Haylijah Supremacist

#2 — similarly to when the 118 gets stuck with the downed power lines, the 217 gets incapacitated and the 118 is who gets called in to help. chim and hen greet tommy and immediately start teasing him and catching up. chim asks after the "girlfriend" he was "seeing" when he left the 118, and tommy grimaces. he admits that he made the whole thing up—gearing up to telling them that he's gay—but buck, who was not-so-subtly listening in, interrupts like "dude, why do you have to make up a girlfriend? looking like that? women must be all over you!" and tommy snaps back "because i was in the closet, dude". he's half expecting some straight dude weirdness but instead buck is very genuinely sympathetic. he does make a funny comment about how lucky tommy is, because some dudes have great asses, which results in tommy, hen, and chim all exchanging 🏳️‍🌈 🤨❓looks. he figures it out eventually and tommy is the first to know.

#3 — crash that helicopter! but make it buck. he's going along on a rescue and the helicopter gets caught in a draft or something (idk, i'm not a pilot) and goes down. he has to stablize the pilot after they crash and relay with dispatch about it and he's exhausted by the time rescue gets there in the form of tommy and lucy! he and lucy are catching up, maybe he's just recently come out, and she spends half the ride trying to match buck and tommy up. when buck is leaving, as a final attempt, she jokes that at the very least she can recommend them both as great kissers. they're both like what!? and she just shrugs and says guess you'll have to go on that date and talk to each other to get the stories. (the buck kiss would be the canon one; the tommy one was in a bar after work one night in a "ugh, that guy won't leave me alone, pretend to be my boyfriend?" scheme and the kiss was barely a peck. she was just exaggerating because she thinks she's hilarious) (also the original pilot is fine of course don't worry about it)

#4 — tommy is driving somewhere when he witnesses a bus going off the road due to weather. he calls it in and pulls over to help. when the 118 arrive (of course) he offers to stay and help as an extra pair of hands while they wait for another station because the bus was really full. he gets paired up with buck and eddie. he and eddie get along right away (similar to canon) and buck keeps trying to insert himself in the conversation. slowly tommy does start to gravitate more towards him and eventually, eddie clocks that they're flirting, throws his hands up in frustration, and goes to help hen. meanwhile, buck did not fully clock that they were flirting and is really confused at eddie's exit. tommy asks if he's free later and he eagerly agrees—tommy's so cool! and interesting! and big!—but doesn't realize the context until they're in the rig going back to the station, he mentions it, and eddie asks if he's excited about his date. record scratch, freeze frame, lots of recontextualizing in about .8 seconds before he decides he is excited, actually.

After Eddie and Shannon leave, Evan asks Tommy if he has any money (he does) and says they should go to the gift shop. Tommy agrees and they stand up, but then Tommy pats his pockets and says he actually needs to get money from his parents and he'll meet Evan in there. When Tommy finds him inside, Evan says they should split up and buy something for each other. Tommy agrees and tells Evan not to peek. Evan flails and says vehemently that he wouldn't. Tommy gives him a look that says he doesn't believe him and then they split up to find something for each other.

Tommy hasn't yet found the thing yet but he does have a box of Reese's Pieces when Evan rounds the corner of the aisle with snow globes on the shelves. Evan's face lights up and he says "Reese's Pieces?" Tommy tries to look put out rather than fond or smug, but he thinks his face is probably just doing something unflattering. "I saw you pick them out at the stop in Rock Springs." Evan looks at him with far too much awe for something concerning candy. "And you remembered?" Tommy shrugs. Evan says, "they're my favorite." Tommy grins. "Like E.T.!" Evan's brow furrows and he laughs. "What?" Tommy sighs and shakes his head and says, "never mind" and shoos Evan out of the aisle so he can keep searching.

Tommy ends up buying two postcards; at the register, he fills out one with his new address and hands one to Evan to do the same and they exchange them so they can write to each other.

Evan buys keychains with their names. When they get outside, he hands one to Tommy and Tommy furrows his brow and says, "you gave me the one with your name," and Evan just smiles and says, "I know." Tommy blushes and closes his hand around the keychain; then he takes his Swiss Army knife out of his pocket and puts it on the keychain.

