Chapter 9 is here after a two day delay. Suspense isn't over yet! I own nothing except Kari, Hale, and Marie.

I stirred to the smell of pasta wafting in air and into my nose. Waking, I found myself in Nawt's bedroom on his bed. As I was about to get up, I felt a pair of arms tightening their hold around my waist.

I slowly turned and saw Nawt holding on to me, still sleeping. I smiled at the sight, his breathing deep but level.

'He's so cute when he's asleep. I should wake him up though.'

I figured that shaking him gently would stir him, but another thought came into my mind. Carefully, I leaned closer and lifted my finger up to his face. I began to gently stroke my finger down the bridge of his nose, causing it to twitch every time I ran it down.

His eyes started to flutter as he was waking up. He yawned and stretched a bit, bringing my body much closer to his. Then he froze, as if in shock.

I was about to ask, but he looked down at me with wide eyes then down at his bed then his surroundings. "How did we get in here?"

I gawked at him. "Huh? You mean, it wasn't you who brought me here?"

He shook his head, sitting up on his bed. "I was out shortly after you nodded off. I wonder who-" He halted in mid sentence as he caught sight of a note on his night table. He read it, mumbling mostly to himself.

'If you wake up and find this note, then kudos! You two lovebirds fell asleep and Hale wouldn't shut up about it, so I brought you two up here. You can thank me later. Don't do anything dumb when you wake up though.. Pound will get pissed.'

Bupkus

I gazed over and read the letter after Nawt finished, his face contorted with wonder. "Huh, so Bupkus brought us up here. Who would have thought.. And he was the one who called us 'little nasties'.."

Before I could say anything more, I was tackled by Nawt and the both of us were brought down onto his bed. I tried to move, but his body was too heavy for me to budge.

"Hey. Time to get up!" He mumbled something into my neck, then I yelped as I felt him gently nibble down on the nape of my neck.

"Nawt!" I cried lightly, feeling the familiar butterfly sensation in my stomach. He raised his head and looked down at me, then buried his head back down and blew raspberries into my neck, causing me to throw a fit of giggles.

"No! Stop it! Ha ha!" I thought I was going to run out of air from laughing too hard as he continued blowing raspberries and poking my sides in addition. I punched him lightly, then he settled down. I calmed my laughter down, small tears streaming down from the corners of my eyes. Nawt raised himself onto his elbows and looked down at me with such adoration.

I couldn't help but look back at him the same, a gracefully happy smile gracing my features.

"You know, we have to go downstairs eventually. We have to eat something." He looked at me quizzically. "Oh, do we have to?"

I nodded. "Yes, Nawt. Why? You're not hungry?" He shrugged. "A little bit, but I don't wanna go back down just yet."

I raised a brow. "How come?" Then he slid his arms underneath me and nuzzled his face close to mine. "Cause I want to be selfish."

I couldn't help but laugh airily at the response. He's so sweet and playful, yet can me mature when he wants to be. I glanced up at him.

"We can't have Bupkus get into trouble. He was the one who got us up here, and without Pound and Hale's knowledge, by the looks of it."

Sighing, he raised himself up and rolled off of me. He gave me a wink and smiled. "Alright, you win. But later I'll have you all to myself! It's not fair that after waiting six years that I'm suddenly given restrictions."

'Trust me. I know the feeling.. I'm just too hungry right now! Wonder how long we've been out?'

I glanced over to his alarm clock and gasped at the time. "We've been out for three hours! Why didn't anyone bother waking us up?"

Nawt shrugged again. "Je ne sais pas." I raised a brow at him. "You speak French?" He chuckled. "A little bit. Got bored, so I learned a thing or two from my language encyclopedias."

I shook my head in mild amusement. He will never cease to amaze me, that's for sure. He took my hand in his, giving me a silly grin. "Well, let's go down and eat! Wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting!" Opening the door, we walked out of his room, down the long hallway and headed down the stairs in the direction of the kitchen. From below, we heard the Tunes chattering, indicating they were still here.

