I’m gonna hold you forever
11. “How much of that did you hear?”
Tarlos // 732 words // Ao3
One last ficlet to end the year!
Clearly at this point I have given up on my under 500 words rule, I’ll try again in 2021. Maybe that’ll be my resolution. This prompt was requested by @jem63 - I hope you enjoy!
Send in a request if you’d like: I am working off this list and this list.
“Please don’t tell me you are spending another Friday night wallowing at the bar.”
“I am not wallowing. Besides, what about you? What’s your excuse?”
“I am between opportunities. You, my friend, are wallowing - in a bar. Which, since you don’t drink, is a strange choice.”
“You keep telling yourself that, man.”
TK glared at him before turning back to his drink. Paul sighed and slid onto the stool next to him.
“Look,” he began, “I know I don’t know all the details of what went down with your ex and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But I do happen to know that there is a perfectly available and very interested police officer who would love to be spending his Friday night with you. Which begs the question: why not give him a chance?”
TK twirled his straw for a few moments before he answered, “I’m not ready yet. It’s too much of a risk and probably won’t even work out.”
“Since when are you risk-averse?”
TK rolled his eyes but Paul trudged on, “No, really. You are possibly the most recklessly brave person I have ever met. I never thought I’d see the day you found a risk you didn’t take.”
TK wilts at Paul’s words, hunching further into himself before taking a deep breath and letting it all spill out.
“I like Carlos, a lot. He’s amazing and under normal circumstances, I would be all over it. But I’m not ready to put myself out there yet and I am scared that if I try, I’ll screw it up and ruin whatever chance we had.”
He expects some acknowledgment of his feelings from Paul, some sympathy or maybe even some advice but instead, Paul sits straighter in his seat and lets a grin spread across his face, “How much would you say you like Carlos, exactly?”
TK doesn’t even bother to try and hide his bafflement, “What? Why?”
“I really like him, Paul. He’s one of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever met, not to mention the fact that he is so attractive I often feel the need to take a cold shower after just looking at him. He’s fucking perfect and it kills me that I am like this because I want nothing more than to try and start something with him!”
Logically TK knows that there is no need to be getting so worked up, but this thing with Carlos has been driving him mad and he doesn’t know why Paul is so determined to push him on this.
The voice behind him is new, but familiar. He freezes, eyes wide before slowly rotating on his stool to see Carlos standing behind him. Distantly he hears Paul slide off his stool and disappear into the crowd. Traitor.
“How much of that did you hear?” he asks nervously.
“Listen, Carlos, I can explain.”
“Explain what? Everything you said made perfect sense to me.”
“So now you know then; this is why we can’t be together. I’m too much of a walking disaster to be in a relationship right now.”
“All I know is that we both want this and in my experience, that is usually a sign that things will work out. We just have to be willing to try.”
TK is quiet for a moment as he studies Carlos. His expression is sincere; he truly believes what he is saying.
“Trying is one thing,” he eventually says, “but succeeding? Can you really agree to something like this when the deck is so stacked against us?”
Carlos shakes his head and leans closer, inserting himself into TK’s bubble, “I don’t think it is. I think that we are two people who care about each other, and god knows relationships have started from less. I think that as long as we are willing to try, to be understanding, to put in the time we can make it work. What do you say — are you willing to give it a go?”
TK studies Carlos. He is so close TK can see every shade of variation in his brown eyes. The expression that surrounds them is sincere, and hopeful. It pulls TK in with its gravity.
He takes a deep breath and nods, meeting Carlos’s eyes, “Okay,” he says, “I’m in.”