[center] At first, Clara had pretended not to notice and had avoided the scene altogether. Her arms remained crossed about her chest as she looked elsewhere, hearing Esther call out his name over and over again. Why should she even show interest or even a snippet of worry over his sudden detachment? Hell, that was the one thing the man was good at, wasn’t it? His distance was nothing new to her, although she had to admit his behavior was suddenly odd... Sure, he’d shown her that detachment before but when it came to the others, especially Ryanair, that distance was absent. He was more attached to them then he would ever be with her. 

Still, she couldn’t help but glance over as Esther had slapped him, and for just a split second she’d felt the urge to separate the two. Her arms had tightened as she eyed them, more focused on Kieran then as he seemed to be in a daze for only a moment longer. It was when he’d looked over to her and Christian that she’d suddenly looked away from him, unwilling to be caught showing even a second of concern for him. 

It was instinct - or at least that was what she told herself. Even so, Clara could not push that urge away either as he turned and started heading towards the mansion. Something within her wanted to go up and shake him just as much as Esther did - check on him and make sure that everything was indeed okay -- even though she knew he did not deserve any ounce of her worry or doting. She was sure Ryanair would be the one to throw himself at him should he notice that something was wrong as well -- there was no place for her. 

And yet - ever since the day before, he’d awoken something within her that she was almost certain she’d extinguished a long, long time ago. His mere touch; the feel of his lips on her skin had brought back those memories and had drowned her within them. All at once she had felt that desperation and that primal [i]need[/i] that had once brought them together like magnets so long ago. She could not deny that, even as her body betrayed her in such a way -- As long as he didn’t know, she would continue to squash it and push it so far away as long as she could. 

Yet that need to feel accepted, to fill that void that hung over her ever since he left her was probably the hardest thing she’d had to kill -- especially while they were under the same roof. 

It tore her apart, really - the internal struggle of wanting to make him hurt and feel the sheer pain and loneliness that she’d felt all of those years, coupled with the all too familiar need and lust of having him with her once more -- it was conflicting; it was confusing, and she wanted it gone. 

Clara had shaken her head suddenly, not following after him immediately like the others had. Christian had noticed her drift and had eyed her for a moment longer before she glared at him and waved her hand to dismiss such concerned looks. Without a word, she’d followed after the group, however, she was unable to keep her focus from Kieran. Their bond may not have been strong at all, but something was off - something felt wrong and she couldn’t place her finger on it. [/center] [@Arista]