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Dedication: JustPriya for the awesome cover on the side.

Recap:

"That Aiden guy was never going to stand a chance." he said. I swear I could almost hear the sympathy in his voice. "We're like Noah and Ally. No one can meddle with us."

I squeezed my eyes shut. The reference to Ally and Noah was scarily accurate in our predicament. They were so deeply in love. Not one person could be without the other.

Were Aiden and I broken up?

Did this mean Carter wanted to get back together?

As in actual together, together?

'Not one person could be without the other'.

Harry Potter instantly flashed into my head. 'One cannot live, while the other survives.'

Who knew my life would actually be relatable to Harry Potter...

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The sun soaked into my skin as I sighed, reclining further back onto my chair. The best thing about staying at Carter's house, was his gigantic, amazing pool that I got to paddle in and lay around whenever I felt like.

I had my sunglasses perched on my nose, and a cup of lemon lime and bitters placed firmly by my side. Life was bliss. Well, if you didn't count that I cheated on my boyfriend with my ex-bestfriend/boyfriend and now everything was messed up.

It had been three days, since Aiden threw his fist into Carter's face, upon hearing the news of our... incident.

Aiden wasn't at school the first day, avoided me the second and now it was a beautiful Saturday morning. I hadn't seen either of the boys and it was great. I was spending the morning with me, myself and I.

I'm not sure if Aiden and I had officially broken up, so I was attempting to avoid Carter. But seeing as we live in the same house and go to the same school, with half of our classes together, you can see how this may be an unsuccessful endeavour. Although I had tried to avoid him, I ended up spending most of my time with him.

It was actually nice.

We just lazed around, watching movies, cooking delicious baked goods and just talking like we hadn't in what felt like a life time. I had made sure there were no 'incidents' again, however. Was not going to go down the possible cheat road again.

We weren't animals. We could hang out without throwing ourselves at each other. Or... so I hope. I sighed, running my fingers through my long, blonde hair. Just spending time with him had been amazing.

If things weren't already over with Aiden, they needed to be. Even if I still felt some attraction towards him, it was like nothing to what I felt for Carter. Like comparing a flea to an elephant. Harsh, but I'm being truthful here.

Therefore, I was attempting to spend my day without either of the boys in my life and enjoy my own company for a few hours.

This lasted about twenty minutes.

"CANNON BALL!" a voice boomed, causing my body to jolt in alarm.

And that's when the ice, cold water splashed across my naked flesh. A scream tore from my lips as I scrambled away from the water. Carter emerged, flicking his hair, sending a shower of water droplets around him.

I folded my arms defensively across my chest and frowned at him.

"Was that necessary?"

He took a moment to think of a response. "Yes."

I sighed, puffing out my cheeks. Well my personal day had come to a sudden end. I drained my lemon lime and bitters in one mouthful. By the time I placed it down, his arms were wrapping around my abdomen, sending an automatic flare of heat underneath my skin.

"Don't you dare-" I began to warn but it was too late.

My body flew in mid-air and I had about two seconds of shock, before my body was submerged into the sickenly cold water. I sucked in a breath automatically, my mouth filling with water. I flailed to the top and began chocking and coughing.

Once recovering from my near-drown, I swivelled my eyes to his. "That's it."

He smirked playfully. "Catch me. If you can."

He didn't need to say it twice. I pulled myself from the pool and took after him, not caring that I was running across slippery cement with wet feet. I was fast, but I didn't play football like he did. I had nothing on him.

He sprinted like Usain Bolt away from me. Soon, I was breathless. Hiding, was my best option. I darted away quickly, before he turned around. I heard his footsteps come to a halt. I smirked, getting exactly what I had planned.

In running games, I hardly ever stood a chance. (Except that one time at the river and still now, it was one of the proudest moments of my life). But hiding games? Well, that was my expertise.

He slowly began walking back to the pool and I followed, finding new hiding places along the way. When he was close enough, I grinned. I launched myself after him and body slammed him into the pool. I ignored the stab of the cold water the flooded around my body. It was worth it though, having caught him off guard. He roared underneath the water and grabbed me.

