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“We throw darts at a million boards and hope one hits.”
Carter winces. “Yeah. Okay. Hopes definitely not getting up.”
“Good call.”
“But thank you, Ace. This means a lot.”
“No problem.”
With a smile, Ace starts to turn away.
Carter lurches forward without thinking, grabbing his elbow. “Wait.”
Ace raises an eyebrow, slowly turning back to face him. “Yeah?”
“Travis. Do you know where he is? What he’s doing? If he’s okay?”
“Yes.”
Carter waits, but the asshole doesn’t say anything else. He squeezes the elbow a little too hard. “And?”
“I can’t tell you, I can’t tell you, and he’s fine - as of 6 a.m.”
“What was at 6 a.m.?”
“His last check-in.”
“Oh.” Carter forces himself to let go of Ace, stepping back. His face heats in embarrassment. “I was just… wondering.”
Ace snorts. “Sure, of course.”
“But… if I were to ever wonder again…?” Carter asks, leaving the end off as he looks at Ace with a hopeful expression.
Ace puts his hands in his pockets and gives him a kind smile. “I’ll tell you every time.”
The safehouse has three levels - a top floor where all the workers sleep and where the offices are; the bottom floor where all the survivors sleep, and also where there’s a laundry room, a living room, a kitchen, and a dining room; and the basement where there’s an entertainment center, a state-of-the-art gym, a boxing ring, a quiet reading room, and a swimming pool.
That’s where Carter finds Casey when he goes searching for him - doing laps in the pool. The adjustable lights are low in the swim room, their warm glow rippling on the surface of the water as Casey glides through it.
Carter rolls up his jeans and sits on the edge of the pool, dipping his feet in the water. He’s not sure if Casey sees him as he goes back and forth, but eventually he stops to take a long breather and his eyes settle on Carter. He pulls his goggles down around his neck and half-walks, half-swims over to him with a smile.
He’s always smiling when he’s in the pool. Like nothing can touch him here. Like the world slips away. Like he’s safe and at peace as long as the water is surrounding him.
Travis provided that for Carter. He hadn’t even noticed that until he lost it.
“Hey,” Casey says when he’s close enough. His voice is low, keeping it from echoing off the walls. “How are you?”
Carter scoffs and kicks a foot toward his friend, sending a splash his way. Casey knows better than to ask a stupid fucking question like that. He doesn’t even bother to acknowledge it. “Did you hear that they identified Elliot?”
“No. Really? I wonder if that’s what Jake wanted to talk to me about earlier. I sort of dodged him when he asked if we could talk.”
“Dodged him, huh?” Carter tilts his head teasingly. “You weren’t dodging him the other night.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I caught him sneaking out of your room very early in the morning.”
Casey’s cheeks go red. He shoves his floppy hair off his forehead, looking anywhere but at Carter. “It wasn’t like that.”
