#I’ll have to be on-call as a firefighter too; but that’s different

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

Maybe I could switch careers and train to become a firefighter after… five years to a decade in education?

[highvern]

Burnt Coffee

Pairing: Kwon Soonyoung x gn! Reader

Genre: fluff

Summary: Running a cafe hadn’t been as glamorous as you initially believed. You loved your job; the cozy aroma of the different roasts, the hum of the espresso machine, the foam art you tediously practiced until a cute bear face stared back from the surface of a cappuccino. But any new shop comes with quirks, like the fire alarm that goes off almost every morning. Luckily, the fire station is just across the street and you unknowingly have one of the fireman wrapped around your finger.

Warnings: coffee shop owner reader, firefighter Hoshi, pockets of angst, crying, lots of mentions of food and coffee, firefighter jihoon and his baker gf, crying, kissing

Length: ~4.6k

Note: second valentine's fic! surprise! written for the Cupid For You Fic Exchange hosted by @svthub. Happy Valentine's @idyllic-ghost / @bee-buzzez !!! i hope its the cafe au of your dreams

read more here

This blog is intended for 18+ only! Minors/blank blogs will be blocked!

“I’ve got an iced dirty chai with oat milk at the end of the bar!”

A sour-faced woman scoffs, “That isn’t what I ordered.”

“Well, is your name Samantha?” 

“No.”

“Then it isn’t your order.” 

The exchange between Seungkwan and the woman rings familiar. Sundays bring out the best in everyone it seems. But you're too busy handling the never ending line of drink tickets to scold him for poor customer service. Focusing on the machine, you pull shot after shot; inadvertently covering yourself in errant splashes of milk and coffee. The rush of the morning is still going strong but you hone into the rhythm and let your mind fall away from anything beyond the cups resting atop the counter next to you.

But as always, the steam from the milk frother continues to heat the space above; right where the over sensitive fire alarm was installed.

The shrill blaring freezes everyone in place. A few children scream in shock, making the vein on your temple throb. Your ears ring with each pulse as your head falls into your hands.

Every single morning since you opened Fika two months ago the alarm went off without fail.

And then he would show up like clockwork.

The bell attached to the wooden door chimes as Soonyoung breaks through the threshold of the cafe. Grimaced faces greet him. The shrill fire alarm with flash lights blares into the industrial space, bouncing off the walls to echo inanely. 

“Earlier than usual.” Soonyoung chirps as he saunters past the line, easily rounding the bar to access the screeching piece of junk inconveniently placed above the espresso machine.

You step out of the way, face flat and mouth tense. “Busy day.” You explain.

The alarm cuts off as swift as it started, Soonyoung stepping back to smile down at you.

“I can hang around in case. Seems like that line isn’t going anywhere.”

“Yeah, sure. Do you want something to drink?” You offer stepping back to the line of cups littering the metal counter.

“Ooo, buying me drinks already? Aren’t you presumptuous?”

The wiggle of his eyebrows is meant to be suggestive but they only make him look like he ate a mouthful of sour candy.

“Nevermind.” You huff, stepping around the man as you grab the next cup in line and start working. “Go save a cat in a tree or something.”

Sensing your waning mood, Soonyoung cuts the act. “I’ll just have my regular.”

“You know where the cups are.”

A full cup of brewed coffee joins him on the opposite side of the counter. Soonyoung plants himself in his usual chair, chin resting on his curled fist as he watches you work your magic.

On slow days he’ll chat your ear off until the fire station calls him back. But on days like today, he’s content to in silence; obsessed with the sureness of your hands, the strong pout of your lips, and the way everything seems pulled into your gravity.

Maybe he has a crush on you.

Scratch that; Soonyoung definitely has a crush on you.

And everyone knows. His supervisor, Jihoon, knows. It’s why Soonyoung is always the one to come and fix the faulty alarm in the shop. His best friend, Seokmin, knows. It’s why Seokmin and his fiancee constantly batter him with texts about when he’ll ask you on a date. If someone went to space and looked down they could see how much he likes you without even trying.

You hit a lull and Soonyoung takes his chance. “Got any special plans this week?”

“We’re doing themed baked goods on Wednesday.” You call over your shoulder.

It’s not what Soonyoung was asking about but he takes it in stride.

Your employees also know about the fireman’s feelings. It’s why Seungkwan throws a pitying look his way along with a deformed muffin. Subtle rejection tastes like blueberries and brown sugar.

“Will you save me one?” Soonyoung asks.

“Is free coffee not enough?”

“Who said I wouldn’t pay for it?”

You never let Soonyoung pay for anything at the cafe. Despite how much he enjoys free food, it always makes him feel a bit guilty. It’s why you think he only drinks black coffee with a lethal amount of sugar when in reality he’d take some fancy espresso drink any day. 

You laugh as you continue to work through the next batch of orders. “We’ll see if there are any left.”

“I’m a civil servant!”

“Serve in silence please!” Seungkwan barks, earning a few chuckles from the other customers sitting at the bar.

The back and forth continues and eventually the line dwindles to nothing as the morning lulls on. Soonyoung downs two more cups and manages to haggle Seungkwan for an overly toasted slice of banana bread with a singed corner he planned to throw out anyway.

The entire time Soonyoung watches you. Even covered in splashes of milk and coffee stains, he’s still enamored with you as you lean over the bar and jot notes in the ever expanding list of repairs and updates the shop needs.

And just when Soonyoung opens his mouth to say something, anything, the shrill beep of his phone cuts him off.

“Damn, I gotta head back.” He curses. “Just call if you need me again, okay?”

“Will do.” 

You don’t even look up as he walks towards the door.

“Satan is one the phone for you.”

“Please be less specific.” You beg Seungkwan, grabbing the receiver still on hold.

“Bakery lady.”

Steeling yourself, you unmute the phone and bring it to your ear.

“Hello?”

“Y/N?”

“Yes.”

“I was reviewing orders for Valentine’s. You're only doing the usual? I thought we talked about special items. I already bought the ingredients so if you changed your mind it’s putting me out of money.”

“No, we need at least two dozen of the cupcakes and two dozen of the cookies on top of our usual order.”

“That’s not what the order form says!” The old crone hawks through the line.

You ask her for a moment while pulling out your laptop and settling into a seat far away from the clusters of customers still strung throughout the cafe.

Wiping your face, you stare at the illuminated screen of your computer with the order form pulled up. “I have the form on my screen right now and it clearly says—”

“I don’t care what you’re looking at, it’s not what I have on my end!”

“Are you sure you’re looking at the form for Fika on Second street?”

“I’m telling you I’m—oh.”

The deflation in her tone pulls a smirk across your lips. “Hm?”

“Alright so two dozen red velvet cupcakes and two dozen heart sugar cookies?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, I’ll have it on Wednesday.”

“Thanks.”

Click.

The table shakes with the impact of your forehead. The clatter of your mug draws attention from the few customers around but none pay much attention.

“Everything okay?” A voice asks from above.

“Great. Wonderful.” You say into the wood.

“Good. Because the espresso machine is broken…again.”

You rise from your seat, face indecipherable as you walk past the counter, through the back storage area and into the alley behind the building. 

Several seconds pass before you release a guttural scream. It's gritty, ripping apart your throat as all bubbling exhaustion breaches your lips. The noise echos between the brick walls before escaping to the sky above. Several pigeons flee to the rooftops for safety while mice and other vermin scuffle along the walls in terror.

Seungkwan watches from the door, eyes wide as you continue to belt for the trash bags and city rats witnessing your meltdown. 

Your voice fizzles as you run out of air. Closing your eyes, you take two deep breaths. Inhaling the scent of stale storm water and whatever else perfumes the back alley until the stretch of your lungs burns from the inside out.

And then you turn and walk back inside as if the entire thing never happened.

The block is only illuminated by streetlights at this hour. Not even the earliest of early birds litter the narrow sidewalk as you push into the empty cafe and begin prepping for the Monday morning rush. The smell of fresh coffee fills the air, the whir of the grinder harmonizing with the jazz playlist curling down from the speakers. 

The calm before the storm.

Slowly the first shift employees trickle in just before opening; relieving you to commandeer the office slash storage room in the back, intent on knocking out the mountain of paperwork and following up with the repair man about the alarm he said he would be back to fix last week. But first, the phone blinking with unread messages.

“This is Megan. We’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warr—”

Message deleted.

The next message is a young man reporting his credit card missing and visiting your shop. You call and let his voicemail know no one has seen anything but you hope he figures it out.

“Hi Y/N. This is Cheryl with Harmony Bakers. Just wanted to let you know I won’t be able to get that special order for Valentine’s Day. Or your regular order for tomorrow. We’ve decided to close up shop. Sorry about the inconvenience.”

The words don’t hit at first. But your brain slowly catches up to what Cheryl is saying. Canceling. She’s canceling two days before Valentine’s.

Your attempts to return her call fall flat. Six tries and all ring once before dropping into an automated message reporting her voicemail is full, no doubt from the other shops she’s also shafted with the impulsive decision. 

No holiday treats. No regular food items. No back up. No plan B. 

Failure, failure, failu—

The pad of paper littered with notes sails into the not so far wall only to slap against the plaster and slip to the ground. 

You can only focus on one problem at a time. Or at least the problem whose solution won’t send you to jail. And that means heading to the front where the day is starting to pick up.

The boys have things under control but the line is lengthening and you’re a great way to relieve the pressure. Immediately an invisible song pulls you into the rhythm of their work; drinks and food hit the end of the bar almost as fast as the orders came in.

Soonyoung comes in and waits at the counter as usual. The alarm seems to be granting mercy given the horrible state of affairs from this morning.

The customers not so much.

“God, how stupid are you that you messed up a simple order? It’s a fucking americano and you made it taste like ass.” 

The man standing at the end of the bar, hands flat on the counter in an attempt to physically dominate the space, always complains. His iced drinks are too cold, his hot drinks are too hot, the weather is bad, taxes are too high, the list continues on and on. And somehow it's always your fault. 

Usually its little barbs under his breath but today he’s out for blood and you’ve already had enough.

Your teeth grit together so hard it feels like the forced smile plastered on your face might crack them into dusk. “Like I said, I can remake it for you if you’d lik—” 

“Why would I want you to remake it? You clearly have no idea what you’re doing. Get someone else.”

“I got it.” Seungcheol steps forward. 

The older man gives him an apprehensive look. Seungcheol is harmless but he knows how to be scary when he wants to be.

“I’m gonna go…restock something…” you warble, all but sprinting to the back.

Plastic sleeves of cups and boxes of straws bear witness to your breakdown. The six am tantrum clouds in and your carefully built dam of control explodes. Hot tears streak your cheeks, dripping off the jut of your chin with every gasping breath from the knot in your throat tangling tighter and tighter. All you can hear are ugly gasping breaths as you rock back and forth in the dark. 

The sliver of light spilling in from the cracked door doesn’t register given the way your face is buried in your hands. Soonyoung has half a mind to pretend he never entered the cramped space. He’s never seen you so… small.

A shrill squeak of the hinge alert you to the new presence. Bloodshot eyes find his wide ones and you swipe at your face to hide the evidence of your distress. You go to speak but barely manage a croak before the tears come again.

“Shit,” Soonyoung whispers. “It’s okay, it’s alright.”

The warmth of his chest makes you cry harder, tears spilling onto his neck as you hide from the world. He smooths the flat of his palm across your back.

It's anyone’s guess how long you stay there. Soonyoung’s cheek rests on the top of your head, arms firm around your shoulders. The faint smell of smoke tickles your nose. Smoke and pine from his cologne. It tethers your mind, lulling the frantic breakdown and giving you something to focus on other than how horrible the day has become in the span of a few hours.

No baked goods. Horrible customers. And now you’re being held by the handsome fighter from next door with snot dripping from your nose.

Soonyoung hesitates when you shift in his hold, arms tightening for a second in case another bout of tears crops up. But you pull far enough away to send an embarrassed grimace his way before looking anywhere else.

“Sorry.” You say, turning to snatch napkins from the shelf next to you.

His hand continues to rub your shoulders as you dab your eyes and blow your nose. 

“It’s okay. That guy was a jerk.”

“I don’t care what he said.” 

Soonyoung stares in disbelief, waiting for you to continue. 

“My baker canceled on me, and the espresso machine is held together with duct tape, and there's a million other things going wrong, not to mention the fire alarm. And I just…”

Squeezing your eyes tight to prevent the moisture swelling in the corners proves unhelpful. To Soonyoung’s credit he stays silent, allowing you all the time you need to get your thoughts in order. But the hand on your back continuing to trace abstract shapes between your shoulder blades lets you know he’s there when you’re ready.

“It’s just been a rough week.” You say to the floor.

The admission lifts the ten pound weight off your chest. Soonyoung isn’t an employee you need to guarantee everything is okay to or a customer requiring a mask. He’s a…friend? It feels generous but if he was anything less you doubt he’d be where he is now.

“Is there any way I can help?”

You blow your nose into the tissue before laughing wetly. “I don’t suppose you have a magic wand, do you?”

“Just broke mine actually.” He winces sarcastically.

What’s another thing on your never ending to-do list? Along with the desperate need to buy more supplies for tomorrow, how difficult can it be to conjure artisan baked goods out of thin air?

“Actually,” Soonyoung perks. “Jihoon’s girlfriend works at a bakery. Pete’s? No, wait. Penny’s?”

“Petunia’s?”

“That’s the one! Maybe I can ask her if she can help?”

“Good luck.” You snort. “They couldn’t even fit me into their normal rotation.”

“We won’t know until we ask!” He chips, thrilled he can help.

Soonyoung jumps up, a cruel chill invading the space he once occupied. Like the sun moving behind a cloud and leaving you at the mercy of a cool breeze; there and gone before you can delve into what it means.

You hand him the order form you usually give your baker to relay to Jihoon’s girlfriend. While he steps out to ask for a miracle you focus on tallying how many cups, napkins, lids, and other miscellaneous items you need from the supply store across town. A few lone tears appear, falling without much preamble but the worst is out and stained on Soonyoung’s shoulder. You’ll get through it. With Soonyoung’s help you’ll get past everything, even if his efforts fall flat.

Seungcheol and Seungkwan confirm they’ve got things under control as you take your leave. Soonyoung is just visible in the dissipating morning fog hanging in the street. He paces the sidewalk, speaking into his phone animatedly before spotting you trying to sneak past him to your car.

“Thank you! You’re the best!” He cheers before hanging up and pocketing his phone.

“So?”

“They’ll do it! One of the other shops dropped out last minute and they have a lot of extras. Maybe not all the usual stuff but Rita said she can pull together most of the stuff on the form.”

Body frozen, you stare at Soonyoung with an open mouth and eyes wide. There’s no way he solved half your workload with one phone call.

“She also said they can try and work you into their usual orders. If that’s something you’re interested in…” Soonyoung trails off, glancing at you nervously. 

In a blink your back in his arms, squeezing him so hard your arms hurt.

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” You chant into his chest.

“Of course.”

Stepping back, you blush at your own impulsiveness. 

“Um, well…” you fumble, clearing your throat you get back to the task at hand. “I need to run to the store so I’ll see you later.”

“I can come!” 

“No! I mean, you’ve already helped so much. I’d feel bad dragging you along.”

“Don’t worry about me, I'm just trying to make sure you don’t start crying again and cause an accident.”

“Okay, rude.”

Soonyoung ignores you, already strutting down the street.

“Your cars this way, right?”

“No.”

“Listen, I wanna come with you. I have nothing else to do today.”

“Cool,” You laugh, continuing the opposite direction Soonyoung headed.  “but my car is still this way.”

The drive is pleasant. You learn more about Soonyoung in the thirty minutes it takes to get across town than you’ve learned in the weeks he’s been coming to the cafe. He has an older sister, he likes to volunteer at the youth center down the street in his time off, and he cannot work a computer if his life depends on it. You also learn more about his coworker turned best friend who also happens to be the boyfriend of your new god.

“Yeah Jihoon and I started the same day. He comes off kinda cold but it's all an act.”

“Oh, really?” You laugh, pulling into a cramped parking spot.

“One hundred percent. You should see him with Rita. I never saw him blush that much until they started dating.”

“How’d they meet?”

“Funny story.” Soonyoung shares, climbing out of the passenger seat. “So the bakery she worked at before had a fire. No one was hurt and they put it out before we even got there! But we went to make sure everything was clear. Well, Rita was there and I swear it was love at first sight for him.”

“That’s sweet.”

You both make your way inside the sliding doors; Soonyoung pushing a flat cart behind you through the aisles. 

“He’s definitely mellowed out since he met her. Doesn’t work as much, thank god.”

“What about your girlfriend? Do you guys have the same Hallmark meet cute?”

“Oh! I don’t have a girlfriend.” Soonyoung mumbles, ears turning scarlett.

Your face heats as well. Whatever force compelled you to ask such a prying question revels in satisfaction to hear Soonyoung is in fact single. A tidbit of information you’ve never wondered about before.

“Sorry I couldn’t get you anything for today.” Rita says as she helps unpack everything onto the counter.

The cafe is scarce of customers, far past closing time but Rita said they’d be too busy delivering to their other customers in the morning to spare a trip to you. What's another Tuesday at the shop? It isn't like you have time for much of a social life given the million things you need to do.

“Really don’t worry about it. You're saving my life by getting me this stuff for tomorrow.”

“Well Soonyoung made a bargain I couldn’t refuse.”

You pause for a moment. Soonyoung didn't mention anything beyond the payment Rita quoted and later sent via email. Did he promise something from the shop on your behalf?

Swallowing the budding annoyance, you continue to work like nothing is wrong. “Oh?”

“I mean an entire month of covering Jihoon’s shifts? What kind of person passes that up?”

What?

Soonyoung offered to sacrifice all his free time to help you. Soonyoung who you barely know beyond the fact that he pretends to like black coffee. The man chews with his mouth open. Soonyoung who let you ruin his sweater with tears and snot from a horrible day.

“You didn’t know?” Rita asks, face full of mirth.

“Ugh, no,” you cough. “He didn’t tell me that.”

“I was shocked when he offered. He wouldn’t do that for just anyone.”

But he did it for you.

“Yeah.”

“Y/N?” 

You find Rita smiling like she knows some big secret. If you had to guess, it's probably the same thing you're realizing now.

“Soonyoung’s a great guy.”

Words fail you because you know Soonyoung is a great guy. He held you when you cried, he comes in everyday without fail to turn off the alarm, and he just sacrificed a month of his life because it would help you.

Once you and Rita unpack the remaining cookies and cakes, she takes her leave but not before dropping another wink when she spots Soonyoung approaching from the direction of the fire house.

“Rita.” he greets at the door, holding it open for her exit.

“Hosh.”

And she’s gone without another word.

“How’s it going?” Soonyoung asks, rounding the counter to join you.

“Great!” You blurt with too much enthusiasm. “Rita ended up making everything we needed.”

A second set of hands assists in packing the glass display case in preparation for tomorrow's chaos. Soonyoung listens well. Patient to a T as you direct him to tweak things just so from the opposite side of the bar.

“Thank you for all your help this week. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t here to help.”

He continues to unpack the few remaining goods beneath the counter as he responds. “It’s not a big deal. What are friends for?”

“Hmm and you agree to cover all of Jihoon’s shifts for your friends?”

Leaning back against the opposite counter, you watch Soonyoung’s shoulder tense and his ears erupt into bright red. He’s so still he doesn’t even seem to be breathing at the shock of being caught. Each passing second heightens the smirk curling your lips. 

“Oh, you heard about that?” He asks into the counter.

You saddle up beside him, dropping your head until his eyes meet your own. Each inch of space you claim next to him sends him away like an opposing magnet; until your sandwich between him and the hardwood.

“Yeah, I heard.”

