First responder, second love

Chapter 8 (Buck)

After the game, everyone went home, except Buck and Maddie. They promised Chimney they would help clean up, so they did.
    "She's pretty awesome, right?"
    "Yes, she is great, I like her," Maddie answers.
    "And she's almost a second-year resident, that's really impressive," Chimney reacts. "She's like really smart Buck, are you sure you're up for that?"
    "Why wouldn't I be?" he asks defensively.
    "Buck isn't going to date her," Maddie reacts, while she's cleaning the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher.
    "Why are you so sure about that?" Buck asks.
    "Because she said so. She told you she wasn't ready to date."
    "No, she said she wasn't looking for anyone right now," Buck corrects her.
    "That's the same thing."
    "No, it's not."
    "What did you do this time, Buck?" Chimney asks him. He's collecting all the empty beer bottles and putting them in a box. "Did you scare her off?"
    "No, I didn't do anything. In fact, we made plans to go see a movie next week."
    "But as friends?" Chimney asks.
    "Yeah, but things can change."
    "Let it go, Buck. If you want to start dating again, you should call Ali, that girl you saved during the earthquake."
    "Why are you talking like that, what did Sammy tell you? Did I do something wrong?"
    "No, you didn't do anything wrong. She really wants to be friends with you, but only friends." Buck stares at his sister, he can't just forget about it. He would never chase a girl who doesn't want to be chased, and Sammy clearly doesn't want to. But he has a feeling that his sister knows more than he does, is there a bigger reason? It wouldn't be the first time his sister would keep something from him.

When they were younger, he always had a feeling that his parents and Maddie knew something, and he didn't. He thought they were having a secret which Buck wasn't allowed to know about, but he always wondered what it was. As a child he made up stories, there was one where he thought that his parents were secret agents and his sister was in on it too, but Buck was too little, and they were afraid he couldn't keep quiet. Obviously, that wasn't true, his parents were too boring to have such an awesome job.

It's Wednesday night and Buck is waiting at the entrance of the cinema. He had a forty-eight-hour shift, and it's his day off. His shift was very hectic, there were a lot of calls. Some were weird, like a young woman who had put her head in a tailpipe, or a guy who was choking on insects. He is standing in front of the cinema for about ten minutes now. Sammy and he made plans to see a movie. They had settled on a horror movie, not Buck's favorite genre, but Sammy really wanted to see it. He looks at his phone to check if she's still coming, but he sees her walking up to him.

    "Hi, sorry, I'm a little late. I will pay for the snacks," she says to him. He looks at her and shows a little smile. She looks good tonight. She's wearing a long jumper with tights and black boots. Her hair hangs in waves around her face, over her shoulders, and her brown eyes are somehow smiling at him. "Stop that Buck, you can't look at her that way," he tells himself. She was very clear; she just wants to be friends.
    "Ready to go inside?" Sammy asks him. Buck nods his head without saying a word and they walk to the entrance of the movie theater. "What kind of snacks would you like?" Sammy asks when they get to the shop. "I need to have popcorn, do you like popcorn?"
    "Yeah, but not sweet, because that's disgusting."
    "Great to know we're on the same page about that, salt it is. Do you want something to drink?"
    "A Coke please and should we get some candy?"
    "Sure, go nuts." After getting almost every kind of candy they had, we walk to our seats and sit down. Sammy rips open one of the packages and takes out something that looks like a large red straw. She sinks her teeth in it and rips a piece of the candy off.

    "Can't believe we really watched the whole thing," Buck says when they walk out of the cinema.
    "I can't believe we ate all that candy," Sam reacts. "We shouldn't have done that."
    "Not feeling so great?"
    "You got that right." Sammy takes a deep breath and stops at the door of the building. "Would you mind waiting for a sec, I need to go to the restroom."
    "No worries, I will wait for you outside." Sammy nods her head and heads inside again.