Smells Like Winter

39: I Guess It's Growing on Me

The first thing Maddy saw when she opened her eyes the next morning, lying on her side, was Carter's face.

Staring at her.

Flustered at the closeness of him, she jolted back. She released a breath and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"Rise and shine, princess," he scorned.

She didn't answer. Turning around so she was lying on her back, she faced the sky, grey and dull.

Maddy hadn't slept all night. Not really.

Again.

Maybe she'd gotten an hour of sleep. Hardly. She felt exhausted, even as the first sun rays of dawn emerged from the horizon and kissed her cheek.

"We've got to get going," said Sia, her British accent strikingly strong, stuffing a metallic bottle of water inside her backpack.

They had only bought two flasks of water, and agreed to share them. Maddy had the second one, if she recalled right.

Maddy pushed herself up into a sitting position and, as she examined the others' faces, she figured out that she wasn't the only one who hadn't slept all night.

Sia's eyes were all puffy and swollen, and Maddy wondered whether it was from her lack of sleep or from crying.

Logan and Mia both had their jaws clenched, mouths pressed into a thin line. They didn't even look at each other, only ignored one another in a dismissive manner that must've stung hard.

Maddy barely managed to get up on her feet without collapsing back down on the rough ground; her body was sore, her muscles tense.

She could use a hot shower, a comfortable bed, some warm, clean sheets, or a nice massage...

Cut the daydreaming, Maddy, she reprimanded herself and picked up her own backpack, aggressively squeezing her blanket from the previous night in it.

She fumbled for her own water bottle, fingers a bit shaky from her exhaustion.

"Come on, guys," urged them Logan, and began walking.

Sia and Mia joined him in his hiking, all too quiet, both keeping their distance.

"Coming..." muttered Maddy, still searching for her bottle. Her throat was so dry she could barely breathe. It was a miracle she hadn't died from dehydration already.

"Looking for something?" asked an all too familiar voice.

Maddy only glanced in Carter's direction for a brief second, cold as an iceberg, then turned back to her backpack. She felt too tired to talk, let alone fight, and she knew that every conversation with Carter ended up with a quarrel.

She finally found her water bottle, thankfully still full, and drank deeply. She was so thirsty she downed it in a few seconds, then filled it up again from the water in the nearby creek.

"So what now, you're not talking to me?" he asked sarcastically.

"I'm not in the mood, Carter," she warned him.

The girl went to put the metallic flask back into her backpack, when Carter suddenly grabbed her hand that was holding the bottle by the wrist.

"I'm thirsty, too."

Maddy shook her hand out of his hold. "Ask Sia. She has the other bottle," she said through gritted teeth and tucked the bottle in her backpack a tad too violently. "Or you could just die from dehydration."

She didn't really know why she got so riled up all of a sudden when all he had asked for was water, or why she was acting so childish instead of just passing him the bottle. She didn't know why she was mad at him, but she was.

Or maybe you're just mad at yourself.

She knew she had no right to be mad. She had no right to care. But he'd started a fire, and now there was no one to put it out. He'd dropped an atomic bomb last night, and now refused to take responsibility for the consequences. Sia was heartbroken, and Logan and Mia were both left in ruins, all because of him.

"I want yours." He gave her a provoking look.

Maddy retaliated. "Whatever it is you want, you can shove it up your ass."

"Are you always grumpy in the mornings, or is it just because this one you woke up next to me?"

Maddy didn't know how to answer that, so she just clenched her hands into fists and ground her teeth to restrain from a snarl.

"Is it just me, or are you mad at me?" he asked mockingly, arching a brow.

"When am I not mad at you?"

"Hmph. Right."

"You're in my way," she told him, waiting for him to move aside so that she could catch up with the others.

"I want water."

"There's a nice river over there. And while you're at it, why don't you drown as well?"

"Bite me, princess. Give me the bottle."

"No."

"What's your bloody problem? Why won't you just give me the bottle for one second?"

"No."

Honestly, she was surprised he hadn't thrown her into the river by then. She was being terribly annoying. If she were him, she wouldn't have been so patient and calm.

"Jesus, why are you so difficult? We were fine last night. You were all over me, actually. It's kind of cute, how you drool in your sleep."

Ughhhh. Annoying, arrogant-

"You're a bastard."

Carter's big doe eyes went wide as amusement lit them. "Now, is that how a lady should speak?"

"I'm not a lady," hissed Maddy.

Carter huffed. "Then what are you, smarty pants?"

Deep breaths, Maddy. Deep breaths... Don't let him get under your skin. Don't give him the satisfaction.

The answer hit her, and she couldn't help the small smile that curved one corner of her plump lips.

Maddy shifted her weight on one foot and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'm a princess," she said, lifting her chin up.

Carter's expression went into taken-aback mode. He blew a breathy laugh and cocked his head to the side, clearly amused.

He smirked.

"I thought you didn't like it when I call you that." He raised a perfectly black pierced brow at her.

Maddy shrugged nonchalantly as her smile got a little brighter.

She suppressed it. Shrugged with as much indifference as she could master.

"I guess it's growing on me."

Then she walked right past him and continued her trekking, making sure her shoulder knocked on his.

[A/N]

A short, sassy chapter.