A Whole New You.

chapter nine , It's Just the Principle

a/n : last chapter of season one 💃🏾

━━━━━━━━━━

Emery awoke in a wonderful mood. Granted, there were no birds singing or rainbows in the sky but she was still in a wonderful mood. Emery got out of bed, William was already in her kitchen cooking breakfast (because he can cook AHHH). She swiftly made her way into her bathroom. Emery rinses her mouth with mouthwash and goes to grab her toothbrush, she grabs her toothpaste. Before she puts any paste on her toothbrush, her eyes catch close sight of her bristles.

They were wet.

She always brushes her teeth the night she goes to sleep, but the bristles were usually dry. Emery pouts her lower lip and knits her brows together. "Hey, babe?"

"Yeah!"

Emery lets out a soft chuckle, "My toothbrush is wet!" She pads through the apartment and makes it to the kitchen. William was finishing making pancakes, he stops and looks at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I borrowed it."

Emery blinks, a small giggle escapes her lips. "Borrowed...? What do you mean 'borrowed'?" She tilts her head. "How do you borrow someone else's toothbrush?"

William shrugs a shoulder, "By using it."

"Without my consent?"

William pulls his brows together. "Don't make it weird, Em."

"Oh..." Emery taps the butt of her toothbrush against the island. "...I'm making it weird. Not you and your problem with using people's things without asking?"

"I don't have a problem." William chuckles. He turns off the stovetop and turns to her. William tosses the kitchen towel onto his shoulder and Emery holds her pointer up.

"Don't. Don't do that, you know how much I love that." Emery squints her eyes. "My toothbrush is my toothbrush. You didn't ask to use it and even if you did ask, I would've said no."

"Yeah, I know, Em. But I left mine at my place and I really—"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Emery holds a hand out and laughs softly. "You...left your own toothbrush at home?"

William nods his head, hoping that Emery would understand and the topic would now be dropped.

He was wrong.

"Well, shit, Will. You shouldn't forget one of your most prized possession when it comes to staying over."

"I was too busy worrying about other prized possessions!" William raises his voice.

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Like condoms!"

Emery places her hands on her forehead. "I'm on birth control, remember?"

William looks at the ceiling and raises his brows. "Oh..." he looks at Emery and chuckles. "I guess I could've used that time getting my toothbrush, huh?"

William laughs, but Emery doesn't crack a smile. He clears his throat, hoping to ease the tension.

Emery lays her forehead on the island and lightly bangs it on the surface. "You're unbelievable—I cannot believe you would do this to me."

"All right, I'm sorry." William holds his hands out. "I promise, I'll ask you next time just so you can deny me of it."

Emery lifts her head up and looks at him, "Thank you." She huffs. "I think I'm gonna need some...time to understand this situation though."

William rolls his eyes, "Right. Of course you are..."

"Don't undermine me." Emery snaps. "Don't do it, William."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." he rounds the island to kiss Emery. She pulls away from him and walks around the island. Emery tosses the toothbrush into the trash and goes over to a drawer. She opens the drawer and pulls out a new boxed toothbrush.

"Wait, you have another toothbrush?" William walks over to her.

Emery hums softly, "Oh, yeah. I have tons actually."

William looks over her shoulder and sees the boxes of new toothbrushes. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Nope, I'm not." Emery slightly looks at him. She looks back at him, noticing his bewildered expression. "What's—what's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that you bit my head off because I used your toothbrush, but you have a drawer full of new ones!"

Emery pulls her face back, "It's the principal, Will,"

William points at her, "I have...I've got to go..." he shakes his head with his eyes on Emery. Like she was too much.

Emery's back straightens, "But...you made breakfast."

"Yeah, and I'm surprised you even want to eat that since my William has been all over it." He scoffs while putting his shoes on.

"William, stop!" Emery sighs. She then looks over at the breakfast. "When you mean 'William all over it' you don't actually mean you've been touching it, right—"

"I'm leaving!" William holds up his hands and grabs his briefcase.

