State Your Source

2. On the way to the call, Bobby gives them the rundown. Male. Early 30s. Legs went through the floor on the second floor during home renovations and wound up stuck. It seems pretty straight forward to Buck. 

On arrival, they have to break into the house because the front door is locked. Buck kinda feels bad about it because it looks like the door was just recently installed, but there really was no other way. They also see the dangling legs in the ceiling right away. Bobby instructs Chim to head up and he immediately yells back “Hey, guys, it’s Tommy!” 

Buck is all “who’s Tommy?” feeling a tad jealous as the others start to talk and joke around.

Tommy is trying to downplay everything even as the floor creaks from Chim’s weight. Bobby is trying to figure out if they should try to get Tommy out on the second or first floor. 

“Floor’s pretty unsteady,” Chim confirms. 

“I think I got termites,” Tommy complains as Bobby decides it will be safer to bring him down. 

At some point while they work to get him out, Chim and Hen tell Buck that Tommy used to be at the 118. 

“You actually replaced him,” Bobby adds. 

“And why did you leave? To flip houses?” Buck asks, not sure if that’s actually working for Tommy. 

“He’s a pilot at Harbor,” Hen supplies. 

Buck immediately starts asking questions about it. Bobby doesn’t stop him because it’s keeping Tommy talking and distracted while they work to get him out and stop the bleeding. Hen suspects a bad cut and is hoping that it wasn’t a major artery. 

So, Buck gets to hear about Tommy flying and his transfer and how he came to be a pilot in the first place and Tommy asks about Buck’s time at the 118. They’re flirting a little in a way that goes over Buck’s head entirely and that Hen has gotten used to from Buck with guys and girls alike. Tommy though is very intrigued by Buck even more so when he finally gets a look at him because while he looks a little younger than what Tommy usually goes for, he’s also eyecatching. 

3. It’s after convincing Tommy he has to go to the hospital because he has splinters in his leg and the cut is deep and needs stitches that Chim asks about the house. 

Tommy explains he purchased it on a short sale for a third of its value because of all the repairs it’s in need of. He figured if he did everything himself over several years it would make sense financially. His idea was to make it livable. The kitchen he’d already tackled and it wasn’t done exactly but he had water and gas and the old appliances that came with the house were still somehow working. His full bathroom on the second floor was also in working order even though the tile was atrocious and he hated the tub. But he’d been sleeping in what was supposed to be the living room because he had wanted to get his bedroom ready before he moved in there so there’d be one place that was actually finished. 

“That sort of makes sense,” Hen said. 

“Aren’t you going to end up spending just as much money renovating as you would if you bought a house that didn’t need this much work?” Chim asked. 

“Doing it myself, Chim,” Tommy explained. “I’m not paying anyone for the labor.” 

He’d done the math. His mortgage was tiny and he would pay it off in ten years give or take instead of thirty and as long as he could also live there then he could renovate as slow or fast as he could. It felt lofty, but Tommy also liked the idea that he’d end up with a house that he built with his own hands…a house that was how he liked it, where maybe one day he might meet someone that he could invite to live with him. It had three bedrooms. Maybe that future included a kid? Two? 

“That’s actually pretty cool,” Buck supplied. “And that means you’re also picking out your own materials and aren’t using all the stuff that won’t actually hold up for long.” 

“Yeah, but now I might have termites,” Tommy said as he was put into the ambulance.

“What do you know about home renovation?” Hen asked Buck after the doors closed behind Tommy and Chim. 

“I worked construction for a while,” Buck informs them.  

4. They leave Tommy at the hospital and Bobby forces them to go back to the station to finish out their shifts. Buck asks about Tommy. Hen and Chim fill him in and Buck is a little (a lot) fascinated by him. But that’s basically the end of it, until a few weeks later when Buck has to go to the hardware store because one of his roommates left the bathroom door locked and in an effort to unlock it, they messed up the lock. Buck somehow ends up being the one tasked with buying and replacing the doorknob/lock and he runs into Tommy. 

“So, was it termites?” Buck asks. 

“Thankfully not,” Tommy says. “Just some old rotting wood. So now I have to figure out how to rebuild the floor and ceiling. This is way more than I know how to do on my own.” 

“I can help,” Buck offers and explains that actually he does know what he’s doing from months spent working construction.

Tommy is reluctant to accept the help but he does because Buck is hard to say no to. 

5. They become fast friends and between the two of them they get a lot done around the house. Tommy is constantly asking for Buck’s opinion on things. They text all the time about paint colors and moldings and tile. It takes up so much of Buck’s time that he doesn’t need to sleep around as much and that he doesn’t take up with Abby. He’s at Tommy’s house during any of his days off even if they don’t coincide with Tommy’s. 

