in my dreams, you're with me

Aurora Holland

"Okay, falsely complimenting me will not make me forget about the fact that you just stopped me from decking that old man in the head!" I exclaimed, earning an eye roll from Carter. "What don't think I can't do it? Look, I'll show you-"

"Rory," Carter cut me off, grabbing my right hand in his. "He's like that with everyone, calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I exclaimed, earning a look from someone walking by. Realizing how crazy I probably looked, I huffed. "Okay, maybe I should," I grumbled, rolling my eyes.

"Thank you," He said with a soft smile.

Carter looked breathtaking. He wore black dress pants that were ironed, causing a crease in the front of each pant leg. He wore a white button-up, a lot like the one Logan wore. He didn't have any type of jacket or blazer covering his body, and the first two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned as well as his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He also didn't have any type of tie on, making him look way less fancy than a lot of the men at the event tonight. His hair was brushed, but a little messy as he'd been running his fingers through it.

Realizing that Carter still had a hold of my hand, I pulled it away quickly. He was staring down, not saying anything. "Did he do that?" He asked softly, and I stared at him in confusion.

"What?" I asked, "That old geezer didn't touch me. Unless you count me bumping into him, but-"

"No, not Jenkins." Carter looked up at me, a look I couldn't decipher in his eyes. "Hanneman."

"What are you talking about?" I asked before seeing his gaze on my hand. I looked down, seeing he'd grabbed the hand that Hanneman had hold of after homeroom.

My left hand covered it instinctively, and I took in a deep breath as I looked at him. "The bruises, yes. B-But I bruise easily, so it was expected."

"Doesn't matter. He touched you, and he shouldn't have," He said as he ran a hand through his already messy hair.

"It doesn't matter. He didn't do anything more than that, and that's what matters," I said as if it were nothing. Truthfully, Hanneman hurt me. I'd been bullied in so many ways over the years, but not once has any of it gotten physical. I'm used to the emotional and verbal things, but nothing as scary as it was when Hanneman slammed his hand down on mine in the way he had.

But what importance is that to Carter? Why does it matter whether he knows Hanneman did it? He already knew, anyway, because he just so happened to walk into the classroom to see the unknown boy trying to defend me.

Which he shouldn't have, the last thing I needed was for Hanneman to beat up a random kid because of me.

"But he shouldn't have even done that, Rory." He spoke softly. The tone was comforting, considering I could see just how angry he was. It made me feel safe, as odd as it sounded.

"Well it's done and over with, I'm sure he won't bother me ever again." I pushed the thought off, not wanting to think about what school will be like Monday. I had PE with him, not to mention we have homeroom together every day.

"He shouldn't, and if he does, he'll regret it," Carter whispered, almost as if I wasn't supposed to hear.

Clearing my throat, I suddenly remembered something. I shifted my footing, feeling awkward all of a sudden. "Thank you," I said.

"What? For Old Man Jenkins?" He asked, motioning with a hand behind me where we'd recently come from.

I shook my head, "For getting him off of me."

"Oh, yeah. Don't mention it," He spoke as he rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning a light pink.

I opened my purse to check my phone, frowning as I saw a text from Paige that arrived five minutes ago.

"Shit," I murmured, quickly responding.

"What?" Carter asked as he noticed the look on my face.

"My mom's looking for me, I should go before she sends a search party," I said as I attempted to shove my phone back into the purse.

With just my luck, the purse tipped and the contents fell to the ground. I cursed at myself and bent down to begin picking them up.

Carter, much like he had the day Kaya spilled my utensils everywhere, bent down to help as well. He grabbed the sketchpad and stared at it, his fingers running along the front of it.

"I got a new one, I guess." I told him, "I left the other one at your house, and even then it was destroyed."

"I'm glad you're using it," He told me, finally looking up at me.

My brows bunched together as I looked at him. He held it out for me to take as I slowly stopped putting the rest of my things in my purse, my thoughts jumbled at the odd sentence. I then realized what he meant, and my eyes widened as I stared at him.

"You put this in my backpack?!" I asked.

