This chapter isn't very long but I have another one in the works right now and should be up by tonight.

Val heard her stomach growl. She tried to roll over to her side so she could ignore it and continue to sleep but hissed in pain. She opened her eyes and squinted in the darkness around her. She immediately shot up and fought the scream bubbling in her throat. Was she still in the cave? Did she not escape? Was it all just a dream? She frantically looked around but that's when she realized she wasn't in the cave anymore. She was on something soft and warm. She was in a house that smelled like cookies permanently.

Emily's house.

"You need to lay back down," she instantly knew the voice belonged to Paul but she couldn't find him in the dark. She heard him get up from a chair in the room and going to turn on the lamp by the wall. When the light finally came on and her eyes adjusted she saw him in a shape she never saw him in before. His hair shaggy and unkept. Bags under his eyes darker then his skin. A beard has started growing, something she's never seen before. He looked like a different man but his eyes still showed that he was indeed her Paul.

"I'm fine," she squeaked out but she didn't even believe herself. She felt sick. She felt dizzy. Her stomach growled again.

"Emily said you can have some broth when you woke up, would you like some?" Paul asked gently. He didn't want to startle her. He didn't want to ignite a fight the moment she first woke up. Val just nodded, she was too exhausted for much else. Paul nodded back and left the room to go into a dark kitchen. Val sat watching where he had went to before turning to herself. She looked at her body and felt the itchiness of the gauzes that were wrapped around her body. She then remembered the bruises and cuts that were all over her. She remembered her thoughts about the vampire feeding from her. Had she been right?

"Here, drink this. Emily told me to get her when you woke but I think that can wait until morning," Paul brought out a tray with a steaming bowl on it along with a glass of water. Once it was on her lap Val grabbed the water first and chugged it. Once she was done Paul took it and went to fill it back up. Val moved to sipping the hot broth. Her stomach growled again when the liquid hit her lips. She winced for a spilt second, she realized her lips were chapped or cut open for the first time. Paul came back in and sat the water down in front of her before sitting at the end of the couch, barely touching her feet.

"How bad do I look?" Val asked distracting herself from any other thoughts floating in her head. She didn't want to start a fight. She didn't want to be mad at him but unfortunately a part of her was. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and forget everything that happened but her body held her back.

"Honest or die?" Paul asked the famous question they first started asking each other when it came to hard things.

"Honest or die?" Val asked Paul when they were 16 after History class when had done nothing all day but stare at his notebook. She began to worry. Paul stopped in his tracks when she asked, he wasn't prepared for that. He knew she cared about him and enjoyed their relationship but he didn't think she'd care like this.

"Paul, honest or die? What is wrong? You haven't even said hello today," Val walked in front of him and stared hard. Anger was floating in her eyes but so was fear. Was she scared he was going to break up with her?

"Come on," Paul grabbed her hand and led her outside to the alley between the high school and the middle school. It was always their hideaway.

"If you're going to break up with me then just do it," Val told me as he continued to drag her until they were in the middle of the alley where there was some overhead shelter from the rain.

"You're stupid. I'm not breaking up with you. It's just...my parents are divorcing which I guess is good right? No more fights or screaming but...," Paul looked at his shoes. He was sad and she knew it. Instead of saying anything more she just wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged.

"Honest," Val told him with a small smile tugging at her lips. She could definitely feel the cuts now.

"You look like hell," Paul grinned widely and chuckled lowly. He was telling the truth. She looked like hell but even in this state he found her beautiful. Her shirt curly hair was unruly and greasy. Her skin was beginning to return to a normal color but the cuts were taking a bit longer to heal up. He could still smell the vampire in her skin and it made him sick but he tried to pretend that it wasn't there. He didn't want to be rude and tell her to go shower right this second.

"You don't look so good yourself," Val told him with a simple shrug. She would admit that the beard and unkeptness looked sexy on him. She knew he hated it, he looked like his dad this way.

"We'll have to clean up but right now, sleep," Paul took the tray that was sitting on Vals lap. Her stomach still growled but she didn't care anymore. She felt his warmth through the blanket and knew she was safe. Even if they were both saving a big fight for tomorrow, they were both satisfied with that for now.