New Beginnings.

chapter twenty six , Best Friends & Search Parties

a/n : *CONTENT WARNING* sexual content! Skip if uncomfortable!

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Emery keeps her eyes on her phone and scrolls through social media. The room was filled with silence, only the clock on the wall being heard. Buck keeps his eyes on the ceiling, his thumbs drumming against his chest. Then he looks over at Emery and pulls his brows together. "Seriously?"

Emery blinks and looks at him, "What?"

"Why are you just on your phone?"

Emery pulls her brows together. "I always do that after we have sex..." she squints her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I am great...I had an amazing time." Buck says, sitting up.

Emery nods her head, "That's good." She looks back at her phone.

Buck raises his brows, "Did you have a good time?"

Emery bites her lower lip and softly hums. "Yeah, sure."

"Really? Because you reached for your phone a little too fast and—"

Emery turns her phone off, "Buck, do you really want to talk about this?" She looks at him with a bored expression.

"Yeah! I do, I'm trying this new thing where I communicate with people and...I want to know if the sex is good. And if it's not, how can I make it better."

Emery slowly nods her head. "Okay, well...I didn't finish."

Buck stays still for a moment, not comprehending the statement. "I'm sorry?"

Emery presses her lips together, "I didn't orgasm."

"That's...that can't be possible..."

Emery folds her arms. "And you know this because you're in my body and you have my vagina?"

"No—no! I'm just saying every time we've had sex you've had the big 'o'—"

"1. Never and I mean Never say "the big 'o'." Again. And 2. Not every time is the same time, Buck. Things change."

Buck slowly nods his head, he still seemed out of it,  but he decided not to be weird about it. "Right, right..." he looks at the wall across the room with disbelief across his face.

Emery rolls her eyes, "Oh, boy—look..." she folds her arms and places them in her lap. "It happens, okay? It's a part of life. Sometimes people have sex and not everyone in that sexual interaction finishes—no need to be sad about it."

"I'm not sad, It's just kind of unbelievable." Buck says. "I think I might be losing my touch."

"I doubt that's it—"

"Let me try again." Buck urges. Emery looks at him with a deadpanned expression. "You know we don't have to do this, right?"

"I want to, Em. Please." Buck lightly touches her arm. Emery's stomach starts to pound and she looks to the side. Her eyes land on the clock and she sighs.

"We've got 2 hours."

Buck smiles softly, he cups the side of her neck and pulls her into a soft kiss. Emery lightly touches Buck's wrist and kisses him back. Buck grips her waist with his other hand and starts to kiss her neck. Goosebumps form across Emery's body and her stomach flutters. Buck slowly pulls Emery's tank top of and pulls it off of her. Emery raises her arms, allowing the tank top to be taken off of her. Buck tosses it to the side. He kisses Emery's collarbone then her chest. Emery's breathing heavies as Buck kisses down to her midriff. Buck kisses Emery's inner thighs and she inhales a shaky breath.

He hooks his fingers underneath Emery's waistband of her underwear and pulls them down. Buck kisses up Emery's thighs and gets to her middle. Emery tries to control her breath and slightly looks down at Buck. He places his mouth on her and she tilts her head against the pillow. Emery feels as Buck licks her slit and her breathing heavies.

"Buck, Oh god..." Emery moans.

Buck smiles and places Emery's knees over his shoulders. He touches Emery's stomach and his hand travels to her breast, squeezing it. Emery closes her eyes as her moans grow more eccentric. She places a hand in his hair and pulls at it. Buck slips his tongue into Emery, Emery raises a hand and grips the nightstand beside the bed. Emery tilts her head back and she accidentally knocks over the glass of water.

Emery's walls starts to pulsate and she moans. "Buck, wait, wait..." she places a hand in his hair.

Buck pulls away from the girl and looks at her. "I-Is everything okay?"

"I need you inside of me." Emery sits up and cups his neck.

Buck raises his brows and a small smile crosses his lips, "Yeah?"

Emery nods her head and hums softly. She connects their lips and Buck softly breathes before kissing her back. He gently lays Emery back against the bed. Buck kisses her neck and she closes her eyes. He prods himself at Emery's entrance and slowly slides in. Emery inhales a soft breath as Buck exhales one. He lays his head in the crook of Emery's neck and moves in and out of her. Emery immediately starts to moan and she digs her nails into his back.

"Fuck, Em..." Buck groans through his teeth.

Emery keeps her eyes on the ceiling as her breathing quickens. "Buck, harder!"

Buck grips Emery's waist and his thrusts sharpen in the girl, causing the bed to shake. Both of their moans and groans echoed through the apartment. Emery hastily attached her lips onto Buck's and he kisses her back. Buck keeps his lips brushing against Emery's but he speaks. "You like this?"

Emery opens her eyes, meeting his lust-filled blue ones and her stomach tightens. "Yes..." she moans on his lips.

Buck groans and sharpens his thrusts inside Emery. She tilts her head back, "Buck, I'm so close!"

"I'm right here..." Buck whispers in her ear.

Emery raises a hand in his hair and pulls at it. Buck moans, "God, you're so beautiful like this."

Emery lets out a small laugh that was mixed with her moans. "Just like this?"

No, not just like this. You're beautiful all the time. Buck pushes his actual thoughts away and instead comes up with something else, "Well, you're annoying basically any other time I'm around you."

Emery didn't know why, but hearing Buck degrade her like that was something she could get used to. "Right...like you're some kind of fucking gem?"

Buck places a hand over her throat and Emery's stomach tightens. "Tell me what I'm like then."

Emery squeezes her eyes shut, "Arrogant, pompous Play Boy that thinks he deserves the world." She softly moans.

