FBI profiler turned firefighter, Anastasia Valdez, moves to Los Angeles for a fresh start after the loss of her fiancé. A career switch plus moving across the country make for a great conversation starter.
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In which fires aren't the only thing ig...
After their date, the two had already planned another date, which they quickly found out was their normal hangouts, but with a title. Anastasia had bought ingredients for them to make their own pizzas in her kitchen, and they were doing a simple movie night. Though it was only a day after their garden date, Buck had so much he needed to tell her already; such as how his parents, a big reason for his therapy, were currently in the state of California. "You're getting cheese all over the place, you weirdo." Anastasia complained, but with a laugh as she watched Buck try to assemble a pizza. "Being stressed out by your parents doesn't mean you can make a mess."
"What about being stressed about my therapy bill? I'll be seeing Dr. Copeland a lot more now." He sighed.
"All this stress is going to give you wrinkles and gray hair." Anastasia sang the statement. "Finish your pizza and we can go watch our movie. You need to calm down, B."
Ever since he found out about the family dinner, Buck has been running through all of the possible scenarios, from somehow having a normal dinner to tables being flipped and spaghetti on the walls. because of that, he was trying to think of de-escalation techniques to calm himself and his parents down. So far, he hasn't come up with anything, which is why he was planning to meet with Dr. Copeland the next morning during their shift. "What if you come with?" Buck suggested. "Howie's bringing Albert, I should be able to bring you."
Pausing in the middle of her pizza decorating, or putting on the toppings, Anastasia looked at Buck with her brows furrowed. "Albert is Chimney's brother, and it's a family dinner. We've been on one date, two if you count this one, I don't think I'm exactly family yet." She explained. As much as she understood how anxiety-ridden Buck was about the situation, she felt as though it wasn't her place to get invited to a family dinner like that, especially this early on into their relationship.
"I'll ask Maddie anyways. If I get too stressed, everything will be ruined, and Maddie wants to have a somewhat normal family for Jee."
Anastasia had finally finished her pizza, so she was just waiting on him so both pizzas could go into the oven. Unlike Buck and Maddie, Howie and Albert, Anastasia had a really good relationship with her parents, so she could only understand their experience from a psychological standpoint, not really a personal experience standpoint. "If it'll help you stay calm, I'll go with you."
Smiling in victory because he successfully got her on board, Buck leaned over and down to press his lips firmly against hers. It was still a fresh relationship, so every time he would kiss her, Anastasia would blush and smile to herself like a lovestruck high schooler. "You can be like an emotional support human." Buck suggested with a proud smile.
Anastasia shook her head, not in a demeaning way, but in more of a "this is what I have to deal with" way. Moments later, with the over already preheated, the two put in their entirely self-made pizzas and set a time before going to the living room to join Tatum. "Did you pick a movie yet?"
"No, I thought you were picking?"
"It's your turn this time, B. I chose last time."
With a huff, Buck grabbed the remote from the coffee table, trying not to move since Anastasia was laying against him and if he were to fall off the couch, he'd land on Tatum. When he got it, he began scrolling through all the apps on her TV, trying to find a good movie to start off their movie night. After a few minutes of him scrolling through everything and Anastasia just laying on his chest while watching the screen move, he finally decided on them watching Onward, a new movie.
"Didn't you pick a cartoon last time?"
"I always start with a cartoon, Stas. It's my movie night trademark." Buck proclaimed, laying the remote on the coffee table and tightening his free arm around her shoulders. "How long do you think it'll take them to figure out we're dating now?"
Anastasia gave him a little shrug and snuggling up to his side now that his attention was on her and the screen. "I don't think we act any different from before we got together, so maybe they won't know until we tell them."
× × ×
The next evening, both Buck and Anastasia showed up to Howie and Maddie's apartment for the family dinner. Maddie kind of found it suspicious, given that Anastasia was "just a friend" and not formally part of the family the way Howie and Albert were. She didn't have a problem with Anastasia coming, mainly because Buck explained how she was like an emotional support human, but when they arrived, she watched them closely. Howie and Maddie had cooked everything, and Anastasia brought something small for dessert to not be rude, so everyone was waiting around the kitchen.
"Why did you bring so much alcohol? And two bottles of Patron, is this a party?" Anastasia asked, because while she did carpool with with Buck, she was just now seeing how much alcohol he had bought and put in his backseat before he picked her up.
"Oh, those two are for me." Howie said hastily as he moved away from the stove to grab the bottles quickly before continuing to move around the kitchen.
Everyone could feel Howie's anxiousness, and with the exception of Albert and Anastasia, they could relate to it. "They" being the Buckley siblings. after how we had grabbed the tequila, Albert took notice of how his older brother was wearing jeans when he was explicitly told he would not be able to wear that. "You, stop whining and pre-heat the oven. 350. We have baked brie and fig jam to put together."
"Why do you have fig? You told me you don't like it." Anastasia stated as she looked at Buck, Maddie nodding in agreement. Before the blue-eyed man could answer, there was a gentle knock on the door that had everyone shooting their heads to the front door.
Howie let out a big sigh, as he dusted his hands off of imaginary dust. "And I think we're ready." Howie said, everyone watching as Maddie walked to the front door to let their guests in. Behind the island counter, Buck let out a deep breath and grabbed Anastasia's hand as some sort of self-comfort.
Buck and Maddie's parents walked in with gifts, and the two went over to greet their parents. "This is my brother, Albert." Howie informed the two guests.
"And Buck's roommate. It's a pleasure to meet you both."
"Buck? You're still letting people call you that." Their mom said, not the least bit please even though she had a smile on her face.
"It's just a nickname mom." Buck said, the same uncomfortable smile on his face. "This is Anastasia, One of my best friends. She works with us at the station." Buck introduced, strongly sugarcoating it since they weren't telling people they were dating yet.
"Oh, sounds exotic." Their mom said, after Anastasia greeted them herself. "She's not a redhead?"
Before anyone could say anything in response to her, Albert asked if anyone wanted anything to drink and pointed over to the living room area. Their night had only started a minute ago, and everyone knew they would need it.
i havent exactly planned it yet, but how do u guts think everyone will find out about them being together 🤭
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