eleven
"friends event coincidence"

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SORRY FOR THE LONG ASS GIF LMAO

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   "THERE'S NO WAY THAT EVAN Buckley is my Valentine's Day date."

   Lynn stared in disbelief as she watched Buck nibble on a piece of buttered bread, and she let out a soft sigh, knowing she had to walk over there and let him know that they had coincidentally been matched together.

   Then, the memory of yesterday's shift popped in Lynn's head. How Buck mentioned that it was all a solid in repayment to his friend, and she could only imagine that Lizzy had somehow convinced her boyfriend to tell the cute boy to ship her off with her sad, lonely sister on a date.

   Ignoring all the thoughts that told her to just walk straight outside before Buck saw her, she quietly and carefully walked her way over-mostly because these heels were a pain in her ass and she could hardly walk in them point blank period. When she was a few feet or so away, that was when Buck glanced up to the girl, at first there was excitement in his eyes, but then it quickly switched to confusion when he recognized his coworker.

   "Evie?" Buck questioned, and then his blue eyes gazed down to what she was wearing, and his pink lips seemed to separate into the smallest of gasps. Suddenly, that same uncomfortable feeling arose in her stomach, making knots form. "Wow-you look, just, wow."

   Lynn took a second to examine the boy for herself. He was wearing a tight white undershirt that he clearly wore because it flaunted his muscles, covered by a dark blue jacket with matching pants. He looked amazing, as per always, but somehow he looked much more neater.

   "Uh, thanks?" Lynn rose an eyebrow towards the boy, and then he finally tore his eyes from staring deeply at how amazingly perfect the black dress hugged every single one of her curves. "You clean up pretty nice yourself, Mr. Buckley."

   "Wait, Eve, why're you here? Don't you have a date?" Buck questioned, swallowing harshly where she could see his adam's apple bob. "Is this where you're meeting him?"

   "Yep, and you're waiting for the depressed, lonely girl, right?" Lynn fake smiled, turning her best to not have an offended expression.

   "Aw, c'mon, don't be mean," Buck scolded, and then he quickly scanned the restaurant before landing again on Lynn. "Turns out I might be stood up, she's almost twenty minutes late."

   "Ah, thank goodness you have a pretty face," Lynn smiled, patting his shoulder lightly, but he only seemed to be getting more confused by the second. "Evan, your roommate hooked you up on this blind date, no? Your roommate who just so happens to be my sisters boyfriend."

   Buck took a second to take in the information, and then let out the softest of laughs, and Lynn wondered if he was annoyed, or angry, or frankly just didn't care that she was his supposed date.

   "Well, Joe was right about you being a total babe," Buck joked, but Lynn wasn't really feeling in the joking manner, and he seemed to sense this.

   For once, she managed to convince herself to step outside the comfort zone and do something so unlike her. And somehow, it would still get ruined no matter what she did.

   "I'm not even sure I want to know how you got a reservation at such a fancy place in a day," Lynn started, shrugging her shoulders lightly as she examined the room one more time before landing back on Buck. "But yeah, uh, sorry for wasting your time, maybe you still have time to pick up a lonely heart."

   The toothy grin that was on Buck's face faded, and he shook his head quickly. Lynn gave him a sympathetic expression, and then turned on her heels as she was about to just leave, but she was interrupted when Buck suddenly jumped in front of her.

   "Whoa, whoa, hey, who says you have to leave?" Buck asked, and he seemed genuinely interested. Lynn casually narrowed her eyes at the boy, and then pointed to the extremely romantic looking table, and so he continued with a light shrug. "I mean, it's not like this has to be a date or anything. I already ordered two glasses of wine, and I'd really love it if I wasn't by myself when my waiter brought them."

   Lynn nibbled cautiously on her lip, forgetting that she was now wearing a lipstick rather just lip balm. As much as she wanted to just give up on the so called date and go home and do her annual V-Day traditions, a part of her couldn't ignore the puppy dog eyes Buck was giving her.

