we keep living anyway

Can you write a tarlos fanfic where Carlos gets amnesia and forgets TK.

Hello, anon! I hope you like it and thank you for sending the prompt. 😘

[tw: addiction]

Tyler walks out of the hospital feeling completely sick, he doesn't know if he's about to throw up, pass out, or both. He closes his eyes and the first image that comes to his mind is Carlos waking up this morning, lazily pulling him to a kiss and saying that they will probably be late for work today.

He wants to scream, cry, go to a bar, and drink an entire bottle of bourbon, find medications and swallow them all at once. This can't be happening. This can't be‐ he starts sobbing so loud that he feels his throat closing up. He can't breathe. 

Tyler feels a gentle hand on his shoulder, he turns around without thinking twice to hug the woman. 

"Mijo, he is going to remember you," Andrea whispers, rubbing circles on his back to calm him down. "It's only a matter of time."

Tyler was in the middle of his shift when he received a call from Carlos's number, he answered excitedly with a huge smile on his face, which made Marjan mock him, except it was not Carlos. It was Carlos's mother trying her best not to sniffle while telling TK that his boyfriend had been in an accident. 

The firefighter felt his entire world collapse and without even thinking about telling Vega, he ran to the hospital. Carlos was conscious, but when Tyler stepped inside the room, tears rolling down his face, Carlos didn't stare at him with love, but with curiosity. 

"Who are you?" he asked.

The words left TK paralyzed for a minute, until a rush of adrenaline came and he left the room searching for someone, anyone, who could explain to him why he was living in a nightmare. The doctors said Carlos was suffering from memory loss because he had hit his head on the sidewalk when he was shot, luckily the vest had protected his chest. They couldn't estimate how long it would take for him to remember things.

"A love as strong as yours survives anything," Andrea says. "Just give him time."

They all had agreed that it would be better for TK to be out of Carlos's life. Not only because Carlos would be confused, but because it would be extremely painful for Tyler.

One week later, though, TK is in the line of a coffee shop when he sees Carlos. He takes a deep breath and walks towards him with all the courage he has. He introduces himself, Carlos does too with his usual warm, sweet tone and breathtaking smile, then TK asks him out. The answer breaks his heart into a million pieces.

"Sorry, I'm very flattered but I have a boyfriend."

A boyfriend. A boyfriend that is not Tyler. Maybe he is talking about someone he dated before or maybe in one week he had already found someone else.

That day Tyler almost ends at a bar, but he goes to a meeting instead. When he gets home with a massive headache from crying too much, he opens his closet and gets the only shirt Carlos left behind (actually, TK had stolen it because it smelled like his boyfriend) and puts it before going to bed. 

x

Carlos doesn't remember who he is, there's not one single clue about his name or whereabouts in his apartment (Carlos believes he stepped back not to make him more confused and because it must hurt to love someone and have memories that the other person doesn't. He has seen The Vow.), but there are different clothes in his closet, an extra toothbrush in the bathroom, and other little things that don't belong to him, but to the stranger he is in love with. Carlos knows he is in love because he wouldn't share his space unless he wasn't. He also feels empty, like something … someone is missing.

His brand new phone is useless, there's no information; the old one died an hour before he left the hospital. He reminds himself to start doing daily backup; he tries to get tips from his mom and dad, but they never say anything. Even Michelle thinks it's better if he remembers by himself. 

It's frustrating. He thinks as he picks one of the shirts from the closet. 

"Who are you?"

It's been one week after the accident and he still doesn't have an answer to that question, hopefully, things will change soon.

x

Carlos wakes up startled, already running to pick a shirt and pants. He brushes his teeth and leaves the house. He knocks on the door more times than a normal person would and rings the doorbell at least three times until he hears footsteps approaching. TK opens the door, rubbing his eyes, wearing Carlos' shirt, and Carlos doesn't even think twice before he cups his boyfriend's face and pulls him to a kiss. 

He notices how tense TK is at first, but then he understands because he’s melting in Carlos's arms and kissing him equally hungry and needy.

"I'm so, so sorry," Carlos hugs the man, kissing all over his neck. "I'm here, babe. I remember everything."

"You said you had a boyfriend," Tyler moves his hands to Carlos's cheek, caressing the spot sweetly with his thumb. "Are you seeing someone?"

"Gosh, no! No! Your clothes were in my apartment, babe. I knew I had someone even though I didn't remember who," Carlos caresses the back of his neck, feeling his cheeks burn. How could he forget Tyler?

"You were faithful to a boyfriend you didn't remember? Fuck, I love you," TK murmurs, before pulling him by the shirt to another passionate kiss. 

"I love you too. So much," Carlos smiles. "I'm so sorry, Ty."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, but if you want, you can apologize properly inside," Tyler smirks.

Carlos doesn't need a second invitation, he steps in, pining his boyfriend against the wall and kissing him like he's the air Carlos needs to breathe (because he is). Carlos is finally whole again.