Chapter four: Close, Yet So Far Away

O L I V I A

The blonde's eyes landed on me and widened in recognition.

"Amelia!" She exclaimed, almost in delight. Sam muttered curses next to me while I forced my lips to stretch into a smile.

"Chelsea," I acknowledged painfully, ignoring the name slip. I tried to keep my mind off the pain in my chest.

At least I wasn't gasping. Count your blessings.

"Oh, my gosh!" She sniggered. "It's so good to see you again!"

My eyebrows shot up fractionally in surprise. All I could do was nod.

"Likewise," I replied with an effort in order to uphold a polite front.

I kept the smile fixed. We looked at each other with that fake, empty gesture. The moment was such that I was frozen in it, making me unable to move, even if it was to avert my gaze. Like being stuck in a dream and being unable to wake up. It became awkward pretty quickly.

"Lara, it's your turn," Griffin reminded, thankfully giving me an opening to look away. The moment broke, the world resumed, and I faced the campfire again, finding respite in its golden glow.

The game continued as if nothing had happened.

Haha. Yeah, right.

They paused the game to add Kaison and Chelsea's names in the basket. Chelsea found herself a place beside Lara. Meanwhile, of all the spots to sit on at the beach, Kai found one behind Griffin and I. Safe to say, Griffin looked ready to commit murder and I was a bundle of nerves.

I kept staring right at the campfire. I hated the way my stomach churned and the way I wanted to cry and shout at the same time.

"Your eyes look pretty," Carter mumbled drunkenly, stealing my attention. Some tension in my body eased at the slur in his voice, replaced by mild amusement.

"Cart, why don't you have some water, hun?" I asked him, opening my bottle and offering him a drink. He miraculously obliged, letting go of my hand and sitting up straight. I passed him the bottle and he gulped down a few mouthfuls. He gave me back an almost empty bottle and I chuckled. "Good job."

He nodded sloppily, his shoulder slouching a little bit as he sat cross-legged. He was turned towards me instead of the center of the circle.

"Hey, man," he said. I realized a beat later who he was talking to. "You're Kaison, right?"

Oh, no.

"Carter-" I began to interrupt, feeling it difficult to breathe again.

"Yeah," he replied over me, obviously not noticing. "And you're Livvy's ex-boyfriend, right?"

I didn't miss the emphasis.

"Kaison," I warned, ignoring my heart twisting at the address.

"Yeah, and you too!" Carter beamed stupidly. "Same pinch, bro."

I rubbed my face with my hands, noting belatedly that they were coarse from the sand grains. I grimaced. Great, add that to the list of things that weren't going right.

Breathe in, breath out.

"Are you drunk?" Kai questioned. A hand slipped a handkerchief on my lap from behind me and I froze. I have to get out of here. Before Carter could open his big mouth, I did.

"Yes, and he needs to sleep it off," I declared shakily, standing up and dusting myself. The small piece of cloth fell onto the sand and I ignored it with all my might. I resisted how I wanted to pick it up, smell it, and keep it for myself. I was afraid that if I stayed there a moment longer, I would all three. "Let's go, Carter."

"But, Liv!" He whined with a pout.

"Let's go," I repeated, more firmly this time.

I pulled at his arm to get him to stand up. I couldn't get him to budge but he probably understood the urgency of the situation and stood up himself. He wobbled slightly and I pulled his arm around my neck to support him. I was tall enough.

"Guys, I'll see you tomorrow." I told my friends and they nodded, mumbling 'Good night'. I urged him to walk and he did, putting one foot in front of the other haphazardly. I almost lost my balance.

"Hey!" Caine called, startling me. I turned around halfway to see him catching up with us in a jog.

"Hey," I returned, uncertain. Carter groaned and I pinched his side when I saw that there was not much distance left between his brother and us. "It's your brother," I told him lowly. He grunted in response.

"I'm so sorry about him," Caine apologized before Carter had a chance to say anything. "Let me take it from here."

"It's no bother at all," I answered, not moving to let go of my cargo at all. My voice was still unsteady and I hurried to make up for it. "He's my friend, too."

I conjured up a smile which I prayed didn't look constipated.

"Still," he said, sounding genuinely sorry. "You shouldn't have to."

I stretched my smile, encouraged by the fact that he didn't recoil at the previous one. "It's truly fine. I am turning in early too. I'm still a little jet lagged."

"Are you sure?" He asked again.

"Go away, Cay," Carter grumbled. Caine looked at me with skepticism, not bothering to address his brother.

"I insist." I nodded in response to his previous question.

"Oh, okay," he relented with an exhale. "Let me know if you need help, okay? Don't hesitate."

"I will keep that in mind. You should go and enjoy the game. The night's still young. Anyway, Lena looks a little down with you gone."

He chuckled lowly. "Okay. Thank you."

