Chapter 17
A year ago, if you had told Claire Bennett that she would be sat in some sleazy ass bar doing tequila shots with Sylar she would have laughed until he sides split, and then most probably got up and punched you in the nose for suggesting such a thing. But, here she was, a little worse for wear sat beside her own personal boogieman, who as it happened, was also showing signs of inebriation. He was intently lining up beer mats neatly in order of colour, size and shape on the sticky table in front of him.
Just for the hell of it Claire reached across and pushed one of the beer mats out of line, messing up his sequence, revelling in the the look of dismay on his face as she did it. Playfully Gabriel swatted away her hand. "You are so OCD..." she exclaimed, noting that her voice was getting just a little bit slurred,"...you should be careful, I think you end up passing that on to Noah, I saw him colour coordinating his Hot Wheels cars the other day."
Turning his attention away from his beer mats momentarily Gabriel shot her a goofy smile, whether she admitted it or not, she was already attached to Noah and that couldn't be anything but a good sign.
"So, what's wrong with that? How many neat and tidy 6 year olds do you know? You should be glad!" he reasoned, returning his attention to levelling up the mats.
"Exactly, little boys should be messy, they should be all rough and tumble and come home covered in mud!" her voice was perhaps a bit too loud as she scooted closer to him on the bench they were sat on.
They were now side by side, shoulder to shoulder and Claire's hand was hovering with menace aforethought over his beer mats, "You've seen him with your own eyes Claire, would you change him?" Gabriel asked.
Looking down into her lap, in a vain attempt to hide the sentimental expression that swept over her face Claire paused for a moment, "No...not one bit."
Finally dragging himself away from the task he had set himself, Gabriel began setting up another round of shots. He did this as methodically as he seemed to do everything else, lining up the shot glasses, setting out the lime and salt neatly on a napkin before them. Handing Claire a glass of the fiery liquid he dared to add, "You have to admit Claire, despite any misgivings you may have had..." he raised an eyebrow in her direction, and signalled for them to down the shot, which they did,"...we do seem to make cute kids!"
Creasing her features as the tequila made a warm path down her throat to her belly; Claire reached out for the salt and lime. At the same time mentally making sense of what Gabriel had just said. Now, sober Claire might have held back, she would have changed the subject or gone to the rest room so as to leave him hanging. However; tipsy Claire longed to bask in just how adorable her future son was, and the only person that she could possibly do that with was sat right next to her. She could allow herself this one indiscretion couldn't she? Just this once?
Much to Gabriel's relief her eyes illuminated,"I know! I was thinking earlier, everyone always thinks that their kid is the cutest right? But..." Claire paused for dramatic effect,"... I think ours actually is! "
He bit his lip to stifle his laughter; it wasn't that he didn't agree with her, he absolutely did. It was just that she was so serious about it; it was a relief to him that she had clearly fallen in love with the little guy just as much as he had.
"Hey!" she smacked the back of her hand against his arm, a gesture that he noted was more one of affection than annoyance,"Don't laugh at me, I'm being serious. I was in the store earlier and I was just thinking, sure these kids are cute but they're not as cute as my kid...no way!" It took all of his considerable will power not to pull her into a hug right there, she was so damn cute, wittering away about Noah, all rosy cheeked. Instead he giggled, the sound being altogether more girly than he had intended, it seemed that the tequila had gotten to him too. Claire chuckled in return, just laughing at his laughter.
Getting up to go to the rest room, Gabriel left Claire on her own at the booth they were seated in. He'd not been gone 30 seconds before some jock type who introduced himself as,"Mac" slid in the seat opposite her, encouraged by his catcalling friends sitting across the other side of the bar,"Hey Sweetness, can I get you a drink?" he cooed across at her, his eyes lingering a little too long on the exposed skin of her neck and chest.
Tensing up at his attentions, Claire sat back in her seat,"Oh, I'm fine thanks. I'm gonna wait for my..." before she could finish Mac gestured to where Gabriel had been sitting,"That dude you're with? Don't ya think he's a little old to be your boyfriend? My friends over there were wondering if he was your Dad?" Claire crossed her arms across her chest, irritated by the jocks presumptuousness. Who the hell does this guy think he is?
