What Remains (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 17

6 years ago

1 day before

Carter looked at his empty room. Everything was packed up in boxes and tomorrow, the movers would come and take everything away. Tomorrow, he would also go to the airport and leave Port Hayland. With his room being so empty, he for some reason felt empty as well. He almost couldn't believe that this was reality; that he was really leaving, probably for good. The only thing that was still there was his bed, which would also get picked up by the movers tomorrow.

"Sweetie!" Carter heard his mother calling out from downstairs. "Josh is here!"

Josh would spend the night tonight. Probably their last night together, now that Carter thought about it. He heard his footsteps on the stairs and he chewed the inside of his cheek.

"Hey..." Josh's voice sounded soft and careful. Comforting, yet sad. Carter turned to him and gave him a sad smile.

"Hey," he replied to his greet. They were supposed to have fun tonight, as their last night together, but Carter knew that that was practically impossible. He was in love with Josh, there was no denying it. And the closer tomorrow got, the more he felt like he should say it. But he couldn't. Not yet. Even though the next 24 hours would be his very last chance of admitting his feelings, he was still so very terrified.

Their last day together, Carter and Josh did everything they loved doing together. They went to the dunes, walked over the beach and sat on the docks, dipping their toes in the water while talking about everything and nothing. They got ice cream and ate it while walking through the neighborhood. Carter wished that this day would never come to an end, but time didn't and couldn't stand still.

When night fell, Carter and Josh laid in his bed, the bedroom window open and they looked at the stars together, Josh telling Carter everything he knew about the stars and constellations, and even though he had already told everything once before, Carter didn't want him to stop talking about it. He loved him. He was in love with his best friend, the boy who was laying right next to him on his bed, who he wouldn't see again for a very long time after tonight. Carter could cry at the thought again, but he didn't allow himself to do so. He wanted his last moments with Josh to be happy and carefree. Like they always were when they were together.

"What time will you be leaving tomorrow?" Josh asked softly as they laid on Carter's bed with the window now closed. Their faces were close together and Carter could feel the other's breath against his skin.

"2 PM," Carter answered. So pretty early. Minnesota is pretty far away." Josh didn't reply and closed his eyes. Carter kept looking at him and despite the darkness, he could still see his face clearly and wondered how he would react if he leaned in to kiss him right now. Though he stopped himself. He wondered what Josh would think if he knew about his thoughts. Would he hate him? Would he be disgusted? He was too afraid to know the answer, and was too happy with how they were right now.

"I will miss you so much," Carter whispered and also closed his eyes. "You're... really special to me."

A warm feeling then suddenly surrounded his hand and Carter opened his eyes just enough to see Josh's hand over his.

"You're special to me too," Josh answered softly. Carter smiled and his eyes closed again. And with all his might, he wished for tomorrow to never come.

Now

In cases like these, Carter had wished he had and older or not too younger sister who could help him with deciding what to wear to a Halloween party. He wasn't going to really dress up as something scary; he didn't have the budget nor inspiration. So he instead just decided on wearing something black and dark colored to give it a bit of a spookier feel, but he almost didn't own any dark colored clothes. His clothing style mostly consisted of light colored clothing with sometimes a grey hoodie or a dark blue shirt mixed in.