[Shane]I Was Dreamin' We Were Runnin'

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire pushed some of her hair behind her ear, closing her eyes as she rested against the wall along the line for security. It was strange because this process seemed so familiar; rearranging things so she could go see Shane. But it was what she was supposed to do, it was what felt right. For some reason she just couldn’t get herself to wake up. She’d felt exhaustion for a while now and it seemed like it was just getting worse. Maybe stress could make you tired, and she had a lot of stress coming up with her showcase and everything. Plus.. and she’d never admit it to Shane. Maybe she sort of felt stressed about them dating now. But she knew she shouldn’t be. She trusted him. In theory. If she was scared she didn’t need to be. He was the person she ran to when she was scared, and she was pretty sure he’d be the last person she’d run to for anything. “ Next!” the airport official yelled before Claire leaned away from the wall quickly and ran her hand over her face. “ Sorry,” she said, setting her stuff down. When she placed her purse in the cart she slid out of her heels, looking down at Shane’s notebook sticking out of her purse. A small smile spread across her lips, looking at the frayed ends and bent corners. That was every bit as important to him as her first pair of ballet shoes were to her.

After Claire settled into her seat she set her purse between her feet. There was a ninety percent chance she would sleep on the flight out to see Shane. She watched everyone moving around for a few moments before she looked back down in her purse. She shouldn’t look in it. It was so personal. Then again she was dating him now… and honestly.. there wasn’t a point in dating him if you didn’t see yourself wanting to be serious with someone. Which led to marriage. So basically him asking her out was a pre-cursor to just saying that what was his was hers. Right? Made enough sense to her at the moment. Claire leaned forward, taking the notebook from her purse before she rested it on her knees. “ Can I get you anything?” Claire looked up at the flight attendant and smiled. “ Ginger ale? Thanks.. Oh.. do you guys have grapes? And a freezer?”. She smiled politely as the flight attendant made her way back to the front kitchen with a confused expression. Claire looked back down at the notebook in her lap, opening the front of it slowly. She couldn’t help but smile as she saw Shane’s handwriting flowing over the pages, scribbles, side notes. She absolutely loved watching him in the studio when they were both home, and it felt comforting to see part of his creative process right in front of her. Claire flipped through a few pages, finding herself more and more captivated with each lyric, able to hear Shane’s voice singing it in the back of her mind.

Claire read through the songs, able to realize when one album had ended and once another had started. She could remember the excitement, waiting for the music to come out before she knew Shane. Then seeing him on stage for the first time. The first song she’d ever heard him sing on stage had been Toxic Valentine, and it was still her favorite for that reason. But now he was this huge part of her life, something she’d never be able to imagine not having. He was every bit a part of her as her own heart was. She decided to skip ahead, when she realized that she had read through all of the lyrics for the album they’d released last. But it looked like there was still a few more songs written in it. These had to be for his new album. She bent the pages carefully, barely skimming them since she was beginning to become exhausted. But her fingers froze in place, there was no way she had just seen what she thought she had. Claire sat up in her seat, turning the page back quickly. Claire’s song? Claire held her breath as she looked through the lyrics, slowly sliding back against her seat as she became entranced in the beautiful writing laying in her lap. Had he felt this way about her for longer than she thought? Cause what he had written was.. beautiful, and heart wrenching, How had she not seen it before? Why had they stopped themselves when they were so clearly meant to be together. “ That’s an unusual reading choice for a trip,” the elderly man next to her noted as he shuffled through a stack of newspapers. “ Oh it’s not mine, it’s my boyfriends,” Claire said as she looked up at him, offering a small smile. “ Handwritten… is it a love letter? Or several?”. Claire bent her fingertips over the edge of the journal, clinging to what she felt was her only connection to him at this moment. “ Something like that, I think” she grinned, realizing how stupid she must look right now, grinning like a complete idiot.

Hours later and they were lost in conversation, she’d learned everything from how he had met his wife just days before he’d been shipped off to war. They’d written each other every day until he returned home. She’d waited for him, and he’d dreamed of being with her. Finally they had gotten married, had four beautiful kids from the pictures he’d shown, and lived a long happy life together. He’d explained how every morning waking up to her was like falling in love with her all over again, and every day had been heaven up until the day she passed away from cancer. ‘ Does he make you feel that way? Even on the darkest of days… you know that there is someone out there, that has all of the light in the world?”. Claire smiled faintly, looking back down at the journal in her hands, not letting go since she’d first started talking to him. ‘Do you love him?’ he pressed again, looking to Claire before she looked up, realizing that the plane had landed when they were lost in their conversation. Instead of answering him she smiled, unbuckling herself quickly before she stood up. “ Thank you, it was nice to meet you,” she said, hugging him gently before she took her things down from the overhead bin and focused back on what she had come here for; Shane.

Claire went down to baggage quickly, trying her best to apologize as she accidentally knocked into a few people. She knew Shane was picking her up at the airport but she wasn’t really sure where he would be meeting her. She reached back into her back pocket and turned her phone back on, maybe he’d sent her a message. As she waited for her blackberry to reboot she looked up and saw her luggage, going over to take it off the sliding ramp. She pulled against the handle of her luggage and started pulling it towards the exit. When she got outside she’d probably have enough service to call Shane and figure out where he was. But as she looked up she smiled, slowing down as she saw him standing there, hands in his front pockets. She realized she was still holding his journal in her hands which she waved at him slowly before dropping her luggage to her side completely. She gently dropped his notebook onto the top of her luggage before she started walking towards him, which quickly turned into her moving as quickly to him as she could. Claire jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist and one of her arms around his neck before she smiled at him, holding her hand against his jawline. Claire licked her lips nervously, placing her forehead against his before she whispered quietly. “ Every time you come around… love, you take my breath away,” she said before she leaned closer against him, tangling her hand into the back of his hair as she kissed him.

