#i’m sorry i actually really like carlos i swear

[izzy-izz-izz]

feeling like a hater rn so i hope if logan scores points the rest of this season that the first person out of the points is carlos sainz

[yourimagines]

Believing in you

* English is not my first language I apologise

* Triggers: bullying, online hate, swearing and fluff

Summary: Y/N is Lando’s girlfriend, she’s been there for him since the F2 and believes in him, even when it looks like he’s never going to achieve the things he really wants, becoming a race winner in the formula one.

Lando POV

It was an amazing feeling to win my first race in formula one. Everyone was cheering and chanting my name. “Lando, congratulations on your first win. How do you feel.” One of the reporters asks me as I walked back to my car. “It feels good, I don’t have words for it to be honest. I just want to smile.” I flashed them a smile and got in my car. “First stop the hotel, then the after party.” I said to myself as I drove away from the circuit. My mind wandered off to my girlfriend y/n, who was back in Monaco. “She’s probably screaming.” I smiled about that thought, her in my hoodie, screaming at the tv in happiness. Maybe a few tears involving as well. ‘She’s been here since the beginning….’

Flashback to 2018

“Come on Lando, just be positive about it. Maybe they want you to be their next driver, you’re already their reserve driver.” I just had a talk with McLaren about me being their reserve driver and test driver. They didn’t said anything about me actually driving for them, only about testing the car and being available during the race weekends. “They probably want George, just like Mercedes…” I sighed and sat down defeated. “Lan…I know it seems like the whole world is against you but I promise it’s not the case. Just don’t bring yourself down.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and sweetly gave me a peck on my lips. “I believe in you Norris.”

End of the flashback

I stopped the car in front of the hotel and got out, people were screaming at me and singing that song about me. “Thank you guys.” I waved at them and went inside. I quickly went to my room and sat down on my bed and took a look at my phone. She had texted me about how proud she was of me and that she knew today would be that day. ‘God….she’s perfect.’ I quickly send her a text message back and sent her the same picture I sent to my parents, me smiling happily at my phone while holding the trophy.

Flashback to 2019

I was nervous for my first race for McLaren. My girlfriend y/n was here to support me and so were my parents. “I believe in you Norris.” She says as she placed a soft kiss on my cheek. “Don’t get your hopes up, I’m never this good as my teammate Carlos.” She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Stop talking like this…it’s your first race of course you probably won’t defeat him but that doesn’t mean you are a bad driver Lando.” She gently brushed my shoulders before letting me go to the race track. “I’m always supporting you, no matter what.”

End of the flashback

The team picked me up from the hotel and went to one of the most popular clubs in Miami. “It’s going to be a hell of a party, I heard max is also coming.” I nodded and looked outside the car window, seeing the buildings passing us by. “Maybe Pierre as well…” they were talking about everything, the clubs, the drivers. I can’t blame them, they are just excited about my win.

Flashback to 2020

“You’re going to be on the podium today, I just know it.” She says through the phone. “I don’t know, maybe I crash and die…” I joked but she didn’t find it funny at all. “Lando! Don’t say that…it’s not funny.” She was a bit upset about the little joke I just made. “Okay okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” She only shook her head at me. “You’re on the podium today Norris, don’t be an asshole to me, you know I miss you right now.” She looked a bit sad at the camera. “I know you are, I miss you too.”

End of the flashback

I did get on the podium that weekend, my maiden third place. I was over the moon with that one but of course I wanted more. “You want an other one?” A young girl asked me as she raised her empty cup. “No thanks.” I said politely as I didn’t want her to think I’m available. “You sure? It’s free.” She gave me a wink and a broad smile. “Yeah I’m sure.” Before something weird could happen, max showed up with two drinks in his hands. “One for you.” He handed me a drink and smiled at the girl. “You okay?” She nods and disappears. “Weird, what did she want from you?” “Everything, I guess.” I joked as I took a sip from my drink. Max laughed and patted my shoulder. “Ladies man.”

Flashback to 2021

Rumours were spreading around the paddock that I was cheating on y/n with some other girl. Of course it’s not true but it did made a scar in our relationship. All the hate to me on the internet, being a shitty driver and a cheater. “I believe in you Norris, I trust you.” She says as she was helping me to pack my bags. “I know, it’s just frustrating that others see me differently.” I sighed and rubbed my face. “I’m not a cheater, you know her she’s a friend of max.” I shook my head and sat down, feeling worthless. “Hey, I know you didn’t cheat on me.” She sat down next to me, laying her hand on mine. “We’ll get through this, I love you Lando even with those shitty rumours.” I looked up at her and tried to smile at her. “I know.” I whispered as my voice faded. “Come here.” She opened her arms for me to hug her. “You’re not alone in this Lan.”

End of the flashback

It was very late when I arrived at the airport, Zak and the rest were there as well. Ready to board the plane. “I’m so dead.” I said as I sat down in my chair. “Me too buddy.” Zak said as he sat down in front of me. “What are your plans back in London? Visiting some family or friends?” I nodded tiredly as I checked the time. “Yeah, my parents first, maybe some friends.” He nods and gives me a pat on my shoulder. “You doing fine Lando, we’re all happy to have you in our team.” I smiled tiredly and looked outside the window. “Yeah…I’m happy too.”

Flashback to 2022

“Let’s move in together.” I said to her as we were building some legos together on my apartment floor. “Your serious?” She looked surprised at me as I just asked her to move in with me. “Yeah, why not?” I shrugged and went further with our build. “Omg you’re actually serious.” She throws her arms around my neck and pushes us down on the ground. “Love, of course I’m serious. You basically live here already.” My arms snaked around her body as she started to give me a few kisses. “I’m so excited to live with you, I need a job here and learn some more French.” She was rambling about everything, when she should move to Monaco and how to plan her days. “You’re going to be fine, you don’t need a job. You’re dating this muppet remember.” She giggles and shook her head. “I can’t do that, but thank you for your offer.”

End of the flashback

I landed in London and went immediately to my parents house, feeling happy but also drained by all the attention and stress. “Hello honey! I’m so proud of you.” My mom said as she greeted me with a hug. “Hi mom, thank you.” She guided me inside their house and saw my dad and my siblings waiting for me. “Hey guys.” “Congratulations son.” My dad immediately pulled me into his embrace. “Thanks dad.”

Flashback to 2023

She was there as I stood on the podium again, she was smiling happily at me. I was feeling proud to make her that happy and she made me happy too. “I’m so proud of you Lan.” She hugged me as soon she got the chance. “Thank you my love.” She placed a kiss on my cheek and smiled happily at me. “I knew you would be on the podium today.” It always feels bittersweet, being on the podium but not as the race winner. “Yeah, I’m still Lando Nowins.” She stopped smiling and slightly slapped my chest. “No, don’t listen to that crap. They are haters Lando, there are enough people like me that are supporting you.” I shrugged and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. “Whatever, let’s just go back to the hotel and celebrate.”

End of the flashback

I was a few days in London before I traveled back to Monaco, back to my girl who was waiting for me. I opened the door and before I could step one foot inside she flew into my arms. “Lan!” I almost fell as I catches her, holding her tightly. “I’m so proud of you, I knew it.” She buried her face in my neck and I carried her back inside, closing the door behind me with my foot. “I know, I knew it too baby.” She had tears in her eyes, looking so proud at me. “No more Lando Nowins.” She said with a giggle and I joined her. “You know that makes me even more proud, proving them wrong.” She nods and kisses me. “You were never Lando Nowins to me.” I smiled at her and sat her down on our kitchen counter. “I know, I’m your muppet.” She laughs and nods. “I freaking love you.” I said to her as she looked so beautiful to me, that proud feeling was there again. “I love you too Lan.”

[natailiatulls07]

The Golden Trio

Lando Norris x female!reader

Carlos Sainz x female!reader

Max Verstappen & Female!reader & Charles Leclerc

Summary - Being bestfriends with two famous formula one drivers is never easy, but what will happen when you get involved with yet another formula one driver??

Warning - offensive names hate comments swearing slight arguments

A/n - there will be a part two, however I’m thinking of making this a series so keep an eye out for that 🤍

The golden trio

-

yourusername

Sorry boys, mother Taylor called 🤩

Liked by landonorris and 49,273 others

username Probably using the money of Charles and Max

username Could’ve been there to support her bestfriends but chose to ignore them and be selfish, slut

maxverstappen1 Betrayal 😣

= charles_leclerc It was bond to happen, remember when she made us stay up to try for tickets with her??!

= yourusername I would’ve taken you two but you were busy with something 🙄

username The fact that she choose Taylor over supporting her two bestfriends, fake ass bitch

= username She has a life of her own, she doesn’t need to follow them around the world yk so shut your mouth 😘

username Love the midnights inspired outfit 😍

charles_leclerc posted a story

maxverstappen1

Got the book worm out in the fresh air 🌊

Tagged: charles_leclerc yourusername

Liked by arthur_leclerc and 42,193 others

username She doesn’t deserve this sort of treatment, she’s just a whore who only wants their dicks and money

username The golden trio are really glowing in that sun 😍

landonorris Where was my invite?!

= yourusername They wouldn't let me :(

= charles_leclerc Good ahead blame us!

= yourusername That's because you are the ones to blame 😊

username Is that DR3 merch I see???

= yourusername yes I'm his biggest supporter 😋

= username oh great another f1 driver that she’ll steal money from

f1gossip

Spotted: Outside of her shared apartment with Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, Y/n L/n is looking a bit annoyed. Did something happen?? How are Max and Charles feeling?? That’s the real question 👀

If anyone has any more links to what is going on please DM me 🙏🏻

Liked by username and 5,203 others

username Why are you just assuming thing??

username It’s obvious that she’s the one to blame

username I wonder where she’s going

= username Probably to a bar or a club with their cards 😒

= username It’s giving gold digger energy

username I hope the golden trio is okay 😕

landonorris posted a story

Gossip Groupchat (white: Reader) (red: Charles) (blue: Max)

Please come back to the apartment Y/n, we’re sorry

Yeah we never meant to say those things

You’ve got to be kidding me! This is an actual fucking joke

I’m sorry, we don’t know what was going through our minds

I have been you’re bestfriend for years! Years of constant hate on social media, I’ve been called every name under the sun because I’m friends with you two! And then you both go and decide that it’s okay to practically agree with that hate, wtf!

I know and we’re sorry and we mean that sorry so much

Please, just come back to the apartment

I can’t, not tonight or tomorrow.

Where will you stay??

Lando’s, we bumped into each other at the club and if you got a problem with that, you can shut your fucking mouth

Okay, we love you Bee

Yeah, I agree with Charles. We do love you so much Bee

I know, I just need space rn

-

[keithsandwich]

A Sweet Taste

Pairing: Silvio/MC (Emma)

Word Count: ~2.5k

Warnings: Swearing, bickering, a brief mention of seasickness.

Summary: During Silvio and Emma's first voyage together, Silvio decides to make her a surprise for Valentine's. However, nothing can stop her curiosity.

Notes: Written for @goustmilk for the My Ikémen Valentine Gift Exchange, hosted by @ikemenlibrary. This was my first time writing for Silvio, and I really hope you like it, Dani!!

Emma was getting used to the sway of the waves and the creaking sounds of the ship. They didn’t disturb her anymore while sleeping, especially when Silvio made a habit of enveloping her tightly in his arms every night. They were heading to another continent where her lover had business to attend to, and he had decided to take her with him for a little adventure of their own. She couldn’t be happier; their days were always filled with new lessons as they sailed together on the open sea under a bright blue sky, the sun unusually warm for February. And their nights were always filled with love, and now also with rest, since she could fall into a deep sleep in his arms until morning came, finding herself still within his grip as she woke up.

Emma let out a groggy sigh that morning, anticipating the warmth of his presence, ready to tease him about being as needy as a puppy for cuddling her all night long. However, to her surprise, there were no arms around her this time.

Emma turned quickly in bed, patting his side of their bed, but the sheets were cold, and there was no sign of Silvio in their quarters. Emma sat up straight, frowning; it wasn’t like him to let her sleep in without even letting her know he was leaving. He knew she would be worried, and if it weren’t for the gentle swing of the ship and the peaceful sounds outside — the closest semblance of silence within the ever-noisy wooden vessel at sea — she would be downright alarmed. Still, she wondered what could have been so urgent that made him leave without his typical, brazen, yet sweet “Oi! Sleepyhead! I have business to take care of, but you stay and sleep some more”.

Emma dressed quickly before emerging from the captain’s quarters. The door creaked softly as she stepped onto the deck, her eyes squinting against the sunlight. Her gaze swept across the deck, searching for her lover, but she saw no trace of his pale-blue hair being tousled by the sea breeze, a perfect match to the sea waves. There was no jewelry shining under the sun. No haughty voice giving off commands to the crew, no jangling sounds. She bit her lip, growing more anxious to find him. Moving towards the nearby navigator’s area, she slowly pushed open the door and scanned the room for Silvio. As she did, her heart clenched. There, between maps, charts, compasses, and astrolabes, she could only find Carlo behind the desk, absorbed in his work.

“Good morning, Carlo…” she announced her presence with a gentle knock on the door, which she was still holding.

He seemed startled by her voice and looked at her apologetically.

“Good morning! Ah… I’m sorry I hadn’t noticed you there, I was too caught up with calculations, and…”

“That’s okay, really,” Emma waved her hands placatingly. There was no need for apologies or explanations — especially when she still couldn’t understand his work entirely — and she wished he could focus on her words instead. “I was just wondering if you know where Silvio is.”

“I-I-I… he…” Carlo stuttered, looking around as if searching for something — maybe his words. “Actually, he asked me to tell you to wait for him here. He’s… taking care of something important below deck…”

Emma couldn’t help but furrow her eyebrows suspiciously. Carlo was hiding a secret, that much was obvious. Silvio was up to something, and he was covering up for him. But what could he possibly be conspiring in a ship?

“I see.” She nodded in agreement, but in her mind, she was weighing two possibilities: either let it go and wait for Silvio as he intended, or... “Below deck, you say?”

“Lady Emma, you don’t know the passageways well; you’ll get lost if you go after him,” Carlo moved from his desk to dissuade her from her intentions. “I can show you how... how to use the astrolabe if you please. Or we can discuss any matter you would like.”

It was too late, however.

“I’m sorry, Carlo,” it was her turn to smile apologetically, although Emma didn’t truly regret her decision. She set herself on the move, knowing full well Carlo was exasperatedly following her steps. “If I am to become familiar with this ship, I must also learn the ways my lover has of being secretive with me here. Or did he honestly expect me to sit still and wait for him?”

Granted, he would whine about it, but Silvio knew her. And he wouldn’t love her so much had she been obedient to his whims.

.

The recipe had been carefully written down on paper by Emma’s favorite confectioner. Silvio had made sure to pay him a visit the last time he went to Rhodolite. How Silvio managed to keep that recipe a secret, as well as his trips to the palace’s kitchen to practice under the guise of attending business meetings, remained a mystery, and he was proud of his deeds so far. Spending their very first Valentine’s Day together on the ship would be necessary, but he was determined to make that day special for Emma. Since cakes would spoil during the trip and chocolate boxes would melt in the storage room, the best option was to learn how to bake and do it himself in the galley.

She used to cook and bake for him all the time, and he felt good doing the same for her — although he would never say it out loud. But was Silvio still feeling confident now that he was covered in flour and ingloriously trying to beat the batter while double-checking the recipe and attempting to ensure the oven was at the correct temperature all at the same time? His grumbled profanities revealed a man far less confident than he was while conducting his tests in the palace. But a full kitchen with a steady floor was different from a galley swinging along the sea waves; and having a considerable amount of time was different from trying to rush things out to surprise Emma before she woke up.

Asking Carlo to stall her in case she did — because she definitely would look for him first thing — and trusting he could actually do it were two different things. For all that was worth, Emma was stubbornly obstinate and couldn't behave for shit. The thought of her irritating antics made Silvio blush. Unbeknownst to him, his eyebrows furrowed, and his lips formed a little pout. He beat the batter harder, causing it to spill all over the place.

“Cazzo!” Silvio couldn’t help but shout angrily, leaving the whisk in the bowl as he made an indignant hand gesture.

He sighed heavily, looking down at the chocolate batter in the bowl, its sweet scent a harsh contrast to the salty sea air. Silvio’s haughty expression softened little by little as he remembered why he was doing this, and soon he took the whisk again and resumed beating the mixture. “The more you beat it, the fluffier it’ll get after baking!”, the confectioner had said. “And Miss Emma loves fluffy cakes,” he added.

Fluffy, sweet, covered in sugar that melted in your mouth. The thought of Emma’s delight warmed his heart and brought a smile to his lips, the silly rush of emotions making his cheeks warm with a blush again.

Good thing no one was there to see it.

.

Emma navigated through the narrow passageways of the ship, with Carlo trailing closely behind. While she was aware of what lay below the deck — the crew’s cabins, the galley, the storage rooms — most of it remained a mystery to her. Despite her limited familiarity, there was one place she felt more comfortable with than others. Although it didn’t make any sense for Silvio to be there, her feet naturally guided her right to the galley.

“Lady Emma,” Carlo persisted, trying to reason with her. “If Prince Silvio doesn’t want to be found, don’t you think it's better to wait for him on deck? I'm sure he has a good reason…”

“Carlo, let’s make a deal,” she said, slowing down and turning to him. Her voice was hushed, mindful not to reveal their presence in case Silvio was nearby. “Just show me where he is. All I want is to know what he’s up to. We can return to the deck before he even notices us.”

Suddenly, the faint scent of salt and dried fish in the air was overtaken by a sweet aroma. Emma inhaled deeply, confused by the captivating scent she wasn’t expecting to encounter there. Was it... cake? Could it be that Silvio was baking her a cake? She threw an inquiring glance at Carlo, as if she had voiced her doubts, and he looked back at her with a conflicted expression.

“Porca miseria!” Silvio’s frustrated curses echoed from somewhere nearby, dismissing the need for Carlo’s guidance. Emma’s heart quickened with anticipation as she followed the source of the sound and that amazing scent, her senses guiding her through the labyrinth of corridors of the ship.

