Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own those characters. I love them with my whole heart though!

Spoilers: Through episode 2.20.

Chapter 1

'I love you more than the chopper' those words echoed in Claire's head for a split second. She looked at Alex and smiled at him pitifully. He was so drunk and the statement coming from his mouth now sounded ridiculous.

"You don't love me, you love to drink." She replied playfully. She knew he was in a bad shape and he really did need some relaxation, but she didn't think he would start professing his love for her. And even though she knew it wasn't true and he wouldn't remember that in the morning, to hear him say those three little words was something really comforting. It made her feel safe in a way, even though he didn't really mean it.

"No, but it's true." He insisted. "I do love you Claire. You're the only thing in my life that is true, the only thing that makes sense. You're the only person I could always count on."

Claire felt that Alex's declarations were getting more and more dangerous, so she decided to get him home.

"Let's get you home before you propose to me and I say yes." She laughed and helped him stand.

"But I don't wanna go home, I wanna stay here." Alex tried to resist her, but he was too drunk to really fight, even a pregnant woman.

"I so don't wanna be you tomorrow." She joked and put her arm around him "Come on."

"You're the boss." He saluted and they walked up to Claire's ute. Actually Claire walked and Alex wobbled. They got in the car and Claire bucked Alex up, because obviously he wasn't capable of doing that himself. They didn't really speak much on the way to Killarney. Alex once again tried to tell Claire that he loved her, but she didn't pay that much attention to his declarations of love. After all, he had drunk like a zillion beers, so he clearly was delirious in what he was saying. It still felt weird for Claire to hear those words coming from his mouth.

When they finally pulled up at Killarney, Claire wanted to get Alex to bed as fast as possible and come back to Drovers before anybody starts to worry. She got out of the ute and walked over to Alex's side of the car.

"OK, big guy, time to go to bed." She said as she opened his door.

"Are we home yet?" he asked innocently.

"Alex!" she reprimanded him and looked at him meaningfully.

"Alright, I'm going." He answered with a smile and got out of the car. But as soon as he did, he almost fell.

"Geez." Claire sighed and put his arm around Alex. "I guess letting you walk on your own is not a good idea, huh?"

"I wouldn't think so." He replied as Claire started walking him towards the house. And since he was a little bit taller and heavier than she was, it wasn't an easy task. Alex was making it even worse pretending that he couldn't walk at all.

"OK, either you stop, or I'm going to leave you here." She threatened, but couldn't help but laugh.

"You're so beautiful when you're pretending to be angry." He said with a grin on his face and Claire totally melted. He needed to stop with those drunken compliments or she might actually believe him. Fortunately for her, they were right outside the door, so she opened it and lead Alex to his room. She practically threw him onto the bed, happy that this horrible weight has been lifted from her shoulders. Literally.

For a moment she just looked at him lying on the bed with his eyes closed. For a second she thought that he looked kind of cute, but immediately tried to get rid of those ridiculous thoughts.

She decided to do one more thing before she went home. She positioned Alex on the bed so that he was comfortable and took his shoes off. When she was getting up, Alex suddenly moved his hand, knocking her over, straight into his arms. She quickly got up, but lost her balance again and ended up falling onto the bed, right next to Alex. When she tried to get up, Alex suddenly grabbed her hand and wouldn't let her stand up.

"Alex, what are you doing?" she asked a little bit confused, but Alex didn't say anything. For a moment he just kept looking at her, to Claire's great surprise.

"God, you're beautiful." He suddenly broke the silence after a while and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Okie dokie, no more beers for you." She said uncomfortably and wanted to get up, but Alex still wouldn't let go of her hand.

"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?" he asked and moved his face closer to hers.

"I don't think you did." She replied trying to break free from his embrace. "But I also don't remember you ever being this drunk." She paused for a second. "OK, it's time for me to…"

Unfortunately she didn't manage to finish that sentence as she felt Alex's lips on hers. She was totally stunned. She had no idea how to behave, what to say, what to do. A thousand of thoughts started whirling inside her head, the first and foremost being that Alex is drunk and that this is ridiculous. But when she finally managed to pull away from him, she didn't get up and run away like her mind was telling her to. Instead, she just stayed on the bed and looked into Alex's eyes.

"Alex, what the hell are you…" she tried to ask, but Alex interrupted her again, placing yet another kiss on her lips.

"You're so beautiful." He repeated as he started to kiss her neck. He tried to pull her closer to him, but she was too stunned to move. "You're so beautiful and so kind. You always try to help others and you've helped me so many times in the past. You're the only person that really truly cares for me. And I love you for that."

"Alex, please." She begged, but he wouldn't stop. And suddenly she realized that she didn't want him to stop. If she really wanted to go, she could have been on her way back to Drovers a long time ago. But she wasn't. She was in Alex's bed, letting him kiss her in a way that she never thought he would.

"Shhhh, don'talk." He placed his finger on her lips and delicately ran it through her chin. She shivered. She didn't think Alex was capable of evoking such emotions in her. She was her mate, this shouldn't feel like this, this should be ugly and disgusting. This should be like kissing your brother. Yet it was more amazing than anything any man has ever made her feel.

When Alex placed his fingers on one of her shirt buttons, she knew she wouldn't be able to resist. Her mind was telling her to scream and run away, but her emotions were telling her to stay and give in. She knew he was drunk and she knew she should be smarter, that she should stop this from going any further. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't understand why it felt so right…