Heart and Soul - Chapter 57: Chapter 57

Carter texted Johnny just as he stepped on the Masons' porch. The front door opened as soon as the message read 'sent'.
Johnny welcomed him with an eager kiss, pulling him inside.
Carter smiled. "Hey yourself," he murmured into Johnny's lips.
Johnny laughed, taking Carter's hand to steer him into the living room.
"Lydia's super excited," Johnny told him. "Apparently, Bella has a horror movie collection."
Carter raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know that, but it seems in-character."
Johnny smiled, sitting down on the couch and pulling Carter on top of him. They shared an idle kiss and Carter hummed into Johnny's lips, running his hands down his boyfriend's side before settling them at his hips. Johnny's hands cupped Carter's face as they parted for air.
"Should we order food first and then... that?" He smiled, biting his lip.
Carter licked his lips. "Yeah. Sounds good."
Their food wasn't long to arrive. By the time they were almost done, Johnny received a photo from Lydia. He snorted out a laugh at the screen, before turning his phone around so Carter could see a selfie with all the girls. Lydia, Melanie, Jenna and Lauren were at the front, smiling as one would in this sort of situation; Bella and Reggie were in the back looking like they'd rather not be in the situation at all.
Carter laughed. "Looks like they're having fun."
Johnny nodded. "Yeah." He pocketed his phone. "We should too."
Carter didn't have time to object. Johnny had his hands on his face again, mouth pressed to Carter's. Not that he would object if he could. He wanted this. He wanted Johnny. He couldn't even believe there had been a time when he was oblivious to this part of himself.
Carter let a hand trail up Johnny's thigh, using the other to cup his chin, slowing the kiss. He was usually happy to let Johnny take the reins. It even gave him a certain sense of excitement. But he wanted them to take this slow, to let themselves savor it—make it special.
At that thought, their friends' voices crept their way into Carter's head uninvited. He could hear them giggle and laugh as they taunted them at lunch. Carter tried to shove it to the back of his mind. However, it seemed as though the moment he was done shaking off Jenna's clever remarks, Joey's troubling use of 'pound-town' floated to the surface; and just as he pushed that down, he remembered Roy's story about candles and fire hazards.
"You okay there, champ?" Johnny asked, pulling back.
Carter huffed in frustration, letting his head fall back onto the back of the couch. He rubbed his hands down his face with a groan, shooting Johnny a contrite look.
"It's kinda weird knowing they all know," he mumbled.
Johnny propped one elbow on the back of the couch to look at him. "Know what?" He asked.
Carter winced. "What we're doing," he muttered. "Or planning to do, at least."
Johnny laughed, shaking his head lightly. "I didn't know you were gonna get all awkward about it," he said. "I thought you talked about this stuff with Seth."
"Yeah, well—he's my best friend," Carter argued.
Johnny nodded understandingly.
"Sorry." He shrugged apologetically. "Lauren asked if we had been waiting for an opening for a long time, kind of as a joke, and I said I wasn't even sure if we were gonna go that far, because we haven't yet."
Carter's face fell a little and he looked at Johnny, a little dismayed. "You don't want to go that far yet?" He asked quietly.
"I do," Johnny rushed out instantly. He scooted closer on the couch to lay a hand on Carter's knee. "I just... I didn't know if you wanted to do it tonight."
Carter smiled. "I do."
Johnny bit his bottom lip around a smile of his own. "Good."
Carter licked his lips, placing his hand over Johnny's on his knee. "But then everyone started joking about it and I'm kinda in my head now," he said.
"Why?"
"I don't know." Carter shrugged, discouraged. "It's like there's expectations now. If it was just between the two of us, and nothing happened, we didn't have to explain it to anyone."
Johnny shook his head lightly. "We still don't have to explain it to anyone. They were just messing with you." He cupped Carter's face in his hands again, leaning in. "There's no expectation for you to match up. Not to them, or even to me. Just relax." He left a soft, chaste kiss on the corner of Carter's lips before pulling back again to assure him, "We have all night. And many others after this one, if it just doesn't happen today."
Johnny was striking all the right nerves with his words and Carter couldn't thank him enough. He shortened the distance between them even further.
"I want it to happen tonight," he whispered against Johnny's lips. "I've wanted it to happen for a while."
Johnny nodded. "Me too."
Their kiss was slow and sweet after that. Johnny knew that was the way Carter liked it most.
