A/N:

Well, It has been a while, but i have been busy with stuff. You know what it's like right xD Anyway, even though Elle was kissing Sylar in the last episode (and Eclaire probably isn't going to happen, we have to be honest ) In my head they'll always be a couple. So w're not going to stop slashling them, right? Right? Right? =] Ok, Enjoy. At least, I hope so!

Chapter 4: Smile, Smile Even Wider!

The feeling of being misunderstood was common to Elle. She has been misunderstood her whole life. Not only by strangers, but by her own dad as well.

She never knew.

She never knew he used her. Just for his own goods. She was completely obvlious to it. To the fact he actually never gave a damn about her. That she knew

for sure, but she only found out recently. Not like it matters now does it. Not with the bullet in her chest. Blood coming out of the wound, all over her clothes.

Her hands pressed against the wound desperately trying to keep the blood from coming out of the wound.

Not wanting to close her eyes she does all she can to keep them open. She doesn't want to pass out. She wants to stay here. To live. To see the world like a fairy tale, to live the world like it is a fairy tale. A fairy tale in which everything is exactly how it should be. How life is supposed to be. Like she read in her book sometimes. Claire showed her it could be different. They could live like it is a fairy tale. Claire showed her how to smile again.

The smile that was still on her face just a few days ago is now fully gone.

Not much to laugh about at the moment.

Do you like being shot by your maybe or maybe not girlfriend?

The only one you thought you could trust. The one you thought who would never hurt you no matter what you did.

Elle was smart, that she knew, but there were many things in life she didn't know. Many thing she didn't experience. Not because she didn't want to experience life, but because her dad never allowed her to. He always had a sort control over her.

There was much more in life Elle needed to learn. Things she couldn't learn out the books she used to open every day to make time go faster.

Life can be a bitch sometimes. That was the one thing she already knew and now, once again, it seems to be right.

Life can be a bitch sometimes. That she knew for sure.

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"Stop It! Stop It" The girl said to the other one laughing as hard as she could while she was ducking.

"You know you love it. Just admit it." They both chuckled as the other girl just continued with what she was doing.

"How can i even like it? You are such a ba--"

Suddenly the girl jumps up screaming. "That is so gross, Elle!" She brings her hands to her neck rubbing it with the palm of her hands. It was dripping all over her clothes. The girl looked with disgust at it as she hold it up in her hand.

Elle just laughed even harder than she did already. This must have been the most hilarious thing she had ever seen in her whole life.

She couldn't resist it. She just had to throw with the ice cream. Grabbing the spoon and flipping it Claire's way was just hilarious.

The way Claire was sitting there all innocent as they were eating desert was just a prefect opportunity. Well, it wasn't technically a dessert. Because a dessert is not a dessert until it involves food being consumed before the dessert part. They, however, weren't feeling like eating carrots, Claire hated carrots, mashed potatoes and some beef that didn't seem like it was fresh at all. They just skipped the dinner and went straight to dessert. Like always when Elle spent the night at Claire's house, which was very often recently. Noah, Claire's father, even told Elle she almost lived there. Elle just took it as a compliment.

It was hard for her, though. She always thought she knew how to act 'normal'. Now she learned she didn't have a clue at all. Sometimes people say one thing and then they mean the opposite of it. Like when they tell you they are having a blast and they are saying it in a special kind of way, they mean they don't like it at all. Noah told her that is called sarcasm. She thought it was interesting.

She never really learned how to use that kind of things. They never teached her. How to use body language . To her everything was just said. Whether it was fun or not, whether she would like it or not. They treated her as an adult. She hated it when they treated her like that. In her books the parents were always gentle. They let the kid play, because it was a kid, and they teached them stuff so they grow old and wise and so the kid would know how to become an excellent adult. The best in the whole wide world. So they would know what to do with their life. Hers never teached her something like that.

Her parents.

She couldn't remember her mother, though. Her dad told her she left when she was little, but Elle was positive he told her a different story the year before.

She just stopped asking.

