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#Eddie Diaz fanfiction
happyhauntt · 16 days
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a touch of colour — eddie diaz.
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writing masterlist | askbox
─── summary: eddie and chris' home is freakishly empty. you decide to redecorate a little.
─── pairing: eddie diaz x reader.
─── warnings & notes: fluffy fluff. no use of y/n, this was just supposed to be a short drabble but it ran aay from me and eddie might seem a little ooc but i don't even care it's so cute.
─── word count: 2.7k.
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     “BUCK, CAN I BORROW YOUR KEY to Eddie’s place, please?”
     Your arrival at the station house isn’t preceded by any warning, and though it isn’t your intention to sneak up on Buck, he doesn’t seem to hear you coming. A panicked shriek tears itself from his throat as he drops what he’s holding, and the spray bottle full of cleaning fluid clatters to the floor at your feet.
     An amused smile curls at your lips as he tries to play it off, ducking his head to hide the embarrassment blossoming in bright red spots across his cheeks.
     “Uh, hey.” The words stumble out of Buck and he coughs, trying to recover what remains of his dignity. “You know, sneaking up on people isn’t good for your health. What if I’d panicked and thrown a punch or something?”
     You quirk an eyebrow at him. “You did panic, Buck. Seems like it’s worse for your health than mine. Key, please?”
     “Eddie’s just up in the loft, I can grab him if you want.”
     It’s your turn to look a little sheepish. “Please don’t. It’s a surprise. Or it will be a surprise, if you let me borrow your key. I’ll return it tomorrow, I promise, and I’m not going to let a bunch of raccoons loose in there or anything━”
     Buck blinks. The hint of a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, just enough to let you know that he’s teasing. Mostly. “I wasn’t worried, but now I am.”
     “I’m saving the raccoons for your apartment, actually,” you tell him, and now you’re not even really asking anymore, know that Buck will inevitably break because you’re Eddie’s girlfriend, and he actually likes you, and most importantly, his insatiable curiosity will not allow him to deny you. Hand outstretched, you wiggle your fingers expectantly. “Key, please.”
     He huffs at you as if you’ve asked him to scale Mount Everest in nothing but swim trunks, rather than the perfectly reasonable request you’ve actually made, and makes a show of tugging the key to Eddie’s house off the keyring before passing it along to you.
     “I have only one condition,” says Buck, a mischievous gleam in his eye as he presses the key into your palm.
     You watch him warily. You’ve been dating Eddie, and subsequently been acquainted with Buck, long enough to recognise that look. “What?”
     “Whatever you’re doing, make sure you film his reaction. I’ve got a funny feeling he’s gonna freak out.”
     A nervous laugh bubbles in your throat, and you can’t help rolling your lips together as you pocket the key. It doesn’t take a genius to know that Eddie Diaz isn’t overly fond of surprises, but… fuck, you hope this one goes down well.
      “I’ll keep you posted, Buck.” You offer him a two-fingered salute and turn on your heel, hurrying out of the firehouse before Eddie catches you sneaking around.
      What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right?
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     Here’s the thing.
     The first time Eddie invited you back to his place, you hadn’t really seen it. A euphoric haze had clouded all rational thought in your brain, because this brilliant guy you’d fallen head over heels for was so obviously guarded, and you’d been so happy the day he’d kissed you and invited you back to his place for coffee.
     You’d been dating for three months by that point, and you’d wandered in and out of his house without really seeing anything except for him.
     Meeting Christopher had gone much the same way. On the drive over you’d been rattling with nerves so much that you’d had to pull over on the freeway and shake out the cramp in your hand after white-knuckling the steering wheel. Your heart had thudded so hard in your chest that you worried Eddie would be able to hear it from the other side of the room.
     There had been nothing to worry about, in the end, and almost a year on, you’re certain that neither of these boys can be pried out of the space they’ve created in your heart. Somehow, without really noticing, the pair of them have made a home there, built on a foundation of blood and muscle and all the love in your body.
     You’re not sure your heart would know how to beat without them now.
      And you love them, you love them, you love them both with everything you have…
     … but this damn house is driving you insane.
     There’s nothing wrong with it, in particular. It’s small and functional, perfect for the little family it shelters. Beige walls, basic furniture, sparse decorations that Eddie definitely had nothing to do with, and that’s sort of… it.
     Now, you’re not an interior decorator, and you’d managed to miss it the first few times you visited, but now it’s like the blank walls are mocking you. Now you’ve seen it, you know, and the stark bleakness of this house has become a glaringly obvious problem that you’ve finally decided to tackle.
     Unlocking the door with Buck’s key, you manage to nudge it open with your hip, hands and wrists weighed down with Target shopping bags that you dump on the floor the moment the door is closed. Tucking Buck’s key back into your pocket ━ Eddie gave you a key almost six months ago, but you’ve managed to lose four of them since, so it’s widely agreed that it’s best you borrow Eddie’s or Buck’s or Carla’s whenever you need to ━ you turn to the sparse open space of the kitchen/diner.
     Hands settling on your hips, a slow breath escapes through your teeth as you survey the house. Christopher’s room is the only one with any personality, and you wouldn’t dare intrude on his privacy in that way anyway. Eddie’s room, similarly, feels off-limits.
     But the rest of the house? Fair game.
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     When Eddie stumbles through the front door at the end of his shift, he doesn’t notice it right away. Not your bag hanging on a hook by the door, or your shoes tucked neatly against the wall. His head feels like it’s filled with cotton after a twelve-hour shift, and he’s simply grateful that Carla offered to drop Christopher off later, rather than have Eddie come pick him up after his shift.
     He doesn’t notice you lingering in the kitchen with a bottle of beer in your hand until you clear your throat, and then he looks over, and a tired smile spreads over his face.
     “That for me?” he asks, as hold out the beer bottle towards him, drops of condensation soaking your fingers.
     “It’s definitely not for me.” You wrinkle your nose playfully as he accepts the drink, and you lean over the counter to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. You hand over Buck’s key, and with it, all the anxiety you’ve felt since it first landed in your possession that morning. “Give this back to Buck for me? If I lose another one, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
     Eddie chuckles and tucks the key into his pocket. “Buck didn’t mention you came by the firehouse.”
     “I asked him not to.” Your voice wavers, just a little. The way you’re picking at a loose bit of skin near your thumb lets him know you’re nervous, and he reaches out with his free hand, curling rough fingers around your own. Unable to help yourself, a deluge of words start to babble out of you. “I did a thing. And I’m aware that you may not like the thing, and it almost certainly wasn’t my place which I’m realising now, but it seemed like a pretty harmless idea at the time?”
     “Baby━”
     “And if you hate it, I can take it all away! We can pretend I never did it, it’s just that your walls were driving me freaking insane, like which decorator decided that beige was a good base colour because I would like to have a word━”
     “Hey!” A gentle squeeze of your hand grabs your attention, and when you look back at Eddie, the sight of him knocks the breath of you. You never knew eyes could be so big and brown and full of love, and even though there’s a little humour glinting in there at your expense, you still find it a little difficult to breathe.
     Fuck, you love this man.
     “What am I supposed to hate, exactly?” There’s a lilt of laughter in his voice, a gentle quirk to the corner of his mouth.
     You want to kiss him until it blossoms into a full-blown grin. You hope you’re lucky enough to make this man laugh forever.
     The look on his face helps to ease the tension in your shoulders. Slowly, you reach out and take the beer bottle from his grip, setting it on the counter. Instead, you replace it with your own hand, threading your fingers through his, a little chilly where the bottle pressed against his skin.
     “Let me show you.”
     Guiding him by the hand, you lead him through to the living room, and at first, he’s not sure what’s changed. There’s still the couch, and the TV, and the coffee table he knows you’ve always hated because it’s glass, and who has a glass coffee table, Eddie, you're a firefighter and this feels like a recipe for disaster!
     (You’ve seen way too many movies where characters end up crashing through a glass coffee table but you still think it’s a valid point.)
     And then he sees them.
     He spots the first one next to the television; a picture of Chris from a few months ago, the first time all three of you went to the beach together. He’s grinning at the camera and there’s a dab of ice-cream on his nose from where you swiped him just a moment before. Eddie remembers taking this and sending it to you.
     It wasn’t the first moment he realised he loved you, not by a long shot, but he hadn’t said it yet, and that day on the beach had cemented your place in his heart even further.
     The picture is small, sitting in a quirky silver frame that you’ve glued a few seashells to.
     The next two are over on the mantel. A photograph of the 118 in Bobby and Athena’s backyard last summer; Bobby’s frowning in the foreground, having been bullied into wearing a Kiss The Cook apron by Buck and Hen, while the rest of them are howling with laughter behind him. The other is a picture of Christopher and Shannon cuddled together beneath the Christmas tree.
     Tucked between them, bizarrely, is a little wooden figurine of a runner duck wearing galoshes. This one, he knows, came from your personal collection.
     Eddie’s heart stutters in his chest as he turns, finally, to the big thing. The wall behind the couch has always been depressingly bare, a dull expanse of beige paint that he’s always sworn he’d do something with, eventually.
     Hell, the whole house is bare. And depressing. This, he’s ready to admit, even if the reason for it used to sting a little bit.
     Before now, the only personal touches in his home belonged to Christopher. Report cards and drawings stuck to the fridge with kitschy magnets from tourist spots. An ever-changing pile of video games stacked on the floor next to the TV. A dinosaur-print throw that was dragged from Christopher’s bedroom on a lazy Sunday that hasn’t quite managed to migrate back there yet.
     It was never that way on purpose. At first, he thinks, it was a reluctance to put down roots. Life was hectic enough, with his work schedule and Christopher switching schools. Before Carla, Eddie hardly had a moment to breathe, let alone think about decorating their home beyond the bare minimum required to get by.
     And then, he thinks, it might have been guilt.
     He doesn’t dare to dwell on that for too long. He feels your hand in his own, steady as a rock, and stares, glassy-eyed, at the wall you’ve managed to transform into something… something that feels like home.
     A collage of wooden picture frames are scattered over the surface of the wall, in varying hues of warmth that contrast nicely with the beige that peeks through the cracks. A beige that, formerly, kind of made him want to scratch his eyes out. He hadn’t quite realised that until now.
     Dozens of smiling faces peer down at him. A handful of memories he holds most dear, and each of them sends a flush of warmth through his chest.
     There’s the day Chris was born, and he’s staring at this tiny baby in his arms as if he’s holding the sun and stars themselves. There’s Buck and Chris at the zoo, posing near the penguin exhibit. There’s Eddie, on the day he was certified as a full-fledged member of the LAFD, shaking Bobby’s hand. There’s even a picture where he’s fallen asleep on the couch, and his sisters are brandishing Sharpies like the little demons they are, drawing a moustache and beard that took days to properly fade away.
     It’s such a little thing, really. They’re just pictures. But his throat feels tight and his eyes are wet and it doesn’t feel little to him. Not at all.
     “You thought I’d hate this?” He’ll never admit that the words come out a little choked up.
     You shrug. “You’re not a fan of surprises.”
     “I might be now.”
     And you both know it’s not true, that Eddie will never be that guy, but this is fine. This is perfect, and he’s damn sure it might be the nicest thing any girlfriend’s ever done for him.
     He turns to you, a thousand more questions on the tip of his tongue, when he notices you’re holding your phone up with your free hand. A confused furrow appears between his brows.
     “Buck,” you tell him, and it really doesn’t require further explanation, but still you add, “He thought you’d freak out. Asked for evidence.”
     “Ah.” Eddie nods. You put your phone away as he winds his arms around your waist, pulling you close enough to kiss the tip of your nose. “I’m not freaking out.”
     “I noticed.”
     “Thank you,” he says, and kisses you again. This time his mouth slides against yours and lingers there for a few seconds, slow and gentle. “I can’t help but notice you’re not in any of the pictures.”
     Your cheeks turn a rosy pink. “That would have been a little presumptuous of me, Mr. Diaz. And I was already hijacking your home for my own selfish agenda, so…”
     “Wanna hijack it some more?”
     The question slips out without any warning, and you blink up at your boyfriend in bewilderment. “Uh?”
     Eddie smiles, wide and wonderful, and even though it’s not possible to fall more in love with him, you think you do.
     “I talked to Chris about it a while ago,” he tells you, his thumb rubbing slow circles against your hip. “I was just waiting for the right time to ask you. And then you went all House Flipper anyway━”
     “I did not go all House Flipper!”
     “━ so it feels like the right time to ask.”
     You watch him for a moment, all soft at the edges. “You want me to move in with you?”
     “I think you’ve got a tartan throw that would look great in here,” he says teasingly, “and that little duck is part of a collection. He might get lonely.”
     “He might,” you concede with a hum.
     There is enough space on that mantel for the whole family.
     You feel like there’s a tiny sun in your chest, like you might honest-to-God be glowing from the inside out right now, and when you pull Eddie down so you can kiss him again, you know without a doubt that the answer is yes.
     There are a hundred things to figure out. You have a lease to get out of, and an apartment filled with enough clutter to furnish ten houses, and you’ve really got to figure out a solution for the key situation, because it’s getting ridiculous.
     But in this moment, none of that matters. It’s you, and Eddie, and Chris, and a bare apartment suddenly filled with a lifetime of potential, and you just know everything is going to be fine.
     And you hope, for a moment, that he’ll let you replace the couch next.
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buckleyx · 1 year
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hii! first off I love your blog ♡ you’re so talented and soo kind and your blog just gives such a welcoming vibe <33
If you’re looking for a request, I would love a angsty with a fluffy ending imagine with eddie diaz x reader if you’d like..? maybe like reader gets hurt somehow and eddie is all worried and sad (the 118 is too of course), cause I love me some eddie angst ♡ thank you sm <33
STAY AWAKE FOR ME E.D
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the gif i used is not mine! all credit goes to the owner!
Author’s note: AWHHH YOU'RE SO KIND DJFBBF. The way i started giggling when i read this, thank you so much darling !! (Also ur pfp is so cute) <33
I'm also such a sucker for Eddie angst hehe, aren't we all tbh
Eddie Diaz x gender!neutral reader
Warnings: major injuries, explosions, blood loss, car crash and ANGSTTT
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"Noo not now!" Buck whined at the ringing alarm bell. The food on his spoon almost close enough to touch his lips. You giggled, grabbing a piece of bread and putting it in your mouth before running off to get your uniform on. Eddie waited for you at the truck, your helmet already in his hands, leaning against the red door so you can get in first. "Hello handsome." You teased as you climbed in. His cheeks flushed, playfully rolling his eyes as he gave you the helmet with your name on. The door closed behind him and at a fast speed the truck started moving.
"What are we looking at, cap?" Eddie asked throught the combs. His eyes landed on you. You were sitting in front of him, your seatbelt thigtend against your chest, your hand resting on the mental part so that when you arrived you would be quick to unbuckle it.
