This Life We Choose.

chapter thirty three , Soooo...About That Date?
a/n : last chapter of season two!!!

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Emery needed to see Buck.

She had gotten as much closure as one could've gotten. She was ready to move on and live her life. But, she didn't want to do that without talking to Buck first. It's like there was this fire inside of Emery that gave her the strength to stand at his door right now.

Even though her hands were sweating beyond compare, and she couldn't get them to stop shaking; she still stood here. Brave and determined.

Emery knocks on the door and rubs her hands against her jeans. After about a minute, the door opened; causing Emery's heart to jump. Buck stands there, shocked by the girl standing in front of him. Especially since they were supposed to be having a break from each other. But seeing her now...

She was wearing a brown button up long sleeve with black jean shorts. The same shorts he has taken off of her many times. The same shorts he had complimented many times before. Just the way they clung to her thighs and ass. She knew what she was doing.

"Emi...hey."

"Hi." Emery smiles. Buck pulls his brows together at the free smile across Emery's lips.

"I talked to Hen." Emery exhales.

Buck's face relaxes and he raises his brows. "Oh, yeah? And how did that go, Captain Sharpe?"

"It went well, Firefighter Buckley." Emery giggles. Buck couldn't stop his face from growing hot.

Emery swipes her tongue across her lower lip then she bites it. She has to take a risk. For Buck? She would take all the risks in the world. No matter how afraid she was.

"Would you like to go out to eat?"

Buck's entire body freezes. He glances his eyes to the side, wondering if he heard her right. "You...what?"

"Would you like to go out to eat...with me?" Emery points between Buck and herself.

"Like, like what? A date?" Buck nervously chuckles, trying to keep calm before Emery gives him the answer he was hoping for.

Emery shrugs, "Could be a dinner between coworkers, two former sex buddies, friends, or..." her cheeks get hot and she smiles again. "Yeah...a date."

Buck's heart drops in his stomach. In a good way.

He knew the answer he wanted to give her. Buck wanted to scream the words. But his mouth wouldn't open. He couldn't speak. It's like his entire body stopped working.

Emery tilts her head and blinks, watching Buck's jaw clench and then his chest rising and falling. "Did I break you?" She waves a hand in front of his face. "Evan?"

Like he was freed by the mention of his name, he blinks and inhales a breath. "Yes." He exhales.

Emery drops her hand to the side. "Yeah?"

Buck exhales a breath, his shoulders falling. His face was gentle and he could've cried right then and there from how long he's wanted this. "Yes." His voice was soft but he repeated it with a bit more emphasis.

Emery's back straightens and just when she thought her smile couldn't get any wider, she was proven wrong. "Okay, cool. So, so you have a specific time or—"

"Tuesday." Buck says.

Emery raises her brows, "After our shift?"

Buck nods, "After our shift."

"Okay, so it's official." Emery sucks in a breath. "Tuesday after our shift...we have a date."

"That we do." Buck nods his head, his body tense. Emery chuckles softly and she shifts her eyes to behind him. "Nice place, by the way." She arches a brow. "Sucks you got it after we stopped hooking up, but...whatever."

Buck tilts his head back and laughs. "Yeah, well, sucks that Amaya moved out a day before we stopped hooking up, but...whatever."

Emery snorts and nods her head. "Touché, Firefighter Buckley." She points at him. "See you later."

"Y-Yeah—you will, Captain Sharpe." Buck waves a hand, his stammer not going unnoticed. Luckily for him, Emery thought it was cute.

☆

"It just sucked him straight in."

"She, damn it! The car is a she!"

The woman walks over to her husband. "Let this be a lesson to you, Roy. You mistreat a woman, they mistreat you right back."

She turns to the group of firefighters. "You know, I've been trying to, like, cut him loose, but I can't quite get in there."

"All right," Emery exhales. "Let's get down there and see what we can do."

The firefighters surround the car to inspect the man's injury.

"Sir, I need you to keep very, very still." Hen advises.

"Any chance you can get me loose without cutting the hair? It's kind of my trademark, you know?--"

"Forget the hair! You've been scalped."

Roy's eyes widen, "What?!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Maude says. "You know, this isn't even the worst he's been hurt."

Emery slowly nods her head with one hand out towards Maude. "Okay, ma'am, I need you to give us some room to work, okay?"

