𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 // 𝟗-𝟏-𝟏

t w o

"He is hot." Zoe scoffs at her friend's reaction to the sight, but doesn't blame her.

"We're going on a date?" Zoe sounds unsure of her words. The blonde smiles at the news, quickly pushing her towards the door.

"Well don't keep him waiting, go!" Lorelei was genuinely happy for the girl who'd been single for a little over a year.

"Okay, okay, i'm going." She chuckled, opening the door of the bookshop to find that Buck had crossed the street and was waiting beside the shop.

"You ready?"

"As i'll ever be." Zoe smiled, looking up at the man. She never really understood how tall he was until now, her neck craned up just to meet his eyes.

***

"Hi." Zoe smiles as Buck sits back down at their table in the Starbucks.

"Hi." he chuckled nervously, placing her coffee in front of her, gaining a small thank you. He just sat there for a moment, admiring the look on her face as she brought her coffee to her lips to take a sip.

She was beautiful, Buckley couldn't deny that, it was a fact. The way she pushed her hair behind her ear on only one side, the way her dimples were revealed each time she pursed her lips.

Somehow, he knew she wasn't going to be like all of the other girls, she was gonna be around for a lot longer than they were.

"You're really beautiful." Buck surprises himself with his words, reading his thoughts aloud was not something Buckley did a lot. Zoe appreciated his kind words, trying to think of a way to return them.

"Thank you, you're really pretty." She placed her coffee down, watching on as Buckley begun to chuckle.

"Wow."

"What?" His laugh was contagious, Zoe breaking out in a wide smile.

"I just- nobody's ever called me that before." He shook his head, looking down at his hands.

"Pretty?" she asks, confused by his confession.

"I usually get called hot or uh, sexy. Sexy's a big one." he almost gloats, looking back at her.

"Oh really?" She smiles and he nods, his teasing smirk creeping into a chuckle.

"Yeah."

"You're pretty." she buckled down on her previous statement, nodding her head slowly as Buckley took a sip of his coffee to hide the slight nerves he had.

"So how old are you?"

"I'm 25." Zoe nodded, welcoming the introduction section of the date with open arms; she was eager to learn more about the mystery man, "You?"

"28."

"Birth mark?" She pointed to her eyebrow, where he had a sort of red splotchy mark above and below the end of his brow.

"Yes!" He exclaimed in a sort of excitement, quickly calming down after noticing the stares they were getting, "Sorry, everyone always assumes i've been punched or something."

"It doesn't even look like a bruise!" she scoffed out a small smile, and he claps before excitedly pointing at her.

"That's what i'm saying!"

***

The pair sat in the coffee shop for hours, talking about everything from Lorelei, Eddie and the firefighters from the 118, to acceptable pizza toppings.

Buck was funny, Zoe could add that to her list of things she liked about him. He could make her laugh with ease.

Buck thought Zoe was different. But not in a bad way, in a way that intrigued him. In the way that she wore more rings than he'd ever owned. In the way she twisted them around her fingers every time he complimented her, or brushed his fingers over her shoulder when returning their plastic cups to the bin. In the way that she eats all the way around the edge of her cookie before tucking into the soft middle.