••••

VICTORIA YAWNS A BIT AS SHE WALKS OUT OF THE BEDROOM, wearing one of eddies shirts as she ran a hand through her messy hair. She knew Christopher was already at school which is why she didn't try to look presentable. She saw Eddie and Buck both in the kitchen. Eddie was drinking his coffee while Buck, well he had a rather sour look on his face as he stared at his phone.

Eddie seemed to notice her first as she made her way over to him. She gives him a lazy smile as she leans up toward him. Eddie kisses her deeply, his hand moving down her back as his other hand still held his coffee. The shirt bunches up a bit, exposing more of her skin before they pull away from each other.

Her eyes move over the Buck who didn't even glance at them. She raises an eyebrow as she moves over to him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "And why are you sulking like a child?" Victoria asks, trying to gain his attention. Buck finally looks up from his phone, his eyes looking over her for a moment before meeting her gaze.

"Maddie invited our parents to visit." Buck tells her and Victoria was slightly shocked. She believed that they both didn't like their parents but apparently Maddie was on speaking terms with them.

"Oh." She simply says, glancing toward Eddie before rubbing the back of her neck. "She didn't ask you first?" Victoria questions and Buck shakes his head.

"Why would she? She knows how I feel about them and of course she waits until they are past the state line to say something." Buck says, muttering it a bit. His eyes shoot over to Eddie for a split second, the man flickering his between and Victoria.

"I mean, you could always come up with an excuse not to go?" Victoria suggests, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, Maddie won't let me do that." He denies, looking back at Eddie who clears his throat. She sighs as she crosses her arms against her chest.

"Okay, why are you two exchanging glances?" Victoria asks them, knowing where was something they needed to say. Buck was hesitant as he kicked against the counter lightly.

"I was just hoping... you'd come with me."

"Come with you where?" She knew what he was asking but she'd hoped he'd take it back if she acted dumb.

"To the dinner." Buck tells her and she instantly shakes her head, making her way over to the fridge.

"No."  Victoria denies as she opens it, grabbing an apple from inside. Buck groans a bit, frowning at her.

"Vic--"

"No, i don't do parents. Especially yours." She tells him. Victoria has heard the horror stories and she was not about to live it.

"So, you never met Anthony's parents?" Buck asks, furrowing his eyebrows with confusion on his face. Victoria takes a knife out of the drawer, pointing it at him.

"They loved me, knew me since I was a kid. Yours... I don't even have to think about how much they'll hate me." Victoria points out and Buck sighs a bit.

"You don't know that." He denies and she gives him a deadpan expression. "Look, they say anything and we can leave, okay?" Buck tells her and she thinks about it, pursing her lips.

"Why doesn't Eddie have to come?" Victoria questions, gesturing toward the man. It didn't seem like he had to suffer through it as well.

"My parents are already not my biggest fans, I think id send them to an early grave." Buck admits as he shakes his head.

"And that's a bad thing?" Victoria retorts and Buck just stares at her. She groans as she tilts her head back. "Fine." She gives in and an instant smile takes over Bucks features.

"Told you she can't say no to you." Eddie states and Victoria snaps her head toward the man.

"Excuse me?" She narrows her gaze. "You wanna say that again to the girl holding the knife?" Victoria asks him, holding it up threatingly and Eddie clamps his mouth shut. Buck just hugs her from behind, kissing her cheek a million times.

"I love you, baby." Buck tells her and she just hums, shaking her head.

"I'm gonna love you from over here." Eddie says, taking a few steps back and Victoria glares over at him playfully.

"Good call."

••••

BOBBY PLACES THE PAN ON THE COUNTER, waving off some of the smoke as the team gathers by table. Well, all of them but victoria who was trying to steal some food already. "Let me put it on the table first." He scolds her, hitting her arm slightly with the towel. Victoria narrows her gaze but moves her hand away.

"So, when's this conference thing again?"
She asks curiously, wanting to know how long she had to actually prepare for it.

"Next week I'm pretty sure." Bobby answers her. "You okay to go back home?" He asks, concern in his voice and she bites the inside of her cheek but nods her head.

"Yeah, i think I am."

"Well, if you change your mind between now and then, just let me know." Bobby tells her, giving her a smile and Victoria returns it before they both head to the table. "Where's buck, is he joining us?" He asks the group.