Tommy's parents come outside and say they're ready to leave and Tommy has to go. Tommy shoves his hands in his pockets so he doesn't do something something stupid like give Evan a hug.

Evan can't do what he really wants to do which is close the distance between him and Tommy and press their lips together, so presses a kiss to his own fingertip instead and touches Tommy's forehead. "I'll be right here." It's so dorky…the dorkiest thing he's ever done, but it's worth it when Tommy blushes and grins.

Tommy keeps his eyes on Evan as he slowly steps backwards. "Don't forget to write."

"I won't," Evan promises. He stands in the same spot on the sidewalk as he watches Tommy get in the moving truck and is driven away.

And now it's Evan's time to leave. He makes the excuse that he forgot something at the picnic table. It's silly, maybe, but he wants to see it one last time—the first place he had a sort-of-date with a boy. When he gets to the table, he sees something carved into the top of it, on the side where Tommy had sat—E + T, circled with a heart around it. He runs his finger over it until Maddie sticks her head out of the RV window and yells for him to get inside or they're leaving without him.

When Evan gets home to Pennsylvania, there's a postcard waiting for him.

2. The Buckleys and Diazes start vacationing during the summer at the same lake shore cottage resort when Evan and Eddie are 11 (Maddie is 14 and Eddie's sisters are 13 and 14) [located at some unnamed lake in some unnamed city in California]. The Buckleys are from Portland and the Diazes are still from Texas.

Tommy (who is the same age as Evan and Eddie) lives with his parents a few miles down the road and they're pretty secluded so Tommy has no neighbors and he doesn't really have friends from school so his summers are lonely until he starts spending time at the resort when he's 9. The owners of the resort, Thomas and Mitchell, take pity on Tommy and let him hang around, seeing that he's too shy at first to make friends his own age. Mitchell teaches him how to swim, when Tommy shyly admits that, despite living on a lake his whole life, he never learned how. Then Thomas teaches him how to fish and eventually how to clean and cook what he's caught. They let him hang out in their cottage and read or draw or watch TV when he needs to just hide out, but they try to encourage him to go play with the other kids too.

Age 11: The first time Tommy meets Evan and Eddie is when a bunch of kids decide to play badminton. On the way to the court, which is actually just a net set in a large patch of dead grass and gravel. Evan and Tommy are paired for doubles against Eddie and a girl named Kya. Evan's taller than Tommy and must have recently gone through a growth spurt if the way he doesn't seem to have total control of his limbs is anything to go by and he knocks into Tommy a few times. The one time Evan nearly takes them both down, Tommy steadies him and says, "careful there, Bambi." Evan blinks and stays quiet and Tommy worries he's offended him, but then Evan laughs and says, "good one, Tommy" and for the first time in Tommy's life he feels like he made a friend (one his age, anyway, which Mitchell and Thomas are always stressing is important for him).

Age 12: The resort has a campfire each Saturday night, everyone gathers around and socializes and cooks hot dogs and s'mores. Evan never learns that his stomach isn't actually a bottomless pit and consumes far too much sugar, but he always saves the last s'more for Tommy.

Age 13: While kicking a soccer ball around, Evan knocks a brick loose from the side of Thomas and Mitchell's cottage. Him and Tommy hastily try to put it back, but discover something in the space left behind. Tommy pulls out a rusty, green Lucky Strike tin. Inside are folded up pieces of paper; Tommy takes one out and unfolds it and it appears to be a letter. Evan tries to look at it over Tommy's shoulder, eagerly asking if they should read it. Tommy hesitates, says that maybe they shouldn't. Evan rambles about what it could contain—directions to some lost treasure buried under the lake ("probably not") or a secret formula ("…to what?" "I don't know, Tommy, that's why we have to read it!"), or the details of a torrid love affair (Tommy pretends to gag, "where did you even learn that word?"). Tommy folds the paper, puts it back in the tin, puts the tin back, and then the brick too. Evan is disappointed, but doesn't push, and they go back to kicking the ball around until Tommy has to go home.

Later that night, after dark, there's a quiet knock on Evan's window. He hadn't been sleeping, otherwise he might not have heard it. It's Tommy and Evan sneaks out to see him, brings a flashlight and blankets like Tommy says. Evan follows Tommy down to the dock. With the moonlight reflecting off the water, Evan sees that Tommy's eyes are red-rimmed, but Tommy turns his face away when he catches Evan looking so Evan doesn't acknowledge it. Tommy shows Evan that he brought the tin from earlier and takes out the letters, handing 2 of them to Evan. "Do you want to do the honors?"

