Chapter 9:

Apologises for being such a rubbish author - I wrote this chapter mid August yet I've not even had the chance to scroll through the many folders its hidden away in to get it :(

I don't own anything

I have a new oneshot called DARKNESS that is ClaireMichael. Check it out.


Michael's POV:

Why does she have to ruin everything?


Claire's POV:

Oh my god, Shane! He's been in a carcrash and I've only just found out about it from Amelie, who only actually told me in order to screw with my head after just saying I can 'be' with Michael.

But Shane…why does this have to happen?

As soon as I'm sure she's left the house, I'm moving, forgetting everything that's happened in here, the epiphany I've had, just wanting to get to Shane. I need to see he's ok, that he hasn't died or is so seriously injured…

"Claire," Michael grabs my arm and says my name, pulling me back round to face him. I don't know what he's trying to say to me through his facial expressions, but I can't read them. For the first time, I feel slightly sickened at what I've been doing in here, what I was planning on doing when Amelie interrupted. She reminded me that I still love Shane…

… but I know my heart loves Michael more. Which, I have to say, is not the combination I want to have.

"I have to go to him, Michael," I whisper, trying to tear my arm from him but having about as much success as someone would trying to get a piece of meat from a hungry carnivore. "He could be dying."

"I thought… I thought you love me," he says selfishly, trying to emotionally blackmail me into staying with him.

"He's your bestfriend, Michael; shouldn't you be trying to race me down to the hospital to see that he's ok?" I find myself snapping at him, trying to get him to release my arm, no matter what the cost… it's to no avail, so far. "And he's my boyfriend, Michael. I… whilst we have something, I have to be faithful to him whilst I'm with him."

There, I've said it. Basically, so long as Shane and I are together, I'm not acting on anything possibly present between myself and Michael. That's fair; after all, he's already split up with Eve, so why should it be me who is branded the cheater when he was the one who instigated everything?

He looks stunned but lets me go, the mood suddenly cooling in the room even further than the glacial temperature Amelie left it at. "Right… well, I guess I should give you a lift down to the hospital," he says softly, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. It hurts me to hear him talking like that, but I can't do this, not if Shane's seriously injured.

"Thanks," I reply, walking to the door and heading out to his car, shocked when I get in to find him already there. "Whoa, you move fast," I say weakly, trying to make a bit of humour but he simply shrugs.

"Yeah, well, it's sunny."

And that's the last of the conversation on the long drive to the hospital.

~x~

We arrive fifteen minutes later, Michael stopping to drop me off outside in the sun whilst I presume he goes to park the car in the underground car park. Here, I run inside, the nerves as to what I'm going to see building even higher from the Mount Everest height they got to in the car.

"Shane Collins, please," I barely manage to give his name, shaking like a leaf as I face the prospect of seeing him again.

She types in various codes into her computer, each tap of a key tormenting my brain; it makes me think of each step I took towards Michael, how much I wanted something to happen. If Amelie hadn't have entered the room, would I have kissed him? Would I now be branded a cheater and never have known that Shane is in here? I don't know… but I know now that I was stopped just in time. if I had done something I regret, then… well, the regret would be worse than it already is.

"Hello?" I realise the woman has been telling me where to go, but, like a spastic, I've just been standing here, staring into the distance probably.

"Oh, sorry," I blush and she smiles slightly.

"I know, hon, it's a bad time when someone you love's in here," she puts my preoccupation down to nerves for seeing Shane… which, in a way, I guess they sort of are. "He's in cubicle three – he's not in too bad shape. Go straight in, he won't mind."

I thank her and walk in the direction she showed me, my heart racing another hundred beats per minute (if this were scientifically possible) with each step I take towards my intended destination. The steps are so different to those of not even an hour ago, so much more solemn and painful.

I reach the blue curtain and pull it open, revealing a battered Shane inside. He's blue and black with bruises, his arm in a sling and stitched up cuts all over his body that I can see.

He looks up as I enter and smiles, but it seems slightly more reserved than usual. It sends waves of fear through me; does he know about what I almost did with Michael? Has he found out and he's waiting for me to confess?

After a few seconds, I realise that I'm just being paranoid and that he can't know anything mainly because nothingactuallyhappened! I never actually cheated on him… I just thought about it.

