Chapter 3:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the wonderful reviews XD I hope you enjoy this new chapter and know that I am actually writing the next chapter right now, at like 3am! That is dedication, is it not? True... I DO have ben and jerry's ice cream to keep me company but still!

I don't, unfortunately, own anything as I know I WOULD DEFINITELY have these two together if I did!

Amelie's POV:

I cannot pretend that this infatuation he has with her, my property, is not worrying me, for it is. It worries me that he seems so for her and is damning the consequences his actions could have. He is strong, too strong for her to be fully safe. I fear that he could kill her if he lost control with her for even a second, she could die. And I couldn't have that: he would have so much remorse that I wouldn't be able to live with it.

I cannot stand to see them happy together, when Samuel left me. There is a hole in my heart from when he died on that stage under my father's hands, and I regret everything that reminds me of him, of the chance for happiness.

But am I to stand in the way of their happiness? I can see the way she looks at him, the way that she does love him though she doesn't seem to realise it yet. Is her happiness more important… or her life?

Claire's POV:

"So, maybe I overreacted a little," Shane says, his scowling showing he doesn't mean it and that he is only saying this because Michael is standing behind him with a firm expression. "After all, Amelie is the one making you go with him and it isn't like you want to go with him, is it?" he continues, and I internally split. I do want to go with Myrnin, if Shane can't go… and I didn't really want Shane going anyway, since every vampire besides Michael hates him. And there is a growing part of me that desires for another set of arms to hold me…

…but I decide that lying, in this case, is the best option.

"Of course I don't want to go with him Shane," I say quickly, not putting a but in because I remember learning that if you put in a negation use after a positive, it counteracts the positive thing. "It's Amelie who is making me go with him," I continue, smiling slightly but not wanting to fully forgive him because he overreacted for nothing and this apology is entirely false. He doesn't really want to apologise to me for how he reacted, for he feels that way, and I know it's only because he is being forced to that he is.

"Good," he replies, not sure what else to say. Michael, sensing that this topic of conversation is over, relaxes and walks away, probably to the kitchen to help Eve with dinner. This leaves Shane and me together, a state of tension tangible in the air, most definitely to me. My heartbeat increases as I unwittingly think of Myrnin, imagining him wearing a smart tuxedo, until I realise that Michael will be able to hear this without an issue.

"Well, I should get on with reading this," I motion to the book in my hand that Myrnin gave (well, ordered) me to read. As soon as his brain processes just who that book belongs to, his face hardens back to the entirely mean mask he had on before, losing the little 'him' he got back when he got back when I explained I didn't want to go with Myrnin.

"So you don't even want to talk to me now?" Shane almost explodes at me, his hands thrown up in the air in anger. He is being entirely unreasonable! There is no reason for him to be behaving this way!

"Shane, I have to read unless you want me to basically fail," I say, barely keeping my temper under control. It normally takes one hell of a lot to make me angry, but it seems to me tonight that I just can't cope with anything that Shane ie saying to me. Everything about him is just irritating me right now. I don't know why it is, but I just… I just want to get on with this.

"Fine, whatever," he sighs, acting as if he can't care less. And something in me doesn't care as well – it hurts me to say it but I don't. It's as if there is something going on with us and it isn't what I want it to be. "I have to go to work. I'll see you later, I guess," he continues, something in his tone worrying me. Yet I can't care – I need to read this book.

I smile as I read through the book, enjoying the new concepts that the physics book has given me here…

The day of the ball…

"Claire, that looks amazing!" Eve squeals as she makes me do a pirouette in the dress Amelie ordered for me to wear. She knew that I wouldn't ever have planned anything to wear for the ball, that I wouldn't be interested in what I wear, so she ordered the dress and had it delivered here yesterday. Of course that would happen – I mean, it isn't like I want to go to this stupid ball, so I wouldn't exactly go out and spend a tonne of money looking nice to go with… my boss. I mean come on. But this dress… it must have cost her a fortune!

