Tagging Along: A Tagging Out Christmas Special
OC Diego Ramírez x F!Reader
A fun filler episode in the greater Tagging Out universe! 🎄
Warnings: alcohol, little itty bitty bit of angst, language, smoking, holiday feels
Word Count: 5.3k
A/N: Does this really have anything to do with the rest of the Tagging Out storyline?? Not at all! But I love Diego and wanted to write a Christmas fic with him and Reader so here we are. I have a lot more family content for the actual fic, but this opportunity for a fun little one-off was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Hope you enjoy!
Narcos/Diegoverse Taglist: @ashlingnarcos @narcolini @garbinge @nessamc @mysun-n-stars (If you want to be tagged in future Diegoverse fics please let me know!)
You knew that him making it back home before mass was going to be a long shot. He knew it too, which was why he’d brought his change of clothes with him to work that day. He swore up and down to you that even if he got stuck working late, he would find a way to leave and go to mass.
You’d laughed over coffee that morning as you told him, “If you miss it, it’s not me you’ll have to answer to.”
He rolled his eyes with a smile as he put his coffee mug in the sink. “There is a long list of things God is going to want me to answer for before we reach missing one midnight mass.”
“Your abuela will get you before God does.”
His eyes widened but he laughed. “That’s true. Don’t worry,” he walked over and kissed the side of your head, “I’ll be there.”
You called after him as he walked down the hall towards his bedroom to get changed, “If you’re not home in time, I’ll come back and pick you up! I’m not showing up without the family favorite.”
He came stumbling back down the hall shortly after, buttoning up the shirt of his fatigues. “Please don’t call me that in front of them.” He’d tried his best to sound annoyed but there was still a smile tugging at his lips.
You hummed in amusement. “I’m sure your brother will take care of that for me.”
Diego pulled his boots on, quickly lacing them up before disappearing back towards his room. When he reemerged again, he had a few articles of clothing draped over his arm. You smiled at the sight of his dress slacks. You could remember exactly one occasion when he wore them in all the time you’d known him. It was nice to see that he took it so seriously, for his grandmother if nothing else. Church hadn’t really been your thing in a long time but you knew that the invite to midnight mass for Christmas was a big deal. You respected that.
“I’m gonna head out.” He stuffed his wallet and keys into his pockets. “Come by and see me before you leave later?”
You nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Perfect.” He smiled as he leaned in and kissed you on the lips. “Drive safe.”
You reached up and cupped his cheek for a moment, your thumb brushing along where he’d just shaven the stubble away. “You too.”
When you’d stopped by his floor on your way out for the day, you knew the second that you got off the elevator that he wasn’t going to be leaving with you. He, Steve, and Javier were all up to their elbows in files and photographs. You just hoped it meant that they were getting somewhere.
Your heels clicked lightly against the floor as you walked up to his desk. The focus in the room was palpable. It must’ve been more intense than usual for none of them to notice someone walking into their section of the office.
After giving it a few seconds, you finally drummed your fingers on the edge of Diego's desk to get his attention. He whipped his head up, eyes wide, his expression only softening when he realized that it was you. He smiled, but you could see a bit of tiredness in it.
“Hey.”
You smiled. “Hey. How is,” you gestured vaguely to the papers on his desk, “everything?”
He sighed, dragging his hands down his face. “Spent most of the day trying to figure out the answer to that question.”
“Hmm,” you nodded, soaking up what he was saying. “So should I plan to come back and pick you up for mass, then?”
He gave an apologetic smile, not that he really had anything to be sorry for. “Probably.”
You chuckled softly as you reached across the desk and gave his hand the quickest, tiniest squeeze. “Call me if anything changes, okay?”
He nodded. “I will.”
The two of you exchanged a quick goodbye before you turned and started heading back towards the elevator. When you stepped inside and turned back around to face the expanse of the floor again, you saw that Diego was already buried back into his work. The other two members of his team, on the other hand, were both looking at you. You offered a weak smile as the doors were closing, not sure what else to do. It would take a Christmas miracle to bring you all back to a state of normalcy at this point.
