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- Chim -
Chimney was about to snap. And if you knew Howard “Chimney” Han, you knew he was a patient man. Like really patient. The patience of a saint. But there was something about hearing two people bicker all day that got into someone’s nerves.
Their first meeting wasn’t so bad. Sure, he could see Buck wasn’t too keen on the new guy Diaz, but he figured he would give him a chance at least.
Wrong. Next thing he knows they are bickering on the way to a call. Then, while tending to a man lying on the damn floor in need of medical attention. On the dining table. And now in the gym. Right now, Chim’s patience was wearing thin. He swears to god if these two don’t get their shit together Howard is going to snap. As they get a call and they all get ready to go, he finally lets himself relax.
Flash-forward an hour later, and the two idiots come out of an ambulance -after getting a damn grenade out of a man might he add- smiling and looking at each other like they’re best friends. What in the actual hell?
________________________________________________________
Suddenly it’s as if that first day never happened at all. It’s all “Where’s Eddie?” and “Hey Buck, come here”. And the goddamn looks. Like each one is the best thing the other has ever seen. All smiles and soft looks.
Well, at least the bickering stopped.
“Hey, you two! Why don’t you stop making eyes at each other and help set the table!” yelled Chim at the two firefighters practically cuddling on the couch talking in low voices, “or get a room. Whatever you see fit.” he finished, leaving the two idiots spluttering after him.
- Maddie -
Maddie knew her brother.
She might have not seen him for two years while she was with Doug, but she knew him. She knew just how bad Abby leaving him hurt him, and she knew it would take a while for him to let her go.
Evan was the kind of person who loved with all his heart. Which also meant that when someone hurt him, they broke his heart in pieces. And there was no one but himself to fix it. Maybe that was why he didn’t often do it. Let himself fall in love.
After a week of being back with his brother, Maddie was surprised to see his mood improve and the smiles return to his face far sooner that she would’ve expected. As she began to see Evan get happier as the days went by, she figured maybe her little brother had changed. Maybe he had learned to let go of people quicker than he used to. Or to brush away the pain. She didn’t know if she should be glad or sad.
______________________________________
The first time she saw her brother and Eddie Diaz together she worried.
Even as she saw her brother laugh, and watched them joke around, she still worried. Why? Because she could already see how much her brother cared for Eddie, and what if what Evan was doing was try to find someone else to put in the place where Abby used to be. What if he just latched onto the first person he felt something for, just to not feel the pain. To not feel alone.
“Does this boy crush on Eddie mean that you are ready to move on from Abby?”, she couldn’t help but ask.
She could see her brother blush while he answered. “Cute”
But then she noticed how there didn’t seem to be anything else between them more than a friendship. Don't get her wrong, she was no fool, she could tell those two loved each other. And not exactly in that “only friends” way, but it didn’t look as if they were planning to do anything about it.
It wasn’t until she saw them with Christopher that she felt the pieces fall into place.
Her brother hadn’t just forced himself to find someone else to love, to fill the hole in his heart Abby had left. Her brother had found a family for himself without even realizing it. One in which he seemed to fit seamlessly.
And as she saw the two of them laughing at something Christopher had said, she thought to herself “this is going to be a nightmare”. She was happy for them, of course she was. God, she just hoped one of them would wake up and realize the other felt the same. Oblivious idiots.
- Hen -
When she met Karen, Hen knew she was the one, right away.
She knew it because she didn't even have to see her to feel happiness, just the thought of her brought a smile to her face, made her heart race. She knew because the moment she laid eyes on her it was as if the rest of the world had ceased to exist.
She used to check out every girl she saw, and if she liked them, there was nothing stopping her from flirting until they ended up in her bed, or her in theirs. But as soon as she met Karen, she lost interest in everyone and everything that wasn’t her. Sometimes, she didn't even realize when someone was flirting with her. In her mind, it was so obvious that she was in love, no one would even look at her twice. No one would think about trying something with her because they already knew she was taken. They had to. How could they not when she felt her heart was beating out of her chest, for everyone to see, each time Karen was around.
When she saw Buck smile at the cute girl he had just saved from a fire it took her a minute to realize what was different about that smile.
And then it clicked. This wasn't the "hey baby wanna have a good time" smile he used to throw around at every girl who looked at him twice. This was an "I'm smiling because I'm nice and don't even realize you're flirting with me" smile. Her first thought was "our boy is in love". Then she wondered who could it be. She was pulled out of her thoughts when a voice called out.
"Hey Buck!" called Eddie from near the firetruck, "can you come here for a minute, Chris is on the phone, he wants to say hi!"