When we got down to the living room, we noticed Pound letting in Bugs, Daffy, and Lola into the home with our belongings. Hale glanced over and saw the two of us. "Hey! Where were you guys?"

I gave him a shrug. "We woke up in separate rooms and met up with one another on our way down. Guess we were so out of it, someone must have put us in somewhere."

Surprisingly, he bought it and motioned for us to join everyone else. As we approached the Tunes, Nawt looked over at Bupkus, who gave him a knowing wink. Bupkus smirked back but immediately changed his expression when Pound went over to join them.

"So what happened? You guys were gone for a long time!" Hale approached Bugs with a worried frown. Bugs placed the duffel down and gave an apologetic look. "Sorry, Hale. Turns out you and your sister were right, though."

I stared at Bugs with a shocked expression. Hale was completely stunned beyond belief. "W-what? You mean you saw him?"

The hare shook his head. "He broke the mirror in Kari's bedroom and left a message." He handed over a photo of the mess in front of my mirror, spelling the words: 'I'M BACK!' with the glass pieces. My brother and I were speechless. Hale handed the photo over to the Monstars, who flipped out at the sight.

"He's back.." Bang whimpered with an overwhelmed expression. Marie looked as if she was going to cry and tried to snug herself closer to Bupkus, who was gently hushing her tiny mewls and whimpers.

Pound gave an angry glance at the photo, muttering some swear words under his breath. Nawt bit his lip, though he was glaring at the photo. Blanko was beyond upset and was shuffling uncomfortably around on the carpet.

I walked up to Bugs, still confused as ever. "But did you see him? What does he want?" Daffy waltzed up, placing Marie's baby bag down on a chair. "We didn't see him, but it's pretty clear that this psycho is back for sure. He sure seems desperate to get to you guys, let alone get under your skin."

"Desperate? More like obsessed! Doesn't he get it? We won; he lost! Being a sore loser about the past makes this guy really lower than he already is." Hale threw his hands up to emphasize his point.

Bugs nodded. "We know, but there's nothing we can really do right now. What we can do for now is just keep you guys here with us until things at least settle down for a bit. Witch Hazel will help make a new mirror to replace your old one, and it'll be much better and more difficult to break."

None of us here liked any of what was going on, but we couldn't do much except comply. Our only hope is that Swackhammer is either eventually caught or shows up. Though, I somehow doubt that all will go as smoothly and easily like that.

Pound stepped up and cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "We'll keep the kids here until all seems okay. We have extra bedrooms here to spare, so it won't be such a problem." I felt a small blush rise as I glanced over at Nawt, who wiggled his brows and flashed a toothy grin. I chuckled quietly, not wanting my brother to notice and jump into conclusions.

"Eh, okay, doc. I know can trust the kids in your care. Just let any of us know if there's anything we can do to help." Pound nodded, confirming the arrangement.

Daffy and Lola helped to bring up the bags and placed them in each guest room. I asked if I could keep Marie with me in the same room, though Bupkus insisted that he'll keep guard of the toddler and took her stuff with him into his room.

'Looks like Marie has really grown on Bupkus.'

Hale got a his room near the end of the other hall, while Nada got the next room over and I got the last room closest to the adjacent hall where the Monstars' rooms were. Nada got herself accommodated and arranged her belongings out of the bag. She decided that she wanted to have a tour and was about to ask me to join her, until Blanko showed up and bravely opted to show her around. She flushed lightly, but kindly accepted his voluntary notion.

Hale got out of his room once he got his stuff set up and went to check on me. He knocked lightly on my door, getting my attention.

"Hey, bro! What's up?" He smiled but then gave me a concerned look. "So last night, you think it was Swackhammer who was hiding in our front yard?" I nodded, confirming our worst thoughts and fears.