With a satisfied flick of her hair she tried her best not to slur her words,"Actually Mac he's not my boyfriend, and he certainly isn't my Dad..." the boy was momentarily pleased at the news, a drunken smirk crossing his boyish features,"...he's my husband. And you don't want to piss him off; you'd not like him when he's angry." In her drunken fuzziness Claire wondered where she'd heard that saying before...it sounded kinda cool.
His pride perhaps a little bruised Mac scoffed, "Who is this guy, Bruce Banner?" he slung one arm lazily across the back of his seat in a cocky gesture. At that instant Gabriel returned. To his surprise as soon as his butt hit the bench Claire reached over and grabbed a hold of his hand, intertwining their fingers. Before he knew it she was sliding over to close the gap between them, any closer and she would have been on his lap! His powers of deduction being what they were, it didn't take him long to figure out that the frat kid sat opposite them was trying to hit on Claire. That just wouldn't do.
Doing his best,"Ned Flanders" impression Gabriel unleashed a saccharine grin in Mac's direction,"So Claire, are you going to introduce me to your new friend?"
Feeling daring, Claire played along, in her sweetest, most sarcastic tone she looked up at Gabriel wide eyed,"This is Mac..." with her free hand Claire twirled a lock of blonde hair into a ringlet,"...he came over to say hi, can you believe that his friends thought you were my Dad!"
Not appreciating one bit who he was messing with, Mac shrugged his shoulders,"You must get that a lot right?"
"Funnily enough Mac...No" Gabriel did his best not to sound irked, but his menacing glare gave him away.
"Well, I just hope I can bag myself a hot young wife like yours when I'm your age!" Claire felt Macs grubby fingers reach out and stroke her knee under the table as the words left his mouth. Gabriel was still processing Mac's backhanded compliment, the alcohol delaying his reactions slightly; did he just refer to Claire as his wife?
Before he could capitalise on that little revelation Claire had flown into a tirade, "Keep your creepy paws to yourself asshole! Who the hell do you think you are? Do you seriously think you can come over here and hit on me in front of my husband and then start throwing insults about?"
Claire stood to lean over the table, pointing her finger in Mac's now whitened face; she was still barely taller than Gabriel even though he was sitting beside her, but what she lacked in height she clearly made up for in determination. Something told him he ought to be taking charge of the situation, defend her honour or something like that, but from where he was sat it rather felt like she was defending his. She took a fist full of Mac's college jersey, pulling him up with strength she never even knew she had,"Now get your ass back over there with your greasy prepubescent friends and leave us the hell alone!"
Clearly humiliated at being torn a new one by the smallest, and not to mention most attractive girl in the joint, Mac quickly made his exit back to the sanctuary of his friends. Claire sat back in her seat with an audible huff, the adrenaline still coursing through her. Gabriel let his eyes drink in the sight, her chest heaving as she attempted to contain her anger and regain her breath, "What?" the word came out more aggressive than she had meant it too and Gabriel blinked his eyes away in a gesture that was a little more, "Gabriel Grey " than he would have liked. Peering up at her with a hungry look, his lips twisted in to a smile,"Damn it Claire, you're hot when you're angry!"
In an instant all the tension in Claire's body dispelled and she let slip a raucous laugh, slapping a hand over her eyes, she peaked at Gabriel between her fingers,"And you are cheesy when you are drunk!"
"I am not drunk!" he protested in a voice that betrayed his statement.
"In that case, you'd better rack 'em up" Claire instructed, gesturing over to the waning bottle of tequila.
They remained in the dingy, dimly lit bar for another few hours, Claire couldn't recall the last time she had talked so openly and honestly with anyone. She didn't have to be,"Claire Bennett the paper sales mans daughter" with him, she could just be herself, and maybe it was the tequila...but he was a good listener. He didn't act shocked or discussed the way that Gretchen always did when she relayed the events of the last few years. Occasionally Gabriel would let something slip about his childhood and she began to see how he had become Sylar in the first place.
