Peter sat in the driveway of Nathan's house. He didn't want to get out. Not yet. He saw everyone through the window, warm, and smiling. Even his mom, who was walking around with a champagne glass, occasionally laughed at a joke or two. When did everything become so normal?
Finally, he took the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car.
"Peter!" His mom said, after he rung the doorbell. "Come in! You look absolutely frigid!"
"Hi mom," he said giving her a brief hug.
She took his coat, and walked away to hang it up in the closet. Peter wandered into the kitchen, where he saw Monty and Simon eating cookies.
"Hey now," he said, "have you guys even had dinner yet?" They looked up at him, and grins broke out on their faces.
"UNCLE PETER!!" They yelled, and ran up to him, bombarding him with hugs.
"Hey guys," he said, ruffling their hair.
"Hey there, stranger," Claire said, appearing at the doorway.
He smiled weakly at her, "Hi Claire." The boys ran off, and he looked around at the kitchen.
"What," she said, "no hug or anything? Are you too cool for that kind of stuff now?"
He lowered his head, "I'm not too cool for anything, trust me."
And suddenly, her arms were around him. She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled. "Cheer up. It's the holidays. And you can either hang out with Nathan, your mom, or the weird cheerleader you saved from Texas. Take your pick."
"Well, personally, I would pick the boys..."
"Hey!" She yelled, hitting his shoulder. He smiled a little.
He walked off, and looked around.
"Nathan's in his office.." she said, sitting indian style on the kitchen counter.
"K, thanks.." He said, and walked away to find him.
Peter walked through the long corridors of the Petrelli Mansion slowly, taking in all the nostalgic feelings that were flowing densely throughout the air.
"Pete! Great to see you." Nathan said, setting down a watch he was working on and standing up to give Peter a hug.
"I never knew watches were your thing..." Peter said, curiously.
"No, they aren't... I was just changing it to New York time. Just got back from Hawaii, remember?"
Peter frowned. No. He didn't.
"Anyway," Nathan said, trying to break the awkward silence. "How are you?"
Peter looked at him with a stony expression.
"Things are...-"
"Dinners ready," Claire said, leaning against the doorway.
***
There was something up with Peter. He wasn't himself. Distant, more like it. As Claire helped herself to another heaping pile of vegetables, she studied him. He sat there and stared at his plate of food with a stony expression. His mind seemed like it was in outer space, and Claire couldn't figure out what was wrong. He had a normal life now. They all did. So why wasn't he happy?
Figuring she should go and give AJ a call, she picked her plate up, walked into the kitchen and set it down in the sink.
"Thanks for dinner!" She said, and ran upstairs to her room. Claire plopped down on her bed and flipped open her phone. She had never been the first move kind of girl, but hell, it was worth a try.
After two monotonous rings, he picked up.
"Hello?" he said.
"Aj! Hey, it's Claire."
"Oh hey Claire. The pretty one I bumped into in the hallway right?
Her cheeks flamed.
"For what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Well, I was thinking... Do you uh- want to go like, see a movie tonight?"
"You beat me too it! I was going to call you and see if you wanted to go to the game, but a movie sounds a lot better than that. Pick you up at seven, alright?"
"K, bye."
After she hung up, she dramatically collapsed onto her bed and let out a sigh. She really liked him.
"Claire?"
She lifted her head and saw Peter standing in her doorway.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Can you take a walk with me?"
She smiled. "Yeah, of course. Let me go and get my jack-"
"Already have it," he said, holding up her white trench coat.