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TK has been acting weird for the past couple of days. Carlos has noticed, of course heʼs noticed. It’s not as if he could ignore the fact that his boyfriend — with whom heʼs pretty much sharing every breathing moment when they’re not on the job now that they live together — has been sneaking out of bed at odd hours for two nights straight and doesn’t come back until a couple of hours have passed. Later during breakfast, TK always looks like he could have used a few more hours of sleep.
On the third day, Carlos snaps as heʼs pouring some orange juice into a tall glass to slide in front of TK, who's asleep over his cereal bowl.
“Baby,” he begins, suddenly unsure about how to approach the subject. He has the feeling that it's a silly thing to point out — maybe TK is just wrapping up his presents. Christmas Eve is the following day, after all. “Whatʼs going on?”
“Nothing,” TK yawns. “Thereʼve been some difficult shifts this week. I am exhausted.”
“Maybe you wouldn’t be so tired if you slept the whole night instead of getting up for hours in the middle of the night,” Carlos can't help but snap. He’s grumpy as well — he doesn’t rest well without the warm weight of TK on top of his chest.
TK almost trips over himself at Carlos’ words, knocking the glass with his elbow but catching it before it can go tumbling down. He nearly falls off the stool in his haste to recover. Carlos sighs — he doesn’t mean to be harsh, but the lack of proper sleep is also taking its toll on him. TK stares up at him with wide eyes; Carlos can practically see the wheels in his mind whirring and overworking to find the proper words to explain.
“Itʼs—it's not what you think,” TK stutters. He even has the decency to look bashful, one hand rubbing the back of his head.
“It looks to me that you're running on little sleep when you could enjoy a full nightʼs rest.” Carlos sighs; he leaves the jug on top of the counter. “You know you can wrap your gifts during the day? Just tell me not to get near you, and I won’t.”
TK looks up at him bewildered. “The gifts?” he asks. “You think this is because of the gifts?” His voice pitches so much that Carlos cringes.
“Yeah?” he offers apologetically. It didn’t even cross his mind that whatever TKʼs doing during the night didn’t have anything to do with gifts or Christmas — Carlos is at a loss for words and ideas right now. The alternative doesn’t sound so appealing. “If it isn’t wrapping gifts, where do you go in the middle of the night?”
TK pouts at him before sighing. “It’s just embarrassing.”
“I will be the judge of that,” Carlos insists, curiosity piqued and nervously bouncing his fingers on the countertop.
“Come with me,” TK says around a yawn, grabbing Carlos’ hand and tugging at it for his boyfriend to follow him. Carlos obliges, if only because he wants to solve the mystery that keeps TK up at odd hours every night.
TK leads him to the living room, where Carlos doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary — except for the Christmas tree they put up together a week and a half before, laughing merrily around hanging ornaments and singing carols way off-key. TK kneels on the couch, leaning into the back until he’s almost perched over it — Carlos can see nothing until TK straightens once again, a handful of DVD cases clutched between his fingers.
“What is this?” Carlos asks, curiosity coloring his voice. There’s no judgment in his words, just a sudden need to understand why a few cases are the answer to his question.
“I, uh,” TK rubs the back of his neck with his free hand, blushing slightly. “I didn’t really have normal Christmas traditions growing up. My parents were always too busy. Mom was always traveling, and Dad. Well, Dad would always work throughout the holidays, so we had this weird tradition that we’ve kept up all these years. Whenever he came home from whatever shift he’d been working, we would watch Die Hard. Every single movie.” TK chuckles, shaking his head. “It’s silly, but these past few years I have been working around Christmas and we would end up watching the films at three or four in the morning, several years in a row. I think—I think it’s kind of our thing, now, and I didn’t want to give up on that.”
Carlos just stares at him, mouth open in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he says, sucking his bottom lip between his lips. “I would have shared that tradition with you!”
“And make you wake up at an ungodly hour for three days just to watch a silly action movie franchise with me? Your work hours have been crazy this week.”
“So have yours,” Carlos gently points out. “I want to share everything with you, TK. Even your weird traditions. And if that means watching action movies at three in the morning with you, well, I’d better invest in a silent microwave so we don’t wake up the neighbors when we make popcorn.”
TK laughs, sounding both startled and breathless. He looks up at Carlos with awe in his eyes — and a wetness that Carlos has come to associate to the way TK doesn’t quite believe that Carlos loves him back. As if Carlos could have felt different at any given time — falling for TK had been fast, hard and easy, and it still is. Carlos doesn’t think there will ever be a time when he doesn’t love Tyler Kennedy Strand.
“Would you watch those movies with me? For real?” he asks, like a child who can’t quite believe he’s getting his wish granted.
“Of course,” Carlos reassures him. “I’m sorry I missed the first two, but tonight we will watch at least one. Tell me the time and I will set up an alarm.”
“What have I done to deserve you?” TK mutters, flinging himself toward Carlos, who catches him easily.
They kiss for a brief moment before Carlos pulls away, the sudden motion earning a disgruntled complaint from his boyfriend, but he has to — he’s just remembered something he’s been too embarrassed to ask for, but maybe now’s the right time.
“I was enjoying that!” TK huffs in protest.
“Me too.” Carlos smiles at him before continuing, “I have something to ask of you, though. It’s kind of a tradition of mine, too, and since we’re all about sharing strange traditions...”
“It can’t be worse than watching action movies at three in the morning,” TK reminds him.
“That’s not bad! But mine is, uh, let’s say it’s not common,” Carlos feels himself blushing. “Now it’s my turn to be embarrassed, it seems.”
“Just tell me. I promise not to laugh.”
Carlos arches an eyebrow at TK, fully aware that he won’t keep that promise. TK Strand is well known for not being able to contain his mockery when he finds something funny. It’s part of the charm that enamored Carlos.
“Okay, okay,” TK concedes, lifting his hands and cupping Carlos’ neck. “I promise not to laugh much.”
“When I was a kid, I used to go to the mall the day before Christmas Eve with my mother and my sister. You know, one of the busiest days of the year?” He waits for TK to nod before plunging into the tradition he wants to share. “We simply sat down there, on one of the benches in the mall, with a drink. I always got hot chocolate with cinnamon, I love that. And then we just. We remained there, watching people run from one store to the other, and we made up stories about what they were getting, who they were and who those gifts were for.”
TK looks at him in silence for a few minutes, his scrutinizing gaze making Carlos squirm. He doesn’t know if he overshared, or if it actually is as silly and childish as it sounded in his brain. But when TK speaks up, it’s with a big grin and a gentle shove on Carlos’ arm. “Why didn’t you say anything?” he chides Carlos. “My shift ends right after lunch, I can totally go with you to the mall and stare at people while trying to make out what their lives are like!”
Carlos shakes his head at TK, amazed at this wonderful human being he calls his. “I love you, you know that, right?”
“And I love you too, you sap,” TK pecks him on the cheek. “You know, maybe later we can start some traditions of our own?” he adds, wiggling his eyebrows at Carlos and making him laugh.
Carlos finds, unsurprisingly like everything that has to do with TK, that he’s willing to start anything as long as he has his boyfriend by his side.