Seize the Day.

chapter forty-seven , A Clasp is a GREAT Birthday Gift!

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Evan Buckley hated running.

He was in shape and he could run, but it wasn't something he was passionate about. Buck would rather exercise any other way than go for a jog. He looked good when he was at the gym, he has practiced his exercising faces so much for people in public. But for some reason when he was running, he just couldn't figure out how to keep those faces. So, he ended up looking red, sweaty, and like he'd never been in a run in his life. To Buck, it was humiliating. And he couldn't stand running.

But, Emerson Sharpe loved running. Her chest felt like it was loosening and being able to take a breath of fresh air was the best part. She always had a route she jogged, but ever since she went off her meds; her daily routine for anything was completely out of wack.

But, now it was different and better for her.

If only, Buck made it easy for her.

Emery's headphones blast R&B as she jogs down the pavement that was leading through the park. Normally when Emery used to run, she would just stay in her own world; focused on herself.

But now, Emery took a moment to look around. She would look across the trees and the people passing her with their pets. Seeing other people in their worlds made her peaceful.

As Emery ran down the path leading into the woods, she felt like someone was following her. It causes her stomach to clench and her heart began to beat quicker than before. Emery inhales a deep breath, she could most definitely hear footsteps behind her.

Emery's eyes dart to the side, without another thought; she sprints to the side and grabs a large branch off the floor. She holds it up, ready to swing towards the stranger.

"Get the fuck away from—"

"Emerson—Emi, wait!"

Emery stops the branch and meets storm blue eyes. She pulls her brows together and her jaw clenches. "I could've killed you!" She yanks her headphones off and places them around her neck.

"Yeah, I can see that now." Buck exhales, he points at the large branch in her hand. "Why is your first thought to hit someone with a stick?"

"I'm a woman, Buck! You can't blame me for that." Emery scoffs and tosses the branch to the ground.

"What are you even doing here? You hate to run." Emery places her hands on her hips and takes a deep breath.

"I love running."

Emery scrunches her face, "What? No you don't!"

"Y-Yeah—Yeah I do!" Buck exclaims. "I love to run. It's...energizing."

Emery rolls her eyes and she shakes her head. "You're relentless."

"Thank you...?"

"I know what you're trying to do, Buck and I gotta tell you. It's not gonna work." Emery crosses her arms and quirks a brow.

"Yeah?" He takes a step toward her. "And what am I trying to do?"

Emery inhales a breath and her back straightens. She opens her mouth to snap at him and continue the conversation (which is exactly what Buck wanted), but her watch begins to beep and that takes her attention away from Buck. His shoulders sag and he pouts. "Okay, you know what? Run whatever route you want—I don't care." She points at her watch. "I have to keep my heart rate up."

Buck holds his hands up and takes a step away from her, giving her some space. Emery slips her headphones back on and plays her music again. She continues her run through the forest. Buck inhales a deep breath, trying to gain an extra amount of strength before jogging after Emery.

...

Emery was sitting at the front desk, her eyes glued on the binder in front of her. She had done everything she had assigned herself. She even finished the tasks Bobby had given her. So all Emery had to do was sit at the desk and wait for anything to happen.

Sitting at the desk all alone with nothing to do, made Emery think about how much she missed going out on calls. She was grateful to have her job back, and she understood why she was starting off small with desk duty. But she missed helping people and seeing the team come back from every call laughing and their energies high didn't help.

While Emery was in her own thoughts, her eyes glued to the binder laying in front of her.

The bell hanging above the door rings and Emery shifts her eyes up to the two kids walking in. "Hey, you two. What's going on?"

"Can you please help my sister?" The young boy asks. "She's bleeding and I don't know what to do."

Emery stands up from the desk. "What's wrong? You're bleeding too." She sees the blood on the boy's palms and knees.

"I'm fine. Help her first, please." The boy begs.

"Okay, let me get the medkit." Emery jogs out of the office. She grabs the medkit from upstairs, before she ran back down the stairs she stops in her tracks. "Eddie, what are you doing here?"

Eddie slows his chewing, "They didn't need me for this call." He shrugs. "I'm the man behind today."

Emery slightly opens her mouth and looks back down the stairs. Eddie notices Emery's frantic eyes and he sets his bowl aside. "Em, you all right?"

Emery hasn't talked to Eddie since that day of the intervention. She didn't even know how to begin to apologize to him. But right now, Emery couldn't think about that. She just needed to help those kids.

"Uh, yeah. I'm good, it's just...can you help me with these two kids that walked in?" Emery asks. "They're bleeding and their panicking, right now."

Eddie's back straightens, "Yeah, of course." He stands up and follows her down the stairs. They get back into the office.

"Okay, I'm back and I brought some help." Emery softly smiles. "This is firefighter Diaz. He's also got some medical expertise."

"Can you tell us what's going on?" Eddie asks, he hands Emery a pair of gloves and she slips them on.

"I started bleeding this morning and it won't stop. I tried putting bandaids on it, but—"

"It still won't stop." The boy speaks. "You can help her, right? Our dad is at work and we didn't know what to do, so we came here." He holds out his bleeding palms. "I was running a little too fast and fell."

