Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He’s tall, broad with thick muscles, and standing by himself at the restaurant bar. She clocked him almost immediately when he had first walked in and she’s been sneaking glances at him ever since. Even though she was on a date herself and the man looked like he was clearly waiting for someone, she just couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

That was a man. A real man.

Abby felt something stir inside her gut as she kept looking at the man. She watched as he checked his watch, a cute little frown appearing on his lips. Whoever he was waiting for must be late. Shame. Why would anyone be late meeting this man. And suddenly Abby has the urge to go talk to him. To reassure him that whoever is no doubt standing him up was the loser. But…she was on a date.

Looking over at the empty chair across from her, Abby sighs.

Buck was a sweetheart, he really was. He was also very handsome, but a much cuter type of good looking full of boyish charm and swagger. Even though it took many, many phone calls on Abby’s end to finally get the younger man to accept her dinner invitation, Abby knew without a doubt that Buck was also the impulsive type. Just from the way he walked—strutted really—she knew he was definitely more of the leap before you think type. Which was perfectly fine. Abby wanted Buck exactly because he was a guy who was up for anything, including sex with a much older, attractive woman (though Abby likes to think she looked younger than she actually is). But he was still just that, a boy. Compared to the man at the bar…Abby wasn’t so sure Buck could measure up.

Buck was fun and fun to be around.

But that man? He was the commitment type.

Abby glances up at the man again, her eyes tracing him up and down, taking in the way his arm muscles bunch as he moves to lean his elbows on the bar top. She can feel her heart rate increase at the thought of those arms around her. Then her eyes shift to the still empty chair before her.

She shouldn’t.

She was on a date, with a very sweet guy.

But Buck was still in the bathroom after the waitress had spilled some wine on him. It hasn’t been that long since he’d gotten up to clean himself up a bit. However, they had also already eaten dinner, so the date was on its tail end anyway.

She looks at the man again.

And then Abby is standing up and moving towards the bar.

“Hi.” She greets him as she slides into the vacant spot next to him.

He looks around him, confused and a little startled. Then his crystal blue eyes land directly on Abby and, wow, he’s even better looking up close. Abby smiles her most enticing smiles as she leans her body towards his.

“Hi?” The little furrow between his brows was so cute Abby wanted to reach up and smooth it out with her thumb. “Are you talking to me?”

“Oh, haha, I’m really usually not this forward,” Abby laughs softly, hand covering her mouth in a coquettish manner. “But I saw you earlier looking a bit down and thought you might want some company.”

“I’m just—”

“I’m Abby.”

The man simply stares at her and Abby smiles, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He’s probably not used to women being so forward, but Abby has had enough life experience to know when to go after what she wants. And she wants this man standing right in front of her. He looks like the sturdy, responsible type who will help take care of her and her ailing mother.

“You still haven’t told me your name yet.” She says flirtatiously, twisting her body just a touch closer and puts a hand on his arm. Those muscles look just as hard as she thought they would be. She’s imagining being picked up in those arms, literally swept off her feet.

“Um…Tommy.”

Tommy? Abby can hardly believe her ears. Here was a very, very attractive man standing before her and he happens to have the same name as her last boyfriend? Clearly this was fate. She was meant to meet this man. She runs her eyes subtly over his body and can’t help but imagine it with less clothes and hovering on top of her. Oh, this Tommy was like an upgraded version of her old Tommy. More muscles, more handsome, more everything.

“Well, Tommy, can I buy you a drink?” Abby turns to wave over the bartender, but movement next to her catches her attention.

Tommy is looking down at his phone and texting someone. Whoever it is, it brought a soft smile on to his face and Abby thinks it makes him look even more handsome. She hopes that one day, she’ll be the one to bring that smile to his face.

“Excuse me. I have to go.” He tells her just as she’s about to ask if he wanted a whiskey. He looked like a man who would drink a tumbler of whiskey as a daily nightcap.

“Uh, here’s my number!” She quickly jots down her number on a spare napkin and moves to give it to him, but Tommy was already out of range of her arm. He was already halfway out the door, leaving Abby standing at the bar with a piece of napkin dangling from her fingers.

