Reading Time: 114 Minutes
Title: One Step Closer
Author: Duochanfan
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Angst, Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Relationship(s): Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Maddie Buckley/Howard Han
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Hate Crimes, Hate Speech, Violence-Graphic, Violence-Domestic, Violence-Against Children/Child Abuse, Bigotry, Mental Health Issues, Character Bashing, Talk of Attempted Suicide, Discussion of Rape, Attempted Murder, Stalking, Brainwashing
Author Note: Thanks to HarleyJQuin for all the help, the encouragement, and the push to keep going.
Beta: HarleyJQuin
Alpha: HarleyJQuin
Word Count: 114,129
Summary: When Chimney learned of the Big Buckley Secret, he realized that he needs to do something. Maddie is never going to tell Buck if he doesn’t push. In the end, he’s going to have to decide, keep the secret and face the fallout and feel guilty for never saying a word, or tell Buck and face the possibility of the end of his relationship with Maddie.
Artist: WestWind
Chapter One
Buck looked through the baby clothes that Maddie and Chimney had bought over the last few weeks. There was still a good couple of months before baby Mango would finally make her appearance. “You’ve got a good range from newborn to one year old,” he said as he folded a few more to put them in the basket that was for clothes they wouldn’t be using for a while.
“We did,” Maddie smiled at him, “Now, are you going to be telling me about who you’re seeing?” she asked, sounding casual, but Buck could hear the disapproval in her voice.
“I’m not seeing anyone, Maddie, I’ve told you that several times now,” Buck said, rolling his eyes as he glanced over at Chimney.
“Come on, I know you, Evan,” she said with that tone Buck hated.
“It’s Buck, not Evan. Hell, one day I’m going to change my name legally, because I really hate the name Evan,” he said, muttering at the end.
Chimney shook his head, “Maddie,” he said, “Come on, leave Buck to his own thing. We have a lot to do,” he said, trying to redirect her. He had been doing that for weeks, maybe even months now. Maddie had been keeping close tabs on Buck, where he goes, and who he’s seeing. She’s even talked to him about reporting back to her what he’s been saying and doing at work. Chimney hadn’t done anything, and didn’t plan on it either. She’s been obsessed almost, in trying to keep Buck as close as she could.
“Howie, I know Evan’s seeing someone. I know that, I can tell. He had a message when I was with him, and he was smiling, and then there was the call he wanted us gone for two days ago,” she said, before looking at her brother, her lips pursing together for a second in disapproval, “I know my brother.”
“You don’t,” Buck said, huffing and rolling his eyes. “You really don’t know me at all,” he repeated, clearer when Maddie looked at him, with that all-knowing look in her eyes.
“Oh, and why do you say that?” she said, sounding hurt, looking like she was about to cry.
“Because you don’t. I’m not seeing anyone but a therapist,” he snapped finally, folding another onesie before putting it in a basket.
Maddie stared at him. “Why? Why would you need therapy? It’s…” she trailed off, shaking her head and looking at him like he had grown a second head.
“What. It’s weak? Is that what you’re going to say, stop parrotting Margaret,” he told her, “I’m in therapy for a multitude of reasons, Maddie, a lot of them. The shooting, the truck, the embolism, the tsunami, and that’s just the recent things,” he said, shaking his head and stepping away from the table. “I needed someone that I could talk to about all the shit I’ve been through, everything I’ve gone through. Things that happened when I was a child, and what happened to me on the road before I became a firefighter. So much, Maddie, and I needed help. I was drowning and being so fucking stupid at times,” he sighed, closing his eyes. “Coming to terms with the fact that our parents will never care about me. That they hate me.”
“No, they don’t hate you,” she said quickly, shaking her head and reaching out for him, “They don’t, they’re just…”
“Good people, but bad parents,” Buck finished for her, taking a small step back, “It’s what you’ve been telling me since I was a kid. I believed it once. I’ve not believed that lie since I was nine, Maddie. I was eight when you left, and then I saw you, what, a dozen times from then until you broke into Abby’s apartment?” he reminded her.
“I… I had to, Doug-” she began to defend her actions, and inactions concerning him over the years.
“You didn’t meet Doug until I was ten, Maddie,” he said, “I understand that he caused a lot of fucked up shit, but let’s be honest, Maddie, you were barely around me after you got your first boyfriend when I was six. I was alone, having to be around parents who hated me. That would even say it to my face,” he told her, and not for the first time either.
“No, they wouldn’t do that, stop. Stop making up lies again, Evan,” she snapped at him, her hands going to her hips, much like Margaret did when she was about to lay into Buck when he was a child.
Buck shook his head, putting down the onesie that he had been about to fold. “I think I should go,” he sighed as he looked at Chimney, not wanting to look at his sister. She never believed him, no matter how many times he told her about their parents’ abusive behavior toward him.
“I’ll take you home,” Chimney was quick to say, knowing that Buck’s jeep was in the shop.
“I can always get an Uber,” he said, pulling out his phone, clicking up the app.
“No, I’ll take you,” he said, putting a hand on Buck’s and stopping him from booking one. “Come on,” he told him, as he looked at his girlfriend, Maddie, “I’ll be back in a bit, alright. Why don’t you stop this and go and do something relaxing for a bit? I shouldn’t be too long.”
Buck watched the two of them saying goodbye for a moment before following Chimney out of the apartment. Getting into Chimney’s car, the man drove away from his apartment complex and headed toward Buck’s. The silence dragged between them. It had been a long time since the two of them had just hung out and been themselves. Not since Maddie and Chimney had started to dance around their feelings for each other.
“Good on you for going to therapy,” Chimney said after a while. “You made a good choice for yourself. I decided that I should do the same when I found out about Mango. I… always balked at therapy, even when I had no choice but to go. I knew the right things to say to get out of it. To be let go as soon as possible, I did it wrong each time. I should have actually worked at things, and I didn’t. That’s on me. I want to do better for my kid. Better than what my dad did for me. I want that. But it means facing things I’ve put on ice for a long time. Things I’ve bottled up, about my parents, about the rebar, the past relationships I’ve had, everything.”
Buck frowned as he looked at him. He could see the focus Chimney had on the road. “Chim,” he began.
“I need to apologise,” he said softly, as he took the turning that took him to Buck’s apartment complex.
“What the hell for?” he frowned, glancing over at him again.
“What for?” Chimney snorted, giving a small shake of his head. “How about the cruel jokes I made about Abby. You were hurting, and I didn’t care. I made fun of you and hurt you all over again with them. Then there was Wells. When you told me about that, I made stupid fucking jokes about it. You had been…” he trailed off, not sure how to say it.
“Sexually assaulted by someone in a position of power,” Buck said, his voice devoid of emotion. “It’s one of the things that made it so hard for me to go to therapy. It’s why I have to have it online, over video calls and calls. I can’t step foot in an office without panicking. Eddie… he took me to one of the sessions I was to have after the bombing. I panicked badly. He had to get me out of there, cancel the appointment. Took me ages to find someone to talk to online, and I didn’t click with them at all. Did what I had to and stopped them. Took me a while to find one I did click with. The one I’m seeing is older, and she’s been a good fit, helping me start to firm up my boundaries a little at a time.”
Chimney nodded. “Yeah, I understand about fitting right with a therapist. Karina was the third one that I had seen. We click, and she’s helped a lot so far. Even though I’ve only had six sessions with her.”
“I’m… glad of that,” he said, not sure what he should be saying.
Chimney snorted as he turned onto Buck’s street. “Just know that I’m trying my best now. My real best. I know I did a lot of things wrong in the past. Tatiana and the lies I was telling my partners, the so-called jokes I was telling about you and others. Pretending that it was them that was the problem, when really it was me. I want to be better, I need to be better for Mango, and for Maddie. But mostly for myself.”
“You’re doing better already,” Buck said, “No caustic jokes about my love life, or lack of it. No jokes about a lot of things you normally would say,” he added, “So, thanks for that. I just wish Maddie would at least consider talking to a therapist,” he added.
Chimney sighed as he slowly pulled onto Buck’s road, “She… doesn’t know that I’m seeing someone. I don’t know why she’s so against it.”
“That’s easy, Margaret Buckley, our dear bitch of a mother. She’s the sort who insists that going to therapy is a bad idea, that it makes you weak. I don’t care, I stopped listening to them a long time ago. Before Maddie had even fully left,” Buck snorted as they parked outside his apartment.
“I didn’t even know your parents were still alivee, until Maddie mentioned them. She’s been talking to them for the last couple of months. Since we found out about Mango. Also, I didn’t even know you had a sister until she showed up,” he said, his words quiet.
Buck sighed, “Maddie was ten when I was born. She was told to take care of me. She raised me until I was about six, and she got her first serious boyfriend. Then she was never at home. She just…our parents actually loved her, wanted her. They didn’t want me. The way that Maddie puts it is that they care about me, but don’t know how to show it. They don’t. I don’t think they ever did. I was an accident, an unwanted child that they fostered onto Maddie when she was a child herself. She raised me, telling me over and over that they loved me. It’s not until I was alone all the time that I learned they didn’t and never had loved me. I was five when I figured out they would pay some attention to me if I hurt myself. Five! I got a new bike and pizza that day. From then on, I did fool stunts to get their attention. Our parents only really cared when she was around. I learned that the hard way when I did something stupid when I was thirteen and Maddie was no longer in Hershey.”
“Buck, that’s…” he trailed off, unsure what he could say.
“Yeah, they only cared because she was there,” he sighed, “I had to come to terms with that. “This is why I have issues, and they have issues,” he snorted. “I really need therapy,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I just-”
“Didn’t want her to know?” he asked, seeing the resignation in Buck’s eyes.
“No. She’ll take it as a sign to butt into my life as much as she can. Maddie likes to try and dictate what I do nearly all the time, and even who I’m friends with. She’s been worse since she got pregnant. She doesn’t like that I hang out with Eddie and Chris a lot. Didn’t like me dating anyone she doesn’t approve of. Now she knows I’m in therapy, she’s going to be doing what she can to find out everything I’m talking about and then try to get me to think how she thinks about things. Like our parents, they were… abusive and neglectful to me through most of my life. Nothing between the two of us will be fine until she learns to listen to what I’m saying. And she doesn’t want to. When she believes the truth about how our parents were to me, then maybe we can work on things. But she’ll never want to believe what they did, what they drove me to do three times before I was even twenty,” he said, staring out the window.
“Buck?” Chimney said, concern now lacing his voice.
“I was fourteen the first time,” he said softly. “Took a load of pills and hoped I wouldn’t wake up. I did, and I was ill for days. Not that anyone cared. Tried again at seventeen, same fucking result. I just wanted to be gone. The last time, I’d quit college, although everyone thinks I was thrown out. I hated the course I was forced to take. So I quit, they found out, yelled at me, and more. I left, got on the motorcycle, and sped away. Someone pulled out of their drive, and instead of swerving, I let myself crash into it after speeding up even more. That’s when I went to Maddie, that last time I saw her before she turned up in LA. I asked her to come with me, but she was more concerned about proving our mother wrong about Doug, than escaping an abusive bastard,” he told him, glancing over at the older man.
Chimney nodded, “Right. You… you’re not feeling that now… are you?” he asked.
Buck shook his head, “No, not at the moment, I had a few moments during our first year. Once, after the bombing, Maddie made it really hard to look forward to anything with the way she was trying to control everything I was doing. She’s not my medical proxy or next of kin, but she was constantly trying to force her opinions on those who were. She hated it when I reminded her that she had no say in my recovery. Bobby was my proxy until just before the embolism, and then it was Eddie, we’ve got a reciprocal agreement for both medical proxy and next of kin. We’ve talked about things a lot, about what we should do in each type of situation we could come up with,” he said softly, “So no, I don’t feel like that now. I haven’t for a while.”
“If you do… tell me, tell Eddie, please,” Chimney asked of him.
Buck looked at him and nodded, “I will,” he promised and started to get out, “Thanks for the lift home,” he added.
“Welcome, Buck. I’ll try to rein Maddie in, but-” he sighed, shrugging.
“No promises,” Buck grinned a little, “Yeah, I get it. Thanks,” he said before getting out fully and heading inside, wondering if Eddie was free at all. He wanted some company after the heavy talk he and Chimney had just had.
Chapter Two
Chimney was silent during the car ride back home. The things Buck had told him were going over and over in his mind. He parked up, but remained in the car as he tried to think of the times when Buck could have been suicidal, and no one noticed. Going back to watching him in the station, when he had first arrived, how anxious he was, quick to volunteer to help anyone. The slow relaxing into becoming part of the 118. How could no one notice that Buck was slipping away from them? What the hell had stopped him from doing anything? Chimney leaned his head on the steering wheel for a moment.
He sat up, frowning, the catfisher. How bad Buck had been doing during that disaster. Even when it was supposed to be over, women still turned up for another two months after they had found the dead guy. It had got to the point where Buck had been scared to leave the house. Buck had turned down going out with them several times. Scared, Buck had been scared. No one had asked after him to see if everything was okay. Then Maddie had turned up, and Eddie joined the station. With the surprise addition of a new member, Buck was being pissy; he thought Buck had been acting out a little because Abby had ghosted him. But no, Chimney could see it now, the fear of being tossed aside. “Like he had been most of his life,” he said softly.
“I missed so fucking much, and so did the others,” he said to himself a few moments later as he finally got out of his car and headed back to his apartment. He unlocked the door and saw Maddie sitting with a tea, glaring at nothing. “Maddie,” he said, greeting her as he closed the door behind him and walked inside.
“Howie,” she said, giving him a nod, “I’m not happy that Evan is… seeing a therapist,” she added, frowning even more as she waited for him to join her on the couch.
“I think he’s doing what he needs to do to make sure he’s the best version of himself. He always wants to improve himself, both physically and mentally. I can applaud that, Maddie,” he said, trying to be diplomatic about it all. He wasn’t ready yet to tell her about his own therapy. It was even further from his mind, given how she was reacting to Buck’s admission.
“Howie, he’s lying again. He’s lying about our parents. He always does this, makes everything about him. The shooting, it was Eddie that was shot, not Evan, so why does he need to talk to someone about it?” she said as she got up, wanting to pace around a little.
Chimney watched her as she held a hand to her stomach while she walked back and forth in front of the couch. “Maddie,” he began. “It’s a good thing for Buck. He needs this, and didn’t you say you weren’t around after you went to Boston? He was what, twelve? So what do you know about his life from that age until you last saw him?” he asked her.
Maddie turned to him, “Just because I was out of the area, doesn’t mean I didn’t keep up with his stupid, reckless behaviour. He was always doing something to upset our parents, and he always made things about himself. Always. Mom and Dad told me how annoying he was acting, and how badly he was behaving for them. That they had to ground him so many times, from what they told me.”
“So you don’t know any of this firsthand, and it’s all hearsay?” he asked, frowning slightly as he stood near the couch.
“My parents wouldn’t lie about it,” she protested, turning to face him, her hands going to her hips.
“Of course they could,” Chimney said, shaking his head, “Parents lie all the time. My own did, including my mother. Look, maybe you should actually talk with Buck, really listen to what he’s saying. You know him, he doesn’t lie, he sees no point in it. He has said several times that they don’t care about him, or love hi-”
“They do!” she yelled out, “They do, they… they do,” she repeated several more times. “They do love him, but they just don’t know how to express it properly. They haven’t done… they haven’t done for a while,” she said, sniffling a little.
“Maddie,” he frowned as she now started to look really upset.
“They haven’t been able to since Daniel,” she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m scared, Howie, I’m so afraid all the time. I was so happy when we first found out about our little mango. Then I remembered, there was so much back then. When Daniel…” she trailed off.
“Maddie, who’s Daniel?” he asked, confused as to who exactly and what she was talking about.
“He’s my brother, he was… he was two years younger than me. He was so fun, always wanting to do something. Never stopped. He and Evan are the same, exactly the same,” she said, giving a little sob.
“Brother?” Chimney frowned, “You only have Buck.”
“Not before… before we had me, Daniel, and Evan,” she said softly.