The dress is lower cut than I would ever have worn and is a light blue in colour, silk in material. It reaches the floor but shimmers as I move, clinging to the upper half of my body, apparently, according to Eve, showing my 'assets' which I didn't ever know existed. According to Eve, the dress widens my hips and makes the natural curves I have appear more pronounced. I don't see it myself but that's what she said so…

Back to the dress. It is backless and has one shoulder of gold braiding, the other side entirely bare besides for the glitter Eve put on there. A belt is tight under my bust which makes it stand out more than it would normally and it is absolutely gorgeous! I wish my entire wardrobe was like this, in a way, because it makes me feel like a princess. I love this dress…

Eve disappears from the room to go and get ready whilst I apply the last of my makeup – I don't let anyone else put on mascara for me as I get scared they could stab me in the eye, so I like to do it myself. And, with that, my appearance is complete.

Eve curled my hair and put half of it up, so it looks like a prom style hairdo – utterly perfect for the occasion – and the bottom is loose over my shoulders. I really adore this look; if I could look like this forever, I think I would accept that!

I pick up my bag from the bed that goes with the dress and observe my appearance in the mirror, grinning widely as I process how I look. I mean, I never look like this – I may as well make the most of it. There is a huge part of me that wishes that Shane could come but just… I can't handle the stress. I couldn't cope with him messing up as I know he would get into some scrape or another. Not only did Amelie ban him but I can see why she did now… I just hope that he accepts that I couldn't get him there: I did fight for him to come, I just don't think he realises how hard it is to get Amelie to change her mind.

I walk slowly down the stairs, ignoring the noises from Eve's room as she gets ready to come as well, and swing my silver heels in my hand – wearing them down the stairs would not be a good idea with how uncoordinated I am!

I walk into the living room and see Shane is getting ready to go out: he is wearing his best jeans and one of the shirts I bought him for Christmas – where is he going?

As soon as he senses my presence, he turns around and his mouth hangs open at my appearance. Something in his eyes softens at the sight of me before it hardens over into a grimace. "What a surprise, you made an effort for a vampire party and a vampire escort," he sneers at me, which hurts. I love him, so why does he make it so hard for me to love him? I want to attack him right now, to hurt him in the same way that he is hurting me on the inside.

"Shut up, Shane, I love you, not my crazy boss," I snap back at him, tears coming to my eyes that he could actually think I would be unfaithful to him with Myrnin! It's ludicrous! I mean, sure I blush a little around Myrnin and think he is at least slightly cute but that doesn't mean that I want to run off into the distance with him! "But where are you going?" I question suspiciously, eying his outfit with a new level of interest.

"What, you expect me to stay in the house alone whilst you all go have fun at a vamp party?" he asks me, increduled that I could think this.

"Um, well, yeah," I respond, shocked that he isn't willing to do this for his girlfriend. "After all, I'd do the same for you and all you're gonna go and do is get drunk, so why can't you just stay here? I'm not staying long, I don't think, so please, Shane, just stay… for me?" I beg him, moving closer and putting my arms around his waist. I pull myself closer to him and beg for all the unpleasantries of the last few days to just disappear and for happiness to prevail through.

Slowly, his arms wrap around me for a second before he disengages himself from me and tenses up. "I'm going out, enjoy your party," he sounds like a spoilt brat before walking out of the door without another word.

"Screw you!" I yell after him and I know he hears it before the door slams shut.

"CB, you say something?" Eve asks as she emerges at the top of the stairs, making her usual huge entrance.

"No, nothing," I lie smoothly, smiling to hide the anger on my face. Although she seems confused, she doesn't say a word against me and simply walks down the stairs slowly… "Wow, Eve, you look fantastic!" I exclaim as I see her dress. It is, of course, black with red throughout it and floor length though it has a H-U-G-E slit up the side. She is wearing huge black stilettos and looks utterly regal – if a princess could have the appearance of a Gothic Queen, that is.

