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Dedication: ila_ish for the awesome cover on the side - thanks heaps. :)

Recap:

Dragging myself into standing position, I shuffled up the stairs. Tiredly, I entered my room, needing to change into my pyjamas. I sat roughly on my bed and felt my body hit something. Jerking up, I spun and my eyes widened.

A jar of Nutella was perched on my bed, adjacent to it was my absolute favourite T.V series, Prison Break. A note was placed beside.

' I know you always eat Nutella and watch Prison Break when you're upset or angry. I thought you might have been both.' -Carter.

I felt my heart swell inside my chest. I nibbled at my lip, trailing my fingers over the note. That was surprisingly sweet. I let my eyelids flutter closed. Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. Maybe we could try and sort things out...

Oh God. Carter just won me over with buying me food and a present. I was so weak. I lent down, scrunched up the note angrily and threw it across the room, pegging it roughly against the wall. It ricocheted off the wall, to the desk, before landing its final destination on the floor.

If he thinks he can 'seduce' me with this, he has another thing coming. I scrunched up my face, my skin heating up.

It was so on.

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Light flooded into my room, piercing through my closed eyelids. I groaned, rubbing at my face, scrunching up my nose.

"What the hell?" I grumbled groggily, still unable to comprehend what was happening. "Where am I?"

"Rise and shine!" an overly cheerful voice boomed, causing me to wince. It was way too early for this. My body jerked, my eyes snapping open. Carter? It took my still-asleep-mind a couple of moments to process what was happening.

I rolled onto my side and snatched at my phone. I squinted at the screen. It became evident it was six thirty am, which is an hour earlier than I usually wake up. I blinked at it for a few moments, trying to understand what this meant.

"You've got to be kidding me..." I trailed off moodily.

"Nope." he replied, popping the 'p', positively glowing at me. "Up we get."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No." I snapped, smothering myself with my blanket.

Maybe, if I play dead, he will leave me alone...

Before I could even blink, the blanket was ripped away from me, instantly being replaced with the harsh, morning air. I gasped in shock, my mouth popping open. I curled myself up in a ball, embarrassed to only be wearing a shirt. I know he has seen me many times like this before, but things were different now.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I ground out in annoyance.

"Um, since your car has no petrol and I'm your ride?"

"Since when do you go to school early?"

"Since I have to work out now for football." he chirped, clapping his hands enthusiastically and rocking back and forth on the balls of his heels.

"I'll walk."

"Not an option. Get up!"

"No!"

He sighed, planting his hands on his hips and pursing his lips at me. "This could have gone a lot easier."

"What do you-" I began, but my words died off when I let out a cry of surprise. Carter swooped down and wrapped his arms around me, hauling me over his shoulder. My stomach swooped and I squeezed my eyes shut. "CARTER! Put. Me. Down!"

"Not yet."

"Urgh!"

He began casually walking down the hall. My face was directly in line with his bottom, which was disturbing. I began pummelling on his back with my fists, shouting angrily at him to put me down. Apparently, he didn't get the hint.

"What's going on?" Miranda asked, emerging up the stairs.

I peeked at her through his legs. She had a nightie on, securely wrapped in a golden robe. Her platinum blonde hair was mounted in a bundle of ringlets, piled on top of her head. Her face was flawless perfection. Obviously, she had to work today.

"Oh, you know, just making sure someone's hygiene is up to scratch. Can't arrive to school with someone stinky- ouch!"

Miranda chuckled as I pinched him hard on his back. His grip around me tightened and I squeaked in surprise, feeling my ribs almost crack under the impact. I sometimes forget how strong he really is.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to it..." she trailed off, amusement clear in her voice.

"Oh, thanks a lot!" I yelled out sarcastically, yet again, earning another laugh.

Carter resumed walking and I found myself staring at the bathroom floor. I had my lips pressed into a thin line, a crinkle on my forehead. Gently, he lowered me down to my feet. He took a step back and dusted his hands, as if to say 'job well done'. We stood there, silently, before I slapped him in the chest.

"Ouch!" he laughed, shying from me. "What's that for?"

