Curveball [BL]

17 || Carmen

Carmen sets the energy drink back on their desk with a silent sigh. He's pissed off with himself, a little annoyed with Juda, but mostly hateful of the entire situation.

"Car?" Nico rolls over in bed, a tired whisper carrying to Carmen's ears. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Carmen assures. He spares a glance at his own bed before deciding to climb up Nico's ladder. Nico makes room for him as he scoots over and lets Carmen crawl in beside him.

The shift in their relationship has been subtle. They're still fairly the same, just.. different. They kiss now, whenever they want. And they cuddle. They share showers sometimes. And Juda's been calling them babe now. Babe, the mere memory makes Carmen flush.

It's been easy for Nico and Juda to adapt to the small changes, but Carmen's been having a harder time.

He gets shy when they want to kiss unannounced, and he's bashful when they hold his hand out in public. It's different with strings attached. Carmen's not used to affection, and he's having a hard time expressing himself in their new relationship.

His love language isn't touch like Nico's and Juda's, but acts of service instead. Carmen missed Juda earlier, but no matter how much he tried to voice this or even send a text, he cringed. Offering a drink to Juda seemed easier.

Part of Carmen regrets it now.

Nico scoots closer and throws his leg over Carmen's torso, so Carmen holds his thigh, silently rubbing soothing circles into the tan skin. "What's wrong?" Nico asks again.

Carmen stares at the ceiling. Stares at the wad of paper still there, stares at the ceiling fan dangerously hovering over Nico's bed, and the almost unnoticeable cracking in the ceiling. "Juda's probably gonna sign that contract," Carmen says.

Nico goes completely still before he's sitting up. "What? No- he said he wasn't."

Carmen pulls Nico back down, continuing to massage his leg. "I heard him talking to Jax.." Carmen goes on to explain what he heard, and a short explanation of what him and Juda talked about. Part of him doesn't want to tell Nico, but it'll clearly affect him just as much.

"He said he doesn't know?" Nico's frowning. "But.. didn't he say at the beginning he wasn't going to the Majors?"

"He was only saying what he thought we wanted. We talk about this California plan all the time," Carmen explains. "So he probably feels pressured to go along with it."

"No," Nico denies. "He said he wanted it too. In California- he said he could picture us all there."

"Shit changed, I guess," Carmen mumbles. He rubs a hand into the side of his face.