They bond while working together. Talk about everything including how Tommy came out recently and is finally living his true self…but how hard dating as a gay man had turned out to be. Buck in turn tells him about how hard he’s found it too and that’s when Buck realizes that he hasn’t gone on an app or even gone into a bar/club to meet a girl in ages. They talk about being each other’s wingmen and going out, but they never go through with it because they both secretly feel weird (jealous) about doing that. 

That leads to realizing how much more fulfilled he’s been working with Tommy and how valued and how all the times he’d gotten caught up in watching Tommy might mean something more than admiration for the work Tommy has put on to get his arms as muscular and also how good his ass looks. Eventually, he realizes that he has feelings for Tommy and that scares him almost as much as it excites him. He starts to act a bit weird and flustered and Tommy calls him out on it and then he catches onto why and he kisses Buck and then asks him to go out on a date. 

6. When the house is finally finished, a couple of years later, Buck has already been living with Tommy for a few months. Tommy didn’t ask him to move in, it just sorta happened a few months into their relationship and the house had started to feel a lot like theirs due to all the parts they built of it together. They get a dog to celebrate and also for practice for the eventual future where they adopt a kid. Buck also thinks that their backyard will be perfect for their wedding.

-

A few weeks later, he's looking for a birthday present for Ravi and so he pulls up Ravi's contact to look at his notes (Buck has notes for most of his contacts to remind him of their likes and dislikes and whatever other trivia he finds fascinating about them) and he'd noted that Ravi is into Dungeons & Dragons.

He goes back to the game store, on a mission this time, and peruses the aisles until Tommy is done with his current customer.

Tommy looks up when Buck approaches the counter. "Hi."

Buck gets distracted by the way Tommy's eye crinkle when he smiles that he nearly forgets to say it back. He clears his throat. "Uh, hi."

Tommy's smile softens then, which only accentuates the smile lines around his mouth. "Something I can help you find?"

"Uh yeah—yes. I'm looking, for a friend—"

Tommy's eyebrows shoot up.

Buck shakes his head and laughs. "I have a friend—I need to get them a birthday gift. He likes DnD?" He swears he knows how to have a conversation, but something about Tommy has thrown him off-kilter. Tommy at least doesn't seem put off by Buck's social ineptitude, or if he is he doesn't show it.

Tommy slowly nods. "Well, dice is always a safe bet." He gestures at the glass case that sits under the counter, full of dice of all shapes and sizes and colors. 

Buck steps closer to look and wow—Tommy's eyes are really blue this close up. He quickly looks away, before he's caught or does something insane like tell Tommy his eyes are pretty or ask if there are any dice in his shade of blue. "Oh, wow. I don't even know where to start."

Tommy patiently explains the different dice to Buck. "We do custom orders as well, with enough notice, if that's something you're interested in." He shows Buck an album with pictures of some of the custom orders they've done.

"So, you made these?"

"Yeah," Tommy says, obviously proud of his work which he should be. 

"No way, that's so cool. I wouldn't even know what to get—hey, do you have any with flames?"

"Yeah, we've got a few." 

He looks back up at Tommy and apparently loses any ability he ever had to be cool when he says, "do you have sex dice?"

Tommy's eyebrows raise and his lips part.

"Not for my friend, for me—" Buck says, like that's somehow better.

Tommy blinks. "Sex dice?"

"Yeah, you know, the ones that say stuff like suck—"

Tommy snorts. "I know what they are—”

Buck flushes. "Oh."

"And no, we don't." Tommy's smile is amused. "It's not that kind of game shop."

He ducks his head and laughs. "Right. Well"—he points to a fire engine red set with flames—"I'll just take those then."

Tommy rings him up and tells Buck he'll see him next time and Buck leaves with Ravi's present secured and at least some of his dignity intact.

Over the next couple months, Buck finds more excuses to visit Tommy's store: more birthdays, buying games for the firehouse, his jeep needs work again.

In between helping other customers, Tommy entertains Buck's questions and info dumps. Buck talks about firefighting and Tommy talks about his love of games.

Buck makes Tommy laugh and it feels even better than he imagined. 

One day in June, Buck goes to see Tommy without any pretense at all. It's quiet in the store—though he knows better than to say so—it's just him and Tommy, from the looks of it.

He walks to the counter and greets Tommy, who pushes a blank piece of paper and a pen towards him. 

"So, about those dice you asked for. If you tell me what you want, I can make them for you."

Buck's brow furrows as he tries to remember when he'd—oh. He'd forgotten and he wishes Tommy had too, though he supposes it was probably a pretty memorable experience. There's nothing teasing about Tommy's tone, only sincerity, and even if Buck never ends up using them, he doesn't want to turn down Tommy's offer. He taps the pen against the blank paper, suddenly forgetting any sex he's ever had or wanted to have. "I don't know—what do you think?"

