Chapter 4 – The Solution
Claire did manage to get some of her assignment with Bec done, but all morning and afternoon she could only think of Peter and how nicely and well, normally he had treated her. He made her feel that everything was OK and that nothing had actually happened between them.
Usually this would have really angered Claire because she hated people that pretended that everything was 'fine and dandy' but she actually felt rather content and extremely grateful because she had felt enormously embarrassed about how she had acted, and she didn't know how, but Peter had somehow managed to erase much of the awkwardness that was likely to have occurred.
She walked back to the apartment in good spirits, not minding how long the journey would take because she had Peter to fill her thoughts. She had decided that although having Peter as her boyfriend would be the greatest thing in the world, having him as a friend was much better than not having him at all.
As she walked down the corridor a delicious smell filled her inside. Peter was cooking, and whatever it was, it smell good. After fiddling with her keys for a while she entered the apartment and just had to stand in the doorway for a moment to fully breathe in that wonderful aroma, closing her eyes and smiling.
"Hey you!" she exclaimed as she saw Peter fiddling with the oven.
"Hey," he replied solemnly.
Claire knew that something was up.
"Pete are you OK?" she asked with exploring eyes.
There was a short pause before Peter scoffed. "You were right about Natalie, she didn't even look upset after we broke up this afternoon."
Claire barely managed not to let out a smile. "You broke up with her?"
"Yeah, but it's OK. I've got you."
Claire gave Peter a warm hug. The oven began to beep.
"Ooh pizza's ready!" Peter exclaimed as he leapt toward the oven.
"You made pizza for me?" Claire asked teasingly.
"Hmm maybe," Peter replied with a smile.
That night Peter and Claire happily chatted for hours, grabbing two bowls of ice cream and plonking themselves on the couch to watch a bit of TV. Claire had ownership of the remote for most of the night but Peter had finally had enough of Claire's talk about how adorable Logan and Veronica were on Veronica Mars and the whole height difference thing being kinda cute etc so when Claire was off-guard he snatched the remote and changed the channel to CSI: New York.
"Hey!" she tried to grab the remote, but Peter had longer arms and the remote was out of her reach over the arms of the couch. Claire laughed as Peter teased her and eventually Claire ended up lying down on top of Peter, their faces closer than they had ever been. They stared intently at one another and then Claire spoke with worried eyes.
"You planned this didn't you?"
"Possibly," Peter replied with a smirk.
Claire sat up and sighed. "I don't wanna be you rebound girl Peter, I'm sorry." She began to move off the couch.
Peter quickly took hold of her hand and sat up so he was close to Claire again. She was frozen. He hesitantly stroked her cheek. And Claire closed her eyes as she felt his gentle touch. He could tell that she was scared.
"Claire, you could never be just a rebound girl. You mean everything to me, absolutely everything" he whispered.
Claire realised that Peter was being honest and slowly moved closer to him exploring Peter's face with her fingertips. "I love you," she whispered, as she arched up to kiss him.