Michael slipped on a fresh white t-shirt, having scrubbed himself free of any oil and grease in a long and hot shower. He didn't really need to do anything to his hair, it was naturally wavy and always seemed to fall in just the right places, but tonight he wanted the extra reassurance. He slicked mousse through his shag of wet hair and began to brush and blow dry.

"God, I'm just like Sammy" he muttered, ruffling his scalp to help distribute the mousse evenly. He didn't have a big selection of aftershaves and, after sniffing a bunch of spray bottles from Sammy's side of the bathroom, he decided to leave it. The guys on the bikes looked styled but not like they tried too hard. Aftershave would be trying too hard. He unplugged the hairdryer and draped it from a small hook banged into the wall.

He had spent the morning and most of the afternoon slogging away on his bike..he thought it would go faster now.

If he got a job, he could upgrade his bike maybe. Ruffling his hair once more, he sighed.

A new bike could be a good thing.

He went to his room and looked at himself in the mirror. His closet door was open, the clothes disturbed and ruffled but he was thinking hard and didn't move to close it.

He wished his clothes weren't so..pedestrian.

He sighed again and glanced at Sam's closed door but he knew that was the single most pointless blossom of an idea ever. He would never get the girl wearing a poncho.

Slipping his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans, he jogged down the stairs and out of the house. It would be sunset soon and he wanted to avoid the jokes and questions he knew he would be engulfed by if everyone was together, readying for dinner. He walked with purpose but needn't have worried – the house was empty.

He went outside, ducking and making a beeline for his bike when he saw Grandpa's figure battling with a large barrel over in the garden.

He snorted an affectionate laugh when he reached the safety and isolation of his bike. The old man was fixing to start a fire in the barrel. Strange considering they had a fully functional barbecue but not strange considering it was Grandpa.

Slipping on his bike, running a soft hand over the polished metal, he revved the engine once, twice and then took off, driving down towards the boardwalk without a second thought.

Had he gone just a few minutes later, he would have seen Sam and Elizabeth on his way.

"Was that Michael?" Elizabeth asked, knocking her shoe hard against the ground. Her free arm was locked on Sam's arm, helping her balance.

Some small pebbles pattered to the ground.

"Must have been" Sam replied, peering off into the road but the bike was long gone, "Driving kind of fast…"

Elizabeth shrugged a little, slipping her shoe back on, "this must be the most unused road in Santa Carla, I think he's safe"

She steadied herself and the two started walking again, emerging from the shrubbery and trees onto the road leading to their house. They had tried to take a shortcut from the beach back to their house but it had been infinitely more work than was necessary and they had agreed, panting and tired from the hike that more shortcuts would be off the menu for long time.

Nanook ran ahead, the loyal dog abandoning Sam quite happily.

"What's he-" Sam stopped.

The smell of barbecue smoke wafted towards them, the smell of pork mingled with it. The house was in full view now and, dancing against the darkening sky was a roaring fire. The silhouette of the house along with the fairy lights decorating the porch contrasted beautifully with the navy sky and the orange flames dancing freely.

"Wow" Elizabeth breathed.

They walked faster to the house and were greeted by both Lucy and Grandpa. Lucy was sat on an old tree stump with a glass of wine at her feet. She was holding a half-eaten, thick sausage encased in a fluffy white roll and Nanook, fast working Nanook, was wagging his tail to her right.

"Hey, you two!" she greeted them.

"Take a stump, grab a bun!" Grandpa instructed at the same time.

"Oh Dad, don't you think they want to shower first?" Lucy asked, looking at her two children questioningly.

"It's OK, Mom" Sam dropped the wicker bag, now empty, and grabbed a bun. Grandpa instantly filled it with a thick sausage, fat bubbling enticingly in its cracks, "There were showers down at the beach. And trash cans"

"Yeah, we showered and everything there" Elizabeth continued, receiving one too from her gruff Grandfather, "you said it was empty"

"Those old things?" Grandpa asked, "I thought they shut those off because of the parasites…goddamn town can't do anything"

Elizabeth and Sam jerked their heads up at him in horror.

"Parasites?!" Sam exclaimed, almost dropping his sausage but Grandpa was laughing hard.

Lucy, too.

"Gotcha!" he boomed, pointing a hot, oil coated stick at the younger Emmersons.

The two sighed heavily and slumped down in their chosen seats, tired from the hike and shaken from the joke. Sam had taken an old plastic chair which was dangerously close to losing a leg and Elizabeth had chosen another tree stump. Lucy reached over and gave her daughter's arm a little rub, too far away to cuddle her.

