Previously in Little O'Connor...

"But...I'm glad I didn't." She moves closer straddling him so he's looking at her. "We all have our monsters...I'm no better. I have blood on my hands Carter. Which caused us to have enemies as well, who want to kill us." Carter leans his head into her hand as she caresses his cheek. "I'm so sorry about everything that's happened in your life. Your dad was a dick, a monster that traumatized you. But he will no longer be able to control you, Not as long as I'm here." Carter looks into her eyes. He wraps his arms around her hugging her close to him, burying his head in her neck. She holds his head with one hand and rubs his back with the other.

"You're my savior." He whispers pulling away before kissing her lightly. Sarah gets off his lap and lays next to him, holding her arms out for him. He smiles slightly turning the lamp off and immediately accepts her cuddles and warmth. "You're not alone Carter. Not anymore." Carter falls asleep in her embrace.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 weeks later...

Carter shifts a little, causing Sarah to wake up. She opens her eyes slightly, checking the time. She lays back down not resisting Carter's grip so she doesn't wake him. She lays her head gently on his chest looking up at him and examining him. She smiles slightly as she eyes his soft pink lips. Her eyes travel down to his sharp jawbone. Not resisting anymore she kisses the corner of his lips lightly, slowly leaving feather-like kisses reaching his jaw. Carter smirks a little with his eyes closed. 

"This is a nice way to be awoken." He says. His voice was husky and raspy from just waking up. "Good morning." Sarah chuckles sitting up, pressing a kiss on his lips. "Good morning beautiful." Sarah smiles, getting up. "I was hoping we could stay in bed a little longer." Carter smirks. "Carter...we can't risk our stitches." He groans plopping his head back down on his pillow, watching Sarah walk out of his room and go to her room. He gets up and follows her taking his toothbrush from his bathroom. 

He enters her bathroom to see her stripping for the shower. "Why, hello there?" Sarah jumps turning around. "Fucking hell Carter! You are going to give me a cardiac arrest!" He laughs going over to the sink as she hops in the shower. He washes his face and brushes his teeth really quickly before stripping off his sweats and opening the shower door. "Carter...no." Sarah narrows her eyes, trying to not check him out. "Come on Tiger...we will just be showering. I promise." He smiles stepping in, letting the warm water hit him. Sarah looks up at him and holds the shampoo out for him. "Since you let yourself in...you're shampooing my hair." He chuckles taking the bottle. "Alright."

Carter's POV

I squeeze out a good amount of shampoo in my palm and start massaging Sarah's long thick hair. I see some of her naturally dirty blonde hair on her roots starting to show. I examine her as she closes her eyes while I massage the shampoo in. "That feels good." She mumbles smiling. I try to keep myself from getting turned on but the sight of her under the shower, water droplets running down her soft skin, is making this really hard. I bite my lip and try to take my mind somewhere else. "Sarah, are you gonna dye your roots brown again?" I ask. She shakes her head. "No, I think I wanna go back to my natural hair." she smiles slightly. "I will have to dye it blonde so it doesn't look weird as my hair grows." I nod washing the shampoo out, still massaging her scalp. She moans slightly at the feeling. 

"Stop that." I growl slightly. "Are you trying to turn me on?" Sarah laughs. "Baby, I think you already are." I look down and see my dick has indeed deceived me. "I can't help it..." I sigh. "It'll go away on its own." I say as Sarah gets the shampoo and starts massaging my scalp. "Relax your body." She smiles washing all the soap out. We both quickly wash our bodies and step out of the shower. "At least we don't have to wrap the bandages around our torsos anymore." She chuckles as I clean her wounds. "I'll go prepare breakfast." She says after helping me clean mine and walks out. 

