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TRACK 28 - PART 3

Taking her hand, I snuck a glance down at her as we walked. Her attention was focused on the glass ceiling, watching the fish swim by.

"Did you ever visit the aquarium when you were younger?"

"I didn't have the same fascination with fish when I was a kid like you. But, my brother did," I told her as we exited the tunnel. "Aidan always wanted to go for some reason. So he saved up enough money and dragged me along with him. And once I got there, I realized how peaceful and quiet it was. And my brain just... I don't know... fully relaxed for once, I guess."

TJ pulled her eyes away from the ceiling. "Relaxed from what?"

"My parents always tried to put on a happy and brave face - they never wanted us to see how much they struggled." I felt her hand gently squeeze mine. "No matter how hard they tried to hide it, sometimes you couldn't escape the tension between them while we were all in the room. But the aquarium felt like this protective dome around us where you could just step away from all that."

"Is that why Aidan liked it too?"

My shoulders tensed slightly. "We didn't talk about it much when we were younger," I told her honestly, "We lived the pretty unhealthy life of believing that if you didn't talk about it, it was like it never existed. It was obvious he knew what was going on with our parents - he was always that protective older brother who would try and distract me with a movie or going outside to play soccer. I never asked him if that's why he liked it too, but I can only assume."

"That must have been hard. I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

It was humorous - in the most twisted way - hearing her feeling sorry for my childhood, given everything she had told me about hers. My upbringing seemed like nothing in comparison to what she had gone through - especially when you evaluated the two side by side.

"Don't be," I said, pulling her closer to my side as we walked towards the exit. "It's always good for us to find a safe place, right?"

TJ met my gaze. It felt like her widened eyes were staring deeply into mine. She nodded her head slowly before repeating a soft, "Right." 

I caught the smile that she appeared to hide and the redness across her cheeks. Her head turned forward before I could question what that look meant.

Big Mike stood by the door with a gift bag in hand, which he swiftly handed over as we neared the exit. I pulled the two items out and handed her one.

"A sweater?" she asked, holding the dark navy garment out in front of her. She noticed the similar one I was holding in white. "Are we going to become one of those couples that match all the time?"

"It's just to remember the experience," I said. "Besides, we have a walk outside and, uh..." my eyes flashed to her hair.

"Jeff wants me to cover up my hair?"

I grimaced. "I'm sorry. No one is going to be out there but he didn't want to risk anything."

TJ slipped the sweater on and pulled the hood over her head. "How do I look?" She asked, spinning around.

"Beautiful. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Carter, it's a sweater. I'll survive." She tugged on the drawstrings from the hood. "However, if you don't put yours on, I will be mad."

I raised a brow, unable to decipher if her glare was a joke or if her tone was as serious as she had meant it to sound. Not wanting to take a chance and risk my luck, I uttered a quick "yes mam," and put on my matching sweater.