Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When TK returned to his and Owen’s apartment in the middle of the night, he hadn’t expected all the lights to be on. Nor had he imagined he’d find his father sitting on the couch, mindlessly petting Buttercup- who stayed with them on most nights that the crew didn’t sleep at the house- and watching some late night made-for-TV movie. TK had just gotten back from watching the bright lights dance across the sky with Carlos. The thought of the cop, the evening they shared, and of how Carlos dropped him off in that blue Camaro with a smile and a kiss to his cheek made TK blush involuntarily. The firefighter tried to switch his focus from it, trying to evaluate whether or not his father was alright. It wasn’t often he was awake and semi-active at 1:30 in the morning. 

“Dad? You okay?”

Owen looked almost surprised at TK’s voice, like he hadn’t even heard him come in. Owen recovered quickly, though, shooting a wide smile towards his son. Buttercup also perked up at TK coming home, immediately jumping off the couch and running to meet TK. The dog barked softly, sitting on his back legs, his front coming up to push on TK’s stomach. TK laughed and smiled at the dog, petting his side and kissing Buttercup’s head. 

“Yeah, yeah, I missed you, too, bud,” he mumbled to the dog, “but my chest still hurts, so you gotta get down, mkay?”

At that, Owen sat up a higher, eyeing his son up and down like he was checking for injury. “Your chest is hurting? Is it the bullet wound? Your stitches still okay?”

TK rolled his eyes, smiling a little to signal that he wasn’t actually annoyed. “Dad, I’m fine. It’s a little sore, but considering I busted them today, I’m pretty sure it’s fine.” 

His dad relaxed, nodding his agreement. Something about him still seemed off, though, so after pushing the dog off him and toeing off his shoes, TK made his way to the couch to sit next to his father. 

“What about you? Why are you still up?”

“Hm? Oh. I, uh, couldn’t sleep.”

TK frowned, looking his father’s body over with the same concern Owen had just shown him. Was it the cancer? Had he been up puking and didn’t want to try and sleep again? Had something happened at the firehouse after TK had left with Carlos? TK looked on at his father with worry, which Owen caught onto quickly, scoffing lightly. 

“Kid, I’m fine, I promise.” 

TK pursed his lips, not believing him, but nodded, leaning back into the couch. 

“I wasn’t expecting you home tonight,” Owen said, side-eyeing his son with a sly tone to his voice. TK ignored the obvious avoidance and huffed out an embarrassed laugh, covering his smile and blush with his hand. It was very reminiscent of after TK had woken up in the hospital and they’d questioned each other about their growing relationships. “You didn’t want to spend the night with him?”

TK looked down at his hands with a growing smile, thinking about the man he could now call- officially- his boyfriend. It had been a really good night. 

“We’re, um, we’re taking it slow. Starting over, kinda,” TK said softly. His dad watched him with a slightly amused, fond look in his eyes. 

“But it’s definitely going somewhere, yeah?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Owen nodded, resting his hand on TK’s forearm. “Good. I’m happy for you, son. I haven’t seen you smile like this, be this embarrassed or happy about a guy, in a really long time. Since way before Alex.” 

TK didn’t quite look at his father, unsure of what to say for a few moments. Owen was right, TK knew he was. His relationship with Alex had been nothing but a mess and he was beginning to realize that more and more. There was just something. . . different about Carlos. Something good. 

“Carlos, he’s a. . . he’s a really good guy, dad.”

“I can tell,” his dad joked, patting TK’s arm. “Can’t wait to tell the whole crew about that blush creeping up on your face.”

TK swatted at his dad’s hand, going an even darker red at his words. He let out an embarrassed but genuine laugh, though, desperately trying to change the subject.

“Okay, okay, whatever. Now, are you gonna tell me why you’re watching a Hallmark movie in the middle of the night or what?”

TK’s smile faded from his face as he realized that clearly that hadn’t been the right question to ask. His father’s face began falling, his shoulders a little more tense. TK’s mind suddenly was entirely focused on whatever was wrong with his dad. 

“TK, we really don’t need to talk about that right now. You should get some rest, you had a hard day and-”

“Dad. Just tell me or I’ll be up all night worrying anyway. If it’s about your cancer-”

“I was talking to your mother,” Owen blurted out, staring at the TV rather than TK. The rest of TK’s sentence got caught in his throat, his mind going oddly blank.

“What?”

“Your mother. She ended up getting wrapped up in work these past few days, but I talked to her and she got a flight. She’s coming to Texas in two days.” 

TK sat on the couch, watching his dad, listening to Buttercup lightly snore as he slept at his feet, completely unsure of what to say. His mom was coming here? She had called him after he’d woken up from getting shot, but it had been a short, kind of awkward conversation. He hadn’t even seen his mom in almost a year. TK was pretty sure she was still mad at them both for moving down to Austin and away from New York, her home when she wasn’t traveling on business. 

“Oh. . .” TK let out. “Okay.”

“Yeah,” Owen breathed, nodding his head slowly. 

“Is she- She’s coming because of me?”

Owen nodded. “Look, TK, I know you’ve been going through a lot lately and that your mom has never been the easiest person in the world, so if you want me to call her, tell her no, I can do that.” 

TK smiled at his father, mulling over his words. TK didn’t have anything against his mom, really. He knew she loved him and he loved her, too. But his father was right, she could definitely be. . . difficult. Despite the divorce landing a custody agreement in favor of his mom, despite his father not being around as much after 9/11, and even despite the fact that TK had become a firefighter if only because he felt like he needed to be in that part of Owen’s life- TK had always been closer with his father. Owen was the one TK talked to about the hard stuff, the one who had been there for every arrest when he was caught under the influence and every hospital stay, the parent TK had always looked for a hug from after a bad day, the parent TK had never once doubted loved him to the ends of the earth. 

TK’s mother, Celia, had never really been sure she’d wanted to be a mom in the first place. She loved and cared for him more than she could put into words, but TK had always felt like she walked eggshells around him, like she’d never gotten the hang of being a mom. After the divorce, it didn’t really get any better. It really didn’t get better after TK had come out to her. It wasn’t that she had a problem with it, more or less, it was just that she “didn’t understand”. Those were her own words, having come out of her only minutes after her terrified teenage son had sat down with both her and Owen to tell them one of his biggest secrets. The topic of TK’s sexuality always managed to weasel its way into conversation, even if it had nothing to do with anything. TK was sure that his new relationship with Carlos wasn’t going to help those matters at all. 

“It’s okay, dad,” TK said, shrugging his shoulders as if it was no big deal. “I don’t mind her coming to visit.”

Owen frowned a little at his words, asking in response, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, dad, I’m sure. You said yourself- I made a lot of life decisions today. The firehouse, Carlos. . . and this. I want a better relationship with mom. I want her to meet the crew and laugh at your fancy firehouse. We can take her line dancing, and she’d love Buttercup. I might still avoid the topic of a new boyfriend, but. . .” TK shrugged again. 

Owen was watching him with a smile playing on his lips. TK practically rolled his eyes; it was his father’s “I’m proud of you for making a grown up decision” face. He’d certainly been seeing a lot of it today. 

“Besides,” TK continued, “I told her I didn’t want her to come home after I OD’d because I didn’t want her to see me like that. I think she deserves to come visit after I get shot.”

Owen nodded, “Okay. Okay, if you’re sure.”

“I am. It’ll be good to see her, I think.”

His dad scoffed out a laugh, rolling his eyes as he moved to grab the remote, shut off the TV, and stand up. “Maybe for you, at least.”

At the look TK gave him, Owen continued with, “What, you don’t think she’s immediately going to put all the blame on me for letting you get shot on the job? Pulling you into my life of danger and recklessness?” 

Owen was mostly kidding, but truth fell behind the words. Celia would definitely get on his case for it. TK let out a breath, nodding his agreement as he stood up, “Yeah, that’s probably true.”

As both stood, throwing various blankets and pillows onto the couch as they cleaned up the room, a comfortable silence fell over them. When they’d finished, Owen pulled TK into a tight hug before they wandered into their various parts of the home. 

“I love you, son.”

“You, too, dad.”

A lot had happened and a lot had changed since they moved to Austin. It hadn’t just been TK making big life choices, either. Both of them had done and been through so much in the past months. Here they were, though, standing stronger than ever. 

Everything was going to be just okay.

Chapter Text

“So. . .” TK started off, knowing he sounded a little nervous. He and Carlos were at the latter’s apartment, the TV playing quietly in the background as they washed the evening’s dinner dishes. Carlos stood at the sink, his muscles moving distractingly as he scrubbed at their plates, TK standing off to the side and waiting to dry them. 

“So?” Carlos prompted, glancing towards his boyfriend when TK made no noise of continuation. TK sighed a little, trying to find the words he was looking for. 

“You know how we said we were taking things slow?” 

Carlos stopped washing, turning to face TK at the nervous, hesitant tone in his voice. His brow was furrowed like he was worried, something TK reprimanded himself for causing. That’s not what he had wanted; it wasn’t even that big a deal really. 

“I remember, TK. Are you not- is something wrong? If you think we’re going to fast or if I made you uncomfortable-”

“No!” TK was quick to correct. “No, Carlos, that’s not it. Everything is, well, kinda perfect.”

His statement made Carlos smile down at the floor, blushing a little bit. TK smiled, leaning over to reaffirm his words with a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek. Carlos’ slightly damp hand came up to rest on TK’s hip, pulling them closer to each other. 

“Then what is it, Tiger?” Carlos whispered, bringing out a pet name he knew was always sure to get TK to flush but calm him at the same time. 

“I was just wondering how you might feel about. . . meeting my mom.” TK worked out, feeling shy. Carlos looked at him with a small layer of confusion covering his face.

“Your mom?” he asked in confirmation, to which TK nodded. 

“Yeah. She’s flying in tomorrow afternoon to see me. My dad called her about me getting shot, so she wanted to come visit. Dad said she’d be here for a week, and I don’t know, I- look, I know you’ve already met my dad, and we said we were going slow, so I didn’t know if meeting my mom would be too much. A-and if it is, I mean, we’ll still see each other at work if we don’t for dates or something. We’re gonna take her for dinner with the crew, so dad was thinking of inviting Michelle, Nancy, and Tim, too. You could come if you want,” TK finished, knowing his words had become a jumbled, nervous mess. He was fidgeting with his hoodie strings- a nervous habit he’d developed early in his teens. 

Carlos’ hand still rested on his hip, his thumb rubbing calming circles into his skin as he smiled towards TK, saying, “Relájate, cariño.” 

TK took a deep breath, nodding to his boyfriend’s words. Relaxing was probably a good idea. Carlos took a half step closer to him, his arm now wrapping all the way around TK’s waist. Almost like it was an instinct, TK’s own arm moved to wrap a hand around Carlos’ bicep, leaning into his boyfriend’s touch. Carlos’ eyes look at him with the softest gaze TK thought he’d ever received. His touch was comforting, calming, and reassuring. 

“TK, do you want me to meet your mother?” Carlos asked softly, looking for nothing more than TK’s honest answer. TK thought about it for a minute. His mom was a good person, she loved him. But she also hadn’t seen him in almost a year. And it was maybe a bit much for a new relationship for Carlos to have met his father- which he supposed had been unavoidable anyway- and his mother in such a short time. It wasn’t like TK had met any of Carlos’ family. Then again, TK really was looking to rebuild his relationship with her, to show her who he really was. Carlos was slowly but surely becoming part of that. TK was pretty sure that over time, he could fall head over heels for Carlos. And it wouldn’t be like with Alex, which TK knew looking back hadn’t been healthy for either of them. No, with Carlos this was going to happen the right way. 

“Yeah,” TK finally said. “I want you to meet her.”

Carlos gave him a nod, saying, “Then I’ll meet her. It may be kind of soon for both parents, yeah, but I told you, TK- I’m all in this. Even if we’re going slow, it’s at whatever pace you want and nothing is chasing me off. All in.”

TK felt the smile growing on his face, Carlos giving him one to match it. Already TK felt as though he could never deserve a boyfriend like Carlos. 

“Okay?” Carlos asked. TK nodded, but when Carlos attempted to move away from him to go back to washing the dishes, TK tightened his hold on his arm, not letting him go anywhere. 

“It’s just. . .” TK contemplated his words, Carlos raising an eyebrow in question. “It’s not like my mom will be outright rude to you, and if she is I promise she’s not trying to be, but, well- If you’ve ever thought my dad was standoffish. . . And he’s the one who has never given a shit about my sexuality.”

Carlos looked on at him with realization. “She’s homophobic?”

“No?” TK responded, cringing at how his own voice got higher and unsure of itself. Carlos just gave him a deadpan look, causing TK to deflate himself a little. 

“She’s trying,” he said much quieter, looking towards the ground. Carlos nodded just slightly, a sadder smile now growing on his face. 

“I understand. My sister is the same way.”

TK looked at him with surprise. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”

Carlos smirked a little, once again backing out of TK’s hold and succeeding this time in his plan to finally finish the dishes. “I have three, actually. I’m the only boy in the group.”

“Huh. . .”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Tiger.”

TK smiled, bumping Carlos’ shoulder with his own as he took the plate from his hands to dry. “You want to tell me about them, then?”

“Sure. You can tell me all about your mom while we’re at it.”

“Deal.”

Chapter Text

Owen watched with a sigh, his head going back and forth as he followed TK’s pacing movements. They were at the airport, waiting for Celia’s flight to get in. They’d been there for the better part of an hour now, during most of which TK had walked back and forth, playing with his jacket’s sleeve cuffs, sighing to himself, and overall casting a gloomy, anxious cloud over everyone else waiting for people to arrive. Owen understood his son’s nerves. He was feeling them, too. His ex-wife and him had parted on, well, not the best terms in the world. Their relationship was much better now, and they could talk and laugh just like they used to, but the issues from the divorce still haunted their interactions. It was only a year after 9/11 that they’d decided to part ways. Owen was still grieving, had become distant from the family. He knew that it hadn’t been good for them. 

