Chapter Text
TK was crying. He was unsure how long he had been sat on the floor in this state, the blood staining his hands as a visual reminder of what he had done. He hadn't meant to, he was scared and panicked and Ethan had a knife-
His eyes scanned the dinning room. There was a broken plate not far from TK, Ethan had thrown it at him. TK was used to that, he was used to being hit, kicked, pinned up against walls and have stuff thrown at him through rage.
But when Ethan had been holding that knife so close to his throat, he had panicked, had fought back for the first time in the entire time he had been in this relationship-
And now Ethan was laying on his back, a few feet away, a wound near his hip and what if TK has killed him? The guy he was supposed to love? The guy that all their neighbours and friends thought was the loviest guy on Earth, the guy who was the local cop who always smiled at you as you passed, the good guy. Or, as TK knew him, the man who broke TK's leg in anger last year and told everybody that clumsy TK had fallen down the stairs. And TK, as vulnerable as he was had allowed him to tell his friends and family that lie.
After all, it hadn't been the first time Ethan had put TK in hospital and it hadn't been the last.
The brunette crawled across the floor, tears dripping from his eyes as he reached forward and pressed a finger against Ethan's neck- there was a pulse. That meant he hadn't killed him right?
He was brought out of his trance by his phone vibrating against the dining room table, for a moment he hesitated. After all, his anxiety was at an all time high and he wasn't about to try control his shaky voice to answer whoever was ringing him. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself, he would blurt out what he had done to the first person he saw-
"TK!" And that was his dad, his father was calling him and was currently outside. He cried, surprisingly feeling relief, his dad was here. Dropping the knife that he had been clinging to against the hardwood floor and ran towards the door, tears dripping down his face as he shakily reached for the latch on the door, seeing his dad's silhouette on the other side.
The moment he opened the door, his dad's face instantly dropped the moment he saw the state of his son. He didn't give his dad much chance to react before he was throwing himself at him, thankfully that his father's reflexes were efficient enough to grab ahold of Tk and hold him to his chest like he used to do when he was a child.
"Whose blood is that TK?" His dad asked as he pressed TK's face into his neck, stroking his son's head in an attempt to comfort him. TK didn't deserve that comfort- he didn't. "Please, tell me that isn't your blood." Was quickly added.
"I didn't mean to..." He cried, clinging onto his father's shirt. He was going to be in so much trouble, but he hadn't had a choice. "I'm so sorry"
Owen reached up and grabbed his son's face, the brunette was limp in his father's arms and it was only Owen holding him up at this point, preventing him from collapsing onto the floor. "You need to tell me exactly what has happened Tyler, whose blood is that?"
TK continued to cry, but managed a quick "Ethan." Before adding, despite his tears. "Ethan, i hurt him."
TK watched confusion spread across his father's face. He had just admitted to injuring his husband, the person he had married because he was stupid and dumb and should have listened to his dad, he should have told his dad that all this time Ethan had been hurting him. But TK was still young and he was scared and he had no idea how he would be able to save himself from this, everybody in their neighbourhood in New York thought Ethan was the golden boy and TK was his quiet partner. It didn't take a genius to figure out whose side of the story they would believe.
He would paint TK as the bad guy, the guy who stabbed Ethan.
TK watched helplessly as his father stepped around him, making sure to close the front door behind him before stepping into the dining room where Ethan had been.
-
Tk startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly in order to wake him up. His breathing evened out when he realised it was only his dad, his soft eyes staring back at him with a look of concern.
"We are almost here, kid." Owen assured, a small smile on his face. TK knew his father was just trying to make him feel more relaxed, but it didn't stop the brunette from thinking that the police would have followed here or that they were waiting for him wherever they ended up.
TK glanced down at his hands, noticing the cracked skin that had arisen from him obsessively washing his hands every chance he got.
His dad covered his hand with his own, comforting him once more.
"What if-"
Owen cut him off before he even had the chance to finish his concern, "He's alive, TK." His dad whispered, aware that they were on a bus heading into Texas. "You haven't killed him. He doesn't deserve your guilt."
Owen looked away from TK, his jaw clenched and his worry lines clear on his face. "My only regret is that i didn't figure it out. All this time?" He shook his head with a quick sigh, "You're my boy, Tyler. I wish i would have known, i would have gotten you out of there-"
It was TK's turn to silence his father. He wasn't about to let his dad feel guilt over not noticing the signs, the only person who should feel guilt was Ethan himself. So why did TK feel so torn up about finally defending himself?
"What if he finds me?" Was TK's question.
Ethan was a cop, a well respected one at best and it wasn't unlikely that he knew how to trace a missing person. That was what TK was now after all, a missing person. After they had returned to the dining room to see Ethan had disappeared, TK figured that he was binding his time to punish TK. And usually, TK would stick around and Ethan would apologise and say he didn't mean it.
But, TK had stabbed Ethan. In self defence sure, but TK wasn't about to stick around to find out what Ethan would do in response. For all TK knew, the police would be searching for him now.