Soonyoung backs away nervously but not before you catch the way his eyes cut to your mouth. Who knew all it took is a smile and batting your eyelashes to make chatty Soonyoung clam up? The shyness bubbling on the edge of your conscious fizzles with the new knowledge; instead, curiosity takes its place. How much more can you make him blush? What would he do if you grabbed his hand? Or if you took a chance and kissed him?

“Soonyoung?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have a crush on me?” You smile around each word.

He opens his mouth to argue but it's moot with the way you gaze at him, eyes shining with mirth.  Like you're laughing at some shared joke. Soonyoung will tell you whatever truths you want to hear if it means you’ll keep looking at him like that.

“Yeah.” Soonyoung whispers so quietly you almost don’t hear him.

“Good.” 

You step into his space with finality, chests brushing with each breath. 

“Good?” 

The edge of your teeth pinning your lip down is the only thing preventing a smile from ripping across your face as you answer. “Because I have a crush on you too.”

“Oh…” He nods, head dropping dejectedly and then it hits him and whips back up so fast his eyeballs rattle. “OH. You do?”

He watches you nod, slowly angling himself to connect your lips. When Soonyoung realizes you aren’t going to push him away, evident by the hand fisted in his sweater, he goes for it.

The curve of your lip, the breathy sigh you release into his mouth, the way you seem to go boneless with each pass are all committed to his memory. Soonyoung reminds himself to be good. That this is the first time he’s kissing you and he should be a gentleman; gentle, chaste, respectful. 

And he would succeed but you’re acting like you have no interest in any of those things. You whisper another heavenly sigh into his mouth, trailing a hand in the short strands of hair at the base of his skull forcing Soonyoung to focus on batting away the demons at the edge of his mind rather than giving into temptation.

But when you tug to angle his head better the delicious sting drowns Soonyoung so quickly he has you pinned to the counter before he realizes what's happening.

Sometime later, when your lips are swollen and the floor sways beneath you from the flood of giddiness coursing through your veins, you and Soonyoung part. The crisp air of the late night tries in vain to nip at your face but you’re too distracted by the calluses on the side of Soonyoung’s thumb and the way they rasp against your knuckles as he walks you to your car.

The cafe is in full swing by the time Soonyoung comes in Wednesday morning. 

All morning he paced across the cramped common room of the fire station. Sure you let him kiss you but what did it all mean? He knows you like him but did you like like him or just like him? Should he have asked you on a date? Would that be too forward? Did he mess things up by not immediately asking you out despite the fact he was so love drunk he ran into a pole after watching you drive off?

He fights the idea of running across the street and demanding answers. You’re definitely too busy to spare a second and tame the butterflies in his stomach. And how pathetic would he look if he asked you to explicitly dictate how you feel so no wires end up cross? And on Valentine’s day no less?

Luckily, he’s saved by the bell. Or rather the fire alarm.

He watches you work like a tornado, pausing only to smile at him the same way you did last night when he did not so safe for work things against the very counter lined with coffee cups and steaming mugs. Flashes of memory heat across his face.

You thank him with his usual coffee and one of the cupcakes you set aside just for him. Except this time his paper cup is scribbled with a heart and something else.

Be my Valentine? _Yes _ Also Yes _ YES BUT LOUD

At some point he should tell you about the sensitivity setting on the alarm and how all you need to do is nudge the tiny lever to the right if you don't want it going off every time the steam builds up. But the way you beam at him when he steals the sharpie from behind your ear and checks all three boxes on the cup makes Soonyoung decide it’s a secret he’ll keep for now.

@cvpidyunho @miniseokminnies @tomodachiii @ddaengpotate @arycutie @gaebestie @gyuguys @primoppang @mine-gyu @doremifasire @missminhoe

© highvern. copying/reuploading/translating my work anywhere is strictly prohibited.

[fluentmoviequoter]

Brighter, Sweeter Days

Requested Here!

Pairing: Tim Bradford x shy!fem!baker!reader

Summary: Tim comes to your bakery daily, and you try to brighten his day to get him to notice you. When he finally shows you he has noticed you, there's a lot you have to tell him.

Warnings: minor injuries, fluff!!!

Word Count: 2.4k+ words

Masterlist Directory | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Rules

A wave of hot air greets you as you open the oven. Pulling the cookie sheet from the left side and a muffin pan from the right, you smell the intermingled brown sugar, maple, and orange. After the hot pans have been safely placed on one of your bakery’s tables, you close the oven and remove your heatproof gloves.

“I really hope you have more maple biscotti because there’s a really cute firefighter and I can’t slip him my number if we can’t fulfill his order,” your employee, Melanie, rambles as she enters the heart of the bakery.

“Just pulled some out of the oven,” you answer. “It’ll be about ten minutes before we can box them, though. Offer to throw in a dozen free cookies or a coffee traveler.”

“Yes, chef!” she calls over her shoulder.

“And stop watching The Bear before work every day,” you murmur as you check the consistency of a new whipped buttercream.

Several years ago, you opened your bakery in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, and remain shocked at how well it has done. There have been celebrities who travel hours just to try your creations based on the good word of a few locals, you’ve had to close at lunch more than once because you ran out of food, and yet you’ve only been in the front of the bakery a dozen times since opening.

You’re shy, passionate about baking, and less of a people person than most business owners, so you spend your days in the back as your dedicated employees create a friendly and welcoming environment for your customers to come in, enjoy the atmosphere, and try a delicious baked good or slow-roasted coffee.

After the morning rush, during which you make three cakes, drizzle white chocolate on your newest biscotti, and decorate sugar cookies, Melanie returns to the back of the bakery. She sighs and leans on a table.

“How’d it go?” you ask.

“Good. Seemed busier than usual, lots of law enforcement,” she explains, peeking into a mixing bowl.

“Those are scraps from cake pops,” you tell her. “Help yourself.”

“You’re an angel,” she sighs. “A walking, shy so not much into talking, angel.”

You roll your eyes and begin folding chocolate swirls into croissant dough. “And the firefighter?”

“He thought they’d love some coffee but refused to accept it without paying. So, I slipped an angel food cake and my number into his bag.”

You nod and continue working on the croissants, but when Melanie continues to watch you, you know there’s more she isn’t saying. Turning, you set aside the spatula and raise your brows.

“My psych professor moved our exam up and I can’t come in tomorrow,” she explains quickly. “I know it’s your busiest day and I’m so so sorry. I can ask around and see if Cass or somebody can cover me.”

You wave your hand and assure, “It’s okay. I’ll cover you. Good luck on your exam, okay? If you want to leave early today to study or get some rest, do that, too.”

“Now I feel worse for leaving you.”

Tim turns his alarm off and sighs. It’s his birthday, and he’s alone. Lucy insisted on bringing cupcakes, and Angela offered to take him to lunch. Tim appreciates their kindness, but it’s not quite the same as having someone to truly celebrate with, besides Kojo, who he wouldn’t trade for the world, of course.

As Tim gets ready, he asks himself what he’d want if he was in a relationship. What would they do that would make today so different? Breakfast in bed is one of the first ideas that pops into his head. So, Tim searches for bakeries that aren’t far out of his way. One five-star option appears on the list, and Tim reads the directions as he walks to his truck.

As Tim walks in, he notices how nice the bakery is. There’s a line, but it moves quickly. He scans the menu on the large chalkboard over the counter as he waits, but he knows what he wants when his eyes drop to the display case.

An employee places another plate in the case, a birthday cake-flavored mini souffle that makes Tim smile. When he reaches the register, he forgets about the cookie that caught his attention.

You take another order and glance at the line. There are two times when you’re so busy it’s hard to remember to breathe, and you’re currently between those. Though you don’t love working here with customers, you do enjoy seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they find their new favorite.

Someone in the line catches your eye. He’s wearing an LAPD shirt, and you assume he’s a higher-ranking officer. He smiles as Mitch places a birthday cake souffle in the display case, and you wonder if it’s his birthday.

“Good morning,” you greet when he reaches the register. “What can I get you today?”

He hesitates for a moment, then asks for one of your jumbo cookies and two dozen chocolate chip cookies. Glancing at the menu, he also adds coffee to his order. You press the buttons for the two dozen cookies and the coffee, but make a note to include the jumbo cookie for free.

“Mitch,” you call when he passes again. “Take over for a minute?”

“Sure thing,” he tells you.

“I’ll grab that for you now,” you tell the attractive cop, whose name you now know is Tim.

“Thanks,” he replies before stepping to the side with his coffee.

You use clean plastic tongs to place thirty chocolate chip cookies in a branded box, then pull a jumbo cookie from the warmer. It’s already boxed, so you take a marker out of a nearby drawer and write Happy Birthday with a little candle drawn beside it. If it’s not his birthday, he’ll think it was the wrong box, but either way, you hope it’ll brighten his day. With the cookies placed in a bag, you hand it over the counter and thank Tim for coming in. You hope you’ll see him again. With your tendency to work in the back and the high number of one-time customers you get, you try not to get your hopes up.

The drive to the station is spent in silence. The radio is off as Tim enjoys what he considers the best cup of coffee. His mind continues to return to you, the cute girl at the bakery, who he could tell was a little shy. Your service was great, but you didn’t quite meet anyone’s eyes or engage in small talk.

After parking in the station lot, Tim pulls his jumbo cookie from the bag. The birthday wishes make him smile, and he shakes his head as he wonders how you knew. Granted, it could have been the wrong box or something, but Tim prefers the idea that you did it special for him. The receipt is on the bottom of the box, and he pulls it away only to see that you gave him the cookie for free. Maybe it will be a good birthday, after all, he thinks.

Tim enjoys half of his cookie, then returns it to the box to save for later. Tim will most certainly be returning to the bakery because your smile and the taste of the coffee and the cookies together are pretty close to perfection.

Tim sets the cookies on a central table in the bullpen and opens the box. He can immediately tell that there are more than 24 cookies, and he shakes his head at your kindness.

“Happy birthday!” Lucy calls as she runs to his side.

“Thanks,” Tim replies, in a better mood than the last decade of birthdays combined.

“You’re back!” you cheer when Tim returns the following morning. Melanie called to tell you her exam went well, but she had to wait for the essay portion to be graded, and you invited her to rest at home one more day while she waited. So, you’re at the front again.

“I am. Thank you for the birthday note yesterday,” Tim replies, smiling. He has a gorgeous smile, you think. “How did you know?”

“I noticed you smile when the birthday cake souffle came out,” you explain softly, shrugging rather than providing more explanation.

“I really appreciate it. My coworkers loved the cookies, too.”

“I’m glad. You want to try something else today?”

Tim smiles, and you unconsciously move your fingers to the side of the register where you can include discounts and freebies.

“What do you recommend?” he inquires.

“Our maple pumpkin biscotti cupcakes are pretty well-loved. I like the chocolate swirl croissant,” you answer. “It’s new, but..”

“Then I’ll take thirty-six of those cupcakes and two of the croissants. On one condition.”

“Yes?” you ask, furrowing your brows.

“Let me pay for it this time.”

You nod once and type in the order. As Tim steps to the side, you begin helping the next customer and whisper to Mitch to give the officer a small coffee with the excuse of preparing it too soon for a pickup order.

“I’m paying for it,” Tim insists after it’s left on the counter.

You ignore him, smiling as you take another order, and Mitch gives him the bag of cupcakes.

“See you,” Tim calls as he leaves.

“Have a good day!” you call after him.

When you return to the kitchen around 10 a.m., you sigh and set out to make something you think Tim will love.

Over the next two weeks, Tim comes in daily. He gets something for the officers at this station or just a treat for himself, and on one busy morning, he says hello and orders a coffee. You look forward to seeing him each morning, finding an excuse to be at the front during his usual time. He is the kindest customer you have ever had, and you want to ask him out. Each morning, you give yourself a pep talk and get encouragement from Melanie or Mitch, then get shy and fail to tell him how you feel. So, you find a way to brighten his day and remind him you’re there and you see him. You slip him a freebie, give him a free coffee, charge him for a smaller size than what you give him, or ask him to test a new item and get back to you. If it’s not on the menu, I can’t charge you was your excuse for the last one.

As far as you can tell, he has noticed you. He comes in and immediately finds you or keeps his eyes on the kitchen door until you exit. Yet, he hasn’t said any more than you have. Eventually, one of you will say something… or so you hope.

You’ve slowly opened up but can’t speak more than a few sentences before you remember who you’re talking to and get shy again. Tim asks about you, how you’re doing, what your favorite menu item is, what you’ve baked recently, and you gladly listen when he tells you about himself in return. It seems like you're getting to know him, but you still want so much more.

One morning, nearly three weeks after meeting Tim, you glance at the clock again. He’s late. Or he isn’t coming. As you leave the counter and return to the kitchen, you make red velvet cupcakes for a large order and try not to think about Tim. You didn’t say anything for three weeks, there is no reason to assume that he had any real reason to come back.

Melanie enters the kitchen, and you look up hopefully, but she shakes her head.

“I’m sure he was just running late or had to go in early. He’ll be back tomorrow,” she says softly.

You shake your head and begin portioning the cake batter into muffin tins. Getting your mind off Tim will be hard; he’s consumed every one of your thoughts for nearly a month, but you have a business to focus on and more customers than the handsome sergeant who was your favorite daily customer until today.

 Several hours later, Mitch is on the phone when the chime over the door rings. You wave to him and walk out of the kitchen, then stop behind the register.

“Sorry I’m late,” Tim says.

You remain silent as you look at him. He’s wearing a bulletproof vest beneath his shirt, there’s a scrape over his eyebrow that looks recent, and the knuckles on his left hand are darkening. Based on his appearance alone, you assume he was late for a good reason.

“What can I get you?” you ask, breathless, as you move to stand behind the register. “It’s on the house.”

Tim smiles, and you have to remind yourself to listen. He orders your favorite, then places his hands on the counter and leans closer to you. You nod, then blink and ask him to repeat himself.

“Your favorite,” he says.

“How do you…”

“You told me. I remembered.”

You lick your lips before whispering, “Why?”

“The same reason I know that you hate working at the register because you’re shy and it drains your energy. You’d rather be in the back with your recipes and music than up here with customers. The reason I know you own this place but don’t advertise it because you don’t want the attention. All of that, all of you, is why I keep coming back. And I’m really hoping that those things will be why you say yes when I ask if you’ll go out with me.”

You swallow but can’t form words yet. Your answer is yes, of course, it is. When you open your mouth, though, you ask, “Are you okay?”

Tim smiles again and says, “I worked all night and could really use some of your amazing coffee.”

“You missed breakfast?”

Tim extends his arms so his hands are closer to yours and corrects, “I missed you.”

“Yes,” you whisper. “I really want to go out with you.”

Tim nods, then thanks Melanie when she sets a coffee cup on the counter beside him. He sees your number on the side and smiles, but you drop your head momentarily to avoid the embarrassment Melanie provides.

“I promise we’ll do something you’ll like,” Tim assures as his fingers brush yours.

I’ll find the courage to do anything with you, you want to say. Deciding that is more of a second date statement, you merely nod and ask Tim, “Do you actually want my favorite or is there something else you’d prefer?”

[bluesidez]

Firefighter!Miguel Part 2

content warning: the urge to use AAVE was slipping through the nerves of my fingers. I tried to hold off, so if you see something that looks grammatically different, then it’s probably AAVE that I couldn’t NOT add. this is all fluff too! there are also mentions of food, but that's a norm for these drabbles

word count: 2.2k, proofread! (I think there's no mistakes 😭)

Prev | Next ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅𓌉◯𓇋 Masterlist

“Eileen! Is that you?!”

You internally groaned as your grandma hopped out of the motorized shopping cart to greet yet another person.

The trip to the grocery store to buy ingredients turned into a meet & greet with the star being your grandmother knowing everyone in the town.

You felt loopy, going from almost burning down your house to contemplating whether or not the hot fire captain would prefer yams or potato salad. Maybe both?

You grumbled to yourself as you scanned the aisle for a specific brand of cookies for some banana pudding. If all else fails, this was a dessert you could make with no oven.

“And now we’re here, trying to find this child something to cook with,” you heard your grandma fuss out. Why did your business have to be the topic of the conversation?

You turned and walked the short distance to your grandma and another woman who was….her old coworker? Her church member? Or maybe they went to school together….

“Good morning Ms. Eileen,” you say, thankful that you caught her name. You couldn’t keep up with everyone like your grandma.

“Is this the baby?!” she says, shocked eyes going from you to your grandma and back to you.

Your grandma nodded, a smile growing on her face.

“Child, I haven’t seen you since you were this little!” she says, holding her hand about 2 feet off the ground. She turns back to your grandma, “This can’t be the baby!”

You stand there with your lips in a line as you wait for the realization that at least two decades have gone by since you’ve last seen her.

Or more like since she’s seen you. You’re still trying to gather who she is.

“Yeah, this is my grandchild! All grown up and now we’re trying to win over a husband,” your grandma says, shaking your arm.

You wanted a hole to swallow you up or possibly grow some wings so that you could take flight. Anything to get out of this conversation.

“A husband?!” Ms. Eileen smiles mischievously. “Who are you trying to marry?”

“Uh-”

“Honey, this child got the Fire Chief ringing my doorbell!”

“He’s actually the Fire Captain-” you mumble, trying to get your two cents in

Ms. Eileen holds your hands and starts doing an excited bounce as she vocalizes her excitement.

“I need to get right then if we’re fixin’ to have a wedding!” she said, gesturing to her hair as if to fix it.

“It’ll be soon! Just wait and see!” your grandma says, putting her hands back on the handlebars of the car. “Let us go on and buy the rest of this stuff. We’ve got a lot to do. It was good to talk with you!”

Your grandma starts to move forward, somewhat ignoring Ms. Eileen as she started to open her mouth again.

“Leave me some of that food ok?” she calls out.

“If there’s any left, I’ll let you know!” your grandma says as she turns down the aisle.

You chase after her, waving to Ms. Eileen as you leave.

“Who was she again?” you ask as you two go down a new aisle.

“Eileen Wilkins from the school.” So she was a coworker! “She still doesn’t know how to stop talking, though.”

Your laugh sneaks out of you as you watch your grandma stop at some seasonings.

“Why do you say that? You were keeping the conversation up.”

“I was just being nice! It was fine until she started bragging about that granddaughter of hers. That girl doesn’t know her left from her right. How she make it to nursing school?”

“Maybe she’s a hard worker!” you respond.

Your grandma snorts, “Yeah. Working hard at paying somebody else to do her work.”

You just shake your head at your grandma. What are you going to do with this woman?

“Will you call the number already?”

“I don’t really want to do that,” you say, tapping your foot against the ground.

This would be the fourth station within the area that you called with no record of a "Captain O'Hara." You were starting to believe that you and your grandma made him up. Just a small figment of both of your imaginations. What your grandma saw as a suitor and what you saw as a hot guy just trying to do his job.

"You need to want to call," your grandma, responds. "We didn't get all of this food made for nothing. And you're wearing my good necklace! He won't know what hit him when sees you."

You both decided on soul food. Tin pans full of food for the entire crew from greens to mac to fried catfish. Then, there was a hefty styrofoam takeout plate made especially for him. Your banana pudding for him in a tupperware container with Nilla wafers patterned along the side.

Not to mention, you spent an unhealthy amount of time deciding which scent you should wear.

You looked infinitely better than you did when he last saw you with ingredients dusting your front and smoke coming out of your windows.

Still, it would all be for nothing if you couldn’t find his station.

While yon were staring off, your grandma tapped your phone, impatience riddling her frame.

“Grandma!” you shout, holding your phone as if it were a game of hot potato.

“Just ask if he’s there!” your grandma says.

“That’s not how this works-”

“Station 29, this is Captain O’Hara speaking.”

