Maddy went completely still as Carter drew nearer. Whether he was going to bite her indeed or attempt anything bolder, she didn't know. But, either way, once her legs didn't feel as numb as they did now, she would kick him in the crotch.

She almost squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for his teeth to find a home and sink in the sensitive skin of her neck, or for him to press his split lips against hers -although she preferred option one-, but the last logical cell left in her head forced her to keep them open.

None of the two happened.

Instead, Carter's lips hovered over her ear, nearly brushing against it as he spoke in his raspy voice.

"You can hate me all you want, princess, but that isn't going to change the fact that you are the outsider here." The coolness of his whispering voice from so close up made Maddy's hair stand on edge.

The reminder cut through her like a razor. She felt her veins bursting open from the rage, an internal bleeding of fury forming a boiling, bubbling puddle inside her body. Her hand he was still holding squeezed into a tight fist.

"Guys?" a voice shouted from the stairs - the voice of Carter's life saviour.

The boy shot Maddy a last provoking glare before drawing back.

"What are you doing?" yelled Sia, now from the living room.

She stepped into the kitchen casually, but seeing Maddy and Carter coated in streaks of chocolate and looking as if they were about to lunge at each other, she stopped by the doorframe.

"Okay, what the hell?" She laughed, clearly ignorant of the tension in the atmosphere. "What happened in here?"

Maddy and Carter exchanged a glowering glance.

"So! What are we gonna have for..." the words died on Logan's lips, who was soon also standing by the doorframe, right behind Sia. "... breakfast." He cocked his head to the side. "Umm... Hey, Maddy."

Maddy twitched. Had she heard right? Did that gorgeous god just say "hey" to her when she looked like... that? She pushed down her shame and forced an awkward smile on her lips, wishing the earth would open up and swallow her.

"Umm... I brought you a pair of boots I found. They are my mum's, she must have forgotten them here." He passed the shoes to her, then stepped back again.

Maddy mumbled an embarrassed "Thanks" to the boy with the adorable dimples.

She clumsily put on the Timberland boots he had just given her, balancing on one foot, then on the other. Those shoes were warm and soft and extremely comfortable, nothing like her old Oxfords. She sighed in relief at the discovery they fitted her perfectly.

Mia was the next one to enter the homey kitchen, which had now turned into a battle field. Scanning Maddy from head to toe, she raised a condescending eyebrow. "Well you guys look as happy as a pig in the mud. If you know what I mean." She sat on top of the table provocatively, her fake smile contradicting with the innocent look in her eyes.

She did not just-

"Likewise," said Carter, the same fake smile plastered on his lips.

Then he splashed Mia's pretty face with the chocolate sauce.

A high-pitched whistle came from Logan's mouth. Sia was clearly restraining from laughter. For a moment, Mia just stood there, still as a statue, processing Carter's attack move. Maddy stifled a hearty laugh at her expression, extracting an extremely satisfying, heavenly pissed look from her. Logan and Sia didn't even try to hide their amusement anymore, raucous laughter exploding from the both of them. Mia looked daggers at them. She jumped off the table and charged towards the refrigerator, pulling the door aggressively. She grabbed two eggs.

Oh, shit.

But Mia didn't turn towards Carter and Maddy's direction. Instead, she twirled around to face Sia and Logan, who were now nearly rolling on the floor, dying from laughter, to the point of tears. Seeing Mia holding the eggs as if they were grenades, however, they suddenly weren't laughing anymore.

"Mia, wait, let's talk it out firs-" went to negotiate Sia, but it was too late.

Mia had already flung an egg at each one of them. Sia's jaw went slack as she lifted a hand to her scalp, touching the sticky texture of the egg yolk on her hair. Logan stared at his Nirvana shirt, the fluid interior of the egg spilling lower and lower on it.

He let out a chuckle. "Okay. As you wish," he said.

And before Maddy knew what was going on, a very dangerous food fight had broken out in the kitchen.

Slices of cheese were spiraling through the air like flags, smacking against cheeks that were caught off guard. Splashes of water from the sink followed by handfuls of flour or sugar left them sticky with soft powders and crystalized granules. Egg shells broke against the tiles of the kitchen whenever someone missed their target and hands sank into jars full of honey and jam and peanut butter only to be dragged over somebody else's face or clothes. Everybody was fighting for the chocolate sauce bottle as if it was an award, stealing it from hand to hand until it was emptied of every last drop of chocolate. The whole kitchen hummed with their loud shouts and even louder laughter, the entire space pulsing with the silliness of youth.

