Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.
08 December, 2009
Rocking her hips to the beat Claire walked down the hall, headphones firmly tucked in her ears. Her day had been oddly quiet, the morning had been spent in a chemistry lab, lunch spent writing an essay over lukewarm Mexican food, and her early afternoon picking up a few supplies. Head down, Claire fiddled with the lock on her. She nudged the door open with her hip, backing into the room.
"How did it take me three years to catch you off guard," a voice spoke.
Claire jumped, dropping her plastic grocery bag, ripping the headphones from her ears, and flinging a half-eaten candy cane across the room.
"Holy crap, Sylar, could you not sneak up on people," Claire exclaimed.
Sylar scooted off the end of the bed, scooped up the trashed candy cane and dropped it in the trash. "It isn't technically sneaking if I wasn't attempting to conceal my presence."
"That's not how it works," Claire glared. "And now my candy cane is broken and dirty."
Sylar frowned and picked up the grocery bag, ducking his head has one hand dug through it. "All you bought was candy canes."
"So," Claire pouted, "I like them."
"That can't be healthy," Sylar huffed, extracting a candy cane and extending it to the woman.
Claire scrambled forward, snagging the sweet out of the man's hand. She scurried back, shedding her jacket, scarf and headphones and sliding past Sylar to flop on her bed. "I think my girlish figure can deal with a couple dozen candy canes," Claire snarked, shredding the wrapper and tucking the peppermint stick in her mouth.
Sylar crossed his arms over his chest; legs shoulder width apart, watching Claire. She looked innocent, hair splayed around her head, shirt riding up against taut skin. She was smiling.
"So, wrecking your girlish figure aside what are your plans," Sylar asked, tapping her foot with his.
Her head bounced up, arms behind her propping her upper body up. "Why does that sound like you already have plans for us?"
"Us," Sylar frowned, "who said us?"
Claire stuck her slightly red tongue out, "Fine, I'll just stay here and eat my candy."
"Or," Sylar twisted, "you could come to the mall with me and sit on Santa's lap."
Eyebrows shot up, "Right, and then we could go to jail for being weirdoes."
"Come on," Sylar pushed, "this is our first Christmas together. We need to make some memories."
"Whoa," Claire pointed the sharpened end of her candy cane at him, "Who says we're doing Christmas together?"
Sylar sat down beside Claire, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I thought that was obvious. I'm never going to leave you."
"Mhm," Claire murmured, "and what if I told you I already have plans?"
"Daddy or Mommy," Sylar asked saccharinely.
Claire dropped back to the bed, her breath being forced from her lungs. "I don't know yet. Mom and her boyfriend are going to Vale, Lyle is having way too much fun at school to come home, and I don't think I'm talking to my dad."
Sylar rolled onto his back, one finger tracing over the back of Claire's hand. "So, no definite plans yet, except for me."
Claire's lip curled in annoyance, sucking a little harder on the treat, the tip breaking under the pressure. It had been eight days of relative normality. Eight days where Claire hadn't actually believed that Sylar was going to murder her and leave her body for her roommate to find.
"I'm not making any promises, but my only other option at the moment is staying with Peter, and as much as I love the Petrelli side of my family, I'm not eager to see grandma."
Sylar's face creased into a frown. He hadn't considered that Claire would have to leave campus. To be honest, Sylar hadn't had much forethought in this entire venture. His only goal each day was to spend as much time as possible with Claire.
He was too quiet, Claire decided, "Finals started yesterday. I have two essays due, a lab write up, and a test."
"When are you finished," Sylar asked.
"Thursday," Claire sighed. "I just have to study and tweak my last essay. I was kind of putting off making plans until I had to."
The tall man pulled himself into a sitting position, staring down at Claire. "Let's go away then, go to New York, or Chicago, London, anywhere you want. We can have a drama-free Christmas."
Claire studied his face, the shadows, the slight scruff, the spark of hope in his eyes…the hope she saw him try to hide, like she did, hope that things would be okay, that they could be themselves one day. "And what, exactly, would I tell people? Hey, I'm jaunting around the world with a guy who put his fingers in my brain," Claire asked with a snort, teeth flashing as she smiled.
A long finger tapped her nose, "Or, you could say you were going home with your roommate for break."
"There is that," Claire considered the lie.
"Speaking of roommates, where is yours," Sylar wondered.
The blonde shrugged, sucking lazily on the candy cane, "Beats me, she's been all sorts of weird since Thanksgiving."
"Her loss," Sylar winked, "my gain."
Pushing up on her hands, the distance between them shrinking, Claire grinned, "So anywhere?"
"Anywhere," confirmed Sylar.
"Hiro," Claire inquired.
"I was thinking plane tickets," Sylar corrected.
An eyebrow rose, "Mr. Most Wanted wants to get on a plane."
"I'm not half bad at disguises," Sylar smirked, his countenance melting into a very familiar form.
"Peter," Claire asked. "Really? Maybe we should just road-trip to Chicago."
"Twelve hours in a car," Sylar smirked, shifting back to his form. "This could be fun."
"But," Claire leaned a little closer, lowering her voice, "if I agree to this, you have to do something for me."
"Anything."
"You spend tomorrow helping me study," Claire told him.
Sylar nodded absently, "Then we plan our trip. If we're going to do this, we're going to do this right, fancy hotel, nice restaurants, a Christmas photo, and tree."
"Deal," Claire smiled. It sounded nice, perfect, like something out of a magazine. It had been so long since Claire had enjoyed the holidays, there had been too much going on, too many lies.
Eight days of cajoling. Claire wasn't unaware of what Sylar was doing. She knew he was fulfilling his promise from all of those months ago. The one he had reiterated only days before. Claire didn't want to be alone. Forever was a daunting concept, Claire wasn't ready to tie herself to Sylar, that kind of forever was just as overwhelming.
She was happy, for the first time in a long time, she felt normal. Leaning up, Claire tilted her head, pressing her lips against Sylar's cheek. He froze under her touch. After a moment Claire pulled back, looking up at him from under her lashes. Watching his mouth drop open just a little and the vein in his neck throb just a little. He didn't move, didn't push.
"Thank you," she told him with a watery smile.
"You're welcome," his voice was soft with confusion.
Inhaling sharply Claire bit her lip before speaking, "I'm not promising anything, but I'll try."
Sylar swelled, his face brightening, "Thank you."
Claire flashed a smile as Sylar engulfed her in a hug, arms twining around her torso, face burrowing into her neck, chest pressed to chest. It was, Claire had to admit, one of the best hugs she had ever experienced. Sylar meant the hug, it was honest. Every breath of the hug was firm and warm and a pleasant attempt to meld two beings into one.
With a laugh they collapsed onto the bed, Sylar's body covering Claire's.
"Uhh," she groaned. "This means I have to pack."
Sylar tightened his grip on the blonde, "If you really need help I could be persuaded to help pack your underwear."
Claire sighed, her smile still fixed on her face, "And we were having such a nice moment."
A/N: 8/25. Having been out of College for a little while I nearly forgot all the fun of having to move out for breaks. Christmas in Chicago for our favorite Couple, stay tuned for shenanigans!