Chapter Text
The apartment had light off-white walls with warm wood tones throughout. The first area you came to was a square living area. To the right of the area was a set of white stairs with warm wood tops leading up to a second floor.
To the left of the stairs was an arched doorway that lead to a kitchen and dining area. On the catty corner wall was a door in that same matching wood tone leading to one of the bedrooms.
"The Master bedroom is on the first floor." The realtor stepped down the two steps into the living area. "The second primary bedroom is up the stairs as well as a second bathroom."
"This is adorable," Atheana complimented. "Little smaller than I was expecting, but that just makes it feel more . . ."
"Homey?" Buck offered as he followed both ladies in.
Athena motioned to him. "Exactly."
The realtor led the way through the arch into the kitchen and dining area. "Shall we take a look at the kitchen?"
Athena and Buck followed her in.
On the right was a long space fit for a dining table. Two medium sized arched windows on the long wall allowed for lots of sunlight to come seeping in.
On the wall closest to the door, were two matching arched built-ins bookcases. The tops had wood shelves and the bottoms had white cabinet doors with handles that matched the shelves.
Meanwhile, on the left was an little pocket kitchen. A white bar semi-separated the kitchen from the rest of the room.
The realtor stepped in to the kitchen. "All the appliances are up to code, but the original owner had a love for the classics so he had them custom made."
Athena eyed a yellow fridge that looked like it had a 1950's feel. "Why didn't he take them with him?"
"Hard to when you're dead."
Buck froze. "He didn't . . . die here, did he?"
"He did, but he went peacefully in his sleep," the realtor reassured.
Buck's eyes widened as he gave Athena a look.
"You wanted character," she muttered while following the realtor back out.
"Yeah, in the building," Buck muttered back as he followed her.
"He is in the building."
"You know what I meant."
Their conversation paused when the realtor turned to face them. "Would you like to see the bedrooms?"
"Which one did the guy die in?" Buck asked.
That earned him a glare from Athena.
The realtor furrowed her eyebrow. "I don't remember exactly. I believed he was sleeping in the living room when he passed."
Athena shifted in front of him. "Why don't we check out the Master?"
"You can have it," Buck added.
"Buck," Athena hissed.
"I'm not dealing with a ghost Athena," the younger firefighter added as she moved toward the Master.
Athena turned to address him as she walked. "Then I will handle him."
A sigh left Buck's mouth as both ladies stepped into the room, chattering about natural lighting and the surrounding area. Instead of following after, the younger firefighter let his curiosity pull him over to the stairs.
He peeked up to see they led directly up to the second floor. So he started up to see what was there.
About halfway up, he paused.
He swore he had heard footsteps following along behind him, but when he turned to look, no one was there.
Bobby was at an appointment. Both Athena and the realtor were in the other room. No one else should be in the apartment but them.
The footsteps then started again. This time from up above him.
Buck sagged in relief when he realized the muffled sound meant the footsteps were actually coming from the apartment above them.
The blonde firefighter made his way to the second floor landing.
It wasn't huge area. Just one square with the stairs in the middle. One medium sized window was on the wall in front of Buck, streaming sunlight into the area and down the stairs. The same warm wood from the down stairs carried onto the second floor being broken up by the black metal railing from the stairs. To the right was one doorway leading to the second bathroom. To the left was another doorway, but the door was shut.
Buck's eyebrows furrowed together.
He stepped over to the door. Turning the handle found the door was unlocked.
Buck pushed the door all the way open, only to find the second bedroom on the other side.
The room had been staged as an office. A giant wooden desk was in front of the arched windows on the far wall to the right, matching the vintage theme of the appliances down below. Some bookcases in a matching dark wood color lined the walls. Dozens of Natural Geographic and other magazines filled several shelves while the other had books dedicated to random topics ranging from the etymology of an ant to the composition of asteroids.
Buck slowly made his way into the room. He almost felt as if he were intruding on someone else's space.