"Oh, what?! I-I mean, we can talk about this right?—William, I'm—"

He closes the front door behind him.

"—sorry..."

Emery was left in a not-so-wonderful mood.

☆

"Over a toothbrush?"

"I have already told you that it's the principal!"

"Em's right. I love Karen, but I'm not gonna let her use my toothbrush and I'm not using hers." Hen shakes her head.

Emery points at Hen.

"But you yelled at him over it and practically shamed him, only just to have more in her drawer." Chimney states.

"That is also a fair point, Em."

Emery lets out a sharp breath, "He was just going to let me use it. I-I mean, would he have even told me?"

"Probably not."

"See? So, I took care of the situation before it got out of hand." Emery shrugs. She then knits her brows together.

"I-Is it normal for couples to use each other's toothbrushes?" Emery looks at Hen then Chimney.

The three firefighters walk up the stairs. Bobby was sitting at the table on his laptop. He sees them all approaching the table and his back straightens. Bobby closes his laptop. Emery pulls her brows together.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa—what was that all about?" Chimney asks.

"What?" Bobby drinks out of his mug.

"You closed your laptop as soon as we walked over, like you were hiding something." Chimney states.

"No, I didn't." Bobby denies.

Hen nods her head, "Yeah, you did."

"I just took a sip of tea." Bobby shrugs.

"Em?"

Chimney and Hen look at the curly-haired girl, but she was still in her thoughts. Emery raises her brows and looks at Bobby. "Oh, well, sir—respectfully." She presses her hands together. "You did close your laptop as soon as we walked up here."

Bobby looks away with a soft chuckle. Emery holds up her hands, "But guys, whatever Captain is hiding from us, it's his business." She chuckles. "So, let's give him his space and—"

Chimney grabs the laptop and Emery nods her head. "Oh, okay." She rolls her lips into her mouth.

"Chim!" Bobby exclaims with his eyes wide.

"Aht-aht-aht-aht-aht!" Chimney opens the laptop.

Emery shakes her head, and she keeps her eyes on the wall while shaking her head.

"RomancingTheUniform.com?"

Emery's eyes widen and she looks a mover Chim's shoulder. Buck gasps and touches Emery's shoulder. The girl jumps and takes his hand off of her. "What the hell? When did you get here, Probie?"

"I'm like a ninja, Em. You'll never see me coming." Buck quips.

"You're more like a tick that I'll never see coming, but whatever works for you." Emery rolls her eyes.

"That's my dating site. That's where I met Tatiana." Chimney says.

Buck holds a finger up, "And where Emery, met her perfect little boyfriend."

"Shut up, this isn't about me." Emery snaps in a low tone. She looks at Bobby. "You're thinking about putting yourself back out there, Captain?"

"Yeah, My sponsor said maybe it's time." Bobby answers. "I spend too much time in my work, in my head, and that dating, having a girlfriend would help get me out in the world."

"I think it's great, you taking the leap." Hen smiles. "It's brave. While at the moment, I think that dating or sleeping with someone is not with the trouble, but I'm happy for you."

Emery pouts her lip and gives Hen a pat in her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll think differently once your marriage is mended. Because sex is..." she holds and 'ok' sign up. "Amazing."

"Okay, calm down, miss Sharpe."

Emery opens her eyes and shrugs, "I-I'm just saying..." she looks at Bobby. "I'm happy for you, Captain Nash."

"Seriously you're not gonna say 'Bobby' at least once?" Buck looks at her.

Emery rolls her eyes, "Why are you so obsessed with me?" She looks away from Buck with a smirk and he chuckles.

"Look, guys, this just isn't me." Bobby states. "I feel like a Probie stretching his first job."

"You're like Buck trying to get into a meaningful relationship!" Emery laughs.

Everyone looks at the woman. Emery slaps her knee and squeezes her eyes shut. She opens her eyes and stops laughing from the stares. Emery clears her throat, "Well, I mean...I like Abby." She looks at Buck, reassuringly. "Abby is cool..."

