"Lee-Lee!" Despite the ache in her back, left there by the cobra tattoo burning fitfully through the night, Ally smiled. Dana and Kelsey glanced over to her, and she mouthed, little brother. The two smiled fondly, and Ally made a mental note to introduce them to her sibling when she had the chance.
"Ash, hi. I thought it was mom and dad, I was almost not going to pick up," she joked, and her youngest brother laughed. Ash Sakamichi was a seventh grader at Waverider Middle School, one of the best on the island, and oftentimes when she fought, Ally thought of him. Of protecting him just as their oldest brother had protected them. "Do you wanna say hi to Aunty Kelsey and Aunty Dana?"
"Of course! They're so cool, I see 'em on the news all the time, with you, of course." Ally chuckled, but before she could turn her phone to speaker mode, Ash kept talking, "Wait. Isn't Aunty Dana related to the man who…" Even when her youngest sibling was a toddler, Ally couldn't remember if he'd cried. So she was surprised, hurt even, to hear him getting choked up. "She is, isn't she?"
"Uh…" Ally shot a glance over at Dana, who sat switching channels on the television, a small package of M&M's sitting next to her.
"Never mind, Ally," Ash said with a shaky sigh, "You're gonna catch the bad guy, right?"
The bad guy. She'd thought about those three words more times than was probably healthy.
"Lee?" The nickname that she and Leon shared.
The one that Ryan often called her, even if she wouldn't respond to him.
"Of course, Ash. You can count on it."
"I knew I could. You're the best big sister ever."
"Oh, I knew I was," Ally joked, and her brother let out a cackle on the other end of the line. She watched as Dana switched off the television, grabbed up the scanner she'd been using on Ally's tattoo, waved it around, "I've gotta go. You know, Power Ranger checkups and all."
"The best and the coolest. Shoots, then, sis!" The Pidgin word felt foreign on her own tongue as she replied back, and when she hung up, she resisted the urge to slouch back and sigh.
That was the most she'd ever lied to her little sibling.
Dana patted her shoulder as the scanner beeped off. "You're good to go-" Before she could finish speaking, the alarms began to blare, and Kelsey charged out from the bathroom, comb stuck in her curly hair. Ally and Dana burst into laughter at the sight, and she waved her friend over, gently tugging the brush out as she stood. Kelsey shoved her right back down onto the chair. "Good to go in terms of your health. Not to morph again. You need to rest."
Kelsey opened the door, her gaze still on Ally, "Dana's right. I hear you squirming around in your sleep, if you're even sleeping." Of course, her best friends were right. (And she wasn't sleeping. Her eyes were wide open unless she was able to catch a few seconds of sleep, the burning on her back keeping her awake.)
"Fine. Go kick some ass."
Ally'd finished up all her assignments, was halfway through a new book, and the others still hadn't come back. And of course, being holed up in her room meant she had no clue what was going on in ops. So, she did the logical thing: rushed over to the viewing screen in her room and switched it on to the fight.
They were not, in fact, kicking ass. It was arguably the exact opposite. A monster that looked like Thunderon, Demonite, and Falkar combined shoved Carter to the ground, and Ally had to fight back the urge to rush to his aid. He could fend for himself, she remembered as the monster hit him with a laser, and he only proceeded to get right back up.
As much as she appreciated Carter, she decided as she watched the fight, he was always far too headstrong for his own good.
Ally hoped that stubbornness wouldn't get him killed.
As soon as the Rescue Rover rose up into the docking bay, Ally leaped to her feet. Besides looking a bit scuffed up and caked in dirt, her friends were thankfully unscathed. "Is everyone alright?" Captain Mitchell asked, and Ally gave him a little wave as he narrowed his eyes at her. She was technically supposed to be in her room, but she didn't know how she could stay put without checking on her team first.
"Yeah," Kelsey began as she scrambled out of the Rover. "We're okay."
Joel stepped over to Ally, and she reached up, snatching his cowboy hat off his head and placing it onto her own. For once, he didn't complain, instead following the others as they headed back to their rooms. "We got our asses handed to us out there. We could barely handle those monsters separately!"
"I don't know how we're gonna do it with their powers combined," Carter agreed, and Joel's hat was plucked off her head as Carter tugged it away. Ally frowned, turned to him, but he was already holding the hat far above his head, leaving it well out of her reach. She tried to jump for it, but he merely held it higher, laughing his ass off, and she rolled her eyes. "Aw," he began, ruffling her hair, "Look at you, all short and cute."
