Andy honked her horn. A guy was hanging on Ramsey's car, talking to him through the open driver's side window. A few seconds later, he waved and stumbled away again. She rolled her eyes.

"Idiots," she muttered. She wove around Ramsey and lead the way out of the parking lot. "Where to, Little Flower?"

Lacie pursed her lips at the nickname. "I guess we can see what's left of the two-story mall. Ooh, there's a Hot Topic there!"

"Yessss! You know there's gonna be a lot of people there, right?" Andy looked over, chewing her lip worriedly.

"I know. But that's why you'll be there." Lacie hesitated, taking a risk with her next words. "That's why you didn't want to split up, right? You wanted to protect me."

Andy flushed red once again and staring out the dash. She paused for so long, Lacie wasn't expecting an answer. "Yeah."

"That's... that's really sweet, Andy." 

"Shut up." 

"Please."

"What?"

"Say please. It's not very nice if you don't." Andy let out an exasperated sigh that quickly turned to a chuckle. 

"Okay, Little Flower. Okay."

And so they were off.

~~~~~~

A good 15 minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot. Andy locked her truck, praying that no one would steal it. 

"Ready to go, guys?"

"Let's get this motherfucking bread."

"Ah, shit. Hang on a minute." Andy jogged back to her truck and grabbed something out of it, tucking it in her waistband. 

"You just had that in your truck?!" Lacie yelled.

Andy shrugged. "I have a permit." She groaned. Andy smirked wickedly.

"Kinky." Kaz snorted, almost doubling over with contained hysterical laughter. Lacie furrowed her brow.

"What does that mean?"

"What?" 

"Kinky. What's it mean?" Kaz gave Andy a look and ran ahead to join Ramsey.

"It means... ugh, how do I explain this..." Andy ran a hand through her hair. "It's a turn-on, something that you like. In, you know... that way." Lacie turned bright red. Andy barked a laugh and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Little Flower. It was just a joke."

They walked like that for a while. It just felt natural. Lacie was jittery and on edge - not because of the Purge, but the girl beside her.

"Are you sure you're alright with going in? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable." Andy's breath fell softly on her neck. She looked over and was almost nose to nose with Andy. 

"Yeah, I-I'm fine. You're here, aren't you?" Lacie thought she might fall over dead right there when Andy smiled sweetly.

"That's right, Little Flower."

"You comin', lovebirds?" Andy stuck out her tongue and flipped Kaz off. He laughed harshly, his voice echoing around the building that encased them. 

Inside, it would've been pretty dark if not for the skylights. A few lights flickered eerily in the shops, but there was no other electricity. Lacie shuddered, her whole body quivering.

"Cold?"

"A little," she admitted. Andy immediately pulled off her jacket and slid it on over Lacie's shoulders, pulling her flush against her side and cupping her hands in her own to warm them.

"Oh, my God, you're so warm!"

"I'm always warm. I swear I'm a goddamn werewolf." 

"Seriously, guys! C'mon!" Andy rolled her eyes and strolled casually over to Ramsey and Kaz.

"I'm helping a cold friend in need. Is there a problem with that?"

"No."

"Good. Now, let's move. Where was it you wanted to go, Hot Topic?" 

"Yeah." Andy could almost hear the boys rolling their eyes behind them. 

"Are you warmer now?"

"Yes, thank you."

"No problem, Little Flower." She removed her arm and walked beside her, letting their elbows brush every once in a while. "Do you mind if I call my boyfriend?"

"N-not at all."

"Thanks." Andy dropped back behind the boys, letting the three get out of earshot. She dialed Kyle's number and held the phone up to her ear.

"Andy?"

"Oh my God, Kyle. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Are you? What happened, I couldn't find you in the lunchroom. I tried going there after the chaos, I figured you might be there."

"I'm sorry babe, and yeah, I'm okay." Kyle let out a sigh of relief. 

"Thank God. I don't know what I'd do if..."

"Babe. I'm not dying, not today. I refuse."

"Good." There was a lengthy pause. "I love you, Andy. So goddamn much."

"I love you too, Kyle." And she meant it, too. 

"Where are you now?"

"The two-story mall, it's about 15 minutes away from the school."

"Really?! I'm super close to there, I'll be there right away. It's not like there are any fucking speed limits anyway."

Andy laughed, unable to stop the broad smile encompassing her face. "Cool. See you soon."

"Love you, babe."

"Love you too." Andy sighed and ran ahead to catch up. "Are we almost there?" 