"On the phone with doctor Copeland. Emergency therapy session." Eddie tells them and Bobby seemed a bit confused.

"Again?"

"Yeah, he had to ask her for advice on some uh, de-escalation techniques." He says with a small laugh and Bobby raises an eyebrow.

"What, is he afraid his parents visit is gonna turn into a hostage situation?" Bobby asks him which makes Chimney fumble the utensils in his hand causing everyone to look over at him.

"What?"

"I don't know, i may just strangle them." Victoria says with a sigh, leaning her head back a bit. Hen snorts a little, tilting her head.

"He roped you into it?" Hen questions and Victoria meets her gaze.

"Can't you see the joy on my face?" Victoria says with obvious sarcasm as she gestures to her expression. Eddie snorts as Hen just smiles, shaking her head.

"What do you think they're like? The parents." Hen asks curiously, narrowing her gaze. "i mean, i look at Maddie and then I look at buck and I'm like... there's a story there." She admits, pointing her finger.

"You have no idea." Chimney mutters. They all turn their gazes toward. Victoria simply raised an eyebrow at the man. Chimney froze, looking at them. "None of us has any idea." He corrects himself with a small laugh before staring blankly in front of him. "Just too bad cause you know, if we all knew, we could talk about what we know, and then we'd all know it. No one would be stuck keeping stuff to themselves alone, with no one to talk to about some potentially explosive information that they really wish they didn't know." He talks, mainly to himself.

Victoria was by far confused on what he was saying but it was obvious he was holding a secret. Well, he was practically saying it without saying it. "I gotta go." Chimney says, running off toward the fire pole and sliding down.

It was silent for a second. "Do we even wanna know what that was about?" Eddie asks the group, asking what everyone else was thinking.

"No." Bobby denies with a shake of his head.

"Yes." Victoria says at the same time making them both look at each other.

"Definitely not." Hen pipes up before returning to her food. Victoria sighs as she looks back at the table, only to see Eddie stealing a bread roll off of her plate. She pouts as she watches him stuff it in his mouth.

"Hey, that was mine." She complains, narrowing her gaze and he just stares back at her, acting innocent. "Your on thin ice, Diaz." Victoria says, pointing her finger at him and Eddie didn't seem scared as he chuckled, grabbing his fork.

Bobby glances at them, watching them interact before he just simply smiled, shaking his head.

••••

VICTORIA KNOCKS ON THE DOOR OF MADDIE AND CHIMNEYS PLACE, her fingers fiddling with each other as she stares at the ground. She wasn't arriving with Buck because he wanted to get there early and help set up and well, she needed more time to prepare herself while playing video games with Christopher and getting a pep talk from Eddie.

The door opens and Maddie is standing in front of her with a giant smile on her face. "Vic, come on in." She says, hugging her gently before pulling away and allowing her to enter.

"Thanks, Mads."

"Buck was a bit scared you were gonna bail." Maddie teases her with a laugh and Victoria let's out a breath as she rubs her hands against her dress.

"I was thinking about it." She admits and Maddie shakes her head a bit. Victoria sees Buck standing by the kitchen counter. Making her way over to him, she wraps her arms around him from behind, planting a soft kiss on his shoulder.

"You holding up okay?" She asks him, rubbing his sides before moving so she could actually look at him. Buck sighs as he shakes his head.

"Not really."

"Say the word and I'll fake an emergency." Victoria states, leaning against the counter, gazing up at the man who smiles instantly at her.

"What would I do without you?" Buck asks as he leans down to kiss her gently. As they pull away, Albert had made his way over to them.

"You must be Vic, Buck talks about you a lot." He says and Victoria turns to face the unfamiliar man. But given how he looked like Chimney, it wasn't hard to figure out who he was.

"And you must be the one taking up space in our apartment." Victoria retorts and Albert presses his lips together tightly.

"Right, he said you weren't too happy about that."

"It's fine." She admits with a soft laugh. "Albert, right?" Victoria asks and he nods his head.

"Yeah." He responds, his eyes couldn't help but look over her once but he saw the glare Buck sent him causing him to immediately look away. "And can I just say, you are way out of his league." Albert teases, smirking at Buck who clenches his jaw a bit.

"Dude." He retorts, not the slightest bit impressed but Victoria only smiles, laughing.

