You and Me (A Series of Jlaire One-Shots)

You Before Me

This was requested by JimXClaire. I loveeee this idea! This one takes place after the season 2 finale.

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  Jim and Claire raced through the woods, tearing past the trees and ducking under branches. Behind them, a torrent of loud clanking and deep huffing propelled them to go faster. 

  "Come on, Claire!" he yelled back at her as she struggled with her Shadow Staff. Trying to concentrate, she glanced behind her and gasped as a horde of Gumm-Gumms started to gain on them.

"Claire!" Jim shouted again. 

  She thrust the staff out in front of her and concentrated, willing the black, inky magic to work faster. Her muscles pulsed with pain, and she felt a searing hot ache inside of her, like a knife. Everything was spiraling out of control. Why was it so hard for her to make a simple  portal?

  Jim glanced over his shoulder and stopped short. His girlfriend's brown eyes were changing from their normal, beautiful brown into flat, black discs, with a slash of white in the middle. 

  "CLAIRE!" he screamed, but she made no acknowledgement of hearing him. 

  Her entire body was trembling. Keeping one eye on the stampeding Gumm-Gumms, he stepped towards her and extended his hand to her. She stared at his outstretched fingers and then looked at the staff, which was quickly turning black. 

  "Claire..." he started to say, but suddenly a blast of purple magic exploded from the staff, knocking him backwards. He looked up just in time to see her disappear from view in a cloud of smog. 

  "CLAIRE!" he screeched, and jumped headfirst into the smoke. She was keeled over on the grass, coughing and gasping for air. The magic was killing her. He watched in horror as the smoke took on a finger-like shape and began to reach down for her, seemingly ready to destroy her. Without thinking, he rushed forward and knocked her out of the way. The staff clattered to the ground. 

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  Claire landed on the ground, hard, and sat up, not knowing where she was. Her eyes widened as she saw the giant black and purple cloud swelling on the forest floor. 

  She heard a loud yell and watched in horror as her boyfriend came flying out of the cloud and landed with a thump on the ground a few feet away from her. He lay motionless. 

   "Jim!" she shouted, crawling towards him. He was still. There was a loud clanking noise. She looked up to see the cloud swallow up all the Gumm-Gumms. After a moment, it disappeared, and the forest was silent. 

  "Jim..." she whispered, and suddenly she remembered. "Oh, Jim, you saved me..." She stroked his face. 

She reached out and ran her fingers along his jawline tenderly, hanging her head.

"This is all my fault," Claire whispered, a tear trickling down her cheek. Suddenly, he coughed and sputtered, opening one electric blue eye to look at her.

"Jim?" she gasped.

"Claire?" he replied with a groan, propping himself up on his elbows. "Are you okay?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, throwing herself into his arms.

"Oof!" he grunted from the impact, but smiled and put his arms around her.

He pulled her close, breathing in the faint scent of her lilac-scented perfume. She rested her head against his shoulder, never taking her arms from around his neck. Her lips brushing against his neck, she whispered, "I was so scared I had lost you."

"Nah," he answered playfully. "It'll take more than an angry cloud to knock me out. Looks like you're stuck with me."

"There's no one else I'd rather be with." With that, she grabbed a fistful of his blue jacket and yanked him close, their lips colliding. His eyes fluttered, eyelashes grazing against hers. She didn't need words to tell him how much she loved him, only the gentle language of their kiss.

Time stopped for the two of them as they kissed in the middle of the woods, alone, with no one but the stars as witness.

After a while, Claire reluctantly released his jacket and they sat back. He glanced at her Shadow staff.

"This is my fault. You would have never been in danger if it wasn't for me," Claire whispered.

"No. You risked your life for us and made that giant portal. You didn't know that it would happen again."

He stood and extended a hand to her, gently pulling her up off the ground. She glanced up at the stars, twinkling and sparkling like diamonds. She grabbed her Shadow Staff and intertwined her fingers with his.

"It's a nice night, anyway," she said. "Let's walk."

As they walked through the forest, hands linked, she turned to him.

"You didn't even think when you pushed me out the way."

"Of course. You before me, always."

"Weren't you worried about yourself?"

"Nah. That's the kind of thing people do when they're in love."

She smiled as he leaned down and planted another quick kiss on her lips.

"You before me, Nunez. Always."

"And you before me, Lake. Always."