What Remains (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 11

6 years ago

5 months before

"How did you get that?" Carter asked in surprise after he had opened the door for Josh. His cheek was bruised, almost purple colored and side of his face was swollen as well . "I fell from my bike again," Josh said with an awkward smile, and he scratched the back of his neck.

Carter let his friend in and closed the door behind him. "Again? That is the second time this month," he said. "If you can't ride your bike properly without hurting yourself, you should do it at all."

"I need to learn it," Josh shrugged jumped down onto the couch. "Where are your parents?" he asked after he had buried his face into one of the pillows.

"They're out tonight," Carter answered and went to sit down next to the other. "Dad got off work early for the first time in months so they used the opportunity to go out together. My mom left Mac and Cheese in the fridge. If you haven't had dinner yet I can warm it up for you."

Josh nodded his head. "Warm it up please. I'm starving."

Carter let out a soft chuckle before walking to the kitchen.

Josh was going to spend the night here again. They had been having sleepovers almost once every two or three weeks now. Not that Carter was complaining; the more time he spent with Josh, the better. He had realized he was in love with him after all, yet was trying to do a good job not to show it. Though the more he was around Josh, the more he really started to notice his feelings towards him. He wondered how Josh would react if he knew about his feelings. Would he be disgusted? Would be be confused? Would he be happy or angry? Carter was curious yet at the same time terrified.

During the night, after they had finished watching a movie, the two of them laid in bed together, and Carter was a bit surprised that Josh was already so tired. Though if he wanted to sleep, Carter would let him.

"...Hey, Carter?" Josh asked softly.

"Hm?" Carter hummed, turning his head on the pillow to look at Josh, noticing his swollen cheek in the dim light of the moon that shone through his bedroom window.

"I'm really glad that we met," Josh said, his eyes were closed and Carter could hear from his voice that he was about to fall asleep.

"Same here," Carter smiled and he turned to lay on his side to face Josh, their faces now close to each other and he could feel Josh's breath against his skin.

"Please don't ever leave me," he said. "You're all I have...."

Carter listened to Josh and frowned a little at his remark. "Of course I won't leave you," he said. "You're one of the most important people in my life."

Josh's lips curled up into a smile and he shifted a little closer to Carter. "Thank you," he whispered.

Now.

Carter nearly fell asleep again when he was in the school bus. He hadn't had much sleep that night, the events of what had happened yesterday kept replaying in his mind. The conversation he had with Josh in his boat, and what happened after that. The thought that they almost kissed kept flaring Carter's cheeks up, and for some reason, each time he thought about it, he caught himself smiling.

He now knew that the old Josh was still present, but that he was hidden away for some reason, and Carter still didn't understand why. Though he was determined to find out. Not just because he was curious, but because he needed to know in order to bring the old Josh back.