Disclaimer: Oh Zachary Quinto would you please let me borrow you for awhile...um Tim Kring owns Heroes.
Posted Date:
Author: Estelle Stafford
Beta/Editors: Silver. Candle and Erisdiscordo
Be My Escape
Chapter Three:
Friends are Rarely ForeverClaire's weekend was already turning lame, just as she had known it would. What was she supposed to do now that she was done with working at the shop? Her friends had already left for the beach, so she couldn't count on them this time. She glanced over at her mom, who had picked her up promptly after two hours.
"Hey," she greets.
"So when do I need to drop you off at Melody's?" She asked.
"Uh... that got canceled, they decided to go to the beach and they had to leave at six and the shop didn't open until eight, so...," She didn't gaze up at her mom, she wasn't sure, but something made her feel awkward, probably because she knew her mother would go all well...mother on her.
"Oh," Sandra is rather surprised, "So you decided to stay and work, instead of go out and have fun on the beach." She said it slowly, so it would sink in her mind, because teens didn't just work when they could have fun. "And I take it by your 'end of the world' look that work was boring."
"Yes, very boring," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "I didn't even learn anything, I just parts! I don't even know what they're called or what they do!"
Sandra hid her amusement. "Honey, I don't think you would find it anymore interesting knowing which parts you're cleaning anyway," she teased, but then frowned, remembering why her daughter was upset in the first place. "I'm just sorry that it ruined your entire weekend, though it's probably for the best. I don't think your father and I would have let you go anyway." What she really meant was Noah wouldn't have let her go, nor would he let Claire convince her mother to let her go.
"I figured out as much when I was weighing my options," Claire replied, in a way that reflected how she felt—sadness. She really did not want to spend her weekend doing absolutely nothing. That was just pathetic.
Her mother frowned for a bit, before smiling as an idea popped in her head, "You know, I was thinking you could practice your driving some more."
"Really?" Claire squealed, perking up instantly. "You're going to let me drive?" She couldn't believe it, because her mom had been rather fearfully attached to the handle above her head the last time she'd let Claire drive the car.
"Well, you haven't been getting much practice, between your father's work and mine, as well as your extracurricular activities. So, why don't we take this opportunity while we are both free?"
"Thanks mom!" Claire squealed delightedly as she gave her mom a hug, one that made Sandra decided that an hour or so of letting Claire's driving scare her halfway to death's door was worth it.
Gabriel Gray has very few things that help him from going insane from his dull and uneventful life. One of those precious few activities is his occasional trip to the comic book store. It was nice to escape the monotonous reality he lived in once in a while, as he dove into the pages of a fantasy world, but that wasn't the only reason he liked to go. The closet thing he had to friendship—which was nothing more than someone to have some semblance of a conversation with—was with a few people who worked here.
Before entering, he shuts off his cell phone, and then he notices that the one on duty is Alex. He is the one person that Gabriel truly thinks he could be friends with, had his mother not constantly demanded his attention.
Alex looks up at him with a small, but welcoming smile. "Hey Gabriel," the younger man says as he adjusts his glasses. "What are you looking for today?"
"I was thinking of just scrolling through the discounted bins."
Alex nodded in understanding. "Low on cash?" he asked, then glanced around quickly before leaning over to whisper to him. "Listen, the boss is out, so nobody is going to say anything if you want to take a peak at the 9th wonders comic book."
Gabriel could see his sort-of friend's eyes glittering with mischief and excitement, so he feigned interest. "Oh, is that a new one?"
Alex nodded quickly, reminding Gabriel of the eager little children he often passed in the park. "Yeah, it's our best seller, so you might want to look at it first before it gets sold out."
"Okay, sounds good," he replies and, not wanting to offend his companion, grabs a copy, opening it up and skimming through it.
He finds himself completely lost after the first few pages. After reading it once, he finds himself going back and looking at one particular image—the man that looks like him. He supposed this was merely a coincidence, because he does have rather generic features, thus ensuring that many people look like him. The blond girl is a common character as well, even with her red and white cheerleading outfit.
The strange thing about the comic was the words written in the white speech bubbles. It sounded like some of the same things he discussed with the young, blond Miss Bennett.