With Carlo never leaving her side, she rounded a corner and saw Silvio surrounded by flour-dusted surfaces and the warm glow of the galley’s oven. His brow furrowed in concentration, his hands a flurry of activity as he wrestled with the batter before him. She halted and took a step back, almost colliding with Carlo in the process. But she had promised him she wouldn’t let Silvio know they were there. The image of her lover working with such dedication made her smile uncontrollably, though, and she wished she could let out a giggle.

“Can we head back now?” Carlo whispered urgently.

Emma hummed softly while considering, peeking from behind the corner to watch Silvio struggling to put the batter in the baking pan while the ship swayed more forcefully. “Why is he baking a cake, though?” she murmured to herself.

“Don’t you know?” Carlo whispered a little louder in surprise. “Oh, right, sorry. You must’ve lost track of time here. It’s Valentine’s Day today, Lady Emma.”

“Is it?” Her whisper was even louder, and she immediately covered her mouth, hoping Silvio hadn’t heard her. “You should’ve let me know; I wanted to do something for him, too.”

She had believed they would have already reached land by the 14th, but apparently, she had miscalculated the duration of the trip when Silvio told her about it. She had been so excited and touched by the sight of Silvio baking her a cake, but now she was starting to feel guilty for not doing something special for him too.

“He had mentioned he wanted to do something for you this time, since you’re always doing so much for him. Not in those exact words, of course, but I know him well enough to understand.”

Emma knew exactly what Carlo was talking about, and it only made her heart race faster for her lover. “Carlo, I’m sorry, but I have to go there.”

“You told me you wouldn’t…”

“I know, but I have to. Besides, he seems like he needs help, and-”

Emma turned to peek at Silvio again to check how he was doing, but what she saw was the glistening gold of the necklaces on his chest. Really close. She raised her eyes sheepishly and met his annoyed stare.

“Who the hell told ya I need help?” Silvio stood with his hands on his hips, chocolate smudges staining the fancy fabric of his clothes, telling another story. “And you? Thought I told ya to keep her away from here. How come you both ended up like damned rats nosing around and chattering in my galley?”

“You left me without saying a word!” Emma retorted boldly, matching Silvio's assertiveness and cutting off Carlo before he could start apologizing. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You couldn’t possibly have expected me to sit still! Besides... you’re obviously in need of help,” her eyes roamed from his messy clothes to the messy galley.

“You’re impossible, woman!”

They pouted at each other, forming a pair of stubborn, hot-blooded fools. Their cheeks flushed even more by the second as they engaged in a stare-down. The moment Emma’s gaze wavered and she looked away from Silvio’s sea-blue eyes, he felt a pang in his heart. With an unintelligible mutter, he shook his head.

“Fine! Damn it! It’s Valentine’s Day, so stop spouting nonsense and come help me already!”

.

Emma was getting used to the sway of the waves and the creaking sounds of the ship. Silvio noticed it in the way she danced around the galley completely undisturbed, mixing the batter with light movements, taking care of the oven, and ensuring the cake pan was ready before pouring the batter into it. She moved as naturally as she would in the palace's kitchen, quite the evolution for someone who had experienced seasickness like Valerio usually did during her first days at sea.

She really was amazing.

As it turns out, his first attempt didn't go well. The batter got stuck in the pan, and the cake didn't rise, so she was working her magic to ensure that they would have something for the day. And for as long as he wished to do that alone, helping her out while she baked felt like they were already celebrating Valentine's Day together. Good thing Emma decided to stick her cute little nose in his business, and that he decided to let her in. Carlo politely left them alone — he definitely didn't want to be involved in their mess in the first place. And now, everything felt in the right place.

Except for her lips, when, after they placed the pan in the oven, she suddenly leaned in not only for a simple kiss but also for a tiny lick on his cheek. The surprising sensation made Silvio shiver and blush uncontrollably, flinching away from her touch. Emma giggled shamelessly at her bold actions.

“There was still some batter on your cheek, and I wanted to taste it,” she explained nonchalantly. “Silvio, you taste so sweet right now, you know that?”

“Sh-shut up!!” He spat, frowning at her, but her annoying behavior, and the way she glowed brighter and warmer than the oven in front of them, were simply too endearing to him. The fact was that he loved her, and she was the only person in the world who could evoke such feelings in him.

As suddenly as she kissed him, Silvio wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed their bodies together. His kiss was on her lips, stronger, with a hunger no cake could satisfy. When he rendered her breathless, Silvio broke the kiss and smirked at her.

“Now, you,” he murmured, his fingers gently brushing back a lock of her hair behind her ear, tracing a delicate path through the strands. Her beautiful eyes shined in anticipation, and he smiled honestly. It was Valentine's Day, and there would be no real celebration if he wasn't true to her. “You taste sweet all the time…”

Taglist: @bicayaya @queengiuliettafirstlady @olivermorningstar

[lemonlyman-dotcom]

Hi 🍋

I know you're busy with your rewatch but I was wondering cause I miss your rec lists: do you have a rec list for fics that heavily feature the 126's different religions? Them celebrating different holidays or discussing stuff or such?

Would love to see such a list, I feel like the fandom should have a general list where these fics are featured 💙

Hi anon!! Thank you so much for this lovely ask! Perfect timing, actually, because the fic I’m writing now, which I’ve affectionately been calling Eid Fic, centers around Marjan’s relationship with her faith and her family. It will heavily feature Marjan & TK discussing their own faiths, and sharing memories of holidays, fasting and family. And also how they grow together over the years and form their own found family.

I’m sorry my rec lists have fallen to the side lately! You are not the only person who’s asked me about them, and I promise they’re coming back! I’ve just been feeling a little overwhelmed lately (can you just be whelmed?). But I love any excuse to rec some of the amazing fics in this fandom. And this theme in particular is really exciting to me because we don’t have nearly enough of it! I have scoured by memory and my bookmarks for you, and here’s what I’ve found. Unsurprisingly, it mostly focuses on Carlos and TK’s faiths.

Disclaimer: this is by no means a comprehensive list, it is just what I remembered and what I found. If you know of other fics that feature religion, especially other characters, please reply/reblog with the links!

Carlos - Catholicism

The Line I'd Walk (For You) by TearsThisSideofHeaven Carlos lights a candle and says a prayer to St. Florian, the patron saint of firefighters when TK returns to work after being shot. TK asks him where he goes, so Carlos brings him to church one morning.

What is Sown, What is Grown by @never-blooms Carlos character study, beautiful glimpse into Carlos’s experience growing up Tejano and how his family shaped him.

I Swear I Love You (Te Juro Que Te Amo) by @never-blooms Nochebuena fic!! Beth gives us a really beautiful look at Nochebuena, which is the Christmas Eve holiday in Latinx cultures! This fic is full of everything you would expect from a good Nochebuena party: family, nosy siblings and aunties, chisme, delicious food and so much music.

to build a home by @freneticfloetry Carlos Begins, this fic follows Carlos from childhood through present day. Courtney gives us a lot of beautiful insight into Carlos’s background and culture, and there is some exploration of religious aspects especially in the last chapter.

And if you will allow a couple from me 🤭

I'm Not A Fortress, But I Will Try To Protect You TK & Marjan get together for pie after Marj breaks up with Salim and before TK goes back to Carlos. Marjan voices her fear of disappointing her parents with the news of the breakup, and TK offers to be there for her when she makes the phone call. Marjan also gives TK some perspective on what it was probably like for Carlos growing up in a conservative religious home.

The Greatest Gift I’ve Found, The Sweetest Thing I’ve Known My Nochebuena fic!! It’s got some holiday traditions and a lot of family love.

TK - Judaism

knock-knock-knockin' on heaven's door by rakketyrivertam Five prayers TK sang for other people, and one he sang for himself

a case of cruel to be kind by @maxbegone This is a really lovely AU based on the movie About Time. The plot is that TK discovers he can travel back in time to events in his past, and that he inherited the gift from Gwyn. But at the heart of the story is a really beautiful examination of Gwyn and TK’s relationship. This includes a look at some traditional Jewish funeral and grieving practices, through the eyes of TK after Gwyn’s passing.

The last day of Hanukkah by @ladytessa74 A very sweet little Hanukkah fic set in Tessa’s Elijah verse, in the future where Tarlos has a four-year-old named Elijah. This story gives us a glimpse of Hanukkah in the Strand-Reyes house, the little traditions and the food.

Looking at it now, it all seems so simple by @liminalmemories21 Enzo and Jonah come to town, set between seasons 3 & 4 (though S4 kinda makes it an AU now 😖). Explores TK’s relationship with his faith through Carlos’s eyes, they celebrate Hanukkah and have a Shabbos dinner, and there are a few conversations about what parts of their own cultures and religions they want to bring into the family they’re forming, and how they want to raise any future kids.

Rosa Mundi by fiddlersgreen TK, Carlos and Owen go to New York for Gwyneth's funeral. I must admit it’s been a minute since I read this, but this author gives a really lovely perspective of what Gwyn’s funeral might have been like with the Jewish traditions and customs.

[morganaspendragonss]

I am so excited for your fics- I may or may not have subscribed so I’ll see the notifs right away!

Can I please request a fic (it doesn’t have to be for your birthday bash, just whenever): but TK being with Gabriel when he has some sort of medical emergency?

I feel like I don’t get to see enough kick-ass paramedic TK and saving his future father in law’s life is just a bonus 😊

Thank you!

*slides in two years later* hey anon! i am so so sorry this took so long, life got in the way and also i lost the will to write for a while. i hope you're still around to read this 💚

this was going to have a different ending but i have an exam tomorrow and i'm tired so you're all just going to have to deal unfortunately

genesis to the last generation

ao3 | 1.9k | s4 finale specualtion, gabriel & tk, hospitals

title from bad blood by sleeping at last

Two days before the wedding, while Carlos is working his last shift before he goes on leave, Gabriel shows up at their door. It immediately makes TK nervous; aside from when Carlos was missing, he hasn’t really spent any substantial time alone with Gabriel, and he’s really hoping not to experience a repeat of that time.

“Carlos is at work,” he says in lieu of a greeting, then mentally kicks himself for it. “I mean, sorry. Hi, Gabriel.”

“TK.” Gabriel stretches out his hand, ever formal, though there’s amusement glimmering in his eyes and the twitch of his mouth. “Good to see you. And, actually, I’m here for you. Care to take a walk?”

“Uh.” TK blinks. A part of him wants to suggest they have a coffee in the loft instead, to make up some excuse as to why he has to stay firmly planted on home turf. But there’s not a bone in his body that would actually be capable of saying no to his almost father-in-law, especially not this close to the wedding. “Yeah, sure. Let me just grab my jacket.”

He trails slightly behind Gabriel as he’s led out of the building and into the city. They don’t talk as they walk and Gabriel seems perfectly content with the silence, his thumbs tucked into his belt loops and his head tilted slightly upwards, like he’s basking in the midday sun.

TK feels like he’s vibrating out of his skin. He thought he’d moved past the phase of being terrified of Carlos’s parents months ago, but he’s starting to suspect that, in Gabriel’s case at least, it’s something that’s here to stay. He keeps his hands firmly jammed in his pockets to stop himself from fidgeting, but if anything that only increases the nervous energy he could swear he can almost taste.

When Gabriel finally speaks, he’s so keyed up he almost dies of shock right there and then.

“TK, I’m not going to bite, and it honestly offends me that you still think I might.” 

He’s stopped walking now and is looking back at TK, an eyebrow slightly raised. It feels like he could almost choke on the lump in his throat, but TK manages to swallow it down, feeling it settle heavily in his stomach.

“Sorry,” he says. “I just… What’s going on here, exactly?”

The eyebrow quirks even higher. “What, I can’t take a walk with my future son-in-law?” At the panic that flashes across TK’s face, Gabriel snorts and claps him on the shoulder, guiding him over to a nearby bench. “Son, relax. I’m not doing this to give you some sort of shovel talk, or whatever you want to call it. I think my wife took care of that one last year. No, I actually wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?” TK echoes, frowning. “But… What for?”

Gabriel sighs and sits back on the bench, folding his hands loosely in his lap. He’s quiet for a moment before he smiles ruefully and looks back at TK. “Carlos stopped by the house yesterday. He asked me to be his best man.”

TK nods. He’d sent Carlos off yesterday morning with a kiss and a reassurance that it would be fine. And it was; mid-way through his shift at the firehouse, Carlos had texted to say that Gabriel had said yes.

He says as much, and Gabriel nods back.

“I did. It will be a privilege to stand up there with you boys. A privilege I doubt I would ever have if it weren’t for you coming into my son’s life.”

“I don’t think–”

“Carlos loves you, TK,” Gabriel interrupts. “I’ve never seen my son so happy as when he’s with you, and I might never have seen him that way if you hadn’t stayed by his side after we first met. All parents make mistakes, and I was raised a certain way that isn’t necessarily compatible with today, but that’s no excuse for the way I treated Carlos after he came out to us. I wasted so many years that I could have spent actually getting to know my son and watching him become the man he is today.”

He sighs again. “I’d like to think we’d have gotten here on our own eventually. But I know it would have taken a lot longer had you not been there. You and Owen, and all your family. In two days, I get to see my only son get married, and I promise you, TK, I could not be more proud or thankful. Thank you, TK.”

The lump makes a reappearance in TK’s throat and he has to blink a few times to stop unexpected tears from spilling down his cheeks. He opens his mouth then shuts it again, repeating the action as he tries to put into words the tangled mess of emotion currently warring in his chest.

“I don’t know what to say,” he settles on eventually, shaking his head. “I don’t… Yeah, I got nothing.”

Gabriel chuckles. “Say you’ll come to lunch. Andrea is making a vegetarian chilli and I’m sure she’d appreciate at least one willing customer.”

“That sounds good.” TK nods and stands, checking his watch to find that it’s already past one. Andrea likes to serve lunch on time and they still have to walk back to the loft. “We should probably get go–”

He’s cut off by a pained grunt from Gabriel and TK turns to find him clutching his chest, his face ashen and a sudden sheen of sweat covering his brow. A special kind of terror – the one that comes with having no gear in an emergency, made worse by the fact that this is his father-in-law – flashes through him, but TK attempts to school it, keeping his expression as calm as possible as he sits back down next to Gabriel.

“Gabriel, can you tell me what’s wrong?” he asks, though he has a horrible feeling he already knows. “Does anything hurt?”

“Chest,” Gabriel grits out. His expression is tight with agony and he’s almost bent double now, his breaths coming in harsh, uneven gasps. “Arms. Pressure.”

They’ve drawn a small crowd by this point, people muttering and staring, though naturally none of them have thought to call an ambulance. TK yells out a quick, “Call 9-1-1!” but he only watches long enough to make sure someone does before he puts his full attention back on Gabriel.

“Gabriel, listen to me,” he says as calmly as he can, putting one hand on his back and the other on his knee. “I think you’re having a heart attack. Help is on the way but for now I need you to focus on breathing, alright? You’re going to be fine.”

Gabriel squints up at TK though his gaze is unfocused and his eyes clench shut again a second later. “The…wedding,” he gasps.

“Don’t worry about that right now,” TK soothes. Inside him, a deep panic starts to settle, fear at the thought that Carlos might lose his father two days before they’re supposed to get married. He knows what it’s like to lose a parent without warning and he wouldn’t wish that feeling on anyone, though TK knows it’s something most people will eventually experience. 

But not Carlos. Not now.

God, please, not now.

He keeps talking to Gabriel right up until the ambulance rolls up, then rides with him as they set off for the hospital. If the worst does have to happen, TK owes it to Carlos, Andrea, and Gabriel himself not to let it happen to him alone.

*

Carlos and Andrea arrive at the hospital together, matching looks of fear on their faces. TK hugs them each in turn, not missing the way Carlos clings to him. He presses a quick kiss to his fiancé’s cheek before releasing him, feeling the heavy weight of responsibility fall onto his shoulders as they both stare at him anxiously, waiting for news.

TK has never envied doctors their job of delivering news to patients’ families and now he’s experiencing it, he would give anything never to have to do so again. Still, he takes a shaky breath and plasters on as reassuring a smile as he can manage, reaching out to take one each of Carlos’s and Andrea’s hands.

“Gabriel had a heart attack,” he informs them, information he’d already given over the phone, but doesn’t mind repeating. “The situation isn’t great, but the ambulance came quickly and he was responsive all the way to the hospital. They took him back a while ago; I’m sure they’ll be out with news soon.”

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Andrea has her rosary clutched close to her heart, anxious fingers worrying the beads. 

TK squeezes her hand. “I think he has good odds,” he says carefully. The last thing he wants to do is give false hope here. “He was here well within the golden hour.”

Andrea takes a deep breath and nods, squeezing TK’s hand back once before letting go and moving to sit, her eyes closing and her lips moving in silent prayer. Carlos, still holding his hands, tugs on him, and TK lets himself be led a short distance away, out of earshot of Andrea.

“Tell me the truth, TK,” he says quietly. “You said you thought he had a good chance of surviving, but what about the rest? He’s not going to be okay, is he?”

TK looks into those wide, pleading brown eyes, and the thought of causing Carlos even more pain is enough to break his own heart. But, he knows, it would hurt even more for him to hold back, for Carlos to not know, so he steels himself and draws him close, reaching up to caress his cheek.

“I don’t know,” he says honestly. “I didn’t have any of my gear out there; I couldn’t monitor his blood pressure or oxygen or anything. Things were too crowded in the ambulance for me to tell. Plenty of people recover from heart attacks. We just have to wait and see what the doctors say.”

Carlos’s eyes search his face, desperate for answers, but TK has no more to give. He must realise this, as his expression crumples and he collapses onto TK, trusting him to keep him afloat.

*

They’re allowed back to see Gabriel just under an hour later. He’s awake and doing well, but the doctors have already informed them that he’ll have to look at some serious lifestyle changes, including, likely, retirement. 

TK imagines that’s going to be a fight for the future, but right now they’re more occupied with trying to keep Gabriel in bed.

