Chapter Text
“Reyes.”
Carlos looked up from his computer at the officer that had stopped next to his desk.
“Captain wants to see you in his office.”
Carlos sighed. He was trying to finish this last report so he could clock out for the day. His Thursday started out so slow, but of course he had to do back to back to back calls a couple hours before his shift was over and was now stuck trying to finish the paperwork.
He nodded to towards the officer. “Thanks.”
He saved his report, locked the computer, and headed over the his captain’s office.
The door was already open, but he knocked and waited to be acknowledged.
His captain looked up. “Reyes, come in. Close the door and have a seat.”
Carlos did as instructed and settled in.
“Reyes, you’ve been doing a great job,” his captain began.
“Thank you, Sir.”
“It seems you’ve been taking on a lot of extra shifts recently though.”
Carlos nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
“I also noticed you signed up for a double this weekend.”
Carlos nodded again. “Yes, Sir.”
“Well, considered it cancelled.”
Carlos froze at that. “Excuse me, Sir?”
“Reyes, you’re one of my finest officers. I always know when you are working, you are serving the community to the best of your ability. However, burn out is a real thing, so I’m taking you off the schedule and giving you the weekend off.”
Carlos didn’t know what to say. He was actually slightly panicked. “But Sir, I’m not burned out. I would really like to work this weekend.”
If he was working, he wouldn’t be thinking about TK...and his beautiful face...and how he wanted to fix all his problems for him.
Carlos was always the guy in the relationship that wanted to fix his partner’s problems, often at the expense of his own happiness. He found himself having similar thoughts with TK and the only way he focused on something other than the guy he was crushing hard on was to keep himself busy. Busy to the point of exhaustion so that all he wants to do is crawl into bed after a long shift instead of calling TK. ‘Cause TK could get him to fall hard and he didn’t want to spook him this early.
“Reyes, I don’t have to spout police burnout rates to you. I know you know them. You’re young and I’m hoping to keep you around for the long haul because you’re a damn fine officer.”
“Thank you, Sir, but...”
“No buts, you’re off this weekend. Find something to do that you young people consider fun. I don’t want to see your face until Monday” The captain waved his hand in a manner indicting to Carlos the matter was closed and he should leave his office.
Carlos let out a breath. “Yes, Sir.” He got up from the chair and left the office.
*****************************
Later that evening, Carlos sat down hard on his couch and blew out a breath. What was he going to do with a whole weekend to himself? He thought about all the home improvement projects on his list that he hadn’t gotten around to.
But then he pulled out his phone. Maybe he should just text TK and find out if had any plans for the weekend. He might has well feed his TK addiction since he would probably be thinking about him anyway.
Carlos’s thumb hovered over TK’s name, but then he shook his head. “No,” he said to himself. He didn’t want to be that person. He needed to give TK space so he could figure out if he was all in on this relationship.
Scrolling just below TK’s name in his text message feed, he saw another name. Someone he knew he could always rely on.
“Well I guess those home improvement projects will be on the back burner again.”
Carlos dialed the familiar number. He listened to it ringing until the other end was picked up.
“Hey, Carlos!” He heard his cousin say as the phone was answered on the other end.
“Hi Eddie! How are you and Christopher?”
“We’re hanging in there. Christopher is growing like a weed and still as inquisitive about every little thing.” Carlos found himself smiling. His cousin was raising an amazing young man. “What’s going on with you?”
“Not much, man. I actually was calling because I’m not working this weekend and not much else is going on. I was wondering if I could come visit you in L.A.?”
“Of course! It’s actually the perfect time. Buck and I are off this weekend too, so we were planning on taking Christopher to the San Diego zoo, if you don’t mind an early Saturday morning.” Carlos smiled at the mention of Eddie’s best friend. He hadn’t met him yet, but he heard a lot of stories.
“No man that sounds awesome. Would love to go to the zoo with you guys.”
“Cool. Have you booked a flight yet?” Eddie asked.
“No. I’ll do that right now and text you the details.”
“Sounds good. Looking forward to see you.”
“Same here. See ya later” Both men hung up.
Carlos stared at his phone for a second...wondering if he should text TK anyways to let him know his plans. His finger hovered over the text message icon again, but he shook his head. Instead, he opened a browser and booked a round trip flight to LAX for the next day.
**************************************
Carlos walked off the plane at LAX the next afternoon, rolling a small carry on behind him. He had texted Eddie on the plane while waiting for passengers to disembark to let him know he had landed. Eddie had texted back to say he was almost at the airport and he would meet him his the passenger pick up area...so that is where Carlos currently headed.
Once outside, Carlos stepped near the curb so he could keep an eye out for Eddie’s truck. Instead a Jeep pulled up in front of him a couple of minutes later.
Eddie jumped out of the passenger side. “Carlos!” He exclaimed and pulled Carlos into a big hug.
Carlos pulled back. “It’s good to see you, Eddie!” The smile on his face genuine. He really missed having his cousin in Texas. Although there was a little bit of an age difference, they had always been close growing up.
Just then Carlos noticed a tall, blonde drink of water approach them. Said drink of water put his arm around his cousin’s back.
“Carlos, this is Buck, my boyfriend. Buck, this is my cousin, Carlos,” Eddie said, introducing the two men.
“Nice to meet you, Carlos,” Buck said and extended his hand.
Carlos stood frozen for a moment. He already knew Eddie was bi-sexual, having come out to each other years before. He was just shocked Eddie was in a relationship...with the person he always claimed was just his friend. Ever since Shannon died, Eddie told him numerous times he wasn’t ready to jump on that horse again whenever the topic of dating would come up. He should have seen it coming though since most of his conversations with Eddie usually featured Buck.
