Well... She didn't know if Claude was coming or not... But it was a good chance to study for her exams coming up in a few weeks here. It was hard to focus though after everything that had gone on last night. She was sure the drugs were out of her system by now... But there was a lot that had gone on really. The man who'd slipped the drug in her drink had gotten to the final point he wanted, but it was simply with the wrong person.

Well with the right person, Skylar thought.

It wasn't like she regretted it... But... She knew that if she hadn't been drugged that it wouldn't have happened. She didn't want to tell Jason that though, because well, she was glad that it was with him. It was just a little too soon was all. She'd only known him for a week and well... She wasn't like that.

But she had to thank Claude for what he did to help her. If it wasn't for him... Who knew what could have happened to her last night.

"Uh... Excuse me? Could I get another cup of tea please?" She asked the waitress with a small smile.

Sitting in the small booth of the coffee house, several books were spread out in front of her with a few papers. yeah it was cluttered, but she could sort out the mess even if no one else could. She had told him to meet her at six if he could, so in the next five minutes or so she'd see if he could come. Well he hadn't called to cancel, so that was probably a good thing.

Claude shuffled into the cafe, stepping around a few people as he made his way over to what appeared to be the back of Skylar's head. He hummed quietly to himself, Paralyzer stuck in his head, an ironic song to have in his thoughts, especially considering what had gone on the night before.

He leaned down behind her and put his arm around her shoulder, giving her a slight hug, hoping not to frighten her too much by his sudden appearance. "Hey, you." He slid into to the seat across from her. "How are you feeling?"

(Sorry it took me so long to post. I've been pretty busy these last few days)

((That's cool :) ))

Skylar jumped slightly as she felt an arm around her. Not because she was surprised by someone's appearance, but rather because she wasn't used to that kind of touch.

"Oh! Claude, hey there." She said with a smile, looking up at him. "Uh... I'm feeling much better. Thanks. I mean... Thanks for all you're help last night, and Jason says thank you too." She smiled, her eyes following him as he slid in the booth. And well, Jason, if she'd talked with him coherently (which she really didn't) he would have told her ot thank him anyway. After all, he had helped her out a lot.

She wanted to tell him what happened between her and Jason, but thought it would be better left for another time.

"I... I could have been a lot worse off than I was if you hadn't helped me Claude, really. I definitely owe you one." She said, closing her books one by one and stacking them off to the side.

"Well, you can tell Jason that I said 'you're welcome' then. I'm glad you're alright. It could have been a bad night for both of us." He ordered a lemon poppyseed muffin as the waitress came by, leaning back into the cushions of the booth.

"It happens far too often. Some thirty or forty year old prick tries to get with a young woman like yourself and the only way he knows how is to drug them and fuck them up." He lowered his voice as he swore, glancing around the cafe at the other people. "I never knew how often men actually did it until I started working at a bar myself." Of course, he didn't really know the difference between a girl who was drugged up or mesmerized. Hell he didn't know about mesmerization at all.

"You could have gotten really hurt... And I could have gotten in trouble for getting involved. You know you tried to blame it on me last night? Do you remember that? Christ, I thought I'd piss myself." He laughed.

He smiled at her for a second, looking her over. "You look tired... What's that?" He reached across the table to her, moving her chin aside with his hand and pointing to two small, scabbed marks on her neck. That hadn't been there last night...

"I know... But uh... Yeah I do remember that part. I'm sorry. I just couldn't think straight most of the night. I'm sure you understand. I really didn't mean to scare you at all." She said with a sheepish grin.

It was nice to know that he really was concerned about her, and though she could only remember a little bit of the night before, she did remember that he had gotten her home safely.

"Tired? Uh... Well it was a long night. Didn't sleep to well." She said brushing her hair behind her ear. But she frowned, puzzled as he asked about something on her neck, turning her head to get a better look. "What? What are you talking about Claude." Her hand went up to the side of her neck, her fingers running across the skin and finding two bumps, almost like mosquito bites, but scabbed over as if they had been bleeding.

She shook her head. "I... I don't know. I... I mean I think I might know, but.... I doubt he did it...." She started to blush then, unsure if she should tell him just what went on when she got home.

"Really? I would have thought that you would have slept rather well. After all, I had to struggle to keep you awake in the car and had to help you up the stairs to your house." He chuckled, "I figured you would have slept all night. Did your grandparents wake up at all? Or notice anything weird?"

He thanked the waitress as she brought his muffin, though slightly distracted by their new tangent of conversation. "Does it hurt?"

"What do you think you might know? Who did it?" He was beginning to grow angry.

