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~ Daniela's POV ~

"So when we get this truck, what's the plan?"

"The guy said it won't do well on motorways so I guess the first thing we need to do is get a better car in an actual shop. Then, I guess we just drive. I have a house in LA, I was thinking of going there for a couple of days before going home."

I nodded my head in understanding, letting out a tired yawn while Carson pulled me into him allowing me to rest my head on his chest.

So far, that morning ever since we woke up, had breakfast and made our way to the garage where we could get the car, we hadn't really stuck to the friendship agreement we made.

We kind of did, since we hadn't kissed again, but everything had definitely changed between us. Carson took every opportunity he could to hold me or hug me or even just hold my hand and honestly, I wasn't complaining.

I needed the comfort too.

"Can we look for trains to Ohio on the way?"

"Trains?" Carson suddenly pulled away from me, keeping his arms around me as he looked at me. "Yeah, I'll just catch a train. It's the quickest way to get home."

He looked like he was going to say something, probably talk me out of it but he didn't instead just choosing to let out a sigh.

"Yeah, okay." He nodded his head although it didn't take a genius to know he wasn't happy. "It has to happen Carson."

"I can drive you to Iowa."

"No, and it's Ohio." I instantly shook my head declining his offer which he took absolutely no notice of.

"Yes."

"Carson no."

"Why not?" When he rose a challenging an eyebrow at me, I let out a sigh, pulling out of his arms completely.

"So you want me to come with you to LA, which will take days by the way. Then you want me to spend time with you there before you drive me to Ohio which will take another few days? Carson you know it will only make it harder on both of us at the end."

"But I-...I'm not ready to say goodbye to you yet."

"It's not goodbye, I'll see you again Carson." I tried to give him a smile which completely failed, causing him to frown at me. "See, you're sad too."

"Of course I am. But it doesn't change the facts."

"Baby just think about it-"

"Stop calling me that." When I cut him off giving him a stern look he just gave me one of his breath taking smiles, pulling me back into him again. "You'll always be my baby, Trouble."

Just as I narrowed my eyes at the use of the nickname I absolutely hated, the sound of footsteps approaching us stopped me from giving him a piece of my mind.

"The truck is ready for you. But it will be 2000 dollars to pay first."

"What? Two grand? The things can't even go on the fu-"

Quickly cutting off Carson, I stepped out of his arms turning to look at the guy who seemed less than impressed at Carson's choice of words.

"Is there anyway you could bring the price down, even just a little bit?" His hard gaze shifted away from Carson and towards me causing me to muster up a friendly smile. "Please?"

After a moment of silence, he eventually let out a sigh, nodding his head. "I can do 1800 dollars, but that's it."

"'Oh hell no. If you think I'm paying anything above 500 dollars for that fu-"

"We'll take it." Once again I cut him off, giving the man a bright smile, well aware of the glare Carson was now giving me.

Carson didn't say a word to me throughout the entire time we signed the 'paperwork' which was just a document stating that we weren't allowed to sue them if we got stuck in the middle of nowhere.

I mean, technically we were already in the middle of nowhere, I didn't really see the relevance of the document at all.

"What the hell was that?" Once he finally got into the drivers seat of the truck, Carson turned to look at me giving me a cold glare.

"You were going to blow our chances of getting out of this place, I had to step in before you did that."

At this he gave me an incredulous look.

"Step in? Daniela you just completely screwed it up. It cost us 1800 dollars when I could have gotten it for free if you just let me handle it."

"I see you're not calling me baby anymore." When I gave him my witty response, his anger only increased. "It's not a joke."

"Carson I think you're forgetting it wasn't your money to begin with and how the hell could you have gotten it for free? After the way you spoke to him the most he would given you was a kick out the door."

When I shook my head he let out a sigh, turning on the engine of the truck causing it roar to life.

Or more like groan to life.

"I was going to use my gun." His words instantly caused my eyes to widen as I gave him an incredulous look, while he on the hand was acting as if it was a normal thing to say.

Maybe for him it was.

"You were going to kill him?"

"What? No! I was going to gently suggest he let us go with the car." He shrugged his shoulders as he put the truck into first gear, beginning our hour long drive from the little town to Shelton. "But you screwed it up and lost us 1800 dollars."

The longer he carried on complaining, the more irritated I was beginning to get with him too. Couldn't he just let it go? Sure I may have ruined his plan but at least we weren't running away from the police right now.