"It's not a compliment for me, but it's something that I'll take." Buck throws an arm over Emery's shoulders and she wrinkles her nose.

"Gross!" Emery takes his arm off of her. "Captain, you're just rusty. I was rusty, but now my rust is brushed off and I'm good as new!"

"Last time I had a date, I was in my 20s." Bobby states.

"Yeah, this is terrible." Buck says, his eyes on the laptop screen. "And this picture looks like you're tying to sell real estate from a bus stop bench. And you know what? I will not be buying."

Emery actually giggles from that statement.

"You cannot describe yourself as, 'I am a lifesaver, not a heartbreaker'."

Emery covers her mouth and laughs harder. Bobby looks at the firefighter's and pulls his brows together. "Why not? That's solid, sweet."

"No, it is cheese." Buck states. "Sweet, sweet cheese."

"You like flan?" Chimney voices.

Emery pints at Chimney, "Okay, Flan is really good!"

Chimney deadpans at the girl and she bunches her shoulders. "What? It is!"

"Good flan is the bomb." Bobby supports.

"Oh, he..." Buck laughs out loud. "...you have an AOL e-mail account still? It is literally like you were frozen in ember in 1995."

Emery purses her lips at Buck's choice of words.

"It's 'Amber' not 'ember' you idiot." Bobby corrects.

"Emphasis on idiot." Emery points at Buck.

"Who cares?" Buck brushes them off. "You can never show this to a girl."

"Why not?"

"Okay, this profile is a joke profile for a guy no one ever wants to go out with." Buck explains. Emery slightly opens her mouth, "That's rude, Probie."

Chimney clears his throat, "You know what, maybe you are not the right person he should be taking dating advice from, Buckaroo."

"Well, Buck helped me with my profile." Emery shrugs.

Everyone looks at the girl.

"Was that a compliment?" Buck asks, looking at her.

Emery scoffs and rolls her eyes. "I don't know why you would think I would compliment you...that'll be my last day on this earth."

"Oh, you know what?" Buck stands up. "Last time I checked, I'm in a stable, monogamous relationship with an amazing woman."

Emery's eyes slightly widen.

"I'm the healthiest dater at this whole table."

Everyone looks at each other. Buck snaps his fingers and points at Emery. "Shoot, I forgot about you and William."

Emery shakes her head, "We don't have to talk about—"

"Yeah, Em, how's that's going?" Bobby asks.

Emery closes her eyes and exhales through her nose. Hen and Chimney look at eachother and wince. Emery looks at Bobby then Buck. "William and I...we're—we got into an argument over...my toothbrush..." she looks at the ground.

Buck raises his brows and smiles. "I-I beg your pardon?"

Emery rolls her eyes and groans, "He used my toothbrush and I argued with him about it, okay?"

"He used your toothbrush after he asked—"

"He didn't ask, actually." Emery looks at Bobby. "He just assumed I would be okay with it. And I wasn't, hence, why I didn't drop the topic."

"Then he saw me grab a new toothbrush from a drawer after I accepted his apology, and he...left..." Emery sighs. "So, yeah, we're—I don't know."

Everyone sits in silence, all of them felt sympathy for the confused girl. All except for one. A small stifled laugh comes from Buck and Emery squints her eyes at him.

"Buck..." Bobby says in a warning tone.

Buck erupts in laughter, "I'm sorry—I'm sorry, it's just, I didn't think my day could get any better..."

"I'm glad my relationship troubles brighten your day, Probie." Emery flicks the side of his face.

Buck holds his hands up, "Well, you did laugh at me after I almost died choking and when that bowling ball almost killed me."

Emery giggles from the memories. "Good times..." her smile drops. "I just don't like that you are in a good relationship." She sits next to him at the table.

"That's not the Buck I have grown to tolerate on a daily basis." Emery shudders.

"You can be sad all you want, Emerson Sharpe. I am proof that real change is possible—"

"What the hell, Evan Buckley?!" A woman walks up the stairs and stalks over to the boy.

