Chapter 26

Carter was awakened by the soft sound of the rain ticking against his bedroom window. As he slowly came to his senses, he listened to the soft ticking sound, and the water gushing down the pipelines. A sudden feeling of nostalgia overwhelmed him as he thought back of all the times that he woke up to this exact same sound.

The bed was warm, warmer than usual, and he knew why. Carter slowly opened his eyes and looked out at his room. Clothes were messily spread on the floor and despite it already being morning, it was rather dark due the rainy clouds blocking the sun rays.

He slowly turned around to lay on his other side and faced the person laying next to him. Josh still had his eyes closed, and Carter watched his chest rise and fall as he breathed. He now only noticed how handsome he was even when he was sleeping. The bruised eye was gone and Carter could now watch his un-bruised face from up close properly. He rested his cheek on the pillow as he watched the blond's face. He could still see his 14 year old version in his face, only manlier. His face had gotten longer, and his features sharper and his nose larger. His eyebrows were bushier and his cheeks had gotten flatter. Though looking at him sleeping, his face relaxed as if he was his old, happy, careless self again, he could see the Josh he knew before he left again.

Carter leaned in and pressed his lips against the other's. They were soft and warm, and he couldn't seem to get enough of kissing him. When he pulled away, he saw Josh's eyelids moving a little and a soft groan escaped his lips. His eyes opened, revealing the light blue iris which was hidden underneath the lid, looking back at Carter's brown ones. The corner of his mouth went up in a small, playful smile and his tired yet happy look had Carter smile in response.

"Good morning," Josh spoke, shifting up a little. "How long have you been awake?"

"I think since a minute or two," Carter replied, looking up at the other male. He also moved a little and then felt a slight stinging pain within his rear, groaning as he traced his fingers over the skin of Josh's chest. "My bum hurts, again," he spoke.

Josh gave a soft chuckle and kissed the top of Carter's head. "Sorry. I did try to be more careful this time."

Carter gave a shrug and pressed a kiss to Josh's collarbone. "It doesn't matter how much my bum hurts. I liked it both times either way."

Josh snickered at Carter's comment and leaned down to kiss him on his lips. The brunette's hands went to Josh's neck and kissed him back tenderly. He let the other move on top of him and felt something warm poking his thigh. Carter's lips formed a small smirk and moved his leg a little more up.

"Good morning to you too," he said, though he was speaking to the particular limb which was poking his thigh.

Josh chuckled as he continued kissing him. "Shut up. It's a natural response," he spoke against Carter's lips, causing him to smile.

"Then I will take full responsibility," Carter said. He moved his hand underneath the covers to run his fingers over the muscle as he continued kissing the blond.

"Carter could you go to the post office for me to-" a voice was heard, yet cut off mid sentence, after the bedroom door was opened.

Carter broke the kiss and turned his head before seeing his mother standing in the door opening. Josh immediately rolled off him and Carter sat up, heat flushing through his cheeks in embarrassment and surprise. "M-Mom," he stuttered. He could tell his mother was taken by surprise to see her son like that and Carter only felt more embarrassed upon seeing her facial expression.

Mrs. Raymore looked from from Carter to Josh and back to Carter before she awkwardly cleared her throat. "Ah, nice to see you again, Josh," she said.

"Nice to see you too, Carmen," Josh said, offering her a smile, trying to make it look natural but he still felt awkward.

Carter's mother looked back at her son and cleared her throat a little. "Right... I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the post office for me to deliver a package. I'll... I'll place it on the kitchen table." Her eyes briefly went to Josh again and Carter knew she could tell that they were both fully naked. Flashing a smile, Mrs. Raymore left the room and Carter thudded his head back on the pillow with a sigh.

"Oh my God..." he groaned and covered his face in his hands. "I can't believe this just happened."

Josh had also buried his face in the pillow and let out a soft snicker. "Me neither," he said. "I think I just traumatized her." The blond rolled over onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. Carter parted his fingers to give a glance at him and notice his troubled look. "So, your mother is okay with it? I mean, with us? With you being gay?"

Carter removed his hands and sat up a little, looking over at Josh and nodded his head. "Yeah, she is," he answered his question. "My dad is as well. I told both of them on my birthday. After you and Alyssa... "broke up"."

Josh remained silent and his eyes went to look outside the window. "...My dad will never accept me," he said. "No matter how much time I give him or how much I try to convince him that nothing is wrong with me, he'll never accept me."

Carter couldn't imagine what it must feel like, knowing that your parents would never accept you as you are, and he was frankly glad he couldn't. Something like that must be horrible to feel. He reached out and laced his fingers together with Josh and gave his hand a small squeeze. "Maybe one day he will, you don't know," he said. "Maybe he just needs time."

Josh gave Carter a brief glance before his eyes averted back to the window. "Yeah," he said. "Time..."

+++

Christmas was just a few days away from now. The break for the Christmas Holidays has started since a week ago and despite there not being any snow, it was still rather chilly. Carter had been sent to Hayland by his mother to do grocery shopping, and had to buy a specific kind of seasoned Turkey which they only sold at a special biological supermarket, along with vegetables for a salad. He walked out of the supermarket with a plastic bag filled with the bought groceries and he gave a soft sigh once he stepped out in the cold. A nice cup of steaming hot coffee would be marvelous right now.