Emery slowly nods her head. "The hospital is just a few blocks away, we could—"

"No. No hospital." The boy snaps. "Our mom went into the hospital and never came out. No hospital."

Emery holds up her hands, "Okay. Understood."

"What are your names?"

"Aarón, and this is my sister Jeni."

"Okay, I'm Emery."

"And my name is Eddie."

Emery turns her attention to the girl while Eddie helps the young boy. "Jeni, are you having any pain? Did you get injured recently?"

"No, nothing happened." Jeni's eyes fill with tears. "I just started bleeding, and now my stomach hurts."

Emery slightly opens her mouth. She meets Eddie's eyes and saw the same "aha" look across his face.

"Jeni, how old are you?" Emery asks.

"12 1/2."

Emery slowly nods her head. "Jeni, can you remove your jacket for me?"

Jeni looks at her little brother and he nods his head. She unties the jacket from her waist, Emery grabs the jacket from her hands. Jeni removes her second jacket. Emery raises her brows when she sees the blood on Jeni's jeans. She presses her lips into a small smile.

"Am I—Am I dying?"

Emery shakes her head. "No, Jeni, you are not dying." You are menstruating."

Eddie swallows nervously.

"Do you know what that means?"

Jeni shakes her head.

"It's like, have you ever heard when girls talk about getting their period?—"

"Maybe Aarón and I should go." Eddie blurts out. "Give you two some space."

Emery slightly opens her mouth. "Right. Sorry." She nervously chuckles. "You could take him out there and help him with his scrapes?"

"I'm fine." Aarón speaks.

"Oh..." Eddie turns to Emery, hoping she had another idea. Emery shrugs, "Well, you could show him the trucks?"

"The trucks are out." Eddie says.

"You could show him where the trucks live?" Emery shrugs, not able to come up with anything else.

Eddie blinks.

"I'm not leaving her." Aarón snaps.

"It's gonna be okay." Eddie tries to reassure the boy. "We're just gonna go out there so they can get your sister checked out and cleaned up. It's a good thing."

"It's okay, Aarón." Jeni softly assures her brother. "I'm gonna be okay."

"You don't know that."

"But, I do."

Emery, Aarón and Jeni turn to Eddie.

"Aarón, I was a medic in the marines and what's happening with your sister right now." Eddie points at Emery. "Firefighter Sharpe is..." he trails off his sentence, trying to find the perfect words.

"...someone who has gone through this same exact thing." Emery adds. "I'm still going through it."

"Can you give me 20 minutes and then you can come back here and be with her." Emery raises her brows, a small smile on her lips. "Do you have a phone?"

Aarón and Jeni shake their heads. Emery then pulls her phone from her pocket. "Here." She turns a timer on. "20 minutes, and you can come back. And your sister will be ready to go home." She holds her phone out to the boy. "I promise you, your sister is going to be safe with me."

Eddie's eyes soften. One of the things he said to Emery was that she had no idea what it was like being a mother. Even though, she wasn't a mother—she had such a motherly heart and he felt so guilty that he ever uttered those words to her.

Aarón grabs the phone from her. He looks at his sister. "It's okay, we should do what they say. I'm good."

Aarón shifts his eyes to Eddie and he nods his head. He looks back at Emery, "20 minutes."

Emery holds her hands up, "If you say so." She softly smiles.

Aarón and Eddie walk out of the room. Emery turns to Jeni and sighs. "Okay, so, bathroom. Let's go."

☆

As soon as Emery heard the young girl crying in the bathroom stall, her back straightened.

"Hey, Jeni, you all right?" Emery pushes herself off the bathroom sink.

"I'm such an idiot." Jeni sobs. "I know how to pay the stupid electric bill online for my dad, but I didn't know what really happened during a period?"

"How's that even possible?"

Emery bites the inside of her cheek. "Well, some people don't know everything that happens in a period." she frowns. "I mean, I'm still learning."

"The same thing goes for paying an electric bill online." Emery chuckles. "I-I totally don't how to do that."

It was obvious to Jeni that Emery did know how to pay an electric bill online, but it was nice was trying to make her feel better.

"Is it always like this?" Jeni asks.

Emery blows air out of her mouth. "I mean, for the most part yes. But then again, every woman is different." She explains. "I read somewhere that our cycles change every five years."

Jeni walks out of the bathroom stall now in sweatpants. "It's not very comfortable."

Emery grabs the pair of jeans that were hanging from the top of the stall and she folds them. She sucks air in and nods her head. "Oh, yeah." Emery winces. "Pads kind of suck."

Emery walks over to the sink and runs cold water over the jeans. Once the stain lessens, she turns the water off and slide the jeans into a plastic bag with a seal. Emery walks back over to Jeni and motions to her pants legs. "May I?"

Jeni timidly nods her head. Emery crouches down and rolls the pants legs up, so they aren't over her shoes. "Tampons aren't much better." She continues. "And I haven't ventured into DivaCup territory."

