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Chapter Text

When Judd was a kid, he was a deep sleeper. Deep as in, 'a tornado takes off the roof' and he'd still be asleep kind of deep sleeper. Looking back, he figured it was mostly out of necessity. His brothers were loud and as the oldest, Judd enjoyed his sleep. 

But over the years, Judd had become a lighter and lighter sleeper. Being a firefighter required you to be able to get up and moving without a moment's hesitation, to be able to jump up and go, so eventually, he would find himself waking up the millisecond the alarm went off, sometimes even before it went off, calling those around him to joke that he was psychic. Judd would laugh with them but he had to admit, sometimes he could feel a call coming. Judd didn't believe in magic or that 'psychic' stuff, but he did believe in some first responders having a kind of sixth sense when it comes to emergencies. Kinda like how he always knows when Grace is sick or in trouble. 

After his team all died, Judd became even a lighter sleeper. Most of it was because of the constant nightmares he would have, but part of it also had to do with a newfound fear that constantly surrounded him. A fear that he was going to lose his new team, his new family. He knew that it was a part of the job, knowing that at any moment a call could go wrong and your brother or sister could be lost, but after the 126 died... his fear intensified tenfold. Part of it was a little selfish, he knew. The fact was, Judd couldn't stand to lose someone else that he cared about. 

So when he rejoined the 126, he tried to keep the team at an arm's length, keep the distance so he didn't feel the fear. But eventually, each member of his little team wormed their way into his heart. There were others at the 126 sure, but his core team... they were his family. 

When TK was shot, he thought he was going to lose his brother. Lose another brother. But TK had pulled through and Judd felt that he could breathe again. Not only did he pull through, but he came clean to the team about his addiction. Came clean to all of them about his past. When TK did that, when he confided in all of them, Judd felt an overwhelming sense of pride as well as the desire to protect TK, to keep him safe. Because the kid didn't deserve all that he was going through, he didn't deserve any of it. Judd pictured TK as his little brother, much like his littlest brother Wyatt. 

Wyatt was similar to TK in a lot of ways. Wyatt was charming, outgoing, and funny as hell. Whenever Wyatt was in the room, people were guaranteed to be smiling. Like TK, Wyatt was notorious for goofing around, for being the life of the party. But TK and Wyatt were different in one huge fundamental way: Wyatt was dead. 

Wyatt had had a little too much to drink and crashed into a guardrail at seventy miles per hour, killing him instantly. Judd was twenty-six when it happened, the same age TK is now. Wyatt's death had almost wrecked his family, and if he didn't have Grace by his side when it happened, it would have wrecked Judd too. 

Wyatt's death was years ago, but when TK got shot, it opened up a whole slew of memories for Judd. When he kissed TK on the head after he confessed to them, he made a silent promise to look out for him like he couldn't do for Wyatt. 

That's why when Judd woke up after a bad shift three months after TK getting shot to see the kid wasn't in his bed and Buttercup was nowhere to be seen, he knew that something was wrong. 

Judd quietly got out of bed, careful not to wake the rest of his sleeping team. Mateo and Marjan were out, both deep sleepers like he used to be, but Judd knew that Paul was a relatively light sleeper. Owen wasn't there, instead, he was in Dallas for special cancer treatment. Owen had tried to explain it to Judd and Judd had tried to listen, but the stuff was like gibberish to him. And it didn't help that Owen had a habit of talking fast whereas Judd was used to the slow Texan draw that he and most of the people he knew had. 

Judd walked downstairs to the kitchen to see TK's back sitting on the counter, Buttercup whining at his feet. Judd could see that TK was playing with something small and he instantly went on high alert. 

He rounded the corner and saw that TK was playing with an orange pill bottle, just rolling it around in his hands, and Judd saw red. He came up to TK and snatched the bottle out of his hands, causing the younger man to jump in shock. 

"Judd what the hell are you-" 

Judd didn't let him finish. "Do I need to call Michelle?" 

"What?" 

"Well I'm sorry TK but you're sitting here late at night playing with a pill bottle do I need to get medical attention down here?" 

Understanding washed over TK's face. "No, no I didn't take anything Judd. And I wasn't going to either." 

