Work Text:
When Iris came to him at one in the morning, restless and looking like she was about to jump out of her own skin, Carlos sat her down on his bed, and they talked for hours.
“I'm just miserable here, Carlos,” she sobbed as he wrapped his arms around her.
An idea popped into his head. It was insane, and probably wouldn’t work, but- “so, let’s get you out of here.”
When the sun came up, they had something resembling a plan.
Iris would go back on her medications, she would find a good therapist and above all else, she would be honest with Carlos and her family.
It took Iris two weeks to convince Michelle and her mother that moving so far away would be a good idea, and only a little less than that to convince Carlos' parents to let him go with her.
One week later, they pooled their savings together, packed their things, said goodbye to their families and got on the plane.
Three hours later, they were in New York.
⚜
The first couple of months were an adjustment for both of them.
Iris was doing well. She was taking her medications, seeing a therapist and working two jobs while putting herself through art school. More importantly, she was happy.
Carlos, on the other hand, was a little lost.
He thought about perusing college here too, though he had no idea what he would study. In the meantime, he worked. Days in a library close to Iris' school, and nights in a diner that was within walking distance from their small apartment and volunteered in an animal shelter on his days off.
He wasn't particularly happy, but it beat being in Texas under the disappointed, watchful eyes of his father.
The thing was, ever since he was six years old, and a police officer had returned their lost cat to them, Carlos had been set on becoming a cop. That desire never really went away, but it had been diminished by his father's lack of faith in his abilities and his mother's worry. He knew they both thought he was too soft to be a cop, but Carlos knew in his bones that he could do it.
He looked down at the apple in his hand, and sighed. He wondered when he would be able to look at an apple and tell if it was red, or yellow or green.
He wondered when he would meet his soulmate.
"One thing at a time," he muttered to himself, lifting the fruit to his mouth and biting into it.
"Talking to yourself again, huh?"
He jumped in his seat and turned to glare at his friend.
She smiled, wide and all teeth, and Carlos couldn't help but smile at the clear happiness on her face.
"How was your day?"
She bit her lip, and came to stand beside him, leaning on the counter and grabbing an apple of her own. "Eventful," she answered eventually.
He raised an eyebrow and didn't rush her.
"I met my soulmate," she muttered, smiling again.
Carlos smiled widely, squeezing her hand. "Iris, that's great!"
"He was on campus to drop off his little sister and when I ran into him- his eyes were blue," she told him excitedly.
"So, he's not a student?"
"No, Noah's a cop."
And that? Well, that felt a lot like fate.
⚜
A little less than a year after they moved, Carlos met TK Strand.
He couldn't keep his eyes off him.
“Officer Reyes?”
TK was talking to another firefighter as he strapped some equipment on, and-
“Officer Reyes,” Captain Strand said, and he sounded a little annoyed.
Carlos pulled himself together and rattled off the information about the situation, trying his best to keep his focus on Captain Strand and not on the very attractive man who was doing an impressive rope rescue.
"Anything else, officer Reyes?"
He cleared his throat. "No, sir."
Noah came to stand beside him, and Carlos didn't take his eyes off TK, whose smile had Carlos' heart skipping a beat.
"Want some help picking up your jaw off the floor?" His partner asked him casually, and Carlos drove his elbow into his stomach.
He let out an oof, but then started laughing.
Ten minutes into the drive, as he replayed his interaction with Firefighter Strand, he realized something that shocked him to the point where he almost hit the braked right in the middle of the street. Instead, fighting off hysterical laughter, he parked on the side of the road and leaned his head onto the steering wheel.
"Dude, what the hell?!" Noah asked him, sounding a little out of breath, "Reyes, are you good?"
"I saw his eyes."
Noah rolled his eyes. "So?"
"Colors, Noah. I saw colors in his eyes. He's my soulmate."
⚜
The thing with soulmates, and how you identified them, was that it was complicated. In the movies, and books, the moment someone met their soulmates, their worlds burst into colors.