"What's that?" Jeni pulls her brows together.

Emery chuckles, "Something you don't have to worry about yet."

Jeni tears up again, "There's gonna be other stuff I don't know, huh? Being the girl without the mom?"

Emery finishes folder Jeni's pants legs and stands up. Jeni was looking up at Emery with a clueless look staring at her. It caused Emery's heart to hurt knowing Jeni didn't have someone to help her with things like this. "Uh yeah..." she presses her lips into a small line.

Jeni wipes her eyes.

"But, I want you to know that if you come back here, we'll do our best to fill you in, okay?" Emery gives her a comforting smile. She points at Jeni's pants legs, "Are those better?"

Jeni nods her head. She walks over to the sink and wash her hands. "I thought the worst part about not having a mom was the pity," she starts. "when they talk about us not having a mom, like "poor you". Like we're these tragic, sad fairy tale kids..." Jeni's body begins to tremble and her voice shakes. "Now I think the worst part is, they might be right."

Emery's eyes burn and her throat tightens. But she keeps a strong poker face and clears the lump from her throat. "No, no." She walks over to Jeni. "Fairy tale characters don't get their period."

Jeni begins to laugh through her tears and that causes Emery to laugh.

"Let's go meet the boys before your brother storms in here?" Emery suggests.

Jeni sighs, "He's so annoying."

Emery snorts, "Well, as your younger sibling...that's his job." She holds the sealed plastic bag out to the girl. Jeni grabs the bag and walks out of the bathroom.

Emery couldn't stop the small smile from forming on her lips, thinking about her own younger sibling.

☆

Emery sat at the front desk, spinning in her swivel chair with her head tilted to the ceiling. She had walked Jeni and Aarón home since they were only a few minutes away from the station. Now, there was nothing for her to do once again. Normally, Emery would be able to find something to do; but she had finished all the tasks she was assigned and what she assigned herself.

"Having fun there?"

Emery stops spinning in her chair and looks at the firefighter that was left behind today. She raises her brows and snorts. "Uh, no. I'm getting dizzy and...a little nauseous."

"You're bored," Eddie states.

Emery presses her lips together, "Yeah. For the first time ever I have nothing to do at work." she sputters her lips. "I'm going insane."

Eddie looks at the crossword puzzles spread across the desk. "I can see that." he walks over to the front desk and leans against it. Emery lets out a breath, "Thank you for helping me today." she softly smiles. "You didn't have to--"

"I wanted to." Eddie gently cuts in. "It was the least I could after how I've treated you."

Emery's eyes soften, "You didn't treat me any kind of way. If anything, I was the one who was an ass." she glances away for a moment. "Outside the police station...I was going through a lot--we all were."

"And I didn't mean to make you feel like you weren't a good father, because you are an amazing father, Eddie" Emery gently assures. "Christopher is lucky to have you and I know he knows it."

Eddie couldn't stop the tears forming in his eyes. It was rare to hear positive feedback about him being a good father. Especially with his parents always wanting him to move back to El Paso. They never thought he could raise Christopher without them. So, hearing Emery say that was nice.

"Me throwing what you and Buck had in your face wasn't okay." Eddie exhales. "You trusted me with that information and I used it against you."

"I threw the fighting ring and Shannon in your face." Emery softly speaks. "I shouldn't have..." she trails off her words. "I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. You guys were just trying to help and I'm sorry. I don't see how you could ever--"

"Em, you've been forgiven."

Emery blinks, "Wait, what?"

Eddie chuckles, "You have already been forgiven."

"Can we hug now?"

Emery raises her brows, "Uh...I-I mean, if you want to--"

Eddie stands up and holds his hands out, "Come on. Bring it in."

Emery chuckles and she wipes her tears from her eyes. She stands up and wraps her arms around Eddie's neck. Eddie wraps his arms around Emery's waist and pulls her into a long-awaited hug.

"I heard Chimney brought cake from his house last night."

Emery pulls her brows together, "Oh my--then what are we still doing here?" she pulls away from the hug. "Still hugging when there's cake to be consumed? C'mon, Eddie." she shakes her head and brushes past him, which causes Eddie to laugh.

Eddie and Emery walk up the stairs, laughing with each other.

"Oh, lookie here." Hen hums at the two firefighters walking over to the kitchen. "You two are okay?"

Emery and Eddie look at each other, "Yeah, we're good." she softly smiles. "But right now, I want cake, so..." she points at Chimney. "Can I have some cake?"

Chimney raises a hand, giving her the go-ahead. Emery claps her hands and walks over to the counter where Bobby was standing.

"Well, now since your apology tour is over," Buck starts.

Emery's smile lessens from hearing his voice. She then turns to look at him with her eyes squinted.

"am I next on the list?"

Emery blinks, "I'm confused..." she tilts her head innocently. "I thought you said the apology tour was over. There's no need to say anything to you then." she presses her lips into a small line. Buck's mouth slightly opens as everyone either shares a smile or chuckles.

"Okay, now wait a second--"

"And second is done." Emery cuts him off. "I want cake. Is it chocolate?"

