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Dragging myself out of bed to go to the stupid dining hall to clean the stupid mess that every other stupid camper left was the stupidest, and hardest, thing I've ever had to do.

My body was still sore from the miles of hiking and climbing. When we got back, I went straight to bed, skipping out on dinner because I simply couldn't bear to wait in the food line. Pathetic, I know, but I didn't care. But when nine o'clock rolled around and I had to get out of bed despite my body aching in protest, I wanted to scream at Marcus for being so stupid and giving me such a punishment.

I dragged myself there, though, and shuffled around the room with the broom in hand and music from the dusty old radio playing. There was no sight of Carter, nor did I actually expect him to be there, so I had long since accepted the fact I'd be doing all the work alone tonight. With each passing minute of cleaning with the static radio as my only source of companionship, I thought I was going to lose my mind... and my legs.

That is, until the screen door opened and Carter walked in. I didn't have to look up to know it was him; I just did. "What do you want, Carter?"

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine?" He asked sarcastically, and when he saw the blank look on my face, he sobered up. "I'm here to help."

I refrained from rolling my eyes and returned my gaze to the ground while I continued working. "Why? It's not like you minded leaving me to do this work alone last night."

That shut him up. I looked up to see him looking at me with a furrowed brow, like I was a difficult math equation he couldn't quite figure out, his eyes studying me. I just shook my head and gathered the broom as I finished sweeping.

"That's what I thought," I muttered as I began bringing the broom back to the supply closet.

His footsteps followed mine, but I ignored him and instead focused my attention to the box of frozen chicken patties sitting on the counter with a note from Ruth instructing me to put them in the freezer. I set the broom down and grabbed the box as Carter entered the kitchen, looking at me with guilt in his eyes.

However, instead of an apology, he asks, "So that's why you're mad? Because I left you alone with the work you were assigned to do?"

I figured it was a last ditch effort before he had to apologize, but it still fueled me with enough anger to snap at him.

With one hand on the handle to the freezer, I whip around and glare at him. "Don't even go there, Miller. You and I both know that the only reason I'm stuck wiping tables and taking out trash is because I covered for you."

Once again, guilt swam in his eyes, and this time his expression softened to show he regretted what he said. I shook my head and opened the freezer, leaving the door open as I walked in to set the box down on a shelf beside similar looking boxes.

"I know, I'm sorry," Carter finally apologizes, and then I hear a thud.

The kind of thud that a door makes when it closes.

I whip around to see Carter standing right behind me, confused at my panic stricken expression as I stared at the closed freezer door behind him. Ruth's words replayed in my mind almost instantly: it locks from the outside when the door closes, so if you're in there and there's no one else here, you'll likely freeze to death.

"No, no, no," I begin breathing heavily as I push past Carter and tug desperately on the handle. "No, this can't be happening."

Carter, who seems to have caught on to his own mistake, breathes, "Oh, shit."

After feverishly tugging at the locked door for another minute, I finally stop, and turn to face Carter with a murderous expression. The effects of the freezer had already taken a toll on my bare legs, and I could feel the coolness begin to creep through my thin sweater.

"You. Locked. Us. In. Here." I accuse through clenched teeth, feeling my frustration pile up.

"I didn't know it would lock!" He cried suddenly, throwing his hands up. "It's going to be okay, I can call James or-" Carter reaches for his pockets and then freezes, his eyes widening.

"You left your phone out there, didn't you?" I hiss.

He nods slowly, like a little boy being accused of stealing a cookie from the cookie jar with said cookie in his hand, and I wrap my arms around myself subconsciously.

"Well, where's yours?" Carter shoots back.

I shake my head and mutter, "I always leave it in the cabin. Oh, no. We're going to die in here," I state matter-of-factly. "Oh, God. You have to be kidding."

Carter takes a daring step closer to me and grabs my shoulders, bending down to my height. He must've heard the panic in my voice, because he looked right into my eyes and promised, "We are not going to die in a freezer, okay? No way in hell. Someone has to come looking for us."

I stare into his hazel eyes trying to calm down, and in doing so, I realize that there are golden flecks in his light brown eyes. After staring at him for a moment, I feel myself calm down, and I'm not entirely sure why. After all, nothing about our situation changed: we're locked inside of a freezer in the dining hall, and no one is around to help us out. We were screwed. But for some reason, I at least felt a little more calm about it.

I nod, letting him know that I heard him and agree with him, and relief flashes across his eyes so quickly that I'm not sure I even saw it. Was he worried about me? I couldn't tell, not when he went hiding his emotions like that. Carter withdrew his hands and placed them at his side, and I looked around the freezer desperately, feeling the cold creep up my legs again. I wrapped my arms tighter around myself, breathing out, displeased by the puff of white coming from my mouth when I did so.

"It's so cold," I mumble, and then sit down on the edge of a box on the ground.

