[[Just talking >>>C.L.O.S.E.D<<<]]

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Claire and Shane ran under the overhang, getting out of the rain as fast as possible. "I guess I...I enjoy staying with you Shane." She looked at him and smiled. When his hand started in a warm flame, the orange licking up his arm, she was surprised for a moment but she quickly realized that he must of had some control over fire. "Maybe that's why he doesn't like rain..." She thought to herself. They headed for his Dorm, number thirteen, and went inside finally getting out of the cold, wet rain. Apollo followed them inside and Robin hopped off her head and onto his bed. She chuckled and set down next to her, petting her head. Claire looked up at Shane with a smile on her face, "That dry towel would be much appreciated." She chuckled a little and took in her appearance. She was soaked. Her hair hung dripping on her shoulders, her clothes were damp, even Robin was wet. Another shot of Lightening brightened up the sky outside followed by a loud crack of thunder, making Claire and Robin both jump.The lightening made her think of the heart shaped pendant around Shane's neck which made her think of his sister. Speaking up she said, "So, will you..um...tell me about your...uh, sister?" Ever since he said his sister had given that pendant to him it made her curious as to who his sister was. And she had a strange nagging feeling in her brain, she wanted to know more about him, she wanted to know everything. She didn't understand it, what was going on? She was never a curious person so this sudden urge took her by surprise.

She sait paitently on his bed, gently stroking her small kitten. She mewled in protest as Claire droped her hand and looked down. She felt kind of embarassed actually. She was in a guy'd dorm room, asking a personal question, after hold hands with him. Plus, she was really curious, she wanted to know everything about him and that was a really strange feeling for her. She just met him like fifteen minutes ago and she couldn't understand her emotions around him. She tought she was just overly curious, that maybe he was an intruiging guy, but she knew that was't the case, she knew she liked him. She wasn't going to tell herself she didn't and try to keep herself away, what was the point? He may be the guy she'd been looking for for a long, long time. Claire was definately cheered by that idea. She didn't want to keep away from him.

[Shane Cross]

Shane closed the door to his room and walked over to a closet. He opened the small door and pulled out two towels; one for Claire and one for Robin. Apollo looked at Shane and sat next to the bed. Shane walked back to the bed and handed the bigger towel to Claire and put the smaller one on Robin, wrapping her up to keep her warm. Placing a hand on Apollo’s wet pelt, Shane concentrated on drying him off. Heat flowed off Shane’s body, not hot enough for fire, but not cold enough to not dry someone off.

After Apollo’s fur was dry, the dog leaped on the bed and curled up at his rightful place at the foot of the bed. Shane put his arm around Claire’s waist, letting the heat flow from the small of her back to the rest of her body.
“You want to know about my sister, huh?” Shane asked, but not expecting a reply.
“Well, my sister’s name was May. It was funny how we looked so alike. Black hair, dark blue eyes. Of course, I dyed my hair though. She was a really sweet little kid, she cared about everything. Our parents were horrible. Everyday, every time they could, they would hit us or lock us in a room with no food for long periods of time. I did my best to protect her, she was the only person that I ever had that was really close to me before I got Apollo. On October thirty-first, I came home to see her lying on the floor in a pool of blood, barely about to breathe on her own.” Shane paused for a moment, the memory of his sister’s appearance flashing through his mind. “I held her in my arms, and the last thing she told me was that she loved me. She died that day. My fourteenth birthday, my sister died. She was only eleven years old…” Shane said, looking at the floor the whole time he spoke.

He wanted to cry, but he didn’t. Rage instead replaced the sorrow in Shane’s heart, but he didn’t want to be angry right now. He looked at Claire, in the eyes.
‘Why do I like her after only knowing her for like an hour? This’ll turn out weird…’ Shane thought. He waited for Claire’s reply, his hand tightening slightly on Claire’s waist, wanting to pull her closer but not sure if that was right.

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Claire smiled as Shane gave her and her little kitten towels, she kind of thought she'd wrap Apollo up the same way he wrapped up Robin but instead just heated him up.

She didn't feel awkward at all as Shane put his arm around her and the heat radiating from his body felt so good. It started on her back, soothing the knots, moving up to her shoulders and spilling over to the rest of her body, reaching all of her limbs and warming her up. "I...I'm so sorry." She said breathless. "That's terrible." She leaned over a little bit and wrapped her arms around him. She looked deep in his eyes, rage churning, it made her think of Robin. When Claire turned 16 her and her parents had found the tiny scrap barely alive. They took her home and cared for her, Robin was her best friend.

