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Sometimes life rewards is with the most unexpected gifts which we could only dream of. Some of them are so unexpected that we couldn't even dream about them.

Let's suppose you got your favourite candy as a gift. The candy that is not available locally and luckily, you got it as a gift. You keep it for eating it later but before you could do, it is snatched away from you.

Or, you received the same necklace as a gift that you wanted to buy but you couldn't because of lack of money. The same necklace that was from your favourite shop. But just when you were about to wear it to the wedding it is stolen.

Or, your uncle brought you a brand new iPhone 7s that you never imagined to be holding even in your dreams and it breaks before you even get a chance to login into your id.

Or, a prom dress similar to what Taylor Swift wore in the Grammys that you couldn't even think of buying. And your luck was so fortunate that your rich boyfriend bought for you or your parents secretly bought it with their saving. But, at the last moment it gets burned or torn and becomes completely useless.

You get something that you never expected to get and the happiness it brings becomes something incomparable to anything you've ever felt. But just as this happiness is born it is killed. Your favourite candy is eaten by your small sibling, your necklace is stolen, your iPhone 7s is crushed into pieces and you never get to wear that dress similar to Taylor Swift. How would you feel?

How would you feel if the love of your life, the only thing that keeps you sane, the only sole happiness of your life was taken away from you? How would you feel if you were kept from meeting them? If you were hurting for them and you had no choice but to stay away from them? How would you feel if you saw them going away and couldn't do anything because of how helpless you were?

You would feel like me: the way I felt when I was restricted from meeting Carter. The way I felt when I wanted to go after him and give him a tight hug, to take a promise from him that he will never let me go but I couldn't.

The feeling that you're love is being taken away from you, the only good thing in your life is being killed, destroyed, leaves you a mess. A total shitty mess.

If you would've told me a year earlier about me falling in love with Carter, I would've laughed for ages. Because, it was the least thing any single person had expected. Falling in love with Carter was the gift life had rewarded me with, a totally unexpected one.

I could still remember the day I joined St. George's High. I was walking towards the class with my hair tied in messy pigtails because I did it myself. My old nanny was someone I didn't want to remember anymore. She was a bitch. I knew that I looked like shit but I had no other choice.

With the hope to make new friends, I entered into the class with a smile but the whole class erupted into laughters. And the first person who laughed at me was Carter.

Carter was always someone who had good features. His charm was still there when we were young. I liked his face, admired his looks but hated his personality. I had not known that this was the same boy who would be my first kiss, the guy who would be able to steal my heart, who would make me fall in love with him.

As cheesy as it sounds, Carter gave me a new life. A positive, happy one. And hearing Dad restrict me from meeting him ended all happiness; it ended all the positivity. I had sworn to myself that I won't cry. I won't let anyone mess with my mind– my friends, my bullies and my parents.

But I couldn't help it. My eyes won't stop leaking. I had no idea how to stop the tears from falling uncontrollably.

I hadn't known when I fell asleep at the night. It was that one moment I was happy, feeling like Carter would really impress my parents the other moment, everything turned the other way round.

Rebecca woke me up in the morning and I found my body aching badly. I realized that I had slept in the dining room while crying my eyes out. Helping me wake up, Rebecca soothed me. She tried to comfort me. After giving me some aspirin she went to make breakfast for me.

She had suggested to me that I shouldn't go to school today. But I knew better than to skip school. I knew I had to go; I had to be strong. I had to prove Dad wrong. I had to console Carter and be strong for us.

I was not going to listen to Dad. The worst he could do was torture me, mentally and physically. Well, guess what? I wasn't scared anymore. I wanted to go to school and clear things up with Carter. To clear to him that I love him. To clear the fact that I love whoever he was and whatever he liked, I will support him, no matter what.

As I walked into the school, I searched for Carter, my eyes going around to locate him. I was aware of the fact that Carter used to arrive late but since we had started to date, Carter changed that routine. Mostly, I found him near my locker and if not, he was in the garden outside the school.

I started to take out the necessary things from my locker, awfully slow, waiting for Carter to appear. But Carter never came. Instead of him I saw Lia approaching me with a wide smile on her face. I tried to smile back as I closed my locker, again trying to locate Carter.

"Hi Sophie!" Lia sounded extremely cheerful. It annoyed me. How could someone be so happy on a Monday morning?

"Hey. You sound... very happy."

"Maybe because I'm happy. And maybe because you're extremely unhappy." We heard the bell ring and made our way towards our maths class.

"Why are you so happy?" Entering into the class, I looked around again, surfing the seats for one particular human being.

"Because I slapped Isaac." That made me snap my head in her direction. I looked at her with an amused look on my face trying not to smile wider than in actually was.

"Wow!"

"You want to know more? I'm going to spread itching powder in his shirt while he'll be in gymnasium."

"Just great! You're so awesome!" I chuckled lightly as I said and sat beside her, still praying to see Carter.

"Thank you so much, my friend."