"For dragging me out of my warm and toasty bed!" I huffed, folding my arms. "I was having a good dream about Michael Scofield you know!"

Upon saying the main star of Prison Breaks name, last nights events came rushing back to me. The chocolate, the T.V series, the note. How sweet it had been...

"Aw, you're so cute when you're grumpy." he teased, reaching out and ruffling my hair.

My breath hitched in my throat. Firstly, due to the compliment and secondly, because he always used to do that to me. I used to pretend I hated the gesture, but I secretly loved it. It was kind of our... thing, as lame as that sounded.

We both paused for a moment and I cleared my breath uneasily. It was weird how easily we just fell back into that. "Hum. Well. This has been... Um, I'm going to shower now."

"Er- right." he said, rubbing the back of his neck, a flush creeping up his skin. "Just don't take too long, okay?"

"Mmhmm." I said, pointing at the door.

This time, he received my signals and trailed out, without another word. I lent heavily on the door, biting my lip softly. Sometimes, staying angry with him was hard. I mentally shook myself and pushed away from the door.

No it wasn't. I hated him. Anger comes with hate, right?

Shedding my clothes, I stepped inside the shower cubicle. The warm water ran over my muscles, deknotting all the muscles that had bundled up during my almost-like-coma. I inhaled a large, lungful of the steamy water.

I avoided getting my hair wet, since that would slow my getting ready process down. Carter was annoying, yeah, but if our roles were reversed and he made me late for school, I would get pretty annoyed. I rushed through my morning routine and was making myself some toast, when Carter appeared in the kitchen. He smirked at me cheekily.

"Nice shower?"

"Yeah. Thanks." I grunted.

He rolled his eyes, not dropping the smirk for a second. I edged around him, placing all the items away, when he pressed his hands onto my hips. I froze, the vegemite jar almost slipping from my hands in surprise.

His hands sunk lower and onto my bare legs, his fingers walking across my skin. Instantly, causing it to heat up at his mere touch, making me lick my lips in anticipation. I tilted my head back, pressing myself further into him.

I then snapped back to reality.

I jolted backwards, colliding with him. He jerked in surprise and I slammed the fridge door shut, spinning on my heel. I narrowed my eyes at him warningly.

"What are you doing?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Huh, that's a shock. Cater Williams always has something to say.

"I was just-" he began, but Miranda entered at that moment, interrupting him.

"You better get going soon Carter." she said, her eyes glued to her watch. "Don't you have to be there by seven thirty?"

Frowning, I brushed past him and began nibbling at my toast. I was ready, I just needed to demolish these bad boys, before I could go. After doing so, I trailed wordlessly after him and out to the car. Awkwardness hung heavily between us, as I sidled into the passenger seat, fiddling with the hem of my skirt. Oh and also, I was going to be at school, ridiculously early this morning. Yay for Lacey! I was going to beat about ninety nine percent of the teacher population there.

"Sorry about this morning." he murmured quietly.

If I hadn't been so wired, I probably would have missed him saying anything completely. I turned in surprise, my eyebrows raised.

"It's okay. You had to get here early." I shrugged dismissively. "I would have done the same."

"You mean pick me up over your shoulder and throw me into the bathroom?" he smirked.

"Yeah, what else would I mean?" I asked with an eye roll. "Because you don't weigh a tonne or anything."

"Hey!" he cried out, faking hurt. "This is pure muscle baby!"

"Sure it is."

His mouth fell open and I laughed, shifting back from him again. My laughter died off when I realised how easy things were falling back with him. How easily I could forget everything over the past two years.

That night when everything changed...

I pushed my thoughts roughly into a file at the back of my mind, which wasn't going to be opened anytime soon. I would not forgive him. That easily, anyway. Wait, what was I thinking? Urgh, get me away from Carter before I turn weak again! I thought urgently, my fingers twitching at the handle. But, no, I wasn't quite suicidal yet, so I would have to wait it out.

"I actually meant sorry about the thing in the kitchen." he muttered.