"What? Why?"

"Well, like you said, he's been scalped and they need space to do their jobs." Emery explains with a soft smile.

"Yeah, I can see why she couldn't get in there." Eddie speaks. "His hair is too tightly wound into the belt."

"We can't cut him free without pulling at the wound." Buck voices. "We'll have to come at it sideways."

Emery looks throughout the car and gnaws on her lower lip, her brows pulled together.

"Sideways? What do you mean sideways?"

Emery raises her brows, "Well...we're gonna have to cut the engine belt and remove the alternator."

"Oh, what? You know about cars now too?" Buck looks at her, a smile on his lips. Emery lifts her eyes and meets Buck's soft storm blue eyes.

"Of course, my dad wanted my sister and I to not have to rely on men." She shrugs. "And we don't."

"Your dad's a smart man."

Emery snorts, "Tell me something, I don't know, Buck." She points inside of the car. "Okay, so, let's cut through—"

"Like hell you are!"

Emery looks down at Roy. "A man...yelling at me to not do something." She then hums. "Hand me the saw."

Buck softly laughs.

"Yes ma'am."

...

"The cutest fartin' kid, I tell ya."

Tom laughs, "Fartin'? What is that a new thing for you now?" He drinks his water.

Emery holds her hands up and Dylan high fives both of her hands. "Well, yeah. I can't say F-U-C-K in front of him."

"I can spell." Dylan voices. "I just don't know what that means..."

"Good." Tom and Emery speak.

"Daddy, can I get juice?" Dylan asks.

Tom nods, "Yeah, let's go." He starts to stand up.

"No, no—I can get it!" Dylan waves a hand. "I'm a big boy."

Emery gasps, "Yes, you are!" She ruffles his hair. Tom laughs softly as Dylan giggles and runs into the kitchen.

There was a moment of silence for a moment between the two firefighters. Emery was sitting on the hardwood floor with her logs crossed, while Tom was sitting in a chair. Tom insisted on Emery sitting on the couch or chair, but she just preferred the floor. It was comfortable to her.

Tom looks over at Emery and he watches her pat her hands against the hardwood floor. A smile forms on his lips when he realizes how entertained Emery was by it. She looks then shifts her gaze to Tom, meeting his eyes.

Tom's face heats up and his jaw goes slack. A small but nervous chuckle comes from Emery's lips. "Sorry. About talking to Dylan like I'm some kind of...mom."

Tom raises his brows, "There's nothing for you to apologize for, Emerson." He shrugs. "You're not intruding or anything."

Emery presses her lips into a small smile. "Can I ask what happened to Dylan's mom?"

Tom tenses and Emery looks down at her hands. "I'm sorry, that was too far."

The boy shakes his head. "No, you're fine." He says. Tom takes a moment to himself, trying to find the words. "It's not some...sad story or anything." He clicks his tongue. "It's actually kind of boring."

Emery keeps her legs crossed, but she slightly tilts her head; patiently waiting for him.

"Laura and I...we were in love." Tom exhales. "High school sweethearts."

Emery smiles softly. Tom sighs, "We fell in love. Sex—unsafe sex. Pregnant, shotgun wedding." The whole cliche." He then tilts his head and his smile becomes more sad. "We were supposed to have a shotgun wedding. But...Laura wanted to take things slow. And I understood that. So, we waited until Dylan was born." Tom shakes his head. "I really thought she just wanted to take things slow..."

Emery's heart clenches, understanding what he's trying to try. "She just didn't want to be held on by the marriage when she...left."

Tom bites the inside of his cheek and nods his head. "Yeah, I'm stupid—it's kind of my thing."

"You're not stupid, Thomas." Emery's voice was soft. "You're a bit of a Himbo, yes. And you have the best intentions. We all see that."

Tom looks across Emery's soft expression and he pull his brows together. Her shoulders weren't as close to her ears as they normally were. Her breathing wasn't heavy. And her eyes weren't distance.

"You're different."

Emery raises her brows and softly hums. "What do you mean?"

"You seem...calm." Tom states. "Happy."

Emery's mouth twitches and she exhales. "I mean, happy isn't the right word I would use. But I do feel...at ease."

Tom smiles, "That's good. I'm...happy for you." His face gets hot.

