New Friends

Millie hid behind Eddie, her grip on his shirt tightening when Maddie stepped aside. A boy stood behind her. Buck stood behind the boy with his hands on his shoulders, grinning at Millie.

"Hi, Millie!" Buck was too happy, and Millie ignored him. 

"Come on in. We've got food going now," Eddie says, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulder. 

Maddie came in first, looking back at the boy who stood at the door.

"It's okay, sweetheart, you can come in," she says gently.

Eddie closes the door behind everyone before looking down at Millie. "Are you going to say hi to them?" He raises his eyebrow.

She shook her head, burying her face in his shirt. "Sorry," Eddie mouths to Maddie-- lifting his shoulder slightly.

"Babe?" Shannon calls, coming into the living room with Christopher trailing behind her.

"We're here," Eddie calls. Shannon glances at Millie for longer than necessary, but she doesn't say anything. 

Buck waits until Shannon and Christopher arrive before he speaks. "Hi, Chris!" he grinned, lifting Chris into his arms for only a second.

"Hi, Buck!" Christopher grinned as well, his arms wrapped around Buck's neck.

"Guys, I'd like to introduce you to Zane." Buck sets Christopher back on his feet before turning back to the strange boy.

"Zane is my nephew. H-he's Maddie's son," Buck says, rubbing his hands against his pant legs and looking at Maddie for confirmation. 

Maddie nods in confirmation. "I'm sorry I lied to you all." She says before looking at Millie, "Really, I am." 

Millie's heart flutters as she looks at the kid, noticing he does resemble Maddie. His eyes remind her of Buck, and she wonders if the boy looks anything like his father. She almost asks, but she stays silent as her father says hello to the boy and introduces himself, Shannon, and Chris. 

"This is Millie. She's around your age, I'd say. Is that right, Maddie?" Eddie asked, trying to pry Millie away from his body.

"Zane's twelve, so just a couple of years older," Maddie says softly. 

"That's close enough. I think it's safe to say they both need a friend here in L.A." Buck claps his hands together. 

"I have a friend," Zane mutters, wishing he could be back at the arcade. 

+

It had been less than half an hour since Maddie and Buck had arrived with the kid, and Millie still hadn't even said hi to them. Eddie was concerned, mainly because he was seventy percent sure that Millie loved Buck more than she loved him at times.

Zane had also been silent after saying hello to the Diaz family. He was sitting on the couch right next to Buck. Maddie took the chance and slipped away to help Shannon finish last-minute things in the kitchen and dining room. Millie had slipped away, going into her room.

"What's up with her?" Buck whispered, nodding at Millie's door.

Eddie shrugged. "She didn't sleep last night; I told her she had to sleep in her own bed. On her own."

"Eddie, I would've come," Buck says, his heart breaking as he thinks about the girl all alone in her room.

"No. It's been months, anyway; she should be able to sleep alone." Eddie says, flipping to a random baseball game playing on the TV.

"She still has nightmares?" Buck raises a brow. "Yeah, they haven't stopped at all," Eddie says.

"You should've called me." Buck sighs again, his eyes moving to Millie's closed bedroom door.

"No, she'll get over it soon enough," Shannon calls from the kitchen. 

~

Millie sits on her bed in her room, staring blankly at the wall. Her vision was blurry from being awake all night. She'd spent two hours coming out of her room every time Eddie put her back. After the sixth time, Eddie had finally locked himself and Shannon in the primary bedroom. He knew it was horrible to do, but he figured Millie would tire herself out sooner or later, and he could carry her to her bed. 

Instead, she spent two hours outside his bedroom door, crying and banging on the door. Even after her throat started hurting, she didn't stop.

She never fell asleep. She stopped banging on the door and asking for her dad's help. She'd gone to her room and sat on the bed for hours. 

"Hey, Millie-Moo." Buck's voice scares Millie, and she jumps off her bed.

"Why'd you do that?" she mumbled, glaring at him.

Buck laughs, but stops when she gives him a death stare. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to tell you that the food is ready."

"I'm not hungry," she says, sitting back on the mattress.

