"Great. I smell like a girl," Shane complained as he frowned down at the lavender scented bubble filled bathtub. Claire laughed. There wasn't much space in the bathtub, so Shane came up with a 'brilliant' idea for Claire to sit on his lap. Shane's hands held onto her thighs, and he drew small shapes with his fingers.
"Well," Claire replied, moving a little closer to her boyfriend. "At least your skin will be nice and smooth."
"Ha Ha," He mocked a laugh and gently tugged on her high, messy bun. Claire giggled and rested her head against Shane's wet chest. She felt and heard him take in a deep breath after kissing her lightly on the top of her head. "You scared me today, you know?"
"Scared you, Shane Collins? My God, someone call the media." Claire tried going for an 'Eve Like' reply. Honestly, she didn't want to think about what had happened at all. Shane's eyes drifted to her neck, where Myrnin's bite was covered in a large band-aid.
"I'm serious Claire," Shane's eyes traveled back to Claire's eyes. "I don't know what I would have done.. If..." He struggled to finish the rest of the sentence. His voice dropped lower, "If we were too late."
Claire looked down at the soapy water, "You would have staked Myrnin's ass?"
Shane smiled a little and tilted Claire's chin up so he could look into her eyes, "Trust me, I'm going to do that anyway. There's no way I'm letting that crazy son of a bitch get away with what he did to you."
Claire didn't have an answer, and she found herself staring at Shane's lips. His beautifully, sexy, totally kissable lips. Apparently, Shane was thinking the same about Claire, because his lips brushed against hers. Claire's hands gently tugged at his shaggy hair, sometimes causing Shane to moan. His tongue traced the the outside of her lip, and she let his tongue connect with hers. Shane pulled Claire closer to him in one, quick, smooth motion and Claire gasped into Shane's mouth. That got Shane even more excited.
Claire placed her hands on his tanned, washboard abs and gently nibbled on his bottom lip. Shane moaned again, his hands rested on her butt, and he slowly made his way up her body. His wandering hands brushed the side of her breasts, and... there was a knock at the door. Claire pulled away, her cheeks flushing pink.
"Hey," Shane complained. "Way to ruin sexy time!"
Claire heard Michael and Eve's muffled laughter. Eve was the one who spoke.
"Shane Collins. You better not be tainting our pure little Claire."
Claire blushed even harder, "Eve! I'm not that innocent!"
Michael cut them off, and called through the door, "Are you watching the movie or not?" Claire looked to Shane, waiting for an answer. Shane shrugged, but Claire could clearly see the passion and lust lingering in his eyes.
Claire smiled, "Start it without us. We'll be down in a minute." Shane stuck out his bottom lip and nodded in approval.
"Whatever," Eve said. "You don't know what you're missing out on."
Shane came back with an immediate reply, "Trust me, I'm not missing out on anything."
* * *
Claire watched as Shane walked around his room with nothing but his jeans on. She sat on his bed, cross legged wearing one of his black button down shirts that he never wore. He rummaged through his - rather messy - wardrobe and even under his bed.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Claire asked. "We're just going down to the lounge-room?" Shane's eyes rested on her as he stood in front of her, arms crossed across his bare chest. He sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy hair.
"I'm looking for that necklace-thingy that you bought me." He checked the bedside table.
"Necklace?" Claire asked, a little confused.
"Yeah, the one with the dog tags."
"Oh!" Claire slid off the bed. It was a silver Dog Tag necklace. On one tag there was a crucifix engraved, the other tag was blank. Claire had bought if for him for his 19th birthday.... Along with other things. But it was real silver, and vampires didn't really like silver... And she happened to think of Shane when she saw it. Shane watched her leave, and then decided he was going to follow. "You left it in my room the other night." She made her way down the hall and to her bedroom, with Shane following at least a metre behind. "It should be-" She jumped when she pushed open the door to see Myrnin standing in her room.
"Get out." Claire ordered as she backed up a few steps.
"Claire, please... Just let me explain." Myrnin pleaded walking towards her.
"Claire, what's wrong?" Shane moved to her side, and stared at Myrnin. His eyes turned dark as he watched the vampire, and his lips turned up into a dangerous smile. "You're pretty dumb coming here, you know?" Shane moved past Claire, heading in Myrnin's direction. His fists were clenched, and Claire watched as she saw his muscles tense on his exposed back. Myrnin watched him with equal anger. Oh, this was not going to be good.
"Listen to me, boy. I'm not in the mood for a fight, I just want to talk to Claire."
"To hell with that," Shane said. Claire heard the small bones in his knuckles crack.
"Shane!" Claire exclaimed and started in his direction. She was too late.
Shane's fist struck out and hit Myrnin smack in the jaw. Myrnin reacted to that by extracting out his fangs and hissing at him. Myrnin slammed Shane against the wall, creating a loud bang. Surely that would have gotten Michael's attention.
"Stop!" Claire yelled. It didn't stop the fight. Shane's knee came up so fast, Claire had almost missed it, and Myrnin doubled over and stumbled back a few steps. His crimson red eyes rested on Shane. Shane went for another blow, but Myrnin was fast. Myrnin side-stepped out of the way, and he clawed Shane in the side of the face. Three, bloody scratches reached from Shane's temple to about the middle of his cheek. "Stop it! Stop, stop stop!" Claire screamed it again. Shane glanced over his shoulder, and his face softened. He was going to stop fighting, that was until, Myrnin spoke.
