1x08 (this is where I left off on AO3)
Four days later Michelle got a call from Detective Washington letting her know that she they had found something.
She wouldn't tell her what when she talked to her on the phone.
Just that she thought Michelle should come down to the garage and see something for herself.
She didn't even want to know what that could mean.
So she had crawled out of bed and kissed a sleeping Owen on the head before sneaking out into the bathroom and getting ready.
And when she called Carlos to come pick her up he had already been on the way.
"How did you know to come get me?" She probably should have started with a greeting of sorts, but it was like Carlos was some kind of mind reader these days.
"Detective Washington called me after she talked to you." That made more sense.
"Oh." She shrugged her shoulders as she stepped back inside to grab her bag, watching as Carlos did a sweep of the living room and kitchen with his eyes. "He's still asleep."
She knew exactly who he was looking for.
"Huh?" He tried to act like he had no idea what she was talking about and it was kind of cute.
"Owen." She nodded toward the bedroom as she ushered Carlos back outside, pulling the door shut behind her and locking it. "He had chemo yesterday and he's pretty wiped. He didn't sleep much last night either. Figured I'd let him sleep in some."
"Didn't sleep much last night huh?" He waggled his eyebrows at her as he spoke.
"Yeah, because he was throwing up." It had been a rough night for them both in fact.
Michelle tried to help as best she could but there wasn't much that seemed to make him feel better.
No amount of head rubs and ginger ale and darkness had been enough.
"Oh." She knew that wasn't the answer he was looking for, but it was the truth.
"Yeah." She climbed into the passenger seat with a sigh. "It was… it wasn't fun."
"He's been spending an awful lot of time over here lately." He stared at her from his seat as he spoke and she felt like she was under a microscope all of a sudden. "And you've been spending a lot of time over there as well."
"Not really Carlos, we've both been pretty busy lately." They were still doing their best to see each other when they could.
But lately it had been less about the sex and more about just being together.
She was pretty certain that that was what a relationship looked like.
"Things are getting kinda serious." Oh for Christ's sake, no they weren't.
"No they aren't Carlos." She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared straight ahead. "We're still just having fun. It's nothing serious."
"You two are dating Michelle. Dating." He gestured to Owen's car in the driveway and made a face. "This, this is what dating looks like."
She rolled her eyes at his words.
"We're not dating." And they weren't, were they?
"Yes, yes you are." He seemed so certain.
She really needed another opinion on this.
"Judd said the two of you make heart eyes at each other all shift long. It's gross." They did not, and even if they did, it wasn't gross. "And TK has caught you trying to sneak out more times than he can count."
They did their best to avoid being at Owen's house if TK was there.
Not that it was a secret.
She knew that Owen had told him about the two of them.
But it was awkward.
She had to work with TK.
She suspected that him knowing that she was also sleeping with his dad was probably a little awkward.
"And you've been at the Honky Tonk together almost once a week." Had they really? "He sleeps over Michelle, he makes you breakfast, brings you coffee at work. You're dating."
"Fuck." She whispered out her sentiment as she slammed her head back against the head rest. "We agreed…"
"Well whatever agreement you had," He reached over and squeezed her hand softly, "it's been broken. Because it's no longer just sex. Is it?"
She shook her head back and forth as she closed her eyes.
It was far from being just sex at this point.
So far from it.
—
She had been thankful when Carlos hadn't said anything else and after having to deal with Detective Washington all morning, she was so over it all.
"How'd it go?" Owen's voice echoing through the silence of her office made her jump.
She hadn't expected to see him in today.
Not with the way yesterday and last night had gone.
"Okay." She whispered, watching as he shut the door behind him to give them some privacy.
"You don't look like it went 'okay'." He gave her a soft look as he moved to sit down across from her. "What's up?"
"I uh…" She took a deep breath as she tried to gather her thoughts.
She wanted to tell him, she really did.
But talking about it all was sometimes too much.
"They found something?" He asked the question she'd been dreading and she felt her heart sink.
