A/N: Hey guys! PAIRE this time. One thing that I would like to tell you before you read further is that Claire is the only child of Nathan.

With that fact made clear, go ahead and read! AND don't forget to review :P

Chapter One

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Claire Bennet called out as she entered her home, closing the door behind her.

"Claire, in the kitchen!" came her mother's voice and she went into the kitchen to find her mother, Sandra, sitting on the kitchen counter by the stove and Noah cooking. She chuckled slightly and Noah turned around.

"What? A man can't cook for his family?" he asked with an amused expression on his face which made Claire chuckle again.

"Well, a man can cook, sure. But you haven't done it in a while. What's cooking anyway?" she asked, putting her bag at the counter and looking into the pots and pans that his father seemed to be playing with.

"Risotto and mushroom ravioli is the menu for tonight with strawberry cheesecake for dessert." He answered, winking at her daughter. He looked up at Sandra and they shared an unknown look which told Claire that there was something going on.

"Okay. What is it?" Claire asked, looking at her mother.

Sandra shook her head "Claire, we-"

"Sandra I believe it can wait until after dinner." Noah interrupted with a crook of an eyebrow and looked at Claire with a small smile. "Why don't you go ahead and freshen up Claire bear. We'll call you and Lyle when dinner's ready." He said and she knew that once he said that whatever it was would have to wait until after dinner then there was no way of whatever was to come before that.

Claire nodded and grabbed her bag, walking to her room upstairs. She threw her bag on her bed and headed for the closet, changed into her pyjamas and splashed her face with water. Returning to her room, she lied down on her back on the bed and let her thoughts drift away to where they did every night.

It had been a year since Sylar had been defeated and the Bennets were finally at peace. Now living a normal life that they had always wanted and craved for and getting used to the fact, they lived with the fact that the people of their kind were safe with their identities hidden and no threat to their lives with Sylar dead.

Claire Bennet, however, was the one enjoying it the most. She had taken a year off from everything and had sat at home with her family. Same was with Noah until he started working in a bank around 5 months ago. Noah and Sandra got back together after Sylar died with Noah making true promises that he never broke. Claire was more happier than she had ever been in her life to see her parents back together again.

Her contact with her biological family had not been so frequent. Nathan would call every now and then but Claire never heard from either Angela or Peter. Heidi on the other hand got to know that Nathan had another daughter before his marriage with her and she took the news unexpectedly calmly. Being the understanding and graceful woman that she was, she welcomed Claire into the family as her step-daughter with open arms.

Though Peter was always there with her through-out the dangerous episodes, she didn't know why but he had broken contact with her ever since Sylar died. She may have seen him twice or thrice after that when he would come to meet Noah for some discussions but never after that. She couldn't help but wonder why he became like this all of a sudden. But she didn't let this fact hinder her time with her family. She never told the Petrelli's or the Bennet's how much she missed Peter and the comforting zone of just knowing that he would be there. That he was there always.

Two months earlier, Claire started working at a super market as a cashier as she couldn't bear the boredom at home. Truth be told, she kinda missed the whole action adventure that she had had to go through, now that she thought about it. One of the reason being that it actually kept her and Peter in contact. Once in a while they would see each other and talk and comfort each other. But that relationship was lost somewhere now.

Every night, she would think about Peter and every night she would end up with tears brimming in her eyes. But she wouldn't let them fall. It had become a routine now. She had always thought that if there was anyone who completely understood her, it was Peter. She was right. But also, she had thought that he would always be there with her, for her. Apparently I was wrong and what he said was a lie. Claire thought.

Claire's train of thought was interrupted when someone knocked on the door and Noah entered without an answer. He took in the sight of her crying and couldn't handle it anymore.

Claire looked away and wiped her eyes hastily, sitting up and trying to act normal. "Is the dinner ready?" she asked with a small smile that gave her away. Noah sighed and closed the door behind him, coming over to sit down beside Claire.

"Claire, this has got to stop." He said in a low voice and Claire couldn't comprehend what it was that he meant.

"What dad? I don't understand." She said, her brow furrowed a little as she tried to comprehend what he was talking about.

"This." He caught a tear that escaped her eye on his finger and looked at it emphatically. "You've got to stop hiding what it is that makes you cry every night."

Claire shook her head slowly and wiped her eyes again. "Dad, I don't cry every night. It's –"

"There's no need to lie Claire. Every night I check up on you. Every night I look at your face closely and I see that your face is tear-stained. And it tears me from the inside to see my daughter like this. Not knowing what it is that is reducing her to this every night. Not being able to help." He continued.

