••••

BUCK'S EYES FOLLOW VICTORIA AS SHE WALKS BACK OUT OF THE HOUSE. She, Eddie and Chimney decided to help Maddie move into her new place. Buck didn't think that Victoria would show if he was being honest but she did. Not that they made much conversation, she stuck to talking to Eddie more. He clears his throat as he moves over to her. "Hey, uh, thanks for helping. I know you took the last few days off and we didn't really leave things off in a good way." He says as he meets her gaze.

Victoria had been off the past few days because she was going to finally visit Chicago. But all she did was sit in the airport and miss her flight. She could barely move and decided to just stay in a hotel for the remaining days because she felt ashamed. Victoria wanted to go home, she wanted to see everyone, to see his grave. But she couldn't even think about it without having a panic attack.

She just shakes her head as she crosses her arms against her chest. "It's fine, plus Maddie asked, not you." Victoria points out. Buck chews the inside of his cheek as he rubs his palms on his jeans.

"I-i know, but you knew I'd be here and you still came." Buck tells her. Victoria nods slowly as she brushes her hair behind her ear.

"I could've just ignored you the whole time." She states. Buck rocked on his heels awkwardly, glancing toward the ground. "Seriously, just forget it. We're good." Victoria says with a sigh as she hits his arm. If he wanted to suddenly act like everything's okay, she didn't care. At least she could talk to him again.

"Really?" Buck asks, warily as he didn't know if she was still mad.

"Really." She responds as she raises her eyebrows. Buck let a small smile form as he nods his head. "Now, how are we getting this inside?" Victoria questions as she turns and looks at the couch. Eddie leans on the balcony beside her.

"Maybe we pop the hinges off the door." He suggests, looking toward them. "Or, we use the jaws of life." Eddie says just as Maddie walks outside. Victoria nods her head as she points toward Eddie.

"No, no, no. It has to fit, I measured it twice." Maddie says with a sigh, placing her hands on her hips. "Can't you guys just, you know, turn it around the other way?" She asks as she gestures to the couch.

"Then the pizza will slide off." Buck replies bluntly. She quickly grabs the boxes, shaking her head at her brother.
"It's on the plastic." Buck points out but Maddie just glares at him before walking back inside.

"I told you she'd get mad." Victoria states as Buck looks toward her.

"Well, you didn't move it." Buck argues back and she just narrows her eyes, sticking her tongue out. Eddie shakes his head.

"Can we just get this inside, guys?" He asks them, gesturing to the couch. Victoria sighs but moves to one side. They pick it up, moving toward the door. "All right, pivot." Eddie says and Victoria can't help but let out a tiny snort.

"Pivot, really?" She asks him, raising an eyebrow at the man. Eddie looks a bit confused.

"What?"

"You never watched friends?" Victoria questions and Eddie furrows his eyebrows, shaking his head.

"No?"

"Seriously?" Buck asks, his eyes widening in shock. Eddie rolls his eyes a bit, a groan leaving his lips.

"Can we focus?" He asks them and Victoria just smirks before helping them turn the couch so it could go in the door.

"Lift with your legs." Chimney tells them. Victoria narrows her eyes and if she could, she would flip him off right about now. Once they finally get it inside, Maddie has a grateful smile on her face.

"Hey, thank you guys for helping me on your day off." Maddie says as she looks at them. Eddie shakes his head as he takes the pizza boxes out of her hand.

"Don't worry about it. Plates?" Eddie questions.

"Countertop kitchen." Maddie tells him and Eddie turns to walk toward the kitchen.

"Uh, beer?" Chimney asks and Maddie raises an eyebrow at him.

"Also kitchen. Fridge." Maddie responds with a smirk. Chimney chuckles lightly.

"Clever." Maddie watches as Chimney disappears from her sight before her eyes go back to her brother.

"He is so cute." Maddie says, her eyes widened. Buck raises his eyebrows, glancing at Victoria for a moment.

