I actually wanted this to be smut, but it turned out fluffy with Carlton needing a hug. Why am I like this? Oh well. I hope you like it!
Warning: None?
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Cracking his neck Carlton leaned over his desk one more time double checking that it was off. The last thing he needed was for someone to get into his files while he was at home. Spencer being in the office had made him all the more paranoid.
Once he was sure that everything was locked down he pulled his coat on and started out of the office ready to go home. It wasn't often that he was excited to leave work, but this time he didn't mind at all. It wasn't as if there was anything for him to do anyway.
A small part of him knew that it was a good thing that it was a slow week. It meant that they had taken some of the bad guys off of the streets and made them a safe place. They should take the time and be joyful.
It also left him completely bored out of his mind. It wasn't as if anyone had actually taken a break. People were breaking the law all over the town. They were just being smart about not getting caught breaking the law.
In the end all criminals messed up and were caught. He just hated the fact that he had to wait until they were stupid. He wanted to take them down before some poor innocent sap got in the middle of something that cost them their life.
Alright, so there was also the fact that slow days also meant paperwork. Which he wasn't the biggest fan of. For the most part he kept on top of everything that came across his desk, but there was always more that needed to be done.
When he had first made the honor of Head Detective he had thought that it would tapper off. He'd have a whole mess of other people to dictate his work off to so he had time to do the important things.
He couldn't believe how naive that was. When he could he pushed off paperwork to O'Hara, but it still ended up needing his signature in the end and if he was going to sign something than he was going to read it. It was easier to do it himself.
That had been his entire week. Filling out so much paperwork that his eyes felt like they would never uncross. He was truly glad that it was Friday and he was going to have the next two days away from it all.
That problem with that though was the fact that he didn't want to go home. He wasn't that much of a people person, but the idea of going home and sitting on the couch alone sounded horrible. He needed to go out.
It wasn't something that he did very often, but going to a bar was the perfect ending to the week he was having. He normally would have just gone home, poured himself a glass, and fallen into bed before ten o'clock. He liked it that way.
The only time he went out to the bar was when he was in a very bad mood and wanted to forget that he was a cop for a minute and start a bar fight. Of course he wouldn't do that, but the idea stuck in his mind whenever he was there.
Well, either that or finding a person that was willing to come home with him that liked it on the rougher side. That one didn't happen all that often either. No one was lining up to spend the night with him.
He was able to admit it now that he had a little time, but one of the reasons he had his ex-wife had split had been because of the way he got when he was frustrated or bored. He would never hurt her, but sometimes he wanted to fight.
When he was like that he wanted someone that was willing to met him toe to toe and just try to take him down. He wanted someone that was willing to push him when he pushed them first. Someone that would fight for no reason other than to fight.
If he was truthful he didn't even really care which one of them won. As long as there was a fight for dominance then he was fine with whatever happened afterward. Victoria was not a fan of that way of living. She wanted something more normal.
That was the reason that he had finally let her go. They were never going to be on the same wave length when it came to things that they needed. It hurt to admit it, but he had to let her go if either of them wanted to be happy.
Not that he was happy about what his life was now. He might not like saying it but he knew that he was slightly less miserable alone than he had been when they were together. Not that anyone else could see the difference.
At the moment though he was just bored. He wanted to relax for a moment and just let himself enjoy the time off that he had. He just wanted to find a way to get his mind to shut down for a little while.
With a plan in mind the detective made his way towards his car. As he pulled out his keys he tried to figure out where to go so lost in thought that he didn't notice someone leaning against the car until he was standing a few feet away.
Instantly the man was on alert. He had made more than a few enemies over his years and while he was proud of that he was also slightly annoyed. Not that he did it, but that they sometimes came looking for him when they got out.
He was fine with a fight if one broke out, but anyone that came looking wasn't going with a fight normally. No, they had a knife or a gun and wanted nothing more than to see him dead for putting them away.
And then there were the family members and loved ones of people he put away. Sometimes they wanted him dead. Other times they wanted to beg with him to let the person out of jail because 'they were a good man'.
He knew that love could make you blind, but just how stupid did one have to be to fall for that line? Yes, he believed in love and the idea of finding someone to spend the rest of your life with was one he held close to his chest.
The people that came up to him though weren't people like that. They were almost always just as bad as the person he locked up. He couldn't believe just how stupid some people could be not to see the truth in those monsters.
Sighing he took a better look at the person leaning against his car and bit back a groan when he saw it was Nick Conforth. It had been a few months since he had last seen the other man and he hadn't thought about him at all.