"There is a reason why it is called the past, Elle. To forget about it and concentrate on the future." The words were somehow stuck in her head. She knew she heard them somewhere. Vaguely familiar. Just another thing she just couldn't put her finger on. Many things she just started to forget. It may sound weird. A 13 year old who is suffering from memory loss. Or maybe she just has a dysfunctional brain, although Elle was sure that was completely the same thing. She just couldn't find another explanation. How many people do you know who can erase minds and just wipe them clean. From any memory. Sure, she thought, there aren't many shooting blue electricity balls out of their hands either, but that is something totally different. That doesn't involve me messing with someone's mind. That would be cruel.

"Now i have to put on other clothes." Elle's eyes flutter. She always spaced out when she was thinking about something. Claire didn't notice, though. She was too busy trying to remove the sticky ice cream from her shirt and her back. As she did so, Claire was groaning. She hated it when something got dirty. She just hated cleaning stuff.

"You got so many clothes!" Elle said picking up her spoon again. "And besides that, who cares. We need to change into our pyamas in like -" She took a moment to look at the clock. "- 10 minutes. Then you're dad is coming home and he is expecting us to be sleep ready."

"Yeah whatever. Dad's always complaining." Claire run upstairs to take off her clothes and Elle stayed downstairs. It wasn't weird for her to be alone in this room.

It used to, though. When Claire run off for the first time to do something that didn't involve her she totally freaked out. What if she broke something? Or made the house a complete mess?

It was not long before when they first met. Somehow Claire was playing at the same playground as Elle was and they met. They immediately were friends. Noah told them they played for hours. That was just a few months ago. Now Elle is 13 and Claire eleven almost twelve years old, as Claire told everyone.

Elle didn't get why Claire was always talking like that about her dad. In a 'Whatever' way. Elle wished she had a father like that. A father who actually cared about what was going on in her life. "I bet he doesn't even know where i am right now." Her dad never cared about her as Noah does with Claire. She was jealous at her for that. It was like Claire took Noah for granted. If he was her dad she wouldn't do that. She was certain of that. She would do whatever he told her to do, just because she would know he loves her. Just like dads are supposed to do. They are supposed to love their children unconditional, right? She didn't blame Claire for having such a dad, though. It wasn't her fault for being born and raised in such a lovely family. "Some are just lucky, so lucky." She sighed, lazily placing her spoon in her mouth. Even though the ice cream was already melting and it was more like a milkshake she enjoyed it.

"So lucky" She said once again.

"Who are you talking to?" Claire said running downstairs with her toothbrush in her hand.

Elle just shrugged her shoulders and mumbled something. Claire stood beside her placing her left hand on her shoulder. "You can tell me everything Elle. Just come to me when you are ready."

Elle chuckled after hearing that.

"You sound just like your dad."

Claire laughed hard. "I am nothing like my dad. I wouldn't give my children any kind of punishment for something as lame as setting something on fire accidentally. That's just stupid. I didn't mean to set the blanket on fire. It was an accident. I thought they would understand that."

Elle's face dropped after hearing that. Setting stuff one fire was something she has done often. Setting stuff on fire was her thing. With her blue sparks she could light up everything. Never ever was she punished for setting something on fire. Quite the opposite. She was encouraged. Her dad sometimes told her to set a house on fire. She just did it. To please him. She would always feel bad afterwards. She thought about the people living in that house, coming home from work and seeing there home burned.

"I'm sorry Elle. I didn't want to upset you with one of my boring stories." Claire said pulling the other blonde girl in a big hug. "Let's go upstairs and brush our teeth."

Elle nodded getting out of her chair. Claire was already making her way upstairs. Elle took her time. Looking around a few times. Observing the house.

The first time she got here she was sure she has been in this house already. Not just a house similar to this one, but this particular house. She thought of all the houses she has set on fire, but she was sure this one wasn't one of them. I have been here before. Elle thought to herself when she walked through the front door a few months ago. Even now, a few months later obviously, she sometimes wondered about it. She was certain she had been here before and if Elle was certain about something she wouldn't let the subject go easily. She was planning to ask Noah later that night. That was what she was going to do.

