Ty Solomon (![]() ![]() @ 2017-11-17 09:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | #september 2017, jared, jared x ty, ty |
Who: Jared & Ty
What: Patrolling, definitely not fooling around
Where: Around PP
When: Friday 9/15, evening
Status: Complete
It was a quiet night in Point Pleasant. So many of the rowdier bunch in town were out of town to watch the Wolves play against the Wells Warriors. It was a good thing too since the deputies on duty were a little blue, having just found out their dispatcher of many years was leaving them in two weeks. Stupid age. Stupid retirement. They all made sure to be cheerful about it around Rose because damn the woman deserved to spend the rest of her good years in luxury, but every one of them was selfishly sad about it.
Jared didn't think any of them had worked there longer than Rose had which made it harder on all of them to imagine their work lives without her. He was still feeling a little sulky that evening when he headed out on the last patrol of his shift with Ty, though the other man's company was sure to cheer him up a little. Just seeing him made Jared feel silly and he had never had as much practice in keeping a poker face as he had this week.
He was waiting in the car for him and when he spotted Ty come out of the building his heart did that little leapy thing it had been doing on and off for the last few days. It was how Jared knew he was a goner, he already had feelings for Ty and it was hard to keep them under wraps. He purposefully didn't look directly at him when Ty got in the car, though the corners of his lips twitched a little with that constant sunshiney smile nonsense Ty invoked in him. "Ready to head out?"
The news about Rose was bittersweet. Ty really liked her, maybe even more than his own mother, and it was hard to imagine the station without her calming presence in it. They had her for two more weeks, and Ty hoped they were quiet, easy weeks for her. Grady had already muttered something about putting a party together on her last day, so that was something to look forward to. Ty was determined to get her something nice.
Even with that downer, Ty was trying not to be excited to go out on patrol with Jared. They hadn’t gotten to be alone together yet that day, so doing some private driving around ... in the dark ... was admittedly appealing. As he headed out the station door, he reminded himself that he was a fucking professional, practically chanting it in his head as he climbed into the passenger seat of the cruiser. He flashed Jared a tiny grin as he settled in. “Ready when you are,” he murmured.
Jared spared him a sidelong glance and that only made that feeling in his chest flare up more fiercely. "Mmhmm," He hummed and got the car rolling, licking his lips as he tried to keep that dumb smile at bay and failed. "Shitty day," he said, though he didn't sound too torn up about it. It was hard to really keep feeling down when Ty was sitting next to him, cheesy as that might sound. He could think of a few ways Ty could make the night even better - once they were off duty.
Since he wasn’t occupied with driving, Ty fiddled with a few things here and there in the car -- adjusting the knobs on the radio, straightening the console between them a bit -- as he tried not to stare at Jared. He was just too fucking handsome for anybody’s good, and the uniform only enhanced that. “Yeah,” he agreed with a sigh, forcing himself to stop messing with stuff. “I’m gonna miss her.” They all were; everybody had already been telling Rose that she had to come back and visit a lot. Ty glanced at Jared’s smile and felt his own lips turn up on their own. Dammit.
Jared felt that smile more than saw it and he turned his head to glance at Ty and instantly smiled back. "Shhh," he admonished, as if Ty was misbehaving. In a way he was, making Jared feel all sorts of things when he was supposed to be working but that wasn't his fault. Of course shushing him only made Jared's smile even wider and he pointedly looked out the window to try to keep it under wraps. "Damn it, Solomon."
Looking at each other always made it worse, and Ty’s cheeks bunched up even further as one smile amplified another and then they were both grinning like morons. Ty made a noise of protest at being shushed when he wasn’t even saying anything, but it was more amused than anything. “Damn it me?” he asked with a laugh. “I didn’t do shit, Gaines, I’m completely innocent, you got the wrong guy.” His palms practically itched to reach over and touch him, so Ty rubbed them against his thighs and looked out the window himself. Patrol, patrol, alert and elite police force, that was what they were.
