Hello there!

So, this has been rattling about in the labyrinth that is my mind for close to a fortnight now, I know many people dislike high school AUs but I need to get this written down so it'll quit bugging me.

A few facts about this fic that you should know before reading:

The rating is for slight bad language.

Claire is in no way related to the Petrelli's. She's a Bennet and was never adopted, hence the term 'alternate universe'. No one has a power, but I've tried to incorporate everyone powers into their characters and personality a little. They're all around the same age. Nathans eighteen/nineteen along with his cronies, and Gabriel, Peter, Claire and Elle are sixteen/seventeen. I think I've got the dynamics of an American high school down okay thanks to books I've read and the ever trusty Google. But if anything is way off then please don't hesitate to inform me! I'm relying on you guys to keep me right here!

I don't own Heroes in any way shape or form etc etc.

Now, on with the show.

Excited screams filled the air as the cheerleading squad rounded off their routine with a series of cartwheels, each bearing a display of thigh that would have been considered indecent in any other scenario. The bleachers were filled to bursting point with spectators of all shapes and sizes raring with team spirit and waving their greasy half-time foodstuffs in the air as if in some fast food salute. The air was so crisp every outward breath was wispy and visible causing a flurry of fog whenever the team made their audience proud, which was often. The cheerleaders aligned in a zigzag formation and head cheerleader Claire dazzled front and centre like a supernova among the stars, twirling and squealing as though her life depended on it. She was the queen bee, the top prize, the shining trophy in the case. She boasted a toned hourglass figure, every inch tanned golden to match a head of honey locks that bounced to her waist on every kick, her green eyes that sparkled on every jump and straight white teeth that glimmered with every grin. The kind of body boys went crazy for and girls were desperate to have. Teachers were always singing her praises and preaching to their other students the way of Miss Bennet Student Extraordinaire and her essays were never late, her research never flawed. If the school were an ornate crown and the pupils were the jewels encrusted around the peaks Claire was the perfect shining diamond placed daintily at the front so all eyes would be on her at all times, surrounded by her perfect friends in an enchanting cluster. Watching her sashay on the field encased in her skin tight uniform and tiny skirt was enough to make anyone feel sick; be it with envy, lust, admiration...

...or just the unfairness of it all.

At the back of the crowd, where no one saw and no one watched, sat a boy balancing on a particularly scabby bench, trying to catch a glimpse of the players themselves rather than an eyeful of the head cheerleaders inflated ego. Despite his height he was finding it difficult to see past the flailing arms and numb fingers clutching at half eaten hotdogs and at that moment he cursed whoever had thought it was a good idea to allow people to eat them in the stands, even if it were a selfish curse on his part. Gabriel Gray was tall and lanky with a quiet presence that some found intimidating and the majority found exceedingly easy to ignore, although his gentle demeanour and soft voice found him to be an easy target for bullies. He shivered in his many layers; a plain black tshirt along with a grey zipper and thin maroon coat over that- he wasn't a fan of the cold, and his knees knocked together painfully through skinny fit navy denims. He had chosen to sit at the back to avoid the jeers from certain wealthy, sadistic jocks and their equally nasty cronies who had selected him to be their favourite target- because they had chosen the football team and Gabriel had chosen chess which in their opinion made them incompatible. Well, he assumed that was the reason anyway, he had remained relatively invisible until then. He was tripped, smacked, kicked and taunted on a daily basis, his books vandalised, his locker bashed, his lunch stolen, his gym shorts hidden. For a while his violin had even been the object in games of 'keep away' until he'd had enough sense to lock it in the music rooms between lessons.

But, despite all this, he honestly couldn't complain. He obtained top marks in every class but gym- good enough to provide him the opportunity in the future at an established college where he could hopefully avoid smarter, wittier bullies. He worked weekends at his father's shop mending watches and had a steady income which he spent on books and his cat, Harold. His mother loved him. His father tolerated him. His teachers looked out for him and treated him like an adult, admiring his maturity and thoughtful attitude, and didn't hesitate to tell him about new extra credit projects although he always politely declined having his name featured in the school newsletter whenever he inevitably did well and earned the top prize. But above all there was one thing that made Gabriel's life not so bad, and that reason was sitting on the bench, attempting to down a bottle of water whilst simultaneously avoiding his brothers proud back slapping, and Gabriel caught a glimpse that made his stomach do a somersault before the gap was closed by a partly chewed cheeseburger clasped in a sweaty fist, which dropped crumbs in his hair and eyebrows.

