When I saw Harry's face a surge of anger took over me and I went to slam the door in his face but he stopped me.

"Carter, please!" He begged.

"Just go away, Harry!" I yelled.

"At least tell me why you're mad at me?!" He marched inside behind me and I threw the knife onto the counter.

"If you don't know why I'm mad at you then obviously we aren't as close of friends as I thought we were."

"Carter! I can't read your mind! And I can't fix this if you don't tell me what I did wrong! You're my best friend, I would never do anything to hurt you!"

"Then why are you dating Jenna?! Huh?! Explain that to me!"

"I'm not dating her!" He flung back at me.

"So taking her out to dinner and holding her hand as you leave a restaurant was just for what, laughs?"

"I went on one date with her, she's not my girlfriend!"

"It doesn't matter!"

"Carter why the hell are you so mad at me for going on a date?!"

"I'm not mad that you went on a date, I'm mad about who you went on the date with!"

"What do you have against Jenna?!"

"Like you don't know." I seethed.

"I don't! So explain it to me! I'm your best friend Carter."

"I don't have the time to be friends with people who only want to screw me over. I deserve better than that." I turned to walk away from him but then felt him tug my arm back.

"Carter come on!" He pulled me
backwards and for some reason that was the final straw and I whipped around, my hand flying out and striking his cheek.

At this Harry backed away, his face one of total shock and I fumbled back a few steps as well.

I moved my hands to cover my dropped jaw and then slid to the floor, a sob leaving me.

What had I done?

Harry brought his hand to his cheek and made eye contact with me.

I couldn't look at him and dropped my head, tears flowing as I cried.

He was going to hate me. He was going to never want to be my friend again.

I had messed this up.

But then I felt the light touch of his hand on my knee and looked up to see him crouched down in front of me.

He didn't have to ask verbally, his green eyes asked for him: What did Jenna do to make you react like this?

"She's done so many horrible things to me. She's called me the worst names, bashed me in articles and online, gone after my friends, my family...and now she's going after you too." I admitted in a whisper.

"I didn't know..."

"How could you not? It was everywhere."

"Because I don't pay attention to petty articles. I like to learn the truth for myself." He said and I sniffled. "Look, it was one date, an awful date at that, I didn't mean to offend you or hurt you in any way. I need you to believe that. Do you believe me?"

The only thing I could see in his eyes was sincerity.

I nodded my head and he let out a breath.

"Come here." He moved forward and pulled me into a hug. "I'm really sorry for going on a date with her. If I would've known I would've never said yes."

"I'm sorry I slapped you." I said next and he let out a laugh.

"Yeah, you hit hard." He said and I sniffled and laughed at the same time, wiping off my tears with the back of my hand. "So are we friends still?"

"If you still want to be." I looked up at him.

"Yes." I said and he smiled at me before leaning in to kiss my cheek.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Harry and I both looked up to see Ender standing at the top of the stairs, glaring at Harry.

He marched down the stairs and went right up to Harry, shoving him away from me.

"Ender!" I gasped and yanked him backwards.

"Don't touch my sister! Leave her alone!" Ender screamed at Harry as he fell back on me and I secured my arms around him tightly.

"What is your problem?!" I yelled at the struggling kid in my arms.

"He kissed you!"

"On the cheek! Like friends do! Now calm down!"

Ender stopped struggling but breathed heavily.

"I don't want him to touch you."

"You need to listen to me." I said to Ender through my teeth. "Harry is my friend. He kissed me on the cheek just like how Luke, Michael, and Calum kiss me on the cheek. Stop jumping to the conclusion that something more is happening and act like a mature child. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am." He mumbled.

"Now apologise."

"Sorry I pushed you." Ender said to Harry who just nodded at him.

"Now go upstairs and I will be there in a minute." I let Ender go and he trudged up the stairs.

"I don't think I'm welcome here." Harry said but I rolled my eyes.

"Are you staying or leaving?"

"I don't know."

"You can sleep on the sofa if you want to stay for a day or two."

"Okay." He nodded and I went to get a pillow and blanket from the hall closet.

I set them on the sofa, and now being completely drained of energy I told him goodnight and then went up stairs to turn off Enders bedroom light.

I then went to my bed where I threw myself on the mattress, ready to have a relaxing and stress free day tomorrow.

That is, until I woke up in the morning, nausea taking over me causing me to run to the bathroom where I threw up for what seemed like forever until Ender finally came in and saw me before running to get Harry.

I then spent the rest of my morning being given medicine, listening to a worried Ashton on the phone, and having Ari coddle me like a baby.

"Okay, lift up your tongue, I need to take your temperature." Ari said as she stood over me and I whined.

"Ari you took my temperature thirty minutes ago."

"Ashton wants to know what it is."

I sighed and let her take my temperature, Harry sitting on the floor next to my bed by my feet.

"I just want to sleep." I mumbled.

"And you can, right after I get you some tea." Ari said and then left the room.