And if Buck had barely seen the girl before, now, she had just disappeared. It was kind of funny how quickly Buck turned away and jogged towards Eddie, leaving the poor girl without as much as a goodbye. Her, staring with a slightly open mouth, disbelief written all over her face.
Well, it seemed she didn’t need to wonder anymore.
____________________________________________
This was getting out of hand. It was one thing to be joined at the hip, to cuddle and hug, and defend each other to death. But to come to a Valentine’s Day party together, and insist they were just friends?! Hell no, she was not buying this shit.
“Are you two for real right now!?”, said Hen raising her voice, maybe a little too much as several heads turned around. She had a couple of drinks, sue her. “Are you seriously telling me that you are not together? Who comes to a Valentine’s Day Party together, as a couple and claims to be just friends?!” finished exasperated.
“Hey hey hey, who said anything about a couple?” asked Buck.
“Buck,” continued Hen trying to gather some patience, “this is literally a “Couples Only” Valentine’s charity party. The invitation said to “bring your Valentine and help the children together”
“Well, we wanted to come, you know, to help with the cause,” said Buck sheepishly, “If you think about it, it’s a bit unfair to have to be with someone to come, right Eddie?”
“Right. Buck wanted to come, I wanted to come. Neither of us had anyone so we came together what’s the big deal?”.
And that would make sense. If it weren’t for the fact that both of them were blushing like crazy and avoiding looking at each other.
Dear god, they were even wearing matching outfit. What a pair of dorks.
- Eddie's Abuela -
Her grandson, Eddie, was a saint.
It wasn’t because he took care of Christopher. Taking care of one’s child it was what every parent should do. He was a saint, because even though his life wasn’t always easy, he made sure everyone he loved was being taken care of, sometimes before taking care of himself.
He always made time to come to dinner. Every Sunday, no matter what. He made sure she had groceries and asked if she needed anything at least once a day. He came to cut the grass once every two weeks and came to fix anything that needed fixing as soon as she told him.
He took his tía wherever she needed to go and was always willing to entertain his nieces and nephew whenever he was available.
Whenever his parents came to visit, only to tell him he should go back home, and to practically insinuate that he couldn’t take care of his child, he smiled a sad smile and shook his head, instead of yelling and kick them both in their behinds, like she wanted to sometimes. He insisted they were okay here and thanked them for coming to visit.
He was a saint because even though that awful girl Shannon had left him in the blink of an eye and without much explanation, he never resented her. What he resented was the fact that she left Chris. He could understand if she didn’t love him anymore, but to leave their son, to not love him, or at least not enough to stay, that, he could never forgive.
What saddened her, was wondering: while Eddie was taking care of them, who was taking care of him?
_____________________________________________
When she went to Eddie’s house one Sunday morning to visit her Christopher, she had a mild moment of panic when an unknown man opened the door.
“¿Quién eres tú?” she asked suspicious.
“Erm...I- I'm sorry I don’t speak Spanish,” said the blond man on the door. He had a kind smile, but she wouldn’t be fooled. “I’m Buc- I mean Evan, Evan Buckley but everyone calls me Buck. Hi.” he finished, shifting from foot to foot.
“And what are you doing here Evan Buckley?” she wasn’t letting him of the hook just yet.
“Ah, right, I'm Eddie’s...friend. I work with him. I- come in, please, you must be Eddie’s abuela, and I'm making you wait outside like the idiot I am, sorry.”
As she walked in, the smell of home-cooked breakfast filled her nose, making her follow the scent. Her grandson didn’t know how to make a toast without burning it. Poor Chris.
“Eddie and Chris are still sleeping, so I thought I would make some breakfast for them. Something that’s not cereal you know,” the man, Buck, said with a smile.
He continued cooking while making small talk with her and she could feel herself feeling more charmed by the minute. He seemed like a good man. She approved.
A while later, she saw her grandson walk out of his room and enter the kitchen with a smile on his face.
“Buck, you know you don’t need to do this, I told you y- ¿Abuela? ¿Qué estás haciendo aquí?” he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
“I came to visit. Your man opened the door.” she said with a bit of a smirk.
It had been some time since she had last seen his grandson blush like a tomato. Buck, who was looking at her with his mouth hanging open, closed it as he turned to watch Eddie as he talked.
“Jesús abuela, no es lo que piensas,” he said covering his face with one hand.
“He opens your door in the morning, cooks you breakfast and walks around your home like it’s his, how am I wrong?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Erm like I said ma’am I work with Eddie, we are frien-” he was interrupted by a voice calling out his name.
