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“Are you even listening to me right now, Reyes?”
Carlos Reyes looks up from his phone across the small table where he sits with Iris Blake, to find her giving him an unamused look as she munches on her chips.
“You ask me to have lunch with you here in the courtyard, just so you can ignore me and stare at you’re phone?” she questions, making him wince at her tone. “I could be in the library; I have papers due.”
“We all have papers due, chica,” he shoots back, even though he’s seconds away from being in the doghouse with his friend, he’s never been able to keep from poking the bear. His family has always said that for such a mellow, quiet kid, he’s always had a reckless streak. “Besides you needed to eat, and not in the library, you know Mrs. Powell hates that.”
Iris rolls her eyes at him, but there is a hint of a smile on her face. “Goodie-goodie, no wonder that old bat loves you so much.”
Carlos gives her an unconcerned shrug. It’s true, the university’s librarian, a grumpy sixty-eight-year-old woman with grey-blue hair, loves him. “She just wants you to respect her books and the sacred space they are held in, is that so hard?”
Iris gives him another roll of her eyes, scoffing at his words as she bites into her turkey club. “What’s TK saying?” she asks through a mouth full, pointing at his phone.
“He’s got a surprise, said he’s joining us in a few – “ Carlos trails off, he looks up to see a smug smirk on her face, and Carlos goes red realizing that he never actually said that he was texting with their friend TK Strand, Iris just figured it out. “How did you –“
Iris snorts loudly, drawing the attention of a few people around them. “Your face, of course,” she starts, pointing a delicate finger in his face as she waves it around in a circle. “You had ‘TK’ face; it’s very distinctive. All soft and lovesick, kind of like when someone shows you a puppy, and all you want to do is snuggle it close and love it forever. TK is the puppy in this analogy.”
Carlos’ face is so hot; he’s sure he’s going to catch flame. “Shut up.”
Iris lets out a laugh at his words; her delight is unmistakable. “Great comeback, Reyes,” she says, still chuckling, though her expression softens when he says nothing. She sighs as her laughter trails off. “Carlos, when exactly are you going to do something about the massive crush you have on our friend?”
Carlos feels his pulse spike at her question, his mouth going dry. “I don’t have a crush on TK.”
Iris raises an eyebrow at him; she looks both unimpressed and sympathetic all at once. “No, you’re right, it’s not a crush. It was a crush senior year when he moved to Texas and flashed those pretty green eyes at you. After three years of secretly pining, never dating for long, moping when he starts seeing someone and being overjoyed when it only lasts a month, I think we can call it what it is, so…. When are you going to do something about being in love with your best friend?”
Carlos opens and closes his mouth, not sure what he wants to say, when they hear their names being called out. Looking across the yard, they see TK waving at them with a wide smile on his face as he quickly walks towards them.
Carlos looks back at Iris panicked. “Please, don’t say anything,” he begs, feeling his hands sweat.
“I would never,” Iris says quickly, just as TK gets to their table. She flashes a smile up at the new arrival. “Hey, TK! How was New York and your mom?”
“Crowded, dirty, and fun,” TK laughs as he leans down to hug her. “Mom was in top mom form,” he continues turning his smile towards Carlos.
Carlos gets up to hug him too, letting out an oomph when TK all but slams into him as he hugs him.
“I missed you too, needy,” he chuckles softly when TK doesn’t let go of him right away. He catches the raised eyebrow Iris gives him and feels himself blushing again, but he doesn’t loosen his hold on TK until the boy lets him go first.
“I just really missed that handsome Texan face of yours,” TK teases as he steps out of his hug, taking the empty chair at the table.
Carlos tells himself not to react to the comment. TK doesn’t mean anything by it; he’s never meant anything by it. TK likes to flirt and tease; he’s a happy-go-lucky guy who knows he’s beautiful and likes to joke around with everyone, especially his best friend. It means nothing.
“So,” Carlos clears his throat, hoping the smile on his face is relaxed, and not an awkward mess the way he always feels when TK is around. “You said in your text you had a surprise?”
TK grins at him, his green eyes sparkling with mischief, and without saying a word, he sticks his tongue out.
“Holy shit!” Iris exclaims in amazement, leaning forward to get a better look. “That’s hot, TK!”
“Thanks,” TK smirks pleased, before looking over at Carlos. “What do you think? Do you like it?”
Carlos hears the question, but he can’t answer. How can he when his brain is currently melting, and will at any second, ooze out of his ears. TK Strand has a tongue ring, a silver little round stud that was made with the sole purpose of ruining Carlos’ life.
“I – I, yeah, looks good,” Carlos croaks out.
Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Iris biting down on her lip, probably to keep from laughing at how pathetic he is. Looking over at TK, he feels a pang of guilt as he sees the previously bright smile on his face has dimmed, and he looks at Carlos with an unsure expression. He wants to say something, anything to bring that smile he loves so much back, but he feels tongue-tied and silly. His stupid feelings feel right on the surface, ready for everyone to see, and he just wants to hide.
“I should go,” he says, standing up, ignoring the sound of protest TK and Iris let out. “Gotta study,” he gets out, gathering his things haphazardly.
“Carlos,” TK says his name quietly, looking up at him with a small confused frown, his eyes a little cloudy.
Carlos flashes him what he hopes is a smile and not a grimace. He places his hand on TK’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
TK looks at him a moment longer before giving him a nod, though he doesn’t lose his frown. “Okay.”
With one last awkward wave, he turns on his heel and hightails it out of there, away from the boy he’s stupidly in love with, and his damn tongue ring.
֎֍֎
He hides out in the library like a coward. He gives Mrs. Powell a wave, getting one back, and even gets half of a smile, which is the most anyone can usually get from the older woman, before heading for the back to his usual table.
The thing is he knows that hiding won’t help for long, not when it comes to TK Strand. Where Carlos likes to be cautious, TK is bold. He still remembers the boy when he first arrived in Austin, their senior year of high school. It didn't take long for it to get out around school that TK was gay, and it took even less time for people to try to mess with him for it. The boy had a slimmer frame back then, dressed in tight skinny jeans, and had soft pretty features. The guys they went to school with thought he was an easy target, and TK quickly proved that line of thinking was incorrect. He would fight back like a hellcat, giving zero fucks about bloody knuckles as long as his bullies were bleeding worse.
People learned not to mess with the boy quickly after that, and Carlos has been smitten ever since. Becoming his friend had given him the courage to come out himself. After that, though at the time TK was almost a head shorter than him, the boy had turned into Carlos’ own personal guard dog, glaring at anyone who even dared look at him wrong for being gay.
Between his sisters, the Blake girls and TK, Carlos never had to worry about anyone saying a single bad thing about his sexuality. No, TK never backs down from a fight, so really it’s no surprise when half an hour after he’s arrived at the library, nose deep into his forensic science textbook. The chair across from him scrapes loudly against the wooden floor as it’s pulled out, and TK sits.
Carlos looks up at him, rolling his eyes as TK makes as much noise as he can, taking out one of his books. “This is why Mrs. Powell hates you so much; you’re so damn loud.”
“She hates me because she loves you, and she thinks I’m going to corrupt you with my deviant ways,” TK flashes him a broad smile, and with it, Carlos gets a peek at a hint of silver.
Jesus fuck, that tongue ring is going to be the end of him.
“What she doesn’t get is that I have been trying to corrupt you since the second I saw you, to no avail,” TK shakes his head sadly. “No matter how much I try, no dice.”
Carlos rolls his eyes again at TK’s dramatics. “You act like I’m some saint, and you’re the devil here to lead me astray, calm down the theatrics, Tyler,” he says, smirking when TK pouts at him at the use of his name. It amuses Carlos to no end the way TK always reacts to it but yet never tells Carlos to stop the way he does with others. Carlos tries not to give it more importance than he does, it’s not a big deal that he’s one of the very few people who knows and is allowed to call TK by his full name. It’s nothing.
They study quietly for a while, or well, TK studies, absently playing with the ring in his mouth while Carlos stares, his hand itching to reach out for TK every time he sees the flashes of silver.
“Are you going to ask or just keep staring,” TK murmurs, his focus still on his textbook even as Carlos spots the hint of a grin on his face.
Carlos clears his throat, feeling himself go pink at being caught, he’s had years of practice staring at TK, you would think he’d be better at it.
“Why?”
TK looks up from his book, he closes it and puts it to the side before leaning in, elbows on the table as he smiles at Carlos, obviously pleased that he caved. “Because I felt like it, and thought it would look good.”
Carlos nods; he can’t argue with the fact that it looks really good on TK, but then again, everything does. “Did it hurt?”
TK tilts his head to the side, thinking about it before wrinkling his face. “Not as much as I thought it would. Afterward, it just felt weird having something in my mouth.”
“Thought you’d be used to that,” Carlos mutters, smirking when TK lets out a dramatic gasp before he laughs, his green eyes dancing with amusement.
“I am curious about that,” TK comments, a mischievous glint entering his eyes. “I haven’t even kissed anyone since I got it, they say you’re supposed to wait three weeks at least.”
Carlos swallows hard as he does the math, TK’s been away for a month. “When did you get it?”
TK looks at him as he leans back on his chair, a slow lazy smile on his face as he looks at Carlos knowingly. “The first week I got to NYC,” he says softly, his eyes hooded as he stares at Carlos before he lets the little silver stud peek out again.