"Yeah, he gets that a lot. You should meet his kid though." Buck tells her. Victoria couldn't help but notice that he agreed with Maddie about Eddie being cute.

"Wait, Chimney has a kid?" This shocks both of them and Victoria has to cover her mouth in order not to laugh at the look on Buck's face.

"N-no, I thought you meant..." He trails off as Maddie walks away from them. "Chimney?" Buck asks, almost to himself with furrowed eyebrows.

"And you were worried about me." Victoria whispers to him before laughing. Buck only glares at her, shaking his head as he follows the woman into the kitchen.

••••

"PULSE OX IS GOOD. We can get rid of this." Hen tells Taylor who they had just pulled out of a crashed helicopter. The woman seemed thankful as she looked around. Buck was trying to pay attention to her but his eyes kept going to Eddie and Victoria who were by the fence talking to each other.

"How are you doing?" Athena asks, pulling Buck's gaze back to Taylor.

"I'm not sure." Taylor admits as she fiddles with her fingers. "How's Trent? Is he okay?" She asks, looking at them.

"Your pilots gonna be just fine." Athena assures her. Buck tried to get his mind off of Victoria so his eyes focused more on Taylor.

"Hey, do me a favour. Uh, say, "And on the 405, speeds are under five miles an hour making your morning commute a rough one." Buck suggests while Hen just stares at him like he was crazy.

"Seriously?" Hen asks him.

"I-i know that voice. It's uh, Taylor Kelly reporting, right? Skywitness News 8." Buck states, pointing to the helicopter and Taylor nods her head.

"Thats me."

"Wow, um, it's weird to hear that voice come out of a face." Buck admits, his eyes flickering past her for a moment.

"Thank you?" Taylor responds with a small laugh.

"You have helped me beat traffic in this city more times than you'll ever know." He tells her and Taylor narrows her eyes.

"Oh, you might want to uber tomorrow." Taylor teases him with a smile. Buck was about to respond when laughter interrupts him. His eyes once again move over to Eddie and Victoria, seeing them both laughing with Victoria's hand on his arm.

"Uh... excuse me." Buck apologizes, moving past her. Athena and Hen share a glance before starting to bring Taylor over to the ambulance. "Hey, what are you guys talking about?" He asks as he stops beside them. Victoria was still smiling as she looked over at Buck.

"Oh, uh, Eddie was just telling me a story about um.. it's hard to explain." She admits, her hand running down Eddie's arm before landing by her side. Buck watches it, trying to keep his gaze on them but Eddie noticed his behaviour.

"Oh, okay." Buck responds, a bit saddened but he covers it up. Victoria clears her throat as she crosses her arms against her chest.

"I uh, saw you talking to Taylor?" She says. Taylor Kelly wasn't exactly someone Victoria wanted around, especially around Buck. Especially with what had happened between them. Buck glanced back over at Taylor for a moment.

"Yeah, she's uh, she's cool." Buck tells Victoria who just scoffs lightly, her eyes dropping to the ground.

"Not the word I'd use." She mumbles. Eddie raises an eyebrow.

"Why? You don't like her?" Eddie asks her curiously and Victoria just meets his eyes.

"You could say that." She says, not really wanting to get into it right now, especially with Taylor only a few feet away. "I'm gonna go talk to Bobby." Victoria tells them before heading over to the truck. Buck watches her momentarily before his eyes move to Eddie. Eddie wasn't exactly looking at him, mainly fixing his jacket.

"So, you two are getting close." Buck pipes up. Eddie somewhat looks at him, a curious expression on his face.

"I guess?" Eddie responds as he shrugs his shoulders. Buck glances around for a moment.

"I just mean that she seems, um, she seems comfortable around you. She's not usually like that with new people." Buck explains to him. He felt like he was the odd one out nowadays because Eddie only got here a few weeks ago and he was already close to Victoria, while as it took Buck months to even be able to hang out with her out of their shift.

