A/N: Again, apologies for the delays! The uni workload is intense, along with all of the new responsibilities that come with having to live away from parents. I figured that a looong update would be better than a short one, after all this time. This chapter gave me hell – I've literally worked on it all month, it's not like I even forgot about the story :')

After Cat left, Paul lay around in the alcove for as long as he could. The longer he was in the alcove, the longer his brothers would assume that Cat was with him.

"Nuh-uh, man, remember last time you sent me in there to wake them up? Turned out they were already pretty damn awake."

Cat had been horrified on the evening when Marko interrupted them, her eyes wide and cheeks bright red for days afterwards. She'd barely been able to look at him for the entire following week and vice versa, whilst Paul had found the entire thing hilarious and, of course, did his best to make his girl blush even more. She was always so cute when she blushed. Paul had to throw his forearm across his mouth to stifle a laugh at the memory.

"I think we should get a, uh, early night," he muttered in Cat's ear, hand trailing up her thigh as she did her best to wriggle in his lap.

She knew it drove him crazy, and he loved that she exploited it.

"Hmm…I think I'd be inclined to agree," her lips broke into a grin, which Paul then mirrored, sliding his left arm under her legs and moving his right to grip her torso so he could lift her up bridal style.

None of the boys commented, not even to make a joking remark, they were all more than used to sights like that at this point. However, just before they crossed the entryway into the alcove, he spun – causing Cat to give a shriek and cling tighter – and addressed Marko.

"Hey, Marko, bro, want me to leave the curtains open this time? That way you won't even have to-,"

"Paul!" Cat groaned, hiding her face in his shoulder whilst Marko threw an empty beer can in their direction, missing by a few feet.

"No? Ok, man, thought I'd offer," Paul shot a shit-eating grin towards his brother, only to be flipped off in return.

He hoped Cat would manage to pull this off. Maybe that way things could go back to how they'd been back then. No drama, no worries, just good old fashioned fun. Not only that, but he hated it when Cat was upset. It was distressing for him to even witness. She'd go deadly quiet and have a faraway look on her face, obviously running over her worries again and again in her head. His girl had a habit of joking that she worried enough for the both of them, but Paul wondered if she realised just how true that was. Usually when she started stressin', he'd roll them both a joint, but this was hardly the sort of problem that could be fixed with drugs.

He felt a weight settle in his chest at how pale and shaken she'd looked when she left. This was his fault, after all. If he hadn't turned her…Or if they'd found a way to keep her in touch with her family. All he could do was hope that Dwayne and Marko would at least be on their side, but in all honesty, he couldn't gauge it. Best case scenario that could come from this, as far as Paul was concerned, was that he and Cat would have to leave and go solo. He knew she'd go apeshit when he'd insist on going with her, but he didn't give a damn. Worst case scenario?...Paul didn't even want to think about that one. David was his brother, and they loved each other like brothers – and although he knew Cat didn't think so, he knew David loved her too. He just wasn't exactly the kinda guy to show it. But that didn't mean he didn't have a temper.

In the back of his mind, Paul began to wonder where he and Cat would go if it came to it. Maybe Montana. She was always saying how much she missed the mountains in Scotland, and Montana had plenty of those. They could come back in a couple of years – or maybe decades – to see if David had cooled off. He wouldn't mind spending a few years in some remote place with Cat. Sure, it'd be quiet, but it wouldn't be permanent. Like an extended honeymoon. They'd never had one of those, after all, and immortality entitled them to a long one.

"Oh, for the love of…" he heard David mutter, and then footsteps draw near the alcove "Hey! Lovebirds! You decent?"

Paul flung his arm across his eyes and feigned sleep, just in time as the curtains swept open.

"…Where's Cat?" David asked quietly, after a few moments of silence.

"Huh?" Paul groaned, hoping his acting skills were better than he thought.

"Cat. Y'know. Short chick, dark hair, you usually come in a pair. Where is she?"

"Went out to grab dinner with her brother. Says we gotta go get them in a couple o' hours."

"You let her go out with him alone?"

"Didn't let her do nothin'. She's a grown ass woman," Paul snorted, cracking an eye open "Cat can do what she wants."

"Not in this situation, she can't," David sneered "Get up. We're gonna go find them. Now."

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Marko appeared in the entrance now.

"Either I'm wrong, or Cat's doing something very stupid right now."