Tommy raises an eyebrow. "You want me to tell you what should be on your sex dice?"

"I've never had them before, I don't know. Here"—he pulls his phone from his pocket and sets it on the counter—"I'll just look it up." Only, when he types sex into the search engine, his last search pops up. "Oh, um—"

"You know," Tommy says, voice low and deceptively casual, "if you want to know about sex with another man, I'm a lot more reliable than Google."

Buck's whole body flushes and he wishes for the earth to open up and swallow him, but he's not that lucky. "Oh, you…you're—"

Tommy chuckles. "Yes, Evan, I'm gay."

Buck nods. "That's good—uh, good to know."

Tommy hums. "Tell you what"—he grabs a business card from the holder atop the counter—"when you know what you want, send me the list." He hands Buck the card, a number scribbled on it in black ink.

"This is your personal number?"

"Yeah, in case I'm not the one here when you call. I don't think Lucy would appreciate it." Tommy's gaze sweeps over Buck, appraising him. "I mean, you're definitely her type, but I think she'd at least want you to buy her dinner first."

Buck tilts his head. "And what about you—"

The bell above the shop's door jingles as two customers walk in. 

A small smile curves one corner of Tommy's lips. "Let me know when you figure it out." 

"O-okay."

"I'll see you around, Evan." He raps his knuckles on the counter, then walks around it to greet the other customers.

Buck doesn't figure it out that day or the next.

The rest of June passes without another visit to the store; without calling or texting Tommy.

Buck stops in the store the first week of July. Tommy's at the counter ringing up a customer, but he looks up when Buck walks through the door. They exchange polite smiles and waves.

It's only been a month since Buck's seen him, so of course he hasn't changed.

But Buck has.

At least, he feels like he has.

He walks up to the counter. Tries to discreetly wipe his sweaty palms on his jeans.

Tommy eyes him, almost wearily if Buck's not reading into things. "I never heard from you."

Buck rubs the back of his neck. "Ah, yeah"—he'd rehearsed this moment, but he still stutters when he says"—I, uh, found this kit online to make dice? It took a few tries, but I think I actually did a pretty good job." He pulls the dice from his hoodie pocket and sets them on the counter.

Tommy doesn't bother looking. His lips flatten into a straight line. "Ah. I guess you're all set then—you've got everything you need?" 

Buck can't make his tongue work, can't shape his mouth around the right words—isn't even sure what the right words are now, this isn't at all what he'd rehearsed. 

Tommy walks away from the counter, towards the back room before Buck can even ask what just happened. 

A minute later, a blonde woman walks out of the back room. "Anything you need help with?"

Buck's brow furrows. "I guess not. You must be Lucy?"

"Guilty. And you must be Evan."

"Oh, uh yeah—most people call me Buck."

Lucy raises an eyebrow. "Most people, huh?" She cuts a glance at the back room. When Buck picks the dice up, she notices. "What ya got there?"

"Oh, uh, just some dice I made—"

"No kidding."

"For Tommy."

Lucy gives him a pitying look. "Do you want me to give them to him?"

Buck sighs. "Might as well. I don't have any use for them." He sets them back down and without overthinking it, grabs a business card, writes his phone number on the back of it, and slides it under the dice. "Thanks, Lucy. It was nice meeting you."

"You too, Buck."

When the bell over the door stops jingling, Lucy yells, "you can come out now, you big coward."

Tommy slinks out of the back room. "I can fire you, you know."

Lucy sticks her tongue out. "Your life would suck without me, Kinard."

He purses his lips. "What did you and Evan talk about?"

"Evan? Oh, you mean your lover boy?" She grins. "He left you a present."

Tommy rolls his eyes, but he accepts the proffered dice anyway. It's not what he expected. "Oh." He turns one of the six-sided die over and over, one word etched into each side. "Am I crazy or does this say will you go out with me?"

Lucy snatches the die and looks it over. "Oh, Tommy. It's obviously go out with me you will." 

Tommy pinches the bridge of his nose. "I hate you."

"Oh, c'mon, that was a great impression."

"That—I don't even know what that was."

Lucy laughs. "Oh, he also left this." She hands Tommy the business card. "So…"

"So, what?"

"Will you go out with him?"

It's been a while since Buck's been on a first date. It's been even longer since he'd felt as nervous as he had about a date. He'd been worried he wouldn't know how to be on a date with a man, but he really hadn't needed to worry, this was Tommy after all.

Talking to Tommy is still easy, comfortable; they still make each other laugh. 

Only now, they let their gazes and touches linger. Now, Buck understands what he wanted from the moment he saw Tommy.

