Fancy Seeing You Here (Carter.)

[Jacelynn Heron]

How did she always end up here when she had a lot on her mind? It happened when she was upset with her mother and after things ended between her and Sam. And like that last time, she had a box of pictures, but no lighter this time. Instead she was sitting with the box on her lap, flipping through each of them. It wasn't just one boy this time. It was all of the guys in her life that were worth keeping the memories, no matter how harsh of an affect they had on her.

The first and foremost was Jackson because he was her best friend for years now and he had always been close to her. There were pictures of their days back at Hammel when they first became good friends. He had been one of her first victims when it came to her love of picture taking. He never minded much which was a relief, and she couldn't believe how many pictures she had of him, in fact it was all him and her father and her. Her parents had always liked him, too. It was sad that she hadn't seen him in a while since he was on baby duty and Kiara was a better fit with the kid than Jace was.

Jace also flipped through several pictures he'd taken of her. Back when they were good friends, he was one of the few people that could get away with pictures of her being taken. She wasn't a fan of having her picture taken, but he always insisted.

The next ones she looked through were of her and Alessandro. They had only recently been taken and there weren't nearly as many, but it was still early. She frowned as she looked through them. Why hadn't he seen her flaws? What made him look past her neurotic behavior? She wondered how she had any friends really, though she had to say it didn't surprise her that they were few and far between.

Among the Les pictures, she stopped at one that was not him. This boy with his angular features and pale blonde hair, she'd once described him as modelesque after saying she didn't much like models that had no brains. He had been the exception. Feeling her chest tighten, she stared at the picture. It had been so long since she'd seen him and she knew that there was a reason behind it. He wasn't just busy, he was avoiding her.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter had been busy. He and Dom had taken off to France on a whim - yes, the Chevalier twins would call an impromptu trip a whim. Two weeks of getting absolutely trashed in every sense of the word. People chose to unwind in many different ways, and that was how they did it. It was also something of a celebration considering how relieved they were that that slut's baby was not theirs; a stain on the Chevalier crest successfully averted.

When they returned to the country, they slept in their dorms for what seemed like days. They were practically off the radar. This was the first time Carter had been outside willingly in a while. And still he managed to look like perfection. Endless hours of sleep does that to a person.

Why was it that he couldn't go to the lake without running into her? It seemed like his luck at this place was completely sour, and that fact was enough to drive him crazy. True to form he retrieved his cigarettes as he walked towards the water's edge, placing one between his lips and lighting it up as he put the packet away again. He knew she was there. She was almost always there. But as he stood at the water's edge, hiding his eyes behind dark tinted sunglasses, he kept his gaze squarely out to the water.

[Jacelynn Heron]

Jacelynn was too consumed in her own memories to really pay much attention to the footsteps she heard approaching. They weren’t coming towards her, so she didn’t care much. She couldn’t have the whole place to herself after all, though sometimes she wished she could. Times like this in particular. She was miserably caught up in her own mind and it made things difficult. One would think that she would be happy now that she had a man falling at her feet.

Was it bad that she wasn’t?

Sure, Les was great. He was someone that genuinely cared for her and treated her like a princess. He counteracted everything she heard from her own mother, and his parents even liked her. But it wasn’t enough to keep her happy because he didn’t know all of her. He didn’t know about the major self-esteem problems she had and he didn’t know the details of the relationship she had with her mother. There were still things that could change his idea of her. And she didn’t even want to think of what he’d say about all of her whoring ways. He only knew that she had flirted around. He didn’t know that she’d had several FWB’s and rebelled against her mother by having sex with many different guys.

Jace pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. Here she was with a relationship and she was just as miserable as she had been without one. What was the matter with her? She sighed softly and set the box down, pulling her knees up to her chest as she placed the picture back in the box. Jacelynn lifted the camera hanging around her neck and looked out towards the water. It was a calm day, very slight breeze and a lovely sun-filled sky. At least in the picture it made the day look happier than what she felt. Jace snapped the picture and turned to look for another, but froze when she caught sight of someone through her lens that she expected to be a figment of her imagination. She dropped the camera from her face and turned her attention away from him.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter was doing pretty well so far. Either she hadn't noticed him, or she was ignoring his presence. There was still a decent distance between them, so when he tore his eyes from the water he glanced down and started to walk the line. Slowly his feet pressed into the watered earth, picking up small specks of dirt and mud that dropped off as soon as it touched the leather of his shoes. The more he moved, the more it probably seemed like he was walking towards her. But he stopped when he felt he was close enough.

He was keeping an eye on her, but from a distance. He knew she had a guy she was interested in. Carter wasn't the kind of guy that got along well with other guys - unless they had something to offer. Guys didn't like him around their girls. Normally he wouldn't care; relationships weren't boundaries in the mind of a Chevalier. But she cared for hers a very great deal. And he didn't want to risk that with his own presence. So he simply stood, half turned towards the water as he breathed the toxic air from his cigarette. He flicked the hot ash excess off the end. It was caught in the wind and made it's way towards her.

It'd probably burn if it caught her skin. He looked away and tried to ignore the possibility.