Outfit

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane had been in this airport so many times, he knew the gift shop better then the local grocery store. Whether it had been flying home from tour, or flying in between Baltimore and Malibu in high school just to see all his old friends. Sometimes he didn't know whether or not to call Baltimore his home town or Malibu. Yeah he'd grown up in Malibu. And his closest friends had been there. But he'd become the person he was in Baltimore. And though he had his friends, he couldn't begin to deny that his band was his brothers. They'd been with him through all the rough stuff. They'd listed to every bad lyric, every stupid line, all his personal thoughts and feelings put into their music. As goofy as Jack was, that was like his homeboy, his brother from another mother. Together they'd started the band. The memories they had were beyond ridiculous, but Jack got Shane in ways some people didn't. And Rian, he was like talking to the most reasonable, blunt, let me just tell you what I think type of guy. If he thought you were being an ass he'd tell you. And vice versa, which was why Shane often told Rian how fat he was in high school. And Zack, he was like Shane's spirit animal. In his quiet understanding Zack ways, he understood Shane. He got why Shane did certain things, gave out flawless advice that had never failed him. They were like four best friends, four guys who all liked music. So really Shane would say, I'm from Malibu originally, but my Hometown is Baltimore. Because that's really where his heart is. As much as he loved Malibu and the memories, Baltimore was where he'd grown into the Shane everyone knew now. And being back here, waiting at the airport for his girlfriend, who by the way, he was pretty happy o be calling his girlfriend, was kind of just the way he liked things to be. He liked being home. With his boys. And Sharing this place with Claire. So much of Shane was in this town.

Shane's dad had come that morning to get Shane from the tour bus and took him to get his cast taken off. Which he was majorly glad for so many reasons. It really hindered his lifestyle. He'd gone home and had an early lunch with his parents, and then borrowed his dad's car for the weekend. Which he'd then taken to go get Claire. He hadn't even put any thought into the fact that he'd been basically gushing to his mom over the phone about Claire for weeks and now Claire was probably going to meet his parents and he wasn't even weirded out about it at all. In fact he almost like, wanted them to meet her.. Kind of wanted to show her off in a way. He knew his parents would like her, there was nothing about her to dislike. It was just that he'd spent so much time being that guy that everyone figured would end up a bachelor and he knew deep down he did not want to be a bachelor at all. He could at least prove like, hey look I can handle a relationship, there's still hope for your kid.

Shane was standing by the exit waiting, his hands in his pockets. He was aching to see her. He hadn't anticipated it sucking as bad as it did while he was on tour and she wasn't around. Pretty much just a major suck fest in his head. He just wanted to see her. Shane looked up, finally seeing her on the opposite side of the room, smiling that lopsided grin. She held up his notebook, which he'd been dying to have. But she had set her bags down and came over to him, jumping up and wrapped her legs around him. He couldn't even help but smile when she pressed her forehead against his, and he wrapped his arms tightly around him. And he realized this was the first time they were seeing each other since they decided to be officially in a relationship. Shane smiled and kissed her, not caring who on earth saw them. "I guess you read my notebook then." He laughed, kissing her again and set her down, taking her hand in his, which he hadn't realized until after he'd grabbed her hand that he could actually hold her hand with that hand. He looked down at his stitches, still there. But no more cast, he was golden. He walked over with her to her bags handing her his notebook and picked up her bags.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire smiled against Shane’s lips before he pulled away, “ I did… I hope that’s okay. It’s kind of your fault. So you can’t blame me,” she said before he kissed her again, causing another flutter of butterflies in her stomach. Honestly she could care less who was around them right now. It was so strange how someone she had once seen as her best friend had transformed into this person that she just got constant butterflies around. She wasn’t sure if this smitten effect would ever die down, but she really doubted it. As he was setting her down, she looked down at his arm and smiled. “ No stupid cast,” she said, placing her hand on it gently as she looked at the stitches and his now wrecked tattoo. She frowned slightly, knowing how badly he must want to get his tattoo redone already, but he’d have to wait for the stitches to come out. ‘ You know…” she said, tracing her thumb over the side of his forearm. “ It’ll look a lot cooler as a skeleton when it has a stitch through it. You’ll look extra badass” she said with a smile before she kissed him again quickly and then turned to get her luggage. She smiled as he picked up her things, “ You sure you got it?” she questioned as she tilted her head and watched him. As tired as she was, the excitement of seeing him overwhelmed anything else.

Claire pushed the sleeves of Shane’s shirt she was wearing up to her elbows and peered through the gift shop windows as they walked by. “ I want to get a Baltimore shirt before I leave,” she said before she took her gaze away from the merchandise and looked back at him. “ You think the lead singer of All Time Low would sign it for me? I’m a huge fan.” she said with a smile, lacing her fingers through is own as she leaned closer to him and headed out towards whatever car he had brought. She was slightly nervous to meet his parents, that hadn’t been the intent of coming out. It just so happened that he had a weekend off. And he wanted to see his parents. But he’d wanted to see Claire too, which is why he had bought her a ticket and asked her to come out. Which she would do without question. Especially when she was this head over heels for him. There honestly wasn’t a person that knew her like he did. She stopped at the car, scratching the side of her neck as an unexpected panic came across her. “So your parents are at home?” she questioned, watching him put her luggage in the car. “ Like I’m gonna meet your parents… I mean, that’s actually happening. We’re doing that.”. She knew how she felt about Shane, and she knew that he would always say what he meant. But this was sort of big, even if they didn’t want to admit it was. And so sudden, though it hadn’t been planned that way. Claire bit the inside of her cheek, sliding into the passenger seat quietly.