Carter sits down next to me, close enough that I can feel his sacred body heat. "Come here," He commands, opening his arms. When he sees the hesitant look on my face, he rolls his eyes. "It will warm you up."

I stare at him for another second, biting my lip as I think about whether or not it's a good idea, but my coldness eventually wins over any moral dilemma in my head, and I scoot closer to Carter. He wraps his arms around me loosely, pulling my legs so they were draped over his lap and used one hand to rub my back and the other to rub my legs.

I'm not going to lie, I was extremely comfortable, and instantly warmer. I snuggled a little closer, my head resting on the cotton tee shirt on his shoulder, reveling in the warmth that his body emitted. I'm not proud of how much I was enjoying Carter holding me like this, and it only made me more confused, but I was warm, so I wasn't going to move.

"You know," Carter starts, amusement evident in his voice. "I've heard that it would be best for the both of us to get naked and hold each other. You know, to keep warm."

My cheeks flushed red at his suggestion and I started to pull back to detach myself from him, but Carter just started laughing and pulled me closer to his body, his grip tightening around me to keep me from moving.

"I'm kidding, princess," He chuckled. "I'll remain fully clothed, I promise. Unless you want me to get naked, of course."

I groan into his shoulder, "Keep your clothes on, Miller."

Carter laughed again, and the sound was nice to hear. He didn't laugh often, not genuinely at least, and it was a sound that I appreciated. It made me forget that we were locked in a freezer with the possibility of freezing alive looming over us.

"Can we play a game?" I ask after a moment of silence, lifting my head from his shoulder to look at Carter's face.

He raises his eyebrows expectantly. "What kind of game?"

"Twenty questions," I supplement immediately. "An answer for an answer."

If being trapped in a room wasn't a perfect enough opportunity to find out more about Carter's life, then I don't know what is. He studies my face for a second, his gaze darting in between my eyes, trying to catch out my motives, but he eventually nods.

"Okay," Carter agrees hesitantly, like he knows where it will lead, but his curiosity won over. "You first."

To not draw suspicion, I start with the basics. "How long have you played the guitar?"

I shift, scooting backward so I can get a better look at his face. My legs are still draped over his, my knees bent and arms wrapped around them. We were fairly close but I willed myself to ignore our proximity for the sake of his body heat warming me.

"Since I was fourteen," Carter answers easily. "How long have you hated piano?"

The question startled me. "Why do you think I hate it?"

Instead of answering, he just smirks a little. "An answer for an answer, remember?"

I nod slowly, still caught off guard by his assumption. Was I that obvious? "Since I was fifteen, I guess. How did you know I didn't like it anymore?"

"You play sad songs," Carter answers evasively, not giving away much with his answer.

I furrow my brow. "That could mean anything. I mean, why-"

He tsks me, cutting off my words. "It's my turn, princess." Carter stares at me for an agonizingly long moment before asking, "How do you know Jake Sloan?"

Once again, I'm caught off guard by the question. How the hell did he know that I knew Jake? I thought I had the upper hand with the questionable information of Jake knowing Carter, thanks to his phone call the other day. But here Carter was, watching me with careful eyes, asking me a question that I wanted his answer to.

"We dated for a year and a half before we broke up," I answer slowly, my eyes searching his. "How do you know him?"

He hesitates, "We got mixed up in some shit together last year. Why did you break up?"

Although a couple of months had passed, the subject was still a sore one. I didn't want to answer, but I also didn't have anywhere to run off to, seeing as we were stuck together. Our questions and answers were coming quickly, and I would be damned if I was going to lose the progress being made.

"He cheated on me," My words come out flatter than I expected, and I try not to flinch at how poor they sound saying them. "What shit did you get mixed up in?"

Carter, however, paused after my answer. "That asshole cheated on you?"

I have to look away from his piercing gaze, lit up in fire when he heard my answer. I didn't want to talk about it, especially not with Carter, so I just smile a small smile.

"You didn't answer my question," I remind him, and then spare a glance at him again.

Carter is watching me in a mixture of shock and awe, but I could detect anger beneath his eyes. I noticed the way his fists clenched by his side when I mentioned my relationship with Jake and how his body got tense when I told him how it ended. But still, I didn't want to talk about it, so I just leveled my challenging gaze with his, waiting for his response.

Finally, he opens his mouth, and his voice is considerably lower than before. "I was street fighting some of his friends last summer and he was there. The cops came and that bastard ratted me out. He got me a hefty fine and six months of probation."

My eyes widened, and his jaw tightened at my reaction, his eyes shifting away from mine, almost as if he were ashamed.

"Is that how you almost got stuck with Juvie?" I dare to ask.

Carter shakes his head, but doesn't answer. This wasn't going as I planned at all. I was going to ask him what landed him in trouble with the law- this time, at least- but the new information caught me completely off guard. Street fighting? Why the hell was Carter Miller fighting for pleasure, or money, on the streets? It felt like these never ending series of questions just left me with even more questions than I started with. I noticed the way his jaw ticked as he glared at a box of frozen foods across from us, and felt my expression soften.