"It's nothing," I told him. He acknowledged me with a tip of his head, walking backward a few steps before turning around and walking back to the group. I turned Carter around back towards the resort. We progressed slowly.

"Be careful," I cautioned him when we were inside and the smooth tiles threatened to embrace me to them as we walked through the hallways.

"Your hair smells like strawberries," Carter muttered, sniffing my head and completely ignoring my warning.

This is why I don't take care of drunk people. They irritate the crap out of me.

"Hmm."

"It's nice," he sighed.

"Hmm."

He sniffed again. "You changed your shampoo."

Is he really drunk? How does he even remember?

"Carter, which room are you staying in?" I asked him, bracing myself for a long complicated set of drunk instructions. Instead, I got two syllables. 

"That one," he said, pointing at the door at the end of this hallway.

I sent a thank you heavenward.

"Good." I walked us there. "Where are your keys?"

"In my wallet," he said, wrapping his other hand around me as well.

"Carter!" I freed myself, making him lean against the wall instead. "Where is your wallet?"

"In my jeans," he mumbled, sliding down the wall. I glanced down at his legs and cursed when I saw that he was wearing Khakis.

"It's still in your room?!" I groaned, kicking the door.

He grinned lazily. "Yup."

I facepalmed. I rubbed my temples as I thought, waiting for a lightbulb moment. I didn't have to wait long.

"You, stay here," I ordered him. "I'll be right back. Got it? Stay."

"Woof," he barked. I glared at him and he grinned. "Sowwy." He pouted. "Don't be mad. I won't go anywhere. Scout's honor!"

I didn't know whether to slap him sober or collapse into a fit of hysterical laughter. Maybe I could do neither and just curl up and cry since I had wanted to do for the past half hour. I shook my head off those thoughts with sheer will, focusing on the task at hand.

"Okay," I agreed. I eyed Carter suspiciously. I didn't trust him, but I did not have a choice, so I left him there and made my way to the Reception. I got lost once, but made it in one piece.

"Hey," I said to the lady there. I read her tag, "Mrs. Wade. Can you help me?"

She smiled at me. "Sure, sweetie. What do you need?"

"I have a little problem on my hands. You see, Carter has locked himself out of his room and he's inebriated at the moment. Can you please give me his room's spare keys?"

Her smile dropped and her face lost the inviting glow.

"It's not funny anymore, you know?" She said.

I frowned at the sudden change. "What-"

"This is the fourth time someone is coming here to get the keys to Mr. Holmes's room. I'm not giving them to anyone. Do not try this on me again," she said sternly.

Well, that's a surprise. Should've known Carter would complicate things by just existing. Of course, he gets me out of one crisis just to pull me into another one with him.

I decided to try again. "But-"

"No. Have a good night." She deliberately plugged in her earphones, glaring at me.

Fantastic.

Giving her a scathing look of my own, I walked back to where I'd left Carter. I sighed. He was sleeping on the floor. I crossed my arms across my torso as I watched his chest move up and down as he breathed.

I had two choices.

One, go get Caine like he had asked me to and get Carter to bed in his room but see Kaison and face the possibility of having him force me to talk in front of an audience.

Two, I could let Carter sleep in my room while I took the couch and endured back pain the next day.

It wasn't a hard battle. I went with option two.

With quite some effort, I woke him up and hauled the bulky guy to his feet again. I walked us to my room and unlocked it using the key from my pocket.

Half an hour later, I had Carter tucked in my bed and was settled down on the couch. It was a little cramped and I was so tempted to get on the bed, too. I wanted a good night's rest. And what was the big deal anyway? It was just sharing a bed. We'd done much more than that and done it multiple times. But it still didn't feel right to go there.

And that's why I barely slept at all that night. I woke up with the sun again. I had outlines of dark circles under my eyes. Carter was still sleeping.

Never before had I ever been so irritated to see someone sleeping so soundly.

I crabbily showered and got dressed. When when I came back, I saw that he was still sleeping. He was snoring, lying on his stomach. I sat down on the couch, surfing through my social media while I hoped he woke up on his own. When the clock struck eight, I had had enough. I got up and hit him with a pillow, smack dab in the middle of his face.

He didn't even budge.

"Carter." I shook him awake. "Carter!"

He oomphed, squinting. He turned on his back slowly, his hands going over his head. "Hmnn."

I ruthlessly opened the curtains. He groaned, hiding his face in the pillow.

Urgh. My poor pillow.

"Wake up, boy," I bit.

"Baby, gimme a minute to get my bearings," he pleaded.

The nickname pushed me over the edge.

"Carter!" I snapped.

"Okay okay. Geez," he grumbled, sitting up. He winced. "My head hurts."

The human in me resurfaced at his discomfort. I shook off another blow of irritation and closed the curtains. I went into the washroom and searched the first aid kit they had there. I found advils there. I walked back to the room and handed him the pills with a glass of water.

"Eat this," I ordered harshly.

