kiss & don't tell

✧

It had been a few eventful weeks for everyone. Olivia and Buck finally made up which put an end to the tension-fueled shifts and the icy glares that the male firefighter had been an unfortunate victim to at times.

Hen and Karen were dealing with the news that their embryos didn't survive. Then to make matters worse, during their last shift, Hen collided with a civilian and ended up killing the woman.

Maddie was now in mandated therapy courtesy of Sue due to a complaint filed against her. That was a whole ordeal in itself.

Then there was Eddie who stumbled upon an underground fighting ring to let out his frustrations, courtesy of Lena Bosko.

Currently, the team was sitting around the couches on the upper level of the firehouse while they discussed Hen and everything surrounding the situation.

"So you still haven't heard anything from the chief about Hen?" Buck asked.

"I would tell you if they made a ruling, Buck...they haven't," Bobby sighed.

"Shouldn't the investigators be done by now?" Chimney questioned. "We all know it was an accident."

"Saw her yesterday," Eddie chimed in. "I was on my way into Frank's, ran into her outside the building. She seemed okay, just sad."

"Seems like a reaction most people would have," Olivia spoke up as she frowned at the thought. "I know I'd be devastated."

"How was therapy with Frank?" Buck switched the subject. "Haven't seen him in a while."

"Seems good, but I'm not really sure he and I are...clicking."

"You should try talking to Rosemary," Chimney suggested. "I went to her after the stabbing, she was great."

"Is that the one I slept with?"

"No!" Bobby exclaimed. "She doesn't work for the department anymore."

"You slept with your therapist?" Eddie laughed.

Olivia nudged his side, giving him a glare that he just waved off. Those two had been on somewhat better terms since the day spent together at her neighbor's house. They weren't best friends but they also weren't biting each other's head off every chance they got.

"Yeah, I was, uh, going through a phase. Hey, didn't you just go through one of those?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Ascending the stairs, Athena grabbed everyone's attention by yelling out, "Hey, hey, everybody! Just thought I'd stop by and see if there's any word on our girl."

"You talk to her?" Chimney asked.

"Well, I tried but all she wants to talk about–"

"The girl. Yeah, I got that too."

"Ooh," Athena shared her phone with Bobby. "May just sent me a copy of her college essay."

"She emailed it to you?" Bobby inquired.

"I guess she was too nervous to watch me read it in person."

"I remember the drama when my sisters were applying to college," Eddie said. "I think that's half the reason why I decided to join the army."

"Thank God my mom didn't care enough about me to want to know about the college application process," Olivia huffed.

Bobby shifted his eyes and then cleared his throat, attempting to just skip over what the youngest member of the team said. "Well, you tell a 17-year-old kid that their future depends on writing 600 perfect words,  the pressure's gonna get to 'em."

"I don't remember what my college essay was about," Buck furrowed.

"Why don't you call Maddie and ask her what she wrote for you?" Chimney quipped.

"I am going to kill this child," Athena said through clenched teeth.

She showed Bobby her phone and he read the title of the teenager's essay aloud. "'Living with the enemy.' I thought her essay was about the tsunami."

"So did I."

Olivia giggled, shifting her attention to Buck who was sitting across from her. "Hey, Buck, I'll give you two guesses on who the enemy in the essay is. Hint...she's in this room."

Before either of them could utter a word, Athena stared them down and raised her eyebrow. "After I get her, I'm coming after you two."

✶❤︎✶❤︎

Swinging the front door open, Olivia raised her eyebrow at the man pacing around on her doorstep. She got a notification from her alarm company about five minutes ago that someone had walked up to the door but no one rang the doorbell or knocked.

"As fun as it is to watch you pace around...I think you'd be more comfortable inside."

Eddie's lips curved into a small smile and he shook his head. "You knew I was out here the whole time?"

"Motion sensors," she pointed above the door frame. "My alarm company sent me a notification that a person was detected on my doorstep."

"Oh."

"Come on in, Eddie. Um, Kai's out with Buck so it's just us."

He slid past the woman as she widened the door for him to enter and took a glance around the house before settling on the couch. Olivia headed over to the kitchen and grabbed him a beer, she smiled and extended the alcoholic beverage out for him which he happily accepted.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here."

