Chasing Cars (B+B+ Poly)

one

He was pale and shaky and Carter just wanted to hold him. His sandy hair was long, almost down to his shoulders, held back with an elastic band. His hands were cuffed behind his back and the officer leading him to Carter shoved him almost into the man.

"Are you sure you want him Mr Matthews? I've got a cell with his name on it." The officer had a tight grip on the boys upper arm.

"I'm sure. Please uncuff him." Carter was acting calm, but he was livid at the poor boys situation. At barely eighteen years old he had been in and out of care homes and Foster homes that never worked out. He'd ended up running drugs for one of the gangs in the city and no one had bothered to help him. Carter was going to change that. He was originally going to take him to the rehab centre he was a patron of, but there was something about this one, something in his heart that told him he needed a different approach. That this boy needed a home, not just help for his addiction.

The officer let the boy go and he followed close behind Carter as he led him to his car.

"Hi Travis, I'm Carter." He smiled down at the boy, who looked up at him with wide Hazel eyes.

"H-hi."

"Are you hungry? We can stop for food on the way." Carter suggested. He wanted to get to the bottom of why his boy looked like he was going to pass out any second.

"No thank you."

He was so polite. Carter opened the door for him and he carefully climbed in, being careful not to touch anything apart from the seat. When Carter slid into the drivers seat, he pulled a water bottle from the back seat and offered it to him. "Here, drink this."

"T-Thank you."

"We have to pick up one of the others before we head home, I hope that's okay?" It wasn't like he really has a choice, but Carter wanted him to feel like he was important.

"That's fine." Travis took a tentative sip of water, before glancing out of the window.

They drove in silence, the streets turned to the winding roads that led to the University he was going to pick one of his other boys up from.

"Can- can you pull over please." Travis begged suddenly, Carter frowned and pulled over into a lay by, watching in horror as Travis shot out of the car and collapsed onto his knees, violently throwing up. It was mostly bile, coating his lips and chin as it forced its way out of his mouth.

"Hey, it's okay." Carter crouched beside him, rubbing his back gently. Travis' baggy sleeve had pulled up revealing very particular patterns of bruising. The boy was having withdrawal symptoms. "You're okay." Travis had only just finished when Carter pulled him into his arms, the exhausted boy almost completely limp against his chest. He pulled a packet of tissues from his pocket and carefully wiped the boys face. Travis' eyes met his before rolling back into his head as he passed out. "I'm so sorry this was happening to you."

Carefully, he lifted the boy up and placed him into his seat, brushing his hair from his sweaty forehead. "I'm going to help you, I promise."

^^^
Riley was waiting for him when he arrived, chatting excitedly to one of his friends. He waved happily at Carter as he pulled up and ran to the car, climbing into the back and reaching over to kiss the man's cheek. "He's so pretty!" He squealed upon seeing Travis. "Is he okay?"

"He's just not too well at the moment." Carter explained.

"Is he staying with us?" Riley asked. Carter nodded, "we can help him can't we?" Carter's heart melted. He loved this boy so much.

"We can." He nodded. "How were your lectures today?"

"It was so good, we were talking about volcanoes!" Riley said excitedly. "There are so many volcanoes that are hidden that we can't see!"