"Whoa." I say, before taking a look at George, stuck in between two buildings.
"Whatever you do, brother, don't suck in that gut." Says a shocked chimney.
"How we doing, George?" Asks bobby.
"I can't... I can't feel my legs. And I think my ankle's broken."
"Sir, you have any idea how long you've been down there?" Asks hen.
"I saw the sun come up."
"Well shit." I say quietly before taking in a deep breath and breathing out. "Poor guy."
"Well, he's wedged in there
pretty good." Says a concerned buck, looking up.
"How's your breathing?" Asks hen.
"I can't really take a deep breath."
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"Hey, George, can-can you show us
how high up you can reach?" I ask from on top of one of the buildings, opposite buck, chim and cap.
"If we can drop you a line, we may be able to pull you up." Says buck.
"Okay."
"Nice and slow, George." Says hen in a comforting tone.
"That's it." Says buck before George lets out a painful scream.
"Whoa, easy."
"George, just..."
"keep hanging in there, we will get you out." Says cap.
"What are you thinking, Cap?" Asks chimney, quietly.
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"A little high, boss." I speak through the radio.
"One second." Hen reassures George.
"Someone get me out of here!" Yelps a distraught george.
"All right, George, I'm-a need you to control your breathing and take shallow breaths." Calls out a calm Eddie before the drill starts whirring.
"Let's get down there."
And with that, We all sprint downstairs to the other building.
"Okay, George, we're gonna start to pull you in here, but in order to do that, we're gonna have to pull on you pretty hard. So you're probably gonna feel like you're falling,but you're not. If you start to panic and struggle, it's gonna be hard for us to get you in here.Do you understand?" Calmly asks bobby.
"Just don't dro... don't drop me, please. I don't want to die."
"Relax, everything's gonna be okay." Bobby reassures.
"Okay."
"All right, take a breath and just exhale. Ready?"
"Yeah."
"One, two, three. Start to pull." Commands bobby before George yells out.
"Aah!"
"Here. Give me your hand. All right, you're safe." I exclaim while George starts whimpering before I look up at Eddie behind me, trying not to smile.
"All right."
"Okay, you're home free, George.
Watch your head. Okay."
"You're okay. You're okay." Reassures hen.
"Okay, okay, okay. Thank you. Thank you, thank you." Exclaims a frantically relieved george before I respond back with an empathetic smile.
"You're gonna be just fine. You're gonna be just fine, okay?" I reassure before wheeling him out the door.
"Who knew having a gut was gonna save my life?" And with that, we all just smirk and brush it off before going back the truck.
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"Grab a creeper and some blocks." Demands bobby.
"She's over here." Yells out a woman after running out of the building we just arrived at.
"Holy crap, you are hot. I hear her speak as Eddie and buck walk past her.
As we walk in, the atmosphere is crazy. " holy shit, It's like the clubs back in Texas." I say as I walk past a woman riding a mechanical bull. I can do better than that.
"Okay, guys, the strippers are here." Exclaims the woman, leading us through the crowds.
"Excuse me, coming through." Exclaims an annoyed looking buck.
"All right, ladies, just give us some space. Thank you." Replies a grossed out Bobby.
"Excuse me, clear a path. Coming through, thank you, thank you... thank you." Says buck, now getting extremely impatient as we walk outside the back of the building.
"Hi, what's her name?" Asks chimney as we finally make our way through the crowd and up to a guy with a big truck and a woman stuck in the tailpipe.
"Betty." Replies a proud looking guy.
"Jennifer." Answers a muffled voice from inside the massive tailpipe.
"Sorry, I thought you meant my truck."
"Fuckwit." I whisper under my breath before bobby flicks me on the shoulder.
"This is your truck?" Asks an unbelieving bobby.
"Yeah, but it's not like I backed into her.She did this out of her own free will." Replies fuckwit in defence.
"You dared her to." Replied a crowd goer.
"We were flirting." Piped up fuckwit again.
"Your idea of flirting with a girl is daring her to stick her head in your tailpipe?" Asks Eddie in discust as he looks at me like he's just seen someone vomit.
