Maddie
Maddie wasn’t really sure who she was expecting when Buck asked if he could bring someone to their standing Buckley date. She hadn’t really been expecting Buck to walk in with Eddie at his side, laughing at something the other had said. She’s not surprised though, smiling as Buck guides Eddie to the table as soon as he’s spotted her. Eddie smiles and nods to her when he catches sight of her, and Maddie waves back to him.
“Mads,” Buck greets, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Switch sides with me.” He says, and Maddie raises a brow but slides out and drops into the other side of the booth.
Eddie shakes his head at him, but there’s a thankful smile on his lips as he slips into the booth and sits so his back is to the corner. Buck smiles wide as he slides in next to him, a proud look in his eyes as he watches Eddie settling into the corner.
“So, what’s the special occasion?” She asks, watching the flush that creeps up Buck’s cheeks.
“What special occasion?” Buck replies, shrugging as he turns to look at her, “I can’t have dinner with my sister anymore?”
Maddie raises a brow at him, watching as Eddie rolls his eyes, but there’s a fond look in his eyes as he stares at Buck. Buck squirms a little under Maddie’s stare, pressing closer into Eddie’s side. Eddie doesn’t seem fazed by it, tossing an arm across the back of the booth, fingers resting against Buck’s shoulder. Buck settles a little at the touch, and Maddie smiles at them.
“Chris is at a sleepover,” Eddie says finally, “Chimney doesn’t believe I have a social life outside of my kid so Buck invited me to tag along with you two, said you wouldn’t mind?”
“I don’t.” Maddie reassures at Eddie’s hesitation, watching the way her brother practically beams, “It’s nice to have some adult company for once.”
“Hey!” Buck complains, and Maddie laughs as he glares at her.
“I can agree with that,” Eddie says, Buck’s glare turning on him as he raises his hands in surrender.
‘Just for that, Chris and I aren’t inviting you to the aquarium.’ Buck grumbles, and Eddie laughs as he drops his hand back down on Buck’s shoulder.
‘Like you’d actually go without me.’ Eddie answers, raising a brow as Buck sighs and turns back to Maddie.
“So, Buckley update. I went first last time.” Buck says, and Maddie shakes her head with a laugh.
“The call center is great. I went out with some of the other dispatchers last weekend for drinks and dispatch horror stories. I feel like I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was by the number of times I heard ‘Firefighter Buckley’.” Maddie teases, and Buck hunches in on himself a little. “I got my first prank call a few days ago. What goes through people’s minds is beyond me.”
“Yeah, the prank calls are a thing. We answered one a few days ago. Girl lied about having a fire in her kitchen because she wanted to see the, and I quote, hot firefighters.” Buck says, and Eddie shakes his head as he nudges Buck’s side.
“You left out the best part. It wasn’t even her house.” Eddie inputs, and Maddie raises a brow at them.
“So she called in a fire at a random address?” Maddie asks, Buck nodding along as Eddie sighs and turns towards her.
“She looked up a map of the fire districts and placed a call to a house in our district. Apparently she saw Buck at another one of our scenes and had been trying to find him again for weeks but every time she stopped by he either wasn’t on shift or we were out on a call.” Eddie explains, Maddie turning towards him wide eyed as Buck turns towards Eddie looking betrayed.
‘I didn’t bring you so you could trade embarrassing stories with my sister,” Buck whines, and Eddie smiles, squeezing his shoulder.
“She called in a fake fire to try and see Buck?” Maddie repeats, and Eddie laughs as he nods, Buck pushing further into his side.
“Don’t act like you had nothing to do with it. She called you hot too.” Buck mumbles, and Eddie smiles wide as Maddie laughs.
“Actually, she said I wasn’t her type and asked me to move because I was blocking her view of the hot one.” Eddie corrects, and Maddie laughs a little louder at that.
“Oh my god,” Maddie breathes, hand to her chest and trying to catch her breath.
“Apparently this happens once every couple of months.” Eddie tells her, and Buck pouts. “As we pulled up to the address Chimney started looking around and when he caught sight of her he sighed and turned to look pointedly at Buck.”
“Oh my god.” Maddie repeats, barely managing to gather herself as a waitress approaches their table.
