Cat didn't think she'd be able to sleep, but she spent the day drifting in and out of consciousness. In a pitch black room with nothing to do but think, sleep was surprisingly easy to come by. She lost track of how long she'd been awake and how long she'd been asleep. Her eyes would fly open every so often, and she had no idea if she'd been sleeping for minutes or for hours. It was a very disconcerting feeling.

She was just beginning to work up the courage to crack open the door and see if the sun had gone down when she heard the glass doors slam open in the next room. Scrambling to her feet, Cat's heart lept into her throat as she pressed her back against the fall and listened, doing her best to be silent. Holding her breath, she began to wish she'd kept Paul's knife on her. There was only one set of footsteps, moving around the room, from one bed to the other by the sounds of it. Then they got louder, nearing the door.

The next few moments felt like an hour. The door handle rattled, then silence fell. Just as Cat was beginning to convince herself that whoever it was had left, there was a loud bang and the door flew open, the frame splintering. Cat let out a shriek of panic, but then stopped when the person entered the bathroom. Paul stood in the doorway, dishevelled and looking like he hadn't slept at all during the day. Cat visibly sagged with relief, leaning against the wall and letting out the breath she'd been holding in.

She watched him warily as he stared back, breathing heavily as though he'd been sprinting up and down the boardwalk. It then occurred to Cat that he might have been. Before she could even begin to consider how to react, Paul moved towards her (it only really took one step considering how small the room was) and pulled her into his embrace, his arms wrapping tightly around her. She could hear his heart thudding rapidly in his chest.

"Never," he breathed "Do that again."

Almost automatically, her arms wrapped around him and she leaned into the hug, allowing herself to relax for the first time in twelve hours.

"I wasn't thinking," she admitted quietly.

"Me either," he sighed, the apology behind his words clear.

"...Are we okay?" her question was muffled by his jacket.

"I want us to be. Do you?"

"I think last night showed that we can't go on like that..." she sighed "It's not good for anybody."

She sighed before reluctantly taking a step back so she could meet his gaze "My mum...my mum told me to be strong. So that's what I'm going to do. David was right - but don't told him I said that - this all has to be for something. So it will be, I've decided. I'm going to be happy."

"With me?" he was grinning like a child on Christmas morning.

"No, with David," she dead-panned before sighing and running a hand through her hair "I can't promise you I'm going to be all smiles and cheer. Not with what just happened. But...I want to get through it and I want us to be together."

"We start over?"

"No. We pick up where we left off a week ago."

"So I can kiss you again?"

"I'll be pissed if you don't."

It took him a split second to close the gap between them, his hand cupping the side of her face to tilt her head upwards. Amusement flickered in his eyes, but before he could make a joke about how short she was, Cat moved to balance on her tip-toes and pressed her lips to his. The second their lips met, a low groan sounded in the back of Paul's throat, but before Cat could pull away to make a cocky comment about it, he deepened the kiss and moved his hands to her hips, guiding her backwards so that she was sandwiched between him and the wall. Cat moved her arms up, wrapping them around his neck to help her keep her balance. Getting the message, Paul moved his hands downwards and hoisted her thighs up around his hips so that their faces were now level, all without breaking the kiss.

When they finally broke apart for air, Paul moved his attention to her neck.

"Shit," she gasped when his teeth grazed her skin, tilting her head so that her neck was bared "Bedroom?"

"You sure?"

"I won't be if you don't stop being so wary," she gave a breathy laugh.

"Hold on," he ordered, walking backwards away from the wall, supporting all of her weight.

For a moment, his boots got caught in the quilt that still lay on the bathroom floor and he stumbled, nearly toppling the both of them over. Cat gave a shriek, moving to stand, but Paul's grip only tightened on her thighs.

"I got you!" he reassured with a grin.

"Smooth," she teased, but she couldn't help but grin back.

For the first time in days, she felt like she definitely could be happy with her new life. It wouldn't be immediate, and things were definitely going to be difficult, but for once she felt like she actually stood a chance.