The evening slipped away, and the phone in your apartment never rang. So you got yourself ready, picking out a simple but nice dress to wear before getting your hair and makeup in order. You pulled on a different pair of heels than the ones you’d worn to work before finally grabbing your keys and purse and heading out the door.
Now you were parking at the front of the lot, and you noticed that Diego's car wasn’t the only one still parked there. He wasn’t the only one working as late as possible on Christmas Eve. You cut the ignition of your car, opening the door so you could step out into the fresh night air. It was so different than Christmas back home, where you would be bundled up in boots and a parka to go with your hat and gloves. Not that you would be going to a Christmas Eve mass if you were back home to begin with, but still. It was different, but it was good.
Before you could get too lost in your thoughts, you saw the main door of the building swing open. You looked over, hoping and assuming it was Diego. Your stomach knotted when you saw that it was Javi. You couldn’t remember the last time the two of you had a conversation. As if your nerves for the night weren’t ramped up enough.
He was sparking up a cigarette as he crossed over into the parking lot. You knew that he saw you—you were the only person out at this hour. You wouldn’t put it past him to just walk right by you and to his car, though. You readied yourself for that.
When he stopped in front of you, you couldn’t hide your surprise. He exhaled a puff of smoke. “Choir boy is on his way down.”
You chuckled, still a little nervous but not as much as before. “Just because he goes to church on Christmas doesn’t mean he’s a choir boy, Javi.”
He looked you up and down. “Roped you into it?”
“I wasn’t roped, but yes, I’m going.” You paused. “Steve still here too?”
Javi shook his head. “We sent him home. He’s got the kid and Connie.”
You found yourself smiling at that. “That’s true.” You watched as he tapped ashes off the end of his cigarette. “No midnight mass for you?”
He laughed, the first real, positive thing you’d gotten out of him in months. “Not a chance.”
You wanted to ask if he at least had someone to spend the day with tomorrow. No one should have to spend the holidays alone, especially someone like Javi who was half a world away from everything and everyone he’d known. It wasn’t your place to ask, though. You knew that. Silently, you just hoped that he would spend it with Steve and Connie.
You both turned and looked when the door opened again. You couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your face at the sight of Diego in his crisp dress shirt and slacks. Javi took it as his cue to leave, not ready yet to be in a conversation with both of you at the same time.
“Don’t let the holy water burn you,” he joked as he snubbed out his cigarette with the bottom of his shoe.
You chuckled. “I’ll try not to.” You paused, knowing that this would’ve been the point when you hugged him goodbye if it had been a few months ago. But it wasn’t. “Merry Christmas, Javi.”
He nodded as he fished his keys from the pocket of his jacket. “Merry Christmas.”
By the time that Diego got to you, Javi was already in his car. The tension melted out of you the second that Diego's hand landed on your hip. He leaned in, kissing you softly on the lips as your hands came to rest on his shoulders.
Pulling his lips off of yours, he stepped back to look at you once more. “You look beautiful.”
You beamed, butterflies in your stomach like it was your first date all over again. “You don’t clean up so bad either.” You toyed with the top button of his shirt. “How far back did you have to dig in your closet to find this?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Completely forgot I had it.” He paused. “You still wanna go?”
You smiled. “Even if I didn’t, it’s a little too late to back out now, right?”
He shrugged, a lopsided grin on his face. “Maybe.”
“Come on,” you lightly patted his chest, “I’ll drive.”
There was a protest on the tip of his tongue but you were pulling the driver’s door and sliding in before he could voice it. He just chuckled and shook his head, deciding not to push his luck as he walked around to the other side of the car to get in.
You waited for him to buckle himself in before grabbing the small thermos of coffee that you’d made for him. Pulling it out of the cupholder, you handed it over to him. He gave you a relieved smile as he took it from you. He’d been more than ready to power through without it, but he wasn’t going to turn it down.
“Thank you.” He hardly got the words out before taking a sip. He looked over at you. “Sorry you had to come all the way back.”
