Carter awoke to bright sunlight streaming in through the window and cold feet. Literally, her feet felt like they were freezing. Apparently, she'd kicked the blanket off sometime during the night, although she couldn't fathom why because it was cold and they hadn't bothered to turn the heat up.

Familiar green eyes welcomed her, their expression warm, soft, and loving.

Harry wore a gentle smile, he was looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, although she doubted that she was.

"Good afternoon, love. Sleep well?"

Carter smiled and awkwardly inched closer to him, she missed the heat of his skin against hers and the room was still cold.

Harry got the hint and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her gently into his chest. Carter hummed and nuzzled her face in his neck. Her nose was cold against his skin and he sighed happily knowing that she wanted him to hold her both to keep her warm and because she wanted to be close to him.

"Good afternoon. I slept very well, although, next time we should turn on the heat. I'm practically freezing."

Harry chuckled softly and pulled her even closer. He could feel her smile against his skin as he kissed the top of her head.

"Sorry, got a bit carried away. You're warm now, right?"

Carter hummed in contentment. She was definitely warm now, the thick and fluffy blanket wrapped around them and Harry's body pressed against hers. She was so warm and comfortable that she never wanted to leave.

"Mmmhhhmm. Very. I don't suppose we can stay like this for the rest of the day, can we?"

Harry smiled softly, "We can if you want to."

The truth was that he wanted to stay in bed, cuddled under the blankets and with Carter in his arms, but he knew that she planned on ending things with Jacob today and that she probably wouldn't stay like that, even if they both really wanted to.

Carter sighed, breathing in the familiar and fading scent of his cologne, "I want to, but I've got to end it with him today. If I don't, things will only get more complicated and I just want to get it over with and be with you."

His lips were warm as he placed a sweet kiss to her temple, "That's okay, we can cuddle and stay in bed all day any time that you want, I promise."

Her breath warmed his skin as she exhaled through her nose, she loved it when he made cute little promises like that.

"Just give me an hour or two, I'll never get tired of getting lost in you."

. . .

Carter paced anxiously around the empty apartment. Jacob was still at work, but he would be back in only a matter of minutes and she still struggled over what to say to him.

The ring twirled between her fingers and her heart was beating at a thousand miles an hour because she had no idea what to expect from him after she told him the truth and that they were over.

Before she ran out of time, she called Harry.

He answered on the second ring, "Hey, how'd it go?"

Carter sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "It didn't, at least, not yet anyway. I just needed to hear your voice. I don't know how he's gonna react and I'm a little worried."

"You don't think that he would-"

She cut him off, even though she was a little hesitant herself, "No...No, I don't think so, but I don't know him as well as I know you, Harry."

"Sweetheart, do you want me to come and wait outside for you? If you don't feel safe or certain that he won't get angry and take it out on you, then I don't want to be here and let that happen to you."

Carter bit her lip, she wasn't sure that Jacob wouldn't flip and turn into a completely different person. They'd had fights here and there, just like every couple, and he tended to get really mad. There was one time that she remembered him raising his hand to slap her, but he had realized it the moment he did it and apologized profusely.

But he didn't hit her. He had never hit her.

"No, it's alright. I don't think that he'll hurt me. Well, probably with some hurtful words, but not with anything else."

"Are you sure?"

She wasn't, but he hadn't ever hit her before so she was going to trust that he could handle the news like an adult that respected women.

"Yes. But, Harry? Just in case, I'm going to text you the address anyway. If um...if anything happens and I call or text you and say something along the lines of I don't love you and I choose him, then he's made me say it and something is wrong, that's the only time you come to get me, okay?"

Harry hated even thinking about the risk of Jacob losing his shit and hitting her, or worse, but he had to respect her and what she wanted. He trusted Carter to know what she was doing just like she trusted him to come get her if he felt like anything was wrong.

"I don't like the thought of that, Carter. But I trust you. If you aren't back by eight and I haven't heard from you, I'm coming to get you regardless. This whole thing just doesn't sit right with me; I really wish that you'd just brought me with you."

Carter sighed and plopped herself down on the couch, "I know. I'm sorry, but I have to do this myself."

She heard footsteps in the hall and rushed Harry off the phone, "He's here, I've got to go. I love you."

He walked through the door before she could hear Harry respond and she quickly ended the call, a shy and forced smile on her lips, "Hi."

