How To Fix a Mechanic (BoyxBoy)

4

A/N: And above we have the absolutely freaking stunning Sofia Vergara as Carmen Rodriguez.

"Oh. My. God." Joe exhaled as he flopped down onto his bed. Angie stood in the doorway, eyebrows raised in intrigue.
"What's got you so blissful?" She grins, entering the room and closing the door. She sat in Joe's swivelling chair, swaying this way and that as she waited for his explanation.
"Manny." Joe sighed like a love sick teen.

Angie burst out laughing.
"One of the mechanics?" She sniggered, Joe couldn't even be bothered to throw her a glare.
"I don't even care. I got it bad." Joe admitted, rubbing his forehead. Something changed in Angie's demeanour, apparently realising Joe was serious.
"I've been there plenty of times and no one there ever gave me gay vibes." She said sternly.

Joe rolled his eyes this time.
"And since when are you a gay medium?"
"I knew before you did, honey." She chuckled. Joe couldn't argue that, when he'd told her he was gay she'd simply laughed and said 'It took you this long to realise?' He knew Angie had an eye for it. "Which one is Manny anyway?"

"The one who usually fixes dad's car, six feet and four inches of pure hotness, dark eyes and a buzz cut. Dad says he went to our high school." Joe gushed. He sat up to see his sister gaping.
"That's who's teaching you?" She gawped. Joe nodded, confused. "Good grief." She groaned.
"What?" Joe snapped. Angie stared at him, her expression telling him it wasn't good.

"He was in the grade above me, he dropped out of school a few months before graduation." Angie informed him.
"What's so bad about that? People drop out all the time!" Joe replied defensively.
"He was something of a celebrity when he was there, easily the hottest guy in the grade but never dated, he only really had one friend." This saddened Joe. Manny seemed nice enough, quiet and very socially awkward, but nice.

"Thing is, his only friend was Diego Silva, the prize winning asshole of the entire school. They did a lot of bad shit, they were always in trouble for something." Angie recounted, her tone disdainful as she mentioned Diego.
"I'm pretty sure Diego doesn't work at the mechanics." Joe muttered.
"That's because he's in prison, smart stuff." Angie answered. Joe's jaw dropped.
"What for?"

Angie's expression turned serious, she got up and sat on the edge of Joe's bed.
"No one really knows exactly what happened, but there were plenty of rumours. The most widely accepted story is that they did something bad, Manny and Diego. Real bad. They had to go to court and everything, but only Diego went down for some reason." Joe listened to his sister intently, his mind whirling and forming theories of what could have happened.
"What do you think happened?" He asked.

Angie smirked, revelling in her brother's shock.
"I think they- well, Diego hurt someone, and Manny only got in trouble for being there. He never struck me as the violent type." September theorised. It seemed possible, Joe didn't like this Diego character already.
"You don't think he was involved?" Angie shook her head.
"Why? Scared mom and dad won't accept your boyfriend?" She teased.

"He's not my boyfriend."
"That's obvious." Angie smirked. Joe immediately took offence.
"You don't think I could get him if I tried?"
"Joe, there's like a 90% chance he's straight and four years older than you. The odds are stacked against you." Angie laughed loudly. Joe felt the blow to his ego and puffed his chest out.

"You underestimate me. I'm good looking."
"To girls maybe." Angie snorted, clearly enjoying riling him.
"You know what? Game on. I'm gonna get Manny and laugh in your face when I do." Joe folded his arms indignantly. Angie raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Just try not to get your ass kicked when you try and make a move on a huge straight guy." She sighed dramatically.

"Oh it won't be kicking that he'll be doing-"
"LA LA LA TOO MUCH INFORMATION!" Angie yelled and ran from the room as Joe had hoped she would. He lay back down on his bed and mulled over the possibility he could actually win over Manny. Angie was right, it was highly unlikely, but he wasn't ready to quit before trying. Not to mention, if he was successful, the rewards would be boundless.

*

That afternoon, Manny stood at the front door of his cousin Carmen's apartment. He rung the doorbell and sighed impatiently.
"Coming Manny!" He heard her yell through the door. Moments later he heard the chain being removed and the door clicked open. Carmen had her masses of curly brown hair tied up in messy bun with a red bandana tied around her head.

"Come inside, tonto." She joked and Manny followed her in. They sat down in the small living room and she handed him a glass of lemonade. She sat back, stretching her arms across the top of her armchair. "What's up? You haven't come over in weeks. Andres misses you." She smiled. Manny attempted to smile back but he'd always found smiling awkward.
"Been busy at work." He explained lamely. Carmen's face dropped, she always knew when something was up.

"Who found out?" She whispered despite them being the only two in the apartment. Manny shook his head and Carmen sighed in relief, holding the crucifix hanging from her necklace like a lifeline.
"I'm teaching a kid mechanics." He said dumbly. Carmen cocked an eyebrow.
"You're teaching? Why?" Manny groaned quietly.
"I don't know, Carlos pushed me into it. It's a regular's son."

Carmen thought this over for a second, then leant forward in her seat.
"I'm sensing there's a bigger problem here than you having to talk for more than five seconds." She observed. Manny looked her in the eye, silently confirming her suspicions. "He cute, right?"
"I guess." Manny muttered.
"So he is. You have a crush on a kid, that's fucking great, Manny." Carmen scolded.

"He's not a kid. He's seventeen." Manny protested, embarrassed by the accusations of paedophilia.
"So he's a kid in the eyes of the law." Carmen clapped a hand to her forehead. "Dios mio. You're an idiot."
"Carmen will you calm down? I didn't say I planned on getting in bed with him." Manny stammered.
"You don't need a bed to have sex with him!" She exclaimed.
"Carmen." Manny growled, warning her to calm down. She had a tendency to freak out over the smallest of things.

She fixed him with her sharp green eyes.
"You better keep it together, unless you wanna deal with some serious shit. I can't be dealing with a son and another Diego situation." And right on cue, in toddled Carmen's two year old son Andres.
"Tío Manny!" He grinned, reaching his arms out to be picked up. Manny put on the smile that he reserved for his nephew.
"Hey Andres." He sat the child next to him and handed him his phone to mess around with so he could finish his conversation with Carmen.

"When are you teaching him next?" Carmen asked.
"Tomorrow at around eight. I'm guessing we'll finish at 9 depending on what I'm teaching him." Manny told her. Carmen thought about this for a second then grinned wildly.
"I'm gonna come down and check him out. I wanna see if this niño is really worth your worry."
"I thought you weren't going to encourage this." Manny snorted. Carmen shrugged.
"I'm just curious. No one's caught your interest in years."

Manny left the subject and spent the rest of his time and the Carmen's playing with Andres then helping with dinner. The entire time he couldn't stop thinking about his next encounter with Joe.