The bright sun burned Karter's face when he went to open his eyes, so he did what any normal adult would. He groaned and hid under the mess of pillows and blankets. He breathed in the fresh scent of fabric softener and aftershave, the bed smelled nice and was pretty comfy.
In a panicked motion, he jumped out of the bed and looked around realizing he had no idea where he was. He was dressed in the same outfit as yesterday and he had a feeling that the dream he had last night wasn't as much of a dream as he might have thought.
His ass reminded him of it.
The room was modern with a dark theme to it with blacks and greys taking over the color scheme. The only thing colorful were the soft navy blue bed sheets.
Half of the room was windows overlooking the city. Karter looked out wondering where he was, all he knew was it had to be pretty high up. All of the people looked like dried up raisins from this floor.
"Well I didn't get murdered," Karter shrugged.
He worked up the courage to wander out of the bedroom.
The apartment was like something seen in some after shot of a makeover show, but much more expensive. The open floor plan out of the bedroom Karter woke up in had a small yet wide hall that at the end had another window. Straight ahead Karter stared at the painting that looked so detailed he was afraid to even breathe on it.
The painting was a black and white picture of the Empire State Building but the closer he looked at it the more he saw. It was made up of small people dressed in supervillain and superhero costumes.
Karter's attention was turned to the right where he heard the sound of food. Yes, the sound of food was very much a real thing. A sixth sense foodies like Karter had.
He walked out to the living room, kitchen, dining area, Karter wasn't sure what to call it. Like the bedroom, it was dark colors and windows that had one of the best views of the city he had seen in a while.
Karter walked closer to the shirtless figure cooking and sighed at the sight. "Of course you can cook," he muttered.
Ryan didn't seem fazed by Karter's glorious morning presence so he took that as a good sign.
"Sit and eat. I'll take you home then," Ryan spoke. He was clearly much more of a morning person than Karter was.
Karter felt like shit.
His eyelids felt like they weighed a hundred pounds and his voice was still raspy as it usually was when he first woke up. He wondered why he couldn't ever be the type of person that could wake up at seven and look like a flawless model like the man in front of him.
Ryan was the perfect mix of muscles with a slight dad bod. Karter wanted to know what his body would feel like up against his... again.
He shook his head of the thoughts the last thing he needed was to have a boner at breakfast with a guy he stupidly went home with.
Did he regret it?
Fuck no, he'd do it again.
It was just the fact he knew it wouldn't last that got him. He'd only get attached and something would happen and they'd break up and Karter would be left sad and depressed like he always did. He hated when he had feelings for someone. They always happened quickly and with what seemed to be "straight" married guys.
Karter never did anything about his feelings because he didn't like the thought of being someone's second choice.
When Ryan handed him a plate of food he looked at his hands for a ring. It was surely going to piss him off if the man was married.
There was no ring or sign of one, just a tattoo of two messy flowers on his wrist. It was kinda pretty even with the messy watercolor artwork. Almost like the artist was nine years old or very drunk. One was green and the other was purple.
"Take the food and eat. I don't like repeating myself," Ryan said in a tone Karter knew not to argue with. He took the plate of eggs and toast.
"Fuck me gently with a chainsaw-this is actually good!" The words were out of Karter's mouth before he could comprehend what he even said. "Shit, sorry that sounded bad."
Ryan chuckled a bit as he took a seat beside him. "What, you think I've never seen Heathers?"
Karter's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't a theater nerd or even a musical junkie, however, he did have his handful of favorites.
"You're lying," Karter said pointing his fork at the man. There was no way a guy like Ryan would have watched a musical movie about three bitchy school girls.
Ryan raised his hands in defense as he grinned. "It's true. I even watched the first showing of the musical when it came out here."
"Wait, what the shit-biscuit! How?!" Karter shouted. "You actually went to the musical?!"
He took a bite of toast and nodded. "Yeah, I have the picture somewhere if you don't believe me."
As much as Karter wanted to see that picture he shook his head. "No, I believe you it's just kinda shocking that you'd willingly go that's all."
"Well my friend Carmon-"
"The one from the club who liked boobs?" Karter interrupted.
"That would be the one, yes. She got the tickets so she and my daughter could stare at the cute girls, however, she ended up having other plans so I happily took her spot."
Karter was still surprised. No one he knew liked any of the musicals he did. Flynn would occasionally let him blast a handful of songs but not much more than that.
Ryan finished his food first and put the plate in the sink. "Anyway, I'll be ready in ten; so finish your breakfast awhile."
Karter watched as he disappeared into the bedroom he woke up in. Karter felt like he should pinch himself when he looked around. A hot man made him breakfast all the while living in most anyone's dream apartment.
Everything was so clean and well designed he didn't even think there were people who lived like that. Flynn would have loved it.
Shit, Flynn.
Karter never texted him last night because it was late and he had foggy memories after the whole being fucked on a desk thing. He just hoped that his cousin thought he went for a walk before he got up or something.
Karter didn't really want to explain that he went jail then let the hot guy who almost hit him a couple of days ago fuck him on the man's desk. Okay so maybe he didn't have to say anything, even if he knew he would.
