twenty four
"something happening"

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"YOU KNOW, WE COULD HEAD back to my place if you wanted."

Lynn glanced up from her second glass of whiskey with one ice cube, and towards the charming man sitting beside her. She was drunk, quite obviously, but no matter how drunk she seemed to be she would never be the one to have careless one night stands.

"I'm sorry, really, I just...that isn't really me," Lynn shrugged her shoulders softly, sending the man a sympathetic half-smile while she took another sip of her glass.

"Really?" Oliver questioned, and Lynn's somewhat relaxed face dropped a bit at the threatening tone that bounced in his voice.

Lynn's pink lips quite literally spread into a gasp at the angry booming from the man, and she swallowed nervously as Oliver stood up from his seat.

"I mean, did you know that the entire time or do you like wasting people's time?" Oliver asked, his tall body looming over Lynn's easily. But Lynn just stood there, being speechless with the mans words.

"Yo, back off, man!"

Lynn finally snapped out of her slightly scared trace to glance over to Buck, who was now pushing his way through the decreasing crowd by the bar. He had anger written all over his face, and then switched back over to Oliver, who looked equally as pissed.

"Evan, it's fine," Lynn rose up from her bar stool, placing a hand on Buck's chest as he took a threatening step towards Oliver. She then glared back towards him, her jaw clenching. "The asshole was just leaving."

"Damn right I was, turns out you're not as easy as I thought you were," Oliver snapped back, slamming his now empty glass of whiskey back on the bar.

Buck tried to push past Lynn for the snarky comment, but she stepped completely in front of him, gaining his attention. He gazed down to Lynn's bright blue eyes, and he was almost immediately calmed down.

"What happened?"

Lynn shook her head towards her friends who had now made their way over to the bar, and none looked more concerned than Lizzy.

"Dick only wanted to get laid, that's all," Lynn shook off everyone's worried glances, and then signaled towards the bartender. "Another round?"

"I think we've had enough," Hen chuckled, and then turned to Lizzy standing beside her. "Hey, could you take me home? Chimney here was supposed to stay sober to be the driver."

"And I am one hundred percent not sorry," Chimney responded quickly, raising his index finger up in the air. "Wait, can you take me home too?"

"Well, Lynn—"

"—Buck can take her home, couldn't he?" Hen interrupted Lizzy, who at first was confused but then realized how they were once again trying to intertwine the two.

"Yeah, sure, sure," Buck nodded, and then he glanced over toward Lynn, who had turned around to take the last few drinks of her whiskey. "You ready?"

"Mhm," Lynn hummed, and then she let out a huge giggle as a hiccup overcame her voice, quickly followed by another. She then turned over to her friends, and threw her arms up in the air. "I love you all!"

"We love you too!" Chimney exclaimed, rushing forward to envelope the woman into a soft, drunk hug. Once they departed, Chimney stood up straight with a serious expression. "Okay, lets go home before I throw up."

"Bye, Chim, and Hen, and Lizzy!" Lynn waved as the three adults started to exit the bar, and then she swung her body to face Buck. "Hi!"

"Hi!" Buck answered with a high-pitched tone, mimicking Lynn's excited voice. He grinned while glancing down to the ground, and then back up. "Alright, lets get you home."

The last two firefighters then finally left the bar, where Lynn had to use Buck's arm for balance as they crossed the parking lot. The entire time, Lynn was focused on just making it to the car without falling straight on her ass, where Buck couldn't tear his eyes away from how beautiful Lynn was, even at three in the morning, plastered.

Buck unlocked his jeep, opening the door for Lynn, and carefully helped her up on the seat. She giggled when his finger tips brushed up against her stomach tickling her, as he safely buckled the woman in, and just the sound filling the air made it so much nicer.

The ride to Lynn's apartment was only about twenty minutes, which was full of Lynn either singing softly along with songs on the radio or her hiccups. Either way, Buck was happy.

After they made it to Lynn's apartment complex, Buck did the same as before with helping Lynn into the car, however it was exiting it now. She wrapped an arm around Buck's shoulder for support, and after a second to process, he then snaked his arm around her waist.

They struggled for a moment or two when they met the challenge of the stairs, but eventually made it to Lynn's apartment. She fished her keys out of her purse, and then tried her best to shove it into the lock—but continuously failed.