Judd almost threw the pill bottle across the room. Instead, he set it down forcefully on the table and rubbed his hand across his face, pacing in front of TK. He took a deep breath and turned back to the kid. 

TK looked upset, but more than that, at peace. Judd was confused. "What the hell are you doing?" 

TK shrugged at him. "I was just holding it." 

"Uh-huh. And you had no intention of taking it?" Judd asked skeptically. 

"Yeah. That's right." TK jumped up to leave but Judd grabbed him by the shoulder, turning him around. 

"Nuh-uh kid you don't get to leave. Your daddy is in Dallas which means I'm in charge and also, I gotta keep an eye on you. I'm sorry I yelled at you a second ago, you just scared the crap out of me. Now, why don't we sit down and have ourselves a friendly little conversation about why you're sitting in the dark playing with a damn bottle of pills."  

TK sighed. "Is this a command or a choice?" He asked already pulling the chair out to sit. 

"What the hell do you think?" Judd retorted back as he flopped down in the chair. 

TK put his head in his hand and looked at Judd, his other reaching down to pet Buttercup. 

"TK, tell me what I just saw," Judd said, gripping the bottle tightly in his hand. 

TK ran his hand behind his neck, taking a deep breath before he started talking. "Getting over an addiction is hard. Like, really hard." TK didn't meet Judd's eyes, instead, he chose to keep looking at Buttercup as he continued petting the dog. "It's not even the withdrawals from the drug that are the worst. Eventually, your brain starts to tell you that you need the pills or whatever it is your addicted to. If it helped to calm you down while you were upset or just make you happy in general once, your brain will start to crave it. You'll start to think that you need it to be happy, to be calm." 

TK took a shuddering breath, finally locking his eyes on Judd's. "Before my relapse in New York, I had been clean for years. But even then, sometimes, just randomly, I would feel a craving. I could be just crossing the street or eating out or even be on a call and I would want it. Want them." 

Judd put his hand on TK's bouncing thigh, hoping it would help to calm him. TK offered him a small smile. "I've been sober almost eight months now." 

Judd cleared his throat, not wanting to ask but needing to. "TK, were you about to relapse?" 

TK shook his head dramatically. "No, not at all. But sometimes..." TK trailed off. 

"Sometimes?" 

TK looked back up at Judd with tears in his eyes. "Sometimes I need to prove to myself that I can beat it. That I can hold a bottle of pills and not take a single one. That I can rely on other things to make me happy or to get me through the stress." He pointed at the bottle in Judd's hand, "Prove to myself that I don't need those." 

Judd looked at him, his heart swelling. "TK, don't you think that's a dangerous game you're playing?" 

TK shrugged again. "But it's one that I need to play." 

"TK, I don't like the idea of you having access to these." He continued when he saw TK about to interrupt him, "It's not that I don't think that you can't handle it, it's just I don't want that temptation there for you at all. I care about you, and so does your team. Seeing you in pain like that, it hurts us too TK. So let us be there for you. You don't need to prove to yourself or anyone else that you are strong enough to beat this because we already know you are and you should know that too." 

TK aggressively wiped the tears from his eyes. "Damn it I did not mean to cry." He muttered. 

Judd saw his chance and leaned in, giving TK a hug and putting his head on his shoulder. "Let it out, kiddo." Judd put his other hand on TK's head while TK wrapped his arms around Judd. 

The two of them stayed that way until they heard someone clearing their throats from above them. "Am I interrupting something?" 

The two firefighters looked up and saw Carlos leaning up against the counter by the doorway. His smile immediately faded when he saw the tears coming from TK's face. "Oh, Ty..." He said quickly closing the distance and walking towards TK. 

TK stood to meet him and Carlos instantly embraced him. 

Judd quickly wiped the stay tear from his eyes, standing up to greet Carlos. The two of them pulled apart, Carlos still keeping a tight grip on TK's hip, making sure that he stays close to him. 

"Officer Reyes." Judd said politely. 

Carlos nodded at him. "TK texted me saying that he might need some help tonight but uh, it looks like you were there for him too." 