You shook your head. “It’s fine.” You paused, drumming your fingers for a moment as you gauged whether or not you wanted to ask the question. “Rough day?”
He shrugged. “Long.” He took another sip of his coffee, not really looking at anything in particular.
Even from the brief glance you stole, you could tell by the look on his face that he was debating whether or not he wanted to tell you something. “What happened?”
He let out a small, quiet sigh. “Search Bloc came by.”
Your heart sank a little. “Real long day.”
He nodded. “Yea. But it’s done now, though.”
Maybe if the two of you had been heading back to his apartment instead of church with his family he’d want to talk about it. Maybe if it wasn’t Christmas Eve. Maybe if it wasn’t a harsh reminder of everything he'd been building himself back up from he’d have more energy to say something. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
You switched tracks of conversation as you got closer to your destination. “You’re sure she won’t mind that I’m tagging along?”
He smiled over at you, and suddenly the rest of it didn’t matter. “If I showed up without you at this point, she’d send me away to go and get you.”
You rolled your eyes with a laugh. “I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration.”
“When I stopped by a couple weeks ago to drop some things off for her, the first thing she asked was where you were.”
That was heart-warming—there was no denying that. It wasn’t as though she had ever put you in the position to feel like she didn’t like you—she didn’t seem the type to be like that with much of anyone. But there was still a small sense of victory in the fact that she asked about you when you weren’t around.
“Can I tell you something?” you asked after the lull in conversation had gone on for a bit.
The humor in his voice was audible as he said, “Shoot.”
“I’ve never been to a midnight mass before.”
He chuckled, and you could feel him looking at you. “Are you worried you’re going to catch on fire walking through the doors?”
You rolled your eyes with a smile. “Nothing that dramatic, no.”
“Worried my abuela will be able to tell?” he asked with a small smirk after studying your face.
You glanced over at him for a moment. “She’ll know, won’t she?”
He laughed. “She won’t care. I’m her favorite and my church clothes were at the back of my closet, remember?”
“So you do admit that you’re the favorite,” you shot back with a tiny laugh.
His smile grew before he took another sip of coffee. He didn’t say anything though, just shaking his head at you instead. He set his mug of coffee back into the cupholder, reaching over and resting his hand on your shoulder instead. It was more obvious in such close quarters, but even across crowded rooms there was something about the way Diego looked at you that resulted in you feeling it every single time. The smile on your face stretched a little wider as you forced yourself to keep your eyes on the road.
When you rounded the street corner onto the block where the church was, your eyes popped wide open. There were so many cars, so many people all shuffling towards the church. It wasn’t like nights in Colombia were ever quiet, but this was a different type of busy. You hadn’t seen this before, hadn’t been expecting it.
“Holy shit,” you said quietly as you tried not to laugh in surprise.
“Something like that, yea,” Diego chuckled as he leaned forward in his seat, looking for a somewhat safe and decent place to park the car. He pointed down the block. “Might have to walk a little bit.”
You laughed, nodding. “Apparently.”
The church was packed. For a brief moment the thought crossed your mind that you wouldn’t be able to find Diego’s family in the ocean of people packing themselves into the pews. Without even thinking about it, you reached out and grabbed onto Diego’s hand, determined not to lose him in the shuffle. He gave you a light squeeze, tugging you in the opposite direction that you were heading. You turned to look where he was pulling you, and relief washed over you when you caught sight of Diego’s brother first, then the rest of his family.
The two of you somehow managed to weasel your way through all of the people and land next to his family. You chuckled quietly to yourself at how enthusiastically Diego’s grandmother slid past the other members of their family who were already sitting in the pew so that she could hug him. You were beaming at the whole interaction, the way that she greeted him to enthusiastically as though she hadn’t seen him the week before. He took it in stride, and you knew that he enjoyed it more than he would probably admit to.
Then her attention was on you, all warm smiles as she pulled you in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek as well. She held lightly onto both of your arms as she looked you up and down. She’d only ever seen you dressed down for casual afternoons and dinners at her house. This was a whole new look on you, and you were still uncertain if you had picked the right outfit for the occasion. It’d been too long since the last time you crossed the threshold of a church.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said simply with a nod and a smile.
