The next morning, Mandy was the first to awaken and realize that she was still nuzzled up comfortably against Colton, from when they were watching movies.
As she groggily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, a grin spread across her face as she noticed that her head was still rested against his chest.
She, very slowly and carefully, moved her head up to see if Colton was still sleeping.
She had been gazing at him for about a minute or two when, as if he could sense that she was, his eyes opened as well and the sudden realization that she was that close to his face inadvertently startled him.
"Gah!"
She just laughed at that. "Good morning, Sleepyhead."
"Well, considering I so rarely wake up with a beautiful woman on my chest, I'd certainly say it is." He chuckled, placing a hand just under her chin.
She lit up again and nuzzled against it. "Mmmm. A guy who's hot and charming so early in the morning? How did I get so lucky?" She kissed him.
"Mmm, I was just thinking the same thing." He teased, kissing her back.
"Very funny." She chuckled, kissing him some more before pulling away. "So, rarely, you say?"
"Mmm, unfortunately." He chuckled.
"So, how often then?"
"Hopefully actually often, from now on."
Even as much as she already liked him, she hated how smooth that was.
"That was the correct answer." She chuckled, starting to push herself up into a sitting position to slide her feet down to the floor.
"Aww, where you gong?" He fake whined.
"I have to change out of these clothes." She laughed. "I'll be right back."
"Can I watch?"
She took her shirt off, once she had already started down the hallway to his room, and threw it at him. "Later…..if you're lucky."
"I'll take that as a yes then." He chuckled to himself, picking up the shirt that had landed on him.
By the time she was coming back down the hall after having changed, Colton had taken it upon himself to go and start making breakfast for the two of them.
"Hey, how do you like your eggs?!" He called out when he heard her going back out to the living room.
She smiled to herself at that. "Over medium! Thank you!"
"My pleasure!"
The grin didn't leave her face as she made herself comfortable back on the couch and began to flip through the TV channels.
"Bacon?!" He asked.
She glanced up briefly from her channel flipping. "Please!"
"Something to drink?"
"Uh, iced tea, if you have it." She called back. "I won't bother you with my coffee preferences." She chuckled at that. "I'm very particular about it."
He laughed at the idea. "Well, that wouldn't be as much as a problem as that my sister used the rest of it, last time she was here, so that works."
"Fair enough!" She laughed.
—
—
She continued to flip through the channels, as she waited for him, til she came across a news channel that made her pause for a moment.
They were still talking about what had happened to Jax and how his body had been found, the night before.
She sighed and flipped a couple more times, til she finally found one to leave it on.
—
Colton glanced briefly at the TV, upon entering with their breakfasts, and smirked a little as he attempted to take her mind back off it.
"You know there's a button on the remote that will pull up a TV guide, right?" He teased.
This got a chuckle out of her. "I'm just old school. Plus, I don't always trust it."
"It does hold a certain nostalgia." He chuckled, setting the food tray down. "I used to sit on the couch and flip through the channels every morning before school. My mom used to hate it. I swear, wherever she was in the house, you'd hear Colton, just settle on a damn station already!"
She laughed at that.
"...like it was my fault I had to wake up before there was anything good- "
He was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Colton?! It's me, am I good to come in?" A woman's voice called from the other side of the door.
"All good!" He called back, catching the somewhat suspicious look on Mandy's face.
"My ah, partner in crime podcasting, if you will." He explained.
She nodded, watching the door still, as the young dark haired woman let herself in.
"Thanks, and hey, not to alarm you, but- " She stopped mid sentence when she noticed Mandy. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know you had company. I'll just be in and out."
"That's alright." He chuckled. "This is Mandy. Mandy, Jess."
"Hey."
"Hi.." Jess greeted back. "Colton did mention you, I am so sorry about your friend." Her tone became more sympathetic.
"Thanks."
"Jess, what were you gonna say before that?" He asked. "What shouldn't alarm me?"
"Someone slashed your tires. I don't know who, they were already like that when I got here."
