Today has been on my mind this entire weekend. I have dreaded going back to my internship. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but the thought of seeing Carter makes my skin crawl. I know that what I did to him was completely fucked up, especially after finding out that he was going to propose to me that night. I feel like such a bitch. 

"Ready?"

Justin comes into the bedroom trying to finish knotting the tie around his neck. I cock my head to the side to analyze him, giving him a small smile. I haven't seen him look this nice since Casey and Scott's wedding. "Why are you so dressed up?"

"You aren't the only one with a job." He chuckles. "Remember?"

The painful memory suddenly hits me, and it brings me back to when we would have our annual monthly lunch date and he would update me on his life. It makes me so sad that I wouldn't really pay attention to him. I would just nod and smile, wanting the date to end. Now I would give anything to go back and listen to every word. 

"I just sell cars." He reminds me, almost as if he can read my mind. "It's not a big deal or anything."

"I should have remembered." I sigh.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I slim out my black knee length pencil skirt and finish tucking in the plum colored blouse. Justin comes up behind me in the mirror and wraps his arms around my waist, placing a gentle kiss to my shoulder. 

"Stop worrying." He mumbles into the fabric. "It's not a big deal. It's not like this is my career or anything. I'm just doing this until I graduate. It pays the rent."

"It doesn't matter if it's your career or not. I should have remembered that you had a job." 

He doesn't answer me, instead he just remains quiet while I finish slipping the black heels onto my feet. My hair isn't cooperating today. There's little pieces flying everywhere. I finally just give up and go out into the kitchen so I can grab my keys off of the counter. 

"So, are you going back to school next semester after winter break?" He asks. 

I clutch the keys in my hands and ponder the question for a moment. I haven't gone back to school since my accident. I haven't felt like I was ready, but maybe now that I'm with Justin again some of that confidence will start to come back. It's not like I've lost my scholarship or anything since I have a medical excuse, so I guess I'm just nervous. 

"I might." I say. "I'm going to be late though, so I have to go."

I can tell that he knows I'm stressed because I keep rushing around grabbing my purse, and then stumble to grab a banana from the fruit bowl. 

"Hey." He grabs onto my wrist and then gently kisses my cheek, which instantly calms me down. "Everything is going to be okay. If Carter says one rude fucking thing to you then just call me and I'll beat his ass, alright? I mean it."

His words actually comfort me because that's what I'm most afraid of. Seeing Carter. I already know he hates me, so I can only imagine what he has in store for me today. 

"I love you." I smirk, giving him a kiss. "I'll see you later."

-----

It's cold as hell outside when I pull into the parking space. It's not snowing today, but there's heavy slush on the ground from a couple of days ago. When I head inside of the office I take the elevator up and am greeted by Sasha, who has a wide smile on her face when she sees me. 

"Reina!" She shrieks with excitement. "How are you?"

"I'm good." I say, trying to hide my anxiety. She doesn't seem to know that anything is off between Carter and me, which I find odd. "How are you?"

"I've been great. I spent some time with my husband and kids this weekend going sledding. It was so much fun. Um, Mr. Brooks has a couple of manuscripts that he'd like you to read, but nothing out of the ordinary."

"Okay." I take the manuscripts from her hand and clutch them against my chest before I head towards my office. I spot Carter out of the corner of my eye at his desk, and when he sees me his eyes grow a little wide. 

Letting out a sigh of frustration, I head into my office and dive into the manuscripts. 

------

It's around one in the afternoon when I hear a knock on the door. I've been so busy with these manuscripts that the whole day seems to have passed by. I take a sip of the water that's on my desk and almost choke on it when I see Carter leaned up against the frame of the doorway. 

"Hey." He says and takes a couple more steps in. 

I'm unsure of what to say, but when he grips the chair in front of me and looks at me for approval I just nod my head and watch him sit down. He crosses one leg over the other and gently rests his elbows on his thighs. It feels like all of the energy in the room seems to be completely sucked up. 

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." He says.

"You're sorry?" I ask in disbelief. "For what? None of this is your fault."