That was simply not what happened. The reality was that once your eyes met your soulmate's, there was only one color, and one particular shade of that color that you would be able to see.
The color of their eyes, and only that particular shade of it.
Next, other shades of that color would start to become visible, but that only happened when the connection, both physical and emotional, between the two soulmates deepened.
Once both parties were well and truly devoted to each other, then and only then, would they be able to see the rest of the colors.
It was a slow process, and a tedious one, but Carlos was a patient man, and though he didn't know him, he had a feeling that TK Strand would be worth the effort.
⚜
Iris dragged him to a fancy restaurant for his birthday, and Carlos could do nothing to stop her because she was a force of nature.
Noah, and some of their friends, were already there, and though Carlos hated being the center of attention, he swallowed his discomfort and enjoyed the surprisingly low-key celebration.
When they were making their way out, he caught sight of black hair and green eyes and stopped dead in his tracks. Noah, the only one in the group who knew what TK looked like let out a laugh and an awed, "holy shit."
Carlos grinned, and with the help of the not so small amount of liquid courage he'd had, he stepped forward, determined to at least say hi.
Before he could take another step, though, a tall, handsome guy stopped beside TK's chair and leaned down.
TK smiled up at him.
Carlos' heart beat a loud rhythm against his chest.
The man kissed TK.
And Carlos' heart shattered.
⚜
The next time he saw TK on a scene, Carlos tried to avoid him, and succeeded.
The second time, he tried, but didn't quite manage to get away and ended up having a very awkward, very short conversation with him, one that Noah had rescued him from.
The third time, he wasn't so lucky.
Carlos had barely had time to sit down on the only empty stool by the bar when there was a tap on his shoulder. He groaned internally, turned around, and nearly choked on his own tongue when he saw it was TK and not a random person trying to get his attention.
"Hey," he greeted the other man, so surprised that he forgot to be awkward.
"Hi," TK grinned, and Carlos did his best to not get lost in his green eyes, "fancy seeing you here."
Carlos shrugged.
TK eyed him, and Carlos felt his gaze like it was a physical touch. The other man sat on a newly vacated stool beside him and gave him his full attention. "Long day?"
He sighed. "Slow," he told him rubbing his eyes.
TK winced. "I hate slow days," he said, and Carlos smiled at the vehemence in his words.
They got their drinks, Carlos asked about TK's own shift, and enjoyed his recounts of some of the funniest calls he'd been on. It escalated into a competition, each one of them trying to tell, stories that got more and more ridiculous.
"No," Carlos spluttered.
TK nodded vigorously. "Naked as the day they were born."
"And she said yes?"
"Yep," he popped the p, drinking out of a tall glass. Carlos wanted to ask why he was in a bar drinking mineral water, but he didn't want to pry, so he buried his curiosity and refocused. "You should be happy you weren't on site, you know," TK told him casually.
Carlos frowned. "Why's that?"
"Well," TK drew the word out as he leaned forward, until their faces were only a couple of inches apart, Carlos' eyes went to his lips immediately and he held his breath until TK spoke, "according to officer Evans, they got handsy in the backseat."
Carols’ mouth hung open, and when TK's shoulders shook with laughter, he couldn't help it; he joined him.
"Oh God, poor Noah."
TK nodded, eyes shining with laughter. "Cleaning up the squad car was probably a nightmare."
Carlos laughed and shook his head. "He's gonna hate me."
TK took a sip of water. "You're close."
"He's one of my best friends," Carlos said, then smiled, "and he happens to be my other best friend's soulmate. They found each other pretty early on."
TK smiled. "How about you? Have you found yours?"
I'm looking right at him. "I have."
The light in TK's eyes dimmed a little, but his smile was the same. "That's good."
"You?"
TK nodded, then pointed at a table somewhere off to the side. "He's right there."
Carlo's heart plummeted, and he fought hard to keep his heartbreak from showing on his face.
"I should get back to him," TK said softly, "it was nice talking to you, officer Reyes."
Carlos smiled genuinely. "Yeah, you too."