"Of course, it is."

Emery pumps a fist in the air.

"Hey, Chim, you mind if I take home some of this birthday cake for Harry and May?"

"Sure, knock yourself out."

"Thanks."

"How are they doing?" Buck asks.

"How's Michael?" Emery asks.

"He's upbeat," Bobby answers. "He's fighting. Radiation was supposed to be his best shot. Now we're all grappling with pinning our hopes on his second-best shot, surgery."

"How are the kids handling it?"

"Well, I think Harry's okay. I'm worried about May." Bobby says. "She's got a better understanding of what's going on."

"That's cause older siblings don't have the luxury of blissful ignorance," Chimney speaks, his knuckles pressed against the side of his face. They all stare at Chimney.

"They understand the truth even if they don't want to."

"Guessing it's not going too well with Albert." Buck clicks his tongue.

Emery pulls her brows together, "Who the hell is Albert?" she holds a hand up. "Why does Buck know who Albert is and I don't?"

"You know I miss when you called me Evan?" Buck sighs softly.

Emery rolls her eyes. Everyone lets out a set of groans.

"Gross..."

"Buck, stop flirting with Emery."

Buck holds his hands up, "I wasn't flirting. I was telling the truth."

"Still could be considered flirting." Emery presses her lips together. "I would report you to HR, but...we're way past that point in this..." she trails off her words, trying to think of a word. Buck raises his brows and slightly leans forward, "...relationship?--"

"Disastership!" Emery snaps her fingers. "That's what I was trying to say. Thanks for reminding me, Buck."

Buck's shoulders sag and he sighs. "Yeah, no problem..."

"Now." Emery looks at Chimney. She takes a bite out of her cake. "Who's Albert?"

"He's my younger half-brother from Korea."

Emery pulls her brows together and a small smile forms on her lips.

Tom gasps, "Long lost brother?" he presses his palms flat against the table. "You have a long-lost brother?"

"Not long lost," Chimney says. "More like...long-distanced brother."

"He showed up on my doorstep. Not quite the birthday surprise I was expecting."

"That's awesome. I didn't even know you had a kid brother."

"Yeah, when do we get to meet him?" Bobby asks.

From the small look across Chimney's face, Emery could tell there was more to the story.

"Well, that doesn't really seem necessary." Chimney hesitates. "He's gonna be leaving soon anyways. My dad insisted on it."

"Oh, come on, you finally have a chance to get to know your brother." Buck's face lights up.

Chimney shrugs, "No, I don't know. It just feels weird to me. Sure, we share some of the DNA, but he's still practically a stranger to me."

"I keep telling you..." Hen walks over to each person and sets a paper down in front of them. "...family comes to us in different ways, Chim. Lean in."

"Hey, Chim."

Chimney turns to look at Emery. She gives him a small yet comforting smile. "You don't have to rush anything," she then nods. "but I'm also going to say that this Albert kid is probably excited to meet his big brother. So, make the most of the time you guys have left before he leaves."

"You give amazing advice." Buck looks at Emery in awe. "Doesn't she give amazing advice?"

"The best," Tommy speaks up, his sparkling brown eyes on Emery.

Emery looks at Tom and Buck, "You guys are getting weird."

"Sorry."

"Uh, what is this?" Eddie asks, holding up the paper.

"Talking points regarding Henrietta and Karen?" Bobby reads.

"Social services is vetting Karen and me to become foster parents."

A huge smile forms on Emery's lips.

"We listed each and every one of you as references so when they call, I need you all to sing our praises," Hen says.

"You mean these specific 26 praises?" Eddie questions.

Hen chuckles, "Karen made the list."

"And it's an amazing list." Emery voices.

"Wait, you don't have a paper." Bobby points to Emery.

Emery blinks, "I got mine last week."

"What?"

Emery nods, "Memorized it too. Lock in, boys."

"Hen, we know you," Bobby speaks. "We don't need some piece of paper to remind us of your many wonderful qualities."

Hen chuckles, "I appreciate that, Cap, but I'd rather you didn't improvise. The stakes are very high."

Bobby laughs, but he nods.

"I didn't know you played a musical instrument," Buck says.

Hen presses her lips together and nods her head. "Bassoon. First chair. And I was damn good."

"Memorize people!" Hen then walks away.

"What's a bassoon?" Buck asks.

"Way ahead of you." Tom sits beside Buck and holds his phone up, revealing the picture. Buck blinks, "It...looks like a flute."

"It's in the flute family, I guess."

"Brother or cousin?" Buck asks.

Tom shrugs, "Mom, maybe." he raises his brows. "Hey, Em. What kind of instrument did you play?"

Emery slows her chewing. "What makes you think I played an instrument?" she snorts.

Tom keeps his sparkling puppy dog eyes on her. Emery then rolls her eyes and scoffs. She looks to the side with her arms folded before giving in and speaking.

"Piano and Violin."

☆

"This isn't going to end well..."

Bobby looks over at Emery, noticing her staring at Albert who was sitting at the dinner table. "What are you talking about, Em? Alberts happy to be here."

