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soyouthinkucanwrite · 3 years

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What did he say? - Daniel Ricciardo one shot

Update: I just realized it's Carlos' birthday TODAY! I'm so so sorry hahaha I feel like a jerk, but it's just play pretend ok?

Guys, this is based on a dream I had but listen, it’s so weird cause I KNOW this is not like Carlos AT ALL. He’s kind of the vilan in this one... Please don’t be mad if you’re a Carlos fan, it’s just for fun, I swear. I’ll even try to write something with him later to make it up to you guys! Also, I clearly don't know how vacuum works in racing, so again, just humor me and pretend I got it right, ok?

As always, please take the time to let me know what you think, means a lot to me (even if it’s constructive criticism)! And thank you so much to everyone that always does! 💕 Your lovely messages always motivate me to keep writing!

Warnings: angst, jealous Daniel, kind of a dick Carlos (again, sorry! I know he’d never)

I was in the “side stage” at the press room for the Austin GP, the first I ever went and of course, the first with Daniel, as his girlfriend. He was answering questions along with Pierre Gasly on stage. There were a few people besides me, including some of the drivers, waiting for their turn to face the press.

"Coco, ¿quién es?" I heard Carlos Sainz whispering to his cousin, nodding his head in my direction.

"No conozco. ¿Creo que es periodista?" his cousin answered looking at me. I just acted like I wasn't listening, or understanding, not sure why though.

"No, si fuera periodista estaría allá fuera, haciendo preguntas" Carlos continued.

"Sí, pero no me parece estar perdida" his cousin commented, they kept whispering but I could hear them very clearly.

"Qué pena, no me importaría darte direcciones" Carlos said with a smirk and I felt really uncomfortable at that, which only made me stay even more frozen in place and wish Daniel came back sooner.

"Si no te conociera, diría que acabas de romper una relación. Ni siquiera puedes ver a una chica alrededor" his cousin said hitting him playfully in the head.

"¿Y te parece esta una chica cualquier? Siempre debes andar con supermodelos, ¿no?" Carlos joked back.

"Vale, tienes razón" his cousin answered him and I was counting the seconds for Daniel to come back now.

"Pero sin duda es nueva aquí. Me recordaría de algo como eso. Tampoco pienso ser americana, ellas no tienen esta-" Just then someone called him.

"Sainz, you're up next" Daniel walked out, coming by my side. "Hey" he said to me and I smiled. "They just asked to wait 5 minutes, something about changing the batteries of the mics" he said looking back at Carlos, his cousin, and Kimi, who was going to be pairing with Carlos in the press conference and was just hanging in the corner by himself this whole time.

"Alright, thanks mate" Carlos answered.

"Hey, have you guys met (y/n)? Carlos, Carlos, (y/n)... (y/n), Carlos, Carlos" Daniel made the introductions grinning like a teenager, probably finding it super funny that they had the same first name.

"¡Hola! Mucho gusto en conocerlos, soy (y/n). ¿Como están?" I extended my hand to greet them, feeling much more confident now that I had a 5' 9" Australian by my side. They looked startled at me and then at each other.

“¿Hablas español?” Carlos asked me.

“Sí, y compreendo muy bien también” I told him and my tone made it clear I knew exactly what they were talking about earlier and didn’t like it a bit.

"Carlos, Kimi, they're ready for you" an assistant called.

"Good one kid" Kimi said to me when he walked past us, winking at Daniel. Carlos followed him to the stage and since I didn't want to just stand there in the remains of the awkward situation with Dan and Carlos’ cousin, I just walked in the opposite direction, outside the press room. Not too long after, Daniel walked after me.

"Hey, what was that about?" he asked, still smiling. Boy, he wouldn't be smiling for too long after I told him what that was about.

"What?" I asked, trying not to make a big deal. He reached for my hand, taking it in his.

"You know what. Come on, what happened back there? Did you guys know each other?"

"No!" I have to tell him now, or he'll think I have something to hide. I took a deep breath. "They were talking between themselves before you come out, in Spanish. And I don't think they thought I could understand" he looked at me confused but then it hit him and his expression changed from confusion to rage.

"What did they said?"

"Nothing, it's not a big deal ok? I just wanted to let them know I could understand, so I just said 'hello' in Spanish, that's all" I said, walking away from the place where we were standing and pulling his hand. God knows I didn't want to be there when Carlos walked out, or better, for Daniel to be there.

"I figured that much. But what did he said? Just tell me" Daniel looked at me.

"Let's just go? Please? It's not worth it. What are you going to do? Sucker punch him?"

"Do I need to sucker punch him? Is it that bad?"

"No! Dan, please, let's just go. This is not going to lead us anywhere"

"(y/n)"

"I'll tell you. Promise. Back at the trailer, okay?" I tried to negotiate.

"Fine"

When we stepped back inside his driver's room, Daniel closed the door and looked at me.

"Alright. Spill it"

"Promise me you won't do anything to him"

"Absolutely not. The longer you stall me, the more pissed off I get"

"Okay” I knew I had no choice and honestly, why should I protect him really? I’m just worried about how this might make Daniel feel. “They were wondering who I was, his cousin was teasing him saying he was only interested because he just ended a relationship"

"That's not all" he said and I didn't answer, just looked away, shaking my head. "Alright. I'm sorry you had to hear that. But you can tell me these things ok? I want to protect you baby" He said stepping closer to me and hugging me.

"I don't want you to cause trouble for something stupid"

"Hey!" he said pulling away a bit to look at me. "This is not stupid. Nothing about you is stupid. It's a big deal baby, that’s plain disrespectful. I want you here with me, always. And I want you to feel comfortable here, okay?"

"I feel comfortable now" I said hugging him closer. He smiled and kissed the top of my head.

"Fuckers" he whispered to himself.

"Promise me you won't confront him. He'll deny, or start a fight. Or both. And besides, it’s not so much what he said, it’s more like how they were eyeing me. And I don't want you to get involved in a scandal" I said pulling away and sitting down in a chair. Daniel leaned against the table, looking at me.

"A scandal?" he laughed.

"You do know gossip is the major product of motorsports, right?" I smirked at him.

"Fair enough" he agreed. "Fuck baby, the things I have to deal with for having a goddess as a girlfriend" he was joking now, so the mood seemed lighter, but knowing Daniel, I knew he hadn't completely let that go yet. I just rolled my eyes at him. Hopefully, the events of the weekend would be enough to get his mind out of it.

Friday and Saturday kept us busy enough so that we didn’t touch the subject anymore, but I could still catch Daniel staring at Carlos here and there. And I could definitely see Carlos staring at me too, which I tried to avoid at all costs, staying out of his visual field. If Daniel saw that, I don’t know if I’d be able to hold him back again.

On Sunday I’d be watching from the garage with Michael and Blake, which was super exciting, to see all the action from the front row. But I didn’t want to disturb Daniel’s routine, so I tried to stay back a little. Yet, he kept coming to steal kisses and joke around. He seemed really relaxed and confident. He was P5 and I took the care to see that Carlos was P8, so I knew they might race each other eventually but I also knew that Dan would be much more preoccupied doing what he does best and overtaking the 4 in front of him to even think about whoever was behind. Everything was going to be fine, no harm done.

“Alright. Time to go” he announced to me. “Kiss for good luck?”

“Good luck. Just go and do what you do best, okay? And try to come back in one piece” I smiled through the kiss and then watched him take his helmet from the table, wink at me, and turn to walk towards his Mclaren. My chest was tight but I could only pray and hope now.

The cars were already outside the garage for some reason, so Dan was walking out when Carlos passed in front of the orange crew. He stopped to greet some of them and that would be fine, except he was not paying any attention to the people he was talking to. He was looking inside the garage like he was looking for something, or rather someone, cause when he saw me he nodded like he was greeting me and checked me out, head to toes. Dan saw it and looked back inside just in time to see me step aside, behind Michael, clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing.

“Hey... man” Carlos greeted Daniel. And his tone made me sure that it wasn’t even about me anymore. Carlos knew how much it must be bothering Daniel and was clearly using it to try and get him pissed off and unfocused. The thing is, very few things were capable of getting Daniel out of his “all good all ways” vibe, but when they did, you definitely don’t want to be on his way. I’m actually a bit worried about the other drivers now, Carlos included, because Dan just turned back to his machine, like he knew exactly what he was going to do and nothing would stop him, getting inside the car a mere formality. He didn’t even bother to take a second look at Carlos.

“Oh boy” I commented.

“Yeah, I saw it” Michael said to me. “What was that about anyway? I thought they got along fine”. I don’t say anything else, and from that moment on my eyes are glued to the screen in front of us, following any micro movement Daniel makes.

They go for the warm-up lap, which feels like it takes forever, and then, finally, Grid formation. That sign must be broken cause the lights also took hours to change.

3, 2, 1... there they go. Thank god we’re wearing masks, otherwise, my nails and fingertips would be long gone.

The first turn is a sharp one and Daniel had an opening to overtake Perez, the first driver in front of him, we could see it clearly from the drone view, but he didn’t take it. What is he doing?

“What is he doing?” Somebody in the garage voiced my thoughts.

“You had an opening Daniel” the engineer said on the radio.

“All under control. I know what I’m doing. How far are the others behind me?” Daniel answered.

I hoped he wasn’t doing what I thought he was doing but I already knew he was. Being the risk-it-all-idiot he was, Dan was waiting for Carlos to catch up to him. Knowing him, I knew he wanted to race and beat him personally, which was crazy stupid, but wouldn’t take long since Carlos had already overtaken Gasly and Alonso, and was now only a few nanoseconds behind Daniel.

“Come on Dan” I said to myself.

“Come on Daniel” Blake practically yelled at the screen.

I feel like throwing up. He’s gonna get hurt and jeopardize all the work the team put into the weekend just to... to what? I don’t even know. If he gets out of this race alive, I’ll personally kill him.

The race’s still going, no major changes after the first turn. Then suddenly Daniel seems to remember he had a gas pedal, finally getting speed in the big straight and leaving Perez behind. Carlos followed him, seeming to use the vacuum in his favor. Everybody in the garage celebrates, but I’m too focused to cheer along. He’s so close to the podium now. Just keep it up, baby. Carlos is still on his tail.

“Good job mate” the engineer says on the radio. “Watch for Sainz on your right. Bottas’ next”

“Keep me posted on Sainz’s time” it’s all Daniel says.

A couple more laps go and he’s really trying to overtake Bottas, not playing games anymore. Carlos doesn’t seem to try to overtake him even once though, he’s too far behind still.

More laps go by and I can’t standstill. When they’re in the 19th lap, with Max and Hamilton battling each other and taking turns in the lead, Daniel’s voice comes on the radio.

“Let’s be the first to box” I’m not sure what he’s playing at, as it’s still too soon to box, but the team seems to agree.

“Copy that. I’ll let you know when. Let’s get a couple more laps in. Keep this up for now” his engineer answers.

“Understood” Daniel’s voice come through the radio. “How’s Sainz time?”

“At least 1.5 seconds behind you” the engineer informs him.

“Understood” Daniel says.

He’s planning something. Not sure what, and I don’t know if I even could, not knowing much about racing strategies, but it definitely has something to do with Carlos and what happened earlier.

“Ouch!” I hear Michael say and nod towards the screen, making me focus on the race again, and not only on Daniel. Max and Hamilton had touched tires. “They're really going at it, definitely using way more tires than necessary"

"If Dan box before them..." I begin to ask.

"He needs a fast box, gaining speed later and for their box to be slower, but yeah, that's his best shot at them" Michael explains to me.

"Come on baby" I whisper to myself.

Daniel seems to finally get close enough to Bottas, but the Finnish guy won't make it easy for him. Turn 11 on sector 2 will be his best shot now and it's getting closer.

The garage and the radio go silent. Feels like the whole world is holding their breaths while Daniel smoothly overtakes Bottas from his left. And then I almost go deaf with all the cheering around me, it's a podium for Daniel, for now.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to last too long, cause once he comes to the box all the other drivers will pass him. It's just so frustrating.

"Good job mate. Spectacular time. Box now" the engineer informs on the radio.

"Box confirmed. We need to ace this, boys" Daniels says.

Not even a full minute later, I hear his car and see it on the screen. I look outside to see the orange machine with the big 3 in front of it, but I don't even have time to try and take a look at him, cause 2.3 seconds later (or at least that's what the TV tells me) there he goes again. The good news is, only Bottas passed him. The bad news is he almost crashes into Carlos when he comes out of the Pit Lane.

Some of the crew were still celebrating the fast pit stop when they realized what happened. I let out a gasp. They touched tires but Carlos seemed to have managed to get away from Daniel, quickly returning to his side a moment later but struggling to keep it up. Dan, on the other side, seems unbothered. He keeps gaining speed, even though the pit exit is right on the first turn.

"Take it easy now mate, even if Sainz passes you, his time is not enough to stay in front" the engineer informs Daniel, clearly worried that the risk doesn't justify the ends.

"Understood" Daniel responds.

We're on lap 30 now and just as the engineer said, Carlos is a full 2 seconds behind Daniel. Bottas still in front of him (which is frustrating for me because he had just overtaken him before the pit stop), then Hamilton, and finally Max.

"Daniel" the engineer calls him. "How're the tires?"

"All good"

"Good. Ready to race, mate? Hamilton's going to box now"

"Before Bottas?"

"Yes, that's confirmed"

"Understood"

I listen to the conversation between Daniel and the engineer closely, but I can't say I know exactly what the implications are.

"Bottas' going to second, Daniel to third again. Let's hope for a slow pitstop for Hamilton, so when he comes out, he comes in third and races Daniel. That's the best-case scenario, so he needs to gain speed now" Blake explains to me.

"Got it" I confirm to him. "What about Bottas? He should box on the next lap right?"

"Yeah. If Daniel overtakes him still on this lap, the difference will be too big for him to recover after his pit stop. Hopefully" He tells me.

There's a lot of 'hopefullys' and 'best-case scenarios' in this conversation, but I'll take it. I start to silently pray right away, eyes glued to the screen to see exactly what Blake predicted unfold: Hamilton pit stops, Bottas and Daniel are the firsts to go up on the positions, then Carlos, Alonso, and Gasly. The first turn comes again and Dan seises the opportunity to overtake Bottas, who, to his credit, is fighting real hard, but Dan isn't letting him take back his position.

Dan is P2 now. Max is almost 3 seconds in front of him. Hamilton comes out of the pit lane behind Gasly, it should take him long to again his positions.

"Bottas to box on this lap mate" the engineer announces.

"Not worried about Bottas. What about Max?" Daniel answers. A few moments of silence follow.

"Box confirmed for Max on this lap as well. Just get closer to him" the engineer instructs.

"Understood" Daniel answers.

"Come on, baby" I cheer silently again.

"Fuck! He's gonna make it" Michael yells. "Come on Daniel!"

Bottas is 2 seconds behind Daniel, and on the big straight Daniel manages to shorten his time difference to Max to 1.8 seconds. The next thing I know, Max is coming down the pit lane, quickly followed by Bottas. Daniel is P1. I can't believe this. Carlos is P2, but he hasn't boxed yet. Surprisingly enough, Alonso is P3 and, not so surprisingly, Hamilton is already P4 and gaining speed.

"Alonso hasn't boxed yet" Blake comments. That's bad news if we were hoping for him to defend his position against Hamilton. I take a look on the TV and they're showing the conditions of his tires, which to me doesn't mean anything.

"Will he be able to hold him?" I ask Blake.

"Not sure, he's tough though and doesn't want Hamilton to win, that's for sure" Blake answers me.

Then we hear Max passing outside, had almost forgotten about him.

"That took him longer than normal" Michael comments and we look at the screen, his pit stop was 3.6 seconds long. An eternity for the Redbull team. But awesome news for us. Bottas had already left the pit lane, his pit stop was 2.4 seconds long.

The grid is now Daniel, Carlos, Alonso, Hamilton, Bottas, and then Max. Alonso is still holding Hamilton back. Normally, I'd guess Carlos would box soon and maybe even Alonso, but since I know Carlos has some personal motivation against Daniel, I feel like he's going to hold on the longer he can and the same goes for Alonso regarding Hamilton.

We're at the final 10 laps now and nothing has changed, except Carlos is dangerously closer to Daniel now. Alonso still hasn't let Hamilton go by him, repeating the Hungaroring events. I hear the signal of the radio, indicating we're about to hear some communication between Daniel and his engineer, and my chest tightens. It's Daniel's voice that comes on then.

"Something wrong. I'm losing power" Fuck. No.

"Sainz is at your tail. Can you hold on?" the engineer asks.

"I don't know. Fuck. It's just not working. How much's the difference?"

"Less than 1 second"

"Fuck. Why hasn't he boxed yet?"

"His tires are in real bad condition. But I don't think he's going to do it now"

"I'll put some pressure on him"

"Negative. Negative. Stay away"

"Not going to touch him. Pinky promise" Bastard. I can hear the smirk in his voice, even though this is extremely dangerous and insane pressure, Daniel's still having the time of his life.

9 laps to go.

8 laps to go.

Carlos almost overtakes Daniel.

"Engine's not good. Can you do something?" Daniel asks.

"Negative. 7 laps to go mate, just hold it"

"Understood"

On the big straight of the 51st lap, Carlos overtakes Daniel, but then on the next turn, Daniel takes back his position. The sequel of turns that follows is the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever seen in my life, they're so close to each other, and at such a high speed that if they simply touch tires they would fly off the track and everything would be lost to both of them, maybe even their lives.

"Hamilton passed Alonso, mate. Watch out" the engineer informs him, and I look at the screen. Fuck.

"Fuuuuck" Daniel says on the radio.

It's the 52nd lap now, only 4 more to go and Carlos doesn't even signal a pit stop. He's going to try to make the whole race without it.

"Ferrari is not happy with him" Michael laughs a dark laugh. I knew he had a history of being stubborn but this is too much.

"His tires are at less than 10% integrity. How is he still going?" I ask.

There's the big straight again and Carlos falls a bit behind Daniel, but I've watched enough to know that that doesn't necessarily mean a good thing. Just as I predicted, he tries to use Daniel's vacuum to gain more speed and overtake him, Daniel doesn't let him through and get in front of him, making him almost go off track. That would be a "normal" movement, except Hamilton was using Carlos' vacuum in his favor and, when Carlos is forced to change directions, Hamilton hits his back left tire, which makes it blows off and it's a mess from then on.

Daniel is far from the whole ordeal by now, safe and sound, thankfully. But Carlos spins in the track, taking Hamilton with him. They both go off track and Max flies by, followed by Bottas, Charles (where did he come from?), and then Alonso.

"Are they alright?" It's the first thing that comes up to me to ask.

"Fuck! That was crazy. Is everyone ok?" Daniel asks on the radio.

"Positive. Everyone's ok. Keep going, mate. 3 more laps to go" the engineer informs him.

"Who's behind me now? Bottas?" Daniel asks.

"Max. But he's at least 2 seconds behind, we should be fine" I hear the engineer say and it's like I can almost breathe again. Daniel's going to win this thing. He's so close now.

"It wasn't Daniel's fault, was it? Can they punish him in some way for the accident?" I ask Michael.

"Don't know. He was defending his position, but he's been closing in Carlos ever since the begging of the race. Depends on how Ferrari and Mercedes spin this, they'll try anything that favors them" Michael explains to me in a worried tone.

They're in the final lap and Daniel's been clearly losing speed. Something's wrong with the engine. But it's the final lap, just a few more moments, come on baby, you can do it. Max is so close to him though, I wouldn't be surprised if the winner was declared based on the replay of the finishing line. The big straight comes up and Dan has to stay out of Max's front, so as to not give him any advantages.

I can barely see it, but at the same time, I can't take my eyes off the screen.

"Full force now mate, final sector. You can win this" the engineer says on the radio but Daniel doesn't respond. Max is right by his side, he's going to pass him.

There's smoke coming out of his car, the whole thing is going to blow off any second now. Oh my god, please just a few more seconds.

5 turns to go.

4 turns to go.

3 turns to go. Max overtakes him. Shit.

2 turns to go. Daniel wins his place on the podium back.

Final turn. Daniel's in the front, barely. They cross the finish line and the whole garage explores with cheering. There are people running outside to wave at him. I can only smile and hold my own head like it would fall off otherwise. He did it. He fucking did it.

