I CLOSE MY physiology exam packet, nervously debating if I should go through it to double check my answers for the fourth time. There's still five minutes left of our allotted test taking time. It wouldn't hurt to look again, but I'm finally feeling confident about my answers.

I hand my packet to professor Gallagher and give my final greetings to him before I leave his class for the last time.

With every completed exam, another weight is lifted off my shoulders and now with physiology behind me, I only have one more test to finish the semester out. Pharmacology.

It feels like my head is near bursting with knowledge of what feels like every medication known to man and its various effects on the human body. The headache sucks, but I do feel somewhat prepared for the exam tomorrow morning. You can never be too comfortable with professor Kane, though.

I hurry my pace down the long stairwell of the STEM building and maneuver past the corridor of the first floor to the lounge area.

Carter is sitting comfortably back against the orange couch in the center of the room. He flips through one of the science magazines that sit on the table, feigning interest.

I tap on the cover of the magazine and read its title. "You into nanotechnology now, pretty boy?"

Carter looks up, a smile forming on his plump lips. "Well, I'm not just pretty, I have brains too you know." He drops the magazine back onto the table and stands to wrap his arm over my shoulder. "How did your exam go?"

"I feel good about it. I think it went well."

He kisses my forehead and we exit out of the doors back to my room.

The May air is chilly this late afternoon. A welcomed cool down from the more humid morning we had. I take my scrunchie out of my hair, letting it pool over my shoulders. Carter pushes back the few curls that cover my face and kisses the bridge of my nose.

His phone goes off when we walk into my building. He looks at the name flashed on the screen and lifts his finger, asking for a moment.

"I'll just go to my room," I say.

He covers his hand over the phone and whispers. "Okay, I'll meet you there in a minute."

I know it's Sam calling. He's taken to being secretive about their relationship, leaving at the drop of a hat when she's off from school and work, or exiting the room to have private conversations he doesn't want me to hear.

Their dynamic is more strange to me than it's ever been. I don't know exactly what he's doing or saying to keep her clean. I don't know if she's even stayed clean since I last saw her. Something is very off. Then again, I haven't been in their shoes and I don't understand the full complexities of addiction.

I wish I could be let in but I know if Carter and I are gonna survive, it's best I stay out of things. At least until her custody battle is resolved.

He comes into my room after a while, letting out a heavy breath and pressing his lips together in a sort of grimace. Every part of me wants to ask what's going on with her. I wish we were in a place where he would tell me.

"Are you alright?" I choose to focus on him instead of Sam.

"Yeah, just my typical worrying," he says, dropping himself on my bed beside me.

I run a hand through his soft hair. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

He looks up at me, tension slowly dissolving off of his perfect face. The adoration that replaces it is all for me, and I gloriously bask in it.

"I love you." his lips vibrate against my jaw as he places tiny kisses along its edge.

"I love you." My voice becomes shaky as I tilt my head to allow him space to reach my upper neck.

His arms are hooked around my waist and he holds me with tightness like I'll fall and break if he lets go. Our foreheads connect and I'm stuck motionless from the sheer gravity of his intense gaze.

So often it feels like I'm driving through life on a bumpy path, never knowing if I'll ever get to my destination. With Carter, it feels like I've slowed down. I'm not just some machine made to serve others' interest. I'm present, and I'm important, and I deserve to be happy and loved. That's not something I've ever thought of for myself.

I'd do anything to hold onto this feeling forever if only so much more didn't come with it.     We're two people with a lot of baggage. I'm far from perfect with my issues and seeing the Sam situation has has confirmed something I've suspected before; they're dynamic isn't healthy.

It's not healthy at all and he's wilfully oblivious to it. Worst of all I have to walk on eggshells because he doesn't want me involved. What if we were to turn toxic? What if we already have and I've been oblivious as well? It's something to think about, but later. We still have the summer and I've decided I want to spend it with him in Chester while I intern at Penn medicine. For now, as I lay on his chest and the rhythm of our breathing matches, I wouldn't wish for anything else in the world.

"What time does the play start again?" He coos in my ear.

It's the opening night of West Side Story tonight.

"We have time to spare," I say.

