Naughty(16)

"Thank you. Life wasn't supposed to be this way."

"You were the one that wanted to be the business woman."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, I wasn't supposed to have a problem. The guy I finally accepted would rock my entire world."

"And he doesn't?"

"He does, but he's not who I thought I'd finally be with."

"I don't have a clue what the problem is. You got feelings for a guy,  and who cares if he's normal or not. It doesn't fucking matter. All that  matters is if you love him or not."

"I fucked up. I totally fucked up."

He didn't say anything. "I hate to say this to you, but I really need to go and see my girl."

"Crap. I slapped her. This is all my fault."

"How the hell did you get into my house?"

She winced. "You put your key under the plant pot. It was really easy to find." She handed him a key, and he shook his head.

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He took the key from her, and stood. "Where do you think she'd go?" he asked.

"Work? Home? Our parents'?"

"Great. You're going to help me find her, and put this right."

She cringed. "Can't I leave you to do this?"

"Fuck off, Summer. You storm into my place, and then expect me to deal  with it as well. You've got no chance. Autumn is probably full of guilt  because of you. Now, go and get your ass ready, we're going hunting."

****

Autumn sat on her bed that she hadn't been on in years. Her parents  still kept the room the same, so the cream wallpaper and purple curtains  were from her teenage years.

Wrapping her arms around her knees, she let the tears slip down her  cheeks as she remembered what the hell had just happened. Her sister had  looked so hurt.

She was a horrible person. Carter had every right to hate her. She'd been too weak, and he deserved someone stronger.

She was a horrible sister.

Wiping away the tears, she stared at her window, wondering what to do.  She was in love with Carter, and her sister was in love with him.

"Sweetie, I did you your favorite," her mother said, knocking, and opening the door.

She turned to her mother, her lip quivering as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Oh, honey. It's okay." Mary put the large cup down on the drawer. The  cup heaved with whipped cream and marshmallows floating on the top of  her hot chocolate. That was the special Christmas hot chocolate that her  mother did every December first, to celebrate the start of Christmas  month.

"It's not okay."

"A lot of things always look worse on the day. Give it time, and have  some rest, and you'll find that everything is better in the morning."

Autumn covered her face, sobbing into her hands as her mother hugged  her. It wasn't enough. She had hurt her sister, and she was a horrible  person. Then she thought about Carter, and she felt she was the worst  person in the world. She'd kept him as a dirty little secret, and that's  not how you treat the man you love.

"Mary, it's okay," her father said, coming into the room.

"Bill?"

"No, this is for me to deal with."

Her mother left the room, and Autumn cried as her father sat down, pulling her in for a hug. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"I don't know what the problem is, sweetie, but you shouldn't be crying. No man is worth this kind of tears."

"This isn't about a man. This is my own fault. I shouldn't have done something."

"Well, how about you tell me, and I'll let you know if it's really all  that bad." He rubbed her back, and she closed her eyes, spilling  everything out. She didn't go into too much detail because she wasn't  about to tell her father she fucked her sister's ex, but he knew.

"Oh, honey, I see why you think you should feel guilty, but you really shouldn't."

"She loves him."

"We all know Summer. We know how she flits from one man to the next. I  remember Carter. He's a good man. A different kind of man, I admit. The  long hair, the tattoos, they don't exactly make him sound like he's a  good one, but I get it."

She chuckled. "I love him."

"Summer has no claim to him. No matter what she says, she has no claim.  Whatever happened between her and Carter ended years ago."         

     



 

"You must be really disappointed in me."

"No, not at all. You've fallen in love. How can I be angry about you  falling in love? It's what we all do." He kissed the top of her head. "I  believe Summer fell in love with someone else, Autumn. She lashed out  at you, and it wasn't the right thing to do."

She wiped the tears away. "I just got out of there. I left Carter to  deal with it. I'm a horrible person. I should have done this, not him."

"Drink your hot chocolate. You can stay here for however long you like."  Her father kissed her head, and left her alone. Picking up the hot  chocolate, she took a marshmallow off the top, and popped it into her  mouth.

"I suck."

Time passed, she didn't know how much, and suddenly there was a knock on  the door. Before she could say anything, her sister popped her head  around the door.

Sitting up, Autumn stared at Summer.

Her sister's eyes were red and puffy.

"I come in peace." Summer held her hands up in surrender.

"Hey."

"Carter is downstairs. I came with him."

"Oh." Autumn's heart started to break.

"Not like that. Carter isn't with me. He made me come with him so that I could make it up with you."

"Oh."

Summer closed the door and stepped toward her. "How long have you two been together?"

"You know Mom and Dad's anniversary?"

"Yeah."

"My car broke down outside of his shop. He was there to help."

"He's always been a good guy."

"I never meant for any of this to happen."

"Dad just pulled me aside and gave me the third degree. I know you  didn't mean for any of this to happen, and I'm so sorry that I took it  out on you. I really shouldn't have, and I'm sorry." Summer sighed. "I  had no right to slap you."

"I love him, Summer."

"He loves you, too."

"You don't know that," she said.

"I do. He told me he loved you. He was pretty pissed when you ran out. I  can't say that I blame him. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have done  what I did."

"What did you do?"

"I took his key, let myself in, and rather than deal with my own problems, I thought I could use him to figure everything out."

Autumn frowned. "I don't even know how you'd have been able to use him."

Summer took her hand, locking their fingers together. "I'm in love with a  man, Autumn. He's a good man, and I don't know what to do with that."

"Who is it?"

"David?"

"Boring David?"

"The one and only. See why I was having a few problems?"

"Not really. If you love him, what was the problem?"

"Nothing. That's the point. Nothing is the problem, apart from the fact that I'm cheating on him with Brad."

"Are you afraid of falling in love?" Autumn asked.

Summer paused and looked down at their hands. "I don't know. I think so.  I seem to get a good deal with a guy, and before I know what I'm doing,  I'm screwing it up."

"Who do you want?"

"David. Brad is fun, but he's my boss and I find him boring. When I'm  with David, we have so much in common. He has a love of sci-fi films,  and you know I love them. We have a love of art, and work, and when I'm  with him, I feel like I'm floating."

"Are you more worried about what other people think?" Autumn asked.

"What will they say if they see me with a guy like David?"

"Who cares, Summer? You love him, and does he love you?"

"I don't know. I think you need to care about what you want before you  end up being a lonely old woman, and maybe even a little bitter." Summer  pulled her close, and hugged her tight. "I'm so sorry, Autumn. Really,  really sorry."

"You forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive. Do you forgive me? I shouldn't have hit you. I didn't have a right to do that."

"I forgive you. You're my sister."

She held onto Summer, thankful that they were still friends.

****

"I should have known I'd see you again," Bill said.

Carter smiled at him. "I'm sorry to have caused some problems."

"You haven't caused me any trouble. They're two sisters, and I know  they'll work out whatever problems they have. They're my daughters, and  they've been taught to be together."

"I love Autumn."

"I'm pleased to hear it because she loves you. I didn't say it was a bad  thing to see you again. I never thought you were a bad kid, Carter. I'm  happy you're with one of my girls."         

     



 

"Bill, will you stop? You're going to scare him away. Some of this is for Carter and Autumn to talk about together," Mary said.

"Honey, I'm taking care of our girls, and I'm making sure this guy here knows that I mean business."