"What are you doing here?" I asked, glaring at him.

He shrugged, his hands in his pockets. "The same thing you're doing here."

"I live here," I replied.

"My parents insisted I come tonight," He explained disdainfully. "Trust me, it was not my idea to come."

I rolled my eyes, "And you couldn't get hit by a car on the way?"

"I tried. Sure as hell would've brought me more pleasure than this."

Speaking of pleasure– "Aren't you supposed to be with some girl?" I asked.

He smirked, "Why? Jealous?"

I shrugged, "I don't know it just seems that you must have finished... rather quickly." I smirked as his nostrils flared and the muscle in his jaw ticked. He looked like he was about to say something, but was unfortunately cut off by mother calling for us to join them in the kitchen.

Giving him a final glare, I set off toward the kitchen, aware that Carson was following behind me. I tried to ignore his presence, but his strides were larger than mine, and he had closed the distance between us fairly quickly. Every hair on my body stood up as he swayed himself closer to me, his arm just barely brushing against mine.

"I do have to give you some credit, Princess," He said, a calm droll to his tone as he lowered his voice to ensure he wouldn't be overheard. "You in that dress is a divine vision." I could feel his eyes on me in the same way I could sense the smirk tainting his face. I did my best to remain the unbothered, choosing to ignore his comment and meet it with grace. The grace lasted about a second before I flicked his forehead and accidentally stomped on his foot.

"Keep it in your pants," I muttered.

When we entered the kitchen, we split apart– he moved to sit on the far side of the table next to his mother, and I sat down in the open seat next to my mother. His eyes were on my as soon as we had settled down in our seats, and I challenged his stare with my own. If this is how he wanted to play it, I had no problem beating him.

The next forty minutes were spent with dry laughter, occasional and awkward questions about school, and menacing glares between Carson and I. My mother had said the purpose of this dinner was to discuss business, but not a single mention of anything related to the hospital was mentioned during the span of dinner.

I covered my mouth with my hand in a lame attempt to hide my yawn– I was more than over this night before it had even begun, and the fact that Carson was here was only salt in the wound. I winced when I felt something kick my leg under the table. My eyes immediately went to Carson and I mouthed a curse at him; he said nothing, but pointed to his phone, which lay open in his lap.

I scowled at him, but pulled out my own phone, opening the message from him.

Meet me in the bathroom. - C

You do realize I find you disgusting and not the least bit attractive. I'm not meeting you in the bathroom. - M

(The first part was a lie, but I don't want to hear it.)

Don't flatter yourself, Princess. I just don't want to sit at this table anymore. - C

I'd honestly rather sit here in utter boredom than have to spend ANY time alone, talking with you. - M

You're technically talking to me right now. - C

Touché. - M

I stood from the table first, quietly excusing myself, and Carson was quick to follow suit. Neither of us had managed to move more than a step or two away from the table before we were called back by my mother.

"Before you two disperse, we have something we would like to talk about with the both of you," My mother said. Her eyes traveled from me and Carson, to Eleanor and Christian, who had also looked more sullen now, their hands folded neatly in their laps. The mood had obviously changed, and the light-hearted air that had inspired jokes and easy conversation only a few minutes ago was gone.

Eleanor signaled with a wave of her hand for us to sit down, so we both returned to our seats, sharing a confused glance at each other.

"As you both know, our hospital is one of the most advanced, both in its technology and medicine," Carson's father stated. I inwardly groaned; I think I've heard this speech about a thousand times from my own parents, and could probably recite it perfectly at this point.

"And we are always looking for new ways to innovate and expand," My father finished. Carson rolled his eyes, mouthing along some of the words. I guess he's heard this speech enough times, as well.

My mother was next to add in her piece, "The opportunity has opened up for representatives of our hospital to work with doctors in a medicinal research facility located in Italy. They want to create a team together dedicated to exploring cancer treatments and conducting clinical trials."

"That's great news," I said, feigning my interest with a tight-lipped smile. "Just how exactly does this concern us?" I asked, waving my index finger back and forth in the space between Carson and I.

"I'm glad you asked," My father smiled. It was almost a devious type of smile. It was similar to my mother's smile from earlier tonight, but this one was more of a 'You're going to hate what I'm about to say, but we have guests and I'm your father, so you have no choice but to accept it' sort of smile.

"We have decided that Christian and I should be two of the representatives that will participate in this mutually beneficial research program," Eleanor said happily, looking over to Carson for some form of excitement or acknowledgement from him. "We will move to Italy with a few other select doctors from our hospital."

We both seemed happy enough with that news. He looked more than pleased to hear he would be leaving the country, and I was more than pleased to hear he would be on an entirely different continent.

"Very well," Carson responded. "I could use a break from North Carolina."

"Well, that is the unfortunate part," Mr. Daniels spoke solemnly. "The work we would be doing there would have much more strenuous hours than working in our own hospital. We'd barely be ever be home."

"Not much different from now," Carson mumbled, low enough that I don't think his parents heard.

"We've decided that removing your sister from boarding school and interrupting your Junior year of high school doesn't seem very rational," His mother continued. "Instead, we have agreed it would be better if you stayed here, in the States. With the Spencers."

My eyebrows raised at that statement. I sat up straight, inching forward in my seat. I looked to my mother for an answer. "You mean, he's staying with us?" She nodded her head, and I stammered in disbelief for a second before I could get out my follow-up question. "For how long?"

