Bam! You have a second part to Rear Window! You're cliff hanger has come to the end of it's hanging! If you're blind to title then I'll tell you, you have to read the first part before reading this part.

***********************************

"You're...you're my stepsister," Bridgette said.

Carter wanted to deny it but staring up at her step-sister's wide, hurt eyes she found all words fled from her. How could she lie to someone simply wanting the truth? But how could she tell her the truth knowing she'd leave eventually?

"Bridgette, sweetie, it's..." their mother started but looked from Carter to Bridgette then back, her fingers knotted.

Bridgette hurried down the stairs, placing herself between Carter and her mother. "Is she my step-sister? Have you both been lying to me?"

Before either could speak, Mason stepped in. "Everyone into the kitchen, we are going to talk about this there. Darrell, put on tea or something that people usually drink during family issues. No one speaks before the tea is ready."

Everyone remained frozen for a moment longer then Darrell headed towards the kitchen with his family in tow. Carter started to follow but Mason took her arm, holding her back.

"Not you," he said. "You are going to change and then talk."

"What does what I'm wearing have to do with anything?"

"You're in a dress and heels, something you've been in for the past few hours. It's not going to help your mood. You need a clear head for this. Go change."

Just to prove to Mason she could be levelheaded despite the pain in her feet he somehow knew about, Carter wanted to go straight to the kitchen. But she knew for everyone's sake it was better if she wasn't already on a bit of an edge.

"You're annoying," Carter said.

"Like I said, I could pass a test on you anywhere, anytime."

As Carter ascended the stairs, she tried to straighten out her thoughts. Whatever happened in that kitchen, at the end the most important thing was the mission succeeding. Though she felt cold at the thought, they risked more than hurt feelings if their presence as FBI agents were discovered.

For Bridgette's and everyone's safety, Carter needed to find a way to handle the situation that would leave them all in an even state that they could be in for the remainder of their time there.

With that thought in mind, Carter changed, not into something comfortable, but a pair of slacks and a black shirt she tucked in. When she walked into the kitchen, she was the FBI agent who would smooth the situation over but with a clear objective in her mind.

She met Mason's gaze and he nodded once. He knew what she'd realized and approved. Knowing she had him to back her up, Carter felt better. She didn't need her partner arguing with her as she dealt with the family.

Bracing herself for what was to come, Carter faced the family where they all sat at the table with mugs in their hands. Though there was an open chair for her, Carter didn't take it.

"Bridgette," she said. "Yes, I am your step-sister. I instructed Erica not to tell you. This decision is on me, not her. If you want to be angry, be angry at me."

Even as she spoke, a small part of Carter wondered at how she was willingly directing anger away from her mother. But she knew this decision rested on her alone and therefore this was one place where her mother wasn't to be blamed.

"I got put on this surveillance operation because my mother lived across the street. Because of this fact, the cover of a daughter visiting her mother was the safest. That is the reason I am here."

Silence followed the statement, Erica focused on her mug of tea, Darrell switched his attention between his wife and daughter, and Bridgette was solely intent on Carter.

"Why didn't you want me to know?" she asked quietly.

"For professionalism," Carter said. "I'm here to do a job, not have family bonding time. I thought without you knowing it would make it easier on you."

"So you never planned to tell me who you were?"

Carter froze, trapped between an easy lie and a difficult truth.

"No," she said. "I never planned to tell you."

"Why?"

The question came with a hurt tone and teary eyes, both having Carter breaking her hard exterior. But Mason shifted just enough for her to see it in her periphery. She knew he was silently telling her to keep going.

"Because at the end of this mission, I will leave and I don't see our paths crossing again. I didn't want you to form a bond only to have it broken in a short time."

Bridgette glanced at her mother and then back to Carter. "Why? Why wouldn't you come back? Why have you never visited before this?"

Though Carter knew the whole story wouldn't be something Erica told Bridgette, she didn't know how much was told at all. From Bridgette's surprise earlier, it was over Carter being her step-sister, not her mother having another daughter she never told Bridgette about. That meant Bridgette knew some of Erica's past.

Erica raised her head and in a breath, Carter read her resolve in the way she held her head high, straightened her back, and squared her shoulders. She planned to admit what she'd done when she left Carter.

"I stayed with my dad in the divorce," Carter said. "I've always been closer to him."

