CHAPTER 56

         "What are you all talking and laughing about?" Carl asked as he stepped away from the door. Carly stood up and met him then hugged him.

           "You've got yourself a crush. The guy seated over there,"she whispered into his ear then laughed out loudly at the expression on his face. She remembered the times she and Dylan had discussed if there was any possibility that Carl would maybe turn the other way,be interested in guys just because she was gay and they were twins but just from what she saw right now,Carl didn't have even a little bit of the interest. She walked with him beside Dylan. After he and Kenny were introduced,they spent the next thirty minutes together. The presence of her brother seemed to lighten things up added to the presence of the ever chatty Teddy amongst most of his favorite people. Kimmy and Lex had seemed withdrawn for a while but had opened up to him. Well, Teddy had made them and at least they were treating him like their mate. Moments later when Carl was ready to leave,they stood together in the hallway. Emily and her kids were already in the car waiting outside and Kenny was inside the apartment with Teddy. 

                   "Don't you think that staying together is like making it easier for this psycho stalker to get you easily. What if you get blown up in the apartment? Hell,what if I get blown up for harbouring Emily at my place?"

                    "No one is getting blown up, I promise," Dylan tried to calm him down. "We talked about this and I told you you don't have to do it. I can think of something else even it it means getting another couch. I can take that and leave the bed to her and the kids."

                  "Maybe I should have gone with Teddy instead," Carly said.

Carl shook his head,"No,as much as I don't really like this I prefer my sister staying here with you. It's much safer that way because I know you wouldn't let anything happen to her. I am a scared little kid when it comes to scary women murderers,I wouldn't know what to do."

                "Okay, Emily comes back to my apartment tomorrow morning so that we can continue checking out her list. She knows about it. I will handle everything else from there."

                "Okay." Carl bid them goodbye then left the building and they were left looking at each other.

                 "Shouldn't you have warned him about Emily's husband?" Carly asked.

                 "He doesn't need another reason to go crawling out of the window when he heard a knock at the door," Dylan replied then walked back to the apartment. She followed her inside. 

  Dinner was held an hour later after she and Kenny had volunteered to cook together. He turned out to be a great cook and even better,he hadn't been so snoopy about her relationship with Dylan which he already knew. Or maybe he had already been told everything about them. Either that or he was trying to respect her privacy. Instead they had discussed other things beside dating and relationships. He had turned out to be a really fun guy to work around and an amazing cook too. She was sure Dylan would be so open to letting him stay specially because of his skills in the kitchen. She retired much later in the bedroom Dylan had said would be hers and Teddy. He was already sleeping when she got there but when she joined him,he stirred and opened his eyes sleepily. She smoothed his hair back and kissed his forehead.

                  "Go back to sleep baby, it's late."

                    "I was waiting for you so that I could tell you goodnight," he said sleepily.

 She smiled,"I am here now. I will be right beside you all through the night."

                  "I am so happy," he said and she pulled him closer to her body. They were silent for a long moment as she listened to his soft breathing and she thought he was asleep. She took the moment to drift away in her thoughts, some of which she had managed to push away for some hours but just within reach. She was counting down the days until his surgery and tried not to overthink it but every time she tried, she failed. The only obstacles that seemed to block it was her fear of what was happening then. Everyone was trying to make her see the positive side of things. Her parents about Teddy's surgery and Dylan and Carl about both his surgery and what they were fighting now. She just couldn't help but think of all the negative things, asking herself insane questions of things that might happen and every time she did,her whole body felt weak and her head dizzy. What if she didn't make it to see her son get better? What if something happened to Teddy in between this time and the time his surgery was scheduled. He seemed healthy enough, she was following up with his medication but then,there was no guarantee that his life wasn't in danger. It had been nothing much more than mere threats which weren't death threats like Emily's but she was still scared. She wanted all of it to be over and forgotten. Leaving Australia had been scary but this was much more scary. It was like she had jumped from the frying pan to the fire. A tear fell out of her eyes and she wiped it quickly. The last thing she wanted was to make her son worried. Too late.

                  "Mom,are you okay?" he asked without opening his eyes. She was surprised to hear his voice but composed herself to reply.

               "Yes, I am okay. I'm just a little tired."

                "Is Dylan okay?"

  She frowned in the darkness wondering where the question had come from.

               "Of course. Why wouldn't she be?" she asked.

               "I don't know, because she asked us to come stay with her. Is she scared?"

Carly sighed thinking of the best thing to say to her son. The truth always made him feel better but not this time. She knew Dylan was scared just as much as she was even though she didn't admit it in so many words. Asking her to move in with her so that she would keep an eye on them was enough to know how she felt.

               "She is a police officer, she can't be scared of anything."

               "Even police officers get scared sometimes. I have seen them on the tv when a bad person wants to shoot them with big scary guns."