She let her head rest on Shane's shoulder, her arms still incasing him in a large, comforting, and very warm hug. Claire scouched a little closer to him, not realizing if it might be awkward. She was strangely comfortable here with him, even though she didn't really know him. Sure, they'd only met like an hour ago, but she liked him. A lot. She definately knew it now.

[Shane Cross]

Shane rested his cheek against Claire's head gently and held her close. His heart was beating faster than normal, but he was comfortable. He liked being close to Claire. It no longer matter how long they had known each other, he loved her. Not just like a friend, not like a sister, but as a lover. Apollo closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Shane smiled against Claire’s head.
“Thank you,” he murmured. Thunder rolled louder and stronger, outside and a strike of lightning lit up the room even more. Apollo jumped in his sleep and rolled over, making Shane smile a little more.
“Claire, I…” he began, trying to find the right words.

“I know we’ve only known each other for like two hours, but I cannot ignore this. I love you,” Shane said softly.

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Claire's head lay snug between Shane's shoulder and his head, making her strangley very comfortable. She sighed as Shane said he loved her. "Shane I...I...Love you too." She smiled, tightening her arms a bit around Shane. At the moment her heart was pounding in her chest, so hard it almost hurt, all because she was wrapped in the little intamate moment she was sharing with Shane. She sighed again, her smile growing bigger ever so slightly. Robin yawned, stretched, and waddled over to Claire's lap, plopping herself down and getting comfortable. She started purring, making her Claire chuckle a little. But her attention was turned back to Shane. "Can I ask you a question?" She sighed again, hesitantly breaking away from their hold on each other and looking up at him. "Or actually a few?" She hesitated again before going on. "I mean, why do you think we just kind of...I don't know...fell in love like this? I mean, it was like something kind of...clicked when we first looked into each other's eyes back by the tree." She looked down kind of embarassed and continued on in a small voice, "You know?" She turned a little pink in the cheeks at her question and how it became more of a realization than an actual interrogation. She had gotten a bit ahead of herself.

[Shane Cross]

Shane didn't physically object to the separation, but he did mentally. Listening to Claire's question, he thought about it.
"Hmm... Well, love is a strange thing. It's different for everbody. I guess we were, as they say, ment for each other? I'm not quite sure if that really answers the question," he said with a chuckle. Shane turned his gaze to the floor. His heart was beating fast, but he liked it.
'Love is a strange thing...' he thought with a inward smile. He felt something in the back of his mind tell him something. Something he was forced to hear everyday. But now, the words changed a bit.
"You're a muderer...Can't love...No heart...Killer..." they screamed. Shane bent over a little, put his elbows on his knees, and held his head.
"That's a lie! I can love!" he mentally yelled back.
"Killer, killer, killer...No love, no love...Muderer, muderer..." they replied. Shane squeezed his eyes shut. Apollo whined in his sleep, feeling the conflicting emotions flowing off Shane.

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Claire smiled at Shane's response to her question. "I think it answers the question fine." You could hear the heart in her voice as she spoke. Shane leaned over, holding his head in his hands and Apollo whimpered. "Something wrong?" She asked, love turning to concern and curiousity. There is was again, she was still feeling this weird stab of curiosity, wonder about Shane, it was so strange. Kind of like love... She thought to herself. She looked at Shane, still worried, laying her hand on his back lightly. Judging from the whimper Apollo gave, he might have known what was going on. She was going to ask him what was going on but this time she didn't take the hassel of doing it mentally, it was always so much easier to do it verbally. "What's wrong? Is he angry? or sad? Why?" There was a slight panic in her voice, some barks turning into partial whines. "sad, angry, feels bad" Was all she could get. she didn't understand, instead she just turned back to Shane and sat patiently. She realized he was a very troubled person with feelings that were barried very very deep and surfaced every now and then to torture him. Much like herself...

[Shane Cross]

Shane opened his eyes and looked at Claire in the corner of his eye.
"I-I'm fine," he replied. Shane looked back at the floor and the words began to die down to hushed whispers in his mind. Sitting up, he looked at Claire.
"Just voices in my head." he said, smiling a bit to convince Claire nothing was wrong. Shane felt his heart ache. He didn't like lying to Claire, not even a little bit. Sighing deeply, he looked out the window. The rain was still falling, but now it was dark outside as night began to come around. Shane didn't have anything to say, so he waited for Claire to speak. The whispers in his head grew louder, though still whispering, and it was annoying the hell out of him.

