A/N: Gàidhlig is Scottish Gaelic.

Catriona stumbled into the hotel room, a small smile on her face, amazed at how much her mood had changed in the past twelve hours, all because of the Lost Boys...Well, one Lost Boy in particular. Kicking off her boots and padding towards the bed that Sophie slept on.

"Sophie," she whispered, shaking her shoulder "Soph. Can you move over, please?"

The blonde blinked up at her bleary eyed, before slowly sitting up and looking towards the bed where Bryana slept.

"C'mon," Catriona sighed – she was exhausted and all she wanted to do was curl up and sleep.

"She...She told me not to," Sophie whispered back.

Catriona stared at Sophie, speechless "Are you serious right now? What, you want me to sleep on the floor?"

Sophie eyed her...and then Bryana...and then sighed and shifted to the side, allowing room for Catriona in the bed.

Catriona took a step back with a laugh, sliding her feet back into her boots.

"Kit Kat," Sophie sighed.

Catriona laughed humourlessly, grabbing her backpack.

"What are you doing?"

Ignoring her, Catriona grabbed whatever she thought she might need before throwing it into the backpack – cash, a walkman, a book, a bikini, a change of clothes.

Sophie groaned "Come on, get into bed. I'm sorry."

"Sure you are," Catriona muttered, slinging the backpack onto her shoulder.

"Please, Cat!" Sophie did sound genuinely sorry, but as far as Catriona was concerned, it was too late – she was angry, embarrassed and more hurt than she wanted to admit.

"Fuck you," she hissed, slamming the door behind her and storming from the hotel.

That Night

"Hello?"

"Hey Jamie," Catriona was immediately soothed by her older brother's voice "Happy new year."

"Cat! Happy new year! What's California like? Hot?"

"Compared to home, yeah," she nodded despite the fact that he couldn't see her.

"You having fun?" nothing got by Jamie, and evidently he already could tell something was up.

"That's a complicated question," she gave a nervous laugh.

"Catriona, what's wrong?"

"You know how much you love being right?"

"Aye, well, I don't love it, I just always am."

"Well, in any case, you were right."

"Of course. Now what was I right about? The part where I told you you'd get sunburn, or the part where I told you that your friends are utter rockets?"

"Um," she glanced down at her arms, now pink from spending the day hanging around the boardwalk "Both."

"So the holiday's a bust, then?"

"I love Santa Carla," she admitted "I've actually been having a good time – I even made friends. Bryana and Sophie are just, well, ruining it."

"Look, if you need a flight home I'll pay for it," he spoke sincerely and then added on "I have a pile of cash spare since I didn't need to pay for your drink last night."

"Pòg mo thòin," she snorted – it was one of the few Gàidhlig phrases she'd picked up from her mum, and she often put it to good use around her brother.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Seriously though, do you want me to put money in your account for a plane ticket back? Or should I phone mum?"

"Neither!" Catriona shook her head "Especially not the mum part. I don't want to leave, remember the friends I told you about? It's just...I-"

There was a bang on the phonebox door and she turned her head slightly and then let out a shriek of fright. There stood Paul, his face pressed against the glass of the booth, pulling one of the weirdest faces she'd ever seen. At her shriek he stepped away from the glass and folded in two with laughter.

"Cat? Catriona?" Jamie's voice was concerned.

"I'm fine," she giggled "I'm fine. That was one of my friends."

She knew she'd need to wrap it up, lest Jamie hear Paul speak and figure out that her new friends weren't exactly female.

"Look, I need to go, erm, I'll call you later, yeah? I'll work it out."

"All right," he spoke reluctantly "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, bye," she hung up and slung her backpack onto her shoulder again before leaving the booth.

Paul was still chuckling at his own joke, but the laughter died off when he got a good look at her.

"Shit, you look-"

"Awful, I know," she sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Not awful!" he protested "Just...less hot than usual."

"Smooth," she gave a small smile before speaking reluctantly "You...don't happen to have that wallet I lifted last night?"

"Nah, back at the cave where you left it. Why? I got weed if you-"

"Not the weed," she shook her head "The money. There was like, a bundle of cash in there, right?"

"Yeah sure, it's yours, but why do you need it?"

"I have nowhere to stay," she admitted softly, biting her lip.

"What?! They kicked you out?"

"They wanted me to sleep on the floor," she snorted "So they may as well have. Bryana and her fucking demented little power plays. I'll have to book another room at the hotel."

"Like hell you are!" he snorted "You can stay at the cave."

"Paul," she groaned "I don't want to intrude."

"Intrude," he scoffed "You're one of us!"

"Am I?" she asked sceptically – sure the guys had been welcoming (and Paul exceedingly so) but there was still an odd atmosphere of 'we know something you don't know' at times.

She obviously couldn't blame them for this. It was clear that they'd been friends for a long time, and the camaraderie between them was something amazing to witness, but she couldn't work out why she'd been accepted into the fold so quickly. Catriona couldn't shake the nagging sensation in the back of her mind that soon there'd be a catch, and it would be a big one.

"You're on your way," he shrugged cryptically "I mean, were you not here last night, babe?"

"Look," she sighed "At least ask the guys first? Just because you're good with it doesn't mean they would be."

"You need to stop underestimating how much they like you," he chuckled softly, pulling her closer and wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm just...tired," she sighed into his chest.

"C'mon," he slowly dropped his arms to his sides "Even if you won't stay there, you can nap at the cave."

"I don't know," she sighed, biting her lip.

"The guys aren't there," he pushed and then quickly backtracked at the amused look she gave him "Not that we'll be doing anything that we couldn't do around the guys."

Catriona kept the amused, yet slightly offended, look on her face, just to see how much deeper Paul would dig himself into the hole – it was especially amusing considering his usual laid-back demeanour.