   "Fine," Lynn caved, and Buck grinned in victory towards the brunette, which was so contagious that she smiled herself.

   Buck gripped the wooden chair for Lynn, pulling it back for her and scooting her closer to the table. She felt a certain warmness glowing on her cheeks, but refused to acknowledge it. She was going to have a nice night, no matter what happened.

   "Just to be clear," Lynn warningly waved her index finger towards Buck as he took a seat opposite of her. "This is strictly friend hanging out with friend, or well, coworkers."

   "Of course, I could never dream of anything else, Evelynn," Buck replied with a fake seriousness, but then the same toothy smile overtook his face as he stared at Lynn.

   Lynn hummed as a response, not believing one word the man was saying. And before she could answer with a snarky reply, she was interrupted when a waiter came bearing a bottle of what looked like red wine, Lynn's favorite.

   "Ah, the beautiful young lady has finally arrived," the waiter smiled, and he had a light accent to his sentence. "Wine?"

   "Yes, please."

   Both Lynn and Buck shared an amused glance as they both spoke up at the same time, and Buck signaled for the man to pour Lynn's glass first. She nodded gratefully, both towards Buck and the waiter.

   "So, do you have your meals?"

   Lynn gazed down to the menu sitting in front of her, and then back up at Buck. She didn't even process to at least skim the menu before he came around, and as she opened her mouth to come up with surely some dumb response, Buck beat her to it.

   "She'll have a grilled steak, medium rare, and make sure it's right because the mrs. is a hardass when it comes to her meat," Buck smirked, trying his best to hold back his laughter as he stared at Lynn the entire time he ordered. "And mashed potatoes that still have the skin on them, with a side of sour cream, and really, like, really, salty asparagus."

   Lynn sat in disbelief at the man as he placed her order, which was completely one hundred percent accurate. She was surprised, truly, that Buck had paid so much attention through the last couple of months dinners to realize how specifically she liked everything.

   Buck then continued to place his order, which was not nearly as complex as hers, and she sent an apologetic face to waiter as he walked away.

   "What was that?" Lynn asked, genuinely, not with any ounce of sarcasm or attitude. "How do you know exactly how I like everything?"

   "What, Evie, surprised I pay attention to you sometimes?" Buck questioned, raising a brown eyebrow at her. He rose his glass filled with red wine, and then signaled for Lynn to do the same. "Here's to friends, and not girlfriends and boyfriends. You know, they should have a day for us as well."

   "Like international best friend day?" Lynn inquired, making both her and Buck burst into laughter. But nonetheless, Lynn raised her glass carefully and gently tapped it against Buck's, and they each took a swigful of the liquid. "To friends like Evan Buckley."

   "And to friends like the beautiful Evelynn Kennedy," Buck responded, and his smirk faded into a nice, genuine smile, one that Lynn kindly returned.

   The rest of the Valentine's Day was spent sharing childhood stories, war stories from Lynn's previous years as a paramedic, and then Buck told different stories about station 118 she had yet to hear. They shared laughs, smiles, jokes, and tears-happy ones, I swear. They enjoyed their meals, especially Lynn's perfectly cooked steak, mashed potatoes with the skin still on them, and salty asparagus. Even after they ate, they still stayed while sipping their wine and giggling with each other.

   If it had been with anyone other than Buck, Lynn would've thought it was her best date she's ever had. But it wasn't a date, it was strictly a friends event coincidence.

   So, after the obnoxious kids were finally kicked out of the restaurant due to it being way past their closing time along with the fact they were so loud the entire restaurant could probably hear them. They decided it was probably for the best that they go home, especially since they both had a shift tomorrow.

   After Lynn deemed Buck was good enough to drive himself home, he did the same cop test with her this time. "Say the ABC's backwards," he ordered, narrowing his eyes suspiciously deeply in hers.

