DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE LOST BOYS!
AN: MY MUSE HAS RAN OFF ON VACATION. EYES OF MEDUSA IS TEMPORARILY ON HIATUS UNTIL SHE HAD RETURNED.
CHAPTER 4 - 3 YEAR TIME SKIP
Michael held the hand of his unconscious younger brother. It had been three years since the accident in California. If accident is what you wished to call it. The police called it a car accident, but Michael knew better. He had received Sam's message shortly before he had gotten the call from his daughter, Nicole, that there had been an accident. He knew all too well that all of this had been David's doing. He had been the cause of Ed, Alan, and Zoey's deaths, Michael's friends. He just knew that it had been David that had harmed his brother; paralyzed him and put him deep into a coma. He had broken Sam's neck and damaged his spine. But he had left him alive. Michael knew that it had been a warning. David was powerful and time and rage had just made him more so. He had to do whatever he could to protect his family. That was why he had packed up his family and brought them all, even Becks, to Hawaii.
"Uncle?" Josie's voice came.
Michael looked up towards the door. His now 22-year-old niece was standing in the open doorway with a bouquet of flowers. She favored Sam very much so. Only red headed instead of blonde and blue eyed, sun kissed skin, but with a better taste in fashion than her father had when he had been young. Much better. She had grown up so much in just the last three years. Having Sam in a coma had brought out a toughness Josie had not had before. Brought out more of a hardheaded stubborn streak as well.
"Jos, how was class?" he asked her as she moved into the room.
"I turned in my theory paper. And finished up my final exams. I only need one class and I will be able to graduate. It's just a six-week class and I can do it during the summer." Josie explained, tossing the old, wilted flowers by her father's bed in the bin.
She replaced the old tulips with vibrant and bright orange tiger lilies and white peonies. She filled the vase with fresh water and arranged the bouquet to sit balanced on the bedside table. She didn't have much time to visit though her shift at the restaurant was going to start soon. Her Aunt and Uncle had said she did not have to work while going through college, but she wanted to be more independent. Her mother had passed and now her father was in a coma, she needed to stand on her own two feet. She needed to be able to provide for herself.
"Working today?" her uncle asked.
"Yeah, it's time." she said with a sigh.
"Don't work too hard." Michael told her.
"I'll try not to." she said and left.
"She's grown-up Sam." Mike said to his brother.
It had been barely audible, but Josie had heard her uncle tell her father she had grown up. And she had. She missed so much though. She missed her mother and the smell of her perfume and the best buttery pancakes she would make for Sunday morning breakfast. She missed her father and his overprotectiveness. She missed her talks with Aunt Zoey. The eccentricness of Uncle Ed and talking comics with Uncle Alan. A huge piece of her life had been torn away from her and it had forced her to grow up before she had been ready. She had learned a huge life lesson in that moment. Life was cruel and it did not care about you. You would adapt and survive, or you would be pulled under the crushing tide. Life had its beauty though. It had its good times.
With an audible sigh Josie stepped into the restaurant and began her evening shift. It was not a bad place to work. The clientele were rich and left great tips and the environment was relaxed and good. There was the occasional bad crowd that would come in but that usually did not happen until later in the evening and that new bouncer, David, had them hit the asphalt really quick. David would come in after dark about the time that the club crowds began making their rounds. The place needed some muscle and David filled the shoes perfectly. Much better than the previous guy. She had to admit that she had quite the crush on David. He was handsome and charming and so easy to talk to. To be perfectly honest he was what made her excited to come to work. She always took her break at the same time he was clocking in, so they got to talk. But it was going to be a few hours before he got to work. A long few hours.
The evening passed without interruption and had been very lighthearted. The patrons had all been nice and been patient for the evening. The atmosphere of the venue is what she believed made the patrons so relaxed. It made her relaxed as well. But she noticed that the hours had slipped by and dusk was beginning to fall and the more family-oriented patrons had already left for the evening. The single and mingling crowd was shuffling in with their club hopping slinky dresswear on. And no sooner than she knew it David had entered the establishment and had clocked in.
"Isn't it time for your break, pussycat?" David teased her.
"Hi David." she smiled and looked at her phone, "Passed time actually."
She let the pussycat remark slide by. He had called her that since the beginning. Something to do with an old cartoon from the 70's called Josie and the Pussycats. The lead character was named Josie and she had red hair. It had been a little gag between them. She didn't mind though. A low rumble of thunder pulled her from her thoughts. She worried her bottom lip as she looked out the window and saw the little drops hitting the sidewalk. Her shoulders drooped and she sighed. Just her luck. She had walked to work and did not bring an umbrella and walking in the rain was not high on her list tonight.
"Scared?" David asked her.
"No, I have no umbrella and I walked to work today." she said as the thunder rumbled again.
"I'll take you home." David said to her.
"Thanks. I really appreciate it." she said with a grateful smile.
The rest of the evening had been slow and uneventful. It had been a perfectly quiet evening. Just what they all appreciated. When it was time to close down David waited for her as she gathered her things. They said their goodbyes to the rest of the crew and then dashed across the lot to David's black Charger.
"It's pouring!" she exclaimed when she was seated.
David chuckled and set about starting the car. Josie navigated to her house and David drove. Uncle Mike had purchased a small bungalow that she, Nicole, and Becks all lived in. When he turned into the drive, she grimaced about having to dash across in the rain. before she could open the door David told her to wait and pulled an umbrella from his back seat. She was relieved. He got out and opened it, coming to her side and covered her as she got out. They quickly made their way to her porch. David closed the umbrella as she unlocked her door.
"Come on in." she said and invited him in.
