Chapter Text
It was too large to tame safely. They were all worked up with false alarms all week, but the storm they tracked was a dead end. He and the rest of the team had gone into the two small towns it had hit to help with relief efforts. That was this morning. The sky had since cleared while the storm itself hadn’t done much damage, mainly due to it losing steam once it had plowed through the edges of the first town. No one died, no one was horrifically injured. His team was safe even amongst the rubble of people’s lives. Tyler found himself feeling glad that Kate had listened to him and called off the attempt in favor of aid. He selfishly wished she wouldn’t go in any twister without him, but that was unrealistic, unfair too. It was also much easier to keep an eye on his keys instead of his genius. Reckless, crazy…friend? She was definitely something more to him. Tyler still wasn’t sure what Kate thought of him. She certainly liked him enough to have had sex, share a room with him, and call him and ask about his day. Baby steps, he hoped.
Tyler wondered with every single storm they shared if their relationship would be enough to keep Kate out of harm’s way. Unfortunately, Kate had a tendency to care so much she’d accidentally hurt herself. Tyler thought it was ridiculous, but he’d do anything to protect her. So here he was, a hypocrite in love, driving to another shitty motel, with Kate sitting beside him happily chatting about data collection with Javi, who rode with Boone and Lily in the van behind him. Carefree.
Tyler’s musings weren’t new. Anything larger than an EF2 with Kate around made the icy shiver of anxiety curl around his neck choke him. His right hand found its way to rest on Kate’s thigh, palm up. Kate’s hand slotted into his, their fingers interlocked. Tyler’s teeth stopped grinding for a moment and the ever-present ringing in his ears lowered in volume.
“Hey Javi, I can’t hear you much. Think we’re heading into a dead zone, Javi I—,’’ Kate ended the call before the back and forth about the cell service could start. “What’s got you worried?”
“Bed bugs. If the motel has bed bugs, I think I’ll lose my mind.” Tyler replied, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Kate was not fooled, she seldom was because in her opinion, he had “one of those faces”. Her hand left his and slid upwards to rest on his upper arm. Kate’s right hand joined his now empty hand. “Eyes on the road, Cowboy.” She said, He reverted his attention to keeping the truck on the right side of the road. Kate squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.
For the next few seconds, they were silent, Tyler driving and Kate rubbing soothing circles into his arm and wrist. “Promise me if it’s something big you’ll let me know?” Kate asked. Her question hung in the air. Tyler felt it hit directly in his chest. If he were standing, he might have had to sit down. The heat of worry clawed up his chest and into his mouth. Every breath felt like he’d drunk lidocaine.
“Yeah, when…” Tyler sighed, trying to keep himself from spiraling, “when we check in I think we gotta talk about something.” She sighed “Okay.”
Her hands began to move away, but he tugged on the hand in his to try to keep it there. Kate understood and set both of her hands on his. For the rest of the ride, it was enough.
Kate and Javi had been to this small city before, they were hunting early season storm cells in Texas all those years ago and warned them away from any of the motels in towns they all were infested with bedbugs for multiple years and Kate doubted anything had been done since. So here they were, trying to find a hotel in the area. The only ones with space were just outside the city. Dexter had suggested taking the risk, pointing out they had driven past a nice-looking motel, when they had all sat down for a hot meal at an Olive Garden that had seen better days. Kate and Javi shared a wide-eyed look. The two had lost the vote and were decidedly unhappy. “Guess you guys are getting cozy with the bedbugs tonight. I’m sleeping in the truck. Kate, there’s enough space for two.” Javi declared, Kate only laughed, her weight shifting to lean on Tyler as she rolled her eyes, “We’ll see,” she said, Tyler tried his best to be civil with Javi, he meant a lot to Kate. So much so that they’d sit or lie next to each other in their downtime and talk for hours on end. The other Wranglers enjoyed spending time with him as well, especially Dani and Boone. Tyler just couldn’t seem to mesh with him, probably because Tyler hadn’t spoken much to the man outside of getting the Tornado Tamer project off the ground. This string of chases was the first time Tyler had seen Javi out of his uniform and without Kate on the phone. “Well, if the motel turns out to be a bust, which it will,” Kate said, using her fork to gesture to everyone at the table, “we best get going because I am not sleeping anywhere with bedbugs.”