"Oh, I know."  She says, winking toward Buck who shakes his head but kisses the back of her head. He knew they were both right though.

"Okay, so, I got wine; red, white, sparkling, in case you wanna do any celebratory toasts and tequila. Not sure why we needed two bottles." Buck explains, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Those are for me." Chimney says as he grabs them from him and Victoria raises her eyebrows in amusement.

"And some juice for my girl." Buck says, taking the bottle out and holding it out to her. "Still don't get why you wanted orange though." He says, scrunching up his nose and she narrows her gaze playfully.

"Because it's superior." Victoria states as she places her hand on her hip.

"Not really."

"Youre just disgusting and like apple." She points out and he scoffs, nodding his head.

"It's just the best." Buck tells her and she shakes her head instantly.

"Agree to disagree." She says, leaning against the man who just smiles and wraps his arms around her, placing his chin on her head. Albert looks toward Chimney.

"You're wearing jeans. Well, i was told I was not allowed to wear jeans." Albert scolds, looking accusingly over at Buck.

"You stop whining. Pre-heat the oven. 350." Buck demands and Albert rolls his eyes but does what he said.

"Woah, we're baking stuff?" Maddie asks, a bit shocked as she walks over to the group. Buck reaches into the bag in front of him.

"Baked Brie. Fig jam."

"When did you start liking fig?" Maddie questions with a small smile before a knock was heard at the door. Victoria tensed a bit.

"Hey." Buck tosses the brie to Albert who puts in oven, closing it quickly as Maddie walks over to the front door.

"And I think we're ready." Chimney says, following after his girlfriend.

"I don't think I am." Victoria mumbles but follows everyone else. It was a moment before Maddie opened the door and she saw their parents standing in the opening.

"Dad!"

"Maddie!" He brings her in for a hug before they back away from each other.

"Mom! You guys did not have to bring presents." Maddie denies as she shakes her head.

"We're grandparents now. Spoiling comes with the job." The dad tells her with a light laugh.

"Mr and Mrs Buckley, hi, I'm Howard Han. It's good to finally meet you both." Chimney introduces himself, shaking their hands.

"Hi, Howard." The mom says with a smile on her face and Buck awkwardly steps forward.

"Hey."

"Evan." The mom says, staring at her son who was nervous as he stared back at his parents.

"You look good." His dad tells him and Buck nods his head.

"Ah, so do you." He responds before looking toward Victoria. She shook her head in the slightest but he grabbed her hand, bringing her over to him. "This is my girlfriend, Vic." Buck tells them, missing the way his mom seemed utterly disappointed.

"It's uh, nice to meet you." Victoria says, holding out her hand. The mother simply looks at it, clenching her jaw as if repulsed she even suggested shaking hands. The dad though cleared his throat, taking her hand.

"You as well." He tells her with a soft smile. Victoria tightly smiles as she steps back but she was confused as she glanced back at Bucks mom who only seemed to scoff under her breath at the sight of her.

"Uh, this is my brother Albert." Chimney chimes in.

"And Bucks roommate. Pleasure to meet you both."

"Buck-- still letting people call you that?" The mother says, clearly displeased.

"It's just a nickname, mom." Maddie says in a stern tone, not wanting to start anything straight away.

"Oh, you guys don't like nicknames? But maddie--" Chimney starts to ask but maddie cuts him off.

"Is the name on my birth certificate." She admits and Victoria raises an eyebrow.

"Would anyone like a drink? We have many options, I believe I'll start with tequila." Chimney pipes up, clapping his hands together.

"So, howard-- do people call you Howard?" The dad asks and Chimney looks at the others before nodding his head.

"Yes. Yes, they do. Please, this way." He tells them before leading them toward the kitchen. Maddie takes a deep breath.

"We got this." Maddie holds out her pinkie toward Buck who connects it with his own.

"United front." He states with a nod and Maddie goes to follow the others. Buck noticed Victoria sneaking toward the door so he just wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. "Dont you dare." Buck denies as he shuts the door and she groans, turning to face him.

"Did you see the way your mom looked at me?" Victoria asks him and he places his hands on her hips as he pulls her closer to him.

"Itll be fine, okay?" He assures her as he places a kiss on her forehead. Victoria sighs but nods, closing her eyes momentarily before taking his hand and following him to the kitchen.

Man, was this going to be a long night.

