••••

BUCK PULLS HIS SHIRT OVER HIS BODY AS HE COMES DOWN THE STAIRS. He saw Chimney in the kitchen with a mug in his hand as he smiled at the computer. "Yeah, well she's the doctor. Not the parent." Chimney says and Buck shakes his head as he makes his way over to him.

"I think you mean the hyper parent." Buck corrects him, looking at his sister in the computer who only smiles back at him.

"Hey, go stick your face in your own FaceTime." Chimney complains and Buck just rolls his eyes as he grabs the coffee from the counter.

"I should pull the plug on yours cause you should be bickering with her in your own kitchen." Buck retorts and Chimney just shakes his head. "And it's no longer FaceTime calls when I wake up to my girlfriend sleeping beside me." He adds as he leans against the counter. It was a bit annoying having Chimney constantly at the apartment but he was worried about getting maddie sick. "Eddie and Hen went back to their kids months ago, and you're the only one still going all world war z." Buck explains to him.

"I'm being cautious and were not bickering, we're bantering. Playfully." Chimney corrects him and Buck rolls his eyes.

"Whatever you say."

"Is that mama buckley i hear?" Victoria asks as she comes into the kitchen with a smile on her face, looking at the computer.

"Hey, Vic." Maddie responds, reciprocating the smile.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She questions, leaning against the counter.

"Restless since chim won't let me have any coffee." Maddie admits with a sigh and Victoria looks toward the man.

"Dude, one cup isn't gonna kill her." Victoria denies and Chimney felt like he was getting ganged up on now.

"That's what I'm saying!" Maddie exclaims but Chimney shakes his head.

"You're not a doctor either." He retorts and Victoria rolls her eyes a bit.

"Whatever." She mumbles before moving over to Buck. "Hey, baby." Victoria wraps her arms around his neck and Buck placed his hands on her hips as he leant down to kiss her. Victoria smiles into it as Buck only deepens it, his hands moving down ever so slowly.

"No pda, please." Chimney grumbles and Buck pulls away, slightly annoyed as he looks at the man.

"You wouldn't have to see it if you went back to your own place." Buck retorts and Chimney narrows his gaze before something suddenly went through his mind.

"Ooh, we never showed you guys the latest ultrasound." Chimney says as he takes the photo from his bag before moving over to them. "Our little baby is the size of a mango now." He states as Buck smiles at the photo, his arm still wrapped securely around Victoria.

"I can't wait to meet my little niece or nephew." Buck admits, seeming very excited about it. But Victoria only stares at the photo, feeling her stomach churn as she just looks away from it.

"I hope that includes babysitting when mommy needs some sleep?" Maddies voice comes through the screen and Buck laughs a bit.

"All part of the uncle duties." He admits as Victoria untangled herself from him and made her way to the stairs silently. Chimney was a bit confused.

"What's up with her?" He asks, looking at Buck who shared the same expression as him.

Buck followed after her, going up the stairs and noticing her just sitting on their bed. "Hey. You okay?" He asks, concern in his voice as she just looks over at him.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You kinda just stormed off." Buck admits and Victoria tried to lighten the air as she smiled at the man.

"I didn't storm." She denies and Buck returns her smile gently. "When is Chimney actually gonna move out? I love him but he's overstaying, don't you think?" Victoria asks the man who walks over and sits beside her on the bed.

"Maybe if we told the others about Eddie, we could all live together in his house rather than in two separate places." His tone was a bit sharp and it took Victoria by surprise. But she knew he had been wanting to tell people for a while now.

"Buck..." She frowns, her eyes drifting for a moment.

"It's been months, vic. And I understand the first few was figuring things out and getting comfortable with each other and then the pandemic started but we're way past that now." Buck states while Victoria just stares at her hands.

"I'm just not ready." She denies and she felt the way he tensed beside her.

"Yeah, you've said that." Buck mutters, just glancing around the room momentarily. Victoria was a bit hurt as she looked at him.

"I thought you were okay with not rushing."

"Well, i thought that meant one or two months, not five." Buck states. When he said they could take their time, he didnt mean half a year. "I mean Chris and Rosie both know and yet I can't even tell my own sister?" He was frustrated and he had the right to be.

"Chris knows because we couldn't exactly hang out here since chim moved in and you know Rosie finding out was an accident." Victoria retorts with a sigh. The only reason Rosie found out was because she was supposed to be at Jennie's but had come home early. The shock on her face said the most but of course Rosie being herself had to make a comment. Victoria had said she thought she was with jennie and Rosie responded with she thought she only had one boyfriend.

To say Victoria was embarrassed would be an understatement. Especially since Eddie had his hands all over her when Rosie had walked in.

