I jump as though I've been electrocuted, bouncing off Carter's lap at lightning speed. I back towards my door, putting as much distance between me and the figure of Brennan as I can.

"What's wrong?"

Brennan's arm has dropped to his side, limp. The wound on his head is at least eight centimetres long, open wide enough for me to see his skull. Blood pours out of it, rolling down his face and dripping to the floor. His skin is deathly pale and paper thin. He looks like a corpse.

"Call Saige. Call her now. Just do it Carter!" I snap when he looks like he's about to argue. "See if Brennan's okay."

Thankfully, he takes out his phone and dials Saige's number. I wait for it to ring, watching as the pool of scarlet beneath Brennan's feet spreads.

"Saige, how's Brennan?"

My heart pounds in my ears. I can only hear his side of the conversation so I listen carefully, my shoulders tense. Brennan watches us from by the window, his vacant stare giving me the creeps. The crimson continues to flow down from his cut. I turn away from him, pacing back and forth, something which I seem to be doing a lot of lately.

"No change? That's good. Uh-I mean, not good but uh, ahem better than something worse you know?"

He's not really making sense, but I don't care. As soon as he says that there's no change I'm filled with such relief that it almost feels like I'm floating for a moment. That means that he's still the same. It means he's still alive.

I glance back at the presence by the window, confused as to why he's here if Brennan is still fighting for his life. Even though blood obscures most of his face, I can still see that his eyes are full of sorrow, as though he's hurting. But, there's something else that lingers underneath the pain. I just can't put my finger on what it is.

"Audrey? Yes I'm with her right now."

The vision of Brennan fades as my eyes snap back to Carter's. He's shaking his head as though whatever Saige is saying is incorrect.

"No. She's fine. Yes I'll tell you everything. The lake house? Okay sure. What time?"

I hold my breath until he eventually ends the call with a, "see you at eight."

"Let me guess." I try to mimic Saige's voice but fail miserably, "Audrey's crazy. She's acting like a mad woman. Be careful."

"Yeah." He looks apologetic. "Kind of."

I hadn't actually been expecting to be right. I guess a part of me was still hoping that Saige had cooled down from her earlier rant. I should have known better.

"And what do you think?"

"I think," he takes my hands in his, "that you have been through a lot. I think that you are just trying your best." He pulls me back onto his lap. "I also think that you look really beautiful right now."

I know he is just trying to distract me from what Saige said, but his words make me blush to the roots of my hair.

They're also incredibly false. I look awful. My hair's still damp from the shower and the bags under my eyes are even more pronounced from my lack of sleep last night.

But he doesn't give me time to dispute them. He crashes his lips to mine, making me catch my breath. His kiss is fuelled by the whirlwind of emotions we have been through in the last week. It's hungry and desperate and unforgiving.

The atmosphere in the room switches from tense to passionate in the blink of an eye. My desperation matches his and my arms wrap around his neck, pulling him closer. For a moment I allow myself to forget all the awful things that have happened and get lost in Carter.

We've both been through so much, and what we need is a release. A few selfish moments where we can enjoy being together. Where we can think of something other than the impending doom that seems to be hanging over our heads.

It's wrong. So wrong. But nothing has ever felt more right to me.

And so, when he starts to tug my shirt off, I don't object. I raise my arms to make it easier for him. I don't question why this seems so simple when I've never done anything like it before. I don't pause to think if we should do this at all. As Carter's lips find my neck and torture me with slow kisses, all I can think is that we should have been doing this the whole time.

Pillows get knocked to the floor, followed closely by our clothes thrown haphazardly in a heap. It's as if we can't move fast enough, as if we're running out of time.

Maybe we are.

But I close off that thought and let myself drown in the blue of Carter's eyes, in the way he makes me feel. I don't think of anything except the way sweat coats his skin and his breathing becomes heavier. I lose myself in the way our bodies fit together as if we are made for each other. I place my hand on his bare chest as though I can hold his heart in my palm.

It's only after, as we lay in my bed with our legs tangled together and our breathing returning to normal, that I figure out the look that Brennan had on his face.

I had seen it once before; on Adam. He had just found out that his girlfriend had been cheating on him with an older man. He had stormed into the house angry and raging, tearing apart his room and throwing things at the opposite wall.

But when he stopped for a moment and stared down at a picture of Lindsay, sadness had crossed his face, quickly followed by something else. The exact same look I had seen on Brennan.

Betrayal.