“I’m fine,” he protests for the thousandth time in ten minutes. “I’m not going to miss my son’s wedding for this.”

“Dad, please, you have to stay here. We’ll postpone the wedding for a few days.”

“¡Ni pensarlo! Carlitos–”

“Papá–”

“¡Cállense!”

Andrea’s command silences the room. She looks round at them all and TK feels the urge to wilt under her gaze, noticing the same in Carlos and Gabriel. He mentally chides his past self for ever believing she wasn’t the scariest Reyes.

“Carlitos, you will not postpone the wedding. Gabriel, you will not leave this hospital until you are told. We will figure something out. ¿Lo tenemos claro?”

A mumbled “sí,” comes from both Gabriel and Carlos, and Andrea hums, pursing her lips. But TK spots a small smile tugging at the corners of them and, when Carlos and Gabriel aren’t looking, she turns to him and winks. He chokes back a laugh, and suddenly all the stress of the day lifts, and TK sees the path to their wedding clearing once more.

He’s not ruling out anymore last-minute scares but, for now at least, they can all breathe again.

[chicgeekgirl89]

Ten Random Lines

Thank you so much to @irispurpurea for tagging me! 

Rules: pick any ten of your fics, scroll to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people.  

I just went through my ten most recent fics which are, not shockingly, all Tarlos except for the one Star Wars fic lol. Played fast and loose with three lines because sometimes they were weird without context. 

1. Car Crashes Call for Cookies

T.K. looks at the screen and sees several text messages and two missed calls, all of them from Andrea. “Crap,” he mutters as he punches in Carlos’ passcode and reads through them.

Gracías for your help today mijo. Text me when you’re home.

2. The One Where Carlos Can’t Leave the Couch

“Don’t tell T.K., okay?” Carlos asks. “He’s already smothering me, I don’t need him to know about this.”

“Pretty sure he’s going to notice the giant bruise on your ass,” Paul says skeptically. “But I won’t say a word.”

3. A Firefighter, a Cop, and a Construction Worker Walk Into a Bachelor Party

“Carlos Reyes, I’m here to get you fired up!” the man shouts, swinging the pants around over his head.

“Actually, technically firefighters are there to put the fire down,” Paul says as Mateo nods in agreement.

Carlos rounds on his cousin and his sister. “I am calling Tía Maria and letting her send BOTH of you to a convent, I swear to GOD  Cesca—No, no, no!” he interrupts himself as the man gyrates toward him. “If you touch me I will have you arrested for assaulting an officer!”

4. The Gift of a Queen

No wonder it feels as if his entire chest has been split open. Or perhaps that’s the grief. He’s no longer sure of the difference between his physical and emotional pain. 

5. Not a Booty Call

T.K. takes one more look at him. For such a confident, strong guy, he looks really small sitting here under the harsh hospital lights. “Take the medication,” T.K. advises. “You might not want it now, but you probably will tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Carlos says. “Thanks.”

T.K. steps back out and the last image he sees before he sweeps the curtain closed again is of Carlos, head bowed, looking completely alone.

6. Look at Where We Are

“You got engaged in the middle of the night?” Marjan asks, a puzzled look on her face.

“Yep,” T.K. squeezes Carlos’ knee. “It just felt like the right moment.”

“Doesn’t Carlos sleep like a rock?” Nancy asks. “Did he even know what he was committing to?”

“Yeah Carlos, you know this means you’re stuck with his Catan cheating, Hawaiian shirt wearing, vitamin obsessed ass forever, right?” Mateo asks.

“I do,” Carlos says, smile still firmly in place.

7. Grilled Cheese

Carlos smiles and puts the hand that’s not holding a spatula on T.K.’s hip as he leans in for a kiss. “I thought you guys might be having a rough shift. So I came over to make dinner.”

Now that he’s not completely distracted by Carlos’ presence, T.K. spots a slew of half assembled grilled cheeses laid out on the counter and a crock pot of what smells like tomato soup. “I waited until you pulled in to heat up the pans, so everything would be nice and hot.”

“Okay,” Marjan points at Carlos as she walks into the kitchen. “You are the best 126 boyfriend. Hands down.”

8. An Awkward Position

“Sorry. But yeah, hopefully it’ll be okay.” He looks up at Carlos with a twinkle in his eye and Carlos knows what he’s going to say before the words even leave his lips. “Otherwise it might put some of us in an ‘awkward position.’”

“I knew you weren’t going to let that go!” Carlos says, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance. “I didn’t know what else to say! I was trying to smooth things over! It was weird!”

“It was,” T.K. says coming to stand in front of him. “And then you made it weirder with your sexual innuendo.”

9. Save a Horse

He takes the seat across from T.K. and T.K.’s eyes immediately latch onto his boyfriend’s shirt. Because Carlos has definitely, absolutely, unbuttoned it exactly one additional button, and it’s revealing just a tiny bit more of his chest than it was before they came inside. It’s not obscene or inappropriate, but it is incredibly distracting.

10. Measure of a Man

T.K. bites his lip. “Isn’t running background checks on people who aren’t criminals a misuse of police resources?”

“I guess technically it is,” Carlos says. “But it was for a very good reason.”

“You abused your power for me. That is…so hot.” T.K. slides a little closer, a hand settling on the exposed skin of Carlos’ thigh, just below the line of his boxer briefs.

Tagging @bluenet13, @wanna-be-bold, @ejzah and whoever else wants to play! 

[serafiel-jacobs]

Porcelain (FANFIC)

New Chapter of my angst fic series 💜

Romeo screwed up, but he has no one else to blame but himself, he tried to convince Carlo to leave again, he hasn’t done it in such a long time and Carlo didn’t take it well, he was hysterical, even more than usual, until like aways he tires himself out to keep going, he finally ended up fainting, he carried Carlo back to their room and laid him to bed, he leaves him alone, he walks a few steps to the living room, where he sees Geppetto sitting, waiting for him, Romeo knows that he heard what was said.

He just stares at him, Romeo knows that he is in trouble and that he should have kept his mouth shut.

“Romeo please sit down, I just want to talk,” Geppetto says to him, Romeo obliges, he knows what Geppetto is capable of, he takes a seat on the large couch of the living room, looking directly at Geppetto.

“You aren’t in trouble”

Romeo wants to believe him but he is still skeptical.

“I know that the situation we are in is not ideal” Geppetto had started his speech. “But I can’t let the two of you leave, you know that”

He knows that he knows that he and Carlo are supposed to be dead and whatever necromancy bullshit Geppetto pulled on them wouldn’t be seen favorably by others.

“I’m sorry, I was just… frustrated” Romeo isn’t really sorry but he has to ask for forgiveness, he doesn’t want to make this harder on himself.

“It’s okay I understand, I know that at first the way I treated you wasn’t the best”

“Yeah, I didn’t like being locked in the basement” Technically he is still locked inside of here, he just has more freedoms, if you can even call them that.

“Please forgive me, I shouldn’t have done that” Geppetto is sincere and Romeo hates that, why can’t he just be an evil old man, why does he actually care about him and Carlo?!

Romeo lays down on the couch, he puts his hands up to his face, this is too much, he is feeling overwhelmed, and the fact that he realizes that Carlo feels like this all the time makes it worse because he deeply cares for Carlo and the thought of his friend constantly feeling like this makes him sick.

He can’t do this, he can’t act polite anymore.

“Why couldn’t you have just fucking leave us to die? Why couldn’t you have just let us stay dead?” Romeo doesn’t care that he is swearing anymore, he doesn’t care whatever punishment he decides to give him. “I hate you, I fucking hate you so much, why can’t you let us be free?”

Today is one of those days he really wishes Carlo would kill his father already.

Romeo expected Geppetto to be mad at him, furious, but he just looks at him with a smile, a sweet understanding smile, he gets closer to him and kneels down to his level, gently playing with his hair.

“It’s okay Romeo, I understand that you aren’t feeling well, I’m not mad at you” He isn’t mad at him, and Romeo now feels bad for saying all of that, Geppetto is such a kind man, he takes good care of him, maybe he really does see him like a son.

Romeo uncovers his face, he looks at Geppetto, he looks at his father, and he feels loved by him.

Dear Lord, I sound like Carlo now

But Romeo is starved for affection, so he lets Geppetto, he lets his father keep playing with his hair, he asks for a hug and his father gives it to him.

Romeo needs to feel the touch of others, he still remembers the petrification disease, and he still can feel the complete stiffness of his body, the cold, it was agonizing; he likes being hugged, it makes him feel warmth. He hates being cold, he remembers when, when-

When Pinocchio killed him

And how he felt cold, despite all the fire around him, he was freezing, he thanked him, Romeo thought that it was Carlo who had taken his life, and even when the ice cold of death was unbearable, he had at least died, the pain would be over.

But here he is again, alive, against his will.

He is starting to feel sick again, Romeo starts to shake, he feels cold again, his body is shivering, Geppetto, his father looks at him with a worried expression, and he touches his forehead.

“Mmm it doesn’t feel like you have a fever, but maybe you should go and rest”

Geppetto always does that, every time he or Carlo suffer the grueling pain of what it is to be alive again, and the many conflicting feelings that come with it Geppetto just sends them to bed, as if they are both toddlers.

But he really does need to rest, he is too tired and too cold.

——

Romeo is now in the basement playing with Carlo, he tries to follow along and pretend, but he still feels like he is freezing, Carlo gives him a blanket that was lying around, and he covers himself as well, both are together, Carlo says nothing, but he understands, as he was infected with the disease as well, they stay silent, there is nothing that can be said to make him feel better.

They stay quiet for hours until finally it’s Carlo who speaks up.

“I’m sorry, I… I asked him to bring you back, I shouldn’t have”

Romeo feels as if he was stabbed through the chest, “Carlo don’t say that, please never say that again” Yes this is painful, and he wishes he wasn’t here, he wishes he was dead again but this isn’t Carlo’s fault, and Romeo isn’t going to let him blame himself for it.

Carlo looks at him, he looks at him and there is a deep sorrow in his eyes, he knows why Carlo asked for him to be brought back, he was lonely and alone; no matter how horrible this situation is, he can’t leave Carlo alone, he can’t let him face this by himself.

Romeo only had two friends at Monad, Carlo and Sophia, and he didn’t see Sophia often, partly because their interests were too different and it was rare for them to hang out, especially when he and Carlo started to train to become stalkers; but also because when her parents died her uncle took over, and she was scared, Romeo had promised her that he would be by her side, and he broke that promise.

He has to stay with Carlo, he is and will always be his best friend, they even are brothers now. Romeo already failed Sophia, he failed to be there for her, so he has to be there for Carlo no matter what.

——-

“I… want to hurt myself” That’s a lie, Romeo doesn’t really want to hurt himself, even if he really wishes he was dead; but when Carlo says that Geppetto always gives him more attention, and it works, Romeo is in bed next to his father, who is confronting him and giving him reassuring words.

“You are a brave boy for telling me, for not doing it”

Romeo starts to feel less cold now, the more he gets praised, the better he feels. He never thought that he would have a family like this, he remembers back while studying at Monad how others would mock him for not having a family, he wasn’t the only orphan yet most of his peers had gotten adopted at one point or another, but no one wanted to adopt him, because he was a bad boy and did a lot of things he shouldn’t have, Romeo remembers others telling him how no one would love him because, how can somebody stand him and deal with him? He even overheard some of the faculty members say that he was a lost cause.

“You are my good boy Romeo”

He finally feels warm again, his body has stopped shaking, a deep weight lifted from his shoulders, Romeo wants, needs, more attention, so he asks to be cradled.

You are pathetic you know that?

Romeo knows that this is pathetic, that this isn’t normal, that he is an adult who should be able to care of himself, but at this moment he can’t take care of himself, he desperately needs someone to take care of him, and his father can do that for him.

——-

Carlo is trying to kill Geppetto again, Romeo is watching and for the first time ever he speaks up, he wants to tell him to do it, that if Geppetto dies then all of this will be over, to grow a spine and finally slit his throat.

“Please don’t do it”

Why did I say that?

Carlo stops and drops the knife, he starts crying, constantly repeating that he is horrible and that he is a bad boy. Geppetto is there for him, Carlo has his face buried in his father’s chest; Geppetto looks at Romeo, he looks at him with a smile.

Why did I stop him?

Romeo is freezing again, he wants to take it back, but he can’t take back what he said, Carlo is looking at him now too; Carlo doesn’t say it but he knows exactly what he is thinking, they hate him, they both hate him so much.

But they need him, who else is going to take care of them, who else is going to love them?

Romeo is crying now, he feels as if his body is made of ice, fragile, and about to break at any moment, his vision starts to fog, he closes his eyes and faints, wondering if his body will shatter into dozens of ice fragments.

——

Romeo wakes up, he can tell it’s dawn already, Carlo is sleeping next to him and he can see Geppetto sitting in a chair next to the bed, he looks extremely tired, he most likely hasn’t slept at all due to keeping an eye on both of them.

“Are you feeling better?” Geppetto asks him, he is concerned, unlike Carlo, he doesn’t pass out often, in fact, this is the first time he has lost consciousness.

“No” Maybe physically he feels a bit better, but mentally he hasn’t been this bad.

“Romeo sweetie, you can talk to me about anything,” Geppetto says in that disgusting sweet voice.

“Can you please stop treating me like a child? I’m not a child, I can take care of myself” Romeo doesn’t like being talked to that way.

“Can you really take care of yourself, Romeo?”

Geppetto’s words are simple but still have a cutting edge, Romeo starts to wonder if he is right, he sometimes gets confused like Carlo, he now feels cold all the time and he constantly has to endure being fatigued all the time, his body is stiff, it´s a chore to move even his fingers, they feel hard, it makes him feel rigid; and sometimes, sometimes he thinks this is rigor mortis, he is supposed to be dead after all. But he desperately tries to not think about that, he doesn't want to think of the muscles of his body slowly rotting from the inside.

“It’s not a bad thing if you can’t, it’s not bad to ask for help, and I’m here to protect you” Geppetto looks directly at him again, and Romeo is desperately trying to look for a sign that he is lying, that he an evil bastard who trapped them here so that they could suffer; but he doesn’t see that, why would he make his life harder this way, he is constantly doing his best to make them feel better, he doesn’t fight back when Carlo attacks him, he loses sleep to make sure that of they need help in the night he is there for either of them.

“I… don’t think…” Romeo is stuttering, he no longer feels confident in what he said before.

You are feeble, you are weak and fragile.

“I’m your father and I want to help you” Romeo really is weak because he feels sick and just wants to be told that everything is going to be okay, that all of this will be over soon.

Romeo feels like he is a porcelain doll, that he will shatter at any moment, a doll that needs to be handled delicately, otherwise he will break and he doesn’t want to be broken.

“I feel cold all the time” Romeo finally confessed.

“Then let me help you”

Can he really help him? Geppetto isn’t a doctor, he doubts that he can do anything about it. But Romeo is willing to accept anything at this point.

“Please help me”

——

Romeo has started to feel better, although now he wears a fluffy sweater all the time, it helps when the cold comes back; he tends to feel more sick when it’s deep into the night or when it’s dawn, but after eating breakfast it always dies down, his muscles are more relaxed.

Romeo isn’t stupid, he knows that Geppetto is giving him some sort of sedative in his food so that his body doesn’t feel stiff all the time, he thinks he should be angry at this, but he isn’t, Romeo is happy with just feeling better.

Right now, the three of them are resting on the couch, Geppetto is in the middle and Romeo and Carlo are each on the opposite sides, they are cuddling with him.

“I love you father,” Romeo says and Carlo says it as well, they both love their father.

Geppetto pulls them both closer to him, his precious boys know that they can always rely on him, they have been behaving so well lately, maybe he needs to give them a reward.

Maybe he can let them go outside, briefly, only outside the house, and he isn’t worried that they might try to run away.

He won’t let them run away.

[baddygab-bi]

Lone Star thoughts:

Why haven’t they just checked how many radios they have?

You’re telling me there’s no security cameras in the firehouse?

When does Owen do his actual job?

When did this show become Federal instead of 9-1-1. Literally none of this is 9-1-1 related expect for the fact that they responded to the bomb going off, but even then it wasn’t 9-1-1 related.

This FBI lady has had no personality and suddenly she’s crying and wanting Owen to call her by her first name. If they kiss I swear.

I get this is the Rob Lowe show, but there’s so fucking much Rob.

Why are they making us want to feel bad for the Nazis?

Why is the FBI guy so okay with Owen and O’Brien helping them. What the fuck?

His family was kidnapped. Calling it now.

Ahh Carlos appearance. Hot. Also, looking good after basically nearly dying recently.

Why is the call out a fun little song? “Fire and rescue🎶 121 122 126 127 128🎶” Am I only one jamming out to this?

We just not gonna define ANFO?

Rafa’s arms.

These things are empty aren’t they?

I’m not scared. They wouldn’t hurt Carlos back to back. Plus we know he’s in future episodes.

Is that TK’s one line for the episode? “I really hate when he does this.”

O’brien’s gonna die isn’t he?

I was right those were fake out bombs. Knew it. Too obvious.

Family was kidnapped knew it.

O’Brien shot. Knew it.

Fucking hell Carlos, yes babe. Also though on a serious note, holy shit. Was that his first time shooting an actual bad guy?

I get Andy’s a villain, but why is he so sweaty?

Wait, O’Brien’s name is Ty? He answered the phone, thought he was talking to TK until it cut… why did they name the character the same thing? That’s so weird.

Okay Andy is being made to do this… Still doesn’t answer why he’s so sweaty.

What happened to Owen being arrested for obstruction of justice?

The FBI agent dude’s actor is really good.

Andy’s actor is great. Like he’s really good. Creepy is hard and he does it well and his emotional part is awesome.

TK having an idiot for a dad is why his blood pressure is gonna be high as fuck by the time he’s 30.

Why don’t you just drive the car into water?

Ah I was right, we’re going into the water.

“Hey Grace, don’t tell my son I love him.” Literally makes a joke instead of anything else.

That was more than 30 seconds.