He tried to recall if his mother or one of his tias had mentioned this new development to him, but he was drawing a blank. That is when he realized Eddie and Buck were both staring at him strangely and that Buck had his hand extended.
“Oh sorry!” Carlos exclaimed and took Buck’s hand. “Nice to finally meet you, Buck. I’ve heard a lot about you. I just didn’t realize Eddie and you were dating.”
Eddie looked a little sheepish. “Sorry. It’s still somewhat new between us and we haven’t really told many people, except a few family and friends.
“Does Abuela know?”
“Yes, and she highly approves,” Eddie responded happily. Buck smiled and puffed out his chest, happy to have the approval of the matriarch of the Diaz family.
Carlos nodded.
Eddie glanced over at the Jeep. “We better get out of here before LAPD’s finest tell’s us to move on. Is this all you brought?” Eddie pointed to Carlos’s suitcase.
“Yeah, I just brought the one carry on.”
“K. Well, let’s get moving then.” Buck walked over the driver’s side, while Eddie climbed into the front passenger seat and Carlos got himself and his luggage into the back seat.
“Let’s roll,” said Buck as he pulled out into the arrival terminal traffic.
As Buck drove them back to Eddie’s place, the three men discussed work and Buck and Carlos got to know each other a little bit. Then Eddie asked the one question Carlos had been hoping to avoid on this trip.
“So are you seeing anyone right now, Carlos?” Eddie asked as he reached across the Jeep’s console and held Buck’s hand that was resting there. Buck turned to Eddie for a second, smiled, and turned his head back to the road.
His initial gut response was to say no. He hadn’t yet told Eddie about TK. He actually hadn’t really talked to anyone about TK except Michelle. At this point, he wasn’t really sure how to define their relationship and just found it easier to keep silent about it. But it also left him alone, stuck in his own head, with no sounding board. So he decided to be honest.
“There is...someone. We’ve just been sort of casually seeing each other. I don’t really know how to define our relationship yet,” Carlos replied.
He caught Buck’s eye in the rear view mirror and Eddie turned his head to glance back at him.
Eddie could tell there was a story there. He knew his cousin and knew his track record with his previous relationships. If he didn’t know how to define it, then it must be complicated as hell. Carlos was usually up front to all the men he dated about what he wanted.
“It’s cool, Carlos. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Eddie said.
It was in that moment that Carlos realized Buck and Eddie probably were the two best people he could talk to about his situation.
And that is how he found himself spewing forth all the details about him and TK as they slogged through L.A. traffic. He explained how TK and him met. How they line danced together. How he was the best sex of his life. His failed attempt at a “let’s get to know each other” dinner. Seeing TK at the police station and learning about his addiction issues.
He told them his fears about pushing TK too far too fast and losing him. How he didn’t know how to admit his feelings without scaring him off. Carlos finished only after admitting the reason he even was in L.A. was because he was using extra shifts as a coping mechanism to not think about TK and his captain had forced him to take a weekend off.
Eddie and Buck sat in silence for a second.
“Sometimes the best relationships start out as friendships,” Buck said quietly as he squeezed Eddie’s hand together. “It sounds like this guy needs a friend right now. Someone he knows will be there for him even if he’s acting his worst. Someone who see’s his scars and still thinks he’s beautiful. And in the end, if you think you are that man, just be honest with him. Let him know where you would like the relationship to go, but that you are willing to be patient until he gets there too.”
Carlos let Buck’s words sink in as they pulled into Eddie’s driveway.
***********************************
Carlos woke up early Saturday morning to the smell of pancakes wafting through the house. Noting it was 7am, he rolled out of bed knowing they would be leaving within the hour to head to San Diego.
After getting dressed and enjoying Buck’s breakfast spread, the four of them headed out for the day.
They had a great time in San Diego. The highlight for Christopher was seeing all his favorite animals at the zoo. Buck had even bought Christopher a huge stuffed panda that he was currently clutching to his chest as he dozed in the back seat next to Carlos. He was just glad it wasn’t a giant stuffed tiger....something else to remind him of his favorite firefighter.
Carlos decided to sit back and try to get some sleep since it had been a long day.
As he closed his eyes, he tried to clear his mind of all thoughts, but instead, he started hearing some murmurs about Austin on the radio.
Carlos eyes immediately opened. “Hey Eddie, could you turn that up, please?”
“Sure,” Eddie replied as he reached over to turn up the volume.
“This evening, a tornado touched down in the city of Austin causing a state of emergency to be enacted. It brought down trees and power lines in the area. Citizens are being asked to stay indoors and keep off the streets as emergency personnel try to clear the roads and attend to various emergency calls.”
“Oh my god,” Carlos whispered. All he could think of was his family and friends. He pulled out his phone and tried to dial anyone he could think of in his contacts, but none of his calls were going through.
“They said power lines are down,” Eddie started. “Probably cell service is down too. I’m sure everyone is fine. There is nothing you can do until you get home.”
All day Carlos was dreading the thought of heading home because he still wasn’t sure how to handle TK. He found hanging out with Eddie, Buck, and Christopher to be just the distraction he needed. However, he now realized he has been hiding and only putting off the inevitable. He needed to directly ask TK where he saw their relationship headed like Buck suggested. If TK didn’t want a relationship, then he would do his best to be there for him as a friend. But now, knowing a tornado had hit, he couldn’t get home fast enough.