After they've finished their dinner, and Buck's looking at the dessert menu, Tommy tells him that he has something for him.

Buck blushes. "Oh, I didn't get you anything—"

Tommy smiles, lips pursed together like he's trying not to laugh. "I didn't expect you to, Evan." Then he sets a small, wooden box on the table between them. 

Buck picks it up and opens it. Inside the velvet lined box are several light blue dice. "Did you make these for me?"

"I did."

Each side has a word or phrase and Buck turns them over to take a look. "Oh." He looks up and meets Tommy's eye. "I think maybe we should skip dessert."

Tommy smirks. "You're adorable, but I've been dreaming of this chocolate cake for a week."

"Hmm. Well, I"—Buck takes two dice out of the box and sets them on the table—"have been dreaming of that for months."

Tommy looks at the dice, throat bobbing as he swallows. "I suppose we could get it to go."

Buck grins. 

Tommy shakes his head. "I knew you'd be trouble."

"Good trouble, I hope?"

tommy is man enough to admit he has a WILD crush on this guy, but he's professional enough not to let it get in the way of doing his job. anyway, he really likes taylor too — she's funny and ambitious and a little mean which are all characteristics tommy really likes in a friend. while evan is sweet and enthusiastic and full of sunshine, which are all things tommy likes in a guy. not that it matters, he reminds himself, because taylor's not going to be his friend, and evan's absolutely not going to be his man. normally, he can guess within a few minutes of meeting a couple whether they're going to stay together, but he really can't tell with these two. the vibe he gets is good friends with a lot ot sexual chemistry.

the show goes on — tasks, activities, honesty challenges, whatever they do on this show, again, i apologise, i have not watched it oops — and tommy continues to spend a lot of time with both of them. he and evan hit it off immediately, even beyond the things they have in common. a couple times tommy thinks there's something more to it — evan's almost too interested in what he has to say, finds too many excuses to hang out with him and talk to him about things other than his relationship with taylor.

the day before the show do their "new relationship" twist, where each half of a couple gets assigned a new person to live with for three weeks, to see whether the grass is really greener, evan and taylor have a huge fight, and neither of them will tell tommy what it was about. oh, they give him reasons ("he doesn't respect my work and his 'family' hates me" vs. "sometimes i don't think she even wants to be with me at all, she doesn't take me seriously"), but he can tell they're both holding out on him.

evan gets matched with a vet tech named elena who is sweet and funny and has none of taylor's sharp edges. taylor gets matched with an entrepreneur named alan who is hot as breakfast, but takes himself extremely seriously and has none of evan's sweetness or enthusiasm (unless you count his enthusiasm for perfectly calibrating his pre-workout stacks).

tommy thinks it's going to make them both realise how much they like each other, maybe they'll make it after all. and then he gets a text from a runner who works on the show saying buck needs to talk to him urgently. once the moment of "who the hell is buck?" has passed, tommy hurries over to the apartment evan is currently sharing with elena and finds him pacing up and down the corridor. the first thing out of his mouth is "i think i have to quit the show".

tommy's not as cutthroat as some of the producers who will do anything it takes to keep a contestant on the show, but he does need to know more, and he doesn't want evan to sacrifice his fee if he walks. "okay," he says. "why don't we go get a drink and we can talk it through?" evan nods, looking pitifully grateful. tommy takes him to a nearby coffee shop, because he doesn't drink with contestants on the show. evan looks around with big, wide, worried eyes like he's expecting the place to be full of other producers who are there specifically to listen in on their conversation. tommy fights against a deeply unhelpful wave of affection and buys their coffees.

it's worse than he imagined. "taylor's writing an article," evan says in a hushed voice. "about the ethics of reality tv." tommy thinks, shiiiiiiiit, and starts flicking through a mental rolodex of every interaction he's had with either of them. crush aside, he doesn't think he's crossed any lines. but there's a really messy couple that one of the other producers has been handling, and there are always, always people on these shows that need therapy more than they need to air out their relationship woes on national tv for entertainment. and then evan says, "but we signed stuff. i don't want her to get in trouble." and if tommy wasn't already falling for him, he thinks that would have done it. "if i quit," he goes on, "if i say they can't use my footage, will that help?"

they go back and forth on it for the length of time it takes them to drink two coffees each. at one point tommy says, "it's sweet, that you're concerned for her. you're a good boyfriend." evan's mouth twists unhappily and he says, "don't give me too much credit. i'm so…i'm so embarrassed, tommy. we came on this stupid show — sorry, i know it's your job, but if i have to do one more ridiculous fake date or honesty exercise i'm going to lose my mind — and i don't think she ever even wanted to figure out if we should stay together or not. i think it was just a way in for her." ambitious, that was the first thing tommy noticed about taylor, the first thing he liked about taylor. now, looking at the way evan's drooping like a sad puppy sitting outside in the rain, it doesn't seem so endearing. "i'll talk to her," tommy offers. "don't do anything yet, okay?" evan nods, sniffs, thanks tommy for the coffees.

