Picture Perfect - 4/4
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Chapter Four
“Shannon, help?” Claire asks her roommate.
“Whatcha need?” Shannon doesn’t even look up from her homework.
“I need help with special task two on the scavenger hunt.”
Shannon looks up and frowns. “We’re not supposed to help the new sisters with that, but… what do you need?”
Claire bites her lower lip. “I need to place a personal ad in the paper to get a date. I have no clue what to write.”
“You have to do what?” Shannon yelps. When she was a pledge, they just had to steal a frat boy’s boxers. She knew that Shelby was using the scavenger hunt to find Claire a new guy, but she had no clue that it was going to involve a personal ad.
“Yeah, I know. That’s what I said! Help me, please?”
“Um… wow, that’s a hard task. I guess we should start with listing what you’re looking for and then a bit about you? How about you work on that for five minutes, so I can finish my statistics homework, and then we’ll work together. I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”
An hour later, the girls put down their papers and pens. Shannon reads over their work again, and then declares “I think that’s perfect.”
“I think I’m going to get hit on by perverts and creeps.” Claire really wishes that she hadn’t agreed to do this. “Can we cut out the line about ‘I’ll be your own personal cheerleader’?”
“It’s cute, and accurate. Come on, I know you’ve heard bad things about online dating and personal ads, but I’m sure it’s not all creeps and weirdoes out there.”
“Yeah, but something tells me that this ad’s going to attract the losers.”
“Look, it’s perfect, and you don’t have to go out with all the guys that answer - you just need one. Surely one normal, nice, non-creepy guy will answer.” Shannon’s almost certain that one will; she can’t imagine that Shelby has set all this in action but doesn’t have a guy already waiting in the wings. She needs to double-check with her though, just to be sure.
Claire doesn’t look convinced.
- - - - - - - - - -
“I’m not doing this. No. Absolutely not,” he tries to convince her to leave him alone. God knows he loves her, but sometimes she drives him insane. Sylar whispers to him that he should have just killed her when he’d had a chance. He ignores the voice in his head.
“Come on, Gabriel. Please?” Shelby begs. “She’s such a sweet girl, and she just dumped her loser boyfriend. Just one date, just so she can say that the last guy she kissed wasn’t an absolute ass.”
“Who said anything about kissing? I thought this was just a date.” He’s not agreeing to this. What would he ever have in common with some sorority girl?
“I might have made it a condition of the scavenger hunt that she has to have picture proof of an end-of-night kiss. That’s it. Just a quick peck and you’re out of there. Please, Gabriel? Her ex is such a loser; you’d really be doing an act of mercy to take her out for one nice night.”
He wants to tell her no. He wants to tell her the truth, that’s he’s been a bad, bad man that she shouldn’t let near any of her friends, but he doesn’t want to lose his cousin. She’d hang up the phone, and he’d never see her again. “No, Shelby. I’m sure your little friend wouldn’t want anything to do with me. I wouldn’t be a good man for a girl on the rebound.”
“You’ve got no self-esteem. Not to speak ill of the dead, but I blame Aunt Virginia for that.”
He winces at the reminder of his mother and his crimes, even if Shelby’s unaware of them. “Shelby, drop it. Please.”
“Come on, Gabriel. You’ll love Claire. Cute, petite, blonde. Rumor is she used to be a cheerleader. You’re just her type - tall, dark, handsome. Um… let’s forget that I just described a family member as handsome because that’s ewww, but yeah, you’re perfect for her.”
Claire. Blonde. Cheerleader. His heart skips a beat. He can’t exactly ask his cousin if her friend is his old… friend, but he can bait her into telling him more. “Let me guess, she’s from California. No, Shelby, you know I like a nice Southern drawl.”
“That’s why she’s so perfect for you! She’s originally from Texas.”
“Oh?” He can’t hide the note of interest in his voice.
“Yeah, um… Odyssey or Odessa or something like that. Please, Gabriel?”
“You’re going to owe me.” He knows that’s a lie; he’s going to owe her for leading him straight to Claire Bennet.