He chuckled, finding my reaction amusing. He gently put it in my bag that had been sitting in my hands, standing up straight after. "I mean, I'm kind of the reason the other one got ruined, right? I might as well replace it."

Carter stretched his hand outward, offering it for me to take. I hesitated before taking it, standing up straight. His hand went away quickly, moving to his pants pocket.

I used that as a chance to zip my bag up, resting the strap on my shoulder. "I had no idea who left it," I admitted. "I just saw it in my backpack and figured I might as well use it."

"Well, I'm glad you decided to use it." He told me again.

I turned and began to walk in the direction we came from, slightly surprised to see that Carter was walking next to me. There was a good distance between us still, but he walked at the pace I was going, even though his long legs could get him to the main room quicker.

"Either way, thank you. It wasn't needed," I said.

"It was, it was ruined, and you clearly care about art," He responded.

"Elijah was technically the one to ruin it, and I'm okay with it, as bad as it sounds. Sure, there were some good drawings in there, but nothing I can't redo." I shrugged, twisting whichever way Carter led. He seemed to know where he was going, so I just followed.

"Yeah, but he only approached because I was there," Carter told me.

"Well, he was drunk. And his nice personality makes up for it," I said. "He's one of the few people that I know whose intentions aren't double-sided."

"What do you mean?" Carter asked, taken aback by my question.

"It's just-" I stopped, my eyes moving to my hand. I began to scratch at the palm slightly, ignoring the stinging feeling. "When people try to befriend me, there's usually more behind it than just being my friend."

This was one of the first times I've admitted anything like this, not including Logan. Even then, I haven't really admitted any of this to Logan, and I've been very picky about what I tell people.

But something just made me want to tell Carter, even if I know in the end I might regret it, as this is just poor judgment.

"Why would they do that?" He asked, not seeming to understand.

"People tend to only befriend me because-"

"Aurora! Where have you been?" My mother was suddenly standing in front of me, her eyes lit up in anger. My fingers moved quicker, the scratching intensifying as she got onto me. "Paige said you went to the bathroom, but you've been gone for much longer than a bathroom break. I told you before you need to be on your best behavior-"

"It was my fault, Mrs. Holland, I'm sorry." Carter apologized, interrupting my mother. I looked at him as if he grew three heads. Not even Paige has ever said anything to defend me so quickly.

"And who are you?" She asked, raising a perfectly waxed eyebrow upward.

"My name's Carter Jackson," He responded smoothly, his tone soft. "Rory got lost on her way from the bathroom, so I helped show her the way back." His hand rested on the small of my back as he spoke, his thumb drawing circles softly.

My fingers came to a stop, feeling more relieved at his presence all of a sudden. I don't know why I suddenly feel this way, but I liked it.

I like it.

"Oh, you must be Cyrus' other son!" My mother exclaimed, her tone and demeanor changing completely. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm sorry that Aurora was such an inconvenience." She emphasized my name, showing her dislike for the nickname Rory.

She didn't say anything when Paige called me Rory, but then again, it's not like she had much of a chance. I'd gotten out of the car before she could, and I think even if she did, it wouldn't be as passive-aggressive as it was when she corrected Carter.

"Rory's the complete opposite of an inconvenience, ma'am," Carter said, copying the emphasis on my name. I felt awkward, knowing I was going to hear about this later.

But hopefully, because of who Carter's dad is, she'll let it go.

"Aurora, there you are!" Paige called out, showing up from behind my mom. Her eyes traveled from me to Carter, then back to me. "Did you get lost?"

"She did, and Carter here-" My mom stopped, motioning to the boy. "Helped her find her way back."

"Well, good. I can show you where the table is," Paige said as she reached out, grabbing my left hand. She didn't hesitate to pull me away and out of Carter's grip. "What the fuck happened?" She asked quietly as soon as we were out of earshot.

"Carter just pissed my mom off is what," I said. "She doesn't like Rory, so don't call me that in front of her."

"Rory? It's just a name for Christ's sake." Paige rolled her eyes.

I sat between her and Jason and was surrounded by the rest of the adults in my family. My mother showed up shortly after us, meaning she probably didn't stick around for too long to talk to Carter. I hoped she didn't, and from the look on her face, she was embarrassed that Carter didn't give in to the little jab at me.