It was a small miracle that nobody was onto them at the station yet, though Jared found it easier to wear his poker face when they weren't alone. Especially alone in the dark. Ty's thigh was within reach and if Jared was the shittiest cop ever it would be so easy to park the car somewhere remote and give into that urge to kiss him. Who was going to come looking for them? They were the cops. But Jared was not a shitty cop so he fought that crazy urge. "You coming over later?" he asked since he was itching to start up a fire tonight and having Ty by his side would just make it that much nicer. Going to Ty's place was also tempting. Hell, he could stay in the car all night if Ty was there too.
It was a simple question, but it made Ty feel warm and tingly all over. They’d only been able to get together once since Jared’s birthday, and it had done nothing to satisfy the craving Ty had for him. It had only made it stronger, really. He’d been having panicky thoughts here and there, when Jared wasn’t around -- he was starting to feel all those things he’d tried so hard not to feel for nearly a decade, he wasn’t good at those things, he didn’t know what to do with those things and he was probably going to fuck up everything good about this whole thing and turn it into a disaster. They were hard to hear now though, over all the clamoring Want Jared inspired in him. “Sure,” he said, his voice cracking a tiny bit. Ty cleared his throat, still resolutely looking out the window. “Uh yeah, sure. Beer and a fire?”
"Yeah? Unless you'd rather Netflix and chill," Jared teased as a roundabout way of saying he could come to Ty's house instead if he preferred it. He had a feeling they wouldn't get the fire started and that he'd be all over Ty as soon as they were alone in private but it would be great if they could. Horniness aside, snuggling by a fire was fucking amazing. He'd been doing a good job of not staring at Ty when he was supposed to be driving but he couldn't help but glance at him as he spoke, if only to gauge his reaction.
He laughed softly, because that phrase sounded funny coming out of Jared’s mouth. “Fire and beer is the Texas version of Netflix and chill,” he murmured and gave another tiny snicker. Ty could feel Jared’s eyes on him, so he looked over to briefly catch his gaze. Wherever they landed, he was pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off of each other for long. They could enjoy a fire or some Netflix or whatever after they’d fucked each other dry first. “Sounds nice though. Your place.” He liked being in Jared’s space, smelling his sheets and basking in the vibe there. Ty didn’t know if that was creepy of him, or if this was what falling in love was like.
Jared had to laugh at that fire and beer statement because it was pretty damn accurate. "You're learning," he said, amused. "You'd do well in the south." Depending on where in the south he realized belatedly because Ty wasn't white and that could be a problem in certain places. It almost put a damper on his mood but they weren't going south and Jared had no intention of moving back there. Not that it was all that easier up north but that was something he had the luxury of not having to think about much.
Ty had a similar thought -- probably not -- but he kept it to himself. It was just a fact of life, so it didn’t bring his mood down any. He just chuckled and turned his gaze out the window again. He felt a little less squirmy now that they had solid plans in place, but the rest of this shift was probably going to take forever. He let the quiet stretch between them, idly nibbling on his bottom lip as he let his eyes scan for anything out of the ordinary on auto-pilot. Ty’s brain was spinning off again into a million questions that he didn’t even know if he wanted to answer yet. It was crazy to question it so much and not just enjoy it, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
Jared wasn't sure if it qualified as 'too fast' since he'd already known Ty for years now but he worried that was what was happening: Things going too fast. His feelings certainly seemed way ahead of what he was comfortable with and all he could do was try to rein them in. "Wish this shift was over," he murmured and it wasn't only because he wanted to take Ty home now, he just wanted to be done with work, go home and open a cold one.
“Me too,” Ty muttered back automatically. He had no good sense of how fast was too fast; he’d only had a couple of what he would call actual relationships, and they’d been short lived. Part of him wanted to confess that, to tell Jared that he didn’t know how to do any of this, that he probably wouldn’t be any good at it, that maybe the man who’d been married to a woman for years would have to teach him to be a boyfriend -- fuck. None of that would come out of his mouth, and that was probably for the best. They hadn’t had the ‘What Is This’ talk yet, and they probably shouldn’t do it in the police cruiser while they were on duty. He shifted a little in his seat, clearing his throat again. “Swing by St. Dismas,” he said quietly. “Just to make sure there’s no more dead cows.”