"Oh, man." Replies a smug buck before wheeling himself under the car to take a look at the tailpipe.
"Hi, Jennifer. LAFD. How you feeling?" Asks chimney as he crouches down next to the girl.
"Uh, pretty good, actually. Except for this whole, you know, ginormous tailpipe on my head." She replies.
"Hey, Jennifer, you're gonna feel me poking around." Exclaims hen. "We're just checking you out, okay?"
"All right."
"Why is this tailpipe so large?" Asks a curious chimney.
"It's custom." Replies the fuckwit, we now call Brent.
"Where'd she get these bruises on her arm?" I ask protectively as I eye off Brent.
"That wasn't me." He swings his arms up defensively.
"It's from the bull." Replies a girl.
"The bull that no one can clearly ride." I whisper under my breath before crouching down to take a look at the damage.
"She rode it, like, five times."
"There's no way we're gonna get a collar on her." Admits chim.
"I got it." Interrupts a confident hen.
"Get me out of this thing." Jennifer impatiently suggests.
"We're getting there." I say, trying my best to keep my composure and not have a panic attack from the amount of people around us, slowly getting closer and closer.
"These things are meant to increase the power to the engine." States buck after wheeling himself out from under the truck and next to Eddie.
"Yup." Responds a proud Brent.
"TSA 230 saw should do the job." I smirk.
"Oh, yeah, like a knife through butter." Responds a snarky Eddie.
"Chim?" Asks bobby.
"Excuse me. Way ahead of you, Cap." Responds chimney with the tool in his hands.
"What?!" Frantically asks a shocked Brent. "No, I spent 1,200 bucks on that tailpipe."
" well then You might want to close
your eyes during this part." I respond smiling up at him.
"Just type your number in my phone,
and I'll text you so you have mine." A girl flirts at buck.
"Thanks, but I actually have a girlfriend, and I need to focus right now so my captain doesn't cut your friend's head off."
"Hi. Do you have Snapchat?" A woman asks Eddie as he looks up at her in shock.
"No. And, uh, I don't think I'm what you're looking for. I have... I have a son." He replies.
"That's great. So do I." She responds before Eddie looks up at me with a 'help me' look plastered on his face.
But before I can say something to her, a guy comes up behind me and grabs my waist.
"Hi sweety, you single?"
"Yes, but I'm not into stuck up pricks, sorry." I say, before shoving his hand off of my waist and focusing my attention back to Jennifer.
"I think I'm gonna puke." She says.
"You better not. These fire guys are totally hot." Yells one of the friends.
"All right, what say we move the peanut gallery a few steps over this way. Thank you." I demand, distantly making signals for everyone to move back.
"Everybody back a little bit, thank you." Chim helps me out.
"All right, Jennifer, keep your head completely still. You're gonna hear a lot of noise, but everything is fine." Reassures hen.
"What are you doing?!" Squeals the girl.
"All right, almost there."
"Okay."
"Easy."
"We need lube." Yells out buck.
"I have some." Yells out some girl.
"Clutch." I yell out to buck, before chucking him the lube the girl had given me.
"Slowly. Slowly." Reassures Eddie before everybody breaks out into applause after he takes the end of the tailpipe off of Jennifer.
"Wow, you really are hot." Responds a dazed Jennifer.
"Would you like us to transport you to the hospital, get checked out?" Asks hen.
"She just needs another drink." Shouts out one of her two friends.
" No, what she needs to do is go home." Demands bobby.
"All three of you do, in a cab." I respond.
"Listen to me. When you sober up, you feel like you have a headache or blurry vision, or you feel confused, you got to get yourself to a hospital, you understand?" Explains bobby.
She just nods her head and giggles before I roll my eyes and walk towards brad or whatever the hell his name is.
"Condolences on Betty." I exclaim, putting on an empathetic look.
"Yeah, it's really hard to see her go like that." Hen adds before patting him on the back and walking away with me.
"Girl, I saw you show that man what you're made of. I'm proud, baby." Hen exclaims, playfully punching my shoulder.
"Hey I learnt from the best." I giggle before seeing Eddie hold up a phone to his ear and run off with an expression lathered in worry.
