Heart and Soul [bxb]

Chapter Fifty-Three (Pt. 2)

Johnny gave Carter a minute, before letting out a giggle-like sound.

"Still alive, champ?"

Carter laughed, lifting his head to look at Johnny's face. The other boy smiled, combing his fingers through the hair stuck on Carter's forehead to pull it back.

"I'm good," Carter said through a grin, rolling off Johnny to lay at his side.

They both stared at the ceiling, evening out their breaths, for a couple of minutes. It was Johnny who broke the comfortable silence.

"That was..."

"Amazing," Carter blurted, once Johnny trailed off. "That was incredible. You're amazing. That was amazing."

Johnny snorted, melting into gleeful laughter. Carter turned his head to look at him with a smitten smile.

"Was that good for you?" He asked tentatively.

Johnny turned his head as well. "That was great," he spoke softly.

Carter scrunched up his face. "That sounds like the kind of thing someone would say if it wasn't great," he mumbled.

Johnny laughed again, turning his whole body on his side to snuggle into Carter's side. Carter welcomed him readily, wrapping an arm around him. Johnny rested his head on Carter's chest.

"I know I said you had no expectation to match," he started musingly, "but you definitely lived up to your locker room reputation."

"Locker room reputation?"

Johnny hummed agreeably. "You know... Guys talk, girls brag."

Carter didn't know how to answer that, so he didn't. Johnny's index finger traced a gentle pattern up his stomach and over his chest. The light touch tickled his skin, but he didn't move. Eventually, Johnny started laughing again, dipping his head between Carter's shoulder and neck to hide his face.

"What?" Carter asked with a grin.

Johnny slipped onto his stomach to lift his head, keeping his hand over Carter's chest. He shook his head with a shrug. 

"I never really thought I'd lose my virginity before college," he admitted.

"Really?"

Johnny nodded.

"Why not?"

Johnny shot him a pointed look. "I'm not exactly popular," he said. "Before you, I didn't even know any gay kids at our school."

Carter frowned. "There's, like, two thousand students at our school. I'm pretty sure there have to be others."

"Yeah, but I don't know them," Johnny countered. "And, just because they're out there, it doesn't mean I'd like them. Or they'd like me." His eyes looked down to follow the trail his finger tracked along the curve of Carter's collar bone. "I don't know. I'd just kind of accepted high school was not going to be my time, and that I'd have a chance in college." He smiled, lifting his eyes to meet Carter's. "Until you literally crashed into me."

Carter cringed, making Johnny laugh. He wrapped his fingers gently around Johnny's wrist, stopping the movements of his fingers before linking their hands with interlaced fingers.

"It took seeing me knocked down on the floor bleeding for you to notice me, but I'm not complaining," Johnny muttered, looking at their joint hands.

Carter's heart squeezed tightly. "I wish I had noticed you sooner," he whispered honestly.

"I don't." Johnny smiled. "I was probably having the worst day of my life, that day we met," he confessed.

Carter wanted to ask, but he didn't want to press Johnny on a sore spot. Johnny probably read the look on his face, because he spoke again.