Buck laughs through his grunts and moans. "And what about you, Miss Know-it-all? You're competitive even when you don't need to be." His lips hover over hers. "And you never know when to have fun."

Emery laughs, "So, what? You're saying this isn't fun?"

Buck pulls his brows together and he thinks. Ever since he and Emery started having sex, it's like she slowly started becoming less worried and uptight about things.

"This is kind of fun." Buck admits he then connects their lips.

Emery kisses him back and she feels his hand tighten around her throat. It wasn't tight enough to cut off her breathing, but it was tight enough to get her closer to her climax. Her moans increase in his mouth and the coil in her stomach snaps. Emery slightly pulls her lips away from Buck's and moans loudly. Just from the way Emery moaned his name and from the way she tilted her head back as she roads her high; Buck felt himself become undone and he released deep inside Emery. He collapses on top of the woman with his head in the crook of her neck.

They both stay like that for a moment. Buck couldn't stop his heart from accelerating when Emery's hand grips his bicep. She softly chuckles, her breath hitting his ear. Emery could feel Buck's heart beginning to beat faster. "You okay?" She softly speaks, still trying to catch her breath.

Buck lifts himself up and looks down at the girl. "Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." He pulls out of her and grabs the washcloth off her nightstand. He lays beside her and begins to clean her off. Emery snorts, "Here, I got it." She grabs it from his hand, her fingers brushing against his. Buck's heart flutters. "Right, sorry."

They both sit in silence. Every now and then Buck would look at her then look back at the wall. How the hell was he supposed to even have a conversation with her? He couldn't stop thinking about her. He liked her. He really fucking liked her.

Buck slightly moved closer to Emery, until his arm touches hers. She looks at him and Buck looks at her. Emery presses her lips into a small smile and Buck returns the smile. "You redeemed yourself, Buck." She then chuckles. "I'm impressed."

Buck keeps his eyes on hers, his heartbeat drowning through his ears. "Thanks. I think...no, yeah—thank you."

Emery softly laughs, "Never afraid to tell the truth." She then points at him. "Unless it's about my feelings."

Buck laughs and looks to the side. He stays there for a moment, his eyes growing heavy.

She lifts her wrist and looks at the time on her watch. "It's getting late." She huffs. "You should start getting dressed."

Buck softly hums. She looks at him and scoffs. "Hey." She sits up and lightly smacks his arm.

Buck jolts up, "What? What'd I do?"

"Don't fall asleep." Emery says. "You need to start leaving soon."

"Okay, how about we just lay down for a few minutes—"

"Buck..."

"Just a few minutes." Buck softly urges her, a small smile across his lips. Emery keeps her eyes on his. She wanted to continue saying no. But when she was laying her head against Buck's chest. She felt warm and safe. She kind of wanted to feel that again.

"Okay, fine. A few minutes." Emery lays her head against Buck's chest. Buck inhales a soft breath, hoping to slow his heart beat down so Emery couldn't hear it. He lightly touches Emery's arm with his fingers and she tenses. Buck pulls his fingers away from her arm. "Sorry."

"No, no. It's okay." Emery says. "I was just shocked. I'm okay though, I promise."

Buck runs his fingers up and down her arm. Emery hasn't been able to comfortably sleep since she lost Helena. But now, she felt her eyelids growing heavy and her breathing started to grow shallow.

☆

Ever since Buck realized he had feelings for Emery, it's like everything he used to hate about her was now everything that made him fall the teeniest (largest) bit harder for her. The way she would correct the punctuation on crossword puzzles. Her competitiveness when it came to Mario Kart. Even when she shot a snarky remark at him. It all made a smile find his lips or his heart jump into his throat.

And that just made having sex with her hurt. I mean, it was great—amazing. But, how was he supposed to keep things sexual and try to keep his feelings at bay? The answer? He wasn't. He couldn't.

Buck felt warm. Like his entire body was being protected by someone. It made a smile form on his lips. He slowly opens his eyes and looks at the stone grey painted wall. He felt like he was on cloud nine. Then he pulls his brows together. When did Maddie paint the walls?

Maddie didn't paint her walls. But this color was familiar. Then he felt the arms around him slightly tighten. His jaw goes slack and his eyes widen. The arms around him was tight and whatever was pressed against his back was soft like pillows. Buck slowly turns his head and sees a gold and blue scarf over curly hair. Buck's mouth opens. "Shit..."

A small whine comes from Emery's lips and Buck's heart jumps into his throat. How is she so cute in the morning and she's not even awake yet?

When did he go to sleep? And why didn't Emery kick him out? Buck slowly and carefully turns around, Emery's arms still around him and her breasts pressed against his.

He didn't know what he should do. You should leave.
What if she wakes up?

I don't want to wake her.

Frustration rises in Buck. What the hell was he supposed to do? Buck raises a hand and touches the side of her face. A small breath escapes his lips and he pouts his lower lip. Her face was so soft against against his palm. Was she part cloud? Maybe.

Before Buck could caress Emery's face any longer, the voice in his head speaks again.

That's not what you're supposed to do.

Buck pulls his hand back.

Suddenly, Emery starts to stir and her eyes begin to flutter. Buck panics and squeezes his eyes shut. Please think I'm sleeping, please think I'm sleeping...

"What the fuck?"

Shit.

Emery pulls her arms away from Buck's waist and he feels cold.

"Buck."

He doesn't open his eyes. Emery squints her eyes, "Oh, hell no, bitch."

"Bitch?!" Buck's eyes fly open. He meets her eyes and Emery already had a pointed expression.

"Why are you throwing that word around?" Buck sits up. Emery growls. She doesn't speak, which causes Buck to grow nervous.

Emery closes her eyes and inhales a small breath. Buck raises his brows and waits for Emery to say something—anything.

