BURNOUT! ━ 911.

twenty-two.

   Right after Buck left her apartment and she had picked up the pieces of her heart, Ollie grabbed her own jacket and keys, leaving her home as quickly as she could. Her brain was foggy, clogged with everything that had just happened, sitting in a lazy river of emotion that it just couldn't push through. She wanted to cry, but the tears just wouldn't come. They would build up, her eyes stinging and throat closing, but they just wouldn't move past the barrier of her eyelids.

    She walked without aim, her feet hitting the pavement beneath her as the cool air of the Los Angeles night enveloped her like a blanket. Her fingers fiddled with her keys inside of her pocket, her keychain jingling loudly in the quiet streets. Every once in a while, she'd catch a glimpse of something familiar, noting where she was, but she mostly kept her eyes on her feet. She counted how many steps she could take inside of one sidewalk square, slowing down or speeding up her space to add or subtract to the number.

    Ollie felt numb. Lost. Feeling these feelings had been easy ten years ago – she could blame her distance on her sister passing away, or on wanting to focus on her future after high school. She had never admitted back then that she had loved Buck. She was young, but aware, and knew that love was a big deal and shouldn't be said loosely. She had felt it. Deeply, in every bone in her body. But she had never said it, never made it real.

    But now, she knew that she loved him. It was real, burning through her nerves like a wildfire. She knew that she wanted to keep him around, that she wanted to hold him close. Her life had always brightened when he had come into it, whether it was in her sophomore year of high school or her first day of work at the 118. He brought happiness and light into the gloom that she, admittedly, surrounded herself with.

    Her walk brought her to Eddie's house before she could even consider if it was a good idea or not, staring blankly at his front door and trying to make the decision to knock or not. He had just left her apartment about two hours before, talking about how he had to get home to get Chris in bed with an urgency only a young father could have. She didn't know if he had gone to bed, or if her arrival would wake up the aforementioned child.

    Ollie stared at the front door so long that she knew she looked insane, or at least a little creepy, letting out a soft sigh and rubbing her face with her hand. She was about to turn around and walk back home when the door creaked out, light streaming out onto the porch. "Ollie?"

    "Uh. Hi." She murmured, eyes looking up at Eddie sullenly.

    He held the door open wider once he confirmed who had been loitering on his doorstep, brow furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing here?" He questioned, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe and bringing the beer in his hand up to his lips. When she didn't answer after a moment, he finally took the time to examine her face in the orangeish light radiating out of his living room. "Are you okay?"

    She rubbed her lips together as she stared at him, slowly shaking her head. "No." She admitted, although she couldn't bring herself to say much more after that. The heat of a sob was building up in her throat again, eyes stinging with repressed tears.

    Noticing the wrinkle of her nose as she attempted a sniffle, he let out an understanding sigh, stepping forward and placing his hand on her shoulder. Ollie took the moment to tuck her head into his neck, arms curling around his waist as his free arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her as close as he could.

    Eddie, much to her pleasure, didn't say anything as everything hit her like a freight train, the tears she had been pushing back for over a decade finally all rushing to the surface. All of her walls crumbled to dust and ash as her quiet sobs and soft cries were muffled into his cotton t-shirt, clinging onto him like a child that had woken up from a nightmare.