Celia had resented how little he’d been around, blamed him for every time TK cried, for every little fight, and pretty much whatever else she could come up with. Owen had never meant to hurt their relationship, and he knew that while she was right about some of it-maybe even most of it- Celia was just as much a part of their split. She was a lawyer who was always so set on winning, no matter the cost to him or their son. Owen knew how hard the year had been for TK. That was certainly his biggest regret. He hated how much he’d pushed TK out of his life in that time. Because of that, and because of his high risk job, the custody finalization went in favor of Celia. She was his main guardian, Owen only having TK with him every other weekend and first dibs on holidays. Despite that, though, he and TK came out of the divorce with a relationship stronger than ever. It was a relationship Owen thanked the universe for every day. 

When TK was a teenager, Celia had given him more freedom in deciding when he wanted to be with his dad. After TK had come out at 15, having TK stay with him was more common than not. Owen was the one who held him as he cried over his first boyfriend, who raced him to the hospital when TK came running to him with pills in his hand and saying he thought he’d done something really bad. Owen was there the day he signed up for the fire academy, something he knew Celia was still upset about. She had never wanted TK to follow in his father’s footsteps. TK was, by far, the most important, most loved, more precious thing in Owen’s life. Nothing was going to change that. 

That said, TK’s incessant pacing might have been driving him a little bit nuts.

“Seriously, kid. Are you trying to put a trench in the airport? ‘Cause you’re certainly going the right way.”

TK stopped walking, turning towards his father, head tilted and a look of annoyance filtering across his features. Owen raised an eyebrow back as a sort of challenge. They watched each other for a minute before TK gave in, tension in his shoulder deflating somewhat as he plopped down into the uncomfortable airport chair beside his dad. Immediately as he did, Owen had to stifle a laugh at how TK’s leg was bouncing at an impressive pace. He leaned over towards his son, resting a hand on TK’s leg to calm him. 

“TK,” he whispered, “It’s gonna be okay. Remember that she’s your mom. She loves you so much.”

TK bit his lip, nodding. “I know, I know. I just. . . I don’t know, really. I’m nervous to see her.”

“I get it. It’s been a long time since either of us has seen each other. A lot has changed since. But she’s not here to judge you or do anything other than see you and make sure you’re okay. No matter what was going on in our lives, your mom has always wanted you to be healthy and happy.”  

TK knew all that. If nothing else, this had to have been the 30th time his dad had reminded him of it in the past two days. God, why was he acting like this? This was his mom, and everything was going to be just freaking fine. TK knew that once he actually saw her, he’d be able to calm down. The thought of her being here unnerved him, but actually having her in the same room would be easier. If he could get through telling the team and Carlos that he was an addict- by far one of the hardest conversations TK ever had to have with people- then he could get through a week visit from his mom. She already knew all his deepest, darkest secrets. 

His father, ever one to find ways to calm TK’s anxiety, had made the perfect plans for tonight. Owen kept saying “better to dive right into it than go slowly”, but TK knew he’d made the plans more than anything to help TK out. For dinner, everyone was meeting at the firehouse. Their team, Michelle’s, Grace, and Carlos. Owen had specifically picked out where and with whom TK felt most comfortable. It might be a bit much for Celia all at once, but TK would be able to relax and seek refuge in the place he felt most at home. TK was sure his mom would be able to handle it all anyway. If nothing else, she had perfected her poker face in all her years as a lawyer. Paul and Grace had been put in charge of cooking, as they were by far the best out of all of them. Grace was planning to make a huge pot of her “Texan Chili”, and Paul was doing cornbread muffins and a few different pies for dessert. TK’s mouth watered just thinking about it. 

Once TK had sat down with his father, calming down a bit, the wait for his mom got a lot shorter. Eventually, they began seeing those from his mother’s flight approaching where they were sitting. Both of them stood up, straining their necks to try and spot her. TK took a deep breath, feeling his father’s hand on his shoulder. 

“So you see-”

“TK! Owen!”

Both turned to see a shorter, dark haired middle-aged woman smiling widely at the both of them. As always, the resemblance between TK and Celia was striking. TK had inherited Owen’s good looks and perfect hair genes, but the shape of his face, the bright smile, and beautiful green eyes were all Celia. At the sight of his mom, TK’s mouth formed a matching smile to that of Celia’s. She was dragging two large suitcases behind her, but as she got into arm’s reach of her son, they were an abandoned thought as she moved to wrap TK in a tight hug. As predicted, TK relaxed into the embrace, and Owen could see TK hugging her back with the same strength, though he winced as he did so. Celia seemed to feel TK do so, because she pulled back from what would have been a much longer hug. 

With one hand resting on TK’s cheek the lawyer took a half step back and looked TK over, checking him for injury. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you, honey?”

TK gave a smile of feigned exasperation. “Yeah, mom, I’m fine.”

Owen scoffed with a roll of his eyes, “Yeah, no. He got shot, ripped his stitches, and hasn’t been taking it easy like the doctor told him to.”

TK stared at his father with annoyance for ratting him out, but Owen just smiled brightly away. Once Celia was satisfied in her fussing over their son, she turned to Owen. Their hug was short and sweet, about as much contact as they ever had anymore.

“How have you been, Celia?”

Celia smiled at her ex-husband, nodding, “I’ve been good. China was beautiful, that’s for sure. I’m definitely better now that I’m here and seeing TK with my own two eyes. I’ve been so worried about you.”

TK sighed, “I know, mom. I’m sorry. But I promise I’m doing just fine. We both are.” 

Even if Owen and Celia were sometimes only civil for the sake of their son, TK knew his mom had freaked out when Owen told her about the cancer. She was worried about him, too, and wanted to be kept up to date on all developments with Owen’s health. Nevertheless, Celia seemed to accept TK’s reassurance, pressing a kiss to her son’s cheek before turning around and grabbing her suitcases. Owen immediately moved to take one from her, and TK led the way out of the airport. 

“So what do you boys have planned for me first?” Celia asked as she walked aside TK. TK used his good shoulder to shrug, responding with, “Nothing, really. We were just going to take you home. It was a long flight, we figured you’d be tired. Just some lunch, show you our place.”

Owen nodded, “Nothing crazy until tonight, we promise.”

“Tonight? That’s the dinner with your fire crew, right?”

“Oh, and Captain Michelle Blake. She runs the EMS unit we work with,” TK added, ducking through the crowds of people in the Austin airport. Celia nodded in recollection. Owen had mentioned all of this to her the last time they were on the phone.  

The ride home from the airport was calm as they simply caught up with each other, talking about Celia’s time in China, Owen’s process of remodeling the firehouse, and preliminary descriptions of who all Celia would be meeting that night. The conversation was light and easy, as it always was on the first day when the three of them were all back together. Who knows what the rest of the week might bring, but for now, Texan was giving Celia a friendly and calm welcome for her visit.

TK could handle this. The rest of the week would be great. Right?

Chapter Text

The firehouse was already buzzing with life when the three of them arrived. Everyone on the crew but Owen and TK were on a shift, so they had been there for hours already. Everyone was just waiting on the three of them, and TK had spotted Carlos’ car already parked on their way in. TK prayed that the crew wouldn’t get sent out on a call during the middle of dinner. Hopefully, Austin could take one night off from emergencies. 

As they walked in, TK pressed a kiss to his mother’s cheek before going ahead of his parents and towards the kitchen. He knew Owen would want to first show off his firehouse- the full, overly in depth tour of it- and also give TK time with just the crew to calm any residual nerves. TK could hear the crew bantering back and forth with each other. Marjan seemed to be teasing Judd about learning how to set a table, Paul and Grace laughing and chatting as they cooked. As he rounded the corner into the kitchen, he could see the EMS crew in what seemed to be a very intense game of go-fish with Mateo. TK winced for them; no one in the crew had ever beaten Mateo at go-fish. Carlos was trailing Marjan, setting down silverware and giggling at her reprimands to Judd. Eventually, the Texan gave up, raising his hands and walking into the kitchen to help his wife. 

“Well, something in here sure smells good, and I know it’s not Judd,” TK said, announcing his presence. He was greeted with a round of excited cheers that made him smile and a grunt of protest from Judd. Paul was quick in setting down his oven mitts and moving to give TK a hug. 

Paul was gentle with it, releasing him with a pat on the back, saying, “Good to see you, man.”

The whole crew followed Paul’s actions, setting down what they were doing, hugging him or patting his back in greeting. Grace and Michelle both gave him a quick kiss to the cheek. The amount of love TK felt was insurmountable. Any tensions in his body seemed to melt out, and TK felt more relaxed than he had since before he got shot. 

Last but definitely not least, the final person to greet him was Carlos. The cop had a kind smile on his face, wrapping his arms around TK’s waist and lightly kissing the underside of his jaw. TK couldn’t help the dopey smile on his face, trying to hide it in Carlos’ shoulder. Someone- it sounded like Mateo- let out a loud and joking “Awww” at them, causing the crew to laugh. TK rolled his eyes, pulling out of his boyfriend’s arms to stick his tongue out at them. 

“Oh, that’s mature,” Marjan mumbled, though she was smiling at him. With the greetings out of the way, everyone moved back to finish what they were doing. Carlos watched TK with a careful eye, quietly asking, “How are you doing, TK?”

TK shrugged his good shoulder, leaning into Carlos a little as he watched his family. “Good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Mom’s been hovering, like I’m gonna break at any second, but it’s been good. I missed her more than I thought I had.”

Carlos smiled at him, accepting his answer with a nod. Together they began moving further into the kitchen, towards the dining table, which had miraculously been set to fit all of them. It looked as though the crew had found a smaller, matching table and pushed the two of them together in order to expand the space. 

“Cap taking your mama on the grand tour?” Judd inquired, leaning against the counter as Grace swatted him away from her chili. TK sighed, nodding his head. 

“You know the man can’t resist an opportunity to show off,” TK joked at the expense of his father. 

“Oh yeah, ‘cause that went so well for him the last time,” Paul pointed out. 

Michelle, who it seemed had forfeited their game of cards, laughed a little, “Well, I think it’s safe to say TK’s mother isn’t going to challenge Owen for command of the firehouse.”

“If she ever did, I can promise you all I’d lose,” came Owen’s voice from above. TK watched as his parents came down the stairs to the kitchen. His mom wore a smile as she followed Owen, her eyes casting around at all the new faces. The crew all gave various greetings of welcome to their captain, smiling at Celia. 

“Well, Celia,” Owen said as they reached the main floor, “welcome to the zoo.”

There were various responses of protest from the room, at which Celia laughed softly. Grace, ever the gracious host and wonderful person she was, was the first to move to introduce herself. 

“It’s lovely to meet you, ma’am. My name’s Grace Ryder, and that’s my husband Judd.”

“Oh, call me Celia, please.”

Michelle moved to introduce herself next, along with Nancy and Tim. When it came to the fire crew, Owen used a hand on her shoulder to guide her way across the room; at some point everyone on the team had gathered around where TK and Carlos were standing. Owen was smiling brightly at his team, and by some unspoken agreement, began his job in introducing them all, everyone stepping forward to shake Celia’s hand as he did.

“This is our 126 crew. Mateo, Marjan, Paul, and as Grace said earlier, Judd.”  

Celia smiled at all of them kindly, pausing slightly on Carlos, who Owen had not introduced. Carlos looked a little nervous, which TK noted was unusual for him. The cop had put a respectable distance between the two of them, while still staying close enough to TK that it was comfort for them both. 

“And are you a firefighter as well?” Celia asked Carlos. Carlos was out of uniform, so based on his physique, TK could tell why his mom might have confused him for a member of their team. 

“Um, no, ma’am. I’m Carlos. I’m a police officer and, well-” Carlos glanced at TK, silently asking if he should just keep quiet. TK could sense Carlos’ underlying feeling of unease and quickly stepped up to finish his words. 

“And my boyfriend,” TK finished, keeping his eyes on Carlos. His boyfriend watched him softly, his lips twitching up in a smile at the words. TK sucked in a nervous breath, looking to his mom. He could feel the rest of the room watching them, and though none of them but Owen knew the history with Celia and TK’s boyfriends, he was sure they had figured it out. Celia looked surprised at her son’s statement. TK could practically hear the gears turning in her head and knew that whatever she wanted to say probably wouldn’t be the best. But she was never one to make a scene, so she recovered quickly, turning to Carlos with a genuine, though slightly strained smile. 

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you,” she said before turning to the rest of the room and away from Carlos, “It’s lovely to meet all of you. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for looking after my son.”

TK’s eyes met Carlos’ and with a twitch of his lips into a sad smile, he gave a shrug of his shoulder. In truth, he hadn’t expected to get much more from his mom. Carlos shook his head ever so slightly, as if to say “Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s no problem, ma’am,” Judd responded to Celia, “That’s one good kid you got.” Judd glanced at Owen as he said the words as well, reaching over to tussle TK’s hair. TK scoffed a laugh, pushing Judd’s hand away in mock annoyance. Well, some of it was real annoyance. 

“Well, this chili is finally all done,” Grace said, “Who’s hungry?”

The crews erupted in excitement as an answer, everyone moving to their seats at the table. Paul and Grace worked on moving the cornbread muffins and a salad Marjan had cut up onto the table, leaving the chili on the stove for people to go over and dish themselves. As always, Owen took the head of the table, with TK on his left and Celia sitting down on his right. Carlos took the spot next to TK, something TK swore he saw his mother give a glare to. The rest of the crew filled out the other chairs, with Captain Blake mirroring Owen at the opposite end of the table. 

