A/N: I forgot to mention that words in italics represent thoughts and/or flashbacks.
It got into his head that he absolutely needed to go to the car exhibition in Daytona Beach, which was at least 6 hours on the road from home. It would be on a Friday and Claire refused to go, complaining that she had a research paper to do and that she didn't want to miss her job the next few days. But to tell Jonathan this was more like talking to a wall than a human being. Reasoning had never been more useless on a man, much less this particular one. They were both 17 at the time, but it was apparent that Claire hadn't been as hardheaded as Jonathan was back then.
"I told you, I am not going to that stupid car show." Claire said firmly. It had been the seventh time Jonathan had pleaded. "Why the hell don't you just buy car magazines and read about it?"
"Read about it? You can't just read about cars. What exactly do you think I am, Red? An idiot?"
Claire nodded fiercely. "Yeah, I kinda do!"
"Don't be such a fool, this is a once in a lifetime event. I know you wanna go! Besides, when was the last time we ever bonded with one another, huh? I think you need a break from school, from work, and maybe that boyfriend of yours!"
"Oh, shut up." She was about to leave him in the room when he grabbed her by the arm and turned her around to face him once again.
"Listen, please! Come on. We'll leave tomorrow in the morning, be there by the afternoon, enjoy the sights and be back by Sunday. What do you say?"
"Hmm. Let me think," She stroked her chin in thought. "No."
"You're gonna go whether you like it or not, Claire, and that's final." Jonathan said menacingly. She had to go. Going alone without her would be pointless.
Claire grunted in annoyance. "Don't you have other friends to go with? Why me?"
Jonathan put on a face of utter hurt and dismay as he mockingly gasped out in surprise. "How can you say that? You're my only friend!"
"Yeah, I can see why…do you know you're annoying me?"
"I wouldn't be annoying if you would just agree! Look, you're going so stop fighting."
"Well, I'll ask Julia and see what she thinks abo—"
"NO. No. No. No. No." He shook his head fiercely. " My mom can't know about this."
"Why not?"
"Because she doesn't think we're 'old enough' to go anywhere ourselves…" He rolled his eyes. "If we're ever gonna do anything fun we have to take risks. She can't know about it."
"I'm afraid that's impossible. Either you stop bothering me about it or I'll tell Julia." That should shut him up.
He sighed. "Oh no, my dear Red. That's not how I play…"
Thus, without any possible explanation, Claire had no idea how she let herself be manipulated. And of all people. She was sitting in the passenger seat of Jonathan's car, already having endured 3 hours of endless talk, worn out Bon Jovi audiocassette tapes, and the boring scenery of trees and cows that passed by. She told her boyfriend about her predicament before leaving, and he only laughed, wishing he could have been in her place.
They got there after what seemed like an eternity on the road, which was a surprise, because Jonathan had been completely lost and without a map. He refused to ask for directions, insisting that only ignorant people ask for others. He wasn't about to ask these strange northern Floridian people for directions. At that point, Claire didn't feel like yelling at him. He was such a stupid, stupid kid; he didn't know what he was doing. Instead, she got directions herself.
After having spent a nice time at the car show, the trip back home had put things in a dark perspective. It was raining, and their car's front-right tire had ruptured. They had no replacements. No phone available. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere.
"Great." Jonathan said miserably as he kicked the flat tire. Claire watched him from the partially opened window.
"Well, we could always walk to a gas station." Claire suggested.
"But it's raining…" He looked up and opened the palms of his hands toward the sky.
She got out of the car, motioning the young man to follow her. "Come on, a little rain never killed anyone."
They both made it to a desolate gas station about 5 miles from the car. Soaking wet, they joked around on the way, poking fun at the idea that if by some chance someone, anyone, would kidnap these two annoying teenagers. Who in their right minds would want to? Asked Jonathan with a laugh.
The rain became more of a downpour upon their arrival, but they didn't care. Being in the rain and laughing together was a true enjoyable moment…
They debated on whom to call so that they could get a ride home. Calling Julia was out of the question. They'd be in enough trouble with her soon enough.
Although she didn't wish to bother him, Claire had no better choice than to call her boyfriend. When she told him about their situation, he couldn't keep a straight face.
"Ok. Don't worry," He said in between chuckles. " I'll be there soon."
For the next three hours, Claire and Jonathan waited, dreading over whatever Julia might say to them back home.
Claire was smiling so much she didn't even resist Jonathan's grip on her arm. There was no human way in stopping him, anyhow. Any resistance was futile, 'like fighting an ogre with a feather' as he would say. This was Jonathan, over impulsive, obnoxious, and stubborn Jonathan. When he had ideas, he'd put them into action regardless of any obstacle in his path. But for some reason Claire let herself be led by the guy; it had been a while since she'd been on one of his crazy expeditions.
