Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Black Cat

A/N: Pleas bear with me on this one. Not much happens in this chapter, but there are important details about the characters. I do not know when I will post up my next chapter after today. I must say farewell to winter break...:'( I will try to post as soon as I can.

Chapter 4

"Luna, do you remember their room number?" "I thought you knew it," I told him. Ryan turned to look at me. "How am I supposed to know it? I never asked them."

"But, I thought you talked to them before."

"It's not like I ask random tourists where they're staying. If you didn't know their room number, you should have gone up with them."

"I needed to park the car," I defended myself. "You were the one too embarrassed to follow them!"

Our voices grew louder in the hotel as the fighting escalated. Just when I was about to call Ryan something a proper lady wouldn't even dream of saying, let alone shout, a man's voice came from behind us. "What's with all the yelling?"

We both turned our heads to find Sven holding a couple of bags. Then we realized how loudly we'd been arguing. Everyone in the hotel lobby was still staring at us as we stood there in the center of the room. "Hey, Sven!" Ryan greeted him awkwardly, feeling all the eyes staring at the back of his head. "We..didn't notice we were shouting so loudly." "I can see that," Sven replied. "But what are you shouting about?" He looked in my direction for an answer. "Well...I forgot to ask Train and Eve what your room number was," I explained. I glared at Ryan, "Though Ryan could have just gone up with them and told me the number on my phone." Ryan raised his hands in front of him. "Don't pin this one on me, Sis. This was all you."

"Well if you both stopped arguing," Sven cut in. "You could follow me up. And Ryan.." Sven swung one of the grocery bags towards Ryan. "Could you help me with this?" "Sure." Ryan took the bag offered to him, and Sven led us to the elevator. It was already open for a man who was also heading up.

We all filed in and Sven pressed the 7 button inside. "The room number is 787," Sven told us. "All the numbers below that were booked." "I guess this place gets pretty crowded during Spring Break," I commented. As if on cue, the elevator stopped at the second floor and opened to a group of 8 people, some in swimsuits and others in gym clothes. I guessed there was some kind of indoor pool or gym around here. They all crowded in, and we soon stood inside the elevator in silence. Throughout the ride up, though, it felt like someone inside was watching me. I glanced around, but didn't catch anyone looking in my direction. All I could see were a family in their swim clothes and some college guys in their gym clothes.

When we finally reached our floor, Sven asked, "So why are you coming up here? From the sounds of things, Train's already out and about." He gave us a curious look as he said this. "It was my idea," I said. Ryan nodded. "While you were busy with the police, I mentioned to Luna that you guys didn't even get to eat anything because of what happened." "So I decided to treat you to a home-cooked meal instead." Sven was surprised, but he smiled all the same. "Well, thank you. It'll help us save money on eating costs." "You're very welcome," I replied grinning myself.

We got to their room and a giant black blur tackled Sven once he opened the door. "SVEEEEEN!" cheered a very noisy Train. He held onto Sven like his life depended on it. "I'm so happy to see–!" "No food if you don't get off me right now," Sven deadpanned before Train could even finish his sentence. At that, Train dropped like a stone. "Does he always act like that?" Ryan asked. Sven sighed. "For the most part, yeah." I couldn't imagine what it'd be like living with someone like that. And I thought Ryan was immature. "Must be tiresome."

The room was a small, quaint suite. The door opened to the bedroom. To the left, there was a built in closet and the wall to the right of the door bordered the kitchen area. Eve was sitting on one of the beds that sat in front of the kitchen, watching NOVA on the TV. She turned to look at us when we walked in."Hey, Sven." She saw the bags he and Ryan were carrying. "What did you bring?" "Just some groceries," he said, putting the groceries on the counter next to the stove. Ryan followed suit. At the far side of the room were a couple of chairs and a small table sitting next to a window facing the city. I walked over to sit in one of the chairs and Ryan put the duffel bag he brought on the table. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought the city view would be beautiful in the morning. But if you live in Downtown Houston, you know that the only time the view is amazing is at night, when all the cracks and trash on the sidewalks and in the streets are covered in darkness and when the light building windows were all you can see.