She sighs. Walking back to her table, a little dejected. Maybe she’ll get lucky and see him again. After all, what were the chances that Abby would find another man also named Tommy in a city as big as Los Angeles. They were clearly destined to meet, especially given the fact that Abby was also the one to insist on coming to this particular restaurant. Clearly something drew her here. Smiling, she moves to sit down at the table, only to notice that all the dishes have been removed.

Confused, she waves over a waiter and asks about it.

“The gentleman you were with paid the bill already.”

Her smile widens. Buck really was very sweet, paying for the date without prompting. If only he were older and more mature, Abby thinks, her mind already going back thinking about Tommy. That was the kind of person she could see herself being in a long term commitment with. Still smiling, Abby clutches her purse close to her body and makes her way out of the restaurant, turning right to head to her car.

Buck comes back to the table, a purple-red stain standing out starkly against the white of his shirt, and the damp fabric rubbed uncomfortably against his skin. He sighs. At least they’ve basically finished eating when the waitress tripped and spilled a glass of red wine on him. Oh well, it’s not like Abby will mind a little stain on his shirt. She’s been pretty nice the entire time he’s known her—granted that’s mostly over the phone when he’s with dispatch or whenever she called him.

But, the table was empty when he arrived, only a check on the table alongside mostly empty plates. He was sure he left Abby at the table when he excused himself to the bathroom, yet she was nowhere in sight right now. If this was anyone else or if this was even a date, Buck would think he had been ghosted or taken advantage of. But it was just Abby, so most likely she had to rush home because something must have come up with her mom.

As a firefighter, Buck was well acquainted with sudden emergencies, especially when there were elderly family members involved.

Shrugging to himself, he calls a waiter over to pay for the meal.

Sure, he hadn’t planned to pay for an entire meal, thinking they’d likely split the check as it was just a friendly night out. But one meal would hardly break the bank for him, even on a probationary firefighter’s salary. At least the meal was good, though he wished they’d had time for some dessert. He always craved something sweet after a nice meal.

Maybe, he can convince his lovely boyfriend to stop by the store to pick some up on the way home.

Which…speaking of. Buck pulls out his phone as he starts walking out of the restaurant and pulls up the text thread between Tommy and him.

you here yet? i’m outside waaaaiting 🥺

right behind you, baby

Buck spins around, lips stretched in the brightest smile as he all but throws himself into his boyfriend’s waiting arms, sighing when strong arms wrap around him and lift him just the slightest bit off the ground. He sighs happily into Tommy’s neck, peppering small kisses all the way up to the older man’s lips.

“Hi.”

“Hi, sweetheart.” Butterflies flutter in Buck’s stomach at the sound of Tommy’s deep voice rumbling in his ears. “How was dinner?”

“Good.” Buck mumbles against Tommy’s lips, settling further into his boyfriend’s embrace. “She was nice, but had to leave early ‘cause something came up with her mom.”

Tommy hands reach up to cup his face, bringing his head down so that soft lips can land on his birthmark. Then his nose, and finally back to his lips. Even though the kisses were chaste, they make Buck feel so very lightheaded. They’d only met barely a year ago, when Tommy had given a lecture to his class at the Fire Academy. Their eyes locked almost immediately and Buck had the hardest time concentrating on the actual lesson rather than on Tommy’s blue eyes and dimples. Afterwards, Buck may have lingered a little longer in the classroom and a rough hand may have landed on his wrist just as he was about to leave…and things progressed from there.

Now, Tommy’s arms was one of Buck’s favorite places to be.

“Home?”

“Ice cream?” Buck pouts, pulling back to look Tommy in the eyes.

“Sure, baby.”

Chapter Text

Of all the places Abby thought she’d run into Tommy again, a grocery store really wasn’t at the top of her list. Yet, there he was, standing in the frozen produce aisle staring at the shelf upon shelves of different ice creams. And she is sure that the man less than a dozen feet away from her is Tommy because Abby hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the man since he walked out of that restaurant nearly a week ago. His head is tilted to one side in confusion and despite his age—which Abby guesses is around her own—he looks quite cute when doing that sort of gesture which would only make other men his age look silly.