Uh… sure? Laughing. Okay. Sure. Fine. Sure.

Why are we watching this weird recap thing when it no longer matters? All the people in this scene are arrested. Literally this doesn’t matter at all.

Why are we watching the feds?

Oh my god I don’t care about this at all. So glad this storyline is over.

And they stillllll haven’t said the full name of ANFO this whole time.

The Honor Dogs are like… still bad though. Let’s not forget about the fact that they were branding people.

Yeah this actor playing Andy is fucking crushing it.

Oh my god I don’t care about O’Brien and his family. Sorry, but I don’t.

Owen not bringing enough food for Carlos took me out😂. And thank god we get to start the wedding stuff now. This Honor Dog plot was tired since before it began

[crazyk-imagine]

Chapter III: There’s Trickery Afoot

Characters: Sulane “Sullie” Celeste, Jasner Verbane, Carlos Garcia, Hortense “Logan” Mitchell, Kendall Knight, James Diamond, Kelly Wainwright, Gustavo Rocque, Katie Knight, Camille Roberts, the Jennifer’s, Bitters, Griffin, Arty (one of the three muscley guys), Susan (the rude dog commercial lady)

Warnings: Shenanigans, moments between our favorite future couple and Kelly, cute friendship moments between Sulane, Kendall, and Logan, everyone knows how mean Sulane can be, Griffin hiring Sulane to be his firing person

Word Count: 5,100

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

She searches her bag for some licorice, only to find none. Now that she thinks about it- she scoffs shaking her head. 

A knock distracts her from her previous thoughts. 

She looks through the people, finding no one there but, there seems to be something on her doormat. 

Sulane unlocks the door, opening it to find two large containers of licorice and a card. She fights the smile threatening to stretch across her lips, she loses. 

She sticks her head out the door, looking left and right to find no one on either end. She grabs the card and sets in on her table before snatching the licorice off the floor (before the licorice bandits could get to it. 

Sure, they may not be real but, she’s not taking any chances). 

-

The boys pull their heads away from the corner of the wall, smiling and high fiving one another. “Yes!” 

“Do you think she’ll ever forgive us?” Carlos asks. 

The others purse their lips. 

“We don’t even know what we’re supposed to be sorry for,” Kendall points out. 

“That’s actually- yeah, you’re right,” Logan says. 

“Who cares,” James smacks Carlos’s shoulder, “she’ll be a thousand times nicer to us now that she has a supply of licorice to last her a…” He looks off to the side, trying to come up with a semi accurate number. 

“Weeks?” Logan offers. 

“A month,” Kendall shrugs. 

The former nods, “yeah, let’s go with a month. It sounds the most realistic.” 

“We should probably start heading back to the room now. I don’t want mom to start worrying.” 

The boys walk down the hallway feeling better than they did that morning. 

-

She opens the envelope, pulling out the card to find her payment. She sets the two tens beside the licorice, reading the short note. 

“Dear Sullie, 

Here is your payment in full for the bet on the first teacher and the deal we made. It was I had a lot of fun today. The guys and I hope that we can do this more. (They don’t know I’m writing this) We’re sorry for what we might have done unless it was something we didn’t do, either way, we’re really sorry. I missed you, Licorice. 

Carlos (Corndog)” 

She sniffs, quickly wiping her cheeks. She shakes her head, stuffing the card back in the envelope and the cash into her wallet. 

She smiles as she opens one of her containers, munching on a piece of licorice. She groans, “so good.”

S01 EP 03

Sulane and Jasner sit in the seats outside of the Palm Woods lobby, obviously in one of the cabanas. 

“You know, I don’t get it,” the teen girl says. 

“What?” 

“Yesterday- you weren’t there, lucky you.” She pushes herself up, sitting straight up, “anyway, the first teacher Gustavo and Kelly hired was insane.” 

“Was he actually?” 

“He used to be in a boy band and was bitter about it. I think he and his bandmates were no longer seen as the “it” band which in turn, made him bitter. I just want to know how no one noticed the five veins sticking out of his forehead the more he kept talking about his boy band era.” 

He scrunches his nose, “five?” 

“And that’s me being nice.” 

“Ew.” 

“Yeah.” 

Jasner peeks through the cabana curtain and looks back at her. “I think the newbies just got kicked out of the pool. Oh no.” 

“What?” 

The flaps open and tall, muscley dudes come in, carrying Jasner into the lobby. 

Sulane points her finger at the remaining three, “if any of you try to move me, I swear I’ll press charges.” 

They glance at one another and shrug. “Come on.” 

“That’s more like it. You two can leave, I’m going to my place now.” 

“I’ll make sure she actually makes it to the lobby, you two go help, Susan.” 

“Thank you… what’s your name?” 

“Arty.” 

“Thanks for the brief body guarding, Arty.” 

“No problem, little lady.” 

-

She turns to see Bitters heading towards the five. “Oh, no.” She tries pushing Kendall out of his chair. 

He moves his arms around, “what are you doing?” 

“Bitters is- Hi, Bitters. How ya’ doing?” 

He narrows his eyes at her, “don’t take my fun away and warn them.” 

She rolls her eyes, leaning against the chair. ‘I tried.’ 

“Ah, the four hockey players from Minnesota,” Bitters starts. 

“I’m not getting a friendly vibe,” the brainiac whispers to Kendall and Sulane. 

“You shouldn’t,” she whispers back. 

“Zip it, blondie.” 

She raises her hands up, ignoring his gaze. 

“No loitering in the lobby after nine,” he lifts his wrist, checking his watch, “oh, look at the time. Nine-oh-one.” 

“We get it, Bitters. We’re leaving.” 

“This is so unfair,” Carlos murmurs. 

“I know,” she replies. 

“But you can’t fight the big man sometimes,” Jasner adds. 

The five look at him with raised brows and concerned expressions. 

“What?” 

“Everyone on the elevator now,” Sulane gestures for them to get inside. 

-

“So… this is nice.” 

“Shut up, guy with a weird name,” James snaps at him. 

“Sorry,” the raspberry lover leans closer to the blonde, “a guy tries to make a conversation-” 

“Jas?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Stop talking.” 

“Okay.” The six get off the elevator, awkwardly staring at one another. 

Carlos nudges Logan who nudges James who nudges Kendall. 

The blond glares at the three (who find the floor to be more interesting at this moment). “Do either of you want to come to our apartment and… hangout?” 

“I can,” says Jasner. 

Sulane lets out a quiet sigh, “five minutes, that’s all I can spare. Gustavo needs me to do a few things so you four are prepared for your album.” 

“That’s fair,” Carlos nods, trying to hide his smile. 

-

The four sit on the couch while the teen girl ops to stand beside the (obviously) old, rickety couch. 

Jasner sits on the ground, thinking back to if his place ever looked like this. 

“This place is horrible,” Kendall and Carlos whine. 

The couch breaks, sliding to the side since the legs broke. 

She nods, “it really is.” 

“Not helping,” Kendall adds. 

“I wasn’t invited over to help make you all feel better.” She glances down at her watch, “oh, shoot. Gotta go. Have fun with the poorly taken care of apartment.” 

“Thanks,” the helmet wearing boy waves her off. 

She peeks her head through the door, “if I were you guys. I would hold off and sit on the idea of asking Bitters for a new place because… well, things could get worse. Jasner, time to go. You’ve got to go over your lines some more before your audition after school.” 

“Right. Later guys.” 

“Wow! He can’t even remember to run over his lines for an audition. What a loser,” James comments. 

The other three boys look at one another and nod, “he’s still got a crush on her.” 

“I am… not gonna say anything about that last comment because I’m too sad to focus on anything other than our dumpy apartment.” 

“You guys think if we ask Sullie to help is tomorrow, she’ll do it?” asks Carlos. 

“I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to try,” Logan shrugs. 

The couch lets out another creak. 

“How is it possible for this break more… when it’s already broken?” Kendall complains, his voice elevating near the end. 

Sulane groans, pushing herself out of the chair at the table near the door. She looks through the peephole and reaches over, turning off her lights. 

“We know you’re here. You just turned your lights off,” says James. 

“What if I say I’m a ghost?” 

The helmet wearing boy scoffs, “yeah, right, like we’re gonna believe that,” he leans closer to Kendall, whispering, “right?” She slips the switch, yanking open the door, “what?” 

“They need your help with a new apartment.” “What the air vents said,” the blond leader points to the ceiling. “If it means I get rid of you guys for the night and I can get some sleep, then yes. Jasner, out of the vents.” 

“I’ll meet you in the lobby.” 

“Let’s go,” she closes her door, locking it before heading to the elevator. 

-

Kendall rings the bell numerous times in an annoying way, so Bitters had no choice but to exit the manager room behind the desk. 

“You four go up and ask for a new apartment.” 

“What? No,” Kendall argues. 

“Can’t you try first?” She whines. “I’ll be right here,” she ducks down, sitting on the floor as she leans her head against the desk. 

“No,” James cups his hands under her armpits, hauling her up. “We need you to help us.” 

She doesn’t fight the boys and rests her head against them palm of her hand. “Ring the bell.” 

Kendall does as she suggested and continues to do it until Bitters comes out. 

The manager says with a mouthful, “what? I’m busy.” 

The leader puts his best innocent, customer service smile on. “We’d like a new apartment, please?” 

“How come everyone else gets one of those cool apartments?” James points out the unfairness between their place and others. 

“Ours is a big-time dump,” Carlos adds. 

“2-J a dump?” Food flies out of the manager’s mouth. Sulane groans, wiping the under part of her eyes. 

“Gross. Could you watch where you direct the ammo?” 

He ignores her and continues, “if by “dump” you mean “really cool”.” He stops, walking out from behind the desk toward the elevators. 

“Good job with using your manners, K,” she mumbles. The past few weeks events finally catching up with her. 

-

Bitters unlocks the door to their apartment. “As you know, the Palm Woods is home of the future famous. Do you know how many showbiz legends have stayed in this room?” 

“Do you know how many stains and smells there in this very room?” 

Sulane smacks Jasner’s arm. 

“Ow!” He whines, rubbing his arm. “What?” 

“Go find some popcorn. This is getting good.” 

“If you spill, it’s a stain. When Lindsay Lohan throws up chocolate milk it’s history. And this slight blemish, the result of a Shia LaBeouf indoor soccer game.” 

Carlos smiles. 

“No soccer in the rooms.” He points to her, “no questions. And are you telling me that you’re too good for the tv enjoyed by Kanye West, when he was known as lil’ Kanye West?” 

“Can we at least paint the place?” asks Kendall. 

“No, ‘cause you’re lease,” Bitters points to said item attached to his clipboard. “Specifically states that there will be no painting… no hanging of personal pictures,” he removes the photo of the Knights at one of Kendall’s hockey games until he sees the hole in the wall and sets it back in its place. “I’ll allow this one. No construction of any kind. And there is no way I am putting four hockey-playing hooligans into one of my finer apartments.” Bitters turns to exit the crappy apartment. 

Carlos steps forward, “so installing an indoor swirly side is completely out of the question?” 

“This matter, like this door, is closed.” The door slams shut and the light beside the door flickers followed by the Knight family photo falling. 

-

“I’m surprised the pipe didn’t burst,” Carlos says. 

Sulane takes a step back, dragging Jasner with her. 

“Pipe just burst,” James points out. 

The water drenching them in a matter of seconds. 

“Yep. We need a new crib,” Kendall adds. 

“Yeah, right, like that’s just gonna fall from the sky,” Logan informs him. 

“Well, you tried. I recommend calling someone for that.” She ducks under the water hoping she won’t get too wet. 

“You didn’t even try to help us,” adds Kendall with a snarky attitude. 

“I know you guys have this handled.” 

“You just don’t want to get wet,” James pouts, not enjoying how she’s leaving them to fend for themselves. 

“You’re right about that. Carlos close your mouth.” 

-

“We call it the ultimate teen crib. Filled with amazing home electronics, arcade games-” 

“A swirly slide!” Carlos practically shouts. 

“Cool, right?” Griffin nods. “Put a swirly slide in my office.” 

“Griffin, I don’t know what this is,” Gustavo gestures to the apartment layout, “but I need to work with the dogs on harmonies today.” 

“Change your plans. Our ancient Japanese founder, Mr. Fujizaki, wants to dump our music division.” 

“If you need someone to do some persuading, I’d be happy to do it.” 

Griffin turns to Sulane. “As much as I like the words I’m hearing, I’ve learned that your tone doesn’t always match so I’m going to have to pass. How do you feel about firing people?” 

She shrugs, “I’ve never done it before but if you need someone who needs to do it with little to no emotion, I’ll be there.” 

“Great! Back to our pressing matter. If you don’t change your plans, you’ll be out of a job and she’ll be the one to fire you. But your boys are going to change his mind.” “And we get to live in there?” asks Kendall. 

“Yes… for two hours while you shoot a promotional video, surrounded by RCM/ CBT/ Global Net/ Sanyoid products, which will show Mr. Fujizaki why our future rock stars are perfect for selling his blenders, plasma TVs, and missile defense systems.” Griffin walks towards the other end of the table, sitting down. “Oh, and do some interviews. You know, why they love to sing, why they wear that helmet, and why they love RCM/ CBT/ Global Net/ Sanyoid arcade games, industrial-strength playground slides, and the new XZ5 micro laptop.” 

His assistant places the item in his hand, “look how tiny.” 

Sulane opens her mouth to tell Griffin of her idea when James slaps his hand on the table. 

“And we could all wear bandannas. It could be our thing.” He moves his in a line, whispering the word, “bandannas.” 

“Griffin, you can’t keep coming into my studio every day and interrupting my training sessions.” 

“Yes, I can. And do the interviews by the water. Fujizaki thinks water is lucky. It’s weird.” 

“But you want a performance in the teen hangout crib thing.” 

“Exactly. And I need it in two days, or the music division will be gone. But have fun with it.” The man starts walking out. 

“If you let me talk with Fujihacki-” 

“Fujizaki,” Kelly corrects her. 

“If you let me talk to Fujizaki, I’m sure I can get this whole thing taken care of.” 

“I’m only using you when I need people fired!” 

“What makes you think you can get this taken care of?” asks Carlos with a curious tone. 

She turns, staring at him with a raised brow. 

The boys nod. 

“Oh, yeah. That look would definitely do the trick,” Logan comments. 

-

Gustavo jumps out of his seat. “I’m a hot director. And we’re doing everything here, because it’s easier, quicker, and cheaper.” He points to the woman in charge of this project. “You, I want to show you where you’re gonna build this thing.” 

-

The boys rope Camille into their plan of changing their crappy apartment into the ultimate teen crib. 

-

“All you’ve done is set us up for big time trouble.” “Oh, our little Logey, so pessimistic,” Kendall says. 

“So scared of everything,” Carlos adds. 

“And so hot,” Camille comments. 

“Okay,” he says slowly. “And I’m not scared. I’m realistic, as in, what are you gonna tell your mom about the crew that’ll be invading your apartment tomorrow from eleven to three?” 

“Oh no,” Carlos mutters. 

“What?” Camille asks. 

“We forgot something.” 

“Like what?” 

“Did anyone tell Sullie what we planned?” James adds. 

“You guys didn’t get her involved?” The actress stares at each of them with a flabbergasted expression. “We’re all screwed.” 

-

The boys eat dinner and work on figuring out how they’re going to convince Gustavo to do his part of their plan. 

Luckily, Katie’s there to help them. 

James hides his bandannas when the guys, once again, turn him down. 

“Have any of you told Sullie?” 

“Why does everyone keep thinking we need to ask her?” Kendall thinks out loud. 

“She could make or break your plan, big bro.” 

“I hate how right you are.” 

“I call not telling her!” James says with his finger on his nose. 

Kendall sees this and does the same, followed by Katie and Carlos. 

Logan whines, “why do I have to do it?” 

“You weren’t paying attention. That’s on you,” Carlos claps his buffing on the shoulder. 

“What if I call her?” 

“No!”

“Email her?” 

“No!” 

-

“He’s in a bad mood. Abort mission,” Logan attempts to stand in front of them only to be pushed back to his original place. 

“Just stay cool. If we fail, we fail.” 

“Okay but, if he’s in a bad mood. She’ll be in a bad mood.” 

“And, we’re just gonna have to deal with it,” Kendall assures him.  

-

“We run away right as he tells her,” James whispers to Carlos. 

“Deal.” 

-

Gustavo denies their request until Kelly and Sulane chime in. 

The teen narrows her eyes at the boys as she looks through the photos. “This pool looks great.” 

“And it’s close enough that we could be back here by three to shoot the performance at the ultra-teen hangout place.” 

“Yeah.” 

“So smart.” 

“Oh, yeah!” 

“No yeah! You do what I say, and I say,” He angrily jumps up and down looking as if he’s throwing a tantrum, “no, no, no!” 

The backdrop falls. 

“Hey, let’s do the interviews at the Palm Woods.” 

-

“Why’d you give him so much for a made-up fee?” Sulane asks Kelly. 

“If I give him more than what he’ll ask for, he’ll leave us alone. We need zero distractions here. You know how the boys are.” 

-

Sulane stands behind Kendall only to hear the last bit of their plan, luckily for her, no one noticed. 

“Carlos, Katie, and Camille, you head to Rocque Records and fake build the ultra-teen crib while Logan and I install the swirly slide and all those other electronic goodies.” 

The leader does two black stripes across his cheeks, “move out.” 

Everyone disperses except for Logan, who stands there biting his thumb nail. 

“Logan.” 

“Oh no.” 

“You guys are gonna be in so much trouble when I tell-” 

He grabs her wrist dragging her into the Palm Woods lobby. “Please don’t be mad.” 

“How could you guys go against your lease? You’re going to get kicked out.” 

“That’s only if they find out.” 

“They’re going to find out. Gah! I thought you were the smart one.” 

“Rude.” 

“Seriously, Logan, think about this. What’s going to happen when Bitters finds out about this?” 

“Nothing because they won’t?” He says with no confidence.  

“What made you think this was going to be a good idea?” 

“We wouldn’t have a sucky apartment after this?” 

