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Emmett made it on the ladder truck just steps before Travis, he was thankful that the older firefighter had opted to just grab his turnout gear and physically push him toward the cab of the truck, all the while muttering under his breath to hurry up.
“Probie, you stick with Montgomery,” ordered Maya front her seat in the front, not having noticed that Travis had manhandled him into the ladder truck with him.
“Copy Cap,” Emmett responded as he glanced over at Travis who was busy trying to ignore him, “Travis?” he called out hesitantly, after they pulled up to the scene.
“This way Probie,” he responded, “We’re going to be layering the fuel spill with foam,” as he gestured for him to help unroll the fire hose and to prepare to commence their objective as soon as the barrier is in place.
“Right,” Emmett nodded his head in agreement as Travis left him alone for a minute in order to go converse with Captain Bishop and Hughes after the situation. He couldn’t believe that Travis was here and that they were assigned to each other, Emmett knew that he needed to talk to him in order to explain his situation with the older firefighter. Even though, Travis made him feel things that he had never felt before for anyone else, including Alicia, his ‘girlfriend’ of over six years. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and for once in his life not even the fear of his father was enough to drive him away from Travis.
“Probie!” Travis called out as he stormed toward him, “get ready to charge the hose, we’re going to put down a layer of foam so that Hughes can go across in order to clamp off the fuel source.”
“Right,” Emmett nodded in reply as he hustled to bring the fire hose to where Travis had motioned where it needed to be placed.
“Ready?” he called out as he joined him on the hose, “and go!”
Travis and Emmett jogged up to the PRT and joined the others as they waited for a status on Rigo, “Any news?” questioned Travis as he glanced over at Maya in concern.
“Nothing yet,” she struggled to hold in her tears and maintain a calm façade for her personnel, she couldn’t afford to break down in front of them, especially not while they were still on a call. By the time that the rest of the team gathered around the PRT, Warren was finally opening the back door in order to provide Captain Bishop an update on the fallen firefighter.
“He’s stable at the moment,” Warren reported as he the PRT started up, “we’re taking him directly to Grey-Slone for further care.”
“Go,” Maya ordered as she gestured for the rest of the team to load up in the vehicles so that they could head over to the hospital and keep watch over their fellow firefighter.
By the time the team made it to the hospital, Emmett had slowly come to a horrible realization as he learned the backstory between Rigo, Jack and Rigo’s wife Eva. He needed to have a heart-to-heart conversation with both Travis and Alicia, and he needed to be honest with himself about what it was that he really wanted with his life as well as to each of them.
They had been at the hospital for nearly two hours before Emmett had a chance to speak to Travis in private when they went to go get everyone something to eat from a nearby café, “Travis, can we talk?”
“About how you didn’t tell me you were a firefighter?” Travis started with as they walked across the street, “or about the fact that your dad is the new Fire Chief?”
“Neither,” Emmett shook his head before taking the plunge, “I’m…I’m not out,” his comment caused Travis to falter mid-step, “and it’s largely due to my dad, Michael Dixon has plans for his only child, and that does not include having a gay son.”
“You can’t live your life for your father,” Travis felt his heart clutch in sympathy as he recalled his own issues with his own father when he had come out and then again with his marriage to Michael, “sometimes you just have to walk away from your family and live your own life. If they truly love you, then they will come back into your life.”
“I get that,” he trailed off before explaining his fear, “but my dad will go nuclear, and he would destroy not only me but anyone else who he deemed responsible for turning his son gay.”
“Oh, so…” Travis was beginning to figure out what Emmett was referring to.
“Yeah,” Emmett swallowed before finally revealing the point of this entire conversation, “so, before I go and destroy my entire life…should I? You know, destroy my entire life?” he asked as he kept his head down and refused to look up even as Travis jolted to a stand-still next to him and then be jerked to a stop when Travis reached out and grabbed his arm tightly, “Trav?”
