. Claire walked a bit closer to the window to get a closer look.

Still nothing.

She looked at Elaine questioningly over her shoulder. The elderly woman gave her a smile that had gained wisdom through the years.

"Do you know what comes with the wind, child?"

Claire suddenly felt the age difference between her and the older woman. It was startling. The wind? She gaze back at the forest and watched the trees gracefully swaying towards the east. There wasn't anything particularly surprising. There were cold breezes in Forks all the time.

"Change, dear," said Elaine knowingly. "With the wind comes change. Legend has it, when the Santa Anas blow, anything can happen."

Change?

For the past three years, Claire had been living her life on autopilot. Bitter memories threatened to spill over her own personal Pandora's Box, but she stubbornly held it shut; now was not the time to think of those things—it was impossible for a breeze to sweep in and change the foggy life she knew.

Miraculous things like that just weren't possible.

Not for her, at least.

She glanced at her watch. 9:11 P.M. Nessie was going to murder her if she didn't get there on time.

"Elaine, I'd better—"

Soft snores told her that Elaine had already fallen asleep. Claire quietly made sure all the monitors were accurate before moving to the door and switching off the light. Before she closed the door behind her though, she glanced out the window of the suite again.

As the forest trees danced to the breeze, she couldn't help but allow herself to feel a little hopeful. Elaine could be right—maybe this year would be different.

She definitely needed a bit of change in her life.

Author's note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of "Gumption"! Some of the lines here were taken from the movie "The Holiday" starring Cameron Diaz and Kate introduction of Quil comes in the next chapter. :)