DISCLAIMER – I own none of the characters and all things Morganville are completely owned by the amazing Rachel Caine* (spelt it wrong before) (:

NOTES – right so i have quite a bit of muse and time right now, so i thought i'd get the second chapter up straight away. Sorry it's not that exciting, the next one will be better (: Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading xD

CHAPTER TWO ~

A little while later, Claire emerged from the stairs finally dressed in a pair of faded jeans, simple hoodie and several pairs of socks. She ran her hands through her mused hair, trying to sort it out and giving up after a few seconds. Eve was nowhere to be seen, but as she entered the kitchen to grab some breakfast she found Michael sitting slumped in a chair, one hand curled around a bottle of what she gathered was his morning O negative. It wasn't that unusual to see him up during daylight hours, but it was odd to see him up this early. Claire grinned as he jerked upright, only just noticing her.

"Morning." She said, opening the fridge and reaching out to grab the orange juice, pouring some into a glass and concentrating as she grabbed a couple of frying pans and took out some eggs and bacon from the fridge. Seeing as no one else had bothered to make breakfast yet, she decided to take up the challenge instead. "Tired?" She asked as she glanced at the blonde haired vampire sipping his sports bottle and then yawning widely.

"What made you say that?" He grinned and shrugged. "It's hard to sleep when Eve's shouting about snow and jumping all over the house." Claire rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the bacon and eggs.

"You got that right." She muttered, but could hardly be annoyed at her. Eve was just happy after all, and Claire could hardly complain; she was just as content. Thinking about Eve, she frowned. "Speaking of Eve, where is she? It's so quiet..." Claire joked and starting grabbing plates, setting them out on the counter.

"Outside i think, getting ready to ambush you." Michael grinned and stood up to help her with the breakfast, obviously awake enough to want to eat. She grinned, about to respond when someone else cut across her.

"Way to ruin the surprise Michael!" Eve frowned and Claire turned around, unable to hold back a laugh as she saw the look on her face. Michael smiled, at least having the decency to look abashed.

"I didn't know it was meant to be a secret." He grinned teasingly and grabbed two of the plates, passing one to Eve before going to sit down in the lounge. Claire grabbed the other two, somehow managing to balance her drink on one of the plates and followed them out.

"But the whole idea of an ambush is the surprise." She followed Eve's voice toward the table and put down the plates. It was a good job she did too, for the moment she straightened up, about to sit down, something cold connected with her face. Snow. Claire screamed – not a blood curdling, 'someones trying to kill me' scream, more of one of shock – and she stood still for several heartbeats.

"You. Are. So. Dead. Eve. Rosser." She narrowed her eyes, shivering as the cold began to drip down her neck and soak into her hoodie. She heard fast footfalls on the stairs and turned around, hands moving to wipe the cold from her face and seeing Shane pause on the stairs, staring at her. He had a stake in one hand and looked at first wary, then confused. And suddenly he burst out laughing, the loud sound echoing Eve and Michael's.

Claire glared at them all, saying nothing and trying to retain some dignity as she sat by the table and crossed her legs. She could still hear Eve, Shane and Michael sniggering as she swallowed a bite of Bacon and she glanced up to frown at them.

"If you don't all stop that, i'll take back your breakfast." Claire warned them, but even she couldn't keep a straight face any longer, and she rolled her eyes. Shane jumped the last of the stairs and headed over to sit beside her, kissing her on the cheek gently before digging in. Of course, it took no time for either boys to finish their plates.

"Okay, so can we go outside already!" Eve jumped up impatiently, eyes flickering between all three of them. Claire glanced at Shane and rolled her eyes, smiling.

"Alright. Fine." She stood up, stacking the empty plates up and taking them with her to the kitchen. She dumped them in the sink, halfway through the motion of grabbing a dishcloth to wash them when she remembered it wasn't her day; it was Eve's. Hell if she was going to make them all go out in the cold and freeze to death having a snow fight, then she could at least have fun with cleaning the dishes after.

Claire frowned. All of them? No they couldn't all go out – what about Michael? Surely it wasn't cloudy enough for him to go outside...the sun was looking rather bright. Claire chewed her lip, jumping when she felt Shane's arms wrap around her waist from behind. He kissed her neck gently and she smiled, closing her eyes for a second.

"Stop thinking so much." He grinned and Claire turned around in the circle of his arms, wrapping hers around his neck and smiling up at him.

"Can't help it." She rolled her eyes then tilted her head slightly to one side. "I was thinking...what about Michael? Will he be alright to come outside?" Shane didn't get the chance to reply.

"Michael will be perfectly fine to go outside, once it gets a bit later. He doesn't want to be burnt to a crisp today." Both Shane and Claire jumped, having been unaware that Michael had been in the room, and they let go of each other. Shane grinned.

"Really? Not even for the sake of the snow?" Shane joked and took Claire's hand. Michael rolled his eyes, heading around them to grab a coke from the fridge and yawn again.

"Nope. Not even for the snow." He confirmed. Claire bit her lip, feeling bad. It wasn't fair that he was missing out on all this – it had be irritating, to feel so restricted. But then again, it would have been stupid to let him go outside in the sun just for the sake of a snow fight. She knew Michael could almost hear what she was thinking, for he smiled gently at her. "I think i'm going to make use of the quiet, and go back to bed. I'll be out later once the sun sets." I nodded, smiling back. That was the good thing about winter – daylight hours where a lot shorter, and therefore he'd be able to join us by about four. I guessed Eve would no way have had enough of the snow by then.

"Well, see ya later Mickey." Shane raised an eyebrow and tugged Claire's hand lightly, leading her out of the kitchen and toward the front door. Claire rolled her eyes at his sudden eargerness and followed him out, letting go of his hand only to pull on her coat and gloves, yanking on a pair of her oldest shoes and glancing around to see Eve had already headed outside.

She glanced at Shane.

"Ready?" She grinned, knowing that once they stood outside, Eve was sure to let hell loose with snowballs. Shane returned a grin and put a hand on the door, taking her hand again.

"I was born ready." To which Claire rolled her eyes, and as the door opened, a blast of cold air hit them. Claire was already running as she hit the top step, pausing to pull the door shut and duck her head as Shane tugged her into the snow, already heading for cover as a horde of snowballs where aimed right for them.