Chapter 1:
"I'm going to miss you so much." Claire said, squeezing West tight to her.
"Come on, it's not like we'll never see each other again. There's always postcards, mail, phone calls, email, instant messaging, texting and a huge other range of ways that we'll still be able to communicate with each other in this technology ridden age." West said smiling at Claire's semi-dramatic goodbye.
"I know," Claire said sighing. "It just won't be the same. I'm so used to seeing your ugly face everyday that it'll be hard to adjust to nothing but Irish hotties with accents." Claire said giggling a little at West's faux pained expression.
"Ah, you got me right here." West said placing his hands over his heart. "Shot down yet again." He said shaking his head, the amused expression never leaving his face.
"Oh, I'm really going to miss your sad attempt at humor." Claire said playfully rolling her eyes. She gave him one more quick squeeze and turned to the next person in line.
Looking at Nathan, her eyes teared up a little bit. Saying goodbye to him would be even harder. It almost felt like she was saying goodbye to Peter all over again. She cleared her throat and gave him a slightly shaky smile.
Squeezing him even tighter then she'd squeezed West, she took in the scent that was purely Nathan. Expensive cologne mixed with just the slightest hint of some flowery shampoo that he always insisted wasn't the least bit girly. Pure Nathan. Expensive and a little prissy, but surprisingly, totally lovable.
Nathan rolled his eyes skyward and cursed under his breath. "Don't even try to say goodbye to me Claire. Remember, just a few months and then you'd better come back home or else I'll go to your little backwoods Irish town and drag you off myself."
"Aww… you're such a softy Nat. Don't worry, I do have to come back eventually in order to head off to college you know." Claire said smiling affectionately as she pulled away from his embrace.
"I thought I told you not to call me that." He said, his expression serious.
Claire looked away, slightly uncomfortable. He still insisted on her calling him dad, but with her secret little Peter obsession, that wasn't completely secret thanks to West, she felt kind of uncomfortable even thinking of him in that vicinity. Even though he'd pretty much been a dad to her for the past few years.
'Boarding call for flight I90, first class to Cork, Ireland, is now boarding.' A voice said over the loud speaker.
'Ah, saved by the plane.' Claire thought thankfully.
"I guess that's me. I really have to leave now, before you guys decide to tie me up and kidnap me to keep me from leaving."
"Don't think we wouldn't do it Bennet. I've got my eye on you." West said playfully.
She good-naturedly rolled her eyes at him and gave them both another quick hug each, before picking up her luggage and heading off to her boarding terminal. Right before she went to board the plane, she turned around and gave them both a little wave and one of her patent Claire smiles, then headed off to her destiny.
When Claire finally arrived in Cork, her first real thought was that it was a lot chillier then she'd anticipated. Her second thought was to turn around and get back on the plane. It wasn't that she didn't want answers, she was just scared of what those answers would be and how they could possibly change her life.
Sighing, she tightened her grip on her luggage and went in search of some type of transportation. Nathan had booked her a room in one of the best hotels that the town had to offer. Although, it was supposedly more of a bed and breakfast type establishment then anything. She'd tried to tell him that she would be ok and that she'd figure things out once she got there, but he had insisted. He said it was the least he could do since it would be months before he'd be able to get back to properly spoiling her. He also said that if she still felt uncomfortable about taking his money that she could view it as a graduation present. Taking Nathan's stubborn personalty into account, she politely accepted, knowing that he'd get his way one way or another.
She really was grateful for his intervention, since she had no idea how she'd pay for her entire stay. She always figured that she'd just get a small job and go from there. The whole job idea was something that she'd still look into, but it could take a while in a town this size.
She glanced around and spotted a lone cab across the street. It was pretty late at night, and while she was indestructible, there were things worse the death. She hurried over to the cab and knocked on the driver's side window. Her knock startled the man, who had been sleeping, and he looked around in bewilderment. When he finally looked her way she gave a little wave. He rolled down his window and gave her a blank look.
"Hi, do you happen to know where Moonduster Inn is?" She asked with a tired smile.
He blinked a few times until everything seemed to register. He opened his door and hoped out of the cab. "Sure I do. Sorry about that miss. Here, let me get your things."
"No, really. It's ok." She said making a move for the backseat.
He impatiently waved her hands away and grabbed her luggage. "I insist. Just hop on in the cab and I'll have you there in no time." Claire was too tired to argue any further so she gave her baggage to the cabbie and hopped in the backseat.
What seemed like moments later, she was jerked out of her state of semi-consciousness when the cab came to an abrupt stop. 'Wow, I must be even more tired then I originally thought.' Shaking her head, she asked the cab driver what the fair was, paid him and hopped out of the backseat. He followed her out of the cab and quickly retrieved her bags from the trunk.
"You have a good night now lass." He said tipping an imaginary hat in her direction.
Claire stifled a giggle and turned around to take in the hotel. It wasn't very big or fancy, but it had a pleasant homey feel to it. At that moment she could have cared less if it was a complete dive. She was just about ready to fall asleep on her feet.
She entered the place and walked up to the reception desk, waiting for the desk person to notice her. The girl at the desk looked up when Claire finally cleared her throat. "Name?" The girl asked in a bored tone of voice.
"Claire Bennet."
"Hmmm…" the girl hummed after a few moments. "I don't see a Claire Bennet anywhere in our system."
"It might be under Petrelli." Claire said after an awkward pause.
"Ah, yes. Here we go. Claire Petrelli, room 28." Claire signed in and took the key that the girl offered to her with a strained smile. It was such a Nathan move to make. She loved the guy, but his insistence that she was as much a part of the Petrelli family as ever was starting to get the slightest bit annoying.
When she arrived at her room, she was about to enter when the number on the door caught her eye. 28. That's how old Peter would have been if he was still alive. Her eyes started to fill with tears, but she determinedly blinked them back. She wouldn't cry, not here, not now. She needed to stop letting everything around her remind her of Peter. It had been two years since his accident and she should be over it by now. Well, she should at least be more over it then she currently was anyway. Taking a deep breath, she composed herself and entered her room.
The place wasn't very spacious, but then again, neither was the rest of the facility. What it lacked in space, it made up for in character. There was a multicolored hand woven quilt on the Queen sized bed, a throw rug that seemed to match the quilt, a cherry wood desk with a small TV on it, a few amateur paintings on the walls and other little nick knacks here and there. She was thankful that she had her own private bathroom too, you never knew with these kind of establishments.
Claire decided that she liked the overall feel of the room. Satisfied with her lodgings, she closed the door and placed her luggage near the bed. She was far too tired to do much more then step out of her shoes and jeans, pull back the covers, hit the lights and hop on in bed, hopefully for a night of dreamless sleep.
A/N: Don't worry, things will start to pick up in the next part. By the way, Moonduster Inn is an actual Inn in Cork. Since I've never been there before I have no idea what it's really like, but work with me here people. :) Oh, I also in no way, shape, or form, own Moonduster Inn. I hope all of you guys enjoyed, and don't forget to review. Speaking of reviews, thanks so much to those of you have reviewed so far.
Thanks goes out to crono (I promise that it won't be too long until they are reunited.), peternclairefan, IncandescentAngel and karanina (I'm glad that you like the whole "baby swapping" idea. You'll see what Claire finds in Cork soon enough.)
Diana