Author's Notes: Sorry for changing up the layout on top for my notes. Just wanted to say this is where I really enjoy the progression of this story. Not going to say much more, but I hope you enjoy this chapter. See you soon!


"That went well. A microcosm of culinary delight did he say? That sounds rather tasty to me. Was it as good as he said?"

"Want me to pick you up some take-out?"

"You know what I'd prefer over that? If sometime, you made me one of your specialty dishes."

"I haven't spent much time in kitchens, but if you want something off a campfire grill, maybe I could rustle something up. I was never as good a cook as Serah but I have been told that I grill a pretty mean behemoth steak."

- Hope and Lightning from Lightning Returns (Family Food Side Quest)

He knew it was too good to be true. Whatever false hope he had of getting through a perfect day without a phone call from work lasted longer than he expected. About an hour ago Roger had called him up and in typical fashion lingered about what was wrong and how Gale's stubbornness made things worse. Hope didn't hesitate when he assured his colleague he was on his way shortly.

Parting ways Hope went back home from where he would walk to his job which was a few minutes away. Claire remained at the park square to run some errands. The moment he stepped into the facility he already figured out the main purpose behind the call. People pacing through the lobby of the first floor a few receptionist answering phone calls as they filled paperwork. More importantly he noticed the unusual amount of people in suits. Board of directors meeting. Hope's favorite time of the month.

Sneaking around the crowd of the higher ups and nervous interns, Hope made his way towards the double hallways leading to the elevators. The young man content with avoiding any attention pushed the elevator button as he silently watched his reflection on the doors. His hair looked much cleaner now Hope made a mental note to thank Claire again. After reaching the sixth floor of the facility the young researcher made his way through the left wing of the lab stations. Reaching room twenty-two he slid his key card and made his way inside.

"Hope you made it!" Exclaimed his usually reserved teammate. Roger walked over to Hope and extending his hand appreciatively. Clearly out of character the platinum haired man looked at Roger quizzically.

"Roger." Hope greeted with a handshake. "What's going on are you guys in trouble?" Hope asked looking up ahead at the prototype in its chamber.

Hearing a voice beside him as well as feeling a pat in the back made Hope turn to Gale, who looked as relieved as Roger.

"Define trouble Hope."

Nodding knowingly he crossed his arms at his team. "Well considering your referring me by my first name Gale I'd imagine the lab to be blown up in pieces."

Laughing at the sarcasm Hope seemed to embrace in the last few months Roger and Gale pointed at him.

"Actually Hope we're perfectly fine. And no there is no real emergency either," Gale assured looking at Hope's twitch at his last words.

"No real emergency? Why the hell did they call me if-"

Sheepishly Roger butt in, "We're sorry Hope. Honestly we are, but we really needed you to be here today."

Keeping his face cool Hope nodded slowly looking around the lab at the empty chairs. That's right usually there would be at least three or four assistants helping his trio with work. It was just them today though. Weird.

As if reading his mind Gale finally shrugged at him, "It's not a joke. To be honest you may not be happy with what we're fixing to tell you."

Now confused the man looked at the two researchers who kept their faces neutral despite the slight smirk on Gale's face.

"You probably guessed from your way over here that we have our favorite visitors today," Gale said rolling his eyes. Hope nodded in response keeping his voice muted.

Avoiding his eyes Gale looked instead to his friend beside him. "Roger over here got the news before I did actually."

Giving the shorter black haired man his full attention Hope reserved his questions for later. The quiet member of the group looked up at Hope comfortably. Smiling slowly as he opened his mouth.

"They want you to be our director Hope."

Maybe he should have said something. Perhaps he should have smiled or laughed, heck yell even. Instead he pressed his lips understandingly and asked if that was all. Leaving his team in concern, Hope went back downstairs with a rush of thoughts bouncing off his head.

Perhaps later he would have his proper meltdown, right now he was hungry. After leaving the facility he walked across the road towards his home when another thought kicked in. Not a work related one.

Stopping in his tracks and looking at the view of his place up ahead Hope bit his lower lip in deep concentration before looking at his watch.

"Three thirty-five. I am starving after all."

Reaching for his phone he unlocked it and dialed the number of his first contact. Hearing the line connect the voice of the usually calm woman answered.

"Hey it's me. Are you still shopping?"

Hope heard her reply in small pauses between words. "No I just got home. Munching on some celery, how's work treating you?"

Making way for the jogging man with his dog on a leash Hope retreated into the grassy side of the sidewalk. "Yeah it's fine, I'm actually coming home right now. So you're eating huh?"