“Where… what happened to him?” he asked, his voice now gentle as she sat down and leaned against his shoulder.
“He died. He was only eight, not even nine. Daniel died from juvenile leukemia. Mom and Dad didn’t know… what to do. I looked after Evan; he… was so needy, but he was a baby. He didn’t understand what was going on. He didn’t know about our brother, because he doesn’t remember Daniel at all. He was only one when he died. The transplant, the bone marrow, it all failed, and Daniel died,” she sobbed quietly, arms wrapping around Chimney and holding him tightly.
“Maddie, are you telling me that Buck was born as a savior sibling?” he asked, choosing his words carefully.
Maddie moved away from him and looked at him before nodding. “Daniel… he started getting ill when he was five, I was seven. For a while, it was all doctor and hospital visits. Everything like that. He got better, went into remission, but then six months later, it was back, and it was bad. He was so sick all the time. Then they started talking about a transplant,” she frowned, trying to remember everything that had happened during that time. “But none of us were a match,” she said, her voice so soft it was barely audible.
“So you made one, Buck,” Chimney stated, getting a nod.
“Yeah,” she whispered, looking at him again. “Mom and Dad had a designer baby, basically, they made sure that Evan would be a match for Daniel. We all thought it would work. It felt like it was going to work. He got a little better with Evan’s stem cells. For a little while, we were all hoping it would be enough. But it didn’t last; he got worse and worse after a while. In the end, Evan donated bone marrow. He was ten months old. Daniel lived three more months before he passed away. Evan… doesn’t know; he was a baby. Mom and Dad didn’t know how to cope with Daniel’s death, and none of us did. So we hid him away, we didn’t speak of him, or tell Evan about him. We couldn’t.”
“Maddie, does Buck know he donated marrow?” he asked, “Shouldn’t that be in his medical file?”
Maddie shook her head, “Mom and Dad made sure it was kept out of his medical filesat all. Evan doesn’t need to know.”
“Maddie, they should have been keeping an eye on him for that his whole life,” he remarked. “Though it’s rare for donors to face complications, it can still occur.” Maddie, you do know the risk, the long-term risks that Buck lives with as a donor?” he asked her.
“There isn’t any,” she stated.
“How would you know?” he asked her, shaking his head, “Maddie, the blood clots he had, back during the bombing, if they’d known his history, they could have been more proactive with him, since as a donor he’s at a higher risk for throwing a clot after surgery. He should have been getting preventative measures for it, even with the crush injury, but at the minimum he should have been monitored even more closely throughout everything if they had known about the donation. He should have been having check-ups for it for years after the fact as well. To know that he didn’t. Maddie, this is a serious matter,” he frowned as he was the one to stand up this time.
“Howie, he doesn’t know, he can’t know,” she said once more, the tears starting to dry up as she looked at Chimney and expected him to comply with her wishes.
“Maddie,” he said, staring down at her, “Buck needs to know this; it’s part of his medical history, and it could affect some of the treatments he goes for. He’s been through several injuries that I know of, and some of them would have had different treatments if they’d known about the donation.. Hell, Maddie, it could have killed him, that fucking clot could have killed him right in front of us. His whole treatment from the moment the truck landed on him until he came back to the 118 would have been vastly different. The clot, they could have found it… they could have found it before it became a problem.”
Maddie shook her head, “I can’t tell him, Howie, it will… it’ll hurt him to know.”
“That he was engineered to save a brother he doesn’t even know about? Of course, it’s going to hurt him,” he snapped slightly, his voice tight with anger.
“No, he… he believes our parents don’t love him. I don’t want to tell him because he’s going to think he’s right, that they don’t. That they only had him for Daniel,” she told him, waving a hand, trying to dismiss the concern Chimney had for Buck.
“Maddie, he’d be right, they did only had him for Daniel. If Daniel hadn’t been sick, Buck would never have been born. He needs to know, and yeah, if he still believes that they don’t love him, nothing is really going to change for Buck at all. He’s just going to carry on believing that,” he sighed, shaking his head as he clasped his hands in his lap, moving away from Maddie slightly.
“He shouldn’t, though,” she told him, shaking her head as she got up and moved around, rubbing her stomach. “He needs to know he’s loved,” she murmured, “And he’ll just believe he wasn’t if I tell him, I can’t do that to him.”
“He is loved, by you, by me, and the rest of the firefam. Maddie, you’ve had the chance to tell him about this for years. Years! You’ve been in LA for how long now?” he asked her, “Since September 2018, if I remember right. You’ve had years that you could have told him something, anything about this. He needs to know,” he repeated himself. He felt like that was all he was going to be doing for a while. Maddie just didn’t seem to want to listen to him at all. Especially when it came to her brother. Buck had been right that Maddie was constantly stepping into his life as if she had a say in anything he did.
Maddie stared at him, “I’m not telling him, Howard,” she said, full naming him, “And neither can you. This is between us. He can’t know,” she added, glaring at him.
“He should know, Maddie, and there is no valid excuse for not telling him. He needs to know his medical history, he needs to get in touch with the hospital where the transplant happened, and it’s important to ensure he has his medical files updated before the next time he’s injured on the job.. Because we both know it’s going to happen at some point,” he added, knowing that Murphy’s law was in play for the 118, and had been for a long time. If something can go wrong, it will, just give it time.
Maddie shook her head, “I’m not going to tell him, and neither are you,” she growled at him as she walked off and headed to the bedroom. Chimney was a little grateful that she hadn’t gone back to her apartment; he was worried about her.
Chimney sat there and wondered if he should be the one to tell Buck what had happened, what he had found out. He was torn between his friend and his girlfriend, the mother of his child. He got up, rubbing at his face as he went to the kitchenette and made a start on dinner. It would give him something to do, and he knew that Maddie wouldn’t be able to resist coming out for his stir-fry.
Chapter Three
Chimney was dreading going to work. He had no idea how he was going to face Buck and not spill everything he’d learned. He knew that he needed to get Maddie to tell Buck. That it would be better coming from her, since she knew more of the details of what had gone on back then. Chimney had no choice but to listen again as Maddie defended her actions in not telling Buck. Although, she had admitted that when Buck was twelve, she had taken him to the house they had lived in before Daniel had died. She was going to tell him then, but Doug had called and told her to return home, that she was needed for something. To her it had been a sign that she shouldn’t tell him at all.
Chimney had spent some of the night talking with her, trying to convince her to tell Buck about Daniel, and about the bone marrow donation. But she had held firm that he just didn’t need to know. Chimney had stopped when she had stormed out of the apartment for two hours. Returning only to give him the silent treatment. Chimney had made an extra appointment with his therapist to talk over what was going on. He needed someone on the outside to help him try to understand why Maddie didn’t want to tell Buck about Daniel. After learning about Buck’s past, especially his suicide attempts, Chimney wanted to make sure that Buck would be able to handle it, and that he knew that Chimney would be there for him.
Chimney jolted out of his thoughts when someone tapped on his car window.
“Are you coming in, or are you going to keep hiding in your car?” Hen asked, giving him a little smirk, before frowning when she saw the look on Chimney’s face.
He got out and smiled at his friend, “Yeah, sorry, I was lost in thought about a few things. Being a dad is going to be scary as fuck. I don’t know how you and Karen did it.”
“When you hold them that first time,” she said softly as they walked toward the station, “You make a promise to them, to do everything you can to protect them, love them and guide them as best as you can. I’ve… fucked up a couple of times. Really fucked up,” she said, thinking about Eva and the shit she had brought with her, and the weakness that Hen still had when it had come to the woman.
“But you and Karen worked through it, you both worked hard for that. I’m… Maddie is-” he cut himself off.
“Is she struggling with the hormonal changes?” she asked.
Chimney frowned, “A little, but it’s more of a case she’s thinking about the past, and how it can affect us now. Not only that, but she’s still pestering Buck about everything in his life. I’ve tried distracting her each time she starts when Buck’s around. But when he’s not, she’s often talking about calling him, making sure he’s home. That he’s not with Eddie. I have no idea, but sometimes I feel like she has something against Eddie.”
“I got that vibe as well,” Hen winced, “No clue as to where it comes from.”
“It’s because she doesn’t like the fact that Buck won’t listen to her, and he spends so much time with me instead,” Eddie said as he walked in behind them. “Buck’s his own person, and I’m his medical proxy and next of kin. She also hates me because of that,” he reminds them.
“Is it really just because of that?” Hen asked, as she looked at the man, “And where is Buck?”
“He came in early to help Bobby with breakfast. I would have been with him, but Chris wanted me to drop him off at school,” Eddie shrugged, “You… also don’t see what Buck goes through when it comes to Maddie. She’s been pushing him since she came back into his life. Maddie doesn’t like me because I told her off.”
“You told her off?” Chimney frowned, “Why’s it the first time I’m hearing this?”
“Oh, you most likely did, but it was more of a case that I’m controlling Buck,” Eddie snorted, “That I’m a bad influence on him and all that.”
“Oh, then yeah,” Chimney snorted, shaking his head.
“Look, I know you love Maddie. So does Buck. But she treats him like a little kid each time they meet. She takes his coffee if he has some while she’s around, she swaps it for a sugar free soda instead. She will often grab his beer and keep it away from him when we have the firefam BBQs. It’s gotten to the point where I’m the one always holding his drink, because Maddie knows I don’t give two shits on what she thinks about me,” he told them as they walked into the station. They could already smell breakfast cooking in the loft above them.
“Wow, it smells good in here,” Hen commented.
Eddie smirked, “It always does, you should have seen the breakfast spread he did for me, Chris, and himself over the weekend,” he told them.
“Remind me to crash at your place for breakfast one of these days,” Chimney said, looking at Eddie.
“As long as you leave Maddie behind, you’re welcome,” Eddie told him.
“You’d really stop Maddie from coming?” Hen frowned as they went into the locker room to get ready for the day.
“Like I said, Hen, she doesn’t like me. She’s made passive-aggressive comments about me since the truck bombing, and she discovered I am his medical proxy and next of kin. He’s the same for me as well, just so you all know. We’ve discussed various scenarios and what we expect to be done during each type. Not only that, but Maddie has medically interfered with Buck’s care twice,” he said, “So she knows she’s not welcome around me, since in my eyes she wanted either her brother dead, or disabled to the point he’d need a full time carer, her, in case that wasnt clear,” he shook his head a little as he put his things away in his locker.
Hen sat down on the bench, “And how did that happen?” she asked.
Chimney winced; he’d heard a lot about it already. Maddie had ranted that Eddie was controlling Buck too much and doing things that were going to harm her little brother.
“So, Buck had a serious crush injury; he should have been getting help just in case of clots. When I picked him up from the hospital, I made sure he had everything he needed, mainly his IPC device. It had been prescribed after his cast was removed. I got a little busy, and Maddie offered to help. The IPC device was taken from Buck’s apartment,” Eddie began as he put his shirt on and buttoned it up.
“Maddie had taken it,” Chimney said, “I didn’t find out until after the embolism at Bobby and Athena’s. She had taken it and had told Buck that he didn’t need it.”
“He did, as he was ripe for clots. I went ballistic on Maddie when she had done it, and told her she wasn’t to come near him in the hospital. Buck was… devastated that his sister had acted like that.”
“Maddie was pissed she was banned from the hospital after his clot,” Chimney nodded. It had been warranted in the end, but he hadn’t seen it at the time.
“I’d wondered why I didn’t see her there when I visited,” Hen frowned, “Why the hell didn’t I know about all this?” she asked the two.
“Buck didn’t want people to know. He felt stupid that he thought he could trust his sister, and she turned around and betrayed him,” Eddie said bluntly, “So, Maddie hates me, as I stopped her easy access to Buck after that point. When he filed the lawsuit, it wasn’t just about Bobby; it was about the false information that Maddie had given to him, which painted Buck as someone who had been careless with his recovery. When in fact he had followed everything he could to the letter. Except, it turns out Maddie had removed notes and information from his medical file.”
Chimney sighed as he looked at Hen. “Maddie doesn’t believe that Buck should be a firefighter and has done a few things that would have made it impossible for Buck to go through the normal channels without Bobby coming under fire. Bobby was pissed as it took about two months for Buck to be able to talk to him about what Maddie had filed with him about Buck’s health. Bobby even temporarily banned Maddie from the station after Buck and Bobby finally talked,” he told her. “Buck… didn’t want anyone to know that his sister basically, in his mind, tried to kill or maim him,” he finished quietly.
“Things have gotten better between the two, or it was until she got pregnant and started to act up again,” Eddie said, “If I had my way, Maddie would have been locked up for what she did,” he finished with a huff.
Chimney pulled a face, but couldn’t really argue against it. He knew that Maddie and Eddie didn’t like each other, but they didn’t argue or do anything when Buck was around. “I can’t argue; she would have if Buck had pressed charges against her. Since she falsified medical documents,” he sighed, “It took a while for me and her to settle into a relationship again after I found that out.”
“All this was going on and I’ve been in the dark,” she shook her head a few times.
“Look,” Eddie said as he glanced over, seeing that she was a little hurt. “I know we’re in each other’s pockets most of the time. But Buck didn’t want people to know. Not only that, but you and Karen were having a hard time at the time, what with the IVF that you wanted to try. Buck didn’t want to pull your attention away from where it was needed, none of us did.”
Hen nodded, “I understand the why,” she said slowly, “And at least now I know why Maddie will glare at Eddie when she thinks no one is looking at her.”
“Oh, I see the glares, I just don’t give a fuck,” Eddie snorted.
Chimney nodded, “Yeah, it irritates Maddie that you don’t. She thinks you should because she’s Buck’s sister.”
“Then maybe she should realize that my give-a-fuck is broken for those outside my family, and Buck is always telling me it should be broken for family as well,” Eddie smirked as he finished getting ready, “She acts incredibly entitled at times.”
“Buck won’t stand it for long,” Hen said.
“He will from Maddie, that’s the problem,” Eddie sighed, “He puts up with a lot from her. Her constant need to control, the way she bitches at him about every part of his life. How she’ll weedle information out of him and then turn around and use it against him. He’s going to snap at her one of these days, and it will not be pretty, because she’s got this idea of how their relationship is, and that bubble is going to pop… explosively.”
Chimney nodded as he got up, “Yeah, I’m waiting for it, I’m already prepared with sappy romance films, a lot of chocolate, and the ‘I Told You So’ soundtrack, as I’ve warned her she’s going to push him away fully one day.”
“I’ll prepare my couch,” Hen snorted as she put her things away and the three of them headed out of the locker room, as more of their shift began to arrive.
“I’ll need it,” Chimney said, “No doubt about that. She’s already not liking some things I’ve been telling her about Buck while trying to redirect her attention.”
“She has a sense of how things should be, and if they’re not, she’s going to hit the roof. Buck’s… not who she wants him to be, at all. The Buck, or rather, Evan, she expected to see was a lost kid who had no one in the world. Instead, she met someone who was starting to be sure of who he was and what he wanted in life. He was heartbroken by Abby, and some of the things you two and others said about the invisible girlfriend. He was recovering from being part of a catfishing thing, when I met him. During one of our first trips out with Christopher, someone tried to assault him. He felt like he had no one he could talk to without being made fun of back then. When Maddie came, he felt like he had something back, something that was his to rely on, but soon turned sour, as she started trying to control him,” Eddie told them as he walked to the stairs.
“Are you guys going to gossip or get up here!” Buck called out.
“We’re coming!” Eddie grinned up at him, as he then looked at them, and they headed up to help set up for breakfast while the rest of the shift filed in.
Chapter Four
Buck jumped out of the back of the truck, making sure the door remained open as the others piled out. The call had been a long one, but not exhausting like some were.
“Glad that one is done with,” he said as he and Eddie went to the showers. Both of them were covered in soot and mud. The water that was used to fight the fire had turned the surrounding grounds into a mud pit. Others were all heading there as well.
“Right, we have two hours offline. Shower, change, and get ready for food. It’ll be here within half an hour!” Bobby called out as he went to shower himself. He wasn’t as muddy as the others, but he still needed to clean up.
