What Remains (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 30

Carter ran over the pavements of the streets, towards Josh's house. Despite the cold, he was heated up by all the energy he was spending on his running, and he could feel his frantic heartbeat in his throat. He wasn't sure what to expect when he would arrive at the house. Josh and him both left at the same time, and Josh's house was a little farther away than Carter's, so he hoped that he might be right on time to get to him.

When he saw the house approaching, he didn't see Josh so figured that he was probably already inside. Or, as Carter desperately hoped, he had gone back to his boat to pick something up and hadn't arrived yet. Either way, he needed to find out and talk it out with Josh's father before the situation would escalate.

He jogged up to the porch, knowing his hair was a mess and he was panting due all the running he had done. His hand reached out and he rang the doorbell before anxiously awaiting an answer.

There was none, however, and Carter was starting to feel only more and more uneasy. Did Mr.Marson go to Josh's boat? Did they meet up somewhere else or haven't they seen each other yet?

Carter felt his pockets and cursed under his breath when he realized he had left his phone at home. He rang the doorbell again and waited once more to see if there would be an answer this time.

It was silent again and he knew that nobody would come. He gave a sigh in frustration before walking off the porch, thinking about all the other possibilities and locations of where Josh and his father could be right now.

He didn't know what his father was capable of. He had beaten up Josh before, and had hit him many times in his childhood, from what Carter could remember. Thinking about the state of fury he might be in as of now, Carter figured that he was in a position of seriously injuring Josh.

Carter knew that first he had to get back home to try to contact Josh before searching further. From there, he figured he'd go straight to his boat to check up there.

As he was walking away from the house, a sudden large bang was heard and Carter abruptly turned around at the loud noise. A frying pan had flown out and shards spread out on the street.

And that was when he heard the yelling.

A man's voice was yelling inaudible words and Carter's eyes widened when he realized what was going on. He rushed to the smashed window and the yelling became only louder. Glancing through the smashed window, he saw Mr.Marson going to the living room, where Carter saw just the faint silhouette of Josh escaping to, with a pan secured in his palm.

"Josh!" Carter called out. He heard a painful cry coming from inside and Carter knew that he had to act fast. "Shit!" In an instant, he reached out through the gap of the smashed window to open it from the inside. Once it was opened, he quickly climbed through the opening and landed with his shoes in the rest of the shards that had stayed inside. He heard cries and shouts of pain from Josh coming from the living room and Carter didn't have to think twice to know what exactly was going on. He knew that if he didn't do something, that if he didn't stop Josh's father, he could seriously injure Josh, or worse.

Carter quickly looked around and grabbed the kitchen knife which was placed on the counter. Holding the knife up, he swiftly made his way to the living room where the cries came from and upon entering, he saw Steve frantically smashing the frying pan against Josh, who had blood staining the side of his head.

"JOSH!" Carter instantly rushed towards the two and slammed his side against Steve to push him away from his son, and he fell on his side onto the coffee table, which broke through the impact of his weight.

"Josh!" Carter got on his hands and knees in front of the blond who was looking at him with tear stained eyes.

"C-Carter...?!" Josh spoke softly, his voice hoarse due the screaming.