"I just feel like I may have pushed the marriage thing on you. Maybe if I hadn't of been so set on making our relationship so serious then you wouldn't have..." He pauses, letting out a sigh. "I don't know. Was there, or is there anything that I can do to make this right?"

I feel like the worst person in the entire world right now. I can tell that Carter is a wreck. There's bags under his eyes, and he rubs the back of his neck as he waits out my answer. I think a part of him already knows that this is over between us, but there's also a small glimpse of hope in his eyes. I have to break him, and that's the last thing I want to do. 

"There's nothing you could have done differently." I tell him honestly. "I didn't want to hurt you, and I'm so sorry you had to find out about Justin and I that way, but there's just so much history there. When my memory came back I just didn't really have a choice. My heart immediately went to him. I don't know how else to explain this, and I'm probably sounding like more of a bitch, so I'm sorry. But-"

"Reina." He chuckles lowly, catching me off guard. "You're rambling."

"I know. I'm sorry...I just do that when I'm nervous."

"I know you do." He smirks again, cocking his head to the side. His eyes linger on me for a few seconds, and although he's trying to pretend like everything is fine I can see the sadness behind those brown eyes. "Just know that I love you, alright? If he hurts you I'm always going to be here. You don't ever have to question that."

I don't know why I'm crying, but I feel the hot tears travel down my cheeks. He's being so incredible about all of this. If he were anyone else he would have wanted nothing but terrible things to happen to me. He would have probably fired me. But here he is, being as nice as ever. 

"What?" He asks once I start to shake my head. 

"Nothing. I just didn't think you'd be this way at all. I didn't think there was any possible chance of us working normally together again."

"Are you kidding?" He laughs. "You're one of the best interns I've ever had. Your eye for these manuscripts is insane. I wouldn't want to make things awkward between us."

I see a figure walking towards my office, and when I let my eyes focus in on it I realize that it's Justin. I glance at Carter again, then back to him, praying and hoping the both of them don't cause a scene here. I don't know why Justin would come back here when he knows what went down between us and Carter. It's way too soon.

When Justin sees that Carter is in here with me I see his body immediately stiffen. His eyes blacken, his fists clench at his sides, and he passes through the doorway without even a knock. 

"Hey." He says cooly, looking at me instead of Carter. "I'm taking you to lunch if that's okay?"

"Um, yeah. That's fine. I just got done reading this chapter, so I can go. Let me just get my things."

I stand up from the chair and start to grab my bag as Carter rises from his chair as well. He clears his throat from the awkwardness, and I would just give anything to go and crawl into a hole right now. This is so embarrassing. 

"I'll see you later." Carter says quietly. He tries to brush past the both of us but Justin sticks his shoulder out so that he'll ram into it, causing me to give him a death glare. Carter stops walking, almost as if he's going to turn around and say something, but instead he just storms off down the hallway into his office and slams his door shut. 

"Why did you have to do that?" I whine, crossing my arms over my chest. Justin takes my bag from me and holds it over his arm, which is almost such a nice gesture that for a second I think of dropping this argument. 

"Did he say anything to you today?" He asks. 

"I mean, he was just really nice about everything, which is surprising. He wasn't mean at all to me."

"Of course." He scoffs and rolls his eyes. 

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he's still in love with you. Of course he's going to act all nice and shit. He wants you back. What a fucking prick."

We pass Sasha and I give her a wave, earning a smile from her in return before we reach the elevators. Justin seems really bothered by the fact that Carter is being nice, which doesn't surprise me. He's never been good at hiding his jealousy. 

"It doesn't matter if he wants me or not. I'm yours."

"I know, but I still don't like the fact that you now have to work with your ex every day. It's weird for me."

"Oh, so are these lunches going to be a daily thing now?" I tease. 

"Until he fucking learns that you're mine then maybe." He teases back. "Now lets go and get you something to eat."

A/N:

Reina & Justin are actual goals. I am so in love with them! UGH. 

PLEASE comment what you thought & VOTE. Last chapter only got 19 comments :( 

until next time!! <3