Perhaps a more suitable reaction to Jakes words would have been to turn back in the opposite direction and run, but then again, Jake was as high as a kite, and would probably just run after him thinking it was some game of cat and mouse.

So, Carter took a deep breath and walked slowly up to the table, observing the two guys in front of him. Jake was tapping his foot impatiently and his hand was shaking. The hand that was lifting the joint to his mouth was shaking so much that Carter wondered how he hadn't stabbed himself in the eye with the thing.

William, who sat next to him on the picnic table top, looked too zoned out to care. His eyes were glassy and he just stared out into the distance, his eyes not really focussing on anyone. These boys were taking something, and it wasn't what they usually took. Carter could tell because even when they were high at school they were still somewhat themselves, but right now, they both looked like the drugs had replaced their personality and left them with shells of themselves.

"Come on, I don't have all day," Jake said as he watched Carter walk towards them.

Carter stopped just before the table, wary of getting too close to them. William didn't look dangerous at all, but Jake looked like a ticking time bomb.

"What's up Jake?" he asked, looking around them to see if Roxy was coming. He sighed in relief when she was nowhere to be seen. He didn't want these two anywhere near her.

"What is going on with you and Alex?" Jake asked while continuously tapping his foot against the wood of the bench seat.  

"What?"

"Our," Jake gestured to himself and then William, "best friend has hardly been around these last few days and we saw him and you leaving the cafeteria together, so what's going on there?"

Carter rolled his eyes at the assumption. "It's none of your business, but nothing is going on with Alex and I."

Jake shook his head and narrowed his bloodshot eyes. "I don't believe you."

"Well, I don't care what you think, I'm not lying," Carter told him, standing his ground. He was telling the truth, not that he really expected someone out of their mind on drugs to be able to see that.

"Something is going on," Jake muttered angrily, shaking his head.

Carter was sick of this, Jake and William were way too out of their minds to have a normal conversation, and he should go tell Roxy that they should just go home, it was a bad idea to come here.

"Goodbye Jake," Carter mumbled, but before he turned to go back towards the road he saw Jake standing up on the seat and getting off the table.

This stopped Carter, who stood and watched as Jake took a threatening step towards him while at the same time bringing the joint to his mouth and pulling it away slowly. Jake seemed threatening all of a sudden, and a bad feeling pooled in Carter's stomach.

"You're sleeping with him, aren't you?" Jake taunted with a wicked smile.

Carter shook his head, regretting his decision not to turn and leave when he had the chance. "No, I am not. Just drop this Jake."

Jake had a crazed look in his eyes, and Carter couldn't see this going well. He pissed off a drug addict. Great. Just what he needed.

"You are sleeping with my friend." Jake was getting angrier, he dropped the joint on the ground and focussed all of his attention on Carter. Jakes' fists were clenching and unclenching shakily at his sides.  "He hasn't been himself these last few days, and now I know why."

Carter took a hesitant step back. "Jake calm down. I'm not sleeping with Alex, okay?"

"You're a liar, and a crappy liar at that. I know how you look at him, we all see it, how you pathetically pine over the guy who broke poor Carter's heart," he taunted with cruelty in his voice.

Carter bit his lip, taking another hesitant step back.

"Leave Alex alone, he has new friends now, better friends," Jake warned angrily.

Without warning, Jake lunged towards Carter, knocking them both to the ground with a hard thud against the grass. Carter tried to push Jake off of him but Jake was strong, holding his ground. Jake pulled his fist back and hit Carter hard in the jaw. 

Fear filled Carter as he realised that he may not be able to fight off a guy who was all hyped up on drugs. There was no-one around to help, and if Roxy came looking for him, then she might just get caught in the cross fire.

Carter could taste blood in his mouth at the hit, and he groaned on the ground. He threw his own fist out, but Jake dodged it easily, pulling his fist back. Carter expected the blow, but it never came. He watched as Jake was torn off of him with almost inhuman strength and thrown up against a nearby tree.

He watched with wide eyes as he realised that it was Alex that had done it, and who was now punching Jake into the tree with force. It was only a few seconds before Carter realised exactly how much power were behind those punches as Jake struggled for breath.

"Alex!" Carter got up from the ground, ignoring the pain in his face and body. He reached them and tried to grab Alex's arm, stopping him from placing the next punch, but Alex was too strong and Carter lost his grip. Alex looked crazed and anger was radiating off of him in waves.

This was bad. Jake deserved to be punished, but he didn't deserve to die. Alex was much stronger than Jake and he used that to his advantage, keeping him pinned to the tree even though Jake fought against Alex's iron grip. The punches were getting harder and more violent. Alex's whole world seemed to boil down to Jake.

 Alex was shaking now, his entire body seemed to be moving as rage overcame him and it shocked Carter to his core. He couldn't just watch this happen. Carter had to do something, he couldn't let Alex destroy his life over this. He needed to calm him down before he went too far.

"Alex! Stop!" he screamed, and Alex paused in his movements, the fist flying at Jake's face stilling and the rest of his body seemed to stop except for his ragged breathing. Alex seemed to be torn between his anger and his need to listen to Carter.

"Alex," he called his name, but this time it was gentler, more worried, "Alex, let him go."

Alex's hand left Jake and the boy slid down the trunk of the tree, coming to a stop once he hit the ground, barely conscious. Alex had stopped shaking, his body stilled yet his chest rose and fell at a rapid pace.

Alex faced the tree, his breathing so fast and hard that Carter wondered how he was getting any air at all.

"Alex, look at me." Alex didn't move, so Carter stepped around him, standing in his eye line, his face only inches away from Alex's. Carter whispered softly, "It's ok, I'm safe."

