#AS SOON AS TK CAME OUT OH HE TAKING A BUMP

[aerodaltonimperial]

THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO FUCKING WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

[child-of-of-the-sunshine]

As soon as I walked through the school gates, I started scanning the crowd for Belle. It’s crazy that I’ve only known her since August, the three months feeling more like three years with how close we’ve become.

Tonight her parents were finally letting her walk to the firehouse after school with me, since we’re going to have a sleepover. Finally, I spot her at her locker, taking out her books for her first class. With a grin, I sneak up beside her before hugging her from behind.

“I’m so excited!” I almost squeal into her ear as Belle laughs in surprise, turning around to hug me properly.

"I can't believe your parents finally agreed to this," I said super excited

"I can't wait to meet the people you talk about all the time," she laughed as we started walking to class

Through the day me and Belle stuck to together, but during lunch one the football players came up to me

“You know it’s that your parents didn’t love you enough, so your in foster care,” He said laughing with his friends

I balled my fist by my side “My parents did love, they died in a house fire. That I almost ran into that fire,”

“Back off,” Belle yelled grabbing our stuff walking us out of the lunch room

After that the school day seemed to go really slow once the bell rang at the end of the day. We ran to our lockers and out of the building. We started walking to the station when my phone dinged

I looked at the message and saw it was Tk that messaged “Tk says he got called out medical he will be an hour probably,” I said thinking of somethings I have heard from the 126 about a few of the medical calls they have gotten. It made me little worried

We continued to the station, once we got there the ambulance wasn't back yet, I expected it not to be back yet

Paul walked up to us from doing something to one the trucks “Who’s this?" He asked

“My emotional support human, No Paul this Amelia, Amelia this Paul” I said jokingly

“Wait I thought you were my emotional support human,” She said jokingly as we hip bumpped

I humed in response to her, I didn’t see Owen until spoke

“Mel who is this,” Owen asked

“You guys act like you haven't talked about this sleepover for two weeks,” I said a little annoyed at Owen not knowing that this was who I was close to at school. Not that he really has made an effort with me hostly.

“Oh hey Belle,” Judd said with a smile.

I wished Owen was Little more like Judd who would pick me from school if tk or Carlos couldn't. Judd always wants to know what's happening in my school life. He also was excited when I made a friend like Tk and Carlos. Owen never really asked me those questions or had picked me up from school.

“Hey Judd,” She said as more people like Marjan and Mateo came into the kitchen. Everyone looked at us confused by Judd knowing her name.

Marjan asked the question everyone wanted to ask “What, how does judd know her,”

“He took us ridding last weekend,” I said

I looked over at the bay door remembering when I told Tk about that day he thought it was funny that I fell into a pond to see pond

“It was so cool Mel jumped over a log,” Belle said happily

I rejoined the conversation hearing one of my many nicknames “Yep,” Still a little mad about what happened at lunch today but nobody picked up on my change in mood and I was glad no one picked up in my mood change, I really didn't want to answer those questions or why kept looking at the bay door

“And here thought Tk was a wild child,” Owen said joking

We all laughed at Owens joke but I never found it funny. I heard the backup beeper on ambulance and my mood improved a little knowing maybe I could tell tk about what happened

Belle looked me at already catching on to my mood change from lunch “Wait how much longer is this shift,”

“Like three hours,” I said, disappointed not that I didn't want to be with the firehouse family. I just wanted be at home

“Oh.” She said sighing

I heard the ambulance door open

“That was a weird call.” Nancy said

“Yep.” Tk said

“When is Lia coming?” Tommy asked

“Hm she should be here.” Tk said I watched tk turn around and head towards the kitchen

“Hey Mel.” Tk said

“Hey Tk.” I said trying to act normal like nothing was wrong

Tk walked over Tk hugged me once he got over to us, I was relieved that Tk was okay. He also gave me a look that brushed off, “So you guys have homework?” He asked

“Yeah.” I said still not happy about lunch earlier today

“Health homework. I just don’t get why people do drugs,” Belle said, tilting the page to show TK.

Belle frowns, watching as TK’s expression falters, eyes growing dark just long enough to notice it.

“Sometimes it’s chasing that first high,” TK says after a moment of hesitation, turning away from the paper.

Owen frowns, watching his son busy himself at the counter.

“Or is it just the feeling they get when they take it?” Belle questions, picking up her pen. The conversation drops, and Belle feels the tension in the air as Owen looks at her carefully. “Have I said something wrong?”

“Even though it can kill them,” Owen said, clearly trying to say anything to make it less weird as he sends an anxious look towards his son. Part of me is surprised how well he’s taking it. Out of the pair of us, he’s the only one who witnessed the true extent of TK’s downfall.

Belle hums in response, still blissfully unaware of the tension flowing through the conversation.

Taking in a deep breath, I prepare myself for the explanation clearly no one else is willing to give.

“I’m sorry no one’s mentioned it, but back in New York TK had his own issues with this stuff,” I start, waving vaguely at the homework sitting in front of us. I chanced a glance up at TK as I paused, seeing him pointedly looking away, his fingers tapping nervously against the counter.

“Oh,” Belle breathed out. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

TK turns around at that, rejoining the conversation as I search his eyes for any remaining discomfort. As he speaks, however, he seems almost uneasily calm.

“Well, two years sober now,” TK grins, shrugging lightly in the way I know means he’s still uneasy about the topic of conversation.

I was about to respond, to say anything to change the subject, when the firehouse bell does the job for me.

TK pauses, tilting his head as he listens to the intercom.

“Medical and fire call,” Owen nods, standing up as people begin rushing to the trucks.

“Keep working on that homework,” TK calls, jumping in the back of the ambulance and slamming the door closed before I get the chance to respond.

“Got it,” I say to Belle more than anyone as I watch the ambulance pull out of the station.

As much as I feel bad for the turn the conversation took, I know TK is strong, and I know he’ll be ok.

After they left Belle was looking at Amalia for something anything

"Tk hates me now," she said not looking away from her paper

"Elle, he doesn't hate you. Like I said he had his own issue with this stuff back in New York. But he's okay now," I said, trying to convince myself that Tk was okay. I hated seeing the light disappear from his eyes how it did

"It was like something happened," She said still not looking up from her paper

"Elle let me tell you something it took Tk all summer to sit me down and tell me about what happened to him in New York and why he did it," I said trying to think of away to put it together

"Why," She asked finally looking up at me

"I don't know why," I said thinking back to when he told me, I was wanting to cry again at the thought that I almost didn't meet Tk or Carlos because of that

"You okay Amelia?" She questioned noticeing my eyes were glossy

"Yeah," I said smiling at her

We got to work on our homework and by the time the bay doors opened up, I was helping Belle English

"Okay so think of it like a riding," I said trying to help in anyway I could

"I give up with freshmen english," belle said throwing her hands up

"Same," I said laying on the floor basically down with English at this point in time

"My brain hurts," Belle said joining me in the floor on the kitchen

“Too much homework,” I said groni

I heard footsteps coming toward us “There out on a call if you here to kidnap us one of my foster parents is a cop,” I said not even looking up to who it was

“He know where I live,” Owen said

“You girls okay,” Paul asked worried

“Does the fact that I kinda give up on english sound like I’m okay?” I asked sitting up

“No,” Paul said

“So no I want to throw all of my english out window,” I said grabbing my stuff and putting it in my backpack

“That sound aggressive,” Tk said with a smile

“Yes because for reason the teacher think it take a week to read and write a book report,” Belle said angrily

“What’s the book?” Owen asked raising an eyebrow

“The Scarlet Letter,” I said not wanting to do anything with the book

“Oh,” Owen said still confused on what the big deal was and why me and Belle did not want to do it

“Let me say that it’s romance and the boys in our class make it impossible to read. Because they are immature and think everything is funny.” I said think back to 5 period and the boys laughing about the book

“So the boys are to immature to be reading a coming of age book,” Tk said trying not to laugh at what was happening

I started thinking about what one of them said today I'm class when told them shut up, I didn't realize I started crying

“Amelia?" Belle asked worried

“What happened at school?” Judd asked going to some kinda of over protective uncle mode

“One of the boys said her parents didn't love her or she wouldn’t be in foster care,” Belle said sadly grabbing my hand

“What,” Everyone said shocked

“I said they did love me and they died in a house fire, that I almost ran into.” I said starting to get upset with more tears falling down my face

Tk walked over and hugged me. This was first time anyone had seen him comforting me, besides Carlos when I first started living with them I had nightmares and Tk was the first one into my room and telling me everything was going to be okay

"Hey Mel everything's going to be okay," he whispered kissing my head

After Tk's shift was over we went home and Tk started helping us with English before we ordered pizza for dinner

"Do we need hide evidence," I asked

"No that's only at my dad's house," Tk said laughing

"Why would you need to hide evidence?" Belle questioned us

P.O.V Carlos

I had long day just want some peace knowing I was not about to get any now that I was home,

"No Christmas music is for December," Tk said sounding happy

"No the day after Thanksgiving you start that is when you start country Christmas," Amelia said

"And you start with Ralynn," Belle said

"What's going on here?" I questioned

"They think Christmas can be listened to before December," Tk said smirking

"It can," I said

"See even Carlos agrees," Amelia said

"I never said that," I said raising my eyebrow

I had no idea what I was dragged into by the girls and Tk

“What was I dragged into,” I asked very confused

“THe girls think you can listen to christmas music before the 1st of December,” TK said

“It’s not against the law,” I said

“He would tk he’s the cop,” Belle said laughing

“It better not snow,” Tk said

“God please no,” I said

“How worried we’re you again?” Tk asked

“More worried then when you were shot or kidnapped by those people,” I said

“Wait, you were shot!” Amelia said surprised

“Yes,” I said

“How exactly?” Belle asked worried

“Kid thought I was an intruder shot with his grandfather's gun. I also almost quite being Firefighter,” Tk said

“But your really good paramedic,” Amelia said with a smile

“So you have told me a million times,” Tk said rolling his eyes, after the girls went upstairs the for night I could Tk wanted to tell me something

"What are you thinking?" I asked grabbing his hand

Tk looked up at me "I want to adopt her," he smiled

"What," I said shocked

"I love having her here," He smiled Again

"Tk I am totally in bored with this," I smiled

back

"Also I was thinking about my past today and how if wasn't for my dad finding me on the ground, I wouldn't have met you or Amelia," he said sadly looking down at the counter

I looked at Tk with the Carlos cow eyes before saying "hey Babe look at me,"

He didn't look up at me for awhile

"Don't give those eyes," he said not looking up still

I walked around the counter to him and lifted his head up "Why did you think of your past today?" I asked

P.O.V Amelia

Me and Belle were on my bed talking about random stuff when she asked if I was going to stay with Tk and Carlos

I had a moment of hesitation before responding " I don't know. I hope so I really like the people at the 126 they treat like they've known me for years,"

"So you want them to adopt you?" She asked reading my face

I was kinda nervous to say to my answer but I went for it "my parents after my older sister died when I was eight, they never really cared about me to much, it's nice having parents that care about me and my well being," I was shocked at what I said honestly I called them my parents it wasn't the first time but never really I always said foster parents never just parents

[bluenet13]

Hay Amor en Todas Partes (Part 1/2)

Written for @badthingshappenbingo

Fandom: 9-1-1: Lone Star

Characters: T.K. Strand, Carlos Reyes, Firehouse 126 Crew

Prompt: Losing Their Temper

Summary: After a night out, Carlos and TK encounter two men with nothing good to say. When tempers flare, punches fly, chaos ensues, and two become six, leaving Carlos and TK at their mercy.

Links: ff.net - AO3

*This story contains harsh language so please check the AO3 tags and take that into consideration before deciding to read or skip. Title comes from the song "En Todas Partes" from the movie ‘Habana Blues’ and translate to 'there is love everywhere'.*

Hand in hand Carlos and TK made their way from the bar to the adjacent parking lot located next to the building. After a night of dancing, and silent whispering and small talk tucked together in a booth in the back of the bar, the boys carried themselves with extra swagger tonight. Hips bumping against each other every few seconds and matching loopy smiles on their faces as they practically ran to the Camaro giggling like two teenagers who had just spent their first night out without parental supervision.

For Carlos and TK this wasn't their first outing, but forever basking in their love, every night still felt like the first. They just couldn't get enough of each other. And right now, they just couldn't wait to get home to continue their amazing night with the things they couldn't do in public. But their plan came crashing down as soon as they rounded the corner and saw a man leaning casually against Carlos' Camaro.

Thinking they were about to get mugged, Carlos quickly pulled TK slightly behind him, as his other hand slowly reached for his gun. But his fingers only caressed empty air, making Carlos curse silently, remembering he wasn't packing a piece. When he had first met TK he still carried his weapon with him every time he went out with Michelle or any of her 126 friends, but after his boyfriend was shot by a child they had both unspokenly decided it was best for Carlos to leave it at home when he was off shift. The decision had felt natural after they had been victims of gun violence but, right about now, Carlos was really regretting that choice.

Thinking that his precious Camaro wasn't nearly worth as much as the boy standing to his side, Carlos decided to turn around and head back to the bar, but out of the corner of his eye he saw another man now blocking their path. "Don't struggle, and just give them whatever they want," Carlos said softly, making an act of kissing TK as he whispered close to his ear. "Please." TK was a hothead on the best of days, so Carlos didn't want to take any chances.

With no way out, Carlos and TK just continued forward, stopping as soon as they reached the man who pushed himself off the car and looked at them up and down a few times.

"Listen, man, we don't want any trouble," Carlos began, already getting his wallet and phone out of his pocket. He was about to hand them to the man willingly, but stopped shortly as soon as his easy smile turned into a vicious grin.

"Did you hear that, Aaron? Boy thinks we want to rob him," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

A voice laughed from behind, making TK and Carlos flinch.

Turning around Carlos sighed as he saw the other man, Aaron, was no longer in the far corner of the building, and now stood just a few feet away, basically surrounding them.

"I wouldn't dare touch either of those," Aaron sneered, a look of disgust on his face as he stared at Carlos' hand which still held out his phone and wallet. "It's not enough to come here and take what's ours, but now you accuse us of wanting to take it back by force?"

"I didn't say anything," Carlos explained softly, sticking his things back in his pocket and carefully raising his hands. "Just let us pass and we will be out of your hair."

"Really? Will you return where you really belong?"

Feeling TK tense at his side, Carlos sent him a side glance that he hoped conveyed a warning. "I don't know what you mean." He tried to step around the man, wanting to reach the car and stop this before it escalated any further. But he just took a step to his right, again blocking Carlos' path.

"No? Let me make it clear then. You really want to get out of our hair? Then cross the border and get the hell out of our country."

Taking in the words, Carlos' heart began beating a little more rapidly as he realized with a sinking feeling that this was looking less like a mugging and disturbingly more like a hate crime. But seeing TK's fingers twitch, Carlos pushed his own emotions down and grabbed his hand and squeezed, trying to calm him down.

"Okay, I will." His tone was clipped, already used to dealing with racist assholes like this and just wanting to get home in one piece alongside his boyfriend.

"He was born in Texas, you know?" TK snapped, pulling his hand out of Carlos' grasp and taking a step forward, fists opening and closing at his sides.

"It's not worth it, T," Carlos hissed, not wanting to give these men the benefit of even hearing TK's name.

"So you have a voice," the first man said, turning his attention to TK, who only smiled, glad to have the man's focus on him now, "and here I was thinking this was some sort of hostage situation or case of Stockholm syndrome."

"Because why else would a Patriot like you be with someone like him," Aaron taunted. "But why are we even surprised, Sean? What did we expect of two fa-"

"I think you've said enough," Carlos deadpanned, cutting the familiar slur short. His nostrils still flared, not because he had never heard it before, oh he had, from hateful assholes like these, and even from family members. So he knew how to let the words roll, but TK came from a place that he assumed was more accepting, and he wasn't sure if he had ever experienced something like this.

Turning to TK, he recognized the itch to fight in his eyes and his mind flashed back to that night in the police station and the way TK had looked after getting in a fight at a bar. So he placed what he hoped would be a calming hand on TK's shoulder and squeezed, trying to ground his boyfriend and bring him back from the edge.

"Not so brave are you now?" Sean continued to focus on TK "Do you want to hit us boy?" He looked at his fists, now clenched so tightly that his knuckles looked white, and chuckled.

"Please, just let us go, we-" Carlos tried, doing his best to stay civil, knowing this was his last chance to stop the confrontation that was getting closer.

"You come here to spread your fucking fairy dust all over our bar and just expect us to do nothing about it?" Sean wondered, cutting Carlos off. "And you," he turned to look at TK, "it's not enough to betray your race but you also have to turn back on the mere fact you're a man."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Aaron offered with a sick smile, "I think this one here is the little bitch in this twisted relationship so that last part is debatable at best."

With that Carlos saw red and he wasn't even sure what happened next. He just knew his knuckles now hurt, and Aaron had a hand on his cheek and a murderous look on his face.

