Hello everyone! Sorry this is late. Life has been crazy crazy busy! (As per usual. xP ) Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Claire belongs to me.

Gravity Falls belongs to Alex Hirsch.

Enjoy!

"...So what is this supposed to be exactly?"

"I'm not sure."

"I...I don't even know how to respond to this!"

"Oh gawd, I think I saw it blink!"

Several weeks had passed since Claire's arrival to Glass Shard High school and during that time she had grown closer to the Pines twins. At first, it was a bit odd having a third member to their group. For as long as they could remember, it had always just been Stan and Ford. They were the outcasts of the school and thus, didn't have many other friends. Sure there was the occasional student who didn't totally hate them but wouldn't exactly consider them friends, either. But that didn't matter for Stan and Ford would always have each other.

But the twins would be lying if they said that they didn't like having Claire around. She fit into their little duo just fine and the perks of being the taste testers for her latest baking treats was a major plus.

What was not a major plus however, was the days cafeteria lunch.

"Okay seriously, what is this supposed to be?!" Stan exclaimed. The three teenagers were sitting at their usual table near the back of the cafeteria and staring down at their trays. The main coarse was supposedly Chicken Pot Pie. The crust was burnt to a black crisp and the insides was filled with a white unappetizing, bubbling looking "gravy" that had various chunks of rotten vegetables floating inside. Claire couldn't say for certain but she was pretty sure she saw an eyeball in hers.

"It's supposed to be chicken pot pie, but I've never seen any pie that moved this much." Ford mumbled in response to his twins question. He stared at his food and his eyes widened in alarm and disgust as the burnt crust of the pie rose and fell as it breathed.

"I think I'm just going to skip the main dish and go right to desert." Claire said, pushing her tray back.

"Did ya bring any more cookies?" Stan asked perking up, looking at the redhead with hopeful brown eyes.

"Nope." Claire had to hold in a giggle as Stan's hopeful smile dissolved into a pout. "I brought brownies instead."

"Brownie's are acceptable, too." Stan said, perking up again. Claire chuckled and reached into her bag, pulling out the tinfoil wrapped chocolate treats. "I made them last night."

"They look delicious Cla-" Ford started to say but was cut off as he felt a large, beefy hand suddenly latch itself to the back of his head. The grip on the hand tightened, pulling at his brown locks and then pushed down, causing Ford's face to smash into the disgusting excuse of chicken pot pie.

"Ford!" Claire gasped in shock as Stan's jaw hit the floor. The younger twin suddenly let out a growl of rage, brown eyes glaring at his brothers attacker, and childhood bully. "Crampelter!"

"Enjoying your lunch, dork?" the blond bully laughed, releasing his hand from the back of Ford's head, letting him sit up. Stanford jackknifed into a sitting position and coughed, his face, bangs and glasses completely covered with the gravy mixture and various veggies.

"Hey! You're gonna pay for that!" Stan snarled going into protective brother mode and standing up from the table, looking as is he was about to launch himself across it to get to his brother's bully.

"Stan, calm down." Claire said calmly but sternly, not wanting her friend to get in trouble. She reached over and handed a handful of napkins to Ford. "Are you okay?"

Ford just coughed up some more gravy and nodded, removing his glasses and started to clean them off. Accepting the answer, the redhead whirled around, giving Crampelter a death glare. "That wasn't nice!"

The bully just shrugged and smirked, not at all sorry. "Why would anyone be nice to these two losers?" Claire jumped slightly as Crampelter suddenly flung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his body. "C'mon babe. What's say you ditch these clowns and hang out with a real man~? Whatcha say? Me and you can take a ride after school down to the boardwalk and I'll buy ya a soda.

Claire gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. She reached up and threw the arm off of her. "These clowns are my friends! And I'd rather be with them and be considered a loser than be anywhere near the likes of you, you fat pig!"

By now the commotion was drawing the attention of the rest of the students in the cafeteria. All of them eyeing the table with wide eyed fascination, as if they were watching a movie. All of the students waited with baited breath to see what would happen next.

But they would never get their answer for at that moment the bell rang.

Crampelter scowled. "Fine then! Be a loser. See if I care. You'll come to your senses eventually."

