#exesof911week

[morganaspendragonss]

with heart and head you take the edge away (5/?)

yes, two fics today!

this one is for @exesof911week day 1: amicable closure + “regret you? nah. at one point you were exactly what I needed.”

ao3 | 1k | fluff, a tiny bit of hurt/comfort, married tarlos, closure

TK had always known this would be a possibility, but he’s still surprised when a familiar voice greets him in Central Park.

“TK?”

TK looks up, shocked, his eyebrows climbing into his hairline at the sight of Alex before him. He looks good, happy, but there’s more than a hint of nervousness in his posture, his hands shoved into his pockets and his weight constantly shifting from one foot to the other. It’s strange, seeing him again after all these years; he seems so different to the Alex TK had once known, yet exactly the same.

TK blinks back his surprise and smiles, standing and holding out his hand. “Alex, hey,” he says. He’d wondered what it would feel like to meet his ex again, but, as their hands connect, TK realises that there was nothing to really wonder about. It’s like remeeting an old friend or acquaintance—pleasant, but beyond that…uneventful.

Still, Alex is lingering, smiling expectantly, so TK spares a glance over to where Carlos and Isaac are still stuck in the ice cream queue, then waves at the bench he was sitting on.

“Have a minute?”

Alex grins and his entire body seems to relax as he nods. “Definitely.”

The silence between them is only semi-awkward as they sit side-by-side, not quite touching. But it’s enough to set TK’s anxiety tingling, so he casts about desperately for something to talk about.

“How have—”

“So, what’s—”

They laugh, Alex running a hand over his face. “Sorry,” he says, shaking his head. He hesitates a moment then, when TK nods for him to go first, continues, “I just wanted to ask how you’ve been. Austin, right?”

TK nods. “Ever since I left, yeah. I love it there. It’s home.”

“So you’re happy?”

“More than,” he responds, gaze drifting over to Carlos again. “I hated it at first, but I think moving there was the best thing that could have happened to me. I love my crew, I love my job—oh, yeah! I’m a paramedic now, switched about a year after we moved.”

Now it’s Alex’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “But you loved being a firefighter.”

He chuckles lightly. “What I loved was my dad,” TK corrects. “I loved having him in my life for once. But the job… Firefighting was never my choice, not really, but being a paramedic was. It’s what I was meant to do.”

“I’m glad,” Alex says, and he sounds truly sincere. “And, uh…” He pauses and laughs nervously, then nods to TK’s left hand. “Not to be that guy, but you met someone?”

It’s phrased as a question, but the answer is obvious. TK can’t help but grin as he looks between his wedding ring and Carlos, his heart doing that funny little flip, even after all this time.

“Yeah,” he says softly, gaze still fixed on his husband. “His name’s Carlos. We met pretty much right after Dad and I got to Austin, but it was a few months before I pulled my head out of my ass enough to realise I’d be an idiot to turn him down. We married two years ago.”

Alex must follow TK’s line of sight, because, “He’s handsome,” he remarks, then jerks in his seat. “And you have a kid?”

The misunderstanding is common enough that it doesn’t surprise TK, but he laughs anyway, broken out of his lovesick trance and drawn back to Alex. “No, that’s Isaac,” he says. “My brother.”

Alex’s expression turns comical, his eyes going wide and his mouth dropping open. “You… Your brother?” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Okay.”

TK sniggers some more, then interrupts Alex’s confused splutters by knocking their shoulders together. “What about you, anyway?” he asks, gesturing towards Alex’s own ring hand. “You’re clearly…”

He waits, and Alex quickly catches on. “Engaged.”

“Ah.” TK nods and quirks an eyebrow. “Mitchell?” he asks, and he’s proud that there’s not even a hint of jealousy or anger in the word.

Alex laughs dryly. “Nah, we didn’t work out. Don’t get me wrong, he was amazing and I loved him, but after everything that happened with you, I just… I guess I felt guilty? And it messed things up with him—he kept thinking I was still hung up on you or that I would leave him or something—so we broke up. Talk about karma, huh?”

“That sucks.”

“I deserved it.”

The conviction in Alex’s voice takes TK aback and he frowns, reaching over to lay a hand on his knee. “No one deserves that, Alex.”

