"…A thrilling continuation of last night's story, the young Fitzgerald miraculously survived a close encounter with a wannabe burglar assumed to be the Elmore High Killer…"

"So that's what they're calling them now." I groaned.

"Miss Fitzgerald was resting in this room with her boyfriend when the young couple heard a loud rapping, and then suddenly, the door on the side of the house caved in…"

Mr. Fitzgerald, who was in Penny's room along with the reporter and Penny herself, got a real nasty look on his face when the reporter said we were "resting." If anyone suspected we were lying about exactly what happened yesterday afternoon, it would probably be about what we were doing before the "burglar" came in.

"Tell us Miss, what happened when the burglar came in?"

Penny, without missing a beat, said, "My boyfriend Gumball got up and kicked the window open, and we both ran to his house before we could see the robber."

"You didn't see them at all?"

"No ma'am. We just ran. We both thought it was the killer and we didn't want to take any chances."

"I can't say I'd be any braver if I was in the same situation."

Penny gave a half-smile, "Thanks."

The reporter paused to see if she would say anymore, but I think she realized Penny didn't want to say anything else after she called us cowards.

"Er, uh, anyway… fingerprints were later found at the scene of the crime, identifying one 'Julius Oppenheimmer Jr.' As the burglar. Authorities took in Oppenheimmer early this morning and retrieved a few stolen items, but many of the Fitzgeralds' possessions are still missing, with some believing that the items may have been sold online right after the robber left the scene."

"I'm sure he did." Carrie said sarcastically. She'd been trying to sell her old bass for a few months over the web, but she had yet to find a buyer.

"Shhh!" Darwin shooshed her, "they're talking about the Killer now!"

"While some police officials were quick to pin Julius as the Elmore High Killer, the Sheriff quickly threw these allegations out, stating that Oppenheimer acted too sloppily, considering that the Killer acts more efficiently, leaves little clues, and hasn't been known to take anything on their 'outings.' Except for lives, of course."

I almost laughed when he said the Killer acted "efficiently." If only they knew how "sloppy" those murders actually were. Carrie got a kick out of the last line.

"What's so funny?" Darwin asked her.

"That's just so cheesy." She said.

"And?"

Carrie smirked, "People have died and the news is making jokes about it."

"It's not a joke. It's like, a closer."

"If it isn't a joke then why am I laughing?"

"If it's bad they're making jokes why are you laughing at it? Hmm?"

"I'm not. I'm laughing at the news. They're the joke, Darwin."

I was sitting between the two of them, acting like a wall separating two prisoners from tearing each other apart. Darwin sat on the far end of the couch, while Carrie rested her head against my shoulder. We would have been in school, getting this news secondhand from someone who didn't spend enough time watching it, but the school had decided to shut down immediately for the rest of the week after what happened at Penny's. Darwin said it was so kids would be safe at home while the police looked for the killer, but Carrie said that once we got back, we'd be seeing a lot more security walking around. There might even be some officers in our classrooms. Hard to enjoy an extended weekend when the thought of a cop breathing down my neck in math kept popping into my head.

Carrie nudged up to me, and I cut my tenth mini-panic attack for this morning short. I reached behind her back and wrapped my arm around her, discreetly. I think Darwin'd might have lost it if he saw. He'd been eying her down all night. Just before he fell asleep, he caught her crawling out of her sleeping bag and curling up next to Penny and I in my bed. I think that might have kept him up for another hour. It caught me off guard too. I'd never seen her so… clingy. There was the occasional cling, like when she'd taken me to her place to hide the gun, but last night she spent a lot of time around Penny and I. Like around around. I thought it was a little strange, but Penny was either didn't mind at all or was too tired to care.

"Are you ok, Gumball?" Darwin said to me, "You look worried."

I pulled my arm away from Carrie, "Uh, yesh man, I'm fine. Just thinking about yesterday, I guess."

Darwin nodded, "I knew Julius was bad, but I didn't think he'd ever break into someone's house."

"I'm surprised he didn't do it sooner." Carrie said.

Darwin was about to contradict her, when he stopped himself and realized he couldn't really disagree, "Well, I thought if anyone at school was going to do something like that, they'd wait until after they graduated."

"As if school's stopping anyone from committing crimes. It's probably causing more."

Darwin squinted at her, as if to say, "Wouldn't you know."

"We can hardly talk buddy." I chimed in.

"Well, yeah. But shoplifting is different. How can you just… break into someone else's house like that and steal everything? Or…"

"Ill intent is a spectrum, dear Darwin." Carrie interrupted, "The 'good' ones only take what won't be missed, and the 'bad' ones take more extreme approaches."

"You're saying robbing a house isn't 'bad.'"

Carrie stood up from the couch and got in his face, "I'm saying some of us know when doing the wrong thing is right. Either for ourselves, or others."

Darwin sank into the couch and didn't say anything. I think Carrie was catching on that she could shut him up a lot easier since he was so suspicious of her.

"Um, why don't we all play a game? The news is bumming me out anyway."

"I think I'll go lie down actually." She walked away from the couch and headed upstairs, leaving Darwin and I. Dad was still sleeping and Mom had to head back to work early. Mom had tried to get Anais out of school, but it'd turned out her private school wasn't inclined to let any students stay home even with a killer on the loose. Maybe it was cause they thought only kids at Elmore High were in danger, only maybe they just wanted to keep their attendance up. Either way, we were alone.

"Wanna play Legend of Zelmore?" I asked him.

"I think I'll make breakfast actually." He got up and walked away, leaving me alone on the couch.

A heavy sigh escaped me as I fell face first into a couch cushion. I'd been high strung for days, I needed to relax but I just couldn't. I pulled out my phone and messaged Penny.