"She seems fine." Eddie says, not really seeing what Buck was getting at.

"No, I see that, I'm just saying." Buck tells him. Eddie just raises an eyebrow at him.

"Why? She wasn't cool with you?" He asks curiously and Buck chuckles lightly..

"Oh, no, she hated my guts when I first arrived." Buck admits and Eddie just nods. He had heard stories and honestly, he saw that Victoria still hadn't fully let Buck in. He didn't know if that was just a Buck thing or if it was because of something else. "But, it's good that you're friends." He says, not wanting to sound like she couldn't make friends with Eddie.

"Didn't know I had to get your approval."
Eddie teases as he smirks toward Buck before he walks past the man. Eddie wasn't dumb, he knew Buck was jealous but he didn't see the reason why. Sure, he flirted with Victoria a bit but he wasn't ready for a relationship. If Buck wanted her, he could go for it. But from the looks of it, Buck wasn't making a move anytime soon.

••••

VICTORIA FOUND HERSELF WALKING OUT OF THE LOCKEROOM AT THE SOUND OF A FAMILIAR VOICE. She hoped it wasn't who she thought it was but of course, her luck wasn't on her side right now. She recognized the familiar red hair as she walked over to the group with her arms crossed against her chest.
"I'm great. Thanks to all of you, which is why I'm here." Taylor tells them and the only one who seemed slightly happy was Buck. "You guys were so amazing. I wanna do a story on this firehouse and on the heroes who work here." She states.

"Yeah, but you do traffic." Chimney says bluntly, narrowing his eyes. Taylor clears her throat a bit.

"I'm not quite ready to go back in the sky. So, I thought i'd try my hand at telling a story from the ground." Taylor explains to them. Victoria rolls her eyes, bringing her gaze to the floor.

"And use your newfound fame to put your face in front of the camera." Hen states as she steps out of the ambulance.

"That too."

"Smart girl."

"I can't wait to interview all of you. I want to know why you chose this job--" Taylor starts to say but Victoria interrupts her. She was not about to be interviewed by this woman again.

"Who says we want to be interviewed?" Victoria asks, her gaze cold as she just stares at Taylor. Everyone was silent, their eyes flickering between the two women.

"Uh, it's best to get point of views from numerous people." Taylor tells her and from the fact that she could barely look Victoria in the eye, it was clear she hadn't forgotten either.

"Well, you can get it from someone else." Victoria grumbled as she goes to walk away but Taylor grabs her arm softly.

"Vic, can we not do this right now?" Taylor asks in a hushed voice, not wanting to make a big scene out of it all. But Victoria scoffs as she looks back at the woman.

"No, you don't get to call me that." She snaps, her eyes angry as she glares at Taylor. Chimney furrows his eyebrows.

"You two know each other?" He questions curiously.

"A little." Taylor answers after clearing her throat. Victoria let out a humorless laugh as she tilts her head back.

"A little, really?" Victoria asks her, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm just here to do a job." Taylor admits.

"Right, just like last time." Victoria responds, shaking her head. "Well, you can find someone else to be your dish rag." She sneers before turning and heading toward the lockerroom. Hen just shares a look with Chimney before they both follow after her.

"What was that all about?" Hen asks her curiously, seeing Victoria sat on the bench. She lets out a sigh as she glances up at the pair.

"That was Taylor." Victoria answers her. And just by the luck she gave Hen, the woman could figure it out.

"Wait, Taylor? As in Taylor?" Hen asks her, her eyes widening. Victoria had told Hen and Athena about what had happened and well, Athena almost wanted to arrest her and throw her in jail. But she didn't exactly have a valid reason.

"Mhm." Victoria hums in response and Hen just scoffs, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh, that bitch has to go." Hen states with a firm nod.

"Wait, I'm confused." Chimney admits as he looks between them.

"We went on a couple dates, well, I thought they were dates. Turns out she had a friend in Chicago and wanted to get close to me in order to get a story out of me." Victoria explains to him with a sigh. Chimney furrows his eyebrows.

