Despite officially starting to date, not much changed between Claire and Alex at first. He insisted on sleeping in her room every night but nothing happened. He kissed her the rare times they were alone and they held hands in public but that was about it.
Ethan wasn't the slightest bit suspicious because they had always been very huggy with each other and she had a history of falling asleep on her boyfriend while watching TV anyway. Looking back, she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed his feelings sooner. He did casually touch her at every given opportunity but she had thought it was because he was touch starved.
They didn't even get the chance to go on a proper date by themselves before Christmas because Claire was too busy studying for finals. Even so, she was happier than she thought was possible. Her feelings weren't unrequited after all and that was what mattered.
