Broken (Cecilos - Welcome to Night Vale)

Safe

Hello again. Apparently, you guys enjoyed this, so I'm going to continue it. Anything after this I don't think will be counted in the contest.

***

Cecil awoke to the feeling of hands gently carding their way through his hair. He scrunched up his nose in confusion, only to inhale a scent unfamiliar to him, the smell of maple and chemicals. An odd combination, but a strangely comforting one. The hand resting on his head froze as he shifted, opening one eye slowly. A pair of brown eyes were looking down at him, the same warm eyes that he had been admiring from afar for weeks.

"Carlos?"

Oh God, not this dream again.

"C-Carlos, what are you doing in my bed?"

Carlos, beautiful perfect Carlos, bit his lip, his hand straying lower to wrap around Cecil's waist.

"You don't remember? What... um, what happened yesterday?"

Yesterday....

It all came flooding back in a rush of memory, so strong that it felt like a blow to the head.

Or to the neck to be exact, the place his mother had hit him with a rolling pin. He remembered with intense strength the words she had screamed, accusing him of bringing home a male whore. She had shouted that despite the state of the shabby house, it was a decent one, and wouldn't be tarnished by 'homosexual acts of sin'. She told him that this was the last straw in a series of failures on his part. That she could no longer bear to expose herself or her son to his impurities.

He had been disowned.

For good.

The pain throbbing in his throat was nothing compared to the sudden and intense emotional blow, a crushing pressure forcing down on his chest. Cecil found himself struggling to catch his breath as he literally caved in on himself, collapsing into a fit of sobbing. Carlos's eyes widened, and he pulled Cecil closer, stroking his back as the blonde cried into his chest.

"It's okay, Cecil. You're okay, it's going to be alright...."

Carlos sounded far away, like he was speaking to him through a radio. The color was draining from the world, melting into a pastel of gray and black and utter despair.

***

He wasn't sure how long he cried. When he finally began to calm down, and his vision began to clear, the sun was streaming through his tattered curtains, meaning it must have been several hours.

Carlos still lay beside him, his flannel soaked with tears.

"You okay now?" he asked, his eyes glinting with concern.

Cecil nodded, although he knew that he would never really be okay.

Carlos smiled softly.

"Alright. How about I go get us some breakfast?"

Cecil nodded his consent and Carlos sat up, gently kissing the other boy's head. Cecil blushed, his eyes widening at the simple gesture.

"C-Carlos?"

The amateur scientist winced, as if mentally slapping himself.

"Oh, uh, are you not okay with that? Shit... I just assumed that since, you know, we kind of slept together, we had this 'thing' going. I did it yesterday... maybe you don't remember... I can stop if you-"

Cecil silenced him with a kiss, forceful and passionate, his tongue sliding immediately into Carlos's mouth. Carlos tried to flinch away, but Cecil held him close, his arms curling tightly around his neck. The brunette whimpered softy as Cecil's hand stole into his perfect hair, tugging gently at the sensitive locks. They kissed like this for a while, finally breaking away for lack of air. Carlos's face was colored an unhealthy shade of red.