Without Love ::: Claire, Wes

So lost in his own thoughts, Wes had no idea that Claire was moving up the stands towards him. When she sat down, he felt the vibration which made him jump a bit. His eyes snapped open as he looked around, only to realize that she showed up after all. He was pleased to see her, yet at the same time he was filled with dread having to lay this all out there on her. How would she take it? Did she really even like him or was she just truly that helpful? Smiling at her so that she didn't think something was wrong, Wes sat up straight so that he could face her as he looked for the words to describe how he felt. The problem with being Wes was, he wasn't always very articulate when it came to his feelings.

"Yeah, thanks for actually showing up by the way." he said as if she wouldn't have actually chosen to show up. There was no subtle way he could think of to break into this topic, he would just have to suck it up. "Look Claire, I realize that I take you for granted. You're always there for me when I need help with my work to stay on the team. You're probably the only person who seems happy to see me when I show to circle sessions too." he said, growing quiet after he dropped that bomb. There was more to it all but he had to think about it, what else he had to say. There was some nagging feeling in his head that there was something he was forgetting about.

Wes swallowed hard, laughing nervously to break the silence that settled over them. "I was sort of wondering if you had plans tonight. It's not a problem if you do, I just.. figured you deserved something for all you do for me.." he said, placing a hand on the back of his head as he rubbed it waiting for a response. It was sort of his way of showing that his nerves were pretty shot. Normally he had more courage than this, this was incredibly stupid and he couldn't figure out why he couldn't man up.

"It doesn't have to be a date you know, unless, you're cool with that?" he asked, looking at her tentatively. Wes wasn't used to losing, he wouldn't accept no as an answer he decided, no matter what she said to him. He would find a way to show her that he wanted this, that he always had.

"You could have had better things to do than chill with a jerk." he said cooly, playing off his anxiety that she wasn't going to show. He was starting to regain that cool composure he loved to cling to in every day life. Shifting the way he was sitting so that he could get a better look at her, she seemed to be handling this as well as he was, from what he could see. There was that air of awkward tension, one that could have been cut with a knife. "You know, it would have been totally cool if you were busy." he added. It was already bad enough he was dropping all of this on her with such a short notice.

He could see that she was struggling to work things out in her head, she was confused by the fact that he was suddenly interested. Truth be told, he was confused as well, but he was confused as to why he never saw it before. She was even smokin' to boot which made it even easier for him at the same time to make the call. "You had to see it coming at some point right? I mean.. you're smart." he started, though realizing how dumb that sounded when he said it aloud. "I couldn't keep over looking the things you do for me forever right? I mean, no one else helps me the way you seem to." he said, laughing though it was due to nerves.

When she took awhile to respond, Wes figured he was losing her somewhere. Something he said must have been wrong somehow, how did he do this before he wondered. About to say something to recover he realized she was only working it all out in her head, she was bewildered by how he had just blindsided her with this. "Well, yeah, I am. But I'm not messing with you Claire, I'm one hundred percent for real right now." he said, moving forward and placing a hand on hers for a moment. "You know I'd never intentionally say anything to try and hurt you right? I may be a jerk, but only to people I feel deserve it." he said, though he had treated her that way before.

"No, we can go now if you like. I was thinking something like drinks, maybe dinner if it's not too much.." he said, looking into her eyes trying to gauge some sort of reaction. He was also pretty terrible at this date thing, usually Kyra or their posse of friends just dragged him around to wherever the party was. "I was actually hoping you wouldn't make me wait long. I came with the idea that you might honestly say no, circumstances and all." he said, though he couldn't figure out what they were exactly. Kyra seemed to have evaporated from his immediate thoughts, there was only Claire.

"Trust me, it's going to be a ton of fun." he said, standing and holding a hand out to her with a grin.

Wes let out a loud laugh, shaking his head at her. She couldn't be serious, could she? She had to know that even if he wasn't chasing her down trying to dry hump her leg, she was definitely attractive to him on the surface as well. "You can't be serious. I thought you were smarter than that, you don't look anywhere close to what I imagine a nerd to be." he said, trying to reassure her, rebuild some of what he destroyed. Even if it was unintentional, indirect, it seemed that him passing her over had damaged her self esteem a bit. Being one to have his own self esteem issues, he knew just how much something like that sucked.

There was a handsome smirk that followed, it seemed that he was getting his way. Was that any surprise however? Wes always seemed to win, it was just in his nature that he got what he wanted. "If I've got a shot, you know I'm going to take it. I've never been one to quit and you know that I can't miss." he said, making a stupid pun. He would have to remember to smack himself later for it, seemed appropriate for the moment though. Usually there were browny points for laughter or coming across as funny, able to make fun of yourself.