The dark-haired boy groaned at the thought. He finished up his food and put the plate into the sink just before Ryan came back out now fully dressed in a grey suit and black button-up.
His dark brown hair was perfectly placed back unlike earlier when Karter could see its natural wavy locks.
"Do you dress like that every time you go to work?" Karter asked, not even hiding his stare at this point.
Ryan shrugged and grabbed a set of keys from the wall. Karter had to do a double-take, there had to be at least thirteen sets of keys there.
"It would look bad if one of the owners showed up in sweatpants and a stained t-shirt wouldn't it?" Ryan questioned, not expecting a real answer in return.
Karter rolled his eyes.
He didn't have to be such an asshat about a simple question, he thought.
"Whatever you say," Karter muttered instead.
Ryan checked his watch at least three times before they were finally ready to leave through the elevator.
"Are you expecting a bomb to go off or something? Ooh, do you have a hit-person after you and instead of killing you they just stalk you and creep you out to get whatever the message is across?"
"As much as your thought is creative, the reality is no. I just don't want to be late." Ryan answered. "Though if I do have a hit-person watching me they are either doing a very good job at hiding or a very shitty job at creeping me out."
Happy with the answer Karter followed him out to the parking garage. The building was connected to the apartment building, however, it was sectioned off from anyone else. There was privacy and good security.
Karter was pretty sure he saw a thumbprint scanner when Ryan opened the door.
He followed the taller male to the car that was a mix of silver and blue. It looked so shiny Karter could literally see his reflection in the paint. Ryan opened his door and for a moment Karter was thankful since it was a vehicle that the door opened upward instead of the usual way he was used to.
The drive to Karter's apartment was silent for the most part. Ryan had on the radio on what sounded like Irish pub music.
Odd.
Karter gave the proper directions to his apartment, not wanting to walk the extra steps from the phony stop he originally told Ryan.
"Are you doing anything tonight?" Ryan questioned.
Karter thought about all the things he needed to pack before he left for the dorms, still. However, another night with Rye Bread sounded much better.
"Other than staring into the abyss, but that's at four-thirty," Karter answered.
The car came to a stop outside of Karter's apartment as Ryan smiled. "Then I'll pick you up at seven. Plenty of time to stare into the abyss. Wear something warm and comfortable."
Without questioning it Karter nodded and did his best to get out of the car by himself. "See you then," he muttered before walking inside.
"'See you then?' What kind of idiot says it like that?!" He muttered to himself as he walked into his apartment.
To Karter's luck, his cousin was still home.
"Where the fuck were you?" Flynn was in the kitchen making one of the only things he could make without burning something.
Cereal.
"I went for a walk. I couldn't sleep," he said truthfully. Technically that was the truth... just not really all of it.
He raised a brow at Karter. "Honest?"
As cheesy as it sounded the two couldn't really lie to each other when they asked: "honest." It was one of the rules they made up as kids and kept it to adulthood.
Karter knew better than to lie to Flynn they had been through some of each other's worst. He was the one person he didn't want to lie to. Even if he was a good or even okay liar he wouldn't lie to him. Karter couldn't lie to save his life. He thought maybe he just looked naturally guilty of something all the time.
Or maybe it was the dark eyes and clothes. He wasn't sure.
"Why do you hate me? What do you want me to do, slam open the door yelling about how I got railed?"
Flynn shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time you've done it."
"You... you're not wrong," Karter muttered in response.
Flynn took a seat at the two-person table and sighed at his cousin. "At least you look happy," he muttered. He took a bite of the sugary cereal Karter insisted on buying and cringed for a moment at the taste.
"I can't just be happy? It's a free-ish country," Karter crossed his arms.
It was bullshit and he knew it. Karter wasn't an overly happy person at least outwardly so when he couldn't stop grinning like an idiot; it was kind of a dead giveaway.
Karter flopped onto the couch and tried to glare at the ceiling, however, he couldn't. Every time he'd see Ryan's face again or the events of last night and get the ridiculous flutter in his stomach as if he were some school girl from a cilché TV show.
"I have work soon, just fucking tell me," Flynn said in defeat. He pushed up his round glasses as his bright green eyes turned to his cousin.
Karter thought for a moment before telling him most of what happened leaving out a few spicy moments in Ryan's office. There were just some things he didn't want to mention to him, Karter being that submissive with anyone was not something he wanted to tell anyone. Though he was sure Flynn knew better given Karter's colorful background.
"He bailed you out of jail, what the hell were you in jail for?!"
Okay so maybe he should have left that part out as well.
"Ugh, the same thing as last time. It wasn't a big deal. It was on the nice side of the city-well I mean the nicer side I guess. Anyway, they didn't really like me so I was out of there a lot quicker," Karter rambled.
"You can't just let someone do that. You need to pay him back. Why didn't you just call me?"
Karter noticed how he seemed kinda hurt that he didn't call him, but he knew neither of them could afford anything over twenty bucks and that was only if they skipped food for the week.
"His friend might have given me his personal number and I might have memorized it." Karter turned on the couch until he was comfortable hanging nearly upside down as his head rested on the edge of the seat. That was when he remembered Ryan was picking him up at seven.