"You're uncharacteristically quiet."

They lay on the bed, the sheets over them, Paul on his back and Cat on her stomach, cushioned by his chest.

"I can't believe you're ready to move on and patch things up already," he admitted quietly, moving his arm so it was wrapped around her, his fingertips tracing lazy circles on her back.

"I just spent the day thinking I'd have to leave Santa Carla and go it alone. It was a hell of a wake-up call. Then I realise how pissed off my mum would be if she knew I was giving up without a fight."

"Why would you leave?" he frowned at her.

"If you had meant what you said - and I know you didn't - I wouldn't exactly be welcome."

"Bullshit!" Paul gave a bark of laughter "I think Dwayne likes you more than me."

"Bullshit," Cat echoed, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, so as much as, at least," Paul compromised "He'd definitely kick my ass if I scared you off."

"Why?"

Paul shifted slightly, and looked at her thoughtfully, as though unsure if he should reply honestly or not and then eventually sighed "You'll find out anyway at some point. He had a younger sister, back when he was mortal."

"I thought you said none of you had anybody when you were turned?"

"We didn't."

"...Oh."

"Yeah," he sighed, hand moving up to tangle itself in her hair "She died young. Got sick, I think. Medicine wasn't what it is now. He doesn't talk about it, but I'm guessin' you remind him of her, which is why he took to you so quick. He's got a sister again now."

"I'm not her."

"He knows that. And he ain't your brother - well, not the one you had back in Britain," his hand went back to rubbing her back when her jaw clenched at his use of the past tense "He misses his sister, you miss your brother. I ain't saying you could use each other as replacements, but you both get it, y'know?"

She nodded quietly before sighing.

"I wrestled Marko last week," she reminded him, changing the subject and looking up at him and arching an eyebrow "He can't like me for that."

"He was impressed! Says you're stronger than you look."

She winced, remembering the way she'd jammed her elbow into his ribs.

"Stop looking for reasons for them not to like you. They all do. Do I gotta tell you that 'til I'm blue in the face? And before you bring up David - him giving you that big speech the other night means he gives a shit."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop self pitying," she gave a melodramatic sigh, breaking the serious mood "For now."

They lay there quietly for a while and Cat let her mind wander, content and warm, cuddled up against Paul.

"Did David turn all of you?" she asked quietly.

"Nah," Paul shook his head "What made you think that?"

"He's the de facto leader," she shrugged "I guess I assumed."

"He's the oldest, but he didn't turn us. Max did."

"The one who died?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Could've ended a lot worse."

Knowing that this was a heavy topic meant for another time, if ever at all, Cat left it.

"I need to get dressed. Somebody's bound to come in here sooner or later," she sighed reluctantly "Look away."

Paul didn't move, a stunned expression on his face "Look away? After what we were doin' ten minutes ago?"

"That was different. I was distracted."

"Well," he gave her a mischievous smirk "How about I distract you again?"

"How about," she murmured, shifting upwards to kiss him before continuing "You put some damn pants on? I'm starving...and anyways, if you gnaw on my neck any more you'll probably take my head off."

"Killjoy," he teased, pulling her closer to kiss her briefly again "Thank you."

"For what? Killing the joy?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"For giving me another chance," he spoke sincerely "I'm gonna make you happy."

"I know," she spoke softly with a nod.

They gazed at each other quietly for a few moments before Cat spoke again.

"But for now you're going to need to do that with your pants on."

"I'm sure I can manage that," he grinned.

A/N: Sorry for how short it is! I tried to make it longer, but adding more just seemed awkward and pointless. So this chapter marks the end of the first main storyline (there's two of them, unless my brain decides to give me more), so the next few chapters will still have stuff going on (fluff, Cat adjusting to vampire life & bonding with the other Lost Boys etc., time passing) but it won't be as heavy as the Bryana/Sophie stuff...until we begin the next half. Don't worry, Cat isn't completely over everything that's happened and is suddenly happy and content. That would be ridiculous. As always, thank you so much for the reviews!