fifteen
"a real-life hero"

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   "I FEEL LIKE YOU DEFINITELY could've carried these three boxes by yourself."

   Lynn narrowed her ocean blue eyes at her sister, who was currently holding open the front door of her boyfriends apartment. Lynn had one cardboard box full of what looked like shirts, and she took one step inside the apartment before examining the place.

   Overall, the place looked nice and neat, which she was a bit surprised about since she learned three other boys lived there. Lizzy said it was only semipermanent, and they were looking into getting an apartment all on their own.

   The place looked like every other generic apartment, with a wide spread kitchen with marble counters along with a decently sized living room. There was a brown couch with a matching brown coffee table, with a tv standing playing the news in front of it. Out of the corner of her eye, Lynn spotted a pair of stairs that led up a second floor, and she assumed that was where the separate rooms were.

   As Lynn placed the cracked up cardboard on the kitchen counter, she glanced over to Lizzy, who had just shut the white apartment door and switched the lock on.

   "Uh, you kidnapping me?" Lynn questioned with a half smirk, folding her arms over her chest with confusion.

   "What? You can't stay for dinner?" Lizzy replied, her tone of voice sounding just as sarcastic as her little sisters.

   Just as Lynn was about to inquire how this woman was still possibly hungry after their short Thai food lunch. A voice that came from behind her startled her bones, making her jump in her boots.

   "Whoa, hey, you two moving in?"

   After flinching, Lynn glanced over her shoulder to spot Evan Buckley. He was leaning his muscled body against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, and he sent a wide smirk over to her. She had completely forgotten that Joe's roommate was Buck, and instantly regretted agreeing to tag along with Lizzy.

   "Good afternoon, Buck," Lizzy greeted, and she hovered over to the counter to grip onto her cardboard box.

   "Hello, Liz," Buck replied, his smirk towards Lynn then shifted to a polite smile for Lizzy, and he walked over to tap on the kitchen counter with his index finger. "Need any help with that?"

   "No, but you are so sweet," Lizzy grinned, walking past the boy towards the wooden stairs. But before she was out of sight, she sent one look over to Lynn, making kissing faces ridiculously annoying. "Buck, you mind watching Evelynn while I talk to Joe?"

   "You do realize I'm not eight years old, right?" Lynn questioned, pointing her index finger warningly to her older sister.

   "Oh, it would be my pleasure to babysit Evelynn," Buck interrupted, sending her another one of his contagious grins. "Take your time."

   "A real-life hero," Lizzy fake gasped, moving past the door frame to pat Buck's shoulder quickly. Then she went down the hallway and Lynn could hear soft footsteps as she went up the stairs slowly.

   Lynn huffed out in a bit of annoyance, knowing that Lizzy could've damn well carried those boxes all on her own. The only reason her older sister wanted her to tag along was so she could trick her into being alone with Buck.

   Lynn wasn't even sure why Lizzy was such a hardcore fan of Buck, and why she always seemed to push the two of them together. It was weird, to say the least.

   "Want something? We got waters and Powerade and stuff," Buck stated, walking over towards the silver fridge, popping it open while pulling out a red Powerade for himself.

   "Uh, you got blue?" Lynn questioned, and she didn't know why nerves were bubbling in her skin. Maybe it was because Lynn was inside of his apartment right now, where it was just the two of them talking in an awkward silence.

   Buck had a goofy smile, turning back into the fridge quickly to pick up a light blue Powerade. He rose his eyebrow at the girl, making sure she was ready in order to catch the drink, which she did when he tossed the delicious liquid.

   "Even on my off day I'm still somehow haunted by you," Lynn teased, knowing the only way she could cut through the awkward tension was joking. She cracked open the Powerade, taking a quick sip.

   "Aw, c'mon, you can't say you weren't excited to see me," Buck retorted, tilting his head to the side while his eyes had hints of amusement.

   "I already see you enough," Lynn snickered, setting the Powerade on the kitchen counter. She placed both of her elbows beside it, and then neatly tucked her chin into her palms. "Hey, you going to the Annual LA Firefighters Fundraiser Ball tomorrow?"

   Every spring there's the AFFB, the Annual LA Firefighters Fundraiser Ball. It was the biggest fundraiser of the year, so Bobby said everyone in the fire station had to go or otherwise would be 'banished' from family dinner for two weeks. This years theme was masquerade, and Lynn wasn't a huge fan of it. What's the big obsession with wearing masks and covering up your identity? But nonetheless she would still go, since she loved their family dinners.