"Honestly? I never thought I'd look at you like this either. But last night I couldn't sleep, my mind kept wandering to you. It was like someone was trying to tell me something, maybe I was having some sort of vision.." he said, laughing at his own uncertainty. Was it even possible for him to have visions? Probably not, but that was how all of this felt to him. "Just try and relax. If you think about this too much you'll end up making an ass of yourself in a football stadium. I would know." he said, laughing again.

What happened next surprised even him, but as she spoke Wes stepped in towards her. Placing both hands gently on her shoulders, he looked down at her with a smile. "I am here now. But this is all wrong, we shouldn't be here, we should be somewhere else having a good time." he said, not removing his hands right away. Something felt pretty right about being this close to her, like he never wanted to leave her side. Only stepping back because he had to, he held out his hand to her.

"Fine, nothing fancy if you insist. But if it's all the same to you, I want icecream before this nights over." he said, leading her away towards his car. He was honestly glad that she didn't make him work like a slave to earn her trust, he just wanted all the time he could manage to get with her. "But just so we're clear, I may or may not have been willing to beg." he said, teasing her about it. Opening the door to his car, he held it for her so that she could climb into the passenger seat before getting in himself.

"Nothing fancy? What does that mean exactly? Want to just grab some pizza or something then?" he asked, starting the car. It was really basic, sort of lame, but he was trying it her way. If he had his way, they would be going somewhere that bled his wallet like a vampire.

Wes couldn't truly believe how much they seemed to be on the same wave length, it was like a heavy burden was lifted off of his shoulders. With a quiet sigh of relief, he beamed at her with a goofy, yet charming grin. This was going to be a fun night, he could tell, though he didn't get too far ahead of himself with what could come of this. It was a date, not a garuntee that by the end of all of this that she would actually want to be with him. Plus there was something he was forgetting, something important that seemed to be tickling the back of his mind. For the life of him though he couldn't figure out what it was, it drove him nuts but there was nothing he could do.

"Don't worry about that, I swear, I'm a newly reformed Wes." he teased as she spoke about him being a gentleman. For some reason he found himself actually trying to be better than he usually was. In private he was actually pretty nice, even if he couldn't show that to anyone else, but today he was.. mooshy nice. Everything he did have some sort of emotional need plaguing it, the need to be closer to Claire than just words, or the space between them in his car. "Hopefully we can make tonight something actually worth remembering, after all that has happened we deserve it right?" he asked, refering to the incident with Selena.

He never knew however that she had a funnier side to her, she was right when she said he probably thought she was a nerd. Wes assumed that there wasn't much else going on for her other than her appearance and intelligence, but she actually seemed to have a down to earth sort of humor. He gave a little smirk as he shook his head at her, "Well, maybe I can do a little. Should I get down on my knees and grovel? Kiss your feet?" he asked with a laugh, as if the idea was far fetched. Right now however he felt like he would do whatever he had to do, quite literally.

"You don't have to worry Claire, I couldn't buy a girl like you even if I wanted to. That is what I like most about you, your loyalty is real, not based on the amount of things someone can give you." he said, pleased. All his life he had only known the type to chase the things they didn't have, take them from others. Fame, fortune, and all the social things that came with both of those things. Even though he hated to admit it, even he was like that at times, which was definitely something he knew being with Claire might change about him. There was this feeling deep down inside of him that she could help him get over who he was and become who he should be.

When Wes's car came flying around the corner, the pizza place was not far. Of course he drove like a maniac. It was normal for him to do this, even if today he was trying to impress Claire. Though the plan seemed a bit flawed from an outside perspective, what was he going to do, give her the most romantic heart attack of all time? As they pulled up to the place, he looked at her again, this time with an apologetic gaze. "Sorry, I have a led foot. When I first got my license I swear they were already preparing to take it away from me. I got this three hour long lecture on how the road belongs to everyone." he said, laughing as he got out of the car. Running around to her door he opened it for her, giving her the chance to step out.

"I realized the other night though, we don't talk much do we? I know some things about you, but not as much as I wish I did." he said, offering her his hand as support. For the first time ever he would ask a question that didn't in some way have to do with him. "How are you doing? How is Claire's life?" he asked, tilting his head a bit waiting for her to speak.

