Courageous

CHAPTER TEN

The ride there had been uneventful.

Well, if you exclude the fact that one elderly woman kept poking him on his back and kept telling to cut his hair. Carter really tried to ignore her but surprisingly, she was even worse than Noah at annoying. He was about to turn around and tell her off, maybe even steal her cane and poke her with it but instead, the bus stopped and he left without even looking behind him.

His hair wasn't even that long – she should have seen it back in high school when it had been shoulder-length. His curls would annoy him twenty-four/seven but he wouldn't cut it because he thought he looked cool with long hair. Boy, he had been wrong. On the last summer before college, he had gone to the barber's and cut everything off. He still had curls when he got out of there but his hair was barely just touching his ears.

Ever since then, he would cut his hair the same way (even though his moms kept telling him that he looked better with longer hair).

Having completely forgotten what he was even doing there in the first place, he stopped to look around and think. When he finally remembered that he was searching for Max in the crowd, he felt some of his insecurities made their appearance like 'What's up, b***h? Did you miss us?'.

No, he hadn't.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down and closed his flannel once he shivered due to the sudden breeze. The water next to him was making the weather more humid and colder and he cursed, thinking that he should have brought a thicker jacket with him.

The pier looked as magical as it always did. It was packed with people which made it even harder for him to find the person he was looking for.

Max had told him once while hanging out that he loved going to the pier and just taking pictures of the water so that's where he started searching. He found tons of photographers there with their equipment and everything but not the one male he was seeking.

By the time half an hour had passed, Carter was ready to give up. Maybe Max wasn't there, maybe he still had classes or something or maybe he had just decided to stay in his room instead of going out that day. He felt stupid; how could he not see that coming? Max certainly didn't go there every single day! He should have checked his dorm room or even if he had classes before going there.

The sky was darkening quickly and all he wanted to do was jump in the water for being so reckless.

Max wasn't there and he would have to wait till tomorrow to ask him if he found him. If he wouldn't be able to find him before then, Max would be gone for two weeks and he would have to wait. However, that day had been the only day Carter was very impatient.

He had just found the courage to ask him out and he sure as hell wasn't going to wait another hour.

Taking his phone out of his pocket and ignoring all the missed calls and texts from Noah and Jasmine, he found the contact he was looking for and without even thinking about it, he pressed call.

After four long rings, the person on the other line answered.

"Hey, Cart! What's up?" Max's voice was cheery and he could hear loud music playing from the background. He suddenly felt guilty for calling. Maybe he was on a date or something but he wasn't going to back out just then.

He cleared his throat, "Are you free?"

"For you, always" His heart swelled a little bit.

He took a deep breath to stop all the internal fangirling he was doing and to clear his mind, "Meet me down at the pier. Now, maybe? At the place where you took pictures of me,"

And he hung up.

That place felt some significance to him. Max had taken a picture of him there, eating cotton candy and named it 'pure bliss'. He felt like this was their spot and that it would be perfect to ask him out on that spot. He didn't know which means of transport he was getting or even if he had his car with him and would use that to get there. Heck, he didn't even know he would come in the first place!

He hadn't waited for an answer but he did say he was free when he asked so he didn't worry about him not coming too much. He ran from his place at the end of the dock to that place where his photo had been taken. It wasn't far and Carter was used to running so he made it there in no time – he had yet to call his brother and tell him off for making him run every single morning but maybe that was because he started liking it now. It had become part of his routine.

He still held a grudge against Nick though.

Once he reached the cotton candy parlour, he asked for some and then, paid for it before he watched the man close for the day. It was only eight o'clock, why was he leaving so soon? The place was packed with even more people which made it extremely hard for him to keep a lookout in case Max would arrive.

According to his phone, he waited there for exactly ten and a half minutes before he actually showed up.

The sight of him took his breath away.

He was dressed in a maroon shirt that hugged his muscled perfectly and some black trousers that fitted him like a glove. Just the sight of him had Carter swooning and when he finally spoke, he thought he lost consciousness – like he couldn't feel the Earth under his feet.

"Why did you bring me here, Cart?" He flashed him his brilliant smile as he eyed the cotton candy in his hands.

Yeah, he was done for.