They sit sideways on one of the benches, their backs pressed together, a blanket wrapped around each of their shoulders. Evan turns on his flashlight and reads: "Dear Thomas…"

When they walk back from the dock, Evan asks Tommy if he'll be okay getting home, if he needs somewhere to stay. Tommy sniffles and says he'll be okay. They part ways and Evan watches Tommy walk to Thomas and Mitchell's cottage, root around for what must be a key, and then let himself inside.

Evan sneaks back inside his room and falls asleep wrapped in the blanket that smells like Tommy.

Age 14: Tommy doesn't come to the resort. Evan worries and sulks and worries some more. After he's been there for a week with no sign of Tommy, he pays a visit to Thomas and Mitchell. They're frustratingly vague and won't tell Evan anything, sharing looks when they think he's not paying attention. But they don't tell him to get lost; they feed him sandwiches and lemonade and set aside a pile of books that are Tommy's favorites. Evan reads them all. He writes Tommy a letter and right before he leaves to go back home, he folds it up and puts it in the tin hidden behind the loose brick. Tommy had returned the letters to Mitchell and Thomas, so Evan's surprised to find a piece of paper inside. It's hardly a letter, but it's addressed to him; telling him not to worry and that Tommy would see him next summer. Evan scoffs, it's too late for not worrying. There's no closing, just Tommy's name and he suddenly feels self-conscious about signing off with Yours, Evan but it's too late to change it now. He pockets Tommy's letter and leaves his own for Tommy to find—whenever that might be.

Age 15: Tommy's back the next summer like he said and they don't talk about his absence, but they both silently and surreptitiously catalogue all the changes they notice in each other. Nothing has changed between them though and they hardly leave each other's side all summer. Evan teaches Tommy how to catch minnows with his bare hands. Tommy tries to teach Evan how to fish (it's too passive and boring for him), and he shows Evan how to gut and clean a fish to be cooked (and he doesn't make fun of Evan when he gags).

Age 16: Margaret and Phillip have to teach summer school for the first half of the summer and Maddie makes plans with her friends/roommates (2 fellow nursing students), so Evan's parents suggest that maybe it's time they find a new summer tradition. Evan begs them to go one last time, so he can say proper goodbyes to his friends he's spent the last 5 summers with, and besides…they've already booked and paid for the rental. [Evan just recently got his driver's license, but he doesn't have a car yet and his parents would never let him drive that far on his own]

Evan arrives at the cottages to find that Tommy and Eddie have apparently become best friends (they were always friendly before, they got along but Evan admittedly took up a lot of Tommy's time). Evan's moody and simultaneously wants to be included in everything they're doing and wants nothing to do with either of them at all.

Evan always had Maddie or Eddie or Tommy, or even Mitchell and Thomas, to socialize with, so he never really made an effort to make other friends, but now he guesses he'll have to.

He meets Kaci, who is tall and red-headed, and loud and happy-go-lucky and who Evan doesn't think has ever had trouble making friends, but somehow still agrees to spend time with him. She even makes them friendship bracelets. Evan shamelessly flaunts their new friendship in front of Tommy and Eddie, who seem equally confused and annoyed with his antics.

One night, when they're all gathered at the campfire, Kaci tells Evan that she gets the impression he's using her to make his friend jealous (friend—singular, Evan notes, with a strange emphasis on the word), but that he can kiss her anyway. He denies her claim and she gives him a look that says be serious so he does kiss her; to prove a point, maybe, but also because he wants to. When they pull apart, though, his eyes immediately find Tommy's across the crowd. Kaci doesn't need to look to see for herself, she just smiles smugly. Evan sighs. Kaci tells him it's okay. He says that he really does like her and Kaci says, yeah…but you love him. Evan frowns, doesn't know what to say as the word rattles around his brain. Kaci pats his shoulder and says she'll see him around. He looks around the crowd, but Tommy's nowhere to be found.