“Buck!” yelled her little Chris, “can you come help me with my shoes?!”
“Of course, superman, I'm coming!” he replied and walked out of the room without even looking at her grandson for permission.
As they both watched him walk away, she turned to her Eddie and open her mouth but was cut off by him raising a hand.
“Por favor, no a esta hora a la mañana. Desayuno primero, interrogatorio después.”
Like she said, her grandson was a saint, she could give him a break.
- Bobby -
Sometimes, Bobby worried about Buck.
Ever since he started, it felt as if the only thing keeping him centered was his job. And of course, as a firefighter himself, he understood how much it meant, but at the end of the day it was only that. A job. No one could live only for their job. He should know. That’s what he has been trying to do ever since he lost his family. He didn’t want Buck to end up like him.
When Buck met Abby, Bobby was glad he seemed to be forming relationship, a connection to someone outside of the job. A serious one, by the look of things. Sure, their lines of work tended to cross but they were in different circles at the end of the day.
He was scared of what he would find at work the day after Abby left. Surprisingly, Buck appeared to be just fine. Bobby would later realize the kid was on denial. He kept waiting for Abby to come back when everyone knew that wasn’t going to happen. At least not anytime soon.
And so, Bobby worried again. As the days, weeks, and months passed by, buck seemed to be losing hope and some days he looked so down, Bobby wondered if he couldn’t just reverse to what Buck liked to call “Buck.1”. Back to the kid who acted without thinking and avoided feelings and relationships like the plague. To the kid that didn’t love. That thought just made Bobby sad.
Bobby would like to take credit. He would love to say that when he saw Eddie Diaz’ résumé, and later, when he interviewed him, that he saw how good he would be for Buck. That he knew that his level-headedness and patience would fit against Buck’s recklessness and need to rush into everything head-first. That he knew they would become inseparable. But he didn’t.
___________________________________________
Bobby was making his way to the kitchen to cook something for the team when he came across an unexpected scene. Unexpected not because of the people in it, but because of the level of intimacy.
Still, there they were. Buck was sitting in a chair at the dining table, head hanging down, while Eddie was crouching down, so as to be at eye level with him. Or at least trying, seeing as Evan was looking everywhere but at Eddie’s eyes.
“Buck, stop it alright?” said Eddie softly but stern, “I don’t care what they used to tell you, it wasn’t true back then and it certainly isn’t true now, you hear me?”
But Buck didn’t seem to be listening, not really.
“Hey, look at me!” said Eddie in an urgent whisper, while he grabbed Buck by the chin and raised his head so they were eye to eye, “you are the best man I know, you hear me?”, and although Evan look like he was about to protest, Eddie continued, “you think I would trust just anybody with my son? The way I trust you? Believe me Evan if you weren’t a damn good man, I wouldn’t have given you the time of day after the first day we had when we met. Remember all that shit you put me through? The interrogation and the speech about by “comfort level” around here?” he continued with a smile and that seemed to do it, because Buck let out a chuckle.
“I was an asshole to you”, he said while smiling.
“Yes, you were. But I knew you were so damn worthy of getting to know, I didn’t care.”
And Bobby couldn’t help but smile as Buck threw himself so hard at Eddie to hug him that they both toppled to the ground.
He started going back down the stairs as he heard their laughs resonate around the dining room. It seemed he didn’t have to worry about Buck anymore. At least not as before.
_________________________________________
“You know you have to fill a Workplace-Relationship-Disclosure-Form if you date someone in the station, right?” Bobby asked and saw Buck getting red so fast he worried.
“What the actual hell, Bobby?!”
- Chris -
“Dad, how come Buck doesn’t live with us?”, asked Chris in a confused voice.
Eddie almost spat his eggs all around the kitchen, while he heard Evan mutter a curse under his breath and hiss as he burned his finger.
“Erm, what do you mean, bud?”
“Well, all the other kids’ parents live together.” He explained like it was the simplest thing. “I mean,” he continued as if his words weren’t causing the two grown men simultaneous heart-attacks, “at least the ones that are still together, you know. The ones that love each other. You do love each other, right?” he asked with so much hope in his voice, it kind of broke their hearts.
And what could you possibly say to that, but the truth.
“Yeah, Buddy,” answered Buck, while Eddie looked at him, “Of course we love each other.”
Eddie just Kissed him. He thought that was answer enough.
“Oh, good” Chris said with a goofy smile.
At that, Eddie and Buck could only smile at each other. Hands interlocked over the breakfast table.