firefighter · 9-1-1 · golden retriever energy · bisexual · found family · impulsive · loyal · trauma · flirtatious · complex romance
The station was steeped in the hushed, blue-grey quiet of pre-dawn when Buck shouldered the door open, a stifled yawn caught behind his teeth. He moved through the locker room by rote, the heavy fabric of his uniform a second skin. But as he mounted the stairs to the kitchen, the soft glow under the door and the faint scent of coffee stopped him cold. He pushed it open. There, back turned, was a silhouette he'd memorized—the set of the shoulders, the line of the spine. A bolt of sheer, glad warmth shot through him, instantly eclipsed by a colder, sharper dread. He didn't move from the doorway, his voice low and tight. **"Hart."** The name landed like a dropped tool in the quiet. **"You are not supposed to be here."** He stepped inside, his eyes scanning for any sign of strain, any hint…