Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes; I only own your soul.

Forever Friends

By spikescrypt

"Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

Claire Bennett looked up at her best friend Zach with a surprised glance. "How do you know something is bothering me?"

"Come on Claire, I think I can read you pretty well by now."

Claire thought about that a minute, Zach could read her well. In fact he was able to read her better than her own family sometimes. He always seemed to know when she was in a bad mood and that he should just leave her alone. He knew when she was worried that someone would suspect her secret and did everything in his power to convince her that she was safe. For that was what she truly wanted to be, safe. It was draining having to look over your shoulder all the time. Sometimes Claire just felt like crawling into a ball and hiding away. Hiding somewhere where nobody knew she was a freak, where they wouldn't try to kill her as Sylar had or lie to her as her own father did.

Zach was different though, something that he proved to Claire time and time again. She trusted him with her secret and knew he would never betray her. And best of all Zach didn't think she was a freak. He treated her as though she was a normal girl, not one who could survive falling off a building and not have a scratch on her.

Zach was always there for her, and she hoped the day would never come when he was scared away by her not so normal abilities. For that was her biggest fear, that one day he wouldn't be able to handle this craziness anymore and leave her all alone. After all how many people would feel completely comfortable knowing that their best friend had a power that most people could only dream of having? Would the time come when he realized Claire was like some sick comic book freak and bail on her and their friendship? With every fiber of her being Claire hoped that day would never come. She needed Zach, she needed him like she needed her lungs to breath and she couldn't live without him by her side. It was time to voice her fears and she only hoped that he would understand.

"Your right," she told him. "You can read me well, in fact sometimes it feels like you know me better than I think I know myself."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Zach asked confused.

"It is, truly it is. I just worry about when you decide that you had enough of me, who will be there to read me then?"

Zach looked at her angrily. "Is that what you think? That I'll get tired of you and leave you alone?"

"The day is bound to come when you realize you'd be better off being friends with a nice normal girl who can't regenerate her body at will."

"You are a nice, normal girl. And I happen to like the fact that you can regenerate your body at will. It's freaking awesome to watch," he joked playfully.

"And as for leaving you, that's not going to happen. I mean it Claire, your stuck with me so you better get used to it. Besides, if you can get used to being best friends with a geek like me then I think I can get used to being friends with a super chick like you." He jabbed her mockingly in the shoulder and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Hey watch it geek boy, don't you know not to mess with a super chick?"

"No, well then how about a cheerleader?"

Claire laughed happily. "Never mess with a cheerleader either, or you'll pay the ultimate price."

Zach raised his eyebrows daringly. "And what would this ultimate price be?"

Claire smiled wickedly and picked up her pillow. Before he even saw her swing, Zach found himself lying facedown on the bed.

"Cheerleaders happen to be experts at pillow fights," Claire giggled.

"You're going to pay for that." Zach grabbed another pillow and took aim.

Ten minutes later the two friends were lying on the bed breathless and disheveled.

Claire looked at Zach's untidy hair and carefree smile feeling extremely satisfied.

"You really are my best friend you know," she told him. "I couldn't stand it when you didn't remember our friendship. I'll always be angry with my dad for taking that away from me. I felt so different and alone and you weren't there to help me feel normal. You're the one person that I can truly be myself with Zach."

"You never have to hide from me you know. Not ever."

"I know," Claire said stroking his cheek. "As long as I have you by my side, it'll all be all right."

The End.