"Woo-hoo! Yes! Yes! Fuck yes!" I can hear Daniel on the radio, screaming his lungs out.

"Good job mate. Spectacular work. First-class, really! Well done!" the engineer cheers on.

The next thing I know, Michael is hugging me and lifting me from the ground just to puck me back down and Blake lift me up again. I can only laugh at their excitement. I'm so happy for Daniel I can barely grasp it!

"Let's go!" Blake puts me down and runs outside the garage. I follow him out, to the place where Daniel is stopping the car, a bunch of smoke coming out and some people with fire extinguishers around it.

He's got his fists up, celebrating. But is still inside the car. Then he takes off the steering wheel and handles it to one of the mechanics waiting outside. He gets out of the car and stands on top of it, smokes still coming out from behind. It's a nice picture. I just hoped he got away from that thing before it explodes, but it's a nice picture, can't deny it.

Then he jumps down and run towards the crew, jumping over them, helmet still on. Everybody is celebrating and cheering, I can only laugh and clap at the scene before me. So much joy and happiness going on, the energy is amazing! Then I can see Daniel looking around, but since his helmet is still on, I have no idea what he's doing. Somebody seems to understand though and they wave at me, calling me to come closer. I approach, but I'm still unsure, don't want to get in the middle of the team's celebration. But Daniel grabs me, pulling me closer and hugging me. I just laugh, can't barely see him with the suit and helmet still on. He's saying something, but I can't understand a thing.

"What?" I laugh at his attempts to communicating with me. He opens his helmet visor and repeats.

"I fucking won baby!" He yells laughing.

"I know! I know! You won Dan! I'm so proud! You're the best baby!"

"I need to get this thing off" he says struggling to get the helmet and the balaclava off, when he finally manages to do it, he jumps over the fence that was separating us and hugs me again, lifting me in the air and kissing me deeply, making everyone around us cheer even louder and I smile against his lips. I wrap my legs around him and he keeps kissing me, only after a few seconds do I pull away to breathe and he touches our foreheads. I laugh again, just enjoying the feeling of pure happiness for him.

"I'm so proud of you. You were so good. This is crazy" I whisper to him.

"Get used to it, cause there's more where it came from" he answers kissing me again.

#daniel ricciardo #Daniel ricciardo fic #daniel ricciardo one shot #f1 fic #f1 fanfic #f1 one shot #daniel ricciardo fluff #daniel ricciardo x reader

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justapoet · 3 years

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falling for you

Three times Carlos had had his heart broken and one he could mend it.

2.5k

As a child, seeing a stray dog searching for food would be something to break Carlos' heart ― it still is, but he learned, as the years passed, that he couldn't help everyone. As a teenager, movies about dogs who died and listening to what people had to say on every single subject that didn't have to do with them would also be something to break his heart. As an adult, consequently, as a cop, humanity ― and the lack of it ― would be daily breaking the man's heart.

But, those were heartbreaks that he learned to deal with. Leaving dog food for a few stray dogs at his street, avoiding any Hollywood project that involved dogs, or pretending he was deaf when people started to mascarade cruelty with honesty. He also would repeat that "not everyone can be saved" after every shift, so he would not drive himself insane every night.

He didn't know, only, that none of those heartbreaks could've prepared him to see sadness and loneliness inside the most beautiful and shiny eyes he's ever seen.

He's been in love before, for a few times. If being honest, he could bet something around two or three, all of them being different for him to feel.

The first time was when he was thirteen, and that was this sweet boy that used to sit by his side at science classes. He never really talked about it, but he knew he could be in love with Morgan when, every time they hugged each other, a silly smile would come to his face.

But he never really tried anything. Firstly, because he was way too shy to directly talk to someone, and secondly because he would always imagine that it was nothing, and maybe it wasn't worth the risk. They were young, after all, and he was well aware that it was practically impossible for any relationship at their age not to have an end. He didn't like ends at all, so he would tell himself that it wasn't it. He never fell in love before that, so maybe he was just messing things up. It stopped hurting the next summer.

Falling in love with Morgan was easy and unnoticed. If he fell in love at all.

The second time, he was fifteen. There was this cute boy, always smiling and being kind and lovely, mainly with his girlfriend. Honestly, he would always laugh remembering how he loved to imagine what could be different in another reality, and how it lasted until he was seventeen and finished high school. It was even funnier to look back at those nights he would hold his pillow and let himself be sad for someone so out of reach.

Falling in love with Trevor was funny and lasting.

The last time still haunted the corner of his dreams. He was twenty-three, a young cop starting to get recognized by his supervisors, and he also dreamed about finding something ― someone ― as stable as his life was being.

He thought he had found that in Declan. It was sweet and soft, at the beginning. He was a kind, caring and picture-perfect man anyone could ever dream about. Until all those dreams became nightmares right in front of his eyes, and he seemed to be trapped in a severe case of dream paralysis.

He couldn't remember when the verbal aggression started, but he remembers the first time he stopped eating and worked out till exhaustion just because Declan said something about his thighs. He couldn't remember when he stopped talking, but he does remember the first few times the man said his voice was too weird and his opinions were shallow and irrelevant. He couldn't make himself remember when the first punch came, but he surely remembers the voice of the dispatcher telling him that the police were on their way.

He didn't remember when he last looked in the mirror, but he could never forget how his sergeant looked at him, that night.

That was a kind of heartbreak he never thought he would have to deal with himself. And it was so worse to think that what hurt the most weren't his broken ribs or the bruises all over his skin, but the way his heart seemed to be so small and so... Wasted. And what was even more painful was that that man didn't only leave his love aside, but made him leave himself behind in the darkness and doubt.

Falling in love with Declan was a mistake.

Carlos could still remember the pain of each one of the situations. How he would forget his feelings for Morgan by using the word "friend" again and again, or how he would just smile at Trevor and give advice about where to take Sarah on their anniversary. He could still remember the sleepless nights he spent at the hospital, the cruelly painful therapy sessions, or how ridiculous it was for a cop to flinch at anyone suddenly raising their voice or approaching him too fast or suddenly.

And yet, that none of those heartbreaks could've prepared him to see sadness and loneliness inside the most beautiful and shiny eyes he's ever seen. Nothing he'd been through could've made it hurt less to see tears streaming down his cheeks and his lips pressed so his sobs weren't too loud.

"TK?" he called as he opened the door. His eyebrows were almost pressed together, worrying at the moment he heard the knock on the door and not the keys clinging. "Babe?"

He moved so TK could walk in, and Carlos closed the door as TK sat on the couch, his knees brought up close to his chest and his elbows resting over it, his head buried in his arms. Carlos approached carefully, his steps soft against the floor. He sat beside his boyfriend, looking at him and waiting for anything; any move, word, sound, whatever. His hands were on his lap, and he didn't move at all.

"She's leaving again," TK said, still hiding his head on his arms, his voice heavy with tears and muffled by the position. "didn't even say a thing, she..." and a sob interrupted his sentence. Carlos stood still, not knowing what to say. TK was talking about Gwyn? Didn't she and Owen decide to try again? Weren't they expecting a baby together?

He had clearly missed something.

After a few minutes, TK was still crying, and he couldn't stop himself even if he felt pathetic. Carlos got closer, his knee slightly touching the side of TK's leg, and asked "Can I touch you, Ty?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he let his body slowly bend to the side, and Carlos quickly opened his arms so his boyfriend could make himself comfortable. TK put his head against Carlos' shoulder and his hand gripped tightly to the t-shirt the cop was wearing, as Carlos' arms were circling the smaller body and holding him tight. His hand drew circles on TK's back, trying to calm him down for the next few minutes until the paramedic was only sniffing quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it, babe?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. TK went silent for a while before saying anything, his tears, also silent, making Carlos' shoulder wet and his heart small.

"She's leaving," he said, his voice hoarse. Carlos couldn't be sure which were more broken; if TK's words and voice, or if his own heart. "My mom. She's leaving, going to New York again and-" he stopped, just for his next words to sound filled with anger and pain. "And she didn't even think about telling me".

Carlos kept quiet, waiting for TK to say everything he needed to.

"What was the point of all of this?" he asked, after a few amount of time.

"The point?" Carlos asked softly, considerably curious.

"Why did she come to Texas after all?" he said again. "Because I was shot? Because I can't remember a moment she sat by my side and talked to me. I can't remember of a second she asked if I was okay, or what was going on in my life" TK moved his head, looking at Carlos then. "The only time I heard her talking about me as if she was worried, was when she was blaming my father about me getting shot or about my overdose" he laughed humorless, looking at the ground. Carlos wished so bad he could take it all away. "And that's even ridiculous because they don't even remember that today's..." and he stopped himself.

Carlos frowned at his reaction to the half-said sentence.

"Today?" Carlos asked. "What is today?"

TK tried to pull away and Carlos let him, seeing how he seemed to try to hide among the furniture. He looked down, biting his lip and curling his body in a ball.

"Ty, babe" he called again, getting closer and touching his boyfriend's arm as he didn't pull away. "Amor, what is today?"

He murmured something that Carlos couldn't understand.

"Cariño..." he called again, and TK sighed.

"One year," he said. "I'm one year sober, today".

Carlos' eyes opened wide, and he let go of TK's arm for a second in his choked reaction. TK lowered his head as if he was ashamed of admitting it. Carlos couldn't help but smile, suddenly, and he made his way to be kneeling in front of his boyfriend.

"Ty!" he said. "Oh, God, Ty!" he laughed, and TK held his head up just a bit to see Carlos smiling with tears in his eyes and an oh-so-beautiful smile on his lips. "This is incredible, you're incredible! Oh, por Díos, I'm so, so proud of you, love" he said, and TK seemed to be confused, his bright green eyes still wet and vulnerable.

"You are?" he asked, his voice so low that Carlos could barely hear.

"Of course, yeah, I am," he said, holding his boyfriend's hands in his. "Eres tan fuerte, mi amor" he whispered, slowly getting up so he could press his forehead to TK's. "Tengo tanta suerte de tenerte"

"What does it mean?" he asked shyly, and Carlos laughed briefly.

"I'm so lucky to have you," he said. "You're so strong, my love".

There was a glimpse of hope before TK sighed, shrugging.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "Not even my father remembers it, and I-"

"And you've been sober for a year, after all that happened to you. After moving out of New York to a completely new town, after getting a new team, a new job. After risking yourself daily, after getting shot" Carlos listed patiently, taking TK's face between his caring hands.

"After recovering from it, and deciding to risk yourself all over again. After having so many bad days, so many reasons to give up, you've been sober. You've been through your worst days wide awake and facing everything strongly and fiercely, just because you didn't want to give up. Of course, TK, it matters. You matter, love. To your team, to your father, even if he's being an idiot. And, to me, TK, you're just everything" his eyes were deep on TK's teary ones, and he could only smile. "It might not be much at all, but just so you know that you're so much for so many people and absolutely everything for someone else."

TK couldn't stop more tears to fall silently, as he stared into those beautiful brown eyes that meant the world to him. He sighed again, a little laugh getting out of his lips as he smiled just a little bit. Carlos smiled widely, happy that he could at least get a smile from the other man.

"It's everything" TK whispered, then, making sure his nose touched Carlos' and his breath reached his mouth. "It's not "not much at all". It's everything. You're everything," he said, leaning forward to press a kiss against the cop's lips.

Despite the salty tears, the kiss was just as sweet as all of their kisses were; it tasted like comfort and caring. TK could feel the tension and heaviness of the morning leaving his body as he slowly stood up just so he could wrap his arms around Carlos' waist. Between kisses, Carlos smiled and hugged his boyfriend back, just to break another kiss and leave a few ones on his boyfriend's pretty face. The paramedic smiled, putting his forehead against Carlos once more and tightening the grip on his body.

"I love you," he said, and the slightly taller man smiled.

"Te quiero, cariño" the latino whispered back. "You can't even imagine how proud I am of you, TK Strand. The strongest man I've ever known" his hands were kind while caressing TK's body slowly. The act was sweet, and TK could easily melt. "And that's not even the best part, to get to know you".

TK chuckled a little, knowing that Carlos's next words would be just as sweet as his tone.

"Yeah?" he said, hiding his face on the crook of his boyfriend's neck. "And what would the best part be?"

"I'm lucky enough to have this strong and incredible man loving me just as much as I love him," he said, and TK could feel his heart racing. He doubted he could ever react differently to Carlos Reyes. "Did I mention he's the love of my life?"

TK could feel tears in his eyes again.

"Yeah?"

Carlos nodded.

"Yeah" he agreed. "He's the strongest man I've ever known, he loves me and, one day, I'll marry him" his voice was barely above a whisper as he felt TK's grip tighten, and he smiles softly and put his lips against his ear. "Can you believe it?"

TK laughed against Carlos' warm skin, nodding happily.

"I can" he answered, moving again so he could face Carlos once more. "Thank you".

Carlos smiles.

"Always. And forever" was his reply. "And, although you're unfairly gorgeous even crying, I'd love to make you forget the reasons you had to cry for, especially today".

TK smiled.

"What do you suggest?"

"First? A nap" he said. "Then? I'll call Paul, Marjan, Mateo, Judd, Grace, and Nancy to come over so we can celebrate the strongest person we all know" his voice was soft and full of love. "while eating tacos and seeing Marjan destroy everyone on every videogame we can find. What do you think?"

"Only if you promise me cuddles too," he said, smiling just as much as Carlos.

"Anything else?"

"Nah," TK said, pressing a quick kiss to Carlos' mouth. "I don't need anything more than you".

While TK snored softly beside him, a few minutes later, Carlos could only think about how the sight of TK crying could break his heart more than anything else, and how the simple knowledge he was okay and even a little bit happy was enough to mend every crack in his soul.

Falling for Morgan had been easy and unnoticed. Falling for Trevor had been funny and lasting. Falling for Declan had been a mistake.

Falling for TK was just right.

#tarlos fic #tarlos #tk x carlos #carlos x tk #carlos reyes #tk strand #911 lone star fic #carlos reyes x tk strand #my fic #911 lone star #paramedic tk

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cinlat · 3 years

Text

Blood in the Breeze: Ch 11 (Return)

Parts one and two of this series linked.

Read every chapter on FFN or Ao3.

Summary: Cranky teenagers, returning companions, the trials of fatherhood, and why the fuck can't Fynta catch a break?

Chapter Word Count: 5,079 Chapter Rating: T Characters in Chapter: Zolah Holran, Vector Hyllus, Malavai Quinn, Fynta Wolfe, Aric Jorgan, Shillet Jorgan, Verin Ejnar, Tranx Vaak, Zula Dun, Keshal Vaak, Lana Beniko, Darth Kozen, Pierce, Notiac Carlo, Kaeto Vaa, Felix Iresso, Torian Cadera, & Vette

Odessen Official Quarters 0200 Hours

Zolah found a kindred spirit in Malavai Quinn. He worked tirelessly, often joining her in the sitting room after hours to complete some report or another. Though the man never complained, and his intellect was astounding, Zolah got the impression that few tolerated his company as well as she and Vector. Quinn had become one of the few people allowed into Zolah’s inner sanctum, and Vector kept them supplied with fresh tea and snacks while they worked.

The flirting surprised Zolah. Quinn didn’t aim his affections, stilted though they were, towards her, but at Vector. Even now, while Zolah pretended to be engrossed in her task, Vector leaned over the chair that Quinn occupied and pointed out something in the man’s report. Quiet words exchanged, and Quinn corrected the error. It was like watching the graceful dance of two birds, each displaying colorful plumage while being wary of a reproachful peck.

Zolah bit back a smile and tucked her knees closer to her chest so that she could hide behind her datapad. She vowed to stay out of their courtship and let whatever happened do so naturally. Zolah enjoyed having the Imperial around. He was a breath of fresh air in the anarchy that had overtaken the Alliance. Republic chaos infected most of the soldiers who’d joined from the Empire, leaving Zolah with few options for intelligent conversation.

In days, Malavai had streamlined the usage of certain, innocuous materials and increased overall productivity by more than fifteen percent. Not a large number in the grand scheme of the Alliance, but the engineers in waste management were overjoyed with the decrease in their workload. Zolah made a note on the side window of her datapad to thank Empress Acina for her excellent choice in aid.

Vector’s comm buzzed, halting the low murmur of conversation. Zolah sat forward while he fished it out, then her heart skipped several beats when Theron’s profile appeared above the viewing platform. Scrambling from her chair, Zolah hurried to Vector’s side so that she could see their lover for herself. “Where the hell have you been?”

Read the rest at Ao3

#blood in the breeze #series: meet me on the battlefield #fynta wolfe #aric jorgan #Shillet Jorgan #agent: zolah holran #vector hyllus #malavai quinn #plot is happening #things are in motion #vette #darth kozen #kaeto vaa #notiac carlo #lana beniko #felix iresso #torian cadera #koth vortena #koth screams like a girl

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everyonesannoyedwithme · 3 years

Text

play the role of anyone but me, i

ok so i caved and im finally writing a series on this cursed website. consider it my bday gift for yall. chapters will probably be kinda short and spread out bc motivation is a bitch. also this chapter is kinda just set up of the characters and their relationships.

idea from a post by @lydias--stiles

summary: when julie and luke are partnered together for a songwriting contest in their music class, they are determined to win. only one problem; they hate each other. julie is convinced luke is just an ambitious bastard who only cares about his career and fame, and luke is convinced julie is just a spoiled goody two shoes who gets everything handed to her. yes i am aware this is cheesy, it is meant to be.

warnings: cursing

word count: 1,083

chapter i - a force to be reckoned with

It was the first day back at school for Julie Molina, and unfortunately, the rest of the school as well. Her father’s driver dropped her off at school less than five minutes ago and Julie was already considering calling him to pick her up. It’s not that she thought herself above all the kids in her school, she just thought most of them were below her. Especially the four boys currently blocking her locker.

“Ugh - move, you’re in my way.” Julie groaned, rolling her eyes at the boys.

“Oh, damn! The princess speaks to us, guys.” Luke Patterson. The single most obnoxious boy Julie had ever met in her life. He was loud and annoying and practically married to his dumb guitar. Julie hated his stupid face.

“Just move. You’re in front of my locker.” She groaned, putting one manicured hand on her hip and leaning her weight against it. Julie eyed the other three. Two of them were talking to each other, Peters and Wilson. Those two could be decent, sometimes, but Julie hated Wilson for publicly dumping his ex the year before. She hadn't been close with the poor girl, but you didn't just do that to someone. The third boy, Mercer, was smiling at his phone. He was the most tolerable of the group. They had biology together last year and he was good at it.

“What’re you gonna do about it? Call your daddy?” Patterson asked, mocking her fathers status. It's not like it was her fault her dad just happened to be a famous photographer who insisted on only the best for his oldest child. Julie just scoffed at the boy standing in front of her.

“I can smash that pretty guitar of yours.” She said with a sweet smile, tossing her dark curls over her shoulder.

“Pshh. You wouldn’t. Don’t wanna get those hands dirty, hm?” Patterson's eyes flickered to her hand, obviously referring to her fresh French manicure. Julie just rolled her eyes a second time and shifted her weight to the other side.

“Fucking move, Patterson!” She said, finally losing any patience she previously had with the boy. The other boys looked up from what they were doing at the rising tension between the two. Peters and Wilson didn't seem too concerned. Mercer did.

“Make me.” Patterson growled, leaning in towards Julie’s shorter frame.

“Bite me!” Julie spat at him.

Patterson reeled back at that, barking out a laugh. “So the princess has some fire after all. I guess you aren't an unfeeling robot.”

“And I guess you aren't a total idiot,” Julie said, glaring at the obnoxious child of a teenager. “oh wait. Never mind!” She finished with a sweet smile.

Mercer reached out and quickly grabbed Patterson’s shoulder before the teenager could move towards Julie at the insult. To her luck, a familiar blonde came up to the group at just the perfect moment.

“Ugh, why does it smell like testosterone and axe over here? Did you try out a new perfume, Jules?” Carrie asked, approaching the hostile girl.

Julie's entire demeanor changed, her scowl turning into a bright smile that lit up her whole face.

“No, but maybe these dumbasses did. What's the new scent called, boys? Disappointing your mother?” Julie quipped, reaching out to link arms with the taller blonde.