Highly intrigued, Gabriel looked up at Alex and said, "I changed my mind. I'll take this one. Are there any others like this?"
Alex smiled knowingly at him. "It is pretty good isn't it?"
"Yes, it is rather interesting," he confessed.
"There is only that one so far, but I'm pretty sure a new one will be out soon," Alex told him, then leaned in to whisper once more. "The boss has been yelling in the phone about 9th wonders, so I assume he's trying to get copies of the next issue."
Gabriel nodded. "I guess I'll have to come back and pick up the next one when it comes in."
Alex nodded, then brightens up. "You know man, if you left me your number, I could let you know when it comes in."
"That won't be necessary," Gabriel replied quickly, and Alex deflated somewhat. "My mother is probably home by now."
"Oh, how is she doing?"
"She is alright," he answered simply. The last thing he wanted was to talk about his mother.
"That's good," Alex said, smiling a little before eyeing the door. "You ready to check out? It looks like more customers are coming in."
"Yes," Gabriel nodded, handing him the money.
Once he'd exited the comic book store, he pulled out his phone and frowned. There were several phone calls from his mother already. She must be worried sick. He thought she would be out late with her friend Emma, but apparently he'd miscalculated. He slipped the comic book inside his jacket, into a hole he had long ago made so his mother wouldn't see such a guilty purchase, and started for home.
Sandra made it through an hour of Claire's driving, and she had to admit that progress had been made. Claire had a handle of the accelerator and break pedals. It was her fondness for the accelerator—and her partiality for almost ramming head first into a rather large building—that made her aware it was time to call it quits.
"Well, dear," Sandra cleared her throat, glad that her panic was beginning to subside as Claire brought the car to a slow stop, "I think we should stop for today, and I can drop you off at the mall."
Claire pouted as she handed her mom the keys, "Why can't I drive to the mall?" she asked as she got out of the car to exchange seats with her mom.
"Believe me," she said, her eyes widen slightly to emphasize her point. "You are not ready to drive with other cars on the road."
"I'll never be ready if I don't get practice." Claire retorted rather logically.
Sandra was stumped for a moment. "Well...that may be true, but you need to master going around a building without nearly crashing into it first."
Claire gasped. "What?! But I never even got close enough to hitting it!" Mothers are so overprotective.
"Oh, you look like you got pretty close to me," Sandra retorted. "Anyway, you said you needed a new pair of pants, and I've got a couple of things to pick up for dinner tonight, so I'll drop you off and give you 50 bucks."
"Sounds like a plan," Claire agreed. She knew it was some form of bribery, but did not care. After all, shopping was shopping!
Her mother quickly drove her over and gave her the promised cash. "I'll be back in hour," she told Claire, who made sure nobody was watching before giving her mom a quick hug.
"Bye mom," she yelled, dashing quickly into the mall in an elated mood. It was hard to be depressed when you get both the chance to drive and money for new clothes.
She wandered around a while looking for a decent pair of pants, when she spotted Zach sipping a drink. She had a sudden urge to go talk to him. It was deep in the pit of her stomach, making her feel almost sick, because somewhere she knew it was the right thing to do. Besides, neither Jackie nor Melody was there, and there was nobody to stop her, so she made her way to him, just as he was tossing his drink in the trash.
He turned around, slightly surprised to realize someone was standing next to him, but when he realizes who it is, he gives her a glare. "What do you want?"
The hostility made Claire shrink back. She hadn't expected to be greeted like that.
"Nothing... I... I just...I thought it was brave of you standing up for Lauren. You know Jackie is going to try and make your life a living hell now."
Zach scoffed, but seemed more receptive now that she'd stroked his ego. "How much worse can it be when I'm on the bottom of the totem pole?" he said, his tone indicating he doesn't give a damn about what Jackie or any of her clones think.
"Yeah, but Jackie has her ways, trust me on that one. You really should be careful," she insisted, because she knew what her so-called friend was truly capable of.
"Look Claire," he sighs exasperatedly. "I know you're trying to be nice and all, but we aren't friends anymore. You decided that when you went with Jackie, remember? So stop worrying about me. I can handle myself."