“Anything, anything at all. Oh, this is working exactly according to my plan. Thank you!” She hangs up on him, and he holds his head in his hands. Shelby’s giving him exactly what he’d wanted for years on a silver platter, and he can’t take it. It’s a catch-22, and he knows he can’t win.
- - - - - - - - - -
Claire’s hands start shaking as she reaches for her mail. “I can’t do this, you do it.” She begs Shannon.
“Don’t be such a baby. They’re just letters. We’ll sort through them, toss the crap, and then you can call the lucky winner. I’m sure there’s a knight in shining armor hiding in there.” She knows for a fact there is; Shelby convinced her cousin to respond to the ad.
“Glad you’re more optimistic than I am.” Claire’s still shaking.
Shannon grabs out the letters, and quickly counts them. “Wow. We got twenty-three responses! That’s great, babe, that should give us a lot to work with.”
“Let’s just get this over with.”
They sit down to their work, and quickly they’re laughing and talking animatedly. “Eww, he sent pictures of himself - naked pictures. Ewww.” Shannon laughs as she holds onto a photo by the corner.
“Cute?” Claire can’t stop herself from asking.
“No.” Shannon makes a face. “If he was cute, I’d keep the picture for our photo board. Instead, we need to build a bonfire. Ewww. Do we have any instant hand sanitizer? I think I need it after that one.”
“Nope, sorry. Oh, how about this one? He sounds good.” Claire reads on a bit further. “Oh. No. He can’t go on a date for another eight to ten years, unless I want to visit him at the prison. I think I’m going to have to pass.”
Shannon laughs, and then does a double take at the letter she just opened. “No photos in this one, thank God, but he wants to know if you can play Princess Leia to his Luke Skywalker. Wait, I thought those two were related?”
“They are. Great, you found me a geek. A kinky geek. Next.” Claire laughs again. “I didn’t think we were going to have this much fun.”
“Told you so.” Shannon calls out in a sing-song voice. “Why were you so worried about this?”
“I don’t exactly have a stellar track-record with guys, you know.” Claire confesses. “Let’s see - the guys that I liked have either been gay, tried to rape me, tried to kill me, turned out to be my uncle, or worse yet, turned out to be West.”
“One of your crushes tried to kill you?” Shannon sounds horrified.
“No, he tried to kill me first. It was during all the screaming and running away that I noticed that he was really hot.” Claire hates to admit that she was attracted to Sylar, but it’s not like Shannon will know all the dirty details.
Shannon hugs her. “You’re right; you have crappy taste in guys. That’s why the scheme is so perfect - you’re guaranteed to get a guy that’s been approved by one of your sisters. We’re not going to let you go out with some creep that’s going to treat you like crap and make you cry. Now let’s finish going through these letters.”
It’s not more than two minutes later when Shannon cries out “Oh, hello, I think I’ve found someone!”
“What now? Let me guess, he has thirteen cats and lives with his mom?” Claire quips sarcastically.
“No, really, I think I found someone. Late twenties, college educated, and he sounds like your type.”
Claire leans over Shannon’s shoulder to read the letter. “Oh. He does sound nice. Huh.”
Shannon knew before she opened that letter that it was from Shelby’s cousin, but she wasn’t expecting him to sound so good. She wonders how much of it is true. “Come on, Claire. Its destiny calling. Or, actually, it should be you calling. Do it!”
Claire looks over the letter again. “How? There’s no phone number, just an email address.”
“Even easier. Email him, right now.”
- - - - - - - - - -
He stares at his computer screen, and wishes that he was still in his Sylar days. He’d just kill his cousin, and he’d be out of this mess. He sternly reminds himself that he’s given all that up. When he’d lost his powers for the second time, he’d decided to take it as a sign to go back to life as Gabriel. He’d gone to the Company, and they’d treated him for his split personality, and then they’d treated his lack of powers. He still doesn’t understand why they hadn’t just executed him on the spot, instead of curing him. Every day, he wonders why they’d given him his powers back and let him go. Sylar’s still in the back of his head, taunting him, but he hopes he’s the stronger of the two personalities. He’s not going to let Sylar back out of his cage again, he promises himself, but he’s not sure he’s always going to be strong enough to keep the promise.
