Chapter Text
When he woke up, it was to white walls and a dimly lit room that he instantly recognized as a hospital room.
TK wanted to tear the world apart with his bare hands.
A sob crawled its way out of his chest, but he gritted his teeth in an effort to not let it escape. His head was killing him; his hands, when he tried to lift them, were like jelly, and when he turned his head to the left, he found his father asleep in the chair beside his bed.
TK, helpless to do anything but lay there, finally let the tears fall. He tried to keep it quiet, but his father woke up anyway.
"TK?"
He gasped and looked at him through blurry eyes. "Dad," he sobbed.
His father sat on the edge of the bed and pulled him up and into his arms. TK buried his face in his father's chest. "Why am I still here?"
"TK, what-?"
"I wasn't- I went to that field because I knew no one would find me there. I was supposed to die. Why couldn't I just die?"
"Jesus, TK," his father sounded horrified as he held him tighter, making it almost harder to breathe. TK pushed at his dad's chest with all his might, trying to get away, and he let him go. TK bent forward, gasping noisily. His heart beat a mile a minute, and he clawed at his throat, unable to take in a full breath.
"TK?!"
He shut his eyes tightly, because there was no way Carlos would be here.
"TK? Baby, can you hear me?"
He shook his head and scrambled away from the hands on his. He wrapped his arms around his torso and shook his head. "No. No, this isn't real. This isn't real," he muttered under his breath, refusing to open his eyes. The bed dipped beside him and he shied away from the touch he so desperately needed yet again.
Because it wasn't real. None of this was real.
"What isn't real, Ty? Talk to me," Carlos requested, voice calm and comforting.
TK was about to lose his mind. "Don't." He opened his eyes, green eyes meeting the warmest of brown. He felt his resolve crumble. "Please don't do this to me. Just leave," he pleaded with him. "Go back to him, okay? Because this? Having you here but not really having you? It's literally torture."
"TK, what the hell are you even talking about? Go back to who?!"
TK fisted his hands in his hair and pulled, the headache reaching unbearable levels.
"Hey, don't do that. TK, stop!" Carlos forcefully removed his hands from his hair, but held them gently to his chest. "You're scaring me. Please tell me what's going on?" TK just shook his head, spent. "Sweetheart, please."
TK's brows furrowed in confusion. Sweetheart? And earlier, had he called him baby? But that- that didn't even make sense.
"Why are you here?" He finally asked him, just a little bit calmer.
"You've been in a coma for the past four days. And In and out for the past ten hours."
"Four days? Because of the drugs?"
Carlos gave him a questioning look. "What drugs?"
"I overdosed, didn't I? That's why I'm here?"
Carlos' face fell. "No, Ty, you didn't." He scooted closer and squeezed his hands. "Your concussion turned out to be worse than the doctors first thought. You had a-" his face twisted in concentration, "-an intracranial hemorrhage, I think? I was too busy panicking to hear what the doctor was saying. But yeah. You were in and out for a couple of days after and- this is the first time you've been awake for more than a few seconds."
"I didn't- I didn't overdose?"
He shook his head.
TK's breath hitched. "And- we're together?"
Carlos' whole being softened and he pulled TK to him. "We are, TK." TK buried his face in Carlos' neck, and lifted his hands to weakly fist them in the back of the other man's shirt. He breathed him in, and on the exhale, he let every ounce of fear, frustration and betrayal out. Carlos held him through it all, his arms around him anchoring him to reality.
Carlos loosened his arms around him and pushed him away gently, then framed his face with his hands, stroking his cheeks gently. TK was still crying quietly, his whole body shaking, and when he looked into Carlos' eyes, there was so much pain reflected in them that it made his chest ache.
A tear made its way down Carlos' cheek and TK mirrored him by delicately lifting a hand and wiping it away. Carlos pulled him back to him and rocked them both from side to side. "I love you," he found himself whispering, too afraid to say it any louder.
"I love you, too, TK. I love you so much."
TK sobbed in relief, having honestly believed he might never get to hear Carlos say those words ever again.
He pressed a kiss to the side of his neck, then to the hollow of his throat, clumsy and uncoordinated, but desperate. Carlos shushed him and stopped him gently. TK nearly flinched at how similar it was to the last time he'd kissed him, only to be rejected. But then Carlos surprised him when he leaned down and pressed his lips to TK's, and he melted into him. The love, the saftey, the certainty their embrace provided- it was almost too much. When they pulled apart, TK could barely keep his eyes open, could barely stay upright.
