Mr. Fix

**Tw: mentions of explicit pictures send to the wrong person by accident**

Diego drained the last bit of his matcha latte, threw the plastic cup away and put a hand through his thick black curls in an attempt to hide the fact he'd been in lectures all day.

Then he knocked on the office door of his Media ethics professor.

Mr Fix opened the door.

Diego couldn't help but notice he was wearing a light blue button up that perfectly matched his eyes.

"Mr. Torrez, thank you for agreeing to meet me at such short notice", Mr Fix said sounding smug.

Diego sighed and closed the door behind him.

He wasn't in the mood for all these dramatics.

He was a man in his thirties who went back to college because he wanted to change careers.

He wasn't a teenager or a young twenty-something anymore, and he didn't appreciate being treated as such.

But then again, he did accidentally send Mr. Fix, aka Nicholas, a nude selfie, so he guessed he did kind of deserve to get a lecture.

He sat down with a sigh.

Nicholas crossed his legs. "Mr. Torrez, I am sure I don't have to tell you why we're here today."

Diego groaned. "Is this meeting really necessary? I already apologized."

Nicholas clasped his hands together. "I know you did, but this is a serious matter. If I were to discuss this with the school board, there is a very big chance you'd be kicked out. And I, at the very least, hold the right to ban you from following my class. But you and I both know you need this credit to graduate."

Diego glared at him. "Are you threatening me?"

"No, I am asking you if you understand the seriousness of this matter," Nicholas said calmly.

Diego sighed. "I do, and I am really sorry", he said as his eyes lingered over the small space.

His eyes fell on a framed picture of Nicholas holding a tiny baby. A man with smooth brown skin and thick black hair is sitting next to him with an arm draped around his shoulders smiling softly down at the child.

Nicholas glanced down at Diego's hands. "I can't help but notice a wedding band."

Diego rolled his eyes. "It's an engagement ring."

"Right. Well, has your fiancé been informed of this matter?" Nicholas asked smugly.

Diego glared at him again. "Yes, my fiancé has been informed. What are you implying? That I am some kind of nasty cheater? Look, I made a mistake. It happens. It's not my fault you can't delete emails after you've sent them."

"It's not. But you are responsible for sending said email, no?" Nicholas asked.

Diego groaned again. "Look, I was on a deadline. I was stressed. I have a child. Did you know that? A newborn baby, who I love to death but who keeps me up at night. I took a shower and I realized I looked good, so I took a picture to send to my fiancé."

He shifted on the black leather sofa.

"But I also realized I had a question about my media ethics assignment. So I got dressed and went to email you my question and send my fiancé that picture."

His eyes wander to Nicholas bare ring finger. So he's not married to the man in the picture then.

Diego clears his throat. "But I accidentally sent the question to my fiancé and sent the picture to you. That's all. I immediately told my fiancé, and I apologized to you, so I don't think I did anything wrong, and I don't appreciate you treating me like a criminal."

Nicholas sighed too. "I never called you a criminal, Mr. Torrez. But this is a serious matter. I just wanted to make sure you understand that."

Diego nodded. "I do."

Nicholas nodded. "Very well. It's very important to me to keep my relationships with my students professional. Although some youth don't understand-"

Diego barked out a laugh. "You know I'm the same age as you, right? I went to college around the same time as you. Only I realized that the criminal justice system is fucked up and decided I'd rather do something else with the rest of my life. I am curious, I like talking, and I care deeply about getting the truth out there, so my fiancé suggested journalism and I thought that was a brilliant idea. Although I don't love going back to college in my thirties."

Nicholas nodded. "I was aware of this, yes. All I am saying is that I want to keep my relationships with my students professional", he repeated.

Diego groaned. "Look, it will never happen again, okay? I fucked up and I am sorry. And I love my fiancé, so you don't have to worry about me having any inappropriate intentions regarding any of my professors. Can I go now? I have a baby to bottle-feed."

Nicholas nodded. "Yes, you are free to leave. There won't be any consequences, but I do ask that you double-check the emails you send me in the future."

Diego nodded. "Can I see your phone, sir?"

Nicholas frowned. "Why?"

Diego shrugged. "I just want to make sure the picture has been deleted. I really did mean it when I said I didn't intend to send that picture to anyone but my fiancé."

