#and tk would be like yeah I’m fine I just went to check something

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

Oh my god- yes- yes he absolutely would 😁😁😁

@pimento-playing-hopscotch TK would be driving the 4 hours down to search as Carlos tries to stop him.

[sugdenlovesdingle]

Tarlos @flufftober day 2: Friends, Family, Loved Ones

Sister (AO3) TK meets Carlos' sister, just not in the way they expected

Look at me posting on time again! (don't get used to it)

---

“We’re getting married in 6 days and I haven’t met his sister yet. That’s weird right? That’s weird.” TK was pacing up and down the firehouse kitchen and Nancy was close to strangling him.

“You’re meeting her tomorrow, aren’t you? So even if it was weird, it’s not anymore.” She looked to the rest of the crew for help.

“Yeah… but what if she doesn’t like me? What if she thinks I’m not good enough for Carlos?” TK paused and ran a hand through his hair. “I hurt him so much with the loft… What if she hates me? What if she’s going to tell Carlos not to marry me?”

“Dude, stop stressing, Carlos really isn’t going to call off the wedding at the last minute because his sister doesn’t like you.” Nancy sighed.

“What if she’s going to make him choose between her and me?”

“Why would she? And what makes you think Carlos wouldn’t choose you?”

“Yeah man, I’ve never seen two people more in love than you and Carlos.” Paul chimed in and the others agreed.

“Exactly.” Nancy said, putting her hands on TK’s shoulders. “So stop stressing. You’re going to marry that man in a week and -”

“Six days.” TK interrupted and Nancy rolled her eyes at him.

“You’re going to marry that man in 6 days and everything will be fine and you’ll be your own horribly loved up selves and calling each other husband all the time.”

“Yeah. You’re right. Yeah.”

“Of course I’m right.” Nancy sat down again. “I’m always right.”

“Hmm… Maybe I should buy some flowers?”

“For the sister?”

“Yes? I bought flowers for Andrea when I officially met her and Gabriel for the first time…”

“I suppose that could be a nice touch…”

“But then I’d have to buy flowers for Andrea and his other sister too. And then I’d show up with just three bouquets and nothing for Gabriel? I should get something for him too right?”

“Maybe forget about the presents. Just be yourself. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Judd told him. “You already know his parents, those are the ones you want to have on board.”

“And they love you. I’ve never heard anyone use as many pet names as Andrea Reyes any time she’s near you.” Paul pointed out.

TK nodded.

He knew his friends were right, but he couldn’t help but worry. He wanted the whole of Carlos’ family to like him.

“Look, the way I see it, you’re marrying Carlos, not his family.” Judd said, trying to get through to TK.

“I know… but I want them to like me. He’s had such a complicated relationship with his family, I don’t want to ruin that when he’s finally in a good place with them.”

“And why wouldn’t they like you? You’re a little shit sometimes but you’ve got a good heart.”

“And Carlos loves you.” Nancy reminded him.

TK bit his lip.

“I hate it when you go all rational on me and start making sense.” He said and everyone laughed.

Suddenly Tommy came running down the stairs.

“Medical, gear up, we have to go.”

“What? Why? I haven’t heard the bell?” Nancy commented.

“It’ll ring soon. There was a car accident nearby. At least two cars involved, drivers statuses unknown as of yet. Let’s go.”

“Wait, cap… how do you know?”

“I was on the phone with Grace when it happened.”

“Gracie was in an accident?” Judd asked, worried.

“No, she just saw it happen on the way home from her shift. She’s fine Juddy.” Tommy patted his chest. “Ok medical, let’s go!”

Just as they were getting into the ambulance, the alarm went off, calling not only medical but also fire and rescue to the accident.

“Must’ve been a big crash.” Nancy commented, buckling her seat belt. “But hey, maybe Carlos will be at the scene too and he can tell you to stop worrying.”

“Yeah, maybe. Depends on where in the city he is… they send the unit that’s closest to these things.” TK said, checking the mirrors before starting the engine. “You know he’s working up until the day before the wedding?!”

“So? As long as he’s not working the day of… I don’t see the problem.” Nancy shrugged, putting on gloves as they pulled out of the station and made their way to the scene of the accident.

APD was already on the scene, though unfortunately Carlos was on crowd control and couldn’t give them more than a quick nod in passing.

An officer TK recognised from the APD barbeque brought them up to speed.

“We’re hearing that guy ran a red light and crashed into the other car. The driver seems mostly in one piece, though likely under the influence, the passenger wasn’t wearing a seat belt so that got kind of ugly.” The officer told them and pulled a mildly disgusted face. “My kids are never getting in a car without their seatbelt on… or their feet on the dashboard.”

“Right. And the other car?” Tommy asked.

“One driver, a pregnant woman, she’s stuck. The airbag deployed but the car is pretty banged up. She’s awake and responsive though.”

“Ok. Nancy you go check out the drunk driver and the passenger, TK and I will take the pregnant woman.” Tommy decided. “And radio for a second ambulance.”

“Got it cap.” Nancy replied and went with the officer as TK and Tommy went to check out the other driver.

“Hi there, my name is Tommy, this is TK, what’s your name?”

“Luisa.”

“Hi Luisa, how far along are you?”

“Almost 8 months... My doctor said I was still ok to travel.”

“I don’t think your doctor thought any of this would happen.” TK said as he tried to get into the car from the other side.

“Are you in any pain?” Tommy asked the woman.

“I… uh… a little I guess. My legs… I can’t move my legs. And I’m having cramps… and I think… I uh… wet myself… in the crash… but it can’t be labour yet, can it?”

“Let’s hope not.” Tommy said, giving the woman a reassuring smile. “Judd, I need your guys here to get Luisa out!”

“I need to get a c-collar on her but I can’t get in.” TK told Judd. “Can you guys open up the door on the other side first?”

“We can do that.” Judd confirmed and took a quick look at the state of the car. “This thing is pretty banged up, but we can do it. We can take the roof off.”

“No, please don’t. This is a rental.” Luisa told them. “I’m only in town for my brother’s wedding.”

“I’m sorry ma’am, but I don’t think you’ll be getting your deposit back in any case.” Judd replied. “Just hang tight, we’ll have you out in a tick.” He said and started instructing his team.

“Is there anyone we can call for you?” TK asked. “Partner? Family? Your brother?”

“No… the baby’s father is… not around… And my family… don’t know… I’m coming today. They’re not… expecting me… until tomorrow. My brother… is getting married… this weekend.”

“Are you having trouble breathing?” Tommy asked, noticing the slight shortness of breath as the woman was speaking.

“Uhm… a little. That’s bad… isn’t it?”

“It’s not ideal… but you’re in good hands. Try to stay calm.”

TK had managed to break the window on the passenger’s side and climbed into the car to put a c-collar on the woman’s neck.

“This will protect your neck and spine.” He explained as he quickly examined her. “Her legs are pinned cap, they’ll have to take the whole engine apart. No other visible injuries.” He turned to Luisa. “Can I touch your belly? To check on the baby.”

“Yeah, ok.” She replied and TK carefully put his hands on her belly, feeling for injuries, before grabbing his stethoscope and listening to both her heart and that of the baby.

“Your heart rate is a little fast, but that’s understandable.”

“And the baby?”

“Nothing unusual as far as I can tell.” He gave her a smile and climbed back out. “Diminished breath sounds, possible pneumothorax. Baby seems alright but I couldn’t get a clear heartbeat.” He told Tommy quietly. “We need to get her out quick.”

Tommy nodded and looked through the purse she’d found.

“Oh honey I’ve found your purse. Your phone is still in one piece. Do you have any medication in here you need? Any allergies?”

“I don’t… think… so…”

“Ok, that’s good. That’s what we like.” Tommy said and looked at Luisa’s driver’s license. “Uh Luisa, what is your brother’s name?” She asked, leaning into the car and taking her hand. Both to try and distract her and to check her pulse.

“Carlos… why? Do you know him?”

Tommy nodded.

“I believe I do. Is he an officer with APD?”

“Yes…”

“And do you know the name of the person he’s marrying?”

“Cap…”

“Uhm… it’s a double name… Tyler… I think… but he goes by… a nickname…”

“TK?”

“Yes, that’s it…”

TK pointed at the name on his uniform.

“Hi.”

“Oh… Uhm… Hi.”

“I think you’ve just met your soon to be brother in law.” Tommy said, amused. “Probably not the way you planned.”

“Not really…” Luisa craned her neck to look past Tommy to TK. “Is Carlos here too?”

“He’s on crowd control. Do you want me to go get him?”

“No… he’s working. It’s ok.”

TK nodded and glanced in the direction where he’d just seen Carlos.

“Ok, we’re ready to move.” Judd told them. “Do you need more hands, Tommy?”

“Yes, your guys can help transfer her onto the gurney.”

A few minutes later Luisa was being strapped in and carefully loaded onto the ambulance. Tommy quickly climbed in with her, stopping TK when he wanted to climb in after her.

“I can help Cap.” He protested

Tommy gave him a slightly exasperated look.

“TK, I need to examine her. We need some privacy.”

“Oh. Right. Got it, Cap.”

“Just go help Nancy with the other driver, I’ll radio when I’m done and we’re moving out.”

TK nodded and did as he was told, only not even 10 minutes later Tommy’s voice came over the radio, ordering both him and Nancy back to the ambulance.

“Everything alright back there, cap?” TK replied via the radio.

“The baby is impatient, she’s in labour. We need to get to hospital now.”

They rushed back and jumped in the ambulance, TK behind the wheel, Nancy in the back with Tommy.

They almost made it to hospital when Nancy banged on the little window behind TK’s head and told him to pull over.

“The baby is coming now. We need you back here.”

He parked the ambulance in the first available place he could find and quickly opened the back to help out.

“TK, come sit here and hold her hand.” Tommy ordered, getting up from her own seat to make room for him.

He did as he was told and grabbed Luisa’s hand.

“I know it’s scary but try to stay calm. Captain Vega and Nancy are badasses. They’re the best.”

Luisa nodded and squeezed his hand on another contraction.

“You’re doing great honey.” Tommy told her. “Your baby will be here soon.”

Not long after that, TK was wrapping a baby boy in a blanket after Tommy had quickly checked him over.

“Are you sure you don’t want to let your family know now? I can call Carlos. Or your mom.” He carefully passed the baby to Luisa.

“Ok… call Carlos.”

TK nodded and grabbed his phone and called Carlos’ number.

“Hey babe. Slow shift?” He answered almost right away.

“No, not exactly. Where are you?”

“On my way to the precinct. We just wrapped up at that accident. Why?”

“How fast can you get to hospital?”

“Hospital? TK what’s happened? Are you ok? Please don’t tell me we have to cancel the wedding because you got hurt?”

“No don’t worry baby, I’m fine.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Carlos asked and TK heard him moving around.

“Nothing’s really wrong. I just… I met your sister. Luisa.”

Carlos let out a sigh of relief.

“I don’t think so babe, she’s not coming until tomorrow.”

“No, she’s definitely here…” TK told him, trying to decide just how much of the rest of the day’s events he should tell him. “She was in an accident. We’re on the way to the hospital now.”

“Is she ok? Do my parents know?”

“No not yet. She asked me to call you.”

“Ok. Ok I’m on my way. Tell her I’m on my way. Are you going to Northwest?”

“Yeah, we’re maybe 5 minutes out. Drive safe baby.”

“Yeah, yeah, you too. Love you. Bye.”

As soon as they got to hospital, both Luisa and the baby were met by a team of doctors and nurses.

“We’ll take it from here.” One of the nurses said as they transferred Luisa to a hospital gurney.

“Wait, I’m family. I’m her brother.” TK said and a doctor looked back and forth between him and Luisa. “Brother in law, ok?” he said annoyed. “Can I come with her?”

“Sorry, medical staff only beyond these doors.” A nurse stepped in front of him. “I’ll come update you as soon as I can.”

“I am medical staff.” TK pointed at the logo on his uniform.

“Yes, but not in this hospital.” The nurse explained calmly. “As soon as I know anything, you’ll know too.” She gave him a quick smile and disappeared through the double doors leading to the ER.

“I’ve taken us off shift for now.” Tommy said, putting a hand on TK’s shoulder. “We’ll wait with you until Carlos gets here. And if you want us to stay after that, we’ll stay.”

“Thanks cap.”

Not long after the three of them had sat down, Carlos rushed into the hospital.

“TK! What happened? Is she ok?”

“She got hit by a drunk driver. The car was smashed up pretty badly but she was awake and responsive.” TK told him, rattling off facts like he would updating Tommy or Nancy. “Her legs were pinned under the steering column but nothing life threatening as far as I could tell.”

“Ok. Ok. Where is she now? Can I see her?”

“The doctors took her through to treat her. I’m sure someone will be out to update us soon. Why don’t you take a seat.” Tommy told him. “You know what hospitals are like.”

Carlos reluctantly sat down between TK and Tommy.

“Did she say anything? Why she’s here a day early? Does she know who you are?” He asked TK.

“Yeah… yeah she knows. But she didn’t really say anything… we were all a little preoccupied.”

“What do you mean? What aren’t you telling me?” Carlos asked, noticing the looks between TK, Tommy, and Nancy.

“I uh… I’m not really sure it’s my news to share.” TK said, taking Carlos’ hand. “It’s nothing bad, I promise.”

“That… does nothing to ease my mind.”

“She had a baby, ok? About an hour ago.” Nancy blurted out. “If she gets upset, just blame me.”

“What?”

“Yeah dude, you’re an uncle. She had a boy.”

“She what? I mean… is the baby ok?”

“Yep. As far as we could tell in the bus anyway.”

“I… I didn’t know she was dating anyone.” Carlos settled on, trying to process the information.

“She was with one guy at least once.” Nancy shrugged, ignoring the look TK gave her.

“Yeah… yeah I guess you’re right about that…”

“Luisa Reyes’ family?” A different nurse than the one from before asked as she walked into the waiting area.

“That’s us.” TK jumped up, pulling Carlos to his feet too. “We’re her brothers.”

“Alright. Well, your sister was lucky. No major injuries, just some cuts and scrapes, and she’ll probably be sore for a while, but she’s alright.”

“And the baby?”

“Also doing fine.” The nurse told them. “We’re keeping them overnight for observation but they should both be ready to go home tomorrow.”

“Can we see her?” Carlos asked.

“Sure, follow me.” She said and led them through the ER to a bed with the curtains drawn around it. The nurse opened the curtain. “I’ve got some visitors for you.” She told Luisa and stepped aside for Carlos and TK. “I’ll be back as soon as we’ve got a bed ready for you upstairs.”

“Hey, how are you feeling?” TK asked, sitting down on the stool next to the bed after the nurse had left.

“Tired. Sore.” Luisa replied and looked down at the little boy in her arms. “But happier than I’ve ever been.”

“I’m glad you’re both alright.” TK told her, reaching out to stroke the baby’s cheek.

“Aren’t you going to come say hello to your nephew, Carlitos?” Luisa asked Carlos who still stood frozen in place, right where he’d stepped through the curtain.

“Uh yeah, yeah, sorry. Of course. Yeah.” He stammered and stepped forward. “I’m just… why didn’t you say anything? Where is his dad? Who is his dad.”

“It’s complicated.” Luisa sighed. “I didn’t want anyone fussing over me. Mainly mom.”

“You know she isn’t going to let you out of her sight when she finds out. Either of you.” Carlos said and carefully leaned down to hug her and the baby.

“Yeah I know. But he deserves to be fussed over by his grandma. And mom will need a project after your wedding.” Luisa said, raising an eyebrow at Carlos. “I can’t believe my baby brother is getting married. And to a nice guy too!”

Carlos smiled and looked at TK who took his hand.

“Yeah. I didn’t think this is how you two would meet...”

“We could have met sooner if you had actually told me about him, mister oh by the way I’m getting married in 6 weeks.”

“You didn’t tell her about us until six weeks ago?” TK laughed. “We secured the date almost eight weeks ago!”

Carlos blushed and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

“Ana told me a few things about you. And I’ve been meaning to look you up online… but I haven’t gotten around to that yet. I’ve been a little busy.” Louisa told TK.

“Well, I’m happy to tell you anything you want to know.” TK replied with a grin on his face Carlos knew meant trouble. “On one condition.”

“You want to offer your services as babysitter?”

“No, but we’ll be happy to after the honeymoon.” He leaned forward and briefly squeezed the little boy’s foot. “I want to know what Carlos was like growing up. Your mom has shown me his baby pictures and I’ve heard some stories… but I want to know the stuff she doesn’t know about and he won’t tell me.”

Luisa laughed.

“Oh I like you. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

[sheinthatfandom]

Okay I need to RANT and I was talking to a friend about all this but since I don’t have the go ahead imma keep them under wraps cause lord knows I get enough asshole anons I don’t need to bring any to their doorsteps over my ranting.

First off if this is what I can expect for the next year I’m FUCKED when it comes to be entertained. Like I know not everything is gonna be for me they’re booking for everyone fine whatever. But a whole night with Jericho (losing but then beating up the not just one but TWO young handsome charismatic talent that beat him) lethal JJ saraya Darby like this was not my night. The few things that were for me did not go long enough or the mics werent working.

Like can we clean up the story threads we ended 2022 with please! First off is Bryan in the bcc? What is going on with Daniel is there any plan on getting his career back on track or are we just waiting for his and wheelers contracts to be over so regal can take them? Also why no wheeler? No promo no match no backstage no nothing why? Claudio who teamed up with mox against top flight was in his fuck them kids era like can we get an interview as to why? Is bcc moving heel or are they not did too flight just piss them off THAT much? Why the fuck are we fighting too flight again? Like does Bryan wanna spank some kids now cause yutas right there bitch go home and spare with your student.

Wardlow got his hair cut off and I would like to see it I would like to know what he’s doing he coulda walked around with his hoodie up ready to pop out like I woulda accepted it.

Best friends might be breaking up but I’m guessing since orange is actually scheduled for Friday maybe we’ll actually do something there.

And like okay maybe tk had such a hard on for darbys hometown hero moment he completely forgot about other things he might want to check up on but like this is not a booker of the year episode I’m sorry

It very much feels like filler and like we’re sacrificing an episode to then blame not having omega and the bucks on to claim oh there was no big name to keep people interested. Like I’m promised weekly Bryan matches and then max wrestling for an hour I didn’t expect him to wrestle again until double or nothing so yay for that saraya being cunty to shida is hopefully building to shida getting her own storyline separate of the belt and Britt which also yesss please more womens stories but man I went to do dishes and I missed nothing like that’s no good.

I’m gonna headcanon that this was intentional to allow people a nap after staying up late/early to watch wrestle kingdom cause…. Yeah I got nothing

Oh and WHERE TF IS HOUSE OF BLACK!!!

[tickling-giggles]

hii your blog just got recommended to me and i thought i'd check it out

first of all happy belated birthday, you're really gorgeous!! 💛

second i'd like to send in a request if that's fine with you; would you write for haikyuu with lee kuroo and ler bokuto where kuroo provokes a tickle fight which bokuto absolutely wins? if not that's totally fine ofc, have a lovely day! 💛💛

Ohoo it is on brother

A/n: Thankyouu soo much and ooooh I was recommended to you 🤭 very much appreciated and I hope you have a good day aswell✨✨ (you guys/gals I take tk rq as long as they’re open and sfw😭😭)

TW// Lee mood kuroo (and me🥲)

PLATONIC‼️ bc idk if you had wanted it romantically or not (hehe bromantically)

———————————————————————-

Bokuto and Kuroo were currently chilling together on Kenma’s couch. Where are their setters you may ask they went to go run some errands. And left the two because they can not be trusted in public together.

Kuroo in this sucky predicament he was in a lee mood and bokuto Isn’t the best at pick up hints and asking to be tickled is definitely not an option. So….provoking him? Eh it’s kinda the only option left.

“Hehehey don’t poke me” bokuto flinched as he looked over at kuroo. “Huh dude what’re you talking about both of my hands are on my phone” kuroo lied. “Yeah okay” bokuto squinted his eyes at him before unpausing his game.

‘He squinted at me good sign working slowly towards the goal’

“Duhude quihit what’s your deal rooster” bokuto gripped his side looking down at kuroo. “I genuinely don’t know what your talking about” kuroo looked at him confused. “Yeah okay mister” Bokuto chuckled this time keeping an eye on him.

He unpaused his game acting like he was playing it but was really watching kuroo waiting for him to poke him again. Kuroo waited a bit he looked up and seen him looking at the Tv screen and reached out to poke his side again.

“HA I caught you red frickin handed dude what’s up your being more touchy than usual not that it bothers me or anything it’s just odd” Bokuto grabbed kuroo’s wrist smiling in confusion. ‘I think he might’ve caught me… wait this bokuto we’re talking about he’ll end up thinking it’s something else’

“Wait a minute are you trying to start a tickle fight with me?” Bokuto slowly let go of kuroo wrist.

‘Knew it’

“Dude what no I’m not” kuroo lied totally was believable’.

“Ohoo it is on brother prepared to get wrecked” bokuto rolled up his sleeves before he leaped on top of kuroo who was trying to “get away”. “

Cohome ohon Bo” kuroo anticipation giggles started getting the best of him. “Dude I haven’t even done anything yet” bokuto chuckled.

‘OH MY LORD CAN HE PLEASE JUST GET ON WITH IT ALREADY ANTICIPATION IS STARTING TO GET THE BEST OF ME’.

Bokuto began tickling at his sides kuroo gripping onto his wrists “trying” to push his hands away.

“Bohoho nohoho ahahaha” kuroo giggled. “No this is what you get for poking me and tickling me earlier”bokuto reminded.

Kuroo began tickling bokuto’s sides due to his cheeky personality and plus why not.

“Hehehey thihis punishment is for yohohou nohot mehe” bokuto laughed as he jerked from side to side.

“oho Noho yohou dohon’t” bokuto says as he feels kuroo’s hands move up to his ribs.

“Whahat ya gonnahahaha doho abohout ihit” kuroo provoking bokuto even more.

“You cohocky hair for brahahains imma doho this” bokuto immediately shove both hand under kuroo’s armpits.

“NOHOHO BOHOHO THAHAHAT’S NAHAHAHAT FAHAHAIR” kuroo cackled as lunged his head back like that was gonna do something.

“Coochie coochie coo~” bokuto teased him verbally and physically.

“NAHAHA STAHAHAP TEASIHIHING MEHEHE”

“Hmmmm no tell me kuroo does it tickle more when I tickle fast or slow” bokuto asked. “ITS BAHAHAD FAHAHAST”

“Good to know” bokuto kept that intel for future reference.

“YOHOHOU JEHEHERK” kuroo “accidentally” insulted him.

“Ok rude I was going slow but just for that I’m going to wiggle my finger so fast you laughter will lag” bokuto jokingly pouted.

“WAHAHAIT IHI TAHAKE IHIT BAHACK”

“Too fricken late” was the las that Bokuto said before cracking his knuckles and no joke he scribbled HELLA fast it was brutal for kuroo.

“OHOHOKAHAHAHAY OHOHOKAHAHAHAY KOTAROHOHO GIVEHEHEH I GIVEHEHEHE” Kuroo pleaded tapping on bokuto’s arm.

“AWWWWW YEAH BA-BEEEYY BOKUTO TAKES THE WIN” Bokuto shouts.

“Wehell played my ohowl friend I shall seehek revenge” was kuroo’s last words before dropping his head into the pillow that was on the ground.

“Should we—“ Akaashi was about to ask.

“No leave the two weirdos like this it’s kinda entertaining” Kenma slightly smiles.

[nanayoungishere]

Play It Cool (Part Eight)

TK knew the day was gonna be horrible the moment they came to work and saw that the entire diner was filled with cranky old people.

The fact that you weren’t there and your apparent replacement -- a waitress named Tina who may or may not be banging their boss -- came in forty-five minutes late only confirmed that fact.

But it wasn't until the seniors cleared out and TK got to talking with Tina about where you were that they came to realize just how God-awful the day really was.

“Kidnapped?!”

Tina nodded rapidly, her eyes wide. “Yeah! They passed out and some guy just,” she made a sweeping motion with her arms, “picked them up and ran!”

TK’s head swam as they processed the information, forcing them to lean on the counter to steady themselves. They wanted desperately for it to be a joke, but they knew it wasn’t.

The look on Tina’s face told TK all they needed to know. She was dead serious.

“Picked -- did someone chase after them?! Did you call the police?!” The panic was making TK’s voice rise to tea kettle levels. They ran their shaking hands through their hair, needing to do something to keep their mind off of --

the things they saw on the news the things they saw in scary movies thriller movies crime movies all the horrible horrible horrible things that could be happening to you right now as they just stood there and shook

“I-I don’t -- how did this --”

Tina didn’t seem to be aware of how close TK was to flipping their shit. Instead she went straight into gossip mode, leaning in close like she was telling a juicy secret. “Okay so like, I was waiting tables right?”