“Hurry up, Logan- oh hey, Sullie. How-” 

“Can it, pea brain. I know what you’re doing.” 

“So, you’ll help us?” 

“No. I’m going to go get me a smoothie and eat some licorice.” 

“Oh, come on,” he wraps his arm around her shoulders looking up at the ceiling. “It’ll be like old times. Remember all those pranks we did.” 

“What are you looking at?” 

He shakes his head, “nevermind.” He pulls out a small container of something out of his pocket and swipes black lines across her cheeks. 

“I told you I’m not helping you.” 

“Yeah, totally hear you.” 

He does the same thing to Logan. 

-

The two boys push the bush aside giving them enough room to see. 

The blonde sits between them. 

“Was the eye black really necessary?” asks Logan. 

“I’m with him on this,” Sulane uses her thumb to point at the brainiac. 

“No.” Kendall lifts his small boom box, “the music really sets the tone, don’t you think?” 

“Oh, brother. Why am I here?” 

Kendall shushes her, “listen to the music.” 

The three run away from the bushes and into the Palm Woods, stopping in front of a familiar face. 

“Jennifer, you’re up,” Kendall informs her. 

She stops him, “just to be clear, we get to be in the video. Which will be seen by a lot of people, right?” 

“Are you kidding? It’s gonna be seen in Japan.” 

Logan clicks his tongue and the two drag Sulane away before she could say anything. 

The three watch Jennifer work her acting magic and the construction crew heads towards the elevator careful not to make a sound. 

“I still say this is a bad idea,” says Logan. 

“I agree.” 

Kendall shushes her. “Hey, a life without risk is a life unlived, my friends." 

"That feels a little rehearsed.” 

The blond ignores her. “Now off to apartment 2-J.” 

Neither of the two follow him as he speeds off. 

Logan pinches the bridge of his nose with his head down. 

She sighs. “I’m leaving.” 

Kendall runs back, grabbing the brainiac by the shoulders, “come on.” 

“Okay, okay.” 

“Have fun.” Sulane removes the plant hat from her head. “Bye.” 

The two make a quick U-turn. “Nope. You two are coming with me, come on.” 

-

They listen to the sound of hammering and drilling coming through the door of the boy’s apartment.

 “So far, so good. Look, I told you there was nothing to worry about.” 

Sulane furrows her brows. “I have a bad feeling somethings going on.” 

“Nothing’s going on,” the leader casually says, wanting to ease her anxiety. 

“Somethings going on.” 

“Nothing’s going on.” 

“Is it-” 

She nods, confirming Logan’s theory. “Uh-huh.” 

“James is fine.” 

Her head snaps over to the tall blond’s. 

“How would you know? You’re nowhere near him.” 

“I believe in a little thing called faith.” 

The brainiac’s phone starts ringing breaking the two a part. “It’s the set designer. I’m worried.” 

Kendall snatches the phone from him. 

“Uh, Griffin?” 

“No,” Logan shakes his head. 

Sulane snatches the phone him the taller male. “Hello?” 

“Yes?” 

“What seems to be the problem?” 

“Who is this?” 

“The young assistant. What’s the problem?” 

“The blonde with a lot of attitude problems?” 

“I don’t have any attitude problem, lady.” 

“Griffin said I wasn’t to discuss anything with you. Can I speak to him? Is he nearby?” 

She holds the phone out for Kendall to take. “She says Griffin told her not to talk to me.” 

“I wonder why.” 

Her mouth moves, eyebrows furrowed as she looks at him with an upset expression. 

Kendall steps on Logan’s foot. 

“Ow!” He clears his throat. “Hello?” 

“Yeah, the room’s too small. So, if you want that swirly slide to fit, we’re gonna have to burst into the ceiling. Is that okay?” 

“Break through the ceiling? No, no. We’ll be arrested.” 

“Uh, sir, can we demolish the ceiling?” 

Neither of the two say anything until… “yes.” 

Sulane and Kendall’s eyes widen. 

“Rip it up, boys.” 

“You better be right about this taking risks thing.” 

“Fire in the hole!” 

At the sound of explosions, Logan jumps into Sulane’s arms and she jumps closer to Kendall. 

She groans and drops him before pushing herself away from the two. “You two do realize that Bitters is going to be up that elevator in the next ten minutes, right?” 

The three Jennifer’s turn the corner. “Code red, code red! Bitters is on is way.” 

“Told you.” 

Kendall shoves her away. 

“What is going on up here?” Jennifer in the business suit asks. 

“Please tell me you guys are good at teen scream horror flicks.” 

“They’re desperate,” Jennifer in blue says. 

Sulane pushes her head between the two, “very.” 

“We want talking parts in your next three videos. You do all out ironing for the next month. And we wing backup on your next track,” Jennifer in pink adds. 

“Done.” 

“Uh- I’m pretty sure we can’t do that,” the teen girl interjects.  

“And we don’t want Sullie to do any of our conditions. You asked for our help.” 

“We can totally comply to those conditions girls.” 

“Where’s the ketchup?” 

-

The three exit the closet. 

“They’re good.” 

“I could have called Jasner to do something more dramatic than that.” 

“But can he scream that high?” asks Logan. 

She shrugs, “I’m sure he could.” 

-

The two boys scream when they see Bitters and Gustavo standing outside the elevator.

They let the older men say what they needed to and then their manager grabs them and hauls them out. 

They look back to see Bitters waving at them as they wonder where they could have lost the teen girl. 

Kendall grabs James’ arm, “Bitters. Code red, code red!” 

The pretty boy chucks his towel off to the side, showing off his bandana. 

-

As he ties his bandanas on himself, he glances over to side when he hears, “psst!” She waves him over. “Bandana dork!” 

He runs into the Palm Woods lobby. “Come on. Bitters is on his way up.” 

“I know that’s why I’m here,” he places his hands on his hips, like a superman pose. 

“Well, then hurry up.” She grabs his hand and tries to tug him with her but when he doesn’t budge, she stops. “What are you doing?” 

He pulls out a bandana from his back pocket. “Wear this.” 

“Seriously?” 

He nods, “wear this and I’ll help you.” 

“Do you want a cool apartment?” 

“Of course, I do… but I’ll do it if you wear this.” 

She purses her lips and snatches the item from him, tying it so it looks like a sweatband. “Now can we go?” 

The corner of his lips tugs upwards. “Let’s go.” 

She grabs his hand and pulls him behind her. 

-

James pushes himself in front of her, feeling that he should face bitters on his own. He lifts one leg, his arms, and screams. 

Bitters screams and heads for the hall closet. 

The two runs towards the door, locking it and securing it with a bandana. 

“And they said bandanas weren’t cool?” He repeats. “They are, right?” 

She shrugs, not wanting to admit it. “I guess, they are.” 

“Yeah, they are!” 

She covers her ears. 

“What are you doing?” 

-

Then Gustavo screams echo throughout the area. Everyone’s in their “new” apartment. Gustavo turns to his youngest assistant. She shrugs with a guilty smile. “There’s no time to move the set back to the studio,” Kelly informs him. He grunts. “And the video has to be great for Fujizaki, or we are out of a job.” 

“I still say I should talk to him.” Kelly turns to her daughter, “you and I will be talking about this later.” She tries to plead her case, but her mother isn’t having it. Sulane backs down. Gustavo grabs Kendall’s shoulders. “Light it and shoot it!” The video ends and the crew start to tear the apartment apart. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you dogs think you were gonna get to keep this stuff?” The manager starts laughing. “Oh, that’s really, really good. The little dogs thought they outsmarted the big dog.” “Gustavo, you can’t do this,” Sulane tries to get him to think about this. “You do not tell me what I can and can’t do.” 

“You wanna take that tone with me?” 

“I do.” Kelly steps forward. 

“Stop. Stop. Sulane, you stay quiet. Gustavo, these are kids you’re talking to. You have to be wary of your tone.” 

The boys find themselves slumped on their dingey couch. 

“But I do have to admit, we did get some pretty great stuff today. Let’s just hope Fujizaki thinks so tomorrow." 

-

"What was that today?” 

“Nothing,” She slumps over, staring at her homework. 

“That wasn’t nothing. What you did today was completely irresponsible and totally not like you.” 

“I’ve said I’m sorry.” 

“I hate to admit it but I’m proud of you.” 

“What?” 

“You’ve never done anything like this before and I’m proud of you. I always try to push you into going to the parties the other kids are going to, but you stay here and help me with whatever Gustavo has asked me too.” 

“I’m pretty sure the whole parenting thing is supposed to mean you punish me not applaud me for causing trouble.” 

“You’re gonna cause a lot of trouble, you’re a teenager that’s what they do and nothing you did caused any bodily or some sort of physical harm to anyone else. I’ll let you off with a warning this time but the next time you roll with the boys’ plan, you will be grounded.” 

“I think we can come to an agreement with these terms and conditions.” 

“Good.” 

“Question.” 

“What?” 

“Can I get a ride somewhere?” 

Kelly narrows her eyes at her. “Where do you want to go?” 

“The mall?” 

“If you can secure yourself a ride, you can go but keep your phone on.” 

“Deal.” 

-

“I like the boys.” 

“Yeah, you do, Mr. Fujizaki.” 

The man starts coughing and they wheel him away. 

“Sulane?!” Everyone asks. 

“No?” She leans down showing her face on the webcam, giving them a guilty smile. 

“You said you were going to the mall,” Kelly adds. 

“I lied and you knew it. Gotta go. Bye!” 

“Sullie.” 

She sits back down. “Yes, Griffin.” 

“Good job.” 

“Thanks.” 

“Gustavo you gotta ease up on them.” 

“You,” he points to the screen. “Do not get a say in this.” 

-

The boys walk back to their dingey apartments with their heads hung low.

-

“Sullie!” 

“Katie!” 

“Did you do this?” 

“I like to think I helped make it happen.” 

-

Gustavo and Kelly enter the apartment. “Uh… good job today.” 

“This is awesome,” Kendall points out. 

“This is a bone.” 

“Oh jeez,” the teen girl mutters to herself. 

Logan struggles to respond. “Come again?” 

“I realized today, sort of, that if you really want to train dogs properly, you need to throw them a treat now and then. So, enjoy your treat. You’re not getting anymore.” 

“And we lost a day of rehearsal because of the shoot, so it’s at the studio, seven thirty a m.” 

“We’ll be there. No problem,” Kendall assures them. “We promise, no more surprises.” 

The teen gasps, grabbing James’ arm. 

“Did you ever let him out?” 

His eyes widen. 

“You locked him in the supply closet?” Logan asks. 

“Don’t you take that tone with me, Mitchell.” 

“No,” James denies, lifting a bandana. “Bandana man and his sidekick, Bandana girl did.” 

She smacks his arm. 

Kelly writes him a check and Bitters kindly exits the apartment. 

The four run over towards the game beside the couch. 

-

“You like them. They’re not like other bands you produced, are they?” Asks Kelly. 

“They’re dogs, and I’m training them. I don’t like them!” He slams the door shut. 

-

Sulane follows after him. “You so do.” 

“I don’t like you!” He continues with his fast pace. 

“Because you love me! Admit it, Gustavo!” 

“Never!”

Previously: Chapter II // Continue: Chapter IV

[lovingperfectionsblog]

Forgive me, what?

Pierre Gasly x Reader

Summary: Who knew asking anyone out on a date could be so chaotic.

Warnings: So much swearing. Sorry.

Word Count: 2758

Authors note: So there was a lot of google translate there so please forgive me :D Hope you enjoy and can’t wait to hear what you think 😊

_____

“No, it’s sounding really good, I promise” Lando was trying to reassure Pierre, “You’ve only been learning for half an hour, what did you expect?”

Pierre expected to be completely fluent in Portuguese in half an hour, but hey, I guess his toxic trait really was thinking he’d be good at everything he tried first time.

“I sound like a fucking idiot Lando” how could any language be this difficult? He speaks three languages for Christ’s sake.

“Everyone sounds like an idiot when they’re learning a new language, I promise you, you’re doing great” Truthfully, Lando wasn’t even all that sure if he was pronouncing these correctly but, like, Lui has taught him enough, nah, he was doing great.

“And you’re sure this is how Lui taught you?” Pierre had been sceptical from the start, but he had also resigned himself to Lando being his only hope in learning any Portuguese at all.

“Whose the one with the Portuguese girlfriend here, me or you?” He was being way too cocky for someone who was only 50% sure of this pronunciation, but Pierre really did not need to know that.

“Yeah, okay, no, you’re right” What other options did Pierre have. “Can we start from the top?”

“So, Ola” Lando began.

“Ola” Pierre mimicked, following alone with Lando as he moved through the words on the whiteboard.

“Como esta” Fuck, was that pronounced right?

“Como esta” where did Lando even get the whiteboard?

“Eu estou bem, e tu?” Lando was pretty sure he had never heard Lui pronounce it like that.

“Eu estou bem, e-“

“Jesus, there you two are.” Charles, Max, and Carlos walked into the makeshift McLaren boardroom.

“What are you even doing in here?” Max pointed towards the whiteboard, sure that this was the missing whiteboard that everyone was going on about.

“I’m teaching Pierre Portuguese” Lando beamed out, beyond proud of himself for teaching someone another language.

“What the fuck do you know about Portuguese?” Carlos was 100% certain Pierre was not learning any known language.

“Excuse me, my girlfriend is Portuguese, and I have picked up some stuff thank you very much” Lando defended the knowledge he had picked up.

“I thought you said Lui was teaching you?” Pierre was definitely sure that when he approached Lando about learning Portuguese he had said Lui was specifically teaching him.

 “Like, not formally, per se” Just because she wasn’t giving him proper lessons doesn’t mean he didn’t know the language.

Well, he didn’t, but that was fine, he could get around that.  

“Oh my god Lando” Pierre threw his head back, slumping down in his chair, he had just wasted so much time and now he was going to have to start all over again.

“Where did you even get all of this, because I’m not even sure you can spell in English let alone Portuguese” Carlos had now walked over to the whiteboard inspecting all the words written down.

“Obviously I know how to spell all of this” Lando knew he sounded too defensive, and he definitely deserved the blank, silent stares he was receiving, “Fine, Pinterest”

“Lando! You said you could teach me Portuguese!” Pierre was definitely not learning any fucking language known to mankind.

“Well, who else can teach you if not me” Lando gestured around the room, “I am literally your best bet”

“I am Spanish. I  literally speak Spanish” Carlos reminded the room as if he was putting his name in to take over the lessons, “It’s like, really similar to Portuguese.”

“Kelly is teaching me” Max pointed to himself, knowing he actually did have a fairly decent amount of knowledge of the language, willing to share what he knew if it would help.

“Well, fuck off, Pierre already asked me” Lando stuck out his tongue at both drivers, deciding on behalf of Pierre that since he had approached him, he was going to teach him anyway.

“Lando, no, you’re done” Pierre had never enjoyed firing someone more in his entire life.

“Why are you even trying to learn Portuguese?” Charles had decided to ask the only question that was worth anything, because knowing Pierre, it was dumb and bound to provide entertainment.

“Yeah, why are you learning Portuguese?” Lando repeated the question, realizing that in his excitement he hadn’t even bothered to find out why, just immediately jumping at the opportunity to teach Pierre.

Silence.

Charles was right, this was going to be both dumb and provide substantial entertainment.

Pierre was faced with two options; he could lie and save himself the embarrassment or he could be honest and be bullied by his best friends for the rest of his life.

He was going to lie.

“I’m going there on holiday, and I wanted to lear-“ This was going to be the perfect lie before Charles cut him off.

“Don’t bullshit me” Why did Charles have to know him so well.

And under the weight of the stares, Pierre cracked.

“Okay, so you know that new media girl?” Pierre was answered by a chorus of laughter from the boys, knowing that this is exactly what was bound to happen.

“How did I fucking know this was going to be about a girl” Max somehow got out between laughs, knowing that the only way Pierre was ever going to be putting in this much effort into something was if a girl was involved.

“Oh shut up, says you who are all in these great little relationships” Pierre crossed his arms, throwing his own little pity party, “let’s not get into what you did to get Kelly”.

Max was suddenly dead quiet, not wanting to open up that conversation, still embarrassed by the lengths he went to in order to get Kelly to even glance in his direction.

“Okay, so tell us about the new media girl” Carlos further questioned as the laughter died down, “and then tell us why you’re learning Portuguese for her”

“You promise you wont make fun of me?” if Pierre was going to share this then there were going to be some conditions to it.

“We promise, now spill” Lando got himself comfortable for the story.

“Well, she’s new to the team right and she’s really fucking beautiful and like, I really want to ask her on a date” Pierre gave the most basic explanation he could, choosing to omit how smitten he actually was with you, how nervous he got whenever you walked in the room, to the extent that he actively left whenever he could and he genuinely thought you were one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, but the boys didn’t need to know that.

“And the Portuguese?” Charles prompted Pierre to answer the rest of Carlos’s conversation.

“I am 90% sure she is Portuguese because I overheard one of the engineers talking to her in Portuguese and he is 100% Portuguese so I guess if I want to ask her out, I got to do it like this” Pierre shrugged, thinking this was the best plan he had ever thought of.

“Cool, no, that’s cool, cool, cool, but like” Max began

“How are you going to hold a conversation on the date if you can barely ask her out?” Carlos finished for him.

“Do you need to nit-pick every single part of this plan?” it was becoming abundantly clear to Pierre how bad this plan actually was, but it was his only one so, full steam ahead.

“It’s not a good plan” sometimes Pierre hated how honest Max was.

“Well, it’s the only one I’ve got so if you’d all excuse me” Pierre began getting up to leave, considering just signing up to Duolingo.

“No, no, wait, I’m sure Carlos wouldn’t mind teaching you a little something?” He had grabbed Pierre to stop him from leaving as he silently begged Carlos to help his friend out.

 “I’ll sort you out a hell of a lot faster than Lando was” Carlos couldn’t help but feel bad for Pierre, knowing how when he set his heart on something it was all he focused on until he got it.

“You sure you can help?” Pierre was cynical, already having been fooled by Lando, not prepared to waste anymore of his time.