"Uh, they were going to sleep as I got home, well my grandpa was. My Grandma was already in bed. Maybe a little after? I don't remember. But they didn't say anything last night or this morning." She shook her head knowing that they would have certainly said something if they'd heard all the noises.

"Hurt? No. Not at all. I didn't even notice it before now to tell the truth." She said shaking her head again.

"Well... The only thing I could think of was Jason. But I dunno how he could have done it." She tried her best to fight off the blush. "I mean... I remember him kissing my neck, but I didn't feel anything odd." Well, there was that sudden rush of pleasure, but that wasn't from his kissing. Was it?

"Jason? But... That wasn't there last night... Remember? You and I danced together last night." He grinned sheepishly, "I was pretty close to your neck, I would have noticed... Did Jason come over last night?"

"No... It... It was definitely after I left."

She ran a hand through her hair nervously.

"You see... Jason... He's older than me and so people... Well they might not like seeing us together. So... He comes by at night, sneaks into my room and we just talk... And be together. Or well... Usually." She bit her lip slightly.

"He came over last night, and he noticed that something wasn't right. But I... I couldn't really think straight." She shook her head. "It... It was really kind of my fault I guess." She said blushing furiously, looking down at a paper of notes.

"Jesus," Claude muttered. "Every chick I know is dating some guy that is a lot older than them... At this rate I'm not gonna get any until I'm fifty." He said it in a completely serious tone, though his eyes said he was teasing... Kind of.

"No, no, no, come on... This is not your fault okay?" He reached out and took her hand in his own, squeezing it softly. "This is... My fault. I should have warned you ahead of time not to take other drinks, or I should have come straight out and gotten the guy kicked out when you told me something was up. If I had, this wouldn't have happened. It's not your fault." He frowned down at their hands, his large thumb brushing over her wrist.

"What? He noticed something wasn't right, so he... bit you?" he laughed softly, almost shrugging it off as silly but then an idea popped into his head. "Skylar... he didn't... He didn't take advantage of you did he?"

"Well I thought you had sent it, since I didn't know which guy at the bar she was talking about." She said with a shrug. "So warning me wouldn't really have helped. Besides! A guy who was just trying to get in my pants would have given me alcohol. I mean... He couldn't have known I was having plain lemonade." She said trying to puzzle it all out.

"It's not anyone's fault really I mean... You did what you could and I did the best I could. I just think I was a little too... Out of control for him. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I kind of did... You know?"

Skylar looked up at his last question, looking back down. "I... I told him I was fine... I told him I was okay and then I started kissing him and he started kissing me and well... It got a little out of hand before I realized what was going on." Her face was beet red as she looked at the paper, but she continued in a mumble.

"We uh... were in the middle of everything and he realized that something was wrong and that I'd been drugged.... And he stopped, even though I told him not to." She didn't bring her voice above that little murmur, almost embarrassed she was telling Claude this.

"What a bastard!" Claude all but shouted, ponding his fist on the table all of a sudden. His face turned bright red in anger. "Skylar! What were you thinking?" he lowered his voice to a low his when he noticed that he had caught the eye of several people in the room. "I mean, granted you were drugged but... Didn't you tell me you've known this guy like a week? And last night you told me you didn't have a boyfriend... Hell, I was going to ask you out!" He threw his hands up in the air and sat back against the cushion of the booth. He crossed his arms and covered his mouth, looking away at the other activity in the room.

After a few minutes of not speaking he told her gently, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap on you, I just..." He leaned forward, setting his hands squarely upon the table, as if explaining a diagram to her. "Every girl that I know and care about is fucking up her life with some jackass who, as far as I can tell, it just using her. Nevermind that they have a guy who is so much better for them," he put a hand on his chest in indication, "but they decide to stay with them and wonder why the guy who might be right for them is starting to run out of sympathy!"

He let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back in the seat again. "Fuck!" he breathed out, his voice barely higher than a mutter.

A man stopped at their table, clearly the manager of the place. "Is everything okay here?"

"Everything is fine," Claude grumbled, trying to keep his irritation under wraps. But this wasn't a good enough answer. The manager gazed pointedly at Skylar waiting for her assurance. Claude stared out the window.

"It wasn't his fault!" She said quickly as Claude called Jason a bastard. "It's not like that!" But her face went red as he continued to berate her, her eyes burned into the paper. "I didn't know what he was okay? I wanted him to be my boyfriend. I like him a lot Claude." She said as she bit her lip.

But she fell silent as he began to talk about all the girls messing up their lives with another guy when they could have had someone better for them. Him. She... She had thought about it but... There was something about Jason that made her want to be with him...