"I think you are," he says, sitting on the bed as well.

"No," Millie mumbled, cuddling into his side.

"Comfy, are you?" he asks, but is met with soft snores. 

Millie's breathing had slowed down, and she was fast asleep. Buck had never known someone who could fall asleep faster. He snapped a picture before he tried to lie her down on the pillow. She whimpers and grips his shirt. He doesn't hesitate; he kicks his shoes off and lies down on the bed so that she'd be more comfortable.

He wasn't leaving this spot anytime soon.

Eddie found both Millie and Buck passed out ten minutes later. He took a picture before sending it to literally everyone they knew. He grabbed Millie's comforter off the floor before pulling it over them. He left them to take a nap, hoping that when Millie woke up, she'd be in a better mood. 

"Hey, where are they?" Shannon asks when Eddie rejoins them.

"Sleeping," Eddie says, falling into his chair.

"Think she'll sleep tonight?" Shannon asks, setting a plate in front of Eddie.

"Nope, not unless I go in there." He sighed.

"Babe, you need to stop doing that. We never sleep in the same bed. We're married. That's what married couples do." Shannon complained as she set a full plate of food in front of Christopher.

"I know, Shannon. But she needs me, and I can't do what we did last night again. It was torture." Eddie says.

Shannon frowns before sitting across from him. "It doesn't change that I'd like to sleep with my husband." 

Maddie keeps her face hidden as she frowns, wondering why Shannon was acting the way she was. She wanted to know what happened last night, but it wasn't her place to question Eddie. But her brother was a different story. She'd interrogate him later. 

+

Two hours later, Millie woke up. She was shocked to see that Buck had never left. He'd stayed with her the whole time. He was scrolling through his phone, shut it off when he realized the girl was awake.

"Good morning, sleepy head; how'd you sleep?" He asked, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Not good," she mumbled. She could still feel Gio's hands on her. 

"I'm sorry, kiddo," Buck mutters, kissing the top of her head. 

"Where's daddy?" 

"In the living room, with everyone else," 

"Do I have to talk to them?" 

"Not if you don't want to. Why don't you bring your iPad?" Buck suggests. 

Millie frowned. "Shannon took it away." 

It was Buck's turn to frown. He didn't want to question the way his friend parented his kids, but why was a woman who'd been MIA for years suddenly allowed to parent a kid who wasn't even hers? 

"Why is that?" Buck asked, sitting up straight. 

"Cause I didn't eat my dinner, and I wouldn't sit for a movie," Millie said, her fingers playing with the ears of her stuffed animal. 

Buck frowned again. "Come on, you can watch a movie on my phone." 

~

Millie stayed glued to Buck's side until they sat on the floor. He now sat on the floor between Millie and Zane.

"How'd you sleep, bug?" Eddie asked, setting a plate of food in front of her. 

"Eddie," Shannon says, her voice sharp. Eddie turned to look at her. "I've got this, Shannon." 

Shannon glares at her husband, annoyed that he is already catering to exactly what Millie is waiting for. She needs Eddie to understand that Millie is no longer the most important thing in his life. 

"Okay," The girl said quietly. 

Millie looked over at Buck, silently asking for his phone. Buck seemed to understand, handing over the phone with Netflix ready. 

"Whoa, wait a second," Shannon says, standing up so quickly she tips over a cup. 

"What the fuck!" Maddie's son shouts, the front of his shirt soaked. 

"Zane!" Maddie and Buck say together, mouths wide open. 

"What? She knocked that fuc-" 

"Hey! Watch your mouth!" Buck said, turning to the kid. 

Zane is breathing heavily, looking between Millie and Christopher. "Why? I'm sure they've said it before." He snapped. 

Millie doesn't make eye contact with anyone; she turns back to Buck's phone and finds a movie to watch. Pushing the plate of food away. Doing it all with no words. 

"Amelia!" Shannon shouted at Millie, and she took the phone from her hands before glaring at the girl. 

"That's not my name!" Millie shouted, tears filling her eyes instantly- Eddie grabbed Shannon's arm, pulling her back. 