"Car accident." Bobby replied, looking at his team throught the rearview mirror. "It's not gonna be pretty."
You took a deep breath as you caught Buck nervously shuffling in his seat. Calls like these almost always meant a heavy outcome.
Eddie brushed his foot against yours, a wordless gesture of asking if your were okay. You nodded, smiling at his concern. "I can't wait when we are finished with this shift." You admitted. "I wanna finally eat."
"Oh, same here y/n." Buck agreed. "I'm starving." Eddie's mouth curled up in a small smile, refusing to keep his eyes of you. He admired your succesfull attempt to make the mood a bit lighter since he knows you aren't keen on heavy silences.
Once you arrived at the scene, you patiently awaited captain's orders. Two cars where smashed into each other as the third laid further down on it's back. Four people where involved with one victim who's injuries were already fatal. The team moved quickly as you were the first to arrive at the scene.
"Eddie, Y/n?" Bobby yelled. "Go look at the car further down and give me an update."
You quickly sprinted over to the upsidedown car, gear in hand and Eddie next to you. A man, about 30, layed unconscious in his car seat. The seatbelt stopping him from completely falling to the ground. You tried your best to examine him in his current situation. But the door had blocked all your access, luckily the man had his window open. You kneeled down so you could feel for a heartbeat. "I got a pulse!" You yelled, feeling the skin under your finger move in a slow pace. "We'll need a neck brace and an IVE. Can you call for extra backup to get him out?"
Eddie nodded, rushing to the truck while updating dispatch and Bobby on the current situation.
Your brain was looking at all the different options to get the man safely out. In your head you had already sawn off the door and got the backup to help you get him back down. But in reality it would be taking a bit longer so you had to find a way to keep him alive until then.
You were deep in thought until Eddie's screams pulled you back out. You looked over at him. He was running towards you but yelling for you to get back. In a split second your brain switched and you were hearing clearly what he was saying. "The motor!" He yelled. "It's gonna explode."
You were still positioned on the ground, you tried crawling back but a hand suddenly grabbed your uniform, stopping you from moving. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." You cried, looking at the passenger who had just woken up. His grip was ferm and before you knew it there was an explosion. Your body flew to the side. A stabbing pain in your side and a pounding headache made it unable for you to get back up.
Oh no. You though, seeing the ground underneath you turn into a puddle of blood.
"Y/n? Y/n!" Eddie cried, falling to his knees, his hands shaking. He tried whiping away the blood from your face, stroking some hair behind your ear before grabbing your cheeks in his hands. "Oh honey. Oh god."
"Eddie?" You breathed weakly, noticing the blood on his clothes. "Are you okay."
The firefighter tried to staunch the blood on your side while panicked breaths left his lips. His eyes were red and full of terror. "Eddie, I'm fine. I promise." You mumbled, not fully processing how bad it was. You weakly grabbed onto the hem of his shirt. The blood on your hands left a red stain the shape of you fingerprints. Oh. It isn't his blood that he was covered in. Your vision started to blurry, breathing started to hurt, your ears were ringing and your head was pounding so hard you were afraid your heart was gonna burst out of your body.
"Just look at me." Eddie assured. As he watched the rest of the team help him out with stopping the blood from leaving your body. You looked down at the nagging pain. A sharp piece of metal was struck right through your side. Looking at it made it worse. The pain was stronger then ever. "Hey look at me. You're alright." Eddie grabbed your hand, squeezing it as hard as he could. He was trembling over his words but you didn't care. All you could think about was him. His eyes. His beautiful eyes being filled with worry. "I'm sorry." You cried. "I'm so sorry." You sobbed, your free hand grabbed his shirt again. You where terrified, completely terrified and all you wanted to do was sink into his arms and never let go. "I'm so tired, Eddie."
"I know baby. I know. But you gotta keep looking at me. Let me see those pretty eyes." You couldn't help the hot tears streaming down your face. Your breathing became more shallow and your eyelids more heavy. It was getting harder to stay awake. You tried. You really tried. Eddie was mumbling to keep you awake but you couldn't hear anything cleary at this point. Hen secured the piece of metal that was crushed into your side. She and the team helped you on a curney while Eddie kept by your side. Your hands still locked into each other.
You felt so weak and in so much pain. You saw the sky moving above you as they rolled you to the ambulance. You vaguely heard your panicked colleges and conversations over dispatch but it was all too foggy to clearly hear what they were saying.
The sky looked pretty that night. The stars seemed to be perfect. But you were tired. And ready to go to sleep.
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You were awoken by a soft buzzing sound and some distant chatter that you couldn't make out. Opening your eyes seemed harder then you rememberd. Your eyelids felt heavy. You started flickering them until you were used to the white light that the room illuminated.
Your throat felt afwul and there was still a sharp pain on your side but this time more bearable. Your eyes closed shut a few times again and here and there you drifted back into a deep slumber.
Once you slept off your anesthesia you were able to think again. You opened your eyes and tried to locate were you where. You fell a soft hand touching yours and after you carefully tilted your head, you saw your tired boyfriend sitting next to you. His hair was a mess and his head was resting on your bed. He was snorring a little and you smiled at the peaceful state he looked in. A nurse walked into the room. He greeted you but lowered his voice once he saw Eddie sleeping.
"He has been here quite a while." The nurse admitted while they checked your obs. "How are you feeling?"
You carefully nodded your head. "I'm fine. Could be better though." The nurse smiled sympathetically. Once he was done checking your vitals the doctor wandered in.
She told you they were able to successfully remove the metal and that you should be able to make a full recovery. "You did lost a lot of blood and suffered some head trauma so you'll have to take it very easy, y/n." The doctor warned. "Lot's of rest and taking it very easy. I'll let a chiropractor come and visit you once you're feeling better so they can discuss further treatment with you. For now I'll give you something more for the pain and some ice for your throat. You're very lucky, y/n. This could have taken a very different turn." She said before leaving the room to let you rest.
You took a deep breath. Your hand softly combed through the messy brown hair of the Diaz sleeping next to you. He stirred in his sleep, muttering your name a few times before realizing what was happening.
His head abruptly perked up. "You're awake." He whispered, almost not believing his eyes. He immediately sat up straight, his right hand holding yours.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I'm alive." You smiled. "But I'm still starving."
Eddie let out a soft laugh, he tried his best to hide the tears that were forming in his eyes.
"You scared me y/n." He admitted. "You really did."
"I know."
Eddie leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to your temple. He brushed some hair away, his fingers following the soft skin of your cheeck. "You're going to be okay." You were afraid and in pain but seeing him here made it for some reason go all away a little. "And once we're home I'm gonna cook you the best meal you ever had." He laughed, trying to see you crack a smile in which he succeeded.
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blueathens · 1 year
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(Please Don’t) Let Me Drown - Agape
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                      ACT THREE, CHAPTER TWO
SONG: How To Save A Life by The Fray QUOTE: “Some firefighter you are, aren’t you meant to be doing the saving? We could die out here.”
TW: Drowning, Slight Mention of Suicide,
A/N: Not read through or checked!
Previous || Next
Masterlist//Agape Masterlist
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Drowning: When victims eventually submerge, they hold their breath for as long as possible, typically 30 to 90 seconds. After that, they inhale some water, splutter, cough, and inhale more. Survivors say there is a feeling of tearing and burning sensation in the chest as water goes down into the airway. Then that sort of slips into a feeling of calmness and tranquillity. That calmness represents the beginnings of the loss of consciousness from oxygen deprivation, which eventually results in the heart stopping and brain’s death.
Kasey was drowning, and it wasn’t at all like the stories.
She remembers one of her old mates – Trey Malik – trying to explain what drowning felt like after he experienced it mere minutes ago, she recalls her army jacket around his shoulders providing him warmth after she dragged him out from the river, she recollects the memory of his shivering body and she remembers watching him instead of holding him, he didn’t want to be held, he insisted on being okay, he just needed a moment to catch his breath then they could continue their mission. He was the one who started the conversation, she knew she didn’t want to hear it, but he didn’t stop, he told her it was important for her to know, important for her to listen to the experience so she knows how to get herself out of it if the time came.
She remembers laughing at that, stating that she will never get herself in that position.
She wasn’t going to drown.
She is even reminded of making a passing joke of how he didn’t get out by himself, she did, she helped him. So if she ever got herself in a position where she was drowning, then the only way to be saved is by someone else.
Trey shrugged his shoulders and mutters a “you never know” before telling her everything he experienced not long ago.
Instead of hearing of a horror story, she was enlightened by a tale that almost came across as a love song towards drowning, Kasey even recognises a sense of comfort washing over his face, one that someone would have when reliving a childhood memory, but instead he was talking about drowning, talked about it as if it was an old friend that gave him such a loving hug, a hug that he has desired for so long, a hug he just needed.
Kasey thinks that was the first time she has ever felt such a bubble of sadness coming from Trey, she recalls feeling closer to him at that moment as she too carried such a heavy heart of sadness that any danger that came her way, she would greet it as if it was a friend, but hearing Trey like that made her hate the world more, because why on earth would our planet be so cruel to such a lovely, good person? He doesn’t deserve to hold such sadness, he didn’t deserve to be out here away from those he cares for, he didn’t deserve to find comfort within drowning.
He didn’t deserve that.
And that made Kasey hate the world more, and it made her want to hug him and take him to a different world, far from this one, a world where he can find peace within the cool air on a spring’s morning, it’s what he deserved at least.
But he didn’t want that, she knew that by the way he talked, by the way he looked, he didn’t want to be saved, perhaps he couldn’t be saved, or maybe he just wasn’t ready yet and when he was then the only one who could help him would be himself.
And that was difficult for Kasey to process, and she thinks she never will truly process it because to her, she can save people, she can help, but Trey was never the person she could, and that’s just a fact that she thinks she’ll never come to terms with.
Perhaps it was a childish thought of Kasey’s to think that she could save everyone, and that saving them would even make her feel better about herself because maybe it’s too late for her to save herself, but it’s not too late to save everyone else.
And it’s stupid, she knows this, she knows it because she’s always the one saving everyone yet there will never be someone to save her…she’s the second choice, maybe not even that, maybe not even the third choice. But Kasey has to save everyone, she just has to, but when she needs saving then no one has to save her, no one chooses to save her, and then she gets to the point where it’s too late to be saved, and she just simply gives up, but to everyone she seems selfish even though she never got anything in return.
She always carried this thought that she was replaceable, that if someone wanted to, they could throw her away like a dead flower, that once stood tall and blossomed under the sunlight, but now only fallen petals remained, and who would even want to keep a wilting flower when there was a sweeter one just outside?
She overthinks it a lot, she overthinks how replaceable she is, and how most of her friends would now walk past her and not give her a second look because to them, she was just a stranger, but to her, she was the stranger that carried all the memories.
She wondered if Trey ever felt the way she did, maybe just once, maybe the currents made him feel wanted, maybe he felt unreplaceable within it, perhaps, just for a moment, he did feel okay, and he was truly telling her how lovely it was. Kasey pondered on this idea, but to her, nothing, absolutely nothing, could make her think drowning could possibly be relaxing.
And if Trey did truly think this, then Kasey began to hate the world even more.
He told her drowning was more peaceful than he could ever imagine, he said maybe he thought that as anything could be more peaceful than fighting in a war, he enjoyed the tranquil silence and the feeling that he was floating on clouds. For a moment he thought he was being gently lifted to the gates of heaven, he thought it was his time to go, and he even thought that drowning wasn’t the worst possible way to go.
Trey found it peaceful, but Kasey was in so much pain.
She was panicking. She barely could see anything in front of her. The water felt like it was suffocating her, filling her lungs and her throat, and causing her to choke. She couldn’t tell if her eyes were open or not, the confusing and disoriented of shattered light through water that shouldn’t be here – that shouldn’t be washing through the city – it shouldn’t be here – if it was where it was supposed to be then Kasey would be able to breathe, to see, to know where she was. But she couldn’t.
Kasey couldn’t breathe. Kasey couldn’t see. And Kasey couldn’t tell which way was up and which way was down.
Her body grew tired of fighting the currents.
Trey told her it was comforting.
But Kasey could recall watching Trey panic before he stilled, and perhaps he didn’t remember that moment, doesn’t remember her fighting against the currents to reach him as she watches him thrash around, yelling, screaming her name. Maybe he didn’t remember that, maybe he didn’t want to remember it, perhaps he just wanted to remember the moment of calmness before you drown. Where you no longer kick or scream, and your lungs don’t have that agonising and burning pain where it feels like it will explode in any second. Where your mind goes blank and there’s just this gentle humming left in your ears – and it’s almost like the lullaby your mother would hum to get you to sleep, it almost becomes…nice.
Comforting.
It feels like a much-needed hug. That too is comforting.
Perhaps this is what death is like, Kasey wondered, perhaps after all of this chaos, death is just around the corner to hand you that certain comfort you have been lacking your entire life. But if this was dying, then why didn’t she see her life flash before her eyes? And why does she feel something other than the cold water that was swallowing her up?
Why could she feel a hand gripping her shirt tightly before pulling her up with them, and the moment her face breaks the surface she takes her first real breath since being under.
She coughed, choked, and spat out filthy, salty water. Her eyes brunt as she repeatedly blinked, once her vision cleared up slightly she noticed the familiar features that belonged to no other but her brother. He was gripping onto the side of a fire truck whilst also holding her as tight as he could – if anything he was holding onto Kasey more than he was gripping the side of the truck, because if he had to lose something it would be the surface of safety and not his sister – he won’t let her go.
Despite the burn within her eyes, she noticed her twin’s struggle, and with numb limbs she pushes herself forwards to also grip onto the side of the truck. TK’s other hand moved to hold the truck too as he pulls himself up, watching as Kasey did so too before collapsing the moment her body made contact with the top of the vehicle. She may not have been drowning under the currents anymore, but it sure did feel like she was drowning on top of this fire truck, she still felt trapped, still unable to do something as simple as breathing. And now instead of hearing a near comforting hum, she hears TK screaming her name before everything went dark.
Once Kasey asked Trey if there was anyone waiting for him at home, waiting on news of his return, or perhaps praying they’ll never get that letter along with a military officer and a Champlin at their doorsteps. He told her that he has a dog waiting on his return, and his father, and he hopes his older brother too, he said they had a complicated relationship, and that was all there was to it, he even said his grandmother would be waiting.
She asked what was the name of his dog, he responded with “Goldfish,” and Kasey remembers chuckling softly at that.
Trey asked if there was anyone waiting for her and Kasey wished she could say yes, but the sad fact was that she couldn’t, she didn’t have anyone.