Instead, she exhales one sharp breath before inhaling another deep one. Calm down, calm down and focus. She pulls her scarf off and sets it on the nightstand. Emery stands up and Buck watches the girl slip her underwear on. She grabs his shirt and pulls it over her head.

"Uh, what's going on?"

Emery makes her way to the bathroom and Buck hears the water from the sink run. She finishes brushes her teeth. Buck watches as Emery walks down the hall, passing the door without acknowledging him.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to work on something." Emery calls out from down the hall. Buck pulls his brows together and he stares at the ceiling. He then purses his lips. Is she wearing my shirt?

Buck quickly sits up and puts his boxers on. He leaves the room and sees Emery sitting at the kitchen table with her eyes glued to a paper she was scribbling on.

"Okay, what's up?"

"Nothing, go home." Emery says without looking at him.

Buck chuckles and walks over to the table. He sits next to her and pulls his brows together when he sees the paper. "Lieutenant, huh?"

Emery raises her brows, "Yeah. I've wanted to do it for a while but always thought that..." she trails off her words and looks at Buck. For a moment, she debated opening up. Just a moment. "Why are you still here?" Her voice was once again in that harsh tone she used to sound strong and cold. "Shouldn't you be, I dunno—leaving?"

Buck hangs his head low and sighs. "You know, just when I think you can't be anymore of a prick..." he leans closer to Emery until their lips barely brush against one another's. Emery's breathing hitches and she shifts her eyes to his lips before looking back into his baby blues. "...you surprise me."

She really does surprise him. In every conceivable way. Emery leans forward to connect their lips but Buck pulls away from her and stands up. Emery lets out a small chuckle of disbelief as Buck walks away. And Buck just so happens to surprise her as well.

Then he hears a grumble.

Buck turns to her, "Was that you?—"

"No."

"Em?"

Emery's stomach grumbles again. "Yeah, that was me." She scratches the side of her neck, embarrassed.

"When was the last time you ate?"

Emery shrugs, "Like...Wednesday Morning."

"It's Friday."

Emery pulls her brows together. "Oh, is it? I had no idea!" She says in a deep mocking tone. Buck deadpans and Emery laughs which causes his heart to beat faster.

"Buck, I've just been a little distracted. I'm good."

"How can you be distracted? What have you been doing?"

"Well, for one, you." Emery looks him up and down. "And two, I've been busy with the paperwork for Lieutenant. It's a lot."

Buck holds up a finger, "Okay, all right. Stay seated."

Emery raises her brows as Buck walks into the kitchen. She presses her palms against the table and stands up. "Buck—"

"Sit. Down." He points at her. "You're eating. And I'm staying, because I know that if I don't watch you eat, you never will."

Emery purses her lips. He's got a point.

"This doesn't mean anything." Emery voices.

Buck rolls his eyes, "It doesn't mean anything." He confirms.

Emery lets out a small breath through her nose and nods. "All right..." she looks back at the paper and that's when Buck's small smile lessens.

Emery taps her pencil against her paper and sputters her lips. She knows that she had opened up to the whole team about losing Helena a few weeks ago, but it still made her uncomfortable sharing...feelings.

Emery's eyes shift to Buck's bare back and she tilts her head while her lips purse. She looks back at her paper, her mind still urging her to share her thoughts aloud. After Buck had cooked breakfast, he sat a plate in front of Emery then sat one beside her. Emery raises her brows. "You actually plan on staying?"

"I'm not letting you out of my sight until you eat, remember?"

Emery arches a brow, "Right..." she looks back at her paper. Buck pulls his brows together, he grabs the pencil from her hand and she gasps.

"What—"

"Eat."

Emery slams her jaw shut and she pouts her lower lip, which causes a small smile to form on Buck's lips. He quickly looks away from her. Emery looks at her food and grabs the fork. She takes a bite of some of the eggs and slowly chews. Her face relaxes and she softly hums. Buck shifts his eyes back over to her and she looks at him.

"These are...fine."

"Just fine?"

Emery nods and softly laughs. "Yeah, just fine." She rolls her eyes. "Okay, they're delicious. Happy?"

Buck frowns, "I mean, yeah—a little."

Emery looks back down at her food. "Have you always known how to cook or is this a new skill you've picked up?" She takes another bite of her breakfast.

Buck shrugs, "I learned some cooking for when I thought Abby would..." he trails off his sentence and Emery slows her chewing. Buck then shakes his head. "When I thought Abby would come back." He finishes his thought.

Buck was done feeling sorry about himself. And he was done thinking about Abby. He looks back at Emery and a smile ghosts his lips. Oh God, he was crazy about her.

Emery looks back at Buck and he quickly looks away from her and stuffs his mouth full of food. The girl raises her brows. "Thanks for the breakfast, Buck."

Buck's stomach flutters and he looks at her. "Eh, it was the least I could do. I mean, how many times did you make me come last night?"

Emery smirks and her chest blooms with a heat. "Oh, please, who was counting?" She eats her food. Emery glances at Buck and meets his deadpanned expression. He already knew she kept track, he was just waiting for her to actually confess.

Emery rolls her eyes playfully, "Five times."

Buck laughs and Emery joins him. Normally, Buck and Emery wouldn't spend a night together; but last night was the first night they'd exhausted themselves to the point neither of them could get out of bed. Buck had convinced Emery that they could rest their eyes for ten minutes and ten minutes became 6 hours.

It was the best sleep either of them had in so long.

The boy woke up to Emery's arms around his waist. Buck had never been a little spoon before, and he didn't hate it either.

"I never learn my lesson."

