I laughed and let out a small scream when he pulled me onto his back. "Bye, Katy!" he called out.

"Bye, lovebirds!"

"Shut up!" I called out as we left the cafe.

"We're going to be late," he sang.

"And giving me a piggyback ride helps how?" I laughed as he skipped along.

He had his bag in the front, hanging in front of his chest while I kept mine on my back. "You walk really slow," he shrugged.

I smacked him before resting my arms around his neck and placing my chin on his head. "Let's skip," I mumbled.

"For real?" he halted and looked up at me.

"I don't know, I don't really care right now," I shrugged.

"Okay, let's skip," he grinned, running right past the entrance to the school. He slowed down after a minute and resumed walking at a regular pace, still refusing to set me down.

"I can walk," I sang.

"No, you can't," he said mockingly.

"I-" I opened my mouth but stopped talking when Hudson popped up in front of us. I forgot he walked this way to get to school.

"Buzzkill," Carter mumbled under his breath.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Hudson asked.

"Nothing," I shrugged.

"Put her down," he demanded.

"I don't take orders from you," Carter scoffed.

"I said, put her down," Hudson stepped forward, ready to reach out and yank me off of Carter.

"Hold on, princess Alexandria," Carter mumbled before running into the traffic and crossing the street and then running off.

"Carter!" I gasped, my grip on him tightening as we turned out of view. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" I said while trying to look behind us.

We could have been run over.

He stopped and finally put me down before spinning around to face me while pulling his bag off. "What?" he asked.

"We could have been run over!" I exclaimed.

"I wouldn't let that happen to you," he said while taking a step closer.

"That's not something that's in your control!" I huffed.

"I said, I wouldn't let that happen to you. I knew what I was doing. It was clear apart from one car. Relax." He looked around before turning back to me, "And I saved you from Hudson so..." he trailed.

"Thanks, you're my hero," I rolled my eyes, talking sarcastically.

"Of course, I am. Come on." He grabbed my hand and began tugging me along.

"Where are we going?" I sighed, following him anyway. Not that I had another choice because his hand was still holding mine. "Carter, you're insane." I pulled him to a halt, making him turn to face me.

"Hmm," he nodded.

"I'm being serious."

"Mm-hmm," he nodded again.

"Carter, stop," I huffed.

"I know you're being serious, so am I. I know I'm insane. I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry." He put a hand on his heart and stuck his bottom lip out at me.

"Your immaturity will get the best of you someday," I shook my head.

"And that day is yet to come. Ice cream?" he asked.

He doesn't take anything seriously, does he?

I stared up at him, waiting for him to realize. He sighed in defeat and nodded sincerely. "I'm sorry. I'll take it seriously. You're right, I shouldn't have done that. We could have gotten hurt, but all I'm saying is that we didn't. And I would never have done it if I thought you could get hurt. Okay?"

"And if you got hurt?" I raised an eyebrow at him sharply.

"Then I'd recover. Point is, neither of us got hurt. Can we continue now?" I nodded begrudgingly and he continued dragging me along.

"Where are we going though, seriously?"

He turned a street and kept for a little longer before stopping in front of a small building. It didn't look too pretty. The paint was chipping in off in all the wrong places, the wooden door was collapsing, the place looked dull yet somehow full of life.

"I've never brought anyone here," he said hesitantly.

"What's in there?" I questioned.

"It's the studio where I used to come with my mom. I haven't been here in almost two years," he said while looking at the place, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Carter," I said softly, "Do you want to go in there?" I asked.

"I could never do it alone. But I think I can do it with you."

"I know you can, but do you want to?" I repeated. Being able to do something and wanting to do something are two completely different things.

"Yeah, I think I do," he nodded.

"Okay, whenever you're ready," I replied.

He inhaled and then exhaled deeply before opening the door and stepping inside. He held the door open for me like he always does and we entered together.

"Hi, there. How can I help you?" A girl sitting at their small front desk asked.

"When is your next class?" he asked.

"In about ten minutes," she answered, "Would you like a seat?"

I could see his foot tapping rapidly against the floor. "I would like two."

"All right, here you go. You can go in there within ten minutes. The teacher is Mrs. Gianna, she'll come out here to get her students. You can wait with the others until then," she explained with a smile, "If you're new you need to fill in this form," she said, handing us both one.

"I'm not new," he shook his head, giving it back. I filled it in before handing it back to her and then going to sit down. After ten minutes of waiting and a panicked Carter, the doors opened and an old lady stepped out.

Not old old. But old. You could see her crow's feet, streaks of grey in her hair, a small limp to her step. "Come on in now!" she gleamed, ushering her students in. "Any new students, Chrissy?"

"Right over there."

"Oh, goodie. Hi, I'm- Carter," she said, seeming surprised, almost stunned. As if she expected for him to never come back.

"Mrs. Gianna," he nodded.

"What a lovely surprise. Welcome back, who's your friend?" she chuckled.

"This is Alex," he stated.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," I smiled.

"You too honey," she grinned, "Come on in." We followed her in and took our seats at the very back. There was a canvas, clay, and a sketchpad, student's choice.

"Um- Carter. I think I forgot to mention one thing," I cleared my throat.

"What?" he turned to me in confusion.

"I cannot draw."

"We don't say those things here, Alex. Carter couldn't draw anything when he first came in. We were working with someone who drew stick figures only," she chuckled.

Carter? And stick figures?

"Take your time. You don't have to draw. You can paint, even splotches if you'd like. The canvas is yours," she grinned.

I let out a breath and picked up a brush, looking at all my colors. It was a rainbow in my hands.

Let's paint.

◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆

We walked out of there with paint pretty much all over us and grins stretched onto our faces. "Bye!" we waved in sync.

"I hope to see you two soon!" Mrs. Gianna called out.

"That was amazing. I can't believe you've been doing that since you were a kid," I laughed while linking my arm with his.

"I forgot how amazing it feels being in there. Even when I don't draw anything," he laughed.

Her classes last an hour, but students are free to stay back and join the next group as well.

While I was painting my not so great masterpiece, I accidentally got some paint on Carter's jeans. And then it was like World War III. He turned to me as we stopped and sat on a bench.

"You look cute with paint in your hair," he smirked while twirling loose strands of my hair around his finger.

"Hmm, you look cute with paint on your face," I laughed while trying to rub the paint off of his cheek.

"You think I'm cute?" he smirked.

"I think you look cute," I shrugged.

"Same difference, Alex," he paused to stare at me, "You think I'm cute. You just called me cute. You just flirted with me," he teased.

"I just said you look with paint on your face. The same way that you said I look cute with paint in my hair." I shot him a pointed look.

"And I stand by it," he smirked.

"So do I," I said mockingly.

After almost three weeks of getting to know Carter, I've come to a rough, estimated conclusion, like a hypothesis.

Why am I being so scientific?

Anyway, I've come to like him. I think he's a great guy, he's been there for me, he makes me laugh every damn day, he's made my problems into our problems, and I think it's really rare to find a person like that, which is why when you do, it's best to hold on.

I liked him. Like, really liked him. Romantically. I caught feelings for Carter Reed.

Wow.

He was a perfect stranger to me three weeks ago. And now...

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Chapter seventeen

I've decided to put one direction memes at the end of my chapters just because I can.