#tarlos secret dating au

[chaotictarlos]

I’ve always dreamed of me and you, now here we are

ship: Tarlos | fandom: 911 Lone Star | author: chaotictarlos | read on ao3

Rating: Explicit | Warnings/Tag: Secret Dating AU, Social Worker!Carlos Reyes, Professor TK Strand, ex’s to lovers, warnings to be added, smut in later chapters, m x m, anal sex, m x m smut

Summary: It’s a tale as old as time, meeting the right person but during the wrong time of life. TK Strand and Carlos Reyes dated in college but parted ways when they graduated, not knowing they would ever see each other again. Six years later, Carlos is working as a social worker in Travis County and TK has just accepted a position as a professor at The University of Texas at Austin. They run into each other when a mutual friend invited TK out for the evening.

Authors Note: I stepped away from this fic for a few months because some people can be so mean and hateful that they made me feel like I shouldn't continue it because they didn't like the direction the story was going / how the characters were being. I'm still struggling with this fic, but I'm trying to overcome it because not every fic has to be liked be everyone. Not every fic is written for everyone. There are millions of fics out there and I don't like every single one of them. That's okay. There are plenty of Tarlos fics that I don't like, but I don't make it the author's problem because it's not their problem. If you don't like this fic, that's okay but keep that to yourself. If you do like this fic, I would like to hear about your thoughts. I'm going to try and get back into this and get it finished up soon, but we'll see how I feel about it.

Thank you to @noxsoulmate for beta'ing for me. I hope you guys are enjoying this fic as much as I am! Leave me a comment and check out my other fics!

Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven

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Chapter Eight

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When Carlos shows up at the place he’s supposed to meet the guy that Marjan has set him up with, he’s early - almost too early for it to be considered normal but he’s nervous. It’s been some time since he’s gone out on an actual date and not just found someone at a club or bar to hook up with for the night.

He takes a look around the restaurant, trying to decide if he wants to find a table to sit down at or get a quick drink at the bar - when his eyes land on TK.  

Carlos feels his stomach turn slightly. 

TK’s out on a date and for a moment that’s all Carlos can focus on. He looks hard at the man he’s with and realizes it’s not Michael. Carlos also knows Michael - there was a time when Paul tried to set him up with Michael but he wasn’t really Carlos’ type.

No, this is another guy. A new guy.

Carlos feels his stomach twist into knots and the unfamiliar and ugly feeling of jealousy fills his veins too. He hates the feeling but the longer he stares at TK and his date, the more it grows. He turns on his heel and heads straight for the bathroom, needing a moment to breathe and get his head on straight before his own date arrives.

Carlos steps up to a sink and grips the edges, looking down and letting out a deep breath. He’s being ridiculous, is what he’s being. There’s no reason for him to continue to pine after TK and what could have been. If TK wanted any part of that - of him - he’s had plenty of time to say something but instead he’s gone on a few dates with other men - which is fine, TK owes Carlos nothing and Carlos knows that.

He looks up at his reflection and reminds himself that he has also had plenty of chances to tell TK that he still has feelings for him and has thought about what it would be like to try again, but he hasn’t said anything either. He rubs a hand over his face and tries not to mess up his hair.

He squares his shoulders and looks at himself intently.

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tags: @strangefurychaos @sapphire11 @first-kanaphan @noxsoulmate @rangergurlgleek1211 @detective-giggles @lonestardust @bubblesandroses8 @thebumblecee @mooshkat @importantbailiffpaperpony @a-j-cowwley @meditating-honey-badger @paperstorm @otter-love-asl @kiloskywalker @angeltk @firstprince-history-huh @brouill3r

[emsprovisions]

❄️ Welcome to the 24 Days of Tarlos Advent! ❄️

Hello everyone! Happy holidays! I have been hard at work on this top secret project and I am so excited to share it with you all. Every day starting tomorrow through Christmas Eve, I will be sharing a holiday or winter-themed drabble featuring Tarlos or the 126!

Each day, I will also gift a drabble to someone in the fandom just to spread some holiday cheer and hopefully make you all smile, but each one is a gift to you all! 💕

This will be the masterpost pinned to my page, so feel free to come here if you are looking for any of the drabbles from this event!

Happy Holidays!

1. The Wingman Summary: While TK is babysitting Jonah, he meets a really sweet barista!

2. The Passengers Summary: UT college students, TK and Carlos, meet when they are both passengers on a plane bound for New York for the winter break.

3. The Christmas Party Summary: Fiancés Carlos and TK get ready to attend the APD Christmas party.

4. The Christmas Lights Summary: Carlos takes TK out for a drive to see Christmas Lights.

5. Snowed In Summary: TK and Carlos get snowed in at their rented lodge.

6. Snowy Kisses Summary: an AU where Carlos moves to New York and starts dating FDNY TK.

7. The Christmas Village Summary: TK finds a box containing Gwyn's beloved Christmas village.

8. Family Christmas Summary: It's been nearly a year since TK and Carlos adopted Jonah and here is a snapshot at their sweet family Christmas

9. Catan and Christmas Summary: Carlos saves Christmas at the firehouse.

10. Haul out the Holly Summary: TK and Nancy decide to surprise Tommy by decorating the ambulance for the holidays.

11. Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel Summary: TK teaches Jonah how to play dreidel on the first night of Hanukkah.

12. The Gingerbread House Summary: TK and Carlos enjoy a double date night with Mateo and Nancy building gingerbread houses.

13. Under the Mistletoe Summary: TK and Carlos get caught under the mistletoe.

14. A World Made New Summary: TK wants to watch the snow fall.

15. Christmas Abroad Summary: TK and Carlos are visiting a Christmas Market in Berlin!

16. HR's Going to have their Hands Full Summary: an au where TK and Carlos are flirty coworkers at the holidays.

17. Cookie Decorating Contest Summary: TK, Carlos, and Jonah host a cookie decorating contest for the Catan crew and their partners! Who will win?

18. Lazy Morning Summary: TK and Carlos enjoy a lazy morning in bed.

19. The Perfect Gift Summary: Carlos goes Christmas shopping with his mom.

20. Stranded in Holly Grove Summary: The Catan Crew get stranded in a weird little small town overnight.

21. You Can Call Me Babe for the Weekend Summary: Carlos agrees to be TK's date to Enzo's family Christmas gathering in New York.

22. Too Much Holiday Cheer Summary: When Carlos leaves the Reyes Nochebuena festivities quite a bit drunk, his husband happily takes care of him.

23. Yearly Traditions Summary: A teenaged TK enjoys his Hanukkah tradition of making latkes and sufganiyot with his mom.

24. A Very Royal Christmas Summary: A modern-day prince au where TK and Carlos were childhood friends, who have become estranged until now.

[sugdenlovesdingle]

2024 fic round up!

Thanks for the tags @carlos-in-glasses, @nisbanisba @nancys-braids

I wrote 20 fics this year, which (for me) isn't all that much - despite starting and partially writing at least twice that. I've had the year from hell in more ways than one (especially the last 6 months) but fandom has and always will be a nice escapism!

Thanks to everyone that's commented on my fics in some way, I promise I'm going to try be less awkward and actually reply to your comments instead of just keeping the notification emails in my inbox like a dragon hoarding gold.

I mostly wrote bucktommy/911 this year (what can I say, that fingers under the chin kiss really did it for me) and if TPTB @ abc have any sense they'll bring Lou/Tommy back in the second half of the season!

Though the tarlos secret santa did sort of reawaken my love for Tarlos, so let's see if I can actually finish some of the fics I started for them in the new year.

I'll put the actual fic links under the cut so it doesn't clog up everyone's dash

Bucktommy: (all rated G unless stated otherwise)

Date night Bathena spot Buck and Tommy out on a date together

Buck's Bisexual Speedrun Buck going from 0 to 1000 in 0.03 seconds with coming out, accepting his sexuality, and his relationship with Tommy. Taking it slow? We don't know her.

Cake Time Buck and Jee baking to cheer Tommy up after a rough shift. Written back when we thought Oliver talking about Buck and Jee baking together would be a good thing.

It's not over Break up? What break up? Episode 8x06 fix it

Uncle Buck Post break up Buck and Jee baking, with Tommy accidentally crashing their time together. Bucktommy getting back together.

118 group chat Evan♥ has added you to 118 Fam. Tommy gets added to the group chat.

Wake up Another break up? What break up?? 8x06 fix it.

Being a good friend is hard Eddie is going Through It, but unfortunately he's going through it on Buck and Tommy's sofa when they want some alone time.

Family dinner the first 118 family dinner at Bobby and Athena's new house - featuring a sleepy Tommy.

Nobody knows Nobody knows we're back together - But Chim is about to find out when he needs a babysitter.

Transfer a What if? for 8x04. What if everything hadn't been fixed in 42 minutes and the 118 had been closed and Buck ended up at the 217 with Tommy? (I promised to write a part two for this... and it's partially written in my drafts. I'll finish it eventually!)

But first, coffee A coffee shop AU that's technically a 911/lone star crossover that started in this little tarlos centric ficlet but you need to read that to understand the bucktommy centric one.

He's good for you Maddie and Tommy spend some time together while Buck is in surgery.

Moving in A little quiet moment before Buck and Tommy move in together.

The boy at the rock show A different first meeting AU where Buck meets a cute bass player in a bar - loosely based on Blink 182 - The Rock Show "Fell in love with the girl boy at the rock show"

Tarlos (rated G unless stated otherwise)

For Lire with love and lots of whump This was an epic collaboration project that was a lot of fun to work on! Lots of hurt/comfort goodness with Carlos being a Bad Patient - until he isn't. My part was chapter 6 but definitely give the whole thing a read!

Love online A different first meeting AU with a side of meddling sisters. Luisa gets her hands on Carlos' phone and decides to take matters into her own hands to fix her brother's love life.

View from the taco truck TK and Carlos' relationship through the eyes of their favourite food truck vendor.

Austin Pride Tarlos go to pride with their dads, Owen is ~completely normal~ about it obviously.

Strickland Holiday Special A different first meeting AU where TK is Paul's roommate - who just happens to be Carlos' best friend.

As usual I'm late to the party, and I think most of my Lone Star fam has done this by now... so I'm shifting it to my bucktommy fam.

@weewookinard @cjlouwho @loulou-land @jamieroyjamieroy @leashybebes

@mrhappyjavaman @blitzynatural @sad-girl-hours23 @mmso-notlikethat

+ open tag for anyone who wants to do it

[chicgeekgirl89]

Festive Friends- Read on AO3

Rating: T

Words: 8600

This one is for @strandnreyes as part of the @tarlos-santa 2023 exchange! I chose the prompt: AU - Carlos and TK unknowingly have each other for the office secret santa exchange. Up to you if they’re pining idiots, “enemies”, secretly dating, or anything else! Hope you enjoy and have the most festive of holidays!

“Good morning Mr. Reyes.”

Carlos looks up to find the office intern, Mateo, standing cheerily next to his desk, a stack of envelopes in his hand. “Good morning Mateo. And again, you can call me Carlos. Mr. Reyes really isn’t necessary.”

“Sorry Mr. Reyes, I’m just not really used to being like, a real adult yet I guess,” Mateo says sheepishly. 

Carlos keeps a chuckle to himself and doesn’t admonish the kid again. “I understand. Whatever you feel comfortable with is fine.”

“Cool. Thanks Mr. Reyes. I brought your mail over for you.”

“Thank you,” Carlos says, accepting the stack from him.

“Can I get you anything? A coffee? Oh! I think Mr. Strand has some new kind of energizing smoothie or something in the break room. Although, it looked kinda gross to me,” Mateo says.

The thought of that smoothie sends a shiver down Carlos’ spine. He hasn’t known Owen Strand for very long, but his health nut tendencies have quickly become too much for Carlos’ taste. “No, that’s okay. I don’t need anything right now. Besides, your job here is to learn about the business, not fetch everyone’s coffee.”

“Right. Yes. Learning. I love learning all the things. Hey, are you coming to the office tree lighting on Friday afternoon? I heard they’re gonna have those little pigs in a blanket.”

Carlos’ eyes dart back to his screen and the half finished email staring at him. “Um, yeah. I’ll be there for a little bit.”

“Awesome!” Mateo seems genuinely thrilled and Carlos once again has to bite back an amused smile. The kid is ninety nine parts enthusiasm and one part overly helpful. “Well I’ll let you get back to it. Lots of…what exactly does HR do?”

