walking into a new chapter

"Nana insisted to move into this penthouse instead of settling for the smaller apartments here." Josephine sauntered around the spacious penthouse where she will be moving in this week. Feeling on the brink of hesitation into this new chapter of her life- one of her own since it's always been herself and Bryan by her side.

A few weeks surpassed since Josephine and Bryan announced both the wedding and the engagement was off to their family and friends. Josephine didn't disclose about Bryan's affair although knew everyone would find out eventually. She entailed that they realized they weren't ready for a commitment- being in two different places in their lives. Some believed while others remained skeptical. There's nothing you can really hide from your family. With eager relatives phoning Josephine to spare their sympathies with the true intention for the real explanation. Josephine went M.I.A. on them for a few days like when she was younger except the police went searching for her.

"She probably feels sorry for me. Figures why she'd want to grant me this penthouse and furniture of my choice."

Vanessa walked out of the hallway, "True, but you're her favorite granddaughter that she likes to spoil rotten." She approached her sister by the large windows.

"That is an understatement," Josephine giggled. "I would think Nana favors you. You're a replica of mom basically. I was this rebellious teenage girl always causing trouble."

"Nana loves you for who you are, Josie. Plus, everyone understood why you acted that way and I feel at fault for not being good older sister to acknowledge that enough." Vanessa spared a guilt ridden expression whenever it crossed her mind.

Josephine's face falter, "Vanessa, it's not your fault. If anything, you're the best big sister any girl could ask for." She pursed her lips and lowered her gaze, momentarily. "Sure, I felt alone but you've always tried to be there for me. Even when I isolated myself at one point. That is all in the past and you're here with me today." She assured.

Vanessa tugged the corners of her lips lightly, "So, have you talked to Bryan that you're moving out? How are you two in spite of everything?" As part of her wanted to center the aggravating energy with a boost of pregnancy hormones to slap Bryan. She felt a bit betrayed of the young man she's known, at least thought wouldn't hurt her sister.

"Yeah, we have. It's weird." Josephine enlightened. "I mean, breakups aren't that great. I still love him. Is that bad?" She roughly sighed as her feelings for Bryan remained in the air.

"No, I'm sure he still loves you." Vanessa frowned and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder as they settled on the stools in the kitchen. "You two have been together for years as friends and then lovers. A lot history and emotional feelings will be difficult to let go."

Silence carried in the room for a few moments. Josephine drummed her fingers onto the white marble countertop. "You were right, by the way." Vanessa quirked her brow, having no understanding of her younger sister's statement. "You and your intuition about Bryan and I not lasting." She enthused.

"Stop, as much I would take pride in that- it's a bit shitty to do that. Especially, finding out the reason why you two didn't last. I'm sorry, Josie." Vanessa wished that her sister didn't have be a victim of this reality.

"I'm sorry too. But I'll be okay, I think."

Josephine stuffed the rest of her belongings into her locker after exchanging into uniform. Once, shutting the locker door she flickered to the glass doors where Buck waited outside. She proceeded to exit out of the locker room and met him. "Awe, were you waiting for me like a kindergartener to go out to recess, Evan?" She pivot to face him, crossing her arms and pouting her lips.

Buck lifted his back from the cemented pillar, rolling his eyes. "Ha ha ha, very funny, Josephine. Maybe." He sheepishly grinned.

"How's Abby doing?" She wondered, referring to his 9-1-1 dispatcher girlfriend who lost her mom recently.

"She's been trying to be strong through all this but it seems she's better this week." He assured.

They both pursued towards the staircase. Josephine nodded along, "That's understandable. Losing someone especially, a parent is a tough one." She swallowed thickly, dismissing to recall the past memories when receiving the news of her father's death. "Abby is lucky to have you by her side in all this."

Buck etched a small grin then changed the subject. "How about you? Moving into that apartment of yours this week?"

"Correction, penthouse. My Nana refused to let me move into the cozy apartment I picked out." She mused to him.

He cocked his brow out, intrigued. "Do you think your Nana would get me a penthouse then?"

A scoff escaped from her lips, "Unless you're her favorite granddaughter, specifically one who cancelled her wedding and engagement because you were cheated on...then no. Aren't you cooped up at Abby's now?"

"I am but wouldn't hurt to get a penthouse of my own. I bet your Nana would love me if she met me." He slyly smirked as they climbed to the top of the second level of the firehouse.

She playfully gasped and hit his arm. "Keep it in your pants, she's married." Buck only chuckled and shook his head at her wrong presumption before following an interesting scene played out among his colleagues at the table.