"Okay! Everyone stop! Just stop talking!" He shouted, waiting for silence. 

"Good, now listen to me," Eddie says, looking around the room once. "Millie, take Zane to your room and find him a new shirt." 

"No," Millie mumbled. 

"Yes." Eddie's voice was soft, but she knew he'd get angry quickly, so she stomped to her room, hoping Zane was following. 

She didn't want to make her dad angry. She didn't want to fight with him. 

~

She took Zane to her room, slamming the door behind them. Her dad's voice was loud even through the walls. He was shouting at Shannon. She digs through her dresser for a t-shirt and throws an old one of Eddie's at Zane. 

"I want it back," She mumbled, turning around so he could change. 

"Yeah, whatever," Zane says.

Millie gave him a full minute before turning back to him. "So, where's all your stuff? Don't kids usually have toys?" Zane smirked. 

Millie didn't answer. Instead, she looked around her room. It was still bare. Eddie had slowly given her things back, but most of them were still hidden at Buck's apartment or with Chimney. Millie had stopped caring in February after she'd begged for two days straight and Eddie had ignored her completely. 

Eddie gave her back three things every week, depending on her actions - in other words, if she went an entire week without any incidents, he'd give back three items. He doesn't allow her to choose; he grabs whatever he sees first. 

 "Is there something wrong with you?" Millie asked suddenly. 

"No?" Zane frowns. 

"There is. Why are you lying to me? You're not supposed to lie," Millie said, crossing her arms. 

"You can't tell me what to do, Amelia. You-" Millie cuts off Zane.

"NO! You aren't allowed to call me that!" She screamed, shoving him backwards. 

Zane fell backwards, his back hitting the edge of Millie's costume chest. He cries out, and she freezes. She hears multiple sets of footsteps approaching her room and panics. She just hurt someone who wasn't herself or Eddie. Everyone would be angry. They'd probably yell at her for ages. 

"What happened? Zane?" Maddie asks, entering the room first. 

"She shoved me! For no reason." Zane cries out when Maddie feels the bruise he knew was already forming on his lower back. 

"I'm sorry, Maddie. I d-didn't mean t-to." Millie sobs as Eddie storms toward her. 

"I know, Millie. It's alright," Maddie says.

Eddie grabs her arm and starts to lead her into the living room. He makes her stand in the corner, furthest from everyone else. "Take time to calm down. I'll be back in ten minutes." 

Millie doesn't argue. She doesn't try to get out of the corner, and she doesn't even turn her face away. Doctor Gilmore had given Eddie ideas for calming Millie, and staring at the blank wall for ten minutes usually helped. 

Sometimes, both Eddie and Millie would become frustrated, and a meltdown would happen. Those days usually ended with Eddie sitting in the shower for hours, sometimes with a bottle of vodka in hand. Sometimes, just his thoughts were enough to mess with him. 

"I'll take her for the rest of the week. I think you guys need space." Buck whispers as Maddie and Shannon get Zane situated with an icepack on the couch. 

"I couldn't ask you to do that, Evan. She needs to stay here. With me, her father." 

"It's only a few days. Millie trusts me, and I'll take care of her. I promise on my own life." Buck whispers. 

"Fine, just until our shift on Monday." Eddie agrees. 

He should've insisted Millie stay home, but Buck was right. Shannon and Millie needed some time apart, and Eddie hated to admit it, but he needed a break from her, too. She was constantly needing his attention. It was hard enough with Christopher needing him for most things, and Shannon being up his ass about how he babied Millie was getting to the point where he wanted to take an extended vacation. 

So while Millie calmed down, he packed her a bag and had it shoved into Buck's car within a few minutes. 

"Millie, come sit for a minute," Eddie says when he comes back into the house. 

He motions for Buck to sit as well before speaking. "Buck has offered to let you stay with him until our Monday shift. But before you go with him, you need to apologize to Maddie and Zane." 

"Why," Millie muttered, avoiding eye contact with her dad. 

"Because you were rude and you hurt Zane." Eddie snaps.

Millie flinches and backs away slightly. "Okay, I'll do it." She says. 

