Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books. I'm only borrowing the characters and will return them mostly unharmed. Except for Quil. He'll be severely shaken up by the time I'm done with him.Italics are Quil's thoughts.

"Claire! Stop! Stop!" he felt his entire body clench in heart-stopping fear. She wasn't stopping! What was he going to do? Oh, God. This was it. He failed. He was a terrible protector. How could he live without her? How could he explain to her parents that-

"Quil." The car came to a slow stop parked neatly by the curb. She put the car in park, shut it off, and turned to face her hysterical passenger. Raising an eyebrow, she asked "Is ten miles per hour too fast for you?"

Quil turned his wide eyes to the driver's seat. His heart was still pumping madly. It took his mind a minute to wrap around one fact: they shouldn't be here. His Claire, learning to drive a car. And at sixteen too! She was too young! She wasn't ready. A car was a weapon, she could kill someone with it. Someone could kill her. His heart once again contracted in fear at the thought. Oh, God. What was he thinking, promising to teach her how to drive? Had he lost his ever-loving mind?!

"Claire, I think we need to head back. You aren't-"

"What do you mean we need to head back?" She blinked, wondering if this was some kind of joke. "We're a block from my house. We've been driving for 2 minutes. You promised-"

"I know what I promised, Claire. I said when you are ready I will gladly teach you how to drive." His jaws and fists clenched as he prepared for the explosion he knew was coming. He didn't blame her: he had kept her waiting for her first lesson ever since she had gotten her permit three months ago. Now, he was ending the lesson before it had really started. He would be angry, too. He remembered the excitement and the thrill that came with driving, the incredible feeling of maturity and freedom. He had promised her that, and now he was backing out like a coward.

And he fully accepted his cowardice. He admitted it freely: he was a coward when it came to Claire. He was afraid of her getting hurt, afraid of her doing something stupid, afraid of losing her respect and love because of something silly. He was afraid that she would find someone else, or that she wouldn't accept him when she finally learned the truth about his not-so-human self. He was afraid she would reject him, or not understand, or hate him for lying all these years. He was, simply put, terrified.

Speaking of terrified, he was still waiting nervously for the explosion of anger that would surely rip him to shreds. He turned to her, expecting to find tears or blazing eyes or flushed cheeks, and instead found… nothing.

She wasn't even looking at him. She simply had her head down and was picking at her nails quietly, peeling of the hot pink nail polish she had painstakingly applied earlier. Not knowing what to say, he turned his head forward and stared at nothing for a few minutes. Suddenly:

"Ah, Quil," he heard Claire sigh. She was shaking her head gently and looking at her lap in… regret? Confusion? Why isn't she ripping my head off right now?

"Do you know how old I am now?" Quil stopped for a moment, surprised at the question. Of course he knew how old she was! Did he think he had forgotten that he had only two more years until she was eighteen?! As if he thought of anything else!

"I know you are sixteen," he said simply, unsure where she was going with this. He knew she was sixteen: only sixteen, meaning she wasn't ready for the dangers of driving. It's too soon. She needs more time before-

"Do you really know, though?" she asked quietly. "Really? Because you are treating me like a little kid. I'm over sixteen, Quil. I should've started learning how to drive months ago. I'm responsible, and careful, and I know what this involves." Quil didn't know what to say: she was responsible, and careful, and he was positive she knew the dangers and duties of driving. Considering I've lectured her endlessly. But still..

"Age is only a number, Claire. Sixteen doesn't mean you are mature enough for this."

"Sixteen doesn't mean that I'm not mature enough for this." He paused at her convoluted sentence, trying to make sense of it. To be honest, he didn't know why he kept resisting her. Logically, he knew he couldn't argue with her anymore: she was telling the truth, after all. He quietly gathered his thoughts on the matter until:

"You know, I think you are the one not ready for me to drive." Quil's eyes widened at the teen's thought. He turned to face her once again, inexplicably feeling hurt. How could she say that?! He was only concerned about her safety! If she wanted to get herself killed on the road, then fine! But it wouldn't be with his permission!

"Get out of the car. We're going home now. I'm not going to argue with you anymore." Claire refused to move even as Quil swung open his car door and stomped over to the driver's side. He wrenched open her door and stood over her, trying to intimidate her into acquiescence. Though Quil's anger was something to fear, Claire didn't feel scared at all. She knew that she had hurt and shocked him, and that he was using anger as a shield.

Peering up into his eyes intently, Claire slowly slid out of the car, angling her body towards Quil's and moving so close to him that she could feel his body heat. She slid her hands up to his broad shoulders and pulled herself to him in a soothing hug (which was quite the challenge, considering he was over a foot taller than her).

Quil's breath froze in his chest and he shuddered as Claire pressed her body against his, any anger he had felt forgotten. He instinctively reacted to the hug, pulling her to him and burying his face in her hair. It was so difficult to keep his control around her lately, and she didn't make it any easier. This hug was different than the others, as well. The air almost sizzled around the pair. Quil relaxed into the embrace and sighed. He needed this. As Claire had entered her adolescence and teenage years, he had had to physically distance himself from her. Her had parents asked that he keep the touching to a minimum, as she was entering a confusing and turbulent time. He had agreed, and so friendly hugs and kisses on the cheek had become much rarer. He had missed this, but the heady tension of this hug startled him. Things had changed between them, so slowly that he hadn't noticed until this moment.

The hug strongly affected Claire as well, catching her off guard and even frightening her for a moment. She wasn't prepared for the flare of heat that rose up in her stomach as Quil wrapped his sinewy arms around her. She wasn't ready for the shocked intake of breath as his musky aftershave and spicy scent bombarded her nose and senses. And she definitely wasn't expecting her heart to erratically skip a beat or two as he buried his face into the crook of her neck. She found that she liked the feeling of Quil's body against hers, so close that she could share his body heat and feel him breathe.

Quil finally forced himself to break the embrace, putting a few inches of distance between them before he lost his control and ran off with her. They stared at each other for a few minutes, taking in each other's quickened breath and dilated pupils. Finally, Quil had reached the end of his rope. He broke off the almost too-intimate eye contact and stepped away from her body.

Nervously rubbing his hand against the back of his neck, he simply said, "Get back in the car. We'll give this another shot." Claire smiled and hopped back into the seat, innocently gazing at him. Quil slowly walked to the passenger's side, taking deep, cleansing breaths and feeling slightly shy. That girl really will kill me one day. And she doesn't even need the damn car to do it!

I hope you guys liked the chapter! The question for this chapter was "Do you (really) know how old I am?" Feedback is really appreciated! Later!