“Nah, it's actually railing your mother.” Wilson said, looking Julie up and down with a slight smirk. “Because that's what I spent all last night doing.”

“Ew, what's my idiot brother doing here? Doesn't he know this hallway is for juniors?” Carrie asked, pretending to whisper.

“I don't know, but he and his sophomore ass need to leave.” Julie stage whispered back.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Wilson said to the two girls. He turned to his friends. “See y'all later?”

“Yeah, see you at lunch. Alex’s boyfriend is saving us a seat, so find him. We have music before lunch so we’ll probably be late.” Peters said.

They all did some sort of elaborate handshake before Wilson left and Julie and Carrie exchanged a look. Julie sighed loudly.

“Just move, assholes.” She said, already exhausted by the conversation. Julie could see Carrie raise an eyebrow at the boys in her peripheral vision.

Patterson raised his hands in surrender, a grin finally taking over his face in place of the scowl he usually aimed at Julie.

“Alright, alright, but don't say I never did anything for you, Molina. See you in music class, ladies!” He called as he finally dragged Peters and Mercer away from Julie’s locker.

“God, I hate my brother’s dumbass friends.” Carrie grumbled, moving to lean against the locker next to Julie’s.

“They always look like they just crawled out of a bar. It's gross.” Julie shuddered slightly as she opened her locker to get her books.

“I know right! But whatever, enough about them. How have you been? I haven't seen you in, like, a week. How's Carlos? He’s so much more interesting than Bobby.” Carrie asked, a much more pleasant look settling over her features.

“I’m good and so is Carlos. He was excited to get back to school. I think he has a lot of friends in his class this year, and dad agreed to let him go to a public school instead of that awful private school he was in.” Julie said.

“Oh that's great! He's been dying to go to a public school for, like, ever.”

“Yeah. I don't see the big deal though. It's not that great here.”

“That's for sure.” Carrie’s phone buzzed, and she opened it at lightning speed to see who texted her. She chuckled.

“Flynn's late. She said to meet her in class and that she's bringing you your coffee and me my tea.”

“Of course she is. Make sure mine has a-”

“A shot of hazelnut, I know. I already asked.”

“You, Carrie Wilson, are an angel.”

“I know. Now c’mon, we have to get going or we’ll be late too. And you know Levy has a reputation for dealing with late students.”

“Oh yeah, Flynn's dead when she gets here.”

“For sure.”

As Carrie walked away and Julie finished locking up her stuff again, Patterson’s smile lingered in her mind. It was so rarely aimed at her, and infuriating as it was, she did like seeing it. Julie closed her eyes momentarily and huffed out a breath, clearing any image of Patterson from her mind. She wasn't about to think about that boy any longer than necessary.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms fic #jatp fic #juke #willex #flarrie #juke fic

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ao3theskyisblue · 3 years

Text

(Seeing You) For All That You Are

Summary:

"How is it that whenever we meet, it's when at least one article of clothing is missing?"

"Disappointed?"

"Of course not."

*An alternate first meeting (and meetings after that) where TK and Carlos can't seem to meet up without being at least partially naked beforehand.*

Read on ao3

Wow, it’s been a while. Gotta love online school and the faulty concept of time right now 🙃

I may or may not have gotten this idea over the exam season, and literally right after I sat my ass down to work through this fic.