Was that a date or was he not going to show up?
If it were me, I wouldn't but he wasn't me, Karter thought.
The thought that he was serious about showing up had finally hit him.
"What's up your ass?" Flynn questioned. He watched Karter jump up nearly falling twice as he ran to his room in a gay panic.
Karter owned nothing nice and his anxiety wanted to take over to make him panic as much as possible. "He told me to be ready by seven and I have nothing to wear!"
The room was still a mess even with the things he had packed up for the dorms. Karter searched the floor for any clean clothes as he normally did. However, he found nothing that caught his eyes, and what did, smelled like it had yet to be washed over the last fifteen years.
"Hey, just take a breath. It's not like he doesn't know you're," Flynn paused in the doorway. "Lovely fashion sense. Don't overthink it and don't act like a dick, simple."
Karter was tempted to bark at him. He was getting dating advice from someone who he was pretty sure was aromantic or at least asexual and had no dating experience. However, he knew Flynn was right. There was nothing to worry about.
After Flynn disembarked to work Karter slowly was able to calm down and properly look through his things in less of a chaotic manner.
"I need music or alcohol," he exclaimed to the empty apartment.
He grabbed his phone and ignored the cracked screen before turning on one of his playlists on Spotify. He skipped a few songs till he found one that didn't make him want to bash his head into the wall.
"Yeah, yeah, I know I can't skip anymore, shut up."
He gathered up most of his clothes and took them to the laundry mat a block down from the apartment. It was super cheap and they even let people smoke inside which was the selling point for him. It probably wasn't the best idea but he figured his clothes smelled like smoke anyway so why not.
"How's it going, Kimmy?" He asked the person behind the counter. They were looking at a book with some muscular guy on the front of it.
"Better if these two fucked already, you?"
Karter shrugged. "Normal. I have a date tonight so that's something."
He shoved all of the clothes he had with him into one washer not bothering to separate any of them. He thanked whoever made the color catcher sheets so he could be lazy and have his clothes remain the same color.
"Ooh good luck," Kimmy grinned and got back to their book.
Karter took out his phone and played a few games while he waited for his clothes to be done.
Δ Δ Δ
He didn't remember falling asleep, but Kimmy was pushing him with their foot. His clothes were done and were put in the dryer. All he had to do was fold them and walk home.
Karter made sure to thank Kimmy for putting them into the dryer before he left. He did have some manners despite what Flynn told him.
When he got home he video called his best friend-only friend. Other than Flynn at least. Karter cleaned up the apartment the best he could without burning it down because technically that would be illegal.
Ember was like the fatherly friend rather than the motherly friend Flynn tended to be. Ember liked puns and was the type of person who'd take Karter out to do something like getting a tattoo at two in the morning. However, she also made sure he brushed his teeth before he went to bed.
"Okay, it's either chicken nuggets that are unfortunately not dinosaur-shaped or Flynn's healthy cereal that I'm pretty sure wasn't even good when he bought it."
Karter had his phone set up near the stove, enough so he could see her when she signed to him. Most of the time he didn't know what she was saying, his ASL skills were shit. However, she'd just tell him through text or write it down and hold it up to the camera.
Ember was mute, not deaf. Her hearing was perfectly fine, she just didn't talk. Karter didn't really ask her why and she never told him.
'Chicken nuggets, duh.' She signed.
She then held up her lunch which looked much better than his did. She worked in an office in the city and so she just had whatever she wanted delivered. Today it was confetti cake and coffee.
Karter thought the coffee was gross, but then again it made him laugh at how they first met.
He was halfway through his first year on campus and was basically living in a coffee shop because of his bitchy roommate. Long story short he was sleep-deprived and picked up Ember's order and accidentally drank coffee instead of tea.
It was gross.
So she called him a dumbass and he told her she was gay. It was the best he could do since he was tired and she was wearing a lesbian flag on her t-shirt.
"You know when I think I eat a lot of sugar you have to show me up," Karter muttered.
Ember grinned triumphantly as she took a bite of her cake.
'Hush, I need to keep awake and finish a bunch of shit before going home and having a breakdown.'
"Fair enough," Karter nodded.
After Karter ate his late lunch and Ember hung up on him he decided to get a shower and get dressed now then have a nap or something later.
He picked out his outfit and walked to the bathroom showering in the dark. The light in the windowless bathroom went out a few days ago and nobody (Flynn) had replaced it. Karter was not trusted to do such a task.
Nonetheless, he managed not to get any soap in his eyes this time, and now smell like the apple body wash he got on sale in a cute apple packaging. He couldn't not get it.
He hummed a song he didn't know the lyrics to as he got dressed in his black skinny jeans and his favorite black PMA hoodie.
Karter looked outside for a moment. It was pretty nice out so he decided to go out and get a few pictures of the late afternoon sun.
Ever since he could remember he loved taking pictures. It was like creating a memory forever to look back on whenever he wanted. He liked to think that in a hundred years people would look at the pictures he took and see just how much things had changed from then to wherever it was for them.
He grabbed his camera and made his way up to the roof. The perfect place to go in the city, even if it was easy to fall off of, which he had nearly done three too many times before. It was not fun.