Looking down into Claire's eyes I saw how scared – how panicked- she was; it broke my heart. Because there was also regret in her expression. Yet I understood her pain and her panic, because if the mystery stair-runner was Shane or Eve it would kill them – and rip us all apart. And while a part of me hated Eve right now, she didn't deserve this. And despite the fact I had planned his death numerous times in my head this past week, Shane didn't deserve to find us like this either – no matter how much I wanted him to. No matter how much I wanted to show to him that Claire was mine now. Pulling out of Claire's tight sheath, I ignored her gasp and I used my enhanced speed to get to my door before whoever was on the stairs. Shutting it quickly and quietly, I gestured to Claire to throw her clothes on before whoever it was made it to my door, then I grabbed a towel and wrapped it snugly around my hips. "Here," I whispered, tossing her jeans to her from the other side of the room. "The bed," I whisper, alarmed.

"Throw your clothes in your hamper," she responds, buttoning her jeans and knotting her hair into a tight bun to hide its untameable state. I frown, but comply and then turn around to see her stripping the linen off my bed. "What are you doing?" I frown at her.

"Just help me," she hisses, exasperated. Grabbing my pillow, I tear of the pillow case and throw both onto the floor in separate piles. Grabbing the next pillow, I just unfasten its casing and see Claire finally wrestle the duvet out of its cover before my door opens and Shane walks in. "Hey man," I greet him, "what's up?" I act casual to try and quell his look of suspicion, but I don't succeed very well. "Hey baby," Claire coos, dropping my duvet and cover. Grabbing a pillow, she starts stripping it from its case as she walks to Shane. Leaning up to kiss him, she drops the dirty pillowcase into my hamper and brings it with her back to my bed, her stripped pillow joining my three on the floor. Bending down, she picks up the dirty slips and throws them in with the dirty laundry, then pulls the fitted sheet off my mattress.

"I was just looking for Claire," he leans against my door frame, studying us intently, "so, what are you doing? And why is your hair tied up?" he questions, folding his arms.

"My hair kept getting in my face when I was picking up my clothes. I was just going to do some laundry, so I came in to see if Michael had any. He needed to change his bed, but he was about to go in the shower, so I offered to help him to speed up the task."

"You know, I have a load of laundry," he begins, his tone light, "colours and darks and lights. So if you had needed more for a load, you could have checked my hamper." Shit! Because that's the type of sweet, helpful, domesticated, perfect girlfriend thing Claire would do, and obviously had in the past. But, she's not our resident genius for nothing. "Michael and I switched; he's on bathroom duty, so I'm doing laundry. I had the rest of today off, so I figured it made sense to just get it done. I was going to get Eve's when I saw Michael was all towelled up and ready for a shower, so I asked for his laundry first. Could you help me get it all down to the basement?" she looked at Shane, her expression hopeful.

"Of course I can babe," appeased, he saunters in to give her a kiss, deepening it when she tries to pull away. Moaning, she breaks the kiss and smiles up at him, "do you want to go get your laundry, and start taking this down the stairs while I help Michael make his bed after I retrieve Eve's hamper?"

"Sure," kissing her again quickly, he grabs my laundry basket and walks away. Following him to the hall, she branches to the right, and I hear the laundry cupboard open, the rustle of disturbed linen and then the pop of the cupboard as it closes. Walking into my room, she tosses the fresh bedding to me, and then goes back out into the hall, heading for Eve's room.

"Claire, where's your hamper?" I hear Shane call from down the hallway.

"I just threw it back in my room, I'll grab it when I grab Eve's," hearing her response, I hang my head. Yeah, cause you would return the hamper to your room instead of leaving it in the hallway.

"Why didn't you just leave it in the hallway?" he questions softly.

"Because I had things of an intimate nature at the top of my laundry pile." She responds primly.

"Do you need me to sort the laundry?" he asks hopefully, "you know how good I am with my hands." I could practically hear his eyebrows waggling; I could imagine Claire's blush.

"Maybe if you do a good job I'll let you give me a demonstration later." My jaw dropped; my heart ached. After what we had just done, she was going to go back to him like it never happened. Of course you fool – what, did you expect her to want you forever? That she would throw her arms around you and declare her undying love? That she would chose you over Shane?

I hear her before I see her, lugging Eve's hamper up the hall. Shane meets her at my door and she relinquishes the basket, cupping the back of his head as he gave her a chaste peck. "I'll meet you downstairs soon, okay?" she questions, nuzzling against him.

"Sure," his lips brush her forehead, "I'll meet you down there." She nodded and watched as he walked down the hall, listened to him patter down the steps. Then she stepped into my room, closed over the door and turned the key in the lock, sealing us in together.

I have amended all the previous mistakes in this Fanfic, and I have uploaded chapter 16, so feel free to read the re-edited version. Also, it makes it very hard to improve, etc. without reviews. Your responses are my encouragement.

xx-LuckyDied