Hey guys, this chapter turned out to be much longer than I originally planed so I decided to devide it into two parts.
Another thing I'd like to do is thank Little Nothing 1 and sweetgirl57 for their constant support. Hope you guys stay with me for a little longer.
"Good girl." Upon my response David had pulled me into his side and was now keeping me close while walking to where they had left their motorcycles. It made me uncomfortable and at the same time I liked the attention I was getting from those boys.
Paul and Marko with their always present mischievous grins and especially Paul never shying away from touching me all over. David was more subtle about it, he touched but it was more casual and always seemed more like a threat to outsiders to not even dare look at me. Dwayne was different, I couldn't even say if he liked me. I enjoyed him being the strong and silent type but at the same time it made me feel weird for I could not say what he was thinking.
Interacting with his brothers was something different to him, even if he was more silent as well, he joked around and sometimes even indulged in their physical fooling around.
When we stopped by their bikes David turned me around and had me looking up into his eyes.
"Tell me what is on your mind, princess." My cheeks flushed red and I didn't want to answer that. He raised his eyebrows at me and smirked.
"What? You're getting shy now?" He took my face in his hands and leaned down to me.
"No need to do that. Or have we given you the impression that you are not worthy of our attention? Tell me you don't like it and we will let you go right now." His lips touched my ear and I shivered at the sudden closeness to him. If it was even possible I flushed an even deeper red than before.
"Isn't she cute when she goes all tomato and silent?" My eyes widened when Paul came up behind me, trapping me between him and David. Before I could tell them to stop I was again pulled into another direction. I found myself chest to chest with Marko who was grinning down at me.
"Tell me, you're still a virgin or just not used to getting so much attention?" His lips were almost touching mine and it became difficult to focus.
"Star's coming back." Dwayne growled behind me and that did it. I broke away from Marko and turned to see who Star was. I immediately recognized the gypsy girl and the little boy from the diner.
"Who is that guy following here like a lost puppy?" Marko laughed and got into another scramble with Paul. As I was much shorter than the boys I couldn't yet see who they were talking about. David was already motioning for the boys to get on their bikes.
As they came closer the little boy ran straight for Dwayne who pulled him up on the bike with a big smile, that I hadn't seen on him before. The girl was climbing up behind David, looking back again.
I followed her gaze and froze. I saw the guy with the plane white shirt and his dark brown and wavy hair.
"She stiffed you, man." Trailing behind him was his little brother.
"What's wrong, hot stuff? Never climbed a bike before? I can show you how to climb a lot of things." Paul had his arms around me once more and was chuckling against my neck. David grinned to that for a second, Paul had been loud enough for all the boys to hear. But when he looked at me his smile faded.
"Amy?" His eyes were now fixed on me and I realized I had stopped breathing.
"Amy?!" A second voice asked and everybody turned towards the two boys that had been following Star. I could not speak, I could not move.
"Amy, it's me. What are you doing to her?!" He looked at Paul holding me to his chest and I could see his confusion shift to anger when I did nothing and Paul didn't let go.
"Who is that Amy?" Paul whispered into my ear, which earned him another pissed look.
"Michael…" I whimpered. Apparently Michael misunderstood my whimper for a cry for help as he now stood in front of Paul and me.
"Let go of her. She doesn't want anything to do with you." I looked up at him and tensed in Paul's arms.
"Why would I do that?" Paul answered very calmly. Before Michael could say anything more I spoke up.
"Get me out of here. Please, Paul. Get me out, now." In an instant the whole situation changed. Three bikes roared to life. Dwayne and Marko started rolling off and David pushed his bike between us and Michael.
"Get her home." He told Paul who pulled me with him and I somehow managed to remember how to climb onto a motorcycle. Once I had my arms around his waist he also kicked his engine to life and took off. The last thing I saw looking back was David speeding off and Michael not knowing which bike to follow with his eyes.
We rounded the corner and stopped. Paul killed the engine and turned to me. I could already feel the tears running down. I couldn't breathe. Quickly Paul got up and took my face in his hands, made me look at him.
"Hey there. Calm down. I need you to breathe for me. In and out. In and out…" I don't know how long he did it. I was just focusing on his voice and his eyes until I felt my lungs take in oxygen again. Gently the lost boy wrapped his arms around me and I really didn't care that the way I was sitting on his bike, my face was now cradled against his lower ribs. I could feel the heat of his skin against mine as only his mesh top separated us.
He smelled like rain on asphalt after a hot summer's day. That and his quiet voice was what calmed me down until I pushed myself off of him.
"You're good to go?" He looked at me and gave me a small kiss on the cheek when I nodded.
