Here we go again! My favorite couple has once again inspired me to write a totally clichéd story.

She always thought she would wait until she was married before she lost her virginity. She didn't think it would happen in a hotel room with people partying in the hallways after prom had played its final song.

Clare stared at herself in the mirror. She really did look pretty, she thought to herself. Sure she had had a lot of compliments on her dress, but her self-esteem left plenty of room for improvement on her self-image. She admired the way the haltered top gave her the appearance of a long, sophisticated neck. The dark blue bodice hugged to her curves amazingly, showing off just how much she had grown over the years. The skirt didn't flow as long as she wished it could, even though it went to her ankles. She wished she was a little taller. But alas, it was never to be. She was short. That's all there was to it.

She admired her amazingly gorgeous up-do. Darcy had out done herself once again, and taken the painstaking (on Clare's part anyway) time to make sure each individual curl was placed just so and pinned into her skull. Her make-up was even perfect. Her sister was a master at enhancing beauty without making it look trashy or caked on.

She felt pretty. It had helped that he hadn't been able to keep his jaw shut when she'd come down the stairs earlier in the evening. Thank goodness he had opted for a wrist corsage; he'd had enough problems getting that on her.

She glanced around herself. The bathroom was really nice, she mused. He had reserved a great room. Though, she had only glimpsed it before rushing into the bathroom.

Her stomach felt like it was going to fall out of her butt, she was so nervous. Her knees were wobbly and her heart wanted to pound out of her chest every time she thought about what she was going to do.

Clare had been dating KC Guthrie for most of high school, up until last semester at least.

Things began getting really stressful for everyone, what with late acceptance letters coming in and scholarships being lost, and hearts being broken by rejections. KC and Clare always had a slightly argumentative relationship, but the arguing began escalating into fighting. She had finally called it quits, seeing as how they were both miserable with each other most of the time.

She was even more miserable now, of course. She loved him and missed him. So when he still asked her to prom, she knew what she wanted to do. She couldn't imagine being with anyone else, and seeing as how they were going to different universities (he hadn't even applied to her choices, which caused another fight) in the fall, this was probably her last chance to feel loved by this gorgeous boy. He had been her first for everything else, why not keep the tally going.

Clare stared at the door sadly. This was it. She was ready for the deed, but was she ready for what would happen afterwards? Could she really let him go after giving herself so completely? How was she going to keep from crying in the morning?

She let out a deep breath and reached for the knob, slowly turning it, as if meeting her death. She took one last calming breath before cracking the door open.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, giving off that skater boy vibe despite being in a tux. His shaggy brown hair was shorter than when they first met, but still unruly as ever. She had asked him not to gel it, despite the occasion. She used to love running her fingers through the soft tresses when they would lay in his bed and cuddle. If they were going to do this, she wanted to be able to remember it fondly.

His light brown eyes sparkled when he grinned at her. She smiled bashfully back and stepped out of the bathroom, closer to the boy/man who would always hold her heart, and in a few moments, the rest of her innocence. She couldn't stop herself from enjoying the sight of him in his tux pants with the button-up shirt now un-tucked and his tie hanging around his neck. She vaguely registered his jacket slung over one of the chairs in the room.

KC stood up as she drew close, towering over her by almost a foot. "Hey," her murmured huskily, giving his lopsided grin that made her stomach quiver deliciously.

"Hey," she responded timidly. You'd think she'd have gotten over that around him after having dated him for nearly three years.

He held out a hand to her, and once she took it, he drew her closer into him. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, breathing in his scent. Even his smell made her love him so much.

He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face up to his. She felt like crying at the tender smile on his face. They were doing an awful lot of smiling that night. He leaned down and kissed her lips gently.

And any fear she might have had vanished.

He took his time unzipping the back of her dress, running his fingers along her naked flesh as he went. KC smiled brightly at her as she undid the clasp behind her neck, allowing him to view her naked chest. Not for the first time, but possibly the last.

His large hands explored her skin with an amazed reverence, pulling goose-bumps to the surface of her flesh. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as he lowered her to the bed and took one peak into his mouth.

A small whimper escaped her parted lips as he worshipped her petite breasts with kisses and gentle tugs. He kissed back up to her lips before pulling away. She felt the silky material around her hips be tugged, and she automatically raised up her butt so he could take her dress off the rest of the way.

"You're so beautiful, Clare," he whispered sensually in her ear. The husky words sent a shiver down her spine. She kissed him with as much love as she could. They had promised not to say the words that night; it would just hurt worse in the morning.

She couldn't even concentrate as his fingers finally descended her body. She gasped at the delicious tenseness that began to coil just south of her stomach, making her toes curl. He continued to place hot kisses all along her body, filling her heart with joy.

Her hands came into contact with his bare torso as she grabbed at his shoulders desperately. She hadn't even noticed when he had lost his shirt or his pants. This was going to be a long night if he kept taking her focus like that.

Clare always liked watching him sleep. He looked vulnerable and sweet. There were no facades that he had to keep up or any drama. And sometimes a small grin would spread across his face and she would pretend that he was dreaming of her and the future that would never be.

Another one of those smiles flitted across KC's lips and she couldn't help but smile back in response. Sure, he could be absolutely perfect when he was awake, but they always argued because at the first sign of trouble, he always assumed the worst. But she always remembered why she loved him when she watched him sleep.

She held the sheets to her chest as she sat up in the soft bed. He had fallen asleep after they had finished making love; kissing her on the forehead and pulling her into his arms. She had managed to extract herself after she realized that she wouldn't be able to sleep.

