Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, blah, blah, blah, you get the idea.
Summary: When Bender is back for another Saturday detention because he asked Mr. Vernon if Barry Manello knew that he raided his wardrobe he gets an unexpected visitor.
A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short! I tried to flesh it out some, but didn't have much success. Oh well, R&R anyway.
It was 7:00 at Shermer High School on a Saturday and John Bender sat with his feet propped up on the table in front of him in the media center. The Breakfast Club, as those who were in detention last Saturday had come to be known, were all out living their lives, with the exception of him. He was stuck here again because he refused to let Mr. Vernon push him around. He still stood by his reasons for being here, but it was going to be a long day nonetheless. With a quiet creak, the door to the media center opened and Claire Standish walked in. She took a seat next to him and winked. He was about to ask here what she was doing when Mr. Vernon strode in, handed out notebook paper, and explained that everyone would be writing an essay telling who they think they are. This was starting to sound vaguely familiar.
Once he had warned everyone that there was to be no monkey business Vernon returned to his office across the hall. This was, of course, the precise moment at which the afore mentioned monkey business began. Claire got up and took Bender by the hand, leading him on a winding route through the rows of gnarled bookshelves to the back of the room. The rest of the students present gave each other startled glances, and tip toed in order to follow the couple unheard. What they saw was more than enough to confirm that the rumors floating around school were true. Claire was sitting on John's lap, playing with his hair.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. She shrugged and said, "I guess I thought that after you sort of came to my rescue last night it would be wrong to let you endure this torture alone." The minds of the other students in detention were racing a mile per minute. Last night? It sounded like Claire and Bender were closer than they'd ever imagined. Wait until everyone at school hears this, they thought, and hear it they would.
They all watched, fascinated, as Bender planted soft kisses along Claire's neck and collarbone. "Wait," she said after a moment, "What if we get caught?"
He snorted, "I'll bet that would make Vernon's day," he said, "He'd love an excuse to give us another detention." That's when he saw them, just the one at first, but they all came into focus after that. "I hope you're enjoying the show," he snapped at the blonde haired student who had the misfortune of being the first to catch his eye.
Claire snickered, seeing this as an opportunity to quell everyone's curiosity in her their love life she said, "If they liked that they'll love this." She kissed him again, more deeply than before and she pressed herself to him. Disconcerted by this public display of affection, the others opted to return to their seats before Mr. Vernon noticed they were missing.
"Smooth move, Queenie," Bender told her with a grin.
"Thanks," she said, "I learned from the best." They sat like that for almost the entire morning, talking and teasing one another. It wasn't until Claire noticed that it was almost time for lunch that they had any desire to move.
The rest of the day proved to be fairly uneventful, and as Claire and John were walking out they continued talking. "I hope I didn't get you into trouble last night," Claire ventured, referring to the fact that she had spent the night as his house and hadn't returned to her own until early that morning.
He shrugged, "It was no big deal," he said, "I hope I didn't cause you too many problems with your folks."
Claire looked over at him with a shocked expression. It almost sounded like he was being sensitive, something that as quite uncharacteristic for him. She noticed a shiny glint in his right ear and tugged at it playfully, "Don't you ever take that thing off?" she asked.
Instead of answering Bender asked her a question, a tactic he was well known for among the breakfast club, "Why? It's the second most valuable thing I have."
She eyed him curiously, "What's the first?" she asked.
"I'm looking at it," was all he said in return.
Blushing furiously Claire walked the rest of the way to her car in silence. You're looking at it played over and over again silently in her mind. He thought she was valuable, and there was something to be said for that. Bender was turning a little red himself. He wasn't used to laying his feelings bare like that, and it certainly wasn't in his nature to do so. He didn't know what it was about Claire that made him want to act so different, but she was definitely having an effect on him. He knew he was changing for the better, just how much better wouldn't become apparent until years to come.