Others called out, as nearly the whole shift went to the showers, Eddie and Buck were quick to get inside before they filled up. And others were having to wait their turn for a shower.
“Okay?” Buck asked as he dried himself and got dressed.
Eddie snorted, “That wasn’t fun.”
Buck grinned, “Not as bad as some of the shit I’ve done in the past,” he told him as he ran a hand through his hair, frowning at the curls. “Ugh,” he muttered, wondering if he should gel it back again.
“Leave it,” Eddie said, shaking his head and standing up as he finished tying up his boots. “I like the curls,” he said as he pulled on one before letting it go to spring back up.
Buck smiled at him, “Fine, I’ll leave it. Chris likes it when I leave it curly too.”
“That’s because the two of you match when you do. You both have those tight little curls,” he said with a shrug, not sure if he wanted to admit he liked the fact that Buck and Chris often looked like father and son when the two were together.
Buck laughed, “Yeah, I like that too,” he nodded as they left the locker room and headed up. Bobby had showered and dressed before them and was already starting to make some warm drinks for everyone, including his rather rich hot chocolate that nearly everyone on shift liked to indulge in when Bobby felt like sharing.
“Hey,” Bobby said, as he gestured to the large pot where the hot chocolate was on a low heat, “help yourselves, within reason,” he said, giving Buck a look. The last time it was help yourself, Buck had grabbed the largest mug he could find and filled it up.
Buck grinned, “Can’t fault me for trying, Bobby,” he said, unrepentant as he grabbed two normal-sized mugs and filled them for himself and Eddie.
“Thanks,” Eddie said as he took the full mug.
Bobby and Buck went to grab the takeout when it arrived and brought it up. Setting it up buffet style as the rest of the shift came up the stairs in dribs and drabs. “Food is ready, help yourselves, remember it’s for the whole shift,” he added as he looked at a few of the others.
Some of them looked a little sheepish, while others were a little less repentant. They began to get food and settle down.
“Right,” Bobby said as soon as everyone was seated. “As you know, there have been wildfires going on in Texas after the volcano that happened down there,” he said, “Deputy Chief De Leon had put out the call for out-of-state help. I know some of you have applied for special deployment.”
“Yeah,” Buck nodded, “I know I did, you?” he asked Eddie.
“Me too,” he agreed with a nod as the two then looked at their captain.
“Me three,” Hen smiled a little, “I put my name down a couple of months ago.”
One more called out as Bobby nodded, “Right, as soon as you’ve eaten. The four of you will be off shift. You’ll still receive your normal payment, and you’ll be heading down in one of the 118 trucks. Two more will be joining you from another station to get down there,” he said as he began to explain what they would be doing and the timeline.
“So we have to be back here by eight tonight,” Buck nodded. “Yeah, we should sleep while we can, decide on a rotation for driving down there,” he added as he looked at Eddie and Hen, knowing that the two of them were qualified to drive the equipment.
“I’ll be making a booking for you in Phoenix, Arizona, so you can stop, rest, and eat a good meal or two before carrying on the second half of the drive. I’d rather none of you got killed for driving while tired,” Bobby stated as he looked at them in turn.
Buck nodded, “Yeah, that’s about six hours to get there,” he murmured, “and then another six-ish to where we’re needed,” he frowned. “Right, there’s a place just past Phoenix that’s good for a stop for us,” he said as he got up and went to grab his phone.
“Oh?” Bobby frowned.
“You do remember that I travelled around the US for around 4 or 5 years, don’t you?” Buck said, rolling his eyes as he came back. “This one is someone I know, they can put us up properly as well.”
“These are people you know?” Hen asked, glancing over at him.
“Yeah, they own a farmstead, but they have a lodging building. It’ll be mostly empty at this point in the year,” he added, “So if I give them a call, they could put us up. There’ll be six of us, should be doable there. Not exactly five-star, but Cassy and Levi always put on a good spread, and they won’t mind us turning up in the early hours of the morning.”
“Are you sure they would be able to?” Bobby asked, frowning slightly.
“Yeah, like I said, Cassy won’t mind at all. I know she’d like to say hi to me at least. It’s been a while since I last saw them face to face and not over a FaceTime or phone call,” he grinned.
Eddie snorted, ducking his head, as he knew that there was another reason that Buck didn’t mind asking an old employer to stop at their place on the way.
Hen looked at Eddie curiously. “What was that for?”
“Well, Cassy and Levi have just had a baby about a month ago. Buck’s been making plans to fly out during one of the four days off. He’ll still do that, but it will mean that he can say hi and bring what he got them down to them instead of sending it,” Eddie smiled as he looked at Buck.
“Come on, you have to admit that little Jessie is adorable,” Buck protested as he looked up from his phone, “And Cassy said that she’d be happy to have a couple of rooms cleaned up for us tonight.” he grinned, “She’ll also make sure we’ll have something to eat when we get there. She’s asked if there are any dietary requirements, and if we’re good with her doing a snack box up for the last part of the travel?” he added, looking up from the slew of messages that had been sent.
“I’ll get in contact with the others that are coming,” Bobby said, “And I’ll make sure that they are compensated, of course.”
“Right,” he nodded, “Get that to me as soon as, so I can send the message on,” he smiled, “Cassy is looking forward to meeting Eddie as well. Since he’s been on the line with me a few times. I’ve told her about people, so she’s looking forward to meeting Hen,” he said as he looked over at her.
Hen smiled, “Well, it might be nice to know a little more about your travels,” she admitted.
“Eat. I’ve sent a message to the two other firefighters who are joining you; they don’t have any requirements at all, no allergies or anything,” Bobby said. “All four of you will head home after finishing,” he repeated.
“So, what other types of places did you stay in?” Chimney asked curiously. “I know Maddie still has all the postcards you sent her.”
“Yeah,” Buck smiled a little, “That was only a quarter of what I did on my travels. I only sent her one every three months. Sometimes I was in a place for a week. Others were a little longer. I was in Peru for only six months. I did a lot of things. Bartending, construction, ranching, farm hand. I was a manny for just over a year as well, at one point. I kinda fell into that one,” he grinned, “I learned a lot about kids, their development, and more. I was thinking about doing that full-time at one point. I only stopped when they moved to New Zealand, a little place called Waihi. They asked me if I wanted to go with them, and they would pay the way for me as well. But… I kinda wasn’t ready for that. I’m still in touch with them, too.”
“That’s… not what I thought you would have wanted to do,” Hen said slowly.
“Like I said, I did a lot back then. Any job that I didn’t really need that much in the way of qualifications, I did. The manny one, I fell into by accident, I did get some qualifications for it in the end. I was a lifeguard for a bit, about a month,” he grinned as he gave them a little more about the odd jobs that he’d done over the years while he was travelling, before they headed home to get ready and nap a little before they went back to the station.
XxXxX
Buck hugged Christopher tightly, “You have fun with Pepa,” he said as Christopher held him just as tightly.
“I will,” he grinned, “Dad said that Carla will be the one to take me to school and to my appointments while you’re gone. He said he’d try and call me while you’re away, before I go to bed.”
“I’ll remind him of any time zones as well,” he grinned, ruffling his hair as he let him go.
“Yeah, dad gets all confused,” Christopher giggled as he and Buck looked at Eddie as the man walked into the room.
“What?” he asked, looking between the two. “Right, being roasted, again,” he rolled his eyes, but there was a little smile playing on his lips.
Buck smiled as he got up, letting Christopher go, “Right, are we ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Eddie sighed, shouldering his duffel. “Got what we need, got the cooler?” he asked. “Abuela made a few things for us to eat on the way. I know Bobby has done the same as well,” he added, as he remembered the message that Bobby had sent not long after they’d left the station.
“Right, let’s head out,” Buck nodded, “Going to miss you, Superman,” he murmured again to Christopher.
“Miss you too, Bucky. You and Dad stay safe,” he said as he looked between the two of them.
“We will,” Eddie said as he hugged his son. Karen was outside waiting with Hen. She was going to be dropping them off at the station before heading home.
They arrived at the 118 almost forty minutes later. Bobby waved at them as he stood with three more. One woman was standing there with two men. He made quick introductions to the two new faces and then introduced his own team to the two. “Right, you’ll be heading down in the 118 engine as you know. Buck has confirmed that Cassy will be housing you all for the night. You’ll end up getting to their farmstead around 3 am. I’ve been talking to her, and she’s already got a great meal plan in mind. I’ve talked to her about the snacks and food she wants to prepare. I’ve sent money along for all that and for more,” he added. “She tried to refuse, but I wouldn’t take no for an answer,” he said, sounding pleased with himself.
“Wow, you beat Cassy down?!?!” Buck said, eyes going wide, “I don’t think I’ve known anyone who was able to wear her down like that.”
Bobby grinned, “She was a hard nut to crack, but I think her newborn distracted her. She’s looking forward to seeing you, and so is Levi,” he added.
“Right, last trip to the toilet,” Hen warned, “I’m taking the first three hours, then Buck’s taking over,” she added. The two had sorted that out on the ride to the station.
Everyone did as she ordered before getting in.
“Take care and don’t do anything Buck would do!” Chimney joked.
“We won’t!” Eddie grinned as they all laughed.
Chapter Five
Buck turned the truck down the short drive that would take him to the farmstead and the old barns that had been converted into living quarters. They would be staying there for the night. Buck grinned as he saw Cassy standing outside the farmhouse, waiting for them. He parked the truck, and they got out. He took the lead as he walked over to the tall, willowy woman.
“Evan Buckley, oh, it’s so good to see you properly again,” she said as she headed over to meet him and hugged him tightly.
Buck laughed as he returned the hug, “Yeah, good to see you as well.”
“Hot diggity, Buck, you filled out,” a voice said from the doorway.
“Hey Levi!” Buck grinned as he waved to the man. “Just a bit,” he laughed as he let Cassy go to hug the man as he walked over to join his wife and friend.
“Right,” Cassy said as she turned to look at the others, “Buck told us that you’ll be with us till morning. We have a good breakfast planned for you all. Dinner is ready now, staying nice and hot for you all. I’ve got you three rooms to share, you choose who you want to bunk with, one room has three beds,” she added, “But for now, come on in, and let’s get you all fed,” she said as she gestured for them to enter the home.
“How are James and Jessie?” Buck grinned as they headed into the house.
“James is doing really well, he’s at pre-school now,” Cassy said, “He’s so happy to be a big brother, has been bragging to all his little friends,” she added as she guided him and the others to the dining room of the large farmhouse.
“I remember that age with Chris,” Eddie said softly, “He loved pre-school. Shannon had trouble getting him to come home.”
“We’re getting to that point where he moans about coming home. He’ll be up with the sun in the morning,” Levi grinned as he got everyone seated.
“Denny was the same,” Hen smiled, “I’m Hen,” she said as everyone started to introduce themselves.
“It’s great to finally put a face to the name. Now, we just need to get to know this Chimney guy,” Levi said, “Cassy and Bobby have been talking and swapping a few recipes all night.”
“He’s got some good ones, even suggested a few extra things we could get ready for you to take with you,” she shrugged, “Now,” she said as she began to dish out the hearty stew she had made. “Here we go, eat up. There’s plenty for seconds, and I know Buck will have seconds, and thirds,” she teased her friend.
“I was a growing boy,” Buck protested as he took a bite.
“Still growing,” Hen grinned.
“Looks like only his muscles are growing now,” Levi joked as a cry came from the baby monitor.
Buck looked up as Levi headed out of the room, and Cassy began to warm up a bottle.
“Want to feed her?” Cassy asked him; she knew that Buck loved children and couldn’t wait for a few of his own.
“Sure,” he grinned, as he ate a little faster.
Levi walked back into the room with little Jessie in his arms. “Right,” he said as he saw the bottle being handed to Buck. “I take it you’ll be feeding her?” he asked as he walked over to Buck.
“Yeah,” he grinned as he took the baby in his arms. She was crying softly as he took her, wanting her bottle. “Hey sweetheart,” he murmured, “It’s okay, we’ve got your late night snack,” he said, as he gently pressed the teat of the bottle against her lips. Jessie was quick to latch on.
“You’re a natural,” Hen said, only sounding a little bit surprised.
Cassy smiled, “He was when James was born as well. Our son adored him, still does.”
Eddie smiled, “Yeah, all kids do, no matter how old. My cousin brought her baby to the last Diaz get together, Buck was there, and he was crying so much, little Luis, so Buck took hold of him, and within moments, he was sleeping that contented sleep. Nina was… shocked, and I know you babysat a couple of times for her.”
“I have, Luis is so adorable. Nina just needed a bit of help until Steve got back,” Buck said as he glanced up from feeding.
“She’s grateful for the help, Steve was as well,” Eddie nodded.
Buck blushed slightly as Jessie finished her bottle, spitting out the teat. “And I think she’s done,” he said, taking the cloth and putting it over his shoulder and resting Jessie there as he burped her. “There we go,” he said as she gave a cute little burp. He carried on a little longer to make sure there was no more trapped wind before laying her in his arms and eating the rest of his stew one-handed.
Buck caught up with the latest gossip of the farm and the neighbours from Cassy and Levi. Eddie and the others talked quietly, getting to know two people who were obviously a large part of Buck’s life at one point. After they finished dinner, they were guided towards the converted barns where they would be spending the night.
Buck and Eddie had been quick to double up. While Hen doubled up with the only other woman going with them. The last three were happy to have a room themselves.
“It was nice getting to meet them face to face,” Eddie said, “you’re so at ease as well with a baby in your arms.”
Buck grinned, “I did say I was a Manny at one point,” he reminded him, “I learned a lot during that point in time. I wasn’t nearly so confident before that. When James was a baby, I was stumped half the time. Cassy and Levi showed me a lot. Even though James was their first, they both have younger siblings and a lot of niblings between them. They’re the ones that got me the Manny job, if I’m honest. A friend of a friend, type thing. Levi… ex-army, like you, he was injured out during his first tour. One of his army mates’ brothers needed some help, only temp, to look after the kids. They were well off and could afford a live-in. It was only supposed to be for a couple of weeks while they found someone.”
“So you ended up staying?” Eddie asked as he slid into the soft sheets.
“Yeah,” Buck said, doing the same with his own bed, “I stayed for around a year, and then he got an opportunity abroad, and I almost went. Still in touch with them. Kinda miss it occasionally. It’s… how I knew how to act a little with Chris. One of their children is disabled, a car accident when they were three,” he said softly. “Kyle is as bright and get-up-and-go as Chris. Always wants to try something new. Chris reminds me of him a lot. Kyle’s wheelchair bound, won’t be able to walk, but he’s in sports. Does wheelchair basketball and loves it,” he smiled, “He’s a good kid, teen,” he snorted, “He’s fourteen now, not a kid anymore. So independent as well. He cooks and does a lot of chores himself as well. It’s why I look for things for Chris.”
“Because you want him to fly just as high,” Eddie smiled at him, turning on his side so he could face Buck properly. Just about seeing the outline of his friend in the now pitch-black room.
“Yeah,” he nodded, “I… I kinda have a few of the same qualifications as Carla. It’s how I knew she was good for Chris. I… kept them up to be able to help him as much as I can.”
“Thanks,” Eddie murmured, “You go above and beyond all the time, and I feel like sometimes, I’m failing as a father and a friend.”
“You’re not,” Buck was quick to say, “Eds, that kid loves you so much. You’re there for him, you want him to fly. I hate your parents and the stupid shit they put in your head. Eds, you love him, you do what you can to get him everything he needs and more. His doctors are impressed with his continued mobility, his determination, and everything,” he reminded him, “As for a friend, you’re my best friend. I’m just glad that I’m able to help as much as I can.”
“Buck,” he sighed, “You’re mine as well,” he said, though there was something else in his voice. “I just… when shit hit the fan, I wasn’t right there fighting with you. I should have been. It took me so fucking long to realize that you just wanted to come home. That you felt like we were leaving you behind, and I admit, I fucked up back then. In more ways than one. I should have been fired for that punch I threw at that asshole, and I’m lucky I wasn’t. I yelled at you, called you something you really aren’t, and I know I hurt you with that.”