He looks just as handsome as he did that night in the bar. Maybe even more now that they were out of the dim lighting of the restaurant. He was so good looking even the glaring fluorescent lighting of the supermarket couldn’t diminish his handsomeness. Abby takes in his much more dressed down clothing, noting the way Tommy’s muscles seem so much larger now that he is sans jacket; his biceps look ready to burst through his shirt sleeves as he reaches out to open one of the freezer doors. She watches as he picks up two different ice creams and stares at both tubs, the little furrow between his brows deepening. He seems to be caught in a moment of indecisiveness. Cute, Abby giggles quietly to himself.

“I’ve always been partial to Haagan Daaz myself.”

Abby didn’t even realize she had moved until she was suddenly right next to Tommy, so close she could feel the heat radiating off his body. He startles, she must have caught him unaware. He must have been more concentrated on the ice cream than she first thought. It’s refreshing to see a guy take even the small details of his life so seriously.

“Oh, um…” He doesn’t look any less confused upon seeing her but that didn’t bother Abby at all.

“Abby.” She easily reintroduces herself. “We met the other night at Republique.”

Tommy’s gorgeous blue eyes widen slightly in recognition and Abby smiles wider, pulling herself to stand taller. And if that means she maybe shifts her breasts a touch closer to Tommy’s body, well, it doesn’t seem like the man minds.

“Right…the bar.”

“Yes, hi again.” Abby tucks her flaming red hair behind her ear, ducking her head to look up at Tommy through her lashes.

He smiles back at her, and then his gaze moves downwards before going directly back to the two pints of ice cream still in his hands. That little wrinkle between his brows is back again and just like back at the bar, Abby itches to reach out and touch. Her hands lift on their own, inching closer to Tommy when the man suddenly moves to put the ice cream back and her fingers brush against the bare skin of his arms.

The muscles on that man. Abby nearly swoons right then and there in the middle of the aisle. She giggles as she draws her hand back, but not before giving Tommy’s arm a quick squeeze.

“Hmm…strawberry maybe?” She hears him mutter to himself as his eyes search around the shelves. He’s probably looking for the Haagen Daaz pints, following her suggestion.

“That’s my favorite flavor too!” Abby opens her mouth, ready to point Tommy to where the strawberry Haagen Daaz was sitting on one of the middle shelves when he reaches forward to pull out a…Talenti container filled with layers of pink ice cream and what looks like jam and cookies in between. A little too sweet and a bit too kid-y for Abby’s liking. And she’s about to warn Tommy as much when the man proceeds to pull out three other pints of Talenti gelatos, each of the available strawberry flavors from the brand. “Oh my, that’s a little excessive, no?”

Tommy didn’t look like the kind of guy who would have such a big sweet tooth and Abby is a little unsure how to feel about that. He certainly looked like a mature adult, so having such childish tastes in desserts was…unexpected to say the least.

“Evan does love strawberries.”

Evan? Abby wonders if maybe Tommy isn’t as unattached as she thought he was. Was Evan the woman that stood Tommy up at the restaurant last week? In which case, she must be a terrible person to leave a man as fine as Tommy by himself. Obviously this Evan woman doesn’t deserve Tommy. But, then…there was no mention of a girlfriend when they were chatting at the bar though. And judging by the immature tastes of this Evan person, they’re likely some sort of younger sibling.

“I’m sure he’ll like this.” She hears Tommy say.

Oh, so it is a younger brother then! How sweet of Tommy to indulge his younger sibling so much. Maybe four pints is a little too much indulgence, though. But it just goes to prove that Tommy would be a doting boyfriend just like Abby thought he would be. She mentally congratulates herself on finding such a good catch.

Handsome—hot as hell, more like. Kind. Doting. Perfect.

She quickly uses her reflection in the glass doors of the frozen section to fix her hair and glasses before turning to face Tommy, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers (god, being around Tommy makes Abby feel like she’s a teenage girl all over again). Only, the man was no longer standing next to her anymore. In fact, there were no traces of Tommy anywhere in the aisle.

Huffing, Abby berates herself for getting distracted by Tommy’s everything and missing another opportunity to give the man her phone number again.

Buck had sent Tommy off to the frozen foods aisle with the mission to get him his favorite ice cream while he himself stayed in the produce area on a hunt for specific veggies and fruits. Bobby was finally teaching Buck how to cook something other than breakfast foods—eggs only, really. And he’s slowly browsing amongst the rainbow of vegetables all around him, looking from the list of ingredients Bobby wrote down for him and placards with each veggie name, making sure he was getting the exact items that were meant to go into the recipe.

