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TK hears Carlos’ soft knocking on the other side of the bathroom door. He’s been in the bathroom longer than usual; something that clearly has not gone over Carlos’ head. He is supposed to be getting ready to go to Judd and Grace’s house for a holiday get together, but instead he finds himself unable to move from his position in front of the sink.
“TK? Are you almost ready to go?”
He had been looking forward to getting out and socializing with his team outside of the firehouse. Not to mention, he’s also excited that Carlos agreed to come with him. He already knows his boyfriend gets along with everyone on his team, but that doesn’t stop the butterflies in his stomach every time he watches the man he loves interact with people he considered close enough to be his family.
The only issue was that the entire day he’s felt like absolute shit.
A factor in which so far he’s been able to cover up amidst the craziness of Carlos just getting off his shift, both working around each other to get ready and make it to the Ryder home on time.
But when he finally gets a moment alone in the bathroom, his symptoms begin to catch up with him.
Staring at his reflection in the mirror he can tell his face is more flushed than usual. A characteristic which goes right along with the dark circles hanging under his eyes and the beads of sweat pooling on his forehead.
God, is it hot in here?
He honestly feels like he’s been run over by a truck and would love nothing more than to crawl back into bed and take a nice long nap. But instead, he splashes a little water on his face and gives Carlos a quick “be right out.”
Opening the door, he nearly bumps into Carlos who is standing right outside. TK can’t help but notice that the other man is wearing his favorite green sweater, the one he claims to love so much because it is the same shade as TK’s eyes. Though his usual suave charm is thrown off by the odd look he is giving TK.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah!” TK answers quickly with an exaggerated cheeriness to hopefully cover the way his voice shook.. He tries to move past the other man but is stopped when Carlos places his hand on his forehead.
Almost instantly, Carlos pulls his hand back and his eyebrows scrunch together in worry. “Jesus Christ, TK. You’re burning up.”
“Really? I feel fine,” he lies through his teeth, even though he can tell Carlos is not buying it. “Seriously, I’m ready to go now.”
Carlos just shakes his head. “No way. I don’t think you’re going anywhere”
TK groans and rolls his eyes.
“Why don’t you get comfortable and I’ll make us some hot chocolate, okay?”
“You don’t have to do that. You can still go if you want to, I’ll be fine.” TK suggests, even though he knows Carlos has no intention of leaving him alone tonight.
Carlos shakes his head. “Nope, staying in with you is exactly what I want to do.”
TK gives a small smile before heading to their bedroom. Getting undressed he immediately feels a chill run through him; the heat he previously felt radiating through his body just a few minutes earlier now gone as quickly as it had come on.
He picks out a pair of comfortable sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. Shivering again, he hesitates before grabbing one of Carlos’ hoodies that is just perfect in the way the sleeves hang below his fingertips and cocoons him like a hug. Sliding it over his head, he inhales the familiar scent of the fabric, loving the way it smells just like Carlos. While he could have easily chosen one of his many hoodies, there's just something about the comfort he feels when wearing one of Carlos that he needs tonight.
At first he thinks Carlos might not even notice, especially since this is by far the first time TK has stolen one of his hoodies. Though, his hope is short-lived because as soon as he walks into the kitchen Carlos does a double take before smirking. “Are you wearing one of my hoodies?”
TK shrugs. “I was cold.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I made hot chocolate then,” Carlos says, smiling and handing him a mug. “I also turned the fireplace on.”
Looking towards the living room, sure enough TK notices the electric fireplace is now burning in a bright orange glow.
TK stared at it for a second, having previously thought it only served to collect dust. “I think that’s the first time I’ve seen that thing on.”
“Figured it would set the mood for tonight,” Carlos smiles, taking TK’s hand and leading him into the room. “And considering you’re cold, it looks like I made the right choice.”
Placing their mugs on the coffee table, they settle on the couch and TK immediately curls up into Carlos. Though they are close enough to feel the heat from the fireplace, TK feels another chill run through his body.
“Oh, baby,” Carlos says tenderly, pulling TK even closer. “You really must be running a fever. You’re giving off a lot of heat.”
“Yeah? I’m really cold.”
“I can tell. Do you want any medicine?”
TK shakes his. “I’m okay, I just want to cuddle with you.”
“Okay, we can just put a movie on then,” Carlos suggests, placing a soft kiss on TK’s head before reaching for the remote with one arm while keeping the other firmly wrapped around TK. He scrolls through their list of movies for a bit before finally settling on Elf ; a film TK remembers them previously agreeing was the best Christmas movie of all time.
Carlos sets the remote back down and picks up his mug of hot chocolate, before leaning back into the couch. TK would reach for his own mug, knowing that the warm beverage would be a great way to calm his chattering teeth, but he also does not want to move from his spot nuzzled in Carlos’ shoulder.
Besides, between the crackling fire and Carlos’ oversized sweatshirt hugging his body in all the right spots he figures he has everything he needs to stay comfortable for a while.
At some point he must have dozed off because the next thing he knows the room is much darker than before and the credits of the film are rolling. He also does not feel as bad as he did a few hours ago. While the fatigue is still present throughout his body, at least he’s no longer shaking nor sweating.
Turning to Carlos to make some comment about how he slept through the whole movie, he stops and smiles when he notices the other man is also fast asleep.
How did he get so lucky?
Though the night did not go exactly as it was planned and he was looking forward to seeing Carlos interact with his team, he felt a feeling of warmth wash over him that Carlos would choose to spend the night in taking care of him over going to a party.
He smiles before snuggling up close to Carlos yet again with the fire still crackling in the background, and he knows he has everything he needs.