Always (Nathan Scott Fan Fiction) [2]

The Hero Dies in This One PT1

Claudia took of her shoes and threw them in her locker, she saw Peyton walking up to her. 

"Hey! I heard you were out of town. Fill me in on all the dirt." Claudia said smiling.

"I... think you're the only one who has any." Peyton said back and Claudia made a face. "I have to ask you something?" Peyton said and Claudia just nodded her head. "Did you kiss Chris?" Peyton asked and Claudia's smiled dropped. She paused before she said anything guiltily. 

"How did you know about that?" Claudia asked whispering. 

"That is seriously not important." Peyton sighed.

"It was, like, a goodbye kiss." Claudia justified, but she knew what she did was wrong.

"With tongue!?" She asked and Claudia stayed silent. "Claudia, what's going on with you? You know how ugly everything got with me and Brooke and Lucas and... there were no wedding rings in that scenario." Peyton explained in a low voice. Claudia looked around her before shutting her locker.

"Look, he just... he just kissed me. And... I let him and it was a really stupid thing to do. But... It's-it didn't mean anything, you know?" Claudia explained stuttering in a whisper tone.

"A kiss always means something." Peyton frowned at Claudia. The school bell rung and Peyton walked away. She left Claudia to stew in her guilt.

___

Claudia was sitting on a table outside as she looked over a song that Jack wrote for her, she was trying to figure out the melody.

"Talk to your folks lately?" Nathan asked sitting down on the bench around the table.

"Uh, yeah actually, my mum texted me last night about a tour she wants to go on. She said my dad wants to go so he can look at some Gouda museum or something." Claudia laughed as she got off of the table and sat on the same bench as Nathan.

"What about Chris?" Nathan asked as he handed her the papers.

"Did you go through my emails?" Claudia asked as she took the papers. 

"What is this, Claudia?" Nathan asked sternly.

"Nothing. I sent him one email to say good luck on your music." Claudia said truthfully as she flipped through the papers. 

"It looks like more than one email to me." Nathan stated waiting for an explanation. 

"Taylor, must have sent these on my account because-" Claudia said an as Nathan looked away smirking bitterly. "Yeah, look at the dates; They all start after she got here. And this one was sent when I was at the café." Claudia explained showing Nathan the proof.

"So you didn't kiss Chris?" Nathan asked seriously. 

"Taylor is just stirring up trouble like always." Claudia said avoiding the question. Nathan nodded his head.

"OK. I'm gonna tell her to leave then. That cool with you?" Nathan asked and Claudia looked at him wary. 

"Yeah. She should go." Claudia answered guilt ridden.

"Alright." Nathan said as he stood up and left. Claudia looked away guiltily, she had just placed all the blame on her friend when they were just patching things up. 

___

Peyton was walking down the pavement by herself. Claudia ran up to her.

"Hey!" Claudia shouted and Peyton turned around and stopped. "So,... Nathan found out that I kissed Chris." Claudia stated and Peyton was shocked.