Chapter 5 - Snowballs

The ball of white came crashing into Bradley's head, some of the remains spraying onto Carson. The boy turned around, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" He said, reaching towards the ground to grab a handful of snow.

"It was him!" Caleb immediately defended himself.

"This little guy right–" Elliot cut himself off when the snow reached him and the youngest Baker, leaning down once again to get more snow.

Carson did the same, making a snowball in her freezing hands. She threw it at Elliot, who was already ducking another snowball from Bradley and Caleb.

"You blame me for everything!" The younger kid said while laughing.

"Oh! You gangin' up on me with your cheap shots?" Elliot said, ducking more snow.

Carson threw another snowball, a laugh escaping her lips as it made contact with Elliot's face.

"How's that for a weak shot, old man?" She said, grabbing more snow.

"That's how you wanna play?" Elliot said, grabbing a handful of snow and getting closer to Bradley and Carson.

Bradley realized what was going on, and his eyes widened. "Hey! No! Wait up! No!"

But it was too late. Elliot grabbed his hoodie and threw the snow he had collected in it, rubbing it into Bradley's hair.

"No no no no! Wait!" Bradley said, trying desperately to make his father stop.

"I hit him!" Caleb yelled, throwing another snowball at Bradley while his dad pulled his hoodie over his –now soaked– brown hair.

Carson's smile faded as she saw Bradley being soaked in snow.

Elliot didn't seem to notice Bradley's anger and started running around the car chanting "Winner! Winner! Winner!"

Caleb threw another snowball at his brother and Carson, thinking that the game was still going.

"Elliot, cut it out!" Carson yelled.

"Caleb, stop!" Yelled Bradley.

"He's soaked!" Caleb said, laughing at his brother.

"Not funny," Bradley said, looking at the two.

"Well, we're both laughing," Elliot said, looking back and forth between the two teens.

"Well, does it look like we are?" Carson said, more as a statement than as a question.

"We're just playi–" Caleb said getting closer to his brother, but Bradley pushed him hard and away from him and Carson.

"Hey, come on," Elliot said, going over to the group. "Come on, we were just playing around."

Carson didn't want to hear another word come out of the man's mouth, afraid she would burst. She climbed into the backseat of the car, followed by Bradley.

"Yeah, sorry," she heard Caleb say as Bradley slammed the door.

Bradley started rubbing the snow out of his hair, Carson doing the same, though she didn't have nearly as much snow in her hoodie as Bradley did.

"You want a hand?" She asked when she noticed the boy was struggling to get some of the snow off his head.

Bradley looked at her for a minute before nodding his head.

Carson brought her hand to his head and started ruffling it, trying to get all the snow out. After about two minutes most of the substance was out of Bradley's hair and he thanked Carson for the help. A minute of awkward silence passed between the two before Bradley spoke up.

"Where'd you learn how to shoot?"

The question took Carson slightly by surprise, but she managed to answer. "I taught myself when I was thirteen."

And then came the question she had dreaded all her life.

"Why?"

Carson shook her head, trying to find the right words to answer him. "Because I had to," she concluded.

"What do you mean you had to?" Bradley noticed the girl was tensing up. She was obviously uncomfortable about talking about this, but he had to know, and something told him they might not be alone like this at any other time.

Carson took a deep, shaky breath and took a minute to think about how to answer. "A few years after my mother left us, my dad got into the drug business. I didn't want his money, because I didn't like the way he gained it. He often spent his money on bullshit for himself, so when he ran out, he started using the money I earned by working. I had to learn how to hunt so I would have something to eat. I started working for Mr. Barnes, bringing him some game and doing other little jobs for him. He basically became my father figure, and just this morning he invited me to go to England with him. To stay. I could finally be free from all of this. I agreed to go. We leave in a month, and god knows I'm not coming back."

Bradley looked at her, stunned. This girl had been through so much, yet she still managed to smile as if everything was ok. It clearly wasn't.

When she didn't say anything else, he realized he may have pushed her a little too far. Halfway through her speech, it was almost as if she'd forgotten he was there, like she was admitting everything to herself rather that him.

"Carson, I–"

"Don't say you're sorry. I don't need pity. I've had enough of that already."

"Carson, please, just–"

"No."

She'd said the word randomly, just to find a way to make him stop talking. And he did. But it's what he did next that stunned her.

Bradley didn't say anything, he just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest, already knowing she was going to cry.

And she did. But they weren't tears of sadness. She'd cried enough of those throughout the year. No, these were tears of relief. The girl stayed in his arms, silently sobbing into his chest as he held her. It was the most comforting thing anyone had ever done for her. And she appreciated it so much. After a full minute of crying, she finally stopped her tears from flowing, sniffing a bit as she slowly and reluctantly pulled away from the boy.

He looked at her, his sweet eyes filled with concern towards the girl.

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" He asked, confused.

"I had never talked to anyone about this before. I guess thank you for listening and for, you know... not judging." She lowered her voice at that last part, almost afraid that if she sad it too loudly it wouldn't be true.

Bradley smiled at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him once more. She laid her head on his chest, feeling the warm feeling of comfort once again. He, for some reason, had the strange impulse to kiss the girl's head.

So he did.

He pressed his lips to her temple and held there for about two seconds before pulling away and rubbing her arm.

Carson was taken aback by this, but she didn't move. She just smiled.

But, obviously, sweet moments like this can't last forever.

Because there was a gunshot that made them both jump apart from each other.

And then came the usual voice of Caleb.

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I know, I know, EXTREMELY SHORT AND CHEESY CHAPTER FORGIVE MEEEEEE