The words escaped before she could fully comprehend the reasoning behind them. But she knew she wanted to keep the full truth in the past. Maybe it was the fact that her mother planned to take full responsibility that spurred Carter on. It proved that her mother wasn't going to hide from what she'd done.

But Carter thought of the aftermath, when she left how would knowing the abandonment affect Erica and Bridgette's relationship. What damage would it do when Carter saw a woman who wanted to change and had changed?

"And you never wanted to see your daughter?" Bridgette asked.

"She visited," Carter said. "But it was my decision not to see her."

"Why wouldn't you want to?"

"Because-"

"I was selfish and I abandoned my daughter for my own career," Erica said.

The silence that descended felt like it a physical weight, smothering even the sound of the world outside. Carter stared at her mother, who didn't look like the apprehensive woman of earlier but a woman facing herself.

"It was my fault," Erica said. "Because of the hurt and pain I caused Carter, she made the decision to see me when she wanted to."

Bridgette pressed her hands into the table as if trying to find something solid. Carter felt the same urge, her footing not as stable as she wanted.

"You just left her?" Bridgette said.

Before her mother could respond, Mason cut in, taking Carter's side.

"This is a history that you work through together," he said. "We still have a job to do. Bridgette." The girl looked at him, dazed. "You'll be fine."

With the blunt but kind encouragement, Mason seized Carter's arm and directed them out of the kitchen.

"Why are we leaving?" Carter asked, hearing Bridgette repeating her question to her mother.

"Because you lived through that past, you don't need to relive it. And this isn't your family."

Though the statement sounded cold, Carter found it helped her find her footing again. Though connected by blood, Erica hadn't been her family for a long time. Even if at the end of this operation some form of a bond was created, it wouldn't change the fact that her life and her family were back in DC.

"Also I hate family issues and getting you out of there was my excuse for leaving," Mason said.

Carter looked at Mason but didn't say anything. They both knew half of that was a lie.

"You can let go of my arm now," she said instead.

Mason released his hold as they walked into Bridgette's room, shutting them off from the family talk happening downstairs. Taking out her computer, Carter claimed a chair by the window and settled in. The arduous task of writing out her report helped her remember why she was there and what she had to do.

Though she channeled all her energy into her task, she still heard as the family eventually climbed the stairs. Even as she tried not to, Carter analyzed them, judging by their footsteps that they'd worked through the issue or as much as they could to not be angry at each other.

From the way that the guest door closed first and the master bedroom door closed a minute later, Carter figured Erica was watching her step-sister. Bridgette hadn't slammed her door, at least her anger, if she still held some, wasn't of a dramatic nature.

"They aren't mad," Mason said. "That's something."

Carter raised her head, staring at him.

Mason gave her a condescending look at her surprise. "You understand I lived in the White House. I had everyone's footsteps memorized by the time I left. I might not be the FBI profiler you are, but I'm not dumb as a brick as you sometimes imply I am."

"Have I only ever implied it? I thought I said it outright?"

Mason scowled and returned his focus to his report. Carter mirrored him. By the time it was finished, the house had been quiet for nearly an hour and the city outside had shifted to the nightlife.

Closing her computer, Carter set it aside and stretched. At the hours of travel, the emotional toll of being around her mother, and the strain of being on guard, Carter looked to the bed wanting to crash on top of it.

But sitting on it was Mason, who looked half asleep already as he finished typing.

Though at this point in their relationship the thought of sleeping in a bed next to him didn't feel like a big deal, physically being close to someone who wasn't Donovan when she still felt her emotions sparking inside her, Carter couldn't do it. Instead, she took the chair in front of the computer displaying the surveillance footage.

"I'll take the first watch," she said.

Mason grunted in acceptance, closed his computer, and got off the bed. After disappearing for ten minutes, Mason returned to the room, changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. The casualness of his appearance made Carter aware that she rarely saw him this way. For the majority of their time together Mason had always worn either a uniform for school or some form of formal attire. The causal pajamas made him seem different. Normal.

"Stop staring at me," he said. "You're not sharing a bed with me tonight, I don't care how attractive I look in sweatpants, you're a married woman and I love my wife."

"Do you have to make everything weird?"

"Says the woman ogling a man who isn't her husband."

"I was not ogling you."

"Your mouth says one thing and your eyes say something else."

Spinning back to the bank of computers, Carter propped her feet on the desk. "Sleep with one eye open, Mason. I'm feeling murderous."

