Christmas Landing on Its Feet

Eddie Sees a New Side to Buck, and Buck Gets a Pep Talk from Bobby

“No no no no no no no!” Buck wails as he covers his face, pacing back and forth. “That didn’t happen. It was just a crazy fluke.”

“Buck, would you please stop moving and just calm down?” Bobby all but orders as he checks something else off from his clipboard. “One kiss with someone you like isn’t the end of the world.”

“Actually, you can clear something up for me.” Ravi pipes up, walking towards where Buck is standing. “So apparently there’s another question you need to ask yourself.”

Buck asks, “What happened to just the three?”

Instead of answering, Ravi asks, “Has he asked you to meet his parents? Or any of his family?”

That Buck can answer easily, “Actually, no. Not yet, anyway.”

“Okay, see that? Now we’re getting somewhere.” Ravi tries to assure Buck, which only lasts about 5 seconds before Chim asks from his position on the truck,

“Did you kiss him?”

“No!” Buck denies a little too quickly, then caves in the next second, “Yes…”

There’s a bunch of “Oooooo”s heard around the team as Buck tried to defend himself, “It was the stupid mistletoe! Practically Christmas law!”

Chim shakes his head, “Too late. Buck’s a goner.”

Ravi laughs in response, but Buck just shakes his head, and says nothing else.

“Why were you out so late?” Eddie asks as he and Buck cut up vegetables in the kitchen.

Buck, who up until now had been lost in thought, snaps out of it, and when he looks at Buck, Buck prompts again, “Everything okay with the 118?”

“Oh….yeah.” Buck replies pathetically, eyes focused on chopping up the vegetables as he adds, “Happens now and again. You gotta do what you gotta do.”

“Guess that means this is the new normal now, huh? One big happy family” Eddie replies so casually, Buck pauses chopping again, scared of what Eddie could mean by that,
“Excuse me?”

Eddie points and says, “You and Norman. You’re not looking to give him up anymore. He’s your cat.”

Buck lets out a sigh of relief, then admits, “Yeah, that’s true.”, before resuming chopping.

They continue their prep for a moment or two, before Eddie looks up again, asking carefully, “Eddie? You okay?”

Buck pauses as well, looking at Eddie as he asks, “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

The firefighter shakes his head, “No, not at all. Everything’s just…great.”

Eddie decides now’s as good a time as any to make his move, and moves to the kitchen sink so he doesn’t have to look at Buck as he asks, “So, there’s this thing I wanted to talk to you about. For tonight.”

Buck, remembering the talk about meeting family, asks nervously, “What is it?”

“Oh nothing. Nothing at all, actually. It’s just this…party, with my sister and her husband. They said it would be okay if I brought a plus one.”

Buck freezes in place, but still asks, needing to clarify, “Y-you want me to meet your family?”

Eddie turns around, drying his hands as he tries to downplay it, “Oh no, not at all, really. I just thought it might be…fun. You know? I think you and my sister would really get along. Her husband too. They’re really good people.”