Buck was quiet. They had never really talked about what he had dubbed in his mind as the ‘Lawsuit Era’. It was something they had avoided a lot. He’d tried to apologise, but Eddie had stopped him the one time he had tried. “Eds, we were all in a bad place.”
“Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have been there for you. You were there for me, Buck, and I wasn’t. I was a shit friend back then. I’m trying to do better now, but Buck, tell me when I fuck up. If I hurt you, tell me. If I do something stupid, call me out on it,” he told him, yawning.
“Okay,” Buck said softly.
“Good,” he said, “Get some sleep, Buck,” he murmured, almost asleep himself.
Buck watched his friend as he fell asleep and then closed his eyes. He smiled a little as he slowly fell asleep himself.
XxXxX
“Mr Evan!” came the rambunctious cry of a four-year-old as they darted across the drive towards the group of firefighters that were coming out of the lodgings.
“Jamie!” Buck grinned as he scooped the four-year-old into his arms.
James laughed and giggled as he cuddled Buck. “Miss you, Mr Evan,” he said seriously, “Mommy and Daddy said you’d be here, and you are!” he then grinned.
“Yeah, I miss you too, titch,” Buck said as they walked to the farmhouse where Levi was on the doorstep waiting for them.
“Breakfast is served. Cassy’s putting the finishing touches on the meals she’s packing away for you all,” Levi said, “Be warned, she made enough food for an army.” he grinned as he turned to lead the way.
Buck and the others walked into a dining room table full of food, “I don’t know if even seven very hungry firefighters will be able to manage all that,” he said.
“Whatever is left will be packed away to take with you, or for me and the farm hands to munch on through the day,” Levi said, “So don’t worry about anything going to waste.”
“Right,” Hen said, “Thank you for putting us up and feeding us,” she added.
“You’re welcome, and it’s been nice to see Evan again, and to meet some of the people he now works with. Plus, my wife has made a new friend,” he smiled.
“Bobby?” Buck asked, getting a nod, sitting down, and James remained with him, sitting on his lap as everyone began to eat.
There were tears from James an hour later as they began to leave. Two of the farmhands came to say hi and bye to Buck, as they had worked with him when he had worked the farm several years before. Buck had to make several promises to call when he could, to both Cassy and James. Buck got into the truck and began to back out, waving to his friends before carrying on to the site of the wildfires. Eddie sat in the front of the cab with Buck, the two talking as the ones in the back did the same.
Chapter Six
Chimney parked in his usual spot outside his apartment building. He looked at the window that was his living room. He saw the blinds twitch a little and knew Maddie was waiting for him. He sighed, knowing he would be the one to break the news that Buck had gone on special deployment. He grabbed his bag and headed up. Unlocking the door, Maddie was standing there, looking at him.
“Evan’s not answering his phone,” she said, frowning.
“That’s because he’s traveling,” he said, as he walked in, closing the door behind him and wondering if there could be a day that he came home without Maddie jumping on him because her brother isn’t answering her almost constant messages. It was at this point that Buck muted his phone and only let certain numbers be able to get through it.
“Travelling? Where?” she demanded to know as she followed him as he went to the laundry room to empty his clothes into the washer.
Chimney bit back a sigh, “Maddie, he’s a grown man. He can do what he wants.”
“He needs to-” she began to protest.
“No, he’s a grown man. Maddie. He doesn’t need to do anything. Though he did say that I could tell you that he’s heading to Texas at the moment on a special deployment. Wildfires are going on, as you know. Some of the 118 and two from another station are heading down to help. Several stations are responding all over the country,” he added, seeing the frown on Maddie’s face.
“He needs to be here, he should be here,” she said as she began to turn and walk away.
“Why does he need to be here?” Chimney asked her. Following her out as soon as he set up the laundry.
“He just-” she paused a second, “He needs to be here all the time, so I can keep an eye on him. He should always be available, should I need him.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” he pointed out, “You’re my girlfriend, the mother of my child, and someone I love. Why does Buck need to be here? He has his own life to live.”
Maddie turned and stared at him. “You wouldn’t understand,” she snapped a little. “He’s my brother, someone I raised, and he should be here. He should always be here. I need him.”
“What do you need him for?” he pressed again, wanting to try and get to the bottom of her insistence.
“He… he’s my brother, he needs me, and I need him to be here. I have to make sure that he’s going to be okay. That he’s not going to get hurt again. He needs to start doing what he’s told instead of just wandering off and doing who knows what and getting in trouble,” she told him, frowning as she turned to walk away.
“Maddie, I hate to say it, but Buck’s not needed someone to look out for him since he was a kid. Since before I even met him. Buck’s able to make his own decisions, and he learns from the mistakes he makes. He really does,” he told her, trying to be gentle about it, but knowing it wasn’t really going to work.
“He isn’t, he’s still reckless and a danger to himself. He was in the tsunami with Christopher; he could have got that little boy killed with his actions,” Maddie said, as though that showed that Buck was a danger to people unless she was the one directing and controlling him.
“Maddie!” Chimney snapped at her, horrified at what she was saying. “Buck had no idea a fucking tsunami was going to hit. No idea. You can’t blame Buck for a natural disaster, and I’m beyond disgusted that you would even imply that Buck would want to get Chris killed. Christopher means the world to Buck. As far as most of the 118 is concerned, Buck and Eddie have been co-parenting that kid for the last couple of years,” he finished, glaring at her as he went to the kitchen.
Maddie followed him, “Howie,” she said, sounding hurt.
“Maddie, that was awful of you to say,” he said, his tone no longer sharp. “I don’t… The way Buck is with Chris, it’s clear he loves that kid right alongside Eddie. What you said was… awful. Hell, to be honest with you, Maddie, we didn’t even know you existed until you broke into Abby’s place. Didn’t even know he still had parents or family. We all thought he was an orphan that had aged out of the system with the way he was, and how frugally he lived.”
“What?!” she exclaimed, rearing back as though she had been hit. “He never talked about us?” she asked.
Chimney turned to her with a glass of orange juice. “Maddie, when was the last time you saw Buck before coming to LA?” he asked her, “How old was he?”
“Almost nineteen,” she answered, “What has that got to do with anything?”
“Be patient,” he told her, holding up a hand as he asked another question, “So around what year, 2011?” he got a nod in reply. “So he joined us in 2017. You came back into his life in September 2018. That’s seven years, at least. How many times did you call him? Did you answer his calls?” he asked. “When was the last time you answered or called him?”
Maddie was quiet. Not willing to answer.
“I can tell you, he talked about it a few days ago. The last time he got anything from you was 2014, Thanksgiving. He got one last message from you. The last call you answered from him was in 2014, near the start of the year. So that would be about four years since you last had any contact. He was twenty-two when he received his last message. When he joined the 118. Bobby was his medical proxy, as there was no one else. Which is why we thought he was an orphan. Your parents didn’t factor in. The last time he spoke to them was when Doug crashed into our lives to tell them that you were fine. From what Eddie was cursing the days after that call, they blamed him for Doug’s actions and your injuries and then hung up on him. So yeah, he hasn’t needed your input in his life for seven years. And when you got here, that’s what you tried to do.”
Maddie remained silent for a few more minutes. “He… really didn’t speak of me at all?”
Chimney rolled his eyes, “Did I even tell you about Albert?” he asked her, “Did I talk about him or anything about my father and mother?”
“Not for a long time, not until… Albert showed up,” she said, seeing the parallels.
“Exactly, I’m estranged from my family. My father and I haven’t seen eye to eye in a very long time. Al coming here was him running away from the controlling parents he’s had to deal with since he was a child. Tiger Moms are a thing, and it’s practically normal in east asian culture. Hell, I had tutors for everything to make sure I got the top grades. If I didn’t, I would have more tutoring. At one point, I didn’t even know what was fun and what wasn’t. Dating was out. Even the Lees were the same after my mom passed away. They did the same to me as they did to Kevin. We were tutored in school subjects, music, and more. I know how to play violin and piano. When I left, I made sure to have as much fun as I could. Al’s now kinda doing the same,” he snorted. “But, Maddie, you have to realise that Buck… is a fully grown man with a life he wants to lead. He’s not at your beck and call. That’s my job,” he finished quietly as he started to drink his juice.
“He should be here soon, though. Mom and Dad are coming,” she spoke softly.
Chimney froze. “They’re coming here?” he asked.
Maddie nodded, “Yes, and they’ll want to see him.”
Chimney had a feeling that wasn’t actually the case. Buck’s parents had never once contacted their son as far as Chimney knew. He knew that Maddie had been talking to them, and had been since not long after they’d had their first proper date. “They’re coming here? Does Buck know?”
Maddie shook her head, “No, I haven’t told him. I know he won’t want to see them. Considering he’s still telling everyone that they were neglectful and abusive of him,” she huffed, “I hate the fact that he’s lying about them.”
Chimney refrained from saying anything about that. He had a feeling that Maddie didn’t know a lot of what Buck went through because the man had never told her. With the way she was behaving, he could see why. “Maddie, have you told Buck?”
“About what?” she asked, looking at him, blinking owlishly.
“About your parents coming to LA? And about the savior sibling thing, too. You need to tell him about both things,” he reminded her, biting back a sigh.
“I’m not telling him. Not until he gets back,” she stated, “About our parents, only, by then it’ll be too late for him to do anything.”
Chimney frowned at that, “What do you mean? Too late to do what?” he asked her, knowing that he’d been calling Buck himself to tell him about the impending arrival of his parents in LA.
“To run off and cause trouble,” she answered as she turned around and began to go back to the pile of clothes she had been sorting through.
Chimney drank the last of his juice, washing his glass before putting it aside to dry. “Maddie, you can’t think he would do something on purpose,” he told her, “He’s not going to be happy. But he doesn’t have to see them if he doesn’t want to.”
“He’s going to join us for dinner,” Maddie said. “I’m going to cook for us,” she added, “I’ve already talked about it with Mom and Dad. They’re looking forward to meeting you.” She smiled at him.
“That’s fine, but Buck doesn’t have to be there,” he said again, “he’s his own person.”
“He will be there,” she said firmly. “Also, no talking about Daniel, not to Evan or anyone,” she added.
“You need to talk to him; he needs that information,” he repeated once more. He was getting sick of doing so. “It’s a good thing you’re not his medical proxy,” he muttered under his breath as he went toward the kitchen again.
“What did you say?” she hissed at him, standing up.
Chimney stared at her, “It’s a good think you’re not his medical proxy or next of kin. Since you think it’s a good thing to keep someone’s medical history from them,” he said, this time loud and clear.
Maddie looked hurt as she said, “How could you say that? I’m his sister, and I have his best interests in mind.”
“No, you don’t. You want to control him,” he told her, shaking his head. “You’re keeping something from him that could still affect him. You also wanted him to quit being a firefighter, and he’s one of the best firefighters I’ve seen,” he added.
“I know what’s best for him, I always have done. Just because I wasn’t always in his life doesn’t mean I don’t know my brother at all. He’s reckless with his life, he’s constantly a danger to himself and now others. I’m trying to do what I can to mitigate what he does. But no one is listening to someone who knows her brother best.”
“You don’t, though,” Chimney snapped back. “You know the kid you left behind. You don’t know the adult who now stands strong and ready and willing to put his life on the line to save someone. He is a highly trained firefighter with a past that you don’t have a clue about because you refuse to listen to him. The kid you talk about doesn’t exist anymore. He’s grown up,” he finished, shaking his head as he turned and grabbed his keys. “I need to get out and go for a walk. I’ll be back later. In that time, think long and hard about how Buck is now, and how he was as a child, and see the difference between them. He spent several years alone, on the road without anyone to help him.”
With that, he walked out of the apartment before Maddie could say another word.
Chapter Seven
Hen was napping in the back of the cab as they pulled into a truck stop. They were on the way back to LA. The wildfires were finally under control, and everyone was being sent back home as the local fire crews took care of the rest. They were heading to El Paso first. Eddie had made the mistake of mentioning to his cousin on his mother’s side that he was in Texas and was now heading back to LA. They had talked and coaxed Eddie to head over to them for a meal before continuing to LA. Eddie had given in after making sure that everyone was okay with the detour and pitstop. Buck wasn’t sure about it, but went with it, since Eddie looked harried after the call with Helena Diaz.
They had only stopped about an hour from El Paso, mostly to let them all use the toilet and take a stretch break. Also, to give Eddie a bit of time before he had to face his parents again. “You okay?” Buck asked as Hen groggily got out of the cab to move around a little.
“Yeah,” she said, smiling at him, “Nothing wrong with me that a good sleep won’t cure. Can’t wait to be home in my own bed though,” she added.
“Yeah, we’re making the stop at the Diaz house in El Paso for lunch and then carrying on until LA. Eddie, Joe, and I are going to be doing shifts. If you are up for it, you’re welcome to take the last couple of hours. Or I’ll take over again,” he told her as people went and brought a few snacks for the rest of the journey.
“We’ll see, at the last stop, if I’m up for it. Sure, I’ll take over. If I’m too tired still, I’ll pass,” she nodded.
Eddie walked over, looking at his phone. Buck frowned as he asked, “Everything okay?”
“Mom is…” he sighed, “Being her usual self. She’s now questioning why Christopher is in LA alone. She’s forgetting that there is family out there. Though she doesn’t consider my dad’s side of the family to be family.”
“We can always forget it?” Hen suggested, looking sympathetically toward Eddie.
Eddie shook his head, “No, if I do that, things will be worse. Mom… knows how to make herself out like a tragic victim of everything. She’s been doing that type of crap since I was a kid.”
“Right,” Hen frowned, “We’re here for backup this time. You’re not alone.”
“I know,” Eddie said as he looked at her and then glanced at Buck.
“You know what I think of them,” Buck said, holding up his hands.
“I know,” Eddie snorted, “I know.”
“Right, everyone back in,” Buck called out as the last of them came out of the kiosk. They climbed back in and carried on to Eddie’s parents’ home.
XxXxX
Buck parked the truck just outside and glanced at it. It was a two-story home, and it was a nice place. In a good area, the lawn was freshly mowed, and small garden ornaments lined it.
“Right,” Eddie said as he got out first and looked up as the door opened. “Mom,” he greeted her, forcing a smile as he went over and hugged her. Ramon soon appeared in the doorway and nodded a greeting at his son.
“Come on in, food is all ready and on the table,” she said as she smiled at the others and welcomed them to her home.
“Thank you for hosting us, Mrs. Diaz,” Buck said, knowing to be polite, even though he’d rather eat a lemon than do so. He didn’t want to cause any problems for Eddie.
“Buck,” she said, her voice sounding tight as though she was about to choke on the name.
It didn’t take long for everyone to be seated around the large table. Talk was slightly stilted. Hen and Buck were doing their best to keep things going and to keep Eddie distracted from the looks he was getting from his parents.
“It’s nice to have a house full. It hasn’t been the same since Eddie took Christopher away,” Helena said as she looked at her only son and youngest child.
Eddie looked at her, “Work’s been busy, and it’s going to take time to save up for me and Chris to come for a visit during one of the holidays that we get off. At the moment, it’s not going to happen this summer. Chris is looking forward to going to camp. And he has climbing and surfing lessons that he doesn’t want to stop. Not even for a week,” he added, a little smile playing on his face as he remembered the argument that had caused in the Diaz house when he’d even suggested it.
“You put too much on him. In his condition, you need to be more careful with his activities,” she sniped at her son as she gave him a disapproving look.
Buck looked at her and said, “Oh, I didn’t know you had a medical degree, Mrs. Diaz.” His words sounded so innocent that the only ones who knew better were those from the 118.
Helena blinked as she stared at him, “I don’t have one.”
“Oh,” Buck said, frowning, “I thought you did, since you were saying that. It kind of goes against all the medical advice that we’ve had from Christopher’s doctors and therapists over the last couple of years. I just thought you must have had one to have such an opinion.”