Carlos hadn't even been surprised at the last comment, because already racist and homophobic, it only made sense to have all three strikes and be sexist too. But he couldn't stand the love of his life to be ridiculed in front of him.

Staring at Carlos with wide eyes, TK both looked surprised and turned on because it wasn't like his usually calm and stoic boyfriend to lose his temper like that. TK grabbed Carlos' hand and squeezed in silent comfort. The gesture made Carlos turn to look at his boyfriend and Carlos and TK locked eyes for a moment, a silent promise passing between them as they exchanged a simple nod.

But the brief connection was broken as Aaron scratched his throat, so TK dropped Carlos' hand, and squared his shoulders, bracing himself for what he knew was coming. Carlos followed suit, feeling confident about their chances because the upside of their jobs was that it kept them in shape and stronger than the average man.

"And that was a mistake," Aaron hissed, his tone laced with as much hatred as Carlos and TK had ever felt directed at them. Then he signaled behind them and just like that four other men seemingly materialized out of nowhere, completely surrounding them and cutting off any possibility of escape.

Sighing, Carlos risked a look at TK and saw all his previous confidence evaporate, his green eyes not losing their resolve, but he now looked at the scene in front of them with more apprehension than before, and with, what Carlos dared think, was a little fear too. Because they both felt they could surely take on these two, but six against two was less than favorable odds.

Aaron took a step forward and swung his arm at Carlos but TK stepped in the way, using one hand to block the punch, and the other to throw his own right hook. But the strength of Aaron's fist had made him stumble so his hit didn't carry as much weight and the man recovered quickly. Pouncing again, Aaron threw another quick punch, catching TK on the nose, startling him as his vision blurred.

Shaking his head to clear it, TK prepared to attack again but a groan sounded from his side, and he turned around to see Carlos doubled over, a hand on his abdomen and his breathing coming in small gasps. The moment of distraction was enough for Aaron to get the upper hand and hit T.K. again, this time on his temple, making him stumble again, this time right into the grasp of two of the new men, and before he knew what was happening TK was being pushed until his face slammed into the hood of the Camaro.

Hearing TK's whimper, Carlos righted himself and launched forward, only managing to get a hand on one of the men holding his boyfriend before the other two cut his progress short, grabbing his arms and pulling them behind his back.

Grunting TK tried to fight but could only flail around as the two men held his wrists against the car, and Aaron stepped close to his face, pulling his head up by his hair and whispering viciously in his ear, "we only came here to speak to you both, but your boy there decided to lay his hands on me." Aaron's tone spoke only of disgust as he turned around to look at Carlos, who was being kept in place by two of the men, preventing him from helping TK or doing much at all, but brace himself for the inevitable.

"As I was saying, we just wanted to have a friendly talk. To let you know that your kind is not welcomed here, and to help you see reason. But your beaner boyfriend decided to intervene," Aaron continued, practically spitting the word boyfriend. "So now, it's only natural that he pays. And you'll get a front row seat. Maybe that will teach you a lesson about betraying what's naturally right." With that last comment, Aaron nodded and Sean stepped forward, slamming his fist into Carlos' abdomen. One time, two times, and three times. After the first hit, TK tried to turn around and close his eyes, but Aaron only tightened his hold on his hair and harshly pushed his face into the hood of the Camaro, keeping TK in place and forcing him to watch the assault on his boyfriend.

When Sean rammed his fist into Carlos' face, sending him to the ground, TK struggled and managed to push away from the car for a second, but the men quickly recovered, shoving him back against the hood of the Camaro. "I would stay still if I were you," Aaron hissed next to his ear. "Keep going."

Sean looked stunned for a second, but then turned back to the man slumped on the ground and signaled for his two companions to get him back on his feet. This time he only managed one hit to Carlos' face, sending him to the ground again, before TK lost his remaining temper and lashed out with a rage that was once only known to him during the highs of a night out, but now came purely from the instinctual desire to protect Carlos.

Carlos had wanted to get himself free and stop TK's pain, but he knew they needed to find a way to save themselves. So, instead he took advantage of everyone's attention being on TK, and reached into his pocket and took out his phone, trying to keep his movements slow and concealed.

Pushing his arm backwards, TK caught one of the men on the nose, feeling his hold on him lighten, so he repeated the motion with the other arm, smiling to himself as this one chose self-preservation and released him before his elbow connected with his face. Arms free, TK twisted around, freeing the rest of his body, and threw himself at Aaron. Both men landed on a pile on the ground. Aaron's 'keep going' echoed on TK's head so instead of going to Carlos, he felt his fragile hold on his emotions break. Losing the little self-control he had left, TK took advantage of the one moment of freedom to pummel the man lying on the floor below him.

TK managed to land three good hits before men descended on him, taking hold of his arms and pulling him away from their leader, and shoving him face first onto the ground. And before TK could even catch his breath, blows started raining down on him as the men hit him from every angle. Curling in on himself, TK tried to protect his face and ribs, his teeth biting painfully on his lip as he tried to stifle any grunts or shouts. Better him than Carlos, but that didn't mean his boyfriend needed to hear TK's pained cries.

The onslaught on TK ended surprisingly quickly, as Sean shouted for his friends to stop and both TK and Carlos breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. "Wait, this one is a cop," Sean whispered, holding Carlos' badge in his hand.

Hearing the words, Carlos turned his head to look at TK apologetically, the movement making him wince, mostly due to his own physical injuries but also in sympathy as he recognized the pain in TK's eyes. He hadn't wanted to say he was a cop, knowing these men wouldn't take it well, but his badge had gotten loose after the last hit and he hadn't realized it until Sean just picked it up from the ground.

"Crap, this isn't good," Aaron muttered as he spit a mouthful of blood to the ground, making TK smile in satisfaction even if they were still in big trouble. For a moment it seemed like Aaron was going to cut his losses and let them go but he seemed to realize something as he started pacing. "I can't believe this goddamn city lets someone like him join the force," he ranted, before he reached to the back of his jeans and took out a gun that neither Carlos nor TK had seen before.

"What do we do now?" Sean asked, his foot on Carlos' back as he kept the man pressed to the ground, TK free for the moment but no longer in much condition to fight, especially when there was now a weapon in play.

"Bring them to the alley," Aaron sneered, pointing with his gun towards a service road that ran behind the bar and connected to the parking lot through a small alley.

The men seized Carlos and TK and dragged them after Aaron, the pace slow as they could barely hold their own weight.

Looking to each other, a whole conversation passed between their eyes, as Carlos and TK managed to convey without words the love they felt and a pledge to continue fighting even if it took their last breaths.

Reaching the back alley, Carlos and TK were pushed down onto their knees as Aaron began walking circles around them, the gun still clutched tightly at his side.

"Listen, man. I'm the one you don't like," Carlos began, making the conscious choice to let the word 'hate' out of his speech. "And I'm the one that hit you, this is not his fault. Please, do whatever you want to me and let him go," he pleaded in desperation, knowing what just happened wasn't his or TK's fault, just things that sometimes occurred in a world that was not-so-slowly being consumed by fear and hate. But still he couldn't let anything happen to TK, not on his watch.

"Carlos, shut up," TK hissed from his side, looking at him with an unreadable expression. His first instinct had been to insult Aaron and turn the attention back to him, but he couldn't do that to Carlos as much as he didn't want his boyfriend to do it to him. "We live together or we go together. That's the only acceptable choice here."

"Aren't you cute?" Aaron whispered, again grabbing TK by the hair, and moving to whisper in his ear. "Maybe I will just kill you, and let your boyfriend live with that knowledge."

"Please, no," Carlos begged, knowing he was only playing into the man's ego, but not willing to take the chance that Aaron would follow through and shoot TK.

"Or maybe I will kill the cop and let you live to regret your choices, he's the biggest threat here after all," Aaron teased, releasing TK's hair and moving towards Carlos.

Carlos opened his mouth again, but TK shook his head, successfully silencing him. Aaron paced again, wildly swinging the gun around as he seemingly debated with himself who he would enjoy shooting more. So, Carlos and TK took the moment to stare at each other, because even facing death, they only had eyes for one another. Silently agreeing that neither of them could try to convince Aaron to shoot them and leave the other one alive. That wasn't how this worked, even if it hurt the both of them in the end.

"Remember we're a team," TK said softly, holding his hand out to his boyfriend.

Taking the offered hand and intertwining their fingers, Carlos nodded somberly. "Til the end," he agreed, even as his heart screamed at him that this couldn't be the end of their story.

And before any of them could say anything else a shot ran out, its echo quickly swallowed by the night as a body slumped forward.

*The things said by Aaron and Sean in this story are terrible and were hard for me to type. And their words and actions in no way reflect the way I see the world or think about these subjects. My apologies if they were upsetting to anyone, but please know that they were upsetting for me to write.*

[lancearcherinrippedjeans]

Eternity

**********

I know some of you are probably like "What happened to ICBTE bro?" It's in the fanfic cemetery never to be spoken of again <3

But WELCOME to the new multi part fic Eternity where we follow OC's Veronica Rodriguez, Sawyer Holden and Nova Jay throughout their AEW career

**********

Starring - Tony Khan, Kenny Omega, WARHORSE and of course, the OCs (also a small appearance from Madi Wrenkowski )

Word Count - 2,385

Category - Fluff, friendship, mentions of past romance

Part 1/?

Summary - Sawyer, Veronica and Nova wanted nothing more than to "make it". When they have a chance to main event with TK and Kenny Omega sitting front row, how will it go?

other author's notes - keep in mind, me and @adriii-omega wrote this in a day. there might be spelling mistakes, it might not make sense, trust the process <3 and YES a good portion of this is the ACTUAL match.

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“Yes Bullet Club is for life, but we’re Eternity.”

“Nova, Veronica, Sawyer you’re on in 10!” The producer yelled, knocking on the door of the dressing room. Though it wasn’t a dressing room, more like a closet. “We’ll be there in a second, damn!” Yelled Sawyer, trying to get her gear on in the tiny corner.

“It would be nice if they gave us an actual dressing room like the guys or something.” Veronica mumbled, pulling on her gear pants. Nova and Sawyer agreed. There could be thousands of dressing rooms, but they always got stuck in a janitor’s closet. “Could you imagine all three of us in our own private dressing rooms?” Nova fantasized as she tied her left boot.

The group of three had always had dreams, as small as a dressing room, to as big as being on the greatest stage of them all. But for now, a janitor’s closet, a couple bucks a night, and a high school gym would satisfy them.

“I got extra tips at the diner today so we can go out to eat after the show this time.” Sawyer announced, smiling towards Veronica, who had just told Sawyer about her craving for a milkshake earlier that day. “Oh thank God, the family I babysat for today only paid nine bucks for FIVE hours.” Nova complained, touching up her makeup.

“Nine?!” “Yeah, spoiled little white kids, AGAIN.”

Veronica and Sawyer chuckled, walking out the janitor’s closet, Nova following close behind.

The three friends had so much in common, but were so different. Like Sawyer for example, the tallest of the three and by far the smartest. She wasn’t afraid to take a bump in front of 10 people or 10,000. She would do whatever it took to make sure she ended up as one of the best professional wrestlers of all time.

Veronica, one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. Most people would call her a submission specialist, but making someone tap was just all in a day's work for her. She’ll do anything to put on the most entertaining match anyone in the crowd has ever seen, even if it’s acting like she almost died.

Nova however, was definitely a person who was ready to put on a show, taunts, hyping up the crowd and “OMG” moments were her specialty. She has gotten injured doing those special moves, many times, but she always got back up and showed out to put on the best performance.

All three of them had a purpose and decided they would stick together to reach it.

The whole roster was fond of how close they were. Others envied their success on the independent scene - except one of their closest friends, Warhorse. He was going to be on Dynamite tomorrow` to challenge Cody for his TNT Championship, but tonight, he was at the show, watching the trio wrestle.

They were walking closer to the “stage”, when he stopped them. “You will not believe who’s here!” Sawyer groaned, “Jake you know I hate guessing games so can you jus-”

“Tony Khan and Kenny Omega.” Their jaws dropped. “THE owner and EVP OF AEW?” Nova questioned. Veronica’s palms started to get sweaty. “Why are they here? I don’t even want to be here; there is no way the ACTUAL Kenny Omega and Tony Khan are sitting in a high school gym.” She wiped her hands on her pants and crossed them over her chest. “You don’t believe me? Well you guys will see in about an hour or so.” Warhorse smirked.

“We’re going out now, dipshit.” Sawyer insulted. Nova and Veronica laughed, but Warhorse had more to say, “Didn’t you hear? You guys have been bumped to the main event since the rich guys are out there.”

Suddenly calm, cool and collected Sawyer had her jaw to the floor. “Sawyer?” Nova whispered, shaking her friend's shoulder. “I can’t fly high and be energetic for the last 30 minutes of the show! I’ll break something or pass out!”

Veronica giggled at her friend’s nonsense, “You’ll be fine. C’mon, let's go watch the matches.”

Nova, Veronica and Sawyer sat by a monitor, watching the last few matches before their main event match. They were enjoying some of the two newer wrestlers face off when a hand slammed down on a table. They looked up and saw Madi Wrenkowski, fuming.

“They CUT my match so you guys could have your dumb main event.”

Sawyer held back laughter while Veronica spoke up, “Well it’s not our fault, we didn’t find out till five minutes ag-” “You think you’ll be big cause of a few matches? No way. Just stick to the janitor’s closet.” Madi scoffed, storming off.

“A few 5 star matches to be fair!” Nova called out, receiving a high five from her friends. It had been like this for a while, Madi going off on how she was “better”, but mean girls were SO high school.

They all took a deep breath, knowing it was their time to main event.

When the three reached the gorilla position. They saw Warhorse standing by the curtain waiting for them. Everyone was pretty happy that they got the opportunity to perform for someone like Kenny Omega, but deep down inside Veronica, Sawyer, and Nova knew that they deserved to be in the main event spot a long time ago.

“You three are going to kill it.” Warhorse smiled at his friends. He wondered how cool it would be to see them all in AEW at one time. “Thanks Jake.” Nova said. Sawyer was standing at the curtain, waiting for her cue.

“Say, bitch, I don’t wanna talk.”

Realer by Megan Thee Stallion blasted off the gym walls. The couple hundred of fans there jumped out of their seats to show their love for Sawyer, though she wasn’t supposed to be having such a loud reaction. She walked down the entrance way stopping at a young child who had their hand out for a high five. Sawyer went over to make it seem like she was about to, but smoothly pushed her hair back instead- flipping off the parents as well. As she got in the ring she took a quick scan to look for Kenny and Tony. She spotted them front and center in the front row she gave a sly smirk and went to one of the corners of the ring.

“TOOONIGHTTTTT-“

Nova shot out of the curtain while 24K Magic by Bruno Mars played in the gym. The crowd was also feeling the song as they got up and grooved. Even Tony Khan was bobbing his head along. Nova walked down to the ring, pep in her step. She gave people in the crowd high fives and hugs. She entered the ring and tried to get Sawyer to dance along, but backed away when Sawyer stood over her, glaring and clenching her fists. She walked over to her corner, climbing up to the second turnbuckle, waving at the whole crowd.

“I fly with the stars in the skies…”

Veronica pushed her black shades on as she smoothly walked through the curtain as “Moment 4 Life” by Nick Minaj came on the speakers. It was a perfect song to describe how she felt as she took the audience in at the top of the ramp. Her swagger was untouched but when she stepped in front of Kenny Omega, she felt his eyes never leave her which made her confidence blast through the roof. She used the stairs to get in and leaned on the ropes and waved to the other people that were there.

The three stared each other down, “this is awesome” chants from the crowd already starting. The ref asked all of them if they were ready, then called for the bell to ring. They all circled around the ring, the crowd wondering who was gonna hit first. Nova started taunting the two, planning to get the crowd on her side early in the match.

Sawyer had enough and tackled Nova to the ground, throwing punches, keeping away from the head. Veronica pulled Sawyer off, Sawyer widened her eyes, Veronica irish whipped Sawyer into the ropes, clotheslining her as soon as she came back. Veronica turned at the crowd, cheering along with them, not paying attention that Sawyer just did a kip-up behind her.

Veronica turned around just to be met with a kick to the face. Veronica turned around once, swaying side to side before falling to the ground, selling coming in clutch.

Nova came up from behind Sawyer, drop kicking her and making her fall to the mat. They planned to live to the phrase “fight forever”. Nova walked towards Veronica, dragging her up. Veronica started to gain her consciousness back, kicking Nova in the legs and Nova dodging as many as she could.

While they weren’t paying attention, Sawyer crawled towards the corner, climbing up the top rope, getting in position for a frog splash. It wasn’t till the crowd started screaming till Veronica and Nova looked towards the corner, Sawyer jumping off and crashing into both of them.

She stood up, hyping herself up, looking towards TK and Kenny, smirking.

