+Anima the Roleplay part 2 (Because part 1 was burried alive.)

Carter tensed when he heard Mr. Blake walk up behind him. He was ready for a blow, and his shoulders showed it. It took almost all of Carter's strength not to start crushing Amanda's hand again.

Click.

Carter turned at the sound and saw a nurse walk in with two unfamiliar people. The first thing Carter noticed was that they were drenched and looked like they had been crying. Carter knew automatically that they must be Amanda's parents.

He looked over at her and squeezed her hand before gently setting it back on the bed.

"Do you need a room, sir? We should have you checked out."

"No. I don't need to be checked out," Carter said, trying to look less injured than he was. Instead, he waited for Mr. Blake to leave the room before exiting himself.

Damien turned and saw Amanda's parents cautiously approaching them. He gave a curt nod in acknowledgement to them, not offering a reason for him to be there. They knew, at least, that him and Amanda spent a good amount of time out of school working on various academic activities. But that was all they knew. And he was hoping they wouldn't find out more. He could tell Amanda was overwhelmed right now, and he felt guilty. He stepped outside the room, as Carter rejected the offer to be checked out.

He glanced at him, and saw that he had injured him pretty well. It hadn't been his intention; he'd only wanted to put him down long enough so that he could get to the room before him. He had accomplished that, but... it was too obvious.

Damien stood outside the room a few moments, trying to decide what he should do next.
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Amanda was nervous and fearful as her parents entered the room. They looked so miserable, even when she could barely focus on them. She reassured them that she was going to be alright. And the nurse had left now.

She knew what Damien had found on that chart. And she knew that some of the doctors expected her to tell them. Eighteen was close enough... but hiding it wasn't going to be an option. There was nothing she could do.

The only thing she knew was that no one, no one but herself, Carter, and Damien himself, were going to find out who the real father was. At least not for a very long time. When the words finally came out, the shock washing over even more than the initial reaction of finding her in the hospital from being hit by a car. She looked and felt exhausted, and horrible about everything. They'd given her something for the pain, but now all Amanda wanted to do was sleep.

Her parents promptly left after the announcement, their eyes landing on the innocent, injured, redheaded teen and boring into him, as they started toward the waiting room.

Carter leaned against the wall outside Amanda's room, watching Mr. Blake closely. No matter what happened next, he wasn't letting Mr. Blake back in the room first. Carter absently rubbed a sore spot in his shoulder when Mr. and Mrs. Rivvers walked out of Amanda's room, looking no happier than when they entered.

Looking up, Carter saw that they were staring at him as if accusing him for something. And then Carter realized that they were blaming him. They thought that Carter had gotten Amanda pregnant. He wanted to burst out and say that it was Mr. Blake's because that would get him locked up, but it wouldn't be good for Amanda, either. So Carter kept his mouth shut, trying to look innocent.

"Oh. Well at least it wasn't too bad. Or was it? I'm sorry I don't know a lot about hemophilia." Antha figdeted nervously. She wasn't that good at making conversations.

Amanda's parents were at a complete loss for words, one shocking situation after another. They entirely wrote off the idea that Damien was there for that purpose, and immediately found Carter as the first one to blame. Amanda had been so entirely exhausted, and she hadn't told them anymore than what the doctors had found out. No amount of "innocent looks" would take away their assumption.
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Damien pulled off of the wall and started down the hallway. He would have time to discuss future matters with Amanda later. Right now, he had to take care of Brian. Not that he exactly wanted to, but it would be the best thing to do. Both not to think about what had happened, and to save his own butt from future consequences. He trusted that Carter would care enough about Amanda not to snitch on the two of them. It was stupid that he did, and he knew that, yet he had other things to deal with now.

Carter knew that no matter how many innocent looks he flashed to Amanda's parents, they would always blame him for what happened to Amanda. They would never suspect a teacher, after all, those things only happened in the movies. Right? It was wrong, so wrong. Before today, he had believed that, but after he had figured out what was going on between Amanda and Mr. Blake, Carter couldn't make those things happen only in movies anymore. They were real life not some RP that takes over lives.... O.o.

Carter watched Mr. Blake walk down the hall, trying to look like he wasn't the one who had gotten Amanda pregnant. In that instant, Carter loathed him even more; he wanted to shout to the world that it had been Mr. Blake's mistake, and not his. But just as he opened his mouth to do so, Carter realized that even though Mr. Blake would get sacked, Amanda's future wouldn't be too great, either. Instead, he turned to the wall and punched it as hard as he could.

