A/N - This little bit takes places immediately after Shane and Claire's first kiss. Two of the things from the book that left me a little unsatisfied was how Claire's parents forgetting in the second book was kind of rushed. The other thing was the Shane always talking about the promises he made.

As always, thank you for reading!


"I'm so dead," Shane muttered as thumped his head against Claire's door. He'd kissed Claire, like really, truly kissed her. Kissed her like she was a legal adult that he was about to hop into bed with.

And she'd kissed him back with the same enthusiasm. Now, he knew that was her first kiss, but…damn. She was a natural. He could tell she'd wanted to climb on that bed and do things Shane wasn't exactly ready for, with her at least. He didn't want to be a dick about this, he liked Claire. He wanted to take things slow. Show her that he could take care of her. That he could be a good guy. Plus, she might think she's ready but she wasn't. You don't go from the first kiss to losing your virginity in one night. But the way she looked at him….

"Um, Shane? What are you doing?" Michael asked as came up the steps, effectively stopping Shane's imagination from wandering into dirty places. Busted. Fuck. "Did you do something I'm going to have to kick your ass for?" He crossed his arms. He was oddly protective of Claire already. She was just that kind of person. Even Eve liked her straight away.

"I kissed her," Shane said softly. An expression of pure hot fury spread across Michael's face. When he reached his bedroom door, he opened it and motioned for Shane to go in.

"In. Now."

"Fuck." Shane pushed off from Claire's door and into Michael's room. Once inside Shane, he collapsed on the bed while Michael started angrily pacing back and forth.

"She's sixteen, dude! She's jailbait. I mean yeah, she's hot but..." Shane sat up so fast he felt a bit dizzy.

"Excuse me?" Shane asked with a bit in his voice. It wouldn't be the first time in his life that he'd come in second to Michael. Mike was the talented golden boy with the nice family. Shane was the bad boy from the wrong side of town with a drunk dad and anger issues.

"No dude not - not like that." Michael shook his head when he realized what he implied. "Seriously. Not like that Shane."

Shane relaxed and sunk backward into the bed. "I like her Michael. Not want to bang her for a good time like but you know." Shane shrugged.

"She's sixteen." Michael collapsed into an overstuffed chair in the corner of his room. He picked up a nearby guitar and strummed absently. It helped him think. "You're eighteen."

"She's living on her own away at college."

"Still sixteen."

"Almost seventeen." Michael stopped strumming and gave Shane an exasperated look. "Well, she is!"

"Eve said she's never even been kissed before."

"Oh man, I definitely fixed that." Shane joked. Michael threw a book at him. "She's leaving though. Her parents want her gone." He didn't want her to leave and it frustrated him that there was nothing he could do about it.

"About that, she's not leaving," Michael assured Shane. He sat up again, confused.

"Wait, what? How did you convince her parents to change their minds?" His heart sped up.

"I didn't. Morganville did. Or will." Michael explained when he saw Shane's confusion. "The borders, dude. Her parents aren't from here, they were only in Morganville for a few hours. By tomorrow doubtful they will remember anything but that Claire goes to school here and they visited her. That's why I didn't make such a big deal about it."

"What if that doesn't work. What if they still remember about her living here instead of the dorms?"

"They might, but what are they going to do? Call the cops? Come her here only to forget again? Try and physically take her? Claire isn't a typical student. She knows about the vamps. Brandon was after her personally which means now she's on someone high up radar. They aren't going to let her leave." And just like that, Shane wasn't happy about her staying. That meant she was an official Morganville resident. If they didn't decide she was expendable and kill her. He didn't want that for her, this life. But he didn't want her to walk out of his life either.

"Damn," Shane muttered. They were silent for a while, both contemplating the seriousness of Claire being stuck in Morganville. She deserved so much better and they both knew it.

Michael broke the silence first. "So, you like her."

"Yea man. I do. I think this could be serious. Big, long-term. She makes me feel-" Shane paused. Heart to hearts wasn't his specialty. "Like maybe I'm not some giant fuck up? She calms me down." He finished quietly, not realizing how he felt until said the words. She was fearless, sweet, smart, and adorable. She was unlike any girl Shane had been with before and he was excited about that.

"Promise me something. Promise me you won't sleep with her until she's legal. We absolutely don't need that kind of trouble." Michael paused. "Treat her right." He added softly. Shane had the impression he wasn't only talking about Claire.

"I want to. I will. But I kind of get the feeling I'm going to be the one putting on the brakes." Shane revisited the way Claire had sat back on the bed after their kiss. The look she gave him. The girl might not have experience but she was going to be a quick learner.

"I'll be as good as I can to her, Mike. I promise."

They were silent again, letting the heaviness of the conversation lift. Michael continued with his guitar and Shane flipped through the book Michael had thrown at him.

"So, when are you going to tell Eve that you are in love with her?" Shane asked without looking up from the book. Michael almost dropped his guitar.

"I don't, I'm not…I mean." He stuttered. "It's complicated."

"Always is, man. Don't get her hopes up. She's been my friend almost as long as you have. She had a rough life, don't make it rougher." Shane stood up and stretched. "I'm going to bed." He let Michael sitting here dumbstruck.

Before he headed to his room he stopped by Claire's door to make sure it was still locked. It was. Satisfied, he finally made his way to his own room and went to bed feeling, as much as he couldn't believe it, happy.