*match skip*

Sawyer, Veronica, and Nova all struggled to get to their feet trying to use each other for balance. It had at least been 25 minutes of non stop action, and everyone was on the edge of their seat. Sawyer threw a punch in Veronica’s direction , but she attempted to counter it with an arm bar bringing her down to the mat. Nova saw the opportunity as she started to climb to one of the top turnbuckles. With Sawyer’s strength she manages to deliver a powerbomb to Veronica getting out of the arm bar. She crouched in the corner as Nova hit a devastating Macho Man like elbow drop.

1…

2…

But Sawyer broke up the pin by pulling Nova’s leg. Nova slapped Sawyer making Sawyer deliver a right hand back but harder, making her roll out the ring and on the apron. Veronica was slowly getting back up and Sawyer noticed as she charged towards her, making Veronica pull the top rope making her land on the outside. Veronica made her way to the apron where Nova was at; her back turned to Veronica not seeing her jump and wrap her legs around her neck for a reverse hurricanrana. With a loud thud, both of them rolled onto the floor in pain.

Sawyer crawled over , throwing Veronica in the ring and seeing Nova began to stir. Sawyer climbed to the top turnbuckle with her back turned to deliver a perfect moonsault, making the crowd gasp, and Tony and Kenny to stand up. Sawyer held her side, and rolled into the ring ready to finish the match. She stood in the ring, waiting for Veronica to get in position for her finishing move. Veronica stood and it was too late, and she tucked her chin ready for the impact of Sawyer’s devastating Canadian Destroyer.

1…

2…

3.

Sawyer stood up, referee raising her arm in the air. She tried to bite back her smile but simply couldn’t. She watched as Veronica and Nova started to walk backstage, exiting the ring, breaking out of character as soon as she was behind the curtain.

Veronica, Nova and Sawyer started talking about the match, complimenting each other. “Excuse me ladies?” They looked over, and saw Tony Khan and Kenny Omega walking towards them. Nova spun around and almost caused Sawyer and Veronica to fall over. “Really impressive match out there. You know I didn’t think you guys would have met my expectations but I was way wrong.” Kenny admitted, and Tony agreed. “Yea , we would really love for you guys to come over to our company for a bit. Not on Dynamite yet, but some Dark matches maybe?” Tony suggested. They were beyond excited. Sawyer started imagining all of the memories she could create at AEW, and seeing some people she hadn’t seen in a while - until a certain person popped into her head. “I would love to wrestle for you guys, but does Wardlow know? Or is he even okay with this- “ Veronica gave Sawyer the death stare and Nova let out a laugh. “Wardlow? He’s the one that brought you guys up. He said you were all really talented, and since we’re looking for more women wrestlers you were the right people. Is there something going on between…” “NO.” Sawyer interrupted Tony.

“It’s complicated. I just wanted to make sure he was okay with working with me again.” Nova couldn’t believe Sawyer’s actions and it was making it extremely hard not to burst out of laughter on the spot. Veronica stood in between her friends listening closely to what Khan was saying. She felt eyes on her so she looked up and was met with Kenny’s soft stare. He smiled and looked away making her do the same.

“Yea, so tomorrow I was thinking you guys could get to Jacksonville and see Dynamite, then wrestle after the show?” Tony said. “That works fine with us.” Nova said, smiling wide

“Great!” Kenny said, smiling at Veronica. “Sawyer, Veronica?”

Sawyer and Veronica looked at each other, they could tell what they both were thinking just by the looks on their face. Veronica nodded, Sawyer spoke up, “Let’s do this.” “That’s great, the flight leaves at 11 tonight, so get there as fast as you can,” Tony said, looking at his phone, “Oh and Sawyer?”

Sawyer looked up, “Don’t interrupt me again.”

Nova couldn’t keep in her laughter anymore, not even when Veronica punched her arm and told her to shush. Tony and Kenny left the building, leaving the friends beaming and damn near tears. “Veronica and Kenny sitting in a tree!” Nova and Sawyer started to sing, making Veronica roll her eyes, “Yeah I’ll remember that when we see Wardlow tomorrow.”

Sawyer huffed. “But remember we promised if things ever ended up like this, we would stay together no matter what happens between any of us.” Nova brought up, talking about the promise they all made years before.

“Friends, no matter what.” They all said in unison, knowing in the back of their heads they would be friends for eternity.

thank you for reading! part 2 coming soon!

[reyescarlos]

#30 from the Prompt list for Tarlos! Please :3

yesss, thank you for sending in a request! hope you like it!

#30 “I love you, okay? I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it.”

TK looks up at the sky, watching clouds drift lazily above him. This is truly a perfect day, his mind at ease in a way it always seems to be whenever he’s spending quality time with Carlos, the man who has had his heart for eleven months now. There may be other people around enjoying the warm weather too but everything outside the perimeter of the blanket they’re stretched out on now doesn’t affect him.

A Sunday picnic in the park is just one of the many simple pleasures in life that he’s been relishing in. The simplicity of being in Carlos’ company is a comfort, one that TK never takes for granted.

Carlos’ head is beside his own, his body facing the opposite direction. Carlos sighs heavily and TK turns his head to read his expression. The man looks pensive, brows furrowed slightly, his lips now pursed in thought as his gaze remains on the sky. TK lifts a hand and smooths one of Carlos’ brows with his index finger, coaxing him from his deep thoughts.

“Where’d you go?”

Carlos faces him then, a small smile on his lips though it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. TK lowers his hand but Carlos takes a hold of it and clutches it to his chest.

“I’m right here with you.”

TK can’t help but to smile at the gesture, especially at the quickening thump of Carlos’ heart as the man peers over at him. Nothing seems to ground them more than physical touch; holding hands, hugging, a gentle squeeze. These little instances never fail to bring them back to base.

“Can I ask you something?” Carlos says.

There’s a note of hesitancy in the question that makes TK sit upright. Carlos very rarely sounds unsure of himself and if the look on his face now is any indicator, he appears to be truly nervous about whatever it is he intends to ask.

“Of course you can. What’s on your mind?”

Carlos falters for a fraction of a second before pushing through.

“It’s sort of about your relationship with Alex.”

The name comes out with some disdain. TK does his best to mask his surprise though he doesn’t think he’s doing a very good job of it. Carlos never mentions his ex and TK certainly hasn’t had any interest in thinking about the man, let alone bringing him up either.

“Oh? Um, sure. What about it?”

Carlos sighs and sits up too, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“I’m just wondering if that experience has spoiled your views on the subject of marriage.”

TK’s eyes widen and he tries to say something but comes up short. Things have been going perfectly for them since they made their relationship official. This is without a doubt the healthiest and most stable relationship TK has ever been in. To have such a connection to someone, especially on the heels of his last relationship, TK has been pinching himself over his luck.

He and Carlos always talk about loving each other forever but now that TK thinks on it now, they’ve never explicitly talked about it in terms of marriage. It just felt like a given.

He’d love nothing more than to always have this, to be this beside himself with joy and gratitude. In Carlos he’s found true love, one that doesn’t leave him feeling drained and yet still somehow as if he’s not enough. It’s the complete opposite of life with Alex and all the failed relationships that came before.

TK hadn’t been expecting Carlos to have marriage on his mind at this moment and he’s so stunned that he can’t even say anything.

Carlos cringes a bit at his silence and TK could just kick himself for it. But before he can clarify what his silence means, Carlos keeps talking.

“I’m not saying we’re there yet, of course. I know we haven’t even been together for a full year. But I’d be lying if I said I couldn’t easily picture that kind of future with you. And if, hopefully when, the time comes for us to actually reach that stage...I don’t know. I’ve never loved someone this deeply before.

“I don’t know if it’s too soon to even be talking like this. Or if I’m bringing up things you’d rather forget. All I know is that I always want us to be on the same page because I want a happy ending with you, TK, whatever that may look like for us.”

Carlos stops then and shakes his head. “This went a lot smoother in my head,” he jokes nervously. “Sorry for being all over the place.”

TK smiles softly. “You’re doing just fine, babe.”

Seemingly reassured, Carlos pulls in a long breath and nods before continuing.

“He was important to you. You loved him enough to want to make the ultimate commitment. But since things didn’t pan out as you would have hoped,” he says, a polite understatement TK thinks, “I’m curious if you’ve written off the idea of one day marrying someone.”

TK takes notice of the word someone but doesn’t press it. He can already see how vulnerable Carlos feels now even mentioning any of this. He supposes it may just make it easier for Carlos to discuss, phrasing it this way.

“Honestly, no, he hasn’t ruined the concept for me. I’ll admit, when it first happened, I didn’t see a way out of that hopeless feeling. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to date again. Then you came along and proved me wrong.”

Carlos smiles faintly at this, placing a hand on TK’s knee.

“I’m not ruling anything out. My life has taken turns I never saw coming, some surprises much better than others,” he says, bumping his knee softly against Carlos’ with a smile. “But through it all, all those highs and lows, I’ve grown and I’ve changed.”

“So, you could see it in the cards for us?”

TK touches a hand to Carlos’ face, stroking his cheek.

“I could. Anytime I think about our future, it looks so damn bright to me...all of this potential. You make me the happiest I’ve ever been.”

It’s the honest truth. Each morning he wakes up grateful to have Carlos and on those particular mornings he sees Carlos in the spot beside him, he has to wonder how he’s even the same person that suffered so greatly in New York to be thriving so well in Austin.

“No has ever mattered to me this much. I know we’re in a good place with each other,” Carlos says. “ I don’t ever want to lose you or this feeling. And I know that’s a lot of pressure to put on someone, I know. I just had to put that out there.”

TK frowns. “You don’t ever have to worry about that sort of thing with me. I love you, okay? I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it. I’ll invent a whole new language just to find another way to tell you how in love with you I am, if that’s what it takes for the message to sink in,” he muses. “I don’t think I really knew what love could actually feel like until this.”

“Even with…,” Carlos trails off but TK can fill in the blanks easily.

“I’ve been realizing that what I had with him wasn’t actually love. Not in its truest form like what I have here with you, anyway. It took my life blowing up to find something real.”

TK looks off for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

“Proposing to him was a last-ditch effort to save a relationship that was so broken. I just couldn’t see it at the time...I didn’t want to, more like it. Things had been off between us for a while and I got this idea going that we just needed to be closer to fix it. I was holding on to something that I should have let go of. Loving him almost cost me everything.”

“It’s a scary thought, imagining what it’d be like if we never met. The love of my life was up in New York that whole time,” Carlos says softly. “It’s scary to think what we could have missed out on. More importantly that the world could have lost you.”

Carlos lets out a shaky breath. “I’m really glad you survived all of that. You’re the strongest person I know and I’m really, really proud of you, TK.”

TK feels his eyes stinging at the sentiment and he blinks back his tears. This isn’t something they talk about often, never mind so openly. But TK is glad for it now. As much as he hates the difficult parts of his past, it’s still a component of his present, something he’ll have to be mindful of his whole life.

But with the support of his loved ones and this man who has become his entire world, he feels confident about his successes on the road ahead.

Carlos looks down, picking at blades of grass at the blanket’s edge.

“I hate even the idea of you ever hurting but it brought you down here to me. Maybe that makes me a bad person, I don’t know. It’s selfish and so wrong to be glad that you got uprooted. I hate the circumstances but I’m glad for the result.”

TK smiles, taking Carlos’ face in his hands. He stares at him for a moment, watching the way the sunlight brings out the honey tones in his brown eyes. It’s enough to make TK melt.

His last few days in New York had been some of the harrowing and challenging days he’d ever faced. Happiness was such an abstract concept, something he didn’t think he’d ever be able to experience again. It made the unexpectedness of finding Carlos just that much more special.

“It’s not selfish and you, Carlos Reyes, are a remarkable person. I’ve never met anyone with a heart like yours. I’m glad for the second chance I got.”

He rests his forehead against Carlos’, kissing the tip of his nose, a hand cradling the nape of his neck.

“Any road that led here would have been worth it. It took a few tries but I know I’ve got it right this time. I want it all with you, Carlos. No doubts about it.”

[buckieys]

montero (call me by your name)

rated: explicit ; drug use, alcoholism, overdose, implied (not graphic) non-con (full tags on AO3) read on AO3 ; @911lonestarangstweek ; 4k words ; beta’d by @frizzlenox  summary: TK struggles with drug use again and again, leaving Carlos to wonder if TK would survive it. Will TK get the help he needs or will his addiction kill him first?

I caught it bad just today You hit me with a call to your place Ain’t been out in a while anyway Was hopin’ I could catch you throwin’ smiles in my face Romantic talkin’? You don’t even have to try You’re cute enough to fuck with me tonight Lookin’ at the table, all I see is weed and white Baby, you livin’ the life, but you ain’t livin’ right

Work hadn’t been easy for TK, Carlos could tell. He was stressed out, ever since the paramedic team got taken in as hostages. Carlos noticed that TK was more anxious, more jumpy, easily irritable.

“Hey, TK, I was thinking about going to the movies later. I know you’ve been wanting to see Judas and the Black Messiah. Do you want to go together?” Carlos asked through the door.

TK was in the bathroom and had been for a while, Carlos was just trying to make conversation while TK was doing whatever it was that he was doing in the bathroom. He heard sniffling coming from the other side of the door, so he got up and knocked, letting TK know he was there.

“TK, I’m coming in,” Carlos announced, turning the knob and opening the door just in time to see TK swipe something off the counter. “TK, what’s going on?”

TK whipped around, his eyes wide, surprised at Carlos’ voice. His eyes welled up with tears and he looked down, not wanting to make eye contact with Carlos. He shook his head, wiping the tears from his face.

“TK, did you take something?” Carlos asked, hesitating to step forward, treating TK like an easily spooked animal, scared that one wrong move would send TK running. “Babe, look at me. I’m not mad or upset. I’m sad that you didn’t talk to me instead, but I want to be here for you.”

“I’m sorry,” TK whimpered, crumbling onto himself on the bathroom floor. He blindly held out the bottle for Carlos to see and as soon as the bottle was lifted from his hands, the wailing resumed.

The bottle was nearly empty, a couple pills rattled around when Carlos dumped them into his hand. He walked to the toilet, ready to flush them down when TK made a noise from behind him. He turned around to face TK again and found TK’s face contorted.

“TK, I’m throwing the pills out whether you like it or not, this isn’t healthy, it’s not good for you. What else do you have?” Carlos hardened his voice, glaring at TK before turning back to face the toilet, holding his hand above the bowl, getting ready to flush the pills down.

“No!” TK lunged and snatched the pills out of Carlos’ hands, only to get Carlos’ hand wrapped around his wrist, getting TK to yelp and drop the pills on the ground. “Please, no. You can’t do this to me.”

Cocaine and drinkin’ with your friends You live in the dark, boy, I cannot pretend I’m not phased, only here to sin If Eve ain’t in your garden, you know that can

TK had fallen into old habits and it made Carlos nervous. He was nervous for TK’s wellbeing, knowing how easy it was to get roped into bad habits and TK was very easily swayed, especially when drugs or alcohol were involved.

“TK, you can’t keep doing this to yourself,” Carlos said, watching as TK bounced his legs up and down, nervous about what was going to happen. Carlos hardly ever sat TK down and talked to him. It all felt too formal. TK felt like he was in trouble.

“You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do, Carlos, I’m an adult, and you’re not even my boyfriend” TK retorted, his voice wavering with every word. He knew he’d fucked up and there was nothing he could do to gain Carlos’ trust back. Then it was over; Carlos got up and walked away from TK.

He had destroyed himself and Carlos had walked out. TK had nothing left. This was going to kill him, and if it didn’t… He would just have to try harder next time.

TK got off the couch and stormed around the house until he found exactly what he was looking for. The leftover coke he’d bought. He took it to the kitchen and grabbed a drink. It wouldn’t take a lot to overdose, he knew that. TK was tired of hurting the people he loved and he knew that he wouldn’t stop if he survived, the cycle of addiction was vicious and TK wasn’t strong enough to stop himself.

TK’s favourite ways to take cocaine were snorting it or injecting it, he didn’t like smoking it. If Carlos came back now, maybe he’d have a shot of survival, but Carlos wasn’t going to come back, and that’s how it should be. He should be alone, it’s what he deserves.

So TK took everything he had, not willing to take a chance. Then his heart started racing and his body felt hot. His body was shaking, he needed something to wash it down with. He grabbed the closest bottle and tried to open it with shaky hands. When he couldn’t he gave up and tried a different bottle, this time, successful. He took a swig on the alcohol and then coughed.

Then, the world blacked out.

Call me when you want, call me when you need Call me in the morning, I’ll be on the way Call me when you want, call me when you need Call me out by your name, I’ll be on the way like

“TK?” Carlos whispered as he opened the door, expecting to find TK either on the couch or in the bedroom, asleep. He saw that the lights were still on in the living room and kitchen, but TK was nowhere to be found.

“TK?” Carlos called TK’s name again, this time a little bit louder before he went down the hall and potentially disturbed TK. He walked down the hall and found the lights off in the bedroom and bathroom, and no TK.

Carlos went back down the hall to the kitchen, maybe TK had been in the bathroom and Carlos had just missed him. Upon entering the kitchen again, Carlos noticed that there was a bottle of alcohol sitting on the counter.