Claire closed her eyes, laying her head against the headrest as she pretzeled her legs in the passenger seat, twisting them around herself until she was comfortable. She yawned, moving her hair off of her neck before she looked over at Shane, laying her arm out on the rest between them and holding her hand out to him. “ I think when I go to the doctor for my physical I should tell him that I’ve just been really exhausted lately. Cause I haven’t gotten any like cold or flu symptoms at all. Just constant exhaustion. It makes my legs tired and I’ve been falling at rehearsal a lot. It’s like trying to dance hungover.”. Claire looked back out the window, not wanting to miss a part of Shane’s world, of the town he had grown up in. When they pulled into a driveway, she smiled looking at the home and squeezed his hand quickly. “ What did you tell your parents about me?” she asked, untangling her legs and dropping her feet onto the floor of the car as she turned to look at him. She unbuckled her seatbelt before she slid out of the car, there was no sense in getting her luggage. She’d made reservations at a hotel so she wouldn’t impose on his family. Plus they could have a little privacy. “ Please tell me you’re a little nervous so I’m not the only one,” she said before giving him a small smile and walking over to him, wrapping her arms around his lower back and waist.

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane shrugged when she said she had read the notebook, "You can read whatever you want, I'm not hiding anything," he laughed, "Especially not from you." He looked at his own arm, nodding, "Yeah, no more stupid cast. Finally." She was right it did look pretty sick with a scar running right through it. "I was kind of thinking that too. It'll just extra cool." Shane had picked up her bags, "Yeah I got it," he smiled, walking past the gift shop. He'd been in there a gajillion times it seemed like. "Hmmm, I don't know, I heard he's kind of a jerk." He joked, popping the trunk on the car and put her bags inside, stopping to look at her because she has stopped. Shane froze, his hand on the trunk, about to close it, "Yeah they're home. I mean we don't have to do that if you don't want to, it wouldn't be a big deal or anything." Shane went around the car and got in the drivers side. She hadn't said anything else about it and changed the subject so he guessed she was okay with it, just had a second of panic which was understandable. He'd be completely the same if he was meeting her parents. he hadn't even really thought about it because it had seemed so natural and his parents wanted to meet her. Especially since all he did lately was talk about her. No wonder they wanted to see what all the hype was about.

Shane just figured he'd let her change the subject because by the time he got to his parents house it'd come back. Shane drove the same route home like he'd never forget it, barely even having to think about it. "Well hopefully you don't have mono or something like that. If your just tired as hell." Shane took her hand while he drove the rest of the way, pulling into the driveway. Shane looked at her when she asked what he had told his parents, "I told them you were Australian." he laughed, "Kidding." Shane got out of the car walking around the side where Claire was, wrapping his arms around her waist and she asked if he was as nervous as she was, "Oh hell yeah," he laughed. But he leaned down, pulling her closer and kissed her, hearing a car pull into the drive way next door and someone had gotten out before Shane heard them clear their throat. Shane pulled away from Claire, looking over and seeing his older neighbor standing by his car and going to get his luggage from his trunk. The man looked at Shane and Claire, smiling a toothy grin and pointed at Claire while he opened the trunk, "You never answered my question, young lady, but that's okay. I know the answer now." He smiled and shook his head, shifting his bag closer to himself. Shane furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Did you two meet?" Shane held onto Claire's hand and walked across the narrow piece of yard between there driveways, only letting go of Claire's hand so he could go forward and shake his neighbors hand, "Hey Charlie, how you doin'?" Shane shook his hand but Charlie just laughed, "Don't be ridiculous, you haven't been away that long," The old man hugged Shane and then examined Claire, "Shane I met your girlfriend on the plane. Very interesting things she tells me, young man." Shane smiled softly, placing his hand gently on Claire's back, "Is that right?" Shane took Charlie's suitcase out of the trunk for him and offered to carry it up to the house, so he waited for Charlie to unlock the door and set the bag in the entryway, stepping aside so Charlie could go in. "Well it was nice meeting you Claire," Charlie said, hugging her and then hugged Shane, "It's goo to see you home Shane, everyone is very proud around here. I mean it. you two take care." Shane stepped off the porch, laughing as he heard Charlie saying behind him, "Try not to give your parents a heart attack now young man, with all of your sex, drugs and rock and roll." Shane heard him chuckle to himself before he shut the door. "That's so crazy you met my neighbor on the plane."

Shane headed back over to his own house, opening the door for Claire and shut it behind them, taking his shoes off. The TV was on in the living room, and no one watching it. "Ma? Where you at?" "In the kitchen sweetheart." Shane followed her voice, taking Claire's hand and led her to the kitchen where his mom was standing at the counter with her long hair braided down her back and was cutting potatoes. Shane squeezed Claire's hand as his mom heard them come in and turned around, a smile spreading across her face that matched one that Shane often wore. "Oh, you must be Claire. Shane has told us so much about you, you can call me Heather." She walked straight over to Claire, engulfing her in a big hug only moms could get away with giving to near strangers, but hey, a mom hug was a mom hug. "We're just having a roast and mashed potatoes and gravy. And salad." She said, going back to the counter and picked up her knife, waving it animatedly, "I hope that's alright. Shane I have no clue where your dad disappeared off to, he's somewhere though. Can you get me the milk from the fridge?" "Yup." Shane grabbed the milk from the fridge, putting it on the counter and then tossed a water bottle to Claire. "Claire was your flight okay? Goodness they have people going through so much security these days, I don't know how you kids fly all the time." Shane hopped up onto the counter beside Claire, "Mom, Claire met Charlie from next door on her flight." "Wow how funny. Small world." His mom could probably talk for hours about nothing, could carry a conversation with anyone. "So Claire, Australia huh? That's pretty exciting, getting to travel and all that, how'd you end up in New York? Your doing ballet out there right?" Heather talked while she cut her potatoes, not even looking up. Shane pulled Claire closer to him where he sat on the counter, his legs on either side of her, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He knew his mom didn't even care really. He'd lucked out for being in the rock and roll business, his parents were super laid back. Or maybe that was why he'd gotten into music. Because they had always kind of let him do his own thing. Either way, he knew his mom really didn't mind a little PDA. Hell, his mom was the reason Shane was so touchy feely half the time. He'd been her 'cuddle bug' the first five years of his life. It was no wonder Shane turned out to be so affectionate.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire was relieved that he was just as nervous as she was. If he was nervous, he wasn’t really showing it though and that probably was more beneficial than not. She smiled against the familiarity of his lips and moved her arms away from his waist and brought her hands back up to Shane’s jawline. ‘So this isn’t getting old’ she laughed quietly before she kissed him again until she heard someone cough and looked away from Shane, not moving her hands or body away from him. She narrowed her eyebrows but smiled quickly as she recognized him from the plane before. “ Charlie?” she asked, finally dropping her hands away from Shane. Her cheeks flushed red instantly out of embarrassment as he said that he knew the answer to his question. She looked back at Shane, smiling hesitantly but then nodded in response to his question. “ Yeah he told me the story about his wife on the plane,” she said, placing her hands in her back pockets, following Shane over to his home. She assumed that he was going to offer to help with his bags and when he did, she couldn’t help but fall for him a little more. Seriously how adorable could he get. “ Oh it was nice meeting you, too , Charlie. Hopefully this won’t be the last time,” she said, wrapping her arms around him gently as he hugged her. Claire laughed and dropped her jaw slightly as Charlie gave Shane a caveat about his lifestyle. Definitely a more rambunctious Charlie than she had met on the plane. As she stepped back onto his porch, she looked back at Shane. “ Yeah he was really sweet. We talked about love. Well, he talked about love,” she said quickly.