“Roma tomatoes…” He looks around at all the different sizes of red and round orbs and can’t believe there are this many types of just tomatoes. Apparently, they all taste different too, or so he’s told. Buck’s only learning that there is indeed a difference between cage free eggs and just ‘regular’ eggs, so…baby steps.

He slowly checks off different items on the list as he moves along the different aisles, skirting carts and soccer moms alike. A few of the women around turn to look at him, but Buck’s not sure if it’s because he’s definitely talking to himself as he shops or because they maybe find him attractive, or both. Just because he’s dating a man—a very hot firefighter pilot of a man—doesn’t mean Buck is suddenly unaware of his appeal to the fairer sex.

And speaking of his boyfriend, Buck thought Tommy would have been back by now. He’s already walked around the entire fresh produce area from beginning to end with half a cart of stuff to show for it, yet Tommy is still nowhere in sight.

“How does one lose a grown man in a grocery store?” Buck laughs to himself as he pushes the cart towards the direction he sent Tommy in. “Apparently, send him to get your ice cream.”

Buck is just crossing the dairy aisle, inadvertently reaching out to snatch up a carton of eggs, when he seeks Tommy walking out from between the freezers, arms full of pink colored ice cream. Laughing, Buck pushes the cart towards his adorable boyfriend, shaking his head at Tommy who hasn’t even noticed him yet, head down and still looking at the pints he’s holding like precious treasures.

“I swear I said: ice cream.” He holds up one finger, a giggle escaping his lips at the sheepish look that crossed Tommy’s face. Buck pokes at the furrow between Tommy’s brows, then softly soothes it with his thumb, stepping up on his tiptoes to plant a kiss right over that little wrinkle. “Singular.”

“Forgot how many types of ice cream there were.”

“My hero.” Buck kisses Tommy on the lips. “You survived the ice cream aisle.”

“And got you strawberry ice cream.”

“Oh! Strawberry!” Buck claps happily as Tommy sets all four cartons into the cart. Truthfully, Buck was never much of a strawberry fan until he met Tommy. But now, every time he comes across anything scented or flavored like the small, red fruit it reminds him of his boyfriend who always smelled like fresh strawberries. Strawberries and sandalwood, and it drives Buck crazy whenever Tommy is near. He always wants to climb his man like the sturdy tree he is and just mellow in his scent, his muscles, his warmth forever.

“You got everything else?” Tommy moves to wrap one arm around Buck, half trapping him against the handles of the cart.

“Only pasta left.”

“Let’s go.”

Buck leans into Tommy’s broad chest as they go on their way to check off the last item on their shopping list.

Chapter Text

It’s another two weeks and completely by happenstance that Abby discovers that the handsome man she kept running into was also a firefighter, like Buck. Maybe she’s developing a type, after all. Both Buck and Tommy were certainly attractive to say the least. But while Buck was young and boisterous, always so eager to head into his next big rescue like the adrenaline junkie that he still is, Tommy seemed more settled, steady and serious. He sounded like a man who is well aware of the types of cautious situations he often finds himself in as a first responder.

Abby sighs softly into her headset as she listens to Tommy’s calm voice relay the information he has as the eye in the skies.

There had been a major MVA on the Pacific Coast Highway near Santa Monica and the majority of the houses in the Los Angeles area had been called out to lend a hand. Dispatch was in a similar state of disarray with calls from hundreds of people being routed through multiple dispatch centers. Abby has been fielding call after call for the last three hours and she was feeling down right exhausted emotionally dealing. She had angry people yelling down the phone at her because traffic was at a complete stand-still and also weeping callers asking about the well-being of their relatives who may or may not have been on PCH at the time of the accidents as well as victims of the actual crash begging for help.

So when she had been patched into a call from one of the LAFD Air Operations choppers and heard a very familiar voice come on the line, Abby couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face. Even though she’s only had two fast run-ins with the man, she would be able to recognize his voice anywhere. Just hearing it made her tingle with warmth.

“This is LAFD AirOps Chopper 1701 arriving on the scene of the MVA.” Tommy's voice was a breath of fresh air to hear.