Emery looks at Tom and softly smiles. "Thanks, Probie."

A crash is heard in the kitchen, causing both firefighters to jump. "Dylan?!"

"I dropped the juice!"

Emery snorts and softly laughs. Tom stands up and runs into the kitchen. Emery covers her mouth and laughs even harder than before.

☆

Emery's eyes were roaming across the excerpts printed across the paper. The girl loved everything about being a Captain. The power, the organization, the paperwork—she loved the paperwork. There was so much paperwork, that she decided just to work on it while there was down time at the station. She was sitting in the Captain's office (she cried when she first sat in the chair) with her glasses on, writing away.

A knock is heard at the door. And Emery keeps her eyes glued to the paper as she speaks. "Enter."

The door opens, "You are enjoying this way too much."

A smile forms on Emery's lips from the raspy yet soft voice. She lifts her head up, meeting the boy's storm blue eyes. Buck raises his brows and softly smiles.

"Whoa..." he then chuckles and enters the room. He closes the door behind him and walks closer to the desk. "You look..."

"...good behind the table?"

Buck chuckles and he puts his hands in his slack pockets. "I was gonna say right." He nods his head. "But yeah, good also works."

Imagine what she'd look like on top of it. Buck swallows and his body starts to grow hot. Emery arches a brow and leans back in the seat. "So, what's up?"

"It's Tuesday." Buck sits in the chair across from the desk. Emery rolls her lips into her mouth and nods her head. "It is Tuesday..." she then shrugs. "Do you happen to have any plans?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be going out to eat with this girl." He huffs.

"Oh, really? Is she just some girl to you?" Emery asks.

Buck tilts his head, "Now, Captain Sharpe. Should we really be discussing this?"

Emery hums, "Well, there's no one around to see us...discuss and do certain things." She moves her head to the side and clicks her tongue. Buck's face gets hot and he laughs while looking off to the side. Emery stands up and rounds the table. She leans against the table, her hands folded in front of her. Buck tilts his head up at her and his jaw goes slack as Emery looks down at him with her dark gaze. The same gaze that drove him crazy.

"Pauly's?"

Buck blinks, he heard something come from Emery's mouth. But all he was wondering is if she wanted him right now as much as he wanted her. "Uh, sorry, what'd you say?"

Emery snorts, "Pauly's for tonight. After our shift. You ever been?"

Buck raises his brows. "No, I've never been, it's like really hard to get into." He squints his eyes. He watches her try and contain her excitement. "Did you get reservations?"

Emery looks at Buck and she smiles. Buck's mouth drops open, "How were you able to do that?"

Emery moves closer to Buck, her knee now touching his. Buck tenses but he moves his leg closer to hers as well.

"I'm Emerson Sharpe, Evan." She shrugs.

Buck chuckles and he begins to laugh. "Yes, you are."

For a moment, they both stare at each other. Emery's chest tightens and her body gets hot. Buck white knuckles the arms of the chair and his stomach flutters. Emery tilts her head to the side and Buck shifts his eyes down to their knees still touching. Neither of them pulling away. He swallows. What was he supposed to? Did she want him to pull away? He was the one who told Emery they needed to stop seeing each other.

But with the way she was looking at him now...

Buck inhales and stands up. Emery quickly stands up as well and Buck cups the side of her neck; causing a shock to rush through her.

"Emi—"

The alarm blares through the station, snapping both firefighters out of their sensual trance. Emery inhales a shaky breath, and it takes everything out of her to step away from the comfort of Buck's hand. "I-I'll see you tonight." She whispers and straightens her shirt.

Buck chuckles, his heart still pounding against his ribcage. "Does..." he swallows. "7:30 sound good?"

Emery raises her brows, "I'll pick you up."

Buck nods his head, entranced by her. "Yeah, pick me up, please." He didn't mean for it to sound so needy. It's not like Emery didn't like it though...

She bites her lower lip and smiles. Emery motions her head to the door, "You can go first."

"A-Are you sure?"

Emery tilts her head, "As your captain. Go. Now."

Buck's stomach turns in the best way and he shivers. "Yes, ma'am." He turns and leaves the office. Emery exhales sharply and fans herself.

...