Nicholas nodded. "Right, I understand. I can assure you I've deleted the picture. I have no intention to keep any private pictures of my students."

Diego nodded. "Okay, good. Can I see?"

Diego could have sworn he saw something that looked an awful lot like panic flash across Nicholas' eyes before he unlocked the phone and handed it to him.

Diego looked at his phone background. The same man on the framed picture was kissing Nicholas on a white beach with green water and pelicans flying in the air.

Diego raised a curious eyebrow. "This is a beautiful picture. Was it taken in Mexico?"

Nicholas nodded. "Yes, I went there with my partner shortly after I proposed."

Diego smiled. "Mexico is very beautiful."

"It was," Nicholas agreed.

10 minutes later Diego sat down in his car and called his fiancé.

“Hi, baby, how was work?” he asked.

“It was fine, darling. How did your meeting with Mr. Fix go?”

Diego let out a chuckle. “It was awkward and he annoyed me, but survivable. He won’t be notifying the board, so it’s all good. Oh, and I made sure he’d deleted the picture so you don’t have to be jealous. Those pictures are still only for your eyes.”

His fiancé snorted. “I wasn’t particularly worried about that, but that’s good to hear. I think you’ll get home before me, because I still have to pick up River from nursery.”

Diego turned on the engine of his car. “Actually, I was thinking about taking a detour to pick up some takeaway. I’m craving Mexican food but I don’t feel like cooking. How does that sound? It won't be as good as my abuela's recipe but I know a cute place."

“That sounds lovely, but, darling, tell me something—you're not driving and calling, are you?”

Diego sighed. “Sorry, I’ll hang up. I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

“I love you too, darling. Drive safe.”

Diego drove out of the parking space, but not before dramatically waving at Mr. Fix who had just walked out of the building.

He loved messing with that man, possibly too much.

In all honesty, he was lucky it had been Nicholas who he’d accidentally sent his nude to.

If it had been any other professor, he could have probably kissed his college degree goodbye.

He may have even gotten into legal trouble. Luckily, that wasn’t the case right now.

And luckily, his fiancé had found the whole thing amusing, so he had nothing to worry about.

He picked up the takeaway and drove to the brownstone he shared with his fiancé and their son, River.

He unlocked the door and greeted their dog before singsonging, “Baby, I am home.”

He walked into the living room and spotted his fiancé bottle-feeding their baby. The sight would never stop amazing him. He loved his little family and he’d do anything for any of them.

He kissed his fiancé and then placed a gentle kiss on River's forehead before placing the takeaway on the kitchen table.

He walked back to his fiancé and their baby. He looked at River, then at his fiancé, and then back at the baby and burst out laughing.

His fiancé smiled at him. "What are you laughing at?"

Diego grabbed his stomach and started laughing so hard he was shaking. "I can't believe you had me come to your office for that bullshit lecture about why it was inappropriate of me to send you an explicit picture when we have a whole child together."

Nicholas sighed. "You know the lecture wasn't about the fact that you sent me a private picture but about the fact that you sent it to my school email."

"Yes, I know that, babe. But still—I should get an Oscar for keeping a straight face," Diego teased.

Nicholas smiled at him.

"Seriously though, babe. Why couldn't we have had that conversation at home?" Diego asked as he flopped onto the couch next to him.

"Because I knew you wouldn’t take it seriously. And I meant what I said. I did find it a troublesome matter. I really don't want there to be any record of me having an inappropriate relationship with a student," Nicholas repeated.

Diego shrugged. "But you don't have an inappropriate relationship with a student. We've been together for 11 years. We'd been together for a whole decade before you became my college professor for one semester. Look, it may not be allowed for professors to have a relationship with a student—especially not an underage one—but the law doesn't say anything about a professor not being allowed to have his partner in his class."

Nicholas sighed. "Technically it doesn't, no. But there are still people who consider it a conflict of interest. Plus I don't want anyone to claim you didn't earn your degree, even though we both know I don't do favourism"

Diego kissed him softly. "I know, and I am sorry I accidentally sent that picture to your work email. But then again you have a picture of us and River in your office."

Nicholas shrugged. "I turn it around when colleagues or students come in, but they rarely do."

Then he sighed. "I still don't understand why you didn't just text me the question and the picture to my mobile number. Why do you send your questions via your school email when you have my phone number?"

