Work Text:
TK sighed as he heard the weather announcement. "Oh boy it's going to be a long shift today."
"That's why we're kicking it off with a Paul special." Paul said as TK grabbed a spoon and tasted the food.
"Sounds good to me." TK said as he helped set up the table.
"Everything alright Judd?" TK asked, the two of them had gotten a lot closer recently after talking everything through, Judd was like the big brother he never had.
"Grace and I had a little disagreement before work." Judd said, placing his hands on his hips.
"You want to talk about it?"
"Hell no." Judd said with a head shake.
"Got it, no talking about feelings around Cowboy Judd." TK said with a teasing grin.
"If you want to talk about feelings so much then we could talk about you and your cop that's definitely not your boyfriend."
TK couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face at the mention of Carlos and stuck his tongue out at Marjan when she started teasing him. "There's nothing to talk about."
"Yeah Judd didn't you know that all friends pine after each other and go on not dates every few days and make each other dinner before staying over and dropping you off at work the next day with the worst case of heart eyes ever to be seen." Paul said with a playful grin.
"You guys are the worst and I hate you all." TK deadpanned, hiding his smile as he ducked his head.
"We love you too little brother." Judd laughed and ruffled TK's hair.
"Reyes is a great guy, he has our approval."
"Gee thanks Judd, that's actually what I was waiting for, why don't I just go hop on him right now." TK said with a fond eye roll.
"I'm sure Carlos would very much appreciate it." Michelle said as she passed through.
"Not you too Michelle!" TK groaned and sat down at the table.
"I'm not getting involved, I just wanted to let you know my thoughts as I passed through innocently." Michelle grinned.
"Are we talking about TK and Carlos again?" Owen asked as he walked in, happy for the distraction from how he felt.
"Should I be concerned at how invested y'all are in my love life or?" TK questioned as they all sat down at the table.
"Everyone loves a good love story and it's a nice distraction from the end of the world storm out there."
"Well Carlos and I are still just friends and I'm more focused on if he's going to be safe during this storm." TK admitted as he checked his phone again.
"That boy has lived through multiple bad storms so don't you worry your pretty little head brother, he probably just lost signal at the station." Judd assured, he understood the fear TK felt though as he felt the exact same about Grace.
----
TK stood at the doors for the firetruck and stared into the distance as he thought about everything that has just happened, he thought he'd lost his Dad but he got him back thankfully but that's where their luck ran out.
"TK, hey Ty, look at me." Carlos said softly, appearing almost out of nowhere and turning him away from the scene.
"Carlos? What are you doing here?" TK asked after a few moments, zoning back in when Carlos cupped his face in his hands.
"There we go, you worried me for a second there." Carlos stroked TK's cheek and gave him a sad smile.
"I was patrolling nearby and I saw the truck so I wanted to check on you, none of my texts were going through so I was worried."
"I was worried about you too, I've been checking my phone every chance I can just in case you'd messaged." TK admitted and collapsed into Carlos' touch, resting his head on his shoulder.
"You're okay, we're okay." Carlos soothed as he held TK closely.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to fall apart on you like that it's just that I thought I'd lose my Dad for a minute there but I didn't and then those poor kids lost theirs because he was so focused on saving them that he forgot to save himself and there's nothing we could do to help him." TK explained as he straightened up a few minutes later.
"It's alright for you to feel scared, you nearly lost your Dad and I know how important he is to you and what those kids are going through is horrible and no one deserves that to happen to them but as you said yourself, there is nothing you could've done so don't you for a second blame yourself."
"You always know the right thing to say." TK said with a sad smile.
"I need to get back to my patrol but here is the key to my place, feel free to use it anytime you might need an escape." Carlos said, pulling a key from his pocket.
"Are you sure? Won't you be needing this yourself?" TK asked, touched by the thoughtful gesture.
"I have a spare set in my desk at work, we can trade next time we see each other, don't worry Tyler." Carlos assured and kissed TK's head.
"Be safe out there please."
"You be safe too, I know you've experienced these situations before but it's still dangerous so please be careful." TK worried, leaning into Carlos' touch.
"I promise I'll be safe and I'll try my very best to keep you updated." Carlos assured, holding TK for a few seconds before reluctantly letting him go so he could finish his patrol and TK could get back to work.
----
TK woke up abruptly and looked around the room to work out what had woken him so suddenly before soft hands were on his face and guiding him to look at Carlos, feeling himself relax instantly.
"Hey TK, I didn't mean to scare you." Carlos said quietly as TK sat up on the couch. "Did something happen at work? I didn't expect you to be using the key so soon."
"My Dad had this cough back in New York not long before we were going to leave and he said it was nothing just a cold and I had a lot going on so I didn't think too much into it, I believed him." TK started to explain, holding onto Carlos' hands.
"Then everything happened with Alex and the od and I forgot about it, Dad never brought it up again so I thought that was the end of it and we had a whole firehouse to reopen so I didn't think about it again. Until today that is, I was looking for some gum and I found a bottle of pills in my Dad's desk, nausea pills for chemo patients."
Carlos let go of TK's hands and pulled him into a hug straight away, rubbing his back soothingly as TK cried. "Have you spoken to your Dad about this yet?"
"I spoke to him just before I came here and he said he kept it from me for so long because he didn't want to see the grief in my eyes and I know he's going to beat this, he's the strongest man I know but I'm still so scared to see him go through this." TK admitted, clingy tightly onto Carlos, more grateful than ever that he was back in his life.
"It's okay to be scared, being scared is a natural human emotion, it doesn't make you any less strong to give into your emotions."
"Why don't we get changed into our pjs and I'll let your Dad know that you are staying here tonight and we'll cuddle until we fall asleep. You can talk about everything you are feeling or we can put a movie on or even just lie in silence, whatever you need, I'm here for you."
"I think a movie might be a nice distraction from the day, something we've already seen before." TK said after a few moments and let go of Carlos as they stood up.
"Thank you Carlos, you really are the best friend I've ever had."