Well that was a mood killer, and probably a sorely needed one for the time being. Jared grimaced at the thought and nodded, taking the next left to head for the church. "Oh god damn it," he grumbled and slowed down as they drove by one of the local businesses and he spotted a hooded figure at the corner, busy spraying some crappy thing on the wall. "He's gonna run," Jared sighed and maybe he kind of hoped he would. He was not in the mood to deal with petty vandalism and he was not running.
Ty spotted the guy -- because it almost certainly was a guy -- a second after Jared did, and he got the same ‘ugh’ kind of feeling. So much else was always happening in this town, some kid with spray paint seemed like a waste of time and energy. Maybe they could just give him a little scare. Ty reached out and flipped the switches to turn the top blue lights on, and he blipped the siren a couple of times as they cruised closer to him. The head in the hoodie whipped around, but Ty didn’t catch a glimpse of his face before he was turning and dashing off down the sidewalk. “Suspect is fleeing the scene, deputy,” he said to Jared with a little grin.
Jared watched the kid run, because he was pretty sure it was a kid unless they had their own damn Banksy in town. "You wanna give chase?" he drawled lazily and it was plenty obvious he had no interest in pursuing the matter - or their suspect. On some other night he might have bothered with the petty stuff, but it was late, they'd just been talking about dead cows, people were missing... A silly alien in a baseball cap on the wall of some building was nothing to really fret about. At least it wasn't particularly offensive.
“Ehhhh ...” Ty mused slowly as he watched the kid disappear around a corner. “Nah, looks like he’s gone.” He couldn’t muster any regret about it. Maybe if this had been the fifth time they’d seen him or something, it would be worth cuffing him over, but he hadn’t even painted something obscene, it didn’t look like. He flipped the lights off again and sat back, smirking faintly. Ty looked over at Jared again and felt that same compulsion to touch him. “We’re the thin blue line, man, we got better shit to do.” Even though they didn’t, not really. But there would likely be something before the night was over. It was Point Pleasant, after all.
"Yeah," Jared said with a firm nod. "Like checking for dead cows." That was something more important than giving some kid a stern talking to and once the lights were off he stepped on the gas to keep moving, drinking in that feeling of Ty watching him. He didn't look back at him but he felt like he was because that's where all his attention was and it was so hard not to reach over, even if it was just to casually keep his hand on Ty's thigh.
Since Jared wasn’t looking back at him, Ty let his gaze linger for a few moments, his mind drifting back to all the times he’d been nice and close to that beard and neck in recent days. He liked looking at the curve of Jared’s shoulder and knowing every freckle that was hiding under his uniform shirt. He made himself stop staring and pay attention to his damn job finally, though he couldn’t help but give a little chuckle. “You’re killin’ me, Gaines,” Ty murmured, one of those stupid grins crossing his face again.
That made the not touching even harder and Jared glanced over at him with a goofy grin of his own. "Maybe we should call the cops," he said solemnly before laughing again, more from tension than actual amusement. "Yeah well, you're killing me right back, Solomon. Feels good though." It felt like a dumb statement to make and also like he was admitting too much, but it wasn't like he'd gone down on one knee or anything and it was plenty obvious he was happy.
The dumb joke got a laugh out of Ty too, but it was short and soft. The rest of Jared’s words made him feel a little melty inside. At least Ty knew this wasn’t all one-sided ... though that might have been easier for him to deal with. He was used to repressing his own emotions and desires, but with someone else involved? It felt trickier. “It sure as fuck does,” he murmured, his eyes drawn to Jared again. In spite of the apprehension, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this fucking giddy about anything. Since they were in the car, and there wasn’t much to see outside, Ty gave in and reached over to rest his hand on Jared’s leg.
The rest of the shift was going to be torture alright and Jared brushed his fingers over the back of Ty's hand, struggling to keep focusing on the road. At least it was pretty private out there by the church so driving by there very slowly gave him some time to enjoy this closeness without having to worry about much. Especially since there were no dead cows on the property and no signs of suspicious activity. "Want to check the cemetery too," he muttered even if he had no orders to do so. Rost would be happy if he knew they were doing an extra little round and he'd make a point of driving slowly past there too - mostly because it was also pretty damn private and he didn't want to break that contact with Ty.