"What?" I asked, trying to recall what happened. When I did, my mouth fell into an 'O'. "Oh yeah. Right. Um... it's okay."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Good." he said, a genuine smile taking place on his face. "We're going to be living with each other for a while. I don't want us hating each other every minute, or it's going to be a living nightmare."

His words hardly registered through my mind, because I was just too absorbed up in his beautiful smile. I hadn't seen him actually smile, without his trademark smirk, probably since the day of my sixteenth birthday... before everything went wrong.

"What?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Is there something on my face?"

Yes, something beautiful.

"I-er-what?" I stammered like an idiot. "Oh. Nothing. What were you saying?"

He stared at me in amusement. "Am I dazzling you with my good looks again?"

My cheeks turned hot. Was I that obvious? A grin lit up his face at my lack of control on my emotions. He looked pretty smug about it.

"Always had that affect on you..." he trailed off.

"Do not!" I protested, although I was lying through my teeth. "You're so narcissistic!"

He burst out laughing, slapping the steering wheel. I frowned at him, blowing out some air and turning the opposite direction of him.

"You're too funny Lacey."

"Yeah. Should be a comedian."

He grinned again and silence lapsed again. I felt my heart throb and I tightened my grip on the seat, rolling my tongue across my teeth. I hate how nice this felt. Not yelling or fighting with each other. How good it was to just spend time with him.

How much I really had missed it...

Thank God, school loomed ahead of us. Well, not exactly, I didn't want to be here, but anything to get out of this car and away from Carter would be a blessing. He was having strange affects on me and if I stayed any longer, this hate act was going to become tough...

The car hadn't even hardly stopped, before I fell out of the car, almost face planting. I reefed my bag out behind me and swung it onto my shoulder.

"Slow down hot stuff," he laughed. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing!"

He frowned at me and I mentally slapped myself.

"Okay..." he trailed off. "Well, I have to go. Meet you here after school?"

"Sure. Yeah." I said, turning from him.

"See ya."

"Never wanna' be ya," I muttered, striding from him.

The further I walked from him, the clearer my mind got. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was getting a bit ahead of myself there. I shook my head, hardly realising my hands were shaking. Why did my body go so strange, being with him?

"Hello beautiful," a voice whispered in my ear, causing me to jump about a metre in the air. I slapped my hand to my chest, whirling around. Aiden, stood there, grinning from ear to ear. "Got your text, so I thought I'd come early too. I don't need to go to practise this time, it's only for the first line."

I smiled, grateful for this thoughtfulness. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to." he smiled.

He stepped forward and brushed his lips to mine. His fingers trailed down my cheek as our lips moved together. He pressed his hands on my hips and images of Carter bombarded my brain. I stiffened, stepping back as if he had poisoned me.

A look of hurt flashed behind his eyes, before he quickly masked it. "Sorry... I didn't mean to... go too far or anything."

"You didn't. It's okay." I said.

You're just not Carter...

"You okay?" he asked gently, swallowing my hand up in his.

I nodded in attempt to shake away my thoughts. "Fine."

"Well, since you ditched me the other night about the movies, we should go see one tonight?"

Ditched him? When did I... Realisation soon dawned on me. That was the night I had to move into Carter's. That then blatantly reminded me, that I still haven't told Aiden about my new sleeping arrangements. He knew Carter gave me a lift this morning, but didn't know it was due to us having recently become roommates. I gulped slightly, averting my eyes, feeling guilt accumulate in the pit of my stomach, making my skin itch.

I was a horrible girlfriend.

"Yeah, that sounds good." I said, forcing a smile.

"Okay, I'll pick you up at seven?"

"No!" I blurted, my voice rushed. "I mean... I'll meet you there."

"Okay?" he asked, confused.

To distract him from asking further questions, I stood on my tip toes and pecked his lips. Before I could move away, his hand wrapped around the back of my head holding there. I let him kiss me for a few moments, before I successfully pulled away.

He grinned at me. "What was that for?"

"I don't know." I lied, shrugging. "Want to go get some food?"

"You know me, I always want food." he laughed, slinging an arm over my shoulder. I lent my head onto him, sighing.

I wish I could just get over Carter.

