Moonlight, Chad Meeks-Martin. ✓

𝒗. mommy dearest

❪ ﹟FIVE  ❫ ࿐ྂ
━━ THE MEEK-MARTIN'S / WOODSBORO LIBRARY !

RICHIE FOLLOWED SAM out of the door almost the second she was gone, leaving Carina, her friends, and Dewey sitting in the Meek-Martin's living room with no clue what to do next.

"Well," Amber sighs. The dark-haired girl stands from her spot in one of the chairs and claps her hands together. "That was just riveting! But I'm going home now," she deadpans. No one tries to stop her, and Dewey, Wes, and Liv all quickly rise from their spots as well.

Liv turns to Chad, "I've got that huge project to finish, call me later?" She bends down to kiss him on the cheek before he can even nod in response, following Amber out the door without a second glance. It makes Carina wonder what kind of person can just leave the person they claim to love with nothing but a rushed goodbye while knowing there's a masked killer running around knife-happy.

Next, Dewey turns to look at Carina, and she rises to her feet to hug him goodbye. She sinks into it when he wraps his arms around her, trying to push away the sinking feeling developing her chest. He presses a kiss to her forehead lightly, and she smiles. "Be careful," he whispers. "Call your mom. Call me if you need anything, seriously."

She nods as he pulls back. "I will."

He gives her one last smile before turning and nodding at both Mindy and Chad. "Tell your mom I send my best." Carina doesn't hear them answer, but she's sure at least one of them nods in response. Dewey sends her one last smile before leaving, and then she's hugging Wes instead.

"Alright, I have to meet my mom for dinner and I want to get a run in first. I'll talk to you guys later, text me if something happens."

All three remaining give some kind of reply back, and then suddenly,

"And then there were three."

Carina chuckles at Chad's comment. She looks at both of them and asks, "Is it okay if I stay for a little bit? Mom's working all day and I kind of don't want to be alone."

Both twins smile at her. "'Course," Chad answers.

Relieved at the answer, Carina drops down next to Chad on one of their many couches, and Mindy takes her spot in the recliner back. The latter picks up the remote from where Sam must have dropped it earlier and flicks through different movies until finally landing on some slasher that Carina didn't recognize. The opening scene leads into an obvious kill sequence, and even though she usually enjoys the movies her best friend picks, she has to look away when the girl is slashed at with a blade.

Nonetheless, she settles in to watch the movie with the Meek-Martin twins. A few minutes into the film she questions her decision to sit on the same couch as Chad when there is a completely empty one she had previously been sitting on. Realistically, she knows she wasn't thinking when she sat back down and just wanted to get off her feet, but now it's all she can think about. Especially when the almost scratchy material of his letterman jacket rubs against her arm every time the two of them adjust just the tiniest bit.

She really wasn't thinking about how close she was sitting when she settled in.

Her thoughts are cut short when her phone rings out from the back pocket of her jeans. Mindy doesn't pay the distraction any mind, but she sees Chad look at her from the corner of her eye. "Sorry," she mumbles as she fishes for her phone.

Mom, it reads in big block letters across her screen. The sticky feeling in her chest that had made its presence known ever since Tara's attack seems to intensify tenfold.