"You did mean to snap. Otherwise you wouldn't have done it." She said quietly. "But you don't know him Claude. You can't judge him like that when you don't even know him! He only kissed me a few times before... And it was because I started it. He never tried to push me into anything! He thought it was what I wanted, and I did to, you can't blame him for that."

She fell silent for a moment as he muttered, and she nodded at the manager. "Yeah. Everything's okay." She agreed, relieved when he made his was back.

"I wanted to talk to you... Because I thought you would understand. You wouldn't jump down my throat or anything, but I guess I was wrong." She muttered before taking a sip of her tea.

Claude snorted derisively when she made her argument. "How can you claim to know him? Huh? How long have you known him exactly? How many hours have you spent with him? How well do you really know him, Skylar? I have just as much right to judge him as you have. The only things I've known about him is what you've told me! And from what it sounds like, he is a questionably older man who saw a young girl that he could get into, and took advantage when he got the chance, and then you did what-the-fuck-ever with him that you don't even know if you wanted to do. It's pretty convenient that he didn't notice something was wrong until you got started fucking around isn't it?" He sat back in his booth, propelled backward by his own anger.

"No, you're absolutely write, Skylar. I don't understand. I'm sorry, but I don't. Maybe you should take to Jason," he said mockingly. "He seems to understand everything doesn't he?" He picked up his muffin, took a massive bite out of it, threw it down on the table and got to his feet. Without a word he took his wallet out and tossed a few bills on the table, then moved for the door.

Skylar's face stiffened as he began to talk down at her. She kept having flashbacks when she was at home... When her parents would say she screwed up even if she hadn't really done anything.

Jason wasn't like that... He stopped! He did... He did it because something wasn't right and he was afraid for her! Claude didn't know what he was talking about, didn't know what Jason was really like.

But still... He wasn't yelling at Jason, he was yelling at her because it was her fault or so it seemed.

"He didn't know! He didn't know Claude!" She choked, holding back her tears. "Just stop yelling at me. I don't like it." She told him. It was one thing she couldn't stand... people yelling at her. Her parents did it all the time... And it always sent her running off to her room crying. But his tone became even more belittling as he said that she should just go talk to Jason.

"Stop being such a jerk." She said as she stood up with him. "I know you're only trying to help but you're not helping me!" She was doing her best to keep the tears at bay. She hated crying in front of people...

"You're acting like my father, and that's not a good thing as you know." She said as she shoved her books in her backpack, putting money on the table as well before following him.

"I thought you'd at least try to be a friend.... And I was wrong about that too. So far the only one I've been wrong about is you Claude." She snapped angrily, wiping a tear from her face.

Claude was a few steps out the door by the time her words caught up to him. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, his mood and voice dropping into an eerily calm tone, his eyes flashing wildly. "Well then, it sounds as if your father had at least a little bit of sense in him." He took a step toward her. "My father beat my mum within an inch of her life and then took my brother and I out for ice cream. My father didn't do shit to teach me right from wrong. How dare you refer to your father in such a spiteful way, and then equate him to me. How dare you!" he hissed, turning her words on her.

He was nearly panting with all that it took him to hold his negative energy back. He had so much more to scream in her face, but he held it within and turned his back on her. He shoved his hands into his pockets and moved away from her, half hoping she would follow, or shove off. It had been so long since he had spoken of his father to anyone. Or his brother. And now all he wanted to do was shout to the heavens all the wrongs done by him. Better that he just walk away from it all and push it down for some other time... day... life...

Skylar took a step back, away from his anger. His fury made her shrink back... But who was he to think he was the only one with a horrible father.

She wanted to run... Wanted to get away from him, but he was blocking the stairs down from the cafe, and she was too fearful to move closer to him. He moved and she darted past him, out to the open.

"Did you forget why I'm here Claude? Why I'm not still back there?" Her voice was shaky, unused to defending her. "They might not have hit me, but it would have hurt less if they did. They only used me to hurt each other and then hurt me. That's all you're doing now!" Her voice cracked a little. "Everything was my fault. Nothing I did was ever good enough for them. I couldn't ever do anything right." She wiped a stray tear as she turned to leave.

Why was he being so mean? She had trusted him and now... Now he was mad because of one little mist- No... It wasn't a mistake! She wouldn't say it was a mistake no matter what.

He was simply jealous... That was all. he had said that he wanted to ask her out... But... But how could he say that? He never said anything before about the fact he liked her! It wasn't her fault he hadn't said anything before.

That's all you're doing now!

Claude stopped at this, staring at his feet. He wiggled his toes in his shoes, watching the tip of his converse move. He turned and looked at her, his eyelids red, as if there were tears, but they simply hadn't fallen yet.

