Lunar Eclipse
Chapter 1: The Day Before
Author's Note: Thanks to all who reviewed the prologue! This chapter is set two months after the events in the prologue, so Elle and Claire have had some time to be together. I'll try to crank out the next few chapters relatively quickly so you guys won't have to wait so long in between them. School is winding down, so it shouldn't be a huge problem. Like always, please review. The last ones basically made my week. :]
Disclaimer: Heroes and all of its associated content are property of Tim Kring. I am making no profit from this whatsoever.
The sun was just starting to peek through the blinds as Elle opened her eyes. Her room was bathed in soft yellow light, and she silently resolved to stay under the covers as long as possible. She glanced over to the alarm and found that she had woken up ten minutes early. Smiling, she rolled over and addressed the younger blonde lying next to her.
"Hey, you," she murmured softly against Claire's neck. Lightly caressing the other girl's arm, Elle nudged Claire until her eyes opened.
Groaning, Claire pulled the covers back over her head. "What time is it?" She asked from under the blankets.
"Ten 'til," Elle whispered. Claire rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. "Did you sleep well?"
Claire smiled. "Never better." She rolled onto her side and wrapped her legs around Elle's. Pulling the older girl close, she pressed a gentle kiss to Elle's lips. They lay there, intertwined together, for what felt like hours until the alarm clock went off. Smiling into the kiss, Claire reached over and hit snooze.
Elle pulled back and shook her head. "No snoozing! You need to be back in your room by the time your mother comes to get you up for school," Elle whispered frantically.
"Mmm, see. I told her you would be waking me up today and driving me to school," Claire said with a grin. Claire lightly kissed Elle's forehead before rolling away from the older blonde. Removing herself from the tangle of blankets, Claire rose, stretched and made her way to the bathroom that connected their two bedrooms.
Elle sat up, letting the blankets pool at her abdomen as she attempted to straighten out her hair in the mirror across from the bed. This was all so new to her. It had been two months since the first time Claire had kissed her. The younger girl insisted that they take things slow, since Elle wasn't accustomed to this kind of thing. While they had done little more than kiss in that time, Elle felt something for the other girl that words could barely describe; at least, her words could not. It wasn't that Claire made her feel special, but the fact that she felt wanted. No one else had ever simply wanted her to be there, with no purpose. When things had gotten tough, even Sylar had pushed her away. Claire was content to take things as slow as Elle needed in order to keep her, but it was clear that she wanted things to go further.
This didn't bother Elle in the slightest. In fact, she probably would've welcomed sex at this point, simply because it would have been a way to express to Claire how incredible she made Elle feel. Though she understood that she felt happy with Claire, Elle was sure that there were different words to use to explain the way the younger girl made her feel. She didn't want to sell these feelings short, but she hadn't yet found the right words to explain them.
As Elle sat thinking, Claire returned to the room with a toothbrush in her hand. She brushed her teeth as she searched around and under Elle's bed for her sandals. Sliding them on, she turned to go back to the bathroom. "Are you okay? You look like you're off in another world," Claire said as she stood at the door.
"I'm fine. I just – this is so weird," Elle said. Claire raised an eyebrow before holding a finger up.
"Hold that thought," Claire replied as she walked into the bathroom. Elle listened as Claire spit out the toothpaste in her mouth and rinsed. Returning to the room, Claire came and sat beside her on the bed. "What do you mean 'weird'?"
Elle shrugged. "I don't really know. I just, I don't know what this is. It makes me happy, but I don't know what any of this means. I don't know if this is even serious," Elle said as she stared hard at the blanket. I'm also not ready to get hurt again, and I'm also not ready to let you know that, she thought to herself.
"This can be whatever you want it to be, as serious as you want it to be. I'm letting you take the lead on this one," Claire said as she took the older girl's hand. "I know that it's different and new, but I think if I let you define it, maybe it'll help you understand it more."
Claire kissed Elle's forehead before returning to her room to gather her things. Elle rose from the bed and began getting dressed to take Claire to school. As happy as she was that Claire understood her concerns, she found little comfort in the younger girl's response. Elle felt like she needed to do something, anything to make Claire feel as special as she herself was feeling. She needed to know that the younger blonde really felt for her the same way she felt for Claire. If only she knew how to define that feeling.
