#like him just playing it on repeat on the car ride over and ninis just like 😀

[sapphosclown]

no bc ricky continuously singing bet on it is so funny

[seblos]

there’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach - ch 3/10

chapter title: tornadoes come and go, dance is forever

word count: 1,972

note: it doesn’t occur until close to the end, but italics is carlos, bold is sbe, & both is both!

[one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | nine (coming soon)]

read on ao3

Seb catches Carlos after rehearsal the day after his… interaction with Mr. Mazzara. They had been talking more in class and during lunch, as well as rehearsals whenever they had time to break and if Miss Jenn didn’t need anything. 

It had been their thing, now, to either drive Carlos home if they end early, or at the very least walk out the door and through the parking lot to their respective cars. It gives them a chance to catch up on whatever drama happened in rehearsal in person before they’re forced to text about it or wait until lunch the next day to talk. 

Seb had been absent the previous day though, and when he had asked Carlos about what had happened, Carlos responded vaguely about running through songs and the new Status Quo dance break with Gina. 

Truthfully, what came to mind was not either of those, but instead the conversation he had with Mr. Mazzara pre-rehearsal. Just thinking about it makes Carlos’s stomach sink as he hears the voice of the STEM teacher echoing in his head, reminding him that maybe you should spend a little less time worrying about your drama teacher and a little more time making some friends under the age 35.

He had only been trying to help, as Miss Jenn looked distressed (how was he supposed to read the conversation?) but that comment hit him like a wall of bricks. 

After Miss Jenn had shooed him away from the conversation and into the bomb shelter to practice Status Quo, Carlos’s head was pounding, only hearing those words over and over again. And of course, that had been that day that Seb was absent, which only made everything feel so much more real. He had put on a happy face for the sake of hopefully having the cast actually listen to him, but on the inside, he had felt like he was going to be sick.

“You ready to go?” Carlos asks, breaking his train of thought as he swings his backpack over his shoulders. He begins to walk towards the door, trying to focus on something else, like how Seb is wearing cute overalls today over one of his button-ups.

Speaking of Seb, though, he realizes the other boy is still planted firmly in place across the room. “Seb?”

“Are you okay, Carlos?” He asks. “You were fine on Wednesday, but I was gone yesterday and you just seem… different. If it’s something I did, please tell me because I-”

“It’s not you, Seb,” Carlos smiles slightly, although his chest feels tight. 

“Then what is it?”

Carlos sighs, walking back over to Seb and sitting down in the nearest chair. Seb follows suit, and he has to admit that Seb genuinely caring about him feels really nice. 

“Yesterday before rehearsal, I was just coming to give Miss Jenn coffee, and she was in the hall talking to Mr. Mazzara,” both Seb and Carlos cringed at the name (neither of them exactly loved him as a teacher) before Carlos continues. “She looked upset, or, like, freaked out about whatever he had said. I didn’t have any context to the conversation so I was trying to make sure she was okay, ‘cuz, like, you never really know, and um,” Carlos swallowed, picking at a fray in his jeans.

Seb, who was nodding as he talked, took Carlos’s hand comfortingly, which sent electric currents through the boy’s body. It was enough to make him continue, though.

“When I kept pushing Miss Jenn to make sure she was good, he told me that I shouldn’t be so focused on her, and I should try and actually make some friends. My own age, I mean,” it stung to repeat, even with Seb rubbing his thumb on the back of Carlos’s hand. 

Seb stopped all of a sudden, as Carlos was finally able to make eye contact with the other boy. “He said that to you?” he asked, painfully calm.

“I mean, not in those exact words, but yeah. Basically.”

Seb suddenly grabbed his other hand, fully tuning his body so he was facing Carlos. “You know that’s not true, right? I mean, first of all, you have friends,” he squeezed Carlos’s hands when he said that. Carlos opened his mouth to respond, but he wasn’t finished. “And not just me, I mean. Natalie, and Gina, and honestly Ricky, and Nini, and Ashlyn, and the rest of the cast. We’re all your friends. And there’s nothing wrong being friends with your teachers, as long as you aren’t friends with him. I mean, you and Miss Jenn are basically coworkers since she’s not technically a teacher anyway,” Seb rambled.

Carlos felt his chest release as Seb defended him and tried to make him feel better. For once since that conversation with Mr. Mazzara, it felt like the weight of the words had lifted a bit from his body. 

“I’m serious, Los,” Seb squeezes his hands again. “That was so mean of him, and its absolutely not true.”

Carlos smiles softly. “Yeah, I’m kinda figuring that out. Thank you, though, Seb.”

“Of course,” Seb returns with a soft smile of his own. 

They sit like that for a moment, ignoring how both of their rides are probably already at the school. Carlos tries not to overthink how casually Seb is holding his hands. 

“Mr. Mazzara did walk in while we were running Status Quo, and the look on his face was priceless when he saw us singing. I guess he assumed we weren’t actually good, but it was the best we’ve ever sounded!” Carlos says suddenly, and Seb laughs. “I wish you were here though, so he could have heard you sing. Your solo in the song is amazing.”