“Emails,” Carlos says. “Lots of emails.”

“Right. Sounds fun. Good luck with that!”

Mateo sends him a parting wave and then disappears around the side of his cubicle. 

Things have been absolutely crazy at PD and Sons since they merged with 126 Designs a few months ago. Owen Strand had been brought in to manage the merger and insisted on hiring a significant number of new staff. Onboarding the new hires like Mateo has been a ton of work, especially since Owen insisted on being extremely involved in the entire process. Carlos has been in non-stop meetings for weeks and today is the first day he hasn’t felt completely overwhelmed in forever.

He flips through the stack of mail, tossing a few random flyers in the recycling, and setting aside the important envelopes to open later. He wrinkles his forehead when he finds a folded up piece of red paper at the bottom of the stack. When he opens it his eyes immediately widen in horror.

What. The. Hell?

“Lexi.” He stands up and looks down into the cubicle next to him where his work wife is busy with some kind of design project. “Why did I just get a paper telling me who my Secret Santa is this year?”

“I signed you up because I knew you wouldn’t do it otherwise. It’s the season of giving and part of that means giving up your Grinchy ways and pretending like you’re interested in getting to know all the new people in the office,” Lexi says without looking up at him.

His jaw drops. “Okay, first of all, I’m not uninterested in getting to know them. I just haven’t had time to get to know them. And secondly, I hate Secret Santa. Nobody ever really knows what to get you, so you end up with all this random crap and candy that you don’t want and it all sits in a drawer for three or four years until finally you throw it out.”

She finally stops and turns to look at him. “Wow. Okay Uncle Scrooge. First of all,” she echoes him, “it’s not Secret Santa, it’s Festive Friends. Not everybody celebrates Christmas. Get your terminology right. And secondly, it’s not about getting good gifts, it’s about spreading joy for the holiday season. So take the Christmas tree out of your ass and start fa la la-ing with the rest of us.”

“Lexi,” he grinds out her name between his teeth and quickly glances around to make sure no one is in earshot. “I got T.K.”

Lexi is the only one in the office who knows what an incredible disaster meeting T.K. Strand has been for his life. A week after the PD Austin and 126 Designs merger the entire office had gone out for drinks. One thing led to another, which led to another, and ultimately ended up with T.K. very naked in Carlos’ bed. 

They’d been incredibly hot and incredibly heavy for a couple weeks after that, sneaking around together, making out in the supply closet, booty calling each other in the dead of night, and Carlos had been so ridiculously happy. T.K. Strand had turned him into a horny freaking teenager.

And then he’d made the mistake of surprising T.K. with dinner. He’d thought it would be romantic. That it might move them from booty call status into something a little bit more permanent. 

But T.K. had freaked out, stormed out, and shut Carlos out of his life. Thank god his cubicle is all the way around the corner on the other side of the building. They barely have to see each other except for the occasional awkward brush in the break room or men’s room.

Carlos’ heart has been more broken than he’d like to let on, not to mention his ego is bruised too. The whole thing has made getting to know the other people from 126 Designs like Marjan, Paul, Nancy, and Judd very awkward.. They’re T.K.’s friends. And he doesn’t want to piss T.K. off anymore than he already has. 

Of course he has to interact with T.K.’s father, Owen Strand, he is the manager after all, but other than that he’s kept everyone else at an extremely polite and professional distance.

So finding T.K.’s name in his hands is like a punch in the gut.

“Good,” Lexi says, surprising him. “You’ve been pining for him for weeks anyway. Might as well do something about it.”

“Lexi, this guy hates my guts,” Carlos says. “He doesn’t want presents from me.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you. You’re Carlos Reyes. No one hates you.”

“Please switch with me.”

“No.”

“Lexi!”

“No! I got Paul. I already have ideas. I’m not switching. It’s only three gifts, you’ll be fine.”

“Three?! I thought Secret Santa was only one gift!”

“God, do you even read your email? It’s three gifts in the week leading up to the holiday break. This will be good for you. Now go away. I’m working.”

Carlos sinks back down into his chair, misery settling in his stomach. This is going to be absolute torture.

He takes another look at T.K.’s scrawl. His writing looks hurried in a way that suggests he’s so excited that he can’t be bothered to slow down and shape his letters more carefully. It has that same kind of frenetic, joyful energy that drew Carlos to him in the first place. Now the only energy he exudes toward Carlos is coldness.

Carlos catches himself tracing his fingers over the letters of T.K.’s name and balls them into a fist before forcing himself to read T.K.’s answers to the Festive Friends questionnaire. T.K. has written down that he likes sour candy, Harry Styles, boba, and interesting tea flavors. He doesn’t like black licorice, the Mets, or anything with alcohol. 

Carlos frowns at that. He doesn’t remember T.K. mentioning anything about alcohol during their weeks together. But then again, they didn’t exactly spend much time talking. Their mouths had been occupied with other things.

It feels unfair to have this scrap of T.K., to get this little glimpse into his life. These are things he doesn’t want Carlos to know. He made that clear when he stormed out the door of Carlos’ condo and left nothing behind except Carlos’ fractured heart. 

He takes a breath and squares his shoulders. It’s just a stupid office tradition. They’re colleagues. They’re going to have to become cordial at some point. Maybe this is how he can start to smooth things over. Besides, it’s not like he has to talk to the guy. That’s literally the point. To keep it secret.

This is going to be fine.

It is not fine. It’s not fine because Carlos is the type of person that agonizes over gifts. And in this case, there’s even more pressure because the gifts have to be perfectly impersonal so they don’t say, “Your dick was life changing and I don’t think I’m ever going to recover because now you hate me and I don’t really know why.” He’d much rather they say, “I’m fine and I don’t ever think about you and that thing you did with your tongue that one time.”

Ugh.

He arrives Monday morning the week before Christmas with a gift bag in hand, a Yankees baseball cap tucked inside. It’s a lame gift. Perfectly impersonal. And the rest of his gifts for the week aren’t much better. There’s a small part of him berating himself for not doing a better job. He could at least try. The guy broke up with him, he didn’t murder anyone.

But then he remembers how miserable he was in the days after T.K. had stormed out. Whatever. He didn’t sign up for this anyway. T.K. deserves his boring gifts.

The office is quiet as he makes his way to T.K.’s cubicle. Even just the sight of his desk makes Carlos’ heart ache a little. There’s a picture pinned to his bulletin board of T.K. with their other co-workers, Marjan, Paul, Judd, Mateo, Nancy, and Tommy all smiling and having fun, clearly out for a night on the town together. He’d known 126Designs was small and that was part of the reason for the acquisition; to bring on a tightly knit team to help their own, but seeing T.K. so happy with them all doesn’t really feel great.

He’s been so preoccupied by his own shopping that he completely forgot that he is also getting gifts until he steps into his cubicle and sees a bright green bag with little white Christmas trees all over it. He inspects it carefully, relieved to find there’s no glitter anywhere. 

He hates glitter.

There’s a little card attached to the handle and when he opens it it reads “Hope you have a Write Christmas- FF.” It takes him a second to figure out that FF must mean Festive Friend.

He carefully extracts the tissue paper and looks into the bag. It’s office supplies. Pens, post-its, a new stapler, blue paperclips, and a ball of rubber bands.

The pun on the card makes sense, even if it is as terribly lame as the gifts inside. At least it’s practical. He can always use new pens.

“Hey!” Lexi pokes her head in. “Ooh what’d you get?”

He shows her the bag and she nods in approval. “Your Festive Friend knows you like office supplies. Nice.”

“If you’re expecting a thank you for going behind my back on this, you’re going to be waiting a long time,” Carlos tells her as he sits down and opens up his laptop.

“Pretty sure people with that attitude get coal in their stocking,” she tells him, flipping him off before heading to her own cubicle.

It’s midway through the morning and Carlos is about to make yet another phone call when Owen Strand steps into the middle of the bullpen. “All right, attention everyone!” he calls.

The ambient sound of typing and low chatter ceases. “Thank you,” he says. “I just wanted to remind everyone that we have our first team building activity this afternoon. So if you have anything scheduled this is your last chance to rearrange. Mandatory fun is in store for all!”

Carlos bites back a groan. He is really not into mandatory office fun. Especially when it means he’ll be in close proximity to T.K. But he’s also not one to flaunt the rules, so he’s going to have to suck it up and deal.

No one has been allowed in the conference room all morning and when one o’clock rolls around Owen waits at the door with a massive grin on his face. The man is clearly thrilled with whatever he’s cooked up to torture them today.

When Carlos walks through the door he sees why. The tables have been covered in red plastic tablecloths and every two feet or so sits a pile of materials like graham crackers, marshmallows, frosting, and candy. It’s immediately obvious how they will be team building today.

“All right everyone!” Owen says when they’re all assembled. “As you can probably guess our team building activity for today has taken a turn for the festive. And I’ve taken the liberty of assigning you all a partner to work with. Each team will be assembling a pre-determined part of our gingerbread village. Paul, you’re with Marjan.”

They immediately turn and high five, clearly thrilled. 

“Nancy with Lexi, Judd with Tommy, Mateo with me,” Owen flashes him a smile and Mateo lets out a whoop.

Carlos’ stomach drops. That leaves him with—“T.K., you’ll be with Carlos.”

Fuck.

“Send one person to grab your pre-assigned building assignment! Remember this is not a competition. We’re all working together to build our village. Just like it takes a village to run a company.”

There’s a brief silence in which everyone internalizes what a dumb, schticky thing Owen has just said and then he claps his hands. “Okay, get to work!”

Everyone claims a spot around the tables. Carlos takes a paper slip from Owen and then looks around to find T.K., who is sitting across the room with his back to Carlos.

Carlos reluctantly walks over and sits in the empty seat next to him, all the while wondering if he can fake sick or claim a family emergency to get out of this. When he finally looks up at his partner he recoils in shock. T.K.’s lip is split and swollen, and there’s a dark ring of bruising underneath his right eye. “What happened to you?” Carlos asks, a surprised reflex releasing the words from his mouth before he can stop them.

The look T.K. sends him immediately reminds him that they’re not friends anymore. It’s full of vitriol and misery and…Carlos looks a little closer. Pain. There’s a rawness there that Carlos doesn’t remember seeing before.

“Sorry,” he says. “I just…that looks like it hurts.”

“Doesn’t feel great,” T.K. agrees, his voice stiff. “What are we supposed to be making?”

Carlos looks at the paper. “Police station.”

“Perfect. Way to read the room Dad. ACAB and all that,” T.K. grouses as he reaches for a pile of graham crackers and immediately begins squeezing icing all over.

“Um,” Carlos hems and T.K. stops.

“What?”

“Don’t you think maybe we should make a plan first?”

T.K. sighs and dramatically drops his piping bag onto the table. “Fine. Do whatever you want.”

“No I—I didn’t mean—” Carlos struggles to find the right words. “It’s fine. Let’s just try and get something standing first. That’s the hardest part anyway.”

They spend a couple minutes in silence gluing graham crackers together with icing and using some marshmallows to prop them up until they have something that roughly resembles walls and a roof. “You’re kind of good at this,” T.K. says. 

It’s the closest thing to niceties that they’ve shared in weeks.

“I have a lot of nieces and nephews. Not my first gingerbread house. Although it is my first police station,” Carlos admits.

“Cool,” T.K. says, then winces, his lip clearly hurting.

“You sure you don’t want to tell me what happened?” Carlos asks, feeling a little emboldened by T.K.’s compliment.

T.K. shoots him a glare. “You’re kind of annoying. You know that?”

“So I’ve been told,” Carlos says, trying to let the jab roll off his back. “But I know you’re new around here and you’ve obviously gotten into some trouble. Sometimes it helps to talk things out.”

He gets silence in return. God what the hell is wrong with this guy? He’s literally just trying to help. “Fine. You don’t have to tell me. But you should probably tell someone before whoever gave you that shiner comes back to give you a matching set.”

T.K. goes quiet, fiddling with the icing bag in his hand. When he speaks his voice is soft.“I went to a bar last night.”

“Ah. A little drunk and disorderly,” Carlos says, aware that he’s being snarky and not caring in the least. “So you have an idea of how the inside of this police station should look then.”

“I wasn’t drunk,” T.K. says quickly and Carlos remembers his Festive Friends answers. He looks down. “I just went through a really bad break up. Like nuclear bad. And then I relapsed.” He looks around and lowers his voice. “I relapsed with substances.”

Oh.