"What story?" He questions.

"It doesn't matter. We got your back." Hen states with a smile, placing her hand on the woman's shoulder. Victoria leans against it for a moment.

"Thanks." She responds.

"I'll go talk to Bobby." Hen tells her and Victoria nods. Although she doesnt know how much could be done if the chief signed off on it already.

Chimney and Hen leave the room, passing Buck on the way out. He glances at them before looking at Victoria. "Hey." He says as he moves over to her, sitting beside her on the bench. Victoria smiles softly, her eyes still on the ground before she looks at him.

"Do you honestly think she's cool?" Victoria asks, meeting his gaze. Buck shrugs his shoulders a little bit.

"Depends what she did to you." Buck admits. Victoria clenches her jaw a bit.

"Don't go on a date with her, save yourself the trouble." Victoria warns him. She saw the way Taylor was practically flirting up a storm with Buck and honestly, Buck could do way better.

"You dated her?" Buck asks, shocked as his eyes went wide. That wasn't what he thought this was about.

"Not exactly." She mumbles back, fiddling with her fingers. "She did a deep dive into my personal life, things i don't just tell random strangers and she tried to use it to start a interview with me, mid.... you know."  Victoria finishes. Buck knew what she was saying and honestly, he was surprised to say the least. And honestly, if that happened to him, he wouldn't know what to do.

"Why would she do that?" Buck asks.

"Because shes a vulture." Victoria answers him. "She doesn't care about anything other than getting a good story. And she said some things about.. people in my life that really pissed me off." She tells him. Buck furrows his eyebrows.

"Like what?" He asks. Wondering if was about her friends, or maybe her family life that made her hate Taylor.

"Well, lets just say I punched her in her stupid face." Victoria tells her, having no regrets having done it. Even Taylor didn't do anything after it happened, she probably knew she deserved it.

"So, we hate her." Buck states with a firm nod. Victoria was a bit confused.

"We?"

"Yeah, you hate her, so that means we hate her." Buck points out. Victoria's heart can't help but swoon as her eyes soften in her gaze.

"Really?" It wasn't like she was confused or shocked Buck decided to do this. Victoria honestly thought he would just listen to her and then go on a date anyways.

"What, you don't think I got your back?" Buck asks her with a small smile. Victoria smiles back, rolling her eyes playfully. Buck wraps an arm around her and if it were any other day, she would've shoved him off but today, she allowed herself to rest against him, a sigh leaving her lips.

••••

AS THEY DROVE IN THE FIRETRUCK, Victoria had her head rested back against the seat. A sigh leaves her lips as she felt the day beginning to take a toll on her. She had successfully avoided any interview with Taylor but Victoria wouldn't be surprised if she ended up on the news anyways. "Man, my allergies are going crazy today." Eddie says as he sniffles, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, you too, huh? The index wasn't elevated this morning. Think it's a new kind?" Buck asks curiously. Victoria furrows her eyebrows as she looks over at them.

"New kind of what?" Eddie asks, turning his head to Buck.

"Of pollen." He answers. Chimney stares at them dumbfounded.

"A new kind of pollen?" Chimney asks bluntly, narrowing his eyes.

"What are you even talking about?" Victoria asks, wondering if she had just completely missed the first half of the conversation.

"You're not feeling this, Chim?" Eddie asks him and Chimney just shakes his head slowly.

"No, i do not."

"Are they okay?" Victoria asks as she looks at Chimney.

"This is beyond normal." Chimney responds causing Victoria to scoff.

"When is Buck ever normal?" She retorts and Chimney nods his head in agreement. But even this was weird for Buck.

"I can see the pollen." eddie says as he looks out the window.

"I can hear it." Buck adds.

"Buck." Victoria says, snapping her fingers in his face. "You see me, right?" She asks him curiously. Buck only smiles brightly back at her.