Point Pleasant wasn’t a big enough town to warrant a lot of surveillance equipment. They had dashboard cameras in the cars, but they always pointed forward and had no sound. Body cameras weren’t a thing for them, and at the moment Ty was dumbly grateful for that. The brush from Jared’s fingers made his skin tingle a bit, but he did his best to keep his eyes pointed outside the car. The church looked quiet and peaceful, and he grunted his agreement to go check out the larger cemetery. He’d heard about the vandalisms going on there, and it never hurt to check. It also afforded them a bit of isolation, and he tried not to let that be an exciting prospect. Ty had been fantasizing about fooling around on duty, naturally, but that was strictly in the realm of fantasy for the moment. He idly stroked Jared’s warm thigh with his thumb as they drove, turning the volume down on the radio a bit as one of the other deputies checked in with Grady about something.
It was sexy, yes, but it was also simply intimate and nice and Jared had a nice little buzzing feeling in his stomach as they drove around, being close without crossing any lines. He would never risk his job for something as stupid as getting off but that closeness and the way Ty touched him - these were safe and pleasant things. Paired with the familiar voices on the radio and the actual peaceful area they were driving through, Jared felt weirdly happy and at home, more so than he'd felt in a while. "We're not fooling around on duty," he said, more of a reminder to himself than Ty but still, who knew what was going through his partner's head.
It was nice just to be there together, touching in a soft way. They’d been doing a lot of that in private, but being out in a car with his hand on Jared’s thigh felt natural and nice. If it wasn’t for all the extra cop equipment surrounding and strapped to them, it could’ve been a nice boyfriendly drive somewhere. Ty gave a short laugh at what Jared broke the amiable silence with, looking over with a raised eyebrow. “Yessir,” he drawled after a beat, grinning a bit. He hadn’t had any serious thoughts about it, it was risky and stupid, but that kind of made it exciting. “You want your leg back?”
"Hell no," Jared huffed. "You can keep it." He shot Ty a little grin. "Let's be clear though, it's a package deal. You gotta take me with it." It should not turn him on the way Ty called him sir in that teasing drawl and he smirked to himself at how stupid-giddy he was feeling about all this. "Them's the rules," he added firmly as if they were really negotiating leg-ownership in all seriousness. He caught Ty's hand again, hooking his pinky around Ty's pinky playfully. "That's not a deal breaker, is it?"
Ty grinned brighter. Even if they couldn’t fool around in the cruiser, they could flirt and that was fun in and of itself. He gave Jared’s finger a little squeeze in return, humming thoughtfully as he pretended to think about it. “I dunno, this is kinda my favorite part,” he said, flexing his hand against Jared’s thigh. That wasn’t true in the slightest, but it was a fun tease. Ty was tempted to slide his hand a little further up and in to get to another favorite part, but they weren’t fooling around on duty, so that would be cruel. “I’ll think about it. You come with a warranty or anything?”
"I come with dental," Jared said jovially. "And life insurance, will that do?" He felt like he was talking about something deeper than just joking around, like he was roundabout asking if Ty would have him. That hadn't been the plan but he wondered if Ty was thinking the same thing. "Got some spare parts at home if you wanna upgrade me," he added to make it a little less serious. "Some legs even nicer than this one. This is just my work-leg."
Ty heard the second layer of suggestion in there ... or at least he thought he did. Which wasn’t a shock or anything. They’d been fairly good friends for years, then they’d turned into even closer friends, and now this was something else. Something more. And Ty knew he wasn’t the only one who felt it. He just didn’t know if it scared Jared like it scared him. His heart had picked up a little with nerves that he was trying valiantly to ignore, but wasn’t doing so hot. “Wouldn’t mind seeing those,” he murmured, though it was hard to focus on what he was saying. Ty wet his lips and shifted a little, his pinkie finger tightening on Jared’s. “I know we’re not fooling around on duty, but ... should we be Talking?” He glanced over, hoping Jared could hear the capital T and know what he meant.