“I have an opinion because Christopher is my grandson. I find that a lot of what my own son puts that poor boy through is horrendous and unnecessary,” she snapped at him.
“You think it’s horrendous?” he asked her, “That Eddie is giving Chris the tools and knowledge he needs to be able to be as independent as possible?”
“Christopher needs to know his limits, and Eddie just doesn’t understand that. Putting ideas into that poor child’s head that he’ll be able to do things everyone else can,” she told him, glaring at Buck.
“Oh, I understand you just fine, Mother,” Eddie said, staring at her. “You think that Christopher should be fully dependent on someone. That someone being you. Which is why you keep saying you want custody of him. It’s not because you have his best interests at heart; you never have. I’ve seen the crap that you’ve been posting. Heard what you’ve been saying while I was here. I knew that if I had stayed in El Paso, Christopher would be living in a home by the time he was fifteen and never able to leave it. Because that is what you believe he should want. But it isn’t. He’s smart, independent, and has a love of life that I’m envious of. He wants to find his own place in the world, not the one that you would trap him in,” he finished.
“Currently, he wants to be a rocket scientist,” Buck grinned as he glanced at Hen, “He’s been talking to Karen a lot.”
“I wondered why she was putting those papers together,” Hen nodded, laughing, as she saw the confused look on Helena and Ramon’s faces. “My wife, Karen, is a rocket scientist. She’s been putting together a lot of information about what she has learned over the years. She’s been putting out her old papers from her college courses. Christopher is really smart. No doubt she’s happy to have someone follow her in the sciences,” she snorted, “Denny’s a little too much like me.”
“He’s really been enjoying what she sent, along with the videos that help explain things for him,” Eddie said as he looked at Hen.
“She’ll be happy about that,” Hen grinned back at him.
“Eddie!” Helena snapped, pursing her lips as she looked at her son.
“What, Mom?” he asked, turning to face her, the smile that had been on his face dropping.
“I’m trying to be nice,” she said, looking at him intently, “But your father and I believe that Christopher would be better off with us. We have more time an-”
“Mom,” he stopped her mid-sentence, “It’s not going to happen. I came here, thinking it would be nice of you to meet some of the people that I work with. But instead, once again, you turn it into one of your so-called interventions in trying to take Christopher from me.” His words were sharp as he carried on. “I’m not going to keep doing this. If you want Christopher so badly, then go through the family courts and see what happens. But I tell you now, if you do that, I will never speak to either of you again. You’ll never be speaking or seeing Christopher unless he decides to reach out when he’s an adult. At the moment, this is the last time I’m going to be speaking about this. Chances are, I’m cutting contact with you until you can learn how to stay in your own lane. There is a reason why your daughters want nothing to do with you. Well, your only son is so fucking close to cutting you both off as well,” he finished as he got up. “I’m going to wait in the truck. I can’t stand the sight of them at the moment,” he added as he looked at Buck.
“I think I’ll join him,” Buck said as he stood, “I would say thank you for the meal. While what I had was okay, the company and conversation were disgusting and unwarranted. You have no idea how good a dad Eddie is, because you’re too blind by your own entitlement and ego. Get a fucking clue about the type of man your son is because you’re a step away from losing him and Christopher for good.”
Hen and the others shared a look and got up. “I’m with Buck on that. I’ll do what I can to make sure that Eddie cuts you off. What I heard from you was ableist and controlling. It’s abusive,” she stated.
“You okay?” Buck asked as he joined Eddie in the truck, pressing against him, giving him the subtle reassurance that he was there for him.
“I will be,” he sighed, leaning against him slightly. “I just wish she would… accept things. She’s always been controlling. Adriana moved away as soon as she hit eighteen and never looked back. I’ve seen her once since that happened. I was twelve when she left. Sophia did the same when I was fourteen. Though she did come to see me, we used to meet at the local park,” he sighed. “Adriana has never met Chris, and I’ve only talked to her a handful of times. I know she’s married and has a kid. Sophia is married and has two. Not that our parents know. Only I do,” he finished quietly.
“I think this is the point where you finally cut them off. No matter what they do or don’t do,” Buck suggested, “You need to set some firm boundaries.”
Eddie sighed and nodded, “I know. I don’t know why I keep putting it off. Both my sisters have cut them off, and cut me off for the most part. They did it years ago,” he moved as close as he could to Buck.
“Take your time, they’re in El Paso. But you need to put it out there now. I know it’s easier said than done, but I’m right here,” Buck reassured him.
“Yeah,” Eddie nodded. “I’ll talk with Christopher as well, see what he wants to do. He might still want to talk to them. If he does…” he trailed off, not sure what he should do if that was the case.
“Arrange something that will make sure that Chris remains safe. Have each conversation recorded. Make sure they all know at the start of each call,” Hen said as she got in and sat across from them as Joe took the driving seat for the next leg. “Sorry for interrupting, but it’s something we had to do with one of the emergency placements we had for a couple of weeks,” she told them.
“It’s fine, any suggestion helps,” he said, grateful for the help. “I let them get away with things for so long.”
“We all want the best when it comes from our parents,” one of the others said from the front as the remaining two joined them in the back. “Sometimes we never get it.”
The others nodded in agreement as Eddie smiled a little before changing the topic to something else.
Chapter Eight
They were at the last pit stop on the way back to LA. Another four hours were ahead of them, but Buck had a nap in the back after they had left El Paso, so he was going to take the last four hours of the drive. They found a small diner to grab a bite to eat before heading back out. Buck grinned as he looked at the picture Eddie was showing off.
“Looks like he’s having the time of his life,” Buck said, shaking his head at what he was seeing.
Eddie nodded, “Yeah, he really is. Tia Pepa is enjoying watching the chaos,” he grinned as he swiped, and another picture came up. He showed that one as well.
“I miss that kid,” Buck murmured, a fond smile on his face.
“Me too,” Eddie smiled at Buck, agreeing with him.
“Four more hours and we should be home,” Hen told the two of them, “We should be arriving just as shift changes.”
“Yeah, A-Shift will be finishing as we get there, if I time it right,” Buck said, “But Bobby said we get there, debrief, and then we can head home to get some rest.”
“Hmm,” Hen nodded, “My own bed calls me. I’m glad we went straight through instead of stopping.”
“Bobby wasn’t happy about that,” Buck said as they finished their meal.
“No, he wasn’t, but he understands, and wants to make sure we’re driving as safely as we can,” Hen smiled a little as they paid and headed out to the truck.
Buck’s phone began to ring, frowning as Chimney’s face appeared in the preview. “I’m just… going to take this,” he said a little distractedly as he moved to one side, so he could have a private conversation. “Chim, is everything okay? Are you and Maddie okay?” he asked, worry lacing his voice as he answered the call.
“Things are fine here, really. I’m on shift at the moment. We have some downtime for now,” he said, yawning. “Good thing too,” he snorted, “Look, I’ve been talking with Maddie, trying to find out what’s going on with her,” he said, “No dice on that,” he lied. “But I did find out that she’s invited your parents to LA. They’re going to be arriving not long after you get back, a day or two, maybe three. They’re coming via the RV that they brought.”
“Fuck,” Buck cursed, “I… haven’t spoken to them since Maddie was rescued,” he murmured.
“I know, and I know what they said, Eddie was bitching up a storm from it,” he snorted. “I know she plans to try and see you and tell you about a dinner she has planned for when they arrive. For the day they’re arriving, or the day after. I’m not sure of the timeline of things.”
Buck smiled a little, “Yeah, they kinda flake when it comes to that. Maddie can be the same. She… never knows the time and dates for things, until the last minute.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” he said, and Buck could hear the smile in his voice.
“Right, so they’re coming soon, and no doubt Maddie is going to do something that makes me go along with her idea of a perfect fucking family,” Buck sighed at the very thought of having to be around his parents.
“Perfect family?” Chimney asked him.
Buck sighed heavily once again. “She has this idea of how the family should be. She pushes it all the time. Our parents are good people, but they’re not good parents. She’s been saying that since I was little like a mantra. That’s all I can remember her saying about them, no matter what I told her about them,” he told him, “She thinks that if she has her ducks in a row, and does the same for me, that they’ll suddenly care about me. I know they care and love her; you can tell that. They celebrated everything with her. They didn’t want her to marry Doug, but that was more because he was cutting her off from them. She did what he wanted, all the time; canceled shopping days with them, meetings, dinners, and all that. So they hated him. They ignored me, verbally abused me, and more, and she never saw it, because it didn’t fit her beliefs about them. So she’s trying to get a perfect family. She wants grandparents for little Mango. I know you have the Lees, and you also have your dad. I know you’ve told him about Mango.”
Chimney was quiet for a moment, “I did. He’s shocked as I’ve never really talked to him about much that was going on in my life. He doesn’t really approve of my being a firefighter at all. Not sure why,” he huffed, “But well, that’s my yearly call with him done,” he muttered. “He does want to be kept informed.”
“I’m still confused as to why you’ve started talking to him again, more, I mean. I heard what you said about him,” Buck wondered.
Chimney snorted, “Therapy,” he said, “I’m reframing my interactions with him through therapy. I still don’t like how he was with me at all, or with Mom. He was a demanding bastard back then, and he still is. Albert loves him, and I don’t know why. I just…” he trailed off, “You know, we’ll get into that another time. I don’t really want to talk about him at the moment.”
“That’s fine,” Buck smiled a little, before adding, “But as for Maddie and our parents, that tracks with her. She’s making this perfect family in her mind, and woe to anyone who doesn’t fall in line with her way of thinking.”
“And you’re not planning to?” Chimney asked, a hint of curiosity in the older man’s voice.
“I’m going to try,” Buck said, “But she… knows how to manipulate me, and I always fucking fall for it.”
Chimney sighed, “Alright, Maddie’s just walked into the station.”
“Right, go see to her, make sure everything’s okay,” Buck said, “We’re about four hours away at the moment. We should get there just as the shift changes.”
“Yeah, Bobby is going to be hanging around with breakfast for you all, before sending you off,” Chimney told him.
Buck looked toward the truck; everyone was already in, apart from Eddie, who was looking at him, worriedly. “I’ll tell the others about breakfast, they’ll be happy. We’ve not eaten in a while, apart from the snacks we had. We were supposed to have a good meal at Eddie’s parents, but well, they’re pieces of shit, and we walked out before the meal had fully started. We had diner food, and while it was great, it didn’t hit the spot like Bobby’s food does.”
“Nothing does,” Chimney laughed, “I’ll see you later, Buck.”
“Yeah, later,” Buck said as he ended the call and headed over. “My parents are heading to LA, should be there soon,” he muttered to Eddie, “Talk later when we have privacy,” he finished as he got in and told everyone about Bobby making them all some breakfast for when they arrive back at the 118.
XxXxX
Chimney tucked away his phone and went over to Maddie, who was looking at him with an expectant look on her face. “Hey, Maddie,” he smiled, kissing her lightly on the cheek.
“Howie,” she said, smiling back, “I thought I would come by after shift,” she continued quietly, glancing around, “I know it’s a little later, but I just didn’t want to go home alone. And I wanted to talk to Bobby about Evan’s deployment, and when it will be over.”
“They’re on the way back,” Chimney said, trying not to roll his eyes, “no doubt they’ll arrive and head home for bed. It’s been a long few days for them,” he added.
Maddie frowned, “And why didn’t Evan call me to tell me that?” she asked.
“Maddie, he’s on his way back, that’s all you need to know,” Chimney answered her, leading her away from everyone so he could talk to her privately. “I know you’re going to want to talk with Buck as soon as you can about your parents,” he said, giving her a look that said she had better be planning that.
“Yes, which is why I’m here. I wanted to find out when he’s back,” she huffed as she rested a hand on her stomach.
“I was going to suggest that you wait a little bit before you go and see him. Let him get back, clean up, and rest up. He’s going to be exhausted from all they’ve done and the long drive back. It’s a good twenty hours they’ve been on the road so far. And they’ve still got a good four or five hours to go before they get back to LA,” he told her, glancing around as he made sure that there was no one else near them.
“I’ll go to his place as soon as he’s back-” she began, ignoring what Chimney had said.
“Maddie, give him some time to actually get home and rest. He’s going to need some sleep,” he tried to reason with her.
Maddie glared at him, “He’ll be fine,” she said dismissively, waving a hand at Chimney, “I just need to tell him about the dinner, and you’re insisting that I tell him soon.”
“If you’re going to waylay him,” Chimney began, “Then you should at least tell him about Daniel,” he murmured, so only she would be able to hear, just in case someone was lingering nearby. Though he still didn’t see anyone.
“I’ve already told you I’m not going to do that,” she snapped at him, her words hissed through clenched teeth.
“Maddie,” Chimney sighed, rubbing his face, “I know you don’t want to, but this isn’t about your wants, it’s about what needs to happen.”
“I will not talk about it here,” Maddie hissed again, “This is something no one nee-”
“Yes, someone does need to know. And he’s in the dark about it,” Chimney said, “If you’re going to see him, let him know about that as well,” he pressed again for her to tell Buck about Daniel. He knew that Buck should know, not just because it’s part of his friend’s medical history, but he had a feeling that it would help frame a lot of Buck’s childhood, and that would help him more than anything.
Maddie glared at him, “I’ll see,” she said as she turned and stormed out.
Chimney sighed as he leaned against the wall of the building for a few moments before heading inside again.
“Everything okay?” Bobby asked, frowning as he saw the annoyed but also upset look on his paramedic’s face.
“Maddie is being stubborn about a few things. I just hope she understands that the more she hides things, the worse it’s going to be later,” he sighed, knowing that he was being cryptic.
“Okay,” Bobby said with a slow nod, “Anything I can help with?” he asked, gesturing to his office so they could talk privately.
Chimney walked with him, and the door of the office closed behind them. Bobby sat down and gestured for Chimney to do the same. “Maddie knows something important about Buck, something that Buck doesn’t. I can’t say what I really want to, but I think she needs to tell Buck before anyone else knows. This is something that could upset him, and it will reframe many of the things he knows,” he said. “I wish I could tell you. This is killing me that Buck doesn’t know.”
“Maddie doesn’t want to tell him?” he asked.
“She says that Buck will think his parents don’t love him if he knows. The thing is, they don’t, from what he’s said and from their own actions,” he sighed, “Nothing is going to change Buck’s mind on what he feels for parents that have always been absent for him, as you know.”
“Yes, I remember talking to them after the bombing, they were… uninterested in coming at all,” he said, shaking his head as he remembered talking with them, or rather with a very dismissive woman who said she had no son, “I never told Buck that I called them.”
“Maddie has them coming here. Don’t… I’ve called Buck already and warned him. Maddie’s determined to have a family dinner, and I have a feeling it’s not going to go well,” he said, shaking his head as he rubbed at his face, “I love Maddie, I do, but at the moment she’s irritating me about her conviction on not listening to anything that Buck’s telling her about his own life. She’s keeping something from him, and she needs to tell him. I’m hoping that I got through to her.”
“Let’s hope, try and get some sleep, it’s still early enough that a nap wouldn’t hurt,” he said, “I’m about to close the shutters so we can all rest,” he added.
Chimney nodded. “I want to talk to Buck for a moment before I head home. They should get in just before shift change,” he added, getting back up. He was tired, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep.
“Use the office if you need to,” Bobby suggested, “For now, get some rest, we should only be called out if we’re really needed, the last fire we were at was a bad one.”
Chimney smiled slightly. It had been a bad fire; three homes all close together had gone up in flames. Two crews had responded at first, with another being sent not long after they had arrived. Three homes, three families, sixteen people saved, and not one death, though it had been close. “Yeah, we’ll see about the sleep, though Buck and the others are looking forward to a welcome home breakfast,” he grinned at his captain before heading out and toward the bunk room.
Chapter Nine
Buck groaned as he heard someone knocking on his door. He had been warned by Chimney that Maddie wasn’t going to let him settle back home before she stopped by. Albert had been called out for the morning with Chimney. Though Buck believed that it was more to make sure he was out of the way so that Buck could sleep without being disturbed by Albert at all.