Alex suddenly seemed to really see him, and his rigid body turned responsive. "Are you okay?" he asked in his husky voice.

"I'm okay."

"I promised, I promised I would protect you, I'm so sorry," he told him in a pain filled voice.

Carter didn't know if he was talking about when he texted him that night and told him that he was going to keep Jake away from him, or whether Alex was talking about the day he gave him the ring that still resided deep in the pocket of his jeans. Either way, Carter felt pain in his chest as he watched Alex seem so guilty and hurt.

Carter shook his head. "You did protect me."

Alex's hand came up slowly, resting gently on Carter's face as he looked over what must have looked like a pretty angry wound on his cheek and jaw.

Their eyes locked and that feeling came back, those butterflies in the pit of Carters stomach that told him many things, but the one that stood out the most was the feeling of safety. It was like coming home from a long journey or getting into bed on a cold, winters night. It was the inherent belief in someone, and even after everything, those feelings remained, coming back stronger than ever with such a simple action.

Alex leaned in, and for a split second, Carter thought that he would kiss him.

He didn't though. Alex seemed to come to his senses, and leaned away, but he didn't break the hold his eyes had on Carters and his warm hand didn't leave his face.

"What the hell is going on!?"

That was enough to break the spell that seemed to be cast over the both of them. Carter jumped away from Alex, and they both turned to see that Roxy was standing a few feet from them with wide eyes.

She pointed past them to where Jake was lying deliriously against the tree. "What happened to him? Damn, I can't believe I missed watching dick-head Jake get beat up! I honestly have the worst luck." She then looked at William with an odd expression.

Carter followed her gaze and almost laughed as he saw that William was now lying on the picnic table, rolling around like he was trying to get comfortable. "What's going on with William?"

"They are high, and stupid." Alex told her. "You two should get out of here, I'll make sure these two get home safe."

"Alex.." Carter warned, "you saw how he was, why don't we stay and help?"

Alex shook his head and looked at Roxy. "Take him home, and put some ice on his cheek."

"Ice?" Roxy asked, she crossed the distance between her and Carter. "Woah, you got beat up?"

"It's not that bad." He sent a glance to Alex before nodding to Roxy. They walked out of the park and continued on the roads towards his house.

"Are you going to tell me what was going on back there?" Roxy asked casually.

"They were high, Jake got mad, Alex protected me."

"I was meaning more why did it look like you two were about to make out? I could have cut the sexual tension with a knife."

Carter shook his head. "I don't know what you are talking about." He knew exactly what she was talking about, but his head was already confused, why make it worse?

"Sure, sure, keep telling yourself that," she muttered.

Carter changed the subject. "When we get home let's try to avoid my mother, I don't want her to worry, and I know she will if she sees my face."

"Okay," she agreed.

They quietly entered the house through the front door and Carter made his way quickly upstairs. A few minutes later Roxy came to his room with a bag of ice in her hand. They sat on his bed and she held it gently to his cheek.

"Those guys are bad news, you shouldn't have gone up to them alone. You don't know what they are capable of," Roxy warned.

"I know, I don't know what I was thinking."

They sat in silence for a while until Roxy's mom called and she had to go home. After Roxy left Carter stayed in his room, not wanting to risk his mother seeing his face and going all mother bear on him.

Eventually it was quarter to six and he knew that he would have to leave soon. A quick glance in the mirror revealed that there was a dark bruise on his cheek and jaw, but it wasn't too noticeable. He kept his jeans on and changed into a black hoodie before grabbing his wallet from his desk and shoving it in his pocket.

He knocked on his sister's door. "I thought you said you didn't want to be late?" He called out and the door opened immediately. Lara was dressed in a baby pink dress and black flats, her normally messy hair was brushed and pulled away from her face.

"What happened to your face?" she asked. "That wasn't there this morning."

"It's nothing, let's get you to that date."

Lara looked hesitant but she grabbed her purse and followed her brother down the stairs. Carter was quite pleased that it seemed his mother must have already left for work, and he was thankful for the night shift for the first time in his life.

They had just gotten into the car when he realised that he had no idea where they were actually going. He had promised to take her to the date without even thinking about where the date would be.

"Where are we going?" he asked her just as he put the key into the ignition.

"The restaurant that's near that lake mom used to take us as kids."

Carter sighed internally, he knew the place, and he knew the place well. That was the exact restaurant where he and Alex used to go all the time, the one right next to the ice-cream parlour and close to the lake. That same lake where they had exchanged promise rings and watched the sun set.

"You do know where it is, don't you?"

Carter nodded. "Yeah I know it."

The drive was short and silent, Lara spent the entire time looking at herself in the mirror of the sun visor, applying lip-gloss and checking her hair. When they arrived Carter got out of the car, and the two of them walked up to the restaurant. They passed through the large old fashioned doors and entered the lobby section of the restaurant where they were able to see most of the tables. It was a modern type of elegant, yet it was laid out simply with large tables with white table cloths and simple chairs. It was a well done mix between family place and elegant restaurant, Carter could see a couple of families with children and other tables were vacant on children and consisted of men in business suits.  

"Do you see him?" he asked his sister, who shook her head. "Maybe he is running late, I'll call him."

Lara reached into her purse, but then stopped, looking over her shoulder. "Oh no," she muttered, biting her lip.

Carter turned around quickly, wondering what was distressing his sister. What he saw made his eyes widen significantly. "Alex?"

Alex and Jayden, Alex's brother, stood before them. Jayden wore a guilty expression similar to Lara's but Alex's mirrored Carters, confusion and awkwardness.

Alex smiled hesitantly. "Hi guys." 

"Hi."

Did anyone guess it?? Let me know in the comments :)