Uh oh.

He pushed down my shoulders and held my under. I thrashed and flailed at him, but he was too strong. After about five seconds, he pulled me up and I laughed, almost hysterically. He literally could have killed me. With ease.

"Truce." I panted, raising my hands in somewhat of a peace signal. "I call truce."

"Wuss." he smirked.

"Takes one to know one."

"Touche." he laughed.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him. "Okay. Truce."

I ignored the fact that my cheek was pressed against the defined muscles of his chest. I also ignored the fact that my heart soared and my fingers slowly ran across his stomach. He released his hold on me. I stared up at him.

I had to say, my self-control had been impeccable. Three days with him and not giving in to his constant attempts to hook up, could be a considered a world record. Honestly, if you saw this God sculpted man before me, you would have trouble controlling yourself as well.

One kiss... just one...

"I should learn to knock." a voice said, effectively snapping me out of my Carter trance. "Oh wait. I did."

I jerked my body away from Carter and stared at Aiden. His lips were spread in a thin line. I realised, our position did not look too good. I gulped, moving further and further away from Carter. I pulled myself out with ease and stood there, unsure of what to do.

Aiden's eyes dipped as he took in my body. I took this moment to stare at him as well. He was dressed in a casual shirt and loose shorts. His hair looked slightly windblown, as if he had had the window down in his car when driving over here.

His sunglasses were mounted on top of his head, further pushing his hair back. He looked nice. He was a typical cute school boy, who girls would openly fond over. I glanced at Carter, who was still in the pool, water glistening from his defined chest.

There was a definite difference between them.

"We weren't." I felt the need to say, pulling myself out of my internal comparison. I felt as though I had to clarify to him that nothing was going on. "Doing anything... he pushed me in."

"Of course." he said, sarcasm hinting in his voice. "I get it."

I swallowed nervously. Without looking back at Carter, I fetched my towel and wrapped it around my body.

"Let's for a walk," I suggested, inclining my head.

With a curt nod, I followed him out to the side of the house. We sat on a pair of lawn chairs and stared at each other for a few moments. Clearly, I was going to have to break the silence.

"I promise you we weren't doing anything. Nor have we, in the past few days."

"I suppose it isn't really any of my business anyway." he said, clearing his throat. "I'm assuming we're not together any more. Even if I still don't want to end it."

After everything, he still wanted to be with me? The idea seemed incredulous to me. If I were in his position, I would want to punch me in the face, after being such a jerk. But no. Aiden was just a nice guy and tried to see the best in people.

I never realised that that could be a bad thing.

"So whipped," a heard a voice mutter.

Clearly someone was eavesdropping.

"Carter, I'm going to kick you in the throat with my foot bone if you do not leave us alone." I growled. I threw my chair back to emphasise my point. "Just piss off for five seconds!"

I was met with silence and I let out a puff of air, flustered. Picking up my chair, I re-sat, fiddling with my hands.

"Aiden, I want to be with you, but I think I will hurt you again. And that is something I do not want to do."

My hands were shaking, so I clamped them together. This was going to hurt him, but I had to be honest. I had to be firm with him, so I wouldn't continue to keep hurting him. This slap on the face would be better than the continual punches I will be throwing in our relationship. If that even makes sense.

"I'm too in love with him." I whispered, but loud enough for him to hear, squeezing my eyes shut. "I am so sorry Aiden. For everything. I really am."

He let out a deep sigh, his eyes tinged red. "Well then... I guess this is it."

I grimaced as I could see he was trying to hold himself together. "Yeah..."

He rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "Believe it or not and I know this hardly ever works, but I still hope we can be friends. And to hang out. It will be hard, but I still want you in my life Lacey. I couldn't imagine you not in it."

My heart twitched in my chest. I smiled through my tears and reached over, holding his hand.

"I honestly feel the exact same way. We will remain friends. I promise."