Buck looks over at Emerson and notices her eyes were trained on the last empty spot of the Lieutenant sheet he had to fill out. He pulls his brows together, but he stays quiet. This was the first time since he found out about Helena, that Emery was actually opening up to him. He didn't want to ruin it by badgering her with questions. So, he allowed her to take her time.

"When I was with Helena." Emery moves her head to one side and her neck cracks. "I wasn't attentive to our relationship. I wasn't attentive to h-her." She taps her pen against her lower lip, trying to distract herself. And just like that her energy becomes small. It made Buck's heart hurt that someone so confident and golden could become dim with a switch.

"I was so focused on work and becoming the best of the best." Emery throws a hand up and scoffs. "That's why I never went up for Lieutenant." She manages to look into Buck's soft and warm blue eyes. "Because I thought that if I did, then things would just turn out bad and I would...screw up again."

"So, you went up for Lieutenant before?"

Emery nods her head, "Yeah, and that caused an even larger rift to start between Helena and I." She looks back at the words.

'Why do you want to become Lieutenant?'

"I want to make this world a better place." Emery then bites her lower lip. "I want to be apart of the change in this world."

She then shakes her head, "B-But how can I do that when I couldn't help my own wife?" She looks back down at the paper.

"No, you can't think like that." Buck grips her chair and turns her to him. Emery forces her timid brown eyes on his strong (yet comforting) bright blue ones. "You loved Helena with all your heart, right?"

Emery slowly nods her head, "Right."

"That's all you can do sometimes, Emi." Buck tilts his head. "Because if I remember correctly, someone once told me that there are some people who just don't want to be saved." He searches her eyes. "And all you can do is love them and try your hardest."

Emery raises a brow and a small breath escapes her lips. "What genius told you that?"

"I don't know, a genius who can make someone come 5 times in a night."

Emery laughs and looks down at her hands. A smile finds Buck's lips and his body feels warm. He feels warm just listening to her music-to-his-ears laugh. Buck sighs, "And I know I said some shitty things in that garage a month ago and I want you to know that I think you'll make a pretty damn great Lieutenant."

Emery raises he brows, "Oh, wow. Did I just end up in the Twilight Zone or something?"

"Hahaha. You're so funny, you are a funny girl." Buck presses his knuckles against his cheek and stares at her. Emery keeps her eyes on Buck's. A silent tension swirls around the two and Emery's face gets hot. She looks back at her paper and finishes writing in the last part of the paper. A smile of pride forms on Buck's lips. As soon as Emery set her pencil down, her watch beeped.

"Shit, I have to meet Maddie at the gym." She stands up.

"Wait, seriously?" Buck stands up. Emery nods.

"I'm meeting Maddie at the gym."

"I know." Emery exasperates. She places her hand against Buck's chest and his heart jumps into his throat.

"Which is why you need to—"

Then the girl hears it. Giggling of two girls, then the doorknob jiggles. Time was moving so slow and Emery wasn't fast enough to react. The door swings open, and both the adults freeze. The laughter abruptly stops and silence fills the apartment.

Emery slowly turns her head to the door and sees Amaya and Tori standing in the doorway. Amaya's eyes were bulging out of her skull and her jaw was on the ground.

Emery opens and closes her mouth. Trying to figure out some kind of explanation (lie). But what could she come up with that would get her out of this? She looks at Buck and he was standing there, not moving an inch.

"What are you doing?"

"If you don't move, they can't see you." Buck says through his teeth.

Emery's right eye twitches. "They're not Bees, Buck—"

"What is going on here?" Amaya asks, the shock finally leaving her body. She points at Buck then she points at her sister. "You and my sister—my sister?!"

"No—no!"

"She's wearing your shirt!" Amaya exclaims.

Emery looks down at the shirt and curses. Every time she was in her head about something, she seemed to always put Buck's shirt ok instead of her own.

"And he's only in boxers." Tory wrinkles her nose.

Emery shoves Buck towards the hall. "Uh, we-we're gonna change and come back...s-soon." She follows Buck towards her room.

"With an explanation ready!" Amaya seethes. Emery holds a thumbs hp and closes her door behind her and Buck. Amaya touches her stomach and looks at her girlfriend. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

...

Amaya and Tori were sitting on one side of the sm table while Emery and Buck sat on the other. Buck was fidgeting with his hands, averting Amaya's death glare. Amaya's arms were folded and as was sunken in her chair. Emery had her hands folded with her head feeling light. She felt like she was a highschooler being caught by her parents.

"So..." Tori clears her throat. She knew that Amaya wasn't going to start the conversation, so she had to get the ball rolling. "...did everyone have a good morning—"

"How long has this been going on?" Amaya asks.

Emery and Buck look at each other. "Uh...four months now—"

"Four—" Amaya slaps her hand over her mouth and closes her eyes. A growl comes from her throat and everyone at the table shifts. Tori touches Amaya's thigh. "She just has complicated feelings about this."

"My feelings aren't complicated." Amaya says. "I'm just processing, is all." She exhales through her mouth.

"I thought you guys hated eachother..."

"We do!" Emery exclaims.

Buck bites his tongue and nods. "Yep, all hate here."

"So, you're not dating?"

Emery lets out a biggest laugh and Buck looks at her. "No—hell no! This is just purely...fun."

Tori shrugs, "Well, fun is what got me with a 6 month child, so...careful."

Emery nods her head, "Yes, mom."

Amaya looks down at the table and pulls her brows together. "Wait..." she closes her eyes and scratches her brow, obviously pissed. "...when I came home and saw that we got a new table. That's not because you two..."

Emery and Buck then look at each other with innocent expressions, but they're eyes read 'GUILTY'. Amaya gasps loudly and her eyes wide, "Oh, Gross!" She shoots up from her seat.

Tori scratches her nose, "I'm a little lost. But that's okay, because I don't think I even want to know—"

"They had sex on the table and broke it!"

