I shoot out of bed to the sound of screams.

"What the fuck - what's going on??" I wheeze in shock and fear, shaking Tammy awake. She begins to reply groggily to my calls for her to get up, but the shouts and screams from another room wakes her up quicker than a frozen bucket of ice water.

Stealthily we sneak out of our room, and creep down the landing, hoping to catch the attackers off guard.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" We hear, from Slime's room. Dorian's door bursts open in front of us, and we put our fingers to our lips, silently telling her to shut up.

Together, we incognito ourselves to Slime's room, and are extremely confused as to why Luna hasn't joined us yet - she sleeps the least out of all of us, and she's the lightest sleeper. However, we all collectively push the thought aside and focus on helping Slime.

I'm standing in front of the others and push my head into Slime's room - trying to assess the situation before we kill some bitc-I mean before we try to help her.

I did not expect to see this.

"Peachy! Help me!" Slime says, clinging onto the bottom half of an adorable black kitten. She makes sure not to be too rough with the cute feline, but also makes sure the cat won't escape her grasp.

Luna is holding onto the other end.

"For Gods sake, Slime!" Luna berates her. "Stop stealing stray kittens! This is the third time you've done this, and - oh, hi Peachy."

Losing all tension in my body, I walk inside the room, and call the others in.

"You might want to put away your flamethrower." I mutter to Dorian, and she rushes off to put it away. Luna's grip on the kitten falters, and Slime seizes the opportunity to grab the small bundle of fur and bring the kitten to her chest.

Tammy sighs and turns to Slime. "I've only been here for a couple weeks, and this is the second time I've been woken up from you two."

"But I've already named her!" Slime says, cuddling the kitten closer.

"Do you even know if the kitten is male or female?" Dorian asks, returning from the trip to her room.

"Well her collar said-"

"HER COLLAR? Did you steal the cat from someone's home?" Tammy interrupts, glaring at Slime.

"No! All the collar had on it was the name 'Summer' - which is a VERY ironic name for a black cat."

"What if it had a tracking chip on it?"

"Well it doesn't matter anyways, because I destroyed it before I carried Summer home."

"Okay, firstly, you said you chose another name for this cat, and secondly WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! Cats need to be with their families. This kitten has a home already."

I glance at Tammy in shock - in the last two weeks, this is the first time she's actively started and held a conversation with anyone besides myself. Her and Luna watching Buffy doesn't count - its normally just them laughing together and not actually talking.

I place a hand on Tammy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Tammy, but either way, what's happened has happened. We need to either give... Summer... away to a pet rescue centre or take her in ourselves. The collar has been destroyed. Knowing Slime, this cat came from a home very far away - so far away we'd have no way of finding the family."

Tammy sighs and shakes my hand from her shoulder.

"I say then keep her for tonight, and then give her to an animal shelter tomorrow morning. Come on Peachy, we need to get you back to sleep."

I try to mutter protests, but just one look from Tammy shut me up. I didn't want to infuriate her more - especially at such a late - or I guess early - time of day, and simply follow her back to our room.

---In the morning---

As I walk into the kitchen, I find everyone else eating and waiting for me.

"Glad you could join us, Peachy! I made pancakes!"

I pause. "American or British?" I hate thick pancakes but love thin pancakes.

"Both - I made Luna and Slime American, and me, you and Tammy 'British' pancakes." I glance towards Tammy, and notice she's smiling a bit more now - she must be in a happier mood.

"Yay!" I smile and sit at my spot on the table. "Thank you, Dorian!"

While we eat our pancakes, I spot the small kitten on Slime's lap. "Hey Slime, don't get too attached. That kitten is going to an animal shelter."

Dorian finishes her food first, and brings up her phone, more specifically Google Maps.

"It looks like there's only one shelter around here." She says, pointing to a specific one. "If we take this bus, then we can-"

"Guys - Tammy is 18. She can drive us there. She has her own car - did you not notice?" I ask them. She only passed her test a couple months before she began living here, but she still passed her test, nonetheless. She even arrived at our house in her car!

"The car is a four seater." Tammy interrupts. We glance at each other, before we all focus on Luna.

"What - you want me to stay behind?" She asks.

"Well I'll stay with you, to keep you in check." I say in return. "I would let Tammy stay - to keep you distracted with the Buffy stuff - but she needs to drive the car, so..." I trail off.

"You didn't actually answer my ques-"

The others agree with my idea, interrupting... whatever Luna was going to say. They head out in Tammy's car, while Luna and I hang around the house. I do the dishes and other housework, while Luna holes herself in her room, upset that she was chosen to stay behind.

At least... that's what I think she's doing...

After finishing some housework, I go up to my room and continue writing.

After an hour or so, everyone returns.

"Hey guys how was the... shelter..." I mutter, walking down the stairs to see... the kitten.

"It was full!" Slime says happily, petting the kitten, who's in Dorian's arms. The kitten jumps out of Dorian's arms, and meowed at Tammy, who then picked her up.

"The shelter said she's a female, so as we drove home, we discussed names." Tammy says, cuddling the kitten close. "I said Jacky, but I'm not sure the others agree."

"What about Nightshade? We should have a name that reflects her dark fur!" Dorian offers.

Luna tumbles down the stairs in haste. "No, it should be Sakaria!"

"... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tripped at the top of the stairs."

Slime turns to me. "What about you, Peachy? What would you name her?"

"Me? I don't know. Since you... found... her, I'd say you'd get the final decision anyways, but if I could choose, I would probably go for... well..." I trail off, and glance at Luna. "Honestly, I've always wanted a cute black kitten called Luna - but we have Luna here, so that's probably not the best idea."

Slime agrees with a frown. "It needs to be something that is clearly different from our own names, so she doesn't get confused. My name idea from earlier still stands - it would work - although it sounds a bit similar to Peachy's name..."

"Well what is it?" I ask.

"I thought about calling her Pepper - what do you think?" She says, looking at me with hopeful eyes. It is very similar to my name but... I can't deny Slime when she makes that face at me.

I turn away. "Whatever, name her what you want."

"Yay! Thank you, thank you!" She yells, before picking up 'Pepper' from Tammy's arms.

"Aww Pepper, you're so cute!!" Slime says, spinning Pepper around, and hugging her.

"Right." I say. "We need some rules if we're going to keep this cat."

The girls turn and face me.

"Number one - Pepper belongs to all of us, not just one person. Therefore, Pepper must have her bed downstairs, and not in anyone's room. Number two, if you see the litterbox needs to be changed - you change it. Number three, Luna, you're not to take her out on your killing sprees. Number four..."

As I drone on, I spot Slime bumping noses with Pepper, looking happier than ever.

"Look's like we have a new member of our family!" She whispers, carefully hugging Pepper.

I smile, and secretly look forward to spending time with Pepper.

"... Number twelve, we are NOT getting any more pets."

That sure wiped the smile off everyone's faces.

"We only have room for one pet! Luna, I don't care how 'we won't know they're even there' - it's a no! Slime, no more stealing pets from homes, one pet is enough. Tammy, I know you have a few pets living with your family members, but they simply can't live here. That goes for you too, Dorian." I tell everyone, making sure they're clear on the fact there's no more pets.

"I'll continue the rules later, but for now, Slime, give Pepper to Dorian, and let's find some cat stuff for our new family member." I say, smiling, and holding the door open for her.

Helloooo! Me again!

This was originally supposed to be a short fun chapter on Slime stealing stray cats and hiding them in her room, and has become this XD

Well, enjoy Pepper, because we are NOT getting anymore pets, and I don't care what any of you do to try and convince me.

I hope you like the chapter!!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