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Cater wanted nothing more than to go back to NRC. Despite all the work and pressure that came with following all the rules of Heartslabyul to a T, they had also been the most carefree and memorable years of his life. He had made plenty of friends and got to do and see a lot of cool things. Sure, the Cater Diamond everyone had known back then, wasn’t quite the real Cater Diamond, but it was easier that way. For him and probably other people.
He still kept in contact with many people, and yet, the one person he thought finally was beginning to see the real him, left. He knew that even had they remained kind of friends, his schedule would be so busy and he had other friends he needed to keep in touch with more than Cater. Regardless, he still found himself scrolling through his posts on Magicam every other day or so, longing to be in the company of the other again, even if he would just look at Cater in disdain, believing his act was all true.
Perhaps that was the reason he locked himself in his room and grabbed his phone, shakily scrolling through his contacts. He found who he was looking for and called them. He would have texted them instead but there was no way he would be able to properly type anything that made sense. It took several seconds, but eventually, they picked up.
“Cater? Why did you call?” Vil asked. Cater had feared he would be annoyed, but it didn’t seem like it.
“I don’t know. I just needed to talk to someone and you were the first person I thought of.”
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. I just-” And then it happened. He finally let the tears fall. There was no reason he should be crying, not over what had happened. It was just childish to him. There were plenty of people who went through worse than him and yet here he was crying over what was probably nothing.
Vaguely he could hear Vil’s concerned voice from his phone, but he wasn’t all too focused on what the other was saying. Not until he calmed enough to be able to talk between his sobs.
“I just- Everything hurts. Nothing feels right and I can’t take it anymore. I want to leave this place, but I- I can’t,”
“Hey, Hey. Cater… It’s okay. It will all be okay…” Cater sat, in his bed trembling, listening carefully to Vil.
There was a moment of silence until Vil asked, “Cater…Where do you live?” he was confused by the question but answered regardless. It wasn’t like Vil would use that information for anything bad.
“It’s close enough to my house if you want to stay the night. You seem like you could use a break.” That was a nice way of putting it, Cater thought. And for a moment, he considered it. He just wanted to leave and here Vil was, offering to let him stay at his house.
“I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. Besides what if someone wakes up and finds out I left? I don’t even have a car of my own.”
“Cater, I wouldn’t ask you to come over if it was an inconvenience, besides you are an adult correct? You can leave if you want. And I’ll pick you up. We could get coffee or something on the way back.” Cater sighed before giving in. He knew Vil could be persistent if he wanted to and he was too exhausted physically and mentally to come up with any more excuses. Giving his address to Vil, he grabbed a bag and put a few things in it like a change of clothes, headphones, and a phone charger. Quietly, he made his way out of his house and waited for Vil to arrive.
The car ride was mostly quiet and Cater was thankful for that. The most they talked was when Vil asked if he wanted a tea or coffee from the coffee shop he stopped at. He ended up getting a black tea. While Vil was inside, Cater slowly felt himself fall asleep. It had been a long day and the car was rather warm.
He didn’t wake up until they arrived at Vil’s house. It was a large house as would be expected knowing the wealth of both Vil and his father. Yet, also smaller than Cater thought it would be. Vil led him inside, carrying Cater’s bag for him, despite the protests.
The interior was almost reminiscent of the Pomefiore dorm back at NRC with nice expensive-looking paintings and other decorative items scattered around the place. There were vases of different plants and flowers and the furniture was nothing short of luxury, something Cater could only long for. The walls were all painted in neutral colors making the whole place feel almost as if a castle and cottage had a baby. Cater never wanted to leave.
The two were sitting in the living room sitting on a sofa in front of a fire with their drinks. They talked for a while and Cater almost wondered how they could so easily. It had been so long since they ever had a proper conversation with each other.
“Why did you call me?” Cater dreaded that question but he knew it was impossible to avoid. He took a shaky breath before answering.
“My family. Specifically my mom and the youngest of my two sisters. She’s older than me but acts like she is years younger. I don’t know. I mean we’ve had our issues in the past, but I thought it was all getting better. It certainly was with Elle. I just…My mother and youngest sister…they are trying to be better, they really are, but it’s become a habit to them.
