#buney

“I feel like I’m in a bad romance novel right now, out here in the rain talking to a slab of granite. You’re probably laughing your ass off right now, aren’t you? I know I would be,” a humourless laugh left him, followed by a sigh. “I, uh, I brought you some flowers,” he gestured with the bouquet as if showing it off to someone, before he bent down and placed them under where the name ‘Evan Lucas Buckley’ was carved into stone.

Chimney let out a shaky breath before carrying on the one-sided conversation. “I really do feel like I’m in some badly written movie or something. I mean, c’mon. Coworkers meet, coworkers butt heads, coworkers become friends, friends start sleeping together on a purely physical basis, one of them catches feelings, before the first one can tell the other one, the other one dies,” the last words broke as they got caught on the edge of a sob. He tried to hold in the tears until he decided that he deserved them, he earned the right to cry.

“I fell in love with your dumb face, Buck. I fell in love with your dumb face and your dumb personality and your stupid dad jokes. I fell in love with those stupid recaps you do of stressful calls, making jokes about tragedy to try and lift the team’s spirits while somehow still being respectful of those who were affected. No one was there to do it that day after that warehouse fire. The rig was so silent during the ride to the hospital,” he had to pause to take a deep breath, collecting himself after he felt all cried out, then talking again.

“It’s gotten better since then. Eddie will update us on how Chris is doing and Bobby tells us all about his married life, just to fill the silence. It has been a couple months, after all. Sorry it took me so long to visit, by the way. I figured watching them put your body six feet under would be closure enough, but I guess not. I keep looking for you after calls, waiting to hear some dumb one-liner, but you’re not there.

“But, uh, anyway. I guess I’m here to say goodbye? Since I never really got the chance. So, bye, Evan Buckley.” Chim shoved his hands into his pocket and turned on his heel to walk away, to put the gravestone, and the man under it, behind him in more ways than one. He only got a couple steps before he paused, taking a deep breath before speaking over his shoulder.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop looking for you after calls.”