She smiled warmly, her eyes bright, still enjoying the joke.

"You made it sound like there was nothing but beach down there, Grandpa" Sam said through bites of his hot dog.

The beach was obviously quiet, it mustn't have been used very often but it had toilet, shower and trash facilities.

"Did you see any shops?"

"No.."

"Any restaurants?"

"….no…"

"Any people?"

"…no."

"Well, there you go. Just beach" Grandpa said matter of factly. He threw Nanook a cooled sausage, "hamburgers or steak – what's next?"

It was unanimously decided to finish with the hamburgers and with practiced ease, grandpa started throwing big slabs of steak onto the metal grill.

Elizabeth and Sam were grinning at each other, having settled down from their shock. There was a perfectly good barbecue just beyond the conservatory but Grandpa had instead chosen to light an old barrel and grill the meat over that. The barrel itself looked like an old oil drum but Lucy had shaken her head when Elizabeth had made to ask whether it was. She guessed somethings were better unasked. The flame and heat was intense but comfortingly so, providing the warmth they needed for the cool night. Sam had inquired whether it was expensive to grill using oil or 'stuff' and, tutting, Grandpa had told him he was using charcoal and it wasn't filled all the way down.

"How was work, Mom?" Elizabeth asked. Nanook had moved to the center of their haphazard circle and was chewing a giant beef bone that Grandpa had been kind enough to pick up. Elizabeth and Sam had exchanged quick glances when he gave it to the dog, it was such a kind and unexpected gesture and he presented it without fanfare.

"Oh well" Lucy had taken a sip of wine and was placing the glass back onto the floor, "It's very hip. And I was told it gets very busy at night but, well" she was nodding now, "it's generally just a customer service job. Nothing too special but the pay is just beyond generous and I'll be doing a lot of admin, too, which is nice"

"I'm proud of you, Lucy. Up and on your feet so fast" Grandpa smiled at his daughter, biting into his steak. He had brought out knives and forks and paper plates but he chose to eat his, oily and hot though it was, with his hands.

"I start my first shift tomorrow afternoon," she grinned, "And the owner, Max, he's going to show me the admin side tomorrow night after we're shut."

"You couldn't see that today?" Sam asked, cutting away a streak of fat.

"Well, it was kind of above the girl's pay grade. She's never done admin so she felt strange trying to tell me about it" Lucy smiled, taking another sip of wine, "Mm, anyway! Enough about me. Did you two have fun?"

"It was nice, the beach is so clean" Elizabeth said happily, "and I finished my book"

"A success if there ever was one" Lucy said with a solemn smile.

"It was cool, mom" Sam confirmed. He didn't start on his comic, he had been too busy playing with Nanook, "shame Michael didn't come"

"Well, he wants to find a job, too. He wants to keep busy" Lucy said in commiseration.

Elizabeth and Sam shared a look, "Find a job?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes sweetie, that's where he is now. He left a note…"

"Oh no, yeah. I mean, I'm just-"

"-surprised he's looking so late" Sam finished, helping his sister.

Neither of them were going to throw their brother under the bus though they both wanted to know why he was lying. Lucy would never begrudge them going out and making friends. She had spent the entire drive encouraging them to go out and enjoy their free time while they could.

"Well, the boardwalk is a late place" Lucy said.

"Yeah" Elizabeth agreed while Sam finished, "I guess so"

Grandpa asked if they wanted to know the story of how he got into taxidermy and, agreeing through mouthfuls of steak, Elizabeth and Sam sat under the now blackened sky, listening with morbid intensity at their grandfather's gory tale.

Back at the boardwalk the atmosphere seemed more subdued than the previous nights. The crowds were thick but not as saturated as before and Michael could move easily among the people. He had bought a leather jacket, nodding as the seller assured him it looked great. He checked himself out briefly in the mirror and trusted that she wasn't lying. He wasn't sure if he looked good but thought he didn't look bad and that would have to do. He gave himself another once over, not feeling overly confident but pleased with result. He stretched the jacket out, shook it a little and left the seller before he began to feel self-conscious, merging into the crowds once again.

He hadn't seen the girl yet but that didn't bother him, he wanted more time to finish his look.

His brother's meaningless words ringing in his ears, Michael headed towards a piercing stand. A girl was nervously waiting for the piercer to push the needle through her lobe and Michael stared avidly.