“Emmett,” Travis trailed off as he thought over what Emmett had just revealed to him, “I…” he stopped mid thought when he realized that he wasn’t looking at him and was looking everywhere but him, “Emmett, you need to look at me,” his amusement was apparent to the younger firefighter who felt as though he had just handed his heart to someone who was about to shred it into a million little pieces.
“Look I…”
“Stop,” Travis interrupted as he pulled him over out of the pedestrian foot traffic and into a nearby alcove where they wouldn’t be interrupted by people pushing past them, “just stop and look at me,” he ordered harshly, as he came to the realization that Emmett was on the verge of having a massive panic attack at the thought of coming out to his father, “breath,” he ordered as he placed the hand he was holding onto his chest so that Emmett could focus on his breathing pattern and mirror theirs together in an attempt to calm him down without having to result to medical intervention, “focus on my breathing, ok?”
“Ok,” he nodded as he slowly calmed down and swallowed before opting to give Travis an out, “look, this isn’t your problem, you weren’t looking for anything…” he was cut-off mid-sentence as Travis pulled him close and crushed their mouths together in a soul devastating kiss, he froze for a moment before bringing his arms up in order to loop them around Travis’ neck so that he could tug the other firefighter closer to him.
Neither man was aware of how long they stood there kissing until Travis’ cell phone went off, alerting them that their pick-up order was ready for them to collect, “We need to get back to the others,” Travis gasped as he tore his mouth away from Emmett’s, “and we need to have a serious conversation about dealing with your dad.”
“You mean?”
“Yeah,” Travis paused feeling good about starting a relationship for the first time since Michael died, “I want to see where this is going to go, but…I also have some things that I need to tell you about,” he trailed off in mid-thought as he thought about talking to Emmett about his deceased husband.
“Ok,” Emmett nodded his head in agreement as the pair headed into the nearby café and grabbed their order and then hurried back toward the hospital where the others were waiting for their return.
“So, tomorrow morning after we get off of shift?” Travis offered hesitantly.
“Yeah,” Emmett nodded his head in agreement as they approached the entrance to the hospital.
“One thing though,” Travis stated as he paused mid-step.
“What?”
“Girlfriend?”
“Yeah?”
“End it,” Travis recommended simply, “I don’t like playing the side piece,” he joked lightly as understanding flashed across Emmett’s face.
“Understood,” he thought over his work schedule as well as Alicia’s to see if they had any free time either sometime that day or the following day. Alicia deserved to be spoken to in person and he didn’t want to tell her the truth about himself over the phone.
“Really?” Travis frowned at Emmett’s easy agreement to his demand.
“My dad was hounding me about why I never dated,” he revealed as they walked into the hospital together, “and Alicia was someone that I knew from school,” he shrugged lightly.
“Does she know?”
“No,” he replied as Travis nodded his head in understanding of the mine field that Emmett was going to be heading into when he broke up with her. No one liked being dumped but everyone hated being used as a cover, especially when they didn’t know that they were being used as a means to an end, “tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow,” he agreed as they joined the others in the waiting room and handed out everyone’s orders as they settled down to wait for a status update on Rigo.
It was another three hours before Doctor Bailey came out to provide them with a status updated on Rigo, “He’s in the ICU at the moment,” she reported as she directed his wife to follow her back towards the ICU room where Rigo was being kept.
“Thank god,” Andy swore as a wave of relief spread across the group of gathered firefighters.
“Ok, people,” Maya called out to her crew, “Rigo’s made it through surgery, but we still have a couple more hours left on shift, so we do need to get back to the station.”
“Copy, Cap,” the group called out as they slowly gathered their discarded turnout gear and disposed of their trash on their way out of the hospital.
“Hey, has anyone seen Chief Sullivan?” Jack questioned as they piled into the ladder truck.
“No,” Maya replied as she reached again for her radio and called for Chief Sullivan again, “he’s not answering the radio,” she stated as she glanced over at Andy in the driver’ seat.
“His cell phone?” she proposed with worry evident in her voice.
