Trapped.

chapter eight , Vacation Planning & Truth Spilling

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"Graveyard shift, huh?"

Goosebumps form across Emery's skin as William's fingers brush against her arm. She inhales a soft breath and turns to William, her nose brushing against his. A small smile forms across Emery's lips. She cups the side of his neck. "Yeah..." Emery sighs. "...I'll be back in the morning though."

"Why is it, we never seem to get the same off days?" William pulls his brows together. "You think the universe is trying to tell us something?"

Emery knits her brows together. "And what might that be?"

William tilts his head, "That we should...schedule some days off and go somewhere, together."

Emery raises her brows, she slightly sits up. "What?" She chuckles.

William shrugs a shoulder, "Yeah, I mean—we've been together for a few months. We should do something with just you and I."

"So, what, you have a problem with movie nights with my sister and I?"

"What? No, no." William shakes his head. "Amaya is awesome and your guys' taste in films are exquisite..."

Emery squints her eyes, "But...?"

"But, a week with you and only you..." William cups Emery's face and swipes his thumb across her lower lip. "...that's all I need."

Emery inhales a soft breath, she leans forward, and connects her lips with William. He kisses Emery back and snakes an arm around her waist, pulling her close. Emery pulls away from him and chuckles.

"When I come back from my shift. We should get some breakfast and talk about a trip." Emery softly smiles. "Just the two of us."

William chuckles, he grips Emery's thighs and pulls her close. "Oh, no, no, no..." Emery chuckles. "...I have work in 2 hours—"

"2 hours?" William emphasizes.

Emery shrugs a shoulder, "I like to get ready early."

"You mean you like to beat Buck to work." William sighs.

Emery smiles and gives him a chaste kiss. "Exactly!"

Emerson hops out of the bed and jogs into the bathroom. William lets out a sharp breath and looks at the ceiling. Emery takes her time in the shower, but she leaves enough time to not rush. She gets ready for work with ease. William watches as Emery swiftly moves across the room and grabs her bag. She turns to William, who was still in the bed. "You staying?" Emery asks.

William pulls his brows together. "Is that okay?"

Emery looks at him with a small smile. "Yeah, that's fine, Will." She kisses him. "I've gotta go. Breakfast tomorrow morning?"

William smiles at the girl, "Yeah, I'll see you in the morning."

Emery slips her sneakers on and gives William a wave before leaving the room and apartment.

Emerson was the first one at the firehouse, per usual. She grabbed herself a protein bar and her phone beeps. Emery grabs her phone from her pocket and looks at the text message from her mom.

Question. Do you prefer Meatloaf or Chicken Alfredo?

Emery raises her brows, she places the protein bar between her teeth and texts her mom back.

Are you trying to make my life harder?

The entire Sharpe family had a dinner together and it surprisingly went well. They all got their issues out in the open, but there was still a lot more to talk about and clear up.

Emery takes a bite out of her protein bar and texts her mom her answer.

Meatloaf. Do you know what I like with Meatloaf?

A few moments later, a ping sounds off from her phone. Emery looks at her phone and chuckles.

Meatloaf, yams, cornbread. All the works 👍

Emery nods her head, "Not bad, mom..." she whispers.

"Oh, great—you're here first..."

Emery looks at her least favorite co-worker. "Hello, Probie." She lets out an exhausted sigh. "Sucks to see you here."

"Right back at ya, Sharpe." Buck approaches Emery and opens the fridge. Emery leans against the counter with her arms crossed. She watches as Buck makes himself some cereal. Buck feels eyes on him and he turns to the curly-haired girl.

"What—why are you looking at me?"

"How can you eat a whole...breakfast? It's 11:30 at night."

Buck shrugs, "How can you eat a whole protein bar?"

Emery looks at her empty wrapper, "It's small. And I won't vomit if we've got some huge rescue of some kind."

Buck raises his brows, "Well, we're just different people, Em." He presses his lips together. "Not everyone can be as perfect and uptight as you."