Boone went in to rent a room, with payment almost entirely in crumpled up ones. He walked into the check in hut, Dexter and Kate drew the short straws as they went up to the room to inspect their accommodations. Javi and Kate had managed to pry a compromise out of them. “get only one room. If it’s contaminated, let’s go to a hotel.” Javi reasoned, Kate even offered to pay the difference if it was a money thing. Tyler figured there was a reason as to why Javi and Kate were so fearful of the bedbugs. Sure could they infect all of your belongings and take them anywhere, absolutely? Still, there had to be a story, one he could probably bug out Kate later. Tyler waited outside with the others. He and Lily were looking up other accommodations just in case Dani sifted through Yelp and TripAdvisor, finding plenty of other motels whose reviews confirmed bed bug infestations and were filled with outraged patrons. His hope began diminishing then. One had a locust problem, another had termites. They only needed frogs, and they were well on their way towards suffering on Biblical proportions.
They all got an eyeful of some of the egregious infestations thanks to Dani shoving her phone into their faces. Javi had sat down on the pavement, holding his backpack to his chest with his eyes closed. He had been up since early this morning. The whole bed bug situation seemed to have leeched his remaining energy as he was honest to god snoring already. The mood continued to sour as they spotted Kate and Dexter leaving the room, clearly trying not to run down the stairs and fall. Dexter seemed especially perturbed. He kept swatting at his limbs as if the bed bugs could follow him out flying. Kate was holding a UV light that he hadn’t seen her take in. The light moving back and forth gave him a clear visual of their mutual disgust. Kate jumped the last few straights and made a beeline towards Javi, shoving the keys into Boone’s hand on the way towards her sleeping friend.
“Javi! Hit me.” Kate yelled as she spread out her arms and legs as she were waiting for a pat down, Tyler stepped forward confused, his question died as he watched Javi rouse from his power nap and without questioning Kate to pull out a spray bottle label “ISO ALCOHOL”. Kate kicked off her boots and Javi then began spraying her from foot to neck and the back of her head, avoiding her face. He then hit her shoes until they glistened with moisture. Dexter seemed to approve because he lined right behind Kate, to get exterminated next.
So they had to dish out a little more money than they were used to (on the company card, of course).
A few hours later, they had settled into a hotel with no bedbugs. The entire way there, Kate had not stopped with her “I told you so” routine. Tyler might just have to never disagree with her ever again, if only to avoid how pushy Kate got when proved right. Anxiety then began building in him, remembering that there might never be a chance to have a silly disagreement after tonight. “Tyler? You okay?” Kate asked as she pulled back the covers to the bed. He’d been absentmindedly unpacking their toiletries, deep in thought. He blinked slowly, taking a second to process her question.
“Yeah, it’s just my back. I don’t think we have the lidocaine patches here, do we?” Tyler said, raising the bag with their medications.
“Dani has them, I think. I could run over?” Kate suggested. Tyler was in quite a bit of pain. Nothing had happened. He was just made up of a lot of broken parts, so his body often hurt for no real reason. The chases this week certainly did not help. They were out of season caused by a hurricane hitting Texas and Mexico. Meaning the storms were non stop as they waited for the perfect conditions that a twister needed. They had been successful only once, but that was all Kate. Where she’d use her genius to hopefully move things along a little faster.
He gave Kate a small, apologetic smile as he nodded.
Soon he was alone, waiting for her to come back. Even if she was just going a few doors down, his heart ached. Would he always have to chase Kate Carter? Tyler wouldn’t mind that if it meant he’d be near her. Selfishly, he wanted her around all the time. If she asked, he would move to Oklahoma for her. Hell, he’d figure out how to live in both Arkansas and New York if she needed him to. Tyler just wanted Kate to let him know.
