Walk Through The Memories: Chapter 3

"Why are we here?" Claire asked as Peter teleported them into Daisy's.  It was afterhours so the cafe was dark and silent. 

"This, Claire, is my anniversary present to you," he said before kissing her on the cheek.  "I'm taking you on a tour of our relationship.  There was our apartment, the place where I first realized I loved you, and now the first place we kissed."

Claire was touched and felt the tears well up in her eyes. 

"Thank you."

She looked in the back corner of the cafe to the booth she sat in the first time, over a year ago, that Peter had first kissed her. 

"Oh, I love you," she sighed as she threw her arms around him and kissed him full on the mouth.  He smiled against her lips and wrapped his arms around her waist. 

"I'm glad," he said, and she knew that he meant he loved her too.  His lips broke away from hers and started to travel down her neck. Claire's mind kept flashing back to that day in the cafe when he kissed her and the way his lips felt against hers.  The combination of the past and the present was one of the most erotic experiences she'd ever had.  She wondered if he knew how many times she'd thought about coming back here with him to do a variety of wonderfully unspeakable things.

"I feel bad I didn't get you anything," she said in a breathy tone of voice that she still wasn't used to hearing out of her own mouth.  "You are the best present ever."

He chuckled against her neck.

"I mean, this is the best present ever," she corrected, "but you too."

"You're the best present a guy could ask for, Claire," he said as he claimed his mouth with her own.  His lips worked slowly against hers and Claire could feel his reverence for her in every careful movement. 

Claire's eyes fluttered open when Peter pulled away.  She didn't even realize that they'd closed. 

"Why'd you stop?" 

He smiled.  "Tour's not done."

"You're such a tease, Peter Petrelli," she pouted.

He laughed.

"And you're a walking, talking temptation, Claire."

"This isn't an anniversary present, is it?  It's an evil plan to make out with me in every place that meant anything to us and turn me into a pile of unsatisfied, lustful mush."

"As hot as lustful mush is," Peter joked, "I promise that you won't be left unsatisfied.  You just have to be patient.  I don't want to get too distracted and not finish the tour."

"You know I don't like being patient.  Waiting four and a half years for you was long enough."

"I know."  He grabbed her hand as he kissed her and teleported them into Nathan's house.

Claire recognized the room right away, even though she actually hadn't hung out here in months.  The dark leather sofa and large television reminded her of many nights cuddled up next to Peter to watch a movie. 

"We had a lot of fun nights here," she said.

"Yeah, we did."

The house was quiet and Claire was glad that they had this moment to themselves.  Movie nights were always a sacred thing for the two of them and it wouldn't do to have Monty or Simon run into the room now as they were steeped in memory.

"Where's the rest of the family?"

"Nathan and Heidi are at a fundraiser and I think the boys are at a friend's house."

"Nice."

Peter stroked a hand through her hair and smiled softly to himself.

"You know, I really wanted to do that the last time."

"The last time?"

"I don't think I ever told you.  You know that night I found out I was adopted and you told me that you had a crush on me?"

Claire dropped her head and blushed.  "I felt so bad that I brought that up when you were dealing with everything else.  It was selfish."

Peter put his hand under her chin and lifted it up so that she was facing him again.

"Don't ever be sorry about that.  The thought of you and that conversation got me through a lot of bad times when I was feeling lost.   Watching that conversation again was how I got the perspective and courage I needed to kiss you and admit how I felt."

"Watching it again?"

Claire looked at Peter and he shrugged.

"I sort of teleported back."

Maybe she should have been weirded out, but the thought that he'd been there was comforting.  Even though she'd only seen the moody and unsure Peter, a version of him that knew he loved her had been in the room when she spoke her mind. 

She nodded and squeezed his hand. 

Claire wanted to let Peter know everything she was feeling and how much he, and this, meant to her, but she couldn't put it into words.  The question "Why did we come here to watch movies again?" came out instead.

For the first couple of years that they had regular movie nights (after she'd moved to New York for college), those nights were always held at Nathan's.  Never in Claire's dorm or apartment and never at Peter's. 

"He has a big screen TV," Peter replied, "and it was neutral territory." 

Claire looked at the fifty inch plasma TV and nodded in agreement.  Being at Nathan's had helped her, somewhat, in curtailing her inappropriate desires for Peter at the time as well.  It was probably good, she realized, that they'd been forced to truly become friends first before anything more...even if the way they'd been forced away from a romantic relationship still tore her up if she let herself think about it too long. 

"Where to next?" she asked.

"I have a few more stops planned," he said as he tugged on her hand.  "Ready?"

“Yes,” she replied and they teleported again.  Peter took her to places that she remembered vividly – the first place they made love, the restaurant they’d gone to on their first official date – and places she couldn’t believe that he remembered – a bench in Central Park where they talked one afternoon and he touched her hair, the dance floor where she’d almost given in to kissing him before she knew he felt the same. 

They danced again and Claire held him tight, grateful that the man in front of her loved her enough to do this.  She must’ve done something right in her life to deserve him. 

It was unbelievable that hours ago she thought he didn’t care.  She should’ve known better.  Peter always cared.  That’s what made him who he was. 

He twirled her around and she smiled.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Always.”