Judd put his hand on Carlos's shoulder, all the while looking at TK. "I'll always be here to help our boy. Why don't you two get out of here, go home and get some sleep." 

TK's head lifted up. "I still have three hours-" 

Judd waved his hand dismissively. "We're overmanned anyway. Go home, get some sleep." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Positive. That's an order, Strand." 

TK gave him a small salute. The three men just stared at each other for a second before TK left Carlos and ran to Judd. He gave him one last hug, taking both Judd and Carlos by surprise. Judd met Carlos's eyes as the man mouthed a silent 'thank you' to him, Judd nodding in response. 

TK broke apart the hug and leaned down to pat Buttercup one last time. "Be good for Cowboy Judd, Buttercup." 

TK stood up and went to Carlos, grabbing his hand as they walked towards the door. TK put his head on Carlos's shoulder the entire way there and Judd could hear the two of them talking quietly. 

Judd knew that TK was struggling, but he also felt confident that TK had called Carlos and told him what was going on. Judd still gripped the bottle in his hand. He knew that he would have to talk to Owen about this. He didn't know how exactly to handle it or how Owen would like to address it. 

He leaned down to pet Buttercup, the dog seeming to almost frown. "I know boy," Judd said, "it's gonna be a long road, but he'll make it." 

Later Judd would blame it on sleep deprivation, but he could almost swear that he saw Buttercup nod back at him. 

Chapter Text

If Judd is being honest, sometimes it becomes easy to forget about TK's past. It becomes easy to think of all of the hurt the young man has gone through. And it is not because Judd thinks little of his tragedies, instead the young man played so happy and carefree that sometimes Judd honest to God just... forgot. 

But it seemed as though whenever Judd forgot, the truth of TK's past would come back to him, crashing into him and causing him to pause for a second to catch his breath. Because normally, it caused something big to get TK to drop his facade, to let people know that he was not doing okay. Ever since Judd had caught TK with a bottle of pills in his hand late at night at the firehouse, he had created a group chat with Owen and Carlos. Not to gossip about TK, but to keep the others informed of how he was doing. TK knew about it, Owen had sat him down and told him himself, and TK was a little amused by it if not thankful. Owen told them that Tk thought it was nice that they all cared about him so much. 

And it was moments like these when Judd was really glad they had the group chat. 

...

Judd loved Grace with all his heart, but that didn't mean he loved every single thing that Grace dragged him out to. And one of those particular things that he did not necessarily care for was the Austin City Antique Fair that happened every month. But like the good husband he was, he went to every single one of them with her. Well, he went to everyone that he couldn't conveniently schedule a shift on. But unfortunately for him and fortunately for Grace, Owen had ordered a mandatory break for the core members of the 126, told them all to let the backups handle the weekend. They'd all had to pull a double 24 hours after a twenty-plus car pile-up had demanded their time. 

Judd walked around the dusty pathways, tilting down his hat with one hand and holding onto Grace's with the other. "I uh... I think we've been down this way already, Grace."

She squinted up at him. "Oh really?" She asked dubiously. Grace knew how much Judd hated coming, but as much as she appreciated he loved her enough to come, she didn't put up with his bull crap while they were there.  "Cause I'm pretty sure that we haven't yet." 

He looked down at her. "Okay, maybe not, but don't they all have the same things?" 

She stopped walking suddenly. "Judson Ryder I know that you didn't just say that to me." 

Judd put his hands on his hips. "Well don't they?" 

Grace looked at him incredulously. "Judson Ryder are you whining right now." 

Judd stiffened up. "No." 

"Your voice raised an octave just then." 

"I was just... aggravated." 

"Aggravated my ass." Grace sighed. "Look, I know that this is your weekend off so I'll cut you a little slack. Why don't you go sit down at those picnic tables over there and I'll try to be quick okay? Then we can leave." 

"How quick is quick?" 

"Judd," Grace warned. 

Judd put his hands up in surrender. "Yes, ma'am. I'll just uh, go wait by them tables." 

"Good," she said reaching her hands up to his face and pulling it down so she could give him a kiss. "I'll be back soon." 

Judd smiled at her. "I sure do hope so." 