"What kind of groceries did you bring?" Train asked. He opened the bags and his face lit up at what he found. Sven went to sit at the foot of Eve's bed. "I bought egg, rice, some hot dogs, soy sauce, and milk." He took off his hat and coat and lay them next to him as he settled down to watch the show. "I had to buy it to feed a greedy little Black Cat." "You can't blame me for being hungry," Train said. Then we heard a loud rumbling that seemed to shake the room. I looked up at the ceiling. "Are they renovating upstairs or something?" Everyone in the room except me sweat dropped. "That," Eve answered, "Was Train's stomach." I looked at Train, both in amazement and a little pity. "How 'bout I start on that meal I was just talking about?"I suggested.

I showed myself over to the kitchen and took out all the groceries from their bags, though the milk was already taken care of. I checked the mini-fridge, but there was nothing inside. I searched all the cabinets and drawers to see what else there might be for me to use. In the end, I found a pot, a can of green beans, plates, minimal cutlery, and some glasses, all covered in a layer of dust. "Not much to go by," I muttered to myself as I thought of what I could make. I rinsed the pot, plates, glasses, and silverware as I thought. Finally, I asked, "How does Jambalaya sound?" Without waiting for a reply, I fired up the stove. Within fifteen minutes, I had a steaming pot of Jambalaya – a delicious mixture of rice, meat and veggies, Louisiana style. Ryan had already set out the plates, glasses, and spoons.

"Dig in!" I called. Train raced over to the table and dumped just about half the pot on his plate. Sven was just as enthusiastic, though he didn't eat quite as fast as Train did. Ryan and I just stared. "When was the last time they ate?" we asked Eve in unison. She looked a little embarrassed as she answered. "Umm.. around yesterday afternoon, I think." Well that was a surprise. "So when Sven said this would save on eating expenses...?" I trailed off. "We've been...trying to reduce the debts we owe by saving money as much as possible." We looked at the half-starving men in wonder. Through a mouthful of rice, Train said, "Runa, yis is derishus! Yoo weery aww a gway' cook!" I couldn't help but laugh. "It'll be a waste on you if you choke." Somehow, he was able to swallow everything without suffocating. He gave me a cocky grin. "Hah! I won't choke." He demonstrated once more by wolfing down another plateful. "SEE!" "I haven't had food this good for weeks," Sven said in between servings. "Thank you," I said. I smiled warmly from the bottom of my heart, and so did Ryan. We both missed eating like this with other people.

An hour or so later, after I cooked and served another pot of Jambalaya, we were all sitting around the room. Train was still sitting in one of the chairs resting while Ryan, Eve, and I decided to go sit on the unoccupied bed and play cards. Sven was lying on the bed next to us, thoroughly stuffed from my successful meal. "BS!" Ryan cried as Eve was supposedly putting down an Ace from her hand. She looked up at him, surprised, and turned the mystery card over – a 6. "Looks like you'll have to keep the stack now," I said. She was a good sport about it, though she still looked perplexed at Ryan's successful confrontation. "That's the third time you've caught me," she said. "Don't worry about it, Eve," I comforted her. "You have a great poker face, hands down. It's just that Ryan here has a knack for catching liars. Trying to win BS against him is like trying to win a race against a cheetah." Ryan had a cocky glint in his eye. "Are you saying it's impossible to beat me, Luna Daniels?" He put down a card from his hand. "No, I simply said it's difficult. It's not impossible," I replied as I watched him put down the card. "Especially not, according to that Bull Shit you just put down." Ryan froze before pulling back his card. I smirked, "You're not the only one who learned from Mom and Dad." At that, Sven looked up. "Hey. Is it alright with your parents that you're out so late?"