Claire looked down at her outfit as Shane walked away. Wait, she was supposed to meet them wearing his flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. “ Crap I didn’t think my outfit choice through…” she said sadly before she hopped onto Shane’s back and wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. “ Too tired to walk,” she said, resting her cheek against his shoulder. She smiled against his shoulder, remembering how he had carried her around the first night they met. That then had been because she was drunk and tired of walking, not because she was sick and tired of walking. But it was still sweet to think back on it. She puffed out her cheeks as they got closer to his home, feeling her nerves starting to take over. To settle herself she kissed the side of his neck behind his ear, where he had a tattoo. Once they reached the door, Claire put her hands on his shoulders and hopped down, letting him step inside where he took his shoes off. Thank god she wasn’t wearing heels. She would’ve hated walking around without socks since she was so insecure about her feet. Claire leaned down and untied her converse shoes before she stepped out of them to follow Shane’s lead.

Claire held onto his hand tightly as he followed the sound of his mothers voice and smiled as they came into the kitchen. Their house was pretty laid back, tv on, yelling throughout the rooms. She seemed right at home preparing a meal for her family in the kitchen. Claire smiled as his mom started talking to her but was slightly surprised when she said that Shane had been talking about her. “ He has?” she questioned skeptically as she returned the hug just as eagerly. She smiled as his mom said what they were having for dinner. It seemed like so much, and Claire turned to Shane keeping a slightly frightened grin plastered onto her face. Claire watched as Shane got some milk from the fridge and then caught the water of bottle before setting it on the counter next to Shane as he hopped onto it. “ Yeah, the flight was really good. It was a lot shorter than the last flight to go see him, but it’s worth it.” she said, leaning back against Shane as he wrapped his arms around her. She brought her hand up to his, sliding her fingers back through his and laid her head back against him tiredly.

Claire smiled as his mom continued talking. At least she wasn’t stuck up and stuffy, that would have made talking to her so strenuous. But of course she wasn’t like that, they were Shane’s parents after all. “ My brothers and I are in New York. My oldest brother Dalton is in criminal justice, and my other brother Ethan is going to school at NYU for a degree in political science with a minor in criminal justice.” she said proudly, forgetting for a second that she had asked her for ballet, sometimes she just got so proud of what they did that she sort of forgot where she fell in place. “ Yes, I’m fortunate enough to be attending ABA,” she said, wondering if that would click anywhere for Shane’s mom. She doubted it would, it wouldn’t unless you were involved in the dance world. “Actually Shane went with me to my audition. Even though he almost ruined it he was sort of my good luck charm” she said lovingly before she turned her head against his chest to face him and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. “ I’m sorry if me being here sort of poses any inconvenience. He doesn’t get time off from tour often, and it just seemed like a good time to come visit him. But I hope it doesn’t take any of your time,.. and I am staying at a hotel so I don’t get in the way too much. I was kind of selfish in wanting to come out here to see him so badly.. I should’ve been more considerate,”

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane rested his chin on Claire's shoulder, listening to his mom and Claire converse. This was cool, him being able to come home to Baltimore, have his girlfriend over, and everyone get along and be able to have conversation. Shane's mom nodded, casually working on dinner, "That sounds great, all of you in the same place. Coming over her and getting degree's, you know there's a lot of people here that don't even do that." Shane smiled, sometimes he had no idea what his mom was talking about but she seemed to make sense to herself. Shane's mom responded to Claire talking about Claire's audition, "Shane almost ruined it? Well that does sound like my kid, I can't say I'm surprised." Heather laughed, shaking her head, "Oh Claire, you're not being inconsiderate at all. In fact, we love having you both here, we don't see Shane that much, but you know, you kind if figure when you have kids that one day they'll be part of a package deal. You're welcome here whenever you want." Shane smiled, tightening his arms around Claire. It was nice to see his mom being so accepting of Claire. He knew his mom had a hard time letting Shane go, all over the country, living in the city. He was her only kid left. And she had always been the only woman in his life. Honestly his mom was taking this really well, not that he expected anything less, but it was nice to see them get along. Especially because he really liked Claire a lot.

Shane heard someone come in off the back patio, and his dad came into the kitchen leaving his jacket on the back of a chair at the table, "Heather, I put all your planters in the garage, I just stacked them under the work bench." Frank came over and kissed his wife's cheek and she thanked him, handing him a cherry tomato from the salad she was making, "Thank you honey, did you meet Claire? Claire this is Frank, Shane's dad." Frank turned around seeing Shane sitting on the counter with his arms around Claire, "Oh nice to meet you Claire, not tired of Shane yet? That's great." He held out his hand to shake Claire's, "Glad to have you." Heather left the cooking and got a stack of plates down, "You kids want to set the table for me? Frank you missed the whole introduction, Claire is from Australia, she has two brothers both studying criminal justice, and she's a student at ABA, that's a ballet academy and Shane almost ruined her audition. Isn't that nice?" Frank nodded, grabbing silverware from the drawer, "Almost ruined it? That's not surprising." Shane hopped down, grabbing the plates, "What? That's what mom said, you guys suck," he laughed.

