What Remains (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 1

The boy then motioned for him to follow him before he disappeared between the plants. Carter followed suit and he pushed the long grass away from him as he moved forward, until he got to the small open spot where the boy had stopped. He pointed down at the grass and Carter's eyes followed the direction his finger was pointing at.

There, in the sand, laid a butterfly. It was one of the prettiest butterflies he had ever seen. Its wings were bright blue coloured with black outlines at the edges of its wings.

"That's so pretty" Carter breathed out and reached out to touch its wings. It wasn't moving and he assumed it was deceased.

"It is. It's called a Morpho butterfly. It's rare to see one here," the boy said. He then looked up at Carter and their eyes met once again. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Carter," Carter replied to his question. "What's yours?"

The boy sat up in the sand and his lips curled up into a happy, almost clownish, grin. His light blue eyes sparkling in the rays of the sunlight, and his hair was dancing up and down in the wind that swayed the plants all around them.

"It's Josh."

Now

Carter felt the soft breeze against his skin and it gently blew through his hair.

He closed his eyes, taking in the scent of Port Hayland again after five years.

It still looked the same and it still felt the same.

The white paint of his old wooden house was still bright in the sun rays, and as he stood there, looking up at the building he had always called his "home", he realized that it was still the exact same image he had of it from those five years ago.

In the background, he heard the movers carrying their furniture and the boxes filled with the smaller furniture into the house. His father was probably helping them, and his mother was most likely somewhere fussing over where to place everything. Things like these always stressed her out. Carter was used to it by now.

He could see the seashore from afar. Even the view had stayed exactly the same. The thin blue line of the ocean from afar, merging with the deep blue of the horizon from above. The wires of the electricity poles creating thin black strings within the unending mass of blue, and a few cars stood parked on the side of the street before the road went downhill and disappeared from sight.

When so much had changed in Carter's life, Port Hayland had stayed the exact same. It gave him a feeling of safety; he was home again.

"Carter! Come help with the boxes!" he heard his father call out from behind him. He turned around to see his father entering the house with a cardboard box secured in his arms.

Carter gave a soft sigh before he hurried back to the truck to help with carrying the furniture. The boxes were rather heavy, especially since he wasn't that strong, but he managed.

To move all the furniture and boxes back into the house took a good hour. Though when everything was inside again, Carter finally felt really at home again.

He walked up the stairs to get to his old bedroom. At the moment there was only a bed with his nightstand, a dresser and a desk besides the cardboard boxes. It wouldn't have the same design as his old room, but he figured that over time, it would look nice enough once again. He walked up to one of the boxes and ripped the duct tape off, opening the flaps to reveal what was inside. This box contained mostly photos and notebooks for school.

There was one photo in particular, however, that was most special to Carter. He carefully lifted it up and was happy to see that the frame wasn't damaged.

As he looked at the photo, he walked to his nightstand and placed it on the wooden surface before sitting down on the bed.

The photo showed two boys, one brunette and one blond. One with brown eyes and one with blue eyes.

Carter, and the one who was most special to him, Josh Marson.

With a smile, he went to lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling. He wondered if his hair was still messy, and if his eyes were still as playful, and if he could still give the same cheerful smile, and if he still had a passion for butterflies.

Carter stretched his arm out above him and spread his fingers, looking absent mindedly at his own hand. From the wrinkles in the center of his fingers to the soft pink hue of his fingernails.

He wondered if Josh would still recognize him. He wondered if five years were enough to make all friendship disappear.

Though for Carter, Josh was so much more than a friend. He was his first love. And even after five years, his feelings still hadn't left him.

He also wondered if he would immediately recognize him. Even though Carter thought that he himself hadn't changed that much, his parents kept telling him how growing up had made him manlier and had made his facial features a little different. Though how much could really change in five years? He was curious to see what five years had done to Josh, and the rest of his friends.

It felt almost surreal, being back in his old hometown, in his old house and bedroom. He had daydreamed countless of times about what it would be like to return back here after all those years.

But now, it was reality, and Carter was optimistic enough to feel excitement and happiness about having returned, despite all that could have changed