"RomancingTheUniform.com? That's my dating site. That's where I met Tatiana. Holy crap, are you actually putting yourself back out on the scene?" Chimney exclaimed after stealing the laptop from Bobby.

Josephine peered over his and Hen's shoulders with Buck joining her as they skimmed at the dating profile in shock. Neither of them would've thought their captain would be one to insert himself in dating sites.

Bobby feeling a bit embarrassed of the revelation went ahead to explain. "My sponsor said maybe it's time. I spend too much time in my work, in my head, and that dating, having a girlfriend would help get me out in the world."

Josephine reached to snatch up the laptop from Chimney's hand, sharing a mischievous look with Buck. They walked around the table to dive into their captain's profile.

"I think it's great, you taking the leap." Hen encouraged. "It's brave. While at the moment, I think that dating or sleeping with someone is not worth the trouble, but I'm happy for you."

"Look, this just isn't me." Bobby huffed out. "I-I feel like a probie stretching his first job."

Josephine bit her lip, grimacing at the profile before lifting her eyes. "You're not a rookie, you're just rusty." She scrolled on the laptop.

"Last time I had a date, I was in my 20s."

Buck leaned forward with one hand gripping onto the back of Josephine's chair. "Yeah, this is terrible." He squinted at the screen. "And this picture looks like you're trying to sell real estate from a bus stop bench. And you know what? I will not be buying. All right?" Chimney came around, bursting in laughter with Josephine who couldn't help suppress it.

She furrowed and sent Bobby a pitiful frown. "Cap, you can't be serious with this description? "I am a lifesaver, not a heartbreaker," you're killing me."

"Why not? That's solid, sweet." Bobby defended.

Buck shook his head, agreeing with Josephine. "No, it is cheese. Sweet, sweet cheese." He erupted in laughter causing the brunette to slap his chest for bursting her eardrum.

Chimney read out, "You mean like flan?"

"Good flan is the bomb."

"Oh, he..." Buck threw his head back, laughing louder after reading more of Bobby's dating page.

Josephine snorted, "You don't? You have an AOL e-mail account still?" Her remark caused Hen to take a peek at the page.

Buck tried to compose himself, adding. "It is literally like you were frozen in ember in 1995."

Both Josephine and Bobby looked at him with a quizzical expression. She slapped his chest once again. "It's "amber," not "ember," you idiot." She corrected.

"Who cares? You can never show this to a girl." He shrugged.

Bobby sent a puzzled look at him. "Why not?"

"Okay, this profile is a joke profile for a guy no one ever wants to go out with." Buck declared.

Chimney interjected, settling into a seat next to Bobby taking the laptop back. "You know what, maybe you are not the right person he should be taking dating advice from, Buckaroo."

"And why is that? Because last time I checked, I'm in a stable, monogamous relationship with an amazing woman." Buck bragged to the rest of the team in pride. "I'm the healthiest dater at this whole table."

There was a slight pause at the table as the rest came in realization.

Josephine grazed her arm, "I just got chills."

"Oh, my God, he's right." Chimney expressed dramatically.

Hen added, "The world is turned upside down."

They all joined in laughter at the blond man. "Yeah, okay, laugh, huh?" He glowered at his colleagues. "I am proof that real change is possible." He declared in which increased the volume of their laughter.

"What the hell, Evan Buckley?" A short haired brunette woman charged up to him.

She gained everyone's attention where Bobby spoke up. "Can we help you?"

The woman in distraught ignored Bobby while confronting Buck. "You lead me on for six weeks? The sexiest, deepest, most romantic, most intimate relationship I've ever had with a man...I told you everything." Josephine's lips parted in shock with Hen and Chimney, fully immersed in the conversation. "You told me everything. And I am not an easy nut to crack. Is this your sick game? Make a girl reveal every fear and secret and turn-on, and then you just disappear? Is ghosting girls your thing?"

Josephine raised her finger to speak. "I'm sorry, are you sure you have the right Evan Buckley?" She asked curiously.

"You mean the Evan Buckley who's a firefighter? Who works here and was on the news, and climbed a roller coaster and looks exactly like you?"

"Listen, yeah, sure, that-that is definitely me. But the-the me that I am, and the him that you're describing, that is not the same person." Buck attempted to thoroughly explain to the woman.

However, she didn't take his word instead served him a hard slap to the face.

"Who! Hey, whoa." Buck winced.

Before anyone could utter a word, the woman immediately exited out of the firehouse. Completely baffled by the scene that unraveled, Buck turned back to everyone. "You see that?" He questioned until noticing the unimpressed expressions on their faces. "No, no, I swear, I have never seen her before."

"If you say so." Bobby quipped.