I gave him directions and we were in front of our house in no time. The light was out so either was Shelly already sleeping or she was out with friends. I slowly climbed down and looked back at Paul.
"I am sorry I killed the mood." I whispered. He shook his head and caught my chin in his hand again.
"There is nothing you should be sorry for. Why don't we give it another try tomorrow? One of us can pick you up." I thought about it for a moment and then nodded.
"Pick me up around ten at the diner. I have to work tomorrow. And thank you. All of you. You're not half as annoying as I thought." I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek just as he did before.
"Yeah you're quite entertaining yourself, hot stuff. Go, get some rest." With another grin he took off and I made my way into the house.
Maxs' orders had been clear as day. Bring her in.
David sat in his wheelchair, thinking. His brothers were still asleep and would be up any minute now. He didn't know yet if he liked the idea of bringing in another girl.
He made a face at the thought of that. Star had been a half-vampire for over two years now. And she was more trouble than she was worth. In the beginning the thought of having a sister had excited them, but that quickly changed.
Star had been throwing a tantrum for weeks. Even if it had been her own fault in the first place. Nobody had forced her to drink the blood. She came into the cave during the day, wandering around and found the bottle by accident and drank from it. When they woke up and found her she blamed them for her own stupidity.
"What's on your mind, brother? You came in late yesterday." David looked up as Dwayne sat down on the couch next to him.
"A girl for what it's worth." He grimaced and the dark-haired vampire snorted.
"Don't give me that look. I am not going soft on you. It's Pauls' and Markos' girl that got me riled up."
"Hey! No fair, get your own girl!" Paul slumped down next to Dwayne and Marko lied down on the other couch, looking between his brothers.
"Ouch!" Paul rubbed the back of his head and watched Dwayne pull back his hand returning his attention to David.
"Care to fill us in on what Max had to say?" That was exactly why Dwayne was second in command, he kept the two youngsters in line and kept track of the important things.
"Max wants a daughter." David looked at each of his brothers. After a few seconds Paul and Marko started laughing.
"Yeah. Because that worked so well the last time…" Paul cackled looking over to where Star was still sleeping.
"Shut it. Think I don't know that there is a possibility that it turns out exactly the same as last time? Max knows her, she is lost as we once were. He thinks we could be the family she needs." Paul looked at him and Marko got up into a sitting position.
"Maybe having a sister wouldn't be so bad. I had a baby sister before I ran away and came here. It was nice, apart from my parents completely denying my existence." Marko was thinking out loud and David nodded.
"I'm still not feeling it. But what does it have to do with my girl?" Paul looked at his eldest brother.
"Because it's her Max wants in the family." Paul's eyes widened and a huge smile illuminated his face.
"Yes! Count me in!" David rolled his eyes and Dwayne just delivered another smack to the back of his brothers' head.
"Have you thought about how we get to her? Last time I checked she wasn't overly eager to fall into his arms." Marko nodded towards Paul who was lighting a joint and started passing it around.
"Why not give it another try? I got a feeling I am so close to get her to trust me. I could ask her to see the concert down at the beach. Enough in public to give her a feeling of safety and still easy enough to lure her away if they screw up the sound system again. Besides she doesn't know Dwayne at all. And the two of you have spoken to her how many times? Once?" Paul looked at his brothers, taking another drag from his joint.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Paul might actually have a point. I think as well that she is likely to give in to Pauls' charm soon." David looked at Dwayne who was absentmindedly starring of into the dark of the cave, busying his fingers with something small and silvery.
"You're still with us, Dwayne?" The dark-haired vampire looked at him without stopping to play with the little thing between his fingers.
"Yes. I was thinking." David nodded, he knew exactly what was going inside his brother.
"It's about her, isn't it?" Dwayne looked at him, the pain radiating through their bond was answer enough.
"After all this time, you would expect things like that to hurt so much less… I'd be willing to give it a try. If she doesn't prove to fit in, I'll be the one to drain her." His brothers nodded in agreement and he put the little object back in his pocket.
"Then it is decided. Let's hit the boardwalk boys. But first we should grab some dinner."
"Hey sleepyhead. Rough night?" Shelly looked up when I entered the kitchen and went straight for the coffee.
"You have no idea…" I groaned. She looked at me and waited for me to sit down.
"Want to tell me what happened?" I let out a long sigh and took a sip of coffee.
"Michael happened. He and his family are in town." Shelly's eyes went wide.
"Wait. What? We are not talking about the Michael? The Michael you basically told to be man enough to deal with your shit or go fuck himself?" I looked down and nodded.
