I'm Here With You:
Disclaimer: I don't own the Clique, people! I think I've written enough disclaimers to know I'm not Lisi Harrison in disguise. Thankfully. If not, I'd get rabid fan!girls sending me mail as to why Claire and Derrick aren't together.
And then the water reached the West Coast
And took the power lines (the power lines)
And it was me and you (this could last forever)
And the whole town under water
There was nothing we could do
It was dark blue
-Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin
"…the tsunami has just completely passed over Milan, Italy. It continues to go at the rate of 3 miles per minute and doesn't seem to be decreasing in size," said the reporter on the television. Claire Stacy Lyons turned it to mute and curled up in her blanket on the couch.
It was the year 2012 and, as those Armageddon-obsessed people said, the world was ending. A giant underwater volcano, thought to be dormant, had erupted, causing a mega-tsunami. So far, the places the mega-tsunami had hit were leaving no survivors. The world was really collapsing, just without the fire and brimstone.
Claire sighed, thinking of all the things she never did. She never went to Paris and saw the Mona Lisa, she never went scuba diving and saw the colorful fish, and she never got married. The last one brought on another exhale. That's the one she will probably regret the most.
As the thought of never being married crossed her mind, her boyfriend of several years, Derrick Andrew Harrington, walked into the living room. He was ruffling his shaggy blond hair and yawning, just waking up from a nap. Derrick thought he really needed one after the revelation that he was going to die in a few hours.
He walked over to Claire, still looking dejectedly at her chewed nails, and sat down. Derrick grabbed her mangled hands and began playing with them, as he would if everything was completely normal. Even though they both knew, it just couldn't be normal ever again. Claire grabbed her hands back and pulled them closer to her. She just couldn't handle Derrick trying to pretend everything was going to be all right when it obviously wasn't going to be.
"Are there any new updates on the tsunami?" Derrick asked. Claire had been watching the news for updates that the tsunami had passed and wasn't going to hurt any more people.
"It just passed over Milan. And apparently, there are no survivors anywhere." Claire's eyes watered and she sniffed. Derrick put his arm around her and she tried to give a shaky smile in return. It didn't work.
"I know they're alright. Neither of them would go down without a fight," Derrick said.
Claire gave a hollow laugh. "How could you fight something that's always going to win?"
"Well, you know Massie. She'll probably tell the tsunami to stop just so she could finish shopping."
Claire smiled briefly at the very accurate description of her best friend. No matter how many fights they got in, no matter how many times they schemed against each other, they remained great friends. But now, that was all about to change. She'd never see Massie again.
The towhead put her cold hands on her face, covering it completely. She wanted to yell, to ask why the hell this was happening now. When everything was going right, why did it always have to end? Derrick rubbed her back. He could sympathize. His best friend was out there, too. Derrick was never going to see Cam again, either.
"They'll be fine, Claire. Massie and Cam are strong."
"But Derrick, they had arrived at Milan the day before and hadn't left yet. They were picking out their honeymoon location," Claire pressed. "They couldn't have the white wonderland they both wanted. They died before they ever could!"
Claire stood up harshly and began pacing at the foot of the couch. Derrick just watched as she strode in circles shouting about the injustice of this all."I mean, why does this have to happen now? When we finally got the people we always wanted and were living the lives we always dreamed? Why does the world have to be ending now?!" Claire cried.
"Claire, it's not as if the world wanted to end when everything was going good. It just happened and we can't stop it now," Derrick said calmly, hoping to soothe his livid girlfriend.
"No! It isn't fair! It isn't right! This shouldn't be happening! Massie and Cam should have been able to get married and have kids and have their happily ever after. Kristen and Chris should have been able to climb Mount Everest together as they wanted. Alicia and Kemp should have been able to own the nightclub, as they wanted. Josh and Dylan should have been able to have their first child without the world collapsing before the little girl came out!"
Claire was sobbing and yelling at everything wrong with the world. She wished everything could just rewind and then pause. She wanted to live in peace and happiness forever. Claire hated the fact that everything was finishing just when she wanted to live this way forever.