He followed her in and followed her lead by kicking off his boots. She put his umbrella in the umbrella bin in a closet near the front door. He followed her through the house and into her kitchen.
"Want a drink?" she asked.
"What do you have?" he asked.
"Milk, juice, water, tea, coke, and a little Crown." she said.
"Crown and coke, please." he said.
"On the rocks?" she asked with a grin.
"Yeah." he answered.
Josie pulled two glasses and then paused. There were footsteps heading towards their location. Then in popped Nicole. Josie turned to her cousin who was staring in shock at David then looked over at Josie.
"My lord, there is a man here." Nicole gaped.
"Yes, and he is David." Josie said and pulled another glass down.
"Becks! Josie is home. With a man! A hot man!" Nicole hollered behind her.
There was a sudden running sound and Josie knew that Becks was coming to see. She did not bring men home. She had never dated and most certainly had not brought anyone of the male side of the species home. But still it wasn't like she was a hermit and never left the house. She made David's drink and pulled a fourth glass down for Becks.
"Good Lord! It is a hot man." Becks said coming into the kitchen.
"Sweet Jesus." Josie muttered and finished the drinks.
Nicole and Becks were in awe of David. And it was beginning to embarrass Josie, their blatantness. You would think that they had never seen a male before, but no, it was that they had never seen Josie with a man before.
"I take it that you do not make a habit of inviting people over?" he asked, trying hard to ignore them.
"Yes, as you can see why." she said pointedly at them.
"I am your best friend and I thought you were either gay or asexual and just weren't ready to admit it." Becks said with certainty.
"I just thought you were prudish." Nicole admitted with no shame.
"I happen to like men, thank you. I am just very choosy. Now stop." she said through gritted teeth.
"Thank you, I feel very special." David teased her lightly and smiled.
His smiles always seemed to take her breath away. She had been momentarily stunned then regained her senses.
"Is he staying?" Nicole asked sipping her beverage.
Josie nearly choked on her crown and coke. Why had she not thought that one of them would ask that question. Those two seemed more desperate to get her laid than she was.
"That is entirely up to Joise." David said directly to her, "Only if she wants me to."
Josie's cheeks flamed as all eyes focused on her. She pointedly ignored them. It was silent except for the rain on the roof. Which oddly enough was coming down harder. The storm was getting worse. The wind was really whistling out there and it sounded like a monsoon. Becks had noticed it too and stood to investigate at the back door.
"Damn, it's really coming down. Hell, David, whether Josie agrees or not you just might be our guest tonight. It's getting too dangerous to drive." Becks commented with concern.
"Guess you're staying the night then." Josie said, "Come on. You can change into Chris's clothes. You and he are about the same size."
"Whose Chris?" he asked following her down the hall.
"My cousin. He's Nicole's brother, well, one of them. Shane's clothes may be a little big for you, length wise." She commented eyeing him.
He said nothing as she opened a hall closet. There were blankets and some folded up clothes in there. One was labelled Chris and the other was labelled Shane. She grabbed a white t-shirt and a pair of black flannel bottoms. She opened another door then.
"This is my room; you can change in here." she said.
"Thank you, pussycat." he said close to her, "Where am I sleeping?"
"We have a fold out couch in the living room, or you can sleep in my bed, and I'll sleep with Becks." she answered quietly not looking at him.
"Tempting as that is, that bed of yours looks a little big for just me to sleep there by myself." he said looking at her large bed, he was hinting strongly.
"Then I guess, you ... can sleep with... me." she shyly announced.
Josie could not believe that she just said that. She couldn't believe that he was even hinting about sleeping with her. Her! Straightlaced little Josie. She had never been attracted to anyone like she was David, and this was just shocking to her on account that not too many men had been attracted to her either. Usually, they went for willowy and confident Nicole or mysterious and cool Becks. Not slightly fuller and wallflower Josie. He was gorgeous whereas she in her opinion was not. She began worrying her lip again.
"Don't worry, pussycat, I won't bite you unless you ask. We're just going to sleep." he said, pulling her into the room and closing her door just as Becks and Nicole rounded the corner, "Relax."
Josie was nervous having him in her room even if it was just for sleep. Hell, she'd be nervous having any man in her room. But David was her crush, and her stomach was fluttering. He pulled his wet shirt over his head and Josie couldn't help but stare. He wasn't bulky under that shirt. He was lean muscle. It wasn't what she had expected with the power he had thrown fully grown men, almost twice his size out on their asses with. But she could see that he was strong. He wasn't lean like her cousin Shane and yet not bulkier like Chris, he was right in-between. She liked it.
"You're staring." he said as she met his icy blue eyes.
She yelped and turned around so he couldn't see her embarrassment. A chuckle told her he had seen it anyways. She wished the ground could swallow her.
"I hope you're not planning on wearing your work clothes to bed." he said behind her.
"Um, no, of course not." she said moving to her dresser, pulling out a white tank top and black shorts.
Josie moved to her door and opened it, then closed it again. She had been planning to change in the bathroom until she realized that her cousin and friend had their doors open. Perverts! She moved to in front of her small closet, kept her back to him and changed her top first then her bottoms. Turning back to the room at large she saw David lounging back on her bed, just in the flannel pants, no shirt. She inched closer and then stood next to the bed hesitated a moment then sat down and turned off the nightstand light. Sliding under her bedcovers she laid almost rigid as a board on her side facing away from him. Then she heard David sigh. Josie turned to look over at him and felt him pull her closer and onto his chest. His arms came down around her waist.
"That's better." he breathed, "Relax."
"Ok." she mumbled and focused just on his breathing.
David stroked her arm and slowly she felt herself calm and relax as she focused on the rhythm of his breathing. Slowly she drifted into sleep.
AN: And done with this chapter.