Enigmatical

By wired2damoon

Chapter 2: Dirty Minds And Drama Queens

A/N: Okay, this story is going to work a little differently to my other ones. Each chapter may not be in order according to Claire's age. For example, this chapter is based when Claire is 16 whereas the next one may be a flashback of when she was 4. They will all intertwine though, according to plot so hopefully it won't get too confusing!

Disclaimer: Well, if I owned this then I guess I wouldn't need a disclaimer would I? Hence…it's not mine!!

Enjoy!! wired2damoon xx

Soft flickers of sunshine beamed through the slit where the violet drapes met, casting grim shadows on the shiny, mahogany floor.

Within the small single bed a figure stirred, shifting back and forth, a frown line appearing between the faint eyebrows as they fought to linger on the edge of sleep.

"CLAIRE MARIE YOUNG! YOU GET DOWN THESE STAIRS THIS INSTANT!" came an irritated voice, cracking through the tranquil silence within the small, cosy room.

A loud groan omitted from the girl as she heard her mother's voice pierce through the barriers of sleep, rousing her annoyingly.

"But Mom…" she moaned softly, knowing fully well that her mother would fail to hear her in her haste to get ready for work.

"NO BUTS CLAIRE! IF YOU'RE NOT DOWN HERE IN TEN MINUTES SO HELP ME GOD…" Lana Young trailed off, knowing that her hanging threat had successfully been driven into her sixteen year old daughter's brain.

Claire's soft, sky-blue eyes snapped open and rolled instantly to the ceiling.

Her mother really did have ears like a bat.

"Okay Mom, I'll be down in a minute", she called, trying not to sound too irritated as she didn't want her mother to spontaneously combust with annoyance.

This was just typical. Quite unlawful. A sin. It was a Saturday morning for God's sake!

And yet, here she sat, sixteen year old Claire Young, getting dressed and ready for the worst day of her life.

Well, not THE worst, but it was definitely somewhere in her top ten.

Sighing, she stood up and paced over to her wardrobe, snatching out clothes without a second glance and throwing them on.

She turned to her mirror, her deep, almond-shaped eyes piercing as she inspected her attire.

Black jeans and a lavender shirt seemed respectable, and if it wasn't? Well…honestly she didn't give a damn.

"CLAIRE? CLAIRE! HURRY UP OR YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

The young girl gritted her teeth and clamped her hands into air-tight fists, reciting to herself in the mirror, "deep breaths Claire, deep breaths…just get through today…"

"Do you enjoy talking to yourself?" a familiar, amused tone asked from the doorway.

Claire rolled her eyes and didn't bother turning around to greet her visitor.

"Yes, I do actually, better then talking to some people around here", she replied gruffly, ignoring the loud, barking laugh that erupted from her friend.

"What are you doing here Quil?" she sighed warily, delving into her wardrobe again, searching for a jacket.

The insanely tall, dark, muscular man with deep-chocolate eyes, Quil Ateara, placed his palm over his heart, feigning hurt. "Oh Claire how you wound me", he cried dramatically before 'recovering' and smirking "does your amazing, most bestest friend in the wholest widest world need a reason to visit you?"

Claire snorted at her friend's speech, turning around to face him, her arms folded across her chest.

"Bestest, wholest? What are you four?"

Quil grinned down at her silently as he stepped into her room and took the seat at her desk.

Claire's eyes followed his every movement, yet her gaze did not meet his. She knew he could feel her impending nervousness.

Quil silently watched as she fidgeted and bolted around her room, tidying and gathering belongings only to put them back in the same place, oh how he'd seen this reaction before.

"Nervous Claire-bear?" he asked quietly, as she stilled noticeably whilst reaching again for her hairbrush.

A shrill, hurried laugh fell from her lips, as she turned back to the mirror and began combing her hair, for the second time in the last three minutes.

"Me? Nervous? Hell no…just a little…uh…" she trailed off, her terrible lying making a deep, crimson blush rush to her cheeks.