"I didn't screw it up Carson. You can't go through life threatening everyone you disagree with. That's probably how we ended up in this situation in the first place, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" He glanced over at me with a frown as he picked up the speed we were driving at. "You still haven't told me why George wanted to kidnap you. My guess is that it was your attitude he had a problem with."

"You don't know jack about what happened."

"So tell me." Carson just clenched his jaw as he drove and when I realised he wasn't going to respond to me, I let out a scoff, shaking my head. "Did you mean any of what you said to me last night? You can't even tell me now, days after we left that damn place."

"Of course I meant it Dani. It's just...it's a long story and I don't know if you'll be okay with it." This time when he glanced over at me, he gave me an apprehensive look causing my own anger to reduce, ever so slightly.

"I already know who you are Carson and I know what your job entails. I told you my biggest secret last night, why-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Carson pulled to the side of the empty road we were on, killing the engine of the truck before he turned to look at me.

"If I tell you, promise me you won't change how you look at me. It was five years ago, I'd only just taken over the mafia, I had no clue what I was doing. I'm not the same person anymore."

"Baby, nothing would ever make me change how I look at you." The fact I was the one who called him baby and he didn't even smile or give me a witty remark told me he really was nervous about what he was going to tell me.

"I put his brother Christopher in a coma."

"A coma?" Carson nodded his head, averting his gaze to the window as he elaborated on what happened. "It's a long story but I met them when they tried to do business with me. I thought it would be a good deal, but they were just trying to take advantage of me since I was so new and inexperienced. They tried to steal some money from me and when I found out, I tracked Christopher down and beat the crap out of him."

Carson let out a sigh before he continued.

"He ended up in a coma and the last I heard he was still in it for the next four years. I guess he woke up."

"That's why George said you took everything from him?" Carson nodded his head at this, letting out a breath. "The thing is Dani, Christopher had a reputation for being a murderer, a thief, a rapist. No one could ever find evidence and pin it on him so he got away with everything. That's why I took my anger out on him, because he wasn't innocent."

"Why would you think I would look at you differently because of that?" When I spoke in a soft tone, Carson turned to look at me with a worried frown. "Because it was my fault. They kidnapped us because of what I did."

"Carson it wasn't. They deserved what you did and after what Christopher did to me, I'm glad you hit him that hard."

When I gave him a small smile, I could see the confusion along with the relief on his face.

"You're not mad?"

"No, of course I'm not. I guess I should be a little mad because you could have gotten yourself hurt when you went to attack Christopher. You know, I think you're corrupting me Carson. But you do really need to calm down with the swearing, I think-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Carson suddenly moved forward, leaning across the console between us to kiss me. It took me moment to get over the shock before I placed my hand on the back of his head as I began to kiss him back.

His lips moulded with mine perfectly as they moved in sync with mine. Carson then licked my lower lip prompting me to part my lips, allowing his tongue to enter my mouth. The kiss deepened as our tongues fought for dominance, exploring each other.

We continued like that until I eventually pulled away from him, taking a much needed breath as I looked into his eyes.

"You weren't supposed to do that again." A small smile played on my lips as I spoke, trying to use a stern tone. "Don't act like you didn't enjoy it."

When I let out a laugh in response, Carson pecked my lips one more time before he pulled away, turning on the engine again.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

Once we arrived at the city Diane had told us about, we finally found civilisation again. It didn't take long for us to find a real car dealership where I left Carson to go and sort out a car that we could drive on the motorway himself this time. We didn't really talk much about the car, not after what happened last time and what it led to.

I was still too busy focusing on the kiss even after we were already driving again on the motorway. This whole friends only thing definitely wasn't working.

"So where are we actually going?" When I spoke for the first time since we started driving the new car, Carson glanced over at me before turning the radio down.

"The GPS navigation says it'll take us around three hours to get to Portland from here. So I guess we'll stay there over night in a hotel, maybe buy some new clothes and things and then carry on tomorrow."

"Carry on to LA?" My question came with a raised brow as I turned in my seat to face him properly and, like he knew exactly what I meant, he frowned.

"Can we talk about this later?" It didn't take a genius to see he wasn't happy. I wasn't either, the thought of leaving him scared me but I had to do it if I wanted to protect my heart. Nodding my head in response to his question, I turned the radio up again before resting my head on the window.