I head to my room to throw on some jeans and a T-shirt and head to the kitchen and stare at her with those three words playing in my head 'I love you'. "Good! You're here!" She smiles giving me my plate of waffles. "You really love waffles, don't you?" She nods rapidly. "I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner." She sits next to me drowning her waffles in syrup. Suddenly there's a knock at the door. We both look at each other. "Are you expecting anyone?" She asks getting up. I shake my head confused. She grabs her gun before heading over to open the door. "Who is it?" I ask when she freezes. "Han?" A long-haired Asian man walks in smiling slightly. "Hey, Sarah." She drops the gun, jumping to hug him tightly. He laughs picking her up as she wraps her legs around his waist embracing him. 

I narrow my eyes, feeling jealous. She gets down and pulls him over to me. "Carter, This is Han Lue. Han...this is-" He cuts her off. "Carter Alvarez." He eyes me up and down and holds his hand out. "I heard a lot about you." I shake his hand tightly. "Funny. I haven't heard much about you." I give him a fake smile. "Come on Han, I made some waffles." Sarah smiles pulling him along with her. I follow behind glaring at him from behind. "You can have mine. I'll make a fresh batch." I shake my head. "Take mine Sarah. I'm not hungry." I mumble sliding the plate over. 

She raises a brow at me surprised. "Are you sure?" I nod sitting at the table with my coffee as they sit at the island chatting away. "How was Tokyo?" she asks as Han takes a bite of the waffles, groaning at the taste. "Fuck I missed your waffles." I tighten my grip on my mug watching them cozy up and conversate. 'It's like she forgot I exist'. I think to myself. "Actually, I bought you something!" He pulls out a long velvet box. Sarah gasps as she opens it. "Holy shit! This is so cool!" He chuckles taking it out. "Here let me put it on you." Sarah smiles moving her hair to one side and he slides the necklace on. I frown, getting up to go wash my mug. "This is amazing. Thank you Han." She smiles at him touching the Japanese necklace around her neck. 

"I see you took the necklace off." Han asks sitting back down. She nods. "I was ready to let go." She smiles slightly. He rubs the top of her hand. "I'm proud of you." I roll my eyes walking out and go straight to my room.

Sarah's POV

"I'm sorry about Carter, I think he's not feeling well." I smile slightly a little worried. "It's fine. I'll be staying here for a while." Han smiles. "I have plenty of time to get to know him." I nod leaning against him. "I missed you man." Han chuckles. "I missed you too." I sit up and turn to him. "So...how are things between you and Giselle?!" He looks at me sighing. "I still love her." I smile. "But, I don't if she still feels the same about me. It's been years since I last saw her, and after I somehow made it out alive from that plane crash Dante caused, I thought I was in heaven when I saw her." I nod. "I understand, we both saw her fall to her death when she tried to save you from Owen's guy. It was hard for me to believe too." Han smiles. 

I hear Carter's door open and I jump up to go check on him. "Carter!" I smile looking at him, giving him a once over. He stands in a suit and tie. "You look nice." He just nods. "I'm meeting up with my men. Don't wait up." He mumbles grabbing a set of keys. "Carter?" I grab his arm. "Is everything okay?" He pulls away. "I'm fine just need to go out that's all. You two have fun." He grits. I flinch as he slams the door, leaving me utterly confused. "Everything okay?" Han asks walking up. "Um yeah, I think there's some Mafia trouble." I smile slightly. "Well, why don't you rest and I'll make you some lunch." Han smiles kissing my head. "Thanks O'Connor." I nod as he walks off to his room. 

I sigh and start making some sandwiches for lunch. I call Carter just to check up on him and his calls go straight to voicemail. "Hey Carter, it's Sarah. I just wanted to check on you. You've been acting weird all day and I wanted to make sure everything was okay. I'll see you soon? I'm making some lasagna tonight. I was hoping you'd be back by dinner. Let me know." I sigh and hang up. Once I'm done I take some sandwiches to Han's room. "Hey. Come in Sarah." I smile walking in. "I made your favorite sandwiches." He smiles appreciatively. "Thank you Sarah." I look at him and nod. "You're like a brother to me. I'm so happy you're back." I take a seat on his bed taking a bite of my sandwich. "So, this Carter. He still didn't answer his phone?" I shake my head. "No." Han smirks. "You really care about him, don't you?" I nod chuckling. "I know it's dumb." I sigh. "I haven't felt this way since Dimitri." Han smiles widely. "That's great Sare!" He gives me a side hug, rubbing my shoulder. I take the last bite of my sandwich. "I just hope everything is okay. He was fine this morning." I sigh getting up and picking up the plate. "I better get started on prepping dinner. You should call Giselle, maybe she would like to join." Han nods as I walk out.

