The Nature of the Emergency (Evan 'Buck' Buckley X OC)

Another rescue and a note (Buck's POV)

It is nearing the end of one of the more boring shifts and I am getting ready to leave however I am rudely interrupted by the signal bell. The timing is the worst as I was just about ready to go home and plan how I am going to get Ella's attention. I'm just glad that the note has gotten her attention. Well, I have work to do. I turn around to make a beeline to the truck however I am stopped.

"Excuse me, Buck," Ella remarks as she skillfully dodges around me.

"Sorry," I responded as I fell in behind her. I think I may have actually made things a little awkward. Now is not the time to be love-struck. I scold myself as I have work to do.

"It's fine, it could be worse," Ella responds with her trademark enthusiasm. It doesn't take long for us to get ready. After seven long minutes, we finally made it to the scene. It is a three-way car pile-up. We soon get to work on making sure everyone is alright. I join Ella who is trying her best to calm an injured man.

"Sir, I need you to remain calm ok can you do that?" She asks the victim. Like with so many other car crash victims he is panic-stricken.

"I'm trying, it's just really hard. My leg. It hurts," he replies. With that Ella turns her attention to me.

"Ok my teammate Buck is going to help me free you but you are going to have to relax," Ella explains. Using that as I cue I head back to the truck to get the equipment to free the man from the car. As soon as the man spots me carrying the jaws of life he relaxes a little.

"See I told you," Ella addresses the man.

"Excuse me," I say as Ella shuffles out of the way for me. I catch her muttering about what comes around and goes around. I choose to ignore it as I have a job to do. After a tense couple of minutes, I have finally made enough room for Ella to do her job. After thirty minutes of tying up loose ends, we are finally back at the firehouse. Now for take two of getting ready to go home. Luckily for me, I am successful. I am about to leave when I notice a piece of paper at the bottom of my locker. I grab it and what it says puts a smile on my face. After a minute of walking, I find Ella with a slight smile.

"I see you got my note," Ella says as her face pulls into a smirk.

"Yes, I did," I responded. I'll have to thank Hen for giving me the idea to write a note. I feel a sense of relief.

"I was thinking maybe we could get take out and go to my place," Ella awkwardly suggests. Clearly, she hasn't thought this through. There is something cute about Ella when she is flustered. I guess neither of us is really good with our feelings.

"Ok, that sounds like a plan," I responded. At least my response has made it a little less awkward between us.

"Let's go," Ella says as we leave. After a twenty-minute drive, we made it back to her apartment. Right now we are looking for something to watch on Netflix but it is proving to be a little difficult since neither of us can agree on what we want to watch.

"Why don't we order something to eat?" I suggest for two reasons. One, we can't agree and two I am a little hungry.

"What do you want to eat?" Ella replies with a question. A good question.

"Chinese take away if that's ok with you," I suggest. Hopefully, we can agree on what we want to eat. Ella considers the suggestion for a few seconds.

"Sure," Ella replies. With that, we order our food and set the table. After twenty minutes of waiting the food has arrived. Ella is quick to distribute the food. It smells good. With a glance at Ella, I tuck in. I soon encounter an interesting problem. I forgot how bad I was with chopsticks. Ella giggles as I slop some food on my shirt.

"Stop giggling. I need practice," I respond cutting Ella's giggle short.

"If you don't want me giggling use a fork," Ella counters. She is right however I am not going to give up. As I said I need practice. After a minute of trying I give up. I grab a fork and get back to eating. There is just one problem.

"I don't think the fork is helping," I announce as another noodle falls onto my shirt.

"At least you tried," Ella gets to work on reassuring me. That's fair. After a few minutes of silence, I decided to make small talk. It will be a little awkward however it is a necessary evil.

"So how did you end up as a paramedic?" I ask.

"Well I flunked med school but I didn't want to waste my medical knowledge," Ella replies. It is at that moment I notice a tinge of sadness. That means that I probably shouldn't have asked.

"how about you?" There it is the deflection. The thing is I am not going to push her. That will be the dumbest thing that I can do.

"I joined the LAFD for the adrenaline rush you get from rescuing people, to be honest," I tell her the too-long, didn't read version of the story. I don't think she'd see me the same after I tell her. After a couple of hours of socialising, I decided to go. We both have another shift tomorrow and I don't want to be the one that makes Ella tired.

"Thanks for dinner," I thank Ella. There is a part of me that is relieved that Ella came up with the idea. I hope we can do it again sometime.

"No worries I'll see you tomorrow," Ella flashes her cute smile as I leave. That means I owe Hen. Oh well, it could be worse. I could still be the old Buck by ruining everything on the first date. At least it looks like I haven't. I'll find out tomorrow.