“Right,” Maya grabbed her phone from the pocket of her turnout coat and punched in the Chief’s phone number and got his voice mail yet again, “voice mail again,” the fear was now growing among the crew as they came to the realization that no one had been able to reach the Chief for going on ten hours, “sirens,” she ordered as Andy speed up in order to return to the station and find out what was wrong with Sullivan.
“Come on Cap, he’ll be fine,” Jack said over the headset, “he’s probably just sleeping or catching up on paperwork.”
“And he doesn’t have his radio or cell phone on him?” Maya countered, “Or heard about Rigo?”
“Andy, go faster,” Jack retorted as the dread started to grown, “who else was at the station?”
“No one,” Maya replied as all three of Station 19’s vehicles pulled into the barn one after another, “find him,” she ordered as they spread out across the station in order to locate the missing Chief.
Emmett stuck close to Travis as they swept the outside of the station before heading toward the storage area, “Chief Sullivan!” the pair called out in unison as they worked their way through the back area of the barn before rejoining the others near the ladder truck.
“Any luck?” Ben asked as they joined the group.
“No,” Travis reported as he glanced around for Vic, “Where’s Vic…” he was cut off by a scream.
They ran toward the screaming firefighter, “Vic what’s going on?” demanded Andy as she stormed into the office with the others following closely behind her.
“He’s not breathing!” she reported as she continued providing CPR to the collapsed firefighter.
“Oh my god,” Maya stared in horror as she took in the scene in front of her from the down firefighter, the syringe, and the bottle of Fentanyl laying haphazardly on the ground next to him, “he overdosed,” she stated in stunned disbelief as the others realized what she was saying, Ben ran out toward the Aid Care in order to grab the med kit that contained the defibrillator.
“Naloxone,” Ben passed the reversal medication to Jack who immediately administered the counteragent to the Chief, “Andy,” he passed the defibrillator over to Andy who was closet to Sullivan’s chest.
Andy quickly placed the pads and charged the defibrillator, “charging 200, clear,” they watched as Sullivan’s body jumped, but remained flatlined on the monitor, “damn it.”
Travis passed over a backboard so that they could load him into the Aid Car and transport him to the hospital for further treatment.
“Warren, Gibson, and Herrera, get him loaded and transported to the hospital,” Maya ordered as she and the others stepped back as Travis brought in the gurney so that they could place him on it.
“Oh it,” Gibson ran back toward the barn in order to get the Aid Car started and ready to depart as soon as the patient was loaded into the back.
“Damn it all to hell,” Maya yelled after the Aid Car vanished into the quiet Seattle night.
“Damn what to hell?” demanded Chief Dixon who walked up from behind the remaining Station 18 personnel, he was accompanied by an unknown female, unknown at least to most of the firefighters gathered there.
“Dad, Alicia,” Emmett identified the pair with complete disbelief on his face, why were they at the Station. His dad had an excuse as the Fire Chief, but there was absolutely no reason for Alicia to be there at all. The only plus side to their unexpected visit, it would save him having to find them in order to talk to them, “guys this is Alicia.”
“Hello,” Alicia smiled as she waved at everyone safely form Chief Dixon’s side.
“What are you doing here?” questioned Emmett as he glanced over at Travis before forcing his attention toward his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend.
“You said that you wanted to see me,” she held her cell phone up as proof of his request.
Emmett groaned loudly, “I didn’t mean right away,” he complained as he spotted the dawning realization on Vic’s face.
“Oh, let’s give Probie some privacy,” she pushed the others out of the office so that Emmett could have some resemblance of privacy for what she assumed was going to be an unexpected break-up.
Chief Dixon pulled Maya into her office in order to discuss more in-depth the situation that had been discovered upon their return to the station.
Vic, Dean and Travis made quick work of the inventory and gear cleaning as they waited for Maya and Emmett to emerge form the respective offices as well as for the return of the Aid Car with hopefully good news about Chief Sullivan’s condition.