There was a complex building fire call for the 118. It involved both rigs and the aid car to be driven to the location. Emery directed her team into the fire engines and Aid Car. The group was on their way to a fire call. Emery was sitting in the front with Eddie driving.

"So, what's everyone's plans tonight?"

"Trying to avoid my parent's calls as much as possible." Eddie voices from the back.

"Wait, they're still bugging you about moving back to El Paso?" Emery asks, slightly turning her head to the firefighter in the back.

Eddie lets out a chuckle, but it was filled with exhaustion. "Yeah. They're unbelievable." He shakes his head. "Hopefully everyone else has better plans."

"Karen and I are doing a night in with Denny. Watching some Ninjago, since someone got him hooked." Hen speaks from her headphones in the Ambulance.

"Hey, Ninjago is a masterpiece." Emery holds her pointer finger up. "A masterpiece I watch all the time."

"You call everything a masterpiece, though." Eddie says.

"Because everything I watch is a masterpiece." Emery retorts. "I recommend you guys movies and shows all the time and you love them!"

"Most of them are kid shows, though." Hen says.

"Well, My Little Pony is pretty good."

Everyone falls silent from the voice that was located in the other fire engine.

"It's good." Buck admits. Emery rolls her lips into her mouth, excited he admitted it.

"Wait, you recommended Buck a show?" Hen asks.

"Yeah." Emery shrugs.

The fire engine gets silent.

Chimney slightly opens his mouth. "Are you and Buck friends now...?"

Emery chuckles, "I can recommend someone a show without being friends with them." Her voice rings through each firefighter's headset.

Even though Emery and Buck swore to never tell anyone about their secret rendezvous'. She still couldn't help but feel wrong when it came to not acknowledging Buck as even a friend.

"When would you guys even have the time to talk about shows?" Hen asks. "How did you guys even start that conversation?"

From how shocked everyone was about them even having a conversation, Emery couldn't even imagine how people would react if they found out they had sex.

Emery raises her brows and smiles. She looks back at the front window and couldn't stop the giggle coming from her lips. Even though Tom was in a separate rig from Emery, he could hear her flustered laughs. Tom glances at Buck, and notices the pink blush form across his face.

Everyone's headphones click before someone speaks through them.

"118. 188. This is dispatch. We've got Bobby Nash on the line. He says it's important."

Emery pulls her brows together. She had the same confusion as everyone else. "Wait, dispatch. Dispatch could you please repeat—"

Emery's words were abruptly cut off when a fire erupts underneath the fire engine in front of her, flipping it over. The fire engine slides down the street, yellow bright sparks coming from the scraping metal.

Emery had hardly registered it when the accident happened. But once the engine stopped sliding across the street, Emery felt her instincts kick in. She pulls her headphones off and stumbles out of the fire engine.

"Oh my god..." Emery keeps her eyes on the engine in flames. She walks towards the rig but someone stands in front of her.

"Emerson, hang on." Eddie grabs her arms.

"N-No. Let go of me, Eddie—"

"Look, over there, right now." Eddie's voice was stern. He points across the street. Emery follows his finger and sees him pointing at a boy in a bomb vest with a dead man's trigger in his hand. Her heart drops, "The bomber's here?"

"Emery, look at me."

Emery forces her shaky eyes on Eddie, fear was in his eyes just as much as in hers. "You're the Captain and we need you right now." He searches her eyes. "Okay?"

Emery inhales a shaky breath and she bites her lower lip. She looks back at the bomber, then her eyes shift to Tom and Buck on the street; injured. She exhales through her nose. "Okay, let's check on Chimney and Hen at the aid car." She gives Eddie a pat on the arm, telling him she's okay.

They both quickly walk make their way over to the paramedics and hide behind the second rig. Emery peaks her head out from behind the rig, her eyes never leaving the two unconscious boys. She grabs her walkie and speaks into it.

"Dispatch, this is Captain Sharpe of 118. What is the play? I've got people dying in the street."

"Hold your position, Sharpe."

"Get me the captain!" The bomber shouts from the streets. "Where's the captain!"

Tom stirs in the street and groans. The bomber stalks over to Tom, "I told you not to move!"

Emery's jaw clenches and she walks out from behind the rig.

"No, Emery." Hen quickly speaks.

"Cap!"