And with that, the bully turned and stormed out of the cafeteria. The other students quickly packing up their own things and following suit, flooding out the doors.

Ford meanwhile had gotten his face mostly cleaned of the gravy and veggie slop, though some of the mixture still clung to his hair. "Th...thank you, for standing up for us, Claire."

"Yeah! You sure told him." Stan cheered.

Claire just shrugged modestly. "Well you guys are my friends." She turned towards the older twin. "Go get yourself cleaned up, I'll cover for you."

"I'll help you, bro." Stan offered, raising to his feet.

Ford just simply nodded. "Alright. Thank you both."

The three parted ways. Stan and Ford to the boys bathroom and Claire to class.

Stan felt sick as he stared at the paper in his hand, later that afternoon. A giant, red colored letter F, glaring up at him. Silently mocking him. "I'm so dead."

"I told you, you needed to study for the test instead of spending all that time watching tv." Ford pointed out, putting his test results in his folder. Making sure to keep his own grade, an A++, out of his twins sight. He didn't want to make Stan feel any worse than what he already did.

"Can it, Poindexter." Stan snapped, running a hand through his hair. "Ma and Dad are gonna kill me!"

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps heading their way and a call of "Hey guys!" as Claire walked over.

"Hey Claire." Ford responded, giving the red head a small smile.

"Hey Red." Stan mumbled less enthusiastically, addressing her by the new nickname he had recently dubbed her with, due to obvious reasons.

"How'd you do on the math test?" Claire asked curiously. She opened up the notebook in her hands and pulled out the paper she had stuffed in their earlier. Grinning proudly, she turned it over to show off her grade. "I got an A!"

"Congratulations." Ford smiled.

"Thank you." Claire smiled but it didn't last long for she noticed Stan's miserable expression. "What's wrong?"

The burly twin said not a word. He simply held out the test results. Claire flinched, regretting bringing up the test at all. "Ouch."

"Yeah, ouch." Stan sighed.

"Well, look on the bright side Stanley," Ford jumped in. "At least you can take a make up test, right?"

"Yeah, whoopee. I get to fail the same stupid test twice."

"Come on now, don't be like that. Try to be positive." Stanford encouraged trying to cheer up his brother but his attempts were in vain.

Claire remained silent throughout this exchange. The gears in her mind beginning to turn as she calculated a plan. "...Well, what if I tutored you?"

The brunettes stopped and turned towards the girl. Stanley quirked an eyebrow. "Tutor me?"

"Yeah." Claire nodded. "I mean, I know I'm no genius like Ford, but I'm pretty good in math."

Stan hesitated. He had been tutored before in the past and they usually almost ended up with the tutor leaving in a fit of frustration and anger. Ford had even tried to help but his tutoring sessons weren't much better. "I don't know Red..."

"Aw come on Stan!" Claire pleaded. "What's the worst that could happen? Besides, you do need to pass that test."

"She has a point, Stan." Ford added, butting into the conversation.

After a moments pause, the younger but stronger twin shrugged. "Okay."

The frecklfaced girl grinned. "Okay. Good. Is today after school okay?"

"Sure."

"Okay. We can do it at my house. You can come too Ford."

The elder twin reached a hand up and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I'd love too but I promised Miss Carmichael I'd stay behind and take some extra credit tests after school."

"Nerd." Stan mumbled, leaning against his locker.

"Well that shouldn't take too long." Claire mused, flipping open her notebook and pulling out the pen she had stuffed within it's spiral binding. She scribbled something onto a clean piece of lined paper and then ripped it out, handing it to the six fingered nerd. "Here's my address. Stan and I will head on over there when school ends. You just come on over whenever you get done."

"Will do. Thanks." he replied, folding the paper neatly and stuffing it in his pocket.

The school day came and went, and as the last bell of the day rang, Stan and Claire set off for her house while Ford stayed behind; promising to come right over as soon as he was done with the test grading.

"Done already?" Miss Carmichael asked forty something minutes after school had let out.

"Yes Ma'am." Stanford smiled handing the elderly teacher the test papers.

The old woman chuckled, placing the papers on her desk. "Well I'm sure you got an A+ on these, like you did on all your other tests. You're free to go."

