Sweet Boy (rarl)

Vol. 14 | Here and Now

4:35

Carl stared at the time on his phone. He had slept for about an hour before waking up around two in the morning. He attempted to get himself back to sleep, albeit unsuccessfully. Checking the time every twenty minutes and his thoughts of Ron were probably a few of the reasons he was to not be able to sleep.

Keeping Ron off of his mind seemed like a nearly impossible task as he lay in his bed. Whether he was thinking about their past or their plans for the future, his mind was racing.
He truly did love Ron deeply despite their short relationship. He is rather assured now that his boyfriend loves him just as much. He replayed Ron's words of affection over and over in his mind. Clearly he wasn't just astonishingly good at art, but with his words as well. It did make sense, Carl supposed. If he was capable of hurting him so terribly before then it would only be fair if he could make him feel so happy with just his words.

His thoughts of his former bully turned boyfriend was interrupted when his phone buzzed on his nightstand. It wasn't unheard of for Enid to text him at such late hours. She tended to stay up extremely late on the weekends despite Carl telling her it wasn't a good idea. He sighed as he reached for his phone. He was mid thought of how to explain why he was awake and why she should go to sleep he read the text.

"hi"

This was what he read on the screen as it lit up the surrounding room that had previously been engulfed by darkness. The word itself was far from special and didn't evoke any emotion in Carl under most circumstances. The only reason it did now was because of the boy who had sent it to him - Ron Anderson. He smiled wide when he read the nickname he had given the boy he was sure was his future husband.

"Hi" Carl typed before he paused. He pondered the name he would call him for a moment.

"Hi honey." He spelled out on his keyboard, erasing it. It sounded too much like something an old couple would use, one who had been married for at least thirty years.

"Hi sweetheart." He wrote now, deciding if that was the name he wanted to use. He deleted the nickname, coming to the conclusion that although it was sweet, it wasn't flirty enough for his current mood.

"Hi baby." He decided on as he hit send. His text was read immediately, the fact that Ron had been waiting while he typed apparent.

"Did I wake you up?" He asked.
"No." Carl replied, typing another message.
"I miss you." He sent quickly.
"I miss you too honey." Ron replied.
Carl smiled at the nickname, thinking briefly about when they would be that couple who was celebrating their thirty fifth wedding anniversary.
"Why are you up?" Carl asked after a moment.
"I'm always awake Carl." He replied.
"Why are you?" He added.
"I just can't sleep." He answered.

Carl watched for a second as Ron typed before he hit the call button up in the right hand corner. The phone rang for only a moment when Ron answered the call.
"Hi sweetheart." Ron said softly, his voice already comforting Carl. "Hi." He replied with a smile that Ron could hear.

"I love you." Carl added after a brief pause.
"Is that why you called? To tell me that you love me?" Ron asked gently, also smiling.
"Not exactly.. I just wanted to hear your voice." He explained.

"Well I love you too. You're the cutest boy." He replied. Carl smiled wide.
"I want to see you. Can you come over?" He asked without any hesitation or thoughts of consequences. "Carl... I wanna see you too, but I promised your dad I wouldn't sneak in anymore." He told him.
"Oh.. can I come over there then?" He made new plans. "I don't see why not." He answered. Carl smiled again. "Ok. I'll be there in a minute." He said happily.