"I'm the captain, okay?" Emery's hands were up in the air and she slowly approached the boy. "Acting captain." She corrects.

"Please, just let me help my people, okay? Please." Emery looks over at Buck, noticing his leg was caught under the fire engine. A pain starts in her chest and she swallows the lump in her throat.

"No. No, I don't want you." The boy says. "I want Captain Nash."

Emery pulls her brows together. "But, he's not—"

"Freddie!"

Emery and the boy turn to see Bobby walking towards them with his hands in the air.

"Thought you'd be on the truck." Freddie says.

"I'm here now." Bobby walks closer to Freddie. "What's next? It's what you wanted."

"I wanted you dead."

"I get that." Bobby nods. "What about them?"

"What about him?" Bobby motions to Buck. "He's got parents, a sister, a date he was looking forward to."

"And him?" Bobby points at Tom. "He's got a kid waiting for him at home."

"These two have never done anything to you. They weren't even firefighters when your father burned down that restaurant." Bobby explains.

"Collateral damage."

Emery's jaw clenches and anger embeds itself into her chest. He was so at ease with having other people die. He didn't care.

"Is that how you see yourself?" Bobby asks. An unintended victim in all this?—"

"Stop."

Bobby stops in his tracks.

"One more step, we all go boom."

"Freddie, you got dealt a bad hand, and I am sorry about that." Bobby speaks. "But what you did with it—that's a choice. You stopped being a victim the moment you left that first bomb."

"That lawyer! She—"

"Did her job." Bobby says. "We were all doing our jobs."

"Destroying my family..." Freddie growls. "My mom and I lost everything. She was in so much pain."

"Want to make it worse? You want to make her watch you die?" Bobby motions his hand, forward.

Athena and Mike escort a woman towards the scene. Freddie turns and his face drops. And so does his guard.

"Freddie?"

"Mom..."

Bobby wraps his arms around Freddie and keeps his hand wrapped around the trigger. As soon as the cops came and took the trigger from Freddie, the slapped handcuffs on him and dragged him away from the scene. Emery lets out a breath she felt like she had been holding for too long. She runs over to Buck and crouches beside him. "118!"

They all run over to Emery and help her with Buck.

"Evan, hey you with us?" Emery's voice was shaky but soft. "How are you doing?"

"Kind of numb."

"I'm gonna run two lines." Hen pronounces.

"Skin is cold and pale." Eddie speaks.

"Push sodium bicarbonate." Chimney calls out.

Emery takes Buck's hand into hers. "Just hang in there, Evan."

Emery stands up, "Tom, how we doing?"

"I'm good. Just take care of Buck." Tom speaks, he stands up and limps over to them.

Emery grabs her walkie again. "This is Captain 118. We've got a probably crush injury. I need all hands on deck to move this truck and clear a path to the nearest trauma center."

"How's he doing, Emery."

Emery turns to Bobby and she could feel tears of frustration form in the back of her eyes. "We're out of time, Captain." She looks at Hen and Eddie. "Okay, we need to try and lift this off of him."

This time Emery speaks louder, so everyone could hear her. "Try to lift this off him!"

Emery goes to stand up and help lift, but Buck grabs her hand tighter; causing her to stop. She looks dow at Buck and just from the desperate squeeze she understood what he was saying. Don't leave me.

Emery's chest tightens, she crouches back down next to Buck. "I'm right here, okay?" She whispers. "I'm not going anywhere."

Emery turns her head, "Let's get some hands in here!" She watches as everyone grabs a part of the fire engine. Emery leans down and whispers to Buck. "Hang in there, okay?" She gently squeezes his hand. Buck was in immense pain, he thought he was going to pass out. He wished he did. But if he did, then he wouldn't have been able to experience this side of Emery. The side that was worried about him only. The side of her that handled him with care.

"Ready? Lift!"

Everyone begins to lift the truck. It moved an inch, but that inch forced a gut wrenching wail to come from Buck. Emery keeps her head close to Buck, her hand still squeezing his.

"Okay, let's try it again!"

"One...two...three...Lift!"

They begin to lift the truck again, but all it did was cause Buck to scream in agony again.

"It's too heavy." Bobby says.

"We got anything on the truck we can use for leverage?" Eddie asks.

"No, we need more people."