She knew how true that was, unfortunately. His family wasn't the easiest to deal with, but he always managed to come out on top of it. After his parents divorced, he helped his mother by getting a job, and he often makes movies to deal with his problems. Claire has seen quite a few of his videos on the net, and they were very good. She wished she could tell him that she was proud of him. She wished he'd believe her.
"Yeah I remember." There is a slight tinge of sadness in her voice, because she really does remember the happier, more carefree times she'd had in his company. She can recall the times she has gone to his house for many things—just to hang out, to talk about serious issues like wanting to meet her real parents, school, anything at all. She had shared so much with him, and yet she'd willingly tossed their friendship aside for a chance to be popular.
She was such an idiot.
Sighing she smiled tightly at him. "Well, I guess I'll just see you around then."
"Sure," he replied coolly. "I gotta go my mom is expecting me home soon."
Gabriel was trying to get home rather quickly, because he knows his mother is probably panicking. His blind rush makes him crash into someone familiar.
He doesn't recognize her at first—merely trying to help her up as fast as he can while grabbing onto the papers that were flying around them. "I apologize, I was distracted by—" His eyes finally met hers, and they both find themselves in moment of reminiscent shock.
"Gabriel, is that really you?" The disbelief isn't from the fact that he looks different then he did the last time they saw each other. It was because she hadn't seen or heard from him in such a long time.
Gabriel himself could see that she'd changed her style a bit. When he first met her, her hair was worn in a bizarre and creative manner, usually braided or held by colorful hair clips. Her clothes had been decorated in random designs that she'd created herself.
But now she wore a black suit that was rather professional-looking and took away much of her individualism. Her brown hair was in a high bun, though she wore rather plain black shoes.
A warm smile graced her face as he handed her the last paper. "I haven't seen you since you dropped out, and you promised to keep in touch," she scolded with light harshness with and much more sorrow for a missed opportunity. "I tried calling you several times. Why didn't you return any of my calls?" She pulled herself up off the ground and stood facing him, and though she was much shorter than him, somehow he felt as though there were on the same level.
"I'm sorry, I was rather busy at the shop," he replied simply, though he knows the excuse won't appease her.
"Yeah, I was pretty busy too, but I would have always made time for you." There is something in her tone, something he can almost name, but can't.
"I..." He hadn't a clue what to say. Every one of those messages had reached his ears, and each time it seemed he had the intention of returning them, the opportunity just slipped away.
"You know, Professor Campbell gave away the assistant job to some random girl. She worked out okay I guess, but he complained that she didn't understand half as much as you did. Your roommate Justin is engaged to that Amy girl, you know the one you mistaken for his girlfriend at the time he was dating someone else. It is quite ironic isn't it, now?"
Gabriel nodded, remembering the encounter. It had been an honest mistake, he had said his girlfriend was coming by and to let her in, so he had. Turns out Amy hadn't been his girlfriend and thought Gabriel was inviting her in for a good time. There were quite a few misunderstandings that night, before it was concluded that he hadn't stole Justin's girlfriend and that his current girlfriend was actually some fiery redhead named Casey.
"Yeah, it is just sad you know, you missed so much and I really had hoped you would have stuck around."
"I had hoped so too," he confessed. It had been his intention to return, but his mother had been rushed to the hospital due to a fit of panic and he believed his place was with her.
"Why didn't you? I know it wasn't because you were struggling in class. Gabriel, we were... We could have been friends, but... I just didn't get it." It is there, she had felt something so long ago, but she tried to not name it, nor confess to it.
"Things came up."
This didn't sit well with her either. "Why didn't you come back?"
"It just didn't work out." He is deliberately trying to avoid giving her a real answer. People just do not ever get to see what is going inside of him. He very much fears of what would happen if he trusted someone with his problems and feelings.
"I'm sorry about that," she shook her head, knowing she really wasn't going to get the answer she wanted. "I gotta get going," she said, holding up her papers. "I have grad schools to apply to and a wedding to plan."
"You are getting married?" He is relatively surprised, and yet it isn't so hard to believe.
"Yeah, I don't know if you remember, Chris,"
The name triggered a face in his mind. "I remember. We got along well."