The rest of the dinner went fairly smoothly. The crews captured Celia’s attention by regaling tales of toy cars in people’s noses, racist old ladies, and the one time a dad had gone up in a tree to get down a cat, only to get stuck himself. In turn, Celia had TK practically sinking in on himself as she and Owen told stories of TK’s childhood. He would never hear the end of some of the stories they told. 

Throughout the meal, however, TK couldn’t help the tension creeping back in his shoulders as he noticed his mother never once addressing Carlos, barely even looking at him. At one point, after TK had leaned over to Carlos, whispering a snide, teasing comment about something or another that had Carlos throw his head back in laughter, TK could practically feel his mother’s gaze drilling into his skull. TK had made a point of ignoring it, keeping his eyes locked on Carlos until Owen, who had at this point seen what was happening, captured his ex-wife’s attention away from their son. TK had been expecting this type of reaction, especially since Celia knew how badly his relationship with Alex had ended, but he couldn’t help the hurt he felt creeping up. 

As the main meal came to an end, Paul stood, walking into the kitchen to uncover the pies he had backed earlier. “Celia, TK told me that you’re a fan of cherry pie.”

His mom looked towards the kitchen with excitement as Paul began slicing and plating his cherry, apple, and pecan pies. “Oh, I’m not just a fan! It’s probably my favorite food in the world.”

Paul smiled, bringing over a big slice and setting it down in front of her. 

“Paul, you are certainly going the right way to be my favorite person in the room,” Celia said after thanking him. Paul nodded in thanks, going back to the kitchen to bring slices of pie to the rest of the group. TK swore sometimes Paul’s thing made him practically psychic; he didn’t even need to ask what kind everyone wanted.

“Hey!” TK protested to his mother’s words, making Owen laugh from beside him. TK picked up his fork as Paul came closer with two slices of apple pie in his grip. “Stay away from my mom, man.” 

Paul raised an unimpressed eyebrow, setting down the pies. “Kid, I could bench-press you. You are not gonna win in a fight.”

TK rolled his eyes, but across the table, Marjan and Mateo burst out in laughter. 

“Now that I’d love to see!” Marjan called to Paul, who blatantly ignored her. Before it could go any further, Owen raised his hand with a shake of his head. 

“Okay, okay, calm down, guys. We’ve had enough challenges of people’s strength for the year.”

Across the table, Michelle had a teasing glint in her eye, looking around at the fire crew. “It’s like having five children instead of just one, isn’t, Captain?”

Owen gave an exasperated look to Michelle, nodding to her words. Celia was watching them all with a look of amusement in her eyes. She was glad to see TK, and even Owen, in a setting that seemed to make them so calm and comfortable. They were both adjusting to move from New York very well. 

As everyone chatted, eating their desert, Carlos quietly cleared his throat, nudging TK’s arm with his own. TK looked at him in question, met with an apologetic look from his boyfriend.

“I have a shift, so I need to get going,” Carlos said, looking down at his watch. TK nodded; he understood the difficulty of overnight shifts. Carlos moved to stand up, TK following his lead. The conversations around them quieted, everyone looking to the couple. Carlos gave them all a smile. 

“Grace, Paul, the meal was wonderful, but duty calls. It was nice to meet you, ma’am.” 

Celia gave him a small smile and a nod in return. With a blown kiss of goodbye from Michelle, the cop waved to everyone, turning to leave. TK walked with Carlos to the entrance of the kitchen, their shoulders brushing against each other. The conversations once again picked up behind them. As they stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, TK let out a deep breath as he faced his boyfriend.

“Well, we both survived,” TK tried to joke, earning what was most likely a sympathy smile from Carlos. 

“We did,” Carlos’ voice was quiet enough for only TK to hear, “but that woman definitely did not like me.”

TK sighed, looking down to the ground. Carlos didn’t sound upset; he was just stating a fact. “I know. I’m sorry.” 

Carlos shrugged, “It’s okay, TK. Maybe we’ll have better luck when you meet my parents, yeah?”

TK couldn’t even try to hide the smile and blush on his face at the thought of meeting Carlos’ family. God, he had it bad for this guy. Knowing he’d only succeed in embarrassing himself if they went any further with this conversation, TK switched the subject, gesturing to the exit of the fire house. 

“You should probably go. Don’t want to be late,” his voice was soft, intimate. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Carlos whispered back, looking out to where his Camaro was parked on the street. 

“Stay safe,” TK said, giving Carlos time to nod before he moved forward a step, pressing his lips to his boyfriend’s. The kiss was short, but a sweet, comfortable goodbye. 

“You, too, Tiger,” Carlos responded with one glance back towards the table. With one more peck of his lips on TK’s, Carlos left, going to his car and off to work. TK watched him go, nervous to turn back around. He knew his mom had probably watched the whole encounter. He was prepared to deal with the teasing smirks and obnoxious, exaggerated kissy noises from his crew, but his mother’s judgement was a whole nother ball game. At the very least, she wouldn’t say anything in front of a big group like this. Not when it was clear that not a single person at the table could give less of a shit who TK was attracted to. 

When TK finally did turn around, he was pleasantly surprised to see that his mom wasn’t looking at him at all. She was quiet, pushing around the remains of her pie on the plate, but she wasn’t given TK that patented look of confusion and “we’ll probably talk about this later”, so he took it as a win. Rather than sitting back down, TK started gathering dishes and bringing them into the kitchen to be washed. As he did, Judd gave him a look of confusion. 

“Whatcha doing, brother?”

“Taking dishes? What does it look like I’m doing?”

Marjan rolled her eyes, “TK, would you sit down? We can do the dishes.” 

TK scoffed a little, realizing where exactly this was going. “Seriously, you all need to relax. You’re working a 24 hour shift, and I’m not gonna bust any stitches by doing the dishes. I do them every shift anyway.”

“Exactly,” Paul said, “and you’re not on shift, so consider this you’re one time getting out of it.”

When TK ignored them all, the crew just rolled their eyes and let him go about it. It wasn’t long before Celia stood up and began to help, giving a motherly look that shut up Marjan’s protest before it even began. As his mom finished bringing over the last of the dishes, TK flipped on the tap to begin washing them. His mom moved quietly around him, grabbing one of the dish towels to take them off his hand and dry them once TK was finished. In the dining room, the crew let themselves be pulled into a new conversation, guessing this was a private moment between mother and son. Michelle, Nancy, and Tim all got up to make their leave; their 16 hour shift had ended 30 minutes ago and all of them were eager to get home and sleep. 

“That’s quite the group of people you’re working with,” his mom said as she wiped down the dishes. “I can see why you and your father are so happy here.”

TK smiled, glancing towards his ridiculous, messy, loud family. Mateo, it seemed, had managed to pull Owen into a game of go-fish. “Yeah, they’re. . . they’re great. After moving down here. . . They saved my life, mom. And I mean that really literally for Michelle.” 

Celia paused her movements on drying the dishes, seeming to contemplate TK’s words. “TK, I’m. . . I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you. You were always your father’s son, and I never did anything to try and build that kind of relationship with you myself.”

“Mom. . .” TK let out, shutting off the water and turning to Celia.

“Hearing that I almost lost you twice this past year- Nothing has ever hurt or scared me more than that. I’m so sorry that you’ve been hurting all this time and I haven’t been there for you, TK.”

TK sniffled, casting his eyes away from his mother. He knew if he looked at her, the tears prickling his eyes had a much greater chance of falling. Celia wasn’t often sentimental other than holidays and birthdays, so it always struck TK like a bullet, for lack of a better term. 

“I love you, Tyler Kennedy.”

“Love you, too, mom,” TK mumbled, turning quickly to hug his mother as tight as his injuries would allow him. TK couldn’t think of a better way to end the night.

Chapter Text

As always, all good things must come to an end. It had been two days since Celia had arrived in Texas, and so far everything had gone smoothly. His dad had taken both the first day and yesterday off, so the three of them went sightseeing around the city, caught up and anything and everything, and let everything stay light and easy. Didn’t seem like that plan was going to work out so well for today, though. 

Owen was a firehouse captain, so even though TK was still on medical leave and his ex-wife was visiting, there was no way he would be able to get every day off of work. Owen was working a 13 hour shift and wouldn’t be home at all that day, leaving TK and Celia to their own devices. TK told himself that it was going to be just fine with only the two of them, especially since they seemed to reach some sort of breakthrough with each other that first night. Wishful thinking, TK knew.

It was midday, and the two of them had decided to settle in the living room and watch a movie. TK was already pressed into the corner of the couch, a blanket thrown over his lap and the TV on pause as he waited for his mom. She was in the kitchen filling a glass of water and rummaging around their cupboards for a snack. As TK waited, he fiddled with his phone. He was using his time to text Carlos, who was currently on a break at the police department. He was ranting to TK about another officer in his precinct, one he used to be partnered with before they had gotten so fed up with each other their captain had no choice but to separate them. Apparently he had done something especially annoying today- something about mislabeled evidence on a case Carlos was working- and his boyfriend wasn’t doing as well at hiding his anger than he usually did. It was as a particularly quippy insult about the officer came in through TK’s phone that his mom joined him in the living room. TK couldn’t resist the laugh that ripped through him, a smile tattooed to his face as he quickly typed out a response. 

“What has you all smiley over there?” Celia inquired as she sat down on the other side of the couch. TK just shook his head, still smiling down at his phone a little. 

“Nothing. I’m just, uh, I’m texting Carlos.” TK didn’t think much of his words until he heard a quiet “Hmmm” come from his mother. TK couldn’t help the sigh come out of his mouth in response. He leaned forward, setting down his phone on the coffee table to turn his body and face his mom. She was staring sternly straight ahead. Great, so they were going to have this conversation, then. 

“Mom. . . Can we just get this over with before dad gets home so we don’t have to later?”

“Get what over with?” Celia still wasn’t looking at TK, watching the frozen screen of the TV as if it was playing the movie.

“The part where you finally give me whatever opinion about my relationship you’ve been silently mulling over since you met him.”

Celia let out a sigh, pursing her lips. She looked at TK with an undecipherable expression in her eyes. TK couldn’t help feel a little sad, despite the inevitability of this conversation. He just wanted one time with his mother and a boyfriend to be different. He had thought, just maybe, when he had almost died twice and his mom was here because she was worried about him, that it would be different. 

“TK, you know I’ve never been able to come to terms with. . . well. I just can’t und-”

“Understand it, yeah, I know. That’s what you said when I came out to you, about Dylan and Chris in high school, about Alex, and now Carlos. But this is my life, mom. It’s not some experiment, or a phase-”

“Well, I know it’s not a phase, TK. If it was, it would have ended by now.”          

Her words felt like a slap to his face, and he had to look away from his mom so he didn’t feel the sting as much. It felt like it was erasing any progress they had made over the past few days. Silence rang between them for a few minutes, both of them sitting tense on opposite ends of the couch. 

“I know you say you’re trying, mom. You never say anything rude to my boyfriend’s face or save it all in snide comments to dad.”

Celia looked like she wanted to protest her son’s words, but he shook his head.

“If you think I haven’t heard it, you’re wrong. When I first came out, I heard you say something to dad about the way he was raising me, that maybe I wouldn’t have turned out like. . . like this if something was different. And you repeatedly tell me you don’t understand it, but mom, I don’t understand that. I’m your son! And I know you love me, so what does it matter who I choose to love? I’m happy, mom. I know that what happened with Alex was a disaster and the perfect ammunition for your argument, but that’s over. Carlos is so much different from Alex, and I really, really like him. He cares about me, makes sure I’m comfortable, safe, and happy. I’m happy. Shouldn’t that be the most important thing, mom?” 

Celia still wasn’t looking at TK, but her face was more sheepish than when they had started the conversation. The silence refilled the room, neither of them knowing where to take the conversation from here. TK had never said anything like that to his mom before. Maybe he was just finally fed up with it all. Maybe his desperation in making this relationship with Carlos something new and good was giving him courage. Whatever the reason, he felt proud of himself for finally getting the words out, standing up to her rather than just yelling or fighting with her. 

Five minutes later, it seemed as though his mother really had nothing to say in response. TK attempted to fight the tears welling in his eyes, shaking his head at her. Silently, he reached for the television remote, pressing play on their movie. TK brought his legs up onto the couch, curling himself into a ball and away from his mother. The pair of them stayed like that, in silence, for longer than TK could even measure. When the movie was finished, they went various places around the house, moving around each other, the screaming tension the only sound in the house. That’s how Owen found them when he finally came home late that night. 

He went up to his son’s room as soon as he sensed something was wrong, walking in with a light knock on the door. TK looked up at his father from his place on his bed, clutching a pillow to his chest. Owen walked in, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“TK?” Owen asked quietly, concern written across his features. TK opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Instead, he felt the sting of tears behind his eyes and sniffled loudly. Owen sighed with a look of pain and sympathy, sitting next to his son. TK immediately fell into his father’s embrace, not knowing what else to do. TK thought he’d be able to handle all of this, that it wouldn’t hit him as much as it was right now. He felt like he was 16 years old again. But here he sat, in a position very similar to when he came out, his dad brushing a hand through his hair as TK let silent tears fall into Owen’s shirt.

Chapter Text

When TK had finished crying, practically falling asleep on his father’s shoulder, Owen had pressed a kiss to his son’s hair before leaving his room. TK once again curled in on himself, desperately trying to feel like the 26 year old adult he was, not some teenager that needed his dad so much. His eyes stung, and he could feel how they were red and puffy. He felt like a complete mess, trying to just lie down in hopes maybe he could fall asleep and forget about this all. He knew he would have no such luck when he heard his father’s voice in the kitchen, shortly followed by his mother’s. It didn’t take long before his parents fell back into their old ways. 