"Hey, man, she wouldn't do that to us," Paul rolled his eyes, leaning up on his elbows "She can't wait for her brother to join us."

"So she says. Get up."

"I don't see her anywhere."

Paul didn't know if David sounded more smug or dangerous.

"She's gotta be, man," Paul did his best to sound angry "She couldn't do this. Not to us."

"Wouldn't she?" Marko didn't look convinced.

"We know she would," Dwayne sighed, shaking his head.

"God damnit!" Paul kicked at the sand beneath his feet, sending it flying into the air "I'm gonna fuckin' find her."

"I'll come with-," David began.

"Nuh-uh," Paul shook his head, already striding towards his bike "Me n' Cat got some shit to have out. Scope out the hotel, the bus station, the diners, fuck, even the cave."

"This ain't gonna end well," Dwayne muttered as Paul took off.

Present time

"I'm not leaving Santa Carla," Cat forced out the hardest part first, wanting to move across the bathroom to stand beside Paul for some semblance of support, but not wanting to get any closer to Jamie after she'd said those dreaded words "And…I'm with Paul. Willingly, consensually, however you want to put it. We're…we're in love."

The words sounded so pathetic out loud, but really, could words describe what she and Paul had? How she immediately felt better in any given situation when she heard his voice? Or even just his quiet snickering. How she was never happier than when she was on the back of his bike, laughing and hollering along with her brothers. Even when they were just lazing around in the alcove, usually either half or fully naked, warm in each other's arms and murmuring in the dark about nothing in particular, Cat couldn't think of a place she'd rather be. Of course, a few nights ago she'd been convinced that the only thing that could improve her situation would be the presence of her family. She'd never taken the phrase 'be careful what you wish for' seriously before then.

She eyed Jamie quietly, not doubting that he'd break the 'no speaking' rule immediately after that revelation. His lips were set in a thin line as he looked to Paul and then slowly back to her.

"I was expecting him to freak out," Paul broke the silence in an attempt to ease the tension.

"Oh, it's in the post," Cat replied grimly, not taking her eyes off of her brother.

"Are you pregnant?" Jamie's voice was deadly quiet as he eyed her abdomen, masked by the bagginess of the t-shirt she wore.

Paul visibly winced as Cat's eyes widened and she spluttered, struggling to form a coherent sentence.

"No!" she managed after a few moments "Why did you- I mean, what did you-….Where did that even come from?!"

"I'm trying to think of what on Earth could possess you to be so damn stupid! So what? You meet this wanker and decide you love him? Catriona, you laughed at boys who liked you back home. What makes him so different? The sister I knew would be on a plane back home with me right now. You? You're making me stand here and listen to some sob story about a summer fling!"

"I love him," she murmured weakly.

"Away and shite!" Jamie's voice rose to a shout now and Paul slowly rose to his feet.

"You need to calm down, man."

"Oh, aye? And what are you going to do? Shag my sister some more?"

Half of Cat was sickeningly offended at that comment. Her own brother talking about her like she was nothing more than a slut. However, the other half of her knew she was in no position to argue…and even if she was, what could she say?

"Funny, looks like she'd rather that than go back home with you," Paul gave a smug, somewhat humourless, smirk and Jamie drew his fist back.

"Enough!" Cat snapped "There'll be enough time for you two to rip into each other when I'm done talking."

"Oh, there's more? This should be grand. Do go on," Jamie snorted, dropping his fist with a shake of his head, backing away from Paul.

The latter moved to stand beside Cat, grasping her hand gently and running his thumb over her tattooed finger, which she knew was just as much to antagonise Jamie as it was to comfort her.

"On the night I spent at the cave, when Paul and I…" she didn't even have to look at Paul to know he was smirking "Well, you know. Something happened."

"If this is the part where you say you felt some kind of 'connection', I'm leaving and phoning mum right now," Jamie shook his head.

"Oh, there was a connection," Paul snickered and Cat rounded on him.

"If you're not going to help, you can wait outside," she threatened and the seriousness of the situation seemed to catch up with him once more.

"Yeah," he sighed in apology and Cat turned back to Jamie.

"Something changed…I changed. I mean, I didn't know it yet, but I did…"

"I thought you said you weren't pregnant."

"I'm not! If I'd gotten pregnant back then, do you not think there'd be some kind of kid now?" she snapped and then shook her head with a sigh before directing her gaze towards the blond at her side "How the hell do I even begin to explain this?"