Alex looks up at him, wide-eyed, then clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Yeah, I guess.”

“I know,” TK says. “I hope this guy treats you better.”

“He does,” Alex says, smile returning. “And, you know. Likewise. Speaking of, looks like your husband will be coming back soon, so I should probably leave before then.”

A glance at the ice cream truck confirms Alex’s statement; Carlos and Isaac have reached the front and are placing their orders. Still.

“You don’t have to,” TK tells him. “You can meet him if you want.”

Alex grimaces. “Better not. Besides, I have to meet my mother soon, and you remember what she’s like.”

“Oh, yeah, then you’d better go.” TK laughs; Silvia Morison is not a woman to be messed with.

“Yeah,” Alex chuckles, but he makes no moves to stand up. “Listen, before I go, can I just ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Did you… Did you ever regret us? Regret me?”

“No.” TK’s answer is instantaneous and without hesitation—maybe he had regretted Alex once, but he knows now that that time was too caught up in heartbreak to see the truth. “I regret some of the choices I made. I regret what I did after we broke up. But regret you?” He shakes his head and smiles. “Nah. At one point you were exactly what I needed. We weren’t right for each other in the end, but it was good while it lasted, right?”

Alex nods and grins back. “Right.” He looks past TK, then stands suddenly. “And that’s my cue. Nice seeing you again, TK.”

And he walks away, and it feels like closure.

“Who was that, babe?” Carlos asks, handing TK his ice cream.

TK smiles up at his husband and reaches out to ruffle Isaac’s hair. “An old friend,” he answers. “Nothing else.”

[alidravana]

When One Door Closes

For @exesof911week day 1: amicable closure + “it was never supposed to get this far” + additional prompts from the Firehouse 126 Discord.

Alex stops by the firehouse to apologize, but jumps to the conclusion that T.K. and Carlos are dating. T.K. decides to play along...and Carlos, well Carlos isn't too happy about it.

ao3 | 1.3k | Alex Returns, Fake Dating, Hurt Carlos, Pre-Tarlos

“Hey, excuse me, is T.K. here?” 

A familiar voice filtered through the station, causing T.K. to straighten up in alarm and almost tip over the stool he was sitting on in the kitchen.  Michelle had convinced Carlos had to come by and cook them all a meal, and while T.K. was finding it incredibly awkward, having walked out on the man’s offer of dinner only a week prior, he was still trying his best to be friendly and make conversation. 

What was Alex doing here?  In Texas of all places?  And of course Carlos noticed T.K.’s reaction, having paused in his cooking and shooting those concerned, dark eyes in his direction.  “Fuck,” T.K. groaned under his breath, not really planning on saying that out loud as he stood up to go face his good-for-nothing ex.  

“Alex, what are you doing here?” T.K. asked, leaning on the wall closest to the kitchen.  He could feel Carlos step up behind him, and was grateful for his ability to read a situation.

“I wanted to come see you T.K., to talk a bit -” Alex said, stepping forward another step as if to reach out and touch T.K., but stopped when he noticed how close Carlos was standing behind him.  Alex frowned, stuffing his hands back into his pockets.  “I see you’ve already moved on, huh?” Alex said bitterly, glaring at Carlos.

T.K. couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh, reaching behind him to grab Carlos’s hand.  “Yeah, I moved on because my boyfriend decided to cheat on me with our cycle instructor.  At least I waited until I was done with the relationship before moving on,” T.K. said bluntly.  He wasn’t sure what he was doing, Carlos wasn’t his boyfriend.  But he couldn’t get into that here.  Couldn’t let Alex see how much his cheating had devastated him, left him spiraling in this state of being where he couldn’t let anyone else back in again.  

He could feel Carlos tighten his grip on his hand during his response, and he almost lost his resolve, but pushed through with the last minute, foolish plan.  T.K. turned around, planting a kiss right on Carlos’s lips.  Pausing for a moment, T.K. glared back at Alex, as if to ask why he was still there, but luckily Alex got the message loud and clear.  Holding up his hands as if he was the victim, Alex quickly backpedaled out of the station, his pace speeding up as he passed Captain Strand.