Emery huffs, "I'll radio again." She keeps her hand in Buck's she then grabs her walkie with the other.

"Dispatch, this is captain..." Emery trails off her words when she watches the civilians push through the barricades and run over to the fire engine.

"Everyone put a hand in where you can!" Emery shouts. She looks back down at Buck. "They're gonna get you out, okay?"

"On three..."

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

Everyone begins to lift the rig up again. Buck screams with tears running down his face. Emery watches as the engine lifts off of Buck's leg.

"Okay, we got him!" Emery shouts. She and Eddie begin to pull him out from under the Fire Engine. They put an oxygen mask over him.

"Okay, okay—lift him on three."

"One...two...three!"

They lift Buck onto a backboard. Then they lift him onto a stretcher. They roll him to the ambulance.

"Stay with us, Buck." Emery kept her hand in Buck's, not wanting to let go. Buck didn't want her to go. "The hospital is 4 minutes away."

Once they put Buck in the ambulance, Emery turns to her teams. "Guys—"

"Go."

Emery turns to Bobby. He gives her a nod with a comforting smile. "Go."

Emery swallows, she climbs into the ambulance and sits beside Buck's stretcher with Chimney in the back and Hen driving the ambulance while Eddie was in the passenger seat.

☆

"So..."

Emery and Maddie were standing at the coffee dispenser together. Emery was leaning against the counter, her thumbnail in her mouth. Maddie turns to her best friend with two coffees in her hand. "You look more worried about him than I am."

Emery looks at Maddie and she raises her brows. She pulls her nail from her mouth. "No, I'm...you're more worried than me."

Maddie raises her brows, "Yeah. Very convincing, Em."

Emery exhales. "Buck and I...we just started becoming friends."

Maddie tilts her head, "Friends..."

"Yes. Friends." Emery chuckles nervously. Maddie squints her eyes and Emery shakes her head. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Emerson Bailey Sharpe." Maddie whispers. "Your mystery man isn't my brother, is it?"

"Maddie." Emery arches a brow. Maddie's eyes widen and she gasps. "Oh, my—"

"Before you even finish that statement of shock..." Emery holds up her pointer finger. "How are you and Chim doing?"

Maddie closes her mouth and growls. "I can't believe this...you were—there was a point when you and my brother. You and Buck"

Emery rolls her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I get it." She motions her head down the hall. "Let's just go check on him, please. Carla's coffee is getting cold."

Emery hurries away from Maddie, but the brunette catches up with her. "Wait, so this entire time when I would ask about the guy you were having sex with—"

"You were technically asking about me having sex with your brother. Yes."

"Oh gross, Emerson!" Maddie slaps Emery's arm. Emery snickers, "It's kind of funny though, right?"

They get to the room and Emery stops in her tracks when she sees Buck in the hospital bed. But he was awake and he was laughing. Maddie and Carla talk to Buck while Emery continues to stand there—frozen. Buck looks over at the girl and his voice gets caught in his throat.

"You're...laughing." Emery softly breathes. She hurries into the room, setting the coffee on the table. Emery rounds the bed and sits beside Buck. "You're awake." She reaches for his hand but stops. Emery sets her hands back into her lap and chuckles. "I'm glad you're okay, Buck." She presses her lips into a small smile.

Even though he was groggy from just waking up, Buck could see it across Emery's face. The yearning she had to be close to him and express how relieved she was right now for him.

"Hey, can you guys give us a second?" Buck and Emery keep their eyes on each other. Maddie and Carla look at each other and roll their eyes. "Yeah, sure. It's not like you were interested in talking to us anyway..." the brunette tries to muster up all the fake sadness she could come across in a short amount of time.

Carla and Maddie walk out of the room, leaving both firefighters alone. But it didn't go unnoticed that Maddie closed the door before leaving. Emery looks over at the door. She feels a warm hand wrap around hers. Emery looks back at Buck and softly smiles.

"I heard what the doctor said..." Emery exhales softly. Buck's chest tightens and he shakes his head.

"I don't wanna talk about that right now." Buck swallows. It was too painful for him to think about. Never being a firefighter again. Emery tilts her head and exhales softly. "Hey..."

Buck forces his eyes back onto Emery's comforting brown eyes.

