Jared had the widest smile on his face on the drive back from school. I have never seen him smile like this.

"So the Murphy charms are once again successful," he states confidently.

He has obviously heard of the kiss Karter and I shared in the hall earlier.

I rolled my eyes. "Drop it Jare."

I was not ready to talk about my love life with my brother.

"But I can't," he said excitedly. "I'm one step closer to dating the girl of my dreams."

Jared was officially head over heals. Never in my life did I expect him to go this hard for a girl.

How was I going to tell him it wasn't going to happen? Karter would not allow it.

"How about you continue doing this whole new Jared thing. Being nice to Karter, let him see your good side. That way he can give you his blessing," I suggested.

Jared rolled his eyes. "That's going to take too long, you think three years of making his life hell is going to be forgotten in a month? That's where you come in. You need to play the girlfriend card."

I don't want to play that card!

"Jared..."

He noticed what I was thinking since his whole expression changed. "We made a deal."

"I don't like this deal!" I cried.

"Fine. Get ready to see your picture plastered everywhere tomorrow," he said. There was no teasing to his tone. He meant it.

"No! You want me to become the new Karter? You saw how ruined his high school life was! I will be the laughing stock of the century," I begged him.

He shrugged his shoulders. Stubborn Jared was out. He scared me. "You have until tomorrow to convince him, I've obviously given you too much time."

"What is wrong with you?!" I yelled.

"Tick tock Liv," he said in a sing song voice.

He was the devil. I knew it.

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it! Just stop!" I cried. That satisfied smug snuck on his face. I hated him.

"Stop the car," I told him. I couldn't stand to be with him for another second.

"What?" His smile dropped.

"Stop the car. I'm mad at you. I don't want to stay with you," I tried to make him feel guilty.

"Liv, chill," he said trying to reason.

"I need to chill?" I yelled at him. "Stop the damn car Jared! I can't stand being with you right now! Stop or I'm jumping out!"

Jared swore under his breath before parking on the side. I slammed the car door ignoring him calling my name. I marched through the vast park walking to Karter's house. I knew he was at work but I just didn't want to be home right now. I couldn't go to Manny's house, he would probably tell me to listen to Jared and I did not want to hear that at the moment. I turned off my phone that had already had a few texts and missed calls from Jared. I knew he didn't like being evil with me, but there was something about Maddy that made him desperate.

I knocked on Karter's door and an elderly woman opened the door. She gave me a soft smile. "Can I help you sweetheart?"

I was pretty sure that was his grandmother.

"Hi I'm Livia, Karter's—"

Can I call myself his girlfriend?

Her eyes widened. "So you're Karter's Livia? Come in child, come in."

He told her about me?

She opened the door wide for me. I noticed the house was empty.

"Madison is picking up little Harley from school. Karter's at work as you may know," she said as if noticing me looking around. She motioned for me to go to the kitchen where she had just made some tea. "Tea?"

I nodded my head. I used to have tea with my grandmother every time she visited before she passed away.

"Karter has told me a lot of things about you," she said making me blush. God, this can't be good. "You are much more beautiful than I imagined."

She laughed as if noticing my worried expression. "I will not lie, he did not say the kindest things at first, the boy was a rollercoaster of good and bad impressions of you. 'This girl will not leave me alone. This girl is everywhere I go. This girl does not know the meaning of no.'" Abort! Abort! "And then every time he would say your name he would smile, some times he would blush."

I started blushing myself. "He seems to confide in you a lot."

The elderly woman chuckled. "Oh some times. I usually have to force it out of him. The boy has a hard time opening up to people."

"You can say that twice," I mumbled under my breath.

She tilted her head to the side. "He opened up to you though... quickly, considering."

"It was a lot of hard work," I whined.

"Yes, I could tell," she nodded. "But you didn't give up on him and I thank you for that."

"He was worth it," I found myself admitting to her. It was true, I meant every word of it. There was something about Karter... he was stone cold on the outside, but if you got past all those hard layers he had on you'll find a pot of gold. When he cares for someone he goes over and beyond. I wanted to be that someone to him. If I could, I would be the luckiest girl alive.

Tears pooled in the elderly woman's sweet eyes.

"I can see why he likes you so much, you are a pure soul Livia," she said reminding me of Karter's words in the coffee shop.

"I could be a bad soul too," I teased. "I want to hear all of Karter's embarrassing childhood stories."

His grandmother laughed and dived into them. Karter was a mischievous kid, always getting into trouble and causing mayhem. He once painted their neighbours dog blue and his father had to convince them not to call the cops on him. He always chose the highest tree to climb and once he climbed too high and was too scared to climb down so the fire department had to get involved. Another time, he had taped Maddy to her bed as she slept, she woke up mortified and would cry every time she looked at him for two weeks.