Derrick stood and grabbed Claire's shoulders, hindering her frantic pacing. He shook her and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Claire, everything is going to be okay. Even though the world is going to turn as dark blue as the water, it doesn't mean we should just give up hope. Maybe it will stop before it reaches us. We don't know! And if it doesn't, at least we know we got everything we could have hoped for. I mean, I got you. That's all I needed for a really long time." Derrick half-smiled.
Claire's hands, that had been hitting his chest so he could let go, turned limp and she collapsed into him. She grabbed his black shirt and laid her head on his chest. Claire kept crying. Derrick put his head on top of hers and whispered sweet nothings in her ears, trying to calm her down again. Eventually, her sobs subsided.
He led her back on their cherry-red couch and gently sat her down. Derrick wrapped the blanket around her once more, and turned the television sound on again. After a few hours, the television said the words they had been dreading.
"…The mega-tsunami has just finished going over the Midwest of the United States of America. It's only a matter of time before the tsunami crashes over our base in New York and this network shall be out of service."
Derrick woke Claire up, who had fallen asleep promptly after being placed on the couch, and softly whispered, "It's almost here."
Claire's shocking cyan eyes opened slowly and she asked drowsily, "How much longer?"
"Around 10 minutes," Derrick responded sadly. His mouth quirked up in a morbid half-smile. The blond couldn't believe these were his last few moments alive and with Claire.
"Well, we better spend our last moments together, huh?" Claire asked wryly, trying to have some fun in her last minutes.
"Who else would we possibly spend it with? I don't particularly like driving half-way across the country just to see Dylan and Josh. That pretty-boy's lost his taste for soccer anyway."
"Boys and their soccer, is that all you think about?" she asked.
"Girls and food comes close," Derrick retorted.
"Yeah…" Claire rolled her eyes. She turned slightly toward the window and saw an enormous blue…thing in her peripheral. She turned completely, puzzled by what it could be. When she finally saw, her eyes widened and she let out a sharp gasp.
"What is it?" Derrick asked, his caramel eyes inquisitive. Claire's hand trembled as she raised it up, pointing out the object. When Derrick turned, he saw the happy-go-lucky mood they had been in evaporate.
There, on the horizon, was the white swell of a blue wave, coming closer to them by the second. Derrick turned to Claire quickly and grabbed her hand. Claire grasped it back and gave it a squeeze.
"I love you, Derrick," she said, a transparent tear falling.
"I love you too, Claire."
The wave burst through their window, scattering the glass all around. The water quickly rose up to their bodies and their heads submerged in water. Claire and Derrick tried to swim against the water, but the rush was too strong and kept pulling them under. Soon, they went into a rigid position, completely terrified. They didn't scream like in the movies, probably because they knew that this was going to happen and had begun to accept it.
Derrick held his last remaining breath in, and Claire did as well. However, after a while, the two blonds couldn't hold their breaths any longer, even though they still tried to hold hands with their last strength. Their strength began to slack and their grip loosened. The lovers opened their eyes one last time to look at one another before they went unconscious.
Their hands broke apart and they floated away, farther and farther from each other. Their bodies went limp as the smaller waves pushed them away. The planets and stars all aligned, as if one beautiful thing had to happen in this horrid massacre. The wave broke through the power lines and buried the town underwater. The people slowly died as well, holding onto loved ones one last time. More and more people kept dying as the tsunami went through its course.
The death toll was piling up, but to the floating blonds, it would always be just them. Finding comfort in each other when there was nothing else to look forward to. The waves kept crashing back against everything left standing, making an ironically calm noise.
And then it was still.
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A/n- Hey people! Okay, this is my first actual Clairington. I'm actually really proud of it :)
I liked it a lot- RHB (that loser jacked my author's note!)
Anywho, just to let you guys know, I'm changing my penname to Sarcastic Twists. So, if you're ever wondering "Where the hell did Ms Lovable go?" you'll know where. =D REVIEW! Please?