“I’m coming,” he called out as he got off his bed and walked down the stairs, feeling irritated by Maddie’s need to constantly be a bother.
The knocking got louder and more frantic as he reached the door. He opened it to find Maddie. He didn’t even have a chance to move aside to let her in before she pushed past him and into his apartment. Buck growled a little from her actions before turning to face her.
“Maddie,” he said, annoyed with her behavior. “Can you go, please. I want to get some sleep. I’ve just been driving for several hours, and I need to sleep. I’ve got things to do later,” he told her as he kept the door open for her to leave. Hoping that for once she would listen to him.
“I just need to talk to you about something. Then I’ll go,” she said, as she went over to the couch and sat down. Ignoring Buck as she always did recently.
Buck sighed heavily and closed the door, “Make it quick, Maddie, like I said, I have other things I want to do today, and I need some sleep first.”
Maddie huffed. “I’m family, whatever you’re doing can wait.”
“No, it can’t, don’t take that attitude with me, Maddie, I have a life of my own. No matter how much you try to control it,” he snapped at her as he walked over and stood there, arms folded as he waited for her to talk.
Maddie stared at him. “Mom and Dad are coming. They should be here within a day or two,” she told him.
“When was this suggested?” he asked, not pleased that Chimney was right and that their parents were coming to town.
“I’ve been talking with them, and they want to come and see us,” Maddie said, glancing up at him.
Buck rolled his eyes, “No, Maddie, they want to come see you. If they wanted to see me as well, they would have called me at least. Now, you know my number hasn’t changed in well over ten years. They could easily call me, but they don’t. They never have.”
“Well, they’re coming to see us, and we’ll be having dinner together. You, me, Howie, Albert, and them,” she stated.
“No,” he said, shaking his head and moving away from the couch, putting some distance between himself and his sister. Like he could protect himself from what he knew was going to boil down to emotional blackmail. It usually did when Maddie wanted her way.
Maddie stared at him, “You will be coming,” she told him, “I won’t be taking no for an answer. You’ve been telling lies to Howie, and I will not have that in his head when he meets them. You will be coming to set it all straight.”
“And what exactly am I lying about?” he asked her, “The fact that Phillip and Margaret Buckley can’t stand the sight of me? The fact that they’ve belittled, verbally and even physically abused me when I was a child?” he carried on, seeing her flinch. “You want to live in a perfect little world, then you can, but that doesn’t mean I have to live in the delusion that you have about them. They love you, they don’t love me, they detest me, no doubt they wish I were dead,” he snapped at her, shaking his head as he walked away from Maddie and into the kitchen, just for something to do.
Maddie got up and followed him, “You will be coming, and you need to stop with the lies. They aren’t like that!” she yelled at him, “They never have been, they do love us. They do!”
Buck closed his eyes, leaning against the counter, “Not me,” he whispered, feeling the hurt about that statement that he had long thought buried. “But you never want to listen to what I have to say. Not once have you done so. When I told you things as a child, you’d feed me the same mantra. They’re not good parents, but they are good people. We need to understand that they are just having a difficult time,” he finished, turning to look at her.
“You-” she cut herself off, “I am not listening to your lies. You’ve always wanted attention; you even hurt yourself for attention.”
“Because I thought, when I was a child, that was the only way I could be loved. But it wasn’t the case,” he told her, “Maddie, they don’t love me, and until you accept that, there’s real-”
“Shut UP!” she yelled, “I am sick of your lies!” she carried on, tearing up once more, “I just want to have a nice family dinner. They’re coming all the way here, in anRV, to see us. The least you can do is to show up and show them that you’re doing well. They worry about you, that you have no direction, no one in your life that you can settle down with. I’m worried about that, and the therapy that you’re in. I don’t even know why you need it,” she said, as she brushed a few tears from her face.
“For a lot of reasons, and Maddie, I’m not going,” he tried again to refuse to go see his parents. He wanted nothing to do with the two people who had put him in a bad place mentally for most of his young life.
“You have to come, you know that being around them is stressful, and I don’t really need it. It’s why I want you there,” she said, tearfully, as she rubbed her stomach.
Buck paled at what she was implying, “Maddie.”
“I’m being serious, Evan,” she told him, “I’m… scared.”
Buck sighed, “Fine, I’ll go, but Maddie, you need to understand that I don’t care about them. The only ones I care about are you, Chimney, and Al. They can go fuck themselves with a caramel-covered cactus, for all I care.”
“Evan!” she screamed, eyes going wide at his words.
“What, you know how I feel about them. You can say and think what you want, but that doesn’t have anything to do with what I know and feel. You just have to accept that I feel that way. Nothing you say or do will change that. Only they can, and we’ll see if they can curb their usual behavior when it comes to me at this dinner,” he told her, glaring at his sister.
“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this,” she said as she turned to leave. “You…” she trailed off, “I’ll tell you when dinner is happening, you just show up, and you will be polite.”
“I will be as they are,” Buck told her, “And since you have Chimney and Albert coming, can Eddie come?” he had to ask.
“No, he’s not family,” Maddie answered, turning to face him for a moment.
“He’s more family to me than they are,” Buck told her.
“He’s not to come, I don’t want him there,” she insisted, making sure that Buck knew her feelings on this issue.
“Fine,” he bit out. He knew that there was no way Maddie would allow Eddie to come. He wished he knew exactly why Maddie didn’t like his best friend. He knew they had clashed a few times while Buck was recovering from the bombing and from the embolism. But he had no details. Eddie wasn’t forthcoming with that information, and Maddie just let everyone know she didn’t like Eddie. At any team gathering, she would avoid and glare at him.
Maddie nodded and left. Buck closed the door and wondered if he was in a place where he could actually sleep. He sighed as he headed up to bed, and at least tried to get some rest for the few hours he had before he needed to head to Eddie’s.
XxXxX
Albert walked into the apartment, keeping quiet in case Buck was still sleeping. He’d spent the last few hours with his brother, and he was a little confused as to why he was expected at the family dinner. Albert put his things away, hearing movement upstairs. He headed to the kitchen and started some of the tea that Buck enjoyed when he woke from his after-work naps.
Albert couldn’t help but think about what Chimney had asked of him before he had returned to the apartment. Chimney had warned him that Maddie should be telling Buck something important, that it could upset him badly. He had said the best thing to do if Buck was upset was to get in touch with Eddie. Get the man over there, or get Buck to him.
“Hey,” Buck greeted Albert as he walked up behind him, causing the young man to jump. “Sorry,” he laughed a little.
“Hey,” he said, “I heard that Maddie came by.”
“Yeah, wanting to tell me about the dinner we’re going to have to go to with my parents,” he sighed as he watched Albert finish making the tea for the two of them.
“Here,” Albert smiled slightly as he held out the mug, “Nothing else going on?” he asked.
“Just the fact that my sister hates my best friend. I really would love to know what the hell happened for it to get this bad. But neither of them is really talking about it. I know they clashed some after I got hurt a while ago,” he frowned, “And they’ve never really seen eye to eye since then.”
“Hmm,” Albert nodded, “I think Maddie said something about that when I was staying with her during Covid,” he murmured, “She said that he had stopped her from making decisions about your care. That you listened to him and not her about it all.”
“Of course, I listened to him; he had my best interests at heart. Maddie… didn’t and never really has. She has this idea in her head that I’m to do what she says all the time. She wants to control who I’m friends with and what I do for work. She didn’t like Ali, or Abby, or anyone else that I’ve shown an interest in. She hates them on principle. She’s been trying to get me to move closer to where she and Chim are, just because she wants to keep an eye on me,” he huffed, shaking his head a little before taking a tentative sip of his tea. Hissing at the heat as it touched his lips. “Hot,” he murmured.
Albert smiled, “Of course it is,” he said, amused as he blew on his own tea.
“I’m going to head to Eddie’s in a bit. Just got to pack a few things since I’m staying there the night. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we’re heading to the science museum for the day. Chris has already planned the route we’re going to take and the things we’re going to do,” he grinned.
“Sounds like you have a good, fun-filled day ahead of you tomorrow,” Albert said. “Maddie said nothing more?” he asked, pushing a little as he wanted to know what Chimney had been on about that Buck might be upset with something Maddie told him.
“We do, and no, just about the parents arriving soon. I’m dreading it,” he said as he sipped his tea. It was still hot, but at least now he could drink without problems. He drank it down and washed the mug up, “Right, I’m heading out. You have the place to yourself for a bit, no wild parties,” he grinned as he went to get ready.
Albert frowned and watched as he got ready and left the apartment. He pulled out his phone and called Chimney. “Hey, Howard,” he said, “Buck is fine, and whatever Maddie was supposed to tell him, from the way he was behaving, it was either something he brushed off, or she didn’t tell him,” he told his brother.
Chimney sighed, “I had a feeling she was going to back out again,” he huffed, “Right, thanks for keeping an eye on things. I’ll have a talk with Maddie when she gets back. She’s gone shopping for dinner,” he said.
“Buck is going to be out all day tomorrow,” Albert said.
“Yeah, I heard them talking about what he and Eddie are going to be doing with Chris,” Chimney snorted, “Right, thanks for the heads up, and I’ll talk with Maddie, stay safe, little brother,” he added before hanging up.
Albert put away his phone before trying to decide what he was going to do for the rest of the day.
Chapter Ten
Buck parked up next to Eddie’s truck and got out. He used his key to get into the house. He could hear Eddie singing quietly in the kitchen as the man prepared the meal for tonight. Buck put his things away quietly and went to the kitchen. Leaning against the doorjamb, he watched as Eddie bopped around the place as he prepared the beef and the vegetables for dinner.
“So what do we have?” Buck asked, making his presence known.
Eddie squeaked in surprise, “Damn it, Buck,” he said as he just about stopped himself from dropping the beef he had finished slicing up.
Buck laughed, “Sorry,” he said as he walked over, “You saved the food,” he said, complimenting the quick reflexes.
“Good thing, or I’d be making you cook tonight,” Eddie snorted, rolling his eyes. “I’m just marinating the beef for a bit. Should be ready for when we get back after collecting Chris,” he added as he put it away.
“So what are we having?” he asked again.
“Crispy fried beef, stir-fried vegetables, and a nice spicy sauce,” he grinned. “I’ve got some day-old rice that I plan to make into some egg fried rice as well,” he added, pointing to the bowl of rice sitting on the counter.
“Sounds great,” he smiled, as he passed the vegetables over so Eddie could put them away.
“Thanks,” Eddie smiled back as he put them away and grabbed the iced tea pitcher he always kept on hand. “So, what’s going on?” he asked, “I can see by your face that you’re annoyed by something.”
Buck sighed, “You know me too well at times,” he said as Eddie poured them both an iced tea before returning the pitcher to the fridge and closing it.
“Of course, I should do by now, just like you know me,” he added, “Even through the stupid parts of my life.”
“We both have those times,” he reminded Eddie. “But yeah, Maddie stopped by as soon as I got back, didn’t even get a chance for sleep before she was banging on my door like she was trying to raise the dead,” he said as the two of them walked into the living room and sat down.
Eddie snorted, “Chim did warn you when we got back that she might do that.”
“Yeah, I had hoped that my message to her would at least stall her for a bit. But as always, Maddie doesn’t consider that anyone else can have boundaries,” he rolled his eyes as he settled down on the couch, running a finger up the glass as condensation formed on it.
“So what did she want?” he asked. “I know you said something about your parents, but I know you don’t want anything to do with them,” he said, frowning as he turned to face Buck more.
“You’re right, I don’t. Hell, I’ll be happy to never see them again,” he snorted, “but it looks like I’m not going to have a fucking choice in that,” he muttered darkly, “Maddie is having a dinner, I’m to go to it.”
“You said no, didn’t you?” he questioned, sipping at the tea.
“Yeah, of course I did,” he replied, sending Eddie a look. “But Maddie… she basically said that the stress of being around them without me there to help could cause problems with the baby.”
“What the fuck?!” Eddie exclaimed, eyes going wide, “Did she really say that?”
“Yep,” Buck sighed, “She said that it would be really stressful, and that she was worried. Rubbing her stomach and implying that the baby would suffer because of it all. Fucking hell, Eddie, I fucking fell for it, didn’t I?” he said, rubbing his face with his free hand.
Eddie reached out, “Look,” he said, taking the hand and holding it for a few moments, “Maybe you did, but she’d done that, and I have to say that I’m kinda feeling sick aboutwhat she’s done. I think Chimney needs to be told what she’s implied. Not only that, but I offer myself for tribute, to go with you.”
“Maddie already said no. What the fuck happened between the two of you?” he asked. He’d asked a few times before, but neither one had said anything about it.
“I didn’t really want to tell you, but with how she is now, I think you should know. She doesn’t like me because I refused to listen to what she wanted to happen after the truck bombing. She was trying to force them to amputate,” Eddie told him, sighing, “She was all for it, until they finally listened when I told them that they should check who was the medical proxy. They had thought because she was your sister that it would have been her, so they hadn’t checked when it came back that it wasn’t. I told them that we had discussed options and scenarios, including something like that. I made choices based on your wishes, and she didn’t like that I punted her ass back to the waiting room when she tried to force the issue. In the end, she was kicked out of the hospital until you were conscious and able to make your own decision. She… hasn’t liked me since then.”
“What the hell? She wanted to…” Buck sighed, “Why am I not surprised….” he said, shaking his head, “She wants me out of the job and reliant on her.”
“She sounds like my mother,” Eddie pointed out. “Controlling, and determined to have someone to baby. Mom chose Chris, and Maddie is choosing you.”
“Fucking sucks,” he muttered, “Now I have to go to this dumb dinner and play nice.”
“Why the hell play nice?” Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge, drinking half of his glass as he waited for an answer.
Buck paused at that, a slow smirk forming on his face, “You know,” he began, “I think I won’t. If they make one remark, I’m going to return in kind. I’m not going to take their bullshit anymore.”
“Good, don’t. And if your sister doesn’t like it, tough fucking shit,” he smirked, “Maddie Buckley needs to learn that you’re not the little boy she still thinks you are.”
“She really does think of me like that,” he snorted, drinking the last of his tea, putting it down on the coffee table. He sighed, “Not like I’m ever going to be able to stop her.”
“No, but just be you. Stop… changing yourself. I see you do it, you know. When she’s around, you censor yourself all the time. Even Chimney picked up on it when the three of you were together.”
“She makes me feel like a little kid again. Like I’m five, and I just want her attention as she fucks off on another date. Being left behind to parents who wished I had never been born. Reminding me over and over again that I was nothing but a burden they had to put up with,” Buck looked down for a few moments and sighed, “She always makes me feel like that. Like the five-year-old she left behind when she first started dating, when she got more involved in school teams and that.”
“Remind her of that, that she wasn’t around you a lot after a certain point. She doesn’t really know you. Chimney said that he’d told her a few things about you, but then stopped when he realized that she was ignoring everything anyone said that showed you as an adult.”
“Chimney thinks, or thought of me, as a playboy,” Buck said, “And I was for a while,” he grinned, “I had game, and he really didn’t.”
“So you were picking up the slack?” Eddie laughed as Buck nodded.
“Yeah,” Buck started laughing.
“So what’s the plan for the dinner from hell?” he asked him, still chuckling lightly.
“Be myself, fuck what they think. To start with, I won’t answer to Evan; I hate that name,” he shrugged. “They always use it like a weapon, spitting it at me, saying it in a way that makes me flinch,” he murmured at the end.
“Then start with that boundary with them, it’s a simple thing,” Eddie stated, “Do that, if they carry on, point out their disrespect. Because you’re deserving of basic courtesy.”
“Yeah,” he snorted, “I’ll do-” he stopped as Eddie’s phone began to ring.
Eddie sighed as he looked at it. “My parents, or rather my mother, calling to berate me, bitch at me, and then tell me I’m a lousy father,” he rolled his eyes.
“Answer it, but tell her you’re going to record the call,” Buck told him, “I’ll record it as well, and put it on speaker. I won’t say a word,” he promised as he readied his phone, knowing that Eddie didn’t have anything on his phone to record calls yet.