“Alicia!” Emmett called out as he ran after his fuming ex-girlfriend who was storming toward Hughes on a mission, “Hughes, watch out!”
“Wha…” Vic’s eyes widen as the girl from earlier stopped in front of her, “hello?” she frowned as she shot a glance over toward where Travis and Dean was standing, “can I help you with something?”
“How?” Alicia growled as she clutched her fists to her side, “how could you take him from me! Emmett was mine!”
“What? I don’t understand,” she glanced over at the Probie in growing confusion at being accused of being the other women, “I’m not…”
“Don’t lie!” Alicia shouted as she twirled around and pushed past Emmett and ran out of the station, “stay away from me!” she yelled over her shoulder at Emmett.
“What just happened?” Dean questioned as he and Vic shared disbelieving looks as they turned their fill attention toward an eerily silent Emmett, “Probie?”
“I just broke up with her and she did not take it take well,” Emmett sighed as he glanced between the three firefighters in defeat.
“Oh, congratulations?” Vic commented as she frowned, “why did she…”
“I told her that I meet someone else, and she assumed…” he trailed off in mild embarrassment.
“She assumed it was Vic,” Travis finished the statement for Emmett, amused by the fact that everyone was assuming that the new person in Emmett’s life was a female.
“Yeah,” he shrugged as he shot a quick glance over at Travis before returning his full attention toward the still silently fuming Hughes, “I am so sorry,” he shrugged, “she wouldn’t let me explain anything,” he said directly at Travis who was looking at him with a blank expression on his face.
“So, we know it’s on Vic,” Dean joked, “so, is it Maya or Andy?”
“Yeah, who is it?” Vic questioned as interest took over as she leaned back against the wall and folded her arms across her chest, “come on now, who is it Probie?”
Emmett merely shook his head in refusal, “not going to happen,” he laughs as Vic slung her arm around his neck and pulled his towards her.
“Come on!” Vic replies as she tugs him down, “if I’m getting accused of being the other women then I at least deserve to know who the actual other women is. I mean, right guys?” she questioned as she threw a questioning look between Dean and Travis.
“Yes!” agreed Dean as he gestured over toward Travis for his agreement, “Travis?”
“No,” Travis shook his head, as he moved away from the rest of the group, “Probie can tell us, when he’s ready to, and not before then,” he finished before heading down toward the bunks.
“See,” Emmett waved his hand toward Travis’ back, “Just…”
“Just what?” Maya questioned as she gestured for Travis to hold up and to rejoin the group.
“What’s going on Cap?” questioned Travis as he came to a stop next to Emmett.
“Chief Sullivan arrived at Grey-Slone in a coma,” she paused before pushing forward with the rest of the explanation, “he was pronounced dead twenty minutes ago,” she forced herself to hold back the tears before continuing, “we’re off line until the department psychologist talks with each of us individually, so go get some sleep, they’ll be here tomorrow morning.”
“Copy.”
“Understood.”
“Ok then,” Maya nodded her head as she headed back downstairs toward her office in order to wait for the Aid Car to return from the hospital.
Emmett used Captain Bishop’s interruption as a cover so that he could walk out of the barn and head toward his bunk, he was over today. He just needed to hit the rack and sleep for the next several hours or at least until the department psychologist arrivals in order to speak with them all about the drama of the day.
“Wait up,” Travis called as he jogged in order to catch up with him.
“Yeah?” Emmett questioned, as he stopped mid-step and slightly turned in order to speak with the older firefighter.
“In here,” he ordered to he grabbed ahold of Emmett’s hand and tugged him into his room just before the others came down the hall after them.
“Wha…” Emmett was cut off by Travis’ mouth coming down over his in a rush of emotions, “my dad…” he gasped out when Travis pulled back slightly in order to give them a chance to catch their breath.
“Tomorrow,” Travis replied as he brushed their lips together lightly, “want to be my boyfriend?” he whispered against his mouth.
