Okay, even though Kendall/Logan is probably my favorite fandom pairing, James/Carlos has been growing on me lately. And, for them, I feel like it's either smoofly fluff or major angst, so tak of this what you will.
All mistakes are mine.
Disclaimer: I have never met, nor am I associated with, Big Time Rush. I just love their sparkles.
There are three days of the year that Carlos Garcia wakes up without having to be prodded and pushed for fifteen minutes. The first is Christmas, because, really, there is no person under the age of twenty who doesn't love to open Christmas presents, and he is certainly no exception. The second is Halloween, because that's his favorite holiday. He spends the entire day each year getting his costume just right and getting his map of the neighborhood revised and re-revised, and re-re revised. He carefully takes the time to mark down the houses that give out the best treats, just as well as the ones that give out toothbrushes and crap that doesn't rot your teeth.
The third, probably his favorite of the three, is his birthday.
On July sixth, Carlos wakes up bright and early, even before his alarm is set to go off. At first, he can't place exactly why he's awake and rolls over to go back to sleep, and then, it hits him, the exciting memory and fact, It's his seventeenth birthday.
He grins and sits up, raising his arms above his head to stretch, and the growing bands of newly developed muscle contort and pull under his caramel colored skin, thanks to all of those work out sessions with James, and-
James.
Carlos looks across the room, in the direction of James' bed, and he's surprised to see that his boyfriend is still curled up under the sheets, sandy brown hair brushing softly over his forehead and falling slightly in front of his closed eyes. And, although Carlos is slightly disappointed to see that James isn't up early, preparing some special birthday breakfast, he can't help but sigh softly at how beautiful the other boy looks; the low light of their bedroom casting shadows across his face, in the hollows under his eyes and at the sides of his nose.
Quietly, careful not to wake his sleeping boyfriend, Carlos gets out of bed, wincing as his bare feet come into contact with the cold linoleum of the floor. As he takes a few steps forward, he realizes that the dim red light from the digital alarm clock isn't enough to light his path to the door that leads to the bathroom. But, not awake enough to comprehend that he should stop to find the light switch, he keeps moving forward, and crashes into the dresser on his side of the room. The force of the impact is enough to knock him backwards, onto his butt, and he moans softly at the sudden burst of discomfort.
He can hear the soft snore that comes from James mouth as he's startled out of a sound sleep, his words slurring together as he says, "Carlossssss, it's sevennnnnnn thirty fourrrrrrrrrrrr… what the hell are youuuuuuuuuu doing uppppppppppp?"
"Sorry," Carlos mumbles, scrambling to his feet and blindly making his way to the bathroom door. The mattress squeaks as James flops back down, burying his face in his pillows.
Carlos showers quickly, excited to get out to the kitchen to see what his friends have planned for him. After all, they know Carlos loves to be the center of attention, and his birthday was the perfect time to let him be just that.
After mindlessly throwing on a pair of worn blue jeans and his old Minnesota Wild sweatshirt, Carlos walks from the bathroom to the kitchen, heart sinking a little when he sees that he's the only one up. He opens the refrigerator, just like any other day, and pulls out a carton of milk (which he promptly takes a few swigs from, not bothering to use a glass) and a cup of chocolate pudding, then sits down at the table, waiting for his family to get up.
Logan is the first to emerge, about fifteen minutes later, dragging Kendall by the hand. "Logieeeeeeeeeeeee," the blonde whines, bending his knees slightly, "it's too earlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…"
"No, it's not," Logan chastises lightly, gently smacking Kendall on the chest before pushing him towards the table. The dark-haired teen grins sheepishly. "Hey, Carlos. What are you doing up so early?"
Carlos' ego takes another blow at that; does Logan really not remember what today is? "Oh, you know… couldn't go back to sleep…" He does his best to hide the hurt he's feeling, trying desperately to cover up with peace and serenity.
"I hate when that happens," Logan replies, shaking his head and opening a cabinet. Carlos watches uneasily as Kendall's head teeters for a moment before coming down, hard, onto the surface of the table.
"Come on, you idiot," Logan sighs, pulling Kendall's head up by his golden locks, and trying, unsuccessfully, to pry his friend's eyes open.
"That's not going to work," says James as he comes into the kitchen. "I've tried." As he walks past, he leans down to press his lips softly to Carlos' forehead. "Hey," James says softly, kissing his head once more before going towards the refrigerator. "Logan, do we have any more of the orange juice?"
And that's it. There's no whispered 'happy birthday' from James, no promise of a special dinner for two later on. All James cared about was the fucking orange juice! Carlos' heart falls, not stopping until it hits rock bottom.
"All right, Carlos, what's wrong with you today? You're fu-" Gustavo cuts himself off, courtesy of a They're-only-sixteen look given quite effectively by the sound booth manager. (Although one of them is now seventeen, but no one seems to know, or care). "You're screwing up the dancing, you're more off key than a squirrel on meth, and you're just as clueless as hell!"