She fell out with her family before coming here, her own mother never cared much for her, her twin brother, she believed resented her, her father was always doing his own thing, she doesn’t think he would be waiting, she wasn’t a good enough daughter for someone to wait at home for. And along with her twin brother, she knows her best friend hated her, he wouldn’t be waiting for, god he probably be wishing for her not to return. She’s exhausting, she knows this, and she even thinks that she doesn’t want to return home either, she’s too troubled, she can’t be saved, she didn’t have anyone, and she couldn’t hurt them anymore…
After a long silence, she told them him no – then she gave her small explanation after seeing his curious eyes, she didn’t say much, she never did, she never could, but still she tried.
Trey told her none of it was her fault, and she could never believe him, not then and not now.
Sometimes she could still feel the hug Trey gave her after that, Kasey hasn’t felt that vulnerable before, not for a long time at least, nor has she been held so lovingly, so comfortingly, in such a long time. Kasey thought she was going to break down in his arms, but she didn’t, but she knew she could’ve though.
Kasey wondered if that was what drowning felt for Trey, but instead of drowning within water, she was drowning within a hug.
It was peaceful.
It was comforting.
And it was nice.
Kasey began to slowly wake up, her head in TK’s lap as he combs his fingers through her hair. Her first thought was trying to remember where she was, but that all came back in flashes. She shook her head, squeezing her eyes, before opening them once more to see TK’s chin. She then wondered if anyone else she knew got caught up in this, and if they did, were they okay?
Maybe it was a good thing that she didn’t know that Buck and Christopher wasn’t so far away, them too stuck on a fire truck as they helped casualties on board. Cause if she knew then she would have forced her tired body to search for them, to help them, to make sure they were okay.
Kasey would have to make sure they were safe because they were her fam–
Kasey sat up, taking in her surroundings to only notice that there were a few more people on board, all frightened and cold and TK gave her a worrying look, a look that almost begged her to do something, to save them, to just have a plan. But for once, Kasey had nothing as she looked out and around the flooded city, seeing nothing but water and broken homes and objects.
“You helped them?” Kasey muttered as she continued to look out.
“Yeah,” TK whispers. “You were out for a bit so had to improvise.”
“Sorry,” she whispers back.
She feels his hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently as if he ushering her to look at him, and she does, she turns her head, looking over her shoulder with glassy, down, eyes.
“You have nothing to be sor–”
“Your brother said you’re around here. And that he’s a firefighter out in Texas. He mentioned that you were highly ranked in the military…suppose you have the best water training round here?” Kasey hums as her arm covers her face, blocking the sun as she looks at the man who spoke up.
“Did he now?” She purses her lips. “Suppose he mentioned I’m a firefighter too?” The man nods. “Cool.”
“So what do we do?” The man looks around at the other casualties.
“Nothing,” Kasey mumbles, “we can’t do anything – we’ll just have to wait for someone to come and rescue us.”
The man scoffed. “Some firefighter you are, aren’t you meant to be doing the saving? We could die out here.”
Kasey turns around, brows raised, studying the man, hand pressed against her hip, “Oh, I’m sorry Gary, I’ll just whip out the boat I’ve been carrying in my pocket all day and drive you all home in time for dinner.”
He scowled at her. “It’s Raphaël–”
“Some will be in much worst conditions than us, at least we’re safe, that’s what is important, no?” Kasey turns to look back out at the city filled with water. “I’ll try and find a way to get rescued quicker but can’t make no promises here.”
“Kas…” TK’s gentle voice came from behind, his hand squeezing her elbow gently, “you’re bleeding.” As if those words triggered some part in her brain, she feels a sudden sharpness coming from under her shirt, lifting it up she glances at the bruises littering her abdominal and an awful, long cut beginning from the top of her ribs down to her waist.
“I’m fine,” she insists, and she thoughts of this to be true, she’s had worst, and she continued as if it was nothing before, so to her this was fine, all of this was fine, she just wanted to go back to her home – well outside of her apartment, in her car, and just fall asleep…
…she just wanted some peace again.
Kasey lays down to peer over the truck, hands coming into contact with the open window, her fingers pressed against the inside framing and the metal framing of the inside to pull her further over so she can have a better look of the inside of the truck they were on. “You think the radio works?” She questions her brother who she knew was standing right by her, silently watching her body tense from the pain of moving around.
“Probably damaged from the water,” TK responds, ushering Kasey to stand as he hears her quietly groan from moving once again. “You’re going to tire yourself out, Kas, just stop for a moment, please.”
Kasey grimaces as she comes to a stand, “I just want to get us all out of here.”
“I know you do – but hurting yourself more in the process isn’t going to help anyone.”
Kasey thought she was seeing things at first when she saw TK’s right hand shake before he reached out to hold the top of her shoulder, she truly did thought her eyes were tricking her, but with the fear and worry twisted in his eyes, Kasey knew she wasn’t.
He wasn’t scared of her, she knew this, but for her? Yes.
He acted as if she was a fragile piece of artwork that’s been locked behind glass for centuries and now he’s the first to touch it, and he doesn’t even know if a simple brush of his fingers would have it crumbling, but Kasey wasn’t going to break, she knew this, she wasn’t damaged, she wasn’t going to crumble.
Kasey could hold herself longer now, she wasn’t nineteen anymore, she wasn’t nineteen who clung onto Trey Malik as if was the embodiment of air, the reason she could finally breathe again, she wasn’t nineteen no more who was desperate to be held.
Touch wasn’t a weakness for her no more, she gets held on many of occasions, Buck and Kit were the main sources of it, they were big huggers, always have been, physical touch has always been their thing and not fearing their touch proved to the young firefighter that she wasn’t desperate for it anymore, she was held enough to not whimper at the feeling of such comforting warmth no more.
But TK’s always been like this with her, of course they used to play wrestle when they were younger, pull one another’s hairs, the reason for some of the scars on their body after one pushed the other too hard off from the sofa causing the other to be in A&E. But still TK’s always had an element of softness with her, admitting once it’s because he doesn’t want to cause any harm to her, he tolerated a form of guilt growing up whenever he found her quietly ruffling through the medical basket (from the top of their fridge) late at night in their teen years, and he always ushered her to sit on the counter as he helped with the injuries she carried home with her that night, always being the one who has to listen to her holding back the cries of pain when his fingers brushes over a wound accidently, or whenever he began to stich her up as she insisted for no hospitals – she hates them – and that they can do it at home.
He was the one who usually saw her injured, and he was the one who stayed up until she came home just to help her, listening to her apologies for thinking she woke him again, when really she never did, he just awaits for her to make sure she returns home safely, even at his worst he still continued to make sure she came home. And then there was the guilt, the guilt that he gained growing up, watching her flinch at loud noises, especially from arguments, the way her body tensed whenever he tried to help with her injuries as that was the only way she could silently express her pain without waking anyone up, and he was the one who listened as she talked down on herself, thinking no one was there to hear, but he always did, he always would.
TK always wanted her to see him as something she could cling onto whenever she felt like the world was against her once again, but as they become older he knew he was barely that for her, in fact no one was that for her, but she was always that person for everyone else, especially for him.
And every day, TK wishes that Kasey one day finds someone who would happily sit in the dark with her, hand holding hers, as they distract her with random facts or how their day was, and only moves to turn on that switch to guide her out from the dark and welcoming her back into the light.
TK thinks she’s secretly back in the dark, actually he knows she was, and it’s sad to think that she still hasn’t find a comfort person yet – someone who will just help her when she’s down, to let her know she was enough, to just hold her.
TK was guilty when it came to Kasey, he wished they had a better life together, they deserved it, well he would like to think that they did, they were – are – good people, and that’s got to count for something, right? TK has questioned time from time if, in another parallel universe, they got the life they deserve, that they got to be the siblings they should have been, not the ones that were too damaged, not those ones, but the ones who were just happy, the ones who lived nearer together just so they could meet up easier.
Perhaps in that other life they be working together, living that dream they had when they were so young. Perhaps everything was okay in their lives, and they got to be the siblings they deserved to be in this life.
TK knew one day though he wouldn’t be so guilty, he knew those injuries he helped to cover up weren’t his fault, but at times whenever he accidently pressed too hard against a bruise or something then his stomach would twist, and he would be overcome with a sudden sickness all because he was reminded with the fact that he could never protect Kasey.
He thinks that’s what he was most guilty for, in the end it was never about the accidental touches of aiding her injuries, it was always the fact that he could never protect her, Kasey was always doing her own thing, she was always in some form of trouble, she was always someplace else, she was out of his reach, and TK couldn’t ever protect her like he wished he could, but she did for him, and she always will.
But they weren’t kids no more, they were now nearing the age of twenty-five and now, TK wonders, now it could be the time he could protect Kasey, bring her out from the darkness, and to just let go of this guilt, and then maybe, just maybe they could be each other’s safety net, they would feel brave enough to come to each other whenever they needed to, maybe, just maybe, he could play the role of an older brother – older by only fifteen minutes – and just simply protect her, even if it just as simple as protecting her from herself, in the sense that she doesn’t hurt herself more, that she doesn’t do her thing where she doesn’t think of herself, that for once she could just take a moment, take a breath, and think on the situation with him.
Her hands once again found home on her hips, face scrunching as a finger graze the wound and she ignores the look TK gave her.
“Let me check it out–”
“God, I’m so glad I didn’t take my car here.” Kasey mutters, looking up to the sky, as she changes the subject. “Or I would–”
“Lose your house?” Kasey head snaps towards his smug appearance, eyes narrowing at him, and her mouth itches to respond; but she doesn’t. “I’m not wrong am I?”
“I will throw you overboard.”
“No you won’t,” TK smirks, “you’re too nice to do that. Besides,” he then raises his shoulders before dropping them just as quick, “you’ll miss me.”
Kasey hums before her eyes glances over at everyone else for a quick moment before she steps closer to her brother to quietly talk with him. “We got to try and find some rescue for them soon though, the first wave of a tsunami is never the worst,” her eyes flickers back over to the group, maybe about seven other people, all adults, “even if that means we’re our own rescue team.”
“Kasey, that’s to risky and in your condition–”
“Forget about my injury, I’ll live, okay? We can use the hose and the things around us to try and find somewhere better, perhaps find a proper rescue team or even a hospital.” She ran a hand through her hair. “We don’t know how long rescue will be, we don’t know how much more damage is out there, and whilst we’re at it we can rescue more people.”
“You said that the only thing we can do is wait.”
She sighs, “I only said that as I didn’t have time to think of anything else.”
Now TK sighs as he looks around desperately, hand holding the back of his head, and he balances out their options within his mind. “TK, it’s better if we move than sit around, we’re only getting colder here.”
“I know, I know.” He turns his head to now look at the group, they’re all sitting around close to one another to try and warm the other arm, but most were still shivering. “How long you think we got?”
“Until the second wave?” Kasey questions, and he nods, “I don’t know, man.” She now faces the group, making small movement to get closer to them. “Is anyone injured at all?” Kasey grimaces slightly that she hasn’t even asked them how they were yet.
“No one’s injured, Kas,” TK answered. “I asked whilst you were out and–” He stops when he notices a sudden rush in the water. No, no, no, no, not now, please not now, TK silently begs.
He thinks he hears Kasey tell people to get down, his mind was no longer here, he just thinks about the second wave, and the second wave only. He thinks he hears screams, and he thinks he hears Kasey trying to calm them down, but he doesn’t know what she says, instead his hand grabs the hose, pulls on it tightly and his eyes focuses on it unwrapping, he turns, gestures it towards Kasey who pulls on it too, ushering everyone to grab ahold of it, that maybe if they were lucky enough they would still be attached to this fire truck at the end of it.
There’s were screams as the second wave hit, it was nothing like the waves that lapped the shore every minute of every day. It was a wall of filthy, cold, and powerful water. The water had no gentle softness to it, instead it had no thought, no motion, and no hesitation as it destroys everything in it’s path just to hit their targets. Within moments, TK was breathing the air, and just as he took a deep breath he feels frigid foamy fingers grabbing a hold of him.
It was their dear old friend, the ocean.
The water was once a great fear of TK’s when he was younger, he thinks it started when he was three where his uncle thought it was a good idea to take him onto a waterslide. They went down a long, twisting concealed one but as they came to the end his uncle didn’t let him go, instead he pulled him right under the chemical water with him. TK doesn’t remember it fully, he just remembers a glimpse of a waterslide and a flash of memory that showed him under the pool’s water, and every now and then, when he was younger, he could feel that sudden tightness within his chest.
TK tried to stay away from the depths of water from then on, always panicking whenever his family tried to bring him into the pool with them, but he wasn’t having any of it.
He remembers a wedding at the age of five, and the same uncle who created his fear of water was teaching his sister how to surf in the far distance whilst he was with his mother taking photos, he recalls that she told him not to wander off, but he does so anyways, he walks down the pier, wanting to see how much panic the ocean can truly offer him, he was fine with just staring at it first, he then decided maybe to sit down in the opening between the two broken fences, but instead his foot somehow slipped and he fell into the water, his mother jumps in to save him within seconds, cause little TK didn’t know how to swim, nor did he know how to breathe under the sea.
At five, he learnt how much fear the ocean has to offer.
Up to the age of ten, TK would stay on the beach building sandcastles with his family, but his eyes were always distracted by his sister and his uncle out on the waves; surfing. His ears always listened to the way his father complained every day and how he wished Gwen’s brother didn’t teach Kasey on how to surf, he didn’t understand the problem, it wasn’t like Kasey was afraid of water so why would it be a problem if she enjoyed the feeling of the water crashing over her every time she fell off her surfboard? She seemed to be laughing each time her face breaks the surface and then off she went back onto her surfboard to catch another wave.
TK longed to surf with his sister, but he never did, not even when he overcame his fear, Owen truly wasn’t having it, he couldn’t have both kids learning to surf, he couldn’t let it happen again.
So at the age of seven TK stopped learning how to surf among the safety of the sands, he never took another board out from the stands and tried to learn, to mimic everything Kasey did out in the sea, his fingers never brushed the sands the same since seeing how furious his father was after TK stated he would surf with Kasey one day, he never thought about learning to surf one day again.
At the age of ten, TK learnt how to swim, Kasey was adamant about it, she said it was time for him to overcome his fears and learn how to swim because what if you fall in again and no one was there to save you? What would you do then? It was a brutal honest truth that TK never wanted to know, but deep down he knew he had to learn, had to overcome. Because what if he did one day fall into a body of water and there was no one around to save him? He wouldn’t know how to get out of that situation, he would be panicking more as he had no experience in even swimming.
One of Kasey’s friends had a pool in their back garden, it was quite odd to ten-year-old TK considering they lived in New York City, but he never questioned it. So, every Tuesday, after school, they would learn how to swim for an hour in Kasey’s friend pool whilst her friend was with Gwen learning the piano.