Jared knew what he meant and he nodded slowly and uncertainly. "Only if you want to be," he said and tried to convey in tone alone that it was okay if Ty wasn't ready for that. They had a really good thing going and he didn't want to ruin it by being needy and clingy when Ty might not be feeling the same way. But God he hoped he was because he wasn't sure he could really handle this being just a fling that would end too soon. It didn't feel like one, it really didn't, but he wasn't exactly savvy when it came to one-night-stands or friends-with-benefits type of situations. Sexuality aside they were coming from two very different places and meeting in the middle and it was bound to be confusing for one or both of them.
Maybe it was too soon to Talk. Maybe Ty should just leave well enough alone and let it unfold naturally, however it was going to unfold. But when had he been good at doing that? He had a control-freak streak in him a mile wide, and this was territory he was so rusty at dealing with, and goddammit they were two grown-ass men ... Maybe it was best to have the conversation when sex was definitely not on the table, and they didn’t strictly have to look at each other. Talking in a car was generally easier. “I just wanna be ... honest and plain-spoken about this,” he started out, his tone quiet. “I uh ... I like you more than I’ve liked anybody in a long fuckin’ time. I’ve been single for almost ten years. So ... kinda intimidated by ... all this.” Ty let out a soft huff. So much for being a grown-ass man.
"Okay," Jared said and appreciated that Ty was still holding onto his finger and not pulling away in some nervous attempt to be cool about things. "First of all, no pressure," he said after considering it for a moment. He hadn't exactly had time to examine his own feelings and what he wanted to do but he liked the track they were on already and he didn't want to change the course. "Do you know what it is that's intimidating?" Sometimes things were scary for no good reason and as soon as he got a chance to really look at what was bugging him it no longer held any power over him. Maybe he hoped Ty could do the same.
‘No pressure’ was such an easy thing to say, but harder to feel. Ty knew that the pressure wasn’t coming from Jared himself, it was all internal, but he still felt it. Maybe talking it out would help alleviate some of it. They could at least get on the same page, and that was never a bad thing, right? Except when it might fuck something up that felt better than anything else had in a long time. Ty let his head fall back against the seat, his hand staying right where it was on Jared’s thigh, and took a slow, thoughtful breath. “Tell me if I’m bein’ stupid and jumping ahead of everything, but ... just ... the idea of having a real boyfriend. I’m really rusty. And I just ... I don’t know if I’m ready to be out yet.” The last part came out in an apologetic murmur.
Jared knew very well that if they kept going like this there would come a time when he would want more. He'd want to be out about it, he'd want to tell his family and he'd want to meet Ty's family. That was a long way down the road and not something he felt like they needed to rush. "Listen," he said warmly. "I'm going to ask you two yes or no questions, okay? Okay. One: do you want to keep doing what we've been doing, and two: do you want to fuck other people." He glanced over at Ty and no, it wasn't that simple but for now it could be.
Why he wanted to stay in the closet was a huge and painful topic that Ty wasn’t ready to get into yet, and he was glad that Jared didn’t push him about it. He felt safe with the man, but not that safe, not yet. Instead, Jared broke it down into a couple of bite-sized pieces, like the big broad angel that he was. Ty smiled reflexively, looking over at him now. “One: yes, definitely. Two ... I haven’t even remembered other people fucking exist all week, so, no.” He’d even been in a situation where he probably could’ve taken Fin Haynes into the back room and had a quickie, and he hadn’t felt a single impulse to do so.
"Well, there you go," Jared said with an easy smile. "You're a boyfriend cadet already, it's that simple." He felt stupidly happy to hear Ty's answer since that had been one of his reservations about the whole thing. Ty liked going to Bangor and hooking up with guys, why he'd give that up just to fuck one guy in Point Pleasant Jared hadn't been sure. Then again he hadn't even been sure if Ty only did it because he was closeted or if it was something he genuinely enjoyed doing. "You know what I'm like so you know what you're getting yourself into but I won't pressure you into anything." At least he would try not to, as hard as he could. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Ty off.
