Hello there all my wonderful readers XD. I am truly sorry about the epic amount of time that you have had to wait for this chapter. As I said in the teaser I gave you I have been injured for a few weeks and my workload for university has been chaotic. Sadly although I am now injury free my workload does not look like it will be easing up any time soon, in fact I foresee it increasing a lot in the next few weeks. Therefore I would like to apologise now for any delays in getting the next chapter to you… hopefully you won't hate me too much.

Anyway I've kept you long enough. There will form now on be a proper element of femslash and there are some other more adult themes in this chapter too. You have been warned before and you are being warned again, if you don't think you'll like it then please don't read it. However, I hope that you will and that you will enjoy it XD.

Disclaimer – I still don't own the awesome Claire and Noah Bennet

Chapter 4 – Revealing Secrets Part 2

In the weeks following that night Claire began to get into a routine. She had easily made it onto the cheerleading squad and was becoming good friends with a number of girls from the squad, including Chloe.

Max was beginning to come out of her shell thanks to Claire's encouraging influence. They had been working together along with Claire's father, Noah, to help Max control her ability and learn more about it. Gradually, as Max's control improved, she began to relax around people; including the cheerleaders that Claire was friends with.

Claire was surprised when she noticed that Chloe appeared to be just as happy as she was at Max's new confidence in herself. It was all made clear when Chloe pulled Claire aside one day after practice to talk to her.

"Claire," Chloe said, lightly taking hold of Claire's are and pulling her gently over to the side of the changing room. "I wanted to say thank you to you." Claire looked at Chloe with a confused look on her face.

"Why are you thanking me Chloe?" Claire asked.

"Because you got my friend back. Well started to at least." Chloe paused before continuing, "you see before Max's dad died, well we were best friends." Claire's eyes widened slightly in surprise at Chloe's statement. Chloe just gave a small smile at continued talking. "Yeah I know, you wouldn't really put the two of us together would you. But we grew up together; her dad and mine were old buddies, so we used to play together a lot when we were kids. When we started school we stuck together and looked out for each other. As we grew older we still stuck together, even though our interests were rather different. She'd come to every game that I cheered at and I'd go to every gig she played with her band."

Claire didn't say anything as she took this new information about Max's past on board. Although this did explain why Chloe was always Max's loudest defender when people made comments about her and why Max had been so comfortable joining in with Claire's other friends.

Chloe pulled Claire into a hug and whispered another "thank you" in her ear. She let go of Clare and stepped back, her eyes were glistening slightly from tears that she was holding back. "Right let's go meet everyone for lunch shall we?" Claire nodded and the two girls walked out of the changing room and towards the cafeteria.

As the two girls entered the cafeteria they noticed a group of people gathered around the table that they usually sat at. Claire noticed that it was really quiet, which was strange as usually you would have to almost shout to be heard during the lunch break. They approached the group slowly. As they got closer Claire heard a guitar, then a voice joined in with the guitar.

Claire pushed her way to the front of the group. The last couple of people moved out of the way and she got a clear view of who everyone was stopping to listen to. Max.

She was sat on a table with her feet on a chair, playing an old and beat up acoustic guitar. Claire stood in awe as Max started the chorus of the song she was playing;

There goes my hero,

Watch him as he goes

There goes my hero

He's ordinary.

Claire was so engrossed with watching Max that she didn't notice Chloe come up behind her.

"Told you she was really into music." She whispered in Claire's ear. Claire could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke again. "What do you think?"

It took Claire a few moments to register the question before answering. "She's… amazing." She stood quietly watching Max until she finished the song. As everyone around her started clapping and cheering Max finally looked up at the crowd and locked eyes with Claire.

They remained in that state until Chloe walked over to Max and put an arm around her shoulder. "Right everyone let the girl get some lunch." Chloe announced to the crowd who gradually started to disperse until only the group who normally sat with them remained.

Chloe turned to Max with a huge grin on her face. "That was great girl. When did you start playing again?" Max finally broke eye contact with Claire to look at Chloe. She gave a small smile, "Couple of weeks ago. Something just seemed right about playing again." Max's eyes flicked back to Claire's before she looked down at her guitar. She climbed down off the table and started to pick up her guitar case. At this point Claire realised that she was still just stood there staring at Max while everyone else had taken a seat at the table. Hoping that no-one had noticed Claire walked up behind Max.

"Hey."

Max turned her head to look at Claire before responding, "Hey to you too." She gave Claire a slightly cheeky grin. "Did you enjoy the show?"

Claire smiled back at her. "Yeah I did. You're really good."