The wall was dented, and automatically, the nurse inside of Amanda's room walked out and glared at Carter. A couple of others, either coming from rooms, or just down the hallway, focused in on the boy who had punched the wall, as Damien continued down the hall. The nurse again insisted that they find him a room.
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Quickly, Damien located a room where surgical supplies could be retrieved and collected them accordingly, stashing them into a bag he found that wouldn't look strange walking out. He struggled to keep his mind on this one thing, this simple task, when he knew what he knew now. Regardless, it was time to take care of Brian's requests.

Now where was he going to find another hospital volunteer? Or non-volunteer, perhaps. He wasn't sure why the Crusader leader was looking for a human subject, though he had an idea that it wasn't going to be something pleasant. He wouldn't have taken Amanda anyway. Damien took a glance down the hallway he'd been in and took another route out of the hospital, returning to his painfully empty car.

As he started the engine, he speed-dialed Brian on his phone. When he answered ((I hope this is okay...)), Damien spoke.

"I've got the supplies. Now what do you want a human for, Brian?"

Carter stared down the nurse that was glaring at him for denting the wall. The look in his eyes dared her to mess with him. When she again insisted that a room be found for him, Carter said that he wanted to see Amanda again. He stared at her, giving her a look that said not to mess with him and to just let him in the room. As injured as Carter was, he was going to ignore it until Amanda specifically told him to get checked out. And he might still ignore it then. Just because he hated hospitals with a passion.

They let Carter in, however, the nurse remained outside the door. Someone called for maintenance (sp) to come repair the wall.
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Amanda had been jolted out of her dozing from Carter's punch to the wall. There was commotion outside, and she knew, as much as they told her she "needed" rest, and as much as she wanted it, that she wasn't going to be sleeping again anytime soon.

She opened her eyes and looked over at who had entered the room, relieved to find it was Carter.

"Back already?" she said, hoarsely.

"Back already?"

"Yeah."

Carter looked at Amanda and saw how tired she looked. He suddenly wondered if he should be in there. Amanda really looked like she should be alone for a while longer so she could rest more.

"I... I can leave if you need more rest," Carter said. "I apparently need to be checked out myself." He rolled his eyes slightly. The only way he was getting himself checked out, was if Amanda said that she would rest. But, she was stubborn enough to argue with him about that for a while, so Carter figured he'd be okay.

"N-No... you don't have to go... but... you might actually want to get checked out. No offense, but you don't exactly look that great yourself," Amanda said, motioning gently for him to come closer. She knew she should be urging him to leave, yet she still didn't want to be alone. Especially not after talking to her parents. Just the thought made her cringe, and guilt twisted inside of her. Still, she couldn't tell anyone else about Damien...

"No offense, but you don't exactly look that great yourself."

Carter walked closer, pretending to be hurt by her words. "But... fine, I guess I'm not good looking enough for you. Is that why we broke up?" As soon as the words came out of Carter's mouth, he wished he could take them back. He wanted to kick himself in the face, but that would be pretty hard for a guy as inflexible as he.

"By the way," he said quickly, trying to cover up what he had just said, "your parents seem to think that...." Carter paused and looked back at the nurse in the doorway. He lowered his voice. "That I'm... the dad. That means that I would have scored with you before we even started dating." The faraway look in Carter's eyes were a big sign of what he was fantasizing about.

Amanda took in the phrase "we broke up". It may have been meant as a joke, but it still didn't feel very great to her, especially not after everything that had happened today. She could tell he was trying to cover it up as he continued speaking, quickly. Amanda glared at him, but was grateful that he seemed okay. And then a little angry again. But there was no reason for her to be that way.

"So... I... I'm sorry about everything that happened today. What... what happened to you?" she said, purposely avoiding the subject that was weighing on them, that Carter had just mentioned. She wasn't sure how to address it with him, especially after what he said about her parents. They wouldn't even look at her after she told them. It seemed natural that they would blame Carter, not even think twice about the fact that Damien was there... she had never failed them before. Until now.

"I'm fine. All that happened was me fighting Mr. Creeper-- I mean Mr. Blake," Carter replied, trying to sound casual. The only way for him to get fully back to normal was to be the complete and total jerk that dominated his personality most of the time. And to shrug serious matters off as jokes. It was Carter's defense mechanism, and he used it well.

"So... when do you get out of here?" Carter asked, taking Amanda's hand. He absently played with her fingers, as if he wasn't aware of what he was doing.

Amanda bit her lip, looking away from Carter. She sighed shakily. Of course it was Damien, who did this. Of course they were fighting. She knew Carter had absolutely no reason to stick around here, but he hadn't yet left. He took her hand, and still, she couldn't force herself to look at him. The way he was here, playing with her fingers, so close to her... she just wasn't sure how she could, or if she could, take it.

"I... I don't know. A few days maybe, more or less... they haven't told me anything yet... other than... the obvious."