Emery shakes her head, "I'm not talking about Albert."

"Okay, guys!" Chimney claps his hands as he walks up the stairs with Hen. Emery motions her head over to Chimney. "That's who I'm talking about."

"Grossest cases to talk about while we eat. We go first." Chimney slows his walking when he notices Albert sitting at the table. "Albert..."

"Hey, bro."

Emery frowns, "I've never met someone who actually says the word bro." She then hums. "Interesting..." she walks over to the fridge and pulls it open. "Aw, what?"

"We still have no olives?" Emery turns back to the dinner table where everyone is sitting. "You guys didn't think to buy a jar as like a "welcome back, Emery" gift or something?"

"Sorry, Em." Bobby shrugs. "Your dad said that you need to control your olive intake."

Emery's face drops, "Wait, he told you?"

Bobby nods his head with a small smile. "And he made sure he told everyone too."

Emery softly curses. Ever since her father moved back in with her, she has been keeping a close eye on all his food intake and what he should and shouldn't be eating. And Her father decided to pay her back by getting rid of all her olives.

Bobby tells Emery to join everyone at the table and she obliges. But she notices that there's only one spot available and it's next to Buck.

"Oh, you're kidding..." Emery looks around at the table, hoping someone would switch. But they all avoid eye contact with her.

"Emery..."

Emery looks at Bobby and he gives her a playful yet pointed look. "Sit down and eat."

Emery whines and reluctantly sits next to Buck.

"How does it feel to have the best seat in the station?" Buck asks with a smile on his lips.

"Please don't push it." Emery growls. "Hey, look, Albert's here—let's talk about that." She tries to change the subject. Emery then turns to Chimney and softly whispers, "I'm sorry"

"Chim, your kid brother is a pistol!" Buck laughs.

"Half brother." Chimney corrects. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you. See where you work. Your captain said you're on the way back from the hospital."

"I heard you saved a man's life."

Hen pats Chimney's shoulders, encouraging him to share the story; but Chimney shakes his head. "Yeah, we don't really talk about that stuff here. You can't really show up without calling."

"Ah, come on, he's no trouble." Buck assures. "He even had time to give Cap a tutorial."

"Yeah, he's really funny." Tom adds. "You guys should have a joke off. I want to pee my pants."

Everyone turns to Tom and he freezes. "I didn't mean pee my pants like in a weird way." He nervously chuckles. "I meant in the laughing away. Because you two are so funny!"

Emery softly laughs as Tom continues to ramble on with his explanation. "Tom, we get it. You're good."

Tom let's out a breath and Eddie pats his shoulder.

"Wait, tutorial about what?" Chimney asks.

"How to make Korean dumplings." Buck states. "Uh...Mandela?"

Emery pinches the bridge of her nose. "Excuse me?"

"Mandu." Albert corrects.

Buck nods his head, "Mandu." He looks at Emery. "See, I got it the second try."

"I grew up watching my mother make them every other day." Albert says. "The best thing is you can freeze 'em in bulk, pop 'em in a pan, and boom. Lunch."

"Which you will be doing in the future." Emery turns to Bobby. "Right, sir?"

"I'm keeping it in mind." Bobby points at Emery and she softly cheers.

"Even better, I snack on them at ball games."

Eddie's ears perk, "Wait, you like baseball?"

Albert nods, "Very much."

Emery pouts her lower lip. "You're so adorable."

Albert smiles.

"We should go to a game together." Eddie suggests.

"He's probably not gonna be here that long." Chimney says.

Hen walks over to Albert. "Hi. My name's Hen. I'm your brother's long-time bestie."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Albert says.

"I'm sure you probably have a lot of questions about your brother."

"Yes, I do." Albert nods. "Do you know why they call him Chimney?"

Emery chokes on her food and begins to laugh. She holds a hand up, "Story-time!"

Chimney's eyes widen, "No, No, story-time, Emerson!"

☆

Emery contemplated on not meeting everyone at the bar. She doesn't even drink, alcohol always messed up her meds and Emery didn't want to risk it.

She felt like everyone was taunting her. She knew they weren't. But, being back at the same exact bar she and Buck first hooked up in made it feel that way.

But, Dr. Martin had given her an assignment tonight during their last session.

"Go out tonight and talk to someone new. Get out of your comfort zone."

He explained that if Emery could do this one simple thing. Taking a small step out of her comfort zone, then she'll be ready to do more things that are for her benefit that she would be hesitant to normally do.

Emery kept a strong grip around the strap of her purse. She took a small strap back from the bar entrance. Then another. Her steps backwards came faster until the point she fully turned and rushed back to her car.

This was a mistake, this was a mistake—

"Emerson!"

Emery stops at the door of her car and exhales. "Shit..." she forces a smile on her face and looks at the brunette. "Hey, Wren!" She walks over to her friend.

Wren pulls her brows together as she and Emery hug. "Were you about to leave?"

"What? No! I was locking my car." Emery bunches her shoulders. "Why would I leave when the party is just—y'know? Getting started...?" She awkwardly pumps a fist in the air.