Claire has sent him an email, and he doesn’t know what to do. He’s made promises to Shelby, but he doesn’t know if he can face Claire. He knows he should take advantage of this opportunity to apologize to her, to try to make reparations for his sins against her, but he just wants to run away. He can’t insure that when she’s in front of him that he won’t turn into a monster again; she’s too much of a temptation to him.
He looks at the photo of a much younger version of himself and Shelby, and sighs, placing his fingers on the keyboard. He could email Claire without turning into a ravenous beast, he tells himself. Just because they exchange emails, that doesn’t mean he has to come face to face with her.
- - - - - - - - - -
“So, what’s he like?” Shannon throws herself on Claire’s bed, and looks over at her roomie.
“He seems sweet. Shy, but sweet.” She doesn’t mention that she’s kind of falling for him, just based on their few online conversations. Shannon will just make too much of a fuss over that nugget of information.
Shannon looks over at the calendar, and sees the big red circle on Saturday. Claire’s got to go through with this in the next two days if she wants to win the scavenger hunt. “When’s the big date?”
Claire blushes, and she can’t understand why she's blushing. “Tonight.”
Shannon leaps to her feet. “Why aren’t you getting ready already? Oh my God, what time is he going to be here?”
“Relax.” Claire smiles at her roomie. “I’m ready. We agreed to go low-key, meet at the coffee house. I don’t want him to know where we live, just in case he is some sort of mass murderer, and I can leave whenever if I get uncomfortable.” She looks down at her jeans and sneakers. “Why, is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“Well, it’s not very date-like, but it’s fine.” Shannon frowns. “I just wanted you to make a spectacular impression on him. What’s if he’s The One, and you meet him wearing grubby sneakers?”
“Then he won’t have any false impressions about what I’m like. Besides, The One? Since when did you start believing in that fairy tale?” Claire teases her sister. “I thought you believed in hot men and hotter sex.”
Shannon sticks her tongue out at Claire. “True. I was just trying to think more like you. You know, I could clear out for awhile if you want to bring him back here.”
“Actually, I need another favor from you.” Claire hates to ask. “Any chance you can follow us with a camera? Shelby wants picture proof.”
“Sure, no prob. If you change your mind and do want me gone, just bring him back here and close the door. I’ll take a bag with me when we go; I can always stay at Tif’s.” Shannon grins at her.
“I’m not going to bring a random stranger back to our dorm room for a one night stand.” Claire groans. “What type of girl do you think I am?”
“I’m offering just in case.” Shannon puts her hands up in a sign of capitulence. “Do you want me to call Tif so we can both tail you?”
Claire thinks about it for a minute. “Sure, the more the merrier. It’ll be a group date; we just won’t bother to tell him.”
- - - - - - - - - -
“Dad, please, don’t make me do this.”
“West, you know that it’s unprofessional to call me that while we’re discussing Company business. I’ve already explained to you several times how important Claire is to the Company, and how you must get her back. I don’t understand what the problem is.”
“The problem is that I’m stalking my ex-girlfriend and her friends! That’s not right!”
Bob sighs. “In our line of work, we cannot confuse ourselves with talk of right and wrong. At best, we’re morally gray. You know this. Now, just go in there and break up that little date. She cannot be allowed to take up with him.”
West laughs bitterly. “Yeah, this is going to work out well.”
“If you do it correctly, it will work out. Just embarrass her and run that man off. Seriously, West, must I tell you how to do everything?”
“I’m going to get beat up, if not killed, and it’s all your fault. You do realize that, don’t you? I don’t stand a chance against Sylar.”
“You’re just as much of a drama queen as Elle is. I’ve already told you that Gabriel’s harmless. We took care of that. Now, go in there and make me proud for once.”
- - - - - - - - - -
He’s sitting on one of the stools at the counter, waiting for Claire to show up, and he wonders what’s going to happen. He’s so nervous he can’t keep his legs from shaking. His phone rings, and he looks down at the caller ID to see Shelby’s calling him.
“What now?” He growls into the phone.
“Stop that damn shaking.” She sounds irritated. “I know you’re nervous, but everything’s going to be fine.”