A sigh escaped her lips and she glanced toward the bathroom. Maybe a warm shower would help her get to sleep.

She checked KC to make sure that he was really asleep, then dropped the sheets and darted across the room. He didn't need to see her naked butt.

The warm water massaged her scalp, washing away the remnants of the hair spray that had been holding her hair up. She closed her eyes as she scrubbed it clean, relaxing mildly.

She couldn't believe she actually went through with it. It had been everything she had expected. She knew the realities of sex the first time, the discomfort and mild pain. The mixed feelings of being invaded yet deliciously full at the same time. The erratic pace of virgins. She thought she would be feeling terrible afterwards, like it had been a huge mistake.

But…she felt loved.

Sure, it hadn't been all rainbows and sunshine as most romance novels painted it out to be. No explosion behind the eyelids as she reached her first climax. KC had given her plenty of those, and he may have gotten his, but she had not. But she had never felt so connected to him before. Or any other person for that matter.

"Ah!" She gasped as two arms came around her. She placed a hand over her heart, as if that would calm the pounding. His broad chest pressed against her back and she could feel it shake with his chuckles.

Clare pulled away and turned to look at him, trying to cover herself awkwardly. "KC! What are you doing in here?! I'm naked!" she yelled as quietly as possible, who knew how thing the walls were. She could feel a blush cover her cheeks as he look at her with his jaw slack.

"Clare…after what just happened between us…you're afraid of me seeing you naked?!" He asked incredulously, placing a hand on one hip.

Her eyes drew to that hand and another blushed covered her entire face when she noticed that he, too, had come to the bathroom devoid of clothes.

It hadn't been that embarrassing not even an hour ago!

KC began laughing at her once again. "I'm sorry, baby. You're just so cute sometimes," he choked out. Her heart skipped a beat at the pet name.

"Well…I just wasn't…I didn't expect you to…" She huffed and threaded her fingers into her hair. She couldn't help but get flustered around him; nothing had changed in all the years they had known each other. "Don't even think about it, Sparky," she snapped, slapping away the hand that had reached for her chest/

He comically shook out his hand, but smirked all the while. She sighed, he could be so irritating.

"Come on, Clare," he finally said after a few seconds of silence. "Let's go to bed." He reached around her and turned the water off and opened the shower curtain, allowing a quick rush of cold air into their warm haven. She shivered a second before he wrapped her in one of the fluffy towels the hotel provided.

She smiled up at him, brushing a small tuft of hair out of his eyes. He leaned down and cupped her face with both hands, kissing her gently; another smile found its way onto her face.

He picked her up into his arms and carried her back to the bed. She laughed as he dropped her onto the mattress where she bounced a little. He flopped onto his stomach next to her, one arm flinging out to grab her as soon as he landed.

They cuddled contentedly in each other's arms, her head lying on his chest, enjoying the sound of his heart beating.

"I know we talked about some things, you know, before tonight," KC began, playing with the ends of her wet hair. "But, I can't pretend that this isn't the most important moment in my life." Her heart sped up and she could hear his do the same. "I can't get up in the morning and pretend nothing happened. I can't pretend I don't love you." Clare felt the tears leak out of her eyes and drop onto his chest.

"KC…" she whimpered, sobbing quietly.

He lifted her head up and made her look at him, he had that determined look on his face that always let her know she was going to lose whatever debate was coming next.

"Clare, I love you. And the last few months have been pure hell. I don't want to lose you." He dug his fingers into her hair and pulled her face to his, holding their foreheads together as she continued her silent cries. "Baby, don't cry," he pleaded, kissing at each tear that fell. Her heart was breaking all over again.

"KC…" she whispered again. "I love you, too. But we have to be reasonable. I don't want us to hold each other back. We'll be too far away from each other and I don't think I could handle wondering if you were meeting another girl or falling for someone else since I can't be there to give you what you want or need." He kissed her, cutting off her lecture that was only getting started.

"I understand," her murmured, playing with her hair again. "But, I want you to know something." She nodded for him to continue and he looked deeply into her eyes. "I'm never going to give up on us. Even if it takes years, I'm going to always love you. And I will be with you for the rest of our lives."

Clare dissolved into tears as she kissed him passionately. She was going to enjoy the night, because the morning was going to come too soon.

He pulled her back for a moment and whispered, "I'm never going to give you up."

Ahhhh! Done! I have been totally inspired by the couple and I had this sudden idea. Since there are not really that many stories between these two, I decided to keep the stories going. I've actually decided that this will be a three part story. Though, each one will be a stand alone one-shot. So be sure to have me on alert if you want to see the rest. I'm so glad that a lot of you enjoyed my other KC/Clare story.

If you can't tell, I have issues writing about sex. It's not like I don't know anything about it, I am married. I just have always been embarrassed whenever I write it. Which is why this did not go into detail, but if I get enough begging, I might be convinced to write an extra little snippet detailing that and post it as a second chapter on this one. But I have to work up the nerve. I can't quit blushing when I do, and then the hubby makes fun of me, and then I have to hit him…it's just a lot of work.

But my birthday is tomorrow! So leave me some love for this story! Make my day! I'll be driving four hours out to go get my husband so that we can celebrate saying goodbye to my teenage years together! Thanks guys!

Loves!

Artee

Oh, and if you catch any mistakes that I made, please point them out. I've gone over this three times, but it takes a new eye to catch simple things.