“Yes,” Emmett agreed as he leaned forward in order to chase after Travis’ lips, “you sure?”
“Yes,” Travis muttered as emotions he hadn’t felt since before Michael had died came crashing through him, “talk tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Emmett agreed as he was pushed back into Travis’ bed.
“Tomorrow,” Travis repeated as the pair allowed the rush of their emotions take lead.
The following morning the pair was awaken by the sound of Captain Bishop pounding on Travis’ door, “Montgomery!” she shouted, “the department psychologist is here, be in the beanery in ten.”
“Copy!” Travis called back as he reached his hand up in order to brush Emmett’s face lightly.
“If you see Dixon make sure he knows, the Probie’s not in his room,” she grumbled as she moved down the hall, pounding on Gibson’s door next.
“How am I supposed to get out of here without anyone seeing me?” Emmett quipped as he pushed himself up in order to get out of the bed.
“Quickly,” Travis countered as the pair started to pass their clothes back and forth do that they could get dressed and out of Travis’ room before the others started to emerge from their rooms, “move it Probie,” he smirked as he tugged on his boots while Emmett pulled on his shirt.
“Have you seen my…” Emmett was interrupted when Travis passed over his missing boot, “thanks,” he smiled as he slipped on the boots as Travis headed toward the door.
“Hold on,” he held up his hand as he leaned outside his room in order to check if the cost was clear, “we’re clear,” he called back as the pair headed down towards the washroom.
By the time they made it up to the beanery B shift was there and making breakfast for both of the crews.
“Alright people,” Maya called out over the sound of both crews speaking over one another, “shut up and listen!”
“Hello everyone my name is Diane Lewis,” the Grief Counselor introduced herself as she glanced around the room, and I am a SFD Grief Counselor and I am here in order to help all of you process the unexpected death of Chief Sullivan,” she stated as she glanced around and wasn’t at all shocked that none of the gathered firefighters had moved from their spots, “is there somewhere I can set up shop?” she questioned Maya.
“My office,” Maya offered, “alright people, I know that you don’t want to do this but the sooner you speak with Doctor Lewis the sooner you can all go home.”
Over the course of the morning, the firefighters took turns speaking with the Grief Counselor, until only a handful were left.
Emmett was jolted from his nap by the sound of Andy screaming and cursing his name, “What?” he frowned s he glanced around the beanery as the others shared their own looks of confusion.
“Stay put,” Maya ordered as she went down the stairs in order to check on the status of the obviously distressed Lieutenant.
“Don’t worry Probie,” Travis offered as he and Jack looked at each other across the table.
“Yeah, who knows with Andy what’s she’s thinking,” Jack shrugged as he pushed himself up and headed over toward the TV room.
Emmett jumped up when he spotted Andy storming into the beanery with Captain Bishop hot on her trail, “What…?”
“You! This is all your fault!” she screamed as she lurched forward as if she was going to actually physically attack Emmett.
“Stop!” yelled Travis as he pushed Emmett behind him as Maya grabbed Andy from behind.
“Lieutenant Herrera! Lieutenant Herrera!” Maya attempted to get her attention, “Andy!”
“What!” she screamed as she fought against the hold that she was in.
“You need to calm down,” Maya ordered as she motioned for Travis to get Emmett out of Andy’s line of sight, “go,” she ordered as Travis grabbed ahold of Emmett and pulled him down the stairs and away from the rampaging Lieutenant.
As soon as the couple was downstairs, they immediately ducked into Captain Bishop’s office where Doctor Lewis was waiting, “Hello,” she mussed at the unexpected arrival of the two firefighters.
“Sorry,” Travis reached out in order to shake her hand, “Montgomery and Dixon,” he introduced them to her as he explained the situation, “Lieutenant Herrera came upstairs, as he gestured toward the stairs just outside the office, “Captain Bishop ordered me to get Dixon out.”
“Probationary Firefighter Dixon,” Doctor Lewis realized as she recalled Herrera’s accusation against the firefighter, “how are you doing with everything?”
