Author: The tangled web we weave

Archive: Yup, just let me know please.

Review: Always!

Disclaimer: You know. None are mine. I wish Bender was.

Warnings: No, I don't think so. Unless, of course, you can't bear to read about Bender in pain…

So, here is the sixth chapter - yay! Now, I was planning on going a lot further in this chapter, but I just couldn't finish it in one go. I will definitely be adding more tomorrow, but on Saturday I leave for a 3 week camp! Sorry! However, I will continue to write, and will post lots of stuff when I get back - never fear! And don't worry, the next chapter will absolutely have some good stuff in it, okay? Alright, here we go….

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Chapter Six: Claire provides Care…

After what seemed like an eternity of stepping carefully over cracks in the pavement, increasing their hold on John as his feet dragged over loose stones, and several sharp intakes of breath by Bender, the odd-looking party finally reached Andy's Bronco. Now came the dilemma of getting an exhausted John into the back of the red and white truck.

"Um - hate to break into - this wonderful party," Bender said between breaths, "But how exactly were you planning - on doing this?" he finished. Andy looked a little uncertain for a moment, but then it hit him like a ton of bricks. 'Must be tired,' he thought, as both he and Bender stifled yawns.

"Well, obviously-" Andrew and Claire both started at once.

"Sorry, you go," said Andy, letting Claire tell Bender what he hoped was the same idea that he had.

"One of us will just keep your big hide propped against the car," Claire began, trying to maneuver John so that his back was to the Bronco. 'Providing that you don't fall over' she added inwardly, noting that she didn't get so much as a scowl from him for that remark. "And the other one of us will open the car."

Working together, Andy and Claire managed to gently prop Bender against the candy-cane-colored truck. He leaned his head backwards, resting it against the window pane, as Claire tried to open the trunk door with frozen fingers. Andy had pulled his arm out from behind John's back, so that Bender could lean evenly against the painted steel without anything putting pressure on his rib cage.

As Claire fumbled with the rear latch, she suddenly thought of something. "Wait. Shouldn't we put him in the front seat?" She said, leaning around the side of the car.

"I'm not sure..." said Andy. "I think he should go in back..."

'There they go again…' thought John, rolling his eyes.

"Ya know, I am right here…" he remarked, lifting his head up. As Andy and Claire continued to talk, his voice grew louder. "And I wanna lie down and go to sleep." He finished testily, crossing his right arm over the left one, which was already pressed against his throbbing ribs.

Claire came around to the side of the truck, an unsettled look on her face.

"I don't think that's a good idea John, you look like you have a concussion-" She was cut off as John sighed as dramatically as was possible.

"When have I ever given a damn about what someone else thinks?" John pointed out. Even though he said that though, he could think of at least one time…

There was the soft feel of her lips gliding over his own…her hair brushed against his cheek, as she leant in for a kiss…

When John realized that Claire was standing impatiently at his side, boring a hole into his head with her eyes in a very motherly fashion, he let out a resigned sigh. 'That girl definitely has got something on me,' he decided, as she began to wrap her arm around his once more.

"Well, there's a first time for everything, and right now it would be a good idea for you to sit down before you fall down,' she remarked gently. She waved Andy closer with her other hand, and she conferred with him in a hushed voice.

"Do you think we should put him in the back?" Claire asked, worry evident with her tone. Andy looked doubtful.

"I don't know. I guess it might be better for him to lie down, and not move those ribs any more. I mean, if they're broken, and one of them gets too close to his lung…" he trailed off, looking away from Claire's frightened eyes. She shut her gaping jaw, and nodded swiftly, looking back to John, who had his head leaned against the side of the car again.

"Hey, John." She gave his arm a squeeze, and he brought up his head slowly, focusing his brown eyes on hers. "Come on; you can lie down in the back, so, you… uh…" Images of a bleeding lung were dancing through her mind, and Andy came to her aid.

"You could hurt your ribs a lot more if you're sitting up," he explained quickly, not wanting to go into detail about something Bender probably had knowledge of.

"Yeah. Yeah I know. I've seen the worst happen before," John responded with a far-off look on his face, as though he were replaying the incident in his mind. Claire had to blink to keep back tears which were evoked by the melancholy in his voice.

