I'll Be There
Chapter Seven
A/N: This chapter, hot chocolate, a kiss, and advice from Alli and Riley and ignorance is bliss.
Peter laughed as he and Clare fell on the ice. "We're really bad at this." He mused, swallowing his laughter as he stared at an out of breath Clare who sat beside him on the ice. Pieces of her hair had freed themselves from the ribbon she'd had her hair in and he couldn't help but reach over and tuck the loose strands behind her ear.
The two teens stared at one another for a few moments, not breaking eye contact.
The silence was broken when Clare let out a nervous giggle and turned her head away shyly. "We should...probably be getting up." She said as she braced her hands on the ice and lifted herself to her feet. She held out a small hand for him to take and pulled him up, staggering a bit as she did so.
"C'mon. We can go back to my place and I'll make us some hot chocolate." He said to her as they skated out of the rink and collapsed onto the bleachers to take off their skates.
They arrived back at Peter's around sixteen minutes later. Clare fell back into a sitting position on the couch and Peter went to make the hot chocolate that he'd promised her.
He came back moments later and handed her one of the mugs he had in his hand and kept the other for himself. He took a seat beside her, only an inch or two of space between them as they sipped at their hot drinks and watched whatever was on television.
'Thanks." She murmured as she sipped at her drink, the silence now broken. At his inquisitve look she continued, "You know, for taking me ice skating and letting me stay here last night and talking to me at The Dot. It's really sweet of you."
Peter smiled gently at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, I've had fun." He told her sweetly, lifting a hand to gently caress her cheek, marvelling at the way Clare's eyes sparkled. He couldn't stop himself from leaning in and pressing his soft lips to her's in a gentle kiss.
Clare broke the kiss and stared at him with huge eyes, shock and vulnerability written all over her face. "I...I gotta go!" She mumbled quickly, setting her mug down on the table, hissing softly when the hot drink splashed a little onto her hand. She stood up and dashed past him, out the door leaving Peter in the deafening silence of the living room.
And he was left wondering if he'd just ruined their friendship with one, stupid move.
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Clare ran all the way to Alli's. She was in desperate need of her best friend's advice. What did this mean? Why had Peter kissed her? She was clueless about all of this.
Alli opened the door as soon as she heard the knocking and was shocked to see her friend standing there with a confused and panicked look on her face. "Clare? What's wrong?" She asked as she helped her friend inside.
"It's Peter." She answered breathlessly. "We were sitting on his couch a half an hour or so ago, drinking hot chocolate after we left the ice skating rink. I thanked him for taking me and being so nice these past few days and he said he's had fun and then...he touched my cheek and kissed me on the lips."
Alli's eyes widened and she stifled a gasp with her hand. "What?" She shrieked, dark gaze inquiring.
Clare nodded, face bright red with embarrassment.
"Well what did you do after he kissed you?" Her friend asked with a flip of her black hair.
The lighter haired grew bent her head down with a small, shy smile. "I got up and said that I had to go before running out the door." She said in a mere whisper.
Alli groaned and slapped her hand to her face. "Clare!" She whined. "When a hot, older boy kisses you, the last thing you do is run!"
Clare furrowed her brows and stared at her friend in confusion. "But...earlier today you were worried that I did something with him." She said.
Alli sighed, shook her head. "I did. But the way you've mentioned him. How he let you stay the night and take his bed and he was a complete gentleman about it and the way he took you skating today and talked to you yesterday, trying to cheer you up and the way he touched your cheek makes me think that his reasons for kissing you are most likely sincere." She stated.
Clare's mouth fell open at her friend's words and she couldn't find her voice to speak.
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Meanwhile, Peter sat on his couch with Riley sitting beside him. "I don't know what to do. I think I might've ruined my friendship with her." He told the muscle bound jock beside him.
Riley gave him a smile. "I doubt you ruined anything." He commented. "I mean..when I kissed you a few months ago, that didn't ruin our friendship, did it?"
"No. But this is different dude. Her boyfriend cheated on her and Mia and I are over, what if she thought I was taking advantage of her or using her?" The blond asked, sounding at a loss of what to do.
"Look, I don't really know her but she seems like a smart girl. You should just talk to her or let things just happen." His friend stated firmly.
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That Monday, Clare was at her locker, grabbing her books and talking to Alli when Peter walked up to her with a smile upon his face.
"Hey Clare." He said to her, eyes gleaming.
She blushed and ducked her head into her locker, much to Alli's amusement. "Oh...hey Peter." She spouted out nervously.
"So...do you want to eat lunch with me today? If you want, Alli and your friend Connor can sit with us too." Peter asked her hopefully.
Clare grinned and nodded. "Sure." She swallowed.
His smile widened and he showed off all his perfectly straight, white teeth. "Great!" He said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I'll see you at lunch Clare. You too Alli!" he said before he turned to head to his class.
Neither teen mentioned what had happened yesterday, much to Alli's chagrin. "Clare, you and Peter have got to talk about what happened so that things don't get all awkward between you!" She admonished with a whine.
Her friend's blue eyes darkened slightly and her mouth set in a thin line. "Nothing happened Alli." She said dryly, shaking off the hand that Alli had put on her arm.
"Besides the fact that you two kissed! Look, Clare I know you don't wanna get hurt but if you two ignore whatever there is between you, then it could create alot of tension and ruin your friendship."
Clare's eyes flashed with pain and tears filled her eyes. "The last time I put my heart on the line, it got broken. I can't do that again Alli." She said, choking a little on a sob.
Alli looked at her friend and threw her arms around her in a comforting embrace, cursing KC Guthrie in her head for how much he'd hurt Clare with no regard.
Next Chapter: Alli and Riley come up with a scheme to get Clare and Peter to talk about the kiss at lunch.