Thankfully Mr. Riley had stepped in to help with the tours but Jason was helping out in the shop to check customers out while Ender stayed with Mr. Riley on the boat.

I honestly felt fine now, the nausea had passed, but Ari had me on bed rest.

I didn't even have a fever!

Harry gave me a little smile and I sighed.

"I just wish Ashton was here." I mumbled. "He knows how to make me feel better."

"What does he do?" Harry asked.

"He holds me and kisses me, and he'll do this thing where he like runs his fingers over my face and hair and that always feels really nice. Sometimes he'll sing to me if I ask him to. And then just being with him always makes me feel better, so." I shrugged and he nodded.

"Well I can do three of those things if you want." He offered.

"Like what?"

"Well I could sing to you, I could hold you, and I can do that touching your face thing."

"I want you to sing to me." I said and he laughed.

"What do you want me to sing?" He stood up.

"Whatever you want." I said and he moved towards my head.

"Lift your head." He said and I did. He put a hand under my head and then sat down on my bed, letting my head lay in his lap.

Feeling his fingers touch my face I smiled contently and heard him begin to softly sing to me.

He kept his voice at no more than a whisper and soon it had me drifting off to sleep.

The next time I awoke I was alone, but there was a beautiful vase of 12 red roses next to me and I sat up to pull the card off the clip.

I'm sorry you aren't feeling well and I hope you feel better soon. I love and miss you with all of my heart. Stay strong pretty girl, I can't wait to see you.

-Ash

I smiled when I read over the words and then reached out for my phone, finding his number at the top of my recent calls.

"Have I ever told you that you are the sweetest man in the world?" I asked him when he answered and then heard his glorious laugh come through the speaker.

"Did you get my gift?"

"I did. It was on our nightstand when I woke up. That was very sweet, thank you."

"I wanted to do something to cheer you up. I wish I was there to take care of you. But by the way, I like how you call it our nightstand."

I giggled at this and then put him on speaker so I could lay my head down.

"I miss you like mad, Ashton. I don't know if i'll be able to make it the rest of the week."

"Aw, I miss you too. And I have no problems with you coming back to me early."

I laughed.

"So how's our little princess doing?"

"She's currently asleep, I need to get her up soon."

"Ah. How was your day yesterday?"

"Good. A little weird but that's because you're not here." He said and then there was a pause. "So Harry's there?"

"Yeah. He showed up last night."

"And...?"

"We fought."

"So what did he say?"

"He's not dating Jenna. He didn't know about everything that had happened and he said he only went on one bad date with her and that he was really sorry. But I kind of might have accidentally slapped him."

"You slapped him?!"

"I was angry and upset and it just happened. I felt really bad about it, I still kind of do."

"Carter." He said and I sighed.

"I know. I shouldn't have done that."

I heard him let out a breath.

"So are you feeling better?" He asked.

"Yeah. I feel fine, but Ari is forcing me to stay in bed."

"Well, she's just making sure you get well again."

"I just want to be with you again." I whined.

"Yeah?" He chuckled. "What do you want to do when you get back?"

"I want to make out with you for a really long time." I said and he giggled adorably.

"Then we can send the kids over with the guys and make out for hours." He said and I smiled.

"I like that." I hummed.

"And if making out leads to other activities...?"

"Then I won't be disappointed."

"I miss you." He chuckled.

"I miss you too." I sighed happily. "Okay, well I guess I'll let you go."

"Alright. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

I set down the phone and sighed into my pillow, missing Ashton terribly.

I turned in my blankets facing my door to see Harry leaning against the frame.

"Oh. Hey. How long have you been there?"

"Awhile." He said.

My cheeks flared because I knew he probably heard Ashton and I talking about sex.

I flipped off my blanket and sat up, stretching my arms.

"For someone so innocent you talk quite the game." He commented and I blushed out of embarrassment again, letting out an awkward laugh.

"He's my fiancé, we talk about those types of things."

"I'm not judging."

I nodded and then took my phone in my hands again and begin to explore all of the things I missed when I was ill.

On twitter I found adorable photos of Ashton and Gracie on a television show, along with ones of them holding hands as they walked along the street and leaving a restaurant.

Instagram held some precious photos and videos of our daughter as she played and talked with Ashton, and then I came across a photo that made me smile ear to ear.

Ashton had taken a selfie of himself, his shirt gone so you could see the sea shell tattoo over his heart.

'She may be far away but she will always be close to my heart.'

I liked his photo and then yawned before setting my phone down, Harry still standing there.

"Do you need anything?"

"I'm just going to go check on the shop and Ender really quick." I stood up and went to the bathroom first, freshening myself up a bit before heading downstairs.

Jason and Ari were downstairs, the two of them cutting up vegetables side by side at the counter.

"Hey, Car, how ya feeling?" Jason asked.

"Good. Where's Ender?"