TK wanted to shake her. They didn’t need some long winded, dramatic story right now, not when you were fucking kidnapped oh dear God --

“And Y/N walks in and I’m like, what? You know how bad the food is, why would you eat here? But then they order a milkshake and I’m all like, ooooh, that’s why! ‘Cause the milkshakes bring all the customers to the yard --”

“Tina --”

“But then they just keep ordering milkshakes and they look super nervous the entire time, right? Like they’re shaking and muttering and sweating which, ew. But they keep ordering milkshakes, like a dozen of them. And they keep looking super nervous and scared and checking their phone a lot. And then someone came in!”

“Who?”

“I dunno. He was like, super tall? And creepy. And bald which, mega ew. I think he was old or something.” She shrugged. “Anyway, Y/N knocked over their milkshake and went to the bathroom to clean up and when they came back the guy was like, holding out a bunch of flowers which, you know, kinda made up for being bald and old? But after they took the flowers they like, passed out.”

“Passed out?” TK repeated, sounding as though they were being strangled.

“Yeah! I think he like, drugged the flowers? Which was weird ‘cause like, I didn’t even know that was a thing --”

TK wanted to throw up. Preferably over Tina’s shoes because why the fuck was she not taking this seriously and --

Oh God what happened to you.

Oh God what was happening to you right now.

Anything could be happening to you right now! You could be murdered or tortured or ra--

They could feel the bile in their throat. “Oh God…”

“A bunch of the customers ran after them, but the guy was fast. Super fast,” she said emphatically. “He was gone before anyone could catch up and the police, they showed up like ten minutes later asking a buncha questions.”

TK covered their mouth, their face growing paler by the second. “Did -- did they find them or --”

She just shrugged and went back to washing dishes.

Like she didn’t care. Like she couldn’t give any less of a fuck that one of their coworkers was kidnapped by some freak.

Calm down, a distant, more rational part of them said. Maybe there’s a reasonable explanation for this. Maybe this is all a misunderstanding. Maybe if you call them right now, they’ll pick up and everything’ll be fine.

TK clung to that shred of hope like a lifeline. They had their phone in hand and your contact on call before they realized what they were doing.

“Hello!”

“Y/N, are you --”

“I can’t come to the phone right now! Leave a message after the --”

TK hung up and tried again.

And again.

And again.

Each time it went straight to voicemail, they could feel their heart rate picking up, dread pooling in their stomach.

They didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to even consider it because these sorta things didn’t happen to them. It happened to other people, people on the news, people in crime shows, not someone they knew.

There had to be another explanation for this. You couldn’t be --

Be…

“I-I’m going on break!”

They threw off their apron and ran to the backroom before Tina could say anything.

Where is it, where is it, where -- there!

A black book, one filled with all the employee contact information. Specifically phone numbers and emergency contact numbers.

TK flipped through it until they got to your information. For your emergency contact you listed your roommate, Lucy. TK wasn’t sure why considering how often you complained about her and her willingness to leave you with all the rent, but whatever. They weren’t complaining.

They called her up, fidgeting at the dial tone. “Come on, come on, pick up…”

It answered. The person on the other line sounded irritated, and oddly breathless. “Yo! Who the hell’s this? I’m kinda --”

In the background TK heard a long, loud moan. It took a second for TK to realize what they were hearing and when they did, they had to resist the urge to immediately hang up.

Jesus Christ.

“-- in the middle of someone, ya know?” she said with absolutely no shame. “It better be important.”

TK grimaced, blushing despite themselves. “Is this Lucy? I’m --”

“Whoa.” The playful tone in her voice dropped, turning into a snarl. “Who the hell told you that name? Who the fuck is --”

“I’m TK, Y/N’s coworker from work,” they cut in. “Are they there? It’s an emergency.”

The phone was muffled for a moment. TK heard Lucy call out to someone in the background. “Nope. Not here.”

“Shit.” Their hands were trembling again. “Did they at least come home last night?”

“I don’t -- hold on.” They heard her yell to someone in the background, followed by a banging sound. The moaning, thank God, came to a stop. “What the fuck is this about? What’s going on?”

TK hesitated before giving her the whole story. She was your emergency contact, she needed to know.

She took it as well as TK did. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“I --”

“I’m coming over there right the fuck now. You stay there, understand?” She hung up.

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

Lucy dressed herself as she walked out the door.

She didn’t even bother to tell her newest “study buddies” to fuck off out of her apartment; she just left.

Halfway down the narrow hall she bumped into the landlord. She didn’t apologize and kept on walking.

“Lucy, your rent is --”

“Y/N got fucking kidnapped at their workplace. I don’t have time for your shit right now, Don.”

Any other time she would’ve fucking cherished the blindsided look on his face. “Wha --”

Lucy jumped down the steps and hit the ground running.

She didn’t have time to waste. Not with you.

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

Left in the hallway, Don briefly considers the idea of just letting it go.

It didn’t have anything to do with him. You were a tenant, nothing more.

Or at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. Something about you had been catching his eye lately, though maybe that was the lonely divorcee in him grasping at straws.

He scowled down at the phone in his hand before finally biting the bullet and making the call. Fuck he hoped this was an actual emergency, because this was gonna get awkward.

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

Officer Williams -- also known as Roy to his friends and his Dad -- considered the information at hand.

A handle of witnesses, all who said the exact same thing. Tall, bald, hoodie vest, male, creepy looking. Short, baseball cap and hoodie, very nervous, undetermined gender. Short one passed out, tall one took them away. Flowers were involved.

And by the time the officers came to the scene, they were long gone.

Roy and the officers with him combed the area, but there was no sign of them. If he had to guess, the tall one must’ve taken a car along the way. Which meant they could be anywhere, even out of town for all he knew.

No security footage, because the boss of the place was too cheap to fix their broken cameras. Didn’t catch anything on the nearby traffic or store cameras either.

He knew your name, Y/N, and where you worked. But he knew nothing about the man who took you. Or why you were so scared of him, according to the other patrons.

An abusive ex? A thug shaking you for money? Roy had no clue.

He could look through some of the nearby shops, maybe see if they knew anything about it, but that could take some time. And he already had enough on his plate; maybe he should shift this over to someone else --

His phone rang.

“Hello? This is Officer Williams.”

“Roy, it’s me.”

He blinked. “Dad? What --”

“Listen, I’m gonna need a favor…”

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

You briefly woke up, hit with the sudden feeling that you were forgetting something.

But the warmth -- fuck, he’s so fucking warm -- curled around you kept you from fully waking.

His arms were wrapped around you. You could feel his heartbeat against your cheek. He was with you, he was yours.

You had never felt more comfortable, more loved in your life.

You snuggled back into your Honey’s arms, ignoring the nagging feeling in the back of your head. It couldn’t be that important. Not compared to snuggling up with your boyfriend.

(Previous)

(Next)

[bellakitse]

Carlos and Grace save the world

Carlos is surprised at first when Grace seeks him out, but when she explains that she’s worried about her neighbor possibly being abused by her husband, Carlos instantly agrees to help.

They become friends.

+

The story I wish they had in 2x05

(I started working on this about two weeks ago when we heard that Grace and Carlos would have a story together in the last episode. I then put it on hold to work on the tarlos valentine’s event. At the time, I was worried that the story would be pointless after the episode, and then the episode happened, and the story was given about a minute of airtime, so I figured I would finish this.)

Warnings for: Mentions of Domestic Abuse, Threats of Violence, and Knife injury.

Carlos will admit he’s a little surprised when Grace seeks him out. They don’t really know each other that well. The only interaction they really have is when he’s answering one of her dispatch calls. Or when the 126 is having some kind of gathering at the station like now.

Still, they don’t really talk.

“Officer Reyes?” she greets him with a tentative smile, coming up to him as he pours himself a glass of water. Around them, the 126 and extended friends and family mingle. They’d finally come together to honor Tim the way they couldn’t when the wildfires were roaring.

“Mrs. Ryder, hello,” he answers politely. He points at the pitcher of cold water in his hand, offering to pour her some.

“I’m good,” she answers with a shake of her head and another smile. “And please, call me Grace.”

“Only if you call me Carlos, ma’am,” he gives her a smile of his own; it grows as she lets out an amused chuckle and nods in agreement.

“Okay, that’s a deal.”

“Good,” he says jokingly. He puts the pitcher back in the fridge before turning to give her his full attention, frowning when he finds her fidgeting, shifting from foot to foot nervously. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” Grace blurts out, looking as surprised as him. “I wanted to talk to you about something, but now I’m not sure if I should, or if it’s any of my business – or if I’m even just imagining things and overreacting.”

Carlos raises an eyebrow at the woman’s run-on sentence. “Well,” he starts off slowly and with caution. “I know we don’t know each other very well – ”

“We should change that,” Grace interrupts him with a kind smile on her pretty face.

“I completely agree,” Carlos concurs, liking Grace’s welcoming presence even before this conversation. “But what I do know about you is that you just don’t seem like the type of person who overreacts. So why don’t you tell me what’s going on, and we’ll see if I can help,” he finishes with what he hopes is an encouraging look.

“TK got himself a good one,” she says with a fondness that makes him blush slightly. “Okay, so I have this new neighbor, Rosie,” she starts to tell him.

Carlos listens as Grace explains about the newly married couple on her block, Rosie, a jumpy young thing, and her husband, Derek. He frowns as Grace tells him about her first encounter with them, the way the girl went from friendly and lively when they were alone in her front yard to subdued the moment her husband showed up.

“I can’t explain it,” Grace lets out a frustrated exhale. “He was friendly enough; he didn’t grab her in any way that would raise concerns, and yet alarm bells went off the moment he walked up to us. Even as she was smiling, there was something in her eyes that has stuck with me.” Grace sighs again. “Like I said, maybe I’m overreacting, looking for trouble where there isn’t any.”

“Grace,” Carlos starts with a shake of his head. “I have been on a number of your calls, and I hear you over the radio. You are an amazing operator because you have good instincts. If you’re worried about this girl, I don’t doubt you saw a reason for it. What does Judd say?”

Grace’s expression softens at the mention of her husband, her eyes shining with love and affection. “I haven’t told him yet. Judd, bless him, is so tenderhearted and protective. If I said to him that I think something is wrong with this slip of a girl, you better believe he would be pounding down their door before we even find out if something is really wrong.”

Carlos gives her an understanding smile. “Sounds like TK,” he tells her, earning a chuckle in return.

“Why do you think they clashed when they first started working together?” she questions with a twinkle in her eye that lets him know she’s heard as many complaints about TK from Judd as he’s heard from TK about her husband. “Those two are reckless softies who want to save the whole world, and if no one is there to check them, they dive in headfirst,” she says with a pointed look at him.

“Is that supposed to be us?” he questions jokingly. “We’re going to keep them in check?”

Grace shrugs easily. “Well, I married mine, so I pretty much signed up for the job. You’re still dating, so that’s up to you to decide.”

“Can you be my support group?” he questions. It’s not like he really needs to decide after all. He might not be married to TK yet, but he has known since the night of the solar flares and maybe even before that, that it’s his job to keep TK safe.

Grace grins at him, her eyes crinkling at the corners from her smile. “We can meet on Wednesdays for pie.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Carlos says easily, only half-joking. He likes Grace’s easy energy and can see himself becoming good friends with her. “Now, how do I help you with Rosie?”

 ֎֎֎

 “You and Grace were talking for a while back at the station.”

Carlos looks up from the book in his hand over at TK as he comes out of the bathroom into his bedroom. He licks his lips as he takes his boyfriend in, dressed only in a pair of grey sweats that rest low on his hips.

“Carlos?” TK questions as he runs a towel over his hair, a smile taking over his face when Carlos jerks his gaze from all the tantalizing skin.

“Huh?” he questions, blinking a few times, hoping to focus. He blushes slightly at the knowing chuckle TK gives him in response.

TK throws the towel in the hamper before he crosses the distance to him. He presses a knee on the bed by his thigh, throwing the other over him.

Carlos quickly drops his book on the bedside table, freeing his hands to place them on TK’s hips as he comes to sit on his lap. He runs his thumbs over the soft skin right at the edge of TK’s sweats. This time it’s his turn to smile in satisfaction as the simple touch causes TK to shiver under it, his eyes going hazy and soft as he looks down at him.

“Don’t think you’re distracting me,” TK accuses him softly, even as he sits more firmly on Carlos’ lap, arching into his touch as he moves his hands from his hips to his back, fingers touching the constellation of freckles he now knows by memory. “You two looked deep in conversation. Is everything okay?”

“Grace has a neighbor she’s worried about,” he tells him, watching as TK goes from soft to tense and alert. “She has a bad feeling about the woman’s husband and asked for my opinion as a cop.”

TK frowns, concern replacing the previously touch-induced daze on his face. It’s not surprising to Carlos in the least. He’s pretty sure he’s never met anyone more empathetic than his boyfriend.

“Does she think he’s hurting her?” he asks, worrying his bottom lip in distress.

Carlos runs his hands up and down TK’s back once more, this time not to arouse but comfort. “Maybe,” he says with caution. From everything Grace told him, he understands her worry, but he also doesn’t want to make up an opinion before having all the facts. “She’s going to visit her tomorrow with some food as a late ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ thing, and asked me to tag along.”

TK bites down on his lip even harder, causing Carlos to reach up and press his thumb against it until he releases it. “Hey,” he starts softly. He tips TK’s chin to look at him in the eyes. “It’s fine. I’m just going for support and to offer a helping hand if there’s something to Grace’s concerns.”

“You’ll be careful?” TK questions, his voice low and worried. “Domestic situations have a way of spiraling out of control quickly.”

“Of course,” he answers, tugging TK forward. He lets out a content sound as TK settles on top of him. He turns his face into TK’s damp hair, giving it a kiss. “Everything will be fine, I promise,” he whispers, holding his boyfriend close.

Later, the promise will ring loudly in his ears.

 ֎֎֎

 “Relax,” he says to Grace quietly as they stand on Rosie’s front steps. He arrived at the Ryder’s home thirty minutes earlier and waited as Grace finished her peach cobbler before they crossed the street, food in hand. “You’re just being friendly, and I’m tagging along for the ride.”

“Right,” Grace murmurs back as she presses the doorbell. She spares him a look with a raised brow. “That’s a nice shirt, by the way.”

“TK got it for me a few weeks ago,” he says, running a hand down the light-weight cream color polo. “The color makes me look less intimidating, don’t you think?”

Grace’s mouth quirks upward in amusement. “Carlos, sweetheart, you’re massive. I don’t think a soft-colored shirt will hide what you’re packing. Luckily you have a kind, gentle face to balance out all those muscles.”

Carlos grins at her, his smile growing when she rolls her eyes at him. “Yeah, you’re cute,” she mocks sarcastically, her dimples winking at him.

Carlos laughs at the begrudging compliment and Grace’s teasing ways. It reminds him a lot of his sisters and the way they gently like to mess with him. He’s still mid-laugh when a young woman with long light-brown hair and big green eyes opens the door. Her eyes remind him of TK, and he instantly feels protective of her. He remembers Grace calling her a slip of a girl, and he understands why. She’s small and sweet-looking in a heavy long sleeve shirt and print leggings.

“Grace?” she questions curiously, her eyes shifting quickly from Grace to him and back again.

“Hi Rosie,” Grace greets her with a bright smile that convincingly hides the tension she had moments ago. “This is my friend Carlos,” she points to him, not adding anything else. Better to keep her attention off him as he studies her. He takes in her clothes again, the shirt so big the sleeves come down to her fingertips, the thickness odd for the current warm weather. “He was visiting, and I mentioned I hadn’t had a chance to properly welcome you to the neighborhood, so we made you cobbler. Can we come in?”

Carlos smiles in what he hopes is friendly and reassuring as Rosie sneaks a look at him again. She looks over her shoulder towards the inside of the house before giving them a nod. “Sure, Derek is not home anyway,” she says, stepping aside to let them in.

He lets Grace cross the threshold first, but not before sharing a pointed look with his friend. The mention of her husband and her being comfortable with letting them in because he isn’t home already setting an alarm off for him.

“Sorry about the mess,” she says as she follows them into the living room, where there are still a few moving boxes on the floor. “I haven’t had a chance to put everything away,” she says with a self-conscious chuckle. “I can’t make up my mind where I want things to go. It drives Derek crazy.”

“It’s fine,” he tells her with an understanding smile, speaking for the first time. “When I first moved into my place, it took me a month to put up curtains because I couldn’t decide what color I wanted.”

Rosie gives him a small smile, her shoulders relaxing slightly at his comment. It only makes Carlos more tense and aware. He’s already starting to see what Grace was talking about. Even with the friendly smile on the girl’s face, there is an air of tension around her as she moves – the slightest shake of her hands as she takes the cobbler from Grace while she asks where Derek is.

“Oh, who knows,” she answers with a smile that looks more like a grimace. “He likes to wander about. This looks delicious Grace, thank you. I can’t bake to save my life,” she says with an awkward laugh. “I’ll serve some up, be right back.”

They watch Rosie walk into the kitchen silently before they turn to each other.

“Okay,” he starts once they’re alone. “You’re right something is up. She’s nervous, even scared. She only let us in because he’s not here, and I don’t like how she put herself down twice already, like someone who’s used to hearing negative things about themselves.”

“It’s pretty warm for a sweater today,” Grace comments quietly, her brow wrinkling in the middle as she frowns. “I don’t want to be right about this, Carlos,” she whispers, obviously pained by the idea.

Carlos has only known Rosie for a few minutes, and he knows exactly how she feels. He opens his mouth to reassure her that they will not leave without helping the young woman when the front door opens and the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

Derek – is almost as tall as him but slimmer, with limp, dirty blond hair and cold blue eyes. He has a mean look on his face that Carlos doesn’t like one bit.

“Who the fuck are you?” he sneers at them, making zero effort to hide the fact that he is not happy they’re in his home.

“Derek!” Rosie exclaims as she walks back into the living room with two small plates in her hands. Her eyes are wide as she looks at her husband. “Hi, baby,” she says, trying to smooth her expression out but failing as her eyes dart back and forth rapidly. “You remember Grace, right? She’s our neighbor from across the street.”

“Hello again, Derek,” Grace greets him, but there isn’t a hint of a smile on her face as she looks at him like a bug.

Derek notices if the way his eyes narrow is anything to go by. He turns to him with a raised eyebrow. “And you? Who are you?”

Carlos wonders for a second how he should play this, but as he catches Derek’s angry looks at his wife and how Rosie seems to be shrinking into herself the longer she stands by the archway of the room, he decides to rip the bandaid off and let the chips fall where they may. “I’m a friend of Grace’s, Officer Carlos Reyes with Austin Police.”

The reactions are, unfortunately, instant. Rosie drops one of the plates she’s holding in fright while Derek snaps his neck to look at her.

“What the fuck have you been saying?” he questions her, taking a menacing step forward.

Carlos moves too, getting in the space between them, holding up his hands defensively to Derek. “Back up, man,” he warns him, his voice hardening.

The ugly twist of Derek’s face grows nastier, meaner, and now that he’s closer, Carlos can smell the bourbon coming off him.

“Seriously, Derek, back the fuck up,” he grits out through clenched teeth when the guy takes another step forward, ignoring his warnings.

“You don’t tell me what to do,” Derek all but shouts angrily. “This is my house, and I’ll do whatever the hell I want.”

“Like hurt Rosie?” Grace asks him with a stern look, and while Carlos understands the sentiment, he groans internally at the question and the way it takes Derek’s focus off him to Grace. Behind him, he can hear Rosie quietly crying.

“And what if I do,” Derek questions with another sneer. “What are you or anyone else going to do about it? She’s my wife. I can do what I want with her.”

Grace looks at Derek with the same look of disgust he feels. Quietly he pulls out his phone and sends a quick message to his partner, grateful he had the forethought of mentioning the situation to her before he came.

“Only cowards hurt their wives,” Grace answers with another nauseated look and shake of her head.

Carlos admires her bravery. It proves the wrong thing to say, though, as Derek sticks his hand in his pocket and Carlos catches a flash of silver.

“You have a smart mouth on you, don’t ya?” Derek snarls at Grace with a switchblade in his hand.

He moves, and Carlos does too without really thinking. Like with Rosie, he gets between Derek and Grace, only this time Derek is ready, and he swings his knife-carrying hand at him.

Grace and Rosie both shout, Grace quickly moving out of the way and towards the young woman when she tries to step forward to intervene.

“Derek, stop!”

“Put the knife down, Derek! He’s a cop!”

Derek doesn’t listen to either of them, and neither can Carlos, as he jumps back to avoid the knife being lunged at him. The fight happens for Carlos in a blur as he tries to avoid the blade, disarm Derek and keep him from turning his rage toward Rosie or Grace.

“Please stop!” Rosie screams again, loud, and so scared it breaks Carlos’ focus for a moment. Unfortunately, it’s a moment too long, and he lets out a shout of his own as the knife pierces his skin on the left side of his flank.

Grace shouts, alarmed. “Carlos!”

He holds her back with one hand as she rushes towards him. She shoves it away, placing hers on his wound to put pressure as his shirt quickly stains with his blood.

Derek stares wide at him, the realization of what he’s done coming over his face. He doesn’t have a chance to react further than that as Austin Police barges through the door, Carlos’ partner at the front.

Carlos leans on Grace heavily, and Rosie comes forward to help him stay up as the three of them watch Derek be dragged to his knees and handcuffed.

“You can’t stay out of trouble even on your day off, Reyes,” his partner shakes his head at him before signaling for EMS to come in.

He tries to roll his eyes at her, but he’s starting to feel lightheaded, and he’s just grateful when the gurney rumbles in.

Rosie and Grace hand him off, but not before Rosie apologizes, he tries to reassure her, but he finds it hard to speak as he gets sleepier. He thinks he hears Grace tell her it’s not her fault, and he nods tiredly in agreement.

Looking over at Grace, he smiles, hoping it will ease the worried look on her face. “TK is gonna be pissed about the shirt,” he jokes right before he passes out.

 ֎֎֎

 Carlos wakes up to bright lights in his eyes. He groans, annoyed at them as he tries to cover his face and finds that he’s tugging on his IV.

The hospital, shit.

“Everything will be fine, I promise,” says a soft mocking voice to his right, and when he turns his head, he’s not at all surprised to find TK sitting there with a raised eyebrow, trying to hide his worry behind a sarcastic look. “Getting stabbed, needing surgery, and having your spleen removed doesn’t scream ‘everything is fine’ Carlos Reyes.”

“Hey, baby,” he rasps out, his throat dry like the Sahara. “Sorry about that.”

TK gets up with a deep sigh. He crosses the distance to him and leans down, pressing a kiss on his forehead before he lays his against Carlos’. “You were being a big damn hero, so I forgive you,” he whispers as he touches his nose to Carlos’. “But if you can please avoid getting hurt while you save the world next time, I would appreciate it.”

Carlos makes a humming noise in the back of his throat, closing his eyes for a moment as he basks in TK’s closeness.

“I would have to agree.”

Carlos opens his eyes to find two other people in the room he didn’t notice before. Grace and Judd sit on the other two chairs of the room, both standing when he looks over at them. They walk together to the foot of his bed, and Grace wraps her hand around his ankle, giving it a squeeze.

“If we are going to be friends and go on adventures together, you can’t end up stabbed, honey,” she says with a sweet smile on her face.

“Carlos and Grace save the world,” TK says with a proud but dry smile. He looks over at Judd, sharing a look with the older man. “God help us, brother,” he says, getting a severe nod in return from the cowboy, while Grace scoffs at both of them.

“We didn’t save the world,” Carlos protests at the repeat of those words.

“Tell that to that sweet, scared little thing you two helped get away from her abusive husband,” Judd answers, still somber.

“Yeah,” TK agrees with a nod. He combs a soothing hand through Carlos’ curls. “Pretty sure Rosie would tell you differently.”

“Is she okay?” He asks, seeking Grace’s eyes, letting a relieved exhale when she nods.

“Your partner had a social worker ready, and they are setting her up as we speak,” Grace assures him. “She said thank you.”

Carlos lets out another deep breath. “That’s good.”

Grace looks at him for a moment with a small frown on her face. “You had them ready, even when we weren’t sure if I was right – “

“I trust your judgment, Grace,” he interrupts, answering her silent question. “You knew – so I prepared.”

Grace gives his ankle another squeeze, and Carlos nods at her in understanding.

“We should go,” she says with a smile. “I’m sure TK wants to scold you some more and then smother you with kisses.”

TK lets out a sound of protest that has Judd snorting. It makes Carlos chuckle despite the pain it causes.

“Pie on Wednesday?” he asks Grace, grinning at the twinkle that enters her eyes as she smiles back widely at him.