Carlos sets down the graham cracker in his hands, his full attention now on T.K. as memory slices through him. “I tried to pour us champagne during dinner. I’m such an idiot I’m sorry—“

“It’s fine, ” T.K. cuts him off quickly, like if he gets interrupted now he won’t ever be able to find the strength to share this again. He fiddles with the peppermint wrapper in his hands. “Ever since I’ve gotten here it’s just…it’s grey. And I just feel numb all the time. So I went out to a bar looking for trouble. And I found it. Big time. I guess I just…I wanted to feel something.”

He’s pulled in on himself, his body looking vulnerable and wounded. Carlos gets it now. The overenthusiastic sex. His no-strings attached mentality. The complete meltdown during dinner. This is a man who has been hurt, and he’s struggling to find a way to heal. Carlos had unknowingly probed at the wound in his soul and T.K. had lashed out. It makes sense, even if it wasn’t fair.

T.K. looks miserable and despite their history all Carlos wants to do is make him feel better. “Judging by that lip, I’d say mission accomplished,” he says, trying to lighten the moment.

“You’re really busting my balls right now?” T.K. asks, an unreadable expression on his face.

“No,” Carlos says. “I’m busting your jingle bells.” He tries and fails to hold back a smile at his incredibly stupid joke.

T.K. blinks at him. “That’s terrible,” he says, but he is also struggling to keep his face neutral.

“And yet you’re smiling,” Carlos says. He feels lighter, like there’s been an ominous blizzard hanging over him in the weeks since they stopped seeing each other. Now it feels like the snow has finally started to fall and all the ugliness of the bare world in winter is being covered in a fresh layer of soft white powder. There’s a sense of hope to it.

“I’m laughing at how stupid it is,” T.K. says.

“Well laugh while you work,” Carlos says, reaching for a bar of Hershey’s chocolate to put on the roof. “I know your dad said it wasn’t a competition, but Marjan and Paul seem to be working on a second story. So I’m not sure they know that.”

Together they finish the roof, adding on lots of dripping icing as snow and icicles. Carlos carefully starts to add windows while T.K. works on the landscaping. 

“Tommy I don’t know why you’re trying to make me do these little details when you know I’ve got fat fingers,” Judd is saying across the way as he and Tommy try to add a steeple to their church.

Marjan and Paul’s apartment building does indeed have two stories and they’ve somehow managed to chisel out actual windows in the graham crackers. Lexi and Nancy are creating a ski chalet that includes a chairlift, and Owen and Mateo’s fire station sports a fire pole made of pretzel rods.

“There,” T.K. says, plonking a creation down in front of where Carlos has crafted a front door out of Kit Kats.

Carlos raises an eyebrow. “What is that?”

“A snowman.”

Ah. Now Carlos sees it. There are two marshmallows stacked on top of each other and T.K. has shoved pretzel sticks in each side for arms. There is a lifesaver on each one and they’re connected by a thread of Twizzler. “What’s on its arms?” he asks.

“Handcuffs,” T.K. says.

“The snowman is getting arrested?”

“Or getting ready to do something kinky.”

“In front of a police station?”

“Some people get off on a little exhibitionism. Don’t judge Carlos,” T.K. says, a smirk on his face.

Damn it. They should have stayed mortal enemies. Now that they’re talking again, Carlos feels the urge to drag T.K. into the nearest cubicle and kiss the shit out of him. He didn’t need to go to a bar to find trouble. He could have shown up on Carlos’ doorstep and gotten into plenty.

Carlos’ attempt at a police cruiser has them both laughing; the oreo wheels keep falling off the rice krispie body (which T.K. snuck out and stole from the break room and has loudly been declared illegal by half the staff in the room) no matter how much icing he uses to try and stick them on.

“Stop eating our building materials,” Carlos admonishes a few minutes later when he goes for another red gum drop and finds they’re nearly gone.

“Why? They’re delicious. Tis the season for sugar,” T.K. says.

Carlos goes to give him a look and notices a dab of frosting on the corner of his mouth. “You’ve got some—“ He mimes brushing it away.

T.K. grabs a tissue and wipes, but misses completely. “No other side,” Carlos directs without success. “Here just, let me.”

He swipes the tissue from T.K.’s hand and dabs carefully, taking care not to pull on T.K.’s split lip. Their eyes meet and a heat passes between them, setting Carlos’ bones on fire. He clears his throat. “Got it.”

“Thanks,” T.K. says quietly.

They spend another half hour decorating before Owen makes them put all the buildings together into a little town while he snaps a picture for the company social media accounts. It’s actually pretty adorable once assembled and Carlos goes home that night strangely optimistic about what the rest of the week has in store.

Tuesday is business as usual and by the time Wednesday morning rolls around Carlos finds himself excitedly driving into work, his gift for T.K. in the passenger seat. He’s scrapped all his other gifts and spent the last two days looking for better items. Last night he visited a local tea shop and probably went a little overboard. They’d definitely upsold him on a few things and he’d let it happen because Monday’s gingerbread decorating had put a kernel of hope in his chest and…it can’t hurt to make sure T.K. likes his gifts, right?

He drops off T.K.’s gift bag and is only mildly disappointed when he walks into his own cubicle to find his desk is empty. It doesn’t matter; at least, that’s what he tells himself. Honestly, he’s not surprised. People are terrible at doing Secret Santa, it’s very likely that his person has forgotten him in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

He heads to his desk and gets right to work because they’re all heading out early to help with a toy drive at the local fire station; another of Owen’s brilliant ideas to encourage office camaraderie. It means he has a lot more to take care of than usual to try and make up for the lost time, and by mid-morning he’s in desperate need of a second coffee.

He’s about to get up and make one when his phone rings. It’s Ernie, their security guard from downstairs informing him that there’s a delivery waiting for him. Confused but intrigued Carlos heads for the elevator.

“Hey Ernie, all set for the holidays?” he asks when he reaches the desk on the ground floor.

“Just about. Got a couple more things to pick up today, but then I should be good to go,” Ernie tells him. He nods toward a bag and a coffee cup on the desk. “That’s for you.”

“Thanks.”

Carlos picks up the white paper sack and has to hold back a snort when he sees what’s written on the side. Hope the holidays don’t make you “cronuts”- FF. He peeks inside and inhales the scent of cronuts from Twiggy’s. Cronuts are a massive weakness of his, and a sip of the coffee tells him it’s made just to his specifications, a little bit of cream, no sugar. Whoever his Festive Friend is, they know him well. His suspicions are definitely leaning more and more toward Lexi.

He gets back in the elevator and when he steps off he nearly runs over T.K. “Whoa, sorry,” he says, holding up the coffee so it doesn’t spill all over T.K.’s chest.

“Lunch?” T.K. asks, nodding toward the bag.

“A snack from my ‘Festive Friend,’” he says. “Cronuts from the Twiggy’s.”

“That place is great. Enjoy,” T.K. says. 

“Do you want one?” The words are out of his mouth before he can stop himself. God he’s needy. “I um, I got two and I can’t eat both. They’re really only good fresh, it’s not like I can save one—“

“Sure.” T.K. thankfully interrupts his ramble and the affirmative response sends a jolt of electricity through him.

They step into the break room and T.K. boils some hot water for tea before settling down across from Carlos at one of the high top tables, a kitschy little vase of fake flowers between them. 

Carlos pulls out the cronuts and puts each one on a paper plate. They’re decorated for the season as little Santa bellies, and hopefully they’re as delicious as he remembers. He slides one toward T.K. before picking up his own and taking a massive bite. He has to hold back a groan. They’re freaking amazing.

When he looks up he finds T.K. staring at him with an amused smirk on his face. “Sorry,” Carlos says, feeling his cheeks heat. “I um, these are my favorite.”

“So I can see,” T.K. says, the smirk widening a little. “The last time I saw that look we were both way more naked.”

Carlos feels his entire face go red at the reminder. He finishes chewing his bite, trying not to let memories of said naked time take over his brain. “So your dad,” he says. “He’s really into the holidays huh? We’ve never had so many festive office events.”

“Yeah my dad doesn’t really do anything by half measures,” T.K. says. “I think he might be overcompensating on the holiday cheer a little bit this year. The move down here was kind of a lot and I haven’t exactly been a bundle of joy lately, so he’s trying to fix it with cocoa and faux Christmas wreaths.”

Carlos takes another bite and thinks carefully about his next move. This new dynamic between them still feels tenuous, and he doesn’t want to fracture it. But at the same time, he can see the unfiltered hurt in T.K.’s eyes and he longs to help bear the weight of it. “You mentioned a breakup the other day,” he says quietly. “Is that part of why you came?”

T.K. blows out a breath and looks down at his cronut. “It’s the whole reason we came.”

Carlos watches as he wrestles internally and he’s just about to say that T.K. doesn’t have to tell him anything, when T.K. starts to speak again. “I had a boyfriend, in New York. Alex. We were together for like…I don’t know, a year I guess? He was the first boyfriend I’d had since getting sober and I wanted it to work so badly. Like this relationship was proof I finally had my shit together, you know?”

Carlos nods.

“I had this plan, I was going to propose to him. Had a ring, a restaurant, the whole thing. I was basically down on one knee and he—he told me he’d been cheating on me. With his spin instructor.”

Something hot and violent shoots through Carlos. “That motherfucker,” he says, before he can stop himself.

T.K. looks up in surprise and lets out a startled laugh.

“Sorry,” Carlos says. “That’s just…wow what an asshole.”

“Yeah he definitely was,” T.K. says, looking a little more relaxed now, as if Carlos’ angered sympathy has put him more at ease. “For a long time I think. I can look back on it now and see little moments. We only ever went where he wanted to go for dinner. He was always busy when I asked him to meet my friends. There was stuff I was overlooking because I was trying to prove to everyone else that I was stable.”

“I get that,” Carlos says.

T.K. shifts a little. “I went home after that, found a bottle of pills and…took them until I couldn’t feel anymore. My dad had to bust down the door to save my life.” He shrugs. “And that’s how we ended up here. He knew I needed to get away, so he took me as far as he could get.”

He looks up at Carlos. “I’m doing better now. Well, kind of.” He indicates his black eye. “But that’s why I freaked out on you that night. It wasn’t the champagne or anything you did. You were—you were so kind to me Carlos. I just wasn’t ready for it. And I’m really sorry that I walked out on you.”

The urge to reach over and touch him, to hold his hands and soothe away the hurt that’s painted into the lines of his forehead is overwhelming. But he’s not sure T.K. would be into that so he grips his own thighs instead. “Thank you for telling me,” he says. “That all sounds really difficult. I’m sorry I ambushed you. And I’m sorry I wasn’t more understanding when I realized you were uncomfortable. I think um, I think my ego took a little bit of a hit,” he says sheepishly.

“Oh you think Mr. ‘I Know It Doesn’t Look Like a Lot of Work’?” T.K. asks with a grin.

“Hey, that fish took me like three hours to make,” Carlos teases. “You missed out.”

T.K. sobers a little and fiddles with his cronut again. “I think I missed out on a lot.”

Carlos opens his mouth to offer a response, but Lexi pokes her head into the break room. “Carlos, your phone is ringing off the hook.”

“Coming,” he says, sliding off the stool and picking up his plate with the last couple bites of cronut on it. “Are you going to the toy drive this afternoon?”

“Boss dad said be there so yeah, I’m going,” T.K. says. “Thanks for the cronut.”

“You’re welcome,” Carlos says and then hustles back to his cubicle, where his phone is indeed ringing off the hook. He shoves the last bite of cronut into his mouth as he sits down, chewing furiously before he picks up. “This is Carlos.”

An HR crisis means Carlos is the last one to leave the office and arrive at the fire station’s toy drive. He looks for T.K. as soon as he gets there, but Lexi pulls him over to a table where they’re taking donations for one of the local food pantries. 

“So,” Lexi says as they fill boxes with canned beans and stuffing mix and mac and cheese, “looks like someone’s back on Carlos Reyes’ nice list. Although with the way you were looking at him, seems more like you’d prefer he stay on the naughty list.”

“Lexi!” Carlos hisses, looking around. “There are kids here!”

“Oh they can’t hear me,” she scoffs, handing him a bag of flour. “They’re all at the make-an-ornament station.”

Carlos looks over and finds T.K. hunkered down by that very table, laughing and smiling as he helps a couple kids glue pompoms and sequins to colored paper. It’s adorable and Carlos’ heart melts a little at the sight.

