Chapter 5: Cold Remedies and Birthday Wishes

Back at school, I really did catch a cold.

No fever, just a plain cold, but it sucked.

During a big lecture, Carter brought me hot water and sighed, “See? I told you you’re delicate.”

I took a tissue and blew my nose. “Blame your jinx.”

“Fine, fine, I’m a jinx. Did you take your medicine this morning?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t have to stay for class. Go home before the teacher gets here.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m bored anyway.”

I rolled my eyes and stopped arguing.

The class lasted all morning.

I blew my nose a million times and went through a mountain of tissues.

Eventually, I started running a fever.

Carter closed his book, packed up, and raised his hand. “Professor, she has a fever. I’ll take her to the nurse.”

Only after I was hooked up to an IV did Carter start scolding me. “How can you not notice when you’re sick? You don’t take care of yourself at all. If I hadn’t noticed, you’d just keep burning up. No more late-night walks, even if you’re upset. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Thanks, Carter.”

Carter froze. His tough-guy act vanished. He mumbled, “All you ever do is thank me.”

“Want me to get you more male models?”

Carter glared at me. “Don’t you dare!”

I burst out laughing. Teasing him was too much fun.

“But really, thanks for everything lately.”

He’d taken care of me so much.

“Why don’t you make a wish? If I can, I’ll make it come true.”

“Childish.”

“So, do you want to or not?”

Carter shrugged and grinned. “Sure, why not?”

I was curious. “So what do you wish for?”

Carter pretended to think. “Hmm, I’ll save it for later. I’ll tell you when I know.”

But he never did.

I wondered, how could someone not have a wish? Maybe he thought I couldn’t make it happen?

Until his birthday. I brought him a cake, all smiles.

“Can you tell me your wish now?”

Carter smiled. “You really want to know?”

“You made me curious! Other than the usual health stuff, tell me.”

In the candlelight, his face was sharply defined. I even saw the smile at the corner of his mouth.

“If possible, I wish the girl I like would like me back.”

He blew out the candle and looked at me, half-smiling. “Think you can pull that off?”

“Huh?”

Yeah, no pressure or anything. That wish was way too hard. No wonder he never said it.

“Who’s the girl you like?”

“You.”

He said it lightly, but my heart skipped a beat. My eyes went wide.

Carter waved it off. “It’s okay if you don’t like me. I can wait. I’ve thought it through—I have the confidence to wait.”

“You don’t have to rush to decide how you feel. Chasing you is my business. If you don’t like it, just tell me and I’ll stop. Autumn, think it over.”

“And thanks for spending my 21st birthday with me. I’m really happy.”

“Whether my wish comes true isn’t important anymore. At least on my 21st birthday, the girl I like was there.”

I looked at him, my nose stinging.

I knew how good he was to me, but did I like him? I honestly didn’t know.

Maybe I really needed to think about it.

That winter, when the first snow fell, I said yes to Carter.

I had to admit, after spending so much time with him, I’d started to fall for him.

Back then, all it took was Lucas Bradley holding an umbrella for me to fall.

Carter was no less.

Sometimes I wonder if I’d met Carter first, would I have fallen for him right away?

But then, I wouldn’t have met him the way I did.

Our story started with a video I posted, asking if my crush’s profile was a couple’s profile.

Carter, who never had patience for silly questions, replied ‘yes’ that day.

It was him—Carter.

So, whether we met sooner or later, it doesn’t matter.

And that’s really the end. Swear.

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