“Wh— no, no. It’s the other ankle. I’ll just wrap it up.” Very gently, she disentangled her hand from his, and turned the car on. “You aren’t a monster. I would know. It wasn’t you.” She looked down at the gearshift for a long moment, and her voice wobbled a little. “Will you stay with me?”
Clutching at his knees, he nodded slowly and exhaled a deep, shaking sigh. “But…I have fangs and everything. Aren’t you scared, Summer? I know you have a lot of questions…” He mumbled and then nodded, casting her a weak smile. “Always.”
She drove for a little distance before she answered, trying not to move her ankle too much or grip the steering wheel too hard. She realised she probably should have washed her hands off, or wrapped them in something, before they left, but it was too late now. “I’m not scared of you. I could never be scared of you. The … who had the blue eyes? He’s frightening. He popped out from behind a tree at me, for fuck’s sake.” Now that there was time between her and the incident, her fear was starting to convert to anger.