unconditionally

Chapter Twenty Five

Paiton's POV

I sat in silence while the guys took turns bagging on Carter as if he wasn't in the car . But what could I do ? Tell them to stop ? They wouldn't listen to me . I met his gaze and gave him a look of sympathy .

His face was emotionless and I saw him look back down to his wrist . I studied him as he pulled up his sleeve slowly and rubbed the inner portion .

I couldn't see any marks there , maybe he just wanted to seem like he didn't care about what everyone said . But that never stopped me from wondering who Carter really is on the inside .

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Carter and I walked into our hotel room , sitting on opposite sides of the bed . I stared at the side of his perfectly structured face while he took his phone out of his pocket and begin playing on it .

" Why are you looking at me like that ? " He finally said , after minutes of me holding my gaze . I furrowed my eyebrows . " Like what ? " I asked . Carter sighed and locked his phone . " Like Im broken or something " He said , running a hand through his hair .

I looked into his dark brown eyes that were full of nameless emotions . Then , I inhaled deeply . " When everyone was hating on you , I saw you look down at your wrist " I began .

Carter tensed up and looked down at the bed . " It makes me feel like you did something or want to do something .. Have you ? " I finished . He rubbed his neck slowly but couldn't meet my eyes .

" Why would you care ? " He scoffed . I rolled my eyes and pressed my lips together before I spoke . " Just because I don't want to get into a relationship with you right now doesn't mean that I don't care about you " I stated .

There was a few moments of silence . " I did .. a long time ago " He whispered . My heart dropped as soon as the words came out of his mouth . I scooted closer to him .

" Why ? " I asked . Never would I have thought that Carter Reynolds , the person who always seemed so happy and carefree , secretly cut himself .

" You wouldn't understand " He mumbled . Oh , but i do understand what it's like to have pain brew up inside of you . " Hey , look at me " I said softly . Carter hesitated but looked me in the eyes .

" I understand more than you think . I care about you , you can't just not talk about it because you're making it worse . I want to help " I plead . He but his lip .

" It was a few years ago when I was just starting Highschool . I remember being so excited to meet new people and get more friends " He chuckled . " But the first day that I stepped foot in the school , I got bullied . For my ethnicity , for me being smaller than the rest of the kids , just basically anything to tear me down . I felt like the schools target " Carter's voice shook . " I always ate lunch behind the school where I could sit quietly and not have to worry about being judged . I'd always be the last one picked for anything , always the first person to get pegged in the head with a dodgeball purposely . All of these things I had to go through daily , no avoiding it " He said .

I watched his eyes become glossy , so I grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently . " That's when I started feeling self conscious , like I didn't belong and like I'd never fit in . And so , I cut throughout my Highschool years " Now , I saw tears falling from his eyes and I knew who the real Carter was .

I wiped his tears away and hugged him tightly . He wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in my shoulder . " I hate when people see me like this but it's so hard holding it in " Carter sniffed , pulling away from me .

I nodded my head . " So while you were in the car , you were thinking about doing it again ? " I assumed . Carter shook his head yes and looked down in disappointment .

" Just know that when you hurt yourself , you're hurting me too . You can talk to me about anything , I'll always listen and try to help " I said , smiling sympathetically . I kissed Carters cheek and he nodded .

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Aw , this chapter is sad and cute at the same time .

If you ever feel like Carter did in this chapter , comment why you feel like that . Hopefully more than a few people comment so you know that you aren't alone .

I love you guys .

Make sure you vote for my chapters !

~ k