Loving the Fighter

132

Carter's POV

From the way Jax was talking, I thought Callum's first sentence to me would be something a bit better than 'hi' but the longer I stood here the more I began giving up on that.

Callum stood in front of Liam's bed while Ryder and Liam stared at me with disbelief in their eyes.

"Hey," I say back just to break the silence. That was apparently all Ryder needed.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he launched himself off the bed and into my arms within a matter of seconds. His face immediately found his usual spot in my neck while his arms and legs wrapped around my torso.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I shouldn't have said that and especially not in that way."

"It's alright," I say as I wrap one hand around his waist while the other plays with his hair. "I know I can be scary but I can work on that."

The bed creaks as Liam gets up to move closer followed by Callum.

"Does this mean we're okay again," Liam asked as he hesitantly wrapped an arm around me while Callum shoots me an easy smile.

"I don't know," I teased as I looked up to Callum. "Jax promised that I would be properly courted first." For once Callum's face turned a bit red.

"I might have over stated the amount of courting ways I had," he said with a small smile.

"And here I thought I was dating a romantic man," Ryder huffed.

"I'm plenty romantic, just in ways Carter wouldn't appreciate," Callum said with a wink as he slapped Ryder on the ass.

"I think we got a little side tracked," Liam reminded gently. "It was only two and a half weeks and we haven't got to talk about anything yet. Problems in relationships don't just go away." I can't help but frown as I dethatched Ryder from my body and placed him back on the floor.

"I talked with Andrew. We're going to work on how to deal with anger. It might help with the panic attacks and flashbacks but that is only going to help so much. I can tell you were all afraid of me even before the flash back and I can't help with that since I didn't do anything to make you scared." A frown covered Ryder's face as his arms tightened around my stomach.

"I can talk more with Andrew too. We could see what he thinks would help at the least," he says as he looks up at me. I give him a small smile before looking to Liam.

"What do you think?"

"I think this will be good for us. Maybe we could do a few group or even solo dates. I'll talk with Andrew too. Maybe we could do a group session every now and then if we hit a wall with progress," he suggested with a shrug.

"That's actually a good idea," I say, making his scoff a bit and slap my shoulder.

"Don't sound so surprised next time," I give him an eye roll as I look up to Callum.

"I know we didn't really have a problem but is there anything you think me and you need?"  Callum bit his lip as he thought.

"I honestly can't think of anything," I nod and was willing to brush it off but Jax spoke up.

You need to tell him. You can't expect things to get better if you don't talk about it. That's the whole reason this fight happened. I can't help but huff at that.

'I hate when you make a point.'

"I don't like it when you yell," I blurt out before I have the chance to stop myself. Callum looked confused for a second before his small smile dropped into a frown.

"I've been working on not yelling since before Liam got here and believe it or not, I've actually gotten a lot better," Ryder gives a nod at that as his eyes go wide. "I'm still talking to Andrew about it though." I nod as I lean into him, my face going into his chest, making Ryder get sandwiched between us while Liam opted for coming up behind me, his breath tickling my neck.

"So is everyone good now," Liam asked. "Any one else have any more comments or worries?"

When no one spoke up after a while, Callum made me pull back.

"Will you go on a date with me tomorrow? I promise way more courting will happening then," he said with a small chuckle.

"Sure," I mumbled out as I picked Ryder up and headed to Jax's bed before lying down. "Will you put on a movie before you sit down," I asked no one in particular but Callum walked over to the movie shelf with a smile.

"Do you want Jaws, Karate Kid, or Brother Bear?"

"I honestly don't care," I say with a small chuckle.

"If I have a vote I say Brother Bear," Ryder said a small smile. Callum gave a small groan as he looked over to Liam for his vote.

"Well, I could say Jaws just to make Ryder mad but I guess I'll go with the bear movie."

"Literally none of you are fun," Callum sighed but put the bear one in anyway.

"We can watch Jaws next," I say when he sits down next me.

My head lies on his shoulder as while his arm wraps around my shoulder. Ryder's head is in my lap while he stretches out over Liam. My hand plays with Ryder's hair while the other holds Liam's.

As cheesy as it may be to say, but I'm glad I talked to Andrew. I'm glad we'll be able to figure this out. I've only been with them for a few months but I'm happy to be with them.

They make me happy. I don't want that to change so I'll sit through every boring session Andrew wants me to for their sake.

Last updated June 14, 2021