(continued from this post)
“Are you going to stand there all night and just watch?” Dan asked.
Carolyn was leaning in the doorway of the boys’ hotel room, watching while Scott, Clay, and Bob tried to hash out a math problem.
“Like you’ve never done the same thing with Michael.” She smiled faintly at Bob’s antics as he tried to jab Clay with his pencil.
“Yes, well, you can kiss Bob and tell him you love him.” Dan shoved his hands into his pockets.
Carolyn didn’t move.
Dan studied her out of the corner of his eye. Something about her expression was - off. She didn’t look angry or frustrated, so she and Bob hadn’t fought. She looked utterly exhausted. The line of her shoulders and the way she rested against the doorframe spoke of a bone-deep tiredness that not even a good night’s sleep would cure.
“Is everything all right?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
Dan glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was within earshot, then lowered his voice. “I mean, is everything all right?”
Carolyn turned to him sharply. “What makes you ask?”
“You look - like a soldier who’s just waiting for the enemy to come and kill him.”
“They don’t want to kill me,” she said, turning back to watch the other three.
Dan straightened up. “Are they coming to kill him?”
Carolyn sighed, pushed herself upright. “You should get your homework done. I’ll see you in the a.m.” She started forward, but Dan caught her by the arm.
“Are they coming to kill my brother?”
Something in Carolyn’s eyes fractured. “No, no. They don’t want to kill him. They want to take him. It’s my job to stop them.”
“And if they do take him?”
“Good night, Dan.”
Carolyn stepped into the room, and her entire posture changed. The weight of the world she’d been wearing slipped off her shoulders. The other three looked up, distracted from their squabble, and Dan saw Bob’s face light up.
“Hey Caro,” Scott said. “You’re a genius - settle this math problem for us.”
Clay waved weakly, avoided her gaze.
Carolyn laughed. “I would, but I’m under strict orders from Shelley not to interfere with your homework. I just came to say goodnight - we’re pulling out early tomorrow.”
“How early is early?” Scott asked.
“You four will get all your beauty sleep, so don’t worry.” Carolyn leaned over and kissed Bob on the cheek, the gesture discreet, but Clay and Scott turned away politely anyway. “See you tomorrow, Robbie.”
“’Night, Caro,” he said.
Dan watched the entire exchange, horrified by Carolyn’s deception in a way he never had been before. Would Bob even have a tomorrow?
Bob glanced at his other two brothers, who were suddenly very involved in their math, and then he tugged Carolyn in for a real kiss. When they parted, Dan saw his brother mouth the words,
“I love you.”
Dan wasn’t sure whether Carolyn said it back.
(489 words)
2 comments:
Okay, I'm confused. Does Dan know that Carolyn is an agent? It seems in this post that he does, but in other posts, he doesn't. Or is this non canon?
I didn't realize how observant Dan is.
Dan totally knows Carolyn is an agent of some sort who's out to protect Bob. He doesn't know who she works for or what she does, but he knows she's not just a teenage girl. It was back in one of the very early song-posts, actually. Dan is crazy observant. It comes from his own paranoia about being observed.
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