Carter focused her eyes on the man beside her. The man with the world in his green eyes and wind sifting through his soft curly hair, the man who'd broken down her walls and left her defenseless, the man that ignited a fire in her veins that she could never put out.

He was saying something, his lips forming words delicately and precisely, his voice smooth and dark, like melted chocolate, but Carter wasn't listening. She was thinking about him and everything that they'd been through together and how he continued to fight for her heart even though it had always been his.

She'd put him through hell, and yet, here he was, sitting next to her in the drivers seat and speaking with a vivid excitement about their wedding. He still wanted to marry her, even after she'd brought a fire to his heart, extinguished it without warning, and brought it back to life again.

Harry loved her despite how much she had hurt him because he loved her heart. Before he met her, many people had taken advantage of her love and made her heart feel like it was irreparable and ended up conflicting her love with her mind. He never blamed her for that and he never would.

His lips continued to move, but Carter still didn't hear a word. She was caught up with how his dimples sunk into his cheeks and how much brighter and alive they made his smile, how his eyes shone as he looked between her and the road, and how much love she could feel radiating from his fingertips as he held her hand in his atop the center console.

She constantly wondered how she'd gotten so lucky to have someone like him, someone that looked past all of her flaws, someone that loved her even when she didn't love herself, someone that still only wanted her love forever even after she'd ripped his heart to shreds countless times.

Harry's soft laughter brought her attention back, his soft green eyes bright as they met with her blue ones, "You weren't even listening to me, were you?"

Carter's cheeks flushed, she wasn't embarrassed, but she felt like she was a teenager again because she had gotten lost in her head while she was staring at him, "No, sorry. What were you saying? You looked happy."

Harry's hand squeezed hers lightly and the edges of her smile lifted in turn, "I'm always happy, because I have you. But, I was talking about how my mother is going to smother you with affection for the rest of your life. She's liked you since I started talking about you and she's been talking my ear off about this dinner for weeks."

Carter's blush deepened, his entire family was so sweet and welcoming, well, except Sam. "You haven't told me that. Is that why you refuse to acknowledge that your phone is ringing sometimes?"

Harry nodded and laughed loudly, his mother took up at least two hours of his day talking his ear off about their dinner plans and the wedding, so, when she called again later in the day, sometimes he pretended like he didn't notice. "Yes, I love my mother, but I can only take so much."

Carter leaned over the console and kissed his cheek, "Even so, you're still unbelievably sweet."

The rest of the drive passed by in what felt like a blink of an eye as they sang loudly to songs on the radio and shared kisses at stop signs.

Carter had been to his parent's house many times before, but this time something felt off. There was another car in the driveway and it didn't belong to his parents.

Carter bit her lip and glanced over at Harry. His knuckles were white against the steering wheel, clearly he knew who's car it was.

He felt her squeeze his hand, but he was so unbelievably angry that it hardly registered. How could they invite his brother to the dinner that they had been planning for weeks, just to celebrate their wedding that was just around the corner.

He knew that his mother had done it and he loved his mother to death, but this pushed him over the edge. She knew that Sam hated him and always made him as miserable as possible and she invited him anyway.

Carter frowned and carefully removed his hand from the steering wheel. Her thumbs ran over the tops of his hands and he let go of his anger immediately because he knew it was worrying Carter.

Harry sighed and lifted their hands, his lips pressing to Carter's knuckles tenderly, "I'm sorry. It's just...that's Sam's car and she knows how terrible he is to me."

He closed his eyes and Carter brought her palm up to cup his cheek, her voice soft as she spoke, "Hey, don't let him get the best of you. Maybe he's changed, like my mother. And, if not, then maybe you can talk to him like you talked to her. You don't have to let him win, Harry."

Harry opened his eyes and returned her soft smile, her hand dropped and his moved to her cheek, "You're right."

His lips met hers in a sweet kiss that roused hundreds of butterflies in her stomach, "Are you ready to go inside?"

Carter could tell that he was still holding on to some anger and this time she kissed him first, with enough pressure to tell him that it was alright and that she would stand by him, "Whenever you are."

Harry maintained a tight vise on her hand, but Carter didn't mind it because she understood. She was slightly peeved that his parents had invited his brother, but she also knew that people could change and maybe it was just them telling Harry that Sam had changed.