"No, I do say so." Buck argued, continuing to explain himself. "Okay, I swear, I-I don't know who that was. I have...I have found real intimacy. Right? You know this. Come on. I haven't even flirted with anyone else."

"Sure, you haven't." Hen said unconvinced. "Yep, you're proof that real change is possible."

Abruptly, the alarm rang in the firehouse before a frustrated Buck could prove himself to the team. "Guys..." He trailed off when Bobby, Hen, and Chimney passed by him to head down to the trucks.

His eyes landed on Josie following after the trio. "Josie," He grasped onto her arm. "Please, tell me you believe me, right?" He begged desperately.

"Honestly, I should be the last person to ask in this situation." She stated firmly then sighing at the sight of his blue orbs. "I just hope that it isn't true, and that Abby isn't being cheated on."

Josephine utilized tech skills though not having to use her expertise of this easy case where she easily pinned the address from the chain of e-mails. Meanwhile, Chimney hovered behind the couch chewing beef jerky observing. He circled around the couch and flopped his body on the couch next to Josephine waiting for intel.

"Question, have you ever hacked any systems or anything?" He tilted his head out of curiosity.

She halted her typing then furrowed at him. "If I did, I wouldn't be working here? However, a good hacker cleans any traces." She winked as his eyes went berserk. "Kidding. Although, I did hack my school's prom voting system by switching the cards to see the popular girl throw a tantrum about not winning prom queen. If that counts?"

However, Josephine signed an NDA several years back.

The latter shared a laugh until Buck's voice boomed in the firehouse. "Hey yo, Rebar!" They turned their heads to the heated blond marching over to them at the couch. "Come clean. This is you, right? Putting girls up to this, you think you're funny?"

"You know what, Buck, I really wish it was me..." Chimney sarcastically replied, taking a bite of his beef jerky.

His comment only infuriated Buck more, "Okay, you wish, you wish." He clenched his fist, seeming to lunge at Chimney.

Josephine decided to meddle to prevent to fuse Buck's impulsive behavior. "Calm down, and sit down please." She demanded which he complied and sat on the cushioned seat.

"Let's see...but it's not." Chimney truthfully told. "I bet if you updated your relationship status on your Myspace page, it might clear up all of this confusion." He gestured Josephine to face the laptop screen that displayed Buck's profile to the blond.

At the sight of the screen, Buck contorted a confused expression. "Hey, who even uses Myspace?"

"Oh, evidently, you do." Josephine raved.

"The hell. That's my Facebook picture."

Chimney continued to enlighten him of their discovery. "Yet another disappointed young lady came into the firehouse today. After Josie and I here convinced her to stop shouting and throwing rocks, she showed me this."

"Don't you get it? Some weirdo saw your B-movie star looks in the news, and thought pretending to be you would be a good lure to catfish the women of L.A." Josephine said in disbelief.

Buck furrowed his brows, reading further into the catfish page. "So, I'm a- I'm a Yankees fan who loves Star Wars?"

"Uh, Star Wars prequels." Chimney corrected.

Josephine hummed in agreement with a pointed look. "Yeah, get it right."

"Hey, it's not funny. This is really messed up." Buck sighed out, ultimately upset to be a victim of this situation.

Chimney shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, it is, but come on, some dude doing the boring legwork, having hotties come to your door. I mean, what, is that really that awful?"

"Abby is freaking out. This cannot keep happening. Who is he?"

"Okay, your imposter's not that bright. He's already started exchanging e-mails with Brandy." Josephine answered before narrowing down the direct address of the catfish.

"Who's Brandy?"

Josephine pipped, "The angry girl throwing the rocks."

"Who's actually very smart and very cool, and who may or may not come to my place next week to watch the game with us, so please, don't come." Chimney entailed as Josephine rolled her eyes how unbelievable he managed to score a date out of this.

She went on to clarify to Buck, "The point is, if you know what you're looking for, you can find the I.P. address in the header of the messages." She showcased the laptop to him again with the I.P. address.

"Just looks like a bunch of random numbers." Buck held a bemused look.

"You should be glad you're cute, Evan." Josephine muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, Buck, random numbers that we can trace to his actual address. Thanks to Josie, who managed locate this guy's address." He slung his arm around the brunette, beaming  at the blond.

As Buck and Chimney went to venture off to the catfish guy's place, Josephine left to start moving out of the shared penthouse with the help of Carlos and Calvin.

"I forgot you were moving out today." Josephine spun around to see Bryan taking long strides inside their penthouse. Their eyes scanned at her belongings no longer on display.