She decided to change the subject. She cleared her throat, and the grimace that had appeared in sympathy for Bender slid off of Andy's face.

"Bender, let's get a move on," Claire said, gripping John's arm tighter, and Andy followed suit. John came out of his reverie.

"Yeah, that sounds good," he responded, looking at Claire with a silent thanks.

They managed to open the trunk hatch, and with a lot of grunting, groaning, and effort (as well as a good deal of pain for John), they eventually had Bender sitting, panting through his mouth, on the bumper of the Bronco.

John was so tired; he thought he could keel over right there. 'But Claire said I'm supposed to stay awake. Right, I knew that. But I want to sleep…' his body protested anyway. His nose had swollen so much so that he couldn't breathe through it, and his head had begun to pound mercilessly. Somehow though, he couldn't resist a chance for a good comment. Claire was clambering into the back of the Bronco with him, and she came towards him so that they could get his feet into the trunk as well.

"Hmm…so I've got the princess all to myself?" He queried, trying to smirk mischievously.

"Yeah, but only if you behave, mister," she retorted, throwing a fake punch to his arm.

"I'll take that…" he muttered, as he began to push himself towards the back of the seats in the truck. Claire crouched down, and slowly swung his legs around by the combat boots, so that his back was against the inner side of the trunk. Andy closed the back hatch, and walked around to the driver's side of the car.

"Well, I never would have thought of that," John remarked tiredly, as Claire scooted over to hisleft side.

"You're supposed to lie down, you know," she said gently.

"Thank you, nurse Claire!" He responded, but he began to slide down until he was curled up on his left side. Besides, sitting up did hurt, and this way he could get a good look at Claire's thighs. Seemingly reading his mind, Claire threw a dirty glance at him, before crossing one leg over the other, and pulling her skirt down on her hips as far as it would go.

"No fair," Bender said, but then he felt the car's engine start up, and they began to move down the street. He looked back up to Claire, and she was staring at him oddly. To tell the truth, it kind of pissed him off; it was almost as if she was sizing him up.

"Hey Cherry, what are you lookin' at?" He asked, using his nickname for her. She started, and seemed to be looking for her answer, but just then they rolled over a hole in the asphalt, jolting the car disturbingly.

"Ah!" John exclaimed, as he bounced on the floor of the truck. His hand flew to his chest, in a vain effort to stop the pain by touching the injury. "Hey Andy! You wanna keep the fucking car on the road, man?" He yelled, looking angrily over his shoulder at the front of the Bronco.

"Sorry John. I'm trying. Just take it easy, okay?" Andy said, shooting a hurried glance backwards.

"Yeah, whatever," John muttered under his breath, grimacing as the rolling motion of the car was making him feel sick. But he felt a soothing hand on his shoulder, as Claire rolled him onto his back. She peered down at him in the dark car.

"Here," she leaned up against the inside of the trunk, and patted her lap with one hand, keeping the other flat on the floor to stay steady. "Put your head on my lap, you'll be more comfortable," she reasoned, trying to see what his reaction was in the dark. Even with only the flickering streetlights passing by, she could make out the surprise on his face.

"What?" he asked bluntly, watching her nod slowly.

'The princess, letting me put my head, on her lap?' It sounded very strange to him. He looked up at her eyes; they were sincere, and - curious? John was definitely unsure of what to do. He knew without a doubt that he found her attractive, in more ways than one, but he hadn't fully expected to have her actually feel for him back. And then there was the issue of it being her lap; the very same one he had stuck his head into the other day during detention. 'But that was just fun,' He thought. 'This…this is something more, I hope,' he pondered. 'She cares about me.' He realized. Claire was watching him expectantly, and so he made up his mind. 'It's a pretty fair deal,' he said to himself. 'Why not give it a try?'

So John propped his weight up on one elbow, and pulled himself closer to Claire. She shifted over so that he wouldn't have to move as much, all the time wondering just what she was doing. She knew that it would be comforting for him to have someone there, but she also knew it would be comforting for her. It was a little step, but it meant that he trusted her, which she appreciated more than anything else; even more than that kiss outside the school.