Emery squints her eyes. "You're right, they can't and I pity them—honestly." She frowns and tilts her head to the side. "Actually, I don't pity them. Just you."

Emery looks around, "Why did you get here so early? You're never here until 5 or 10 minutes after the shift actually starts."

Buck pulls his brows together. "Are you keeping track of me, Sharpe?"

Emery rolls her eyes, "Don't flatter yourself, Probie. I keep track of everyone."

Buck inhales a breath and looks down at his cereal. "I couldn't sleep."

Emery raises her brows. "Any particular reason?"

"I have a date with Abby and may be nervous."

Emery slightly tilts her chin up. "Ah, because you don't want to choke on bread again." She nods her head. "I'd be nervous too."

Buck hangs his head low. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"I will remind you until the day you are fired."

Buck let's out a soft laugh and Emery chuckles.

"I'm not kidding, Probie." Emery grabs a water bottle from the fridge. "I'm still waiting for that day."

☆

"This is not fair."

"Oh, come on, Em what happened to 'sharing is caring'?" Buck says from the driver seat of the engine.

Emery leans back in her seat. "I'm superior to him. Mentally, Emotionally, and Physically."

Buck laughs, "Physically?"

"Physically."

"I don't think so, how much do you bench?" Buck asks.

Emery smirks, "Just benched 215."

"Liar!"

Emery quirks a brow, "What, did you assume all girls can't lift?"

Buck opens his mouth to reply, but Emerson keeps going.

"Yeah—yeah, what's with the assuming, Probie?" She bunches her shoulders. "You got something against women?"

"Okay, let's calm down." Bobby interrupts.

"I'll have you know, I love women." Buck speaks. "They are my lifeline."

"Believe me, Buck. We all know that." Bobby voices.

"Buck, turn here—"

Buck yanks the steering wheel to the side, drifting around the corner. Emery grabs the handle at the top of the engine, keeping herself from falling to the side. "Ya see—this is why I should've drove!"

"What's this dude's problem?" Hen asks.

Buck huffs, "Seriously? He doesn't hear us?"

"We're gonna have to get in front of him." Bobby says.

Buck smirks and Emery's eyes widen.

"Okay."

"Oh, fuck—"

Buck slams his foot on the gas, quickly getting ahead of the garbage truck. Then he pulls the steering wheel to the side, getting in front of the garbage truck.

The garbage truck abruptly stops. He gets out of the truck and so does Bobby.

"What the hell, guys?"

"You got a guy trapped inside the compactor." Bobby informs the man.

Emery releases the handle, "Oh, My Lord—you are a terrible driver." She sighs. "I'm gonna be sick."

"You're so dramatic..." Buck rolls his eyes. "...besides, Bobby said we had to get in front of the truck."

"You know what? Get out of the seat, I'm driving." Emery unbuckles her seatbelt.

"What? No way! You always get to drive." Buck retorts.

Emery looks at her watch, "Why is this taking so long?" She gets out of the truck, forgetting about the conversation with Buck.

Everyone makes their way over to Bobby and the garbage man.

"Captain, what's going on?" Emery asks.

"It's the wrong truck." Bobby informs them.

Emery slightly opens her mouth. "You stopped the wrong truck." She points at Buck and laughs. Her laughter dies down and her eyes widen in realization. "You stopped the wrong truck!"

"Whoa—what?! I-I didn't—"

"We can put blame on someone else later, all right?" Bobby interrupts. "Let's move!"

Everyone runs back to the fire truck and get inside of it. The actual garbage truck was two blocks down. As soon as Buck speeds to the garbage truck, Athena was already there; stopping the garbage compactor.

"The dumpster, he was asleep."

"How was I supposed to know he was sleeping in one of the dumpsters?"

Emery gets out of the fire engine and makes her way over to everyone else.

"Did you run the compactor?" Bobby asks.

"Yeah."

"What kind of pressure does it operate under?" Emery asks.

"Uh, I don't know—2000 PSI? Maybe more?" The garbage man answers.

Hen pulls the ladder down on the side of the garbage truck.

