Cat was paler than she'd been when Tara had last seen her, if that was even possible. Not that the girl wasn't pretty - she somehow managed to take "1940s pin-up model", with a Marilyn Monroe physique, pale milky skin, wide green eyes accentuated with winged eyeliner, and full Cupid's bow lips painted red, mix it with a "badass biker chick" style, with the messily curled mahogany hair, leather jackets, ripped clothing, and tattoos and make it work...But Tara hadn't even known it was possible to be so pale in California. She might've even lost a little weight too, her cheekbones seemingly more prominent.
Every so often during their absence, one of the Lost Boys would drop in and pick up some snacks to go, but that was it. The sight of Cat made her wonder how much of it actually got eaten. What she did notice was that it was never Dwayne who came by anymore. She tried to convince herself she was relieved about this. Flirting was fine, hell, she could even stretch to some meaningless fun, but crushes? No. Crushes led to relationships, and she didn't do them. Not anymore. After seeing what they could do to people, and how few were actually successful, the likelihood of unnecessary pain and betrayal didn't seem worth the risk. It was probably the final lesson she'd learned from her parents. It was also why she'd broken up with Julian. Although he'd taken her explanation as bullshit, but that didn't matter.
"...Hey," Tara managed lamely, and immediately mentally kicked herself for it.
Hey? The last time she'd seen her, she'd been crying her heart out on the goddamn floor, and the best Tara could do was 'hey'? Luckily, Cat seemed to find it amusing, the corner of her mouth twisting upwards.
"Hi," Cat nodded, adjusting her jacket uncomfortably.
Her accent seemed oddly delicate compared to her appearance, and the company she kept. Tara had to wonder how exactly she'd fallen in with The Lost Boys in the first place. Then she noticed the bracelet hanging from her wrist and smiled.
"You like it?"
"Huh?" it took Cat a second to realise what she was talking about "Oh! Yeah, thank you! It's so pretty, honestly, I'm jealous. The best I can do are friendship bracelets - you know, with the embroidery floss?"
Tara was taken aback by her enthusiasm and how talkative she was, but not in a bad way. If anything she was relieved. With a snicker, she shook her head.
"You're welcome, it suits you."
"Yeah? So you like vampires then?" Cat seemed to slowly become more comfortable, shoulders dropping and meeting her gaze more easily.
In all honesty, Tara was struck by the difference in her compared to when she was around her friends, or her boyfriend. Or maybe the change was more to do with the last time she'd seen her. In any case, having the somewhat infamous Lost Girl making conversation with her was more exciting than she'd ever admit.
"Guilty," she gave a small laugh "I'm a complete nerd when it comes to vampires...or anything supernatural, really. That new one with Tom Cruise is amazing, you seen it?"
"Nah, Paul can't sit still that long," Cat joked with a grin "I'm Cat, by the way...I figured introductions are way overdue."
"Tara," she supplied, shaking the hand Cat offered.
"Look…" the biker sighed, adopting a more serious demeanour "I just wanted to thank you for everything last month. You were...really awesome. You could've easily kicked us out for all the drama."
"Not at all-," she tried to protest, but Cat continued.
"No, it was damn good of you. And what's more is you kept your mouth shut. If that had happened in any other place on the boardwalk, everybody would've known all of the gory details less than an hour later."
The genuine nature of her words stunned her. From what she'd seen so far, bravado seemed to be ingrained so deeply in the Lost Boys that it was almost a personality trait. Having Cat stroll up to her and say something so genuine felt surreal. To not respond with the same level of honesty would almost be an insult.
"...I know how it feels," Tara admitted reluctantly.
Cat's brow furrowed, so she clarified.
"To, uh, lose your mom," she spoke quietly "I couldn't not help."
If there had been any bravado left in Cat, it vanished as she stared at Tara with wide eyes, understanding dawning on her face. But much to her relief, there was no pity there.
"So that's why you helped," she murmured under her breath.
"Why did you think?" Tara laughed awkwardly in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"I dunno," Cat shook her head, but a little too hesitantly for Tara to be sure she was telling the truth.