Tori wrinkles her nose and groans. "And now I know." She shakes her head. "I need to go—I should go. I need to pick Emmett up from daycare."

"I'll go with you. I've had enough revelations for today." Amaya and Tori stand up. Emery slightly opens her mouth, "Maya, hang on, please."

She stands up and follows the two girls to the door. Amaya stops and turns to her sister. "You're an adult, Emerson. You can do whatever you want."

Emery sighs softly, "But you're judging me. I can see the judginess in your eyes." She points.

Amaya rolls her eyes, "You work with the guy."

"The guy? You're acting as if you're not friends with him." Emery folds her arms.

"Well, now he's sleeping with my sister, so I'm keeping both eyes on him." Amaya looks behind Emery and glares at the boy that was drumming his fingers against the table. "I can't believe you guys broke the table..."

"I bought a new one." Emery shrugs.

"It's the principle, Emerson." Amaya looks back at Emery, she then squints her eyes. "And you use to care about that sort of thing."

Tori purses her lips and rocks back and forth on her heels, trying to distract herself from this awkward situation. "You know what? I think I'm just gonna go. By myself."

"Me too. I need to get ready for...something." Buck stands up and walks out of the apartment, behind Tori. As soon as the door shuts Emery sighs.

"I care about principle, Amaya. There's just times when you need to...let loose and that's what I'm doing."

"No, you're being reckless." Amaya states. "Sleeping with your coworker is not going to end well."

Then Emery does something she would never do to Amaya.

She rolls her eyes.

Amaya's eyes widen, "Did you just roll your eyes at me?" She then points at herself. "Me?"

Emery arches a brow, "Why, yes I did, mom."

Amaya wrinkles her nose. "You know what? I hope you...get pregnant."

Emery gasps, "While my career is at the top of its game right now—how dare you?"

Amaya holds her hands up and brushes past her sister. "Hey—I didn't wanna go there, you brought that upon yourself."

"Oh yeah! I-I hope you never meet Kristen Stewart."

Amaya stops in her tracks and turns on her heel. "Take that back—you take that back!"

A lot of things have come and gone in Amaya's life, but one thing that has never left was her love for Kristen Stewart.

Emery holds up her hands. "Hey—I didn't wanna go there, you brought that upon yourself."

Amaya's mouth hangs open, she points at her sister and before she could yell...

A knock is heard at the door.

Emery and Amaya look at the door without a word. Then they look at each other. Emery looks back at the door and walks toward it, with her sister behind. The eldest Sharpe looked through the peephole of the door and pulls her brows together. "Huh."

"What? What are you 'huh'ing for?" Amaya taps her arm obnoxiously. Emery swats at Amaya's hands. Anaya whines and rubs her hands. "Bitch..."

Emery pulls the door open, revealing their parents. Amaya raises her brows, "Mom! Dad!" She practically jumps into her parent's arms.

Emery arches a brow as the three hug. Elijah looks at his eldest daughter and sees her looking at the ground awkwardly. "Em?"

Emery softly hums and looks up. Elijah motions for the girl to join. She raises her brows out of shock. Even though they have gotten closer over the past couple years, it was still...weird.

But she presses her lips into a small smile and joins the hug. "I didn't know you guys were coming."

"We were actually going to keep this visit quiet, but then we realized that L.A. is expensive and we need a place to stay."

Emery arches a brow and chuckles. "Yeah, it's no problem." She then nudges Amaya. "I told you that spare room would come in handy."

Amaya rolls her eyes, "Yeah—yeah. Look at you always thinking ahead." She then pulls her brows together. "Wait, why are you guys visiting here?"

"For us—obviously." Emery whispers.

"Actually...it's because we have a checkup with an oncologist."

Both sister's faces drop. Amaya's eyes widen, "Wait, wh-what? Dad is your—"

"No, it's not back." Amara says, she then inhales a breath and smiles.

"I did find a lump." Elijah states.

Amaya's heart drops into her stomach. "What?—What?"

"That doesn't mean his cancers back."

"How can you say that?" Amaya asks. She then looks at her big sister. "Em, how can she...?" The girl trails off her question, noticing the color gone from Emery's face. "Emerson?"

Emery swallows and shakes her head. She pulls at the collar of her shirt and inhales a deep breath, but she still couldn't catch her breath. "I...I..."

Amaya's back straightens when she notices Emery's hand begin to shake. "Em, I think you need to sit down."

Emery tries to speak, but she couldn't think of anything. "Emerson, sweetheart." Elijah grabs onto her hand and guides her to the couch.

The last time Emery had a panic attack in front of anyone, was in the waiting room of the hospital, when she was waiting on news about Helena.

That was 3 years ago.

Emery would've felt completely embarrassed, if her heart wasn't busy beating out of her chest.

☆

"Did Amaya ground you or something?"

Emery pulls her brows together and jumps out of the fire truck. "What?"

"You didn't show up at the gym." Buck says.

Emery slightly opens her mouth, "Oh, crap. I totally forgot about that—I'm sorry." She wipes scratches her brow. Buck pulls his brows together, noticing the anxious manner she started picking at the skin above her brow. He looks around the street. "Hey..." he gently grabs her arm and guides her back over to the fire engine, where no one else was.

Emery presses her back against the rig and slightly tilts her head up. Buck tilts his head and keeps his worried blue eyes on Emery's small brown ones. "What's going on with you?"

Emery purses her lips, "It's...my parents, they're in town." She sighs. "And...they're staying with us for a little while." She looks at Buck and huffs. "How do you feel about meeting at a hotel?"

Buck blinks, "Wait, so, you're issue is that your parents are just...visiting?"