My eyes danced around the room, stopping when they finally landed on his. He was all the way across the giant room with the rest of his family, his eyes on our table. His dark brows were pushed together in thought, his finger tapping on the table mindlessly as he slouched back in his chair. His father was talking about something mindlessly, both Logan and Lainie were listening, while he didn't really care about what was being said.

His eyes then drifted from Paige to me, his expression softening as he saw that I was already looking at him. His eyebrows were relaxed, the scowl that had been on his face gone as if it had never been there in the first place. He was truly beautiful, as much as I never admitted it aloud.

"Your crush is so obvious, it's sickening," Paige said, causing me to look away from the boy.

"What?" I asked softly, my cheeks flushing at her words.

"I know now that I was completely wrong about who it was you had a crush on, and I'm sorry." She was talking to where the adults couldn't hear, specifically my mother. She glanced over at the table where the Jacksons sat before looking back at me. "I thought it was Logan, but it's Carter."

"What?" I asked, my brows pushing together. "I don't like Carter."

"Oh please, you've been staring at him since I sat you down," She said, drinking a big drink from her water. "It also explains why you got so defensive when I was acting out on my crush on him. Which I'm sorry, I'm backing off now that I know you like him."

"I never said I liked him." I denied it, shaking my head.

"You didn't say you liked Asher the first two years you liked him, either." She pointed out, sending me a look. "Look, I'm not going to force you to tell me, because now that I see I was wrong about Logan, it explains why you wouldn't tell me. I'm trying to be a better cousin."

"I don't like Carter," I said.

"And I haven't fucked Elijah." She softly retorted, as if it were supposed to make a point. "Look, all I'm saying is I'm sorry I pushed Logan on you, I didn't realize your eyes were on his brother. I'm backing off, now knowing why you were so sensitive about it."

"It's not about what happened with-"

"No, no, no need to speak." She cut me off, handing me some pastry from her plate. "I know enough and I won't force you to tell me."

Knowing I didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of whatever it was that was happening, I stayed silent. I leaned back in my chair, a frown resting on my features as I got lost in thought. I see why she thinks I like him, after all, she did catch me staring.

But just because I was looking at him doesn't mean I like him. He just happened to hear me say things I've never said before, on top of sticking up for me to my mother - which nobody's ever done before. Not even my father, whom I love dearly.

I twirled the ring on my finger, my eyes watching as it spun around over and over again against the red skin.

"Aurora," My mother said sternly, breaking me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see her glaring at me. "Sit like a lady, please. You're already underdressed and putting off a bad impression."

"Vivienne, please." My dad begged slightly.

Uncle Murphy and Aunt Priscilla shared a look before excusing themselves to the empty area in the middle of all of the tables. It was like a makeshift dancefloor, couples young and old dancing together. 

"I'm just saying, she already gave a bad impression to Cyrus and Lainie and made me look bad in front of their son, I told her to be on her best behavior and she's doing the opposite." She pointed, shoving a hand in my direction.

"Kids, why don't you go dance?" My father looked at us, completely ignoring what my mother said.

Paige sent me a sad look before standing up, and Jason followed after. Just as I began to stand myself, my mother shook her head.

"No. You sit."

I sent another look to Paige, the girl just looking at me sadly, as there was nothing she could do. This was about the extent that Jason and Paige ever saw from my mother, so I just sighed in defeat as I watched her begin to dance with Jason next to her parents.

They looked awkward, and I bet they felt awkward because they weren't usually close in that way. They whispered to each other softly, their eyes avoiding looking in our direction.

"Don't look all sad now, Aurora, you put this on yourself." My mother told me, causing my eyes to look back at her.

"I didn't do anything," I said. My leg began to bounce nervously, my left hand scratching at my right. It was second nature as of recently, whereas twirling the ring usually was.

"You did, you embarrassed me." She countered, taking a sip of her champagne.

"What was it that Aurora did?" My father asked, his bushy eyebrows pushed together.

"It doesn't matter, what's done is done, and she embarrassed me." My mother refused to answer the question.