Once he reached his teenager years TK wasn’t afraid of water no longer, and he thought of himself as a confident swimmer too. But still, whenever they found themselves at the beach, TK stayed on the beach, becoming familiar with the sands once again whilst he watches his sister out on the waves, he did still wish to be out there with her, but his fingers never touched a board, no, because maybe he wasn’t afraid of water anymore but seeing how scared, how angry their father was whenever he hears about Kasey talking about surfing, made him never want to feel what it was like when the waves were beneath you.
“Buck!”
That was the first thing both Strands heard as they tried to come back to their surroundings, both could still feel the re-enforced plastic in their hands and they heard some groans around them, perhaps they were alright, perhaps everyone was able to stay –
“Buck!”
Kasey pulls herself across the top of the fire truck, fingers pressing against the side as she grimaces at the pressure against her injuries, once her head hit the small bump that was on the top of the fire truck, gesturing that she reached the side of it, she hesitantly looked over the top to see who was yelling such a familiar name.
Her heart was heavy, wishing it wasn’t someone she knew, but the name, the voice, it was so–
“Buck?!”
Kasey blinks as she narrows her eyes at the blurry figure in the water, a yellow stripped top she thinks they’re wearing and they’re resting against the side of what she would say, a wooden plank and –
Oh god.
Oh, no, no, no.
“Christopher!” Kasey yells, voice strained from her previous yells for everyone to get down, strained from the amount of water she thinks she accidently inhaled and –
“Christopher!” She calls again and she was on her feet, diving into the water with no hesitation. It was Eddie’s boy – it was Christopher – it was her sweet Christopher, and he was yelling for her best mate and–
The water was still deep in the area they were in, not yet washed out back to sea like she was hoping it would, so she fought against the water that was still rushing through the destruction and she doesn’t stop until she reaches a trunk of a tree that was surprisingly still standing tall, with a heavy breath she awaits for a second as the plank of wood Chris was keeping himself up with passes by, and when it did she quickly grabbed him and pulled him tightly towards her.
Her arms were firmly around him as she takes a step back, her right hand was cupping the back of his head and her eyes were furrowed shut as she just lets him cling onto her, his fingers twisting into the back of her shirt, gripping it tightly, afraid to just disappear again.
“I got you; I got you, love.” She rushes out. “You’re gonna be okay kid, I’ve got you now, I’ve got you.”
Christopher blinks into the shoulder of the women he was so familiar with, and his fingers pressing into her back even more at the realisation it’s her – he’s going to be okay as she’s got him now and oh my word it’s –
“Kasey?”
Oh, and how her stomach fell at the sound of his weak, tired, and quiet voice, no, god, no, why did he of all people had to be caught out in this.
“Oh, baby,” she utters gently, she now stands in the gap behind the tree, the water wasn’t so strong or deep there, so she was able to rest and look at Chris properly as she stood there whilst she thought on how to get them back to the fire truck. “What are you – where’s your glasses?”
“I-I,” he stutters, stumbling over every other word as he speaks with her, “I lost them. I lost Buck. He was helping and-and I fell…I lost Buck and–”
She hushes him gently, brushing his hair back with her hand before her hand falls to lay softly against his cheek where her thumb brushes away the fallen tears. “Oh, honey,” she frowns as she tries to act calm with him, but she wasn’t, she couldn’t be, Buck was out there too, and she has no idea if he was okay, and he would be worried sick because Chris wasn’t with him any longer and he wouldn’t know that Chris was safe – that he was with her now. “We’ll find Buck and your glasses, let’s just get you back to the truck.”
The water was still by the time she calmed Chris down by the tree and it meant she could take them back to the truck much easier than it would have been earlier.
“You remember TK, right Chris?” Kasey questioned as TK waved with a soft smile at the boy, throwing Kasey a worried glance, it didn’t cross TK’s mind that children would have been caught in this mess, not until he saw Eddie’s kid right in front of him, shivering in Kasey’s arms as she holds him, hands rubbing up and down his as she placed light kiss on top of his head every now and then.
Chris nods.
He remembers TK, he was Kasey’s older brother, by fifteen minutes if he remembers correctly from hearing them playfully arguing about it. TK shared a bag of sweets with him when they sat in the waiting room together whilst waiting on news about Kasey, he remembers that TK shared the same taste when it came to pick n’ mix, his father was asleep next to him, arms folded, and Chris never told him about the amount of sweets he ate that day as he listens to Owen’s – TK and Kasey’s father – stories about being a firefighter out in Texas.
So, of course he remembers the nice man that’s Kasey’s brother.
TK kneels down, hand reaching forwards to ruffle the younger boy’s curls. “What you doing out here, bud?”
“I was with Buck,” he tells TK in a quiet voice, “we went to the carnival on the pier and–”
“Buck’s here?” TK mouths to Kasey who just nods as she lays another kiss on top of Chris’ head, but she was quick to move away, tilting her head back as she let out a low hum at Chris shuffling back into her stomach, her eyes scrunches up and Chris was quick to turn around to try and find out what the fuss is about.
“Kasey,” his finger presses against her chin, next to the cut his eyes has just caught sight of. “You’re bleeding.” Kasey wanted to chuckle at his worriedness about her, she was glad he didn’t catch sight on the pain she was in and that he thought it was just a cut that caused her that sudden distress that caught his attention.
“It’s nothing, kiddo,” she didn’t know there was a cut on her chin until he pointed it out, perhaps she got it when she pulled herself across the roof of the truck, perhaps it was just a graze that was only slightly bloody.
“You need a plaster.”
“I tell you what,” she begins as she adjusts him in her lap, moving him slightly away from the ache in her left leg and more onto her right leg, one of his arms where around her shoulder, fingers brushing the back of her neck, and his other hand was in his lap. “When we get to some land you can find me the best plaster for the graze.” Chris nods.
“Spider-Man ones?”
“I think that be well cool!” She grins and TK smiles as she watches the interaction in front of him. “TK?” Her brother hums. “We got to start moving, the water should be shallow enough for us to walk through now.”
“What if there’s another wave?”
“We’ll just have to hope for the best that’s this is it.”
TK nods, standing up from his crouching position to rub his hands against the wet material of his jeans before he leans forwards to pick Chris off from Kasey for a moment whilst she tells everyone that it be best if they move and try and find some help, after some glances shared between them Kasey states that they could stay on the truck if they wanted and when she finds help she’ll try and send them their way, but it be quite risky to stay on a truck that’s practically flooded.
She jumps down from the truck and into the water below, taking Chris out from TK’s arms as she brings him down into the water too, but instead of letting him go, she adjusts him into a more comfortable position for her to carry him.
TK, along with the other’s, jump down from the truck too and collectively follow the Strands and the kid on their mission to find some help.
“Perhaps we can go to the zoo together one day,” TK speaks up after walking in silence for a little too long for his liking.
“The zoo?” Kasey raises a brow at her brother who just responses with a huge grin.
“Yeah!” He’s got a sudden spring in his step. “Both of our families – you know the 126 and the 118, that cop,” TK clicks his finger as he tries to think of her name. “Athena! Athena can come and Chris obviously be coming with us and–”
“And your cop boyfriend?” Kasey smirks, forging a pain of hurt as TK slaps her shoulder, the one that was closest to him, but furthest from Christopher.
“Not my boyfriend,” TK mutters, the spring leaving his step, as he folds his arms across his chest, pouting ever so slightly.
Kasey only hums, corner of her mouth still tugged up.
“I like the zoo,” Chris jumps into the conversation.
“Oh, yeah?” TK holds his hands behind his back, his right hand wrapping round his left wrist whilst his attention is on the boy in Kasey’s arms. If he didn’t know her, he would have thought they were mother and son, that thought alone brought a kind look onto his face as he thought about one day the pair of them will find someone who loves them, and perhaps they’ll have kids with their significant others, however that be, and they would have those family days that they never got growing up, that one day they could actually be a family they deserved, start again now that Kasey was in LA and he’s started a new life in Texas – perhaps this is life giving them another chance, another go at life.
Another warm thought bubbles within TK, and that was the thought of the boy in Kasey’s arms becoming his family too, he hears the way Kasey talks about the Diaz’s, he sees how happy they have made her and how much they helped her too, and of course there was Buck, her LA best friend, but he was just like another brother to her, but Eddie – my god, Kasey deserves to have someone good like Eddie, she really does, and TK could only hope that the universe just gives her the best.
He's seen the way Eddie looks at her too, of course TK seen it, even a blind person could sense the way Eddie feels about Kasey, and usually TK would get slightly concerned whenever guys are interested in his sister due to her never having good past relationships, but Eddie, he would know she be safe with him, that she’ll be okay, that’s she’ll be happy, and god did she deserve that.
So, maybe one day, if the universe isn’t so mean, the Diaz’s will become very familiar to him and his own father, and perhaps they’ll have those BBQ nights whenever they’re down in Texas or LA. And everyone they see as family joins too, and the kids are at the end of the garden playing some imaginary game and the adults are laughing.
And they’re all just happy.
Maybe, just maybe, they get the things they deserve, because they’re all good people, and that gotta mean they deserve something good at least, right?
“What’s your favourite animal?” He questions and Chris thinks for a little while before answering –
“Lions? I like lions.”
“They’re pretty cool, aren’t they kiddo?” Kasey says as she takes in her surroundings once more, making sure she’s a step ahead of everyone just in case anything happens then she be the first to discover it.
Whilst Chris told them a little fact about lions, TK nudged Kasey’s arm before leaning closer to whisper: “why are we heading more towards the pier?”
Kasey felt her eyes widen, quickly turning her head to look at her brother. She didn’t think he’ll notice, in fact she didn’t think he’ll even know the area they were heading towards, but he did.
“We’re not going there directly–” She sighs, “I just need to see if there’s any sighting of Buck…” Kasey looks back at Chris with a fake, relaxed smile, “you said lions starts off spotty?” He nods. “I think that makes them even cooler. You know, Chris, I think you’re just like a lion – you’re really brave. The bravest person I know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah – I’m real glad your dad joined the 118, or I wouldn’t have met the coolest, bravest person out there.”
Christopher smiles brightly before burying his face into Kasey shoulder as he hugs her tightly, “I’m really glad too.”
Kasey was surprised by not stumbling across anyone else, she wonders if rescue has been close by and that everyone else has been rescued within the area, perhaps they just missed a rescue boat, but Kasey hasn’t heard no engine, or any noise expect their movements through the waters and the quiet chatter amongst the group.
She thought all was rescued till she heard a scream for help coming from a building to the right up ahead, someone was trapped under some of the damage from the buildings and trees and Kasey purses her lips as she looked around quickly, checking that the area they were in was fine for everyone to wait within for a few seconds whilst she goes to help the person.
Coming to a quick judgement, she hands Christopher over to TK and Christopher almost calls for her, begging her not to go, to not leave him, he lost Buck the same way too, he can’t lose Kasey too.
Kasey brushes back his hair as she stands in front of the pair. “Hey, kiddo, you’re gonna be okay. I’ll just need to help that person over there,” she jerks her thumb behind her shoulder to the person who was crying for help. “And then I’ll be right back.” And with that she rushed – as quickly as she could with the waist-high water – towards the one in danger.
“Hey! Hey! I’m here to help,” she offers out a hand, “I’m firefighter Strand of the 118, I just need you to tell me if anything hurts whilst I take this weight of you, okay?” She heard a chocked out okay from them before she began to push and pull a mixture of debris off from the stranded person.
The water was raising.
No – no, not again, please not again.
She was pushing it off quicker now, and the second her hand grabbed the person underneath and pulled them up to their feet, the third wave came, and Kasey could hope that this was the last one as she pushes the stranger to the wall and held the pair of them for coverage.
Kasey was no stranger to metaphoric drowning; she was so used to her heart anchoring her down. Weighing her down to the point that she could no longer move. She was so used to the cold feeling, the loneliness, the pain, it all felt normal for her now.
Kasey knew most would be familiar with the sense of metaphoric drowning, but most usually were able to break the surface, catch their breath, learn how to breathe again. Kasey thinks she’s been under for too long now, she doesn’t think she’ll ever meet the light that dances across the surface.
Kasey would like to think that TK was beginning to learn how to breathe again after New York, and Kasey is thankful for it as TK deserved to rest, he deserved his happiness, he was a good person, he didn’t deserve to drown.
On his way to Texas, Kasey recalls a private phone call between the pair, it was short as she was on her shift, but in the call, TK begs her to come to Texas, to fix their family, to mend it, to rebuild it, he tells her he would have never gotten better for himself, he only did for her, dad, and mum, and he tells her, with the quietest of voices that he needed her, he needed his sister, and he begs for her to come live with them in Texas, they can live out their dream on being firefighters together, but Kasey told him no, she couldn’t, she may have an alright relationship with their father and a strong relationship with TK, but she knew if she ever lived with them then it would just destroy her more, her chances of ever seeing the surface would vanish in a blink of an eye and she would just have to befriend the ocean floor.
She could live with TK, she knew she could, and hearing his broken voice over the phone made her want to drop everything and come and live with him, but her and their father didn’t see eye-to-eye all of the time, they were better than her and Gwen, but that wasn’t enough, that wasn’t enough, none of it was enough – despite wanting to be there for TK, she knew living with them wasn’t going to do her no good, so she declined.
She told him she’ll visit when she can and she’ll always be in LA if he needed, and she suppose she just has to continue watching him live his life through the photographs he sends, and the calls he makes, and she’ll just have to watch him from the distance like she always have.
Maybe in another life they could have gotten what they deserved as siblings.
But in this one they grew up together with different memories and experiences from their childhood. The pair were prodigy children but love for Kasey has always been contingent. Unlike TK, who was seen as the child who could do no wrong, Kasey was the burnout child, the troublemaker, and she was just too difficult for them.
In her childhood bedroom there were many sport trophies in which TK, Kit, and Vanessa watched her win (most of them), Owen tried to watch her win as many as he possibly could and Gwen…well, when she came it was clear she never wanted to be there.
Kasey wore the title of ‘disappointment’ with the most honour though. It was a common word that was thrown at her, the phase “you won’t be anything” followed closely behind. And despite her telling everyone she was fine, no one would truly understand the weight of her families words. TK heard the fights, but that didn’t mean he understood the way Kasey felt about their family, he didn’t have to live up to their family expectations, and he didn’t have to listen to the constant reminders from their mum of how much she has sacrificed to get him there, and that everyone is counting on him – no, TK never knew what that side of the family was like, that was what Kasey always saw and heard. He heard the proudness, but she heard the disappointments, the “you’re just not good enough.”