She didn't know why, but it made her sad that he looked so disappointed when he had asked her why she had referred to him as her husband earlier on in the evening; she had made the excuse that she thought it would put Mac off. The way his attention had shot right back down to those damn beer mats made her feel wretched inside.
Every so often she would try and remind herself of who he was and what he had done to her but with each sip of her drink she found that it mattered to her less and less. She tried to see the monster, but the more she looked the more all she saw the beautiful expressive eyes that always gave him away no matter what he was trying to conceal, and the painfully shy smile that she drew from him every time she referred to him with his real name rather than Sylar. She wanted to see that smile more, a lot more.
Gabriel didn't know what time it was but it was late, they were the only two left in the place and the barkeep was starting to look decisively pissed, glancing over at them every five minutes and shaking his head. "Come on Babydoll, time to go home! " He stood to pull on his coat and to hand Claire hers. "Do we have to go now? This is nice..."she whined patting his empty seat beckoning him to sit back down,"...we're having fun!"
Holding out her coat for her like a true gent, he insisted that they leave. Claire pouted but moved to get up all the same, only to find that her legs would not comply with what she was telling them to do.
Luckily Gabriel's reactions were fast enough to catch her, "Whoa there, Jesus Claire!" his arms instinctively wrapped around her, somehow this was not how he had envisaged her falling into his arms.
Funnily enough none of the cabs that passed them wanted to stop for a drunken teenager accompanied by an older, slightly menacing looking man, so they proceeded to walk home. The fresh air seemed to rejuvenate Claire slightly but she still clung on to his side, pulling one of his well toned arms over her shoulder and wrapping one of hers around his waist. They both told themselves that they were walking like that purely for the purpose of staying up right, but neither one of them really believed it.
The trip up the stairs to Claire's dorm room was wobbly to say the least; this was not helped by the fact that every 5 or so steps Claire had to stop to have a giggling fit. This should have been annoying, but instead he found himself laughing along at every stupid mispronounced word and holding on to her tighter than was strictly necessary. Finally they reached her room, where Claire promptly assured him that Gretchen was out of town for the weekend. Stepping inside she flopped limply on to her single bed sprawling herself out, leaving minimal room for Gabriel sit beside her.
She looked up at him with huge green eyes, her golden hair fanned out on her pillow. Of all the things he expected her to say at that moment he wasn't anticipating that particular one, "Stay?"
When he didn't answer she asked again, "Stay, tonight...with me?" she bit her lip impatient for his reply.
Twice in two days he had resisted Claire Bennett, the object of all his affections and obsessions. He deserved a frickin' medal for what he was about to do.
Reaching out to stroke his thumb over her cheek bone, he sighed hard trying to expel his frustration,"I can't do that Babe, you're drunk, and what's more I got you drunk. It wouldn't be right."
Feeling stupid and rejected Claire felt her bottom lip tremble her eyes searching his face,"Since when do you care about what's right?"
The jibe that Claire had made without thought punched him right in the gut, "Since Peter hijacked me in my sleep and took me to the future to see us. That's when I started caring about what's right..." Claire was taken aback by the sincerity she saw in his eyes,"...can't you see that you matter so much more t me than a drunken fumble after a bottle of tequila? You matter to me more than anything" That last statement left him feeling utterly exposed, he'd never really been one for putting himself out there. His fears were quickly allayed as Claire took a hold of his hand in both of hers,"Just stay with me for a while...please?"
Making a pact with himself to leave long before morning, he kicked off his shoes and squeezed himself on to the ill-fitting bed besides her. With clumsy hands she reached over and pulled his arms around her until he was holding her the way future Gabriel had the night before. He took the opportunity to nuzzle his face in to her hair and neck, breathing in the scent of her. Not bothering to open her eyes Claire stoked her finger tips over the dark wispy hair that covered the back of his hand,"Gabriel?"
"Hmm" he responded tightening his hold around her middle.
"Wanna know why I really introduced you as my husband to that douche bag tonight?"
Words failing him he managed another, "Hmm"
"Because it felt right"
Ola! So there you have it, I hope you enjoy reading drunken Claire as much as I enjoyed writing her. Thanks so much for all the reviews, you guys really are helping shape the way the story is going. I really do appreciate your input guys. xx