Carlos must have sensed this, because he gently pushed TK down to lay back on the bed. TK scrambled up like a drowning man crawling to the surface, but Carlos held him fast. "TK, shhh, it's okay. It's okay, just lay down."
"I don't want to fall asleep," he whispered, terrified eyes pleading with the other man.
"Why?"
"Because- what if I wake up and you're gone again?"
Carlos, without breaking contact with him, took off his shoes and told him to move to the side. TK complied immediately. Carlos lay down beside him, then opened his arms. He didn't hesitate in burying himself in Carlos' arms, both of which came around him immediately. "I'm not going anywhere. Get some sleep, TK."
He shook his head stubbornly, and Carlos huffed out a laugh. "Alright then, you wanna talk about why you thought we're not together anymore?"
TK hesitated, but shook his head again.
Carlos leaned back a little and squinted down at him. "Well then what do you wanna talk about? I'm all out of ideas."
TK shrugged. "You figure it out."
Carlos let out an indignant noise and faked offense. "I see how it is. You want me to do all the work, huh?"
TK's lips twitched up into a small smile. "Yep."
"There's that smile," Carlos muttered, eyes incredibly soft and full of so much love it was a little hard to look at him. TK's smile widened and he ducked his head. Carlos lifted his face back up and leaned down, pressing a deep, lingering kiss to his lips, and then moving to pepper his face with fleeting kisses. TK found himself laughing a little, then Carlos pulled him back into his arms and he was finally, finally at peace.
He was finally home.
"And in thi- this alternate reality you dreamed up, I turn you down?"
TK had told him everything, every single detail. TK had cried again, Carlos had held him through it and let him talk without interrupting him, and this was the first thing to come out of his mouth. TK rolled his eyes even though it hurt and made his headache temporarily worse. "I love that out of everything I told you, that's what you chose to focus on."
"Because it's ridiculous," he insisted. "Like I'd ever have you kissing me and not kiss you back," he scoffed.
TK chuckled and shook his head. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Even if your subconscious is dumb."
"God, I'm never living this down, am I?"
"At least I'm nice about it. Wait till your crew find out," Carlos snickered, the traitor. "Oh, man, Judd and Marjan especially are gonna have a field day with this."
TK just groaned.
"I'm sorry."
TK stared at him incredulously. "Dad, are you apologizing for something that was a) not your fault and b) dream you did?"
Owen huffed a laugh and scrubbed a hand down his face. "I guess I am."
"Dad-"
"No, I- Carlos and I had a talk while you were sleeping, and it occurred to me how much I've been- I've made a lot of mistakes when it comes to you, TK."
"Dad, it's okay. It's water under the bridge."
"It's not," he shook his head. "I wasn't always there. I hurt you, with my actions, with my words. I don't mean to, but-"
"Yeah," TK breathed out, unsure what to say, because in all of his twenty-seven years on earth, his father had never once admitted outright that he'd made a mistake, at least not without following it up with an excuse. "What exactly did Carlos say to you?"
"Exactly what I needed to hear." He patted his hand. "And once you're feeling better, we'll talk about it more?"
TK nodded hesitantly.
His father stood up and approached the bed, then leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead. "I love you, son."
"Love you, too, dad."
"You were fired because you punched me in the face?"
"And me," Judd piped up.
TK fixed them with an incredulous look, then turned to Carlos who just shrugged. "The things you guys choose to fixate on," he sighed and shook his head.
"It was pretty dumb of you to actually believe that though," Judd told him.
He let out an offended squack. "Hey, it was perfectly reasonable!"
"No, it wasn't," he countered. "You're family, even when you're being a little shit," he told him gruffly. The others all nodded in agreement.
"Aww, admit it, Judd, you love me," he teased him.
"Don't push it, kid," he warned him.
"No, but seriously," Marjan interjected. "You know we all love you, right? We would never give up on you like that."
"Absolutely," Paul agreed. "You're family, man."
"Thank you," he told them, voice hoarse. "I love you guys."
They all crowded around him. A hand on his arm here, a thigh pressed against his there, a small smile pointed at him. And, always a constant, Carlos' arms cocooning him in warmth and comfort.
TK smiled and let his eyes close, basking in the warmth and love of his family.