Her cheeks tinted pink as she blushed, but she refused to let her reaction to his words show even as he stepped closer to her. Out of all of her friends, Carter was the one who least enjoyed physical touch, so whenever he did initiate it, it surprised her. "Go back to your room, Al," he murmured, "Get some rest."
She scoffed. "Literally everyone has been saying that to me. I'm kinda sick of it." Carter shrugged, ran a hand through his hair, and Ally's gaze followed his fingers. She doubted the guy had even had a bad hair day. (How was he so… so…)
"Well, literally everyone would be correct," he muttered, "Just until we can figure out how to get those tattoos off, then you're back in action. Alright?"
The image of Carter and the others getting knocked down over and over replayed in her mind. Without both her and Ryan… Carter stepped even closer, and Ally resisted the urge to step back. "I know what you're thinking," he murmured, "but I promise you, we'll be okay." She stared down at her hands, unable to look up into his eyes. If she did, she wasn't sure how she'd react.
"You need us, Car-" He shook his head, ruffled her hair again, and Ally finally looked up at him. From their closeness, she could see the slight flecks of green and gold in his eyes, and she was almost certain he could hear her heart beating rapidly.
"What I need is for you to be cleared to morph again. Which means rest." No matter how much she cared about the guy- in whatever capacity that meant- Ally still felt irritation bubbling in her.
"I've got a cursed tattoo, not some illness I need to shake," she muttered, "Besides, it only hurts sometimes, not all the time." That was a lie. Ever since she'd gotten the tattoo, the skin it was on would have a dull ache whenever it wasn't burning. But Carter didn't need to know that. "And I need to stay in shape for when I do get back to morphing."
"Ally, you might end up making it worse," he retorted, "Then what?" She wasn't sure how to respond to that, even though she did think it was a rhetorical question. Ally cursed Carter's intellect. "Because you're right, I do need-" His mouth slammed shut, and she blinked once, twice. Had she heard him right? "I mean, what I meant to say is that, we need you. Not that I-"
"Carter!" Ally jumped as Kelsey shouted through their morphers, "Hurry it up! We've got to debrief."
"Alright, Kels," he replied, a small smile on his face, "I'll be right there." Before he could turn the corner at the end of the hallway, Carter glanced at Ally. "Rest. Please."
I need you. He'd nearly said those three words, a phrase that Ally would never think she would hear coming from the fearless Red Ranger. As she replayed the words over and over in her mind, she could have sworn her knees grew weak.
"Uh… did I miss something?" Ryan asked.
Ally didn't want to talk to him, but she knew she had to defend herself from what he'd undoubtedly just witnessed. "No," she shot back, realizing a little too late that she should try to keep her tone even, "You missed, and you saw nothing. Got it?" He merely shrugged, and the irritation she'd felt with Carter only came back stronger.
"You act like you're okay with all this." At least he was changing the subject. That meant she didn't need to walk away. "How are you so… calm?"
Ally shrugged, trying her best to imitate his nonchalance. She was getting hungry, and all she wanted now was to get some food and try to ignore her stupid emotions. "I'm as antsy as you are, Mitchell," she replied, "I just know how to hide it." He scoffed, and she glanced over at him. "You gonna let me go get some food now?"
"Tell me you don't feel useless like this," he muttered, gesturing between them. "Because I do."
A pang of something like pity thrummed in her chest. "Well," Ally began, "You're only useless if you kick the bucket. Which would happen if you went out and morphed again. So, as much as I hate to admit it, you're not useless." Ryan wasn't even looking at her. Instead, he started pacing, which seemed like a bad habit he had.
It was kind of… funny. He punched the wall, and she stepped back. "Lee, we have to stop those cobras. We can't stay like this forever."
"Don't call me that."
He leveled a glare at her, and she stared right back. "Fine. Alyssa, we have to stop those cobras." She made a face.
"Never mind. Lee is okay." Suddenly, something like realization passed over Ryan's face, and Ally frowned.
"What?" His icy eyes bore into hers, and she resisted the urge to look away. Admittedly, when he'd been trying to kill them a few weeks ago, for many a brief moment, she was terrified of him. Terrified that he'd kill her, then her whole team. She knew he wouldn't do that now, but that didn't change the fact that the guy looked like he would.
