Mads returned Case's grin, "Trust me, you'd know if it were the good way," he teased, even though he wasn't as into the joke as he might've been any other time. He'd just had his head exploded twice, with no time to recover in between. He was exhausted, wanted to lie down. But unfortunately it wasn't the kind of exhaustion that sleep would fix. No, what he needed was to run, clear his head.<br/><br/>The mood quickly reverted to a more somber note when Case asked the question they were both clearly wondering. What now, indeed.<br/><br/>The mention of a time machine had him rolling his eyes, "Yea, wouldn't that just solve all our problems," he muttered, eyes focused on a point over Case's shoulder. But there was no going back, unfortunately. No pretending none of it ever happened either. For the briefest of moments Mads entertained the idea that this was all just a dream. One of those dreams that felt so real he'd wake still shaken up, before reality slowly set in. But then Case was grabbing his chin, forcing Mads to look at him and the fantasy shattered. Nope, this was real, and he was awake. More awake than he wanted to be.<br/><br/>"That would be unfortunate," he teased, a playful glint in his eyes, "for you." He couldn't imagine, didn't even want to know what he'd do if Case was crushing on Evie too. God, as if it weren't already bad enough. It was the absolute last thing he wanted to talk about. "Seriously though, what the hell do we do? If they ever found out..." An unsuppressed shudder ran through Mads as he trailed off, unable to finish the thought.<br/><br/>He started to say something more when the telltale echo of fast approaching footsteps stopped him and just in time too, because suddenly Evie was there and Mads was already considering the nearest exit. Not that he had a chance to make a quick get away. Not with Everett so completely invading his personal space.<br/><br/>Mads didn't mean to, but he momentarily stiffened when Everett slung an arm over his shoulders. He hadn't meant to, but the last thing he wanted right now was the other boy being his usual oblivious, touchy-feely, no-sense-of-personal-space self. Any other time Mads wouldn't have let it get to him. He'd gotten used to smothering the worst of his feelings for the other boy when they reared their ugly heads. But right now, the wounds were still too fresh, still bleeding out all over the floor; and with Everett sitting so close Mads could feel the heat of his body through his clothes, it was like a thousand little glass shards crawling under his skin. And every breath he took only forced them deeper until he was breathing glass.<br/><br/>Unable to bring himself to look at the other boy, Mads kept his gaze on Case, his lips quirking up into a grin at Everett's joke, "Yea, we do actually, and a 'Do Not Disturb' sign while you're at it."<br/><br/>Everett's apology to Case had it suddenly occurring to Mads that there was no Julien in tow, "Where's Jules?" he said, his tone accusatory. Using the question as an excuse to free himself from Everett's invading presence, he slid sideways away from the other boy to look at him properly, "Don't tell me you left him alone."