A couple of days after Claire and Cory had had their impromptu lunch due to the gas leak, Claire was up early on a Saturday feeling anxious once again. Cory had come by the day before to ask Claire if they could go out on Saturday night and Claire had said yes, not wanting to be her usual self and back out. Maybe I should do my hair different? Should I wear a dress or jeans and a nice shirt, I don't want to seem overly dressed if it's just casual. Claire was still trying to figure out if this was just a casual outing or if Cory was actually interested in her.

As she was contemplating why she got herself into this she heard her phone ringing. She picked it up and saw "Ted" on the screen. Her stomach immediately felt upset along with feeling happy at the same time.

"Hey!?" Claire wasn't sure if she was happy about him calling.

"Hey, I thought I'd see how you were doing"

"I'm good…..just trying to figure out….. what I'm wearing today?" Claire confusingly thought about why she said that of all things.

"Oh, where are you going?" Ted seem very interested.

"I'm actually going out with a friend I met," Claire said with a cringeworthy look on her face.

"That's good, who is this friend?" Ted asked.

"Someone who actually lives in the same building as me, my neighbor…..his name is Cory."

Claire had been leading up to his name, once she said it she couldn't take it back. She didn't really want to tell Ted but didn't want to lie to him either. Claire tried to rationalize in her head that Ted probably wouldn't care anyways. They weren't together anymore and couldn't be.

"Oh…. that sounds good. Is this like a date?" Ted's tone in his voice seemed crossed.

"No! It is not a date. He knows I'm new to New York and I still haven't gone out yet so he invited me to go out with him." Claire felt as if she had to explain to Ted she wasn't cheating on him even though they weren't a couple.

"Ok.. If it was a date that would be okay," Ted's voice sounded resistant.

"I know it would be," Claire said back with frustration.

"I have to admit, hearing this makes me feel upset but I know I can't claim you."

"Claim me? Is that how you think of this?!" Claire started to get upset, she wasn't sure if it was because she missed Ted or she was frustrated about never having that talk on what "they" were.

"I don't claim you… I said that wrong. I meant since we aren't together anymore I shouldn't get upset about you going on dates."

"At least you fucking said it," Claire said solemnly.

"I haven't wanted to say anything like this because I didn't want it to be true is all. I love you Claire but…. we both already knew this wouldn't work with you being in New York and me here." Ted was right. He was just the first one to finally say it out loud.

Claire felt her eyes start to get teary, I already knew this, why am I getting so fucking emotional?

"I know you're right. I guess having to finally realize this is over is something I've tried to avoid." Claire was crying at this point but was trying as hard as she could to not let Ted know.

"Maybe I shouldn't be calling you anymore….I'm just making it worse." Ted said with regret in his voice.

"Maybe that's what we should be doing. Let some time pass….." Claire knew this was what they needed to do but the thought of it made her stomach turn. There was silence for about 30 seconds before Ted said something.

"Claire… having to give you up was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I don't want to do it but I know I have to." Claire sat silent for what seemed like forever, letting what Ted said sink in.

"Me too…. I do love you and I don't want to let you go completely." Claire was now crying so hard that she knew Ted could tell. At this point she didn't care, she was letting it all out.

"I know…... I'm going to have to go Claire…..I love you,bye." Ted's voice was so low by the time he had hung up the phone that Claire wasn't sure when he had actually hung up.

She sobbed into the phone for minute and then laid down on her bed crying so hard into her pillow that she had to continuously catch her breath. Claire hadn't felt this horrible since Nate's death. All Claire wanted to do was sleep away the pain and that's what she did until the sun went down.

It was 6:23 p.m. when Claire woke up, she felt numb. She then realized that Cory was going to pick her up at 7:30 to go out. I can't open the door like this and tell him I can't go out. Claire got up and took a quick shower, trying to cover up any evidence of what happened earlier that day. She got out and quickly blow dried her hair along with putting on some makeup. She went with jeans and a flowy, dress shirt that had short sleeves. She looked at the clock again and saw the time was 7:19, time to spare.

At 7:30 on the dot, knock knock. Claire opened the door to a smiling Cory in pants and a black, v-neck t-shirt and his hair in a man bun.

"Let's do this!" He said to her jokingly. Claire smirked at him and followed him outside. She just remembered she only had eggs today when her stomach started growling.

"Let's go get some food," she said to Cory.

"I know just the place, it's thai food."

Claire was still reeling from earlier and at this point was going through the motions. Claire wanted to not feel pain anymore. She wanted alcohol and lots of it.

"How about we try a bar that has food?"

"Sure. I know just the place for that too." Cory said to her smiling.

They took a cab to downtown Manhattan and went to a bar called "Trinity Place Bar & Restaurant." It used to be a bank and was converted into a bar and restaurant. Fortunately, there was no wait, something unheard of on a Saturday night in New York. Claire was glad, she wanted to sit down as soon as possible and order a drink.

Once they got to their table Cory got her chair out for her, not sure if he is being a gentleman or really wants something else. At this point, sleeping with Cory started to seem more and more alluring but it was just her hurt emotions talking.

"Hey guys I will be your server for tonight, Mike. What can I get you two to drink?"