Max closed the lid of her guitar case and turned around to face Claire properly. "That song was for you, you know." She took hold of Claire right hand with hers, "you really are a hero to me. You reminded me that I could control my power rather than have them control me. And you showed me that, even after everything that's happened to me in the last couple of years, I can still be happy."

All Claire could do for a moment was smile at Max. "I'm glad I make you feel happy Max, you deserve to be. You make me feel happy too," Max smiled just as Claire's stomach gave a little growl. "But right now I feel really hungry so let go grab some food shall me." Max nodded as Claire pulled on her hand leading her towards the queue for food.

Chloe, who had overheard the two girl's exchange, watched as they walked off. She was watching them so intently that she didn't even notice the red-haired girl sat next to her was talking to her about her plans for the evening until she tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you listening to me?" the girl asked Chloe.

Chloe turned back round to look at the girl, "sorry got distracted by something."

At five o'clock Claire had just finished another practice. She walked out of the changing rooms and smiled when she saw Max leaning against the lockers on the opposite side of the hall, waiting.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Claire asked as she walked over to Max, mimicking the girl's question from earlier. Max pushed off from the lockers and the girls started to walk out to Claire's car.

"Oh yes it was very entertaining. Especially the part where you fell on top of Katie." Max gave a grin as Claire pushed into her.

"Stop it. That was not funny." Claire attempted to sound stern but couldn't help but smile.

"Well she certainly didn't seem to mind it happening. I certainly wouldn't." Max smirked as she walked around to the passenger's side of the car. Claire stood still contemplating Max's remark until she heard her call to her from the other side of the car. "You gunna open the doors? I'm going grey here!" Claire rolled her eyes at Max as she pressed the button to unlock the doors and got into the car.

On the journey to Claire's house there was the usual conversations about life and some quizzing about Max's musical talents. It turned out that the band Max had played in, before her father died, had recorded some songs and now they, along with Max's replacement, were touring with some other bands. She wasn't resentful about being replaced; in fact she had been the one to find her replacement.

"It just hurt too much to try and play when every time I looked at the guitar, his guitar, it tore me apart inside. But now it doesn't hurt anymore. I still remember him when I play, but I remember the good stuff now not the pain of losing him." Claire could see out of the corner of her eye that, although Max's eyes were moist with tears, she was smiling. They stayed silent for the rest of the journey which allowed Max to compose herself before going inside.

The girls went inside, said hello to Sandra, had the obligatory chat with her about how the day had gone, grabbed a drink each and a packet of cookies from the cupboard and disappeared up to Claire's room. They sat on Claire's bed listening to random songs on the radio while they ate and drank. Claire watched Max as she sang along to Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson. They often spent the afternoon like this, just hanging out. That is until Max noticed the time and would practically run out of the house.

Often Max would appear outside Claire's room a few hours later. Sometimes she would be crying, other times she would be shaking and on the verge of combustion and the rest of the time she would be fine and would climb up to Claire's window with the cheeky grin that had become her signature smile around Claire.

Claire had gotten into a routine now where she would wait by the window so that she could see Max approaching and, when possible, would get to the front door just as Max arrived. She would always be prepared for whatever state Max arrived in. If she was crying, Claire would just get her into the bed and hold her as she cried herself to sleep.

If Max was losing control, Claire would drag her into her bathroom shove her in the shower and turn the cold water on full until she had cooled off. Max would eventually turn the water off and stand in the shower, clothes dripping and with steam coming off her. Claire would hand her a towel then walk out, sit on her bed and wait for Max to emerge.

Max would eventually come out and change into the pajamas that Claire had learnt her that first night she had come over: Claire would try not to look at Max as she changed but more and more often she found herself staring. She kept telling herself that she was just looking at the bruises and cuts that were always present on the other girl's body.

At first Claire hadn't said anything about the marks but as time went on she tried to ask max where they were coming from. Max would always shy away from her questions or give answers that were obviously fabricated to conceal the truth. Eventually she gave up trying to as, but she always kept it in the back of her mind. She was going to figure out what was going on one way or another. The rest of the time they would just go back to what they had been doing before Max had left; they would chat or watch something until they fell asleep.

A couple of nights ago Max had come over and they had watched a movie together. It had been a horror movie and Claire had spent most of the time curled up against Max who had put a protective arm around her. Even being invincible didn't stop Claire from getting scared by a movie. They had fallen asleep in that position and when Claire woke up the next morning, although they had both moved during the night, Max still had her arm around Claire. She'd looked down at Max's hand and realised that their fingers were interlaced. Claire smiled. They were both lying on their left sides so Claire couldn't see if Max was awake. She didn't want to move from the position they were in, it just felt so comfortable. However, they both had school so they'd have to get up eventually. Claire rolled over so that she was facing Max before whispering.