"Do you trust me?" Ally blinked once, twice. How in the world was she even supposed to answer that?
On one hand, he'd taken away the person who meant the most to her. On the other… he'd saved her life. And what about that dream she'd had where she'd seen Leon's death? Something wasn't right about that. Not right at all.
Besides, if she let him die now, there would be no turning him into the authorities. And once more, she'd disappoint her parents. No, her entire family. She finally broke eye contact, the image of Ash's tear-streaked face in her mind.
If the only way to fix things was to act like she trusted him, Ally would put on the biggest show in her life. "No." Ryan scoffed, reached for the ladder that headed up out of Aqua Base. But as he did, she reached for his hand. "But I'm not about to let you die."
She wanted to die. This was why, despite being born and raised in Hawaii, Ally preferred cooler weather: at least, then, you could put on close to help with the freezing temperature. You were out of luck if you were in the middle of the desert, especially with your sworn enemy. It wasn't like she could just take off her shirt like a guy could. But thankfully, they'd gotten to where they needed to go: the temple she'd seen in multiple files. The one that Diabolico and his demons had been released from.
"Diabolico told me about the cobra's lair," Ryan murmured. On the way here, they'd hardly talked. Instead, Ally had filled the space with music, and not from the radio. She'd played the CDs with local Hawaiian music on it, and she'd gauged Ryan's reactions to it.
He'd been smiling the whole ride here, humming the songs that would come up multiple times on different CDs, and one of the only conversations from that point had been about the fact that he could sing quite well. But other than that, they'd been quiet.
"You couldn't have said that earlier?" Ally retorted as they gazed down into the chasm.
"I could've, but I'm not sure what I'd do after that, considering I was bedridden for a few days, then grounded to my room." She nodded slowly.
"You're not one for sneaking out?"
"Not particularly," Ryan replied as he bent down, pulling the coil of rope from his backpack. "You?"
Despite herself, Ally laughed. "According to Dana, I'm a goody-two-shoes." Ryan let out a low whistle.
"My sister's the ultimate goody-goody. For her to say that about you…" Ally rolled her eyes.
"And what did Diabolico tell you about said lair?" She asked as Ryan tied the rope carefully around one of the stone pillars, then tested its weight before tossing the other end down into the chasm.
"Not much," he muttered as he started clambering down the rope, "but I figure that if we can beat the cobra, or cobras, we'll break the curse." Ally heard his feet scuff the ground at the bottom of the chasm, and she peered down. It couldn't have been more than one or two stories deep, but still, the height combined with the darkness was stifling. "Come on," Ryan urged, voice taking on a hint of humor, "What're you, a goody-two-shoes, and a baby?"
Ally narrowed her eyes and grabbed onto the rope. "Fuck you."
When she reached the ground, brushing off her hands, the torches in the pit flared to life, and Ally let out a squeak, jumping into the air. She almost expected Ryan to start laughing at her, but thankfully, he didn't, probably because he looked just as spooked as she'd been.
Not wasting a moment, Ally spun, putting her back to his. If anything jumped out at either of them, they'd be ready. But thankfully, nothing happened as they approached the statue of the cobra. Ally gazed up at it. From an artistic standpoint, it was beautifully carved, placed just in the right position here in the cave, but from a realistic standpoint, she wanted to crush it into dust.
"You wanna destroy us?" Ryan taunted, "Well, here we are." Ally glared up at him.
"Don't loop me into his shit," she added, feeling a little silly for speaking to a statue, "I'm just here to make sure he doesn't bite the dust-" As she spoke, the cobra statue's eyes began to glow, smoke curled out from between its fangs, and she froze, unsure of what exactly to do.
"We're okay," he murmured, reaching a hand towards the statue, "I won't let this thing touch us-" Lasers fired out from the statue's eyes, and although Ally hadn't been hit, it felt like she had. The burn of the lasers against her skin was strong, and she staggered to the ground as the cobra statue reformed into a living breathing snake monster. "Are you okay?" Ryan asked, and she glanced at herself, wondering if she had been hit. There were no injuries that she could see.
"Yeah, but I think that… hurt."
"Well, that's because it did!" The cobra monster snarled as it approached, and Ally stood, bracing herself, "This is the final stage of the curse. For each infliction the other endures, the other will feel their pain!"
Ally's eyes widened. "No," she breathed, "That's not right."
