Whenever Carmen looked at you in the kitchen, he understood why you were so focused. Not a care in the world, locked in on your dish, not flinching at the noise or the yelling that seemed to negatively crowd the area around you. Because you couldn’t hear.

And, in a selfish way, he kind of wished that it was him that was deaf, so that he could be at peace with his own thoughts without the infuriating, annoying, irritating squabbles that Richie seemed to love throwing his way.

But he slowly began to see the problems you faced whenever service was busy, how you couldn’t hear the calls of ‘behind!’ and ‘corner!’ whenever someone was moving through the kitchen, and how you’d managed to step back and smash into Tina while she was carrying a boiling pot of gravy, and ended up with burns all down your back.

Instead of getting mad, he stayed calm, and he helped you, and he sat with you in the ER for hours on end while you tried to teach him how to communicate with you. It gave him something to focus on, and now, it just seemed like second nature.

It started with a tap to your shoulder as he walked past to let you know that he was behind you, and gradually, everyone else caught on and did the same. So, naturally, to differentiate when you got comfortable with one another, his hand slipped down to the base of your back, covering one of those old burns, whenever he passed. It was comfortable, it was caring, it was considerate.

He liked to watch as your face lit up whenever he caught your eye and attempted to sign his instructions to you as he spoke to everyone else.It made you feel special, it made you feel seen. Because you were special to him.

Service just loved to ruin things though, because as you looked up to smile at him one night, he was mid argument, face flushed and raging, and all he could give was a snap and a sign of ’Not now.’

As service slowed, he sidled up beside you to press apologetic kisses against your cheek. A closed fist moved in circles against his chest, purposeful.

'Sorry.'