Grace turned away from him and gave him a small wave as she left, Judd's smile immediately falling when she turned away. He looked around the vendor booths, frowned, and walked towards the picnic tables. He sat down, realizing that he now had nothing to do and no one to talk to. "Awe damn." He muttered, putting his head on his knees and watching what looked like hundreds of people walk around the dirt pathways. He sat there for about five minutes before he heard a familiar voice. 

"Well I'll be damned, is that Cowboy Judd I see?" 

Judd turned around to see TK Strand standing there, looking as happy as could be. He had on a butt ugly bright Hawaiian shirt with tight jeans and sunglasses hanging off his nose. "What are you doing here?" 

TK gave him a mock frown. "That was not the reaction I was hoping for." 

"Yeah but that's the only one you're gonna get." 

TK shrugged, sitting down next to him. "Why are you so grumpy?" 

"Grace made me come out to this thing." 

TK squinted his eyes at him. "She made you come?" 

"No she didn't make me come," Judd said, moving his hands as he talked, "but because I'm a good husband I didn't have a choice." 

TK chuckled at him. "You realize you're making no sense right now right?" 

Judd turned to him. "Look TK, when you get married, you have to make sacrifices. I go to Grace's antique thing and she let's me host poker nights at the house." 

"And you two... verbally made this agreement?" 

Judd thought about it. "Well, no. Not necessarily. But it's kinda understood." 

TK sighed. "Married people are weird." He said shaking his head. 

The two settled into a comfortable silence. Judd looked over at TK. "So why are you here." 

TK shrugged. "Shopping, browsing, walking, enjoying the nice weather, all the above. I don't know, I also really like old stuff." 

"I'm surprised you didn't bring Buttercup." Judd added, noting the dog was missing. 

"Ah, well Buttercup is at the vet at the moment." 

"Everything okay?" 

"Yeah, just a check up. And a full grooming session. Dad says it's Buttercup's spa day." 

"And where is Captain Strand?" 

"He and Zoe are out on a date." 

Judd snapped his head back over to TK. "And uh... how do you feel about that?" 

TK smiled and pointed to himself. "Me?" 

Judd nodded.

"Well my dad is a big boy and as long as he's back by curfew I don't mind." TK chuckled. 

Judd nudged him with his elbow. "Come on man you know what I mean." 

"Yeah, I know." TK said, a little more seriously. "I think that as long as he's happy, I'm happy. I mean he definitely is dealing with a lot right now but if being with Zoe distracts him from all that then... I'm happy with it." 

"Do you and Zoe get along?" 

"I don't see how that really matters." 

Judd turned to TK, looking to see if the younger man was joking or not. When he looked at TK's face and saw that he was serious, he scoffed at him. "Of course it matters TK. He's your dad and you're his number one priority. Why wouldn't it matter?" 

TK turned to face him. "Look it's complicated, okay? I don't expect you to understand." 

"Oh really?" Judd challenged. "You want to try me on that?" 

"Look, you come from a really well, put together family and I don't-" 

"Woah, slow down there, kid. Really well put together family? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" 

"It means you wouldn't understand what-" 

"Let me stop you right there. TK, I don't normally go around telling people about my family so I will excuse you being an ignorant asshole." TK went to interrupt him but Judd put his hand out. "My brother Wyatt died on his eighteenth birthday. It wrecked our family. My brother Clint ran away, didn't tell anyone where he was going and my other brother Boone became an alcoholic. My parent's marriage barely survived." Judd took a deep breath. It had been years since he talked about any of this with anyone but Grace, but now that he had started it felt impossible for him to stop. It was almost as if a dam had been opened. 

"We uh... we got everything put together again. Clint came back engaged with a baby on the way. He and Melinda had a quick wedding and got along real nice with everyone. Boone went to rehab, AA meetings and all and he moved out to Kansas City, became a bank manager out there. He got married, had two babies. And life seemed to be going really nice for us and then my Momma died. Heart attack. Nobody saw it coming. Just here one second and gone the next."

TK put his hand on Judd's shoulder, noticing that the older man's breath got shakier as he continued talking. "My dad, well... it almost killed him. That was about three years ago. My dad is a stubborn old bastard, and now he's having health issues, has to have a nurse with him full time." 