Abby hid her surprise upon initially hearing the man’s voice. It almost felt intimate, hearing Tommy’s serious tone directly in her ear, almost as if he was speaking just to her. She can almost imagine what it would be like if they were really alone and he was sitting right next to her, on her couch, one muscled arm thrown around her shoulders as he pulls her in and whispers into her ear. Oh, that sounded like the best date night, to be wined and dined. She can’t help but spare a fleeting thought to Buck and imagines that the younger man’s age and exuberance would mean a much more aerobics-oriented date, though she hasn’t quite managed to reach that stage with him yet. Abby sighs, feeling a little disappointed at the thought of having to dump Buck before giving the man any sort of benefits.

“Chopper 1701 to dispatch, we can’t set down, the patient will need to be airlifted directly.” Hearing Tommy’s voice again brings Abby out of her thoughts and she quickly pushes herself into work-mode, eyes scanning the screens before her. All around her, half the dispatches were running around coordinating routes and ambos while the other half were in their seats, headsets on and talking to various responders and victims. Abby quickly pulls up the info on the victim that required immediate medical attention enough to call for AirOps.

Sandra McLean

She was one of the first victims of the multi-vehicle pile up on the PCH and from the info given by the firefighters on the ground, one of the worst injured. Though she had been responsive enough to have called 911—and Abby was the one to pick up her call.

“This is dispatcher Abby Clark to Chopper 1701,” Abby switches to the private channel to relay the victim’s info directly to Tommy all while imagining the man smiling upon recognizing her name and voice. “...she is still responsive and talking.” She looks at her screen to double check which house had requested the air support and caught sight of the 118. Buck.

For a moment, Abby panics at the thought of her current boyfriend—or was he more ‘boy toy’—talking to the man she hopes will one day be her boyfriend (or maybe more). But then remembers that the 118 and AirOps were not the same house and LA is so large with so hundreds of firehouses, there’s no way Tommy and Buck would know each other. Plus, there are people other than Buck who work at the 118, after all; Buck wasn’t even a paramedic.

“This is Firefighter Buckley,” Speak of the freaking devil. “We still need a few minutes before we can get Sandra out of the car without risking further injury.”

Buck’s voice on the open channel, floating into her ear where Tommy’s were just seconds ago, was a bit jarring for Abby. She shakes her head and tries her best to ignore the rapid pounding of her heart.

And then everything starts rolling at rapid speed. They needed to get Sandra out as soon as possible but the accident caused her legs to be trapped and spine compressed and therefore the extraction must be done with the utmost precision. But the miles long traffic standstill meant the PCH was more of a parking lot currently with zero openings to land a helicopter. Which meant the AirOps chopper Tommy was piloting needed to hover long enough to wait for Sandra to be rescued, stabilized, and lifted onto the aircraft. All of this was done in less time than Abby predicted and it never seizes to amaze her how much effort the on-the-ground first responders put into their work.

She doesn’t hear Buck’s voice again, but she does hear Tommy’s.

Abby listens to him relate ETA to the hospital on the open channel, and listens to him make small talk with Sandra despite the urgency of the situation, helping to keep the patient calm during transport. Hearing all this brings a smile to Abby’s face. Not only was Tommy handsome, he was also competent and kind. Absolutely what people call ‘husband material.’

She almost wants to tell him as much, but the line is open to everyone listening in and that means Buck may be one of those people. Abby doesn’t want to break his heart in such a way. So instead, she tells Tommy, “Firefighter Kinard, thank you for your bravery.”

Buck’s morning started out nicely. He had breakfast in bed with his boyfriend before making some pancakes with Tommy afterwards. They both had a shift that started before noon so they were out the door and headed their separate ways not long after, sharing a sweet kiss goodbye right before they departed.

And then Buck’s day has basically gone downhill.

Someone somewhere must have said the q-word because minutes after Buck had walked into the 118 station house, the alarm went off and they were headed to the PCH to join most of the other LA houses at the scene of a major MVA. The highway was so congested it took the trucks three times as long to get to the actual epicenter of the accident—a 100 plus cars pile up—and in the end, Buck, Hen, and Chim had simply grabbed their gear to run the rest of the way to the site while Bobby stay back with the trucks to slowly make their way through the Pacific Coast Parking Lot.