What possible ulterior motive could she have had? Before she had a chance to ask, the door opened and the rest of the Lost Boys piled in, not bothering to hide their curiosity when they spotted her and Cat talking.
"I better go," Cat gestured to them apologetically "I mean it though. Thank you."
Before she could even think twice, Tara was stopping her, calling her name. She turned, eyebrows raised.
"They're still showing that vampire movie at the theatre around the block...you wanna go see it sometime?"
The silence that followed was so intense that she could've heard a pin drop. Behind Cat, she noticed the Lost Boys all glance at each other. Why did they all look so stunned? Was it really so unusual for an 'outsider' to hang out with one of them? Was her offer weird? Sure, maybe it was a little forward of her, but weeks on end of hanging out with nobody her own age was becoming torturous...and they did have one big glaring thing in common. Just before she could give into the urge to take the offer back, Cat seemed to snap out of her surprise and gave a wide, if not stunned, smile.
"Sure. Sounds good."
Tara pretended not to hear the Lost Boys' following exchange.
"Looks like she's stealing your girl, Paul."
"More like Cat's stealing Dwayne's."
"I can't believe you said yes to her," Paul snickered, sprawled out beside her on the mattress whilst she sat cross-legged, painstakingly applying her eyeliner in a hand mirror.
In all honesty, her initial knee-jerk reaction had been to say no. Her mind had flitted straight to Paul and her brothers, and alarm had filled her at the idea of leaving them to hang out with some stranger for the night. Then she paused. Why shouldn't she hang out with somebody other than the Lost Boys? Obviously she adored them, but her horror at the idea of being separated from them for half a night alone gave her cause for concern. She refused to be one of those girls who had to be attached to her boyfriend at the hip 24/7.
Of course, she understood why they'd be disgruntled. All it took was one slip and the charade was over and suddenly they were on the run. But they faced that same danger on the boardwalk every night, and it wasn't a concern then, so why should it be one if she was alone? Cat knew how to handle herself, and she knew how to keep a damn secret. Especially one this important.
"I can't believe you're still laughing about it," Cat retorted "I feel bad for her, okay?"
"Why?" he scoffed.
"Think about it," she shrugged, putting down the mirror and turning her head to face him "We're on the boardwalk pretty much every damn night, and every time I see her she's either working, or hanging out alone."
"So?"
"So she's new in town, and it looks like she hasn't made any friends so far."
"That ain't your fault," he snorted, sitting up "You really think we can be those friends, babe? It won't work."
"I'm not getting ready to make friendship bracelets and-."
"You already got one."
"Paul," Cat groaned, leaning sideways into him and resting her head on his shoulder "I'll keep her at arm's length, okay? It's just…"
She paused. The topic of her mother was still an incredibly painful one, and if she talked about it for longer than a minute or so, tears were inevitable. Not only that, but it would completely ruin the carefree and easy going mood.
"Just?" he prompted, moving an arm up to wrap around her waist, keeping her in place.
Resting a hand on his chest in return, she wrestled with herself for another moment before sighing.
"Her mum died. I don't know when, but maybe it's why she moved here."
Immediately Paul tensed beneath her touch "Oh."
"Look, I'm not going to make things awkward by bringing her into the fold and putting us in a dangerous position. We're gonna hang out, maybe talk a little, then I'll come back and things will go back to normal."
'Talking a little' may or may not have been a slight underlying motive for Cat. None of the Lost Boys had had particularly good relationships with their mothers, to say the least. The idea of being heartbroken at the loss was a foreign concept to them, and this much was obvious on the handful of occasions when the topic of conversation drifted to it. Usually because of the box, still unopened in the corner of the cave. The one who came closest to knowing what she was going through was Dwayne, what with the sister he'd had back in his mortal days, but that was one wound she didn't want to prod. It just seemed cruel. Why make him relive his suffering so she could get over hers? And Tara wouldn't have mentioned her own loss if it wasn't something she was willing to talk about, if only a little.