He puts his hand on my face and kisses me roughly with a sweet slowness. All my rigidity, all my anxiety and tension is wiped away with each movement of his savory lips.

I open my mouth, letting him explore to his heart's content. He reaches his hand down and rubs my belly, lingering over the top of my jeans before he begins unbuttoning it.

He helps me pull his clothes off piece by piece and I help him pull mines off. We tug and remove each article until there's nothing left to tug but pure flesh and limbs.

He likes me like this, completely naked on top of him. He'll wrap one arm around my body and use the other to stroke my hair, gently planting a kiss here and there. Sometimes that's all he wants to do. No sex, just skin on skin until we fall asleep.

I'm more than ready when he flips me over and enters me. I press down on my lip to stifle the loud gasp threatening to come out as he pushes deeper and deeper in.

He pauses after filling me whole, eyes glimmering and face flushed with heat. Every inch he moves, every muscle he twitches feels like a thousand lightning bolts of pure pleasure shooting straight to my brain.

And he continues to shoot it over, and over, and over again.

We breathe heavily into each other's faces as I desperately claw and cling onto his back.

"I'm sorry. Am I hurting you?" my voice comes out in a strain.

He doesn't slow his rapid pace when he says, "hurt my back all you want. If you're scratching this much that means I'm doing my job, baby."

He's definitely doing his job and moments later, he smothers my moans with his lips as I shake and come undone.

After he finishes, we catch our breaths in silence. When his heart slows back down to its regular pace he looks down at me and smiles. "You want to do that again?"

***

I wipe down my polka dot dress, making sure the hem is at its correct place at my knees and my cleavage is fully covered after Carter's ripped it off twice. It's a basic spaghetti strap I got at a discount department store for less than twenty dollars. I figured I'd pull out all the stops to show out for my best friend.

One look in the mirror is all it takes for me to immediately avert my attention to my hair.

"You've really allowed me to give a new meaning to bed hair, Carter." I chuckle, grabbing my comb and styling gel.

Carter doesn't laugh back. He sits forward on my bed, still half dressed, clutching his shirt in one hand and eyes screwed on his phone in another. His attention doesn't waiver from whatever is on that screen.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, feeling a sense of worry and curiosity.

He doesn't respond and I have to ask twice before he lifts his head up.

"Uh." He stammers, shaking his head. "Yeah, I think so."

"Are you ready to go...or do you need some time or something?" I don't know how to react when he's being vague and shutting me out like this.

He puts his shirt on and stands up. "Yes, sure. We can go. I think we'll be fine to see the play."

"Is there a reason why we wouldn't?" I ask softly.

He looks up and thinks again. "No, I don't think there should be. We're fine."

"Okay." I give up trying to dig because this seems to be as much as he's willing to give me.

I don't like how it feels knowing he's purposely keeping something from me. I just have to believe one day he'll let me fully back in. If not, we might need to have another difficult conversation.

His car has been in the parking garage a few blocks from my dorm since he's stayed with me overnight and the parking outside of my building isn't 24/7, so we walk to it and drive to the performing arts center. It's dark out now and the large parking area is more filled up than I've ever seen for this area.

We walk to the building with a crowd of other students, faculty, and parents. Thanks to the lights by the doors, I notice a middle aged South Asian couple who start to look familiar.

Aleena's parents are small and what they lack in height they make up for in naturally skilled intimidation. Lines of their forehead protrude due to them both sporting prominent scowls. Her mom, slim and always meticulously dressed like a badass defense attorney, clutches her purse tightly against her stomach, while her dad, half balding and more casual with a sports coat and jeans, holds his hands behind his back and checks his surroundings.

"Mr. and Mrs. Singh, how are you?" I decide to do the polite thing and greet them.

They take me in for a second, trying to remember who I am.

"Ah, this is Summer, yes?" Mrs. Singh comes to realization first. "Aleena's roommate who's going into nursing."

Mr. Singh's face quirks up at this and a smile of familiarization takes over him. "Oh, indeed. Tell me, Summer, how far have you gotten into convincing her to join you in medicine?"

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid she's just not interested in medicine," I say. "But this is my boyfriend, by the way. His name is Carter." I hope to divert the conversation before it really starts to get awkward.

