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Carlos knows something’s up with TK. He may have only met the other man eleven weeks and two days ago (yes, he’s keeping count), but he feels like he really knows him. They’ve spent most of the summer hanging out, both at work and outside of it, and Carlos has never felt more attuned with another person in his entire life. It fills Carlos’s heart to know that there is someone in the world who sees him for everything that he is, and he’s so happy that he met TK this summer.
What he’s not happy about is how TK has been giving him the cold shoulder all day. Sure, he held his hand in the car on the drive to work this morning, TK going on and on about how he couldn’t wait to take Carlos to his favorite sushi restaurant for dinner tonight. But ever since they got to work, walking into the break room to see it decorated for Carlos’s last day, TK has been more distant than usual. They still had lunch together, like they always do, but he barely kept up his end of the conversation, and hardly touched his food. When Carlos asked if everything was okay, TK mumbled something about having a headache before rising from the table, pressing a soft kiss to Carlos’s forehead before leaving.
They haven’t gotten a chance to talk since then, both of them busy with their afternoon tasks. Finally, when the pool has closed for the day and they’ve completed their duties, Dottie sends them all home. She stops to pat him on the arm, a smile on her face.
“It’s been wonderful to have you with us this summer, Carlos,” she says, her voice cheerful as always. “If you’re around again next year, we’d love to see you back.”
“Thanks, Dottie,” he says, “it’s been a really great couple of months.” She gives him a look, like she knows he’s not really talking about the lifeguarding. He flushes under her stare, a blush rising on his cheeks. He and TK haven’t even tried to keep their relationship a secret at work, and he’s sure Dottie has heard some of the break room gossip from the past few weeks. Carlos clears his throat, looking around the room for someone he already knows isn’t there. “Have you seen TK?” he asks.
“Oh, yeah, he asked if he could walk a net through the pool,” she says, rolling her eyes fondly. Carlos knows TK’s like a son to her, and it’s made him try even harder to make a good impression. “I don’t know why he insisted when we have the overnight cleaner, but I have to stick around for another hour anyway to do paperwork, so I told him it was fine.” She gives him another look before turning to move towards her office. Carlos takes a deep breath, steeling himself, before heading back out to the pool.
Even from a distance, Carlos can see that TK isn’t in the pool to clean it. For one, the net is laying off to the side next to the diving board, and the man is nowhere to be seen. Squinting the setting sun, he sees a ripple in the water at the center of the 5ft section. Carlos quickly moves towards that area, pulling his shirt over his head before doing a shallow dive into the water.
When he comes up for air, standing straight to brush his curls back and clear his eyes, he looks over to find that TK has also resurfaced a few feet away. The other man has stripped off his shirt as well, his soft, tanned skin on display as his chest rises and falls from his heavy breathing. Carlos desperately wants to lick the water off his nipples, which have clearly hardened from the temperature change. His eyes rise up to meet TK’s, unsurprised to find them locked on his own chest; TK has told him on more than one occasion how much he loves his body, usually when they’re rolling around in bed. It makes Carlos flush with both embarrassment and pride every time he feels TK’s eyes on him.
He waits, water dripping down his face, as TK takes him in. There’s a tension between them, one that Carlos knows has always been there, from the moment that they met. It’s a comfortable tension now, one that confirms how much they want each other, how compatible they are together. Carlos flexes slightly, feeling his pecs jump at the action, and a wicked smile takes over his face as TK’s gaze flies up to lock on his own, his pupils blown wide with pure want. A moment later, they’re both moving, reaching for each other as their lips crash together in a passionate kiss.
Carlos moans, his tongue sweeping against TK’s as he wraps him tightly in his arms, his hands roaming down his wet back before moving to his brown hair. He tugs gently, hearing TK gasp as Carlos latches on to his bottom lip, pulling at it with his teeth. TK pushes against him, trying to connect every part of their bodies.
With a grunt, Carlos dips down to grab TK’s thighs, pulling them up and around his hips as he takes on his full weight, his hands coming to rest on TK’s ass. The new position changes their heights, and Carlos raises his chin as TK wraps his arms around Carlos’s shoulders, their lips staying connected. When Carlos gently squeezes TK’s ass in his palms, the other man’s reaction is so intense that it causes him to lose balance. Before he can catch himself, they’re falling back into the water.
He feels TK pressed against him as he pushes back to the surface, and when their heads finally break through, TK still has his legs wrapped around Carlos’s waist. He feels hands on his face, brushing water away, and when he opens his eyes again, he’s met with a smiling TK, his face open while his eyes remain closed. Carlos returns the favor, bringing his hands up to brush TK’s hair back, and when he finally opens his eyes, Carlos can’t help but to let out a stuttered breath at their beauty.