My hopes were crushed when I couldn't see Carter the whole time. It was fun seeing Isaac getting all annoyed with the pranks Lia had planned for him. Actually, let me correct myself. The pranks Lia and Jack had planned for him. It was so much more than just an itching powder.

If it was any other day, I would've been beyond happy to see that, but today, my mind was occupied. I had to know where Carter was and to clear all the matters up with him. I wanted to apologize on the behalf of my father. I just wanted to see him and talk to him. I needed to know why he wasn't at the school.

Jack coming to me and telling me that Carter has not been picking up his calls since the morning didn't help the unsettling feeling in my heart either. All it did was make things worse. I wanted the school to end so that I could go to Carter's house, to finally be able to see him.

Just as the school ended I rushed towards Carter's house. I found myself standing before his door afraid to face him. I was the one who forced Carter to meet my parents. I hadn't known at that time that their meeting would turn out to be such a disaster.

Mustering up the courage, I rang the bell and took a deep breath. Hanging my bag on my shoulder I tucked the stray strands of hair behind my ears as I waited for someone to open the door.

I saw David appearing before me, an annoyed look plastered on his face. I began regretting coming here but then his expression turned into a smiling one. His smile was so similar to Carter that I wanted to shove him away and run towards Carter's room. "David." I said as a greeting and gave him a smile.

"Hi Sophie!" He greeted me cheerfully and I smiled again, trying to look behind him for Carter. He too, turned around to look inside. "What're you looking at?"

"Umm... nothing. How're you David?"

"I'm great! Come on, come in!" Opening the door wide enough for me, he invited me in. I kept looking around to try to find Carter but then I settled with the thought that Carter would be in his room.

As I passed the kitchen, a smell of chicken hit my nose and I couldn't help but wonder what David was cooking. Because, honestly I was hungry and I couldn't eat anything due to the amount of stress I was subjected to. Thanks to Carter, who did not show up to the school.

I stood in the kitchen watching David doing his chores. I loved whatever he was cooking but what I wanted more at that point of time was meeting with Carter. It would've felt rude if I just went up to meet Carter so I tried to search for some better words to excuse to David and walk towards Carter's room.

Just as I opened my mouth David spoke up, "Carter is in his room."

I laughed a little and waved at him as I made my way towards Carter's room. "Don't forget to tell him that I've made chicken with his favourite seasonings. And try to solve whatever the fight is between you two. I know Carter can be a dog sometimes!" His words made me chuckle.

I knocked on Carter's door and waited for him to open it. I waited till five minutes had gone but the door didn't open. I knocked again but I was met with the same silence. It was possible that Carter was in the washroom so I waited a little longer.

After I got tired of waiting I knocked once more. "Fucking hell Dad! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" His tone was so harsh that it made me flinch. I retreated backwards, again regretting my decision of coming to see him. It was clear that Carter was angry. He was extremely angry.

But I had to talk to him. I didn't care even if he smashes me on the wall or slaps me so hard the my teeth break. I was determined on talking to him. I knocked again, this time very softly. "Carter, this is Sophia," I said, slowly.

I was met with silence.

"Carter, please open the door, I want to talk to you," I let out, knocking again. "Please? Just let me in..." I decided that if Carter doesn't open the door for five more minutes I will start banging. And that is what I did. I had just banged three times when Carter unlocked his door.

To say that Carter looked like a mess would be an understatement of the century. Carter was a wreck. It was clear that he hadn't slept last night because of the bags under his eyes. His messy hair fell on his head and his nose was red.

"Sparkle, go. Go. I don't-" before he could complete his sentence I hugged him tightly, pressing my cheek on his chest. I knew he was hurting and I wanted to console him. So I did the thing that I wanted to do since he left my house. I hugged him.

I felt hurt when Carter did not wrap his arms around me. And I was about to pull back when he wrapped his arms around me in a bone crashing hug. When I say that I wanted to puke all of what I had consumed the pervious night, I mean that Carter smelled like shit. But I knew better than to mention it to him.

"Sparkle, sparkle," he said as he moved away. I couldn't help but notice the strange smell that was coming out of his mouth.

"Have you been drinking?" The question rolled off my tongue as I asked it without even thinking. I hadn't known it would make Carter cry. Just as he heard my words, he turned his face away from me and stared outside the window.

I walked towards him and stood before him, blocking his view but finding him cry was what broke my heart. "Carter? What happened?" Rubbing his upper arm lightly, I asked. Carter just shook his head in reply.

I kept standing there trying to think of ways to calm him down. Carter spoke, bringing me out of an uneasy mental battle, "yes, I was drinking. Yes, I was drinking. And I'm sorry. And I'm sorry. I don't know why I was drinking but I was. I don't know why but I was. And I'm sorry."

It was the first time ever I had seen Carter cry. It was the first time I had witnessed his drunk self. I couldn't still understand the point of those tears that he was shedding uncontrollably. "Hey, it's okay," I finally let out, my heart hurting from seeing him like that.

