2. Forever and Everything Else

Author's Note: So I really couldn't wait to get into Rick and Drew. They have such an untold backstory that I really can't wait to explore. This explores what happened prior to Rick showing up at the hospital wanting to get married. I hope you enjoy it and please leave some constructive criticism! I am thinking of adding more to Chapter 1 to explore what happened as TC and Topher were in Afghanistan and on their way back. I can do it in one of two way, updating the chapter or making it a flashback in chapter 4, let me know what you think!

Rick thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He had never been so fearful and so positive of anything in his life. He knew he wanted the house, the dog, and the white picket fence. He wanted everything. He desperately wanted forever, and he wanted it with Drew.

Just hours earlier Rick felt like his world would end. As he sat in the living room of the small two-bedroom house he shared with Drew, he felt his pulse stop. He lost all feeling in his hands and dropped his beer on the floor, covering the grey suede couch and hardwood floors in the amber liquid he had been enjoying moments prior. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the love of his life, his forever, on television. Drew was only in the background and Rick wasn't even positive based on the appearance, but it was Drew. Rick knew with every fibre of his being that his happily ever after was out there. Just hours earlier they had fought about the job in South Carolina and Rick wasn't positive he was going to stay in San Antonio. Seeing Drew out there though changed his world. Drew was out there, on the scene where the sniper attacks were happening, and suddenly South Carolina didn't matter. Rick desperately dialed the number he had memorized.

"Rick?" the voice on the end of the line cooed, "Is everything okay? Is it your leg?"

"Drew…" was all the words he could muster.

"What about Drew?" Krysta asked puzzled as to why Rick would call her instead of Drew.

Normally Rick only called Krysta if it was a medical problem. He hated asking Drew his questions and he loathed having Drew take care of him. Him and Krysta had a bonded and he had become quite fond of the coffee haired doctor that helped him out. But right now he needed to find out about Drew.

"Is he okay?"

"We haven't heard any reports of shots fired or paramedics injured yet. Why, what's up?"

"I saw him…on TV. Krysta I…," his voice cracked as he fought back the tears he realized were coming.

"Just keep calm, I'll keep you updated…" Krysta said soothingly.

"And Rick," she added, "Everything will be fine, I promise."

"Thanks." Rick said hitting the end button before sliding into the couch to cry and catch the breath he didn't realize he had been holding.

Rick sat there in complete silence and despair waiting for his phone to ring. He had never wanted so badly to tell Drew that he loved him. He had never wished so hard for his phone to ring. So he stared. He stared so intently on his phone wishing for it to ring that when it did he thought that he had made it happen purely based on thoughts. He didn't even bother to pay attention to the caller ID as he eagerly answered the phone.

"Drew?"

"I'm looking for a Mr. Richard Lincoln, is he available? This is Lieutenant Lowell Grant with San Antonio SWAT."

"This is," Rick said pulling himself together, "I apologize for how I answered, a loved one of mine is out there with the snipers. I am deeply sorry for being on edge."

"Don't worry about it Richard." Lt. Grant responded. Lt. Grant knew that Rick was gay and it didn't faze him. He had saw the interview after Drew took out the shooter at the promotion ceremony. The only thing that he cared about was getting Rick to take the job training his people. He could use someone with his experience on the force.

"Rick," he interrupted, he always felt awkward when people called him Richard. Richard was his dad.

"Rick, I'm calling to offer you a job. I know you were offered a job training Rangers, but I have an opening that will keep you here in San Antonio with Drew."

Rick was taken aback by the frankness in which Lt. Grant said Drew's name. It was almost as if Lt. Grant knew that Drew was more than just a friend. Before he realized it, Rick had stopped talking and moments had passed while he got tangled in a web inside his own head. The idea of staying here in San Antonio, staying here with Drew…suddenly he wanted it all, and South Carolina was a distant memory.

Rick snapped back to the present when he finally heard Lt. Grant speak.

"I apologize Rick, I saw the interview with you and your boyfriend Drew, you don't have to hide from us son. We want you because you are the best. It takes a lot to pass in the top 1%; it takes even more to do it with half of your leg missing. We need a man of your skill, your drive, and your talent here. We need someone who can train these men, so men like Drew don't get caught in the middle of shit – pardon my language son- in the middle of a dangerous situation such as this. "

Rick was at a loss for words. Finally the words he was looking for found him.

"When would I start?" Rick knew that if he had any hopes of forever happening sooner rather than later he would need some time.