He spent a little more time unpacking while waiting, allowing himself to steep in his thoughts while ignoring the burning pain of a shoulder that never healed quite right.
The door clicked open as Kate slipped in with the small boxes in hand. She closed the door behind her, and Tyler made his way to sit in the middle of the bed. Kate crawled onto the bed behind him and began peeling his shirt off from behind. He managed to get it over his head without a struggle.
“Where?” Kate asked, opening the box of Max Strength IcyHot patches, because unfortunately for him, generic never worked. Tyler tried to make a line from his right shoulder down to the upper middle of his back, and he placed a hand right in the middle of his back. Kate complied, taking a second to open the packets and place them.Tyler sighed in relief as she placed the first patch on his back. For the next, she scooted closer to place it correctly, her fingers pressed down gently to make sure the adhesive was stuck. “Thank you,” Tyler said. Kate made a noise of acknowledgement as she pressed a kiss to his neck before cleaning up the trash left on the bed.
“Hon? Can I ask you something?” Tyler asked. The intimacy of the previous moment wasn’t lost to him. It was terribly mundane, but he felt it light a fire all the way down to his fingertips. Kate threw the trash on the bed out into the can by the nightstand before climbing onto the bed to sit next to him. He took her hands into his, and he immediately felt the anxiety rolling off of her, body rigid, eyes wide and her hands had twitched his in. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid, but there was no version of this conversation where she didn’t experience some degree of distress. Kate’s will might be strong as steel, but she would try to avoid anything that could put it to the test. Other than tornados.
“You’re heading back soon,” Tyler said, making sure to keep his voice as light as possible, “and as much as I want you to stay, I know you have to go, that you’re gonna come back. So I was wondering where—what this is and what you want outta it?”
Kate was heading back for a second time, this time to leave her apartment and wrap up whatever work she had before transferring. She was clearly still attempting to decipher his meaning. Tyler just sat there waiting patiently as he rubbed soothing circles against Kate’s soft hands. Slowly, it seemed to fall into place as her brows unfurrowed and her head straightened.
“Tyler, are you worried I’m leading you on or something?” Kate asked. She seemed confused, as her tone wasn’t accusatory. Tyler shook his head so fast he pulled his bad shoulder hard. He swallowed the small groan of pain as he looked Kate in the eye. “No, I’m just wondering how serious you want this to be,” Tyler said with an effort to sound as neutral as possible.
Kate pursed her lips, expression morphing into a look of fondness. “Tyler, I think we both want similar things. I want to be in this relationship for as long as you’ll have me.” Kate said.
“That’s the thing Sapulpa, I’d marry you right now if I thought you’d say yes.” Kate stopped breathing for a moment, her face beginning to redden the flush reaching the tips of her ears. Tyler braced for his heart to break a little, but instead of pulling away like Tyler feared, she would. Kate leaned forward to rest her forehead against his shoulder, hiding her face. He pulled his left hand out if her hold to cradle her head as she took deep measured breaths. Tyler counted with her as she mindfully measured each breath she took, one... two... On the seventh, she sat up and his hand fell onto her neck. Kate’s face remained flushed, but she wore a soft smile.
“You’re so…earnest.” She said slowly. He gave Kate a toothy grin as Tyler waited for her. “If you wanna marry me, you gotta be patient with me, yeah?” Kate said, her voice steady. Tyler nodded. His chest felt burned. It was a miracle his hands hadn’t started sweating.
“Just for clarity's sake, we're in a long-term relationship.” Tyler asked. Kate nodded, “Yes,”
“Exclusive?” He set his hands on her shoulders, pulling her in.
“Yes.” Kate said again, as if it was obvious. It was. He just wanted to be sure he wasn't daydreaming again.
“You mean it?” Tyler pressed his forehead against Kate's, who smiled up at him. How on earth was he so lucky?
“Yes.”
“Planning to grow old together.” Tyler whispered the words. He wasn’t sure he could really believe it.