"Morning Max," Max didn't move so Claire whispered a little louder, "Oi Max wake up." Still she didn't move but Claire caught a slight twitch of a smile at the corner of her mouth. Claire slid her hand up to tickle Max's chin. Max tried hard not to giggle but once Claire managed to get her other hand free to tickle her even more Max couldn't stop herself.

Just then Claire snapped back out of her thought when she noticed Max snapping her fingers in front of her face.

"Hellooo? Anybody in there?" Max inquired jokingly. Claire blinked a few times to focus her eyes again.

"Sorry. Dunno what happened there." Claire replied giving Max a smile. Max returned the smile but her eyes showed a hint of concern.

"What were you thinking about? You were out of it for ages."

"I'm fine," Claire replied "I was just thinking about that night we watched that scary movie together." Max started to smile, "Ah yes, where you spent almost the whole movie hiding in my neck."

Claire laughed, "I didn't hear you complaining about it at the time."

"And I'm not complaining now." Max cut in laughing.

"Well good." Claire responded. They sat there giggling for a few minutes before Claire became a bit more serious. "Max, why do you come over at night so often?" Max stopped giggling and her face became hard.

"Do you not like me coming over, because I can go somewhere else if you don't." Claire's eyes widened a bit as she noticed how Max had interpreted what she had said. "No, I love you coming over," Max's stare softened a bit as Claire took one of hands before continuing, " I just worry a bit. Don't your parents wonder where you are most nights?"

Max paused and looked down at her hand before answering "They don't care. Just means that I don't get in the way," Claire didn't say anything else so Max continued to speak "Sometimes. I just wanna get away when I'm stressed or upset and I know that you will help me relax so I come here. But most of the time I just want to spend time with you. I enjoy being with you even if we aren't doing anything. Just being with you makes me happy, I don't know why but you just do." Max looked up from their hands into Claire's eyes.

"I know what you mean. I feel that way too." For a few moments they stared into each other's eyes. Then Max leaned in towards Claire slightly. Before Claire could think about what she was doing she closed the gap between them and their lips met.

At first it was just a soft kiss until something in the two girls sparked. Claire pushed Max backwards so she was lying on the bed and straddled her, not once breaking contact with her lips. Max's hand came up from her sides to caress Claire's back. This produced a moan of pleasure from the blonde and in the moment when her lips parted Max's tounge slid in to play with hers. This was unlike anything Claire had experienced before. It wasn't that she'd never kissed someone before; she'd done that plenty of times, but this was different. It was soft and caring but also passionate.

Claire gave into the pleasure and started to grind against Max. Now it was Max's turn to moan. She sat up with Claire still straddling her and lifted the hem of Claire's t-shirt. Without thinking Claire lifted her arms to allow Max to pull the t-shirt over her head and throw it on the floor. Before Claire could place her lips back onto Max's she felt a small nip on her neck. She leant her head back to expose more of her neck to Max who obligingly started to kiss and nip at the flesh. At one point, Max fastened her mouth over Claire's pulse point and sucked leaving a perfect hickey. Claire let out another moan and started to kiss Max's lips again.

She reached down and pulled up Max's t-shirt. Once it was removed Claire took one quick look at Max's breasts that were still firmly held by her bra, before kissing her neck and working her way back up to her lips. Max's hands moved from caressing Claire's back to grab her firm ass, again producing a moan from the other girl and making her grind even harder against her.

After a while of kissing and caressing Max's mouth moved down Claire's jaw, down her neck and down to the swell of her breasts. Max kissed, licked, nipped and sucked the parts of Claire's breasts she could get to. Claire lent back, pushing out her chest. Max's hands moved up to the clasps of Claire's bra and unhooked it, releasing Claire's firm breasts.

A heartbeat later Max's mouth was on Claire's nipple and Claire's hand was in Max's hair pushing her closer to her chest. Another moan escaped Claire's mouth before she could stop herself.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Everything ok in there girls?" Noah asked. The two girls froze.

"Yeah everything's fine Dad." Claire replied hoping that he wouldn't try to come in.

"Ok, well dinner's almost ready and your mother would like you to set the table."

"Alright. I'll be down in a second." With that Claire heard Noah turn around and go back down the stairs.

Claire turned back to face Max just as Max turned back from looking at the clock on the bedside table. She looked at Claire and all Claire could register was the fear in her eyes.

"I have to go, I'm late." Max told her, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke.

Claire climbed off her and picked up her bra while Max grabbed her t-shirt and put it back on. Max stood up and grabbed her bag and guitar from next to Claire's desk.