[Jacelynn Heron]

So he was avoiding her, it was clear in the way he didn’t look at her and wouldn’t even acknowledge that she was there. He should have known. If he was back, why would he come to a place that she was always seen at? Wasn’t that killing his plan of avoiding her until she forgot about him? It wasn’t working anyway. She couldn’t forget him like he seemed to forget her. It wasn’t that easy when it came to Jacelynn. The pictures she took and the memories seared into her mind weren’t easy to get rid of. Not even if she had burned him out of her memorabilia (which she couldn’t bring herself to do).

Jace dropped the camera from her face and let it hang back in its original place as she ran a hand through her hair. What did he think he was accomplishing by this? She had a feeling he heard about Les and that was why he put space between them, but she didn’t understand it. They had been each other’s hook up pal a few times, but that didn’t exactly make them inseparable. There was no logic to what he was doing. When her eyes dropped, her ears took over and she could hear those footsteps…his footsteps heading towards her. She didn’t dare look up though. What was the point when clearly he was only in it for the torture.

She saw a spark from the ash getting blown over towards her and she swatted it away before it could hurt her or anything. Ha, she thought of it as a metaphor, something she maybe should have done when she first met him…swatted him away before he could hurt her unintentionally.

[Carter Chevalier]

Interestingly enough, Carter was set where he was. He had no intention of looking at her. No intention whatsoever of talking to her, or making it obvious that his attention was on her. As he turned out to the water and ran a hand along the line of his hair, his back was practically to her.

And he stayed that way, taking in the toxicity of the cigarette and allowing it to fill his lungs. Slow, enjoyable breaths in his mind. He even went so far as to retrieve his phone as it dinged! with the indication of a message. With a free hand, he typed out a lengthy reply and sent it on his way. The point was not to ignore her. It was to be near her without ever reaching forward and breaching the distance.

Of course, how was she to know that?

[Jacelynn Heron]

Jacelynn couldn't do this anymore. She just couldn't take sitting there and doing nothing while he was there ignoring her. It shouldn't have bothered her this much because she had a boyfriend now and that was all she wanted, but she claims it was only because she missed him as a friend. It made sense, she didn't have many close friends that understood her the way he did, but it wasn't only for that reason that she was having such a hard time with it.

She shook her head and stood up, grabbing the little box full of pictures before walking. Initially she had planned to just leave and show him that she could act like this too. She was so close to passing right by him, but she couldn't do it. Instead she stomped right up to him and gripped the box close to her chest, her expression was blank for a moment, trying to settle on one thing. It settled on irritation.

"Since when are you back? I heard you went to France...ya know from someone else," She said, emphasizing the last word. Jace couldn't just let him get off the hook without dealing with some form of wrath.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter took a long moment to assess the situation as it turned - not quite in his favour, he'd argue. She stood there, toe to toe with the blonde boy who stared passed her, keeping his eyes away from hers even as she gave him such a look.

"Can't imagine who," Carter started, drawing the cigarette to his lips and inhaling again. As he spoke, the smoke slowly found passage past his lips by way of his words; "Given you're a college student, and we haven't the same friends." No, it was far more likely that she was making an assumption. Or he could go so far as to wonder if she'd asked some students about him. "Where else would I go? Well, the possibilities were endless."

[Jacelynn Heron]

Why she stopped, she didn't know. She was being stupid by trying to confront him about something she knew he didn't care about. Very rarely was she confrontational, but lately she'd been so angry and people just got in the line of fire. Between her mother and father both, she couldn't take anything from anyone.

Perhaps she was assuming that he had gone back to France because it was a good possibility. He wasn't here, that was what she had known and she wasn't about to stutter and look like a moron. "It doesn't matter does it? You were gone and..." And what? He forgot about her while he was away. She couldn't handle this. Jace couldn't continue because a lump formed in her throat. She wanted to say more, she wanted to ask him why he'd been ignoring her and ask what she did. But that would make her sound pathetic and she didn't want to be pathetic anymore.

"Whatever, I don't know why I'm wasting my time," She could feel the stinging beneath her eyes before water filled them. None fell, she just stared at him. What had changed? Was it her? "I'll leave you alone, that way it'll be easier to ignore me," Jace said quietly before reaching into the little box and pushing the picture of him into his chest. "I'm not even going to bother burning this one, you can just keep that and give it to whoever becomes important enough to you." With that she gripped the box tighter against her chest and turned the opposite way.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter turned his attention towards her, staring at her instead of through her. No, he supposed it didn't matter. But she was falling for it as well as he intended her to.

Still, he let her talk to him without cutting in. Finally, she felt like she was wasting her time with the blonde twin. And finally she was determined to leave him alone. He was surprised breaking contact had ended up being so easy. Or maybe he wasn't. Still surprise finally coloured his eyes when she retrieved a phone and pressed it against his chest. Carter made no move to pick the thing up, and as she turned to walk away it fell to the ground.

"I was never your boyfriend." He replied finally, adding a scoff. "I'll talk to you never, then."

That was way too easy.

