❝her love was engrossing,
rampant, and enliving.
so much that,
she became an indispensable
part of him.❞
-j.o
After two tragedies that struck her deep into a depressive state, Carter...
"Carter, please. Sit still," Margaret scolded her child, strawberry blonde hair wrapped around a burning iron. Jackie was swiping mascara across the girl's eyelashes, and she kept flinching. Every time she flinched, she felt the heat tingle against her head. It was a lose-lose situation for the poor teen. "I'm sorry!" she replied, pouting slightly. Jackie swiped a bit of blush against the apples of her cheeks and proceeded to find the right lipstick. "Mom," she whined, getting tired of sitting in one spot. Margaret rolled her eyes at her whining child, scrunching a curl in her hand. "Stop whining. I'm almost finished," she spoke, wrapping another section of hair around the iron. Carter groaned, pouting her lips as Jackie swiped the lipstick across them. It was a beautiful coral color, a shade lighter than her actual lips. It matched nicely with the warm tones on her eyelids.
Margaret let the last curl fall, taking a wide toothed comb and pulling it through her hair. As the curls loosened and separated, she applied the hairspray. Carter excitedly jumped up once her mother announced she was finished. "Thank you," the young girl said, kissing both adults on the cheeks. She quickly got dressed in Stefan's leather jacket, a nice denim skirt, brown boots, and a white blouse that hugged her breasts. After refreshing herself, which consisted of four extra hands, she hugged the two women and jogged down the stairs to her car. "Be home by eleven!" her mother called after her. She simply nodded, waved, and left the house in excitement. It was around seven o'clock, and she did not want to be late. On the way to the Mystic Falls Grill, Adele played through the speakers and Carter singing along to every song her knew off her albums. She adored Adele.
Once pulled into the parking lot, she spot Matt's beaten up truck. Of course he would want to be early too. Before exiting her vehicle, she pulled down the visor and checked her makeup in the mirror. It was still there and looking great. After giving herself an encouraging smile, she shut off the car and stepped out, locking it behind her. "You've got this, Carter," she whispered to herself, "It's just a date with a cute blond that makes your stomach leap. And a possible serial killer." She stopped in dead in her tracks, connecting the palm of her hand to her forehead in a sharp slap. Jesus, Carter, have you gone insane?, she thought to herself. Probably. She walked into the restaurant, spotting Matt almost instantly. His messy shock of blond hair stood out with his nice white tee, and his jeans. He waved the strawberry blonde over, his crooked smile cute and wide.
She weaved through people, finally taking her seat in front of him. "You're early," she hummed, sitting her purse beside her in the booth. He took a sip of Coke through his straw, raising an eyebrow. "Shall I add, so are you," he fired back, causing the girl to giggle in return. "Touché, my friend." He chuckled, twirling the clear straw through his dark carbonated drink. His eyes trailed over her outfit, appreciating it before moving up to her face. "You look great," he complimented her, to which she blushed profusely. "Thank you." Her voice was soft, and Matt smiled at that. "You look great, too." The two were pulled out of their eye contact when the waitress walked up to them, causing Matt to groan.
"Hello, my name is Vicki, and I will be serving you tonight," she greeted, causing Carter to raise a single brow. "Wow, you really are pretty." Carter's cheeks flared up as she smiled at Vicki. "Thank you," she responded meekly, to which Vicki chuckled. "What can I get you to drink?" Matt's eyes were covered as he hid his face in his hands. "Could I get a water, please?" she asked nicely, and the girl clad in uniform nodded. She scribbled it down before walking off towards the back. "Sorry about that. That's just my annoying older sister," he explained, scrubbing his hands against his face. Carter nodded shyly. She wouldn't know how that was. She only had Heather and she had never truly been a bother. Well, most of the time.
Soon, Vicki brought her the water and the two of them ordered. They both got bacon cheeseburgers with a shared plate of loaded fries. Heart disease city. "How are you liking Mystic Falls?" he asked her, his hands resting under his chin. She pondered on the thought. How did she feel? So far, she had met some kind of immortal and found out she was a prophet of death. That didn't sound too fun, you know? "I don't know yet. I'm still kind of processing it here. It's a lot different than San Diego." Matt seemed to choke on his drink after she finished speaking, eyes wide. "San Diego?" he spit out, recovering from the soreness in his throat. He coughed a bit, causing the girl across from him to place her hand on his to make sure he was okay.
"Yep, San Diego. I moved around a lot after my dad died. My mom couldn't stay in the same spot a lot because she always found something that drove her away. She eventually decided that family was the only way to ease the pain, and we came here," she explained, taking a sip of her water. "And then I met Tyler, and he's kind of an ass." Matt chuckled, nodding his head. "Yeah, he can be," the boy agreed. "But you know him better than I do." He nodded again at her words, ruffling his hair. "We've been best friends since before I can remember. But growing up has kind of showed me he's not all that good, either." The food soon came, the smell captivating their senses. It smelt like grease heaven. Carter hurriedly dug into the fries, pushing two fries covered in cheese and bell pepper bits into her mouth.
"Best fries ever, huh?" Matt asked as her started with putting ketchup and hotsauce mixed together on his plate, then began eating the fries. "They're amazing," she responded, dipping her fries in his concoction. "Hey!" He chuckled as she popped the food into her mouth, immediately loving it. They ate fairly quickly. It was like a race. Of course, she finished her burger first, but couldn't finish her half of the fries. He ate it all, being a growing boy and all. "Were you close with your dad?" Matt asked, dipping a cheesy fry into his ketchup. Red sauce smeared against the edge of his mouth, causing her to smile. "I wouldn't say too close. But, yes. You've got something," she trailed off, pointing toward the corner of her own lips. His eyebrows furrowed as he wiped his cheek, completely missing the condiment.
"I got it." She reached forward across the table, wiping the pad of my thumb against his lip. A rose color flooded his cheeks, his eyes locked into a gaze with hers. The gaze sent shivers down her spine. In a flash, his hand grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her face to his. Their lips met in a rough embrace, something she didn't expect. His lips were plump, and soft. The slight hair growing above his upper lip tickled as he moved his lips against her full ones. She felt her body tingle under his touch. He was melting against her lips. His hand traveled from her neck to her jaw before he pulled away. They felt stuck there, eyes still closed in bliss. Finally, Carter's eyes fluttered open to see a smile break out across his face. "I don't know if you felt that, but that was amazing," he told jee, his voice low. She felt a laugh push through my lips as her cheeks burned a pink color. "I felt it, I really felt it."
Someone cleared their throat in front of them, and the two shot back into their seats. Carter's cheeks were scarlet red, as were Matt's. She turned her head slowly to see Vicki standing there, smirking and holding up the check. "Better get this, Matty boy," she spoke, causing the two of them to laugh in embarrassment.
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
AUTHOR'S NOTE;
kind of a filler chapter. so, matt and carter are blossoming. carter met vicki. don't worry, though. damon is coming soon.
