What Remains (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 8

"Well of course they did. Five years is quite a lot if you think about it," Carter's father said before taking a bite of his breakfast.

"Yeah... it is," Carter said softly as he poked his food with his fork, not exactly having an appetite at the moment.

It was then that the doorbell rang and Carter raised from his chair, wondering who it was since he wasn't expecting any visitors, and seeing from the faces of his parents, they weren't expecting any either.

"I'll get it," he said before walking from the kitchen area to the front door. When he opened the wooden door, a tall, dark skinned male with a small afro stood before him.

"Pax? Good morning," Carter said, a tad bit surprised to see him at his doorstep.

"'Morning," Paxton greeted and flashed a faint smile. "Did I come at an inconvenient time?"

Carter gave a quick glance back inside to see his parents looking up to see who had rang the doorbell. "Not exactly. I was just done having breakfast so you're actually just in time," he said. "Why? Is something wrong?" Carter walked outside and closed the door to make the conversation a little more private.

Paxton gave an audible sigh and went to sit on the porch of Carter's house and Carter joined him, looking at him with concern; he didn't look too good. "I fucked up, man," he said and buried his face in his hands. "Chris told me about what had happened last night, and about what I had said to Josh. I didn't remember anything of it, though." He removed his hand from his face but held them under his chin. "What I said was terrible. I feel so horrible about it. I really want to apologize to Josh but he's not in his boat nor at home. I thought he could be with you as well, but he apparently isn't." Paxton let out another sigh and turned to Carter. "...Do you think you could maybe help me out? I need to be back in Hayland in thirty minutes for a dentist appointment which I can't be late for. I've been looking for Josh for nearly an hour now."

Carter chewed the inside of his cheek. Of course he would help Paxton out. Though he just wasn't entirely sure how to. He had to say it directly to Josh himself anyway. "Yeah, sure. I'll help," he replied. "Though you should tell him yourself the next time you see him." He looked up at the blue morning sky, wondering if maybe he was at Alyssa's house or just out to go to the supermarket. It was the weekend so he should be staying in his house with his father today.

"Hey," Carter asked and his eyes traveled back to Paxton. "What did you mean with what you said last night?"

"I was drunk. I probably didn't mean anything with it," Paxton said.

"No, that's not what I meant. You said something about... "daddy issues" and "turning into a monster like your father". What were you referring to?"

Paxton didn't answer the question right away. Carter could tell from the look in his eyes that it wasn't something he could just talk about lightheartedly. "Josh's father has been struggling with drinking problems ever since Josh's mother passed away. Josh is avoiding alcohol because of it. That's all I know, though. It's all he would tell us."

"Drinking problems?" Carter thought back of the time when Steve Marson, Josh's father, suddenly broke out in yelling and got aggressive at the beach barbeque of the Livingstons a few years ago, though he had never really thought about the fact that he had been drinking a lot. It made sense, now that he thought about it.

"I'll try to talk to Josh, okay?" Carter said and patted Paxton's shoulder. At least now he felt that he was finally discovering something more about all that had been going on while he was gone.

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