••••

SITTING IN THE CHAIR BESIDE BUCK, Victoria felt like her heart wouldn't slow down. Mainly because Bucks mother would stop giving her the evil eye. She definitely didn't wanna be here but Buck needed her and that was enough for her to stay. He had his hand on her knee, rubbing it gently with his thumb. She didn't know if it was for her or himself as he seemed quite fidgety and that's what happened when he got nervous.

"I'm glad you guys had a nice drive." Maddie admits as she looks toward her parents. Victoria glances toward Buck, sending him a soft smile which he tightly returns, his fingers beginning to tap against her skin, his leg bouncing up and down.

"We saw a lot of the country." Their dad responds with a nod of his head.

"The first few days, there was nothing but rain, then we got here, blue skies and sunshine." The mom pipes in and Buck clears his throat a bit.

"Yeah, we had a lot of rain earlier in the year, but, uh, lately it's been dry." Buck tells them and his mom simply stares back at him causing his eyes to drift. He shifts in his seat, his hand all but wrapping around Victorias knee now as his other hand taps against the leather of the chair.

"Hmm."

"I-i can't believe you drove all the way across the country in an RV-- that sounds exciting." Albert steps in, moving around to sit in the chair across from them.

"Statistically speaking it seemed the safest way to travel right now." The dad tells them.

"Yeah, we didn't wanna take any chances, given Maddies condition and it being a high-risk pregnancy."

"It's not really high risk." Chimney denies, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Oh, she's over thirty five. That puts her at a higher risk, so we all need to be extra careful." The mother responds and Victoria scoffs underneath her breath. She just takes her glass, drinking from it as she rolls her eyes.

"The baby's fine, mom." Maddie says in a stern voice, her face tight.

"But you don't wanna take any chances. Not when you've waited this long." She tried to make a joke but it just made everyone stare at her awkwardly. "Besides, i want my first grandchild to be healthy, god knows Evan won't give us one for a while." She adds, looking over at Buck who seemed to hate being put in the spotlight.

"We're not really in the right space to have a baby yet." Buck denies, glancing at Victoria.

"How long have you two been together?" His dad asks as he looks between them.

"Uh, a bit around two years, a few bumps along the way but, we came back to each other." Victoria answers him, looking toward Buck and he simply leans in, kissing her cheek gently.

"So, not two years straight?" His mom's voice seemed a bit harsh as she narrows her gaze. Victoria looks back at her, shifting awkwardly as she shakes her head.

"No, i was away for a few months and things happened on the job." Victoria wasn't about to indulge her whole life to this woman, especially since she didn't even care to ask Evan how he was throughout the years.

"Hm." She simply looks the woman up and down before glancing away.

"Well, no relationship is perfect and it seems like you two are happy with each other just as Maddie and Howard are." The dad pipes up, nodding toward his son who seemed glad that at least he made a positive comment.

"We are." Victoria tells him, placing her hand on top of Bucks, seeing the way it made his mom physically repulse. That just made Victoria do more, leaning against Bucks side, the man instantly wrapping his arm around her waist.

"She was just waiting for the right time. The right guy." Buck says, looking toward Chimney with a smirk, the man rolling his eyes playfully.

"God knows it wasn't Doug." The dad mutters and this causes the room to grow awkward as they were not expecting his name to pop up.

"Okay. Let's not talk about him." Maddie denies.

"You're right I'm sorry, I'm just so happy to see you happy." He apologizes, holding his hands up in defence. "Now, Evan, Maddie tells us that you've been seeing a therapist?" He says and Buck seemed a bit taken aback and betrayed as he glanced toward Maddie.

"She did?"

"Anything we should be worried about there?"

"No. No, of course not. It's-- that's the job, you know? Its can be stressful. It's good to try and get ahead of it." Buck explains to them and his mom slowly nods her head.

"Just the job?"

"Mom." Maddie scolds her, looking at her like she'd gone insane.

"What? It's clear that they had problems. Although it seems it just stems from one place." She responds and Victoria tenses a bit, sitting up a bit straighter. She felt Bucks touch on her back as he brought her closer to him.

"Can you stop acting like you know what we've been through?" Buck asks her, a bit pissed that she would even say that. She seemed to ignore him though, looking back toward Maddie.

"You know, your father and I sent to see a therapist."