"Yup. Well it's just a snack, going to make soup later," Claire said hearing her munching noise again.

Returning his direction to his home Hope answered back. "How about you save that soup for later. I'm hungry enough for dinner. How about we go out some place?" Keeping his voice as casual as possible Hope nudged his neck.

Hearing a sigh Claire kept her voice sternly. "Afraid of my cooking huh? I brought the usual burn proof food from the store," she responded hearing her partner laugh at that.

"No such thing, besides I really want to repay you for my haircut. I'm already on my way home, we'll think of some place to go when I arrive," Hope suggested crossing the sidewalk.

He could tell she was hesitating, Claire always growled when she did so. Finally after a while she spoke up again ready to opt for home cooking. Hope knew she just really wanted to get some practice on her cooking skills, even if she was stubbornly hungry like him.

"Hope maybe some other time. Just get home and I'll-"

"Time to use my ace in the hole."

Keeping his sigh as genuine as possible Hope replied disappointed. "I see then. I guess we'll have to try out that steakhouse across La Bourse some other time."

Now he waited.

"Steakhouse Hope?" She chimed in quickly. "I didn't know there were any around here."

Now arriving at Quai Jules Courmont Hope made his way across the twin apartments ahead. "It's settled then. I'm already on my way."

He wondered if hanging up that way was wise. Hope was fixing to find out shortly but maybe he would catch a break. Maybe.


After their fourth month here in Lyon a couple of things had changed. As the director of the branch of R&E Hope dedicated most afternoons to work. Pleasant flip side to all this? Free weekends. Naturally he would have more paperwork though. Usually he would bring it home and finish it in the living room.

In the four weeks that had passed his routines changed slightly. For starters morning runs with Claire helped as a stress reliever, even if the waking up early part still sucked. After breakfast they would part ways. Hope with his job and Claire with hers. She had started working at a coffee shop across the bridge of the Le Rhone riverwalk.

Rinse and repeat for most days. However every other weekend they dined out together. Ever since they entered the steakhouse a month ago they had set up this arrangement.

It wasn't anything too crazy. Just tried a new place and ate together. This city didn't disappoint on that aspect. Hope's calendar in his room had been marked almost consecutively and during small breaks he would keep mental notes from people at work that suggested good food spots to check out. Honestly despite the extra paperwork things were coming along fine.

Four months without incidents.

Then one day Hope heard a loud thud outside his room. Hope sat up from his corner desk and headed out to investigate the noise. Outside his room in the hallway he didn't see anybody. He made his way across the living room to the presence of silence. He opened the square glassed doors to the balcony outside and found nobody. Hope hummed in response as he made his way back inside.

Knowing that Claire was home he strolled into the kitchen where a half-eaten sandwich rested on a plate on top of the kitchen table. Beside it was the cordless home phone. Walking up to it he reached for it and placed it in its docking station across the living room table. Confused Hope looked around emptily. There was only one spot unchecked.

Walking gingerly back to the hallway he stood outside Claire's bedroom door. Knocking gently he waited for a response.

Nothing. He knocked a little harder this time before getting the same results. Feeling smaller than he was Hope on instinct pressed his right ear to the door. He definitely heard something. He made a vocal attempt.

"Hey Claire just checking on you. I heard a loud noise from my room…just wanted to check and stuff," Hope said running out of words. It was a strange old habit he thought he'd gotten rid of when he used to get nervous.

To his surprise he heard her response. A weakly one. "I'm fine Hope sorry about slamming my door."

At the sound of her defeated voice his hands already twisted the knob open surprisingly. Looking around his eyes found her backed up against her head bed post hugging her knees in thought.

Her gaze only lifted at him slightly. "I didn't say you could come in."

Feeling embarrassed with his rashness Hope refused to look anywhere but her. Technically this was her private room and he was too absent minded to care a second ago.

She was dressed in her usual work attire. Black slacks and white top with her usual navy overcoat hanging on the corner of her bed post.

"Sorry, I was worried," Hope said admittedly putting his hands in his pockets.

Not responding back she resumed her stance.

"I'll be out in a bit Hope. Sorry for the worry, I'm fine."

This was the part where he was supposed to sit down and make her talk. Instead he nodded his head and replied back quietly he would be in his room if she needed him. So much for that.

After about half an hour later Hope analyzed his finished work for the sixth time. He was a stickler for quality assurance. He had to be, especially with his new job as director.