The rest of the evening went like that, mostly just having conversation and getting to know Claire. Shane's parents seemed to be really interested in talking to her about her life and what her plans were and all that. And they asked Shane about tour and music and what not, and caught him up to speed on grandparents and cousins and all that stuff. Heather asked how Natalie was doing, how Ryan and Shane were, how Scarlet was, how Felicia was, is Lance was doing well. Sometimes Shane forgot how much his parents really knew all his friends. After dinner his mom got up to clear the table and Frank and Shane both got up to help. "No, both of you go hang out or something I can handle the kitchen." "You sure? It'll get done faster?" "It's fine I got it." Frank shrugged, kissed his wife and headed out to the living room. Shane looked at Claire who gestured for him to go ahead, so Shane kissed her and went out to the living room. Interesting. Leaving the girls by them selves. He hadn't expected them to be so comfortable already. When he got into the living room his dad had taken out his guitar, probably expecting Shane to do the same, "Hey, now when was the last time you played with your old man?" Shane shook his head, "I don't know, it's about time." Shane grabbed his guitar sitting down next to Frank. Frank began playing, a tune all too familiar to Shane. Shane remembered when his dad taught him to play guitar, playing this song to Shane when he was a kid. It was kind of like the one song he knew his dad would say to him otherwise. His fatherly advice song. While he played effortlessly, Shane joined in, Frank saying, "You really like this girl Shane?" Shane nodded, not stopping playing, "Yeah, I really do. I kinda feel like the first time I can really see like, a future. And I don't feel like running for the hills." His dad nodded, "The best ones are always worth sticking it out. You think you love her?" Shane shrugged, "I don't know. I think I might." "Well. If you're not sure, don't rush it. If you think you might, don't rush it. If you do, you'll know for sure soon enough. But between you and me, I saw the way you were looking at her." Shane grinned, "Yeah?" "Yeah." Shane thought he knew what his dad was thinking. And Shane thought he agreed, he just wanted to be totally sure. He told Claire he'd be absolutely sure before he said that. He wasn't going to tell her anything he didn't mean. Shane sighed, his dad had started singing. He'd heard so many times, and yet all the times before it hadn't had enough meaning for him. Now that he was older he understood what it meant.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire couldn’t help but think that Shane’s parents were adorable. She hadn’t seen her own parents in what felt like forever, and everyone elses’ parents around her seemed disfunctional. She wrapped her own arms around Shane’s that were around her. How could Brayden have done something like this, why would he have needed to. They were so loving and energetic. It was nice to see them picking on Shane, considering she’d seen him do his fair share of picking on others. Well it was evident where he got it from. The entire time through dinner she couldn’t help but just sort of grin at Shane like a fool. She didn’t mind answering questions about herself, but she loved hearing him talk about the tour, what he was passionate about. And she liked seeing how he lit up, laughed and shook his head while talking about his extended family. Claire reached her hand down, placing it inside of Shane’s easily as the rest of the dinner came to an end. She watched as his parents spoke, his mother essentially shooing him away from the kitchen and to the living room. She looked over at Shane, tilting her head in the direction of his father to gesture for him to follow him. She was already imposing on their family time, she didn’t want to make it worse by keeping Shane from them completely. When both of the boys had gone to do their own thing, Claire stood from the table and began to pick up all of the plates that were within her reach at least. ‘ Oh, thank you, Claire. You don’t have to do that if you don’t want.” his mom smiled before Claire shrugged it off with a smile of her own. “ It’s no problem, you guys were nice enough to welcome me in with open arms. And dinner was delicious,” she said, turning her ear towards the living room as she heard two different guitars beginning to play along with one another. Claire smiled to herself, enjoying the fact that Shane was getting to spend quality time with his father. ‘ You and Shane come from different worlds, do you mind if I ask how you two met?” his mother questioned, standing at the sink where the bubbles were starting to fill with the warm water.

Claire smiled and set dishes down on the counter by the sink before she looked around for a dry towel so she could help dry them off. “ We met because he was friends with my brother. My brother was going out with some friends and wanted someone to sort of…. Keep an eye on me..” she said, realizing how bad that really did sound. “ Anyways we sort of became inseparable after that. Even if we are from different worlds, he just made me sort of feel at home. No matter where I was. Even California”. She looked over at his mother as she laughed, furthering her questions with. “ Brother thought you needed a babysitter, huh?”. Claire smiled, laughing quietly under her breath. “ For lack of a better term, yeah. But I’m not sure what led him to think Shane was the best option,”. She could still hear the guys playing guitar, but she wondered if there was a chance that they were still talking, too. ” I wouldn’t know. Not that Shane wouldn’t be a good babysitter for small babies, but I’m guessing you left as soon as your brother did,”. Claire smiled and looked back at Shane’s mom. “ In the amount of time it took to change clothes. But it was still one of my favorite nights. Even though Shane probably has a handful of better ones,” she said, thinking back to a few nights they had spent together. ‘ So do you love him?” his mother questioned, blunt and to the point. Claire slowly dried the plate in her hand, looking down at it as she was in thought. “ I’m seventeen. I told someone I loved them once and it blew up in my face. I don’t know how to describe how I feel about your son… but I’ve heard that, that’s what love is a lot like,” she said, setting the dishes down as she dried them.

