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"It's so beautiful out here tonight." TK mused as he stared at the stars.
"Very beautiful, I agree." Carlos smiled, looking directly at TK.
"If I turn my head and you are looking at me then you really are the cheesiest boyfriend ever." TK laughed and turned his head.
"Maybe I am but you love me for it." Carlos laughed and leaned in and kissed TK softly.
"I really do." TK smiled into the kiss and moved so he was resting his head on Carlos' chest now.
"I love you too Ty, happy anniversary." Carlos wrapped his arms around TK and watched the stars, listening to TK spouting off random facts with a smile on his face.
When Carlos decided to go to a college far away from Austin he had never imagined finding someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with but he had almost straight away and he never wanted to let TK go.
----
Carlos snapped out of his daydream when his partner dropped some files on the desk in front of him and gave Lexi a sheepish look. "Sorry I got lost in a memory, it's mine and TK's anniversary today."
"You mean you and the boy that is definitely not your boyfriend, he just has a key to your house, stays there at least three times a week because you have planned dinners together and do all of the things couples do, that TK?" Lexi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No I meant TK from accounting, he and I started dating a year ago today, did I not tell you?" Carlos deadpanned and checked the time on his phone.
"Alright no need to get sassy with me Reyes." Lexi rolled her eyes fondly as she saw Carlos' lockscreen which of course was a photo of him and TK.
"You got any plans for the night?"
"We both have late shifts but finish around the same time so I'll pick him up from the station and we're going to this field that gives you a perfect view of the night sky and the stars." Carlos hadn't gone stargazing for years, it never felt the same going without TK.
"I don't understand y'all, what about that isn't a relationship?"
"TK isn't ready for a relationship right now and I respect that, we're going at his pace." Carlos explained, he knew that to an outsider their relationship was confusing, he got confused himself sometimes but it worked for them.
"Does TK realise that y'all are basically already in a relationship again? At this point the only thing y'all haven't done is kiss or have sex."
Carlos looked away from Lexi and picked up a file to flip through. "Yeah totally, we haven't done that."
Lexi sighed and shook her head. "You are a terrible liar when it comes to TK."
"It was just one time, well two times but that was the morning after but that's all!" Carlos dropped the file and groaned.
"He made a joke about becoming a Reyes in a few years time at dinner last week."
"I'm officially done trying to work out this whole thing now because how did y'all get to the reunion sex stage and then just move past it and going back to the friends stage but at the same time be planning your married future?" Lexi sighed and picked up her empty coffee mug.
"Good luck planning your anniversary with your best friend." Lexi got up and grabbed Carlos' empty mug before leaving.
Carlos sighed and picked his phone up again when it buzzed, smiling when he saw a text from TK, they didn't need to label anything just yet, they had all the time in the world.
----
Carlos looked up when the 126 engine got to the scene and headed over so he could brief Owen on the situation.
"Be careful Ty." Carlos said after he'd briefed Owen, TK taking the battering ram out of the truck.
"I promise I will be as careful as I can, can't miss out on stargazing on our anniversary can I?" TK grinned and squeezed Carlos' hands before rushing off to join the team.
Carlos watched TK and the rest of the 126 go into the house and let out a breath to centre himself, there was no fire so hopefully that meant no danger.
"I've finished taking the statements from the couple and once the 126 finish up we can head back to the station and write up everything and hopefully still get you out on time for your boy." Lexi said, walking up to Carlos and placing a hand on his arm.
"Reports are the wo-" Carlos froze when he heard the gunshot and tried to run inside, Lexi's hand on his arm pulling him back.
"TK is inside, let me go!" Carlos pleaded, he knew he could get out of Lexi's grip but he also knew why she wasn't letting him.
"Two officers already headed inside as soon as the gun went off and if your boy is the one that got hurt then Michelle is already inside with him." Lexi said calmly, she knew the odds weren't looking good right now, TK had the battering ram so he would've been the first one through the door, she just prayed that he survived.
"You need to breathe with me Reyes, you won't be any use to your boy if you don't breathe."
Carlos let out a shaky breath and kept his eyes on the front door of the house, the next few minutes being the longest of his life before he saw TK being pushed out on a gurney, feeling his legs give out under him.
"He's alive Reyes, focus on that, he's alive and he's on his way to the hospital." Lexi crouched down to join Carlos on the ground and rubbed his arm gently.
"TK is strong and he'll fight to get back to you, he loves you and you need to hold onto that."
"He loved me before but we had to leave each other after college, life doesn't care about these things."
"And you found each other again, TK isn't going to leave you, not when he only just got you back." Lexi said gently and sat with Carlos for a few minutes, he was in shock and she didn't want to push him.
"I need to get to the hospital, I don't want him to think I'm not coming." Carlos wiped at his eyes and shakily stood up.