"We have planned to leave for Italy next week, and have agreed to be included in the partnership until around Christmas time next year," Mr. Daniels responded, and the rest of the adults at the table nodded along in agreement. "So, Carson would be staying here for just over a year or so."

"A year or so," I repeated, mostly to myself to aid my own disbelief.

Seeing Carson at school was one thing. I shared only a few classes with him throughout the day, and for the most part, I was able to sit far away from him. At lunch, it was the usual trade of insults that were almost always broken up pretty quickly by Dylan or Luna, but that was just routine. I had mastered the art of dealing with him for a few hours of the day; a few hours of my day was manageable. But dealing with him 24/7 for a year? I think a year-long trip to the depths of Hell would be more manageable than this.

A year or so. You have got to be fucking kidding.

* * *

As soon as we had been let free from dinner, I all but ran from the table, desperate to get away from Carson, and the absolute nightmare-worthy idea of having to live with him for an entire year.

"Madeline," I heard my name hissed at me before I managed to get further than the hallway. I turned around with a large frown on my face as I was met with Carson.

"What?" I asked bitterly.

"We need to talk."

I hummed, "Yes, we are having pleasant weather right now, and yes, those pants do make your legs look fat. There, we talked. Can you go now?"

His brows lowered. "You're funny, Princess. You know that?"

I shrugged, "I try to be. If you want another good punchline, go find a mirror. There's one down that hallway." I pointed in a random direction opposite of where I was headed.

"I guess I'll learn soon enough," He responded coldly. "When I move in next week."

"It's an if not a when, Carson. You only need to move in if you're still alive next week."

He rolled his eyes, "The jokes are unnecessary?"

"Who made a joke?" I asked, looking around the hall for some imaginary comedian. "I heard no joke."

He sighed, "Can you take this seriously for two seconds?"

"Sorry, it's hard to take anything that comes out of your mouth seriously."

"Learn," He demanded. I rolled my eyes but remained quiet and waited for him to continue. "We should discuss this– arrangement."

"God, Carson, it's not a business transaction for the mafia. You don't need to speak like you're about to disclose where the cartel's HQ is located."

"Why don't you just shut the hell up for once and let me finish what I have to say?"

"I would but, first of all, with all the talking you do, I've had to learn how to tune you out. And what was second? Oh yeah, I don't really care about what you have to say!"

He shook his head with a scowl, "You are infuriating."

"That's a big word for you," I remarked. "Careful now, you don't want to spend all three of your brain cells at once."

"Are you ever going to let me speak?"

"You've had plenty of time to speak, I can't help what you waste it on."

"Anything is a waste on you."

I yawned, "If that's the best you got, I think I'll be on my merry way now. It was an absolute pleasure, Carson."

I hadn't so much as managed to fully turn away from him before I felt his hand cuff around my wrist, turning me back to him. He tugged on my arm, pulling me closer to him than I would ever willingly choose to be. His free hand came up to my chin, and he pulled my head closer to his own, our noses just inches apart as he stared down at me, menacingly.

"Listen," He demanded angrily, annunciating every syllable with extreme precision. I kept my eyes locked on his so he would know I wasn't the least bit intimidated by him– even if I was.

"Let go of me."

"Are you going to listen?"

"Are you going to let go of me?"

With a huff of annoyance, he released his hold on my chin and waited expectantly for me to say something. I crossed my arms over my chest and remained quiet, signaling to him that he could continue on with whatever he was so desperate to say.

"If this arrangement is going to work, we need to establish a few ground rules," He paused, as if anticipating my interruption.

"Continue," I spoke.

"First, this changes nothing between us. We're still not friends."

I snorted, "You seriously think there's even the slightest chance of us becoming friends? It's a fairly large house, Carson– it's not exactly the love shack."

"Whatever. Second, if anyone at school finds out about this, I swear-"

"You'll what? Slap me?" I asked. "Please. You may be an ass but even you wouldn't do anything to actually harm me."

"You want to test that theory out?"

I rolled my eyes, "Can you chill with the anger issues long enough to realize I didn't ask for this to happen either? I am just as unhappy with this situation as you are, but, unfortunately, our parents seem pretty set on the idea. You don't have to worry about me telling people about this arrangement. The only way I'll be able to survive living with you for a year is to pretend you don't exist."

He seemed satisfied enough with that answer. "What about our friends?"

"What about them?"

He rolled his eyes, "What are we telling them?"

"Exactly what we're telling everyone else: nothing."

"They're smart. They'll figure it out."

"Not if we're smarter."

"Well, then, you've already lost that one for us," He responded.

"Ooh, good one," I mused, rolling my eyes. "Did your little sister use that one on you?"

His hands balled into fists at his sides. "Quit while you're ahead, Princess."

I raised a brow, "Is that you admitting defeat?"

"If it means I'm done talking to you for the night, then sure. Whatever brings you fifteen seconds of satisfaction."

"Get out of my house, Carson."

"Gladly, Princess."

I watched as he made his way down the hall in the opposite direction of me. He was just about to disappear around the corner, when he turned back to face me, a small smirk on his lips.

"You were right. This was an absolute pleasure. Goodnight, Madeline."

Whoever invented Italy, I seriously hate you right now.