TK was never the one who threw up before every game in his sophomore year, no, that was Kasey. Kasey, the one who had to sit in the car listening to her mum scream at her if she lost, or worst, they just sat in silence. Whenever Gwen came to watch Kasey play, coincidentally Kasey’s team lost, it was as if she was their bad luck charm, or perhaps it was the way she made Kasey so nervous to the point she couldn’t concentrate properly because she wanted to show her mum that she was good, that she wasn’t such a screw up, that she was good at something.
But no, whenever she came to watch they lost and it was always Kasey’s fault, the one who was to be blamed, and the one who gets told she wasn’t worth the trophies in her room.
Kasey never had a childhood, but she made sure TK did, she sacrificed everything just to make sure he didn’t ever see the side of their family she saw, that he was happy, that he’ll never experience the feeling of drowning. And she would do it again. She would. She would go though all the pain all over again as long as it ends with TK being happy.
But he would never remember that it was her who had to make microwave meals in the first few years after the divorce because Gwen was always busy with Enzo. Once she overheard that Gwen couldn’t stand being in the same house as her daughter, so Kasey took it upon herself to stay in her room for as long as possible just for TK to have the chance to have family dinners again with Gwen and now her new boyfriend, Enzo, and then when they were all in bed Kasey would eat the leftovers or find something else to eat.
She couldn’t let TK live the way she did, even as a young child she knew this, TK deserved a childhood and Kasey was fine with eating at the dining table alone every night.
Gwen blames Kasey for her and Owen’s divorce, despite it being the weight of the 9/11 incident mixed with some other personal problems, no, Kasey was apparently a massive factor in their divorce and Kasey remembers her father telling her that she could come live with him if she wanted, she would’ve said yes if it wasn’t for TK, but there was TK and she couldn’t leave him, she couldn’t do that to him, so she decided to stay – for him.
TK will never know that it was his younger sister that raised him for most of his childhood as their dad was grieving and their mum…was well, Gwen. But to TK, Kasey knew he would always remember their mum being there, and she was, in a way, she was there for him at least whenever she wasn’t around.
But TK does remember, he does remember some it, like how she was the one who taught him how to swim, when it really should have been one of their parents, but no it was his twin sister, and my god was he thankful for her.
He always has been thankful for her, even if he could never recall the extent she went for him at times due to the way she protected and shield him for that side of their family. But despite all this, Kasey knew that TK would remember the times she failed him, that she was the one to blame for him to understand the feeling of metaphoric drowning, she was the one who believed to be blamed for him starting drugs, and she was the one who left him…and that’s the main thing he’s going to remember, he wont remember how she accepted the abandonment from her mother just so TK could still have a mum, and he will never remember how Kasey sacrificed her life to make sure TK was happy. No, he’ll never know because Kasey will never tell him, she doesn’t want him to feel guilty as there was no reason to. But Kasey would do it again, she was his sister, she was meant to protect him, she felt lighter when she saw her brother happy – he deserves it, he’s a good person.
But the thing Kasey knew she’ll never be able to handle was the fact that out of everything, TK will remember how she left the most, he’ll memorise every detail of that night, and be able to relive it all the time. He’ll remember how she left, and he’ll remember how, like every disappointed child, she hid in her own shadow and drowned.
But even though she left, even though she carried the belief that TK hated her, Kasey will never know how many times TK fell asleep in her bed after she left. Kasey would never know how much TK talked to himself in her room, pretending she was there, telling her ghost that he missed her and to come back home.
She will never know that despite how she left, despite the fights, despite the disagreements, all TK ever wanted was for his little sister to come back.
Kasey never knew that even though he never responded, he kept every letter she ever sent him in those years they spent not seeing each other, in a shoebox under his bed, and how he would pull that shoebox out and re-read every letter that he was ever given by her, he even put in the letters he got from her throughout the years, even birthday cards, and he would read them all every night that she spent out at war.
All TK ever wanted was his little sister.
Now, she was under the water again, fighting against the current, and her eyes felt heavy, but she continued to fight. So fought like a maniac as she struggled to regain control, thrashing until her limbs gave out and the light above the surface drifted away, leaving her numb in the darkness. But even then, even when her body felt like giving up, she fought even more.
Finally, her face broke the surface, even if it was just for a second, she made sure to look around, the stranger wasn’t there no longer, the group wasn’t there, and nor was TK or Christopher. Kasey knew she was about to lose air again, she knew she was going to go under again, and Kasey knew she should focus on trying to get some air back into her lungs, but she couldn’t.
She couldn’t because how can someone catch another breath when all the air has just left your lungs the moment you realise two of the people you care most about wasn’t there?
TK and Christopher was no longer with her.
But somehow she gasped for her last breath of air before the icy-cold water flooded in; her throat burned as if a thousand needles had been plunged into it. But her gasp wasn’t truly her last breath, it was really her last scream as she called their names, but the heavy blanket around her swallowed that up and dulled her senses before embracing her into another tight, warm, suffocating hug.
Kasey was growing tired, she wanted to become a victim to the hug and just fall further into it.
Perhaps this is the peace Trey told her about, that you’ll truly feel all the pain leave your body and nothingness will fill your body as you just fall into the embrace that Poseidon gives you. You feel warmth from his sandy, bubbly, fingers, and you’ll feel yourself nodding along to him questioning you if you were ready to leave.
But at that question, Kasey found herself shaking her head, eyes still squeezed shut, but she attempted to wake her body up, even if it’s just for a few minutes just so she could swim up to the surface again. Because maybe Trey found comfort within Poseidon hold, but she didn’t, she wasn’t ready to go, not yet, and even if she was, she just couldn’t leave, not when TK and Chris needed her.
So she fought her way back to the surface with two things on her mind. She thought of TK. And she thought of Christopher. And that alone was enough for her to continue to fight.
                                               ❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥
“Hey – Hey, I’m looking for a TK – Tyler Kennedy Strand, and Evan Buckley and Christopher Diaz.” Kasey’s strained voice begs the woman in scrubs that stood in front of her. The tips of Kasey’s fingers were bloody, and she lightly touches one of the woman’s arms, body flinching at the realisation of what she just done.
The lady looks Kasey over with the bottom of her lip tucked in between her teeth. Kasey didn’t look so good, not with the cuts over her face and the blood-soaked t-shirt she was wearing. She questioned if Kasey even realised how badly injured she was, but perhaps the shirt being dark has hidden the truth from her and she was just now running on pure adrenaline. But Kasey knew, she knew how badly hurt she was, but she wasn’t going to let herself get looked at until she knew those people were safe, that they were alright.
Kasey takes a nervous step back at the look of worry the woman gave her.
“Ma’am you need to see–”
“Are they here?” Kasey stuttered out, hand moving to clutch her side as she felt a sudden rush of pain run through her as she impatiently waited for the woman to skim through the pages of her clipboard.
She shakes her head. “You may wanna check over there at the black tent.”
Kasey’s eyes shifts to look over the woman’s shoulder, gulping nervously.
“But we need to check you–”
“Isn’t that the–”
“The morgue.” Kasey’s unfinished question echoes through her ears, through her mind, through her heart for a little too long. She feels a sudden shakiness in her hand, and her legs began to feel weak, and Kasey thinks her vision is going, but none of that mattered, not with the haunting hum that runs through her body; her soul.
Kasey felt like she was drowning again, felt like she was wrapped in the currents once again. Her breathing halted and her throat twisted and squeezed every word she thought of.
Her stomach turned at the thought.
She gags at the sight of it, at the word of it, and at the thought of it.
Morgue.
Just that word made her feel like she was under again, that the bile in her mouth was the salt water that tried to suffocate her, and death still lingered at the back of her mind as she passed the woman, ignoring her calls for someone to come and help the injured woman.
Kasey paused a few meters away from the black tent.
She failed them.
She’s the reason that they could possibly be–
Kasey couldn’t save them.
With her blood-stained hands, she clasps them together and presses against her stomach where she’s sure her heart has fallen into.
It’s impossible. They couldn’t be dead – not her brother, her best friend, and not her–
She wasn’t there, she should’ve been there, she shouldn’t have left them, she should stayed.
She should’ve stayed.
She should’ve stayed.
She takes a step forward. And another. And another. She thinks she’s thirteen and half steps away from the tent before her feet stop moving, She just stands there staring at it.
“Kasey?” A voice pulls her out, and tiredly she turns to the call, “Kasey!” It was no longer a questioning tone, it was more a tone of worry, and her eyes were fluttering shut but the feeling of cold hands on her cheeks awoke her and she was now welcomed by the eyes of someone she’s known from childhood – TK. TK is here, TK’s alive and – oh, she looks over her shoulder to see her team staring at her worriedly as they stand around a tired-looking Buck with cuts across his face and is his hand bleeding? But Buck is alive too and–
“Chris? Where is he? I lost you – I wasn’t good–” Eddie feels Chris push him away slightly from the hold he was in before turning around and stumbling his way towards Kasey who rushes forwards, kneeling on the ground just to hold him.
She ignored all the pain that came with the movements.
“I’m sorry – I’m so sorry – I shouldn’t have left you – I should have been there – I should have been – I’m not going again, I’ll–” She stops when she fells Christopher hold onto her even tighter, it wasn’t like the time before when she was holding him as they walked through the water, he didn’t hold her like was scared she would disappear, he held her in the way one would hold a loved one once they returned home safe. Chris tucks his face more into the crook of Kasey’s neck and mumbles out a tired but relieved, “you’re okay.” And maybe the hug was painful, but it was worth it, it was worth it cause she has her little Diaz in her arms again and her lips pressed against his cheek, giving it a feather light kiss like a way a mother would kiss their child in comfort after they had a nightmare. “I’m so sorry,” she murmurs, voice hitching around the lump in her throat. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you, kiddo.”
Kasey remains kneeling on the concreate as she tucks a cold and damp Christopher closer to her chest. She rests her forehead against his cheek as she just breaths in the smell of the salt water that lingers on the curls of his hair. “I’m sorry – I’m so sorry – I didn’t – I–” Her voice shakes in distraught, but she is interrupted by Christopher little voice.
“You’re okay now kid, we’ve got you.” He mimics a phase he often hears around, and Kasey indeed felt like she will be okay as she holds him in her arms.
She holds him a little longer before she ushers him to go hold Buck for a bit more as she notices Eddie standing near, face unreadable as he stares at the pair. TK was now perched on a rock as he finally caught his breath, asking Bobby if he could borrow his phone to ring his dad.
Christopher moves towards Buck and Kasey moves to stand, grimacing slightly as she did so.
“Eds–” But the look on Eddie’s face cuts her off as he shakes his head before he gently pulls her in closer by her right wrist. His eyes searches her up and down, lingering slightly longer on her stomach. “I’m fine,” she utters, and Eddie doesn’t believe it, but he just wants to feel her, touch her, just do something to rest his racing mind and make himself believe that she is real, that she is alive.
He thought he lost both her and his son tonight, and he just finished holding his son and now he’s got to hold Kasey whilst Buck now holds Christopher to assure his mind that they’re fine – that they will be okay eventually.
But Kasey didn’t return for nearly fifteen minutes after TK and Chris, and as the time ticked the more his mind tried to convince him that Kasey truly was dead.
But she wasn’t, she was standing in front of him and all he wants to do is hold her and never let het go. All he wants to do is take both her and Christopher home and watch some stupid show on the TV as he just holds his son and best friend…
And now Eddie’s hand slides up the back of Kasey’s neck, her damp, knotted hair falling over it as his thumbs strokes the base of her head softly.
Kasey was here, Kasey was fine, and she was real.
His family was okay and now the one who held his heart in her palms was right in front of him, and without a thought crossing his mind his forehead rests against hers and their eyes fall shut as they embraced this, and now she was being pulled into his chest and her arms were wrapping round him, and oh god was Kasey happy that something other than the ocean was gripping her, holding her – protecting her.
Kasey didn’t think much of it either as his lips brushed the top of her head.
Her rocks them side-to-side and he feels a smaller body wrapping round his waist before he ushers the two of them to kneel to the ground, then he pulls Christopher into their hug. And for a small moment, they seemed like a family who just been caught in a natural disaster, that he was the relief husband that his wife and son has returned back to him, and sometimes that’s what it felt like, and right now it did feel like it, despite the natural disaster, Eddie couldn’t help but think about it.
His fingers grip onto them for dear life and he’s now mumbling that their okay, that he’s got them now, and they will be okay.
Buck was back on the phone (Athena’s phone) with Maddie whilst Hen and Chimney ushered him and TK (TK now finally getting ahold of Owen) into a tent to get checked out, Buck questioned about Kasey and Christopher and they insist that they’ll be okay, that Eddie’s got them now, and they will be just fine.
Kasey was sobbing now, she tried to hold it back, but feeling the safety around her she began to sob, and she knew Christopher was crying too as she felt his body shake in her arm and Eddie was certain he had tears quietly running down his own cheeks, but he didn’t bring much notice to it as he took care of the two in his arms.
Eddie doesn’t think he’s ever felt this stress, not till he experienced the last seventeen minutes where he found a badly-looking Buck with his son’s glasses telling him that he lost Christopher, to Christopher returning in the arms of TK Strand, only to face TK’s panic as he begs Eddie to tell him that Kasey was here and that she was okay, to him saying he hasn’t seen her, to thinking she was dead, until now holding her and Christopher in his arms as he thanks the universe for returning them all back alive.
Bobby takes a step forwards with a doctor next to him along with the worried woman in scrubs who Kasey met first. He clears his throat, hating to break it all up, but it only just came to his attention of how hurt Kasey seemed, and she needs to urgently be looked at.
“Eddie,” his voice is quiet to not alarm anyone, “Eddie, we’ve got to check them out, please.”
Eddie nods as he slowly lets them go. He raises to his feet and picks Christopher up with one arm. Christopher’s shattered body wrapped round Eddie’s left side, his head resting against his shoulder whilst Eddie moved to stand on one of Kasey’s side whilst Bobby came to assist the other side, they both caught her as she stumbled to stand, the pain overtaking her once again, and her mind finally was catching up with the wounds across her body.
“Can you stand?” Eddie asked.
Kasey nodded shakily, trying to pull herself up onto her feet. Just as soon as she managed to get upright, her knees buckled.
Eddie and Bobby catches her before she fell back to the ground, helping Kasey to stand back up. “S-sorry,” she stutters “I-I-I–”
“It’s okay, we’ve got you.”
When they entered the medical tent, Eddie insisted to be the one to look after Kasey whilst Buck took Christopher after whining softly that he needs to hold the kid again, and Eddie allowed him too, knowing he’ll be safe as Buck holds him whilst Chimney moves to check Christopher over.
Kasey unconsciously rested her head against the top of his as he kneeled slightly in front of her to gain access to her abdominal area. Her shirt was pushed up whilst Eddie gently disinfected the area, the wounds weren’t as bad as he thought they be, the bleeding had came to a stop a while ago he believes, and it was a good sign to see that she wouldn’t be needing any stitches either.