"Here," Buck signaled, gently grabbing the keys from Lynn's hands to unlock the door. It creaked loudly as he pushed it open, and rose his arm towards it. "Should I, uh, are you okay now?"

Lynn glanced from the empty apartment and back towards Buck, who had an eyebrow raised towards the girl. Her eyes then fell to the ground, already knowing she was going to regret the words about to slip from her mouth.

"Will you stay with me?"

Buck switched between the now open door to Lynn, and it was almost like he was searching her eyes to make sure it was something she actually wanted; not just spluttered out last second.

"Is that what you want?" Buck questioned, his blue eyes intently fixed on Lynn's response.

"I don't...I don't wanna be alone," Lynn murmured softly under her breath, rubbing her fingers together nervously.

"Then of course," Buck responded with the smallest of smiles etched on his face, and then he pushed the door slightly more open so the two of them could squeeze through.

Lynn let out another hiccup, which was closely followed by a giggle. She then turned on her heels, facing Buck as he took in the apartment that seemed to be glistening from how clean it was.

"I've had a lot of time on my hands since Lizzy left," Lynn giggled, knowing his shocked expression from the cleanliness.

"Do you like being by yourself?" Buck asked, moving his eyes from examining the apartment down towards Lynn.

"Absolutely not," Lynn hummed softly, moving her body towards the marble kitchen counter, fishing out a twix candy bar from her hidden treat box. "I've never lived by myself, and I really never planned on it. I gotta find a roommate, or something, I dunno."

"You know, uh, I'm looking for a place," Buck spoke up, clearing his throat awkwardly as he recalled how Lizzy said it would be nearly impossibly for Lynn to resist having Buck as a roommate.

"Oh, really? I could help, if you want!" Lynn stated excitedly, her mouth still full of the caramel goodness. And then a wide gasp took over her face as she covered her mouth with the hand that wasn't holding the candy bar. "OMG, you could totally move in here!"

Buck narrowed his blue eyes towards the girl, not sure if she was suggesting the idea purely because she was drunk she could be.

"We should talk about it in the morning," Buck suggested, knowing now probably wasn't the best time to talk about such a big situation. "Let's get you ready for bed, c'mon."

Lynn hummed sadly as Buck stole the candy bar from her hand, and then gripped ahold of his muscled arm as he tried to raise it above her head. She was able to pull his body closer to hers, where their chests were clasped together and their legs almost seemed intertwined.

Buck's eyes hovered from Lynn's down to her pink, totally kissable, lips, and she seemed to notice this. Usually, Lynn's breath would've hitched in the back of her throat from nervousness or she would've turned bright red in blush. But at the moment, the only thing she was feeling was the undeniable tension that was blooming between the two.

So, Lynn clasped a handful of Buck's button up to pull his lips all the way to meet Lynn's. They interlocked within a second, and Buck seemingly dropped the candy bar to the counter as he snaked his muscled arm around her waist, pulling her even closer then before.

After a second, Lynn lifted her weight against Buck's, wrapping her legs around his waist to straddle him further. He tucked his hands underneath her bare thighs, due to her dress pushing up her hips, and then tugged her forward to place her butt on the cold counter.

Lynn let out the softest of moans against Buck's lips, his rough hands trailed the skin up her thighs. Lynn's fingertips fell down to his shirt, starting at the very top to unbutton the buttons as quickly as she could. She wanted to actually gawk at how attractive Buck's six pack was, but secretly controlled herself as she went back to placing her pink lips on his.

And just as seemingly as the make out session started, it ended as Buck pulled away.

"God, I want this, you have no idea how much I want this, but I can't take advantage of you like that, Evie," Buck explained, backing away from Lynn's hips and lips to try to better control himself. "We should, you should get to sleep. You're going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning."

Lynn let out a soft whine as Buck started to button his shirt up again, and it was taking everything in her to not just reach forward and start undoing them again.

"Why can't we just have fun?" Lynn protested, pouting out her lips as she sent a puppy dog glance over to Buck.

"Because you're drunk, and I don't want you to think I wanted to take advantage of you," Buck explained, finally glancing up after he buttoned the lasted one. "And I'm not the asshole I used to be where I'd have one night stands and never see them again."