What they came upon was somehow even worse than Buck had imagined. He knew that it was a major pile up involving no less than a hundred vehicles of various sizes and that there would be an abundance of victims, casualties, and also angry people stuck in traffic. Lucky for them, the angry people were the PD’s issue. Unlucky for them, they were staring at what can only be described as a mountain of vehicles—or more like a giant pile of twisted metal.

Everywhere, there were people wandering around. Many of them were in uniforms while some of them were stumbling around covered in various amounts of blood. They see the IC immediately and head that way. In minutes, they’ve gotten their assignments, and checked in with Bobby.

Buck then shares a look with Hen and Chim, nods when Hen says: “Be careful.”

Overall, the 118 spent more than six hours on the scene. More than once, he hears Tommy’s voice come in over the radio after AirOps showed up in what can only be described as a small fleet of helicopters. Tommy and Buck always made sure to keep everything professional while at work, despite the fact that run-ins between the two of them are exceedingly rare; the 118 doesn’t work a lot of calls that do not generally require any type of air support. But on the occasions they do and it’s Harbor Station that answers the call, they both do their best to not let the relationship affect their jobs.

However, when the 118 was finally pulled off the PCH pile up, Buck jumped at the opportunity to bump a ride off Tommy (with full permission from Bobby and a request to rest), hopping onto the chopper when his boyfriend extended a hand out to him.

“Mmm, have I told you how sexy you look when you’re all in pilot-mode?” Buck hums into the headset, not at all caring that Tommy’s partner can hear him also.

“Not today, no.”

“So sexy.” Buck sighs dreamily. “If only Jason wasn’t in the way, I’d kiss you right now.”

Jason, the partner, just laughed, shaking his head at Buck’s antics.

Chapter Text

Abby sits by herself at the table, waiting for her companion to show up. She specifically picked this restaurant because it was one of the nicer places in LA, but not so nice that it would be unaffordable for a probationary firefighter’s salary. Normally, she’s not the type to expect a man to pay for the date—even though last time they went out, Buck did pay for the meal—but this was a special occasion.

Abby was finally ready to let Buck have sex with her.

They’ve been talking on and off for a couple of months now, flirting with each other over the phone. Abby would tell Buck about her day and her problems (mainly her frustration with her mother and how her job wasn’t always the most satisfying despite being able to help others through it) and Buck would laugh and comfort her. He was always saying the sweetest things to her, flowery words that he no doubt knew would drive her crazy with want.

Tonight was going to be that night. She’s already getting a little excited at just the thought of getting someone with Buck’s youth and physique into her bed.

And god, Abby wanted that. Why wouldn’t she? Buck may not be long-term boyfriend material and he certainly wasn’t husband material, he was very hot and young and fun. And Buck was so very patient, always the gentleman and never even making a move on her, always waiting for Abby to reach out first. It was surprising, Abby had thought his young age meant he would be a horny frat boy practically humping at her leg. Even the one time she may have hinted at sex to test him in one of their earlier phone calls, Buck didn’t rise to her bait. He deserves a reward now. Plus, surely Abby was allowed to have some fun before she settled down into something more serious.

Hopefully with Tommy, she smiles at the thought of the other man in her life.

They haven’t managed to have another run-in again since the supermarket. The only time she’s gotten to hear his voice was a few days ago over the open call during the PCH pile up. Obviously, that wasn’t the right time to chat and definitely would be an inappropriate time for Abby to ask Tommy out on a date. She did, however, manage to find Tommy’s phone number after going through some old logs of calls that involved Harbor Station, now that she knows he’s a first responder. A firefighter and a pilot. She basically hit the jackpot when she spotted the man across the restaurant nearly a month ago.

But even though she’s finally worked up the courage to call him, not unlike when she first called Buck after finding his number in a similar manner, Abby had yet to actually talk to Tommy. He never answered her calls—she figures he’s either busy given his job or he’s not one to pick up unknown numbers—and even the one time she sent a text, it went unresponded. She wasn’t giving up trying some more, but in the meantime, at least she had Buck.

Actually, while Buck is late…maybe Abby will try one more time.