“I’ll see you in my kitchen – 4ish?” she points at him. She starts to turn with Judd after he agrees, but the older man stands still, looking at him.

“Thanks for keeping my baby safe, brother,” Judd says to him quietly.

Carlos swallows hard, the weight of the words impacting him. He looks up at TK to find him staring at him with a soft loving look on his face. “You keep mine safe all the time, just returning the favor.”

The Ryders both smile at him as they leave; Grace makes a signal that she’ll call him, blowing him and TK a kiss before closing the door, leaving them alone.

“So you and Grace are friends now.”

“Yeah,” Carlos answers, smiling at the comment and how true it is. They’re friends now.

“That’s cool,” TK says, smiling as he sits at the edge of his bed. “But for mine and Judd’s sake, can you two keep the dangerous situations to a minimum?”

Carlos snorts at the comment, grinning when TK rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I know,” he grumbles sarcastically. “Look who’s talking, right?”

“You said it, not me.”

TK shakes his head, but his expression goes soft as he looks at him. “I was so scared when Grace called me,” he tells him with a trembling smile. “But then she told us how you kept her and Rosie safe, and I was so proud of you, baby.”

Carlos reaches for him, tugging on his hand until TK gets the hint, and lies next to him on the small bed, resting his head on Carlos’ shoulder, his arm going around him, careful of his wound.

“I love you,” TK whispers into the slope of his neck.

Carlos closes his eyes as tiredness starts to take over again. He’s in some mild pain, and he’s sure there is gonna be a mountain of paperwork later waiting for him, but Grace and Rosie are safe, and he’s in TK’s arms, so everything is okay in his book.

He turns his face towards TK’s, finding it inches away as TK looks up at him.

Pressing a kiss against his lips, swallowing the soft, peaceful sigh TK lets out, he whispers back. “I love you too.”

[patagucci34]

All Three ~ Nolan Patrick

A/N: this is based on the song All Three by Noah Cyrus. Also i have no idea what it’s like to have migraines and I obviously don’t know how it was for Nolan either, my depiction in this is just what I thought would fit with the story.

Warnings: mentions of sex, swearing, verbal fights, playful arguing

Word count: 6.9k

Nolan Patrick…your best friend, your lover, your kryptonite.

It's the classic friends with benefits scenario…you met when he came to Philly and the rest is history. Your cousin, Meg had been dating Travis Sanheim and she always dragged you along to outings so you had become pretty familiar with the Flyers.

The night you met Nolan you knew you were in for it. You had walked into Scott's apartment trailing behind Meg and Travis and you immediately locked eyes with an unfamiliar face across the room. He immediately blushed and his mouth twitched up a bit in an attempt at a smile. You gave him a small smile back and then were interrupted by a few of the guys giving you hugs.

You were intrigued by the guy across the room, you figured he was a rookie, a super cute rookie, and you really wanted to meet him. It was a little while before you finally did, you wandered into the kitchen with your cousin to grab a drink and then of course you caught up in conversation. But finally, halfway through the night you were being introduced.

"Nolan, Travis, this is y/n, y/n, this Nolan and Travis." Ghosty introduced you to the two rookies. You shook their hands and greeted them sweetly. "It's nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too." The shorter of the two, Travis, greeted. "So how do you fit in with the mix here?"

"My cousin is dating Travis Sanheim and they drag me along to things like these."

"Oh, sweet. Do you go to school here?"

"Yeah, I'm a sophomore at UPenn."

"Wow, don't you have to be like really smart to go there?"

You blushed at Travis' question. Although you had worked super hard to get into UPenn, you hated when people would make a big deal about it. And you never knew how to answer this question without sounding like an asshole. "Um, I mean I guess so…you have to get good grades and be involved in a lot."

"So, probably no chance for me?" Travis joked.

You giggled and shook your head looking over at Nolan who had been pretty quiet the whole conversation. His cheeks flushed a bit more when you looked at him and he realized that he should probably say something. "What are you studying?"

Your breath hitched upon hearing Nolan's voice. It was deep and a bit raspy and you were even more intrigued. "Environmental Studies." You answered with a small smile.

"Cool, so you like the outdoors?" Travis asked.

"Yeah, I've always lived in the city, but I like to get out whenever I can and go camping and hike and stuff."

Nolan immediately knew that he wanted to get to know her more. He was happy that she said she came to stuff like this a lot and he'd have the opportunity to hang out with her.

 Meg came barreling into the three of you, grabbing your arm to pull you towards the pong table.

"Sorry boys, she's needed for beer pong!!" She called over her shoulder and you shot them an apologetic smile as she dragged you across the room.

 You and Meg dominated, as always, so you were occupied with beer pong for quite some time. But once you finally got knocked out, you looked around for Nolan because you really wanted to talk to him again. You spotted him in walking towards the kitchen so you decided to follow.

 He sensed a presence behind him and smiled when he turned and saw that it was you.

"Beer?" He asked holding a bottle out for you.

You nodded and took it from his hand, "thank you."

He grabbed one for himself and leaned against the counter. "You're quite the player."

You smirked at his compliment, "yeah, we're not all total nerds at UPenn, I've had my practice."

"So, are you from Philly?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yup, born and raised…"

"You say that like it's a bad thing…"

"I love it here, I do, but sometimes I wish I had gone somewhere else for school. Just to experience something else, you know?"

Nolan nodded, "Yeah, I left home when I was a teenager for hockey, it's nice to see what else is out there but there's definitely no place like home."

You smiled at his comment, he was very soothing. You had only known him for a few hours but you already felt super comfortable around him.

 You stayed in the kitchen with him and talked for the rest of the night. You hadn't even noticed how late it had gotten until Travis came looking for you telling you that you needed to go because Meg was super wasted.

"Okay, I'll be right out." You assured him so that you could try and invite Nolan back to your place.

"It was really nice talking with you, y/n…" Nolan said.

"Would you maybe wanna come back to my place?" You asked with a smirk.

He smiled and nodded, "let me just go to tell TK."

 You walked up to Travis and Meg, "Nolan is gonna come back with me, so you can guys just go home." Travis raised his eyebrows, "are you sure?"

You nodded, "yeah, I'm good. I promise."

"Okay…" Travis said hesitantly. "Text me when you get home please…and if you need anything." Although Nolan seemed like a good guy, Travis still didn't really know him and he was protective of you.

"Will do. Thanks, Travis. Good luck with Meg."

"Yeah, bets she passes out in the Uber…"

You laugh at his prediction and say goodbye to Meg.

 You turn around and Nolan is approaching you. "You ready?" You nod in response and go downstairs to wait for your Uber. Conversation seemed to just flow and you talked the whole way to your apartment.

 Your roommates thankfully were both in their rooms for the night so you didn't have to deal with any introductions.

"Do you want anything to drink?" You whispered as you entered your apartment.

"I'll have some water if that's okay." You nodded and handed him a water bottle before leading him down the hallway to your room. Unsurprisingly, you talked for a little bit longer before he finally made a move and started kissing you.

 You melted into his grasp as soon as you felt his lips on yours. The faint taste of beer on his lips had you desperate for more.

 --

 Ever since that first night he had you locked in. You hooked up a few nights a week when he was in Philly. You kept in touch when he was on road trips and when he went back to Winnipeg for the off season, you even visited him there a few times. He had grown to become your best friend. As the two of you got closer it wasn't always about sex, he'd come over after a tough loss, you'd confide in him when you were stressed about school or your friends. But despite how close the two of you were, you never felt your relationship progressed to anything more than friends.

 Everyone always thought you two were a couple, he invited you to team events as his plus one, you went on dates, you were exclusive, you argued like you were married…but for some reason you never put the label on it. You didn't totally mind…you were both still very young and not to mention putting a title on it really wouldn't change your relationship at all so you supposed it didn't matter. It would happen when it happens and that was fine… or so you thought.��

  I really hate when you say you love me, those spoken words are wet concrete

And in your arms I feel so lucky, weightless when you lie on me

 It started to really fuck you up when he said those three forbidden words. I love you. Well, in your case it was two, and not as meaningful or intimate as it usually is said for the first time.

 You guys had been together, or doing whatever you were doing, for two years. He was leaving for a week long road trip and you were at his place helping him pack before you brought him to the airport.

"Hey, y/n/n?" Nolan called from the bedroom. "Have you seen my black tie?"

"I'm ironing it right now!" You yelled back from the living room.

 Once you finished ironing his dress clothes you brought them into his bedroom for him to pack.

"Thank you." He said before giving you a quick kiss and zipping them carefully into his bag.

"Do you want to eat anything before you go?" You asked.

"Can you make me a ham sandwich, please?" He asked with a childish grin.

You chuckled and shook your head, "of course."

 You looked at the time and figured he'd need to eat in the car so you packaged it up so he could take it with him. Just as you finished, he emerged from the hallway with his bags in hand. You grabbed him a bottle of water and put it in a bag with his sandwich. You double checked with him that he had everything and you headed down to the car. You drove so Nolan could eat and the rest of the car ride was spent humming along to the music.

 "Do you want any help?" You asked as you put the car in the park out front.

"No, I'm all set." He said as he slid out of the car. You got out after him and stood by as he gathered his bags. "Thank you for your help this morning."

"Anytime, Nols. Text me when you land, please."

"Will do," he assured as he leaned down to kiss you, "love you, babe."

 You stood there shocked at his words as he walked away seemingly unbothered. True to his word, he had texted you when they landed and texted you throughout the week as normal. You were kind of expecting some sort of explanation, at least an acknowledgement of what he had said but it seemed like it just slipped out and he didn't think anything of it. You however, spent the whole week overthinking and freaking out.

 Of course you had thought about if you loved Nolan or not, but you just never thought saying it was on the table because of the status of your relationship. You hoped that when he returned he'd have something to say about it but he didn't. And you were the biggest chicken in the world so you never brought it up. He didn't say it too often, mostly when he'd leave for a road trip or if you weren't going to see each other for a while. You had been trying to build up the courage to say it back but you could never bring yourself to do it.

 It didn't seem to bother him that you didn't say it back. Which made you really think it wasn't that big of a deal for him, which is what confused and frustrated you so much. You didn't understand how he could be so nonchalant about it all the time. Was he that dense? Or were you really just overthinking it? It got to the point where you hated to hear him say it. But it didn't matter how much you hated to hear it, because you knew you loved him too.

 Nolan was not known for showing much emotion. But you weren't either so it worked out for the two of you. You had other ways of expressing your feelings for each other. For you, it was helping him prepare for road trips, cooking him dinner, rubbing his shoulders, and when they started, helping him through his migraines. For him, it was bringing you coffee and dinner when you were cramming for an exam, always making sure you had Reese's and a bottle Sauvignon Blanc on hand, going for walks with you, taking you to concerts… but your favorite moments with Nolan were when the two of you were lying in bed or on the couch. Not doing anything, maybe you have a show on in the background, but you weren't paying attention to it. Instead you were listening to Nolan's heartbeat, focusing on his soft breathing. You were often under him, him acting as the perfect weighted blanket to help you feel at ease.

 --

 But darling if I could, I would fall for someone good, someone good for me

No matter how good the highs are, there of course some lows. Nothing too awful, but with the uncertainties of your relationship comes some strain. Sometimes the time spent together is too much, you feel overwhelmed, Nolan feels too much pressure… and you're never sure if you can work through it. You obviously always have, but each time you have a falling out it feels like the end.

 You had been sitting at home all night trying to reach Nolan. He had been having his migraines for a little while now and you were worried because you hadn't heard from him all day and he wasn't the playing in the game. You knew that if it was anything super serious, someone would have contacted you but you couldn't help but worry about him. You finally decided to go over to his place and see if he was okay.

 You knocked quietly upon arrival wanting to give him a chance to answer the door. After a few minutes of silence you decided to just go in. His apartment was dark, which wasn't unusual during a bad migraine, so you made your way back to his bedroom. His door was cracked so you pushed it open and saw Nolan lying down on the bed.

"Nolan." You whispered with no response. "Nolan." You whispered a little louder this time. He moved a bit so you knew he heard you but he still didn't say anything. You walked over to the bed and gently sat down next to him. "Are you okay?" He grunted in response, still not what you wanted, but something nonetheless. "I'm sorry for just coming, but I was worried…I haven't heard from you all day."

"You can see that I'm alive so you can leave now."

You sighed at his cold tone, you had heard it before and you knew better than to push so you got up to leave. You stopped before the door and turned towards him, "let me know if you need anything." You didn't wait for a response knowing that you probably wouldn't get one so you left his apartment.

 You tried to your best not to be upset by the interaction. You didn't know how Nolan felt in those moments and you wanted to give him what he needed, even if it meant him not wanting you around. It certainly wasn't the first time he shut you out and you knew it wouldn't be the last, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

 What made this time different was your interaction the next day. Usually after a night like that, he would apologize for how he treated you and would explain he just really needed to be alone. You of course always forgave him and things went back to normal. But this time, there was no apology, just more hostility.

 He had texted you asking if you could bring over something to eat. You asked him what he wanted and he said he didn't care, "get whatever you want."

You decided to just go to the store and get a few different things so he had options. When you showed up to his place he was on the couch with his eyes closed, so you quietly shut the door and put your bags down in the kitchen. You were putting a few things away when you heard him speak. "What did you bring?"

You walked over to him so you didn't have to yell, "I got a few things from the store…I got stuff for sandwiches, frozen pizza, soup…"

"Alright thanks." Was all he said. You stood there for a minute not knowing what to do. "What are you doing?" He asked looking over at you.

"I, um, well…" you fumbled out, taken aback by his tone, "do you want me to make something for you?"

"Just make me a sandwich I guess."

You nodded and walked away without another word.

 A few minutes later, you brought his sandwich to him on a plate and set it down a little harder than you probably should have. But you were starting to get upset so you didn't really care. He glared at you in response but thanked you as he sat up and grabbed it. You walked back into the kitchen and put everything away.

 "I'm gonna go, I guess. Let me know when you're feeling better." You said as he walked by him to put your coat on.

"Why are you leaving?"

"Well it's clear you're still not doing well, so I'm just gonna leave you alone." "I never told you that you needed to leave." "You didn't have to, Nolan." "What's your problem?" "I don't want to fight, especially if you’re still not feeling good, so I'm just gonna go."

"Why do we need to fight? I just asked you a question."

"Really? 'What’s your problem?' isn't exactly an innocent question."

"Well I don't really understand why you've got such an attitude." "I'm trying not to lose my patience Nolan, but you're making it really difficult." "Why?!" he asked starting to raise his voice, "What did I do?" "You're kind of treating me like shit, Nolan. I'm sorry that you had a bad migraine yesterday, and I'm sorry if I made it worse by coming here last night, but I was worried. I understand it's hard for you, but I hadn't heard from you all day. You usually let me in and help you through them and it’s fine if that's not what you want or need but you don't get to be a dick to me about it. You asked me to bring you food, I did, and you're still being rude to me. I don't mind being here Nols, I want to be here, but if you're going to act like this I'm not interested."

"You have no idea how hard it is for me, y/n," he yelled at you, "I didn't ask you to come over last night, I'm sorry you were worried but I can't put my migraine on hold just to make you feel better."

"I know that, Nolan! That's why I left once I saw that you were okay! But you were obviously okay enough this morning to text me asking for food, and you're obviously okay enough right now to be yelling at me! I know that I don't know how hard it is for you, but I'm doing my best to be here for you and support you however I can. I know that you can't always text me or call me, and that's fine. But the way you're treating me right now is not okay." "You don't have to be here for me all the time. You didn't have to bring me food today if you really didn't want to. You can say no, y/n, you don't owe me anything."

You were hurt by his words but you tried your best not to show it. "I wanted to bring you food because I care about you! I want to be here for you! It just doesn't seem like you want me here. You've been nothing but cold to me since you texted me this morning! I don't mind doing these things for you, Nol, but you could at least act grateful."

"Whatever, y/n/n. Just go I guess. I'm not arguing with you anymore."

You opened your mouth but you didn't know what you would even say, so you put your coat on and left.

 It had been a few days since your fight and you hadn't spoken to him at all. It was awful timing because you had midterms coming up and you were too distracted to study.

 You were currently trying to force your way through a study guide when you got a call from Meg. You sighed and answered the phone. "Hey, Meg."

"Hey, y/n/n, what's up?" "Trying to study…what about you?" "You're not going to the game tonight?"

"No, I really need to study." "But I thought you were going…?" "Yeah, well plans change. I can't go anymore." You heard some mumbling in the background, which you assumed was Travis. A few moments later Meg spoke up again.

"Are you and Nolan fighting?"

You rolled your eyes and sighed, "We had a pretty big fight the other day and I haven't talked to him since. But regardless, I need to study. I have midterms next week."

"Travis said Nolan has been grumpier than usual. What did you fight about?"

"His migraines I guess??? I don't even know, I tried standing up for myself but he wasn't having it so I left."

"You haven't talked at all since?" "Nope, not a word." "Are you okay?" "I don't know, not really honestly. But I really can't dwell on it right now because I need to focus on studying." "And how is that going for you?" "Not very well." "Okay, so why don't you come over and we can talk about it. If you're not studying anyway it might help to get things off your chest."

You sighed as you thought about it, knowing that she was right you agreed and got your things together to go over there.

 She had a glass of wine waiting for you and you sat down and told her everything.

"Okay, well you were right to stand up yourself. You've done a lot for him recently and you don't deserve to be treated that way."

"Yeah, but he's right, I didn't have to do any of it for him. He didn't ask, I just did it." "Okay so you didn't have to, but despite your weird ass relationship, it's not that crazy that you did. Everything you've done for Nolan I would do for Travis in a heartbeat. Yeah, we're engaged and it's a little different, but you and Nolan have something really special. It's beyond me and everyone in the world for that matter, why you two don't just get over yourselves and date officially. You've worked through fights in the past, you'll work through this too." "But they've never been this big before. And I don't like that it was about his migraines. Even if he apologizes who's to say that he won't act like this again. I feel like I can't fault him for it because it's his way of dealing with them. But I also know that I don't deserve to be treated that way so I just feel like we're not meant to be." "Y/n, that's bullshit and you know it. You and Nolan are like, the perfect match. It's been a few days, I'm sure he's feeling better, you've both calmed down, so sit down and talk about it. You know you're not going to be able to study until you do."

You sighed knowing that she was right, "okay…yeah you're right. I'll text him." 

You: Hey, Nol.

You relaxed into the couch, feeling a sense of relief now that you've had some sort of contact. You took a few sips of wine as you waited, but thankfully it wasn't too long.

Nolan: Hey, y/n/n…

You: Can we talk?

Nolan: Yeah, wanna come over after the game?

You: Yeah, just text me when you get home.

Nolan: You're not coming to the game?

You: I wasn't going to…I really need to study.

Nolan: Oh, okay. I guess I'll see you later.

You decided not to respond, you still weren't super happy with him, so you didn't think you needed to defend your decision.

 "Alright, I'm going over there to talk after the game." You updated Meg.

"Good. So you'll get ready with me???" She asked hopefully.

"Sorry, Meg. I do really need to try and study. I'm gonna head out."

"Fine," she pouted, "but you better let me know how it goes tonight!!!"

"I will, bye Meg."

 Between having the game on in the background and thinking about what you were going to say, you weren't able to get much studying done. But you still tried your hardest until you received a text from Nolan telling you that he was leaving the arena.

 You were hoping he would be in an okay mood…they won the game but Nolan didn't play. You didn't think he was having a migraine, it was probably more of a precaution, but nonetheless he'd be upset that he wasn't playing.

 When you got to Nolan's he was sitting on the couch with two glasses of water in front of him. You smiled at the gesture, although it quickly faded when you remembered why you were even here. He stood up to greet you and you went and sat next to him on the couch.

"That was a good game…"

"You watched?" "Of course."

Nolan nodded, "I just wish I could have played…"

You smiled sadly, "I know, I'm sorry, Nols. Not feeling good?" He sighed and leaned back, "I don't know, I mean, I feel like I could have played, but it's just not worth the risk of bringing one on…"

 You sat in silence for a little bit, neither of you knowing where to start. Just as you were about to speak up, Nolan beat you to it. "I'm really sorry for the way I treated you the other day. I know that you were just trying to help and I know that you don't have to do those things for me but I really do appreciate it. I shouldn't have yelled at you and I shouldn't have dismissed you the way that I did. I know it's not a great excuse, but it was just really bad the other night, I knew that I wasn't going to be fun to be around that's why I didn't want you here. But I don't have an excuse for how I treated you that morning. I had no right to say those things to you, I don't even really know what came over me. You've always been amazing to me and you do mean so much to me, y/n/n, you have no idea. I just hope that you'll forgive me…" "I appreciate your apology, Nols. My intention is never to overcrowd you or make you feel like you need my help. I'm here to help you with whatever you need and it's okay if you need some space too. It'd just be nice to be let down a little easier…"

Nolan smirked at your last comment, "I know, I'm sorry. I promise I will be better at communicating my needs with you." He put his arm around you and pulled you into his side. You rested your head on his chest and he kissed the top of your head.

 --

 You're my nemesis, you're my best friend

We nearly walk on common ground

 You really didn't have big fights like that often, but you did however argue about stupid, little things all of the time.

 One of the things that drove you absolutely nuts about your relationship with Nolan was how different the two of you were when it came to planning things and being on time. Nolan was very "go with the flow" and "we'll get there when we get there" which you loved for him…but you were much different. You liked to have things planned and you absolutely hated being late.

 You were hanging out at your apartment one Friday afternoon watching Netflix when you got a text from Nolan.

 Nolan: Hey, I need a date to an event tonight. I'll pick you up at 6:45.

You looked at the time and it was almost 2 o'clock.

Me: Whoa, whoa, whoa…what kind of event?

Nolan: Pretty fancy, black tie.

Me: Nolan!!!!! I don't have anything to wear!!!

Nolan: You have tons of dresses.

Me: Not any that fit black tie!

Nolan: Oh, well if you go now you'll have time to get one.

 You scoffed and shook your head. Of course, he'd tell you about an event a few hours before and be so nonchalant about it.

 Me: Fine, but I'm not happy.

Nolan: Why? You love these things.

Me: Yeah, when I have time to prepare for them!

Nolan: What do you need to prepare for? Just get a dress and do your makeup or whatever.

 You chose not to respond to that because you didn't actually want to start a fight. It was also hard to actually be mad at him when he really had no idea what was wrong with the current situation.

 You sent an SOS text to Meg and asked her to meet you at Nordstrom to help you pick something out.

 Two hours later, there was a mound of dresses and jumpsuits in your dressing room but you finally found the perfect one. It was a beautiful, sleek, black, satin jersey gown.

"You look so hot, y/n/n." Meg complimented as you spun around in front of the mirror.

"Thanks…I just still can't believe I'm just finding out about this stupid gala." "Yeah, it's a little annoying. But look at you, you found the perfect dress and you still have time to get ready."

"I know, I just hate when he does this. You know how I am about stuff like this." "Yes, I know, Miss Organized…but it's not the end of the world."

You rolled your eyes at your cousin and went into the dressing room to change.

 You hopped in the shower once you got home and did your hair and makeup as quickly as you could while still making it look good.

 You heard Nolan come into your apartment and you glanced at the time because you weren't ready yet. You breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was only 6:30. You finished up your makeup, put on your heels, and grabbed your coat before walking down the hall to greet Nolan. He stood up from the couch when he heard you coming but was engrossed in his phone so he didn't look up at you. You rolled your eyes and cleared your throat to get his attention.

"You ready?" He asked without looking up.

You ignored his question and said his name firmly, "Nolan." He finally looked up at you but still didn't say anything about how you looked. "Do I look okay?"

"Yeah, I don't know what you were so worried about, babe. You look amazing."

"Don't make a habit of, Nols. I was super stressed about it."

He gave you an incredulous look but sighed and nodded his head, "sorry, princess. I'll make sure to tell you a year in advance next time."

