Breakdowns and Sarcasm

Cole Sprouse as Noah. Enjoy♥️

................

Carter cleared his throat bringing me back from my thoughts.

"You really wanna hear this shit?" He asked still unsure if he should tell me.

"I do." I said and put my hands on his making circles with my thumb on the back of his hand. He intertwined our hands and I felt a jolt of electricity passing through my veins. Not the kind when someone gets electrocuted. It felt exciting and thrilling.

"Okay so here it goes." Carter starter and looked at him again.

"I wasn't always like this. I never used to fool around with girls, I was never even in a casual relationship either. I sort of believed in one true love and all that sappy crap they show in movies. I was a very shy kind of guy, never got into any fights and was sort of a typical textbook nerd. Just kept my head down and moved along with the crowd. Things changed when I met this girl Beck. She was in my mathematics class. She was quite popular and guys fawned over her, that includes me as well. She asked me out once and obviously I said yes. Things were going great until one day, her friend said she was cheating on me. I was so blindly in love with her that I didn't even consider that a possibility. I just thought she was jealous of our relationship or something like that. One evening, on our anniversary, I baked a cake for her and went to her house to surprise her. You can imagine how it turned out. When I entered her house, I saw her legs wrapped around a guy's neck." He finished and my eyes widened in surprise. Why would someone ever cheat on a guy like Carter? I thought. Judging by his expression I knew he still had more to say. I kept my free hand on our intertwined hands and he sighed in relief.

"I didn't know what to do. My mind was blank. When I dropped the cake, I came back to my senses. I left without a word. I don't know if she followed, if she felt guilty. She never contacted me again. I just, I was way too much emotionally invested in that relationship. When I saw her cheating on me, everything broke. I lost all respect I had for her and I don't know how it happened but I just started hating girls in general. I know its unfair but I didn't do it on purpose. She just spoiled everything for me. But there's a part of me that believes that if she comes back, I am so weak for her, I will accept her back with open arms." He said and looked down. I heard him sniffing under his breath. I sat beside him and hugged him on the side. He leaned on my shoulder and I heard him sob. I kept saying soft words to him and patting him on his head. I am not validating his personality but yeah I can understand why he is the way he is.

"Carter, I understand what happened to you was wrong. Beck should never have cheated on you and she is a bitch for that. But do you feel that every girl around you is Beck?" He seemed taken aback by my words and he opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. I decided to continue.

"Look, I get that Beck did wrong but you are punishing every other girl for what she did. Do you realize how many hearts you have broken?" Again no response. I sighed and went on.

"Your shitty past can never be an excuse enough to treat other people like the way you do. Yeah someone did a number on you but you are doing the same thing to others. You are the bad guy in their story." I said and finished my drink. He looked at me for about five minutes and opened his mouth to say something again but again nothing came out.

"Grey, you okay?" I said and he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Shit Liv no! Fuck I did wrong. Damn! I never thought from their perspective and kept screwing with them." He said panicking.

"Hey hey Carter, it's okay. Look, you are not perfect. People make mistakes. It's fine. Learn from them and move on." I said. Actually there was one other thing that he could do but I think right now would not be a good time. He smiled at me.

"You wanna leave?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I guess." He said looking down. If I didn't now any better, I would have thought he was shy but that was hard to believe for Carter Grayson.

"Yeah, it's pretty late." I said awkwardly.

Joe came with our bill. I paid my part and we both took off. We came to my house first and parked my bike in my garage. He waited patiently for me to finish.

"I had a nice time Carter." I said smiling at him.

"Of course you did. You were with me." He said smirking. I rolled my eyes though I was happy he had his carefree stature back on. I quickly bid my farewell and started walking away.

"Liv?"

"Yeah?" I turned around.

"I had a great time too." He said and started his bike. I smiled at him and he took off. I kept smiling when I entered my house.

"I am home!" I announced but I was met with utter silence. I washed up and started making dinner. I settled with cheese sandwich. If mom is this late, she must be pretty tired. I wanted her to eat light so she can sleep peacefully. She came back pretty soon.

"Hey mom! Dinner's ready."

"Oh peach that's awesome. I am just gonna go wash up and then we can eat together." She went inside her room and came back after fifteen minutes wearing PJs and casual t-shirt.

"How was your day mom?"

