Family Ties

Part Two

Disclaimer: GUESS WHAT???? This isn't mine.

"Claire?" Niki walked in before she could tell us anything . "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Claire looked at Niki, then looked back at us. "Um…yeah, I'll be there in a minute, Niki." She said softly. Niki nodded and walked back out of the room. Claire looked back at us. "I'll be back."

"Are you actually going to come back this time?" Colin muttered.

The color drained from Claire's face. "It'll just be a minute." She said, walking out into the hall.

As soon as she left, Colin stood. "I'm not going to sit around until she feels like coming back." I started to protest, but she cut me off. "Look, if she wants to talk to me, she can find me. But that's it alright?" He walked away.

I stared after him, then at the doorway Claire had walked through. Why did this have to happen? "Hey." I looked up and smiled at Braden.

"Hey!" He leaned down and kissed me quickly, then sat beside me. "What's going on?" He asked me.

I sighed . "Claire was going to talk to us, tell me and Colin what happened, but Niki wanted to talk to her. Then Colin got mad that she left and he left…"

Braden hugged me. "At least the fact that Claire came back took some of the pressure off of us. I mean, they still aren't happy about it, but everyone is so focused on Claire-"

"I know." I said quickly. I smiled at him. "I think Colin just kind of forgot."

He laughed. "That wouldn't surprise me. Tyler still wont talk to me. But dad's talking to him."

I frowned. "Sorry."

He shrugged. "I don't care about Tyler. It's his problem, not mine."

I hugged him once again. "I'm still sorry."

He just laughed. "It's fine, Keira." He looked at his watch. "Do you want to go grab a bite to eat ,and maybe catch a movie?"

I looked at the doorway where Claire had disappeared a while back. I really shouldn't… "okay."

He grabbed my hand and we walked out of the room.

CLAIRE

I sighed and walked back into the room. "Sorry it took so lo-" I stopped. Colin and Keira were gone. I hadn't expected Colin to stick around, but Keira-

"Did you talk to them?" Peter asked, leaning against the doorway.

I frowned . "No."

He shook his head slowly. "Claire, you have to talk-"

"I know!" I snapped. Then I sighed. "It's hard Peter. I mean, even when I explain it in my mind, it just sounds like a dumb excuse. I don't think I would forgive me."

Peter just shrugged. "I admit, Colin might be a little tough to get through. But Keira will listen."

I just sighed once again, then leaned against the wall and sank to the floor. "That's what I'm afraid of."