"Have you seen John?"

Brian Johnson jumped from his chair, his ass literally leaving the seat and then thudding back down on the hard wood. Startled, he shot a look at whoever had unwelcomingly and suddenly forced him from his previous thoughts on the glorious subject of physics.

"I'm serious, Brian, have you seen John anywhere?" Claire Standish asked, annoyance filling her pretty - albeit, in Brian's humble opinion, slightly whiny - voice. The popular redhead looked as chipper as always today. Well, Brian amended, maybe chipper wasn't the best word. Lovely? Too pure. Good? Too plain. T-

"Brian!" He jerked his head up yet again as his trailing thoughts were yanked back to the forceful girl standing in front of him.

"Sorry," he said a mite sheepishly, and she sighed, puffing out her bangs with frustration, and he frowned with sudden annoyance. "And no, I haven't seen John, thanks so much for asking so politely." The last words came out with more bite than he meant, and he was a little cowed at the guilty look that came upon Claire's face.

"I'm sorry too," she sighed, and bit her lip. It made her look very attractive, he noticed, and wondered fleetingly if she herself knew this and used it to her advantage. "I just-" She broke off and ran a slender hand through her hair. "We..."

"Had another fight?" Brian suggested. He had been in this situation with Claire – and a few surprising times, Bender – before, and each time was pretty much the same. He wanted to roll his eyes at the two, who, though they obviously liked each other very much, were just so fucking stubborn that they sometimes fought over the pettiest, stupidest things. They had been dating for four months, been "together" six if you counted the time period in between that fateful detention and the day that John had finally asked Claire to be his girlfriend.

"Yes," she muttered with a slight scowl. Ah, Brian thought with some amusement, it was one of those days. It was a little mean of him to find humor in the ongoing situation between his two friends, but he really couldn't help it. It was funny! Andy even agreed with him, though Allison had shaken her head at the two of them and gone off to find Claire the last time this had happened, murmuring something that sounded very much like, "Boys."

"Let me guess," he said now, propping his head on his elbow. "He insulted your name again."

"No."

"Your house?"

"Nope."

"Friends?"

"No, Brian."

Okay, he was beginning to get a little peeved. Why the damn guessing game? If she wanted his help, or advice, or just needed to vent, then she should just tell him already without forcing him to play Twenty Questions. Unwillingly, he grumbled, "So what did he do, then?"

Claire looked down, caught in a sudden wave of shyness. This surprised the boy sitting in front of her – she still hasn't sat down. The girl didn't usually hold back much, especially since she had gotten the huge weight of her parents, her friends, and her lifestyle off of her chest in the detention four months prior. She was feisty and daring at times, sweet and sensitive others, and a bit of a bitch the rest. Still, that was what made Claire, Claire, and each of the members of the Breakfast Club accepted her that way-

Oh wait, she was mumbling something. Darn, I must've missed it when I was caught up thinking again. Mom was right, maybe I do need those pills the doctor- stop!

"Could you repeat that?" he asked, taking in her awkward stance, fidgeting hands, and the curtain of red hair – she had let it grow out – that hid most of her face. Hmm.

She was biting her lip again, glancing up at him through the haze of red. Feeling like this might take a while, he gestured at the empty desk beside his in the abandoned AP Physics classroom, and resigned himself to not being able to complete his homework until later tonight. His mother would be angry, yes, but it was his duty as a person and a friend to help Claire.

She slumped on the desk, legs trailing over the side as she sighed yet again.

"Okay, seriously, lunch ends in fifteen minutes, Claire," he reminded a little impatiently. It wasn't entirely in his nature to say what he thought, almost the opposite of her. He was still getting used to having people that knew him well, that liked him, that talked and listened and helped him when he wanted it, and even more importantly, when he didn't. He was gratified when she seemed to gain resolve and looked him full in the face, knowing with something akin to pride, and maybe even a little wonder, that she wouldn't be here, sharing her problems, unless she trusted him.

He was smiling as she began to speak, but by the end of her sentence his jaw was hanging limply somewhere around his ankles.

"John... John told me he loved me," she whispered, brown eyes swimming slightly as she paused then for a response.

He was still shocked for another several moments before he closed his mouth. "I- he... what? John Bender told you he loved you? Are you sure?"

She nodded, looking stricken. Brain was confused at her reaction; shouldn't she be really happy about this? He knew she loved John, she had for a long time. Hell, she'd even had a mild crush on (or more like interest in) him before the Detention. So why did it look like she was about to cry at any moment?

She continued, however, before he could voice his queries. "And I" - she let out a squeak muffled by her fist - "I didn't even say anything. I ran away from him."

Brian winced. Yikes.

Her tears were flowing in earnest now, running over her pale cheeks. Her lips, unadorned by her customary lipstick, were trembling with emotion. He pitied her, but did not move to comfort or hug her- he knew, by now, that she needed more than anything to get this out, and that required a little tough love on his part.

"So... your boyfriend tells you he loves you, and you leave him without an answer," he summarized, feeling a slight stab as she glared at him through her tears.

"Yes." It wasn't more than a slightly hoarse whisper.

And now for the real juice... "Why?" he asked with real curiosity. She wasn't looking at him at the moment, instead deeming to gaze at her boots without real thought. When he made an impatient noise, she looked back up.

"I don't know," she said, and wiped her eyes harshly with the back of her hand. Her mascara had smeared a little, but she didn't notice. "I just panicked, I guess. I couldn't... say it back..."

Brian really wanted to sigh, but was mercifully well aware that doing so would only anger and/or upset Claire more, and he wasn't really a big fan of either of those things happening. So he egged her on a bit more, hoping to come to the root of the problem here. "Why not?" he inquired gently.

Tears were still slipping out of her eyes, but her cheeks flushed with a challenge and her jaw instantly set. "I love John," she admitted, something Brian indeed already knew, "but I guess that I was..." She sighed a bit, and he could tell that self-analyzing was something that she did often, and not with relish. "I guess I was still thinking that I don't deserve him. I mean," she went on as Brian moved to interrupt, "I haven't done anything to earn his... love. I make fun of him all the time, I'm rude, and snobby, and I always forget to call on the weekends-"

"Claire-"

"And," she continued with an air of increasing hysteria, "he even quit smoking for me, and I haven't even told Monica or Sam about us yet. You know how they are," she sniffed. He did. Monica and Sam were Claire's apparent best friends. Cheerleaders and potential prom-queens, both of them, and each were catty, cruel, and fulfilled every single bitch-cheerleader-cliche ever known to man. Actually, Brian rather thought they were worse. "Every time they see him, they say something so awful and I just laugh. I'm such a coward," she moaned, her face hidden behind long hands. "He doesn't deserve to have such a terrible girlfriend."

He was silent for a moment, staring at her. Did she really feel this way about herself? He reflected fleetingly that this little pity-party could be a very sneaky way of forcing-without-forcing him to compliment her, but after less than a second's consideration of this he threw the idea away. Claire wasn't one to need approval, or actively seek it from most. She had no lack of self-confidence, and this breakdown seemed to be genuinely showcasing her feelings at the moment.

"Do you mind if I cut in for a moment, Cherry?" a voice interrupted. Both teenagers were thrown completely off track as they spun around to see a completely relaxed John Bender lounging against the doorway.

1/2

A/N: Hehe. Bit of a cliffy there, eh? I hope it means you're interested enough to tune in to part two?

Reviews are love, inspiration, et cetera. PLEASE review. Pretty please with John on top?

Oohh...