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love_sacrificedTitle: A Crack In the Facade
Author: JE /immortalje
Pairing: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Summary: Working on last bits of release paperwork, Carlos tried to process the conversation he just had with TK and the glimpse it had given him behind the facade he wore for everyone else.
Rating: FRT
Words: 634
Beta: None
Other Locations: Ao3 ~ Squidge World
AN1: This takes place right after the police station scene in 1x03 Texas Proud.
AN2: For length this story is, it has gone through far too many rounds of editing. I'm not sure if I shouldn't give it more time, but there comes a point where you have to stop.
AN3: This is getting posted as part of my Advent Calendar which will contain various media formats :)
A Crack In the Facade
As TK walked away, Carlos had to force himself to keep looking at the papers in front of him instead of following his path out of the station. He had a job to do and right now that meant filling out those release papers with the last bit of information and sign them before he could file them. However, a part of him couldn’t help but replay the conversation he’d just had with TK. Really, everything from the moment he’d gotten the file if he was being honest.
He’d just come back from dropping someone at the holding cells when a Seargent had pushed the file into his hand with a vague reference to being needed elsewhere. The last thing he had expected when he’d opened it had been to see TK’s mugshot staring back at him. It had thrown him more than he’d been prepared to and had felt like the universe was mocking him. It had felt as if he was back to a couple of nights ago, having his heart crushed all over again. A reminder that he couldn’t have anything nice.
He'd tried to be his most professional and reserved in the face of sitting across from TK again sooner and in a situation so unlike any he’d ever expected. Just like he hadn’t expected the conversation that had followed. He hadn’t anticipated the forced, but genuine sounding, apology about the way their ideas and hopes about what the thing they had was didn’t match – not that he really could blame TK for that, he’d never given him a hint that he wanted something more prior to that disastrous night – to TK blowing up and storming out after what had felt like a normal, if strained conversation on the topic. He’d actually needed a moment to gather himself in order to avoid revealing how much he was still hurting over that night. Not to mention how wrongfooted he’d felt to deal with him in a professional capacity in regards to the trouble TK had found himself in.
All of it had tugged at his heart. A lot of what he’d thought of as innocent comments and actions suddenly shone in a new and rather ugly light as he mentally reviewed that night. He’d really managed to screw that one up. Not that the fault was fully his. TK certainly didn’t seem to blame him. He’d just done what countless people all over did when trying to get to know someone better. Something that was kind of standard when it came to dating as far as he knew. Okay, maybe not the time or the fact that it was at his home instead of out in a restaurant, but he’d been too nervous about actually going through with that idea to really consider those things. Not to mention that his shift work did come with the need to be a bit more creative occasionally.
Sighing, he signed the last spot in the report, closed the file and put it onto the done pile. At least things had been more lighthearted as TK had left. Maybe this wasn’t as over and done with as he’d thought. Even if TK wasn’t ready for a relationship, he wouldn’t mind being his friend. He couldn’t imagine that everything he’d noticed on calls and the few times they’d met outside of work were all just a façade that didn’t reflect who TK was to some extent. He could be there for him as a friend as he dealt with his heartbreak and maybe, at the end of it, he’d have a chance. He knew it was a folly to hope for that. It was a dangerous game to play with his heart. It just seemed like an impossible thing to resist the draw of TK Strand.
Author: JE /
immortaljePairing: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Summary: Working on last bits of release paperwork, Carlos tried to process the conversation he just had with TK and the glimpse it had given him behind the facade he wore for everyone else.
Rating: FRT
Words: 634
Beta: None
Other Locations: Ao3 ~ Squidge World
AN1: This takes place right after the police station scene in 1x03 Texas Proud.
AN2: For length this story is, it has gone through far too many rounds of editing. I'm not sure if I shouldn't give it more time, but there comes a point where you have to stop.
AN3: This is getting posted as part of my Advent Calendar which will contain various media formats :)
A Crack In the Facade
As TK walked away, Carlos had to force himself to keep looking at the papers in front of him instead of following his path out of the station. He had a job to do and right now that meant filling out those release papers with the last bit of information and sign them before he could file them. However, a part of him couldn’t help but replay the conversation he’d just had with TK. Really, everything from the moment he’d gotten the file if he was being honest.
He’d just come back from dropping someone at the holding cells when a Seargent had pushed the file into his hand with a vague reference to being needed elsewhere. The last thing he had expected when he’d opened it had been to see TK’s mugshot staring back at him. It had thrown him more than he’d been prepared to and had felt like the universe was mocking him. It had felt as if he was back to a couple of nights ago, having his heart crushed all over again. A reminder that he couldn’t have anything nice.
He'd tried to be his most professional and reserved in the face of sitting across from TK again sooner and in a situation so unlike any he’d ever expected. Just like he hadn’t expected the conversation that had followed. He hadn’t anticipated the forced, but genuine sounding, apology about the way their ideas and hopes about what the thing they had was didn’t match – not that he really could blame TK for that, he’d never given him a hint that he wanted something more prior to that disastrous night – to TK blowing up and storming out after what had felt like a normal, if strained conversation on the topic. He’d actually needed a moment to gather himself in order to avoid revealing how much he was still hurting over that night. Not to mention how wrongfooted he’d felt to deal with him in a professional capacity in regards to the trouble TK had found himself in.
All of it had tugged at his heart. A lot of what he’d thought of as innocent comments and actions suddenly shone in a new and rather ugly light as he mentally reviewed that night. He’d really managed to screw that one up. Not that the fault was fully his. TK certainly didn’t seem to blame him. He’d just done what countless people all over did when trying to get to know someone better. Something that was kind of standard when it came to dating as far as he knew. Okay, maybe not the time or the fact that it was at his home instead of out in a restaurant, but he’d been too nervous about actually going through with that idea to really consider those things. Not to mention that his shift work did come with the need to be a bit more creative occasionally.
Sighing, he signed the last spot in the report, closed the file and put it onto the done pile. At least things had been more lighthearted as TK had left. Maybe this wasn’t as over and done with as he’d thought. Even if TK wasn’t ready for a relationship, he wouldn’t mind being his friend. He couldn’t imagine that everything he’d noticed on calls and the few times they’d met outside of work were all just a façade that didn’t reflect who TK was to some extent. He could be there for him as a friend as he dealt with his heartbreak and maybe, at the end of it, he’d have a chance. He knew it was a folly to hope for that. It was a dangerous game to play with his heart. It just seemed like an impossible thing to resist the draw of TK Strand.