"Hey."

Within a few seconds, she responded, "Hey."

"You good?"

"I'm okay. That news reporter sucks."

"She looked like she was getting on your nerves."

"You don't know the half of it. She kept asking me the same questions over and over before the cameras started rolling, like we were practicing for a show."

"Carrie said it was pretty disturbing they were making jokes about the Killer taking lives."

"I thought that was odd too, she rehearsed everything else but that last line."

"Maybe she was trying to spice up the program."

"Oh she was trying alright."

"We should talk later sweetie, there are more journalists and reporters outside."

"Someone's a celebrity."

"Fame hurts."

"I love you Gumball 3"

"I love you Penny 333"

Another sigh left me, a bit more bitter than the last. When I didn't have anyone else, unless she was sleeping, I always had Penny. But she'd probably be busy dealing with that hoard of reporters for a few hours. I felt bad for her.

Darwin put a pan down on the stove and cranked the heat all the way up. It usually took a while to get going, even on highest setting, so breakfast wouldn't come any time soon. I was content with a bowl of dry cereal, but Darwin had really been getting into cooking lately, and I thought it'd be rude to pass up whatever he made us. Hopefully he'd make enough for Carrie too.

I laid down on the couch for a few more minutes before I finally got tired of morning breath and after-nine-funk. I headed upstairs and hopped into the bathroom for a quick shower. Afterward, I threw on the same clothes and headed into my room to grab a new hoodie. I probably should have known better, but I was surprised to see Carrie curled up in my bed. I don't know why I didn't think she'd be there, it's not like she'd take Anais' or my parents' room.

"Oh, hey." I said to her.

She nodded in my direction. She had ripped the covers off of the top bunk and thrown them over her.

"Cold?" I asked.

She nodded again, and I could see she was shaking a bit. I turned and saw a frost had covered the window, and it seemed to only be getting colder. It dawned on me I had goosebumps as well, but Carrie couldn't handle it this morning. Strange, since it had been way colder the other night when we were in the woods. Or last night for that matter. She was only wearing a t-shirt and a thin, striped undershirt.

The warmth coming off the hoodie I was replacing caught my attention, and I offered it to Carrie. She stared at it, then at me, and back at it. Then she snatched it, threw it on, and went right back under the covers. She looked warmer after that.

Content with what felt like my good deed for the day, I headed over to my drawer and pulled out a blue, tie-dye hoodie.

"Gumball." Carrie said as I pulled it on.

"Yeah?"

"Could you come over here?"

I turned around and saw an opening in the blankets, a flap she held open, inviting me to lay down with her.

The look on her face was plain, as if she'd just asked for a pencil in class.

She added, "It probably wouldn't be as nice without Penny, but I'm kind of freezing over here."

I felt like I should be insulted, but I obliged anyway. If she was so cold I'd help. I didn't have much else to do but wait anyway. I got under the ruffled blankets and covers, and warmed up Carrie's little pocket underneath. It was surprisingly cool underneath. Not cold, but not really that warm either. But within a few moments, Carrie stopped shivering, so I guess that's two good deeds.

Carrie nudged closer to me and wrapped her arms and legs around me, then rested her head between mine and my shoulder. I felt her body temperature rise within minutes.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

"Hm?" She said without moving.

"Why are you so cold?"

She shrugged.

"No seriously, I think you should—"

"I'm fine, Gumball. Just… don't worry about it."

I kept my mouth shut. No use trying to find out what's wrong if she won't cooperate. I was keeping hr warm now I guess.

She let out a sad sigh, and pulled her phone out and started messaging someone behind my head. Whatever she was sending, it took her a while to get down. Every now and then, her breath would shake up or she'd let out a soft groan, and keeping tapping away at her screen or delete a large segment of what she was typing. After a few minutes, she finished what she was sending and threw her phone across the floor. She got real quiet for a long time after that, and didn't move at all for what felt like an hour.

"Um, Carrie." I said quietly.

"Carrie." I said a little bit louder.

I nudged my shoulder and she made a little whimpering sound, "What?"

"Are you alright?"

"Fine. Trying to sleep here."

"Oh. Sorry."

She yawned, and held on to me tighter, before falling back asleep.

We must not have been there for very long after, but it felt like an eternity lying there together in my room. But, not in a bad way. In a kind of, "Hey, this is still going on. Good." kind of way. It reminded me of the first time Penny and I had some time to ourselves — real time to ourselves — and we just laid down together, watching a movie or taking a nap. A small surge of adrenaline kicked in me when I heard my Dad emerge from his room, which probably meant breakfast was almost done. I reminded myself that my parents didn't know Carrie was actually over here, but also of a time long ago when Penny's dad didn't know I was over either.

I asked myself in that moment, "Have I fallen out of love with the girl of my dreams for another, or is this just a special moment between two friends, one that doesn't take away from my romantic relationship?" I knew that I hadn't fallen out of love with Penny, but I wasn't sure if I could say this was just a friendly cuddle with Carrie to keep her warm. Did she feel the same, or was I projecting some complicated feelings on to her?

For the time being, I told myself this was all in my head. I was still on a high I hadn't come down from and I couldn't think straight. I just needed to focus, and I'd figure it out from there.

I shook Carrie awake again, "Hey."

She stayed cradled against me, "Hmm?"

"Breakfast."

"Mhm."

She didn't move, so I did, lifting her up off the bed and standing her up. She fought me a bit, but I eventually got her moving. She rubbed her eyes and stuffed her hands into her sleeves, and then into the front pocket of my hoodie. The same one I'd worn the night that started all of this.

In a strange way, I thought it kind of suited her. She even looked a little… cute.

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