"Have a nice weekend, Miss Carmichael." Ford bid farewell, slinging his backpack onto his back and heading for the door.

"Goodbye dearie."

And with that, the brunette teen left, walking down the halls and out the building. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the neatly folded piece of paper with Claire's address on it. He unfolded it and read the address. 187 Lilac Lane.

"That's not too far." Ford mused to himself, slipping the paper back into his pocket. He continued walking but as he rounded the corner, he froze, seeing someone he did not want to see.

Well, to be more specific, three someones.

"Hey look! It's the six fingered freak!" One of Crampelter's goons exclaimed as he spotted Ford. The teen froze, taking a step back, his stomach twisting in a knot and his body going stiff.

Oh no.

"Hey freak, where's you're dumb brother at?" Crampelter asked, noting that there was only one Pines twin present.

Ford backed up another step. This was bad. Stan was the fighter between the two. Not him. Despite the fact that both Ford and Stan had been in boxing lessons since they were kids, Ford was still the weaker twin. And Crampelter and his goons knew it.

"Please, I-I don't want any trouble..." Ford pleaded, holding up his hands in a surrender like motion.

"Not so tough without your brother to protect ya, huh?" Crampelter taunted, a wicked grin pulling at his lips and showing off his crooked teeth. He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. "Get 'im boys!"

Ford ran.

The three bullies chased the young teen down the block. Ford zigging and sagging trying to lose his persuers but it was no use. His lungs began to burn and his breathing came in pants and he silently cursed himself for already getting tired. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. A startled yell escaping his throat as the hand clenched and jerked, throwing the man into an alley. The metal trash cans clanked and rattled loudly as Ford crashed into them. He stumbled and tripped, falling on his bottom as the trash cans around him fell, knocking trash out.

Ford flinched and looked up, paling as he saw Crampelter and the others slowly advance towards him, like three hungry lions cornering a terrified gazelle. Ford swallowed hard scooted back until his back pressed against the alley wall. "N-No! Please! Don't-"

He saw the fist coming before he could even finish his sentence.

"Okay, so once you take the 47 and then divide it, what does X equal?"

Stan bit his cheek and tapped the eraser of the pencil on the edge of Claire's kitchen table; staring down at the open math book. He desperately wracked his brain for an answer. " Uh...224?"

"Right!" Claire exclaimed smiling. "You got it!"

The brunette twin blinked, looking stunned. "I actually got it?"

"Yes!" Claire nodded, still grinning.

"Huh..."

Claire couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle at her friend's expression. "Don't look so shocked."

"Well I am." the burly teen shrugged. "Ford's the smarter twin."

Claire's smile fell. "Hey, you're smart too."

The male teen scoffed leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms. "Yeah, right."

"You are! You're smart in your own ways."

"Oh yeah?" he scoffed. "Name one."

Claire opened her mouth to respond but her words failed her. "Um...You...You uh...Give me a minute." She cowered a little bit under the glare he shot at her. "You just haven't found your niche yet."

"Whatever." Stan huffed, reaching across the table and grabbing another cookie from the plate in the middle of the table. "Easy for you to say. You already got your talent. You got baking and Ford's got his sciency nerd stuff."

"And you'll find your talent too, someday." the red head said softly. "Youre just a late bloomer is all. Some people find their calling early in life and others find it later. And there's nothing wrong with that."

"...You think so?"

"I know so."

Despite himself, Stan couldn't help but smile. He reached over and wrapped his arm around Claire, trapping his friend in a bear hug. "Thanks Red."

She giggled. "No problem big guy."

Ding Dong

"That must be Ford." Claire pulled out of the hug, jumping out of her chair and heading to the door. Stan remained seated and shoved the cookie he had grabbed earlier into his mouth.

"Hey Ford." Claire greeted as she opened the door. "You made it just in time, Stan almost ate all the cook-GASP!"

The red head covered her mouth in shock as she stared horrified at the sight in front of her. Ford was covered in bruises. His brown hair was a mess, his orange colored shirt ripped, and his glasses now sporting a crack in the left lense. "Ford?!"

"H-Hi Claire..." the genius teen mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

"O-Oh my gawd Ford! What happened?!" Claire demanded, reaching out and gently grabbing his hand, pulling him inside.