You relaxed, knowing that she meant every word. “Me too.”
Neither you nor Diego had time to really greet the rest of his family as a hush fell over the church and mass started. Growing up you’d been to church. Your family wasn’t the type to show up every Sunday per se, but you went often enough. It was different here, but you were still able to keep up alright. You made quick work of translating the few prayers you still had committed to memory, but the rest of it felt like you were hearing it all for the first time. It was beautiful. The energy in the room was unlike anything else. All those mornings standing, sitting, kneeling in pews back home didn’t feel quite like this. It was the holiday, and the time, and the company. It was all different, but it was all good.
You were so wrapped up in all of it, that you didn’t realize how quickly the service flew by. That wasn’t typically a feeling that you had when you went in the past. It was a welcome change. You completely understood Diego’s family’s adherence to the tradition. Like Diego said—he hadn’t worn his church clothes probably since last Christmas, maybe Easter, but he still made a point to show up. He could put the blame on his abuela’s strictness all he wanted, but you could see the shift in him as he stood next to you. There was something there. It was there because of all the work his grandmother put into raising him, no doubt, but still. It sent a fresh wave of warmth through your chest.
When the service was over, and everyone started to make their way out of the church, you noticed that Diego’s family was in no great rush to leave. His sister had one very sleepy child propped on her hip, one standing leaning against her husband’s leg halfway to falling asleep as well. But no one left yet. It was the first chance all night that the rest of his family actually got to talk to the two of you. Diego easily draped his arm over your shoulders as you all stood there talking, and you leaned into him as you spoke, catching everyone up on what little had changed in your lives since the last time you saw them.
“Every year,” Diego’s brother said with a laugh, “I wait for Diego to catch fire when he walks through the doors for midnight mass.”
You were trying to stifle your laughter as their abuela swatted his chest. “Stop that, mijo.” She shook her head. “You know better.”
He pulled their grandmother into a hug, and you could see that she was trying hard not to break her annoyed façade. He kissed the top of her head. “C’mon, ‘buela. I love him. Ya tu sabes.” He flashed a cheesy grin and for a split second he and Diego could’ve been twins instead of brothers. “Me quieres.”
She gently patted the spot on his chest where she had swatted him only seconds before. “Te quiero.” She paused, pointing a finger at him accusingly. “But you’re lucky it’s Christmas and that we’re in—”
All three of the siblings finished the sentence in near-perfect unison, “La casa de díos.”
You had to laugh at that. “Sounds like you’ve all heard that one before.”
“Yea,” Lía spoke up as she adjusted the hold she had on her daughter, “because every year one of these two acts up during mass. Diego was only on his best behavior this year because you’re here.” She had to laugh at her brothers.
“In our defense,” Diego spoke up, “it was never during mass.”
“Yea,” his brother joked, “because we knew that we’d get our asses beat when we get home.”
“Basta!” both Lía and their grandmother admonished him in unison.
Diego leaned down, pretending to whisper in your ear even though everyone could easily hear him. “As you can see, it usually wasn’t me causing the problems.”
Lía shook her head at both of them before looking back to you again. “Sorry for them. I’d leave them home every year if abuela would let me.”
“But I won’t,” she spoke up, a proud smile on her face. She looked around, and once she saw that most of the crowd had dissipated, she motioned towards the door. “Let’s go. The kids are exhausted.”
“The kids?” Diego joked, “What about the rest of us?”
She simply shook her head at him once again before shooing him towards the end of the pew. Diego followed the wordless direction without a fight, stepping and effectively putting you between him and his grandmother as you all shuffled towards the main aisle of the church.
When you were all on the front steps of the church, Diego pulled you close again. You looked over at him but you saw that he was already back in a conversation with his sister, the action so second-nature to him now that he didn’t even realize that he was doing it. You looped your arm around his waist and tuned into what they were talking about.
“We’re all staying over for the night and doing breakfast in the morning,” she said with a smile, “so if you guys want to come by tomorrow, you can. I’m sure she’s going to have plenty of food.”
