Disclaimer: I own nothing at all to do with The Lost Boys. Thank you all so much for your reviews, I REALLY hope you enjoy this chapter, however I am a tad nervous. :-) Thanks again. x Happy Halloween! And R.I.P River Phoenix, who sadly died on this day. Always missed. x

Chapter Fifteen

I look up at the sky, at the flat gray clouds with darkness approaching as I stroll toward the Boardwalk. I'm alone. For some reason I feel the loneliest I have ever felt in my entire life... and cold... and scared. How could I have scared that poor old man so fiercely? And then something I did seemed to also set David off, to cause him to leave me standing there like some idiotic monster staring down at its prey while it quivered and begged.

I had come so close to killing the man and that thought sickened me...

I spot David by the railings of the Boardwalk, smoking another one of his darned cigarettes. I start to feel furious and stride straight over to him, my hands clenched into tight fists. "How could you ditch me like that?" I hiss in frustration at the back of his head, causing a few people to turn their heads in my direction and stare.

They probably thought it was laughable; some young and defenceless twenty-year old girl shooting her mouth off at this boy almost a few years older than her in age and who was in no way a match for her physically, who was taller and had unmatchable strength, it would seem...

David looks unfazed as he turns on his heel to look at me. "You were pissing me off, Ruby," he says, looking at me honestly. The bile rises in my throat as he takes a deep drag of his cigarette before continuing, "So in the midst of fighting the urge to both kill you right there in that alleyway or force that blood-bag down your throat so you could feed, I decided to leave..." He shrugs, smirking, and gives me a look that says, it's over now, deal with it...

I was unprepared for his honesty. "Oh. Well, if I piss you off that much, David, why don't you just -" I try to keep the hurt out of my voice, to maintain the same level of anger that is rising up in my throat and spilling out with my words. "Why don't you just kill me then, if I piss you off that much?"

David at last looks taken aback by my sudden outburst, stunned, leaning back away from me from across the railings. I wait for him to say something. It dawns on me that I am mostly waiting for David to jump into action, to plunge his teeth into my neck, to drain every last drop of my blood until my heart gives out. Instead, he flattens the end of his cigarette on the railings, dousing the light and cutting off the smoke.

I shiver against the wind as he looks over at me defiantly, his eyebrows raised. "Careful, Ruby," he says with a clear note of caution in his voice. "Ask something of us boys and one day you might just get..." He comes up to me, very close, and I take a step back away from him, not only out of fear but out of shock. My back presses uncomfortably against the railings.

I must look horrified. "Then why don't you just go ahead and do it right now," I whisper angrily. "We both know I'll never be able to feed. It's cruel." My hands start trembling.

I couldn't look at him; I keep my eyes down to the ground, breathing, my breath steaming in front of me in white clouds from the dropping cold temperature of Santa Carla's late morning hours.

My first mistake was to peek up and look at him; David's imposing face was only inches away from mine. I had never seen him so close before; I was used to keeping a fair ways distance between us, mainly out of habit and fear. Although his skin was ghostly pale in the dark, I saw through the bright red-and-yellow flickering lights of the Boardwalk that glinted generously on his face that he was grimacing. I could see the outline of his hairline on his forehead, his hair a dark gray in contrast to the darkness surrounding us. I could smell him so vividly now – something I hadn't picked up before – the musky scent of tobacco and something else that seemed to cling onto every inch of him.

"Oh, well, hey. No problem!"

Before I can even comprehend what is happening, David lunges into action, placing two very cold hands over my ears. I shriek and whimper as he tips my head back, forcing me to look directly into those chilling eyes of his. I wince and try to yank my head away from him, but his hold was too strong.

I squeeze my eyes tightly shut and exhale a mouthful of air shakily.

Please don't do it, please don't do it. I chant over and over in my head. I'm not quite ready to die or give up yet...

My head and neck are beginning to throb from David's painful hold, my ears starting to ache dully from the iciness of his hands and fingers holding my head slanted upward toward him. The wind is knocked out of me as something cold and firm is suddenly brought to my mouth. Someone's teeth are biting gently at my lower lip and my eyes flutter slowly open to find that it's... David.

His face is so close to mine that I can make out his dark eyelashes, fluttering delicately below his eyelids. It suddenly dawns on me that he is – kissing me? His teeth are nibbling at my lip and I start to feel very sick. I was torn in that instance; I had built up inside all of these walls of hatred and hostility toward him, convinced myself that I was nothing at all like him and that Susie wasn't either, despite how much she had changed...

I had been so adamant on the idea that David loathed me and the very notion of me joining – and intruding on – his happy little clan yet now everything was suddenly unanswered, left me more confused than ever before. My head swims as David's teeth bite into my lower lip, a sea of excruciating pain suddenly inflicted on me, and then I realized what I was doing; I was responding to him, to his kiss...

I push him away; his lips and face at last away from mine. "David -" I pant, out of breath, my voice rasping.

My knees buckle underneath the profound weight of what just happened; why did I do that? Why did he do that? By responding to him in that way wasn't I betraying everything I once stood for? Wasn't I betraying Susie by this? Was I giving up the fight for normalcy in her life – in mine – by allowing this to happen?

I feel like I want to be sick. But then there's nothing in my stomach; no food.

I bring a trembling hand up to my mouth as David scoots away from me, leaning his elbows against the railing as though nothing had just even happened. My mouth feels bruised, sore, and when I move my hand away and look down at it... there's blood. I couldn't seem to wrap my head around it.

I glance over at David in numb shock, an unlit cigarette placed above his earlobe as he watches clusters of rowdy teenagers passing by; his slate blues squinted in what I thought was a pensive expression. Something seemed to be on his mind and, yet, mine was completely blank.

And then my eyesight started to go blurry, and then my hands went at it with their shaking again. I was never good with composing myself; I took off, ambling away from the railings. I didn't want David to see me like this – so pathetic and weak in response to his kiss.

I desperately wanted to vomit, and searched despairingly around me for the ladies restrooms on the Boardwalk. I accidently knocked shoulders with a Goth girl, who turned around to give me a dirty look, her dark lipstick painted lips pulled down into a threatening grimace.

Oh, my God. What have I done?

"Ruby -" I hear David call; he must be following me. Somebody catches my arm. "Sorry about what happened back there. No hard feelings, huh?" There is urgency in his voice. I swing around at the sound of it to find him staring straight ahead of me, tense and anxious. Well, that's most definitely a first.

I seethe in embarrassment, wiping my eyes quickly with the sleeves of my jacket.

It was then that I learned something unexpected about David: that underneath the layers of his obnoxious and youthful exuberance; he could even be a vulnerable, loving person.