A voice calling her made her run upstairs. She could not not listen to Claire. It is just something about her, she thought with a smile on her face before entering Claire's room. She took a few steps back and then started to run towards the bed, launching herself and then landing perfectly on top of it. Claire just stood in the door opening watching the girl do that. With a grin on Claire's face she walked back into the bathroom again.

Elle's eyes fell on something she didn't notice before. A picture standing on top of the radiator.

Carefully she took it. She recognized her parents and she noticed Noah and Sandra standing in the picture as well. Elle was in it too. The little baby was Claire, she figured. If you'd look closer you could see the resemblance between eleven almost twelve year old Claire and baby Claire. The blonde hair of course, but also the eyes. She innocent sparkle in her blue eyes was one of the other things noticeable which made Elle smile. It wasn't a piercing blue, but a softer one. A blue like an ocean. The one that makes you calm and drift to sleep. Not that Claire would do that to you. She herself had a sparkling personality. She was shiny. Always smiled a lot.

How come this picture is so familiar? Elle just shrugged off any other thoughts about it and placed it back. Quickly she changed in something she could sleep in.

Lying in a bed she thought about the picture again.

It seemed so familiar to her. Why?

Claire was lying in her own bed and Noah had placed Elle's bed next to hers. She could hear Claire's breathing and it soothed her. She could tell Claire was sleeping already. It was always that way with Claire. Once she laid down, in bed or on the couch or even on the floor, it wouldn't take her long to fall a sleep.

Elle thought it was odd. Especially since she had so much trouble with it. She couldn't imagine people falling a sleep that quickly. Don't they always have something to worry about? Something to think about late at night? The only moment of the day you really have a moment to yourself, when you are forced to listen to your own thoughts. The only place you can't hide your thoughts or feelings even by doing something different.

Then she thought about the picture again. About the people on the picture. The fact it looked to familiar. As if she saw it many times before. Somehow she had that feeling a lot in this house. She rolled her eyes and turned her head away from the picture still standing on the radiator.

Slowly, with the picture still on her mind she drifted to sleep.

Like said before, when Elle was thinking about something she wouldn't let go of it easily.

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"Don't even dare!" She shouts at the other blonde. "Don't even dare, don't even dare to come closer!"

Tears are burning in the corners of her eyes. She can't stop several tears from rolling down her cheek, but at this moment she doesn't even bother trying to look like she is strong. She knows she isn't that strong. She just acts that way, because everyone expects her to be strong. There is only one person who ever witnessed her letting her guard down.

Now she sees It's the worst thing she ever did. Not the houses she set on fire. Not the people she hurt. No, it was opening up for her. She told her everything about her life. Every feeling, emotion she ever had she had shared with Claire.

It was all clear to Elle now. Never is she going to be that stupid again. Never is she going to let Claire in again. She told her she was sorry. Elle doesn't know what more she can do. Still lying on the floor, unable to come up she refuses Claire to come closer.

Claire still proceeds, though, while Elle is still struggling on the floor.

Elle takes a quick look up and Claire is closer than she thought she was.

"I told you not too!" More tears streaming from her eyes. "I told you not too!"

"But when did you ever listen to me?" Claire screams loudly and Elle knows Claire is crying as well. She know Claire is right. Elle didn't listen to her either. Claire told her to do nothing about it. That the problem would be solved and that they could do normal stuff in the main time. Elle couldn't. Elle couldn't just sit there and watch everything she had go down the drain. She couldn't watch someone murdering the only person she truly loved. She had to do what was right in her mind. She had to protect Claire, even if Claire didn't get it.

She still doesn't see it as a mistake. She knows she did the right thing. In her mind she always did the right thing.

Now she was sure she did the right thing. How come Claire doesn't see it?

She risked her life to safe Claire. How come the only thing she gets back is a bullet to the chest?

Can you blame her for not wanting Claire close right now?

Can you blame Claire for wanting an explanation?

Can you blame them both for not smiling right now?