She pulls out her phone and quickly finds Tommy’s number and presses call. The second she does, a generic ringtone starts playing; it came from across the restaurant, near the entrance. Abby can’t help but look in that direction. There Tommy was, striking in a leather jacket that really showed off his broad shoulders, standing just inside the doors. He’s got a stunning smile around his face, his dimples prominent even from so far away. She watches as he looks down at his phone with a little frown, but he doesn’t reach out to answer it. The ringtone cuts off suddenly and Abby looks down at her own phone where the call has dropped.

Thumbing around her phone, she pulls up the most recent text she received. It was Buck’s.

running late! sorry.

Abby lets out a huff of annoyance. Given it’s the establishment she picked was a popular date spot and she’s been sitting alone at a table surrounded by couples all gazing adoringly into each other’s eyes. She has every right to be a little frustrated. All she had to look at for the last 15 minutes was an empty chair.

Sighing again, she turns her thoughts back to Tommy. Glancing up, she catches Tommy still standing by the door, only this time he’s not alone. He’s got his back to her now, giving her the chance to look her fill without it being creepy, as he talks to the person he’s facing. Abby can’t see who it is, Tommy’s large figure managing to block just about every identifying feature of the other person, though she does manage to see a peak of blond hair. Whoever it is, they’re tall and the hand that lands on Tommy’s arm is on the bigger side.

So it was a man.

Abby smiles. What a nice guy Tommy is to be running into friends no matter where he goes.

Then the smile slides off her face as she watches the hand on Tommy’s arm slowly move upwards, past his shoulder, and into his hair. That was definitely not a friendly type of touch. There was too much familiarity, too much possessiveness. That was a touch between two people who knew each other intimately. Lovers.

Tommy was….gay?

Now that she’s seeing it, Abby can’t look away. It really is like people say, you just can’t look away from a trainwreck even if it is a horrific sight, and right now, Abby’s life was that trainwreck. She’d been so sure that there was something there whenever she and Tommy talked. He was so nice, so attractive. Didn’t brush her off because of her age. He reminded her so much of Buck…and…

…was that Buck?

While processing the shock of seeing her dream man kissing another man, Tommy had shifted just enough to the side to reveal the person that had their hands on him. There, with an equally possessive arm locked around his waist and laughing brightly, was Buck—Abby’s Buck. The same Buck she’d invited out to dinner and was hoping to take back to her apartment, her bed, but instead he was there in another man’s arms. She feels so embarrassed, humiliated really, and oh so angry as she simply sat there in her seat and watched as Buck nodded at something Tommy must have said. She watched as Buck ducked his head, a rosy flush coloring his cheeks, as he looked up at Tommy through those long lashes of his with his bottom lip caught between his teeth. She watched as Tommy tugged Buck against his body and captured his lips in an almost indecent kiss. And she watched as Buck eagerly returned the kiss, uncaring that there were other people taking peeks at them.

They certainly were gorgeous together, even in her anger Abby could admit that.

But those men were hers. She’d seen them first. She was the one who helped Buck keep his damn job at the firestation and she was the one that comforted him after his first loss on the job. She was also the one who spotted Tommy at the bar a few weeks back and made the first move to speak to the lonely looking man. And then they do this to her? Throwing her napkin on the table, Abby shoved her chair back and stomped her way towards the entrance, where Tommy and Buck were still so wrapped up in each other the rest of the world may as well not exist.

“Buck?!” She couldn’t help the screech that came out of her mouth. But who can blame her after what she just witnessed.

“Oh, Abby!” Buck was smiling as he pulled back from the kiss, lips swollen but not at all deterring him from grinning widely. “Hi! Sorry I was late, but traffic was terrible and someone” he shoots a pout at Tommy who rolled his eyes with fond exasperation in response “was being a slowpoke.”

“You—What?!”

Buck’s eyes widened, as if just realizing he’d made a mistake. The lingering redness on his cheeks deepen a little as he rubs a hand across the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Oh god.” He mutters to himself. Abby is still too stunned to speak so she just lets Buck continue talking, and she kind of wishes she hadn’t, because Buck simply turns to Tommy, arms wrapped around the older man’s arm and their hands entwined together, and says, “this is my boyfriend, Tommy. I kept meaning to introduce you two but Tommy’s been pulling a bunch of overtime lately.”