"Hey." Stan called, rounding the corner. "What's all the rucku-HOT BELGIAN WAFFLES! Sixer what happened to ya?!"

"C-Crampelter..." Ford whimpered, holding the ripped part of his shirt up, trying to cover himself. "I ran into him on the way over here..."

"And he just beat you up?!" Claire gasped.

Stan clenched his teeth together and made a fist. "I'm gonna kill that fat jerk for this!"

The older twin felt himself involuntarily stiffen as he felt an arm gently slip through and wrap around his. "Come on." Claire urged, giving it a gentle tug. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"I'll help." Stan volunteered, following the two of them as Claire lead the brothers to the bathroom.

"The first aid kit's in the medicine cabinet." the redhead said, gently making her injured friend sit on the edge of the bathtub. Stan did as he was instructed, grabbing the small red box out of the cabinet and setting it on the sink, popping the lid open.

"What happened?" Claire asked, pulling guaze out of the first aid kit.

Stanford shrugged and kept his gaze on his shoes. His pride, along with his body, wounded. "...They just jumped me."

Stan scowled, wetting a washcloth with warm water to wash off the bloodstains. "I'm gonna kick his sorry a$$ the next time I see him." he swore.

"Don't go getting yourself in trouble for fighting on school grounds." Claire warned, her voice stern as she reached up and snatched the cloth from the younger twin. Ford stiffened when she reached up, gently holding the left side of his face with her hand and wiping some dried blood from his temple. "You poor thing..."

The brunette winced, the water stinging the cut. "I-I'll be fine, Claire."

The next fifteen minutes were spent in silence as Stan and Claire each took turns patching up the third member of their little group. Cleaning cuts, applying medicine to bruises and scrapes and finally covering what they could with bandages and gauze.

"There. That outta do it." Claire announced as she tossed the bandaid wrappers into the garbage.

"How do ya feel, Sixer?" Stan asked concerned.

"Sore...but a bit better than I was." Ford shrugged.

Stan frowned and turned his head looking at Claire. "I think we're gonna have to cut the tutoring short today, Red. I should get him home."

"Of coarse, yeah." Claire nodded. "Don't sweat it."

"Thanks for helping me, Claire." Ford said as he stood up.

"Don't thank me. Just get to feeling better."

So the three of them exited the bathroom, Claire leading the twins to the door and bid them goodbye as they exited the house and walked down the street; heading to their pawnshop apartment.

The weekend passed and by Monday morning, though still sporting a couple of bruises, Stanford was feeling well enough to return to school. He and Stan met Claire at their usual meeting spot and the three of them headed off to school together.

"Wait, what happened?!" Stan asked.

Claire bit her lip, trying to hold back the laugh that threatened to escape. Her cheeks turning red with slight embarrassment. "Okay, so I like to take super hot showers right? And I had the window open to let the steam out and apparently my neighbors saw it but thought it was smoke. Next thing I know, I hear sirens and someone banging on the front door. The neighbors called the fire department!"

The frecklefaced girl was rewarded with laughter from her two friends.

"My gawd!" Stan gasped between laughter. Ford chuckled softly, offering on a simple, "Oh my." as a response.

"It's funny now but I was so embarrassed at the time." Claire snickered.

"I can imagine." Ford nodded.

"So," Claire began, changing the subject. "How're you feeling Ford?"

"...My eye still hurts a bit." He admitted, referring to his black eye. "But I can manage."

Claire frowned, her heart aching in her chest as she stared up at the shiner. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." the nerd responded, adjusting the strap on his back. "I'm fine Claire. Really."

"I just don't like seeing my friends hurt is all..." she mumbled.

Ford opened his mouth to respond but all three of them suddenly jerked to a stop, Stan reaching an arm out in front of his brother and the girl, stopping them. "Oh great."

"Well if it isn't the freak and the dumber freak." Crampelter smirked, standing in their path. Out of the corner of her eye, Claire noticed Ford had taken an involuntary step back. Clutching the strap of his bag in a white knuckle grip.

Stan on the other hand glared at the fat bully, gritting his teeth and clutching his fist as a tidal wave of anger washed over him. "Hey! I got a bone to pick with you for beating up my brother!"