Gabriel sighed. At least he had gotten that second.

Peter Petrelli, prior to achieving a place on the football team, would have fit the term 'average' to a tee. Unremarkable features. Acceptable physique. Grades that kept him firmly halfway down the credit list. Somewhat generic taste in clothes. If it weren't for his wealthy parents recruiting his popular, athletic and handsome brother to 'help peter out' (i.e. mould him into another model son to feature as their poster boy) he would still be shuffling around the library with the literary geeks and audio visual nerds along with staying in on weekends and, god forbid, wearing clothes that didn't boast a popular label. But alas, mission accomplished, Peter was now a fully fledged quarterback (thanks to Nathan calling in some favours on the team) and enjoying the perks that came with being a Petrelli, which he had chosen to ignore previously. He was now dating that 'nice Bennet girl', and after Nathan had taken him out for new clothes and a much needed haircut Peter was being invited to parties left right and centre. Because of his anonymity before, many people had failed to notice that Peter was charming and articulate and were surprised to learn so. He seemed to absorb the atmosphere of the group- whether it was excited or rowdy- and play up to it tenfold. This coupled with the fact that his body inevitably toned up from the frequent tiresome football training, when Claire eventually noticed him and decided she had to have him, he was a dead man.

Not that he was complaining, of course. There were guys twice his age that would have given their left leg for the opportunity to date the head cheerleader and as soon as they confirmed their status as a couple his popularity exploded, much to the pleasure of his parents and Nathan.

But there was one thing that was badly hindering his progress, in his brother's eyes.

That damn watchmaker freak.

He and Peter had known each other for years and had grown to be close friends. Nathan could honestly have cared less at the time because back then Peter had happily gone to school looking like a complete idiot and Nathan hadn't had to acknowledge him, so the problem hadn't been there. But now Peter was quickly escalating to greater heights and yet continued to spend time watching Lord of The Rings marathons and hanging around the comic book store with Gabriel, god only knows why. And in what Nathan frankly considered to be fits of insanity he was frequently joining the freak on his lame shifts at the Watchmakers Emporium in his free time. On a Friday night. Choosing to sit in a musty room full of cogs and wrenches rather than grind some hottie at a crazy party.

Was he trying to give Nathan a heart attack?

But when he had started taking the piss out of the nerd in an attempt to highlight how toxic he was to Peter, his brother actually had the cheek to reprimand him and make him apologise. Yeah, as if that would happen. His patience was wearing thin, and he could see that Claire's was too. She was sick of explaining why her boyfriend was frequently not showing up to the best parties and hated having no one to wrap herself around and make people jealous. It was, in her honest opinion, pathetic. Not to mention Nathan was sick of the catty little comments about his brothers choice in company that could potentially start him on the slippery downward spiral that was 'uncool by association'. Peter may have wanted to be some lame, unremarkable nerd but he wasn't taking Nathan with him. No way. So he and Claire hatched a plan to do everything in their power to keep the two apart; in order to give Peter the message that Gabriel was unfriendable, and to give Gabriel the message that Peter was out of his league and he should stay the hell away.

Life was just a ladder of popularity and other people made up the rungs. To get to the top you had to climb over others, cut your losses. Gabriel was just asking to be discarded; he was only slowing Peter down. Nathan wanted every success in life, he wanted to be president and make his father prouder than any other father out there, and he couldn't do that when his little brother seemed determined to slow both of them down with excess baggage. Nathan needed his brother to be a winner too, to help him rise up that godforsaken ladder.

That wasn't being selfish, really.

That was life.

And Nathan would make Peter a winner even if it killed him.

"Fuck yeah Peter!

"Way to go!"

"The Petrelli's do it again!"