"Oh, but it is!" With that, the cobra monster leaped, and Ally dove out of the way just in time, managing to launch a few punches into its head. But while she'd been focused on attacking, she didn't realize who the snake's actual target was. It picked Ryan up, tossed him against the opposite wall, and Ally's back cracked as she collapsed.
It wasn't lying, she realized, they were connected now, just as Diabolico had said. For all they knew, the creep was sitting in his lair laughing at how unfortunate things had become for them. For her, especially. "Neither of you are any match for me!"
They weren't, Ally had to agree, but at least, not in the state they were in. She glanced over at Ryan, his eyes filled with that same determination she'd seen even from the very first time she'd looked into them. When he'd lowered his visor, a threat that they wouldn't walk away to reveal his identity.
Despite the fact that he'd been trying to kill them then… that determination hadn't changed.
"Let's go," she whispered. They stood in unison, and Ally raised her morpher up, for what might have been the very last time. "Lightspeed, Rescue!"
"Titanium Power!"
Watching Ryan slash at the snake again and again, missing each time, Ally couldn't help but be grateful that she was no longer on the receiving end of those attacks. "You suck," she teased, leveling her blaster and firing off a few shots that the cobra easily avoided.
"Look who's talking, Lee-" He'd taken his eyes off their opponent for a split second, but it was all that was needed. Unfortunately for the snake, Ally was closer, and she lunged forward, knocking Ryan out of the way as the cobra punched her again and again. She stumbled back against a table-like surface, and as she shook the stars out of her vision, she hoped that it hadn't been used for sacrifices, and if it had, that those sacrifices were of things like… sheep, or goats. Ryan charged forward, ax raised, but the cobra merely grabbed his arm, tossing him over his shoulder and onto his back on the ground. The air rushed out of Ally, but she knew it was merely a trick.
The things she was feeling were merely illusionary. No pain was being inflicted onto her, it was just that she was feeling as if it was. So, she leaped up, atop the table, and summoned her V-Lancer, not caring that it would probably set off alarms over at Aqua Base. She managed to land a few strikes on the cobra from her vantage point, and when it had backed up just enough, Ryan stood, batting at it with his ax. The ax that the cobra caught easily. Ally gritted her teeth and swung her lancer again, but the moment that she did, the energy drained out of her. Exhaustion swamped her, and her eyes grew heavy, as did her muscles.
The cobra grabbed onto her weapon as well. "It seems that you are both out of energy, and out of time!" Her V-Lancer clattered to the ground, and both she and Ryan were tossed into the air. She flew back, her head slamming against the wall where the cobra statue had been, and just like that, she was out like a light.
Ryan demorphed, but he couldn't care less about that. The sudden smack on the back of his head, the darkness swarming around the edges of his vision could only have meant one thing: Ally was unconscious.
"Looks like your Purple friend just went to sleep," the cobra jeered, "And now my brother cobras on your backs will do the same to you… permanently!" Ryan shut his eyes for a moment, letting the pain from the tattoo wash over him. He could accept his death.
But not Ally's. Not when he hadn't told her the truth.
He couldn't let her die until she knew what had actually happened that night.
Until she knew how sorry he was.
"Maybe I'll help it a little." Diabolico's monsters really needed to learn not to announce their every move, Ryan thought as he dove out of the way of its attack. No doubt the snake thought he'd merely chosen a random spot to land in, and not because his weapon lay there. As he straightened up, Ryan grabbed onto his ax and hurled it straight into the pillar that the cobra stood under.
The stone crumbled, and with a final weak gesture of its hand, the cobra dissolved into ash. Ryan didn't dwell on the fact that the tattoo was gone, at least for long. He wasted no time, instead rushing over to where he'd seen Ally fall.
Blood streaked against the wall where she'd hit her head, and when he bent down to pick her up off the ground, more blood painted his hand.
Just like how it'd been when he'd killed her brother.
"Hey," he murmured, "Sleepy times over. We need to get out of here." No response, and for the briefest moment, panic flashed through him. She felt so weak in his hands, and Ryan had to bend closer to her. Her breathing was there, but barely. It was so shallow… He pressed two fingers against her neck, searching, begging for a pulse.
He owed the rest of Lightspeed a debt he could never repay, but he could try by keeping Ally alive. For his sister, for his team, and most definitely for Carter, who Ryan was fairly certain was in love with Alyssa. Not that their leader would ever dare to mention it.
