Title: Every Step You Take
Author: fbi_woman
Rating: T
Type: 9-1-1, Abby/Buck, drama/suspense
Spoilers: None specifically
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with 9-1-1 or Fox, and make no such claim.
Summary: A person from her past turns Abby's life upside down. Abby/Buck. Canon to the end of S1, then it's AU.
A/N: Sorry for the massive delay in posting this (for those of you who knew about it) – long story short, I injured both my hands at the same time lol so typing has been a challenge. I'm still in a rut right now, where I feel like there's no point in finishing my fic list, but I had already started this one, so I decided I might as well finish it. I toyed with this idea for a while. I generally like to stick to more realistic type things, but I also like to keep things fresh for myself and push myself to try new things and write storylines outside my comfort zone. This is also much more dialogue heavy than what I normally do. This story is more Abby-centric and less in the romance genre, but the relationship is still very present. Still not sure how I feel about it as a whole idea, but hopefully you'll like it okay. Especially since it might be my last. It's not the kind I wanted to go out on, so maybe I can squeak out one or two more, but I can't make any promises.
Side note: for the purposes of this story, Buck got his own apartment while Abby was away.
It was just another hot, humid, sunny day in LA, and Abby was thankful to have spent most of it in the air conditioning. It had been a long shift of pretty normal calls, and she was ready to head home and open a bottle of wine. Buck was coming over after he got off work, so she had a little time to kill before he would arrive with their take out. She hadn't been home from her travels for very long, but they had quickly fallen back into a routine and now it was almost as if she never left. She was nervous at first that maybe she had been gone too long and their time had passed, but true to his word, he had been waiting for her at the airport and eagerly welcomed her back into his life. She was walking to her car, debating how best to spend her free time, when she heard someone calling her name and she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Abby!"
She knew that voice. Incredulous, she turned around to see none other than her ex-boyfriend. Great, just what every girl wants: an awkward run in with the ex.
"Tommy! I'm surprised to see you," she replied, forcing a smile. Last she had heard he was working in an office down the street, so she supposed it wasn't that strange to run into him here, but it hadn't happen before. Guess my luck ran out.
"I, uh, I heard about your mom. I actually came by a couple months ago to see how you were doing, but they said you were taking some time off."
"Oh, yeah, I just needed to get away for a bit. I'm doing okay now though."
"I'm glad to hear it. She was a great woman and she was lucky to have you."
She barely contained the urge to scoff at him. Sure, now you say that. Asshole. Time to leave. "Well, thanks for coming by."
"Sure… hey, maybe we could go for coffee some time, catch up?"
Oh HELL no. "I don't know if that's the best idea."
"Come on, for old time's sake. Just two friends having coffee, nothing more."
"We're not friends anymore," she said bluntly.
He sighed. "I know, and that's on me. I screwed up and I can't take it back. I get that. But you were a big part of my life for quite some time. I still want to be here for you as a friend, if you'll give me the chance."
She had a bad feeling about this. "I don't know."
"Just think about it, okay? You still have my number?"
She didn't, but she didn't really want it either. "Yeah."
"Great. If you decide you want to do coffee, let me know."
"Okay."
He hugged her goodbye, and it was awkward as hell. She just stood stiffly, caught off guard and not sure how to react. Forcing another smile, she gave a quick wave and scurried off to the sanctuary of her car. Why couldn't she have left 5 minutes sooner? She could have missed him and avoided the whole scene. There was no chance she was calling him and she couldn't figure out why, after all this time, he suddenly wanted her to. He said just friends, but maybe he was trying to suss out if she was still single? That was the only thing that would make sense. She shook her head and stuck the key in the ignition. She really needed that glass of wine, pronto.
Later, she and Buck were curled up on the couch watching a movie, but she wasn't paying attention to the screen. Her mind kept drifting back to her encounter with Tommy. The whole thing had really rattled her, and she wasn't sure why. She supposed she just hadn't expected to ever see him again, which perhaps had been a little naïve. Running into him had just stirred up old hurt and anger that she thought she had put behind her.
"Hey, you okay?"
She looked over to see Buck watching her, looking worried. "Yeah," she sighed, "just something weird that happened when I was leaving work today."
"What was it?"
"Tommy."
His brow furrowed. "The guy that walked out because of your mom?"
"Yeah."
"What did he want?"
"I don't really know. It was kind of weird. He said he heard about mom and wanted to see how I was doing."
"Well… that's nice, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess."
"What was weird about it?"
She sighed again. "I don't know. He just seemed different. And he had the nerve to say how great she was and how lucky she was to have me, like he hadn't made a huge issue out of me taking her in. And then he said we should catch up, and I tried to politely say no, so then he asked me to think about it and then he hugged me."
"Sounds to me like he wants a second chance."
"Well he's not getting one."
He pulled her closer and kissed her softly. "Good, because I don't really like to share."