"I identified a bracelet that was Iris'." She barely got the words out before he was standing and moving around toward her. "They found it inside the truck."
He reached out and took her hands in his.
She wondered why he was being so bold and outwardly affectionate.
They could get caught at any time.
"I'm so sorry Michelle." Yeah, so was she.
"They won't know anything about the DNA for a few more days though." She whispered as she pulled her hands away and wiped at her face.
"Well, hopefully they don't find any." Part of her prayed that they didn't.
But part of her…
"Maybe they will." She shrugged her shoulders. "I just… I want…"
"Closure." He took the word right out of her mouth.
"Yeah." She just wanted answers.
"You're almost hoping they find her remains so that you can stop looking?" She didn't want to say the words out loud so she was glad he did it for her.
"I'm just so damn tired of searching." She choked out, her eyes filling with tears as he reached out and pulled her up, tugging her into his arms before pressing a kiss to her head.
They were so going to get busted by someone.
"I want her to be alive, I really do, but…" She just wanted things to go back to normal.
Or as normal as they could.
"I get it." He pulled back from the hug and offered her a smile. "Hopefully you'll have some answers soon."
God she hoped so.
She got ready to respond when the alarm went off, alerting them to a call, and she sighed.
Saved by the bell she supposed.
Owen squeezed her shoulders softly before taking off out the door.
When she turned she saw Judd standing in the hallway, his eyebrows raised and a smirk on his face.
"Not dating huh?" He asked her jokingly as she walked past him.
"I'm never telling Carlos anything again." She huffed out as Judd chuckled behind her.
"Looks pretty serious to me Chelle." Ugh, she hated her friends sometimes.
"Shut up Judson." She swung her arm back at him and he ducked.
"I'm calling a July wedding." She rolled her eyes at his comment and flipped him the bird, just as Tim and Nancy came strolling by.
"Michelle's getting married?" Oh great, now Judd was going to have everything thinking this was actually a thing.
"No!" She shouted at them both. "I am not. Judd just thinks he's being cute. Which he's not. So he had better shut up."
"Yeah yeah yeah." Judd climbed into the truck as she climbed into the back of the ambulance and she let out a sigh.
She was going to kill Carlos when she saw him again.
Owen was glad that his doctor had given him the good news about his cancer.
The fact that the tumor in his lungs was shrinking was definitely something worth celebrating.
So he had done the same thing any sane man would do.
He drove downtown and adopted a dog.
But not just any dog.
No, he adopted a dog with the same kind of lung cancer as him.
A dog named Buttercup.
He had made an instant friend and he was instantly in love.
He had always wanted a dog but the tiny apartments he had lived in in New York never allowed for one.
But here, here he could have a dog.
Hell, he could have more than one dog if he wanted.
He figured that starting with just one was his best bet right now though.
"I hear you got a dog today." The soft sound of Michelle's voice made him look up from the pile of paperwork that was covering his desk.
TK must have let her in.
Either that or she just broke into his house.
"Yes. Yes I did." He wondered for a second where in the hell Buttercup had gone. "His name is Buttercup."
"We met." She leaned against the door frame and smiled. "He's very sweet."
"He has cancer." He didn't know why he said it like that.
"That's what the rumor going around the station is." People at that damn firehouse would talk about anything wouldn't they.
"Did TK let you in?" Best to talk about something else besides rumors and the firehouse. "Or did you break into my house?"
"He let me in." Well thank God for that. "On his way out the door might I add."
Owen chuckled at the confused look on Michelle's face.
"It's not cause you're here, I promise." He had figured there would eventually come a time when their path's would cross at the house. "He had plans with whoever it is that he's been seeing lately."
Michelle laughed before biting her lip to stop herself.
"Sorry." He didn't understand what was so funny. "You know who else was in a hurry to head out with the 'boy they've been seeing lately'?"
She knew who TK was seeing?
Oh this was good.
"Who?" He thought he knew who it was, he wasn't blind, or stupid. "If you tell me it's that cop you're always hanging out with Judd owes me $20."
