the one that got away

✧

"Whoo! That was something, huh?" Buck cheered as he excitedly tossed a t-shirt into his locker. "A fire that big, and no fatalities. We have to celebrate. We should hit up that bar on Pico, you know, the one with the loaded fries. First round's on me."

The team just returned from putting out a huge fire at an apartment complex. As Buck had just said, they were lucky to retrieve all civilians from the apartment safely and there were zero fatalities despite how much the fire spread.

"Wish I could, man," Eddie shut his locker. "Christopher's hosting his first sleepover tonight. Hey, you're more than welcome to celebrate with a bunch of nine-year-olds."

"Hah, the rest of us will toast your absence."

Unfortunately, for the Buck, the team began to go around the room and explain why they wouldn't be able to make it out. Chimney, Hen, and Bobby all had pre-planned dates with their significant others.

Then he turned to his best friend, poking her side with a grin. "I can always count on my partner in crime. Right? Me, you, drinks. Huh?"

"Sorry, Buck, I have plans."

Buck frowned, crossing his arms against his chest. "You know, you've been really busy lately. Are you seeing someone? You're not back with the baby daddy, are you?"

"God, no, Buck! This has nothing to do with my love life." Olivia grabbed her duffle bag and shrugged it onto her shoulder. "I'm going to dinner with Elisa. It's been a few months since she moved in with my mom and now that we're on better terms, I can't help but notice that she's been spending a lot of time at my house."

He stopped at her car and sighed. "You think something happened between El and your mom?"

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"Okay, well, let me know how it goes." Buck embraced his best friend in a tight hug.

Olivia pulled away to pinch his cheek. "Have fun tonight, Buckley. Call me if you need anything."

"Same goes for you."

✶❤︎✶❤︎

Olivia took short strides as she walked over to the booth in the diner where her sister was seated. The teenager perked up and waved at her older sister once she saw her come into view.

Olivia picked up the pace and then slid into the seat across from her sister, shutting her phone off. "Hey."

"Hey, Liv. I made sure to order for you already. I figured you might not want to wait on your food since you just got off of work."

"Thank you."

Within minutes, the waitress was setting down their respective meals in front of them and the two didn't waste any time digging in. Olivia waited until she was about halfway finished with her meal to bring up the dreaded topic of their mother.

"So...I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

Elisa sighed, pulling her soda away from her lips. "If this is about me borrowing your favorite Levi's—"

"No. No. Wait, you — okay, so not the point. Just promise to give them back. You've been spending a lot of time at my house, not that I mind. But, I need to know if there's something going on with Mom. I want to make sure you're okay."

Elisa bit down on her bottom lip, immediately staring down at the table to avoid her sister's burning gaze. "I was wondering if you were ever going to bring that up. I guess, I was in over my head. You warned me about Mom and how she's just — not a good person. I should've listened to you. I'm sorry."

Olivia refrained from rightfully telling her sister 'I told you so.' Instead, she reached for the teenager's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"You can move your stuff back in."

"Liv, I can't. Not after last time."

"You've been living with me since you were a child. This changes nothing, got it?" Olivia raised her eyebrow at the girl. "You're my sister and I love you even if you drive me a little insane. Move back in."

She finally nodded, smiling a bit. "I have a lot of my stuff at Mom's house, though."

"Don't worry about it. Eddie and I can help you with your stuff. When the devil's out of the house, of course."

Elisa stifled a giggle, nodding her head. "Oh, of course."

✶❤︎✶❤︎

Bobby's eyes shifted back and forth as he stared expectantly at the two people sitting across from his desk. He quirked an eyebrow, hoping to receive an answer or even a sound from the two, but received nothing in response.

"I thought you two wanted to speak to me about something?"

Olivia turned to Eddie, shrugging her shoulders and he nodded, urging her to speak first. "Okay, I'm just gonna come out with it." She nervously rubbed her hands together, sighing. "Eddie and I are together. Like, romantically."

As the two began to progress in their relationship, telling more people in their lives about their relationship just seemed natural. The first person they wanted to notify was their fire captain since he was their boss after all, then they would slowly begin to tell the rest of the team.

"I see," Bobby nodded.

"We're aware that this might complicate things since we work so closely together," Eddie said. "But we've already spoken about any and all possible situations. The job will always come first and we respect that. But we know how to conduct ourselves in high-intensity situations."

Despite the seriousness of his tone, Bobby couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"Why are you smiling?" Olivia pointed an accusatory finger at the captain.

"I'm the fire captain," Bobby chuckled. "You think I don't know what's going on under my roof. I've seen the glances and whatnot between you two."

Olivia rolled her head toward Eddie, arching her eyebrow. He innocently shrugged before staring forward once again.

"I assume no one else knows?"

"Her sister and my Tia Pepa are the only two people who know. Liv wants to be the one to tell Buck first so if you can keep this between us until he knows, that'd be nice."

Bobby agreed, nodding. "Of course. Look, you two will need to fill out some mandated paperwork regarding your employment and your relationship status but other than that, it's fine. I see no issues with it. I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you, Bobby."

"I'll prepare the paperwork for you two tomorrow. We should probably head on up before those three get suspicious."

Olivia eagerly nodded as she got up from the chair and followed the fire captain out of the office. When they walked up the stairs, Buck was still rambling to Chimney and Hen about Red, the man he met at the bar the other day.

"Look, I'm just saying Red is a 40-year-old veteran of the department. Two citations for bravery. Now he lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment he pays for with his pension."

"Well, from the way you described him, it sounds like he's okay with it."

"Well, I'm not okay with it," Buck countered.

"So it's all about you," Chimney raised his eyebrow.

"No, come on. That's not what I'm saying."

Lining up his shot at the pool table, Bobby spoke next. "It does seem like his situation is bothering you more than it bothers him."

"Yeah. I mean, it does bother me."

"Look, Red has no friends, no family. All the guys from the 134, they don't talk anymore. It's like they just left him behind."

"You know, Evan, not all colleagues are as close as us," Olivia spoke from her position on the couch, peering over at the group. "It's also natural for people to lose touch especially when you don't work in the same firehouse anymore."

"Well, that doesn't make sense to me. I mean, that would never happen to us."

"Of course not. We're family."

"Yeah, it's never gonna change."

"Yeah! Like if Bobby retired," Buck gestured to the man.

"You know something I don't?"

"Some day," Buck corrected. "Or you know, one of us got moved to another house. We would still all stay in touch."

"Exactly! Like you three." Eddie gestured to Hen, Chimney, and Olivia. "You still keep in touch with the guys that used to be here, right?"

Hen warily stared at the man. "Um, I don't know if we'd call some of them friends."

"I spoke with Tommy last year," Chimney spoke. "I was calling to ask for a favor, but..."

"I actually never had a real conversation with any of them," Olivia admitted, not helping the situation. But then she pointed a finger at Buck and smile. "See? There's a difference already. We speak!"

"Anyways. That won't happen to us."

"Better not."

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author's note

-okayyyy so bobby officially knows (even though he's bobby and knew all along!👀)

-the line where Bobby says "you think i don't know what's going on under my roof" was sort of funny to write because a few seasons later, he literally has no idea what's going on in the firehouse between the team😅

-not much going on in the chapter so it's a bit of a filler