"Honestly? Just say it. He ain't gonna believe you either way, no matter how much you beat around the bush," Paul shrugged, biting on the inside of his cheek.

"You've spent long enough, 'beating around the bush', I think," Jamie grumbled, and for the first time, Cat felt a burst of frustrated anger build up in her chest.

She took a few steps forward, barely aware of Paul moving to lean against the door as she did, keeping the exit blocked. Did Jamie not see how hard this was on her? Fair play, he probably didn't realise the secret she was keeping was quite so absurd, but he had to know it was something huge for her to keep it from him for this long. For her to do everything she'd done.

"Fine? You want me to just tell you all of it straight, yeah?" her eyebrows rose to her hairline as she held her arms out to her sides.

"For the love of god, do! I don't know what kind of melodrama is making you act so-," her anger ignited her brother's, as it so often had in her old life, but she didn't give him a chance to finish.

"I'm a vampire. Paul's a vampire. We're all vampires – the Lost Boys, I mean. I met them, fell in love with Paul and he bit me. He drank my blood and fed me his. This was after we, how did you put it? Shagged? Yeah. I killed Bryana, then I killed Sophie and then I moved into the cave. Questions?"

"Let me out of here," Jamie shook his head "This isn't funny. I need to phone our mother so she can stop worrying herself si-."

"He doesn't believe me," she spoke to Paul now, and Jamie stopped trying to move towards the door.

"Show him," Paul shrugged.

"Show him? Remember what happened when you showed me?"

"Hey, you believed me, didn't you?"

"After I fainted."

"You gave him fair warning."

"I can't show him."

"Fine, I will."

"No! We agreed-."

"That I'd help. We ain't got no other way to prove it, and if we don't prove it, he ain't gonna believe it, and you're just gonna get more and more upset."

Cat stared at Paul pleadingly and he returned her gaze with no small amount of sympathy, after all, he knew how she was feeling.

"I'll show him," she said the words quietly, feeling a great sense of dread wash over her like a bucket of icy water.

Jamie was watching her, arms crossed and unimpressed. Cat led him towards the toilet, which she was sure in any other situation would look quite comical, before reaching up to put a hand on his shoulder and gesturing for him to sit down on the lid. Begrudgingly and stony-faced, Jamie complied. Cat knelt before him as though she were about to begin praying, and stared up at him imploringly. She thought she'd regret her outburst as soon as it left her lips, but truly, she was relieved. In her heart, she knew he'd never believe her if she simply told him. At least now she'd tried and could move onto the next, and most difficult, stage.

"Listen, no matter what else I am, I'm your sister. I will never hurt you. I will never let anybody else hurt you. Do you understand?" she spoke slowly, as though to a child.

Jamie sighed and shifted on the toilet lid, looking up at Paul questioningly before meeting her gaze once more, a hint of curiosity on his face "Aye."

Once the word let his lips, Cat allowed her features to change. First she felt the bones in her face shift and crack, protruding from her skin, next she felt her teeth sharpen and protrude against her lips, and finally her vision seemed to improve tenfold, signalling that her eyes had changed colour. With each change, Jamie's eyes seemed to widen more and more until they were the size of dinner plates, and he scrambled backwards on the toilet seat, causing hurt to flare through Cat's chest. She did her best not to take it personally as she observed Jamie, his mouth moving but failing to form any words. After all, she'd been terrified of Paul when he broke the news to her. She could still vividly remember the terror that coursed through her at the sight of his vampire form. Of course, she knew now that he'd never do anything to harm her, but that knowledge hardly lessened the pure fright that came with seeing a creature, or monster, that she'd previously deemed mythical.

Immediately, Cat let her features fall back into their human form, brow furrowing slightly at the feeling.

"So…Now do you believe me?"

"You…You…You were serious," he spoke slowly and quietly, staring at her like he'd just seen a ghost.

Or a vampire.

"Paul bit me," she explained softly, not moving from her position on the floor "Because we're soulmates – that's the legit term, I'm not being sappy. I couldn't go home after that…and nobody could find out the truth…I killed Bryana and Sophie and we staged the whole disappearance."

Of course, she'd simplified the whole complicated ordeal, but from the grey tone Jamie's face was taking, she knew he wasn't up to a long tale.

"We made her do it."