A small grin crept onto Quil's lips as he watched her fight for an explanation for her skittishness, but he remained silent and stared at her long, flowing, hazel locks of hair spilling over her shoulders as she ran her comb through them.

God she's beautiful, he thought, his heart rate increasing slightly, his breath quickening. He really could just stare at her all day.

Claire, utterly unaware of her friend's staring, continued muttering lowly to herself as she fixed her hair on front of the mirror.

Quil fought back a laugh as he saw her face scrunch up in annoyance, as a particularly stubborn knot refused to be brushed out.

He just loved the way her cute nose would crinkle and her gorgeous eyes would sparkle as she grew impatient with herself.

Her pale skin positively glistened against the sunlight that was basking through the now uncovered window, her voluptuous cheeks growing crimson as she grew more irritable.

"Ugh! Stupid hair!" she grumbled, her temper rising as she flung the hairbrush from her with all her might, wincing slightly as it made rough and loud contact with her desk.

Quil, who had just missed the brush by inches, flew out of the chair and raced over to Claire, arms outstretched.

"C'mon Claire-Bear, calm down", he cooed, taking her into his arms and stroking her back gently with his palm.

Claire buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, (he was far too tall for her to properly wrap her arms around his shoulders) and let out a deep sigh.

She knew today was not going to be easy. But she just didn't expect she would let it get to her this much. She was a strong, level-headed, clever, determined young woman who never let anything get to her.

All her life she was told that she had wisdom far beyond her years and was a complete non-conformist, making her stand out from the crowd. She had views and values that would make the most intellectual individual bite their tongue and was widely known for her witty remarks and cheeky demeanour.

But why did it have to be now that she suddenly lost all that and began behaving like a sulking toddler?

"Ugh! I'm pathetic!" she groaned into Quil's chest, fighting back tears angrily, biting down on her lower lip.

Quil's large hand reached up to stroke her silky, brown hair tenderly as he murmured softly, "you're not pathetic Claire. This is a hard time for your Mom and Suzie too you know…"

Claire scoffed, bringing her hands around from his waist and placing them on his chest, shoving him off her.

"Fine, lay the guilt trip on me Quil!" she spat, whirling around and storming towards her door.

Quil reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back gently.

"Claire, wait, look I don't mean to make you feel guilty or anything I-I'm just letting you know that you're not alone in this…your Mom and Suzie hurt too…" he trailed off, not looking her in the eye.

Claire sighed for what felt the hundredth time in the last five minutes.

Quil was right, as always. She knew she wasn't the only one who was getting the crummy deal, so she would just have to stop acting like it.

"As much as it pains me to say this Ateara, you're right…" she smirked, rolling her eyes as she saw her friend's face grow smug.

"Well, isn't this one for the books, does this mean you're wrong?" Quil asked, trying to sound nonchalant as he threw his arms around her shoulders and began walking her out of the room and down the stairs before her mother could scream another profanity.

"I wouldn't go that far Quil, you know me, I'm hardly ever wrong, this would be just one of the very few times you aren't mistaken", Claire grinned, a familiar cheeky beam in her expression.

That's my girl, Quil thought appreciatively.

"So what's on the agenda today then? Helping Embry engage in more voyeurism?" she asked conversationally, as if she were commenting on the weather.

Quil's arm tightened around Claire's shoulders as they descended the stairs.

Does she really have to have such a dirty mind? She and her ways will be the death of me…

"Embry is not voyeuristic, he just-"

"-Watches a lot of porn?" Claire interrupted with a laugh, breaking away from Quil at the end of the stairs and walking into the kitchen.

Quil followed her, determined to get his point across.

"Embry hasn't imprinted, so it's not like-"

"-You haven't imprinted either, and I've never had to endure walking into your living room and seeing you sitting on front of the TV with your hand down your-"

"-CLAIRE! ARE YOU READY YET?"

Quil's heart was thumping so loudly in his chest he was surprised the neighbours couldn't hear it.

Thank god for small blessings when Lana stopped her daughter's terrifying, sexually explicit rant.

