TK's Playlist ⏩ Tarlos

Only Chapter

Carlos hated having to be the one doing the chasing, and still here he was, pushing his luck with a new yorker nonetheless. A new yorker with the prettiest green eyes. With very strong opinions about everything he didn't know. The fittest body and a fellow public servant, a firefighter, which made him impossibly hotter by any of Carlos' account. On his scale, truly a 10/10. Not to mention, by any means, the things TK could do that made Carlos' eyeballs roll all the way to the back of his head... City boy had some serious moves. But, still, TK's hot-and-cold demeanor could be extremely irritating. But, if his friend Michelle had any authority to give life advice at all, he's doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing: taking the risk and swallowing his pride.
Sure, he knew the guy had been through his fair share of emotional disappointment and several other issues that were responsible for him having so many emotional walls that were hard to knock down, even by himself. Carlos was always confused about what gear they were on, he was never in control of their little fling and by any of his standards these were red flags. He had always been the kind of guy that liked things to be simple, safe, traditional even. One could call him a hopeless romantic. TK's presence challenged the way Carlos saw the world and interacted with it; and that alone was enough to drive him crazy. TK was under his skin, and on his mind, all the time, and Carlos couldn't shake him off. It pissed Carlos off in so many levels, and pushed him to his limits and maybe he was actually masochistic for letting it go on. Even though the first time Carlos tried to do something nice for TK and actually have a date with him turned out into the biggest failure of the century. After the scuffle that got TK arrested; they were able to communicate a little bit better – at least enough for them to agree to go out, as an item, with Paul just to cheer him up. But not enough for Carlos to actually know more about TK, or for their pacing around this thing to click. It always seemed one step forward, two steps back with TK; and it was starting to get a little tiresome.

But, all in all, they where still here for each other, if a late night booty-call, for some mindless chatting or some favors.

Like any millennial from a major metropolitan area, TK had a lot of idealistic life resolutions. And being a new yorker, he had to grow up with some limitations and querks that could only be observed in that specific holy ground. For example, the delusion that New York was the center of the universe and that nothing else mattered, but also an almost indescribable pleasure on the process of taking the subway. It is, indeed, hard to manage owning a car in cities with real estate prices so absurdly high that they're almost impracticable; it was impossible to find a parking spot therefore what's the use of owning a car if you cannot take it out of you own garage? Provided that you could find a garage to rent. Also, the whole green deal the new generations have. In conclusion, TK never had a car. He never planned on having one. Anywhere he needed to go, he'd always take the subway and when he needed to move something, he either asked his dad for his car – preferably for his dad to drive him – or rented a small truck. In Texas, however, everybody had a car. Not only a car, but the biggest pick-up trucks and SUVs in America. You know, the entire "everything is bigger in Texas" deal. It was so annoying... But after all, TK was grateful that if he had to move to Texas, at least it was the progressive pearl of the state, Austin, where nobody gave him a second look when he swooped by in his electric scooter. "Keep Austin weird" was their motto, Carlos taught him.

However, every once in a while it came a time in a man's life when electric scooters and Ubers weren't enough.

With very few options in his plate, considering every person he knew here were either working with him and on a shift or sleeping with him, TK gave in, swallowed his pride and called Carlos. It took four ringing tones for him to pick up, but it was enough for TK's leg to start bouncing in anxiety. Carlos pushed buttons in him, even though he did his best to pretend to himself that he didn't.