Tommy stays away the whole next week. Evan tracks down Eddie, who hasn't seen him either and he's pissed at Evan about it, even if neither of them knows if it has anything to do with him. Evan walks back to his cottage in a bad mood—Eddie's mad at him, Tommy's maybe probably mad at him or at least avoiding him for reasons he's afraid to entertain, Kaci's not mad at him but she has a girlfriend now and has no time for him. His parents are out, probably next door at the Millers. Evan raids the fridge—he takes a plate of fruit and cheese and crackers and a bottle of sparkling juice—then he goes down to the dock and gets into his parent's boat.

It isn't long before Evan spots Tommy walking out of Thomas and Mitchell's cottage. Tommy freezes when he sees him, but then keeps walking. Evan stands up and shouts Tommy's name, nearly tipping the boat over in the process. He falls on his ass, but manages to save the bottle of juice. When he sits up, Tommy's looking down at him.

"I'm okay!"

Tommy purses his lips. "You're an idiot."

'"Hey!" Evan scrambles into the seat. "Can we talk?"

Tommy shifts and looks down at the foiled covered plate in his hands.

"What's that?"

"Fish."

Evan frowns. Mitchell and Thomas hadn't invited him over for fish—were they mad at him too? "Hey, you know what goes good with fish?" He holds up the bottle.

"Are you drunk?"

"What? No." Evan rolls his eyes. "It's sparkling, duh."

Tommy stares, unmoved.

Evan sighs. "I just wish you would talk to me."

Tommy hands Evan the plate and asks for Evan to help him into the boat. Once they're both seated, Tommy asks what Evan wants to talk about.

Evan grins and asks Tommy if he trusts him. Tommy doesn't say no, he just narrows his eyes and asks why, so Evan hands him a life vest and tells him to put it on. He puts his own vest on and starts the motor.

"Evan…"

"Don't worry, I know how to drive it."

"Uh huh. And you have a license?"

Evan gives him an incredulous look, making Tommy smirk, and it finally feels like they're them again.

Evan drives them out far enough that it feels like they're the only ones on the lake, but still close enough they can see the cottages. They talk and eat and pass the bottle of sparkling juice back and forth and stare just a little too long at each other's lips. "Tommy, I—"

Tommy surges forward and Evan has to grab the side of the boat to steady himself when Tommy kisses him.

When they part, Evan ducks his head and laughs quietly. "Yeah—uh, me too."

They spend long stretches in comfortable silence, looking out at the water and listening as it laps at the hull, sharing flirty smiles and sticky kisses.

Until another boat approaches them. Thomas is driving, Mitchell next to him, and Eddie and some girl Evan's never seen before are in the back.

Mitchell peers in their boat, looks between Evan and Tommy, and raises his eyebrows and Evan just knows they're going to be the subject of gossip later. "You okay, kid?"

Evan blushes. "We're fine."

Thomas gives him a knowing smile. "Eddie here thought you got stranded."

Evan glares daggers at his friend. "Nope, not stranded."

Eddie frowns. "Then why are you just sitting in the middle of the lake?"

Evan opens and closes his mouth, and is ultimately saved from saying something embarrassing or having to lie when Mitchell suggests they all head back to shore.

They only have a few weeks left of summer, but they make the most of it (Eddie remains oblivious).

Thomas and Mitchell retire when Tommy is 30 and they leave the cottage resort to him (they want to move to Seattle as soon as possible and anticipating the money Tommy will have to put into it, they don't want to ask him anything for it. And they know it'll be in good hands).

Tommy still lives in his childhood house down the road, for now, until he can move in to the cottage that was Mitchell and Thomas's; he's estimating about a year before renovations are done and he can reopen the resort.

Tommy walks the whole of the resort, clipboard with checklists in hand, as he notes everything that needs renovated. He checks Thomas and Mitchell's his cottage last; his heart skips several beats as he notes the loose brick in the siding. He takes it out, the old rusting tin still behind it, and he opens it to find a notes from Evan. He doesn't know when Evan put it in there, but it had to have been the last year he came to the resort. It says: do you like me? Check yes or no. Tommy shakes his head and smiles, makes a checkmark on the note and puts it back.

He's at the kitchen table, looking over his lists, when he hears a car pull into the gravel lot behind the cottages—much earlier than expected. He hears the slamming of a car door and a few minutes later, a knock on his door. Tommy gets up and answers it.

