A scream echoed into the neighboring forest, waking Fulton Reed from his peaceful slumber. It had been a quiet night, he thought rolling over in panic before realizing the floor beside him was empty.

"Tammy?" He whispered in fear and jolted from the floor to find the nearest weapon. I had screamed louder in my entire life than I screamed right then. The shadow loomed over me as my breath caught in my throat and I couldn't speak. I tried to move backward but the soles of my feet just won't leave the cold hardwood to step back. I was frozen in fear as the shadow stepped closer and finally into the moonlight that shone in from the hall window. The intruder's face was illuminated, the same goofy grin I had come to expect remained.

"Portman?" I finally was able to get out once my throat loosened. I quickly closed my robe at the neck line and clutched the soft fabric in my fist, trying to keep from moving about nervously. I steady my breathing and looked up at him to wait a response.

"Hiya, Tammy." Madison's voice pulled me away from Portman's face. She was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, dressed in what looked to be one of Portman's old t-shirts and covered in mud,

"You guys sure don't make it easy to break in here." She laughed a little, Portman continued to smile away. I think if the world was falling down around him, he'd still be standing there with that goofy grin on his face waiting to see what happens next. There was a crash behind me from the other room and a few stumbling noises before Fulton appeared, clad only in boxer shorts and holding my old hockey stick. His eyes wide awake, he rushed to my side, taking my upper arm into his strong grip to pull me away from any danger that I could be facing.

"What's going on?" He asked, seeming completely awake. He slowly lowered the stick as he realized that there was no struggle or reason for him to fight.

"Tammy, are you alright? I heard you scream." He asked, releasing my upper arm from his powerful grip and instead rubbing my back in a loving way with his hand. I shook my head, still shaking a little with freight,

"It seems these two were trying to break in. They scared me to death." I explained, hugging my robe to me as tight as possible for fear of Portman catching a peek at something he shouldn't. He didn't even seem to be looking when I glanced up at him.

"Okay, what are you two doing here?" Fulton asked, rather annoyed with his best friend and his new companion. Madison looked down with a sigh while Portman snickered a little at the question. What was so funny?

"Well, it's funny you should ask." Portman began, a laugh still playing in his voice.

"It's not funny, Dean." Madison cut in with a serious tone.

"Well, they might think it's funny."

"Or they might think it's stupid!" They began to bicker back and forth for a moment before I couldn't take it anymore.

"Would one of you please just tell us what you're doing in our house at 1 in the morning, covered in mud!" They both turned and looked at me. Madison looked at Portman again with accusing eyes and Portman looked at her.

"We got kicked out of my dorm house." He said quietly, suddenly not finding it so funny. I sighed deeply, how did I know something like this was what was going to be said,

"Both of you?" Fulton asked confused.

"Yeah, someone told the RA about Madison staying with me and the next thing I know, they're telling us to leave." Portman said looking down. "It's okay since school is over anyway, but we've got no where to go." Madison stared at me with a hopeful glance.

"We really didn't have anywhere else to go." She whined a little. I shook my head, how did I know what was coming next?

The living room floor was crowded the next morning with four sleeping teenagers, huddled together in front of the fire. My eyes adjusted to the sunlight and I rolled over to snuggle with Fulton but was faced with a very loudly snoring Portman. I almost screamed again but covered my mouth with my palm. Remembering the night's events, I sat up to observe the room. Madison ended up sleeping with her head at Portman's feet, snuggling up to the back of his legs, Portman completely unfazed, was sleeping cuddling with a pillow the opposite way and somehow I ended up against the wall. Where was Fulton? I asked myself, not finding him curled up anywhere near. I didn't want to wake the two muddy burglars so I crept around them and out to the kitchen where I found him.

The smell of coffee and eggs filled the air as I leaned on the counter, coming into the room.

"Hey." I said quietly as he looked up from the breakfast he was beginning to make.

"You're not supposed to be awake." He joked in is deepest morning voice. I hugged him from behind and tried to see what he was doing.

"Why is that, Mr. Reed?" I asked playfully.

"Because I was going to make you breakfast." He smiled, now dressed in his boxers and an old faded band t-shirt. He had the radio on low, playing some old rock station now playing Queen. I smiled to myself, there was so many reasons why I loved him and this was just one of them.

"Did you get this all last night when you went to get dinner?" I asked surprised after opening the refrigerator. looking at the array of food that now lined it. Our refrigerator, I thought with a smile. Who knew something so simple could bring a smile to my face.

"Yeah." His voice filled the air. "I figured once we got here we wouldn't want to leave for a while." He kissed the tip of my nose softly and brought my body to his in one motion. I suddenly wished we had the house to ourselves so he could make love to me right now and we could just stay in bed for the next few days. Oh, well, I guess we got that on our vacation. The snoring that had been playing in the background abruptly stopped and I sighed, there goes my dream.

"They're awake." I whispered quietly. Fulton sighed deeply, kissing my neck softly and returning to the food. I had a nagging feeling we wouldn't be alone again for sometime.

Portman skulked into the kitchen looking like he had a rough night and looked for a table,

"Dude, where's your furniture?" He asked puzzled as Madison entered the kitchen, looking just as tired, with a patch of mud cemented to her cheek. She had been too tired to shower before she collapsed on the living room floor.