I hope you enjoy! 😊

~~~~~~~~~~

TK wasn’t quite sure how he found himself in his current predicament.

It might have been his rebellious side resurfacing from his teenage years, because when he saw that the hotel pool was open 24/7, safety at your own discretion, he thought it would be a brilliant idea to go at 3:07am, thinking he’d have the pool all to himself. It was an awkward time of the year to take a vacation after all, most office workers would be working in the middle of September, and school had just started.

He had coincidently just graduated from his undergrad at NYU, deciding to apply to become a firefighter at the last second. Since he was a little late in his application, he had a bit of free time before getting serious about his future career. His father had suggested they take a small vacation away from the hustle and bustle of the city to explore the wild – namely, hiking near the Five Finger Lakes.

He had overheard the receptionists mentioning how it had been a slow week, with tourists generally dissipating after the end of August to go back to their busy lives. So, what better time than to experience an empty pool in the early hours of the morning to wind down?

After hiking for the entire day to enjoy what nature had to offer, Owen had collapsed on one of the beds and slipped right into a deep slumber, leaving TK still high from the adrenaline rush of the hike. It was then that he remembered the pool the receptionist had kindly mentioned when they first checked in, and plus, showering in the communal showers there will prevent him from accidentally waking up his dad, who clearly needed the rest.

And lo and behold, he was correct. Other than his own quiet footsteps and the low buzzing of the diminished ceiling lights, the pool was completely empty.

Doing a few laps at his own pace, he ignored how his mind persistently nudged at him to go over every single detail of his firefighter application he had handed in earlier that day, hoping to find some flaw in the stack of documents he couldn’t fix for the 20th time anymore.

Maybe music will help.

It was easy to let his guard down when he knew he was alone – no one to judge him on his music genre, or his singing abilities. Which is how he found himself singing at the top of his lungs to Cody Simpson’s Pretty Brown Eyes, rocking his hips to the beat in what he knew was a very exaggerated manner.

The hotel lobby had been playing the song on loop for some odd reason, and the nostalgic throwback had the song quickly stuck in his head as he hummed along to the lyrics.

What was that saying, dance like no one is watching?

And that was how he found himself slamming his back against the wall of the shower stall, gesturing wildly as he half-laughed, half-sang the lines ‘hey there pretty brown eyes, whatcha’ doing later tonight?”

Everything was going splendidly. He was about to sing the next line, leaning down to pick up his bottle of body wash when it happened.

They say fate greets you in mysterious ways. It either sledgehammers you to the brutal truths of reality, or-

“Would you mind if I spent a minute with you?”

Or it greets you with a voice singing the next part of the song that wasn’t his own.

An ice-cold sensation of wakefulness hit him all at once, when he realized that that wasn’t his voice. TK froze, the next lyrics falling short as he stopped mid-dance move to look around wildly. And he made two observations.

There was someone in the shower.

He was going to fall.

He barely had time to be embarrassed by the sound of surprise he made at both realizations as he frantically moved to grab something – anything, to help with the very unfriendly meeting he was going to have with the concrete soon. Unfortunately, the only thing within his reach was the shower curtain, which did nothing to break his inevitable plummet to the very hard floor.

Dammit-

“Are you alright?”

TK groaned as he pressed the heel of his hands to his forehead, mentally assessing if there were unusual onsets of pain anywhere before deciding he was fine. Looking up, his eyes widened at the ethereal sight that greeted him.

There was a very noticeable part.

But apart from…that, standing in front of him, all towering and absolutely gorgeous, was a man. At least, TK thinks it was a man and not some god the universe decided to send down to torment his existence.

‘All animals were created equal’ his ass. Orwell was right, some were definitely more equal than others.

The man was sporting abs that would make even the best washboards jealous, water droplets dripping down the column of his neck and reaching his chest, seeming to be in a race to see which one would reach his –

TK quickly averted his gaze, his mind screaming at him to do the exact opposite, but he had manners he liked to uphold. And the residual level of self-control.

The mysterious man made a sound of realization before there was a quick shuffling, and a quiet “you can look now” in a very amused tone, and TK slowly turned to look at the man again, who was now extending a hand to him. The water droplets had now successfully made it well past the half-way point, and TK was definitely not silently cheering for the left one as the race continued towards the low-strung towel the man had haphazardly wrapped around his waist.

“Hi.” He blurted out, unconsciously letting the beautifully crafted hand pull him upright.

“Hi.” The man mused, their hands slowly releasing from each other’s grip. TK noticed the man’s eyes drifting down quickly and was that appreciation in his gaze? He couldn’t tell and decided not to dwell on it as he quickly grabbed his towel to wrap around his own lower half, cheeks now a brilliant colour of all the shades of red.

“It’s nice to…be acquainted. With all of you. Not that I was looking.” Foot insert into mouth, now.

“Mmh, right.” Or better yet, maybe praying for the ground to swallow him whole would be better.

“This is turning into one of the most awkward first meetings I’ve ever had.” TK cleared his throat in what he hoped was a casual manner, but that was definitely pushing it as this was anything but casual. “And I’ve met some people running on two hours of sleep and six cups of coffee.”

The man laughed, the deep undertone resonating within the walls of the shower room, and TK felt his own lips tipping up into a large grin at succeeding in making light of the situation.

“If it’s any solace, this is one of the best first meetings I’ve had.” The man chuckled, moving to cross his arms over his chest, sadly obscuring TK’s view of the water droplets and the resulting winner of the race.

Shame.

Though, he couldn’t really complain as the movement further accentuated the man’s biceps, and wow, how does he even fit into his clothes?

Shaking his head, TK’s grin turned into a smirk when he remembered how he had found himself in this position in the first place.

“So, I see you’re a man of culture as well.” TK raised an eyebrow, opting to shift his weight to the side in a flirty stance, further showcasing the curves of his body. The man furrowed his eyebrows slightly in confusion. “Cody Simpson fan?”

TK watched as the man snorted, shaking his head. He tried very hard to pretend that he was not very obviously staring at the wet curls coming loose at the movement.

“Not really. I’ve just heard that song in particular more times than I can keep count. Especially from my siblings.” The man rolled his eyes in exasperation, and TK grinned.

“They all have good taste then. The song suits you very well.” TK wanted very badly to wink at the end, but decided to hold himself back. This was only their first meeting after all, he didn’t want to scare him off that quickly.

“You too. The first word of the song at least.” TK blinked, bewildered, because he didn’t have brown eyes –

Oh.

He distantly wondered if his cheeks could successfully cook a rotisserie chicken at the temperature they were currently at right now.

“Did you need to finish your shower? I’m sorry for interrupting.” TK quickly changed the subject, opting to ignore how the man’s eyes glinted knowingly.

“I was about to get dressed, actually. But now I’m kind of glad I didn’t.” The man smirked. TK rolled his eyes good-naturedly, reaching out to swat at the bulky shoulder. He was about to retort something smart back when they were interrupted by the loud ringing of a phone, and TK smiled in understanding when the man shot him an apologetic look.

“That would be my sister wondering where the hell I am. I’m – I’m sorry to cut this short.” The man gestured toward the general locker area, and TK waved his hand reassuringly.

“No worries. Go ahead.” TK tilted his head towards the locker rooms and took a moment to appreciate the retreating back of the man before heading into the shower stall to finish off what he had barely started.

He hadn’t expected the man to wait for him, but TK couldn’t help but feel a small sliver of disappointment when it was completely quiet when he made his way to the lockers.

He hadn’t even asked the man for his name.

The disappointment quickly dissipated when he saw a small sliver of – was that a paper towel? stuck between the crevices of his locker with messy writing on one side that looked like someone had been in a rush while writing it.

Hey! I’m so sorry but something came up and I have to go, but it was nice meeting you! Let’s do this again someday!

TK didn’t need a mirror to know he was sporting a silly grin, eyes immediately drifting down to the number written hastily on the bottom, wasting no time in taking out his phone to input his new contact.

Looks like he had a chance to ask the man for a name after all.

-------------------------

He did not, in fact, ask the man for his name.

It’s been nearly four months, and the nameless man was still saved in his phone as ‘Left Droplet’ because for one, the left droplet would have definitely won, and two, because he didn’t want his dad to accidentally see him receiving text messages from a ‘hot shower man.’ He debated over that or ‘pretty brown eyes,’ and, embarrassingly, he had spent the first couple of days switching between the two.

They had texted non-stop since then, and as they moved from one random topic to the next, names were the absolute last things on their minds. Left Droplet was slowly but surely becoming one of TK’s best friends, and they didn’t need to be on a ‘know your name’ basis for him to know that they shared something special.

What he’s learned so far in their texting spree was that the man was from Austin, Texas (1743 miles, 6 states, not that he was counting), an aspiring police officer who had just started in the police academy, the youngest of five, and too good to be true.

TK was still in honest disbelief sometimes that a man in his caliber could even exist, and to top it all off, he even chose to work in a similar field.

Currently, he was standing on the sidelines at the annual fire academy retreat for lessons on team bonding, occasionally glancing up from his phone at the uninteresting beach volleyball game going on between four of the more enthusiastic students.

Left Droplet: The person who came up with a beach retreat of all things to relax should be arrested

TK snickered at the most recent message, thumbs moving quickly to type out his own response.

TK: I thought you would enjoy activities that involved fewer articles of clothing

Left Droplet: Depends on the person I’m with

He really should have realized the uncanny coincidence before he spotted a familiar figure off in the distance. He thought he recognized the way the muscles rippled across the man’s back when he moved, the familiar strands of curls shifting slightly when he moved.

Wearing nothing but swim shorts.

When he managed to convince himself that no, his eyes were definitely not playing games with him, that it wasn’t a mirage, that the man standing a little further away was indeed the man he had been furiously texting with, TK finally made his move.

Carefully closing the distance between them, making sure not to make any sudden movements to deter from his surprise attack, TK grinned as he covered his target’s eyes with the palms of his hands. He could feel him tensing slightly, probably thinking that it was some random stranger.

Ironic, considering.

“We have got to stop meeting up like this.” TK murmured close to the man’s ear, and they grinned in tune with each other. They both laughed and TK’s grin widened when warm hands lifted to cover his own, thumbs gently caressing the inside of his wrists.

“You’ve got to admit there is a certain charm to it.” The man chuckled, and TK slowly released his hold, green eyes meeting warm brown ones once again. He briefly noted that those eyes drifted down quickly at his own lack of clothes save his summer shorts.

“What is the future Austin PD doing all the way out here?” TK asked, intrigued, as there had to be plenty of beaches in Austin, and while this beach was a good five-hour drive from New York City, it had to be a nearly two-day road trip from Austin. He was given an exasperated sigh as an answer.

“Apparently team bonding for us meant extended road trip, and this was just one of the stops.” TK took a chance to look behind the aspiring police officer to the others also a part of the trip, and interestingly enough, they were all caught up in their own game of frisbee. Or, what looked like a frisbee.

“You know what amazes me?”

TK turned back to the person standing in front of him, an unconscious smile tugging up the corners of his lips.

“What’s that?”

He watched, fascinated, as the man extended his hand once again, his eyes shining with laughter.

“I’m Carlos, it’s nice to see you again.” The man, Carlos, says, and TK has to bite his bottom lip to hold back a laugh. “I was hoping to finally have a name to go with your number when we met again, and not just ‘pretty boy I met in the shower.’”

“TK.” Accepting the extended hand, he couldn’t help but notice how their hands lingered in each other’s hold before finally separating. “It’s nice to see you again too. And to have a name to put with the face.”

“So, I’m guessing you’re also here for ‘team bonding?’” Carlos rolled his eyes at the last part, and TK nodded, tipping his head back towards where the other members of the fire academy graduating in a few weeks were.

“Yeah. Which mostly just consists of the more enthusiastic extroverts making merry while the rest of us stare at our phones.” TK deadpanned, a warmth spreading through his chest at Carlos’ responding grin. In a leap of confidence, he reached out to take Carlos’ hand in his, making sure to put on his most charming smile.

“Since you seem to be also standing on the sidelines, want to accompany me to some ice cream?” TK made sure to widen his eyes a little, dipping his head down and looking up in a way he’s practiced since he was ten when he wanted ice cream cake for dinner. Even his father, who tried his hardest not to dote too much could never resist.

He hid a smirk when he saw Carlos visibly startle, before shaking his head and smiling brightly.

“Lead the way.”

Works like a charm every time.

---------------------------

They weren’t dating.

Not really, anyway.

There was the constant texting, the occasional facetime, and the fact that TK probably knew more about Carlos than the man himself.

There was the one memorable moment when Carlos had texted him, absolutely frantic, about what the hell he was supposed to wear to a wedding when he forgot all about it in the whirlwind of other life events and found the invite underneath some papers on his desk. They had facetimed then, and TK had to hold back his laughter at the sight of Carlos’ closet almost completely empty, piles of potential outfit options messily strewn all over his bed.

“You know, there’s always the option to just not wear anything.” TK snickered, and couldn’t hold back his laugh at Carlos’ deadpan stare into the camera like he was in The Office.

“Not sure the bride and groom are going to appreciate a police officer showing up naked to a wedding reception.” Carlos drawled, narrowing his eyes as TK snorted.

“They obviously have poor taste then.” TK grinned, eyes scanning lazily over the outfits on Carlos’ bed, trying not to linger on the latter and instead focus on the clothes. “The navy one. The second one on the left? Go with that one.”

TK found himself tilting his phone to try and peek at the skin that Carlos wasn’t showing, before mentally groaning when he remembered the view was given from Carlos’ end, and he couldn’t exactly reach through his own phone to shift Carlos’ a little lower.

A true shame, really.

“I have to get going in…5 minutes. Wow am I glad I’m not a girl at times like this.” Carlos muttered, and TK could hear rustling in the background as Carlos practically snatched the outfit and was most likely putting it on.

“If you were a girl, maybe you would have actually remembered days before instead of hours.” TK smirked, watching in amusement as Carlos tapped the speakers on his phone in an attempt to showcase his annoyance.

It was rather counterproductive judging by the unabashed grin on his lips every time TK could catch a glimpse of it through the hurried movement.

“Remember to send pics!” TK practically sing-songed, before bidding a quick ‘good-bye,’ leaving himself staring at the facetime screen of his phone for a while, a giddy smile on his lips.

Even with facetime, he hadn’t quite seen the entire picture Carlos painted, and appreciating him through a screen was never enough. He wanted to see for himself how the material folded around his body, feel the warmth through the soft fabric, smell the –

And that’s enough of a digress.

TK was also pretty sure Owen knew about the mysterious texts even though he never asked him outright. He knew his father was waiting for him to say it himself, but it was all so new (on a technicality basis), and TK didn’t want to accidentally break the glass before even lifting it off the shelf first.

Okay, so the ice cream date-not-date was fun, and the late afternoon shoreline walk after that was honestly very romantic. TK had boldly kissed Carlos on the cheek in parting before the two left in their own separate directions as they headed back to their homes.

They lived in two different worlds, and practically on opposite sides of the country (that may be an exaggeration, but still). The only way they met was by coincidence, both of them very obviously avoiding the subject of planned meetups.

It had been another two months before it happened again.

“How is it that whenever we meet, it’s when at least one article of clothing is missing?”

TK should honestly be surprised at hearing the voice from the person he yearned for every time over the phone so close in his vicinity, but didn’t even turn around before quipping back, “disappointed?” Smiling when he felt a hand slip around his waist, he willingly let himself be pulled in for a side hug.

It was only their third time meeting like this, in a gym shower of all places, but Carlos’ voice has since been ingrained in his memory. He leaned into the hold naturally, putting down the shirt he was seconds away from pulling over his head to wrap his arms around Carlos instead.

“Of course not.” Carlos murmured, and TK reveled in the feeling of warmth that wasn’t just from the skin-to-skin contact, looking up to see Carlos already looking down at him, eyes crinkling fondly.

“Are you going to tell me we’re sharing the same gym now?” TK mused, squirming slightly when Carlos pinched the skin above his hip in admonishment.

“The officer I’m shadowing got called out here to help with a case. This gym happened to be close to where I’m staying, so I thought I would try it out.” Carlos tilted his head, and TK immediately knew what he was going to ask.

“There was a little accident at the station and the equipment room is out of order for the meantime, and coincidentally, this gym is also close to where I live.” TK explained, groaning when Carlos’ eyes glinted knowingly.

“You mean, when you thought it would be a great idea to microwave the eggs that you forgot to cook thinking it would be faster, only to cause an explosion?” Carlos asked innocently, and TK huffed, stepping out of Carlos’ embrace to glare at the audacity.

“I did not tell you that so you could make fun of me.” TK knew he was pouting slightly, but was a little too peeved to care. It didn’t seem like Carlos got the memo, because the smile on his face only grew wider, morphing into an unabashed grin.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Just like when you told me how you thought microwaving frozen meat will make it defrost faster. What did the microwave ever do to you? The poor thing.” Carlos teased, laughing as TK didn’t even hesitate to shove his shoulder in reprimand, his own lips twitching upwards.

“You know, I’m only taking you for your word when you say you’re actually a good cook. I have yet to see for myself.” TK scowled, crossing his arms over his chest and definitely did not feel gleefully accomplished at how Carlos’ eyes seemed to linger on his arms.

“Let me show you.”

TK paused, looking up to see Carlos watching him with an unreadable look in his eyes, though he sounded determined. “I’m off until tomorrow morning, so if you’re free, would you like to have dinner with me?” Carlos continued, and TK noticed how he seemed to shift his weight slightly, fingers twitching at his sides as if – as if he was nervous.

And there it was.

The dancing around each other, the avoidance of the elephant in the room. Carlos had just offered him a steppingstone to cross the distance between their chasm of a raging river, and TK –

TK had a shift.

He didn’t, but he couldn’t – not like this.

They were simply two halves who happened to meet at the wrong time, placed into each other’s lives at the wrong moment, and…they needed time. Time to nurture whatever it was between them, time to just…be with each other.

TK wanted so badly to take Carlos’ offer, but after tonight…what then? They would still be 1743 miles apart, in two different worlds, living completely different lives.

A long-distance relationship between two first responders in two different states was bound for disaster, and TK would rather drown in his sea of emotions than mess up what he had with Carlos right now.

Swallowing back the overwhelming onslaught of emotions, TK looked down at his bare feet against the cold rubber floor sheets. He didn’t know they could actually feel cold, but right now, in this moment, it was like walking on ice.

“Carlos, I– I’m sorry. I can’t.” TK wasn’t sure if the other people in the room felt the temperature drop a couple of degrees. “I have a shift.” He winced at the blatant lie at the end, and if he could hear the lie plain as day, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what Carlos had heard considering he was a police officer in training now.

The silence after that was deafening.

They’ve had their share of silence, but those were usually filled with warmth and comfort as they simply let themselves enjoy being in each other’s presence. Like that time when they sat next to each other, sharing bites of the other’s ice cream. Or that time when their hands grazed lightly against each other as they walked along the beach in the golden light of early sunset.

This kind of silence shattered the glass TK had sworn not to break.

“Okay.”

TK knew he shouldn’t have looked up.

Carlos had one hell of a poker face, but his eyes…

His eyes told him everything that was left unsaid.

The hurt. The reluctant acceptance. The frustrating trace of understanding.

TK hated the last one the most.

TK knew Carlos somewhat understood their predicament, but he had chosen to take the leap anyway- and TK had taken that bout of confidence away from him.

Sometimes life just outright sucks.

He wanted, so much, to explore whatever it was that was between them. He wanted to experience what it was like to see Carlos’ bed hair in the morning, witness his morning routine, know his quirks and find out his pet peeves. Most importantly, he wanted to get to know Carlos, heart and soul, through real-life conversation rather than some electronic device that could only do so much.

He wanted so many things, and yet, all that he could get out was,

“I need to go.”

And that was the last thing he said before they entered an entire month of silence.

The first time TK heard Taylor Swift’s song The Story of Us, he hadn’t quite understood the line ‘I never heard silence quite this loud.’

He hadn’t even noticed his phone being awfully quiet since Carlos had come into his life until the texts stopped.

One month.

One month of their not-relationship-but-also-kind-of-relationship hit a pause button.

An entire month of TK drafting out messages, checking the punctuation, saying them out loud to test the authenticity, before deleting the entire thing only to start again moments later.

He wasn’t even sure Carlos wanted to hear from him again, so his thumb always hovered over the ‘send’ button, overwhelming doubt surfacing at the last second to have him tossing his phone aside and giving up altogether.

Rinse and repeat.

So, when Carlos’ signature text tone finally sounded 32 days, 8 hours, 4 minutes, and 21 seconds after that fiasco of a conversation, he had practically leaped over the entire dining room table to get to his phone on the kitchen counter.

Carlos: Do you think fate could ever be kind to us?

TK felt the wetness slipping down his cheeks before realizing he was even crying at the simple question that had broken their wall of silence. Alone, he was free to laugh wetly as he pressed the heel of his hands to his eyes, wiping away the residual tears hastily. The hand that held his phone clenched it tighter, as if afraid the message would suddenly disappear, and he shakily tapped on the screen to open his keyboard.

TK: I don’t know about fate,

TK hesitated in typing out the next part, wanting to make sure that Carlos would understand, beyond all doubt, that he truly did believe in a someday.

They would have their time.

TK: but I think we make a pretty great team.

The next message that greeted TK through the screen had his lips stretch in a watery smile.

I believe in us.

--------------------

It was a Wednesday.

A hot, humid, and sweat-inducing Wednesday.

TK didn’t know why he was at a waterpark of all places, but his father had decided it was about time to have some ‘father and son bonding time’ and since it was one of the hottest months of the year, a waterpark it was.

He hadn’t even bothered to check where the waterpark was even located, instead trusting Owen to get them there and back.

He probably should have checked the brochure.

“You know, I’m starting to think the universe just doesn’t want me to get to know you with clothes on.”

TK startled at the voice that has seamlessly established a home within his heart so close to him, and felt the familiar flutter in his chest when he was greeted with the face of the man he was irrevocably in love with.

The revelation should have honestly been staggering; the seemingly simple four-letter word always guarded close in lock and key. But it was Carlos, and TK wasn’t sure he knew how not to love him.

Was that even a possibility?

“Must be absolute torture.” TK tried for a teasing tone, but the amount of emotion that those words held weren’t missed by Carlos’ astute nature, and he graciously sank into the offered hug. This was their first meeting after their sort-of-fight, and no amount of HD phone screens could beat the 3-D figure of the police officer in his arms.

“On the contrary,” TK rolled his eyes, laughing all the same as Carlos’ eyebrows wiggled playfully. “I’m quite enjoying it.” Carlos reached up to gently grasp one of TK’s hands that had been wrapped around his shoulders, bringing it up to his lips to delicately kiss the back of it.

“Okay, you need to stop trying to make me swoon.” TK groaned, though the bright grin on his lips told the exact opposite, and Carlos knew it.

“It’s been sixty-seven days since our last meet. Leave me alone.” TK couldn’t help an endeared tilt of his head at the low whine in Carlos’ voice, leaning forward to press a quick but meaningful kiss to the corner of Carlos’ lips. He hid his smile at the slightly stunned look, squeezing the hand that was tightly held in his.

“If you’re going to be this sappy after not even a month of us being apart, maybe we should meet in a year and see how things go.” TK teased. He watched, pleased, as Carlos immediately looked like he had bitten into something sour.

“I don’t think I can handle that.” Carlos said seriously, and once again, TK was taken aback at the raw sincerity in the man standing with barely any breathing distance before him.

