"What the fuck?" Richie grumbles, pulling out the needle from his neck.
"Did that hurt? I hope that hurt."
"Was that necessary?" he mutters, rubbing the irritated spot.
"Absolutely," Kate replies.
There are darkened bruises all over her arms and shoulders, and he could kick himself for not noticing them earlier. "What happened to you?"
"You're seriously asking me that? After everything you and Seth have done?"
Realising she misunderstood him, he takes a step closer and reaches out to smooth his fingers along her skin. Immediately, she retreats back. He peers at her closely. It's not just hateful scorn that masks her face, there's also fear. She's clutching the towel to her chest, like she's worried he's about to rape her or something, and the thought fills him with disgust. "I'm not going to hurt you."
She scoffs. "You can't hurt me. That stuff I injected you with? Any second now you're going to drop to the floor, you won't be able to move. You'll be in a lot of pain, for hours, and you'll feel every second of it."
Cheeks flushed, long brown hair piled into a messy bun atop her head, she's glaring at him like he's the scum of the earth and all he can think about is how beautiful she is. "Revenge looks good on you."
She studies him with a confused expression. "Did you hear what I said? You're not going to be able to move-"
"Yeah, yeah. I heard you. How did you get those bruises?"
"Like you care."
"I do." He turns around, walks to the bed and takes a seat, stretching out his long legs in front of him. Pulling out a cigarette from the pack inside his jacket pocket, he slips it between his lips and lights it up using the matches on the bedside table.
"You can drop the act, Richie. The dagger's not here, you're wasting your time."
Silent, his eyes languidly travel down her body, memorizing every inch of her so the image is etched into his brain. "I don't care about the dagger. I'm here for you."
"Yeah, sure you are."
His gaze lingers on the swell of her breasts, remembering how perfect they were. "Why don't you go put on some clothes? We need to talk-"
"I have nothing to say to you," she interjects.
"-but I can't focus with you naked. All I can think about is how much I want to rip that towel off and fuck you right here."
"Am I supposed to be flattered by that?"
He takes a drag off his cigarette. "I'm just telling you how I feel."
"Which is what? I'm suddenly fuckable now that I'm not a virgin anymore?"
There's disdain on her face, utter contempt - so very unlike the girl who was always hopeful and saw the best in people. It sickens him to know he's responsible for that change. "I said horrible hurtful things to you that night. I didn't mean any of it but it was the only way I could get you to leave Mexico. Seth and I, we wanted you to be safe."
"How noble of you."
Ignoring her sarcastic response, he continues. "I wish I could undo it, fix it, but I can't. All I can do is apologize. I'm sorry, Kate. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I pushed you away."
"And now you want me to forgive you."
"Can you?"
She shakes her head, laughing. The sound is hoarse, bitter, not at all reminiscent of the Kate he remembers. He butts the cigarette out in the ashtray before focusing his attention back on her.
"You know what I think?" she asks.
"Tell me."
"You still think of me as that same stupid, naive girl you manipulated before. You're here because you want something. Maybe it's the dagger, maybe it's something else, I don't know, but I'm not going to let you get your hands on it."
He realises there's no point in arguing with her. It's not like she has any reason to trust him. "You told Seth things got a lot worse for you when you came home. What happened?"
"Like you don't know."
Jaw clenched, he stares at her intently. "I don't."
"You did something to me! Something that made the vampire attacks a hundred times worse."
"I gave you my blood that night, that's all. You were passed out and it was the only thing I could think of doing that would make you okay."
"Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"Yes! Because it's the fucking truth!"
Her eyes brim with angry tears. "Everywhere I went I was attacked by vampires. It didn't matter where I ran, where I hid, they always found me. Because of you. Because of what you did to me. Why did you do it? For Santanico?"
He stands up. "This has nothing to do with her. I want her dead just as much as you do."
"Liar! You're a fucking liar!" She storms towards him. "If you really cared about me, you would have checked up on me. But you didn't, did you? You and Seth just went on with your lives like I was nothing, like I didn't exist at all."
"I couldn't!" he fires back, losing the last bit of control he had left. Cradling her face in his hands, he forces her to look at him. "I knew if I looked for you, if I saw you again, I couldn't stay away. I loved you-"
She slaps him across the face; his cheeks sting from the violent contact.
"You don't ever get to say that to me. You don't know what love is!" she spits out. "You're selfish, you're an asshole, and you're here now because you want something. You're a fucking monster."
"Maybe so, sweetheart, but I still love you."
"Fuck you!" She shoves him hard. "Get out!"
She turns around to walk away but he pulls her close, trapping her in his arms. "You think it was easy for us? You think we moved on? Seth's a huge fucking wreck since he left you. He acts like everything's okay but I know my brother, I know when he's hurting, and he's all messed up without you."
"Oh yeah," Kate mutters, struggling against him. "That's why he was sucking face with that girl at the mansion, right?"
"Forget her! She means nothing to him," Richie says dismissively.
"So he's using her? Like he used me? Like you used me?"
He maneuvers her around in his arms to face him. "Yell at me. Hit me. Hurt me. Do whatever it is you need to do to make yourself feel better so we can move past this. Because I'm not leaving you again."
Suddenly pain ripples through him, agonizing, blinding pain that feels like it's shooting out of every nerve in his body. One minute he has Kate in his arms, the next he's on the floor, unable to move.