"You will be the first suspect," Mason said. "If I die."

The overhead lights shut off, leaving only the desk lamp on and the room in a soft glow. The sheets rustled as Mason got into the bed. In the quiet, Carter pictured Mason dropping off quickly, figuring they both shared the same level of tiredness. But ten minutes later, Mason spoke.

"You're not a terrible person for not wanting to have a relationship with your mother or not wanting Bridgette to have known who you are."

"Are you saying that because you feel like you have to or because you believe it?"

"I believe it."

Carter didn't respond right away, staring at the screens but unseeing of what was on them. In her mind, all she could see was the way Bridgette looked hurt as Carter spoke.

"She's a sweet girl," Carter said.

"She is. And still the step-daughter to the mother who left you when you were a kid."

"I was fourteen."

"A kid."

Carter understood him. It didn't matter if looking back she could view the situation from the emotionally healthy state of an adult, it was still an abandonment that had cut deep into who she was.

"How do I get through this?" Carter asked.

It felt like a strange question to the one person she never imagined she'd go to for advice.

"You do your job and wait to see what Bridgette asks of you. If she does, you have the right to keep it professional."

"That feels so cruel."

"Having boundaries is never wrong."

Carter nodded, even though she didn't know if he was looking at her or had his back to her.

"Thank you, Mason."

"Yeah. I'm going to go to sleep now and pretend this bonding moment is some bizarre dream."

"Who is to say it isn't," Carter said. "You could be asleep now."

"That would make the most sense. I don't even like you all that much."

Carter smiled as the blankets rustled behind her and a moment later Mason drifted off.

********

Though never having thought she'd make such a decision, Carter used Mason's advice the preceding days, she left interactions up to Bridgette. The following day after the truth was revealed, Bridgette remained contained to her room for the majority of the day. If she left it, she only visited the kitchen before returning to a closed door.

The second day, Carter heard Bridgette and her mother talking, but behind a closed door that Carter could only hear the rhythm of their tones and not the words. From what she could hear, she sensed they were discussing rather they fighting.

On the third day, Bridgette stuck her head into the doorway to Carter's room as Carter sat at the surveillance desk. Though she didn't enter fully in, Bridgette let her presence be known.

"Wouldn't anyone looking at this window notice the telescope and be suspicious of being watched?" she asked.

Carter glanced at her, but when Bridgette moved further inside, she accepted it. For now, Bridgette was feeling out the waters with Carter, not sure where she stood. Carter let it be, deciding to be the boulder in the stream that Bridgette could cross to if she wanted.

"The telescope actually makes anyone comfortable since it's always pointed up at the sky. It gives them a sense of security, they think they know what the telescope sees. And their right, the telescope is pointless. The teddy bear." Carter pointed to the teddy bear wrapped around the telescope that looked simply like a cute addition. "The cameras are in the teddy bear's eyes."

"Oh."

Carter waited to see if more would come but instead, Bridgette left.

On the fourth day, when Carter exited the room dressed for her normal run, Bridgette waited at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in workout clothes.

"You usually go running at this time," Bridgette said. "Could I come with you?"

"Sure."

As they headed towards the front door, Erica appeared in the doorway of her office. Carter looked at her as she opened the door. In a strange twist, the dynamic between her and her mother had shifted to something more neutral. Their issues, it seemed, were in the past and what the present held was determined by them.

"Have a good run," she said.

Carter offered a small smile and left. At the base of the stairs, she guided them in a few stretches before taking off. Bridgette hurried to catch up with her. Though she never looked at Bridgette, Carter sensed when the girl struggled to maintain a steady but quick pace. Subtly, Carter eased back and noticed as Bridgette fell into a better rhythm.

"Do you... usually... listen to... music?" Bridgette asked.

"No. It impairs one of my senses."

"...Oh."

When Carter noticed Bridgette's energy starting to wane, she directed them to one of the small parks in the neighborhood. As soon as they reached a secluded corner, Bridgette flopped onto the grass.

"That's... so...tiring," she panted.

Carter stared down at her, barely out of breath, the exercise relaxing her antsy muscles that had been stasis too long.

"Do you not usually run?" Carter asked.

"Not for that long and not too often," she said. "I just..."

The end of the sentence never came but Carter knew what it was the way Bridgette looked away from Carter. For a second, Carter debated what she wanted to do. In the end, she took a spot next to Bridgette facing the street. When she'd caught her breath, Bridgette rolled to a sitting position, putting herself next to Carter but not too close.

