Open Case File [COMPLETED]

Fighting Back

Cause I find it fascinating to write scenes where Carter and Donovan aren't being perfect and putting you through an emotional rollercoaster! Enjoy!

***********************************

Carter couldn't fight back her smile as she watched Donovan make his way across the quad to the coffee shop on the other side. The warm spring day spread sunlight over the freshly cut grass and encouraged students to sprawl out and soak up the rays.

"What are you smiling at?" Link asked looking up from his studying.

Carter planted her chin in her hand, still following Donovan's path. Eyes trailed after him and every so often a girl would pause to say hi.

"Last week I told Donovan that the shirt he is currently wearing is my favorite. He is now wearing it again and I asked him to get me some coffee so I could see how many other girls noticed that it brings out his eyes and talk to him."

Which the results were about as positive as Carter expected them to be, the shirt did look really good on him after all.

"Why?" Link asked. "You know it annoys him when girls approach him."

"I wanted to see whether he would talk with any of them."

Link frowned. His silence lasted long enough that Carter glanced over at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Carter, has it ever occurred to you that you have trust issues and a propensity to push people away?"

Carter went rigid, gaze locked on the glass windows where Donovan stood in line.

"Your girlfriend having fun in her psychology class, I take it."

"She says you make an interesting case study."

"You can tell her she can stop studying me."

"Does that mean she's wrong?"

Link titled his head trying to catch Carter's eye but she wouldn't meet his gaze. The once warm sunlight felt suddenly dull.

"I know I have trust issues," Carter said quietly. "Donovan's mother told me that exact same thing when we visited them for Easter."

"Really?"

Carter slowly nodded. "Yeah, I asked whether Donovan ever did sports when he was younger and if he ever quit." She swallowed remembering the way Eleanor stared at her like she cut through Carter with a single glance and saw her heart. "She told me that it was better if I were upfront and asked whether her son was likely to break up with me after two years of being in a relationship. She also pointed out that having trust issues was not uncommon for someone with my history."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah."

Neither of them said anything for a beat, Carter playing over the interaction with Eleanor, feeling the embarrassment of being caught. Eleanor had also told her that Donovan was not the type of person to give up easily. Though it should have reassured Carter, it didn't, she knew exactly how much of a challenge she was.

"Do you want Donovan to break up with you?" Link asked.

The thought of Donovan severing ties with her felt like losing a limb. Each day she fell further and further in love with him and it scared her to her core. She'd asked him to wait and he'd agreed.

But would he wait as long as it took?

When she looked at him, she saw someone who held so much of who she was. She'd let him into her life in a way she never thought she'd have the courage to. She trusted him beyond words.