"That would crush a car."

"And she's off." Emery places a hand over her eyes, shielding the sun. She watches as Hen climbs up the ladder.

Emery follows behind Hen with Chim and Buck behind her.

"Hello? Is anybody down there? Can you hear us?"

"Ooh—this stinks." Buck grimaces.

Emery wanted to agree, but she replies differently. "What gave it away, Probie. Could it be the garbage truck that we're on?!"

Hen hops into the garbage truck.

"Hen, hold on." Emery grunts as she hops into the garbage truck as well.

"It's gonna take forever by hand." Buck adds. "Chim, can you grab shovels?"

"Come on, what are you, afraid to get your hands dirty, Buck?!" Hen practically snaps.

Emery swallows nervously as she looks at the trash. She quickly slips on her black leather gloves. "Y-Yeah, Buck! Grow up. We've got a job to do."

"Oh, please you're just as disgusted as I am."

Emery leans toward him, "I know, but Hen's being terrifying right now."

Emery and Buck start to help Hen toss the trash bags out of the garbage truck. Chimney soon joins them and aids as well. Bobby comes in and helps.

"Wait, so, uh, he was sleeping in the Dumpster, but he has a cell phone?" Buck asks.

"They give them to the homeless." Emerson states.

"It's a part of the Lifeline program." Chimney adds. "Keeps them connected to family, if they have any."

After clearing out most of the trash bags, Hen calls out.

"I got him. I see a foot!"

"And I see a rat!" Emery holds her hands in the air. She looks at the rat again and her eyes blow wide. "And it's dead!"

"Focus, Sharpe!"

Emery quietly whimpers, but she makes her way over to the injured man.

"I got a pulse!" Hem informs them.

"Stay still, sir. Do not move your neck." Bobby instructs. "Chim, get me a neck brace and a board in here. We got to get him out of here."

"We got to get him out of here."

"Copy."

"I don't understand—how'd you survive that kind of pressure?" Buck asks.

"Probably fell into this pocket here." Bobby answers. "He got protected by the chair."

Emery lightly touches the man's face. "Sir, can you hear me? Does it hurt when you breathe?"

"I-It hurts." The man groggily says. "I can't feel my legs."

"Well, don't worry, okay?" Buck speaks. "We're gonna get you out of there."

"You're gonna be all right, okay? What's your name?"

"Sam."

"You're gonna be all right, Sam."

Chimney came back with the board and the neck brace. They helped Sam onto the board and slipped the brace around his neck. They carefully lead the man down the ladder.

Emery slaps her gloves hands together and looks at Hen. "So, what's got you so...you know—snappy?"

Hen looks at Emery and sighs. "That's something I need to talk about over a drink."

"A drink? Or drinks?" Emery moves her head from side to side. "Preferably drinks."

Hen points at Emery with a smile, "My girl."

Emery high fives Hen and they both laugh.

☆

"Wow."

"Yeah, I...I know."

"No, I mean, wow, Hen." Emery scratches her brow.

Hen keeps her eyes on her food. "I know, Em."

"Seriously—"

"Emery..." Athena softly speaks.

Emery looks at Athena and her mouth hangs open. The curly-haired girl has always been terrible at knowing when to restrain her reactions. And now was a time where she had to restrain.

"I'm...sorry." Emery bites her tongue and sinks in her chair.

Hen sighs, "You don't have to lie, Em."

Emery raises her brows, "Wha...?—No, Hen. I'm not lying." She leans forward, trying to further defend herself. She looks to the side at Athena. "I swear, I'm not lying." Emery snaps her eyes over to Hen.

"I just...I'm in disbelief." Emery blows air out of her mouth. "I mean, you and Eva...again."

Hen's frustration starts to grow. "Yeah, not everyone is perfect like you, Em."

Emery pulls her face back. "Uh, I didn't say that I was perfect—did I tell you that I was perfect?"

"Okay, you two—"

"No, but you give off that 'holier than thou' crap and it drives everyone nuts." Hen says.