He gave me a tight lipped smile. "Good. That's... that's good. Thanks."

I reclined back and we sat in silence. I wasn't sure where we should go from here. I fiddled with my fingers nervously, biting back tears. If I lost it, so would he. I focused on my breathing until I had myself calm.

Images of Mercedes bounced around in my head. Mercedes and Aiden. I blinked, forcing them out of my head. I had to stop thinking about this. If we were over, I couldn't do that to him or myself.

But the words tumbled out before I could control myself.

"I guess you can go with Mercedes now." my voice came out harsher then I intended. "That's what she has wanted all along."

"Don't." he barked, making my flick my eyes towards him. I swallowed, knowing I shouldn't have said anything. It was selfish. He had a strange expression on his face, which if I were to analyse, almost seemed like guilt. "Don't you dare act like the jealous girlfriend now."

He was right. Aiden deserved to be happy. If it was with Mercedes, fine. I would prefer someone different, but I would learn to deal with it.

I stood up and so did Aiden. I rounded the table and softly hugged him. I let myself enjoy the moment, as it may be one of the last times I ever hold this boy. The thought made me sad, but it was what needed to be done. I couldn't keep holding him back, when truthfully, I would always love Carter.

"I'm sorry."

He pulled away from me and without another word, strode to his car. I rolled my lips into my mouth and watched him go. After everything, he still wanted to be friends? I honestly think I underestimated how much he cared for me.

Hugging the towel closer to me, I made my way back inside at a painfully slow rate. I let myself just process the last few moments. Carter stared at me when I entered the glass doors, with a thoughtful expression on his face. I don't doubt for a second he heard every word that was exchanged between Aiden and I.

Especially the part about me declaring my undying love for him.

"Lace-" he began but I just shook my head.

"Not now."

I shouldered past him and headed for my room, feeling like a complete jerk. I hated myself for hurting Aiden, but what's done is done. The best thing to do was to move forward with my life and attempt to redeem all things I have done wrong.

I fell face first onto my bed, where I cried until the world went black and I fell asleep.

***

Since my break up with Aiden, I seemed to want to gain ten kilos.

Nutella, cookies and caramello chocolate, had been my best friend for the last week. At the time, it seemed as though it would help.

I tried to convince myself to go running, but I didn't have the energy. I was hardly even motivated to go to school. I even fell asleep in one of my study periods, resulting in being twenty three minutes late to class and another detention on my record. I don't know what was wrong with me. I wasn't sick, but I just felt so tired.

Aiden hadn't moved on with Mercedes, much to my guilty relief, but she had been talking to me. I was being nicer to her, but I couldn't stand to be around her very long. I was a terrible best friend, but I am tired, angry and alone, sue me.

Miranda had been home as well, so that was good. I wasn't alone with Carter all the time and someone was making my meals, so double win there. We still spent time together obviously, but he wasn't as full on and sexual when she was there.

We just ate junk food, or well, I ate the junk food while he stuck to his protein shakes and whatnot. We watched old movies and I enjoyed just spending time with him, while he wasn't being sleazy. I think he realised I needed time to heal and move past the whole Aiden thing, so he was just there for me and I was really grateful for it.

I had been spending a lot of time at the cubby too. Almost every afternoon I would just go there and let myself sit in my own silence. Mercedes still wore a guilty look, which was forever plastered on her face, but wouldn't fess up to whatever she had done. I'm assuming it had something to do with Aiden, so I really don't want to know what it is. I'm trying to move on, not dwell on 'what if's'.

Carter's fingers began making circular patterns on my scalp and I sighed into it. My dad used to do this to me all the time when I was little. I fell asleep instantly every time.

"That feels nice." I murmured, my eyes automatically feeling heavy.

"I remember your father used to always do this." he said, basically speaking my previous thoughts.

My smile grew. I loved when he talked about things we used to do together. It made me happy that I wasn't the only one who reminisced our past.