⚜
When he got home, Iris and Noah were wrapped around each other on the couch, watching some TV show Carlos didn't know the name of. On any other day, seeing them together would have brought a smile to his face. Today, though, it just reminded him of what he couldn't have.
He tried to be as quiet as possible as he headed for his room, but he didn't quite manage it.
"Carlos?"
He winced and closed his eyes, then plastered a smile on his face and turned. "Hey, you two."
Iris and Noah exchanged a look, then turned back to him. "What's wrong?" Noah asked as they both sat up.
"Nothing," Carlos tried to assure them, "you guys go back to your show, I'm gonn-"
"Carlos," Iris cut him off, "what's wrong?"
His shoulders slumped. "My soulmate has a soulmate," he told them quietly, "and it isn't me."
⚜
Carlos tried to avoid TK even harder after that, but it was nearly impossible.
It was like he was everywhere.
The thing was, there was this pull towards him, and no matter how hard he tried, the minute he saw him, all he wanted was to be closer.
TK, for his part, seemed oblivious to Carlos' plight. Whenever they crossed paths, the man spoke to him at length, sometimes about his day, sometimes about Iris, or Austin.
With each encounter, Carlos was falling more and more in love with him. The proof of that staring him right in the face.
The diner's sign was a very light green, and the Diner's name, Denny's, was written in lime green. That's two shades other than the green of TK's eyes that he could see now.
It hurt.
The helplessness he was feeling was suffocating.
Suddenly, he wasn't hungry anymore.
He turned and started walking aimlessly. He didn't how long he walked, wasn't even sure where he ended up. He looked up, saw a bench on the edge of a playground and headed there. As he walked there, he saw a lone figure on one of the swings and slowed down, unsure if he should continue. He decided that it wasn't worth the potential awkwardness and almost turned around, but then the person sitting there turned on their phone and Carlos stopped in his tracks.
It was TK.
⚜
"Fancy seeing you here."
Carlos stifled a laugh as TK, startled by his sudden appearance, fumbled with his phone for a few seconds before it fell to the sand with a thud.
"Carlos?"
"In the flesh," he walked towards him, "mind if I sit here?" He gestured at the second swing.
TK shook his head. "'course not, go ahead."
Carlos sat down on it, and grabbed the metal chains. He gave a light push, and the swing moved gently, the only sound between them the quiet friction of metal on metal.
"What brings you here?
TK pointed at a building down the street. "I live there. Sometimes I come here to clear my head," he answered softly, "you?"
"Dinner."
TK just nodded.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The other man just shrugged.
Carlos wondered if he should leave him alone.
"Do you believe in soulmates?"
Carlos' eyebrows jumped to his hairline at the unexpected question.
"Do you?"
TK smiled wryly. "Answering my question with a question?"
"Yep," Carlos told him with a smile, "well, do you?"
"I kinda have to, seeing as I found mine, right?"
Carlos didn't really have an answer.
"It just wasn't what I expected," TK continued, looking down at his hands as he gently rocked back and forth.
"What did you expect?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I'm naive, but I thought it would be more, you know?"
It was killing him, to have to act nonchalant about this when he was dying to just take him by the shoulders and tell him he was his soulmate. He cleared his throat. "What do you mean more?"
"I don't know," TK shook his head, "I've heard about it a lot from my family and my friends and they all said basically the same thing; it's an instant connection, you're supposed to look at them and see someone familiar to you because it's basically your soul recognizing theirs. With me and Alex, it's- it's normal. Too normal."
Carlos wasn't sure what to say to that.
TK was right, it was an instant connection, and it definitely wasn't normal. He remembered on that night, when he'd seen TK, just how much he'd been drawn to him. Hell, it had taken all the will power he had just to take his eyes off the other man.
"There was no spark, nothing. I mean I even felt it with-" he stopped abruptly, then shook his head. "It doesn't matter, it has to work out, right? He's my soulmate, so it has to work out."
Secretly, Carlos thought that if he had to convince himself to believe it, then it wasn't worth it, but he didn't say it out loud.