"Thanks." He gulped them down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. I took back the glass and placed it on the bedside table wordlessly. Carter stretched again, taking in his surroundings. "What am I doing here?"

"You were drunk," I said curtly.

"Oh, man." He groaned. "We didn't hook up already, did we?"

I quirked an eyebrow at his choice of words, feeling a grimace on its way.

"No," I said flatly. "And what do you mean, already? It's over. It's not happening again, ever."

"Oh, come on." He chuckled. "You and I both know that's not true. There is always a no-strings-attached hook up after a breakup."

It was barely eight-thirty and I was already being tested with my patience.

I took a deep breath to get a handle on my flying temper.

"Carter," I began evenly, "You're really making me regret letting you sleep here and not on the floor in front of your room."

He laughed. "Don't be that way."

I hated his denseness.

Take a hint, bitch.

"Listen to me," I said seriously. "What we had was good, but it's over now. And I'm not going back. If you want to be friends, get that thought out of your head. I am not doing it."

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes, getting up on his feet. "Thanks, I guess."

"This is the first and the last time I'm doing this," I warned him. "Friends or not, I do not take care of drunk people."

"I know." He hugged me. "Thanks."

"Hmm." I hugged him briefly and pulled away.

"You look tired as fuck. What did you do all night?!" He exclaimed, seeing me up close.

"I tried to sleep on the couch because someone was already occupying the bed. Keyword: tried," I bit out snarkily.

He raised an eyebrow, speaking patronizingly, not looking apologetic in the slightest. "Love, you could've just slept on the other side."

"Hard pass," I retorted, peeved. "Now go, it's time for breakfast soon."

"Fine," he defensively raised his hands, backing away. He opened the door, stepped out, blew me an exaggerated kiss, and then closed the door before I could throw my slipper at him.

"Good riddance," I mumbled, plopping down on the bed. I shot up almost immediately. The sheets reeked of Carter's cologne. "Fuck." I wrinkled my nose.

I dialed room service without wasting a single moment.

"I need a change of sheets earlier than I anticipated. Can you please send someone over?" I pleaded.

"Sure, miss. They'll be there soon."

"Thank you!"

I used concealer on my dark circles before locking my room and rounding up my friends. We all walked to the beach together. None of us mentioned Kaison and Chelsea. Funnily enough, I wanted Sam to. She had some explaining to do. Her reaction yesterday was interesting, to say the least. And something about what she had said months ago didn't make sense either.

We sat down at a table with our breakfast plates. The conversation was dull and stagnant. They were evidently a little tired from last night, but I could care less. I hadn't had a pleasant time catching up with my sleep either. So, I decided to take an initiative.

"So, Sam." I smiled at her for good measure. It was an empty gesture.

She looked at me cautiously, swallowing her bite. "Yeah?"

"Would you like to explain why Kai is here?"

"How would I know?" She frowned.

I raised an eyebrow. "You told me he was not going to come because he had a game."

"Well, he did," she insisted.

And how did you know that months in advance? I wanted to ask her but held back. I had a feeling I would not like the answer.

"Samantha." I glared at her.

"I'm telling you the truth! Jesus!" She exclaimed.

No, you are not.

"Olive," Griffin cautioned.

I stabbed my eggs, averting my gaze from her. She had to-

"What did those poor eggs ever do to you?" Kaison's voice asked me.

"Go drown yourself." I scowled without looking at him. Anxiety didn't cripple me much now that his presence was expected. "It won't be hard since the ocean is just meters away."

"Liv!" Sam chided.

"It's fine," he stated airily, feeling free to take the seat next to me. Sam and Griffin exchanged a resigned look.

"Yeah, go ahead, why don't you?" I muttered sarcastically as he made himself comfortable. "Make yourself at home."

"Why, thanks, Livvy." He did just that.

"Don't call me that. It's Olivia to you," I snapped.

"I see you did not sleep well last night," he noted, unbothered.

"What's it to you?" I took a huge bite of my eggs to chew on them aggressively. I needed an outlet.

"Nothing." He shrugged. "So, I see you're . . . friends with Carter."

I swallowed forcefully. "Again, what's it to you?"

"I'm trying to make a conversation here," he said innocently.

"There are more than a dozen other people here. Go do that with someone else."

"I am trying, Liv."

"I never asked you to."

"Olivia."

"I lost my apatite." I stood up, pushing my plate away from me. It barely had anything on it to begin with. "I'll see you guys later," I told Sam and Griff.

"I saw him come out of your room this morning," he said before I could leave. I froze guiltily for a second before I realized I had nothing to be guilty of. I was free to do whatever I wanted. Someone had ensured that much a long time ago.

"I'm glad," I replied in a steely, walking away.

But then why is my heart feeling like it's breaking all over again?

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A/N:-

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Lemme know what you think!

QOTD: How would you describe yourself in just three words?

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xoxo.