"Well, I doubt that since we're here in Looney Tune Land that he'll be able to get us. I'm gonna go ask Pound a couple of questions. I think he's talking somethings over with Bugs and the other Tunes. You gonna be okay?"

I laughed at this expression of brotherly oversight. "I'll be fine, Hale. Like you said, we'll be fine with the Monstars and Tunes. Just go take care of business. I'm just gonna finish unpacking my stuff here."

He gave a slight nod then sprinted off to find the two people he needed to talk to.

After a few minutes, I finished unpacking my bag and placed the empty piece of luggage next to the wall across from the bed. Ironically, I heard a knock at the door right at that moment. I turned around and saw Nawt leaning on the door frame.

"Hey, just finished unpacking my stuff. Lola is really organized with everything!" He chuckled and walked in, closing the door securely behind him.

"Nawt, what are you up to?" I crossed my arms playfully, arching a brow at him. He gave me an innocent look, his eyes large and puppy like. "Nothing. Just wanna say hi to my favorite girl, that's all."

I giggled. "I doubt it. You even said before we left from your room, that you wanted me all to yourself... and we haven't eaten yet!"

Before I could say or do anything else, Nawt sauntered over in a blink and embraced me. He cupped my cheek and glanced down at me with a gentle smile.

"I think food can wait. Right now, I'm craving for something else.." He leaned down and kissed my forehead, then went lower and kissed the tip of my nose then stopped just above my lips, hovering there.

Gazing into his eyes and him gazing into mine, I really hoped he would do what he intends to instead of just teasing me like he is. For once, this favor was immediately answered. Nawt bent down and started to kiss me feverently. I kissed him back with equal amount of passion; in truth, I missed my red guy for far too long as well.

His large hands pulled my closer; his right holding the back of my head while the left kept a firm grip on my back, nailing me to his strong, broad chest. My hands kept a firm hold on his jersey, clinging onto him as if it were my dying moment. I was doing everything in my power to keep my legs from buckling underneath me.

We pulled apart briefly for some breath, our gaze meeting again. His eyes were half lidded and I know mine were as well. I snaked my arms up and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him back into another desperate kiss. He wrapped both his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him, moaning at the feel of our bodies touching. This was pure bliss for the both of us and we knew it.

Sadly, the peaceful moment had to end when we were both startled upon hearing a giggle followed by a male laugh echoing in the hall and then halting right in front of the bedroom door. Hearing the doorknob rattling then turning, Nawt and I pulled apart from one another, our faces flushed red.

The door swung open and there was Bupkus standing with Marie in his arms. Marie giggled lightly then saw the both of us, making her squeal even more with delight. "Kar-kar! Bunny!"

Bupkus looked up at us and apparently noticed the flushed looks on our faces. He gave a snide grin. "Did we interrupt anything?"

Nawt averted his gaze, though his face looked the least amused. I shook my head, laughing bashfully. "No! We were just discussing how hungry we were and that we were gonna go down to get something to eat, right Nawt?"

Nawt nodded in agreement, his countenance recovering from the blood rush. Bupkus didn't seem to buy it, but brushed it off. "Riiight... If you say so, lovebirds. Ha ha!" He walked away with Marie cooing in his arms, heading towards the stairs and we flinched as he hollered. "You two might want to hurry if you want anything to eat!"

Nawt and I exchanged flustered looks and both of us laughed nervously. "So, ready to go eat something?"

He nodded. "Sure. I'm starving already, anyways." I was about to hit him with a throw pillow that was on the bed as he shot out the door cackling with glee. I shook my head while smiling happily.

At least we're together again..

Meanwhile, looking down the window from high in a tree near the house, two piercing red eyes were glaring down at the romantic scene bitterly. Taking a large puff from his cigar, the evil slime green alien chuckled. "Soon, my dear.. I'll be the one who will be enjoying you... very soon..." Then in a flash, the evil alien leaped out of the tree and dashed away into the darkness.