Yellow

ten

Carter awoke with Tye still cuddled tightly into his side. He smiled and watched the boy for a moment. He looked both happy and relaxed, which Carter was glad about. He immediately frowned when the door opened and Noah stood in the doorway, wrapped in a blanket.

"I'm here for cuddles." He announced, closing the door behind him and hopping into Tye's bed beside Carter. "Oh he's so pretty." He added as he reached out a hand to smooth the boys hair.

"Noah." Carter sighed, but he unwound one arm from Tye to hold the other close to them.

"What? How can I resist the pair of you." Noah replied with a laugh, resting his head against Carter's chest. "How's he doing?"

"He was so so scared last night, he asked me not to leave him, but he seems okay now." Carter replied, "it didn't seem as bad as the first one, so maybe they're getting better."

"Hopefully." Noah agreed, he smiled softly up at Carter, earning him a kiss. "He's starting to trust us, I think."

"He is, and I'm glad he is." Carter nodded. Tye shifted in his sleep, eyes opening slightly. "Morning love."

"Mmm." Tye nodded, rubbing his eyes. He smiled sleepily at them before finally seeming to wake up. "Morning."

"Hey Tye." Noah grinned over at him. Tye smiled back shyly, he was being uncharacteristically clingy and Noah could tell Carter was loving it.

"You can go back to sleep if you want love, it's okay." Carter told him, Tye nodded and curled into his side again, it took him no time at all to fall back asleep.

"I know he's taller than Riley, but he just seems so much smaller." Noah mused, he couldn't help but watch the younger boy.

"Riley's confident, Tye seems to want to hide away at the moment. I think we're getting him out of his shell a bit though." Carter said softly, he kissed Tye's forehead gently. "He just needs time."

"Do you think he knows?" Noah mused, weaving his fingers into Carter's free hand.

"I don't think so." The man replied. "We have been holding off on showing affection around him after all."

"Maybe, but he could be one of those hyper observational people." Noah considered.

Tye's phone began ringing, the boy shifting with a groan and picking it up. He had multiple missed calls from the same number, and many texts asking him where he was. The boy frowned at his phone, shut off the call and punted it across the room.

"Love, I think I'm going to get you a new phone." Carter said thoughtfully as he looked at the phone on the floor. It was quite an old android model and had obviously been through the wars. Tye stared at him, his eyes very clearly stating 'why?' "You don't seem to like yours very much."

"She tracks me from it." Tye explained with a small frown.

"Who?" Noah asked at the same time Carter asked, "your mum?"

Tye nodded.

"If it was life360 or something couldn't you just turn it off?" Noah asked, Tye shook his head at once.

"Not if I didn't want to get beat." He replied. Noah's eyes widened and he glanced at Carter, who was working to keep his expression neutral.

"So you tried breaking your phone." Carter was beginning to understand his boy now.

"Didn't work." Tye sighed, "just causes problems."

"We'll get you a new one." Carter decided. "We'll take you shopping today I think, get you some things."