ReVAMPED | The Lost Boys

Hi Ho Silver

A/N: I've been on a writing binge this week! Enjoy!

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Sammy regretted her decision as soon as the words toppled out of her mouth.

He was never going to buy it, and Paul was a perfect stranger. Why would he care? She did not need to bring him into this. It was a mistake. It was a terrible mistake.

Sam held her breath, biting her lip. She was waiting for his reaction, for something, anything to happen. Paul's gaze was hooked on her shoulder, and Sammy slowly pushed her shirt back into its place. The bruising must have looked worse than she thought. He looked shocked? Confused maybe? She couldn't blame him if he was. With one last glance at Sam he looked back down to the comic and his eyes quickly trailed over to the garlic and the cross. He slouched down, reaching for the cross on the counter. He turned it in his hand and nodded. Was he nodding at her? Was he nodding at the cross? He was in his own little world.

He wasn't saying anything. Why wasn't he saying anything?

"Paul?" Sammy asked as carefully as she could, but her voice was small. He let out a tsk, like he was unconvinced of what she revealed to him.

"Well that's a new one." He admitted.

Sammy's eyes snapped back up to him and Paul was shaking his head with an exhale. With a pointed look directed towards her shoulder he crossed his arms. "You've gotta go get that checked."

"Not happening." Sammy reacted faster than she thought she would, shaking her head quickly. If she went to the hospital what was she going to say? They would think that she was some domestic abuse victim. And then what would they do? They would tell her mom. She needed to keep her mom out of it for sure. Lucy would have a conniption fit and then they would really have a reason to go to the hospital.

"Girly what do you mean?" He asked with disbelief.  "You're a punch away from being Violet Beauregarde." He chirped with a laugh, but at Sammy's incredulous reaction he quickly cleared his throat. "Not the giant blueberry part, of course, but the purple part."

She scoffed and against her better judgment she grinned at his poor joke, and she shook her head again. "I'm not going to be able to explain this to a doctor." Sam clarified, but Paul's eyes lit up again. He was so animated it felt like she was watching a kid learn that they could have a second helping of dessert.

"You're not fucking with me, right?" He deadpanned.  "Right?" he added in his sing-song voice, twiddling the cross in his hands. He was being playful, but that's not what Sammy needed. She needed him to take it a notch down. She was being straight with him. "Cus if you're messing with me this is some grade A -"

"Paul." Sam cut him off more harshly than she wanted to, but she was not in the joking mood. Her next words were articulate, purposeful. "I've got to find this girl."

She could see the shift in his features as he watched her, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He was looking like her like she was about to reveal that it was a big joke, but it never came. His eyes went back down to the cross and he handed it to her carefully. She gripped it tightly. She wasn't joking with him.

"You're serious about this." His tone was flat, his cheerful mood deflated for a solitary moment. Maybe Sammy had taken the upper hand and he actually believed her. Paul wasn't asking her a question, but was affirming what she was saying.

"Dead serious."

Sam was clear in her demeanor; it was not up for debate. Paul gave her another serious look before snorting out a laugh.