Re: The woods
The idea of a contract written up by this idiot made Neil want to laugh. Please, like any of this would ever hold up in a legitimate court, not that it would ever get that far if things went south. Sam's parents might be seasoned cons, and they might have some rich folks on leashes, but in a legal battle, well, it was painfully clear who would win that fight. "You go do that," he told him, managing to keep most of the intended sarcasm from seeping into his tone.
Oh, dear god. He stood stock still as Louis hugged him, hoping for some sort of miracle that would make him forget all this, but yeah, not likely to happen, considering his luck. After a moment of sheer awkward uncertainty, Neil raised a hand and patted his not-brother's back, a pitiful attempt at affection. "My parents aren't saints," he said, forgetting that Sam couldn't be seen and he was, effectively, talking to no one, "but we had each other, and it wasn't like this." Maybe being raised alone might have severely fucked any of them up, but they hadn't been alone, not by a long shot, and that had made all the difference.
Somehow, he managed a laugh when Sam said meeting her parents wasn't going to happen, and even if they weren't as bad as this, Neil really had no desire at all to make their acquaintance. He couldn't respond before her father walked back into the room, so he shook his head, nearly imperceptible, a silent no, because despite all of this he didn't buy and sell people like they were fucking animals. He managed to ease himself out of Louis' tight hold when the contract was presented, explaining that he just needed to sign this, and he didn't even look, didn't read it over, before signing. None of that mattered, not if it meant getting Lou out of here, and not since this was all bound to disappear sooner or later.
"There," Neil said, with a note of finality, tugging on Louis' hand once the deal was done, wanting him as far away from this place as possible. "Tell Iris we're leaving," he told him, but then everything started to melt away, and the solid, warm feel of a hand in his own vanished, replaced by cold, biting air. For a second, just briefly, he was in the woods again, and he reached out in vain for Sam, before he was back in the damned hotel, where Norman had crossed before he'd ended up in the now long-lost winter wonderland.