You rolled your eyes at his sarcasm and walked towards the door.  

 ~~~

 One other thing about you and Nolan was that you bickered…constantly. He honestly drove you nuts more often than not but for some reason that was why you loved him so much.

 You would argue about what to have for dinner.

 "Pizza?" He suggested.

"We always have pizza, what about Chinese?" You protested.

He rolled his eyes at your suggestion, "we always have Chinese, too."

"Sushi?"

Nolan shook his head, "I don't feel like sushi." "Sandwiches?"

"Nah…" "Well, I don't know, Nolan! Why don't we just go to the store and make something." "That'll take too long." You rolled your eyes and shook your head. "Whatever, just pick something, I don't care."

"You say that now but you're going to complain about it as soon as it gets here."

"Well we can't agree on anything so whatever, just get what you want." You didn't give him a chance to argue as you stomped down the hall to do some homework.

 You always argued about directions.

 "Why are you going this way?" Nolan asked as you made a turn.

"Because it's faster. There's always a ton of traffic the other way." "No it's not, this way is like 30 minutes longer. Even with traffic we'll get there faster the other way." "No we won't, Nolan. I drive this way all the time, it's fine, trust me." "Whatever you say, we're gonna be late though." "No we're not." "Yes we are." "No we're not!" "Yes we are." "Fine, if you're so worried about it, you drive." You huffed out as you pulled over and threw the car in park and got out of the car. Nolan shook his head at how ridiculous you were being but switched places with you anyway.

You ended up getting there 10 minutes late.

 "I told you the other way was faster." You said as you climbed out of the car.

Nolan scoffed, "if you hadn't thrown a fit and just kept driving we would have been on time." "Are you kidding me? It took two minutes to switch places. That's not why we're late." "Whatever.…" He grumbled as he shot you a glare. You stuck your tongue out at him and he shook his head walking a few steps in front of you.

 He hated that you always hogged the blankets.

 To no surprise, Nolan woke up in the middle of night shivering with no blankets on. He sighed angrily and tried to pull the blankets over to him. He wasn't successful because you were all wrapped up in them and they were impossible to move.

"Y/n." He said nudging your shoulder. "Y/n/n." You stirred a bit but didn't wake up. "Y/n." He said louder. Nothing. He sighed again grabbed his water bottle from the nightstand. He poured a little bit on your face and you shot up in shock.

"What the fuck, Nolan?!"

"You were hogging the blankets!" "So you dumped water on me?!"

"You wouldn't wake up!" "You're such an ass." You seethed as you pulled the blanket back to you and rolled over to face away from him. Nolan scoffed at your action and tugged on the blanket. "Get your own blanket if you're so concerned about it." You said as you held onto it so he couldn't have any.

"And I'm the ass…" He muttered in defeat as he got up to grab a blanket from the other room.

 You hated the way he put the toilet paper on the holder.

 "Nolan!!!" You screamed from the bathroom. You were pretty sure at this point he was doing it just to piss you off. You hated when people put the toilet paper on upside down. The right way to put it was so the tail was on top. It flowed so much better and you didn't understand how people could think that it’s okay the other way.

As you angrily switched it around, Nolan was out in the living room smirking because he knew exactly what you were yelling about. He feigned innocence as you came stomping down the hallway yelling at him for putting it on like that. "Oh, I'm sorry babe, I didn't mean to."

You rolled your eyes at him and scoffed. "Seriously, Nolan. You know it pisses me off." "I know, I’m sorry, I just don't think about it when I'm changing it, because it's really not a big deal. It's just toilet paper."

"Yeah, but it's so much easier when it's right side up."

"Some would argue that you have it wrong." "Yeah they might, but they're stupid. If you don’t care, why can't you just put it the way I like it." "I try to, babe, I just forget sometimes." "Well please, try and remember."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

 A few days later, Nolan went into the bathroom and chuckled when he saw a sign posted by the extra toilet paper.

Please put toilet the right side up. Thank you :)

 Deciding he wanted to dance with the devil, he switched the toilet paper so it was the "wrong way." It took a while, but a few hours later he was in the kitchen grabbing a snack when he heard his name being yelled from the bathroom. He laughed and shook his head, preparing for the storm that was coming his way.

 --

 But we're suckers for the thrill, playing fuck, marry, and kill

Honey you're all three.

 No matter how much argued, bickered, or fought, you loved him. He was your person. You were with each other for your best moments and you stuck by each other through your worst.

 Your best friend, your lover, your soulmate. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

 ---

 You and Nolan were enjoying a rare day off you had together lounging around the apartment. Nolan had noticed that one of his favorite bands, Mt. Joy were on Instagram live. He shot them a quick text asking if it was okay if he joined. They of course said yes so he hopped on.

 You were in the kitchen baking cookies, only half listening to what Nolan was saying. However, you immediately stopped what you were doing when you heard something that Nolan said. "I'm just hanging out at home with my girlfriend. Enjoying the day off." Once you got over the initial shock you listened more intently to see if he would say anything more about it. "Yeah, we've been together for a while. Pretty much since I came to Philly." Your jaw dropped. Of course. Of course he would play it off as if you've been dating for years. Apparently you were lost in thought for longer than you thought because the next thing you know Nolan came up and waved his hand in front of your face. "You there?"

"Oh yeah, sorry." "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm your girlfriend, huh?"

He smirked at your tone, "of course you're my girlfriend. Am I not your boyfriend?" "Oh my god, Nolan!"

"What?!" "How long have I been your girlfriend?" He shrugged, "I don't know, I thought we were always kind of dating."

You scoffed, "unbelievable." He gave you a questioning look but you shrugged him off. "Nothing…never mind."

"No, tell me." He insisted.

"It's just, we never really talked about it or had the conversation so I didn't think we were actually boyfriend and girlfriend." "So we've just been…what, a thing? For three and a half years?"

"Well, I don't know, I guess. We've never celebrated an anniversary or anything. And this is the first time I've ever heard you call me you your girlfriend." "Oh, well, I'm sorry y/n/n. I guess after it had been so long I just kind of assumed." You gave him an amused huff. "What? Should we have talked about it?"

"No, no, I guess not…" you reassured, "it's just so…us."

"Us?" "Our whole relationship has been me overthinking and you under thinking, apparently…no offense."

He chuckled at your explanation. "You've been overthinking our relationship?"

"Well, yeah! I never knew what we were but you never seemed worried about it so I didn't want to bring it up."

"Okay…so if you need it spelled out for you…" he started earning himself an eye roll from you, "will you be my girlfriend?"

"I thought I already was?" You replied with a playful smirk.

He rolled his eyes at your teasing but teased you right back. "So are we good? We didn't just break up, did we?"

"No, I love you too much to give you up that easy." He raised his eyebrows at your admission. "Oh, you love me, huh?" You stuttered a bit, realizing that because you had been so insecure you had never actually said it back. "See I notice things, not such an under thinker, am I?"

"I'm sorry, it's my overthinking... I always just thought it kind of slipped out when you said it and because I didn't know what we were I was scared if I said it back things would end." "What?!" He asked, looking at you like you had two heads. "How does that even make sense?!" "I don't know!!" You defended, "I just thought…I don't know... I guess I really don't have an explanation. Just that I'm a little bit crazy."

"It's okay, I already knew that. Your insistence that there is a correct way to put toilet paper on the holder was a dead giveaway."

"Ha ha ha…" you fake laughed, "you do put it the right way now, though…"

"I can't have you going off the rails on me…"

You gently shoved him and shook your head. He smiled and cupped your face in his hands. "I love you, y/n/n. I always have and I always will."

"I love you too, Nolly." You said with a smirk.

Nolan grimaced at the nickname, "okay, maybe not when you call me that."

"Oh, come on, Nolly. You know you love it." "I don't...but I love you so I'll let it slide."

You stood on your tip toes prompting Nolan to bend down so you could kiss him. He picked you up and set you on the counter and you made out for a few minutes.

"As much as I want to make sweet, sweet love to you baby, this dough smells really good…" He said, suggesting you finish the cookies.

"Aye, aye, captain." You saluted as you pushed him out of the way and hopped off the counter.

-- 

For the rest of your life with Nolan, there wasn't a day that went by where you didn't want to fuck, marry, and kill him. But it never stopped you from loving him.

[maybe-theres-hope]

Vague tarlos prompt if it inspires you? Any situation involving protective carlos? Love your writing! :)

Hi anon! Thank you for prompting! 

Warnings: references to Rohypnol type substance (though it is not named), potential assault situation. Absolutely nothing actually happens, it’s handled quickly and this is mostly lighthearted. I just wanted to warn for anyone who’s triggered by the situation. 

Carlos didn’t frequent bars much, as a rule. He liked dancing, sure, and socializing; however it was mostly the clientele he didn’t like. Carlos was a cop--he’d seen the shitty underbelly of this city more than he cared to acknowledge, and usually nefarious types like that liked to hang out in places like this: loud, anonymous, and dark. Most of the time his friends didn’t invite him out to clubs and bars because he couldn’t turn off his instincts and thus it made him a little bit of a stick in the mud at times.

Tonight was similar, though he’d allowed himself to let loose just a little. Michelle had bugged him for ages to come out this bar, a hole in the wall that she said he might be able to pick up in, given the atmosphere was pretty welcoming for a country joint.

At this particular moment, just past his third beer, he was beginning to see the appeal.

Standing at the bar and chatting with the girl behind it was the absolute cutest guy he’d ever seen. Compact but muscular, with arms just slightly too big for the sleeves of his patterned shirt. Casual stance, but seeming a little out of place. Probably a tourist. And holy hell, his perfect ass. Carlos was not a shallow guy, but watching as the guy leaned in closer to talk to the bartender and the way the denim pulled over what was probably the most beautiful specimen of a ‘bubble butt’ Carlos had ever seen, he had to admit to himself that he was literally objectifying the guy where he stood.

To his consternation though, Michelle noticed right away. “I see you leering, Carlos. Go, I’m fine here,” she smirked.

“I was not leering, Jesus ‘Chelle. I was just...admiring.”

“Mmhmm. Well? Go talk to him, or I will.”

He snorted. “I don’t think you’re his type at all, chica.”

“You can tell that from way over here? Or are you just hopefully projecting?” She took another sip of her beer and glanced back over to the guy, who was now being approached by another handsome man. The newcomer was tall and lean with a disarming smile that Carlos’ object returned.

“See that?” he said with a nod of his head. “Body language is everything. He’s gay, believe me. Or at least he swings that way.”

“Okay so? Why are you still sitting here? Someone’s about to beat you to the punch.”

Carlos sat and watched as the newcomer said something apparently chuckle-worthy, and the cutie he’d been watching obliged with the sweetest smile and a bashful duck of his head. The tall guy was laying it on thick, and it was apparently working. Carlos knew he’d missed his chance once Tall Guy’s hand slid softly down Cutie’s arm and lingered there for a moment with no rejection. Oh well.

“Too late,” he sighed, turning back to his beer.

Just a few minutes later, he couldn’t help himself checking over again, just to see that gorgeous smile again. However, this time Tall Guy was by himself, no sign of Cutie boy in the tight jeans. The bartender placed a cup of water in front of Tall Guy and walked away to take care of another customer at the other end of the bar. Carlos was just thinking that he actually might have a chance if he could find the guy again in the crowd when his instincts kicked in.

Tall Guy picked up the cup of water, holding it near his hip, between his body and the bar before placing it back on the top. He gave it a quick stir with the straw and left it alone.

Carlos watched him closely, but he never picked it back up. Then, Cutie returned, clearly having gone off to the bathroom or something similar, still with that sweet smile for his companion. His hand reached toward the cup, and Carlos was out of his seat before he could bring it a fraction of the way to his mouth.

“Hey!” he yelled across the room, nearly drowned out by the music but luckily it caught Cutie’s attention just barely. He looked up at Carlos with a startled look, turning to confusion and a little bit of fear, no doubt in response to Carlos’ thunderous expression.

Carlos barely looked at him, his eyes only on Tall Guy as he shouldered his way between them, putting the other guy safely behind his back.

“That how you think you’re gonna get laid tonight?” He gestured to the cup, still held in Cutie’s hands. "Drugging someone so they can’t say no?”

“What?” came the guy’s incredulous reply from behind him.

“I didn’t do anything, man. You’re just jealous I saw him first.” And wow, what an asshole. The guy was standing right there for crying out loud.

“I’m right here, and I’m not a commodity.” This bit was a little exasperated.

Carlos didn’t back down. “I know what I saw, and I know what the consequences are for you if you don’t just turn around and get lost right now.” He took that moment to pull out his badge and hold it up for Tall Guy to see clearly. “Unless you’d like to stay, in which case I’ll start reading you your rights.”

Tall Guy looked sufficiently scolded, but still resentful. Carlos puffed up his chest a little more and took a step into his space.

“Fine, man, fine. I’ll see myself out, officer,” he spit. Carlos turned back to Cutie without giving the guy a second glance.

“Are you okay?” he asked, not able to help the concern in his voice.

“Did you really see him put something in the cup?” Cutie asked. His face had gone a little pale.

“Yeah. I didn’t know what it was, but that kind of thing is never good. I’ve seen some horrible shit at the other end of encounters like that,” he said.

This made the guy’s face turn relieved and overwhelmed all at once. “Thank you,” he said with conviction. He looked ready to hug Carlos, which Carlos himself wouldn’t have minded in the least, but seriously, they’d just met.

“You’re welcome. Not that I don’t think you can handle yourself, but...you know. Cop,” he said with a self-conscious gesture at his badge before stowing it away in his pocket again.

“No, I mean, yes thank you for saving me from a fucking asshole like that but also…it’s...I’m.” He struggled to find words, and Carlos was confused, but he let the man come to the words on his own. “Even more than the physical danger, which I’d probably recover from anyway--”

And didn’t that make Carlos feel even more protective of this sweet, gorgeous man.

“I’m sober. So. The recovery from that would have been...much worse. So thank you,” he said again, looking Carlos in the eye with more seriousness than he’d been prepared for.

Now Carlos was a little overwhelmed himself, but he managed a “No problem.” The man kept looking at him though, so he kept talking. “I’m Carlos, by the way.”

“TK,” he said, offering his hand. “So I have to ask, how did you see him put something in my drink from way across the bar?”

Carlos’ face grew hot. “Umm. Well, I--”

TK laughed. “I was watching you too, before.” His eyes shined in the neon lights behind the bar, and Carlos was lost for a moment. “You’re cute, couldn’t help myself. I can even forgive you for playing for the other team,” he joked.

Carlos figured he was referring to the fact that he was sitting in a booth with a woman, and hurried to correct the assumption. “Oh, no I...Michelle’s just a friend. I’m definitely gay,” he stuttered.

This only made TK laugh more, and even though Carlos could tell it was at his own expense, he wanted to hear more of it. When he’d recovered, he went on. “Oh, I know you are. No straight man knows what colors flatter them that well,” he gestured to Carlos’ green v-neck tee and black jeans. “I meant that you’re a cop. I’m a firefighter. Other team?” He grinned again at his joke.

Carlos just stared at him, face feeling redder by the minute and he thanked every possible deity that this bar was dark enough to hide it. Hopefully. He came to after a moment and let out a startled laugh which brought a bright smile to TK’s face.

“Well, I guess I can make an exception this once and ask you to join us?” he ribbed. “If you’d like. My friend Michelle over there is a paramedic. We can swap war stories and you can forget about the asshole.” He grinned hopefully at TK.

“I’d like that,” was his answer.

Thank you for reading! Please reblog if you liked it :)

[mageofseven]

Back again with the request of the brothers and undateables reaction to MC drunk texting them that they love, Love them ❤️

Oh thank you so much for resending this! I'm sorry about the mishap before. I hope you'll enjoy these~ Since you didn't specify, these are written from the perspective that MC and the boys are in a relationship when they text the boys.

Also, I decided to split these up into two posts so this one will only have the Brothers in it, but I will put up a post for the Undateables real soon!

~

Lucifer:

The man sighed at his desk, signing what felt like the thousandth paper that night. It was only 1am so the night was still young; he knew he'd be at this till morning only to have to go through his duties tomorrow without rest. It was not unusual for him, but the oldest brother was still feeling a bit burnt out.

Ding.

He paused for a moment before setting his pen down and picking up his phone from the corner of the desk.

'Daaaddy. Mammnk dispered'

Ignoring the name they gave him, the man just stared down at the text. He gave another big sigh.

'MC, where are you?'

'I djnno. I went tk a party with Mammm and Asmo and thyy jsyt went poooff.'

God, his brothers were idiots. What if something happens to MC while they're off doing whatever?

'I'll track your phone then. I'll be there soon'

'Nuuu. I jsut wanna get my phone bacc from Mamsmm'

Oh dear Diavolo...

'Love, you're texting me off your phone.'

'Ooo. Yur rite!'

'I am coming to get you now.'

'Okaaaa bye Daddynm. Love yuo.'

The man rolled his eyes, but smile slightly down at the screen. What was he going to with his Love?

Mammon:

Shit! Where'd they go?! He took MC with him to the casino to help distract the other gamblers as he played cards-- hey don't judge!! He promised to buy them a few drinks afterwards. So there they were, sittin' and drink together when this guy he owes money to starts running up and yelling at him! Of course Mammon had to bail! He told MC to run with him but at one point he turned around and the human wasn't there! He's been rushing around and searching for them for the last twenty minutes. Where did they go??

Bing. His phone went off. The moron facepalmed. He has his phone! He should have been calling them or something.

'Baaaabbby. Im loneyl.'

'Oi! Where'd you go? I told you to follow me!'

'But I waz tlkin to thhe fnny man! He evn boght more deinks.'

Shit. They're still back at the bar. But with him of all people??

'Babe, why ya drinking with that jerk??'

'Im not. Hss wife cam e adn got him.'

Wife? Oh thank Diavolo, Belinda came through for him!

'Stay put, got that? I'm heading back now.'

'Kk I love yuo babbny 😘'

Mammon blushed as he read that last message.

'Ya, ya, just stay put, human.'

Leviathan:

Okay so Levi himself is not really a drinker in most circumstances. He pretty much sees it as another thing normies do and use as an excuse to spend time with other normies. Like, why would he care about something so stupid anyway?

Still, that doesn't mean there aren't exceptions to that kind of thing. Like the new bottle he won from a contest run by the creators of the anime I Partied So Hard That I Ripped Opened The Frabric of Reality And Was Met By My Future Wife Who Is Secretly A Cat Girl From Venus! I mean, it's seriously cool! It's the same brand of Venustian wine that Nyanitia loves in the anime!

Levi was so excited when it arrived that he practically begged MC to come to his room to drink it with him as he played his new video game from Akuzon. Honestly it didn't end up like he thought it would though. The wine barely did anything to him at all. I mean, yeah, the third brother didn't have a lot of experience with alcohol but he thought he would at least feel a little different than normal. Eh, whatever. The effect is kinda lame but it's still from the anime! If it's good enough for Nyanitia then it's good enough for him.

The demon shrugged it off and got absorbed in his video game to the point where he even stopped talking to MC, which wasn't unusual. After dying a couple times, he threw his controller down.

"Uggghh, can you believe that MC--"

The boy just noticed that he was alone. Oh... was he really that boring to hangout with? The Avatar of Envy started mumbling a lot of insults to himself as he picked up the bottle.

"Was my gaming that bad? Or was it the wine?" He mused sadly. "No, I bet it was the wine. It barely did anything to me so I doubt it effected them either...."

He starts reading the label on the back, skimming till he reads a section on alcohol level. Level for demons: mild.

"That explains it..." He grumbled, continuing to read in his head.

Level for Angels: low medium. Level for Humans: HIGH. WARNING. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF HUMANS.

Oh...oh no. What's gonna happen to his Henry?? Are they gonna die?? Is Lucifer gonna kill him??? GAH! Where did they go--

Beep. His phone!

'Leeevvvvvi. I fels wooozy.'

Panicking, the boy typed back.

'Where are you??? Are you dying???'

'Nuuuu. I'm jsyt wwwoooosh.'

Gah! What does that even mean?? Before the demon could respond, he got another message.

'Leeeevvvvi chan I lvoe you~.'

The boy's face and ears blazed red. I mean, yeah, it's not the first time he's heard/read them say that but still! Now isn't the time for this!

Another message.

'Sweeeeetue. Coem love me 😢'

The demon let out a panicked yell and charged out his door. His foot collided with something and he heard a whine.

"Sweeeeetie why?" MC laid on the floor of the hallway, pouting and looking more hurt emotionally than physically.

Still panicking, Levi picked up the human and brought them back into his room. He laid them in his bathtub and start researching the affects of Venustian wine on humans.

Boy nearly collapsed from relief and exhaustion when he found out they only had a sip and shouldn't have any health issues from it.

Ends up apologizing a million times over and becomes extra protective of them for the next couple weeks and is paranoid about every food and drink placed in front of them.

Satan:

It was an average evening for him. He was in his room, reading in bed as he waited for MC to come home. Asmo managed to convince them to go to a party with him. Satan didn't really want them to go tonight, but he saw their eyes light up with just the idea of it and the blonde couldn't bring himself to say a thing. Like him, MC didn't really have any experience with parties prior to this, but unlike him, they had a great interest in them. How could he ask them not to go if this was an experience they had wanted for a long time?

Ding.

The man laid his book down next to him and reached for his phone that he laid on the closest stack of books.

'Satn, peple are sk mean 😥'

The demon launched into a sitting position.

'Who needs to die?' He texted back, protective instincts springing up inside himself for them.

'Nno. Teh people here just amke me feel so lft out.'

He sighed. MC was too sensitive for that kind of environment.

'Kitten, tell Asmo to take you home now.' Satan texted before adding 'Tell him I said so.'

'Btu hes tlkin to a succubus'

'I don't care. Tell him what I said.'

'Okaa 😔'

The demon waited a few minutes, but didn't get a new message.

'Kitten?' He texted them.

Minutes when by. Nothing. The blonde got out of bed and started pacing. When that didn't help, he started to transform from the anger at his brother. He decided to text Asmo.

'Bring them home now or so help me, you will face a different type of hell when you get back.'

No reply from his brother either. The Avatar of Wrath was ready to start breaking shit.

Ding. He quickly checked his phone. It was MC.

'Bb I love you.'

The blonde stopped in his tracks. Why--after over 20 minutes of waiting-- was that their only response?

The demon reached out for his door knob, ready to go out and hunt for them, when his door swung open, revealing his brother, who was holding up an intoxicated MC.

"Ugh, you ruined my night!" The fifth brother complained.

Satan, still in his demon form, was ready to deck the other man at best and at worst, who knows. He didn't get the chance to find out because instead, MC tumbled forward and into his arms.

"Satan," They whined. "I wanna.... I wanna lay down."

The blonde took a deep breath before looking to his brother.

"Just leave. Now." He slammed the door closed on the other demon before laying MC down in bed and joining them. He pulled the blanket over them both and held his Kitten close to his chest.

"I should have...stayed home." They mumbled.

He kissed their forehead.

"It's fine. You're fine now, Kitten."

Asmodeus:

After a long, but fun night at The Fall, the Avatar of Lust had his fill was ready to get his beauty sleep. Sadly, he had lost track of his Doll. Oh dear, where could they be? Despite being so late, there were still plenty of people out and he was having trouble tracking them down.

Beep. The demon checked his phone.

'Azzy, I lvoe you🥰'

Asmo giggled, texting back.

'Aww! I love you too! Now where did you run off to? I miss my Dolly~.'

'By eth bahroons'

The man headed off that way and found MC on the floor in the hallway that led to the bathroom.

"Well, what are you doing down there?" He teased.

MC started giggling.

"I fell."

Seeing that they weren't hurt, the demon simply bent over and helped them up. The human instantly leaned against him and hugged him close.

"I love you, Azzy." They told him, closing their eyes as they enjoy the embrace and pressing their cheek against his.

Asmo let out a small laugh then pulled back just enough to kiss his Doll on their cheek.

"Oh you're just too adorable, you know that?" He told them before leading them to the front of the building. "Now let's go home, okay?"

Beelzebub:

Beel woke up for a midnight snack and headed to the kitchen. It was a quick in and out thing, not wanting to be caught by his brothers. He grabbed a whole cabinet full of snacks and carried them back to his room.

Ding. His phone went off and as he opened the door to his room.

The demon laid his snacks on his bed and got in before grabbing his phone off the nightstand.

'Beeesly, I love oyu~'

The redhead smiled happily. It was MC.

'I love you too. When are you coming home?'

No response. The demon simply opened up a bag of chips and started eating. It's fine; he can be patient.

Instead of getting a response however, he was greeted by his Muffin at door.

"I'm baaack~." The human giggled, stumbling just slightly as they walked up to the bed and flopped down before snuggling up to the big demon.

Beel kissed the top of their head, smiling at them.

"Did you have fun with Solomon, Muffin?"

"Mhmm." They said, closing their eyes and stretching out their legs, causing some of the snacks to fall to the floor. He didn't mind.

"That's good." He sat the chip bag on the stand so he could use both hands to hold them close.

The two of them laid there, cuddled up together. The big demon stroked their hair till they heard the human's breath slow and were asleep.

"G'night, Muffin." He whispered. "Dream sweetly."

Belphegor:

It was the middle of the night and Belphie was asleep. That might sound normal for the Avatar of Sloth to you, but in actuality, this was unusual for him. The sleepy boy slept so much during the day that he was usually awake starting from whenever he woke up from his after-dinner nap up until around 4 or 5 am.