Ty had told himself for a long time that he just enjoyed random hookups down in Bangor. And he did have some good sex down there. He just knew deeper down that it was a weak attempt to fill the void of intimacy in his life. This past week with Jared -- waking up together, lounging with their arms around each other, stealing glances at the station, doing what they were doing right then, all that little stuff that had nothing to do with sex -- it had all been better than he could even describe. Add in some unbelievably hot fucking on top of it, and why would he go elsewhere for anything? Maybe he would get restless and change his mind down the road, but for the moment Ty was in deep. He chuckled faintly and murmured, “Haven’t been a cadet in a long time either.”
Did he know what Jared was like? He hadn’t thought of the man as a possible romantic partner until very recently. He did know Jared had been devastated by his divorce, and that spoke to his loyalty ... but Ty hadn’t really been concerned about that part. It was his own commitment-phobia that was going to be the problem. If Jared ended up wanting a real, public relationship, could he give that to him? Just the thought filled him with anxiety, and his palm got a little sweaty against Jared’s thigh. “There’s been a lot -- ...” Ty cut himself off and licked his lips again. “I just need your patience. On the relationship front.”
"And here I was hoping you were gonna be my human shield against Mrs. Spencer," Jared teased him with a little shake of his head but he didn't linger on the joking terms for long. Ty was obviously nervous and while joking could break the ice sometimes, it was better to be straightforward this time. "I'm a very patient man, Ty," he murmured and patted his hand lightly. "But I'm also very monogamous. Oh, and very clingy... So you might need to be patient too." God he hoped that wasn't a deal breaker. He just knew himself well enough now to not try to smother a part of him to try to make a relationship work. That had never ended well and it was better to be honest about it and work with it than it was to fight it.
If some other guy courting him had said that, Ty thought he probably would’ve been headed for the door. He hadn’t ever felt like he could tolerate or trust a clingy guy. They could be unstable. But he’d known Jared for years, and he’d always had this steady, calming presence ... Ty couldn’t get enough of being around him now. Granted, sometimes people were different in relationships, but Ty had the gut feeling he could deal with Jared’s version of clingy. “Fair enough,” he murmured back with a slow nod and a little smile. “I’ve been single a long time, but I ain’t no cheater, so don’t worry about that. I just used to try and keep my distance, y’know, emotionally. It fucked up a few relationships for me. But that was years ago, so ... I dunno my pitfalls now.” He gave a soft huff.
"You know what," Jared said as he slowed down the car while driving past the cemetery. "You're doing fine so far, just keep talking to me about... whatever's going on. We'll work it out." It was easier to talk feelings when he could focus his attention elsewhere so he looked away from Ty, peering out at the cemetery walls and beyond them into the darkness. "No matter how this goes we have to work together so tell me if there's a problem, okay? Problems can be fixed. Usually." Saying that gave him a little pang of unease because that was what he had believed with Sadie. She had some problem she didn't want to share with him and if she just did they could fix it. He could only hope it would be different with Ty.
Ty kept his own eyes open for any signs of trouble as they drifted past the cemetery. The bit of work distraction did make this conversation easier. He at least didn’t want to fidget as much. Ty glanced at the side of Jared’s face at that last part, and he was sure Jared was thinking of his ex. They were coming from such opposite directions -- Ty hadn’t had a relationship in forever, Jared was just off the tail end of one. “We’ll figure it out together,” he murmured, almost to himself. He did squeeze Jared’s leg though and hoped it was a bit reassuring. Now that they were talking about it, he was feeling cautiously optimistic. The closet issue would be another thing, but maybe they could really try this out privately and see how it went.
Jared had never had to keep a relationship secret. All his relationships had pretty much been some pretty girl pouncing on him and claiming him for herself for all to know and he'd been fine with it most times. He honestly wasn't sure how good he'd be at keeping this one a secret though it was probably a good thing for him too. Dating a guy was going to be a lot more complicated than dating a woman. The latter was expected and casual, the former... He had a feeling a lot of people would have a problem with it. He didn't care about those people but that didn't mean it wouldn't be a hassle to deal with it. A secret thing going on between them meant he had more time to process all of this so that would be a good thing. At least that was what he was telling himself in order to make it easier. "It'll be a little weird," he admitted with a lopsided smile. "You know how many times a day people tell me I need to move on and meet someone?"