"Nah, compared to you I'll fade into the background," she smiles as she applies bright red lipstick to her lips without even using a mirror. "Michael, back me up here when I say that Claire looks better than me," she calls over her shoulder, as a golden beauty heads down the stairs. He is, naturally, wearing a classic black tux and looks utterly perfect…

He looks across at me at Eve's words and his mouth falls open as he gets a good look at me. Part of me feels offended that he didn't expect so much but the rest of me balances that out, deciding that the compliment is worth much more. "Wow… Claire, you look amazing," he manages to say lamely, after about a minute of trying to talk.

"All my handiwork," Eve says proudly. "Actually, not really… the dress was all Amelie and the natural beauty was, of course, our CB," she grins, making me blush at her compliment.

"Nahh," I try and push the compliment away, unable to accept it, but they both nod in agreement with, well, Eve.

"If I wasn't so scared of Goth girl here, I'd be asking for your phone number… that would also work better if I didn't already have it," he made himself sound rather stupid but also rather flattering at the same time.

Eve hits him on the arm and he pretends to wince in pain before winking at me. I laugh at them both before feeling a pang of nostalgia for when Shane would be here as well. I miss him already even though a huge part of me wants to kill him.

"Come on, we don't want to be late now, do we?" Michael says with a smile as he heads towards the door, gripping his car keys in his hand.

"I suppose being late to a vamp fest wouldn't be the best idea, especially when you're going with Mr Crazy," I sigh, sliding my feet into my shoes and doing up the buckle on the side. I walk slowly towards Michael, letting my feet acclimatise to the sudden addition of three and a half inches to my height, and he laughs, taking my arm.

"I'll be back in a minute for you, Eve, don't leave without me here," he tells her sternly – all the vamps may be heading to the ball but they have to get there and some of them like to stop for a snack on the way.

"Yes boss," she grumbles but I know she won't even be ready then: she hasn't even unbuckled one shoe let alone managed to get it on and done up – I suppose if she has them both on before I'm 30 that will be a good thing!

Michael lifts me up with one hand and runs down the path to take me to the car; opening the back door and all but throwing me in, slamming the door shut as he rushes back to get Eve. I sigh but know that this is all just part of how Morganville works and I need to accept it… it's hard to, though.

Within three minutes, he and Eve are in the car, the latter who is still moaning about not being allowed to put both her shoes on in the house. I smile at just the way that we're normal together and a part of my brain aches for Shane. The rest of me, however, tells that part to shut the hell up, that it is his fault that he couldn't come so I shouldn't be made to feel guilty…

OoOo

"Invites?" the guard at the door says with a bored tone and we all exchange glances: Amelie told us that we didn't need invites to get in.

"Amelie told us that we were on the list anyway and that we didn't need to be admitted, so to speak," I say slowly, wondering how long it is going to take him to realise who I am.

"No invite, no admittance, especially to humans," he growls at me. I'll take it that he has forgotten who has saved his ass about five billion times then – this is so annoying! We can't even get into the foyer bit to then be presented to the room: apparently, according to Myrnin when I saw him yesterday, we are the second to last to be presented, with Amelie and Oliver the last two – I can only suppose that she needed someone to go with, so she took him but still. The expression Michael had on his face when I told him… that leaves a lot to be desired!

"But-" I begin to argue before I see Myrnin prancing along towards the door with an amused look on his face. I'm amazed at how well he has washed up without my help – no oil on his face – because the last time he was allowed to dress himself, he ended up wearing a powder blue, ruffled suit that clashed with everyone else's outfits. Tonight he is wearing a similar suit to Michael's but just much more expensive looking, with a shirt that matches the colour of my dress to perfection, and his curly brown hair has been brushed back to look entirely sleek.

