Cara woke up the next day at around noon, and Ellie was still fast asleep beside her. Sighing, Cara got up from the bed and threw her hair up into a messy ponytail. She walked out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen, where the only other person in the room happened to be none other than Caden. "Hey," He says to her. Cara grabs the orange juice out of the fridge. "Hey," She says back. An awkward silence enveloped them until Caden spoke. "I'm sorry about what I said last night," He says. "I know I can kind of be an asshole sometimes," Cara turns around to face him, leaning against the counter. "Kind of?" She questions. "You were a major asshole," Caden chuckles at her. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry," He says again. Cara smiles at him. "Well, thanks for apologizing, Caden. You're forgiven," Caden smiled back at her. "Thanks. It means a lot to hear you say that, after all the bullshit I've put you through," Cara opens her mouth to respond, but quickly shuts it when Sierra walks into the kitchen. "Hey, babe," She says to Caden, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him. Cara shifted on her feet, swirling the orange juice in her glass. "I'm-uh-gonna go get Carlos," She says, before scurrying out of the kitchen. "Cara, wait!" Caden calls to her, but she ignores him and runs up the stairs and into her bedroom. "Cara, are you okay?" Ellie asks her. Cara sighs and nods her head. "Yeah, I just had to get away from Sierra," She says half-truthfully.
---
"Seriously?" Caden snaps, shoving Sierra off of him. "I was having a conversation and you just came in and interrupted!" Sierra raises an eyebrow. "What is it about Cara that has you so obsessed?" Caden sighs and shifts on his feet. Sierra's eyes widen. "You still have feelings for her," She says, looking away from him. When he didn't deny it, Sierra stepped away from him and ran her hands over her face. "I knew it," She says. "I fucking knew it!" Sierra storms out of the kitchen, and Caden lets out a loud groan. He walks over to the larger cabinet and takes out a bottle of Jack Daniel's, unscrewing the cap and taking a drink. "Little early to be drinking, isn't it?" Carlos questions from the archway. Caden rolls his eyes. "It's 5 o'clock somewhere," He says, taking another drink. Carlos chuckles, walking over to Caden and taking the bottle out of his hand. "What's up, man?" He asks. "What's got you so worked up?" Caden shakes his head. "It's nothing," He says. Carlos rolls his eyes. "I call bullshit on that. I heard Sierra screaming at you about Cara. What's going on?" Caden shakes his head. "It was nothing. She thinks I still have feelings for Cara," He explains. Carlos raises an eyebrow. "Do you?" He questions. "Still have feelings for Cara?" Caden stays silent, but the silence told Carlos that his and Sierra's suspicions were true. Caden still loved Cara, but Cara loved Derrick now.
"Caden, there's something you should know," Carlos says. "It's about Cara," Caden licks his lips, giving Carlos a questioning look. "What is it?" He questions. Carlos looks down at the bottle in his hand, before handing it back to Caden. "Something tells me you're gonna need this after I tell you what I know," Caden hesitantly takes the bottle from Carlos. "What is it, man? You're being creepy," Carlos looks behind him, making sure that no one was behind him, before he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Somebody sent this to me, I don't know who," He shows Caden a picture of Cara and Derrick together in the hotel room. Not just hanging out together, either. Cara was on top of Derrick, their lips pressed together and their hands all over each other. "Someone sent this to you?" Caden questioned, unable to take his eyes off of the photo. Carlos puts his phone away. "Cara doesn't know about it, and as far as I know, Derrick doesn't either," He says. Caden wasn't going to say anything, but seeing that photo snapped his heart in two. He felt his entire world come crashing down around him, because the only reason he had agreed to come up to this cabin was because Cara was going to be there. He wanted to rekindle their relationship. "Caden, are you okay?" Caden lets out a sigh, shaking his head. "You breathe a word of this to anyone, I'll fucking kill you," He says. Carlos smirks, putting his hands up. "Wasn't planning on it," Caden sighs again, leaning against the counter. "Fuck, I think I love her, man," He whispers, earning a sympathetic look from Carlos. "Seeing her with that fucking druggie, it kills me,"
-Flashback ~ Summer 2015-
"Caden, stop it!" Cara laughs as she pushes Caden off of her, swimming away from him in the Hennessy's backyard pool. "Oh, you aren't getting away from me that easily," Caden swims after her, trapping her in between his body and the pool wall. Cara smiles sweetly up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Caden brings his hand up, caressing her cheek, before leaning down and lightly pressing his lips against hers. He swiped his tongue across her bottom lip, and when she denied him, he smirked and trailed his hand down her side, before pinching her and causing her to gasp. He took the opportunity and slipped his tongue into her mouth, beginning a battle for dominance that he obviously won. When they finally pulled back for air, Cara couldn't stop smiling, and because of that, Caden couldn't either.
That was the moment Caden really knew he loved Cara. And his biggest regret was that he never told her. Now he had to sit back and watch her slip away from him, watch her fall into the arms of Blair's drug-addicted older brother.