Buck quickly stands up from his seat and looks at the woman. Emery slightly opens her mouth.

"Can we help you?" Bobby asks.

"You lead me on for six weeks? The sexiest, deepest, most romantic, most intimate relationship I've ever had with a man..."

A big smile starts to grow on Emery's lips.

"...I told you everything. You told me everything. And I am not an easy nut to crack. Is this your sick game?—"

"It is!" Emery holds a finger up.

"Shhhh!!!" Hen lowers Emery's hand down.

"You make a girl reveal every fear and secret and turn-on, and then you just disappear? Is ghosting girls your thing?"

"I-I'm sorry, are you sure you have the right Evan Buckley?" Bobby asks.

Emery nods her head, "I'm sure she does. Because this is the Evan Buckley I have grown to tolerate."

Chimney shushes Emery and she closes her mouth.

"You mean the Evan Buckley who's a firefighter?" The woman questions. "Who works here and who's on the news basically every day and looks exactly like you?!"

"Listen, yeah, sure, that-that is definitely me." Buck stammers. "But the-the me that I am, and the bin that you're describing, that is not the same person."

Emery purses her lips, "You should definitely slap—"

The woman slaps Buck across the face and Emery covers her mouth with her hand.

"Whoa!"

The woman turns on her heel and walks down the stairs. A small chuckle escapes Emery's lips. Buck looks at everyone, "Did you guys see that...?"

Buck sees the disappointment across Hen, Chimney, and Bobby's faces. While, Emery was smiling mischievously.

"No, no—I swear I have never seen her before." Buck says with his hands up.

"Oh, so you forgot about her?" Emery raises her brows. "I have missed you 'Playboy Buck'." She stands up and holds her arms out to him, going to hug him.

"No, no, no, guys I swear!" Buck steps away from Emery. She rolls her eyes, "Last time I'm ever trying to hug you."

"If you say so." Bobby walks away.

"No, I do say so."

"Okay, I swear, I-I don't know who that was." Buck defends himself. "I have—I have found real intimacy. Right? You know this!"

"I haven't even flirted with anyone else."

Emery rolls her eyes, "You don't have to lie to us, Buck." She pats his arm.

"You're proof that real change is possible." Hen says, sarcasm in her voice.

Everyone sits back down at the table except for Emery and Buck. She giggles, "My day has gotten a thousand times more better, so, thanks, Probie."

The alarm echoes through the firehouse and everyone starts down the stairs. Buck follows behind Emery, "Did you pay her to say that or something?"

Emery raises her brows, "No, but I should've, that is genius!"

☆

Just when Emery thought her day was done with...

She was wrong.

"Ma'am, p-please!"

The woman continue to scream incoherently and chuck rocks at Emery and Chimney. Emery looks at Chimney, "If she doesn't stop, I'm going to tackle her—"

"No, come on, I'm sure she'll be reasonable if we just—"

"WHERE THE HELL IS EVAN BUCKLEY?!?!" The woman shrieks. She chuckles the rock and it hits Emery's forehead. The curly-haired girl falls to the ground and Chimney runs over to her side. "Em?!"

"O-Oh My God...did I kill her?" The woman drops the pile of rocks in her arms.

Emery groans and opens her eyes. Chimney flashes his medical light into her eyes. She lightly pushes his hand away. "I'm fine..." Emery sighs.

Chimney raises his brows, "I think you got hit pretty hard."

Emery deadpans, "Well, yeah, Chim..." she points at the shaken woman. "...she threw a rock at me!"

Chimney helps Emery onto her feet. "And you're bleeding."

"What?!" Emery touches her forehead and looks at the blood on her fingers." She throws her arms in the air, "Well, shit." she looks at the woman. "Shit, Lady!"

"I'm sorry—I'm sorry! I just wanted to know where—"

"Evan Buckley is..." Chimney and Emery chorus. The woman nods her head vigorously.

"How about I get her patched up and you tell us how you and where you met your Evan Buckley." Chimney helps Emery over to the aid car and sits her on the ledge of it.