   "Yeah, well, Bobby's kinda forcing us," Buck commented, and then started to sheepishly run the back of his neck while glancing down to the ground. "You, uh, you going with someone?"

   Lynn narrowed her eyes at the boy with the slightest smirk crossed on her face. A part of her almost thought there was seriously a hint of interest in his question, but she needed to shove all those teenager crush feelings down.

   "I'm dragging Lizzy," Lynn replied, switching from Buck back to the stairway, wondering what exactly was taking so long for Lizzy to talk to Joe.

   "Oh, maybe I'll just have to invite Joe as my date," Buck teased, and Lynn noticed how his eyes also trailed over to the stairway, and he clicked his tongue loudly. "That's one long talk."

   "Yeah, guess so," Lynn chuckled, popping her jaw off to the side while swinging on her tippy toes. When she was about to open her mouth to continue, it was tightly clasped back shut as a noise echoed throughout the house.

   Both Lynn and Buck made eye contact instantly, checking to see if the other had actually heard the noise as well. And by their reaction, they weren't going crazy.

   "No way," Lynn shook her head, her pink lips spread out into a gasp. And her blue eyes turned wide when the moan echoed again, and Lynn cringed up her face while raising her hands to cover her ears. "No, no, no."

   "Well, do you think they at least finished their talk?" Buck asked, pretending to pout his lips as he jokingly tilted his head to the side. "C'mon, there's a cafe on the corner, let me distract you from hearing Lizzy—"

   "—Nope! I'm stopping you right there, you're driving," Lynn pointed her index finger at Buck, and he shook his head with a laugh, grabbing his keys to his Jeep that were on top of the microwave.

   The two quickly made their way out of the apartment, and Lynn followed Buck to his car. They jumped in with their seatbelts, and it was only a one or two minute drive to a beautiful looking cafe.

   After sitting down and placing their drink orders; where Lynn had a straight black coffee and Buck had a bunch of cream and sugar dumped in his. Lynn's fingertips trailed the white coffee mug the delicious liquid was in, and she wasn't even sure what she was doing.

   Lynn liked Buck, no doubt, he was the closest thing she had to a best friend. If she was ever in a bad mood, or just needed a pick me up in general, Buck was always there to drop a joke and make Lynn smile. They could always talk to each other, whether it was work related or personal. He was a good listener, and a caring person.

   "So, why aren't you bringing the girl, uh, Abby? To the dance," Lynn spoke up after a moment of silence, and she rose her mug up to meet her pink lips. Buck's face seemed to get a bit tensed, since she saw his jaw clench, and she wondered if she had brought up a sour subject. "Sorry, sorry, I know it's none of my business."

   Abby was a 911 dispatcher that Lynn had spoken too only once or twice, but apparently her and Buck had bonded over a call and something was sparked between them. She was surprised to hear he was dating someone, especially after knowing he was the biggest playboy she knew.

   "No, it's okay," Buck responded, waving his hand in the air. "She was so preoccupied with her mom and stuff, said she either wanted to be official or it was over."

   "Wait, you two weren't dating?" Lynn questioned, tilting her head to the side a bit.

   "Yeah, well no, uh, we weren't," Buck explained, picking up his lightened coffee to take a sip. "I don't know, we went on a date or two, but she didn't seem like a good fit. Everyone at the firehouse decided to make a joke out of it, so I'm guessing that's why you heard we were dating."

   "Oh, I'm sorry," Lynn flashed a sympathetic smile towards the man sitting across from her, and he accepted it by returning the same one. "Relationships are hard, especially when it's with someone that is already so busy with something else."

   "You sound like you know from experience," Buck stated, and the little sad expression of his suddenly turned into more interest. "That why you don't date?"

   "I don't date because men are dogs," Lynn corrected, warningly raising an eyebrow at the firefighter. "But, yeah, I guess I do know from experience."

   "Care to spill the beans on your past, Evie?"

   A few flashes appeared in Lynn's head, and the memories that haunt her dreams and linger in the back of her head came flooding in. But she quickly shoved all those emotions and traumas back down into the back of her head.

   "That's a long story for another time, Buckaroo," Lynn explained, sending a wink towards his his direction with a tiny smirk.

   "You know, I'm willing to wait to to hear that interesting story."