"Jake's a pussy," I say lightly, and I feel a strange sense of relief flood my body when he finally looked back at me with a softened, and frankly surprised, gaze. "He would do anything to keep his record spotless, including being a rat."

His hazel eyes search mine, the golden flecks standing out against the light brown color. "You're not going to defend him?"

I scrunch up my nose. "Why the hell would I defend him?"

"I'm not sure," Carter admits, still studying me. "I expected a lecture on how bad street fighting is, and why I can't blame him for saving his own ass." He pauses, as if unsure whether or not to say it, but then says bitterly, "At the very least, I expected you to be scared of me."

My brow furrowed as I looked at him, meeting his piercing gaze with my own curious one. "Why would I be scared of you?"

As the frigid air of the room seeps back into my awareness, I scoot closer to Carter subconsciously, and thankfully he doesn't say anything about the movement. Instead, he keeps staring at me, like he couldn't quite figure me out.

"I've lost track of how many times I've been inside the police station, or how many fights I've gotten into. The hell if I know how many noses I've broken or black eyes I've given," Carter speaks quietly, his voice rough, and his words send chills down my spine. "I'm not a good guy, Amelia. I'm bad."

Even though he just admitted to hurting others and being involved in illegal activities, for some reason, I'm quick to shake my head.

"You're not bad, Carter," I say quietly, looking up at him with big eyes that I hoped showed him that I believed in what I said. "You're not a bad guy. I don't believe that."

He looks at me in awe, and then whispers back, "But you don't even know me. How could you say that?"

Somehow, he had gotten close enough that his breath fanned my cheeks when he spoke, close enough that my whole body felt on fire even though we were in a stupid freezer, close enough that if I just reached up a few inches, our lips would be touching.

I search his warm hazel eyes before telling him softly, "I just know."

My heart was pounding in my chest at this point for some unknown reason. It only increased more when Carter's gaze flashed to my parted lips and then back up to my eyes, like he was asking a silent question. The seconds seemed to stretch into an eternity while it felt like we were moving painfully slowly toward each other to close the distance.

But then an awful screeching noise came from the direction of the door, so loud that I jumped up onto my feet and away from Carter, and whipped my head to see who it was. Poppy was standing there with her hand on the doorknob and raised eyebrows at me in confusion. My heart was still thumping wildly in my chest as I realized what was about to just happen.

I was about to kiss Carter Miller.

"Care to explain why you've been hanging out in the freezer?" Poppy questions, amusement written on her face.

"We got locked in here," Is all I can manage, still feeling breathless.

Her brow furrowed. "We?" And then her gaze slipped behind me, where Carter had stood up and come into view, and her mouth forms an 'o'. "Which one of you idiots let the door shut behind you? If I hadn't come looking for you, then who knows what would've happened!"

She had taken on a protective mother persona almost immediately, and I snuck a glance at Carter to see him rolling his eyes. "How about instead of yelling at us, you let us out of here?"

Poppy's eyes widened. "Shit, I'm sorry! Mina, you must be freezing!"

I probably would've been, had I not been cuddled up next to Carter the whole time we were in there. She ushers us out into the dining hall, still only halfway cleaned, and the warm air wraps around my chilled skin immediately. I could feel Carter's presence beside me, but couldn't bring myself to look over at him again.

"Thanks for letting us out, Poppy," I tell her with a smile, rubbing my hands up and down my arms again, not from the cold but from nerves. "I owe you one."

She grins and winks at me. "It was a pleasure saving your lives. So, I'm guessing it was Carter's fault?"

I smirk a little as Carter frowns and defends, "Why do you just assume it was my fault?"

She raises her eyebrow. "Was it?" His guilty expression that followed was answer enough, and she smirks. "Exactly." Poppy glances at Carter and then back at me before her grin turns wicked. "Now that I've made sure you're not dead, I'm going to head to bed. I just wanted to check on you, since you're usually back by now."

I narrow my eyes at her. She was purposely leaving us alone. Before I could get another word out, she was walking out of the dining hall, the door shutting filling the otherwise silent dining hall.

"I told you we weren't going to die in there," Carter breaks the silence by saying smugly.

I finally meet his gaze and see a smug smile that matches his tone, and I narrow my eyes at him playfully. "It's good we didn't, because if I died because of you, I'd have to kill you."

His smug facade broke when he laughed, and I smiled a little, happy to see that he didn't rebuild his walls the second we got out of the freezer. That had to count for something, right? We decided to keep cleaning quickly so we could get out of there and diminish any risk of us being stuck in that awful freezer ever again. But as I was cleaning, I kept letting my mind wander back to the moment in the freezer, where we almost kissed, and my heart skipped a beat.

All I could think was, what is happening to me?