Chapter Text
[Group Chat: Game Night]
6:28pm
TK:
Are we still on for game night this weekend?
Bestie:
Yesss
I’ll bring the beer if you guys don’t have any
Also Mateo will of course come too
He doesn’t have his phone on him right now
Stud P.:
Arasha can’t make it but I’ll defenitely be there
Firefox:
Do you need us to bring anything?
LOML:
I think we’ve got everything but I’ll let you know if we do
TK:
You mean I’ll let everybody know
Because you’re gonna feel too proud to admit you forgot something
Bestie:
Ohhhh
Fight Fight
LOML:
No I won’t Tyler
I might forget because WE are going to be busy setting everything up
TK:
It’s okay to admit that you’re a bit of a control freak sometimes
No shame in that
It’s like Mateo admitting that he doesn’t have a clue of whats going on
Bestie:
If Mateo had his phone he would not approve of this message
…
Or he wouldn’t understand what was happening
Firefox:
Damn
Stud P.:
Attacking your own boyfriend
Bestie:
Roasting each other is our love language
Thank you very much
LOML:
Getting back to game night planning
If one of you could buy some limes that would be great
I just checked and we don’t have any
And Nancy if you could bring that beer, I’d appreciate it
Stud P.:
On it!
Bestie:
You got it Boss!
LOML:
Thanks Paul and Nancy
TK turns, from his spot on the couch, to Carlos standing in the kitchen. He moved there as soon as TK sent his last message. He feels bad about calling Carlos out in front of their friends like that. He hadn’t meant to sound so mean, he just wanted to banter and be funny, but if he actually hurt Carlos’ feelings he needed to say something.
They don’t have arguments like this often. Most of their squabbles were about dinner or something small, with lots of laughter after and no hard feelings. But this wasn’t like those. Someone got hurt, so this isn’t funny anymore.
“Hey baby, I’m sorry if anything I said hurt you. We joke about it sometimes, and I thought it was okay until now. If it isn’t okay anymore you can tell me and I’ll stop immediatly. I’ll tell everyone else to stop too,” TK finishes as he stands up and walks over.
Carlos continues to stand there with his back turned to TK. He sighs and finally speaks up, “It’s not that, Tyler. You weren’t wrong. It’s exactly as you said. I can’t admit that giving up control is hard, even for simple things like texting the group chat.” He turns towards TK. His eyes are filled with sadness and disappointment, that TK knows isn’t directed at him. Carlos looks down, almost afraid to reach out to TK, afraid of being rejected over something so stupid.
TK takes his hands and closes the distance for him. “Baby, it’s okay. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. You’ve fought for control for so much of your life. For so long you’ve felt alone with no one to rely on. But it’s okay to rely on me for little and big things, that’s what I’m here for.”
“I’m sorry Tyler. This wasn’t how I wanted our night to go.” Carlos sighs again, as some of the tension leaves him.
“Yeah, me neither. But that’s okay,” TK says, leaning in to hug Carlos. The bigger man wraps his arms around him and squeezes him. They’re okay. “We’re so good at this adulting stuff.”
A small chuckle can be heard coming from Carlos at that. “On a less serious note your phone has been buzzing non-stop for the past couple minutes. You might wanna check that.” Carlos sounds a lot better than he did a few minutes ago. He even sounds slightly amused at their friends antics, whichever one is currently blowing up TK’s phone.
TK spins around, after giving Carlos a quick peck, and rushes towards the couch, where his abandoned phone lying.
He picks it up and is immediately bombarded with texts from Nancy.
[Private Message: TK and Nancy]
6:49pm
Missed Messages
Bestie:
Are you okay?
That sounded kinda serious
I’m sorry if we said something that wasn’t okay.
Is Carlos alright?
We didn’t mean to be so stupid
Text me after you’re done making up and sucking face
We also gotta talk about that one girl from the call yesterday
I think she was in my dream last night
She’s haunting me
I’m never gonna be able to forget that
She was crazy
TK
Hellooo
Pick up your phone, please!
You can’t seriously be making out this long
And if you took it further than that I do not wanna know
But I also really need to talk to someone
Mateo left a while ago and I’m lonely
TK!!
TK:
We did not “suck face”
We talked like responsible adults
But you do not know what I’m planning on doing after ;)
Bestie:
Thank god, another human being
It’s been so long
Also, gross
As said before, I don’t wanna know about your sex life
TK:
Now you know how I feel when my dad starts telling me about his
And for your information, when he does it, it’s a lot worse
But Carlos is okay
He said he wanted to work on being better about letting other people a bit sometimes
Bestie:
Aww I’m glad
We all love Carlos and we’re all here for him
Do not let him leave
I will not be able to live without his charcuterie boards
TK:
He just walked past and glanced at my screen
He’s now as red as a tomato
He told me to tell you that he appreciates you too but to stop talking about him now
So yes, that girl was a lot
She will never let you rest
Bestie:
I knowww
I’m glad she’s fine but she was so rude that she cursed me
(Carlos can’t stop me from complementing him)
TK:
Like girl
Don’t treat first responders that way
(I’ll let him know that you can’t be stopped)
Bestie:
Exactly!
Anyways
Wanna try that new smoothie place tomorrow during lunch?
I heard they also have amazing salads
TK:
Sounds great!
I’ll see you tomorrow at 7