i'm so sorry :: carter

Caleb are Carter were walking down the shore of South Point hand in hand. It had been a good day--the two had gone on a date to the little traveling carnival that had set up on the beach for the weekend. In the distance behind them Caleb could still hear the cheering from all the school aged clio who were still enjoying the rides.

"I had so much fun today," Caleb said to his girlfriend, squeezing her hand affectionately. He released her hand and instead wrapped an arm over her shoulder, pulling her close. It was beginning to get cold now that autumn was in full swing, and the winds coming off the beach were frosty. Even in his school hoody he was chilled. He rubbed his hand against Carter's arm to create a warming friction.

Carter loved days like today, days where everything went perfectly, and there were no arguments. Every morning when she'd wake up, she always promised herself that she wouldn't do or say anything stupid that would upset Caleb, and today had been no different. Only this time she had followed her advice.

When he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer, she smiled up at him adoringly. "Everything was perfect!" It was days like this, when she loved him the most.

Another breeze blew by and caused goosebumps to crawl across her skin, so she tried to snuggle closer to him while they walked.

Caleb leaned down and planted a kiss on the top of Carter's head. "I'm glad you had a good time, baby."

They'd decided to go on a moonlit stroll after the excitement of the carnival, and the further they walked, the quieter and more secluded it became. The beach was deserted this far down, and besides the occasional shrill cheer coming from behind them the only sounds came from their feet in the sand and the ocean lapping at the shore.

The peace was nice, but Caleb had another idea... Suddenly, he grabbed Carter up and flung her over his shoulder, laughing as she presumably protested. He started spinning in circles, laughing the whole time, knowing that it would make Carter laugh too. "Dizzy yet?" he asked, still spinning. The stars started to blur together, creating a steady stream of white gold shining from the night sky.

Carter squealed when she was suddenly swept off her feet, and instantly started to giggle as he spun her around in circles. Occasionally she'd start having doubts about their relationship, but it was the little things like this that made her love him all over again. Yes, Caleb had some bad qualities, but he had so many more good qualities than that! Why didn't her friends see that?

Caleb wrote:"Dizzy yet?"

"Yes!" She gasped between giggles. She closed her eyes tight, and held onto his shirt and squealed again before finally begging him to stop between her laughter.

"Alright, alright," Caleb said with a laugh, stopping his spinning and flipping Carter so that he was carrying her in a backward piggyback (a piggyfront, idk). She was still giggling, and Caleb realized how beautiful she was. Her green (possibly brown I forget) eyes caught the reflection of the moon just so, and her smile extended across her face.

He was about to say something really romantic when all of a sudden a bright bolt of lightning lit up the beach. A loud booming clap of thunder followed, giving Caleb goosebumps. He turned back to Carter, who he was still holding. "I'm guessing the beach isn't the safest place right now," he joked.

Before he could set her back on her feet the sky opened up in a downpour. "Shit!" Caleb cursed, almost dropping Carter. He let her down and then grabbed her hand. "This way!"

The two raced across the sand, using the hands that weren't holding each other to protect their heads as best they could from the rain. Finally they made it to a little shack that was set up near the ice cream shop. Caleb swung the door open and pulled Carter inside.

Carter didn't stop laughing until she noticed Caleb staring at her. She smiled, opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by the loud clap of thunder that caused her to jump.

Caleb wrote:"I'm guessing the beach isn't the safest place right now,"

"You're probably right," she replied, while looking up at the sky. Before she could say anything more the terenchal down pour started. She reacted to the ice cold rain drops immediately and gasped while goosebumps covered her body. She took Caleb's hand and ran along side of him, blocking her face as they ran. When they finally reached their little shelter, she bent over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. When she looked back up at her sopping wet boyfriend, all she could do was laugh.

"We're soaked to the bone!" She cried. Still in a fit of laughter, she reached out and wrapped her arms around Caleb's waist while kissing his cheeks, chin, and jaw.

If it was kisses Carter wanted, it was kisses Carter was going to get. Caleb pulled her closer and then sidestepped so that she was pressed in between himself and some sort of dusty old counter. He slid whatever was on the counter onto the floor where it fell with a crash, joining in with the cacophony of bullet-like rain that was attacking the roof of the shack. Caleb pulled her up and sat her on the counter, breaking their kisses only to slide his hands up her shirt and pull it over her head.

He was going back in for another kiss when a particularly bright bolt of lightening illuminated the shack, giving Caleb a proper view of Carter's body. A fading yellow bruise snaked up her ribcage, a leftover mark from when Caleb, in a bout of rage, had pushed her into a desk.

His stomach caught in his throat. Instead of leaning back in for his planned kiss, he gingerly touched the mark he had left on her.

You did that to her, Nougat reminded him. You hurt her. Again.

Caleb didn't need reminding.

"I am so sorry," he said quietly, looking from the bruise back to Carter's face.

Carter's breathing quickened as soon as Caleb took over. She loved it when he grabbed her like this, when he took control. He was so strong, that sometimes it was scary, but she wasn't thinking about that right now. She was thinking about his lips on hers, and his hands all over her body. When he broke away from their kissing, she eagerly lifted her arms above her head so that he could remove her shirt easily.

Everything stopped when the lightening struck. He saw the ugly bruise that he had left on her body from when he had pushed her. Although it didn't hurt any longer, she winced anyway when Caleb's fingertips touched her ribcage.

Caleb wrote:"I am so sorry,"

Carter looked away, shamefully. "It's okay," she whispered. Even though she knew it wasn't okay, she had already forgiven him for it. It wasn't his fault, he came from a horrible family, he would have had to have been a God to not be messed up from all of that. She loved him, no matter how many bruises he left on her body, she loved him. She knew he didn't mean to do it, she knew that he couldn't help it.

Caleb reached over and gently took Carter's chin in his hand. He guided it back over so that she was looking at him again.

"No. It's not okay."

Caleb had apologized before, but this was the first time that he'd really let his feelings out in front of Carter. "I'm awful to you, and I'm sorry."

"Oh babe," Carter sighed. "Don't say that!" She reached up and placed a hand on his cheek. "I know that we have our fights," she said. "But on nights like tonight, you're just perfect in everyway." She wanted to say more, but she was afraid that if she said the wrong thing this would turn into an argument. What she wanted to say was that she understood why he'd get so mad sometimes, he came from an awful family life, it couldn't be helped. But she knew he could be sensitive about all of that, bringing up his family, she didn't want him to become angry.

"I love you, you know that right?" Caleb asked, leaning in to kiss her once. He then buried his face in her hair, nuzzling near her ear. "You're the last good thing in this world. The very last one."

Carter leaned toward Caleb as he buried his face into her hair. He was so warm, despite being wet from the rain. "I love you too, Caleb," she murmured. "So very, very much."

How could she ever stay mad at him whenever they fought? There was so much good in him, he could be so gentle, kind, and loving.

So Caleb leaned back in and started kissing Carter again. He finished taking off her shirt like he'd been about to do before, and pulled her closer to him. They continued making out, their hands wandering all over each other's bodies before they finally did the deed.

Afterwards, the two teenaged lovers held each other and talked quietly in the small little shack. Neither one were really sure how long they were in there, but they waited until the rain let up before finally making the trip back to their dorm rooms.