Evan's tall, bulky frame fills the doorway. His cheeks are flushed and he's sporting a wicked grin as he holds up the note with Tommy's answer. "Yeah?"

Tommy doesn't know why he thought he could get away with Evan never finding it. He tries to fight it, but a grin overtakes his face in return. He rolls his eyes and opens the door further to let Evan in.

Evan strolls inside, dropping his bags on the floor, planting himself in a chair at the table, and kicking his feet up.

"Sure, make yourself at home."

Evan gives him a look that makes Tommy's stomach swoop and then he grabs the clipboard and starts looking it over.

Tommy clears his throat. "The 13 other cottages are still functional, for now, so you can take your pick."

Evan leans back in his chair and looks around. "What's wrong with this one?"

Tommy's brow furrows. "…it's mine."

Evan raises an eyebrow. Tilts his head. "I know."

Tommy swallows. "Evan, I didn't invite you here for…that."

Evan laughs and nods. "Riiight. You asked me to come here because I worked a few construction jobs nearly a decade ago."

"When I asked for recommendations, Mitchell gave me your number."

Evan leans closer. "You didn't have to use it."

Tommy bites his lip. "We haven't seen each other in 14 years."

"Yeah, but"—Evan shrugs—"we've talked almost every day for the last 6 months." When Tommy stays silent, Evan slowly nods. "Okay." He stands up, places the note on the table in front of Tommy—the checkmarked yes staring up at them.

Tommy's heart races as Evan starts to walk past him. He doesn't think; he reaches out and grabs Evan's arms and turns him back around and then they're a flurry of motion as Evan cups Tommy's face and Tommy grabs Evan's waist and their lips crash together. Evan climbs in Tommy's lap as they kiss, closing the distance of their years apart, and the chair creaks ominously.

Evan pulls away first, panting and quietly laughing, and presses his forehead to Tommy's. "Please tell me there's a bed."

Tommy hums. "Just washed the sheets this morning."

"I would fuck you on a bare mattress, I don't even care."

Tommy snorts.

Evan climbs out of Tommy's lap, tripping over himself in his eagerness.

Tommy steadies him and chuckles. "Easy there, Bambi."

Evan grins and pulls Tommy to his feet, turning him around and pressing him against the back of the couch. He kisses Tommy while he fumbles with Tommy's pants.

"Baby." Tommy revels in the shiver that wracks Evan's body. "The bedroom is 20 feet away."

"I know," Evan mumbles against his lips, "but you're right here."

They make it eventually.

3. Buck and Tommy go on their first date to Miceli's and Eddie and Marisol show up just like in canon, except—even though neither Buck or Tommy says they're on a date, Buck doesn't like and he especially doesn't say something heinous like they're going to go looking for hot chicks. Dinner ends naturally and they go to the movies and make out in the back row and then they take an Uber back to Buck's place and they don't leave his bed until the next afternoon.

4. It's after the firefighting games in Nashville and Buck and Eddie are at the bar. Buck's waiting for their second round of drinks when a handsome stranger sidles up next to him and introduces himself as Tommy. They talk about the firefighting games and Buck can't stop looking at him and wondering how he missed seeing him there—he's so bulky, Buck reasons, and hard to miss. Eddie stumbles over, clearly having already gotten several shots ahead of Buck, with two women on his arms and interrupts them, hanging onto Buck and telling him they're invited to a party. Buck eventually shrugs him off and tells him to go have fun and be safe and is relived to find Tommy still there when he turns around.

Tommy looks Buck up and down. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Buck blushes and swallows hard. "You can buy me anything you want."

5. 2031 Southern California Firefighter Expo. Who knew a hotel restaurant could be the perfect place for a first date?

Until, that is, Buck hears his name called out. He turns around and sees Eddie and his girlfriend, Jenny, approaching their table.

"Eddie," he grits out. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to that place down the street?"

Eddie looks affronted. "We were going to, but then you had talked this place up so much we wanted to give it a try." He frowns. "Why are you being weird?"

"I'm not being weird, you're being weird."

Jenny eyes Buck and his date and tilts her head. "Who are Patrick and James?"

Buck had forgotten he was still wearing the name tag. He takes a breath. "Well. James is a retired engineer—"

Tommy kicks Buck's foot under the table and snorts.

