only 2 buddie winter fills left? Well let's remedy that!
I am a sucker for angst with a happy ending so first snow fall but I'm pretty sure it doesn't snow in LA, so maybe in Hershey with the Buckley parents and all the angst that brings?
love me some angst 🩵 also thank you for sending this in!
“Fuck!” Buck slams his hand down on the steering wheel of his rental car, moving his foot off of the gas pedal.
The snow continues to fall in thick clumps, rapidly covering his front windshield. The street lamps have flickered on, making the snow on the ground sparkle and shine. There’s a thick layer of it coating everything.
The first official snowfall of Hershey, Pennsylvania.
In the past, Buck had thought it pretty. The flakes covering everything and creating this beautiful serenity of silence. A brand new world made of ice.
But tonight, Buck hates it.
He hates the thick layer that has fallen while he was trapped inside a shell of what tries to pass as a home. He hates that the snow is trapping him from running away again. He hates that it’s cold and wet and the stupid tires on his rental car won’t catch and let him drive.
Most of all, Buck hates that he’s alone.
He shifts the gear into park, the engine that had been trying to rev forward settling into a calmer state, accepting its defeat to the snow. There aren’t any other cars on the street anyways, so he’s not worried about being parked in the middle.
No one is stupid enough to drive during the first snowfall.
Except for him apparently.
The heat continues to pour out of the vents, keeping the chill at bay. He’d turned off the radio the moment he’d turned the engine on, the noise too much of a reminder of the voices that had sliced into his skin with cruelty.
Voices that belonged to his mother and father.
Why, oh why did he agree to come back here?
This isn’t home. This isn’t his family. Maddie has Chimney now. She didn’t need Buck to be at her side. Especially with how their parents dote on her and her children.
Buck was nothing but a body taking up space and not completing any task demanded of him correctly.
With the adrenaline quickly seeping out of his body, Buck can feel the tears rushing to his eyes, blurring the world around him.
He rubs at his face, clearing his vision, and fumbles for his phone that he’d thought to grab.
In a few taps, the speakers echo the sound of ringing, and a few seconds later, the call connects.
“Hey. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you for another hour.” Eddie’s voice is a balm against open wounds invisible to the eye. And it snaps the last bit of restraint Buck has over his emotions.
“I hate them.” He chokes out, tears falling steadily down his cheek. “I hate them so much.”
“Oh, baby…” Eddie’s tone is soft and tender. The term of endearment slips out but neither point it out. Instead, Buck latches onto it. Wraps it tightly around himself like a child would with their blanket. “Where are you?”
“I,” Buck hiccups around a small sob, “I d-don’t know. Middle of the st-street somewhere.”
“What?!” Eddie’s voice turns sharp for a moment and Buck shakes his head even though Eddie can’t see him.
“I’m in my car. I had to l-leave. But I got stuck stupid s-snow.”
The sound of Eddie’s relieved sigh is prominent in the car. “But you’re safe?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.” Eddie replies, “Now come home.”
“But…”
“But what, Buck? You don’t want to go back there. You didn’t even want to go on this trip in the first place! They don’t…they don’t love you the way you should be loved. The way you deserve to be loved.” Eddie’s voice is firm. Clear. Steady. “I want you to come home. I want you back here so I can hold you and hug you and show you what love really is. And you aren’t ever going back there again.”
“My stuff.” Buck mumbles weakly, like that even matters.
“Clothes can be replaced. Or Maddie can bring them back. I don’t care about stuff, Evan. I care about you.”
Buck bites his lip, muffling the fresh sob that claws its way up his throat. “I’m still stuck. First snowfall. Roads are shit.”
“So we’ll call a snowplow or a tow or something.” Eddie isn’t backing down. He truly means what he’s said. “Anything to get you back to me.”
“I hate the snow.”
“Me too. Fuck the snow.”
Buck, shockingly, bursts out in a laugh. “Have you even been in snow?”
“Texas can get snow!”
“Okay.”
“You don’t do well in cold weather anyways. You’re much more suited to warm weather. Like in LA.”
“Yeah. I am.” Buck wipes the wetness away from his cheeks. “I wanna come home.”
“Then come home, baby. Please.”
“I’m on my way.” Buck flicks on the wipers, clearing the window of the snow that’s fallen while he’s sat here, and shifts the car into drive. “Stay on the phone with me?”
“Until the flight attendant makes you hang up so the plane doesn’t crash.” Eddie promises.
Buck smiles as he puts his foot to the gas, relieved when the car lurches forward, tires finding friction amongst the heavy snow. “I’ll be home soon.”
“I can’t wait.”
