Two People

Written in honor of Vaughn asking Weiss the same question in Alias season 3. That was a great scene by the way.

Please Enjoy and Review!

Disclaimed

Sometimes questions are more important than answers.

~Nancy Willard

Derrick lay in the middle of an empty soccer field. The sky above him was clear, blue… boring.

A little like Claire Lyons's eyes, which was who he was thinking of. He kept telling himself that. Claire was boring, plain, silly, way to nice… and dating his best friend.

She was nothing like the tall gorgeous, prideful Massie Block, the girl he'd been dating.

Massie was superior to Claire in every way, he kept thinking forcefully. Over and over again.

But he couldn't get her out of his head.

And he kept asking himself; is it possible to be in love with two people at once?

Imperfection clings to a person, and if they wait till they are brushed off entirely, they would spin forever on their axis, advancing nowhere.

~Unknown

Derrick had first taken notice of Claire in that way one Saturday afternoon. They had bean walking Massie's puppy, Bean, when it had started to rain. They had gotten back to the house as quick as they could but by the time they entered the house a little wet . Not soaked, but wet.

Massie had insisted that she change and she had run upstairs to her room. Derrick had followed feeling awkward staying alone on the first floor.

And who did he see upon entering? None other then Claire Lyons. Massie had said a few quick scoldings for eating in her room and then went to the bathroom with an armful of designer clothing… leaving Derrick alone with Claire.

Claire sat on the floor eating a white bowl full of stir-fry. The room was plain and white; there was nothing for Derrick to look at. So he looked at Claire. He really looked at her.

And just like he saw her.

He saw the smooth blonde shoved into a careless ponytail, her soft blue eyes. He saw the ripped jeans she wore; he saw the stained Gap sweater she sported… For fist time in his life he actually looked at Claire Lyons.

And she was perfect.

They spoil every romance by trying to make it last forever.

~Oscar Wilde

Derrick had always wanted Massie. She was wonderful to hang out with, spoke her mind and had a certain aura to her.

He had spent ages pursuing her, convincing he was worthy of her trust, time and most importantly her love.

She'd refused him so many times that when she'd asked him out he had been frozen in shock. She'd waved her hand in front of his face for a moment or two. Derrick had nodded his head for a full minute unable to say anything for a little bit.

Later when Derrick had been in his room he'd jumped up and down shouting, "Yes!" for about an hour.

But he couldn't help himself. He had loved her.

Men can believe the impossible, but can never believe the improbable.

~Oscar Wilde

Derrick had spent the next few days desperately trying to shove Claire Lyons out of his mind. It wasn't easy. Though he didn't see her again because her and Cam had broken up, he still saw her every time he closed his eyes. She was stuck in her head like Don't wanna miss a thing.

Derrick decided to counter one girl with another; he spent more and more time with Massie. They'd hang out, tell jokes, and make out.

But the impossible problem was he didn't want to do those things with Massie. He wanted to do them with Claire instead.

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.

~Unknown

Derrick had been going out seriously with Massie for months. So of course, he concluded, if he thought about her all the time it would block out Claire.

So he thought. He thought about her all the time. The way she walked, talked and dressed. The way she acted. The way she smiled and laughed. He thought about her sweet little laugh the most.

But soon he realized with great horror, the perfect young woman he was envisioning was not Massie but Claire.

This had terrified him to no end so he had asked the one guy he knew with the most experience with girls: Harris Fisher.

By then Claire had gotten back together with Harris's little brother so Derrick had made up this entire hypothetical story about a guy unsure about how to tell the girl how he felt.

Harris had laughed and winked and then said, "Then he's gotta show her how he feels."

What chain reaction would cause an effect?

~Tracy Chapman

And suddenly just like that Derrick couldn't take it anymore. Harris's voice was had gotten stuck under his skin way worse then Claire had. He got up like a man possessed with the immense will of another creature. He ran from the soccer field all the way to the house and didn't stop for a breath. He climbed over the fence onto the Block estate much to easily and kept going.

He found Claire easily enough. She was near the guesthouse wearing an old ball cap and carrying a picnic basket.

"Hey Derrick, what's going—" Claire didn't get to finish her sentence.

Derrick grabbed her shoulders, not wanting to waste a minute, and put his lips to hers and she didn't shove him away.