She tossed around the velvet box in her hands, pressing her lips together. "Yeah," She deeply exhaled as Carlos' feet shuffled out of the hallway with two boxes in his arms. He stopped his tracks awkwardly interrupting. "I'll get the last box and meet you and Calvin downstairs."

Carlos shortly nodded to his cousin then moved forward to make a quick exit out of the penthouse. Bryan's eyes followed him out before meeting Josephine's gaze again.

Bryan took a few steps towards Josephine. "I'm-I'm glad we were able to talk the other night." Reminiscing to the night they've spent together in finding a little closure of their relationship.

The wound remained to be fresh, although Josephine felt it was necessary to have a conversation. She chewed the inside of her cheek and slowly walked up to him. "Me too. Even though a part of me is still hurting about what you did...I still love you. Thing is, I'll forgive you someday when I'm at peace with all of this. But, I'll always love you." She sharply inhaled, eyes swelling up. "You're my first love and best friend."

"As you are mine. I'll always hate myself for hurting you." Bryan caressed her face lightly, feeling regretful.

"Sounds good to me." Josephine giggled out this painful goodbye. She lowered her head and grasp onto his hand to rest the velvet box in which carried his grandmother's ring. "Goodbye, Bryan."

He cradled the back of her head, pressing a soft kiss onto her forehead. "Goodbye, Josie."

Later that night, Carlos and Josephine were sorting out her boxes then opening them in her new place. Somehow, Carlos managed to persuade his cousin to put on the wedding dress that has no use for it. Josephine couldn't help to be into of the idea considering she won't be walking down the aisle anytime soon.

Parading around in this wonderful wedding dress and chugging down alcohol would be a goodbye not only to Bryan, but what could've been the route of her life.

Carlos blasted music in the empty penthouse merely decorated with a few furniture pieces at the moment. He dragged Josephine for a dance, pretending they were on the dance floor at the wedding after popping a bottle.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Josephine and Carlos paused from dancing the night away. She began stalking towards the door, grabbing her wallet on the way to pay the delivery guy who appeared early than the estimated time.

"You're going to answer that in your wedding dress?"

Josephine looked over her shoulder, "It's not like I'm going to marry the person behind the door. Possibly, the delivery guy since he's here early." She joked then twisted the doorknob open expecting their takeout order.

"Wow."

Upon hearing the familiar gasp, Josephine's eyes widened. "Buck?"

He stammered out, examining the dress he last seen the brunette wearing at the bridal store. "You're in your wedding dress."

"Yeah, that's what I'm wearing right now." Josephine licked her lips, smoothing the dress down with her hands feeling a bit embarrassed. "My cousin Carlos insisted since I can't really return this. And, some form of celebration into this paving a new direction of my life." She entertained.

"Great symbolism." He gushed.

She bit down her lip, staring at Buck standing awkwardly out of her front door. Something in her gut entailed there was a reason he showed up out of the blue. "You wanna come in? Looks like you need a drink, plus you'll get to meet my cousin Carlos who flew in from Texas. We ordered some takeout too."

"I don't want to intrude-"

"Seriously, Evan?" She cut him off, tilting her head in amusement. "Come on, we'll be delighted with your company. I can assure I will." She widened the door open for him to walk inside.

Buck informed Josephine about his and Chimney's little adventure to the catfish guy's trailer. Neither of them expected to find the guy dead in his trailer, assuming weeks surpassed since his death explaining the run in with these angry women. Happily to tell Abby the whole scenario, the conversation took a turn. She announced that she will be departing to Ireland in search of her purpose and control of her life.

"Damn, I'm sorry, Buck." Josephine poured him a glass, resting on the coaster where he sat on the stool at the countertop. "I'm happy for Abby choosing this Eat. Pray. Love journey though. She deserves to be able to live her life after investing not only her mother but the people of this city. We only live one life."

"Yeah..." He trailed, tapping his fingers against the glass.

Josephine propped her elbow on the countertop, pressing her cheek against her fist to gain his attention. "Hey, you're going to be okay. Saying goodbye to something great is hard." The corners of her lips slightly tugged downward before patting his shoulder in a comforting matter. "Trust me, you're talking to the girl dressed in a wedding dress that will never be worn again."

They erupted into small laughter. "Well, that sucks because you look amazing in that dress." He sported a smirk, bringing the glass to his mouth. "It's just I'm always the one left behind."

"I'm still here. If you ever feel lonely, you can call me up for some company. How does that sound?"

"Sounds a little less lonely."

-And, that is the last chapter of season 1! Hope you like it! Tell me what you think! Don't forget to comment and vote! Stay tuned!-

WRITTEN: 7/4/21

PUBLISHED: 7/5/21