Disclaimer - I own nothing.

Credit to Sunlitmercy for the title.

''Come on, Paul, it'll be great''

Just as those words were said a bony hand wrapped around his shoulder, attempting to pull him to one side. It worked to no avail.

A snapping sound came then. It was the blonde stood on the other side of him, chewing a wad full of gum like a cow eating grass. ''Yeah, it'll be amazing. A few drinks, poker, and maybe some fun after.'' It was her turn to grab his other arm then, a lustful smile given. Her polished nails dug into his arm.

''Ladies'' He moved away from them. ''Paulies, gotta date tonight'' A cracking grin came into place.

Both instantly looked crestfallen, and then the exclamations came.

''What?''

''With another girl?''

''But the party will be so much better. You know how I get on whiskey'' Images came then, and the grin stretched.

''Yeah, and give me a few shots of that homemade vodka of yours and...''

He cut in before they could go any further. ''Sorry, girls, not tonight.''

''Well, you are no fun'' Without another word, the red head walked off, hips shaking, and in a second, she was making conversation with a trio of guys standing around the popcorn vender. Paul raised his brows for a second. She got boring after a while anyway.

The blonde, however, remained, trying to give it one last shot. ''Cancel your date, don't go. Come hang out with me for the night.'' She inched closer to him. He could smell her over powering perfume. ''You know, Paul, I'm not wearing anything underneath this skirt.'' And it worked. His eyes went down, and a giggle escaped her lips as his hand began to glide up her leg. It stopped. She paused.

''Not tonight. ''

His hand moved away from the smoothness of her skin, and a sulky look came upon her face.

''What could be better than me?''

''Babe, you know you're the only one for me.'' He loved lying.

She only looked half convinced. ''Then why are you meeting some girl?''

''It's not a date. I'm just hanging out with some chick.''

''Why did you say it was?'' Her tone began to get snappy. ''You'd rather miss a night of partying and sex with me and go hang out with some girl?

''Alright. It's Marko.''

''Who, the short one you're always with?''

''Yeah.'' He perched himself up on the railing, the spot he usually sat on every night. ''See, he's kind of...How do you say it? A right drip when it comes to chicks.''

She looked confused.

''The last girl he tried to get on, well, he ended up scaring her away, and the one before...I won't even go into that. He's not good around girls. The midget seriously can't say or do the right things around women.''

''You're lying''

He pulled her towards him. ''I wouldn't lie to you, babe. Look, he hasn't been laid in...two years, maybe more. The guy seriously needs to get his dick wet. And I'm going to help him out tonight.'' She moved away from him when he lit up a smoke. ''Yeah, I know he looks like an anti social retard, and dresses like a fag, and everything, but he's my friend, so I'm going to help him out.''

It was silent for a few seconds. ''Paul, you really are a sweet guy.'' He felt her lips press into his cheek then, wisps' of her hair blowing around his nose. ''He does dress a bit weird''

He laughed, and she shook her head slightly. ''You will come and see me tomorrow?''

''I promise, babe.''

''Chickies...dumb bitches.''

''What other insults are you going to say about me?''

''Don't be sour, bud.'' Paul turned, directly facing Marko, who didn't seem amused with the lies he fed the blonde ''I needed them out of my hair for the night''

''So you had to be a coward and lie. Why didn't you just say you couldn't be bothered with their asses trailing after you all night?''

''Still got to keep them wanting me.'' His arm came around Marko's shoulder. ''It worked. You get me out of some stuff''

''It's the last time, too. If I'm used again to get you out of some stuff, just don't blame me if I lose my cool and you find your beach babes heads on Hudson's Bluff.''

''You wouldn't do that to me''

Marko merely grinned sadistically, before turning away. ''No, I wouldn't do that to you''

And for a small part of want of change of scenerey, away from the glitters and stripes of the carousel him and the guys usually walked around every night, and the game noises from the arcades, the pulsing, colourful, lights of the rides that span around for a good part of six hours a night, he moved down onto the beach. He knew after him using Marko to get him away from the girls, he wasn't in his good books that night, so he was out of the question to tag along with, and he found David to be a bore, and when going with Dwayne, it usually ended up with him getting a thump around the head, so it meant he was alone to amuse himself, or just find someone else to entertain him until all four met back up.

He had no plans but to walk, smoke a load of jonts, and see if there was anything worth doing on the beach. He only knew so far his boots were getting covered in gunky, wet, sand that squished beneath his feet, and that there was nothing that was catching his attention. He had hours ahead of him to kill, and already fed well that night, it seemed it was going to be a lot of walking and hanging with some of the partiers all over the beach. All he had to do was shake his bag of weed, shake some notes out as well, and he'd practically start getting humped on the leg by them like dogs.

He moved past groups of people minutes later, though he didn't stop. Even though Paul liked socialising with people and partying, he knew if he stuck the night alone, it was more drugs for himself, and money to spend on himself, too. Sure, he didn't mind supplying the odd group of people he chose to herd in with for a night, with his drugs and buying beers, but sometimes, a night just alone could go down a dime. Paul wasn't sure which one he preferred doing.

It wasn't until his thoughts were going half a mile, did a quiet voice break through.

''Huh?''

''A dollar. Do you have a dollar to spare?'' It came across edgy, timid and, curious, he turned around.

It was glitter, sequins meshed together, chocolate, drippy, eyes, pink rosy lips, and a thick curtain of curls that he managed to register before anything else. Blinking, Paul advanced in his usual friendly way. ''What do you want a dollar for, girl?''

His eyes roamed over the old, a size to big for her, military jacket she wore, then going to the thin almost curtained material camisole underneath, before they went right down to her sand, covered, bear feet.

''Food''

He met her eyes then. She seemed lost, stuck, and afraid on what to do and where to go. ''Runaway, huh?''

She nodded her head slightly.

Paul looked around for a second, and deciding he had nothing better to do, he looked back at her. ''I know a place we can go for something to eat''

And just a little, her tired eyes glinted with relief. They walked then.

''You have a name, or should I just say runaway girl?'' He gave her a smile, and it was returned.

''Star.''

''I'm Paul.''

I was going to write a lot more to this, but seeing as my writing is somewhat of ''rusty'' lately, I thought I'd make it pretty short. I'm sure I could always add another chapter, and make it a two shot if I feel in doing so, but for now it stays like this.