There was a dent in the wall where he'd punched it.

Honestly, looking at his fist, he couldn't believe it was just a dent, and not a hole.

'Fuck this,' he muttered, as he haphazardly wrapped the bandage he'd grabbed from the bathroom around his hand, and threw himself on his bed. He yanked open the drawer to his bedside table, grabbed the bottle of Jack, and toyed with the cap, twisting it on and off.

He stared up at the ceiling. The same pale grey as the four walls. A lighter shade than the grey of the carpet, which might have been a different colour at some point, not that he could remember it. He could barely see the damn thing through all the clothes on the floor anyway.

Yup. Clothes on the floor. There might have actually been some in the closet, too, who fucking knew anymore. And shit all over his bedside table, the only other horizontal surface in his little cell besides his bed. He might clean it someday. Ha.

He finally uncapped the bottle and lifted it high toward the ceiling.

'Well, here's to you, fucker.'

As he threw the shot back, Bender wasn't even sure if this time he meant his father, or himself.

'So, what're you doing this Saturday?'

Claire was waiting expectantly for an answer as she took a drag rolled cig Bender had handed her, leaned back against the bleacher bench behind her, and exhaled. Bender wasn't sure why he didn't give her one right away. He was scratching on some bit of dirt he'd found on his glove.

'John?'

John. She called him John now. All the time.

'No idea,' he said finally, taking the cig back.

'Well...' started Claire, toeing the dirt, and Bender could almost hear the shrug in her voice, her forced nonchalance, 'we could go do something. You know. Go out? Allison and Andy are seeing a movie.'

'They are, huh?' he muttered. 'Who knew they'd still be all cutesy and cuddly after all this time.'

It had only been three weeks since the bizarre experience that had been Saturday detention. Still, he'd been willing to bet that at this point, the jock would have caved to the pressure and left Allison, and that he himself would have managed to get into Claire's panties.

Neither was so far true.

'So?' Claire pressed. 'What do you think? We could double.'

'Yeah, I guess,' said Bender, taking a long drag.

'Great,' said Claire, but she still seemed bothered. She was quiet for just a moment more; then she gently grabbed his bandaged hand, and pulling it up between them.

'What happened?'

He looked at her, and pulled his hand out of her grip.

'Just some bullshit that happened at home,' he grumbled, taking another drag. 'Same old. Doesn't fucking matter.'

He knew he'd made her uncomfortable. He could practically see her squirming. It wasn't fair of him, really. She was such a sheltered little princess. She couldn't handle his reality. It wasn't right of him to expect it from her.

'So, I think they're going to see some slasher film,' Claire continued, leaning back against the bleacher bench again and looking out at the field. 'Something that just came out, I can't remember the name...'

Bender nodded absently. He handed her the cigarette, and looked out at the field as well. They were both staring at exactly the same thing: whatever wasn't the other's eyes. Claire kept talking, he kept nodding. He shouldn't be bothered by the fact that she couldn't accept his life.

Finally, he threw his arm over her shoulders, and pulled her into him, pressing his lips against hers. She didn't need to accept it. She didn't need to get it. This would work for now.

A/N:I haven't written anything but angsty oneshots in a while; I decided to try my hand at writing a 'full' story again. And I always feel like putting more Bender/Basketcase out there. =)

This is going to be slow going though, guys- I'm working two jobs right now, and hopefully I'll be picking up another before Christmas, so these chapters are going to be short and probably not updated too often. Just a forewarning. But I'm pretty excited about this fic.

P.S. This chapter has Bender with Claire. But this will be a Bender/Basketcase fic, I promise.