Just a few minutes later and she was leaning against the wall in the living room, arms crossed as she watched Shane playing guitar. He must really enjoy having his cast off, being able to play guitar, go back to life as normal. She wondered if he even realized that the first time he was playing guitar with his cast off was with his father. Claire leaned away from the wall when the two guys playing began to fade out. She made her way over to him and leaned down to give him a quick kiss before she hugged him. There was no way to ever tell him how proud she was of him. “ I want to hear some of your new stuff later,” she whispered as she hugged him. Now that he could play his guitar, he could play the songs she knew he had written for her. And she could show her appreciation for them, however she and Shane decided fit. Which was sure of a hell lot easier to do at the hotel instead of his parents place. The rest of the night was spent getting to know Shane’s parents, them sharing anecdotes of him growing up, and eventually Shane bringing Claire to her motel where he stayed with her. She was surprised at how natural it just felt, spending time with him. And his family had been so accepting of things like, Shane coming over to stay the night with her, or them wrapping their arms around one another, being affectionate. Maybe that came with having a rockstar for a son. Expectations needed to be shifted. Either way she had woken up the next morning, feeling better about spending time with him and his family. Thankfully Shane was able to take her to the clinic today so that she could get her physical over with and send the results in to the ABA. But he also thought it was a good idea for her to sort of explain to the doctor how she had been so exhausted lately.

Claire sat in the waiting room at the clinic, crossing her legs before she offered her arm out to Shane to show him the band aid from where they had drawn her blood. In most physicals they didn’t do that sort of thing, but after she was cleared for the rest of her physical she went into depth about how exhausted she’d been lately, no matter how much rest she took and the doctor thought it would be good to get some bloodwork. “ I’m sorry, I didn’t know this would take this long,” she said apologetically. They could’ve left by now if she hadn’t told them how drained she had been. Speaking of, she could feel exhaustion just sitting there. Claire yawned before she laid her head against Shane’s shoulder and closed her eyes. What felt like only seconds later, though there was no telling since she had fallen asleep, it seemed like Shane was waking her up. The nurse smiled down at her. ‘ Can you come with me, Miss Fox?”. Claire ran her hand over her eyes. “ Absolutely,” she sat up, kissing Shane’s cheek before she followed the nurse into the office and took a seat. ‘ The doctor should be in with you in just a moment’ she said sweetly before shutting the door. Claire sat back and crossed her legs, wanting to get this over with so that she and Shane could get back to spending the day with his family. When the doctor stepped inside he had a warm smile, causing Claire to smile back at him. “ Well, Claire we ran your bloodwork and um.. well I want to talk to you about what the results were.. it’s pretty important,”[/i]. Claire tensed up before she blurted out quickly. “ Can Shane come in?” she asked, bouncing her foot of her top leg as she wrapped her hands around her knee. “ I’m sorry?” he questioned, thrown off guard by her intrusion. “Shane,.. He’s in the waiting room, I was wondering if he could come in,” she said again, biting the inside of her lip. Whatever it was, sounded serious and she wanted Shane to be with her. He had a calming effect. ‘ Is this Shane… is he your … boyfriend?” he asked, in a tone that slightly confused Claire. “ Yes…” she answered. The doctor gave a small nod. ‘ Sure, if you’re comfortable with him being in here, then he has every right to be” he said, leaving the room.

Claire made a confused expression this time. Shane had a right to be in there? “ What?” she said out loud, even though she was alone. The doctor stepped out into the waiting room, scanning people in there for anyone around Claire’s age. His eyes rested on Shane before he took in a deep breath and walked over to him. “ Shane?” he asked, looking for the recognition on the young kids face. ‘ Claire is asking for you to come in the office for her ..results.” he worded carefully, offering a warm smile for Shane just as he had for Claire. After Shane stood, the doctor made his way back to his office, closing the door behind Shane and gesturing for him to take a seat. “ Okay…” he started off again, adjusting his tie before he looked back at both of them. “ As I was saying, Claire. We ran your bloodwork and we happened to run across some extremely high HcG levels..” he said. But if he was looking for any understanding from Claire, there was none. It wasn’t like she had attended medical school or anything. “ Okay?” she said , lifting her eyebrow at him as she waited for the rest. The doctor looked between both Shane and Claire before he leaned forward. ‘ Claire, you’re pregnant. That explains why you’re so exhausted, it’s been creating a hormonal shift in you and your energy has started to shift from not only taking care of its’ normal functions, but for also getting ready for the baby. And um.. you aren’t far along. So if you two have been.. or haven’t been,…. Well, the pregnancy would have occurred within the last month.” he said finally, not wanting to assume one way or the other. ” What?” Claire asked, though her entire body had tensed. ‘ This is definitely not something to treat lightly. You need time to adjust, but you also need to start taking care of yourself right away as well. Pre-natal vitamins are something we can discuss today, but you’re also going to want to start scheduling regular doctor appointments,” he said but honestly it was all just starting to overwhelm Claire. She looked over at Shane, and the first thing she thought of was how she was ruining things for him. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to be for him. He shouldn’t have the extra added stress when he was just trying to do what he loved and be on the road. But then it clicked. Shane could do what he loved, stress or not. How was she supposed to do ballet when she began to get pregnant. “ Oh my god,” she said as the realization set in that everything she had ever wanted for her entire life was being ripped away from her. How was a company going to sign her now. Claire leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees and her hands over her face. How horrible of a person was she, that this was what she was worrying about.

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane sat in the waiting room, he had to hand it to himself, he was being pretty patient. But he was entertaining himself with angry birds, so all was well. He was thinking to himself where they could go for dinner, since it was almost late enough in the afternoon for it to be acceptable dinner time. He thought maybe they could go somewhere he liked to go when he was home, or somewhere that wasn't a chain restaurant, something you only found right there in Baltimore. Shane started looking up places to eat on his phone when he heard his own name across the room and looked up, seeing the doctor standing there. He thought it was weird but the the doctor said Claire had just asked that he go in the room too. "Oh, yeah sure." Shane slid his phone in his pocket, standing up and followed the doctor into the room and sat down on a chair beside Claire. The doctor had sat back down and began explaining about HcG levels and Shane looked at Claire and then back to the doctor on confusion. He knew about as much as she did, which, judging by the look on her face was not much. What the hell was an HcG level? But he got his answer soon enough, hearing the doctor tell Claire that she was pregnant. With a baby, presumably, what did he think she was pregnant with, a panda? As it started to sink in Shane felt like he stopped breathing for a second as the doctor explained. That had been why she was so exhausted. He just couldn't believe it, he felt like he was dreaming. He was definitely that idiot that always said, oh it'll never happen to me. And he'd had good luck with that, apparently until now.

