Claire's breathe hitched in her throat. She had no idea it could be this way, that she would feel this way. She took deep breathes to steady herself. She felt on the brink, just a nudge and she'd fall over the edge and never be able to regain control of her emotions.

She wouldn't cry, not today. She'd feel like a fool, and they'd know, and so would he. He'd think it pathetic her attachment.

And if they knew…. When they figured out the reasons for her display they'd be horrified and disgusted. They'd never look at her the same way. For sure they'd send her back to her family in Costa Verde. Then she'd never see him again. This way she'd still see him, even if he didn't see her.

Claire turned slowly in the floor length mirror. She felt the soft fabric of the green dress between her fingers. It brought out the emerald in her green eyes. She had to admit, Angela knew how to pick them. The dress fit her perfectly, like it had been specially made.

She put a lot of effort in on getting herself to look just right. Her hair was done up with a few tendrils of wavy blonde hair flowing down. Her make up was perfect, but not too much. She wore the emerald earrings that Nathan gave her as an early Christmas present. She smiled at her reflection satisfied. Secretly she was hoping a certain someone would notice how she looked.

She heard a knock on her bedroom door that startled her out of her reverie.

"Claire?" Heidi's voiced called out. "The guests have been arriving. Hurry up. I'll meet you down stairs, okay?"

"Okay." Claire called from across the room. She spared herself one last glance in the mirror before making her way to the door.

Once again her body was racked by sudden nerves. Peter was coming. He was probably here right now.

Over the past few months she and Peter had been spending a lot of time together. He came over often to the Petrelli house now that she was there. She visited him at his apartment. They rekindled their old friendship well and even took it deeper, closer than before, especially after they both had been through so much. They understood each other, could emphasize on so many different levels. He was truly her best friend.

Together they found humor in the small things of life. He'd make exaggerated eye rolls at her during Sunday brunches when Nathan would go off talking politics again. He'd be there to give her a knowing smile when Angela started to go all control freak on her. He was the highlight of her day. After a long day of classes and events with Angela he could always find some way to make her laugh.

A few times he'd lose a patient. It would eventually happen, but it was still hard for him. A wall would go up and he'd close himself off for a while. She knew he wished he had the power to save them, and somehow blamed himself because he didn't. She was the only one who could crack that hard exterior during those times and bring back the old Peter she first met in Odessa Texas.

The problem was she started to react to him like that way when she first met him, on that night at homecoming. Like in he is not my uncle kind of way. She didn't know he was her uncle at the time. And what girl wouldn't have a crush on the man that saved their life?

Though, when she found out she was shocked, and very, very confused. Over the course of time after discovering their blood ties she expected her little infatuation to go away, but it didn't. Their bond only deepened over their adventures, and her feelings. There was no off switch. She managed to suppress them as best she could, hide them when she was around him but it was so hard. Eventually when she went back to Costa Verde to finish up high school it was relief. She hoped the absence would help her better understand herself, and just get over it.

She even managed to block him out of her head for a long period of time. Until she met West. She was drawn to him, the hair, those brown eyes. He reminded her of him so much. When she was with West she could almost imagine that it was Peter who was holding her, it was Peter who was kissing her. He was just a substitute. She knew it wasn't fair to him. She ended it.

When the opportunity arose for her to come back to New York she couldn't pass it up. She was half hoping that her feelings had changed when she away, that it was all in her head.

Unfortunately it didn't. Sometimes she wondered if he even felt the same way.

She always found themselves touching, his arm around her during movie night, or them "accidently" knocking into each other in enclosed spaces. Every touch lighted her up and every crooked smile he gave her stole her breathe away. Even his presence sent butterflies so intense she was certain everybody in the room could hear her heart beat quicken. Now she was more confused than ever.

Regardless she knew what she felt for him was wrong and could never be. It'd be incest. She was his niece and he was her uncle. Not to mention a ten year age difference. She was sick. She was glad people couldn't see inside her or they would know how twisted she was. This was something she just had to deal with. She had to.

She could hear the noise of the Christmas party coming from down stairs. The party was well under way. She made her way to the stairs hoping nobody would notice her coming down. She hated drawing attention to herself.

She reached the last step as her eyes swept the room. The band was playing and the guests were mingling or dancing. The room was wonderfully decorated for the holiday. It looked like something right out of one of those catalogs. The Petrellis certainly didn't skimp.

Over all looked like it was going to be a long evening of wearing her mask and avoiding passes by sixty year old men. She envied Monty and Simon who didn't have to attend.

Nathan was talking with some politician friends, laughing at some joke. Heidi was making the rounds, greeting the guests. Angela was having a quiet debate of some kind with an elderly gentleman in the corner, her sharp eyes taking in everything going on.

She continued to scan the room. There was one Petrelli she was looking for in particular. She tried not to let the disappoint show on her face when she didn't see him.

"Good evening Claire."

Claire nodded in greeting at the elderly gentleman who had approached her for conversation. Their conversation ended up consisting about their opinions on the weather. Claire made herself not yawn.

They were joined by a middle aged man, graying at the temples. He had a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"I am appalled to hear that the weather forecast predicts that it will be rain and slush. I was so hoping for a white Christmas. Simply shocking really." He downed his glass.

The other elderly gentleman frowned. He wasn't really sure if he was being mocked or not. "Reginald, I thought you gave up drinking."

"No my wife said I gave up drinking. Doesn't want me to have any fun." He gazed around the room. "And this isn't exactly the life of the party." The other man shook his head at the other man's candence. "And you know I hate being called that. It's Reggie."

The other man looked for some escape and waved to a supposed friend he hadn't seen in long time and left.