"Ooh, is that your bike?" Jonathan asked, pointing at the motorcycle that was parked alongside the building. He ran up to it to observe.
"It's mine, alright."
"Impressive." He nodded. "Eh, I should have known you didn't like cars."
Claire rolled her eyes.
Jonathan's car was a few spaces away. It was the same old '96 Impala, the one in which its luster had long been gone, but it had seemingly underwent a few changes. Black exterior, Black tinted windows, a weird looking spoiler, and some tacky flame decals. It was obvious to her that he didn't know how to be a good consumer.
"Is that your pimp ride now?" Claire asked.
"It attracts the ladies." Jonathan smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking. It looks bad. But I'll be getting another one real soon. Hop in."
She strapped herself into the warm familiar seat. The leather had been worn out and cracked in a few places, exposing the white cushiony insides. The smell of cigarettes and cheap cherry air freshener lingered everywhere, the heat having made the air more thick in the closed compartment.
They were on the lonely, quiet road in less than a minute and Claire wasn't quite sure where they were headed. Although Claire enjoyed being back on recognizable terrain, she would have preferred to stay at his house with Julia where she herself could have rested. It was almost 10 o'clock. Besides, there would be time to do plenty later on. But perhaps he had something in mind for her; Jonathan was usually spontaneous like that.
"I'm so glad you finally came, Claire…" His face did not leave from the road. "I've missed you, you know…"
"Yeah, me too." Claire stared at her reflection in the side view mirror, her red hair swaying in the wind. Yeah, he's thought about 'you', she said in her mind, but have you thought about him? Thinking back, she hadn't. Was she so caught up in her own affairs that it didn't even cross her mind to think about the well being of her best friend? Was she that self-conceited? Was she that willing to forget about her past? It tore her apart to realize just how much she hurt him emotionally, indirectly or not, in her absence.
Despite the giddy and outgoing person that Jonathan was, Claire knew what type of person lay underneath the appearance. He was a sad boy, just like she was a sad girl, a fact that played a part in their close friendship. Julia at the time was a good friend to Chris and Claire's parents, and when she got news that they had died in a car accident, Julia did not hesitate to agree on taking care of the Redfield siblings. It was a distressing transition for Claire the most, to go from having both parents to none at all. There were numerous difficult things that took time getting used to, like having to share the same room with an apparent stranger.
Jonathan was somewhat on the same boat. He too had felt his share of pain having lost his father when he was 9 years old. Claire remembered seeing him for the first time when she moved in with him. He was overtly shy and hardly spoke to neither her nor her brother. He was a seemingly depressed and distant boy, as he would usually lock himself in his room for hours, lying on his bed as he looked at the ceiling, or doing whatever kept his mind off things. Claire complained about his boring behavior, often provoking an argument just to get a few words out of him. But, in any case, he would rarely utter a word. Julia often worried. Chris, being the eldest, was usually indifferent.
It was true that Claire never liked Jonathan when she fist moved in with him. Heck, she didn't like living with Julia either at first, or living in that stupid house, but as she got older she realized that they were both alike. They both searched for a friend, a companion of sorts, anyone in whom they could place trust and who would never falter on just being there for one another when the need arose.
They became friends. Claire assumed they still were, but after being separated for so long, she questioned just how far their friendship could possibly go. She just hope her presence here could make up for all that lost time.
Not aware of being in complete though, Claire snapped out of her trance. "Where are we going, anyway?" She asked as she looked over at him. He'd gone rather quiet.
"I'd thought we could stop by and see some people from high school and from college. I'm sure they'd be willing to see you."
"Yeah, but it's 10:30 already. It's late," Claire sighed. "How about we go another day?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm kind of tired." She waited for him to repudiate her answer.
"Well, alright then." He unexpectedly conformed to her answer. That was surprising. "Let's go for a drink. On me."
"Sounds good."
The rest of the ride was silent. Being as such irritated her since it made everything seem so serious and depressing. Yet wasn't her life serious and depressing for the most part? Claire always found herself miserable, whether she was around Chris and Jill, Leon, or even Sherry. Thinking about them always brought up unpleasant thoughts in her head, it was even worse when she thought about Leon…
He doesn't want you, Claire, she tried to comfort herself, and you don't need him.
They got to the closest bar they could find. The closest but indeed not the best. There was nothing particularly special about the worn-out place. However, the most important thing was that she felt at home. They proceeded through the rear entrance, grabbing seats at the dimly lit counter. Being the only woman inside, the awkward sense of wandering eyes came upon her. She figured quite a substantial amount of lonely men are out tonight.
Maybe I'll find myself a husband, she joked.
