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Travis tucks his chin to press a kiss to Carter’s temple. “Shh. I’m right here. I’m okay.”
“Are you?” Carter pulls back, hands skimming over Travis’s skin. The lighting of the room is dim, but that doesn’t matter. It only takes seconds before the boy’s fingers find the gauze taped to his side. His breath hitches. “What happened?”
“I got stabbed by a piece of glass,” he explains, keeping his voice even and calm so he doesn’t freak him out further. “It wasn’t even deep enough for stitches, don’t worry.”
He runs a hand down Carter’s side, his own attempt at checking him over. “You’re okay?”
“Better now,” Carter admits. Then he laughs. “Sorry, that was… cheesy.”
“Cheesy or not, I feel the same.”
Carter squirms in his lap, clearly unsure of what to do or say. “Um… how did – I mean, did everything go okay? Other than the glass?”
“It did. We have a few loose ends already, and more to come probably, but we expected that.”
“Anyone I know?”
Travis winces. “Mica.”
He can feel the way Carter’s breath catches. “What? How?”
“He left the party before the toast. We aren’t sure if he was going to come back, or if he had left for the night. We’re assuming he meant to come back because it’d be strange for him to not have come and said goodbye to me, giving me a reason why he needed to leave.”
“Is he going to come after you now?”
“Hopefully not. The goal is to convince everyone that Benny and I died in the fire. We’re pinning it all on Maison’s team showing up and killing us all.”
Carter’s fingers tense where he’s holding onto him. “You’ll find him though, right?”
“He’s the first loose end I plan on tracking down, yes.”
“Okay, good.” Carter shudders. “I overheard the slaves talk once about him. He’s…”
“A fucking monster,” Travis finishes for him. “Yeah.”
After a few seconds pass by in a tense silence, Travis remembers what Ace said and tries to broach the subject of taking care of Carter. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”“Not really.” Carter laughs softly. “I think maybe I’m in shock. Like… it’s not sinking in.”
“That’s normal.”
“Yeah?” he asks, sounding caught between hopeful and relieved.
“Definitely.”
Carter sighs. “Good. That’s… good.”
“What can I do? What do you need from me tonight, Carter?” Travis pauses, internally wincing. He hates that he has to say what he says next, but it’s only right. “Or I can get Maison for you? Or Casey?”
“Actually, I was wondering – I just…” He releases a shaky breath, lowering his chin. “I didn't know the last time we were pet and sir that it was the last time, you know?"
“I didn’t either.”
“I didn’t… appreciate it.”
Travis tries to breathe. Tries not to get his hopes up. "Okay…"
“Can we be them? Just one more time?" Carter finally looks at him again, his big blue eyes full of hope and love. "Not even to fuck or anything. Just to sleep here together. To - to hold each other. To be together. I - I just need sir. Just one last time. Please?"
How could he ever say no?
“Okay,” Travis says quietly. He climbs in beside Carter and turns out the light, settling on his back. He raises his arm and immediately has a naked boy pressing up against his side, Carter being careful not to press on his injury when he wraps his arms around Nathan's stomach.
“Just one last time,” Carter whispers.
Travis nods, pressing a kiss to Carter’s messy hair. “One last time.”
They both know it’s a lie.