Something that wasn't all the surprising considering just how little he thought about his past. He didn't have anything tragic happen to him, but he knew himself well enough to know just how lost he'd get if he went down that road. So he didn't.
"Conforth," Carlton greeted gruffly not bothering to stop as he went to the drivers' side door and opened it.
"Carlton," the teacher responded moving away from the car his hands shoved in his pockets, "How… How have you been?"
There was something in the man's voice that made Carlton shut the door and look at the other man. He looked just as nervous as he always did, but there was something in his eyes that he couldn't quite figure out.
That was the way it had always been with Conforth though. When they were in the academy he had had fun competing with the man. Not just because he was on par with himself, but because he couldn't figure him out as easily as everyone else.
He had been a good student. A piss poor cop, but a good student. It was because of the competition that they had together that he knew everything he did. He wanted to be the best to bet the other man that was it.
A part of him had actually been hoping that the other man would succeed along side him. He would make a good cop and the force always needed those. That didn't happen though. He was not cut out to work out in the field.
It was a little sad, but Carlton simply moved on and stopped thinking about the man. It wasn't as if they had been friends. He didn't really have friends. It wasn't as sad as it sounded. He liked being alone. For the most part.
"I'm fine," the detective answered after a moment crossing his arms over his chest.
"Good," Conforth nodding moving closer his eyes darting to met Carlton's before moving away, "That's good."
"Is there a reason you're here?"
"Oh! Umm… No? I was in the neighborhood. I run this track every night. I don't really know why I stopped, but I did and then I saw the sign with your name on it. I just… You really did good for yourself, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"That's good. That's… Good."
An awkward silence fell between them and Carlton couldn't help but rock from one foot to the other. He was used to having no idea what to say, but he still hated the feeling of not knowing what he was supposed to do.
It wasn't as if he knew Conforth at all. There was no way that he could hold a conversation with him unless it had something to do with their academy days and that was just going to be filled with the two of them throwing insults.
"Look, Carlton," Conforth started scratching at the back of his neck, "I..."
The teacher let out a sigh his shoulders slumping as his sentence trailed off. For a moment Carlton felt bad for him. He had so much potential, but he was ruled by his fear. It was a not a good look on anyone.
Carlton opened his mouth ready to say anything that would end their conversation in its tracks. Before he could get anything out though he was being cut off by the other man rushing forward and crashing their lips together.
The whole world stopped spinning in that moment and all he could feel was a pair of warm hands cupping the side of his face. The slight stubble that came skipping a few shaves brushing against his skin as the soft lips worked against his own unmoving ones.
Slowly Conforth pulled away from him though he didn't let go. It took a second to realize that the dark eyes had filled with fear. It was as if he thought that Carlton was going to hit him or something. That didn't make him feel like crap at all.
He couldn't blame the man for being fearful. Randomly kissing a person could end badly no matter who was being kissed. The fact that he was not only male, but a cop as well just made it all the more dangerous for Conforth.
Carlton hoped that the man wasn't stupid enough to try to pull a stunt like that with a stranger. Though the fact that he had done it with the detective was confusing. Unless… No, it just made absolutely no sense to him.
There had to be some kind of prank going on. Spencer and Guster had been quiet for the past few days and if he remembered correctly they had gotten along slightly with the teacher. It wasn't beyond the realm of possibilities that they had put him up to his.
"I-," Conforth started knocking him out of his thoughts, "I've wanted to do that for a long time."
"What?" Carlton questioned feeling even more confused than before.
He could practically hear the desire in the man's voice. That wasn't something that he would do if he wanted to just embarrass Carlton. Was it? How far was the man willing to go to do whatever it was that he was doing?
"You didn't know?"
"Know what? What are you talking about, Conforth?"
"Seriously? You didn't... No wonder you never gave me a clear response back then. I just thought you were being an asshole, but you really had no idea what I was even offering."
"What? Conforth, just..."
Once again Carlton was cut off by the other man kissing him. The suspicion that he had been feeling didn't dissipate, but without meaning to he felt himself slowly start to relax. Before he could kiss Conforth back though the teacher was breaking away from him once more.
"I'm really hoping you'll call me Nick," the man offered with a shy smile.
"I don't understand," Carlton tried shaking his head not sure what he believed anymore.
It made sense that the teacher was just messing with him. They didn't have the best relationship anyway. After some of the things that he had said he couldn't blame him for wanted to get a bit of revenge.
That wasn't how he was acting though. There was so much hope in his eyes that Carlton knew he couldn't be lying. That just left one thing. Something that made absolutely no sense no matter how long he thought about it.
"Let me make it simple then," Con- Nick tried licking at his lips, "Have you had dinner yet?"
"No?"
