Behind Closed Doors

[swfc]

Aww, loved that teaser. So cute.

Lol Clare is not too good for him - they're perfect for each other

Glad I'm helping the anti-Panda cause

Lol, why didn't I just say that they were perfect. Lol... Yup you are indeedy.

Hope I didnt rush it too much

Didn't look that rushed to me. It was great. Don't worry.

[allibaz91]

Finally an update Thanks loads to Lil for helping me out with the middle of this chapter

Chapter 28

Peter woke up the next morning to find Clare still sleeping next to him. He watched her for a few moments, then slipped quietly out of the bed, pulling on his clothes from the night before. Clothes, which just happened to be strewn all over the bedroom floor. He snuck downstairs as quietly as he could and made a start on breakfast. After how perfect last night had been, he wanted to surprise her.

“Hey …” Clare appeared in the kitchen about ten minutes later, wearing one of his shirts, which was far too big for her. She came over and slid her arms around him.

“You were supposed to be asleep for another five minutes,” he chided her.

“I just woke up, and you were gone,” she replied. “I thought maybe you’d gotten self-conscious again, or maybe you regretted what happened last night …”

“Not a chance,” Peter consoled her, and he turned away from the cooker and pulled her closer to him, kissing her passionately. “You’re stuck with me now, Brody.”

“Is that a promise?” she asked him, smiling, and kissed him back.

Peter laughed and turned back to his cooking. Clare kissed him on the cheek, half-laughing, then went through to the living room and picked up the phone. A moment later, she came back into the room, looking disheartened. He glanced at her.

“Still can’t get through to Julie or Luce,” she told him in answer to his blank look. “Do you really think we’re never going to see her again? Jules was pretty mad.”

“I’m so sorry about this whole mess …” he said regretfully, but Clare smiled.

“Don’t be,” she said. “It was a long time coming. Julie had to learn that she couldn’t treat Lucy the way she does. I wish I’d seen it sooner – but I barely saw her …”

“It’s not your fault!” Peter took the breakfast off the burner and hugged her tight. “She’ll come to her senses soon enough. Lucy’s tough. She’ll be all right.”

“I know you’re right,” Clare sighed. “I just worry about her. I don’t think I even remember the last time I saw Jules get that angry … I tell a lie. I do remember. It was when she was fourteen and I was nine. I ripped the head off her favourite doll.”

“You used to rip the heads off dolls?” Peter repeated. “That’s a little disturbing.”

“Only once!” she laughed. “Besides – she stole my bike and rode it off the rode and into a tree. I loved that bike – it was pink and sparkly. She had it coming.”

“So you took it out on her doll? Why couldn’t you just have … I don’t know, stolen her cake at the dinner table or something, like a normal child?”

“I wasn’t normal then, and I doubt even you’d call me it now,” she retorted.

“I must be out of my mind to love you this much,” he informed her. She grinned and reached out, and snatched a sausage from under his nose. He laughed as she took a huge bite out of it, and held it out to him. He also bit a chunk off, and she dropped the remainder back onto the plate.

“It’s good,” Clare giggled, lifting the plates off the counter and carrying them off. “Why don’t we take this upstairs and eat?”

“What, you just can’t get enough of me?” Peter joked. She threw him a look.

“Get over yourself, Baker!” she joked. “I mean, I can eat both alone if I have to …”

“Because you’re a pig?” he suggested, and she laughed.

“Fine then – eat alone!” she said, sticking her tongue out. She turned her back on him and began walking away, but he came up behind her and grabbed her, tickling her madly and causing her to drop the plates. She squealed aloud.

“I hope you know you’re cleaning that up!” she cried, but she couldn’t stop giggling as he tickled her wildly, kissing her neck. “Peter!!”

“Tell me you don’t love it,” he teased her, picking her up off the ground.

“Tell me you love me,” she replied. He turned her around to face him, no longer laughing.

“I do love you,” he said quietly, saying it and looking into her eyes for the first time.

Clare bit her lip, smiling, and kissed him lovingly for several moments.

“I love you too,” she whispered, holding him close to her. “I don’t know what I would do without you here. I mean … you’re everything to me, Pete.”

“You know I feel the same way,” Peter said sincerely. “Right?”

“Yeah, I know,” she smiled, and he could tell she meant it. He then grinned cheekily and swung her around in the air, and carried her away upstairs, laughing.

**********

“You know something really weird?” Clare said softly, lying wrapped in Peter’s arms some two hours later, staring at the ceiling and smiling peacefully.

“Sure, lots of weird things nobody cares about,” he replied, and she grinned.

“I was actually referring to a particular weird thing,” she said, and he laughed.

“Do enlighten me with your superior wisdom, darling,” he said in a posh accent.

“Shut up! No, what I meant is, this is exactly how I imagined we’d end up someday. When I first fell in love with you, I always pictured we’d wind up living in some rundown old house, because neither of us could ever be bothered with housework. And it’d just be you and me, together, and everything we did would be because we wanted to. You know, having a laugh. Like this.”

