"I swear to god, if this is all happening because of you..."

.

.

.

"HEY, YOU'RE up," Wes softly spoke as the group of teenagers entered the hospital room. Amber almost shoved the boy out of the way as she went to claim the seat beside Tara, instantly reaching out and grabbing on to her best friend's hand in support.

Layla's heart pounded in her chest as she stepped into the room behind her friends, waiting patiently as the rest of them greeted her recently-ex girlfriend. Her palms were sweaty, and her legs felt weak beneath her. She wasn't worried about how she'd feel when she saw Tara - she was worried that somehow, despite everything they had gone through, that Tara would think she had something to do with this.

She knew her adoptive father's number one rule: never trust the love interest. And with everything her family (bio and adoptive) had been through, she knew that being high on Judy Hicks' suspect list meant that at least one of her friends would doubt her too.

When she reached the door, she paused for a moment, her hand hovering uncertainly over the handle as she contemplated whether or not she should shut it behind them, or if that would make it feel too claustrophobic for Tara. She took a deep breath, her hand falling away from the handle as she changed her mind about shutting it and stepped inside.

The room was dimly lit, with only a small lamp casting a soft glow over the bed in the corner. The blinds were pulled shut over the window, making Layla wonder if it was because of the evening or to prevent anyone from somehow being able to see into the room. She wasn't sure she liked the thought of that. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the figure lying in the bed, Tara flinching a little as she slowly sat up to embrace and interact with the group around them.

As she approached the bed, she could hear the sound of her labored breathing, caused by the significant amount of injuries that she had sustained. Layla swallowed hard, her throat feeling tight with emotion. This wasn't like the others - no-one had ever survived the first Ghostface attack. 

Finally, she reached the side of the bed and saw his face for the first time. He looked so much older than she remembered, with deep lines etched into his skin and gray stubble covering his jaw. His eyes were closed, but she could see the faint movement of his chest as he struggled to breathe.

"Hey," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

For a long moment, she didn't respond. Layla's heart sank as she wondered if she even wanted her there. But then Tara's eyes fluttered towards her, and she squinted up at her through the dim light.

"Lails," she rasped, her voice barely above a whisper.

Layla felt a lump rise in her throat as she took Tara's hand in hers. It felt rough, callused and drier than usual, but it was still warm, still alive. She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes as she tried to compose herself.

"You scared me," she said finally, breaking the silence. "I didn't know what to think. I thought...I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm sorry," Tara said, her eyes now looking around the room at all of their friends as she slowly let go of Layla's hand. The girl nodded a little in rejection, taking a step back as Mindy took her space on the side of Tara that wasn't occupied by Amber. "I didn't mean to worry you all."

"It's not your fault," Amber said, instantly shutting her apology down. "You couldn't have known what was going to happen."

They all fell into a comfortable silence for a moment. Layla watched as Amber squeezed Tara's hand once more, feeling like the warmth was leaving her body as she looked at the two. She knew that Amber was Tara's closet friend other than her, but it hurt to see Tara told her hand after letting go of Layla's.

Her phoned buzzed in her pocket, causing her to look down with a sudden realisation. Dewey.

kid, where are u?

at the hospital.

you were asleep when i came in last night and left this morning but tara got attacked last night. i'm fine tho, dw

i'll come get you

it's okay, i'm gonna hang here for a bit then hang with the others. maybe call wes' mom?

no problem. keep your phone on you, kid.

"Dewey?"

Layla looked up at Wes who had switched his attention to her, while Mindy and Amber tried to take Tara's mind off the situation at hand by discussing the weird encounter between Liv and her creepy ex-boyfriend that also used to work with Tara. She half-smiled at him, knowing that while they might have fallen out over his not-so-secret crush on the younger Carpenter sister, they were still good friends.

"Yeah, he was asleep when your mom picked me up last night and again this morning so I haven't had the chance to explain to him what happened," she explained, finishing her message and shoving her phone back into her pocket. 

She cast a quick glance around at their friends to make sure none of them were listening before lowering her voice as she spoke to the boy.

"How do I even explain that to him? He's gone through this four times now, Wes. He's lost his friends, his colleagues and even his fucking sister..." She sighed, running a hand along her face before looking back at Tara. "I don't want him to have to lose me too."

"He won't," Wes replied, his voice low enough so the others wouldn't hear but firm enough to make Layla feel slightly reassured. "My mom, she's going to find who did this. It's going to be fine. We'll be fine."

"Hey weirdos, what you gossiping about?" Mindy called out, causing everyone to turn to look at the two that had been silently conversing in the corner of the room. Tara's eyes flickered to Layla and remained on her, looking at her and not Wes. Everyone else's eyes flickered between the two with varying levels of emotion. Some judgemental, some concerned and some irritated.

Wes shrugged, looking at Layla to see what she was going to say. 