-
"What if he's gone to the police?" TK cried as he looked down at the carpet where Ethan had been laying when TK left him to go answer the door to his father. At least TK knew he hadn't killed him, but if TK knew Ethan he retaliate. TK continued to cry as Owen looked around the apartment for any signs of Ethan. When it was clear that Ethan left, Owen grabbed ahold of the knife, not caring that it meant his fingerprints were on it too now. He would take the fall for his son in a heartbeat, in fact, he would kill Ethan right now if he saw him.
"Grab a back, Tyler." His dad told him, when TK made no effort to move, his father fixed him with a stern look. "TK, i need you to listen to me. I'm not letting him hurt you anymore, i'm getting you the hell out of here."
"But-"
"Tyler, do you trust me?"
The brunette nodded, wiping at his eyes with the corner of his hoodie.
"Get a bag, pack anything that has your ID on it and hurry."
-
TK felt bad that his dad was forced to leave the city he had grown up in behind. After all, his dad was a New Yorker through and through and had only ever lived there. But Owen had left that city behind in an instant for TK.
"You didn't have to come with me, you know." TK stated, catching his dad's attention who was busy googling the best things to do in Austin, Texas as if they were going to Texas on vacation and not running away from his abusive partner.
"Where you go, i go." Owen said with so much confidence that TK found himself somewhat smiling for the first time since the accident. "We forget about what happened the day before, okay?"
TK shook his head, "He'll find me." He decided, before adding. "He has connections, he's the police he knows-"
"In Austin, he's nothing. He doesn't exist to us. Okay?" Owen said, "We are going to stick to the sidelines, not get too attached to people here, it might just be a pitstop. If people ask us about life back in New York, Ethan doesn't exist. We are just a father and son looking for a new start."
TK nodding slowly, still unsure how he's going to handle the guilt that the last time he saw his husband was when he stabbed him. How is he ever going to move on from that?
Tk pulled his hood up on his sweatshirt when the bus pulled outside the Austin station, while it was dark outside and likely that nobody would pay him any attention. After all, nobody knew him or his dad like they did in New York. His father shot him an encouraging glance as he grabbed the one bag he managed to bring with him and carried it off the bus, sighing in somewhat relief when he was met with fresh air.
He glanced around, he had never really been out of the East, in fact, he hadn't really stepped outside of New York. Texas was a whole new scene for him, his dad too by the way he was also looking around with wide eyes.
TK startled at the sound of a car door closing loudly behind him, his dad must have noticed as a moment later there was a hand on his shoulder and he was being pulled into his dads side.
"Sorry." TK whispered, nervously biting at the edge of his lip because this was his life now. Every police car driving past would be Ethan in TK's eyes. "It's just-"
"I have a place for us to stay until i find us an apartment." Owen said, and TK was so thankful that his father was with him right now because he hadn't even thought about where they were going to stay while in Texas. After all, everything he owned was back in that apartment in New York and he couldn't see him ever going back for it. "Wait here while i call for a car, okay?" His dad said, talking to him as if he was a kid all over again.
However, that didn't stop TK nodding, watching carefully as his dad wandered towards a phone box. After all, TK had left his phone back in New York. He didn't want any contact from anyone back there.
The whole time his eyes remained on his dad, his hand lifted up to his mouth where he was biting nervously at the skin of his thumb.
"Shit-" He stepped back with a gasp as he felt a force in his left side, causing him to stumble back only slightly as a result of him not really paying attention to his surroundings. His hand instantly went to his side on instinct, after all, there was a deep purple bruise still there from where he had been violently pushed into the dining room table only a couple of days before.
However, what he was meant was not a threat. It wasn't Ethan or somebody trying to hurt him-
No, it was a little girl starring up at him with dark brown hair and pigtails that was a little too adorable. Now, TK had zero experience with children, but if he was to guess he would assume she was around the age of six.
"I'm sorry! My brother was chasing me!" She quickly said, as if she was afraid TK was about to shout at her, instantly making him feel guilty for cursing in shock.
His eyes softened automatically as he spotted the boy who was only slightly taller than the girl stood on her left, matching the same expression, it was clear to TK that the boy was her brother judging by how alike they looked, "It's okay-"
But his words were cut off by another voice, a much deeper one. "Isabelle! Mason, you can't run off when i'm taking a call like that." The man, who was essentially a much taller and older version of the two kids in front of TK walked up to them, shoving his phone into his back pocket.
TK stepped back at the sound of the man's tense tone, not wanting to impose and instead return to his dad when the man caught his eye. "I'm sorry, they just shared a milkshake so they are slightly hyper."
TK expected the man to pull his children away, after all TK was a stranger stood on the side of the street with his hood up and a black eye. He didn't exactly look child friendly right now. However, the man shot him a welcoming smile, surprising TK.
TK managed a smile, because despite how nervous he was feeling being out in the open, the man's smile was reassuring enough.
"I-It's...okay." TK was well aware of how quiet his voice came out and how he was anxiously tugging the sleeves down of his hoodie, but the other man didn't seem care as he picked up the little girl who instantly wrapped her arms around the man's neck, while he held his spare arm out for the boy to grab a hold of.
In the corner of his eye he could see his dad watching them carefully, and the dark haired man must have clicked on as he nodded towards TK and spoke gently. "Sorry again..." He glanced back at the bus station, "You staying in Austin or going?"
Staying.