"Bloody hell, oh my... Are you alright?" Charlie Pace asked, sounding a bit hysterical. Claire had, after all, just gotten sick all over his shoes.
"I'm ok. I'm ok," Claire muttered, pulling a tissue from her clutch to wipe her mouth with.
"Uhm...?" Charlie ran a hand through his hair, glancing about nervously. "C'mon, let's get you to a doctor."
Claire looked up at his outstretched hand. She furrowed her brow, but reached out and grabbed it in her own hand. He helped hoist her to her feet, acting as if Claire was a glass doll. She wobbled in her heels a tad, but steadied herself before slipping the uncomfortable shoes off her feet. Charlie wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She non-chalantly shrugged it off. She held her head as it throbbed and her stomach flipped upside down. Charlie looked a tad rejected, but led her down the alley, away from the street. He threw his hood over his head so that the shadow obscured most of his face. Claire gazed at him, confused by his odd dress-code.
He saw her looking and began, "I can't let people see me or... it'll get crazy."
Claire nodded, holding her stomach as it rolled violently. Charlie pulled a set of keys from his pocket and pointed them at a new, navy blue sports car that was nearly invisible in the dark alley's shadows. The lights flashed on as he unlocked the car. He opened the door for Claire before jogging around to the driver's side. Claire fumbled with her seatbelt after she closed the car door. She clicked the belt in place as Charlie started the vehicle. It roared to life under them. Charlie drove throughout the alley until he pulled onto the road. He drove quietly down the bright city streets. Claire stared out the windows, focusing on not getting sick in this car. Charlie pulled into a hospital, parked, and helped her into the building. After the doctor checked Claire over, he ruled that she had not gotten a concussion, but the vomitting was due to some bad food she had eaten and that-- since she had thrown most of it up-- she would be perfectly fine. Charlie ducked in from behind the curtains and asked, "She okay, doc?"
"She's fine, Charlie. She's lucky you didn't wreck on the way here." the doctor joked.
"Hush, Blake," Charlie laughed.
"You know each other?" Claire asked, lifting one eyebrow.
"He's an old schoolmate." Charlie informed her with a soft smile.
She looked away from him quickly. She knew his type. Rock star. They thought they could just flash that charming smile at you and you'd fall for them. Well, thought Claire, I'm not falling for that. She looked back at Blake who was casually going over notes while chit-chatting with Charlie. Blake turned to her, ice-pack in his hands. "Here, keep this on your head. You've got quite a bump there." Blake told Claire. She accepted the ice-pack thankfully and pressed it to the small lump on her head. Charlie and Blake spoke a little more, reminiscing or whatever. Claire, however, felt completely left out and awkward. She stood up, still holding the ice-pack to her head with one hand, and grabbed her heels.
"Can I go home now?" she asked, not wanting to sound rude or impatient.
"Yes, Claire," Blake nodded with a friendly smile. He waved her and Charlie to the door.
Charlie coughed as they walked down the hall. Claire knew he was trying to fill the awkward silence that mingled between them. She wanted to fill it, too, but she didn't want him thinking she was a fan or anything. Because she wasn't. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys as they reached the sliding-glass doors that left the hospital. Once again, he obscured his face with the shadow of his hoodie. Claire didn't know if he just didn't want to be seen with her or what his deal was. She shrugged it off; in a few minutes, she'd be back at the house and he'd be back to his rockstar life. She stepped into his car, pulling the door closed behind her. He was in the car seconds later. After pulling out of the lot, Charlie turned on the radio. Coincidentally, it was playing one of DriveSHAFT's songs. This one was more pop-like than the rock and roll hit "You All Everytbody." Charlie started singing along to it, flashing a smile at Claire while singing. She didn't smile back, but she wanted to. She didn't know why, but this guy made her heart skip a beat... And she was trying to fight those feelings.
She scoffed at him. "What?" he asked, turning off the radio.
"You. Trying to impress me by singing to me and..." she stopped because he was smiling at her again.
"And smiling at me like that." she finished.
"Like what?" he laughed, turning a corner.
"Like... I don't know." Claire huffed, readjusting her ice-pack.
"Look, I'm really sorry about your head." Charlie said after a long silence.
"It's okay." Claire answered, staring out the window instead of looking at him.