“Shit,” Carlos muttered under his breath. He moved quickly into the kitchen, nearly bumping into TK on the ground. “TK, wake up.” Carlos bent down and shook TK gently. TK didn’t move. “TK, this isn’t funny. Wake up.”

When TK continued to not move or respond to Carlos, Carlos got frantic. Carlos wasn’t prepared to have to call 9-1-1 tonight, but it was looking like he was going to have to if he wanted TK to survive. So, he called 9-1-1 and frantically told the dispatcher what was happening.

“Please hurry, I don’t think he’s breathing,” Carlos whimpered. He bent down and tried to listen or feel for a breath, but didn’t feel anything. He couldn’t feel a pulse either. “I’m going to start CPR.” Carlos had his phone on speaker, sitting next to TK’s head. He got into position and started doing compressions, hoping he wasn’t too late to save TK.

“Sir, paramedics will be there in a couple of minutes, how’s he doing?”

Carlos was aware that dispatch was just trying to be polite, but TK obviously wasn’t doing well or Carlos wouldn’t be on the phone with them. He grunted out a reply, knowing it was the right thing to do, and then continued compressions, waiting to see if TK would start breathing again on his own.

“Come on, TK, I need you to wake up for me. Please,” Carlos begged, tears springing to his eyes. He kept doing CPR, hoping TK would wake up. He wanted to be able to tell TK that he was sorry. He knew this was going to set them back.

“Sir, paramedics are arriving, is the door unlocked?”

“Yes, the front door is unlocked, we’re in the kitchen,” Carlos sniffed. “Should I keep doing CPR?” Carlos didn’t want to stop, terrified that if he did stop, that would mean that TK had no chance of survival.

“The paramedics will take over when they get inside, you’ve done a good job, sir,” the dispatcher stayed on the phone with Carlos, and he was thankful. He was surprised he was able to keep himself going. The paramedics knocked on the door to announce their arrival before they came in, looking for Carlos and TK.

“Sir, let us take over. You need to rest,” a paramedic rested her hand on Carlos’ shoulder, squeezing gently, trying to tell Carlos he could stop doing CPR. Carlos sagged at the feeling and slowly got up, leaving his phone sitting next to TK’s motionless body, the dispatcher still on the line.

Carlos sat back on his knees and watched with bated breath as the paramedics worked on TK. Carlos answered any questions that they had about what allergies TK had, what he had taken, etc. He was moving on autopilot and his entire body was shaking.

Carlos knew that no matter what happened here tonight, he was going to be by TK’s side.

I wanna sell what you’re buyin’ I wanna feel on your ass in Hawaii I want the jet lag from fuckin’ and flyin’ Shoot a child in your mouth while I’m ridin’ Oh, oh, oh, why me? A sign of the times every time that I speak A dime and a nine, it was mine every week What a time, an incline, God was shinin’ on me Now I can’t leave And now I’m actin’ hella elite Never want the guys that’s in my league I want to fuck the ones I envy, I envy

“Hey, you come here often?” the sleazy voice came from behind TK.

“You use that line often?” TK retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. He hated doing this, he always ended up regretting it and overall, he missed Carlos. He just wanted Carlos, but Carlos didn’t have what TK wanted.

“Only on pretty boys that want something that I can give them.” TK shivered, feeling the man’s hot breath on the nape of his neck. He wanted to elbow the man in the gut, especially for how he came up to TK. He was confident that he could give a mediocre performance and the man would give him anything he wanted.

“And I do want something that you have; let me see it first,” TK smiled, batting his eyelashes at the man. He eyed the man’s pockets, knowing that the drugs had to be in one of them. The man chuckled and reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a baggie with the white powder TK craved.

“Now c’mon pretty boy, let me see what you’ve got for me,” the man crooned, beckoning TK towards the back of the club. “My name is Shawn, by the way. You don’t have to tell me yours, I figure you would just want a name to scream out while I’m fucking you.”

TK had to refrain from rolling his eyes, the man looked like he’d never fucked another living person before and this was all new to him. TK had to stop himself before he said something that pissed the man off. He had a mouth that got him into trouble more times than he could count and he was determined to make it through this hookup without any incidents.

It wasn’t the first time, and it wasn’t the last. Most of the time TK could get away with blowing the guys or giving them hand-jobs, then getting the drugs, and leaving. Sometimes they wanted more and TK wasn’t comfortable giving anyone more, but he really needed the drugs and the men were able to talk TK into it by using the drugs to make him compliant.

TK always felt awful afterwards, he couldn’t go back to Carlos’ after he’d just had some random guy’s dick in his mouth. Even though they weren’t together, TK still felt as if he were cheating on Carlos. He couldn’t stop himself though, he was in too deep and he couldn’t force himself to stop.

Nine times out of ten, TK spent the night at a hotel, just so he wouldn’t have to face Carlos. He knew he had to come clean, but that might mean that Carlos forces him into rehab and he wasn’t ready for that.

He didn’t want to admit it - he was scared to admit it - but he missed Carlos. Carlos always treated him like a human being, even though TK didn’t really deserve it. It made TK’s stomach twist, feeling like he was exploiting Carlos when he could barely remember to return the favour.

Cocaine and drinkin’ with your friends You live in the dark, boy, I cannot pretend I’m not phased, only here to sin If Eve ain’t in your garden, you know that can

On more than one occasion Carlos came home to TK passed out on the floor or the couch, reeking of alcohol. It made Carlos sad, but it wasn’t his place to try and help TK. He just had to stand by and watch as TK ruined his mind and body in the worst ways possible.

Carlos would come home and find crushed up pills on the counter or empty baggies, haphazardly shoved into TK’s pockets, or even half-drank bottles of liquor. He didn’t have any say in what TK did, but he really wished TK knew how badly he was hurting himself and the people around him that truly cared about him.

“TK, c’mon, let’s get you to bed. You aren’t going to be comfortable down here on the floor,” Carlos said, shaking TK gently. TK groaned in his sleep and didn’t open his eyes. Carlos continued to shake TK, trying to wake him up. “TK, what are you doing to yourself?”

“‘Los, ’m makin’ things right,” TK slurred, still not opening his eyes. “I gotta.”

Carlos didn’t know what to do with the information that TK had given him, but it worried him. What did TK mean when he said that he was making things right? What did that entail? Carlos truly didn’t want to be the one that found out.

This was going to kill TK if he didn’t stop. He was ruining his body and his mind, all for the simple rush from the drugs. He was hanging out with people that supplied him with drugs and alcohol and encouraged him to keep using. Carlos was a half step away from staging an intervention for TK.

He wanted to love TK, but he knew he couldn’t get into it. He knew he’d be devastated if anything happened to TK that couldn’t be undone. He wanted to love TK for who he was, not who the drugs made him. It killed Carlos to look TK in the eyes and see him look lost and emotionless.

The very next night TK hadn’t even made it inside. He made it up the porch steps, but then passed out in the doorway, his keys in the lock. Carlos groaned from the driveway and made his way to TK. As soon as he reached the other man, he turned TK to the side, seeing his nose bloodied and his eye black. His lip was busted in two places.

“Really, TK? Fighting again? You’ve gotta be more careful,” Carlos sighed, gently touching the wounds to see if it would wake TK up. At least he didn’t have to see TK at the station this time.

After a couple seconds of poking at TK’s wounds, he stirred, whining at the touch. Carlos rolled his eyes at the man. TK opened his eyes, searching for the source of the poking and prodding.

“Please tell me what happened so I can help you feel better, TK. That’s all I want. I just want to help you,” Carlos pleaded, begging TK to tell him a tiny tidbit of information. When TK didn’t respond, Carlos continued. “Does it hurt badly? We can go inside and I’ll get you some ice and we’ll get you cleaned up some, okay?”

If TK wouldn’t let him in, Carlos would weasel his way wherever he was allowed to go, especially when it came to TK. He wanted to help and he’d do anything to let TK know that he wanted to help.

Call me when you want, call me when you need Call me in the morning, I’ll be on the way Call me when you want, call me when you need Call me out by your name, I’ll be on the way like

“Carlos, please,” TK sobbed over the phone. “I’m so tired of feeling like this.”

This was a first. Carlos had never gotten a phone call from TK while he was sober. Usually TK’s phone calls happened when he was drunk or high off his ass, not in the right state of mind to be having a conversation with anyone. It was also the first time in two and a half weeks that anyone had heard from TK.

Needless to say, Carlos was worried.

“TK, what’s going on? Tell me how to help.”

“Can you come get me?”

TK gave Carlos the address of the place he was at and continued to sob on the phone while Carlos drove twenty minutes to get to him. Carlos could make out a couple words here and there, but nothing TK was saying really made any sense, even though TK promised that he wasn’t under the influence of anything.

Once Carlos arrived at the sleazy-looking bar, he quickly spotted TK in his worn yellow hoodie, chewing on the strings to keep himself busy. Carlos didn’t hang up the phone, not wanting TK to freak out, even if it would only take him ten seconds to cross the parking lot.

“TK, I’m here, I can see you. Do you want me to come up and get you or can you walk to the car?” Carlos said softly. He had become an expert on talking to TK as if he were an easily spooked animal, not wanting to frighten the other man away.

“Can you come get me?” Carlos made an affirming noise and drove the car as close as he could to TK. Upon closer inspection, the yellow hoodie that used to be slightly too big on TK was now dwarving the man. His face was skeletal and Carlos would bet his life that TK was skin and bones under the hoodie and sweatpants he was wearing.

“Hey, I’m here. Let’s get you into the car, okay?” Carlos said, listening to TK devolve into tears again. “Where do you want me to take you, TK? How do we fix this?” Carlos asked, reaching around TK to put the man’s seat belt on. TK took a couple of shaky breaths and wiped the back of his hand across his nose.

“Rehab.” Carlos’ hand froze around his key, already in the ignition. Was TK really asking to take him to rehab. “Please, ’Los, before I change my mind again. I’m so tired of hurting people and I can’t do this anymore. Please.”

TK sounded broken, like he’d finally reached his breaking point. Carlos wasn’t about to sit there and have TK change his mind. He really wanted TK to get the help he deserved.

Carlos turned to look at TK, noticing that TK’s entire body was shaking. He put a hand over TK’s hoodie-covered, fidgety hands and rubbed his thumb back and forth, hoping the gesture was soothing to TK.

“I’m proud of you, TK. I’m going to be wherever you want me to be, okay? If you want me to visit you during my free time, I will. If you just want me to pick you up when you’re in recovery, I’ll do that.”

Oh, call me by your name You told me you loved me in private Call me by your name I do not care if you lyin’

It was two and a half months of visiting TK when he could before they even saw a glimpse of recovery. Infinite Recovery had put a brief restriction on visitation, but Carlos had promised he’d come when he could, surprising TK when he actually followed through.

According to TK’s doctors he was doing well and that he’d been participating in group therapy and had even made a friend. They had started working out together and eating meals together, then Carlos got to meet TK’s new friend.

“Carlos, this is DJ, we both have two-letter names!” TK was very excited to introduce them, but DJ couldn’t keep his eyes off Carlos, a smile on his face while TK yammered on and on about what he’d been doing the past week. “I’m gonna go get some water, do you guys want anything?” DJ and Carlos both shook their heads no and left TK to get water.

“He hardly ever stops talking about you, you know? He feels bad about ruining his chances with you,” DJ spilled once TK was out of earshot. Carlos felt his entire face flush red. “I’m serious.”

TK came bouncing back seconds later, water bottle in hand. DJ got up and excused himself, claiming that he had individual therapy in a few minutes, leaving Carlos and TK alone. TK took a swig of his water and looked at Carlos, noticing the blush across Carlos’ cheekbones.

“Carlos, are you okay?” TK asked, tilting his head to the side. Carlos coughed and nodded his head, trying to convey that everything was fine and not make it seem like DJ had just turned his entire world on its head. “Did DJ say something to you? I can talk to him if he said anything inappropriate to-”

“Yes, I mean, no…” Carlos started, quickly correcting himself. He paused before starting over. “He did say something, but I’m assuming he wasn’t supposed to leak that information because it involves your feelings.” TK paled, then his face turned bright red as he realised what Carlos was saying.

“He wasn’t wrong, you know. I love you so much, Carlos,” TK said quietly. “I do feel really bad about ruining my chances with you. I’m so sorry for fucking everything up.” TK sniffed, his eyes watering, obviously not ready to have this conversation. It was clear that he wanted to, but there was a part of him that knew he couldn’t handle rejection.

“Does it help if I tell you that I love you too? Because I do. I have loved you for a very long time and I’ve been waiting until you got better to tell you because it wouldn’t be fair to either of us to have said that while you were drunk or high off your ass all the time,” Carlos rambled. TK had given Carlos a small smile as he spoke, lighting up as Carlos confessed to loving him.

“When I was doing stupid shit for drugs, the only person I could think about was you, and after I couldn’t even go back home because even though we weren’t together, the only person I ever needed was you. The only person I need right now is you,” TK admitted.

“I’m always going to be here for you, no matter what. Through good and bad times, I’m going to be by your side. I love you so much, TK. I’m going to continue visiting you while you’re here and I’m going to be here when you’re ready to come home. I’m going to be with you wherever and through whatever,” Carlos said, taking TK’s hands in his own.

“They said I’ve been doing so well here that I could transfer to intensive outpatient if I felt comfortable enough,” TK mentioned. “I think I’m ready to go home.”

[hockeyboistrash]

that night | k.h

summary: a wedding, a pregnancy test, and a bunch of nosey hockey players. what could possibly go wrong?

The venue was perfect for Jenny’s and Corey's wedding. It was classic but not over the top. There was also enough room for the whole Flyers organisation and the bride and groom's family. While Travis suggested having orange as the colour, Jen decided against that and instead chose a nice shade of purple, which you were grateful for being a bridesmaid and all.

A glass of champagne was put in your hand at some point but you put it down as soon as you saw Carter trying to get your attention. You were friends with some of the younger players on the team but you were more like an older sibling than anything else. You went over to him and he lead you to the downstairs bathroom where Travis and Nolan were. You sent the latter a questioning look who only responded with a shrug.

"Okay, why are you three hanging around in the bathroom? And why am I here?" You asked, folding your arms across your chest and glaring at the three of them when no one said anything.

"Well we may have overheard Corey freaking out about the wedding and then I found this." Travis said showing the pink stick in his hand. "We thought that maybe it’s Jenny's."

"I’m going to stop you right there. Firstly, you do know someone’s peed on that, right?" You started making him drop the stick and scrunch up his face in disgust. "And secondly, you shouldn’t speculate who's it is. No one is going to say anything, got it?" They all nodded, not wanting to have your wrath if they didn’t listen to you. You shooed them out of the bathroom, staying in there yourself for a moment. This was the last thing you needed on top of keeping the wedding on track.

After taking a breather you left the bathroom bumping into Kevin. "Is there a reason why you four were in there together?" He asked, a huge grin on his face. It was one you couldn’t help but reciprocate.

"I don’t even know myself." You said with a little laugh and Kevin joined in. His laugh warmed your chest, it was probably one of your favourite sounds. Once the laughter died down you sighed and the stress you were feeling was apparent.

"Here. You look like you could use this." Kevin said handing you his drink.

"I can’t." You hesitated. "I can relax tomorrow once all of this is over but thank you."

"At least slow down a little. Everything looks perfect." He assured you, putting his hand on your arm.

You sent him a tired smile placing your own hand over his, appreciating the contact. "I’ll try."

"Y/N..." Kevin started and you knew what he wanted to talk about but you weren’t ready for that conversation and in the middle of the wedding weekend was the worst place to have it.

"I’ve got to check on the kitchen, Kev." You told him before leaving him alone in the hallway. You weren’t denying that you were avoiding him. The inevitable conversation was one that you were going to push for as long as you can.

When Kevin came to Philadelphia and to the team you became fast friends. It wasn’t a friendship like you had with the younger players. They were more like your brothers whereas you were in love with Kevin. It was a cliche, you knew that, yet you couldn’t help it. You had fallen for him hard but you never said anything because you didn’t want to ruin your friendship. This year hit differently when Kevin told you his plans of going to Boston over the summer. You knew it was going to happen, he did it last year. This time though you were going to miss him.

He came over the night before he had to leave for the airport. The two of you had dinner and now were watching a film, not that you were paying attention to it. He had is arm wrapped around you, pulling you so you were curled up next to him. It felt very domestic.

"What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?" Kevin asked, looking down at you with that goofy grin you love so much. Heat rose to your cheek at the thought of him catching you glancing at him throughout the evening.

"Just thinking about how quiet my apartment will be with you in Boston for the summer." You laughed.

"Take that back." He gasped although you could tell he was trying to hold back his own laughter.

"Make me." You grinned and Kevin saw that as a challenge as he started tickling you. Both of your laughter filled the apartment. It ended up with you laying on the couch with Kevin on top of you, his arms either side of you.