There were a lot of things on his mind. Almost exclusively most revolved around the woman next door. He knew better than to doubt, but he was only human after all.

"She probably left work and finally got fed up. Maybe all these times she had been here with me…had made her realized she'd missed seeing Serah. Now Claire has made herself tired of all this. Tired of me."

Yup. Hope was having a semi nervous meltdown. If it wasn't for the small ingrained part of his soul that hated his guts Hope would have gone full throttle. Except he liked proving his conscience wrong too much.

So he kept his face from blowing up. Instead remained calm and rested his head for a bit. His head lifted from the pillow in his head. He looked across the drawer of his desk.

How long had it been since he took his medication? Right. He hadn't. Not since arriving in France. For the most part the stress and the 'memories' of those dark times had gone away mostly thanks to person he was afraid to lose.

Hope was scared. Not just because of the fact his best friend was acting strange. But because a few months have made him dependent on a dosage he couldn't afford to quit taking.

Feeling his breathing slowing down his forced shut eyes finally won over their battle. He was tired slightly anyways so Hope let sleep get the better of him.

The alarm clock next to him now read 6:40 pm which suggested he had fallen asleep for twenty minutes. His body argued that he'd just blinked for a few seconds. Rolling his head to the other side he noticed the covers over him. They were scrunched up on the other end of the bed when he'd fallen asleep. His room had been darkened considerably due to sunset. His two back windows were dimmed by the blinds even still.

Until he noticed a sound of soft breathing. Looking down across his bedroom Hope noticed the chair that usually rested by his small corner desk was prompted over beside him. With a light sleeper sitting on it.

Hope didn't know how to approach this. He wanted to wake her up ask what was wrong. Apologize if necessary. Instead he sat up in his bed and watched her.

There were a lot of things he sucked at. A lot of things. One of which was returning favors. Even if she was Lightning then, or rather Light as he called her as a boy; they had made a promise. If they had signed a contract on it she could have sued him for not holding his end of the bargain.

How much had she'd sacrificed to keep her friends alive? To keep him safe? Maybe Claire was a worker at a coffee shop, but in her previous life she had been a guardian and a savior. Defeated Gods and slayed beast.

So why was it that three feet away, resting without monsters or creatures to worry about… Hope still couldn't keep her safe?

Setting his bare feet on the cold floor Hope hunched over to the pink haired woman's chair. Planning on waking her up his body tensed up the moment he got inches away from touching her. It was so strange to him how the last few weeks had been nothing but weird emotions. It was subtle at first. Making eye contact with her was getting much more difficult now.

Hope wasn't sure why his usual interactions with her seemed harder now, but he tried to overcome whatever strange feeling his gut had.

"Hey Claire?" Nothing. His right hand went for one of her shoulder when it met her face. Truth be told it was her fault. What happened next probably was his.

She shifted her head before he reached her shoulder and now his positioned hand was essentially holding her face. His hand felt like it was glued in place and the fear of her waking up in a terrible assumption and his terrible reaction timing was a factor Hope didn't want to experience.

Surprisingly enough though Claire didn't move. Keeping his wits Hope gently lifted her face back in hope that she would auto position herself. Hope's plan worked and the woman locked her head on the back of her chair before Hope realized her eyes were staring at him.

Keeping his breathing still Hope prepared himself for the worst case scenario and wondered if her powerful strength carried over in this life.

Until he heard her voice, softer than the one he heard in her room. "Why do you always do that?"

Stunned at her question Hope's eyebrows lifted up and watched her slowly get up from her chair. Looking down at his sitting position she put a hand to her neck.

"You know I can't hurt you right?" She asked commandingly. "I wasn't…you feel asleep. In my room…my hand-I just wanted to-"Hope mumbled in explanation.

Watching her turn to the door Hope opened his mouth wanting to apologize. Instead he kept his gaped mouth quiet when Claire told him to meet her in the living room.


When he made his way into the lid up room Hope positioned himself in the couch wordlessly. Claire was already sitting down looking down at the floor in thought. When she didn't acknowledge him Hope started first.

Feeling a little nervous again Hope gazed up at her before starting his session of apologies.

"Claire listen I-"

"Serah's pregnant," she interrupted keeping her gaze at the floor. Feeling a rush of confusion through his mind Hope looked up at her fully. Her face was turned down so whatever emotions she had were veiled.

Swallowing down at his dry mouth Hope kept his expression more relieved now. For her concerns not being about him. Selfish maybe, but this was good news anyways.