I didn't want to admit that dad still does this sometimes. I snuggled into him and rested my head on his stomach. I was borderline asleep, when his fingers stopped. I wanted to protest, but I didn't get a chance.

His lips softly kissed my forehead. "I love you."

My breath hitched into my throat. My eyes snapped open. I gazed up at his beautiful face and a genuine smile (I felt like I hadn't smiled in a long time) spread across my face. My eyes wandered over his straight jawline and amazingly tanned skin.

"I love you more."

"Impossible." he whispered.

I sighed, closing my eyes again. For so long, I couldn't force the words 'I love you' to Aiden, although we had been dating a pretty long time. I wasn't even back with Carter, physically anyway, and the words felt natural on my lips.

I didn't hesitate saying it back to him because it was true.

Ever since we hooked up, I literally had not seen Carter hardly look at another girl. Usually they were hanging off his shoulders or leaving his bedroom. I had not seen one girl in this house or one with him at school.

This also made me selfishly happy.

It feels as though it is for real this time. That he is willing to be back with me. Ignore all the flirtatious girls that throw themselves at him. For me. Boring, old, plain me.

I pushed myself up and gently kissed underneath his jaw. I trailed kissed across his chin until I reached the corner of his mouth. I was going to stop there, but he held my face and kissed me.

With all he had apparently.

Tingles erupted underneath my skin and rolled in waves throughout my entire body. I reached up eagerly, kissing him back. I was breathless and my heart rate had tripled. I pulled back, panting, my eyes half closed.

I had missed that so much.

Sighing, I leant back into him and closed my eyes.

I never thought it was possible to love someone so much.

***

"Let's do something fun!" Carter exclaimed, sounding like an excited child. His eyes twinkled with something I wasn't quite sure of, but it was enough to make me smile.

"Like what?"

He suddenly stopped, a slow smile stretching across his face. "I'll surprise you."

His excited behaviour was contagious. I soon found myself beaming back at him. It would be nice to actually get out of the house, other than for school. As I was already in my snug jeans and three quarter top, all I needed was my bag and jacket.

"After you, m'lady." he said, attempting a posh accent.

I grinned back at him. "Why thank you."

As we walked to the car, his fingers entwined with mine. I stared up at him and gave him a genuine smile. My cheeks were beginning to hurt, as I had been smiling so much around him lately. He just made me feel so ridiculously happy.

"Where are we going?" I asked, enjoying holding his hand. Even if it was only for a few steps.

He opened the passenger door and let me in. I slid smoothly into the seat. He leaned over and buckled me in, his cool breath fanning my face.

"You'll see."

I hardly registered what he said as my eyes were trained on his lips, which were mere inches away from my own. All I wanted was to lean forward and let them meet, but he pulled back and shut the door.

It took twenty minutes, before I realised where we were going. A full-blown grin lit up my face as I automatically slapped him repeatedly on the arm.

"Yay, yay, yay!"

He smiled and we both leaped out of the car, eager to get in. We hadn't done this for a long time.

Bowling.

Bowling was one of my most favourite activities to do and Carter and I used to spend almost every weekend here. We loved it. Oh and we also got extremely competitive which one time lead to a wrestle fight. We got kicked out and were banned for a month.

Oh, what a long month that was. I don't think I had been back with him since, although I still went a couple of times with dad. He threw his arm lazily around my shoulders and I threw my head back with laughter, thinking back to our last memory here.

"Are you thinking back to when we got kicked out?" he said, breathing a laugh of his own.

"No?"

"Don't lie to me girl, I can read you like a book."

"You wish." I laughed back, although we both knew it was true.

We pushed the doors open and tumbled in. Straight away the counter guy recognised us and visibly sighed.

"Not you two again."

I was impressed. The guy must have a good memory, since we hadn't been here, together, for a long time.

Carter gave him his trademark smirk and leaned confidently on the counter. Arrogance rolled off of him in waves.

"One month is truly over, my friend." he said smoothly sounding quite pretentious. "So, which lane are we at?"