"Like an angel." He responds, reaching out toward her. Victoria shakes her head, pushing his hand back.

She was grateful to get to the scene, but it seemed whatever was happening was just getting worse because Buck and Eddie were just standing in the middle of the room, their eyes wide as they stared at the little girls surrounding them. "Diaz, Buckley! Let's go!" Chimney calls out before heading over to the victim.

When Victoria sees them not move, she just raises an eyebrow at them. "Guys." She says loudly but neither of them pay her any attention.

"Did these beauty queens shrink or are we suddenly giants?" Buck asks as he looks toward Eddie who seemed equally freaked out.

"Hello?" Victoria asks as she waves her hands in front of them ,finally getting their attention on her.

"Vic, we're giants." Eddie says with a gasp. Victoria rolls her eyes.

"We're not giants." She denies as she shakes her head. But Buck and Eddie just keep staring down at the little girls.

"Can someone please bring me the rest of my gear." Chimney calls out, getting a bit frustrated.

"I think he means you guys." Athena says as she raises her eyebrows at the group.

"I got it, Thena." Victoria says, grabbing the bag and making her way over to Chimney, leaving Athena with the spaced out ones. She leans down beside Chimney, giving him what he needed. The woman they were helping had a heel wedged in her cheek.

Victoria didn't know that little girl pageants could get so aggressive. "Chimney, Vic, need you over here." Athena calls out for them. Chimney gets up first while Victoria finishes up securing the heel in the woman's cheek.

"Where the hell is my lido--" Chimney stops himself, seeing the others just mindlessly looking around. Victoria stops beside him, more confused than ever.

"We got a problem here.  You guys be tripping." Athena tells them making Victoria raise her eyebrows. It would explain why they have been acting so weirdly.

"What? Guys, look at me." Chimney says, clapping his hands to gain their attention. "Do you know where you are?" He asks them. Eddie moves the balloons from in front of him.

"We're everywhere, man." Eddie answers him. Victoria covers her face with her hands but she can't help but find this amusing.

"They're on drugs." Athena states causing Buck to scoff.

"I don't do drugs, mom." Buck complains as he points his finger at her. Victoria shakes her head as she takes his hand.

"Well, today you did." She tells him. Buck frowns before wrapping his arms around her from the back. Victoria raises her eyebrows, glancing to see Buck resting his head against her.

"You're cuddly like a koala bear." Buck admits and she just sighs.

"Right." She mumbles as she looks over at Chimney who seemed to have an epiphany.

"Oh, my god. It's the brownies." He tells them. Athena furrows her eyebrows as she looks at the man.

"Brownies?"

"We got a new batch today. We've been getting a lot of stuff lately, especially since the earthquake." Chimney explains to her and Athena looked at them like they were crazy.

"You guys eat that stuff? We just throw that stuff right in the trash." Athena points out.

"We're firefighters, everyone loves us." Chimney tells her and Athena just narrows her eyes before looking toward Victoria.

"You didn't eat any?" She asks curiously.

"No." Victoria was lucky enough to not eat the fudge. Well, she didnt think luck should be the word since Buck's hold on her was only getting stronger. "I don't think he's ever letting go." She admits with a small sigh. Athena glances at them.

"Rather this than have him running around wreaking havoc." Athena says, holding her hands out before turning to deal with the others.

Victoria felt Buck snuggle his nose into her hair. "You smell like lavender." Buck mumbles. Victoria raises an eyebrow.

"That's my body lotion." She tells him as she could feel him moving his hand across her arm.

"Makes your skin so smooth." Buck says. Victoria turns in his grasp so she could be facing him which honestly wasn't the best idea since he was only millimeters away from her.

"Okay, big guy, why don't we walk over here?" Victoria asks, gesturing to where everyone else was standing. Buck pouts as he shakes his head.

"Nooo." He whines. Victoria sighs but honestly, she found the whole thing kind of cute.