May be why the door had been closed to begin with.
Suddenly, a loud slow creaking sound filled the room.
Buck's eyes widened as he turned just in time to see the door slowly close shut again.
Immediately, a loud bang from the right made the blonde jump. He jerked to it to see a giant book with a faded and worn dust jacket entitled 'Sages and Spirits' had dropped from the shelf and down to the floor.
Buck kept his eyes on the book as he crept back over to the door.
And he swore it shifted in his direction half an inch.
With that, the blonde bolted out of the room and back down the stairs just as Athena and the realtor were stepping back out of the Master Bedroom.
"So, should we head upstairs?" The realtor asked.
"Yes," Athena answered.
Just as Buck replied, "No!"
The police sergeant turned to give the firefighter a confused look.
"Athena, I don't think you want to go up there."
"Why not?"
Buck reached out to grab her arm. "Just trust me."
Athena pulled herself out of his grip. "I think I'll be fine."
The realtor stepped forward. "Is there something wrong with the apartment?"
"No," Athena jumped back in. "Buck here is just overreacting."
"Overreacting?" Buck demanded.
"Yes."
"Athena, the apartment is haunted."
The police sergeant crossed her arms. "And what proof do you have of that? The flickering lights in the bathroom?"
"No, it's in the bedroom upstairs." Buck rushed toward the stairs. "I'll show you."
With a sigh, Athena turned from the retreating form to the realtor. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." The realtor assured her while moving to the stairs. "He's not the first."
Both ladies followed the blonde firefighter up the stairs.
By the time they reached the top, Buck was already in front of the bedroom door.
"It's in here." He double backed enough to snag Athena's wrist and pull her into the room. "The door was closed when I got up here. I opened it, went inside, and it closed all on its own."
As soon as they were in the room, Athena tugged her wrist back out of the younger's hold.
The realtor rushed in after them. "The door does that Mr. Buckley."
Buck froze. "What?"
"The doors, if not properly propped open, will close on their own beacuse of loose hinges." The realtor shifted back over to the door where she slid a metal door stop in front of the door. "The door wasn't properly propped open so the door closed on its own."
Athena turned to Buck. "See? A perfectly reasonable explanation."
"If it's so reasonable then why did a book fall off a perfectly organized shelf?" Buck defended while pointing to the bookcase.
Both ladies looked in the direction of the bookcase.
Sure enough, the same book was still on the floor.
And, if on cue, another book slipped off the same shelf and plopped on the floor.
Buck grinned. "You see?"
A split second later, the entire shelf slipped down, sending all the books on the shelf spilling all of its contents onto the floor.
The younger firefighter's jaw dropped.
"That shelf must have come loose." The realtor moved toward the bookcase. "They're falling apart as it is."
Athena turned back to Buck, who currently seemed frozen. "Perfectly reasonable."
The younger firefighter's arm dropped down by his side.
Meanwhile, the older police sergeant turned back to the realtor. "I'm sorry, it seems my friend here has an overactive imagination."
Buck's mouth snapped back shut, switching to a deadpan glare.
"You'll have to excuse him on that."
"It's okay." The realtor looked up from her spot on the floor where she was organizing the books. "It would look pretty suspicious."
"Do you need a hand?"
"I'll just stick them to the side for now and try to get the shelf back up." The realtor stood. "The man who lived here originally was quite the researcher. We had to pair down his collection to what you see here."
"Did he not have access to the internet?" Athena curiously asked.
"Didn't seem like it." The realtor stepped back over to them. "Then again, you saw his love for the classics. Could definitely have carried over into his researching too."
"That's a possibility."
"What did he research?" Buck asked.
The realtor motioned around. "You name it, he probably had a magazine, book, or even a newspaper clipping on it. He just loved learning about whatever his heart desired it seemed."
"Sounds like a very fulfilled man," commented the police sergeant.
"He was," the realtor agreed.
"Remind me again, how did he die?"