Eddie follows Millie to the kitchen, where Maddie, Zane, and Shannon are sitting. "M-Maddie?" Millie mumbles. 

"Speak up," Eddie says. 

Millie frowns, angry that her dad is making her do this in front of others, especially Shannon. "Maddie," she says louder. 

Maddie looks her way, but doesn't speak. She waits. "I-I'm sorry, I got mad. I didn't mean it." 

"It's okay, I understand." Maddie smiles softly. 

Millie looks at Zane, and her eyes burn with tears, but when she opens her mouth, nothing comes out. She doesn't know what to say to him. She'd never hurt anyone other than herself or her dad, so she had no idea. Eddie never made her apologize to him. 

"Millie," Eddie says, not so nicely. 

"I'm s-sorry I pushed you. I just didn't want to be called A-ame-" Millie stops, her voice catching in her throat when she tries to say her full name. 

The name she hasn't spoken since before she was taken to Washington. The name that was legally hers, but she hated. 

"Okay," Zane shrugs. 

"Zane." Maddie sighs. 

"No, Maddie, it's alright. Let him be upset with her. She hurt him; he doesn't need to forgive her right now." Eddie says. 

"Come on, kid," Buck says, placing a hand on Millie's shoulder. 

"Where is she going?" Shannon asks Eddie as Millie follows Buck to the front door. 

"Staying with him for the weekend," Eddie says, grabbing a beer from the fridge. 

+

+

Monday came too quickly in Millie's opinion, and she fought Buck with everything she had not to wake up and go to work. She begged him to call out and let her stay one more day. Nothing she did worked. She had declined to speak to her dad whenever he called, and Buck knew he needed them to start getting back to normal before everything was ruined. 

"Millie, come on! Bobby will kill me if we're late, and then your dad will bring me back just to kill me all over again." Buck groaned, putting breakfast away. 

"Don't make me go, Buckley," Millie shouted from where she sat on the couch, SpongeBob playing on the TV.

"Sorry, kid. I can't skip out on any more shifts for a while." Buck says, dropping Millie's shoes next to her feet. 

 "Fine, but can you put my shoes on?" She laughed at Buck's reaction before she grabbed the first shoe. 

"I'm just kidding, Buck. Cast came off, remember." 

+

Millie had been avoiding her dad at all times, like he was going to give her the flu. She'd opted to stay with Buck for longer than the weekend, but now it's been almost two weeks, and she hasn't mentioned going home once. After the incident with the bank call and being questioned by the police, Millie wanted to be far away from Shannon and Eddie. Shannon had made it a horrible experience with the police and the hours afterward. 

She spent more than an hour arguing with Eddie after they were allowed to leave, and practically blamed Millie. But how could a nine-year-old even do something like that? What does a kid of Millie's age need that much money for? 

Millie went back to Buck's that night and curled up next to him. She woke up four different times from the same nightmare. 

+

Nothing felt normal again for weeks. Millie went back home to Eddie and Shannon two weeks and two days after leaving with Buck. She knew Buck was putting her above himself, and she also knew that being away from Eddie was affecting him in ways he would never talk to her about. The situation with Gio and Syd was still fresh in everyone's mind. 

Especially for Eddie Diaz. 

One other major thing happened at the 118. Captain Nash was relieved of his duty until further notice. Not a single person would tell Millie why. They kept brushing her off, telling her that it's nothing to worry about. 

But the air at the fire station felt weird, like everything could go wrong again at any second. 

Like nothing would ever be the same again. 

+

+

I have debated for over an hour if I was going to continue this chapter, and I've finally decided that I'm not going to. I'm just going to update it like this. I have BIG writers block for it. I didn't feel like just adding Millie and Zane meeting into a random chapter, so technically they just get this short one. I promise the next chapter will actually be a full one. 

I just gave up on this one. 

The writing is horrid anyways. I couldn't decide on anything, even the chapter title, so I picked the most basic one possible. Plus, I've been sick for almost a week. I wanted to update this on the 14th but was literally so sick I did nothing but sleep.. anyway, new chapter SOON! 

- Kammy