"She'll belong to me one day," Myrnin spat. He had blood running from his nose. "You just wait for it, boy."
Shane reached for one of the pencils that laid abandoned on her bedside table. He made a run at Myrnin, his battle scream ringing in Claire's ears. Myrnin dodged again, but that's what Shane was expecting. His elbow struck back, hitting Myrnin in the chin with a sickening crack. Shane spun around and dug the pencil into the left side of Myrnin's chest. He pinned him up against the wall. It wouldn't kill Myrnin, it wouldn't even knock him out, but it would hurt like hell.
"She'll never be yours," Shane said in a low voice, but it packed so much power. So much danger that it scared Claire. "Over my dead body, will that ever happen."
Myrnin smiled a little and he coughed, "That can be arranged." Claire saw Myrnin move his hand. His hand shoved at Shane, and then they wrapped around his neck.
"No!" Claire screamed and made a run for the two men. She was too late... Because someone already bet her to them. Myrnin was tossed to the other side of Claire's room, and he crashed against the wall with a mighty thud. Shane collapsed to the ground, holding a hand to his probably bruised throat. Michael stood just in front of Shane. His bright blue eyes blazed like a fire, and Claire couldn't help but gasp at how dangerous he looked.
"You get the hell out of our house!" Michael commanded Myrnin. He didn't yell or anything, but his voice was so hard that Claire would have been walking out of that door in seconds. Myrnin stood up, and Shane staggered up after he did. Claire ran to Shane and hugged him.
"You okay?" Shane's voice was shaky, and he said just low enough to Claire was the only one that could hear him. But she didn't doubt that the vampires had heard it. Myrnin pulled the pencil out of his chest and threw it to the floor.
"Well, what the hell are you doing here?" Eve stood at the door and she glared at Myrnin. She pointed down the hall. "Claire doesn't want to see you, neither do any of us." Myrnin glanced at Eve, then he looked to Claire.
He was on the other side of the bed in a flash, and she saw Michael spin on him and snarl. Myrnin held up his hands in surrender. Slowly, he made his way closer to Claire. And Shane.
"Please, Claire. I just want to talk." His voice contained so much sorrow and pain, but he did just try to kill her boyfriend. Again.
"Just leave." Claire said quietly. She felt Shane's muscles behind her, still tense and ready for a fight. Myrnin reached out for her. Not a good idea. Not at all. Shane pushed Claire behind him.
"You don't fucking touch her!" He warned. Myrnin glared at him, but his arm fell back to his side. He cast one last, pain filled look at Claire and then he was gone. Shane relaxed, just a little.
"Well," Eve said. "That's what you get for trying to ditch movie night."
"Shut up, Eve." Shane growled, not in a good mood. Eve took that as her sign to leave.
"Okay. Leaving." Eve turned and walked out of the bedroom and back down to the lounge room.
"You two okay?" Michael asked, turning to face them completely.
"Fine," Shane said. He was clearly pissed off. "Give us a second? We'll be down in a minute." Michael's blue eyes drifted to Claire. She nodded and smiled at him, reassuring him. He left, - very reluctantly - and soon both Shane and Claire could hear the movie starting downstairs. Anger Management. She'd seen that movie before, Adam Sandler was the first thing that popped into her head. Then Shane, as he turned around to face her. Apart from the scratch marks, Shane didn't have much damage. He bled a little from his nose, but Myrnin certainly had the most blood ooze out of him. Red marks showed on Shane's neck, and Claire reached out to touch them.
She frowned, "I am so sorry, Shane. I didn't want any of this to happen."
He pulled her into a hug, "Hey, it's not your fault." He stroked her hair and shut his eyes tight. When he spoke again, his voice cracked just a little. "God, I am so sorry." Tears leaked from Claire's eyes, and she tried her best to stop them from coming. She felt dizzy and sick, and she couldn't get over the fact that Shane might have been dead a few minutes ago. "I swear to God, if he ever hurts you again..."
"He won't," Claire said. Her voice broke, and now Shane would definitely be able to tell that she'd been crying. He picked her up and laid her on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her closer.
"You can't be so sure Claire," Shane said gently and wiped one of Claire's fallen tears. "We all know how he feels about you, but that's not even enough to stop him from hurting you. He bit you, and he almost killed you. How many more times does that have to happen before you realize what he's really capable of?"
Claire shut her eyes, and felt more tears escape from her eyes. She nodded and opened her eyes.
"You're right," She whispered. And a part of her told her that she was wrong. A part of her told her to forgive Myrnin. Maybe she would, but right now, everything Shane was saying to her made sense. He'd tried to kill her numerous times, and there was a small part of her, that was okay with that. But Shane, that was so not okay. And then it dawned on her, that Shane had to go through that all the time. Claire opened her eyes, and looked into Shane's.
"I love you Claire," Shane whispered. "I love you, so much. I can't lose you."
"I know," Claire kissed him, just a gentle brush of her lips. But that was only what both of them could manage at the moment. "I love you too." They laid there like that for a few more minutes and Shane was the first one to sit up.
"Wanna go down and watch the movie now?" He asked Claire, still holding her close. She nodded, and after at least several moments of hesitation, Claire laughed. "What?"
"You smell like a girl."
Shane rolled his eyes and lent in real close to Claire's lips. "Well, I guess we can fix that after the movie."
Yes please.