Noah and Mohinder walked alongside each other through the gray halls of the Department of Homeland Security. They had spent most of the day throwing around useless theories of where Sylar could be now, and what he could be doing. Though they both knew Sylar was still out there, they didn't find him to be a particular threat to their lives at the moment. Mohinder stopped to take in the view from a window along the side of the building.
"It's such a beautiful day out," Noah remarked as he leaned against the metal barricade in front of the window. Mohinder nodded.
"Made any plans for the weekend yet?" He asked.
Noah shook his head. "No, not yet. As far as I know, Sandra and Lyle will both be home, for once. Elle and Claire have been spending a lot of time together lately, so they probably have something planned."
"There's going to be a lunar eclipse Saturday night," Mohinder began. "Maybe you could do some family bonding. How has Elle been fitting in, anyway?"
"Better than I thought she would. She's helping out around the house. The kids adore her. From what I can tell, Sandra loves the extra help. I have no complaints about taking her in," Noah said. The two men began walking along the corridor again. "I don't know about family bonding though. We'll see."
"This kind of eclipse happens all the time, but it wouldn't hurt Lyle to see one. I used to think it was fascinating to see the moon lit up, all orange and red," Mohinder said as they walked.
Noah couldn't help but laugh. "I wish my son was half as interested in science as you are, Mohinder. Maybe he'd do better in school."
The two men continued walking, but Noah's mind wandered back to the last eclipse. Though this one coming up was a completely different kind and would likely have no effect on those with abilities, he couldn't help but remember the torment the previous eclipse had caused his family.
Elle sat in the parking lot of Claire's school, idly drumming her fingers against the steering wheel of the car. Classes were out for the day, and the parking lot was full of people. Elle watched them all, trying to understand the dynamics she was seeing. There were groups of boys around Claire's age, throwing a football back and forth along the fire lane. A small group of girls in short skirts walked past the car, talking about something called Cosmo. She watched a young couple walk past, holding hands and talking. She furrowed her brow. Elle and Claire had held hands before, but never in public like that. Maybe they would have to do that soon.
Claire found the car and climbed in the passenger seat. "Hey, you," she said as she kissed Elle's cheek. "How was your day?"
"It was okay," Elle began. "I walked Mr. Muggles and helped your mom go grocery shopping. We watched a talk show with this man named Maury. Your mom says he's a saint, but I think anyone would look like a saint next to the guests on his show."
Claire laughed. "Very true. I'm really glad you and mom get along. Hopefully she'll take it well when we finally decide to tell her about us."
"About that," Elle said, suddenly feeling awkward. "I'm really sorry about this morning. I've been thinking about it all day, and I think what I said came out wrong. I don't feel weird, I just feel. Exposed," she said with finality.
Claire reached out and gently took the older blonde's hand in hers as they drove. "I told you, it's okay. This is all you. I'm ready to be here with you, as long as it takes."
Elle smiled. "Thanks, cheerleader. But, I don't want this to be all about me. You're one half of whatever this is, you know."
"I know," Claire said. "But I already know how I feel about you. I'm just waiting for you to figure out how you feel about me."
Claire watched the electric blonde's expression sadden as she glanced towards the window. Claire rubbed her thumb against the back of Elle's hand. "Elle, I didn't mean it that way—"
"Can we do something this weekend?" Elle cut her off. As they pulled to a stop in the Bennet's driveway, Elle finally turned to look at Claire. "I don't know how to say what I feel, but I think I can show you."
Claire nodded. "Sure. Saturday. We'll do whatever you decide. I'm yours for the day."
As Elle pulled into the driveway, Sandra and Lyle were making their way out. Rolling down her window to talk to Elle, Sandra yelled between the cars. "Soccer practice, you're on your own for dinner. We're going out for ice cream afterwards, so we'll see you around nine!"
And with that, they were gone. Sandra and Lyle continued back out of the driveway as Elle pulled in. Elle and Claire gathered their belongings and wandered into the house through the open garage door. As they entered the house, Claire took one final peek through the garage door just to confirm that her mother was really gone, and not returning for some left-behind piece of sports equipment. With Sandra's SUV safely out of sight, Claire quickly grabbed Elle's hips and pressed her against the kitchen wall.