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Why, I didn't take the opportunity to fess up and just tell Aiden about me living with Carter this morning, was beyond me. I was regretting it already. I had to walk to the movies, while the cool night air slapped me in the face, reminding me of my lies. Well, my non-truth-telling, I suppose.

My body began shivering in the cold. I wrapped my arms around myself in attempt to keep in some of my body heat. My teeth chattered as the icy wind made my hair swirl restlessly around my face. I gritted my teeth together, trudging on. The cinemas were only a couple of minutes walk from my place, but it felt like forever when it was this cold. The weather of our town was nice but annoying at the same time. The sunny days were really hot and humid, forcing you to go swimming majority of the day to cool off, whereas the nights were harsh and cold if you weren't indoors.

I was glad I brought my coat, as I was enveloped in it, it's warmth slowly seeping into my skin. I cupped my hands around my face, trying to protect it from the harsh winds. Eventually, the cinema came into sight and I let out a breath of relief, increasing my pace. I stepped inside, the warm air washing over my body. Aiden's eyes widened and he rushed towards me, a frown evident on his face.

"You walked here?" he cried out angrily, causing curious bystanders to glance over at us. I hushed him, inclining my head, so we could get out of the entrance area. When the doors opened, a swoop of the night's air filtered in.

"Yes."

"Why? I offered to pick you up!"

I didn't want you to see me in Carter's house.

"I felt like I needed the exercise." I blurted.

He just gave me 'the look'. "Lacey, you exercise like an athlete and are skinnier than a twig. Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not!"

"Lacey-" he began angrily, but the guy behind the counter cleared his throat, effectively gaining my attention.

"Lacey? Is that you?"

Upon hearing my name, I pivoted around. A small smile broke out on my face when I noticed Jim, a former peer of mine. I went up to him, leaning on the counter, glad he gave me an excuse to walk away from Aiden.

"Hey! I didn't know you worked here?"

"Started last week," he laughed, beaming at me. His eyes slowly rested on Aiden and he quirked his eyebrow. "Is Carter with you?"

I felt Aiden bristle beside me. "No, this is my boyfriend, Aiden. Aiden, do you remember Jim? He went to our school a couple of years back."

"Vaguely." he said, smiling politely. "Nice to meet you, man."

"Yeah same. What movie are we seeing tonight?"

We paid and he printed our tickets off. We split off and I found myself seeking out some popcorn and chocolate. Like, come on, you can't watch a movie without popcorn. After stocking up on my supplies, we headed inside. I collapsed heavily down onto one of the seats, leaning back. After a few moments, I felt Aiden's hand slip onto my thigh. He began gently caressing it. I shifted slightly, moving as far away from him as I could. I felt his gaze on me, but promptly ignored it.

I don't know why I was so touchy today, but I couldn't stop myself.

My body was tense as we sat there. I was dreading every moment, as the movie slithered by, slower than a snail. My foot was tapping restlessly and I was looking anywhere but at the screen, just wanting to leave. I continuously played with my sleeves, my skin still feeling like ice from my walk. I don't know what is is, but everything with Aiden felt so forced and unnatural.

Everything was already getting so complicated.

I slid my shirt up and ran my fingertips over the jagged scars that would permanently damage my skin. Swallowing uneasily, I tugged it down so my scars were firmly covered once more.

Finally, the credits began rolling across the screen and I was out of my seat, as if it was on fire. I rushed out of the room and out into the cold air, waving over my shoulder at Jim. I kept going until Aiden grabbed my hand, hauling me back.

"What is wrong with you lately?" he snapped at me, clearly annoyed.

I wrenched my hand from his, shaking my head. "Nothing. I'm just tired. I'll just walk home. See you tomorrow."

"Are you crazy?" he hissed, reaching out for me again. "You will freeze!"

I side passed him, but halted. He narrowed his eyes at me. We had a heated stare for a couple of moments.

"You're being dramatic."

"Come on, I'll drive you home." he sighed, pinching the skin in between his eyes, obviously frustrated with me.

Exhaling through my nose, I slowly nodded. "Okay. Thanks."