I wake up with a smile still on my face, wrapped securely in Cayton's arms, feeling on top of the world. Cayton is already awake and leans down to peck my lips gently.

"Morning sunshine."

"Morning," I yawn, snuggling closer to him. "Thanks for last night." I haven't had that much fun in a while. It was just the icing on the birthday cake, and then some.

"Anytime."

"And thank you for the necklace," I thank him for the fifth time, grasping the heart between my fingers.

"Are you going to keep thanking me?"

"Until I feel we're even, then yes I am."

"What if I told you I can think of something that would make us even?"

"What do you have in mind?" I question, propping myself up on one elbow to look at him. He just smirks and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. My cheeks flush red but I roll my eyes hoping to make it less obvious.

"Yea I don't think so," I say.

"Your blush says otherwise," he smirks, pinching my rosy cheeks. I swat his hand away and scowl at him, causing him to laugh.

"Jerk," I mutter, getting out of bed. I haven't gotten the burst of confidence I need to wear my new nightclothes that Tami bought yesterday, so I'm just wearing Cayton's shirt and a pair of shorts. I don't think I will be wearing those impure nightclothes anyways, so I banished them to the back of my closet, where all the misfit items go.

"I'm hungry. Go make me some breakfast," I playfully order. To my surprise, Cayton gets up without so much as a comeback. I try not to, but I can help checking him out. I'm telling you, his stupid abs are teasing me. And those hip muscle things, whatever they're called. You know, the little V that leads down to... yea. I'm almost tempted to tell him to put on a shirt so I can think straight for a second.

"Yes princess." He scoops me up bridal style and I squeak in surprise.

"Princess huh? I like it." I lift my head up to kiss him and he meets me halfway. He positions me so my legs are wrapped around his waist and his hands are on my butt holding me up. I put my arms around his neck and pull him closer to deepen the kiss.

I can feel him walking so I assume he is taking us to the kitchen. Meanwhile, our tongues are wresting for dominance and I feel like I can melt at any moment. I pull away from the kiss to trail smaller kisses up his jaw, nibbling on his ear like I found he likes. His hands squeeze my butt tighter and a quiet moan escapes his lips.

"Don't make me turn around and take you back to bed," he says huskily. I almost take him up on that offer but think better of it. Hormones are a tricky thing, and as much as I want to in the moment, I can't. I've known the guy for about two weeks, and despite the fact that we've kissed, and are in the process of it right now, and there is no denying I feel strong feelings for him, I'm not ready for something like that.

Instead of replying, I kiss along his jaw back to his lips.

"Please, keep it in the bedroom!" someone whines. I pull away and turn my head around to see we had made it to the kitchen and we now have an audience. Hunter and Carter are sitting on the stools, laughing. I feel a blush rise on my cheeks and I unwrap my legs from Cayton.

"Shut it pretty boy," I joke, resulting in a glare from Hunter. I smile innocently and skip to the cabinets.

"You know what? Do you guys want some pancakes?" I ask. There are three things I can cook: things in a box with instructions, Ramen Noodles, and pancakes. Plus, it's been a while since I've had some. Trina always has me make them for her, because I'm that good at cooking them. I would usually complain, but I actually kind of miss it.

"Hell yea!" Carter says, at the same time Cayton and Hunter say "Sure." I get out all the necessary ingredients and start mixing the batter, listening to the guys talk about the most recent baseball game.

"So Macy, did you have a good day yesterday?" Carter asks as I flip the pancake.

"Yea, it was nice," I say dreamily, my eyes landing on the roses sitting in a vase on the counter. I look away from them and to Cayton, offering up a smile. He returns it.

"Did you get it in?" Carter asks, completely destroying the moment.

"Dude, that's disgusting," Hunter says, as Cayton slaps Carter upside the head. I try to pass it off as if I didn't hear anything, and go back to flipping my pancakes.

After all of them are done, I make them each a plate, and sit down in the stool next to Hunter and across from Cayton.

"These are really good," Cayton compliments.

"I know, they're my specialty."

"Are make-out sessions in the dining room your specialty too?" Carter teases. Is he hell bent on embarrassing me today?

"Yea, you could have spared my innocent eyes from that," Hunter says with mock horror.

"Aw, is someone jealous?" I tease, making a kissy face and ruffling his hair.

"Immensely," he says sarcastically, grabbing my hand and holding it away so I would stop messing his hair. I hear a low, disturbing, growling sound and my head snaps up to Cayton, who doesn't look none too happy and is glaring at Hunter.

Hunter immediately drops my hand and looks down. I just roll my eyes and continue eating as if I didn't notice the tension that suddenly formed in the room. Even Carter notices the tension and shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

"Anyways, Cayton, we need to uh, discuss the... Thing..." Carter says. I look at Carter and raise an eyebrow.

"What thing?" I question.

"Nothing important. We'll be back in a little while," Cayton says, leaning over the counter and giving me a quick kiss.

"Ok, have fun I guess."

"Tami and Trenton will be here soon, so don't get any ideas," he says to Hunter. I roll my eyes and shoo him away. After one last warning glare at Hunter, he leaves With Carter out the front door.

