❝ I  A M  S T A R V I N G ❞

"GUESS WHO'S BACK, BITCHES!" Aurora yells, barely fitting through the front door in her Lamborghini.

"Casper?" Callie questions, appearing in the entryway as Jonah stumbles in, carrying multiple suitcases.

Andy follows close behind him, pushing Carmen's toy Lamborghini through the doorway. Although the road trip back to LA had started out rough, the four had grown rather fond of the British boy band. But Aurora would never willingly admit it.

Callie's eyebrows furrow together at the sight of the blond as Jack appears by her side. "Who are you?"

Mr. Quackington quacks excitedly, making his presence known as he waddles towards Addilyn as she and Corbyn enter the house. Mikey, Jack, Rye, and Brooklyn appear behind them, helping to carry in the last of our luggage.

Allowing the duckling to waddle into her palm, Addilyn cradles him to her chest as he continues to quack.

"I'm-"

"Irrelevant right now," Aurora cuts Andy off, climbing out of the small vehicle. "Where's my Caramel?"

Jack's eyes widen and he glances at his girlfriend, apparently wanting her to explain.

"Get the popcorn ready," Corbyn mutters. "Aurora's about to fight someone."

"She's not here right now," Callie states, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

"Then where is she?" Aurora demands, crossing her arms. The intimidating act, however, fails as she pauses to sneeze multiple times. "Wherever she is, she best not be by herself."

"She's not by herself. She's with Zach and Daniel," Callie hastily continues. "In. . . Texas."

The house falls silent as everyone turns to Aurora with bated breath, waiting for her reaction. Even Mr. Quackington stops telling his stories of what happened while his owner was gone as he plops himself down in Addilyn's palm.

She laughs, leaning into Jonah's side to keep herself standing as her laughter grows louder.

"You nearly had me fooled. Your nervousness is almost believable," she finally manages to choke out. "The joke is over. You can tell me where Caramel really is."

"Carmen really is in Texas with Zach and Daniel," Callie reiterates, nudging Jack, who does nothing but nod in agreement. "She's meeting Zach's family."

Addilyn watches with an amused expression as Aurora jerks her phone out of her back pocket and nearly elbows Jonah's jaw.

"Aurora," Jonah starts warily as she begins to pace the length of the entryway, listening to the dial tone in her ear. "What are you do-"

"ZACHARY DEAN HERRON!" Aurora shouts, flailing her free arm around as though he could see her. "HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY CARAMEL OUT OF STATE WITHOUT TELLING ME?!"

There's a pause as the boy on the other line protests.

"Don't blame Daniel! You're in trouble for taking him, too."

"I don't know about you guys," Corbyn says, moving towards the kitchen. "But I am starving."

****

Sitting at the island in her apartment, Addilyn clicks away on her keyboard, completely absorbed in her online classes.

Mr. Quackington nudges his new stuffed animal, Mrs. Quackington, off the edge of the island, hoping to gain his owner's attention. Honking loudly when that doesn't work, he stomps his webbed foot in frustration.

The duckling was rather cross about being put in the care of the energetic blond and the strange boy that always wore noodles on his head over the past few days while his owner disappeared. It was quite obvious to the animal that something was still bothering the girl even though she kept a smile on her face. But, asking about it was out of the question seeing as how no one, other than Addilyn, understands him.

Back in the comfort of his own home, he wanted nothing more than the girl's undivided attention so he could get his point across. But, she didn't seem willing to comply as her eyes stayed glued to the tiny rectangle sitting in front of her.

Mr. Quackington waddles across the laptop's keyboard, nipping at her fingers as she absentmindedly tries to swat him away.

"Alright, I'll take a break," Addilyn giggles, holding her hands up in defeat. Propping her chin in the palm of one hand, she gives the animal a questioning look. "Did you enjoy your time with Jack and Callie?"

He shakes his head adamantly, flapping his wings around wildly as he launches into a story of one of the many events that occurred during his stay at the Why Don't We household. Addilyn listens intently, nodding along.

Halfway through his story, her phone rings, thoroughly startling the duckling. He quacks angrily, waving a threatening wing in Addilyn's direction.

"Don't get salty with me, young man," Addilyn chastises, glancing down as the familiar number flashes across her screen. "I have to answer this. It might be your uncle."

Mr. Quackington waves his wing, granting her permission as he plops down on the keyboard.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Addilyn," a deep voice that doesn't belong to Carson answers her.

"Hey, Nick!" She greets the adult enthusiastically. "Is everything okay? Where's Carson?"

"Nothing is wrong," Nick reassures her quickly. "I was just hoping to talk to you about something while Carson is busy helping train the Army's newest dog."

"I'm all ears."

There's a pause, one in which Nick sighs and runs a hand through his hair anxiously. Finally, the adult decides to just blurt it out.

"I want to propose to Carson on New Year's, when the ball drops," he exclaims, almost speaking too quickly for Addilyn to understand. "But I want your blessing and since it will be your birthday, I want to know that you're okay with it. Because if you'd rather it not be on your birthday, I can change the date. But-"

"Nick!" Addilyn shouts to stop him from rambling further, a smile tugging the corners of her lips. "Of course you have my blessing! And I'm thrilled with the idea of you proposing on my birthday. But, if you do decide to change the date, you can not propose on Christmas day because I'm pretty sure that's when Jonah is proposing to Aurora."

"Aurora?" Nick questions, trying to remember where he had heard of the girl before. "As in Aurora Daniels?"

"Yes," Addilyn answers slowly. She reaches out to pet Mr. Quackington's head but quickly jerks her hand back when he swats it away with a wing.

"You are friends with LA's youngest and greatest photographer?!" He asks, his voice becoming high pitched. Not waiting for an answer, he continues. "You have to introduce me! I adore her work. Is she still doing photography? I heard she's been declining a lot of clients recently. Is she as sassy as people say she is? I heard-"

Addilyn laughs, moving the phone away from her ear and looking at Mr. Quackington.

"You might as well finish that story now. He's going to be rambling for a while."