The doctor rambled off stuff about vitamins and doctors visits and it was all starting to sink in. Shane could feel himself dealing with it by trying to get a game plan. The doctor was right, there was vitamins, that could happen today, and then he thought maybe they could refer her to a doctor back home, or Blake could, or someone who knew about that stuff. And then he thought he would call his mom because as he was thinking this and his mind was going a million miles a minute he realized he was freaking out inside and he really just wanted his own mommy for two seconds so he could say, yeah I fucked up, and he knew she would tell him everything was going to be okay. She had to, she was his mom. And then he looked at Claire.

Claire had dropped her head into her hands, probably struggling with this as much as he was. The overwhelming feeling of guilt that had washed over him right then was incomparable to anything other then maybe when Brayden had died. What was Claire going to do about ballet? That was her entire life and now there it was, her dreams pretty much going right down the drain. And honestly, it was his fault. He didn't need anyone to tell him that or otherwise, he knew it was. He'd couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this shitty, pretty much ruining someone's life. How could he even begin to try to get a game plan when he hadn't even thought of Claire. What on earth was going through her head, maybe she didn't even want this. Clearly not thinking of others was beginning to be a trend with him. He felt a bunch of emotions... like guilt, ashamed of his own stupidity and irresponsibility... how could be do that to Claire? He didn't even know what to say to her, hadn't he done enough? He was just so mad at himself. And the doctor hadn't even wanted to assume it was Shane's, probably half expecting it not to be just because of how young she was. No one ever questioned married couples... but Shane could do the math. A month ago... yeah. Detroit show? Hadn't exactly used his brain on that one.

Shane looked back at the doctor, almost annoyed with the guy for just sitting there watching them comprehend that they were going to be parents and half the time they themselves still really needed parents. Quietly, Shane looked at the doctor, "I'm sorry, can we just have a few minutes?" After the doctor had nodded and left them alone, shutting the door after him, Shane looked at Claire, "Claire, I'm really sorry." He could hear himself and he sounded so small. He didn't even sound like himself. He sounded like a guy who was well aware of ruining his girlfriends career.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Judging by the silence coming from the seat next to her, Shane was taking this about as well as she was. She was quietly doing the math in her head, trying to figure out how far along she would be when she graduated. Somewhere around seven months. Shit, there was literally no way to hide that. A few months, yeah fine whatever. But seven months was impossible to hide. She listened as Shane asked the doctor for a few minutes alone, which she appreciated greatly. It would be one thing if they were married, and both were settled into their careers, and were trying for this. But she was borderline eighteen. Shane was on the road for his music, he loved touring more than anything in the world. Just because she lost something didn’t mean he had to. She moved her hands away from her face as the doctor shut the door and sat back in her chair. It felt like everything was literally up in the air. Her career, what Shane was going to do, was she going to have to apply for college now that she couldn’t be a ballerina, what if she couldn’t even do college because she had to stay home and take care of the baby, but what if her parents cut her off and she couldn’t afford to do that and had to have a job, couldn’t have a good paying job without a college degree, which brought her back to square one.

Claire narrowed her eyebrows, brought out of her crazed train of thought as Shane apologized. Why in the hell was he apologized, it took two of them. He had to remember that this involved both of them; she was just as much to blame as he was. And it wasn’t really a situation to ‘blame’ anyone in really, was it? Granted this was not how she imagined her life going, she did want kids. Eventually. Sure as hell not now, but that’s what was happening so she needed to deal with it. As scared as she might be. But that also didn’t mean she had to drag Shane down with her. She could do this on her own, it isn’t like she’d ever really be on her “own” anyways. She had Ethan. And the girls. And Shane could go about his life without ever worrying about; but she would never tell Shane he had no right to his kid. She hated how some women did that, used their kids as a pawn in some sick game against the guy that they believe scorned them. She’d seen on some gossip blog before about this guy Jarrett and Keeley. She seriously couldn’t handle getting her heart broken when most of it was her crazy ass fault, so she decided that the best punishment would be to keep Jarrett from his kid, teach him a lesson. So selfish,.. and not what was best for the kid. Claire would never keep Shane from his kid, that was a part of him. Unless.. he was apologizing because he didn’t want to be a part of it, maybe he wanted to leave. She couldn’t really blame him, they were kids. Why have two people go down in flames when only one would suffice.

“ …. Why are you sorry?” she asked hesitantly before she looked at him, almost afraid to hear his answer. “ Look I.. Shane you and I just started dating. And I certainly understand why you would want to end things. You’re on tour, I’m a kid. There’s no reason you should let something like this stop you.” she said , crossing her arms back over her stomach. But now that she knew she was pregnant, she was almost freakishly scared she was going to crush it and moved her arms away from her stomach completely. “ You’re on the road.. and I do not want to pull you from that whatsoever. We can.. I mean you and I can go back to being friends if that would be easier for you. We could be friends, and I would just.. I mean we’d raise it together, that’s fine. I’m okay with that. You shouldn’t have to worry about.. pre-natal vitamins and doctors appointments, or what color a nursery should be,” she said, biting the edge of her lip. “ But .. I am going to keep it. And I don’t know if that’s what you want or not, but like I said.. I don’t blame you if you want to walk away. Or if you want to do this as friends and not worry about the.. us..aspect of it. I know this isn’t what you wanted, and I’m so sorry I let it happen to you,” she said quietly, looking back down at her hands in her lap nervously.