on their way back to the apartment complex where the contestants are staying, evan stops on the sidewalk and says, "um. thank you. i'm—i'm really glad it's you." tommy doesn't know what to do with that, so he reaches out, intending to put his arm over evan's shoulders and give him a jostling, bro-y half hug. instead, evan reaches out in return and the gentle way he puts his arms around tommy, the careful way his hands spread wide on tommy's shoulder blades like he wants to feel as much as possible has his heart racing with stupid, stupid feelings. he closes his eyes and lets evan hug him for way longer than he should.

tommy doesn't get to speak to taylor until the next day — she's filming a yoga date with alan, which tommy's fellow producer describes as 'a total shit show'. when they sit down together the next morning, he doesn't waste any time, just tells her he knows about the article, and waits to see what she says. what she says, with a smile is, "i'm a reporter, tommy. i'm always working on articles. you'll have to be more specific." tommy frowns and tells her that evan is worried about her from a legal perspective. she scoffs and says, "he always does this. i'm a professional. i spoke with my editor, we spoke with our legal department. i'm not stupid. i thought about it before i did this." tommy can't help himself, bursts out, "did you think about him? he's heartbroken, taylor." "oh, he is not," she shoots back. "believe it or not, in spite of all your little late night chats, i know buck better than you do. he's embarrassed and he doesn't want to hear his family say 'i told you so' for the fifth time." tommy can tell that taylor's used to that tone taking her a long way, so he pushes down the spike of anxiety about late night chats and just raises his eyebrows. "god," she mutters. "fine. give me your phone, i'll talk to him." tommy's busting through a bunch of rules here in the interests of damage control, telling himself it's damage control for the show rather than for evan's heart. he puts his phone into taylor's outstretched hand and she dials, holding it up to her ear as she says, "a little privacy?"

tommy doesn't know what they talk about, but taylor looks a little subdued when she brings his phone out to him, and they make it through the rest of the show without incident. tommy tries to ask evan about it, but all he'll say is "we talked. we made some decisions. thank you for helping." tommy feels like he's going to vibrate out of his skin for the rest of the recording, and his heart is in his mouth when he watches their final filming. "we've decided to separate," taylor says. "we have different priorities," evan says. "we love each other, but we're not a good match anymore," taylor says. "there are other things we want to explore," evan says, and they have to reset and reshoot because taylor lets out an incredibly unladylike snort of laughter and evan gets the giggles. tommy doesn't think he understands these two at all.

two weeks after filming wraps, taylor's article drops. it actually could have been a lot worse, and tommy's never been so grateful that he's in a position to pick his jobs and to no longer have to work on things that make him feel as uncomfortable as some of the early roles he took on.

a day after that, he gets a message on his work phone from evan. can we meet? it says. i'd love to buy you a coffee. it's such a terrible idea, tommy knows that. he says yes anyway.

when they film the reunion episode a couple months later, taylor doesn't attend. (tommy knows for a fact that she was very deliberately not invited, because the higher ups are mad as hell about the article because even if it doesn't make allegations of misconduct, it does absolutely skewer the show as a whole, and what it says about the reality tv industry.) evan does attend, and tommy has to look away and bite his lip hard so he doesn't give the game away when evan says, "i'm good. i'm really good. i'm actually seeing someone new. i know it's fast, but i really like them. like, a lot. i can see it going the distance."

“I have done this before,” Evan reminded him.

Tommy snuck him a glance. “And yet, you almost got us caught.”

Evan held up a finger. “Operative word being almost.”

Tommy shook his head at Evan, lips thin and tight. “Inches and seconds.”

“You should say millimeters and seconds,” Evan said. “It’s not imperial but it’s more accurate.”

“It’s longer.”

Evan rolled his eyes.

“Can you please look like you’re supposed to be here for two more minutes?” Tommy hissed.

Evan craned his head to look around and Tommy groaned. “What, the rich and famous don’t roll their eyes?”

“Not in public,” Tommy gritted his teeth.

“I’m starting to think you don’t like me, Mr. Kinard.”

“I’m very much regretting taking Howie’s place on this.” Tommy guided them past a server, ignoring Evan’s sad noise when he couldn’t grab an hors d'œuvre. Maybe a hundred feet to the doors and they’d be home free. Tommy could get out of this suit, relax, and go back to doing solo jobs.