"Just our parents," Layla said, leaving no room for discussion. It was always awkward when Layla brought up her parents, as no-one ever wanted to ask which set she was referring to. Usually, it was obvious based on context, but they'd never been in a situation like this before. It was the first time that they'd all had no idea which parents she was meaning - since all four had been through this. "I called Sam, by the way."

"YOU called Sam?" Tara asked, thinking she had misheard her for a second. Chad snorted before trying to cover it up with a cough as Mindy leaned over and elbowed him hard in the abdomen. "You hate each other."

"She's your sister," Layla replied with a shrug, not denying her dislike for Sam. She moved to sit at the edge of the bed, resting her hand just beside Tara's free one. "Of course I called her."

The trio of them had been friends for years - despite Sam's age difference, but something had happened between Layla and Sam, something that neither of them quite knew how to address. Tara had pried into what had caused the two to almost suddenly become hostile with each other, but neither girl ever gave her a straight answer. Sam had said that she was too mature to hang around with twelve year olds, while Layla had told Tara that she didn't think Sam was good for them anyway with her constant run ins with her dad, the then-Sheriff Riley.

"You don't need to be here if it's too much," Tara muttered softly to Layla, looking at how close their hands were. She gently squeezed it, causing her ex's eyes to flicker to hers. Tara noted how they softened almost as soon as they connected, a small warm feeling igniting inside as she looked at the girl. "I'd understand if you couldn't be here."

"When it comes to you, I don't mind braving it," Layla replied, before noticing that their friends were all paying attention to the exchange again. "Besides, leaving you with Wes? Never."

"Hey!"

___

As the lights dimmed, the three girls settled into their seats. Tara and Layla were tucked in beside each other while Sam rested on the loveseat by herself. They'd planned this sleepover for Tara's twelfth birthday, and Dewey had been surprised when he had found out that Sam Carpenter was willing to sit and watch over the two girls for the night without getting paid for it.

As the feature film started, seventeen-year-old Sam stood up before rushing to the kitchen and passing a bowl of mixed popcorn to her younger companions. The two girls cheered as they thanked her, turning their attention back to the screen in front of them. They munched happily as the story unfolded, but soon their attention began to wander.

If Sam had sensed their restlessness, she didn't let on. Her eyes were focused on the phone screen in her hand, typing and sending away messages as she secretly planned her move away from Woodsboro. She hadn't figured out how she was going to tell Tara when she turned eighteen that she was leaving, but she knew that her mother would somehow spin it so that it just ended up hurting her younger sister even more. 

"Hey, do you wanna have a popcorn fight?"

Tara's eyes lit up with mischief as Layla nodded eagerly. The Carpenter girl grinned, her mischievousness mirroring Layla's as they both looked over at where Sam was still blissfully unaware of their scheming. Tara smirked, before she grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it at the unsuspecting target with a magical laugh.

Giggles and shrieks filled the air as the three girls engaged in their impromptu popcorn fight. Popcorn flew in all directions, some landing on the screen, others sticking to hair and clothing. But none of them cared – they were too caught up in the moment.

As the tiredness began to roll in, the girls settled down and started to gather the scattered popcorn. The older Carpenter smiled, feeling grateful for this moment with her sister and her sister's best friend - it made her feel normal again, and not like she was the bastard daughter of a serial killer. Even as they got older, she hoped they would never outgrow these spontaneous acts of silliness and joy.

"Layla, you can go borrow a sweatshirt from my closet if you're cold," Sam told the girl, smiling at her and her sister. "Me and Tara will get the blow up mattress inflated while you change."

Samantha Carpenter regretted that moment for the rest of her life.

Because when Layla Torres walked into the room upstairs and accidentally stumbled across an old diary that told the entire story of how Sam came into existence, she'd never forget the words on the page. The words that told her that Samantha Carpenter was Billy Loomis' daughter.

____

Layla looked up in surprise as the door swung open an hour later, all of them rising to their feet. There was a slight awkward silence as Sam entered the room, taking in all of the teenagers that she had last seen five years before. She'd babysat all of them, minus Amber - although she had met the girl a handful of times - and it felt surreal to see them standing here in front of her. 

They were the same age as she had been when she had left Woodsboro behind.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, crouching down beside Tara and gently placing a hand on her head, almost to reassure herself that the girl was alive.

"You came."

"Of course I came," Sam replied, a soft smile on her face. She felt guilty that her baby sister was so surprised that she would come, and she could feel the harsh glare of Layla Torres from the other side of the room. "This is my boyfriend, Richie."

"It's so nice to meet you," Richie said, crouching down a little as he looked at Tara. "I'm so sorry if I'm intruding."

"Nice to meet you, too," Tara replied, but it was clear she had no interest in the boy being there. She didn't even know her sister had a boyfriend. Her eyes flickered back over to where her friends were greeting Sam, having also not seen her for a long time.