“Where are you?” He looks around. She has to be there if she can see him.
“Corner booth in the back. Did you honestly think I was going to let you go through this alone, Gabriel? If it looks like you need bailing out, I’ll come ‘accidentally’ bump into you two. Don’t worry about anything. Oh, she’s here! Love ya, bye!” She hangs up on him, and he’s twice as nervous now.
He watches three girls enter the shop, and two of them go to join his cousin in her booth. Great, he’s got a whole galley of watchers now. Claire stands there, looking lost, and he feels sorry for her. She’s got to be as nervous as he is. He makes his way over to her, and hesitantly addresses her. “Claire?”
She whirls around to face him, and the blood drains from her face. “Oh God.”
“I normally answer to Gabriel.” He tries to joke with her, but sees that he’s failed miserably. “I’m the guy you’re here to meet. I’m not here to hurt you, honest. That’s not me any more. I’m just here for pleasant conversation and coffee. If you can’t handle that, then I’m here for coffee and letting you curse me for ruining your life. It’s up to you.”
Claire doesn’t know what to do. He’d seen her enter with her friends, so she can’t run out just in case he targets them for revenge. She can’t stay, it can’t possibly be safe. She doesn’t know what to do, so she lets him lead her to a small table near the fireplace. He pulls out a chair for her, and she falls into it woodenly. He takes a seat across from her and just looks at her.
“What do you want?” She whispers.
“To apologize, first. I’m so sorry about making your life a living hell and for trying to kill you.” He answers quietly, and she makes eye contact with him. She can see guilt in his eyes, and wonders if it’s for real or an act. “I lost my powers twice within a year. It made me think. I swear to you I’ve given up the killing thing. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I don’t believe you.” She doesn’t want to tell him she thinks he’s a liar, it’s a dangerous thing to do, but she can’t lie to him.
“I know you don’t. I didn’t expect you would. I knew this wasn’t going to work. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. If you want to leave now, you can.” He bows his head, and studies the pattern on the table top so he won’t have to watch her walk away.
She doesn’t know why she’s not getting up and walking away. She sits there for a minute, sternly telling her legs to get up and run her away from him, but she continues to sit there. It’d be nice to be able to say that she’s there as a sacrificial lamb to keep her friends safe, but she knows it’s got more to do with how she’s always been a little bit attracted to him.
He finally raises his head and sees that she’s still there. “I didn’t think you’d stay.”
“I didn’t think I would either. Look, I’m here because my sorority made me go on a date with a stranger. Can we at least get something to drink and pretend that we don’t know each other? I’d rather sit with the devil that I know than do this again with a stranger that I don’t know.” She reaches for her purse, and he leans across the table to stop her. They both freeze when his hand makes contact with her arm. She feels sparks that she’s never felt with West, and she blushes.
“Here, let me. What do you want?” he offers.
Claire frowns. “I can get it; I don’t want to be beholden to you because of a cappuccino.”
He smiles sadly at her. “I think a cappuccino is nothing in comparison to what I owe you.” He gets up and walks to the counter, and she can’t stop herself from watching him. Her phone rings, and she knows who’s calling.
“Hey, it looks like its going good! You don’t look nearly as nervous now as you did when you first met him. I swear, we could see sparks when he touched your arm. We’ve got some great photos already.” Shannon sounds almost giddy.
Claire laughs nervously. “Yeah. Listen, how about you all leave? Now. Please, get out of here.” She needs to get her friends away from him, just in case he’s playing her for a fool.
“No, silly. I told you, we’ll follow you back to the dorm; we’ll get lost there if you want us to, but we need photos of that kiss. Oh, he’s coming back! Bye!” The phone goes dead.
Shannon was right; he was coming back. He places the coffee in front of her, and looks at the phone in her hands. “Let me guess, your friends are calling to check up on you?”
“Something like that. Please don’t hurt them.” She takes a sip of her coffee.