Elle's eyes widened before closing as Claire's lips found hers. Elle opened her mouth, providing the younger girl with access as the cheerleader pressed her body against Elle's so that they were touching in all the right places. Eliciting a soft moan from Elle at the increase in pressure, Claire decided to take it a step further. Keeping one hand at Elle's side, Claire moved her other hand to the front of the older girl's jeans and in a single, graceful move slowly unbuttoned them.
Without warning, Elle emitted a sharp burst of electricity through her fingertips into Claire's arm and abdomen. Her face felt like it was burning and she couldn't bring herself to look the cheerleader in the eye. "Claire, I—"
"Shh, it's okay," Claire said as she took Elle into her arms again. "It was too fast, I know. We're going to do this at your pace."
Claire kissed Elle's forehead before turning to go search the kitchen for food. Standing there against the wall, jeans still unbuttoned, heart still pounding, Elle was at a loss for words. She couldn't stop thinking about the last time she had been in this position with someone, and how that whole chapter of her life had almost ended. From the refrigerator, Claire held up a bag of noodles.
"Pasta?" She asked, a concerned look on her face. Elle crossed the room and took the bag from her hand, nodding.
"I'll cook, you go finish your homework," Elle said as she moved away from Claire, off in search of pasta sauce and a shred of dignity. As she reached up into an overhead cabinet, she felt Claire's tiny arms wrap around her waist.
"It might be too soon to say this, but I want you to know that I love you," Claire said as she pressed a single kiss to Elle's shoulder. Elle stood, frozen in her embrace, completely unsure of what to do or say. "I don't want you to say it back, because I know that you don't know yet. And that's fine. I just needed you to know how I felt."
As Claire left the kitchen, Elle sunk down to her knees behind the kitchen island. She hadn't noticed it until now, but her hands were trembling and she was barely able to hold on to the bag of pasta and jar of sauce that she had in hand.
She had messed up so badly. It was times like these when she wished she was a time traveler and could rewind the clock to five minutes ago. She couldn't think of anything in the world that she wouldn't give to be pressed up against the kitchen wall again by someone who loved her, but she knew it couldn't happen now.
Calculus was a hard thing to concentrate on when you had just had Elle Bishop pinned up against a wall. Claire stared at the problems on the page in front of her, but she wasn't really seeing them. All she could see right now was the look of sheer vulnerability that had been in Elle's eyes after she had jolted Claire. Exposed, Elle had said earlier. She had certainly looked exposed.
It was the first time Claire had seen that look in a long time, probably since the first time they had kissed. She tapped her pencil idly against her notebook. She wished that there was something more she could've said to make Elle understand what she was feeling in the kitchen, and in general. Sometimes Claire didn't even think that love was a strong enough word to use to describe the feelings she had.
At the very least, it had been a true statement. Claire did love Elle, she was sure of that much. All of the long nights spent talking about everything under the sun, and stolen kisses whenever her parents were around had taken a toll on her. Elle Bishop had stolen her heart, and Claire was perfectly content to let her keep it. She just hoped the electric blonde would figure out what exactly to do with it.
The girls ate dinner in a comfortable silence before retiring to the Bennet's family room to watch a movie. The volume was high, and the lights were low. Claire had sprawled across the majority of the couch, and Elle had perched herself neatly on the opposite end, not touching Claire at all. This was, of course, unacceptable to Claire. Reaching a hand out to grab Elle's, Claire pulled the older girl on top of her.
Elle took this as the chance to redeem herself for her actions earlier. Pressing into Claire with urgency, Elle buried her face in Claire's neck. The cheerleader smelled of perfume, deodorant, and sweat. Biting down gently, Elle began sucking lightly on the younger girl's neck, only to watch in dismay as the mark she left quickly faded.
Moving to her mouth, Elle kissed Claire deeply, sucking the cheerleader's bottom lip into her mouth and gently running her tongue over it. Claire clung to Elle, pressing her hips against the older girl's as they kissed.
The girls were so lost in that moment that they failed to hear the garage door open and close, and Noah enter the house. They missed him peek his head into the family room and quickly step back out before returning to his office and drawing the blinds.
Footnote: So, I installed Microsoft Office 2008 on my computer today and it had an error. While on the phone with Microsoft, I ended up wiping out the contents of my desktop, and silly me didn't have a back up made. This wasn't the original version of this chapter, but I feel like this one might be a little better in certain areas. Please review!