"Sorry," Carlos mutters, looking down at his shoes. He had tried not to let the whole forgotten-thing get to him, but seriously, he had the right to be at least a little pissed when his own boyfriend forgot his birthday! And, to make matters worse, James wasn't even there. He had left Rocque Records about three hours before, claiming that he was 'sick'. So, there was no one to keep Carlos even mildly entertained, no one to whisper in his ear when Gustavo was on one of his rants, no one to receive suggestive glances from during dance rehearsals and recording sessions.
So, Carlos had no choice but to listen helplessly as Gustavo lectured him on- whatever the fuck he was talking about, but he was surprised when the heavy-set man sighed and said, "All right, you guys are done for today. Don't let me see your faces until Monday."
And then, walking out of the tall building, Carlos just kind of lost it. He spun on his heel to face Kendall and Logan, hoping that his face displayed the amount of hurt he felt. "I don't believe you guys! We've been best friends for fourteen years, and you don't even remember what today is!"
Kendall looked confused. "It's Friday, July sixth, right?"
"YEAH! IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO ME?" Carlos didn't mean to get so bitchy, but this was kind of ridiculous. How could they not remember his birthday?
"… Today's your seventeenth birthday," says Logan. There's no hint of remorse of surprise in his voice; he just says it very matter-of-factly, like he's known all along.
"And you were just going to let it go? You weren't going to say anything?"
"Carlos, you don't think we told Gustavo? You don't think that's why he let us go early? We're taking you to Camille's! She insisted on throwing you some huge party. You didn't really think we forgot, did you?"
Carlos deflates a little, looks down at the ground. "Well… no…"
Camille's party was a blast, really, it was, but Carlos couldn't help but feel a little saddened at the fact that James forgot about his birthday.
It wasn't until they returned to Apartment 2J that Carlos found the note on his pillow-
Come to the beach.
When he asked Kendall and Logan, they said nothing , except to follow the directions. The note was from James, no doubt, the neat script definitely belonged to him, and Carlos figured that this was totally just some cheesy set up.
But then, when he arrived at the beach, seeing candles lit in the sand and a classic picnic basket sitting on a checkered blanket, he figured that maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
When he sees James, his breath catches. The taller boy is clad in dark wash jeans and a black dress coat, along with his lucky white V-neck and a loose tie.
"I feel- underdressed," is the first thing Carlos says, shyly looking down at his own tattered Converse.
James grins, pulls him into a warm embrace. "Happy birthday," he says softly. Carlos shudders as his warm breath ghosts along the shell of his ear.
James guides him to lie down on the blanket, pulls off his shoes and places a soft kiss on his ankle.
The gesture is not unwelcomed by Carlos, not at all, but a little bit unexpected. Hell, they've barely gone beyond chaste kisses and light cuddles.
"I made you peanut butter and jelly," James says, smiling as he opens the picnic basket. "I know it's your favorite."
"You know me too well," Carlos agrees, taking a wrapped sandwich from inside.
A little while later, after feeding each other pieces of bread and fruit, guided with sweet whispers and giggles, they're laying together, Carlos' head resting lightly on James' chest. The sound of his boyfriend's heartbeat is rather soothing, and that combined with the soft sound of the rolling waves is almost enough to lull Carlos to sleep, when James whispers, "I have something for you."
Carlos lets out a whimper of discontent as the taller boy sits up, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small black box.
For what seems like the hundredth time that night, Carlos' breath catches suddenly in his chest, his breathing becoming quick and labored. James grins, shakes his head. "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to marry me… yet. It's a promise ring, see?" He rotates the small piece of silver so Carlos can see their initials carved into it. "I... um… fuck. God, I'm sorry, I had this all planned out- I've been working on this for months- and I had this nice little lovey speech all worked out and- shit, I'm sorry, Carlos, it's just- I love you. I want to learn every single tiny thing about you, then forget, then relearn every day. You're- you're my life now. I love you."
Carlos grins as James' face turns dark red, tilting his chin up to meet his tender gaze. "Jamie," he whispers, before their lips meet in a gentle kiss. Carlos feels James' firm fingers as he works the ring up over his knuckle and onto his right ring finger.
The kiss grows from chaste, gentle, to passionate and fierce as James rolls them both over so he's on top, the moonlight reflecting off the water and wrapping them in a blanket of soft light, yet they're in complete privacy. Carlos makes a soft noise in the back of his mouth, parting his lips so James can gently dip his tongue in. James slowly guides Carlos' tongue into his mouth, and Carlos releases a soft whimper as James' mouth suddenly moves down to his neck, mouthing and kissing and sucking. "I love you too, James," he whispers.
And this is, without a doubt in the world, the best fucking birthday he's ever had.
-fin-
Okay, so I was kind of planning for this to be longer, like with more details of Kendall and Logan, but I'm actually pretty proud of this one. For the record, I am working on a chapter story, but I'm not sure if I should post it…
You can tell me by pressing that little blue button. Heck, while you're there, you can review this! Isn't that a wonderful idea?
Thank you for taking time to read this, lovelies.