“Well I’m glad I provide good entertainment,” Peter joked, and Clare smacked him.

“You are such a child, you know that?” she told him. “A little kid at heart.”

“And you love me for it really. That, and the fact I’m just so irresistible, of course!”

“If that weren’t undeniably true I’d hit you again,” she said sleepily. “But unfortunately I wouldn’t have any excuse. You know I always thought you were pretty damn cute.”

“Yeah, that’s why you wouldn’t even tell me your name, right?”

“Never heard of playing hard to get before?”

Clare rolled over and kissed his face tenderly. He stroked her cheek.

“You were far too good at it,” Peter teased her, and she laughed out loud.

“Well as long as it worked, I’m happy,” she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I always figured we’d end up living in some dump like this too,” he admitted. “You and me in the middle of nowhere – frequently pestered by Dan, of course.”

“You always did figure him into your plans somehow. It’s sweet, really.”

“Well, he’s my brother,” he reasoned. “He’s the one I talk to about this kind of stuff, you know? He looked up to me. We spent our whole childhood getting into trouble.”

“You mean you got him into trouble,” Clare interrupted, and Peter laughed.

“Mostly, yeah! He got me into trouble too. Usually by ratting me out to my dad, of course! The time I burned down the shed out the back. The time I whacked him in the eye with a cricket ball. He was so mad that day – he ran around screaming he’d been blinded!”

“Had he been?” she asked cheekily, and he rolled his eyes.

“Temporarily, maybe,” he said vaguely. “But it was kids’ stuff. I never dreamed we would grow up to still have the same kinds of arguments at this age.”

“You really miss him, don’t you?” Clare asked, looking into his eyes.

“Yeah, I do …”

They lay there for a few moments, until the phone rang. Clare moved to get up.

“Ignore it; the machine will pick up,” Peter said lazily. She laughed.

“I’ll be right back,” she promised, pulling on a dressing gown and heading downstairs.

“You owe me!” he shouted after her. He heard her pick up, and the murmur of her voice floated up to him, but he couldn’t distinguish any particular words. A few minutes later, she came back into the room, and sat down on the bed, looking stunned.

“Clare?” he sat up in bed and put a hand on her shoulder, worried. “What is it?”

“Uh, it’s, it’s Julie,” she said, seeming shocked. “That was her friend Aaron. Jules apparently passed on our number to him, asked him to deliver a message.”

“What did she say?” Peter asked quickly, sensing trouble. Clare swallowed.

“She’s leaving the country with Lucy tonight. She never wants to hear from me again. And if we try and contact her, she’s going to get an injunction against us. As far as Julie’s concerned, we are no longer family. I’m dead to her.”

More soonish, I hope!!

[Lilone]

Peter Baker is such a cheeky man lol

I love long updates Alli

Loved the chapter and how Dan got a mention

Hope we see more of this Aaron guy

x x

p.s no worries I'm happy to lend a piece of my wisdom anytime

[*~Abi~*]

LOl a Pete he's a right cheeky devil! I dont think luce is going to be too happy about not seeing clare and pete agian in thats what Julie has said

wicked add hun

more soonies this is a great fic

[swfc]

Lol, he's so cheeky. Loved this chapter. It was quite lighthearted.

Not very happy about the cliffhanger bit, tho.

[allibaz91]

Lol what cliffhanger? I would never do that

Lol glad you enjoyed the long chapter, Lil! I still think it was too long though

The idea was for some light relief before I become mean again

Thanks for commenting everyone!

Will update soon

[allibaz91]

Chapter 29

A whole week went by, and things with Clare became pretty strained. She hardly spoke unless spoken to any more. She would smile but it was obvious she didn’t mean it. And when Peter kissed her or touched her, she didn’t flinch, but she always seemed to be distracted. He still loved her, and it killed him to see her so miserable. She wouldn’t admit it, of course. But he knew. She was devastated to have lost her family so suddenly. He wished he could help somehow …

And then one day it came to him. Quite suddenly, sitting in front of the TV one day, he had another of his infamous brainwaves. The reason they were infamous was that he very rarely had them, but when he did, they were rather spectacular, if he said so himself! He waited until Clare decided to run up to the shops later that afternoon.

“I won’t be long,” she said, with a smile that was obviously forced. It hurt him.

“Yeah, no problem,” he said encouragingly, and he kissed her lovingly. She gave another of those tight smiles and left. He ran for the phone.

*******************

“Peter?” Clare called, coming into the house about forty minutes later. “Are you upstairs?” Peter hid in the shadows under the stairs by the kitchen door, watching her enter the living room. From behind he saw her throw down her keys and lift the printed sheet of paper on the table; a fax he had only received moments ago. He watched her read through it, and could picture the look of surprise on her face. This was it. He slipped out of the shadows and came up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck.

“Pete, I don’t understand …” she said hesitantly. “London? What is all this?”