“Hi! Hello,” you turn back to the phone in a rush, embarrassed that he might have heard you and your grandma. You introduce yourself properly this time, saying that you wanted to bring some dinner down to the crew.

You hear a noise of shock as he starts to speak again, “That would be amazing actually. The crew was just trying to decide what to eat. When can we expect you?”

“I’ll be there in 10 minutes,” you say, a little too quickly to be honest.

“Perfect. We’ll see you then!”

You end the call and look up to your grandma who’s staring at you with a small smile.

“Now you tell him to bring back my good tupperware,” she says, instantly switching back to her regular self.

You just shake your head. Grandmas will be grandmas.

“I’m just trying to get you a good man!” she fussed. “And that’s my good tupperware. He’ll hear from me until I get it back.”

“And who were you just on the phone with? You’re smiling real hard there.”

“Shut up Parker,” Miguel fired back. “And why are you even in here. Aren’t you supposed to be washing T29 right now?”

“I finished that an hour ago, thank you very much. You’re so touchy!”

Miguel got up and shuffled Peter out of his office, “I’m not touchy. You’re just irritating me like usual.”

“Oh my god? You do have someone you’re talking to,” Peter says as he digs his feet into the ground, stopping Miguel. “How come you didn’t tell me? Is it that lady with the tree-loving cat? No! It’s the guy whose dog keeps getting stuck in the wall! There’s a theme here.”

“No, I’m not- Will you move? I’m not dating anyone with daredevil pets,” Miguel responded, trying to push Peter in a new spot.

“Cap is dating?” Ben asks as he walks by the two bickering like cats. “When can we see them?”

“I’m not dating-”

“Miguel! You didn’t tell me anything,” Jess says as she comes down the hallway.

“Why won’t you ever address me as Captain?”

“I will if you tell me who you’re dating,” she says with a smile on her face.

“I’m going to lose my mind,” Miguel mumbles, letting Peter fall to the ground instead of fighting him.

“Well if you weren’t talking to your lover, who was that?” he asks from the ground, the wind knocked out of him.

“While you all were slacking, I was making sure that everyone goes home with a full stomach. Remember the kitchen fire from earlier this week? They’re bringing some food for us.”

“Will it be safe to eat?” Ben says, eyes flittering to Jess nervously.

“It was a broken gas line, you idiot,” Jess says with her mouth turned sideways. “At least wait until the food is here before you judge it.”

“No way,” Peter says from the ground. “You put them in your lap and now they’re bringing you food.”

Miguel lightly kicks Peter in the thigh, making him scream out a scale of keys.

“That face gets so many people,” Jess sighs annoyingly.

Firefighter!Miguel who jogs out to the car when you arrive. No, he wasn’t watching the clock or his cameras. He just happened to see some movement in one of the security cameras.

He opens the door for you, helping you out of the car.

It’s like you’re a totally different person from the frantic little baker from earlier.

“Can you help me get the plates out of the trunk?” you say, voice barely reaching his ears with how soft you’re speaking.

“Of course,” he replies.

He manages to carry all four hot tins of food, leaving you with just two plastic bags to carry.

Firefighter!Miguel who places the tins on the table with ease.

“Is there anything else?” Peter asks, walking up to his side.

“No, I think this was all of the tins,” Miguel replied with his hands on his hips.

“Show off,” Peter whispers with a smile on his face. He patted his shoulder and walked towards the entrance.

Miguel blushed, realizing how that might have read to you.

Firefighter!Miguel whose eyebrows raise as you hold him back from getting in line, a plastic bag aimed towards him.

“I made you a separate plate. You were especially kind to me and I wanted to show my appreciation,” you say with a smile on your face.

“Thank you,” he says, taking the bag. “Should I give you the verdict?”

Your heart beats faster, watching his pretty face light up. You nod your head, hopeful that he’ll love the food.

Firefighter!Miguel who has you sit next to him at the table. The crew is quiet for once. Nothing but smacks and the shuffling of cups could be heard.

“Don’t be rude, guys. Say thanks,” Miguel chides at his crew.

At the sound of his voice, everyone starts thanking you profusely.

Miguel starts to open his bag and you feel like you could break out in a sweat.

You watch as he opens the plate and his eyes go big.

“Hey, how come he gets the extra stuff?” Ben whines from the end of the table.

Jess elbows him to shut him up, eyes throwing daggers.

You may or may not have added some fried chicken and potato salad to his plate.

You wait anxiously as he takes a bite.

Is it weird that you counted the seconds as he chewed?

“Damn, that’s good,” he says, leaning back in his chair.

If everyone could hear your thoughts, they’d truly be terrified at the screams going on right now.

“You like it?” you ask, biting your lip.

“This might be the best food I’ve had in a while,” he replies back. “Thank you!”

Your smile grows, watching as he tears away at his food. His laser focus doesn’t stop him from smacking Peter’s hand away from his banana pudding.

Firefighter!Miguel who walks you back to the car. Everyone was chatting and laughing at the table. The after-food glow on all of their faces.

“Everything was really delicious. Thank you for this. You didn’t have to,” he says as he opens your door.

“Stop, I really wanted to thank you guys. You all are the true heroes. Oh! And my grandma would really appreciate it if you brought her container back.”

Miguel chuckles, giving you that charming smile of his. He looked so pretty that way. The black shirt he was sporting was hugging him just right too.

“Of course,” he responded. “We still have to check out your kitchen too, yeah?”

You nod, shocked that he remembered.

“Tell you what, I’ll give you my number and we can work that out tomorrow.”

He hands you a card, writing down what you assume is his personal number. As he hands the card to you, your heart picks up as his fingers graze yours.

“I’ll see you then,” he says, waiting for you to get in your car before he closes it. He taps the hood and walks backwards, watching as you back out of the driveway.

You give him a little wave and squeal to yourself when gives a hearty one back.

Firefighter!Miguel who is hounded by his crew when he gets back inside.

Some of them are making kissy faces and the others are patting his back in encouragement.

“Would you all get back to work?” he sighed, annoyed at all of the attention.

He moved fast to his office, face in flames.

Firefighter!Miguel who groans out when he scoops some banana pudding in his mouth.

You were good. Really good.

He makes an angry face as he takes another bite, “My god.”

“Oo, they got you real good,” Jess snickers as she steals a bite of his dessert.

“Hey!” he said, moving too late to stop her.

She laughs as she runs from his office. Miguel gets up and locks the door, making sure that no one else could steal his food.

It was specifically made for him, after all.

divider by: @dollywons + @starzyyy1 ❤️‍🔥

a/n: Special thanks to @slushycoookie for giving me ideas! It was brilliant and much needed ☺️

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taglist: @snails-doodles22 @xerorizz @questionable-behaviour @babygotl01292003

[tommykinard6]

Should I be eating and resting? Yes. Am I? No, so come join me for a dissertation on Tommy Kinard being lonely.

Edit to add a note since I saw a reblog about it: Tommy has no canonical age right now and Lou is 39, 40 later this year, so that is my basis for saying he’s 39.

Now when I say lonely, I don’t mean that he has no one whatsoever. I can picture him going for drinks with his team or having some Muay Thai buddies that he could call up if he really was inclined. Maybe an old army buddy or two.

But there’s something about Tommy that’s just achingly lonely, both when he was at the 118 and now at Harbor.

Tommy had a broken home, or some other kind of unstable childhood. Maybe his parents split, maybe he was mistreated, maybe he was in the system or was passed around family members. Maybe he was isolated as a child because he was a little overweight (I think Lou said something along those lines) and was bullied. I think Tommy didn’t really have any friends until high school, when puberty hit and maybe he started working out and probably joined the football team. I don’t know if anyone remembers what teenage boys are like, but I can imagine they were the same as they are today back in the 90s/early 00’s. Because around this time, Tommy might’ve started to realize that something was very different about him.

Now this isn’t a meta about how I think Tommy dealt with his sexuality (maybe I’ll do one of those later) but I think he never would’ve risked his football friends knowing even if he himself could acknowledge it, which I doubt. So he messed around, got in trouble with these guys, hung out with the bros, and pretended to be interested in girl talk.

Of course, eventually, his buddies all got girlfriends and he was always the odd one out again.

He didn’t do college. The army was his next step. And I feel like this might have been the first time in his life he wasn’t lonely. He’d learned to blend in by this point and he worked with some great people. But as he started making real friends for the first time, he also started losing them as the war tore them away.

Tommy left the army and joined the fire department. There was an aching hole where the camaraderie of the army had filled previously and with no education beyond a high school diploma, Tommy thought the fire department would replicate that. Not the police though. He’d had enough of guns.

(And ohhhh now so many ideas on his thoughts during the sniper)

But he ended up at the 118 and quickly realized that his team had maybe more of a DADT stance than the army. He realized that he had to put on an elaborate act to fool his fellow firefighters, who had more time on their hands and more prejudice they were willing to wield to pick apart his life. Tommy, who maybe had only just started to acknowledge he felt differently about guys with less panic than before, had no choice but to backslide. He acted and acted and crafted a person he wasn’t until the day that maybe he was. Sal was his closest buddy at the 118 and Tommy had no doubt that Sal would be one of the first to make his life hell. Gerrard seemed to look at Tommy as some sort of mentee. Boxed in by two notorious bigots, Tommy had never felt more claustrophobically alone.

Chim was the first one to reach out a hand of friendship, or at least the first one that didn’t come with caution tape, but he was also an “other” and Tommy, who was confused and afraid and had just had his captain call his bluff on his fake girlfriend, lashed out. Then he allowed Chim in and Chim wasn’t interested in being besties but he was a great drinking buddy and movie buddy and Tommy felt safest around him.

Then Hen came and Tommy watched her get the same treatment he was afraid of. Not that he had to worry about the racism, and he was aware of the privilege, but Hen didn’t exactly hide herself and he watched them bully his lesbian coworker. He let himself get pulled into it all and hated himself for it, but was too cowardly to break away from it. He wasn’t sure why Hen had forgiven him, but she became the only other person on shift he felt even a little safe around other than Howie. But then Chimney and Hen became best friends and Tommy fell to the wayside. They still included him, sure, but they were always a pair and there was something there that Tommy didn’t know but longed for. A closeness he’d never felt.

A best friend. A juvenile idea to him, but one he’d never truly had.

Then Gerrard was gone and Sal got transferred and the 118 moved forward under Captain Nash, but Tommy felt left behind, even in what was the most united A shift team yet. Because he was over 30 and was starting to be unable to ignore everything that he’d had to hide under Gerrard, as he no longer had a distraction from it.

He’d been a pilot in the army, so he transferred to Harbor. And Harbor was great. He wasn’t best buds with anyone (he was starting to think that was never in the cards for him) but his team didn’t carry the same baggage that the 118 had.

So Tommy started to come to terms with himself. He started to date for the first time and came out to his team. And he had several boyfriends, but most couldn’t handle the job or his baggage or the desperate need he had to be wanted. His most long term partner cheated and the one he fell hardest for couldn’t deal when Tommy was injured on the job. Even within his own relationships, he felt like he was destined to stand alone.

Tommy was 39 years old and alone, as always, when Chimney walked back into his life, dragging an adorable and also extremely hot blonde and a stoic brunette that radiated ex military in a way only ex military could know. And then Hen was there and they were trying to rescue their captain and his wife and they clearly loved each other fiercely and like family.

And as Tommy listened, flying through the remnants of a cat 5 hurricane, he thought to himself that he should’ve never left. Simply just never found himself if only that meant being part of the family the 118 was now. However, he knew deep down that he still would’ve been alone and on the outside.

And they rescued the survivors and Tommy thought that was it but then Eddie wanted to hang out. And they liked the same things and had similar experiences and Tommy couldn’t help the hope. Because the loneliness had grown stifling and now he could breathe a little. And then Evan, the cute blonde, wanted a tour of the hanger and he thought that maybe he was being hit on.

And then at the end of it all, Tommy was left realizing that he’d wedged himself between two best friends and that was what happened when he allowed himself to hope. So he went to Evan to apologize. He would get Evan and Eddie to talk to each other and then would fade into the background.

But then Evan was sweet and apologetic and told him that he was part of the 118 family simply by helping them. Tommy couldn’t help it. Here he was, at 39, with a little boy still waiting inside of him to be soothed. And Evan was hot and sweet and Tommy couldn’t help himself.

And he really liked Evan. Evan was adorable. But their first date didn’t go as planned and Tommy knew he was already whipped. So he removed himself before someone could get hurt. Evan deserved better and so did he, even if the loneliness was stifling again.

But then Evan texted him and looked at him with sparkling blue eyes over too sweet coffee and wanted him. Him. He wanted Tommy and to have something with Tommy and he wanted him to come to his sister’s wedding with him.

And Tommy looked at him and saw someone who could finally fill the ache he’d felt his whole life. He saw a man who he knew he wanted to take a chance with. All he had to do was jump.

And he did.

And it wasn’t solved, not immediately and never fully. Too many wounds were left gaping for too long to ever heal. But for the first time in his life, at 39, with the 118 surrounding him and Buck as the sunshine at his side, Tommy finally felt at peace.

[talktonytome]

Excerpt from my bucktommy roommates au WIP:

When Chimney connected him with Tommy, Buck never thought getting a roommate would also lead to finding a fast friend. He’s not only glad to be out of the frat house-seque living situation, but living with Tommy is great- Tommy is amazing. He’s so deadpan and dry with his humor, the kind that laps at you like the edge of a wave caressing the shore, you almost miss it. He keeps the place tidy and organized, which Buck is a big fan of. And Buck quickly discovered Tommy’s a movie nerd- loves romcoms in particular. He’s missed many a movie references between Tommy and Chim. Buck’s just never been a huge movie guy, but he finds he can’t say no to Tommy, who’s determined to introduce him to a new movie every week.

Last week, it was Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 movie (and yes it’s different from the BBC mini series, Tommy had pointed out.) Buck enjoyed it more than he thought he would, mostly because Tommy recited his favorite lines under his breath and glanced at Buck ever so often to gauge his reactions. It didn’t hurt that Mr. Darcy reminded Buck of Tommy, all tall, cool and stoic and could come off as closed-off before you got to know him, handsome, too. Buck ended up having a very weird dream that night which involved him and Tommy at a ball.

Their shifts don’t always align so they can’t have movie night on the same night every week, but they do make it a point to make time for it. Buck has snacks and beer ready, since he got off a bit earlier and now he’s just waiting for Tommy to get out of the shower. When he finally comes out, he’s wearing a nice button down and jeans. He ironed them, Buck realizes. His button down is open enough to reveal the hollow of his throat and something in Buck itches. He doesn’t know what that’s about. The point is, this is a date outfit, which means Tommy’s going out- but it’s movie night…

“H- heyy, Tommy,” he says awkwardly. “Uh, I have snacks and a movie, but Iooks like you’re going out?”

Buck sees the moment Tommy’s face falls. “Evan,” he groans softly. “I’m so sorry. I thought I texted you earlier, but I guess I never hit send. This guy asked me out and you know I haven’t been out with anyone, since you’ve known me. I just got excited, is all,” he explains. Buck knows Tommy doesn’t owe him an explanation. He’s free to go out, hell, he should. He’s a great guy and anyone would be lucky to be with him.

“Hey, no worries!” He says a little too cheery. “It’s okay, really. You deserve to go out. I hope you have a great time,” he tries to sound as sincere as possible, because Tommy does deserve to be happy. Sure, Buck’s a little disappointed and he doesn’t know why the thought of Tommy spending time with someone else stings a little, but there’s always next week. Tommy doesn’t look completely convinced but he nods and gives Buck a relieved smile. “Thanks, well don’t have too much fun without me,” he says drily.

“Yeah, well watching movies by myself’s not as fun,” he huffs. “I might go out, too. I mean, hot chicks love firefighters, right?” God, why did he say that? What is wrong with him? Tommy looks at him curiously. “O-okay?” He says slowly, a little confused. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Have a good night, Evan.”

“You too,” Buck calls out softly, as Tommy walks out of the door and locks it behind him.

[kinardsheart]

@marvelousbuckley prompt !!! buckley fights and whatnot

—————————

Everyone knew that when all the Buckley’s were at a table together, shit would go down.

Buck’s jaw tensed, teeth grinding against eachother in an effort to not snap. To not flip the table like some overdramatic movie scene and flee, get far away from whatever was happening right now.

Maddie’s worried eyes flicked from their parents to him, eyebrows furrowing as she no doubt was thinking of ways to de-escalate the situation, ever the mediator.

“What did you say?”

“We just think that you’re rushing into things. What, with all your past relationships, isn’t this a bit different?”

Pain surged through his body as he bit his tongue to bite back the venom he was about to hurl. His fists clenched, nails digging into his palms, keeping him from disassociating back into the same little boy that always came back.

“Mom, I think it’s a bit late. Jee-Yun’s asleep, I think we’re all a bit tired.”

His mother shook her head, bony hands resting over his fathers still ones moving to tuck a stray hair back into her neatly styled bob. Maddie sighed, leaning back in her chair uncomfortably, facial expression not moving from it’s worried state. This was happening.

“Why so?”

“Well… you know.”

An eyebrow raised as he stared them down intimidatingly, daring them to continue. “I don’t. Continue.”

Philip sighed wearily, as if Buck was the one who initiated the topic. As if Buck was the problem. Like always, his stupid son. Always causing problems. The thought made his stomach churn, queasy, nails digging deeper into his palms.

“Enough, Evan. This is just another rash decision like you always make. It won’t mean anything, you’ll snap out of it, son.”

Son. Like he was the one who taught him to tie a tie for his highschool formal. Ran around football fields with him as the sun glared above them, exhausted laughter as they collapsed on the fields and got ice cream on the way home. Held him as he cried and told him he was still a man. Images of makeshift father figures, his maths teacher, Bobby. Tears pricked at his waterline as he stood up, too exhausted to fight. They were never going to change.

Despite calls of his name as he walked out of the chilly apartment, maybe it wasn’t cold. maybe the chill came from the use of evan from mouths who didn’t deserve to it, he moved on autopilot. He was almost out; through the kitchen and about to open the front door when a smaller hand landed on his arm. Concerned, familiar brown eyes met his.

Memories of broken bikes, aching wounds, warm hugs and pinky promises swam around in his mind as he looked down at her.

“You know they’re just worried, right?”

His blood ran ice cold.

“Are you on their side?”

She flinched at his tone, shaking her head while her hand dropped from his arm, taking the warmth with it. “No, of course not. But they’re just worried, Evan. You don’t have to go, they don’t mean anything.”

The threat of his previous tears returned. “That’s the thing, Maddie. They never mean anything. They don’t care, and when they do, it’s never good.”

A deep breath, then he continued.

“You wanna know why they don’t like Tommy? Because I’m happy. They don’t like that. Why should I be happy when I’m not even the son they wanted? They said it themselves. I’m their reminder that the one they wanted is dead, looking them in the eyes.”

Her head tilted with her lips turning down in an upset frown.

There was nothing left to be said, he supposed. The bickering from the other room quietened as he opened the door, giving her one final look.

“Goodnight, Mads.”

——————

He doesn’t remember how he ended up here, at Tommy’s door. All he knows is that now there’s a dishevelled, clearly was just asleep firefighter in front of him, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes.

“Evan?”

Guilt flooded his senses. He shouldnt’ve come.

“Sorry, you’re tired. I’ll just go.”

Tiredness shifted into concern, a big hand reaching out for his as he turned to walk back to his jeep, no doubt in for a relentless night of tossing and turning.

“No, stay. You just woke me up, no need to go. What’s wrong?”

What was wrong? Everything, nothing?

His head hung low, the pang of pain from his nails digging into his palms returned. He flexed his hand, wincing in pain as the small wounds opened back up.