Claire asked the bartender for a hard drink given that she wasn't too knowledgeable on alcoholic beverage names. Anything that burned her throat as she drank was good enough.
"So how have you been, Jon?"
"I've been ok." He shrugged. "Working a lot."
"What do you do nowadays?"
"Me? Well…I sell computers at Circuit City."
Claire laughed. "That's awesome."
"Oh, yeah." He twirled his index finger. "A 26-year-old male selling computers. That's gonna get me rich."
"Money isn't the most important thing in life, you know." She said as she smiled.
Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Of course not. Honesty, Modesty, and Integrity. Isn't that right, sensei?"
Claire giggled. "So you've learned, grasshopper."
"How about you, what are you doing?"
"I work for some company there." Claire shrugged. "Business and financing. Not exactly fun, but it pays well."
"I bet. I need to get myself a job like that." He reflected. "You were always the smarter one, Claire."
"Oh, nonsense…"
Jonathan looked at her seriously. "I'm not kidding."
"If I had the least bit of intelligence in my brain, I would have come down here sooner…" She stared down at her drink, suddenly feeling pangs of guilt. "If I were any smart, things would be a lot less different…"
"What do you mean?"
Claire shook her head. "It's nothing."
He sighed, slightly annoyed at Claire's constant distress over trivial matters. "Claire, we're not mad at you, if that's what you're wondering."
"I just…I didn't want to bring a shock to your mom. Or to anyone else. I didn't come down here to burden anyone with my presence."
"Oh, shut up. Just shut up, Claire. What the hell do you know? You and Chris have been in our minds since, like, forever. And not just us, everyone from college."
Claire closed her eyes in thought. "Really, like who?"
"I'm not about to go over names, Claire. There's plenty, trust me."
Claire furrowed her eyebrows at him as if to say, Whatever.
Jonathan sighed, and asked for another drink. After a while's silence, Jonathan began to talk once again. "He missed you terribly, I hope you know."
"He?" Claire emphasized.
"Yes, he. Erick, remember? You know, your always devoted lover." He laughed. She didn't. Instead, her heart froze in her chest as a rather cold chill ran down her spine. Why was she getting all worked up for?
"Is something wrong, Claire?"
She regained her composure, clearing her throat. "No…"
Jonathan sipped up the last of his drink. "Good. Let's get going."
Once in the car, they were in no hurry getting back home, although it was late into the night. It felt as if as though they were both teenagers again out on the road, already past their curfews, cautious of getting caught and being taken home by the police. The Bon Jovi tape Jonathan randomly stuck in the radio brought so many memories, they couldn't help but laugh. Who knew Livin' On A Prayer was such an entrancing song. Of course, teenagers they were no more, and when they realized that it was pretty late to be driving around, they really started to head home.
Once they entered the apartment once again, Claire's tiredness really began to kick in. If she didn't take a shower and went to bed at that very instance, it felt as though she'd fall on her face at any second.
"Yeah, I'm kind of tired too. Let me show you to the room." Jonathan offered.
He opened the door. Before her laid the room. Her room. There used to have been three beds in there, one next to each other, but the arrangement had changed some. There were two beds this time, but Claire's had still remained next to the wall opposite the other. Her bed had been made and untouched; the pink sheets and purple pillows were still intact and placed into neat accordance. A little nightstand where her alarm clock was placed was still there, along with the other miscellaneous stuffed little toys and picture frames. There were posters around her section of the room; various music celebrities from the 80's. Her half of the room was like a picture image from the past. It was if as though I never left, she thought sadly. Claire continued to stare. She used to sleep here.
"Why did she keep my stuff?" There was a small quiver in her voice.
"She refused to move anything." Jonathan quietly said. "She said it reminded her of you, as if she knew you were gonna come back…"
Claire didn't respond. "I'm going to take a shower. Good night I guess."
She left Jonathan to himself. Her shower wouldn't take long. She made sure the water was cold, or she would be under the water with her head leaning against the tiled wall, thinking. Thinking about a number of things.
When she got out, the house was entirely silent though the only resonance she could hear was Jonathan snoring from within the room. Claire approached his sleeping form. It wasn't the 26-year-old male Jonathan whom she saw sleeping so soundly. She saw at that moment the child she knew and grew up with. He was a little boy, so innocent and yet so full of grief. Just like her.
She went toward her own bed, pulling aside the few layers of pink sheets and crawling into the soft covers. Grabbing one of her frilly pillows, she turned to her side, where the nightstand was. In her view, right behind the alarm clock there was a picture frame. Within it there was a picture of 4 cheerful looking people. Julia, Jonathan, Chris and Claire all smiling. As warm tears slid from her eyes while clouding her vision, she felt a smile form on her lips too.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please tell me what you think.