Eddie’s finger dances across the cleaned, and freshly bandaged wounds, his finger pauses at a scar just above the beginning of the white bandage, and he ponders over it, but he says nothing of it when Bobby taps his shoulder, presenting a clean shirt that he must have found.
“We’ll have fresher clothes at mine for her to get into after she showers.” Bobby smiles softly and Eddie responds with his own small smile as he nods, but as he turns to face Kasey again his smile faltered slightly as reality struck him with the fact that Kasey wouldn’t be coming home with him and Christopher.
For most of time, Christopher stuck with either Buck or TK, only coming over when he see’s Kasey slightly more awake than before, drinking some water as she winces every now and then as Eddie daps a cloth around her face to clean the cuts there. He listens to his father quietly apologise to her, and he watches as Kasey shakes her head at it every time.
Chris brings himself closer to them, he was in different clothes now from the box Bobby searched through, and so was Buck and TK, all their old stuffs were stuffed in one pile by Athena as she spoke quietly with Bobby of how she is becoming a pro at washing due to the amount of blood and dirt she has taken out of clothes that belonged to him or their two older kids that go by the name of Buck and Kasey, and a few more clothes won’t be a hassle either, she’s just glad that they’re all okay.
His head falls onto his dad’s shoulder as he looks up at Kasey with a smile.
“Hey my little lion,” Kasey teased, hand reaching out to run through his curls as she eyes his scrunched up hand, “you doing okay, kiddo?” He nods before holding his hand out to her, presenting her with a collection of plasters with a small frown.
“They didn’t have any Spider-Man ones,” Kasey gently takes the plasters out from his hands as she looks at them. “Only Scooby Doo ones.”
Kasey gasps in small excitement, “well that’s good!” She says with a grin, but Eddie could see the tiredness behind it. “I love Scooby Doo!”
“Me too,” Christopher states with a bubble of laughter.
“Would you like to put the plasters on Kasey?” Eddie questioned as he took in the sight of the two, coming to a quick understanding that they must have talked about plasters when they found one another. Christopher nods and Eddie stands himself up better before bending down to pick his son up and places him down next to Kasey on the hospital bed.
Kasey turns her head to face Christopher, hand palm-up with the plasters laying in them for him to take, and he does so very gently as he rips the white pieces off from them before placing them gently over Kasey’s face to hide the cuts.
“Perhaps you’ll become Doctor Diaz in the future,” Kasey mutters as she studies his movements. “Think I’ll be least afraid of hospitals if I knew I’ve got the best and bravest doctor ever!”
As Bobby had same final words with the doctor, he brings himself towards the trio after confirming that Doctor Diaz has finished with placing Scooby Doo plasters on his patient’s face to tell them it be best if they all go home and clean themselves up and to rest.
(There was even a soft mention that Bear is at home waiting on her return).
The group that become bigger without Eddie and Kasey’s realisation ushered their last goodbyes, making sure everyone will be alright for the night, Karen kisses them all on the cheek, wishing them a better and restful evening, she gave Kasey a teasing squeeze on her cheeks before patting it softly, then when she came to Eddie she gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, but as she leaves she gives his bicep a soft squeeze as she throws him a comforting and knowing look and he watches as her eyes shift to Kasey who has now began to pull herself off the bed.
Eddie quickly comes to her aid, helping her to slide off the medical bed much easier and she thanks him, and then she tells the Diaz’s boys how they’re the best doctors she has ever had, and that she’s feeling much better now. Eddie knew she wasn’t, but he also knew that comment was more aimed at his son than to him. Kasey gives another long-lasting hug to Christopher, telling him that she will try and see him the next day and she lays a kiss to his cheek and says that if he or his dad needs anything then give her a ring and she will come.
Eddie shakes his head as he stands behind the pair, a smile tugging at his lips as he watches them, and Christopher even leans up to kiss the bandage across her nose as he wishes her a goodnight before making his way to Buck and TK who were both whining next to Vanessa and Kit (who Kasey didn’t even notice turning up) as they begged to hold Christopher again.
Kasey moves to stand with Eddie’s help and Kasey says nothing as she wraps her arms round his waist, tucking her face into his chest as she just closes her eyes. “You should go,” her voice was raspy now but Eddie found it kinda cute if he forgot the reasoning behind it. “You should go and get yourself and Chris home.”
Eddie knows he should but he also wishes Kasey was coming with them, wishing she was coming home with them to clean up and rest there, and they would turn on some shitty show as they lay on the couch to watch it, all nibbling on something easy to fill their stomachs and Chris would fall asleep first, his eyes falling shut then Eddie would feel a heavy weight on his left shoulder. He then would promise Kasey that he’ll be back as he takes Christopher to bed, tucking him in and leaving the night-light on in his bedroom before he makes his way back to Kasey, who was watching them before but now her eyes were closed and Eddie would smile softly at the sight of her, watching as she finally gains some sleep before he tucks his arms under her body and lifts her up and–
Kasey was now leaving the embrace and gives him a small smile before she makes her way to Athena who wraps her up tightly whilst whispering words of how good a nice warm shower will be for her and TK and that the heating will be on, and she is sure that hot chocolate will be made tonight too.
And then everyone was leaving, out of the medical tents and Chris was situated on Eddie’s hip once Buck and TK finally let him go, Kit and Chimney were up front, helping Buck walk with Maddie following closely behind, then there was Hen and Karen, and then Bobby (who was carrying the dirty clothes) and Vanessa with Athena and Kasey behind, her arm was wrapped motherly round her waist as she began to question Kasey that all of her weight better be on her (Athena) and she better not be taking any of it, but Kasey wasn’t listening much as her head turns to look over her shoulder at the two Diaz’s and all she does was smile at them.
              ❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥
Eddie pushes himself off the sofa as he watches some shitty show on the television, Christopher was in bed now after having a quick bath and eating something before being tackled in hugs and comforting words from his father. Eddie wasn’t expecting anything else for the evening, especially not a knock at his door at this time of night or even from what has happened all day.
And he sure wasn’t expecting to see a clean but still tired Kasey (still covered in her bandages, but they were changed to plain brown ones after her shower, at Athena’s recommendation) at his door. He looks out at the road to see headlights on, and they gave him a quick blink and he was quick to recognise it being Bobby. He then watches the car drive off before his eyes move back to the women in front of him, who gives him a small, nervous, smile.
“Can I stay here for tonight, please,” her voice was still slightly scratchy, and she swing her arms at her sides as she gazes at Eddie and all he could do was nod as he holds back his smile from growing anymore at the realisation of why she was here.
No wonder Bobby drove off without Eddie giving an answer as he knew he would say yes to Kasey. Eddie even wondered if Bobby knew how much both Christopher and Eddie wished for her to come home with them.
“Yeah – yeah, of course,” he says and at his words Kasey falls forwards, falling into his open arms that were quick to catch her. Her forehead rests against his shoulder and she rounds her tired arms around his waist whilst he brings her into a tighter embrace.
In his hold, Kasey felt saved.
They stay standing in the doorway, still embracing one another, and Eddie wondered how long they be there for, but he didn’t really mind, not as long as he had her in his arms. It was silent between the pair; well it was until Kasey spoke up again with a question Eddie was truly not expecting tonight.
“Can I get Chris’ name tattooed on me?” Kasey pulls back slightly to look at Eddie’s face, but all she saw was his knitted brows and eyes that burnt with confusion. “I know it’s crazy – we have no relation – like he isn’t even mine or he, well, he isn’t mine anything. But he was so brave Eddie, and I want to carry some of his bravery around – it–it doesn’t make any sense, forget it.” She takes a quick pause. “But he means the world to me Eddie, really, you’ve got the best kid ever, you know? And I just want to honour him more, and just carry something of him around with me everywhere I go so when I do get scared, I’ll know that Chris would want me to be brave and …I just – I care a lot about your son, and you, my god, you two mean absolutely everything to me, I don’t think you understand how important the pair of you are to me and–”
She stops with the feeling of his lips touching the top of her head.
She blinks.
“I think,” he begins as he gazes at her, eyes full of softness, “I think Christopher would really like that,” the corner of his lip tugs up even more now, “I really like the idea too. It’s sweet.”
“Really?” Kasey scrunches her nose slightly, the plaster crumpling up as she does so. “You can say no if you want.”
Eddie shakes his head. “You can get his name tattooed, I don’t mind, but thank you for asking me though.”
Kasey blinks again cause why wouldn’t she ask for his permission? “Yeah – yeah, er, always…”
“When do you want to get it done?” He questions next as they still stood in his doorway.
“Tomorrow,” she instantly says. “I’m going to get TK’s name tattooed on me too, already asked for his permission,” she ranted slightly, “do you want to come with?” Then there was a moment of silence before she shakes her head. “Wait, no, you’ll be busy, it was stupid to ask, you will probably be working or with Chris and–”
His hand finds her, intertwining their fingers together as he offers her a soft squeeze. “I don’t have a shift tomorrow,” he states once he notices that his action has stopped her panicking rant, her eyes moves to look down at their joint up hands. “Chris will be at his Abuela’s, so I’ll come with you.”
And then he leans forwards, lays another kiss on her forehead, but his lips linger by her skin, and she swears she feels him smiling when she squeezes his hand in return.
               ❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥
A/N: Kit Prescott has been changed to Reiky De Valk A/N.2: Taglist found in reblog!
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stiles-o-dylan24 · 6 months
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|| Eddie x Avery Nash || 911 Rewrite || TAGLIST ||   • EDDERY🎶 • SHIPS OF STF •
Season One
Chapter 1 - New Job
Chapter 2 - Let Go
Chapter 3 - Next of Kin
Chapter 4 - Worst Day Ever
Chapter 5 - Point of Origin
Chapter 6 - Heartbreaker
Chapter 7 - Full Moon (Creepy AF)
Chapter 8 - Karma's a Bitch
Chapter 9 - Trapped
Chapter 10 - A Whole New You
Season Two
Chapter 11 - Under Pressure
Chapter 12 - 7.1
Chapter 13 - Help Is Not Coming
Chapter 14 - Stuck
Chapter 15 - Awful People
Chapter 16 - Dosed
Chapter 17 - Haunted
Chapter 18 - Buck, Actually
Chapter 19 - Hen Begins
Chapter 20 - Merry Ex-Mas
Chapter 21 - New Beginnings
Chapter 22 - Chimney Begins
Chapter 23 - Fight or Flight
Chapter 24 - Broken
Chapter 25 - Ocean's 9-1-1
Chapter 26 - Bobby Begins Again
Chapter 27 - Careful What You Wish For
Chapter 28 - This Life We Choose
Season Three
Season Four
Season Five
Season Six
Season Seven
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xunandran · 24 hours
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(Early) Tease Tidbit Tuesday
Here's a bit from the penultimate chapter of my first multi-chapter fic (and first long one) to date! You can read it if you like in the link after the snip! I love these two and have learned a lot writing this, so I hope you enjoy reading it!
Buck’s key scraped against the lock. It was midnight, on account of the overnight wrap and he was quiet, but Eddie had sat for the last hour being hypervigilant as to every single sound around him. Turns out, deciding to tell your best friend you’re in love with them and then having to wait twelve hours was a bit maddening. Who knew? Well, Eddie did now. Between the call and now, he’d showered - twice. He’d shaved, changed into three different yet nearly the same sleep shirts, dodged concerned questions about his mental state from Christopher, and generally spiraled with the passage of each second on the clock. Eddie stood and hobbled over to the door as Buck opened it. “Hey, hey…” Buck rushed, door wide open to support Eddie’s wobbly form. “Forget your crutches?” 
He looked tired, as they usually did after their shifts, but god did he look beautiful, soft in a pullover and mussy hair and literal bags under his eyes. Eddie chuckled, all he could do to stop from combusting at all the points that Buck braced against him. Touched him. Saw him.  “Yeah, I forgot,” Eddie whispered, voice small. It could easily be confused for sleepy, but he knew it was nerves. The way he felt right now, with the adrenaline shooting through his chest, he was worried that he might never sleep again. Buck laughed, low and quiet, considerate of a sleeping teen in the other room. But he didn’t stop touching. He righted Eddie and reached out with a hand to quietly close the door.  “So,” he said quietly.  “So.” Eddie parroted, throat dry, will eroding under the wilting intensity of Buck’s literal existence.  Buck’s beautiful blues hovered over Eddie’s gaze, filled with concern and… something else. “You told me to come over.” Eddie swallowed thickly and nodded. Even in the streetlights through the windows, he could see the way Buck’s lips plumped when he spoke, the way the barest tip of his tongue moistened them when he was nervous. Buck was nervous. Did Eddie make him nervous? Buck was sure making him nervous right now.  “I…” Eddie started, eyes darting between all the planes and features of Buck’s face. His mouth stood open, but his voice was barricaded behind a hammering heart. He couldn’t speak, so he took Buck’s free hand in his and pressed it over his heart, over the rumbling maelstrom that was shredding its way through his chest and his sanity. Buck’s eyes dropped to the connection before flicking up to lock with Eddie’s. There was that tongue again, that nervous tell. Eddie wanted to kiss it. He wanted to kiss Buck.
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lexissrosea · 2 years
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rarely see eddie diaz x readers so i'll probably write something sometime lolz
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happylifefanfic · 2 years
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Updates to Talk to Me and Safe Place are coming this weekend!
I’m so sorry for the lack of updates. My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago and I lost my inspiration to write. Luckily, the creative juices have been flowing the past few days!
Stay tuned for updates on Saturday!
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salemsvlog · 12 days
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Maddie, joking about Buck liking guys for almost 5 seasons: for the kicks an giggles
Maddie, after Buck comes out to her:
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smilingbuckley · 30 days
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Inside Bobby’s office is a man dressed in a suit. He’s standing, looking out the window, and turns when he hears Buck close the door behind them. “Firefighters Buckley and Diaz, I presume.”
“Why is my name always first?” Buck mumbles to Eddie. Eddie nudges him because now is not the time. This looks serious.
“That’s us, what’s going on?” Eddie asks. He glances at Bobby who is sitting in his seat with his arms crossed, a disappointed look on his face. Now Eddie is starting to get seriously worried. Did something happen with Christopher? Or did they do something wrong at a call without realising?
“My name is Jason McKinley,” the man says, holding out his hand to shake theirs. Eddie does, feeling a little numb. He waits for the man– Jason to continue. “We have been made aware that you’ve been keeping your relationship from us.”
Eddie glances at Buck, “You’re seeing someone?”
“I’m not?” Buck sounds just as confused, “You are?”
“No,” Eddie responds. “Not since Marisol.”
“This isn’t a joke,” Bobby speaks up. He almost sounds angry. “Lying to HR, keeping a serious relationship from them, that’s breaking the rules. It’s a serious offense.”
