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captain-gillian · 1 year

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i love him on purpose

1,756 words. rated t. summary: After a long week, Carlos plans a cozy date night of reading and comfort food for his husband.

Living in the heart of downtown, most things are within walking distance of Carlos, and TK’s loft, including some of the best queer nightlife Austin has to offer, TK’s favourite Chinese takeout place, a Trader Joe’s and a great bookstore.

Unlike most of the bookstores in the area, this one isn’t a chain but a little independent place with a coffee shop that makes some of the best coffee in the city. As it’s only half a block from their apartment, TK and Carlos are frequent visitors.

When Carlos stops to pick up an iced latte on the way home from picking up groceries, he has an idea.

It’s been a long week in the Reyes-Strand household, and the majority of Carlos’s opportunities to see his husband have been passing greetings as they head in and out the door for their shifts on opposite schedules and a few shared lunches at the firehouse—all of which ended up interrupted by calls.

But they both have the next two days off together, and Carlos’ shift ends earlier than TK’s, so he makes plans for a date night while waiting for his coffee.

They’ve both been working overtime since the wedding and the honeymoon to make up for the time off, so a date night is more than overdue. After a long week, Carlos has just the thing in mind for date night. Nothing fancy; after the week they’ve had, Carlos figures a quiet night is just what they need.

When he gets home, Carlos thumbs through the recipe folder on the counter until he finds what he’s looking for—a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe he’s made before with TK’s help. Carlos has always preferred the freedom and art of cooking over the exact science of baking. Still, cookies have always been one of TK’s go-to comfort foods—it’s not unusual to find him baking cookies at odd hours if he’s had a hard shift or wants to feel closer to his mom—cookies and Chinese takeout.

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By the time the cookies go into the oven, Carlos has flour in his hair—though he couldn’t possibly tell you how it ended up there—the kitchen is a mess. TK is due home in twenty minutes, which Carlos hopes will be enough time to clean up and have the whole apartment smelling like freshly baked cookies.

As Carlos takes the cookies out of the oven, TK texts to say a call ran over and he’ll be a little late. Carlos finishes the last of his washing up, and although they’re still hot, he can’t help but sample one of the cookies before settling into the couch with a magazine. Of course, it’s nothing like the cookies TK makes with Gwyn’s secret recipe—nothing will ever compare to those—but they’re perfectly crisp with a soft, chewy interior and chocolate that melts in his mouth. If nothing else, they’re made with love and make the apartment smell inviting.

“Hi, husband,” TK says as he walks into the apartment, throws his keys in the bowl on the end table and shrugs off his backpack. “It smells incredible in here, Carlos.”

“Hey, babe. How was your shift?” Carlos asks, standing and leaning against the arm of the sofa to greet him.

TK leans in to hug Carlos, momentarily burying his face in his neck. “Long. How was yours?”

“Uneventful.”

“Where is this delicious smell coming from?” TK asks.

“I made you cookies.” He says and watches his husband’s expression soften.

“You made me cookies?”

“It’s nothing special, just chocolate chip.”

“Nothing special? Taking the time to make me cookies is special, babe.” TK says, planting a kiss on Carlos’ cheek and crossing to the kitchen. “Thank you.”

Carlos stays resting against the back of the sofa as TK crosses the room and hops up to sit on the kitchen counter beside the rack of cookies.

“So what’s the occasion? I haven’t forgotten an anniversary—at least I hope I haven’t—and it’s not my birthday, so what’s the occasion?” TK asks as he takes a bite of the cookie in his hand. “Babe, these are delicious.” He says through a mouthful.

“No occasion. I don’t need a reason to spoil my husband, and besides, we’re overdue a date night.”

“I don’t know if I’m up for a date night, baby. It’s been such a long week. I was hoping we could just chill at home tonight.” TK says, and Carlos gets it; he feels the same, which is precisely why he planned a lowkey night in, not a night out.

“Who says a date night can’t be chilling?”

“What have you got planned?”

“You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you,” Carlos tells him with a wink.

“Do I get a hint?” He pouts, but Carlos shakes his head, his curls bouncing as he does so and plants a kiss on his forehead.

“No hints, babe. Grab your coat.”

TK hops down from the counter, grabbing a second cookie, “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

“You’ll know when we get there.”

It’s a crisp fall afternoon, and the leaves crunch beneath their feet as they walk half a block to their destination, hand in hand.