Eddie's eyes widen in alarm. "You know what," he says, a little too loudly, "it's a little crowded in here actually, I think we will go to the place down the street."

Jenny stifles a laugh, waving goodbye to them.

Buck turns back around. "Now where were we...Patrick?"

Tommy points at Buck's name tag. "You're Patrick."

Buck drops his head down and laughs. "I keep forgetting." He smirks. "You wanna say fuck it and just go back to our room?"

"Already paid the check, baby."

"Fuck, I love you so much."

"Yeah, you gonna put a ring on it?"

buck ran away from home as a teenager tired of his life only to find his way onto a pirate ship. at first he didn't fully realize it; he met this connor guy in a bar, got swept up in the ideas of adventure and riches and the high seas, and decided to join him on ship. what connor didn't mention is that he was, at best, a deckhand. he was bragging to buck about being first mate, and securing buck a position on the ship, and well... that didn't happen. luckily for buck, the captain, bobby, does actually really like him. connor doesn't end up lasting more than a season on the ship—the athena, named after bobby's wife—but bobby takes buck under his wing and he swiftly rises in the ranks and when bobby eventually retires, he takes over as captain.

every sailor on the sea has heard of the crimson curse, captained by an evil man whose crew is known to show no mercy and take no prisoners. those who see their red sails on the horizon know to run the other way, and few who get close to the ship live to tell the tale. hen and chim, two of the athena's crew, had been part of a skirmish with them a few decades prior, before they were as dangerous as they are now, and even they don't like to speak about it.

one day, the athena is caught by a sudden storm. buck is out on deck, helping get everything stowed away, when he's pulled off the rigging by a rogue wave and thrown overboard. before he knows it, he's lost to the sea and the fog, clinging to a broken piece of crate. he doesn't know how long he floats, but eventually the storm clouds part, and after hours under the hot sun, he passes out. the last thing he sees before he loses consciousness is the bow of a ship topped with crimson sails.

he's surprised when he opens his eyes and he's not dead, for starters. even more surprised to find that not only is he not dead, he's not in irons in the brig, either; he's lying on a bed in surprisingly nicely decorated quarters. he doesn't have his guns, or his sword, of course, those were in his own cabin back on the ship, but the knife he keeps in his belt for odd jobs hasn't been taken. so to recap: he's alive, his hands are free, and he's been left alone with a weapon on an enemy ship that is supposed to be so dangerous that many experienced crews will run the other way. it's so at odds with anything he expected that he starts to doubt that he saw what he saw. before he can think about it too long, though, there's a knock at the door.

in steps a man. he's not wearing anything particularly special, nor does he look particularly bloodthirsty, but from the way he holds himself, buck guesses he's pretty important. he's just standing tall, arms folded loosely across his chest as he looks buck up and down. you're looking better, he says, when we pulled you up i thought for sure you wouldn't last the night. buck looks him up and down right back. i didn't think i'd last the night either, he replies, those who meet with captain gerrard so rarely do. to his surprise, the look on the man's face goes from neutral and polite to downright disgusted.

it turns out that a lot of captain gerrard's crew aged out or simply were killed, and those he brought on to replace them weren't so easy to control and took issue with his leadership style and the things they were asked to do. nearly a year prior, there was a mutiny; the captain summarily executed and dropped into the middle of the sea. the man, tommy, had been elected as captain, with his friend sal as his first mate, and they had tried hard to change things. they're still pirates, of course, but they aren't out to kill people for no reason the way gerrard was. they kept the sails, though, because the stories were a good defense and also, that many sails were expensive to replace.

tommy offers to keep buck on board while they try and figure out where the athena went. buck knows where they were planning to make port, but figures that they would likely not stay if they heard of the crimson's arrival. tommy has his crew make anchor in a secluded area and he and buck go ashore, travelling together in close quarters. they have to take shelter one night at an inn when it's raining and there's only one bed :)