"Of course you did you two were so much alike..." There was something hidden underneath that word, a secret confession she wanted to admit to, but instead she glanced at her watch. "I really should go."
"It's off," he tells her reaching for her wrist. He has a feeling that this goodbye was more final than the one before. "You might want to come by and—"
"I don't think...no," she replies firmly, because there is a sort of temptation lingering and they both know it. She just walks away.
Once again, Gabriel sees another reminder of what he'd lost by living his ordinary life. He can recall a brief, awkward but enjoyable kiss, and remembers wishing for more the day he packed up his dorm room.
Claire clung tightly to the plastic bag as she made her way quickly to the front. Her mom was probably already waiting in the front, except when she gets there, and her eyes search for the familiar vehicle, she doesn't see it. After waiting a few minutes, she decides to give her mom a call and laughs when she realized she never took her cell phone off silent, and there several messages from her mother, probably just telling her she would be there a little later. Though, when she listens to them, they are the opposite of what she expected.
"Where are you, young lady? You better be in trouble or you going to be!" The voice is uncharacteristically frantic, leaving Claire almost frightened and confused as she presses the button for her mom's cell.
"Claire!" her mother exclaimed, "Where are you?"
"You dropped me at the mall, remember," she replied slowly and carefully.
"I don't... Oh, I'm so sorry," her mother voice is filled of relief and embarrassment. "I feel so... Sorry, I guess I just caught up in things and forgot. I feel so awful."
"It's okay. I'm waiting though," Claire replied. She was still treading lightly. Something felt wrong.
"I'm already out the door."
When Gabriel arrived home, he immediately feels a rush of guilt as he finds his mother on his floor.
What right does he have to regret his life? How could he ever let himself feel such disdain when his mother clearly needed him?
He dashes to her side and finds that she is breathing too quickly. "Mother, you need to slow your breathing down."
She reaches for him and he grips her hand, "I was...ha...worried about…ha...you."
"I'm sorry mother. I had an errand to run. I really need you to slow your breathing down or you might pass out. So breathe with me." He slows his breath as he coaches her to do the same, but she does not want to calm down.
"I called your phone several times, why didn't you answer? I thought you might have gotten hurt." Her voice is in hysteria, she her mind his circling around irrational fears of losing what is most precious to her, her son. "What would I do without my special boy?"
Guilt is overwhelming him inside, because he has to lie. He rather be guilty then see her angry. "I turned off my phone because I was in place where people were reading and I didn't want to disturb them."
What ever fear was inside her begins to subside at his words and she begins to slow down her breathing. There is such relief and happiness to hear her son was studying. After a while, she has returned to normal, he gently helps her up.
"Now mother have you been taking your pills?" He has her sit down on the couch while, he made his way to the bathroom and searched quickly for her anti-anxiety pills.
"They are waste of money," she complains. "I'm perfectly fine without them. I just had a little fright is all…"
"Mother, the doctor says you need to take them if you want to stay out of the hospital. Besides, they are covered in the health insurance."
"That silly Dr. Andrews, what does she know? She doesn't even have children, my concerns are perfectly normal."
"I don't know, but she has been in the business for over ten years, so maybe she has a vague idea." There was no sarcasm, he was trying to choose his words carefully. "I just want to make sure you are alright."
"I am alright, all I need is my special boy." She reaches up to stroke his face gently and smiles. "All I need is your happiness." He doesn't tell her that he'll just be happy, if he could make her happy.
It is a few days after that incident with his mother before he hears from Dr. Suresh, but much to his disappointed, it isn't directly. He briefly wonders if he indeed has such a small amount of importance. The doctor doesn't seem to think his presence is necessary. No, instead he is greeted by a young woman with dark hair who introduces herself as Eden McCain. He greets her politely. "Hello Miss McCain."
"Please call me Eden," she replied. "Um... Gabriel."
"We are not friends; I insist that you call me by my last name."
She looks a bit irritated, but bites her lip before gracing him with a beautiful smile, "Alright, Dr. Suresh wanted to apologize for not coming here. He had some family matters to intend to." Gabriel simply nodded, not sure if he should feel relieved or not. "Anyway, he got an apartment near here. He would like it if you would come there, so he can run more intensive tests." She handed him a card with the address on it.