“See? That look right there. You’ve got it bad. You want him to jingle your ba—“

“I’m going to remind you that I’m your HR rep and you probably shouldn’t finish that sentence,” he says quickly.

“Fine.” She rolls her eyes. “But you two did look pretty cozy in the break room earlier. The great branzino war is over I take it?”

“Yeah we had a good talk,” Carlos says.

She clears her throat. “You can say thank you anytime now you know.”

He furrows his brow. “For what?”

“For making you do Festive Friends and fixing your broken heart.”

“My heart was not broken,” he scoffs.

“You have been acting like you’re in the last ten minutes of a Hallmark movie for weeks. Time to finally realize you’re in love and kiss under the mistletoe,” Lexi tells him.

“Just because we’re friendly now doesn’t mean we’re going to kiss.”

“Okay. Sure. Believe whatever you want.”

There’s a massive influx then from a church group and thankfully the matter is dropped for the rest of the night.

On Friday Carlos stops at home to change his clothes before heading to a local bar for their holiday party and the big Festive Friends reveal. He puts on a pair of dark jeans and winces when he pulls on the ugly sweater that Owen insisted they all wear. As far as they go, his is pretty tame, albeit with a bit more sparkle and pizazz than he usually goes for. It says Feliz Navidad in tinseled letters with some primary colored pom poms decorating the rest for good measure. It had been part of a family white elephant a few years ago and has sat in the back of his closet since for good reason. 

He gabs the box he wrapped up for T.K. on the way out the door. It’s nearly as brightly colored as his sweater. Generally he tries for a more sedate theme in wrapped gifts, but T.K. is so vivacious and colorful that he broke into the stash of wrapping paper he usually saves for his nieces and nephews.

He’s nervous as he drives and he can’t quite put his finger on why. Is it because he wants T.K. to like his gift? Because things between him and T.K. have shifted in a more positive direction and his stupid heart can’t quite stop believing that tonight might be like that first night at the honky tonk? Is it because he feels very stupid in this sweater and he really hopes everyone else obeyed Owen’s instructions from the email invite?

Probably all of it.

Ah well. At least if things don’t go well there will be liquor around to help drown his sorrows.

There’s immediate relief when he walks in through the doors of the bar and sees holiday themed knit-ware all over. “Hey Carlos, glad you came,” Owen says, greeting him at the door in a sweater with a massive reindeer head on the front.

“Mr. Strand,” Carlos says, giving him a nod.

“Carlos we’ve been over this. You can call me Owen,” Owen says, a tinge of good natured exasperation in his tone. 

“Yes, right, sorry” Carlos says, embarrassed. Didn’t he just chide Mateo for the same thing last week? Somehow this seems different. And definitely a weird way to address the man who fathered his most recent hookup.

“Go ahead and grab a drink, there’s hors d’oeuvres, I highly recommended the stuffed mushrooms, and then when the time feels right make sure you deliver your gift to your Festive Friend,” Owen says brightly. Then he leans close. “I got Judd a new belt. Italian leather, handcrafted, this thing is a masterpiece. He is gonna love it!”

“I’m sure he will,” Carlos agrees.

“Oh! Nancy! Come on in!” Owen gives Carlos a pat on the shoulder and moves past him to greet her.

Carlos says hello to Judd and his wife Grace, his eyes searching the room and finally landing on T.K. who is standing at the bar chatting with Mateo. Carlos’ heart flutters at the sight of him even as he tries to figure out what the heck is knitted on the back of his sweater. It appears to be a long, yellow tail, but that can’t possibly be right, can it? He takes a breath and then abruptly loses courage and goes to find Lexi instead. “Nice earrings,” he says when he gets to her table.

“Thanks,” she says, pushing her hair back so he can see them better. “They’re from my ‘Festive Friend’ Marjan.”

“Great,” Carlos says as he grabs a chip from a bowl on the table. “Did you give Paul your gift?”

“Yes, he is thrilled with the crime novels I got him. He hasn’t read that author yet so hopefully he likes them.” She gives him a look. “Why do you still have T.K.’s?”

“I haven’t seen him yet,” Carlos says defensively.

“You mean you saw him and you’re too chicken to go over there because you’re having feelings and don’t know what to do with them,” she says bluntly. “Are you going to ask him out when you give it to him?”

“I—I don’t know,” Carlos says. “That seems pushy.”

“You two were practically making out in that break room.”

“We were literally sitting three feet apart,” Carlos says dryly. 

“Fine. You were emotionally making out.”

He wrinkles his nose. “That’s not a thing.”

“I think you should ask him. It’s Christmas. The season of miracles. And wishes. And Santa shit. This is your chance!” she says enthusiastically.

“How much have you had to drink?” he asks.

She scoffs. “This isn’t drunkeness. It’s my Christmas wish that you grow a pair and ask T.K. out.”

“That is a terrible wish,” Carlos says. 

“Well it is what it is. You wouldn’t want to break a girl’s heart at Christmas would you?”

He opens his mouth to respond but Paul calls Lexi’s name and beckons her toward him. “That’s my cue,” she says, hopping off her bar stool. “Gonna go kick Paul’s ass at darts. Good luck!”

And with that she’s gone, leaving Carlos alone with his feelings and his gift box. He stares at it for a moment and gives himself a stern pep talk. It’s a gift. Not a marriage proposal. If T.K. hates it, it’s whatever. 

“Hey Carlos.”

He’s waited too long. He looks up to find T.K. standing on the other side of the table, a smile on his face. Carlos can now see the front of his sweater. Some kind of lizard smiles at him, clearly the front end of the tail he spotted before. Above it are the words “Merry Crickets.” It is truly the most hideous thing he’s ever laid eyes on, but somehow T.K. makes it look adorable.

“Hey,” he replies..

Excellent. Great. He’s crushing this.

“Nice sweater,” T.K. says, taking a sip of the drink in his hand. 

“Thanks. This is some party. Your dad is quite the host.”

T.K. rolls his eyes, but there’s a fondness to it. “Just be grateful I talked him out of chartering a party bus. And roller skating.”

“Your dad thought our holiday party should be at a roller rink?”

“He was going with an 80’s holiday theme at first,” T.K. says. “It took a lot of bargaining to get him down to ugly sweater instead. I think he was an event planner in a former life.”

“He definitely has a flair for it,” Carlos agrees. He looks down at the present in front of him. He should have gotten a drink before doing this. “So um, actually, I’m your Festive Friend. Surprise. This is for you.”

He slides it across the table and T.K.’s eyes immediately light up. “Can I open it now?” he asks eagerly.

He looks like a kid on Christmas morning and it’s so endearing that Carlos can barely breathe. “Yeah, yes, it’s all yours.”

T.K. pulls off the bow and rips open the paper, lifting out the soft yellow sweatshirt inside. He doesn’t say anything for a moment and Carlos feels a flutter of nerves. “It’s—“

“The sweatshirt Harry Styles wore in New York last summer,” T.K. says. His tone is almost reverent, his thumbs moving back and forth to stroke the material. “Oh my god. I have Harry Styles’ sweatshirt.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not the exact one he wore,” Carlos says, feeling sheepish. “But I know you like him and hoodies so it seemed right.”

“It must have taken forever for you to find this,” T.K. says.

“Oh, no, it was…it was no big deal,” Carlos says, omitting the entire night he spent on instagram combing through Harry’s outfits of the last few years and trying to find them for sale. 

“Thank you Carlos,” T.K. says, sincere gratitude in his voice. “This is amazing. All your gifts were amazing.”

“I mean, that hat was kind of lame,” Carlos says, still embarrassed that he bought something so generic.

“No it’s great! I’m going to wear it the next time I go to an Astros game,” T.K. says, a twinkle of mischief in his eye.

Carlos chuckles. “Yeah good luck with that.”

“Did you get your last gift yet?” T.K. asks casually.

Carlos shakes his head. “Not yet.”

“Any guesses who it might be?”

He has no idea. There’s no one in the office that knows him well enough to send him cronuts besides Lexi and he knows she had Paul. “No,” he says. “Usually I’m pretty good at figuring this kind of thing out, but everyone in the office is so new I haven’t really been able to get a read on anyone.”

“Marjan?”

“She had Lexi.”

“Paul?” 

Carlos looks around until he finds him standing in a corner next to a Christmas tree, laughing at something Lexi just said. “I don’t think so. He’s from Chicago, I doubt he would know about Twiggy’s.”

“Judd?”

“Something tells me he wouldn’t know about cronuts either,” Carlos says with a laugh. “I feel like it has to be someone who knows me pretty well, but Lexi is the only one—“

His eyes land on T.K.’s face and he knows. He can see it in his eyes and he feels stupid he didn’t realize it before when T.K. used that false casual tone. “You?” he asks in surprise. “You’re my Festive Friend?”

T.K. reaches into his back pocket and pulls out an envelope. “Merry Christmas,” he says as he hands it to Carlos. 

Still in a little bit of shock Carlos carefully lifts the flap on the envelope to reveal a printed out email inside. “A cooking class?” he asks, looking up to search T.K.’s eyes. 

T.K. nods, a flicker of nerves flashing over his face. “It’s bruschetta, pasta, and a dessert. A husband and wife team run it out of their home. I thought, I mean you obviously know how to cook, but I thought it might be fun.”

“It sounds amazing,” Carlos says genuinely. He’s always wanted to try his hand at homemade pasta.

T.K. nods and takes a breath. “I um, I got you two tickets. You can take whoever you want, but I—“ He runs his hands nervously over his jeans. “I know I fucked things up between us, so I was hoping that maybe this could be kind of a do-over for us. If you want?”

“Yes,” Carlos says immediately. It’s embarrassingly fast and absolutely gives away how badly he wants them to try again, but he doesn’t care. “Yes I would love a do-over.”

“Yeah?” T.K. asks, his eyes full of hope.

“Yeah,” Carlos says. A smile plays on his lips and he’s about to thank T.K. for his other gifts when something occurs to him. “You little shit!” he says incredulously. “You bought me those cronuts and then sat there and ate one like you had no clue who’d given them to me!”

T.K. sends him a wicked smile. “I was counting on your holiday generosity,” he says.

“How did you even know about that bakery?” Carlos asks.

“You mentioned it,” T.K. says. “I don’t know, it was the second or third time we hooked up. I saw a flyer for them on your fridge and you told me how good they were.”

“You remember that?” Carlos asks in surprise. After their blowup he’d convinced himself that he was just a warm body for T.K. to be with, another notch in his bedpost who’d meant nothing to him.

T.K. looks at him, his face serious. “I remember all of it Carlos.”

The words make his heart swell and he hysterically wonders if this is how the Grinch felt when he heard the Who’s singing on Christmas. “I remember too,” he says. “It was incredible.”

“That first night, in the honky tonk. Best bathroom hookup of my life,” T.K. tells him.

“Only bathroom hookup of my life,” Carlos says.

“Yeah, I know,” T.K. says with a roll of his eyes.

“How could you know that?”

“Because you kept looking around like it was the most unsanitary thing you’d ever seen in your life,” T.K. tells him. “So I made it my mission to make you forget all about it. Pretty sure I succeeded.”

Carlos flushes as he  thinks about T.K.’s mouth and his hands and the way they felt on his body. “You definitely did.” His gaze drops to T.K.’s lips. “God, I want to kiss you so badly right now.”

T.K. smirks, clearly please that he’s turned Carlos on in the middle of this bar. “What’s stopping you?”

“Um the fact that all of our co-workers are here. And also your dad,” Carlos says with a laugh.

As if on cue Owen’s voice rings out over the crowd. “All right everyone!” He claps his hands a couple times. “If I could have everyone’s attention please! Thank you all for coming to the 126 Designs holiday party. I have a little surprise up my sleeve. Tonight, we are going to be participating in some holiday karaoke!”

A bar employee rolls a karaoke machine in out of nowhere to cheers from the crowd. “Did you know?” Carlos asks.

“No,” T.K. says. “But I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Get on over here!” Owen encourages them. “Judd! Let’s hear a little Deck the Halls buddy!”

“Come on.”

T.K. reaches for Carlos’ hand and pulls him toward a side door. “Wait, what about karaoke?” Carlos asks.

“Do you really want to stay here and listen to my dad attempt a version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town?”

Carlos considers this. “Actually…”

T.K. laughs and tugs him again. “Come on Reyes.”

They step outside into the night, the door closing behind them. It’s quiet and the air has a slight chill. Nothing that would even hint at a white Christmas, but enough that it feels like the holiday season instead of the dead of summer. A few stars have managed to permeate the light pollution and the moon shines brightly above them.

