Heart and Soul [bxb]

Chapter Forty-Eight (Pt. 1)

Mike picked Richie up from the airport on Sunday morning. Jack arrived home a few hours after lunch, on the same day.

Tony had talked to Carter's mom and it was decided they would invite the Masons to go with them to the Everglades. So, on Monday, they had to split sixteen people between four vehicles. Luca rode with Lydia in Coach's car, Richie and Kevin drove with Jack in Mike's car, and the rest of the Santoro gang squeezed into Tony's seven-seat van with all the luggage, while Carter went in Seth's car with Bella and Johnny.

Although the trip was relatively short for the amount of preparation it required, it was still enough for Carter to fall asleep. He woke up sixty minutes later in the backseat, with Johnny's fingers running through his hair.

Stepping out of the car, away from the freshness of the AC, the humid heat immediately clung to his skin. Carter stretched his arms over his head, cracking his neck from side to side, while the others moved around between open car trunks. 

"Okay," Tony spoke up, clapping his hands together to draw attention, "this is one of the cabins." He gestured to the modest wooden structure ahead of them, set on an elevated porch. "The other one is just a little farther down." He pointed somewhere past the dense vegetation.

"It looks great," Johnny's mom said through an open grin.

To Carter's side, Johnny shooed a swarm of tiny mosquitoes away from his face. "Yeah. Great," he mumbled.

Carter shot him a fond smile, but Johnny was too busy battling the teeny insects to see it. Bella and Seth stood nearby, leaning against the hood of Seth's BMW.

"We should start bringing the stuff inside. The kids can take this one and we can stay in the other one," Tony suggested, looking at Johnny's parents. 

"Sounds like a plan," Coach said.

Tony turned to where Frankie had approached Luca and Lydia, near the Masons' car. "There are two rooms in each cabin. We're gonna keep the ones in ours and you kids can roll the camping mattresses in the living room," he told them.

"Wait, what," Luca blurted. "'You kids' as in 'us kids'?" He pointed between Lydia, Frankie and himself.

"Yup." Tony grinned. "You and Charlie are staying with us. It's not up for discussion," he added that last part firmly, before Luca could try to discuss. He looked at his oldest sons next. "You guys can room however you like here."

"Except," Carter's mom chimed in pointedly. Her eyes zeroed in on her son. "No couples. You know who you are."

Carter's lips parted as he looked around. Seth, Bella and Johnny all shared looks of coy innocence, smiling down at the ground. Carter felt heat rise to his face and looked down.

They took out their bags and followed the others into the cabin, while the adults took the younger ones.

Inside, there was a single room. A living room sort of space, with a rustic wooden couch and a minimal kitchen area to the back, composed of a single counter with a sink and a fridge. To the far-right wall, there was a doorway into a short hallway-like space with three doors; two of which, Carter assumed, would take to the bedrooms Tony mentioned.

"How about Seth and Carter stay in one room, and Bella and Johnny take the other?" Richie Santoro suggested, putting his large backpack on the small couch inside.

"I can't room with my boyfriend, but I can room with another random guy?" Bella asked, crossing her arms.

Jack grinned. "If the other random guy is gay," he replied, leaning against the wooden arm of the sofa.