Carter focused on the feel of Johnny's lips on his, tender and warm, and the sensation of his fingers tangling in his hair. It sent a delicious shiver down his spine and Carter relaxed, just as Johnny had asked him to.
That was the thing about the two of them. Whatever Johnny asked, Carter would always give him.
Slowly, Johnny climbed onto Carter's lap and Carter wrapped his arms around his waist possessively, yet gently. The kiss deepened, teeth and tongue joined in. Carter moaned when Johnny rolled his hips downward.
"Should we go to my room?" Johnny whispered against Carter's lips.
"Yes," Carter breathed eagerly.
They rushed upstairs and crashed into each other, tumbling onto the bed as soon they got to Johnny's bedroom. They didn't even bother closing the door all the way.
Johnny was eager to get Carter off his shirt, pulling it over his head greedily. They enjoyed a hungry kiss, parting only when they had to peel Johnny's t-shirt off him. Johnny rolled onto his back, pulling Carter over him.
"Do you have condoms?" He asked, breathless, curling one hand along the back of Carter's neck.
Carter nodded, reaching into his jeans' pocket to get the little square package.
Johnny grinned. "You're gonna need that," he said, moving his hands to work on Carter's fly.
Carter bit his lip. So that was that. It was decided. He felt his stomach clench around a surge of heat.
"Can you get the lube from the drawer?" Johnny asked, gesturing to his nightstand.
Carter gulped, but complied. He opened Johnny's drawer, spotting the cylindrical bottle immediately.
"Where did you get this?"
Johnny smiled, propping up onto his elbows, still on his back. "The store," he answered like it was obvious.
Carter rolled his eyes playfully. "But when?"
Johnny looked a little sheepish. "Before we went to the Everglades," he admitted.
Carter's lips parted.
Johnny shrugged. "Just in case. It was wishful thinking."
"You could've told me," Carter said, lube still in hand, sitting back on his heels as he knelt between Johnny's parted legs.
"This is fine," Johnny dismissed him. "Just get over here," he urged impatiently, nudging Carter's leg with the side of his.
Carter obeyed, leaning in.
"Wait, wait—take this off, first." Johnny tugged at the top of his jeans.
Ever the obedient boyfriend, Carter freed himself from his jeans. He zipped down Johnny's after that, pulling them off his legs, before diving in to attach his lips to Johnny's neck. He didn't need to search, or explore, he knew exactly where to focus all his attention to make Johnny mewl.
Johnny's hands roamed his back, restless and possessive, before one of them circled back to the front to hook his index finger on the elastic band of Carter's underwear. Carter helped him pull that off, revealing himself completely exposed before Johnny for the first time. Johnny's eyes devoured him with a single look and the hunger burning in his gaze sent a shiver down Carter's spine. He thought he was going to give out when Johnny took him in his hand. He didn't even have to do much, Carter had been ready for a while.
"Do you need help with that?" Johnny asked, signaling to the metallic packaging in his hand.
Carter shook his head. "I got it."
They shared a timid smile. Carter slid on the slippery rubber with trembling fingers—when had they started trembling—just before he leaned down to kiss Johnny gently.
"Do you know where to go from here?" He whispered.
Johnny nodded, biting his lip. He pushed his own underwear off, discarding it on the floor. His eyes met Carter's gingerly.
"Do you wanna help me, or should I do it?"
That question threw Carter off. The fire licking his insides urged him to accept any chance he had for more contact with Johnny, but the doubts in his head were still audible enough to weight something.
"I don't know what to do," he confessed, with a nervous little laugh.
Johnny smiled softly. "It's fine."
Carter watched him reach for the bottle of lube, which he noticed had already been opened before, and squirt a generous amount on his fingers. His breath hitched as Johnny's hand moved down and he pulled his knees up.
Carter didn't know whether to look down, or up at Johnny's face. He focused on the latter as Johnny's eyes closed, lips parting with a strained sigh.
"Does it hurt?" He asked under his breath.
Johnny shook his head, teeth digging into his bottom lip. "It's just cold."
Carter laid out on his side, next to Johnny, and the other boy turned his face away from him. Carter wanted to ask him to look at him—because, God, how could he not want those lust-filled, honey-brown eyes on him as they filled with a sort of vulnerable bliss. But he wanted Johnny to be comfortable too.
Carter wanted to give him space, yet the same time, he wanted to get closer.