The side of the restaurant is lit by a single streetlamp, giving them just enough light to see each other, but also the illusion of privacy from anyone else who might be walking by. T.K. leans against the brick of the wall and tugs Carlos toward him, dropping his hand so he can grab his waist, his thumb pressing into the crease between Carlos’ thigh and his hip through his pants. “Well,” T.K. says, the cocky ass smirk on his face that shoots something hot through Carlos’ veins. “Go ahead. Kiss away.”

Carlos looks around in fake concern. “Mmm, I don’t know. Someone could still see us out here.”

“Don’t worry,” T.K. pulls a sprig of mistletoe from his pocket and dangles it over their heads. “I swiped this from inside. Now you have to kiss me. Christmas rules.”

“Oh is that right?” Carlos asks with smile, pressing in a little closer, and lifting a hand to run it through T.K.’s hair before sliding it down to cradle the back of his neck.

“Definitely,” T.K. says.

Carlos doesn’t waste another second before leaning in and fitting their lips together. The sparks inside him whirl and dance before bursting into full on flames. It feels like coming home. 

T.K. opens up and invites him in, their bodies coming flush together, searching for as much contact as possible. Carlos fists one hand into T.K.’s hair, the other landing solidly on his lower back and urging him closer, while T.K.’s roam everywhere, traveling Carlos’ biceps, his chest, his back, his ass, and everything in between. 

Carlos slots a thigh between T.K.’s legs, pressing into him and T.K.’s head falls back against the wall, eyes closing as he lets out something between a groan and a sigh. Carlos smiles and uses the change in position to press kisses into the sensitive spot just below his ear. “I missed you,” he says in between breaths.

“I missed you too. Am I going to have to report this to HR?” T.K. asks.

Carlos pauses and pulls back, sending T.K. a withering look. “Haha,” he says dryly. “Thanks for reminding me that I’m going to have my hands full with this one in the new year.”

“My ass is quite a handful,” T.K. says with a smirk. “But you can handle it. It’s just a little bit of paperwork. And someone got you really nice pens for the holidays.”

“Yeah someone did,” Carlos says, poking him in the side until he squirms. “Speaking of paperwork, you owe me a thank you note for your gifts.”

T.K. bites his lip. “Why don’t you take me back to your place and I’ll do a little better than a thank you note?”

Fuck. Carlos swallows hard. “What about the party? Won’t your dad be upset?”

“I’m spending Christmas day with him. He’ll live.” He slides a finger along the waistband of Carlos’ jeans. “We can go back in if you really want to though. I do a mean rendition of Jingle Bell Rock. We can stand in there with all of our co-workers and you can try not to think about how good I’d make you feel if the two of us were in bed together.”

Carlos strokes a thumb across T.K.’s cheek. “As much as I would like to hear you sing Jingle Bell Rock, I think I’d rather take you home.”

T.K. gestures toward the street. “Then lead on Festive Friend.”

It’s the merriest Christmas Carlos has had in a long time. 

[happilylovingchaos]

Fic Recs Thursday (or Friday):

Okay, let me just say this: finding old/ underrated fanfics that focused on Mateo and Nancy as individual characters was hard. Harder than finding ones on disasters. But, here I go back down the AO3 rabbit hole @lonestar-s5countdown.

Canon Codas:

Keep running by ourfreewill: Mateo’s view on the events of 2x02– god this is sad. This makes so much sense as another headcanon to how Tim got so close to being part of the 126 family.

Such strange uncharted territory by @marjansmarwani: The 2x10 intervention that features soft Tarlos, and the 126 learning about Mateo’s living sitch.

I can’t carry this anymore… by @alidravana: There’s a small typo in the fic’s tag— it should be 2x14, but otherwise this was a nice look into Carlos’ THOUGHTS about hearing what happened with Mateo and his 129 captain. CW: discussed hazing/ homophobia.

A question of capability by rakketyrivertam: Owen’s conspiracy theorist side strikes an ethnicity-related nerve with Mateo after the mistaken alien call in 3x06.

Don’t lose sight of what I want by @alidravana: Mateo and Paul help TK through physiotherapy after the events of 1x08 and 1x09. It’s a painful day still, but one with a little hope sprinkled in.

Nights like these by Azphobic (orphan_account): After the traffic pileup turned shooting in 3x14, Mateo is one of the firefighters who nearly loses sleep over what happened.

Even dust was made to settle by tiniestmite: Takes place during 2x10, just before TK and the 126 stage their intervention for Owen. Mateo might be a bad secret-keeper, but he’s hell of a lifesaver.

Edamame and empathy by @blueink3: A 3x14 coda where Nancy seeks comfort from Tarlos and receives.

Some risks are worth it by RamblingDisaster73: This speculation fic should have panned out in 3x17. Heightism might be a thing, Julian and Brianna did solid jobs with what they were given, but their conflict just felt off to me.

Burnt CDs and moving forward by maplehobi: Another 3x14 coda covering the Nanteo “coffee date”, where Mateo and Nancy befriend each other after the shooting. Because I think this is a headcanon starting point— start as friends (bonus points if there’s a shared traumatic incident), see if there’s something more. -v-

Laughing gas by shes_an_oddbird: A light-hearted extension of the post-ANFO scene in 4x06, right after Owen and the firefighters avert the terror attack. Because if anything was done well in that arc imo, it was that scene.

Deep dive for Disasters (ooh, alliteration again! Includes an AU or two):

A storm to weather by @marjansmarwani: A 3x01 spec-turned-AU where TK is still on the wrong end of a rescue gone awry and still suffers hypothermia but it’s not as life-threatening. Slightly.

Not only to believe in ourselves, but in each other by MyCupOfTea and singerofsimplesongs: What if 9-1-1: Lone Star took place in the world of Pacific Rim? Tarlos-centric, with Paul and Mateo and Marjan making up the Crimson Typhoon equivalent.

I’d burn here if that’s what it takes by @blaineandsamevanderson and Skaboom: Another serial arsonist story, with much more direct consequences to Tarlos.

Fun and games (and friendly discussions) by @fallout-mars: An exception to the “disasters” rule, where the Catan crew have thoughts on the near-disastrous sinking of the new ship that is Nanteo in 3x17.

Heat wave by AliceSchuyler: During a particularly scorching day, Mateo gets bad heat stroke. It’s not a fun time, but good thing his firefighter family’s looking out for him just as much as he did them.

Family’s comfort by Gucci_Chainsaw: When the 126 report to an apartment fire, Mateo gets injured and trapped in its basement.

Put others oxygen masks on first by lorarawr: A 2x12 AU-coda where Mateo visits Tarlos at their hotel after they lose their home, and drops off more than just supplies from Owen’s house.

Mateo (not as underrated as I thought):

The company we keep by cosmiceverafter: Marjan, Paul and Mateo attend the Austin State Fair on their shift off, and bond over Moana.

On your side by @marjansmarwani: Mateo gains two protective brothers as the new 126 members meet and bond with each other.

These three works by fan_gworl should also be a series! Some Mateo whump included.

Cake, slang, and misunderstandings by Joanna_Kay: Hilarity, some heartbreak, and heartwarmth ensues after Mateo tries out some lingo in conversation with the 126.

Making the man by Joanna_Kay: A two-part series that, even if lot of it is retconned (like how his parents or at least his father still live in Mexico while he stayed with extended fam), explores how difficult Mateo’s childhood would have been as a disabled Hispanic kid.

In the meantime by @morganaspendragonss: In this 2x10 AU, Marjan offers Mateo her place to live in before Owen does. It’s another sweet big sister move. ^^

mateo begins by @lire-casander: How Mateo is just as much a mama’s boy as the father-figure magnet he later becomes. CW: discussion of disability struggles and bullying.

Jurassic Park & coffee cups by InkpotGod97: Mateo gets Marjan a thoughtful gift!

Allergies/asthma by @stardustviolet: TK owes Mateo an apology for blowing off his allergy to cat dander.

I know you can’t see it by myemergence: After Mateo gets his heart broken, Marjan assures him that he will always be enough. This was such a sweet sister-brother moment!

Cutting it close by tiniestmite: Carlos and Mateo have another friendship moment, but not without a little kitchen accident b/c it wouldn’t be 9-1-1 without a little lighthearted severity.

Officer Mateo at your service by mionejaina1011: Mateo meets Carlos earlier than in canon as a police officer.

Come deliver me back home by @morganaspendragonss: Mateo, TK and Carlos reckon with the arson attack one late night after Mateo has a long day.

(Des)esperanza, Leaving pieces of me behind by TearsThisSideOfHeaven: Two instances where Mateo and Carlos struggle in living not just as first responders, but as two Latino men in a red state that hasn’t completely accepted them.

Scent is the strongest sense by barelyprolific: How Mateo possibly develops a crush on Nancy after the dust storm. How come we didn’t get to see this in the show?

Speak my language by LynnOver: Where Mateo steps in as translator for TK when he encounters a Spanish family who doesn’t speak English.

Deja vu by HeartAngel1796: Mateo’s sitcom dream from 4x11 starts to blend into his reality, WandaVision style. Even imagining it feels trippy o_O.

Nancy (okay I was wrong— she gets way less personal stories than Paul):

Nancy Gillian brainrot by douglasdavenportslut: An abandoned series of ideas about Nancy’s character.

My armor falls apart by @marjansmarwani: Nancy, much like Carlos, grapples with the fear of losing TK in this 3x02 coda.

Finally standing on the inside by RamblingDisaster73: The events of 3x07 to 3x08 from Nancy’s POV (minus the inventory scene).

We’ll be just fine, On the outside always looking in by @morganaspendragonss: Two great character studies of Nancy as she meets TK and is accepted into the 126 family.

You’ll never walk alone, rejoice your truth @doublel27: The first story covers a convo between Nancy and Mateo about the events of 3x12, the second story a queer bonding moment when Nancy and TK man a medical tent at the Austin Pride Festival.

I always knew you’d find your way by @fallout-mars: Nancy has her own POV about TK and Carlos’ breakup, and the time after.

Soulmates aren’t just lovers by @nancys-braids: A series of “Nancy Begins” stories that start from her college years and continues into the present canon. Supporting characters include Carlos, Mateo and Marjan!

It’s not so weird after all by shes_an_oddbird: An ongoing series of codas about how Nancy and Mateo became Nanteo, because I’m pretty sure the show writers speed-built this ship by the seat of their pants and gave it a false start. Thank you for making this!

Tagging next, and this should still be open: @lutavero @reyesstrand @toomanycupsoftea @fitzherbertssmolder @marjansmarwani

[three-drink-amy]

Thank you for the tag: @rmd-writes @reasonandfaithinharmony @carlos-in-glasses @cha-melodius @alrightbuckaroo @reyesstrand for the tag! Here’s a look back at my year in writing!