"You can still hold onto me, just over there." Victoria tells him. Buck begrudgingly let go of her so they could walk over to the others but he grabbed a hold of her hand as they did. Victoria glances down at their hands but doesn't move hers.

"What's going on? I don't like this." Eddie says with a sniffles as one of the cops started to handcuff him.

"Ooooh, you made him cry." Buck says with a laugh. Victoria just looks up at him.

"I'll make you cry in a minute." She warns. Buck scrunched his nose up wrapping his arms back around her.

"You're a meanie." He tells her and Victoria only rolls her eyes playfully.

"All right, just breathe, okay? You're gonna be okay. All right, somebody dosed you with an hallucinegen. We don't want you to hurt yourselves or anyone else" Athena explains to them, trying to calm them all down.

"Yeah, I like that idea." Eddie says with a nod of his head.

"Thena, your head is beating like a heart." Hen tells her with huge eyes. Victoria just shakes her head as she looks toward Athena who didn't look impressed in the slightest.

"Is it?"

••••

BUCK GROANS AS HE WALKS TOWARD THE COUCH.  "I feel so dull now." He admits as he sits down on it, resting his head back. The effects of the drugged brownies had finally worn off completely and it just left him feel so void. Hen just snorts as she walks over to him.

"You're always dull." She responds and Buck just narrows his eyes at her, a bit offended by her comment.

"Man, is this why people go to burning man?" Eddie asks with a sigh as he sits down next to Buck. Chimney just smirks as he glances toward Buck.

"To hang off of people like koalas?" He retorts. Buck groans as he covers his face. Of course Chimney would bring that up. He felt like he had completely embarrassed himself.

"Do you think she'll find it weird?" Buck questions, not wanting that to happen.

"You were high, Buck. If anything, she'll just make fun of you till the end of time."
Hen tells him with a laugh. Buck crosses his arms against his chest.

"Where is she anyways?"

"She had to take Rosie to an appointment." Bobby tells them. Buck sighs, wishing she was here. He loved her company more than anyone else's. Not that she willingly hung around him anyways.

"Uh, hi." They hear from beside them, seeing Taylor standing there. Most, if not all of them were not too excited to see her standing there.

"The interviews over, isn't it. You already posted what you got." Chimney mumbles with a scoff, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I'm not here because of that." Taylor admits as she glances around the room.  "Is Vic here?" She asks curiously.

"No. And even if she was, why the hell would she talk to you?" Hen questions with a slight sneer.

"Hen." Bobby warns her.

"She doesn't get to act all guilty to try and get back on Vics good side." Hen denies with a hard glare on her face. She didn't care if she was being rude, Taylor deserved it.

"Look, I don't know what she told you guys. But I know what I did was wrong and all I'm looking to do is apologize."

"She doesn't need your apology." "We're you gonna post that interview?"

"I deleted it when I got home that night. Well, after she punched me."

"Deserved that."

"The things she's gone through, I just thought it would've made an incredible story. To preseverere through so much and get out on top even after everything's happened to you." Taylor explains to them. She just found Victoria's story fascinating and she believed that others could relate to it as well. "But I went about it the wrong way, I said Somethings.... losing a fiance is hard, especially in the way she did and I feel horrible for ever speaking on it, it wasn't my place." She tells them.

Everyone except Eddie seemed very confused for a minute. Mainly at the word; fiancee. No one knew she had a fiancee, let alone that she lost one. It seemed there was a lot more in Victoria's past that they didn't know. "What are you talking about?" Hen asks, furrowing her eyebrows. If Victoria had a fiancee, surely she would know about it.

Taylor's eyes went wide as she felt all words leave her brain momentarily. "Oh." She didn't even know what to say now since it seemed they didn't even know about it. "Uh.. I should go. I'm sorry, again." Taylor apologizes before rushing off. Everyone was left dumbfounded.

"Fiance?" Buck being the first person to say something but it was mainly a shock response. He wouldn't have even guessed that Victoria had a fiancee.