They were steps away from the door when a voice rang out from behind them. “Gentleman, we need to speak to you.”

“Run,” Evan hissed, grabbing Tommy’s hand and sprinting towards the door.

They burst out of the doors together and ran down the stairs. Tommy could hear the voices and footsteps of their pursuers, and went to turn right.

“This way.” Evan jerked him to the left, pulling him into a slim alley between the museum and the building next to it, so tight the brick pulled at Tommy’s jacket and they had to move sideways, their shoulders too broad to fit across the gap.

“We’re going to get stuck,” Tommy hissed.

“Trust me.” Evan didn’t let him go, and about halfway down the alley opened up, cutting into the building next door.

“Okay, that was easier when I was younger,” Evan admitted. He stopped in front of a motorcycle and handed Tommy one of the helmets hanging from the handles. “What? Always have a backup plan.” He flashed Tommy a wide grin that had had the wives in the museum swooning over him.

As Tommy did the helmet up, Evan opened a saddlebag and pulled out two jackets, shoving his and Tommy’s suit jackets back inside.

“Good enough,” Evan determined, watching Tommy put on the leather jacket as he suited himself up. He sat on the motorcycle and patted the seat behind him. “Let’s go.”

Tommy sat behind him, somewhat reluctantly wrapping his arms around Evan’s waist.

“So, does this count as saving your life, and if so, what is a life debt good for?” Evan mused before he fired up the bike.

“Saved me from a night in jail at best,” Tommy told him.

“Yeah? Can I cash that in for a date?” Evan flashed him another grin before slamming his helmet shut and revving the bike, pulling out onto the empty side street and racing away from the people searching for them.

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Tommy's grandfather gets sick and can no longer handle owning the business and Tommy's dad doesn't want to do it either; he begrudgingly picks up the slack of work while he secretly tries to find a buyer before it's even legally his.

Tommy, all but estranged from both of them, visits his grandfather and tells him what his father is trying to do and asks him to leave the business to him (you would think he'd begged with how shameful being in his grandfather's presence makes him feel), that his father is just going to sell it or leave it to rot.

His grandfather looks him dead in the eye and says, "let him." Tommy's heart crumbles. The only time he's ever felt that same hurt--that same shame--was when his father said he'd rather Tommy be dead than be gay [not the word he used] and Tommy knows that's what his grandfather's saying even if he won't say it; he'd rather have his family's legacy crumble to dust than leave it in Tommy's hands--in the hands of a gay man.

And that's what happens.

Tommy's father can't sell it. Tommy offers to take it off his hands with what little money he has, to keep it running--anything has to be better than actively losing money on it.

His father refuses.

Eventually the place shuts down and is left to rot. His father can't even scrap it or sell the lot. But he keeps it from Tommy anyway, out of spite.

Years go by and Tommy watches it wither away.

Sometimes he'd drive out to the empty lot and sit in his truck with the windows down or sit in the truck bed and remember the good times, but as the building rusted, so did his memories of it.

That should have been enough to make Tommy just drive on by, change his route maybe, but he was a sucker for twisting the knife and he couldn't make himself stop.

His father made the decision for him. However he found out Tommy would spend time there--not hurting anything or anybody, but what did that matter to him--he'd called the cops on him one night. It was still his after all; Tommy's pretty sure his father just wanted to remind him.

Luckily the officer was a familiar face--sergeant Grant--who takes pity on him and just tells him to go home.

Years pass and suddenly Tommy has to retire from firefighting—because of injuries from the mall explosion or some other negligence—with disability pension.

It isn't long after that Tommy hears from his father and he's shocked; it was unexpected, in addition to being unwanted and unwelcome, but he answers the call anyway.

His father needs money.

Tommy laughs down the line. Very nearly hangs up on him until he realizes he finally has leverage over his old man for the first time in his life.

Tommy refuses to just give him the money, but says he will buy the drive-in for the amount his father's just asked for.

His father may be a miserable, spiteful, bigoted asshole, but he's not stupid.

It's an amount of money Tommy's comfortable parting with and now he has the thing he's always dreamed of owning and a new project to boot (there's only so many home renovations one man can stand to make without turning his home into a cold, lifeless model house).

The first thing Tommy does after he signs the deed is drive to the empty lot, park his truck, and cries. In relief. In grief—for all that he's lost or never had and never will. But there's hope in there too and a dream for what could be. What can be.

And Tommy already has plans; sketches, contacts, the means. Even when he doubted he would ever own the drive-in, at least not while his father was alive, he'd never stopped dreaming and planning.