He hesitated for a moment. His mother would not allow it, if he told her the truth, and she would not be pleased if he caught him, but he had such a desire, one that overcame such issues.
"I will," he agreed, taking the card. "Is that all?"
"Yes, I'll see you there," she smiles politely, but at the same time she is extremely annoyed as she heads out the door.
Saturday comes arrives again, along with the young blond girl. "So what I am doing today?"
"Miss Bennett..."
"Claire."
"What?"
"I said call me Claire, I gave you my first name, I thought you would use it."
Gabriel huffs. "Fine, Claire, I think I will show you the register. Do you think you be able to handle that?"
She feels insulted. Why does this guy automatically assume she is an idiot? She sighs almost angrily trying to control herself. "Yeah, I can do it."
"It's simple once you learn what each button is for," he tells her and begins to explain what each button does. He also then explains how to take orders, how to enter them on the computer, and what each abbreviation meant.
He doesn't notice the looks that she is getting from the boys outside the store. They lingered, wanting to come in. After he finishes explaining to her, he gets some random parts and pulls out an old antique pocket watch, and begins working on it.
While she stands there, waiting for a customer to come in, she watches him concentrate intensely on putting a tiny spring inside the watch. Very carefully, she decides to try once more to get his name. "So are you going to tell your name?"
"I thought I have already made it clear that I will do no such thing."
"Okay, if you don't tell me I'm going to start guessing. Clark." He quirked a brow. "Well you do look like a Clark."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" His frustration seeping into his professional voice.
"You ever seen superman?"
"I think I've read a comic or two," he says reflectively, "I don't see..."
"Have you looked in the mirror? You really do look like Clark Kent."
For a brief moment he thinks of the 9th wonders comic, perhaps that is who they were trying to portray some sort of Clark Kent, but still... All the words that were said...
"Do I? Would that also mean I look like Superman?" He doesn't even know why he is asking, because she is obviously going to say no.
"Yes." He is a bit surprised but quickly hides it. "Because to look like Clark Kent, you have to look like a Superman. Though, the only way to be sure is if you take off your glasses. Will you?"
"What?" He put that spring in the wrong place again. He can feel something rising inside him, wanting to make him yell out.
"Take off your glasses."
"No,"
"Why not?"
"I'm working," he says firmly.
"Fine." She decides to save that battle for another day, tapping her fingers. She wondered briefly if anyone was going to show up at all. "So anyway... Jeff."
"I'm not telling you my name and it is no where in the vicinity of boring names like Jeff, Jack, and John."
"I'm not going to stop," she insisted. She briefly wondered why the guy hasn't kicked her out of the shop, when he was obviously completely annoyed with her. She really wasn't trying to be a pest, but she hated calling anyone by their last names. "Listen, I'm not trying to be a brat. I just really don't understand why we can't be friendly."
"Because this is a temporary arrangement," he replied, removing his glasses for a moment out of complete frustration, not realizing he was giving into one of her early requests.
"You really do like superman," she muses.
Do I? I do not see how you come up with such comparisons. Nobody has come up with such a thing before."
"Huh?" She is rather surprised, but goes to back to her early question. "Anyway, why are you so sure it is temporary?" Why was she saying such a thing? She knew this was temporary.
Loneliness, that had to be it. Melody and Jackie were refusing to talk to her and she didn't have any other friends, because she had destroyed most of those friendships.
"All of my arrangements are temporary, and do you know how hard it is to concentrate on this movement when you insist on knowing my name."
Claire smiled brightly. "That is exactly why you should just tell me! And what is a movement?"
He exhales deeply. "It is the thing that measures time. It is the internal part of the watch."
"Oh, so you mean all those parts together are called the movement."
"Yes, now well you please let me be, so I can work on it."
"Alright, I'll leave you alone for now, but I still want to know your name. It isn't Carl?"
"NO!" He gathers his things and disappears into the back.
A couple people show up and she takes their orders. It is about a half an hour later when those boys hanging around at the door decide to come in. Claire suppresses a moan, because she knows one of the idiots—he is from her math class, and thinks he really is 'all that'.
"Hello, what can I get you boys?"
"Your number," one says with a grin.