“It’s just my first day,” he responded as he collapsed into the nearby seat, “one firefighter in the hospital, another overdosed and a third just tried to kill me.”
Travis laughed softly at Emmett’s reaction, “don’t forget your visitors from last night.”
“Right,” he nodded in agreement, “my dad and ex-girlfriend came by the firehouse last night.”
“Your ex-girlfriend?”
“Yeah, I broke up with her last night,” he shrugged.
“He’s had an eventful first shift,” Travis supplied as he stood next to the door in case Andy came down to continue her attack from earlier.
“This is one-on-one counselling,” she commented as neither firefighter had made any motion of leaving the other alone, “I can’t’ talk in front of…”
“He can stay,” Emmett interrupted as he glanced over toward Travis.
Travis shrugged his shoulders in agreement, “he can stay.”
Diane felt her eyebrows raise at their stance, this was an interesting turn of events, “are you certain?” she turned toward the Probie, “after all it’s only your first shift and you may not want Montgomery to hear…”
“I knew Travis before I started here,” Emmett interrupted when he realized she was worried that Travis was using his position to curtail Emmett’s session.
“Same,” Travis shrugged as he leaned back against the wall as he drew his attention away from the window when he spotted Maya driving away with Andy.
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” she stated as she glanced down at her paperwork in front of her.
“The department doesn’t know,” Travis supplied when he spotted her looking at their records, “it’s no one else’s business.”
“Ok,” she nodded as she leaned back in her chair, “what do you want to talk about?” she asked as she glanced between the unexpected pair.
“Andy…Lieutenant Herrera blamed Emmett for Sullivan’s death, didn’t she?” Travis went straight for the jugular.
“I can’t…”
“She screamed at him and physically attacked him,” Travis interrupted her denial, “so I’ll take it as a yes to my question.”
“Do you know why she blames him?”
“Yes,” Travis nodded as he glanced down before returning his attention toward her.
“You do?” Emmett was surprised at his claim.
“Yeah,” he nodded as he shifted slightly against the wall, “but if anyone is to blame for what happened tonight, it should be me.”
“What?”
“And why’s that?”
“It was Emmett’s first call out,” Travis supplied, “usually the new guy is left behind at the station on their first shift since they don’t get into their turn-out in time…”
“I see,” she nodded, “you helped.”
“Yeah,” he shrugged.
“And nobody realized?”
“No.”
“But why hide the fact that you two know one another?”
“My dad,” Emmett replied.
“Sorry?”
“My dad is the new Fire Chief,” he groaned out loud, “he already used my being assigned here as a PR stunt and used his position to get me stationed at 19. Most of the crew hated me on site just because of that.”
“Satan.”
“Yeah, Satan,” he agreed with the nickname, “Travis doesn’t deserve to have to deal with the drama caused by my father.”
“Plus, I’m the Training Officer,” Travis supplied, “if anyone wanted to make trouble, they could target either one of us.”
“So, you’re both walking a fine line here at 19,” she commented.
“It doesn’t help mattered when the people you’re suppose to be able to trust with your life try to kill one of us,” Travis stated as he folded his arms across his chest, “we don’t say anything because at least with him here, I can help keep the altercations to a minimum.”
“I agree,” she surprised the pair, “based on what I’ve seen and heard so far here today, Dixon needs all the support he can get.”
“I don’t need a babysitter!”
“See!”
“Fine. Not a babysitter, a friend,” she laughed lightly, “but look at it this way.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Dixon HAD been here, would it had made any difference?” she looked between the pair as realization slowly dawned on their faces, “sure he may have discovered the Chief, but what if he didn’t? So instead of having the excuse of being out on a call with everyone else, he’d be dealing with why he didn’t check in on the Chief.”
“You’re right,” Travis agreed as Emmett’s face slowly drained of color at the possibility that Doctor Lewis had just proposed to them.