Emery chuckles, "Holier than thou..." she shakes her head. "I drive you nuts, really?"

Emery takes a sip from her soda cup. "You know what drives me nuts, Henrietta?"

Athena places a hand over her eyes. "Oh, lord..."

"When people have an issue with me but don't tell me right away." Emery bites her straw. "Ya see, I have an issue right now. And it's the fact that you slept with Eva."

Hen arches a brow and Athena tenses.

"You have a good family, Hen." Emery scoffs. "And whatever Eva has planned—you fell for it."

Hen's anger filled expression drops. Her jaw goes slack and she looks at the table in silence. She knew Emery was right. Hen fell right for Eva's trap and she would never forgive herself for that.

Emery looks at Athena, "I said too much, didn't I?"

Athena opens her mouth to answer.

"My ex is suing us for custody."

Athena and Emery snaps her eyes over to Hen's sad ones.

"I'm sorry, what?" Emery's brows shoot up.

"On what grounds?" Athena asks.

Hen sighs, "Cause she's the both mother. And that she gave up the baby under duress."

Athena and Emery look at eachother, they both had looks of disbelief.

"Does she have a chance?" Athena asks.

"Well, I read about a case in Michigan where they took a five-year-old little boy away from the only family he ever knew and gave him to his birth father." Hen explains. "I mean, her chances are slim, but they're not zero. And now she's saying that...that Denny's living in an unstable home because...I stepped out on my wife."

Emery lets out a sharp breath. She loves being right, but she wasn't going to make it known at this moment. So, she stuffs some of her fries into her mouth.

"With the same damn woman who's suing you for custody?" Athena arches a brow.

Hen let's out an exhausted sigh. "All I know is that I just feel like...covering myself in all that garbage we just dug through and letting the compactor just squish me into nothing."

"Everything's going to work out, Hen." Emery says. "There's no way they're going to give Eva custody."

"I'm hopeful about the custody case." Hen admits. "But I'm worried about my marriage."

Emery gnaws on her lower lip.

"You're gonna get through this." Athena says. "And we're here to help."

Emery nods her head and eats some of her hotdog. "Yeah, if you need a good lawyer." She holds her hands up and does a little dance. "I've got a great lover who wouldn't mind helping you out."

Hen let's out a soft chuckle, "Thanks, you guys." She presses her lips into a small line. "And I'm sorry about what I said to you. I didn't mean it."

Emery presses her lips into a smile. "You're going through a lot right now and I shouldn't have pushed."

Emerson knew that Hen said what she said for a reason. And the reason being because she thought it was true. Emery does have a 'holier than thou' mood to her at times (basically all the time). And she was never able to shake it due to the fact that she wanted to be the best. No, not wanted—needed.

To Emery, if she wasn't the best, then she was nothing.

After lunch with Athena and Hen, they had another call about an elevator wire that snapped with a mother and son trapped inside.

"The basement is flooded?"

"Since this morning." The man answers. "Third one this month. Pipes in this place are ancient. Every time the construction guys go near them, they burst."

"And did you replace the elevator cables afterwards?" Bobby questions.

"The water corrodes them if you leave them alone like that." Emery informs.

"We were gonna do that after we took care of the flooding issue."

"We're gonna have to go in from above." Bobby says.

Emery holds a hand up. "Cap, what do you want us to do?"

"You and Buck go down with the basket." Bobby instructs.

"I'll get the winch." Chimney sighs.

Once Chimney came back with the Winch, Emery and Buck slipped on their harnesses. Buck turns to her, "I'll go down first."

Emery snorts, "That what you tell Abby?"

Buck rolls his eyes, "You're hilarious. Keep it coming."

Emery stops and pulls her brows together, not coming up with something. Buck points at her and laughs. Emery smacks his finger out of her face. "Gimme a minute."

Buck and Emery are slowly lowered down the elevator shaft. They get on top of the elevator and open the hatch, revealing the mother and son grasping onto each other for dear life.

"Oh, thank goodness!"

"We'll be right there, guys." Buck says.