“Are we going for coffee?” TK asks as Carlos stops outside the bookstore & coffee shop.

Carlos shakes his head. “We’re here to buy each other books, and then we’re going home to read and order Chinese for dinner.”

“So I get to pick your book?” TK asks.

Carlos nods. “And I’ll be picking one for you. Meet you outside when we’re done?”

TK steps inside and starts searching the aisles for the perfect book. On the other hand, Carlos already knows exactly what book to pick for TK and only takes a few minutes to collect the pink paperback he had in mind from a display of queer book recommendations put together by the staff.

He’s not waiting outside long before TK appears, grinning and holding a paper bag.

“It’s about a handsome Texan who falls in love with an even more handsome outsider. I thought you might relate,” TK says with a flirtatious wink as he pulls a familiar pink paperback out of the bag and presents it to his husband.

“That’s funny because I thought you—a handsome outsider—might relate to a book about falling in love with an even more handsome Texan.” Carlos laughs as he takes out the same pink paperback from his own bag, a copy of Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.

“We’re definitely on the same page today,” TK says, taking Carlos’ hand in his own to walk back to the apartment.

“Must be why we make such a good team.”

When they get back to the apartment, TK kicks off his shoes and changes into a soft pink hoodie, Carlos sets out tea and cookies on the coffee table, and they settle in to read. They start out at opposite ends of the couch. Carlos is wearing his reading glasses and maintaining impeccable posture as he sits up straight against the back of the sofa, while TK is curled with his knees up to his chest in the corner of the chaise, book in one hand and a cookie in the other.

After about half an hour, Carlos looks up from his book to see TK seemingly zoned out. His gaze is fixed above the book in his hands. “Why aren’t you reading your book?”

“I prefer watching you read,” TK says, dog-earing the book—earning a wince from Carlos—and placing it on the couch beside him, “I could watch you read all day. You look so peaceful, and you’re so damn sexy in those glasses.”

“Shut up,” Carlos responds playfully.

“You love me.”

“That I do.”

“Are you hungry?”

“I could eat,” Carlos replies, putting a bookmark in and closing his book.

They order Chinese and eat on the couch when it arrives, discussing what they’ve read and how Carlos can’t get over the similarities between TK and Alex Claremont Diaz so far. When TK clears away the takeout containers and puts the leftovers in the fridge, Carlos picks up his book to resume reading but is soon interrupted by TK planting himself right beside him, resting back against his chest.

“Read to me?” He asks, relaxing further into him and looking up at him with those green eyes softened into an expression Carlos finds damn near impossible to say no to.

Carlos nods and wraps his arms and the book around his shoulders. “Where were you up to?”

“Chapter two,” TK responds, and Carlos starts reading.

By the time Carlos starts reading chapter three aloud, TK looks like he might have fallen asleep, but he insists he wasn’t.

“I was just closing my eyes and enjoying the story. Your voice is so soothing. This was exactly what I needed tonight, babe. Thank you.” TK says, turning to kiss him.

Several hours later, Carlos is once again sure TK is falling asleep on his chest, so he closes the book softly and starts to take off his glasses.

“One more page?” TK asks, opening his eyes to look up at him.

Carlos can’t resist that look, “One more page.”

Later that night, as the moonlight peeks through the curtains, Carlos lies awake, enveloped in his husband’s comforting embrace. Like most nights, TK drifted off quickly while Carlos lies awake with the world's weight on his shoulders. Some nights, even being wrapped in his husband’s arms isn’t enough to quieten his anxieties.

As if he can sense how Carlos feels, TK, now awake, whispers to him. “He’s like you, you know.”

“Who?”

“Henry.”

Carlos is surprised at first, but for the most part, he understands the comparison other than one huge point of difference. “Yeah, maybe, except for the fact he’s a prince .”

“You’re a prince too, my very own personal prince charming,” Though he can’t see TK’s face, Carlos knows he’s grinning after delivering such a cheesy line.

“You are so cheesy,”

“But you love me,”

“I do,” Carlos says; he loves TK more than he ever felt possible or than he ever thought he could allow himself to. He thinks over a quote from the book that reminds him so much of his own relationship, ‘I love him on purpose,’ because despite everything in his own past, in TK’s past, he loves TK— all of TK—on purpose. So he whispers back to his husband, “I love you on purpose.”

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