"Oh my god, are you ok?" I squeal, remembering that I really do love him as I walk towards him, worrying that I could have lost him. If he had died, I suppose it would have simplified matters – I wouldn't have been with Michael, in guilt for missing Shane.

"I'm fine, just a few cuts and bruises," he smiles again, but without the reservation – it's as if a curtain has been lifted from his eyes. "I told them not to call you though."

"Why?" I have to ask why he didn't want me here, my eyes clouding with tears as I think he doesn't want me… that sounds so hypocritical but I can't help it.

"I didn't want you to worry, Claire," he whispers, taking my hand with his good one. "You have work with the crazy vamp and then school and I… I didn't want you rushing down here to be with me, when I don't need anyone… how did you find out?"

"Amelie came and told me," I say, realising afterwards that I probably shouldn't have confessed to this. After all, why would she know he had been injured in normal circumstances? "I mean…Myrnin likes to monitor the emergency services broadcasts for people he knows, so must have heard your name and told Amelie, who was coming by to speak to Michael anyway about something so she told me then," I concoct this entire story in the space of about three seconds, it being so plausible since Myrnin has done that before that he doesn't even bat an eyelid.

"Wow, well, that's… different, for the crazy ones to be so caring for once," he is barely able to stop himself insulting people who got me down here to him in this made up story. It's so believable that I even begin to believe it myself, even though I know it's just a load of cock-and-bull.

"Yeah, I guess so," I agree, sitting down on the bed next to him. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Absolutely fine, honest," he says, grimacing slightly. "Just a shame I can't attribute the injuries to fighting a vamp rather than just a car crash," unsurprisingly, he's thinking of fighting vampires, but there's something surprising in there.

"Wait… did you just say the word attribute?" I confirm, raising my eyebrows in disbelief that he has even heard this word before, much less know what it means.

"I listen to you, Claire; I know what words mean when you use them," he says softly, and this just makes me forget everything that has had me pissed off at him over the past few weeks.

As I bend over to kiss him, predictably (since this is how I seem to be rolling today), we're interrupted by the curtain being pulled open with an extreme amount of force. Just from the static suddenly in the room, I know who it is.

"Hey, are you ok?" Michael asks Shane, moving across to him and relaying the concerned best friend act.

"Yeah, I'm good, thanks for coming mate," Shane says, finally appearing to be one hundred percent over the entire damned 'oh my god, you're a damned bloodsucker' thing he's had a beef with for a good few months… or not. "How are you doing in here, with all the blood?"

Michael rolls his eyes but as soon as I see that, I turn away, blushing. I don't want to look at him, not after earlier. He simply steps closer to Shane on the other side but I studiously look at Shane, smiling as he does the same and clasps my hand, until…

He drops off.

His eyelids close suddenly and his hand goes slack, which isn't something I particularly wanted to happen. Then I get a bad feeling, so look to see Michael fiddling with a canister.

"Michael," I hiss, causing him to jump. "You idiot! You could kill him!"

"He's still breathing and got a heartbeat, so he's not dead," he shoots back, his tone slightly angry. "He's just asleep. I need to talk to you," by the end, his voice seems weak and pleading, allowing me control in the situation.

"Three minutes," I agree, knowing what I'm going to be saying anyway. "Shoot."

"Claire, I know that you think just because he's injured he needs you, but he doesn't." predictably, this is the avenue he decided to take.

"No, you're wrong; to learn that Shane was in here was what made me realise what I'd be losing if I cheated on him," I say softly, not wanting to hurt him. Tears suddenly drip down my cheeks and I realise that my vision is foggy slightly from them. "Michael, I'm sorry, but I love Shane… I was mistaken earlier. I'm staying with him. I'm sorry," I repeat but he doesn't seem to hear me.

His face clouds over as he nods at me, seeming to barely be able to contain his anger. His mouth opens to speak but then closes without a sound, him rushing out of the room before I have chance to say another word. The only evidence of him being here is the swishing of the curtain as he evidently closes it on his exit.

I've kept Shane rather than chancing a future with a vampire.

I can only hope this is the right choice.


Kay, so I've decided to add a little extra bit to this story, to make it probably between 12-15 chapters in length. If I didn't, well, it would be ending next chapter, so I've done this.

15 reviews please

& Don't fav/alert/read without reviewing please and thanks

Vicky xx