"So yeah, TK my parents never divorced but we didn't have a white picket fence either. We fought tooth and nail some days. But throughout all that, I know without a doubt, that my dad loved his boys, just like your dad loves you. So yeah, I'd say that it does matter whether or not you like Zoe. Now, you and your daddy are both grown men so it's a bit different, but you gotta understand that you are your dad's number one priority." 

TK wiped at the tears he didn't know he had, Judd doing the same. "I just..." TK started, "I want so bad for my dad to be happy but I also... I don't want it to be like last time." 

Judd shook his head. "Like last time?" 

TK looked down at his shoes, kicking the dirt absently as he began talking. "When my dad remarried after he divorced my mom it... it wasn't pretty. They fought all the time and Caroline well, she didn't like me." 

Judd narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you mean, didn't like you?" 

TK rubbed the back of his neck. "I think what she really wanted was to start over with my dad. She wanted it to be just the two of them. She would constantly say things to me, drop hints that she didn't want me there. So eventually I started not coming home. I thought that... I thought that my dad would notice, that he would say something, but he was so caught up in his work and making Caroline happy that I kinda... fell under the radar." 

Now it was Judd's turn to put his hand on TK's shoulder, pulling the younger man closer to him as he continued talking. "I stayed out, got involved with the wrong crowd. I got hurt playing baseball, twisted my ankle. I didn't want to go to dad about it because he was always so busy and Caroline was... well... her. So I got pills. And after my ankle healed I kept taking them." 

"When did your dad find out?" Judd asked quietly. 

"I overdosed about four months after that. Some lady found me on the side of the road, called an ambulance. My dad found out there. He was pretty much blindsided from the whole thing. Caroline said that since I was eighteen they should kick me out and let me deal with the consequences and I think it was right there that dad realized there was a problem. He dumped her and dedicated his life to watching over me." 

"Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?" 

TK sighed. "My dad was happy with Caroline. At least for a little bit. He was happy with my mom too. And for some reason, I feel like he can't have that happiness because of me." 

"TK your dad's splits have nothing to do with you. And if they do, it's because your dad's happiness depends on your happiness." 

"But he should be putting himself first." 

Judd gave him a small chuckle. "You sure are dumb, kid." 

TK looked up at him offended. 

"Your dad is happiest when he sees you at your happiness. It's not him choosing your happiness over his own, it's him loving you so much that seeing you smile fills him with joy. So yeah, it matters what you think of your dad's girlfriend, and if your dad didn't have his head so far up his ass when he was with Caroline to see that you weren't happy, he probably would have never married her." 

"You really think so?" 

"I know so." 

"But how can you be sure?" TK asked, his eyes meeting Judd's. 

Judd smiled as he looked over TK's shoulders. "Because if you asked your daddy right now he would tell you the same thing." 

TK turned around to see his dad standing there, a small and sad smile on his face. "Hiya kiddo." 

"Dad, what are you doing here? I thought you were on a date." 

Owen nodded. "I was, but then I got a text that said that my son needed me." 

TK looked at Judd. "The group chat?" He asked. 

Judd nodded. 

"But when did you have time to send that? We were talking the whole time!" TK said exasperated. 

Judd shrugged at him. "I got mad ninja phone skills, bud. How do you think I got through all those mandatory trainings?" 

"As your captain, I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that." 

TK looked up at his father. "How much of that did you hear?" 

"Enough to know that you and I need to have a little talk." 

"What about Zoe?" 

Owen sighed. "I dropped her off at her house, told her that I would have to take a rain check on our date." 

"And she was okay with that?" TK asked hesitantly. 

"She was. In fact, she said that the fact that I took care of my son first made me even more sexier in her book." 

Both TK and Judd groaned. 

"Really did not need to hear that Cap." Judd said, a smile on his face. 

Owen put his hand on TK's shoulder. "Come on, son. Let's go talk." 

TK nodded, first turning to Judd. "Thanks. For everything." He said still looking at the ground. 

"No problem, kid." Judd said, wrapping TK in a hug. "Now go on, get." He said playfully pushing him off. 