Tonight, however, Belphie really wasn't feeling it. Ya know, the whole 'awake' thing. He didn't feel like being conscious. The same reason he didn't wanna be awake was the same reason why he wasn't sleeping very deeply either.; MC wasn't there with him.

That scum Mammon took them out somewhere and they didn't even tell him. He had to hear it from Beel. The 7th brother has been grumpy since then and didn't wanna do anything so he hid away in his attic and fell asleep.

Bing. Bing. Bing.

The demon let out a frustrated sigh. That was the 9th text he got in the last two minutes. He picked up his phone from the other side of the bed and begrudgingly read his messages.

'Belpphi'

'Beelphi

'Belphii'

'Babb'

'Babe'

'Babr'

'Beeelpie'

'Heeyy'

'Mr Moomooo man pay atttention ot me 😢'

"Mr. Moomoo man?" Belphie said out loud, scowling down at the screen. If he wasn't mad at MC, he would have cracked a smile.

'What's wrong with you?' He texted.

'Mammmn lfet me all alone 😔'

Belphie eyes went wide.

'What happened?'

'Mammo owes mnoey to this big Moloc guy and eh chased Maaamkn away.'

Ugh. Mammon's a dumbass.

'Where are you?'

'I dunno. He lefy me on a bench. Teh park?'

'The one by the school?'

'Mmaybe?'

The demon let out another big sigh.

'I'll be there soon. Don't move.'

'Okyy'

A couple seconds later, they sent another text.

'I love yuo, bb. Im srry 😔'

Belphie frowned. His anger at them was dissipating.

'Yeah, I love you too, butthead. Now stay there.'

~

Masterlist

[imagines-r-s]

sticking it - j. farabee

prologue 

a/n: this prologue just has a lot of information needed to continue the series, but i hope you enjoy!! (also the gif is a visual of what the dismount mentioned is, in the gif it’s only a triple)

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys​ @sortagaysortahigh​ @hockey-racing-fubol​

warnings: mention and description of injury (very brief), sadness, pretty angsty ngl, but there’s happiness in here too 

sticking it masterlist

wc: 2.6k

(gif not mine)

From the first time you stepped into a gym at the age of 3 to now, standing in this arena, you knew this was the place you were intended to be. You quickly leveled up in the sport of gymnastics and quickly excelled in the sport. Although there were many hardships - both mentally and physically - along the way, you never wanted to stop. Your one and only love was this sport, always has been. Always will be. 

As you progressed in your gymnastics career, your first coach, Michelle Watson, saw great promise in you and wanted to help you move up to where she knew you could go. Her brother had an elite gym in Philadelphia and he was willing to train you, so you and Michelle moved to Philadelphia to get you the best training possible. Your family was close enough with Michelle to know that you were in good hands.

 Working with the duo of Michelle and Marcus proved to be one of the best decisions of your life as you quickly became one of the top athletes in your sport. Eventually, you moved up to elite, which meant that you were in the division that would go to the biggest types of competitions in this sport. The biggest competitions with the toughest competition.

With the Olympics fastly approaching, it was the only thing on people’s minds. Even with there still being 15 months until Trials actually started, every meet from now on counted. Having to get a certain all-around score to qualify for the next meet, every skill counted. Even the smallest of deductions could set you apart from the group that qualifies and the group that doesn’t. 

Your family supported all your decisions, but especially your cousin, Kevin. He was undeniably marked as your top supporter, he never once doubted that you would be able to make it to the Olympics one day and he knew that you would go through hell to get there if you needed to. When Kevin went to the Flyers, he happened to get an apartment in the same building that you did, which was also close to your gym and his rink. 

Kevin was able to support you and be there for you just when you needed someone. Whenever you had the time from the season, you were able to go watch some of his games and meet his teammates, who were just as supportive of you as he was. There were more times than none that you would end a showcase or meet and have at least five hockey players waiting for you with a bouquet of roses and a good job. 

Kevin was always there with a good job hug and your favorite kind of fruit snacks, TK and Karly with a simple bouquet of roses, and then Nolan with his pep and smack talk on the other girls competing. 

Your teammates were always there right beside you. You made some of the best friends from gymnastics (and some of the worst enemies), Nicole Carter was the teammate that you were closest with. Always making jokes about both of you would have an equal amount of silver and gold medals to add to your collection. 

Now here you were at the American Cup, which wasn’t the most important meet of the lineup to Tokyo, but you had to keep a watch out for competitors and make sure that you caught people’s eye when competing. During warm-up you did make sure to talk to some of the girls, not everyone was able to have a close teammate, so you wanted them to know that someone there was rooting for them. You were always a team player, even in such an individual sport like this, except for Kathryn Davis. 

Kathryn Davis had always been one of your closest competitors, you weren’t going to say you were the best out there - you weren’t - but at least you kept a good attitude about how well others were doing. Kathryn was not like that, if you were her competition in any way, she would drag you as quick as she could. Starting rumors, talking bad about you during interviews, or distracting you before your routines were her go-to ways of getting to you and there were many occasions where you had to calm down one of the other athletes because of something she did.

Today you weren’t letting anyone get in your way. Although it was a minor meet, there was still a lot on the line. The plan for your beam routine was to bring out a new skill that had never been landed in major competition, a wack plan? Maybe. But since it was a smaller meet if you didn’t land it, the score wouldn’t affect you as much. Your plan was to go through your routine and do a 3.5 twisting dismount, the highest competed had only been a triple twisting dismount, so if you did land it today the skill would be named after you. 

With the event lineup for the meet going vault, bars, beam, then floor, you were starting on floor and ending on beam. Going into auto-pilot for the first three events, you didn’t take note of your scores and you hardly even realized that you were getting ready to salute the judges on beam. Taking a deep breath before you mounted the beam, you started your routine. 

The core parts of a beam routine were flight series - where you got at least some air time in whatever skill you were doing, jumps, turns, dance, and the dismount. When all three of your flight series were landed and you finished your jumps and turns, you were ready for the dismount. 

Taking a few steps to do the round-off, you were now at the end of the beam and could do the twisting part of the dismount. Taking off you started twisting, keeping an eye out for the mat (even if it is a blind landing), you started opening up from the twist to make the landing. The only issue was it was obvious you didn’t get enough height, so the mat was closer than it had been whenever you had practiced many times before, and because of that you landed a triple twist while still turning. 

You knew immediately something was wrong, the popping noise that you weren’t supposed to hear was kind of a dead giveaway, but you turned and saluted the judges like usual, and as you took a step, all the pain from whatever you had just done came to your leg causing you to curl up into a ball holding your knee. 

You could hear Marcus and Michelle becoming louder, but the pain in your knee somehow drowned out everything around you. There was commotion all around you and you felt Marcus reach under your leg to carry you back down, away from the beam. Eventually medical got to you and you were ushered away in a wheelchair towards the ambulance. 

“y/n, look at me, okay? It’s going to be alright, we’re getting you to the hospital and then we’ll get everything figured out,” Michelle said, holding your hand as you were taken towards the Emergency Room. 

“I need you to call Kev, please,” you assumed Kevin had heard what had happened and you didn’t want to stress him even more since you knew he had been at a game and probably heard while he was there. 

“I will, hun, I will,” the doctors got you in a hospital room where they would do what they could right now. With the pain meds, you were able to ignore the pain for a while. Your mom had called you from back home to check in while you waited on Kevin to show up to the hospital. 

“Hey, short stack, you doing alright?” Kevin said as he walked into the hospital room, you took note of TK and Nolan behind him. 

“You only call me short stack because you’re literally a giant,” you giggled, “hey, Tiki Bar. Hi, Patti Lapone.”

“Can I get whatever she’s having?” Nolan interrupted. The three of them stayed in your room as you waited for the doctor to come back with more information about the scans and tests that they ran. The boys were mostly enjoying the fact that you were giggling the whole time, but they were just glad that you weren’t in pain about what was going on. When some of your giggling died down, they realized that eventually you would have to terms with what happened. Kevin knew that you might not come back from this one as easily as you hope to, he had seen so many peoples careers end this way. He didn’t want you to have to go through that. 

“y/n y/l/n, hi, I’m Dr. Brady and we needed to consult you about the results from the scans. Are you sure you want everyone in here when you hear?” Dr. Brady asked cautiously, knowing this was not easy news to break. 

“Yeah, they’re fine in here,” you nodded taking note of how Kevin had walked over to the side of your bed, anxiously waiting to see your reaction rather than whatever the results were. 

“Ok, well with the injury you got today, you will need surgery as soon as possible, which will be in about three weeks. From there it will be 6-9 months of recovery, which includes physical therapy and mobility work, the time will depend on what your physical therapist decides is best-”

“Wait, so I’ll be out for like 10 months?” you asked.

“Yes, could be more, could be less. It really depends.”

“So, when do you think I could consider going back to training?” the air in the room felt tense, you were the one out of the loop here. Everyone around you already knew what was going to happen and that you coming back might not be an option. 

“It would all depend on what your trainer thinks is best right now and there is no guarantee you will be back to your old self after the surgery,” the doctor said with a solemn look on his face, as he was the one who had to break the news. 

“Um, ok. Yeah. When would I be able to go home?” you quickly jumped to the next topic of discussion, which Kevin was shocked about, as were Nolan and Travis. 

“Well, we have to get you pain meds, crutches, and a brace, but once we do that we’ll be able to discharge you. Okay?” you simply nodded. The room went silent as you Dr. Brady walked out. 

“y/n/n? You okay, hun?” Michelle said quietly, getting more nervous when you simply nodded. 

“Yeah, I just want to go home.” 

Kevin, TK, and Nolan knew that you weren’t okay, so they all decided to take you home and make sure you got everything situated while having to deal with this. Finally making it to your apartment after being discharged, you decided to try and take a shower, which proved to be difficult, so you just left the issue for tomorrow. Changing out of your competition leo and into comfortable pajamas, you made your way back out to the kitchen where the guys were talking. 

“Kevin said he plans on staying here just in case you need anything, but if you want us all to stay we definitely can,” Travis said when he saw you walk into the room. 

“Oh, if you guys want to, it's cool with me, I’m fine either way. I just plan on going to bed right now. So goodnight, I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow,” giving them a soft smile before making your way back towards your room. 

Going into your bedroom was already bound to be a difficult task. Although the room was simple, a lot of the things that you had on your wall were from gymnastics, pictures from gymnastics meets, medals and trophies littered your room in a way that usually lifted your spirits up. But walking into your room using crutches and the knee brace keeping your knee secure made you hate everything in the room at that moment. 

Knocking over your crutches, you ripped down a poster that had your schedule for the next season leading up to Trials, the picture of you and your teammates was next, finally the goal board you made when you were 10 came tumbling down to the ground, the trophies that you had spent such a long time working for were in the process of being thrown across the room when a pair of arms quickly pulled you into their chest. 

You didn’t notice that the guys had rushed into your room or that your vision was now clouded from the tears, but everything hit you at once. As Kevin held you, you simply sobbed into his chest. The dreams that you had worked so hard for were now crumbling down. You realized that all the time and hard work you had invested would have nothing to show for it. 

Eventually Kevin realized you had stopped crying and he looked down to realize that you had fallen asleep. He gently picked you up and put you in your bed, leaving your crutches right by your bed, so if you needed them you could get them. 

“Do you guys mind helping me pick up everything? She’ll regret it if we don’t,” Kevin asked the two boys in front of him who were very happy to help. All of them were glad that they had the day off and planned on staying here and doing what they could to help you out later. 

You anxiously waited the few weeks before you had to get the surgery, you hardly left your room and when you did, you went right back to your room. Everyone wanted to give you time to grieve and accept the possibility that you might not have a comeback. But once you had your surgery, you actually had to go to physical therapy.

Physical therapy was awful the first month. You genuinely felt bad for Adrian, your PT, for having to deal with you. He obviously had to put up with a lot of negative energy and you just added it to it. “You know, I am aware that you were an athlete. I’m going to assume every doctor has said you won’t make a comeback?” he paused waiting for your response, and once you nodded he continued. “Ok, well I can’t promise anything, but once you actually start working, this won’t necessarily get easier, but you accept it. Now if you’re constantly dwelling on how ‘your dreams are crushed and you’ll never be the gymnast you once were’ then that is exactly what will happen.” 

“Yeah, but-”

“Nope, no buts. You got hurt. It happens. But you already accepting that as the loss of a sport you love so much will not cut it in my book. That energy is not needed, especially if you ever want to go back. Now either accept the worst and get this over with as soon as possible, or actually start working towards your dream again. Those doctors try not to give people false hope, but y/n, you have to realize I know you have it in you to go back there and prove them all wrong. And if you’re doing this just to spite them, then so be it. Let’s get to work now.”

And you did get back to work. 

You were able to start light conditioning about 5 months after and were able to start doing basics 2 months later. “Ok, y/n, I’m going to be straightforward with you, your knee is looking better. But don’t do anything too crazy to where that changes. So the plan now is to start easing back into training, no big skills, no big landings. But you can start working. And I know about a certain meet in March that will be your comeback meet, I’m telling you now.” 

[rafael-silva]

i'll always fight to come back to you: a tarlos fic

Carlos relaxes slightly at seeing TK standing in front of him, but still a little worried, he’ll make sure TK gets checked out before the 126 leave the scene. He finds himself smiling and nodding when TK gives him a smile and nod himself. I’m here, I’m okay.

Carlos only allows himself to look away when his partner calls his name. TK watches Carlos turn and talk to his partner and puts one foot in front of the other as he starts making his way to the firetruck, undoubtedly to be lead to the ambulance by his teammates instead.

No one notices the sharp edged cuts in TK’s turnout coat.

Alternatively: TK saves a little girl when a ceiling collapses during a call and doesn't realize he's injured until he's tumbling forward, the only thing stopping his body from hitting the ground being Carlos's fast reflexes.

for the bad things happen bingo: tarlos + doesn’t realize they’ve been injured 

established tk strand/carlos reyes, major character injury, emotional hurt/comfort, hurt/comfort, angst, whump, fluff, team as family, hurt tk strand, worried carlos reyes, angst with a happy ending

9.8k | on ao3 

*****

The fire roars around the firefighters as they work to get the family out of the burning house. It had been a small fire that went ablaze far too quickly, half of the home around engulfed by flames and one kid was still unaccounted for.

“Marwani, Strickland, report,” Owen howls into the radio, standing outside and watching closely with Mateo by his side and Carlos standing a couple of feet away.

“Got the parents, Cap, heading out now,” Paul replies.

“Copy that. Ryder, Strand, report,” Owen requests next.

“Still looking for the kid, Cap.”

“Be quick,” Owen orders.

“Found her, Cap,” TK’s voice takes over the radio a few beats later. “We’re moving.”

Hearing those words from his boyfriend, Carlos starts moving to the other side of the lawn, joining his partner and making sure the scene and perimeter are still secured.

Inside the house, the ominous echo of the ceiling creaking above TK and Judd makes the blood run cold in their veins.

“TK! You need to get out of there now!” Judd yells.

“Judd, what’s happening?” Comes Owen’s immediate question.

But all TK has time to do is look up with wide eyes before all he can see is the debris tumbling down, aimed directly at him and the child in his arms. On instinct, he dives, shielding the little girl and wrapping his arms around her. The crashing sound is almost deafening.

He can’t hear Judd’s cry of his name or his father’s worried response that comes through a second later.

“Judd, talk to me!”

“The bedroom ceiling, Cap!” Judd barks. “It came down on TK and the kid!”

Owen freezes for a moment. This is what he always dreaded. His worst nightmare is currently coming to life in front of his very eyes. He knows TK is excellent at his job, doesn’t have a single doubt about that, but…bad, terrible things still happen and as much as Owen loves working with his son, this is a time when he hoped TK would be safe, far away from here.

But he doesn’t have time to go down that road. No. His son needs him. He slips back into Captain mode.

“Strand, respond,” Owen says into the radio, trying to keep his voice steady, but it still wavers.

Silence.

“TK! Can you hear me?” Judd’s thick voice echoes through the radio.

Still nothing.

Noticing the sudden tense atmosphere, and realizing that everyone is out except for TK and Judd, Carlos frowns and walks back to Owen. It has been too long since TK said they’re coming out.

And the words Carlos hears next, drop his heart into his knees.

“TK! Please respond!” Owen doesn’t attempt to conceal his breaking voice, now laced with panic at his son’s silence.

Carlos’s eyes go wide at Owen’s words, filled with fear and concern, turning his attention to the house. He prays TK emerges any second through the dust.

He doesn’t.

Owen switches gears. “Judd, can you reach TK?”

“Working on it, there’s a lot of fallen debris and wooden logs,” Judd pants.

“Move quickly but carefully, Judd, we can’t risk a secondary collapse.”

Then Carlos puts one and one together: the house collapsed on TK. More dread sets into his bones.

He holds his breath, waiting for Judd’s updates.

“Keep the line open, Judd,” Owen pretty much pleads.

“Copy, Cap.”

Then Judd goes back to screaming out TK’s name.

No answer comes from the fallen firefighter.

Carlos instinctively moves closer to Owen, now standing right next to him as he nervously swallows, his throat suddenly dry. He and Owen share a brief look, but he sees his own emotions staring back at him in the Captain’s eyes.

Fear. Worry. Aching. Pain.

They don’t say anything, what really is there to be said? It feels like they’re in limbo, not knowing what’s going to happen, not knowing what or how to think. There’s an understanding between them. And then they break their look and turn back to the house.

The air is stiff around them, the sun suddenly too warm, and they’re all collectively holding their breaths.

If it weren’t for the fact that he was listening and praying for it, he could have missed it.

He would have missed the smallest of groans bouncing off the radio.

Owen and Carlos share another look, but this time, there’s a hint of hope in both their eyes.

And Carlos can cry with relief at what he hears next.

“Judd?”

TK’s voice is small and low, but it’s there. It’s there and TK is alive.

Carlos’s shoulder sag and he squeezes his eyes shut, letting out a shaky breath and slightly leaning forward and start collecting himself again.

He feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see Owen, the older man giving Carlos a pat there. Carlos gives him a nod as he straights his back. God, his muscles ache.

They know that TK isn’t out of the woods, yet.

“Yeah, I’m coming to you,” Judd tells TK. “Hang on, brother.”

They all hear Judd shuffling to get to TK, moving fallen pieces as he maneuvers through the mess.

“Status on the fire?” Owen asks.

“Hasn’t reached us yet,” Judd replies.

“Okay. Quickly, Judd,” Owen reminds him. “We’re getting ready to open the water once you’re all clear.”

Emotions well up inside Judd when he lays his eyes on TK. The younger firefighter is currently curled on his side surrounded by broken glass and torn wood pieces, almost in fetal position and his face painted with black ash. Judd can see that TK is having a hard time drawing in a deep, proper breath and he catalogues that in his mind. Still in TK’s grip, the little girl looks at the bigger man with terrified eyes and Judd can see the tear streaks staining her small, red cheeks.

“Hey, kid. You doing alright?” Judd asks and then speaks to Owen. “Found them, Cap.”

“Get them out of there, now!”

“Copy. Can you get up?” TK nods and slowly starts moving.

Judd looks at the little girl. “Hi, sweetheart. Are you okay?”

She gives him a small nod. Judd reaches out and picks her up, holding her tightly against his side. He turns to TK when TK lets out a groan as he gets to his feet.

“What is it?” Judd asks with concern coating his voice.

“Everything hurts,” TK sighs. “I guess that comes hand in hand with a ceiling toppling over you,” he chuckles weakly.

“We’ll get you checked out, come on, follow me.”

Judd leads TK out the way he came back to find him, the move swiftly but carefully and TK can see the light outside of the house. So welcoming, so inviting. Almost there.

The sun hitting TK’s face feels different. Its warmth feels like safety. It was warm inside the house, but it felt like danger. Like uncertainty. But here, standing on the green grass, it’s grounding.

TK closes his eyes and tilts his head up towards the yellow rays, allowing his body to seep up everything it has to offer.

He opens his eyes to see his father coming in focus as he gets closer and closer, his eyes blown wide with worry.

“TK,” Owen breaths. “You okay, son?”

TK nods. “Yeah, I’m fine, dad. Nothing some rest can’t fix.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

After a moment of consideration, Owen nods. “Okay. But Tommy is checking you out,” he clasps TK on the shoulder.

It takes everything TK has to not wince in pain at the contact. The adrenaline is still coursing through his body but he feels sore all over.

“Yeah, sure.”

TK looks over Owen’s shoulder and sees Carlos standing there, clearly itching to go over to him. His heart breaks at knowing Carlos was also experiencing this whole thing from outside. He knows how helpless it feels, from the close call they had when another collapsed building gave way with is father and two kids inside. He knows that sinking feeling. And he’ll do everything he can to ease that pain and worry edged onto Carlos’s creased forehead.

More than anything, Carlos wants to sprint over and scoop TK in a hug, to hold him close, feel his heart beating, feel him whole under his touch. But he stays back, not wanting to interrupt the father-son moment he’s witnessing.

Carlos relaxes slightly at seeing TK standing in front of him, but still a little worried, he’ll make sure TK gets checked out before the 126 leave the scene. He finds himself smiling and nodding when TK gives him a smile and nod himself. I’m here, I’m okay.

Carlos only allows himself to look away when his partner calls his name.

TK watches Carlos turn and talk to his partner and puts one foot in front of the other as he starts making his way to the firetruck, undoubtedly to be lead to the ambulance by his teammates instead.

No one notices the sharp edged cuts in TK’s turnout coat.

He starts walking but his body feels heavy, it feels so heavy, so weighted down TK has to pause to gather his strength. He sucks in a deep breath and blows it out slowly. He keeps breathing, trying to figure out if something is actually wrong or is it just soreness from the collapsed ceiling.

When the pain decreases a little, he starts to move again once to hiss in pain when electricity pulses up his leg and into his side. Maybe his side just took a stronger hit during the call. He’s no stranger to being sore, but it starts to occur to him after a few more steps, that this is more than just being sore.

His side is full-on throbbing now, he can’t take another step without yelping in pain. He drops his helmet, his heart now beating wildly against his ribcage as he slowly moves his right arm and pushes his hand into his coat, brushing it against his side. His hand comes back wet, sticky and coating in red.

He swallows down the feeling of panic that’s starting to brew in his gut, he attempts to take slow and steady breaths, the first responder in him screaming that he needs to calm down.

But then he starts to feel the blood spreading down his side and his world zeros in on that fact. He can’t focus on anything else, just on the warmth oozing down his skin. It’s been a few seconds since his realization but it feels like it’s been hours.

He frantically looks around, wanting to find anyone around, close to him, but he can’t even yell out. The words are suck in his throat.

He feels lightheaded, dizzy and hazy at the same time.

It’s almost like Carlos senses his boyfriend’s distress, because the officer is turning to look back at the firefighter and he’s looking far too pale, paler than he did moments ago. Carlos’s heart leaps into his throat as he quickly starts making his way towards TK.

TK looks at Carlos in time to see him rush and he can see Carlos’s mouth moving but he can’t hear the words.

“What’s wrong? TK?”

TK manages to push out a whisper of “Carlos” before the ground is getting closer and closer.

It stops, though, and it takes a moment for TK’s mind to supply that it’s thanks to Carlos’s quick reflexes that he’s not lying flat on his face against the grass.

“Whoa, whoa, TK!” Carlos exclaims, catching TK before the younger man crashes to the ground, body limp and Carlos immediately wraps his strong arms around him. “Captain Strand! Captain Vega!” Carlos yells, his eyes not leaving TK as he gently lowers him down.

TK squeezes his eyes shut, his entire body now on fire and he blindly scrambles for Carlos. He manages to find his boyfriend’s shoulders and uses one hand to grab a fistful of the fabric he finds there, holding so tightly his knuckles go while. His other hand travels to his side as he lets out a throaty, pained groan.

“TK, talk to me,” Carlos speaks, trying to keep his voice stable but there’s so much underlying fear in his tone that seeps through. “What wrong?”

Carlos tears his gaze away from TK’s scrunched up face and his eyes land on TK’s bloody hand instead.

A pang echoes inside Carlos’s chest.

“Where are you bleeding, TK?”

“Side,” TK manages to say, although it comes out a whimper.

Carlos feels TK’s hold one his uniform begin to weaken and his face beginning to fall. “No, no, keep your eyes open for me, baby,” Carlos pleads.

He reaches out one hand and cups TK’s face, running his thumb over TK’s cheekbone. “TK.”

TK responds, slightly opening his eyes and looking up at Carlos.