January

Aged Like a Fine Wine

E | 103k | 21/21

Older firstprince, Senator Alex, secret dating

Quit Playing Games With My Heart

E | 17k | 1/1

Firstprince, Henry’s POV, roommates, FWB, angst

February

It’s Not About the Awards

E | 7k | 1/1

Firstprince, follow up to Boy, I Fancy You, established relationship

Private Show

E | 2k | 1/1

Firstprince, Stripper!Henry, smut, feelings

April

Running Into You

T | 6k | 1/1

Tarlos, countdown to the wedding, running into each other in the field

First Monday in May

E | 4K | 1/1

Firstprince, 2020 Met Gala, secret relationship

May

Back to You and Me

E | 4k | 1/1

Tarlos, set after the Huntington’s results scene

June

There’s Always Tomorrow

E | 29k | 2/2

Tarlos, set next season, lots of angst, Carlos’s hunt for his dad’s killer

August

Teach You How Forever Feels

E | 103k (and counting) | 18/21

Tarlos, Teacher AU, grief, fluff, smut

September

Take It Back

E | 4k | 1/1

Firstprince, Chef!Henry, annoying customer!Alex

Make It Right

E | 5k | 1/1

Tarlos, canon divergence after season 1, getting together

Begging For You to Take My Hand

M | 4k | 1/1

Firstprince, past and present reflection at the Paris Olympics

All Booked Up

E | 11k | 1/1

Firstprince, Author!Henry, reconnecting after years apart

October

Were There Clues I Didn’t See

T | 5k | 1/1

Tarlos, Soulmates, Feeling each other’s injuries

No pressure tagging: @indomitable-love @clottedcreamfudge @everwitch-magiks @bonheur-cafe @danieljradcliffe (gifs?) @walkinginland @cricketnationrise @dumbpeachjuice @orchidscript @celaestis1 @celeritas2997 @catanisspicy @inexplicablymine @heybuddy-drabbles

[rwrbficrecs]

June Faves

It’s that time of the month again!! Here’s a few fics I read in June ✨ It’s a bit of a short list for June because I got sucked into a new ship *cough tarlos cough* – but we’re only halfway through this month and I already know July’s post is probably going to be pretty long! Hope you enjoy these as much as I did ❤️

Fall Into You by lucy_in_the_sky I’m a sucker for fics where Henry’s a nurse – combine that with hurt/comfort and I’m there. Alex is a tad clumsy and of course it’s Henry that’s having to deal with patching him up. Also a big fan of Nora’s characterization in this fic! I truly loved this fic so much – definitely one I’ll be coming back to a lot in the future. 

i'd lie by greenandmoss Wow this fic was amazing – I can’t describe how much I loved it. I really felt for Henry in this fic – at times I wanted to shake him so bad, but also I understood where he was coming from. This fic was so beautifully written and was one of those fics that had me thinking about it long after I'd finished 😌

pride is not the word i’m looking for by @livinginrhythm This fic made me realize we’re severely lacking in Leo content. I loved reading something from Leo’s POV and getting more of insight into his character! This is a lovely must read

group therapy by @stutteringpeach This one is hilarious – but it also made me want to sink deep into the ground from second-hand embarrassment. That didn’t stop me from rereading it at least 5 times though 😅

Tell Me All Your Secrets by @everwitch-magiks I have to admit I was apprehensive about reading a fic where Henry dates Liam 😂 but I love everything Evie writes so I knew I was going to love this story regardless of my initial feelings on Henry/Liam. Knowing that it’s Henry/Alex end game was reassuring though, and the progression to that point was very satisfying! (The pining!!) I loved how New York Prite was featured in this fic and seeing Henry & Alex attend was so lovely. 

The Spirit of Giving by @cha-melodius They're neighbours in this fic (which I'm always down for 😂) and I loved how Alex's competitive side really comes out in this! Also fair warning this fic will make you crave some good Mexican food 🥲

and then i was a careless fool (and i fell in love with you) by newmoonrising A canon divergence fic where Henry is still a Prince and Alex is still the First son but make it a Soulmate AU (with a touch of bed sharing)! As someone who loves soulmate fics I don't know how I hadn't discovered this gem sooner ❤️

you took the time to memorize me (my fears, my hopes, my dreams) by @coffeecatsme Alex is a tour guide and I love how their relationship develops even though there’s so much physical distance between them. I didn’t know it was possible but this fic made me hate Mary even more 😩

That's What You Get For Waking Up in Vegas by bleedingballroomfloor Exes to Lovers !! Getting back together!! (at this point I’m just shouting the tags but really this fic was great and you need to read it – also it’s set in Las Vegas c’mon as if that’s not reason enough)

let me take you in by @livinginrhythm This was such a funny story and I love when Henry gets himself into situations that are completely avoidable, but they lead him to Alex so can he really complain? Another story I loved so much I reread it many many times!

Are You Screwing With Me? by @rmd-writes Didn’t know I needed a Grindr meet-cute AU until I read this and it was perfect. While you’re at it, there’s two other stories in this series for two other fandoms !!

(all of me changed like) midnight rain by @coffeecatsme This fic really makes you feel for Alex – it deals with his parents divorce and just wow 🥺

The Sky is Open by @cha-melodius I am often in awe at some of the AU’s authors come up with to dump Henry & Alex in and this was one of them. Unexpected and a very delightful read!

midnight train going anywhere by greenandmoss Loved this fic – Henry & Alex meet on a midnight train and I don’t know what else to say about this fic without spoiling it, so just go read it!  

✨WIP✨

Every Star That's Ever Fallen Knows the Way to Where We're Going by @dracowillhearaboutthis I love Henry & Alex as childhood friends, so following this WIP was a no brainer. Having Arthur alive is also a lovely bonus ❤️

Little Matters by @pridepages I’m loving reading along as this fic gets updated! Henry is the guardian of his niece and it’s such a beautiful story so far 🥺

[ravens-words]

WIP Friday

Tagged by the lovely @honestlydarkprincess

Rules: Post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file.

File names:

1. Hangster- Fake Dating AU

2. Buddie- Zombie AU

3. Buddie- Secret Relationship/Breakup AU

4. Social Worker AU

5. Tarlos AU

Snippet from Buddie Secret Relationship AU under the cut:

Eddie's fingers traced a path down his chest, his touch light enough that it had Buck squirming, and his lips followed. His breath on Buck's overheated skin was too much and when he couldn't take it anymore, he caught Eddie's chin gently and dragged him up. "You're a tease," he panted into his mouth.

Eddie smirked, opened his mouth to respond, but Buck kissed him again before he could.

The kiss caught fire rapidly, and they didn't talk much after that.

Tagging: @tkstrrand @lambourngb @lilythesilly @ao3theskyisblue @noxsoulmate @morganaspendragonss @demieddie @dancer-me

[doublel27]

More Tarlos Bodyguard AU 😉

~*~

TK takes the darts from Carlos, frowning at the board. The reason he’s losing, beyond Carlos being supposedly an excellent marksman, is that TK has been focused on explaining the latest positioning the White House has been doing. 

“Then,” TK says, punctuating the word with the first dart, “my mom called. Asked me about my commitments to the next few fundraisers they have going on. She told me I should stop sulking and get with the program. That I’ve been hiding long enough. Me. Hiding!”

TK sends the last dart, hitting the small section of 17. Not a double though. Fuck. The darts come out of the cork with a satisfying pop. The weight of them in his hand is solid as he collects all three. “It’s not like I’ve just been holed up in my apartment,” he continues the rant, “I’m outside right now.”

“Are you mad because she said it or is it maybe because you think she’s right?” Carlos asks, 

TK turns to fully look at Carlos, who has his arms crossed over his very impressive chest. TK lifts one of the darts up by itself. “I’m holding a dart,” he warns.

Carlos smiles and tilts his head. His voice is deep and low when he says, “And I’m packing a piece.”

TK’s brain short circuits, because damn that’s hot. If this were anyone other than his secret service agent, TK would take it as flirting. It’s not flirting though. TK Strand is the First Son, a certified hot mess and this man’s job. No one wants to date their job, no one sane at least.

“And,” Carlos goes on, smirk still on his face, “Considering how you’ve been playing tonight, I’m more worried about you hitting anyone other than me. I’ll take my odds.”

Carlos’s smile is easy and that stupid curl is falling down towards his left eye and TK swiftly looks down at his shoes. His brain is tracking toward things it shouldn’t. TK forces a breath in and out of his nose before looking back at Carlos, reminding himself that this man is meant to babysit him and nothing more. 

“What do you think?” he asks, holding out the darts to Carlos. “Do you think I’ve been hiding?”

Carlos shrugs, taking the heavy weight of the darts out of TK’s hands. “I don’t think what I think matters half as much as what you think.”

Carlos fires off the first of his darts and hits the outer ring of the bullseye. Of course he does. TK leans his elbows on the table, circling his water on the woodgrain and changing the color rather than watch Carlos fire the next dart. 

“It does,” TK says, watching the way the condensation collects into one large water bubble, magnifying the grain. “It matters to me what you think.”

[reyeslonestar]

More Tarlos Sports AUs that I’ll never write but maybe I’ll draw them?

Dance AU

many many different iterations

studio AU

one joins a new studio, dance style contemporary/hiphop

joins a crew so we get Paul/Mateo/Carlos/TK

there's a girls crew of Marjan/Grace/Nancy

anyway TK and Carlos take one look at each other and the chemistry is off the charts

they pair up for duets - friends to lovers, mutual pining or fwb plots all welcome

The OG step up AU

Carlos, traditionalist/lyric dancer, moves into town and meets street dancer TK and his crew

stylistically influence each other into a kind of hybrid style

Step Up Revolution but better AU

they both dance kinda similar styles, but tk comes from out of town and meets all these people in Carlos’ crew

that beach dance off scene but actually good dancing

I just need TK at the centre of that masquerade dance okay

Ballroom Pros AU

okay so this is entirely based on my love for strictly come dancing (dancing with the stars)

there are some amazing pro dances that are everything

y’all...the outfit possibilities

I'd stick to latin for them because they'd just have so much fun with it

Hockey AU

rival to lovers au

im sorry thats just how its gotta be

start as players in the same city but opposing teams - tk is a forward and Carlos is a defenceman so ofc they clash

alternatively Carlos is goal tender - thanks Jay :D

start the narrative at the end of a season/just after the end of a season/mayyybe at the start of a new one with a bit of exposition about their rivalry

anyway Carlos gets transferred to the same team as TK for the new season

and they have to confront the fact that a, they probably get on better than they thought, b, everyone is expecting them to still hate each other and c, they are wildly attracted to each other

secret dating trope... just saying

[chaotictarlos]

I’ve always dreamed of me and you, now here we are

ship: Tarlos | fandom: 911 Lone Star | author: chaotictarlos | read on ao3

Rating: Explicit | Warnings/Tag: Secret Dating AU, Social Worker!Carlos Reyes, Professor TK Strand, ex’s to lovers, warnings to be added, smut in later chapters

Summary: It’s a tale as old as time, meeting the right person but during the wrong time of life. TK Strand and Carlos Reyes dated in college but parted ways when they graduated, not knowing they would ever see each other again. Six years later, Carlos is working as a social worker in Travis County and TK has just accepted a position as a professor at The University of Texas at Austin. They run into each other when a mutual friend invited TK out for the evening.

Authors Note: Thank you to @noxsoulmate for beta'ing for me. I hope you guys are enjoying this fic as much as I am! Leave me a comment and check out my season 4 Fics! Please don't hate me for this chapter.

Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six

---------

By the time fall break rolls around, TK is exhausted. He feels like he’s put in more work in the last few months than he has in his entire career. Which isn’t true, but working as a teacher introduced him to a whole other level of exhaustion than he would have thought was real.

Just like his students, he’s looking forward to a full week off where he can sleep and laze around.

Maybe go on a date or two.

TK spends his first day of break catching up on some much-needed sleep and doesn’t roll out of bed until after noon. When he wakes, he feels refreshed and less like he is going to melt under the stress of teaching students and grading papers.

He starts his day out with a shower, letting the warm water loosen his sore body and his thoughts drift into less-than-appropriate places where Carlos might still be the focus point. He allows his mind to wander, touching himself and coming to Carlos’ name falling from his lips and only feeling a smidge of guilt.

TK knows that he needs to stop getting off to the thought of Carlos, but it is so hard not to. Carlos is still everything that TK has ever wanted in a partner.

Except he isn’t his partner.

After their talk - a talk that might have killed TK a little inside - they haven’t hooked up again. There were a couple of close calls, but they both managed to pull themselves back and stay in the murky waters of friendship. TK doesn’t really like it, but it’s okay because he’s the one who suggested it and pushed for a friendship without anything getting confusing.

Only because TK is quite sure that Carlos isn’t interested in having another relationship with him, which is fine because TK is perfectly happy with being friends.

After he gets out of the shower he makes his way to the kitchen to make himself something to eat when his phone pings with a text message. Humming softly to himself, he pulls his phone from his pocket and unlocks it, only mildly surprised to see that it’s a message from Paul.

[Paul] Hey, I have a friend that I think you might hit it off with.

[TK] Are you trying to set me up with someone? Again?

[Paul] Yes. Dude, you’ve been here months and you haven’t gone on a single date. You need to live a little.

TK thinks about it as he puts together a sandwich for himself. Paul isn’t wrong - TK hasn’t gone on dates but he’s hooked up with one guy that he met at the club a few weeks ago and then  Carlos once. Maybe he should give in and go on a date with Paul’s friend, it wouldn’t really hurt anyone and it would fall into TK’s plan to go on a few dates during fall break.

[TK] Okay, sure, send me his info and I’ll set it up.

[Paul] You can just meet him at Roaring Fork at 7.

READ THE REST ON AO3

tags: @strangefurychaos @sapphire11 @first-kanaphan@noxsoulmate@rangergurlgleek1211@detective-giggles @tarlos-spain @lonestardust@bubblesandroses8@thebumblecee@mooshkat@importantbailiffpaperpony@otter-love-asll @paperstorm

[detective-giggles]

Masterlist

It’s short and sweet for now but hopefully it’ll get longer. If you want to be on my Barisi or Tarlos taglist, let me know :)

***Asterisks denote NSFW***

Tarlos (AO3)

Fireflies:  TK is slightly misinformed. Carlos helps him out.