They stood outside the front door for five minutes, Harry practically shaking with both anger and anticipation for what lie behind the door and Carter trying to reassure him through tender kisses and soft words that, no matter what happened, it would be alright.

Carter stood up on her toes and softly kissed the bottom of his jaw, he loved it when she kissed him there and it brought his mood up enough to make him knock on the door.

Not even a minute had passed before his mother came rushing out and enveloped him in a tight hug. Harry wanted to be mad, but he couldn't once he saw how happy his mother was. He hugged her back equally as tight and mumbled, "Hello to you too, Mum."

Anne laughed as she pulled away and planted a kiss on his cheek. Carter admired how he wasn't embarrassed by her display of affection, he didn't blush and his beautiful smile had returned.

Carter was next on the list and she laughed as she hugged his mother back, "It's nice to see you again, Mom."

She'd picked up the habit of calling her Mom a long time ago, the woman practically insisted and she was a mother to Carter when she didn't have one. Carter loved her almost as much as Harry did and the feeling was mutual.

"You too, sweetheart. Come in! Dinner's almost ready!"

Harry had dropped her hand to hug his mother and how he reached for it quickly, squeezing her hand immediately after he'd found it. Anne noticed, but before she could say anything, Carter was standing on her toes and placing a loving kiss on his cheek, "Relax, it will be okay."

Anne looked at her son, confused by his sudden change in attitude until she realized that he probably recognized Sam's car in the driveway. She sighed and offered him a weak smile, "I didn't mean to upset you, he found out about our family dinner and he wanted to come. I couldn't tell him no, he's my baby too."

Carter's eyes drifted to Harry. She watched him curiously to see how he would react. If things weren't going to sit well with him, she wasn't going to make him stay.

Harry closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. He was silent for a long moment before he opened his eyes again and looked at his mother with a gentle calmness that had been gone for the past thirty minutes, "It's okay, Mum."

Anne sighed in relief and her smile lifted slightly, "Everyone's in the dining room, the food will be out in a minute, I've just got to put out some finishing touches."

Harry smiled and bent down to kiss his mother's cheek because he felt bad for making her feel bad, "Thanks, Mum."

Anne disappeared into the kitchen, and Carter squeezed Harry's hand to get his attention. She could see the pain and the fear behind his eyes and her heart hurt with his, "If it's too much, at any time, tell me and we'll go home, okay?"

Harry smiled down at her softly, "Have I told you how much I love you yet?"

Carter beamed, "Every day."

All of the fear and the pain left his eyes, only to be replaced with love and adoration, "Good."

Anne watched them from the kitchen and smiled to herself. She had known there was something about Carter that was different from all of his other girlfriends, and now she knew what it was. Carter cared about him more than she cared about herself and that was just what her little boy had always needed because he gave his heart to anyone that asked for it without any care for himself.

Harry was prepared to see his brother in the dining room, but neither of them were prepared to see Aurora sitting next to him. Carter's eyes widened slightly, her heartbeat increasing dramatically as she thought about her encounters with the woman in front of her.

She didn't like her, but she could be civil and sit down to dinner with her and Harry's brother, even if both of them had been horrible people in the past.

Harry looked down at her and in the brief moment that their eyes met, they held a conversation of a thousand words. Neither of them particularly liked the idea of both Sam and Aurora being at their planned celebratory dinner, but they decided to give them a chance to redeem themselves because the past was just that, the past, and sometimes it was better to let things go.

Sam wore a smug smile as they entered the room, "Look who's finally here!"

His tone was laced with anger and sarcasm. Harry tensed besides Carter and she squeezed his hand harshly to keep him aware of his emotional state. When Harry got angry, he was absent of himself and only acted on his feelings and she hated to see him that way because it was frightening and because he didn't deserve to be that angry, ever.

Robin stood up immediately and made his way over to Harry. They shared one of those weird man hugs before turning their attention to Carter.

"I see that you've been keeping him in check."

Carter laughed as Robin pulled away, "Wouldn't want him to be off the walls, now would we?"

Harry rolled his eyes playfully and wrapped his arm around Carter's waist, pulling her closer to him for comfort because being in the same room as both Sam and Aurora was really getting to him.

Carter once more stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek, her whispered words catching in his ear as she pulled away, "Just let me know."