"Come on, Ally," he pleaded. "Come on-" Her pulse fluttered against his fingertips, and Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. He needed to get her out of here.
Ryan was fairly certain he'd run multiple red lights on the way back to base, but he couldn't bring himself to care. (Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ally was yelling at him for "driving so fucking fast", but whenever he'd glance at her in the rearview, growing paler and paler by the second, he'd only panic and drive faster.)
When he rushed into Aqua Base, he'd ignored the looks of worry from everyone, including his father, that were meant for him. Because still limp in his arms was the one they truly needed to worry about. Mrs. Fairweather had called for a hospital bed, and for the briefest of moments, Ryan hadn't wanted to let go of Ally. He felt that if he did, she'd disappear into thin air.
It took Mrs. Fairweather telling him that the others were in trouble to make him go into battle, and as good as it felt to not hurt every time he morphed… Ryan's insides felt much less than okay. "What was that?"
"Solar Zord, back in action and at your service, folks," Ryan reported.
"Ryan? You can't be-"
"Chill, sis," he retorted as he prepared his controls, "The cobra's history, and so is the curse." Silence.
"Where's Ally?" Ryan wasn't sure if he'd ever heard Joel sound so stoic. So terrified. For a moment, he didn't reply.
"She's here, at Aqua Base," Mrs. Fairweather reassured in his stead. "We're doing everything we can."
Ryan gritted his teeth. He didn't have much time. "Carter, grab onto the Zord."
"Alright." The Red Ranger didn't sound too happy. In fact, he sounded furious. Good, Ryan thought, they needed to be furious if they hoped to take down Diabolico, who stood before them.
"The Titanium Ranger," the giant Diabolico growled, "We meet again, and without your little partner." Ryan was pretty certain that if Ally'd heard that, she'd live just to spite the creature.
"Son of a bitch," he thought he heard Mrs. Fairweather mutter over comms, "Carter, engage battle boosters." Ryan wasn't sure what that was, but he was pretty sure it was awesome.
His assumptions were only proven right when their Zords combined into one fully functioning Zord, and they easily launched their own attacks right at Diabolico. The amount of sheer power that radiated out from their Zord was surely enough to defeat it- Ryan glared through the smoke as Diabolico approached them.
"How could he have survived that?"
"I told you, I'm invincible! But you're not!" The eyes on Diabolico's armor glowed, in much too similar fashion to the cobra's, and Ryan braced himself. This would not be good- the blast rocketed towards them, but when it hit, the energy was merely sucked right into the different areas of the Zord. "What?"
"Power levels are going crazy!"
"We must've absorbed all the energy he threw at us," Ryan observed.
"That's right," Mrs. Fairweather confirmed, "The panels are absorbing the energy. Ryan, divert it to the weapons." He did just as the scientist asked.
"All set and locked on target." He activated the laser cannons. This was going to feel so good.
"This can't be happening!"
"Sure it can, Diabolico," Carter spat. "Fire!"
Carter stormed into Aqua Base in a fury. Finally defeating Diabolico didn't even feel real. Instead, all his thoughts were on Ally. According to Ryan, she'd gone against his wishes, had morphed during the fight against the cobra. And the only reason she'd been there was to make sure the older Mitchell sibling didn't die. Because, Carter thought, that was the kind of person she was. The kind of person he wished he could be.
Carter kind of didn't care what happened to the Titanium Ranger, because what he was mostly concerned about now was that Ally, one of his teammates, his best friends, his Purple Ranger, might… might…
"Carter-" He spun, grabbed at Ryan's collar and shoved him against the wall. "Whoa, whoa, use your words-"
"You want me to use my fucking words?" The workers who were about to walk into the hallway skittered in the other direction. "Well, in that case, Ally would be okay if you hadn't fucked everything up!" He wasn't just talking about the cobra. He was talking about the death of her brother, Leon, about everything that'd happened to her because of it. She was hurting, and had changed as a result of that hurt, and because of that, Carter was in pain, too. His grip loosened, and Ryan stepped away from him.
"Carter, I get that you're worried about-"
He laughed. "Worried doesn't even begin to cover it," he growled. "I don't want you anywhere near her. Not until…" Carter shook his head. "Just stay away from her." Ryan's emotionless eyes took on a shade of something like realization, but of what, Carter wasn't sure. He nodded slowly.
"Alright," the Titanium Ranger replied evenly. "Fine."