Claire huffed and glared at the door which concealed her mother in the next room.

"Yes Mom, I'm up, dressed, and am having my breakfast", she called, trying to sound as calm as possible when really she wanted to yell and kick things.

Quil began his favourite hobby of quietly observing his friend as she made herself and he some breakfast.

"So…I've heard about this foreign exchange student your mom's taking in, when's she arriving?" he asked, hoping that she could stay on topic and not drift to more uncomfortable conversations.

Claire swung around to face him as she was adding the maple syrup to the pancakes.

"Yeah she's coming this weekend, you know, after all this madness dies down…" she trailed off, another little frown creasing her forehead as she thought about what was to happen today.

"Hey, hey, hey, no more worrying now you hear me? We're all about not letting 'the man' keep us down right?" Quil smirked, reaching forward and enveloping her hand with his.

Claire couldn't help but laugh as she looked into her friend's deep chocolate eyes.

Typical Quil, he always knew what to say to her to make her feel better…

The two just stood staring at one another, hand in hand, neither willing to break the calm, tranquillity of the moment.

"Claire, are you - oh, hi Quil, I didn't hear you come in", Lana Young remarked as she walked into her kitchen, ignoring how he detached himself from her daughter abruptly.

"Hey Lana, I just got here, I let myself in, the door was open," he replied politely, knowing well that Claire's mother had no problem with him just "dropping in" as that had been the case for a large number of years.

Lana nodded, flashing Quil a grin, before turning to her daughter, "Suzie is waiting for us in your Aunt Emily's house, all set?"

Claire sighed and took one fork-full of her pancakes before sliding the rest onto Quil's plate.

"I am now…" she grumbled, flashing her friend a look of pure and utter angst.

Quil shook his head, offering her a small smile, before muttering her words of encouragement.

"You'll be fine Claire-bear, remember, its not the end of the world, it's just a dress fitting…"

The young girl folded her arms stubbornly, her lips pouting slightly. "It's much more then that and you know it Quil!" she hissed.

Lana rolled her eyes (a trait Claire obviously picked up from her) and tutted, "Claire, listen to Quil, he's right. It is just your final bridesmaid dress fitting, not the apocalypse. Now I want you to be extra nice to Valerie and don't put a damper on her day, you promised your father."

The teenager gritted her teeth at the mention of her father. That traitor.

"Why should I be nice to her mom? She's only ever nice to me when there's 'important people' around! Her and her idiotic, narcissistic son", she spat, her nails digging into her forearms as she wrapped them around herself.

"Now Claire, don't be so rude, William is a fine young man, and will be your step-brother soon enough, so you better start warming up to him and quit being a drama queen", Lana huffed, grabbing her coat off the rack, turning and striding out the door, not bothering to see if her daughter was following her.

Claire hung her head lowly, her eyes glistening.

Quil's heart ached as he looked at her, he really hated seeing her like this. He missed his laughing, teasing, bubbly, sarcastic and outspoken Claire that had been drowned upon hearing the news of her father's re-marriage.

"C'mon Claire-bear, brave face now, it'll be all over in a few hours and then you can stop over at mine and we'll order a pizza and watch some terrible late-night TV", he smiled softly, reaching forward and grabbing her coat, hoping his bribe would work.

Claire turned to him as he began helping her put her coat on, "okay Ateara, you have a deal. But no bad TV, rent a movie, something with lots of blood and guts and gore, I'm in the mood for some good old torture", she smirked, her eyes flashing as she looked into his eyes.

Quil glanced down at her, before giving her a gentle push out the door.

"You really are an evil, little monster aren't you?" he laughed as she walked towards her mom's car.

Turning around she gave him an evil smirk before replying loudly, "and don't you forget it wolf-boy."

A/N: Well there you have it, second chapter done. Next will be Claire's monologue, and don't worry, she's not all self-pitying and angsty all the time, mostly she's just cheeky and fun, it's just today is a gloomy day for her. Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to push the button! Go on, you know you wanna!! -wired2damoon- xx