Emery swallows. My issue is my dad might be dying. Again. The girl rolls her shoulders and clears her throat. "Obviously. What else would be bothering me?"

"I don't know, Em. I thought you had an actual problem—"

"Well, I guess I don't." Emery sighs. "I'm fine." She then walks away from him. "Everything's fine."

She quickly makes her way back over to the scene and stops in her tracks when she sees the shark on the side of the ride latching it's teeth around a man's arm.

"Tiger Shark. We were transporting her for release into the wild. Truck jackknifed."

"Jaws!"

Chimney giggles and nudges Emery. She looks over at him and raises her brows. "Right, because...shark and the movie. Hilarious." She sighs. "But I think he meant the jaws." Emery jogs toward the fire engine.

Chimney frowns, "She always laughs at corny jokes."

"Maybe her humor has matured." Hen touches Chimney's shoulder. "Just like how yours should mature."

Emery soon comes back with the jaws.

"All right, guys we're gonna do this really carefully."

Emery presses the jaws between the shark's teeth.

"This shouldn't hurt the shark, right?" Tom asks with a nervous chuckle leaving his lips.

"Sharks develop new teeth every two weeks." Emery states.

"Which means...?"

"Which means the shark'll be fine, Probie." Emery exhales. She then slightly moved her head to the side. "Then again, Tiger Shark's jaws are steel. So, this probably won't work."

"Be more optimistic, why don't you?" Hen's voice leaks with sarcasm.

Emery rolls her eyes and pries the machine between the shark's teeth. She turns on the jaws and it begins to whirr. Emery then raises her brows when the sharks mouth is forced open. "Huh, would you look at that?"

"Your optimism is showing." Hen softly sings.

"All right, let's transport him!"

They lift the man onto the stretcher while Hen and Chimney tend to his arm.

"Don't let her die." The injured man speaks. "Please."

"Breathe easy. You're gonna be fine."

They roll the man to the ambulance.

"118! I've got an idea."

The firefighters hook the tiger shark outside the front of the fire truck and drive to the nearest ocean. They got to a pier of the ocean and slowly let the shark into the ocean. The shark sinks under the water.

"Do you see her? Where is she?"

Emery squints her eyes and a small smile forms on her lips. She points over the water at the fin that had just emerged above the surface. Buck's expression lights up and he cheers.

"Sharks are basically just adorable puppies." Emery voices. "Except for Tiger Sharks. They are a different breed."

"You seem to know a lot about it sharks." Buck says.

Emery turns to Buck and raises her brows. "I would hope so, they are my favorite animal." She walks back to the fire engine. Buck watches Emery walk back to the rig and raises his brows. He digs in his pocket and pulls his notepad out.

He flips to the page titled, 'things about her' with a heart next to the words.

- loves sharks

Buck closes the notepad and a triumphant smile forms in his lips from feeling like he's closer to getting to know Emery.

☆

As soon as her shift was over, Emery went straight home. Her father was supposed to have news about his lump. That's all that was on Emery's mind for her entire shift. She didn't spare anyone a glance as she ran out of the firehouse. That's when Buck realized that Emery obviously had something going on and he just minimized it to the point she didn't want to talk to him about it. That was something he was going to be thinking about all night now.

Emery swings open the door and sees Amaya sitting at the kitchen table. "Are they here yet?"

Amaya shakes her head and looks back at the clock. Emery looks at her watch and pulls her brows together. "They said 11:30 am, right?"

"They did."

"Then why aren't they here?" Emery asks. She quickly closes the door. "Something's wrong. I knew it."

"Em, you're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

Amaya sighs, "You're being a pessimist. You always speak the most awful things, so when they happen you don't get disappointed." She looks at her sister. "But this time you can't speak those into the word, because everything's going to be okay."

Emery squints her eyes at her sister. Just yesterday morning, Amaya was freaking out. Now she was she...cool?

"You talked to Tori, didn't you?"

Amaya nods her head, "Yep. I'll tell you one thing, that girl sure gives good advice." She sips her coffee. "I made you some tea."

"Why? I want—"

"You always have too much energy. And this tea will get you to calm down and hopefully you'll get a good night's sleep." Amaya pats the chair next to her. Emery's shoulders sag. "Jeez for an 18 year old, you're pretty wise."

Amaya sighs, "I know. I try to stay humble about it, but I really am brilliant." She inhales.

Emery looks at Amaya and purses her lips. "You hear back from Princeton?"

Amaya's back straightens, "Yes..."

Emery holds her hands up, "Whoa. Whoa—whoa. And you didn't say anything?"

"It's not the right time." Amaya looks into her coffee.

"Amaya, hey."

Amaya looks at her sister and Emery smiles.

"I want to hear about every one of your milestones, especially about getting into your dream college!" Emery exclaims. "Wait...did you get in?"

Amaya rolls her lips into her mouth. She then smiles, "Yeah, yeah I got in."

"I knew it!" Emery wraps her arms around Amaya's neck and pulls her into a tight embrace.

Amaya laughs softly and hugs Emery back. "I honestly can't believe it—"

"I can, are you kidding? Miss scholar!" Emery pulls away from the hug and shakes Amaya's arms. "I'm so proud of you, Maya."

Amaya swallows the lump in her throat. "Thanks, Em..."

Emery tilts her head and grips Amaya's shoulders. "This is good news. Mom and dad would want to hear about this. No matter what kind of news we get from the doctor's."

Amaya exhales a small breath, grateful for the reassurance and nods her head.

A soft knock was heard at the door and Emery's stomach drops. Amaya gently grabs Emery's hand and squeezes it, reminding her she wasn't alone. Emery then squeezes Amaya's hand back, acknowledging her sister's kindness. Both sisters stand up, hand in hand and stand in front of the door. Emery pulls the door open and looks at her parent's faces.