The woman follows after them, her mascara running. "O-Okay..."

The woman explains to the two firefighters about how she met Buck through MySpace. She showed his account to them and Emery laughed out loud. Emery despised Buck, that doesn't mean she doesn't know him. And she knows he doesn't have a MySpace. So, Emery and Chimney made it their mission to find this catfish. It wasn't hard, but Chimney had no idea why Emery would even want to help find the catfish.

Emery and Chimney were sitting on the couch upstairs looking at Chimney's laptop. "Jesus, I'm getting a headache." She hands Chimney the laptop and pinches the bridge of her nose. "If I ever see that lady again, I'm gonna trip her in the street."

Chimney dramatically shudders, "Well, then, she better watch out."

"Hey, yo, Emi!"

"I told him how much I hate that..." Emery groans. "...I mean, my name isn't even spelt with an 'I'."

"Come clean, this was you, right? Putting girls up to this, you think you're funny?" Buck makes his way over to the couch.

Emery looks at Buck with squinted eyes. "Who the hell are you to walk over to me like that, talking to me like that?!" She stands up from the couch.

Chimney raises his brows, "Well, that escalated quickly..."

"If anything I should be yelling at you and your urge to date multiple girls at once—"

"You can try and continue this stupid joke of yours, but it's not cool!" Buck snaps, he was obviously angry and he had every right to be. Emery couldn't care any les about his feelings. She looks at Chimney and shakes her head. "He's got a lot of nerve..."

"Em—"

"What if I did do it? What would you do, huh, Probie?" Emery crosses her arms. Buck looks away from her with a scoff. She follows his eyes, "No, I'm honestly curious—what would you do—"

"Look, just because your relationship isn't real and genuine like mine—"

"Oh no..." Chimney sinks further into his spot on the couch.

"What?!" Emery's eyes widen. "My relationship is less genuine than yours? Just because you guys talked in the phone for a few months, doesn't make mine less genuine."

"Emery, we all know that you don't care about William as much as he does about you." Buck motions around the firehouse.

Emery's back straightens and she looks at Chimney. He quickly looks back at his laptop. Emery didn't even have to ask him the question. "Well, good thing you're not my friend and I don't need your input on my personal life."

"Guys, we seemed to have gone off the rails here." Chimney stands up and steps in between his co-workers. Emery runs her tongue across her teeth and shakes her head. She walks over to the couch and picks up, "Do you have a MySpace?"

A crease forms between his brows. "Who even uses MySpace?"

Emery looks at Chimney, "Well, according to this, you do." She shoves the laptop into his chest. Buck rounds the couch and sits on the chair in front of the couch.

Chimney and Emery sit back on the couch. Emery had her arms folded and Chimney was nervously looking at her.

"What the hell? That's my Facebook picture." Buck pulls his brows together.

"Yet another, disappointed lady came into the firehouse today." Chimney explains. "After she stopped throwing the rocks when she realized she almost killed Emery—"

"Killed is an exaggeration, all right?" Emery holds her hand out to Chim. "She only concussed me."

Buck looks at Emery and spots the gauze on her forehead. He didn't even notice that she was hurt.

"Anyway, she showed us that." Emery says. She squints her eyes at Buck. "Are you finally understanding what's going on, Probie?"

Buck looks back at Emery.

"Someone's using your pictures to do their catfish bidding." Emery holds her hands out to him. "They decided to to catfish the women of L.A."

"So, I'm a I'm a Yankees fan who loves Star Wars?" Buck wrinkles.

"You don't have to look so disgusted. Star Wars is amazing." Emery says. "Besides, it's just the prequels."

Emery and Chimney laugh which causes Buck to pull his brows together. "This isn't funny, guys."

"It's a little funny." Emery shrugs. "Especially since you were basically blaming me for it and I not only took a rock for you, but I also helped find the catfish."

Buck's eyes soften, "Look, I'm sorry about that, but this—this is really messed up."

"Yeah, it it, but come on, some dude doing the branding legwork, having hotties come to your door, I mean, what, is that really that awful?" Chimney chuckles.

