#redask

After an embarrassingly long moment of contemplation, he decided to be brave and go for the latter.

"Hey," Carlos said when he was in earshot. 

Seb looked up, seeming startled for a second but then his face broke out into a smile.

"Hey Carlos!"

Carlos stopped in front of him and pulled at the straps of his backpack, feeling the sudden need to hold onto something.

"I'm surprised to still see you here? Rehearsal let out an hour ago," he pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," Seb chuckled and closed his notebook. "My sister was supposed to pick me up but then she got busy, so -" he checked his phone with a frown, "- she won't be here for another twenty minutes."

"Oh okay. That...sucks," Carlos said and took a seat next to the other boy, placing his backpack beside him. 

He couldn't imagine living that far away from school and always relying on someone from his family to chauffeur him around. Spending four hours trapped in a car with them every day sounded horrible to Carlos. 

But then again, Seb's family seemed to be the complete opposite of his from all the little stories he had picked up here and there, so Seb probably didn't mind having his sister as his driver.

"You know, you could've also waited in the bomb shelter, I'm there for at least another hour after rehearsal every day," Carlos said. 

As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly groaned internally. God, why did he have to say it like that? Now Seb probably thought he expected him to hang out with him after rehearsals. Which - yes, Carlos had spent the past month since the start of the drama club rehearsals trying to get as many opportunities as possible to interact with the other boy. And having company instead of being all alone sounded more appealing than he was ready to admit. But still. If there was one thing he did not want, it was to scare the other boy off.

"Oh, I didn't even think about that. But I'll definitely remember it next time," Seb interrupted his thoughts. "I need to practice some of the piano arrangements anyway, so I could do that while I wait," he said with a smile. 

Carlos smiled back in relief. 

"Sounds like a plan," he said, suddenly thinking that this might have been a mistake to suggest because there was no way he would be able to focus on anything if Seb Matthew-Smith was playing the piano in the same room where he was working on his choreographies. But maybe that was a sacrifice he was willing to make. 

They both sat in silence for a minute, watching the sun slowly disappear behind the mountains. It was quiet apart from the noise of cars in the distance.

Carlos stole a sideways glance at the boy next to him. Seb's hair was still illuminated by the last rays of sunshine, making it light up in an almost fairy-like glow. 

He wanted to reach out and touch it, run his hand through it to find out if it was as soft as it looked - but he stopped himself, curling his hand into a fist by his side.

Get yourself together, Rodriguez, he scolded himself.

"You don't have to wait with me by the way," Seb interrupted the silence, a frown on his face. "I don't want to like, make you get home late for dinner or anything."

Carlos waved him off. "Don't worry, you're not. Nobody else is home today so I can basically eat dinner whenever I want," he explained. 

Eat dinner meaning heat up some leftovers or order take out for the third time this week. 

"Oh. I'm sorry," Seb said, his face falling slightly.

Carlos shrugged and smiled. "No worries, I'm kind of used to that," he said.

That only deepened the frown on Seb's face and he seemed conflicted for a moment before he asked

"Do you want to come with us? I am sure nobody would mind if there was one more person at the dinner table."

Carlos' eyes widened. Did - did Seb Matthew-Smith really just invite him over to his house? To eat with his family? Oh god. This couldn't be happening. He wasn't prepared! And he didn't even have an outfit prepared, and….

"Oh, er - thank you, but - I think I have a bunch of homework to catch up on, so," he stuttered out. 

He smiled tentatively, hoping he didn't just offend Seb by declining his offer. Luckily it didn't seem like it as Seb just smiled and nodded. 

"Oh, honestly same. Like, that worksheet from Mr Mazzara's class?" he shuddered. "I've been putting it off for days but I think I finally have to face it today."

"Yeah," Carlos chuckled, pretending he knew what Seb was talking about. Crap, he probably really should catch up on all the homework he had put off in favour of working on choreographies for the show this week. There was no way Mr Mazzara's homework was the only one that had flown past his head.

Before he could come up with another conversation topic, a grey car turned into the parking lot. 

"Oh, that's my sister," Seb said, getting up from the bench and slinging his backpack over one shoulder as the car parked. 

Carlos got up as well, figuring he had no reason to stay any longer if Seb was leaving. 

"Thanks for waiting with me," Seb said, turning to go. 

Carlos smiled. "No problem. See you tomorrow, Seb."

Seb smiled and waved, then he walked over to the car to open the passenger door and disappeared inside. Carlos caught a glimpse of a head of curly blonde hair next to him before the car backed out of the parking spot. 

He watched as they drove away, then he started his walk home. But not before he fished his phone out of his pocket and put his earbuds in, scrolling through his music library to find a specific song he was looking for. 

Then he pressed play and started walking, humming along to the lyrics with a smile as he made his way through the streets of Salt Lake.

I used to get sad And lonely when the sun went down But it's different now 'Cause I love the light that I found in you Baby, don't you know That you're my golden hour The color of my sky You set my world on fire And I know, I know everything's gonna be alright

Nini raised an eyebrow and pulled the box towards her and opened it to reveal some freshly baked muffins.

"You bring me perfectly fine muffins ten minutes late and call that oversleeping?"

Seb smiled sheepishly.

"Mum might have helped me."

Nini nodded and started sorting the muffins into the display.

"Your mum truly is the best."

"Yeah" Seb nodded and suppressed a yawn.

"Went to bed late?" Nini asked.

Seb opened his mouth to say something but Nini interrupted him.

"Please don't tell me you were watching one of those Christmas hallmark movies again where some prince charming shows up out of nowhere in the protagonist's little town and she finally finds her true love in him?"

Seb blushed and shrugged, fiddling with the edges of the cardboard box Nini slid over the counter towards him again.

"Rosie wanted to watch one."

Nini shook her head, clearly not buying his excuse as she knew him way too well.

"Sebby" she sighed disappointed. "You gotta stop doing that."

"But Niniii" Seb whined and made big puppy eyes. "They are so romantic! And they just....I don't know. They make this town feel a little less small sometimes."

Nini's stern look softened.

"I know that, Sebby. It's not like I disagree. I grew up with you in this small town after all. It's just....I know why you watch these movies. And sometimes I am just worried that you get so lost in those fictional stories that you forget that what we have here is pretty great too. Just us girls doing our thing. Well, us and Big Red."

She reached over the counter to pat his hand.

"We don't need some hot doctor coming from the city to save the village's hospital and our hearts too or something like that. We have each other!"

Seb smiled and took her hand to squeeze it.

"I know that. And I am so happy that I have you guys."

Nini smiled.

"...but he was actually a teacher in that movie I watched last night."

"Mmmmh" Seb protested only halfheartedly, making a move to get out of bed while at the same time leaning his head to the side to give Carlos better access who kept peppering his neck with little kisses.

"Carlos I have to go" he added, but the persistance was long gone from his voice.

"I know" Carlos answered between pecks. "And I don't want you to."

Like to emphasize his words, he tightened his grip around Seb's waist.

The blonde guy rolled his eyes fondly, a slight pink colour on his cheek. Maybe he could stay some more minutes....

"Okay you win." he finally said and let himself fall down into the cussions, giving up the fight for good.

Carlos made a triumphant noise.

"But only under one condition!" Seb added.

Carlos lifted his head so he could look at his husband with raised eyebrows.

"And what would that be?"

Seb grinned smugly.