   "I don't think I could even do that when I'm sober," Lynn countered, trying to even think of the last letter of the alphabet.

   "So, now walk in a straight line," Buck grinned, already knowing the girl would definitely not be able to. Firstly, she's clumsy as can be, and add a few glasses of wine? "C'mon."

   Lynn tried her best to steady herself, and place one heel near the front of her toes-since she had shed the heels as soon as they got outside. She let a giggle ring loose, and as she tried the next foot, she completely missed and ended up twisting her legs up together.

   She would've landed straight on her butt if it wasn't for Buck's quick movement, wrapping a strong arm around her waist while the other interlocked their fingers. Instinctively, Buck pressed Lynn's small, yet extremely curvy body, against his chest.

   Their faces were only inches apart, and Lynn could quite literally feel Buck's breath bouncing off her cheek. It was like all her air got hitched in her throat, and she couldn't even mumble a word.

   The two seemed to stay like that for a moment. Buck's piercing blue eyes switched form her own blue ones, down to her plump pink lips, and then back up. Their faces were getting centimeters closer to the other, well, that was until someone yelled from the same door they had just exited. They immediately pulled away from each other awkwardly while clearing their throats.

   "Y'all get outta here!" The voice shouted, and Lynn let out a short laugh as it seemed like whatever buzz she did have left her system when she really thought her and Buck were about to kiss.

   "Okay, maybe I had too many glasses of wine," Lynn confessed, which was only a half-lie. She wouldn't drive slightly buzzed, let alone drunk, so she knew she'd be calling either a cab or Lizzy either way, but all the alcohol seemed to leave her system when they had turned serious. "I can call Lizzy, or a cab."

   "No, no, let me drive you home," Buck insisted, and then he glanced over to Lynn's car parked a few parking spots from his. "I can pick you up before our shift tomorrow, bring you back here for your car."

   "Really?" Lynn questioned, and she suddenly felt more like a burden than anything else. "Seriously, if you want to get home—"

   "—And worry that some weirdo is gonna kidnap you from a cab?" Buck laughed softly, and he signaled for Lynn to follow him over to his car. "C'mon, Evie, it's 2018, not 2005."

   "Yeah, yeah," Lynn waved off, thanking the boy as he swung open the passengers side door for her. "Lets just get me home before Lizzy thinks I've been kidnapped and murdered."

   After the short ride back to Lynn and Lizzy's apartment, Buck had insisted that he walk the girl up to the apartment room. Said he was too worried a clumsy, tipsy woman like her would somehow find herself in trouble. As much as she wanted to argue and say she could fend for herself, she didn't quite want Buck to leave.

   "—This is me," Lynn spoke up, pointing to the apartment number twenty six, and both firefighters came to a hault in front of the door.

   "Uh, look—"

   "Well, I—"

   Both young adults bursted into laughter as they seemed to started their awkward sentences at the same time. Lynn shook her head, her eyes landing on her bare feet, where the heels were in her right hand.

   "You first," Lynn countered, a bright smile written on her face as she waited for the boy to speak up.

   "Thanks for tonight," Buck stated, returning that toothy smile once again. "You could've just left once you realized I was your blind date, but you stayed anyway. So, thanks for not letting me think I was stood up. I had, actually, a lot of fun."

   "I was gonna say thank you for giving me a reason to finally get back out there," Lynn grinned, and she leaned forward towards the boy's face. She left a quick peck on the left side of his cheek, and she could see his cheeks slightly warm up even in the bad lighting of the hallway. "I had a, surprisingly, good time. And I feel more comfortable, so, although it was strictly a friend get together, thanks for the experience of an amazing date."

   Buck's eyes floated from Lynn's, down to the wooden ground beneath their feet, and then back up towards her. "Of course."

   "Goodnight, Evan," Lynn replied, flashing him one last infamous giggling smile before unlocking the door with her silver key.

   "Goodnight, Evie."