She looked up at him, asking him why he wasn't leaving with her eyes. She didn't want him to go... she just couldn't understand why he would want to stay.

"That's... good," Carter said, struggling for even those two measly words. He wasn't very good at small talk, nor did he enjoy it very much. Normally, Carter would try to avoid small talk, but he was trying for Amanda's sake.

He continued to absently play with Amanda's fingers when she looked up at him, silently asking him why he was still there. The answer to that was unknown even to Carter. He couldn't place a specific reason as to why he continued to stay by her side after everything that had happened. He had just admitted to liking her today! Just hours ago! Carter shook his head, unable to answer even though we all know it's because of the magical powers ships hold in RP's!.

"I don't know," he whispered, looking down to see that his pinkie was looped around Amanda's, like kid's did when they pinkie-swore.

Amanda bit her lip and glanced down at their hands. His pinkie finger was around hers, a childlike promise. But what did it mean? She didn't want him to go... but he didn't know why he stayed, and she already didn't understand.

Maybe understanding didn't matter. He was here, and he wasn't going. Wasn't that all that mattered?

"I'm... I'm really... I'm really sorry all this happened... y-you... you don't have to stay here if you don't want to."

But perhaps she didn't want him to be involved with all of this. Her life was halted now and would move slowly through the next year and more. She didn't want to burden him with that.

Carter smiled a little at that. Somehow, he knew through everything that was going to happen, he would be there for her. Carter had always known that there wasn't much going for him anyways. He slacked off in class all the time, and even if he didn't, Carter knew that he wouldn't be smart enough to get to more than community college.

"I'm here for you," he said. "And... for...." He gestured to Amanda's stomach with his free hand. The pinkie that was wrapped around Amanda's tightened just slightly. He wasn't letting go.

Amanda felt tears come to her eyes, despite trying to fight them off. She felt his finger tighten around hers and she made an attempt to smile weakly. Knowing she wasn't alone in this, that Carter wasn't going to leave her, in spite of everything, somehow lifted it all off of her shoulders. There was still pain, but it was eased by him being there.

"T-Thank you," she whispered, and wrapped her hand around his, giving it a squeeze. Carter being there was so much more than she could ever ask of him.

"You're welcome. Besides," Carter added, "Since I'm the 'father' I'm not going to be one of those douche bags that leaves his pregnant girlfriend." It was a mild insult to Damien, and Carter hoped that Amanda didn't catch it. One of them getting angry wouldn't help anything.

Carter leaned over Amanda and hugged her gently. It was a little awkward because he was still holding onto her hand, but Carter didn't care. He was never going to let her go.

Amanda didn't catch the insult to Damien, but she was even more surprised that Carter was actually going along with this for her. It was too much. She didn't want this to mess with his life too, but before she could say anything, he was hugging her, so gently. She ignored any pain that came from this, letting go of his hand and returning the embrace carefully.

((PAGECLAIM TO... Cartanda. <3))

Carter slowly pulled away from the hug, afraid that Amanda might be in pain. He took her hand again, and sat back down on the edge of her bed. Playing with Amanda's fingers again, Carter suddenly looked up and said, "So when are your parents going to hear that it's 'officially' mine?"

He inwardly cringed, not quite sure he was ready to be a 'dad'. He was only a freshman, and if anything, his parents would pressure him more to do well in school. If Carter was the father, he was going to have to work hard to support Amanda, and he wasn't entirely sure he could do that. However, Carter hid his doubts and smiled at Amanda, trying not to show that anything might be wrong.

Amanda looked up at him, not sure if she could muster up strength to do that. But if he was so insistent... what on earth were they going to do? She wasn't sure if she could even go through with it. She looked over at him, as if to search for any answers. Carter smiled at her, but she could tell he had his doubts. And millions were running through her mind. Suddenly she wanted to sleep again.

"I... I'll try to tell them soon..." she whispered. "Are you sure... you want to do this?"

"Are you sure... you want to do this?"

Carter nodded. "Yeah. I-I'm sure." He swallowed, knowing that the next... years were going to be long and hard. Somehow, he was going to have to make it through everything. And he was going to have to take Amanda with him.

"Do you need to sleep?" Carter asked. Amanda had looked tired when he walked in, and she certainly didn't look any more awake now. She just looked more tired and in more need of a lot of rest.

Carter didn't want to leave, but he knew he would probably have to.

Amanda bit her lip. She didn't want to drag him into this. But she knew she truly liked him, and she absolutely did not want to be alone. And right now, she just wanted to stay close to him.

"I'll be..." she started, yawning beyond her control. "...fine. I'll be fine, Carter. Just don't... go. And... I know... you're not too sure about everything... and neither am I, Carter. You don't have... to do this for me..."