"Oh well, I actually had a date today." She said and I looked at her in surprise. She hadn't dated much since dad left and every time she dates someone decent, I always feel happy.

"Damn mom that's awesome! How was he?"

"Actually he is really sweet. He took me out to this cozy restaurant, not some fancy shit. Just someplace where the food was actually pretty good. I will take you there sometime peach."

"I would love that mom but tell me more. What is he like?"

"He is a senior manager in the company and he is single. We had a nice time. He listened to what I said, he respect my views, we discussed about many things."

"So? You are gonna meet him again, right?" She nodded her head furiously.

"Next weekend." She said while munching the last piece of her sandwich.

"I am so happy for you mom. I can see you are really excited."

"I am honey. I really am. By the way, how was your talk with Carter?"

I told her all about him expect the part about his ex girlfriend. It's an unsaid fact that he told me that in confidence and I can't tell that to anyone. I did tell her that it's something personal and she respected the boundaries.

"Honey, he sounds like a great guy. Why don't you ask him out? He seemed interested in you as well." She said as she got up to wash her dishes.

"He is a terrific guy but I just broke up with Taylor. I don't want to date right now. And more importantly, I don't think Carter is ready to date either." She made a 'hm' sound in affirmation and we quickly finished rest of the chores. I brushed my teeth and went straight to bed. I was way too tired to move and before I knew it, sleep engulfed me.

Carter's POV

I honestly had no idea what got into me. I told her everything and I mean EVERYTHING. I even cried in front of her. I bet she thinks I am some kind of cry baby. Things will get even worse if she tells everyone about me. I felt like she wasn't that kind of a girl but I have never talked to her properly. I told my mom I was not hungry and went straight to my room. I have to call Noah.

I dialled his number and he picked up on the second ring.

"Bro, I messed up." I said panicking.

"Chill dude. What happened? Tell me everything." And I did. He stayed silent for a few minutes, my patience reducing every second.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about." He said after a while.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Bro in case you haven't noticed, she is not like other girls. She understands how you feel and she wouldn't tell anyone."

"But-"

"Dude trust me. She is a nice person." I still wasn't satisfied but I decided to let it go.

"If you say so. Thanks Noah."

"Pleasure buddy. But tell me something. WHY WOULD YOU CRY IN FRONT OF HER?" He said practically screaming at me. I had to put my phone away from my ear to make sure I don't go deaf.

"I don't know okay? It just happened. Is it bad?" I asked him blushing slightly.

"I mean this is the only thing I have doubts about. I want to assume that she is this modern women who is very cool and comfortable about men crying on their first date. I mean, even a girl crying is weird, atleast to me."

"It wasn't a date."

"That's the only thing you are concerned about?"

"Well, that part needed clarification."

"Sure it did." I noticed a hint of sarcasm but I let it go.

"You think she will tell her friends?"

"I don't think so." If I trust Noah with one thing, it's his ability to judge someone's character. If he said he didn't think she will tell anyone, I think I would be safe.

"Fine. Thanks man." I said and hung up.

Although I felt better after talking to Noah, it still wasn't enough. I kept shuffling in my bed thinking about worse possible scenarios in which this incident might turn out. I have always been know as a bad boy in the school. In just one day, a girl punched me, broke my nose, I got suspended for literally doing nothing and I cried in front of a girl. School knows about the former and honestly speaking it was unfair. When I told the Principal that I was the victim here, he just sighed and said, "I bet you must have done something that justified Ms Claire's actions." An image of Olivia's happy face popped in my head and before I knew it, my lips curved into a smile. Her eyes twinkling on Principal's remark and I could see her doing a happy mind dance. Her lips gave a side smile that had both mystery and beauty. Yeah, she truly is beautiful.

Yeah, I accepted this when we sat in the cafe looking at each other after my breakdown. I have feelings for Olivia Claire. If it would have been any other situation I would have gladly asked her out but after Beck, I am way too careful. Although, she did made me realize the mistake I was making by sleeping with girls I had no intention of dating. Even if she wouldn't have told me, that chapter is closed anyway. I felt different after I dropped her home. I felt bound by her and I wanted to feel the same for as long as I am alive. She makes things much more better with her presence and being with her just felt way better than being with anyone else in this world.

..........

Damn, Carter has a crush on Olivia but does Olivia reciprocates those feelings?