"Javier!" he exclaims as he greets the vampire who is refusing to let us in. predictably, like most of the vampires, he doesn't seem overjoyed to see Myrnin. The crazy vampire boss I have probably slept with his girlfriend in the past or something else that is predictably Myrnin… that's strange. The idea of Myrnin sleeping with someone seems almost painful for me, as if I can't bear for him to be with someone. Jealousy – that's the emotion. But that is just so strange – I never expected to feel that, especially for someone who isn't my boyfriend! It's probably just that we're so close, he's like… well, he isn't like my brother but the same sort of principle applies maybe? I don't know and I don't like it.

"What do you want now, Myrnin?" the vampire asks with a bored tone, probably having already been annoyed by this particularly eccentric vampire about a million times in the past minute he has probably been here.

"Nothing, nothing," he practically lilts in his particularly strong Welsh accent this evening. "Just you are refusing to allow my date and another vampire with his date into the room – they are all on the V.I.P list, incase you were not aware of their identity," he continues: I could kiss him! I don't want to come to this particularly but it is better to be inside than outside and being barred from entering. Michael would have had to go in (nobody could dispute his identity as a vampire) which would leave me and Eve outside… in the middle of Vamp Central: a.k.a not good.

Javier takes another look at me and gasps as he recognises me: that is either, again, an insult that I look crap normally or someone has worked magic on me and I look amazing compared to my normal best. "Ahh, Miss Danvers, Miss Rosser and Michael Glass, I didn't recognise you," he attempts to sound polite but his work is done – he already is a pillock and that opinion of him will only change if he like saves my life or something. "Go in, and I apologise for the inconvenience caused," he sounds at least semi-remorseful as he opens the rope for us to enter the party officially.

"Why it is you, little Claire," Myrnin says, sounding surprised as he sees me. This hurts me more than anything else – does he think my wardrobe stretches to trousers as the most formal? Actually, it does and this was all Amelie but that isn't the point.

"Myrnin, you just told him that I was Claire so you must have recognised me," I say slowly, wondering whether he is sick again or something.

"I didn't actually: Amelie told me what you were wearing and I took my chances that that was you, with the dress-" he trails off and I get the feeling he was going to say something else. "You look absolutely magnificent; I can see why I almost didn't recognise you…" he, once again, trails off but it seems as if this one was planned to try and hide the suddenness of the other one. But I decide that questioning it would be pointless, since he'll just make me do something hideous when I go back to work tomorrow.

"Thanks, I guess…" I say slowly and he smiles at me, instantly reminding me why he was probably a heartbreaker in the past. "I'll see you guys later?" I call to Michael and Eve who nod and smile as they walk away.

"Come with me, little one," Myrnin says to me with another heart stopping smile that sets my world-… no it doesn't, I'm just reacting like a normal girl to an absolutely gorgeous person: for example, I'm reacting how a teenage girl reacts to Robert Pattinson. "You look ravishing," he compliments me again as we stand in the foyer and I laugh slightly, tucking my little bag under my arm.

"You don't look bad yourself," I tell him, understating the strikingness of his appearance more than slightly.

"I know that that is a lie, so just tell me honestly," he, of course, knows how hot he looks and calls my bluff.

"Fine, you look amazing," I blush as I talk, before a part of me remembers Shane entirely. Shit, I shouldn't be flirting should I, when I'm in a loving relationship! "Are we going through soon or…?" I leave the question open as I wait for an answer, moving slightly further away from him as my epiphany hits me. It makes my heart slow back to the normal speed it has and sorts my eyes so that Myrnin isn't the only thing I can see…

"We go through shortly, but we need photos first," he informs me, without surprise being ecstatic about being able to show off how photogenic he is. I roll my eyes as he takes my arm and can't help but laugh as he begins to twirl me across…

… I just can't stay mad at him… or even myself… the consequences could be diabolical. But, for tonight, I don't care.

What did you think?

Reviews were down last chapter but I hope I get more this time XD Please haha... help me over the pain of maths and physics revision with them!

Vicky xx