The Best Mistake

Ashlyn.

I was speechless. I couldn’t believe his father actually did this. I couldn’t believe he actually saw this. I couldn’t believe he was actually telling me this. More so, I couldn’t believe Nash Carter was actually crying.

He wasn’t sobbing uncontrollably or anything like that, but his voice had started cracking and tears were forming in his eyes. I felt tears stinging mine. “Oh, Nash,” I said as he finished, carefully climbing on top of him and hugging him tightly, making sure to balance my weight on my knees so I didn’t hurt him. Nash immediately hugged me back just as tightly. “Why didn’t you tell the police?”

“Foster care,” was all he said.

I pulled back so I could see his face, looking at him in confusion. “You’re 18, Nash,” I said. “You’re an adult; they can’t put you in foster care.”

He shook his head, his hair cutely falling in front of his face. “Not me. Eric. They could put him in foster care, because Carrie isn't his legal guardian,” he said. “And I can’t risk him going somewhere that I have no chance of seeing him.”

“Your aunt can get custody,” I suggested.

“My aunt’s single, doesn't have an amazing paying job and she doesn’t have kids of her own. They wouldn’t give Eric to her because she doesn’t qualify.”

“She qualifies better than your father,” I responded. “All you have to do is show the cops all the marks he’s given you and then-“

“And then what?” he cut me off. “Ash, anybody who has heard of me knows I street fight, which is illegal. My dad can easily say that it was from that. Plus, most marks he leaves get worsened by that anyway. I don’t stand a chance against him.”

“You have to do something,” I said, desperately. “You can’t just stay with him forever.”

“I’m not,” he said. “Just until Eric is on his own.”

“Can't you try to adopt him?” I asked, but as soon as the question passed my lips I realized how silly it sounded. Although Nash would probably do a great job of taking care of him, nobody else would realize that.

He scoffed. “They'll take one look at me and do everything in their power to make sure I don’t get him,” he said. “All they need is a piss test and they have the perfect reason.”

I frowned. “I don’t like this,” I mumbled.

He pulled me down so I was lying next to him. “Neither do I,” he murmured. “But I don’t have a choice.”



“Where am I taking you?” I asked Nash the next day. He'd just been signed out and we were about to exit the hospital parking lot when I realized I didn’t know where he wanted to go.

“Home, I guess,” he answered, shrugging.

“I’m not taking you to your house,” I told him sternly. “I’ll take you anywhere but there.”

He sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the back of the seat. “I have to go back soon, Ash,” he said.

“You’re barely healed though,” I told him.

“Trust me, I know,” he said, looking at me with tired eyes. “Look, if you give me your phone I’ll call Levi and ask him if I can crash at his house tonight.”

“Or…” I started, as I turned down the road to my house. “You could come to mine?”

“Aren’t your parents home?” he asked.

“Well, they will be soon,” I said. “But if I call my mom and tell her your dad’s out of town or something, I’m sure she’d let you stay the night.”

He sighed again, a grin beginning to form on his lips. “You’re gonna have to learn to go a couple hours without me eventually, princess,” he said.

I smiled at the nickname and reached down, grabbing his hand. “I wouldn’t plan on that,” I said.

The rest of the car ride was silent as Nash dozed off every now and then. I’d called my mom and asked her if he could stay the night and she said it was okay, as long as after 10 o’clock he stayed in the guest room. Thanking her and promising her he would, I hung up. “Nash,” I said, shaking his hand. “We’re here.”

His eyes fluttered open and he looked around. “Oh, okay,” he said, yawning and letting go of my hand. “Am I allowed to stay the night?”

“Mhm, as long as you go into the guest room at 10 and you stay there,” I said.

He smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise,” he said.