And, for a moment, there was no police or FROST or vaccine or running away. There was no virus. No fear. Just a bunch of kids fooling around, playing and throwing food at each other, laughing and having fun, making a mess of the kitchen without caring about who would have to clean up that mess later.

***

It was almost 7am, and Maddy was breathless, her flushed cheeks a rosy, strawberry colour, still splashed with chocolate though. Her hair was sticky, her clothes stained with flour, her hands dirty, her face smudged with chocolate. And yet, somehow, she looked more beautiful than ever, overflowing with liveliness and a child-like spark flickering inside her hazel eyes.

The kitchen, however, was a different story. The kitchen looked like Pandora's box had opened in it, except it hadn't unleashed dark shadows and sealed curses, but rather... food.

It's a better edition, if you ask me.

Most of the cupboards, drawers and the fridge were empty, their contents spilled all over the place. And the five of them were just standing there, gaping at the mess they'd made, without really moving a single step to clean it up.

Finally, Logan spoke, still a bit out of breath from the war that had erupted in the kitchen. "You know what? Fuck it, we're not cleaning up."

"Agreed." Sia nodded, and so did everyone else.

"Guys?" said Mia suddenly. "I hate to break it to you, but there's literally nothing left for breakfast. And I'm hungry."

A choir of curses filled the air, desperation practically dancing in the atmosphere.

Shoot. I hadn't thought about that...

But then Logan's face lit up, thrilled. "Hey," he shouted. A sly grin played on his cupid bow lips. "Who wants ice cream for breakfast? It's in the freezer!"

Everyone looked at him like he was a superhero and they were 5-year-olds.

"Logan. I love you. You know that, right?" Mia joined her hands together.

"I do, as a matter of fact." Logan puffed up, clearly proud of himself. Then he straightened up, all serious and professional. "Now. Let's eat." He sauntered towards the freezer to take out the plastic magic box. "It's vanilla ice cream."

Maddy couldn't help the smile that popped on her lips at Logan's declaration. Vanilla ice cream was her one and only favorite flav-

"Chocolate is way better," snapped none other than the ebony-headed idiot.

How dared he speak such treason?

"Vanilla is a classic," opposed Maddy, offended and squinting at him.

"Vanilla is boring."

"Vanilla is timeless. Chocolate is not even competition, at this point."

"Chocolate is actually-"

"Guys, are you seriously going to fight over which flavour is better?" interfered Sia, a somewhat motherly edge to her tone, mixed with amusement.

Maddy shut her mouth, glowering at Carter opposite to her on the table. She grabbed a spoon and stabbed the frozen white snow inside the box with it. The ice cream melted in her mouth, the vanilla flavour hitting her taste buds almost as an afterthought. It was paradise in a spoon, pleasing her demanding palate and cooling her nerves down.

"Boys, did you transfer the supplies to the car last night?" asked Sia, looking like a mum asking her children the common question: "Did you do your homework?"

"Carter did. I was too busy eating," replied Logan, focused on his ice cream.

Maddy wondered how on earth he managed to look like a Greek god when he loved food so much, but was too focused on the ice cream herself to analyse it.

"What did you pack?" asked Mia.

"Clothes, food, water, money, medicine... Just the essentials, you know."

"Okay, okay. Good."

They remained silent for a while, munching on Maddy's favorite dessert, which was very soon finished.

No one spoke, but there was no doubt they were all thinking the same thing.

The girl started getting anxious again. Her stomach gave a twist. Where were they going to go now? What were they going to do if they got caught? What would they do when they ran out of supplies and money? Were the police and FROST still after them or had they just dropped the case?

They had to find a source of information, a means to learn whether they were still chased after, whether Harper Max had talked to their parents, whether-

A thought hit Maddy like a strong slap in the face.

The TV. The TV, damn it.

"Guys. The TV," she voiced her thoughts. For a split second, everybody just stared at her, frowning, as if she wasn't making any sense. Then something in their confused expression shifted, one by one, and realisation struck them.

The TV.

.