"Did you know about this?" Chimney asks as his eyes move to Hen who seemed hurt and angry as she shook her head.

"Not a thing." She denies. Buck only frowns slightly.

"Why wouldn't she say something to us?"
He questions, wondering why Victoria would keep something this big from them. It wasn't like she didn't know a bunch about their own personal lives.

"Maybe it's from her past and she doesn't like bringing it up." Bobby interjects.  He didn't think that it was their business. If she wanted to talk about it then he'd listen, until then, they should just leave it alone.

"Is this why she's never with anybody seriously?" Buck asks. He could see that being the reason, but he also didn't know how long ago this so called fiancee had passed.

"I don't know." Chimney says as he shrugs his shoulders.

Footsteps coming up the stairs caught their attention and they say Victoria and Rosie walking over to them. "I'm back, and we brought pizza because I know how hungry you could be after being drugged." She jokes with a laugh as she stops beside the group.

"We've got all kinds here." Rosie admits with a smile. But everyone just stares at them and Victoria couldn't tell if it was toward her or if something else had happened.

"Did we miss something?" Victoria asks, raising an eyebrow at them but they remained silent. "No one is gonna speak?" She questions, a bit confused.

"They know about Anthony." Eddie responds softly. The pizzas almost dropped from Victoria's hands in that moment. She couldn't believe everyone now knew what happened.

"Wait, you know his-- she told you?" Hen asks as her eyes snapped over to Eddie before looking back at Victoria.  "You told Eddie but not me?" She seemed offended as her jaw was open a little bit.

"Did you say something?" Victoria felt her stomach twist as she looked over at Eddie but he immediately shook his head.

"No, of course not. It was Taylor." Eddie tells her. Victoria could punch that bitch again.

"I guess she thought you would've told us something like that, you know, people who are like family?" Hen snaps a bit, more angry that Taylor of all people was the one that ended up telling them.

"Hen-"

"We've known each other four years. How come you never told me? Did you not trust me o-or did you feel like you couldn't come to me about something like that?" Hen asks, genuinely wanting to know the reason why Victoria felt like she couldn't talk about it.

"It's just not something I talk about." Victoria admits. She really didn't like talking about her life. Buck was one of the only ones who knew about her family and well, Eddie was the only one who knew about Anthony until now.

"Clearly you do because Eddie knows." Hen points out with a scoff. She couldn't claim to not talk about it and then tell Eddie.

"Eddie.. that's different." She retorts.

"How is it different?"

"Because it is."

"Let's just, everyone, calm down." Bobby tells them as he looks around the group. "You don't have to tell us anything, Vic. It's your life, it's your story. It's not anyone's business but your own." He explains to her and Victoria nods her head. But it didn't seem like Hen was going to let this go.

"I just don't understand why Eddie knows." Hen admits with a shrug of her shoulders. She understood if she didn't want to tell anyone, but it was the fact that Eddie knew and he had been here all of two seconds.

Eddie glanced toward Victoria, not wanting to say something if she didn't want him to. But she just gave him a slight nod. "I found some army medals and she told me because of that. Because I was in the army as well and it was just easier to connect with me, I guess." Eddie tells them. No one said anything, most being able to put the connection together that her fiancee must have been in the army.

"So, pizza?" Rosie asks as she holds the boxes out. She was trying to difuse the tension. Not that it helped in the slightest.

"I would love some." Chimney responds, reaching for the box and placing it on the table. There was still high tension in the air and Victoria could barely sit at the table without someone's eyes being on her. She didn't mean to hide this from anyone, she wasn't hiding it. She just didn't like talking about it. But now it was in the air and she hated it.

She hated feeling like an outsider and she hated feeling like she hurt Hen by not telling her. But Victoria only told Eddie because he could relate to it and possibly help her. And honestly, it was only because he found those damn medals. But now everyone knew. They didn't know the full story so of course they'd judge. But they knew something she wanted to keep secret.

And now she didn't know what to do about it.

••••