"Is this about your dad?" she asked. "About this prejudice you've got against Michael now?"
"Prejudice? Jesus, Claire, you act like he's still really Michael. Well, he's not. He's one of them. I'm done with this crap. If I need to I'll go break some laws and get my ass thrown in jail. Better that than living here, looking at him -- " Shane stopped dead and shut his eyes for a second. "You don't understand. You just don't understand, Claire. You didn't grow up here. "
"But I did, " Eve said, stepping up closer. "And I don't get your paranoid bullshit either. Michael hasn't hurt anybody! Especially you, you prick. So lay off. "
"I am, " Shane said. "I'm leaving. "
Claire didn't move out of his way. "What about us?"
"You want to go with me?"
She slowly shook her head, and saw the pain in his face for a split-second before it turned hard again.
"Then we've got nothing to talk about. And sorry to break it to you but there's no 'us. ' Get it straight, Claire, it's been fun,but you're not really my type -- "
Michael moved. He smacked the box out of Shane's hands, and it flew halfway across the room, skidded across the wood floor the rest of the way, and slammed into the baseboard, where it tipped over and spilled things all over the place.
"Don't, " he said, and grabbed Shane by the shoulders and flattened him against the nearest convenient wall. "Don't you disrespect her. Be an asshole to me, fine. Be an asshole to Eve if you want to, she can give it right back. But don't you take it out on Claire. I've had enough of your crap, Shane. " He stopped and took a breath, but the anger wasn't burning out of him, not yet. "You want to go, get the hell out, but you'd better take a good hard look at yourself, my man. Yeah, your sister died. Your mom died. Your dad's a violent, prejudiced asshole. Your life has sucked. But you don't get to be the victim anymore. We keep cutting you breaks, and you keep screwing up, and it's enough. I'm not letting you whine anymore about how your life sucks worse than ours. "
Shane's face went dead white, then red.
And he socked Michael in the face. It was a solid, painful punch, and Claire winced and covered her mouth in sympathy, moving back.
Michael didn't move. Didn't even react. He just stared into Shane's eyes.
"You're just like your dad, " he said. "You want to stake me now? Cut my head off? Bury me out back? That work for you, friend?"
"Yes!" Shane screamed, right in his face, and there was something so frightening in his eyes that Claire couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.