She reached out to steady John as he lifted up his shoulders, scooted backwards a little, and slowly lowered his head onto her legs. He had his eyes closed, and felt so comfortable that he could have drifted off to sleep.

'Damn, she was right. This feels so nice…' he trailed off, wanting to look at her again. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Claire giggling lightly, and he had to smirk too. They began to laugh, but eventually, Claire's laughter dissipated, and her face was graced with a more relaxed smile. John was still laughing a little, right up until he began coughing.

At first it was just one or two coughs, but then they turned into a very painful fit, leaving him groaning. Claire was immediately worried when she felt his body shaking with the coughs, and she held onto his shoulders to keep him from jerking around. He was panting now that the fit had subsided, and his face was scrunched in pain. Claire felt a pang of compassion go through her, and she did what her mother and father had done to soothe her when she was young: she began to stroke his hair.

John couldn't move, it hurt so much. All he could do was feel his chest rise and fall with each breath: in and out, in and out. He felt like a fish out of water: there was no way for him to breathe through his nose, and yet he was afraid to suck in too deep a breath through his mouth, lest he start coughing again. Soon enough though, he managed to regulate his breathing, and that's when he felt it: Claire was gently running her fingers through his hair.

Picking up strands and running them between her fingers, Claire was untangling the slightly matted locks of shaggy, dark hair. Although she found out soon enough that it was blood which had made his hair feel wet earlier, she continued to lightly pick out the tangles, and watch as the detangled hair fanned out over her legs. His breathing was evening out, and Claire noticed happily that he had found a comfortable enough position, so that he didn't wince every time the car jumped slightly.

'I'm not supposed to go to sleep…' John was telling himself, but it was so inviting. 'I think this is the best I've felt in a while,' he noted happily. However, he did realize that with a concussion, sleeping could very well be a sentence to a coma.

His eyelids were heavy, but he managed to pry them open. It took him a while to focus his eyes in the dark, but Claire's outline gradually came into view, and she was smiling softly. He wanted to say something, but his brain just seemed to be a pile of mush.

"Mmmm…." Was all that he managed to get out. Claire smirked, bringing her hand up to cover her smile. When John looked up though, he saw blood on her hand; it was in-between her fingers, and on the back of her hand; not sticky and red as it had been, but dry and crumbling. He swallowed over the lump in his throat. 'My blood,' was all that he could think. 'My blood, on her hands,' he swallowed again, feeling sick, his eyes wide. Claire noticed his distress, and quickly leant down closer to him.

"John, are you okay? John, does something hurt?" Her voice was full of concern and compassion, but he had tuned her out.

"My god, John, what's wrong?" She stretched out her hand to stroke his hair, and he flinched. She pulled her hand away, noting his wide eyes.

"Please, John, are you alright?" Andy had been keeping his eyes on the road, and had therefore missed Claire and John's intimate re-arrangement and conversations, but at the sound of Claire's higher-pitched voice, he immediately spoke up.

"Claire, what's going on back there? What's wrong?" He was afraid to ask. 'What if Bender's ribs have already cut through his lung, and he's dying? God, what the hell is happening?' He thought impatiently, but he waited for a response from Claire.

"Andy, pull over." He turned to look back at her, and he could see her eyes glinting frantically in the light. "Andy, pull over!" She repeated more urgently.

"Yeah, of course. What happened?" He questioned again, slowing the car down. He pulled up to the curb, and jumped out of the car, running to the back and throwing open the trunk. Luckily, he was not greeted by the sight of Bender coughing up blood, but just the same, it wasn't something he'd ever thought he would see...

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Ahhh! I'm sorry to leave you like that, but it was the best place for me to stop. I have everything planned out for the next section, I just have to write it. Was this one to your liking? I hope so…I tried to make it a little angsty, and a little happy….but I thought that at this point he'd be pretty wiped out after everything, you know? Okay, so sorry for the cliff hanger, but I'm posting tomorrow. If I can, I will get another good-bye post in after that on Saturday, but I'm leaving for camp then, so I don't know. Thank you all for reading, and have a good day/night!

The tangled web we weave