Claire sat there silently for a moment before she looked over at the seat next to her, where Shane was probably having some sort of mental breakdown. It wasn’t like she could read his mind, but rockstars sort of had a ‘baby is the end of the world’ ideology. So did ballerinas, and to be fair it did feel like everything was crumbling underneath her, but for some reason she wasn’t as scared as she thought she would be. She was more or less scared about what it meant about everything. Having a kid was fine, having one with Shane was nothing to worry about. She just hoped there was some sort of loophole for ballet. People could do it, right? Celebrities slimmed down just weeks after it. And her showcase was in December… She’d be like, what.. two months then? You wouldn’t even be able to tell she was pregnant. Maybe she could hide it long enough to be signed to a company, sign some sort of contract before they could back out. But would she even be able to dance the same afterwards? It would change her body completely. Claire stopped herself from thinking so much, if she thought of every detail right now she’d overwhelm herself. She should just focus on one thing at a time so that they didn’t drown in this. And right now all she wanted to focus on was making sure that Shane was okay. After all, he did that for her all the time. Claire turned in her seat to face him. If he was going to break up with her, or just want to be friends, then this was the last chance she was going to get to do this. “Shane,..” she said quietly with a small shake of her head. “ I’ll do whatever you want. I know how I feel about you, and … what you want is more important than what I might want. I’d do anything to make you happy,” she said, knowing that she would step aside, if it meant he would be happier to do this under different terms than what they were in now. She wasn’t going to tell him she loved him, not right now. It would influence his decision too much, and it wouldn’t be fair. But that didn’t mean she didn’t want one last chance to kiss him in case he had to do what was best for himself. Claire sat up and kissed him softly, holding her hand against his chest before she backed away just enough to say something. “ If this had to happen, I’m glad it was with you. Everything is going to be okay” she said before she kissed him again. Whatever was thrown their way she honestly believed they could tackle together, however he wanted to. Claire moved to rest her cheek against his shoulder before she gave him a quick hug and sat back, sliding her hand inside of his own. If she couldn’t take care of herself right now, then the only thing she cared about was taking care of him.

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane shook his head, "I'm just, I mean... I'm sorry because... I just know how important ABA is to you, I just don't see how that, and this, is going to work." Shane knew he'd hate it if he had to stop making music, stop performing, stop touring, and he new it wasn't fair that he could still do all that and Claire would have to stop dancing for a while. And she was right at that part in her career where what she was doing was so critical. It was like trying to sign a record deal. Claire was talking about being just friends, or breaking up or something, but Shane couldn't even agree to that. They had only just gotten together, he wasn't about to end things. He was dating her for a reason, he actually wanted her. Having a baby wasn't going to make him not want to be in a relationship with her. if anything it only made him want to stay with her, do it together. They could do this, couldn't they? He knew he hadn't really said much of anything yet, he just... needed a minute to let it process. Let it sink in so he could sort out his thoughts. Claire continued, going on to say that everything would be fine, and she kissed him. All he wanted to do was just hold her. And he knew he didn't want ti break up. One kiss from her told him that, two sealed the deal, there was no way. "Claire," he said, taking her hand, giving it a squeeze, "I don't think i could ever see you as just a friends ever again," he shook his head, "I don't want to break up, not at all. I don't know how were gonna do things, other than one day at a time, but I do know I don't want to break up." He sighed. He may have been scared, and confused, and unsure of what to do, but staying with Claire was maybe the one thing he knew he wanted. He didn't know what had come over him but losing her like that seemed like he would just... not like it. That was the point of being with someone, he wanted to be with her.

Shane pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her and held her against him, just taking a deep breath. "We'll be fine." He just wanted to stay there, not worrying about anything for just a second. Because whatever decisions they had to make and what they had to figure out, they at least had each other. After all the stuff they had to get through to be where they were. At least they were together, and in the same state for once. Although Shane loved touring and it was his favorite thing, he knew he'd be glad to be home. Especially now. He knew he was going to miss stuff, and he wasn't sure he liked the idea of that. But it was what it was, they'd have to figure things out. Shane sighed, "Alright, let's figure out what we gotta do for right now. And then let's just go home," he suggested, wanting nothing more to just go home, crash in his own bed with Claire next to him and just, let it sink in.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire kept her head laid against his shoulder as he squeezed her hand and told her that he didn’t break up. Well at least she wasn’t completely losing everything. When he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer she wrapped her arms around him tightly, clinging to the material of his shirt as she buried her face against his chest. She held her breath as he said ‘we’ll be fine’. Which no longer meant just the two of them. We, all three of them. Claire took in a deep breath and sighed, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “ Well..right now I don’t even know. I’ll talk to him about whatever vitamins he said and ask about any doctor referrals in New York. Why don’t you go wait in the car? Get some fresh air..” she offered, giving him the chance to sort of step away from it all that way he wouldn’t feel overwhelmed with everything that was happening to him at this moment. Claire stepped out of the office to go find the doctor so that she could talk to him about what his suggestions would be for her. A few minutes later she had what she needed to start things off, and a referral that she needed to make an appointment with when she got back home to New York. The next few hours seemed to be a complete daze. She didn’t really remember the drive home, and talking to Shane’s parents when they got to his place was something she felt like she was watching herself doing, instead of actually doing it herself. Now, laying in his bed, she closed her eyes, trying to imagine how the hell they were going to make this work.

Claire moved close to him, laying her head against his chest and wrapping her arm over his stomach as she tried to make herself comfortable. But no matter how comfortable she got she couldn’t push all of the thoughts out of her brain, the worry, being scared, what they were going to do. She realized after a few moments that she was holding her breath and finally sighed again. “ Shane I am so sorry,” she said again before she felt herself start to tear up. She could feel her hands starting to shake, her nerves pulsing through her body as the tears started to fall from her eyes. She’d been so numb for the last few hours and it felt like it was just starting to sink in, which unfortunately meant it felt like everything was starting to pour out. What were they going to do. “ I’m going to turn into my mom. And it’s going to have your eyebrows,” she said, sniffling now as she started to push her fingers at her eyes to swipe away the tears.