"...She seems decent," Paul admitted grudgingly, his tone uncharacteristically serious.
Cat smiled into his shoulder "Yeah? David thinks she just wants to shag Dwayne."
"Oh, she definitely wants to bang Dwayne," he snickered into her hair "But up 'til just now, I thought that was her only motive."
"You guys never used to be so insular," she commented "Back before I came along…"
"We learned the risks of that the hard way," he sighed simply "If being careful around mortals keeps us from losing another member of the family, it's a small price to pay."
She didn't miss the way his grip on her seemed to tighten a little, and cave her cause to stop. "Another" member of the family. They never discussed Max, apart from when Paul had told her the story of his demise. From what she gathered, he hadn't been a brother to them in the same way that they were to each other. That would've completely destroyed them. Hell, the thought of losing any of her brothers made tears spring to her eyes and nausea rise to her chest from the pit of her stomach. However, their loss was still enough to change the way they viewed their interactions with humans. For the billionth time since she'd arrived in Santa Carla, Cat thought about how she couldn't really blame David for his initial (if only slight) resentment towards her. They really had put their lives on the line by bringing her into the fold, and they'd only done it at the time for Paul. Then she'd done it again by letting Jamie leave. Was she repeating old habits by hanging out with Tara now? The gravity of the situation strengthened her resolve, and she inhaled deeply. It wasn't only her safety at stake, either. If anything happened to her, the general consensus seemed to be that Paul wouldn't make it either. Part of her wondered how that worked. Was it possible to literally die of grief? Or would he just give up? Cat shuddered. She didn't want to find out.
This train of thought alone made her want to find Tara on the boardwalk and give her some shitty excuse to get out of hanging out…but that would make The Hideout an awkward place to be, and she'd feel terrible about it. All she could do was stick to her original plan – show up, be friendly, but keep her at arm's length. Maybe it could even be a good thing. People were less likely to be suspicious of the Lost Boys if they saw them interacting with people outside their group every so often – ones who didn't then go missing ten minutes later, that is. They did avoid picking their victims from the boardwalk – it was easier and safer to just fall on groups that were hanging out on secluded areas of the beach. But sometimes, if only one of them was hungry, or if they wanted a quick meal now, it was easier to lure a lone tourist away. But maybe if Cat hung around with Tara a few times, if (god forbid) rumours started about them, they'd have somebody outside the group to combat them – and during the day if needed, too.
"I'll be careful….and I'll be fine."
She felt, more than saw, him nod "Want us to meet you after the movie?"
"Sounds good. Then I'll have an excuse to get away."
The entire conversation had left Cat with a bad taste in her mouth. She more than understood and agreed with what he was getting at, but it was disappointing. For a moment or two she'd fooled herself into thinking maybe she'd befriended somebody who'd understand what she was going through. She slumped against him, falling silent. Paul seemed to sense the drop in her mood, thumb rubbing slow and soothing circles on her shoulder. It did help – maybe she couldn't be best friends with Tara, but she would always have him, and her brothers. If keeping the rest of the world at a distance kept it this way, it was a small sacrifice to make.
A/N: Guys, when leaving reviews please keep in mind that this story isn't my only obligation. Don't think that I'm not delighted that you guys enjoy this story, but I'm currently in my second year of an Eng Lit & Creative Writing degree, meaning I have a lot of assignments to work on, reading lists to get through, classes to attend, on top of maintaining a personal life and making money. Sometimes updates will be very quick, other times it might take a week or two. Believe me, I'd love it if this was the only thing I had to write, because I love it (waaay more than the other stuff I have to work on) - and when I can, I sacrifice sleep to work on it or write quick drafts on my lunch breaks, sometimes that's the only time I can get. In any case, I'd rather take my time and make sure I'm giving you guys something good to read instead of rushing it and ending up with a half-assed, crappy story that your time would be wasted on. The second a chapter is finished, I post it. I promise I don't forget about it, I just have other things on a shorter time scale to work on. I have no intentions of abandoning this story – even when I disappeared over summer, I was still attempting rough drafts, they just ended up being no good.