Not too long before the last time Tommy visited the lot, it was just before sunset and he was parked in his usual spot—3 rows back, in the middle of the row (what passes for it anyway, as all the paint that once marked the parking spots has been lost to time)—when a truck pulled into the lot and parked a few spaces down from him. Tommy's whole body tensed, wondering if there was going to be trouble, but the man—probably around Tommy's age—got out of his truck, didn't approach Tommy but leaned against his own driver's side door, like he had no agenda and all the time in the world.

Tommy waited a minute, then got of out his truck too, rounding the front. Before he could figure out what to say, the man said he'd seen Tommy's truck parked here a few times and wondered if Tommy knew who owned the place. Tommy puffs up his chest, asks him who wants to know—

The man holds up his hands in a placating gesture and Tommy sees he has a small, white card in his right hand. He introduces himself as Clayton and says he owns a construction company that specializes in restorations and if Tommy happened to know the owner, maybe he could give them his card.

Tommy makes no promises but he takes the card.

He takes the card out of his wallet, now, and makes a call.

Clayton accepts the job, though he's currently working on another project, so he'll be appointing somebody else as foreman, an Evan Buckley.

Tommy's relieved that for the first few meetings, Clayton is also there—Tommy's not sure he would have been very useful otherwise. Evan is…gorgeous, built, utterly charming.

But Evan's more than just a pretty face; he's competent, he respects Tommy's vision, and cares about the job. When the official work starts, Evan doesn't mind Tommy hanging around the site and he often stays after the workday is done—going over the plans, talking about Tommy's vision for the place, Tommy telling stories about the drive-in from his childhood (though he leaves out all the bad parts and sticks to his nostalgic sugar-coated version), only parting for the night when they realize just how late it's gotten and how long it's been since they've both eaten. It isn't long, though, before they start eating dinner together—in the construction trailer—so they can keep on talking. Evan talks about his life before LA; his travels, and how most of the movies he was able to see were at drive-ins, offers some suggestions for modifications to Tommy's plans. Tommy finds that he doesn't mind.

They don't text or call unless it's about the job, but Tommy finds himself composing unrelated messages and never sending them, far too often than he'd like to admit. On a few occasions, he sees that Evan's typing too—even though he never sends them either, it makes Tommy smile.

As excited as Tommy is for the project to be complete, to have his drive-in operating, he isn't ready for his time with Evan to come to its inevitable end.

Tommy starts feeling restless around the time they're preparing to install the new movie screen. He must not hide his impatience—or surliness—as well as he'd thought because Evan practically hightails it out of there as soon as his crew leaves for the day.

Tommy retreats to the projection booth to sulk, even though he does have his own office in the same building. He doesn't know how much times has passed while he stared at his and Evan's message thread, thumbs poised over the keypad, when a knock on the booth door startles him. Tommy hadn't bothered to pull the window shade down and he sees Evan on the other side, gesturing for him to come out. As soon as Tommy opens the door, Evan asks for the key to Tommy's truck. He doesn't know what it says about him that he offers it up without question, only raised eyebrows.

Tommy follows Evan out to the parking lot, to his truck parked in its usual spot. Evan unlocks and lowers the tailgate, then goes to his jeep and takes out a picnic basket, puts it in the truck bed and climbs up. "Sure, make yourself at home," Tommy says dryly.

Evan smirks at him. "Come up here."

And what is Tommy to do but whatever Evan asks of him?

Tommy climbs into the truck bed as Evan unpacks a blanket and food—drinks and snacks too—and a portable DVD player. There are sandwiches from Tommy's favorite deli, glass bottles of a soda Tommy hasn't had since his childhood, and Red Vines. "You remembered," Tommy says, voice rough.

Evan smiles. "Of course." He starts the movie and it's one of Tommy's favorites—Pride and Prejudice. "I haven't seen this one."

It isn't until later that night, when Tommy's lying in bed unable to sleep, that he realizes Evan had been uncharacteristically quiet.

Evan's crew is officially finished at the end of April and then it's just up to Tommy finish the business end of things—marketing, hiring employees, etc.

On the last day of work, Evan stays behind again. He stands with Tommy in the parking lot, looking up at the big screen. He bumps Tommy's shoulder. "Your grandpa would be proud."

Tommy snorts. "Oh, god no, he would have hated this." The thought warms Tommy's heart. When Evan gives him a confused look, Tommy is honest about the parts he left out. Evan gets a stricken look on his face, and he's obviously floundering what to say. Tommy shakes his head. "It's okay, Evan, it was a long time ago."

Evan shakes his head. "It's not." Then he pulls Tommy in for a hug, their cheeks pressed together. "I'm proud of you, okay?" When Tommy eventually tries to pull away. Evan holds on tighter, mumbles, "I'm not done with you yet."

Tommy laughs. He's never going to be done with Evan Buckley.