"Uh, really? When?" Buck questions, narrowing his gaze.

"Well, after all this business with Maddie and the husband who shall not be named, we felt like there were some things we needed to work through." She explains to them and Maddie seemed a bit confused and a little frustrated.

"So, you went and talked to a therapist about my problems?" Maddie asks them.

"It wasn't as if you want to talk to us about them. Buck had to call to tell us that Doug was dead." Her dad responds and Victoria awkwardly fiddles with her fingers.

"Well, i didn't want you to find out on dateline." Buck mutters.

"You know what, I'm gonna start bringing this stuff into the kitchen." Chimney says with a clear of his throat. "Would anyone like a refill while I'm in there?" He asks and Victoria immediately jumps up at the opportunity to leave the room.

"I'll help." Albert and her say at the same time causing them to glance at each other. She just gives him a slight glare making him slowly lower back in his chair.

"Yeah, uh, me--me too." Buck adds as he also stands up, following the two into the kitchen.

••••

THROWING POPCORN INTO HER MOUTH, Victoria lets out a long groan as she tilts her head back against the couch. "The amount of restraint I had not to punch her in her stupid mouth, oh my god." She complains as she looks toward her phone and Tk was only there on the screen listening to her rant about the evening she had.

"She sounds like a racist bitch." Tk responds and Victoria nods her head in agreement.

"She is." Victoria states firmly, shaking her head. "Like you have no problem with Chimney but because I'm black I'm what? Some problematic gangster who's gonna taint your son?" She points out with a roll of her eyes, eating some more of her popcorn.

"Well, you are a bad influence." Tk says with a small smirk and Victoria sends him a playful glare.

"Tk." Carlos scolds him from his place beside the man.

"She knows I'm joking." He responds and Carlos continues to stare at him before eventually glancing away. "Have you talked to Buck about it?" Tk asks her curiously.

"I think he knows i was uncomfortable, but you know, it's his parents, what can I even say?" Victoria questions back with a small sigh, shrugging her shoulders.

"Just because they're his parents doesn't mean he should tolerate the shit they say." He points out. Tk knew Buck would stand up for her if she asked him to, or if his mother continued to step over the line, he had no doubt Buck would snap at her.

"I had high hopes, you know?" Victoria says, not being able to keep a straight face as she said it. They both burst out laughing as they knew it wasn't true in the slightest. "No, like after the stories he's told me, they were just as I expected." She admits with a shake of her head.

"I'm just glad Carlos's parents adore me." Tk says with a proud smile on his lips. Carlos's ears perk up at this, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

"Adore you?"

"Of course." Tk says with a firm nod and Carlos purses his lips.

"I doubt it." Victoria snickers and Tk sends her a look.

"Hey, I'm awesome." He points out.

"You're a bit full of yourself babe." Carlos tells him and Tk glares at him playfully before letting out a scoff.

"Oh, I'm full of myself." He teases back and Carlos only smirks at him. "Youre my boyfriend, why are you siding with her?" Tk asks, pouting a bit and Carlos just shakes his head, looking back down at his book.

"Because I'm better than you and Carlos knows it." Victoria tells him, looking proudly and Carlos chuckles to himself before sending her a small wink. Tk clenches his jaw, seeing the interaction.

"Well, you know what?" The words leave Tk's mouth before the video feed was cut off completely. Victorias jaw drops a bit as she's brought back to her home screen.

"Wow. Rude ass bitch."

••••

VICTORIA UNFORTUNATELY FOUND HERSELF BACK AT THE SAME APARTMENT, sitting across from the most awful parents she believed existed in the world while listening to their boring ass stories and trying not to stab herself in the eye with a fork. Buck being beside her and rubbing her thigh is what kept her partially sane. But even just his mother's face was enough to make her want to run through a wall to escape.

"Well, I'm just glad everybody's okay." The mom says as Chimney had explained the call they had today. Some man was planning to blow up his old job but luckily Chimney had talked him down. Victoria wished she had been the one to do that part but well, she was still just a paramedic as of right now.

"You all seem to have very dangerous jobs." The dad pipes up, looking a bit wary.

"I mean, not really. Most of the time it's pretty run of the mill." Maddie adds, looking toward her boyfriend and brother.