"And they both took it fine. So what's the big deal if everyone knows?" Buck says, a bit frustrated but so was Victoria as a huff of air leaves her lips.

"I'm not ready, can you just listen to me for once?" Her voice sounded irritated and she could see Buck was a bit tired of hearing the same thing.

"Well, i don't want to keep hiding in the dark." Buck hisses back. He didn't want to fight, especially about this but he was tired of all the lying. "We're all happy, Vic. The past five months have been amazing. I cant think of one reason why you still want to keep it a secret." He admits. The only thing he could think of is that she was ashamed and he really didn't want that to be true.

"Because if we tell everyone it becomes real." The words leave her mouth before she could stop them. Buck just stared at her, a bit of hurt in his eyes but he was mainly confused.

"What?" Victoria hated hearing the man sound so vulnerable. She definitely didn't mean it the way it sounded.

"N-not that it isn't real now I just..." Victoria stops, covering her face with her hands. "It's stupid." She says, shaking her head but Buck inches closer to her, grabbing her hands and pulling them gently away from her face.

"Hey, no, tell me."

"If everyone knows, that means the happiness surrounding us is officially accepted into our lives and that only means one thing." Victoria explains to him but she could still see the confusion in his eyes. "Buck, every single time we allow ourselves to be truly happy, something happens. And i don't want something to happen to either of you." She denies, sniffling as she looks down at her hands.

"You think if we tell everyone, something will happen to one of us." Buck says, nodding his head as he processes the information. It was a rational fear, especially given everything thats happened.

"I said it was stupid." Victoria mumbles, knowing she sounded insane.

"It's not." Buck denies and Victoria furrows her eyebrows as she looks back at him. "Vic, i understand why you're scared. Shit, I'm scared too. But what's life if we are living it in fear of what may or may not happen?" He asks her. They could take precautions, they could bubblewrap them so the world couldnt hurt them but that truly wouldn't do anything but take away what freedom they had left.

"Now, what's really going on?" Buck asks her, knowing there was something else she wasn't saying but she shakes her head.

"Nothing."

"Vic, i know you are scared but this is more than that. Are you okay?" He places his hand on her knee but she just wipes her tears.

"I'm fine, Buck. We have to get ready for work, our shift starts soon." Victoria says as she stands up hurriedly but he grabs her hands, keeping her beside him.

"Is it something Chimney said? Cause I noticed you went silent and that's when you walked off." Buck points out and she just chews at her bottom lip.

"It's nothing."

"You really expect me to believe you?" Buck asks her, raising an eyebrow but she stays silent. "Vic, no lies, remember? We told each other we'd always be honest, no matter what." That was one of the main rules. Be honest with each other. Not just about secrets but about how they were feeling. "We were all talking and then Chimney mentioned the ultrasound and showed it to us and--"

"Tomorrow is the day that I miscarried, okay?" Victoria stares at the man who looked a bit shocked as he didn't say anything for a moment.

"I'm so sorry, i-i didn't know." Buck denies, frowning at the woman who just bites the inside of her cheek.

"Because we don't talk about it, Buck. Why would we? It's in the past and it's for me to deal with." Victoria didn't expect either of them to talk about something that happened with her ex fiance. It was years ago and they shouldn't have to think about it.

"Hey, we're a team. So whatever you're going through, I'm right here with you." Buck assures her. He didn't care if it was something that happened years ago, or that happened with the man she loved before. It was still grief, she was grieving the baby she lost and that wasn't something that went away quickly.

"Hey, you guys ready to hit the road?" Chimney stops himself when he notices the teary eyed woman. "Oh, sorry." He apologizes with a small frown.  "Is everything okay?" His eyes were more on Victoria but Buck answered him instead.

"Yeah, chim. We'll be down in a second." Buck responds and Chimney nods before turning and walking back down the stairs. "I can call Bobby, tell him you're not feeling well?" He suggests to the woman who shakes her head.

"I'm okay." She assures him but she saw the hesitancy in his eyes. "Promise." Victoria grabs his hand, squeezing it. Buck smiles gently as he just leans forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead before standing up and pulling her with him.

••••

HEN WATCHES AS BUCK AND VICTORIA SHARE A KISS BEFORE BUCK HEADS UPSTAIRS. She shakes her head with a smile on her lips as she walks over toward Victoria. "You and Buck are like lovesick fools." Hen tells her as Victoria turns her head to look at the woman.

"I think you mean, romantic lovers." She corrects as she places her bag on the bench. Hen only hums for a moment.

"Nope, definitely fools." She denies and Victoria laughs as she shakes her head. Hen glances at the woman, or more so her wrist. "Where's your heart monitor?" Hen asks, a bit confused why she didn't have it on.

"In my bag." Victoria answers with a shrug.