"It is if he's already in a committed relationship." Emery states. She looks at Chimney then Buck. Even after the way Buck talked to her, she still defended him. Sometimes, Buck would never understand Emerson Sharpe.

"Abby is freaking out about this." Buck informs them. "This cannot keep happening. Who is he?"

"How do you know they're a he?" Emery bunches her shoulders. "But, anyway, whoever they are, they aren't the sharpest tool in the shed."

"He's already started exchanging e-mails with Brandy." Chimney says.

"Who's Brandy?"

"The psycho who cut my head open with a rock." Emery clarifies.

"And she's actually very smart and very cool, and she may or may not come to my place next week to watch the game with us, so please, don't come." Chimney explains with a soft smile.

Emery slowly nods her head, "Well, I'm glad that she turned out to be a nice person after concussing me." She then waves her hands. "The point is, if you know what you're looking for..." she makes her way over to Buck and sits on the arm of the chair he was sitting on. "...you can find the I.P. address in the header of the messages." She points at the search bar of the laptop screen.

"It...just looks like a bunch of random numbers." Buck slowly shakes his head.

Emery presses her lips together and nods. "To you, yeah. But to a genius like me, it's an I.P. address."

"And to a genius like me!" Chimney holds up his hand.

Emery chuckles, "That goes without saying, Chim."

Chimney smiles proudly. He looks at Buck, "Uh, we can track those numbers to his actual address."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Buck sets the laptop down and starts toward the stairs.

"I'm sure he can handle this himself now, right?" Emery looks at Chimney.

Buck looks at Chimney and Emery. "No, what, guys, come on." He walks back over to them.

"Well, I'm down to go." Chimney says. Buck softly smiles, he looks at Emery and raises his brows; waiting for her response. Emery scoffs and looks away from Buck. "Screw you, Probie. I've got to fix my 'un-genuine' relationship."

Emery walks away from Chimney and Buck. She makes her way down the stairs. "Emery, wait!" Buck calls out. He looks at Chimney, "Give me one second."

Chimney shakes his head, "Good luck convincing her, because you're gonna need it."

Buck runs down the stairs and catches up to Emery. He grabs her arm and Emery tenses. "Gross—release me."

Buck let's go of her arm, "I'm sorry for what I said—"

"You have no right talking about my relationship." Emery snaps. "I understand that we do that 'we're not friends' banter. But, my relationship is not a topic."

"I know, I know..." Buck looks at the ground. "...I just really thought you were the one who did this whole catfishing thing."

"I already told you earlier today that I didn't do it." Emery growls. "And you didn't believe me, dick."

"Yeah, I deserve that." Buck folds his arms. "We're not friends, but we're co-workers and I didn't trust you. And for that I am seriously so fucking sorry."

Emery blows airs out of her mouth. "I appreciate that apology." She shudders. "I don't like having to apologize, though...it's weird—especially with you."

Buck chuckles softly, "Well, maybe you and I don't have to apologize." He shrugs. "We just moved past it by asking about the weather."

Emery bites the inside of her cheek and softly smiles. "Yeah, I like that idea."

"Great!" Buck claps his hands. "You coming with us?"

Emery hesitates.

"Don't you want to see how it ends?" Buck searches her eyes.

Emery scrunches her lips into a smile. "I kinda do wanna see how this ends..."

"Right?!" Buck shakes her arms.

Emery rolls her eyes, "Okay, enough! People might think that we're bonding." She pulls out of his grip.

Buck smirks, "Well, we wouldn't want that now, would we?

☆

"Of course, it's maggots..."

Emery gags even with the mask over her face. "It's always maggots..." her skin starts to crawl. "I can't believe you dragged me here, Probie." She points at him.

"It's kind of sad, y'know?" Buck's voice becomes quiet. "He's been like this for 10 days but no one notices?"

Emery and Chim look at each other.

"The guy was a shut-in." Chimney says. "The park manages says no one's seen him in, like, two years."