"I was pissed at my mom for what she did to you," Bridgette said.

Carter turned her head to the girl but said nothing, knowing her action was enough to keep her talking. Bridgette scrunched up her face and tugged at the grass.

"I've wondered... I already lost my mom and the thought that you... That she had... What would keep her here with..." She shook her head, pulling at the grass even more. "I'm not even her real daughter what if one day she decides..."

"You are her daughter," Carter said.

"Step-daughter."

"No. Daughter."

Bridgette peered up at Carter with fear and vulnerability in her eyes. Again, Carter felt her instinct to protect this girl kick in. Young and innocent, she hadn't been hardened by the world. She'd lost her mother, but that hadn't made her closed off from the world. Instead, she was willingly inviting someone she'd just met into her life.

Carter didn't know whether to love her for her kindness or disillusion her of the goodness of the world.

"The mother you know and the mother I grew up with aren't the same person," Carter said. "She's changed. For you."

"But she didn't for you."

Even if they'd found neutrality, the truth stung. "No. She didn't. But that's why I don't believe you have to be afraid that she'll leave you. She once told me she liked being a mother. Your mother. When I came into her life, she wasn't ready."

Bridgette stared at Carter as if trying to read her. But Carter had been hiding her emotions since she was fourteen, she knew Bridgette would only see someone completely calm. None of the hurt that still lived in Carter would be seen. None of the faint ghosts of why Carter's hadn't been enough for her mother that still haunted Carter.

"I still feel like I stole your mother," Bridgette said.

"You can never steal a person, a person chooses who they want in their lives."

It wasn't true, people were stolen all the time, but Carter knew Bridgette wouldn't think of it that way. Instead, she'd believed the reasoning for why she could keep her mother and not feel guilty for doing so.

Bridgette looked at Carter and then down at the grass. "Thanks. For not... for not hating me."

"There is no reason to hate you. You did nothing wrong."

Bridgette met Carter's earnest gaze and smiled a little. "Thanks."

Carter's phone rang and she slipped it free of her pocket. On screen, a photo of Donovan taken on their honeymoon showed.

"I take it's that's your actual husband?" Bridgette asked.

"When did you realize Mason wasn't my husband?"

"Just now." She pointed to the photo. "That's not a photo any wife has on her phone of another man. Unless she's cheating but you don't seem like the type."

Carter chuckled a little. "You have the makings of an agent. And yes, this is my husband. We usually talk at this time."

"Oh. I can leave."

Though spoken quickly, Carter sensed Bridgette's want to stay with her.

"It's fine. Just give me a second." She answered the call. "Hey, I can't talk right now. I'll call you later."

"Is everything okay?"

Carter fought a smile at his concern.

"It is."

"Okay. I love you."

"Love you too."

When Carter hung up, she found Bridgette watching her with a tiny smile on her face. Carter narrowed her eyes but in a playful manner.

"What's the smile for?" she asked.

"I can see what you were missing when you talked with Mason. Though I never doubted you were married because you have that bickering thing old couples do, you never had that kind soft, glowing look you have now."

Carter batted away the finger Bridgette pointed at her face. "I am not glowing."

"Sure," Bridgette said, though she looked on the verge of laughing.

"For that, I'm retracting my thought of buying you a coffee," Carter said standing and brushing off the bits of grass stuck to her.

"Good, I don't like coffee, you can buy me tea though."

"I take back what I said, I do hate you now."

Bridgette laughed brightly as Carter walked off and quickly hurried to catch up. When she settled in beside Carter, Carter sent her a sideways look, noticing all the girl's apprehension about being around Carter due to her sense of guilt was gone. The sight both eased Carter's worry and saddened her.

At the end of all this, Bridgette would be able to overcome the break with her mother, but with Carter, there were some things that would never fully be mended. A bridge could be built over the chasm but it was still there.

With their orders made, Carter and Bridgette found an empty place to wait. Before Bridgette could start a conversation, the door to the cafe opened and Thomas walked in. Carter noted his entrance but focused on Bridgette, not wanting to invite his attention. But her efforts were pointless as he crossed over to them.

"Carter, pleasure seeing you again," he said. "Hi, Bridgette."

"Hi, Mr. Franklin," Bridgette said.

