#trust my queue
5+1 tarlos fic
for@actuallysara again as the biggest thank you ever <3
words:21.3k
summary:
Five times someone brings up proposing and Carlos thinks that TK might freak out and one time they actually talk about it
(show me) who i am and who i could be
set post-3.16, in which owen and tk start to talk
title from son by sleeping at last
ao3 | 1.3k | father-son relationship, hurt/comfort, guilt, past character deathThough his bones are aching for a drink and his instincts are telling him to wallow alone, Owen doesn’t go home once he’s back in Austin. Talking to his father unlocked something in him that’s been hidden away since 1984, and while he would normally try to block it all out again, he’s trying to be better lately.
TK looks surprised when he slides open the loft’s door, and even more so when Owen drags him into a hug, but Owen pays it no mind. He’s made a lot of mistakes when it comes to TK, but he’ll forever regret letting this distance grow between them, letting it get to the point where his son is shocked to see him at the front door.
He squeezes TK’s shoulders tight. “Good to see you, son,” he whispers roughly, letting the hug drag on for a few more seconds before letting go.
“Good to see you, too.” TK’s frown follows Owen as he walks across to the couch, eyes roaming around the corners of his son’s home. “Dad, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good, I’m… I’m good. Where’s Carlos?”
“He’s on shift,” TK replies over the snick of the door locking.
Owen goes to sit, but his eyes catch on a framed portrait of Gwyn, standing right next to one of Carlos with his mother, and it’s like all the air has been sucked out of the room.
So many things they left unsaid… Owen wonders—would his father think him so brave if he knew everything he had done?
“Dad?”
Owen blinks, then plasters on a smile as he looks over at his son. TK’s brow is creased in confusion and worry, and his movements are slow as he sits on the couch, his gaze studying him closely. Owen doesn’t know why he’s pretending nothing’s wrong; the whole point of this visit is to stop doing that, or at least start to stop. But, while there are truths TK should know—truths Owen wantshim to know—there are still sides of him TK can’t see. Ever, if Owen can help it.
“Remember when I told you why I became a firefighter?”