Chapter Text
TK took his husband’s free hand as they began the drive home from Tommy’s house. He raised their joined hands to his lips and then looked at his husband’s nails. “Oh, they didn’t paint your nails this time.” TK said to break the silence.
Carlos chuckled as he asked “Why do you sound disappointed by that?”
TK laughed, “Not disappointed, but seeing what colors they talked you into today was one of the things that got me through the last several hours.”
“Well, just because they didn’t paint my nails, doesn’t mean that they didn’t get to paint someone’s.” Carlos told him.
“Trevor let them paint his nails?” TK asked still laughing.
“Fingers and toes.” Carlos informed him, joining in on the laughter.
“How did that happen? I was so sure you would have your nails in a rainbow again.” TK said as he raised Carlos’ hand to his lips.
“Oh, I am sure that they thought they were going to as well because it was the first thing they said about me to Trevor’s daughter. Let’s just say he admitted to being at Tommy’s with the girls without her permission and I agreed not to arrest him for kidnapping until their mom got home as long as they painted his nails. He agreed.” Carlos answered.
“He earned the nail painting.” TK said a moment later.
“He told me about Tommy proposing.”
“Tommy finally told Nance and I after we got back from an epically weird TikTok challenge call. Tommy went on a whole rant about TikTok ruining lives as she used a pair of pliers and a lot of Vaseline to remove a harmonica from a woman’s mouth while being live streamed on TikTok.”
“Did you say ‘removed a harmonica from a woman’s mouth’?” Carlos asked in a mix of confusion and disgust.
TK cringed as he remembered that whole scene. “Yeah, it was for the ‘fit it in your mouth challenge’.”
Carlos looked over at TK, probably to see if TK was fucking with him at this point. “That is not a thing.”
“Sadly, it is.” TK replied.
“Why?” Carlos asked. “Never mind, I don’t want that answer.” He changed his mind as they pulled into their parking lot.
TK laughed as they got out of the car. “It was definitely one of the weirdest calls I have had, not sure exactly where it fits in my top 5, but it’s up there.”
“Why was this musical instrument removal done at the scene on TikTok and not in a hospital?” Carlos inquired.
“No insurance. Tommy managed to bend it and pull it out. That girl’s face is going to hurt for a while.” He shuddered at the mental image he still held of the whole situation. “You can probably watch it on their TikTok if you want, but I will not be revisiting that one.”
Carlos looked at him like he was crazy, “I’m good.” After they got into the elevator he asked, “Did Tommy also tell you about the condition of saying yes to the proposal?”
TK nodded, “That his ex-wife gets to personally vet both her and her twins before Trevor can agree?” TK had both been annoyed and understanding of this part of the divorce agreement between Trevor and his ex. He had personal experience with an ex-wife wanting to vet someone, even if those words hadn’t been specifically spoken, but he had also been a step kid to two very different people. Maybe if his parents had had an agreement like that, Lorraine wouldn’t have happened.
“Yeah.” Carlos said.
They were both quiet again as they got off the elevator and entered their home. TK could tell that something was on Carlos’ mind, but he wasn’t sure if he should push or if he should wait out his husband and see if he told him what he was thinking. TK watched as Carlos put his bag down on the desk and head to the kitchen.
“Are you hungry?” Carlos asked while looking in the refrigerator.
TK was starving. The bells had rung for the train derailment before lunch so the last thing he had eaten was one of the donuts that Carlos had brought to the fire house that morning. “I could eat.” He answered with a smile as he sat down at one of the bar stools at the counter.
He knew that cooking was one of Carlos’ stress relievers, and he could tell that his husband was working through something right now. He watched Carlos take out the ingredients for chicken quesadillas, what they had originally planned for dinner tonight. The only thing different tonight than every other night that Carlos cooked was that he didn’t turn on any music.
Once he had all of the food prepped and the chicken and veggies on the stove, Carlos finally spoke again. “I told Trevor about how badly I mishandled telling you information that you were very much entitled too.”
Ah, so that was what was on his mind, TK was actually surprised by this discovery. “You did?” This wasn’t really something that they talked about anymore. Carlos’ first marriage and him not being honest with TK about it and the status of it had been a challenge, but not an insurmountable one.
Carlos took his attention off of the stove to look at TK, “I did. I could understand why he had that agreement with his wife, and even why he didn’t tell Tommy about it, but it didn’t make it right. He should have told her when they started to get serious, just like I should have told you when we did. He was beating himself up a lot about it. Like I had been for months before finally telling you.” He said before turning back to the stove, his shoulders slumped a little bit.
TK got up off of the stool and walked over to his husband, wrapping his arms around him from behind. “You know that I don’t hold that against you, right?” he asked quietly.
Carlos nodded as he said “I do. I don’t know why you didn’t or don’t, but I am grateful for it.”
TK pressed a kiss to the back of Carlos’ neck before telling him “I don’t hold it against you because you are the love of my life, and losing you wasn’t an option.” He felt some of the tension in his husband’s body lessen at his words. “I know why you were married to Iris, I understand why you didn’t get a divorce when she was found to be alive, I have forgiven you for not being honest with me about it until your hand was forced. I love you more than I hated the secret you kept. Its pretty much that simple.” He placed another kiss on Carlos’ neck before turning to the island to pick up the tortillas that Carlos had made before TK had called him to watch the twins earlier and handed them to him.