"I'll have a Guinness,"said Cory.

Claire wasn't sure what to get, she just needed something to get her drunk. She looked at the cocktail menu trying to find something with hard liquor.

"I'll have the Margarita Pamplemousse please,"Claire saw it had tequila and thought it had an interesting name.

"I'll bring those right out to you,"said the waiter.

"That sounds like an interesting drink,"Cory said with a smirk on his face. Claire was taken in by his green eyes and naturally, straight smile.

"It sounded good," When Claire smiled at him she actually showed her teeth this time.

They were looking over the menu, while the waiter brought over their drinks. As soon as the waiter put her drink down Claire took a big sip of it. Cory had not noticed so Claire took another big sip.

"What would you two like to order" said the waiter.

"I'll have the kobe burger," said Cory.

"And for you miss?"

"I'll have… the..ahi tuna and soba noodle salad." said Claire

"I'll have those right out for you,"said the waiter.

"Could I have another pamplemousse please?" Claire asked with a smile, she was already feeling buzzed after the first one. The waiter brought Claire her drink. Claire took another big sip while Cory drank his beer slowly.

"After this I'll take you to a bar bar, we can get some cheap shots."

"I woulddd….. lovveee thattttt", Claire said back to Cory smiling even wider due to her alcohol induced happiness.

By the time their food got to them Claire was past being buzzed and was venturing into drunk. She seemed more focused on her drink more than her food but would eats little pieces of her ahi tuna after a couple of sips of her cocktail. Cory started noticing that Claire was getting more inebriated throughout their dinner. By the time Cory was finished with his food Claire was on her fourth cocktail.

"Let's go to that bar you were talking about!" Claire was definitely excited now and was completely out of her shell.

"Are you sure you want to go Claire? If you want I can just take you home." Cory could tell Claire was drunk and didn't want to take advantage of her or force her to drink more.

"No way! We are….we'reee….going to that bar. The last thing I want to do is go home."Claire said as she was rolling her eyes.

Claire grabbed a waiter's arm, not their waiter, and asked for their check. Once again, before she could even offer Cory got out his wallet to pay but at this point Claire probably wouldn't have even noticed the check. Once they paid, Cory walked Claire on his arm, she was hanging onto it like she would a purse down a dark alley. He didn't want to hurt Claire's feelings by taking her home so he followed her wishes and took her to the bar.

After walking a couple of blocks they found the bar, Lou's Corner. The place was packed and Claire was stumbling through the crowd of people to find a place to sit. Luckily, some of Cory's friends were there too and already had a booth for them to sit at.

"Hey guys! This is Claire, she's my neighbor and is from California."

"Hey Claire," said the group of guys.

"Nice to meet you," Claire said with a happy, drunk look on her face.

Cory tried to get Claire to sit down with his friends so she wouldn't be stumbling around. Claire though wanted to get more drinks and managed to squeeze away and go right up to the bar and order some shots for everyone to take. Round after round after round, Claire had gotten so drunk that she had continuously started laughing at nothing. Her fair face was red and she kept falling out from the booth the guys were sitting at. Cory decided he was going to take her home and felt bad about how drunk Claire had gotten. He could tell that she was trying to use alcohol as a way to suppress her feelings, something she was very good at.

"Claire I'm going to take you home now." Cory said to Claire as he was grasping her back with his hand.

"No… Corryyy..nooo" Claire kept slurring her words.

"I know you might get mad at me but I need to" Cory slipped his arm around Claire's waist and hoisted her up. For a minute it seemed as if Claire was going to say something but surprisingly didn't. She gave in and allowed him to take her as she was in her induced alcohol daze. Cory hailed for a cab and one came to them right away. He put Claire in first and then got in on the other side of the cab.

Claire slowly fell onto Cory's lap, he thought she had passed out but she would move her arms around as if she was trying to get comfortable. Claire eventually just lied there and started to feel the unhappy side of being drunk, she started to think about Ted again. All of a sudden while her head was in Cory's lap, Claire started to tear up.

"Claire, are you okay?"

Claire didn't say anything and just continued to cry. After 10 long minutes they got to their apartment building.

"We are here Claire, can you get up or do you want me to get you?" Cory wasn't angry at Claire at all, he was genuinely concerned and spoke to her softly to not upset her more.

Claire still did not respond. Cory gently lifted her up and gently helped her out of the cab. He hoisted his arm around her waist as he did before to help her up the stairs to her apartment. Claire was still crying when they got to her door so Cory searched for her keys and found them eventually in her purse. He gently carried her to her bed and sat down with her.

As he watched Claire crying he put his hand on her back again and started to rub it gently back and forth.

"Claire, it's going to be okay."

Claire continued to cry. While she cried, Cory laid beside her holding her from behind, being there for her. Eventually after 15 minutes Claire cried herself to sleep. After she fell asleep, Cory went into her living room and went to sleep on her small couch. He decided to stay until she woke up to make sure she was okay. Even though the small couch was uncomfortable he didn't want to give Claire the impression that he wanted to sleep with her by sleeping in bed with her. Cory was becoming Claire's first real friend in New York along with being one of the few people to see Claire at her worst.