Just like before their divorce, Celia and Owen were having a late night, whisper-shouting fight in the kitchen, both trying to keep it quiet for TK’s sake but failing miserably. He had always been able to hear them, just like he could now. The kitchen was far enough away from TK’s room that he couldn’t quite understand what they were saying to each other now, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think it wasn’t about him. Owen was undoubtedly asking Celia what had happened, since he’d gotten nothing out of TK, and she was trying to come up with some excuse, possibly blaming Owen for it all, in response. Because the three of them couldn’t even get through a week of being nice and civil with each other. Not one godforsaken week. 

TK tried to block out the sound of his parent’s voices, which were slowly raising in volume, by humming his favorite song, running through fire-safety procedures in his head- he still had that part of the manual he’d read for Mateo memorized- and even tucking his head under the pillow and pressing it to his ears. None of it was working very well, and TK was just getting more frustrated and upset by the minute. His injured shoulder and side ached, his head was pounding, his face felt swollen, and he could feel his breathing getting increasingly more shallow and hard. He violently squeezed his eyes shut, just trying to calm himself down. God, he was 26 years old , why was he not over this already? Why couldn’t he get through one week without having or almost having a panic attack? 

It wasn’t long before everything felt like way too much for TK. The house, his room, his parents in the kitchen. TK moved quickly as he sat up, grabbing the first pair of shoes in his closet, pulling a sweatshirt on over his head, and moving out of his room. He swiftly moved through his and his father’s home, not even caring that he’d have to go through the kitchen in order to get to the front door. As they heard movement towards them, Owen and Celia had both gone suddenly silent. Owen looked surprised to see his son, but TK didn’t even look at either of his parents. He pushed past his father, who stood on one side of the island while Celia stood defensively on the other, and walked to the door. He vaguely heard his dad call out after him, but it was ignored as TK slammed their front door loudly behind him, taking in a breath of fresh air as he walked. TK had no idea where he was even going, he was just walking wherever his feet took him.  

TK’s pace was still fast, his arms held close to his body as he shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pocket. His breathing was easier now that he was finally out of the house, but it still came out heavy, shaking, and tense. He tried deep breaths, attempting to remember any of the breathing exercises he’d been taught by his therapist, or at AA, or anything, but his mind was blank. Eventually, he managed three normal breaths in a row, and even though his hands were shaking and his head was screaming at him, it gave him a weight off his shoulders. Any sort of breakthrough meant he would come off of his panic soon. Now he just needed to get that final edge off. His mind flashed to the night he’d been arrested and ended up at Carlos’ desk. He’d been thinking the same thing that night, too.  

When TK finally stopped walking, it was with a scoff of exasperation. Of course he’d end up here. TK stared up at the darkened, sleeping 126 firehouse with a sigh. He knew there were various staff members and those who worked the opposite shift than TK’s crew sleeping in the house, so he’d have to be quiet. With a deep breath, TK walked into the 126, looking around at the trucks, lockers, various equipment around the open space. He leaned against the wall in between the trucks’ large entrances and exits from the house. He leaned his head back, feeling it hit the concrete slightly harder than he’d intended. As TK stood in the place he’d come to call his home, a place where he knew without a doubt he was cared for, loved, and would always be welcome, he felt a mixture of emotions rising in his throat. At the same time that TK felt the same happiness he always did when he was here, he felt the sadness and hurt. As he felt the welcoming calm, he could feel the anger, too. He was angry at himself for not being able to handle all this. He was angry at the fact that his parents were fighting. He was angry at his mom. Angry at her for never accepting who he was, for acting like something had happened to make him “this way”, for never so much as making an effort to get to know any of his boyfriends, for being rude to Carlos, for making him cry like a little kid, for, for, for. TK was angry. 

The more he thought about it, the more pent up he could feel himself getting. When he finally snapped, it was to turn around, listening to the dull thwack as his fist made contact with the concrete. 

“Fuck!” he let out, louder than he should have if he’d wanted to stay quiet, cradling his fist to his chest. Now, along with his pounding head and recovering bullet wound, TK had two busted knuckles and what was sure to be a large bruise growing on the back of his hand. The concrete, as expected, showed no damage to it, other than a few specks of blood from TK’s hand.

“Fucking idiot,” TK mumbled to himself, grabbing a seemingly clean rag from a table close by to wrap around his hand. He collapsed onto a bench, pressing the cloth tightly into his new injuries. 

“TK?” He heard a quiet voice say, causing his head to snap up to see who had caught him. It was Carlos, dressed in a pair of APD sweatpants and an old, worn out t-shirt. His boyfriend looked rumpled, like he’d recently gotten out of bed. His eyebrows were furrowed in worry and his eyes were looking over him carefully as he slowly approached. TK didn’t know what to say other than, “What are you doing here?”

It sounded rude, he knew, but Carlos didn’t seem phased as he finished walking up to TK, kneeling down in front of him. Carlos held out his hand, looking at the one TK had wrapped up. TK sighed, silently giving it to Carlos. The cop unwrapped it, wincing a little as he looked it over. It was quiet between them as Carlos stood up, signaling for TK to follow his lead as he led them both into the dimmed kitchen to properly clean TK’s hand. TK sat at one of the bar stools, placing his injured hand on the table as Carlos wet a new, definitely clean towel and grabbed the first aid kit from under the sink. Carlos stood next to TK as he began treating his hand, his hold and his touch gentle as could be. 

“Your dad called me,” Carlos whispered, breaking the silence. “He said you’d ran out of the house, wanted to know if you were with me.”

“I needed to get out of there,” TK mumbled, looking down at the counter. Carlos nodded in understanding, even if he didn’t know the full story. 

“He was panicking when I picked up the phone. He said that you’d left your phone, but taken your wallet. He thought, maybe. . .” Carlos didn’t have to finish for TK to know what he meant. Suddenly, TK felt guilt growing in his chest. His dad had been worried that he might have relapsed. 

“Shit, I didn’t. . . I didn’t even think about that,” TK said, taking a deep breath. Of course that would be what his dad had thought. Leaving in the middle of the night after an emotional breakdown. . . Buying oxy was usually where he’d gone when that happened. But it hadn’t even occurred to him tonight, which he would probably be proud of himself for when he was feeling normal again. 

“I told him to stay home in case you came back and that I’d try to find you,” Carlos said, smiling in apology as TK winced when Carlos put antibacterial gel on the cuts. 

“You should tell him you did,” TK whispered, “otherwise he’ll worry the rest of the night.”

Carlos nodded, pulling out his phone. “Do you want me to tell him where you are?”

TK shook his head, then watched as Carlos typed out a text and pushed send. Carlos finished cleaning TK’s hand, wrapping it in ACE bandage before lifting it up, pressing a light kiss to his injured knuckles. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Carlos was giving him an out, a chance to say no with no questions asked. TK couldn’t help the skip of affection in his heart at his boyfriend’s consideration. He took a deep breath. 

“Can we go to yours first? I don’t want to wake anybody up.”

Carlos nodded, taking TK’s uninjured hand as they walked out of the firehouse and to Carlos’ car. The ride to Carlos’ apartment was silent, though not in an uncomfortable way. TK leaned his head against the window, looking out at the darkened streets of Austin. Carlos glanced over to TK every minute or so, checking that he was okay. When they arrived, Carlos and TK walked in, both heading straight towards the couch. Carlos sat down first, putting his back against the arm rest, one leg up on the couch and his other touching the floor. He opened his arms in an invitation that TK took happily. He sat down in between his boyfriend’s legs, his back against Carlos’ chest. His boyfriend wound his arms around TK’s torso, holding him close. TK let out a deep breath, feeling calmer than he had all night. He could feel Carlos’ cheek against his hair, his calming breathing against his back, and his thumb rubbing soothing circles into TK’s abdomen. 

“What happened, cariño?”

“My mom. We, uh, well. We ended up talking about the whole “gay” thing.” TK scoffed at his own words. “I say talked, but it was mostly me. She basically just ignored what I was saying. Ignored that I was even sitting next to her at all. And I knew it was coming, it always does, but. . . This time it just hit me differently, I guess. When my dad got home, they started fighting, and I just. . . I couldn’t handle it. I started panicking, and I left. Wanted to feel something different.”

Carlos let out a deep sigh in TK’s ear, holding him a little bit tighter. “Well, at least you didn’t go get in a bar fight this time.”

TK couldn’t help but laugh at his boyfriend’s joking tone, glad to be smiling for the first time since that afternoon. He knew Carlos was making an attempt to lighten the conversation, which he appreciated. He was so glad Carlos had been the one to find him in the firehouse. TK closed his eyes, feeling the comfort of his boyfriend’s embrace. 

“Every time I see her, I keep thinking that it’ll finally be different. That she’ll finally realize that it doesn’t matter. Dad barely even blinked when I told him, hasn’t ever cared, but she just. . . I don’t know.”

Carlos stayed silent, but TK didn’t mind. He didn’t want pity, or for someone to tell him it was all going to be okay. He just needed the comfort that Carlos was already providing him. TK wanted to get lost in his boyfriend’s embrace, and the light kisses he was pressing into his hair. They sat like that for long enough that TK could feel his eyelids drooping, his head lulling back onto Carlos’ shoulder.

“Tyler, cariño, we should move to the bed,” Carlos mumbled, sounding mostly asleep himself. TK nodded, forcing himself off the couch, reaching out for Carlos with his uninjured hand. Together they stumbled towards Carlos’ bedroom, tumbling onto the bed as soon as they reached it. It wasn’t long after that they fell asleep, Carlos with an arm thrown over TK’s stomach, tucked into each other. 

------------

When TK woke up the next morning, it was to an empty bed and the smell of food wafting into the bedroom. TK rolled over with a groan, burying his face in the pillow. A pillow that definitely did not smell like his own. It took a minute for his brain to catch up with where he was, but he soon remembered the night he’d had. His mom, his parents fighting, running off to the firehouse and punching the wall, and Carlos. Carlos had come and found him at the firehouse, had taken him home, and had just simply taken care of him. 

TK’s hand ached, and he still felt incredibly groggy, but he pulled himself out of the bed and out into Carlos’ kitchen. His boyfriend stood at the stove, mixing what looked like scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. Carlos was lightly humming to himself and hadn’t noticed TK come into the room yet. TK leaned himself against the counter next to the stove, and Carlos gave him a bright smile as he saw him. 

“Morning,” TK whispered. 

“Good morning, tiger. How are you feeling?” Carlos leaned over, kissing TK on the cheek in greeting. TK shrugged in response. 

“Been better. Look, Carlos, I’m sorry about last night.”

“What do you mean?”

TK looked down at the floor, flexing his injured hand to try and get rid of the light pain. “I’m sorry my dad called and woke you up, that you had to come find me like- like that , and that I can’t deal with all this shit on my own.”

Carlos shook his head, flicking off the stove burner before moving to stand in front of TK, using a hand on TK’s cheek to tilt his head up so their eyes met. “TK, do not apologize for that. You shouldn’t ever have to deal with this on your own, okay? It’s hard shit, and I know how it feels. You need people you can rely on, and I’m more than happy to be one of them.”

Carlos rested his free hand on TK’s hip, bringing them almost chest to chest. “When your dad called me last night, thinking that maybe you were going to relapse, I promise you I wasn’t thinking about being woken up. I’m really glad he called. I was so worried about you, and the only thing I cared about was that you were safe . You do not need to apologize for anything, okay?”

TK nodded silently, almost feeling as though he could cry again. It was horrible to think, but he wasn’t used to this. To having a boyfriend that cared so much. TK tilted his chin up, kissing Carlos’s lips gently. 

“Thank you,” he whispered, barely audible. Carlos smiled at him, squeezing TK’s hip before pulling away and beginning to dish breakfast. He handed TK a plate, gesturing to the breakfast bench at his counter. TK smiled in gratitude, sitting down to eat. As Carlos joined him, he sighed a little.

“I know you told me not to, but I told your dad you were here. He stopped by on his way to work. He wanted to know that you were okay and hadn’t gotten yourself hurt. I didn’t tell him about your hand, but let him know you were still sleeping.”

TK sighed a little, both glad and sad that he’d missed his father. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face the real world yet, but he knew he owed his dad an explanation and apology. Carlos looked a little guilty at his confession, but TK shook his head.

“It’s okay, Carlos. He would’ve had to find out where I was sooner or later, and I’m glad that you told him. I would’ve myself if I had my phone.”

“Oh! Yeah, that reminds me. He dropped it off while he was here, figured you’d need it.” Carlos pulled TK’s smartphone out of his pocket, handing it over. TK took it from him with a smile, slipping it into his own pocket. As he did, it was a reminder that he was in the same joggers and sweater from yesterday and he grimaced a little. As if reading his mind, Carlos said, “You can borrow whatever clothes out of my closet that you want. My APD sweatshirt is the most comfortable thing I own.”

TK smirked at the thought of wearing his boyfriend’s clothes, a blush coming though his cheeks that he ducked his head to hide. The two of them fell into a quiet as they ate their breakfast, and it was only a short while before they were placing their dishes in the dishwasher. 

“I wish I didn’t, but I have a shift in about an hour,” Carlos told him as they walked back towards the bedroom. “But you’re more than welcome to stay here as long as you like. Whether that’s just a few hours or the rest of the time your mom is visiting.” 

TK smiled at his boyfriend, his heart skipping happily. What the hell had he done to deserve this perfect man? TK moved to hug him tightly, kissing the side of his jaw sweetly. At some point he would have to go home, face his mom and apologize to his father, but for now, he was pretty content to take Carlos up on his offer of staying there. He felt comfortable, safe. As Carlos prepared for the day, taking a quick shower and putting on his uniform, TK took him up on his offer of clothes, pulling out of the closet the sweatshirt he’d mentioned- it really was comfortable- and a pair of jeans that hung a little low on his hips. Once Carlos had dressed, he came out to the living room where TK sat on the sofa, flipping through TV channels. TK blushed under his boyfriend’s gaze, which he swore had grown a little darker at the sight of him in Carlos’ clothes. On his way out, Carlos leaned down to give TK a heavy, pleasure-inducing kiss that left TK almost chasing after his lips for more. 

