||COMPLETE||
Amber Blake is having dreams, and they just might be the key to saving her best friend, Mark.
Unfortunately, she's too preoccupied pretending to hate the boy next door, Carter Hayes. Secretly hoping to rekindle what once was, Amber atte...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Getting There
Mark didn't look over when the chair next to him shifted.
He knew he should, but he just kept staring at his handcuffs, fiddling with them in his lap to fight the urge to get up. There was barely anyone in the waiting room now, which emphasized the silence between them. Mark grappled desperately for something to say. How did he even begin to unpack the biggest regret of his life, much less to Carter of all people? Sweat pooled in the small of his back, and suddenly, the room felt too hot.
You can't do this, his inner voice screamed. You don't deserve his forgiveness.
"Are you guys friends?"
It took Mark by surprise. Sitting up a bit, he shot Carter a weird look. "What?"
"Darren. Is he your friend?"
"What kind of question is that? You know I work for him," Mark bit back too harshly. The same guilt he'd come to associate with Carter twisted painfully in his stomach. He really was trying, but old habits died hard.
Thankfully, it wasn't enough to push Carter away. "I know, it's just... I figured I'd ask. In case you wanted to talk about why I did what I did."
He's blaming himself. Mark wasn't at all surprised. Nevermind that there were three sets of hands on the gun; Carter would take responsibility for Darren's outcome because that's just who Carter was. The dagger in Mark's gut plunged deeper as he reminded himself who made him that way in the first place.
But the question did make Mark pause — was Darren his friend? He hadn't given the notion much thought before, and he doubted Darren would say yes if asked. Unfortunately, the answer didn't come as easily to him. It was no secret that Darren was an asshole, but his shit personality was something Mark could look past.
The truth was, no one else understood him the way Darren could, not even Amber. Mark knew deep down Darren hired him for good reasons. He gave him more clients than any of his other dealers, and it wasn't because of Mark's mediocre selling skills. In his own backwards way, Darren was looking out for him. Did that equate to friendship? Mark didn't know. There was only one thing he could say for sure.