Wren presses her lips together. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll stick by your side the entire time."

Emery raises her brows, "Seriously?"

Wren nods, "As long as you promise to be the best Wing-Woman in the world?"

Emery raises her right hand. "Scouts honor. I will do whatever I have to in order to be the best Wingwoman for you, Wren Marshall."

Wren then smiles with content. "Good girl." She loops her arm with Emery's and they walk to the bar entrance.

Wren could feel Emery's arm hook tighter around hers as soon as they entered the bar. The brunette lightly squeezes Emery's hand with her free hand. That gave Emery a bit more strength to walk further into the loud bar. "So, did they say where they'd be?" Emery asks.

Wren slightly opens her mouth when she see who's performing on stage. "Well, no. But we don't really have to ask, since they're right there." She points at the stage.

Emery follows Wren's finger and she sees Hen and Albert singing on stage. She raises her brows, "Huh. They sound really good."

"Is there anything Albert can't do?" Wren sighs.

Emery softly sighs, "Have a good relationship with his brother?"

Wren looks at Emery with her brows furrowed. "What do you mean? Albert's awesome, Chimney obviously loves him."

Emery raises her brows and slowly nods her head. "Says the only child with amazing relationships with her parents."

"You guys made it!"

Emery and Wren look over at Eddie walking over with Buck by his side. The Sharpe girl lets out a small breath and shifts her gaze back to Hen and Albert singing. Wren looks at the two men, "Yeah, I had to use the GPS to get here and still got turned around."

"That'll happen. All the time." Eddie says. "Right, Buck?"

Wren and Eddie look at Buck, who was staring at Emery. Wren lets out a breath, "Oh, boy..."

Eddie laughs and clasps his hand onto Buck's shoulder. Buck pulls his eyes away from Emery and looks at Eddie, who was smiling mischievously. "Wh-what? Sorry?"

"He asked if you love staring at girls, when they're not paying attention?" Wren tilts her head with a small smirk.

Buck's jaw goes slack, "No, I wasn't trying to be weird or anyth—"

"And yet you were." Wren hums and bats her eyes. "For shame, Buck. For. Shame."

Wren walks over to Emery, "C'mon, lets get you a water and me a martini."

Emery presses her lips into a small smile. "Sounds good."

Buck looks at Eddie with panic. "I wasn't trying to be weird, it's just...she's—how could I not look at her?" He runs a hand through his hair.

"You do know Wren was just teasing you, right?" Eddie snorts. "Buck, there's nothing wrong with being entranced by someone you used to be with."

"But that's the thing. You used to be with her." Eddie adds, his voice had a lot more sympathy. "Maybe it might be time to...move on?"

Buck felt his entire body tense. Move on from Emery? There's no way that was possible. He looks at the bar and sees Emery sitting with Wren, her face and body language was relaxed. Then she began to laugh, which caused his heart to beat faster than before. How could he move on from someone that made him feel like he was losing his mind all over again each time he saw her?

And Eddie caught that look across Buck's face. He saw that Buck was not close to giving up on a chance to get Emery speaking to him again.

☆

"I get it, you know?"

The group had made their way to the pool table and Hen was undefeated.

"Sometimes you gotta put a little mileage between yourself and home. So, you can figure out what you want and who you are." Buck adds.

Emery slowly nods her head. If she hadn't left home when she did, she wouldn't have married Helena. And she wouldn't have found out that she wanted to be a firefighter. Her life would've been completely different.

"Hell, if I hadn't enlisted, I'd still be working with my pops."

Maddie's eyes slightly widen, "Eddie, don't encourage him to go off to war."

"There is as much virtue to the noble warrior as there is to the most enlightened of scholars." Albert speaks.

Wren points her beer bottle at Albert. "That's my new saying." She nods her head. "I am so going to find my match if I say that."

"Right, let's just...not get our hopes up like last time." Emery lightly pats Wren's back.

Wren has done this many times in the past. Trying to change herself to find someone. And let's just say it never ended well...

"Don't rain on my parade, Em." Wren softly whispers, which causes Emery to chuckle. "It's exactly like Albert said "there is as much virtual to the...uh, warrior—er..." the brunette's brows slowly push together, her brain trying too hard to remember what the phrase was.

Emery laughs harder than before. "Okay, while you try to rack your brain, I'm gonna get another water. You want anything?"

Wren softly groans under her breath and massages her temples. Emery slowly nods her head, "I'll take that as a "maybe later"." She walks away from the group and makes her way over to the bar.

Emery leans against the bar, waiting for the water that she had asked for. She keeps her eyes glued to her hands, not daring to make eye contact with anyone else. Emery bites her tongue, trying to build some kind of courage. She wasn't normally a shy person, but she did tend to keep to herself. Emerson had a routine and she liked to stick to it. She loved having the same friends that she hung around everyday. Why did she need to meet anyone else?

Emery forces herself to look away from her hands and looks to her right. She looks at the girl beside her, who was talking to a guy. Emery then looks to left and there was a guy with his hand around a pint of beer, and he stared into it. His fingers lightly tapped the beer like he was trying to distract himself.