“I feel the same.” TK murmured, knowing that Carlos had heard the other meaning behind his words by the way he brushed his thumb over his hip slowly.

“So, what on earth are you doing at a water park a million miles away from New York?” Carlos asked, a welcome subject change, and TK snorted.

“One, we really need to work on your geography because I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing. Two, would you like the sappy answer, the creepy answer, or the complete boring truth?” TK stepped out of their hold slowly, though still keeping their hands intertwined. Carlos chuckled, gesturing for him to continue as he knew TK was going to tell him both anyway.

This man knew him too well, and it was a wonderous feeling.

“My heart felt yours beat in the rhythm of Venture River Water Park and knew our bond couldn’t survive if I didn’t answer in tune.” TK scrunched up his nose at how cheesy that sounded, but continued anyway. “My dad wanted some family bonding time and decided to drive to the furthest waterpark he could get away with without pissing me off. I minored in Hacking 101 and tried to find your Myspace from 2003 for your darkest secrets but instead found your Instagram through your LinkedIn and saw your story so I came here so I could see you.” Carlos’ eyebrows seemed to climb higher and higher at each answer, eyes widening comically at the last part.

“Do I even want to know which one is which?” Carlos asked slowly, expression switching rapidly from terrified to bewildered.

“They’re in no particular order. Nor are they discordant.” TK grinned, this time not even holding back his laugh at Carlos’ unimpressed stare.

“You know, you do have my number. You could have just asked me for my Instagram instead of going through that loophole.” TK rolled his eyes in exasperation.

“What fun would that be?”

“Are you deliberately seeing how many rules you can break in front of a cop? As a flirting tactic?” Carlos asked incredulously, and TK could see him looking just a touch impressed, if not a little disgruntled.

“I don’t know, is it working?” TK grinned, eyes shifting slightly to see his dad still surrounded by the same women five minutes ago, looking a little out of place but still smiling politely into whatever conversation they were having.

“Always.” His eyes drifted back to Carlos, feeling his heart thudding pleasantly in his chest at the fond look that hadn’t left his gaze. He was sure his own eyes were betraying every single emotion he was feeling but couldn’t say, so he opted to lean in closer to touch their foreheads together gently.

“I really am happy to see you again.” TK said quietly, not wanting to disrupt their bubble of intimacy.

“Me too, Terence Khalifa, me too.” TK immediately reared back at that, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the self-satisfied grin on Carlos’ face.

“Did you just call me Terence? Khalifa?” TK scowled as Carlos snickered, clearly enjoying his reaction.

“It’s been what, more than half a year? I thought I would try my chances.” Carlos laughed, and TK rolled his eyes, his lips twitching up helplessly into a smile.

“I’ll give you three chances.”

“Thor Klausen.”

“My dad may be an avid fan, but no, try again.”

“Tiger Kage. With a K, of course.”

“Are you kidding – “

“Not really, Tyler Kennedy.”

TK blinked, the rejection on the tip of his tongue before he realized that he couldn’t exactly reject that, since it was exactly what the letters stood for.

What –

“How did you – “ TK studied Carlos’ innocent expression intently for a moment, before huffing. “You knew.”

“When we went for ice cream the second time we met,” Carlos’ tone seemed to soften at the memory, and TK couldn’t help mirroring the warm smile. “you dropped your wallet. When I leaned down to pick it up for you, your driver's license slipped out slightly.”

TK furrowed his eyebrows, replaying that scene from a couple of months ago again mentally. Because what he remembered was –

“I asked you to hold my stuff when I had to go to the restroom. I never dropped anything…” TK’s eyes widened in realization, reaching forward to swat Carlos’ arm in reprimand.

“You sneaky SOAB!” Carlos raised an eyebrow at that, a questioning look in his eyes.

“SOAB?”

“Son of a bi-“

“TK!” Carlos quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes darting quickly to the group of kids making their way towards them, eyes narrowing as TK’s laughs were muffled in the palm of his hands.

“-businessman.” TK grinned cheekily when Carlos let go, nudging him lightly. When he lifted his gaze again, he noticed his father now alone, the women gone somewhere else and staring at him with a puzzled expression, eyes squinting in the sunlight to try and make out who he was with.

“You should probably get back.” Carlos said, following his line of sight, and TK swallowed past the pit growing in his stomach.

“Carlos, I–“

“I know.” Carlos murmured, reaching to squeeze his arm gently. “I know. I’ll see you soon.”

TK hadn’t realized he was wringing his hands together restlessly until a familiar warmth covered them, carefully stopping his movements.

“Hopefully, the next time we meet will be with all our clothes on.” TK joked weakly, but Carlos took it in stride as always.

“By now, I’m not sure I’ll even be able to recognize you with actual clothes on.” Carlos mused, eyes shining impishly, and TK shrugged, unperturbed.

“I’ll be sure to walk in my birthday suit more often down the street to minimize that problem.”

“Please don’t. I don’t want to have to arrest you for public indecency.” Carlos groaned, though TK knew he would do no such thing.

“All worth it if it means I’ll get to see you again.” TK whispered softly.

There was a moment where they both stared at each other, each wearing delicate smiles, before TK gave Carlos’ hands one last squeeze. Turning around, he didn’t look back as he headed back to where Owen was still standing, watching him with an unreadable expression.

He knew that all his resolve would crumble the second he turned around.

And so, he marched forward.

The news caught him off guard on a mildly chilly afternoon in August.

“Austin…as in Austin, Texas?” TK blinked at his father, who was standing a little way away from him, seeming almost nervous.

“Do you know of another Austin?”

“No dad, I was just…” TK trailed off, a whirlwind of thoughts swimming through his head.

Austin.

Texas.

Carlos.

“They asked for my assistance in re-building one of the firehouses there, Station 126, and I thought it would be a great opportunity,” Owen explained, running a hand through his well-kept hair anxiously, before holding up his hands.

“-Look, if it’s too sudden, we don’t have to-“

“When do we leave?” TK couldn’t help the excitement creeping up in his tone, and he knew his father was probably thinking he was crazy, agreeing to move halfway across the country so suddenly without even needing to process it a little bit.

“Are you sure? Austin isn’t a simple few hours drive from New York, son, if you need to think about it more – “

“Dad.” TK sighed in fond exasperation, walking closer to pull his father into a tight hug. “I’m sure. Very sure. I promise; besides, it might be good for us.” TK murmured, and felt his father squeeze him a little tighter, his originally tense muscles relaxing.

“Alright.”

TK was practically vibrating the entire week before the move, and although he was a little sad leaving his old team, they all understood and wished them the best. He knew Owen knew there was definitely something else he wasn’t telling him, but took his enthusiasm in stride.

In the end, he opted to keep the move a secret from Carlos for now, wondering if it would be a nice surprise when they finally did meet.

Officially.

Austin was…different.

For one thing, the service seemed to be a little better. TK could remember the numerous occasions where his phone had cut off randomly from the plethora of skyscrapers blocking signals.

So far, everyone had been very welcoming, and he was already getting along with the new crew that they were slowly putting together. They were in the middle of playing 10 questions, and Paul had been amidst his explanation of why he had the entire collection of the Sherlock Holmes series when there was a sound of wheels against gravel in the entrance bay.

“That must be Austin PD checking up on us.” Owen hummed offhandedly, and TK immediately felt his heart leap to his throat.

“Looks like your explanation will have to wait for later, Strickland.” Judd patted Paul’s shoulder in passing, and TK followed quietly after his crewmates as they headed down the stairs. He knew he shouldn’t have his hopes up, because Austin PD wasn’t just consisted of Carlos alone, and it could literally be anyone.

“Captain Strand? I’m officer Reyes, it’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

Okay no, that voice was definitely –

The world seemed to sharpen in the display of wondrous colours as he laid his eyes on Carlos, standing in his police uniform in front of his father, who was currently shaking his hand.

To think he actually thought Carlos couldn’t look even better, he just had to show up in full uniform.

TK hid a small smile when he saw Carlos looking a little confused, obviously recognizing Owen from somewhere but couldn’t place where quite yet.

“Likewise.” Owen smiled politely, and TK had to hold back a laugh when his dad’s eyes widened slightly in recognition, obviously putting together whatever was about to happen in his head as the pieces all came into place. “These are some of the members of my team. Marjan, Judd, Paul, Mateo,” everyone lifted a hand or offered the officer a kind smile at the introduction, with Judd giving Carlos a fist bump.

“-and TK.”

And that was when surprised brown eyes clashed with brilliant green.

TK stepped forward slowly, chuckling softly at how wide Carlos’ eyes were, multiple emotions surfacing one after the other as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, officer. Fully-clothed this time.” TK teased, and that was what finally brought Carlos out of his stupor.

“So, TK Strand, huh?”

Right, practically a year of knowing each other, and they forgot to somehow throw their respective last names in the list. Carlos’ voice sounded a little emotional, and honestly, TK could relate, from the way his own body wanted to be as close to Carlos as physically possible, but they had time for all that later.

Right now…

“That should be my line, Carlos Reyes.”

They stepped forward at the same time, engulfed in each other's arms as reality finally dawned on them.

The distance between them was 0 miles, 0 states, and an abundant amount of time.

They finally got their chance.

#Tarlos #Tarlos fic #tk x carlos #Just a little something

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phantom-curve · 3 years

Text

find the strength, find the melody pt. 5

this is still a working title. I just can’t decide if it fits or not, so feel free to offer any suggestions! once I finish this fic I’m going to go back and reblog it in it’s entirety and I promise I will finalize and update the title for all the reblogs to make it easier to find in the future. I’m probably also going to post the completed fic to AO3, possibly with some slight editing updates. I’ll add the link once that’s active.

also, I want you all to know that I almost missed a typo in this chapter that would have had Julie biting her nip instead of her lip so you’re welcome for that.

also also, this chapter solidified my decision to write this fic from Luke’s perspective once I finish Julie’s. my god, the things happening in this boy’s head during this scene had me taking a bath and calling my husband for cuddles at 2pm. HE’S JUST TOO SOFT. Reggie and Alex will be more prominent in his story. their characters are so fun to write, but harder to work into Julie’s story until it’s closer to the end.

to be fully honest, I’m not entirely happy with the cut-off on this chapter, but I felt like y'all deserved all 3,084 words after a 6 day hiatus so I had to pick a slightly more awkward end spot. hope it makes up for taking so long to update!

tag list (lmk if you want me to add you!): @blue-hat-girl, @lwhoscribbles, @bluefyoto94, @5sosmukefan, @moonlightxnder, @leahthewonder, @kat-maybe-not

Julie didn’t expect to see Luke the next day. When her alarm went off at 6:45 that morning, she woke up with a start, heart racing as memories of last night flooded back. She had been ready to defend herself and Luke to her father, but it had been business as usual in the Molina household. Her father had gotten up like normal and gone about his morning without any hiccups from a very cute, unexpected teenage boy showing up. Julie could hear him leaving for work now, calling up a loving goodbye to her in between shouts at Carlos to hurry his butt into the car. When she peeked out of her window at the studio it looked exactly the same as it always did, empty and still. For a moment, she was sure that she dreamed the entire thing.

Something felt different in her soul though. Realigned, like a part of her she didn’t realize was missing had finally made its way back home. Everything in her body felt lighter as she got dressed and floated down the stairs to grab her breakfast. She was riding high on cloud nine, humming actually humming! under her breath as she moved around the kitchen, when a loud rap at the back door startled her. Flynn would have just walked in so it couldn’t be her. Her dad, too, would have simply run inside if he had forgotten something. It wasn’t until she was already reaching for the door handle that she recognized the electricity sparking in the air. She opened the door to a now familiar pair of puppy dog eyes waiting on the other side.

“I thought I told you to leave by 6:30 so my dad wouldn’t see you.”

Julie tried to make her voice snappy, but it was so hard when he was standing there, bobbing and weaving in the early morning sunshine, eyes shining, lips curved into the sweetest smile. He took her words in stride. His smile stretched as his head dipped with a charming amount of bashfulness. She realized with a jolt that he had been doing that for days now, ever since she ran into him after her meeting with Ms. Harrison. Just rolling right through every punch she threw at him like it was nothing. Her walls slipped a little lower.

“I thought I could make you breakfast. You know, as a thank you for last night.”

Her brain short circuited. Luke Patterson...wanted to...make her breakfast? She had to turn the words over in her mind a few times before they began to make sense. Julie studied him for a moment, noticing that he seemed much more like his normal confident self this morning. Gone was the unsteady boy that had stood in her mom’s studio doorway last night. Still, one shoulder was hitched a little higher than the other, his fingers flexing against the backpack strap slung over it. His face was open and eager, but she could detect the hint of nervousness that he was trying to cover up. She caught a faint whiff of jasmine as a slight breeze blew past them and immediately zeroed in on the damp wisps of hair curling around his neck. The thought of Luke in her shower, using her soap was almost her undoing. Desperately trying to get a hold on the situation, she leaned against the open doorway, crossing her arms across her chest in what she hoped was a nonchalant movement.

“I thought we were going to pretend last night didn’t happen.”

His smile faltered a little bit, his free hand flying up to scratch at the back of his neck. His bouncing shifted to rocking, and Julie felt the change in his demeanor like a punch to her gut.

“Yeah...okay...I mean if that’s what you want. I’ll uh, see you around, Molina.”

His voice lacked its typical singsong quality, rejection flattening the lilt she had become accustomed to. Pain bloomed in Julie’s chest, familiar and foreign all at the same time. It wasn’t like the pain she was used to, wasn’t connected to her mom or her music. This pain was all about Luke and the fact that she had just hurt him for no reason at all. Shame rolled through her stomach in a nauseous wave. Luke was already adjusting the bag higher on his shoulder, turning away from her, body language all but screaming “leave me alone”. It didn’t stop her from reaching out and laying a hand against his shoulder.

“Luke.”

His name was a plea and an apology rolled into one. She felt the ripple of his muscles as his body reacted to it, dropping her hand only when he turned to face her. Their eyes caught, the air sparking between them.

“What were you going to make?”

His brow furrowed in confusion, his eyes never leaving hers. She knew she had to do better, but God, it was hard to face your feelings after bottling them up for so long.

“For breakfast. I usually just grab a Pop-Tart to eat on my walk to school. Do you actually cook every morning?”

Luke was still staring. Julie bit her lip, the tail end of a nervous giggle that she couldn’t quite suppress all the way slipping out. The sound seemed to jolt him out of whatever trance he was in. In two seconds, he was back to bouncing on the balls of his feet, arms loose at his sides once more.

“Yeah, I do.”

The shy smile on his lips did something to Julie’s insides that she wasn’t willing to investigate just yet.

“Usually eggs, but sometimes waffles or pancakes on the weekends. Bacon if the boys are coming over. It’s the most important meal of the day, ya know.”

His eyes were bright again, practically glowing like they usually did when he started talking about something he was passionate about. Julie had only ever seen him like this when he was going off on another music related rant in class. Who knew breakfast foods could be so inspiring?

“Well, that sounds a lot better than strawberry Pop-Tarts.”

She turned, leaving the door open as she started to walk back towards the kitchen. She could hear Luke hesitate in the doorway, but all it took was one look over her shoulder and he was rushing in after her, quietly closing the door in his wake. They walked to the kitchen in silence, Julie trying to figure out what the hell was happening in her head and heart the entire time.

The instant Luke entered the kitchen it was like she was seeing a completely different side of him. He was quick and sure with all of his movements, taking only a few minutes to find everything he needed without even asking her for guidance. The muscles of his forearm rippled as he whisked the eggs together, the flick of his wrist just as mesmerizing now as when he played guitar. His confidence on stage had always been awe-inspiring, the way he moved and the energy he gave off undeniably cool and sure, never an ounce of doubt that he was anything other than amazing. It was a way for him to prove he was the best of the best, show that he had fully earned the title of “Rockstar”.

This moment in her sunny kitchen showed a quieter confidence. Nothing flashy or showy, just Luke doing something he clearly enjoyed for no other reason than the fact that he liked it. The rock god attitude had always been surface-level hot, sure, but this kind of domestic comfortability was an entirely new level of attractive. Julie felt her mouth go dry, the tips of her ears growing warm the longer she watched him. He hummed under his breath, the sound reverberating in her soul and sending little shivers up and down her spine. It wasn’t until he was sliding a plate of steaming scrambled eggs and toast in front of her that she finally recognized the melody. Her breath caught and he met her eyes with a gentle expression.

“I told you already, it’s an incredible song.”

He grabbed his own plate and lowered himself into the chair next to hers at the bar. He immediately began shoveling eggs in his mouth. Julie took a few bites of her own food, pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Then an ugly thought took over her brain. She dropped her fork, turning to stare at Luke with a dark intensity she couldn’t control.

“Did you...did you play my mom’s song?”

She couldn’t keep the betrayal out of her voice. It echoed in the room, low and hollow, like the sound of tomb closing. Luke’s own fork fell with a clatter.

“Julie, no.”

His voice was just as desperate, filled with pain and apology.

“I swear to you, no. I wouldn’t do that. I knew what it was as soon as I found it. I couldn’t hurt you like that. I never even showed it to Reggie or Alex.”

She believed him. The look on his face, the tone of his voice, proved to her that he wasn’t lying. Then, his cheeks turned a very light pink.

“I just...sometimes...I would read it. Not around the guys.”

He was quick to add that part in there, like he was assuring her he could protect the things that were important to her. Like he was promising to protect her. She could tell he was a little uncomfortable with the revelation, but he pushed through anyway.

“Just like...at night before bed...or when I was stuck on a song and needed some inspiration.”

His eyes rose to meet hers, some tender emotion she couldn’t identify lurking in their oceanic depths.

“I meant it when I said you’re an incredible songwriter. Sometimes...”

His cheeks darkened, ears flaming red to match.

“Sometimes...it was almost like I could hear you playing it.”

The last part was said so quietly she almost missed it. She felt her face go slack. Who was this guy and what had he done with the normal, cocky Lucas Patterson? The gentleness of his words, the way his eyes were drilling into hers like he could see all the way down to the depths of her soul, had her blinking against the sudden emotion clogging her throat.

“Last night was the first time I ever played it.”

The confession sprung from her lips without second thought. She had to do something, anything to break whatever tension seemed to be thickening between them with each passing second. Luke tilted his head, another warm smile gracing his lips.

“You were even more amazing than I could have ever dreamed. You’re like a human wrecking ball, Julie. It’s insane how talented you are.”

So much for breaking the tension. Julie sucked in a breath, her heart stuttering in her chest. It was only then that she realized how close their bodies had become, each one leaning farther into the other as their conversation went on. There were only inches between them now, Luke’s lyrical voice curling into her ear with a delicious intimacy she couldn’t help but crave. If she got any closer to him their foreheads would touch, their nose would brush, their lips would...

And just like that she was on the ground, her backside stinging from slamming into the hardwood so abruptly. Luke blinked down at her, eyes still swimming with that damnable affection, but also tinged with confusion. In her desperate attempt to bail, she must have leaned too far back, falling off the barstool before she could even realize what would happen. She shook her head to clear the spell Luke had been spinning before looking past him to the clock on the oven.

“We should probably leave for school now unless we want to be late.”

She ignored the breathy way her voice came out, pushing herself to a standing position. Without making eye contact, she wove her way around Luke. He was like a block of ice in his chair, still poised to lean into her completely. She scooped up their half-eaten breakfasts, plopping them loudly into the sink before slipping her arms through her backpack straps. Nowhere left to hide, she turned back towards the brunette boy.

He stared at her for a long moment, the hot frustration in his gaze burning through her and making her want to squirm. For a second, she thought he was going to push it, but then his eyes closed for what felt like an eternity. When they opened again, he seemed resigned. She could detect just a hint of his previous fiery intensity, the rest of it shrouded behind an almost forlorn veil of acceptance.

“If that’s what you want.”

There was a deeper meaning to his words that Julie wasn’t prepared for. Her breathing faltered, the silence between them heavy with the things he was leaving unsaid. She almost gave in. Almost asked him just what, exactly, he wanted right now. But she didn’t need to ask him because she could read it plain on his face. It terrified her. And Julie had become an expert at avoiding things that scared her in this past year. So, instead, she gave him a tight nod and zipped out the front door to wait for him outside.

In the clear sunshine of another beautiful LA day, she was finally able to breathe again. Out here, away from the thick tension of the kitchen, it was easier to tell herself Luke was just being nice. Easier to pretend their little moment inside was just some friendly banter. Easier to ignore the implications of Luke’s serious words and caring tone. She gulped in deep breaths, willing her head and heart to cool down. She heard the click of the door latching shut behind her, turned to see Luke standing there, a small pout on his lips, face entirely unrepentant. Good lord she was in trouble.Then a realization hit. She clung to it, desperately hoping it would get them back on a more neutral page, pull them out of whatever had been simmering between them all morning.

“Where’s your car? I know you didn’t drive over here last night.”

Luke’s face changed immediately, chagrin taking over every feature. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he shoved his hands in the front of his jeans.

“I uh...I only live a few houses away from you...”

Now it was Julie’s turn to gape like a fish. Luke Patterson was her neighbor? Since when?

“My parents...we moved to the neighborhood a couple years ago. I...uhm well...”

His hand rose again to scratch at his neck, and she had never wanted to grab at him more than in this moment. That movement was slowly beginning to drive her crazy. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and blurted it out in one garbled sentence.

“Iusedtohidearoundthecornerandlistentoyouandyourmomplayinthestudiopleasedon’thateme.”

Julie was so stunned she nearly tumbled off the top step as she staggered backwards. Only Luke’s quick reflexes saved her from falling flat on her back for the second time that morning. His eyes darted around her face, clearly trying to figure out if she was about to lose it on him or not. Julie struggled to process the info dump she had gotten from Luke in the last couple of days. All of her preconceived notions were slowly being proven wrong and she wasn’t entirely sure how to deal with that. Life was easier when Luke was just another selfish, swaggering upperclassman. How long had she been in his orbit? Years it sounded like. The realization was staggering.

“You...you listened to us play? Why?”

Luke still had his hands wrapped around her wrists. Julie couldn’t find it in her to break the connection. Her voice came out more broken than she intended, memories of sunlit days singing with her mom invading her mind. Luke remembered those days too?

“Haven’t you been listening?”

His voice was strained, his eyes boring into hers like he was trying to telepathically force her to understand. His fingers flexed against her skin, the movement causing a flurry of butterflies to erupt in her stomach.

“You’re a star, Julie Molina. I couldn’t help getting sucked into your orbit.”

Julie felt her eyelids flutter, her chest squeezing like it was going to burst from the rapid inhale/exhale she couldn’t seem to calm. He said her name like a prayer, his lips turning it into something holy and sacred. She was drowning in Luke’s gaze, a riot of emotions swirling around in her brain. Somehow, because he was Luke and apparently he knew her better than she ever expected him to, he could tell that his declaration had gone a little too far. Easing back, he released his hold and rocked away from her just a bit to give her the space she so desperately needed. His eyes were still impossibly soft, bordering on adoration as he watched her come to terms with his bold announcement. Finally, once Julie was pretty sure she had come back down to Earth, he jogged down the front steps.

“We can still drive if you want to, but I think it’s a pretty nice morning for a walk if you’re up for it.”

“Okay.”

It felt like the smallest possible acceptance she could offer him, but the way Luke lit up in response made her want to melt. Head still swimming, she made her way down the steps on shaky baby deer legs. Luke didn’t push, just fell in step with her as easy as pie. Every once in a while, his fingers would brush against her hand, and it took every scrap of will power to keep herself from just reaching out and linking their hands together.