"Emerson, you're home." Amara smiles and walks past the sisters. Emery looks at her father and gently grabs his arm, helping him inside.

"Emery, I'm fine." Elijah lightly chuckles, he sits at the kitchen table. Emery pushes her untouched tea towards him. "Maya made it for you."

Elijah smiles and looks at his youngest daughter. "That's kind of you, Maya, thank you."

Amaya manages a small smile and looks at her sister. Emery gives her a shrug and looks back at her father. "So? What'd they say?"

Amara and Elijah look at each other. Elijah then looks at his two daughters. "The lump was benign."

Emery's mouth slightly opens and Amaya lets out a large breath. Amaya then laughs and shakes Emery's arms. "I told you—I told you!"

Emery looks at her father, "Benign? You're serious?"

Elijah smiles softly, "Yeah, I'm okay, Em."

Emery's eyes then fill with tears and she looks at her mother, who nods her head. A small laugh of relief escapes Emery's lips and she hugs Amaya. Both sisters begin to laugh while basically dancing around the kitchen.

"We need to celebrate." Emery says, and looks at her parents. The mother and father look at each other then back at their daughter.

"You want to...celebrate? Like have a party?"

"Not a party." Emery playfully rolls her eyes. "Just something with the four of us. We could all make something together, play some board games, watch a movie."

"Like a family!" Amaya holds her arms out and cheers. Emery laughs and nods her head, "Yeah."

The sisters look at their parents, waiting for their reply. Elijah stands up and wakes his way over to them. "My girls. Always so happy. He kisses Amaya on the cheek then Emery. "Let's do it. Let's have a party."

...

"So..."

Emery sits at the table with a small smirk. "So..." she then arches a brow. "...you're finally filing for divorce?"

Maddie rolls her lips into her mouth and nods her head. Emery frowns, she stabs a toothpick into one of the olives, and eats it. She nods her head. Maddie raises her brows, "So, what do you think?"

Emery slows her chewing, "What...do I think?" She then pulls her brows together. "Are you going to date me after filing or something?"

Maddie snorts, "N-No, what—no!"

Emery raises her brows, "You sound pretty hesitant." She shrugs.

Maddie slightly opens her mouth and Emery laughs. "Maddie, I'm kidding." She points at the file. "This is amazing!"

Maddie lets out a relieved sigh and chuckles. Emery pops another olive in her mouth. "You gonna talk to Chimney?"

Maddie pulls her brows together. "Yeah, I was actually thinking about going to the station and telling him." She winces. "What do you think?"

"I think, you should go to the station and confess to your man." Emery sips her coffee and bounces her shoulders. Maddie chuckles and then laughs. "He's not my...m-man."

Emery frowns, "Right, because stuttering makes me believe you." She leans forward and pats Maddie's hand. "It's okay, the first step is denial."

Maddie rolls her eyes, but she ends up giggling. "Stop talking about me—please stop talking about me." She then points at Emery. "What about you and your secret beefcake?"

Emery wrinkles her nose, "Beefcake?" She then shakes her head. "He is not a..." Emery trails off her sentence and thinks. She thinks about Buck for a moment. His hands, biceps, abs, thighs...his abs. "I guess he is a beefcake."

Emery then smirks and pushes the cup of olives toward Maddie. The brunette takes an olive out of the cup and pops one into her mouth. Emery leans back in her seat and crosses her arms. "Yeah, me and my beefcake are doing pretty good." She then arches a brow. "Really good, actually."

"He made me breakfast a couple days ago." Emery shrugs. Maddie raises her brows, "Holy shit! You guys are dating?"

"No. No—no." Emery laughs softly. "We're not dating. He just noticed that I was starving and cooked for me."

Maddie raises her brows, "No one should forget to eat, if they're eating regularly." She points at Emery. "Don't make me pinch you."

"Your pinches hurt." Emery frowns. She then lets out a breath and sags her shoulders.

"You better keep your eye on this beefcake if yours." Maddie squints her eyes. "He might've trying to woo you."

Emery pulls her brows together. There was no way that Buck had a thing for her. He just didn't want to witness someone dying of starvation. Right?

Emery then frowns and nods her head convincing herself.

...

Emery grips the railing and jumps up and down, excitement shocking through her body. "This is it—this is it!" She hits Eddie's arm.

"Ow, ow—okay!" Eddie grabs her arm and lowers her hand. Emery winces, "Sorry. Too much coffee—now watch!" She points at Maddie and Chimney talking in front of the fire engine.

"Hey, guys," Buck walks over to Eddie and Emery. "What's—"

"Shush!" Emery places a finger over Buck's lips. Buck pulls his brows together and his heart begins to warm again. How can someone make the word "shush" sound so adorable?

"Watch." She then points her finger down to the two people talking. Soon, Bobby, Hen, and Tom join to watch Maddie and Chimney.

"What's she doing down there?"

"Subpoenaing him...?" Buck shrugs.

"What?" Emery hisses. "Why would Maddie subpoena Chim?"

"I have no idea, I'm just trying to throw some ideas out there."

Emery looks back at the two, just in time to see Maddie kiss Chimney's cheek. Emery's face lights up. Maddie looks at the girl, who was celebrating what she witnessed and smiles. Soon the 118 begins to cheer and whistle.

"Let's go Chimney!" Tom claps.

"I've been rooting this for a loooong time!" Emery hops up and down.

"Me just a little bit longer!" Buck holds a hand up. Emery grabs his wrist and lowers it. "That's not true—he's a liar!"

☆

Emery was sitting on her bed, her glasses on and her eyes glued to her crossword book. She had a pen in hand—because doing crosswords with a pencil is for losers. A small hum comes from her lips. Amaya lifts her head up and looks at her sister with her brows pulled together. "Emerson."