"How about you and your soulmate, you guys working it out?"
"We're getting there," Carlos lied.
TK looked up and away.
Carlos took the opportunity to just look at him.
The street lights were dim and didn't provide much lighting and Carlos could only see the side of his face, and still, he was the most beautiful he'd ever laid eyes on.
They sat there, swinging lazily and silent.
Carlos felt more settled right then than he had in days.
⚜
After that night, things between them shifted. They'd exchanged numbers, and in the week that followed, they texted sporadically. They saw more of each other, especially at the bar where most first responders hung out.
"What if he's not my soulmate?"
Carlos chocked on his beer, and TK merely watched as it happened. Once he could get a breath in, TK continued. "Just- every time I try to bring it up with him, he avoids it. What if he's not my soulmate? Or what if he's mine, but I'm not his? Is that possible?"
Carlos shrugged helplessly.
"I started seeing another shade a couple of days ago, and you know what my first thought was? It's not possible. My feelings for him haven't changed, so why was it happening?"
"TK-"
TK's phone rang.
He ignored it. "Am I crazy for thinking that, Carlos?"
Carlos shook his head. "I don't-"
His phone rang again.
TK closed his eyes, then when he opened them, looked at Carlos apologetically and answered.
Carlos watched as a smile appeared on his face, eyes crinkling with it. They were dim, though.
He looked away, and ordered another drink.
He couldn't stand to see TK walk away again.
A hand squeezed his shoulder, and he reluctantly turned towards him.
TK smiled and slid a couple of bills in his direction. "Drinks are on me tonight."
Then with one last smile, he was off.
⚜
"TK? Hey, you okay?"
TK wiped his forearm across his eyes, as if that would suddenly erase every trace of his tears, and Carlos felt his heart squeeze at the sight.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked gently.
“Nothing," he croaked, letting out a shaky breath, "I'm okay."
"You don't sound okay." He crouched in front of him, and eventually, green eyes met brown. "Talk to me?"
"I was his age when I overdosed the first time," TK let out in a rush, "only difference is, I got lucky, and he didn’t, and now-" TK trailed off as he looked at him, eyes piercing as they bore into his. There was a look of awe on his face.
"What?"
"You're the first person I ever told," he whispered, "how- I've never really trusted anyone with this before, but it's different with you."
Carlos looked down, then up at him. He drew in a breath. "Thank you for telling me."
TK opened his mouth to say something, but at the same time, they heard Noah calling his name.
He ignored him. “What were you gonna say?”
TK hesitated.
“TK?”
TK shook his head. “Go, it can wait.”
"Reyes!"
He rolled his eyes. "Alright, Evans, I'm coming," he called out, then turned his attention back to TK. "You'll be okay?"
TK nodded.
He hesitated, but before leaving, he drew in a deep breath and turned around. "If you need anything, TK-"
TK nodded. "Thank you."
Carlos just smiled.
⚜
He didn't see him for a week.
TK didn't text, he didn't call, and he didn't respond to any of Carlos' attempts to reach out to him.
It worried Carlos endlessly, but there was nothing he could do about it, really.
On the eighth day, while they were on patrol, he saw him.
"Noah? Am I seeing things, or is that really TK?"
Noah sat up, then leaned forward. Carlos’ hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"It is," Noah muttered, "what the hell is he doing in this neighborhood this late?"
Carlos had an idea and he hoped to God he was wrong.
Not knowing what else to do, he turned on the sirens.
TK immediately froze, and Carlos inched the car forward slowly, until he stopped it right beside him.
"Get in," he told him quietly.
TK didn't move. When Carlos took a close look at him, he saw that his eyes were red rimmed, and he was shaking. "TK," he repeated, and this time, his words were softer, and Carlos let all the love he had for him bleed into the name, "please, get in."
Miraculously, he listened.
⚜
"Is there anyone you want me to call for you?"
"No."
"Do you want to go home?"
"No."
"Where do you want to go?"
TK was quiet for a long moment. "I don't know," he whispered finally."
Carlos took a breath. "Do you trust me?"