Resting back on the heels of his feet, T.K. couldn’t help but notice how the whole fire station had gone silent, everyone staring at him...including Carlos.  And the look on Carlos’s face...was devastating.  Turning bright red, T.K. quickly tugged Carlos along behind him, glad he still had his hand in his, and headed right out the back door.

“Look, I’m s-” T.K. started to apologize, but Carlos interrupted him.

“What was that?” Carlos asked, pulling his hand out of T.K.s and folding his arms across his chest.  

“I’m sorry -” T.K. managed to get out before Carlos continued on.

“I’m not your boyfriend, T.K., you made it perfectly clear the other night that you don’t want anything more than sex,” Carlos said angrily, gesturing between the two of them.  “When did you think you could hurt me again?  Today?  Tomorrow?” Carlos shook his head, suddenly looking very tired.  “Tell Michelle I had to go.”

It was on the tip of T.K.’s tongue to finish his apology, to try to explain his reaction, to do something to stop Carlos from leaving, but instead he watched silently as Carlos headed back towards the parking lot, the droop in his shoulders evident.  “It was never supposed to get this far,” he whispered, but no one was left to hear it.

If there was one thing T.K. was good at, it was making other people leave.  With that depressing thought, T.K. turned to go back into the fire station, hoping that no one would say anything as he hid in the storage room doing inventory for the rest of the shift.  The idea of eating the meal that Carlos had prepared made him sick to his stomach.

XXXXX

Throughout the rest of the shift, several curious glances and stares were sent in his direction, but no one actually addressed the large elephant in the room.  Marjan and Paul stopped by, first Marjan to ask where Carlos had disappeared to and then Paul with a coffee, which he gratefully accepted.  As he thought about it more, perhaps Marjan was trying to ask without really asking, and he had been completely oblivious.  But no one bothered to ask for details, or if he was doing okay.  T.K. was relieved that he didn’t have to try to explain the disaster that had occurred, but it also kind of hurt that no one asked either.  Maybe he wasn’t bonding well with this team either.

Wiping a stray tear that fell on his way out of the door, he found his exit path blocked by an individual.  Looking up from his feet, he found the one person he really didn’t want to see again.  

“T.K., are you okay?” Alex asked, looking visibly concerned at his appearance, reaching out to touch his shoulder.  

“Fuck off Alex, don’t pretend like you’re not happy to see me like this,” T.K. said, wiping another errant tear with the back of his hand.

“T.K., I came down to Texas to apologize,” Alex said, pulling back his hand.  “And yeah, maybe I hoped that somehow you could forgive me and we could get back together, but I knew it was a long shot,” he confessed.  “But you haven’t really moved on yet, have you?”

And it was with that comment that T.K. couldn’t stop the tears from falling.  Shaking his head no, T.K. dropped his head in his hands, wishing the ground could come up and swallow him whole.  He could feel Alex step closer, his arms carefully being placed around him, and couldn’t help but reach out, grabbing Alex’s shirt and burrowing his head against his chest.  

T.K. wasn’t really sure if it was the cheating or the overdose that he was trying to move on from, but he had been unable to move on from either.  Sure, his dad made him move almost a couple thousand miles away, but his heart was still back in New York, cold and broken.  

“I really am sorry T.K., I know I messed up, and I just wanted to tell you, for real this time, that I’m sorry and it was all my fault,” Alex rambled, his one hand rubbing T.K’s back.  “I didn’t mean to hurt you again, T.K.,” he added, dropping his head on T.K.’s shoulder.

And for the first time since he and Alex broke up, he finally didn’t feel anger for Alex.  The swirl of rage that normally accompanied any thought of him, the lingering pain of heartache, it was gone.  He wouldn’t say that he felt happy, that would be pushing it, but things felt resolved, where they hadn’t been before.  And maybe...just maybe, T.K. finally felt a small tingle of hope that things might be looking up.

“Can I give you a drive home?” Alex asked, as T.K. started to straighten up, wiping the remaining tear tracks off of his cheeks.    

T.K. nodded, letting Alex hold his hand gently as they walked over to his car.  But as they started in the direction of his father’s, he made another impulsive decision and had Alex turn around and head in the opposite direction.  

Because there was someplace else he needed to go first.

[tarlosbuddie]

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