"Yeah, it's just ahead!" Lacie pointed in front of them, skipping excitedly. 

"Wait. We don't know what's around that corner," Andy whispered. The others nodded. She tiptoed forward, silent, and peeked around the corner.

One person had his back to them. He was huge, with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. There was also a girl on the other side of the store, thin and willowy with hair that curled around her chin. 

"Two people, male and female. Female isn't a threat, male definitely is," Andy reported in low tones. "If they cause any trouble I can hold off the girl, but I might need help with the guy."

"You're forgetting that you have a gun."

"Well, if it comes to hand-to-hand."

"In that case, I got your back."

"Me too." 

"Thanks, guys. Lacie... stay safe." Andy took a deep breath and walked into the shop, clearing her throat to call their attention. Both of them whipped around, hostile body language, expressions, and all that jazz. Andy held up her hands.

"We don't want any trouble."

"You obviously do if you're comin' in," the male growled, his accent deep German. The girl continued to fix her intense stare upon them, scanning every one of them, stripping them down to their souls.

"We just want a few things and we'll be on our way." He snarled.

"As if. This is ours." With a guttural cry, he launched forward. Andy shoved Lacie out of the way, blocking his flying jab away from her face. She grabbed that arm and pounced before he had time to react.

Swiftly she smashed her forearm into his arm, right above the elbow, breaking it cleanly. He grunted in pain, his free hand swinging towards her ribs.

Unexpectedly, the other girl screeched. Kaz had her cornered and was going to town. The German's fist hammered into her abdomen. Andy bit her lip, swallowing a yell of pain. She stepped behind his front foot, their hips pressed together. Her arm slid up around his neck, grabbing his jacket. She pulled her leg, thrusting her hips and pushing him over onto the ground. Surprisingly, it was easy to do. He was off-guard and had terrible balance.

He crashed to the ground. Andy slammed a kick into his face; Ramsey joined her. When he tried to get up, Ramsey punched him hard between the eyes. With another kick from Andy, they sent him to unconsciousness. 

"He shouldn't be a problem anymore."

"PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM!" the girl screamed. Her accent was German too. Tears fell down her bloodied face.

"Kaz, what the hell man? You don't beat girls."

"It's not like I was gonna let him get to Lacie!" The girl's small chest heaved up and down, her eyes locked on Andy's. 

"Please." Andy narrowed her eyes.

"Andy, don't!" Lacie finally spoke up from her frozen state, laying a hand on Andy's arm. "They don't need to die for us to win." The two stared at each other for at least a minute before Andy sighed and dropped her gaze. 

"You can let her go, Kaz."

"Andy-" She gave him a look that cut off his sentence. He stepped back. The girl fell away from the wall, still panting.

"What's your name." There was no reply. "What. Is. Your. Name?"

"G-Gabriella."

"Well, Gabriella, leave. Or... don't." Andy traced a finger along a groove in her handgun. Gabriella rushed past her and ceased to exist.

"That was rude."

"Well, what'd you expect me to do?" Andy huffed. "It's not like we could let her stay around."

Kaz nudged the man's unconscious form. "What should we do with him?"

"I don't know. Make sure he doesn't wake up, for starters."

"Or we could lock him in a closet." They turned to Ramsey. "What? I watch a lot of TV."

So they stuck him in a closet and continued to rob the store. Not that there was much left, of course.

"What's wrong, Little Flower?"

"Nothing."

"You're a terrible liar." 

"No I'm not."

"Lacie." The girl crossed her arms and faced Andy, doing her best to frown. It ended up looking like a mildly upset pout. Andy smiled and poked her cheek. "C'mon, I know something's wrong."

Lacie sighed. "I can't tell you."

"Of course you can! You know you can talk to me, Little Flower." She pursed her lips and looked away. Andy tugged lightly on one of her French braids.

"I can't, Andy."

She tipped her ehad to the side. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to ruin our friendship!" Lacie exploded. Right after she spoke, her hands flew to her mouth. Andy stepped back and was about to reply when they were rudely interrupted.

"You guys about ready to go?" Kaz barged over and wrapped his arm around Andy's neck.

"Yeah," Lacie said softly, turning back to the t-shirt shelves. Andy sighed and collected her things.

Wow, this is a long chapter, sorry it took so long to write!