“Try to have a good day, cariño. Text me if you need anything,” Carlos turned to say on his way out the door. “And please, no punching things.”

TK huffed a laugh, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend. “Stay safe, sweetheart.”

With a nod, a smile, and an unmistakable blush at TK’s term of endearment, Carlos closed the door behind him and went off to work.

Chapter Text

TK had stayed at Carlos’ apartment that whole day. He had watched pointless TV, nursed his injured hand, and spent the day putting out figurative fires. He’d told Carlos after he’d gotten back home that night that he’d received a million texts from his father and the 126, everyone worried about him. Owen had told them the basics of it all- that TK and his mother had gotten into a disagreement and TK had left the house that night. Everyone had been relieved to know that TK was at Carlos’ and safe, but had made sure to keep up to date and check in on him periodically. Grace had texted Carlos, asking if they wanted to come over for dinner, but TK wasn’t up for seeing anyone, not even Owen. So instead, after getting off from his shift, Carlos and TK had curled up on the couch, watching a movie as they ate take-out for dinner. It had been a tense day for everyone, and TK had been looking worse for the wear. The fact that he didn’t even go to the firehouse to see Owen was a clear testament to how he was feeling. 

The next day, Carlos worked a short shift; he was only covering for another officer until she was able to come in that afternoon. Carlos had tried to keep his mind busy during his time at work instead of worrying about TK. He had seen TK after fires, after a bar fight, and even after getting shot, but the look in his boyfriend’s eyes when he’d found him at the fire station at almost two in the morning was something entirely new. He hadn’t been lying to TK yesterday morning when he told him that the only thing on his mind after Owen called was finding him safe and sound. It had shocked him to his core to see TK so distraught, eyes bloodshot and hand busted. TK had been important to Carlos from the moment he laid eyes on him. It really had been ridiculous how quickly he’d become enraptured with the firefighter without knowing anything about him for so long, and with every new thing he learned, it just got stronger. 

Carlos knew he did an impressive job of keeping himself calm and collected around TK, but in reality he couldn’t remember the last time a guy had made him feel like this. He never let anyone but TK or Michelle see it, but he could easily become a nervous, blushing mess around his boyfriend. TK was. . . everything he could imagine. Not only was he hot as all hell, but he was kind, compassionate, funny, smart, and a goddamn hero. And yeah, it had taken a while, but Carlos could finally call him his boyfriend and was so happy about it. He knew TK’s past had scarred him in more than one way, and he was perfectly fine with moving at whatever pace his boyfriend wanted. Carlos knew the stories of Alex, of the oxy, of TK’s mom, and it made his heart ache. His boyfriend deserved so much more than the life he’d gotten. 

When Carlos got home after his shift, TK was asleep in the bedroom, wrapped up so tightly in the blankets that only his face and messy hair were visible. Carlos let out a sad sigh at the sight of his boyfriend and the rough few days he knew he’d had. He really did know the feeling of having someone in your own family, someone you loved and trusted , tell you who you are was wrong or bad. His youngest sister hadn’t taken it lightly or with ease when he’d come out to his family. She had been 15 at the time, when he was 18. The rest of his family had accepted it without much of a blink of the eye, showering him in hugs, obnoxious kisses from his mother, and went about their day. But not Martina. She had stayed silent through the whole ordeal, glaring lightly at her brother. When it was just the two of them in the room, Carlos had looked at her in question. Martina had given him a sad look, pursing her lips. She just shook her head, walking out of the room. 

Martina didn’t speak to him for months, no matter what he or any of their family did. It had broken his heart, and it wasn’t for two years that they finally reconciled. Still, Martina was always reluctant to meet any of his boyfriends and rarely, if ever, spoke to him outside of family gatherings. Carlos loved all his sisters dearly, and Martina was the only one younger than himself. He missed his baby sister more than he could ever express, and it still hurt him to have their relationship so barely existent. He didn’t want TK to go through that as well. With another sigh, Carlos creeped into the room, grabbing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the dresser against the wall. He changed out of his uniform as silently as he could, then moved out of the room. He closed the bedroom door softly as he could so his boyfriend could sleep. 

Carlos was quiet as he moved around his apartment, heading out to the kitchen. He filled a glass of water before moving out to the couch, flicking on the television. Carlos settled on some action movie that he wasn’t really paying attention to. He had been home for maybe a little more than half an hour when there was a light, but determined knock on his front door. Carlos walked to the door, confused as to who it would be. He never really had visitors that weren’t TK or Michelle, and given that his boyfriend was in his bed and Michelle was on a shift, he was at a bit of a loss.

He was even more confused and now shocked when he opened the door to find the last person he could have expected. On the other side of the door stood TK’s mom, Celia. He had no idea how long he must have stood there, gaping at her. He couldn’t come up with a single thing to say, just stood there with the door open, body tense. Celia looked sheepish, nervous, and gave him a tight smile. 

“Carlos, right?” she asked him. Carlos nodded his head, still slow on his reactions. 

“Um, uh, yes. Yes, ma’am.”

“Do you mind if I come in,” Celia gestured towards the inside of the apartment. Carlos winced a little bit, glancing back into the apartment towards the shut bedroom door. He didn’t want TK to wake up, and he wasn’t sure how he would react if he did and his mom was sitting in the apartment. Celia seemed to sense the hesitation on Carlos’ face, and raised her hands up as if in surrender. 

“I know what you must think, but I promise, I’m not here to start anything. I just want to talk.”

Carlos thought it over, biting his lip and taking a deep breath. Against his better judgement, he took a step to the side, holding his arm out towards the inside and inviting her in. She smiled gently, accepting the invite and moving past him. She looked entirely out of place standing in Carlos’ living room, the air tense around them. 

“Um, TK is asleep,” Carlos started, shuffling back and forth on the floor, “I’d really prefer to not wake him up.”

Celia hesitantly nodded, clearly not sure where to look. “I’m sure he needs the sleep.”

Carlos pursed his lips, finally just breaking the awkward tension between them. “Look, just- why are you here?”

   She let out a deep breath, shaking her head. “Carlos, I know what you must think of me, and I’m sure TK told you everything.”

Carlos nodded in confirmation. He gestured to the couch for both of them to sit. 

“It’s important to me that you know that I really, really love TK. He’s my son, and nothing will ever change that.”

Carlos’ sour look made Celia look down with a flash of guilt. Carlos couldn’t help but feel like it was deserved. Still, he stayed silent on the other side of the couch, letting her continue with wherever this was going. Celia paused, thinking over her words. 

“I never thought I would be pregnant. Owen was the one who pushed to have kids, and when I agreed. . . we had two miscarriages. Even though I had gone my entire life thinking I didn’t want to be a mom, I was so devastated. I must have cried for weeks.”

Carlos felt a pang of sadness in his heart at Celia’s words. Celia looked pained as she spoke of the memories.

“I was ready to give up, but Owen kept insisting one more time, one more time. Finally we got pregnant with TK. I’ve never seen Owen happier than when our baby was born, and it was so infectious. That little baby was my entire life. And I know that I was never the best mom, but I tried. Sometimes maybe it wasn’t hard enough.”

Carlos couldn’t help feeling awkward, like Celia should be saying all of this to TK, not him, but he was willing to listen to her regardless.

“I can admit that I didn’t react well when TK came out as- as gay. I- I still haven’t reacted well. The way my parents raised me was harsh. They were overly conservative, racist, and cold-hearted. They weren’t good parents, and I promised both myself and Owen that I wouldn’t let them around TK. I didn’t want to be like them at all, but I guess a few things stuck. I’d like. . . I should apologize to you. For how I’ve acted to you. And I’d like to thank you, Carlos, for what you’ve done for my son. When he talked to me the other day, he made a point of mentioning how happy he is with you. I don’t remember the last time I heard TK sound so sincere. Not to mention, you’re the only boyfriend of his I’ve ever properly met. I’d met Alex briefly, once, but the most I really knew about him was that Owen hated him.”

Carlos huffed a noise of agreement. From everything he’d heard from TK and Owen, Alex had been a real piece of work. Anyone who cheated on anyone wasn’t worth giving the time of day to, if nothing else. The thought of TK’s ex-boyfriend was a brief distraction from the shock at Celia’s words. She was apologizing? And thanking him? He also couldn’t help feel a blush riding on his cheeks that TK had been talking about him to her, and that he was making him happy. It was something he hoped he could provide TK for a long time. 

“And that night. . .” Celia started. “I’ve never seen Owen angrier with me, especially after TK ran off. And I know he was right to be. They both were. Owen told me how nervous TK was that I was coming to visit, that he wasn’t even sure if he wanted me to meet you. I don’t know why the other night was so different- we must have had this discussion a dozen times- but it really hit me. I had become my parents. Everything I had aimed not to be. And I- I know not everything is instantly fixed. I’m not suddenly okay with my son’s sexuality, as horrible as it sounds, but I would. . . I want to try. For real this time. And that starts with getting to know all of TK, and getting to know you as well.”

Celia looked nervous as her speech ended. For what seemed like forever, Carlos didn’t even know what to say. She seemed sincere in her words, conviction seeping in as she expressed wanting to know him. Celia had hurt TK in more ways than one over his life. It was a hurt he knew never went away lightly. But he thought of Martina, his beautiful little sister who still barely spoke to him. Here Celia sat, in his apartment, wanting to make an effort Martina never did. Carlos glanced over to the bedroom where TK was sleeping and sighed. 

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay. Even if TK is hurt and upset, you’re his mom, and you mean a lot to him. Your son is important to me, ma’am. I can see myself with him, giving him the love he deserves, for a long time. Maybe even forever. So if you’re willing to build a relationship with us both, then so am I. It would mean a lot.”

Celia smiled widely at him, her eyes looking slightly more damp than they had earlier. Carlos instinctively smiled back at her. She looked more relaxed on his couch, tension leaving her shoulders. 

“So. . . you’re a police officer, right? I’ve worked with many wonderful officers in my time as a lawyer.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Carlos responded, pride for his profession seeping into his voice.  

“Please, call me Celia.”

------------

Celia was bright with laughter, telling Carlos a story of TK’s childhood- a Halloween when TK was six, he was insistent on being a firefighter like his dad, but refused to get a costume from the store because he wanted to be a real firefighter. Celia told him it led to TK wandering around from house to house, his father’s firejacket trailing behind him like a cape and the helmet sliding to hang off his head. But TK was a real firefighter, so Celia and Owen just followed along with smiles and their camera. Carlos threw his head back with laughter, forgetting how hard he’d been trying to be quiet as he did. He was surprised and a little guilty when he heard a voice behind him. 

“Carlos? What are you doing?”

Both Carlos and Celia went silent as the bedroom door finished opening, TK stepping out. He looked rumpled, clearly having been woken up by the pair of them, but looked far less exhausted than when Carlos had left him that morning. The look on his boyfriend’s face was confused, and he went still and tense at the sight of his mom sitting next to Carlos. Celia looked just as tense, her happy demeanor diminishing and being replaced with the same nervousness she’d shown an hour ago when she appeared on Carlos’ doorstep. Celia opened her mouth as if to say something, but shut it again when nothing came out. Carlos smiled softly at the both of them before standing up. He walked over to TK, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek. TK looked at him with confusion, but Carlos just gave a nod of encouragement. 

“I’m going to give you two a minute. If you need anything, I’ll be in the room down the hall, okay?”

Carlos waited for TK to nod before moving away, down the hall and into the room his realtor had designated an office when he’d moved in. Sometimes he used it as such, a little desk in the corner for when he brought home something from work, but most of the space was taken up by various exercise equipment and such. Carlos sat down at his desk, pointlessly picking up a file he did not need to be looking at. He could hear TK and Celia talking in the other room, though what they were saying didn’t clearly reach his ears. 

Carlos wasn’t sure how long he’d sat there, looking over things without retainment, organizing already perfectly organized files, before there was a knock on the doorframe. Carlos spun in his chair to see TK standing there, chewing lightly on the jaw string of his pale yellow sweatshirt- which he’d accidentally left at Carlos’ the night he’d asked about meeting Celia. TK’s expression was unreadable, but Carlos gave him a twitch of a smile. Carlos raised an eyebrow in question of how it went, and TK’s face broke into a small smile. He wandered into the room, pulling the string from his mouth, and moved closer to Carlos until he was standing between the cop’s legs. Carlos reached up, lightly tugging on TK’s waist, which caused him to tumble forward into Carlo’s lap. TK laughed quietly, moving his legs to more comfortably straddle Carlo’s legs, his arms wrapping lightly around Carlos’ neck. Carlos kept his hands gentle on TK’s hips, squeezing lightly. 

“My mom left,” TK stated, keeping his voice low. “She wanted me to tell you thank you.”

“And?” Carlos inquired. “How did it go?”

TK took a deep breath, nodding his head just so. “It was, uh. . . well. I’ll go back home tonight, talk with her some more again and see dad. I’m hoping for the best.”

Carlos nodded in understanding, “But do you believe her? When she says she wants to do it right this time?”

TK gave Carlos a smile, his hand slipping up to play with the edge of his dark hair. “I do. And clearly my dad does, too, or he wouldn’t have given her your address.”

Carlos laughed a little. He had thought it odd that Celia had known where he lived, and he supposed it made sense that the only place she could have found out was her ex-husband. 