“Hi,” he says softly, lowering his hands back down to TK’s hips. He keeps their bodies underwater, happy to wade in the pool with his favorite person in the world wrapped up in his arms.
“Hi,” TK says, his eyes flashing with a brazen look as he smirks. “I really liked what we had going there.”
“Mmm, me too,” Carlos says, darting in to press a quick kiss to the wet lips in front of him. “Almost makes me want to skip the sushi and eat something else for dinner instead,” he says, his eyebrows raising suggestively.
TK’s jaw drops, his voice coming out slightly higher than before. “Carlos Reyes,” he says, unable to stop a smile from taking over his face. “Had I known when I met you what kind of dirty thoughts you had in that pretty head of yours, I—“
“You what, Tyler Kennedy?” Carlos cuts in, his chin jutting forward in defiance.
“I would’ve gotten you in my bed a whole lot sooner,” TK whispers, pressing their foreheads together. Instead of responding, Carlos wraps TK in a tight hug, keeping them close. He loves moments like this, where they can just be together.
They glide through the water in silence, until Carlos finally breaks it, remembering TK’s behavior from earlier in the day. “You wanna tell me what’s been bothering you?”
TK lets out a breath, turning to look out towards the water, the orange glow of the sun burning brightly to the west, giving them a gentle light for this moment. “You can tell me,” Carlos says, staring openly at the man before him.
TK takes a deep breath, visibly swallowing as he opens his mouth to speak. “It’s going to sound like a line, but I don’t think I’m ready for this summer to end.”
Carlos’s brow furrows in confusion, wondering what TK is talking about. “You’re about to start your last year of school,” he states like it’s obvious, dipping his head to try to catch TK’s eye. “That’s really exciting, Ty! What are you not looking forward to?”
TK shakes his head. “It’s more about what might not be a part of it,” he says softly, turning to give Carlos a wide-eyed look, almost like he’s begging him to understand what he’s not saying. For a moment, he still doesn’t get it, but then it suddenly clicks.
For Carlos, the last eleven weeks have been a dream; finding a friend like TK had been the best thing to happen to him in a long time. Then, with that first fiery kiss, he felt like their fate was sealed. Every moment since has been a chance to learn anything and everything about a man that he knows will be a part of his life until his dying day. It just feels certain, like there’s no world where he and TK aren’t a forever kind of thing.
That’s never been something that Carlos has questioned. He’s invited TK over for dinner with his family a few times this summer, and met TK’s dad a number of times, sometimes not in the most innocent way. For him, this summer has been about building something lasting and real; it was never going to be just a summer romance for him. But it’s becoming clear to him now that he never let TK in on that particular secret.
He can see the other man growing anxious in his arms. TK has pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, his eyebrows furrowing as his eyes dart back and forth, never staying in one place for too long. They’re all signs that Carlos has come to recognize as the start of one of his minor panic attacks. Before it can get any worse, Carlos is moving them through the water towards the edge of the pool. He quickly lifts TK up to sit on the concrete, pulling himself out immediately after to sit down next to him, taking his hands in his own. Making sure that TK is looking directly at him, Carlos takes a deep breath and dives in, heart first.
“I’m falling in love with you,” he says, and it’s clearly not what TK was expecting to hear, his face taking on a look of complete shock. Carlos presses forward before he can say anything, wanting to share his whole heart with the man who’s in the process of owning it forever.
“I know we haven’t really talked about it, but from the moment I met you, I’ve wanted to be with you. Every part of me is drawn to every part of you, and these past few months have been like finding the other half of myself. I know this might feel fast and huge, and I’m sorry if that scares you, I never want to scare you, but I don’t want to hide anything from you either. If you’re in, I definitely want to see where this relationship can go.”
He trails off, his chest heaving from the slight terror he feels at having laid his heart between them. He glances over to find TK staring up at him, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Carlos feels him squeeze his hand before TK’s cups his cheek in his palm.
“I’m not scared,” he says, his voice little more than a whisper. “This does feel fast and it feels really huge, but to know that you feel the same way that I do? Carlos, that doesn’t scare me at all. It makes me want you even more, which I didn’t think was possible, but it’s true.”
“What are you saying, Ty?” Carlos asks, needing to hear the words.
With a bright smile, TK reaches around to grip the back of his neck, pulling Carlos in for another sweet kiss. “I’m saying that this was never just a summer fling for me,” he says when they break apart. “And that I’m falling in love with you, too.”
Carlos can feel his heart racing, and he’s sure that if it keeps going, TK will have to perform CPR or something on him, but it doesn’t matter. He’s honestly never been this happy.
For him, it doesn’t matter that the summer is coming to an end, not when the rest of his life is just beginning.