Emery looks at Amaya with her brows raised. "Yeah?"

"Have you..." Amaya bites the inside of her cheek. "...have you ever heard of stimming?"

Emery snorts, "Stimming. A repetitive action of certain physical movements or vocalizations, as a form of behavior by persons with autism or other neurodevelopmental conditions." She then shrugs. "Could also be behavior thought to serve a variety of functions, such as calming and expression of feelings."

Emery then pulls her brows together, "Why?"

Amaya shrugs her shoulders with a small smile on her lips. "Just putting it in your head for you to take a look into it later."

Emery pulls her face back. She opens her mouth to continuing questioning her sister, but her phone vibrates. Emery looks at her phone then Amaya. She grabs her phone and looks at the text message.

🥩 🍰: Maddie and Chim are about to go on their date. Meet me at her place?

Emery runs a tongue over her teeth and smiles. She pulls her feet up and giggles. Amaya snaps her eyes over to Emery. She then pulls her brows together. Amaya watches as Emery covers her mouth to contain her laughter. The girl then wrinkles her nose. "Gross—can't you do that a little quieter?"

"Do what, laugh?" Emery hops off her bed and grabs her jacket. "Maybe you should go to your room."

"My wall is connected to mom and dad's wall." Amaya states. "Their soap operas are so loud!"

Emery then snorts, "Glad I'm not in your position." She grabs her sneakers and slips then on. "I'm gonna go out."

Amaya wrinkles her nose once again and looks back down at her phone. "Don't hurt yourself."

Emery laughs but she rolls her eyes and walks out of the room.

...

Emery laughs as soon as Buck's hands grasps her waist. She turns to the boy and tilts her head up at him. "How long has it been since we've last had sex?"

"Three days, 18 hours, and 20 minutes..."

Emery arches a brow, "You didn't count the seconds?" She then frowns. "That's kind of a turn off."

Buck takes a step forward and pins her against the brick wall. Emery's core begins to throb, wanting Buck to take her against this wall.

"45 seconds..." Buck's voice was low. Emery's lips slightly part and she closes the space between their lips. Buck slips a hand under her shirt and goosebumps form across her skin. "Hey, so, is everything okay with your parents?" He whispers against her lips.

Emery papilla her lips away from him. "You want to talk about my parents while we're doing this?"

"I just...wanted to see how you were doing." Buck says, a small blush forms across his face. He's so glad it was dark out right now.

Emery purses her lips, "Well, we can talk about that later." She grips his jacket. "Let's go inside. Right now."

Buck inhales a sharp breath and his jeans tighten. "Yeah, yeah—let's go inside."

Emery bites her lower lip. She grips Buck's wrist and pulls him toward the wooden door leading to the house. As the two walk closer to the door, Emery notices the door was cracked open. She tilts her head. She knew that Maddie was always double checking things being closed and locked. Especially after Doug.

"This isn't usually open, right?" Emery points at the door. Buck stares at the door and pulls his brows together. "Right..." his hand passes Emery and pushes the door open. As soon as the door fully opened, they saw Chimney on the patio floor, leading to Maddie's house.

Emery's mouth opens and her heart drops. "Ch-Chim...?" She pulls her jacket off and runs over to him. "Oh, god—Chimney, can you hear me?"

Buck quickly grabs his phone and runs over to them. He crouches beside Emery. The girl presses her jacket against Chimney's profusely bleeding wound. He quietly groans from the pressure against his abdomen. Emery's lips begins to shake, "Yeah, I know it hurts, bud."

"You're gonna be fine, Chimney—you're gonna be fine!" Emery looks at Buck. "Put it on speaker."

Buck puts the phone on speaker and sets it on the ground. He then takes his jacket off and places it on top of the one that Emery already had on Chimney's wound.

"I'm at 1832 Bryson Avenue. I have an adult male with multiple stab wounds to his torso. Need medical and police response."

"Okay, sir, can I get your name?"

"Evan Buckley. I'm a firefighter with the 118." Buck informs. "And I'm also here with Emerson Sharpe, another firefighter with the 118."

"Emery? Buck?"

"Yeah, uh, victim is Howard Han." Emery speaks. "He's got profuse bleeding to his abdomen. Breathing is labored might have hit a lung."

"Hang in there, Chim."

"R.A. Unit's two minutes out. Do you know how this happened? How long has he been down?"

"I—we don't know." Buck answers. "We just got here and found him..."

As Buck continues to talk, Emery hears sirens approaching and a small breath of relief escapes her lips.

"You hear that Chim?" Emery looks at his paling face. "Help is here. You're gonna be okay."

"How's his pulse?"

Buck presses his fingers against Chimney's neck. "Weak, but it's there."

"Jason..."

Emery inhales a small breath. "Buck, hang on—he's talking."

"Chim, it's Buck and Emery. We're here, okay?" Emery's voice was soft. "You just need to stay with us, all right?"

"Jason took her..."

"Chimney, who is Jason?" Emery asks.

"Maddie..."

Emery's body freezes and a cold thread rushes down her spine. She turns to Buck and the same look of devastation was across his face.

"Where is Maddie?" Buck asks. "Chimney, where is Maddie?"

Emery closes her eyes for a moment, trying to get her warbling thoughts under control. She looks back at Buck, "Go."

As soon as Buck heard that word, he got up and sprinted into the house, screaming for his sister.

"Okay, uh—dispatch. Be advised that there is a critical missing adult female. Maddie Buckley Kendall." Emery's tries her best to keep her voice from shaking. But she knew deep down she fucking knew that Doug found her.

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Y'all got any angsty headcanons??? For future reference 🤭

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