Little Girl Don't Grow Up Too Fast

Let Her In

 Days had gone by and Carrie hadn't heard from Mike and Charlotte since the incident. She didn't have a way to get a hold of them anyways. Ever since though, she had been a wreck. She hadn't been out of the house, barely eating anything. The memory of that dreaded night made her sick.

Ivey was the first person Charlotte called when they left Carrie's house that night. The young blonde was hysterical. She was upset, hurt, angry, mad, almost any bad emotion in the book. She couldn't bare to even look at her father who had kept that secret from her for so long. Honestly, she was mad at everyone who kept it, Mark and Ivey included.

All that was going on was too much for Mike to handle at the moment. He knew that the day would come that Charlotte was eventually going to have to be told, but he didn't know that time was going to be so soon. Plus, his career was sending him in all certain directions that were very unexpected. It was in unexpected ways that were going to affect not just him, but his daughter as well.

After not hearing from the country singer for five days, her best friend knew she was going to have to go there herself to check things out. She didn't even knock on the door, knowing Carrie wouldn't answer. She let herself in, going upstairs to the bedroom to find the blonde sleeping in her bed even at three in the afternoon.

"Carrie, get up," Ivey shook her.

She let out a groan and turned to the other side.

"No, no. Care, wake up."

The blonde continued to stir in bed until she finally woke up a bit more, realizing her best friend was sitting up in bed beside her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm asking you the same question," Ivey replied. "No offense, but you look like a mess. Seriously, have gotten out of bed in the last 24 hours? Or even brushed your hair?"

"Gee, thanks," Carrie rolled her eyes.

"Don't be that way, Care. Talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about. I'm sure you've already heard."

Carrie thought that her tear ducts were dry, her eyes were already burning from all the puffiness. But somewhere inside her, there was still all that hurt and so the tears came back. Ivey hadn't seen her like this since she left Charlotte all those years ago, when she was mentally sick. Seeing her best friend like this scared her.

"She's gone," Carrie cried as she laid her head on Ivey's shoulder and cried. "I lost them again."

Hearing those words absolutely tore Ivey apart. She wasn't sure exactly how to respond right away. All she wanted was for Carrie to be happy, and she thought she would always find that happiness with Mike. All she wanted for Charlotte was to have Carrie as a mother because somewhere deep inside Carrie is an incredible, nurturing mother instinct.

"There's something you need to know," Ivey blurted out.

Carrie didn't respond verbally, but tilted her teary eyes up to the brunette.

"Mike is getting traded...to Nashville," Ivey explained. "Which means him and Charlotte might be around more often."

"But what does that mean?"

"I'm not sure," she sighed. "That maybe you haven't fully lost them yet, I guess."

Weeks had passed after they conversation. Mike and Charlotte had moved to Nashville, only ten minutes away from where Carrie lived although she had no idea. Carrie had been in slow recovery from everything that had gone on, but she never stopped thinking about it. Nor did Charlotte.