Tatum, the only daughter of Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley, couldn't wait to leave the horrors of Woodsboro behind and set out for New York City with her surviving friends.
Despite her hopes of starting anew, Tate soon finds herself face to face wit...
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TATUM LIES ON THE CROWDED BED, STARING AT THE CEILING. She can hear Chad snoring and Tara tossing and turning next to her. She feels so tired, but her mind is racing, replaying the events of the day over and over again. She just can't seem to drift off to sleep.
After a while, she decides to get up and check on Ethan and Sam. She quietly slips out of the room and finds them standing guard outside the door. Ethan is munching on a bag of Cheetos, his face illuminated by the glow of his phone.
She clears her throat, and they both turn to look at her. Ethan's face lights up when he sees her, and he gives her a small smile.
"What is it with you and Cheetos in moments of stress?" she jokes, trying to lighten the mood.
Ethan chuckles. "I don't know, dude," he says, holding out the bag to her. "Want some?"
Tatum shakes her head. "No thanks, I'm not really hungry."
They stand there in silence for a few moments, just looking at each other. Tatum can see the exhaustion etched on Ethan's face, and she knows he's been through just as much as she has today.
"Thank you," she says quietly, breaking the silence.
"For?" Ethan asks, genuinely confused.
"For being here, dumbass." Tatum replies.
Ethan's expression softens, and he reaches out to take her hand. "You don't have to thank me," he says. "I'll always be here for you, dumbass."
Tatum feels a lump form in her throat, and she fights back tears. She squeezes Ethan's hand, grateful for his unwavering support.
"Come on," Sam says, breaking the moment. "Let's get you back to bed. We'll be fine."
Tatum nods, though she wants to stay. She knows she's the whole reason why they made this pit stop at the hotel in the first place, so the least she can do is at least pretend to rest.
She says goodnight to Ethan and Sam and slips back into the room, climbing into bed next to Chad and Tara. Tatum can't shake the memory of her mother lying in the hospital bed, hooked up to all sorts of machines and tubes. She remembers how weak and vulnerable Gale looked, which was so unlike her usual strong and confident demeanor. It was as if all of the life had been drained from her.
Her mind keeps going back to the moment she walked into the hospital room, and how she couldn't bear to see her mother struggling to breathe with that mask on her face. She held her hand, hoping to offer some comfort, but when her mother turned to her, seeming to just have noticed her presence, she pulled the mask away from her face as if in a hurry.
"Listen to me, baby girl," Gale had whispered, her voice weak and raspy. "Don't trust boys with empty eyes."
Tatum wonders if her mother's words were just the result of the pain and medication, but she can't shake off the feeling that there's more to it. She trusts Ethan, she knows him well enough to know that he would never hurt her or her family. But still, the words linger in her mind, haunting her.