Tommy, ever so vigilant, didn’t miss this. The older man reached for his hands, gently bringing them up and turning them upright. A small frown formed, which was so wrong on his face. He deserved to smile. Buck was bringing him down.

“Oh, honey.”

The gentleness of the name, like Buck was something to care for. Something to be held, and loved. It broke him. Nobody deserved that burden, but maybe if Tommy wanted to carry it, he’d let him.

Buck fell forward into his outstretched arms, sobs wracking his body as he was just held, hands racking up and down his back soothingly.

Later, when he was settled, in a comfy bed full of content and love, he would tell him about the dinner. About Daniel. But for now, he could just cry. Tommy wouldn’t leave him for it.

[morgana-larkin]

Alright, got another idea for a fic. I was writing worth it but then got this in my head and just had to write it. I’ve seen a lot of ideas for Melissa x reader but never saw one where it’s age difference but in reverse. Where reader is older than Melissa. Summary: Melissa starts college to become a teacher and ends up falling for one of her teachers. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I’m almost done part 10 of Worth It and starting writing the next part of mine.

Wanna Kiss The Teacher

Warnings: Smut, bottom Mel, top reader, reader is older than Melissa, lot of fluff

Words: 3.2k

Melissa was determined to become a teacher. If she couldn’t be a firefighter due to her being a woman, then she’ll be a teacher.

It’s her first day at college and she couldn’t be more excited. While she went to the south Philly college and could stay at home, she chose to get a dorm room on campus since there’s 8 siblings at home and would need quietness for studying.

She walks down the hall on her way to her first class, English Major. She steps into the classroom and finds a seat at the front.

You’re about to start a new year as the English major teacher for the first years. You’re already at your desk at the front of the class, making sure your lesson plan is good. The clock strikes 8:30 and class begins. You get up and go to the chalkboard to write your name on it.

“Alright first years, welcome to your first class of your first year. I’ll be your professor Ms. Y/l/n.” You tell them and then turn around.

Melissa’s smile drops as soon as she sees you, she thinks you look stunning. You’re wearing a white blouse that’s tucked into black jeans that have a bit of flare at the bottom and your hair in a ponytail with some stray hairs at the front on your face.

Alright I’m just going to be taking attendance. While I do that, I suggest getting some paper and pencils ready as I’ll be starting immediately after.” You tell them and you see them all move to their bags. You go through the list of names and then you get to one that you’ll never forget. “Melissa Schemmenti?” You call out and Melissa raises her hand. You look up and do a double take, you think she looks beautiful. Her ginger bangs framing her face just right while the rest of it flows down her body like an orange river. Her black plain shirt that shows off just the right amount of cleavage. And her smile, her smile that can light up all of Philly. You process this all in a second and you go on to the next name on the list.

You then start class and you sometimes can’t help but look over at her. When you ask a question, you look at her first to see if her hand is raised. Most of the time it isn’t. When you first heard her speak, her voice is so confident yet smooth. After class she comes up to your desk.

“Ms. Y/l/n?” She asks you and you look up at her.

“Yes Melissa?” You ask her.

“I was wondering why you kept looking at me when you were teaching?” She asks and you freeze, of course she noticed.

“Well I sometimes can tell when people will make great teachers, and I think you will.” You tell her. Not a total lie, you actually do think she’ll make an excellent teacher. “You know what you’re talking about when you answer a question and you go with the flow. That’s important in this field.” You say and you look at her smiling at you and you suck in a breath quietly.

“Thank you Ms. Y/l/n.” She says and you can’t help but smile at her sweet voice. “I actually wanted to be a firefighter like most of my family but they rejected me due to being a girl so the next thing was being a teacher.” She says and you tilt your head.

“One day I’m sure they’ll accept women in that field. But sometimes I think things happen for a reason and I believe you didn’t get accepted as a firefighter because you’re meant to be a teacher. And who knows, you might save a life when you’re one. Teachers can be heroes too.” You tell her and her smile gets bigger at that.

“Thank you.” She says and she leaves after that.

2 months passes by quickly and you start getting to know her more. You have no idea why but she seems to take an interest in talking to you as much as you do with her. Everyday after class or if you run into each other in the halls or somewhere else then you two stop and talk.

You found out that she’s the oldest of 9 children, 6 daughters and 3 sons. The second oldest is her sister Kristen Marie who is wanting to be a teacher too and is coming next year. She lives on campus even though her family lives half an hour away, she has a big Italian family and her Nonna taught her and her siblings to cook.

She learned that you have 2 siblings, an older sister and brother. You have a dog at home and you live by the campus in one of the townhouses. Also that you have been a teacher for 5 years and that you’re 29 years old.

You can’t deny that your attraction to her grew instead of going away like you thought it would. You can’t do anything about it though, she’s your student and she probably wouldn’t be interested in being with her teacher anyway. It’s not against the law to be with a student but it’s considered unprofessional.

Melissa on the other hand loved getting to know about you. She loved that you didn’t seem to mind talking to her at any chance she got. She finally got the courage to ask to meet your dog, stating she loves meeting dogs and you accepted. You met her at her dorm room and knocked. She opened the door after a few seconds with a smile.

“Ready to go?” You asked her and she nodded and walked out then closed the door behind her. You two walked and talked to each other on the way to your car. You don’t know why you accepted for her to meet your dog Max. You like her and she seemed to take an unusual interest in you.

You got in your car and drove the 3 minutes to your house. You both got out of the car and you went into your place where Max was at the door like he always is when he hears you coming. You bent down to pick him up as he was 15 pounds and turned him to meet Melissa.

“Max, this is Melissa. Melissa this is Max, my little doodle.” You say and pet his head with your free hand.

Melissa stuck her hand out for Max to sniff and after a few sniffs, he deemed her acceptable and jumped out of your hands and ran to her wagging his tail.

“Hi Max.” Melissa said in a higher pitched voice that you assumed was her dog voice. Everyone has one. She started petting Max and he seemed to keep wagging his little tail and started licking and wanting to play with her.

Melissa went on the ground, on her knees and started playing with him. You heard her keep giggling and you thought it was the cutest scene you’ve ever seen and she has the cutest giggle you ever heard.

“Do you want anything to drink? I have water, milk, apple juice.” You suggest and she looked up at you.

“Actually some water would be really nice, please.” She says and you nod your head and go to the kitchen.

When you come out a minute later, you see Melissa running around with Max running after her. She has a huge smile on her face and his tail won’t stop wagging.

“No wonder he likes you, you’re as crazy as he is.” You tell her with a smile and then hand her the cup of water.

She accepts it with a thank you then takes a sip. You can’t help but look at her lips when she does. The way she places it on the cup and her mouth is a bit open to let the water in. You look down at her neck when she swallows and entranced by the way it moves. You look away when she’s done her sip, hoping she didn’t catch you staring at her.

She did catch you staring and with a wave of confidence, she puts the glass down, grabs your shirt and pulls you to her lips.

You pull back after your brain catches up with the situation and you look at her like a deer in the headlights.

“Melissa, why did you just kiss me?” You ask her shocked. When you ask that, all her confidence she got vanished and she got really nervous.

“Be-because I like you and I- I had a-a feeling that you liked me back. I- I’m sorry, I read the situation wrong.” She stuttered a bit and you grabbed her wrist when she started backing away.

“Melissa, you didn’t read the situation wrong. I do like you, and I’m honestly surprised you like me. But I’m your teacher.” You tell her and she blushes.

“You really do like me?” She asks and you nod. She goes to kiss you again but you stop her with a hand on her chest.

“Melissa, I’m your teacher, we can’t.” You tell her and she pouts.

“It’s not illegal, I’m 18.”

“You’re right, it’s not illegal but we shouldn’t as it’s considered unprofessional. And also, same sex relationships aren’t fully accepted yet.” You tell her and she looks down. You hold her hands and she looks up at you and into your eyes. “You’re beautiful, kind and wonderful and I’m certain that you’ll find someone, someone who isn’t your teacher.” You tell her and she looks at you with determination.

“Why can’t the person be you? I don’t care if you’re my teacher. I like you and I want to be with you.” She tells you, not backing down. Suddenly Max jumps at Melissa from behind and she stumbles forward, into you. You catch her and she feels amazing in your arms. She lifts a hand up and moves a lock of your hair out of your face and you look at her stunned.

You suddenly feel like you can’t deny her anymore, you lean forward and kiss her. You move your hand to the back of her head and she moves her hand to your neck. You pull back and lean your forehead on hers, both of you breathing heavy.

“I really shouldn’t be doing this.” You tell her and she smiles at you.

“You shouldn’t, but you want too.” She replies back with and you chuckle.

“I really do want you.” You tell her and she pulls back to look at your face.

“Then take me, take me right now.” She suddenly says and you quirk an eyebrow at her.

“Melissa, we shouldn’t be doing that. I mean I just found out you like me back literally 5 minutes ago.” You tell her and she leans forward.

“But haven’t you wanted me for longer than 5 minutes?” She says and starts kissing your neck. You tilt your head to the opposite side to give her more access and you hum.

“Oh god, yes I have. Since day 1 I thought you were so beautiful.” You admit to her and you feel her smile on your neck.

She pulls back a bit. “So then take me, please. I’ve wanted you since day 1 as well. I don’t want to wait any longer.” She tells you and you look at her.

“Are you a virgin?” You ask her and she looks down for a second then looks back up at you and nods.

“Is that a problem?” She asks you and you groan.

“Melissa, I-I-” you start to say but then gets cut off as she starts sucking on your neck and you moan. “Melissa, you’re first- first time, should be with someone special.” You tell her and she pulls back and looks at you.

“All the other people that I’ve had interest in, I didn’t want to have sex with them, but I want to have sex with you.” She tells you and places her hands under your shirt, on your hip.

She starts to inch her hands up, slowly asking for permission to take it off and kisses you passionately. “Fuck it.” You say as you pulled back and took your shirt off. You then surge forward and kiss her hard, causing her to walk backwards until she hits a wall. You press her up against the wall and trail down her neck. She gasp underneath you when you start sucking on her neck.

You place your hands at the hem of her shirt, pull back and look at her.

“Are you 100% certain about this. If we continue then I won’t want to stop. Well I will if you tell me to at any point but-” she cuts you off with a kiss.

“I’m certain, I want you.” She tells you and you pull her shirt off. She unclips her bra and lets it fall to the ground. When you see her chest bare before you, you almost couldn’t believe it. They were magnificent and you lick your lips. You look at her and she nods, giving you permission to touch them all you want.

Instead you pick her up bridal style and she yelps due to the shock. You bring her to your room and put her down gently on your bed. You climb on top of her and kiss her and put your hands on both her breasts and squeeze a little bit. She moans under you and starts squirming when you put your mouth on a nipple. You put your body on hers when she won’t stop squirming and you can feel her trying to move still. If it wasn’t her first time then you’d tell her to stop squirming, but for her to actually concentrate on what she’s feeling, then you’ll let her try to move how her body feels like it needs too.

She snakes her hand around your back and she unclips your bra then pulls it off. You trail down to her pants then look at her and she nods at you again. You undo the button on her jeans then pull the zippeee down before pulling her pants down. You pull her underwear down at the same time by accident but play it off like you meant to do that.

You smile at her completely bare under you and she’s stunning, angelic looking. You take your pants and underwear off then get down on your knees. You hook your arms around her legs and pull her towards the edge of the bed. You immediately attach your mouth to her clit and she moans out. She bucks her hips and you have to pin her down. She grabs a hold of your hair and she gasps when you go faster. You can tell she’s close by the fact that she’s shaking and she’s breathing heavily.

“Oh god, y/n, I’m so close!” She tells you. You add a finger in her entrance and she gasps loudly. She then comes with a scream and you don’t slow down. She lets go of your hair and grabs hold of a pillow. You can see she needs something to stabilise herself so you remove your mouth from her clit and put your thumb there instead. You then lay on top of her but you put one arm next to her and lean on it so you don’t put all your weight on her. You kiss her lips and she’s all too eager to kiss you back. She then pulls back and gasps when she comes again.

You slow down inside of her and remove your thumb from her clit and the finger that’s inside of her. She just lays there breathing heavily and you kiss her and she kisses you back. While kissing her, she inserts a finger in your entrance by surprise and you gasp in the kiss. You then pull back and have your mouth hanging open when she starts moving in and out of you. You start riding her finger and she lets you.

“Dio mio.” She blurts out and you moan at that, she sounds beautiful speaking Italian. You ride her finger in a way that gets her finger to hit that spot inside of you that brings you close to the edge. Melissa catches on quickly and wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you closer to her. You end up stop riding her finger and she starts doing the pumping again, only this time the way she knows you like the best. Melissa slides another finger in you and you squeak out a gasp. You’re close to an orgasm and you kiss her again. You gasp into the kiss as you come and she slows down and pulls out of you.

You pull back from kissing her and she brings her fingers to her mouth and she licks her fingers clean. You both end up cuddling, with her head on your chest and your arm wrapped around her.

“I hope you know that this won’t affect your grade at all, even though you were amazing.” You tell her and she giggles.

“We both know that I don’t need it. My grades are already high.” She replies back with.

“That’s true.” You say and look at her with adoration. She looks up at you and sees your eyes and she blushes.

“I got to kiss my teacher.” She says proudly and you laugh.

“Oh you did a lot more than just kiss me sweetheart.”

*30 years later*

Melissa and Barb were in the break room talking while the trio was at their table. You suddenly walk in and hand Melissa a bag of takeout and she looks at you confused.

“What did you do?” She asks you.

“Nothing, I can’t just surprise my wife with her favourite takeout food?” You tell her slyly and she quirks an eyebrow. “I’m bored.” You tell her and she giggles. “Only teaching 2 classes instead of 4 is boring.” You tell her and she shakes her head at you.

“Melissa, you have a wife?” Janine asks and you both turn to the trio who’s looking at you both stunned.

“I never hid that I’m married.” She says.

“You never said it was to a woman.” Jacob tells her and you look at Melissa and cross your arms.

“Really?” You say to her and she gives you her cutest smile. “20 years we’ve been married and you still don’t tell people you have a wife.” You mumble out and she chuckles.

“Come sit Bella.” She tells you and you move a chair right beside her and sit down. She leans in closer to you and you wrap an arm around her. “Thanks for the food Amore.” She tells you and digs into the bag.

“Not a problem sweetheart.” You tell her and she turns to you and gives you a kiss. Barb and the trio are watching the interaction with a smile.

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Let me know if you want to be added!

[writersmess]

Hi I was wondering if you could write an evan buckley x female reader where the female reader is a firefighter that got stuck at the top of a tall building when on a call out and the reader has a bad fear of heights so she has a panic attack but buck is there to help her and comfort her (if you could include a smidge of hen being mother hen I would be so greatful🥰)

I would love it if you could do this☺️

I’LL BE BRAVE | EVAN BUCKLEY

Pairing: Evan Buckley x fem!reader

Warning: panic attack, fear of hights.

Word count: 1.5k

a/n: this is my first request everrr! I am super excited! I apologize if there are any mistakes, english is not my first language. I hope you enjoy it!

Masterlist

...........................................

Today was being a good day. A few months had passed since you had been transferred to 118 and you were officially part of this crazy family. You loved them. You had a special bond with Hen. Your sister worked with Karen and since the two of you started living alone after your parents death, Karen and Hen practically adopted you. You had dinner at their house almost every night and as soon as they heard that you had become a paramedic, Hen made sure to take you to 118.

And it was the best thing that ever happened in your life. You were now part of a family that you hadn’t had for a long time. Bobby and Athena loved you and your sister as if you were their own daughters. Chim and Maddie adored you, and Eddie made you babysit when he needed to solve some things or even go to dates, not that you’re complaining, you absolutely loved being with Christopher.

And there was Buck.

Your relationship was complicated. Nobody could ever contain their surprise when they realized how similar you and Buck were, your (bad) jokes, your charm, your humor. You were practically the same person. And the sexual tension that swirled between you was frighteningly visible. The jokes about you getting a room were constant. Until you got one. And you had the best night of your lives together.

The problem was the after. You didn’t know how to react around each other, everything was so uncomfortable. Until one day you realized that you were developing feelings for the blue-eyed fireman. This scared you so much, that you decided to distance yourself. You were giving him the cold shoulder for a few weeks now, and it was making buck feel really uncomfortable. He didn’t like not hearing your contagious laughter, your ridiculous jokes or not being able to have some of your warm hugs. The two of you were so confused.

“you should talk to him, I can’t stand you two idiots acting all weird anymore” Hen had been trying to make you talk to him for days and today as you were on the way to a call was no different.

“oh sure- Buck, after an amazing night together I found myself completely in love with you. How does this even make sense” you mocked as you prepared to get out of the ambulance and you heard Hen’s laughter.

“first of all, too much details. Second, you could just have a mature conversation together and it would all work out.” You rolled your eyes and Hen held your arm. “if you could only see the way he looks at you.”

Hen released the grip on your arm and you ran towards Bobby who was shouting orders to the team. Today was a tough call. A residential building on fire. You prepared triage for the arriving victims while the firefighters rushed with their equipment into the burning building.

“Cap, I need some help over here. A victim on the second floor with a piece of wood stuck in his chest. I won’t be able to transport him that way.”

You could hear Eddie calling the captain over the radio and your gaze crossed with Hen’s. When she made mention of moving, you were faster.

“Cap let me help. The wood needs to be stabilized and if that doesn’t work, they'll need someone with enough medical knowledge, or that person won’t make it out of that building alive.” Your heart was beating wildly in your chest. The adrenaline was extremely high and you could feel your hands sweating.

You noticed the look Bobby gave Hen and saw when she nodded slightly. The minute you finished gearing up, you saw Buck leaving the building with another victim and when his gaze met you, the desperation was clear on his face.

“Cap no, she can’t go inside. It’s too dangerous.” He tried to persuade the captain, but it wasn’t Buck who was going to undo his decision.

“Buck, you don’t give the orders here, she’s already prepared to go in. Either you will go inside with her, or I will”

He didn’t have to say it twice and in a few seconds you were inside a burning building. Buck was directing you where it was safe to step, when to duck or sneak. Your heart was pounding, your breathing was heavy. It was so hot. As soon as you found Eddie, he gave you the same surprised look, but let you do your job. When the patient was stable, he could finally be transported without danger.

Eddie and Ravi went ahead and you stayed behind for a few seconds. Long enough so that when you went to cross the same hallway you came in, a burning beam fell in front of you. Buck pulled you to his feet just as the beam passed within millimeters of your face. You were in shock for a few seconds.

“We have to go up, it’s the safest option.”

Before you could think, Buck pulled you in and you ran up the stairs to the top floor. As you went through the door that led to the terrace you could hardly breathe because of how many floors you ran up. All you could hear was Bobby’s orders to evacuate the building. It could collapse at any second. Buck radio him your location and the captain said that they were going to position the ladder for you to get out of there. Buck ran to the edge of the building and when he made mention of pulling you in, you could see how high up you were and you got desperate.

“cmon, we have to be prepared to jump on the ladder” He tried to pull you again but you were faster and took a few steps back.

“i can’t- Buck i can’t”

“What are you talking about, we have to-“

“Buck i CAN’T” you shouted the last word and he could see the desperation in your voice. You started to hyperventilate, your head was spinning, and you fell to your knees on the floor before Buck could hold you.

“w-what is going on? are you o-okay?” He asked holding you in his arms but could see you had difficulty in drawing in air. Buck quickly took off your mask and saw the tears streaming down your face. He started to panic.

“i-i can’t, it’s too h-high” You stuttered and he finally understood. You were afraid of heights.

“hey, hey look at me” He held your face firmly and tears were streaming down your face. “We need to get out of here, the building is going to collapse any second. I need you to trust me because I don’t want to lose you today, okay? I don’t want to lose you without having a chance to tell you how I feel about you, us”

Your eyes widened and he continued talking. “I need you to take a deep breath for me okay? Do it for me please"

You nodded desperately and drew deep breaths. You could hear Bobby yelling at you to get out of there soon, the building was about to collapse. Buck stood up and held out his hand to you. “Do you trust me?”