"You know they're going to do everything they can to help you, right?" Emery softly speaks. "And we'll be there for you. Every step of the way." She runs her thumb across his knuckles.

Buck looks down at their hands interlocked and his heart flutters. "Here..." he uses his arms to slightly lift himself. Emery tenses, "What are you doing?"

He scoots to the side, making more room on the bed. Buck then pats the empty space beside him and Emery shakes her head. "You need all the space for you to heal, Buck. I don't want to overwhelm you—"

"You're not." Buck gently squeezes her hand. "I just need to be as close to you as possible, right now."

Emery's heart clenches and her stomach flutters. She stands up and carefully sits next to Buck with her hands in her lap and her arm pressed against his

"I'm sorry, we couldn't go on our date." She presses her lips together and keeps her eyes on her hands.

Buck purses his lips. "Eh, we have time, right?"

Emery stays silent for a moment. It takes everything out of Emery not to wrap her arms around him. She just wanted to be so close to him. "Is there anything you need?" She asks, her voice was a whisper.

Buck raises his brows, "A sponge bath would be nice."

Emery slightly opens her mouth and chuckles. She turns to him. "Yeah, I definitely don't have the credentials for that."

"I don't think you need credentials for my kind of sponge bath." Buck voices, he then raises a brow.

Emery's laugh grows and Buck joins her. She focuses her eyes on his. The laughter dies down and Emery's heart pounds against her chest. "Thank you for being there for me tonight, Emi." Buck speaks, his eyes never leaving hers.

Emery shakes her head. "I didn't do much. I mean, I wasn't one of the people who helped the engine off your leg."

"But you held my hand." Buck says. "You were there when I needed you. You might not think you did a lot, but to me..." for a second it feels like Buck can't catch his breath. "...that was everything."

A small breath escapes Emery's lips. "You would do the same for me."

Buck softly hums and winces. "Well..."

"Oh, what the hell?" Emery holds up a hand and laughs. Buck laughs and lightly pushes her arm.

"You know I would do the same for you, though, right?" Buck asks. "Without any question."

Emery turns back to meet Buck's eyes and her heart jumps into her throat when she notices how close they were.

"I'd..." he trails off his words. I'd do anything for you.

Buck's face heats up and his eyes flit to her lips then back to her dark brown irises. Emery's eyes always had a way of causing all of Buck's control to slip from his body. They left his brain feeling like mush and his blood rushing through his ears. And the only thing left in Buck's body was the urge to kiss her.

Buck raises a hand and cups the side of her neck. Emery's breathing hitches as Buck traces her jawline with his thumb. She raises a hand and wraps her fingers around his wrist that was holding her face. He gently pulls Emery towards him to connect their lips.

Then the door opens.

"Hey, Emery. Amaya was asking for—"

Emery and Buck quickly pull away from each other before their lips meet. Emery turns to see Bobby standing there.

"Uh, wh-what was...huh?" Emery stumbles off the bed, her breathing quick.

Buck clears his throat and looks away from Bobby, his face hot. Bobby wipes the smile off his face and points down the hall. "Amaya was saying that your guys' mom was calling her about school tomorrow...?"

Emery closes her eyes and nods her head. "Right." She sighs. "I have to get her back home." She looks at Buck. Their eyes connect and Emery smiles softly. "I'll call you later."

Buck's heart jumps into his throat. "And I'll answer."

Emery bashfully laughs and nods her head. She turns and sees a smug smirk across Bobby's lips. Emery's back straightens and she brushes past him. Bobby leans against the doorframe, his arms folded and he stares at Buck.

Buck looks back at Bobby and he holds his hands up. "What?"

"You know instead of kissing her, you could tell her how you feel." Bobby shrugs. "Make it just a tad bit easier for you guys to kiss in public."

Buck raises his brows, "You know?"

Instead of answering, Bobby just speaks again. "Why haven't you told her how you feel?"

Buck let's out a quiet breath and he looks at his hands. His brows pinch together and he's left with a negative feeling in his chest. "I like Emery. So much." He says, lifting his head up. "But how am I supposed to be good enough for her? She is everything and I'm..." he throws his hands up. "I'm just a guy with a crushed leg and probably will never be a firefighter again."

Bobby shakes his head, "Buck, you can't think like that." He tilts his head. "You just got injured. What you need is rest and for this day to be over."