“Do you believe her?” TK asked Carlos, sounding hesitant for the answer. Carlos gave a light squeeze to TK’s hip before nodding. 

“Yes. We had a nice time talking to one another before you woke up.”

TK’s eyes widened a little, like he was just now remembering that Celia had been here before he’d woken up. “I can’t believe you sat there and had a civilized conversation with my mother. I mean, I knew you were pretty much perfect, but that’s a whole other level, sweetheart.”

Carlos smirked at TK, quickly forming it into a wide smile at TK words. TK stopped with his mouth open at the realization of his own words. TK lowered his head, blushing darkly. Carlos wrapped his arms fully around TK’s waist, pulling them almost chest to chest. 

“Perfect, huh?” Carlos teased, nudging TK’s nose with his own. TK shook his head with a smile.

“Don’t go getting a big head about it,” TK responded with feigned exasperation. His hand was now fully in Carlos’ hair, the other hand holding his cheek. The look in his eyes was soft, happy. Carlos knew the smile on his face was hopelessly giddy. Having TK here with him, so close and comforting, was nothing short of wonderful. 

“I’m glad it went okay with your mom,” Carlos whispered, eyes dashing around TK’s smiling face. TK nodded. 

“Me too. Thank you for being here for me, for helping me. I really appreciate it, Carlos.”

“Of course, baby. Anytime.” 

TK leaned his head down, kissing Carlos sweetly. Carlos tilted his chin up, inviting TK for more, which his boyfriend gladly accepted, parting his lips. Carlos sighed deeply into the kiss, tightening his hold on TK’s waist. TK’s hips shifted slightly in a way he knew would drive Carlos crazy. Carlos knowing how easily this was going to turn into something more, and pulled his lips away from his boyfriend’s. TK’s lips instead just moved to Carlos’ jaw, down to his neck. Carlos tilted his head back, closing his eyes with a sigh. 

“TK, baby. . .”

“Hmm?”

“Not that I’m not- shit- loving this. . . but I think my room would be more comfortable.”

TK practically jumped off Carlos’ lap at the suggestion. He gripped his boyfriend’s hand and pulled Carlos out of his desk chair with surprising strength. Carlos couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him as he followed with just as much enthusiasm.

Chapter Text

When TK finally managed to pull himself out of Carlos’ bed- which was quite the task when Carlos was laying across the mattress, the sheet low on his hips  the only thing covering his body, and the softest look in eyes- he was practically silent as he picked up his scattered clothes to get dressed. Carlos was well-sated behind him, hooded eyes and close to sleep. TK found it more endearing than he probably should how sleepy Carlos got after sex, and he desperately wished he could crawl back in the bed and curl into his boyfriend as they fell alseep. But he knew he had to go home, see his father before his night shift at the 126, and he still had things to solve with his mother. So instead, TK pulled on his joggers and a t-shirt from Carlos’ drawer. He heard Carlos let out a groan behind him and TK turned with a raised eyebrow. 

“What?”

Carlos was smirking, shaking his head in feigned exasperation. “If you’re going to walk out after sex, I really don’t think it’s fair if you take my clothes, too. It’s way too attractive, tiger.” 

TK felt himself blush, shaking his head with a laugh and smile on his lips. He wandered over to the bed, leaning down to hold Carlos’ cheek and he pressed a lingering kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. When he pulled back, the soft smile playing on Carlos’ lips was so tempting to fall back into, but he forced himself to stand up and take a step away from the bed. As he did, Carlos reached out to grab his hand and stop him. TK tried to hold back a wince; his hand still wasn’t quite healed from punching the wall. 

Carlos looked at him in apology, pressing his lips to the back of TK’s hand before saying, “You’ll call me if you need anything?”

TK looked down at his wonderful, handsome, amazing boyfriend- his boyfriend who had willingly sat down and talked with his mom, his mom - and it was like he wouldn’t be able to stop smiling if he wanted to. Their relationship was still so new, something they both had to get used to, but TK couldn’t help focus on how right it all felt. He had no idea what he had done to deserve Carlos, but damn, was he glad to have him. 

“Yeah, I’ll call you. Thank you.”

With one more squeeze to each other’s hands, TK grabbed his phone from the bedside table and made his way out of the apartment. He let out a deep breath as he hit the sidewalk. Carlos had offered to drive him home, since he had been the one to drive him to the apartment, but TK had denied. It wasn’t too far of a walk, and TK wanted the time to gather his thoughts. He still wasn’t sure to think about his talk with his mom. From what he gathered, she told him the same as she’d told Carlos. That she had been terrified of being a mother, that her parents- who TK really had never met- were harsh and cold, and that she regretted how the relationship between them had diminished. He believed her, he thinks he does at least. Every time they’d had this same damn conversation, every fight, Celia had never apologized. But today she had sat down with him, took his hands in hers, looked him in the eyes, and whispered, “I’m sorry, TK.”

TK could still hear how broken his mother’s voice had sounded when she said the words. Hearing them come out of her mouth, TK had frozen, not sure how to react. His body, it seemed, had a different idea. It had maybe been seconds later that TK felt his eyes filled with tears and he was crying in front of his mom. Celia had been quick to move, wrapping him in her arms and pulling him into her. It had only made TK cry harder, not sure what else to do. He had missed his mom so much , and having her there, holding him like she hadn’t since he was in his early teens, made it all hit him at once. He loved his mom and desperately wanted her in his life. 

Celia had held him tightly in her arms until he finished crying, and then she told him what she had told Carlos. TK had listened, letting his mom’s words wash over him before expressing his half of the story. The pain he’d gone through, the panic he felt whenever she and Owen fought, the constant hope that hid behind it all that one day she would accept him for who he was. After, it was Celia’s turn to have tears in her eyes. After that, TK had lost track of the conversation, too relieved that she was here and apologizing to focus on much else. They had talked about their lives lately to just catch up on what they had missed, she had asked about his gunshot wound, if he was taking the proper care of it and if it was healing well- TK didn’t mention ripping them open during the solar flare or that his arm still didn’t quite have its full range- and surprisingly, about Carlos. TK had told her that they met on the job and had danced around each other before finally making their relationship official. They just sat on the couch and talked.

It wasn’t long after that that Celia took her leave, knowing that TK would need some time to gather his thoughts or sort things out with Carlos before he came home. Celia had told him that Owen was planning to cook dinner that night before his shift, and they would both love if TK joined them. TK had just smiled and agreed, telling her he’d see them both later. So here TK was, making the short walk from his boyfriend’s apartment to his and Owen’s house. TK had avoided seeing his father since leaving the other night; he had wanted to be able to handle this all on his own- well, with Carlos, he supposed- rather than a kid who needed his dad to hold his hand, but he was getting anxious to see Owen. Though he’d never admit it to his father’s face, he really freaking wanted a hug. Owen was the most important person in TK’s life. Though his day of recovery and wallowing at Carlos’ had been nice, he really wanted to see his family again. He wanted to spend time with his dad, see the 126, and god, even if his doctor said he wasn’t, he was really ready to get back to work. He knew he couldn’t get back to work yet; his crew would kill him themselves if he even tried. Hopefully soon, though, TK thought as he turned the corner onto his and Owen’s street, he would get a clean bill of health and get back on the streets in the firetruck to help the emergencies of Austin, Texas. 

It almost embarrassed TK to have to knock on his own front door, but he had left his keys in his bedroom in his haste to get out the other night. It was Owen who opened the door, of course it was, looking so relieved at the sight of his son standing there. As if reading TK’s mind, Owen immediately pulled TK into the house, holding him tightly to his chest. TK melted into his father’s embrace, smiling into Owen’s shoulder as his own arms came up to hug back.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Owen whispered into his hair, one of his hands holding the back of TK’s head. It was simple, but TK heard it for what it was.

“I was terrified something was going to happen to you.”

“I’m sorry about what happened with your mom.”

“Thank you for coming back home.”

“Don’t scare me like that again.”

TK nodded into his father’s shoulder, breathing in the comfort.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, not sure if it was for his own benefit or for Owen’s. Looking over his dad’s shoulder, TK could see Celia standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching them carefully as she dried her hands on a towel. She smiled softly at him as she met TK’s eyes, which he returned. Owen sighed, patting the back of TK’s head before pulling away from the hug. TK took a deep breath, stepping further into the house. His mom came up next, hugging him much gentler than Owen had, but TK could feel the same love from her that he had earlier. TK pressed a kiss to his mother’s hair, a signal that they were good. They’d have to talk about it more later, and TK was sure his father would want to be involved in a talk some point soon, too, but not right now. Right now, Owen came up to them, putting a hand on TK’s shoulder to get his attention. 

“I know you’ve had a rough go these past few days, kid, but, well. Some people were wanting to come over for dinner and they didn’t really take no for an answer,” Owen sounded slightly guilty as he spoke, but TK felt a smile spread onto his face. He shook his head as he huffed a laugh. 

“Does that mean if I walk into the dining room I’m gonna find the whole crew destroying our house?”

Owen gave a half shrug, the smile on his face a faked tension. “Well. . .” 

TK just laughed, moving into the kitchen to get through to the dining room. He was surprised that he hadn’t heard their chatter beforehand; he had just been so focused on his parents that he guessed it hadn’t really occurred to him. But sure enough, sitting around their eight person dining table were Marjan, Paul, Mateo, and Judd. They were all laughing at something and hadn’t noticed yet that TK had come into the room. He smiled at the sight of his family sitting at the table; having them here- for him- made his heart swell. God, he loved these people so much. 

“Don’t you people have jobs or something?” TK joked to announce his presence. Immediately, four sets of eyes were on him, shouts of greeting and happiness meeting his ears. 

“Shouldn’t you be recovering or something? We were worried about you, man,” Paul said in response, coming up to squeeze TK’s shoulder in greeting. TK just smiled at him, hoping the apology and “I don’t really want to talk about it” shone through. Paul moved away, giving way to Mateo, who could never resist a hug. As always, TK winced a little at the surprising strength Mateo showed, but let it go in favor of hugging him back. Marjan and Judd stayed put, simply pulling out the empty chair between them to signal for TK to come sit down. With a roll of his eyes, TK complied, running a hand through his hair. It was at that moment that Owen chose to come into the room.

“TK, what’s wrong with your hand?” Owen asked, causing TK to suck in a breath. He hadn’t really thought about that part, hadn’t given himself time to think of a cover story or anything. It was still wrapped in a bandage, though now more so on his sore wrist than his bruised knuckles. Punching concrete was definitely something TK would not recommend. He looked down to his scabbed knuckles, bruised hand, and wrapped up wrist, trying to think of any way to talk his way out of it. His silence had the entire crew looking at him now, making it an unavoidable topic. Finally, TK just sighed. 

“Well, let’s just say you guys might, um. Just don’t be surprised if you find blood on the wall at the house?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“TK, what are you-”

“Dude, did you punch the wall?” Marjan’s voice rang out, her hand coming to grip the forearm of TK’s injured hand. He grimaced at her words, but knew he wasn’t going to get away with denying it. 

“Maybe?” TK responded, not looking at his father or mother, who had entered the room while the crew was freaking out. He heard Judd let out an exasperated sigh next to him as Marjan pulled his arm to her. 

“Let me see it, you idiot,” she said, but TK shook his head and pulled away from her. 

“Marj, I’m fine, okay? Carlos already looked it over and cleaned me up, I promise.”

Marjan pursed her lips, but accepted the answer and didn’t say anything more. He could see Paul rolling his eyes from his seat across the table. Next to Paul, Mateo groaned and frowned like he did when he was complaining about something. 

“Oh, man,” he started. “Does that mean I’m gonna have to clean the walls tonight, too? Come on, TK.”

Everything about it- the complaint, the whining tone, the stark difference to the serious looks from the rest of the crew and worry and guilt from his parents- was just such a Mateo thing to say that TK couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up in his throat. He covered his mouth, trying to stifle the sound from breaking the serious atmosphere, but it seemed that his laughter broke out Judd’s as well. Soon the rest of the group was laughing, too, and maybe it wasn’t even all that funny, but with the stress of the past few days weighing on all of them, TK was pretty sure that didn’t much matter. 

“Oh, probie,” Marjan breathed out, shaking her head good naturedly. TK heard his father sigh deeply, though without any heat behind it, before he came up to the head of the table. Celia moved around to the other side, watching them all with a smile. 

“All right, kids,” Owen announced, clapping his hands together. “We’ve got a shift in two hours. Let’s eat, yeah?”

The crew quickly expressed their agreement, jumping up into action to help bring whatever they needed to the table, wash their hands, and whatever else needed done. TK stayed seated, knowing he’d just be kicked out of the kitchen if he tried, and both Owen and Celia stayed as well. TK looked between them with a smile. He still felt exhausted by the past few days, felt the weight of unfinished business, even after his talk with his mom and the comfort of Carlos. But right now, for the first time since Celia arrived, it looked like everything was going to work out for them. TK was hopeful for it, at the very least.

Chapter Text

Dinner with the crew had gone incredibly well. They were all conscientious about the clear tension and stress that TK was coming down from. He knew they all had questions for him, were all concerned, but they stayed silent about it. Marjan had kept a hand on his forearm for most of the dinner, a quiet signal of comfort. Judd’s ever brotherly love was a constant presence from his other side. Mateo was acting as normal as possible, which TK was incredibly grateful for. Throughout the dinner, TK desperately wished that Paul’s gift for assessment wasn’t as good as it was; Paul kept shooting him looks, glancing towards his mom, and TK knew that the other firefighter understood the basics of what had happened between them. TK just gave him a little shake of his head, silently begging his friend would leave it alone. After the crew had gotten the signal from TK and Owen both that everything was fine, the dinner commenced in smooth and happy fashion. 