"What was that about?" Hen and I ask, as we catch up to buck with the same expression as us.
"No idea."
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As buck and I enter the hospital behind Eddie for moral support, he meets up with his gorgeous tia.
"Tía. ¿Qué pasó? Is Christopher okay?" Asks a worried Eddie.
"Yes." She sighs. "You mean Prince Charming, hmm? He's peachy." She points towards Christopher making two nurses laugh out loudly.
"It's your abuela. She broke her hip."
"What? How?"
"She was out back on the steps and calling him to come inside. She lost her balance.Christopher called 911. The rescue got there really quick."
Shit
"I want to see her." He demands
"No, she's sleeping now. And, uh, who is this?" She asks curiously, diverting her gaze to both, buck and I.
"This is Buck and stassy. We work together."
"Mm. I thought you just dressed alike." She exclaims sarcastically, making me laugh.
"This is my Aunt Josefina. Pepa."
" hi." replies an awkward buck.
"Hi. Encantada de conocerte." I greet pepa.
"Ah, i see. She speaks Spanish." She smirks and then looks at Eddie.
"You can't keep doing this, Eddie. You cannot keep leaving him with her. She's not up to it." She speaks to him, her tone quickly changing to serious.
"I know. I know, and I'm sorry. I... I'm trying to find some permanent help, it's just... too many forms to fill out. It's worse than the V.A." He replies.
"I can't believe your gringa ex stuck you with all of this." Explains tia before I smirk and sit down so that I don't seem rude.
"I'm not stuck, Tia."
"Do you have to go back to work?"
He stays quiet.
"Ah. And you're not stuck. I'll keep him tonight, but you need to get this figured out." She explains harshly.
That's when I realised he was struggling way more than I realised.
"Daddy." Greets a happy Christopher before giving his dad a hug.
"Buddy."
"Hey... dad who is the pretty lady with buck?" Ask a curios Christopher.
"Hey, I'm glad someone thinks I'm pretty." I laugh before bending down to Christopher's level. "Im stassy. Nice to meet you." I smile before ruffling his hair and standing back up.
"Must be rough." I hear buck sympathise, as Eddie and I talk to Christopher.
"Raising any child alone is rough. My nephew is a saint. But I pray for him anyway." Exclaims an empathetic pepa.
"Hey Christopher, do you have a favourite subject yet?" I ask, trying to distract him from tia and bucks conversation.
"Yeah. Science."
"Ahhhh, so you wanna follow in your dads footsteps?" I ask, invested.
"Not at all. I just think it's fun doing experiments." Exclaims a highly Christopher.
"Fair enough. I love music, but I'm a paramedic, so I get it." I giggle with him while Eddie give me a thanking look before exclaiming we all have to get back to the firehouse.
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"Christopher, I thought we were buddies what happened?" Laughs chimney, next to him, hen sitting a cross and Eddie and i sitting in the middle couch with Christopher in between us.
"What's this? I don't remember asking the chief for reinforcements.
You any good with a hose, kid?" Jokes bobby as he approaches us.
"I can try." Exclaims a grinning Christopher.
"All right."
"So sorry, Cap. My aunt's trying to get off work early, but until then, I... I didn't know where to take him. Yeah, you did. Right here. Buck and stass gave me a heads-up. I already cleared it with the chief." Exclaims bobby as I shake Eddie by the shoulders, trying to cheer him up.
Before anybody else could get a word in, the alarm filled the house and we all took that as our sign to get out of our lounges and ready for the call.
"All right, let's go, let's go!" Shouts bobby.
"Alright buddy!" Exclaims chimney as he pays Christopher hand and walks off with him and the rest of the group to get in the truck.
"Relax Eddie, just enjoy your time with him." I reassure an anxious looking Eddie.
"Stass, thank you." He empathises as he pulls me into his side for a quick hug. There's the butterflies again.
"Anytime, you know that." I exclaim.
"Also, Christophers not the only one that thinks you're very pretty." he winks before catching up to hen and then getting in the firetruck. I take that as my sign to follow after my face turns less red.