"That boy has jealousy issues," I mutter. Hunter doesn't say anything, and I poke him in the arm repeatedly. "Hey, let's go play some air hockey."

*

"Tell me," I demand.

"There's nothing to tell."

"Obviously there is. Now come on, spit it out."

"Nothing is wrong."

"Cayton..."

"Nothing is wrong!" Cayton suddenly snaps. My eyes widen a fraction of an inch, and I slowly scoot away from him. He sighs, before pulling me back against him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap like that."

I remain quiet. It's been three days since my birthday, and ever since Cayton has been becoming increasingly nervous. He won't tell me what's up, insisting that it's nothing when it obviously is something.

Now, we're lying in bed, and as much as I want to sleep, I can't knowing something is wrong. So, I decide to sleep somewhere else until he decides to tell me. Pulling back the covers, I start to slip out, until Cayton grabs my arm and stops me.

"Come on Princess, I didn't mean to snap at you," he says. He has taken to calling me Princess, and I would be a liar if I said it didn't give me butterflies. On top of the new nickname, he's been glued to me every second he's around. Always holding my hand, refusing to let me sit anywhere but his lap, even going as far as waiting outside the bathroom door while I'm in.

I didn't call him out on it, because to be honest, it started out somewhat cute. Now, it has me worried. It's almost as if he's afraid that if he isn't right by my side, I'm going to leave. I don't know where he got that idea, but that's the only reason I can think of.

"I believe you, but I don't believe that nothing is wrong. When you want to tell me, let me know. I'll be in my room," I say.

"Why won't you believe me when I say I'm fine? Just a little... stressed is all."

"You're acting really weird. Like, nervous-weird."

"I'm just stressed," he repeats. When my expression clearly says I don't believe him, he sighs and pulls me back down. "We'll talk in the morning, ok?" I guess that's all I can hope to get out of him tonight.

"We better," I mutter, pressing my back against him and allowing myself to fall asleep.

Cayton is a no-show when I wake up. I guess I should have thought of that last night, since he's usually gone when I wake up. It left me slightly irritated, so I promised myself I would be as annoying as possible when he gets home so he will tell me what's going on.

I may be sticking my nose in something that's none of my business, but I think I have some right to be nosey. I technically live here now, and Cayton and I are... I don't know, but it's well passed the kidnapper-kidnappee stage.

I just don't understand what could possibly be making him so nervous-like. And to be frank, I don't like it. Some part of me doesn't like Cayton being anything but happy. However, I can't help if he won't let me in.

Slipping out of bed, I go to the living room where Tami and Hunter are already waiting, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, while I probably look like a drowsy hobo.

"How are you this fine morning?" Tami asks, without looking from the TV. I grunt some incoherent answer. "That good huh?"

"What's wrong?" Hunter asks.

I sigh and take a seat next to him. "I'm not exactly sure. It's Cayton. He's been acting really weird ever since my birthday, and he won't tell me anything."

"He's probably just really stressed out with work," Tami says.

"Well I don't know what 'work' is, so..."

"I'm sure he'll tell you soon," Hunter offers up.

"He better," I mumble.

After some lounging around, we decide to move to the game room to play some Mario Kart, which I have to beat Hunter in. Tami decides to sit it out and read a book from the library while we play.

"And the crowd goes wild as their hero passes the finish line!" I cheer, getting up and doing a little happy dance. It takes many tries, but I finally beat Hunter at Mario Kart.

"Don't be too happy, you have to win like thirty more times before you technically beat me," he says, killing my mood. I fall back down on the couch, my legs slung over his lap.

"I'm too worn out from all that yelling to try again." I get very competitive when it comes to video games, and I tend to curse like a sailor. We've been at it for a good four hours and it was exhausting.

"Yea, I still have no idea what half the stuff you called me means," he chuckles.

"I don't even remember what I said," I admit. "But I do remember calling you a stupid ass llama."

"Yea, I remember that one," he chuckles. "Don't forget the whole threatening to murder my character with unimaginable pain."

"Right. Well you are a stupid llama sometimes..." I trail off playfully. The next thing I know, the world is going black.

What the...

I squirm around, trying to find Hunter in the darkness, only to realize I'm under a blanket.

"What are you doing you stupid ass llama!" I yell, squirming around, trying to escape from under the blanket, but the jackass is holding it so I can't get out.

"I prefer smart ass tiger," he jokes, laughing at my pathetic attempts to punch him.

"Fine, whatever, asshole!" I groan, giving up. He lifts the blanket off me and I punch him in the arm. "Ow!" I think I just hit stone...

He snickers and I scowl at him. Jerk. I grab the remote and switch it over to television, where we end up watching some show on the History Channel. Tami leaves to go to the bathroom, and somehow that reminds me of something.

"Oh, by the way, I heard about what happened to your cousin. I'm sorry," I say sympathetically, resting a hand on his shoulder in a somewhat comforting gesture as the thought comes to me.

"My cousin?" he asks confused.

"Yea, Zack. Cayton told me what happened. But I'm glad he's ok!"

"I don't..." he starts, but quickly stops himself. "Zack! Right! Yea, thanks. We're all glad he's ok too," he says.