Paul's voice was quiet and solemn. The second the blond spoke, Jamie's head snapped up as though just remembering that Paul was present.

"You did this to her," he slowly began to rise to his feet, causing Cat to spring up.

"Jamie," she said lowly, doing her best to stand between her brother and Paul to break his line of sight, but failed spectacularly due to her height "Jamie, stop."

It was like he couldn't hear her. Planting her hands on his chest, Cat tried to push him back, but it was futile as he continued to step forward, towards Paul.

"It was all my fault man," Paul continued, unfazed by Jamie's advance "She didn't know what we were 'til after we turned her. Then we made her do it all. She didn't want none of it."

"Paul, you're not helping!" Cat cried incredulously, refusing to remove her eyes from Jamie in case he lashed out.

"Don't be mad at Cat," he sighed "It's my fault."

"If you're going to try and play the hero, Paul, tell him how much you're risking just by being here right now," she snapped,

"Sure, and then we'll talk about how much you're risking for your mom right now. Because of me."

This caught Jamie's attention and he stopped in his tracks, which Cat was grateful for. If he'd continued, she's end up sandwiched between him and Paul.

"Because of David," she corrected quietly.

"He's going to hurt you?" Jamie asked "David?

"Paul," Cat sighed "You brought the money, right?"

"'Course."

"Go buy a ticket to the UK. I don't care where in the UK, whichever one's soonest."

"Babe, I-."

"Please, Paul."

He said nothing, but after a few moments she heard the door click open and he slipped out. Cat locked it again behind him.

"You get why I had to fake my death? I mean, if word gets out to anybody about vampires…shit would hit the fan, to say the least," suddenly feeling very drained, Cat side-stepped Jamie and walked to sit on the lid of the toilet, ignoring how her legs shook.

"I get it."

"It's also why I needed to…do what I did. With Sophie and Bryana. I didn't want to. Fuck, I begged not to. For a while afterwards, Cat was practically short for catatonic," she tried to laugh to lighten the situation, but it came out strained and awkward "But…I understand why I had to. If I was David, I'd have made the same call. You need to get that. He's not the villain in this scenario."

"Then who is?"

"…Fate?" she had to snort at how cheesy the response was "Honestly, there isn't one. This is just a big shitstorm of a circumstance. Paul and I are soulmates – though that's not as much of a hard thing to believe after the whole vampire thing. Basically, we met and instantly fell in love. That's why he turned me. We'd have both been miserable if I'd moved back home."

"You're not telling me how you're in danger."

"David wants me to turn you, and then fake your death. Can't have you leaving if you know I'm alive. It…Well, it makes things fucking dangerous for us. What if you left and told everybody?"

"I wouldn't!"

"I know that. Nothing I could say to David would convince him, though – and rightly so. These are our lives on the line here."

"So…you don't want me to stay?" Jamie stared at her, an emotion akin to hurt on his face.

"If there were no downsides, I'd love it. But it wouldn't be worth it."

"Wouldn't be worth what?"

"What it would do to mum!" the sentence came out harsher than she intended, and she winced afterwards "Do you really think she'd survive losing both of us? Go home. Tell her you didn't find anything. Let her have the funeral."

"And just continue to think of you as dead?" his voice was hoarse now, and a heavy weight settled in Cat's chest.

"Look," her words were on the edge of breaking "If…If David reacts badly to this, best case scenario me n' Paul leave Santa Carla. If I can, I'll convince him to travel across Europe and maybe into the UK. It'll take time – we can only really travel at night, obviously – but meeting up is possible."

"Worst case scenario?"

"You won't need to pretend I'm dead," she admitted softly, blood chilling at what she'd just admitted "Paul swears David loves me more than I realise. I hope he's right. Betraying David's trust is truly fucking stupid, to be frank."

Before Jamie could respond, the beat of Smoke on the Water was banged out against the door. Leave it to Paul to inject humour into any situation.

"I got the ticket but he needs to shake a leg," he called through the door.

Cat and Jamie exchanged a mournful look. No doubt this wasn't exactly the reunion Jamie had been planning on.

"I should sta-"

"How much longer are we going to argue over this?" she sighed "Even if it wasn't for mum, after all this shit David would probably kill you just to spite me if I brought you back to the cave now."

"And that's the kind of guy you want me to leave you with!" he pointed out, wildly gesturing in an effort to emphasise his point.