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"These are great, see, 'cause we can talk to each other." Chimney exclaims, pointing to the gear on his head. "Though sometimes I wish I had a mute button for Buck." Chimney finishes, as buck reaches over from the front and beeps the horn on my wheel.
"Oh, I'm sorry, were you saying something?" He asked, his tone dripping in sarcasm.
"You have a scar on your head." Exclaims a curious Christopher.
"That's very observant, kid. I had an accident. Got a big metal rod stuck in my head, but the doctor took care of it. You ever have surgery?" Replies a happy chimney.
"Two times."
"Actually, three times." Corrects a loving Eddie.
"Well, you got me beat. Now I feel kind of lame."
"Because you are." Replies hen quickly, before Christopher laughs out loud.
"Your dad ever tell you why we call him Chimney?" I ask Christopher as I briefly turn around.
"No. No. No, no, no, no." Exclaims an embarrassed chimney.
"I'll tell you the story later." I wink at Christopher.
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"Hey, can you grab the Jaws?" Asks Eddie as he checks out the patient while I look under the car to check for any oil damage.
"That's right, people get stuck." I overhear bobby explain as I approach him and Chris.
"But we have a tool called the Jaws of Life." I exclaim as I walk past to grab the jaws and hand them over to Eddie.
"And that's what your dad's gonna use right now." Says bobby.
"Thanks to him, she's gonna make it home for dinner." I yell out before looking towards Eddie and handing him the jaws.
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"Okay and then, you move this finger, here." I explain, moving Chris's finger to change chords on the guitar.
"I'm doing it!" He yells, as he strums the strings with his other hand, playing 'em'.
"Good job buddy!" I yell as I can feel buck and Eddie watching me teach Chris how to play the guitar.
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"Come down, bud." Exclaims Eddie as he grabs a smiling christopher, sliding down the pole.
"One more firefighter. Look at that! Yay!" Exclaims buck as we all cheer for him.
"Good job." I yell out, clapping my hands and then opening my arms for Chris to walk up and give me a hug when he gets off the pole.
"You nailed it, kid." Yells out chim.
"All right, fun's over." Exclaims Eddie as he grabs a now frowning Christopher standing next to me.
"Aw..."
"Bye, Christopher." Yells out hen from above the firehouse.
"Later, Christopher." Yells out chim standing next to her.
"Bye, Christopher." Exclaims buck
"Bye." Yells back christopher.
"See you next time!" I exclaim, giving him a high five.
"Bye." He replies, reciprocating the action.
"Come on, bud." A happy Eddie says.
"Good job today, kiddo." Exclaims bobby as christopher walks past him smiling.
"You, too, Cap."
"Hola, mi amor. Okay, vamanos." Exclaims a happy tia pepa.
"See you later." Exits christopher.
As soon as Christopher's out of sight, Eddie turns around and hugs cap tightly.
"Thanks, Cap." He says, gratefully before walking off to do god knows what.
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
"Eddie!" I yell out, jogging up to him in the parking lot. "I just want to say you're doing such a great job, especially by yourself."
"Stass, thank you so so much for today. I don't think I know what I would've done if you and buck didn't help out.
"Eddie, you know I'm always here to help, especially if it's for that kid. He's literally the cutest kid I've ever met. And I'm not just saying that because his dad his." I smile before walking back to my car and driving off, leaving a shocked Eddie standing in the car park.
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
"So she has a new life. Great. So do you." Exclaims hen as I catch up to her and chim after they hop out of the truck to attend to a guy stuck in an atm machine.
"No, that's the point. I don't have a new life. I have the same life." He replies.
"You should be grateful. You almost died, Chim." I answer and we make our way over with our hands full of medical gear.
"I almost died and I didn't. I had a life-altering trauma, and her life got altered. All I got was the trauma."
"Did you expect her to wait?" Asks hen.
"How about at least until I came out of my coma? And by the looks of her belly, I'm pretty sure she was getting busy while that rebar was still in my head."
"Aww chim." I empathise, rubbing my hand on his back.
"I should be happy for her, right? She did apologize, not just for how it ended, but before, too."
"I mean everything happens for a reason chim. This could be your sign to really get out there and start again." I explain, trying to be understanding of the situation and not get angry at the woman.