Though her tone came out pleasant, Carter sensed a hesitant, almost cautious undertone. But from the friendly smile, Carter didn't detect that Thomas picked up on the subtle notes in Bridgette's voice.

"Were you two out for a run?" Thomas asked.

"We were," Carter said. "The streets are beautiful to run."

"They are." He looked between both of them. "I noticed a telescope appeared in one of your windows. Bridgette, have you taken up stargazing?"

Bridgette stiffened but Carter tilted her head ever so slightly, drawing Thomas's attention to her, and away from the girl she knew would have difficulty lying.

"We brought it with us," Carter said. "The Aris comet will be passing in two days. I didn't want to miss it."

"You and your husband are stargazers?" Thomas asked.

Though curious, Carter heard the subtle dig for a crack in her story.

"Amateur ones," Carter said. "It's something we've picked up, a hobby we both enjoy."

"I see. I would love to see this Artemis comet when it passes."

"Aris comet," Carter corrected, knowing he'd hope to catch her with the wrong name. "And we'll invite you to see it. It should be passing in two days around 3AM. I hope you don't mind an early wake-up call?"

"I would look forward to it."

"Carter? Bridgette?"

Their names gave the pair an easy excuse to stand and leave the conversation with Thomas.

He smiled at them warmly as he took a step back. "Have a wonderful day, ladies."

"You too," Carter said, just as kindly.

Once out of the cafe and a block away, Bridgette leaned toward Carter. "What are you going to do?"

"About what?" Carter asked, sipping her coffee.

"About if he actually wants to see the comet?"

"Then I will enjoy disturbing his sleep in the middle of the night."

"Wait, it's a real comet?"

"Of course. We're not going to bring a telescope if we don't have a full story to back up the reasoning for it."

"Oh."

As they walked, Carter watched Bridgette, seeing as she absorbed this information. The information was thanks to Mason. He knew more about stars than Carter had expected and drilled it into her in case she needed it. Something she would mention to him, whether she thanked him for his incessant quizzing, that she didn't know if she'd thank him for. He'd been an obnoxious teacher.

"What do you think of Thomas?" Carter asked Bridgette.

She studied the girl and caught the breath of hesitation as well as the subtle shake of her head, knowing she was talking herself out of something.

"He's really nice," Bridgette said.

"But you don't like him and you feel uncomfortable around him," Carter finished for her, knowing she wouldn't say the words herself.

"What? No. I mean how could I feel that way when he's nice and-"

"Don't do that," Carter said.

"Don't do what?"

"Don't deny your instinct. If you feel uncomfortable around someone it's for a reason. I don't care how nice or charming they are, listen to that feeling. It's a gift that is there to protect you. Trust it."

Bridgette nodded but chewed on her lip in thought. Carter waited for the girl's thoughts to settle and for her to gather them together to share. Watching Bridgette think was liking reading a book. Nothing about the girl's thoughts were hidden from her expression.

To Carter, that said everything about her childhood. She felt safe. She didn't feel the need to protect herself or keep her thoughts concealed. She trusted in the people around her.

Though Carter knew logically that the credit for that lay heavily on Bridgette's father's shoulders, Carter had to give some credit to Erica. After all, with a stepmother, Bridgette could have felt the need to self-protect. Instead, the girl held all the openness of a kid who'd grown up without knowing the cruel sides of the world.

"I know you're not going to be here forever," Bridgette finally started. "And that you're busy with surveillance and everything but do you think... I mean if it's not too big of trouble could you possibly..."

"Yes."

Bridgette blinked in surprise. "I didn't say it."

No, she hadn't but being an easy read meant Carter had followed her train of thought.

"You want me to teach you some self-defense moves so you feel more confident about being able to handle yourself in situations, correct?"

Bridgette gaped but nodded. When Carter smiled at her, Bridgette snapped her mouth closed and blushed but her eyes brightened.

"Thanks."

"Want to start when we get home?" Home. The word slipped out before Carter could think about it. It was not her home. And it wouldn't ever be. "I mean, get back to your house."

"Yes!" Bridgette bounced once, nearly spilling her tea.

As they walked, Carter laid out basics that Bridgette absorbed like an eager sponge. When they arrived back at the house, Erica emerged from her office the second the door closed. From her expression, Carter could tell she'd barely been able to focus on work, thinking too much about the pair of them.

"I'm going to learn self-defense!" Bridgette said as a greeting before hurrying up the stairs.

"She is?" Erica asked.