Seb blushes slightly, breaking eye contact for the first time and looking down at his overalls instead of Carlos as he responds. “Thank you! No thanks to your impossible choreo.”

Carlos shrugs. “I only give you what I know you can handle. Even without it, though, your voice is amazing. I love to hear you sing.”

“So, let’s sing!”

“What do you mean?” Carlos laughs as Seb stands up suddenly, still holding Carlos’s hands as he pulls him over to the piano and down onto the bench.

“You didn’t get to hear me sing yesterday, and you had a bad day, so let’s sing!”

“When you say let’s do you mean us?” Carlos asks, but Seb is already playing the beginning of What I’ve Been Looking For.

“You wanted to hear me sing, and I need to practice this song,” he tells Carlos, nodding at him to start out the song. Before Carlos can say anything, the song starts, and he sings.

“It's hard to believe that I couldn't see you were always there beside me. Thought I was alone with no one to hold but you were always right beside me”

Seb jumps in when he’s supposed to, still playing piano as he sings, and Carlos relaxes into the song. He doesn’t usually sing in front of people, but he’ll make the exception here.

“And this feeling’s like no other. I want you to know.”

Seb’s voice is amazing, of course, and Carlos is so stunned by it that he almost forgets to join back in. 

“I've never had someone that knows me like you do (the way you do!)

 I've never had someone as good for me as you (no one like you!)

So lonely before, I finally found what I've been looking for!”

As he plays the piano break before the next verse, Seb turns to Carlos with a grin. “I’m surprised you know all the words!”

“It’s what happens when you’ve been listening to the soundtrack for a decade!” Carlos replies with a laugh

“Well, it’s cute. And I like your voice!”

Carlos almost thinks he misheard Seb for a second, but they’re both blushing, so he assumes he did it. Before he can figure out how to respond, Seb starts singing again.

“So good to be seen, so good to be heard! Don't have to say a word!

For so long I was lost, so good to be found!

I'm loving having you around.”

Carlos holds a fake microphone in his clenched fist, mocking the moves of Ryan from the movie that play so clearly in his head as he sings the next lyric. “This feeling's like no other. I want you to know..”

“I've never had someone that knows me like you do (the way you do!)

 I've never had someone as good for me as you (no one like you!)

So lonely before, I finally found what I've been looking for!”

Seb is still smiling at Carlos while they sing, and for the first time, Carlos hears the lyrics. It makes him wonder why two siblings sing it in the show because seriously! Maybe it’s just him, or just the company, but this sounds like the most romantic thing in the world right now. He tries to not think about how close he and Seb are squished together on the piano bench.

They both scat dramatically, still laughing and smiling at each other as Seb finishes the song with dramatic flourish. 

“Too bad there was no jazz square in there,” Seb sighs happily when he hits the last note.

“Oh, don’t worry, there will be,” Carlos laughs. 

Seb sets his hand down on the bench, and for a moment, he glances at their hands merely centimeters apart. Carlos notices it too, and he swears Seb moves his hand ever so slightly closer so that their pinkies are touching. (Which isn't much considering Seb was literally holding his hand a minute ago, but it still makes Carlos’s heart beat rapidly.)

He’s about to suck it up and just grab Seb’s hand, but a notification goes off from Seb’s phone (it’s placed in the front pocket of his overalls. Has Carlos mentioned he’s wearing overalls?) Seb picks it up, glancing at the screen.

“My sister’s here, I should…” he trails off, standing up from the piano and going to grab his backpack.

“Yeah, I’m sure my mom was here, like, 5 minutes so me too,” Carlos grabs his backpack, and they walk out of the bomb shelter together.

They walk down the hallway in comfortable silence as Carlos reflects on the past five minutes. He had never experienced this feeling before, but Seb made him feel dizzy, in a good way. The blonde boy could put butterflies in his stomach just by looking at him, and all of their interactions made Carlos’s heart race and always made him smile.

He thought he had crushes before, but this was so much different. This was so much more real. 

When they walked out the front door of the school, the fresh air hit Carlos’s still burning face. 

Seb turned to him. “Well, this is where I go.”

Carlos nods. “Yeah, same,” he replies, and he’s definitely still blushing. “I’ll probably text you tonight about the chemistry homework.”

“Yeah. Or just text me, like, about anything,” Seb shrugs with a smile, and Carlos feels a little bit better when he notices the pink still dusting the other boy’s face. He reaches his hand out for a second, barely brushing Carlos’s shoulder as he says “See you tomorrow, Carlos!” before he turns in the direction of his sister’s car.

“Hey, Seb?” Carlos calls quickly before he can lose his confidence.

“Yeah?” the boy turns right before he can step into the parking lot.

“Cute overalls!”

Even from the distance, he can see Seb flushing an even darker shade of pink. “Thanks!” he calls back, and Carlos nods, smiling.

And even when he gets in his own car and his mom asks him a million questions about why he’s late, it’s worth it.