"Really? How long?" Hope asked watching her move around slightly. Claire's eyes were more visible now.

"Three months."

Hope crossed his arms at her concern. "I see then."

Serah had committed to calling her older sister every week since their stay here. Usually she would call on the weekends and up until his new job title Hope had never gotten the chance to talk to her on the phone either. With his weekends being usually free now, Hope had managed to have short conversations with Serah for the past couple of weeks. Never once mentioned anything about being pregnant though.

Then a sudden thought rushes his head and Hope asks her. "Is Serah doing alright? Snow is still-"

"They're both fine," Claire says looking at him for the first time since Hope sat down.

With a sigh of relief Hope's mind gets cleared of the worst case scenario unwillingly acknowledging that his partner's behavior still didn't add up. Then it hits him.

"So are you mad at her for not telling you soon?" Hope asks gently trying to meet her eyes without tensing up too much. Her blue eyes blink in response and for a moment Hope thinks this was the first time she thought of that.

"Actually yeah. A little." Her eyes scrunch up in thought and for a second Hope thinks about laughing at her reaction. His mind wouldn't allow it though, it was already moving gears ahead of him and clearly it didn't figure out his friend's behavior. Then another idea rushes in his head and this time Hope is sure he figured her out.

Scooting closer to her just a bit Hope keeps their eye contact before carefully making his point across.

"You need to go back and see her soon." Hope says trying to copy her commanding tone. He knows he failed, but her face softens up regardless. Silently she moves her eyes to the side before Hope figures out this thought too didn't rush to her until know. Had he put more thought into Serah's pregnancy than her own sister?

Maybe his patience was thinning out because he was so worried about her. It had been years since he had to play guessing games with people. Yet no matter how hard he tried sounding as sincere and caring the next words out of his mouth came too harsh.

"Claire what's going on with you?"

Might as well had yelled at her. Her expression is in front of him now. Completely vivid and annoyed. Keeping his eyes at her Hope watches for her response.

Relaxing his face he does the only thing he can do without ruining things further with words. He stares at her. At first he felt completely ridiculous because 'A' she was ticked and 'B' he was scared. Usually not the best way to clash feelings.

Then he sees her lips form a thin line and her eyes flutter in a relaxing motion. Hearing her sigh she gets up and charmingly end their conversation.

"Who knows Hope? Maybe the start of that time of the month."

When Claire got up and started walking his body reacted without permission. Desperation? He didn't think so.

"What am I doing?"

It started with his hand reaching out for one of hers. When their hands met his body lifted itself from the couch. Before letting her escape or shoving his hand away Hope embraced her tightly. This only made him more scared at the reminder of what a light push of his shoulder felt like from her back when Hope showed Claire his place back in his old home.

His mind still working nonstop reminds him of something else. Something that didn't dawn on him until now that he was doing the act.

This was the first time they ever hugged wasn't it? In this new world despite their two encounters neither had actually embraced one another. Well perhaps it required two people to agree to embrace to formally call it a hug.

But in the old world Light certainly didn't ask for his permission.

Feeling like aging seconds going by Hope listens to her disgruntled tone from her head pressed forcibly to his chest.

"Hey Hope what are you-" whatever else she said was muffled into his chest. His hand pressing her head gently, knowing fully aware that if she wasn't in shock Claire could power out whenever.

Until he feels her head trying to move up and look up at him. Feeling tenser at the thought of her stare Hope leans his head instead over her shoulder. He tried talking one more time.

"I'm not a child anymore. You and I promised to watch over each other, and I don't intend on letting go until you tell me what's wrong." Hope's words came out much more soothing than before and in reward she stops moving.

"Hope..."

"Yeah?" He asked looking down at her. Until she made a hand push back against his chest.

"It's hard to breathe this way," Claire said feeling an instant release of her head.

"Oh damn I'm sorry Light." Hope apologized keeping his face from being too dumbfounded. Still embraced she looked up at him quizzically.

Stretching an eyebrow at him she kept her silence intact. Feeling a little out of place Hope retreated back with his hands in his pockets. Her look was giving him the weird feelings again.

Trying one last time Hope grunted his insecurities away. Tried giving his voice the usual calm and reasonable tone one more time.

"We're partners right? S-so if something is bothering you it's my job to try to help," Hope said only faltering once. He continued on before a hand rested on his shoulder.

Meeting her cerulean eyes Hope saw himself in them again.