"No. Fucking. Way! What did he say?" I gave her an annoyed look, I had hoped to not talk about this right now.
"We didn't really talk that much. I saw him and panicked. If it hadn't been for Paul I might have ended up in the hospital, because I started to hyperventilate." My cousin took my hand and gave me a smile.
"After all Santa Carla is big enough for it to not be that likely to run into him any time soon." I nodded and told her I would get ready for work and that I would be out with friends tonight.
o-0-o
I had been anxious the whole day. The first hours of my shift, I was flinching whenever I heard someone make an entrance into the diner. I was looking forward to seeing the boys. Sure I still thought there was more to them, but I got more comfortable around them. Especially since yesterday, when they all in their own way looked out for me.
I looked down when I felt someone tuck on my uniforms' skirt. Standing behind me was the little boy I had then with the gypsy girl before. I crouched down so that I was eye level with him.
"Hey there. Can I help you?" He looked at me with big brown eyes.
"My brother said I could have a milkshake." I smiled at him and held out my hand.
"Well, I think I saw a big chocolate milkshake that had your name on it." His smile got even bigger.
"Laddie. I told you to wait for me, buddy." Behind the boy appeared a pair of muscular black leather clad legs. I looked up to meet brown eyes and instantly flushed a little.
Dwayne looked down at me with a little smirk playing along his lips, his eyes roaming over my crouched down form.
"She said I can have a big chocolate milkshake!" Laddie exclaimed happily and held out his arms for the biker to pick him up. I got up as well, with the biker still towering over me.
"Can I get you something as well? Or only a milkshake for the boy?" Dark brown eyes fixed on mine and if he had asked my name right now I wouldn't have known.
"Nothing. Just came in for my little brother." I nodded and lowered my eyes, noticing that he was still wearing no shirt and flushed again. I turned around to get his order before I could embarrass myself more.
"Why is it that those boys seem to have such an interest in you?" I looked up at Tina while I was waiting in the back. She gave me a concerned look and I gave her a sorry smile.
"I don't know Tina… And I know I told you to stay away from them but they always seem to find me. Besides I don't think they are as bad as their reputation. They helped me a few times now and I get comfortable around them." To say Tina's' expression was shocked was an understatement.
"Honey. Don't follow that road, it may lead to your demise. Those four are nothing to be comfortable around. They lure you in and the best thing to happen is that you land in a corpse sack, if you are found at all. Maybe they fake being nice around you but that should scare you even more." I looked at the elder woman. Something inside me knew she was right. At the same time there was this raising voice that whispered to me that the Lost Boys weren't playing games. That I could trust them, that I belonged with them.
"Look Tina, I know you want to protect me. And maybe it is a big mistake, but I will be picked up later by one of them. I promise to look out for myself. Please, trust me a little bit to know what I am doing." She looked at me and sighed loudly.
"Just be careful what you wish for, girl. You might just get it." She hugged me and returned to one of her tables. I took the milkshake and made my way back to the front. Dwayne hat seated the two of them in one of the smaller booths at the windows.
"Here you go." Laddie cheered when he saw the big milkshake and dove right in. Dwayne watched him silently until he pulled the shake away.
"Go slow, buddy. Or your head will hurt and you'll get a sick stomach. How much do we owe you?" Dwayne looked at me and it took me a moment to realize what he just said. Those eyes of his should be forbidden for being so damn distracting.
"It's okay. Take it as a treat for your brother. But you do realize that I don't get off work for another three hours?" The dark-haired man thought about that for a second.
"I know. Paul told me that your shift ends at ten. I needed the little one to get something in his stomach before tucking him in for the night. I'll come back for you later." I didn't know what to make of that.
"Oh. Okay. I just thought Paul was going to pick me up." I was kind of disappointed, somehow I had hoped the blond would come around to see me.
"You have a problem with that, sweetheart?" He cocked an eyebrow and gave me a soft smile. I had to admit I could get used to seeing this expression on him. I shook my head and left the two of them to themselves for now. I still had other tables to take care of as well.
I was refilling the napkin dispensers when I suddenly felt a large hand on my hip.
"Thank you for the milkshake. Don't go wandering around by yourself later. I will be here and pick you up." Dwayne's voice again was so soft with this slight rumble in it that went straight to my core. I shuddered when his lips softly at the spot behind my ear and I had to bite back a low moan.
I looked to the side to see the smirk on his lips while his eyes never left mine. I could feel my cheeks heat up again and cast down my gaze. I was no virgin or new to a guys' affection but those four had something about them that made me weak in my knees. With a last brush of his hand against my back he took Laddie and left.