Just say something. But don't be weird.

"First time here?"

Emery then quickly looks away and reprimands herself. "You're so stupid, your so stupid, why the fuc—"

"What?"

Emery looks back at the man and hums. "Oh, I was just asking if this was your first time here."

The man then chuckles. "That obvious?"

"I mean, you seem nervous." Emery points at his fidgeting fingers. "Also, I've never seen you before."

"Which station do you belong to?" Emery asks.

The man blinks, "Station?"

"Firefighter station." Emery then raises her brows. "You're not a firefighter?"

"Nope.

Emery softly chuckles, "You do know that this place is mostly filled with—"

"Firefighters? Yep." The man joins her in the small laugh. "I'm just...casing the joint, I guess."

Emery tilts her head, she then opens her mouth; realizing. "Oh...you're into firefighters."

The man hangs his head low and laughs again. "You are reading me like an open book tonight. Am I seriously that obvious?"

"I mean, you can barely look anyone in the eye. Firefighters are all about confidence."

The man then connects his darks eyes with Emerson's. "What was that about confidence?"

Emery inhales a breath then chuckles which causes him to laugh.

He holds his hand out to her, "I'm Joe."

Emery looks at his hand and a smile twitches into her lips. She then shakes his hand. "Emery."

"I saw you hanging with that group over there. That your team?" Joe motions his head over to the group of cheering firefighters while some of them sing in stage. Emery couldn't stop her smile from growing. "Yeah, that's my team."

"So, you're Captain?"

"Former Co-Captain." Emery corrects. "And former lieutenant."

The bartender sets Emery's water in front of her and she thanks them

"Wow, double demotion." Joe winces. "May I ask why?"

Emery then chuckles, her eyes subconsciously shift to Buck. She inhales a breath as he laughs and it takes everything out of her to pry her eyes from him. "Trusted the wrong person."

Joe then frowns, "Well..." he raises his beer pint. "...to trusting the right people."

Emery chuckles, she grabs her glass of water and clinks it with Joe's beer.

Out of the corner of his eye, Joe notices a man walking over at an awfully fast pace. "I should get going..."

Emery snorts, "Oh, what? You finally done casing the joint?" She playfully mocks him. Joe then laughs, "Yeah, I think I found what I was looking for." He tilts his head. "It was nice meeting you, Emery."

"You too, Joe."

Joe sets the bills on the bar table and walks away. Emery keeps her eyes on Joe as he leaves the bar and she exhales a small breath with a smile on her lips.

"You know this is where we first had sex."

Emery's smile then slowly drops. She lets out a heavy sigh from the voice. "Wow...nothing gets past you, Buck." She turns to him, her brown eyes burning into his storm blue ones. "Isn't that also the night you were going to hook up with Taylor Kelly until you saw me?"

Buck slightly opens his mouth, but nothing comes out.

"Not so special now, huh?" Emery sips her water. She then chuckles and looks away from him. "God, why can't you just forget anything happened between us?"

Buck's eyes soften, "I think you know I can't just forget us."

Emery looks back at Buck, a small hint of hesitance in her eyes. Buck could see that she was fighting every urge in her that was telling her to forgive him. "Emery, I need you to know that—"

"I don't want anything from you, Buck." Emery cuts him off. "I'm serious, all right?" She looks around. "Go bother someone else for a change."

"Chim is over there needing saving from his little brother. Go do that."

"Why would he need saving?" Buck chuckles. "Albert is awesome."

Emery slowly nods her head. "Right, I forgot I am talking to a younger sibling."

She wasn't denying that Albert was awesome. He most certainly was. But Emery knew the feeling of being held to a higher standard while the younger sibling got to be a kid. She had the drill sergeants while Amaya just got their parents.

Emery's eyes trail back over to the group at the pool table and her back straightens. She watches as Chimney's body language changes from uninterested to built up emotions now being spilled out. And from the devastated look across Albert's face, Emery knew that Chimney was taking his anger out on Albert. "Oh, shit..."

Buck pulls his brows together. "What?" He turns and follows Emery's eyes. Albert quickly walks away from the group and Buck looks at Emery. "What did we miss?"

Emery frowns, "Sibling dispute, I bet."

Chimney walks away in the other direction, to the back patio of the bar.

From across the bar, Emery met Maddie's eyes and they were screaming for assistance. She gives Maddie a small smile. "Well, looks like your sister needs me, Buck." Emery clicks her tongue. "And I'm serious. Go find someone else to bother."

☆

"Maddie you and a Buck have one of the best sibling relationships I have ever seen."

Maddie nods her head. She had started to sit with Chimney at one of the tables on the back patio.

"Yeah, that's why I brought in a professional on this topic."

Chimney pulls his brows together and turns to the girl. "Hi." Emery holds a hand up.

Maddie and Chimney chuckle. "I'll give you two a minute."

Maddie kisses Chimney's cheek and stands up. She gently grabs Emery's hand and gives it a soft squeeze. Once Maddie left, the back patio was quiet except for a few people chatting at other tables.

