Tommy and Ace
Growing up with Hoagie as his older brother, Tommy was introduced to a lot of his friends. Some of them he even had a small crush on. When Tommy met Ace, he was nervous. Ace however was always a bold person, even as a kid and had no problem talking with people.
When Tommy had first met Ace, he was sweating bullets. Ace on the other hand had thought it was cute that he was nervous. Throughout the years growing up, Ace has proven to be an excellent pilot and Tommy has proven to be an equally excellent mechanic. Given his Spanish background he would call Tommy, "Tomás."
Unfortunately at one point in time, their grandmother Lydia had lived with them. Lydia was a staunch Republican, and a right wing one at that.
"This generation is running this country into the ground! We need to go back to the good old days!" She would usually rant.
"Grandma, we can't go back to Reaganomics. It wouldn't work today." Tommy countered.
"You kids have no idea what you're talking about! You're all too fucking sensitive!" She ranted.
It got to a point that Betty had banned them from talking politics in the house.
When Tommy decided to completely come out as gay, Betty said to him, "You're very brave for coming out, Tommy. I'm unbelievably proud of you." She then gave him a big hug.
"Hahaha! In this day and age? You still think you have to come out as a gay? You get all the fancy parades and stuff, but what straight pride? Why can't there be that?" Lydia insensitively laughed.
Incredibly hurt by this, Tommy ran to his room in tears. With Hoagie following him, Betty turned to her mother in anger.
"What is the matter with you? You can't leave him alone for two minutes?" Betty asks.
"Oh come on, I could see that coming a mile away. Why do these damn kids get so worked up over this stuff? They already get their handouts, why do they want us to hold their hands too?" Lydia unapologetically asks. Realizing that there is no point in arguing, Betty runs her eyes.
"Mom, if this is how you're going to be with my son, then you are no longer welcome to stay here." Betty says. Lydia merely laughed it off and walked out the door.
"I'll be back for my stuff later." She says, slamming the door behind her.
Betty then goes upstairs to check on Tommy. She sees Hoagie consoling his brother.
"Tommy, I'm sorry that your grandmother said that you." Betty says.
"It's not your fault, it's hers. Part of me knew that was gonna happen. Some people never change." Tommy sighs. Betty then hugs him right.
"No matter what you are or how you live your life, you are my son. Nothing could ever change that." Betty says, holding Tommy tight.
"Thanks mom."
Roughly two years later, Tommy graduated high school with the intent of going to college for engineering. That whole summer, he had been repairing cars for his friends and even remodeling cars. One day Ace, who had taken over an airfield from his father, had come to visit Tommy's garage.
"Hola, Tomás."
"Hi, Ace. It's been too long." Tommy says, having missed his crush. Ace had gone to community college to get a degree in Business Administration and was also busy with the airfield.
"Indeed it has Tomás. How have you been? I hear that you're going to college soon."
"Yeah I am, for engineering." He says.
"Really? Well I was hoping that until then, I could have someone assist at my airfield. Repairing planes and other vehicles that need it." Ace offers.
"Wow, really? Yeah, I'll come work with you." Tommy accepts.
"Excellent. Well I'll see you next week. Is that a good time to start?" Ace asks.
"Beautiful." Ace gives Tommy a hug, who gives one in return.
The following week, Tommy arrived at Ace's airfield and saw Ace standing by the planes.
"Buenos días, Tomás." Ace greets. Tommy looks around, admiring the planes.
"These are the planes?"
"Sí. Various people rent out space across the airfield. They leave them here for storage, or to be repaired." Ace explains.
"So when do you want these planes done? Before I leave for college?" Tommy asks.
"Well the benefit is, you can take your time on these. Some of these have been here for years. Most of the people who leave these here are rich people with cash to burn. They hardly notice when I raise rent prices for them." Ace answers.
"Ha, what dopes." Tommy quips.
"Not necessarily. I need the dopes to stay in business. As for you, come in whenever you are available, even when you're in college. Work on the planes, and I'll pay you for the work you do." Ace answers.
"Really? Thank you. But I have to ask, why me? Why do I deserve this great offer?" Tommy asks.
"Well there's no denying you're a great tech and engineer, like your brother. But… I do have another reason. I didn't want to put you in an uncomfortable spot but, I know what you think about me. And I have to say… the feelings are mutual." Ace says, putting his hand on Tommy's shoulder. Tommy stares at him in shock, but is also incredibly happy.
"You do?"
"I do. I wanted to ask you out so you didn't have to worry about being rejected. And I know how THAT feels." Ace explains.
"Oh yeah. I remember that thing with Wally Beetles." Tommy says solemnly.
"Well that doesn't matter now. But my offers stand, both of them." Ace says.
"And my answer is yes, to both of them." Tommy says, resulting in Ace kissing him on the forehead.
"That's the answer I was hoping for. Well, let me show you around the whole area." Ace says.
The rest of the day is spent with Ace showing Tommy around the airfield, the hanger, repair station, as well as security protocols and necessary paperwork.
The rest of his summer, Tommy and Ace were thick as thieves with each other, either working at the airfield or out in the town. When he had finally felt it was right, the two went on a double date with Hoagie and Abby.
"It's about damn time we did something like this." Hoagie quips.
"Well we wanted to wait til the time was right." Tommy says.
"Well I'm just glad that both of y'all found each other. I wish you both all the happiness in the world." Abby said, as they all raise their glasses.
Throughout Tommy's time in college he had stayed close with Ace, which wasn't hard considering how close the campus was to the airfield. As opposed to work study, Tommy continued working at the airfield, and making good money while doing so.
Upon graduation, Ace has asked Tommy to move with him into his apartment by the airfield. Tommy had ecstatically accepted the offer, but was nervous about how his mother would react.
When he had mentioned it to her, Betty was on the brink of tears. "Oh, I'm gonna miss you." She hugged her son.
"Mom come on, I'm 22." Tommy whines.
"I don't care how old you are, you're still my baby boy." Betty states.
"But I can live with Ace, right?" He asks.
"Of course you can. I've seen how happy he makes you, and how happy you make him." Betty replies.
"Thank you for saying so, Betty." Ace says.
"Just watch after my boy, Ace." Betty requests.
"Oh I will, Betty. You know I will." Ace replies, hugging Tommy from behind.
After two days, Tommy had packed up everything from Betty's house to Ace's apartment. With the assistance of Hoagie and Abby, everything had been done within two hours. By nighttime, both Ace and Tommy were exhausted. Cuddled up in bed, Tommy fell fast asleep in Ace's arms.
"Buenos tardes, Tomás."
End of the chapter. I know it's been a while since I updated this story, but I've had other things on my mind. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter about this unconventional pairing. I hope that the next update doesn't take me as long. Now I'm going to start focusing on the next generation of kids growing up.