He gives me a knowing look. "Don't fight it," he says, smirking.
"I don't get it," Carson says, leaning closer to me.
I shake my head. "It's nothing."
He doesn't look pleased at all.
I roll my eyes.
"Can I leave now?" I hear Aiden ask.
I look at him, which takes some effort because Carson's in the wat. He's sitting in the chair Carson was in before, but he's not exactly close to us.
It reminds me of that time in the classroom when he was standing in the doorway and then just left because I didn't include him as an option. The start of all our troubles.
I feel bad, but like I said, he's the one keeping his distance.
"No," I say. I look around. "You can... well if you move that chair you can sit..." There's literally nowhere for him to go. Geez, the expression two's company, three's a crowd never felt more true. I'm literally doing math equations to see how I could make us all fit in one cohesive space.
I look at Carson and an idea hits me. "Carson move so Aiden can have some room."
Carson nearly falls off the bed. "Excuse me?"
"That's not necessary," Aiden says.
Carson nods. "There you go." He wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer.
I push against him. Now's not the time. "Just move," I say. I can't let Aiden feel unwanted. This is the moment to create some change.
"No." Carson says. "Tell Axel to move."
Omg. He's being so petty. "He's taking up less space," I say.
Carson mutters something under his breath. "Fine."
"Thank you." I pat his arm so that he moves it.
There's a long pause.
I clear my throat. "Carson, this is the part where you move."
He reluctantly, dramatically, slowly gets up.
I turn back towards the screen and Axel, who's playing a Harry Potter trivia game. I lay on my side, getting comfortable. He leans close to me and gives me the phone. "Here, you can play." He smiles.
"I'm gonna mess up your score," I laugh. "Michael's a lot better at this than me."
"Onai's a lot better than me too, but we'll figure it out." He rests his head close to mine.
I smile, but suddenly notice the absence of Carson and Aiden. What are they doing? "One second." I turn back towards them to see if they're having trouble figuring out the setup. "Maybe there's another chair next to one of the other beds over-"
"What?" Carson asks. "Aiden got the first kiss. It's only fair."
"I'm not gonna have sex with you, Carson," I say.
He gasps. "Get your mind out the gutter, girl. I was just talking about cuddling."
Oh please. "You were not talking about cuddling."
"Yes I was," he says firmly. "... Some advanced cuddling."
Before Aiden can get to the door, it opens. The nurse is there, but that's not the reason Carson hops off the bed.
Michael nearly runs into Aiden on his way in. I can't see his face just yet, but I know it's nothing good.
Brittany follows close behind. "This is all a misunderstanding," she keeps repeating. Her eyes land on me, then Carson. They scream, 'Help me.'
I don't know what to do. This is quite possibly the worst thing that could've happened. I turn to Axel to see what he thinks we should do. He doesn't offer any pointers. He just backs away from the bed slowly.
But the door doesn't close just yet. More people come in.
"If we could all just calm down-" Ethel starts as he walks into the room.
Onai glares daggers at him. I flinch. He takes a step closer to Ethel. "If you could just keep your mouth shut and follow orders."
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