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Claire knew that Shane wasn't fine when the small smile he gave didn't touch his eyes. She frowned, "No you're not." She put her hand on his cheek, and turned his face to look at her. Looking him deep in the eyes she said, "Tell me what's wrong. I know you're nottelling me the truth. You're not fine, how are these voices bothering you? What are they saying?" Her curiousity flared again but she was learning how to easily push it back along with all of the questions she wanted to blurt out. Her brow furrowed as she looked at him and saw his troubled soul through his eyes. "You can tell me." She said quietly.

And then she did something somewhat involuntary and surprising. Claire closed her eyes, her hand remaning on his warm cheek, and leaned up to kiss him...

[Shane Cross]

Shane felt his lips and hers meet. It was suprising to Shane, but it felt right. He closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss more before ending it. He wrapped his arms around Claire and hugged her tightly.
"They say I'm a murderer, a killer, and cannot love... It's a lie..." he whispered, his voice shaking. Shane's mind swirled with the whispers and suddenly he felt like his ears were bleeding, though they were not.
"Everyday they say I'm a muderer... Every day..." he added quietly. The moon's light shone in through the window, reflecting raindrops on the walls and floor.

[\\Blank//]

Claire took in a quick breath as she pulled away from the kiss, her heart hurting. It felt good, like that was suppose to happen, she felt that when she pulled away. When Shane threw his arms around her and confessed of what the voices were saying she sighed. "Why would they say that?" She was slightly confused. A murderer? Who could he have murdered? Surely he wasn't a murderer, he was too...too...she couldn't really describe it but she knew in her gut he wasn't a murderer. She hugged him tighter and whispered in his ear, "I love you, I don't want to see you in this pain. Use your will power to push them back. You're not a murderer and of course you can love. You love me, I know that, and Apollo and May. You love all of us and we all know it, you just have to tell those voices that. Puch them away." She closed her eyes and let herself get wrapped in the moment and her words. She was feeling so many things at one; She knew what she said she meant and was true, And she was sharing the same grief and frustration as him at the moment, her animal communications opening up her mind and letting her feel them. She couldn't stand it, she loved him too much and it hurt her just as much as him to see him in that pain. "I love you." She whispered again.

[Shane Cross]

Shane thought about what Claire said, the words that came from her replacing the painful voices in his mind.
"I...My parents died the day May did... Because of me...I killed my mother and father without even a second thought." he said, his voice having no emotion as he could not put emotion with the words.
"I am a murderer... The voices are right... But so is Claire; I have to push them away but I don't know how... They've been there for so long..." Shane thought, his mind a swirl of confusion, pain, and strangely...love. He didn't like his mixed up emotions, all of them were jumbled up and out of order. Fixing them would truly take a long time.
"I love you too," he murmured finally.

[\\Blank//]

Claire frowned. "When I say 'I don't like to see you in this pain' I mean, 'we're going to work together to stop it'. I promise. I'm going to be here for you no matter what. I'm here for anything you want me to be: listener, helper...lover." She cracked a little sly smile but it didn't last too long looking at Shane's face. She could tell he was deeply upset. Her eyebrows knitted together and she layed a firm hand on his fore arm. "I'm serious. I don't like this. It's gunna stop and we're going to make stop. You have my word." She put her other hand on his heart and waited until he looked up.

[Shane Cross]

Shane looked at Claire, his eyes showing love and trust toward her. Absentmindedly, he threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you so much..." he whispered, truly grateful for her being there. Shane let a small smile cross his face.
"I love you so much," he added sweetly. Warmth flowed off Shane, his feelings, though still mixed up, manging to fix on two certain emotions. Happiness, and love. For the first time in a very long time, Shane felt as though he could trust someone with all his heart.

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As Shane hugged her, Claire burried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "I love you too." She whispered so softly she wasn't sure if he heard her. She pulled back after a few moments to stare up at him with a warm smile playing at her lips. She leaned up and kissed him for a long moment, his lips feeling warm and that warmth spilled over her like syrup oozing over pancakes, soft and golden and so wonderful it made you want to dance. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and an image of the despair painted over Shane's face came up in her mind. She pressed a little harder in an urgent but gentle way. When she pulled away from him she immediately wrapped her arms around him again, her smile growing much wider on her face. She had pulled away from that kiss truely happy for the first time in her life really.