They passed a house bursting with flowers out front. Julie’s eyes caught on an explosion of bright red in the corner of the yard. Dahlias. Her mother’s favorite. It felt like a sign, and another part of Julie’s soul slipped quietly back into place. The next time Luke’s hand knocked against hers she shyly allowed their fingers to tangle. She didn’t need to look to see the smile break out on his face. She could feel the warmth of it filling the air around her like her own personal sun. He squeezed just once. Just enough to acknowledge the move for what it was. She didn’t let go until the school appeared in the distance.

#y'all know the EXACT pout face I'm referencing in this one #also i love working show dialogue into fic dialogue #also also soft boy Luke is going to be THE DEATH OF ME #FUCKING KILL ME WITH YOUR SOFTNESS LUCAS I AM READY #Mads writes #Mads speaks #bless these babies for giving me less angst and more fluff this time #julie and the phantoms #jatp #juke #julie x luke #luke x julie #palina #julie molina #luke patterson #juke fanfic #jatp fanfic #find the strength find the melody

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nocturna-iv · 4 years

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what are your opinons on audrey?

You're going to hate me because I'm going to go too far off.

On D1 I hated Audrey. But I think that was one of the purposes of the movie. The way they introduced her and made her act... I didn't like Audrey. But especially since my first ship in Descendants was Jaylos.

And I'm not going to lie to you. D1 I saw it with a friend the first time. And from the first second, we saw Carlos and Jay it was "They are a couple, right?" A few more scenes "They're a couple.".. and at the end... In the last scene... Audrey appears all beautiful and powerful... and flirts with Jay and dances with him. And, I understand. If Audrey does that to me, I'd make Jay's goofy face too.

Also, I love "Set it Off". I don't know. I don't talk much about D1. But things were different back then. I liked Mal, I liked Bal. Ben in "Set It Off" looks very sexy. I like the lyrics. I like the movie. And I'm a sucker for reimagining fairy tales.

But... Audrey was "ruining" my Jaylos with that last dance. And the idea of a pretty girl that her revenge is dating her ex's best friend... Not my cup of tea.

Then I watched the movie again with a group of friends. All nerds to analyze stories. And there I realized many things. Like Mal never tells Ben that she actually put a spell on him to use him. And hundreds of other things.

But do you know what I noticed the most? How horrible everything that happened must have been for Audrey. Ben breaks up with her publicly and out of nowhere. Hours before they were the perfect (and incipient, I know) couple who was going to get married and then he sings a song to the daughter of the villain who ruined her mother's life? Poor Audrey!

So all my friends and I came to have a strong empathy with Audrey. Would we have done the same? We didn't know. But Audrey is a Queen Bee and a teenager. All that power, heartbroken, humiliated and in the blink of an eye with an uncertain future. I'm not going to judge her. If she were an adult I would. But she was only a teenager. And all of us, as teenagers, have done something stupid or extreme.

Still a no-no to Audrey flirting with Jay hahaha

D2 arrived. There was no sign of Audrey. And I got distracted by a powerful couple by Uma and Harry. Chad goes from being this idiot who flirts with girls and uses them to be this goofy puppy in love who is the mockery of everyone.

D3... Thousands of ideas. But about Audrey? My poor princess! My Queen of Mean! By this point, we got to know so much about her and... Oh, Gods! What terrible things. All by focusing on Mal, they left hundreds of things in the air, loose or bad.

Are we sure Ben isn't still under a spell? Audrey and he were friends, and I come to find out that there was never a talk between them? Not even when she came back? GODS!

Hundreds of bad things... Hundreds! As I said, let's rewrite D3.

Plus, they made Audrey blonde. And they lightened her skin tone.

Audrey deserves better than being this character that her only motivation is her ex-boyfriend.

Actually, Audrey and Evie have a lot in common. Their families raised them to be with a prince, to define themselves as a beautiful princess on the arm of a prince. Evie has her growth as a character. But Audrey? In D1 she became cruel because she loses her boyfriend. In D3 she became the villain because she has lost everything since she lost her boyfriend and no one has been kind enough to ask her if she's okay! The only character who cares about her, we came to find out, is Chad, who now everyone makes fun of and sees him as a joke.

I like Audrey for the potential she has. Can you imagine how things would have been if they had treated her with some respect? (Chad and her. From a certain point in D1, Ben lost his best friends. His only friends are his girlfriend's friends in all the movies. That's not healthy.)

Already in D1 Audrey had her moment to reevaluate her life, her power, her social status, her future, who she was. Actually, in Descendants: Wicked World she is friends with Ben and Mal, Audrey is still friends with Jane and Lonnie. And Audrey is completely dedicated to holding events, being a leader, organizing things. She is still a princess waiting for a prince to save her, but she isn't looking for a boyfriend and she has already got over Ben. I would have liked them to continue that idea on D2, with Audrey being a good friend and comforting Ben. In that conversation, she would realize that just like Ben is defining himself solely by his future with Mal and by being with Mal, she has only defined herself as a princess and with the idea of marrying an idealized prince. Audrey would have been the first to remind him that he's the king and he's forgetting a lot of things for playing with Mal to pretend to be the perfect bride and groom in front of the press. Things like his initiative for the VKs that stopped since he's gawking at Mal.

Not only that, but Audrey would also have been there to advise Mal about the press and the pressure of being Ben's girlfriend. Audrey would have talked to Ben about how Mal may enjoy the attention when she jokes around or has a plan, but that doesn't mean she's ready to deal with all the attention.

Audrey would have accompanied Ben to the island for two reasons. Evie says the more the better (Audrey wants to protect Ben, she doesn't know yet, but she's starting to stop acting like the damsel in distress and taking control of the situation). And because Audrey wants to talk to Mal because only Audrey really understands what Mal is going through, getting lost in the illusion of the perfect girlfriend until she doesn't recognize herself in the mirror.

Imagine Sea 3 meeting Audrey. While Evie and Audrey were talking to Mal, Ben was kidnapped. Okay? Well, imagine Audrey interrupting Harry in the middle of one of his threats, raising her finger and in a very regal attitude "I won't let you talk like that, pretty boy". And Uma quite impressed that this is an AK that isn't afraid of pirates. And Gil would have been "She's the second person who has left Harry speechless." And Audrey would have looked at Uma with a small smile "Tell your boyfriend to let me board and you and I can talk. I was Ben's girlfriend and I was preparing for years to be queen. I know how the Council works. I'm not a VK, not a pirate, but I know how Auradon works." "He's not my boyfriend..." "Oh please." Audrey boards Lost Revenge "You obviously have a problem with Mal, and I get it, she tends to ruin people's lives without realizing it. No offense Mal. But what you want is the same thing Ben has always wanted. So let's talk."

SO MANY GOOD THINGS!

D2 may have been about forgiving and leaving the past behind. Let Mal realize that just like she could change, others can. That you should stop resenting others. Because D2 could still have Mal betray Uma, but the message would have been more about "I judged you as everyone judged me. Like I judged myself. And I was wrong. We can change." And Ben would have had learned that love shouldn't distract you from your goals and who you are as a person.

My opinion on Audrey is that she has so much potential!

#audrey daughter of sleeping beauty #audrey deserves better #audrey descendants #uma x harry #uma x harry hook #uma descendants #Harry hook #gil descendants #gil #Descendants #jay descendants #jay son of jafar #mal descendants #mal #evie descendants #evie daughter of the evil queen

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thebipolarbisexualnerd · 4 years

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Tarlos running into Carlos' ex on a night out

Okay so I know TK hasn’t been diagnosed with depression on the show, but that’s my theory. I’ve had really bad anxiety brain the last few days so I kind of played off of that. Hope you enjoy!!

Their last call ran late so TK was late meeting up with Carlos at their favorite bar. It was crowded as usual and TK glanced around but couldn’t see Carlos quite yet. He ordered himself mineral water after waiting at the bar longer than usual. He navigated himself away from the crowd and turned his attention to the back tables where Carlos was likely to be. Sure enough he spotted his boyfriend at a back corner table, but he wasn’t alone. There was another man standing close to Carlos, too close to be casual. TK frowned and told himself there was probably an explanation for this. An explanation that definitely explained the man’s hand on Carlos’s elbow squeezing gently.

“Hey,” TK said loud enough to be heard over the crowd and kissed his boyfriend’s cheek in greeting. Carlos smiled to see him and that helped put him at ease. The other man didn’t look as thrilled to see him. TK saw dark brown eyes looking over him with what he could swear was disapproval in them. He had no idea who this guy was, but he didn’t feel welcome.

“Hi babe,” Carlos subtly moved from the man’s grasp, but TK didn’t see any guilt in his eyes. “This is Mark, I’ve known him for years.”

An old friend, TK could deal with old friends.

“We used to be close,” Mark supplied with a smile that was meant to be charming and TK supposed it was white enough and friendly enough but it made him feel off kilter. “We were in the police academy together for a while.”

“Mark dropped out due to some health concerns,” Carlos explained with a grin to his friend. “Mark moved down to El Paso after that so we lost touch. He’s back in town for a long weekend to visit his parents.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” TK told him even though he couldn’t say he truly felt that way. Something about Mark felt off to him and it took another hour for him to realize what it was.

Mark was an ex.

Neither of them had acknowledged it, but TK could tell by the looks and the casual way they were in each other’s personal space told him they once were used to being there. It was why he felt so off being around them and like he was the third wheel. They had inside jokes together and seemed to have endless things to talk about and all of a sudden TK viewed Mark in a different light.

This guy used to be with Carlos, and it made him feel insecure in a way he wasn’t used to.

Mark seemed perfectly normal. He was drinking and laughing with Carlos and didn’t have some dark and mysterious past to negotiate with every other minute. TK had a lot of issues he struggled with each and every day and while he didn’t always tell Carlos about his ongoing battles he knew the other man could tell. TK would get quiet at random times and go off into his own head. He couldn’t touch alcohol and relax that way. He hesitated to take even Tylenol when he was in pain. He struggled sometimes to laugh and be carefree when Carlos had a night off from work. Sometimes anxiety would wrap him in a tight blanket and every time he heard sirens he felt bad not being out there to help when he had a night off. He wasn’t at all like Mark. He was hard to love and Mark seemed like he would be so, so easy. Mark’s parents were happily married after what was probably thirty years or more. Mark didn’t have abandonment issues from not one, but two women walking out of his life before he was eighteen.

What was Carlos doing with him when he could have a guy like Mark?

“You seem tired, you wanna go home?” Carlos put a gentle hand on his hip and TK was too exhausted and caught up in his thoughts to even try and pretend he wanted to stay. Carlos and Mark made plans to meet up for lunch tomorrow as well before Carlos would be back to work the rest of the weekend. TK bit his lip and tried to be fine with Carlos meeting up with an ex. He should be fine with it. Carlos was the most trustworthy guy he could think of. He had no worries of the man cheating, but he was worried that Carlos might realize he could do so much better than him.

He went to bed as soon as they got home instead of joining Carlos to watch TV the way he normally did. He was being stupid and insecure, but his mind wouldn’t let it rest. Carlos might be happier with someone else and TK was being so selfish to tie Carlos down with him. He was too damaged to deserve the kind of bright and happy love Carlos brought with him to a relationship. Tears slipped down his face as the comparisons wouldn’t stop flowing through his thoughts. He couldn’t bring himself to leave, but it was only a matter of time before Carlos found his way back to Mark, or even a new Mark, and left him behind to deal with his problems alone. He would lose Carlos because of demons he couldn’t be rid of, and he wasn’t sure if he was ever going to get the opportunity to be happy.

He held his breath as Carlos came into the bedroom and buried half of his face into his pillow to hide his ridiculous tears and tried his best not to sniffle. Carlos shouldn’t have to deal with his anxiety monster tonight. He had had a great time with his friend and probably had a nice buzz from the four beers he’d had tonight. TK had no right to be a buzz kill tonight. He was a big boy and could deal with his thoughts alone.

“Carino, I know you aren’t asleep,” Carlos told him as he flicked on a lamp. A warm hand rubbed his shoulder gently. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” TK said, but he knew as soon as the word left his mouth that it wasn’t convincing. His voice was wobbly with tears and the way he stayed facing the wall was a certain tell that he wasn’t okay.

“You’ve been quiet all night. I know something’s up.” Carlos’s voice was gentle and patient, but he wasn’t giving TK an out. He still wasn’t fully used to someone pursuing him when he was upset, determined to help. He could tell Carlos, but he didn’t want to ruin his good night because of his stupid anxiety. “Come let me hold you at least. I can’t leave you crying and not hold you through it.”

TK couldn’t hold out on that offer and he slowly shifted so that he was cuddled into Carlos’s side snugly. The other man had an arm around him, rubbing his back gently as he hiccuped his way down from tears that wouldn’t stop falling from something so stupid. “I’m fine, honestly. I’m just being stupid.”

“Nothing that makes you cry is stupid,” Carlos murmurs to him with a kiss to his head. “If you tell me I can help. At least I can listen if nothing else. Don’t bottle things up, it isn’t good for you.”

“It’s seriously the stupidest thing,” TK tried to stop crying so he could start to convince Carlos he was fine. He wasn’t, but he would be when his anxiety calmed down and he got his rational mind back. “Mark is...your ex isn’t he?”

“With those deduction skills you would have made a good cop,” Carlos sounded surprised he had figured it out. “Yeah, we dated for a little bit before he moved away and we decided long distance wasn’t our thing.”

“He seems nice,” TK said slowly. Telling Carlos he seemed normal was a little weird. “He seems like he has a nice family and stuff. Very All American Boy and all that.”

“I guess he is kinda vanilla,” Carlos said with a laugh and TK sighed.

“So, is that your usual type?” TK pressed on, the anxiety fueling his questions by now.

“I don’t know if I really have a type,” Carlos said slowly and pushed him far enough away so he their eyes could meet. “You didn’t like Mark?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” TK mumbled even though the truth was yes he didn’t like Mark for being neurotypical and wholesome and so damn simple. “So, you guys had a nice and simple relationship?”

“Are you feeling insecure? Is that what this is about?” Carlos was always quick to get to the crux of a situation. He was going to make a hell of a detective one day.

“I-” TK knew insecure was the word for what he was feeling, but he couldn’t explain that he wasn’t acting like some teenager. “I don’t get why you’re with me.” Oh shit, that was much more honest than he meant to be. “Mark just seems happy and simple and you wouldn’t have to worry so much with him. I know you worry about me. I know I’m a lot to handle, too much some would say.”

“That sounds like an Alex thing to say,” Carlos said and TK would never get over the protective growl he got to his tone whenever his ex came up. “Tyler, you are never too much to handle. You are always enough for me, no matter what.”

“ “Los I can’t ever drink with you, or half the time I don’t even want to have sex because I”m caught up in stupid shit going on in my own head. I have really dark days when I don’t want to do anything but stay in bed. You can’t say I’m a bundle of fun.” TK protested all the thoughts that had haunted him laying in bed in the dark.

“TK, you have depression,” Carlos said seriously and he took TK’s hands in his own. “That isn’t going to scare me off. That isn’t something you can ever control, only learn to live with. You push through and help people even when your mind is making you feel like you’re in some dark hole. You go out there and give your all each and every day. I do worry about you, but I’m also endlessly proud of you. I never felt with Mark half of what I feel with you.”

TK blushed at the compliments and loved how Carlos effortlessly put the voice in his head to rest. “I’m sorry. I just… I don’t feel like I’m enough for anyone sometimes.”

“I love you,” Carlos replied, with conviction and feeling in his voice. “You never have to doubt that. I’ve never been with anybody that could compare to you and compare to what we have.”

“I love you too,” TK melted into Carlos’s arms again and felt the strain of his shift and his whirling thoughts bear down on him. “Thank you for always being here. Thank you for always being patient with me. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“You need to sleep,” Carlos said wisely as he started running a hand through his hair. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m here, my love.”

In a matter of minutes TK was asleep, secure in his love once again.

#tarlos #tk strand #carlos reyes #insecure tk #they're cuties #poor tk #hope the tags work

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ghostboybabies · 4 years

Text

little ghost boy || Reggie [JATP Agere/CGLRE Story] “Toy Cars and Little Rockstars” (Chapter One)

A/N:Hi! this a warning for Reggie crying, being scared, and feeling guilty for small things. I'm not sure if that needs a warning, but just know that there's an emotional little in this chapter, but he also giggles and plays a lot so it evens out!

Reggie hated having to hide this part of himself.

The weirdest part was, he might not of had to hide it, but he still did. He knew that his band mates were some of the most supportive people on the planet, but he was so afraid that they'd hate him for this.

They'd call him weird and Julie would kick him out of the studio. Or worse, she'll kick him out of the band and replace him.

His eyes glossed over at that thought, and he felt like closing in on himself. "Reg? Are you okay?" Luke interrupted his anxious thoughts, causing him to glance up and nod his head quickly.

They were all sitting around the table in the studio. Alex was in the chair, Luke and Julie were on the couch. Reggie sat on the floor, and he had zoned out of the conversation in favor of letting anxious thoughts bounce around his head and terrorize him.

Luke's arm was around Julie, and Alex wore one of Willie's t-shirts. He wished he had someone who cared about him like that.

At the perfect moment, Luke patted the seat on the other side of him. "Come on, it's not like you haven't cuddled with me before." It was almost like he could read his mind. Luke didn't have that ability, of course, but he did know his friend well.

Reggie didn't reply verbally, glancing at Julie, who moved her head in a quick 'come on' nod. Luke saw that he was looking at Julie and spoke up again. "I have two arms. I can cuddle two people." he assured. Reggie hummed, still not speaking aloud as he stood up and climbed to sit next to him. Luke wrapped his arm around his shoulder, and Reggie leaned back onto his arm and the couch.

He felt much more comfortable with the extra affection, but he was still anxious. Maybe it was because that thing was happening.

Age regression, as the internet put it. When he'd feel like a kid again, and he couldn't do anything about it.

There was very few times where he'd willingly act that way, and it was always when he was alone, or just so excited about something that he didn't want to act like a mature teenager.

The point was, the majority of the time, he had no say in when it happened, and he'd have to push it down until he could get somewhere where he could be by himself. He had a few to go places, random locations that the boys could probably find him if they needed to, but they wouldn't come looking unless they were super worried. Just like him, they went off and did whatever sometimes.

That 'whatever' time was a second to step away from the real world and just breathe. A second to be in whatever their happy place was.

For Luke, that was time writing music with Julie, and hanging out in magical-feeling places for inspiration. For Alex, that was time with Willie, and going to calm places to get away from anxiety.

For Reggie, it was age regressing and playing bass, and hanging out in places that reminded him of the better parts of his childhood. Of course he had other ways to deal with stress, and he honestly wished this specific coping skill would go away, but it didn't seem like it would be any time soon.

Pushing it down felt bad. He felt guilty for not being open about it in the first place, he'd feel stressed because pushing something like that down is hard. He wanted to be held, and told that this thing he did was completely okay.

That he could be as little as he wanted.

Because when he tried to tell himself that, it didn't seem to work.

He cleared his mind of anxious thoughts to the best of his ability, taking a breath, doing his best to keep himself in the mindset of an adult, and listening in as Alex rambled about Willie.

This couldn't be to hard, could it?

Reggie assumed that if the others ever found out about this, it'd be because he couldn't push down his regression and he'd slip up. Not Luke walking in on one of his special safe places while he fell into his littlespace.

Before we get there, maybe we should talk about this specific safe place. This little abandoned building, not to far from Julie's school, used to be a shop the band would hang out at. He couldn't tell you why it had been closed down, they left the majority of the furniture inside and there wasn't any pest infestations.

He figured that he'd eventually steal Julie's computer and research why the little 'CD Sundayz' shop had been closed. The record and CD shop was the best mom-and-pop store around for purchasing music. And whenever they closed the place down, they left a fair amount of the music on the shelves.

So, Reggie found a CD player, and he would play the music and just relax. Right now, relaxing was sitting on the carpet and playing pretend with toy cars he had taken back when Carlos was cleaning out his older toys and told his dad he was getting rid of them.

Reggie remembered being so shy to ask Julie if he could have them. He also remembered her confused glance, her soft voice muttering, "You don't have to ask, no one else wants them." before picking up the box of toy cars and shoving it into his hands before her dad came back into the room.

One thing he never understood was why she never asked why, she just handed them over. She figured it was just a Reggie thing, something random he liked, and left it at that.

"You," Reggie plucked a dark blue car from the top of the plastic box, "and you..." he trailed off, biting his lip as he dug into the container for his favorite red car, "is gonna race!" he giggled, speaking to no one.

Playing by himself wasn't the funnest thing in the world, but it'd be even worse if he played in complete silence. He crawled across the floor, not being bothered with the idea of walking right now. He sat down, aligning the two cars in front of him. He aimed the cars to the box of the rest of the boy cars, deciding that that was the end of the track.

"Three, two, one!" he pushed them as hard as he could, making a sound to represent a car starting. He watched the cars move forward, listening to the plastic-against-plastic crash of the red car hitting the box.

He bounced in place, giggling and clapping. "Red won!" he went to stand up when he heard a shuffling sound in the direction of the door. The walls were a dark blue color, but parts of the wall had one of those stereotypical "90's" patterns on the wall, with the brightly colored shapes and background. Part of the floor, where Reggie was sitting, was a light blue carpet. The rest of it was white tile, with speckles of gray in it.

He saw Luke standing on the tile closest to the door, his arms crossed as he stood with a knowing glance and smirk. Reggie's excitement died down immediately, and he got scared. Immediately, his thoughts jumped to 'he hates me', and 'he's gonna tell everyone'.

His eyes teared up and he backed away, before Luke even got a word out. "Don't be scared, Reg. You're okay," he came closer slowly, bending own and taking the green car in his hands when he was close enough. Reggie whimpered at that, pouting. He held back the urge to make grabby hands for it.

"You like this little toy?" he held it up as he got closer, dropping down to sit next to him.

Reggie wondered why he was being so calm. Why he wasn't asking a million questions. Why he wasn't laughing at him.

Why he wasn't judging him.

Reggie hummed, with a light nod. Luke slowly took Reggie's hand, which was behind used to hug himself, and placed the toy car in it. "What were you doing?" he questioned, still speaking softly. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but he was able to figure out that he was in a vulnerable spot at the moment.

This is when Reggie realized that Luke had only seen part of that. He must've teleported in at some point a bit before Reggie heard the shuffling sound. How had he missed the familiar sound of a ghost warping reality as a form of transportation?

Reggie held the toy car to his chest, blinking and letting tears run down his face. He wished that he had a stuffed animal to hug, that would probably help right now. "Doing nothing," he mumbled out a lie, and Luke gave him a look.

"You can trust me, you know that, right?" Luke spoke again. "We're you...playing?" he asked, pulling together what he heard when he teleported, and Reggie's current soft and babyish actions. Reggie's cheeks burned and he nodded hesitantly, looking up with his with glassy eyes as if he expected him to be mad.

"Why'd you come all the way out here to play with some toy cars? Everyone's been looking for you," Luke informed. Reggie felt a sinking feeling in his chest, and he felt bad.

"m' sorry, din mean tos worry you-" he mumbled, cutting himself off with a sniffle.

"Don't be sorry, buddy. I'm just saying, you could've told the band about...this," he vaguely motioned to him. "Instead of hiding out in an old record shop."

Reggie gasped, "Like da shop. Me an' yous used to come here!" he giggled, looking around. He had done a decent job of keeping it clean, and the lights still worked. It wasn't the most ideal place to hang out, but it did work pretty well. Lifers couldn't get in because the door was boarded up, so he could be by himself.

"Yeah, we did. This place was awesome back in the nineties." Luke looked around, like Reggie had, before focusing back on the boy. "But you didn't have to hide from us. You like doing childish things sometimes, that's whatever. Alex and I already know that you have a childish personality, it's completely fine."