I start to prep dinner by making the bechamel, and meat sauce for the lasagna. My mind wanders off to Carter once again, hoping he is okay, not noticing when Han walks in. "Sarah!" My eyes shoot over at him as he rushes over to me. "Shit, your bleeding!" I look down at my hand and drop the knife. "I didn't even notice." I mumble heading to the sink, and quickly running my finger under cold water. "Where was your mind?" Han grumbles grabbing my hand and examining it. "I may have been daydreaming." I make up an excuse. He sighs placing a bandaid on. "Did you talk to Giselle? Will she join us?" Han shakes his head. "She said she had to keep a close eye on Cipher but she wants to Facetime later." He smiles as I go back to chopping my veggies. "Be careful, don't start daydreaming again." He pats my back as I chuckle. 

******

A few hours pass by during my process of making dinner. I place the lasagna in the oven and dial Carter's number once again to see if he's on his way. After one ring he picks it up but hangs it up. "What the hell?" I huff throwing my phone onto the bed once I reach my room. "Forget it. I'm overthinking." I mumble getting out a certain black dress from my closet and slipping it on. I look at myself in the mirror smoothing it out. It hugs my curves perfectly and flows at the hips. I smile slightly walking to the kitchen to check on the food. "Hey, so Giselle wants me to meet her at her place." Han says grabbing a bag of chips. "I'll be back later, okay?" I look at him seeing the anxiousness and excitement in his eyes. "Okay. I'll save you some lasagna." I smile brightly. "Have fun! but not too much!" I yell out to him. I hear him laugh as the door shuts and I sit there all alone after days of having someone around me. 

I take out the lasagna and start cutting into it. "I guess it's just you and me today lasagna." I take a small square and poke at it sitting down, hoping to hear the door open. But it's nothing but utter silence. I push the plate away getting up. "I'll just wait..." I get up and walk over to the living room and lay down on the couch, patiently waiting, before sleep takes over. 

Carter's POV

I park the car in the garage and sit back in my seat for a while. I spent the whole day ignoring Sarah's calls and didn't bother checking the voicemails. Liam was pretty insistent that I shouldn't get possessive and jealous. But seeing how she hugged him and how he interacted with her. I couldn't help it. I couldn't help but think she may be into someone older. Han seemed to cozy up to her real quick as well. "Fuck." I mumble balling my fist before getting out of the car. I notice Han's car missing. "They must have gone out to have fun." I mutter to myself walking into the bunker. I open the door to the aroma of food. I walk over to the kitchen and see a whole tray of lasagna with only one slice missing. "Why would they make food if they were going out?" I look over at the table to see the small slice in the plate untouched. I shrug off my jacket and start walking towards my room. I stop dead in my tracks seeing the curled-up girl asleep on the sofa. "Sarah?" I mumble approaching her. I take her in. She's wearing a simple plain black dress that hugs her curves and flows over her thighs, her lips slightly parted as she sleeps clutching her phone close to her chest. "Sarah." I call out moving her hair from her face. "Carter." She mumbles out a little still asleep. I freeze a little. 'Is she dreaming about me?' I sigh, shaking her shoulder slightly before her eyebrow furrow and her eyes flutter open. 

"Carter?" She immediately shoots up and pulls me into her arms before roughly pushing me away and standing up. "What the fuck Carter?!" She glares. "Do you have any idea how many times I called you to check if everything was okay?!" I just stare at her in shock after her sudden mood shift. "You fucking hung up on me at one point after answering!" She yells pushing my shoulder. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS?!" She raises her voice even more. Her chest rises up and down in anger. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?!" She lowers her voice, running her hand through her hair frustrated. 