Before either of them can say anything else, Owen is crouching next to them, the same worried expression from earlier etched onto his face.

“What happened?”

“I looked at him just as he began collapsing, then I noticed blood on his hand. He says it’s his side,” Carlos explains, his heart pounding harshly in his ears.

“Let’s turn him on his side, help me get his coat off,” Owen says, eyes still wide and filled with distress.

Together, Owen and Carlos gently turn TK on his side as they work to get his coat off. A pained groan escaped TK’s parted lips, the movement, however smooth, still jostling his aching body and sending flares traveling up his nerves.

“Sorry, sorry,” Carlos quickly apologizes.

TK gives him a weak nod, an acknowledgment that says it’s okay.

“All done,” Carlos adds once he and Owen have successfully removed TK’s turnout coat and settled him on his side.

TK feels ever slightly better, now that there isn’t pressure being added on his wound.

By then, Tommy is already opening the medical bags and speaking, her words directed at TK.

“Talk to me, TK,” she urges. “What’s going on?”

Now that the fire is out, the rest of the 126 gather around, faces scrunched up in worry and concern radiating from their eyes as they everyone watches Tommy work on stabilizing TK.

Paul stands behind Carlos and leans down, giving the officer’s shoulder a supportive squeeze. Carlos looks up at him for a split second, giving him an appreciative nods before turning his attention back to his injured boyfriend.

TK’s voice is barely above a whisper when he replies to Tommy. “Ceiling came down,” that much they all knew. “Shielded the kid. Glass.”

Even if TK hadn’t mentioned the glass, the now uncovered would speaks for itself.

Carlos draws in a deep breath at the sight of TK’s injury.

There it was, a large, deep gash courtesy of a big shard of glass, which is long gone but had left considerable damage in its wake. Damage that is still bleeding and staining the green grass under the firefighter red.

Tommy wastes no time, quickly inspecting the cut and a second later, Nancy wordlessly hands her gauze which the Paramedic Captain applies to TK’s side.

“Here, hold it steady,” Tommy instructs to no one specifically.

It’s Carlos who automatically reaches out, momentarily covering her hand with his own as he takes over, pushing the gauze against TK’s side and applying as much pressure as he can.

A throaty groan is heard from TK, as the younger man squeezes his eyes shut in agony, resulting in a few tears rolling down his cheeks.

“I know it hurts, Ty, but stay awake,” Carlos speaks, hoping his voice is steadier than it sounds to his own ears.

“That’s right, TK,” Tommy says. “Listen to your man here.”

“I…can’t…tired,” TK mumbles.

“You can, TK, you can.”

TK settles for shaking his head this time.

Owen faces Carlos, nudging his head toward his son and Carlos understands what he’s saying. Carlos keeps holding the now-soaked gauze until he’s positive Owen has a grip on it then moves to TK’s other side putting him in the firefighter’s direct line of sight.

“Hey, hey,” Carlos takes TK’s hands into his own, softly rubbing them and running his thumbs over TK’s clammy skin. “Listen to me, focus on my voice,” he continues. “You’re okay, we’ve got you, we’ve all got you, I promise. But we need you to stay awake, baby. I need you to stay awake.” He ignores how his voice breaks at the end of that sentence.

TK looks at Carlos with hazy eyes, not really focusing on anything, but he finds his boyfriend amidst the blurriness. He holds onto Carlos’s faces, his worried features and a different kind of hurt takes over TK’s chest. He hates seeing his boyfriend like this, hates seeing the worry lines carved into Carlos’s forehead. He wants to reach out, to smooth them over, to kiss Carlos’s forehead but he feels heavy, very heavy and he just wants to sleep. Carlos’s voice is starting to seep away, starting to sound so distant, so far away and TK is slowly losing his grip on it.

Once again, it’s like Carlos can read TK’s mind.

“No, don’t go to sleep,” Carlos tries to mask the panic in his voice, mostly for TK’s sake. They’re all panicked here. Carlos tightens his hold on TK’s hand, squeezing them and it momentarily works as TK’s eyes flutter open and find Carlos’s brown ones.

Carlos looks up at Tommy, a silent question.

“We’ll be ready for transport in a minute.”

Turning his attention back to TK, Carlos does his best to keep him awake and talking. “You need to stop doing this to us, Ty,” Carlos chuckles wetly.

“Not…on purp’se,” TK whispers.

“I know, I know,” Carlos uses a hand to run his fingers through TK’s sweaty strands, his other hand still holding TK’s. “You’re the bravest person I know and I’m so proud of you for saving that little girl. But I need you to stay awake. I need you to stay with me.”

Carlos looks up again to see the stretcher has been brought over, he goes to move, which means letting go of TK’s hands but TK isn’t having any of that. He adds the slightest bit of pressure on Carlos’s hands.

“I’m right here,” Carlos reassures him. “But we need to move you, babe.”

Carlos reluctantly pulls away, and TK no long has any energy to fight it.

Owen and Judd carefully lift TK and place him on the gurney, making sure not to add pressure on his wound.

Carlos had done a great deal at helping TK stay calm and not panic, because the moment he’s out of the young firefighter’s line of sight, TK gets agitated and starts panicking again.

“Carlos…” TK calls out, his voice hoarse and weak. “‘Los…” he tries again.

“Don’t worry, brother,” Judd’s deep, calming voice speaks to TK, a hand on his shoulder. “Your boy is right here.”

In those short moments, Carlos had jogged over to his partner.

“I need—” He starts but she cuts him off.

“Go, go, I cleared it.”

“Thank you,” he breathes and rushes back to TK’s side, seeing Judd push the gurney into the ambulance, Tommy already inside.

Owen pats Carlos on his shoulder. “We’ll be right behind you.”

Carlos gives Owen a nod, and jumps into the back of the ambulance, Judd quickly shutting the door as the sirens begin to wail.

Carlos looks at Owen through the glass doors as the ambulance moves, they hold a conversation with just that one look.

Owen’s heart breaks even more at the look on Carlos’s face. It’s the same broken, helpless look the officer wore when TK was in a coma.

He shakes his head. TK is going to be fine. He has to be.

He turns once the ambulance disappears down the road, the sirens getting more distant with each passing second. Owen finds that the rest of the crew have packed up and are piling into the firetruck, most likely thanks to Judd’s instructions. He finds the Texan’s eyes and gives him a small, appreciative nod.

“Dispatch has taken us offline,” Judd tells Owen when the Captain approaches.

A small weight feels like it’s been lifted off Owen’s chest upon hearing Judd’s words. He would have taken himself off duty either way, leaving Judd as Acting Captain, but having the entire crew there with him and Carlos at the hospital is much needed support. And he also knew the crew would be worried about TK. Taking them offline is the right thing to do.

“Let’s go,” Judd brings Owen back from his thoughts.

Owen nods, hopping into the firetruck, Judd right behind him as their own sirens echo off the surrounding buildings as they move.

Ahead of them, Carlos alternates between looking at TK’s face and watching the firefighter’s vitals. He knows they aren’t great, but he also knows that they could be much worse. He holds onto TK’s hand, a reassuring pressure that he’s right there next to him.

Tommy works wordlessly to keep TK stable until they arrive at the hospital. He sees her ready a syringe and his heart drops a little at what its content might be. He isn’t a paramedic or a doctor, so he can’t be sure, but he knows he can’t afford to stay silent.

He isn’t sure about how much Tommy knows about TK’s history, that’s if she knows anything about it at all, he never brought it up with TK, and TK never spoke of it to Carlos. Carlos knows it isn’t his place to disclose this information, knows it’s TK things and he should do it, but he won’t forgive himself if he doesn’t speak up. He’s looking out for TK and he’d do anything and everything to protect him.

TK’s eyes are now opened, looking at Tommy through a hazy and what she’s doing. TK then diverts his attention to his boyfriend. It’s almost like he’s giving Carlos permission.

Carlos swallows before speaking. “Captain, I don’t know if you know about TK’s history, but there’s something you should know about his care.”

Tommy’s nods before Carlos can continue. “No opioid-based medication, I know. Owen mentioned it while you were talking to your partner before we moved,” she supplies. “This is a local nerve-blocker to help with the pain.”

Carlos nods, feeling better and watches as Tommy administers it near TK’s wound.

TK let’s out small relieved sigh once the nerve-blocker does it’s job, fogging up the oxygen mask placed on his nose and mouth.

“You feeling a little better, baby?” Carlos asks.

TK gives him a small nod.

“Good, that’s good,” Carlos replies, running his free hand through TK’s hair again.

Tommy watches the exchange, a smile tugs on his face as she witnesses the love between Carlos and TK.

“He’s lucky to have you watching out for him.” Tommy expresses to Carlos.

“I’d do anything to keep him safe,” Carlos responds, his eyes not leaving TK. “He’s the best thing to happen to me in a very long time,” he expresses.

“He’s hanging on,” Tommy reassures the officer. “His numbers aren’t the best, but they’re holding. We’re a few minutes away from the hospital.”

“Hang on for me, babe,” Carlos whispers.

He watches as a ghost of a smile tugs at TK’s lips through the oxygen mask. TK’s eyes are barely opened, but they don’t leave Carlos’s worried ones. Next thing Carlos knows, the ambulance doors are being ripped opened and Tommy is pushing the gurney out to the doctor and nurses waiting by the ER entrance.

She quickly passes on TK’s information, vitals and history as they wheel him through the hospital hallways.

Carlos doesn’t let go of TK’s hand the entire time.

He’s forced to pull back when they reach a pair of sliding doors, marked only for authorized personnel. Carlos reluctantly lets go, a promise on his lips.

“I’ll be right there when you wake up, Ty,” he says as the doctor and nurses rush TK into an awaiting elevator.

Carlos watches as the door slip shut, his eyes trailed on the steel long after the doors had closed.

“He’s gonna be okay,” he whispers.

He senses Tommy’s presence next to him, and then feels her hand on his shoulder, giving him a supportive squeeze.

He then turns to face her. “Right?” He hates how his voice cracks.

“He’s in the best of hands,” Tommy replies.

Carlos nods, understanding. He gets it, they can’t make promises they can’t keep. He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath and wills his racing heart to calm down. TK is going to be fine.

*****

Carlos and Tommy are shown to the waiting room on the surgical floor, Carlos too anxious to sit down, he moves around the room for a while before stopping.

“I’m going to grab some coffee,” it’s going to be a long day, goes unsaid, “would you like anything?” Carlos asks Tommy.

“Water would be great,” she gives him a small smile. “And the 126 are on their way. Judd just texted, they were taken offline.”

Carlos’s nod goes for both statements.

He returns ten minutes later, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand, a water bottle in the other. He hands the water to Tommy, which she gratefully accepts.

She doesn’t comment on the fact that Carlos’s eyes are redder and more swollen than they were when he left.

He sits down one a chair a few seats away from Tommy, nursing the coffee in his grip. Silence settles around them. Aside from a few polite exchanges and a couple of short conversations when he stopped by the firehouse, Carlos doesn’t really know Tommy. He isn’t exactly sure how to proceed from here.

He doesn’t have much time to dwell on it, however, because when he looks up, the 126 are filing into the waiting room, all shoulders hunched downwards, faces carrying worry and concern for their brother.

Carlos is slightly surprised when Owen drops into the chair next to him, given that there are plenty seats for everyone and extra. He reckons it has something to do with Owen needing comfort, the same kind of comfort Carlos himself needs, too.

Carlos is even more surprised when Tommy breaks the silence in the room, her voice soft and directed at him.

“It wasn’t easy, what you did,” she starts. “It takes a lot of strength, the way you handled it, seeing a loved one in pain is hard, but still, you handled it really well.”

Carlos shakes his head. “I wish I could have done more.”

It’s Owen who responds. “You did everything and more, Carlos. You were there for TK, you kept him calm, you kept him awake. You saved him. Tommy’s right, that took a lot of strength and you rose to that, I know it wasn’t easy, but still, you pushed passed that and you were by his side.”

There are unshed tears swimming in Carlos’s eyes when he faces Owen. He doesn’t even know how to respond, but it seems like Owen understands. Because the next moment, Owen’s hand settles on the back of Carlos’s neck and gives a squeeze there.

Silence falls onto the room once again. Carlos drinks his now-room temperature coffee, not really caring because he needs the caffeine. He feels tired, so tired, in so many ways, exhaustion coursing through his entire body and wearing him down.

He raises his hand when Paul and Marjan as who wants, you guessed it, coffee.

Carlos excuses himself after his second cup, saying he needs some air and to text him if they hear anything.

The sun is setting when Carlos steps outside onto the paved sidewalk, the sky painted in a mix of red, orange and yellow, the colors bouncing off each other and casting a warm overtone on everything in sight.

A shiver runs through his body despite the warmth he’s now engulfed in. But it doesn’t feel like warmth, not really. It’s not TK’s warmth, the one kind Carlos always longs for when he’s away from his boyfriend. The one kind he looks forward to, the want and need to be embraced by it. The one kind that feels like home.

This warmth almost breaks his heart into more pieces. Because it’s not the warmth he so desperately needs in this moment. Part of him doesn’t know if he’ll ever get the warmth he needs again. His heart does break more at that realization.

He watches as the sun sets, getting lower and lower in the sky, the colors changing and morphing with every blink.

He fishes his phone out of his pocket and finds a few texts from his partner, sending words of support and asking for updates on TK. There are a few other texts from officers at the precinct, but all texts go unanswered. Right now, he needs to do another thing.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. An answer.

“Carlitos!”

Carlos takes a few moments to gather himself. “Ma…”

Andrea could immediately pick up on Carlos’s broken tone. “Carlos, que esta mal, mijo?” What’s wrong, son?

“It’s TK, Ma,” Carlos sniffs. “He…”

Carlos manages to tell his mother what happened and he hears her moving around as she gets ready. It was a rocky start, first with telling his parents that TK was his friend and everything that followed. After their conversation and Carlos opening up to TK—which he didn’t realize how much he needed to do until after the words were spilling out of his mouth—and true to his word, TK had supported Carlos through it all, giving Carlos all the time he needs until the officer was ready.

He told his parents about TK, properly this time, telling them that TK was the love of his life. That he makes him the happiest man alive. That he found everything he was looking and longing for with TK. He explained what he was feeling and going through, his parents’ faces fell at his confessions. But then his mother had taken his hands into one of hers, using her other hand to cup her son’s face. She told him it makes her the happiest knowing her son is so happy and that she had sensed the connection between him and TK when she first saw them together. Carlos knew it was an adjustment for his parents, he understood that. But his father’s follow up words spread a huge smile on his face and lifted the weight of so many years of insecurity off his chest. His father agreed, and told him to bring TK by for dinner so they can meet him properly this time.

And Carlos did. He, and TK, were very nervous but excited at the same time. Before they went inside, TK stopped Carlos, taking a hold of his hands and telling him how proud he is of him.

His parents immediately took a liking to TK. It kind of just happened, all the pieces of the puzzle falling right into place, and Carlos was over the moon as he watched his parents and TK engaged in a conversation, and they seemed genuinely interested in TK and who he is. And Carlos could see the tension leaving TK’s body as the night went on, feeling more relaxed and at ease as the minutes ticked by.

By the end of the night, Carlos’s mom had whispered I like him, mijo, into’s his ear while they were hugging by the door.

His parents would often ask about TK during calls or texts from that day on, and they met a couple of times after when Carlos and TK’s shifts allowed it. Carlos noticed that his parents’ liking of TK grew more and more with each passing day.

Andrea’s heart broke as Carlos told her what happened, explaining between shallow breaths and shaky words.

“Estoy en camino,” Andrea tells her son. I’m on my way.

Words couldn’t express how grateful Carlos is to hear those words. He really needed his mother.

He stays outside for a few minutes after finishing the call with his mom, taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly. When he returns to the waiting room, he notices Gwyn now sitting in the seat previously occupied by him. She moves to look at him, her eyes bloodshot and swollen, Carlos undoubtedly knows he looks the same, too.  

She gets up, Carlos meeting her halfway into the room and reaches out as she does the same. She takes hold of his hands, giving them strong, reassuring squeezes and he understands. Thank you for everything you did for TK. Carlos’s eyes soften and he gives her a nod in response.

They sit in deafening silence until a nurse approaches the room, stepping in and looking at the anxious group.

“Family of Tyler Strand?”

“TK,” Owen corrects, getting to his feet, followed by Gwyn and Carlos. “How’s my son?”

“Still in surgery,” the nurse answers. “TK’s injury had proven to be worse than initially thought and a few complications arose, but the surgeon has it under control.”

“What—what kind of complications?” Carlos brings himself to ask.

“The doctor will explain everything once the surgery is done,” she assures them. “But I’m afraid I have to get back to the OR, I’m sorry.”

Carlos’s heart plummets into his knees at the nurse’s update and he can tell the same happens with Owen and Gwyn. Everything around starts to seem heavier, the walls appearing closer around him. This can’t be happening. He can’t lose TK. He can’t.

“I need some air,” Carlos pushes out as he moves towards the door, disappearing down the hallway.

Paul watches him go with sad eyes, contemplating to go after him but quickly decides against it. Carlos wants to be alone right now, and as much as that in itself hurts him, he knows that bombarding his friend won’t have any positive outcome. So he hangs back, and tells himself he’ll know when it’s the right time to approach Carlos.

Carlos steps outside, the sun long gone now, and the street illuminated by lamps left and right. The Emergency Room sign is brightly lit above and Carlos spots a bench a few feet away. He drags his heavy feet towards it and falls down onto it. He leans forward, bracing his elbows on his thighs and putting his face into his hands.

He feels at loss. Carlos can count on one hand the times throughout his life he had felt completely helpless. And this moment is added to that short list. It feels like his brain has lagged, he can’t think about anything or anyone, except for TK and just how badly is he injured. The sinking feeling in his gut that he may be losing the love of his life as he sat there pulls him down, the hot pit in his stomach growing hotter and wider with each passing second.

He shakes his head. He can’t afford to think that way. Not now. TK is the strongest person he knows, full of life, love and hope, even after everything he’s been through. Carlos has always admired the young firefighter’s resilience, every time he’d get knocked up, he’s get back up, even if it was the hardest thing to do. Carlos believes in TK, believes in his grit and strength. And he’ll keep believing in him until Carlos’s final breath.

“He’s going to be fine,” Carlos whispers to himself.

He only lifts his head from his hands when he hears his name being called.

“Carlos?”

Relief floods his body from head to toe when he looks up and sees his mom standing a few feet away from him.

The tears he’d been keeping at bay come rushing back as she quickly closes the distance between them, clutching her handbag tightly at her side and her face painted with concern.

It must echo how tired Carlos truly is on his face because Andrea takes one took at her son and her own face falls. Her mind goes to the worse case scenario.

“Mijo?”

“Ma,” Carlos mutters.

Andrea opens his arms for Carlos and he wastes no time in entering her embrace, wrapping his arms around her figure. He closes his eyes, a tear slipping out and rolling down his cheek.

She holds him tight, a hand settling on his back and the other traveling up to the back of Carlos’s neck, giving him a light squeeze there. Andrea is shorter and smaller than Carlos’s large frame, but in this moment, she may as well be a giant, and he a little boy. She holds him until his breathing evens out and he pulls back from the hug.

“Tyler?” She asks, his voice heavy with worry.

“Still in surgery,” Carlos replies, his own voice sounding foreign to him.  “The nurse said there were some complications but the doctors have it under control.” He feels his heartbeat pick up again. “Ma…I can’t…what if…”

“No, mijo, none of that,” Andrea shakes her head, wiping away the stray tear staining Carlos’s cheek. “He is going to be just fine. Believe that.”

Carlos nods, sniffing.

“Ready to go back inside?”

“Yeah,” Carlos breathes out.

Andrea wraps an arm around Carlos’s waist as he wraps an arm around her shoulder, she’s supporting him in every way, as they make their way back inside the hospital.

Carlos introduces his mom to the 126 crew, Owen and Gwyn getting up and shaking hands with Andrea.

“Mrs. Reyes, it’s good to finally meet you,” Owen starts. “Although, I had hoped it would have been under better circumstances.”

“Si,” Andrea agrees. “I feel the same. But. Tyler is strong, he’s going to be back on his feet in no time.”

Owen and Gwyn gives her small, thankful smiles.

TK and Carlos had been talking about getting their parents together for dinner. The thought made them both nervous, but the excitement for their parents to finally meet was stronger. They were planning a dinner at Carlos’s house, that would have been set for sometime in the coming week, but now with TK’s injury, it might be a while before that happens.

“TK and I were actually planning a dinner at my place before…” Carlos trails off. He clears his throat, “we can still have the dinner once TK is out of here and recovered.”

Owen nods. “We’d love that.”

Andrea sits on the chair next to Owen, with Gwyn on his other side. Carlos picks up on them softly talking about TK, no doubt Owen telling Andrea stories about TK, and Carlos is glad his mother gets to hear stories about his boyfriend from Owen himself.

Feeling his nerves spiking back up, Carlos can’t get himself to sit down. He paces the room for a bit, coming to a halt a few minutes later and leaning against a wall, his arms crossed over his shoulder.

He turns to his side when he feels someone there and sees Paul wearing a concerned and supportive look.

“It’s just hard, you know,” Carlos sighs.

Paul nods. “I know. But just like your mom, and you, said, your boy is going to be fine and back to giving grey hairs all around before you know it.”

Carlos chuckles at that, appreciating Paul’s move to lighten the mood just a little.

A few beats pass. “Thank you, by the way.”

Paul creases his eyebrows.

“For not asking if I was okay,” Carlos clarifies. “I know everyone means well and is looking out for me, I get that and I really appreciate it. I can always count of everyone here. But if I get asked if I’m okay one more time…”

Paul doesn’t need Carlos to finish speaking to know how that sentence ends. He gives the officer’s shoulder a light squeeze.

“You feel what you feel, man,” Paul replies. “All of it.”

Carlos nods. And he will. He will let himself feel everything. But he needs to know that TK is okay first.

The doctor makes her way towards the waiting room, clearly exhausted and wearing an unreadable expression. It makes the pit in Carlos’s stomach grow bigger.

“Family of TK Strand?”

They all get to their feet, Owen speaking.

“How is he?”

“He made it through,” she replies, a smile forming on her face.

A collective sigh echoes through the room, everyone feeling like they can finally breathe. Carlos feels like his knees are about to give out so he falls back into the chair he was sitting on, closing his eyes and taking deep, even breaths.

Andrea reaches out, placing her hand on Carlos’s shoulder.

“There were some complications,” the doctor continues.

Carlos opens his eyes and looks at the doctor, still nervous.

“What kind of complications?” Owen asks.

“The wound was more…complicated than we first anticipated. We thought it was a clean cut but it turned out that the piece of glass must have moved because the inside of the wound was jagged. His blood pressure was lower than I like throughout the surgery but he remained stable. The glass had also nicked TK’s kidney, but we repaired the damage. He had lost a significant amount of blood, but we gave him a couple of transfusions, and with one or two more transfusions, everything will be back on track. He’s going to be just fine, with some rest and time, I believe he’s going to make a full recovery,” the doctor informs them.

“Thank God,” Gwyn whispers.

“We’re going to keep him here for a few days to a week, to keep an eye on his blood pressure and make sure everything goes smoothly,” the doctor adds.

Carlos sighs, Andrea soothingly running her hand up and down Carlos’s back.

“Can we see him?”

“Yes,” the doctors nods. “He’s being settled into recovery now, a nurse will come and get you when he’s ready. Two visitors maximum at a time.”

Carlos can hear Owen profusely thanking the doctor, but it all seems so far away. Everything around him seems far away, the voices and words spoken. It feels like he’s underwater and everyone else is above.

His mother’s voice brings him back.

“Mijo?”

Carlos nods.

“Carlitos, mírame.” Look at me.

Carlos meets her concerned but relieved brown eyes. He has his mother’s eyes.

“Él está bien,” she reassures him. He is okay.

Carlos nods again.

Andrea cups Carlos’s cheek, running her thumb over the smooth skin there. “I’m going to your place and I’ll get you some fresh clothes and pack you a bag.”

“You don’t need to do that, Ma.”

“I want to,” she replies. “And you need to get out of your uniform.”

She knows Carlos would want to spend the night with TK, so she doesn’t ask him to go home; she’s going to bring her son what he needs.

“Gracias, Mama,” Carlos whispers, brushing a kiss to his mother’s forehead.

A nurse arrives a while after Andrea leaves, telling them TK is settled in his room. Owen and Gwyn get up, Carlos sharing an understanding look with the captain. Carlos hangs back, the crew taking turns in taking trips to the firehouse to change and returning, making sure someone is always in the room with the officer. Andrea returns with the bag she promised Carlos and a brown paper bag forty-five minutes later.

“I stopped by your favorite Tex Mex truck on the way back,” she says, referring to the paper bag.

He wasn’t really hungry but he knew he needed to eat something so he doesn’t end up collapsing. He needs his strength to be there for TK.

Carlos gives Andrea the best smile he can muster. “Thanks, Ma.”

“Go change and this will be waiting for you right here.”

Carlos stands on shaky legs and takes the duffel bag with equally shaky hands. He slowly makes his way to the nearest bathroom.

He looks at himself in the mirror, the puffiness and redness of his eyes a stark contrast to how pale his skin looks. His curly hair, no matter how short, looks disheveled and out of place. He closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, leaning forward and placing his palms against the cool marble.

He opens his eyes and stares down at his hands, noticing traces of TK’s blood still marked on his skin. That’s all it takes to bring him crumbling down to his knees, letting out a choked sob that rings through the empty bathroom.