"Oh, uh, okay..." Charlie faltered as he turned into a driveway.
"Where are we?" Claire asked, feeling stupid that she hadn't paid attention to his driving.
"Oh, uh, I have to stop by me and my brother's vacation house to set up for an afterparty he's having." Charlie informed her as he cut off the car's engine.
Claire climbed out of the car, leaving her shoes in the floorboard. Charlie glanced over his shoulder at her before opening the door to the house for her. She brushed by him into the house where she stood, holding her ice-pack at her side. This house looked more like a mansion. Not quite as large as a mansion, but just as luxurious and expensive-looking. She watched Charlie close the door before he walked over to the kitchen area. She followed him into the kitchen. He was digging through the fridge, pulling out multiple dips and drinks. There must have been a dozen cases of beer in the fridge. Claire rolled her eyes; typical rockstar party. Beer, beer, and more beer. Claire stood in the middle of the large kitchen, shifting from one foot to another. Charlie finally took notice of her after awhile and his eyebrows raised.
"Sorry about dragging you here, I just..." he stopped short, messing with his golden brown hair. "C'mon, I'll take you home now that everything's set up for the party."
"When does the party start?" Claire asked detatchedly.
"Oh, any minute now, I guess." Charlie replied after checking the time.
Claire wondered, "Won't you miss some of the party if you take me home now?"
Charlie shrugged. "Sure," he answered simply as he grabbed his keys from the counter and headed to the front door.
Claire followed silently, chewing on the small conversation they had just had. She remained silent until he began pulling out of the driveway. "Why don't you care if you miss the party? I mean, you are part of DriveSHAFT. So, it's your party, too." she said, speaking aloud what she had been pondering.
Charlie glanced at her, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I thought you didn't care." he muttered, pulling up to a stop light.
"I don't." Claire murmured back. As the sat at the stop light, a surge of cars passed them and drove in the direction of Charlie's vacation house.
The ride home, neither of the two spoke except when Claire gave Charlie directions to April's uncle's house. Claire exhaled with relief as Charlie pulled up to the house. She clambered out of the car, grabbing her purse and shoes. "Thanks for the ride." she politely said before closing the car door. She walked up the sidewalk and into the house.
* * *
Charlie watched her walk up to the house with a smile. He had forgotten to say 'you're welcome' to her thank you and contemplated over whether or not to roll down the window and say it. By the time he thought of this, she had shut the door and was gone inside the house. He sighed and started to back out of the driveway when, in his rearview mirrors he spotted a large, black an slowly driving by. He grumbled under his breath and turned off his car. Silently, he climbed out of the car and crept up to the front door of the house. He rapped his knuckles on the wooden door urgently and waited for Claire to answer. He smiled sheepishly at her when she opened the door. He noticed her frown when she saw him.
"What now?" she asked, her voice on the edge of a whine.
"Can I ask you a favor?" he nervously pleaded with a small smile.
"Okay, what is it?" Claire complied.
A few minutes later, Charlie and Claire were pushing Charlie's car into the open cavern of the garage. "Can't you push a little hardre?" Claire groaned.
Charlie dug his heels into the ground and helped shove the car. "I'm doing my best." he grunted. They finally got the car into the garage and Claire closed the garage door behind them. The garage door groaned and squeaked as it automatically slid shut. Claire turned on the overhead lights and looked around; the garage had just enough room for one car. She looked back at Charlie who was taking in the surroundings. Charlie looked at her before asking, "Mind if I look around?"
"Go ahead," Claire sighed.
Charlie rifled through a stack of cardboard boxes until he found an old, blue and white baseball cap. "I need something to disguise me so the papparrazzi won't recognize me," he explained to Claire as he pulled the cap onto his head.
He heard Claire utter, "Paranoid," under her breath, but ignored it.
"Well, what do you think?" he asked, turning to face her and show her the hat.
"It looks kind of good on you." Claire smiled.
Charlie looked at the ground before glancing back up at Claire and smiling.
"Stop smiling at me like that," Claire told him, blushing a light pink.
"Sorry," Charlie chuckled.
"Good night... You'll be gone by morning, right?" Claire asked as she headed to the door.
Charlie nodded. "No one will ever know I was here." he told her.
"Okay. Night." Claire said with a wave.
"G'night," Charlie replied.