Chapter Text
The sunlight of the sunrise filtered through the window, landing right on Will’s face. He grumbled something and turned onto his other side, trying to escape the sun, and when he realized that the sun still landed on him, he shoved his head under the pillow. But just before he could claim victory, his dog — Chester — started barking as if there were no tomorrow.
Will cursed out loud. For the first time in months, he didn’t have to wake up early to meet deadlines and now he can’t even enjoy this feeling.
He got up and immediately went to check on the dog. He sighed when saw why he was barking non-stop. The toy he was playing with had gotten stuck behind the couch.
He picked it up and gave it to him, then he started walking towards the kitchen. He’s hella hungry and has zero energy to make a proper breakfast so he just grabs some cereal and milk.
He eats fast and sits on the sofa to finish the book that he bought yesterday. Even though he started this book only a day ago, he almost finished it and only has the last 50 pages to read.
He’s so invested in reading that he doesn’t even realize that someone is knocking the door, probably for a while.
«Shit,» he says as he goes to open the door.
«Hey! I was about to panic, why weren’t you answering?» Will points at the book on the couch. Carlton doesn’t even look at it; he gives him a kiss on the forehead as soon as he sees him. Will’s heart melts.
After 3 years he’s still not accustomed to all this sweetness.
Chester enters the living room and just stares at Carlton. He barely tolerates him, but at least he isn’t aggressive towards him. Chester doesn’t like many people; he only tolerates the ones that he doesn’t really like — everyone exept Will and Max.
«Hi there, buddy!» Carlton greets him but there is no response from Chester. Still the same nonchalant look as ever. Even though he has the same name of Will’s old dog, this Chester doesn’t behave like his old dog.
«I missed you…» he says, with a sweet voice. Will laughs.
«We literally saw each other yesterday»
«Yeah but it felt like years… you know that i’ll never get enough of you…» Will laughs again as he distances himself from him and goes to sit on the sofa.
«Okay! Okay! I know, you tell me everyday…» Carlton put his bag on the kitchen counter and goes to the fridge to drink some water.
«Oh and why don’t you open with your keys? I gave them to you for a reason,» Will says, with a soft voice. He is joking but he can’t figure out why Carlton is so stubborn and doesn’t want to open his door himself.
«I told you… I want you to have your privacy, i can’t just… open and enter without permission»
«But i gave you my permission! How many times i have to tell you that you can open with your keys?»
«I just… i just feel like i’m violating your privacy» will sighs once again. He loves that Carlton is so respectful with him and respect his boundaries but he’s so stubborn about it that sometimes is… kind of strange. Or maybe it’s just Will who’s strange to find it strange.
«And… it’s not like we live together. That would be another story» Carlton glances at Will. Hit and sunk.
So that’s the argument. Living together.
In the last few months, Carlton has tried multiple times to convince Will to start living together, but for some unknown reason, will isn’t ready for that step yet.
It’s not like Carlton was his first boyfriend or that he fears he might not be the one, it’s just that there is something in Will that tells him not to. That he isn’t ready yet. And Carlton respects this. He really does. He respects Will’s boundaries and choices; it’s just… this. The fact that sometimes, Carlton shoves these things right into his face.
And yeah, Carlton has every right to be mad, because they have been together for three whole years. It’s not like they want to adopt a child or get married — neither of those things could be done anyway because it’s not even legal — but still, even if it’s not a big deal, it’s something that Will isn’t ready for.
In that meantime, Carlton joins him on the couch and looks at the book on Will’s lap.
«Him again?» Will nods.
«His books are beautiful. They are really engaging. You should try to read one of them sometime,» Will says, with a bit of nervousness in his voice. He doesn’t really mean it, though; he just says it because he always suggests books for him to read, so it would be kind of strange if he didn’t do it this time. He also know that Carlton isn’t really a reader, he barely even reads the comics he draws.
«Micheal Wheeler… hm? What kind of books does he write?» Will’s heart skips a beat as his boyfriend pronounce his name. Will scratches his scalp, a bit nervous. He didn’t expect Carlton to actually be interested in one of Mike’s books.
«Adventure ones» Will says quickly. He doesn’t actually understand why he’s so nervous. It’s not like Carlton could ever know that this Mike is the same Mike he told him was in his “old” group of friends. He could also never know that the mike in his “old” group is the same Mike who was the boy he loved for years.
He’ll never meet Mike again, so Carlton can never find out. And even if he does, would it really be that important? Will has moved on from his unrequired love, and that’s it. There aren’t any feeling left for mike and there will never be again.
He loves Carlton.
«Anyway, when are Lucas and Max coming?» Will gasps out loud. Already panicking.
“Fuck! I totally forgot!” He curses in his mind.
«Shit…!» Will jumps off the couch and goes to choose his clothes in his room. Carlton follows him and leans on the doorframe.
«I bet you forgot…» Carlton sighs, like he had done this a hundred times before.
