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“You can direct where we go, but you have to move very slowly so it doesn’t look like you’re doing so. If I say something to you and call you pet, it means we’re within earshot of someone. It’s also a good idea you stop crawling.”
“Okay,” Carter whispers.
“Go ahead, then. Garden is that way, if you want to see it.”
The garden.
Carter starts towards the garden, heart racing, but stops short when he sees a man standing nearby with a military-style rifle in his hands.
Nathan turns so his body is between Carter and the man, looking out at the party decorations instead of down at Carter. “He’s here to protect us. To protect me. Ignore him.”
Carter nods, quickly tearing his eyes away from the man and focusing back on the garden nearby. “Right. Sorry.”
“No reason to be sorry. I’m glad you noticed him. There will be many more tomorrow.” Nathan adjusts his grip on the leash. He seems to look around, probably checking to see if they’ll be overheard, before he says, “Come on. I’ve paid a lot of money to have this English cottage-style garden built and maintained up in the fucking mountains, so let’s go see it."
English cottage-style garden.Carter fights a smile at that, amused that Nathan even knows what such a thing is.
Then he’s unable to fight the smile any longer because he can see the flowers, illuminated by strings of twinkle lights zigzagging above them. He crawls so quickly, he nearly comes off the damn ground.
There are pink-orange peonies, with a few pure white ones scattered among them. Pretty little purple flowers he’s never seen before. Bright pink coneflowers. Dark red dahlias. And -
Daffodils.
The white kind with the orange-red centers that look like flames blooming. Carter carefully -Oh. So. Carefully.- touches a single fingertip to a petal. It's soft and wet and impossiblyfragile.
“Where are we?” he asks, the words raw and awful from how tight his throat has become.
“Hmm?”
“Where-” he pauses, looking around to make sure they’re alone. Then, “Where are we in the world?”
Nathan hesitates before quietly saying, “The mountains of Montana. Near the Canadian border.”
“Mountains,” Carter whispers to the flower. He can’t stop smiling, even as he feels tears roll down his cheeks.
“Carter?”
“Did you know that flowers have to be strong to grow in the mountains? Incredibly strong.Resilient. The conditions are harsh."
“Okay…”
“These are daffodils.”
He hears how Nathan's breath catches, the man clearly remembering the significance of the flowers. "Oh. I - I didn't know."
“They’re survivors." Carter laughs. The sound is watery. Beautiful. "I had no idea daffodils were strong flowers, but if they're growing here, they have to be. They're - they'resurvivors."
A hand touches Carter’s shoulder. “Like you.”
Carter tries to laugh again. This time, it comes out a sob instead. Nathan’s fingers tighten where they hold him. “Carter…”
“Just one more minute,” he begs, trying to keep down another sob long enough to say the words. “Just one more. Please.”
“Okay.” The hand gentles. “One more.”