Sam hugged Mindy, Chad and Wes, pausing to make a comment about how tall they had all gotten. Her eyes finally connected with Layla, a thick tension in the air that none of them really knew how to address. The other teens shared a look, surprised that whatever issues they had with each other were still present - even with Tara having almost become sliced meat.

"Thank you for calling," Sam said after a moment, hoping that Layla understood that she was being genuine. Layla nodded a little, not saying anything as Sam awkwardly shuffled back around to Richie to introduce them all to the man.

Chad moved, throwing his arm around Layla's shoulder to try and ease the tension that was in her body. He huffed under his breath a little as his friend lightly pushed him away, showing that she wasn't in the mood to be touched. He nodded, taking a step back towards Mindy instead.

"These are Chad and Mindy, the twins... And Wes," Sam said as they all waved. "I used to babysit them all - Layla too."

"Which is always how I like to be introduced," Wes quipped back, causing everyone to smile a little. He took it as a win since it was the first small smile he had seen from Layla in months. He hated that this had happened to Tara, but it seemed as if the situation had began to repair his strained friendship with his longest-standing friend.

"And Amber," Sam finished, Amber raising an eyebrow with attitude and forcing a smile on her face as she greeted Sam. 

Despite her best efforts, Tara found herself stealing glances at Layla every few minutes, trying to gauge her mood and understand what she was thinking. But Layla's expression was unreadable, and it only added to the uncertainty and discomfort that Tara was feeling about her friends and Sam all being in the same room. As Richie introduced himself, Layla found herself getting more and more agitated, unsure of what to do or say in this awkward situation. She knew that her and Sam needed to talk things out, but she didn't know where to start or how to bridge the gap between them. She didn't know if she wanted to - especially since Ghostface was back.

"Where's Mom?"

"She's stuck at a conference in London," Tara replied, no-one being surprised by her answer. Their mom was absent and had been for years, hence why Sam was always babysitting. "She called me earlier."

"Yeah, for all of ten minutes," Amber snapped, making Layla finally break her silence as she felt tensions rise again. She knew Amber was trying to be protective of Tara, but snide comments about Mrs Carpenter's lack of parenting skills was going to get them all nowhere.

"Tara's really tired," Layla declared, noticing how Tara shot her a thankful look. "Maybe we should just give her some space - alone."

"Not you, Sam," Tara called out as the girl rose to her feet. She'd only just got her sister back. "I want you to stay."

"If it's okay with you, I could sleep here tonight."

"I'd really like that," Tara replied, saying goodbye to her friends as they all left the room. 

"Do you not want Layla to stay?" Sam asked, surprised that Layla was also heading towards the door. Last she heard, Layla and Tara had been dating, but it was becoming obvious to her that they were either arguing, not dating or had fully had a messy break-up.

"No, it's okay, I'll give you your alone time," Layla replied, feeling a bit light headed and short-breathed from their time in the hospital. It was no secret she hated the building, and while her friends didn't know that she had been there the night Jill Roberts was killed, they just assumed it brought up dad memories of her parents deaths.

As Layla made her way across the room and towards the exit that her friends had just left from, she could feel Tara's eyes on her, and she tried to keep her gaze steady, not wanting to show any vulnerability. But as she got closer, she found it harder and harder to keep up the act. Her mind was racing with conflicting emotions, and she wasn't sure how to act or what to say. A piece of her didn't want to leave Sam alone with her love. 

Sam stood awkwardly at the door as Layla went to brush past her, trying to avoid interrupting Amber asking Tara is she had her inhaler on her. As the two girls discussed, Layla grabbed on to Sam's elbow and moved closer towards her so that she could drop her voice down to a murmur.

The silence between them was awkward, and it felt like a thick fog that Sam couldn't see through. She prepared herself for whatever Layla had to say, and hoped that it wasn't going to blow her secret before she had the chance to tell Sam herself.

"I swear to god, if this is all happening because of you..."

"I know," Sam replied, cutting her off. She wanted to scream that this was nothing to do with her, that her baby sister wasn't sitting in this hospital because of her - but Sam had that nagging feeling that someone knew. Someone was doing this because of her and her secret.

Layla turned on her heel, casting one last look at Tara before storming out of the room. She tried to ignore Amber rushing to catch up with her as she stormed down the hall towards where the rest of their friends were waiting, shrugging the girl off as she lightly grabbed at her arm.

"What was that about? What did you just say to Sam that made her so upset?"

"Just leave it, Amber."

Amber dropped her hand from Layla's arm as if she had been burned. She narrowed her eyes as Layla wrapped her arms around Chad, leaning her head against his shoulder with a sigh. Her friends all stood for a moment before turning back around to check if she had caught up to them yet. Her glare instantly turned into a soft smile, but there was a nagging thought at the back of her head.

Layla knew more about the Carpenter's history than Amber thought, and the black-haired girl wasn't sure if she liked that.