“I promise, sit, you’ll be asking her out in the most romantic way in no time” Carlos was already thinking of how Pierre could ask you out, “French might be the language of love, but Spanish is the language of passion” Carlos puffed out his chest, proud of the language he embodied.

All the boys groaned at how cringy that was, but it was enough to convince Pierre to take his seat again.

“Okay, and?” Pierre looked around the room, waiting for the rest of the boys leave so he could get on with his classes.

“Oh, no, I am definitely not leaving, this is going to be too good” Charles got comfortable in his seat, ready to interrupt as much as will still allow Pierre to learn what he needs to know.

“I can always learn a little more to impress Kelly” Max shrugged, dreading the school like environment but he knew he lived for the validation, plus, free lessons where he wasn’t the only one who was going to look stupid, he’d be an idiot to give up this opportunity.  

“I know absolutely no Portuguese, so I should probably stay” Lando didn’t miss the evil eye Pierre sent his way at the admission.

“So, lets begin” Carlos took his spot in the front, ready to get Pierre a date.

______

“Okay, there she is” Pierre pointed you out to the boys, them finally seeing you after a week of Spanish lessons, enough that Carlos was sure Pierre wouldn’t make a complete fool of himself, “so you can all go now”, Pierre tried to force them away from you, not wanting them to stick around in case you said no.

“Do you honestly think we aren’t sticking around for this?” Max was sure Pierre would know them better by now.

“No, you absolutely have to go” Pierre was adamant, he could not do this with them all there.

“Just, stop being a baby and arguing with us and just go” Charles pushed Pierre out from behind the wall, not allowing him to hide because you had been distracted by the sudden movement of Pierre flying out of nowhere.

All four boys popped their head out from around the corner, not caring if you could see them, convinced Pierre was going to embarrass himself, so them adding to it didn’t entirely matter.

“Hola!” Pierre shouted out probably a little too loudly.

Fuck, get it together man, volume control. Okay, slowly, and QUIETLY, say what Carlos taught you.

Remember the pronunciation.

“Hola” you returned hesitantly, unsure as to why Pierre was looking so nervous and more importantly why he was greeting you in Spanish.

“Entonces, sé que esto es abrupto, pero creo que eres realmente hermosa y dulce y me pones muy nerviosa cada vez que entras en la habitación porque eres tan exquisita y me preguntaba si me harías el honor de dejarme tomar. saliste a cenar?” Pierre knows he rambled through the entire thing, but he thinks he did a really good job of it.

Carlos stood there beaming, there may have been one or two mistakes, but overall, Pierre had done a really good job of memorizing the speech he had written out for him.

Wait, why did you look so confused?

Pierre shot Carlos a concerned look, Carlos shrugging, indicating he had done a great job of the pronunciation.

Leaving only one other option, you didn’t want to go on a date with him.  

Fuck. He was about to get rejected by the most beautiful woman, who worked with him, in front of all his friends, in a language he didn’t even really understand.

Could this get any more embarrassing.

“Forgive me, but what?”

You had said that in perfect English.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t speak Spanish” you knew Pierre spoke English so why did he look like he had no idea what was going on?

Oh fuck, he did speak English right?

Do you remember any French?

“Parlez-vous anglais?” you hesitantly got out, unsure of what to do in this situation, why had everyone here insisted on speaking to you in languages you didn’t understand.

“Quelle putain de langue parles-tu ?” Pierre had shouted that at you. He had just shouted at you. Not only that, but there was a pretty strong swear word in there too.

This was, this was not going well.

“Pierre!” Charles admonished his friend for swearing at you, although, the entire interaction was hysterical.

“I wish I knew more French than that, I am so sorry” you interrupted the two drivers, just wanting to leave this entire situation and get on with your job, becoming more nervous as suddenly there were five drivers standing in front of you.

“WHAT. LANGUAGE. DO. YOU. SPEAK?” Lando shouted towards you, exaggerating every word and speaking way too slowly.

“Oh my god, she’s not deaf Lando” Max was shocked at his general poor social etiquette and that was a lot coming from Max.

“Why is everyone shouting at me?” this entire scenario was becoming a bit too much for you.

“Do you speak English?” Charles became the voice of reason in all this chaos, Pierre able to do nothing other than stand there looking dumbfounded at his own terrible luck.

“Yes, I speak English, what’s going on?” thankful that someone was finally addressing you in a way you could comfortably respond.

 “Why, please enlighten us Pierre, why the fuck, you thought she was Portuguese?” Carlos was genuinely amazed someone could have messed up this badly.

“She was chatting to Bruno in Portuguese!” Pierre retold the reason he had thought you were Portuguese.

“Oh, yeah, no, that conversation went about as well as this one did” you remembered how you had awkwardly had to navigate that conversation, deciding then and there you needed to learn a few more languages.

“You are so fucking stupid” Charles was genuinely astonished.

“Yeah, I think I might have made some mistakes here” Even Pierre was stunned at how spectacularly he had messed this one up.

“Some mistakes?” Max was not about to let Pierre get away with a fuck up this bad.

“What is going on?” you didn’t mean to shout, and you genuinely felt bad as all five boys went dead silent and turned to stare at you like they were toddlers and had just been caught trying to sneak some candy.

“Oh, Pierre was trying to ask you on a date” Lando spoke far too casually, like you had been in on whatever this plan was the entire time.

“Jesus Lando” Pierre was now bright red. He should have dropped the entire plan the second Lando had lied to him about know Portuguese.

“Will he speak to me in English on this date or am I going to have to learn an array of languages to get through it?” you laughed out, not believing this chaos has all been caused by Pierre simply wanting to ask you on a date.

“I can promise you; he will speak in only English” Max assured you.

“Maybe a little bit of French, it being the language of love and all” Charles winked at you, hoping to further entice you into saying yes to the date his friend had barely asked you on.

“In that case,” you looked directly at Pierre, “Yes, but”

“Anything” God, that was embarrassingly quick, could Pierre not be cool for an entire second.

“It’s just going to be me and you right?” you glanced around to the rest of the group, not entirely sure you were prepared to tackle a date with all of them, despite how much the internet might disagree with that sentiment.

“Fuck, yes, I’ll lock them in my flat if I have to” Pierre wasn’t even joking at this point.

“Then yes” you beamed up at Pierre, suddenly feeling giddy at the thought of going on a date with Pierre, him mimicking your excitement.

“Oh, one more thing,” confusion suddenly overcoming you again, as was the theme of this entire conversation, “Why did you ask me out in Spanish if you thought I was Portuguese?”

At this Lando had casually swung his arm around your shoulder like you had been best friends for most of your lives.

“Well, that’s a really interesting story actually”  

[my-only-way-tocooperatewithlife]

One more drink II - Pierre Gasly series

Hi, thank you very much for the appreciation for the previous part. Hope you will like the following ones too. 😊 ♥

If something is written like this then it means that the conversation is on Hungarian.

Pairing: Pierre Gasly x fem!reader

warning: swearing, language, mention of depression, alcohol usage

¤ Masterlist ¤

--Previous part -- -- Next part --

———————————————————————–

- Hungaroring, Budapest -

I still could not believe we have got an opportunity like that. I’m out in the Hungaroring on the weekend when they are having the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Everything was pretty quickly sorted out, we have got a map with a red dot where our stand will stand. We drove there with our truck, packed out everything, built the stand and all we have had left to do was packing the beverages and food in the fridges and selves.

I was really excited, every part of me was buzzing, I was smiling the whole day. Even if I started to feel really exhausted because the preparing and everything took a lot out of me, but I did not care about it. It’s a exceptional experience, I can’t feel tired.

While I was filling up the fridges, I have put my Bluetooth speaker on the top of the counter and I was listening to my Spotify playlist. Sometimes I can get really lost in my thought and if I have music on, I can really get de attached from reality.

I did not even realised that I was most humming anymore to the songs, that I was fully singing and dancing behind the bar counter. I just realised it when a song ended and behind me I could hear someone started to clap. When I heard clapping behind me I froze down and blood ran out of my face. It was not like that my voice was terrible or anything because we used to have a band with my brothers and we played sometimes in our pub, the thing was that I have never been caught singing and dancing in an event just by myself. And I could not just blame that I was drunk on an event and that’s why. First because it was 9 in the morning and second because I was working there.

I slowly turned around to face the clapping and that’s when my blood turned absolutely cold. Behind the counter, on the side of the motorways there were three people, who were cheering for me. Not average person, maybe F1 fans who came earlier to the event so maybe they can catch their favourite driver, no. Three really famous, and well knows F1 drivers were standing on the other side of my counter smiling at me. It was Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly.

My face got extremely hot and I bet I was red as a tomato, and all I could do was gasping and dumbly waving my hand to their way while trying to put a smile on my face and dumbly get a “hello” out for them

“Oh my god, I’m sorry I did not know that someone was here, and I totally lost track of everything and did not realise I was doing it obviously. “ I was rambling. “ Hope you enjoyed the show tho, and please come back in the afternoon for good beverage“ I was trying to force a sentence out of myself.

“Hey no worries it was really lovely to see that someone is having such a good time, and you have an incredible voice so we have to thank you for the little show” Charles was smiling at me while the other two was nodding while smiling at me too. I felt extremely awkward, I have never thought that I will meet the drivers in a situation like that. “Actually we have a little time right now, till we have to go for our meetings, can we sit down in here?” Carlos asked me while pointing at the barstools.

“Uhm, yea sure, but I’m still trying to set up the bar now so I don’t really have anything for you guys, except if you like warm bottled of water. “I smiled at them shyly, while trying to clean up the counter in front of me.

“No worries, we are the one who bother you, and we don’t need anything right now. We just want to hide a little bit from the media and other people. Race weekends are really hectic.” Charles stated while he was turning to face me on the barstool with a small smile on his face. I still felt like my whole face is red, and I tried to act calm, and not like someone who is freaking out inside because she has her favourites on her barstools.

“Oh, okay. Yea sure feel free to hide in here. “ I smiled at them while continuing the packing of the fridges.

“Are you working here alone?” Carlos asked.” Isn’t it a lot for you to keep everything under control on a busy weekend like this?”

“No, I work here with my brothers. We have a bar in the city and we do this stand also together, they are just gathering the other drinks we have ordered. “ I smiled at them while closing the fridge door.

“That’s cool, and is your bar looks like the same as is in here? “ Pierre asked while pointing at the decor behind me. We have put some of our used decor from the bar with the outline map of the tracks in F1, also with some pictures and fairy lights. I turned to look at the background and nodding while I turned back to face them with a smile. “ That’s really cool, I have never been to a bar like this before. And on that picture are those your brother? “ he pointed at a big framed picture on the shelf. It was a picture from when we got the keys for the bar we have. We were facing the camera hugging each other.

“Yea that’s us, when we opened the bar” I smiled and took the frame down and put it in front of them on the counter. Pointing at the people on the picture. “The huge dude, in the military suite is my oldest brother he is the Hungarian military, next to it with the fully tattooed with piercings guy who looks as a hipster a rockstar and a homeless had a child together that’s my other older brother and the one next to me, is my youngest one. Fun and easy to grow up with two really intimidating looking older brother. “ I giggled while saying it ironically

“Lovely family, so it is really a family business that’s really cool” Charles looked up at me and smiled while taking the picture out of my hand and observed it closely.

“ Hey sis, we said that we won’t let anyone to sit down until everything is packed out, right?” Ádám shouted to me on the way down the track while balancing two boxes with full of alcohol in his arms, behind him I could see my other brothers trying to catch up with him, but they were panting.

I looked at him with big eyes trying to make him to shut up, but he was not paying attention, nor like my other two siblings.

“Fuck, Ádám is crazy, listen, he packed up us with like ten kilograms of stuff and he made us rushing all the way here, and he was shouting at us that we were slow as a grandma“ Peti was panting while putting everything down next to the counter. My younger brother arrived the same way as Peti, painting and sweating and he put both of his hands on his knee.

“ I said that this whole thing with the military went into his head. Man, we are not even on the training” Erik said while he tried to catch his breath.

I was looking at them angrily while the drivers were looking surprised at my three siblings.

“Guys, we have company so please gather all those stuff and put them into the fridge while you keep the talking and the shouting to the minimum” I told them, while trying to nod with my head to the way of the drivers so my brothers my get the idea why I’m acting like this. My oldest brother whipped his head around and saw who we have company and hit the back of the head both of my other brothers to get themselves together. They yelped due to the pain and started to rub their necks while looking up, and when they realised who sit on the barstools they have put a dumb smile on their faces.

“Hey guys! It’s lovely to see you in here, sorry for those two idiots” Ádám smiled and waved his hand and tried to push his two other brothers behind the counter so they won’t stand there awkwardly smiling.

“Don’t worry about it, everything is perfect but we actually have to go, our meetings will start soon. But we will definitely come back to you guys later.” Carlos started to gather his things and he stood up with the other drivers, while he was waving to us.

I said bye to them and waved, I waited till they disappeared at the corner when I turned around and grab one of the beer bottles openers and I throw at the three men. “ Hope to God that they will come back and that you have not fucked up this for us!” I pointed my finger at them

“ Come on, they will come back. They sat down even if they were witnesses of your little show. We saw it on the cameras on our phone.” Peti was laughing at me and started to pack the bottles away.

————————————————

Even if it was just free practice day it was fully packed. When we finally wrapped and cleaned everything up we were exhausted. Everything was new for us we have never done an event like this. So when qualification day’s morning came I was trying to have all my energy with me so I can do my best on the whole day. I was walking down between the motor homes while I was scrolling through my phone, when I heard someone called my name. I looked up from my phone and I saw Carlos standing next to his motorhome door waving at me.

“ Good morning!” I waved back at him with a smile.

“Morning! How was yesterday? As I could see you guys were pretty packed when I left in the night. Hope you guys have somethings left for us too, because we will pay you guys a visit on a Sunday night before the summer vacation begins” he winked at me

“Yea, we have had a really great night thankfully. It would be my pleasure to have you guys and I will definitely hide some of the stuff so you can try everything you want.” I giggled.

“Good, I will come down later to you with other guys for showing them how cool the design is.” He winked and he started to back up to the door of his motorhome

“Please, the more the mayor, good luck with today’s qualification!” I waved at him and started to walk again down to our stand.

A few hours have passed today was not that busy due to that the weather was not the best, it was raining and it was much colder than it was in the past few days before.

“Hey, Gina, one of the motorhomes asked for one of our wine selections list, can you please bring it to them?” My oldest brother puts the menu in my hand, and rushing off.

“Do you know which motorhome asked for it?” I looked confused at him, while turning around seeing him packing everything around.

“It might be the Mercedes one, I don’t know for sure, best thing would be if you would leave a menu at every motorhome so we might get a chance for free advertisement from them.” He winked at me. And turned back to start packing again the bottles in the fridge.

I put on my raincoat and put the hood on my head, so I won’t get soaking wet while I started to walk down on the way to the paddocks. I have had no idea where to find the Mercedes’s office so I was just walking around, I was definitely lost.

“Do you need some help?” I heard behind me a thick French accent which startled me a little. I turned around and I saw a cheeky smiled Pierre behind me.

“Hi Pierre. Uh, yea I might. I have to bring a menu to the Mercedes’s home but I have no idea where to find them. Can you please help me?” I looked at him awkwardly smiling

“For sure, I was actually on my way to see Charles, and his paddock is next to the Mercedes one, so let’s walk there together.” He smiled warmly at me while putting his arms out showing me the way to go. “Have you ever been out to a race?

“No sadly never, the tickets are extremely expensive and as a university student who worked two different part time jobs so I can fill up my car with gas, and pay for my flat. I haven’t had any leftover money for race tickets.” I smiled at him while fidgeting with the corner of the menu

“Yes, I know it’s an expensive one. We would love to change the prices but it’s really out of our reach. But two part time jobs? Wow that’s hard. What were you studying?” He seemed pretty interested in our conversation.

“I was studying international relationships. And yes, I needed two jobs. That's how I started to work at a bar.” I smiled at him “But I’m extremely thankful that we could have this opportunity and I can finally be here. Hopefully ones the qualification starts I can go close to the track and I can watch you guys.” I smiled at him while we reached the Mercedes’s office.

“If you want you can come and sit at the Alpha Tauri garage, I can give you a paddock pass, so you can watch everything from really close side” he smiled at me. God he has such a beautiful smile, and he seemed pretty happy because his eyes were smiling too.

“Uh yes sure, I have to see because if I need to help the others sadly it’s not an opportunity.”

“No problem, I can understand, but still it’s an open opportunity for you. And if you can’t do it, I can still visit you at the bar later on. And I can try all those wines and things that are on and off from the menu also.” He winked at me, and took one of the cards out of my hand, while starting to back up to the Ferrari’s office. “See you later Gina!” He smiled mischievously at me. I was totally shocked and I felt blushing.

“See you Pierre!” I waved back at him and I started to walk into the Mercedes’s office door.

——————————-

After free practice went down, fans started to leave, the paddock started to get a little bit less crowded. Sun was settling and the weather got a little bit better, it was sunny and started to be a bit warmer. I turned on the fairy lights and the other neon signs around the bar. I was putting some wine glasses into the small dishwasher, when Charles and Carlos sat down on the barstools.

“Hey boys, what would you like to have? I finally have some water which is not warm as yesterday.” I smiled at them while I patted my hand dry in my apron.

“Hey, Pierre actually showed us one of your menu cards and we have seen something good on it. We usually never drink on race weekends, but after today’s qualification we really need something. And the others will come also, so get prepared.” Charles smiled at me while pointing on the menu on one of the wines. I smiled and nodded while I started to put down two wine glasses in front of them, and started to open the asked wine bottle.

“Good choice, it’s a really nice dry red wine.” I started to pour the red liquid into the glasses for them.

“What’s your favourite?” Carlos asked while sniffing the wine in the glass.

“ I like this type but I’m more like a dry white wine type of one.” I smiled at them while pointing on my favourite ones on the menu for them to see.