The idea of spending Christmas Day with the rest of Diego’s family was nice. You were sure that all of the cousins and aunts and uncles would be there too even if they weren’t with you tonight. For the last few weeks you’d been battling it out with homesickness, and maybe spending time with his whole family and all of the antics that they caused would soothe that a bit.
“That sounds nice,” you chimed in with a nod before glancing up at Diego. “What do you think?”
He beamed at you. It hadn’t been something that he was going to try and talk you into, but if you wanted to go, he certainly wasn’t going to tell you no. “I think it sounds like a plan.”
The cheer was impossible to miss in his grandmother’s voice as she said, “Perfect!” She pulled each of you back in for a hug and a kiss before finally getting around to saying goodbye. She patted Diego's arm gently. “Cuidate, mijo. Hasta mañana.”
He gave her a warm smile and a nod. “Hasta mañana.”
The goodbyes you both exchanged with his siblings were much quicker, knowing that there were only a few hours to go until you’d all be together again. You watched on in adoration as Diego pressed kisses to the foreheads of his very sleepy nieces. No doubt they wouldn’t be nearly as tired tomorrow when the Christmas festivities that didn’t involve sitting in a pew were in full swing. You had to admit, though , the two girls did very well during mass. Better than you would’ve at their age.
You found yourself glued back to Diego’s side as the two of you watched the entire entourage head down the street in the opposite direction from where you were parked to get to their own cars. You could feel it as Diego’s body started to relax against yours, like his body knew that the day was finally starting to wind down.
“What do you think?” you asked as you looked at him. “Ready to go?”
He pulled you in the direction of your car. “Yes, please.”
You laughed as the two of you started the trek back to your car. Even through the fabric of your dress, you felt the way his fingers traced along your skin. You soaked it up without comment as the two of you strolled, taking in the sight of all the lights and decorations as you walked. It reminded you enough of home to bring you comfort, even if things weren’t exactly the same.
“My place?” you asked as you unlocked the car.
Diego nodded as he pulled his door open. “I’d like that.”
You were both buckling in when you said, “And we can grab your car on our way back from your abuela's tomorrow?”
He leaned back so his head was against the headrest, eyes already halfway to closing. There was still a smile on his face though as he told you, “That works.”
You were expecting to hear him snoring before you reached your apartment building, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t have been fully awake, but he wasn’t passed out either. You stole glances over at him while you drove, smiling to yourself each time. Even in his sleepy daze he still reached over to keep his hand on your leg while you drove.
Even while you were unlocking the door to your apartment, it was hard to believe that he wasn’t asleep. He stood behind you while you dug around your purse for your keys. His arms were draped around your waist, his chin hooked over your shoulder. You wouldn’t mind standing like that for a while, but you knew the long day he’d had.
Diego maneuvered through your apartment with relative ease despite the fact that the two of you spent a vast majority of time over at his place. Your place was bigger, nicer, but when you and Diego first started seeing each other, you always opted to go over to his place just so that the past wouldn’t be lingering around so much. His tiny little apartment was a clean slate in a way yours wouldn’t be. The two of you were far past that now, but the routine of staying at his place never went away. You didn’t mind it.
You were putting your dress back up on its hanger when Diego walked into your bedroom. You chuckled at the way he was peeling clothes off as he walked through your room and around to his side of the bed. He always left a trail of clothes in his wake no matter where he was. Every time it got a chuckle out of you. It was a habit that would drive you nuts if part of his morning routine wasn’t gathering them all up again.
“Tell me about Christmas Day with your family,” you said in a whisper as you both laid under the covers together.
His eyes were closed but he smiled and let out a quiet hum of approval at your request. “It’s loud,” he murmured with a laugh. He listened to the way you giggled softly at that before pulling you a little closer and continuing. “Lía and Carlos pretty much always stay over with the girls. Roberto doesn’t, but he always comes over first thing for breakfast. Sometimes my aunts and uncles make it that early, other times they don’t. Then usually we wait until the rest of the cousins and the kids get there before doing presents. Then it’s all hands on deck for more cooking. The rest of the day is pretty much just the kids playing, and the adults supervising. Abuela never stops moving until everyone leaves at the end of the day.”