"Yes, sir." TK muttered, offering him a fake salute as he bounced off after Owen. 

Judd turned when he heard footsteps coming from behind him. "Was that the Captain and his son?" Grace asked. 

"Yes, ma'am." 

Grace put her arm around him, leaning her head on his shoulder as they watched the two men leave. 

"Everything okay?" She asked. 

"You know what babe, I think it is." 

Chapter Text

After TK's first overdose, he thought that becoming clean would be easy. He thought that as soon as he stopped the pills for a week, for a month, at max three months, that he would be fine. But soon he learned that addiction was not just something you can kick, that you can just wake up and decide not to be addicted anymore. 

The revelation hit TK like a truck, but with his dad's and therapist's help, he was able to find ways to manage it. Not to cure it, but little techniques that can make it easier for him to handle. Little mental tricks he could try out. And while these help TK, sometimes, he wishes he could just forget his addiction and forget his past all together. 

But it clings to him like a shadow. Most days, TK is able to walk in stride with that shadow, remember that he is the man he is today because of his past, not in spite of it. As much as he hates to admit it, he knows that his past is a large part of him. And he hopes that one day, somehow, it will make him a better man. But for now, he simply tries to not relish in it, but instead to deal with it as he has to. And as much as he struggles with the pull of just sweeping things under the rug, TK knows he can't do that. As much as he wants to forget all his past, he knows that's not the right thing to do. 

TK has always had to live knowing that one day his past might just catch up to him, but he just never expected it would happen so soon. 

And he never expected it to catch up to him in the middle of Whole Foods. 

...

"I'm just saying TK, I don't know why Grace decided to go all..." Judd gestured to the store, "Whole Foods on me." 

TK squinted his eyes at him, pushing the cart along side him. "Whole Foods on you?" He repeated. "You mean go healthy." 

"What we were eating before was healthy." Judd argued. 

"Pork skins, cheese kurds, and fried okra are not healthy Judd." 

Judd scratched his head. "I think that that is more of an opinion than anything else." 

TK stopped the cart and looked at him exasperated. "No, it's fact. It is literally a fact, Judd." TK sighed. 

"Well Grace should have known what she was getting into when she married me. It's not right that she decided to change me now." 

"She's worried about your health." 

"My health is fine!" 

TK narrowed his eyes at him. "Really?" 

"Really." 

"Is that why you called me for help?"  

Judd paused. "It takes a good man to admit when he is out of his area of expertise and I am a good man." 

TK just shook his head at him. "Why didn't you call my dad?" 

"I'm trying to ease my way into this stuff, get my bearings before I dive head first into the deep end. No offense but your dad is a little..." 

"Intense?" 

"Yes." 

Judd continued pushing the cart next to TK, the two of them walking and pushing next to each other. "You know who your daddy reminds me of?" 

"Who?" TK asked, stopping the cart again and leaning his arms on it. 

"You remember the show Parks and Rec?" 

TK furrowed his brows. "Parks and Rec?" 

"Yeah it was really big for a while. It was like a spin off of the Office." 

"I know the Office but... Parks and Rec?" 

"How have you not heard of Parks and Rec?" 

"To be honest I'm more of a Brooklyn Nine Nine fan." TK shrugged. 

"No, I know Brooklyn Nine Nine, and that is a good show but how have you not heard of Parks and Rec?" 

TK just shrugged again. "Sorry." 

Judd angrily continued pushing. "Well your dad reminds me of this fella on there. His name was Chris something." 

"Okay, Judd." 

"No, I'm not kidding, the resemblance is uncanny." 

"Whatever you say." 

The two men continued to shop around, TK helping Judd find some more healthy alternatives to his preferred mostly fried diet. TK was in the middle of explaining to Judd the difference between a fried cheese kurd and a cheese crisp when he heard a voice from behind him. 

"Ty Strand? No way!" 

Judd watched at TK's face instantly went pale in front of him, noticing how the young man's face turned into a grimace before turning around to face the voice. 