"That was awesome kid!"

"Peter sweetie, you were amazing"

Claire slunk up to him and stretched her arms around his neck, throwing him a wicked grin before pulling his face down to meet hers. Their kiss was met with catcalls and whistles, Nathans being the loudest by far, all egging him on. Peter disentangled himself from his girlfriend- he wasn't big on public displays of affection- and smiled shyly at the crowd of football players, cheerleaders and other popular students around them while Claire beamed unashamedly, her fingers twining themselves with his. He knew this was where she loved to be, in the centre of attention, and so he let her keep him there while she chatted away with her girlfriends even though he would much rather find a certain bespectacled best friend of his own. His eyes scanned the crowd sneakily and he felt the disappointment mount as he glimpsed person after person. Maybe he had decided not to come after all. Was he finally sick of Peters surprising and sudden popularity? He'd always been so nice about it, politely rescheduled when Nathan had actually forced peter to go to a party or Claire had physically dragged him out on a date. But Peter always made the effort regardless. Maybe he had been asked to do a shift at the store. Maybe he was grounded. Maybe he had to organise his DVDs, or iron some shirts, feed the cat, take out the trash, sweep the floors, watch paint dry-

"...Peter?"

The tentative voice from behind him had a smile spreading across his face, a smile which could easily have lit the entire Kirby plaza. The whole city, even.

"Gabriel! You came!"

He unlinked his fingers from Claire's to turn to Gabriel, missing the murderous glare he received from her in return and the icy stare the football team was giving his best friend for trespassing on their celebration, a celebration at which he definitely didn't belong.

Gabriel saw. He gulped and started backing away slowly.

"I, uh, wanted to c-congratulate you on... erm on a r-really good game just there buh-but maybe I, um, maybe I should have waited until-"

"Don't worry about it Gabe. Come walk with me to the car park, I need some air." Peter said cheerfully, suddenly a lot happier. He pressed a quick kiss on Claire's lips and flashed his brother a grin before taking Gabriel by the arm and all but dragging him away from the crowd. "I'll catch up with you guys later, 'kay Nathan?" he called back over his shoulder as he and Gabriel walked off in the direction of the bleachers.

There was a moment of shifting in the group as people looked from Nathan, to Claire, to Peters back as it moved farther away from them.

"Claire? Why is your boyfriend bee-eff-effs with the watchmaker freak?" a brunette cheerleader named Candice chirped in an irritatingly high soprano voice as soon as the pair were out of earshot, her brow furrowed over huge sapphire eyes as she pouted in mock confusion. The rest of the squad murmured their uncertainty. Mohinder, one of Nathans best friends and star of the basketball team (which made him okay to hang with, seeing as he was also the schools science wonderchild, matched only by Gabriel himself) raised an eyebrow and said 'Yeah dude, what's going on? Why haven't you told Peter the guys a one way ticket to loserville?" The football team grunted in agreement. Nathan ignored the shifting of panic in his stomach and adopted an indifferent expression, staring at Mohinder haughtily. "Yeah, actually I have Mo. Apparently the guidance counsellor has asked him to help out the geek and watch over him- you know, like extra credit. Cause Peters such a warm person or some other bullshit like that."

He glanced pointedly at Claire who caught his drift and carried on the tangent. "Yeah he's really being, like, getting into it and stuff" she punctuated the rant with an eye roll and hair flick, before continuing, "and I said to him 'babe, you gotta watch it, you're spending an awful lot of time with him, what will people say about the company you keep and stuff' and he acted all sweet about it cause, like, he really needs the extra credit and he really believes that he can help the freak. Isn't he just the sweetest?" she expertly plastered a lovesick smile on her face, sending the drones into a frenzy of 'he's so sweet!' and 'you're so lucky Claire!', while the football team lumbered about and offered consoling 'that sucks, dude' to their team captain. Nathan snorted. He had them back on his side for now at least. "Just cause I have to tolerate it doesn't mean I can't have a little fun."

He grabbed the pigskin and took aim.