"Nothing. I did nothing, which is why she can't answer that," I said, despite the fact I knew I shouldn't.

Nobody nearby was listening to the conversation happening at this table, as they were all busy eating, mingling, or dancing to the soft music in the middle of the room. I was thankful, as this would make things ten times worse.

"Aurora, I'm not going to listen to your smart mouth. Not tonight," My mother threatened.

"Vivienne," My father warned.

"Harold, go get me a drink." She ignored his pleas. He looked at me with an apologetic look, one that looked a lot like the one Paige had given me before she left the table.

He left after, leaving my mother and me alone. She moved to the seat Jason was sitting in, putting herself right next to me. It was silent as I waited for her to speak, knowing she was like a ticking time bomb.

I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my knee and looked down to see her gripping my knee roughly. "I won't hesitate to make you leave this function early and take you home myself." She threatened, playing it off with a fake smile in case anyone looked in our direction.

Wincing at the contact of her fake nails digging into my skin, I squirmed back slightly. My hands gripped the sides of the chair as I attempted to pull back, but she had a good grip on my left knee.

She'd never really gotten physical unless you count throwing things at me. This was the closest she'd ever gotten to touching me in a harmful way, but it doesn't mean it hurts any less.

Tears stung my eyes, but I did everything in my power to stop myself from crying. If I cry, it's not only going to give her some type of sick satisfaction but also give her another reason to be mad at me.

The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted the conversation, and I felt immediate relief as my mother's hand dipped away from my leg completely.

I looked over to see Carter standing there patiently, his eyes burning into the leg her hand had previously been on. He finally looked up at me, completely ignoring my mother. "May I have this dance, Rory?" He asked, holding his right hand out.

Staring at him for a second, I saw a look of urgency. He was trying to get me away from my mother and do it in a manner where we were still attending the event, so she couldn't get onto me.

He knew nothing about how she truly was, only from the small interaction he'd just had with her minutes before. The only person who knew how bad she was was Logan, but he swore he wouldn't tell anyone.

Did he tell Carter?

"Don't be rude, Aurora, go dance with him." My mother's menacing tone was long gone, one of fake kindness masking it.

I scooted the chair back quickly, leaving my purse in the chair as I gratefully took his hand. It covered mine completely, his skin soft and warm. I knew for a fact he could feel the welts covering my skin, as I'd been scratching at it for what seemed like forever.

He didn't say anything about it, though, and without another look, dragged me away from my mom.

Carter pulled me to the middle of the room, standing a bit of a distance away from everyone else. My eyes found Paige, who was no longer dancing with Jason. She was now dancing with Logan, laughing about something. My eyes found Jason, who'd awkwardly been dancing with another young girl. I know for a fact he was forced, especially from the look he gave when we made eye contact.

The feeling of hands grabbing my sides caught my attention, and I looked in front of me to see Carter staring down at me. His hands were warm, warming up my sides despite the fact that my skin was already hot.

After not moving for a good moment, he chuckled to himself as he grabbed my hands and pressed them to his chest. I could feel his heartbeat, it was beating awfully quickly.

Probably not quicker than mine, I realized, as he put his hands back to my sides.

He swayed us back and forth gently, looking inexperienced next to the couples who were dancing as if they'd done it for years.

"Don't expect any of that from me, I don't dance," Carter spoke as he saw me looking at my Aunt and Uncle. They seemed to have forgotten the reason they'd excused themselves from the table in the first place, having the time of their lives as if nobody else was around.

"I'm not forcing you to be here," I told him, moving my eyes back to his. "You're the one who asked me to dance."

"So you could keep dealing with Mom from hell over there?" He scoffed, "Right."

"Was she that loud?" I asked, looking down between our bodies as we danced. I watched our feet, barely moving from the ground as we gently swayed back and forth.

"Loud, no. Obvious, yes." He corrected, "Plus, I saw this." He stopped, pulling my right hand off his chest. "I'm not talking about the bruises, either."

"Oh, that's-"

"They're not scratches from skateboarding, Rory. You don't even own a skateboard." Carter cut me off. He put my hand back on his chest, moving his back to my waist. "I'm not stupid, I saw the fear in your eyes."