"Babe? You okay?" Paul's voice called through the door again.

"No, that is," Cat pointed towards the door as she spoke to Jamie "I know you don't want to hear it, but there's nobody better you could leave me with right now than Paul."

"Of course that's not what I want to bloody hear!" Jamie shouted, earning a reaction from Paul immediately.

"Let me in," he commanded, the sound of his fist thumping against the door drawing them both from their interaction.

"All we're doing is delaying the inevitable," Cat sighed, nausea settling in as she crossed the room and unlocked the door, not pausing in her words to greet Paul as he slipped into the room "I don't want it to be like this...but it is like this. You think I haven't been over every possibility in my head for the last twenty four hours? This is the only way. I wish we had time to sit and chat, and grab coffee and catch up on the good old days, but we don't!"

Paul seemed to be losing patience too, unable to stand still or stop fidgeting, peeking out of the door every so often as though expecting to find his brothers there.

"She's right," he echoed "I don't really pride myself in my acting skills."

"They are pretty dire," Cat teased despite herself, remembering back to before he'd told her he was a vampire.

Their first week or so together was something that they now looked back on with a sad kind of amusement, and Paul turned his attention from the gap in the door to give her a small smile. Jamie's eyes were, once again, flitting between Cat and Paul, and Cat tensed, watching her brother warily, ready for yet another attack on their relationship. It never came.

"I can't believe this," he spoke quietly, visibly deflating "So…Nothing changes?"

His tone brought tears to Cat's eyes, and she stared at Jamie's trainers, unable to meet his gaze or even form words.

"There's no happy ending here," she finally admitted, her voice quiet and weak "I'm sorry…At least you'll know I didn't die out here. And that I'm happy."

"And a fucking vampire, Catriona."

"That's…part of the deal," she sighed "And it's not something that I expect you to come to terms with immediately…If ever, I guess."

The uncharacteristically anxious look on Paul's face told Cat that time was running out "We need to go."

Jamie made a sound in the back of his throat, akin to a growl. Then he extended an arm and pulled Cat into a tight hug. Automatically, Cat latched onto her brother and the tears began to flow. Sobbing into Jamie's t-shirt, Cat mumbled apologies, struggling to keep her tears below a hysterical level.

"You'd better look after her," Jamie ordered Paul over Cat's shoulder "She doesn't need it, but do it anyway."

"I will, man," Paul replied solemnly before rocking back and forth awkwardly and continuing.

"Hey man," Paul sighed sheepishly, clearly uncomfortable at interrupting the moment "I kinda set up a few things back at the post office on the boardwalk when the guys thought I was lookin' for Cat. She has a mail box there now, under the name Catherine McCarter."

Cat and Jamie both stared at Paul in disbelief, stepping away from each other, Cat's heart swelling with so many positive emotions for her soulmate.

"I figured you can…y'know, write and shit," he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, withdrawing a scrap of paper with an address scrawled on it and holding it out to Jamie.

Her brother's mouth opened and closed wordlessly before he finally settled for nodding, stepping forward and accepting the paper.

"Let's get this over with," Cat announced after a few moments of reluctant silence, voice scratchy.

Paul was the first to move, opening the door with a sigh. The next time anybody said anything was just before the security checkpoint.

"Remember what you promised me, Catriona," Jamie persuaded, rounding on her and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I do," Cat managed, pulling her brother in for one last hug, wanting to commit it to memory on the chance that it would be the last.

In the end, she had to practically peel herself away from Jamie, automatically seeking out the arms of Paul afterwards, watching mournfully as her brother made his way towards security.

"What did you promise him?" Paul asked quietly once Jamie was out of earshot.

"That I'd try to visit if David doesn't kill me," she didn't once take her eyes off of her brother as he passed through security, throwing glances back at her every so often as he was herded down the line.

"Us. If he doesn't kill us."

"He'd never kill you."

"If he killed you, he'd have to. I wouldn't give him no choice about it," Paul's tone was more weary than anything else, he was equally dreading what the night still held in store.

They sat outside the airport quietly for more than half an hour before Cat was ready to move on. In the end they decided to check into a cheap motel for the night to recover before facing David the next day. Both agreed that they'd rather face David early on in the night, without the risk of sunlight interrupting them and adding even more danger.

"Do you ever wish we were normal?" Paul asked as they settled into the bed after sun-proofing the room.