Ally awoke to hear Iris playing softly from a set of speakers, and the pages of a book turning in someone's hands. She glanced over to them, and it took her a moment to realize that it was Carter. He didn't realize she'd woken up yet, too entranced in the book he held up.
Ally didn't speak right away. Instead, she took a moment to just look at him.
Even when she'd drawn away from him, from the others, they hadn't given up on her. They'd held out hope she'd be okay, that all she needed was time, and that she'd be back. Ally wasn't sure if she'd ever be the same person again, but she knew that she could change, and people like Carter Grayson would still accept her. Would still care about her.
The first time she'd seen him, furious in the heat of battle, Ally thought he looked terrifying, like one of those people in the gym you wouldn't want to mess with, or talk to, or look at the wrong way. But now, the light of the med bay lamp washing over his features as his eyes scanned the words on the page in front of him, he looked… soft. Younger than his twenty-one years, innocent, maybe. Her eyes traced the lines of his face, wishing that she could-
His eyes glanced up to her, and she smiled, hoping he didn't see her blush in the dim light. As soon as she saw that she was awake, Carter placed the bookmark in between the pages of his book, dragged his chair closer to her. "Morning," he teased, and she rolled her eyes.
"Is it morning?" Even with the heavy pain meds Aqua Base's doctors no doubt had her on, Ally still felt as if she could've slept through the day and the night. Carter shook his head.
"It's around midnight," he explained, checking the clock on the wall behind her, and she narrowed her eyes at him. He'd almost finished with the book he was reading.
"And how long have you been here?"
She could've sworn a blush tinted his cheeks. "Since nine." Carter held up a hand to stop her from arguing. "You've inspired me to pick up reading, so I've had something to do in the meantime." Ally sighed.
"It's late, Car. You need to rest. Hell, you guys defeated Diabolico today." He shook his head, but despite his actions, she saw the dark circles under his eyes, the slight slouch in his shoulders.
"Trust me, I tried to sleep."
She raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you didn't try hard enough," Ally joked, and Carter chuckled.
"Guess I was too worried about you. Every time I shut my eyes, my thoughts just kept turning and turning…" He shrugged. "Maybe I do need to learn how to relax," he muttered, and for a second, Ally wasn't sure what to say. That he was the best friend she'd probably ever had? That while no one could possibly come close to having the impact Leon had had on her life, that maybe the point wasn't to find someone to emulate him, but to move on, to find others to care about?
That she cared about him, and often hoped against hope that it wasn't the kind of caring she felt like it was? Finally, she realized what she had to say.
"I'm sorry, Carter." His eyes bore into hers, concern furrowing his brow. "For distancing myself from you guys. I just… wasn't sure how to deal with losing my brother. Honestly, I still don't."
"There's nothing to apologize for, Al," Carter murmured, and when he took her hand in his, linking their pinkies together, the breath froze in her chest. It was a familiar gesture, one that she'd do to everyone on the team, but... "You were hurting, and you needed time to grieve. You don't need to worry about any of us bailing on you, either."
A tear fell from the corner of her eye. That was precisely what she'd been so scared of. Throughout grade school, friends hardly stuck around, once they realized how much stigma she carried around with her. But after everything was said and done, this team would remain. He smiled, and the world turned a little brighter. "Someone I care about a lot told me once that just because we might not see the ocean doesn't mean it's not there. That even if we might not see it," A quiet sob left her, and just like he'd done earlier, Carter let go of her hand, brushed her tears away with his thumb. "That doesn't mean it's gone."
And as he was about to move away, she reached up, holding his hand there. The space stilled, as if the universe was holding its breath. Waiting to see what she would do. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do either, if she was being honest.
But she'd gone this far, hadn't she? Ally turned her head, ignoring the way Carter's eyes followed her every move, and let her lips brush against the skin of his wrist.
His sharp intake of breath drew her back to herself, and with a jolt of clarity, Ally realized exactly what she was doing. Her hand dropped from his, and Carter stood, looking at the tips of his shoes as if they were the most interesting things he'd ever seen. She laughed, trying her best to sound natural, but instead sounded breathless. "I don't know what got into me. I'm-"
"Stop apologizing." Carter's tone was all business, not anything like how he'd sounded just moments before, and Ally felt panic rising in her chest. What in the fucking world had she done? He stepped over to the curtain, and for a second, she actually debated on begging him to stay. "Get some rest, Alyssa. Please." With that, he was gone.