"Are you going to come back tonight?" Claire asked.

Max turned around to face her, "Do you want me to come back?" Claire walked up to her and placed a small kiss on her lips.

"Of course I do Max."

Max gave a small smile before saying, "Well then I will try my hardest to come back tonight." She kissed Claire again before pulling away and heading towards the door. "I need to go, I'm sorry." She took another look at the time before muttering, "Shit, he's going to kill me," and walking out the room.

Claire stood staring at the door, "Oh my God," Claire thought "that was...wow." She snapped from her thoughts when she heard her father calling her to lay the table again. Claire was quiet during dinner which made Noah worry. He tried to inquire about what was making her so quiet but didn't get much of a response. Eventually he figured his daughter was just being a teenage girl and gave up trying to make conversation with her.

After she'd finished eating Claire got a shower to try and cool off. She couldn't get Max of her head. She was both nervous and excited to see her again. She'd never thought about being with a girl before but the more she thought about Max the more it felt right.

After getting out of the shower Claire dried her hair and started to put on a small amount of make-up. She wanted to look nice for Max when she returned. "That is if she does come back." Claire thought. Now Claire's brain started to go through the comments Max had made as she left that evening and evening before.

Across town Max quietly opened the door to her house hoping that no-one would notice her enter. As she carefully closed the door she heard the footsteps coming towards her.

"Where have you been? Your mother has been worried about you!" Max's stepfather roared at her.

"That's a lie; she's probably too drunk to even recognise me. I'm surprised you can even walk straight, the amount of alcohol I can smell on you!" Max spat back at the man. Her stepfather took a step towards her and grabbed her arm, pulling her across the room towards the kitchen.

Claire dropped the hair brush she was using. It hit her foot before hitting the ground but she didn't respond.

"Oh my God." Claire whispered, shocked that she hadn't figured it out before. She dived for her bag and grabbed her phone to send a text to the one person who knew more about Max than she did.

'Chloё, what is Max's family like?'

She paced while she waited for a response. Her phone vibrated and she grabbed it.

'Her Mom was really nice and her sister is adorable but her stepdad is an asshole if you ask me and I think she feels the same. Why? What's up?'

'Shit' Claire thought as she read the text and paled slightly. Everything clicked into place and she hurriedly text Chlow back.

'What's her address? Something she said to me earlier got me worried and I think it was to do with her stepdad.'

It wasn't long at all before she got a reply.

'261 Carlton Street. I'll meet you there. I never trusted that man.'

She'd obviously been as worried and suspicious as Clare was. After she'd noted down the address she grabbed her coat and sprinted down the stairs. Just as she reached for the front door handle she heard Noah call to her.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

She turned round and blurted out, "I'm off to get Max. She made a comment earlier about how 'he' was going to kill her for being late and she's got all these bruises and cuts and stuff and I think it's from her stepdad because she never talks about her family and Chloe said that he's a real asshole and I'm worried that he's going to do something to her."

She took a deep breath and looked at her father imploring him to let her go. His expression had changed from slight amusement to neutral as he'd listened to her and now he looked thoughtfully concerned.

"What is the address? I'll look into her family's background and she if I can find anything about her stepfather." He said calmly.

Claire released the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and handed him the paper with the address on it. Noah looked at the paper quickly before putting it in his trouser pocket.

"Go on. Go check to make sure Max is ok. If you feel she is unsafe or has been harmed bring her back here for the night and we will take care of her. But be careful it could be a very delicate situation." He told her. Claire ran over to him and gave him a big hug and a quick "thank you Dad," before running out the front door and to her car.

She climbed in and started the engine. After punching in the address into the GPS she reversed off the drive and sped off into the night, all the while worrying more and more about what might be happening to Max.

"Oh fuck off you bastard! You know nothing about me!"

Claire swore as she turned the car around. She'd have to find another way around the road works that were blocking her route.

"Get back! I said get back! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU IDIOTS!"

Claire looked at the message she'd received from Chloe as she waited for the light to change.

'I'm 10 mins out from Max's. Don't' worry we'll look after her.'

Claire chucked the phone onto the passenger seat as the lights changed and hit the gas. She was close so the street she wanted so she slowed down slightly so that she could read the street names, she didn't trust the GPS to get it right. She was focusing so hard on reading the street names that she didn't notice the glow coming from a few streets down.

"There it is, Carlton Street."

She turned down the street and braked suddenly causing the car to jerk to a halt. She stared down the street for a few seconds at the house engulfed in flames before racing off towards it praying that it wasn't the house she was after.

"255, 257, 259… Shit!" Claire exclaimed as she pulled up outside the house, jumped out of the car and sprinted towards the burning building.