Proposal Prep: 5 Times Carlos asks permission to marry TK, and the 1 time he finally asks TK.

Flufftober 2021: The collection of Tarlos fics for flufftober. All fluff, all the time! Each chapter will be a standalone fic!

A Christmas to Remember: Tarlos + Fam Christmas Fluff. Written for the Tarlos Secret Santa!

Snowball Fight: a little wintry fluff during Carlos’ first time in the snow.

Tarlos Drabbles: Celebrating my 126 followers with 126-word drabbles!

Lost and Found: Soulmate 5+1:  Based on the prompt- Whenever you lose an item, it ends up in your soulmate's possession

APD’s Danger Magnet:  AU for the February Ficlet Challenge: Officer Strand is injured and meets Paramedic Reyes. Flirting ensues.

Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing: For the February Ficlet Challenge: Amnesia

Breakfast in bed:  Breakfast in bed after TK's first night home.

Marry Me:  TK and Carlos don't always spend their days off together. But who they hang out with and why might be a surprise.

Save the Date: TK talks Carlos into eloping. But he might have a little surprise for Carlos too.

A Tarlos triple-drabble inspired by a foxes-in-love comic.

Tarlos fic Collection: Each chapter is a standalone fic. #3, #4, #5: Smut Lite NEW

How Did we Get Here: (Tarlos Weekly Prompt) Single-Parent AU 5+1.

You and Me: Tarlos watches the sunrise together on the most important day of their lives. 

Sinfully Delicious:  Chef Carlos AU: TK shows up to a couple’s cooking class alone.  Flirting Ensues. 

The Comfort of Your Touch: TWP prompt for TK bringing coffee / a treat to Carlos while he’s at work NEW

Leave it all Behind: Set post 3x07, Carlos takes TK on a trip to clear his head. AFG Fluff bingo fill for: Skinny Dipping NEW

Perfect(ly Ordinary) Moments: TWP prompt for Dads Tarlos and their first Halloween with their kid. NEW

***Pushing Boundaries:  Smutty shower fun. PWP. NEW

***Coming Home to You:  TK wants to cheer Carlos up after a bad day... Luckily he knows just the trick. NEW

Together We’re Unstoppable:  Carlos gets hurt at work and needs to think of making decisions for his future. NEW

Flufftober 2022: NEW

Barisi

Forgotten Love: 2 prompt fills. A romantic-amnesia story involving love letters.

***Stolen Kisses: A request for a first-time Barisi make-out session.

Contempt: A request on how SVU can make Barisi canon in Season 22

Dancing: A drabble for my collection on AO3.

***Husbands in Quarantine: A request for Quarantine Barisi smut

***Hobby: Bingo fill. Smut on a couch.

Secret Love: Bingo fill. Rafael is on-scene when Sonny gets injured at work.

Simply Delicious: Barisi’s relationship told through the food they share.

Barisi Kisses #1: Prompt--Height Difference

Barisi Kisses #2: Prompt--Post-sex Kisses

Barisi Kisses #3: Prompt--Long-distance Kisses

Barisi Headcanons

Lazy Saturday- Just a little HC for a Barisi weekend.

Barisi (AO3)

What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting: for the Barisi Holiday Exchange. Rafael decides whether he wants to adopt a child with Sonny.

Date Night: A double drabble response to the first Barisi Art Challenge. Date nights don’t always work out as planned.

Make it Right For You: SVU takes down a trafficking ring and ends up doing a little baby-sitting. Rafael helps.

The Problem with Pasta: For the opposites challenge. Rafael helps teach Sonny to cook.

Baby Blues: Another for the opposites challenge. Sonny is clueless with kids and ends up having to baby-sit Noah!

The Way You Make me Feel: Soulmates challenge. Feel the same emotions your soulmate feels.

30 Days of Barisi: Mini-stories based on random prompts

A Novel Meeting: Pride month challenge-first Meeting. Alternate first meeting

First Date Revised: Pride month challenge-first date. Barisi’s first date doesn’t go as planned.

Moving Forward: Marriage Bingo challenge: Anniversary (Sad, but not in a bad way!)

No Place I’d Rather Be: Marriage Bingo challenge: Carisi has plans for himself and Barba at their wedding reception. Things don't actually go according to plan. 

An Accidental Proposal: Rafael travels to Staten Island to have a talk with Sonny's parents. Fluffiness ensues.

Drabble Collection: Collection of drabbles from random prompts. Currently  9 Barisi, 1 Cabenson.

(Grand)mother Knows Best: Catalina finds someone who would be perfect for her grandson, but she just needs to find a way to get them together.

Flufftober 2021: The collection of Barisi fics for flufftober. All fluff, all the time! Each chapter will be a standalone fic!

Snowed In: Just a little wintry married!Barisi fluff. 

Reader Insert

***Mine: Sonny Carisi x Reader

***Toy Box: Sonny Carisi x Reader

Sway: Sonny Carisi x Reader

Plus One: A Sonny x Reader meet-cute!

[sugdenlovesdingle]

3, 12, 18 for the fic ask!

Ooh thanks for indulging me!

let's see

3. Do you prefer canonverse or AUs? right now - AU all the way. Canon is too depressing (despite the wedding!) with the grief/mourning fics. I do like early canon Tarlos fics though!

12. Friends with benefits or secret dating? Secret dating! Both are fun though. I have a half formed secret dating AU fic idea in my head that i may get around to actually writing one of these days.

18. Do you have a fic reading/writing routine? Not really. I usually read fic in bed before i go to sleep and writing - usually at night with Animal Planet or something on as background noise.

[chicgeekgirl89]

2023 Writing Roundup

Thanks to @liminalmemories21 and @ladytessa74 for the tags!

I guess the next time I'm mad at myself for not writing more I'll just...tell myself to shut up lol. Holy heck this is a lot of fic.

January

Paper Rings- A 5+1 of Tarlos wedding planning. I adore this one.

Packing a Piece- Early days Tarlos, T.K. taking care of Carlos as his feelings grow stronger.

My Pain Fits in the Palm of Your Freezing Hand- What a labor of love, Carlos' POV during the Ice Storm arc.

February

I Get it From You- 5+1 of habits the boys have picked up from each other. So fun to write!

Will You Take What's Left of Me?- Me trying to figure out the mess of Carlos having a secret wife 🙄

Like I'm Gonna Lose You- T.K. saving Carlos' life after his abduction and the aftermath.

Glitter and Be Gay- This one is so freaking funny lol. Carlos hates glitter and he suffers because of it. T.K. is amused.

How to Say Goodbye- My last NCIS LA Densi fic. That fandom has meant the world to me and I'm sad the show is over.

March

Love is Sitting on the Bathroom Floor- T.K. has food poisoning, Carlos takes care of him, it's so sweet!

The Luck O' the Irish- I truly love how this one turned out, my little fic about Tarlos doing a class project with their child in the future and Carlos being a neurotic dad lol.

April

I Won't Say I'm in Love- Carlos falling in love with T.K., Adriana and Francesca being their best/worst selves. This one has some of the best dialogue, god they're fun.

Mothers and Sons- Andrea caring for T.K. as they wedding plan. Made myself cry with this one.

May

Shiner- Coda for 4x15, Carlos finding out about T.K.'s black eye and taking care of him.

A Helping Hand- Lololol a fic based on my real life experience with rain and smoke detectors.

June

Happy Campers- Boys camping trip with whumped Carlos is just what the summer ordered!

July

We Have Suffered Enough- 4x16 post-ep. God did they really need the Huntington's scare?!

Day Zero- T.K. struggles after being drugged by Sadie.

August

Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting- This might be the best fic of the year. Mama and Papa Reyes getting into trouble at a bar with T.K. and poor Carlos having to sort it all out is the stuff my dreams are made of.

September

Rugby King- My sweet, sweet Heartstopper boys. I was so nervous writing this fic and I'm so glad I did. Whumpy Nick and worried Charlie are such perfection and it was so fun to jump into this fandom!

October

Come Sail Away- My magnum opus for this year lol. The longest thing I've written to date and a love letter to the drama and antics of Below Deck. Also my first AU! (Technically...)

November

Tío T.K.- T.K. being a freaking badass and helping Carlos' nephew. Adriana and Francesca return. A joy from start to finish.

Phew! What a year! Thanks to everyone who has read my work this year!

Tagging @lemonlyman-dotcom, @bonheur-cafe, @carlos-in-glasses, and @thisbuildinghasfeelings!

[tabbytabbytabby]

WIP Game

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you, and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Thanks @depthandcharacter and @li0nh34rt for the tag! 💜

This is everything except my Buddie Big Bang, which is going to remain a secret. Putting most under a read more to spare your dashes.

Posted multi-chapters:

1. Quest For Camelot (Sterek, Thiam, Merthur, Cordia)

2. The Magic In You (Merthur)

3. The Misadventures of Drunken Witches (Multifandom)

4. I Just Wanna See The Stars With You (Morey) (MCD)

5. We Belong (Theo/Derek)

6. We Must Be Killers (Theo/Violet)

7. Together At Christmas (Thiam)

Teen Wolf

8. When You’re Up In Space (Sterek) (2k giveaway)

9. I think we’d make a lovely mess (Sterek) (FTH)

10. Keep Warm (Stiles/Liam)

11. A Quiet Destruction (Thiam) (Role Reversal) (Dark Liam)

12. Hot Potato (Thiam)

13. Your Son Is Gone (Thiam) (Dark Liam)

14. No borders can keep is apart (Thiam, Sterek, Tarlos)

15. Twisted Little Nightmare (Thiam)

16. Find Your Happiness (Thiam)

17. In Love and Death (Thiam) (MCD)

18. All The Ways I Love You (David/Chris)

19. Why Not Both? (Derek/Jackson/Theo)

20. On An Island In The Sun (Peter/Chris)

21. Down the Line (Danny/Derek)

22. Of Endings and Beginnings (Halemore)

23. Biting My Tongue (Jackson/Isaac)

24. Crazy About You (Sciles)

25. Not Quite Human (Scott/Isaac/Nolan)

9-1-1

26. Good Enough (Buddie)

27. Wolf At Your Door (Buddie)

28. Speak Your Words Into My Skin (Buddie)

29. We Should Be Married (Buddie) (Fake Dating)

30. Keep Me With You (Buddie)

31. To Him, You’re the Sun in the Storm (Buddie)

32. Happy Anniversary (Buddie)

33. Hopeless But Hoping (Buddie)

34. The Mystery Date (Buddie) (Derek/Greenberg) (TW Crossover)

35. The Sea In Our Blood (Buddie) (Pirate AU)

36. I Try Hard To Make It (Buddie)

37. How Love Feels (Buddie)

38.  Too Important To Lose (Buddie)

39. As we drifted towards the storm (Tarlos)

40. Where He Needs To Be (Tarlos)

41. Built to Last (Jevan)

42. Enchanted To Meet You (Jevan)

43. Look A Little Closer (Jevan)

44. Take Heart (Jevan)

45. You Can Have It (Jevan) (2k giveaway)

46. Our Secret (Jevan)

47. Sick Day (Albuck)

Tagging: @lovelylittlegrim @acejuddryder @hazelestelle @glittercake @eliestarr @theproblemwithstardust @prettyinsoulpunk @matan4il @lightfiretomypaperwings @seylaaurora @randofando-spoonie @thegreatgherkin87 @dopemixtape @firstdegreefangirl @li0nh34rt (and anyone else that wants to do this)

Other

48. A Safe Bet (Brettsey)

49. So Jealous (Brettsey)

50. It's So Obvious (Brettsey) (Severide's POV)

51. A Terrible Plan (Brettsey)

52. You're Not Going To Lose Me (Chenford)

53. Staring Down My Two Halves In The Glass (Percy/Oliver)

54. You're In Love (Fremione) (FTH)

55. Gotta Hurt Sometimes To Learn To Heal (Derek Hale/Malcolm Bright)

56. I Shut My Eyes At Seventeen (Derek Hale/Malcolm Bright)

57. A Friend In Me (Brightmel)

58. I'm Sorry For The Mess I Am (Brightmel)

59. The Way You Are (Brightwell)

60. Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Evan Buckley/Steve Harrington)

61. Dark Lute (Geraskier)

[bellakitse]

I was born Thursday's Child

“It’s Carlos, sir,” Judd gets out quickly, and TK feels an ice-cold fear run up his spine at the urgency he hears in his friend’s voice. “He was a step behind me, the floor caved, and he went through into the basement.”

