We have to

Taken off guard, Carson doesn’t react at first to Misty, his arms remaining at his sides…but feeling her embrace…feeling her tears… his hands find their way around her.

As she brings her lips to his, he doesn’t kiss her back, but waits for her to draw away, meeting her gaze head on. Her plea hangs in the air, surrounded by a silence he uses to let his thoughts run wild in.

Carson searches Misty’s eyes…she did still care…even after all that had happened…she did still care…she did still want to be with him. Would she ever cease to surprise him?

He slowly brings a hand up to run his fingers gently through her hair, now realizing that though it had been barely twenty-four hours, he had missed her. “Alright,” he relents quietly. “I won’t leave you.”

His thumb rubs away a tear on her cheek. He leans down to kiss another away, following the trail until his lips meet her own once again. His arms tighten around her, enveloping her in a strong embrace, his passionate motion proving his words true.


Jason stares numbly at the table, barely feeling Lockheart’s hand on his shoulder. His face and eyes are void of emotions, his mind to the point of total exhaustion, too tired to handle any more. “Five days,” he states quietly. “We’ve got to win. I can’t stand this any longer.”

He leans his elbows on the table to rest his forehead on his hands. It hadn’t been all that long…he couldn’t imagine spending more time here…with this kind of treatment…away from those he cared for. If he had done something deserving this punishment, he would be able to justify it in his mind. But he had been right to kill that man…and knowing that, simply drove home the misery.

“We have to win,” he repeats. “I can’t let Katie down.”


A figure slowly, quietly slips into Katie’s bedroom, approaching her bed as she sleeps. Checking to see she rests peacefully, they take the blanket and pull it up over her, allowing the rose to remain in her hand. With a gentle brush to her cheek, they retreat, leaving her door ajar.

Stepping outside, they go back to their jeep, flipping open their phone. “Yeah, Dad, she’s alright. I’ll make sure Laura knows to check on her later when she comes home.”