“Everday some slight is made against me and they don’t care. They apologize if it’s brought to their attention but when it’s not, they don’t. I’m just fed up with those two. I mean, I thought they really were going to try. But no, they haven’t.” Vil listened as Cater talked. It wasn’t hard to hear how annoyed and angry he was about all of this.
“It sucks because I love them, but everything just feels too true. Honestly, I think some could consider it borderline abuse. At least what it was when I was younger before getting mad at them. Well…I guess it just all got to be too much and I broke…”
“...I mean, no wonder you would. If it’s been happening for so long…I think anyone would crack under all the pressure.”
There were a few seconds of silence before Cater responded, “Why are you doing all this for me? I kinda thought you just felt…meh about me.
“It’d be a lie to say I didn’t. But not for the reasons you might think. Of course the end of third year and all of fourth…my opinion changed but for most of our first three years at NRC, you just frustrated me. I never knew what you wanted because you wouldn’t tell anyone anything that didn’t match that annoyingly fake Magicam persona of yours.” Vil took a sip of his drink before continuing.
“And don’t get me wrong, Cater, you have talent. I mean looking at your posts, anyone can see you are amazing at capturing beautiful photos and I know you truly care about Magicam.” Cater was shocked. He didn’t think that Vil actually looked at his posts. Ever. He knew the man followed him, but he figured it was more of an ‘Oh I went to school with you so might as well’ kind of thing. But knowing he saw what the ginger posted, was shocking.
“I just could not bare to see the wasted potential. You never seemed to wonder what your talents could do for you and you always hid behind that happy-go-lucky social party-boy facade that I hated. I have been surrounded by fake people hiding the real them away my whole life. I didn’t want there to be another one. I should have tried to tell you that though. I should have tried to earn your trust and gotten you to lower your guard around me.”
“I- Vil you…” Cater’s mind was racing trying to figure out what to say. In the end, he just let out a sad laugh, “I didn’t think you cared about me enough to be able to even think all of that let alone say it. I won’t lie, I wish I had let myself go around certain people too. Especially Kalim and Lilia. I think they may have been the closest to seeing the real me. We still talk but I kind of wish we actually had the time to see each other.”
“Yeah, I get that. But like I said Cater, in our fourth year, a lot of my feelings toward you changed. I just… I wish I had texted you more after graduation. I’ve just been busier than I thought I’d be.”
“Really? I honestly expected you to forget about me…” Cater said a sad look in his eyes as they drifted from Vil to the fireplace. He felt a hand on his cheek and gently, Vil moved Cater’s face so he was looking at him.
“Cater…I don’t think I could ever forget you. You were closer to me than so many people. And you saw me as a normal person. I- Cater…I don’t think anything could get me to forget you. Ever. You mean a lot to me and I really like you Cater. A lot.” Cater’s eyes widened at Vil’s words. He wanted to believe Vil was lying. He didn’t think any of it was real, but the look in Vil’s eyes was nothing short of sincerity.
“Are you serious? Do you actually like me? Like…romantically?” Cater asked, still stunned at Vil's words. Vil just nodded.
“Yes, I am. I really do like you Cater. I have for a while, actually.” Cater felt tears fall down his face and he pulled Vil into a hug, crying into his shoulder. Vil just wrapped his arms around him, softly rubbing his back.
“I- you actually like me? For real? Because I really like you and I don’t want this to be a joke…” Cater said as he pulled away from a Vil a few minutes later, whipping his face with his jacket sleeve.
“Yes, I am serious Cater. I would not lie to you about something like this. I swear it.” Vil, gently grabbed Cater hands in his own before asking, “Cater, would you be my boyfriend?”
Cater felt tears prick his eyes again and he nodded, “Yes, I want to be your boyfriend Vil. I have for so long.” Vil chuckled, pulling Cater into another hug. Thirty minutes later, the two had both fallen asleep on the couch in each other's arms. Just before he fell asleep, Cater had whispered, “Thank you” to an almost asleep Vil who only hummed in response.
At some point in the night, Vil’s father had come downstairs, and upon seeing the two, he smiled and carefully laid a thick blanket over them and put out the fire before going back upstairs.