Chapter Text
Buck and Daniel had just finished their freshmen year and they went to the bonfire at the falls to celebrate. They saw Maddie there with Doug, but Buck quickly lost track of her as he lost himself to the party.
He was drinking and making out with whoever he saw. He tried to kiss Karen, too, but she laughed it off and reminded him he wasn’t her type.
“You’re drunk,” Daniel said.
“I’m fine,” Buck smiled, “Lighten up! It’s a party!”
“And we’re under-aged,” Daniel pointed out.
“Perfect little Daniel never wanting to disappoint mom and dad,” Buck laughed. And he was so drunk he didn’t notice how that comment chaffed Daniel.
“I’m getting Maddie and we’re leaving,” Daniel said.
“I don’t want to leave!” Buck complained, but Daniel wasn’t going to let him out of his sight now.
They searched for Maddie, but couldn’t find her. So Daniel pulled out his phone.
“Who are you calling?” Buck asked.
“I’m calling a ride.”
“Noooo! You’re calling mom and dad!” Buck complained.
It was confirmed when he heard Daniel talking on the phone. He was already being pulled away from the party to wait for their parents in the parking lot.
They got in the car and their dad was yelling and their mom was trying to calm him down, but Buck was suddenly really tired and decided to go to sleep. The next thing he knew the car was swerving and they went off the bridge and ended up in the water. He had no idea how he ended up on the riverbank while the rest of his family drowned in the car. After that night, he knew his life would never be the same.
***
Maddie and Buck spent the summer after the accident helping their Uncle Bobby sell his house, pack up, and move to Shadow Falls. With the two of them still in school, he thought it was best for them to be in a familiar environment. Maddie only had one year left and Buck had three. He didn’t want to think about going to school without his brother.
That summer they also went to therapy- both as a family and him on his own. His therapist suggested starting a diary to help him sort through his feelings, so the morning before returning to school, he started writing.
I don’t really want to face my friends today. I stopped talking to them after the accident- I haven’t even seen them since the funeral. Will they want to talk to me? Do I want them to? Everything is different now.
Daniel was my rock- he kept me focused. What am I supposed to do without him?
Buck looked at the time and realized he had to get moving now if he wanted breakfast before leaving.
Bobby was at the stove in the kitchen and Maddie was already eating, “I’m staying after for cheer practice.”
“You’re still doing that this year?” Buck asked.
“I’m the captain,” Maddie said, “I’m being scouted for scholarships.”
“A scholarship for waving pompoms in the air?”
“Don’t be an ass- you know it’s more than that,” Maddie rolled her eyes.
“I know today is going to be hard,” Bobby said, “But I want you guys to call me if you need anything- I’ll be there.”
“Thanks Bobby,” they both said and then they were off for school.
“Are you going to catch a ride home with someone or wait for me?” Maddie asked.
Buck shrugged, “I think I’ll play it by ear, but I’ll let you know.”
“Hey, I know it was always you and Daniel against the world, and I had always been jealous of that,” Maddie grabbed Buck’s arm to stop him from leaving the car, “Just know, it can be us against the world, too.”
Buck smiled and held out his pinky and Maddie hooked her pinky around his, “Us against the world.”
Buck went to his locker to test the combination and then he looked at his class schedule. He had chemistry first, which he had always loved. He had been internally bemoaning how far away lunch was when he saw someone lean against the locker next to his.
“Well hello, stranger,” Taylor said, “Where have you been all summer?”
“I’m not in the mood,” Buck said.
Taylor pouted, “You haven’t been in the mood since the bonfire.”
“His family died that night! How are you this insensitive?” Suddenly Shannon was there.
Shannon and Taylor used to be best friends, but drifted apart when Shannon’s mom- her only family- died of cancer last year and she was taken in by Mayor Diaz’s family.
Taylor huffed and walked away.
“Sorry about her. She was the same with me last year,” Shannon said.
“So she was also thirsting after your dick despite your world being upended?” Buck asked.
Shannon laughed, “God, I needed that.”
Buck was smiling and laughing for the first time in months, “Yeah. Me too.”
He and Shannon had never really been close. He had offered condolences last year and they were on friendly terms. But now it was clear that he and Shannon could understand each other in a way that the other kids in school couldn’t.
“What do you have first?” Buck asked.
“Chemistry,” And then Shannon’s eyes caught on something, “Speaking of chemistry.”
Buck looked up to see two unfamiliar guys walking down the hallway. They were both tall, but the one who was slightly shorter had tanned skin and dark brown hair and he was wearing a well fitted grey t-shirt and jeans. The other man had light brown hair, the bluest eyes Buck had ever seen, a cleft in his chin, massive muscles. He was wearing a red henley and jeans. The two guys walked into the school office and both Buck and Shannon (and the rest of the school) tracked their movements.
“New students?” Shannon asked.
“I guess so.”
“Maybe the new meat will finally get Taylor to leave you alone.”
“Yeah,” Buck said. But that idea didn’t sit right with him. He didn’t want to see Taylor hanging all over those guys.