"What time is it?" She asked keeping her eyes closed and leaning on the windowsill to enjoy the fresh morning air.

"It's about 8, I figure we'll leave in like a hour." I said, looking at Fulton's watch.

"We're still going? I don't know if I can last a whole day shopping." She whined as I grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge.

"I'm going to take a shower." I whispered, kissing Fulton's cheek.

"Okay." He whispered back. Madison groaned,

"My stuff is outside in the car." She whined again.

"Dude, I'm not even playing, someone stole your kitchen table. Fulton are you listening to me man?" Portman said looking worried, "And all the chairs..." Fulton glanced up at him and back at the eggs on the stove, shaking his head.

"Mad..."He started to say but she held up her hand, not to speak to her and head towards the door to go outside. He continued to look around confused.

The morning sun was shining brightly as I exited the house to the front porch, followed closely by Madison. My car sat in the driveway and surprisingly, looked the same. Maybe Portman did know what he was doing, even though he just spent twenty minutes trying to convince Fulton someone stole our kitchen furniture in the middle of the night. I guess it's true what they say about some people being smart in certain things and not others. I smiled brightly, unlocking my driver's side door and stepping into my car. I really love my car, I thought as Madison got in. I hit the button to made the convertible top go back and we waited silently for it to finish.

"Watch out for that button right there." Madison said pointing to a new button to the right of my steering wheel.

"Why?" I asked a little afraid.

"You don't want to know." She said quickly, I nodded at her before shaking my head a little and starting the car to pull out of the long driveway.

Granted it was a busy Saturday afternoon at the Mall of America, but there were so many people there that I could have mistaken it for Christmas season.

"Excuse me!" Madison exclaimed moving past some guys that were blocking the lighting aisle where we were headed next. They stared at her as she walked away.

"Did they just comment on my ass?" She asked, turning to go back to kick their butts. I grabbed her by the arm and turned her around in the direction we were walking,

"Just let it go." I said, looking for a specific light. I knew we shouldn't have given her the cart to drive. Julie was hanging behind, I think out of embarrassment of Madison's demeanor.

"So Julie, tell me about yourself." I said, mulling over the different lighting fixtures and trying to find one for the living room.

"Watch it!" Madison yelled as an old man reached around her for some light bulbs. She looked utterly exhausted and tried to keep her eyes open.

"Well, I'm from Maine originally. I joined the team for Team USA and haven't been able to stay away since." She smiled a little, looking at some light bulbs herself, to keep from making eye contact.

"And when did you fall for the cake-eater?" I asked remembering his nickname from District Five. She smiled more at this,

"Senior year. I realized he had a crush on me and I liked him so we went out." She continued to smile away. Connie snickered a little bit,

"Why is it that, Tammy and Fulton have this fairytale romance, Julie and Adam were the best friends that fell in love thing and me and Guy are just me and Guy. We never had a whole big thing, it was just always us, through good times and bad." She groaned a little, "I want a story to tell the kids." She scowled.

"Is there something we should know about?" I asked, trying to get her to laugh,

"Yeah, I'm pregnant." She said with a straight face. Julie looked up from the light bulb she had been examining,

"Are you serious?" I asked confused.

"No!" She said finally breaking into a smile. "I had you guys there for like 2 minutes. Both of you are, like, so blonde!" She joked with a snicker.

"So what do we still have to get?" Madison asked exhaustedly.

"Well, the furniture that Fulton's not doing himself is being dropped off tonight and we got all the linens and stuff. I think we just need to get these and we're done." I said setting some bulbs and a ceiling fan into the cart.

"Thank the lord!" Madison said pushing the cart out of the aisle. I laughed a little at her behavior but she was really beginning to grow on me.

The line to the register was a long one and Madison was bouncing from foot to foot, she had found something she wanted to buy. I laughed a little as we finally reached the counter and she began to checkout.

"That will be 15.88, miss." The man behind the counter said pleasantly as Madison handed him her credit card. He turned the register and hit a few keys before turning back around,

"Miss, this cards been cancelled." He said as Madison's mouth hung open,

"Here, try this one." She said handing him another card. He repeated the process and came back,

"This was cancelled too." He shook his head.

"Just put it on with my stuff." I said as he began to ring up my stuff.

"What an evil witch." Madison exclaimed,

"Who?"

"My Mother." She almost shouted.

"What does your Mother have to do with this?" I asked really confused.

"She cancelled my credit cards. I can't believe her!"

"I though she knew you were moving out here?"

"She did but she wasn't happy about it. She was even more unhappy when I told her I was quitting skating." My mouth dropped open.

"You're quitting? But I thought you were going to the Olympics in four years?" I looked at her worried.

"I was going to try but it doesn't make me happy anymore. I don't want to be you, Tammy. I don't want to have my face on a Wheaties box." She shook her head. I sighed.

"So that's it, you're just going to move in with Portman and be a cashier at McDonalds?" I asked.

"No, I don't want to work at McDonalds." She groaned, "But I do have to get a job now." She sighed, looking at her wallet full of useless credit cards and a twenty-dollar bill. She sighed deeply,

"I'll go get a job as a waitress or something." She smiled walking away. I handed my credit card to the cashier and sighed, She wouldn't last a day.