"I mean, not that I don't want to! I do!" his frustration grew visibly when she continued her wordless offended act "But like, that ain't all I'm thinking about, yeah?"

Finally, Catriona gave a laugh "You're a dork."

"An' you're an asshole," he quickly realised she'd been playing him, pulling her closer and planting a kiss on her lips.

"I thought you were the asshole in this relationship?" she teased, gazing up at him.

"We both are. A pair of assholes against the world," he snickered at his own words.

"Such romantic imagery," she grinned and then hesitated.

"C'moooon," he dragged out the word "It'll be fun. Like a sleepover."

"A sleepover? Are you going to paint my nails?"

"Only if you ask real nice."

Catriona looked away, towards the ocean and bit her lip again. She was tired. She'd been awake for over twenty four hours, which normally wouldn't have affected her too dramatically after pulling many all-nighters to get last minute university work done, but considering she'd spent the latter half of the previous night drinking and getting stoned with no sleep to help her recover from it, she felt drained. Her eyes were burning, she was cold and, to put it bluntly, she felt like shit. The idea of curling up on one of the sofas in the Lost Cave was all too tempting.

"A nap," she nodded eventually "And that's it! No pestering the guys to let me move in."

"Not yet," he teased and Catriona rolled her eyes, knowing that she probably hadn't heard the last of that conversation.

The cave felt odd without everybody else being there. Not bad, just different. Quiet. Bigger. Catriona was dragged from her thoughts by Paul's voice.

"C'mon, I'll move the mattress," he helped her down the slope.

"You want me to help?" she asked, slipping off her backpack.

"Nah, babe, just light the fires."

She watched in amazement as he lifted up the double mattress with no difficulty. When the cave wasn't illuminated by the warm glow of the fires, he gave her a confused look but then laughed when he saw that he was the focus of her attention.

"Just one o' my many talents," he teased, wriggling his eyebrows.

"I'm sure," she gave a surprised laugh before shaking her head and making her way towards the torch on the wall.

Soon the cave was no longer in darkness, except for the alcove off to the corner where Paul had placed the mattress.

"See, we could pin like, blankets and curtains and shit up round here so you have privacy – and so no sunlight gets in," he gestured around the small entrance to the area.

"Sunlight doesn't stop me sleeping," she shrugged "What, are you one of those people where it has to be pitch black for you to sleep?"

Paul's face changed, only for a millisecond, but Catriona noticed and frowned. For that split second, he looked nervous. But why?

"Nah, uh, sunlight gives me these wicked headaches," he winced slightly, as if even the thought of it was paining him "Can't deal with it."

"So that's why I never see you during the day!" she exclaimed "So what, are the others the same? You're like some weird little cult?"

Paul gave a bark of laughter, sauntering past her to grab some blankets from a pile in the corner "Nah. S'not worth being in Santa Carla during the day. All the fun happens at night. So what, you been wondering why we're not around during the day?"

"Not particularly," she shrugged honestly, although she was surprised it had barely crossed her mind before then "I was just ready to accept the fact that you're all obviously vampires and move on."

She laughed quietly at her own joke, but Paul seemed too preoccupied with setting up the alcove for her. Unzipping her backpack, she pulled out the only change of clothes she'd grabbed – a long black tank-top that stopped at her upper thigh. She often used it as a dress along with leggings or tights on nights out, but for now it would do as something more comfortable than jeans to sleep in. She kicked off her boots and was half way through shimmying out of her jeans when she heard an exclamation behind her.

"Well, shit! That'll teach me to turn my back."

She felt her cheeks heat up but ignored it, kicking her jeans off so that they were on top of her backpack before pulling her t-shirt over her head.

"You'd see more of me at a beach. Well. I suppose you won't."

She tugged the tank-top on over her head, doing her best to ignore the cold sea air.

"My turn to strip now?"

Catriona couldn't help but give a small, pleased smile at the way Paul's eyes were raking over her.

"No need, that top is more holes than fabric," she joked, but that didn't stop here from eyeing him when he shrugged his jacket off and then his shirt.

Catriona had come to a firm decision that the Lost Cave was one of her favourite places to be. Especially when Led Zeppelin was playing softly in the background and she was comfortable and warm in the arms of a certain Lost Boy.

"Non...Inferiora...Secutus..." Paul murmured slowly, tracing the words tattooed on the back of her neck with his free hand, the other arm being wrapped around her abdomen "Latin?"

"Christ, Hawkeye, you can read that in this light?" she laughed quietly and then nodded in agreement "It translates, roughly, to 'not having followed the inferior'. It's the clan motto – my mum's clan motto, that is. Not the Mackenzie one. Think I offended my dad my not getting his."

"What's the Mackenzie one?"

"Luceo non uro. I shine not burn. Mackenzie itself means 'born of fire'."

He seemed to find that hilarious and Catriona was too tired to ask why, pegging it up to another odd inside joke that she doubted she'd ever understand.

"So family mottos are a big deal in Scotland?"

"Well, we all have them but not many of us really care," she shrugged "I just thought my mum's was cool."

"You got any more?"

"Tattoos?"

"Mmm."

"You mean you didn't notice it?"

"What?"

"I've got a design on my right hip, runs down to the top of my thigh. C'mon, you had to have seen it! You saw me without any pants on last night. I got changed in front of you just now!"

"I'm way too much of a gentleman to have noticed," he huffed mock-indignantly.

"Oh, so you were too busy staring at my arse, then?"

"Duh."

Catriona dissolved into giggles.

"So am I gonna get to see this ink or not?" he wriggled his eyebrows at her and Catriona gave a small embarrassed smile.

"Maybe," she murmured, eyes fluttering shut "If I'm in a good mood when I wake up."