TK met his eyes in the mirror. "I do. God knows why," he laughed, and the sound was hollow, "but I do."
His heart soared with that admission.
⚜
"Your apartment," TK said flatly, giving him an unimpressed look.
"Yes."
"Carlos, you have a roommate."
"I'm aware, TK," he shot back, slightly annoyed. "Look, you said you trusted me," he said, softer now, "let me help you."
TK hesitated, but then he nodded.
Carlos smiled. "Good. Listen, I talked to Iris already, the couch is already made up, okay?"
TK smiled, it was small and barely there, but it was still a smile.
"Thank you."
⚜
When Carlos got home from his night shift, TK was asleep. Curled up on his side, hair a mess and hugging the blanket to his chest, it was a sight that managed to be adorable and sad at the same time.
Carlos was tired, but he couldn’t get himself to leave him there, even if he was just sleeping and wouldn’t know if he was there.
He hesitated, but then sat onto the smaller couch that was opposite him. He tried to distract himself with his phone, but he kept lifting his head every few seconds to check on the other man.
An hour or so later, just as Carlos was contemplating getting up to sleep on his bed, TK woke up with a sharp breath and a wild look in his eyes.
“TK, it’s okay-"
His chest was heaving, and he seemed confused for only a few seconds as he looked around. But then his eyes locked onto Carlos' and something in him seemed to settle. “Carlos,” he breathed out, and the relief in his voice was like a gut punch.
“Yeah, TK,” Carlos said, volume matching TK's. He stood up and gingerly sat on the coffee table.
TK's hands were shaking as he ran them into his hair, and Carlos wanted nothing more than to hold them in his own.
“Did I- I didn’t take-"
Carlos shook his head. “Doesn’t look like you did, no.”
TK put his head in his hands and let out a sob of relief and Carlos immediately got up and sat down beside him. He offered his hand, palm up, and was relieved when TK slid his hand into it, interlacing their fingers together.
Carlos didn’t know how long they sat like that, but a few minutes later, TK's head fell onto his shoulder and when he looked at him, he was asleep. He rested his head on top of TK's.
⚜
"Good morning."
TK jumped and spilled water all over his shirt. “Ahh,” he exclaimed, clutching the shirt and trying to keep it away from his body.
Carlos stifled a laugh and walked over to help. "Here," he said, extending a towel.
"Thanks," TK muttered, patting his shirt dry as best as he could.
"How'd you sleep?"
TK smiled. "Your couch is very comfortable."
"It is. TK, about last night-"
"Please don't."
Carlos pursed his lips. "I know it's none of my business, but you need to talk to someone," he implored him gently.
TK put the glass of water on the counter none too gently. "You're right," he told him coldly, "it's none of your business."
Carlos shook his head as he watched him grab his hoodie, put it on and walk towards the door. "Stay," he blurted out, when TK's hand was on the door handle, "you can stay on the couch until you figure something out."
TK didn't move, but Carlos did see his hand tighten around the door handle.
"Listen, just- at least stay for breakfast, make a plan. Don't throw away what you worked for."
TK finally turned, and like a puppet with its strings cut off, he slumped against the door.
Baby steps, Carlos thought happily.
Baby steps.
⚜
TK went home that night, but not before promising Carlos to check in with him when he got home, and if he ever felt like he needed to talk to someone.
TK stared at him, long enough that Carlos felt the urge to look away but he held his ground. “Promise me,” he insisted.
TK nodded eventually. “I promise.”
⚜
TK called him two nights later, at one AM.
“TK? Everything okay?”
“You told me to call you if I needed someone.”
Carlos smiled. “I did.”
“Well,” he said shakily, voice thick, “I need someone.”
⚜
The playground they once sat in some weeks ago became their hiding spot in a way.
They sat on the swings, sometimes in silence, sometimes talking, but always close.
Carlos tried not to push him talk and just be there, and slowly, TK began to open up to him. He talked about his addiction that started at sixteen, about parents who loved him but didn’t really make time for him, about the man he thought was his soulmate lying to him and slowly pulling away from him.