"Well, you'd still see me at work," Lynn countered, her eyes flickering once again from Buck's piercing blue eyes down to his body. "So..."

"So, even more reason not to mess this up," Buck continued, and then he leaned forward to place a gentle hand on Lynn's cheek. "Evelynn, I don't want to screw whatever we have together by rushing into something."

"There's something?"

"What?" Buck questioned, narrowing his eyes at the girl in confusion.

"You think there's something happening between us?" Lynn repeated, more authoritative than before.

Buck's eyes started to search that of Lynn's, wondering if she was just too drunk to comprehend what was going on, or if she was completely serious.

"Of course I think there's something going on between us."

Unconsciously, a small smile made its way onto Lynn's face as the conversation only seemed to make her happier by the second.

"I think Lizzy totally knew who we were to each other when she planned that Valentines date."

Buck let out a loud laugh at the subject change, happy that it easily shifted from their heavy make out session over to something more relaxing.

"I think so too," Buck chuckled, grinning towards Lynn as she jumped off the counter, adjusting her dress to fall back down her hips. "You have sweats?"

"For you?" Lynn questioned, tilting her head to the side like a lost puppy, which seemingly Buck just want to pick the girl up by her hips and start kissing again.

"For you, I can sleep in jeans," Buck stated, and his eyes drifted towards Lynn's bedroom, and she quickly understood and darted off to.

"You are not sleeping in jeans, Evan!" Lynn ordered, flinging both of her arms up in the air. "I have sweats, all I wear are men's sweats, so..."

Lynn started to scramble throughout her dresser, and while she was preoccupied with digging for a pair of sweats for both her and Buck, his eyes examined Lynn's room.

   It was a decently sized bedroom, with a wide window on one sized covered by a black curtain. Her bed was tucked into a corner, with white duvets and pillows scattered. Alongside was a black nightstand, with a matching dresser against the wall. There were picture frames on it, and Buck's eyes lingered on an older picture of what looked like a teenage Lynn, with a younger version of Lizzy, and then two adults; they all seemed like they were on top of the world with goofy smiles and sideways hugs.

   "It's my mom and dad."

   Buck instantly backed away from staring at the picture frame, suddenly feeling like he had invaded Lynn's person space. She sent the boy a half smile, before frowning towards the black outlined picture.

   "It's from summer 2009. We always went on the same family trip to our place in Illinois, and we always took the same picture at the beach," Lynn softly smiled, her mind fluttering to a much simpler, happier time. "It was the last trip before my dad died, and uh, we haven't been back since."

   "You never talk about your parents," Buck pointed out, his tone of voice soft in hopes he wouldn't upset Lynn.

   Lynn's eyes hovered down to the picture frame, and she picked it up with her left hand while examining it.

   "My dad was my best friend," Lynn chuckled when memories floated in her mind at the many different things he and Lynn did together. "I mean, my mom was always the hardass that would ground me or Lizzy, where my dad liked to play the nice parent."

   Lynn's smile faded a bit as she mentioned her mom, and she placed the picture frame back on her dresser.

   "My mom kinda just forgot about me and Lizzy, well, she loves Liz, it's like she's the golden child and then there's me," Lynn shrugged, and then she passed Buck a pair of grey sweats while keeping a black one for herself. "The one who ended up being the exact same thing that killed my dad. I haven't talked to her in years, I guess Lizzy occasionally texts her, but she never said anything about me."

   "I'm sorry, Evie, really," Buck replied, gazing deeply into Lynn's blue eyes while clutching the sweats she had just handed to him. "She's a complete idiot for missing out on such a beautiful, smart, and caring young woman who's making a real difference out there."

   "You're sweet, Evan, but I don't know."

   "Well, I do," Buck responded quickly, taking a step towards the girl to wrap his fingers around hers. "You're one of the best people I know, Eve, even for only knowing you for a few months."

  Without saying another word, Lynn launched forward to wrap her small arms around Buck's shoulders. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, taking in his scent of sweat mixed with alcohol, which was actually attractive coming from him. Buck instantly took her body in, wrapping his muscled arms around her waist loosely.