                   "What? When did you see that?" She had always made sure that her son strictly avoided those sorts of movies. She had always been careful when watching them which she did after he had gone to sleep."

                 "I saw them when grandpa took me to the arcade. I sneaked into a movie with my friend Charlotte when grandpa went to buy ice cream." He admitted and she knew he wouldn't make up something like that. Her father hadn't even mentioned something like that and she wondered why he hadn't told her. Had he forgotten or had he just chosen not to report it thinking that she would scold her son? "Please don't be mad at grandpa. I begged him not to tell you because you don't like it when I see those movies."

                  "You are right,I don't like it. Don't do anything like that again. It can be dangerous. There are bad people who might hurt you when you go out there alone."

                   "I wasn't alone,I was with Charlotte."

                   "How old is Charlotte?" she asked just out of curiosity but guessed she was probably around his age.

                  "She is bigger than me. She told me that she was twelve."

                 "Was she with someone at the arcade?"

                 "She said that she was with her sister but I didn't really see her. Grandpa took me home."

                   "Okay,go to sleep now but don't ever do something like that again,okay?"

                   "Okay mom, goodnight."

                      ★★★

      She took some time and waited for him to drift off to sleep and when she made sure he had,this time for real, she got up from bed and headed back to the living room. She didn't expect to find Dylan still sitting at her desk but there she was. She seemed so far away in thoughts though because she didn't turn when she appeared at the doorway. Kenny was already first asleep on the couch. She went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water then went back and sat beside Dylan. That snapped her back from her thoughts.

                "Couldn't sleep?" she asked her.

     Carly shook her head,"I was thirsty and decided to come for water. Teddy also asked me something and now I can't stop thinking that he was right."

                 "That kid never ceases to amaze me, what did he ask this time?"

               "Are you okay?"

                 "Are you?"

   Right. That had been a rhetorical question. She already knew the answer to that. She decided to bring up the topic she wasn't sure if Dylan had been avoiding.

                    "What about the kiss earlier?"

                   "What about it?"

Was this a question to question conversation? She was definitely avoiding it. She went ahead anyway.

                  "I kissed you and I am not sure how you took it. I don't know what you think about it. I know that maybe I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry. It's just that I couldn't stop myself. You were standing there and I was aching for you and I didn't know what else to do after the care you've shown about me and my family. But most of all,I wanted to kiss you and I..."

Dylan touched her hand and stopped her,"I have nothing against that. I have also been wanting to do the same thing since the first day I saw."

  She smiled,"So,where does that leave us?"

  Dylan shook her head,"I don't know. Maybe we should talk about this- about us when all of this is over?"

  Carly didn't want to admit to her how she felt, like maybe there wouldn't be a them to talk about in the future and so she tried to stay positive.

              "Okay."

                "Overall, I care about you Carly and at this moment, I just want to focus on keeping you safe. After that,we can discuss everything else I promise."

   She got up and placed a light kiss on her cheek then turned and left. Just before she disappeared to her bedroom, she turned and looked at Dylan who still had her eyes on her. "Goodnight Dylan."

              "Goodnight too Carly,see you in the morning."

                 "Please, don't stay up the whole night."

                "I won't."

                     ★★★

       Carly walked down the pavement along a block of small businesses around town. Living in the suburbs, she didn't get much time to walk around the town and so,this was just the perfect time. She had woken up early before everyone else and had gone looking for a pharmacy to refill her son's meds that were running out. She had forgotten to do that the previous day and her mother wouldn't open hers until much later during the day. She wasn't sure she would have the time to go then. After buying what she required, she walked back towards Dylan's apartment. She thought of dropping by her brother's apartment but thought against it. She didn't want them to wake up and find her gone so she hurried back to make it in time.

      Just as she was about to walk up the front steps, she heard someone call her name. She turned and came face to face with Kelley. Her heart skipped and a deadly wave of heat washed over her. She wanted to run up the stairs and leave her standing there but her legs refused to cooperate.

                 "Carly,I thought you were not in town since you haven't called me since Saturday."

                "Sorry,I have been busy,"she found her tongue but didn't trust her voice not to shake. "What are you doing here anyway?"

                  "Just business and just by another wonderful coincidence, I happened to run into you." Kelley walked closer towards her and she moved a step back. "I get it, you didn't like the kiss and I'm sorry. But you don't have to be so afraid of me."

                   "Why would I be afraid of you?" she asked. Her heart was racing a thousand miles in nanoseconds.

                   "I don't know, because of things you have probably heard about me which some are not true."

                   "Wh.... what things," she stammered.

                   "I'm sorry it has to be this way Carly."

    Just as she was about to ask what she meant by the statement,a blow hit her from behind. The last thing she saw was some long haired woman standing above her and the last thing she felt was the cold cement of the concrete stairs before she completely black out.