He figured he could buy a coffee somewhere and drink it on the bus back to Port Hayland. He still had some money left over from the groceries so he could use that to buy the coffee at the coffee shop down the street.

He zipped his jacket up a little further to his nape as he walked over the pavements, wondering what kind of coffee he should get. He didn't like very strong, bitter coffees and wanted it to have a flavor to it.

As he was walking, he nearly bumped into someone who was just leaving one of the stores. He stopped right in time in his tracks and muttered an apology, though when he looked up to see who he had almost bumped into, he saw that it was someone familiar. "Chris...?" he said, not having expected to see him here.

Chris appeared to be equally surprised and looked back at him. "Carter," he said. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Carter realized that this was the first time he saw Chris after he and Paxton had caught him with Josh at the Christmas Dance. Realizing this, he was lost for words, not sure what to say to him. He knew Chris must be curious and wondering what was going on.

And he must've been reading Carter's mind before he spoke again. "Hey, can we talk for a bit?" he asked. "I feel like we should talk about what happened at the dance. Are you busy?"

"Yeah we should," Carter agreed. "And no, I'm not busy. Well, I was just about to get a coffee. Want one as well?"

Chris nodded in response and they both went to get coffee together. Carter was a bit anxious to have this conversation with Chris, not knowing what the outcome would be. Would they still be friends? Would Chris not approve of him and tell everyone about his sexuality? He was terrified, yet curious.

They went to sit inside at one of the tables, a bit secluded from the other customers. Carter warmed up his hands, using the coffee mug and looked up at Chris, wondering what he wanted to tell him.

"So, there's just one thing I really want to know," Chris began. "At the dance, you and Josh.... What was that exactly? What did I exactly see?"

Carter took a sip of his coffee and absentmindedly stared at the wooden table, wondering how to answer that question properly. He had no other choice but to tell him the truth. There was no lying around what he had seen, and as his friend, Chris deserved to be told the truth. Carter took a deep breath and he looked up at the other. "What you saw was me and Josh kissing each other," he said. "And we kissed because we're in love with each other." Carter swallowed and his eyes left Chris', gazing down at his coffee. "I'm gay. Josh is as well. We had been in love with each other since before I had moved away."

Chris remained silent and Carter was too afraid to look back up at him. Afraid to see his reaction, which he feared would be a look of disgust.

"Josh used Alyssa to hide his sexuality. His father doesn't approve of him being gay, so Josh tried to make it look as if he was straight. Which didn't last very long, as you can see," Carter made a small smile.

He wanted Chris to say something. Anything. He was too silent and it was driving Carter crazy. His eyes flickered up to Chris and was surprised to not see a look of disgust on his face.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Christ spoke finally. "You asked us if we knew what was going on with Josh not long ago. You apparently found out about the truth, yet kept it for yourself after Pax and I told you that we were also trying to figure out what was up with him." He sighed and also took a sip of his coffee, looking back at Carter. "We're also his friends, you know? If Pax and I didn't catch you two kissing, I still wouldn't have known the truth by now."

Carter perked up a little, having expected him to say something about them being gay, but apparently he only cared about Carter not having told anything him. "So... you're not disgusted? With me and Josh being gay?"

"What? Of course I'm not. What kind of asshole do you take me for?" Chris said aghast. "I don't care who's in love with who. What I do care about is that you didn't tell me anything while I was also worried about Josh. I get that you were afraid of my reaction, but come on, man, you know I'm not like that. I just wished you had a little more faith in me after we've been friends for so long."

For some reason, Carter felt like crying of happiness. Chris didn't care that he was gay, and that made him so, so happy. He smiled and stirred in his coffee with the spoon. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you," he apologized. "I was just so afraid of your reaction. I thought you wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore and that just upset me. I was so glad that even after so long, we could still be friends when I moved back here and I wanted to keep it that way."

"I get it, really. I just... Yeah, I just wished you had more faith in me. But then again, I probably would have done the same if I had been in your shoes, so I can't be that mad at you."

It felt as if a weight had been lifted from Carter's shoulders and he leaned back against his chair. If he had known this from the beginning, then he would've Chris right away. Though he still wasn't sure if Paxton thought the same way as he did.

"What about Pax?" Carter asked. "What does he think about the entire situation?"

Chris also leaned back against the chair and exhaled deeply. "I don't think he remembers any of it, actually. I've spoken to him through texts, and he appeared normal, as if nothing had happened. If he had remembered seeing you two kissing, then he would've asked me about it long ago."

"Oh." Carter wasn't sure if that was good news or bad news. Good, because that meant he couldn't be angry at him for having to find out about the truth in a way like that, and bad because that meant this meant that he knew nothing and Carter had to tell him eventually.

"Hey, don't worry," Chris said. "I know Paxton. He'll probably have a bit of a harder time believing that you and Josh are in love with each other, but he's not an asshole. He wouldn't stop being friends with you over something like that."

Chris' words were reassuring and Carter could only hope he was right. Though at least he knew that both Chris and Alyssa supported them, and that they both remained friends with him, even though Alyssa was still angry at Josh.

He still had two friends who didn't let his sexuality determine the value of their friendship. And for now, that was enough.