Falling into Summer

Chapter 19

Haley

Monday morning, Carter's alarm wakes us at six. After reaching to turn off the alarm on his nightstand, he cuddles up behind me, wrapping an arm around my stomach. "I have to take a shower, but you can stay until I need to leave," he whispers.

"Are you sure?" I ask, rolling over to face him, and he nods. After a moment of silence, during which I become acutely aware of how close our faces are, he falls onto his back and gets out of bed.

It literally takes Carter twenty minutes to get ready, and after changing back into my jeans when he's done in the bathroom, we both make our way through the sleeping house. When we get outside and are walking to our cars in the driveway, I ask him how he's feeling.

"Ok. My throat still hurts, and I feel a little congested," he admits.

"Well, I hope you feel better... Have a good day," I insist, as I unlock my car door and climb inside.

"Hey," he interrupts before I can close my door, and when I look up, I see him standing between our two cars with his arms extended, calling me back for a hug. Touched by this gesture, I get out of my car, walk around the door, and right into his arms. He wraps his arms around my back, hugging me tightly while pinning my arms under his as they wrap around his waist. We hold each other for a minute, and I take advantage, committing his scent to memory. When his grip loosens, and we step back, he holds on to my hands as we separate, "Have a good day," he replies with a sweet smile, and I can't stop a big smile from spreading across my own face.

After I get home and have breakfast, I check my email, not expecting anything other than the usual junk mail. Surprisingly, I see a message from Carter after he's gotten to work, insisting he's just checking to see how I slept last night. I respond, letting him know that I actually slept really well, and then ask him the same question. He replies that he slept ok, but that it was really just because of how he was feeling. I then ask him how he's feeling now, and that's when I learn that he is getting worse. I reply with a suggestion that he should go to the doctor. Then right before I leave for class, I see his latest message from around lunch, telling me he's leaving early and going straight to the doctors to try to get some antibiotics, hoping to get rid of this cold before he leaves for his trip Friday. He also asks me to call him when I'm out of class this afternoon.

After my afternoon lecture, I have about four hours before I have to be back for lab tonight at nine. Hungry, I decide to head home and eat dinner. Before I can finish and call Carter, he calls me to see what I'm doing. After filling him in, I ask him how he's feeling. He tells me that he took medicine when he got home from the doctor's and has been resting all afternoon, so he's feeling a little bit better now. He continues to tell me how he noticed the picture is going out on his tv, so he wants to go get another one, and he invites me to come along. The minute we hang up, I grab my book bag and head over to Sarah's house, where Carter is waiting for me. When I get there, we leave for the mall with Jesse. On the way there, I feel like a bridge between the two brothers as I try to get Jesse talking. Eventually, Jesse warms up and the three of us start joking around and laughing. I notice the demeanor between Carter and Jesse is a nice change from what I'm used to seeing, which is them ignoring or avoiding each other.

When we get to the store, I follow Carter to the tv section and help him pick out a tv, while Jesse goes on a hunt for a new video game. After selecting a tv, Carter asks me to help him pick out a couple of movies so we can watch them later. When we get back to Sarah's house, Carter's parents help him get the new tv set up. While the three of them are busy working in Carter's room and Jesse's playing his new video game in his room, I decide to work on my homework at the kitchen table, keeping me out of Carter's way. Eventually, I realize I need to head back to school for my nine o'clock lab, so I pack up my books and peek my head into Carter's room to say a quick goodbye. "Hey Carter, I've got to go to lab, I'll talk to you later," I suggest trying not to disturb him and his parents still working on setting everything up.