He seems not to have noticed whatever expression Abby must have on her face, but Tommy. Upon Buck’s introduction, Tommy had offered up his hand for a shake, only to hesitate, a frown on his face. Abby thinks there’s a small spark of recognition in the man’s eyes, but there was no hint of the niceness she’d previously seen in those blue orbs.

“Tommy’s your…boyfriend?” Abby couldn’t believe her ears. “How long has this” she gestures between the two men “been going on?”

“Um…” Buck looks to Tommy imploringly and asks, “how long has it been, babe?”

Tommy’s eyes soften instantly as he smiles down at Buck.

“You don’t remember, baby?”

“Remind me?”

“Hmmm…going on six months now, Evan.”

Evan.

Abby recalls hearing that name once before, standing in the frozen aisle of the supermarket and watching as Tommy grabbed multiplied pints of strawberry ice cream for who she had assumed was a younger sibling. At the time she had thought he’d been happily following her advice because of her own love for the fruit flavored confection, but it turns out, the man was simply shopping for his boyfriend...his much younger boyfriend.

“Ev—You never told me Buck was your boyfriend.” She turns to Tommy now, frown deepening.

“Uh, do you two know each other?” Buck’s curious voice asks.

Abby watches as Tommy shakes his head and runs his other hand through Buck’s hair before cupping the younger man’s cheek, using the hold to pull Buck in for a chaste kiss.

“She came up to me at the bar that time you asked me to come pick you up.”

“Oh! Republique!” Buck then turns to look at Abby in confusion. “I thought you left early because your mom had an emergency…?”

Abby ignored Buck, her focus entirely on Tommy.

“You didn’t say you had a boyfriend.”

“You never asked. Or gave me the chance to get a word in edgewise.” Tommy shrugged.

This was not the nice, handsome man that caught her eye at Republique. The man standing before her now was not sweet and lonely, he only had eyes for Buck. And Buck only seemed to have eyes for Tommy in return. Abby’s stomach turned at the perfect image they presented.

She feels like a fool.

“Uh…” Buck opens his mouth to talk, but if manages to get any actual words out, Abby doesn’t know. All she can hear is the blood rushing in her head as she tries to make sense of everything.

“Have you made me the…the other woman?!” Abby can’t believe it, that Buck had made her complicit in such an immoral act, ignoring the fact that she herself was more than willing to still date Buck for fun while also trying to ask out Tommy.

“What?!” Buck whipped his head back and forth, looking from Abby to Tommy and then back to Abby, mouth agape. “I—we weren’t dating?!” He turns to Tommy and reaches out to grab the other man’s face so that they’re facing each other directly before saying, “I was not dating Abby.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

There was so much conviction and surety in Tommy’s voice, it only made Abby feel worse. She wanted to argue, to yell about the fact that Buck had led her on, made her feel stupid, but she’s becoming more aware of the eyes that are watching them, watching her. Hand over her mouth, Abby can feel her eyes starting to fill with tears. Letting out a muffled scream, she shoves Buck and Tommy apart and practically runs out of the restaurant.

If either man calls out to stop her, she doesn’t notice.

Buck stumbles back when Abby pushes past him, more out of shock than due to the woman’s actual strength. He stares after her but doesn’t bother to call out or even reach to stop her, and he’s not sure he even wants to. To think that Abby had thought they’d been dating the entire time when they’ve only just been hanging out as friends…it was mind blowing.

He tries to recall all their interactions from that first phone call after he’s lost Devon up until now. Sure, Buck’s never mentioned Tommy, but he’s also certain he’s never said he was single and available either. They were just friends. Or so he thought. But apparently it wasn’t what Abby thought.

She thought they were dating.

Buck had an amazing boyfriend who was not only hot and sexy, but one of the best firefighters he’s ever met. He would never cheat on Tommy.

He’s still looking at the swinging restaurant doors when familiar arms pull him flush against an equally familiar hard chest. Buck looks up at Tommy, hands on his chest, and opens his mouth to explain himself only to be stopped by lips on his. He hums in the kiss, the corners of his mouth lifting involuntarily.

“Mine.”

Buck shivers at the possessive tone in Tommy’s voice. He reaches up to pull Tommy closer and deeper into the kiss.

“Yours.”