*

Carlos gets hurt on a call.

30 days of Tarlos - Day 18

Part Three of Firefighter Carlos! AU, Part One, Part Two

It’s eight pm on a Thursday, TK is rolling up the water hoses they used on their last call with Carlos’ help while the rest of the team details the truck as they try to guess what the letters of his name stand for. It’s become something of a game to the crew when they have downtime. His dad walked away as soon as the game started. He can never keep a straight face at all the ridiculous combinations his crew comes up with and instead headed to his office to do some paperwork.

“Thomas Kayden,” Paul shouts out from the top of the truck, rolling his eyes when he shakes his head.

“Tristan Kristopher,” Mateo points at him with a grin. “Christopher with a K, that feels very ‘city boy.’”

“Tanner,” Marjan starts, smirking at him when he makes a face. “Kingston.”

TK scowls at his friend, and then turns it on Carlos when he hears him snort quietly next to him. He tells his stomach to quit it with the butterflies it gets from Carlos’ beautiful unapologetic smile.

“No, Marjan,” he says dryly, rolling his eyes again. “My initials don’t stand for Tanner Kingston. Did you really have to pick the douchiest name ever?”

Marjan lifts a slim shoulder, shrugging as she sweeps the floor. “If you would just tell us, we’d stop.”

“Let me think about that,” he says, bringing a finger up to his face, tapping his cheek as he pretends to give the suggestion some serious thought. “Nope, I don’t think so. Request denied.”

TK grins as more than one of them scoffs or shakes their heads at him. Judd being the loudest.

“This is ridiculous,” the cowboy grumbles as he turns his sight on Carlos. “Reyes, what’s your boyfriend’s real name?”

Carlos looks up from the water hose, his eyes going wide as he finds them all staring at him. “What?” he asks, shaking his head. “He hasn’t told me.”

“Please,” Judd scoffs again.

“I’m serious,” Carlos says standing up straight, he throws him an accusing look, and this time it’s his turn to smile at him unapologetically. “I have been trying to get it out of him for months now; he won’t tell me, and trust me, I have tried everything.”

“He has,” TK pipes in with a shameless grin. “And I have enjoyed every attempt he’s made.”

TK laughs at the team’s collective groan as they go back to work, he turns towards Carlos, his laughter turning into a soft chuckle as he spots the sweet pink blush on his face.

“Brat,” Carlos scolds him when he sees his grin. “Stay where you are.”

TK shakes his head, dropping the hose to close the small distance between them. He smiles as he places his hands on Carlos’ hips, and he lets him.

They’ve been dating for four months now, they told his dad and the team after their first date, surprising absolutely no one.

The team has been nothing but supportive, but it still took a while for Carlos to be completely comfortable with displays of affection in the workplace, the old habit of keeping this part of himself on the DL at his old station lingering. Now when TK places his hands on his hips, Carlos wraps his around his neck.

“That’s a cute blush you got there, baby,” he whispers teasingly, loving how it makes Carlos turn pinker.

“You are a brat,” Carlos repeats but doesn’t pull away. “You’re lucky you’re also adorable.”

“And hot,” he adds, laughing when Carlos rolls his eyes at him.

“And humble,” he retorts sarcastically.

“Mmhmm,” TK nods, pressing his lips into a firm line to keep from smiling like an idiot. It doesn’t help; he can’t not smile when he’s in the presence of his boyfriend.

Carlos shakes his head softly at him; the look he gives him is tender and fond. “Are you ever going to tell me what the letters stand for?” he asks curiously.

“Does it bother you that I haven’t yet?” TK asks, his brow creasing in the middle with sudden worry. He’s never really considered that it might upset Carlos not to know what his initials stand for. He’s been called TK for as long as he can remember, that sometimes even he forgets the letters stand for something. It’s only when he has to fill out a form and sees his name in full that he remembers with a roll of his eyes. It’s not that he hates his name, it’s just that it’s so pretentious that he can’t help but groan when he hears it out loud.

“No,” Carlos says, shaking his head again. The hands on his shoulders now give the back of his neck a reassuring squeeze. “I mean, I’m curious as hell, obviously, and you keeping it a secret makes me think it’s something hilarious like Thacker Kale.”

“Thacker?” he questions incredulously. “Kale?”

“Hey, the Captain loves kale,” Carlos argues. “He totally could have named you after it.”

TK opens his mouth to answer only for the alarms of the firehouse to go off over their heads.

“To be continued,” Carlos says with a half-smile as he lets go of him.

TK gives him a nod, before turning to get ready. It takes them minutes to get into their gear and into the truck, his father in the front speaks to them through their headsets.

“Alright, we got a two-story house fire,” he starts. “Neighbors called it in, said they heard screams from inside, from what they told dispatch it’s a family of five. Two adults and three kids, it’s after nine, we have to assume they’re all home.”

TK looks around the truck; the crew is quiet and serious as they do last minute checks on their gear. Everyone's expression turns more severe as they turn into the street; the flames in the house are high; they seem to lick the sky.

They jump out of the truck before it completely rolls to a stop, right behind them is Captain Blake and her EMTs.

TK watches as his father assesses the situation quickly before giving them a sharp nod.

“Okay, I want Reyes, Ryder, and Strickland to start making their way inside the house,” his father says looking at the three men in question, they all nod back to him before going for their axes. “Strand, Marwani, Chavez, you’re on the hoses. We need to start controlling this now.”

TK looks at the house, the smoke is getting darker by the second, never a good sign and he feels a moment of trepidation. As Carlos starts to walk by him, he grabs at his turnout coat tightly.

“Be careful,” he says quickly, swallowing hard. It’s not the first time he’s told Carlos this. Usually, one of them says it if the other is going in, and it’s always met with a cocky grin. TK can see the beginnings of it on Carlos’ lips, but he must read the fear in his face because instead of a smile, Carlos gives him a serious look.

“Of course, baby,” he says softly, he gives the hand holding his coat a squeeze. “I’ll be right back.”

TK nods, reluctantly letting go of him, getting to work himself. He, Marjan, and Mateo handle the hoses with his dad; he focuses on the flames that are blessedly diminishing and not on the fact that the rest of his team is still inside.

Over the radio, he hears them as they go through the house and starts to breathe easier as they bring out members of the family. Once Paul has gotten the last civilian out – the father, Michelle and her team already treating the rest of the family – his dad calls out for everyone to evacuate.

“Reyes, Ryder, time to pull out, we got all of them,” he speaks into the radio, it takes a moment for the receiver to static back.

“Roger that, Cap,” Judd's voice rings out through all their sets. “We’re – shit!”

“Judd, report,” Owen says sharply as they hear a crash, the house, now fire-free, creeks ominously.

“It’s Carlos, sir,” Judd gets out quickly, and TK feels an ice-cold fear run up his spine at the urgency he hears in his friend’s voice. “He was a step behind me, the floor caved, and he went through into the basement.”

TK is moving towards the house before Judd is even done explaining the situation; he’s halfway across the lawn when a hand comes down hard on his shoulder, holding him in place. He swirls around, ready to curse whoever is daring to stop him, only to find his father giving him an unshakeable look that tells him before his father even speaks that he’s not going to let him go in.

“Dad – “ he tries anyway, pleading, letting out something between a scream and a sob when his father shakes his head at him remorsefully.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, still shaking his head. “You’re too close, TK; it can’t be you.”

TK wants to argue, but he sees that his father is already nodding towards Paul and Mateo.

“Get him out,” he tells them, his voice cracking as his eyes sting. “Please.”

Mateo and Paul look at him, worried but resolved. “You got it, brother,” Paul says softly as they head back inside.

“I’m climbing down, Cap,” Judd’s voice comes through again.

Judd keeps his radio on as he works, and TK can hear every grunt and huff as he moves, for a moment, that, and Paul and Mateo reporting in is all they hear. Carlos’ radio is silent even as his father keeps trying to call him.

“I can see him,” Judd shouts, it’s followed by more heavy breathing before he speaks again. “Carlos, bud, come on man, I need you to open your eyes for me now.”

TK covers his mouth; it’s the only thing that’s keeping him from screaming. He feels someone behind him, and then a small hand on his shoulder, he knows it belongs to Marjan without turning around. Her hand on him is the only thing that keeps him up when he hears a low groan come through the radio.

“That’s it, man, keep your eyes open,” Judd speaks, and then another pained filled groan follows it.

“T – “

TK grabs his radio quickly, bringing it to his mouth. “Carlos, sweetheart, can you hear me?” he asks, his heart races as he waits for an answer.

“TK,” Carlos gets out, his voice rough from the pain. “It hurts.”

“I know, babe,” he sniffs, not being able to stop the tears now. “Paul and Mateo are coming; they’re going to help Judd get you out, just hold on.”

Carlos doesn’t answer right away, when he does, what he says strikes TK with fear. “Tired.”

“No, Carlos,” he growls. “Don’t go to sleep; stay awake.”

“T-tell me,” Carlos starts, it’s obviously a struggle for him to stay alert. “S-something.”

TK lets out a choked sob at his words; they remind him of when they first got together, of Carlos being there for him when he needed comfort and a distraction from his own pain.

“Tyler Kennedy,” he says into the radio, not caring that everyone is listening. “That’s what TK stands for.”

 ֍֍֍

 Waiting at the hospital is a nightmare, waiting for the man you love to wake up while in a hospital bed is hell on earth.

Paul, Judd, and Mateo had carried out an unconscious Carlos straight to Michelle and her team. TK had watched frozen as they worked on Carlos enough to get him conscious before they were speeding away in the ambulance.

It took everything to keep from climbing in with him, but he knew they still had a job to finish.

Now at the hospital, everyone lingers around the waiting room while he sits with Carlos waiting for him to wake up.

“Your mom and sisters are here,” he says softly. “I finally met Lola, she’s intense, and has decided she and I are going to be best friends and annoy you together. Be ready for that.”

He reaches out, touching Carlos’ face softly, making sure not to touch the bandage on his head. The doctors had run down the list of injuries, concussion, cracked ribs, and a ruptured spleen. The fall Carlos had taken was a rough one; the debris falling on him didn’t make it any better.

“I’m here, baby,” he whispers, squeezing his hand. “We’re all here.”

TK closes his eyes when his words are met with silence. Carlos is the quieter one of the two, while TK is the one with restless energy. Usually, it’s a calming force for TK as Carlos will listen until he tires himself out, now the quietness was driving him crazy.

“I love you,” he continues. “I know you know that, but I don’t say it nearly enough. I love you so much. I’m grateful every day that Judd recommended you to us. You walked into the 126 and became my teammate, my best friend, and the love of my life.”

He runs his fingertips down Carlos’ cheek, over his neck, and then lets it rest lightly over his heart, letting out a breath as he feels the steady beat.

“Can you open your eyes now for me, baby?” he asks pleadingly. “I told you my name, it’s not Thacker Kale, but it’s still ridiculous. I’m sure you have thoughts. I’ll let you make all the fun you want if you open those pretty brown eyes of yours for me right now,” he continues hopefully.

He lets his head drop on the bed next to Carlos’ hip when his request is again met with silence. He’s taking deep breaths to keep from crying when he feels a hand move over his hair.

“I think Tyler Kennedy is beautiful.”

TK lifts his head quickly, taking hold of the hand that is touching him as he finds Carlos looking at him with tired eyes.

He opens his mouth to speak only for a choked sob to come out, pressing his mouth into a firm line, he breathes deeply again until he can talk without breaking down.

“It’s pretentious,” he says shakily, as Carlos gives him a loving look.

“It’s beautiful,” Carlos repeats softly. “Just like you.”

TK lets out a wet laugh; he can’t stop the tears now as he stands to hover over Carlos.

“Hi,” he whispers with a watery smile on his face. “You scared me.”

“Hi,” Carlos whispers back, looking up at him remorsefully. “I know, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“I know,” he assures him, leaning down he touches the tip of his nose against Carlos’. “Please try not to do it again though. It turns out that I love you more than anything in this world and don’t handle you getting hurt very well.”

Carlos closes his eyes as he smiles, a tear running down his face. “Okay, Tyler,” he whispers.

TK pulls back to look at him, pouting when Carlos grins. “I’m going to regret that.”