"Claire! Noah! Dinner's waiting! I want the both of you down here right now!" Sandra called from downstairs. "God, I'm tired of the father and daughter privacy right before meal."

Claire forced a smile and rubbed Noah's forearm soothingly. "Dad, it's absolutely nothing. Sometimes I just need to unload, we all do." She lied and Noah seemed to buy it for the time being for he smiled and got up, leading Claire downstairs.

Dinner was a quiet business but Claire was aware through-out that Noah was keeping a close watch on her and that Sandra and he were constantly exchanging looks. It all continued into the dessert when finally Claire, unable to take it anymore, drops her fork noisily on her plate. "Okay. You're keeping a watch on me," she accused, looking at Noah and then turned to Sandra, "and the both of you are exchanging looks. What's up? I can't take it anymore, so why don't you two tell me what's going on?"

Sandra sighed and looked at Noah once before turning back to Claire, "We got a call from Angela Petrelli this afternoon." She revealed and Claire automatically stiffened. Sandra looked at Noah once again and back at Claire, "There's a charity gala that the Petrellis want you to attend."

Claire snickered once, bitterly. "Oh so finally they feel safe with me being there with them in public?" she asked, her voice sour.

"We don't know why now Claire, but they want to introduce you as Nathan's daughter to the public." Noah took over, knowing that he'd be able to handle Claire more finely than Sandra.

Claire raised her eyebrows and folded her arms on the table. "And by 'they' you mean Nathan and Angela and Heidi?" she inquired.

Noah nodded once "And peter too." He told her and involuntarily the sound of his name made her body go more rigid. But she ignores it.

"I don't get it. All this while when I needed them to be there with me, especially Peter – and Nathan," She added as an afterthought. "they weren't there. They weren't there when I needed to get to know them and wanted them to know me and now out of the blue they want to go public with the fact that Nathan has another daughter and they expect me to pretend as if I've been living with them for God knows how many months or years?" She spoke quickly yet softly, throwing up her hands in surrender. And then suddenly a question came into her mind and she looked at Noah, "Did she order or did she ask over?"

"As much as I was astonished, she asked over."

Sandra leaned forward and put her hand on top of Claire's in a consoling manner. "Sweety, think it over. There's no hurry. The gala's two weeks later but they want you with them in three days' time." She said and Claire gave her a look to which she added, "That is if you decide to go."

"Now, let's not make a big issue of it and let it get in the way of our family dessert shall we?" Noah interrupted and smiled at Claire.

"You know what? I've just lost my appetite." Claire said, not in an angry way but in a sorrowful way, getting up from her chair and heading up her room. She flopped down on her bed and thought over what her parents had just revealed to her.

She just couldn't figure Nathan out. Time and time again she had tried and everytime she thought she knew him, he would do something that would prove her wrong. Was she ready to pretend that everything was well with her and the rest of the Petrellis? And what about Peter? She had never really seen Peter as her uncle and this would mean accepting publicly that she as the niece of a man whom she had become more close to at a point than any uncle and niece should.

She was brought out of her reverie by a knock at the door. She turned around a little to see Noah enter the room and sat up straight, crossing her legs under her.

"How was the food?" Noah asked randomly, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing her.

Claire nodded slowly, "Delicious." She replied with a small smile, looking at her hands in her lap. After a pregnant pause, she continued hesitantly. "What do you think I should do, dad?" she asked.

"Claire, don't think too hard on this. I know that though you're very happy with us, you still want to be with your biological family. You want to get to know them and reconcile with them now that everything's over."

"I want to dad but what if this is just a publicity political stunt Nathan's pulling. Every time I think I know him or a part of him, I'm proven wrong. I don't think I'll be able to take it anymore if after this I don't get even a taste of what I want." Claire voiced her uncertainties.

Noah smiled slightly, "But what if it's not some 'publicity political' stunt as you put it. What if he really does want to reconcile after all. Angela, Nathan, Heidi – and Peter." He added and once again, Claire looked up at him, stiffened by the declaration of his name. Noah noticed it but let it go.

"I don't know what to do. I guess this time I'm asking you to make a decision for me, deliberately."

"Then I say you should go. Give it a try Claire. How will we know what's in store for us until we really try it out?" Noah said and rubbed her forearm encouragingly.

Claire smiled her sad little smile, "Well then, I guess tomorrow I'll call the Petrellis and tell them that I'm up for it." She stated and shrugged her shoulders once.

Noah smiled, contented. "That's my brave Claire bear." He said and kissed her forehead lightly before asking her to go to sleep, coming back into his fatherly form and exiting the room.