You Have All Of Me

S2 - Hold The Line

I am so sorry that I haven't posted in awhile. I am going to try and get back into posting once a week. Also, spoilers? Tarlos is engaged! Congrats to us I guess!!

"Oh sorry, excuse me for a second. It's my dad." TK scoots his chair away from the table and stands up, grabbing his phone as he does so. Carlos lets out a quick hum in response, watching TK head into the living room for some privacy. 

If Carlos is being honest, he is worried about TK. He hasn't been the same since Tim passed. Carlos doesn't even think they were close, it just seems like losing a crew mate at all would affect him. 

And then there is the whole "I love you" thing. Carlos never expected TK to be the first to say it. He had been so worried that he would slip up and say it one day and everything would fall apart. Because there was no way TK was ready. But apparently he was, is.

"Babe." Carlos' thoughts are interrupted as TK ends the call. He tries to act as normal as possible, deciding to scoop salad onto his plate. Because normal is what TK needs right now, normal is all that is keeping TK here.

"Yeah?" Carlos looks up after a minute of silence and notices the worry etched on TK's face. "What's wrong?" His eyes go wide and he raises his eyebrows.

"My dad just got a call from the fire chief in San Angelo, they need more help with the forest fires there. And we got called in." TK is still standing in the living room, phone hanging from his hand.

"What?" TK just shrugs his shoulders so Carlos softens his facial features and moves to TK. "Is it going to be dangerous?"

"I don't know. I don't think we will know much until we are actually up there." TK's eyes are full of anxiety when they meet Carlos'.

"When do you leave?" Carlos asks, his hand holding TK's arm.

"Tomorrow morning."

Tomorrow morning comes quicker than either want it to. It feels as though once TK has his eyes closed the sun is rising. He holds onto Carlos for as long as he can, neither saying a word, until they are almost late.

Carlos canceled his shift so that he could drive TK to the station, something about not being there to say goodbye scared the shit out of him. He knows that TK is going to be fine, and that it's only going to be a week, but he can't risk not saying goodbye. When they finally pull up to the station neither makes an effort to leave the car.

"I guess I should get going. Everyone will be annoyed if I am late." TK finally breaks the silence as he turns to look at Carlos. The man next to him meets his gaze and slowly nods in agreement. TK holds Carlos' chin as he places a quick kiss to the man's cheek before grabbing his stuff and hopping out of the car. 

Carlos watches as TK walks away and when he doesnt turn around by the time he is at the firehouse Carlos hops out of the car. He calls out to TK as he jogs closer. TK turns, bringing a hand to his eyes to block the morning sun. Carlos collides into TK, wrapping his arms under the others armpits and pulling him into a tight hug. Carlos pulls away after a minute and is immediately met with Tk's lips on his.

"Y'all need to chill out, it's only 7am." Mateo complains as he walks past the two. TK smiles against Carlos' lips and pulls him in a little closer. Once their lips have separated they rest their foreheads together.

"What was that for? Not that I am complaining." TK smirks.

"I'm just going to miss you." TK runs his hand through Carlos' curls, trying to comfort him.

"It's only going to be a week and I am going to be fine. It probably won't even be that dangerous."

"I'm sorry, what happened?" Carlos stops walking and adjusts the phone so he can hear better.

 "There was this truck and it was on fire and it just came barreling down through the trench and almost took this dude out." TK explains again, a little more excited than he should be.

"Ok, and what happened to this not being dangerous?" Carlos has to remind himself to take a deep breath. Why did he ever think TK would stay away from the danger?

"Oh, hey babe. I need to go. I'll call you later alright?" Carlos can hear some commotion through the phone.

"Yeah that's fine. Stay safe please. I love you."

"I love you too." Carlos' phone goes black in his hand. He sighs and looks around the room, it's so much quieter without TK. It also seems so much darker, like there is a cloud hanging around over Carlos' head.

For the past three days Carlos has been continuously texting with TK, making sure that he is staying safe. Up until that last phone call it seemed like everything was going fine. TK seemed like he was doing alright, but TK tends to keep things bottled up so Carlos isn't sure. The only thing that TK had complained about so far was having to dig the trench. He didn't think that it was very fair that Judd, Marjon and Paul got to go into the action. Carlos is insanely grateful that TK didn't though.

When Carlos' phone rings a few hours later the last person he is expecting it to be is TK. And when he sees that it is, the panic sets in. TK would never call twice in one day unless something was wrong.

"TK? What's wrong?" Carlos tries to keep his voice as calm as he can. TK probably just has a funny story to tell him. Everything is fine.

"My dad." TK's voice has changed so much in the past few hours. It's now rough and filled with anxiety.

"What happened? Is he okay?"

"I don't know."

"TK, talk to me. What is going on?" Carlos doesn't want to push it but he is also starting to freak out.

"You know how there was that group of teens stuck on the mountain. The ones that Paul, Marjon and Judd went to help?"

"Yeah." Carlos has a really bad feeling about where this is headed.

"Well they couldn't find one kid and so my dad took a helicopter up with an EMT, I think they were from California. Anyway, the winds shifted and the copter went down in one of the fires. And we can't get in touch with them anymore." Carlos can tell that TK is pacing.

"Ok, hey. Take a breath. He is going to be okay." Carlos decides to take his own advice, he's feeling more anxious by the second.

"We don't know that though, and I can't just keep sitting here acting like everything is fine." TK's voice is frantic.

"Hey, babe, I need you to not do anything heroic. Ok? Your dad is going to be fine, he has been through so much worse than this. And you said he was with an EMT right?"

"Yeah." TK sounds defeated and it breaks Carlos' heart.

"Ok, so he's going to be fine. Just hang out, try to get some rest or eat something ok. And call me if you need me."

"Okay, I will. I love you." Carlos still gets butterflies everytime TK says that.

"I love you too."

Carlos nervously taps his fingers on the steering wheel. It's been twenty minutes and the truck still hasn't arrived. He knows that they started heading back because he talked to TK this morning. What if something happened on the road? What if the fires got worse and they had to go back? Just before Carlos can spiral anymore the truck pulls up to the firehouse. Carlos lets out a long sigh, climbing quickly out of his car to greet them. He doesn't breathe again until he sees TK climbing out of the firetruck, breathing and in one piece. Once TK sees Carlos he collapses into his arms, knocking Carlos back a few steps.

"I missed you." They both breathe the other in. TK smells like smoke and sweat and anxiety.

"I missed you too, love." Carlos places a quick kiss on TK's head.

After dinner and a long shower TK crawls into bed next to Carlos. He rests his head on the other's chest, relaxing into the warmth. Carlos moves his book to his other hand so that he can run his fingers through TK's hair.

"How are you doing?" Carlos asks quietly, scratching at TK's scalp.

"M so happy to be home." TK nuzzles into Carlos' side, immediately feeling more relaxed.