The longer I spent with him the harder it was going to be to leave, I already knew that. But I also didn't have it in me to leave him. If I was desperate I could have figured out a way to get to Ohio from Shelton before we left. But I just put it off and that was my second mistake after letting him kiss me three times now.

A while passed while Carson drove, making small talk with me here and there although we were in a comfortable silence for most of the drive.

"Carson?"

"Hm?" When I spoke in a sheepish tone he glanced over at me before bringing his eyes back to the road again.

"Can we stop for some food?" My question caused him to let out a sigh, shaking his head. "See this is why I call you Trouble."

"It's not my fault! I wasn't hungry when you asked me."

"It was only thirty minutes ago and now we're in the middle of freaking nowhere." When he said that I looked out the window admiring the empty open fields and hills in the distance.

"Just find somewhere, anywhere is good with me."

I heard Carson mumble something to himself under his breath but I chose to be the bigger person and not respond to him.

I don't know how long it was after that very quick exchange that we finally turned off the motorway and drove down some empty roads in search of somewhere to stop. Driving through, it didn't take long until we stopped at the first convenience store that we found.

Carson didn't say a word as he got out of the car, waiting patiently for me to get out of the car before he locked it. I wasn't exactly sure what mood he was in, even though it had been quite a long time since we last spoke.

"Carson?"

"Hm?" When I said his name he turned around to look at me, raising an eyebrow at me. "You're not mad at me are you?"

"Mad? Of course not beautiful."

"But I've annoyed you a lot today." My words just caused him to chuckle, coming over to me take my hand in his. "You annoy me everyday, that doesn't change how I feel about you. Come on Trouble, let's get you some food."

Tugging on my hand, he led me up the wooden steps and into the store causing a small bell to ring above us. As we stepped further in, the sound of footsteps approaching caught our attention.

"Oh hi. Are you in need of anything in particular or do you just want to take a look around?"

When I turned around, my eyes landed on an old lady smiling at us from behind the counter. She seemed quite old, maybe in her 60s or even early 70s.

"Oh we're just looking, thank you." When I responded to her, she gave me a kind smile while nodding her head. Carson then tugged on my hand once again, this time pulling me down the few aisles in the store.

"Bread?" I turned to give Carson a weird look when we stopped in front of the bread, for some reason admiring the different kinds. "What am I supposed to do with a loaf of bread?"

"Eat it." This time I let out a laugh, shaking my head prompting him to lead me further down the aisle. "Eggs?"

"How am I going to cook them?"

"You know, drinking raw eggs is a trend. Something about the nutrients and protein or some crap."

"Well I'm not doing that." He nodded his head in understanding before we walked further down towards the fridges. "Cheese? You could get some string cheese or put the cheese in the bread and make a sandwich?"

"Or I could just buy a sandwich from here." I pointed towards the sandwiches next to us causing Carson to nod. "That's a good idea too."

When we stopped in front of the sandwiches Carson came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he pulled me against his chest.

"Which one do you want baby?"

Despite the fact we made an agreement to be friends only, I couldn't stop the smile that tugged at my lips when he whispered into my ear over my shoulder.

"I'm not sure. You said cheese and pickle was your favourite, right?" When I referenced one of the conversations we had when we locked in the room, Carson let out a laugh, allowing me to feel the vibrations in his chest. "You said you liked that too, but they only have one left. You have it."

"No it's okay, I'll just take a plain cheese one."

As I said that, I reached out to grab both the sandwiches, but when I turned around Carson still hadn't stepped away from me.

"I said you can have the cheese and pickle. I'll take the plain cheese."

"Well, you may be a boss in New York but you're not the boss of me and I said I want the cheese."

I gave him a teasing smile which very quickly faltered when he stepped even closer to me, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"A woman who takes control? I like it."

When I tell you the wink he gave me left me speechless, I'm not exaggerating.

Without another word I walked past Carson, heading over to another aisle where we grabbed some extra snacks and drinks for our journey.

"Is this enough?" When Carson spoke next to me I turned my head to look at him, giving him a wordless nod. Usually he would have been concerned by my silence, but since he knew exactly what had caused it, he just smirked again.

As we stepped up to the counter, putting all our food down, the old woman smiled warmly at us again.

"Oh you two make such a beautiful couple. How long have you been together?"

Glancing over at Carson I noticed how his mood had suddenly changed as a frown appeared on his face in response to her question.