“What about you?” you asked, “Do you usually stay over with your sister and the kids?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes.”
“Did I break tradition by dragging you back to my place?”
He huffed out a laugh before kissing you on the forehead. “You’re fine. They’re glad I have other places to be. Besides,” he gave you a light squeeze, “it means I won’t be in the kitchen while Lía and abuela are trying to make breakfast.”
You laughed. “Least I’m doing them a favor.” You paused as you thought about everything he just said. “That sounds nice.”
His voice was raspy, and you knew he was going to fall asleep soon. Still, though, he asked, “What about your family?”
A sad smile crept across your face, homesickness settling over you again. You took advantage of his exhaustion and said, “I’ll tell you about it in the morning. Get some sleep.”
He didn’t argue, instead just silently pulling you closer so that your head was tucked against his chest. He wrapped his body around yours like a coil before finally succumbing to sleep. You smiled as you rested against him, heart a little lighter as warmth from his skin bled over into yours.
When you woke up the next morning, you woke to the sound of your bedroom door creaming open. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you looked over to see Diego walking in with two mugs of coffee. He looked awfully awake and alert for someone who had had such a long day and night before.
“Merry Christmas,” he said with a smile as he handed you one of the mugs.
You laughed, still sleepy as you accepted it and took a sip. “Merry Christmas.”
The two of you weren’t in any great hurry as you finished your coffees and slowly started getting dressed and ready for the day. You based your outfit off of Diego’s, not wanting to over or under dress. He didn’t dress as nicely as he had for mass the night before, but he still cleaned up a little more than when the two of you would go over to hang out on the weekend. You picked a more casual dress, something nice but not over the top. You tried to ignore Diego's spectating as you did your hair and makeup, knowing that it was the only way you’d be able to stay at all focused.
“Can we make one stop on the way?” he asked as the two of you made your way down the steps of your apartment building.
You nodded. “Of course.”
You had to laugh when the one stop turned out to be the liquor store. He came back out with a few bottles ranging from whiskey to white wine. He shrugged as he set the bags on the floor by his feet. “Easiest way to shop for all the grown-ups.”
You chuckled and shook your head. “You guys are something else.”
“Don’t worry,” he said with a laugh, “we all share.”
You looked over at him as you continued down the road, unable to wipe the grin off your face. “That what you meant by supervising then?”
He laughed again. “Someone's gotta do it.”
When you got to his grandmother’s house, you quickly realized that you weren’t the first ones to arrive. You weren’t late, but you weren’t first. There were already a few cars parked out front. You pulled up behind one and threw your car in park. Once you cut the ignition, you looked over at Diego and smiled as you watched him looking through the bags by his feet.
“You get stuff for the kids too?” you said, half-joking.
His reply came effortlessly. “Dropped their stuff off a couple weeks ago.”
You couldn’t stop yourself as you reached over and rested your hand against his back. You waited for him to look at you before saying, “Thank you.”
He shook his head, a smile on his face. “Nothing to thank me for.”
You nodded towards the house, and you could’ve sworn that you could already feel the energy and warmth radiating off of it. “Thank you for letting me be part of this.”
He leaned over the console and kissed you on the lips. “Of course you’re part of this—it’s family.” He pulled on the handle and pushed the door open with his foot, getting out of the car without another word.
You sat still for a moment and soaked up the weight of what he’d said, and the way that he had said it so effortlessly. It only took a second for a wide smile to break out across your face before you got out of the car as well.
The two of you walked up to the front door of the house, Diego’s arms full from the bags of bottles he was carrying. You were laughing and shaking your head at him as you reached to open the door for him. Before your hand even wrapped around the handle, though, you could hear the laughter and the music coming from inside. You weren’t even across the threshold yet, but as you listened and looked at Diego, you couldn’t help but think that for the first time in a long time, you felt like you’d finally come home for the holidays.
