"Let's just hope we don't have to deal with that hippy prick. I've had enough of the leeches for one month." Shane commented as he sat on Claire's bed, watching her pack. Honestly, she hadn't thought of Oliver. Now she did and desperately hoped so as well. She didn't think she could deal with his moodiness. He was worse than a teenage girl. She should know.

Claire only nodded in response and continued packing. Shane caught her wrist as she dropped another article of clothing into her suitcase making her look at him. His eyes were comforting, "It'll be okay. Michael and Eve will be fine, they have been their whole lives."

When Claire shot him a look at the mention of Michael, he rolled his eyes, "Right, well, he's all freaky vamp now, he can protect himself and Eve better than before. Besides, that was Oliver's fault for draining him like a juice box in the first place."

Claire sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Shane, resting her head on his shoulder. He put an arm around her, "Shane, if they get hurt, it's my fault. I told them I would fix it and I didn't."

"Hey, don't you dare talk like that. I mean, God, Claire, you sat and had a whole speech prepared so we would let you out of the house, dealt with me being a jerk when you told me what you had planned and went ahead and did it anyway. You tried, and Brandon came back. We told you if the stupidest little accident happened, you'd be locked up in here again, and that wasn't a stupid little accident. He came into the house, he could have killed you—"

"Or you," Claire interrupted.

"They'll be okay. If you haven't noticed, they're kind of bad asses."

Claire smiled a little at that, but nodded. She didn't feel like arguing anymore. She zipped up her suitcase and Shane picked his own and hers, carrying them downstairs. She was met by Eve with tears in her eyes and Claire hugged her tight.

"I love you, C.B.," she whispered in Claire's ear, "stay safe, okay?"

Claire nodded, "I love you too, don't get hurt. Please."

Eve pulled back, wiping at her eyes, "I've got a protector. Don't worry." She assured Claire, just as Michael walked in.

"That's right. I'll take care of her. You worry about yourself, Claire."

"You know I won't."

Michael smiled, "You never do," he walked forward and hugged her and she wanted to cry. She was so terrified about leaving them behind. As Michael pulled back, she let her head hang and Shane took the place behind her, wrapping her in his arms, "Take care, Mikey. And if you let Eve get hurt, you better believe that I'll beat your ass."

Michael inclined his head once, "Same to you."

Claire shook her head, "Boys."

Eve smiled in amusement and more hugs went around before Amelie stepped in, "One of my guards, Alucard, will be escorting you. He will not be a pest, he is there only to assure your safety, to transport you to and from your destination and to make sure your needs are met. Understand?"

Alucard stepped out from behind Amelie, and honestly, he was a bit intimidating. He was tall and broad and muscular and very menacing looking. He didn't make eye contact with any of them, just stood straight and alert, staring straight ahead.

Claire nodded and Shane shrugged, "At least it's not Oliver." He sighed. The guard stayed silent, as Claire guessed he would the entire trip unless necessary. Everyone said their final goodbyes and before walking out the door, Amelie handed Claire her cell phone, "How…?" Claire began.

"I was informed that you left in quite a hurry yesterday."

Claire pocketed her phone and with one last look at her friends, walked out into the cold night, Alucard and Shane standing guard until they were all safely in the car.

As they drove off, Claire's curiosity got the best of her, "Are you allowed to tell us where we're going?" she asked softly, expecting to get ignored, but jumping a little as his low, yet loud voice spoke for first time, "Brewster."

"What? We're staying in Texas?"

"Taking you out of state would have been too predictable and Brewster is a large county, harder to track in."

Claire nodded, a little relieved to learn that Amelie did, in fact, have some form of strategy. Satisfied, Claire slumped in the back seat and leaned on Shane. He moved his arm to wrap around her shoulder and she laid her head on his chest, finally getting some sleep.

It was still dark when Claire woke up, but that mostly had to do with the heavily tinted windows. She realized the car wasn't moving and tried to look around the best she could. Shane finally spoke up, "We stopped to get gas. Need anything while we're stopped?" Claire shook her head and relaxed against him again, "How much longer do we have?"

"A few hours," Shane replied, playing with her hair, "I think we're going to a hotel. Apparently it's pretty nice, we'll be living the high life or something."

"You don't seem too impressed." Claire pointed out.

He shrugged, "I would be more impressed if it were under much better circumstances."

"Like?"

Shane eyed her mischievously, "A secret get- away with my girl."

"It wouldn't exactly be a secret if Amelie was paying for it."

"Way to ruin a mood."

Claire laughed, "What mood?"

Shane grabbed her face in his hands and firmly pressed his lips to hers and they began moving in perfect sync. Just as it was getting really good, Shane pulled back with a wink, "That one."

"Jerk," she sighed, but curled up against him again as Alucard got back in the car, looking at them in the rearview mirror with a funny glint in his eyes.

It almost looked like… amusement?

He may not have been as intimidating and emotionless as Claire thought.