Chapter Text
There was no such thing as a “normal” day at LAFD air operations. But insofar as Tommy could call a day at the hanger normal, this day certainly fit the bill. The warm Los Angeles air was lazily flowing through the wide open door as he worked on restocking the chopper his team had just returned from a successful medevac. The task itself was not highly stimulating, but that didn’t bother Tommy one bit. His mind was pleasantly occupied with a cinematic rerun of his Saturday date with Evan.
Evan had looked so cute when he’d picked him up at the loft. He felt 14 again describing his date with a word as juvenile as “cute,” but there was really no better word to describe the way Evan had ducked his head and blushed from ear to ear when Tommy had greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. Was it wrong to find it so attractive the way Evan stumbled over his words and blurted out “it’s my first date with a dude.” As if his Thursday night performance after their first kiss hadn’t clued Tommy in on the fact that all of this was very new to him.
He was probably grinning like a loon thinking about the way Evan’s eyes crinkled when Tommy had insisted on picking up the bill. Even the look of panic on Evan’s face after Eddie’s surprising appearance had been endearing. He’d looked like a deer in headlights and had been so apologetic to Tommy after the fact.
“Evan, don’t worry about it.” Tommy had assured him, “There’s no way you could have been prepared for that.”
It took a little convincing to get him to believe it, but Tommy couldn’t complain. Especially since a not insignificant part of that convincing involved making out in the cab of his truck once they were away from prying eyes. Just as he was reliving the feeling of holding Evan’s hand over the gearshift on their drive home, he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket.
Speak of the devil, it was a text from Evan, who was still in his phone under the original name Tommy had given his contact Evan Buckly - 118 . As if he needed a reminder now who was on the other end of that line.
“Great news!” The text read “Just came out to Hen and Chim today!”
A grin broke out across Tommy’s face. Evan was brave. Braver than Tommy had been when he’d first realized he was gay. Not even a week after his first kiss with a man Evan had already come out to his sister and 2 of his closest friends. When it had been Tommy’s turn he’d agonized over the decision for months before finally telling someone. Not that there was a right or wrong pace to come out at, Tommy was just the slightest bit envious at Evan’s conviction.
“How’d it go?” He texts back. He couldn’t imagine it going any way but good, what with Hen being a Lesbian herself and her and Chimney clearly viewing Evan as a little brother they adored. But he knew Evan needed someone to debrief on these situations with.
“Great! 😁” Evan’s text in return read. “They both said they were happy for me.”
“Well I’m happy for you too,” Tommy shoots back, “Glad to hear it went well!” He’s tempted to add a heart to the end of his text, but isn’t sure how Evan would take that.
“❤️” Evan’s next text comes in answering Tommy’s question on what emojis Evan finds appropriate to send to a guy you’ve been on 1 date with and kissed twice- No wait 3 times, he’d almost forgotten the goodnight kiss they’d shared when Tommy had dropped Evan off at his apartment.
“What are you up to now?” Tommy types not wanting the conversation to end.
“Just got back from my shift, probably gonna crash.”
“Sweet dreams ❤️” Tommy feels a little bold with that last text, but he’s got the feeling Evan needs a bit more sweetness in his life so he clicks send.
“😊” He receives back, and he can picture that cheeky smile and blush playing across Evan’s own face as he smiles down at the emoji.
Just as the rerun of their date begins anew in his head, he hears his name being called from across the lot.
“Kinard!” He looks up to see Hen and Chimney ambling towards him, a dark SUV parked right where Eddie had left his truck almost a week ago.
“Chim! Hen! What are you guys doing here?” He closes the door of the chopper behind him as he moves to greet them halfway.
“We hear you're dating our Buck.” Chimney supplies, greeting him in a handshake back-slap combo.
“We thought we’d stop by to have a little chat.” Hen continues, arms crossed, tone slightly more icy than her cheery companion.