The alcohol you had earlier paired with the position you were now in had your inhibitions clouded. You looked up to see Kevin looking down at you with so much love in his eyes, or at least that’s what you perceived it to be. You wrapped your arms around the back of his neck and leaned forward, softly pressing a kiss onto his lips. He didn’t pull away, in fact he kissed you harder. Neither of you pulled away until you both needed air.

"Are you sure about this?" Kevin asked and you nodded. He placed his hands under your thighs so he was holding you as he carried you to your bedroom. Laying on your bed, he started undressing you, pressing kisses up your stomach and to your neck then lips.

You ended up snuggled into Kevin's side, his arm around you, mirrored to how you were on the couch. "I’m going to miss you." You mumbled in your sleepy state.

"I’ll miss you too, Y/N/N." He returned before falling asleep himself.

The next morning the space beside you was empty and cold. You couldn’t help but have a sinking feeling in your stomach when you saw that Kevin was gone before you woke up. The thought of him regretting last night plagued your thoughts until you saw a text from him.

You looked peaceful sleeping so I didn’t want to wake you. Call you when I land.

He also sent a picture of him on his flight pouting with the caption 'missing you already'.

Kevin did call when he landed and got settled back home but he didn’t mention the night before. Mind you, you didn’t either. It was a two way street so you could have easily said something yet you felt something holding you back, maybe it was thought of losing him as your friend and not having him in your life.

It was easier to hide behind a phone than seeing him in person. All the feelings you have suppressed from that night came back at full force. You missed the way he held you, the way his kisses felt. Being at a wedding surrounded by your friends didn’t help. This was the last place you wanted to talk.

Thankfully the pregnancy test that was found wasn’t brought up until after the ceremony. The toasts have been done and everyone was chatting amongst themselves having a good time, dancing stupidly to the dj for their Instagram stories. The bride and groom however were standing in the hallway just off to the side of the main room with you and a few others.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Corey asked.

"Tell you what?" Jen replied confused as to what he was on about.

"That you’re pregnant." He said and everyone’s eyes widened. Yours for a different reason though as you had told Travis to shut his big mouth about it.

"Because I’m not. Where is this coming from?"

"Teeks said he found a pregnancy test and-" He started before getting interrupted. While they were having this conversation you sent a glare to the young forward in question.

"Oh so if TK said it must be true?" Jen asked sarcastically. "And you, why did you just assume it was mine?" Travis shrugged at that and was about to say something when you sighed, having had enough. You shut your eyes momentarily feeling the start of a headache coming.

"It’s mine, okay?" You blurted out and silence fell upon the group. Everyone’s eyes were on you but it was Kevin's you felt drilling into you. It wasn’t confusion like everyone else’s but rather concern. "So can we please just drop it and carry on with this reception." You pleaded. Jen nodded along with the others before they headed back into the main room. You didn’t follow them though but rather made your way outside, tears threatening to fall.

You knew without looking that Kevin followed you outside. He didn’t say anything and instead wrapped his arms around you, letting you cry into his chest. The two of you stood like that in silence until you ran out of tears and you stayed like that with your head on his chest.

"I’m not pregnant." You mumbled. Kevin was surprised momentarily that you spoke up, certain that he’d have to try and get you to speak. "It was a false positive."

"Why didn’t you tell me?" He asked carefully. You knew what he was asking so he didn’t need to elaborate.

"I- I was scared." You admitted. You moved so you were looking at him but still had your arms wrapped around his waist. "We didn’t talk about that night and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship."

Kevin nodded, taking a moment to think about how he wanted to say this. "That night wasn’t just a one time thing for me, Y/N. I hated that I had to leave the next day especially without talking to you about it. Then I called you and I was too much of a wimp to say anything because like you I was fucking scared. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. Just know that I love you and have done since I first met you."

"I love you too, Kev." You said, leaning up to softly kiss him.

[detectivecarlosreyes]

Academy Together, Friends Forever 8/10

Also on Ao3 

(Beginning) (Prev Chapter) (Next Chapter)

Buck stares up at Carlos, confused as to why this near-stranger was yelling at him and was about to answer his question when the paramedic swats at Carlos’ hands, “Carlos! Let the man go.” She exclaims, forcing him to release his shirt so she can work on his wounds.

Judd appeared in his field of view, peering down at him in confusion before realisation dawns across his face. “Cap! You should come over here! Your boy Buck was the person crazy enough to go inside without any gear.”

He couldn’t hear Owen’s response over the paramedic muttering to herself about all the numerous cuts on his body as she attempts to stop them from bleeding. Maybe it was the blood loss or the lack of oxygen, but it takes Buck longer than it should have to get the paramedic’s attention to give her an important detail. Fumbling with the oxygen mask and leaving a smear of blood on the plastic, he manages to say, “I’m on- I’m on blood thinners.”

Buck watches her eyes widen in alarm before settling into a calm sense of urgency over this new information and she reaches for her radio intending to call for another RA unit. Before she even utters a word, Buck stops her. “That guy looks like he needs the one that’s already here as much as I do. Just wrap what you can and put me in the seat, then you can watch both of us.”

“Alright then, we’ve gotta go now.” Quickly wrapping a bandage along each arm, she carefully helps him to his feet just as Owen joins them, immediately tucking his shoulder under Buck’s other arm, causing him to hiss slightly.

“You okay?” He asks, concern clear in his voice.

Buck can help but smirk through the sting, “Yep no worries, I’ll be fine. Just need to get these wounds sealed and I’ll be good as new.”

“If you’re sure,” Owen says hesitantly as they settle him into the ambulance. “I’ll send TK to keep you company at the hospital.” Buck looks down at the blood already seeping through the bandage, but then throws on a reassuring smile to Owen and gives him a one-fingered salute as they close the doors.

Admittedly, by the time they rolled into the hospital he was feeling a little lightheaded, and when Michelle, as he learned her name was, gives him a no-nonsense look when they wheel up a second gurney to the ambulance for him, he doesn't argue knowing there was no point, and graciously accepts help onto it as he fights a wave of dizziness.

As it turns out, the doctor was less than impressed by his apparent lack of self-preservation, especially when she discovers that he had two deep, freely bleeding lacerations; one on the underside of his arm and the other high up on the side of his chest. He guessed that he must have gotten them pulling the man through the window. It would definitely explain why he was feeling so tired.

She had just finished stitching up the second wound and was moving onto sealing the nuisance cuts on his arms when TK found him. “Dude, seriously, we leave you for a couple of hours and this is what you manage to do!” He says this in exasperation, but Buck could hear a hint of fondness in there too.

TK takes a seat beside him and waits in comfortable silence as the doctor dresses the wounds, and then informs them both that they’ll keep him for a few hours of observation to ensure there were no other complications from the smoke inhalation or the wounds.

After she leaves Buck immediately turns to TK, in a bid to distract him from the situation. “So, guess who I saw today.” He then proceeds to tell TK all about his encounter with Carlos at the scene and how he was none too pleased with his daring rescue.

“I can see why you like him. He has that fierce protector vibe, a quality might I add that your ex did not have and something that I think could do you some good.” TK blushes, and lightly punches him in the arm claiming that he didn’t need Buck’s approval, which Buck agreed, he didn’t.

After further discussion on the topic, Buck manages to convince TK to call Carlos and set up a date. What he did not expect however was for TK to include him in said date to go to the movies.

“So, what you’re saying is that I’ll be third-wheeling.”

“Come on Buck, baby steps, I don’t even know what our relationship is yet. Besides I want you to properly meet Carlos before you go home.” Buck, of course, relents to put TK at ease under the guise of reluctance but secretly he did want to get to know TK’s new man.

** ** **

Carlos has had a day. It's his day off and yet somehow, he still manages to be working in some capacity. In this case, its responding and calling dispatch about a house fire while keeping a distraught wife and mother from re-entering the house and being a third potential casualty instead of two.

And then out of nowhere, this guy, the one that he met briefly in TK’s hospital room starts questioning him like he’s the reason the house was burning. As soon as the guy got the answers he was apparently looking for, he was running towards the flames. What normal person does that? Does this guy have a death wish? Like sure, as a cop, Carlos was used to running towards danger, but he was trained for that sort of thing. Who was this Buck guy to do just that?

Conflicting emotions bubbled deep in his belly as he keeps the woman company while they wait with bated breath for some sign that Buck managed to pull off the rescue. Mostly, he was angry at this civilian who recklessly went into a burning house to play hero and frustrated at his inability to help besides calling for help is at the forefront. Surprisingly, fear was also swirling around in there.

Fear that this guy, Buck, a friend to both TK and Captain Strand, who he’s never seen before, had willingly put himself in danger and might not make it out safely. And then Carlos will have to be the one to tell the two Strands that their friend had put his life above two strangers and paid for it. He prays that by some miracle that Buck manages to save the father and son.

And then all at once, the 126 was at the scene, and Buck had emerged soot-covered, carrying the father on his shoulders along the rooftop with the child clinging to him. Carlos can’t help but cheer internally only to watch the man slip and land heavily in a deathly still heap on the ground.

He’s ashamed to say that he uncharacteristically let his fear and frustration control his actions and finds himself yelling in the poor man’s face. Michelle rightfully put him in his place and he moved off, going instead to give his statement to one of his colleagues before heading home to change out of his smoke scented clothes.

What he did not expect barely an hour later is to get a call from TK saying that he was out of the hospital and wanted to go out for a movie and possibly dinner afterward. In light of the morning he just had, it was a welcome surprise and he agrees to pick up him and this friend that TK wanted him to meet.

The afternoon came quickly enough and before he knew it, Carlos was at TK’s house and TK was opening the door and dragging him inside only to discover--

“Buck?!”

The man in question had just rounded the corner, pulling on a jacket and looking as if the morning didn’t even happen. Out of the corner of his eye, Carlos could see TK looking between them questioningly before stepping back and grabbing Buck by the wrist and bringing him up to stand in front of Carlos.

He’s not normally the type to feel threatened by another guy being close to someone he wants to be in a relationship with, but he can’t help but feel a twinge of insecurity at seeing the closeness between Buck and TK as they stand side by side with their shoulder brushing. He can’t help it, especially when Buck is this beautiful and muscular guy, a total catch.

After their re-introduction, the three of them head to the cinema which wasn’t far away by car. It didn’t take them long to decide on a rom-com and Buck shooed TK and Carlos off to wait somewhere more comfortable while he waited in line, insisting on being the one to pay for the tickets.

Almost as soon as they were seated, TK rounds on him.

“What’s going on with you? You’ve been acting weird since you knew it was Buck that was coming with us.”

“What’s the deal between you two?” TK’s thinly veiled concern morphed into amusement and he laughs at the question.

“That’s what this is about?” TK gently takes his hand in his own and presses it to his lips, “Oh Carlos, first off, I promise you there’s nothing going on between me and Buck. I mean yeah, he’s a pretty guy but its never been like that. Buck is more of a brother than anything and I’m pretty sure I’m not his type.”

At hearing this, Carlos groans and lets his head drop onto TK’s uninjured shoulder, burying his face into TK’s jacket in embarrassment. “I’m an idiot, aren’t I?” He mumbles into the fabric.

TK lightly pats his knee comfortingly. “You’re a cute idiot but don’t worry about it, it’s not the first time someone has thought that. We just got really close when he lived with us and we went through the fire academy together.”

“He probably thinks I’m an asshole.” Says Carlos lifting his head from TK’s shoulder, feeling guilty for the way he’s been acting. TK hums in response before patting his knee once more and gets up as Buck starts making his way over from the ticket booth.

“I’m sure he doesn’t but if you want to clear the air or whatever you can talk to him while I go to the bathroom, okay?” somewhat relieved in not having to ask, Carlos gives TK a quick nod and then TK was walking away, giving Buck a playful elbow bump as he passes him on the way to the bathroom.

Buck took TK’s spot and passes Carlos his ticket, looking away with a slight frown before he turns back to Carlos, and then they’re both speaking at once.

“Look, man, I’m sorry about this morning—” “Buck I’m sorry about how--”

Carlos stops talking abruptly and gestures for Buck to continue, “It's just- I’ve had experience with showing up too late to a fire, and knowing that I had a chance to save them, well, I had to take that risk. So, I’m sorry if I came across as a dick.”

He shakes his head. “Buck, I don’t even know why you're apologising when I was the one who was yelling at you for saving two people. I think you scared me more than anything, this civilian who I know is friends with TK and his dad just went into a burning house. I was afraid of what I might have to tell them if you didn’t make it out.”

Buck for his part, nodded along with his explanation, realisation dawning across his face at what he was implying, and Carlos couldn’t help but wonder if the guy had even considered that fact. From the looks of it, he wasn’t sure that he had, which was kind of concerning, to say the least.

Buck then scrunched up his face in confusion. “Wait, so why were you apologising?”

“Honestly, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I thought there was something going on between you and TK, and I kind of felt threatened with whatever relationship we seem to have. But I am also really sorry about getting in your face this morning, that was shit of me especially considering you were injured.”

“Oh. Well, apology accepted. And I swear there is nothing going on between us.” He grins, “besides TK isn’t really my type.”  

Carlos laughed at that, “Yeah, TK pretty much said the same thing.”

“So, we’re cool?” Buck puts his hand out for him to shake and Carlos takes it gladly, happy to put the misunderstanding behind them. “Yeah, we’re cool.”

TK came back after that, smiling at the two of them before gesturing towards the concession stand eager to get popcorn and candy before the movie started. Conversation flowed much easier for the rest of the evening and Carlos can't help but feel the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.

Tag list: @buckleystrand @seaofashes @kingtxhalla @justsmilestuffhappens @diazbuckleysworld @diazsbuckley @confessions-of-a-shipperholic @spell-of-the-rain @novemberhush @black-forest-girl @bluebelle88 @adamngoodbuck @overtimeme @captain--sif @rachbabe007 

Let me know if you want to be added to the tags 😊💖

[the-starsabove-you]

