The Hands of Time
Disclaimer: If I owned Switched at Birth, I wouldn't have written over half a dozen cheating plots. So it isn't my property, but rather the property of Lizzy Weiss and others. Sigh...
0~~~~~0
A little one-shot (unrelated to LaK) that I wrote because Bay and Ty simply didn't end right when the season concluded. I just needed to get this out and give Bay some actual character development, and give Ty a unique plot and character development (on what fucking planet is any type of cheating a unique plot and proper character development?), and give Ty/Bay a proper season conclusion. Plus SAB has used some sort of cheating plot several times. That gets really old, really quickly.
I was sort of inspired by the song Begin Again by Measure and Hands of Time by Rachel Diggs, and I was fueled by much anger and disappointment.
0~~~~~~0
I yank angrily at my tie, slipping it off and tossing it into the corner across from me. It is quickly followed by my jacket and dress shirt. Pulling off my shoes, I sit on the edge of my bed and tug painfully on my hair. Why did this have to happen? Why did they see fit to change the assignment of my troop from 3 months of simple auto detail in Afghanistan and 11 months of auto shipment in Germany, to front-line auto detail for 14 months?
Sighing raggedly, I think of my last encounter with Bay. I can't put her through this; through my possible death, the thought of which is steadily invading my mind. Breaking her heart while I'm alive is easier to handle than breaking her heart by being killed. If Bay's reaction to my death is similar to Mary Beth's struggle over Justin, then I'm doing the right thing by hurting her now. Only I didn't get the chance to break her heart in person. Instead I'd run away like a coward- afraid of seeing her shed the tears that I know she would let fall down her face... And afraid of the same tears possibly being mirrored on my own face.
I stand and dig through my duffle bag, pulling out a t-shirt and sweat pants. Slipping them on, I sit back on the edge of my bed and stare at the wall in an attempt to clear my mind.
Just as a comfortable fog had filled my head, I hear a knock on the door. I gently ease it open and Bay bursts in, the hem of her blue dress fluttering in the air.
"Ty, why'd you run off?" She asks, peaking me on the lips.
"Umm... just got a lot of, uh, stuff on my mind is all," I reply, looking away from her inquisitive expression.
She reaches for my hand and tightly laces her fingers through mine. "You never told me what you thought of me graduating early and going to school in Berlin," she remarked, laying her head on my shoulder.
I sigh heavily. "About that..." I begin, biting my lip.
"You don't like my idea?" She questioned, her voice filled with hurt.
"Well, I... Uh- Umm," I stutter. "I-It's... just that I don't think that-"
"You don't have to bother," Bay mumbles, swiping at her face. "It was a stupid idea. I'll just go now and leave you to Aida or some other super gorgeous and talented army medic." She stands up and heads for the door, stumbling slightly. "I guess this is goodbye then," she whispers, her face damp.
"Don- don't go," I croak out, my voice cracking.
She looks up at me, her eyes shining with hope. I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. How do I tell her that I'm not going to be safe anymore? Her expression falls, and she turns to walk out of the door.
"I'm not going to Germany!" I blurt out, immediately stalling Bay's exit.
"What do you mean?" She whimpered, easing herself back onto the bed.
I swipe my hand through my hair. I don't know how to tell her that I'm serving the rest of my tour on the front lines. I don't know how to explain it or reason it when I don't understand why this is happening myself.
Digging through my duffle bag, I pull out the letter that my Command Sergeant had given me at the meeting yesterday. My palms sweating, I hand the creased letter to Bay, who begins reading it immediately.
Over the next couple of minutes, I hear Bay sniffle several times. "Oh Ty," she moans, hugging me tightly. "What are we going to do?"
I hug her back, tucking my head on her shoulder. "I dunno," I admitted quietly. "But I don't... You- we shouldn't..."
Bay pulls back from me slightly, her eyebrows knitted in concentration. "At the dinner," she starts slowly. "You were going to break up with me weren't you?"
Biting my lip, I nod hesitantly.
"Why? Why would you do that" She asked firmly, unshed tears glistening in her eyes.