Well, it went as smoothly as it could as Celia and Owen regaled the crew with way too many stories of TK’s childhood. He’s sure his face became permanently red with embarrassment as his friends’ laughs rang out in his and his father’s dining room. It seemed that as the tension between TK and Celia had faded, the crew felt all the more comfortable with her. It was like she was just as much a part of their little family as the rest of them. It made TK smile widely, his heart swelling with love. After every single difficult step it had taken TK to get her, to be on solid and good footing with his mom, this was all he could have asked for. Unfortunately, the crew had to abandon them earlier than they had wanted to, but as Judd had put it, “those fires ain’t gonna fight themselves”.

Celia had been quick to pipe up that it was no problem; she and TK could clean up and they should all head to work. TK had nodded his agreement, looking directly to his father, who had raised a concerned eyebrow. The crew made their way out of the Strand home, each of them giving a hug or pat on the shoulder to TK as they did. He bid them goodbye, ignoring the desperate wish that he could be going to work with them. Owen held back as the rest of the crew left, following Celia and TK into their kitchen. 

“Sorry to leave you both with the mess.”

TK rolled his eyes, “It’s fine, dad. If nothing else, at least I’m used to it.”

Celia laughed a little, bumping TK’s shoulder with her own. “We’ll be fine, Owen. You guys are the ones doing the dangerous job.”

Owen still looked hesitant, but he smiled and nodded. He came up to TK, wrapping his son in a hug and whispering in his ear, “Text me if you need.” 

TK stayed silent, thinking of how his boyfriend had told him the same thing before leaving the apartment, and nodded against his father’s shoulder. He gave him a pat on the back before pulling away, smiling in a way that he hoped conveyed that he and Celia would be just fine alone together. Owen pressed a kiss to Celia’s cheek as well before moving towards the door, grabbing his jacket and keys along the way. 

“Bye, dad!” TK called to him. “Love you!”

Owen returned the call before shutting the front door behind him, leaving TK and Celia alone in the house. As he did, Celia let out a content sigh, bringing dishes into the kitchen and flipping on the sink faucet. 

“You know, I really do like that crew of yours,” she said, smiling over at TK. TK nodded, gathering his thoughts to form a response. Eventually, he thought about how he and Celia had said they were going to be more open to each other about their feelings and let each other further into their lives. 

So TK settled on saying, “They’re my family.”

He watched his mother’s face closely for her reaction. As much as it was the truth, he didn’t want to hurt his mom’s feelings by accidentally implying that she wasn’t part of his family. Regardless of whatever tension was between them, Celia was his mom, he loved her, and he would always want her to be part of his family. Celia didn’t seem to even blink at her son’s words though, simply smiling in response. TK moved to take the rinsed off dishes from her hands, loading them into the dishwasher.

“I want you to know how sorry I still am, TK,” Celia said after a few minutes of silence. They had finished the dishes, now moving leftovers into containers to be put into the fridge. TK wasn’t even sure how to respond to her words. He knew she was sorry, he believed her when she said she was trying to make an effort. He also knew that being sorry didn’t mean she was okay with him being gay yet. They still had so many steps to go before they reached that point. TK nodded at his mother, mulling over his thoughts. 

“I want you to know how grateful I am that you made an effort to get to know Carlos,” TK finally settled on in response. “I know you said you wanted to be involved in my whole life, but you didn’t have to- . . . I guess I just wasn’t expecting you to do that. It means a lot.”

Celia turned to look at him, pausing her movements as she put the tupperware lid on leftover salad. She moved closer to him, placing her hand on her son’s shoulder. 

“TK, I know I haven’t been the easiest person to deal with, and it’s still. . . odd, the idea of you with a man. But I could tell easily that night, when I saw you saying goodbye to each other after dinner, that he was special to you. The fact that it was him that you went to and let take care of you after the other night made it all the more obvious. I never took the time to really meet your previous boyfriends, and I wanted to be able to at least speak to this boy that makes you so happy before I leave. And. . .” Celia paused, moving her hand down from TK’s shoulder to his forearm, squeezing lightly. “And regardless of how I feel about your relationship, however long it takes me to be fully comfortable with it, I like him.”

TK felt shocked, his mouth dropping open slightly at his mom’s words. “What?”

“I said I like him,” Celia laughed, moving back to her tupperware to put it in the fridge. “He seems like a good man. Respectable profession, good apartment, smart and funny, clearly has love to give. . . Not to mention your father has just been singing his praises, which is impressive in itself, considering how protective of you I know your father is.”

Celia’s words sent surprise running through TK’s body. He knew how wonderful Carlos was, he didn’t need that reminder, but to hear it from his mom was something else. And his father had been hyping him up to her, too? He knew his dad liked Carlos just fine, or at least was good at simply acting like it. Celia had been right; Owen was especially protective when it came to TK’s relationships, and usually just kept whatever opinions he had to himself. He knew Owen had never liked Alex, that wasn’t a question. But Owen was talking about Carlos when TK wasn’t around, and- according to Celia- he only had good things to say. It made TK smile to himself at the thought that he and Carlos really did have Owen’s approval. 

“And that smile,” Celia interrupted his thoughts, gesturing to the look on her son’s face. “I’ve never seen you look like that, but you keep smiling like that when you’re around him, or when you talk about him.”

TK blushed involuntarily. With all the dancing around each other they had done over the past months, it seemed like so much longer, but in reality he and Carlos had only been officially together for a little over a week. He’d only been able to call Carlos his boyfriend for a week, but he was so far gone on the man. His big, strong, compassionate, cop boyfriend. TK knew that if he was given the opportunity, that if he and Carlos kept happily going like they were now, that he could so easily fall in love with Carlos. He had told himself that Alex was his soulmate, even believed it for a while after moving to Austin, and that he wasn’t going to fall in love again. Carlos had derailed every last speck of those thoughts, though. Everyone here had helped him recover from Alex, from the thoughts he had put in TK’s head and the hurt he had caused. It still ran deep through him, haunted his therapy sessions and dreams, but he was getting better. He could recognize now how unhealthy his and Alex’s relationship had been, that he wasn’t the soulmate TK thought he had been. Carlos had been so good for him- to him- and reminded TK that he could be loved, deserving it, and that he could love again. For real this time. 

“I’m glad you like him,” TK whispered to his mom. “I do, too. I really, really like him.”

TK sounded like a love-sick teenager, he knew, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care much. Carlos was cute and he was happy, sue him. And he had never been able to talk to his mom about a boy before, so he damn well was going to now. As long as he didn’t push her too far to make her uncomfortable, he noted for himself. Thankfully, Celia just smiled and laughed a little at her son’s smitten look. It was a step forward for them both. They moved around each other with a newfound ease, finishing packing up the leftovers. It was, frankly, more calm and comfortable between them than they had been for years. 

TK thought about his therapist, of all things. In his recovery, Dr. Hill and Owen had decided they would have TK start visiting her three times a week rather than twice. With Celia visiting, he had skipped his last two appointments, though admittedly it was not on purpose. Hell, he was even thinking about asking her if they could move up his next appointment, so he could see her after Celia left. He certainly had plenty to talk about. The last he had seen her was the day before Celia flew into town, when they talked a lot less about getting shot or his sobriety and much more about the nerves he couldn’t shake about his mom coming to visit. TK thought about how every appointment, Dr. Hill encouraged him to rebuild. Rebuild the sobriety he had gained, rebuild his trust in the people around him, rebuild his life, and rebuild his family. TK had spent so many sessions fearing that he would never be able to do any of that. But he stood here, in the kitchen with his mom, and knew that Dr. Hill had been right. He could rebuild. He had his family in the firehouse, Carlos to hold, kiss, and care for him, a four month sober chip in his pocket, and his parents- both of them - in his life. 

He and Celia finished their clean up, moving out to the living room. As they did, Buttercup immediately sat up in his bed by the TV. That had been another idea of his therapist’s; she figured TK having Buttercup around as much as possible rather than at the firehouse would be good for him. TK barely gave more than a glance over to the dog before he was up off his bead, bounding his way over to TK. He smiled down at Buttercup, scratching behind his dog’s ears. Celia gave a pat to Buttercup’s head as well in her passing before sitting down on the couch. Once Buttercup was satisfied with his petting, he allowed TK to move past and sit down on the couch before jumping up, planting his head in TK’s lap. TK affectionately rolled his eyes at the attention seeking dog, but buried his hand in Buttercup’s fur anyway. 

“I see your dad finally gave in to getting you a dog,” Celia said with affectionate annoyance, smiling down at the dog. TK huffed a laugh, glancing over to his mom before turning his attention back to Buttercup. 

“He gave in to getting himself a dog,” TK responded, feeling a little bit sad as he thought about it. “Buttercup has the same cancer dad has.”

Celia’s smile dropped slowly, and TK knew she was looking on at the pair of them with sadness. She reached out, rubbing Buttercup’s nose gently with her finger. 

“Poor baby,” she whispered, and TK nodded sadly. 

“Dad said the last scans show Buttercup’s getting better, though. They both are.” TK knew the gratefulness in his voice was plenty evident, and his mom gave a sympathetic sigh next to him, moving to take TK’s hand that wasn’t petting Buttercup. 

“I know you’re terrified of losing your dad right now, TK. I know what it feels like, too. When the towers came down, when he went out on bad calls. . . Even after our divorce, I never stopped worrying that your dad wasn’t going to come back home. I never will stop, I’m pretty sure.”

TK let out a sharp, shuddering breath. He didn’t know if he had it in him to go through another emotional conversation today. He gripped his mom’s hand back, staring down at Buttercup’s big brown eyes. Celia brought up her other hand, brushing it through TK’s hair gently.

“TK, baby, you know your dad loves you more than anything, right?”

He nodded, silent.

“Well, no matter what happens, he is always- always- going to fight to stay with you. And if god forbid he loses that fight, he’s still going to be with you, in some way or another. You’re never going to lose him, not really. You know that, right?”

TK nodded again. “I know. I’m just. . . scared. I don’t know if I can do all this without him.”

Celia took a deep breath. Rather than responding, she instead scooted closer to him, putting her arm around TK’s shoulder and leaning him into her. It was a comfort he couldn’t remember receiving from his mother for close to a decade now. She seemed to sense that he wasn’t up to a deep conversation right now, letting the matter go for now. TK allowed himself to relax into the couch as his mom reached for the remote and turned on the TV. She flipped through channels, landing on reruns of some sitcom. 

The night passed with ease, thankfully. They watched TV together, laughing and smiling at the show. Buttercup was a strong, steady presence on TK’s lap. It was just a casual, calm night in. The pain from the week was melting away between them, and TK felt good. Comfortable. Part of his thoughts stayed with the 126 and Carlos, all of whom were on the night shift, but he allowed himself to focus on being here with his mom and Buttercup. 

Yeah, he thought. Dr. Hill was right. He could, and was, finally starting to rebuild.

Chapter Text

TK and Celia had spent her last day in Texas together. With everything that had happened, TK forgot how short her trip really was. But unfortunately for them, Celia was needed back in New York soon so she would be spending one last full day with TK before flying home tomorrow afternoon. Owen had apologized profusely about having to work so much over her visit, but Celia had waved him off. By the end of their marriage, she had grown all too used to Owen working non-stop. To make up for it, Owen had promised his ex-wife and son that he would treat them both to a farewell breakfast in the morning before they had to head to the airport. 

TK couldn’t help but wish he and his mom had more time before she left. There was still so much for them to talk about, lives to catch up on, and TK had to admit that he really loved having the company while he recovered and couldn’t yet go back to work. TK spent the day showing his mom around Austin. His doctors didn’t want him driving while he recovered, especially after he’d torn his stitches, so Celia drove a rental car under the direction of TK. They took a driving tour around town; TK learned about some of the sights of Austin right along with Celia. It baffled him that in the months he’d been here, running around in a firetruck from call to call, he really didn’t know much about his new home. The two of them stopped for lunch at what had become Owen’s favorite vegan diner, a few blocks away from the house. 

It was just a day out on the town for them both, something they hadn’t done since before TK had pretty much permanently moved in with Owen as a teenager. They didn’t talk about the fight, or TK being gay, or the shooting and his upcoming doctor’s appointments. TK didn’t want the last day he was spending with his mom, alone together for who knows how long, to be serious or heavy. Celia seemed to feel the same way; instead they talked about the beautiful sights she’d seen while in China, some of the tamer or funnier calls TK had been on while working for the 126, plans to better keep in touch and the possibility of TK going up to New York to see her for Christmas or New Year’s, and just light, happy things. TK felt calm, comfortable, and was able to momentarily forget the dull ache in his chest, the lack of complete movement in his arm, and his current inability to be at work with his friends and family. It was, frankly, the best time with his mother he could remember having in a long time. 

But it was now the day of her flight out, and TK, Owen, and Celia were all in the car after breakfast, driving towards the airport to drop her off. The car stayed relatively silent save for the few comments from one of them or the radio playing the country music Owen was getting more and more into. They chatted as they pulled Celia’s bags from the truck, moved into the airport, and stood with her as she got checked in. Owen said his goodbye there, with a short lived hug to his ex-wife and a smile to thank her for visiting. It was civil enough, though TK could see there was tension between his parents. 

TK opted to walk all the way to security with her to say goodbye. When they approached the gate, TK let out a deep breath, shifting the suitcase he was dragging to sit next to his mom. Celia smiled at him, slightly sadly. 

“So this is it,” she said. TK nodded with a smile. Rather than stand there waiting to get through an awkward goodbye- for some reason they’d never been good at them- TK just gave in and initiated a hug. His mom held him tightly, arms around his shoulders and a hand holding the back of his head. 

“I’ll miss you, baby,” she said in his ear. TK nodded against his mom’s shoulder. 

“I’ll miss you, too.” 

