With the Christmas holiday creeping up on everyone, calls recently had been crazy, coming in at a more rapid pace and becoming more wild and bewildering. While Ollie had originally been grateful to join the 118 due to their crazy calls, she was getting sick and tired of not even being able to take a nap at the station, her feet and body aching twenty-four seven. She didn't even like Christmas, for obvious reasons, and therefore she would be immensely grateful once the holiday had come and gone.

    Even without calls, the station was always moving. They had spent all week preparing for the LAFD's annual toy drive, decorating the firehouse until it looked like Santa's workshop, tinsel lining all of the staircase rails and a large tree propped up near the locker room. It almost made her want to throw up, especially watching Buck skip around with a Santa hat on his head, having the most joyous time of his life.

    Ollie was currently helping Chimney with passing out snacks, laying cookies on napkins and smiling as she handed it to a little boy. Buck skipped over from welcoming people in, a large grin lighting up his face as he put his hands on Chim and Ollie's shoulders. "God, I love Christmas."

    "You are the only one." Ollie grumbled, although she kept a bright smile on her face as she kept handing out the cookies that were getting colder and harder by the second.

    "Cheer up, Bloom. It's Christmas! Look at how happy these kids are!" Chimney piped in, chipper as always. His sunshine state was more of a shadow than a bright light in her life, constantly pulling all of her energy out of her, draining her of her energy. She had enough of the happiness at home, with Ellis' spunk, so having it at work, too, was a work in progress.

    She was just about to open her mouth to respond when a woman's voice hit her ears, her attention immediately turning in curiosity.

"... that doesn't end up with us in bed." The woman was saying, her eyes accusatory as she looked straight at Eddie. He stared at her for a second before turning, walking away as she followed behind him.

   Ollie's eyes widened as she slowly connected the dots, her lips moving into a perfect circle. "Oh. Oh. Oh, oh, oh." Her shock turned into amusement, a mischievous laugh bubbling in her throat. "No fucking way." Buck and Chimney's heads immediately whipped around to look at her, like vultures looking for any scrap they could get of context. She rolled her eyes, picking up another cookie. "It's his wife. Shannon." She stated matter-of-factly, popping a piece of the sweet treat in her mouth before turning around and walking away to busy herself elsewhere.

—

   Later that night, after she had gotten home from work and had had enough time to wind down after her shift, a small knock echoed from her bedroom door, opening soon after. Ollie looked up from the book in her lap, eyebrows raising as Buck stepped into her bedroom. "You must be hearing things, Buckaroo, because I did not say you could come in."

   "Ha, ha." He muttered sarcastically, leaning against her door frame and crossing his arms over his chest. "Chimney wants me to go with him to get a Christmas tree for Maddie. Do you want to come with us?"

   The look in his eyes told her that he wanted her to go, sighing as she set her book to the side. She crossed her legs, leaning forward and whispering softly. "Are you afraid to be alone with Chim? Is that what this is? Because he can't hurt you, you know."

   Evan rolled his eyes, groaning loudly as he turned around and stepped out of her room, closing the door behind him. "Be ready in ten, Olivia."

   "Make it fifteen and you got a deal!" She shouted through the wall, laughing lightly to herself as she rolled herself off of her bed to get dressed.

   An hour later, she was standing in a lot filled with Christmas trees, fake snow getting caught in her hair and the smell of pine invading her senses. All around her, people were talking and laughing, including the giggles of kids and the chatizing of parents, and Ollie tried her best to keep it from getting to her. Instead, she was watching Buck waltz through the aisles, fingers reaching out every once in a while to brush against the needles of the trees.

   "What do you think about Maddie and Chim?" She asked, breaking the silence between the two of them as she stared at the way his corduroy jacket clung to his body. Her gaze only averted when they came across a section full of decorations, suddenly now watching his hands as he moved to pick out decorations for Maddie's tree, like lights and ornaments.

   Buck was quiet for a minute, brow furrowing as he thoroughly investigated a box of string lights. "I think they're good." He admitted, glancing at her for a second before he was back to looking at lights. "Maddie didn't have the easiest time with her ex-husband, I'm sure she's told you. Plus, I introduced them. I wouldn't have done that if I didn't think that Chimney was a good guy."

   Ollie laughed, plucking an ornament off of the tree and twirling the string of it inbetween her fingers. "You say that like you meant to matchmake them." She noted, raising a brow.

   "Well, of course not." He laughed, tucking a box underneath his arm as he turned his body back towards her. "But I don't let anyone bad near my sister. I've introduced her to the best people in her life." His hand raised, pointer finger bopping against her nose playfully.

   Her teeth snapped as she jokingly bit at his finger, rolling her eyes to brush off the insinuation of his words as she plucked a few of the ornaments she'd been eyeing during the conversation, holding them out to Buck. "Come on. Let's go make sure Chimney has a tree already so we have time to help Maddie set up before it hits one in the morning."

   After purchasing the tree and all of the decorations they had picked out, Ollie watched as the men loaded the tree onto the top of Buck's Jeep before they all piled in to head towards Maddie's place. Once they pulled into a parking spot, she let them carry in the tree as she loaded her arms with all of the bags of decorations, shutting the car door with her hip before making her way inside.