“So are you gonna have one drink with us?” Pierre asked while sat down next to the two Ferrari drivers. Other drivers have arrived too, now I have had half of the grid at our bar. We have had Daniel, Mick, George, Lando, all of them sat down on the stools.

“I would love to but I have to be your waitress now, so it’s not an option” I giggled at them, and asking about what they would like to have. They were really nice, first I felt really stiff and awkward. I was really nervous but it quickly faded away when they started to joke around with each other, and they even included me into the conversation asking questions about me and my life.

“What a shame then I have to come back tomorrow so we can have that drink.” He winked at me looking up from his glass while having a cheeky smile plastered on his face. I felt my face heating up, and I looked down on my hand started to fidget with my apron.

[iboatedhere]

By far, the worst thing about living in Washington is the summertime humidity.

It slaps you in the face the second you step outside, it makes you sweat through your clothes without even doing anything strenuous, like you’re swimming through lukewarm bath water, while breathing pea soup into your lungs.

TK hates it. It makes him long for New York winters, and the blizzards that will roll through the mid-atlantic in January, snarling traffic and turning the sidewalks and roads into skating rinks. 

However, the humidity does have its charm. 

Like right now, on the patio of a taco place a few blocks from TK’s apartment. Carlos has the top four buttons of his shirt undone, giving TK a perfect view of his collarbone and the gold chain and cross that hangs around his neck. There’s a thin sheen of sweat on his skin that glows warmly beneath the streetlamp, and the flickering tea light on the table between them. Carlos’ glass of sangria is sweating in the heat, leaving a ring on the table, and his fingertips damp. When he takes a sip, TK gets to watch his throat work as he swallows, and the way his tongue sweeps across his bottom lip catching any stray drops, as he puts the glass back down.

TK’s spending a lot of time staring. Probably too much time. An almost borderline creepy amount of time.

But Carlos is gorgeous, and TK finds himself at a loss for words in the face of all that beauty, and it’s not as if he can ask “how was work today?”

“How was work today?” Carlos asks, and TK barks a laugh, nearly knocking over his iced tea as he reaches for it.

“It was…you know. Crazy, like it always is. I brought up student loan forgiveness,” he says, and Carlos’ brows raise in interest. “But was quickly shot down. We’re running on healthcare this election.”

Carlos hums and tips his glass back and forth on the table. “Well. It’s not like that’s unimportant. Do you think you’ll actually get anything accomplished?”

“You know,” TK says, “has anyone ever told you you’re a bit of a pessimist?”

“A realist,” Carlos corrects. “I have plenty of faith, but I haven’t actually seen anything work out the way it was supposed to.” He takes another sip of sangria, TK’s eyes narrow in on his tongue again. “I don’t like to be disappointed.”

“I don’t want to disappoint you.”

Carlos opens his mouth, then snaps it shut as the waitress comes over and asks if they’re ready to order. 

Carlos orders a bowl with broccoli and kale, and politely asks to add grilled chicken. 

It’s neat, clean, and healthy, and makes TK rethink his order, but he panics and orders the brisket taco anyway, then sheepishly asks for it without cilantro.

The waitress nods, unfazed, and jots it down in her notebook before telling them she’ll get it right in for them. 

Carlos smiles and thanks her then looks to TK.

“You know,” he says, “my Tia Lucy would be rolling in her grave if she knew I was out on a date with a guy that didn’t like cilantro.”

“It tastes like soap,” TK tells him. “It’s genetic, my father couldn’t stand it either, but my mother, I remember her eating bunches of it just to tease us. She still does it with me.”

“Sounds like she and I would get along.”

“You would,” TK murmurs. “She’s a lawyer, corporate, so the antithesis of what you want to do but…she’d approve.”

“What about your father?” 

TK takes a deep breath. They’re really gonna do this.

“He was a fire captain in New York City. He passed away about two years ago. Lung cancer.”

Carlos swears. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t,” TK says, shrugging off his apology. “It’s okay. He was sick for a long time, just like a lot of first responders ending up being after 9/11, and then he got better, and then…that was the last time I was in New York, for his funeral. I only stayed for a few days because it was only a few months before the midterms so…”

Carlos stares at him. “So?”

“So I had speeches to write. I had to get back.”

Carlos continues to stare, and TK reaches for the bowl of tortilla chips in the middle of the table and pops one in his mouth. 

“What?” He asks, around a chip. 

“Nothing,” Carlos says, “it just seems like you didn’t get a chance to grieve.”

“Oh no, I grieved,” TK tells him, vaguely remembering the night Paul found him in the hotel room in downtown Columbus, already a six-pack deep with an unopened bottle of Tylenol in the bathroom. How the media didn’t find out about that relapse, or the thirty days he spent getting treatment, he’ll never know. “Nobody made me come back to work,” he points out. “It’s something I needed to do.”

“I get it,” Carlos says, then he winces. “God, now I feel like an idiot for joking about my Tia being dead.”

“She’s not?”

Carlos shakes his head, looking deeply distraught. “I was trying to be funny.”

“It was funny,” TK says with a laugh. “Really. I’m not offended. Feel free to make fun of my palette some more. I’ll help. Sometimes I find even mild salsas to be too spicy. Like this…” He pokes at the tomatillo salsa that came with their chips. “Even this is too much.”

Carlos looks at him in disbelief. “I can barely taste that.”

“I’m weak,” TK admits. “I’m your Tia Lucy’s worst nightmare.”

Carlos laughs, and TK feels warm all over.

[calswildflcwer]

His Muse ! ~ Part Six

Pairing : Carlos x fem!reader.

Warnings for the whole series : Foul language, name calling, hatred between Carlos and reader, swearing, annoying, angry words, violence, mentions of blood.

Plot : Carlos has been told by his art teacher that he needs to do a life drawing, meaning he’ll need a muse, a model and who better to ask for help than the girl who hates him more than anybody else in the town of Encanto. Carlos has never cared for his art grades so knowing you’ll say no, he asks you. However, your response surprises him and even makes him grimace slightly. You and Carlos soon have to spend a good few months together, causing the two of you to get closer and causing Carlos to realise that maybe he just doesn’t hate you after all, maybe it was always something else just disguised as hate.

Pronouns used : he/him for Carlos, she/her for reader.

Note : I am not a Spanish native and I don’t know any Spanish, all Spanish nicknames mentioned in this story are translated from google. If anything is wrong PLEASE let me know and I will correct it.

Info : This is definitely no longer a miniseries, lmao.

Carlos taglist : @tigreost, @try-cry-why-try, @dai-tsukki-desu, @xxhome-is-where-ria-isxx, @cassiopeia-black-brenda, @elegantkidfansoul, @ale-creates-worlds, @eeyahhh, @camilos-mivida, @inky-clover, @belladonna271, @it-is-up-to-you, @bjrmaybank.

|| prev || part six || next ||

Carlos hadn’t spoken to his brother in hours. Not one sarcastic quip, not one insult, not even a scowl; he was avoiding him at all costs. Whenever he saw Camilo looking for him around the town, he walked away; hiding somewhere that Camilo wouldn’t think to look.

Carlos knew that this damage with Camilo was repairable but he didn’t feel like repairing it right now, he knew that if Camilo even so much as breathed in his direction he would throw a punch and he hated other people hurting his brother, he could never.

He had been looking for you ever since you had ran off. He caught sight of your hair blowing in the wind, near the stall where Mirabel usually bought her fabrics from. He glanced your way, it broke his heart to see that your eyes were red and puffy from crying.

You looked so hurt, so much in pain and so sad. You were gripping onto Mirabel’s arm as if she might disappear if you let go, Dolores had gone off to do chores. Carlos sighed, watching you, that was until he heard “Hermano! There you are!” causing him to roll his eyes as his brother approached.

“Stop.” Carlos spoke, his voice so dry that it actually made Camilo stop in his tracks. “What didn’t you understand by stay away from me? Did it not register in your tiny brain, Camilo?” Carlos questioned harshly.

Camilo sighed, “Look, Carlos, I’m really sorry about what I did. I genuinely thought I was being helpful. I know I went the wrong way about it, I never meant to hurt you… Or (name).” He told his brother.

“Read my lips, hermano. I don’t care.” Carlos replied with a scowl. “Don’t try to mess your way into my relationship or I will fuck things up with you and Emilia before they even begin.” He snarled, pushing off the wall and nudging past his brother.

Camilo let out a sigh, “I love you, hermano.” He shouted. Carlos froze, his eyes wide as Camilo turned to him, Carlos glanced over his shoulder, “You’re my brother, I will always love you. I truly am sorry.” He added, his eyes showing such honesty.

Camilo turned on his heel and began walking away, his hands shoved into his pockets, leaving Carlos to process his words.

He couldn’t forgive him, could he? That’d be too easy. Camilo had not only betrayed Carlos but he had hurt your feelings and made you cry. He was worried how you would be with him now and it terrified him, it terrified him that Camilo’s stupid ‘harmless’ prank would make you hate him. It terrified him that his pent up feelings would just have to disappear all over again. He sighed, running a hand down his face. Part of him wanted to strangle Camilo, he’d never felt this much anger towards his brother, but another part of him wanted to talk about his feelings with somebody who would understand; that somebody just so happened to be Camilo. A frustrated groan left his throat before he threw a final glance over at the sewing stall, you were still glued to Mirabel’s side, your head resting on her shoulder and your grip still tight on her arm. Carlos turned and walked away, deciding to cause trouble somewhere else in order to give you a little space from both him and his stupid golden boy twin brother.

Later that day, you and Mirabel were hanging out at casita, your eyes focused on the sewing at hand, that was until your stomach began to rumble; you had skipped out on breakfast that morning. “Would you like me to go and get you some arepas?” Mirabel asked you.

You shook your head, “No, no. I’ll go. If you stop your pattern now, you’ll lose the stitching.” You mumbled, placing your fabric down. You left the nursery and began heading down to the kitchen, in search of arepas.

When you walked in you saw Carlos, he was leant back on the counter stuffing his face with an arepa. “Is it really you this time?” You asked, an eyebrow cocked.

Carlos sent you a smile, “Yeah, of course it’s me, idiota.” He replied. “You ready for our art session at seven?” He asked you.

You nodded, “Yeah, yeah, I’m ready. I’m really excited for it, actually.” You grinned, bouncing on the balls of your feet.

Carlos laughed as he watched you, “Okay, calm down, tonto.” He laughed.

“Hey, uh, I heard about what happened with Camilo. I’m sorry he tricked you like that.” Carlos sighed.

You nodded, a grin appearing on your lips, “It wasn’t your fault, Carlos.” You grinned.

A comfortable silence settled over you both, “So, uh, are there any more arepas left or did you scoff them all?” You grinned cheekily at the boy in the red ruana.

He scoffed before rolling his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips, “Are you saying I’m fat again?” He cocked an eyebrow.

You couldn’t stop the laugh that sounded from your lips, your head back as your laughter filled the kitchen, Carlos watched you; a loving gaze in his eyes as he watched you. “I would never!” You finally managed to reply.

“Go to prom with me?” Carlos suddenly blurted out. Your eyes widened as you stared up at him.

You half expected to see amusement emanating from his eyes or to see a smirk on his face but all you saw was honesty radiating on his features, “A-are you serious?” You questioned him.

“Don’t make me repeat it, idiota.” He cocked an eyebrow.

Excitement bubbled in your chest, “YES! YES! ABSOLUTELY!” You squealed, throwing your arms around his neck.

A grin spread across Carlos’ face as he wrapped his arms around your frame and held you close, his quiet laugh ringing in your ear.

You pulled back, staring up at the boy, your eyes flickering between his eyes and his lips, “If I’m not mistaken, idiota, I’d say you wanna kiss me again.” Carlos smirked. A light pink shade tinted your cheeks as you shook your head, pushing him back by the shoulder.

“Shut up, tonto.” You laughed, hiding your face in his shoulder.

He placed his finger under your chin, tilting your head up to look at him, he leaned down, closing the gap between the both of you and pressing his lips against yours gently.

The kiss was different to the first one, and very different to the Camilo kiss.

It was gentle but rough due to his chapped lips. It was sweet but salty due to your tear stains. It was passionate but desperate. It was opposite to his bad boy nature, he held you close, his hands gripping your waist as he kissed you passionately. Your fingers were entangled in his curls, you kissed back just as passionately.

“Carlos!” Pepa screamed through the house before stopping at the kitchen door; catching yours and Carlos’ make out session. Her eyes were wide and a rainbow appeared above her head, “Ay, mi cielo, look!” She whispered as Félix walked to stand beside her.

“What is it, mi vida?” He asked his wife before seeing the scene before him.

“Our boy has finally found someone to love him, besides us.” Pepa whispered as she placed her hand on Félix’s chest as he placed his arm around him.

“He has, mi vida. He has.” Félix grinned. “Come, we can scold him later.” He added as he pulled his wife away. However, he almost bumped into Dolores and Mirabel who were behind them, watching the scene unfold with the older couple.

A huge grin spread across the young girls faces as they stared into the kitchen.

You pulled away from Carlos, “I… Uh… If my mother found out about this, she would kill me and then you, you know that?” You whispered breathlessly as you pressed your forehead against his.

“Oh, I expect nothing less.” He smirked, cocking a brow.

You smiled, rolling your eyes in the process, “So, are you just my date to prom or are we something more?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.

You stared up at him, pushing his hair out of his eyes and staring up into his mismatched iris’, a small smile graced your features, “Hmm…” You began in fake thought.

A smirk tugged at your lips, he stared down at you, rolling his eyes at your expression, catching your lips with his. He pulled back quickly, a smirk playing on his lips, you quirked a brow, “I… Uh… okay, Carlos Madrigal, will you do me the honour of becoming mi novio?” You questioned.

“Oh, shut up, you idiota.” He chuckled, pecking you on the lips. “Of course I will be your boyfriend.” He smirked. You interlocked your fingers at the back of his neck, kissing along his freckles as you did, “But, what about your family?” He asked, letting you plant your lips all along his face.

You pressed a final kiss to his lips before sighing, “I don’t know, Carlos. I mean, they’re usually always disappointed in me so might as well disappoint them even more by telling them I’m dating Félix and Pepa’s son!” You laughed.

His brows furrowed in confusion, you rolled your eyes, “It’s a long story, I’ll tell you during the art session.” You smiled, hearing your stomach rumble once again. “And I need food!” You added, remembering the reason you came down the stairs.

You grabbed a plate and placed some arepas on it, “See you soon, mi tonto.” You smirked as you left the kitchen.

You headed back up the stairs where Mirabel was sitting back on her bed as if she’d never left, only Dolores was now in the room too, “Mi tonto, huh?” Dolores asked you. A smirk gracing her beautiful features, you sat back on the bed; nibbling on one of the arepas as Mirabel and Dolores both stared at you expectantly.

“It was just a kiss.” You rolled your eyes.

“It looked like more than that! Plus, he asked you to prom.” Dolores pointed out, giving your a pointed look.

You sighed, “You know, sometimes I hate that you can hear everything.” You rolled your eyes.

“And I mean, come on (name), are you really gonna leave out the part where you asked him to be your boyfriend?” Dolores had a devilish smirk on her face at this point.

An arepa was stuffed in your mouth, your cheeks flushing red as you ate.

You swallowed quickly before staring at your friends, a smirk played on your features, “He’s a great kisser. He tastes like cinnamon. The way he gripped my waist and pulled me so close to him, and don’t even get me started on the way his ton-” Your teasing was cut off.

“Oh my god! Stop!” Mirabel groaned as Dolores blocked her ears with disgust dancing on her features.

You cocked an eyebrow, “You both asked.” You smirked with a shrug, picking up your fabric and continuing to sew.

Seven o’clock came around pretty quickly, you were leaving the nursery; a smile gracing your features as you began heading down the stairs.

“(Name), can we talk?” Someone asked.

Your smile faded quickly, your eyes meeting a pair of golden chestnut coloured ones, “No, Camilo. We can’t talk.” You spoke, your usual soft tone now dry and full of boredom. “I’m done talking to you. And I have somewhere to be.” You spoke, passing the golden boy.

He caught your wrist, “Please let me explain.” He pleaded. You lifted your head, your eyes meeting his.

“Look, Camilo, I’d rather not, okay. Please, I need to get to the art session with Carlos.” You sighed, pulling your arm from his grip before walking away.

Camilo watched you go, a soft sigh escaping his lips as you walked away. You headed out to the front of casita and stared up at the sky, a sigh escaped your lips.

“Everything okay?” Someone asked. You lifted your head, turning to see Carlos.

A small smile graced your face, “I’m fine, Carlos. Don’t worry. It’s just Camilo trying to talk, you know, explain himself?” You shrugged. “Anyway, where do you want me this time?” You asked him.

He wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling your body flush against his, “I want you right here.” He whispered, pressing his lips against yours. You smiled into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and playing with the hair at the nape of his neck whilst kissing him back.

You soon pulled away, “I’m serious, Carlos.” You laughed. “This art project counts for half of your final grade.” You reminded him. “Now, where do you want me?” You asked.

You soon felt a flower crown fall on to your head causing your eyebrows to knit together in confusion, “So, I may have told Isa that your favourite flower is roses and I thought we could do this sketch by the bridge as the sun goes down.” Carlos suggested with a smile.

“Well, lead the way mi rayo de sol.” You grinned, following him down towards the bridge.

“My ray of sunshine?” Carlos questioned. You nodded, “Gross.” He scowled, only for his face to soften moments later. “I like it.” He mumbled, setting up his easel on the stone bridge.

A soft smile graced your features as you leant back on the wall of the bridge, “Okay, then, mi rayo de sol.” You grinned, “Is this okay for you?” You questioned.

He eyed you, “Hmm, maybe sit on the wall mi luna and turn your head to the side.” He said.

You nodded, pushing yourself to sit up on the wall, the sun setting behind you. The sky was full of beautiful pink, orange and yellow hues. “Better?” You asked, a smile gracing your face.

“You look…” He began, before lifting his eyes to meet your sitting frame, “Perfect.” He finished quietly.

A soft smile graced your face as the evening breeze blew through your hair, Carlos immediately got to work on his new sketch.