“I think that I just felt like a bit of a hypocrite for calling Trevor out for keeping something important from Tommy, when I had done the same thing to you.” Carlos told him as he started putting the quesadillas in the tortillas. “Can you put the rice in the microwave and get the salsa out please?”
TK took two plates and put them next to Carlos as he finished constructing the quesadillas. He then took the homemade salsa and rice from the fridge, He placed the salsa on the counter and the bowl of rice in the microwave. “You were busy before I called you.” He said with a laugh. “I get it. When Tommy finally told us what was making her so stressed out, it took me back for a moment. But babe, it was just for a moment. It’s in the past and you do not need to feel guilty about it.”
TK waited for the microwave to go off while Carlos flipped the quesadillas in the pan. He knew that there was still something on his husband’s mind since there was still a bit of tension in his body. He asked “So what did you do while the girls painted his nails?”
Carlos turned to him and smiled as he said “I recorded it.”
“Seriously? That’s hilarious.” TK said with a laugh, Carlos joining him as he plated the quesadillas. TK took the rice out and placed it on the counter, grabbing both of them a glass of iced tea.
Laughing with his husband was exactly what he needed after the day that he had had. He still couldn’t believe that they had gotten so lucky with the wind and rain that came through, breaking up the chlorine gas at just the right time. If it hadn’t TK wouldn’t be getting ready to eat dinner with his husband, he would be in a body bag on his way to the morgue.
As they ate Carlos told him stories about how the girls had kept teasing Trevor about his dance moves from the night before, how Trevor’s daughter had called him ‘fine’ within ten seconds of meeting him, how Trevor had been understanding of what Carlos had confided to him.
“Honestly, it was better than sitting here watching the news alone. It was nice to have a distraction for a while.” Carlos told him as they finished their meal.
They had cleaned up from dinner and getting into their bed when Carlos asked “So, how close was it today?”
TK thought back to several hours earlier, the cloud of green gas seeping under the door and their turnout jackets, creeping closer and closer to Tommy, Nancy, and himself. He remembered listening as Tommy had given the code to her safe to Wyatt for Judd, all three of them already accepting that they would soon be following the dead woman on the tables in front of them.
Carlos was sitting on his side of the bed, so TK crawled across and straddled his husband’s lap. He waited until he felt his arms wrap around him before gripping Carlos’ face in his hands as he was brutally honest. “It was close.” he paused before adding “The whole scene was a nightmare from the very beginning. There was more than one close call today, for all of us. First there was the explosion from the tanker that flung the entire 126 and 129. Fortunately for the 126, most of the injuries were in the 129. Then came the toxic cloud of death. We had just finished loading the last of the injured people from the derailment when we got a call to go to the elementary school for a kid with chemical burns. We went and treated him and would have left if his burn hadn’t been in the shape of a handprint. We looked for the woman that he described and took her into the school, but she died shortly after. Then we got trapped in all directions from the cloud. When the wind changed, the gas had already started leaking into the room. We didn’t think we were coming out.”
“How close was the cloud to the school when you stayed?” Carlos asked, TK knew this next part was going to be hard for him to hear.
“It was less than 5 minutes out from our location when we went to look for the woman. We knew it would be close when we stayed to find the last person. She was beyond saving, we also knew that when we stayed due to the burns that the kid had.” He watched as Carlos closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them with a tear falling down his cheek. TK quickly wiped that tear away, placing a kiss where it had been. “Tommy was going to stay behind on her own, she told us to go with the 122 to the next evac location, but we couldn’t leave her there on her own, it would have been certain death for her. Nance and I knew the risk, but we couldn’t let her go alone. I hope you can understand that.”
“I don’t like it, but I understand it.” Carlos replied quietly, tightening his arms around TK.
“I didn’t either.” TK admitted. “I wasn’t ready to leave you, I don’t think I ever will be.”
Carlos smiled at that, “That’s good, because I am definitely not ready to lose you either.”
TK thought about it for a minute before saying “This was by far the scariest near-death experience I have had.” He wasn’t expecting his husband to laugh at those words. He arched a brow at the man that was shaking him with his laughter. “What is so funny?”
“That’s because you weren’t in a coma for this one.” Carlos managed to get out between more bursts of laughter. Once the man was able to get himself under control he said “This was my easiest of your near-death experiences, I didn’t know how close it was until you were already home.”
TK rolled his eyes at his husband as he smiled, “I can see your point. It is definitely a lot easier to deal with almost dying when you aren’t conscious or at the very least hadn’t been pistol whipped to get a pretty severe concussion.”
Carlos smiled back at him, “At least this time you didn’t even have to go to the hospital, just home to me.”
TK leaned in and kissed his husband, moved his hands to wrap them around his husband’s neck. Their bodies moved in concert with each other, both of them celebrating that they were here, together. At home and in their bed.