He reaches for her free hand, and grasps it. She feels a surge of heat that has nothing to do with her hot beverage, and she looks up into his eyes again. “I promise you, I’m not going to hurt you ever again. I’ve changed.” He looks conflicted for a minute, and then sighs. “I’ve got something else to confess,” he says, taking a moment to close his eyes and take a deep breath before speaking again. Then-“this whole thing is all a set-up. My cousin’s one of your friends, she’s the one who did all of this.”
She gasps, and his hand tightens around hers.
He quickly continues. “She doesn’t know anything about our past, or me being Sylar, or any of that. It’s not that type of set-up. I would never ever hurt a hair on her head, and if you’re one of her sorority sisters, the same goes for you too.”
Claire thinks for a minute, and then realizes who’s set her up. “Shelby.” Oddly enough, she’s starting to believe him.
He nods, and takes a long sip of his drink. She can smell the vanilla scent wafting from the cup when he lifts it, and it smells heavenly. He catches the look on her face, and smiles. “I take it you’re a vanilla fan?”
“Yeah.” She looks at her own drink again, wishing that she’d gotten what he has.
Gabriel easily reads the look on her face. “Want to trade, or do you want me to go get you one of these? I don’t mind.”
She’s going to say yes when she notices West entering the café. “Oh, God.”
“Now, Claire, we’ve discussed this.” He jokes, then notices where her gaze falls. “Oh. The evil ex, I take it? Shelby told me a little bit about him.” He’s still holding her hand, and he slowly grazes his thumb back and forth on top of hers in an attempt to calm her down. His pulse races at the thought that he can touch her like this without her running away, and he can hear a loud pounding in his ears. It takes a few seconds before he realizes that while his heart’s going “thud,” he’s hearing “dub”, and then he realizes that Claire’s heart is racing just as fast as his. He starts to let go of her hand, afraid that he’s scared her, but doesn’t when he sees the slight frown on her face. “Claire?”
“I can’t believe I’m asking this, but don’t make me face him alone.” Her heart’s beating even faster, and he realizes that she’s more scared of her ex-boyfriend than she is of him. His eyes narrow. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” He vaguely remembers Shelby telling him that she was worried that one of her sisters had an abusive boyfriend, and he hopes it wasn’t Claire.
“Not really. It’s kind of hard to hurt someone like me.” She looks over where West is, and hopes that he doesn’t see her. “I’m worried he’s going to cause a scene.”
Gabriel scoots his chair closer to hers, and is shocked to see her leaning closer to him, as if he can comfort and protect her. He wonders exactly what this boy did to the unbreakable cheerleader to make her seem so vulnerable. His eyes narrow when he sees that she’s shaking.
West sees them, and heads over to their table. Claire accidentally knocks over her coffee, and Gabriel just can’t understand why she’s so anxious.
“Well, Claire, didn’t take you long.” He sneers at her, and then turns his glare to Gabriel.
She responds before he can say anything else. “Hello, West. Can’t we pretend to be civil at least?”
He ignores her and addresses Gabriel. “A little advice, man - I wouldn’t waste my time, if I were you. She’s not going to put out until at least the fifth date. She’s not very good, anyhow.” He puts his hands on her shoulders, and squeezes hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. “Complete waste of time.”
As soon as he sees the tears and hears her faint gasp of pain, Gabriel’s on his feet before he has time to think. “I strongly suggest you remove your hands from the lady before I remove them for you.”
- - - - - - - - - -
“Oooh, trouble at three o’clock.” Tif mutters as she sees West entering the coffee shop. Shannon and Shelby swivel so they can see what’s going on.
“Damn.” Shannon mutters. “He must have been following us. What should we do?”
They watch as West grabs Claire’s shoulders and Shelby’s cousin jumps to his feet. “Oh great, Gabriel’s going to get the crap beat out of him.” Shelby doesn’t want to look, but she can’t turn away.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. West’s only a big man when he’s pushing Claire around, and your cousin’s kinda tall and muscle-y.”
Shelby shakes her head. “He’s never been in a fight in his entire life. He’s a watchmaker. He’s going to get slaughtered unless we do something.”
“Better do it soon, then.” Shannon interrupts. “They’re headed to the door.” She brings up her camera and snaps a picture of Gabriel pushing West out into the parking lot, Claire following behind the two men. She sees the looks the others give her and shrugs. “What? I thought I was supposed to be documenting the date. This is exciting!”