"Oh, we're not together." I gave her a small smile to which she just frowned, looking between the two of us. "Oh, I'm sorry if I over stepped dear."

"It's okay."

When she began to ring us up, Carson took out some money from his pocket, handing it to me.

"I'll be outside." Before I could ask him what was wrong or why he was leaving, he walked past me heading out of the door we came in through.

"Did I say something?" When the woman spoke again, a worried expression replacing her previous smile, I quickly shook my head. "No, we're just...we're in a weird position. Actually, I don't really know what's going on if I'm honest."

She fell silent for a moment, glancing over at the door Carson had just gone through before she turned back to me.

"I've seen that look before."

"What look?"

"The look on his face, every time he looks at you. I saw it 56 years ago and I've been seeing it everyday since." Her smile was back on her face as she looked over at the other door behind the counter that she came through earlier.

"If you find that kind of love dear, don't let it go."

Love?

"Oh, no, I don't think he loves me. Anyway, we can't be together, it won't work." I gave her a small smile as she handed me the bag full of our food while I handed her the money in exchange.

"I understand. Let me just tell you sweetheart, when my Howard won me over in 1965, I was scared. But, after being loved by him everyday for over fifty years, how I felt then doesn't matter anymore. He made it worth it."

She gave me one last smile as she handed me my change, just as someone called out from the back room.

"Lilly?" Her head turned in the direction of the door behind the counter before she flashed me an apologetic smile.

"I'm with a customer Howard."

"But I can't find my reading glasses." Their exchange brought a small smile to my face while she just shook her head. "They're underneath the newspaper."

Even when she shook her head, her eyes lit up when she spoke to him. They were one of those couples who had the magic I often wonder about, they had that love where it was just the two of them. Nothing else mattered.

Something I never thought I would find.

She turned back to face me, giving me one last smile. "Thank you for shopping here dear."

I shook my head at her as I stepped away from the counter, clutching the bag in my hand.

"I should be thanking you. Bye...Lilly." When I used her name, her smile brightened just as Howard called for her again and this time she went to go and see him.

Letting out a breath, I turned around heading to the exit of the store finding Carson leaning against the car with a cigarette between his lips.

"You're smoking?"

Shrugging his shoulders, he took one last drag before he put it out.

"It helps me. Come on." He gestured for me to come over to him as he opened my door for me. "You didn't have to do that."

When I reached him, he just gave me a small smile, stepping aside so that I could get into the car. Once I got in, Carson shut the door and went around to his side. He started the drive back towards the motorway while I dug through the bag of food.

"You want your sandwich now?"

"I'm driving Dani."

"That's okay, I know you're hungry too so I'll just feed you." I gave him a smile as I opened the packaging, taking out one of the cheese and pickle sandwiches. I held out it on front of him causing him to smile before he quickly took a bite before focusing back on the road.

It was one of those moments that was so surreal to me, something I never thought I would do - feeding him while he drove. It was one of those moments that although so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, it was something I knew I would remember for the rest of my life.

"Dani stop, I'm still chewing."

"You're too slow, I'm the hungry one remember? Just eat it." When I held the sandwich out again, he let out a frustrated noise, swallowing his previous bite.

"I can't freaking see with you waving a damn sandwich in my face. Just put it down."

At least it started off cute.

Rolling my eyes, I put the sandwich back in the packaging with the other half, resting it in my lap. A few moments passed while Carson drove and the radio played quietly in the background until I mumbled my next sentence deciding to wait until he was finished eating before I ate my food.

"Tell me when you're ready for another bite."

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<<

~ Carson's POV ~

By the time we arrived in Portland it was pretty late in the day. We just about had time to stop at a mall and grab some clean clothes and toiletries before we headed to a hotel. We chose the first one we came across since we were exhausted, it was pretty nice inside which meant it was also going to be expensive.

After paying five hundred dollars to stay at that stupid farm and then buying two freaking cars, we were running extremely low on money. By the time we checked in and paid for one night in the hotel I knew I couldn't put it off any longer.

"I need to make a call." Just as we got into the room with all our bags from the mall, I took out one of the burner phones from the cabin, opening up the packaging to take it out.

"You want me to leave? I can go and-"

"No beautiful, you can stay." Just like always when I called her beautiful her cheeks tinged pink and she looked away from me, avoiding making eye contact with me. Seeing her react so cutely was one of the reasons I kept calling her that, but the other was the fact that she really was just so beautiful, inside and out.

