Who: Grady, Jared, and Ty When: Saturday, Oct 7, morning Where: the station Status: Complete
It was only a matter of time before Grady heard about what had happened the night before at the karaoke bar, if he hadn’t already. Cops were as bad as old ladies at the hair salon when it came to gossip, and Ty wanted to get ahead of it if he could. He didn’t want their boss to hear about it from anybody else. He already knew Ty was gay, but he didn’t know anything about Jared, since Jared hadn’t really known it himself until recently. Not that Grady was super invested in their personal lives or anything, Ty just didn’t want it to seem like they’d been keeping something from him. They had been doing that, but not just him.
The two of them had come to work in separate cars since they got off at different times that night, but they were both in the locker room in the morning getting ready at the same time. Ty felt tense, like someone was going to say something at any second. It hadn’t happened yet, but they hadn’t seen any of the other guys from the night before yet either. As he finished getting his gear on and closed his locker door, Ty glanced over at Jared. “Ready to do this?” he asked in a murmur. “Think he’s in his office now.”
Jared hadn't had time to call his mom yet so Grady was about to be the first person he kind of officially came out to. He'd told Carson at the gym and not so much told Ty but this was definitely a first. Professional capacity too. At least he knew Grady wasn't homophobic so that helped a lot but he was still nervous as all get out today, trying to keep that all under wraps and look like it was no big deal.
"He is?" he asked nonchalantly as he finished tying his boots, then got up and stretched a little. "I didn't see him but let's check." It was a bit of a miracle that his voice came off as calm as it did and for some reason his smile came easy too but some part of him figured Ty might be even more nervous about this and that meant he needed to be strong. Or something. Inside his heart was pumping hard and his hands felt a little damp. "Are you ready?"
Oddly enough, Ty wasn’t too nervous about talking to Grady. He wasn’t looking forward to being told that he and Jared couldn’t be partners anymore -- the worst case scenario -- but other than that ... at least Grady already knew something. He was a bit worried on Jared’s behalf, but he knew their chief was a good man and wouldn’t make a big deal about Jared coming out on a personal level. They might be in some shit for keeping it a secret for this long, but they could handle that. They’d been in shit before.
What he was really stressing about was everybody else. Their colleagues, brothers in arms, fellow cops. They could be a prickly bunch, and having gay men around made some men weird in the first place, much less a gay couple. But one thing at a time, right? “Gotta be,” he answered Jared with a faint smile. Ty wanted to hug him, get a bit of strength from him for a moment, but it was too risky right then. They needed to go get this over with. Jared seemed calm on the surface, but Ty thought he could see some extra tension in those broad shoulders. Instead of a hug, he briefly grabbed his hand for a squeeze. “We’re in it together,” he murmured.
Jared kind of wished he hadn't done that since his hands were a giveaway where he thought he was keeping everything else well under the surface. As a result the smile he gave Ty was a little weird and he squinted at him for a split second before nodding. He honestly thought this was probably a lot easier than coming out alone. Sure, he was bi but he was also spoken for and anyone who knew him would know what that meant. If they thought he'd be perving on his colleagues they were dead wrong. "Let's rip the bandaid off," he murmured and after a quick glance in the direction of the door he dipped in and gave Ty a quick kiss.
The sweaty hands confirmed the shoulder-tension, but Ty didn’t draw any attention to it. Jared had every reason to be nervous, and Ty already knew he dealt with that by keeping a level head. It was Ty’s turn to be strong for him. He hummed his agreement into the brief kiss, then turned to walk out of the locker room. It was time to face the music, at least in part. Grady might be the easiest person they came out to, honestly, but at least they could punch anybody else who had a problem with it. Out of uniform, of course. He walked down the hall with Jared until they reached the chief’s office. The door was open and it was occupied so he rapped his knuckles on the wood and gave Grady a questioning look.
Grady had heard nothing about karaoke, or anything else, that had happened the night before. He'd stayed busy throughout most of the night, and he popped over to the high school for a bit to watch some of the Homecoming game and chat with a few people. When he came into the station this morning, he'd headed straight for his office, coffee in hand, and got to work. He was still there when Ty knocked at his door and Grady looked up from his paperwork, his brows raising curiously before he sat back and motioned him inside. "Hey, come on in." He noticed Jared then and Grady instinctively braced himself for bad news. "What's up."
"Hey boss," Jared said with a faint smile since he absolutely noticed the tension in Grady's body language and surmised that it must look like they were there to bring him more shitty news. He couldn't blame him, those last weeks had been filled to the brim with bad events and while this wasn't exactly a joyous revelation for their boss, it wasn't a catastrophy either. He wasn't entirely sure how to go about this though, he'd never dated another cop, let alone a guy. "If you're not busy we need to lay some things on the table."