"Not my fault your freaky brother is such a weakling." the blonde shrugged. "Cant even defend himself when you aint around to protect him."

"It was three against one!" Stan snapped, practically growling.

"Oooh~ Tough guys getting mad now~"

In the blink of an eye, Stan threw off his backpack, throwing it at Ford who caught it in his arms and took a step towards the bully, fist clenched.

"That's it! You're gonna get it now! LEFT HOOK-"

"Oh Crampelter." Claire cooed, shoving herself in front of Stan, effectively ending the fight before it could begin. She smiled up shyly at the confused blond. "I...I never noticed how handsome you are~"

The world stopped, all three males staring at the girl. Stan's jaw practically on the ground and Ford feeling like he had just been slapped in the face.

Did...Did they hear that right?

The stunned bully blinked a few times, letting the words register. He stiffened as the red head took a step towards him and placed her hand on his arm giving it a squeeze. "Oh. That a little muscle I feel~? Nice. Very nice~"

"Claire that the hell?!" Stan squawked in disbelief. Ford still couldn't remember how speak.

"Heh, well it's about time ya finally came around, toots." Crampelter smirked sliding his arm around Claire and resting it on his shoulders. "Hows about we ditch these losers?"

"Sounds good to me." Claire grinned. "...Although, the only loser I see around here is you!"

The Pines twins watched with a mixture of shock and slight, slight, sympathy as they watched the next scene play out before them. In the blink of an eye, Claire raised her foot and had kicked Crampelter as hard as she could. Jamming her white sneaker into his crotch. Both boys automatically flinched as their bully howled with pain. However before he could drop, Claire yanked his arm off of her shoulder and twisted it behind his back, holding it in place. Crampelter slammed do his knees and yowled with the new wave of pain emitting from his arm.

"YOU CRAZY B****! LET ME GO!"

"Not until you promise to leave my friends alone!" the red head snarled. "If I ever find out you've been picking on either of them again, you're going to be in a lot worse pain than you are now!"

"Alright! Alright! I'll back off! Now let me go!"

And she did. Crampelter faceplanting on the ground upon the release, and then curling up into the fetal position, still not recovered from her pain.

"Glad we had this little talk." Claire smirked, dusting off her hands and smoothing down her skirt. She then turned and started walking down the street as if nothing had happened. "Come along boys. We're gonna be late."

Stan and Ford stood frozen. Eyes wide and jaws slacked. They watched Claire as she walked off and then glanced down at Crampelter, still on the ground in pain, clutching his crotch.

"...HEY! CLAIRE! WAIT A SECOND!" Stan was the first to snap out of his stuper. He grabbed his bag and ran after the female, jumping over Crampelters body. Ford quickly followed suit, stepping around his incapacitated bully and running to catch up with his twin and their mutual friend.

"How did you..." Ford trailed off, upon catching up. "Wh-where did you-"

"What was THAT?!" Stan butted in. "Where the heck did you learn to kick butt like that?!"

Claire just shrugged. "My Mom teaches a self defense class remember? She taught me a few things."

"...Huh." was all Ford could say.

"Heh, tough gal. I like it." Stan grinned. He then frowned as a thought occurred to him. "Hey wait a second, what was with all the flirting?!"

"To get him to let his guard down. Duh." Claire explained, like it was obvious. "...Hey wait, you two didn't think I was serious did you?!"

"...Well..." Ford trailed off.

Claire gagged. "Oh hell no! There's no way in a million years I would ever like that creep! And besides, I couldn't ever be with someone who is mean to my friends."

"Wise choice." Stan chuckled, reaching over and ruffling her hair.

Claire couldn't help but giggle. "Well hopefully Crampelter wont be bothering you two anymore."

"Ya kidding? After what you just did, he wont be coming around for a long time!" Stan laughed.

"Hey um..." Claire looked over at Ford. The glasses wearing teen shuffled a bit but smiled at the girl. "Thanks."

Claire smiled back. "Anything for a friend."

So it seems like Claire aint as much of a weakling as she looks. ;D Crampelter finally got what was coming to him, the jerk.

I'll try to update this when I can. In the meantime, you all have a good day/afternoon/night wherever you are. Bye for now!