"If we were, you'd be dead right now. So no, not really," Cat murmured wearily into his chest, bare legs entwined with his.

"Nah, not like that...I mean completely different circumstances. Like, what if I was Scottish and we were childhood sweethearts?" he put on an awful impression of a Scottish accent and she interrupted before he could continue.

"Please never do that again," the corners of her lips twitched upwards, despite herself "I will honestly walk out of this room."

"Sun's on the rise."

"I'd rather face it than hear that again."

"That hurts, babe. Y'know you went majorly Scottish earlier."

"I always do when I talk my family," she sighed "My friends from uni back in London found it hilarious whenever my mum phoned and suddenly they'd struggle to understand a word I said."

"I think it's pretty hot."

"Of course you do," she gave a short, soft laugh, reaching for his hand "Is there anything I do that you don't find hot?"

"Sometimes you put clothes on and it really bums me out."

Cat grinned at that, shaking her head and ignoring the burning in her cheeks. Paul grinned back at her, clearly he'd achieved his goal of putting a smile on her face.

"Anyway, what was your point? Before we got distracted by my sexy accent."

"Okay, so...say we were just some normal ass, boring couple."

"Boring?"

"Okay, well maybe not boring. Human."

"So what, a white picket fence, careers, bills?"

"Maybe even a dog. Normality at its finest."

"Please, we'd have a cat. Or ten. Anyway, it doesn't sound very 'us', does it?" Cat said "I can't imagine us as some middle aged, domestic couple. You getting home from a long day at the office, me cooking dinner."

She couldn't help but laugh at the thought, and Paul was quick to join in.

"Couple o' kids runnin' around," he added.

His tone was light, but the reluctant way he spoke gave him away.

"So that's what this is about," she murmured, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I know it got to you when your brother asked if you're pregnant...and things weren't exactly stellar between us last time we talked about the whole thing."

"And now is a good time? There's nothing to really talk about," Cat shrugged, moving to lean on her elbow as she faced him.

"You never really considered the alternative," Paul pressed "We need to talk it out – you're the one always saying that. You don't need even more crap spinnin' round in your head right now."

"The alternative? Stealing a baby away from an orphanage in the dead of night?" she snorted "It's not really an option, love. We don't live a very child friendly lifestyle. Your bike doesn't exactly have space for a baby seat. We live in a cave – or we might be homeless after tomorrow. We smoke enough weed between us per week to knock out an elephant, drink vodka like it's water and shag like rabbits. Where would a child fit into any of that? There's not even any of it I'd want to give up, but I mean, we're vampires, for crying out loud. If the kid wandered out during the day, there'd be nothing we could do to stop it. Hell, we probably wouldn't even wake up and it could get hurt."

"You've thought about this a lot," he blinked in surprise at her tirade.

"Just because I don't talk about something, doesn't mean I don't think about it," she shrugged, shifting to rest her head on his chest "And anyway...adoption is a beautiful, amazing thing...but I wouldn't want that. I'd want to conceive our baby – which I'm sure wouldn't be an issue – then carry it, then give birth to it...and then raise it. I'd want...A little girl, with my eyes and your smile. Or, I dunno, a boy with your hair and my nose. But we can never have that, and that's just the way it is."

"I'm sorry, babe," one of his arms snaked around her waist, his thumb rubbing circles against her skin.

"Don't be. Kids are for people to have something to help them feel fulfilled when they're old. We won't ever have that problem. And anyways, we have each other."

"Damn right we do."

She smiled up at him before he leaned down to kiss her.

"Paul?" she spoke into the darkness.

"Yeah?"

"We've talked about what I want, but not you. If we could have kids, would you want them?"

There was silence for a few moments and Cat wasn't sure why she felt nerves begin to bundle in her chest.

"A whole damn troop, babe."

"My poor body!" she laughed "I suppose it's a good thing we can't, then. I'd look like a whale."

"Nah, you'd be a total MILF."

"Paul!" she erupted into a fit of giggles, unable to believe what he'd just said.

"Made you laugh, didn't I?"

"You always do," she rolled her eyes before closing them.

She was just about to drift to sleep when Paul spoke again.

"I love you."

Her eyes flew open at the admission, unused to Paul being so vocally affectionate.

"I love you, too."

"We're gonna be fine, y'know?"

He sounded so utterly sure, for a few seconds Cat's heartbeat actually calmed.