“Can I get some drinks started for you three?” She asks, Maddie still struggling to stop laughing as Buck sighs and sits up a little in his seat.
“We'll have two IPAs and a peach margarita, and let's do some of the old fashioned garlic bread as well.” Buck says, and the waitress turns to him before nodding as she puts the drinks into her tablet.
“Got it. Do you folks need a minute or are you ready to order?” She glances at Maddie and Eddie then, and Buck sighs.
“She’ll have the baked rigatoni. The spaghetti carbonara for me, and the chicken parmesan for him, substitute fettuccine instead of the spaghetti, it’s fine if there’s an upcharge.” Buck orders for all of them, Maddie and Eddie both nodding when the waitress looks to them to check before putting the order into her tablet.
“Okay then. I’ll be back with your drinks in a minute.” She says, nodding to the group before walking away.
Maddie turns to look at them curiously, she and Buck ate here often enough that he knew her order and didn’t need to ask, but she knew for a fact Eddie had never been before. They rotated restaurants for their weekly dinners, and this week was supposed to be Chinese food, but Buck had made a comment about Eddie never having been to the Italian place they frequented and asked if they could switch weeks.
“Did you google the menu in the car?” Maddie asks, watching curiously as Buck’s head snaps towards her. “You always used to do that when you were a kid, and you knew Eddie’s order without either of you picking up a menu.” She adds, a little teasingly, Buck flushes as he blinks at her.
“He’s just easy to order for,” Buck says after a minute, and Maddie hums as she nods slowly, smiling thankfully as their waitress sets their drinks down in front of them.
Maddie takes a sip of her drink, watching amused as Buck steals the beer from Eddie’s hands instead of picking up the one on the table in front of him. Eddie rolls his eyes, reaching out and taking the beer off the table with practised ease. Buck just smiles at him, and Maddie glances away at the look on her brother’s face, feeling like she’s interrupting a private moment.
“So,” Eddie starts, and Maddie looks back towards them. “Buck tells me you’re in the process of moving into a new place?”
“Yeah. I finally found a nice enough place that I can afford.” Maddie answers, and Eddie nods as Buck turns towards him.
‘I’m helping her move in this week, Chimney too. Chris’ll be at school if you wanna go with me?’ Buck offers, and Eddie smiles as he turns to look at him and nods.
‘Buy me lunch and it’s a deal.’ Eddie answers, and Buck rolls his eyes as he turns back towards Maddie.
‘Maddie’s providing pizza.’
They spend the rest of their dinner in comfortable conversations, every once in a while Buck zoning out as Eddie and Maddie talk. It’s nice, makes her feel warm inside as she watches the two of them interact. Buck pauses halfway through the meal, setting down his silverware and just drinking his beer. Eddie doesn’t even look at him as he grabs Buck’s plate and switches it with his own.
It’s something so simple, but Maddie’s heart swells as she watches. Buck doesn’t notice until he picks up his fork to eat more, a goofy smile finding its way across his face. It’s a look Maddie hasn’t seen on his face often, like many of the others she’s seen tonight. She’s comforted by it, the way they interact. The way Buck will make a joke and turn towards Eddie expectantly, smile widening when he sees the amused look in the other’s eyes.
Her love for her brother is something she’s never doubted, despite everything that’s happened between them, between their family. It’s nice to see that unconditional love for him from someone else. Buck seems to know it, too, preening when Eddie drops a casual compliment while telling Maddie about a call they responded to or about their last trip to the zoo with Chris.
That’s the other thing she picks up on, her brother’s absolute devotion and adoration for Chris. Any time his name is even mentioned Buck’s entire attention is on the person speaking. Maddie’s only met Chris a handful of times, once while she was dropping off a change of clothes for Buck at the station and twice at Bobby and Athena’s. He pulls out his phone at one of the stories,his camera roll full of pictures of Chris. There’s some of Chris with him, others of Chris and Eddie, enough of just Eddie that Buck’s cheeks turn a little pink.
And Maddie knows, then, that this is where they were meant to be. Has never been more proud of her brother and the family he made for himself, of the fact that she’s still a part of that. Has never once felt more sure of a choice she made then of this, of staying here and getting to be a part of this. When she catches his eye during dessert, Maddie can tell Buck’s thinking the same thing, soft smile on his face and eyes full of love.