"Why did you tell me?" he asked her quietly, having a hard time holding onto his words. "Why did you tell me about him at all? Why did you call me? Why did you--" he stopped, taking head of his raising voice. "I'm sorry," he said, his words gentle, his posture falling as if his spine was the only thing keeping him from collapsing.

He turned away from her again, considering just walking away and leaving it at that... But he had asked her a question and he wanted to know the answer. Why did she tell him? To gloat? She could have told him that everything had worked out fine over the phone... Why had she kissed his cheek the night before? Why had she made him dance with her? Why did she insist that he go out with her dancing? Granted she was drugged, but nevertheless. She hadn't given him a chance...

She automatically froze as she heard his voice, the question reverberating in her mind.

"Why....? I... I thought that was obvious." She said softly, turning around, not paying attention to the streaks on her face.

"I thought you would be a friend Claude... I thought you would help me." She said as she let her head fall. "I'm afraid okay... I really am." She murmured as he turned away. "After he just stopped he wanted to leave. He was mad at... Himself I guess, and he was so upset he wanted to leave. I know it was my fault. I didn't tell him before." She took a hesitant step towards him.

"I don't care what you think about him Claude... But I thought you would care that I liked him. And I thought that you might help me..." Help her with what though? He was already blaming her for what happened, and he didn't like Jason it seemed... So what was he really going to do?

"I'm sorry I told you then Claude. I didn't mean to upset you... I just thought that you might help me."

Claude gave an exasperated sigh, turning toward her again. "It's not your fault. Why is it that women always have to find something of someone to blame? Just let it be! People don't give The Beatles as much credit as they deserve sometimes. They knew what they were talking about most of the time!"

He sighed again and ran his hands through his hair, walking slowly toward her in resignation. "Help you with what?"

"But sometimes.... Sometimes you just can't just let things be as they are." She murmured almost fearfully.

"Claude, I don't... I don't want to lose him... I know you don't like him... But I do. I really like him. I know he's upset about this and I want to... I guess make things right but I don't know how. I don't know what I can do or say that... That'll make him know that even though that shouldn't have happened... I don't regret it."

She bit her lip as she looked up at him.

"I should have told him, should have let him know something was up. But I guess I didn't want him to leave and so..." She trailed off slightly. "I didn't tell you to brag, I didn't tell you because I wanted to hurt you. I told you because I'm afraid to loose him because I was stupid."

Claude stood there, listening to her explain herself, shuffling his feet absently. “Why don’t you just tell him that? I mean, if he really does care about you--” he sighed and then added, “which I hope for your sake he does, then it shouldn’t take too much to win him back. Men are simple. We’ll try anything once… And if we like it we'll keep coming back to it. Even if it bites us in the ass, we’ll more than likely try it again just for the thrill. And if it’s for women, we’ll lay in the dirt and allow ourselves to be kicked far longer then you ladies will for us. It‘s when you kill our dogs that we finally leave.”

He smirked softly at his little quip, then reached out to her, though not touching her hand giving her the option of taking it… Or not. “Come on… I’ll walk you home, alright?”

Skylar smiled as he explained about guys and how they worked. She might have had friends... But she never had any real boyfriends or anything. She just never trusted anyone quite as much as she trusted Jason... Or even Claude really. He was a friend he was. He was maybe... just a little jealous. And well... In a way she could understand.

"I don't want to kick anyone though Claude... I don't want to cause anyone any grief. You of all people should know that." She said simply, taking his hand as she shifted her back pack.

"And I... I will admit... I never wanted anything at all to happen that fast. I'm not that kind of girl. But I won't say I didn't want it eventually." She murmured.

"Thank you though. For watching out for me last night and for talking to me today." She leaned in and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "It's nice to really have a friend. And I'm... I'm really glad that you took things as well as you did. And I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just have a hard time when people yell at me. It's worse than actually hitting me really." She trailed off into a murmur.

"No, no. no, no. Don't misunderstand. You're not to the point of kicking him just yet. I would say you've only scared him a little bit... That biting of the ass that I mentioned." He grinned. "If he's worth it, he'll still be around. Give him a little time to cool off. Don't seek him out. If there's one thing a guy hates, it's to feel smothered. So don't push him away... But give him time to come around... Because he will. We always do."

Claude nodded as he listened to her speak, "Well of course you did. Everybody wants sex eventually." He chuckled softly. "I get what you're saying though... He uh... He wasn't your first was he?"

He peered down at her. "I promise not to blow up on you again, kay? I... I don't know what came over me... I guess I just hate being in the position of watching the girls I care about getting shit on, you know?" He squeezed her dainty hand. "If anything like this happens again... I can't promise not to kill him... Or maim him in some way. But... Don't be afraid to tell me okay? I promise not to react like I did today."