Eddie nodded and sighed, “Alright,” he said, as Buck started the recording and Eddie answered the phone. “This call is being recorded,” he said as soon as the line connected, and he had put it on speaker.
“I don’t care,” his mother snapped.
“Then carry on,” Eddie rolled his eyes as he looked at Buck.
“Edmundo,” she began, her voice calming, but only slightly. “I hope that you’ve had some time to think since yesterday.”
“About what? The fact that both of you are horrible parents?” he asked, rolling his eyes yet again as he settled back on the couch, intent on ignoring the idiocy that came from his mother’s mouth.
“Edmundo!” came the voice of his father. “We’re trying to do what is best for Christopher. You need to realise that you are not capable of caring for him. He needs more help than you can give him, and more time.”
“And you know what he needs?” he asked, snorting at the absurdity of that statement, “You don’t because you don’t want to listen to what anyone else says about Christopher. You refused to listen to his doctors, the therapist he had, nothing. It was always what you wanted and how you wanted it. If you had your way, he’d be in a wheelchair fully by now. He would be in constant pain, but you don’t care about that as long as you can have him rely on you and you can baby him to your heart’s content. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve got planned for when he turns thirteen either. I’ve seen the fucking brochure on your fucking coffee table.”
“We’re doing what is needed,” Helena told her son, her voice strong and calm as she continued, “You put him through things that he doesn’t need.”
“You mean the operations he’s had. Do you even know what they were for?” he asked, “What they actually did for Christopher?” he snapped at them.
“They caused him pain, that’s all I need to know,” Helena snapped back, her tone sharp.
“In other words, you want to remain ignorant. So I’ll tell you. As Christopher grows, the tendons and muscles in his legs tighten. They tighten enough that they can cause him a lot of pain. Two of the operations he had were to loosen those, so he wouldn’t be in pain. He would be in pain, what you want to stop. So your ignorance would have kept him in constant pain, unable to move properly at all. So no, you don’t care about him, or you’d listen to the professional. Why do you think Buck asked if you had a medical degree? You don’t, you have no fucking idea what Chris needs, because it’s all about you, not him,” he replied, his voice going hard and cold.
“I don’t need a degree to know abuse!” she yelled at him.
“It’s not me that’s abusive, that would be you. Medical neglect is a thing, and that’s what it would have been if we hadn’t done the operations, since he needed them,” he shot back, shaking his head as he looked at Buck, an expression on his face asking if he believed the shit that this woman was spewing.
“We’re trying to plan for his future, which you seem to forget that one day won’t include you,” Ramon spoke up in the background.
“One day it won’t, but I don’t ever want Christopher to be reliant on others. I want to watch him fly as high as fucking possible. You would see him grounded before he even had a chance,” Eddie said, “Now I’ve got a kid to pick up, and you two are being blocked from everything. I told you back in El Paso that I was done, and I mean it.”
Eddie ended the call, and Buck stopped the recording. “You need to talk with Christopher tonight, after dinner,” he stated.
“Yeah,” he nodded, “Come on, we’ve got to get going, or we’re going to be right at the back of the line.”
Buck snorted, “Yeah, I know,” he said as he got up, grabbing the glasses to take them out while Eddie finished getting himself ready.
Chapter Eleven
Buck walked into the living room with three mugs of hot chocolate. It was almost Christopher’s bedtime, and he was already huffing about it. “If you want to be able to walk around the museum and take part in everything, you’re going to need a good night’s sleep first,” Buck told him, putting the hot chocolate down in front of him, before handing a second to Eddie.
“I know, Buck,” Christopher sighed, “I just want to stay up a little longer, please?” he begged, turning to look at Buck and then his dad.
“Not happening, mijo, but we do have something to talk to you about. Something serious,” Eddie said as he sipped the hot chocolate and smiled at the taste.
“What is it, Dad?” he asked, frowning as he looked over at him, reaching out for his drink and holding it steady in both hands.
“It’s about Grandma and Abuelo,” he began, still unsure of how to have this conversation.
“Do I have to go and see them? I want to go to camp this summer,” Christopher said, sounding upset at the thought of missing camp with his friends.
“You’re still going, and no, we’re not seeing Grandma or Abuelo any time soon,” Eddie told him. “They are… having a permanent time out.”
“You mean I don’t have to talk to them again?” he asked, sounding hopeful.
“No, mijo,” Eddie paused for a few moments, “If you want to talk to them, I will allow it. Bu-”
“No, I don’t!” he yelled, almost dropping his drink in his rush to speak. Buck was quick enough to save it. “Dad, they treat me like a baby. They tell me that I’m a burden to you. I know you said I wasn’t, and Buck says the same thing. But they do it each time, and I hate them for it. I don’t like hating people, Dad,” he said, sounding close to tears.
Eddie stood up, taking the drink from his son’s hands and holding him. “They talk mean to me as well, Chris.”
“Yeah, they tell me that you’re not a good dad, and that I won’t need to waste my time on the therapy and operations you force on me. But I know it all helps. The doctors explain what it does for me, what I can now do because I keep going,” he said, “but Grandma and Abuelo keep telling me that I don’t need it.”
“Well, we’re not going to be listening to them anymore. They don’t have a say in our lives, and if they don’t like it, tough. I just needed to know if you wanted to talk to them again,” he finished quietly.
“No, I don’t, Dad, I don’t like them, they make me feel horrible all the time. So no, I don’t want to talk to them again,” he said as he looked at him, tears in his eyes.
“Then you won’t,” Eddie promised him as he pulled his son into a hug and held him for a few moments, “You won’t have to. They may try to force it, but I’ll fight with everything I can to make sure you never have to again.”
Christopher nodded as he was given his mug back. Eddie and Buck changed the topic to try to make sure that Christopher would be cheerful when he went to bed, not wanting to let things linger on the bad things going on. They had a fun-filled day tomorrow, and nothing was going to bring that down.
XxXxX
Chimney watched Maddie as she moved around his apartment. She had avoided him yesterday, keeping out of the apartment until he had gone to bed. He’d been too tired when he had woken up, but had fallen asleep before he’d even been able to turn over to face her. When he’d woken up that morning, she had already left the apartment. It was only half an hour ago that she had arrived back. But she had been moving around the place, not standing or sitting still from the moment she walked in the door.
“Maddie,” he finally called out before she could try to leave the apartment again.
“Howie,” she smiled, “I just wanted to go and get something that I left in the car last night,” she told him as she began to head toward the door.
Chimney almost snorted the blatant lie. “I want to ask if you told Buck yet? You said you were going to.”
“Of course I did,” she snapped at him, “I told you that I would when I went to tell him about our parents coming to town,” she added, looking annoyed for a moment before smiling at him and going back toward the door.
“Maddie,” he said, stopping her once more, “I know you’re lying to me,” he stated, shaking his head.
“I’m not lying!” she insisted, turning to glare at her partner. “To be honest, it’s not really any of your business. It’s a Buckley family thing.”
“You made it my business when you told me about it,” he pointed out to her before he carried on. “So, if I call Buck now and ask him about Daniel, he’s going to know exactly what I’m talking about?” he asked, reaching for his phone.
Maddie gave a frustrated, quiet scream under her breath before she hissed at him. “Fine, I haven’t told him yet. I didn’t want him to know while our parents are here. He still believes his own lies about our parents being abusive toward him. I wish he would stop it.”
“Maddie, do you really believe that Buck would lie about something as serious as child abuse?” he asked her, waiting to see what she would say. “You also need to remember that you weren’t around him for a long time as well.”
“Yes,” she finally said. However, the word was hesitant, like she didn’t fully believe it. “I might not have been around, but I still talked to Mom and Dad.”
“But did you meet up with Buck? Did you even talk with him? Or was it just them?” he asked, pressuring her a little.
Maddie frowned, “Why would I need to? Mom and Dad would tell me anything I needed to know. Usually, Evan was in trouble and couldn’t come to the phone, or he was grounded to his room when I visited.”
“So not once did you question the fact that he seemed to be shut away from you, isolated from you?” he asked her, framing things a little differently.
Maddie paused at that. She could hear the murmurings of what had happened between her and Doug in those words. A mirror. But that just couldn’t be the case. “Why did you say it like that? They didn’t isolate him?” she said, shaking her head, getting rid of any doubt that she had about what her parents had told her back then.
“How would you know? You never saw him? How often did you actually talk to him from the moment you left that house for college, to the moment he turned up at the hospital asking for help?” he questioned her. He and Buck had talked a little more about his life before he had left, and it didn’t paint a good picture of Buck’s life before Maddie had given him the jeep.
“I… just never had time for it,” she said dismissively, waving her hand once more as though to bat the conversation away, “To see him, that is. That’s all. They weren’t,” she shook her head, “Look I need to get something from the car, I’ll be back in a moment,” she said as she turned and quickly headed out of the apartment before Chimney could stop her this time.
Chimney sighed in frustration. He headed to the kitchen area and glanced around. They were in his apartment at the moment, the dinner would be taking place in Maddie’s, since the kitchen and dining area were separate instead of together. She’d already agreed to move into his apartment a few weeks ago, since his apartment had more space for things, and her lease was ending in three weeks. Her apartment was a little small, and she wasn’t that happy with it anyway, and had happily agreed to move in when he asked her a month before. The place had been a quick find when she wanted out of her previous place after Doug had kidnapped her.
Chimney jumped a little when the door opened again, and Maddie walked back in. “I wasn’t sure if you were actually going to come back.”
“I had to,” Maddie said, “Mom and Dad are just outside, they’re parking up and coming up to see us. They want to do a lunch. I just need to get Evan to come,” she carried on as she brought the small box she was carrying into the kitchen and set it down. “Remind me to bring that with me when I head to my own place,” she told him before heading toward the door to go and get her parents.
“Won’t be possible, Buck’s got plans for today,” Chimney told her, glancing over and seeing the scowl on her face at that. “He has a life of his own, Maddie, and people and friends that he sees a lot, and goes out with. He’s not a shut-in.”
“Well, he’s just going to have to make the-” Maddie began, a dark look on her face as she knew just who her baby brother was spending time with.
“Maddie, no,” Chimney said, this time a little more forcefully. “If you had told him what was going on and when they arrived, then maybe he would have changed things around. I doubt you told them when they were going to be arriving, so he had plans for today with Chris and Eddie.”
“Well, he can just unplan then,” she snapped, “He knows what I have planned, and we’re going to have the dinner tonight.”
“No, I’m not telling him to cancel his plans with Chris and Eddie. Not a chance. And neither are you. If you can’t be bothered to inform Buck when things are, then you’re just going to have to accept that you fucked up in this. If you wanted this dinner tonight, then you should have told him when they were arriving. I didn’t even know they were arriving today.”
“I told you,” she said, “I know I told you.”
“No, you said that they were heading here in an RV and that it might take a couple of days; that was yesterday. If you told Buck the same thing then, no, he wouldn’t know when they were coming. Since you barely said a word about them, except that they were almost here,” he reminded her, shaking his head, “Now, I’m not going to call Buck at all today. I’m going to let him enjoy his time with his son and co-parent,” he said, knowing that those titles would annoy her, but he was correct in using them; everyone knew that Buck was co-parenting Chris. Even if no one really acknowledged it. Especially the two that it was about.
Maddie grabbed her phone and dialed her brother. She put it on speaker and demanded as soon as it connected, “You need to come to Howie’s. Our parents are here.”
“No,” came the reply from Buck. “I’m out with Chris and Eddie, we have plans for the whole day. I’ll only be free tomorrow evening, not the daytime,” he added, “Bye.”
“Eva-” she began, only for the line to go dead. “He… hung up on me.”
“What did you expect? He’s out having fun today; you tried to ruin it. You know he doesn’t like his parents, and you’re here demanding that he come and see them. No doubt that he’ll be avoiding that for as long as he can,” Chimney told her as someone knocked on the door.
Maddie gave a frustrated growl as she went to open the door, smiling as she greeted her parents. “Mom, Dad,” she said as she hugged the two.
“Maddie,” Margaret Buckley smiled at her only daughter, looking her over as she then hugged her tightly.
“Maddie,” Phillip Buckley said, smiling slightly and looking at his daughter.
“Come on in, it’s just Howie and me. Evan is out for the day with a few friends,” Maddie said as he let her parents into Chimney’s apartment. “Mom, Dad, this is Howard Han,” she said as she introduced him to her parents.
“Mr and Mrs Buckley, nice to meet you both,” he said politely, as he shook Phillip’s offered hand. He was going to reserve judgment on the two until he saw how they were with Buck compared to how they were with Maddie. He was more inclined to believe Buck than Maddie on this.
Chapter Twelve
Buck sighed as he got out of the jeep. Buck had spent the majority of his Sunday with Eddie and Chris, until he had to leave to get ready for the dinner with his parents. He was currently outside Maddie’s apartment building. A place he had helped her find after she was able to break the lease on her old place. Albert had gone ahead of him, already entering the building. He could see the RV nearby, parked up in a good spot that was out of the way of traffic.
“You coming?” Albert asked as he came back to look at Buck, frowning at him.
“Yeah,” he sighed as he walked a little quicker to catch the younger man up.
Albert knocked on the door, and it was soon opened. Maddie was standing there, a scowl on her face as she waited for Buck to show himself. “Maddie,” Albert said with a smile.
“Come on in, Howie is in the kitchen,” she told him, smiling back before scowling again when Buck appeared behind Albert. “About time you showed up.”
“Considering the dinner doesn’t start for half an hour, and you sprung this one on me when I had plans for yesterday and today, you can shut up,” he snapped at her. “I already don’t want to be here, don’t make it worse. I will walk out,” he warned her. “They start anything, I will leave. You start anything, I’ll leave,” he finished.
“You have no right to dictate what you are to do in my home,” she hissed at him as Albert walked past them awkwardly.
“Then I’ll turn around right now and leave. Listen, Maddie, you’re the one who wants me here. I don’t want to be here. I’d rather be at the pit BBQ with the Diaz’s. I am putting up with their shit for the dinner, and that’s it,” he told her, waiting for her to agree before he even entered her home.
“Fine,” she snapped at him, “But I warn you, Evan-”
“Buck, you can call me Buck. You know I hate that name. And I will be enforcing it here,” he warned her, “I hate the way they spit the name as though it’s the most insulting thing in the world.”
“They don’t like nicknames,” Maddie reminded him.
“I don’t care,” he told her, “Just like I’m sick of you using it, because you’re doing the same thing now. Calling me Evan in that tone where I’m just a piece of shit stuck on your shoe.”
“Why can’t you ju-” she began, only to be cut off as Buck just glared at her, “you’re being horrible. I don’t understand why?” she said, looking upset as she shook her head a few times.
“Maddie, you emotionally blackmailed me to get here, implying that if I wasn’t, something could happen to your baby,” he said bluntly, “I’m also having to sit through what is probably going to be an awful dinner with people who abused me as a child. And yeah, I know you don’t believe it, but I know what’s true. You don’t since you weren’t there. You can believe Mom and Dad all you like, but it doesn’t change anything for me.”
“I hate that you keep lying,” she hissed at him.
“No, you’re lying to yourself, you always have done if it doesn’t fit the picture-perfect life that you want,” Buck rolled his eyes, “Now, are you going to agree to that or what?” he asked her.
“Fine, do as you want, Buck,” she said, spitting the name much like she did Evan at times.
“Maddie,” Buck said in the warning tone he would often use with Christopher when he was about to do something he had been told not to.
Maddie huffed, but said nothing as she stepped aside and let her brother into the apartment. Buck walked past her and headed for the kitchen.
“Everyone okay?” Chimney asked quietly as he saw the stormy look on Buck’s face.
“Maddie wants to bury her head in the sand as always,” he said, shrugging. “I’ve told her that I don’t want to be called Evan at all at the moment. I hate the way she spits the name when she isn’t getting her way. Mom and Dad do it as well. I’m not putting up with it.”
“Don’t, Maddie is being difficult at the moment, even I’m not sure where this is all coming from. It’s not like her,” Chimney said, shaking his head.