"That's not for sale," she replied simply.
"Oh, that is sad, how about a kiss?"
Ew, not with you! "Nope."
"Well, what can we buy here?"
"This is a watch shop, you figure it out."
"Well then, if we buy one, will you come with it?" Claire rolls her eyes at their lack of creativity.
"You guys aren't getting a clue are you? This is a business and I'm not going with you anywhere."
"Oh come on, do you really want to stay here this stuffy place when you could spend the day with us?"
Suddenly, that nice voice was behind, except it wasn't that nice this time around. "You will leave her or alone and go now, or will call the cops. I don't appreciate my employees being harassed," he said.
"Geesh man, we're going!"
Claire waited until they were out of the store before speaking. "Thanks," she told him sheepishly.
Gabriel gave her a look that gravitated between annoyed and amused. A second later, it seemed to get stuck on annoyed. "I'm truly starting to wonder why I allowed you to talk me into this arrangement."
"Because you knew I wasn't going to stop asking, and that is why you should give me your name. Of course, I could always call you Clark."
Biting back a yell of frustration, he gave in. "Fine, its Gabriel. Are you satisfied?"
"Yes I am," she answered, leaning over the counter and turning her head to smiles at him brilliantly, happy that she had gotten her victory.
Gabriel is a bit taken back, how many times have people smile at him like that? It was pure, bright, no hint of sadness, disappointment or wanting. Just a simple smile.
"Gabriel," she echoed, tilting her head and looking up, as if considering his name. "That's actually not bad."
Gabriel couldn't help the scoff that escaped him. "Not bad? I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not."
"Don't be. I really like it—much better than Clark or John."
"Well of course, my mother gave it to me." Of course, he doesn't bother telling her which mother, because she is not aware that he has two mothers, and he has never told anyone that he knew his birth mother gave him that name, not even to the woman who raised him.
Claire smiles, and Gabriel almost cringes, because it has now been tainted with sorrow, "My mother gave me my name, too." She will not confess either that she is well aware it was her biological mom that bestowed her name.
It was in that moment that a connection was made. It was as if the universe had been rotating blindly until that point in time, where everything just clicked and something began to unfold, something much bigger than the both of them.
But since not even a whisper of it reached their ears, they remained unaware of the shift that just flashed through their world, tilting the balance and forcing their destinies to collide.
Author Commentary:
Chapter Focus: This one actually had a focus, which made the title easy to come by. Last chapter seemed out of focus. Anyhow, as you can see this was about friendships, the longing for one, and the loss of one.
Panic Attack Scene: I initially I wanted to end this chapter with his mother on the floor from a panic attack. I guess it is as well, because I had no plans of dwelling more than on this scene. Somebody had suggest that I make a more of scene that reflected how much she actually cares. I don't think this is what they had in mind, but I think it gets the message across, along with that she is definitely ill, probably suffered some abuse, and depression or something.
Shelby: I realize now I never mentioned her name, I think in the original process I do but she is the woman Gabriel runs into after the comic bookstore. Yes, I used another OC, I plan on avoiding them as much as possible, but they will pop up from time to time. Shelby will probably not be back, that was just like a chance encounter thing. I don't know if you guys ever run into somebody you haven't seen in years. I think for some people it causes some kind of bittersweetness, because of what is, what was, and what might have been. Gabriel's is probably a mixture of loss and envy. There is a sense of loss, because there was a brief connection between the two of them that seemed to be going somewhere and there is envy of course because Gabriel is stuck while she is moving on. That is all she was there for, she is not important, but I felt like that I needed to do that scene.
Writing Process: So the writing process for this story, has been rather fascinating, because I start by just spending several days writing various scenes I think might go in the chapter. It takes a while before I finally decide where the chapter is going, so then I'll kind of write here and there on each scene. Then I kind of fill in the gaps. Then of course I may change the wording or add to the scenes a bit, and then I edit it. Then I send it to my betas. I haven't been forcing myself at all on this, I think the result is much better than most of writings.
Updates: I wish I would go faster, I see people that write just as much as I do and posts like in a day. Argh, if my brain wasn't so slow of coming up with the next part...sigh...at least it is written better...I hope.