Turning Point (A 9-1-1 Buddie fanfic)

Chapter 8

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Chapter 8

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"Buck?" Maddie opened her front door with a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Can I come in?" Buck asked, but Maddie was already moving to the side, allowing him to pass into the house before he had even finished speaking. He made his way through the chaos of the living room, piles of clothes scattered across the sofa and chairs, and toward the fridge in the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Maddie followed him, and Buck could feel her eyes narrowing on him. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I swapped with Ravi," Buck answered, opening up the fridge and searching until he came across the beer.

"Why?" Concern lined Maddie's words, and she went from suspicious to hovering. "Are you okay? Do I need to be worried about anything?"

He pulled a bottle of beer free from the fridge, his face twisting up as his gaze fell away. "I think we had a fight…"

"Who? You and Ravi?"

"Me and Eddie."

He made to open the bottle but Maddie pulled it from his grip and put it back into the fridge, pulling out one of Jee's juice boxes instead and passing him that.

"Really?" he questioned.

"It's nine in the morning, Buck," she answered, raising her eyebrow at him, tone and expression showing there was no room for argument.

He scoffed but said nothing, resigning himself to the tropical punch flavoured juice. Of course, nine in the morning wasn't too early when he was providing sangria for their brunch, but now he could do with a drink, it was too early?

"So, you think you had a fight?" she questioned, heading back into the living room area and grabbing up a pile of clothes.

"I kind of maybe walked out before we could really say much."

"And now you're avoiding him?" She shook her head at him and dumped half of the clothes in front of him on the table and the rest in front of herself.

"What's this?" he asked instead of answering her, placing the juice box down and picking up the top shirt from the pile.

"Laundry day."

Head tilting, he furrowed his brow at her.

"It's my one day off where Jee sleeps in and I'm making the most of it. So, fold."

He smiled and scoffed, but did as he was ordered. Before he knew it, he was halfway through the small pile and opening up to Maddie about the previous night. "I screwed up."

"What are you talking about?"

"I wanted to tell Chris, but Eddie… he doesn't think he's ready." Buck paused and let go of a breath. "And I mean, I get it. But this is me, Maddie. I'm not just some random date he's bringing home."

"I know," Maddie answered. "But you've got to remember, you've had years to come to terms with how you feel. For Eddie, this is all new."