Ty chuckled. “As many times as they tell me I need to settle down with someone nice?” he said, darkly amused. Nobody had to know they’d listened to that unsolicited advice, right? “Well okay, probably more often. Most people have given up on me.” As long as Jared could stand to hang out in his closet with him for a while so Ty could figure out what he wanted to do there, maybe this could work. Really, it would have been so much simpler if his mother wasn’t around. But he knew she wouldn’t accept this, not out in the open. She could make his life hell, maybe even worse now than she had when he was a kid. They had a complicated, guilt-ridden relationship, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to expose Jared to the ugly side of that. Or himself, for that matter. “But yeah, it’ll be an adjustment. So let’s just ... keep talking. I’m game to try it if you are.”
Jared knew Ty was right, people probably had given up on him because they thought he had a new girl on a regular basis down in Bangor. With Jared they just saw a sad, lonely man who needed a good woman to help him get over his evil ex - because yes he knew Sadie was not having an easy time in town after their breakup. "They're probably going to figure out I've met someone," he muttered. "And that's not my fault. You just make me so damn smiley." He shook his head as if it was a nuisance, his attention still firmly on the job instead of Ty because it was easier. "But I'm game."
Even though it was scary, it gave Ty a sort of giddy feeling in his stomach at the same time. It probably wouldn’t take the few people who really knew him long to see that he’d met someone too. He would have to be careful about his attitude around his family. He didn’t want to think about anyone else in the world at the moment though. Fuck everyone for right then, because Ty was pretty sure he’d just gotten a boyfriend, just like that. “Hey, stop the car,” he said with a touch of urgency, patting Jared’s thigh. As soon as they’d stopped, Ty reached toward Jared’s jaw and leaned in at the same time, turning his head so he could kiss him. There was nobody around, and both of them being game warranted a kiss in a dark car.
Jared grinned against his lips initially but then he relaxed into the kiss, cupping Ty's face gently as he kissed him back. It was a little risky doing this out here, but as far as he could tell nobody was around and it felt worth it. "So... boyfriends?" he asked with some amusement against Ty's lips. "Or do you want to start with 'the guy I'm seeing' and work from there?" It was somewhat of a joke and his tone said as much, but no matter what they were calling it he knew what it was and it filled up something inside him that had felt empty for far too long.
Ty gave a soft huff through his nose, not wanting to move away from Jared’s face now that they were that close. Part of him wanted to question why they had to call it anything at all, since they weren’t going to be talking about it, at least for a while ... but that felt like an avoidance. It wasn’t like he was getting impulsively married to some guy he hardly knew. This progression felt natural, and he didn’t think it was too big of a step, especially if it was just for them for a while. “Boyfriends,” he murmured, grinning himself before kissing Jared again. Ty kept it brief, then started to sit back. “I’m still not fooling around with you on duty, though,” he said with some joking defensiveness.
Jared had to laugh and he almost made a joke about Ty being a stickler but it didn't feel right. "We should be working," he admitted, sad as it was. He would much rather stay right there and kiss Ty until the end of their shift. They were both too responsible for that so he got the car moving again, looking out toward the dark cemetery one more time. "Head out to Overlook?" he suggested, since the richer denizens tended to get pissy if the police didn't patrol there on the regular, despite their fancy gates and cameras. The drive there and back to the station would complete their shift too so that would make for good timing. And maybe being in a dimly lit area with no people around wasn't the best idea right now.
It was funny how things could be great ideas and terrible ideas at the same time. Maybe if weird shit hadn’t been happening at the cemetery lately, or if their shift wasn’t almost over, Ty would’ve been more tempted to break that rule. As it was, he could wait. It was kind of sweet to have to wait, and know that he wouldn’t have to drive for a couple of hours and pick some guy out of the crowd to get some inferior gratification. This was infinitely better. “To Overlook,” he agreed, settling back and turning his gaze outward again as they drove.