#2 — tommy has routines. he loves his routines. and he would never admit it, but he does not love when his routines are interfered with. like this morning, when he pulls up to his favourite coffee shop (approximately fifteen minutes from the station, which gives his drink time to cool down just enough that he can chug it in the time it takes him to get changed) and some douchebag in a jeep has parked in his spot. of course, it's not really his spot, it's a public parking lot, but it's towards the back of the lot and far enough away that most people don't park there. grumbling to himself, he parks next to it, and barely even looks up when he nearly runs into someone on his way in the door, only catching a hurried "sorry!" as the guy runs off with two stacked trays full of drinks. he gets his coffee, treats himself to a muffin because why not, and when he gets back out to his truck, the jeep is gone. but it keeps happening. not every time he goes, but often enough that it's starting to get annoying. it takes a couple weeks before he finally runs into the jeep's driver; one morning, he pulls in right before the jeep does, and makes it to the spot first. the guy behind the wheel hops out cheerfully and waves. "oh, hey, that's funny, that's where i usually park!" he says, pointing at tommy's spot. "i know," tommy says, rolling his eyes. "it's where i usually park, too. you just get here first sometimes." but try as he might, now that he's met the guy, he can't be too annoyed. especially when evan buckley introduces himself with a warm smile and handshake and offers to buy tommy a coffee "to make up for stealing your spot".

#3 — it's not that buck misses living on the road. just, sometimes, he needs to get out of the city. he lived out of his jeep for a long time and sometimes it's nice to just get out and do that again, visit a state park or something and sleep with the stars outside his car windows. he has a spot about forty-five minutes out of the city that he likes to go to sometimes, tucked away on a cliff with a great view of the ocean, and he's never seen anybody else out there. he's got the back of the jeep open, looking out at the water and picking absently at the snacks he'd packed, when headlights come down the overgrown lane behind him. he freezes. it's not private property—he'd checked, just to be sure; it would be a bad look to be arrested for trespassing—but you never know who you're going to encounter out in the woods. the new vehicle stops behind the jeep, parks, then someone is coming around. buck tenses, but the guy who appears around the corner of the jeep just looks concerned. he asks if everything's okay and buck explains that he just likes to come out here sometimes, for the quiet. they introduce themselves and tommy tells him that his cousin lives across the street from the lane and noticed buck going in but not leaving, and asked tommy to basically do a wellness check since he's a first responder. then they start exchanging stories, buck mentions the 118, they realize they know the same people, and before they know it, they've been talking for an hour and tommy's phone starts ringing because his cousin has now seen two vehicles disappear to the cliff without returning and he's starting to get worried. tommy assures him he's fine, then tries to apologize to buck for intruding and says he'll leave him to it. buck just waggles a dessert container at him and asks him to stay.

#4 — tommy also has a jeep. they go to the same gym and tommy comes out one day to find a rubber duck sitting on his mirror. he's seen the other jeep around, but doesn't actually know who it belongs to. he puts the duck on his dashboard and the next time he's at the grocery store, he picks up a pack of little multicoloured ducks. the other jeep is there when he goes for his next workout and he returns the favour, putting a green one on the other jeep's mirror. four days later, the next time they're both in the lot at the same time, tommy comes out to find one sitting on his hood, this time with a little note that just has a smiley face drawn on it. this goes on for a while; after a month or two, tommy has ten little ducks in various colours and styles sitting in a row on his dashboard, and a little pile of notes with silly jokes written on them by the stranger clipped onto his sun visor. the other jeep has its own row of ducks. it may have gone on forever, with the gym just busy enough that he was never fully sure who it was, except the next duck the stranger leaves has a little firefighter helmet on, with "118" scribbled on the badge. tommy had just added an lafd bumper sticker to his jeep, so maybe that's why the stranger picked this particular duck, but how would they know tommy used to be at the 118?? he's still staring down at it, wondering if he should be concerned, when the tall guy with the birthmark he's noticed looking at him a few times walks up to him. "do you like him?" he says. "couldn't help getting it for you. he's so cute." tommy nods back. "yeah but—how did you know about the 118? i haven't worked there in years." buck just blinks back at him. "oh that—that's my house. i just thought it would be funny, yknow, giving you a little duck-me." tommy looks closer and, sure enough, the duck also has a little scribbled birthmark above his eye. now that he knows who evan is, they end up getting flirty, and soon enough, tommy has duck-buck on his dashboard and human-evan in his passenger seat.

Tommy is having one of the worst days of his life. After a shift from hell, he goes across the street for a coffee and pastry on autopilot. When he walks out of the bakery, a poster taped to a lightpost catches his eye. In large black letters are the words: our world is better because you’re in it.