"I know. Truth is I don't know what's wrong," she said keeping her expression much warmer. Nodding his head at her progress he kept reaching for more. It took a while for her to get his silence for Claire to continue.

Not used to it she narrowed her eyes at him. Certainly not something the younger boy used to do, this older Hope was very pushy. Whether she liked that trait or not her mouth opened up eagerly again.

"I feel like I failed her somehow."

Seeing Hope's emerald eyes get wider at this Claire understood she got the point across. Now it was time to head on bac-

"In what way?" Hope interrupted. Still persistently focused on the subject her eyes went back up at him. Doesn't know when to give up huh?

Pausing at the question she answered him quietly. Thinking about it her heart was pounding the same question.

"Well I…I'm her older sister. Even if she argues I'm always right," she insisted keeping her arms crossed around her chest. Something about his eyes suggested that Hope was thinking ahead of her.

"Has he always been this adept?"

"Did you two get into an argument?" Hope asked searching for more out of her, more calmly now. Claire shook her head sternly. A pregnant little sister wasn't going to get scolded.

"Married." She corrected herself. "My married little sister was having a baby soon. My little sister not me. Wait what? Oh no." Her thoughts betrayed her before Claire realized Hope had asked her another question.

"No. That can't be it. I'm not-she's my sister how could I be upset that-"

"Snow?" He asked again. Mentally checking out Claire looked back at Hope confused. Clearly not listening anymore.

Tugging at his head Hope tried again. "Did you get in an argument with Snow?"

Repeating her response from before Claire cringed at the nail in the coffin realization. Of all people Snow…it was like asking the most annoying person you knew to join your team. Except it was now a reality and soon a little Snow offspring was going to be out in the wild.

"I hope it's a girl," she thought casting away the notion of not judging about gender preferences. Another small Snow was not going to bode well with her. So what if she was stubborn the guy really got on her nerves.

Hearing a small sigh out of Hope Claire looked back at him again. Clearly exhausted he rested his head behind his hands.

"Well I'm done playing detective."

Nodding at him she couldn't help but smile. Her admiration for him had gone up. Nobody had lasted this long trying to figure…well her out honestly. Not even Serah. Actually Serah would purposely walk away and calmly come back half an hour later and ask if everything was fine again. It was an older sister tradition that Claire would never give up. Being older meant being the one to set the examples.

Claire Farron had kept Serah from falling into the wrong crowds during middle school. Went shopping with her in Bodhum whenever Lightning wasn't busy being a stoic soldier. Watched over her when high school drama ensued. Was the shoulder to lean on when Serah cried about boys being stupid. Everything Claire did for her younger sister was because she was the protector that knew everything.

"Serah is married now and expecting a baby soon. What experience do I have in that?" She asked herself. Feeling a sudden irk Claire heard the man's voice interrupt her thoughts.

"You don't yet. Is that why you're upset Claire?" He asked making her heart reach the apex of heartbeats.

"Did I say that out loud!?"

No this wasn't happening. In her frustration she felt her neck start to warm up knowing that her face was next. This couldn't get any worse.

Hope just watched her silently. Expecting a reaction out of him Claire rubbed her forehead making the last ditch effort to control her headache…and the blushing.

"Hmm." Hope put in his two cents before leaving her in the living room. Completely dumbfounded now Claire took the opportunity to lunge for the patio or better yet leave the apartment for a run or something.

Until she heard his footsteps again leading to the living room. Thankfully her warm face was cooling off now only feeling her cheeks slightly mild. Hope was in front of her again with a calendar and a pen.

"You said she was three months pregnant correct? So that means we have a good three to four months before she can no longer safely travel," Hope said handing the calendar and pen over.

Looking down at the current month of August Claire looked at some of the circled dates. This was Hope's calendar. Still confused she looked up at him.

"What are you getting at Hope. You want me to go see her?"

Seeing his expression change to a smirk he shook his head.

"No I want to see her and Snow too. We should invite them to come over."

Oh God no! Bad idea, terrible idea. She didn't want her future niece or nephew to have a fatherless life.

Seeing the conflict in her Hope laughed for the first time today. Feeling slightly agitated she opened her mouth to protest. Until he reached for her hand to sit down with him and wordlessly they both took a sit. That easy.

"They have to spend a few weeks with us at the least. I'll work ahead and make sure to schedule myself to be more at home too," he insisted keeping his eyes glued on his phone. She watching him rearrange things in his planner through his phone and a small smile escaped her. From this point of view he looked like the excited older sibling she was supposed to be.