"I didn't think you'd worry that much given the circumstances." I mumble. She turns towards me. "Given what circumstances Carter?!" Her eyes pierced through me filled with anger and worry. "You didn't seem to notice me when Han was here!" I growl. She looks at me before giving me a laugh of disbelief. "Han? What the hell did he do to you?!" She asks oblivious. 

"He was really cozying up to you." I cross my arms. "And you seemed to like it." Sarah opens her mouth and pauses. "You're jealous?" I roll my eyes scoffing. "Don't give me that shit attitude!" She yells. "What about you?!" I yell back. "You sure seemed to like him so much to give him your waffles!" She stays quiet glaring at me as I continue my rant. "Can't forget how he NOTICED your engagement ring missing from around your neck! The way he put the necklace on! He was purposely trying to touch you!" Again she remains silent but I can tell her anger is growing. "He immediately took your hand in his when you told him you were letting go and moving on!"

"Are you done?" She scoffs out. "You know all the time we have had to spend together, I figured you would trust me!" She grabs her phone. "But it seems like you don't." Her voice was now cold and laced with anger. "I'm going for a drive." She grabs her keys and her helmet for her motorcycle. "Just so you know...Han is like an older brother to me, he was there for me when I needed him the most. He happens to be much older than me. I was there for him when we thought we lost Giselle." She pauses not bothering to look at me. "He loves her more than anything in the world." She opens the door looking over her shoulder as I stand there with no words. "Dinner is in the kitchen, feel free to treat yourself." Her anger remained in her voice. I jump back when she slams the door hard as she leaves. I stand there processing everything that just happened. 

"I'm a goddamn asshole!" I yell at myself pacing in place and tugging on my hair. I hear the door open and quickly turn. "Sarah! I'm..." I trail off and see Han entering looking confused. "I thought Sarah was home?" He chuckles putting his keys down and walking to the kitchen. I sigh sitting down on the couch. "Hey! Did Sarah and you not have dinner?" He asks walking out with a plate of lasagna. "No." I grumble. "I messed up 'cause I'm an insecure idiot." Han raises his brow and sits down next to me. "Trouble in paradise?" I just remain silent. 

"What did you do to have her storm off?" Han says looking at me with a serious face. 

"I may..or may not have gotten jealous of your bond with her..." I shift uncomfortably when he freezes midway while he was about to take a bite. He stifles a laugh. I drop my head in my hands. "I should have just asked!" I groan as Han laughs. "Yeah, you should have. One thing to know about Sarah is she expects you to trust her if she trusts you. If you don't, she will start to not trust you." He says shrugging. "My advice to you is to apologize. Even if it means you have to get on your knees to apologize and get her to forgive you. Last time Dimitri messed up big time, poor dude got the silent treatment for a week." He says getting up and walking to his room. I sigh loosening my tie and unbuttoning the buttons of my dress shirt in complete frustration. "She's out there probably on an empty stomach cause of my arse." I mumble to myself. 

As time passed I found myself pacing back and forth in the living area, trying to think of what to say to her when she came home. I hear the door open and shut as I freeze in place. I turn slowly taking a deep breath. She quietly puts her helmet down and keys down without sparing me a glance. Her eyes have an expression I can't read. "Sarah.." My voice barely comes out as a whisper. She gives me a side glance as she smooths out her dress and fixes her helmet hair. "What do you want Carter? To accuse me of more shit?" I flinch at her cold tone. 

"N..no. I wanted to apologize." I look at her as she looks everywhere but at me. "Please, I'm so sorry. I should have just asked instead of ignoring you and assuming the worst." I walk over to her. "I should have trusted you."  She nods clicking her tongue on her teeth before she finally looks at me. "Yeah, you should have. Now if you excuse me..." She tries to walk away but I block her way. "Carter move." She says rubbing her head. I shake my head. "No." She pushes against me trying to get past me. She sighs in defeat and sits on the floor in front of me, with her head hanging. I lower myself down to sit in front of her. 

