#this is a spnix riddle and i hope i got it right

[chaotictarlos]

Hiii T!! Breathe (Tarlos) for the WIP pretty please! 👀😊

Hello lovely!

I actually started Breathe before Riddle of the Spnix aired (i know it's been sitting in my WIPS for a long time lmao) because I wanted to write a fic with the line “And if that means that sometimes I’m late coming home, just know that it’s only so I will get home, Carlos.” and then the episode aired and it was in line with my fic a lot lmao.

But anyway, it was also inspired by the song "Breathe" by Lauv and it follows both TK and Carlos' POV. TK struggling with being forced to relapse and navigate a time when he has people around him, mainly Carlos, who want to be there and protect him and help him through it but it feels like it's too much and he needs space to be able to process what's happened to him and how to move forward. Meanwhile Carlos is struggling on how to be there for TK and feeling like he's losing TK because TK is being so distance and not talking to him and basically just shutting him out.

I've got like 5K of it written. It's a slow moving fic but I think it'll be pretty good when I get it done.

A little snippet under the cut!

Carlos stares at the door and tries not to overthink TK not being home yet. It’s the third time in three days that TK has been late getting home. He taps his fingers along the counter nervously as he watches the door, trying to convince himself that maybe TK had started to go to meetings and that was why he was late. It was a logical assumption with everything that TK had been through but Carlos assumed that TK would let him know that he was going to meetings on a more regular basis if that was the case.

The longer time ticks on, the harder it is for Carlos not to think about the fact that TK could be out and getting high right now or something bad had happened to him and Carlos just wasn’t in the loop yet. Maybe TK was hurt and hadn’t been found yet. Maybe -

His thoughts and growing panic are interrupted when the door to their loft slides open and TK walks in. Carlos can’t hide the sigh of relief that falls from his lips when he sees TK. He watches as his boyfriend comes closer, chewing on his lip so he doesn’t try and ask right away where he’s been.

“Uh, hey TK.” Carlos says casually when TK walks into the kitchen. He moves to the refrigerator and starts to pull out the containers that contained the food that he had made.

TK looks at him and Carlos swears that if he squints just a little bit he can see a small smile on TK’s lips.

“Hey.” TK says, slipping into one of the bar stools. Carlos is surprised but he tries not to show it because he doesn’t want to ruin the moment.

“Are you hungry? I made chicken and roasted potatoes…” Carlos says, slow to open the containers in case TK says no to eating.

Carlos can see the hesitation on TK’s face, can almost hear the no thanks that he’s sure that TK is going to say but then TK makes a face that Carlos can’t quite read.

“Sure, I could eat.” TK finally settles on after a few moments. 

Carlos beams, unable to hide the happiness on his face at TK agreeing to have a meal with him after going so long without sitting down and eating together. He’s not sure what has changed in TK but he was going to enjoy it and try not to question it too much. It went against everything in him to not start launching into questions and trying to push to find out where TK had been. 

He watches TK for a moment longer before he starts to pull out pots and pans to heat up the leftovers - there was no way he was just going to put everything in the microwave to heat up, it would destroy the flavor - and settle into cooking. He’s hyper aware of TK being so close, having spent so many days without him by his side. He has so many questions and things he wants to say but he’s afraid that if he utters any of them TK will bolt and run away, so Carlos keeps silent and hopes that he’ll stay for a little bit.

Ask me about my WIPS!