It was true. He wanted her back in his life, and having her in New York or in whatever country she traveled to for work wasn’t going to make it easy. “Thanks for coming to visit, mom.”

Celia pulled back, smiling at her son. “Thank you for listening to me, and allowing me to try and fix things. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

With one more hug and a kiss to her son’s, Celia grabbed her suitcase and turned to enter the security check. TK watched her go, both sad that she was leaving, and relieved that the week was over and things in Austin would start getting back to normal. As she got in a line to wait for TSA to check her over, she turned to wave one last time. TK smiled, waving back. After that, he turned, walking back to where his father was waiting. Owen raised his eye as if to ask if all was good, and TK smiled, letting out a breath. Owen placed a hand on his son’s shoulder as they walked back to the car to drive home. 

TK stayed quiet as they got back into the car. He wasn’t sure what to say, exactly. It had been a long week, with lots of emotions involved, and he knew he needed a break. Owen, always in tune to things like that, just switched on the radio for the car ride home. It was a surprisingly long time to simply get out of their airport parking lot and property; apparently the airport was at its busiest around this time of day. Eventually, when they got onto the highway and were officially on their way home, TK spoke. 

“Dad, I know you’ve been working all week, and we haven’t seen each other as much with mom visiting, but-”

“Let me guess, you and Carlos have plans?”

TK smiled shyly at his father’s raised eyebrow and teasing smile. He felt bad for leaving his dad alone in the house last night, even though he knew his father wouldn’t mind much. 

“Carlos has the night off,” TK explained, “He wanted to make dinner, watch a movie.”

Owen smiled, reaching over from his place in the driver’s seat to pat TK on the shoulder. “I don’t mind, TK. Go, have fun, spend time with your boyfriend.”

TK liked hearing other people call Carlos his boyfriend. 

“And hey, I have a late shift tomorrow, so how about we go out, have lunch? You can make up for ditching me tonight.”

TK rolled his eyes at his father’s feigned annoyance, looking out the windshield to the Austin city road in front of them. “Sounds good, dad.”

Once they had gotten home, Owen moved towards the bathroom for a shower, while TK went off to the kitchen, pulling out sandwich fixings for lunch. Buttercup walked circles around him, silently begging for bites of the various foods in his hand. TK attempted to shove the dog away with his foot, causing him to let out a whine. At the sound, TK couldn’t help but sigh, relenting to the begging dog. He moved over to the cupboard over the fridge, pulling out the treats they kept for Buttercup. After being given one treat, Buttercup seemed satisfied, moving out of the kitchen and to the living room to lay in his bed. TK rolled his eyes at the dog’s antics as he finished making lunch for both him and his dad, who came out of his shower shortly after. They sat together at the counter to eat. It was the first time the two of them had been alone since Owen had come into his room a few nights ago to TK laying in bed crying. 

“How are you doing, kid?” Owen asked.

TK thought for a moment. “I’m fine, dad. I’m doing good.”

“Yeah? We haven’t really gotten a chance to talk, not since-”

Since TK was upset, ran out of the house, and scared his father into thinking he might have overdosed. TK sighed, setting down his sandwich and looking down at the island. 

“I’m sorry, dad. I didn’t mean to scare you the other night. I just- it was too much, and I was upset- I needed to get out of the house.”

Owen frowned a little. “I know. I don’t blame you for wanting to get away. But, TK, I couldn’t stop thinking about when you were a teenager. I remember the first time I found you high.”

TK almost flinched at his father’s words. 

“You were 17, TK. You were supposed to spend the weekend at your mom’s, but Saturday night, you stumbled into the apartment, a bottle of vodka in your hand and high out of your mind. You wouldn’t tell me where you got it. I was so worried about you, and when I asked what was wrong- You told me you and your mom had had a fight, that she’d said something about you being gay. That’s all I could get out of you. So we just sat in the bathroom all night as you threw up and you cried in my arms. My heart broke that night, TK.”

TK bit his lip, feeling tears well in his eyes. He didn’t remember the actions of night his father was talking about, but he remembered the feelings of sadness and pain, and how all he had wanted was to forget everything and a hug from his dad. Owen had called in sick to work the next day, and they had sat in TK’s room all Sunday watching movies until TK was ready to talk.

“I was so scared when I saw you leave the house the other night. I want to keep you safe all the time , and even though you’re an adult, I don’t know how to stop protecting you from everything I can. When you left- I was scared I was going to end up holding you on the floor of the bathroom while you puked up more than your body could even handle.”

“I’m so sorry, dad. I wasn’t thinking about what you’d think, and I-”

“Don’t apologize. I’m not mad, I’m not upset with you. I understand what you needed to do, and I’m glad that Carlos was able to find you and take care of you.”

Owen stood up from his seat at the opposite end of the kitchen island and moved to sit directly next to TK. He placed his hand on TK’s shoulder, getting his son to look at him through his wet eyes. 

“You and your mom talked, and I’m glad for it. I’m happy that you two are doing better, and you deserve to have a happy relationship with her. But I need to make sure that you really are okay. That you want that. Because I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive her for the fear I felt the other night, or when you were 17.”

TK could understand where his dad was coming from. He knew his dad was hurting over his addiction, too, and that Celia’s reaction to TK’s coming out had always put a strain between his parents. 

“I miss her, dad. And I know she’s not perfect, and it’s gonna be really fucking hard on all of us, but I miss her. I want her in my life, I want to fix this.”

Owen sighed, nodding. He stood, stepping as close to TK as he could in order to pull his son to his chest, hugging him tightly. TK gripped at his father’s shirt, a few tears falling out of his eyes. 

“I’m here for you through all of it, okay? I love you.”

“I love you, too, dad.”

When they finally finished lunch, Owen moved to his at-home office to do some paperwork for the firehouse. TK, on the other hand, lounged around the house all afternoon, until Carlos came to pick him up after his shift. When the cop showed up, TK called a goodbye to his father, making sure he knew that he had his keys, phone, and everything else he should have when he leaves the house. He knew Owen would need the reassurance.

Carlos greeted him in the Camaro with a smile and kiss, catching TK up on his day. TK listened silently, inserting responses where it was appropriate or asking questions when he needed. It was comfortable between them, a picture of a happy relationship. Once Carlos was done with his day’s summary, TK went through his own day of dropping his mom off at the airport and hanging out with his father and Buttercup, leaving out their emotional lunch conversation.

The easy conversation between them continued as they stood side by side, making a pasta dish for dinner. TK was impressed with how far they’d come from that first, disastrous dinner at Carlos’ place. He was happy they’d managed to come so far. Sitting across the table from Carlos simply felt right, like they were meant to do this forever. 

When they had finished eating, TK was about to start the dishes when Carlos stopped him with arms around his waist, pulling TK into his chest. 

“The dishes can wait, tiger,” Carlos whispered into TK’s ear, pressing a kiss behind it after. TK melted into Carlos’ arms, leaning back into Carlos’ chest where he stood behind him. 

“You know that if we wait they’re not getting done until tomorrow morning, right?” TK whispered into the air. The feeling of domesticity was overwhelming, as strong and strikingly comfortable as the hug Carlos was giving him. Carlos laughed against him, and TK felt him nod. 

“Just go over to the couch, sweetheart. I’ll bring you over a glass of water and we can find a movie. 

TK nodded, reluctantly pulling out of Carlos’ arms. He let out a sigh as he fell into Carlos’ couch. His boyfriend let out a snicker as he watched him from the kitchen island. TK gave him a half-hearted glare, but Carlos just smirked at him as he moved towards the couch as well. 

“Rough week, tiger?”

TK huffed a laugh, reaching out his arm to pull Carlos down next to him as he set down the glass of water he’d promised. He immediately snuggled into his boyfriend’s side, comforted by the arm Carlos threw across his shoulders to pull him closer. 

“We all got through it in one piece,” TK finally responded once they were settled together. Carlos hummed in response. 

“I know it was a lot,” Carlos said, “but I am so proud of you, TK. You were so anxious at the beginning of the week. But you were able to have a conversation with her about how she hurt you and start healing. That’s amazing, sweetheart. I’m proud of you.”

The simplest words from Carlos always managed to floor him. He was far too lucky to have this man by his side, even if they’d only been official for such a short time period. In lieu of response, TK turned his head to press a kiss to Carlos’ jaw. He was proud of himself, too. He was proud that he’d stood up and admitted how he felt, and he was proud that the week had ended on a good note for all of them. 

“Thanks for being there for me this week,” TK whispered up at Carlos, who smiled down at him. 

“Of course. I told you, I’m all in with this. That means being there for all the hard shit, now matter how soon it comes up in our relationship.”

TK smiled through his words, saying, “Me, too, sweetheart. You know that, right?”

Carlos let out a deep breath, now looking slightly nervous. “I do. And on that note. . .”

TK sat up slightly at Carlos’ more anxious disposition, frowning up at his boyfriend. Carlos wasn’t pulling away from him, the look in his eyes that he always seemed to be giving TK hadn’t changed, but his nervousness managed to fuel TK’s as well. 

“What? Are you okay?”

Carlos’ lips twinged up in a smile, and he moved his arm to pull TK back to him. “Yeah, baby, I’m fine. I just- I made the mistake of mentioning to my sister Rosie that I’d met both your parents now.”

“Okay? And what does that mean? It’s making you nervous.”

“Well, my older sister tends to have a big mouth. Rosie, because of freaking course she did, mentioned it to my parents. My mom called me, complaining that I had met your parents and you had never met either of them. I tried to tell her that we hadn’t even been dating that long, that we weren’t trying to move that fast, but trust me - it is impossible to talk over that woman when she’s set on something. Then she passed the phone off to my sister Christiana, who went off on me for not even knowing that I was dating at all. Chris passed the phone to my father, who passed it to Rosie, who gave the phone back to my mother because she hates me, and-” 

Carlos took a deep breath, reaching the end of his ramblings. 

“-you have officially been invited to the Reyes family dinner next week Sunday.”

TK just kind of stared at Carlos, mouth hanging open a little. Wow. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but it wasn’t that. Carlos seemed to take TK’s silence as reason more to be anxious, biting his lip as he backtracked a little. 

“I know it’s a lot, my parents and two of my sisters, and we agreed to go slow, however you need to be. If you don’t want to do this, I understand and I promise, I’ll deal with my mother. It’s completely up to you, and I don’t want to pressure you into anything. Whatever you want, okay?”

TK couldn’t help but smile a little. Even in his nervous state, Carlos was still thinking about him and how to make TK comfortable. Carlos was right, they had agreed to go slow. Which had seemingly gone out the window the moment Owen had told TK that Celia was coming to visit. The more TK thought about that, the more he realized that he wasn’t upset about that. They hadn’t even been on a proper date yet since they got together, and TK didn’t mind. TK had thoughts of pure, romantic love when he looked at Carlos, and it barely phased him. Carlos had met both of his parents, and TK was glad he had. 

“We haven’t been going slow,” TK blurted out.

Carlos looked down at the floor, away from TK. “I know, I know we haven’t been. I’m sorry, I’ll call my mom back later and tell her-”

“No!”

Carlos looked back at him, the rest of his sentence caught in his throat at TK’s outburst. 

“No, Carlos, that’s not what I meant. I just mean- Carlos, we haven’t done anything in our relationship the right way. You pretty much met my father before you met me. We had sex before our first date. I was still hung up on ex, and you arrested me. You were sitting by my hospital bed before we were officially dating. We had the “what are we” conversation after all of that. A few days after you agreed to be my boyfriend, you met my mom. Our relationship hasn’t been linear in any way whatsoever. And I don’t care. I like the way everything played out because at the end of it all, I’m sitting here on the couch with you, and I’m really fucking happy, Carlos.”

Carlos was looking at him wide-eyed. 

“So yeah, we haven’t been going slow, and I don’t think I even want to. We’re going at a pace that’s perfect for us. I like that you’re making me comfortable and aren’t pushing me into anything I don’t want. And there’s still gonna be things that I need to wait on. But I’m happy, Carlos, and I like that we’re moving how we need to be moving. Are you?”

Carlos’ smile was blinding. He leaned down, pressing a soft and breathtaking kiss to TK’s lips. He didn’t get the opportunity to deepen the kiss like he wanted when Carlos pulled away instead. 

“Yeah, baby. I’m happy.”

TK smiled widely, leaning his forehead against Carlos’ head, landing near his cheekbone from how he was slouched against Carlos’ side. That’s what he had been hoping Carlos would say. If he had gone on that rant and Carlos hadn’t agreed, it would have been embarrassing, heartbreaking, and painful for both parties involved. But he should have known Carlos would agree. Even if it hadn’t been long that they’d known each other, TK knew Carlos well. Carlos knew him well. Like they’d had each other in their lives for years. 

“So we’re going to your parents’ house for dinner on Sunday.”

“Really?”

TK smiled at him, sitting up to kiss Carlos’ cheek. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Carlos smiled, wrapping his other arm around TK to hug him. TK closed his eyes, settling into his boyfriend’s embrace happily. It had been a long week, for the both of them. He was glad that they had this time together, to simply be in each other’s presence. TK felt a kiss to the top of his head and Carlos scrunched down on the couch a little, making it easier for them to cuddle. 

TK thought back to the day of the solar storm, when Owen had asked him how many life decisions he had made. He had to admit, over the past week, he had made a lot. Staying with the 126, him and Carlos, fixing things with his mother, being okay with how things were moving in his relationships. . . There had been a lot of life decisions recently. He was sure he’d get a number of jokes from Judd or Paul about him going through a quarter-life crisis. TK didn’t mind, however. He was getting his life on track, rebuilding what he had lost and strengthening what he had gained. 

Each one of those life decisions he had made had been important, and he was glad to have made them. TK Strand, in this moment, in this city and job, in this relationship, in this life , was happy.