"Yeah, stan wasn't a bad guy. He just needed someone to see him. To understand how much pain he was in. He probably wasn't gonna blow the place up." Chimney says with a small chuckle at the end to relieve some of the tension.

"Still seems very risky." The dad responds with a sigh. "I mean, from what I hear, Evan has spent quite a lot of time in hospitals." He points out and Buck seemed to be a bit annoyed by his comment.

"From what you hear?" He retorts and Victoria could see he was mad. "Cause you could've come. Seen for yourself." Buck points out. It wasn't like they weren't made aware. But did they show up? Did they call? No. His mother took a deep breath.

"Evan, I've told you--"

"You, uh, you're not good with hospitals. I got it." Buck mutters, glancing down after his plate.

"I'm not good seeing my children in them. You don't know!" His mother got emotional, staring at him which confused Buck.

"Mom, mom." Maddie stops her, shaking her head. Victoria glances between them, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm fine." She says, taking another breath. "I'm ready for dessert." The mom tells them before the dad looks toward Victoria.

"Where'd you say you grew up, Victoria?"

"Oh, uh, it's just Vic... and I was born in Chicago." Victoria corrects him after clearing her throat a bit. The man gave her the softest smile.

"Nice city." He admits with a nod but she could see Bucks mom with a sneer on her face.

"That makes sense." She mutters and Buck instantly glares over at his mother while Victoria stays calm.

"For your information, Chicago is a great city with great people." Victoria tells her and all the mother could do was stare back at her, a bit embarrassed that everyone was looking toward her.

"Oh, Howard, where'd you put that box we brought?" The dad asks, changing the subject as he looks toward Chimney.

"Dad, more gifts?" Maddie questions.

"Not exactly."

"It's over by the couch. Let me grab it." Chimney says as he gets up from the table. The mother smiles as she looks over at her daughter.

"I like him, Maddie." She admits and Maddie smiles back at her with a nod.

"Me too."

"You picked a good one this time."

"Mom." Buck scolds her, seeing the look that appeared on Maddies face.

"It was a compliment, Evan." She snaps back at him and he just squints toward her.

"Oh, was it?" Chimney comes back with a box, giving it to Maddie.

"Your baby box." The dad interrupts as Maddie opens it up, the smallest smile on her face. "I thought you might wanna pass on some of these things to your little girl someday." He tells her and Buck seemed to lighten up a bit.

"This is cool. I didn't know you made these for us. When do I get mine?" He asks but the awkward silence that lingers afterwards told him all that he needed to know. Victoria looks toward his parents before seeing the hurt look on Bucks face.

"Hey, you're not even a grown up yet. They're probably still adding stuff to it." Chimney tried to ease the tension but it was clear he too felt bad for the man. Victoria moves closer to her boyfriend.

"Buck, we can go if you want." She whispers, her hand gently on his arm but he slightly shook his head.

"I can't believe you kept all this." Maddie admits.

"You thought we'd throw it away?" Her dad asks her.

"We may not have agreed with all the choices you made, Maddie, but we never gave up hope that you'd come to your senses. And you did." The mom explains to her and Victoria scrunches up her nose. That was some backward ass shit right there.

"You never gave up hope?" Buck asks them and Maddie glances at her brother.

"Evan, let's not do this."

"United front, remember?" He responds and she sighs but nods her head. "You guys didn't even go to her wedding." Buck denies, looking back at his parents.

"She was making a terrible mistake. We told her that." His mom tells him and Buck scoffs a bit.

"Yeah, people make mistakes. Doesn't mean you give up on em. But you did. She married Doug and you cut her off."

"At the time, we thought it was for the best." His dad tells him and Victoria rubs her face a bit. This was definitely not what she wanted to be sitting through right now.

"We didn't know what was going on. I swear, Maddie. We didn't know he was hurting you." Her mom denies with a frown on her face.

"Well, you should have." Buck pipes up causing everyone to look at him. "You should've known. You should've known! You were right there in the same town. How could you not know? Actually, you know what? Maybe it does track, cause you barely knew what was going on with your own kids when we were under the same roof." He snaps and Victoria frowns, looking down at her hands. "Maybe you never gave up hope... you sure as hell gave up on her. You gave up on both of us." He finishes and his father looked guilty but the mom was acting like she did nothing wrong.