Reggie realized that he wasn't completely understanding what was happening. To some extent, Luke really just thought he was acting childish for fun. Yeah, some age regressors do that, and he knew that was okay too. But that's not what was happening with him.

He was in the mental state of a five year old, and Luke didn't understand that yet.

Reggie tried to think about how he could explain this while practically a toddler, pouting in frustration. He pointed to himself with the hand that wasn't holding the car. Luke seemed confused but he played along. Nonverbal communication was something that was easier then talking at points, but he's never really had to use it, because he always regressed alone.

"You're?"

Reggie nodded, before tapping his head. "Head?"

Reggie smiled, shaking his head. "Brain?"

His smile got bigger, but he refused that response. "Mental- You're mentally?" he guessed. Reggie hummed with a nod.

He then held his two hands close together, like he was going to clap, but left some space in between them. "Small? Tiny? Little?" he guessed all at once. Reggie nodded.

"You're mentally little?"

Reggie shied down, the giggly smiley baby gone for the time being. "Like...you're thinking like a kid would? How's that even possible?"

Reggie whined. He had hard enough of a time explaining that he was little at all, and Luke still didn't understand it. "You're okay! When will you be...mentally 'big' again?" he asked.

Reggie shrugged. "Well, when you are, will you talk to me about this and explain it to me?" Luke figured that a kid wouldn't be able to explain this well, and came to a quick compromise. Reggie thought for a moment before nodding.

"You don't like talking much, do you?" he said.

Reggie spoke in the babyish toddler voice. "Voice sounds little." he mumbled.

"But that's okay. You're mentally a kid, right?" he paused for confirmation. Reggie nodded, "You're probably going to sound and act like one too. Now, I was supposed to find you and take you back to the studio-" he was cut off by Reggie whining and shaking his head quickly.

"Question answered, I won't be doing that..." he trailed off, thinking. "Can you be good and keep playing here? I want to tell them that you're okay, and then I'll come back."

Reggie frowned. The idea of being alone seemed disappointing, now that he had somewhat experienced playfulness with someone who was seemingly accepting. "Come back?" he held out his pinky.

Luke had the urge to coo at that, smiling in an amused way. "Promise," he latched his pinky onto his for a moment before pulling away. He stood up, ruffling Reggie's hair. The boy giggled at that, his nose scrunching up.

"I'll be back, Little Rockstar."

Reggie smiled at the nickname, watching as he poofed out. If Luke reacted well, he wondered if Alex and Julie would too. It was still a scary thought, telling them. But with the reassurance that Luke gave him, it but the idea that being mentally little sometimes was okay in his head. And it helped him feel more comfortable

Luke didn't completely understand why this was happening, or how it worked. But he did know enough to understand that he was basically a kid right now, and that he shouldn't have to be left alone to play. So he was coming back.

He just needed to make sure everyone else knew he was safe, too. Then, he'd come back to watch over this childlike version of Reggie.

Maybe he'd even play with Reggie, and his toy cars.

A/N: leave feedback in the comments if you want, and votes are also very much appreciated! I really hoped you guys liked this chapter! If you decide to leave a comment, here's a question you an consider for feedback: Do you think I'm writing the characters fairly in-character? And, what's your favorite part of this chapter?

-Apple

#jatp #jatp agere #little!reggie #jatp littlespace #little!reggie jatp #luke jatp #cg!luke jatp #reggie agere #reggie agere jatp #agere story #julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms agere #julie and the himbos

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retvenkos · 4 years

Text

amends pt. 7 // ricky bowen

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series - Slow Burn Ricky Bowen x Stage Manager!Reader Fic. Summary: That’s asking a lot of the theatre gods. Then again, it does include a lot of drama, so maybe it might just work out. pt. 1 // pt. 2 // pt. 3 // pt. 4 // pt. 5 // pt. 6 // pt. 7 // pt. 8 // pt. 8.5-ish // pt. 9 // unfinished

You hated to say it, you really did, but maybe Miss Jen almost losing her job was just what the show needed. You looked around at everyone in rehearsal, and for the first time since this seemingly cursed production started, could smile.

Kourtney was matching the blue boa for “Bop To The Top” to the set decorations (which were finished weeks before opening night - the first time in high school theatre history!), Miss Jen was helping Gina and E.J. get the dynamics for their characters correctly, Carlos was leading Ricky and Nini through the choreography for “Breaking Free,” and they cast was clicking. The leads looked like friends, again. Close friends that would band together to save their dying show; close friends that joke with each other about things that had happened in the past without digging up skeletons in the closet. What you noticed most of all, though, was how Ricky absolutely beamed.

“So, months later, is the musical finally the escape I promised it would be?” You slowly ambled toward Ricky as the song ended. You tried your hardest to come off as cool and casual, but the butterflies in your stomach were bruising your ribcage and they slammed into it, full force - a development that you couldn’t decide whether it was something you hated or loved.

Ricky laughed good-naturedly at your comment and you felt your heart swell with pride. “Well, being an East High Wildcat is definitely different than being and East High Leopard-” Ricky cut himself off to catch a water bottle that Nini tossed to him, “-although neither is terrible at the moment.”

You nodded happily at his words. Everything was coming together - it really was. “And being Ricky? How’s that going?” You were careful with your choice of words, but your tone was light, as though it was nothing.

Ricky capped his water bottle thoughtfully, the ghost of a smile on his lips. You did your best not to stare, but with each passing day, your efforts had to be stronger for the same result. Luckily, Ricky was too lost in his thoughts to notice. “Well, I’ve made amends with Nini,” you both nodded and when he looked at you, his eyes were soft, “and I’ve moved on from her too.”

“Really?” You hated yourself for the hope that snuck into your words. How pathetic could you be? “I mean, that’s huge!”

“Yeah,” Ricky laughed sheepishly, averting his eyes. “I, uh, had a talk with Gina on the night of Homecoming. She helped me realize a couple of things.” He looked back up at you, the corners of his mouth pulling ever so slightly upward. You looked into his deep brown eyes and were trapped.

They were particularly lustrous under the stage lights, and even though they were full of hope there was something fearful in them - almost as though he was afraid to be exposed for too long. They crinkled sweetly in the corners from the smile that had started to break out on his face.

It occurred to you after a moment that you had been looking too long, but when you tried to find words to disrupt the moment, nothing came to mind. Part of you was glad; if you could stay here for the rest of your life, you would be happy.

The ping of your phone interrupted the moment.

You saw Ricky blink twice and you muttered an apology sheepishly as you tugged it out of your jeans pocket.

from: red (4:37 p.m.) If you keep looking at him I am going to gag and fall off the catwalk.

Your face was suddenly full of heat. You cursed under your breath and turned to Ricky. “It’s Big Red - he needs help with the lights.” Ricky nodded, downing another water bottle. “Keep up the good work!” You shot him a thumbs up before running off to where the ladders were.

Yes, Big Red was aware of your not-so-secret crush on Ricky. Honestly, it was a miracle that he hadn’t spilled her secret yet. And the number of looks he shot your way when the three of you were hanging out? You would kill him if he wasn’t a vital part of stage crew. He killed it on the soundboard.

“Are you going to try and out me every time Ricky and I are together?” You crawled across the catwalk, careful not to hit your head on any of the low hanging lights above you. Big Red turned his head toward you as you came closer, the biggest Cheshire grin on his face.

“I think you’re quite capable of doing that yourself.” You slapped his arm playfully with one of your gloves, careful not to compromise the position he was - moving the light to illuminate the center of the stage. “But honestly, you should just go for it!”

You scoffed and tilted the light a bit, trying to get his mind back on task. Big Red just looked at you momentarily before rolling his eyes. “Maybe I will,” you mumbled under your breath. From your vantage point, you could see Ricky below, practicing his lines with E.J. They were still a little stiff together, but Ricky was comfortable enough to pat him on the back as he laughed at one of “Chad’s” lines. A smile crossed your face as you watched him.

“Y’know, some might consider that stalking.” You scowled at Big Red and he smiled innocently.

“Just you wait until you have a crush. I’m going to make it hell for you.” Big Red laughed at your scowl.

“That’ll be the day.”

…

“Hey, E.J.?” You jogged to catch up with the tall senior, and he turned at the sound of his name. You bit your lip nervously. “Um… What’s going on in rehearsal? You don’t seem to have the positivity you used to.”

He looked around the backstage area as if he was trying to find a way out. You sighed. When Miss Jen had asked you to confront E.J. about his ‘lack of enthusiasm,’ you weren’t too jazzed either. But it was your job as a stage manager - and you knew it was for the better of the whole production.

“Yeah, well it’s hard to be positive when your world is crumbling around you,” his words were flat - not because he didn’t care, but because he was tired of pretending. “Nini hates me, and half of the cast won’t talk to me.”

“Hey,” you tried to catch his eyes, which were now glued to the floor. “I know some stuff has gone down these last couple weeks-” E.J. laughed incredulously and you shrugged a bit, “-but that doesn’t mean you can’t change. And don’t worry about Nini or the cast - worry about you. Once you start being better, Nini is going to come around. So will the rest of the cast. I promise.” E.J. looked at you hopefully and you gave him a reassuring smile. “We need you, E.J., don’t forget that.”

E.J. muttered a thank you before turning and walking out. You sighed, tipping your head back to look up at the ceiling. Even when things were getting better, there was still damage control that needed to be done.

“How does it feel being a personal therapist to 40 angsty teenagers?” Gina’s voice cut through the silent room and startled you a bit. You turned around to find her leaning against the set piece for the New Year's Eve party, her signature grin on her face.

You laughed and she chuckled softly as you walked towards her. “Yeah, well at least I never have to worry about you.” You smile good-naturedly and she forced a smile back. “At least one person on the cast has it all together.”

Gina let out an exasperated sigh and you could already feel yourself start to regret your choice of words. “Looks can be deceiving sometimes.” You looked at her and noticed something almost sad in her eyes.

“Is everything okay?” Your voice was little more than a whisper, but she heard it.

“It will be.” Her face hardened with every word. “I just… can’t get attached, y’know?” She smiled sadly at you and you nodded silently.

“See you later, Gina.” The woman in question held up a hand in farewell as you walked out. You turned around before you officially left and watched her look fondly at the sets around her. There was something sad in her movements, something that lent to the fact that there was something else happening.

You grabbed your phone out of your pocket, contemplating what to do for a moment. With a decisive nod of your head, you pressed Ricky’s contact and listened to the phone ring as you left the school.

“(N/n)?”

taglist:

@room-3o4, @dinsey-chanel-deactivated202001, @ruefulposts, @mightdielater, @ggukstoe, @wallacetdog, @onceuponafanfiction, @goodnight-n-dayglow, @prttybitchin, @loyalucas, @hxney-bunches-x, @hxzstxles, @parkeroffline, @madamestarlet, @parkerharrington, @fudgemesteveharrington, @hobistigma, @farfrom-peter, @fangeekkk, @tori-marie, @amxx44, @onceuponafanfiction, @softpeteparker, @filmqvakers, @wcnderwoo, @stitch-flo, @liberty01, @kxhliforniaa, @ilymarkchan, @complete-trash-101, @strangerxhunters, @dystopianchic13, @allaroundaddict, @hannarudick, @sweetmilki, @aesthetics-andfandoms, @byuncaa, @write-from-the-heart, @spiderbibby, @captainlarsonn, @ssuddenn, @buckybearsblog, @awkwardnesshabitat, @whiteskinnyboysandmemewhore, @shawnandconnor

#hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series #ricky bowen #ricky bowen x reader #x reader #fic #fic series #slow burn #stage!manager x reader #sorry if there are typos #this is largely unedited

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nicknellie · 3 years

Note

Honestly time just doesn’t exist anymore lol. Sadly I didn’t have an hour or so until now so I hope I can ‘ask’ this soon. (Same to you, good whatever time of day it is for you!)

Box stuff: (honestly that’s a bit hilarious because we have shifted so far from box stuff and I think this is where Reggie taking people‘s baby pictures came from)

1. I love how you have classic teenage boy angst starting with caps that’s funny. And very true, Alex will come over as soon as he can and tell Luke how much of an idiot he’s being but affectionately (also in the way that friends can but if parents tried to do the same you wouldn’t listen yk)

Yes, mom and son bonding time. I just love the idea of Alex telling Emily everything that’s happening while they are cleaning or making food is adorable. And Emily spreading gossip is everything (also Luke’s childhood stories because what best friend doesn’t want to lovingly tease their friend)

Wait I love that idea. Personally I don’t feel like Alex or Reggie would go to their parents just because it seems as if they left on bad terms. Although Luke did leave on bad terms with his parents as well, I just feel that checking in on them once is something that he would want to do. Also that last sentence is sad, kind of shows that when something happens to someone there will always be another person who is affected by this. That you can’t always tie up loose ends, for example in the show we see the boys say just before ‘the band is back’ that in those 25 years they don’t know what happened to their friends or their family. So it’s easy to assume that they had friends outside of the band and whomever they are possibly the boys would’ve wanted to say something to them but they never got a chance to. (Also I’ve seen theories where the boys have siblings which if this is true then maybe one of them could go back to that sibling/s)

Yea the song is sad. Also could relate to Julie and how she lost her mom that how in the show. They kind of dance around the fact that the boys are some thing that Rose sent down to her ‘you were an angel in the shape of my mom’.

(Also if you want another sad song, ‘soon you’ll get better’ by Taylor Swift because if Rose did die from cancer like some theories I’ve seen have suggested then this song which is very emotional and kind of talks about this as well could relate to Julie and her mom as well) (I promise you can throw some sad songs my way as well, I know I’m just throwing really sad ones at you lol)

Anyways, going back to the actual conversation. I believe that we did say Emily and Julie are close because they’ve met before and just in general after Julie gave her that song they became closer. But yes they hear it one day and just get so upset, maybe someday Julie plays it for Emily and Mitch 🥺

3. I love that, also adding onto this Willie is basically the same way however his experiments don’t turn out nearly as well also he’s just in love with the fact that Alex can legitimately not use a recipe book but make some thing extraordinary. But yes, Luke and Reggie are horrified especially when Alex throws the recipe book. ‘Bye bye Mr. Recipe Book’ as you said.

Board games and jam:

1. Yes, exactly. Reggie just starts laughing when Alex throws that one but quickly stops when Alex throws one at him as well

Exactly, his weapon of choice is his drumsticks, which may not seem threatening but seeing as which Alex is rather tall and weirdly has very good aim they hurt when he throws them.

That is what I was picturing, like Caleb just looks in shock for a second because how dare someone throw drumsticks at him, but at the same time someone threw a drumstick at him.

Among us

Yes, Alex is always annoyed how everyone voted for him with no prove. So he always tries to sabotage Luke, every chance he has.

Alex kind of gives up not talking to Willie after about 10 minutes, his puppy dog eyes convince Willie to never do that again. (Also because Alex has no problems killing Willie if needed)

Honestly everyone just kills Luke first and he gets upset about it but everyone is laughing. Also exactly, if he doesn’t die first then he is usually the imposter.

Accessories- I actually looked at them before I made my comments and I completely forgot about the hat as well but I saw it and I was like oh that’s such a Reggie move. Yes that is exactly why Carlos has the paper bag.

Honestly Flynn being competitive is everything and very true. Also yes, she is totally impatient like I’ve read these rules probably three times and this decision is taking forever so give money.

Alex just sneaking Willie money is very in character and I love that. Alex just being like no is similar to how he says it during the ‘girls am I right’ scene

Honestly monopoly just takes forever and sometimes people just don’t have the patience for that also as you said arguments are a very real thing that happen. (honestly part of the reason why I said Flynn is competitive because depending on the game I can be the same exact way)

Oh yes, Flynn is just like you’re trying to accuse me of cheating and you’re trying to pretend that we haven’t seen you smuggling Willie cash this entire time, Sure Alex.

Oh my goodness, and while Reggie is avoiding Luke. Alex in the background just casually says something like ‘now you know how I feel.’

Numbers:

2. Exactly, and of course Alex is just like Aw Willie is laughing so I may forgive this for now but you’re still replacing this.

Yea I’m hoping that Arthur will grow on me. Also I just haven’t had a lot of time to Address to his character aside from like the two interactions with Merlin who honestly if anything kind of starts the fright.

Exactly. Alex just being done with Luke 24/7, ‘I’ve had to save him 25 times so far, how is that possible’

6. That’s hilarious because Alex is freaking out over this cute hair flip however at the same time he is in the thought processes of ‘oh I have to act cool in front of my best friends because they will definitely tease me more later, so what should I do’

Exactly, honestly I don’t blame you and I totally support that writing decision lol. (On that note best of luck with your other requests, also with school because it seems like it’s been a tiny bit stressful and I don’t mean to over impose but I just hope you’re doing well!)

8. Oo I’m excited for the tangent. I completely agree they are the perfect recipe for a band because their strengths are each other’s weaknesses so they’re able to balance each other out so well. Also in a way where one of them won’t get a big head or anything.

Luke- exactly, and although he does have his insecurities the others are able to balance this and help him out just as much as he helps them. Especially where he is kind of like the leader of the band unofficially with being the lead singer and everything it’s easier for him to possibly get cocky or something but we don’t see that. More often then not, as you mentioned it he tries to be there for his band and make sure that they are doing well before he thinks about himself.

Reggie- precisely, honestly I feel like some people don’t recognize how important an instrument is until you don’t hear it anymore (will bring this up later with Alex). And if they didn’t have the bass line and the one set of back up vocals that Reggie provides (Alex/Bobby as well) then the songs would definitely be lacking some thing. He has such an incredible vocal range, which I feel like is shown rather well in stand tall because although he doesn’t have a lot of solos. It kind of shines very well in the solos he has in that song. (Also the actor in general just released an EP which also not only displays his musical ability with the instruments he can play but his vocal ability as well)

Also, as you mentioned his kind of role as the happy one kind of balances out Luke’s go with the flow, (honestly not sure for Bobby they haven’t shown his character a lot to know but possibly another voice of reason) and Alex who can overthink things and can be mature.

Alex- kind of like what I said earlier. When Alex says get ‘woke these are sensitive times’ due to Luke saying that they didn’t need to have a drummer for that song (later we see that Alex is drumming in that song) if they didn’t have a drummer for that song then the entire tone of the song would’ve been changed because they didn’t have percussion and it possibly could’ve been overwhelmed with string instruments.

Agreed, it’s easier for the drummer to be overlooked but he keeps the rest of the band on track and if the one that the boys fall to if something goes wrong (for example when they appear and Julie starts freaking out, Alex says that he should handle it and the boys let him immediately).

Bobby- Yes, I feel like if season two focuses on the past of Sunset Curve a bit more then it will be easier for us to see what exactly his dynamic is in the band. Exactly, they would be lost without having Bobby in their band. And as you mentioned, he is part of the glue that holds them together from our previous discussions as him being a counselor and who the band would turn to.

I love how you described it because you’re completely right. Without the other three there then it’s easier for Bobby to feel more alone because now he doesn’t have his support system that he’s relied on for who knows how many years. Also as you mentioned he doesn’t have the band reminding him to either let loose a little bit or when to stop so he’s easier to manipulate if that’s the direction that the show wants to take. Honestly I just don’t want to think about Alex or Reggie or Luke being alone that night but exactly, they would be a mess without each other.

11. Honestly Reggie just forgetting to mention that he met celebrities at their concert and stuff is such a in character move.

(Noted, we can just pretend that it happened in like 1994 lol)

17. Oh my goodness, I know we mentioned that Reggie had a Caleb scrapbook. However honestly I forgot about that and it’s hilarious to think about Nick having his own page in that scrapbook due to when Caleb. possessed him.

Oh my goodness, yes. Just like ‘I get that you are trying to take our souls however I want your baby pictures right now’ - Reggie.

Honestly I just want Caleb to be good just because not only is the fashion incredible but Cheyenne Jackson is such a phenomenal singer and it would be sad if due to the character being a villain that eventually they had to get rid of him.

Precisely, he just want to protect them all and he totally would love Julie for the reasons that you said.

I love the idea of Reggie just walking into the White House and basically everyone jumping out of their seats and helping Reggie take over the world.

19. Exactly, they seem to have a very good alliance between them however as the snow fight continues they all just switch sides and eventually it is just Willie and Carlos, Julie and Reggie, and Luke and Alex. (they are really bad at keeping alliances, in the end everyone has had an alliance with everyone) (and or just keep the teams I mentioned but they are definitely chaotic enough for every team possible to happen)

20. Same here, and it’s just so easy to tell that they are close together which makes the their chemistry on screen seem really believable. (Friends, ect)

Exactly, they do you have a few moments however it’s that way for every actor and some of those may just depend on personal preference. Also for quite a few of them as they get more experience than how they act will definitely improve and honestly just seeing how phenomenal they are now, I can’t wait for that to happen

Honestly yes, just jealous Willie I guess. Also just completely ignoring what is happening on screen and what the show is literally trying to show them.

I agree ,because although I feel like it would be interesting if somehow the theory was in the show. At the same time I just feel like it would overwhelm the show and it would be easier for Caleb to turn nice then for him to not be the one at fault. That’s an interesting theory, honestly I didn’t think of him handing over HGC over to Willie and is a new take that may be nice to explore, if the show wishes to.

Honestly, Luke and Flynn‘s friendship does deserve its own post. And legitimately if anyone messes with Julie then they would have to run because not only would Flynn and Luke have problems with them but the rest of the ghost boys alongside Caleb probably would come after them as well.(And the family)

21. Phew, I’m glad you I agree because I legitimately have no reasoning for that except for I just want to see Alex just casually say one day that he got arrested and have Willie just be so startled.

Oh yeah Reggie and Luke would start the fire but Alex would be the reason that it’s continuing to burn while Bobby is just unbothered on the side. Going with the Sunset Curve graffiti, that’s exactly what happened but if any asks they have no clue how it got there.

25. I’m just imagining Carrie accidentally being turned the wrong way for some of the conversation and then she faces Willie and although he was laughing before he all of a sudden gets really serious. (Although it’s Luke’s and Reggie‘s shovel talk that makes him the most afraid)

I love how you’re like it’s not because I want Flynn and Carrie to be together however that’s basically the entire reason. (I embellished a little bit but yeah) But I do agree, I feel like Carrie and Nick could have such a great potential to be friends. I love how you said that it’s Caleb who says yes to going back to Carrie that makes her suspicious not anything else that he does.

26. Oh my goodness, a little list to annoy Alex.

32. Honestly the fact that Alexander‘s Reggie back to the park manager with a batch of cookies is such a mom friend to do and a very in character move for Alex.

37. Legitimately Reggie is just banned from using laundry mostly because Alex and Luke were very horrified that day which they never want to experience again. Yes, and it wasn’t even a colour that made sense but one that theoretically is supposed to be impossible but Reggie managed to do the impossible.

I also love the little detail of candles being banned from the studio because Luke once out his arm in it. Also going off of that Luke and Reggie are also banned from using lighters just because they think arson is fun and would definitely try to set something on fire.

Oh my goodness, Luke being on fire and Alex just being done ‘Luke we are dead it’s not going to hurt’, and Julie is just saying something along the lines of how did this even happen. (Reggie is kind of panicking as well but he is probably the reason why Luke is on fire)

I love the fact that Julie is the first person who believed Reggie about having the Queen‘s baby pictures because that is adorable. Also just because a Reggie and Julie friendship is needed so much.

Good whatever time of day it is for you (honestly love that lmao)! 100%, time hasn’t existed since like March which is why I accidentally slept from four til nine and am now answering this at half midnight because I’m unable to sleep and also it’s brilliant, but anyway!

Box Stuff (oh yeahhh this is where the baby photos came from!)