Carter nodded. "Basics that could help her in the future if she needed it."

Erica smiled a little, relief and a tinge of hope in the look. Carter hesitated a moment but made for the stairs to follow Bridgette. At the first step, she stopped and looked back at her mother. She wondered if she should say what she thought. Part of it felt like a betrayal to her younger self. The one who'd been hurt and spent years with the aftermath of that betrayal.

But she reminded herself that she wasn't the young girl anymore. She could still grieve for what that girl went through but she could also work on moving on.

"She feels safe," Carter said. "Bridgette feels safe with you. No matter what happens between the two of you, that hasn't changed." She paused a breath. "You did something right with her when you became her mom."

Erica froze, her eyes misting over and Carter ascended the stairs. She said the words, but right then she knew that was as far as her strength would take her. The comfort and happiness those words brought her mother could be hers alone.

"Carter!" Bridgette called out from the guest room.

Carter entered and saw Bridgette had made a clearing in the center of the room.

"Okay," Carter said. "We're going to start with stance."

*****

"Mason?"

Carter lay on the bed, her back to Mason in the chair before the computer screens. The world outside the window lay covered in night, the streetlights leaving patches of light on the sidewalks and the glow of the never-sleeping city highlighting the neighboring buildings.

"Hmmm?" Mason responded.

"What do you do when you're growing attached to someone?"

Carter thought of the afternoon, Bridgette's determination to master the basics and the way she threw herself into every instruction with focus and enthusiasm. In some way, she reminded Carter of a puppy, all energy and willingness to do anything asked. That trait only strengthened Carter's desire to protect the girl.

But at the end of the mission, Carter would leave.

"I move cities," Mason answered. "Change my name and start new."

Carter smiled at the darkness around her. "Yeah, that sounds like you."

Neither of them spoke for a long while, Carter knowing sleep would be difficult to find that night. She'd called Donovan back but he hadn't picked up. A message minutes later told her that he wouldn't be able to talk later, that something had come up on his case, and they would talk tomorrow. That meant her last resort: Mason.

"I was afraid to come here because of my mother," Carter said. "I didn't plan for Bridgette."

"I mean, we could always have her eliminated. Problem solved."

"Hilarious."

"This is my attempt at making you feel better about being a soft person. As someone who isn't soft, I have no idea what to tell you. If you don't want to get attached, don't get attached."

Carter rolled over in the bed to look at Mason. He sat at the pink swivel chair with his ankles crossed and set on top of the desk.

"Works that easy for you, uh?" she asked.

"Yup. It's that easy." He met her gaze in the dim glow from the screens. "I wish it were that easy."

"So no solution to my dilemma?"

"I gave you one but you didn't take it."

"Right, murder."

Mason spread out his hands. "Reasonable option. It's that or let your heart grow three sizes. We both know you wouldn't survive that excess weight."

Carter rolled back over. "You are no help, Mason."

"Thanks, I try not to be."

They fell silent and Carter closed her eyes, wishing to sleep and have peace from her thoughts, even for a short time.

"I'm sorry, Owens," Mason said, quietly. "I don't have an answer."

"I know, Mason."

They didn't speak, though they both shared the struggle of moving past their childhood hurt.

"Mason."

"Yeah."

"I need to tell you something."

"Hmmm?"

"We have to get up at 3AM to watch the Aris comet."

Mason swore and Carter smiled before snuggling into her blankets and finding sleep.

**********************************************************************

HEY! PUT DOWN THE PITCHFORK!

Okay, yes, were you expecting this to wrap up? Yeah well so was I! It's not my fault my characters are deep and need time to process emotions and be deep and all that stupid pointless crap!

I wanted an easy wrap up but nooooooo! They had a different plan. So annoying.

Anyway, if you have thoughts about it great! Keep them to yourself. Ha, just kidding definitely tell me. 🗯💬💭

Honestly, this chapter took me like a month to write. It's so annoying when I plan my chapters to go one way then my characters derail them. Frustrating, so frustrating.

Does it make it interesting for me as a writer?

Well, yeah but I still want to whine about it, okay! It means it takes longer than expected and I find that annoying. I like things being done quickly.

But whatever, we get interesting twists and turns. I guess that should be a good enough payoff. I don't know, I still feel like complaining about it.

Vote, comment, follow before I can keep whining! And yes, there will be a part 3, let's just hope it ends there.

Oh look it's Carter with Bridgette!