Feeling a small tug of irritation at herself the pessimist in her asked away. "Hope where are they going to sleep? We are going to have to prepare a lot more than you think."

Barely looking up Hope looked at the floor then a few seconds later went back to his phone. Making Claire once again surprised that his mind really did have answers for everything.

"You choose Claire. Either you and Serah share rooms and Snow does so with me or…"

"Or what?" She asked suddenly watching his expression change uncomfortably. "Or they can share the apartment my job paid for. One bedroom is perfect for them."

Ready for another excuse she followed involuntarily, "You still have that place to yourself?"

"Technically yes. I never reported it to HR so beside the fruit flies in the welcoming basket the place should be good as new." He said looking at her amused.

She lost this one. Looking back at the calendar she lifted the pen in thought.

"I…I have to check with Serah first. She has a business to run you know." Claire added with the omission of the other person involved in the trip. Reaching for the phone in the living room table Hope handed it over to her.

"Sure. I don't see how seeing her sister and getting practically a fully paid vacation to France is something Serah is going to pass away though," Hope chimed in hearing Claire dial away.

"Yeah well have you seen Snow eat?" She asked putting the phone to her ear.

Chuckling at the reminder Hope looked back amusingly. "I lived with them for a while you know."

Waiting for Claire to respond back Hope heard her irritation come back.

"Tch…Hope here," she replied handing the phone over. Her face looked like she was contemplated something. Confused Hope took the phone and wondered why Serah was a challenge to call. Until he heard a man's voice on the line.

"Hey who's this?! Its three in the morning I-sorry babe….no go back to sleep Serah. Some jackass is probably prank calling us."

"Seven hour difference in time…right." Hope thought looking back at his watch.

"Hey Snow it's me, Hope."

"Hope? Hey man what's up kinda early for a chat no?" Replied the energized man groggily.

Muffling his laugh Hope shook his head, "Sorry about that I forget that your time zone is different. But I'm running out of time and I need your response quickly on this."

Acting more abrupt Hope proposed the idea of the invitation in a form of a vacation. Hope was sure this was how salespeople acted.

Perhaps too tired or maybe too out of it the loud man replied willingly.

"Yeah that sounds good, it would be nice to have a final relaxing moment before the baby arrives," Snow said quietly. Thankfully not on speaker phone Hope looked at the older Farron sister watching his conversation.

Hope wasn't sure why Claire was so out of it a moment ago. But he saw her face when she mentioned her sister going through marriage and now motherhood. The way she said it made him think that perhaps Claire was disappointed. Not at Serah, but herself. This was just a guess and Hope didn't want to ask that question. Asking her if she was jealous was a risky and downright stupid thing to do. Unlike Snow he had a filter.

"Alright then if you're on board then I'll start making plans to set up a date. Okay then we're good to go. Thanks Snow and congratulations about your baby. I uh-yeah of course I will. Okay good night-err morning I guess, sorry for the late call again."

Hanging up Hope put the phone back to charge and looked at Claire expectantly.

"Alright that's settled then. Now we have to figure out a date for them to come over," Hope said scooting over to her to see her progress. She was still in the month of August and he watched her quizzically look at him.

"You wrote 'night out' in all these dates?" She asked pointing to the circled Saturdays. The ones they would go out and eat together.

"Yes. That's the whole point of a calendar," Hope responded feeling a tad bit defensive.

"It's the same day every week, how can you forget?" She asked obviously not letting it go. In retrospect Hope should have probably said nothing at that point and let it go. But he just solved a difficult mystery and his ego probably didn't shy away at this.

"Have you seen the other dates I've marked?" He asked finally.

She nodded her head before he continued.

"Have you read what they're about? It's all work related, I think I wrote down formulas even." Hope said looking down at the calendar grudgingly. Like it did something wrong to him.

Clearly though judging from her expression she didn't get where he was going with all this. Choosing to point at the 'night out' dates he sounded less annoyed.

"These are all I have to look forward to you know," Hope said feeling himself cringe at the sudden embarrassment. He was so pathetic sometimes.

"I see then." Claire said looking down at the calendar again. Forcing his face from turning red Hope leaned back on the couch ready to change the subject to the Serah and Snow vacation planning. Until he heard scribbling noises that made him turn his attention to her.

Seeing the Saturdays 'night out' circled dates along with the newly formed circled around Sundays, Hope blinked in response. They read the same as the Saturdays reminders.

Claire turned to a few months ahead and looked at him.

"So what dates do you have in mind?"