1. Lmao I love that idea, Alex comes in and sees Luke like sat amongst utter chaos and he just goes “Luke, that was dumb” about whatever he did and Luke just grumbles “I know” obviously doing the angry puppy face. Also I love that detail, like if a parent said it then it’d be unacceptable but it’s a friend so it’s fine, I totally get that. He’s like “this is what I think you should do” and Luke grudgingly listens.

Side note: the way we’ve been talking about Alex is really really strongly reminding me of one of my irl friends and this is literally nothing to do with any of this but I’m now projecting her onto Alex so I wanna headcanon that Alex was really close with teachers. Not in a weird way, like they just got on well with him because he was a good student and he was bright and happy when he wanted to be, and he was mature and well-mannered and everyone he ever met would do anything for him. It’s not like he was a teacher’s pet, it was more like they trusted him and were friendly with him and tended to give him higher grades because he was so nice.

Anyway, idk if that made sense, but back to the actual points! Omggg yes Emily telling Alex all Luke’s stories! (Like places he got stuck as a child bc as we know Luke will get stuck anywhere 😂) Alex starts bringing them up whenever Luke is being particularly annoying - “bold words for someone who cried when they met Mickey Mouse at Disneyworld” and bonus points if Emily happens to be in the room (like they’re at Luke’s house or whatever) smirking to herself because she loves her boys

You put this so beautifully omg 🥺 I think you’re definitely right about all of this, Alex and Reggie would have not wanted to see their parents and given that opportunity to Luke instead. And like yeah exactly!! Alex says they had other friends but we never hear anything about them and it makes me wonder what they did when the band died. Also this got me thinking about tributes the school would have held for them and all the different things going on in their honour, and people being careful with Bobby (like people were with Julie after Rose died) because he’s been so down and them all carefully offering their condolences and saying they’re sorry for his loss and ouch. Oooh yes personally I really like the idea of Alex having a sister who’s quite a lot younger than him like ten years but I think that’s just me projecting, no matter what I definitely think he had a sister. It says in the show that Luke was an only child (and sidenote: that made me headcanon that Mitch and Emily really struggled to have kids, possibly going through infertility treatment and Luke was the only child they didn’t lose during pregnancy but they still ended up losing him anyway), and also I like the idea that Reggie had an older brother who he didn’t see much. I think Alex would have liked to see his sister again but Reggie wouldn’t have minded either way about seeing his brother

I haven’t heard that song but I’ll make sure to listen to it in the morning! And I’m so glad you said I could suggest songs lol because I literally only heard this for the first time about an hour ago but I’m already in love with it - Don’t Stop... by Oasis is literally such a beautiful song and I can definitely imagine it as something Rose wrote to Julie, Ray and Carlos like Wake Up before she died, or alternatively a song sort of similar but not really to Unsaid Emily, more like Luke trying to comfort Emily. It’s less sad and more sort of comforting and emotional, but it’s absolutely gorgeous!

Omggg Julie playing that for Mitch and Emily, I would cryyyy. I feel like the Patterson’s have a piano so Julie would be at their house one day and start playing the chords and humming along and Emily and Mitch would watch as she slowly starts singing and it turns into a proper performance and everyone’s crying by the end omg I love it

3. Lmao that’s great, Willie sees Alex improvise and is like “how hard can it be?” and tries it by himself and almost sets the kitchen on fire. Alex just isn’t even surprised and helps him clean up, then the next time Willie wants to do it Alex helps him - turns out Willie should just be banned from the kitchen at all costs because even with Alex there it still ends up going wrong. And I love that, how Luke and Reggie would just be horrified when Alex throws the book away. Like Luke would go and get it from the trash or wherever Alex chucked it across the room and would nervously say “you need this buddy?” but Alex just waves him away like “NO it’s stupid get it out of my sight”

Board Games and Jam

1. Pfffft this whole thing literally made me laugh out loud. Reggie thinking it’s hilarious but his face immediately falling when Alex is against him, immediately trying to backpedal.

Also I read it wrong bc I thought it said “Alex is weirdly tall” and I was like I’m pretty sure he’s not like much over six foot that’s normal??? Then I read it properly and was like oh ok that makes more sense. And also you’re right, like a drumstick may be a flimsy piece of wood but Alex has perfected his technique and good god it hurts if it hits you

Lmao that’s exactly what I was imagining too! Caleb just looking completely flabbergasted because How Dare someone throw something at him?? And while he’s still looking shocked, another drumstick hits him. He starts to look annoyed more than shocked and another drumstick hits him. Eventually, he carries on with his evil speech, now looking resigned and a little fed up because he’s still being pelted with drumsticks and can’t figure out where Alex is getting them all from

Among Us

Wait yeah I love that, I wanna build on that a little - he gave up on not talking to him because Willie was sat next to him and continuously poking him while saying “I said I’m sorry hotdog please love me” and Alex literally can’t resist, so he’s like “fine on one condition” then whips out the puppy dog eyes and asks Willie never to do it again and Willie agrees instantly. Alex kills him literally the next round.

It gets to the point where if someone finds Luke’s body and there was no one near it at the time then they’ll just ignore it and won’t even call an emergency meeting bc they can’t accuse anyone of being sus because it could literally be any one of them unless someone was running away from the body. Luke gets annoyed so quickly and won’t do his tasks as a ghost because everyone is laughing at him and being mean about his death

Exactly! Flynn has the rules memorised word for word and if someone tries to do something they can’t she will literally be out of her seat like “NO bitch play by the rules, why can none of you play this game properly?!” and everyone is like “... calm down all he did was accidentally move his piece three spaces instead of two. chill.”

YES LOL that’s exactly what the “no” is like absjdldl

I love that so much, also because I feel like they wouldn’t really talk much outside of game nights and stuff - like Willie would be good friends with Flynn so Alex would talk to her whenever they all hang out, but most of the time it’s just them as a group so their interactions are almost always them arguing about the rules of Monopoly. The only time they’re in agreement is if Luke (and only Luke) does something wrong then they will gang up on him, Flynn bc the rules are very important to her and Alex bc he thinks it’s funny

Literally same, tbh I’m usually the one who starts arguments during any board game so it’s good we can both project our competitiveness onto Flynn 😂😂

Pffffft yeah lmao Alex just has no sympathy for Reggie’s struggle

Numbers

2. Omg that’s great lmao, love how you just slightly changed the 25 years quote. I’d like to add “You know what else is rude? Not thanking me for literally saving your life. Get woke, these are sensitive times.”

6. It leads to a disastrous conversation that goes something like Willie saying something and Alex giving a panicked response then Willie replying and Alex attempting to give a chill response bc the guys are watching and the whole thing ends up awkward

Unrelated sort of, but it kinda reminds me of this scene in a show called Miranda (idk if you’ve ever watched it? Again it’s one of my all-time favourite shows. It’s getting an American remake actually called Call Me Kat which Cheyenne Jackson is in!!) where the main character Miranda is talking to the love interest Gary. Basically they’ve not seen each other in years and so Gary asks what’s going on in her life and she tells him she’s an Olympic gymnast. Later he asks if she’s seeing anyone, she says she’s married and has two kids called Orlando and Bloom. Gary says he’s single and she’s like “oh me too” so he asks about the husband and kids and she’s like “we’re divorced now. The kids are... dead” anyway yeah now I wanna write a Miranda AU lmao

8. Luke - exactly!! His selflessness can be dangerous sometimes bc he might just forget to take care of himself but the others balance it out. Also yeah it would be so easy for him to get cocky but he just doesn’t because the band means so much to him!

Reggie - yes to all of that! His solo in Stand Tall is beautiful, and I legit can’t remember if I brought this up before but my favourite Reggie lyric is that “today!!” in Now or Never because it’s just amazinggg. And yes!! Jeremys new music is literally so good, I haven’t listened to all of it but like you said it’s such a great display of his abilities and he’s so so so underrated within the fandom and in general

Alex - yes!! That’s the perfect example because even luke doesn’t realise how important Alex’s part is and like that’s Luke of all people

Wait yeah that’s a great example! Alex keeps them on track by trying to calm Julie - I mean, admittedly he doesn’t do a great job (“wHy ArE yOu In OuR sTuDiO?!”) but they know that he’ll be the best guy for the job

Bobby - exactly I just wish we had more information from the show to go on for him!!

And ok ok ok just this got me thinking - imagine if it had been Luke left alone that night. He finds that his three brothers are dead and he’s just completely lost. It suddenly feels like his dreams have been crushed because he doesn’t want to go on with music without the band. He doesn’t know where to go, but he feels himself longing for home. So he goes to the studio but it doesn’t feel like home anymore. Without the other guys there, making noise, or staying quiet, or laughing and joking or making their music, it doesn’t feel like the home Luke had considered it before - it just feels like a room, a draughty old garage with shattered memories and newfound loneliness. But he’s still aching to go home, he just doesn’t know where that is anymore. He walks, and he keeps walking, trying to find somewhere that feels accepting and welcome but nowhere fits. He doesn’t even really know where his feet are taking him. Eventually he stops walking and he looks at where he is, and he sees that he has stopped outside his house, at the end of the driveway. Through the window he can see Emily knitting and he’s reminded of Bobby, and he sees Mitch doing a crossword in the paper and he’s reminded of Reggie, and he sees a Cake cooling on the counter and he’s reminded of Alex, but also he can just see Mitch and Emily. He walked himself back to his parents. He walked himself home. And he has no idea what he’s going to do or say but he walks up to the door for the first time in months and he knocks and it’s Emily who answers and for a moment they stare at each other and without a word they both move to hug one another. They’re crying, quietly, and Emily whispers into his ear, disbelievingly, “you’re home” and he realises then that yes, he is. He comes in, tells them everything that happened, and from then on they support him and help him pursue a solo career - he dedicates all his songs to his fallen family.

17. That mini Reggie quote literally made me snort with laughter. And Caleb’s response is just like to wave him away like “fine fine you can have them next week”

Exactly!! As brilliant as Cheyenne Jackson is at decadent villain songs, I’d rather get rid of those and have him turn good than defeat him and have him leave the show :(

19. Wait yeah I love that! Eventually every alliance falls apart because they can’t resist attacking each other. It’s Willie who makes his way through everyone the fastest because if he sees a moment to get his partner he will not hesitate

20. Yeah you put that so perfectly!

Ooooh exactly! Seeing as this is a totally new fandom it’s going to be exciting thi at we get to watch it grow and watch them grow with it as they get better and better and hopefully the show gets better with them (if that’s even possible, it’s already pretty perfect). And also I can’t wait to see them in more stuff! Like most of them have already been in other things but for the most part they weren’t well-known but now they are so they should be able to grow as actors because of that too which is exciting

Yeah totally there is definitely such thing as too many villains and I don’t think anyone can top Caleb anyway. And yeah, I’d so love to see Willie take over the HGC because he would make it so fun and also probably turn half of it into a skatepark

Anyone: *messes with Julie*

Luke, Flynn, Alex, Reggie, Willie, Ray, Carlos, Caleb, Nick, Carrie, Trevor, Rose’s spirit: You’d better start running.

21. No I can totally see it happening! Like Willie almost definitely got arrested when he was alive too so one day he mentions it and Alex is just reminiscently like “I remember when I spent the night in jail” and Willie is just ???????

Yeah they’re like “oh the Sunset Curve graffiti? Idk man we’ve got some pretty crazy fans out there. It definitely wasn’t us doing it because Reggie needed cheering up and crime always does the trick.”

25. Lmfao that’s brilliant. Carrie turns around with a face like thunder and Willie is immediately like “oh god I’m already dead but I think she’s gonna kill me again”. Honestly most of her talking would just be her saying “Alex is the sweetest, nicest, funniest, cutest, kindest, most thoughtful, [list of other adjectives for Alex] and I will keep him far out of your reach if you hurt him” and yeah like you said Luke and Reggie are scarier because they’re like “we will literally kill you a second time if you ever make him even a little bit sad” Meanwhile I imagine Julie just off in the corner shaking her head because she knows Willie is a sweetheart and would never hurt Alex so doesn’t need to give him the talk

Ajdbdksk you saw right through that huh 😂😂 it’s not my fault they’re perfect for each other lmaooooo

32. Yes!! I love the idea of Reggie finally getting back to his friends with the ranger. His jacket is all covered in dirt and Alex brushes it off him while saying “never wander off again, Reginald, we were worried sick, anything could have happened to you” and all this. Then the next day Alex hands over the cookies to Reggie and is like “take these to that nice park ranger, it’s the least we can do”

37. Reggie managing to do the impossible is a theme we’re making kinda and I’m loving it! He just has a knack for doing the impossible and most of the time it’s just absolutely terrifying or confusing so that means the guys just don’t trust Reggie with complicated things because he’ll do them but in the weirdest way possible (I hope that made sense but i don’t think it did 😂)

“Because they think arson is fun” lmaooo perfect. If ever Alex or Bobby or Julie finds out they have a lighter on them for any reason they get put in the Time-Out Corner and they literally act like preschoolers about it.

Reggie being the reason Luke is on fire that’s freaking hilarious omg, it’s the one time Alex didn’t realise he had a lighter and of course it ends in disaster. He’s only panicking bc he feels bad and also he’s annoyed because now Alex knows he had a lighter and he’s gonna get put in time-out

YES omg ok I really really really want a Reggie and Julie duet. I made a post about it the other day but honestly I need one right now. It can be called “the Queen’s Baby Photos”

#it’s two am but this was more important than sleep it’s fine 😂#asks #williexmercer #emily answers

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justapoet · 3 years

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Hi mary! Can I request for tarlos: 37 "How weird is it that I just realized I want to marry you?" thank you in advance! xx

Sara!! Thank you so much for sending this ask! I really hope you like it :)

Prompt list: "How weird is it that I just realized I want to marry you?"

Send me a prompt!

2.2k | read it on Ao3

let's have conversations in the dark

Time seems to stand still whenever you need it to rush, and TK had learned it from a young age. The clocks seem to play a trick and decide not to move the way they're supposed to, just to prove whoever was staring that, even if time is merely a human concept, it still holds power over their existence.

It's something he had learned to deal with, only because he really needed to. Since he was a kid, his father would end up in a hospital, and he would be in the waiting room, staring at the clocks and hoping for the moment he would look back and see that it wasn't too bad to wait in there.

Time would pretend not to exist while TK would ask anyone above their heads to bring his father back home.

And, yet as a kid, TK would stare at the clocks and count the seconds until the time he knew both his mother and father would leave work. He would sit by the kitchen counter with his dinner and stare at the pointers, his leg bouncing and his heart racing, expecting the minute they would walk in through the door and look at his new "super-awesome" dinosaur pajama.

Time would go too fast until they would say it was time for him to sleep, and the nights would go too slow just for him to see that none of them were home by the morning.

Growing up, TK would try to fool the clocks, pretending he was having fun when he needed time to go faster and lying about how boring things were whenever he wanted the minutes to freeze for a few hours. It was silly, he could see, but also endearing ― according to Enzo.

He would slowly learn how to deal with it, though, not playing tricks on time anymore ― he would take a deep breath and just accept things as they were, hoping that the waiting would turn out to have a happy ending. TK would go out for a walk, watch a movie or a random show, or start some new book he had left on his shelf for far too long.

He would make peace with time until the moment he began to wish that time didn't even exist at all.

It was funny when he looked back to see how much things changed in a couple of years. The nights he would wish that never came so he could stay awake a bit more would become his only refugee and shelter from his parents' fights or absence, and the hours he spent crying would be just known for him and the walls. The sunny days he loved so deeply would become torture, people asking why he didn't go out or acted like a typical teenager, enjoying life and the young years.

And when he couldn't even remember how the days passed by, TK would wish the clocks to stop moving. Just for a bit ― just so he could rest. Just so he didn't have to cry for one more night.

It was weird just how that time wasn't a long time ago. And even more when, sometimes, those thoughts would take up TK's mind, hours, and seconds.

He was getting better, though, in both time and misery management. Sure, the clocks still stopped whenever he needed or desperately wanted it to go faster and rush whenever he wanted more time, but he was getting better at dealing with his agony and deception.

Especially when, after a shift from hell, even if it was only a twelve-hour one, TK got to get home to Carlos.

It was a Friday, and the both of them had the weekend off. Although they had planned to take a trip to Marble Falls, less than an hour from Austin, so they could relax and have some time to enjoy each other's company, Carlos getting sick had terminated that they wouldn't get too far out of the house.

Carlos got pretty upset over it, apologizing and saying that he didn't mean to ruin their plans ― and TK had only hugged Carlos close to his chest, trying to take the groundless guilt out of the man's mind. He dismissed every apology, saying that the only thing that mattered was that Carlos would get better so they could plan their trip again.

It had happened on a Wednesday, and TK had taken Thursday off after they had to take a ride to the ER within the late hours of the night ― or early ones in the day, for that matter. Carlos was running out of air and vomiting everything he didn't have in his stomach, and his fever was high enough for TK to cry when waiting for the doctor ― and, when she came, he couldn't get himself to pay attention as he should have.

His boyfriend was whimpering, crying, and asking for them to go home, and TK wasn't strong as he needed to be at that moment. The clocks wouldn't tick by, and Carlos would ask how long they've been there every five minutes, and TK would only wish it was nothing, and he only needed some fluids and regular medication.

TK knew it wasn't too serious ― he was experienced enough to know that ― but seeing Carlos in pain was a hell-sent experience. He would get withdrawn and make himself look small, silently begging for it to stop and searching for any contact TK could offer. TK would offer him a smile, some comfort words, and would caress his sweaty, messy curls just to get a shadow-ish grin in response.

It was worthy, though.

When Carlos got discharged, a few hours after he was admitted, TK messaged Grace so she could talk to Tommy and Judd ― who would tell the rest of the team ―, and Andrea and Gabriel, letting them know that he was okay. Both Grace and Carlos' mother had offered to make them some soup, and TK knew better than decline any offer, sending a thumbs up and a heart.

Against his will, he had gone to work Friday morning, his heart getting lighter when Grace knocked on their door minutes before he had to go. Carlos was still sleeping, curled upon himself, and TK pressed a kiss to his forehead before hugging Grace tight and leaving to the fire station.

And no matter how much he trusted Grace or how deeply he loved his job, he had spent the whole shift staring at some clock whenever he could. He wanted to go home, ask how Carlos was doing, and then let the other man curl himself against his side to feel some sense of protection ― he just wanted to see his boyfriend again and make sure he was there.

So, TK had taken a shower at the station before accepting Judd's ride to get Grace and check on Carlos, thanking God when he waited in the car, and Grace was already by the door. He loved them both, he really did ― but he didn't want to be cordial at the moment.

TK walked up the stairs silently, thanking God that their room was further in the hallway than it was in the condo they'd lost to the fire. His bag and shoes were left by the locked door, and he had thrown his hoodie somewhere in the living room.

He stepped lightly inside their bedroom, smiling fondly at the sight of Carlos lying on his back with one of his arms thrown over his face and the other in the vacant space that belongs to TK. His chest was rising and falling more smoothly than it was on the two previous days, and the paramedic couldn't help but sigh in relief at that.

Not wanting to wake his boyfriend up, TK made his way to their bathroom to take his clothes off, except for his boxers, and brush his teeth, stretching his back and letting the day settle behind him. Knowing he wouldn't fall asleep so easily ― worrying was inevitable ― TK walked to the bookshelf they had in their bedroom, taking one of the books he had bought and had yet to read it.

Then, he took his steps to their bed, where Carlos had already moved his arm from, and sat with his back pressed against the headboard, taking one of the blankets and covering his legs. He smiled at the man beside him before making himself comfortable and opening the first pages of the book, sighing in relief to be home.

TK didn't make it to the third page when Carlos groaned and turned his body, stretching his arm and loosening it to fall over the paramedic's lap and the book he was reading. TK blinked in surprise, turning to Carlos and then chuckling softly, his heart swelling with how much he loved that moment.

"Miss'd 'ou," Carlos grumbled, getting closer to TK and making him slip down a little so his boyfriend could hug his waist, at least. The paramedic closed the book, then, putting it over the bedside table, and turned lowered his eyes again, watching Carlos' sleepy face.

"I missed you, too, babe," TK said. "How are you feeling?"

It took Carlos a bit to process the question, his fogged brain still too deep in unconsciousness. When he did, he snuggled even closer, his head almost placed over TK's stomach and his arm not hugging him but still thrown over his frame.

"I'm good," Carlos said. "I missed..." he stopped, almost drifting to sleep again. TK thought he would, but then he took another breath, leaning closer to TK's fingers on his hair. "You," the man completed, and TK smiled fondly.

"Me too, love," TK said. "Are you comfortable like this?"

"Uh-hu," Carlos answered and then frowned. TK watched, his fingers scratching his boyfriend's nape. "Are you― I am not― the door," the man grumbled, and TK noticed he wasn't in their room anymore but somewhere in his sleep-fogged mind.

"What?" TK asked anyway. Carlos groaned, and TK thought he would pull away, but he seemed to think twice and froze in place.

"Did you get the... the rings?" Carlos mumbled, and TK frowned with a smile.

"The rings, sweetheart?" he asked, moving down a bit each second to be lying down like Carlos. His neck would be thankful in the following morning.

"Yeah," Carlos agreed, and TK was more than sure that he didn't know what he was agreeing to.

"Which ones?" TK asked again, watching as Carlos' lips parted so he could breathe better between each sentence.

"The... Uh," Carlos mumbled, now against TK's chest. "Saturn," he completed, and TK held back a chuckle that could wake him up. Instead, he passed his arm around Carlos, hugging him close, and took another of the blankets to cover his boyfriend.

"Saturn? I don't think I have them, love," TK said, an inch of supposed sadness in his voice. When he thought Carlos had fallen asleep once more, his boyfriend snuggled even closer.

"'ts okay," Carlos said. "Love you," he mumbled, and TK's breath got caught in his throat as if it was the first time he had heard Carlos say that he loved him.

He looked down at the man cuddled around him, and his mind settled with the peace he hadn't felt in forever. Time, well-known for its games and tricks, seemed to realize just how wide, gigantic, and precious that moment was, stopping in its tracks and lingering in the air just like those promises TK never dared to break apart.

Suddenly, there was silence and a quiet realization of the loudest of TK's feelings ― suddenly, there was just who they were, in all their greatness and insignificance, and it was enough.

It was enough, and it was real. Unlike the concepts of life, death, time, it was real, tangible, there, and theirs. Unlike the unknown presence of an unexistent villain, the clocks seemed to realize that there was something there that no one could ever put in words. Unlike all the demons, and the waiting rooms, and the sleepless nights and the feeling they hold, there was peace.

And there was a certainty TK could never see coming.

So, he smiled because there was nothing else to summarize what he was feeling.

"How weird is it that I just realized I want to marry you?" he whispered to the silence, Carlos' breaths slow and steady, indicating how he was already deep in his sleep. TK sighed, staring at the man he loved as if he was the most precious thing to be something on Earth, and lifted his head to press a kiss to the messy, brown curls.

He stretched his other arm, then, and took Carlos' hand in his, watching as, unconsciously, his boyfriend's fingers tangled around his own, a sigh escaping from his parted lips.

"I love you," TK confessed, his voice echoing in the room. "And I'll get the rings, too. Soon," he said again, his heart thundering in his chest with how sweet and sure the words sounded out of his lips. Carlos didn't move, and TK closed his eyes so he could join his lover in his sleep. "Promise."

And time didn't dare to rush their beating hearts, lulling them to sleep in peaceful silence and a glowing ticking of frozen clocks.

#tarlos #tarlos fic #carlos reyes #tk strand #prompt fic #my fic #prompts #my writing #my fics

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