- - - - - - - - - -
The boy laughs at him. “So, Claire, you’ve found another hero to save you. Big surprise there. Have to say, I’d thought you’d pick someone a bit more capable. Your new man looks a bit wimpy.”
It’s a struggle to keep control. Sylar’s stopped whispering in the back of his head, favoring hoarse shouting instead. It would be so easy to let Sylar out and let him gleefully demolish Claire’s cocky ex. He’s shaking as he tries to stay calm and not turn into a monster.
“My hands are still on her. What are you going to do about it?” West taunts him, a patently stupid idea.
If he was still Sylar, he’d kill the boy on the spot just for laughing at him. As Gabriel, he can’t kill anyone for any reason if he wants a chance at redeeming his soul. Claire whimpers again, and he doesn’t even realize it when he uses his telekinesis to quickly twist West’s scaphoid and triquetrum bones around each other, breaking the whelp’s left wrist.
West yelps, and releases Claire so that he can cradle his left hand with his right. As soon as she’s free, he’s pushing the boy out the door both physically and mentally. He doesn’t even notice when Claire trails behind them. A quick flick of TK, and West slams into one of the cars in the parking lots. “Now, I believe you owe Miss Bennet an apology. Do I have to beat it out of you?”
“Gabriel, stop, please.” Claire’s grasping his right arm, trying to pull him back. “Don’t kill him, he’s not worth it.”
He turns to face her. “I wasn’t going to kill him, just teach him a few manners. I told you, I’m not like that anymore.”
“Gabriel!” Shelby comes running out the door, and then comes to an abrupt stop when she sees West injured on the ground, and Gabriel standing there with Claire. “Huh, that’s unexpected.”
Tif and Shannon are right on Shelby’s heels. “Ha, I told you!” Tif crows. “I told you that West was going to get his ass beat.”
They all stand and watch as West tries to pick himself up off the ground. Gabriel can’t help but notice that Claire’s still holding onto his arm, but he’s not about to say anything about it. As West regains his feet, her grasp tightens a bit, and he realizes that she’s still scared of the boy. “It’s ok,” he whispers into her ear, “he’s not going to hurt you. It’s ok.” West takes a step towards them, still cradling his left arm, and Claire starts shaking again. Gabriel pulls his arm out of her grasp so that he can wrap it around her and pull her tighter against his body in a protective gesture.
West looks at them, and Gabriel waits for the boy to say a word, just one word, but he’s smarter than he looks, and walks off into the night silently, limping slightly. Everyone lets out a breath they didn’t know they were holding, and the situation is suddenly much less tense than it was a few minutes earlier.
“Well, this has been fun.” Claire laughs, and then looks up at him. “What do you have planned for the rest of the evening?”
He looks at his date, his cousin, and the other two girls, then makes a quick decision. “Ice cream okay with everyone? My treat.”
- - - - - - - - - -
The group laughs as they walk out of Ben and Jerry’s and start walking back towards the dorms. Shelby’s hanging off his left arm, and Claire’s holding his right hand. Tiffany and Shannon are walking just slightly in front of them. It might just be the best night in his entire life.
They come to a branch in the path, and Shelby releases his arm and leans up to press a kiss on his cheek. “My dorm’s this way, cuz. I’m going to walk on back. How about you walk these three to their rooms, and call me in the morning, ok? Night, girls!” She waves at them as she walks off. Gabriel wants to go after her, make sure that she gets home safely, but he knows that Claire and Shannon need his protection more. He’s determined to walk them home, just to make sure that West isn’t waiting on them in their dorm.
Tif fakes a yawn. “I don’t think I can walk all the way back. I’ll just go crash with Shelby.” She turns to follow, then stops. “It was nice meeting you, Gabriel. Have a good night.” She runs off, yelling at Shelby to stop and wait for her.
“Wimp,” Shannon mutters, “she knows that West doesn’t know where Shelby lives.” She doesn’t mention that it’s part of the plan - Shelby and Tif are going to circle around and meet her in the dorm a little bit later.