“But we’re not lying about anything?” Buck answers, though it sounds more like a question. “What the hell is going on?”
“You can give up the act,” Jason says, “As of now, you are both under review. We are looking into all the calls of the past several months to determine if you’re fit to work together. However, since you broke the rules, there will be consequences. This will go into your files, promotions will be difficult.”
First snippet of the 'didn't know they were dating' fic I teased yesterday (which blew up, damn). Still trying to decide whether I will keep it for Buddie Week or will post it asap
Taglist: @tizniz @chaosandwolves @mattsire @loveyouanyway @theotherbuckley @steadfastsaturnsrings @watchyourbuck @diazsdimples
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mvltisstuff · 10 months
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hi hi
idk if you’re accepting requests but if you are pls could i request an evan buckley where he has a gf/wife and a baby but the 118 doesn’t know, and maybe one day reader/kid is injured and they either turn up at the fire house or the 118 is called to the scene and buck has to come clean about his secret wife/gf and kid?
thank you bestie, i love your writing <3
lover - e.b
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summary: request
evan buckley x reader
gif from @eddiemunsens
a/n: what tswift album do u guys think the 118 are 🤭 also what happens to yn is inspired by an episode of s19 that i love sm it’s so funny :))
buck knew the second y/n got pregnant that he wasn’t leaving. two years of dating is a short time to have a child, but they loved each other more than anyone. they knew they could give a child a good life, so they went with it.
all three of them moved to la, so buck could work with the LAFD and y/n could get to a higher position at work. their life there was immaculate. their little family was thriving, so buck put a ring on her finger. he didn’t even hesitate to buy the biggest one he saw, because he loved y/n the second he met her, and he emotionally couldn’t wait anymore. the words husband and wife rang in his ears, making him drop a dumbfounded grin.
no one at work knew, he didn’t really know what they thought of him. his team knew he was too fine to not have anyone, so they figured he was just with some girls here and there. the last thing they expected was a child and a fiancé along with it. it never came up in conversation, but buck still didn’t bother. he didn’t want to face any judgement from people that he didn’t already get from his family. the constant scrutiny about his age and his girl was exhausting.
now, neither of them would’ve changed it for the world. buck can’t imagine himself happier or in a life without them. it hurts him to even consider what would happen if y/n and his little boy weren’t there. he always gazed at them playing, sometimes just wanting to observe their brilliance.
buck knew he would have to explain to his team that he’s married, and that doesn’t mean he’s ashamed. he wants the world to know, but he doesn’t want y/n to be hurt by opinions from other people. he didn’t realize how soon he would have to until the alarm rang and until dispatch came through with the address. it was their house. the house where buck and y/n raised their son and the one where either could be hurt. every single scenario waved over buck, making him panic more by the second.
“you good, kid?” bobby asks, taking note of his bouncing knee.
“uh.. yeah! yeah, i’m fine,” he lies. buck hasn’t been with them for more than a year, so they just pass it along, not knowing any better. buck climbs out of the truck, grabbing a few tools before sprinting toward the house. now, the teams more alarmed. what is it about this house is making him act like a maniac?
“y/n?” buck calls out, running around trying to find her.
“kitchen!” she yells out, sounded distressed which only makes buck move even quicker. when he walks in, he immediately notices her leaning over the sink, her hand in the disposal. bobby and the rest of his crew walk in behind him, the four of them standing in the kitchen staring at her. “well?”
“oh-“ bobby moves, starting to gather some more tools out of his bag.
“what the hell happened?”
“i dropped my ring down, and i was trying to make him lunch,” she nods to the baby, sitting on the floor happily, clearly having no idea what’s happening. “i don’t even know why i tried to grab it, like some idiot!”
“hey,” buck says, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. “you’ll be fine, y/s/n is fine, yeah?” she looks up at him and nods, brushing her hair with her free hand.
“should we know the kids name too?” chim asks, giving buck a completely bamboozled expression. y/n passes buck the same face as hen walks over to check her hand. buck can’t get around it this time, and he wants them to know for once.
“um, guys,” he starts. “this is my fiancé, y/n and my son.”
“your what?” hen shouts, peeking her head out from behind y/n’s shoulder. she gives hen an awkward smile and buck stands there stiffly, worried about their reaction. everyone looks around at each other in shock that buck has his own family, and they didn’t even know.
“why didn’t you tell us?” bobby wonders.
“because i didn’t know how you’d react! i’ve heard it all from my parents, i didn’t need any more.”
“buck, we would’ve welcomed you no matter what your home life is. we’d love to get to know you and your family despite how it might’ve happened,” hen tells him, kindly. buck is confronted with immediate love, something he’s not to familiar with other than when his shifts end and he’s in y/n’s arms again. he’s surprised to say the least. he expected at lease some judgement, but there was nothing of the sort in the room.
“i’m thrilled you’re all having a nice moment here,” y/n interrupts. “but can we maybe get my hand out of my sink?”
buck and bobby pull the cabinets open and start drilling at the pipes underneath. buck secures the ring in his fingers before beaming up at y/n, showing her that he found it. “i got it!” he replies excitedly. “thank god, i don’t know if i have insurance for this thing. cost me my left leg,” he whispers to bobby. once they fully disconnect the system, hen slowly drags her bloody hand out and wraps it up. she hisses at the contact of the gauze and antiseptics. chimney starts to clean up the rest of the supplies, as hen treats the wound.
“so,” chimney begins. “when’s the wedding?”
“time and place, chim,” hen tells him. “time and place. but, yeah, are we invited?”
“yes,” buck says, obviously. “you’re invited.” he moves over to scoop his baby off the ground, carrying him over to his friends. they all speak to him in their little baby voices, and y/n watches with a shining smile on her face. buck knows he did the right thing, but he wishes he didn’t wait as long. now, he is certain that he has two solid families.
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buckleyx · 11 months
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Hey! Was wondering if you could write Buck or Eddie (whichever you prefer) and sick reader. Like they come home from a shift and find you sick and go all paramedic on you :)
TAKING CARE OF SICK!READER E.D
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the gif i used is not mine! all credit goes to the owner! Had to choose rosy cheeks diaz bc the gif is just so cute! go give some love to the creator!!
Author’s note: i love love loveeee these requests!! thank you sm anon!! paramedic eddie>>>>>>>>>>> i just love him so much <33 very short and unedited but i found the request just so adorable that i quickly had to write it down!
Summary: Eddie taking care of sick reader!
Eddie Diaz x GenderNeutral!reader
Warnings: mentions of being sick, fever, headache and very fluffy eddie
masterlist
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Eddie immediately knew something was wrong the minute he walked through the front door. When his suspicion was confirmed and he noticed you curled up on the couch, a box of tissues by your side and multiple blankets stacked on top of you, something inside of him switched.
"Are you okay?" He rushed over, kneeling down so he could take a better look at you.
"I'm fine." You brushed off, trying your best to ignore your pounding headache. "Just a cold."
Eddie studied your face, his lips turning into a small frown as he brushed some hair out of your face. "Ai, mi amor." He whispered, giving your temple a soft kiss. "Why didn't you tell me."
You leaned into his touch, forcing a small smile on your lips. "I didn't want you to worry." You admitted, making his lips curl up into a small smile.
"Mi amor, don't say that." His thumb caressed your cheek, his brows knitting together as he felt the warm temperature of your skin against his. Eddie placed the palm of his hand on your forehead but you stopped him before he could do anything about it.
"You're burning up y/n. At least let me take a look."
As much as you didn't want him to worry, you were too tired to protest. You shivered as his cold hand touched your skin again. The color in your face had faded and the brightness in your eyes had been took over by an unbearable sleepy feeling. But still you managed to be in awe of your handsome boyfriend sitting in front of you. His rosy cheeks and concentration in his eyes as he further examined you.
"Too far if I get my stethoscope?" He joked, standing up and stretching his back. You chuckled. Eddie's eyes sparkled at the sound. "I'll be right back baby." He promised before disappearing into the kitchen.
After a few minutes the Diaz appeared back in the living room, proudly holding a tray of snacks and fluids he mixed up to help you feel better. He carefully placed the tray on the side table when he noticed you had already fallen asleep. He lowered the volume of the tv playing in the background and pressed the water compress he made against your skin.
He smiled at your peaceful state, happy that you were able to finally get some rest. He did everything to make you comfortable before sitting down next to the couch. His head rested on the pillows behind him, one arm stretched over to rest against your waist. He tried his best to follow the remaining minutes of the show playing but he quickly dozed off aswell, the tiredness of his shift finally catching up with him.
911 Taglist: @roseelone  @persie123 @nycbaddie @mrspeacem1nusone @ittzzgillianj @princessamericachavez @campingmonkey @barzy90 @911readercollection @rapunzelflynnrider @stark3y-l3cl3rc-p3t3rs @essienoe @chloepluto1306 @zephyrmonkey @ittzzgillianj @quacksonhq @x-hey-its-paige-x @essienoe @imaginesofdreams @ittzzgillianj @in-this-minute @bisexualblckcanary @essienoe
My requests are open! :)
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Main Taglist: @onlinevampire1898 @reality1escaping @musicsavedme98 @zombiedixon89  @ladamari68 @angelofbowersgangwifey @incendiotriaaa   @embon   @pansexualmommamess  @mykookieme-blog  @fairyhope028  @alexxavicry  @alexloveskili @one-sweet-gubler  @attackonnat   @strangersomeone  @ahookedheroespureheart @911readercollection
Let me know if you want to be added for future work!
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blueathens · 2 years
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Get On Like A House On Fire - Agape
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                         ACT 2, CHAPTER 5
SONG: The Village by Wrabel  QUOTE: ‘...But maybe one day, she won’t ever get back up.’
A/N: Not proofread or edited.
Previous || Next
Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist
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“So you didn’t want to teach the kids the wonders of being a firefighter?” Hen questioned Kasey as they sat at the back of the fire truck, headphones securely on their heads whilst the rest of the team looked between Hen and Kasey.
“Bobby purposely made sure I wasn’t on the rota for that time,” shrugs Kasey.
Eddie furrows his brows. “But aren’t you good with children?”
Bobby begins to chuckle. Hard. Almost out of character laugher. And Kasey would feel offended if she thought he was laughing at the idea of Kasey being good with children. But she knew he wasn’t laughing at that as the entire team knew she was good with youngsters.
If she wasn’t, then why would they usually make her be the firefighter to comfort the frightened kids on scene?
But the reasoning for Bobby’s laughter still made Kasey sink in her seat, pouting like a toddler as she huffed slightly.
Hen gave Kasey a teasing smile as she already knew what Bobby was thinking – it was the reason she asked the question in the first place.
Hen let out a small laugh.
“Last time I was allowed to do that,” Kasey begin, sending a small glare at the older firefighters for finding such humour in this mockery, “I may or may not have accidently sprayed all the children with the hose.”
Eddie and Buck’s eyebrows fly up.
“Excuse me?”
Kasey groans and sinks more in her seat, hands covering her face as she tried to hide the pink tint in her cheeks. “Please don’t make me repeat it.”
“I just don’t understand how someone can accidently–”
“Oh! Look!” Kasey interrupted, sitting up in her seat as she pointed at the neighbourhood that Chimney told the team to head towards. “Fire! We should go and put it out.”
“It’s almost like that’s our job,” Buck rolled his eyes at the sight of his best friend shooting a pointed glare his way.
“Dispatch, this is Captain 118.” Bobby states in his radio. “We’re at Doheny Park. Multiple residential structure fires. Send everything you can.”
“Copy that, 118.” Josh replies. “I’m trying to find additional resources for you, but you might be on your own for the next 15-20 minutes.”
“Copy that.”
“Shit, this is bad.” Commented Kasey as she gazes out her window, teeth digging into her bottom lip whilst her fingers clenched round her helmet that sat in her lap.
A man rushes towards the truck the moment they stopped, the 118 began to climb out to see him waving his arms in desperation and slamming a hand against the windscreen “Help! Help! You got to help!”
“Cap!”
“My son! He’s trapped upstairs!” He pointed towards his house that was burning down fast.
“Do you know where? Which room?”
“No, no, I haven’t seen him.”
Kasey moved to stand next to Eddie as the pair squinted in the direction of the house, searching windows to try and find any movements.
Eddie saw him first.
“Cap. I see him!” He points towards the window where a small boy waving his hands was. “Upstairs window!”
There was a much larger explosion, followed closely behind desperate yells from the man and young woman who tried to run towards the burning house, but was stopped by Kasey and Eddie who didn’t allow them to go any closer.
“Sir! Sir! Two!”
“All right. Get the ladder up to the house.” Bobby instructed Buck who dashed off to follow his instructions.
“I’ll check the driver, Cap!” Hen exclaims.
“My son is up there!” The man yelled in Kasey’s face who kept her hands on his arms, guiding him a bit further away from the burning house as she nodded to show her understanding.
“I know, sir. But if you go in there you will just put both you and your son in even more danger,” Kasey reasoned with him. “Let us do our jobs and we can bring him out safely.”
“You gotta save him!”
“We will. We will.” Eddie says as he looks over at the man who was still fearfully yelling into Kasey’s face whilst she just continued to professionally comfort and guide him away from being in more danger.
He then walks up towards Bobby whilst Kasey tried to handle the two panicked family members who continued to yell at her as if she had all the answers, but Kasey didn’t, all she could tell them was that they will get the son out, that’s all she could say as that was all she knew.
Kasey then scrunched her face up when she heard Eddie alerting Bobby that they didn’t have enough water to put out the fire, and this only made the family panic more as they asked her questions on how can she save the son if they don’t even have enough water?
Kasey wished she was elsewhere, she wished she didn’t have to try to think of barely-there-answers for the family who has just overheard some terrible news, and she knew that repeating herself wasn’t going to convince them that everything was going to be okay.
Buck, noticing his best friend’s silent panicked state, made his way over, gently guiding the family members much further away so they were no longer in the teams way or screaming in Kasey’s face. Strand let out a sigh, squeezing her eyes shut for a few seconds as she tried to calm her fast but yet tired heart rate down.
She believed it was going much faster than it should usually go, and she knew that could be due to the lack of sleep. Her body wasn’t functioning properly. She wasn’t functioning properly. And all she wanted was to go to rest for a bit, let the ground swallow her up and just let her body rest.
But she couldn’t.
She had a panicked family pacing a few meters away from her and a son trapped in the burning house in front of her. She had Eddie and Bobby talking about the water issue a few steps away from her and then she had her anxious self who couldn’t fully assimilate what was going around herself at times.
The only thing she could do was force herself to stay awake and to calm down as she continued her job.
“Strand!” Bobby’s voice yell and Kasey turns to look at her Captain. “Keep everyone back, okay? And help anyone who has any injuries.”