The Spotlight

Chapter 20- Michelle, TK and the Fastest Skater.  A/N: Reviews are welcomed! Always love hearing your thoughts and stuff! I’ll be making an updated playlist of this series later and there’s a one shot coming later! Thank you guys for taking the time to read it!  Next chapter is the last All-Stars chapter before everything goes back to normal!  Michelle was strolling through the hallways towards the locker room. Mat’s mother asked if she could take pictures of Mat before the skills challenges started. Mat’s parents were sitting and saving her seat. The morning and afternoon was good, Michelle and Mat were being tourists with Mat’s parents. All of them finding a good place for lunch at a local cafe. Mat’s parents were in awe of how sweet and in awe Mat and Michelle were with each other. Michelle was wearing Mat’s jersey with black jeans and wedges along with a high ponytail. She was very excited to see Mat in the fastest skater challenge. She was rounding the corner and was ready to knock on the door until she bumped into a figure and she would had fallen until the person caught caught her and she was confused but didn’t fall and she saw the figure It was a man with brown hair up to his shoulder, he was wearing an orange jersey that Michelle knew that was the Flyers. Michelle had attended an Islanders and Flyers game once and was amazed by both teams. “Watch where you’re going” The man said and she gave him a look “You should be watching where you’re going” The man narrowed his eyes at her “What are you a fan? How did you get back here? Do I need to call someone to help you to your seat?” “I was allowed back here, I know how to read my ticket and seat number thank you very much. I’m here to see my boyfriend and take pictures of him.. His mom asked me to” “And I was just born yesterday.” The man said and Michelle narrowed her eyes “At least I’m not the one wearing the orange jersey.. Doesn’t fit you anyways” The man broke into a grin “You’re a bonehead” He laughed as he shook his head “Whose your boyfriend?” “Mat Barzal” She said and the man’s eyes widen “Michelle Wilson?” He asked and she nodded and the man looked at her and stuck his hand out “My name is Travis Konecny, my friends call me TK” “Nice to meet you TK” She said and he gave her a look “Woah since when were you my friend?” He asked and she narrowed her eyes playfully “Have I mentioned that I hate you TK?” She said and the man grinned before Michelle sighed “How did you know my name anyways?” “Word around the locker room was that Mat Barzal’s international supermodel girlfriend would be attending the event.. Some of us were actually wondering if it was true. Mat just nodded when a couple of guys asked him. I’ve been sitting next to him for all of this, we’ve become cool” “Is he still in there?” She asked and TK nodded “Should be out soon. I’ve seen pictures of you..” TK said observing her before shaking his head “You’re more pretty in the pictures” He joked and Michelle couldn’t help but laugh “You’re my new enemy. It’s final. The feud of the year.. Michelle vs TK” TK grinned “Does that mean we have to have some sort of social media war? I’m not really on so you would win” “I’ll find the first camera that’s point at me and I’ll express how much I hate you and you’re my sworn enemy” “I can’t wait for this feud to boil over” TK laughed as he grinned at her before sighing “I’m gonna head towards the benches so I could get a nice spot. Mat should be out soon, I’ll make sure I beat your boyfriend and then challenge you for fastest skater” “Oh you’re on.. I could beat Mat in the fastest skater.. I could take you down too.” Michelle joked and TK grinned, amused “Okay Bonehead, I’ll see you later at the club?” He asked and she nodded “We’ll have a drink” “Looking forward to it” TK grinned before bidding her farewell and taking his stick and heading towards the tunnel. Michelle leaned on the wall, waiting for Mat to come through the door. A couple of Hockey Players came through and their eyes widened as they spotted her. She would smile in greetings and they would smile back and some would wave. But Michelle would hear the mutters about her from them. The door opened and out came a man with a green jersey that had a star in the middle. He was tall with brown hair. He did a double take on her before closing the door and making his way towards her “Hi” The man said and Michelle smiled “Hi, Michelle” She said and the man shook her hand “Oh I know who you are. I like your work” He said before clearing his throat “Tyler Seguin, I play for the Dallas Stars” “Nice to meet you Tyler. Thank you” She said and Tyler smirked “Of course.. I had always wondered when I would be meeting you face to face. I just didn’t expect to meet you here” He said and Michelle nodded “I’m here supporting my boyfriend” She said smiling, thinking of Mat and Tyler nodded “Have I also mentioned you're prettier in person? The camera doesn’t lie for sure” Tyler said and Michelle nodded “I’ve been told that” She grinned and Tyler couldn’t help but grin “Glad you know it then, you’re truly beautiful” Before Tyler could keep up with his flirting, someone cleared their throat and Tyler looked back and Michelle looked to see that Mat was standing in the open doorway with another player. Mat looked very unimpressed with Tyler as he was tapping the top of his stick and Tyler grinned “Hey Mat, was just introducing myself to Michelle over here” Tyler said and Mat gave him a look “I see that.” He said and Tyler was just grinning as he nodded “I’ll see you at the benches” He said before looking over and winking at Michelle “Hopefully I get to see you around” Without a word, he strolled off to the benches. Mat literally glaring daggers at him before wrapping an arm around Michelle’s waist and kissing her head “Hey, everything okay?” He asked and she nodded “I just came back here because your mom wanted a picture of you before you go out there” She said and Mat nodded before turning to the player next to him “Michelle, this is Seth Jones. He plays for the Blue Jackets. One of my favorite players too” Mat grinned as Seth nudged him playfully “Oh shut it” He said before shaking Michelle’s hand “Mat’s told me great things about you” He said and Michelle grinned “I hope so, otherwise he’s sleeping on the sofa tonight” “Oh ouch” Mat pretended to be hurt before Seth chuckled “She’s your match, Barzy.” Seth said while both Mat and Michelle blushed. “Was anyone else giving you trouble?” Mat asked and Michelle shook her head “Although, can you hit TK with your stick or something. He called me a bonehead” He said and Mat gave her a look “What did you do to him?” “What I did to him?! You should be asking what he’s done to me!” Michelle said before crossing her arms “He assumed I was a fan sneaking in the back” She said and he grinned “Well aren’t you a fan of me?” He asked and she gave him a look “I’m going to kill you Barzal, Seth is gonna have to escort you to the ER” “Hey I won’t be messing with her” Seth held his hands up and Mat grinned before looking over at the tunnel “Alright, I need to get to the benches soon.” He said before Michelle took out her phone and Mat stood proudly and was smiling at the camera. Michelle ushering Seth into the pictures too and both guys were grinning. “Come on Love birds, I’m sure the parents will be happy to have a picture of you guys too” He said as Mat wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her closer as both smiled widely before Mat leaned forward to kiss Michelle in which Seth snapped a picture and handed the phone to Michelle “Okay Mat, we gotta get going” “Alright, I’ll see you after my thing.” Mat said leaning down to kiss Michelle before the guys were being ushered into the tunnel and Michelle rushed towards the seats and saw Mat’s parents waving at her before Michelle sat beside Mat’s mom “How was it?” Mat’s mom asked and Michelle nodded “It was good! Met some players and was hanging with Mat for a bit” The three of them were watching the introductions of each player coming out and then the fastest skater was happening. Each player being introduced and Mat’s parents and Michelle cheering the loudest for Mat. TK and Mat were skating towards the bench and TK saw Michelle and grinned before turning to Mat to say something in which Mat laughed. Michelle giving TK a look in which TK grinned back. Michelle was clapping for each skater but pretended to boo for TK. Who pretended to look offended as he skated off. Soon Mat was on and Michelle was grinning and he looked over at his parents and her and he smiled softly while the three of them smiled and waved back. Soon the timer went off and Mat was skating as fast as possible. Michelle getting out of her seat and cheering for him as she watched him move with grace. She always loved to watch him skate. Michelle clapped and cheered when Mat went through the finish line. He was in the lead now and Michelle was smiling. She saw Mat was relaxing at the bench as he was watching everyone else go, winking at Michelle when he could. Finally Connor McDavid was up, Michelle looking on nervously but Mat was still relaxed. She watched Connor skating and even his parents were curious and Michelle’s eyes widen when she saw that Connor got to the finish line but didn’t beat Mat’s time and Mat had won. Michelle got out of her seat and was jumping up and down, Mat’s parents joining as they stood up and clapped and they watched the players surrounding Mat and cheering for him as Mat was laughing and smiling. Michelle was smiling widely and she watched as Mat and the other players were walking back to the locker room to make room for the next challenge Michelle was watching the challenges and soon the girls were going to take the ice and have their game. Michelle got a text from Mat for her and his family to come towards the locker room area. Michelle and Mat’s parents met Mat near the locker room and Mat brought Michelle into a tight hug and he lifted her up the ground and spun her around. Michelle grinning and Mat put her down and brought her into a kiss “I knew you would win” She mumbled and Mat smiled “Really?” “I’m always going to cheer for you Mat, no matter what” Mat’s parents smiled as they joined the hug and soon Mat brought them into a room where everyone was hanging out. Some of the players relaxing with their families and others were watching the game with grins. Michelle was sitting on Mat’s lap as they were speaking with Mat’s parents. At the corner of his eye, Mat saw the Tkachuk Brothers looking at Michelle and suddenly Mat became more self-aware. He didn’t know that Michelle would be getting such attention. Sure, Michelle was a famous model but didn’t expect players to just be looking at her. Mat knew TK’s interactions with Michelle were harmless, TK came towards Mat at the bench and told him about the interaction and TK even joked that Michelle was an annoying sister to him. But he got nervous when he walked out the door with Seth and saw Tyler openly flirting with Michelle. He would have been alarmed if Michelle didn’t mention Mat as her boyfriend or if she started flirting back with Tyler. But Mat didn’t worry at all, he was very calm but wanted to tell Tyler off to leave her alone. He had noticed that some of the players were looking at Michelle, but if she wasn’t worrying or saying anything about it.. He had nothing to worry about. He wouldn’t be afraid to punch a guy or two if they started flirting or made her feel uncomfortable. “You’re ready to go?” Michelle said and Mat snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her “Sorry babe, I was lost in thought” He said before Michelle nudging his leg with her own “I said the girls are finishing their game.. Ready for the last challenge before we meet the players at the club?” “Yeah, sorry” Mat said before kissing her cheek and she got up and Mat’s parents smiled “You guys are so cute” His father said his mother nodded in agreement “You guys are a very nice match.. It is nice to see Mat so relaxed and happy with someone and understands his life style” She said and Michelle nodded “Thank you, he’s very special to me and I’m very happy with him. I know with both of us traveling and both of us working, it will be hard at times but we’ll make it” “I know sweetheart” Mat’s mom winked. Mat’s parents and Michelle went back to their seats while Mat hung out with Seth and Auston. TK close by. All of them watching with grins on their faces as players had to shoot the puck from a higher level. Once the event was over. Mat’s parents bid Mat and Michelle a farewell before returning to their hotel room. Mat held Michelle’s hand as everyone was in the garage, some hockey players with their partners and others were just chatting with others. Mat squeezed her hand as he led her towards Seth and TK. Who were chatting until TK saw Michelle “It seems like I couldn’t beat your boyfriend, bonehead. I’ll do it next time for sure” TK greeted and Michelle greeted as they fist bumped each other “Now I gotta kick his ass and I’ll take his fastest skater title” “Oh really?” Mat said with an eyebrow raised and Michelle nodded proudly until Mat grinned and kissed her head “You’re cute” Seth chuckled and he hugged Michelle in greeting before greeting Mat. “Ready to have the night of our lives and party?” “Let’s do this” Michelle grinned as a couple of people started filing into cars. Auston Matthews nodded his head to Michelle in greeting and she smiled back. Michelle and Chris Kreider high fiving and talking about favorite places to eat while they were waiting for cars. Mat’s arm around his girlfriend’s arm. Soon a car came for them and Mat, Michelle and TK piled into the back while Seth went to the front. A majority of the car ride was Michelle and TK bickering as TK would try to wiggle for more room and Michelle pushing him so she could have more room. Mat watching the two with amusement. Mat, Michelle, Seth and TK got out of the car and were walking into the club. Michelle in awe of how big the club was and she was grinning “This is like a Gatsby party” “Lots of people” TK noted and Seth nodded “I like it” “Why?” Mat asked and Michelle turned to him “A lot of people.. Makes some interactions intimate” she whispered and Mat nodded “You’re right” He muttered. The club started getting more busy as hockey players and partners were filing in. Soon the dance floor was crowded with so many people and Michelle grabbed Mat’s hand and led him into the dance floor and they danced in the middle of the dance floor, Mat and Michelle not worrying over anything because of the fact the club was packed. They were young and carefree adults, dancing the night away with each other. Mat kissed Michelle softly and Michelle deepened the kiss and she broke the kiss and looked at him, her eyes half closed “Wanna head back to the hotel now?” He was smirking “I do deserve some kind of prize for winning fastest skater” He said and she narrowed her eyes playfully “Alright, Pretty Boy. Let’s go” They said their goodnights to everyone and retreated back to their hotel room.

[xfirepilot]

in your eyes

summary: tk hears from his mom and doesn’t have a good reaction.

Chapter 1 / 2 (ao3 link)

Owen Strand was exhausted. After the tornado that swept through Austin last week, there was seemingly an emergency every day, multiple times a day that the firehouse had to help with. The city was still rebuilding itself and while their house wasn’t hit like half the city was, they did all they could to help. He spent the previous day getting treatment for his illness, telling his son that he needed to go out of town for a few hours. The look Judd gave him from the other side of the room was a mix of concern and judgement. 

Even though he confessed to Judd about his cancer, he felt a horrible pit in his stomach that if it didn’t tell TK soon, his son would do something to harm himself if he heard it from anyone else. He didn’t want to be the reason for his son possibly relapsing again. 

Noting that it was 11 p.m. now, and he knew TK was off shift, he figured he would be home to break the news to him.

He walked in through the front door and heard someone crying from the back of the house. He walked quickly, noting that the kitchen light was on and saw his son sitting at the table, staring at something in front of him with tears pouring down his cheeks.

Owen walked closer and took notice of what was keeping TK’s attention.

Pills.

“TK?” He asked, softly and his son jumped in his chair and looked between the pills and his dad. He let out a heart wrenching sob that had Owen kneeling down next to his son. TK fell into his arms and cried.

He was always safe in his dad’s arms. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry. I didn’t take any, please don’t be mad” he mumbled, and he felt his dad rub his back in a soothing motion. 

“It’s okay. You’re okay,” he responded and he flashed back to when TK was laying on the floor unresponsive in his New York apartment. He felt as helpless as he did back then, but at least TK was alright now. Physically anyway. Mentally was another story.

“It was mom,” TK stated and he felt his dad’s arms go stiff around them.

“What?” Owen asked, afraid of the response he would get. Nothing good came from his relationship with Angela, except TK of course. 

She ruined their family when she left them when TK was 13. Shortly after TK’s bar mitzvah, their son came out to them.

Owen always knew and loved his son. He would always accept him and protect him from the cruel people in the world that wouldn’t.

Angela was another story. She couldn’t find it in herself to accept her son for who he was and a week after ignoring his presence in the house, after Owen tried to talk with her about the fact that TK was no different than he was before, she left in the middle of the night. Owen never forgave her for leaving their son heartbroken without a mother to love him. His second wife Carol was great and accepted TK, but she couldn’t deal with the danger of them both being firefighters and they parted on amicable terms.

Owen was broken out of his thoughts by feeling TK’s weight getting heavier against him.

“Hey kid, let’s get you to bed,” he gently shook his son awake.

“‘W’nna sleep,” TK all but mumbled, his eyes barely opened as Owen helped his son up out of his chair. TK leaned heavily against his dad as he was helped to his room and he fell into the bed and fell asleep almost instantly. Clearly tired out from crying, he didn’t even manage to fully get his entire body onto the bed. 

Owen let out a laugh as he lifted TK’s legs onto the bed and shifted his son so he was sleeping on a pillow, before he took his son’s shoes off and put a blanket over him.

Looking at TK, he was brought back to the night when his son realized his mother wasn’t coming back. He had cried himself to sleep that night as well and Owen swore he was going to do anything in his power to make sure his son wouldn’t be left heartbroken again.

Sadly, he wasn’t there earlier in the night to control his ex-wife’s actions, just like he couldn’t all those years ago. His son was his priority and it would always be that way. 

Glancing one more time at TK to see that he was sleeping soundly, he quietly left the room and walked back to the kitchen. 

He took notice of the pills on the table and quickly grabbed them, crushed them and then washed them down the sink. He needed to get TK help. He needed to talk to his son’s therapist. He needed to talk to his crew. Maybe even that cop that Michelle was friends with that seemed to like TK. He needed to get as many people in TK’s corner as he could.

He needed to prove to his son that they wouldn’t leave him. The idea of TK struggling with this addiction killed him. The idea of his own mother being the reason made him feel even worse. 

Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he saw TK’s phone on the floor underneath the table. He leaned down to pick it up and saw texts from an unfamiliar number and felt his heart drop out of his chest.

“TK, it’s mom. Come home.”

“TK, there’s a place where they can help you.”

“You will be able to get rid of your unnatural urges there.”

Owen saw red as he looked through the texts, with over a dozen more he left unread because he knew what she was spewing to their son was filth.

Did she really think she would convince their 25 year old son to go to conversion therapy?

The idea made him seeth and he took a breath to calm down, trying to fight the urge to just throw the cell phone at the wall. If he did that, TK would surely wake up and his son needed rest. While his son was an adult, he was fragile. He hated using that word to describe his son, because TK was one of the strongest people he knew, but the addiction was strong and between the break up with Alex, his overdose and now this whole new issue with his mother, he didn’t know how much longer it would take for TK to break. 

Tomorrow would be a new day where his son could finally heal.

Or so he hoped.

--

“TK, what are you doing?” Judd asked, walking into the locker room a week later to put his jacket away. The younger man was sitting on a bench, gripping something in his hand, before he shook his head at the older firefighter.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” he responded. Judd looked at TK with suspicion before walking out of the locker room and TK let out a sigh of relief before throwing the pills in his mouth.

He wanted the pain to end. He wasn’t a good person. His mom left him because he wasn’t the son she wanted and Alex left him because he didn’t love him. Who could love him? A gay drug addict who depended on trying to be a hero to show his worth. He wasn’t worth anything. 

Banging his hand hard against his locker, he went to stand up and felt the world spin.

Oh.

The drugs were taking effect.

Perfect.

“TK?”

“TK!”

Everything was fading in and out for the young firefighter. He thought he could hear Judd yelling his name and was that Michelle? 

“I need the narcan!” Her voice was getting further and further away from him and he felt himself slowly lose consciousness.

He felt something come over his face. Was it a mask? He couldn’t tell. All he saw was a blur. 

He felt himself suddenly jolted awake from the narcan and he turned over to throw up the pills.

“Easy kid,” Judd said softly, before lifting TK up from under his legs and arms.

“No no no nonono,” TK struggled in the other man’s arms, “I w’nna die.” His struggle seized as he lost consciousness again and Judd and Michelle looked down at the young man with worry.

“Let’s go,” Michelle stated firmly, leading Judd to the ambulance with TK in his arms. Placing him on the gurney and as Michelle went about helping TK, Judd cursed to himself. He should have realized something was wrong with the younger man with his suspicious behavior in the locker room. 

Owen had told them what happened with TK the other week and he had wanted to throw something after. How could a mother treat her son like that? 

The kid had an annoying streak, but he always meant well and he struggled so much that Judd just wanted to put him in a bubble so he wouldn’t get hurt again. Grace had laughed at him when he suggested it one night at the bar, when TK had gotten smoke inhalation after a house fire a month prior.

“You’re worried about him,” Grace said, smirking as Judd rolled his eyes.

“The kid seems to think he’s invincible,” he stated, taking a sip of his beer.

She let out a laugh, “I seem to recall hearing about a certain reckless probie who thought he could save a kitten from a tree WITHOUT proper equipment.” 

“It was a kitten!”

“Judson Ryder, you fell out of that tree and broke your arm.”

“So it wasn’t my smart move…”

Shaken out of his thoughts by a bump in the road, he turned to see Michelle giving TK more oxygen and he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

“Owen? It’s TK.”