Ty couldn’t blame Grady for worrying, it wasn’t like they traipsed into his office to talk about their personal lives on a regular basis or anything, and he was sure they both looked a little grim. Braced for impact or whatever. He walked in and plunked down into one of the chairs in front of Grady’s desk and waited for Jared to do the same, making sure he’d closed the door behind him. Even if the rest of the force already knew -- and he wasn’t positive that they did, but they would -- this was to be a private conversation. “So ... guess we’ll just ...” Ty glanced over at Jared, then back to Grady. “You should know that me and Jared have started dating.” There. And his voice was steady and calm and everything.
'Laying some things on the table' made it sound like the two men were coming to Grady with a complaint of some kind, or maybe even a demand on behalf of the small police force, but he was determined not to get ahead of himself until he knew the details. Grady had long since taught himself not to jump to conclusions... it was damn near impossible to ever get it right in this town. He glanced between the two men, waiting for one to talk, when Ty spoke up. Grady stared at his deputy for a good long moment, one brow cocked as if he was expecting more. He wasn't. He was just... taken aback and unsure of how to respond. Christ, did they need the HR rep to come in? What was the right thing to say here? He tried to remember the conversation he’d had with his son when he came out as gay. It had gone well, right? They’d hugged and everything.
Grady eventually shifted his gaze from Ty to Jared, as if looking for confirmation, but Grady knew Ty wasn't going to come in here and bullshit with that kind of stuff. He knew Ty was gay, but had he known about Jared? No. Jared had been married to Sadie Ferris up until recently. "All right," Grady began slowly, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he processed the information. Then he took a breath and reached up to scratch the nape of his neck. "Okay, well... you know policy dictates that you can't patrol together anymore," he began, shifting into 'boss mode' since that would help him get through this.
Jared had been expecting that and it was what it was. It sucked, yes, but at least they could be out in public now. "We're aware," he said, even if he hated that rule. "You should know that if the situation demands it we can do it without problems, we've done fine so far." He wasn't about to demand that Grady break the rules for them but given how often they were understaffed and overworked he was bound to need them together at some point. Jared wasn't going to let this relationship get in the way of their work and he needed Grady to know he didn't have to do that either.
Grady’s reaction was about on par with that Ty had expected. Their boss was nothing if he wasn’t level-headed, he had to be in his position. And he’d been calm and collected when Ty had come out to him, so it stood to reason he wouldn’t flip out about Jared either. He seemed quietly surprised, but that was to be expected. He nodded along with what Jared said. “We can stay professional, chief,” he said. “But we get it, no special treatment and all that.” Losing Jared as a regular partner was the shittiest thing about this. Ty trusted him implicitly with his life, more than anybody else on the force. “There was just, uh ... a bit of a revealing incident last night with some of the other guys in attendance, so we wanted to come forward to you directly.”
This still seemed like a lot to process and Grady wished he had something to do with his hands. He could remember when Hunter had come out to him, and how long it had taken for the news to digest. Grady hadn't been upset or disappointed. Just surprised and a little upset with himself for not knowing or catching the signs - if there had been any. His job had taken priority over his family and he'd felt like he had let Hunter down somehow. But things seemed to be okay between them now. Grady had no problem with anyone's sexuality and he didn't care if Ty and Jared were dating - although it was still a bit strange to him - as long as it didn't affect their working relationship, or the job itself. The police department was small enough that Grady knew there would be days where Ty and Jared would have to work together, but they would deal with that moment when it came. Grady's eyes ticked to Ty. "Oh? What kind of incident?"
An 'incident' made it sound like they'd been caught making out in the car or something and Jared laughed and shook his head. "Nothing serious," he said hurriedly. "We just..." He glanced at Ty too and it felt weird to talk about it now because they hadn't been drunk and they still got carried away. "We got a little sappy at Karaoke, it was supposed to be a big joke but uh... I think it was pretty obvious that we're together." And then they had kissed in the parking lot because they had decided to stop hiding since it felt like everyone who had been there already knew anyway. You didn't stare at and admire a friend the way they had stared and admired each other.
Ty let out a laugh as he felt his cheeks and neck flush darker. Telling people he was gay and dating someone was one thing, actually demonstrating it out in public was so much More, and he still felt a little weird and embarrassed that he’d lost control of himself like that. It was something he was going to have to get over, because they hadn’t done anything wrong or obscene or anything, it had been ... loving. He just wasn’t used to people seeing that side of him. Or hearing about it, like now. “Yeah, it was obvious,” he murmured, rubbing his palms against his pants for a second before he made himself stop. “We figured gossip would get around to you eventually.”
Grady's brows lifted and he found he was more surprised that the two of them went to karaoke than the fact that they were dating. But... they were right. Gossip got around. Fast. He could only imagine how it would reach his ears too, so he was thankful for the head's up. "Okay," Grady said slowly before scratching the nape of his neck again. "I appreciate you letting me know. It shouldn't be a problem as long as you two don't allow it to become a problem. I'm confident you both know this already but you come here, you leave your personal lives at the door. And you know... if anyone gives you two any shit, let me know."