He snorted. "Glad I took it as well as I did?" He laughed out loud, passing a teasing glance over to her. "Yes, I handled it very well! Threw a fit in the cafe, mutilated a poor, innocent muffin, and yelled at you in the street. Brilliant! I'm a bloody stoic, I am!"

"Got ya." She said with a nod.

But as he asked if it was her first time, she only blushed and bit her lip. It was... But she didn't know if it should technically count because of her... well... inebriation.

"Thanks... I... I just kinda get all out of sorts when people start yelling and all. Whether at me or not." Yeah, that was a bad thing about being a people-pleaser. "It won't happen again. He's not like that and well, I don't plan on getting drugged again. He's a nice guy. Maybe... Maybe you should try to meet him? Maybe I can bring him by the club when you're working or something." She offered.

After all, maybe if they met, they could get along well.

Skylar laughed though as he said he did spectacularly well with taking the news, but she shook her head lightly. "Trust me... If my grandparents found out... They'd kill me. Well at lest kick me out and never speak to me again like they did with my mother." She said with a roll of her eyes.

"But I'm going to see about getting all of us together one night or something. How about that?"

Skylar's silence was noted. Claude took a deep, stifling breath and then let it out, squeezing her hand, but not saying a word. It was horrible that her first time had been spent in such away, but not everybody had a good time losing their virginity. Thank God it wasn't with that guy at the bar. He hoped for her sake that Jason would come back... He hoped that everything would be easy for her.

Maybe you should try to meet him? Maybe I can bring him by the club when you're working or something.

Claude couldn't help his hesitation. He didn't know if that was such a good idea. He wasn't sure if it would make things better or worse, and for Skylar's sake, he didn't want it to be worse. He ran a hand through his hair, walking along silently. "I suppose that would be alright. I mean, it's the least I could do, I suppose. I've been a complete ass to you tonight..." He sighed. "I just don't think he and I will be buddy-buddy, is all." He glanced at her, smiling sadly. "Besides, he probably doesn't have any idea who I am anyway. It'd be more than a little awkward, wouldn't it?" Not to mention that it was more than likely that both men's jealousy would sky rocket.

"Well As long as you two don't start posturing and whatever trying to see who's the bigger man I think it'll be fine." She said with a grin.

"He's a nice guy and I don't think he's petty enough to let jealousy get the best of him. And I hope you would be that way too." She said nudging his shoulder with her grin still intact. "And he does know who you are, because I've mentioned you before to him and well with last night and all. He knows that you're a good person I'm sure. After all not every guy would have tried to help." She pointed out.

She would have said something more along the lines of guys trying to take advantage of her, but she didn't want to seem like she was accusing Jason. He hadn't known what was going on. She had told him that she was fine and well... She had lied then of course...

"So... You think you could at least last a few hours?"

Claude grinned, "Well if you want that much time out of me, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to show up while I'm working. I can't ask for a break over several hours, you know. But, yeah, I suppose I could bring myself to meet him... I suppose." He winked at her.

"Well fine then. Let me know when you're not working and I'll see what I can arrange with Jason." She said. "And I'm sure you would like him. He's really nice and he's always been really protective of me. You know... The first time we met, he'd saved my life." She said simply.

"I was on my way home late on night and a guy was trying to attack me. He scared the guy off and even when I told him that I'd be okay he refused to let me walk home alone." She gave a little smile.

"So I mean come on, how bad could he really be Claude?" She prodded. "Just give me some days that you're off and I'll make all the other arrangements."

Claude chuckled. "I know, you told me all about how great he was last night while you could hardly stand up anymore. You said all sorts of funny things last night. Do you remember all of it? Making me dance with you... puking everywhere... I practically had to carry you up the steps to your house."

"I'll give you a call the next time I have a day off... I have your number now so that shouldn't be too hard."

"Oh... Heh... Well there ya go then. I probably would have talked about anything I guess." She said with a sheepish grin. "I remember some stuff. Like... Like what was talked about, but not really exactly what was said." She admitted.

"I remember throwing up... But not where. And I remember you taking me up the steps... Then... Then I kinda fell asleep until Jason came over." Claude knew the rest of the story, so there was really no need to continue.

"But you better give me a call or I'll hunt ya down." She gave a little grin.

"Oh, is that right? Somehow I doubt that."

He nudged her playfully, then looked up from where they were walking. He hadn't really given them any direction as they had begun walking. He had offered to talk her home, but he really had no idea where 'home' was in relation to where they were. "Um... Where are we?"