"You know you're supposed to wear it twenty four seven." Hen states, going into mom mode immediately and Victoria didn't seem to see the big deal.

"I can take it off for two seconds, hen."

"Well, it's been two seconds, you can put it back on now." Hen says with a tight smile and Victoria turns to look at her.

"You're so overdramatic." She teases with a smirk as she just makes her way up the stairs, too starving to change right now.

As she walks to the kitchen, she reaches over, stealing a piece of bacon making bobby give her a warning stare. She just salutes him before eating a piece of it. "Would you guys please tell this idiot to put her heart monitor on?" Hen asks, earning the ground attention and Victoria just lets out a frustrated groan, tilting her head back.

"Why don't you have it on?" Chimney asks curiously, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Because the constant beeping is annoying and makes me want to rip my hair out or better yet, jump off of a rooftop."

"You know when it beeps that indicates somethings wrong right?" Eddie asks her hesitantly, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, please. I get slightly excited and it acts like I'm having a heart attack." She retorts with a roll of her eyes.

"Vic, you know the rules."  Bobby says, placing the eggs onto the table.

"Bobby, it's one day." She groans but he just gives her a stern look.

"Your doctor allowed you to come back to the firehouse under the condition that you always wear that to monitor your heart. If you don't, I'm allowed to dismiss you for the rest of the shift." He explains to her and she just clenches her jaw a bit.

"Seriously?"

"Either put it on or don't bother changing." Bobby states, turning back to get the rest of the food. Victoria let's out a sigh as she moves her eyes to Hen.

"You're a little snitch, you know that?" She asks the woman who blows her a kiss.

"I love you too." Hen responds and Victoria shakes her head as she heads back down the stairs. She didn't get what the big deal was. She hadnt had another episode since that day, all the heart monitor was doing was annoying the hell out of her.

As she reaches into her bag, she felt a presence behind her. "I'm putting it on Eddie." She mutters, already knowing it was him before she turned around.

"I never doubted you." Eddie denies, just coming to check if she was okay. "They're just looking out for you." He assures her and she couldn't help but scoff.

"Yeah, i wish people would stop treating me like I'm a broken doll." Victoria mutters, clipped the monitor back on her wrist.

"Sometimes you don't have to hide your emotions, Vic." Eddie denies and Victoria let's out a soft sigh.

"Buck told you." She wasn't mad he said something, they all agreed to be one hundred percent honest and so there was no secrets between them.

"He's just worried." Eddie admits as he tilts his head. Victoria just places a false smile on her lips.

"Nothing to worry about." She denies but her heart monitor gives her away and Eddie glances toward it.

"You know, that beeping means your heart is going too fast."

"And means I'll never be a firefighter again." She mumbles with a scoff as she lifts her shirt off, throwing it into her locker roughly. Eddie only grabs her hand, pulling her into the showers because he could see she was unraveling. "I've been waiting for some magic miracle that the doctor will call me and give me the green light but... now I can see that's never happening." Victoria explains as she just looks away from him.

Eddie lifts his hand to her jaw, moving her eyes back to his. "Hey." He says softly. "You are still saving lives okay?" Eddie assures her. Even though that wasn't exactly what she wanted, she was still making a difference. "You could be a garbage truck driver and I'd love you all the same." He adds and Victorias nose scrunches up a bit.

"Out of everything you could've said." She responds, shaking her head and Eddie just strokes her cheek.

"What, not romantic enough for you?" Eddie asks her, raising an eyebrow and she couldn't help but smile brightly back at him.

"You're an idiot, Eddie Diaz."

"And you're beautiful, mi Cielo." Eddie responds before connecting their lips together. Victoria sighs into it as she wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him ever so closer. His hands move down the bare skin of her back, gripping her hips lightly as the kiss deepens.

Pulling away after a moment, his eyes move to her heart monitor. "See? This is what the monitors supposed to sound like." Eddie tells her and she could only roll her eyes at him, a breathy laugh leaving her lips as she pulls him back toward her. The kiss was more needy, her hands gripping the tight shirt on his body as his hand slipped down to her ass.

His lips leaves her for a moment, trailing across her jaw and down her neck. She gasps softly, closing her eyes as he leaves heated kisses along her chest. Victoria moves her hands into his hair, gripping it but she knew they had to stop eventually much to her dismay.

The door abruptly opens and Eddie was quick to pull away from Victoria, running a hand through his now messy hair as Victoria fixed her sports bra which was practically showing everything. Their fear dies down though as Buck turns the corner. Victoria groans as she glares at him.

"Jesus, Buck. Maybe announce yourself next time?" Victoria scolds him and he just stares at them before lifting his hand.

"Hello, I am Buck, I am coming into the locker room." Victorias gaze goes a bit stern, clearly not amused.