They sat down with strained smiles, neither wanted to be next to who they were sitting next to. Harry had decided to sit by Sam because Aurora had continued to try and gain his love back, even when she knew that he was hurting terribly because Carter had left him, and he didn't trust her to not make any moves on him that Carter couldn't see.

Carter ended up next to Aurora, her blood simmering because she remembered how Aurora had called her and confessed to knowingly sleeping with Harry when he was with her. She'd apologized then and afterwards, but Carter just couldn't make herself forget it, even if she tried to ignore the past.

In the end, they ended up scooting their chairs next to each other to leave as much space as possible between them and the haunting reminders of the past that they were desperately trying to move forward from.

Sam smirked at Harry and Carter noticed how his grip on her hand tightened dramatically, "So, my little brother is finally getting married."

Harry fought with himself to not scoff and roll his eyes. He remained calm and loosened his grip on Carter's hand because he knew that he was hurting her, "I'm not your little brother, Sam. I'm three minutes older than you. But yes, I am."

Sam's eyes moved to Carter and his eyes glinted with mischief, "Didn't think I'd see you again."

Carter's eyes were like glaciers as she met his gaze, "People make mistakes, love isn't easy, but you don't give up on it."

That shut him up and Carter smiled slightly to herself after noticing the slight smile that tugged at the corners of Harry's lips. Robin knew that letting Sam and Aurora join them wasn't a good idea, he could feel the tension in heavy waves, but Harry and Carter were handling it well, they were certainly being far more civil than Sam was.

It was taking Anne a little longer than a minute to return, so Carter kissed Harry's cheek and told him that she would be right back. He and Robin knew that she was going to help his mother and they each smiled because she didn't have to do that.

Robin asked Harry a few questions about the wedding, which cheered him up tremendously and he answered enthusiastically, forgetting that Sam and Aurora were even in the room.

Carter and his mother brought dinner in after a few more minutes. Everyone smiled except for Aurora and Sam. For a while, everyone ate in silence and tried to ignore the heavy atmosphere.

Anne didn't like it after a while and smiled brightly at Carter, "So, have you picked a flower girl yet?"

Carter smiled shyly, her cheeks flushing slightly, "No, not yet. We've been a little preoccupied with settling details, but we'll have one soon. Harry says that you've got an adorable niece that would be perfect for the job."

Harry smiled, but he didn't say a word. His mother already knew that Carter was talking about Annabel. Annabel was adorable and she loved him to death. She'd kept him happy for a good while after Carter had left him.

Anne's face lit up at the mention of her niece, "Oh, that would be so cute! She absolutely adores Harry, he spoils her like she's his daughter."

Carter glanced over at Harry, his cheeks were a light pink and he shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. Carter thought it was adorable, "You never told me that."

"I didn't want you to think I was biased."

Carter giggled and Sam rolled his eyes. He hated that Harry was so damn happy and that their parents just smothered him with affection.

Sam looked at Aurora smugly and Carter noticed that she looked nervous, like she knew what he was going to say and she didn't want him to say it.

"Actually, I've also got an announcement to make." Sam paused momentarily, his eyes meeting Harry's with a sick twist of humor, "Aurora and I are engaged."

Harry stood from the table abruptly, his knees hitting the surface and making plates clatter. Carter didn't make him stay, her eyes watching him take angry strides out of the room as he headed to the back yard.

Carter looked around the table, both of his parents were stunned at his outburst, Sam was smirking and Aurora looked like she wanted to be sick.

Her eyes drifted to the direction Harry had gone and she excused herself with as much sincerity as she could muster, "I'm so sorry, please excuse me."

She found him outside, tugging at the ends of his hair and mumbling to himself. There were tears racing down his cheeks and her heart broke just looking at him.

Carter didn't say a word as she sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him close and letting her actions speak for her. Something inside of him snapped and he leaned into her, broken sobs leaving his lips.

"I just don't get why he hates me so much. I didn't mean to go after the girl that he liked, I didn't even know that he liked her, and he's made me feel like shit ever since. Why can't he just be my brother and be happy for me?"

Warm tears pooled in her eyes, she knew what it felt like to have someone who you were supposed to love and that you tried to love treat you like absolute garbage. Her arms held him tighter as her tears fell on his t-shirt, "I don't know, Harry. But I do know that you don't need to be treated like that and that you can be the better person because your heart is golden. Don't let him get to you Harry, it's not worth it. Don't let him take your heart away."