“Ah, so this is the shovel talk.” Tommy nods. He’s not surprised, having seen how close the 118 is, that he’s getting this visit. Honestly, he probably should have expected it, and it made sense that Hen and Chimney would be the 2 to deliver it seeing as they already knew him. Not just the well adjusted, better educated him who’d received a much needed hit over the head and had made much needed amends to the pair, but also the problematic, no backbone, “good ole boys club,” man he’d been when he’d first met the both of them.
“Alright, give it to me.” He assents.
“We know things are still new between the two of you.” Hen starts, her tone more friendly than before, but her arms still crossed.
“But Buck is very special to us and we’ve seen him hurt before.” Chimney finishes, crossing his arms as well.
Did the two of them practice this on the way over? Tommy wonders or are they really just that close that they honestly finish each other’s sentences. And the arm cross, was it choreographed or just a coincidence?
“I really like Evan,” Tommy insists, holding up his hands in an I’m innocent gesture. “I have no intentions of hurting him.”
“Look-” Hen lays a hand on his shoulder briefly, catching his eyes with a weighty expression. “When it comes to Buck, sometimes it’s not so much about what you intend to do, it’s what you end up doing without realizing it.”
“Buck didn’t exactly come from a loving home full of healthy self expression and emotional processing.” Chimney twirls his hands as he talks, almost as if he’s trying to unwind a complicated ball of yarn. “He’s working on it, but he hasn’t fully developed a healthy coping mechanism yet. He’s delicate.”
Tommy nods in understanding, “I definitely noticed that with the whole accidentally spraining Eddie’s ankle due to jealousy thing.”
“The thing is it’s not usually other people he’s hurting,” Hen explains. “It’s himself.”
“You mean?” Tommy’s eyes narrow. He hadn’t noticed any signs of the sort, but he knew that kind of thing could be carefully hidden.
“Oh no, not like that.” Chimney quickly jumps in catching Tommy’s meaning.
“Well not exactly like that.” Hen hedges. “He struggles with feeling wanted, so instead he tries to make himself feel useful which usually involves something along the lines of running back into a burning building or climbing a metal ladder in the middle of a lighting storm.”
Tommy pushes his hair off his head. He’s known Evan for less than a week and he can’t imagine anyone ever not wanting him in their life. How could someone have made this amazing man feel so unworthy of love that he feels he needs to scream for it.
He’s not sure how to convey all this to the pair in front of him so he settles on saying. “I promise I’ll take care of him.”
“You better.” Chimney points a finger in his face, having to rise a little onto the balls of his feet to do so. “If we hear you’ve hurt him we’ll crash your copter.”
“Chim.” Hen cuts in, her tone turning syrupy sweet, “Don’t be ridiculous, we don’t know anything about helicopters. However,” She turns to face Tommy head on, her eyes as cold as steel. “We are paramedics and I’ve got several semesters of med school under my belt; it’d be easy to stop your heart and make it look like an accident.”
Tommy gulps. If it was coming from anyone else he’d take the threat as what it probably was, just a scare tactic. But watching Henrietta Wilson inspire a team of people, including himself, to fly into a hurricane on a hunch, he wasn’t in the business of thinking there was anything she couldn’t and wouldn’t do for those she loves.
“I will, uh, take that under advisement.” Tommy finally chokes out.
“Good.” Hen smiles a cheshire grin. “Have a great rest of your shift Tommy.” She turns to leave, her eyes lingering on him until they can’t any more.
“And take care of our Buck!” Chimney calls over his shoulder as he follows after her. “His sister will kill me if you don’t! And then she'll be on her way over to help Hen finish the job with you.”
“Oh, by the way,” Hen stops, her hand resting on the car door, as she looks back at Tommy. “We’re really happy for you welcome to the family.” With a wink she joins Chimney in the car and the two of them drive off without a backwards glance, leaving Tommy standing in the middle of the lot watching their tail lights disappear.
You are one lucky guy to have people love you that much Evan Bucky, he thinks. If only you could get out of your own way to see how much they do.