Carter nodded his head hesitantly. His brain had turned into chaos for a few moments as the guy who hadn't spoken a word to him in months asked him to go outside and talk.

Alex was almost standing over them, his tall stature looming over the table, but Carter didn't feel threatened. Carter's eyes wondered around the room for half a second to see that most people in the cafeteria had either curious or concerned looks on their faces. By the rumours floating around the school, it was no surprise that people would automatically jump to thinking a fight was going to break out. Carter knew better than that, Alex was the least confrontational person he knew, and he just wanted to talk. 

Talk? What did that mean?

By the angry undertone to Alex's voice, Carter assumed that it wasn't going to be about anything good. Alex had no reason for being angry with Carter, well, that Carter knew of. Carter felt like the world had changed around him in the moments he was taking to Archer. Alex had not spoken a word to him in so long that just hearing his voice was enough to send a spark of memory to his heart. It was a memory laced with pain, but there were good times, there were times back before all of this where Alex's husky voice was the thing that made his heart race. He had to push that back, this wasn't one of those times, this was different. Alex was mad? The reasoning was still a mystery, but there was only one way to find out.

Carter went to stand, but a hand wrapped around his forearm gently, keeping him in place. 'Are you sure this is a good idea? The guy looks like he is going to explode." Archer spoke to Carter, but his eyes were all on Alex. He twisted the word explode, like it meant something, and Carter didn't understand. Alex had never made a violent move toward him in his entire life, so he didn't think he could possibly be in any danger. Taking a second look, Carter could sort of understand why Archer was concerned. Alex's hands were shaking as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

Alex stared down Archer, his gaze swapping from Archers face to the hand which was wrapped around Carter's arm.

Carter needed to cool down this situation, he may not have understood why the two were acting this way, but he did know that a fist fight in the middle of the school cafeteria was not the best way to handle it.

"It's ok, Archer," he patted the hand on his arm and Archer let go with a nod. "I'll be back."

"Carter.." Roxy spoke quietly, using his name as a warning, but her eyes were on Alex. A worried expression filled her face and she shook her head lightly.

"It's alright, I'll be back," Carter repeated, to Roxy this time.

He stood from his seat, silently walking past Alex, making sure not to bump into him as he passed, and made his way to the doors which lead to a large hallway. The hallway was lined with lockers and Carter peered around them to make sure that no one was listening before turning back towards the wall of the hallway where he had heard Alex stop.

"Well?" Carter shrugged, looking at Alex expectantly.

The boy was standing straight, taking deep breaths. His chest cavity rising and falling significantly with every breath. He strangely looked like he was trying to meditate or relax or something. 

"Alex?"

The strange breathing stopped and Alex's eyes came up to meet his. 'I don't think you should hang out with Archer and Cole," Alex spoke very matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry, what?" Carter asked, almost sarcastically.

"I don't want you hanging out with them," Alex said slowly, yet the harshness in his voice didn't fade. Alex always had a husky voice, but he was never harsh, not that Carter remembered. There was no emotion in his voice, just direction.

"You don't even know them," Carter ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Carter's voice turned small. "Why are you doing this Alex?"

Carter was barley coping with the minimal contact with Alex, but now, standing in the hallway with the boy he used to love, that was too much. He had gotten so used to Alex not caring, and he had almost convinced himself that his Alex didn't exist anymore, yet here he was, different and acting strange, yes, but still Alex. Carter was annoyed, Alex wasn't allowed to just come into his life as he chose. Alex left and that was that, but now what? Now Alex thought that he had a right to control what he did?

Alex huffed, "Please Cater," he pled, "just listen to me."

"Answer my question, Alex."

"Just trust me on this, they are bad news."

Carter rolled his eyes, a mix of anger and frustration in his expression. "Alex, I cannot believe you. They are nice people, and you are being completely crazy. Do you even understand how you sound?"

"Don't hang out with them," Alex stated harshly, like he wasn't even listening to a word that came out of carters mouth.

"Is this all because you are jealous?" Carter asked with eyes wide in realisation.

"No," Alex defended, his face turning into a scowl for a few seconds.

"Yes it is." Carter pointed at Alex's face, shaking his head. "You don't get to be jealous, Alex."

"I'm not jealous." The lie was obvious on Alex's face. "I just don't want you hanging out with them." 

"You know what?" Carter huffed. "You don't get to do this, you don't get to tell me who to hang out with. You don't get to do this to me after months of silence. You and I," he gestured between them, "aren't even friends. We are nothing, and you sure as hell made sure I knew that. You have no right to tell me to do anything." With those words, Carter's eyes dropped to Alex's bare hand, his gaze resting over the empty finger which once held a promise ring. That promise had been long broken, yet his own fingers caressed his own ring as he stood there. There was two of them, yet only one had on the promise ring. It didn't mean anything anymore, the promise was broken, just like Carter's heart.

Alex's eyes softened and Carter could have sworn that his eyes were teary, even if Alex himself would never admit it. "Carter, would you please just.."

Carter cut him off with angry words. "You know what? I am going to do whatever I want."

