Holding Back [COMPLETED]

Haley Meets Carter

Carter motioned to his torso. "Your shoulders and how they are in proportion to the rest of your body."

Both Haley and Jace stared at Carter who looked completely at ease.

"Seriously?" Haley asked.

Carter nodded. "Yeah, football players have a more bulky look to them, swimmers have a triangle type physique and basketball players are the most evenly proportioned."

Stunned silence followed this statement. Carter glanced between the two of them.

"Well, it's really nice to meet you, Jace. I know Haley was nervous meeting up so you're a good friend."

Haley opened to mouth to correct Carter by saying, 'not my boyfriend' when she registered that Carter hadn't made that assumption at all.

"Wait," she said. "How'd you know he was just my friend? And that I was nervous?" Haley thought she had done a good enough job at hiding her surprise and nerves over the meetup.

Carter pointed to Haley's hands. "When I first saw you, your hands were all tangled together. You were nervous. As for the friend thing, you're not standing close enough. Also, it was obvious you were nervous, any boyfriend would have taken your hand to calm you down. Also, there's the fact that Jace has a girlfriend named Josie."

"I'm sorry what?" Jace said, swiveling his head around like he wasn't sure this was all some elaborate prank. Haley wanted to do the same thing, completely at a loss. Carter pressed her lips together, amused.

"Well, when I shook your hand," she said, "I saw that you're wearing a bracelet you would get in Hawaii with the name Josie painted on the strip wood. I put two and two together."

Haley felt like she wanted to sit down. It was like she was in some weird alternate universe where Sherlock was a girl and happened to be Haley's cousin.

On the tail end of this thought was how Haley had spent months watching her classmates, picking up pieces of their lives and thinking she saw it all like Carter was doing. The only difference seemed to be that Haley was always wrong but somehow Carter wasn't.

"Wow," Jace said. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Things usually do if you know what to look for."

Haley wanted to argue this but swallowed her retort. Instead, she gestured to the parking lot. "Do you want to get going? I figured we could go get lunch somewhere."

"Sounds good," Carter said. "Do you mind if we eat somewhere outside, it's cold back in D.C. and I like how warm it is here."

"Yeah, that's totally fine."

"I know just the spot to eat," Jace added.

After picking up some Mexican food, the trio found a grassy spot by the harbor to eat. The breeze was slightly chilly helping keep the heat of the sun from getting too overbearing. As they ate, the last five years of their lives were traded back and forth. Haley felt for her cousin as she heard how her mother left and the years that followed.

Only a year ago, Haley had feared that her own parents were getting a divorce and the relief of finding out they weren't had been overwhelming. Imagining life without speaking to her mother at all felt impossible. But Carter spoke with an even tone, laying out facts, not feelings.

When the trash had been balled up and tossed away, Carter leaned back on her hands, tipping her head back, eyes closed. Haley studied her, coming to terms with how the spirited playmate of her childhood was no longer there. Instead, there was a girl who was fierce but guarded. Haley wondered what would have happened if Carter's mother had never left. Jace's phone rang breaking into her thoughts.