"Have dinner with me?"
Blinking a few time he stared at the man trying to figure out what was being said. Alright, so he got what Con- Nick was talking about. He understood that the man was asking him out on a date, but it still didn't make sense in his mind.
He knew that physically he wasn't a bad person to look at, but that didn't mean that there were people lining up to ask him out. They might like how he looked, but after a few minutes of talking they tended to run in the other direction.
Nick knew him or knew how he was in the academy. The teacher had seen him at his most competitive. That was not a good look on him. He was cruel and angry towards everyone that tried to get in his way and that usually was directed at the man in front of him.
He had also seen him when Spencer and Guster had gone to the academy themselves. The way he acted had been all ego. It was like they were back at the academy. There was no way that Con- Nick would be asking him out.
Alright, after the case was over he had been rather impressed by the guy and had told him so. He was horrible in the field, but he was a good teacher and he had some skills when it came to shooting.
He had figured that he would never see him after that. He was just going to end up being another person that he could have been friends with if his mouth hadn't gotten in the way. At least that was what he figured would happen. He had no idea what to think anymore.
"Carlton?" Nick questioned talking a step back pulling away from him fully, "I didn't… I'm..."
"Okay," the detective said not believing the words that had come out of his mouth.
"Okay? Really? You do realize I'm asking you out on a date. Right?"
"You weren't being subtle, Nick."
"Then why did you take so long to answer me?"
The detective opened his mouth to answer only to stop himself. He didn't know how to explain what he had been thinking. He had pretty much thought that the man was the worst kind of human being. He didn't want to explain that.
Anyway, he knew just how he would be viewed if he said his thoughts out loud. The same way he was viewed when he went to talk to a shrink. He was really not a fan of that 'you are just so broken' look.
"Are we doing this or what?" Carlton asked opening the car door again.
"There's the man I know," Nick laughed moving to the other side of the car and climbing in, "There's a good diner that's open now."
"It's not that late."
"It's almost eleven."
Blinking a few times he started the car and looked at the clock. Nick was right. It was almost eleven. He had thought that he had left the office before his usual nine o'clock. Had he really been that distracted?
Clearing his throat he shook his head and started to head to the diner in silence. Different conversation starters echoed in his head, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He was surprisingly nervous about the whole thing.
It was just Nick Conforth, but that didn't stop him. It had been a long time since he went on a date with anyone. Even longer since that date was a man. Being with someone that he knew should have made it easier. He should really know better than to think like that.
By the time he got to the diner his stomach felt like it was in knots. A part of him wanted to drive the teacher to his home and forget anything happened. Instead he climbed out of the car and followed the man into the diner and to a booth in the back.
"If you've changed your mind, Carlton," Nick started after the waiter gave them menus.
"I haven't changed my mind," the detective practically growled out not looking up at the man.
A sigh came from the teacher before the menu was snatched out of his hands. He glared at Nick hating the fact that he had it taken away from him. He needed the security of having something between the two of them. And he was officially pathetic.
"Carlton," Nick tried staring at him shaking his head sadly, "If you didn't want to do this you could have just said no."
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to," he shot back defensively.
"Really? You want to be here? You could have fooled me. You've barely even looked at me!"
"Maybe if you had asked earlier than I wouldn't be so shocked."
"I thought you knew! I wasn't subtle back then either. Everyone knew that I liked you."
"We were almost always at each other throats. How was I supposed to know that meant something more?"
"Is that what you thought? Did you miss the fact that I always wanted to be paired with you? Or the way I would try my hardest to get you to smile when you were having a rough day? Or how about the time I bought you a cupcake on your birthday? Hell, you couldn't miss the fact I walked behind you just to stare at your ass!"
Feeling his face heat up Carlton looked away from the other man letting the words sunk in. He really had missed all of that. He had just thought that they were competing with each other. How could he be so blind?
"I didn't know," Carlton shook his head.
"I gathered," Nick chuckled softly before frowning, "You know now."
"I do."
"And you're here."
"I am."
"Ignoring me."
"I'm not… Alright, I'm sort of ignoring you."
"Any reason why?"
"I… It's been awhile since I did anything like this. I didn't think that anyone else would want to do something like this with me again. I'm not exactly a catch."
"There are a lot of things wrong with that sentence, but I'm going to ignore them. You want to try this though? Right? That's why you're here. You want to try being with me?"
Licking his lips Carlton looked away from the other man before reaching out and gently brushing their fingers together. It wasn't much, but he could feel his heart pounding. He couldn't believe how excited he was about it all.
"Good," Nick said beaming at his as he slide the menu over, "Know what you want to get yet?"