"Dude, where were you in the crowd? I looked and I couldn't see you." Peter asked, nudging Gabriel with his elbow as they walked. There were only a few people hanging around the field now- most had either gone home or started making their way to the after party at Matt's house, the invitation to which having been extended to near everyone except Gabriel. Typical. The bleachers were littered with empty soda cans and cosy couples, and the grass was covered in makeshift flags. It had been some game, though Gabriel hadn't been paying attention to the other players really. Peter had been fearless; flying across the field and all but launching himself at the opposition, before scoring the winning touchdown within three minutes of the end of the game. It had been the stuff of legends although Peter was his usual modest self, blushing whenever he was mentioned and offering a shy smile to the coach upon his congratulations. Nathan, on the other hand, was whooping and jumping around so much it were as though his feet never left the ground while Claire never left her boyfriends side, talking about him as though he were some kind of trophy.

Peters nudge caused Gabriel to stumble slightly, and he cursed himself for being so clumsy. "I was away at the back, actually, you would never have seen me." He didn't mention it was because he was hiding from Nathan, but Peter had known him long enough that he didn't need to. Peter slowed down a little and glanced at Gabriel, an apologetic look on his face.

"Nathans just obsessed with making it to the top, Gabe, you know? But I'm really sorry he does all that shit to you, like, throwing his weight around and stuff. It pisses me off. You don't deserve it. He's got it into his head that to be some big shot politician he has to trample all over people and you know I just don't agree with it, all this 'greater good' crap..." Peter trailed off, frowning in distaste at his brothers actions. Gabriel sighed. "Peter, stop apologising, I don't blame you and its fine. Really." Peter snorted and reached out suddenly to grab his friends arm, causing them both to stop short.

"No Gabriel, it really isn't. You've always been there; always spoke to me and hung out with me, even when I was a loser you wanted to hang out with me. Unlike all these people who obviously only want to talk to me because I'm popular." He spat the word, glaring down at his shoes with his hand still resting lightly on Gabriel's forearm. "You're the only one who knows why I'm doing all this, to make Nathan proud of me... and it's so hard. But I can do it for Nathan, cause I'm sick of being an embarrassment to him. I like him being proud that I'm his little brother, you know? He only wants what's best for me I'm sure." He looked up and his face softened into a sweet smile. "Don't worry Gabe, he'll realise eventually that you're cool. At least to me." He smiled brightly and Gabriel smiled back, although his head was spinning and his stomach was churning because Peter thought he was cool which was funny because he quite obviously wasn't and was Peter just being polite and Nathan was a selfish little prick for making him work so hard and freak out and ohmygod was Peters hand still on his arm and and-

"Dude, how did you manage to get cheeseburger bun in your eyebrows?" Peter laughed and brushed Gabriel's face with his fingertips, which caused identical grins to appear on both boys faces and they were suddenly laughing harder than they had in weeks, with Peter glancing back at his brother in case they had moved themselves.

They hadn't.

An anticipatory roar filled the night air from the rest of the football team, and Gabriel started to raise his brow questioningly in response as a split second look of horror spread on Peters face and his mouth formed the other boys name in a warning that was already too late.

"Ga-"

THWACK.

Pain. Blinding pain and confusion clouded Gabriels mind as he felt himself soar to his right and slam onto the cold ground, his shoulder screaming in protest as his legs took a moment to catch up with his body. He could distantly hear Peter yelling in anger in the direction the object had come from but it was fuzzy, as though he were miles away. Gabriel lay there in the dirt with his limbs a tangle around him and his glasses definitely broken, as he listened to the cheers flying toward them from the crowd they had just disbanded from. The cheerleaders screeched, the footballers guffawed and Claires humourless laugh echoed loudest over all else, as Nathan punched the air and yelled a triumphant

"Touchdown!"

Tut tut Nathan. You big bully.

So!

Comments, crits, cookies?

Seriously, even if your review is just a small thumbs up or anything I'm happy for it. If even only the one person likes this fic I'll upload the next chapter just for them, but it'd be lovely to have more support and a review or two to get the confidence bubbling and inspiration brewing, you know?

...and the next chapter may or may not already be halfway finished. Just saying.

Thanks in advance!