The coroner presses against the man's stomach. Emery's stomach turns. No matter how many times she sees things like this, she never gets used to it.

"Well, it's tragic..."

Emery scrunches her brows, "You were just saying that he was a loser and you wanted to get your hands on him."

"And lets not forget, this was an online predator." Chimney adds.

"Was he, though?" Buck asks. "It's not like he was tricking women into hooking up with him."

"Well, no, but, some of those girls were talking about deep shit with him..." Emery shrugs. She blinks and knits her brows together. She then looks at Buck, "Why are you even defending him?"

"I'm just saying, it's kind of a bummer, you know?" Buck takes the mask off his face. Emery wrinkles her nose, "How can you breathe this in?"

"Can we focus please?"

Emery holds her hands up, "My bad."

"He hated himself so much he had to pretend to be someone else." Buck continues.

"Don't get a lot of cases that bloat this much." The coroner speaks. "Bodies probably double the size it was at time of death. Bloat set in after rigor mortis, filled him with methane and CO2, along with decomposition fluids..."

As the coroner continues to explain the dead nan's state, Emery feels more sick by the second.

"I just don't know how to get him out of here." The Coroner says. "We either got to knock down this wall, or...roll this whole thing down to the morgue."

Emery sputters her lips, "I'm sure you don't need us for that, right?—"

"I actually will." The coroner says.

Emery slightly opens her mouth, she then groans.

"No. No—okay, look, this guy may not have lived with much dignity, but maybe, he can still die with some." Buck says.

"Well he can't 'still die'..." Emery purses her lips. "Because he's already dead."

Buck rolls his head over to the curly-haired girl. "Em—"

"But, I get what you're trying to say, Probie." Emery holds her hands up. "These people are already treating him like he's a circus sideshow..."

"Exactly, so let's not make it any more of a spectacle." Buck says. "I know a way we can get him out of here in a body bag."

"That's a great speech, but that would take hours." The coroner states.

Buck pulls his brows together, "Why? You just drain all the gas and gunk and stuff."

"We would have to use large bore needles and start the embalming process here." The coroner states.

"Okay, so let's do that."

The coroner sighs and stands up. "He's dead. He doesn't care if people are gawking at him. All right? He doesn't have any feelings to hurt anymore."

Emery raises her brows as Buck takes a step toward The coroner.

"Listen..." Buck towers over the man in an intimidating manner.

Emery leans closer to Chimney. "Is he going to hit him?" She whispers.

"No..." Chimney says, unsure. He tilts his head. "You are not about to beat up a coroner, now are you, Buck?"

"If he does this, I might gain respect for him outside of the work place." Emery grabs onto Chimney's arm.

"Oh, what?! But you like regulation and order. This is not order!" Chimney seethes.

Emery knits her brows together, "I know, it's so confusing..."

Buck grabs a small screwdriver off the counter and Emery slightly opens her mouth.

"Okay, murder is not something I'm not gonna gain respect for you for, Buck." Emery swallows.

Buck raises the screwdriver and thrusts it into the corpse's stomach. Yellow fluid spews from the body and Emery's eyes blow wide.

"What the fuck?!" Emery jumps back.

"No! No!—Hell no!" Chimney steps away from the body that was now hissing and gurgling.

Emery looks at Buck's hand that was drenched in the yellow liquid. "I can't believe this and I can't believe you."

"I thought he was gonna pop." Buck shrugs.

The coroner glares, "I told you, draining him is going to take time."

"What do you got, dinner reservations?" Buck questions. "Let's get to work."

Emery wrinkles her nose, "No one's going to want dinner after this shit..."

More coroners were called ok to help with the fluid extraction from the body. The three firefighters were put into white suits with masks. Emery was praying that not a drop of that yellow rancid liquid touched her. She would actually be devastated.

"I can't believe he pulled me into this..." Emery dry heaves as the liquid runs through the tubes. The smell started to distinguish a smell in her mask and Emery's eyes started to water. The fluid slowly stops and Emery raises her brows.