It was a rare occasion that Abby managed to get Buck to go shopping with her. Clothes shopping, that is. He was the type of shopper who had a couple stores he liked, knew his size, and could just pick things out without trying them on and still have them look good him. She, on the other hand, was not. She didn't think many women were, to be honest. Frankly, she was a little lost when it came to shopping. She hadn't had much time for that kind of thing when she was caring for her mom, and it seemed like all the stores had changed in the years that had passed. Now she didn't know what stores were her favourites or what styles worked for her anymore, and her last attempt to find an outfit had ended with no purchases and a large glass of wine on the couch. They had a wedding to go to this weekend so she couldn't put it off any longer and had all but begged him to come along for moral support. Six stores and god knows how many dresses in, and she could tell he was regretting it.
"Abby, it looks good, I swear."
"You don't think it's too boxy for me? I feel like it makes me look bigger than I am."
"Then go with the purple one."
She shook her head. "That one's too tight."
"You could try it in the next size."
"No, it's just that kind of fabric; it clings."
"What's that saying? 'If you've got it, flaunt it'?"
"Not everything I've got deserves flaunting."
He rolled his eyes and stood up. "Okay you wait here, I'm going to pick a couple this time."
"Oh no you're not."
"You don't like anything you pick."
"Fine," she huffed, taking his seat in front of her change room. "Don't make me look like a hooker!" she warned as he walked away.
She waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. Did she take this long to pick things out? No wonder he was annoyed with her. She was just about to go looking for him when he finally returned with three hangers. Two out of three had potential, but she couldn't help laughing at the green one.
"What?"
"No way."
"What's wrong with it?"
"This is definite hooker territory. Actually, it's more like sexy-Tinkerbell territory."
"How do you know if you don't try it on?" he said, mimicking her statement from 3 stores ago.
"Nice try, but there is zero chance that's going to be an acceptable amount of cleavage for a wedding."
She shoved the green dress back in his hand, but agreed to give the other two a chance. She tried the pink one on first, and while she didn't hate it, it didn't feel right. It was a little too… princess-y.
"So do I get to see my picks, or what?" Buck asked from the other side of the door.
Grudgingly she opened the door and came out in the pink dress.
"That's pretty."
She sighed. "Yeah."
"You don't like it." He didn't sound surprised.
"I do, it's just… don't you think I'm a little too old for a skirt this… poofy?"
"No."
"Maybe the blue one will be better."
He mumbled something under his breath but she chose to ignore it. For someone who hadn't wanted to come in the first place, he had tried really hard to be a good sport for most of it.
When she came out in the last dress, she saw his eyes light up and she couldn't help but smile. It was a light powder blue, knee length, and essentially strapless but with a long sleeve lace overlay and softly pleated skirt flowing from an A line waist.
"Please tell me you like this one, because it looks amazing on you."
"I love this one," she admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him, "you did good. Thank you for coming with me."
"You know I can't say no to you."
"That frozen yogurt place you like is on this floor, why don't you go ahead while I pay and I'll meet you there?"
"You want your usual?"
She nodded and headed back to her change room.
There was no one else at the register, so was out of the store relatively quickly and Buck was still in line when she got to the frozen yogurt stand, so she grabbed one of the empty tables for them. She got her phone out of her purse and was scrolling through the news headlines when she suddenly got the eerie feeling of being watched. She looked around but she didn't see anyone looking her way. She was just about to chastise herself for being so silly when she heard footsteps behind her coming closer. Curious, she looked over her shoulder and was immediately sorry she did.
"Abby! I thought that was you. What are the chances, huh?"
Fuck. "Hey, Tommy." Could her luck be any worse? In a city as big as LA, she just had to run into her least favourite ex again.
"So what brings you here?"
"Shopping," she replied flatly.
"Right, yeah. So, I was kind of disappointed you didn't call."
"Oh."
"I mean, we were good together. I know that's long over, but I had hoped we could at least be friends."
"I'm just trying to move forward with my life, you know? I'm not sure I want to revisit the past."
"It doesn't have to be like that. We could start over."
"I'm just not –"
"Hey… am I interrupting something?" Buck asked as he arrived at the table, looking concerned.
"No, not at all," she said with a relieved smile.
Tommy briefly looked back and forth between her a Buck. "What's with the bodyguard?"
Abby felt her cheeks flush and cursed her inability to play it cool. On the phone? Cool as a cucumber. In person? Not so much. He was clearly fishing for an introduction she hadn't planned on making.
"Tommy, this is my boyfriend, Buck. Buck, this is Tommy."
Buck stuck his hand out to shake Tommy's, and Abby had to admit that she quite enjoyed the way Tommy shrank back a bit. If you didn't know Buck, he could definitely appear intimidating, and she was hopeful that would work in her favour.
"So, how did you guys meet?" Tommy questioned, looking slightly perplexed.
"Buck's a fireman, we met on a call." He didn't need the full story, and she didn't particularly want him to have it.
"Oh, cool. Well, I guess I'll be on my way. Always good seeing you, Abby."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and forced a tight smile and a little wave.
"So that's the guy, huh?" Buck asked once Tommy was out of earshot.
"That's the guy. I can't believe I managed to go years without seeing this guy, and now I've seen him twice in a month or so."
"Small world sometimes."
"Yeah, maybe too small."