"She said she felt like maybe she had been a bitch." He says, as if he didn't just hear me give him good advice.
"Maybe?" I scoff before looking at hen.
"She's not lying. She was a bitch." Exclaims hen sassily. "What? You're our friend. She's your ex. You get to forgive and move on."
"We get to hold a grudge until we die." I finish her sentence before putting gloves on.
"Stuck. That's how I feel." Summarises chimney. "I almost died and my life is exactly the same as it was before. It's not like I woke up out of a coma and, suddenly, I know how to play the piano or speak a foreign language."
"Chim." I empathise.
"Chimney, I think you're setting
your expectations too high." Explains hen.
"No, I think I'm setting them too low." Exclaims chimney before I scoff.
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"LAFD, coming through!" Yells a concentrated bobby, pushing through the crowd in the mall.
"Hey, I guess they'd been working on the escalator overnight. The floor panel on the landing" exclaims a leading hen.
"it must not have been put back securely." I Interrupt before rushing over to the the woman at the top of the broken escalator.
"Daniel, help is here. The fire department is here." She calls down to her partner underneath the escalator. "Please tell me he's gonna be okay. Please help him."
She worries.
"Maam, We're gonna do everything we can, okay? Are you hurt?" I ask, scanning all over her.
"No, not at all." she sobs before I help her up and walk her over to the side of the scene.
"They're gonna take it over from here. What's his name?"
"It's Daniel."
"Ok, we'll do everything we can." I comfort her before hen walks over to check her up, while I walk over back to the escalator.
"Hey, Daniel, can you hear me?" I shout down. Nothing. "We got to get this step out of here."
"One, two, three." Exclaims buck as he and Eddie lift a step off the escalator to give us more room.
"All right, Chim, you're on." Exclaims bobby as chim looks at him and then jumps down beneath the escalator.
When he's down there, we all look in anticipation, waiting for news.
"I got a pulse, guys." Yells chimney as we all sigh in relief.
"Oh, thank God!" I over hear Ariel.
"Daniel, can you hear me?
"talk to me, Chim. What do you got?" Asks bobby as chimney pops his head back up to look at us all.
"It's not good." He replies, making my eyes open wide, looking to my right at Eddie.
"What's happening? Why are you stopping?" Asks a frantic Ariel.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy, easy." Stops buck.
"The chain is sitting on top of his femoral artery. It's possible it's even nicked it." Says chimney.
"Loosening it might make it worse." Explains Eddie to cap.
"Tension's acting as a tourniquet, could be keeping him from bleeding out." I add on, worriedly.
"All right, let's get him out of there. Chim, tie him off." Hurries bobby. "Hen, get an I.V., run it wide open."
"Copy that."
"Eddie, stass, grab a stretcher. You both need to be ready for as soon as he gets out." He exclaims as Eddie and I look at each other before walking off together.
Once Eddie and I bring it over, we overhear chimney from down below.
"Clipping the wires and chain." I look at Eddie worriedly before he squeezes my hand in reassurance and then walks towards the guys.
I hear the chain snap and then a Daniel, screaming in agonisation.
"Aah!" He moans.
"I know it hurts, just relax, let me get you out of here." I over hear a reassuring chimney.
"Daniel!" Ariel runs over.
"Okay, try to relax, try to breathe. We're gonna get you out of here." Yells chimney.
"Oh, God! Aah!"
"Try to relax, try to relax." I reassure, looking over, knowing this won't end well.
"just relax. We're gonna get you out of here." Yells Eddie.
"Okay, on three." Exclaims chimney as he hands us up a harness to pull up daniel. "One, two... three!"
Daniel yells out again in pain.
"See? He's coming out, he's coming out. It's all right." Reassures buck. "I'm gonna help, okay? Here, I got him, I got him."
"What did she say?" Asks a puffed out Daniel, we just lifted up on the stretcher.
"I think she said yes, buddy." Replies a smiley chimney before Daniel starts coughing.
"Blood pressures dropping." I exclaim as a lump forms in my throat. A panic attacks coming.
"Breathing is shallow. Daniel, can you hear me?" Asks chimney as the man spasms up and down, coughing shallowly.