Kate began stifling her laughter. Tyler leaned in even closer, waiting for a response. He felt his cheeks begin aching, then Kate kissed him instead of answering. Tyler thought he could survive off of it. He didn't need water or food, he just needed to hold her hand and see her smile.
Tyler had another question to ask her, but that would be up to her, and he was more than happy to wait.
Kate then pulled away to sit crisscross. Immediately missing her touch, Tyler began trying to figure out the fastest way to touch her again, without it looking bad. “I have a question actually, is me leaving again the reason you wanted to make it official or is there something else?”
Tyler could never hate or be annoyed by Kate’s mind, but dating a genius was genuinely inconvenient. “I may have been scared.” Tyler admitted after a brief moment.
Kate’s brows furrowed together. Her gaze left him and fixed itself on the ceiling as if it would magically have his thoughts written on it. She seemed genuinely confused as she asked, “Of what?”
“I don’t want to get left behind.” Tyler didn’t know if his heart could take another serious conversation tonight. His heart was racing, and he thought he was a little nauseous as well. He also couldn’t stop staring at her, but it needs to be done if they were going to do this.
Tears.
That was Kate’s reaction to his words. He began apologizing, but Kate only shook her head. She moved backwards towards the headboard, motioning for him to follow. Tyler follows, desperate to find a way to get her to stop. He clammors to sit next to her, guilt burning away any happiness he had earlier. “I’m sorry I scared you Tyler, I keep thinking that if I do this, it’ll…It will fix me or something.” Kate began grabbing one of his hands. The relief he felt nearly made him cry. “I don’t know Tyler. I’m objectively not mentally well, and I cannot imagine what position that keeps putting you in,” Kate said. She wasn’t looking at him, she was looking at his hand while racing along the lines of his palm. “I think that I’m not the right person,” Tyler wanted to protest, but Kate was ready, holding up a finger for him to let her finish. “To discuss this properly, especially since I’m certain you have boundaries. So…” Kate frowned when her fingers fell onto a scar that cut through the bottom part of his palm onto his wrist, “So maybe if you wanna, we can talk to my therapist together about it? He got licensed to work in Oklahoma after the shit I pulled in El Reno.”
He nodded. That sounded like a really good plan. They sat there for what felt like a small eternity until they realized there was an early morning ahead of them and a long drive back up. They began washing up for bed and soon returning to their usual rhythm and easy conversation. “Tyler. Here look.” Kate said in the bathroom while he was brushing his teeth, and she was putting on her nightly routine of too many face creams. Tyler took her phone from her. It was her calendar. He frowned, unable to speak with a mouth full of toothbrush, and he didn’t want to spit toothpaste on his new girlfriend. “Go back to the week we met.” Kate explained. He scrolled back all the way back to late spring of last year. Kate labeled the date of her missed flight as their anniversary with a yellow flower emoji and attached a yearly reminder, and she similarly notated their night at the rodeo with a cow emoji and “First date.”
Kate had not been on her phone since the car ride here long before their conversation earlier. Tyler spat out his toothpaste into the sink and wiped his mouth. Kate’s laughter echoed in the bathroom. “You’ve been dating me since May of last year?” He unlocked the phone and looked at the calendar again.
“Now you know why I was confused!” She couldn’t stop laughing, and he felt somewhat embarrassed.
“Oh, that’s so not fair. I could’ve been telling people that I have an amazing, beautiful girlfriend this entire time.”
“Mom is gonna get a kick out of this.”
“Nuh uh, you’re not telling Cathy.”
“I think it’s kinda sweet, you were willing to wait so long after I put you through so much,” Kate admitted, she wrapped her arms around Tyler’s neck, but he wasn’t sure he could look at her. What a betrayal.
“I have to make up for lost time then,” Tyler said resigned to his fate, still not looking at Kate. “you have been a wonderful partner Tyler, I mean it.” Kate said, pressing kisses to his jaw. Which was a clear distraction. “You are not telling your mother, promise me. I will never live it down.” Tyler said, pulling away.
“I promise.” Tyler satisfied with Kate's answer proceeded to kiss his girlfriend for the first, second, tenth, and hundredth time that night.