'But you're okay, right?'
'Yeah,' he said, altogether too lightly. 'I'm okay. Nothing but bruises. The cops - and I guess, vampires - are taking care of our devil dog problem. Nothing to worry about, trust me. We'll be okay. Aren't we always?'
'Almost always.' She swallowed a lump in her throat, because the confidence in his voice had made her feel unexpectedly frightened. 'Please, Shane - don't get cocky, okay?'
'Oh, now you want to do sexy talk?'
'I'm serious! Please. Please.' The image she most remembered right now was of him floating in a tank of murky water, bleeding ... dying, at the hands of enemies of the vampires. And it terrified her. 'I hate it that I'm safe here, and you're ...'
'Swimming in an ocean of danger, with sharks? Hey, it's what manly men do. That, and wrestle rabid badgers.'
He was being flippant, and it killed her. 'Shane!'
He was quiet for a long moment, and then he said, 'Are you okay, Claire?'
'Yes - I - I-' She took a deep breath. On the wall across from her was a poster promoting delicious bagels, and she focused in on the colours, the shapes, and tried to clear all the frantic noise from her mind. 'I'm okay. Let me know when you get your new phone - can I call you on this one until then?'
'If you want.' He seemed pleased about that. 'I know you're getting settled and all, but maybe I can call around this time at night? Would that work?'
'Yeah. That works.'
'Because I don't want to miss a day with you.' She was silent, not because she disagreed, but because she was overcome with a wave of emotion so strong she couldn't get the words out. He mistook it for something else, because he hurried on, tone turning more impersonal. 'So, yeah, I've gotta hit it. Talk to you tomorrow, right?'
'Right,' she managed to choke out.
'Is it pushing you to tell you I love you?'
'No.' It wasn't a wave of emotion, it was a sea, and she was drowning in it. 'Love you.' That was all she could manage. She hung up the call, and burst into hot, hard tears. She struggled to keep them quiet, but she knew everybody could tell what was going on. Just another sad, homesick, lonely freshman having a breakdown. Great.
It felt good, though, in a weird way. Six coarse food court napkins later, the storm passed, and she was left with a weary, empty ache inside, but an equally empty brain. Her eyes felt swollen, and she knew she looked a mess, but sometimes ... sometimes the emotions were just too big to hold.
She tossed her trash, avoided the glances of other students, and started the walk home. The row house she shared with Elizabeth wasn't that far - about six blocks, about the same distance she'd walked from Texas Prairie University to her old home at the Glass House. She spotted some students walking, and most had earbuds in, rocking out as they strolled, but she couldn't even think about that ... Morganville had taught her to pay attention, or else.
So she was aware within the first block that someone was following her.
He started out far back, but no matter how fast her pace, he steadily closed the distance. Claire caught glimpses of him in blurry glass windows, but she couldn't tell much about him, except that he was taller than she was (wasn't everybody?) and broader, too. Not Shane's size, not nearly, but big enough, if he meant her harm.
In Morganville, she'd have readied a weapon, but this wasn't Morganville. Defending herself wasn't quite that clear-cut. What if she staked some totally innocent person?
'Hey!' the man finally called to her, when he'd caught up to about twenty feet. 'Hey, Claire?'
She turned, still walking, and saw that it was one of the guys from the campus. Nick. There must have been something warning in her body language, because he slowed down and held up both hands, looking suddenly cautious. 'Sorry,' he said. 'It's me. Nick. I know, it's weird I'm following you because we just met, but ... I didn't want you walking by yourself, that's all.'
'Oh,' Claire said. She felt torn between continued suspicion and an intense desire to believe in someone's innocent intentions, for a change. Surely the entire world couldn't be that hideous, right? Yes, she'd had bad times; yes, guys she'd trusted had betrayed her. But it wasn't right to assume that everybody was like that. 'Oh, well, thanks. What about Viva?'
'She's hanging with my crew, headed for the dorm. Not that I actually have a crew, per se, but more of a horde. Possibly a gaggle. So, you're new, right? First year?'
'Yes,' she said.
'Already living off campus, though?'
'Well ... it was probably a mistake. The dorms seem fun.'
'It's epic adventure,' Nick agreed soberly. 'Maybe you're not up for it.'
She almost laughed. 'Yeah, that's me. I'm terrified.'
He smiled, and fell in step with her. A comfortable distance away, a gentleman's distance, nothing intrusive. 'You don't seem like the wallflower type.'