"It won't hurt, alright, it won't…" the girl's friend assured her, also staring at the needle, her eyes a little wide.

She wasn't a particularly comforting presence.

Could he do it? Mike wondered. He lingered back, hovering over the shoulder of the friend. She moved a little to accommodate him.

Just as it looked like the needle was going to be forced through the thick flesh of her earlobe a low, sultry voice drawled in his ear, "It's a rip off…"

He jerked around at the sound and for the briefest of seconds, he couldn't believe his luck.

It was her.

She turned around easily, he skirt jangling as she did. Her arms were draped with thin bangles and she wore a sequinned and embellished scarf around her waist.

Her movements were musical.

She walked away and instinctively, not wanting to lose her, he followed.

He had to follow her.

She knew he would.

"If you want your ear pierced, I'll do it" she offered teasingly, not looking at him.

He had to rush to keep up with her, "What's your name?" he asked desperately.

"Star"

She wasn't stopping to talk with him but he almost couldn't help himself, he just needed to see her and he followed her without fully realizing it, easily navigating the crowd once more.

He laughed, "Oh right. Your folks too, huh?"

This time, she was the one to jerk around. She faced him, "what do you mean?" she asked, slightly accusatory, stopping.

"Ex-hippies" Michael grinned down at her, standing close, "My parents came this close to calling me Moon Beam or Moon Child or whatever…" his face lit up at her smile, "But Star? Star's great, I like Star"

And he did. He couldn't think of a more fitting name for such an ethereal beauty.

They were walking again now, slower this time. Star was playing gingerly with her glittering scarf, a thin one that had been wrapped around her neck a few times.

"I'm Michael" he introduced himself.

They were almost by his bike.

"Michael…" she said, testing the word. He could almost sense her rolling his name around her tongue and he wanted to desperately to kiss her.

He had never felt like this before.

"Michael's great, I like Michael" she laughed a little, glancing up at him.

"Hey, you wanna grab some food?" he asked, praying she would say yes.

She looked at him again, her head was slightly tilted down so she had to look up at him with her thickly lined doe eye.

"Food?" she asked and he nodded.

"OK" she smiled.

Taking her hand and leading her to the seat, his smile and heart dropped at the sound of approaching bikes.

Four bikes. Bikes belonging to the guys she had been riding with, he realized quickly.

They pulled up to block them.

"Where you goin' Star?", the ice blonde asked coldly, raising his eyebrows at the girl.

"I'm going for a ride" Star replied, quietly but firmly, her voice quivering "This…this is Michael.."

Michael saw Star tense and gently touched her hand.

Where had her quiet, sexy confidence gone?

Who were these guys to her? He frowned a little. It didn't sit right with him.

"Hey, come on…" he said softly to her, tugging on her hand lightly. He was thrilled when her body responded to him and she turned to sit on his bike but she jerked softly when the blonde called her name.

He called her name in warning.

Michael knew then that it was over.

Star looked at Michael with low, humiliated eyes and approached the blonde, slipping onto his bike instead.

Low chuckles floated from the others and the girl winced, looking solemnly at Michael from her place on the other boy's bike.

"You know where Hudson's Bluff is? Overlooking the peak?" the leader asked Michael coldly, his eyebrow raised.

He was definitely the group's leader, Michael thought.

"Wha-", Michael exhaled and shook his head, "I can't beat your bike" he stated.

There was no point in lying.

A cold smile graced the boy's face, "You don't have to beat me, Michael" he revved his engine, "You've just got to try and keep up"

As Star made eye contact with him, Michael felt his heart surge once more.

Her eyes said it all. She wanted him to follow.

She wanted to be won.

As the leader - and Star - zoomed away, the sound of the bike echoing loudly, joined by the rumbles of the bikes, Michael knew what he had to do. With whoops and cheers, the group sped off into the night and after hesitating just once, Michael followed.

A/N: Wow! Thank you all so, so much for your kind reviews. I was going to publish this later - I was thinking perhaps weekly, but you broke me down with your kindness! I couldn't leave you hanging! I always imagined the Lost Boys as being incredibly dark creatures, very blood thirsty and cruel to those on the outside but loyal and humorous with each other. I always thought of them as being a real pack, you know? Where everything was open, nothing was off limits and they were there for each other, no matter what, very ride or die. So I'm hoping to show their darkness but also their pack mentality. Again! Thank you for the lovely and thoughtful reviews. Take care and have a wonderful week, everyone!