"Goodbye to you too." Reggie said to his receding back then turned to Claire. "So they already have you making the rounds too then eh? They certainly are taking full advantage of their…assets." His voice trailed off as his gaze trailed down her. Claire shifted uncomfortably. Like she wasn't aware of how some of the men here looked at her.

Reggie gave her a knowing look. He indicated at Nathan. "Looks like he's telling the duck story again. It was actually amusing six years ago." He nodded at Angela. "How's it like living under the same roof as that stiff board?"

Claire opened her mouth not really knowing what to say that.

Reggie noted her reaction. "I see she hasn't changed much." They walked over to the refreshment table. He poured himself another shot and one for her. She hesitated at first. She wasn't legal, though it wasn't like it'd affect her.

"Take my advice and live a little. Before you know it they'll try to fit you into their predesigned box." Claire noticed Angela was watching her from across the room. Did someone always have to be watching? Were they so afraid of her messing up? Did they think that if they didn't she'd accidently set the table cloth on fire or insult somebody. Irritation flooded her. Reggie downed his drink and Claire followed suit.

Claire noticed Angela watching her from across the room, well, more like glaring. Obviously drinking didn't fit her perfect mold. Claire grabbed a big slice of cake off the table knowing it would irk her further. Angela sent her death glares. Guess Nathan's estranged daughter stuffing her face was a no-no. Claire smirked.

Claire found Reggie watching her. "You may have the spunk to remain free after all. Though I warn you, it isn't a safe pastime."

Somebody has got to do it. If she didn't do it, did something to fight back her controlling ways she be no more than a puppet on strings.

"What's she going to do? Throw me into her dungeon?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if she had one installed." He said with fake seriousness.

They both burst out in rather loud laughter. A few people near by looked over.

"Watch your six. Other wise they're going to make an adult out of you. It is quite tedious." He said with mock seriousness. He looked over his shoulder and caught sight of someone. The gleam returned to his eye. He turned and looked back at her. "It was a pleasure to meet you Ms. Bennett. I do believe we are going to be quite good friends." He winked at her then left.

What an odd man she thought.

"Claire."

Her headed snapped immediately to that voice she'd know any where. He had come up behind her. A grin took his face at her moment of jitteriness.

"I see you met Reggie. I should have figured the two of you would get along. He was the only thing that made coming to these bearable. That and playing the occasional joke on the guests."

"You didn't!" Claire was quite aware that she was probably grinning like idiot at the moment.

"Oh, I'm afraid I did. I had to do something get the attention away from Nathan. It was the only thing that seemed to work really well." Now all Peter wanted was to have his absence at these events go unnoticed.

"They really go all out don't they?" She said.

"Yes, they do every year. They can't even have a normal holiday without making it some big social event." His voice showed his disproval. Claire had to agree. Couldn't they have a regular Christmas Eve as just the family, sing Christmas carols by the tree and drink hot chocolate?

She sighed and wondered what her family was doing tonight. They had called her today to wish her a merry Christmas. She didn't hear from them very often. She missed them.

"You look beautiful." His eyes were only looking at her. She knew he had meant it. He offered her his arm. She meekly accepted; her cheeks still pink from his compliment.

"So how'd you do on the finals?" He asked.

"Alright I think." She was acutely aware of her arm intertwined with his. Did he feel anything like that when she was around? Of course not she assured herself. He would never…

She looked up at Peter. He seemed far away. His jaw clenched like he was fighting some inner battle. He turned down and looked at her. "Would you like to dance?"

She nodded, her mouth too dry to speak as he led her out onto the floor. A slow song had come on, the kind you don't dance with your uncle. He pulled her close. Claire had to fight the urge to put her head on his shoulder.

They could talk, be honest with one another like no one else before…. But this was one thing, the way she felt about him, it was something she could never bring up, or she'd ruin what they shared now. It was so hard struggling with these feelings, fighting them.

How close he was holding her, it was much too intimate. Claire realized that he had been struggling with the same feelings as she had for him. This mutual understanding ran through them, no words were spoken but it was acknowledged. Peter held her tighter.

For a moment they didn't care what it might look like to the guests or their family. Nothing could ruin this moment for them. This moment, it was all they had. They danced their way through the entire song, eyes looking into each other's. The rest of the world had just faded away.

He leaned in to her ear. "I love you Claire."

Silent tears dripped down her face. "I love you too. Always have, always will."

"I'm sorry." He stared at her with eyes filled with emotion. Pain, sadness, love and joy all flickered across his face. Love for her, joy that she loved him, pain and sadness because they could never be, they'd always be longing for something that wasn't within their grasp.

He guided her into the room over. He shut the door behind them and the sounds of the party faded to the background. She moved away and looked out the window to the starry sky. She wrapped her arms around herself suddenly feeling cold. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She breathed in his scent, felt his warmth and was happy, for that one bittersweet moment, happier than she had been in a long time.

Peter's eyes drifted from the window to her. Not even a night as breath taking as this one could possibly compete with Claire, his Claire he thought. He turned her head to face him. He wanted to see those eyes.

He ran a finger down her cheek making her whole body tingle.

"I'm tired of fighting this..us…" He lightly kissed her cheek and moved his lips down her jaw line to softly claim her lips. Her head was in a whirl and energy was coursing through her. His lips were so soft and tasted better than she had imagined. Her fingers were moving through his hair and playing with his bangs. The kiss deepened and his arms wrapped around her to pull her as close as physically possible, their bodies melding into the other's. She couldn't breathe and didn't want to. This was her only oxygen she needed, her life source.

Author's note: Hey thank you all for reading! Thanks for reviews! What do you all think of Reggie? He was kind of a last minute addition that I couldn't resist putting in. Please review! More to come!