"Really Owen?" She didn't sound the least bit upset, rather, she sounded amused.
"We've been trying to figure it out for a few weeks now." He knew TK was trying to be sneaky, but he had caught him making flirty eyes at the cop that always somehow managed to be at their scenes.
He had been a firefighter his entire adult life, you never got that lucky.
"Fine, I'll give." She stepped into his office and offered him a smile. "But you split that $20 with me."
"How about I use it to pay for dinner?" Maybe he could trick her into a date, a real date. "Something nice? Something other than Chinese or Pizza?"
"Deal." The smile she gave him told him that she was well aware of his plans.
The fact that she didn't seem bothered by them made his heart swell.
"He's seeing Officer Reyes." Ah, he was right, and Judd, well Judd was very wrong. "Carlos. He's seeing Carlos."
"Isn't he your best friend?" He had heard her mention Carlos a couple of times, especially lately.
"That he is." Well that had to mean something, right?
Michelle wouldn't hang out with someone who was bad for her.
"He a good guy?" He wouldn't stand to see TK get hurt again.
"He's a great guy." She smiled as he rose from his chair, making his way toward her slowly.
"Good to know." He stopped in front of her and she raised an eyebrow at him.
"How'd your appointment go?" She had been holding that question back for a while judging by the concerned look on her face.
"Good. Sort of." Her face fell though and he instantly regretted phrasing things like that. "Not like that… not bad."
He shook his head before stepping around her and heading toward the kitchen.
It hadn't hit him until he had gotten up how hungry he was.
"That's it? That's all your gonna say?" She followed after him quickly, her hand reaching out to grab his arm as he opened the fridge and let his eyes wander over the emptiness of the shelves.
He pulled back and shut the door before doing the same with the freezer.
"For the love of God Owen just tell me!" She was a little on edge there wasn't she?
"The tumor's shrinking." He closed the door to the freezer and watched as she beamed back at him. "I have to stop drinking though. And I'm supposed to get more sleep."
"Oh thank God." She reached out and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close as she buried her face against his shoulder.
He couldn't help but smile at her response.
This wasn't something that you did with someone you were just sleeping with.
Right?
"Did you hear the part where I'm supposed to stop drinking?" He pulled back and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah, well, you shouldn't have been drinking to begin with." Dammit, he thought she'd be on his side.
"Why didn't you stop me?" Not that he would have listened to her.
"Would you have listened to me?" He shook his head back and forth as he chuckled. "That's what I thought."
But the drinking had been what brought them together in the first place.
And it's what had kept them sleeping together for at least the first few times.
Not that he didn't enjoy the sex, because damn was the sex good.
But at first, it had definitely been about being drunk and having fun.
He wouldn't deny that.
But now, now it was about so much more.
"And she's right, you do need more sleep." Michelle reached out and ran her thumb along the dark circles under his eyes. "I've felt you getting up in the middle of the night more."
"Yeah, all that tequila makes me have to pee." That wasn't a lie, not entirely.
"You don't come back sometimes." She dropped her hand to his cheek and left it there. "Judd said you do the same at the station. Get up and not go back to bed. What's going on?"
"Oh you know, life." Now was not the time for sarcasm but he really didn't want to talk about this.
How did he bring up the fact that his own mortality was looming over his head a lot more lately?
How did he tell her that not only was he letting the cancer get to him, but he was also letting her get to him?
He was falling for her, so damn fast it was making him dizzy.
But he couldn't tell her that that was part of what was keeping him up at night.
That sleeping next to her was intoxicating, in all the right ways, and he couldn't get enough of her.
"Owen…?" Yeah, she wasn't buying his bullshit either.
He got ready to answer when her phone went off and she let out a sigh as she checked the message.
"I've gotta go." She leaned in and kissed him softly, her hand falling down to squeeze his before she walked away.
"Be safe!" He called after her, his voice finding it hard to get the words out.
She offered him a wave as she headed out the door.
And then it was just him and Buttercup and the sound of silence.