“It has, she just… hides it better. I think the emotional upheaval of the pregnancy is just making it easier to spot. Not only that, but you’re in therapy; no doubt they’re helping you see things a little differently as well. It puts things in a different perspective,” Buck said quietly. “Like how I let Maddie get away with so much. I learned a few things about why Maddie hates Eddie so much, though. Finally got it out of him,” he smirked slightly. It wasn’t a good idea, but at least he knew.
“Yeah, I’m seeing a lot in a different way now,” Chimney sighed, “Part of me doesn’t like it, but the rest of me. It’s like I’ve opened my eyes for the first time in years. A lot of the things that I blocked out, pushed away, and just downright ignored. The trauma of my mother dying and my father not being there. Then I felt aimless for so long. Losing Kevin, the rebar, just… pretending to be someone I’m just not. I’m coming to terms with things, slowly.”
“Slow and steady wins the race,” Buck said, as he looked at his friend, “I know things haven’t always been easy for you. But this… this is a good thing.”
“Yeah,” he snorted, “Not sure Maddie is going to agree, as I’m questioning her on a few things she doesn’t want to think about.”
“Let me guess, Doug? Parents? Therapy?” he suggested.
“Yep,” Chimney said, popping the P. “Right, the food is almost done,” he said, as he looked at Buck, “Thanks for coming in and helping with the last-minute things. And for the help over the phone. Maddie has been… absent today.”
“Welcome,” he said, “Right, my parents don’t like nicknames. I’m still going to call you Chim if you’re okay with that in front of them. I’m going to be called Buck, no matter what. Please call me that, no matter how insistent my parents might get with the name Evan. I won’t answer to that name at all; I won’t. I can’t do that shit again, not with the name Evan. I think the only one that has ever used the name Evan with me and not made me flinch has been Eddie.”
Chimney nodded, “Alright, and I don’t mind. I’m called Howie and Howard by the Lees and Maddie. But at work, with friends, it’s Chim or Chimney,” he admitted, “Hell, I don’t think Hen has used the name Howard in about eight years,” he snorted.
Buck laughed, “I think only they call me Evan, and they do it like-”
“It’s something they stepped into?” Chimney asked.
“Yeah, like that. But Eddie… he says it like it means something precious,” he murmured, “He’s the only one that does so,” he finished quietly.
“I-” he began as Albert walked into the room. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Someone just knocked on the door,” Albert answered.
“They’re here then,” Buck sighed. “Well, show time,” he stated as he went to head out.
“I’ve got your back,” Chimney said, “If you need to, leave. I know Maddie vetoed Eddie being here, but hell, just head over to his place and ignore your parents.”
Buck almost snorted at the wording. “I will be,” he nodded as they headed out of the kitchen and into the joint living room and dining room. Maddie was at the door, escorting her parents in.
“Evan,” Margaret said, frowning as she saw her son.
“Mom, I prefer to be called Buck. Call me that,” he stated as he looked at her.
“I will not use such a vulgar nickname, you know how I feel about them,” she snapped at him.
“I don’t care. I won’t answer to Evan,” he shrugged, as he looked at his mother and then his father.
“Evan,” Phillip said in a warning tone.
“I mean it,” he repeated, “This is the last time I’ll say it. Anyone calls me Evan, and I won’t answer at all.”
“Honestly,” Maddie said, “I don’t know why you’re so adamant about that.”
Buck just looked at Maddie and then at his parents. He didn’t need to say anything; he could tell his parents weren’t happy. But they had never really been happy with him. He turned and walked away, not saying a word. Maddie huffed and let their parents into the apartment. Chimney watched Margaret and Philip as they talked to their daughter. Buck moved around the edge of the room. Chimney saw the glares that the two aimed towards the young man. The snide comments they would make towards him when he got too close.
Chimney went to start bringing out dinner. Buck jumped up to help him.
“It would be the least you could do after your sister has to put up with you here. No doubt you’ve done nothing but cause trouble, as always,” Margaret snipped from where she was sitting on the couch with her husband.
Buck rolled his eyes and followed Chimney into the kitchen.
“You doing okay?” he asked, as he plated the roast that he and Maddie had done.
“This is normal,” Buck sighed as he began to put the veg into dishes, ready to be taken out. “Really, it’s normal. They do this all the time. The jabs, the snipping words of my mother as she puts me down. They put Maddie on the pedestal, and have done so all my life. She can do no wrong, and if there was anything wrong, I was the one who caused the trouble. What happened with Doug… well, you heard them. It’s my fault that Maddie was taken, that you were hurt. Everything is always my fault,” he said, shrugging his shoulders a little.
“Look, I know you want to be here for Maddie, but maybe… if you need to. You can go?” he suggested, not wanting to see Buck being put down like he was. Even Maddie had joined in occasionally on the put-downs since they had arrived.
“Like I said, this is normal,” he sighed heavily once more. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Bring Eddie next time, no matter what Maddie says,” Chimney suggested as he prepared to carry the tray of meat, ready for him to cut it. He’d already told Maddie that he’s not letting Phillip do it. He was also starting to see that Buck really was telling the truth about their parents. That they loved Maddie, but not Buck.
The two brought everything out, and Chimney cut up the meat. And side dishes moved around the table as they took what they wanted.
“Thanks,” Buck said as they began to eat.
“You’re a good cook, Maddie,” Margaret said, a smile on her face as she praised her daughter.
“Thanks, Mom,” she smiled at her.
“Reminds me, Buck,” Chimney said, looking at Buck, “Eddie’s been raving about the Beef Wellington you made for dinner a few nights ago for them. And about the croissants that you make.”
Buck grinned, “Yeah, the Wellington turned out great. And I’ve got some croissants ready to be baked. May bring some into work to share.”
“Please,” Chimney grinned, “I enjoyed the fruits of your labor a lot.”
Buck laughed, “Yeah, I enjoy baking and cooking,” he said, “Abuela has been teaching me a few of the Diaz family recipes,” he grinned. “Eddie’s been learning right beside me. Next shift, Cap’s already given the go-ahead for the two of us to do lunchtime meal. As long as we don’t have any call-outs.”
“Excellent,” he laughed lightly.
“Would your captain really trust Evan to cook?” Phillip stated, “I would have thought he would keep something like him out of the kitchen at all costs.”
“He was always a disaster with us,” Margaret nodded.
“It’s Buck,” Buck reminded them, “and I was seven the first time I had to try and cook my own meal. What did you expect?” he rolled his eyes, “And I’m one of five on shift that have full cooking privileges. Since I’m such a good cook.”
“Ugh, rotten nicknames, I hate them,” Margaret sneered as she looked at Maddie and began to talk about the baby instead. Phillip did the same. Not speaking a word to Buck as they ate dinner. Albert and Chimney are both being brought into the conversation, and trying to bring Buck in as well.
Chapter Thirteen
Buck and Chimney stood up as the dinner was finished. Buck had given Chimney an apple pie that he’d made for the meal. Letting Chimney pass it off as store-bought.
“They really don’t want to leave it alone,” Buck grumbled as they began to dish out the dessert with ice cream.
“They’ve mentioned Doug nine times, over the meal. Each time, they blamed you for letting Maddie be taken. Hell, even Maddie agreed with them at one point,” Chimney exclaimed, shaking his head, “I don’t see why she does that. She knows you had nothing to do with it. Hell, if you hadn’t come by when you did, I would have been dead, and chances are, so would Maddie. You saved both of us. When I said that, Margaret made it sound like that was the least of what you should have done to fix the situation.”
Buck looked at his friend, seeing how angry and annoyed he was with the way Phillip and Margaret were acting and how they were speaking to him. “This is what it’s like. No matter what, I’m always going to be at fault for anything that goes wrong in their lives. In Maddie’s life. Let’s get this out there, and soon enough, I can head home.”
Chimney snorted, “I wouldn’t blame you,” he stated as they carried the bowls out for everyone. Setting them down and then grabbing their own, they were once again seated around the table.
“This is such a good pie,” Margaret said.
Chimney was about to say something when Buck shook his head. “It’s just a generic store-bought one,” he said, not looking happy about it.
“You’ll have to tell me where you got it from,” Margaret smiled at him, “it’s so nice to have a good apple pie.”
“I… can’t remember; it was a last-minute purchase,” he stated.
“Shame,” Phillip said, “It’s got a very home-made taste to it. It would be nice to have something like that again. Been a few weeks of travelling on the road, diners and all are nice, but some good home-cooked food has been missed.”
“It’s been nice to see you again, Maddie. You’ve been missed. I do wish that you had never married Doug. It was such a horrible situation. The people around us are all asking so many awkward questions,” Margaret said as she began to eat her pie.
“Mom,” Buck said, “You know Maddie doesn’t want to talk about that. She told you that earlier,” he reminded them, putting another mark on the tally of how many times Margaret and Phillip had mentioned Doug.
“I’m sorry, Maddie, I don’t mean to bring up bad memories. But the thought of you with him, well, we even had some therapy to help with it all,” Margaret said softly as she looked at Maddie. “It’s helped a little. Especially with all the gossip that was around. It was horrible.”
“Mom,” Maddie said, frowning, “You-” she cut herself off, shaking her head. “Doesn’t matter,” she said, forcing a smile.
“We’re just happy that you’ve found someone that you love, and that will love and cherish you as you should be,” Phillip said, taking his wife’s hand for a second before going back to eating the pie.
“Yeah,” Maddie smiled at Chimney, who smiled back.
“At least one of our children is making something of their life. Evan just wastes his,” Margaret snipped a little, as she looked at Buck.
Buck ignored them, not paying any attention to them.
Chimney frowned at the words, “How is Buck wasting his life?” he asked, “From what I know of Buck, he’s a good, strong, and capable firefighter. He has a good head on his shoulders. He’s created a family around him and spends time with an awesome kid who looks up to him. He’s smart as well, an-” he was cut off as Margaret and Phillip both scoffed. “Mr and Mrs Buckley, I don’t think either of you really realizes just what a good man your son is. How capable and strong he is,” he said.
“He’s useless, always has been. He’ll never be anything but a failure,” Margaret said, as Phillip nodded his head in agreement.
Chimney frowned a little more and began to realize that the two blamed Buck for what happened to Daniel. Chimney had looked into savior siblings, and when Buck was born, it was in its infancy; it was a long shot to work. There had only been a couple of cases, and even then, it was more by chance than design. Chimney looked at Buck, who just shrugged, not understanding why his parents both believed those words. Buck had heard them all before, several times before.
“That was a good pie, do try and remember where you got it from,” Phillip added. “Now, Evan, there’s a box in the hallway. Bring it,” he demanded, looking at Buck.
Buck ignored him, not replying at all and continuing to eat the last of his pie.
“Evan!” Phillip snapped at him.
“Evan!” Maddie yelled at her brother.
“What did I say when I arrived, Maddie?” Buck asked her, staring right at her.
“I-” she flushed, their parents had been told about Buck’s request for his name, and what he would do if they called him Evan.
“I will not use that inane nickname; it’s disgraceful,” Margaret said, pulling a face.
“Good thing it’s not something you’ll need to use often, then, isn’t it, Maggie?” Buck said, as he looked at her, his face was blank. There was no emotion on his face at all, and Chimney could now easily see the SEAL training that Buck had gone through. The man knew how to shut his emotions out; he just didn’t want to, but with parents like these, he could understand needing to.
Phillip stared at his son before looking at Chimney and dismissing the young man. “Howard, would you be able to get the box that’s in the hallway, the one we brought in with us?” he asked, his voice polite, as Margaret fumed beside him about what Buck had called her.
Chimney stood up, “Sure,” he nodded, as he looked at Buck, who was finishing the last of his pie and set down the spoon he had used. He went into the entry and saw the box. It was painted white, with Maddie painted in pink on it. He picked it up; it had a bit of weight to it as he carried it through. He put it on the table as Phillip cleared a few things away to make room.
“What’s this?” Maddie asked, a happy smile on her face as her mom and dad looked at her with large smiles.
“Your baby box. We’ve added so much to it through the years. So many milestones,” Margaret said as she gestured for Maddie to open it.
Maddie opened it and gasped, “Oh, bunny!” she cried out, laughing lightly as she picked up a little pink bunny that she’d had as a child. “I forgot all about him,” she smiled, “Oh,” she added as she picked up baby booties as well. There was so much in there. Artwork from her time at school. Pictures of everything she had done. Cheerleader, Prom, debate team. Everything. Trophies were there, along with a pompom as well. “Howie,” she said, as she gestured for him to come over.
Chimney stood beside her as she went through some of the things in the box. He looked at Phillip and Margaret. He didn’t know if he should ask, but the words slipped through before he could stop them. “What about Buck’s? Do you have it with you? I’d really like to see what he was like growing up.”
Margaret shook her head, “Evan was too much of a willful child. He was difficult. So, no. He doesn’t have one.”
Buck snorted, “That tracks,” he said.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Phillip snapped at him, turning to face the young man.
Buck looked at him, “You would have to love me to make something like that for me, and you and she have never loved me,” he stated.
“That’s enough, Evan!” Maddie yelled, “You need to understand, they do love you!”
“No, they don’t. If they did, then they would have a box, just like that, with the name Evan on it. If they loved me, they wouldn’t have had yours here when they knew I would be here for the meal, since you insisted that I be here to support you. Not that you needed it, since you joined in on putting me down as soon as they arrived,” he told her, shaking his head, “And I said, call me Buck!” he snapped back at her. “Any time I put down boundaries, you walk all over them. I’m sick of constantly having to defend myself.”
“Then stop telling lies!” she yelled back, “You always do this.”
“Just because you believe them to be lies doesn’t matter. Because I know the fucking truth. They hate me; they always have done. I’ve known that since I was six. And I hated you so much for lying to me all the time when you said that they loved me. I hated you; you were never there when they hit me, when they pushed me. When they yelled in my face, telling me that they should have drowned me when they had the chance. That I should never have been born, I shouldn’t exist. Imagine being told at seven that your own fucking mother wanted you dead!” he couldn’t help but yell back, all the things he had kept to himself as a child, everything wanted to come out. He wanted to tell her about the suicide attempts, the fact that he had wanted to die instead of remaining in a house where he was hated and not wanted any longer.
“You nee-” Maddie again began to try and deny what Buck was telling her.
“What? Stop? Never, because they are the ones in the wrong, and they always have been. You’ve been too busy burying your head in the sand for so long about them. I know they love you, Maddie. I know that, and I saw it all the time. I just wish they could have treated me just a little, like they treated you. I would have been happy with that, instead I was abused, verbally, physically, and you never wanted to see it, even when it stared you in the face,” he said, his voice going quieter. “I didn’t want to be here. I want nothing to do with them. I’m fine if you do, like I said, I know they love you. But stop trying to push the narrative that they love me when they don’t.”
“They are your parents,” Maddie said, shaking her head.
“No, they are your parents; they’ve never been my parents. They were just adults in my life that I had to live with. I stopped considering them Mom and Dad by the time I was eight,” he finished as he got up.
“How could we want you? You caused nothing but trouble from the moment you were born,” Margaret spat at him.
Buck looked at her, “Nicely said, Maggie. I hope I don’t have to see you or Phil ever again, but I have no doubt I’ll be forced to play nice. As long as you do, I will. But only for my niece.”
Maddie went to grab his arm as Buck started to leave the house. “Ev- Buck,” she said, her voice soft.
“I love you, Maddie, but at the moment, I can’t stand the sight of you or them. I’m leaving,” he finished as he walked out, the door slamming behind him.
Maddie flinched as she turned to Chimney for comfort.
“Al, no doubt I know where he’s going, you might have to get an Uber home,” he said, “There are a few things I need to say to the Buckleys, and it’s not for your ears.”
Albert looked at his brother, who had been silent through the entire meal. “Of course, Howard,” he nodded, getting up. “I’ll leave now and call you later?” he asked.
“I will, take care,” he said as he rested a hand on Maddie’s back as she curled against him.
It’s really interesting to see Chimney here. This is how Chimney could be, and it’s amazing.