"First we're going to head back to the station to let our Captain know that you are going to need the rest of the week off and then I'll drive you to the hospital myself."
----
Carlos stood at his locker at work and stared at the clothes hanging inside for him to change into.
"Everything alright Reyes? I thought you would've been changed by now." Lexi asked as she stopped next to him.
"The hospital just phoned, I'm TK's emergency contact and I'm not there so they phoned me to tell me about the accident." Carlos said quietly.
"They said that he's in a coma, the bullet hit his chest and he had to have surgery, happy anniversary to us right?" Carlos let out a bitter laugh and shut his locker.
"He's still alive and he's still fighting, that's what you need to focus on, he's going to make it through this."
"Are you going to open up your locker again and get changed to go and see your boy?" Lexi asked when Carlos didn't move.
"I can't wear that outfit, it was meant for our anniversary not the hospital." Carlos shook his head.
"How about you stay in your uniform for now and I'll drop by your house and pick you up a change of clothes?" Lexi suggested, guiding Carlos out of the room.
Carlos nodded and followed Lexi to their patrol car.
"Thank you for staying with me." Carlos said quietly as Lexi parked in the hospital parking lot.
"We're partners, we have each other's back." Lexi assured. "I'll be back soon with a change of clothes, is there anything else you want?"
"TK he um, he always leaves at least one hoodie lying around so if you see one can you bring it?"
"Of course and I'll bring you something small to eat and before you say you aren't hungry, you need to keep your energy up, what would your boy say when he wakes up and you haven't eaten anything?"
"He'd go on a rant about how important nutrition is and I'd sit there and roll my eyes fondly because sometimes it's me telling him that he needs to eat more." Carlos said with a sad smile.
----
Carlos approached the hospital room slowly, hovering near the doorway when he saw Owen was sitting with TK.
"Carlos son, come in, TK will be happy to know that you are here." Owen said when he looked up and noticed him.
"I don't want to impose."
"Carlos you are family, you could never impose." Owen assured, standing up and walking over to him.
"I'll be right outside if you need me." Owen hugged him before leaving to join the team that was camped out in the waiting area.
Carlos approached the hospital bed slowly, reaching for TK's hand as soon as he was seated.
"You know if you didn't want to go stargazing you could've just said, you didn't have to go through all of this." Carlos said with a sad smile, stroking his thumb across his hand.
"You said recently that I don't have to worry about you because you'll always try your hardest to make it back to me and while I'm definitely worried right now, I know you'll make it back to me, you don't break your promises."
Carlos wiped at his tears and squeezed TK's hand. "I'll be right here waiting for you."
----
Carlos looked up from where he was stroking his fingers through TK's hair when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up and saw Paul, not noticing Marjan and Mateo for a few more seconds.
"TK was really excited for tonight, he kept talking about how much he missed stargazing with you and how much he loved doing it in college." Mateo said after a few moments.
"Probie!" Marjan said in a stern whisper, not wanting Carlos to get upset.
"No it's okay, it's nice to know that he was as excited as I was." Carlos smiled sadly and looked away from TK.
"We didn't get to stargaze as much as we wanted to in college but whenever we did it was special, towards the end when we were too busy with studying and exams we didn't have much time to do anything but on our last night we lay under the stars for hours." Carlos said with a fond smile, neither of them wanted that night to end because when it did it meant they finally had to face the reality of college almost being over.
"TK always has that same smile on his face whenever he talks about you, Judd teases him about it all the time." Paul laughed, it was a daily occurrence at this point, TK would get heart eyes talking about Carlos and then Judd would tease him like any older brother would and then TK would pout about it.
"He loves you and he's going to wake up soon and be the one to tell you that." Marjan said softly, her hand on TK's leg, looking at her friend with a small smile.
"Did TK tell you about the photo Paul took of y'all?" Marjan asked as she reached for her phone. "It's from when y'all went clubbing together."
Carlos shook his head and accepted the phone as Marjan handed it to him. "He didn't say anything, probably didn't want me to feel embarrassed, I wasn't overly into pda much at college half the time."
Carlos looked at the photo and let out a small "oh" he hadn't expected it to be so romantic, they both looked so happy. "Can you send me this?"
Marjan smiled and nodded, sending the photo to Carlos as soon as he'd handed the phone back to her. "We're all rooting for the two of you."
"Thank you, that means a lot coming from TK's family." Carlos smiled. "You know he talks about y'all all the time over dinner?"
"He does? All good stuff I hope?" Paul asked with a small laugh, TK was very much the little brother of the crew, being the big brother to Mateo only.
"Oh yeah, he loves working with y'all." Carlos smiled and started telling them some of the stories TK had told him recently, happy that he wasn't alone during this and that TK was surrounded by so many people that loved him.