"It's nothing, really." I denied it, shaking my head.

"You can't keep telling me when people hurt yoy that it's nothing. You said that with Hanneman, too, and that was definitely something." Carter shook his head this time, not liking my response. "I remember the day we met when you told me that you had a little brother."

"A week ago today," I whispered. "Feels like longer."

"It does," He agreed. "A week ago, you mentioned that your little brother was your mother's pride and joy, and now I see how true it really is. She's not as lowkey as she thinks she is."

"She just uses tough love," I excused, feeling suffocated in the small room. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Okay," He whispered, seeming to understand how much it was bothering me. The tears slowly subsided that I didn't even realize pooled in my waterline, and I stared at Carter's chest to avoid looking into his eyes.

It grew silent between us, and we swayed back and forth silently. When my emotions were a little more under control, I realized how close we were. When he'd first begun to dance with me, there was a good distance between us, but now that we'd been like this for a bit, I realized our chests were almost touching.

I could easily move my head an inch forward, and it'd be resting on his chest, but I know that'd come across as weird considering we only met a week ago. I need to keep telling myself that, no matter how much he opens up to me.

We only met a week ago, just like everyone else at Riverway High. I can't be so gullible to allow these people to know me knowing there could still be ulterior motives behind it.

Carter reached up to grab my right hand. He held it in his, swaying us a little more, so it looked like we were actually dancing compared to only moments before. His thumb moved gently along the bottom of mine, and it wasn't long before I felt a weight press against the top of my head.

I quickly realized it was Carter's head, and he was growing more comfortable. For someone who doesn't dance, he was getting quite into it when all he really needed to do was sway the way he had been doing before.

The music transitioned, eventually shutting off completely. This meant almost as quickly as Carter placed his head on mine, it moved as he turned to see that everyone was exiting the middle area.

This made me realize I was going to have to go back with my mother. Even with Paige and her parents there, it wasn't going to change the fact that she was going to make remarks.

Seeming to notice my worry, Carter shook his head. "Don't worry," He told me as if reading my thoughts.

He pulled me along with him and toward his table. Logan was already sitting down at this point, watching us closely. "Mom, Dad." Carter started, catching their attention.

They looked over at us, a look I couldn't decipher on Cyrus' face.

"Can Rory sit with us the rest of the night?" He asked. I glanced down, seeing his hand still holding mine. It was the right one, the same one that was covered in scratches and bruises.

"Did her parents say it was okay? This is their first event, maybe we should-"

"I want her to sit here too, is that okay?" Logan cut their mother off. It caught me off guard, and I'm assuming it caught Carter off guard as well by the way his hand dropped mine.

I looked at Logan, who sent me a nod. Then I remembered he was previously dancing with Paige, meaning she probably told him about what had happened. She didn't know that Logan knew all about my mother, but that doesn't mean she probably didn't tell him that my mother wasn't very happy with me.

"I guess so," Cyrus said. "Make sure it's okay with her parents."

Carter didn't hesitate to grab my hand again, pulling me along in the direction of my table. He stopped in front of it, catching everyone's attention.

"Rory's going to sit with me and my family if that's okay. They want her to sit with us." Carter announced.

"Well, is that really necessary-"

"I don't see the problem with it," My father quickly cut my mother off, smiling at Carter. "Would it be okay if Paige joins? Those two are like conjoined twins."

Carter nodded, grabbing my purse from my empty chair. "Sounds good."

Paige quickly stood, scooting her chair in once she was standing up. She sent me a look, to which I just glanced at the floor.

"Take good care of them," Uncle Murphy said from his spot, smiling at the Jackson boy.

No more words were said as we quickly made our way back across the room to where the rest of the Jackson family sat. Paige took a seat next to Logan, where I sat between her and Carter. Carter sat my purse in my lap once he was sitting, leaning back in his chair as he had earlier in the night.

My eyes trailed to Paige, who leaned in very close to me. "This is insane, your mother's going to go psycho."

"Tell me about it, I bet she's already planning my murder as we speak."