"Brain aneurysm I'm afraid. Happened while he was sleeping and he was none the wiser."
"Atleast he went peacefully."
"That he did." The realtor motioned toward the door with a smile. "So what do you think of the place?"
The older police sergeant followed her out. "Again, it's definitely smaller than I was expecting, but it's very homey. Great location, good natural lighting, adorable character."
"I can give you some time to think about it, but a place like this will go fast," the realtor warned.
Athena turned back to Buck who had also come out of the bedroom before going back to the realtor. "How soon do you need an answer?"
"By Tuesday at the soonest." The realtor held up her hands. "I know that might be soon, but like I said, places like this goes fast."
"We'll let you know soon." Athena held out her hand. "Thank you for your time."
"My pleasure." The realtor shook her hand. "Thank you for stopping by."
"You sure it's okay if I come in?"
"Buck." Maddie picked up the clutter covering the couch. "You are my first adult interaction outside of Chimney in 72 hours. Please stay and talk with me about something other than baby brother and do not scream in my ear for an hour and a half."
Buck chuckled as he helped his sister scoop up some coloring books and crayons. "Seems Jee has made the transition to big sister pretty well."
"She was a little upset about not getting all the attention from me and Chim," his sister explained. "But she's learning babies need a lot of attention so it's getting a little better."
Buck looked around. "Speaking of Jee, where is she?"
"Chim took her on a Daddy-daughter date." Maddie plopped onto the finally clean couch. "Gave me a bit of a break too."
Buck plopped next to his sister. "Baby Bobby napping?"
"Yes." Maddie shifted so she was facing her brother. "So tell me everything that's going on with you. Have you found an apartment yet?"
Buck slowly nodded along. "I have a couple options . . . but I have a couple days to make a decision."
"Not sure which one you want?"
"Sort of."
Maddie squinted. "What do you mean 'sort of'?"
"Well . . . my realtor was showing me an apartment that I kinda liked."
His older sister shifted forward.
"It's got a bit personality, but there's some room for improvement. It's in a great location and there's a lot within walking distance."
"But."
"But . . . There's this two bedroom apartment she showed me as well."
Maddie's head shot up from where it had been resting on her hand.
"It's got a much better look," Buck continued. "The location is better and the landlord knows Ravi so he was able to vouch for how good she was."
"Can you afford a two bedroom without a roommate?" Maddie tentatively asked.
There was a moment of hesitation before Buck explained his next news. "I may have already found one . . . or two."
His sister's eyebrows knitted together.
"When you were in the hospital, she came to talk to me about it."
"She?"
"Yes." Buck cleared his throat. "A much older woman whose husband is in recovery from medical malpractice to put it nicely."
Maddie's eyes widened when the news finally clicked. "Athena?"
"I know it sounds a bit strange, but we're all in need of a place to go and fast."
"Have you asked her if she and Bobby even want a roommate?" Maddie jumped in.
"Didn't have to."
"What do you mean?"
". . . Athena asked me."
Maddie's jaw dropped. "Athena Grant, the police sergeant, asked you to be her roommate?"
"Look, we're both in a really tough spot right now," Buck justified. "I need to get out of the Diaz house before Eddie and I blow up at each other one more time, and she needs to get out of her house so the new owners can actually move in."
"I don't know about this."
"It's only for one year. If it doesn't work out, we'll go our separate ways."
Maddie sighed. "Are you really sure want to do this? This is different than that time you crashed on their couch while your building's AC was being updated. Atleast then you knew you could leave if things got to be too much."
"Maddie, I'll be fine," Buck firmly assured her. "Plus, weren't you the one saying I should make friends that aren't Eddie?"
"I meant with people your own age," Maddie argued. "Not with Bobby and his wife."
"Who better to become closer with?"
"Buck, you need a better social life."
"I'm working on it."
Maddie sighed, hiding her face in the palm of her hand.
"Look, it either works out or it doesn't," Buck justified. "No harm. No foul."