Buck covers his eyes with his arm.

"If you really do think that Emery thinks that about you...why did she hold your hand that entire time the rig was lifted off of you?" Bobby asks. "Why did she ride in the ambulance with you? Why did she stay in the hospital with you for hours? She hates hospitals."

Bobby watches as Buck raises his brows, taking in his words. "If you really want to know how she feels...ask her."

The only thing Buck and Emery had to do was talk to each other in order to understand that they both wanted each other.

They were going to give Bobby a fucking migraine.

☆

"Here's your stop, Miss Sharpe."

Amaya looks out the window and stares at her parent's house. "That'll be 20 bucks."

Amaya looks at Emery and sees her big sister holding her hand out. "That gets ridiculous, you know that?"

The eldest Sharpe sister snorts, "It's funny."

Amaya presses her lips together. "Sure, Em..." she looks out the window again and inhales. Emery's eyes soften, "Hey..." she lightly nudges Amaya's arm.

Amaya looks at her sister. Emery tilts her head, "You doing okay?"

"Define okay." Amaya sighs. "I barely get out of bed, food just...sucks ass, but ice cream is all I can eat right now."

Emery purses her brows. "Your first heartbreak." She nods her head. "It hurts, huh?"

"So fucking much." Amaya lets out a dramatic sigh. Both sisters laugh.

"Listen, seriously..." Emery says. "Some days are going to be hard and other days...you'll get through without barely thinking about it."

"What's today like for you, Maya?" Emery asks.

And just like that, Amaya's eyes fill with tears and she exhales an exhausted breath. Emery's chest tightens and she wraps her arms around her little sister. Amaya wraps her arms around Emery's waist and softly cries into her neck.

"How about I stay over tonight?" Emery speaks.

"Really?"

"Yeah. We could make some cookies, eat some ice cream and watch all the rom coms we want." Emery pulls away from the hug and wipes Amaya's teary eyes. "How does that sound?"

Amaya wipes at her eyes and manages to smile. "You're kind of the best, you know that?"

Emery chuckles, "I try."

Silence settles between the two sisters. There was a tightness in Emery's chest that wouldn't go away. Amaya reaches for the door handle, but Emery speaks.

"I know, I'm not the best sister."

Amaya stops and looks at her sister with her brows furrowed. Emery glances away from Amaya before looking back at her. "Me losing contact with you—pushing you away? That's one of my biggest regrets, Maya." The eldest sister swallows the lump in her throat. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I just wanted to be able to live my life without mom trying to take that away from me." Emery scratches the side of her nose. "I didn't mean for us to become strangers."

Amaya's eyes were teary and she was holding in a sob. "You're my baby sister and I'm not gonna lie to you..." Emery wipes the tears from her own eyes. "You're also kind of like my daughter."

Amaya softly laughs and a tear slips from her eye.

"Just don't tell mom that." Emery whispers.

Amaya wraps her arms around Emery and softly cries. Emery touches the back of Amaya's head.

"Don't tell mom this..." Amaya whispers. "But you're kind of like my mom."

Emery softly laughs and hugs Amaya tighter than before. "God, look at us being an amazing sister slash mother/daughter duo." They separate from the hug.

Amaya nods and wipes her nose. "That's pretty awesome of us, right?"

"Hell yeah."

Amaya holds up her hand but Emery wrinkles her nose. "You just wiped your nose with this hand."

"What?" Amaya scoffs. "No, I didn't."

"I just saw you." Emery points at Amaya's hand. "You snot-ified it."

Amaya freezes, she looks at her hand then looks at Emery's. Before Emery could realize anything, Amaya wipes her snot hand onto Emery's. Emery drops her jaw open while Amaya scrambles out of the car with a maniacal laugh.

"Oh, come on! You're a college student!" Emery steps out of the car and grimaces. "Try to be a little more mature!"

The girl looks down at her finger then arches a brow. A mischievous thought popping into her head.

"I'm giving you a wet Willy!"

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

THAT'S THE END OF SEASON TWO!!!

I really hope y'all enjoyed this season because I really enjoyed writing it.

Season 3 is going to be a shift in moods because it is EMOTIONAL. I am telling you this now.

But we're going to be experiencing this together, so let the emotional damage begin 🫡

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