He’s surprised to find out that the girls had been considering the possibilities on the walk home, and he frowns. “Do you two want to stay with Shelby, too? I don’t mind taking you there instead.”
“No.” Claire speaks up. “I’m not hiding from him. He’s not going to try anything. Not tonight, at least. Really, he’s mostly all talk.”
“Ditto. I’m not ever going to hide from a creep like that.” Shannon grins at them. “Besides, I have pepper spray and a mean left hook. And with you there, he’s going to leave us alone. He only pulled this crap tonight to see if Claire was going to crawl back to him or not. I’m sure he thought he’d show up, act all menacing, and show up her new guy, and she’d take him back.”
He thinks that Shannon’s casual mention of him being Claire’s “new guy” will make Claire realize that she’s still holding his hand and drop it, but it doesn’t. She merely looks up at him and smiles. He’s encouraged that maybe, just maybe, he stands a chance with her.
They walk in silence the rest of the way back to the dorm. When they get there, he holds the door to the dorm open as the girls go in. It’s a short walk up the stairs to their room, and he’s pleased to see that there’s no sign of West. He waits for the girls to unlock their door, hesitant about the night ending. He doesn’t want to leave already.
Shannon pushes the door open, and walks in. She drops her purse on her bed, and turns around to face them, holding her camera up. “Ok, go ahead.”
He feels stupid when he has to ask for clarification. “Go ahead what?”
“Shelby did tell you all the details, didn’t she?” Shannon frowns slightly.
Gabriel suddenly remembers Shelby talking about an end-of-night kiss, and groans. “Can I just pay you to forget about that or to lie about it?”
“Nope, we need picture proof. Please, you guys have been holding hands ever since we left the coffee house, this shouldn’t be a problem. Oh, don’t even act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s just a little kiss. Claire, you know you have to do this.” Shannon grins at them.
“Well?” Gabriel turns to face Claire, but she won’t meet his eyes. He thinks the blush staining her cheeks is adorable. He uses his left hand to tilt her face up towards him and makes her look at him. “If you don’t want to, we certainly don’t have to,” he offers.
Without looking away from him, she warns Shannon. “Better be sure there’s no sort of camera malfunction.”
“I’m all ready; just kiss for like five seconds. I promise I’ll get it.” Shannon holds up the camera and holds her finger right over the shutter release.
“This is so awkward.” Claire mutters, then smiles at him. “Of course, we’ve been in more awkward situations.” She takes a deep breath, gathers her courage, and leans up to press her lips against his.
She doesn’t know what she’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. It’s like kissing a live electrical wire; certainly unlike any kiss she’s ever had before. She hears the click of the camera and then sees the flash of the camera from behind her closed eyelids, but she can’t pull away. Instead, she lets go of his hand so that she can wrap both hands behind his neck, deepening the kiss. She’s thrilled when he pulls her closer to him instead of pushing her away.
- - - - - - - - - -
Shannon wants to do a happy little dance around the room when she sees that Shelby’s plan has been successful. She’d been worried that they’d do a quick kiss for the photo, then jump apart and act all shy and embarrassed. Instead, she’s fairly certain that they’ve forgotten she’s still there. Claire’s got her hands around his neck, running her fingers through his hair, and he’s got one hand on her hip and one on her waist. She’s fairly certain that it’s evolved from a simple peck on the lips into a fairly involved French kiss when both of them start moaning.
Seeing how heated the kiss is getting and how Gabriel’s taking steps forward so that he can pin Claire against the wall, she makes a quick decision. She grabs her purse and bag, and tiptoes out of the room, closing and locking the door behind her. Once out in the hall, she pins a “do not disturb” sign to the door and skips down the hallway and down the stairs. Shelby and Tif are waiting for her in the lobby. “Well?” they both ask at the same time.
“Total success.” She gives them a thumbs up. “A really hot total success. They completely forgot I was there. I’m definitely going to need to find someplace else to crash tonight.”
Tif and Shelby both squeal in delight. They just knew it was going to work. Shelby’s plans always work.
Sequels:
Picture Perfect: Passion
Picture Perfect: Princesses