Emily's Escape

Chapter 19

"Anything else you wanna do?" He asked after The Great Gatsby was over. I shrugged. He laughed and turned off the TV.

"You shrug a lot."

"It's a great expression of emotions," I simply said. He laughed out loud. I couldn't help but laugh at his laugh. He was laughing so hard. He snorted, which made us both laugh even harder.

After a good 5 minutes of uncontrollable laughing, we settled down. I wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled. It felt nice laughing so much. I wasn't used to it, but it happened more and more frequently in Carter's company.

"Okay, but for real, what do you wanna do?" Carter asked. I thought about. An idea popped into my mind.

"I wanna see your garden!" He looked at me with crazy eyes.

"You want to see my garden?" he asked clearly confused. I nodded eagerly. I had always found it interesting to see other people's houses and gardens. It said something about the family.

Carter stood up and grabbed my hand pulling me up from the bed. "Okay, then let's go." He didn't let go of my hand and followed me out of his room. We went down the stairs and through the living room. He let go of my hand to open the garden door. My hands immediately missed the warmth of his.

He slid open the glass door and we walked out on a large terrace. It was so beautiful. When you walked through the door you walked directly out to a large dark colored terrace. There was the usual stuff like a dining table, a grill, and some plants. Also, there was a large infinity pool with a view over the garden.

"Carter, this is so beautiful," I said stunned. He chuckled and led me down the long pair of stairs that led to the garden. The terrace was raised and I saw the marble stone the excess pool water floated down over.

This family really had a flair for interior design. Didn't he once say it was his mother who loved that whole thing?

"Do you wanna do something? Or do you just want to walk?" I looked over the large garden. There were flowers and bushes everywhere.

"Just walk. Look at the flowers," I offered. He nodded and took my hand. I sucked in a breath of air at the motion. It felt right. I still wasn't entirely comfortable around Carter, but he was the person I could be myself with the most.

"How were your parents like?" he suddenly asked. I got a little sad by the question. I felt Carter's hand squeeze around my own, in a comforting matter.

"They were amazing," I started. I couldn't help but smile at the memory of my parents. "They were perfect. They would always take me out to these incredible things. They were adventurous, and unlike some parents, they wanted me with them. We went surfing, hiking, and stuff like that. When I got a little older they gave me all the space I needed. They let me experience my own experiences if that makes sense," I said. Tears grew in my eyes, as I thought about all of our memories together.

"They sound amazing."

"They were," I said.

"You didn't have any siblings?" The air was punched out of my stomach. A tear fell from my eyes. Thinking about the sister I could have had, killed me.

"Uhm... My mother she... She was pregnant during the crash. She never delivered her," I stuttered out. Carter stopped and turned me around.

"What? I didn't know that," he said furring his eyebrows together. I just shrugged.

"There are many things you don't know." It was true. We knew each other, but we didn't really.

"I'm so sorry, Em," he said and pulled me into a hug. I didn't pull back. I needed it. I wrapped my arms around him and let the embrace calm me.