The dam breaks as Carlos lets it all out, all the tears he’d been holding back come flooding down his face. He begins feeling everything: pain, fear, anger, worry, and a little bit of relief. Pain at the prospect of almost losing TK. Fear he’d never see the spark in TK’s green eyes again, fear he’d never kiss TK’s lips again. Anger that this happened in the first place. Worry about TK and the long road to recovery ahead. Relief that today isn’t the day he’d lose the love of his life.

His eyes burn. His body aches. His head hurts.

Once he’s positive his legs are going to carry him, Carlos pushes himself off the tiled floor, sniffing as he grabs the bag and places it next to the sink. He takes slow, deep breaths, anchoring himself. He turns the water on, pumping soap into his palm and washing away the remainder of TK’s blood, the water turning pink as it swirls down the drain. He splashes the cold water in his face, a shiver running down his body.

After using the towel his mother packed, he reaches inside the bag and pulls out a pair of sweats, a cotton t-shirt and a hoodie.

He steps into a stall and locks it, quickly removing his belt and service weapon, securing them in the duffel. In this moment, the sweats feel heavenly compared to his uniform pants. He pauses halfway as he pulls the t-shirt on. It’s his own t-shirt but it smells like TK and the firefighter’s shampoo.

He closes his eyes and takes it all in, inhaling all that is TK. Carlos can’t wait to hold him and for that scent to embrace him.

Carlos finds himself sitting on the chair next to TK’s hospital bed thirty minutes later, after having finished changing and eating. Owen and Gwyn had returned to the waiting room, their eyes an identical shade of red and Owen had patted Carlos on the shoulder.

It looks wrong, this whole sight, TK lying in the bed, so still. TK is full of life, full of energy, even when he’s nervous, he’s moving around or keeping his hands occupied with something, and even when he’s asleep, TK is almost always tossing and turning, his energy can’t be contained. But this, this is wrong, unnatural. Carlos can’t wait for TK to wake up.

His eyes trail to the machines surrounding the bed, the heart monitor beeping steadily, the rise and fall of TK’s chest with every breath he takes. Carlos is glad to see that his boyfriend had regained some color, compared to how he looked at the scene.

Carlos reaches out, careful not to disturb the IV and all the wires connected to TK, and takes the firefighter’s hand into his own. He clears his throat before he speaks.

“Hey, baby,” Carlos speaks. “I’m here and you’re okay. Everyone is here, too, sitting in the waiting room. You gave us all quite the scare but you’re okay and the doctor and nurses are taking great care of you. I’ll be here when you wake up, I promise.”

With his other hand, Carlos threads his fingers through TK’s soft hair, and this setting and gesture is all too eerily familiar to when TK got shot goosebumps prickle Carlos’s skin.

Carlos’s heart still aches at seeing his boyfriend in a hospital bed, at the events of the day, at the collective pain and helplessness they all felt. But now, sitting in this chair, the heart monitor assuring Carlos that TK is here, that he’s alive; with Carlos holding onto TK, the warmth radiating from the younger man against Carlos’s grip doesn’t only calm the officer’s racing heart, but it begins healing him, too.

*****

It’s a restless night for Carlos. He spends it tossing and turning, getting up every once in a while to check on TK and make sure he’s okay (also checking if he had woken up yet). Between that and the nurses rounding on the firefighter every couple of hours, Carlos hadn’t gotten much sleep. The sun had just begun climbing the sky when he gives up on getting any more shut eye. He goes to the bathroom to freshen up and returns to the chair next to the bed.

He begins going through all the texts that poured into his phone from the previous night, sending quick updates to his mom, Owen, Judd and in the group chat with Paul, Marjan and Mateo. He then replies to the messages from his partner and a few other ones from his friends at the precinct, sending him and TK support and positive thoughts.

Carlos had the day off, and he knows he’ll need to talk to his Captain about taking some more time off at some point during the day. But right now, he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.

The hours tick by as the sun sits high in the sky with no change from TK’s side. The charge nurse, Martha, comes in and checks on TK.

“How’s he doing?” Carlos asks as she jots down TK’s vitals on his chart.

“He’s doing fine,” Martha smiles at Carlos. “But I can’t say the same for you, honey,” she adds, looking at the officer, noticing how tired and worn down he is. “Have you gotten anything to eat or drink?”

He gives her a sad smile, shrugging. “Had some water, but didn’t each much. I don’t want to leave him, don’t want him to wake up alone,” Carlos explains.

Her eyes soften, watching Carlos as he watched TK. “He means a lot to you. You love him.”

Carlos turns to face her, his eyes wide with surprise.

Martha chuckles. “I’ve been doing this a long time, honey. I’ve seen this look on your face and the expression in your eyes more times than I care to count.”

A blush climbs up Carlos’s neck and settles in his cheeks. “He does. And I do.”

“Are you sure you don’t need anything? I can wait for him, if you’d like,” she offers.

Carlos doesn’t have time to reply, spotting Owen walking towards the room through the glass window, holding two cups.

“Thank you,” Carlos responds. “I really appreciate that, but there’s no need, his dad is here with coffee,” he gestures to the hall with his head.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. Press the call button if you need anything,” she smiles and retreats from the room.

Owen walks in a few moments later. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Carlos gives him a smile. “She was checking on TK, says he’s doing fine.”

Owen nods, handing Carlos one of the cups. “Here, you look like you need it.”

“Thank you,” Carlos accepts it. “I do. It was one hell of a night.”

Owen takes a sip from the hot beverage. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

*****

It starts with a slight spike in TK’s heart rate. It isn’t significant to warrant worry, but it’s enough of a change to grab Carlos and Owen’s attention. They share a look, then Carlos is moving closer to TK while Owen gets up from the couch by the wall, standing by the foot of the bed.

A spark of hope ignites within Carlos and Owen.

Then TK moves his head to the side, turning it towards his boyfriend.

“TK?” Carlos says. “Can you hear me, babe?”

TK responds by fluttering his closed eyelids, ever so slowly peeling them opened.

His vision is hazy at first, blurry, but after a few blinks, it starts to settle and the first thing he clearly sees is Carlos’s beautiful face.

“‘Los?” TK whispers.

Fresh tears spring to Carlos’s eyes at hearing TK’s voice again, at hearing the nickname only TK uses. They’re happy tears this time.

“Yeah, baby, I’m here, I’m right here,” Carlos replies, a smile forming on his face. “Your dad is here, too.”

“Hey, son.”

Using all his strength, TK manages to lift his upper body to look in the direction where Owen’s voice came from.

“Whoa, easy,” Carlos says, quickly moving so he can support TK’s back with his hand.

“Dad,” TK pushes out. “What happened?”

Carlos helps TK lie back down again, not wanting the firefighter to wear himself out even more and Carlos is also worried about the stitches in his side.

“You were hurt on a call, babe,” Carlos replies, running his fingers through TK’s hair again and smiles when TK leans into his touch.

“How…how bad?”

Carlos shakes his head. “You’re okay, and you’re going to be just fine with some time and rest.”

“I’ll go get the doctor,” Owen announces and steps into the hall.

“Are you in any pain?” Carlos asks.

TK shakes his head slightly. “Not really.”

“They have you on some non-opioid based painkillers.” Carlos leans down and plants a kiss to TK’s forehead. “I’m so happy to see you awake. I was so scared.”

“I’m sorry,” TK apologize.

“It’s okay,” Carlos immediately replies. “You saved a little girl, and you’re going to be fine. I’m just…really glad I get to see your eyes and hear your voice right now.”

TK stays awake long enough for the doctor to go through some routine checks and it’s pretty clear he’s drifting back to sleep when she’s done, his eyes drooping shut.

“Get some rest, baby,” Carlos encourages. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

*****

Andrea decides to drop by the hospital to visit TK and see her son a little after noon. She stops short when she spots Owen sitting on one of the chairs outside TK’s room.

“Captain Strand,” she calls.

Owen looks up from his phone. “Mrs. Reyes.”

Her eyebrows crease a little. “Is everything okay with Tyler?”

“Oh, yes, everything is fine,” he answers. “I was just taking care of some things with work,” he lifts his phone. “I’ve been told a have a look when I’m in the zone for work, and it’s not a pleasant one.”

Andrea chuckles. “I’m glad to hear that everything is fine.”

“Yeah, TK woke up this morning. He’s been in and out ever since, but he’s doing okay. The doctor reassured us that everything looks good and there are no further complications,” Owen continues. “Carlos is in there with him.”

Andrea looks into the room through the glass and smiles when she sees TK awake, facing Carlos and talking to him. Carlos has the softest look on his face, his hand holding TK’s and he chuckles at something TK says. Her heart swells with so much joy at seeing how happy her son is.

“They’re moving TK to a regular room soon,” Owen adds, joining her. “He can have more than two visitors at a time.”

TK is moved less than an hour later. He’s sitting up in bed, Carlos on the chair next to him, Owen on the chair on his other side and Andrea sitting on the foot of the bed.

“It’s great to see you awake, Tyler,” Andrea says, giving TK’s leg a gentle squeeze over the blanket.

Owen smiles at Andrea’s use of the name to address TK directly.

“You’ve also regained some color,” she adds.

Carlos kisses TK’s cheek when he notices the blush painting his face, adding even more color to his skin.

“Thank you, ma’am,” TK replies, his voice now stronger.

“We’re gonna have you back on your feet in no time, amor,” Andrea promises, the same loving wide smile on her face.

Owen and Andrea stay for a while, before leaving Carlos and TK. Andrea having to run some errands, and Owen decides to stop by the firehouse now that TK is awake, doing better and in great hands with Carlos.

“Get ready for my mom to spoil you in every way,” Carlos tells TK once they’re alone. “I’m pretty sure those errands she mentioned have something to do with that.”

TK chuckles softly, making sure not to jostle too much so he doesn’t hurt his side. “I take it it’s a Reyes thing, spoiling the people you care about.”

“And love,” Carlos adds. “Absolutely.”

TK smiles.

“Food, lots of food,” Carlos says. “My mom believes food can heal everything. You’ll experience that first hand.”

“I can’t wait.”

It’s really been a delight and source of happiness for Carlos when he thinks about how quickly his parents had taken to liking TK. He’s already being integrated into the family, and it brings Carlos so much joy to witness it happening. It’s one of the things he longed for the most. He was a little surprised when his mother stopped to visit; he knew she was there to support him the previous day, but today was clearly about seeing TK. He really can’t explain in words just how much it means to him to see his mother embracing TK this way. And speaking of his parents…

“My dad asked about you,” Carlos speaks. “He texted earlier, he’s glad you’re doing better and he told me to pass on well wishes.”

TK’s face breaks into a wide grin. He, too, is so very grateful about Carlos’s parents acceptance of him.

Carlos sighs.  “I was just so worried, Ty. One moment you were standing up straight and the next you were tumbling to the ground and…”

“Hey. Hey, babe, I’m here,” TK quickly says.

Carlos nods. “I know. And I know our jobs are dangerous and it’s not easy, but I can’t lose you. And I almost did.”

“You know I can’t promise anything,” TK says slowly, “just like I know you can’t promise anything, either. But you know what I can promise? That I’ll always fight to come back to you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Carlos kisses TK’s temple. “I’ll always fight to come back to you, too.”

TK reaches out, cupping Carlos’s face and brushing away a stray tear with his thumb. Carlos leans into TK’s palm and then presses a kiss there.

“Come here,” TK whispers.

Carlos doesn’t need to be told twice. He moves, getting closer to TK and eventually closing the distance between them, pressing his lips against his boyfriend’s.

The kiss is not heated or intense, it’s a simple press of lips together; a kiss filled with reassurance, filled with promise and love, filled with comfort. And it’s perfect.

“I love you,” TK whispers when they pull apart.

Carlos touches his forehead to TK’s and closes his eyes. “I love you, too, Tiger.”

And there it is. Carlos inhales, feeling the pieces of his heart mending together as the scent that is all TK embraces him.

[3416]

skskskksks the asks u get are so funny. anyways i just wanted to put my two cents in which is that i get the vibes that alex and tk had a very….interesting…..and different relationship than the type tk and carlos have/had. like for some reason i have a feeling that alex and tk had a very unstable on and off thing that lasted for a long time and were on completely different pages at the end of the day. i just find it so interesting that tk thought they were in a place where they were ready to get married and alex was like “actually babe i’m in love with my yoga instructor! and ik you’re struggling with your sobriety but i don’t really care! bye!” like ?????? 😭😭😭 the fact alex cheated, dumped him, and still to this day doesn’t care enough to check up on him or call him is very….telling of the relationship they had. anyways i also think tk has a huuuge heart and loves things and people so completely and fully which is probably what kept him with alex for so long but i do think carlos is 100% a healthier and superior relationship in his life. not to gush (but let me gush) about carlos but he’s literally such a sweetheart and the absolute love of my life (and tk’s too LMAOOO) like i get people thinking carlos was a rebound at the start but carlos was immediately into him and trying to date him but was also able to respect the fact that tk wasn’t ready and there hasn’t been a moment where he wasn’t supportive of tk or his sobriety or literally any issue going on in his life. it is literally so funny seeing people think that carlos isn’t a significant relationship in his life while tk was out here saying he was “dying to meet his parents” and moving in with him 💀💀 like if people don’t ship tarlos, they can just say that but the whole “carlos is a rebound and alex is his soulmate and the love of his life” narrative is absolutely ridiculous i’m sorry

i will admit i haven't actually seen much legitimate discourse about this topic– i just got that ask earlier today LKJFSDKL. feel like i'm commenting on a nonexistent take here, but i blocked a handful of people who talked shit when i first got into lone star and it's kept me away from the truly inane stuff, i think, so... maybe that's going on... lmk.

i totally agree with you. i don't want to waste time in the show itself on alex, but i would LOVE to know what the writer's envisioned their relationship to be pre-pilot. it would really tell us a lot more about tk. tk seems very attached, and owen seems to see right through it, and i think it's very indicative of the type of person tk is to just... not give up on something despite the disinterest. maybe he was just mentally in a bad spot for parts of that relationship and needed to believe it was something special, but the fact that he (with all his baggage related to his parents and their marriage even pre-proposal himself) was willing to put himself out there and get married,,,,,,,,, i mean yeah. i have a hard time believing there wasn't some history to that relationship even if it wasn't stable the whole time. on the other hand, i also thought about the fact that maybe tk gets very attached very fast to people? and maybe it was a shorter relationship? and he kind of tries to unlearn that with carlos, which is part of why it freaks him out so bad to jump right in if he knows that's his usual problem.

there are so many possibilities here tbh. and i'm sure carlos himself has a history we can theorize to death about too if we wanted, but i do think their relationship is really a healthy one and i like seeing how it's playing out. even with this breakup, they have a potential to expand on insecurities or communication issues and make it better iif the writers are smart. they went through a lot together last season, so my brain tried to supply them with happiness, but it's not shocking to see the reality now? i think it's fine to not care about tarlos but like... to try to deny that they aren't endgame for each other in the show (loves of each others lives, yes, hello talk to tim) or invent reasons why they just don't work...... l o l. have fun with the delusion?

[tarlos-spain]

Sicktember Day 7 - Sneaky temperature check

Fandom: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)

Relationship: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand

Characters: Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star) TK Strand

Just a cold

"Carlos, I don't have a fever, don't insist. I'm fine."

TK got out of bed and it didn't escape the policeman's notice that his boyfriend wobbled a little. It could be because he had been in bed all night or because as Carlos thought, he had a fever and was not feeling well.

Either way, TK was not someone who liked to be sick, however much when it was his turn to be in bed, whether it was from a concussion, whether it was from an upset stomach or a bit of a fever, he earned a whole day of cuddles from a boyfriend who would do anything to make him feel good.

However, any excuse was a good one not to say he wasn't feeling well and if Charles wanted to be sure if he was well or not, he would have to do it without TK noticing and once he had the proof, he would already force him into bed and take care of him.

He jumped out of bed and caught up to TK before he left the bedroom He pulled him in to turn him around and give him a kiss, but first he gave him one on the forehead. He didn't say anything, but it was warmer than usual, but he didn't say anything and finally gave him the normal good morning kiss.

"I'm going to fix breakfast. Coffee or chocolate milk?" offered Carlos to keep TK from getting more tired than usual. "And that I'm partying, I'd like chocolate milk, with lots of foam if possible." Carlos nodded and let TK take his time to take a shower. When he came out and went down to the dining room everything was already ready on the table. "Come on sit down, I've made toast." Carlos kissed his forehead again and took an extra second to check his temperature.

"How affectionate you are today daddy. If you want something, you can tell me directly." TK said raising his hands to caress Carlos' cheek. "How silly, don't worry, you know very well that when I want to take you to bed, I'm much more direct." Carlos returned the caress and sat down next to him.

They had breakfast together it wasn't something they could normally do together with their work schedules, so they enjoyed it and although they knew each other and it seemed like there wasn't much to say they were talking and laughing for quite a while.

They decided to take the day easy, eat out and go for a walk.

Carlos kept an eye on TK, he noticed that his cheeks were burning and although it was only April and not particularly hot, he had started to sweat after barely an hour walking.

The policeman circled around without waist and pulled him to him, took advantage of them stopping at a traffic light, wrapped his arms around TK's waist and kissed him, again on the forehead. TK still hadn't wondered what all this almost fatherly kissing was about. Quite the contrary, he liked the cop's affection he always showed with him.

His temperature was rising but it could be from the ride and not just the fever. He repeated the same thing again when they sat down to eat, resting his hands on TK's shoulders and a new kiss on his head and another on his forehead as he hugged him and felt him shiver in his arms.

They ate without cell phones and without looking at the clock, they talked and talked, although Carlos did not take his eye off TK. He knew him perfectly, every gesture, every time he tried to make himself believe he felt good.

"Let's go to the movies." TK said before sneezing.

Carlos reached out and patted TK's hand on the table.

"Nene, you're not well." "Bah, Carlos, we have a day off, we can go to the movies or do something. Save the fever for later." "So you know you have some fever."

TK gave Carlos a hard look and stuck his tongue out at him with a sneer.

"Ty..." "Okay yeah, I have a fever, but I'd feel better with one of those kisses from you on my forehead." Carlos almost burst out laughing because TK hadn't even realized why he'd given him all those kisses.

He couldn't love him more even if he wanted to. "Can we go to the movies?"

Another sneeze, as if the word "movies" gave him an allergy, was the answer for TK.

Carlos walked over to him and gave the umpteenth kiss on his forehead. This time he was burning up and it didn't take a thermometer to know he was right.

"TK Strand. Today's holiday can end one of two ways. You can let me take you home, you lay on the couch with a blanket and let me take care of you or we can go on with the day the way you want and I end up carrying you because you can't handle your life. So you decide." TK paused for a moment to think. "Don't even think about it, baby. I'm not going to carry you home, it was a figure of speech." "Okay, but you owe me a couch, a blankie, and to be able to settle on you."

Carlos gave her a quick kiss on the lips stood up and pulled TK to do the same. He wrapped his arms around his waist and let TK rest his head on his shoulder to carry him home.

"You know I love taking care of you." Carlos started the walk home after giving him one last kiss on the top of his head. "But you have to let me do it." "Yes papi."

[so-writing]

The Head Tolerates What The Heart Wants - Nolan Patrick (4)

Previously: One. Two. Three.

--

“You slept with him? You’re fucking lying.” 

“I’m not,” you wrapped your hands around your hot cup of coffee as you raised it to your lips to take a sip, not breaking eye contact with Travis, “he was good, great actually.”

“Shut up,” Travis rolled his eyes, “I don’t need the intimate details. I can’t believe you slept with Barzal. Patty’s going to be pissed.”

“It is none of his business. He cheated on me, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Nolan cleared his throat as he pulled the chair out and took at seat at the table you shared with Travis.

A server quickly rushed over with a coffee mug and a menu for him. 

“I invited him to breakfast, hope you’re cool with that,” TK’s tone was clipped, “sorry I didn’t ask.”

“No worries, Hi Nolan.”

You lied easily as you greeted him. You didn’t feel bad about sleeping with Mat, but that didn’t mean you were ready for Nolan to know it happened. 

“What is none of my business?”

“Oh, it’s nothing serious,” Travis nearly sang, “she matched with Barzal on tinder and fucked him last night, no big deal.” 

“What?” 

Nolan didn’t realize how much sugar he’d poured into his coffee, he was too distracted by what Travis had just said. When he went to take a sip of the hot beverage it was sickeningly sweet, but he swallowed it anyway and didn’t dare look over the opposite side of the mug at you. 

“It’s not a big deal,” your voice was soft and you could feel the tension pouring out of the two men sitting at the table with you, “it was nothing. I don’t plan on contacting him again.”

“Like that’s any better,” Nolan scoffed, as he slammed his mug down on the table and sent coffee droplets flying, “you ignored my match and denied me over text but you had no problem getting in contact with Barzal. That’s probably why you wore his jersey to the game, isn’t it? This is such bullshit, I was pissed because I thought you were trying to get a rise out of me at the game. I had no idea you planned on fucking him!”

Nolan was just below straight yelling at this point and you had moved from feeling bad for sleeping with Mat to being pissed off at Nolan for thinking he could police your behavior when you weren’t together.

“I can do what I want, I can fuck who I want. I don’t have to check with you first, Nolan, you solidified that when you cheated on me.”

“Of all the people in the fucking world you could have slept with, you slept with a hockey player. Super fucking convenient for you, eh?”

“Yeah, actually, it was, and you know what? He was wonderful, fucking amazing actually. It was the best sex I’ve ever had, so much better than the other hockey player I’ve slept with.” 

You knew your words would land pretty hard on Nolan but you didn’t care. You hoped what you said hurt him, just like he had hurt you months ago.

“Stop, come on,” Travis interrupted, “you’re hitting below the belt here.”

“Why? Why is it fine for Nolan to have sex with random women when we’re in a relationship but I can’t even mention my own conquests?”

“It’s not fine for him to do that, but you need to chill.”

The tone of Travis’s voice was serious but you were far too angry to care what either of the men sitting at the table with you thought. You knew you needed to stop causing a scene in public but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. Nolan got a slap on the wrist for cheating but your single self wasn’t allowed to sleep with someone? 

“I should leave,” you spat, “it’s obvious that you both are on the same side and want to make me the fucking devil for daring to spend my time with another man after getting my fucking heart broken.”

You didn’t bother listening to their responses as you stood up from your chair and shoved it into the table forcefully, walking out of the cafe and leaving your eggs and toast to get cold. 

*

Nolan threw back the rest of his too sweet, nasty coffee, “this changes everything.”

“Does it though? You’ve been fucking random women since you broke up, how is it any different?”

“It’s different because it’s Barzal.”

“No it isn’t, come on man, you need to just tell her how you really feel.”

“I can’t now. She rejected me, both via tinder and text. I have to let her go.” 

“She rejected you, so fucking what? You love her, you told me you did. Go get her.” 

“I honestly feel like it’s over.”

“Well, if you feel that way, you’re dumber than I thought you were.”

Travis playfully punched him in the shoulder and the two of them left the cafe in silence. 

*

The morning you left Mat in bed to meet Travis for breakfast you promised yourself you wouldn’t contact him again. Mat was a hookup, a distraction and nothing more, but you found yourself desperately wanting to meet up with him again.

Maybe it was because you genuinely wanted him, but it was probably because you wanted to make Nolan angry. It wasn’t a good reason either way, but you didn’t care.

“I didn’t think I’d hear from you again.”

Mat’s wide, perfectly white smile was a huge contrast to Nolan’s constant frown. 

“Honestly, I didn’t think so either, but here we are.”

The two of you sat opposite each other in a coffee shop, both sipping on drinks and waiting for the other to say something.

“Look,” Mat spoke up, “I know you’re kind of going through something with Patrick, and I get it, but I like you.”

“How do you know anything about Nolan?”

“I’m decent friends with Konecny, All Star game did that.”

“Oh,” you didn’t know what else to say, “I didn’t know.”

Mat was beautiful and great in bed but you weren’t sure you were able to take the next step with him, especially because you still weren’t sure how you felt about Nolan.

“I’ve got to get to the airport, but if you get over Patrick, give me a call, yeah?”

“Yeah, I absolutely will,” you gave him a big hug goodbye and kissed his cheek and meant every word you said. 

If you ever got over Nolan, you’d definitely get in contact with Mat. 

If you ever got over Nolan.

[myhockeyworld87]

Bubble Wrapped - Part 7

Word Count: 4,131

POV: Reader

Warnings: Same as always, Language, Smut, NSFW, Please see the note in the Masterlist

Teams: Bruins, Caps, Flyers, Lightning and Pens (others)

Notes: So today was like crazy busy, but I was able to finish this tonight then do a quick edit. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but here it is anyhow...haha! Hope you guys have a great weekend! Happy Reading!

As you followed Logan to the lobby, you thought for sure this was going to be another false alarm, just as the rest had been. Why after all this time in the bubble had these men decided to fight, you had no idea? You knew tensions were high with games starting but they all had seemed fairly cordial with each other. There were about a dozen players gathered round when you saw the first fist fly and suddenly your heart rate sped up. You wormed your way to the front, to see who the hell was fighting. You weren't surprised to see Brad Marchand mixing it up with one of the Flyers but you couldn't quite tell who it was as their back was to you.

