𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 // 𝟗-𝟏-𝟏

t h r e e

"That's not funny!" Zoe exclaimed, though the smile on her face said otherwise.

"Come on, it was a good joke!" Buck laughed through the air pod in her ear.

Zoe and Buck had spent the past week spending endless time on the phone, waiting impatiently for Friday to arrive. They made an effort to steal as many glances as possible between their shifts. Most days Zoe would have an air-pod in and Buck on the phone while she worked.

She decided to leave out the details of her lengthy sleepover at her brother's house out of every conversation they started. She wasn't ready to share that part of her just yet.

"Ordering a pizza with mushrooms on it to the store for me and getting me excited was not a good joke." she shook her head, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"You said you were hungry!" he defended, and Zoe finally laughed.

"Not for mushrooms!" Zoe opened her mouth to continue when the fire station bell sounded out through her ear, Buck could be heard groaning just above the alarm.

"I will call you when i get back." Zoe could hear him and his team begin running around in the background.

"Stay safe." She smiled, checking out a customer at the till as he hung up.

"Boyfriend?" The man standing at the checkout asked, and Zoe couldn't help but wonder herself. She knew it was early, but they acted as if they were in a relationship.

"Something like that." she smiles a kind smile at the man.

"Thank you." He takes his change and leaves, leaving Zoe to watch as the fire truck pulls out of the station. Buck's eyes trail the girl on the way out, longing to be beside her as he had been last week, his lips claiming hers.

"What are you so happy about?" Hen asked the blonde, curious as to why he was so smiley after the short lecture their captain had just delivered him.

"Oh, uh, nothing." He looked down at his hands, the wide smile on his face sticking like glue.

"No, this is definitely something." Chimney chimes in from the front seat, a grin being plastered across his lips.

"Someone's got a crush." Eddie sung, clapping a hand over Buck's shoulder. He scowls at the brunette, rolling his eyes, but he says nothing. The truck erupts into chatter about Buck's new mystery girl.

He thought he would feel the need to keep her a secret from his family, maybe he would feel afraid of their judgement towards the girl. He was the youngest of all of them, so they were always inserting themselves into parts of his life he would prefer to be only his, to protect him from himself. But in that moment, he felt almost relieved to be able to speak of her with them, with Eddie.

"Yes, okay, i have a little bit of a crush." he admitted once they had quietened down.

"So when do we get to meet her?" Henrietta asked, though her tone seemed to be sort of teasing.

"It's still early, we've only been on one date." He doesn't mention the one they have planned for tonight. He smiles at the thought, "Shes different than the others."

"So next week?" Hen asked, trying her luck with the younger firefighter.

"I'll talk to her about it, but no promises." he points at her, sighing as he gives in to his family once again.

***

"How was the call?" The first words that left Zoe's mouth once she picked up the phone were full of excitement.

"It was okay, teenager got stuck on her roof." He sighed, taking off his turnouts. He hadn't waited until he had gotten comfortable before calling her back, excited to speak to her again.

"How'd you get her down?"

"You ask a lot of questions." he teases, a grin plastered to his face.

"I work at a bookshop, i've gotta live somehow." Zoe tilts her head with her words, rearranging the bookshelves into chronological order after a group of teens had purposefully unorganised them.

"Living vicariously huh?"

"Exactly, so how'd you get her down?" He laughs at her enthusiasm, but answers her question anyways.

***

Buckley raised his fist, rapping it once, twice, three times against Zoe's front door. There were a few moments of silence before the pitter patter of her footsteps could be heard. The door swung open, and Zoe's smile returned, stepping aside for him to enter her home.

"Don't mind Lorelei, she got into a fight with her girlfriend." She tells him, guiding him to the living room, "She's not in a good mood."

"Ex-girlfriend!" Lorelei corrects from the couch, fumes of rage practically evaporating off of her.

"Well then it's worse than i thought." She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before turning down the hall to put on her shoes, "Good luck!" she called back.

"Hey.." Buck spoke, sort of intimidated by the glaring blonde.

"What? No flowers?" she scrutinised him, not even looking up from the phone he was sure she'd break if she kept typing so aggressively on.

"I finished my shift like 10 minutes ago, i came straight here." Buckley smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"There's a florist 5 minutes from here." She rolls her eyes, letting out an angry yell before throwing her phone across the room onto the soft armchair opposite her. Buckley doesn't answer her, she shakes her head.

"Listen here, and listen good. Zoe likes you, like really likes you. So if you screw up, or treat her with anything less than she deserves? I will be the last thing you see." Her words were spoken with a harsh tongue, though her eyes seemed soft, a smile slowly stretching across her lips.

Buck cringed at the sudden threat, though he was expecting the talk from the brunette's scary blonde bodyguard sometime soon. He was just unaware it would be so soon.

"Believe me, i wouldn't dream of screwing this up. Not with Zoe."

"Then we shouldn't have a problem." She shrugged, sending him a sickly sweet smile. Her phone begun to ring from on the chair, Lorelei letting out a long sigh before trudging over to it.

"Stop calling me Bethany, we're done."

Zoe strutted into the living room, cringing at the words coming out of Lori's mouth.

"How do i look?" Zoe smiled, giving him a little twirl. Buck finally got a good look at her. She was wearing a short black dress with lace overlapping the opaque fabric, a small pink bow sitting at the neckline. Her makeup was done without a flaw, and her hair was curled into an updo Buck couldn't describe even if he had tried.

"Wow." He managed out through his breathlessness.

"That good, huh?"

"You look amazing." Buckley stood admiring the girl, her cheeks growing pink with his scrutinising gaze.

"Fuck off! You're a good for nothing piece of shit!" Lorelei could be heard in the background yelling at her former lover, breaking Buckley out of his trance.

"Should we go?" Buck asked, throwing a thumb towards the front door.

"Please." Zoe nodded quickly, both of them chuckling at the sudden rush to leave the noisy apartment, "Try not to get a noise complaint while i'm gone please!"

"Whatever." Lorelei huffed, plopping herself back down on the couch as they closed the door behind them.