   Just as she was entering, she heard Maddie complaining about not having anything to decorate her new tree due to her decorations being left in Boston, a grin pulling at her lips as Buck ran over to her, grabbing the bags from her arms as he spoke. "And that's why we bought everything you need! We have lights, we have ornaments, we even have an angel high for on top of the tree!" He announced, practically beaming as he held up the angel statue.

   "No, angels are creepy." Maddie huffed, grabbing the angel out of his hand and tossing it onto the table as she took a step back.

   Ollie's brow furrowed the second Buck's face fell, turning to look at Chimney with a slightly worried look.

   "You know, I think we might have overstepped. Maddie should be able to pick out her own decorations." Chim attempted to cool the situation, hand waving underneath his chin to tell Buck to cut it off. "We'll just... we'll just bring this back to the store."

   Unlucky for Chim and Ollie, Buck was unable to let anything go. "What are you talking about? You can't return a tree." His attention moved back to Maddie, head dipping to try and catch her eyes. "You always loved Christmas, right? Ornaments, stocking, cookies, you made your own bows."

   "Yeah, I'm not really... feeling the holiday, this year, okay?" Maddie shot back.

   "No, no, it's not okay. Come on, what's going on with you?" Buck pressed.

   "I don't want to talk about it." Maddie sternly responded, and Ollie could feel the daggers she was shooting at Buck with her eyes, even despite the woman's back facing her.

   Chimney crouched down to grab the bottom of the tree, lifting it up and starting to pull it towards Maddie's front door. "It's fine. I'm just gonna take away the evidence before this turns into a crime scene." Although she wanted to follow him, Ollie was stuck in a trance, watching the two siblings bicker, her brow furrowed as she watched them closely.

   Annoyance radiated off of Buck as he grabbed the discarded angel from the table, shoving it back into the bag it came in. "So, you hate Christmas now? Something else I can thank Doug for, huh?"

   "No, I don't hate Christmas, but I'm starting to not like you very much, okay?" Maddie snapped, turning to storm off further into her apartment. "Just let it go. You can't come into my house, Buck, and act this way."

   Ollie took this as her cue to leave, drowning out their bickering as she grabbed all of the stuff they had brought in off the table and skittering outside as quickly as possible. By the time she got out there, Chimney was already gone, the tree for Maddie just a silhouette on the curb. She sighed, walking to place the decorations for it next to it before leaning against Buck's Jeep, waiting for him impatiently.

   The chill of the night had seeped through her crewneck by the time Maddie's front door opened, her arms wrapping around herself as she stood up straight to meet Buck's eyes as soon as he saw her waiting.

   "You waited." He remarked, moving closer to her.

   "I need a ride home." She attempted to joke, although she sighed when his lips didn't even twitch in amusement. "I wanted to make sure you're okay."

   Buck sighed, a hand raising to run through his hair as he loomed over Ollie, too close and too comfortable for her liking, although she didn't attempt to move away. "I'm okay, Ol. It's just hard, you know. Seeing Maddie change because of someone I couldn't protect her from."

   For once in her life, Ollie was speechless. The same way Buck hated seeing Maddie upset, the idea of him feeling powerless and annoyed at himself tore at her heart, especially since she was more than aware of his savior complex. She stepped forward to slip her arms underneath his jacket, wrapping them around his waist and laying her cheek against his chest, his heartbeat thrumming in her ear.

   Effortlessly, his arms wrapped around her, cheek laying on the top of her head. "This is new." He murmured, a hint of amusement lacing his tone.

   "I'm just cold." She mumbled back defensively.

   His laugh rumbled against her cheek until he gently pushed her away. She watched as he slowly pulled off his jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders and holding it tightly together at the front to keep her near him. "Let's get home, Bloom." He smiled down at her, free hand ruffling her hair before he let go of his hold on the jacket, pulling open the passenger door so that she could get in.

   The drive home was quiet, as was the walk to Ollie's apartment. It was only once they had dropped off all of their stuff and she had started to make her way towards her room that Buck spoke, grabbing her attention. "Hey, Ollie."

   Ollie turned around to face him, raising her eyebrows. "Yeah?" Irrationally, she was afraid that he was going to ask for his jacket back. It felt too comfortable around her shoulders, his cologne wrapping around her like a protective bubble.

   He looked a bit sheepish, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Thank you. For everything."

   She smiled at him, fingers wrapping around her door frame. "Don't mention it. To anyone, really. I have a reputation to uphold."

   He laughed again, head shaking in disbelief. She could feel his eyes boring into her back as she turned and disappeared into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. The click of the door seemed to lure her into a trance, standing in place and staring at the wall.

   If this was a movie, she would turn around, open the door and jump into Buck's arms. She could feel the urge creep up her spine, pressuring her to do just that, to allow her to break out of all of the reservations she had and to let herself just feel.

   But then real life smacked her in her face, dread weighed down on her chest, and she sighed, stepping away from her door to get ready for bed.