 The two teams had just come off a round-robin game, that you had no clue as to who won as you'd been busy working the entire time and not caught any of the game, but it obviously left a bad taste in their mouths. As Marchand swung with his right hand, the two twisted and it was then that you saw Travis Konecny was the one he was fighting with. While you knew that TK was a bit of a chirper, you'd seen a completely different side to him that first night in the bubble. You'd honestly thought he'd be the least of your worries here, other than maybe calling you up again to say his bed squeaked, yet here you were watching him take a jab at Marchand. Not that Marchand probably didn't deserve it, hell you wanted to take a swing at him the other day when he'd shoved you into the pool.

 You looked around at the other players that had gathered hoping one of them would put an end to this whole mess, but they seemed more entertained than anything. Part of you wondered if this went on would more of them end up fighting? TK had a nice right hook into Marchand's jaw and you saw them stumble back knocking a vase of flowers off the entry table and shattering it. That's when you knew you had to do something. "That's enough boys," you yelled trying to use your most authoritative voice, but it was ignored as Marchand threw a punch to Konecny's abdomen. At some point, you were sure this was going to turn into a wrestling match with the two of them lying on the ground amidst shards of glass. You gave a sharp whistle hoping that you sounded like one of the refs during play and that they would at least calm a bit, which they did. It was at that moment you chose to try and break the actual fight up, apparently feeling more like a referee now that you'd got them to just circle each other, neither one letting go just yet.  Taking your arms, you moved between the two hotheads saying, "I said stop fucking fighting in my…" You weren't exactly sure what happened next but you felt a partial fist fly to your jaw. It knocked you off your feet and sent you stumbling back hitting your head against the table the vase had been on moments ago.

 "Holy fuck!" Someone yelled. You closed your eyes to stave off the pain that was now not only in your jaw but also on the back of your head. "Jesus, are you ok?"

 "I don't think she is."

 "She's bleeding."

 You had no clue who was saying what but you could feel a million pairs of eyes on you. "Someone call one of the trainers."

 "I'm fine," you managed to mumble out while opening your eyes, only to have your vision blurred by blood trickling down. "Ok, maybe not." About five players were kneeling down around you, or maybe it was four, it was hard to tell as the blood obscured your view. Finally, someone gently pressed something against your forehead to stave off the flow.

 "Fuck (Y/N), I'm so sorry, you got messed up in this." It was Travis's voice you were sure of it and not because you knew Marchand would never apologize but because you recognized it from your night with him. Only he wasn't surrounding you at the moment.

 "Next time keep it on the ice and not in my hotel." You went to sit up but felt a little woozy. A strong arm clamped around your waist. It was the same person who was holding, what you now believed to be said person's shirt, against your head.

 "I think we need to get you somewhere else then this lobby." The voice was smooth and rich, and pleasing to listen to, yet every time you tried to see who it belonged the damn t-shirt was in your way.

 "You can take her to her suite." This voice you knew, for you'd been plotting to strangle him so many times over the last several days, it was hard to forget.

 "Thanks, Logan, I was just going to say that."

 "Here hold this and I'll carry you." In one easy swoop, strong arms scooped you up, and then he was standing with you in his arms. He was shirtless and you could feel his muscles bunch as he held you. Vaguely you realized where his shirt was at, as you held it to your head.

 "Logan, can you clean this up, please? And have Carly get new flowers in here." You saw him scurry away out of the corner of your left eye.

 "I'm sure there's someone in charge here that can take care of that." The man who was now carrying you off to the elevator said.

 "Yeah, that's me," you told him catching a glimpse of soft brown curls as you again tried to get a good look at his face.

 "Oh, I didn't realize." Which seemed funny considering how everyone at the hotel seemed to know who you were.  "What floor?"

 "Penthouse."

 "Well, I guess you are in charge then." He laughed and you found yourself joining in, even though your head hurt a bit. The ride on the elevator was short and soon you were in your room and he was setting you down on the sofa. "I'll grab you some ice if you steer me in the right direction."

 "Kitchen is down the hall on the left." He turned and you got a view of his well-defined ass as he walked away. God, even the muscles on his back were sexy. You heard him rummage around a bit and you wondered how bad you actually looked. You were too far away from the hallway mirror to find out, but you imagined you had blood in your hair from the cut; you just hoped your jaw wasn't sporting a nice bruise. It was then, that he walked out of the kitchen and you were finally face to...well somewhat face to face, with your rescuer, Josh Anderson. It was no wonder that he didn't know you, as he wasn't currently staying at your hotel. "Now, let's see that pretty face of yours," he said while cupping the good side of your jaw. "I don't think it'll bruise too bad. Didn't look like Marchy got you full force with that hit." Josh gingerly put the ice to the spot that had been hit.

 "I should've figured it was Marchand that hit me. He's had it out for me since he got here."

 "Marchy has it out for everyone, but I can't see why he would pick on someone as beautiful as you." The compliment caused you to blush, but thankfully between Josh's shirt and the ice, you didn't think he'd notice.

 "Not sure what I ever did to him, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me."

 "Well, his loss is my gain." It was Josh who was blushing a bit at his own words this time and you found it very attractive. "Now, let's have a look at that cut and see if it needs stitches." He brought his shirt down and examined your head. His lips just a hair's breadth away from yours making you ache to kiss him. "I think you'll be good with just some butterfly ones. It doesn't look that deep, though I can call our trainer and have him come over and double-check."

 "No that's ok. I'm sure your right. I have some upstairs." You went to get up and he placed a supporting arm around your waist.

 "Here why don't you just let me…" Before you could even take a step, he scooped you back up into his arms and started up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He made it seem like carrying you around was nothing, and honestly, it was sexy as hell. He set you down at the vanity stool in the bathroom. "Ok, so where are bandages?"

 "Top shelf there is a medical kit with some in." He grabbed it, shuffling through it to find what he needed. "This might sting a bit," he told you as he opened up an alcohol swab to clean the cut first. You winced as he gently stroked it over the wound. When he stepped back, you finally looked in the mirror at yourself.

 "Oh my god," the words were out of your mouth before you realized how they startled Josh.

 "Are you ok? Did I hurt you more?"

 "No, it's not that. I was just looking at my face…or maybe my hair." Dried blood covered half of your face and your hair was matted and tangled like a stray dog's. "I look like I walked out of the set of a horror movie."

 He laughed, brushing your hair back before placing the steri strip on your forehead. "It's not that bad."

 "I seriously need a shower."

 "Oh…uh…" Josh fumbled around with his words, looking very uncomfortable and you sort of chuckled to yourself. "I can leave you alone then…probably should be going anyway."

 "You don't have to," you mentioned casually, though you weren't sure that he would take you up on your silent offer with the way you looked at the moment. "I mean, I'm still a little unsteady on my feet." There wasn't a whole lot you knew about Josh Anderson but what you did know of him, was that he was the protector type; so you tried to play to that sensibility of his.

 "Well, I wouldn't want you to fall in the shower and get hurt worse." There was a cute little smirk on his face and if you weren't doused in blood you would've kissed him. Instead, you stripped off your top, yet another piece of clothing ruined, you thought vaguely. Your skirt and shoes followed till you were left in nothing but your bra and panties. Josh made quick work of getting rid of his shorts and stood there in front of you in his boxer briefs. Reaching around you unclasp your bra, letting it fall off your shoulders and to the ground, before gliding your panties down your legs. Josh bit his lip as he drank in the sight of your body; his eyes lingered a bit long at your breasts before moving down to look at your pussy. Even though he still had his boxers on, you saw his cock twitch as he took you in. You let him drink his fill and when he didn't make a move, you stepped into the shower hoping that he would follow. He did within seconds.

 The water sprayed over your head diluting the blood that had been matted to your hair and skin. When you went to grab the shampoo, Josh's hand stopped you. "Let me." He put some in his hands, then started to massage it into your scalp. His fingers were gentle and he avoided your cut as best he could, sliding through your hair all the way down to the ends. When he was done, he had you rinse then followed up with conditioner. It was only as that rinsed out of your long strands that you finally turned to face him. Droplets of water coated his body, and there was a heated stare in his gaze. Josh was tall, so you went up on your toes so that you could kiss him. His arms immediately went to your waist to press you to him. Maybe it was his caring nature or the way that he'd just simply swooped in to take care of you, but your body just completely melted into him and you moaned into him as his tongue caressed yours. Josh was a sensual kisser; his mouth and tongue just working its magic on you as he ignited a flame deep within.

 His hands roamed around your back only to slide up your sides and move to your breast. Breaking the kiss, his lips traveled southward along your neck and collarbone until he was cupping a breast and bringing it to his lips. His tongue swirled around your nipple before he took it in his mouth and sucked on it. You felt yourself grow damp though it wasn't from the water cascading down on the two of you. Josh lavished each of your breasts, and with every tweak and caress you moaned out his name. When his fingers skated down past your stomach to slip between your folds, you thought you would die from the pleasure he was giving you. It was nothing like the other night with Tom. Josh knew exactly what he was doing. Listening as you moaned out what you liked, so he could repeat the action again. "I want to taste you so bad," he whispered, before dropping to his knees. You backed up against the shower wall, and he lifted one of your legs over his shoulder. His tongue slipped out to lick a strip between your folds, and you found your hands threading into his hair to urge him on. They were small little licks at first before he actually sunk his tongue deep in your pussy. You tossed your head back forgetting about your injury, but not caring when he repeated the action. His nose nudged your clit as he licked at you furiously. Your hips started to buck and one strong arm, held you upright and secure against the wall, as his mouth suctioned on to your clit.

 "Yes Josh, fuck that feels so good." You panted out, as your hand locked around the back of his head. He slid two fingers into your pussy easily, pumping them in and out, while he continued his torturous treatment on your clit. Your orgasm hit as he made that simple come-hither movement with his fingers. Your legs shaking, body writhing as the pleasure overtook you. He dropped your leg back down when you finally came down from your high. Moving gracefully off the bathroom tile, Josh stood up and kissed you. Your essence still lingering there on his lips, as his cock pressed hard against your stomach.

 Reaching down you clasp your hand around the length of him; twisting your hand as you stroked him, in a way that had him hissing out his pleasure. "Fuck (Y/N), I just need to be in you." He moaned out. "It's been way too long." He drew your leg up again to wrap around his waist this time, allowing him easier access to the place he longed to be. His cock nudged between your folds, the head just inside you. Josh was thick and as he slowly slipped inside you; you could feel your pussy stretch to accommodate him. "Damn you're tight." You weren't sure if that was the case or if he was just so big, but you knew he felt delicious as he bottomed out. He took a minute, just looking you in the eyes as he stayed buried deep inside you.

 In the next second, his lips were on yours and he started to move. His tongue mimicking what his cock was doing, as he thrust in and out of you. You were simply two bodies sliding together as the water pelted down on you. Josh pinned you to the shower wall again, his strong arms biting into your waist and you thought you'd have bruises there but you knew he was also keeping you from falling down to the tiles. You looped your arms around his shoulders, so your hips could meet each of his thrusts. The water caused your leg to slip off his hip. "Josh…" you panted out.

 "I know," he hissed and he was pulling out of you so that you both could be more comfortable. He twisted your body so that your back rested against his chest for a moment before, bending you down. You spread your legs wide giving him greater access to your cunt so he could glide back in. Using the bench seat, you placed your hands there to hold on as Josh grabbed ahold of your hips before thrusting back in. Moans echoed off the bathroom walls as your bodies slammed together. "Fuck, yeah baby," Josh groaned as you pushed your ass back against him.

 His hand on your hip, snaked down so his finger could rub circles around your clit. "Yes…Josh…yes." He had you teetering on the edge in no time. It was when his other hand drew you halfway up and his lips bit down on your neck that you completely lost it, cuming with a loud moan. Your legs shook and felt like they would give out but Josh held you close still pumping in and out of you as you came down from your high. He pounded in and out of you a few more times, before thrusting even deeper into you and spilling himself inside your pussy. A guttural moan left his mouth and his fingers dug deep into your hips holding you still as he came.

 He stayed inside you for a minute as he said, "Damn, I needed that." Dropping kisses on your shoulder, he slowly pulled out. "Thank you," he said softly, turning you around so he could once again capture your lips in a sweet kiss. "We should probably finish up." You knew he was right, though you were out of energy after two orgasms. Josh must have sensed this for he grabbed your loofah and the shower gel, and started to wash your body. His touch was gentle and he added more soap to his hands, abandoning the sponge as he washed your breasts and pussy. You couldn't help the moan that left your mouth as he touched you; your body still sensitive. "God, you are so sexy. I could…" He didn't finish the sentence.

 "You could what?"

 "You've already given me enough. Especially with this," his hand brushed the water off your forehead where your cut was. You'd completely forgotten about it. Your eyes dropped down to his cock, where you could see it coming back to life.

 "I'm fine Josh," you told him, looking him in the eye. "Though maybe we should get out of this shower."

 He chuckled lightly. "Agreed."

 He went to turn off the water and you stopped him. "Let me at least wash you a bit first." Josh eyed you funny considering he really wasn't the one that needed to shower. "Humor me." He shrugged and you grabbed the soap. The feel of his hard muscles under your soapy hands, made you tingle all over again. By the time you reached his cock, it was back to being erect. The suds made it easy to work your hand up and down the length. This time it was Josh that was moaning as you pumped him up and down.

 "Babe," his voice warned, as he gripped your wrist and you knew it was time to rinse off and continue this out from under the water. He grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist before taking another so that he could dry you off. His fingers were swift yet gentle as he made quick work of drying you, then did the same for himself. The two of you shared more soft kisses as you headed to the bedroom for round two, which was just as magical as it was in the shower. "I should probably head back to my hotel before I'm missed," Josh finally said as the two of you laid in bed.

 You hummed your agreement. "I forgot for a little bit that you're not staying here."

 "Well hopefully we'll get to move over here soon and maybe we could continue this." The idea of spending more time with Josh was definitely appealing and something that could be happening soon.

 "I'd like that," you told him as he kissed your lips one more time before crawling out of bed. "I'll walk you down."

 "You don't have to, but you should get some ice on that jaw." He tipped your head to the side and winced. "It's starting to bruise a bit."

 "Ugh, at least it doesn't hurt."

 "You're one tough cookie." He pulled on his boxers and shorts, while you grabbed a robe. "You know I'm not opposed to beating the shit out of Marchand for you."

 "Don't bother, he's not worth you getting into trouble."

 "Well, I'm sure he'll get his somehow," he gave you a little wink and you wondered what he was planning with that statement. "So this was fun…well except that part." He gently touched your bandaged head before kissing you. "See you soon?"

 "I sure hope so." With one last kiss, he left you alone, and you went to grab the ice he talked about earlier. Now that you were done having your fun with Josh, you realized your jaw did hurt a bit, but a couple of aspirin would help. You headed back upstairs to grab the meds, then laid back down on the bed, texting Carly to make sure everything was fine, which it was and she told you to take it easy.

 You were half asleep when your phone rang; a FaceTime call from Tyler popping up on the screen. "Hey Ty," you answered sleepily.

 "Hey…omg what happened to you?"

 In your half-asleep state, you'd forgotten about the bruise and cut on your face. "I stupidly tried to break up a fight. It didn't go well."

 "Jesus babe, are those stitches?" There was concerned laced in Tyler's voice, as well as a worried look on his face.

 "No just butterflies. I'm fine." The look he gave you said he thought you were lying. "I swear it's not that bad."

 "Who the hell was fighting? Better yet, who do I have to kill?" You winced, not really wanting to tell him. "(Y/N), I swear to god if you don't tell me…"

 You weren't sure what he was going to do if you didn't tell him, but there was also no point in hiding the truth. "It was TK and Marchand, though apparently, it was Marchy's fist that caught me."

 "That fucking son of bitch." His face was getting red with anger. "I'm gonna kill him."

 "Easy tiger," you tried to tease but you could tell he wasn't having any of it. He started to pace around the room. "What are you doing?"

 "Packing. I told you I'm going to beat the shit out of him."

 "Tyler, you're not a fighter." He finally stopped at your words.

 "I'll still beat him to within an inch of his life."

 "Oh, stop. I'm fine. And you're not coming here. You're in the damn bubble and not going anywhere on my behalf." Tyler had a tendency to overreact at times and this was one of them, though you'd never seen him this angry before. "With a little makeup, you won't even see it."

 "You can't stop me from calling him and bitching him out."

 "Well, if it gets him to settle down in my hotel, I'll gladly take the help." It would be nice not having to worry about being thrown in the pool again or him starting up fights with another player. "But enough about that, tell me about your day?" The two of you chatted for over an hour, Tyler never once hinting about anything sexual happening, which surprised you a bit. It was nice though just talking about everything and anything with him. You always had this easy banter with him, but this just felt different. "Hey, I have another call coming in. Can I call you later?"

 "You can call me anytime babe. Feel better." He kissed you over the phone and you did the same for him before hanging up.

 You didn't recognize the number, but said hello anyhow only to be met with, "Hey (Y/N), I need your help?"

[harvestleaves]

Role Reversal

Prompt: Hi, i'm in love with your out of breath series and i have a prompt If you can write It please. Carlos, for some reason has problems breathing in a scene with the 126, so it’s time for TK to help him. Thank you ❤️

A/N: Happy one year to the Out of Breath ‘verse!!  This time it’s Carlos’ turn!  He has an allergy induced asthma attack.  It was fun writing Carlos, I love his character and I feel that there definitely needs to be more on his background.  This is also posted on Ao3 here.

Rating: G

Word Count: 1,399

Carlos always had seasonal allergies, and there were times he couldn’t go on his elementary school field trips to local farms due to his allergy to hay and horses.  Needless to say, springtime was usually the one season that he was out of commission due to his sinuses.  But since he’d met TK in the middle of the summer, his boyfriend had yet to see him get more than just a cold.

But now, it was late March and all the flowers and trees were starting to bloom again in Austin, and Carlos’ eyes itched. It had started out early on patrol with his partner, Derek McCoy, and the other officer handed Carlos a Benadryl and a water silently before focusing back on the road when he saw the younger male rubbing furiously at his eyes.

Carlos was thankful for the allergy pill. It had calmed his itchy eyes, but his head now felt like it was stuffed full of cotton and his sinuses ached from the amount of congestion he was experiencing.

And to top it off, he was now wheezing.

Carlos couldn’t remember the last time his allergies had given him respiratory symptoms, and because of that, he knew for a fact that the inhaler in his desk back at the precinct with his name on the label was at least two years expired, and thus no good. His mama would kick his ass for not keeping his medications filled if she knew of his stupidity.

Shaking his head with a wheezy laugh at the thought, he raised an eyebrow when they got a call over the radio for them to head to a car crash on the highway.

“You good to go? You sound like shit,” Derek frowned as he looked at his partner in concern before he flicked the lights and siren on.

“Does TK know about your allergies?  Or the fact that you have allergy induced asthma?”

“It hasn’t acted up in a few years, and plus, it’s only a problem during allergy season.  It’s not the same,” Carlos grumbled with a pointed look over at McCoy.

“Hypocrite.  You want your boyfriend to be open to you about his asthma and you won’t tell him that you have allergy induced asthma?  How exactly is that fair to him?” Derek asked the younger man curiously as he pulled their cruiser up to the scene of the crash, raising an eyebrow at the trails of smoke rising from each of the vehicles before he spared Carlos a second glance.

Hopping out to help his partner with traffic and crowd control, Carlos stifled a cough into his elbow, wincing at the high pitched wheeze and rattle that his lungs produced.  He sounded like TK the few times he’d had to take his boyfriend to the ER for his own asthma, and he knew he probably needed a breathing treatment to open up his lungs, but his pride was keeping him from admitting his weakness.

Maybe he was a hypocrite.  How could he expect TK to be open and honest with him when he never even explained to his boyfriend how he already knew how to operate an inhaler, or how he could put a nebulizer together in his sleep?  He hadn’t had a relationship before this one with TK that had lasted longer than a few weeks, so it never really crossed his mind to explain his personal heath history with his boyfriend.

Carlos figured he’d talk to TK about it later, he had a job to do in the meantime.

Spotting the 126 rolling up to the scene, Carlos couldn’t hide the dopey smile that fell across his face when he spotted TK hop out of the firetruck to help Judd get the victims out of the cars before he quickly turned back to his work with a blush.

___________

The call went pretty quickly, with no serious injuries for either of the drivers involved, which TK was always thankful for.  Once he helped Marjan and Mateo load the gear back onto the rig, he made his way over to Carlos to talk to his boyfriend.  He was glad the two of them only had about an hour left in their shifts, one of the few days that their shifts lined up perfectly.

However, the closer he got to his boyfriend, the more he realized there was something wrong with the other male.  Carlos’ usually tanned face looked pale, and his eyes were slightly bloodshot.  But the most concerning thing to TK was the awful wheezing coming from his boyfriend, and the way his shoulders seemed to heave with every breath made TK wince internally.

“Hey babe, you feeling okay?” TK asked softly as he reached out a hand to Carlos’ bicep to squeeze it in concern.

“H-hey Ty.  Yeah, ‘m fine.  J-just allergies, y’know?” Carlos explained, trying to stifle a round of coughs that were making their way up his throat, but he couldn’t keep them down.

The next bought of coughs had Carlos doubled over, hands resting on his knees as he wheezed for breath that didn’t seem to want to enter his lungs and his heart started racing in panic.  He hadn’t had an attack this bad since he was a kid, his allergies typically only ever made him sneezy with the occasional wheeze, not full-blown respiratory distress like he was currently experiencing.  And it terrified him.

The only comfort Carlos found in that moment was TK’s soothing voice and the firm hand over his back as his boyfriend kept him upright, calling over Carlos’ partner.

Derek made his way over to them with a frown and crouched down in front of Carlos.

“He’s got allergy induced asthma.  Seasonal allergies started kicking in today.  He took some Benadryl this morning and I thought it helped.  Check his pockets, I know he carries your spare inhaler around.”

TK nodded and quickly patted down Carlos’ pants, a sigh of relief leaving his lips when he pulled out the inhaler and quickly shook it up before pressing it to his boyfriend’s lips.

“C’mon ‘Los.  Take a deep breath for me babe,” TK whispered softly into Carlos’ ear, as the other man took a shaky breath of the medication, letting it out in a harsh wheeze before another round of coughs shook his body.

“That’s it, let it all out.  Can you try another puff for me?”

Carlos nodded slightly at TK’s question and inhaled another breath of the medication, letting it settle into his lungs for an extra few seconds before he shakily let it out, leaning his bodyweight into TK.

“There we go, catch your breath.  I think you’re still gonna need a breathing treatment.  I think you should go to the hospital for it though,” TK said softly as he ran his fingers through Carlos’ curls gently, looking up as Captain Vega made her way over to them with Tim and Nancy.

“Hey guys.  Carlos needs to get taken in, allergy induced asthma attack.  He took two puffs of albuterol but he’s still wheezing and could use a treatment,” TK explained as they loaded Carlos onto a gurney and Tim slid an oxygen mask onto his face along with a pulse-ox meter onto his left hand.

“Sats are in the mid 80′s, and I’ve got him on 100% O2.  I’ll get him on a neb in the rig.  Do you want to ride with him?” Tim asked TK, noticing how he still looked shaken up over seeing his boyfriend unable to breathe.

“Yes.  Because once he’s better, he needs to tell me why he didn’t tell me he also has asthma.” TK nodded firmly with a pointed look at his boyfriend.

“It slipped my mind.  H-haven’t had an attack this bad since I was little.  And none of my relationships lasted long enough for them to find out about allergies, let alone asthma.  I didn’t wanna get judged,” Carlos explained tiredly, a wheeze trailing his words as he looked groggily up at TK.

“Baby.  You know I am the last person who will ever judge you for having asthma.  I love you, and nothing about you will ever change that.” TK whispered softly as he pressed a kiss to Carlos’ forehead before hopping into the ambulance with him, squeezing his hand gently.  Both a signal and a promise that he would always be there.