"When would you like to start?"

"Give me a week," and with that the call ended and Rick knew what he had to do. He had to guarantee forever, now.

Rick moved as fast as his one and a half legs could take him. He moved around the house with such urgency as he packed two suitcases, one for Drew and one for himself. He packed their swim trunks, flip-flops, button-down shirts, suit jackets, jeans, army fatigues. He searched everywhere for the last article he needed.

"Where is it," Rick asked himself. He couldn't for the life of him find the purple paisley tie he had bought Drew for their anniversary. Drew would never admit he loved the color purple, but Rick knew him better than anyone.

He finally found the tie folded neatly in the sock drawer. As Rick picked up the tie he felt the familiar texture of velvet against the back of his hand. He pulled the drawer out farther and he saw it. The little black velvet box he knew contained a ring.

"Ass," he murmured as he left the ring there. He thought for a moment and placed the tie precisely back in the spot he found it. He would not let Drew one up him. He was driving to San Antonio Memorial Hospital and he was going to ask the man who he knew with every fibre of his being was he soul mate, to be his, forever. He was not going to let Drew propose to him that was for damned sure. Rick had messed this up once, he wanted Drew to know that he loved him more than anything and he wanted forever and everything else that came with.

In one trip Rick lobbed the bags in the back of their pick-up truck with the efficiency of a baggage handler at San Antonio International Airport. He jumped in the truck and checked his e-mail for the confirmation from the hotel he needed.

"Perfect."

Rick started the truck and she purred like a kitten. He had TC to thank for that according to Drew. TC may be a pretentious ass but he did fix the only thing he loved as much as Drew. The pick-up truck he called Dolly.

Rick thumbed through his phone, looking for the perfect song to sum up his feelings right now. He wasn't much for music or for singing but right now he would have given the performance of his life on top of San Antonio Memorial Hospital. Finally he settled on the perfect song to sing his heart out to or to at least calm his nerves and reassure him this was the right thing. Rick had never been so damned nervous in his life.

The familiar twang of Randy Travis played throughout the cab of his truck. The smile Rick had been missing since he saw Drew on the news crept over his face. With quick fingers he turned the song up as loud as poor Dolly's speakers could hand before they cracked and whined, begging him to return them to a reasonable decibel. He ignored the pleas of his worn out speakers and rolled down the windows. Rick drove as fast as the law allowed and basked in the refreshment that was the cool Texas morning air.

"You may think that I'm talkin' foolish / You've heard I'm wild and I'm free/ You may wonder how I can promise you / This love, that I feel for you, always will be / You're not just time that I'm killin'/ I'm no longer one of those guys/ As sure as I live this love that I give/ Is gonna be your until the day that I die – oh, baby"

Rick tapped his fingers on the steering wheel humming along until finally his favorite and the most important part of the song came on. Once this happened it was all over, Rick would go hoarse but he couldn't contain himself. Rick sang the song alongside Randy Travis like he was at the Grand Ole' Opry.

"I'm gonna love you forever, forever and ever, amen," Rick harmonized with Randy, though slightly off key.

He brushed his hands through his short chestnut hair and thought to himself, that he planned on doing just that to Drew, he was going to love him forever. The song ended and Rick turned the radio down. He didn't want Drew to know that his strong, Army Ranger man had gone soft. As he pulled into the hospital parking lot, his breath hitched in his throat. He had never been so happy to see Drew in his entire life.

Rick barely put the car in park before unbuckling his seatbelt and jumping out of the cab. He ran to Drew, hugged him, kissed him, and then finally slapped his chest.

"Ow, seriously Rick? What was that all about," Drew asked confused.

It wasn't that he wasn't happy to see Rick. He loved Rick more than anything. While hiding behind the ambulance tonight with Gwen, he knew how close he had come to being the next target. He felt like an idiot for being so selfish. He knew that back home, he had a wedding band burning a hole in a sock drawer under his favorite tie. After the close call tonight, he wasn't waiting for the moment to be perfect, he didn't need perfect, he needed Rick. To Drew, Rick was perfect, and he wanted nothing more than to make this incredibly handsome amputee soldier his husband. He had lost Rick once and he'd be damned if he lost him again.

Rick looked at Drew breathless, apparently he needed to remind himself to breathe when it came to Drew. He was so angry with Drew for putting himself in harms way. He could feel the blood pulsating in his ears.

