Author's Note 1 :) : Soo i really hurried up to post this chapter.. hope someone likes it! If yes, please don't forget to R&R for the sequel.
"Do you really think this will work?"
Flora wasn't sure about the whole plan... it seemed too simple.
She was holding three pieces of clothing and brought them to the till, as Luke answered:
"I think so. But what should we do with Ben? He's gone now."
frustrated, he handed the 10 bucks over to the cashier and left the secondhand shop with her.
"I could invite him to us. Hershels apartment will be free then and we'll be sure that he isn't the culprit."
Luke reached for her little hand, while he responded:
"Perfect, but for what should we invite him? He would only come for you."
She merely shrugged:
"So what? You could accidentally be there. I'm sure he'll come."
Raising his right eyebrow, Luke punched her slightly in the ribs:
"Don't be so arrogant!"
"Ouch! I'm not. It's just how it is. Now calm down..."
Flora returned softly, just like she always talks:
"...Luke, do you think we'll catch the Murderer today?"
"Uhhm.. maybe. I just hope that nobody will be harmed at the end of the day. It's quiet dangerous for Claire and I can totally feel how it must be for the Professor now."
Flora stopped with walking and faced him. All the people had to go on the street to pass them, which both of them didn't realized:
"Everything's alright. And will be afterwards too, believe me..."
She laughed with closed eyes and added:
"but what I can't believe, is, that we already love Claire so much."
Luke looked shy down to the ground and made weird movements with his feet:
"Yeah, I know. She's like a Mother to me. And he's like a Father. I think every woman would mean that to me.. she just has to make Hershel happy. But of course, no-one's like her... she's unique."
Flora stepped closer to him and placed her hand on his chest:
"She'll be okay. Claire couldn't be safer with you and Hershel on her side."
Luke lifted up his head quickly and said:
"I know... I know."
Smiling at her smugly, she only managed to say:
"And you say I AM arrogant?",
between her giggles. He laughed along, while he grabbed her by the fingers:
"Let's go and bring these horrible clothes for the Professor. I already see his face, soo divine."
Ten Minutes later:
Flora and Luke were standing in the gear of Hershel's apartment and only saw him and Claire on the couch: chatting with each other. But there was something wrong with this picture.
Shouldn't they be happy? Kissing? Or even be in an embrace?...
No, instead of that, Claire was crying bitterly. Tears were rolling down her checks and dropped from her chin to the white shirt she wore. Hershel tried to comfort her, tried to make his beloved lady smile again. But she only sobbed harder and threw herself in his arms.
"I can't! I...how?"
"Shh... Claire, Claire."
His voice calmed her down a little bit, as he stroke her wavy, brown hair.
"Just... trust me. I won't let anyone harm you. I swear."
The atmosphere in the house was extremely sad, tensed and awkward... at least for Luke and Flora. They've watched the whole scene, which remembered Flora of her morning spying action. Unfortunately it wasn't that good to watch though...
"Claire? Please, reply me."
You could clearly say that he was concerned and helpless at the same time.
"Yes?"
She sounded bad, her entire body was trembling.
"look at me, my dear."
Removing his hat, Hershel made sure that she could see into his dark eyes. A few seconds passed, when she finally gazed up at him, making the hug tighter at the same time. He only chuckled and spoke:
"Don't think about what could happen, don't even think that, this is the last time you'll see me. Just... be yourself: cool and calm. The fact that I'll be in your vicinity must be also very reassuring."
Claire immediately opened her mouth to answer him, but as someone cleared his throat from behind, she turned in shock around.
"Sorry, that we disturb you, but I'd say it's enough with these sad feelings. To cheer you up, I could give this to you."
Luke gave him a little bag with the new clothes for him. It even had a 'petite moustache' in it, which looked like the one Luigi wears in the Mario games.
'I bet Claire can't pull herself together when she sees him with this new style.' ,
Luke thought and had to be very earnest not to laugh.
The facial expression from Hershel was just gorgeous: looked like a mix of horror, sadness and disbelief:
"You seriously want me to wear THIS? Sorry but this is way too much to ask for."
What he held in his hands were:
brown shorts, a green T-shirt with a print that says: Peace, a black base cap and of course, last but not least the magnificent, dark mustache. Flora bursted out with laughter, so did Luke. They were nearly rolling on the Floor. Hershel still stood there immovable and imagined how he would look like in these ridiculous clothes. A shiver ran down his spine.
"Give it a try, dear."
Claire said, with a grin on her lips. He couldn't say no after such a speech! Sighing hardly, he told to himself:
"It won't be that bad... It won't!"
"I don't think it'll work..."
Luke whispered too loud in Floras ear, so he could hear every word that he said. Annoyed walking away, the Professor left the living Room, as Claire waved the Kids to her.
"Good God, why? This is like the most horrible outfit, you could ever choose for him."
"If this is really so, I picked the right one. Think about it. Would you ever guess that the weirdo in the hippie clothes, actually is Hershel?"
"What a brilliant boy you are.."
She smirked at him and recognized Flora for the first Time.
"Oh, let's make a bet. I bet that he'll be blushing so hard that he's comparable to a tomato!"
Flora distracted them from her skilfully. She wasn't in a good mood, not at all:
The thought of meeting Ben with Luke was just terrifying, what if they would fight or that Ben would flirt with her in front of Luke. Or even worse: if he wouldn't come...Whatever, trying to forget it, is the best, she thought along.
"I'm in! But wait... there's no doubt that you lose. Okay never mind."
Luke laughed again and tore Flora completely out of her thoughts. Claire tried not to laugh, but then Hershel walked in:
He still had his shoes on but what the shorts exposed were his slightly hairy legs and they were extremely tight. The Shirt was too large and made him look like … a regular guy? Maybe, with no style? The base cap was .. of course just laying on his brown, short hair. His head was plainly too wide for caps. And what the weirdest was: the mustache. As he frowned the fake thing over his lips nearly flew down, and held his position but lopsided.
The three were... finished. They had no nerves anymore. Luke was laying on the ground, laughing tears. Flora held her hand ahead of her mouth, to cover her giggles. Claire, what else should she do? She was naturally laughing as well.
"Can you PLEASE give me the sheet? I feel..."
"Stupid? Funny? Embarrassed?"
Luke knew it was rude, but hey, look at him!
"All of it. And much more. God, what am I doing?"
Claire stood up and wrapped him into the sheet. Kissing his check, she added sarcastic:
"You know you look good."
When he raised an eyebrow at her, Flora laughed harder, but then he exploded:
"Okay, Okay, Okay! You had your laugh. Now quiet down and pull yourselfs together. This isn't the right Time. Tonight will be dangerous, you know it. If you laugh at me on the Street, it surely will come out, who I am. And I'm only doing this to protect you Claire. There's no other way... Sadly."
Everyone went silent, and listened carefully what he said. It was only then that they knew it was serious. Very serious.
"I know. I'm sorry, Dear."
Claire apologized... He nodded and responded:
"Everything must work tonight!"
Author's Note 2: The End... of this chapter^^. I so hope you could smile a bit :) And thank you so much for reading again.. and a big thanks to all my reviewers! Means alot to me...
And to everyone who's intrested to know: I'll be posting 8 sequels to this.. if you want me to, of course. And.. I'm writing on my final chapter right now.. and I hope that you'll like my whole story. THANK YOU :D