"Can I sit?"

Chimney motions his hand next to him and Emery sits beside him at the table.

"You and Amaya had a great relationship, Em." Chimney says.

Emery nods her head, "We did. At the end."

"I have some experience in a kid sibling that feels like a stranger." Emery swallows. "I also have experience in losing said kid sibling and feeling like I didn't have enough time with them."

Chimney looks at his friend and Emery looks at him. "Albert reminds me so much of Amaya, it's eery." She softly laughs. "The running away to the big sibling, trying to find who they are..."

"Albert looks up to you, Chim." Emery bunches her shoulders. "And I know your relationship with your parents is complicated."

"But, you don't have to have any kind of relationship them you don't want." Emery tells him. "You can still get to know your brother without having to talk to your parents."

"I rushed that part in my healing process." Emery admits. "I forced myself to forgive my parents super early for Amaya. But you don't have to do that."

Chimney lets Emery's words sink in and his heart begins to feel heavy. "I told him he wasn't my brother:"

Emery sucks in a small breath. She doesn't say anything, she just waits.

"Kevin..." Chimney's voice shakes. "I miss him so much."

A lump forms in her throat. Chimney's talked about Kevin before and it brought pain to him every time he did. Then he thinks about how Emery must've felt losing Amaya. She didn't have enough time with her brother. And now Chim has a brother here right now he could get to know and love. Chimney lets out a breath, he looks back at Emery and notices the smug smirk against her lips. He chuckles and shakes his head.

"How do you always know what to say?"

Emery then shrugs a shoulder, "Therapy...a lot of therapy." She wraps her arms around Chimney and hugs him with a laugh. The girl then raises her brows, "Oh, right! I got you something."

Emery digs in her pocket and pulls out a very small box. Chimney pulls his brows together with a smile. "You bought me a gift?"

Emery playfully rolls her eyes, "Well, this is your birthday celebration. I wasn't gonna give it to you during Christmas, but I felt like you would need it more during your birthday and I was right."

Chimney pulls open the box and his mouth drops open. "Em..."

Emery smiles, "Yes..."

"Emerson!" Chimney pulls the gift out of the box and holds up the small piece. "You got me a new clasp!"

Emery's smile grows, "I got you a new clasp!" She repeats, matching Chimney's enthusiasm. "Now you can wear your name tag."

Chimney cups Emery's face and she scrunches her nose. "You. Are. My savior."

...

"You guys aren't going to believe this, but...Buck is making dinner."

Emery raises her brows, but she keeps her eyes on her clipboard. "Did Bobby allow it?"

"Yeah, he did actually. I think they're cool now."

Emerh let's out a hard breath. "Not surprised. I mean, can a father really stay mad at his son?"

"Not as long as an ex apparently." One of the firefighters whisper.

"Your whispering sucks, firefighter Martin."

"S-Sorry, Captain."

"Nope, just firefighter now." Emery sighs. She tucks the clipboard under her arm and walks up the stairs. Everyone got a plate, but Emery.

"Uh, before we dig in I just wanted to say..." Buck sucks in a small breath. "I suck."

Everyone except Emery look at him with a confused expression. What the hell was he talking about? Buck notices everyone's perplexed expressions and he slightly opens his mouth. "Uh, the lawsuit."

A simultaneous, "Ohhh" erupts through the group of firefighters, suddenly understanding. "Buck, you know none of us..." Chimney then stops and thinks about his words. "Most of us have forgiven you." He corrects himself.

"Some of us were never even mad at you in the first place." Tom raises a hand and points at himself. "I-I'm that...I'm that some of us."

"So am I!" Chimney raises a hand then he points at Hen. "So is she!"

Buck chuckles, "I appreciate that you guys, seriously." He then inhales. "But there are things I could've done differently. The way I ambushed you guys wasn't fair. And the things I told my lawyer...that wasn't right—I know that now. And for that..." he looks across each face at the table, but his eyes land on someone's in particular who still was aloof.

Emery was never afraid of eye contact, which is why as soon as Buck's storm blue eyes connected with her dark gaze; she stood her ground. Not even looking away.

"I am so sorry."

Silence fills the kitchen. Everyone felt the tension to the point people weren't even sure they were still wanting to eat. Buck and Emery's past "relationship" was all anyone talked about when they weren't around. So, this was definitely going to be gossiped about this later on.

Emery keeps her strong distant eyes on Buck's soft regretful ones. Emery has recently begun to learn how to be better. Be a better person, daughter, friend. And she was elated about that. But right now, in this moment with everyone's eyes on her just waiting for her reaction? It pissed her off. Because she knew everyone was waiting for her to react positively. They were tired of her holding animosity towards Buck.

Emery looks down at the ground and softly chuckles. She unfolds her arms and walks over to the kitchen counter where the food was at. Emery's gaze was unreadable and hard. She then raises her brows and lets out a scoff of disbelief. She grabs an apple and turns on her heel before walking to the couch, her clipboard on the counter.

Buck let's out a defeated breath.

━━━━━━━━━━

Penn Badgley

As

Joe

words : 7958