"We're sending a rope down, stay clear." Emery voices. She grabs one end of the rope and sends the other end down. Buck goes down into the elevator and Emery stays on top, holding the rope. Buck ties the rope around the mom's waist.

"Don't even worry about it, okay? I'll be right there." The son assures his mom.

Buck shifts his eyes up and meets Emery's. "We're good to go."

Emery nods and speaks into her walkie. "Okay, Captain."

"All right, we're gonna bring her up." Bobby says through the radio.

The rope starts to get pulled up the elevator shaft and the mother moves toward the opening of the elevator. As soon as the mother was out of the shaft, Emery spoke into her walkie again.

"Cap, we need another harness."

"Coming down—"

The elevator starts to shake underneath Emerson's feet. Emery presses a hand against the wall, to balance herself. She immediately looks into the hatch. "You guys okay—oh fuck."

The water starts to quickly rise in the elevator.

"What the hell happened?" Bobby asks.

"The weight of the water is pulling them down." Emery says, her voice frantic. "Buck, grab the kid, let's go."

"It won't be able to lift us both, Emery."

Emery looks up the elevator shaft and curses. "Cap, I think you're gonna have to freewheel it." She speaks into the walkie.

"Copy." Bobby looks at Chimney. "You heard the lady, let's go."

Buck clasps the harness around the kid and they wheel him up the shaft. Emery looks at the kid then back at Buck, who was now submerged under the water.

Emery's eyes widen, "Probie!" She waits a moment, hoping he would pull his head from under the water.

"Shit—Buck!"

Emerson jumps into the hatch, her head going underwater. Emery grabs Buck's arm and pulls him toward the surface of the water. Buck reaches the hatch and pulls himself out. He looks back into the elevator, he sticks his hand in the water and grabs Emery's. Buck pulls Emery out of the water and out of the hatch.

Emery lets out a sharp breath. "Dammit, what kind of water was that? Do you think it came from a septic tank?"

Buck stands up and holds his hand out to Emery's. "I think it's just from the pipes."

Emery shudders, "Still terrible..." she grabs his forearm and he pulls her onto her feet. Emery bumps into Buck and she tilts her head up at him. "What took you so long to get out of the elevator?"

Buck frowns and shrugs, "Maybe, I just wanted to be saved by you."

Emery snorts and Buck arches a brow.

"You jumped into that water kinda fast, Em." Buck chuckles. Emery's smile drops.

"Kind of without hesitation." Buck gives her a cheeky smile.

"I may not like you, but you're my co-worker, Probie." Emery deadpans. "I wasn't going to let anything happen to you."

"Now, come on, we only have one harness." Emery wraps her arms around his waist and Buck smiles.

"You are just going to keep saving me today, aren't you?" Buck looks at her.

Emery shrugs a shoulder, "Someone has to, right?"

☆

Emery watches as William flips through different vacation spots on his iPad. They were both sitting at the breakfast bar in William's loft. Emery eats her French Toast and slowly nods her head to William's words. Emery heard what William was saying, but the words seemed to go into one ear just to leave the other. Besides, the French Toast was so good it had her full attention.

"So, what do you think?"

Emery blinks and looks at her boyfriend. She slows her chewing and swallows. "If I were to ask you to repeat the question and everything you said as soon as I started eating, would you be mad?"

William laughs and Emery joins him.

"I'm sorry, it's just this French Toast is amazing." Emery takes another bite. "But I swear, you have my full attention now." She sets her fork down and folds her hands while still chewing.

William nods his head, "Thank you."

Emery gives him a small nod. William holds the iPad out to her. "So, Hawaii or Vegas?"

Emery keeps her eyes on William, but she gives him no reaction. "You...huh?" She lets out a laugh. William's expression drops and Emery slaps a hand over her mouth.

"I-I'm sorry." Emery clears her throat and holds her hands up. "It's just, Vegas is two hours away. That's nothing special." She tilts her head. "And Hawaii is hot!"

"Exactly!"