His breath catches in his throat. At the bottom of the poster, one tear-off paper remains. He hesitates, after all maybe there is somebody out there who needs it more than him. No—who deserves it more than him. He eventually rips the paper off, folds it, and puts it in his pocket.

He wishes he had a way to say thank you to the kind stranger who put the message there for anyone to find, wonders if they know they may have saved a life (maybe more).

Tommy doesn't overthink it, he walks back into the bakery and asks to borrow a pen. The woman at the counter hands him one, reluctantly, Tommy thinks. He walks back outside to the poster and writes at the bottom of the poster, far enough away from the message he hopes not to distract from it, and writes thank you. He goes back into the bakery and hands back the pen with a sincere 'thanks' and the woman is grateful (and obviously surprised).

Days turn into weeks and some days it feels like the folded up piece of paper in his wallet is the only thing keeping Tommy afloat.

He's out for drinks with Howie and Hen and they keep giving him weird looks every time he misses an opportunity to get a sarcastic quip in or quote a movie with Howie, communicating through their weird best friend telepathy like they think he won't notice. He knows he's being uncharacteristically quiet, but the words rattling around his head keep sticking to the roof of his mouth and he can't get them out no matter how hard he tries. He excuses himself to the bathroom, washes his hands until they're red and smell like oranges. Outside the bathroom is a wall of posters and flyers, most advertising different themed nights and drink specials and local bands, ripped and faded to various degrees. Right in the middle of it all, the stark white paper stands out. in black ink, the printed words tell him: you are perfect as you are.

A laugh bubbles up in his chest and spills from his lips, taking with it a weight he's been carrying set deep in his shoulders. He tears off a paper from the bottom and puts it in his wallet next to the other one. When he gets back to the booth, he smiles at Howie and Hen and he still doesn't say the words--he tucks them away for a later time--but he takes the verbal shots they set up for him and they stop shooting worried looks at each other.

Before he leaves, he swipes a pen from the bar and writes a thank you on the poster.

He keeps finding them around town and he wonders if he's only seeing them now because they're new or if he's subconsciously looking for them. He tries to write a thank you any chance he gets. And he takes the suggestion of taking more than one and passing the kindness forward.

One night, at the station, he can't sleep and he remembers the #thecomplimentproject he saw on the posters and decides to look it up on Instagram. He scrolls through the posts until he sees a photo taken at a place he recognizes, the bakery across from the station. The first photo in the post is the poster with all the tabs torn off and thank you written in Tommy's hand. He swipes through the rest of the photos and they're all similar; they're all the posters Tommy had written on. The post's caption says: this made me tear up, ngl

He clicks on the profile of the user who posted it, Evan Buckley, and is only a little ashamed at how quick he clicks follow. He spends what precious little time he has before a call inevitably comes in scrolling through years of Evan's adventures.

In the morning, Tommy wakes up to find Evan started following him back.

Tommy wants to send him a message, but doesn't quite know what to say, he types and backspaces and retypes before ultimately giving up.

One day, after his shift, Tommy heads over to the bakery. There's a new poster taped to the lightpost outside that says: you bring joy to those around you. After tearing off a tab, Tommy takes a pen out of his jacket pocket and writes at the bottom of the poster thanks. I hope you know that you are too. He's just finished adding a lopsided heart when he hears a soft "oh!"

He turns and sees Evan, standing in the doorway of the bakery.

Evan looks between Tommy and the poster and back again before joining Tommy on the sidewalk. "That--that was you."

Tommy tucks his hands in his jacket pockets. "Yeah. It meant a lot--means a lot--what you're doing. You got me through some tough times. I thought you should know." Evan smiles and Tommy thinks of the paper folded in his wallet that says: you're like sunshine on a cloudy day.

Evan gestures towards the bakery. "Why don't you let me buy you a coffee and you can tell me all about it?"

It's Tommy's first day at Harbor. He's early, so he sits in his truck and takes a few minutes for himself. He takes out his wallet, unfolds the familiar scraps of paper, one by one, and reads them. The last one is new, one he's never seen before: my life is better because you're in it <3 Tommy's heart swells in his chest and he lets the feeling of being loved carry him into the station.