The first thing that Judd noticed about the guy was that he was probably very wealthy. If the man's tan and obviously more than $800 watch didn't give that away, the fancy name brand sunglasses on his head did. The man didn't look like much of a threat, he was skinny and shorter than TK, but TK's reaction screamed to Judd that something was wrong. 

Plus... 'Ty'? The surprise of now knowing TK's first name quickly passed over Judd as he tried to figure out exactly what was going on between TK and the mystery man. 

"Nick." TK said, keeping his head down. 

"It's been a long time buddy!" 

TK's hand went to the back of his neck, a move that Judd came to know as something TK did either when he was very uncomfortable or not wanting to be in this conversation. "Yeah, yeah it really has." 

"Gosh I haven't seen you since you were what? Eighteen? Seventeen? Look at you now! All grown up!" 

Things started clicking together in Judd's head. From what TK told him at the antique fair a couple weeks ago, TK was eighteen when he first overdosed. Which probably meant that this 'friend' was not someone that TK was happy about seeing. 

Judd looked down at TK, wondering when the right time would be for him to intervene. "Listen we were just-" TK began but the man cut him off. 

"Oh I'm so sorry," he said to Judd, surprising the older man, "I forgot to introduce myself. My names Nick and I'm an old," he looked TK up and down in a way that made Judd feel instantly uncomfortable and on guard, "friend of TK's." Nick stuck out his hand and Judd grasped it, a little tighter than he normally did. 

Nick pulled his hand back and gently rubbed it with his other. "Your friend has a nice grip there, Ty." He commented, once again making eye contact with Judd who just sneered back at him. "So..." Nick said, "what brings you to Austin?" 

"My dad works here now." TK responded quietly. Judd had never seen TK so subdued in a conversation before. 

"Your dad... he was like... a cop right?" 

"No he was-" 

"A firefighter!" Nick interrupted again. "Good for him. I'm up here doing a little business." He nudged TK in the shoulder, causing TK to flinch. Nick either didn't notice or didn't care but Judd noticed it immediately. "If you know what I mean, isn't that right Ty?" 

Judd cleared his throat. "Look, man it was nice meeting you and all but we really got to get going." 

Nick gave him an over exaggerated frown. "Awe come on, I'm just reminiscing with an old pal here." 

"Right and it really don't look like he wants to reminisce with you." Judd put his hand on TK's shoulder, causing the younger man to look back at him for the first time since Nick started talking. "Come on, TK." 

"Oh TK?" Nick asked clapping his hands together. "They all call you TK? What happened to Ty?" Judd turned to Judd. "Ty used to be the life of the party over here, I mean this guy could knock them back like nobody's business. And don't even get me started on the p-" 

"Right okay." Judd had decided he had had enough and before he could even think of stopping himself, he pulled TK back with his left arm and pulled his right arm back, bringing it full force at Nick's face, not only stopping his talking, but knocking him to the floor. 

Nick shot up instantly, gripping his bleeding nose. "What the hell man?" 

"We told you we was leaving." Judd said to the man on the floor. 

Nick scoffed, pulling his arm back when an employee came up to help him. Nick turned to TK. "You really gonna stand there and let him treat me like that?" 

TK just looked at him, expression gone from his face. "I-I don't..." and Judd watched as TK just left the store, cart and all. 

"Yeah okay Ty, just run out like that! You were never able to handle anything real anyway!" Nick shouted after him. 

Judd leaned down, pointing his finger in Nick's face. "Unless you want me to knock your ass back to whatever hell-hole you climbed out of, you better shut your mouth right now." 

"You can't talk to me like that." 

"I just did ass-face." Judd snapped his fingers causing Nick to flinch and Judd to give him a polite mocking smile. 

Judd left after TK ignoring Nick's shouts about calling the police. Judd stepped outside of the Whole Foods and found TK, breathing heavily and sitting on the curb of the store and the intersection with his head in his hands. 

Judd came up and just sat next to him. "You okay, kiddo?" Judd asked, noticing how TK flinched when he started talking. Judd put his hand on TK's back, "Just breathe for me, kid. Trust me that douche wad isn't gonna bother you anymore." 

TK muttered something that Judd didn't hear. "What was that?" Judd asked, leaning closer. 