«Shit… shit… shit! I have to get dressed, make lunch, buy the gifts i planned to buy, buy dessert and tidy up the house in only one hour! Fuck!» Carlton places a hand on Will’s shoulder, trying to calm him down.
«Relax. I already bought the gifts and the dessert ‘cause i knew you’d forget and I can cook while you shower and get dressed» Will jumps into his arms.
«Aaaahhh, i love youuuuuuu!» he kisses his jaw and hugs him, then he suddenly pulls away and looks at him with a teasing expression, raising an eyebrow.
«Wait… you’d probably going to make them throw up. You know damn well you can’t cook» Will laughs, and Carlton does too.
«It’s not like i can’t cook… I can cook some things!» Will laughs even more.
«You can barely cook some bacon…» he shrugs.
«Not true…» but under Will’s teasing look, Carlton gives in.
«Okay, okay, you win. Then I can tidy up the house» Will gives him another kiss on the jaw before heading to the bathroom.
«Thank you» but just as Will walks past Carlton, he realizes something.
No.
No.
He can’t.
He can’t tidy up the house.
He can’t find the letters.
Will hid the letters well, but he still fears that Carlton could find them anytime. And that would really be the end. Carlton would be upset as hell, he knows it.
Will turns around and faces Carlton.
«Actually… can you, uhm… lay the table and make the bed? I… I can both cook and tidy up the house» there is a pause. Carlton doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch, doesn’t say anything; he just stares. Will panics. What if he suspects something? What if he was just testing him? What if… No.
Even if he finds out about the letters he still shouldn’t be upset about it, right? It’s not like Will has ever replied. The weird thing is that he has always kept them, both in his heart and his house. So probably Carlton would be upset about the fact that he’s keeping them. That he’s hiding them.
Will still doesn’t know why he doesn’t throw them in the trash when he receives them; he just feels like keeping them. So that’s what he does.
«Yeah, sure,» Carlton replies, with a nonchalant tone. It almost feels too nonchalant.
«Uhm… okay, I’ll go shower then» Will walks away from him as fast as he can.
He’s ashamed of himself, disgusted by what he’s doing. But at the same time… what is he doing, exactly? He’s just keeping the letters his friend is sending him. It’s not like those are love letters and they are in some kind of drama where the protagonist hides his lover’s love letters while being in a shitty relationship. First, because Will isn’t in a shitty relationship — Carlton is amazing!. Second, those aren’t love letters. Mike just needed someone to talk to, so he writes him letters every day to talk about what he had done that day he sent them and Will is just… accepting it. He never replies, sure, but he reads them and keeps them, even if Mike doesn’t think so. And maybe it’s better like this. Maybe it’s better for Mike to think that Will has never read any of his letters.
After the shower — which only took five minutes — Will finally gets dressed and starts boiling the water for the pasta. He decided to make some italian pasta using a recipe he got from his italian friend.
He cooked this a few times before, and it was always wonderful. Which probably boosted his confidence because he’s almost one hundred sure they are going to like it.
While he waits for the water to boil, he starts tidying up a bit, beginning with the area where the letters are, so even if Carlton wanted to help him, he wouldn’t get near them.
Will sees Carlton coming from his room with a thoughtful look. As soon as Carlton’s eyes land on Will, he quickly changes his expression and switches to a neutral one. Will raises an eyebrow. Carlton hardly ever shows any other emotion other than joy, so of course he wonders if he’s suspicious about earlier or if something else happened.
«You okay?» Carlton slowly nods, with a smile forming in his face. Will knew that Carlton will never tell him what’s really on his mind.
«So… you decided to make ‘Carbonara’?» Will tries to brush off this strange feeling and act as normal as possible.
«Yeah. Sara’s recipe» Carlton’s eyes sparkle like a dog who just saw his favorite toy.
«I love Sara’s recipe!»
«Yeah, that’s why i decided to make this» Will smiles, and Carlton smiles back, but he knows this isn’t Carlton’s usual smile.
Something is off.
Will spends the next 15 minutes cooking and tiding up, while Carlton watches a football match. So when the doorbell rings, everything is almost done.
Will smiles as soon as he sees Lucas and Max.
«Guys! How are you doing?» He hugs Max first and then Lucas.
«We’re fine. And you two?» Carlton gets up from the couch and goes towards them. Lucas greets him with a pat on the shoulder, while he does cheek to cheek with Max.
Carlton never really bonded with Max, but he kind of did with Lucas. They often talk about football and other shared hobbies, while Max and Will talk about random things as she helps him in the kitchen. That’s their usual thing.
As expected, as soon as Chester sees Max, he jumps around her and wags his tail like crazy. He wants Max to pet him.
«Alright, alright…» she says laughing while she pets him.
«This dog really likes only you and Will…» Lucas says as he sat in his knees, trying to catch Chester’s attention. Chester ignores him and keeps showering Max with affection.
«I liked the old Chester more…» he sighs dramatically, while we all burst out laughing.