Evan lingers, drags his feet but eventually leaves, urges Tommy not to be a stranger.

Tommy's miserable in May, though he can't afford to be. It's the longest he's gone without talking to Evan, but he can't seem to make himself press send.

He mails a flyer for the grand re-opening to the office for the construction team and one to his old firehouse too.

Tommy takes extra satisfaction in re-opening the drive-in on June 1st and having a whole movie line-up dedicated to Pride the whole month long (and future plans to make it a regular series).

The parking lot is packed on opening night and everything is going off without a hitch. Tommy tries and fails not to look for Evan's face in the crowd, so really it's his own fault for the bittersweet feeling he gets when he sees Evan at the concession stand, talking and laughing with a pretty brunette.

He wants to turn right back around, but he hasn't seen Evan in a month and his feet betray him, keep him rooted to the spot. Evan sees him then, gives him a look he can't decipher, and waves him over. Tommy plasters on a smile and walks over.

Evan introduces Tommy to Maddie, his sister, in a way that feels pointed but that Tommy can't parse before a familiar face joins them.

"Howie?"

Howie pulls Tommy in for a hug. "You didn't think I would miss this, did you?" Truthfully, Tommy hadn't known what to expect. They'd stayed in touch somewhat, but they hadn't actually seen each other in over a year. Apparently, Howie was dating Evan's sister—Tommy couldn't believe what a small world it was. "Hen and Karen and Bobby and Athena are here too."

After everyone gets their snacks, they head back to their cars. Evan drags Tommy along too so he can say hello to the rest of the group, with hugs and promises to stay after the movie to properly catch up.

Chimney waggles his eyebrows at Evan. An insider tipped us off to the best row."

Evan laughs. "Yeah, but I've got the best spot."

Tommy knows he's staring, but he can't help it. He can hear Hen and Karen whispering, and he has a feeling Bobby and Athena are sharing knowing glances, but his focus is narrowed to Evan as he pats the hood of his jeep—parked in the middle, 3 rows back—and says, "C'mon, I saved you a seat."

Tommy's in a daze as he gets in the jeep. Evan makes a sweeping gesture, at the dashboard and cupholders holding Tommy's favorite snacks and drinks, opens his mouth to say—something that never makes it past his lips, turned to garbled sounds when Tommy kisses him. Tommy pulls back, unsure if he should apologize or ask if it's okay—

Evan just shakes his head and says, "don't you dare," and then his hand is on the back of Tommy's neck and his lips are on Tommy's. They pull apart, but not away, heavily breathing each other's air. "Finally," Evan murmurs.

Tommy rests his forehead against Evan's, nuzzles his nose, feels Evan's smile against his. "So, that night we watched the movie…?"

Evan laughs quietly. "Yes. I mean"—he shakes his head—"probably so much earlier, but yes."

"Me too." He kisses Evan again, because he can, and ignores the cheering from the cars on either side of them. They don't stop kissing until the opening notes to "We Are Family" start playing through the radio.

After the wedding, Chim revives the old 118 chat group with the text: guess Tommy's no longer scared of monster cocks

Tommy: ...

Hen: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Bobby Nash left the conversation

The next morning, Buck wakes up from a dead sleep and sits up in bed, accidentally smacking Tommy awake.

Tommy groans. "What the fuck?"

"Oh my god, you're Monster Cock."

Tommy, dryly, says, "I'd much prefer boyfriend, but sure."

And Buck gets a dopey look on his face. "Yeah?"

Somewhere along the way, they keep up their text conversations even after the routine assurances that Buck is making himself at home and that everything and everybody is still alive and that the house is still standing

Buck starts telling Tommy about his day and vice-versa.

Tommy opens up about his reasons for being out of town [death in the family maybe?]

And they both quickly become the highlight of each other’s day

One night—late night, early morning really but neither of them have gone to sleep yet—Buck says something about staying in Tommy’s house despite never having met him; that he doesn’t even know what Tommy looks like

Within minutes, Buck gets a reply in the form of a selfie of Tommy—tucked in bed, hair rumpled and soft looking (Buck is taken aback by how much he aches with wanting to run his fingers through it), eyes so so blue, and a soft smile on his face.

Buck doesn’t overthink, he takes a similar selfie. As he’s getting ready to take press the shutter button, another message comes in: hi :)

The smile (and the blush he can’t ignore) in Buck’s selfie is genuine

He follows it up with a hi 🙂

[i think it could be funny if there was a mix up somehow and Buck was actually sleeping in Tommy’s bed, not the guest room 😅 like both rooms looked lived in, both full of shelves with books, etc]

Basically what happens is they fall in love over texts and phone calls and probably some sexts and Buck stays for awhile after Tommy returns while he looks for a new place but then he actually stays forever