It was always me. I was always the weak one. It was my habit to get scared and start to cry on small shitty things. Never had I ever expected to see Carter in the shape he was at that time. I had never expected to see the guy crying. The guy who made others cry, the guy, who I thought was tough as a rock, whose heart was made up of an unbreakable metal. He was the one who had the responsibility to comfort me, to make me strong. And seeing him like that broke me. It was all because of Dad.

He walked towards his bed and sat there shaking his head, the tears still leaking from his eyes. "It's not okay. It's not okay."

Walking towards him, I placed myself beside him as I wiped his tears away. "First stop crying, okay?" He nodded and gulped.

"Now, what's wrong?"

"I feel awful! I feel awful! I feel like I'll lose you. Like I'll lose you. I can't lose you too, Sparkle, I can't." I pressed his thigh as an attempt to make him feel better. When I looked up at him his eyes were again damp.

"Hey, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. You don't listen to Mom and Dad. Neither am I going to. So stop feeling awful, okay?" When entering into his house, what I had assumed was meeting with some brutality, harshness, rudeness, hitting and hurting. But what I had not assumed was to see Carter as a big ball of emotions.

Since my childhood, I had disliked guys who cried. And seeing Carter cry was not making me dislike him, if anything, it was making me in love with him more and more. I knew very well that Carter was no where near weak. And I was completely aware of the fact that something was terribly wrong which had caused him to act in such a way.

"Sparkle, your parents hate me. Your parents hate me. I know they'll try everything to keep you away from me. First Liam, now you! Life is not fair! Life is not fair!" He erupted into a wild cry again.

Mention of a guy who's name I remembered as Liam was something totally new but I tried to recover from my shock because I had an idea how wrong it was to bring up that topic now. Specially when it was something that had hurt him.

"You know what, Carter?"

"What?" He asked, his lips curved downwards, making him look like a small kid who had lost his lollipop and couldn't find it. He looked cute and that made me smile.

"My Dad restricted me from meeting you. He told me to not see you ever again. But guess what? I'm not going to listen to them. Did I listen to them? No. Because I'm here beside you right now. And their words mean nothing to me because all they want is to torture me and I won't let them."

"So, you don't have to worry about anything. I will not stop fighting for us. You will not loose me at any cost." I wiped his tears again, moving my fingers through his hair to untangle them.

"Promise? Promise?" Carter asked, looking at me with his chocolatey, brown, hopeful eyes. He looked so adorable, I couldn't stop myself from kissing him. Without answering him, I crashed my lips on his rough ones. Carter tasted weird which had to do with his drinking two bottles of alcohol. Carter held my face with his right hand, his fingers caressing my cheek as he kissed me back. His other hand wrapped itself around my neck while I had both of the planted firmly on his chest.

We pulled back and sighed. Carter stared into my eyes as his breath fanned my lips. "I promise," I answered his question from earlier. The smile that formed on his lips was worth it. It made my heart swell out of happiness.

"Now, sleep it off, okay?"

Carter nodded his head and leaned back on his bed, his head hitting the pillow. I pushed myself up his bed and walked around it to pick his thrown blanket from the floor. "You're going? You're going?"

I smiled at him. Though, I hated it when guys showed any weaknesses but Carter was an exception. Carter looked cute. I couldn't help but wonder how many different sides he held. Every new situation made me witness a new part of Carter. Some new things to explore every time.

What I realized after seeing him totally wasted was,

A) he gets exceedingly extra-emotional,

B) he tends to speak his sentences twice,

C) he smells like shit,

D) he cries like babies!

"You want me to stay?" I asked after I snapped back to the present. Carter nodded, patting the spare space beside him on his bed. I looked at where he was pointing me to sit, lay, whatever. Hesitantly I made my way there and laid beside Carter. He took no more that a second to wrap his arms around my waist and pull me closer. There was no doubt that Carter smelled like crap, but at that moment I found myself ignoring the bad smell and focusing on: how did I ever manage to get such an amazing boyfriend?

Carter was my doze of sanity. He was like a drug, and I knew very well that I was addicted. Addiction is bad, harmful and dangerous but once you get addicted, you know that there's no way back, that life is nothing without it. That the sole purpose you're living this life is because of that one particular drug.

"You're father is a dick, he's a dick!" Carter let out all of a sudden making me look at him. "Dicky Dad!"

"I'm not even going to deny."

"Mr. Dicktard Crappy Cockison. Mr. Cocktard Fuckfull Dickison," Carter went on.

Hearing this I felt confuse as to what he meant but then when I figured that he was referring to Dad, I bursted out laughing. Carter started to giggle too and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

"But I'm thankful to him for creating you," his words made me blush hard and my cheeks turned into the same colour as my blood; dark red. "I'm thankful to him for creating you. But he's a total dick!"

"You're so cute!" Carter turned his body towards me to face me. His lips quivered and his eyes started to glisten. "I love you, I love you," crying this out Carter hugged me like life depended on it. He sobbed on my shoulder as I felt them going damp. Not again! What is there to cry for?

"I love you too, Carter. I love you too." I answered, truthfully, patting his back.

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