[allie-mcginn]

Who do you belong to? | Nolan Patrick Smut

A/N: requested by anon (also I’m on mobile, so I have no clue how to do ‘read more’ sorry) sorry for any errors!

THANK YOU to @lizzywow for helping me to finish this! Love you!!

Word count:2393

Warnings: SMUT!!! Don’t read if you’re under 18! Choking. Alcohol. Jealous!Nolan. Nolan grabs the readers wrist tightly, idk if that’s triggering.

——

So you and Nolan were out at a club in Philly, celebrating the teams win tonight over the Penguins. You had dressed up a bit more provocative than usual and were planning on having a fun night with Nolan. However, your night was not going as planned.

Nolan was standing at the bar with Ivan and Oskar, in no mood to be with you on the dance floor. Luckily, TK was in the mood to let loose and was more than willing to dance with you. As you and TK danced to the beat of the music, you couldn’t help but continuously glance in Nolan’s direction. Only to find him laughing at something Ivan said instead of looking at you. It may have been the alcohol talking, but you wanted nothing more than to send Nolan into a jealous rage. Simply because when Nolan is jealous, the sex is so good, you can’t walk straight for days afterwards.

So, you moved yourself closer to Travis, who was pretty drunk and just looking to have fun at this point. As a rather sexual song started playing over the speakers, you found yourself turning around and leaning into Travis’ embrace, your back pressed against his chest.

“Y/N, what do you think you’re doing?” Travis slurred in your ear.

“Dancing, what does it look like?” You said as if it was obvious while moving your body against his in a sinful manner.

TK just shrugged and pulled your body closer to his trying to match your rhythm. Both of you knew TK would never push things too far. Nolan was his best friend and he respected you and the relationship you two had, that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy flirting with you to rile Nolan up occasionally. You and TK danced for a few songs, with you occasionally glancing over towards the bar to see if Nolan was reacting the way you wanted him to. You met his eyes as you moved your hips a bit more seductively and ran your hand through TK’s hair, Nolan just looked back at you with a rather unreadable expression. If how you were moving was not getting him jealous, then you’d have to step it up a notch. You pulled TK’s head down, moving your mouth to his ear.

“Time to turn it up a bit, Konecny.” He smirked and spun you around so your fronts were pressed together. You moved against each other, with his hands roaming around your body and yours tangled in his hair. He maneuvered one of his legs between yours, giving you something to grind against. He smirked at you and tilted his head in the direction of your rosy-cheeked boyfriend.

You looked over your shoulder to see Nolan holding his drink with white knuckles. His jaw was clenched and his pupils were blown in either anger or lust, you couldn’t tell, you didn’t care. You got the reaction you wanted.

You winked at him as he chugged the rest of his drink and stalked over to where you were, leaving Ivan and Oskar confused at his sudden departure. By the time Nolan reached you, you had turned your attention back to Travis, successfully ignoring the fact that your boyfriend was now standing behind you. You only acknowledged him once he grabbed you by the shoulder, forcing you to turn and face him.

“What do you think you’re doing, angel?” You smirked and reached up to run a hand through his hair.

“Dancing with Trav. What does it look like, babe?” You looked up at him with an innocent look playing across your face as he looked down at you in disbelief. By this time Travis has disappeared off the dance floor and over to Ivan and Oskar at the bar.

“You think it’s okay to dance like that with TK? I think you forgot who you belong to, angel.” He rasped in your ear and the hand he had on the small of your back moved lower and pulled you closer to his large frame. The grip you had on his hair tightened while your free hand found a home on his broad chest.

You smirked up at him, “Oh yeah? And who is that?”

You knew that you were making him mad by the way he gripped your hips with more pressure, but that just made the wetness in your panties even more noticeable to you. You could feel other people bumping into you and Nolan, obviously annoyed that the two of you weren’t dancing but instead just standing still in the middle of the dancefloor. Nolan just growled at your response, frustrated that you were playing games.

“Hmm, no answer? Guess I’ll just go find Trav and see if he’ll tell me who I belong to.” You remove yourself from Nolan’s hold and start to walk over to where the other Flyers players were. Nolan was quick to react, grabbing your wrist more aggressively than he should’ve. He yanked you back into his chest, grip not loosening in the slightest. Honestly, you’d only seen Nolan this aggressive on the ice and weren’t sure how to react; so, you froze.

“Oh, angel, you’re gonna regret that. We’re leaving. Now.” He dragged you out of the club into the chilly Philadelphia air, you struggled to keep up with his rapid pace as he walked back to your shared apartment.

“Nolan, please slow down. I’m in heels.”

However, your pleas fell upon deaf ears. The tall, brown-haired boy didn’t utter a single word in your direction until the two of you were in the privacy of your apartment. As soon as the door was locked, Nolan turned to you, eyes dark and filled with lust, he circled your frozen figure. He stopped behind you and moved your hair behind your ear, leaning closer to you.

“You’ve been playing a dangerous game all night, angel. One that you had no chance in winning.” His lips trailed along the exposed skin on your neck, your head instinctively leaning to the side to give him more access. You moaned in pleasure, finally getting what you had wanted all night long.

“Oh I think I've already won,” you panted out as Nolan continued to suck on your sweet spot. He bit down harshly on your soft skin to mark you, then pulled back to look you in your eyes, hands coming up to tangle themselves in your hair.

“What was that angel?” He grabbed your hair at the roots and pulled your head roughly to the side, the pain felt nice on your scalp. “You think that you get to dance with TK all night long and think you've won?”

“Oh Nolan,” you sighed, leaning into his hand pulling at your hair. “You can be such a stupid boy sometimes, you know?” You pushed Nolan up against the wall and bit his bottom lip before kissing him deeply, Nolans hands came down to grip your ass, fingertips pressed up under your skirt to feel your skin.

Next thing you knew, Nolan had picked you up by your thighs and pushed you up against the wall next to the door. The two of you make out against the wall, hands roaming as far as your position would allow. It wasn’t long before he walked you to the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed with you in his lap. You quickly got between his muscular legs and unzipped his jeans, which were certainly much tighter than when he had put them on earlier. You pulled his pants down his long legs, leaving him in just his boxer briefs. You look up at him with innocent eyes as you start to palm him over the strained fabric, Nolan watching your every movement, carefully. You placed an open-mouth kiss over his cock before pulling his briefs down his legs, letting his cock spring up and slap against his lower stomach.

Hesitantly, you reach out and wrap your hand around him and bring your tongue out to lick a broad strip along the underneath of his swollen cock. Nolan lets out a sigh of relief as you wrap your lips around his head, sucking slightly. You knew you were being a brat and teasing him much more than you should be, but you just couldn’t help it. You took as much of him into your mouth as you could, relaxing your throat as you take more of him deeper and deeper.

Nolan’s demeanor changed as soon as he felt himself hit the back of your throat, his cocky attitude had quickly made a comeback.

“Yeah, angel, that's right you're mine. You couldn’t suck anybody as well as you suck me. You may be a brat, but you’re always so good for me.”

You moan at his words and reach a hand up to start playing with his balls, Nolan lets out a guttural noise, throwing his head back in pleasure. You know then that even though he’s been acting cocky all night, you’ve still got him wrapped around your finger.

Nolan could tell he was getting close to his release, so he pulled you off of him and tossed you back onto the bed. He couldn’t seem to get your clothes off fast enough, you’re pretty sure he even tore your skirt. He quickly removed his shirt, leaving you both naked, before he attached his lips to your neck. Leaving hickeys on any available skin he could find, you would certainly struggle to cover these marks for the following days to come.

Nolan worked his way down your body, any skin his hands touched, his lips followed shortly thereafter. His fingers reached your dripping core, easily inserting two fingers inside you, curling up into your sweet spot, making you moan out. Your nails found a home in the skin of his back, scratching enough that you know there will be marks tomorrow. He isn’t quite ready to finish teasing you yet, but he knows that he won’t last much longer.

Nolan removes his fingers from your core and with his other hand, he opened your mouth so he could place the fingers that had just been in you into your mouth. You moaned at the taste of yourself on his fingers, sucking harshly while looking into Nolan’s eyes. He groans at the sight of you sucking on his fingers and moves to place your legs over his broad shoulders, while lining himself up to your core.

Nolan pushes in and bottoms out in one swift thrust, moaning at how tight you are. He gives you a moment to adjust before pulling out almost entirely, and thrusts back into you at a rough pace. Nolan sets his pace rough and deep, you can feel him hitting your cervix in the best way. You can hear Nolan telling you to keep your eyes on him, but you can’t seem to be able to even see anything as your eyes roll back. Nolan’s hands are holding onto your hips with bruising force, while you’re fingers leaving crescent-shaped marks in his biceps. You are close but you need more, something new, a new angle.

“Nol, please, please, fuck me from behind. Want you to pull my hair. Want to move with you.”

Nolan is quick to comply, pulling out of you and turning you on to your hands and knees. Sliding back into you, Nolan moans out, loving the feeling of bottoming out inside of you from this angle. He goes to start thrusting and you begin to move your hips in time with his thrusts, meeting him halfway. The sensation has you dropping your head down against the mattress, but Nolan is quick to wrap his hand in your hair, pulling you up so your back is flush against his chest. He removes his hand from your hair and wraps it around your neck, squeezing until he could feel you start to struggle to breathe slightly.

You brought a hand up to wrap around Nolan’s wrist, moaning as he flexes his fingers even more. You were too caught up in the change in the angle and his hand around your throat to even notice his other hand moving down to rub the bundle of nerves in between your thighs. The sensations quickly became too much and you couldn’t even find the words to let Nolan know you were cumming.

He released his grip on your throat, letting you fall forward on to the bed, as he fucks you at a relentless pace through your high while chasing his. You turn your head to the side to look back at him as he fucks you.

“Yeah, baby, that’s it. Use me. Show me who I belong to.” you rasp out, voice all scratchy from your vocal cords being restricted.

Nolan could never get enough of your dirty talk, especially when your voice was raspy from either him fucking your throat or choking you. So, hearing you coax him towards his high, sent him over the edge. He stilled as he came inside of you, both of you moaning at the feeling of his cum filling you up.

“Fuck, angel, look at you. Filled with my cum, you look so pretty like this. All mine.”

Pulling out of you slowly, admiring the sight of his cum mixed with yours dripping out of your swollen cunt. Nolan collapsed next to you and you both laid there for a second before he got up to get a towel to clean you off. Nolan rolled you over to lay on your back so he could clean the mess between your legs. He tossed the towel into the hamper then crawled into bed with you, pulling you into his arms, pressing a sweet kiss to your lips.

“You okay, angel? Not too rough?” Nolan was always very tender with you after sex.

You nodded and murmured a soft “yes” as you pressed a kiss into his chest as he rubbed his hand up and down your back, holding you close to him.

“Angel, that was amazing but please don't ever dance like that with TK again.” Nolan whispered into your hair.

“Next time make sure I don't have to find somebody else to dance with first.” you said while smirking up at him.

“I think that can be arranged.” He kissed your forehead and just as your about to fall asleep, Nolan asked, “Wait, what the fuck did you mean by ‘you can be such a stupid boy?’”

[pl-dubois]

Just... Happy - Nolan Patrick

A/N: hoooooooly shit hi!! i’m finally back with another fic lmao took me long enough. realistically, i should’ve posted this fic (when was the stadium series??)  a month ago but i didn’t so i’m doing it now! this was really fun to write and i think it’s rly cute and i hope you guys do too! feedback and comments are always welcome!! Word Count: 2022

Glancing at the clock, you saw it was already 8pm and groaned loudly to yourself.  You were supposed to be at home, watching the start of the Stadium Series game that your boyfriend and his team had been excited about since it was announced.  But instead you were here, stuck behind some car that was going even slower than they needed in order to teach you a lesson about being impatient.  All you wanted to do was curl up on your couch, watch the game, and not move until Nolan got home.  You pressed down on the gas pedal a little harder, trying to send a message to the driver you were following to hurry the fuck up.  Fortunately, you were only about 5 minutes from home, but unfortunately, the car in front of you made the journey feel like an eternity.  At this rate, you hoped you would only miss the anthem and starting lineups, not puck drop.

As if your day couldn’t get any worse, the vehicle you were following decided it was a great idea to slow down even further to piss you off more than you already were.  It was bad enough that you had to work, but that was just the icing on the cake.  Letting out an angry shout, you hit your steering wheel and quickly managed to regain your composure after taking a few deep breaths, but even the thought of work alone made you beyond angry.  It was the reason that you weren’t able to see Nolan play in person tonight.  You had tried to take the day off weeks ago, even argued with your boss about it when he denied your request, but eventually had to give up the fight at the threat of losing your job.  

The car in front of you slowed to turn and you sighed in relief, finally being able to speed just a little to ensure you got home in time.  Soon enough, you were pulling into your building’s parking garage and your next few minutes went by in a blur.  One minute you were getting out of your car about to sprint up to your apartment, and the next you were settled on your couch in more comfortable clothes with the game on.

You knew it was going to be a good eventful game from the moment you sat down.  However, when the first of many scrums broke out early in the first, you got up to pour yourself a glass of wine; it was the Flyers and the Pens, you were going to need to do a little self-medication.  After sitting back down, you then proceeded to experience a rollercoaster of emotions as the game progressed:  booing whenever the Penguins scored, cheering when your boys scored, almost spilling your wine when you gasped and covered your mouth in shock and worry when Nolan got hit, shouting “That was hot, Nols,” at your TV when your boyfriend delivered the retaliation check back, and disappointment when you thought the boys couldn’t get the lead back.  

Fortunately, you were wrong.

You were on your third glass of wine, and had finished just about half of it, when Jake came in hot and tied the game.  This time, when you jumped up to cheer, your wine went with you.

“Fuck!” you exclaimed, your excitement getting cut short.  Running to grab paper towels, you mumbled to yourself,  “Oh my God, please don’t set in the floor, please not the floor.”  Thankfully, you got to the spill before the red stained the hardwood and managed to clean up the mess before the break for overtime had ended, which meant you could be stressed out while watching the game again.  Both teams had played well, and both teams had been very aggressive, but now it was down to the wire.  You thought you were on edge when you started biting your nails as overtime began, but when Nolan took to the ice, your increasing heart rate told you otherwise.  Your eyes were glued to the TV screen with rapt attention, hope and nervous energy filling your body.  And then, just like that, the game was over.

“CAPTAIN CLUTCH!!!” you jumped up, laughing and shrieking with joy.  “Oh my God, and Nolan with the primary assist!”  You sighed, relieved, and flopped back onto the couch with another laugh.  You had to go out to meet the boys now, there was no doubt about it.  

You stuck around for the first bit of the post game, but ultimately gave up, knowing you’d hear all about it from the boys anyway.  Sending TK a quick text inquiring about after game plans, you changed out of your lounge clothes and did a little bit of light makeup.  After putting in a request for an Uber, the buzzing of your phone told you that Teeks had gotten back to you.  Laughing at his ridiculous use of emojis, you slipped on your shoes and went down to wait for your driver.

You arrived at the address TK had sent you in good spirits.  Thanking your driver, you made your way inside the crowded venue looking for your boys.  The smell of alcohol and sweat was almost overpowering and you had already lost count of how many people bumped into you just as you tried to make your way away from the entrance.  You scanned the crowd for a bit, looking for any familiar faces, until finally Travis and Ivan fell into your line of sight.  Silently thanking the amount of wine already in your system, you braved the mass of people to make your way over to the pair.  Sidling up to Teeks, you grinned at Ivan and raised your voice above the blaring music.  “Did I miss anything big?”

“Y/N!” Travis exclaimed, turning and wrapping you up in a giant hug.  “You’re here!”

“I am!” you laughed, worming away to give Ivan a quick hello hug as well.  “Sorry I couldn’t be there in person, guys.”

“Uh no, don’t even,” TK waved you off, letting arm rest on your shoulders, “you’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

“Okay, okay fine,” you laughed, glancing around.  “Wait, have you guys seen Nolan?”

The only response you got was Ivan pointing behind you with a smile.  Turning around, you met the gaze of your boyfriend who was quickly making his way over to you.  You met him halfway and with a huge grin, he pulled you into his arms in a hug that caused your feet to lift off the ground.  He spun you just a little, and you laughed and poked him in the back as best you could.  “Nolie, put me down!”

Your request was granted, but as soon as you were back on the floor, Nolan’s large frame bent over yours and captured your lips in a breathtaking, passionate kiss.  You felt the sounds of the venue fade away as you were lost in the feeling of Nolan and Nolan alone.  You pulled him ever closer, threading your fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck, the familiar taste and smell of him causing you to finally relax after a stress filled day.

After what felt like an eternity, you finally pulled away from each other.  The kiss itself left you lightheaded and you had to steady yourself by clinging to your chuckling boyfriend.  Looking up again, you met Nolan’s eyes as he grinned down at you.

“Hi there,” he said, giving you a light squeeze where his hands were resting on your hips.

“Hey, handsome,” you beamed in return, sliding your hands across his shoulders and letting them rest on his chest.  “Someone’s in a good mood.  Wonder why that is.”