"I saw you on television tonight! How could you put yourself in harms way like that Drew? Do you know what could have happened if they wouldn't have gotten the guy when they did? I'd be planning your funeral…" Rick got everything off of his chest in one breath, and then he realized what he said and got instantly angry with himself. Rick really wanted to say that he'd be planning his funeral instead of their wedding but he caught himself in time.

He didn't mean to come off as callused as he did but he was pissed. He had every right to be, he was planning on forever and after tonight he may have only had to yesterday.

"I wanted to tell you person that I took the job," Rick said with cold eyes. The normal bright blue eyes of his suddenly turned a steely grey. He hoped he was pulling this off.

"So you're moving," Drew said, the hurt evident in his voice.

"I didn't take that job. I was offered a position here, training agents for the San Antonio SWAT team. I'm not going anywhere." Rick retorted with an undeniable zest in his voice usually reserved for when he bested Drew at anything.

"You shouldn't have turned down that job," Drew scolded, furrowing his brow to show his partner the dislike he had at the decision, "You wanted to get back into the Rangers and you turn down the job to train SWAT members here? Why?"

Just this morning Rick had looked so determined to move to South Carolina and leave all of this behind. It broke Drew's heart if he had to admit it, but that wasn't going to stop him, and he was going to propose anyway, maybe they could make it work. He had looked for hospital jobs on his lunch break but the idea of leaving his friends behind wounded his soul. Topher was going through a tough time with Janet, and Krysta had just ended things with Joey. And then there was TC and Jordan; they were going to need him more than anything. Specially Jordan, he had become particularly fond of her over the past few years.

Rick interrupted Drew's thoughts. "That job in South Carolina doesn't matter. You matter. I want forever, I want a nice little house with shorter ceilings, a dog, a white picket fence…I want forever and everything else."

Drew stepped forward, wrapping his muscular arms around the love of his life. He held him tightly, never wanting to let go. He loved how well they fit together, how when they hugged he could feel Rick's heartbeat against his chest just past his chiseled pecs. Right now he could tell Rick's heart was racing, mirroring the rhythm of his own. Tonight had shown Drew how much he needed Rick; He decided he'd wait until they were home to propose. Perhaps he'd make them a nice dinner and surprise him afterwards. Right now though, in this moment, Drew needed to kiss his boyfriend.

Rick dropped his hands to Drew's molded waist and almost simultaneously Drew reach up and cupped Rick's face with his hands. He kissed Rick with urgency and Rick reciprocated by pulling Drew closer. Rick wrapped his arms around Drew's back, holding him in such a way as to never let him go. It wasn't until they both required air and the necessity with which Drew needed to feel Rick's lips against his subsided that they separated. Rick grabbed both of Drew's hands into his; pulling them to lips so that he could kiss the scarred knuckles of this man's hands.

"Let's get married," Rick whispered, worried that perhaps he had read too much into the ring and Drew wasn't prepared quite yet.

"What?" Drew retorted surprised.

In their relationship Rick always seemed to make the first move. Rick seemed to know that Drew was gay before Drew did. At boot camp it was Rick who asked Drew to go for a run with him every morning before the rest of the troops got up. It was Rick who first took the plunge and kissed Drew softly during one of their talks on the cliff overlooking the valley after their morning runs. It was Rick who initiated every kiss at boot camp after that eventually suggesting they become a couple. It was Drew who said I love you first though. And now, Richard Lincoln was still one-upping him. He shouldn't have been so surprised though, Drew knew from the moment that he laid eyes on Rick that this man was going to be his husband.

"Let's go to Santa Fe and lets get married. I've booked the hotel and our bags are packed, all you have to do is say yes."

"Lets stop at home first," Drew responded with a twinkle in his eye, "I need to grab my favorite tie."

Rick tossed Drew the keys to Dolly. "You lead the way."

"You were pretty positive I was going to say yes," Drew teased.

"It was more of a hunch," Rick smiled.

"Well I guess I'm becoming a bit to predictable," Drew retorted with his lopsided grin Rick had grown to love so much.

"Welcome to married life," Rick kissed Drew one more time as Dolly purred to life as they drove off in the cool Texas air on their way to their forever.

Songs Mentioned in this Chapter:

"Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis

* I do not own the rights to any of these songs*

Stay tuned for the next chapter. I'm going to look into what happens when Ragosa finds Krysta outside after leaving Joey. Chapter 4 will return back to the hospital.