"I can't find a pulse." Explains hen.
"He's in cardiac arrest." I exclaim before straddling Daniel and starting compressions on the poor guy, counting to thirty.
"Daniel? Oh, please, God." Asks a worried Ariel as she runs toward us.
"Ma'am, you have to stand back. Let them do their job, okay?" Explains bobby as she holds her back.
I swap over with chim as tears fill my eyes.
Five minutes pass before the monitor starts flatlining.
"Chim." Starts hen as she takes her stethoscope out of here ears. "He's gone." But he keeps going.
"Oh dios mio" I speak under my breath as Eddie raps his arm around me, rubbing up and down my shoulder.
"Daniel..." poor Ariel sobs as she hugs his lifeless body.
And that when everything goes quiet and ringing fills my ears. I step up and walk away. The air in my lungs taken aback, as I try to keep calm but nothing works. My throat is engulfed like someone's strangling me and I crouch down in a corner. Tears are about to start rolling down my cheeks when bobby comes over and rubs my tensed back.
"In, out, in, out." He reassures me as I stand up, shaking my hands to calm down my breathing. He hands me my pen and puts it in my mouth.
I enclose my mouth over the metal pen, sucking in and out, eventually calming me down.
"Thank you cap, I'm sorry."
"Hey, don't be sorry. I know how you get when death rules into the equation. You're okay." He reassures me as he pulls me into a hug, instantly making my breathing go back to normal.
He hugs like my dad.
Everyone on the 118 knows not to ask about it when my panic attacks take an end but Eddie clearly hasn't learnt that yet.
"Eddie! Take stass back to the truck. Find some water on the way." Exclaims bobby as he goes back to the scene and sorts it out.
Eddie has to drag me out as my helpless body just looks right at the poor girl sobbing over her fiancé.
"Hey stass, you're okay." He drags me away, making me look at his eyes.
"Five things you can see?" He asks me. Nobody has ever helped me apart from bobby because they know how I can get. But Eddie is actually helping me so well.
"Green eyes, railing, gloves, people, hair." I reply, panting.
"Good, good." He rubs my shoulder. "five things you can smell?" He asks as we start walking again.
"Latex, pretzels, blood, sweat, disinfectant."
"Good job. Last one. Five things you can hear?"
"Your voice, people yelling, sirens, footsteps, crying-" my voice cracks before the feeling arises again.
"Hey, hey, you're okay stass." He reassures before hugging my sobbing body. " breath, breath." I can hear his heart beat beneath my ear. His chest rising up and down as I start to slow my breathing down, taking more air in.
He pulls me away. "See, you're okay." He smiles. "Nothing to worry about." He wraps one arm around my shoulder as we walk out of the mall.
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When we get back to the firehouse, Bobby and I wait behind for chim.
"You all right?" I ask him.
"No, I don't know, uh, that I am." He sighs. "I lived, Cap." He turns to bobby. "I'm alive." He snuffles.
"Yeah, you are." Bobby responds
"Why? How come I survived and that poor guy back there didn't? I mean... his life was about to change, right?" He asks as tears well up. "He had so much to live for."
"So do you." I exclaim, empathetically.
"Do I? Something happened to me that was supposed to be life-changing, and nothing changed. It's like everything just stopped. I feel like I died that night. I mean, I just keep replaying everything in my head, all those moments on the freeway--" he cuts off, taking a sharp breath in.
"the look on your faces, being wheeled into the ER..."
"I thought you didn't remember any of that." Exclaims bobby.
"I remember it all." He sniffles "Everything. Wakes me up in the middle of the night. I just can't..."
"You kept telling everybody that you had no memory of it." Bobby clears up.
"I know."
"Why?"
"I don't know, I just... I guess it's easier to not talk about it, but it's always there on my mind, I just... I don't want to recount it." as some sort of freak show form of en... entertainment. I just want it to go away, it's..."
"That's fair enough." I pipe up.