His only response to your words was a laugh and an even bigger smile.  Momentarily forgetting you were in a public space, you reached up to caress Nolan’s cheek and raised yourself up onto your tiptoes to return the loving kiss he had greeted you with earlier.

But just as Nolan had pulled your body flush against his and deepened the kiss, you heard someone clear their throat behind you.

“Okay, lovebirds.  I definitely think that’s enough,” Travis laughed as Nolan quickly pulled away and straightened up.  You felt your face go hot; you already knew that the flush in your cheeks mirrored his own.

“Sorry,” Nolan smiled sheepishly over your shoulder at his friends behind you, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.  Taking a small step backward, to put a little distance between the two of you, he met your gaze once again.  Even in the low lighting, he was absolutely stunning.

“I’m really glad you decided to come out,” he said, just loud enough for you to hear. “I missed you tonight.”

“I missed you to, Nol,” you frowned, remembering once again that you hadn’t gotten to see him play in person. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it…”

He was quick to wave off your apology.  “Don’t even worry about it.  You’re here with me now.”  Looking down at you, his eyes were filled with so much love and adoration, you could’ve melted right where you stood.  You just nodded in response with a small smile before leaning up to press your lips to his once again, briefly but sweetly.  

“Congrats, baby,” you murmured when you broke apart, fingers playing with the ends of his hair.  “You deserved this.”

With a laugh and a fond shake of his head, your boyfriend all but swept you up in yet another electrifying kiss.  The way he moved his mouth against yours was intoxicating, but the alcohol already in your system was definitely playing a part in that as well.  As Nolan broke the kiss gently, he let his forehead rest against your own.

You let your eyes flutter closed as you just enjoyed the feeling of his warmth near you, sighing softly.

“You okay?” came Nolan’s voice, tinged with just a hint of worry.

“Yeah,” you opened your eyes again with a smile to meet his bright blue ones.  “Just… Really, really happy.”

“I love you so much,” he smiled softly, tracing light circles into your hips with his thumbs.  “I’m so lucky to have you.”

Before you had a chance to respond, Nolan suddenly straightened up and declared in realization,  “That’s it!  You’re my good luck charm!  You were watching, and we won.”

“Nol, I always watch your games,” you giggled at his dramatics.

“Well, yeah.  But this is different!”

Letting out a full laugh, you playfully gave him a little shove.  “Yeah, okay, Patrick.”  You glanced around you looking for the friends that had been teasing you earlier, but were now nowhere to be seen.  

“I think we grossed Teeks and Ivan out,” you joked with a grin, taking Nolan’s hand and giving it a small squeeze.  “Shall we go find them?”

“Oh definitely,” he smiled in return, pressing a light kiss into your hair before leading you into the throng of people in attempt to locate the rest of his team.  The way he was being more open and smiley than usually made you wonder if he had gotten ahold of some alcohol, though the adrenaline of coming off of such a big win played a part as well. You knew the carefree, more laid-back side of Nolan from when the two of you were alone at home.  His mood tonight was infectious; a smile had never left either of your faces and it made you beyond happy to see him like that.   Gazing up at him, your heart was overflowing with love and you thought the butterflies in your stomach were going to somehow escape from you.  Even after being together for some time, you still felt the same way as you did at the beginning of your relationship.  Being with Nolan was easy; he loved you unconditionally and you loved him right back.  No matter what, you knew he’d be right by your side and you couldn’t be luckier to have found someone who understood and treated you as well as Nolan did.

[writing-realityawayfromreality]

DMed part 3

*Because it was asked for and also because it is Hockey day in America today. Enjoy!*

You grabbed your keys and headed out the door. The address that Carter had sent you was literally down the road so you just decided to walk. It was a nice night for once minus the cold chill that would occur once and awhile. Arriving at the apartment complex you thought about if you really wanted to go to this party. Already inside you headed to the elevators. 

It didn’t take you long to locate the apartment considering the whole floor was silent but the one place that had music blaring. You were so glad that you weren’t living in the same place because you wouldn’t be able to handle the loudness. Pulling out your phone you sent Carter a message. 

“Hey, I’m here...” you hit send locking your phone. Not even a second later Carter was opening the door. “Hey y/n! come on in.” He said 

He grabbed your hand and pulled you inside. There was a bunch of people. Some of them were players and their girlfriends, some of them were single players talking to some random girls. Carter lead you into the kitchen grabbing two cups and then heading towards the balcony. You couldn’t believe that you were here with Carter at a party, his party? 

“this is for you...” Carter said handing you the red solo cup, you took it looking at him knowing that he is not 21 and neither were you. He just smiled, it’s not like you haven’t drank before and they were hockey players for crying out loud no one is going to call the cops on them. Taking a big gulp you turned looking out over the city. 

“This is Nolan’s place, doesn’t it have such a nice view.” Carter asked looking at the tall building that were lighting the nights sky. “As nice as Philadelphia could be.” you said laughing. You were about to take another drink only to have someone bump into you causing to spill the remains of your drink all over you. Turing around you came face to face with non other than Travis Konecny.

“Jesus Tk.” Carter said looking around for something to wipe up the mess. “Sorry Hartsy, I think i had a little too much to drink.” Travis said “But your aren’t going to stop any time soon...” Carter responded. “Nope, not when your the over time goal scorer.” Travis said headed back into the apartment. “I’m so sorry, Travis can be a little...” “Its okay Carter, I walked anyways so it’s not like theres a chance i’ll get pulled over.” You said trying to dry off your red dress. “Well, I live just a floor above so if you want we can head up and i’ll get you a sweatshirt or something?” Carter said standing up waiting for you to follow. “Sure, thanks Carter.” You said following. 

You both were trying to move your way through the bodies in Nolan’s apartment. You were almost to the door when you heard a voice yelling over the music. “THERE YOU GO ROMEO.” Neither of you had to turn your heads to know that it was a drunken Nolan standing not to far away from you both watching you leave. 

“The guys get a little, obnoxious when they are drunk. I’m sorry.” Carter said while walking towards the elevator. “Id would expect nothing less. It’s really okay Carter.” You said following him to the elevator. Once inside Carter’s apartment he headed straight for the bedroom looking for clothes for you to change into. You walked towards the big window at the back of his apartment, it overlooked the same things that Nolans but the view was still breath taking. 

“it’s not much but at least you won’t smell like beer and you’ll be warm.” Carter said handing you one of his sweatshirts and a pair of his sweatpants. “Thank you, where’s your bathroom?” You asked. “You can just change in my room.” He gestured towards his room with the light still on. It didn’t take you long to get changed. You actually set your dress on his bed looking at where the beer had spilled, you could see the darkness of where it was still wet. 

You turned off the light to his room and walked over to where he was on the couch. “Thank you again Carter.” You said. “I’m really sorry about your dress, you looked so pretty, the brown complimented your hair so nicely.” He said. you were about to say thank you but you stop, Brown? You thought to yourself. “You mean red?” you asked carter. “Oh shit, well regardless you still looked beautiful whether or not i could see the color.” Carter said getting up from the couch. You walked him walk to the fridge grabbing out two waters and heading back towards you. “I’m red-green color blind.” Carter said. “So you couldn’t even see your World juniors jersey?” “Nope.” Carter said laughing. 

“So, tell me about yourself y/n” Carter stated after taking a sip from the water bottle. “Well, I’ve lived kind of everywhere. the past few years I’ve been here in Philly because of school. You know I just got into the nursing program. I work at the coffee shop, go to class, my last class actually before  nursing one’s start. I also work at the local hospital in the PED’s station. I also help to coach the girls lacrosse, indoor and out for this season. Who knows what next season will bring.” You said out of breath. 

“Wow, busy bee you are. What about your family?” Carter questioned. “I have two sisters and two brothers,  two nephews a niece and another niece on the way. They still live back in California, my parents live in Canada right now, the kinda have two houses, one in California and one in canada.” you said looking at the ground. “What do they do?” “They are both doctors, my one sister is a dentist, the other is a producer she owns her own club in L.A. and both of my brother are lawyers.” 

“You make my life sound boring.” Carter said laughing. “Oh stop, you’re a national hockey player, the future of the Philadelphia Flyers for crying out loud.” you said laughing along with him. “So what about you?” You said finally taking a drink from your water. “Well, i play hockey... I’ve wanted to be on the NHL since I was like 5. My parents are back in Canada along with my younger sister. I played for the WHL for the slivertips for a while, um played in the world juniors twice and won gold once. And now I’m here in V’s old apartment.” He said 

“See, your life isn’t boring, I would give anything to be able to have played Ice hockey.” you said. “But you’ve played lacrosse, that’s still really cool.” Carter said bumping your shoulder. “Yeah but nothing like Ice Hockey, my family has watched it since i was little. It’s just something that my dad and I had bonded over, my siblings watched it but never had the appeal to them that it does to me. in fact my dad would probably be shitting himself if he knewI was hanging out with you.” You said laughing. 

“well, how about you invite your family and a few of your friends if you want to a game, i’ll get you a box seat and then maybe you and your dad or whoever can come down and meet some of the guys. I know that Travis and Nolan wouldn’t mind hanging out for a bit afterwards.” Carter said smiling. 

“I couldn’t ask you to do that carter...” “I want to, think of it as a... gift to you for getting into the nursing program.” “Okay, fine. But only if its okay with everyone.” “It’s fine.” carter said. you looked at the time it was almost 2 in the morning, you hadn’t noticed you’ve been talking for hours. “I’ve got to be going, i have work and studying and coaching to do...” “I’ll walk you home.” You grabbed your dress and were about to walk into carter’s room to get changed but Carter stopped you. “Just keep them. i’ve got tons.” He said. 

 It was a short walk home  but you enjoyed every minute you got to spend with carter. You told him he didn’t need to walk you to your door but he insisted. “Message me when you get home?” you asked turning to face carter after unlocking your door. “I will, thanks for coming out tonight.” “Thank you for inviting me.” Carter grabbed your hand, looking at you and then your hand he placed a small kiss onto it. He looked back up again at you with a smile “Goodnight y/n.” “Goodnight Carter.” 

You couldn’t stop thinking about him. you went into the bathroom to take off your makeup and to put your hair up. You were in the middle of brushing your teeth when your phone went off. “I’m back home, thank you again for coming to the party. Sorry about Travis and the whole dress thing...” 

“Don’t worry about it, i’ll just send you the dry cleaning bill.” you said sending a winking face along with it. 

“Deal.” 

“I was just kidding Carter, don’t worry about it really.” 

“I’ll make it up to you some way some how.” Carter sent back 

“You’ve already done enough to make up for a life time. Now get some sleep romeo.” you said 

“Alright, goodnight coffee girl.” he sent back.

You were honestly glad that you had sent that reaction to his story, carter is probably one of the best things that has happened to you and you couldn’t wait to see him play in person. 

[the-starsabove-you]

The Spotlight

Chapter 21- See you later A/N: Reviews are welcomed! I’ve really enjoyed writing the All-Stars weekend chapters it was fun! More chapters ahead and getting some drama soon!  I’m thinking of writing a spin off of a limited amount of chapters featuring Anthony Beauvillier and Michelle’s best friend Emily! I don’t see much Tito stories and feel like he deserves some love! Let me know your thoughts but for sure would love to write it!

Michelle and Mat and his parents were walking inside the arena. Michelle greeted the players with smiles and a small wave. It wasn’t until she spotted TK and she stopped dead and he grinned “Glad you didn’t die from last night” TK said and she was now grinning “Didn’t expect to see me still alive Teeks? Well you can’t get rid of me easily” She said and he pretended to be sad “Damn, I was hoping to get rid of you. Now I just have to deal with seeing you every time I play in New York.” Mat couldn’t help but chuckle “Alright you two. I swear you guys are like the most chaotic siblings that aren’t even related at all” “That spot is for Nolan, Michelle is my annoying but lovable sister.” He said and she nodded “Damn right, couldn’t ask for an annoying but awesome big brother.” TK and Michelle were fist bumping and Mat groaned “Oh my god, I think the worst move in making sure you guys were friends” “Don’t worry Barzy” TK grinned as he had an arm around Michelle “You’ll be getting more interactions when we play each other in the next few games” Mat’s parents were grinning with the interaction and Seth came towards them and Michelle grinned “Here’s the older and responsible brother” She said and hugged him. Seth smiling “Someone has to be it” “Ready for this game?” Mat asked the two boys and they nodded “It’s gonna be fun, hopefully we win this one” “We’ll be cheering for you the whole way” Mat’s mom said and his father grinned “Gotta support our favorite hockey player” Mat grinned at his parents and Michelle snuggled into his arm as he kissed her head “Alright, we gotta get ready and go play. I’ll see you after the event” He said and he leaned down to kiss her and she squeezed his hand and he hugged his parents before the three boys walked off Michelle and Mat’s parents were making their way inside. A couple of fans stopped her for pictures and she kept apologizing to Mat’s parents every time it happened but they would stop her ‘It’s okay! We don’t mind at all’ They would say. They finally got to their seats and Michelle was grinning when the game started and they were cheering when Mat came out. 

The game was an intense one. Mat’s mom and her were holding hands as they were watching every time Mat or any other player would try to score. But Michelle knew it was a great game and it was one she wouldn’t forget.

In the end, Mat’s team didn’t win. Michelle and Mat’s parents went to see Mat in the back and him and his teammates were laughing and cracking jokes. The boys didn’t look upset they lost. They were happy to just be there and hang out together. A couple of players did ask for pictures and Michelle actually had very good talks. A couple of the kids and her were laughing as she chased a couple around. Mat looking in awe of everything. Michelle went towards Mat when the kids’ parents called them back. Mat and Michelle walking hand in hand towards the tunnel to watch the finals with his parents. His mom smiling, watching the young couple in front of her “You’re coming with Mat to our house in the summer right?” She asked and Michelle was shocked “Really?” She said with a small smile and Mat’s dad grinned “You’re always welcome to come to our house. You’re super important to us and Mat” He said and Mat thought that it would scare Michelle away but she smiled “I can’t wait to visit you guys and meet his sister as well” She said and Mat’s mom grinned “Oh she’s gonna love you” “Better not steal you away for any shopping trips. I’m keeping you to myself” Mat muttered and she smiled “We’re gonna have enough time for us to be together” “Good” Mat grinned. Michelle and Mat were greeting the winners of the game. All the players were taking pictures with each other and laughing. Everyone was packing their things. The Islanders’ social media people and gear people were packing things up and Michelle leaned on the wall and he smiled “It was a fun weekend. Thank you for coming with me this weekend” He said and she smiled “Of course! I loved spending time with you and your family. I finally got to see your world so it was nice to see you kick some ass” “It seriously meant so much to me that you came.” He said and she grinned “If you didn’t go and you asked me if you wanted to go on vacation instead, I would have said yes”

Once everything was packed and all of his gear were in the truck. Mat and Michelle were walking hand in hand before they spotted everyone saying their goodbyes. Michelle grinning as she was in front of TK and they hugged “I’m looking forward to seeing you when you come to New York. We’re getting lunch and doing some crazy thing like an escape room.” She said and he chuckled “You’re welcome to come visit anytime in Philly. I have a guest room that you can stay in and I’ll show you some of the best places” “Looking forward to it” Michelle smiled and Mat and TK had one of those bro hugs before Seth came towards them and he hugged Michelle “I know my teammates would like to meet you someday, with Mat” He said nodding to Mat who nodded back. “You’re coming on our summer adventures yes?” Seth asked and Michelle grinned “Totally” Seth smiled at that and turned to Mat “You have a keeper over here. Don’t let her go” He said and Mat smiled “I don’t intend on doing it” Seth said his farewells before Tyler Seguin passed by and winked at Michelle she sighed softly. Mat saw it and started to move towards Tyler until Michelle grabbed his arm “He’s not worth the time” She said and he sighed before nodding. Michelle and Mat said their goodbyes before they went into the car to get back to the hotel. Once they got their bags packed. Michelle and Mat were waiting for Mat’s parents and they took the trip to the airport “Call me when you land” Mat said hugging his mom and dad. His parents kissing his cheek and hugging him as tight “You be careful in New York. You know how your mother worries” Mat’s father said and he nodded as Michelle joined his side “I got this girl by my side. So Everything is fine” “Good, you two stay out of trouble now” Mat’s mom said as she hugged Michelle “Stick together no matter what, and please take care of my son” She said and Michelle nodded “I promise I will” They said their farewells to his parents. Mat and Michelle making their way into the jet and the Islanders Media got Mat leaving and made sure they didn’t catch Michelle. The flight back home was peaceful. Michelle felt Mat’s head on her shoulder as he decided to take a nap. The Islanders team were whispering and recalling the events of the weekend. Michelle took her phone out carefully before going to selfie mode and got a picture of her smiling while Mat was snoozing. She was going to make that her wallpaper later. 

She then took to Instagram to share on her story of the clouds outside. She couldn’t help but smile. Michelle had a wonderful time with Mat at All-Stars weekend. It was something she would never forget. Now to get back to her crazy life.