Life After You - Evan Buckley [9-1-1]

Chapter Eighteen

Buck

"She's talking gibberish." Jack sighed, putting his face in his hands.

Buck looked at him from his seat at the island. Jack was sitting on Harper's couch. Buck could see the stress on his face from here. He let his eyes trail over his phone, the one Harper just called. His brain was moving so fast.

He had been in Harper's apartment for five minutes when Athena called to tell him about the alarm at the counseling office.

"I'm going to talk to staff on site." She said. "Can Jack come to the apartment with you?"

He wanted to say no. However, Jack was still dead to most people. He couldn't be seen. Buck thought it would be harder being in the same room as him. However, he could tell Jack loved Harper. Buck did too. They both wanted her to be home safely. He could put his anger aside for that.

"It wasn't." Buck said, shaking his head. For an FBI agent, Jack was pretty dumb.

"All I got out of that was she is alive." Jack snapped.

He slumped back in Harper's couch, closing his eyes.

"That's a step forward. We know she is alive. She also hates rain." Buck said, remembering their conversation in the elevator. "She was trying to tell us she could hear water hitting the roof. She is a cool dark room with a bed."

Jack looked at Buck. "I suppose you are right." He said. "I have to admit, I have a hard time thinking when it comes to Harper. Her existence overtakes me and makes my brain scrambled eggs."

Buck nodded, meeting Jack's gaze.

"I love her." Buck said, finally admitting out loud. Getting it out of his thoughts solidified what had been eating at him for months. He loved Harper. He wasn't ashamed of it.

"I know." Jack nodded, his gaze falling. "I hope you know I love her too. That's why it had to be this way."

"I know." Buck agreed. "I know you were only trying to protect her."

Jack bit his lip. "I'm not sure what's going to happen. However, I'm not going to run this time. If she wants to be with me, I will fight for her this time."

Buck sighed; he already knew that. He also already knew Harper's answer. She loved Jack. It was always going to be Jack. She had made that clear.

"I know." Buck replied.

He must have sounded defeated and pathetic. He could hear the sadness in his own voice as he spoke.

"Don't sell yourself short, Buck." Jack stated.

Buck met his gaze again.

"What?" He asked.

"Harper loves you too, even if she hasn't admitted to herself yet."

"How do you know?"

Jack smiled, breaking eye contact. He let his eyes trail to his feet.

"If there is one thing I know, it's how Harper looks when she is in love. I have seen the way she looks at you when I was tailing you guys. She used to look at me with the same eyes."

"If she chooses me, are you going to leave us alone?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I love Harper more than anything in the world. The most important thing to me is that she is happy. If she chooses to be happy with you, there is nothing that I would ever do to hurt that."

Buck nodded. "The same applies to me."

Buck's cell phone began to ring. It was Athena.

"Buck." She stated. "I'm on my way to the apartment, I will be there in less than five minutes. We were able to pull some security footage from the counseling office. I sent it to your phone. See if Jack knows who he is."