“This is exactly what you need to take your mind off things,” he informed her. “You, me, and a week of pure relaxation in your favourite country. We leave tomorrow night.”

“But – how did you pull this off?” Clare asked, turning around and looking into his eyes. He laughed at the shock in her voice and kissed her again.

“It’s not important how; the point is, you’d better get packing, Brody.”

“Are you actually kidding? We’re – we’re going to London? Does Sam know?”

“Hey, what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him,” Peter replied tauntingly. She grinned mischievously and laughed a little – the first time all week. She then kissed him.

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” she asked quietly, looking into his eyes. He didn’t say anything, but held her in his arms and kissed her again. It felt right now – like wherever his Clare had been for the past week, she had returned from.

****************************

“Pete, have you seen my big black jumper?” Clare called out. It had been a couple of hours, and she was entering neurotic-mode about her packing. Peter, on the other hand, was in front of the TV with a cold beer, planning to shove the bare necessities into a rucksack about an hour before leaving for the airport the next night.

“Why are you looking for your baggiest clothes?” he shouted upstairs.

“Because,” she said, coming down and grabbing his beer, “it’s going to be more than a little cold in London! And what were you planning to take with you, anyway?”

“I don’t know – toothbrush; underwear; spare pair of jeans; two tops …”

“Right, I am packing for you!”

Peter grinned and snatched his beer back, leaning back on the sofa.

“You go right ahead, if it’ll make you happy, darling,” he said, laughing. But he soon stopped when she took his beer off him again and smacked the back of his head.

“And while I do that,” she said, smirking, “you can go to the shops. I made a list.” He scoffed loudly – shopping was better than packing, he thought. Until he saw the roll of paper, which, when he let it unravel, was longer than his arm!

“We’re going to London for a week, Clare, we’re not taking the entire police force to the moon! How can we possibly need this much stuff?! The cupboards are full!”

“Oh, it’s not a food list,” Clare shot back, taking a swig of his beer. He laughed.

“Oh, you are taking the mickey …” he muttered. “Rain jackets; umbrellas; British pounds – hang on! What in God’s name do we need toy police cars for?!”

“Well how else am I going to keep you entertained on the flight?” She stuck her tongue out and downed what was left in his beer bottle, then kindly left it sitting on the table for him to clear away. “Now get going – I’ll be checking you’ve got everything!” And she headed back upstairs, humming loudly to herself.

“Right, I’m back!!” Peter called, dragging himself through the door. Shopping for raincoats and winter-wear wasn’t exactly easy in the middle of the hottest summer Australia had seen for about ten years! And not the most exciting job in the world, either.

“Bring everything up here so I can check the list,” Clare shouted from upstairs. He rolled his eyes and carried everything up to her room, where she had two suitcases already brimming over with unnecessary clothes and (surprise, surprise) about twenty pairs of shoes, that he could see.

“How many pairs of shoes do you need?” he asked, lifting the top pair from the case.

“Oi!” Clare laughed and grabbed the shoes from him and stuffed them back into her suitcase. “I might well need those! Don’t you ever dare to mess with a woman’s packing, unless you have a death wish, Baker! And you know I mean that!”

“You know, it’s disturbing, but I do,” he replied thoughtfully. “Nearly done?”

“Almost,” she said, surveying her handiwork. “You got everything I wrote down?”

“Right down to the extremely random toy police cars, which earned me some amount of funny looks from the guy behind the counter, by the way!”

Clare laughed aloud and packed the toy cars carefully in beside her shoes. She then smiled and kissed Peter lovingly. When she made to pull away, he held her close. She raised her eyebrows, and he grinned cheekily and kissed her again passionately. He lifted her right off the ground, as they kissed, and then he shoved the suitcases off the bed. The entire contents spilled out onto the floor. Clare stopped in shock, looking at them.

“You’re clearing that up and repacking those tomorrow,” she informed him.

“So why haven’t I to do it tonight?”

She shot him a cheeky grin of her own. She then kissed him again and undid his shirt buttons, shoving him roughly backwards onto the now-clear bed.

“And you say I’m messy?” he taunted her. She smiled and climbed on top of him, pinning him onto the bed and kissing him passionately …

Enjoy!

[Lilone]

Awwwww Bless um

Loved it

[*~Abi~*]

toy police cars that made me giggle, bless Pete and Clare they are so sweet together loved it, and i wonder what they wil get up to in london???

[swfc]

Toy police cars?

That entire chapter had me either in fits of laughter or in awwww moments.

Peter needing toy police cars to entertain himself on the plane was priceless. I swear to goodness, I will never ever look at Peter Baker the same way again.

Loved how Clare practically just stuffed everything and anything under the sun that she can think off into the suitcases. Reminds me too much of myself.

Moving on.....

He is such a typical guy. Packing the bare neccessities for the trip just to get Clare to pack for him. Now that was another priceless moment.

Anyway, Bring On London!

Update soon Ali.