"And now you think you have any right to comment on who I'm dating or make these disgusting comments towards her?" Buck asks, gesturing toward Victoria. The fact the comments were so blatant in front of everyone too made him even angrier than he already was. She had no shame and wanted Victoria to feel like she didnt belong. "Don't you dare speak another word to her because you do not know her." He sneers and his mother could only scoff.

"Evan, we raised you to be a good man. Not parade around with someone like her." She responds and Maddies mouth drops a bit, shocked at her mother's words. Buck looked like he was about to say something but Victoria slams her hands against the table, her chair scraping on the floor as she stands up.

"Raised him? Listen you twisted bitch, my mother tried to kill me and she is still a better parent than both of you combined. Instead of worrying who Evan is seeing, maybe you should be more concerned about using sunscreen cause I could blow and you'd crumble like dust."

Chimney snorts, covering his mouth as he stares down at his plate and even Maddie looked like she wanted to laugh a bit. Their mother on the other hand, seemed highly offended and glared at the woman. "Excuse me? You have no right-"

"No right?" Victoria retorts with a scoff, raising an eyebrow. "Since the moment you got here, you have done nothing but make Buck feel bad about himself, judging our relationship, being a racist cunt and most of all, acting like Maddie and Chimney don't know what they're doing." She points out, crossing her arms against her chest. "I'm not about to be nice to you or apologize for what I said when you have said worse and have probably said horrible things to Buck his entire life."  She states, glancing toward Maddie who seemed to be agreeing with everything she was saying. She seemed to look proud that she was defending Buck since that was usually Maddies job.

"You weren't there. You were never there for him, not even when he got crushed by a ladder truck. What kind of parents don't even want to know if their child is okay?" Victoria asks, shaking her head. Her own mother was forgetting things and still managed to ask if she was doing okay. They really had no excuse and it pissed her off.

"And now that he's standing up for himself, now that he's not letting you walk all over him, you're acting like he has no right to do that?" Victoria couldnt believe they were acting like Buck was in the wrong, that he was saying all of this without being provoked. "You don't know him. And why would you? You don't even try. If you did you would know the amazing, smart, kind man that he is and I am so lucky to have him." She finishes, feeling good to have it all of her chest because if she was being honest, she had been thinking about this in her sleep last night.

"You should really be ashamed of yourself, putting everything on him when he was a child." Victoria tells them and they dad looks down while Bucks mother just continued to glare at her. Maddie was holding back her tears as Chimney awkwardly sat beside her, not knowing whether he should interject as well because he hated hearing how they talked to her, especially since he recieved a lot of comments from people as well.

"Buck, you don't have to sit here and listen to this bullshit. You have people who love you and care for you for exactly who you are. You don't need to fake it around the two people who are really only birth givers to you. Can't even call them parents." Victoria sneers the last part toward the parents as she grabs a hold of bucks hand.

He doesn't even hesitate to stand up, tightening the grip of their hands and Victoria smiles at him. His mother didn't seem the happiest though, acting all offended because her son chose someone else. "Really, you're gonna go with her?" She snarls toward the man who barely glances at her, his eyes peering down at Victoria lovingly.

"I'd pick her every single day." Buck admits and Victoria felt her heart skip a beat. But she was caught off guard when he kissed her passionately. The display of affection partially being because he wanted to show her it meant a lot what she said but also, he knew his mother would hate to see them kiss as she had repulsed at even the slightest touch between them.

Chimney smiles at the happy couple but it turns into a sly smirk as he sees the disgust on the mothers face. When Buck pulls back, he strokes Victorias cheek before finally turning back to his parents. "Oh, and, uh, you're wanna know why I'm really in therapy? It is because I have spent my entire life feeling like a constant disappointment." He snaps at them, his anger raising once again. "And you wanna talk about our jobs? You think my job is dangerous? I have walked through fire every single day of my life because of you. That is why I am in therapy. Because nothing I ever did was good enough!" Buck shouts and Victoria squeezes his hand in a comforting motion.

"We tried. But you always--" The dad starts but his wife cuts him off.

"You never made it easy on us. Either one of you."

"We were supposed to? We were kids." Maddie sneers back, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Evan, I don't know what you expected us to do!" His mom screams and Victoria clenched her fist, ready to just knock this bitch out. Why was she putting the blame on him? He wasn't supposed to tell them what he wanted, they were supposed to see that they were being idiotic and treating their children like they weren't their own flesh and blood.