"It's a shame he hasn't lived his age in a long time," she sighed looking down at her empty tea cup. "He has been smiling more these days, that is a good sign."

I hesitated for a moment before I decided to tell her.

"Karter told me about what happened," I find myself admitting to her.

She looked surprised for a moment. "He was so young, he is so young. I wish it wasn't him that had found his mother. To see a sight at such a young age. He has been so strong."

He was the one that found his mother?

I heard a jingle of someone unlocking the door. I could already hear Harley's squeaky voice telling an animated story.

"Nona! We're home!" Madeline's voice came from the foyer.

"Nona!" Harley's excited voice came closer, the sound of her little feet hitting the floor in a run towards us.

Harley stopped in her spot as her wide eyes landed on me. A wide smile crept on her lips. "Livia!"

She ran towards me, her little body wrapping around my legs. I bent down to hug the excited girl. "Look at you princess. Did you lose another tooth?"

She nodded her head. "The tooth fairy visited me last night. Karter said he would wake me up when she came, but he didn't. He said he fell asleep too. Next time I will catch her and ask her how I could fly too."

Uh oh. Karter was in for it with this one. "I heard she only comes when she knows you're asleep."

She motioned for me to get closer.

"I will keep one eye closed really tight and the other one peeking," she whispered her secret plan into my ear.

I cramped my lips to keep me from laughing.

"That's enough Harley, wash you hands for supper," said Madeline who was leaning her hip against the kitchen doorframe.

My eyes met hers and we both smiled.

Harley looked conflicted between staying and talking to me or listening to her sister. I think she found her sister more scary so she ran off in the opposite direction to wash her hands.

Madeline gave me a shy smile. "You know Karter isn't here right?"

I nodded my head hesitantly. "I know... I didn't really want to go home."

Her smile was warm. "You are welcome here anytime."

I think I really liked Karter's family.

"Thanks Maddy," I returned the smile.

She waved her hands in front of her. "Don't worry about it, I love girl time. We have so much to talk about after supper."

Her emphasis on the 'so' had me scared and very excited. I knew Manny would have loved to be part of this. That boy had an unhealthy obsession with drama.

"You two girls go wash your hands too," their grandma told us. "You can learn a thing or two from Harley."

Harley who had just entered the room raised her chin proudly.

Maddy and I shared a look trying to conceal our laughter. We washed our hands, said grace and ate. I learned few things from eating with the Pierce family. One: their grandma was an amazing cook. She was an Italian that married an American. Her food was amazing. Two: they were religious. My parents only go to church once a year. Three: they were a very close family. They were so open and accepting with each other. It almost made me envious. Having dinner with my family was like being interrogated.

Maddy and I cleaned up after before going to her room. Harley was nagging that she wanted to play with us but her grandma distracted her easily enough.

I sat cross legged on Maddy's bed where she sat on the other end.

"So," she wiggled her brows mischievously. "You and Karter huh?"

My cheeks turned a deep shade of red. "Yes..."

"You kisses him first? Obviously—"

"Actually," I cut her off. "He did."

This was so awkward. Talking about my love life to his sister.

Her jaw dropped. "No way."

"Way."

A wide grin stretched from her ear to ear. "Way to go big brother. I didn't know he had it in him. I mean I knew he was attracted to you, obviously who wouldn't, and I knew he was starting to develop feelings. He never really talked about any of his flings. He could never be committed to a relationship because he was so committed to his family, of course you know that. Running from work, to lawyers, to courts, from school to home. I always thought he'd push you away, be unconfident."

I told Maddy as much detail about us that I was comfortable telling her about. I could tell how excited and happy she was for her brother. I guess she has been trying to get him out of his bubble as well.

"What about you and Jare?" I asked her. It was her turn to blush.

"Nothing is going on between us," she said all too quickly. I think she was afraid I would tell Karter.

"Come on Mads, I have eyes. And ears. And Jared is my brother," I told her.

She palled before giving up. "What did he tell you?"

"I know he likes you- a lot. I know you like him too. I know all about Karter's ultimatum," I told her.

She grabbed my hand tightly. "Can you please talk to him. Please. Try convincing him! He won't listen to me. He trusts you."

Trust...

I earned his trust for Jared. For this dumb deal we have going on. Even though I really did like Karter, I was still using him. I didn't like that. I didn't want that.

"Karter doesn't really like Jared," I said uncomfortably.

Her face fell. "I know. Jared has been better to him though, he even told me he started to like my brother."

That was true. Ever since Karter stood up for me. Jared was all about that.

"Just give him a little more time," I offered her. She nodded her head but I could tell she wasn't convinced.

My chest still felt heavy. I needed to know. "Maddy... is Karter the forgiving type?"

I hoped Maddy thought I was talking about Jared and not me.

She looked hesitant. "No... he's not."

I guess that puts telling him the truth out of the picture. Now all I need to know is that he'll never find out.

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