Wheels Up (Out of Uniform 4)

“I don’t mind,” Dustin said quickly as he sat up enough to slip the necklace over his head, ring coming to rest in the center of his chest hair at the top of his pecs. “I do not want you distracted on duty. We’ll have all the time in the world later. Let me worry about the logistics for now. You can be back to your control freak self later—”

“See, that’s exactly what this is.” Wes touched the ring, the warmth of Dustin’s chest seeping into his fingertip. “A promise that there will be that later. There will be the condo, the grill, the king-size bed with restraints—”

“Dream big.” Dustin laughed, but his eyes were tender.

“And someday, there will be real rings that we can wear proudly. And I’m in this until that day. After. To the end. I’m here. That’s what the promise is.” And now he was fresh out of words so he shut up, pretty sure he might never speak again if Dustin laughed.

But he didn’t, instead grabbing Wes’s hand, linking their fingers right over the ring. “I’m here too. I promise. And this isn’t a competition—it’s not about who’s doing more for us right now. You’re here. In this thing. That’s what matters.”

“Yeah.” Trapping their hands between them, Wes leaned forward for another kiss, this one slow and sweet and full of all the promise in the world.

A promise that tomorrow, he’d be back on duty, Dustin would be flying off to wherever with Paul on their next gig, but under his expensive suit, he’d wear Wes’s ring, and Wes would get to hold that in his heart while he went back to living hour by hour. A promise that there would be a day—not as soon as either of them would like—but someday, there would be thick, heavy rings and touching words and even more promises made and kept. And he’d stop counting down the hours and minutes and start counting up instead—mortgage payments and vacation bills and miles traveled together as they racked up the months and years until there was no more counting, only living this life, together.

* * * * *