An: This was just a simple one shot about Katie interacting with Carlos and how she feels about him. I mostly see ones where Katie has a crush on one of the boys, but not to many focus on the family aspect of the boys' relationship with Katie so I got the idea for this last night. Hope you all enjoy it. :)
If Katie Knight had been asked to pick her favorite, she would easily say Carlos Garcia. Don't get her wrong, she loved her older brother Kendall to death, but Carlos would always hold a special place in her heart.
For as long as she could remember Carlos' smile was the one that put her at ease the quickest, those shiny teeth of his would always blind her into silence and make her wonder why the stars in the sky couldn't be so bright.
"Carlos, can I have a hug?" she asks just before he takes a bite of one of his beloved corndogs.
He looks at her with those lovely doe brown eyes of his that already have her nerves settling back to normal.
"Of course Katie, anything for you," he grins getting off the stool and sweeping her up into his strong arms easily. Her tiny arms wrap around him, her face burying itself into his chest as his warmth engulfs her like the flames of the sun.
"Thanks Carlos," she smiles when she pulls from him and he simply smiles in that cheerful way of his and he leans in and kisses the top of her head gently.
"No problem," he sat back down and went back to devouring his corndogs while the pre-teen girl pranced off feeling light as a feather.
Carlos always did give the best hugs.
She remembers the first time he ever hugged her, when she was 4 and tripped over her own shoe laces that she still couldn't get a handle on. Kendall was outside with Logan and James, when Carlos had come back into the house to get a drink of water when he saw her with hot tears streaming down her flushed cheeks.
"What happened Katie?" he asked with wide 10 year old eyes as she buried her face into his chest and clung to his hockey jersey.
"I-I fell, m-my shoes tripped me," she sniffed and looked up to him with watering large eyes.
"Don't cry, I can tie your shoes for you," he offered carefully leading her to the kitchen table and sitting her down. Looking into the small girl's tear filled eyes he kissed her cheek before he set to work tying the loose laces with the upmost concentration.
A flush of warmth rose to her cheeks as the sob in her chest evaporated into nothing. Looking at Carlos she saw a gentle smile on his face as he finished typing her shoes.
"There, now you won't fall. So are you hurt?" he picked her up easily from the chair and set her to the floor, her eyes looking to him intently.
In response she shook her head, but before he could go back outside she extended her arms to him silently asking for a hug. With a wide grin he swept her up into his arms spinning the toddler around causing a high pitched giggle to bubble out of her throat as he set her down and kissed the top of her head gently.
"Thanks Carlos," she smiled just as he opened the screen door to go back to the boys who'd began to wonder where he'd been.
"You're welcome Katie," he smiled back as he stepped back outside, Kendall looking between the two curiously but shrugging it off as most ten year old boys would.
And after that moment, Katie swore Carlos was her favorite.
It was obvious to Katie that Carlos was the best dancer and in her opinion he was the best singer. Of course she'd still have her brother sing her back to sleep, but just like Carlos' hugs, his voice had a way of putting her at ease the way her brother never could (not that she'd ever say that out loud).
The moments when she heard Carlos singing in the shower or quietly to himself when practicing the lyrics of one of their songs, she couldn't help but stay and listen to his voice. But what would make those moments even better was when he'd see her, give her a brilliant smile and ask her to dance with him.
"That's stupid Carlos," she said the first time crossing her arms over her chest, her face flushing bright red.
"Oh come on, please Katie?" he extended a hand to her and smiled at her brightly, and he didn't know that it was the warm look in his eyes and the gentle tone of his voice crumbled her resolve to dust.
She never could say no to Carlos anyway.
"Fine," she grumbled pretending to be annoyed when she was far from it as she put her hand into his warm one and let the energetic boy twirl her around the bedroom he shared with James.
He'd taught her how the samba, salsa, and the meringue all the while making her smile till her cheeks hurt.
"Dance with me Katie," he chirped diverging her attention from the game she was playing rather intently.
"Sure," she smiled pausing her game with out a second thought and hopped off the bright orange couch and slipped her hand into his easily.
"You know before you'd always make me beg you to dance with me," he smiled as he spun her around the room after he'd made sure to push the coffee table out of the way.
"Well, maybe I liked dancing with you now," she blushed in admittance and rested her head against his shoulder, the rhythm of his heart echoing into her heart.
"Good, because I like dancing with you too," he replied pausing their movements to sweep up the young girl into his arms and spin her around the way he did when she was four.
She giggled, her arms tightening around his steady warmth rose to her skin after he set her feet back onto the rug (she still felt like she was floating) and placed a soft kiss to the top of her head.
"Thanks Carlos," she grinned giving him another hug which he easily returned.
"No problem Katie," he squeezed her tight and held out his hand for her to take.
The smile never left her face as he danced with her in the living room, twirling her around ever so often to make a giggle leave her lips. It was simple moments like this where Carlos would always be her favorite.
Hope you all enjoyed this please leave all your comments/thoughts/concerns/critiques in a review. xoxo
Monsters Underneath and Bucket List will be updated soon. I'm working on them currently so stay tuned.