Diego shrugged. "I wanted to keep private and professional separated."

Nicholas rolled his eyes. "And how did that work out for you?"

Diego chuckled. "I have already apologized multiple times. Let it go."

Nicholas kissed him again. "I will. It's just that when I became a professor, I promised myself I'd never have an inappropriate relationship with a student, and I intend to keep that promise."

"I want you to keep that promise too," Diego teased.

Nicholas rolled his eyes at him. "And one more thing before I drop this conversation, darling. You do know I don't look down on you, right? I don't want you to think that I feel like I am above you or your superior now that you've gone back to college and you're in my class. I think getting a college degree is admirable, but I think getting two is incredible. I am amazed by your dedication and incredibly proud of the way you take care of your life and your career. You were miserable as a lawyer and barely home. I love that you had the courage to go back to college."

Diego smiled. "You didn't need to tell me you respect me, babe."

Then he gave him a look. "Also, are we going to talk about the fact that you deleted that picture I sent you? I am wounded, you know. I looked fucking great in that full-body mirror selfie. You should be grateful you're on the receiving end of my naked selfies."

Nicholas blushed. "You know that I am."

"So why did you delete the picture then?" Diego teased.

Nicholas wiped a hand over his face. "I know I'll sound like a hypocrite, but I didn't actually delete that picture."

Diego stood up dramatically. "I knew it! I fucking knew you made me come to your office because I sent you a private picture—even though you totally kept it."

Nicholas shrugged. "You know I was only annoyed about the fact that you sent it to my school email. I do agree that that picture was only meant for your fiancé's eyes. And the IT department can easily access my school emails. And it's still a fireable offense to share nudes over school email."

Diego nodded. "I know, and I apologized. But seriously, I didn't see that picture in your camera roll."

"That's because I keep private pictures in a password-protected folder on my phone. Not in my regular camera roll," Nicholas explained.

"Can I know the password to it?" Diego asked, intrigued.

"Sure," Nicholas agreed.

"Is it the same one as your phone password?" Diego asked.

Nicholas gave him a look. "Are you asking if my dad's birthday is the password to the folder on my phone that holds our nude pictures?"

Diego laughed. "Sorry. So what is it then?"

"It's your birthday. Can we eat now? I am hungry," Nicholas complained.

Diego smiled as he got up.

15 minutes later while they were eating he suddenly glared at his husband.

Nicholas raised an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong, love?"

"I just remembered that you asked me if my fiancé knew about the picture I accidentally sent to you. What was that all about?" Diego asked, annoyed.

Nicholas laughed. "I couldn't help myself. I wanted to mess with you a little. You were so annoyed with me. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up."

Diego glared at him some more. "You know what? I've decided that I am going to punish you for making my 31-year-old ass sit in your office like I was a rebellious teenager. You're on diaper duty for a month."

Nicholas chuckled. "Okay, I can live with that. It was totally worth it."

Diego kept glaring at him until Nicholas gave in.

"Fine, I do feel a little guilty. Perhaps I took it too far."

Diego reached for his hand with a smug grin, glad he got his way. "You did take it a little far, but I've forgiven you. Besides I totally get it. You want your colleagues to take you serious. You don't want nudes in your inbox. It won't happen again.'

Nicholas nodded. "It's not just that. It's also about your safety. Like I said the IT department can easily acess my school email. I wouldn't want anyone to leak your private pictures.'

Diego kissed him softly. "I get it, babe. We're all good. I am not mad. But I did wonder. You were never really going to tell the schoolboard you received a nude from me, right?"

Nicholas raised an eyebrow at him. "Ofcourse not. That would be very hypocrite of me. I just wanted to make sure you didn't send inappropriate pictures to my school e-mail again."

Diego took another bite of food. "But if you received a nude from any other student you'd take it to the schoolboard? Or would you just give them a warning?"

Nicholas shook his head. "Oh, I'd definitely take it to the schoolboard. One hundred percent. Whether it was a drunken mistake or not. Receiving nude pictures you didn't consent to is a form of sexual assault you know. Only ofcourse I did consent to receiving pictures from you. Although I'd prefer they wouldn't be send to my school email.'

Diego sighed loudly. "You're never going to let me live this down, are you?"