"Well, I'm not hugging you," he said. He was standing close to her, so close she had to crane her neck way up to meet his eyes. And for a long few seconds, they didn't say anything; he just...watched her. In the living room, she heard Eve talking to Michael, but here in the hallway it was very quiet. She could hear the fast pounding of her heart, and wondered if he could hear it, too.
"Claire - ," he finally said.
"I know," she said. "I'm sixteen. Heard it already."
He put his arms around her. Not the way Michael had, exactly - she didn't know why it was different, but it was. This wasn't a hug; it was - it felt - close.
He wasn't holding himself back, that was it. And she relaxed against him with a breathless sigh, cheek against his chest, almost purring with relief. He rested his chin on the top of her head. She felt so small next to him, but that was all right. It didn't make her feel weak.
"I'm going to miss you," he whispered, and she leaned back to look up at him again.
"Really?"
"Yeah." She thought - really thought - that he was going to kiss her, but just then, she heard Eve call,
"Shane!" and he flinched and pulled back, and the old Shane, the cocky Shane, was back. "You made things exciting around here."
He loped off down the hall, and she felt a pure burst of fury.
Boys. Why were they always such dumbasses?
The night did its usual tricks - creepy creaking sounds upstairs, wind hissing at the windows, branches tapping. Claire couldn't sleep. She couldn't get used to the idea that this room, this lovely room, was hers for only two more nights, and then she'd be carted off, humiliated and defeated, back home. No way would her parents let her go anywhere now. She'd have to wait out the next year and a half, which meant that her admission paperwork would have to be redone, and she'd have to start all over....
At least it didn't matter now if she blew off classes, she thought, and punched her pillow into a more comfortable shape. Several times.
If she'd been asleep - even a little asleep - she'd have missed the knock on the door, as light as it was, but she was wired and full of restless energy, and she slipped out of bed and went to unlock it and swing it open.
It was Shane. He stood there, clearly wanting to come in, not daring to come in, as uncertain as she'd ever seen him. He was wearing a loose T-shirt and sweatpants, feet bare, and she felt a white-hot wave of - something - sweep over her. This had to be what he slept in. Or...maybe less than that.
Okay, she really needed to stop thinking about that.
She became aware, a hot second later, that she was standing there in a thin oversized T-shirt - one of Michael's old ones - with bare legs from midthigh down. Half-naked wouldn't be overstating it.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi," Shane said. "Did I wake you up?"
"No. I couldn't sleep." She was acutely aware of the bed behind her, covers all twisted. "Um, do you want to, um...come in?"
"Better not," he said softly. "Claire, I - " He shook his head, brown hair swinging loose around his face.
"I shouldn't even be here."
But he wasn't leaving, either.
"Well," she said, "I'm sitting down. If you want to stand there, fine."
She went to the bed and sat, careful how she did it. Legs together, prim and proper. Her toes barely brushed the carpet. She felt alive and tingling all over.
She looked down at her hands, at the ragged fingernails, and picked at them nervously.
Shane took two steps into the room. "For the next two days, I don't want you leaving the house," he said. Which was not what she was expecting him to say. Not at all. "Your dad already thinks we're getting you drunk and staging orgies in the hallway. Last thing I want is to send you home with fang marks in your neck. Or in a coffin." His voice dropped lower. "I couldn't stand that. I really couldn't. You know that, right?"
She didn't look up. He came a step closer, and his bare feet and sweatpants came into her vision.
"Claire. You've got to promise me."
"I can't," she said. "I'm not some little kid. And I'm not your sister."
He laughed, low in his throat. "Oh, yeah. That, I know. But I don't want to see you get hurt again."
His hand cupped her chin in warmth, and tilted her face up.
The whole world hushed, one perfect second of stillness. Claire didn't even think her heart beat.
His lips were warm and soft and sweet, and the sensation just blinded her, made her feel awkward and scared. I've never...nobody ever...I'm not doing it right.... She hated herself, hated that she didn't know how to kiss him back, knew he was measuring her against all those other girls, those better girls he'd kissed.
It stopped. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like a bird fluttering in her chest. She was flushed and hot and warm, so warm....
Shane pressed his forehead to hers and sighed. His breath warmed her face, and this time she kissed him, letting her instincts guide her, letting him pull her to her feet. Their hands were clasped, fingers laced, and parts of her - parts she'd only ever warmed up alone - were going full blast.
This time, when they came up for air, he pulled completely back. His face was flushed; his eyes were bright. Claire's lips felt swollen, warm, utterly deliciously damp. Oh, she thought. I guess I should have done the tongue thing. Putting theory into practice was hard when her brain kept wanting to short out entirely.
"Okay," Shane said. "That - that shouldn't have happened."
"Probably not," she admitted. "But I'm leaving in two days. It'd be stupid if I never even kissed you."
She wasn't absolutely sure who kissed whom this time. Maybe it was gravity tilting, stars exploding. It felt like it. His hands were free this time, and they cupped her face, stroked her hair, her neck, down to her shoulders....
She gasped into his open mouth, and he moaned. Moaned. She had no idea a sensation could go through her like that, traveling through her skin and nerves like lightning.
His hands stopped right there, at her waist.
When their tongues touched, gentle and tentative and wet, it made her knees weak. Made her whole spine rattle like dry bones. Shane put his right arm around her waist, holding her close, and cupped the back of her head with his left.
Okay, this was kissing. Serious kissing. Not just a kiss before moving out, not a good-bye, this was Hello, sexy, and wow, she'd never even suspected that it could feel this way.
When he let go, she fell back to sit on the bed, utterly weak, and she thought that if he followed her, she'd fall back and...