You nodded again and Buck guided you to the ladders.

"i need you to be brave"

He never let go of your hand, and when you were halfway down, the building collapsed. Buck held you as tight as he could as everything came crashing down behind you.

As soon as the smoke cleared enough for you to finish coming down, everyone rushed to meet you.

“What happened, are you okay? Are you hurt?” Hen ran up to you checking you out and you hugged her tight, assuring her that you were fine. Either way she put you in the ambulance to check your vitals and put you in oxygen for your difficult to breath.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again, and don’t ever try to be a smart-ass again. Next time you stay and I’ll go” she complained as you parked at the station and you smiled.

“Okay okay, sorry for the scare mama Hen.”

You scoffed as you opened the ambulance to organize the supplies and noticed when a pair of blue eyes walked past you. You quickly pulled him aside and he had his eyebrows raised. “I believe you commented something that if I didn’t die today, you would have a confession to make” you noticed his cheeks turning pink and you laughed.

“thank you for helping me there. I could never imagine I would panic in the middle of a burning building, but my fear of heights took me to a very dark place and if you hadn’t been with me, I probably wouldn’t be-“ Your eyes were watering and buck’s arms surrounded you.

“you don’t need to thank me, I will always have your back” You broke away from the embrace and you saw that damn smirk on his face. “I hope we can continue this conversation at my place after the shift?”

“asshole” You laughed and went back to the ambulance.

You were so screwed.

[goldenempyrean]

I am LOVING your Marina stuff! Can I request a fic where Maya goes to work sick because duh it’s Maya, as a result she gets injured- nothing serious just broken ribs or a dislocated shoulder (basically anything that makes that makes coughing/sneezing/blowing her nose little bit more inconvenient). Cue hot Italian doctor wife looking after her :))

Doubled Down Misery

〚 Notes - This request was adorable so hopefully I've done it some justice, please ignore any editing errors, It's late and despite unintentionally falling asleep at my desk for 6 hours I'm still tired :,) 〛

〚 Pairing - Maya Bishop x Carina Deluca 〛

〚 Summary - What happens when a too sick to work Maya Bishop gets injured and ends up at Grey Sloan? 〛

〚 Wordcount - 3,400 〛

〘 Check Out My Masterlist! 〙

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Maya dragged herself out of her bunk with a groan. God, everything hurt. Each movement seemed to make a different part of her body ache, a bitter reminder of the consequences of her stubbornness. She knew she should have called in sick when she felt this cold settling in her sinuses a few nights ago. Maya needed to rest. Captain Bishop needed to work. 

She’d hoped a nap would’ve had her feeling a little better but, in all honesty, she’d woken up feeling worse. The first call of her shift had been eventful. They’d been at the site 4 hours in the pouring rain, shouting orders and organising the scene had torn apart her already hoarse voice leaving it a raspy wreck. 

The blonde sat up woozily, blinking slowly as she adjusted to the spinning room. With a sudden, violent sneeze, she hastily covered her mouth with her elbow, the force of it causing her to sway unsteadily. Maya groaned, leaning back to flop back onto her bed but the moment her body made contact with the mattress, the blaring of the klaxon rang out. 

Maya's heart sank as the shrill sound pierced through her already throbbing head. She cursed under her breath before coughing deeply into her arm. She gave herself a second to compose herself before pushing herself off the bed, fighting against the wave of dizziness threatening to overwhelm her.  

By some miracle she managed to change into her turnouts without falling over and climbed into the engine. She slumped into the front seat, swallowing thickly as Andy slammed the engine into first gear as they hauled out of the station. 

Honestly, she tried her hardest to pay attention as dispatch relayed the information of the scene they were arriving at, but her sinuses demanded her attention. Maya scrunched up her nose, hoping to alleviate the burning itch but it didn’t seem to help. Her breath hitched. Maya tried to hold it off but an inevitable, sneeze seized her, and the firefighter hastily brought her elbow to her face, attempting to muffle the sound. "’Iiishhiew!" Her body jerked with the force of it, and she winced, feeling the ache in her ribs from the strain. 

Andy’s eyes glanced from the road to the sniffling blonde after her head ducked into her elbow twice more. She pulled down her headset and motioned for Bishop to do the same, “You sure you’re up to this? This storm isn’t letting up and you really don’t sound good Cap’.” 

“I’ll be okay.” Maya nodded, clearing her throat with a deep cough, before sniffling damply, “I just need to not lose my voice.” 

Andy gave her a look but said nothing, she knew Maya’s habit of pushing herself in times like this - the fear of being percussion as weak had been deep-rooted into her from childhood, something like that wasn’t easily overcome, “Well we’re only a block out now. Get yourself ready Mai’.” 

“This is gonna be rough.” 

✧.*  

Understatement of the fucking century. 

“What the hell happened?” Carina’s worried voice yelled above the commotion of the ER. She had just been finishing up a patient’s paperwork when she felt her heart drop as she caught site of the messy blonde hair visible from behind the crowd of numerous firefighters and doctors wheeling a bed through the corridor out of the corner of her eye. 

“Bambina?” Oh my god Maya!” The Italian practically dropped the file she’d been holding to race to her wife’s side. Maya was laying on her back, one arm clutching at her side with a visible grimace and the other in a makeshift sling as an oxygen mask was loosely attached to her face. 

“Carina. Carina!” Andy backed up from the bed to pull the doctor aside, encouraging her to take a deep breath as the other doctors got Maya settled in a bay, “She’s okay Carina, she’s gonna be okay. “ 

“Wh-what happened? Maya- she’s-“The brunette spiralled, looking around desperately to make sense of things, she was too worried to think straight. 

“Carina!” Andy gripped her shoulders and used her lieutenant voice, snapping the Italian back to reality, “She’s okay. I promise you, she’s okay. There was an incident at the scene. Maya ran in to save this little boy’s puppy and a support beam from the roof fell onto her. She was on oxygen on the way here for minor smoke inhalation but her O2 levels were improving when we arrived. We’re looking at a broken rib and or arm at the absolute worse, she will be absolutely fine Carina.” 

Carina nodded numbly; her eyes glued to Maya as the doctors continued to work around her. She could see the small grimaces on Maya’s face, the way she clenched her jaw in pain. 

She was just about to head to her side when the rest of the firefighters backed away from the bed, Jack and Travis came jogging towards them both. 

“They’re taking her to x-ray, Dr. Altman said to tell you she’s gonna hand everything.” Jack explained, giving Carina’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. Despite their initial incompatibility, the two had grown closer with the clinic and Jack knew just what Carina needed to hear to reassure her, “She also said that they’re gonna put her in another room since her condition doesn’t require urgent care. She’ll be in B.04 when they’re done.” 

The half an hour or so it had taken for them to be done felt like days. Time had felt like it had crawled by as Carina paced the room. The rest of the Station 19 team had been called away to another fire somewhere downtime and as much as they hated it, they had to attend. 

She was sat on the little armchair in the corner of the room when the door was pushed open by a nurse followed by the bed being wheeled in. “Maya!” Carina’s voice was loud as she called out, instantly jumping up to be at her side.  

“Carina?”  

“Mio Dio,” Carina nervously eyed up the sling that Maya’s right arm had been placed in, her worried gaze following as she noticed Teddy step into the room, “What on earth have you gotten yourself into bambina?” 

Dr. Altman calmed her down for a moment, flashing a reassuring smile, “Carina, Maya will be just fine. I’ll go over anything in a moment, I just need to set up a drip first, okay?” 

“Okay.” Carina nodded but wasted no time in coming to sit on the bed alongside her wife as, the firefighter mumbling something before curling up to her as the blonde doctor carefully inserted an IV into her left hand. 

“Okay. Well, let’s start with the worse of it. Maya had bruised several ribs and fractured her right radius, but please don’t worry, I can assure you theres no severe damage to either. She’ll need to keep the sling on for 4-6 weeks just to let the bone heal.” Teddy explained and instantly the OB could feel her jittering nerves relax as she squeezed Maya’s hand a little softer. 

“However, we took her temperature on arrival and it’s actually a little elevated though and her WBC count is slightly raised, not to mention the fact she’s clearly dehydrated so we’ve given her a fever reducer and general fluids along with the pain relief.” Dr Altman continued as she read from the chart in her hands. Maya stirred in Carina’s hold, turning her head away to cough raspily against her upper shoulder, whining softly at how it caused her chest to throb. 

“You can probably hear but her breathing is a little rough, but we heard congestion in her lungs. She most likely just has a viral infection from what Andy told us but ut we’ll keep an eye on her O2 just incase” 

The OB murmured sympathetically as her wife hid a sniffle against her shoulder, “This really isn’t your day is it sweetheart? Did you not feel well this morning?” 

“No- no, m’fine.” Maya’s eyes fluttered open, her brows furrowing as she tried to sit up a bit more, wincing as pain shot through her ribs. "Really, Carina, it's just a little cough. I'll be fine. I can—" 

"No, Maya," Carina interrupted firmly but lovingly, pressing her hand lightly against Maya’s shoulder to keep her from moving too much. "You need to listen to the doctors. You need to take care of yourself." 

Now that Teddy had mentioned it, the heat radiating from her was obvious. Carina leaned over to grab the thermometer which sat on the small nurses' station by Maya’s IV and gently inserted it into her ear, ignoring her fussing and protests. 

“38.6.” The screen flashed and Carina stuck out her lip, “That’s really not good Mai, were you seriously working with a fever that high?” 

Maya stubbornly shook her head, a defiant glint in her eyes despite the pain and discomfort. "I didn't even notice, Carina. It's just a little fever. I've worked with worse." 

Carina sighed, her worry mingling with frustration. "Maya, you can't keep pushing yourself like this. It’s not good for you!” 

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. Getting frustrated at her stubbornness wasn’t the right way to go about things. knew how Maya could be around doctors. Hell, she remembered just how frantic her wife could act around them. She was trying her best to keep her calm right now, but it was obvious how fidgety and uncomfortable her wife was getting. Ultimately all she could do now was try to soothe her through it. 

As Maya tried to assert her stubbornness, she suddenly sneezed loudly… twice, trice? She sniffled and bit back a wince, clutching her one useable arm to her ribs. 

Carina offered her a tissue, but she ignored it. Instead, Maya struggled herself to sit up, determination etched across her face despite the pain. "No, really, I can—" Her sentence was cut short as a harsh, grating cough overtook her, making her whole body convulse. The coughing fit seemed to drain what little strength she had left, and she gasped for breath in its aftermath, her chest rising and falling rapidly. 

Carina's heart ached watching her wife suffer, but she maintained a firm, soothing demeanour. She gently rubbed Maya's back, her touch both comforting and insistent. "Shhh, amore, you need to rest. Let the medicine work. Let us help you." 

“I don’t need help-“ Maya tried to stifle the cough, pressing her lips together and clenching her fists, but it only made things worse. She finally let it out, the sound echoing in the room, making Teddy glance over from her charts with a look of sympathy before discreetly taking a few steps back. 

The coughing had caused wave of pain passed over her, she bit her lip, her eyes filling with tears she couldn't hold back. Her breath hitched as she tried to stifle a sob, but it was no use. The combination of pain, fever, and sheer exhaustion finally overwhelmed her. 

"I just hate feeling like this," she whispered, her voice breaking as her face crumbled up, “I hate being weak." 

Carina tried to calm her down, gently murmuring sweet nothings in her native tongue, an action which usually helped to call her nerves. But May was restless. The movement was enough to send a sharp pain through her ribs, making her gasp sharply. The tears flowed more freely now, her body trembling with each painful sob. "But I can't... I have so much to do... I can't just lie here." 

Maya's shoulders slumped, and she let out a shaky breath. The tears spilled over, and she buried her face in Carina's shoulder, her body trembling with a deep, chesty rough followed by an exhausted sob. "I hate this," she cried. "I hate feeling so weak and useless. I’m meant to be their Captain.” 

The OB rubbed her back soothingly, her own eyes misting over with sympathy. "I know, bambina," she murmured. "I know it's hard love. But you are not weak or useless. You are hurt and sick, and you need time to heal. That's all. That does not make you any less of a captain.” 

After a few minutes of just letting her cry it all out, Maya began to slowly calm down. Eventually her sobs gradually subsided into sniffles, her breathing evening out as she clung to Carina. She was beyond exhausted. The two stayed comfortable together for a moment before Carina could feel Maya’s chest rising rapidly. She looked down and recognised the way her face shifted slightly, her eyes blinking as she fought back the itching in her sinuses' 

The OB smiled sweetly, “You want a tissue bambina?” 

“No, I don’t need—” Maya began, but she didn’t get to finish her sentence before Carina cut her off with a chuckle. 

“Your nose is twitching Mai’.” 

"You’re not fooling anyone, amore," She murmured softly. Her wife’s pale face flushed slightly, whether from embarrassment or the fever, “Just let it out.” 

Ever stubborn, the firefighter tried to shake her head once more, but the any denial was pointless when she was sent forward with an exhausting sounding sneeze. With her dominant arm in a sling, and her reaction speed slowed as an effect of the pain medicine, by the time she’d lifted her opposite hand to cover it had been too late, Carina’s baby-pink scrubs were caught in the crossfire. 

“Poor bambina, bless you. Ugh, I knew you were coming down with something when I heard you snoring the other night.” The doctor mumbled sadly as she reached over to grab a tissue from the nearby table, dabbing it gently beneath the blonde’s nose, “I’m sorry. I should’ve said something, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” 

Maya only shook her head, the last of her voice scraping from her throat, “t’s not your fault. I should’ve let someone else go in. I-“ 

Carina shushed her gently, “Rest your voice Mai, you need to give your poor throat a break,” She turned to Dr. Altman - who had been finishing up Maya’s paperwork and chart - and gave her a grateful nod, “Thank you Teddy for treating her.” 

Teddy gave her a comforting smile, “I’ve told you already before that your family is my family, Carina. She’s okay to go home once that drip’s finished up. I’ll have an intern bring the discharge papers down in a few hours.” 

The Italian nodded, flashing her an appreciative smile. She mouthed another thank you as Dr. Altman left, closing the door behind her. The two were left alone in the room, Maya’s raspy breathing and damp sniffles the only audible sound. Carina leaned down to press a soft kiss to her messy hair, “Do you want me to plait it for you?” She asked quietly, knowing it would make her feel a little better. 

“Are you sure? I can’t smell but it probably smells of smoke.” The firefighter mumbled, sniffling thickly. 

The OB gave her another kiss, “You know I don’t care about that, are you able to sit forward for me a little bit bambina?”  

Her fingers gently combed through Maya's hair, soothing the tangles with careful, practiced movements. She reached for the small pink bobble on wrist, lifting a section of Maya's hair to start the plait 

As she carefully started weaving the strands into a neat braid, Maya’s nose twitched again, and she turned her head slightly, preparing for the inevitable sneeze. Carina, noticing the movement, quickly grabbed a tissue and held it gently to Maya's nose just in time. 

The sneeze was forceful, and Maya winced at the pain it caused her ribs. Carina kept the tissue in place, wiping away the moisture with a tender touch. 

“Bless you, bella,” Carina murmured, her tone full of affection. She discarded the tissue and continued braiding Maya's hair, her movements slow and deliberate. 

“I’m sorry,” Maya mumbled, turning slightly to look over her shoulder. 

Carina shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, Maya. You’re sick, and you’re allowed to be taken care of. You always look after me, sì? Let me do the same for you.” 

It didnt take long for her to finish the rest of her braid and it sat neat and tidy by Maya’s ear, safety out of the way. A much better alternative than her previous mess of tangles. She knew she couldn’t take away the pain and sickness entirely but anything to ease the discomfort she would do. 

Her face lit up as an idea popped into her head, “Do you want me to go get you a drink?” Carina asked kindly, she knew Maya probably hadn’t had time hence her dehydration, “I can run and get you one of those sports drinks you like. The ones with electrolytes?” 

“Can you get me the red berry one?”  

“Of course I can, stay put bella. I’ll be 5 minutes.” The doctor smiled, gently scooting from her place beside Maya, helping her settle back down before leaving the room. Her office wasn’t far away so she knew it wouldn’t take long. 

She had a small fridge in there. One which her kept not only her emergency comfort food in but one she kept a small stock of Maya’s favourite drinks in. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen her wife dehydrated and she always liked to be able to have something on hand. 

After walking swiftly to her office, she made a delighted noise of success when she realised, she did in-fact have the berry flavour that Maya had originally wanted.  

Carina grabbed the chilled bottle, feeling a sense of satisfaction at being able to provide exactly what Maya needed. She knew how much the little things mattered. Maya wasn’t sick often but whenever she was the brunette knew that all the small little acts of kindness was what would made her feel better. 

When she got back to the room, she honestly had expected Maya to have been asleep - the fever reducer Teddy had given her was one that always made patients tired - but her eyes widened as she came back to see her wife straining herself, attempting to stretch over to reach the box of tissues sat on the nearby table. 

“Hey, hey, careful, silly girl.” Carina sighed, coming back to her side 

“I just needed-“ A deep cough interrupted her as Maya failed to reach out for the tissue box, but it was out of her reach with her only useable hand still connected and she gave a defeated sniffle in response, rubbing her knuckles beneath her nose instead. 

Carina shook her head fondly and gave a gentle pout as she picked up the box and set it on Maya’s lap. She swiped a few before the blonde had the chance and held them up to her nose. 

“Blow bella.” 

The firefighter gave her a look and she could see the red flush of embarrassment creeping up her cheeks, “Maya there is nobody else here. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, just let me take care of you for once” Carina murmured in soft reassurance, “You’re safe.” 

Whether it was her little speech, or the fact Maya was simply too sleepy from her medicine to care anymore but she did end up blowing her nose whilst Carina kindly held the tissues for her, carefully cleaning up her face afterwards before pressing a soft kiss to her warm forehead. It did feel a little cooler than earlier now. 

“Good job bambina. That wasn’t too hard, no?” The OB whispered fondly, her hand coming to soothingly massage the blonde’s scalp in just the way she knew always made Maya sleepy. As Maya yawned, Carina remembered the drink she had originally come to collect. She handed it to her, making sure to open the small cap first. 

“Here my love, drink this for me and then you can a sleep, okay?” She murmured, a small grin playing on the lips when the blonde budged up to make room for her on the bed, “Just a few hours and then we’ll get you home as soon as your IV has finished, okay?” 

“Just a few hours?” 

“Yes bambina, just a few hours andthen we’ll get you home and back to bed, okay?” 

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[2stepadmiral]

Something I love about Luke, Leia, and Han is that before the Skywalker twins reached their mid twenties, the trio shared about three braincells.

I mean, before the Death Star, Leia and Han probably had a respectable amount each (Leia needed to be smart as an up and coming Rebellion leader and Han definitely was clever as a smuggler and conman), but after that first argument in the detention hall in the middle of a desperate firefight that culminated in a dive into the trash compactor, some cosmic alignment of their inner natures mixed with the will of the Force resulted in both of them being brought down to Luke’s level.

Now, over the years, they all became much smarter and better at working together, but right from the death star onwards for the first few years, they shared about three brain cells. Individually, each of the three were in possession of maybe one at all times, and were decently competent on their own. Luke was a great pilot and field commander, Leia was a fine strategist and mission planner and inspirational leader, and Han, of course, was a very competent smooth talker and mechanic, as well as a brilliant pilot. But put them together in a room, or on a mission together, and usually one of them is going to end up with all three brain cells while the others are up on their shit.