"Love me anyway." Buck's voice cracks as he stares down at them. Victoria could see he was trying to hold himself together and she desperately wanting to grab a hold of him and never let him go. To take all the pain from his soul and bare it herself. "You know what? I'm done. I'm done trying to get your acceptance, I'm done trying to change myself every single way so you actually care for me." He admits, his voice a bit harsh as he shakes his head.

Buck was not about to forgive them easily for everything they've put him through, everything they've put Maddie through. Just because someone's your blood, doesn't make them your family and they made that perfectly clear. Because if even an ounce of them cared or loved Buck, they would never make him feel like he was a waste of space or like he didn't matter in their eyes.

"And I will be expecting you to give an apology to vic because the fact that you're judging her when you don't even know her, your simply stereotyping because of the colour of her skin, I am ashamed to be your son because she is truly the best person I have ever met." Buck snaps at them and his mother seemed angry but didn't say anything. His father actually seemed to look a bit apologetic, after all it was the mom who was saying most of the things. "And you know what she does? Loves me unconditionally. Something i don't think you guys could even think about doing." And with that, he turns, his hand still within Victorias and he's walking toward the front door.

No one says anything, watching the couple leave the apartment. Victoria follows Buck in silence, not knowing if he did want her to talk to him or if he'd rather just go home. She bites the inside of her cheek as she glances behind them before she moves her free hand to his back.

"Are you okay, baby?" Victoria asks him, a small frown on her face as she stops in front of him. Buck sighs, the tears lingering in his eyes as he glances up for a moment before meeting her gaze.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have forced you to come--" Victoria shakes her head, moving her hands to his cheeks.

"Hey, it's you and me, hm? We stick together." She assures him with a soft smile, tilting her head. Buck seemed relieved to hear that as he melted against her touch. "Im kind of bummed we didn't bring Eddie though, that would've shut her the hell up." Victoria adds with a small scoff and Buck couldn't help but smile a little before it fades.

"Please know i had no idea they would say these things to you." He denies, looking like he felt awful for what she had to endure. Victoria shrugs her shoulders, simply glancing down at her feet.

"I'm used to it." She was. She had encountered racist remarks all the time. At work, on the street, from some of her so called friends-- it really wasn't anything new unfortunately.

"You shouldn't be."

"You love me, that's all that matters." Victoria tells him with a soft smile as she brings him closer to her. "Maybe we should give her a baby just to be petty." She jokes with a small laugh. The way she'd probably have a heart attack seeing Buck holding a little brown skinned baby. Probably would think they defiled the blood line.

"I think just putting a ring on your finger would be enough to make her lose her mind." Buck admits as he intertwines their fingers, leaning in a bit and hovering their lips over each other. Victoria gazes at him, feeling her heart flutter momentarily.

"Maybe you should." She says and he pulls back a bit, a confused yet shocked expression forming on his face.

"What?"

"Give me a ring." Victoria says with all seriousness as she bites her bottom lip. Buck seemed to not know what to say as he simply blinked at her, his mouth slightly parted. "I mean, is it so crazy? We love each other. Everyone knows about us now. Though I don't know about dealing with you two children for the rest of my life--"

Buck pinches her side making her laugh a bit before he kisses her gently. Victoria instantly kisses him back, pulling him back against her and basking in the comfort of the moment created between them.

Victoria didn't know what allowed her to say something like that. Was she ready for marriage? She believed she was. She hadn't thought about it for a while. Sure, there were still things to navigate, being three people now instead of two, more input in decision making, finding a good spot for them all.

But she truly hadn't felt this happy in a long time. She didn't think she'd get to a point in her life where could truly let go of everything that was holding her back, all the guilt, all the emotion, but Eddie and Buck seemed to have been the solution to it.

And yes, she was still terrified to have a baby. She was terrified to grow older because of her genetics. But their life was an endless cycle of spontaneous things happening to them anyways. Maybe she could learn to live in the moment, to look ahead at the positives rather than fearing the negatives. And even if she did feel that fear build up again, she knew they'd be by her side.

They would be with her every step of the way.

••••

Authors note; the ANGER i was feeling writing this oh my lorddddddddd. fuck the Buckley parents seriously.

everyone just say a big fuck you to them.

anyways, hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a happy new year <3