[Heroes one shot: The Little Things]

[InnerBrat]

>_> First time with Heroes fic. I'm nervous. Takes place around the time of The Fix

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It's funny, the things that hurt most.

The morning after the mess with Brody, Claire thought she had been doing fine, right up until she lied to her Dad, then she'd broken down, right there, not even caring that Lyle saw her crying. What he'd tried to do to her – what he had done to her - what she'd been through, none of that mattered compared to deceiving her Dad like that. She wasn't expecting it to hurt that much.

It's funny. The little things.

Now she's used to lying to him, she lies out of habit. She has to lie to him. She has to deal with the fact that he's been messing with her Mom's memory, with Lyle's, with Zach's. She can deal with that. The hate fuels her there and makes up for the loss. Lyle's still Lyle and Mom's… Mom's sick and that's big and Claire's going to be strong and protect her, no matter what. But it hurts.

On top of all that, her friendship with Zach should be small, unimportant. It should be. But during the day, when they're alone, looking for her birth mother, pretending to be researching manatees, or just hanging out, it's niggling at her. Whether they're ever going to be friends like they were.

Not with her freakshow. He's as cool about that as he always was. And he keeps her secrets like he did, and he's there for her and he's really sweet all the time. And it is sweet, and she likes it, and it's almost as comfortable as it was when he… when they had to start again.

But he hasn't told her yet. Hasn't told her what he told her in the car on the way to Homecoming. Why he wasn't going to be her date. Why he didn't let what Jackie said hurt him. How he'd come to like himself. Why he can like her, Claire, and that's just it – he likes her.

He hasn't told her yet, and until he's comfortable enough around her to tell her again, Claire's not going to tell him she knows. She's just going to be his friend, let him help her find her parents, and concentrate on the big things.

Because she doesn't know how to handle the little things.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Aaaaw . Quite nice