"Don't worry too much about that, I'm sure most of him is still in here somewhere." Wes joked, giving her a playful wink at her comment. Unfortunately there would always be a remnant of the power hungry jerk that he was before the spell. He was raised to be this way, to show an uglier side of humanity with every breath. He hated it, how he could never change the way he was simply because it meant that his dad won. He would never be good enough if he was not what they wanted, what they had always envisioned as the perfect son. Most days that thought made his blood boil, he wanted to smash his room to pieces. "I had a feeling if I changed too much you wouldn't be interested anyway." he said.

Nodding his head, he knew what she meant about the buzzing, the ringing noises. That supernatural scream had almost left him deaf for a week, the after effects were pretty obvious. "Good, I'm glad I was not the only one who seemed to get the full blast of that. At least you can share in my pain." he said, laughing as if there was anything funny about what happened. Putting it all behind them was the goal now, they had to be stronger together to prevent it from happening again. For awhile he thought that meant him and Kyra, but right now in this moment he was starting to think maybe that was wrong. Maybe he and Claire would be the ones to ascend to a new level of power.

She was so much funnier than he had ever imagined, her figured her for an uptight brainiac for a long time. Her intelligence was what made her unapproachable to him, but today that was gone. With a laugh he shook his head at her, "I'm sure I could think of something." he said, grinning. Now that she brought it up, the desire jumped from the back of his mind to the fore front, along with several other impure thoughts. He truly never realized just how much he felt for her. "Though if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not count my chickens before they hatch. Usually things turn out bad that way." he said.

Taking her hand in his own, he led her inside to order. Looking at her with a raised brow, he handed her the reins as he had no idea what she ate. But after they placed their order, the conversation would immediately flip back to her. "Do I really think that you're special? You have no idea Claire. All this time I've been a bit blind to it, but I see things clearly now. I couldn't even imagine there being another out there who could handle me at my worst like you do." he said, shrugging his shoulders. Even when he was nothing more than an imposing jock, she still waited for him which said alot about the kind of person she was to him.

Moving to a table, Wes pulled out a chair for her as he made the gesture to sit. He would sit across from her, that way he would never have to stop gazing into those eyes of hers. It was kind of sickening, how mushy he felt when he did. "Have I told you how sorry I am yet?" he asked, laughing as he twiddled his thumbs a bit. "I know it couldn't have been easy for you, but if you want to talk I'm here you know. You look like you have something else going on in there, something eating at you." he said, searching her expression. There was a genuine smile from him, he was being an all around nice guy today. "If there is ever anything you need to tak about, you can just tell me. I'm not going to refuse you."

Claire was probably the only person to ever say something like that to him, making Wes pause for a moment. He had never considered that someone else could see anything in him other than the smothering aura he put off. Even with Kyra he knew that it was his natural leadership, popularity, and confidence that made her pick him. He was an assertive, aggressive man with a habit for being a jerk to those he deemed not worth his time. Their attitudes sort of meshed, however there was more to him than that. There was a side of Wes that wanted out, to be something better than this machine his father created.

"You might be the first person who has seen anything beyond my being a jerk then. Sure you don't need to see a shrink or something? You might just be a bit crazy." he joked casually, leaning back in his chair. Even the way he sat said a bit about him, how much confidence he had in himself, his own abilities. He was full of himself, vain, though he was trying to get over that to be a better person for Claire now. That was what he decided.. just this morning when he thought of her. That single thought dominated his entire day, destroying all other priorities.

"I've built my entire "empire" around knowing what to say, when to say it, and to who." he said, radiating confidence. He was always rather smooth, knowing just what to say, when to say it, all of that nonsense. Even when he was being rude or sarcastic he had the uncanny ability to push your buttons and make you do things you didn't want to do. Most of his friends absolutely hated him, but they were still his "friends" simply because they couldn't deny that he had a way with people. "So it shouldn't come as a surprise if by the end of the night you lose it entirely." he said, adding a sly wink.

Wes didn't truly even have an end game for once, this was honestly it. He wanted to be closer to her, he set out to do it, and he did. There was always closer, which made him a bit warm to consider. What was with him today? He was acting like a stupid kid with a crush, normally the idea of getting a chick out of her clothes was something he would never have to even think twice about. With Claire it felt different though, even if he wanted it, he had to consider her for once. There was a sense of urgency in the back of his mind however, as if there was no time to waste courting her.

"It's completely cool if you'd rather not. I just figured I would offer, you don't seem like you have many people who ask." he said, shaking his head. "Well I mean, too many people like me..? I have no idea what I am trying to say." he said, chuckling. "If you need anything you know you can call me at anytime, day or night." he said, leaning forward and putting her hands into his own. "I would do anything to help you, know that."