FBI profiler turned firefighter, Anastasia Valdez, moves to Los Angeles for a fresh start after the loss of her fiancé. A career switch plus moving across the country make for a great conversation starter.
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In which fires aren't the only thing ig...
The following week, Los Angeles finally went into a two week lockdown, and everything changed for everyone. Only first responders and essential workers were out, and it was really only grocery stores that were open, even if they were now empty almost all day. Maddie, Buck's sister, was living by herself with Chimney's brother because she was pregnant and Chimney didn't want to risk getting sick and bringing it home; he was now sleeping in Buck's living room. Hen and Karen had a solid system to get cleaned up after work, same with Eddie before getting Christopher. Athena wasn't back to work yet, and because her kids were older, Bobby didn't have to be too cautious when he came back but he was still safe.
Anastasia was really the only one who didn't have any changes other than not being able to take Tatum out on his usual adventures; now they played in the backyard because Tatum was used to being active and essentially needed it. And the fact that Buck sometimes ended up sleeping over, so Chimney was alone in the apartment. It started off with him coming over after a shift since her house was closer to the station, and to see Tatum (and her), and eventually escalated to him casually coming over and sleeping over for a week.
"Blueberries or chocolate chips, B?"
Sitting at the kitchen island with his chin in his hand, Buck's eyebrows scrunched up in thought as he debated his options. "Am I allowed to have chocolate chip pancakes and a fruit bowl?"
Still thinking over his options, Buck seemed to be stressed out, and it was barely 8am. "You know where all the fruit is, Buckley." With her answer came a lot of relief on Buck's part, and he jumped up off the stool he was on to grab everything to make them fruit bowls, subtly sliding Tatum some banana slices while Anastasia's back was turned. However, she does it all the time, so he knew she wouldn't mind. If that doesn't go to show how often they spend time together, then nothing else will.
"You know what I miss? Family dinners. I mean, we eat at the station, but eating out in restaurants together or going to Bobby and Athena's house is a lot more fun."
"Why? Because our eating doesn't get interrupted by sirens?" Anastasia asked, carrying over two plates stacked with pancakes to the table. "Am I not good enough for you Buckley?" With mock disgust and a hand on her chest, the two stared at each other from different parts of the dining area.
"No, which is why I want a divorce." Buck said monotonously, eliciting a gasp from Anastasia, which then caused her to throw her kitchen towel at him. "I'm kidding." Not giving her any options, Buck walked over and bear-hugged her, squeezing tight enough so she wouldn't be able to escape his arms.
Because of their current position, Anastasia's head was squished against Buck's chest, so her words came out muffled as she said, "You know, if I really wanted to, I could get him to attack you."
Which was true, seeing as how Tatum was trained to be a guard dog, and for practice, he'd attack the "intruder", who was really Anastasia's dad and ex-fiancé. "I'm sure he could kill me too, so thank you for not doing that." Buck said gratefully, glancing over to Tatum who was on the floor in front of a window so he could lay in the sun. "Should I start scrambling the eggs?"
× × ×
With Howie isolating himself from Maddie and their future baby, it was easy for everyone else to understand and follow along. However, Buck and Maddie were really close, so not seeing each other, especially with everything that happened with Doug, was really weird for them. Instead, the two opted for FaceTime, usually with Howie and Albert on the same call. Like a family meeting of sorts.
"How do you find a girlfriend in the middle of a pandemic?" Albert asked loudly. "I couldn't get a single date the whole few months I was here, pre-COVID."
From behind the camera as he was making a cup of coffee in Buck's kitchen, Chimney said, "Because he's Evan Buckley."
"Anastasia's not my girlfriend." Buck sighed, shaking his head at such an accusation. The same accusation he and she have been getting for months, basically the same time she started working for the 118.
"No? Where have you been the past week then because you came in here 10 minutes before the call?"
"Woah, you sleep over at her house?" Maddie asked. "How come I wasn't made aware you were living with her? I want to know everything, Evan."
On the screen, Albert peeked his head more into the frame with two mugs, one for him and one for Maddie. "Yeah, like how you managed to get a COVID bae."
"There's nothing to tell because there's no "COVID bae" and there's nothing going on. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to shower before our shift." Buck grabbed his own mug, smoothly sliding out of the frame so he could go up to his "room" and get clothes.
With him out of earshot, Howie leaned in a little closer to the iPad and muttered, "He's washing off all of the sins he's committed at her house."
"I heard that, Howard!"
THIS IS SO SHORT 😭😭😭 i've been trying to update for like a month but things keep coming up with school, sorry babes <3
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