"We live in Los Angeles. Do we really need to vacation to another hot area?" Emery eats one of her strawberries.

"Okay, Miami—"

"Hot."

William sets his stylus down, "Okay, fine. What ideas do you have in mind?"

Emery raises her brows and smiles. "Aspen."

William laughs, "You—You must've been thinking about that for a while now."

"What makes you think that?" Emery asks with a snort.

"You answered in .5 seconds—"

"That is such an exaggeration." Emery rolls her eyes and laughs. She looks back at William and one of his brows were raised. He was waiting for her to fess up. Emery chews on the inside of her cheek. "Yeah, I..." she scratches the side of her neck. William notices her demeanor become more aloof.

"When I was younger, it was a dream for me to save up a lot of money and go to Aspen." Emery sniffles. "It's the place I go to when I close my eyes and just need a...break."

"Ooh, am I there?"

Emery's content smile lessens and her throat tightens. It all became clear to Emery that she couldn't put her whole heart into this relationship if she didn't tell William the truth. She needed to tell him the truth. He deserves that.

"Will, I have to tell you something..." she looks at him, her eyes glassy.

William knits his brows together and he gently grabs her hands. "Hey, you okay?"

Emery softly nods and runs her thumb over his knuckles. "Yeah, I just...there's some things I have to tell you and they're about me and my past." She bites the inside of her cheek. "And if you want to leave because of all my baggage, I totally get that—"

"Hey, hey..." William walks over to Emery and cups her face. "There's nothing you can tell me that'll make me up and run, all right? I am a committed man, Emerson Sharpe."

A small smile forms across her lips and she quickly wipes at her teary eyes. "All right..." she holds his hands and he sits on the stool in front of her. Silence fills the room as Emery tries to get her emotions in check.

"That girl in the picture you were holding a few weeks ago?" Emery swallows.

William inhales a breath and nods his head. Emery bites the inside of her cheek. "That's Helena Garcia."

"My wife."

☆

The morning was filled with vacation planning and truth spilling. Two of Emery's least favorite. And at the end of all that, William stayed beside Emery's side despite her hardly being able to tell her life story through hiccuping and sobs. Also, they planned to go to Aspen, Colorado. Emery couldn't understand why he wasn't running for the hills. It would've been easier that way.

That had Emerson's brain moving as fast as the speed of light. Emery quickly walks into the firehouse, she makes her way to the locker room hoping and praying no one noticed that she cried. Hard.

"Morning, Sharpe."

Emery looks at Bobby and Buck, she softly curses. "Oh, morning, Cap. Probie."

Emery was usually curt with Buck. Everyone knew that. But she was never like that with Bobby. Buck and Bobby both picked that up.

"Emery, you okay?" Buck asks.

"I am just great, Probie." Emery sniffles.

Buck pulls his brows together. "Are you...crying?"

"What?—No!" Emery turns to Buck and Bobby, revealing her red-rimmed and puffy eyes.

"Okay, well, you were crying."

"Yeah, everyone cries, Probie." Emery snaps.

"Everything okay, Emery?" Bobby asks.

Emery looks at Bobby and smiles, "Everything's great, Captain. William and I just had breakfast then we watched a movie. Bambi." She sniffles. "I cried—sobbed actually. And he comforted me."

"Just when my day couldn't get any worse." Buck rolls his eyes. "She got to hang out with her boyfriend and I couldn't hang out with Abby."

Emery raises her brows as she finishes getting ready. "Hold on..." she closes her locker and looks at him. "You got stood up?"

"No, I didn't." Buck corrects Emery. "Abby showed up, but she had to leave because she needed to help her mom."

Emery shrugs a shoulder. "No, no. That definitely counts as being stood up. You're a loser."

Bobby laughs which causes Buck to look at him. Bobby's smile drops and he coughs. "Sorry."

Buck snaps his eyes back over to Emery. She crosses her arms, waiting for Buck to strike back.

"Yeah? Well, at least I didn't cry to Bambi in front of my partner!"

