Chapter 5: romantic surprise

TK was relieved to finish his shift. Their night had been full of both calls and the anxiety of seeing Dylan at every crossroads. He could only look forward to going home and offering Carlos to call in sick so he could stay in bed by his side. All he could think about was finding his man under the sheets and snuggling up to him.

Nancy offered to drop him off at his house, normally it would have been Judd, but the paramedics and firefighters had been called to two different incidents at the end of their shifts and the firefighters had not yet returned. In a hurry to get home, TK agreed. His colleague pulled into the driveway of Carlos' house, wished him a good rest and left before TK could get through the door.

As soon as he entered, the rescuer saw a beautiful table with a nice breakfast, but not Carlos. He approached, curious, wondering if his lover had anticipated his desires and had prepared a romantic day for him. However, he was disturbed as he analyzed what was on the coffee table, only things they didn't usually eat.

"Carlos?" he called, wondering what was going on today.

He waited a few seconds, but got no answer. He walked up the stairs, wondering if his man had gone back to sleep after making breakfast. He took off his jacket as he went up, straddling it over his arm. Finally at the top, he pushed open the door to their room and froze.

The picture he saw was clearly not the one he had hoped for. Carlos had his arms over his head, handcuffed, his wrists bleeding. He had a cloth in his mouth and was bleeding in several places on his face. He also had large marks on his throat and legs. The panic of discovering his man like this made him rush towards him, dropping his jacket on the bed, missing the alarmed look of the brown and his muffled moans. He first removed the socks he had in his mouth.

"Oh my god, Car…" he began in a panicked voice, but could not finish.

"Run!" shouted the policeman. "Run!"

TK did not think, he stood up ready to defend his panicked man. He didn't want to leave him in this state and the panic in his voice forbade him to leave him alone with the one who had put him in this state. No sooner had he turned than the door to the room closed, revealing Dylan against the wall.

"Liam..."

TK understood immediately that the blond was responsible for everything he had discovered since his return. He noticed the baseball bat in his hand, finally realized that the room had been turned upside down, and shuddered. Instinctively, he repositioned himself to be between their attacker and Carlos.

"Liam, you lied to me and cheated on me... with him," Dylan growled menacingly.

The paramedic watched him as he walked toward him, shaking slightly. He already knew he would do whatever it took to protect Carlos. His lover was already in bad shape, he wouldn't allow this man to kill him in front of him.

"He's just a friend..." he murmured in a shaky voice.

Dylan took out his jaw with a hard punch, knocking TK's head to the side. The paramedic's eyes met his lover's and he motioned for him not to react. It was hard for the policeman to look at his man undergoing without reacting, but he could not do anything anyway and his reactions risked even to make the situation worse.

"A friend? You take dozens of pictures with a friend? You kiss your friends?" yelled the blond, making it clear to the couple that he had indeed observed them.

"A close friend, but I'm not cheating on you," TK tried again, moving slowly towards him.

He hesitantly placed his hand on the square jaw that faced him. Cautiously, he moved closer to the thin lips, his eyes darting back and forth between the mouth and the gray gaze of his assailant, ready to back away at the slightest sign of rejection, but nothing came. Dylan didn't move an inch. Finally, with a lump in his stomach and well aware of Carlos' gaze, he shyly kissed the man. Dylan finally reacted, putting his hand holding the baseball bat on TK's back and the free one on the back of his head, deepening the kiss violently and taking control. TK felt like throwing up, Carlos did too. He would have liked to look away and not see this, but he couldn't, it was better that than to imagine. He knew the rescuer was only doing this to buy them time, an escape, so they wouldn't both be beaten to death... but his heart bled to see the man he considered the man of his life kissing another.

"Prove to me that you're really mine," Dylan whispered after extracting himself from the kiss, his mouth at TK's ear, his eyes in the officer's.

His hand had moved down the paramedic's back to knead his buttocks. Carlos refrained from insulting the man or to shoot him of the glance, but the nature of his fears had just changed.

TK on his side took on him not to protest against the touches of the man. He felt dirty doing this, especially with Carlos as a witness, but he was doing it for him.

"I just did a twenty-four hour shift and saw a great breakfast downstairs, couldn't we enjoy it over a movie first?"

Dylan thought quickly before nodding and addressing Carlos.

"If I hear one sound from you, I'm coming to finish what I started earlier, understand?"

The Latino confirmed with a nod that he had gotten the message, unable to speak without his voice betraying him. He knew that if he spoke it would be to tell his lover not to let this man touch him, that only he had the right to do so... so that he would ruin all the efforts made by TK until now to try to arrange their situation. TK glanced at him before looking at his jacket and leaving, guided by Dylan who had put the baseball bat at the foot of the bed.

The policeman listened to the two men go down the stairs, exchange a few muffled words and finally turn on the television. He recognized the intro to Fast and Furious, a movie TK hated. He could have had an amused smile if his situation was not so precarious. When he was sure that despite the door being left open, the music from the movie sufficiently covered the noises he was about to make, he turned his attention to TK's jacket.