"Thanks, boss," Jared said with a warm smile and while he knew Grady had been supportive of Ty all these years, it still felt nicely surprising to feel it on his own skin. "I think we can handle it." He glanced at Ty to make sure they were on the same page. "And we won't allow it to become a problem." He wanted to repeat that they hadn't so far but it was redundant to keep hammering that home. They'd just show Grady their word was good and maybe eventually he wouldn't care about the rules so much.
Ty was nodding. “Won’t even be a thing,” he agreed, waving his hand dismissively to show just how not a thing it would be. They’d been doing really well with staying on task at work and keeping their hands off of each other, and only talking openly when they were alone in the car or something. Ty didn’t want to lose him as a partner on a purely professional level -- Jared was the best cop they had, and Ty trusted him more than anyone -- but he knew better than to fight it right off the bat. It wasn’t like they would never see each other. “Thanks, chief,” he added, quirking a little smile of his own.
Grady had no idea how long this had been going on, but if it had been awhile now, and he hadn't noticed, he would say that they were doing well at keeping it out of their professional lives. But Grady also knew how people could be, and if, and when, it got out into Point Pleasant, he was sure some people would jump at the chance to make trouble for them. Thankfully Ty and Jared were skilled police officers, so Grady wasn't terribly worried. He nodded, not really thinking he needed to be thanked for anything, but he understood. Exhaling slowly, Grady lifted his brows and glanced between the two men. "Anything else?"
"No sir, everything is copacetic," Jared murmured and this had gone a lot better than it could have. It wasn't against the rules to date another cop and there was no power imbalance between them but he knew Grady could have made a big deal out of it anyway if he'd wanted to. A bad boss had ways of punishing his subordinates in ways that couldn't be classified as harassment but fortunately Grady wasn't like that at all.
Ty hadn’t expected disaster or anything, since he’d already come out to Grady years ago, but he was still relieved and pleased that this had gone smoothly, especially for Jared’s sake. As far as Ty knew, Grady was the first person Jared had told, after all. Starting to grin now, he slapped one thigh as he stood up and pointed a casual finger at Grady. “See, and you thought it was bad news,” he said lightly. “Don’t say we never do nothin’ for you, boss.” Considering how their day to day went, maybe he shouldn’t be joking about bad news, but you had to find the humor where you could, right? And Ty was feeling rather buoyant at the moment.
Grady chuckled and moved to stand. "Yeah, well, good news is a rarity around here lately." But he was glad to see people he knew and cared about happy. Everyone needed to find a bit of a boost here, and maybe Jared and Ty would be that for each other. As long as it didn't affect their jobs, and he didn't think it would, Grady was happy for them. He looked over at Jared before they could slip out and held up his hand to stop him for a moment. "I don't make it a habit to gossip about people, but is this common knowledge to the people in your life? You know how personal business travels through this town once it's out there."
Jared gave him an easy smile, even if it wasn't exactly an easy topic. "Only one who needs to hear it from me is my mama and I'm calling her when my shift is over." Leave it to Grady to worry about his people beyond what his duty called for. Jared had always liked the man. It certainly made it easier to stay in Point Pleasant and on that job when you liked your boss and coworkers. "I just hope gossip doesn't travel all the way down to Texas before then."
Even though Grady had directed the question at Jared, Ty had lingered in front of the door, his hand on the knob. He felt a little extra warmth bloom in his chest, hearing that Jared intended to call his mother already. Telling their boss was one thing, telling their immediate families was ... more. Ty didn’t have a plan yet on how he was going to break it to his own mother, but he would figure it out. She would hear about it before too long, so he would have to figure it out fast. “And just so you know, I’m not worried about who knows either,” he told Grady, shaking his head a little. When he’d come out to him, Ty had been adamant that Grady keep it to himself, so he felt it warranted saying. He was out now, terrifying as it was.
"Understandable. I feel like there's a joke about social media in there somewhere, but..." He didn't know enough about social media to know just how quickly news could travel to Texas, but even if it did, he had no knowledge that Jared's mom used it. It was all complicated to Grady, to be honest. Grady acknowledged Ty with a nod. He really had no intention to discuss any of this with anyone but the two men standing in front of him. Yes, Grady knew how people could be in this town, but it wasn't Grady's issue unless it became his issue. "If there's anything else you two need, just let me know. We'll get some new partners lined up in the meantime..." Grady rested his hands on his hips, glancing down at the paperwork on his desk. "Until then, keep it professional and... really, that's all I can say about it."
If word got out on social media, mama Gaines would definitely be quick to catch on. She wasn't terribly tech savvy when it came to a lot of things but she knew her Internet and it always delighted Jared a little how quick she'd caught on. "We'll try not to become a meme," he chuckled and glanced over at Ty warmly. Here was to hoping people could hold off on asking him on his Facebook before he'd had a chance to call his mom.