"I mean when bobby and I went through our attempts, it was one of the hardest things to get over. I'm not over it, even though it was a year ago, it's always gonna be something you think about. And that's normal chim. But as you get older, those memories aren't gonna be as hard to talk about, they're just gonna be a moment that shaped you. And it might not seem like anything changed, but trust me, everybody can see you're different. And that's a good thing chimney."
I exclaim as I wrap one arm around his shoulder, rubbing it up and down.
"You know, Chim... a life-changing event can't change your life if you keep pretending it didn't happen. You got to talk about it, man, you got to let it out, process it." Exclaims bobby before he sighs. "You feel like you're still trapped in that car, don't you?" He asks. Sitting helpless
on that freeway. Well, you're not on that freeway, and you're not helpless, Chim.You're right here, pal. So are all the people who love you"
"Chim, you might not be in love with a significant partner, but we all love you, you have people there for you, and I think that that is way better than dwelling on someone that moved forward, whether it was shamelessly or shamefully, it's so, so normal, and you need to be less harsh on the progress you're making. Because you're doing amazing." I sympathise.
"All right." He sniffles.
"Come here." Exclaims bobby as we all bring each other in for a hug.
"Thank you." He muffles underneath us.
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"Thought you said we were helping your sister move. Doesn't look like she's packed anything." Exclaims a confused Eddie as buck and I turn around to face him.
"Oh, this stuff is Abby's." explains buck.
" we lied about the whole moving thing." I smile. "I mean, his sister is moving, it's just..."
"she doesn't really have that much stuff." Finishes buck.
"Guys, What's going on?
" we asked you here 'cause there's
someone we want you to meet." An excited buck explains.
"You didn't set me up, did you?" Cautiously asks Eddie.
"No, just-just trust us." I hurry. "This woman is... exactly what you need."
I finish before a knock at the door interrupts us.
"She's here." Excites buck as he grabs the door.
"Relax" I whisper to a nervous looking eddie.
"Buckaroo!" Carla exclaims, walking through the door and hugging buck. "Tia!" She gives me a warm hug. God, I love her.
"Carla." I laugh.
"Baby... Ah! Goodness, I missed your faces!" She exclaims, pulling us two in for another hug.
"Oh, we missed you, too. Come on in." Buck says. "Uh, Eddie, this-this is our good friend Carla." He exclaims as Carla walks up to Eddie.
"Nice to meet you, Eddie." She smiles at him.
"Likewise." He replies.
"Carla is L.A.'s finest home health care aid. She has years of experience navigating giant bureaucracies." Exclaims an excited buck
"we thought she could help you figure out how to get Christopher what he needs." I exclaim with my eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm red tape's worst nightmare." She giggles. "I'll get you through this in no time. Now, let's go sit down and let's see what you're working with. Besides that perfect bone structure." She smirks, winking at me and walking past us to the dining room.
Eddie walks up to me, then engulfs me in a hug, then buck and then Carla.
I'm so happy for him.
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"Stass." Exclaims buck as we sit in his car, driving towards my house.
"You-you ever wonder why we don't have kids yet?" Asks a sad looking buck.
"Oh for sure. I mean, I want kids so bad, but, like, we're not even in relationships let alone strong ones, I mean, I don't really have anyone to come home to apart from my dogs. And you don't even have a house."
"Hey, I have a house." He whines
"What cause that's a house you live in by yourself without having to look after things that aren't yours." I smirk.
"I get it, I mean, I think we're at a point where we're mentally ready, just not physically ready." He smiles before pulling his hero to a stop.
I grin "look at you, all mature. Never thought I'd see the day." I chuckle before stepping out of the car and walking to my door before he drives off again.
Unlocking my door, I look down at arlo, my border collie, and rocky, my Australian shepherd. I got my family right here. "Hola!" I baby them and give them pats before sitting on the lunge with them both and wrapping up in a blanket before turning on the tv.
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In their flirty era lol
What are we thinking about the new cover page?!?! I did it my self but if anyone knows what theyre doing, feel free to send me a photo lmao.
Either next chapter or the one after her and Eddie will be so close 😉 y'all I can't wait. I love them.
5514 words lmfao
I got a bit carried away. Anywayyyy
Thanks for all the votes and love. Keep it comingggg!
Xoxo phi