Luke usually ends up with the brain cells when Han and Leia are bickering. The slightest thing sets them off, and suddenly Luke is the voice of reason, which she is very much not used to being.

“I thought you said this was a shortcut, not the front doorstep to an Imperial station for the sector.”

“Hey, I’ve slipped through this way a dozen times before, and never had any trouble. You were supposed to be monitoring the base.”

“Oh, sure, captain, blame me for you forgetting there is an imperial outpost over here.”

“ < exasperated sigh> Alright, Chewie, let’s power up the guns, and hope that these two don’t crash into a Star Destroyer.”

When Leia has all three, it’s usually because Han is on some reckless Corellian daredevil kick, and Luke is in adventure crazed teenager living his dream mode and is too focused on his x-wing or his squadron to see the big picture. Both mindsets are often at least indirectly because of the influence of Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu.

“Luke, stop fiddling with your X-wing, we have a scouting mission.

“One second, I’ve almost got the inertial dampeners just where I need them. Wedge and I were talking, and I think if we have these in sync during our next mission, we should be able to reduce drag by 1.56%.”

“You can finish when we get back.”

“ Wait, we’re not taking Rogue Squadron?”

“<sigh> what part of scouting mission did you miss? and where is Han?”

“I think he’s with Wedge and Tycho.“

“Oh no. What laser brain stunt did they dare him to try this time?“

“…Well, they might’ve said something about flying the falcon through the gap of a communication tower on an Imperial II Star Destroyer?”

“Kriffing Corellians. And you didn’t think to order Wedge and Tycho to stay away from Han?”

“…Han is good for squadron morale.”

“<sigh>”

And on the disturbingly frequent occasions when Han is in possession of the brain cells, it is, without fail, because Leia is in full devotion to the cause of the rebellion mode, and Luke is in strange-mystic-Jedi-shit-is-calling-me-and-I-must-answer-the-call mode.

“Hey, princess, are you still on that Agamar campaign?”

“The people of Agamar need our help, Han. I need to figure out a way to neutralize these Golan batteries.”

“Um, sure, OK, but we’re currently on a completely different mission, and I kind of need you to be ready to man the guns when we get there.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be just fine when we get to Ord Mantell.”

“Ord Mantell? Uh, this is a mission to Taris.”

“What? oh, you’re right, sorry. I’ve just planned so many of our next few missions, I kind of forgot which one we’re on.”

“… When’s the last time you ate?”

“I’ll eat once I figured out how to bring down these Golan shields.”

“…Hey, Luke? Any chance you could talk her worshipfulness into having some rations? …Kid?”

“ what? oh, sorry, Han, I was reading this account on spirituality by Plo Koon, and I thought I might’ve heard Ben’s voice coming from the engine room.”

“…Ben Kenobi is dead, Luke.”

“I know, Han, but sometimes, I can hear his voice through the Force, guiding me, helping me. I’ve been trying to research why and have been reading these journals Ben had in his home on Tatooine, and…”

“Kid, when’s the last time you ate anything?”

“… now that you mention it, I’m not sure.”

“…”

Moments like these are frequent until maybe Hoth, and after Endor, these moments become very occasional and much more casual as the trio becomes closer and more accustomed to each other’s quirks.

“I thought you fixed the deflector oscillator before we left!”

“I did! Don’t blame me if the Alliance stuck me with substandard parts.”

“Save it for later, you two, or you’d better let me and Chewie take over while you sort it out. I have a Star Destroyers coming up on our bow, and Zsinj would love to hear that the Falcon was shot down.”

“Fair point, kid. We’ll discuss this later, princess.”

“Fine by me. I’ll try and get those shields dialed in.”

Or,

“Luke, I need you to come with us. I’m meeting with the Queen of Naboo, and I need you as an escort.”

“Sure, Leia. Let me just finish these adjustments and I’ll be ready to fly. Oh, no X-wing?”

“Not this time. Have you seen Han?”

“I think that he went to help Wedge and Tycho perform reflex tests on the new rogue squadron recruits. They should be down at the gorge.”

“With speed bikes, I presume?”

“I think so, but Han told me to tell you he would be careful. And wear a helmet.”

“Well, I guess that’s something.”

Or,

“Han, give me my data pad, I need to prepare for the meeting with the delegation from Ryloth.”

“The Twi’lek research can wait until you finish your supper, Leia. It’s in the gallery, I made plenty, and don’t come back until you’ve had at least two portions. You need to keep your strength up while you’re helping to build the New Republic. Mon Mothma can’t expect you to do everything without even having a proper meal every now and again.”

“… Can I continue while I eat?”

“Not until you’ve had at least one full plate. <sound of grabbing a holocron> You too, kid. You need to stop making me be the responsible one around here.”

“Han, you know that I can just grab that back from you with the Force?”

“Yeah, and what kind of message would that send to the galaxy about the new Jedi? They go around stealing holocrons instead of just eating their dinner like a normal person? Go on, have some food. I made some Karkan ribenes with tomo-spice.”

And right around the time they start figuring this dynamic out, they start to notice that Chewie is less irritated with the three of them. Little do they know, because, again, three brain cells shared between the three of them, that Chewbacca has been actively trying to loan them any of the hundreds of brain cells he’s accumulated over the course of his 200 year long Wookie life and has been furious with how unresponsive to his wisdom they have been.

[mvltisstuff]

I had an idea for you... if it sparks inspiration...

I was thinking something with Jonah the crazy dude from season 5... maybe the reader has a really minor heart condition that doesn’t really cause any issues day to day but she gets attacked by Jonah instead of Chim and he almost can’t restart her heart. Buck and Eddie know something is wrong (maybe she was suppose to hang out with them but doesn’t show) so they have Athena track her phone and they all go save her and catch Jonah. She ends up in the hospital for a while because it causes some complications for her preexisting condition.

heart like yours - e.b

summary: request

evan buckley x reader

a/n: sorry if there is inaccurate information, but i’ll try my best :)

y/n could tell by the tightness and eerie sense in the air that something would go wrong. usually, you know when you’re doing the right thing, but something felt completely different. the darkness of the night filled her apartment as she stepped into the quiet room.

once the door was shut softly behind her, she turned around to put her jacket on the hook. it all happened so fast, the impact on her head and the quick face in front of her. the villainous eyes of her coworker and blonde swoops of his shirt hair. she didn’t even have time to process the attack. it was going to be a battle against him to get out of this situation, alone.

jonah is smart, too smart, almost. he knows exactly what buttons to press to cause a complete catastrophe. y/n is smarter, though. from the beginning she knew jonah had something off about him. hen and chim believed her, but she didn’t say anything to the others. buck hates when she puts herself in danger, despite her job being almost the exact definition. y/n did the research on jonah with the partners, finding more suspicious information on the man.

y/n had no idea about all the drugs that were being pumped through her. her unconscious body on the table almost made a smile creep up on jonah’s face. the sweet sight of revenge, but somehow still claims he’s a hero. her body was jumping back and forth from death, almost touching the line before she was pulled back. jonah tortured her with ease, confident in his abilities to bring her back. what jonah didn’t know, is that he’s nowhere near being able to save her.

everyday from when y/n was born, her parents always told her about how lucky she is. the minor condition in her heart had become nothing severe, placing her life in barely any risk. it could’ve been worse, taking her life or forcing her to deal with day-to-day challenges. instead, she got to pursue her dreams of being a firefighter with no heart condition to hold her back. she was hardly ever reminded of her condition, until jonah started to play with her heart like a toy. jonah thinks so fondly of himself. so fondly, that he was taken aback at the lack of beating from her heart.

he always restarts it. he’s almost always able to, and he figured she got herself into this mess. the continuous flatline shot through his ears, making the so-called “hero” panic. when he thought about it, he couldn’t save claudette. maybe y/n would just have to end up like her, too weak to save herself.

jonah thought he was safe, being able to clean up the mess he made. his intelligence clearly hit a maximum, not remembering that y/n has people waiting for her all the time.

buck and eddie had arranged for them all to hang out that night. y/n was so distracted with jonah and his antics, so she figured it would be nice to get out for a little bit. their shift times had been rearranged, ending y/n’s early and leaving her to deal with the mess. the moment y/n’s phone went straight to voicemail, buck knew something was wrong. she always lights up when he calls, being delighted to hear his voice especially when they haven’t been seeing each other. he brought his concerns to eddie, who maturely tried to ease his worries. eddie knows all too well how much buck is enamored with y/n. he loves her more than anything he’s every known, and he’s not afraid to show it. he doesn’t know what buck would do without her. so, when y/n declines both of their calls, they immediately turn to a worried stance and try to find her.

they pull up to her apartment, seeing her car and none of her things inside. they walk cautiously up to the door, buck praying that she just fell asleep and she would be alright. his heart thumped in his chest, and little did he know his girlfriends wasn’t. his blood ran cold when the door was cracked open, running up to her apartment and running inside. all of her items like her purse, her bags, had all been abandoned in their normal spots.

“buck?” eddie catches up. “is she…” he pauses, looking around to see no signs of one of his best friends. “here.”

buck still just looks around in a frantic search for y/n. “eddie, shes not here,” he knows he’s pointing out the obvious, but he knows shes in severe danger when the door was opened and all her stuff was around. his breathing starts to pick up, gathering y/n’s purse before stepping back under the doorframe.

“hey, man,” eddie tries to calm buck down despite his own anxieties. the whole apartment is filled with uncanny feeling, every movement just making the guys feel more freakish. “do you think she just went down to the front or something?”

“she wouldn’t leave her things here and that door is wide open,” buck says. “eddie, what if someone broke in and found her- i dont wan- i dont want to jump to anything but jonah’s been on top of her case lately and i can’t even thin-“

“buck, listen,” eddie tells him, placing his hands on his shoulders. “relax, we’re going to find her.”

“i know who we need,” the idea chimes in bucks head. “we need athena, eddie. she knows exactly how to find her.”

buck sped over like he was in his own cop car, athena luckily still being on duty when he pulled over. he rushed in, eddie trailing behind him scoping out the sergeant. when he finally landed his eyes on her, buck was jogging over to her and she could see the pure fright he had in his eyes. “buck? what is going on here?”

“y/n’s gone,” buck spits out, putting a shocked look on athena’s face. “she didn’t answer any calls, and her door was wide open when we got to her apartment. nothing else was missing though.”

“you didn’t try to contact her through anything else?”

“no, and her car was there too,” eddie adds, making athena sigh and look over to her fellows.

“im going to send people to her apartment, make sure she’s truly missing, and maybe they can find more there,” athena starts, automatically knowing how to deal with the situation. “you need to tell me anything you can, even if you think its small, it’s not.”

buck started by giving her phone number and any way that she could access any of the data in y/n’s phone. they took it over to the people trained to track them, and they found several different spots. “it looks like she stopped here,” the man working at the computer starts. “and then i just see that she went home. that was at 9:37, though. it still has to update.”

buck waited painfully for the software to download anything else, he knows she’s not at home safe, where she should be. when the screen blinked and flashed again, the little dot of her location had changed again. “this says, 9:52, she was at 152 canal at that time. sound familiar?”

“can you check someone elses address?” eddie asks, seeing bucks disoriented state of mind.

“we should, as long as they have it in the files.”

“jonah greenway, where does he live?”

athena steps away, accepting something through her radio. unfortunately, every word is staticky but heard by buck and eddie. “sergeant grant, we’ve found something swept under the kitchen island, it looked like the over of a syringe or something alone those lines.”

the red and blue lights shined over y/n’s body, causing jonah to freeze. he considered every option, running or just giving himself up. the thick knocks on the door yanked him from his thoughts. he was scared, but the major part of him thought he did the right thing. he wanted revenge, and that’s exactly what he got.

the mob of officers made their way into the home, pulling their weapons up to face jonah, who willingly put his hands in the air, dropping the paddles to the machine. they walked up briskly to him, grabbing his hands to put them behind him. the paramedics moved to y/n, prioritizing her illness and the danger she was in.

buck was physically held back by other officers, just wanting to run in and save y/n. he knew the night would be bad, but he never imagined that he’d lose her. when jonah walked out of the house, being held by two burly officers, the next events of the night unfolded. bobby stood over jonah, swinging a clean punch across his face. that became a blur, though, when the small wheels of the stretcher came into view.

her eyes were shut, her body was unnaturally relaxed. hen, chimney, and eddie all watched it unfold, looking at buck and his glossy eyes. bobby stood hand in hand with athena, who looked at the man completely in love with y/n crumple to pieces. buck didn’t bother to look back, he didn’t hesitate to climb into the ambulance.

he looked at her body, feeling nothing but guilt and horror. he couldn’t manage to say anything, even if she could hear him. she was already broken, and he felt like he would just make it worse. bucks been to hell and back, having to deal with extreme stress his whole life. nothing compares to watching y/n in this position, and he wishes he could trade places.

the grueling hours sitting next to her were almost unbearable. the agony of watching her body fight against her mind was something buck could barely take. his sister had arrived, hands on his shoulders and hugging him whilst he cries silently. the doctors and nurses came in and out, switching medications and checking her vitals.

it seemed like no one had an answer. an answer as to why this happened, or how it’ll be fixed. the only thing they could do is observe as bucks favorite person, and the teams closest friend, was in a questionable state. she was safe from jonah, but not from the recovery and wrath of what he’d done.

the doctors came in, trying to speak to buck but maddie was taking the information instead, buck being unable to handle it.

“we’ve tested the drugs in her system, and they match up with what we thought it was,” the doctor adds. “i have no problem believing that she’ll be alive, but we found some more complications the more we looked into it.”

buck looked up at that word, wondering what else could’ve happened. “complication? what complications?”

“she was born with a pre-existing heart condition. when mr. greenway pushed the drugs, and continued to bring her in and out of arrest, it caused the condition to be brought up as an issue.”

“but she’ll be ok, right?” maddie interrupts.

“she’ll be alright,” the doctor tells the siblings who looked back at y/n’s still body, her hand in bucks. “we’re going to have to keep a very close eye on her. she might be living with more day-to-day problems than before.”

bucks sighs, not wanting to hear anymore. he thinks about when she wakes up, how angry and upset she’ll be. nothing was her fault, but he knows how her mind works. if she never dug into jonah, none of this would’ve happened. her career and her life was at risk, and she doesn’t know how to live without working. so, he just waits. he contains himself, preparing to be a comfort for her as he tries to be patient for her to wake up.

when her tired eyes were finally opened, she smiled at the sight of him. buck exhaled in relief, finally being able to breathe when he saw her able to exist again. “i guess he really did it this time,” she mumbles out, putting a frown on bucks face.

“he’s gone, now,” he tries to make matters better, but it doesn’t really help. “but you’re awake, that’s the best thing that could happen right now.”

“what’s wrong?”

“what?” buck looks at her, confusion written on his face. “you- you almost died, y/n. you did, a few times pretty much! he tried to kill you.”

“but i’m okay now.”

“y/n,” he starts, looking sadly at her. “the amount of shit he put into you…” he pauses, trying to figure out how to tell her. “your condition, it’s more severe now.”

“what do you mean more severe?” her face has fallen again, the scared disposition returning.

“the doctor said it’ll start to appear more in your life as an issue. you’ll have more symptoms.” he notices the increasing anxiety in her eyes, feeling terrible that he had to tell this to her. “hey, listen,” he says when he notices her starting to spiral in her own head. “you’re alive. you’re safe now.”

“but what does this mean? what about work? i’ve been fine for all these years, my life can’t just change overnight,” she cries, feeling unexplainable emotion.

“we’ll figure it out, i promise,” he lifts her hand, planting his lips on it while trying to bring her back down. “you and me, no matter what.”

days turned into weeks in the hospital. the doctors were too unsure about her condition to send her home without being supervised. every day, she was sent in for tests and more blood was taken. it became a new, awful pattern of being stuck in the four walls of her hospital room. she tried to entertain herself alone, but she just wanted her man. the man who keeps her safe, the one who makes her happy. now, she was left with visits between shifts and texts and calls.

buck was there every day, eventually having to go back to work after a few weeks. he tried to be there for every treatment, trying to take off work to be there with her. she wanted to be at work with him, doing what she loved and saving people’s lives. buck reminds her every day about the people she saved from jonah. he’s there when she falls asleep, holding her hand and whispering sweet nothings to her as she drifts off.

she couldn’t do any of this without buck and even her team. every time they all came around to see her, the day became brighter and she felt better. she waited for the day she could leave and go back to her regular life, but having the love of her life next to her made it a little more tolerable.

[cloveroctobers]

DECEMBER PROMPTS 🧊 — 2. EVAN BUCKLEY

A/N: spoke it into existence and we get to see the 118 in just a few months! Too excited but disappointed about station 19. Anyways…here’s something fun??? and a little more my speed for the holidays.

PROMPT IS FROM HERE + I’m using: 20.) Caught Under the Mistletoe (teasing, shy, “It’s tradition”)

Synopsis: in which a moody reader wishes they could spend the holidays elsewhere and away from “the most wonderful time of the year,”…until Buck decides to walk through their childhood home.

WARNINGS: reader isn’t a Christmas lover by any means + going through a breakup—10 points for you if you can place the connection, language, family resentment & use of y/n + also gender-neutral friendly!

*GIF BELONGS TO @fireladybuckley !!!

❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩⋆꙳•❅ ❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩⋆꙳•❅ ❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩

There were a combination of things that irritated you and Christmas happened to be one of them. Your family was one of those families that happened to be obsessed with Christmas and any sort of gathering, always have been and probably always will be—until they leave this earth. They were the neighbors that were welcoming to any and everyone and encouraged people to come on over with any shindig they threw. Unfortunately for you, you got stuck with attending this Christmas gathering because you moved back to Rhode Island right after you quit being a firefighter.

It was still a topic of many gossiping conversations with your mom’s “good friend,” deciding to bring it up in the living room, “y/n, do you ever want to be married? When are you going to start having a family of your own? Surely you must have found someone in sunny LA?”

Little did she know you did and in Chicago. You were surprised your mother took your boundaries into consideration when sharing certain information to her good friend…or did she know and was simply trying to get a rise out of you? Miriam was “good” at doing that.

You never liked Miriam, sorry not sorry. Mainly because she always had a opinion and liked to compare you to your older siblings. Your older brother was finally engaged to his long time girlfriend who had a face of a model, worked for a successful tech company, while also being a composer on the side and always had a good head on his shoulders. Then the middle child, your older sister was pregnant with twins and recently stepped down from being a pilot after almost fifteen years; was always the charmer and “favorite” according to friends of the family.

“I’ll start as soon as you stop scamming the elderly into marrying you so you can collect a check after they pass,” you smiled sweetly at Miriam, who’s mouth dropped and your older sister fought back a snicker from beside you in the sitting room, “I’m going to get a refill.”

You were just thankful your mother wasn’t near to hear this but you were sure with the snitch she called a best friend, she would repeat it and you would get a earful at some point tonight. Nonetheless you received a wink from your god-father and dad’s best friend up ahead, who was the designated pianist of the night and just finished up a tune by Nat King Cole.

Judah, your godfather was always lending a ear to listen since you were young and it seemed to still be the same sentiment more than your own parents but! That’s a different story for another day. You had to relish in the overload of wreaths that decorated every cabinet in your childhood kitchen, lightly scoffing and shaking your head as you filled up the flute with more champagne.

Sure you didn’t want to spend the holidays sulking but it only seemed to kick in more once people always felt the need to butt into your life. They didn’t speak on your accomplishments because it was never deemed as good enough, it was always a rule to follow into your family’s footsteps. Your mom’s a respectable elementary school teacher who hosts book clubs on Sunday’s with once strangers turned friends, your dad builds sailboats and is heavy involved in charity work and not just to say he did it but because of his own tough upbringing, your brother’s traveling all over the world due to his craft of being a composer and is so in love with his soon to be wife Alani, who’s also involved in building medical centers for poor communities—not just on her native land of Hawaii but countries as well, and your sister always knows just what to say to any and everyone, she’s so likable and building her family with a great guy, who isn’t just putting on for the cameras since he happens to be a well-known athlete.