"Is that it? Is it done?" Buck asks.

"I think so—"

The yellow fluid spews from one of the holes and falls to the R.V. floor. Emery flinches, "Holy shit!" She quietly whines and shudders. "I think I might die!"

"Oh, God! Oh, my God—Oh God!" Chimney also freaks out. More fluid leaks onto the R.V. and Emery shakes her head. "Fuck this shit..." she looks away from the body.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. Oh, no. Oh, no." Chimney whines.

After hours of fluid flying everywhere, and Emery and Chimney freaking out; the body was finally small enough to slip into a body bag.

Emery and Chimney throw themselves out of the R.V., while Buck was talking to the crowd like a champ. "Out of the way. Show some respect!"

Emery and Chimney help themselves off the floor. Emery inhales a deep breath and holds it. "That...that was bad."

"You're telling me..." Chimney dry heaves.

Emery lifts her head up and looks at Buck ordering the crowd around. She raises her brows.

Chimney chuckles, "Who knew Buck had it in him, right?"

A small smile twitches onto Emery's lips. "Yeah, who knew..."

And without Emery knowing, she gained a small bit of admiration for Buck.

☆

Emery rapidly knocks on the loft door. She then folds her hands in front of her and rocks back and forth on her heels. The door opens, revealing the raven-haired man.

"Em, hey..."

Emery smiles softly, "Hey, Will." She shrugs a shoulder. "Can I come in?"

William swipes his tongue across his lower lip. "Are you sure you want my 'William' around you?"

Emery looks at the ground and she bites her lower lip. "I'm sorry..." she scratches the inner corner of her eye. "...like—shit." Emery lifts her head and meets William's eyes. "I'm not sorry for talking to you about my toothbrush."

William rolls his eyes. Emery notices and her chest tightens but she doesn't speak about it. She clears her throat and shakes her head. "But, I am sorry that I basically freaked out only to pull out a new toothbrush in front of you." She chuckles. "I knew that would make you feel a certain way and I did it anyway."

William pulls his brows together, "What?"

"William, I freaked out, all right?" Emery says. "I told you about my dead wife and I still don't know why you're with me after that—I mean, it's so a lot of baggage..."

"So, you basically sabotaged our relationship?" William raises his brows, still in disbelief.

Emery's shoulders sag, "I got scared."

"About what, Em?"

A lump forms in Emery's throat and she scratches her arm. Sweat forms on her palms and she bites the inside of her cheek to keep it from shaking. "I thought maybe you would suddenly leave or just...start comparing our relationship with my past one. So, I just decided to speed up the process. I got in my head about our relationship ship, I—"

"You pulled an Emery." William says.

"What?—Th-that's not a thing." Emery crosses her arms.

William presses his lips together, "That's definitely a thing, Em."

"Shut up, I'm trying to apologize!" Emery laughs.

William chuckles and he shrugs a shoulder. "You don't have to..." he takes a step towards her. "...I forgive you."

Emery raises her brows, "Really?"

"Yeah, really—can I kiss you now?"

Emery's face heats up and she nods her head. "Yeah, yeah, you can kiss me."

William pulls Emery into a hungry kiss and Emery kisses him back. Emery touches his waist and inhales a deep breath. William slightly pulls his lips away from hers and chuckles. "You smell like dove soap."

Emery softly hums, "I took 5 showers in a row." She whispers on his lips. "We dealt with some...nasty shit today and, I needed to basically scrub my skin off to make me feel better."

"You need something to take your mind of it?" William pulls Emery into his apartment. He lightly pushes Emery against the door, closing it. Emery takes her jacket off with a small laugh. "If you don't mind, yeah."

Emery quickly kisses William once again, ignoring every single overbearing thought that was drowning her thoughts. She didn't want what Buck said earlier to be true, especially since he barely knew her.

Evan Buckley hardly knew her and yet he got her whole relationship right on the nose.

What the fuck was that about?

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

GUYS SEASON ONE IS DONE.
Now, the fun begins 😏

words : 6033