"Why Carter?" She mumbles. "Why the hell would you think me and Han..." She trails off making a face of disgust. I sigh. "I don't know...I got jealous and possessive. I never wanted to hurt you." I mumble. "I'm new to this but, that is not an excuse for my accusations." Sarah plays with the rings on her fingers. "I'm sorry Sarah." I mumble. "I understand if you don't wanna continue whatever we were." I get up turning away. She grabs my hand pulling herself up. "Carter, if we want this to work, we have to communicate. I'm not going to give up that easily." I look at her in shock. "Why?" I ask startled by her determination. "Because I haven't felt this way for anyone since Dimitri." She looks up at me before looking back down. I step closer putting my hand on her cheek, lifting her face to look at me. I search her eyes for confirmation. 

"Sarah, I..." I take a deep breath as the words play in my head 'I love you'. She looks at me, her blue eyes staring into my soul. "I know we've only known each other for a couple of months." She nods. "But spending every day with you." I chuckle slightly swallowing nervously. "Carter." she chuckles putting her hand over my hand which is on her cheek. 'I love you, spit it out Carter'. I shake my thoughts out of my head. 

"I love you." I blurt out. She stares at me with wide eyes. I search them for any response. "Sarah?" She blinks slightly. "Carter..." I start to pull away anxiously. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have-" She cuts me off by kissing me hard, pushing me against the wall. "Do you ever shut up?" I nod. 

"I love you too you idiot. If it wasn't obvious enough!" I smile widely. "Really?!" She nods. I slam my lips against hers kissing her passionately. She pulls away dazed when we hear clapping. We look over at Han who's standing there grinning. "Took you two long enough. It only took me like 6 days before I said those words to Giselle." Sarah blushes. "How long have you been there?" I ask clearing my throat. "Long enough to hear the whole conversation." He says popping a potato chip in his mouth. "Han, do you ever stop eating?" Sarah chuckles. 

"Speaking of which. You have not eaten dinner and neither have I. So we are going to have a nice late-night dinner." I smile as she slips my tie off and fixes my hair. "That's better." She smiles. 

Sarah's POV

Carter pulls me with him to the kitchen with Han following us. "Didn't you just eat?" He asks Han. "I get hungry pretty quick if you couldn't tell." I chuckle nodding. "It's true." I take a seat as Carter warms up the lasagna tray in the oven. Han slowly backs out of the kitchen, winking at me with another bag of my chips. 

Carter brings me a plate and sits down across from me. "Thank you." I smile taking the first bite. Carter nods in approval when he sees me eat before taking a bite. "Oh damn. This is amazing." He groans taking another bite. We both eat in silence after not realizing how hungry we actually were. I start cleaning up the table as Carter puts the leftovers in the fridge. "That has become my new favorite." He mumbles kissing my cheek, wrapping his arms around from behind as I wash the dishes. "Well, my 2nd favorite." His voice is raspy as his breath hits the back of my neck. "What's your first?" I ask putting the last plate in the dishwasher. He spins me towards him smirking. "You." He kisses my neck slightly. "Carter..." I gasp slightly as he starts to suck on that sensitive spot on my neck. He pulls away grinning slightly.

"There." He runs his thumb looking at the small mark proudly. I push him playfully. "You're a tease Alvarez." He licks his lips. "Oh, my love. I have every intention of not holding back." My eyes widen as he pulls me with him to his room. "But in time. Right now I wanna hold you." His cheek flushed as he helped me unzip my dress in front of his mirror. Trailing kisses up my shoulder he pulls out one of his shirts and pulls it over me. "Beautiful." I bite my lip smiling as he sits me on his bed, quickly changing into his sweats and jumping on the bed like an excited puppy. I laugh as he pulls me into him, turning the lamp off. "Goodnight love." He whispers as I snuggle into him. "Goodnight Carter." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wanted to bring Han in so I decided why not do it this way. I know there's not any action. Or enough steamy parts for y'all, but next chapter I promise. Enjoy. -S.K.