Carlos takes a sharp breath, his pulse spiking as he stares back at TK and reads the clear invitation on his best friend’s face. He’s not sure what his face is saying to TK, probably all his love and the naked lust he’s felt for him since he was seventeen, but whatever it is, it makes TK smile back at him bright and happy, his eyes dancing.
“Finally,” he breathes, never losing his smile. “I was beginning to think I was going to have to hire a skywriter.”
“You –,” Carlos licks his suddenly dry lips, feeling his stomach clench when TK’s eyes drop to his mouth, and he licks his own as he watches Carlos.
“Since I met you,” TK admits softly, his face going gentle as he looks into Carlos’ eyes. “For such a smart guy, you’re so slow, baby.”
Carlos looks at him with wide eyes; he obviously has to be dreaming. His best friend in the whole world, the guy he’s been crazy about for years now, can’t be telling him that he feels the same. There is no way he’s that lucky.
TK’s expression softens even further, reminding him that TK can read him pretty easily. “I have to find a book,” TK starts, pointing towards the back of the library where no one ever really goes. Carlos watches him as he comes around the table, holding his breath when TK runs his hand over the back of his neck, his fingers sending shivers down Carlos’ spine. “Maybe you can help me,” he says softly as he walks away, never once looking back to see if Carlos is coming.
Taking a calming breath, it takes Carlos less than thirty seconds to make up his mind and stand from the table, following TK to the back. He’s finally been given a chance to have the one thing he’s wanted forever. There’s no way he’s letting it slip through his fingers now.
He finds TK at the very end of the library, sitting on another reading table; this one a little dusty from lack of use. TK is biting on his bottom lip in that nervous way of his, and when he looks at Carlos, gone is the cocky guy from a few minutes ago, and in his place is the not so confident boy that lies beneath his usual bravado. It’s the TK that always sparks Carlos’ more protective instincts. He walks up slowly to him, stepping in between his parted knees.
With TK sitting, it puts them at a height difference that leaves TK looking up at him. Carlos brings his hands up to cradle TK’s face, tilting it up even further, making sure TK is looking straight into his eyes.
“Are you sure you want this?” he can’t help but ask. The last thing he wants is to lose his friend for a momentary case of hormones.
“Do you want this?” TK asks back; instead of answering, it comes out more teasing, but Carlos can still see the hint of nerves.
“I have always wanted you,” Carlos confesses, finally letting it out. His heart beats hard against his chest as he gives life to his secret, but the way TK’s eyes widen makes it worth it. “Every second of every day, I want to be with you. I want to kiss you, hold you, have sex with you.”
“Carlos,” TK lets out breathlessly, his hands coming up to grip Carlos’ arms.
“But I want more than that too,” he continues, now that it’s out he can’t hold back. “I have feelings for you. I’m in love with you, TK.”
TK tightens his hold on him, pulling him closer. “You never said anything.”
“I was afraid to lose you,” Carlos whispers, now feeling unsure. “I rather have your friendship than not have you at all.”
TK closes his eyes, smiling as he shakes his head. “Idiot.”
“Hey,” Carlos starts to grin, moving forward when TK brings his hands to the back of his neck and pulls him closer. Letting go of TK’s face, he places his hands on his waist, pressing his forehead against TK’s as the boy lets out a soft laugh, and Carlos feels the same kind of giddy joy.
“I’ve had feelings for you since I met you,” TK says quietly, his breath touching Carlos’ face. He aches to close the distance between their lips. “Back when I was so pissed that my dad dragged us here from New York, and I hated everything about Austin. You were the only thing I liked about it, and then as we became friends, you became the person that made it feel like home.”
“Can I kiss you?” Carlos pleads, not being able to take it a second longer, not when the boy he loves is telling him he feels the same way.
Carlos feels TK’s smile against his mouth instead of seeing it; he sighs into the kiss three years in the making. He pulls TK by the waist and groans into the kiss when TK answers by wrapping his legs around Carlos’ waist, bringing their bodies flush against the other, and Carlos can feel how much TK wants him, his own body reacting to it the same way.
“Ty,” Carlos gasps out before TK slips his tongue inside his mouth. He moans helplessly not just at the taste of TK’s mouth, but also at the feel of that smooth silver stud pressing against his tongue as TK takes his time, making sure he pulls Carlos apart with each flick of his skilled tongue.
“Carlos,” TK whispers back when he pulls away to take a breath. Carlos can’t stop touching or kissing him, and he trails a path with his mouth from TK’s lips down his jaw, to his neck, kissing and sucking on any strip of skin he can, instantly addicted to the taste of TK Strand.
“I knew it would be like this between us,” TK moans, his head thrown back as Carlos sucks at the pulse point under his jaw. His hand's grip at his shirt and Carlos pulls back long enough to pull it over his head.