A red flag rises when he breaks eye contact. When we were at the mall for my birthday, when he tried telling me Tami was buying shoes—I found out she was picking the necklace up for Cayton—he broke eye contact. I wasn't sure if it was a sign he's lying, but I guess it was since Tami wasn't getting shoes.

I don't know why he would lie about his cousin's injury, but I decide not to ask. Maybe he's taking it hard. Who knows? Hunter is a strange boy.

"Good. Hey, remember how you said I could tell you anything?" I ask. He nods. "Well the same applies for me too. I happen to be an excellent secret-keeper."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks," he chuckles.

"Seriously, if you need someone to talk to, I'm not going anywhere. Literally. You're like the annoying little brother I never had!"

"Uh, thanks?"

I laugh, "You're welcome. The good kind of annoying by the way." I give him a hug, hoping to reassure him that he can tell me anything and that he is, indeed, like an annoying brother to me. He hugs me back, muttering something along the lines of 'I'm not annoying'.

Someone comes crashing through the door making me jump away from Hunter in surprise. I had expected it to be Tami, but it was Cayton. He was fuming and I wondered if something bad happened at work.

"Hey babe, you ok?" I ask cautiously. I get up from the couch and walk to stand in front of him when he doesn't answer. "Cayton?"

"What are you doing in here alone with him," he sneers. I frown at the way he refers to Hunter with such venom.

"We were playing a game and now as you can see, we're watching TV. And we're not alone, Tami is just in the bathroom."

"Why is the room such a wreck?" his anger doesn't falter, and I know he's thinking something totally different as to why the room is wrecked. And it can't help that my hair is in a wild mess from being trapped under that stupid blanket, and I was mid-hug when he came in. Awesome.

"Because I get competitive when I'm playing video games and tend to throw things around." It's the truth, but he doesn't look like he buys it. He grabs me and pulls me to his chest roughly.

"Get out," he orders Hunter. Hunter quickly gets up and starts to a scurry out of the room, but I manage to get out of Cayton's arms and stop him.

"No! Cayton, nothing happened! And I hate when you talk to people like that, you need to stop," I scold.

"He needs to stay away from you. You're mine and I told you I didn't want any other male alone with you or touching you."

"It's just Hunter, Cayton. We weren't alone; he's my friend and doesn't even think of me that way. You made him watch me, and he's doing his job. So calm your ass down."

"Get out," he orders Hunter once again.

"No! Hunter, stay." Poor Hunter keeps looking between us, deciding on whether or not he should leave.

"Hunter," Cayton says warningly, "don't forget who the boss is here."

"You know what Cayton, don't even bother ordering him to leave because I am." I shove past him, only for him to grab my wrist and yank me back.

"Don't walk away from me," he snaps.

Ah, I don't think so.

I don't turn around. I just yank my wrist from his hand—a lot of effort for that one simple action—and walk out the door.

I don't know why he's acting like this. He hasn't been like this since I first came here. And he has another thing coming if he thinks he can order me around. Everyone else might listen to him, god only knows why, but I won't.

I just needed some alone time to clear my head. Cayton's temper gets on my nerves and makes him hard to handle sometimes, not to mention that he's jealous of someone I practically consider my brother.

I mean it's like one minute I love him, and the next I hate him. Like I want to push him off the roof but be at the bottom to catch him.

Really, I didn't like being mad or irritated with him, but it was something I was going to have to deal with because he seems to make me mad or irritated a lot.

I don't have a clue where I'm going, so I let my feet lead the way. It's evening and clouds are blocking out the remaining light from the sun, kind of like it's sensing my sour mood. It looked like it might rain, but I didn't care enough to grab an umbrella or something.

I ended up walking through the woods, letting the smells calm me. Probably not the best idea, since it will probably only serve to piss Cayton off more, but part of my brain knows that's exactly why I want to go outside.

My anger slowly slips away as I continue on my walk, but I don't stop. I just keep going, not bothering to stop and think about how in the hell I am going to find my way home.

Great. Just fucking great.

I watch Macy storm out of the room, before I turn to Hunter. He is looking anywhere but me, and just as I'm about to yell at him, Tami interrupts from the doorway.

"Cayton! What is wrong with you? Why is Macy storming away? I know you're not getting on them for being in here together while I was in the bathroom," she says.

"I-" I start, but she cuts me off.

"You know she wouldn't do anything, so again, why is she storming away?" she asks. "It's not helping you. At all. It's only a matter of time until you have to tell her. Do you realize how close the party is?"

Dammit, I hate when she's right.

Sighing in defeat, I hang my head and take in a deep breath. "Ok, fine, you're right." I mutter.

"I know," she says with a cheeky smile. "And I think you should apologize to Hunter too."

"Don't push it." I give Hunter a nod before I leave the room to find my highly pissed off mate.

Great. She took off into the woods. Luckily, I know my way like the back of my hand, so it shouldn't be too hard to find her. I take it slow at first, giving her enough time to cool off, until I hear Carter through our mind link.

'Right, so I know you're not going to be happy about this, but Joshua and one of his fighters made it in.'