Tk's been addicted to drugs since he was fifteen and by now it's just something that he had to deal with, something that he was used to dealing with.
His addiction on the other hand was something his team didn't even know about.
He had long ago accepted that this was just who he was and that he was going to have to fight this for the rest of his life.
But he's never told his team about this.
It's never been something that he wanted to bring to his work.
And in his last time there was no one he really wanted to tell, yeah there was a few people on his own team that he really liked but none that he trusted enough to tell.
With his team now though he trusts them, they've quickly become like family to him and for the first time he actually wants to let the people work with about this side of his life.
But he was also really worried about telling them.
He had told Carlos first but that was because he felt crap about what he was putting him through and he felt like he could trust Carlos enough to accept him even if he was addicted to drugs.
The whole team know he didn't drink.
How could they not, every time they go out Tk sticks to just water.
But none of them know why.
They had there guesses but none of them were sure.
Marjan and Mateo just assumed he didn't drink, that he was just one of those people who don't really like alcohol so they don't drink.
Judd and Paul never really thought too much about it but they guessed it might be a bit more than TK just not licking alcohol.
Tk knew he would one day have to tell them what was going on.
They were quickly becoming like a family.
That didn't make it easier to tell them.
One day about six months after they had moved when everything about Owen and Tk's past with Alex had been revealed (Everything apart from the overdose when the two of them broke up.)
Tk realised it was time to just come out with it and let the team know about his problems.
"Hey." Tk said quietly as the team eat dinner at the fire station. "I need to tell you guys something."
Owen looks over at his son sensing the worry in Tk's voice.
"What's up?" Judd asked looking over at the man he was starting to see as a little brother also noticing the worry in Tk's voice.
Tk sighed as he got ready to tell them. Before he could get the chance to tell them the alarms went and the team had to leave on a call.
Unluckily for Tk he didn't get a chance to tell the team before the end of his shift.
Having spent days working up the courage to actually tell them Tk found that the next time he got the chance he just couldn't come out with it and he ended up giving the team some, adamantly lame, excuse as to what he was going to tell them.
Little did Tk know that was going to be the last chance he would have had to tell the team himself.
Because just two weeks after that day Owen got news from his doctor that the cancer hadn't shrunk and that he was going to have to have surgery to remove it. Which he had the next day.
That pushed Tk over the edge and before he knew it he found himself in an alley packet of pills in hand unsuccessfully trying to convince himself not to take them.
It took TK a week of using to come clean to his dad.
Owen was of course disappointed at his son.
The two of them decided that Tk needed more help then what Owen could provide and Tk decided that the best thing for himself right now was rehab.
Tk also decided that it was time for the team to find out and he asked his dad to explain everything to them.
So that's how Owen found himself sitting across from the team he had quickly started seeing as family in his house about to tell them about some of the worst moments of his life.
"You going to tell us where Tk's be the last few days Cap?" Judd asked from where he was leaned back on the big sofa.
"Yeah." Owen started surprised when he found himself extremely nervous to tell the team what had been happening. "Tk checked himself into rehab."
"He did what?" Marjan asked more than a little shocked by what the captain had just said.
"A couple days ago Tk decided the best thing for him right now was to check himself into rehab for a bit." Owen explained in a bit more detail trying to stall having to tell them all the big stuff.
"What happened Cap?" Judd asked starting to get really worried.
"He relapsed almost two weeks ago, when we found out about my surgery." Owen told them.
"Relapsed on what?" Paul asked hoping he wasn't pushing too much.
"Pills. Opioids." Owen looked down at his hands letting out a sye. "Tk asked me to tell you guys. He said he tried a couple weeks ago but he got interrupted and he wants you to know about what happened before we moved."
"You mean that time during dinner when the alarm went off." Marjan asked thinking back to that day and how worried TK looked. "He said it was nothing when we asked him later."
"Yeah he told me, said he got worried and couldn't tell you." Owen looked back up at his team before saying. "When Tk was a teenager he started to hang out with this boy, I never really liked him but he seemed pretty harmless." Owen sighed always feeling guilty that he didn't stop Tk from hanging around with this guy. "Turns out he was a drug user and he got Tk into it to. His mum and I didn't find out for about a year though, not until Tk overdosed."
"How old was he?" Judd interrupted a little worried about the answer.
"Seventeen." Owen sighed feeling guilty for a lot of things that happened back then. "Tk didn't want any professional help at the time and we got it, he was still in high school he didn't want to be the weirdo who was addicted to drugs so we agreed to help him. We got him into NA meetings and we got extra strict on who he could go out with when he could leave the house, stuff like that and for a while it was good. But then Tk went off to get into the fire academy and he left home. We though he was doing really well, whenever we talked to him he seemed fine but we were wrong he started using again."
"You can stop for a bit cap." Marjan said noticing how hard it was getting for the cap to tell the story.
"No I just need to say it all." Owen said giving his team a small reassuring nod that he was okay. "He overdosed again about a year after he left home. After that TK moved back in with me and got himself sober, got into the academy and things started to look really good. Not long after he met Alex and the two of them started dating. There was a couple slip ups through the first through years but before we moved Tk hadn't use for almost four years." Owen smiled remembering back to that time.
"What happened to change it?" Paul asked knowing it wasn't the end of the story and that Owen needed a little push to finish the story.
"Not long before we moved TK proposed to Alex, you know that, what you don't know is Tk used that nigh and he ended up overdosing. I decided the best thing for us was to move. Get him away from the reminders of all the bad stuff that's happened to him. When he found out about my surgery he relapsed, said he was using for about a week before he came clean. He decided the best thing at the moment was to try rehab."
"How longs he going to be there?" Mateo asked speaking for the first time since Owen started to tell the team what happened.
"Three months."
The team was all there for Owen while Tk was in rehab.
And when Tk got out he had a whole family waiting to help him get through this and stay sober.
Notes:
I hope you liked this story and I would love to know what you thought in the comments.
I have corrected all the mistakes I could fine but if I missed any that you spotted please let me know so I can fix them.
I take suggestions for stories on tumbler under the username Geekygirl669.
I try and write all the stories suggested and I let you know whether I cant do them and for what reason.
I will also credit you in the notes at the beginning of the story if that's what you want.
so if you have any story's idea's please just let me know."