He couldn’t stop himself from sparing a few glances at you, you looked so pretty with the rose crown on your head, your eyes staring off into the distance, the pink and orange hues highlighting your figure gorgeously. He could’ve sworn that in this light, he was falling more in love with you.

The two hours passed quickly, you hugged yourself and rubbed the top of your arms as the night quickly became cold. You stared up at the starry sky as Carlos approached you, “Here you go, mi luna.” He said as he handed you his maroon ruana.

“But you’ll get cold.” You stated.

He shrugged, “It isn’t that far to casita, also you’re shivering, mi luna.” He told you, grabbing your waist and lifting you off the wall before planting you back firmly on your feet.

He held his hand out towards you which you gladly took, he interlocked your fingers and grabbed his sketchbook and easel with his other hand before beginning to head back to la casa Madrigal.

You stopped outside of casita and turned to Carlos, “Well, I best head home.” You smiled at the taller boy.

He nodded, pulling you towards him and kissing you deeply, you kissed back, wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

He pulled away and you opened your eyes once again, “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, mi luna.” He smirked down at you.

You nodded, beginning to pull off the ruana but he grabbed your wrists gently; stopping you. “Keep it, return it to me tomorrow.” He told you, pressing a kiss to your cheek.

A soft smile graced your features as you stared up at him, looking into his eyes as you did, you pressed one final quick peck to his chapped lips before pulling your arms from around him and beginning to walk away. You glanced over your shoulder, opening your mouth and calling back to your novio.

“Hasta mañana, mi rayo de sol.”

(Translation: “Until tomorrow, my ray of sunshine.”)

~ Hey sweetiessss! So, I guess this is kind of an apology for the angsty previous chapter, and honestly I was so soft reading this and I was smiling like a fucking idiot whilst writing it to the point where my family asked me why I was smiling at my phone so much 😂 Please do let me know your thoughts, angels 😘 Stay hydrated, make sure you’ve eaten today, remember you’re loved more than you’ll ever know and stay safe out there, lovelies! Mwah 💖

[maxbegone]

happy wip wednesday! this thing is so close to being finished, i swear! and it’s a doozy. i’ll admit this is the first time in a while where i’ve been doubting myself about a fic, but i think it’s because i’ve been in my head for so long about it. i truly can’t wait to share this one.

“I thought I’d find you out here.” Carlos appears at his side, leaning over the fence next to TK. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

He nods, but doesn’t turn toward him. “I’l be there in a minute. Just needed some air.”

Carlos links his arm around TK’s where he’s supporting himself on the fence and kisses his shoulder through the soft fabric of his hoodie with a hum. “Thinking?” He asks, already knowing the answer.

“Mom would’ve thought this place was beautiful.” A hush falls over them with the breeze, and TK can just start to make out the stars in the dusk. He tilts his chin up toward them. “She grew up on the Upper East Side and, you know, there was Long Island which has its own stuff, but…nothing like this.”

“I’m sorry she didn’t get to see it,” Carlos tells him quietly.

“Me, too.”

One thing TK sincerely wishes is that his mom spent more time down in Austin with them than she had. A few days here and there was never enough, and traveling with a baby can’t be easy. So he doesn’t blame her, not really. He could never do that.

But this place, TK knows in his bones, she would be in awe over. He’ll just have to bring Jonah here one day — see the horses, feed the chickens, let him run around without a care.

“So, this is gonna sound stupid,” he starts, cut off by Carlos leaning further into the fence.

“TK, we talked about this. Nothing you have to say is stupid.”

He smiles. “I think you and I both know that’s not true.”

“You know what I mean,” he counters, with a gentle huff of a laugh. “Go ahead.”

TK takes a moment to collect himself, digging his fingers into the splintering wood of the top rail. “I shipped my mom’s recipe book back before I left New York. Do you think we could maybe look through it and try something out next week?”

“Of course. Why did you think that was stupid?”

“Because we’re about to eat a very delicious meal cooked by your mother and I’m thinking about a bunch of recipes that are for a very different palate.”

Carlos actually laughs, pressing his head into TK’s side, who holds back his own laughter as he runs a hand over his back.

With an exhale, catching his breath, Carlos silently climbs up next to TK, raking a hand through his hair to cup the back of his head and kiss him.

The way he’s balanced, TK would think Carlos has had come practice with kissing someone while sitting on a fence, but he knows that while he’s brought people home to meet his family, no one ever really traveled up to the ranch.

No one worthwhile, he had mentioned, not until TK.

The kiss is slow, languid, as he pulls himself closer and angles his head to deepen the kiss. Carlos licks into his mouth, the act more sweet than hot and heavy, and he braces a hand on the rail to keep from tipping off in either direction.

He gets a hand on Carlos’ thigh and sighs, pulling back enough so their noses still bump. “Can we just skip dinner?” He asks, somewhat pathetically as he nips at the corner of his mouth.

“You know we can’t."

“I’m not even hungry,” TK replies just as his stomach growls traitorously. He laughs shortly and lets his forehead fall onto Carlos’ shoulder.

“My point exactly.”

He offers him a coy raise of his brow, tapping his cheek. “I think making out will hold me over. I know from experience.”

“I hate to say this, babe, but if we miss dinner, Lucy will come hunt us. And she doesn’t hold back.”

TK groans a little, sitting upright once again. “Then we’re putting a pin in this.”

“Sounds good.”

He kisses Carlos one last time before climbing down, almost as slow as the last, grasping to the last few seconds of this easy, gorgeous moment where the sun still bleeds enough light into the world around them.

[chanandlersstuff]

Sunrise // P.33

Author’s note: This is kinda short, sorry for the long wait. I swear I will try to update more frequently. Thanks for the support. Hope you like it and have a great day.

Series Masterlist

After the most beautiful weeks, they had to come back to reality. Tes was back in Monaco and Daniel was in Imola racing. The album was finished and the only thing that was left to do was release it, and that was the little problem, she had no fucking clue when that was going to happen. One thing she knew was that one of the many interviews she did while she was in Los Angeles was ready to be seen by the world. Daniel was with her when she got the call saying that the interview was finished and he was over the moon with it and the only thing Tes asked him was “Please don't make me watch it with you. I feel extremely stupid and embarrassed seeing myself talking to a camera.” and he promised to see it alone. 

Tes always felt a little nervous while Dan raced, it was impossible for her not to but being in the garage calmed her a little. Maybe the thing that calmed her was not being in the garage, but being closer to him was. It could sound strange but a part of her felt rare when Daniel was not around, it was not emotional dependence, it was like a part of her personality only appeared when Daniel was around. That part of herself always felt calm, safe and at peace, had a childish behaviour where everything was giggles and smiles and that personality only came to surface when she was with him.

While sitting on her couch with the boys and Nyx curled in her legs she felt that uneasiness on her body and those few drops of water falling on the track didn’t help at all. She had a blind trust in him and in his driving skills, that was not the problem. Watching the orange car go out the track and crash into the wall made her hands clenched into the cushions and after realising it wasn’t Daniel in the car she let go a deep breath, she still felt worry about Lando but in the end he was okay. With the sprint race he was happy from where he was starting and if he was happy, so was she.

The race started and Tes had to watch how Dan crashed into Carlos, it was a minimal crash, if that could be called a crash, but to her it was hard to see. It made her uneasiness fly over the moon. And from there everything was a mess. There were no words to describe it, simple as that. 

Tes was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Multiple times he offered his help but she declined every single time saying she wanted to do it alone to get things out of her mind. She wasn’t the best at cooking and sometimes she hated cooking but when she didn’t know what to do, cooking was the best option and Daniel was on the couch with his phone in his hands, earbuds on ready to watch her interview. 

The image was in black and white. -Hello world.- Tes burst into laughter. -God that sounded like Ello world- She laughed again. -A couple of seconds in and he was already laughing. -Okay, let’s get down to business- She clapped and then turned into colour. -Hello, I’m Tes and I’m going to answer some questions. Let’s begin shall we?- Daniel could see how, despite her cool exterior, she ran her hand up and down her leg, a clear sign that she was nervous. -“What is Tes' real name?” Okay, an easy one. I’m not going to reveal it but those closest to me call me Tes, Babes, Rose- Someone from the background screamed “Gorgeous”- Daniel recognized Xander’s voice even when it was in the background. -Yes, gorgeous too. That one is my favourite actually.- She said looking down, trying to hide her blush cheeks.- Daniel smiled brightly and found it extremely cute. He wasn’t sure if she was going to name his nickname for her, but acknowledging it and letting them leave it on made him happy.

-“What Tes is recognized for?” My music, I hope and if it’s not for that, you should check it out. It’s pretty cool I swear. “What Tes zodiac sign is?” I’m not really into that stuff but I think, I think I'm Sagittarius.- They asked her questions about her hair and more stuff like that, with every answer she was giving Daniel could realise how she was letting go little by little. 

-“Is Tes and Miley girlfriends?” Okay, that’s badly written but it’s a funny question I will give you that. But let’s call Miley and she will answer it for me.- A hand came to view and gave her her phone. She put the phone on speaker and waited for Miley to answer. “Babes” “Hi my darling, I’m here doing an interview and they are asking me if we are a couple” “Hahaha what? Like romantically?” “Yep” “I actually tried to shut my shoot, but she is taken so it's not gonna happen any time soon.” Laughs could be heard in the background.- Daniel laughed at how quickly Tes turned red but the most beautiful smile appeared on her face.- The phone call ended and she was laughing. -You hear it here first, Miley and Tes are not a couple sorry for disappointing all of you. “Is Tes dating someone?” Yes, she is and he is a king.- Tes said with a big smile on her face.- Daniel smiled from ear to ear. He lifted his head and watched her making a mess of his kitchen and looking so fucking beautiful in the meantime, as if she could felt his eyes son her she looked at him and blew a kiss at him, and he did the same in return. 

-Okay, shoot the next question. “Where Tes is from?” USA, born and raised. “Where Tes live?” At the moment Monaco, a very beautiful place. “When Tes was born?” December 3, 1994 “Who are Xander and Alex?”- She looked at the camera, or more like behind the camera and she laughed making people laugh. -Okay, this is more like a question for them than for me. So people come here.- She gestured with her hand and Xander and Alex appeared beside her. -These are my best friends. The blonde one Xander, he produces all my music. The brunette one Alex, he took all my photos. We met when we were little, being friends since day one. They are my family, I will give them my kidneys but no way in hell I will share food or my charger with them.- They laughed.- Next question, “How tall Tes is?”- She looked up to the camera and pursed her lips. -Okay, that’s mean. I'm five feet one. Thank you very much. I'm not small, I hang out with people that are very tall.- Daniel laughed and shook her head. She was small and she knew it but he knew very well that she would deny it every single time.

-“Does tes have a child?” Yes, I recently had a child.-She said smiling. -Her name is Nyx and she is a beautiful black cat, I post photos of her all the time. “Does Tes write her own songs?” Yep.- She nodded. -Always have and always will. “Does Tes train?”- She scoffed. -Sadly I do.- She pout. -Xander makes me and I made a new friend that's a personal trainer and he makes me train too.- She lent closer to the camera and whispered. -I found out late that he was a personal trainer, otherwise I would not have made friends with him but now it's too late to escape.- Daniel laughed and made a mental note to tell Mike that when he saw him. -“Does Tes know how to drive?” Haha debatable.- Daniel knew very well that that laugh was a sour one. -I hang out with people that know how to drive very well so now I don’t have to drive anymore.- Daniel shook his head laughing. In all the months they’ve been together Tes has driven a lot more, each time more than the last. It was like baby steps, but she was enjoying driving again. Always with him by her side and according to her it was because it inflates her ego to have a f1 driver in her passenger side and that she was a sucker for a cute face. -Work smarter, not harder.- She said tapping her temple. “Does Tes play board games?” Yes, I do. I’m not competitive unless we are playing Scrabble, in that case I leave everyone weeping.- Daniel laughed recalling the time she beat his ass left and right while playing it. -And I’m not a sore loser. Recently I played a lot of kid board games, because we’ve been doing babysitting duties, which I loved, and put together a full car with legos. I think we had more fun than the kids.- She had the biggest smile on her lips.- Daniel had the same smile on his lips, both of them recall those weeks with his niece and nephew in his farm having the best weeks in a long time.

-“Does Tes sing in the shower?”- She frowned and tilted her head to the side. -What?- She laughed. -This is really a question people ask about me? It’s really strange and concerning.- Laughed could be heard in the background. -Either way,  I don’t sing, I scream.- She said without thinking and seconds later she lifted her head with her eyes open big. -Did you really just say that?- Alex’ voice could be heard and she started laughing nervously, her whole face turning red. -Please, the fans would like you to explain what you meant.- Xander teased her and she shook her head laughing. -Nope, it's not gonna happen. Next question.- Daniel paused the video to laugh at the situation and how quickly she blushed, it was so sweet. -She took a deep breath trying to calm her laugh and cleaned a tear in her eye. -God, this is not going how I expected. I’m rusty in these things, I apologise.- The people there laughed and tell her not to worry.

-Next question people want to know is, “Who are Tes parents?”- She stayed quiet looking at the card in her hands. No one said anything. The funny moment is long forgotten.- Daniel bit his lips, even though that happened many weeks ago, he almost stopped the video and ran to hug her. The look in her face on the video broke his heart. He knew that there were two options with her parents' subject, she would joke about it or she would have a hard time putting in words her feelings and not cry in the process. He waited expectantly for her answer. -She let go of a deep breath and pressed her lips together. -Emmm, my parents are my luckies stars.- She smiled not looking at the camera, playing with her hands. -My dad was pretty famous in his time, he was a rock singer, maybe you heard of him, maybe not. And my mum was the loveliest person in the world, she was an angel and the smartest person I have the pleasure of ever knowing.- She gave a sad smile and as quickly as it came, it left. She moved to the next question as nothing happened.- Daniel paused the video and lifted his eyes to look at her, her back was facing him and he had this huge, immense, need to give her the entire world. Whatever she wanted he was willing to give her.

-“What Tes did on quarantine?”- A knowing cheeky smile appeared on her face. -Actually nothing related to music but I did a lot of things. “When is Tes releasing new music?” I see what all of you did there, you want the scoop.- She said pointing at the people behind the camera joking. -Soon people soon, be aware because it can be at any time. Maybe you are sleeping, having a drink with friends, having a wee or breakfast and BAM my new album is out. You will never know what hit you.- The people there laughed. -Okay people I think that’s all. Thank you for watching and I hope I answer all your weird questions. See you.- Daniel put his phone on the table and walked towards her.

-This smells great, gorgeous.- Daniel grabbed her from her hips and kissed her neck. 

Tes melted into his touch. His lips on her neck made her giggled. -I’m kind of experimenting here, so thank you.

Daniel took a step back, leaning into the counter, to let her keep doing what she was doing. -I have a question.

-Mhm, shoot.- Her hands tremble a little with those words, but thank God she had her back to him.

-I’m a king now?- Tes opened her eyes big and looked at him like a cat ate her tongue making Dan laugh.

-Sorry? I think. I told them to leave it because I thought that it wouldn't worry you, but if it does I'm so sorry Dan, truly.

Daniel shook his head. -Nothing like that, it flatters me, a lot actually. It stucks my ego.- He said smiling.

-I figured. Wait till you listen to the song.- She said without thinking. Daniel looked at her surprise and her eyes opened big, again. 

-It comes from a song?- She nodded slowly. -Can I hear it?- She shook her head. -Why?

-Cause it’s a surprise. I’m waiting till the perfect time to show you the whole thing finished.- Tes’ voice came out like a whisper.

-Oh okay, I will wait then.- Tes looked at him as if she didn’t believe a single word he said. Daniel took a couple steps towards her and grabbed her face. -Believe me, I’m not mad. I will wait till you want to show me your album. It’s completely fine.- He kissed her nose sweetly and she hugged him from the waist. 

After that little cute moment they sat to have lunch in the living room. A movie playing on the big TV, his leg touching hers and compliments from him to her cooking skills. A quiet and peaceful time, just what he wanted after his weekend. Tes ended up curled around him, her legs on top of his, her back against the armrest and his hand on her hip, Daniel gaze was fully concentrated on what was on the TV but his hand was drawing circles on her skin. 

Tes started giggling like a teenenger, making Daniel look at her weirdly. -What got into you, gorgeous?- She looked at him and bit her lips. He knew that looked and that looked meant that he would like what she was about to say.

-Alex sent me a tweet that went viral, would you like me to read it to you?- She said teasingly.

-Oh please, do the honours gorgeous.

She cleared her throat and looked at him from under her long lashes, a look that raised the temperature of his body and made him hard. -It says, "Daniel didn’t answer Lando when he asked what other activities he does in the shower in the “This or That video”, and Tes said right away she screamed in the shower when they asked her if she sang in the shower. I think we know the answers, people.”- Daniel raised an eyebrow at how blushed Tes was.  

-I still can’t believe that you said that, gorgeous.- His hand stroked her leg up and down, slowly.

His simple touch gave her goosebumps. -You and I both bae.- Her eyes follow the path of his hand. -But they put it out of context, I meant that I don’t sing like I do on stage.

Daniel nodded. -Yeah yeah. I understand, but you and I know that you also scream in the shower. We proved it a bunch of times.- The look on his eyes said everything. 

Her brain gave her flashbacks of all those fun times in the shower with him. Her mouth is becoming dry. -Don’t tease me unless you do something about it.- They were looking at eachother like they were challenging the other. -I’m serious, don't threaten me with a good time Ricciardo

He looked at her with a brow raise and in a blink of an eye he was on top of her, his leg between hers. His nose caressing hers, lustful eyes. Tes wet her lips with her tongue. They were face to face with big smiles on their lips. 

Slowly, his hands moved from her legs to her waist, under her shirt, that was his at some point. -What are you doing now, Ricciardo?- She said in a low tone. They were so close that their lips were almost touching.

He gave her a smirk that made her get on fire from the inside. -Doing something about it, I’m going to give you a good time.- And he crushed his lips against her.