Tension suddenly heightened in the air. Ryan's smile faded and he went quiet at the mention of our parents. I slowly reached for the ring on my right hand, rubbing it as I always did when I remembered Mom. "We live on our own," I said simply. Train looked up at us thoughtfully. "Why don't you live with your family?" I turned my head down and studied the details of the carpet, keeping from making much eye contact. "We...don't really get along with our family." Sven's brow furrowed. "You guys are pretty young to be living alone. Things with your folks can't be that bad." I opened my mouth to answer once more, but Ryan interrupted. "Our parents are dead. They were killed two years ago." Shocked silence filled the room. Train and Sven both sat up where they were. I glanced at Ryan, startled at his sudden outburst. We usually kept the fact that we were orphans secret, let alone that Mom and Dad were murdered. Does he trust these people that much?

He continued, telling them the whole story. "Our family expected us to go live with them, but even though we were young, Luna and I could tell that none of our relatives wanted to take care of us so much as they wanted our inheritance. Neither of our parents had gotten along with them when they were alive either. Luna was already 18 so, we left. Our family got upset and disowned us, and somehow they were able to get the inheritance they wanted, too. Luna quit college and home schooled me, and...here we are."

Silence encompassed the room once again as everyone absorbed this. Ryan's expression was unreadable. I couldn't really tell what he was feeling as he started playing with his gold watch. Eve looked at both of us, as if we were totally different people. Train was stiff. He looked, almost angry when he heard everything. Finally, Sven spoke up. "I'm sorry to hear that...We all are." I smiled sadly at him. "It's alright. Not like you it's your fault." I poked Ryan in the forehead to try and lighten the mood once more. "We get along fine right?" I stood up and held my right hand out to him. Ryan looked up at me and smiled back. He took my hand in a high five."Stuck for together for life," he said. "Inseparable," we said in unison. It was a motto we'd followed ever since the night our parents died.

The atmosphere in the room warmed up after that. "You guys are close, huh?" Train said. He was smiling again too. "We've had each others' backs since we were little," Ryan replied. "Yeah. The last thing our parents would want is for us to be separated." Train reached for the lump on the back of his head. "I'm sure you won't disappoint them."

After a moment or so, it was about time for us to leave. I checked Ryan's watch for the time. 11:00 PM "Shit," I mumbled to myself. I walked over to the window to try and see what it was like outside. The skyline was lovely, but on the ground, movement lurked in the dark. "What's wrong?" Sven asked. He was picking up the plates from the table. I sighed, "Nothing. We have to get home soon," I said, still looking out the window. I tried to hide the concern in my voice. Everyone in Downtown knew that there were fewer officers out at night. Plus more gang fights...and murders...and burglaries. I must have looked really worried, because just then, Eve suggested, "You could stay with us for the night."

"W-w-what?" I sputtered at the sudden invitation. "Sven, you said it's dangerous around here at night right?" Train added. Ryan and I looked at each other. These guy had just saved our lives and now they were letting us sleep over. Automatically, a little voice in the back of my head started screaming, "Too much, Too Much, TOO MUCH!" We both started to protest. "No way, you guys already put up with us so much – ," "I'm used to driving around here at night – ," "Our clothes are still over at my house – ," "You guys need to rest – ," "I – ." Sven raised his voice over ours.

"You two are staying with us for the night. That's final." He turned towards Eve. "Eve, do you have any clothes Luna could borrow?" Eve went to check in a suitcase in the closet. I made one last effort to change their minds. "Sven, really. This is too much to offer. We're overstaying our welcome." "Nonsense," he answered. "We are the ones asking you to stay. Besides, it wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to let you and your younger brother leave. You'd both be defenseless out there." As much as I didn't like being called "defenseless," I knew he was right. There was no question about whether or not we could trust them. And it was clear their minds were all made up. "Fine," I finally said. "We'll stay."

A/N: Good stuff coming is finally in next chapter. I can't wait..:D...and i couldn't fit it into the summary, but there will also be an Eve x OC romance (im pretty sure everyone figured that one out already)