“Copy that,” she nods as she went began to gather a few other firefighters to aid her in her task, completely not noticing the quick look of worry that Bobby sent her way as he noticed the shake in her right hand.
The only time she looked back at the house was when she heard metal grinding, and she saw the ladder collapse and Buck falling, catching himself on the collapsed half of the ladder but it didn’t stop the blood-crawling scream that emitted from his best friend.
“Buck!”
Every ounce of Kasey wanted to run towards Buck and help him, but she couldn’t as she was holding a cloth against the side of a woman’s head to try and ease the bleeding whilst the firefighter next to her prepared a bandage.
Eddie then begins to climb the drainpipe.
“Eddie!”
He ignores his teams calls.
“He’s fucking insane.” Kasey mutters as she raises from the kneeling position she once was in to go and find another person who may need her help, whilst her eyes stayed glued onto Eddie’s climbing figure. “Fucking insane. Who does he think he is? Firefighter Romeo?”
Kasey knew though that Eddie was doing the right thing, well the Kasey thing. If Kasey was able to initiate an idea, it probably would become a similar idea of what Eddie was doing right now.
'I’ve been a bad influence on him,' Kasey thought with a shake of her head before she crouched down to look at a casualties hand.
“I feel like if either Kasey or me did something like that, you would yell at us,” Buck says and Bobby turns his head to look at him, giving him a look that told Buck that his statement was correct.
“Thought your boy was going to become Santa Clause for a moment there,” the man said as he watched the scene in front of him whilst Kasey cleaned up his hand. “But instead he become James Bond and crashed through the window like he does it every Tuesday evening.”
Kasey hums. “He prefers films of romance than action films,” Kasey looks up with a mischievous glimmer in her eyes and with her left index she pressed it against her lips to usher him to be quiet as she threw him a playful wink. “But don’t tell him I told you that.”
“Yeah,” she looks over her shoulder. “Let me know when he comes out the house so I can yell at him for his stupidity,” her eyes shifts down to the ground. “Then I’ll give him his stupid hug.”
“How kind of you.” The man leans his head back against the tree, squeezing his eyes shut when he hears a curse leaving Kasey’s lips as she notices the wound in his leg. He opens them when he hears the comforting sound of her reassuring that it’s nothing bad and that she be able to quickly sort it out.
“I think,” the man smiles, shaking his head to himself before smiling bigger when he notices Kasey looking at him again, “I think the man would much rather a kiss.”
Kasey shook her head, sputtering out words as she quickly tried to deny the everything the man just suggested. “Oh no, no, I got – I’m seeing someone, and he’s got this sleeping arrangement with his wife, who isn’t his wife anymore, but she kinda is and – it’s complicated.”
The man didn’t look too convinced.
“Besides we’re just friends.”
“I always said the same thing about my wife,” the man chuckles, a sincere smile tugging at his lips at the thought of his wife. “It wall bullshit though, but we never said anything till much later on because we were scared. But everyone knew, even us eventually, but you can’t be friends with someone who looks at you as if you’re the reason the world has eight wonders.
Kasey laughs, “there’s only seven wonders of the world.”
“Not when the person you look at is the eighth.” He utters. “For me, my wife is the eighth wonder of the world. For you, it’s that James Bond wannabe, and for him, it’s you. You’re his eighth world wonder.”
“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Kasey pokes her tongue against the inside of her cheek whilst she finally wraps a bandage around his knee. “One of those people who describes love to a metaphor.”
“You’ve never been in love, have you?”
“It’s not something I understand.”
“You will eventually.” The guy looks towards the house. “But if I was you, I wouldn’t wait for too long. You don’t want your something good to be taken from you. That another reason why it took a while for me to get with my wife.”
“We’re just friends.”
“Okay,” he hums, “but don’t do anything stupid because you’ll regret it.”
Kasey just nods, before standing up as another firefighter took over to guide the man towards the back of their ambulance along with a few other people who awaited for more to show up.
“The smoke of the fire must be getting to his head,” Kasey mutters to herself as she begins to make her way back towards Buck and Bobby to question them on Eddie’s status, but she stumbled back as she watched in horror as another explosion within the house went off.
The guy next to her screamed for his son, whilst Kasey called for her friend.
“Cap!” Kasey rushed over towards Bobby. “Let me go in there – let me help Eddie – I need to help–”
“No, no, no,” Buck gently pushes Kasey to the side, as he makes his way round the fire truck. “You’re body isn’t healthy enough for a situation like that, Kas. I’ll do i–”
Bobby raises a hand in the air. “No. Wait.”
Kasey spins on her heels at the sound of an aeroplane’s engine roaring, and it sounded close too, she glances round to see people looking in the sky with confused expressions, but with a quick shake to her head to wake her mind up, she quickly ushered them elsewhere, telling them that they need to get cover.
Bobby overheard Kasey and yelled, “incoming! Everybody, take cover!”
Kasey sent a worried look towards the house before being dragged down to the ground by Buck who jumped down from the fire truck to get the pair of them to crawl under it.
His hand instantly grabs her, squeezing it to try and let her tired body know that everyone would be okay, but Buck watched Kasey’s tired eyes flutter and he wondered if Kasey was truly going to be okay after all of this, because looking at her now, it looks like she could past out from extreme exhaustion in any minute, and it made Buck wonder how she has been hiding this for so long.
“Holy shit,” Buck heard his friend mutter next to him, “that’s a shit ton of water.”
Buck didn’t reply as he continued to stare at the side of her face with worry, ignoring as the water fell above them. It was easy to ignore when he allowed his mind to finally settle on his friend who special talent was hiding all this pain.
She needed sleep.
And after this Buck knew he was going to wrap her up and make her into a blanket burrito and stay with her until she fell asleep.
Buck snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed Kasey pull herself out from under the truck, standing onto her feet as she did a little shake – Buck didn’t know if this was her way of keeping her body to stay awake, or if it was just a random Kasey action.
She walked towards the house, anxiously waiting for any movements or a response back over the radio after Bobby asked if he could hear them. Her hands were shaking, but she hide that by patting the front of her thighs.
The front door was kicked to be opened further, and Eddie walks out with the boy in his arms, Kasey calls for his name as if it was a pray. She rushed towards him and watched as he gently laid the child down onto the ground.
The moment she heard the boy gasp, Kasey span and punched Eddie gently in the chest, before she brought him into a tight hug.
Her arms were round his neck, and his easily found comfort round her waist as he too held her closely. He gently swayed as he just breathed in the moment of Kasey hugging him.
“You’re okay,” she whispers. “Your James Bond arse is okay.”
“My what?” Eddie chuckles, frowning slightly when he feels Kasey pulling away from the hug before replacing his frown with a small smile as he took in the stupidly adorable smile she had on her face.
“Nothing,” she says, and Eddie shakes his head before wrapping his arm around her shoulder, bringing her close into his side.
“I really want some pizza after all of this.”
Kasey hums, “you deserve it.”
“You want to come back to mine for some?”
“Won’t Shannon be there?” She asks, she didn’t want to intervene with anything, and she had this feeling that the woman didn’t like her very much, despite the pair having any actual conversation between one another.
“No,” Eddie shakes his head, “just me and Christopher.”
“Ah,” Kasey wraps her own arm around her waist as she rested against the man a little more comfortably, “my favourite Diaz.”
“I’m ignoring you said that.”
“You always do.”
Buck pats Eddie on the back as he stands on the other side of him. “What was the Spider-Man routine.”
Eddie closes his eyes for a second. “I don’t know. I just did it. And prayed a lot.”
Bobby then copies Buck’s actions, “yeah, it looks like someone was listening.”
Buck looked at Kasey, eyebrow raising as he nodded his head off to the side, gesturing for her to come with him as he obviously wanted to say something. She slipped out from Eddie’s hold and made her way towards Buck who sat himself down on a patch of grass under a tree.
“You alright?” Kasey questioned as she sat herself down next to him.
“You know,” he turns to look at Kasey, his eyes no longer on the conscious kid. He needed Kasey to hear his words, to let her know that she can trust him, that he was there for her. “You’re kind of my comfort person.”
Her face scrunches up as she lets out a breathless laugh.
“You’re that one person who just makes me feel better no matter what.” He bumps her shoulder. “Like I could be having the worst day ever, but I could just look at you and I would feel okay. And I would be able to tell you anything because I know you wouldn’t judge me.” Buck pauses. “You’re my best friend and I–”
“You’re kind of my comfort person too, Buck.” Was all Kasey responded with and she knew that was something Buck needed to hear, she knew it was a way to keep him at bay before he would combust with worry over her – she knew this was his way to tell her he was there.
And she knew, but she didn’t know if she actually wanted people to help her – she didn’t feel broken, she didn’t feel like she needed to be fixed…she was just tied.
And what else should she say? That she has a fear of going back to her apartment? That would be ridiculous because who would be afraid of their own house?
Kasey felt ridiculous, but she hid it behind a smile and told her friends – her family – that she was okay, and Kasey was sure that the more she says it, the more she would be able to pretend she was.
And to her, she was okay.
She’s always been okay because she’s Kasey Strand.
She always gets back up.
...But maybe one day, she won’t ever get back up.
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loserdiaz · 1 year
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he never thinks of me (except when i'm on tv)
buck/eddie | mature | 18.1k words
"I have been in love, yes." He says after the most torturous of seconds.
"Would you mind expanding on that?"
Buck hesitates for a few seconds and then Eddie sees the exact moment he decides 'fuck it' as he straightens in his seat.
"There was this guy in high school. He was my best friend."
Wait. Hold on.
Eddie freezes.
Is Buck— Is Buck talking about him?
or:
In which Eddie finds out years later that his unrequited feelings for his high school best friend were not actually unrequited, Buck is stupidly famous now and they pine.
They get there in the end, they just need to get their timing right.
Inspired by the prompt: “you’re famous and just got asked if you were ever in love this should be good– WAIT WHAT."
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xunandran · 15 days
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Threadbare
(My humble submission for the Buddie Week Prompt - Stolen Clothes)
Hope I'm not overstepping, I just love the ship and wanted to write something for it.
-Threadbare-
The laundry sat on the bed, a pile of responsibility that Eddie didn’t want to deal with. He heard his Abuela in the back of his mind though, imploring cleanliness. He had hoped to take advantage of the mild weather and nice sunshine to air out the house a bit, but the cloud cover and the sudden rain conspired to cast a pall over the area. 
He sat on the edge of the bed and folded, one of his and Christopher’s Telenovela playing absentmindedly in the background. Christopher’s clothes were the easiest, though Eddie found himself separating the clothes into two piles, a pile of clothes that needed mending, more stain removal, etc. and one that was ready for Christopher to put up. 
He separated out each of the categories of his own clothes, laying them out on the bed. Everything had its place, undershirts with undershirts, boxer briefs with boxer briefs, socks with socks. Jeans were carefully tucked away, shirts were folded efficiently. Eddie thrived on the order, the compartmentalization of the chaos. 
He stowed all the clothes and sat, hand threading over the folds in his messy duvet. Since going to therapy, he had learned that he deserved grace just as much as the next guy. He wiggled the edge of the duvet cover, accepting its disorder rather than immediately trying to smooth it back into compliance. The thick fabric was extra lumpy, and he pulled it aside. 
The hoodie that he overlooked peeled into view from under the duvet. He picked it up and laid it in his lap, hand smoothing over its rumpled form. He smiled and put it on, careful to avoid pulling at the threadbare left elbow. He could patch it, like he did with Christopher’s clothes. That was a skill that he had also learned from his Abuela. But that worn corner, the same as the worn collar of the heather grey hoodie, they had come with the hoodie, and their imperfections made the garment all the more precious to him.
How long had it been since he’d last worn it? Was it the lawsuit? He didn’t remember wearing it during that time, even though that was about the time he’d acquired it, its previous owner leaving it dangling on the arm of his couch one afternoon prior to everything going south. Eddie had always meant to return it. Every time his fingers brushed against it in the closet, he would pull it out and carefully fold it and set it on the coffee table so he wouldn’t forget to.
But it always felt out of place, sitting in the open, and he always ended up returning it to its place of honor in the closet, next to his LAFD jacket and his favorite fall jacket. 
Was it when Shannon died? He tried to remember. Did he pull the hoodie over him like a hug and cry into its plush sleeves, wiping the threadbare sleeve against his puffy eyes, unsure how, once again, he was going to wade through the world, seemingly alone?
Or was it the lightning strike, when for three minutes and seventeen seconds, the hoodie's previous owner’s powerful, caring heart had stopped? Had he watched them massage life back into Buck’s breast and then sobbed into the frayed collar when he was finally alone and unable to distract from his terror anymore?
He wondered if Buck even knew he had it. He had to, right?
If Buck did, he’d never asked for it back. That was good, because the hoodie, now worn after his date, or Buck’s date, or both of their dates with each of their others, was the one part of Buck that was completely his.
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slowly getting sober from the taste of your skin
buck x eddie || rated: t || wc: 11.2k
Eddie didn’t do this.
He didn’t go to bars and get drunk and spill his heart to the bartender. He didn’t stare at his phone like a loser and swipe through pictures of him and godforsaken crush.
Except tonight, he did.
Or, the one where Eddie gets drunk and pines. Includes Maddie & Eddie friendship, lots of miscommunication, and a happy fluffy ending.
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lives-in-midgard · 20 days
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Dating Evan Buckley would include:
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Pairing: Evan Buckley x reader
A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first time writing for Evan Buckley from 911. I hope you like this!
If you want to be on the taglist comment here.
Divider made by @firefly-graphics
Main Masterlist
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If you work at the 118, Buck and you would have the same work shift.
If you slept in his apartment, you’ll drive together and if you’re staying in your apartment, he’ll pick you up.
When you’re at the station, Buck smiles at you, hugs you all the time and Buck can always make you laugh with some silly jokes.
You would always sit next to each other in the fire truck.
Buck would be very protective over you and make sure you’re okay.
If you are not working at the 118, Evan tries to spend as much time with you as possible.
You’re really worried about him because you know how reckless he can be at work, but Buck promised you he would take care of himself and always come home safe.
Lots of cuddling.
Evan loves to hug you and put his arm around you. It brings him comfort when you’re close to him.
He takes you on a lot of dates.
To a restaurant, to the beach, to a bar or just a relaxing day at home.
Buck loves telling you stories from work, and you enjoy listening to him.
After a while he opens up to you more and tells you about his past.
You’re there for Buck and tell him that you would never leave him.
Buck would call you pet names like babe or honey.
Cooking with Buck and he will teach you some new recipes he knows from Bobby.
Joining Buck and Christopher when they spend time together, like going to the zoo.
Being good friends with everyone in the 118.
You love spending time with Maddie.
It makes Buck so happy to see how much you enjoy spending time with his sister and his friends.
Buck is so lucky to have found you.
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