And she wasn't even trying.

"Who are you calling?" Taking out the burner phone, I turned it on just as Dani kicked off her shoes and got on the king size bed in the middle of our room. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge with the phone in my hand.

"Grey."

At first she didn't say anything, before she eventually came up behind me on the bed, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

"I thought you would have done that much earlier?" Letting out a breath, I leaned back against her, savouring her touch. "Me too, I guess I'm just..."

"Nervous? It's okay to be nervous Carson." Leaning over my shoulder, she pressed a kiss to my cheek with a small smile on her face. "I think it's cute."

"Cute? Cute doesn't make you one of the most feared men in America. I'm supposed to be fearless and strong and I can't even call my friend to tell him I'm alive."

"Why?"

Letting out a sigh, I let my mind go back to the night we were taken from New York and the fight I had with Grey, Fox and Aviana just before.

Flashback

"These dinners always end like this."

As soon as Fox tossed his napkin on the table like a petulant child I suddenly lost all my composure that I'd been trying to keep throughout the night.

"That's because of you! What the hell is wrong with the three of you today? Have you suddenly forgotten how to do your jobs?"

We'd completely just fucked up the most important deal of the month with Carlos because Fox forgot the paperwork, Aviana was too focused on the handsome cartel leader we were meeting and Grey had gotten mixed up with some important figures at the wrong moment.

The only one who was focussed in that meeting was me and apparently Carlos felt that too because he decided to leave the dinner halfway.

He almost took Aviana with him clearly reciprocating her feelings of lust until I stopped her.

To say I was furious would be an understatement.

"You lost us a freaking deal worth 160 million dollars! This meeting wasn't a freaking joke. Grey, we went over the numbers so many times and you just-"

"Carson, I know I made a mistake-"

Cutting Grey off almost instantly, I sent him a cold glare.

"And I chose you as my underboss because you don't make mistakes, especially mistakes that we can't afford! Grey, you messed that up so bad even after all the planning we did for weeks!"

He let out a sigh, running a hand over his face before he spoke in a dejected tone.

"I know Carson but...I've just got a lot going on."

I knew he was instantly referring to the problems his was having with his ex-girlfriend over their two year old daughter.

He wanted to see her but Maria wouldn't let him, for absolutely no reason. Grey was never anything but good to her, but she's insisting that he can't be in their daughter's life.

"That's not an excuse. Grey, you know I care about you and about your daughter but you don't bring your personal issues to our meetings, right Aviana?" When I suddenly steered the conversation towards her, she looked at me with a guilty expression.

"I'm so sorry Carson. I know that I got distracted by him, but I promise it won't happen again."

I let out a dark chuckle as I nodded my head, standing up from my seat causing the chair to scrape across the floor.

Thankfully we hired a private room in the restaurant otherwise we would have been a spectacle in the crowded restaurant.

"You're right Aviana, it's not going to happen again because you're done."

"Done?" Although she was trying not to let it, I saw a small spark of her anger slip through her apologetic facade.

"You're never coming to one of these meetings again. At least these two idiots made mistakes relevant to the meeting, you couldn't even take your eyes off him for a second to focus!"

"Carson that's not fair. Look, I said I'm sorry but you're kind of overreacting, you don't need to shout at us. We just had a bad day, that's all."

As soon as she said that word I shook my head, walking towards the exit. I just needed to get the hell out before I said anything else to any of them.

"I'm not overreacting. If I knew this dinner would have ended so badly I would have gone with my family to Paris for a couple of days. I sacrificed that time with them for this dinner and you three completely messed it up."

When I placed my hand on the door handle, Fox spoke, stopping me in my tracks for the moment.

"Carson don't leave, let's just finish our dinner and talk this over. I'll buy you another drink and we can talk."

"No Fox, I just need to go before I say something I'll regret. You guys just need to sort yourselves out before we have any other meetings, you cost us a lot of money tonight."

"I lost my temper with them after a meeting went south. None of them were concentrating, even after we spent days planning it. I had the choice of going to Paris that night with my mom, but I didn't and when the meeting ended so badly I took my anger out on them. When I left the restaurant, I was intercepted by George and his men."

Instead of saying anything straight away she just hugged me from me from behind, resting her chin on my shoulder.

