Well, here's the next chapter. Well, half a chapter. I might combine this with the other half once it's finished, maybe, so...
Anyway, enjoy!
Jamie Scarlett x


Chapter 3: Part 1

The unexpected voice caused them to jump apart. Well, Claire jumped; Myrnin managed to end up on the other side of the lab.

A wave of guilt washed over Claire, but why should she be feeling guilty? She'd broke off her relationship with Shane, so she was free to kiss who she liked, wasn't she?

"I wonder what Mr Collins will make of this news?" Oliver stepped forward, smirking at them where they stood metres apart.

Claire fought the urge to yell at him that it was none of his business, or Shane's for that matter.

What she did say, however, was "You wouldn't dare."

Oliver's smirk grew. "Oh, but I would. You know better than anyone that I would, Claire."

Myrnin, who had been watching the exchange between his assistant and the man they both despised, interrupted before Claire could dig herself into a hole.

"As scintillating as this conversation is, there must be some reason as to why you're here." That was remarkably civil for Myrnin.

Oliver scowled then. "I don't have to explain myself to you, fool. I came here because Amelie asked me to."

"And what exactly did dear Amelie want?"

"To talk to you about the machine and increasing the security measures at the border. Apparently they are not working as well as they should be; we've been receiving reports from -" Oliver stopped midsentence to stare pointedly at Claire, who frowned. Myrnin seemed to understand what he was getting at, though.

"Claire, perhaps it is best that you leave. We will continue with the experiment tomorrow."

Claire thought of arguing back but she recognised the dismissal; arguing would be pointless.

Myrnin opened up the portal for her and he sent a small smile in her direction as she walked past him to get to it.

The portal snapped shut behind her as she walked back into the Glass House. Claire dropped her bag by the kitchen door and decided to see if they'd left her anything to eat.

There was a covered pot of what Claire assumed to be chilli on the stove with a note attached.

Figured crazy boss kept you late. Eve x

I want details, missy.

Of course Eve would want details; if Claire were in her position then she certainly would. But she'd told her basically everything yesterday - what more was there to know?

Shaking her head, Claire spooned herself some still-warm chilli and started eating. After the first mouthful she realised she was ravenous seeing as she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning.

She finished the bowl in record time, and after glancing at the grandfather clock on her way back into the kitchen she saw that it was almost midnight.

This being her second late night in a row, Claire was fairly sure she was going to regret it in the morning. But try as she might she just couldn't fall asleep. She'd somehow managed to avoid whiplash from Myrnin's mood swings, but there was one thing that was really bugging her.

Claire knew better than anyone (well, except Amelie) just what Myrnin was like but she hadn't expected him to have been so... blasé about saying goodbye after all that had occurred between them. The rational part of Claire's mind told her he was being like that because he didn't want to give Oliver any more fodder to chew on.

For once, the voice in her mind stayed silent; the rational part had obviously found a way to shut it up.

Sleep found her eventually.


When her alarm went off the next morning the only thing Claire wanted to do was crawl back under the covers and stay there for the rest of the day. She knew she couldn't, though, as she had responsibilities: her classes, her work and her own life.

It was just Claire and Eve at the table that morning; neither girl had any idea where Shane was and apparently Michael had an early guitar lesson.

As Eve took a bite out of her toast, Claire asked the question that had bothered her since she mentioned it.

"Eve, why did Michael lock you in your room?"

Eve sighed. "You know that club across town? The one I've been trying to score an invite to for months? Well, I finally got one, and Michael pulled the 'vamp' card on me, messed with my head and locked me in my room for the entire night."

"You made up though, right?" Claire asked hopefully. She didn't think she could stand it if Eve and Michael split.

"Course we did. And seeing as we're asking personal questions, what the hell happened between you and Shane?"

She'd been expecting that and had her answer already prepared. "Like I said yesterday - he accused me of sneaking around with Myrnin behind his back again. I don't know why he keeps thinking that - I'd never cheat on him," Yesterday's events notwithstanding... "But for some reason he just won't let it go and... and yesterday I had enough of it."

Eve scooted her chair closer and slipped a supportive arm around Claire's shoulders.

"I don't blame you for that, CB... but are you sure about what you're doing here?"

"Yeah, I am." Claire's voice was steady. "He clearly doesn't trust me anymore - why should I have to keep explaining myself to him even though I've never done anything? I shouldn't."

"Nothing I say is gonna sway you, is it?"

Claire shook her head.

"Well, you better eat up if crazy boss is gonna be keeping you all day again."

She figured Eve had a point; yesterday evening only reinforced it.


Classes that day passed way too quickly for Claire's liking, and as soon as she had left her last class of the day she got a text from Myrnin requesting her presence in the lab.

She was sort of looking forward to it today, hoping maybe for a repeat of yesterday.

One of the problems with hope, however, is that it doesn't take much to destroy it. So Claire's hopes that Myrnin would kiss her again were almost instantly shattered as she descended the steps into the lab and saw him standing there, facing away from her. He didn't say anything, didn't do anything out of the ordinary for him, didn't even acknowledge that she was there; he just stood completely engrossed with the equipment in front of him.

"Myrnin?" She called quietly. Myrnin didn't seem to hear her, so she tried again.

"Myrnin?" Louder this time, which startled him, bringing his attention from the experiment, if that's what he was doing, over to her.

"How long have you been standing there?" He asked, frowning slightly.

"Couple minutes. Didn't you hear me?"

"No, I was..." He gestured to the equipment laid out on the lab table in front of him. "...busy."

"I can see that, Myrnin, but you said you needed me here."

"Ah, yes! I think I fixed what went wrong yesterday. As per your suggestion, I increased the amount of acid used at the beginning and it should work now."

"So you'll be able to show me how the universe works, then?" She asked, actually looking forward to the results of this.

"In part, yes. If it works." He seemed a little doubtful of this fact, but there was something else missing from his tone... a certain warmth that she had gotten used to. Had Oliver threatened him with telling Amelie?

The experiment did work this time, although Claire wasn't entirely sure what it was meant to do. She thought it might have something to do with the chaos theory that Myrnin was trying to explain to her yesterday. He said that the reactant he had used was meant to be the butterfly and the acid and the resulting reaction the tornado. That part made some sort of sense in Claire's mind.

After the experiment was done, Myrnin was the one to look over at the clock.

He sighed. "Time passes much too fast."

Claire looked up at him. "Myrnin?"

He shook his head. "Never mind. Your friend Even will be worried, I'm sure."

"Eve."

"Hm?"

"Her name is just Eve."

"Of course it is. Just testing you."

That remark was met with an odd look from Claire. "And on that note, I'm going home. But, about what happened yesterday..."

"Tomorrow, Claire."

He gave her no opportunity to argue as the portal opened and she was practically pounced on by Eve, who promptly dragged her through into the living room. Claire gave her a 'what the hell?' look, and Eve shrugged.


Well, that's all for now. Don't forget to review xx