   "Thank you," she murmured softly, her fingertips trailing his skin while she almost hummed into his chest.

   "Of course, sweetheart," Buck stated with a smile plastered on his face, leaning down a bit to place his chin softly on top of Lynn's head. "Of course."

   "Okay, I'm ready for bed," Lynn giggled, pulling away from the hug while a sleepy smile took over her lips.

   "How about you change in here and I'll find your bathroom?" Buck suggested, pointing down to the black pair of comfy sweats in her hand. "And hey, you got a blanket for your couch?"

   Lynn gasped loudly, and dramatically, and then covered her mouth with her spare hand. "You are not sleeping on my couch. You were already sweet enough to bring lil old drunk me back home, you get the bed, I get my couch."

   "No way a girl as pretty as you sleeps on a couch," Buck shook his head repeatedly, ridding his index finger warningly towards the woman.

   "No way a guy as nice as you sleeps on a couch," Lynn retorted, giggling softly while repeating his same hand movement.

   "Evelynn, there's no winning, I am most definitely sleeping on the couch."

   Lynn rolled her blue eyes, waving her palm away as she knew there was no chance she would be able to convince Buck in the bed, and quite frankly she was surprised she hadn't already passed out.

   After a quick few minutes of Lynn changing into her black pair of sweats matched with a solid white tank top that showed off a bit of her abdomen, along with Buck changing into a pair of sweats while keeping his button up-just undoing a few of them.

   "I can get you a t-shirt," Lynn stated while she yawned widely, her eyes blinking a few times while she leaned her back against the bathroom doorframe.

And then she heard the door behind her creak, so she turned towards the boy as he exited, and bursted out in laughter at the sight.

Buck had left the bathroom with a somewhat unamused, straight face as his eyes met that of Lynn's. The pair of sweats she had lent him ended quite a few inches before his ankles, and it looked as if he was ready for a massive flood.

"Those look amazing on you," Lynn giggled, trying her best to hold back her laughs but she was miserably failing.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Buck rolled her eyes playfully, and then smiled softly towards the laughing girl.

"Sleepy time?" Lynn questioned, letting out another loud yawn as she tilted her head like a lost puppy towards Buck.

"Absolutely," Buck nodded, casually wrapping an arm over Lynn's shoulders while pulling her small body towards her room.

Lynn slowly crawled into her wide bed, and she would've let out a moan at how comfy it felt to her drunken body. Buck stood beside the bed with a smile at watching the woman, and then grabbed her white comforter to cover her cold skin, and he started tucking the fabric under as well.

Lynn's eyes followed every movement Buck did, and she almost smiled at how sweet he was behaving when he usually liked to have a badass exterior.

"Alright, you comfy in your blanket burrito?"

Lynn giggled loudly, showing off her white teeth as her head was pressed against the pillow. She nodded quickly, and was trying to control her huge grin was growing even further.

"Goodnight, Eve," Buck hummed gently, already seeing how quickly Lynn's eyes were falling into slumber. Just as soon as he turned on his heel to try his best to make a comfortable bed on the couch, Lynn's hand extended forward to pull him to a hault.

"You can sleep in here," Lynn spoke up softly, her blue eyes just barely open as it seemed she was already falling asleep. "If you want."

"Are you sure?" Buck asked, and it almost sounded like there was a bit of excitement in his voice.

"Yes."

So, Buck didn't say anything else as he stretched his long legs to walk around the bed. Once he reached the other side, Lynn could feel the mattress dip as soon as his body started to crawl onto it beside her.

It wasn't an awkward silence as the two laid down together, finding a comfortable spot for the both of them. It was relaxing, actually, like they were just happy to be so close to one another.

Buck snuggled closer to Lynn's body, and it seemed as slow as a turtle he rose his muscled arm to snake it around her waist. His skin trailed against Lynn's, and she swore it felt like fireworks went off everywhere he touched.

His face was so close to Lynn's neck that she felt his breath bouncing off her skin, leaving behind goosebumps.

"Goodnight, Evan," Lynn whispered softly, feeling as if she would pass out at quite literally any moment.

"Goodnight, Evie."

a/n: love this chapter ahh!! sorry if it's too long oops :)) don't forget to vote and comment!! <3