"Baby you don't need to feel nervous. You're their boss, they would have understood that. Sometimes you have to be harsh even if they're your friends, especially if you had so much to lose by being at that meeting. They're still your friends, they still care for you."

While she spoke to me, doing her best to give me advice even though she had very little information about the situation, it became even clearer how special this girl was.

I hardly ever spoke to anyone about my feelings including my family and friends. The thought of telling a woman any of my business would never ever cross my mind. But with her, it was so different to anything I've ever felt before.

She made me want to talk to her and to tell her things I would never tell another living soul.

"I can hold your hand if you want?"

When she mumbled the words next to my ear I couldn't help but laugh, finally turning to face her.

"I'm okay, thank you." She gave me one of her cute smiles before she leaned in pressing her lips to mine in a brief kiss before she pulled away. "I know I'm not supposed to kiss you but I can't help it."

"It's okay, I don't mind. I told you I don't like being your friend."

Finally, I turned my attention back to the phone in my hand, typing in Grey's number that I knew off by heart before I reluctantly hit call. The entire time it rang, Dani stayed sitting next to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Hello?" When I heard his voice, I sat up a little straighter, holding the phone to my ear.

"Grey." After I spoke, the other side fell quiet for a moment until Grey spoke again, this time with shock clear to hear in his tone.

"Carson?"

"Are you alone?"

"Y-yeah I am...what the heck? Where are you? Carson we thought-" Before he could tell me that for the past three weeks they thought I was dead, I cut him off.

"It's a long story, I'll explain it to you when I get home but I'm stuck in Portland right now and I need some money."

"Portland? In Oregon?"

"Yeah."

"Um...yeah, okay, how much do you need?" It was obvious he was still in shock, but thankfully he wasn't losing his mind like Fox and Aviana would have done if I had called either one of them.

He was the only one who knew how to keep a cool head in these kind of situations.

"A few thousand for now."

"Okay. I'll have a guy bring you some cash, where are you?"

"I'm in a hotel right now. I'll text you the address."

"Okay. Carson...are you okay?" His words came out in a much more tentative tone, causing me to let out a sigh as I ran a hand over my face.

"Damn...yeah I'm okay. How are you guys? How is my mom? Is she-"

"We didn't tell her Carson. She's so angry at you for being too busy to call but she's happy, she's in Iceland right now. We didn't want to tell her unless we knew for sure."

The moment he told me that she was okay and that she wasn't grieving for me like I thought she would have been after I went missing for three weeks, I felt this heavy weight lifted off my shoulders.

I would gladly have her hating me in Iceland over her ever having to think I was dead, even for a second. When I felt silent, Dani placed her hand on my leg to comfort me just as Grey spoke again.

"We found your car. What happened? Who was it?"

"George Mitchell. Grey, can you do me a favour?"

"You need me to kill him?" Even though the conversation was tense to say the least, I couldn't help but smile at his question. He was still the same as always.

"No, actually I'm heading to LA soon, can you send me a replacement phone on my number and my credit cards and things to my house so they'll be there by the time I get there. My wallet was still in my car."

"Wait, LA? What the hell? Why? Carson just come back to New York, we need you here." This time when he cut me off I had to clench my jaw, doing my best to stop myself from snapping at him.

Going to LA for a few days was something I was set on doing, it didn't matter to me if they needed me in New York. I needed to go there first.

"I told you it's a long story. I just, I need to do this so just trust me. I'll be back soon, just hold it down until I get back."

"Fine, okay."

Sensing his annoyance at my decision, I decided it was best to end the conversation there rather than arguing with him over the phone.

"I'll talk to you soon then."

"Wait, Carson?"

"Yeah?" It fell quiet for a moment before he eventually spoke, his voice sounding a lot thicker than it did a few moments ago.

"I love you bro. I didn't think I'd ever get to tell you that again and I don't want to waste the opportunity."

And just like that I felt my composure begin to slip as I let out a shaky breath. "I love you too."

After that we ended the call and I tossed the phone on the bed, running a hand over my face hoping to try and get my emotions under control.

"It's okay baby."

When Dani spoke next to me I turned my head to look at her, a warm feeling spreading inside me when I saw the caring smile she was giving me. Without another word she pulled me into a hug allowing me to rest my head on her shoulder.

The sandwich just got me 😭 it's the cutest thing ever how she decides to feed him first.

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