To say Aleena isn't interested in medicine is an understatement. She gets extremely queasy around blood, throws up from almost every fluid that comes out of a human body besides her own, and bursts into tears every time she sees someone in serious pain.

Carter waves and gives them a smile but they barely acknowledge him before turning back to me.

"But she's interested in this acting, eh." Mrs. Singh snickers, pointing to the West Side Story poster with Aleena and Darren looking longingly at each other. She made it herself and showed it to me in the dead of the night immediately after she finished editing it.

"Your daughter could be a star, Mrs. Singh. Think about it, Aleena Singh, the next Priyanka Chopra," I say.

Aleena's mom rolls her eyes. "For all this fuss she better be the next Aishwarya Rai at least."

"Right." I nod, grabbing Carter's arm before things turn awkward. "Well, we're gonna find our seats. I really hope you enjoy the show and all the dedication your daughter has put into it. She'd be ecstatic to hear anything positive you might have to say."

They seem to have already lost interest and turn to whisper amongst each other.

When Carter said he forced the entire team to buy tickets he wasn't kidding. They take up half of the lower left side of the theater. We sit on the same side in the last two seats of the first row, and I watch him shaking hands and speaking with various team members like they've been close friends for years.

I'm proud seeing how comfortable he is with them. Seeing how much their relationship has progressed from punching each other in an empty parking lot.

Speaking of punching, Ken, who sits directly behind me, leans forward. "Just wanted to say sorry again for how the party turned out."

"When I said it was fine I meant it. We both went into it with the best intentions and things turned sour. It happens sometimes, I don't hold it over you," I say sincerely.

"I know but I heard you guys broke up over it and it made me feel even more like shit," he says.

Carter turns to us at this point and puts his arm over my shoulder. "We never broke up."

"You sure?" Ken asks.

"Positive." We both say simultaneously. 

At this point the lights go down and conversations naturally lower into complete silence.

I'm buzzing with anticipation in a way I never thought I'd be for a play. I do enjoy West Side Story and all its renditions.

The curtains rise and the stage lights illuminate the makeshift New York landscape as a sharp whistling tune repeats. We hear fingers snapping and before long, dozens of guys are on stage dancing an intricate choreography that's extremely impressive.

I'm glued in to sequence after sequence. When Darren finally makes his debut, I internally cheer almost as loud as I do when Aleena shows up. They look like professionals up there. I've never seen a Broadway show or anything but it definitely feels like they're giving them a run for their money.

I turn to Carter, smiling to see if he's feeling the same excitement but he stares at the stage like he's disassociated completely.

I nudge his elbow and try to whisper as low as possible. "We good?"

He gives me a thumbs up and smiles back but it's glaringly fake even in the dark seating area.

We get to one of my favorite scenes, when they're at the dance and Tony and Maria meet for the first time.

I turn my attention to the scene until I take notice of Carter's phone, which begins to light up with a call.

He looks at the screen then shoots up before realizing his surroundings and falling back into his seat.

"What's up?" I whisper again.

"This call. I have to take it." He gets out of his seat and leans down. "I have to take it, I'll be right back."

It all happens so quickly. He leaves in a flash before I can even decipher what just happened. There's nothing for me to do but wait for him to come back and as I wait, I find myself barely being able to even pay attention to Darren and Aleena's performance.

Something's wrong and a sick feeling is overcoming me from it.

Carter is gone for what feels like half of the play. When he comes back, the sharks and jets have just agreed to settle everything with a rumble. I feel so guilty because it's almost like I've missed just as much of it as he has.

He doesn't sit back down in his seat, just crouches again to speak and his words chill me with even more sickness.

"Sam has gone missing with Jake. John and I haven't been able to hear from her in a few hours."

I grab his shoulder. "Should we call the cops and file a missing person's report?"

"Not yet," he says. "I think I have a few ideas on where they might be. Will you come with me, please?"

"Yes." I agree instantly.

***

A/N: We're nearing the end of this story! Just a few more chapters left. If anyone wants to, feel free to share your favorite quotes and or scenes from the story so far down here. What made you smile? Laugh? Roll your eyes? Get teary eyed?

Have a good week!