I grabbed my phone the second I got home and dialed Zach's number. "Hello?" he asked.

"Training today. Are you free?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm free. What time?"

"Right now?"

"Right now?"

"I'll be there in fifteen."

"Wait, wait, wait!" he exclaimed. "I'm around with Connor. We'll pick you up."

My brows furrowed. "Why are you around?" I questioned.

"We dropped Alex home," he answered while I heard Connor cursing at him in the background.

"Why were you two dropping Alex home?" I questioned.

"I had to pass on a message from Abby and Hudson was following her."

"What?"

"Zach, shut up," Connor hissed.

"Why? He should know that," Zach replied.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Hudson was following her, he was driving right behind her. We managed to get ahold of her first," he said.

"Is she at home now? Is she fine? Did you check to see if he went there?" I asked while grabbing my keys and heading to the door.

"She's fine," he said, "But you can go check since you're already heading out probably," he teased.

"I wasn't heading out," I lied, sitting down.

"Sure, we're outside so come out anyway," he said before hanging up.

I grabbed my gym bag from under my bed and headed out. I walked out and opened the car door, sliding inside. They both were just staring at me. "Just drive," I sighed.

"You know it's okay to act like this, right? You loved her, Carter. You can't turn it off."

"Love," I corrected.

"What?"

"I still love her," I said, turning to him.

"Then trust her," he sighed.

"I can't. I'm terrified," I mumbled.

"Of what?" he questioned.

"Getting hurt, Zach," I huffed.

"You think she would hurt you?"

"No, I-" I resisted a groan, "I think I'll do that for myself and I'll hurt her in the process anyway," I huffed.

"You already did," he laughed dryly, "That is exactly what you've done. Hurt yourself and hurt her too. Is it not?" he raised an eyebrow at me.

I opened my mouth to argue but snapped it shut, realizing he was right. "She cheated," I said, staring out of the window.

"You don't know that. She told you she didn't, you should trust her, especially because nothing else suggests otherwise," Connor said.

"So, what? She just can't remember an entire half of the night?" I scoffed.

"Yes!" they exclaimed in sync.

"Do you two know something I don't?" I narrowed my eyes at them.

"No, we just think you should trust her. Right, Connor?" Zach asked.

"Right," he nodded. He pulled into the gym minutes after that so Zach and I headed inside and Connor went home.

"So, why the SOS training session? Code red?" he smirked while tossing me my gloves.

"Why do you poke the bear?" I huffed while throwing my shirt off.

"Because it's fun," he smirked as we stepped into the ring. I rolled my eyes and we ran through my routine. I was hitting harder than usual, being rougher, more aggressive, throwing more energy into each punch, and move. An hour of training later, he stopped. For once, he stopped.

"If we go any longer we're both going to pass out. Let's just stop, take a break. If you wanna continue we can do it later," he panted. I sat down and threw the gloves off before lying down.

"I should give it a try, huh Alex?"

We both looked forward and saw Alex standing there, her arm linked with Mr. Hall. Everybody in the neighborhood steers clear of that guy yet here she is with him. "Yeah, sure thing Mr. Hall. You go into that rink and come back. You'll need another cane or two though, would you say it's worth it?" she laughed. She looked around before her eyes landed on me and her smile dropped.

That's the opposite of what I wanted to do. Make her smile.

"Um- that's Zach, he runs the gym," she said, tearing her gaze away from mine.

"Isn't that Carter Reed?" he asked not so quietly.

"Yeah," she replied, "We should get you your McDonald's. I have to be home by six, Mr. Hall."

They turned around and left, Mr. Hall used his cane to go slowly up and down the stairs. "What the hell was that?" Zach asked.

"I have no idea. Ask her," I shrugged.

"Okay," he replied before running downstairs. I rolled my eyes before he came back up and sat down. "She takes Mr. Hall to McDonald's twice a month as long as he's nice to her. Weird way to get someone to be nice to you. But the old man can smile, dude. Who would've thought," he laughed, "I think he probably helps her out once in a while. I'm also pretty sure I've seen her take him to the cemetery nearby. I think that's where they buried his wife," he continued.

"I think she just likes helping people out," I mumbled while grabbing my water bottle.

"Maybe. Carter, what are you gonna do if she proves to you that she didn't cheat? Will you two get back together?" he asked.

"I don't know, we'll see. But if she does prove me wrong, it's gonna take a lot of sweet-talking to get her back."

"She didn't lie to you. I think. I'm pretty sure you've lied to her more," he said.

"What?" I scoffed.

"Little white lies," he shrugged.

"That doesn't count!" I exclaimed.

"Sure it does," he laughed. "You wanna keep training?" he asked.

I slowly shook my head, "I think I'm good for the day."

"Is it because you saw her smile?"

"No," I rolled my eyes, lying through the skin of my teeth.

"It's definitely because you saw her smile," he laughed.

◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆

I was walking home, feeling exhausted and craving my bed and comforters. I just wanted to lie down. I sighed while holding my gym bag over my shoulder and dragging my feet along with me. I reached the neighborhood and saw Alex walking over from Mr. Hall's house and a car over on the other side of the street. I continued walking slowly while she walked up and to her house.

I was in front of her house and stopped, causing her to halt when she saw me. "Hi," she said. I didn't answer, I was too busy staring at the car, trying to see the face behind the wheel. "What are you doing here?" she asked, standing directly in front of me, somewhat blocking the car.

"Move," I told her but she didn't budge. Whoever was driving began turning around. "Alex, move," I grabbed her wrist and pulled her against me, managing to see the face under the lamppost.

Hudson.

"Zach wasn't kidding," I mumbled.

"What?" she asked, her voice soft. I looked down at her and realized how close we were to each other.

"Just um- go inside," I said, stepping back. She stepped back and just stared at me. "Alex, go inside," I repeated.

She sighed, confusion painted all over her face before she began to head inside. She was still looking at me rather than the stairs she was climbing, almost causing her to trip. I grabbed her arms and waist and steadied her while she let out a yelp. "Sorry," she mumbled, looking up at me.

"That's all right," I said while looking down at her foot that she tripped over. That looked like it hurt. "Are you okay?"

She nodded slowly. "Are you sure?" She simply nodded again. She stood upright and walked to her door, unlocking it, giving me one last glance. I stood there for a second, tapping my foot against the floor. I ran up the steps and to her porch, checking for the spare key.

It wasn't there.

At least now there was no chance of Hudson getting in. I turned around to leave and stepped down, stopping when I heard a gasp. "No!" she yelled. I looked up and saw her at her window, pieces of paper flying down from her window. "Damn it!" she huffed before running downstairs and coming out through the front door.

She was wearing pajamas, a t-shirt with black sweatpants, and a light blue cardigan on top. "Oh, my god, you have to be freaking kidding me," she whined picking up the sheets and huffing when she realized the order was messed up.

I watched as she simply sat down on the ground and began reading through the pages, arranging them in the right order. I sighed and walked over, pulling her up to her feet when she placed her hand in mine.

I bent down and picked them all up, scanning them and arranging them before handing it back to her. "Just close the window," I said.

"Okay," she said before rushing back inside, locking the door behind her and then locking her window too.

.

.

.

.

.