To the Guest who left that really heartwarming review on the previous chapter, thank you so freaking much for that! It made my day. I can safely say this story will be going on for a while. I'm not leaving it till I'm finished.

Hungry Like The Wolf: Part Five

Winter was scarfing down a carton of ice cream to help her now numb mouth. She forgets the flavour but it doesn't matter since she can't taste or feel anything in her mouth. She could barely get words out when Iko and Kinney appeared on the call and she isn't even sure if she was getting ice cream in her mouth. It's definitely getting on the counter and dripping down her throat, so it's ending up somewhere.

Looking at her image on the call in her little square, she's slobbering and drooling ice cream.

Not her finest moment, but also not her worst.

Lucky for her, Jacin wasn't really looking at her since he respects that it was not her finest moment and because he was heading back to his dorm. He had a paper plate filled with some of Iko's delicious garbage plate.

Jacin Bae: I'd have Iko send you the recipe but I doubt she even remembers what it is.

Winter isn't sure what sound came out of her mouth but she tried to laugh and ended up sputtering some ice cream. She wipes her screen and keyboard with her sleeve as Jacin laughs. Winter grabs a napkin and wipes her mouth till it feels raw. At least there's a feeling back now.

Jacin Bae: This is how I remember our first kiss.

Winter gasps. "Rude!"

Jacin laughs as she smiles, thinking back to that day as two awkward and much younger teenagers. A kiss over ice cream one refused to share, both their lips slathered in it seconds later. That was certainly one way to share a cone.

Jacin Bae: Aces, I love you.

"I love you too."

-o-

"Aces, how are we going to finish all this by ourselves?"

Cress looks at their table. Aside from her notes, they had another bread basket that Cress hasn't shoved into her mouth or her bag. They have a plate of those black bean burritos that Scarlet didn't really recommend, chicken tenders and fries, and a burger and onion rings with some coleslaw in a little ramekin.

Cress also ordered a strawberry milkshake. And, of course, Thorne's cup of ice was still melting.

"This is a night of pure decadence," Thorne states, fanning out his napkin as if he was dining with the elite at a finer establishment. (Surely, one that doesn't smell like fried food and wouldn't even let them in the door since they're wearing jeans, but maybe the Thorne name and money would help.) "The food is so good that we'll eat more than we normally would."

Scarlet snorts a laugh as she walks by them.

"I shouldn't have eaten all that bread…" Cress mutters, looking at all the food as if she's intimidated and not as if she ordered most of it.

"You had one piece," Thorne says.

They usually order a lot of food and then eat half of each so they could share. Scarlet was nice enough to ask the cook to cut the burger and the burrito in half, but not considerate enough to give Thorne a real glass of water.

"Can we get doughnut holes?" Cress asks, poking the burrito with her knife. She twirls some melted cheese like pasta before tasting it.

"Absolutely."

Cress nearly drops her knife. She was thinking of deep-fried dough and sugar melting her mouth after all the salty foods. To think that she was already craving dessert after just asking how they would eat all this food. Thorne was probably thinking about her shoving them in her mouth like the bread. Either way, they'll be wrapped in napkins and shoved in her bag.

-o-

After Scarlet put in Cress and Thorne's order for doughnut holes, she walked over to a booth where Wolf was sitting on his phone. He looks up as she approaches him and she holds up a fork. Scarlet squints her eyes as she looks at him, and rotates the fork a few times before lowering it.

"Therapeutic," Scarlet states, putting the fork in her waitress apron's pocket. "You were onto something."

"How much longer are you here?" Wolf asks. "This became our hangout where you give us free food. I'm hungry like a wolf, babe, can we get out of here?"

"I have to close up and Thorne's a big tipper," Scarlet says.

Wolf looks over at Thorne's table. He doesn't know how Cress could eat that much since she's the smallest person he knows. Not to mention she offered him a piece of bread from her bag earlier.

"You didn't tell me that," Wolf says.

"You didn't ask."

"Okay, did you drive here?"

"I did but Grandmère took my car for some errands."

"Good. We'll go home together."

He winks at her as he opens the menu despite knowing what he would order. Wolf scoots over to the edge of his booth next to Scarlet standing and he wraps an arm around her waist. Scarlet pokes him with her pen when he tugs at her skirt.

"You know," Scarlet says, "after a shift at The Rampion, a layer of grease builds on my body."

"I'm well aware," he kisses the inside of her arm, right in the crook of her elbow. "You like this with all your customers?"

Scarlet leans in beside his head. "Gotta get those tips somehow."

Wolf laughs a little. "That's my girl."

-o-

After wiping down the counters and finally getting some boxed macaroni into a pot of boiling water, Kai can breathe. At least he won't have to worry about cleaning up much later or else Mallory would flip … she still will if the twins snitch on him which odds are in their favour.

The twins could be watching television or playing somewhere else in the house, but they decided to sit at the kitchen table with Cinder and watch him mess up. Respectable. He too would sit with Cinder and watch someone mess up their spades.

"Why don't you just order out?" Cinder suggests, turning on her phone and scrolling through. "I could order mac and cheese."

"That's what we said," Skylar responds. She peers over to look at Cinder's phone. "Can we order chicken nuggets?"

"Mac and cheese is easy and the twins' favourite," Kai argues.

"No, it's not," the twins state together.

Kai has never felt more hurt in his entire life. "Their favourite I can make."

"No, it's not."

Cinder laughs a little. "Didn't look like you know how to make it."

Kai crosses his arms. "The first rule of cooking is to make whatever you want."

Cinder opens her mouth and pauses. She reaches into her pockets and drops some coins on the counter. "Shut your spades, Kai."

The twins quickly gather her coins and run over to the swear jar. Cinder gets up and walks into the pantry. At the sound of a chip bag crinkling, the twins run over and disappear into the pantry with her. The bag opens. Kai peers over and sees the twins cupping their hands up at her to get some chips.

"Cinder!" Kai yells as the twins giggle.

Cinder ushers them out, purposely ignoring Kai's glare, as she puts the bag on the counter. She feeds him one before going into the cabinet for bowls.

"You're going to ruin their appetites," Kai scolds.

Cinder shrugs, getting more coins out of her pocket. "Again, shut your spades."