“Thank god you forced me to hurry,” he whispered as the dread slowly let go, “if you hadn’t…”
“Don’t even think about it,” she commented, “you’ll be fine, just focus on your training and don’t worry about what your dad thinks.”
“Agreed,” Travis nodded his head at the statement coming from the counselor.
“Fine,” Emmett groaned at the realization that he was being ganged up on.
Travis laughed at Emmett’s defeated response to being strong armed into listening to them, “don’t you have a meeting with your dad?” he reminded his boyfriend of less than 24 hours.
“Yeah,” he groaned in reply as he shot a quick glance at his wrist watch for the time, “are we finished here Doc?”
“You are both cleared to go home,” she replied as she marked off both of their names from her roster that had been provided to her by the department, “hopefully we won’t see each other anytime soon.”
“Agreed,” the pair responded in unison.
As the couple separated in the parking lot, they made plans to meet up at Travis’ after Emmett’s meeting with his father, “good luck,” Travis called out as they headed toward their own vehicles.
“Later,” Emmett shot back as he closed the door and headed over toward his dad’s place for their scheduled meet-up.
Travis stood silent as he watched Emmett drive away from the station, “are you going to ask me your question or are you just going to stand there and watch?” he questioned.
“What’s your relationship with Firefighter Dixon?” Diane questioned as she joined Travis by his car.
“He’s my boyfriend,” Travis countered with an ease he hadn’t felt since Michael.
“Just straight out?”
“Straight,” he shrugged, “in our defense, neither of us realized that the other was a firefighter, let alone that we be at the same station.”
“Or you being assigned as his Training Officer,” she commented.
“Yeah,” he shrugged, “there’s not much else we can do except keep a low profile at the station.”
“You don’t trust your crew?”
“His dad is the Fire Chief,” Travis interjected simply, “and we call him Satan.”
“I noticed that,” she frowned.
“Are we done?” Travis questioned when he spotted Maya pulling back into the station, “I kind of want to go home and get some sleep.”
“Of course,” she waved him toward his car as she headed back inside the station.
Travis relaxed on the couch as he watched the news about a wildfire just outside of LA. He hoped that they would be able to put it out quickly with minimal lost of life and property. He was interrupted in his musing at the sound of someone knocking on his door, “Coming!” he called as he pulled himself up and headed toward the door, “Emmett,” he whispered as he pulled his boyfriend into his arms, he could tell that the younger firefighter had been crying due to the tear tracks on his face.
“My dad disowned me,” he mumbled into Travis’ neck, “he said that he didn’t raise me to be gay and he didn’t want to have me at his house.”
“Damn it,” Travis cursed as he guided him inside the apartment so that he could close and lock the front door, “it wasn’t your fault, it’s Satan’s.”
“That’s what I told him,” he muttered softly into his neck.
“Good for you,” Travis agreed with a half formed smiled on his face, “let’s sit down and then we can talk, alright?”
“Ok,” he nodded his head in agreement as he pulled away from Travis’ grip, “you said that you had something to tell me?”
“Yeah,” Travis nodded in remembrance of their conversation, “are you up for this?”
“Let’s do it,” he replied as he sank down on the couch as Travis started to tell him about his past marriage with Michael and how it had turned out in the end.
“I’m so sorry,” Emmett tugged him into his arms, “I’m sorry that you had to go through that by yourself.”
“But I’m not alone now,” he whispered as he leaned back slightly in order to press his mouth to Emmett’s, “I have you now and I’m not afraid to talk about what happened anymore.”
“Ok,” Emmett whispered as they slowly sank down into a heated make-out session.
“Bedroom,” Travis muttered as they struggled to stand up all the while refusing to relinquish the other’s lips.
Later that day as they lazed around in bed, Emmett commented, “thank you for being you and giving me the support, I needed to stand up for myself.”
“You did the hard part, I just provided the support,” he replied as he tugged Emmett closer.
“Yeah?” he replied as his eyes focused on Travis’ mouth.
“Yeah,” he managed to reply as they got lost in another heated clench.
***