Then there’s you…the sibling that’s just floating through life at thirty-one years old. Back at home with their parents after giving up a job that you thought you saw yourself doing up until retirement. Your head’s always been in the clouds but when your eyes were set on something you weren’t ever afraid to give it a try. Thats exactly what you did choosing to go to the academy out in California and worked your ass off to be a firefighter. You weren’t a fan of what people said after your severe injury…you just wanted to move on and always felt like you would be a firefighter at heart no matter what.

Most didn’t get that and it wasn’t okay with you but that didn’t stop you from putting one finger in the air.

Life will always lead you places and Rhode Island wasn’t your first choice but it was your best choice with the way the world shifts. Which is why you just wanted to get this holiday over with so it didn’t feel like you were constantly sinking from the inside out. The pretty lights, delicious eats, spending time with family, and finding joy was supposed to be a given but instead you were just ready to kick this year to the fucking curb for good.

If anyone asked you, New Years was way better because you can always start over especially if the year prior was not it for you. However one good thing came out of this year, you were one step closer to getting that home in New Mexico.

It took drumming on the counter to bring you out of your thoughts, making you snap your eyes at your brother who had a wicked grin on his round face. After pulling a face, you side eyed him, “what, Marcus?”

“Is that anyway to talk to your big brother?” He leaned against the counter, at pure ease.

Sipping at the flute, the bubbly went down nicely before you popped your tongue at the after taste then you responded, “what did you do?”

The thirty-seven year old sighs, “I didn’t do anything but you might want to send that energy to Larissa.”

Quickly glancing over your shoulder, you craned your neck to see back into the sitting room but couldn’t see your very pregnant sister anywhere. Shrugging your shoulders you turn back to the amusement on your brother’s face, “I don’t see her anywhere, so stop with the games and just spill.”

The both of you turned to the new voice that enters the kitchen from the left, “There you are! Look who I’ve found outside.”

If there was one person you wanted to push into the fireplace, now make it two, meaning you adding your sister to that list. Your eyes burned into her pretty beaming smile as she lightly jabbed a thumb in Evan Buckley’s direction. From behind them you spotted your brother-in-law, Kheri ready to enter the kitchen from the same opposite end but abruptly stopped as he easily picked up on what was happening and spun back around, hoping not to be seen by Larissa.

“Uh hey, y/n.” Evan awkwardly waved in your direction before you clenched your eyes shut and deeply exhaled.

Marcus whispers from your right, “that’s what.”

“I got it, Mark.” You hissed while he raised his hands in surrender, letting out a low whistle that sounded just perfect.

Evan glanced back and forth between the siblings, frowning, “I’m getting the sense that you were blindsided about me coming.”

A cackle bubbled past your lips while Larissa bounced on her toes, “I may have forgotten to mention it but when a party is going on…you just get wrapped up in so many other things.”

Evan nodded his head at this but he didn’t entirely believe that.

“Bullshit,” Marcus coughed out before smiling at Evan.

Larissa added, “I thought that you would be happy to see a friendly face here, y/n. I mean—you hate everyone else so…voila! You’re welcome.”

You declared, “If you weren’t pregnant with my nephews, I might just beat your ass to sleep with a lump of coal.”

“Hot coal or cold?” Larissa hummed, tapping her dimpled chin.

You scoffed, “I’d let you pick bitch.”

“How sweet,” Larissa winked as she turned back to pat Evan on the shoulder, “as you can see, this is a loving household and you’re only going to make it better for my dear sibling. So thank you so much for coming, Evan Buckley.”

Evan tilted his head to the side at this whole interaction, breathing out a laugh, “well…you kinda bullied me to so…”

“Oh is that how the conversation went down?” Marcus shoved some chips into his mouth, ignoring the glare you sent him.

“But,” Evan added, “I wanted to be here, it was the right thing to do and I missed you guys. Not really the east coast since it’s pretty damn cold here, man i keep forgetting that but it’s always nice to see a white Christmas and some faces that feel like home you know?”

Larissa placed her hand on her chest, “now wasn’t that beautiful, y/n?”

“So beautiful that I almost want to vomit on you, Larissa.” You coo at the Bob-wearing woman while Marcus continues watching this match.

Larissa scowled, “stop being a Scrooge and just be glad that Otis was busy.”

*Jazz music stops playing*

“What?” You gritted at the mention of your recent breakup.

Flights out to Chicago tended to get pricer and tricker during the whole pandemic but lucky for you, you managed your money much better now.

“Wrong thing to say,” Marcus mumbles, seeming to be the only one in the room that was aware that this was a touchy subject.

Swallowing you turned to the eldest in the room, “Did you know about that too, Mark?”

Marcus sighs, “I was there for that conversation yes…but I didn’t think Rissa was serious about Buckley after the call with Otis didn’t exactly work out.”

You couldn’t grasp why they—Larissa would think it would be okay to go behind your back and call Otis in the first place?!

“Is this what you’re gonna be like now, Ris? Trying to mold my love life and be in my business because you’re too bored with motherhood?” You snapped at the thirty-five year old who looked taken aback.

Larissa slowly speaks, “woow! That was kinda hurtful…I was just trying to do something nice because you always get like this around this time of the year and I figured a person you deeply adore would cheer you up but obviously I was wrong.”

Deeply adore felt like another stab to you.

Holding your hands out, you say enough just by that action which makes Larissa roll her eyes. She turns to the sea eye colored man and says, “Good luck with that one, the sticks pretty far up their ass this evening.”

Laughing to yourself, you don’t bother watching your sister leave the kitchen and turn back to the fridge in search of the desserts instead.

“Well…that was not as entertaining as I would have liked but you know that comment wasn’t cool right?” Marcus says while you send him a middle finger from inside the fridge, “noted but you better be over this damn attitude by the morning.”

Here you are in your thirties and you still had your brother thinking he can boss you around.

He says a few words to Buck and once the coast is clear, you spin back around to place the fruitcake on the large island counter. Just staring at the dessert makes you further nauseous and you motion with your eyes, “want a slice?”

“…only if you’ll join me?” Evan sucks air through his teeth, trying to put on a smile although it was more of a grimace.

You snicker, “don’t say what you think I want to hear. I wouldn’t feed this to Dudley.”

Evan begins to look around at the mention of the old bloodhound, “no way! He’s still alive?”

“Very much and probably sticking up the house somewhere away from everyone,” you laugh at the thought of the gassy dog as you pick up the cake, analyzing it in disgust before making your way to the garbage.

Evan nodded, “Ah so like it’s owner?”

“Watch it Buckley,” you wag a finger at him, “you just got here and you’re already talking shit to me?”

“I thought that’s what friends are for?” He shows off his laughter lines before taking a seat on one of the the bar stools, while you glanced at the flute and expensive champagne bottle before choosing the bottle it’s self, “…I would ask how’ve you been but I don’t know what kind of answer I’m going to get.”

Shrugging your shoulders you take a swing from the bottle and go into a two step as, “Holly Jolly Christmas,” beings to play making Buck shake his head at you playfully, “just jolly can’t you tell? I mean we haven’t spoken in months since I left LA—

“Right,” Buck agreed, “I wanted to give you some space and I thought I was being a good friend giving you that, although there were plenty of times where I just wanted to hear your voice.”

You snort, “don’t get mushy on me, Ev.”

Evan sighs, “and you ghosted me a few times.”

“Out of the respect of your relationship with Taylor—

“You didn’t even like Taylor or Abby?” Evan frowns, “and that was before we decided to give each other a try and with you debating about quitting after what happened at the parking garage.”

Long story short: you were at the 118 six months before Evan Buckley ends up walking through the doors. At the beginning you had everyone fooled with the way you gave him the cold shoulder in the beginning, as if your mothers weren’t the best of friends and you didn’t alternate summers between Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. You were forced to be friends but it’s not ever something you truly regretted. It’s like Toy Story, you had a friend in Buck and that was something you were thankful for. The both of you bonded over just being in the moment and while he was more impulsive than you, you found your footing just a bit earlier than he did.

You went to California as soon as you reached eighteen and fell in love with it that you didn’t ever want to come back. You didnt have dreams of being a firefighter but you were always passionate about having a positive impact on someone’s lives and fighting fires didn’t sound so bad. By the time you came back after visiting and being forced to go to the community college for half a semester, you withdrew and left without a word. It took a shared phone call from Buck and Maddie to get you to answer, with Maddie pleading with you just to call your parents whereas Buck encouraged you to keep going.

Shortly after, he was traveling around the world and sending you postcards too. Evan was always just your friend that you spent summers with then holidays and then birthdays to speaking on AIM if not every day then every other day. It was clear that the both of you were meant to be in each others lives…until you made the terrible decision to catch feelings. Out of all of the years that you’ve known this guy, you just had to feel a way—despite him fooling around on the job, which you tore into him more than bobby did. From random hook ups to potentially serious relationships—that you never agreed with, you just had to do it and you were stubborn and fought it for so long.

Having your face almost crushed by concrete would do it to you. You didn’t know if you were going to make it, that was your real taste of death—although you got hurt on the job before this was the one that really had you questioning everything. The team outside of the parking garage tried to keep Buck from getting to you but if there’s a will, there’s a way. You tried to blame it on the partially crushed skull once Buck brought it back up at not the best timing—after physical therapy but he was firm and stood on the words shared.

He broke up with Taylor, you told him to give it time and if he truly still felt the same months later, you’d give it a go. He respected that and once you were back to normal as you can be, it happened and it was short lived because you didn’t take the topic of marriage with him seriously. And it had nothing to do with what he thought.

Evan Buckley was always good enough, if not more.

“It was better getting used to the idea of not being in each others lives.” Was what you went with.

Evan pressed his arms onto the counter, “what do you mean?”

Sipping from the bottle again you state, “you must have felt the same way I felt when I got the news that you were struck. Like time is only temporary. We’ve known each other since we were what? Fourteen-fifteen? And sure that feels like forever but it really just means it starts over.”

Evan stares at you from underneath his eyelashes, “so…declining our friendship was the better answer for you?”

“Oh I’d think we’d always be friends…even if there’s distance.”

“That you created.” Evan points out, “I didn’t think you believed in alternate universes.”

You swallow, “I didn’t, until you told me what it was like in that coma.”

“Then you left…to be with Otis.” Evan fills in the blanks while wiggling his eyebrows which makes you scoff, “want to talk about it?”

You blink, “I just told my sister to mind her business…do you want me to deliver the same thing? Let’s catch up and focus on you…I’m surprised you’re not in PA.”

“I let Maddie and chim deal with that.” Evan says, “Christmas Eve was enough for me and poor Jee, I should have taken her with me.”

Resting your chin against the palm of your hand you say, “that bad huh?”

“Ah the usual. You know how parents can be,” Evan chats, “they’re really pushing to meet Natalia.”

Squinting you try to recall the name as Evan informs, “right…uh someone I met on the scene. She’s a death doula.”

“A what?”

“Someone who helps people who are facing death find peace with it. Like the good version of what a hospice is supposed to be.” Buck tells, coming to terms that there has been gaps in what they should know, yet this was what you wanted apparently.

Tapping against the glass you say, “and she’s your…girlfriend?”

“Well, yeah.” Buck smiles a bit while you hum, taking a swing from the bottle, “what was that response?”

You shrug, “just surprised your parents would want to meet her…does Maddie like her?”

“She doesn’t not not like her.” Evan frowned.

“How long have you been dating?”

“Not long…uh what’re you getting at?”

“Look, I don’t know her and I’m not going to further rain on anybody’s parade but just be careful. Take your time you know?”

Evan scratches at his birth mark above his brow and huffs, “thought you were a big believer in time not lasting forever and starting over…That’s what I’m doing.”

Nodding your head you say, “I’m not judging you.”

“Good because my plan wasn’t to argue with you here at your childhood home in the kitchen on Christmas.” Buck tells as he takes in the decor, “We can hash anything else out at a later date because it’s the most wonderful time of the year right? I’m here until the 31st by the way.”

“When exactly did you drop in?”

“The 21st.”

“Oh you’re staying for awhile.”

“I think I should.” He waved his hand for the bottle which he takes a swing at and lets out a deep burp, excusing himself with a grin after you scrunch up your nose.

Snatching the bottle back you leave it unattended as you peek through the trays of food, thinking about another round since the preview of desserts were lackluster.

“Huh,” Buck says now peering above his head, “when did that get up there?”

Turning you attention back to a old friend in the maroon sweater, you follow his gaze to the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling above his head. “Which one of your siblings pulled this one?”

“Don’t think that was their doing honestly,” you reputed, “feels very traditional and something my dad would do.”

Evan thinks about it and seems to agree, remembering how affectionate the man tended to be back then. “Well…it’s tradition and we shouldn’t break it.”

“Don’t know if you notice Ev, I thought the all black attire would be a giveaway but I simply do not care about this holiday.”

“I’ve noticed—

“And didn’t you just say you have a girlfriend? I can kiss anybody else and tend to very soon.” You almost went into a daydream state of the all the possible contenders you’d lock lips with in just a few days.

“True but who are you going to find that’s as gorgeous as me?” Buck challenged as he placed a hand on his chest.

“Did Eddie fly in with you guys?”

“That’s not funny.”

“So you cross the line at your work husband but not nat the death doula?” You quizzed the tousled haired man.

“Why are you giving her a whole title like that?”

“It’s Natalia’s profession…?”

“Yeah but nobody calls you: y/n the retired firefighter turned air traffic controller.”

“You don’t know that and you just did.”

Buck felt his eye twitch, “I was giving an example!”

“Hey, inside voices! The singing and music is loud enough. Not to mention the carolers that will be here by eight and will probably give me nightmares tonight—

Evan shakes his head, “no I don’t think you understand. We have to kiss or else it’s going to bring bad luck in our love lives for who knows how long and I could really use a consistent love and what better person to do that with than you.”

One thing about Buck, he was a thousand percent superstitious but that wouldn’t stop you from poking fun.

“Evan Matthias Buckley…are you flirting with me?” You tease as you caress the counter while slowly make your way around the island.

The man appears almost shy now as you grip his face, taking in the features you’ve come to known and appreciate. Evan was still him regardless of the miles you put in between each other. With his hands now on your waist you enjoyed the moment because face it, it was always nice to be held, so you stared into his eyes for a moment and then his tulip tinted lips.

Lips that you didn’t mind on yours or anywhere on your body once upon a time…until you self sabotaged. You could have married evan and would have in a heartbeat but you also felt marriage wasn’t for you. You didn’t want to fuck that up just like you did everything else.

And that wasn’t really true, that’s just the bad parts of your brain getting in the way but you were working it out in therapy. However a smile was on your lips now that you pressed your forehead to the man that’s seen all sides to you before and you could have sworn Evan was holding his breath, just wondering how this would work.

Yet he was the one insisting that they share a kiss!

Caressing the scruff that was along his jaw, you lightly pinched his face, holding him in place as you put a lingering kiss right beside the corner of his lips. The deflation was evident and you didn’t know whether to take that as relief or disappointment but Evan pulled you into a hug filled with warmth anyway.

Which you welcomed, arms locked around his broad shoulders before resting a hand on the back of his head. He squeezed you just right and if you wanted to be in your soft era tonight, you may have shed a tear but pushing that to the side felt better for now. It’s been awhile but you didn’t want to cross that line especially if things were serious with Natalia.

Evan didn’t know about Otis or how you were battling moving on from that but he’ll take what he can get from you. Whenever you were ready then he’d always be around and that’s something he wanted to remind you of but being here with you on this holiday—even if you were being a complete grinch about it! felt like he made the right decision.

“You know Ev Bev,” you started as you pulled back but kept your hands locked around his shoulders, “has anyone ever told you that you reek of spruce?

Evan blinks, “no one’s ever told me I smell like a tree before…but considering the job? I’m not offended.”

“Well I am. You’re supposed to boycott all things Christmas with me if you still consider yourself my bestie,” you shook your head in sorrow.

You’re ready to untangle yourself but Evan just tightens his arms around you, leaning forward to get a whiff of you, “and you smell like fruitcake.”

Faux gagging gets Evan to widen his eyes and loosen his grip, “don’t make me sick—

“I think that’s enough champagne for you.”

“You’re right, it has my toes buzzing but I can definitely go for something stronger which my parents don’t have but I’ll sneak out before the Carolers get here to get some.”

“Or…you can find the true beauty in Christmas that doesn’t have anything to do with alcohol.” Evan offered while you gave him a unimpressed stare, “maybe next year then?”

“Oh I plan to as soon as the new year hits and I get some answers.” You unravel yourself from him and move to take a seat on the other velvet stool.

Evan holds his hands out, “…care to elaborate?”

“Sure, why the hell not? After spending too much time here and becoming financially stable, I’ve finally decided to buy a house.” You give jazz hands.

“That’s fantastic news!” Evan perks up, “Wait…does anybody else know?”

“Nope, just you my friend.” You sigh, “I should know if they accepted my offer by the 29th the realtor says but can expect some delays based on the stupid holidays so…fingers crossed.”

Evan snickers, “then that’s something to celebrate and I’m sure your family will be happy for you.”

“Maybe, maybe not. My decisions are always based on selfishness apparently.” You fold your hands, “I know the first thing that’s going to be said and then comes the guilt tripping but I don’t want to be in this place anymore. I’ve been here a good portion of my life and had to come back because the world decided to go apocalyptic. I’m tired of feeling stuck and New Mexico can be the freedom I’ve always been searching for.”

Evan took in your words carefully. He knew you weren’t always this down but stepping away as a firefighter definitely triggered that and the old childhood insecurities resurfaced living here again although you tried to bury them. He’s been around the world while your family tried to keep you sheltered—even into your adulthood, you were always the one who wanted something different than them. Evan saw that the first day he met you and instantly took a liking to you, although it took more convincing on your end. New Mexico was far from Rhode Island but not too bad from Los Angeles.

“It will be and we’ll make the best of it.” Evan squeezed the tension from between your shoulder blades.

Looking at him you echo, “we?”

“Do you really think you can keep hiding from me? Now that you let me back in, you’re not getting rid of me again.” Evan grinned in excitement while you groaned, “We have a house to plan for, like when’s the expected move in date when you’re approved?”

You shrugged, “realtor man Danny didn’t tell me that exactly but if I had to guess, probably sometime in February.”

“That works,” Evan nods, “if it falls around Maddie’s birthday I might just suggest New Mexico.” He winks at you while you scoff.

“Don’t you think you’re jumping the gun? Who’s to say I’d even give you my address?”

Despite saying this you knew Buck would always find a way and it’s not something you were truly against. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t miss seeing him around but ultimately that was your choice.

“Ouch, that’s no way to treat the guy that’s had your back since we were kids and is about to make you a mean peppermint mocha.” Evan says in a sing song tone as he drums on the table before sliding down from the chair.

Tilting your head at the thought you reply, “will it be spiked?”

Evan shakes his head as he makes his way over to the espresso machine, “I’m trying to save your liver so that’ll be a negative.”

“Boooo! Buck sucks more than Santa! Tomato, tomato.” You gave a thumbs down as Evan chuckles to himself.

Buck was attempting to bring you holiday cheer, you could feel yourself sort of exhaling as you watched him move around the kitchen. Whenever Evan was around, it usually felt like putting the negative on pause because you tended to forget about it for awhile thanks to his infectious spirit.

“Are you two playing nice?” The voice of your brother, Mark fills the room as he enters the kitchen once more and now holding the hand of his fiancée, Alani who teasingly scrunches her nose up with a smile at you two.

Throwing your head back, you sigh, “as nice as I can be, Marcus.”