Jacob stared at her with wide eyes, she hadn't even told him what time she would be back and he was slightly confused, but he was happy to see her.

He shut the door carefully and made his way over to her, a smile on his lips as he went in for a kiss. Carter turned her head away before he could, closing her eyes to avoid the disappointment in his.

Jacob pulled back, hurt by her actions, "Did I do something?"

Carter shook her head, her eyes glossy because she hated to have these conversations and he was a good guy, she felt terrible for stringing him along just to ease her pain.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong. There's something that I need to talk to you about though, would you mind if we sat down?"

Concern blanketed his features and he nodded quickly, "Yeah, yeah of course."

He was worried that she might have been pregnant, he hadn't been planning on having kids for a while, or ever for that matter.

She let him take hold of her hand as they settled on the couch. Immediately, he noticed that her ring was missing.

"Where's your ring?"

Carter wore a sad smile, tears threatening to spill over at any moment, "In my other hand."

Jacob started to worry, she was acting weird and what reason did she have to take her engagement ring off?

"Was it too small? I could always take it back and have them re-"

Carter shook her head and cut him off quickly, "No, Jacob, that's not it."

She was hoping that he would understand without her having to explicitly say it, but he was turning a blind eye to the situation. He thought that maybe someone in her family had died while she was away.

"Did someone-"

Carter wouldn't look at him, she didn't want to see the look on his face when she said the words she'd been mulling over for weeks, "Jacob, it's off because I'm giving it back. I think that it's best if we just end this before it can get any further. I'm so sorry."

Heavy silence followed and, if she bit her lip any harder, she was certain she would taste blood. She couldn't look at him, couldn't face the hurt and disappointment that she'd caused. Seeing what she had done to Harry was more than enough for her to never want to do that to someone ever again. But she had to do this, she had to let him go because her heart wasn't in it or with him, it was with Harry.

Carter knew that he was crying by the change in his breathing and she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm herself so that she didn't make things any worse than they needed to be.

"What went wrong? Was it...was it me? Can we fix this-fix us?"

Carter let out a deep exhale and opened her eyes, she had to face him, to face this.

"Nothing, Jacob. Nothing went wrong, it wasn't you at all. I never meant to do this to you, but I was lying to myself and ended up using you to distract me from my feelings. We can't...we can't fix us because, fuck. Because I'm still in love with Harry."

His features darkened and she could tell that he was both sad and angry because she had let things get so far and made him believe that she was over her not-so-ex-lover.

"You told me that you were getting past that. You told me that you loved me! You meant it, I know that you did. I know that you did."

She forced her body not to flinch at his new raised and angry tone. She had told him all of that, and she thought that she had meant it when she said she was getting over Harry.

"I did mean it when I said that I loved you, Jacob, I do. But I don't love you the way that I should and I think that you know that too. I'm so sorry that I let it get this far, I never meant to string you along."

Jacob stood up forcefully, his fists clenched at his sides, "But you did! You did it anyway Carter! Fuck. You did it anyway!"

He started to pull at his hair and pace the room with heavy footsteps. A thought dawned on him as Carter remained silent, her hands in her lap and her head down.

"You've been seeing him, haven't you?"

Carter didn't answer immediately and he raised his voice some more and asked again, this time much closer to where she sat, "Haven't you!?"

Her voice sounded almost non-existent compared to his, "Yes."

Jacob hit the wall, his fist going straight through the plaster and making Carter cringe, "Is that why you had to fucking stay for a few more weeks? Was the appendicitis a lie too?"

Carter shook her head quickly, tears streaming down her face, "No! No, that was real! Look! I have the scar to prove it!"

She lifted her shirt quickly and showed him the fresh scar, but it didn't make him any less suspicious or any less angry.

"Was he there? And don't you fucking lie to me."

Carter nodded, "Yes, he was there. I've been having an affair with him for a little over a month now. After the first time, I tried to stop it but-"

Jacob was livid, "A month!? How many times did you fuck him, you whore!?"

The name was harsher than his tone and that's what stung the most, "I don't know."

Before she could process anything, Jacob was in front of her and his hand met her cheek with a swift blow and a stinging pain.

Carter didn't make a sound and only cried harder. He'd hit her. Jacob had really hit her.

"Since you like being a whore so much, I should show you what it feels like to be a real whore. Would you like that, baby?"

Carter shook her head quickly. There was no way to get around him and he would stop her before she tried to. She was trapped.