[Jacelynn Heron]

Jacelynn hated seeing how easy it was for him to just dismiss her like that. He honestly didn't care like she thought he was starting to. The way he always said something that was honest to her, but wasn't maliciously trying to make her feel stupid. The way he was there when she needed someone, but had no one else to go to. The way they just sort of clicked upon first meeting.

His words were the final nail in the coffin. Things were over just like that and she wasn't even fighting him. Shouldn't she be fighting? But she felt like nothing she said would hurt him the way he was hurting her. The statement he felt necessary to say made her sick to her stomach because she hadn't thought it was so obvious that she started feeling like that. She figured that he would look past it because she was with Alessandro now. And she was happy. She was happy wasn't she?

Jace shook her head and looked over her shoulder, "You're right, Cart. You're not. You were someone I was really starting to trust though, but thank you. Thanks for making it clear that I can't trust anyone but myself." And even then she wasn't sure she could trust herself with doing anything right. "I'm sorry for ever thinking that we were friends." Finally she couldn't look at him, she turned in the direction of her car and walked without looking back. All of the memories of them together flashing rapidly in her mind as tears rolled down her cheeks.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter should have known to keep his mouth shut, but his judgement was clouded; whatever it was, it was clouding his thoughts and distracting his better choices. He shouldn't have wasted time on the words, but somehow he felt they were necessary.

"I'm sorry you felt that way too." He replied, sincerely sharp sarcasm cutting through his naturally nonchalant mould. He pushed forward, walking after her. No, she didn't get to have the last word in this. She didn't get to be the one to cut and run. If nothing else, she needed to get her emotions in check and stop throwing them at him because she was conflicted.

"And perhaps it's because I'm sorry you don't know how to listen. When did I ever tell you we were friends? When did I ever depict the image of someone you can trust? I don't do those things!" He shouted, raising his voice in what would have been an unnatural way. For her, anyway.

Anger was a devastatingly uncontrollable emotion for both twins. "But let's be honest about what this was to you in the first place. You were looking for a guy who was willing to be something for you. Not the shoulder to cry on. No, there are millions of people willing to bullshit their way through feelings for a pretty girl like you." He almost spat the words as he halted in his position, throwing his hand out in her direction; "Don't bullshit me. You didn't want feelings from me. You wanted someone to fuck, and that's what you got."

[Jacelynn Heron]

Jacelynn heard him following and she began to walk faster. She didn’t want to hear anymore, she just wanted him to let her go because clearly he was trying to rid himself of her. Why did he keep pushing, trying to hurt her more? Did he really hate her that much? Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she pushed forward, determined to keep going until eventually he just stopped following.

When he raised his voice, she covered her ears, but didn’t stop. She just wanted him to stop saying these things to her. She wanted to remember the fun they had and how easy it had been to get along with him upon first meeting. Jace didn’t understand why he was being so cruel to her, she had only been honest with him and here he was throwing everything she said back in her face.

He reached out and motioned towards her, and she turned back to face him with tears still running down her cheeks as he continued to tear into her. Jace went to smack him “You don’t get to talk to me that way. Who’s bullshitting who Cart? You’re not like this! You can say all you want, trying to make me hate you, but I don’t and I can’t because I know that this isn’t you. But if you want me to think that and you want to get rid of me, then let me go and stop following me.” She bit her lip to keep the sobs back. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

[Carter Chevalier]

Nothing happened, but Carter could feel how the ground wanted to shake beneath his feet. He wanted to unleash the strength he had - he felt as if he were itching to drag the ground up beneath his feet and having it swallow him whole. So he raised his voice and he yelled, because it felt like it was the only thing he could control in that situation.

Carter scoffed at her words. That he didn't get to talk to her that way. And yet she was allowed to throw pictures at him? She was allowed to breathe fire and he had to hold his tongue? Carter wasn't the type.

And since she knew him so well, she must have known that.

"I know what I'm like." Carter shot back. "I do. And look, you finally found someone willing to become what you want a man to be. So what do you need me for?" By now his feet were firmly planted on the ground; secure. "You may think you know me, but you've got yourself invested in what you wish I'd become. And I sure as hell won't change for a woman!"

[Jacelynn Heron]

Jace was losing her fight, she didn't want to keep arguing and getting hurt by everything that was said between them both. She knew she was being just as hurtful to him as he was to her, even if he didn't show it, but she couldn't just sit there and let him try to ruin what friendship they had because he wanted to push her away. She knew that they were friends, good friends even.

Her lip trembled and she looked away from him as he spoke. But then something seemed to click for her. The fact that he was bringing up Alessandro when this wasn't even about him. Jacelynn didn't want to read into it too much, but that statement followed with the question was what this whole thing was about. She wondered if he was worried she was trying to replace him, though it seemed very unlikely seeing as how Carter didn't care much either way.

"Don't bring him up in this, it has nothing to do with him! I need you because you understood more than anyone else did or does. We had an understanding between us about the whole screwing thing, but that wasn't all this was." She pushed back the tears that gathered in her eyes again and shook her head. "I don't want you to change and I don't wish you to become anything else, Cart. I liked you this way because you didn't care that I screwed around, you didn't call me a whore because I didn't settle down right away. You got it when no one else did..."