"That's the point." TK repeated. "It shouldn't bother me as much as it did. He shouldn't bother me as much as he did. I thought I was better than that." 

"Well, why don't you go ahead and tell me who it was that I just punched in the middle of a grocery store." 

TK smiled sheepishly. "Thanks for that, by the way." 

"That's what brothers are for." 

TK took a deep sigh, playing with the strings on his hoodie. He clinched his hands into fists and opened them, taking another deep breath before talking. "Nick was a kid I met in high school. When you go to school in New York you have all sorts of types, the super rich, the homeless, the kids of politicians and dignitaries. Well Nick was one of the super rich and when all that stuff with Caroline was going on, he really took me under his wing. He introduced me to his group of friends. They were all a year older than me but ya know... I thought it was cool. One day after school Nick invited me to go clubbing with him. Then to go smoke weed. Eventually we tried... other stuff too." 

TK looked over at Judd's face, noticing that his mouth was drawn in a tight line and his face had gone red. "Please don't get mad," TK added, "or... more mad. It all happened a long time ago." 

"So that rich son of a bitch in there is the one that introduced you to drugs?" 

TK gave him a small nod. 

"If I would've known that I would have taken out some teeth with that punch." 

TK scoffed at him, shaking his head and smiling at the same time. The conversation lulled for a moment before TK continued. "I just... I thought I was over Nick and all that stuff. Seeing him there, me clamming up, it just reminds me that I'm not over it. And that really bugs me." 

"Do you remember when I told you about my brother Wyatt?" TK nodded. "Well, Wyatt used to love the movie The Magnificent Seven. You know the old Western? When he was a kid, we would watch it over and over and over again." Judd took a shuddering breath. "Well, when Wyatt died, I tried to move on you know? I still remembered and honored him, but I couldn't let the grief consume me. I had to be there for Grace and be there for my family. So I pushed it all down." Judd paused. "About a year ago, I was flipping through channels and The Magnificent Seven was playing on one of those old western channels. I started balling. I never cried harder in my life than I did in that moment. I hadn't thought about Wyatt in months and then all of a sudden it just... came back to me." 

"I'm really sorry about that Judd." TK said, turning to him. 

"But that's the thing, TK. Us humans are designed a certain way. We are sentimental. We hold onto things. Just because seeing that ass wipe in there surprised you doesn't mean you're weak. Just cause I cried at the movie doesn't mean I'm weak. We all have certain things that bring us back to places that we would rather not go to. Whether that's a person or a song or a movie depends on the situation but the fact is, you can't blame yourself for it, TK. Your past happened to you and you're gonna react to it. But luckily for you, you got me and your dad and your whole 126 family to help you out here." 

TK leaned into Judd. "Thank you." 

"And, I might add, you got a mighty fine boyfriend that can help too." TK smiled and looked up, seeing Carlos there standing over the two of them. 

"I should have known." Carlos said looking down with a small grin on his face. "When I heard a burly cowboy looking fellow and a skinny city slicker got into a fight at a Whole Foods I should have instantly made the connection to you two." 

Judd shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about, Officer Reyes." 

"Your bloody knuckles say differently." 

TK put his hands over his eyes, shielding them from the sun as he looked up at his boyfriend. "Does it help if I tell you he was defending my honor." 

"Really it was an act of service." Judd added. 

Carlos just shook his head. "What am I going to do with the two of you?" 

"Hopefully not arrest us." Judd said cheekily. 

TK playfully frowned. "You won't arrest us, right Carlos?" 

Carlos cursed under his breath, placing his hands on his hips and staring at them. "Get out of here, both of you." 

TK and Judd smiled, the two of them standing up. "But we're going to talk about this later." 

TK saluted at him, quickly jumping up and giving him a kiss on the cheek before running to his car. "Bye Carlos!" 

Carlos looked accusingly at Judd, who just stood there and shrugged. "You want to explain?" Carlos asked. 

"Well... TK is my ride and uh... you ain't getting a kiss from me, so... I'll see you around Officer." Judd patted Carlos on the shoulder as he went after TK. "Hey man, wait up!" 

Carlos just shook his head at the two of them as they sped out of the parking lot.