fallintofallfestival prompt fill

[lovemeanyway]

The second he rounds the corner in his apartment complex Buck knows he’s screwed. Sitting at the bottom of the steps leading to his door is his sister, Maddie. All day he’s been dodging her calls, knowing that somehow word of what happened today must have reached her. She is, after all, friends with Bobby’s wife Athena. If it were at all possible, he would turn around right then and seek refuge somewhere else.

“What if there was an emergency, Evan?” she asks, getting to her feet.

“You would have left a message. Or - or texted,” he says, avoiding meeting her eyes so he doesn’t have to see that disappointed look he knows she’s wearing. “I don’t know. But there wasn’t, so it’s fine.”

“Just like it would have been fine if there had been a call because you were in the neighborhood?” Maddie lets out a huff of breath and Buck knows her well enough to know it’s not a laugh but an expression of pure exasperation. “What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Buck repeats, not sure what to say to defend himself. “I didn’t think anything would happen.”

“I know.” Maddie crosses her arms. “That’s the problem, Evan. You don’t ever think.”

“Yeah, well I don’t really need another lecture today.” Buck tries to push past her so he can go up the stairs and disappear into his apartment, but she stands firm. He has no choice but to back up a few steps. “I - I got fired, Maddie. I think I understand the consequences. Can you just leave me alone?”

“No. Absolutely not,” she tells him, reminding him that as much as he absolutely adores her he also hates when she goes into Mom Mode. “I don’t think you do understand the consequences because there weren’t any.”

Buck wants to correct her, except he knows she’s right. While he did get fired, helping save Lily Coughlin had gotten that decision reversed. He’d only been without a job for a couple hours. But that doesn’t mean he is unaware of the consequences.

“Maddie. I promise I do get it. Bobby - Captain Nash - he made it very clear what would happen if anything like that ever happened again.” Buck sighs, weighing his next words carefully. “I… I think I might be a sex addict. But I’m not going to let -”

“Oh cut the shit, Evan,” Maddie interrupts. “You are not a sex addict.”

“I honestly think I am.” This time the noise Maddie makes is laughter and it makes Buck’s cheeks bloom with the heat of embarrassment. He never should have brought it up. “Whatever. You can think what you want but nothing like that is ever gonna happen again.”

Something in his tone must catch her attention, because Maddie is suddenly staring at him very intently.

“You really think you’re a sex addict?” she asks, not bothering to hide her skepticism even though she seems somewhat willing to have a serious discussion about it.

“Can you think of another reason why I’d take the engine to hook up with someone I met at a call earlier in the day?” Buck avoids locking eyes with Maddie like his life depends on it. He may have brought it up initially, but he regrets it now that they’re actually talking about it.

“Yeah. You’re an idiot,” Maddie says, without any hesitation. “An idiot I love, so don’t give me that look. But an idiot nonetheless. Who saw a hot girl turned on by your uniform and used it to your advantage to get laid.”

“It wasn’t the first time,” Buck admits sheepishly.

“I know.”

The way she says those two words makes Buck feel like he’s a teenager again, caught doing something he knows he shouldn’t have but did anyway in the hopes of getting a little attention from their parents, even if it was just in the form of yelling. It’s a feeling he’s quick to push aside, not liking the implications.

“I am proud of you, you know,” Maddie finally says when it’s clear Buck isn’t going to say anything. “I wasn’t calling just to lecture you earlier. You saved that little girl’s life.”

“Not you too.” Buck’s been correcting people all day, starting with the reporter who had stopped by the station earlier in the day to do an interview. “I just drove around. That dispatcher, Eddie, he’s the one who really saved her.”

“He helped, yeah,” Maddie agrees. “Eddie’s a great dispatcher. But they couldn’t have done it without you,” she reminds him gently.

Buck’s grateful for the shift in tone of their conversation, even if he isn’t sure how they went from full lecture to him being praised. Now his embarrassment is for entirely new reasons, even if he'll never admit it to her or anyone else.

“You hungry?” he asks, hoping to avoid talking about it further. “I got leftovers from your favorite Chinese place.”

Maddie smiles in a way Buck knows means she’s going to allow the switch in topic, and despite how uncomfortable everything between them was initially when he got home, he’s reminded how glad he is he decided to move to Los Angeles in order to be closer to her.