"Hey! Bambi is a revolutionary film that everyone cries to." Emery points at Buck.

"All right, you two, break it up." Bobby stands up from the bench. "We got work to do."

Emery reluctantly takes her glare off of Buck and walks out of the locker room.

The firefighters got to their first call of the morning. They got out of the fires engine and make their way over to the house. Bobby orders Buck to get the saw and he makes his way back to the truck. Bobby inspects the door before he jiggles the doorknob.

"Dispatch said something about the house being booby-trapped." Bobby looks at everyone. "We have to take the door—Buck?"

"Here you go, Cap." Buck comes back with the saw and hands it to Bobby.

Bobby and everyone else slip their face shields on. The Captain cuts into the door. He makes a small opening into the door. Emery presses a hand against the door, making sure it didn't fall down.

"Easy, easy..."

Emery slowly sets the piece of the door down. It falls to the ground, books and newspapers come stumbling out.

"What on earth?"

"We're never getting past that."

"I dunno..." Emery sighs. "...is there a bulldozer lying around here?"

"1968." Bobby reads the date off the newspaper.

Emery looks across the pile of things and her eyes stop on something. Her eyes light up, "No fucking way!" She grabs the comic book.

"Emery..."

"It's the first edition of the Amazing Spider-Man!" Emery giggles and jumps up and down. Everyone exchanges a look from the girl's sudden burst of energy. "It's in mint condition."

"Let me see that!" Buck grabs it from Emery. He inspects the comic book. "This is probably worth thousands."

Emery's mouth hangs open and she gasps loudly. Buck jumps and looks at her. "What?—"

"How dare you?!" Emery snatches it back. Buck pulls his brows together. Emery snatched the comic away with such Grace, making sure she didn't ruin the issue. "You can't sell something this perfect."

"Emerson...put the comic book down." Bobby says.

Emery opens and closes her mouth. "Wha...but this is...he won't miss this—"

"For someone who follows rules to the T, you sure were eager to steal this." Buck grabs the comic from Emery's hands and tosses it back into the pile. Emery pouts her lower lip.

Emery helps dig out the newspapers and books from the doorway. They clear the area and Emery tilts her head at what was left.

"What is that, a tunnel?"

Emery deadpans and looks at Buck. "Wow...nothing gets past you, huh, Probie?"

Buck looks at Emery, he goes to snap back at her, but Bobby speaks.

"Buck, get the ladder and check out that open window out front."

Buck looks at Bobby, "On it, Cap." He looks back at Emery.

"You've got something on your coat, Sharpe." Buck points.

Emery's eyes widen, "What?! I washed it like 3 times last night—"

Buck flicked Emery's nose. Emery's mouth hangs open and she looks at the laughing boy as he walks back toward the fire engine. She looks at her other co-workers and sees the smiles across their faces.

"Oh, was that funny to you guys?" Emery squints her eyes.

Their smiles drop and they all start to stumble over their words. Emery scoffs, "I can't believe I fell for that shit..."

"Hey, Em." Bobby clears the laugh out of his throat. "How about you go talk to the neighbors?"

Emery rolls her shoulders, "Yes, Captain." She walks away from the porch.

Chimney, Hen, and Bobby look at each other before laughing. Emery makes her way over to the neighbors and asks them multiple questions about the house.

"They're total kooks." The woman says. "Hoarders on steroids. One I actually never seen. Never leaves the house."

"The other, you know, every once in a while, you'll see him skulking around the neighborhood, goes out for groceries or newspapers. And he circles the block three times before disappearing into the house." The woman continues to explain. "It's like he's, uh, afraid someone's following him." She laughs. "Trust me, no one's following him."

"Damn, this is insane!" Buck exclaims. "Hey, Cap, you got to see this!" He looks away from the window and at everyone on the ground.

Suddenly a bowling ball swings out of the window and hits Buck. Emery jumps, "Oh, My—Probie?!"

Buck stumbles off the ladder, but he quickly catches one of the poles of the ladder and gets himself back onto the ladder. He readjusts his helmet and practically shakes the concussion out of his head.

