CARLA COULDN'T FIND HER BOOTS, so she was roaming the Academy in just her socks, basically silent as she poked her head into various rooms. No luck.

     She then walked towards Five's room, and saw the door was slightly ajar.

     As they worked on their plan, Five had then been struck by an idea, and had teleported away, muttering something about getting work done. Carla pushed the door open, and walked in, "Hey, have you seen-"

     In a literal flash, Five was in front of Carla, pressing her against the doorframe, one hand holding a knife to her throat.

     There were three seconds of silence that seemed to stretch on for years, Five glaring at Carla with cold eyes, unlike anything she had seen before.

     Then he caught himself, seemingly snapping out of a trance, eyes widening. He staggered back a step, knife clattering to the floor, his skin paling.

     Carla let out a breath, undeniably scared, heart pounding against her ribs. She swallowed thickly, eyes stuck on the knife, before looking up at Five.

     He was staring at her in a mix of horror, guilt, and regret, chest rising and falling rapidly, "I- I didn't... You were- I would never... You just scared me, I- I would never..."

     Carla's concern seemed to disappear as she watched him work himself up into a state, clearly distressed, tears brimming in his eyes.

     She took a step forwards, "It's okay, Five."

     The boy stumbled back, shaking his head rapidly, "S-Stay away."

     "Five, listen to me," she said, and Five's eyes flickered up to meet hers, "It's okay. I'm not hurt."

      He let out a sharp exhale that sounded a lot like a sob, "I didn't mean to..."

     Carla was thrown back to when her twin had said those very words all those years ago, standing over the body of their dead mother, and her head spun.

     "Hey, it's okay," she said softly, "I'm okay."

     Five looked at her, "I didn't mean to."

     "I know you didn't," Carla smiled soothingly, "I should have knocked."

     "You just... normally I hear people's footsteps, but you were s-so quiet," he swallowed thickly.

     "Yeah," she chuckled awkwardly, "I can't find my boots, and they usually make a bit of noise."

     He looked at her then, really looked at her, and took a step forward, "I'm sorry, Carla. I'm so sorry."

     Carla couldn't help the confusion she felt, "Five, it's fine. I get that I scared you and it was self-defence. The world has fucked us all up in different ways, I get it."

     Five walked forward again, so that they were closer than before, "No, Carla, I'm sorry."

     She was definitely confused now. Carla looked up at him, meeting his intense gaze, his eyebrows cinched, lips slightly parted, a few strands of hair falling onto his forehead.

     "It's genuinely okay, Five," she offered him a smile, one gloved hand moving to clasp his comfortingly, "I know you would never hurt me."

     It was then Five froze.

     Carla frowned, "Five-?"

     He yanked his hand away, stepping back once, twice, three times. It was only a few feet but it felt like a chasm, opening up to split them apart.

     "Get out," he said coldly.

     "What?" Carla wasn't sure if she had heard him properly.

     Five's features hardened, mouth pressing into a firm line, eyebrows drawing together defensively, but Carla could see the look in his eyes.

     They shone, filled with regret and guilt, pleading for something, but she couldn't work out what.

     "I said, get out," he said, firmer this time, "I have work to do before we meet with Hazel and Cha-Cha."

     Carla looked at him, searching for a reason to stay, to try and work out what got him so worked up. Was it something she did? Something she said?

     "Okay," she breathed out, before turning on her heel and walking out, trying not to show how hurt she was.