Mandy looked at Colton. "You think it's someone trying to copy Nat and Les- "
"That BITCH!" He practically growled, storming toward the front door.
"COLTON!" Mandy shouted after him.
But he was already out the door.
Mandy and Jess looked at each other, concerned, for a minute before taking off after him.
Eventually, they finally caught up with him just in time for him to discover the damage.
"That fucking bitch!" He growled.
"Colton, you're starting to scare me. What bitch?" While she wasn't lying, she was also equal parts getting angry at where this looked to be leading.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" His voice still raised. "She already assaulted me in my own home!"
"Who? And why didn't you tell me about this?" Mandy demanded. "We're sitting around most of the night, talking about theories and leads and shit, and you don't even think to tell me- "
"Because I didn't wanna worry you, alright?" He sighed, lowering his voice a little. "Especially considering you have to live right down the fucking hall from her."
"WHO, Colton?"
Jess sighed, having wished he wouldn't have brought it to this. "Loosely translated, he means that Sam came and confronted him over some shit that he was saying about her friend, Seth possibly being an accomplice to Leslie and Nat because of a fucking Ghostface costume he wore to Daniela Hahn's party."
Mandy shot him a look that was equal parts disgusted and angry and turned to storm back up to the apartment.
NOW he'd done it.
He sighed. "Mandy!"
"Mandy!" He was still calling her name when he finally caught up to her and caught her when she was just about to go back inside the apartment.
"Mandy, wait a minute!" He reached for the back of her shoulder, til she whipped around and swatted his hand away.
"Don't touch me!"
"Okay!" He panted, putting his hands up as he caught his breath from having run all the way up to this point. "Alright, you're right. That was out of line- "
"You think?!"
"Very out of line." He sighed. "...but just give me two more minutes."
She glared at him, but glanced briefly at her watch and folded her arms as she looked back up at him. "Fine, you're on the clock now."
He sighed again. "I freaked out, okay?"
"Yeah, that was obvious."
"Can you blame me though? I mean, after what happened to Jax?" He sighed. "..and yes, after what Sam pulled on me? Who's to say Sam's not the one behind it? Hmm? Maybe with someone else, maybe separate from the killer, maybe she's mad that I started digging up the fucking Nat and Leslie shit again, I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?"
Mandy took a step back, although out of less fear and a little more concern.
"...All I know…" He continued. "...is that Jax got gutted….and then, what? The next day, right after you spend the night, someone slashes my tires? You don't think that's a little weird?"
"I think it's VERY weird, Colton!" She scoffed. "...and if you had given me like two seconds I was going to suggest that whoever slashed your fucking tires might be trying to copy Nat and Leslie, like we were talking about last night."
Colton, who was genuinely calming down a little more, appeared intrigued by this.
"Wait, what are you talking about?"
She sighed and shook her head to herself for a moment. "You can not tell Sam or Cori about what I'm about to tell you."
"I swear."
She sighed, glancing around as if making sure no one else was around.
"Well, after I found out who she is, I did some more digging…"
"And?"
She grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the apartment before she would pull it back up on her phone and show him
"Right around the same time Nat was at Sam's house to attack Billy, Leslie was at the school, slashing Sam's motorcycle tires, in order to draw the suspicion away from her….which after talking to her a little more, apparently Billy was dead set on the idea that she was involved."
"Well, it takes one to know one, I guess…"
She sighed again. "Colton, I really, really like you. But I can't do this if you're gonna be so dead set against Sam or where she comes from the whole time, cause I really like her too…"
"I see, so you'd rather me be jealous of her?" He teased
She playfully shoved him back when she realized it. "Not like that, you ass! Although, I'm pretty sure Kinsey thought that too, when we met."
He smirked at her, snickering to himself. "...so, we're still cool then?"
She glanced over at the breakfast…..which was likely pretty cold by now and looked back at him with a smirk of her own. "I'll let you know after the eggs and bacon."
"I'll take it." He chuckled, following her back to the couch.