"Buck, you okay?!" Bobby calls out.

"Y-Yeah—Yeah, I'm good!" Buck calls out from the ladder.

Emery lets out a soft breath, "Good..." she quietly laughs and points at Buck. "...you almost fell off the ladder by a bowling ball!"

Emery wipes at her eyes, "And I thought choking on bread and having your girlfriend perform a tracheotomy on you was hilarious."

"I-I'm sorry, what?!" The neighbor gasps.

Emery waves a hand and sighs. "Oh, uh, you wouldn't get it, it's an inside joke."

Emery claps her hands, "Lets get to work!"

☆

Emery walks down the sidewalk with her arm looped with her sister's. "So, why are they trying to surprise me, exactly?"

Amaya raises her brows, "Well, I may or may not have told them that you are dating William."

Emery's back straightens and her expression drops. "And...why would you tell them that?"

Amaya smiles, "Because you weren't going to."

They walk up the steps to the house. Amaya knocks on the door. Emery looks at Amaya, "There is a reason why I wasn't going to tell them—"

"Is it because you don't think it's going to last?" Amay turns to her sister. Emery's eyes widen, "Wh-What? I think—no, I know it's going to last."

"Really?"

"Really." Emery points at Amaya. "Because I just...made plans with Will to go to Aspen."

Amaya blinks and her mouth slightly opens. "Oh, wow...Aspen?"

Emery presses her lips into a firm line and nods her head.

"I thought that was yours and Helena's vacation destination?"

Emery purses her lips, "Yeah, it was. But you know, now it's not because she's kinda..." she moves her thumb across her neck and sticks her tongue out.

Amaya looks away with a soft breath escaping her mouth. "Jesus, Em—"

"What? I'm coping!" Emery holds her hands up. She waves her hands, "Anyway, back to you telling our parents about William!"

"Oh, come on!" Amaya sputters her lips. "Nothing's gonna come of it and if something did, how bad can it be?"

The door opens, Emery and Amaya look at their mother. A gasp comes from her mouth, "Oh, my babies!"

Emery softly giggles as Amara pulls them into a warm hug. "Oh, mom—I'm 25..." Emery cheekily smiles. "And Amaya's 14–"

"I'm 16."

"She's 16."

Amara and Amaya speak at the same time. Emery pulls away from the hug and nods her head, "Right, right—my bad." She rolls her eyes.

"Come in! Come on in!" Amara ushers her daughters in and makes her way to the dining room.

Ever since they started mending the bridges that had been burned years ago, The Sharpe family decided to have dinner every Sunday night. And today was Sunday night.

Amaya walks into the dining room first and her eyes widen at the person sitting at the table, laughing with her father. "Fuuuuck—"

"Watch your mouth." Amara snaps at her daughter.

Amaya closes her mouth and turns to Emery, whose brows were pulled together.

"What's going on...?" Emery asks, she closes the door behind her and makes her way over to the entry way of the dining room. She stops in her tracks when she sees her boyfriend sitting down at the dining table.

"What the hell?!"

Amara holds her arms up, "No swearing!"

Emery points at William. He gives her a sheepish smile and wiggles his fingers, "Hi, babe."

"What is he doing here?—You invited him here?!" Emery quietly seethes.

"What's the big deal?" Amara holds up her hands.

"Mom, it's...family dinner night, right?"

"Well, William is family now!" Amara swoons and looks at William. Emery looks at the ceiling. "So, he can be family but not..." she trails off her sentence and looks away from everyone.

William takes a big gulp of his water while everyone else just waits for someone else to speak. Amaya clears her throat and claps her hands together, "So! I think it's dinner time, anyone else hungry?"

"I-I am!" William holds a hand up.

Everyone looks at the raven-haired boy. Emery closes her eyes and counts in her head. She had to calm down. Her parents were trying. So, it was only fair she tried as well.

"I am famished!" Emery claps her hands together. "So, let's, uh—let's eat!"

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Almost done with season one!

words : 6018