"Cute."

"You two are not subtle by the way." Buck denies with a soft chuckle, his eyes running over Victoria for a moment before moving to Eddie who raises an eyebrow.

"And when are you ever, mi amor?" Eddie responds as he places his hand on the man's back for a moment.

"Hey, I'm cool as a cucumber." Buck admits as he leans against the wall and Victoria snorts as she shakes her head.

"I know that's not true." Victoria retorts and he fakes an offended look. "I have to get changed." She tells them, going to walk but Buck wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

"Or, we could take a shower." He suggests, planting a kiss on her exposed shoulder. Victoria rolls her eyes playfully.

"We're not doing it at work, Buck." She denies as she moves out of his grasp and Eddie looks slightly amused.

"Oh, like it's new territory for you two?"

"Excuse me, Mr sass, some of us have learned from past mistakes." Victoria states, pointing her finger at the smirking man.

"Hardly think it was a mistake." Buck adds and Victoria narrows her gaze.

"Both of you go splash some cold water on your face. Seriously, you both have nothing but sex on your mind twenty four seven." She admits as she shakes her head, a bit annoyed but they both knew she loved it. She was just too stubborn to admit it.

"Okay, you can't expect to stand in front of us like that and not make a move on you." Buck whines and Victoria only smirks back at him.

"Life is unfair, Buck." Victoria says before moving toward her locker, leaving the two alone in the showers. Buck turns his gaze to eddie, suggestively eyeing him as he moved closer to the man. But as soon as his hand landed on Eddies belt, the alarm blared through their ears.

"You're kidding me." Buck groans as he drops his head momentarily on eddies shoulder.

"Lifes unfair, Buck." Eddie says, patting his back before running out the room, knowing Buck would be annoyed at him.

"So hilarious." Buck mumbles before rushing after the man.

••••

AS THEY GET TO THE SCENE, Victorias eyes stare straight up at the building in front of them. It was safe to say she had never seen anything like this before. A bus was hanging out of the window of the office building. "That does not go there." Chimney denies as he places his hand on his head to shield the sun. Victoria rolls her eyes as she looks at the man.

"No shit Sherlock." She responds and Chimney narrows his gaze at her before they head inside the building. They were silent going up the elevator as the music plays in their eyes.

"At least the music is still working." Victoria pipes up and Hen gives her an unimpressed look.

"Hey, the Hollywood reservoir is, like, two and a half billion gallons. Where's all that water gonna go?" Buck asks curiously, standing near the back.

"My mom survived the dam break in the sixties. Baldwin hills. Water only ever wants to go in one direction-- out to sea." Hen explains to them before the doors open and are hit with a breeze of air, seeing the bus dangling down.

"This is definitely our stop." Chimney says as he shakes his head. Getting off of the elevator. Victoria was the last one, left with Eddie and Buck.

"Hey, at least it's not a tsunami, right?" He asks them, probably trying to make some sort of joke but neither of them were happy, just turning their heads with a glare on their face.

"Do you want me to punch you in the face?" Victoria asks him, being completely serious and he just gives her a cheesy smile.

"I love you." He says in a sing song voice making her roll her eyes as she goes to exit the elevator but Buck stops her.

"Hey, be careful." Buck tells her and Victoria let's out a small sigh.

"Buck, saying that everytime we go on a call doesn't change anything." She denies. She understood he cared but it was a bit irritating him saying it on every call, even the ones that weren't remotely dangerous. She didn't even do the dangerous shit since she was only there to treat the victims once they were brought out.

Buck frowns as he watches her leave, the doors closing as the elevator continues on its journey. "She'll be fine." Eddie assures him, seeing how nervous he was. "Hey, she should be the one worrying about you." He teases with a small laugh, seeing how Buck would be climbing down on top of the rocking bus.

"Does it not terrify you?" Buck asks, not seeing how Eddie seemed to not be affected by it one bit. "I-i mean anything can happen at our job and with her heart monitor on top of that--"

"Of course it terrifies me, Buck. But you can't exactly stop most things that happen in your life." Eddie responds with a small sigh. "Vic knows how to take care of herself and you know Hen watches her like a hawk." He states and Buck hesitantly nods his head.

"You're right." Buck agrees and Eddie was glad he didn't continue to spiral. "God, maybe i do get why she wants to wait." He mumbles a bit and Eddie just raises an eyebrow.

"Hm, yeah. Wouldn't want anyone knowing I'm the sane one in a relationship with two psychos." Eddie says with a smirk on his face and Buck only shoves him off the elevator once the doors opening causing the man to let out a loud laugh.

••••

Authors note;

Thank you so much for 300k on this book! It is completely insane the love that you guys have shown. I hope you have enjoyed reading so far and enjoy the future chapters.