"I still care about you Carter, please just trust that I wouldn't be asking this of you if it wasn't for a good reason."

Carter gasped, "You don't get to do this! You don't get to act like you care after all this time." Carer could almost feel the anger surging through his veins. "You left me! I waited for you, I cared so much and then what you did at the airport...that isn't caring, so don't act like you are doing this for me, you are doing this for you. I am not some play thing whose heart and life you can mess with when you get bored. I don't trust a word that comes out of your mouth, I won't make that mistake anymore."

Alex seemed taken aback. "Carter, I didn't...I don't know what to say." He stumbled over his words, hurt and pain leaking from his voice, but Carter didn't care. Alex had given up any rights to sympathy after all he had done.

"Fuck you, Alex. Leave me alone." The threats were weakened by the break in Carters voice, but he meant them and by the look in Alex's eyes, Alex knew he meant them too.

Shouldn't it have felt like closure? Shouldn't Carter have felt like he had finally said his peace? Storming away from Alex and leaving him a mess should have been the moment when Carter knew that things were over and he stood up for himself.

So why were there tears in his eyes? Why did it feel like his heart had been ripped in half, even when he had been so sure that his heart had already been broken beyond repair?

He ran down the hallways, going for the first door which lead him outside. He ran around the side of the building where a bench seat was placed up against the side of the building.

He sat down slowly, resting his head on the wall and trying to keep the tears from spilling over. He looked out at the grassy field that faced him, focussing on the way the colourful flowers moved with the wind and the way the light breeze felt against his skin.

He closed his eyes, his ears focussing on the sounds of the birds in the trees around him. He heard shuffling and footsteps and then someone sat next to him on the bench seat. A hand slid in between his, fingers interlacing with his.

"Whatever happened, I'm here for you," Roxy told him quietly.

"How did you find me?"

"I knew that you would come outside somewhere to think, and a bench overlooking a garden screamed the perfect spot for an emotional Carter," Roxy explained quietly.

Carter squeezed her hand and opened his eyes, turning to face his best friend.

"Why does he act like this?" Carter asked in a broken voice, not really expecting an answer.

"Act like what?" she asked quietly, as if thinking that if she spoke loudly her best friend would shatter to pieces next to her.

"He acts like he wouldn't bat an eyelid if I died one moment and then he says something that makes me re-think everything and takes me right back to where we were all those months ago."

"He is one confusing guy." Roxy almost laughed, squeezing Carters hand affectionately.

"That's the understatement of the century."

"What do you think of Archer? You two seemed to be really getting along back there," Roxy changed the subject.  

"I like him, he seems quite nice. Alex doesn't want me hanging out with him."

"Do you think he actually cares, or do you think that he is being jealous because of the realisation that you might become unavailable?" Roxy asked, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear as she spoke.

Carter shrugged, biting at his lip. "I have no clue, but what I do know is that he has no right to dictate who I hang out with. He seems to have this power over me, and all I want to do is to give him a taste of his own medicine, somehow make him see how much his actions hurt me."

"You know," Roxy said mischievously, "we could have a little fun with this.."

"Fun with what?" Carter cocked an eyebrow.

"Alex doesn't want you seeing Archer, and you want to get your revenge right?"

"Yeah..I..I guess so," Carter nodded. He was sick of feeling so weak in his and Alex's dynamic. Alex needed to be put in his place.

"Then why don't you ask Archer out?" Roxy asked with a sly smile on her lips and Carter could almost see the light bulb turning on in her head. Roxy had a plan, and if Carter knew anything about his best friend, he knew that she was a master at plans. "Just to piss off Alex. That way you will get your revenge for all this time that Alex has hurt you plus, a date with a sexy mysterious foreigner might just be what you need to push you over the edge of getting over Alex."

The plan wasn't bad. Carter did want to get revenge on his ex and Archer did seem like he was into him. Leading on Archer didn't sit right in Carter's stomach, but maybe he wasn't leading him on. Archer seemed nice, albeit he was mysterious in a way, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe he really was just what Carter needed.

Hurting Alex didn't seem right either, but the amount of hurt that he had thrust upon Carter was too much for him to just sit back and follow Alex's 'order' to not hang out with Archer. Alex needed to understand that you can't just mess with people's feelings and not expect to be hurt in return.

"You know what, you are right."

"When am I ever wrong?" Roxy winked happily.

"Never." Carter smiled at his best friend's pleased smirk.

With that, Carter looked down at his hand, where the simple silver band resided. Without a word he slipped it off his finger and slid it into his pocket. Roxy slid her hand back into his as soon as she could, squeezing his palm reassuringly. "I'm proud of you," she whispered.

Carter didn't say anything, he just tried to forget the absoluteness that was taking off the ring.  

"Come on," Roxy tugged on his hand as she stood, dragging them both back towards the building.

"Where are we going?" Carter laughed as the small girl pulled his hand as she strode over the grass covered ground. She turned to him as soon as they were standing at the entrance to the building.  

"Why, to get you a date, of course."

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