"No, I'm actually glad you're here," Olivia confessed. "I've been wanting to talk to you for a while. I've been such a bitch to you and to everyone else. That's not me. I don't want you to think I hate you or anything. I-I've just been dealing with a lot which is no excuse because I'm sure you're dealing with a lot more but I need you to know I'm sorry for the way I've been acting toward you."

"It's okay. I know you've been dealing with a lot. Buck kind of told me about what happened with your sister and that you've been having issues with Tyler."

"Of course, Buck told you," she scoffed and rolled her eyes at the mention of their nosey-ass friend. "Look, I don't want to blame everything on my issues because that's unfair. Especially, when you've been dealing with a hell of a lot."

Eddie looked like he wanted to run and hide at the indication of his own set of issues. But he trusted Olivia, wholeheartedly. Even if they had gone through weeks of silence or awkward tension, he trusted her.

So, once again, they found themselves in a position where they were having another heart-to-heart. Olivia listened intently and sat patiently, only speaking when he turned silent. But for the most part, she was all ears.

By the time he was finished telling her the truth behind his whole "underground fighting ring phase" and telling her about Shannon, they were standing in the kitchen. Olivia was leaning against the kitchen island while Eddie stood in front of her with his arms crossed against his chest, waiting for her to speak.

"That was...a lot," Olivia breathed out. "Also explains why you need therapy."

"Hey!"

"But I'm glad you feel like you can trust me with something of this...magnitude."

"For some reason, I put a lot of my trust into you," Eddie admitted. "Maybe it has to do with the whole having to watch each other's backs while we're at work or because–"

"Or because you like me?" She sheepishly smiled at her own words, surprised that they even left her mouth.

"Yeah, because I like you." That was probably the first time Eddie said those words out loud. He might've shown up to her doorstep and been close to uttering the words many times before that but he couldn't. Not until now.

Unexpectedly, Olivia's lips were on his. Eddie was caught by surprise at first, but then he kissed back with the same amount of intensity. Her lips are soft and there's a slick sensation, most likely from the lip gloss she slathers on daily, her arms wind around his neck and she pulled him closer to her body.

Eddie pulled away from the kiss first, in need of some air. His cheeks were flushed as were hers and they're both panting as they mess with their hair, mangled from running their fingers through it.

"That was..."

"We're back!"

Both their heads immediately snapped toward the front door which was visible from the kitchen, Buck wiggled his way into the house with Kai who ran straight to the kitchen. Olivia instantly took a couple of steps back to pretend as if nothing happened while her son ran straight into her arms.

"Hello, munchkin!"

"Hi, Mama" He peered behind her and shyly waved at Eddie. "Hi."

Eddie waved back and ruffled his hair in passing as he ventured out of the kitchen. Standing to her normal height, she stuck her hand out and followed the man while her son idly held her hand.

"I assume the movie ended early," Olivia spoke, directing her assumption at Buck.

"No, the movie ended almost forty minutes ago," Buck corrected. "I took him for ice cream which you would know if you checked your messages."

"Right."

"So what were you two doing?"

Eddie and Olivia shared sheepish expressions, the latter shook her head no and he immediately understood. So Eddie simply responded with, "Talking."

"About what?" Kai curiously chimed in, staring at his mom with wide eyes.

"Grown-up stuff," Olivia raised her eyebrow at the boy. "Go say your goodbyes and then wash up, I'll be in to read you a story before you go to bed."

"Okay!"

Olivia waited until he left the room and then walked over to the front door, gesturing the two men to leave. "I think it's time for you two head on out."

Buck opened his mouth to protest. "Wait, no, I want to–"

"Let's go," Eddie patted his friend on the back and nudged him toward the opened door. "Good night, Liv."

Olivia smiled, wiggling her fingers as a goodbye. "Good night."

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author's note: short chapter but...they finally kissed👀🫨🫨

-i also skipped an episode which is why the beginning of the chapter is sort of a recap for the previous episode and then the rest is just some filler before I dive into the Christmas episode

-I took a tiny little break from writing but I'm back and will possibly have the next chapter up by the end of the week or the beginning of next week!

-We shall see what the next chapter has in store for those two🙉 Hope you guys liked the chapter!