"He and Mr. Riley just took out the last tour. We were just getting a head start on dinner." Jason said.

"Have you talked to Ashton?" Ari then asked.

"Yeah, I just got off the phone with him." I gave her a smile.

I made myself some tea, helping Ari and Jason with dinner until Ender came back in.

I went outside to thank Mr. Riley for helping and gave him a portion of that days income as a thank you, and then went back inside where I sent Ender up for a shower.

Once he was showered we sat down for dinner, Harry staying next to me and then I went up to fold some laundry.

I was sitting on my bed folding tee shirts when there was a knock on my door and I looked up to see Ender standing there.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked me and I nodded, watching as he came in and closed the door behind him before sitting on my bed.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

"I want to talk to you about Harry."

"Okay...?"

Ender took a deep and awkward breath.

"I know he's your friend and everything, but I don't like that he's here. He always is trying to do things with you that only Ashton is supposed to do and I don't like that."

"Ender. I understand that you and Ashton have this very close bond and you don't want that to go away or have anything jeopardise that, but Harry is just my friend. He only does the same things like Michael, Calum, and Luke. If he overstepped a boundary I would tell him okay? But nothing and no one is going to take Ashton away from us, alright?"

"I just don't like that he kisses your cheek. It really bothers me."

"I'll talk to him about it okay?" I said and Ender nodded. "Come here."

He crawled across the bed and over to me where I wrapped my arms around his body as he leaned against me.

"I think the real issue is that you are missing Ashton." I said and he nodded silently. "I miss him too, but we will see him in a few days."

"I don't like it when our family isn't all together." He mumbled.

"Me either. But it will be okay. We can get through this. We've just got to take it one day at a time."

He nodded and I squeezed him a bit tighter.

"You know I love you, right?" I asked him and he looked up at me with a smile as I smiled back at him.

"I know." He said and I kissed his forehead.

I held him for a bit longer until he and I decided to make hot chocolate and watch a movie downstairs.

When we walked into the kitchen Ari and Jason left to go home while I pulled Harry aside.

"I appreciate you coming here and Im really happy we made up, but I think that Ender and I need to have some brother-sister bonding time right now. He's a little fragile and I want to spend some time with him just one on one since we haven't been able to for a while."

"Okay. Well I need to go set up some more jobs for you, so I will head back home."

"Thanks for being here." I squeezed his hand.

"Of course." He said and then moved in to hug me and then went to kiss my cheek but I pulled away.

"What was that about?"

"I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Okay?" He furrowed his eyebrows and then took his bag from the door before waving bye and taking his leave.

I told Ender to pick the movie and then went upstairs to finish my laundry and grabbed my phone to see I had a text from Ashton.

'Okay, don't be mad at me.'

I furrowed my eyebrows.

'Why would I be mad at you? What did you do?'

Moments passed before a photo came to my phone of Gracie holding a golden retriever puppy.

'You did not buy her a puppy.'

'...'

'Ashton Fletcher!'

I immediately dialled him and he answered.

"Ashton, did you honestly get her a puppy?"

"She's been really good this week and we went to a pet shop to look around and she asked for it and when I told her no she didn't even cry or anything she just looked so sad and I went back and got it." He admitted.

"Ashton you have to take it back."

"I can't! She's already named it and everything!"

"We can't have pets in the hotel."

"Yes we can. I asked them."

"Ashton." I sighed.

"She's so happy. She's been playing with it and made it a little bed next to hers and we gave it a bath together and she's so in love with it."

I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Is that Mommy?" I then heard Gracie's voice in the background.

"Yes." Ashton said and then there was a commotion.

"Mommy! I got a puppy!"

"I heard." I laughed.

"Her name is Sprinkles!"

"Sprinkles?" I asked and I could just imagine her grinning at the phone.

"Mhmm. I'm going to play hide and seek with her!"

Then there was another commotion and Ashton came back.

"See. How am I supposed to return it now?"

"Fine. She can keep it, but next time please talk to me before you do something like this?"

"I will. Sorry. It was super spur of the moment and I got emotional watching her get so excited and I wasn't thinking."

"I know. You love her a lot."

"I really do."

After hanging up with him I went downstairs where Ender had the Ninja Turtles movie on the television and sat down on the couch with him.

Later that night I saw Ashton had posted a video of Gracie carrying around her new puppy.

'Introducing Sprinkles Irwin, the newest four-legged member of the Irwin family! Gracie has her first pet and is very excited to play and take care of her new furry friend. (Let's just hope Mommy doesn't kill Daddy when she gets back.)'

I shook my head but liked the picture anyways.

Oh Ashton.

I couldn't be mad at him though. He loved Gracie and would do anything to make her happy, although we did need to have a conversation about spoiling our children.

But it was still adorable to see Gracie so excited and happy.

I loved my little girl and missed her terribly, and I couldn't wait to get back to her so I could cuddle her, kiss her, and squeeze her little cheeks.

Only three more days.