I chew on the inside of my check. "I didn't want to hurt you or worry you while I'm... under threat. Or if I die... I don't want to make you put your life on hold for me," I say, not looking at her.
"And you didn't think that dumping me at my brother's wedding rehearsal dinner wouldn't hurt me? That I wouldn't still be here worrying about you every day? That if you died, that I wouldn't be upset?" She retorted, her eyes blazing.
I look away from her. "I can't believe it," I hear her mumble angrily.
"I'm so sorry," I whisper pitifully, glancing down at my feet. "I just... didn't know what to do to make things better for you."
Her expression softens, and she cups my face in her hands, forcing me to look at her. "I know that I... I haven't been supporting you like I should have been," she starts, grazing her thumbs over my cheekbones. "And... I'm really sorry for not- for not being there for you when you needed me. I was being selfish; so selfish in trying to get you out," She presses a gentle kiss on the tip of my nose, making me smile slightly. "Mary Beth even gave me a piece of her mind. She's a tough cookie, that one," Bay tells me, chuckling slightly. I can feel the beginning of a laugh rumbling deep in my chest.
I pull back from her slightly, my heart twisting guiltily at her admission. "You weren't being that selfish. I- you have every right to be scared. I... I'm sorry that I wasn't recognizing that- treating you like you're some experienced recruit or long-term army wife," I tell her ashamedly. "I should have brought you to one of the group meetings or something. Maybe that would have helped..." I trail off, looking back at Bay.
"I can go to the meetings with Mary Beth," she breathed, a ghost of a smile gracing her lips.
"Ok," I murmur, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sounds like a plan."
I can see the tension visibly leave her body. Bay kisses me deeply and then stands on her tip-toes, looking intensely into my eyes. "I can handle it Ty. But I'm not going to stop worrying about you when you're over there- breakup or no breakup. I love you and that's all that matters right now," she tells me firmly.
Something deep inside me loosens at her declaration; It loosens enough to make me realize how foolish I've been in the last couple of days thinking about how I could breakup with Bay. "I love you too," I say. "Always."
Bay gently tugs on my hair, and our lips meet in a searing kiss. She fists my t-shirt in her hands and then slips them under the fabric, pulling it off my body. As I press my lips against the hollow of her throat, I gently tug the zipper of her dress down and it slips off, pooling at our feet. While Bay pushes my sweat pants down and grazes her nails over my back, I walk us backwards to the bed and slowly lower Bay onto it. I let my eyes roam over her beautiful body before leaning down and meeting her lips in a powerful kiss.
0~~~~~0
The early morning light wakes me, and I stretch my back slightly. I smile sadly at the slumbering figure of Bay, her hair fanned out across the pillow. I gently brush a couple of strands off her forehead, making her stir slightly.
As I memorize her form, I wonder how could I have been stupid enough to think that breaking up with her would make things easier for either of us. I need to stop thinking about dying- dying in an explosion or from bullets or helicopter crashes. It could happen, but there's a better chance that it won't. I made it back last time and I didn't have much to come back for. Now I had Toby and Mary Beth and the rest of the Sorrento-Kennish-Vasquez clan. But most of all I had Bay.
I curl closer to Bay, trailing my fingers up and down her arm. Her eyes slowly flicker open. "Morning," she murmured, pressing a kiss to my cheek.
"Morning," I say simply, chewing on my lip.
"It's... it's our last day together," she stated sadly, tilting her head to look up at me.
"Want to make it count?" I ask her, sitting up slowly.
Also sitting up, Bay presses tightly against my side. "After we get some coffee first," she mumbled grumpily.
0~~~~~0
I hope you liked it!
I tried to keep Ty and Bay in-character with Bay rambling and being passionate, and Ty being hesitant and strong. And Bay never dropped the big L-word (on-screen at least), so I figure Ty needed to hear it.
I also mentioned how Ty now has Toby as a friend/someone to go back to. In my mind, they'd make good friends so I decided to make it seem like they're closer than what was shown on the show.
Would you like me to extend this to be a two-shot or three-shot? Or just leave it as it? If I extend this, it might take a while for me to update (3-4 weeks or so) because Lock and Key needs to be updated before I leave for my vacation.