Assault With a Deadly Weapon || N.H / 1D

22.

Song recommendation: Trouble by Cage the Elephant

-
"It's so sad to see you go." Daniella gave me a pouty look.

"I'm not going far." I assured her. "I'm moving in with the McBride's, that's not too far away from here right?"

"It's a five minute drive."

"Exactly." I smiled as Styles packed my bags into the Range Rover.

"It really is a shame that you can't be here with us any longer." Lucille said from beside Dani.

"I'm just moving out, I'm not dead." I emphasized my words.

"No you're not." Lucille shook her head slowly.

'Stop antagonizing her Carter. Don't be stupid.'

"I just wanted to thank you guys again for being so lovely to me while I was here." I took both of their hands in mine. "It's so nice to have people to rely on in this troubling time for our family." I looked over to Styles who silently nodded along with my statement.

"You'll get through this!" Daniella encouraged. "You're both smart enough!"

"Thank you." I grinned.

It was really hard for me to not be friends with Daniella. I had been skeptical about her at the beginning, but now that I knew who she was. I don't think she could hurt a fly. Her and her fathers had been wrapped up in this crazy operation through blood. I also don't think she's smart enough to pull off a murder.

"I'll be back in about half an hour." Styles said to the girls.

I jumped into the Range Rover, mentally preparing myself for what was to come later today. I was exhausted from the night before. Niall had talked me through some coping mechanisms. We played some of those games that you'd normally play with your family on long road trips, like the one where you make a story with each person adding on one sentence, and the one where you had to come up with a picnic menu in alphabetical order. It was childish, but it kept me distracted from the looming threat in the air.

"How are you feeling?" Styles asked as he pulled out of the parking garage.

"I'm tired."

"Spent too long talking to Niall?"

"No I think it might've been the image of a dead body keeping me awake." I shrugged.

"Malik thought that was hilarious." He pointed to his earpiece.

"Thank you sir. I'm actually a standup comedian."

'If you were you would suck.' Horan said in my ear.

"Hey I'm hilarious!"

Styles gave me a weird look.

"Horan." I said quietly while pointing to my ear. He nodded in understanding.

It was a little weird to remember that when Styles and I were alone, we were never really alone. Horan was always there, and Malik was always there. I couldn't really say anything in total confidentiality. It was okay though, because everything I had to say concerned them most of the time.

"So you're really okay with moving?" Styles asked as we drove.

"Yeah." I nodded. "If I stayed another day in the house Lucille would've killed me."

"You're really letting her have that much power over you?"

"You said yourself that she's absolutely ruthless. I'm not taking that chance."