Carlos found himself opening up to him too, without really noticing, about his parents and his childhood, his desire to go back to Austin warring with his need to avoid his father’s disapproval.
He felt lighter and more hopeful than he had in years.
⚜
Two days later, on his day off, he got a call from TK.
"Wanna go for a walk with me?"
Carlos agreed immediately.
When he got there, he found TK already waiting for him, leaning against a tree, phone in his hand. He was wearing a forest green shirt, and Carlos just knew it was a color that would make his eyes appear even greener.
As if sensing his arrival, TK looked up and he smiled.
Carlos, if possible, fell more in love with him right then.
"Hi," TK said when Carlos was only a few steps away.
"Hey, TK."
The other man blew out a breath and licked his lips, obviously nervous. "Let's walk?"
Carlos nodded.
They walked in silence, side by side, their shoulders and arms occasionally brushing. It took TK a good few minutes to speak. "Alex found his soulmate two weeks ago, and a day later, we broke up."
Carlos stopped walking. "TK-"
He shook his head. "Wait, just- let me finish?"
Carlos nodded.
“A week ago, I started to see more shades of brown.”
Carlos held his breath.
TK smiled and shook his head. “I realized something then- losing Alex hurt, at first, but not as much as it should have. It got me thinking; what if Alex isn’t my soulmate? What if it’s someone else?"
Carlos' heart squeezed in his chest and he swallowed thickly, but he still didn't say a word.
"Alex and I- I knew from the start we weren't going to work. There wasn't a spark, there was nothing special, " TK bit his lower lip, and Carlos' eyes darted down to them despite his effort.
He dragged them back up, and hoped TK didn't notice.
"Carlos, what color can you see?"
His heart, for a few seconds, stopped beating. "What?"
"When I met Alex, I could see his eyes. They were brown, Carlos. The same brown as your eyes," he mumbled, sounding terrified.
Carlos himself was paralyzed, desperately trying not to get his hopes up.
"I met you two on the same night. He was in the building we were evacuating and he asked me out."
"TK," Carlos managed to choke out, "what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I've been falling for you this entire time, and I was trying so hard to convince myself that I wasn't because I thought you already had your soulmate and I had mine.”
“TK-"
“What color can you see?”
“Green,” he whispered.
TK let out a breath, as if he was relieved.
Carlos was still holding his breath.
"Am I your soulmate, Carlos?"
"Yes," he said simply, and the breath finally rushed out of him. The only reason he'd hidden it was because he thought TK was happy with Alex and he didn't want to burden him. A part of him had also been terrified that he'd lose TK if he told him. "Yes, you are."
TK grinned, beautiful and radiant as he stepped closer. He lifted up his hands as if to touch Carlos but he didn't.
Carlos stepped closer into his touch, and TK sagged into him.
He smiled.
"Why didn't you tell me?" TK asked softly, his hands moving to grip Carlos' neck.
"Because I thought you were happy with him."
TK pulled back. "I won't lie and say I wasn't some of the time," he muttered, "but I've never been as happy with him as I am with you now."
Carlos pulled him back in, and after a second of hesitation, he let his lips brush against TK's in a soft, barely there kiss, then moved to pull away.
TK didn't let him.
He grabbed his shirt in both hands and kept him close, then kissed him.
Carlos had kissed and been kissed many times before, but none had ever felt like this; warm and electric and comforting and right.
TK pulled away first. "Don't want to give the kids a show, he mumbled with a smirk and raised eyebrows.
Carlos let out a breathy laugh, but was reluctant to let him go, so he pulled him into his arms and buried his face in his neck. TK's arms lifted up immediately, and Carlos closed his eyes as the happiness he was feeling threatened to overwhelm him.
"I think I'm in love with you," TK whispered in his ear, voice shaky but sure.
Carlos pressed a soft kiss to his neck, enjoying the way it made his soulmate's breath hitch in his chest.
"I think I'm in love with you, too."
They kissed again, and all around them, the world burst into colors.