He felt his groin twitch when a helpless little sound escaped Johnny's open lips. Carter could see his cheeks flush as he added a second finger. His stomach flamed up. While watching Johnny was proving quite the fulfilling experience, he wanted the satisfaction of doing it himself.
Reaching for the lube, he asked, "Can I?"
Johnny nodded, without meeting Carter's eyes, allowing the other boy's hand replace his own. Carter dropped a little kiss on Johnny's cheek, continuing as he had seen Johnny do on himself. Then he kissed him on the lips—because he wanted to, and because he thought maybe Johnny could want it too.
Suddenly, Johnny's mouth gaped with an abrupt, silent gasp.
Carter had to pull back a little to realize what was happening. He repeated the motioned of his fingers. Johnny moaned.
Carter moved on to kiss his neck, careful to keep the angle just right with his hand. Eventually, Johnny instructed him to add a third finger and Carter didn't need telling twice. He mouthed down Johnny's chest and stomach, and kept going to take him all into his mouth, keeping his fingers where they were needed. Johnny's back arched off the mattress and his breathing sped up.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop—" He grabbed Carter's head with his hand, pulling him up the bed.
"Did I hurt you?" Carter asked, concerned.
Johnny sighed, looking completely delirious. "No, I was really close." He smiled bashfully. "I don't really want to finish before we even start."
Carter didn't tell him he thought he would actually enjoy watching Johnny finish just from what they were doing. He left that idea for another day.
"Want me to continue?"
"I think I might be ready."
"We can keep doing that for as long as you need. We have time," Carter assured him.
Johnny smiled. "Carter. I'm ready. I really need you, right now."
Those words rang in his head, sending a shiver down his spine to pour straight in his belly and his crotch.
He gulped. "You sure?"
Johnny laughed, but his next word came out a little like a desperate growl. "Please."
Carter crawled on top of him. "I don't want to hurt you," he said. He had read—heard, seen—that could happen.
"You won't," Johnny promised.
"But if I do, you need to tell me. If you feel even a little bit—"
Johnny rolled his eyes. "Do you want me to do it?"
Carter nodded and they rolled around on the bed so Johnny was on top, straddling him. A sly smile tugged at his lips as he looked down at Carter, sprawled down beneath him.
"I'm starting to think you like things this way," Johnny mused.
Carter smiled. "It's got the best view," he said.
Johnny laughed. "It's not so bad from up here, either," he noted, grounding his hips.
Carter's breath hitched.
Johnny started steadily, carefully, tentatively. He rose on his knees so he could use his hands to accommodate the best angle behind him. Carter closed his eyes and tried to give him complete control. When he felt they were completely bonded, he opened them again to see Johnny breathing out slowly through his lips.
"You okay, baby?"
Johnny smiled. "I'm fine, champ," he whispered.
Carter let out a weak little laugh of desperation. "I don't want to rush you, but I kinda need you to move."
He'd been so repressed, straining on the limits of his self-control for so long, he didn't know how much more he could take it. He needed Johnny.
They started slowly. Johnny took some time to find his pace, but, when he did, he leaned down to claim a kiss. Carter's body was liquid gold now—hot, mellow, glistening. His mind was all Johnny. His heart was all Johnny. There was nothing but Johnny. Carter was taken, in every sense.
Johnny spread his fingers over Carter's chest, using the support to deepen his movements. One hand eventually slipped on his sweat-greased skin and Carter caught it in his, intertwining their fingers. Johnny braced himself there.
Carter couldn't believe he had ever tried to ignore this. He couldn't see himself ever wanting anything else. Only Johnny.
He noticed the strain in Johnny's thighs from the exertion and squeezed his boyfriend's hip with his free hand. Circling his arm around the bottom of Johnny's back, pulling him down into him a little, Carter flipped them in a single flow of movement. He braced himself over Johnny, between his legs, and the other boy offered no complaint, too lost in what they were doing.
Johnny looked breath-taking. The freest Carter had ever seen him. It was stunning. His hair was mussed up, lips parted in frenzied elation, eyes scorching with hazy excitement. He was beautiful and Carter wished he could print this moment in his mind for eternity.
He kissed him, because he could, feeling himself let go too. Johnny's hand moved between them to help himself over the edge.
He released first, mouth gaping in a silent cry. Carter was right behind him. He hid his face in the crook of Johnny's neck, riding it to the end, before he collapsed on top of the other boy, spent and content.