“That’s not saying much,” he goes to elbow Buck jokingly, who nods with a shrug.

Alani takes the seat beside you, “so…what we really want to know is, did you guys share a kiss and decide to fall deeply in love with each other?”

“Lani!” Marcus warns while the curly haired woman lifts her shoulders.

You laugh, “and this is why I’ve always liked you Lanz, you’re never on any bullshit, unlike Mark and Ris.”

“Yikes, I’m not touching that one.” Alani reached for the champagne bottle.

“You may have actually made her cry by the way,” Marcus announces making Evan peer at you over his shoulder.

Turning your eyes into slits you question, “made who cry?”

“Larissa.”

You huff, “she pissed me off.”

“Yeah but you didn’t have to attack her motherhood which she has yet to really experience…” Marcus states and you take a breath.

You knew that comment was harsh but you never lacked a back bone. When anyone got on your nerves, you were going to tell them and didn’t care who they were or where you were. It’s a defense mechanism and yes that was something else you were working on.

“I’ll make up with her after I get into this spiked peppermint mocha.” You grinned in content.

Evan corrects, “how many times do I have to tell you, it’s not spiked?”

“Until you change your mind, sugar plum.”

“Yuck,” Marcus laughs while Alani smirks.

Sooner than later, Buck is handing out four cups of peppermint mocha and crouches over the counter beside you as you all take in the festive drink while, “Deck the halls,” starts to play for the sixth time this evening. Normally you would be considering sticking your head inside of the oven or making your severe allergic reaction act up by eating a gingerbread cookie just so you could get out of listening to this boring music but somehow you tune it out.

Physical touch was how Buck liked to be loved so you didn’t think much of it as you looped a hand around the crease of his arm. acts of service was how he gave love. He glanced over at you while you listened to whatever your brother was blabbing about and when you caught his stare, you thought to yourself, maybe reconnections should have been on your wishlist.

A tender peppermint kiss to your temple was enough to solidify that and this time? You fought the urge to playfully smack Evan’s scruffy jaw to get off you and allowed the affection from the man you knew for years.

You let the love soak in, as cheesy as it sounds but isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

Who really knows?

You’re more of a New Year’s Eve lover anyway…

❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩⋆꙳•❅ ❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩⋆꙳•❅ ❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩

Check back for my ~5 days of Xmas~ anthology prompts here.

[anopenbookunderlockandkey]

The 118 Sauce Chat

Eddie: I definitely make spaghetti sauce extremely wrong but I’m not going to stop

Chim: please elaborate on the wrong way to make spaghetti sauce; it sounds highly entertaining?

Eddie: 1 chop onion and put in a pot

Eddie: Add 1 or 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Whatever makes the ratio of onion look right.

Eddie: Add a ridiculous amount of frozen peas. Peas should make up a notable portion of this sauce.

Eddie: Add frozen corn also if you wanna be real fancy. If I have bacon I’ll ad that too. But I very rarely have bacon.

Eddie: Cook on HIGH

Eddie: While sauce is cooking, grab the nearest bottle of mixed spices that isn't obviously for desserts. Add some. How much? I dunno, enough that you feel like you've added seasoning so it's technically cooking. (For me this is most often a mix called Moroccan, but it could be anything. Buck reorganised my kitchen recently so tonight it was something called Pizza Topping.)

Eddie: If you happen to have green herbs lying around, add those too. Whatever you have on hand that's green

Eddie: Let the sauce boil on HIGH until all the water is gone. Stir occasionally so the saucepan will be easier to clean later. Serve on cooked spaghetti noodles with no cheese

Eddie: Today I added a new step called "while the sauce is cooking, duck out for 15 seconds to text the group chat about spaghetti sauce, then get distracted and forget you are cooking." This adds a novel Extremely Burnt edge to the flavour profile.

Chim: I am not Italian, or of Italian descent by *any* stretch of the imagination.

I am also not one of those "cooking purists", who believes that everything must be done in a specific/ traditional way (unless you are making a cooking video with the title "how to make x" in which case if you don't specify mid video that your way is not traditional god help you).

I am a firm believer in "If it tastes good, then it is correct for you".

Chim: Except in this case

Bobby: This hurts every cooking bone in my body. The latent ancestors in my soul. The judgmental elf in my brain just bit a cyanide capsule

Hen: Why? The spices.

Using a different spice mix every time, based on what is ready at hand just ... hurts

Eddie: *sends SPICE IS SPICE meme*

Ravi: absolutely deranged, Eddie. Food crimes.

Bobby: Hey Eddie, looks like you forgot to mention the part where you obviously sweated the onions, because nobody would make spaghetti sauce that had straight up raw onions boiled in tomato juices.

Bobby: RIGHT????

Bobby: Please Eddie

Eddie: I don’t know what sweating the onions means

Hen: It means. It means you cook em a little in a pan with a bit of oil first

Eddie: A pan? How many dishes do you want me to have to wash here?

Hen: I mean you can also do it in the same pot you're making the spaghetti sauce in! The important thing is the onions get a little cooked before the wet stuff goes in, so they're not so wet and limp and boiled....

Eddie: Honestly this depends entirely on whether I remember to chop an onion first or I find the can opener for the tomatoes first. The ingredients go in in whatever order they go in.

Ravi: Eddie, who hurt you???

Eddie: A pack of wild chefs herded my mother off a cliff

Chim: Theres probably a hit out on you for this

Eddie: What kind of stupid idiot would waste money assassinating someone who's so clearly going to accidentally poison themself for free at some point

Bobby: hi Eddie, big fan of your firefighting, this is the sauce equivalent of the running up a metal ladder in a lightning storm to try to pull up a 6’0” tall man instead of lowering him to the ground

-Athena

Eddie: Athena, that is the meanest review my cooking has ever received

Chim: congratulations you found the worst way to do it! this feels like a spaghetti recipe made by AI before it got really sophisticated

-Maddie

Eddie: this group chat’s hate mail game is insane

Ravi: at this point please just eat every ingredient raw… please

Eddie: Do I look like Tony Abbott to you

Buck: As a former Committer of Food Crimes, I have decided to make this sauce this weekend after I have a chance to go to the store. I will report back.

Eddie: Excellent, I look forward to vindication.

Hen: No one's going to vindicate your boiled onion in cinnamonny tomato juice on noodles, Eddie

Eddie: Not cinnamon. Cinnamon is a dessert spice. You use the nearest non-dessert spice.

Ravi: cinnamon is absolutely not a dessert spice

Eddie: Yes it is! It's for muffins and pancakes and fruit pies!

Chim: Cinnamon powder is absolutely a dessert “spice” and Eddie if your cooking is this bad I can’t imagine your baked abominations

Eddie: I put lemon juice in everything I bake that isn't bread

Written for the only two gremlins (endearment) who find this as entertaining as I do @professionalprocrastinator22 and @gravelyhalversobbing

Inspired by:

[livfastdieyoung69]

Mjf x reader

Angst with comfort with the prompt “shh, it’s okay. I’m here”

Gnawing at my enclosure bars i loce angst

BOUND BY BETRAYAL

The day hadn’t felt right. Hell, the month hadn’t felt right. You chalked it up to being nervous for Max with his title match and all, but the feeling in your gut told you otherwise. You would’ve told Max, but you didn’t want to make him any more stressed. Plus you were secluded to your own little locker room to get ready, not even a TV to watch along with the rest of the arena so you hadn’t really been able to see him very much.

Shortly after your match, which was successfully won, you’d made your way back to the dingy locker room after giving Max a visit to celebrate your win and of course, wish him good luck. Growing a little bored in the small room you move to open the door and just wander around, maybe say hi to a couple people before making your way to the guerrilla to watch Max’s match. But the door wouldn’t open. There’s no lock, and even if there was you hadn’t locked it. What the hell? You’re quick to start banging on the door, practically trying to rip the door handle off.

“Hello? Hey, I’m locked in here! Hey, someone help!” You yell, hoping someone can hear you through the thick wooden door. After way too long, a staff member finally reaches you and lets you know the door is jammed, unable to open from either side and they would have to call the local fire department to get you out. That was frustrating enough, but so was how long you would have to wait considering it wasn’t exactly an emergency. You’d probably miss Max’s match.

That sucked. Like really fucking sucked.

Stuck in the dumb little room and forced to communicate with a couple staff members through the door, who also couldn’t give you any updates on MJF’s match considering they were stuck in the hallway, ‘helping you’. After about 45 minutes a couple firefighters are able to make their way to the arena and help you out. Storming out of the room with a sigh of relief, thankful for some sort of fresh air. A different staff member rushes down the hall, she’d been tasked with figuring out who had done this- after they realized someone had jammed a couple of used gift cards and some paper towel around the knob of the door, it became pretty obvious you were set up.

“Any news?” You ask, looking over to her. She looked worried, a little sad. Like she held pity.

”I got a hold of the footage. It-it was Wardlow and The Kingdom.” She spoke, like it was some big deal. It wasn’t that big of a deal, those guys hated Max and Max hated them, so obviously whenever you were stuck in the presence of any of them, you made their life a living hell. Sometimes it was repaid.

”Ugh, god I hate those guys! I should’ve figured, those assholes. I better hurry and make it to the guerrilla , at least I’ll be able to see the end of his match.” You’re quick to start in your journey through the backstage.

”Um,” The staff member calls your name timidly. You quick walk starts to slow, but you don’t face them. The feeling that had been in your gut grew. “Adam Cole was with them.”

You’re not sure how to respond to that at first. Max had gone through a lot. He’d been betrayed countless times, and even if that helped mold him into the asshole you loved wholeheartedly, it hurt him endlessly. After so long of holding trust in no one, he finally had you. Then, after even longer, he had Adam. You had Adam.

This hurt.

Adam had no right, to do this to either of you, after gaining so much of your trust for so long. The grief of your friendship quickly turns into anger from the betrayal. Had you even been friends at all?

”…What?”

“Those guys and-and uh, Joe were teaming up on him while you were stuck, he....he lost the championship.” She rushed out, practically shaking with fear. “He wouldn’t talk to anyone or anything, he just walked to his locker room and won’t let anyone in.”

”Well where the fuck is that at?” You practically yell at the poor girl. You’ll apologize some other time. Maybe. She only points down the hall, unable to get any words out, and you start running- like really, sprinting- down the halls. You shove your way through your fellow superstars, shouting at them to move, definitely receiving a lot of looks.

Finally finding the door brandished with ‘MJF’, you throw it open. He doesn’t even look over, trapped in his head, and with good reason to be. He’s still in his ring gear, reminance of sweat obvious in his hair, matted inches covering the face that lays in his hands.

“Oh, baby,” Your words make him finally look up, his expression enough to show how he feels from across the room. You’re quick to make your way over to him, knees falling to the bench on either side of his thighs. “I’m here. I’m here, we’re okay.” You gently take his head in your hands and hug him close as you take a seat against his legs.

“Oh my god, Max, I’m so sorry- I don’t- I-“ You can’t seem to find the words, and clearly neither can he, he still hasn’t spoken a word, only closed his eyes in your hold and held you closer, tighter, than it feels like he ever has.

“Did you see the medics?” You asked him in a murmur after a while of silence, his head shaking no against the blade of your shoulder. One of your hands tries its best in petting through his matted hair.

”M’kay. Why don’t we go do that first?” His grip only strengthens against you, forcing you further into his lap.

“Don’t leave.” He breaks his silence, voice course and sorrowful against you. The hand combing through his hair stops, instead planting itself in his thick roots. It seems like he means a lot more than just leaving the room to grab a medic.

“Never.” You whisper back, laying your cheek against the top of his head. “Wanna take a shower first instead? You’re a little stinky.” Trying to bring his mood up a bit with a little joke, even if you didn’t feel very good either seemed to be the right thing to do. He nodded, and you can feel the small smile against your skin.

After holding him for a bit more, you crawl up from his lap and help him up from the wooden bench, holding half of his weight to the shower. After a bit of difficulty, you both just give up in trying to have him stand under the shower and instead the both of you just sit under the running shower together, Max leaning against you.

You helped him wash his body, then his hair, sitting under the hot, streaming water in comfortable silence. Then you simply sit together, running your fingers up and down his biceps even tracing his lion tattoo a couple times.

“I lost the belt.”

Max broke the silence, the hollowness in his voice echoing through the shower walls. He refused to look at you, only staring forward with the grief you held earlier.

”I lost Adam.”

His voice broke as he spoke his time.

”No. No, no, baby, no.” You rushed, pulling him further into you. “He lost you. He made you lose that belt, made you think he was a good person. Put it in your head that you were friends, that you were allowed to put your trust into him. He lost you.”

“Shouldn’t have fallen for it again.”

“You can’t stop your heart from wanting what it wants, sweetheart. How do you think this happened, hm? Cause I love you. And you love me, right?” He nodded his head, thick fingers moving down to grab yours. ”And you love Adam.” His hand stops, reluctant to admit it.

“You do, baby, its okay. I love him too. But he doesn’t love us and that’s how this turned out this way. Love will rip you to hell and back in that way, but we’re gonna be just fine. I’d have to say our love is a lot greater for each other than it is for Adam. I’d like to think so.” His small smile from earlier returned.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” Your fingers squeeze around his. “But that doesn’t mean your not allowed to hurt. You are, and I’ll be right here to help, ‘cause I love you.” The two of you return to silence, this time a bit happier after your little speech. Max reaches up with a grimace, moving to turn the water off.

“Let’s get the hell out of here. Your hands are going wrinkly and it's gross.” He tries to haul himself up from the floor to the bench with great effort as he mumbles, his sass quick to make a return.

”God, you’re such a bitch.” You speak with a grin, grabbing his face in a big wet kiss while you wrap a towel around him. “No wonder we can’t make any friends, hm?”

Is this….a certified banger perchance?? Fr dont know this took pretty long and I’m sick of this so I’m not reading it again lolll anyways enjoy ig

Maxwell Jacob Friedman is miss you get your ass back on tv

[yakumtsaki]

Welcome back, beloved readers! Things have finally calmed down for me so it’s time to inflict this update on the world. When we last left off, BATSHIT FELINA SMASHED VICTORIA’S URN

-WHY IS IT NOT BROKEN?!?

Because it turned out there’s a cheat to repair urns, HA. In your face!

-I BROKE THAT THING FAIR AND SQUARE

Felina seriously, GO TO HELL. I freaked out thinking I’d have to either quit without saving (hadn’t saved since before SUGAR DIED) or I’d have to deal with Victoria’s missing character file. You’re not allowed anywhere near the mausoleum again! 

-THAT’S FINE, I’LL JUST TRAP MYSELF IN THIS WALL UNTIL I DIE AND THEN YOU’LL BE SORRY

Bruh. I’ve had enough of this house, between the walls of death..

..the eternal yard fire..

..and the fact everyone is afflicted with a gross cold they keep passing around despite the fact I gave them medicine-

-I, a retired Mayor, was clearly the right choice to make medicine.

Well I thought you might do something useful for once, Shajar, but joke’s on me. Point is, it’s time to gtfo..

..to our new gigantic house! Look at all our crap on the lawn, and yes, I’m referring to the sims. 

I unpaused for 1 second to check something and Barf and Failina (Barflina?) have re-become enemies?? Did you stop being enemies at some point because I completely missed it. 

-We did but new house, new us!

It’s done! I went all out on this house for no discernible reason, let me give you the grand tour:

First floor! Man this house is a nightmare. 

Foyer! 

Luxurious pet room!

Kitchen!

Dining room!

Gambling room Library!

And living room!

Moving on to the second floor, Cyn and Sophie/Shajar’s bedrooms I kept the basically same as in the last house. The unfinished bedroom is Sugar and Sandy’s for reasons that will be explained shortly. 

I really feel I made this house too nice for the Unions but what can you do. 

Felina and Barth’s rooms in their ~signature colors~

And Liz and Sophito’s bedroom which is clearly all Liz.

Finally, on the little rooms on the third floor are the music room that @microscotch​ decorated❤️, and a lame room where we keep all our career rewards!

The mausoleum, which is unchanged other than I moved the pet graves in it and put them under each generation..

..and this is the yard! I kept it pretty much the same except larger-

-and I added a lake! We’re all done, time to unpause and enjoy long, safe lives in our new house..

OMG WTF

-YOU CAN’T ADD A FLAMETHROWER IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOUNTAIN, MORON -EVERYONE KNOWS WATER CATCHES FIRE 

BRO. When I tell you guys the entire family almost perished in a FOUNTAIN FIRE. Incredibly fitting cause of death. Thankfully the firefighter heroically saved us and all is well! Now I can’t wait to play a billion sims and pets on this gigantic cc-filled lot with no further problems whatsoever!

Alright then! I had a feeling it might come to this, Sugar take Sandy and gtfo.

-I will but be warned, our absence won’t solve anything! 

Ya, it sure DIDN’T. GROSS. Finally I turned off shaders and it went away, ok Sug, you and Sandy can move back in..

..and we can begin the ENDLESS task of getting all the skill points you lost to zombiehood back. And once you’re back at the top of your career and Sandy tops hers you are OUTTA HERE, you hear me???

-Ya ya, how many times are you gonna kick me out and move me back in? Admit it already, you LOVE ME. 

Ok ‘love’ is a strong word-

-YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT ME.

LET’S MOVE ON

It’s our first night in the new house and this is how Sophie and Shajar sleep. 

-Close enough for me. -I’d like another wall between us, actually.

#itsover

-Ah, nothing like that first sip of whiskey before school!

Ya Barth, I’m a little concerned about your aspiration bar.

-Ah, nothing like the first four glasses of whiskey after shcool!

Ya ok, we’re calling the matchmaker this weekend.

Jimbo (the puppy we adopted to mate with Veronica, I don’t remember if I introduced him) grows up and he looks ICONIC

The difference between their necks LOL

It’s Sophito’s birthday and Liz’s is in a few days, so it’s time to get started on their death portraits. What a cheerful gift, Cyn! 

Family reunion! Look at everyone all together, getting along..

..even Gunther came but completely ignored the party and went straight for the ballet bar, which legit made me emo, idk if you guys remember during generation 1 how obsessed he and Daniel were with the ballet bar, awww❤️ Alright, back to the party, go on Soph, blow your candles-

OH FFS

-SCREW YOU, FAILINA, IT’S BEYOND TIME TO HAVE OUR FIRST FIGHT IN THE NEW HOUSE  -AGREED, AND I CAN THINK OF NO BETTER MOMENT THAN THE ONE RIGHT BEFORE OUR FATHER BLOWS HIS CANDLES IN FRONT OF OUR ENTIRE FAMILY

Ok are you done?? Is this over?? Let’s try the cake again, Soph-

-Sorry, it’s time for me to finally reconnect with iVan, huhu!💗 -Awww, I’m so happy for you, grandma Cyn!

-DON’T BE TOO HAPPY, FAILINA -FUCKING BRAT, I HAD MY BACK TURNED

OK YOU KNOW WHAT, FORGET IT

HERE, HE’S GROWN UP. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SOPHITO 

-WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS FAMILY~👻

Ya idk, Victoria, you tell me, it’s your amazing DNA at work. 

-YOU’RE AN EMBARASSMENT, BARTHOLOMEW  -Well that hurts, grandma! 

-Thankfully nothing a drink won’t fix!

Oh my- I’d like to clarify at this point that this goddamn party is still going on-

-when this simultaneous pet and human fight occurs:

It’s Jimbo vs Shinok..

..and Barflina vs human dignity.

-Oh no, babe, I can’t look! -How could this happen, we were such involved parents!!

And at the moment where Barth throws his sister through a window, the matchmaker rewards us with a genie lamp for treading the arduous path of excellence. I don’t know about you, but what I take from this is we are perfect and should never attempt to improve ourselves in any way!