TK looks at him, his usually bright green eyes darkening as he takes in Carlos’ bare chest, the piercing on his tongue peeking out as he curls his tongue and makes an appreciative sound. “Fuck, baby, you’re a work of art.”
Carlos feels himself go hot at the compliment, and the heated way TK looks at him, he feels it from the top of his head and down his chest.
TK makes another noise, smiling up at him wickedly as he sees his skin turn pink. “Oh, that’s pretty,” he says softly, his hand reaching out to touch Carlos, his thumb rubbing gently over one of Carlos’ nipples. He shivers at the touch, not being able to stop the whine that escapes his lips. TK’s eyes flicker back up to his, and his smile softens. He uses his legs, still around Carlos’ waist to pull him back in.
Hands cup his face, and Carlos closes his eyes as TK brushes his lips across his. “We’re going to be amazing, aren’t we?” he asks against his mouth, and Carlos nods, swallowing hard as he pictures what being with TK is going to be like.
Yes, they’re going to be incredible, starting right now.
Carlos goes to kiss him again, more than ready to get the incredible parts started when someone clears their throat behind them, causing him to freeze.
TK looks over his shoulder at their unexpected guest before he looks back at Carlos; his eyes are wide, but there is a twinkle of amusement in them when he mouths ‘oops’ at him, like the little shit he is.
“Hi, Mrs. Powell,” he says brightly. Carlos closes his eyes with dread, something tells him after today he isn’t going to be the librarian’s favorite anymore. “Carlos was helping me find a book.”
Carlos looks at TK incredulously, finding a bright smile on his lips as he looks back at him with zero shame, and shakes his head, but in the end, he can’t feel anything but happiness. This is the crazy boy he chose to love.
֎֍֍
“I hear congratulations are in order,” Iris calls out as she walks up to them on the quad. Carlos looks up from where he’s been spending time kissing TK’s neck.
“Hey,” TK greets her back as he presses himself to his side, flashing Carlos a bright smile when he throws an arm over his shoulder and pulls him closer. “Thanks, I honestly can’t believe we’re finally together and that it took me sticking a metal rod through my tongue to get this going.”
“Hey, that’s not true,” Carlos protests as TK rolls his eyes.
“Don’t even try to deny it,” TK points at him. “I have been throwing hints forever and nothing. It took me getting a piercing, and honestly, me being tired of waiting for this to happen.”
“I didn’t know you were throwing hints!”
TK rolls his eyes again before leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. “I know,” he says gently. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty because you’re clueless.”
Carlos goes to protest again, but TK stops him by giving him another kiss, this time on the lips. Carlos sighs into it, ready to get lost in it when Iris clears her throat loudly.
“Yeah, still here,” she says sarcastically, giving him an eye roll of her own. “I knew you’d be annoyingly cute once you finally got your shit together.”
Carlos blushes at the comment, while TK laughs delightfully.
Iris smirks back at them. “By the way, that’s not what I was congratulating you two on.”
“Oh?” TK raises an eyebrow at her, and Carlos feels dread again as her smirk seems to grow.
She pulls a flyer out of her bag, passing it over to them, and Carlos feels his face turn bright red as he takes in both his and TK’s faces on the sheet of paper, with the words ‘banned from the library until further notice’ under their faces.
“Apparently even though she hates everyone, it takes a lot to get Mrs. Powell to ban someone; you two are now legends,” Iris tells them with a grin, wagging her eyebrows at him.
“Oh my god,” Carlos groans, dropping his head into his hands. He turns his head to the side when he hears a snicker and finds TK smiling wildly.
“You find this funny, Tyler?” he questions dryly, and though TK makes his usual face at his name, it doesn’t diminish the smile on his face, or the affection shining in his eyes.
“Hilarious,” TK grins.
Carlos shakes his head, unable to stop his own smile. “Why do I like you?”
“Love,” TK corrects, biting down on his own smile. “You said you love me, you can’t take it back now.”
Carlos smiles gently at him, bringing his hand back up to cup his cheek. “I’m never going to take it back.”
TK starts leaning in to kiss him, when Iris groans, forcing them to stop.
“Once again,” she shakes her head at them. “I’m still here.”
Carlos flashes her an apologetic look, knowing it doesn’t come off as sincere when he can’t stop smiling; he’s just so happy.
“Whatever,” she rolls her eyes as she stands back up. “I’m leaving to let you two be gooey and in love, try not to get banned from all of campus for indecent exposure.”
They watch her leave before TK draws his attention by tugging on his hand.
“She’s got a point you know,” TK starts, giving him a dirty smirk. “If I don’t get you alone soon, I’m going to jump you right here.”
Carlos smiles back, his stomach clenching with anticipation. “Lucky for us, I have an apartment, and I live alone.”
TK curls his tongue, and that little silver stud meant to drive Carlos crazy peeks out. “Then what are we waiting for?”