The two of them finally pulled their eyes away from the new guys and made their way to chemistry class. When he arrived, he saw Karen at a table in the back glaring daggers at Hen and Eva who were in the front.
“You alright Karen?” Buck asked.
“She deserves so much better,” Karen said, “Eva insisted on being Hen’s partner ‘because she needed the help’ but I know it’s just an excuse for her to flirt.”
Buck sighed and took a seat next to Karen. When she gave him a weird look, she responded, “If we’re both miserable, we might as well be miserable together.”
Shannon took a seat at the open table right in front of them, “I wonder who I’ll get as a partner.”
Everyone who came in avoided Shannon’s table and Buck knew if he wasn’t sitting with Karen they would be doing the same with him. Kids didn’t know how to deal with loss- they would avoid it if they could. And then one of the new guys walked in.
“Everyone, we have a new student- Eddie Diaz,” Miss Clark said, “Please make him feel welcome. Eddie, you can take the open seat next to Shannon.”
“Diaz- are you related to mayor Diaz?” Shannon asked.
“Maybe distantly, but no relation to my knowledge. It’s a common last name,” Eddie said. He gave her a charming smile and Buck could see Shannon practically melting under the attention.
Miss Clark quickly got the class under control and then went over the syllabus and proper lab protocols. Overall it was a boring day in the way most first days of school were.
His last class before lunch was history and that was the first class of the day Buck had with him- the other new guy. Eddie was in the class, too and Shannon was already sitting next to him. The other new guy was behind Eddie, so Buck went to sit behind Shannon, but Taylor already beat him to that spot. He ended up sitting in front of Shannon and tried to ignore Taylor’s attempts at flirting with the new guy.
“What’s your name?” Taylor asked.
“Tommy.” It was a short response- borderline rude, but still technically socially acceptable.
“So, Tommy, I’m the editor for the school paper. I was hoping to interview you for it. Why don’t we get coffee after school?”
“Pass.”
Buck couldn’t help his laugh. Taylor thought she was everyone’s type- he himself had been wrapped around her finger last year- so it was kind of nice to see someone putting her in her place.
The next thing he knew Taylor was standing next to him, “Switch with me, Buckley.”
“Things not going well with Tommy?” Buck asked.
“You’re an ass.”
Buck chuckled as he got up and took the seat he had initially wanted in the class. He gave Tommy a small smile before Mrs. Hathaway started class, “As you can see, I am very pregnant. Once this little one comes, you will have a long term sub for the rest of the semester.”
After the announcement, Mrs. Hathaway started the typical first day spiel and Buck couldn’t help but steal a glance at Tommy. There was something about him that was nigging at his brain- like he had seen him somewhere before, but he couldn’t place it.
At the end of class, Tommy tried to make a break for it, but Eddie held him back with the group.
“Are you all heading to lunch?” Eddie asked.
“Yeah, do you want to join us?” Shannon smiled.
And that was how Buck ended up on the lawn with Shannon, Eddie, Tommy, and Karen. It was a strange group. On the other side of the lawn, Buck could see Maddie with Doug. He had hoped they would break up after everything happened, but it seemed to have only brought them closer together.
“So, what brings you to Shadow Falls?” Shannon asked.
“We have family in the area,” Eddie answered.
“Both of you?” Buck asked. Because looking at the two guys, he wouldn’t have guessed they were related.
“Same mother,” Tommy said.
Even as half brothers, Buck didn’t see the resemblance. There were no common features- but maybe they each got different parts of their mother’s genetics- maybe they both leaned more towards looking like their fathers.
“So, what’s there to do in this town?” Eddie asked.
“Well, there’s Shadow Tavern downtown that had pool tables and darts- other games like that,” Karen said, “A lot of people hang out there. Football is also a big thing here, so going to games is essential- even if you aren’t connected to anyone on the team. There’s the homecoming party and any other parties that come up.”
“Sounds thrilling,” Tommy monotoned.
And Buck couldn’t help but laugh, “Small town life not for you?”
Tommy shrugged, “It used to be.”
Suddenly Taylor was sitting right next to Buck, “So, Buck, are you rejoining the football team this year?”
“No.”
“But you were the only freshman to make varsity last year! You have to!”
“I don’t have to do anything, Taylor.”
Taylor pouted and Buck rolled his eyes. He wasn’t dealing with this today. He got up and left the group- choosing to spend the rest of his lunch break in the library. He sat down and pulled out the biography he was reading about Henrietta Lacks when he realized someone sat across from him. Buck peered over the top of his book to see it was Tommy. Furrowing his brow, Buck tried to pull his attention back to his book, but he could feel Tommy’s eyes on him. So, after marking his page and setting his book down, he turned his attention to the other man.
“Can I help you?” Buck asked.
Tommy shrugged, “I didn’t want to be out there either.”
“I used to love being around people.”
“What changed?” Tommy asked.
“Everything.”
Tommy just nodded and didn’t ask for an explanation. It was nice- there was no expectation to be who he used to be. Tommy didn’t think he should still be sad or that he should be over everything by now. Kind of like Shannon- this was a clean slate.
“Are you going to the football game this weekend?” Tommy asked.
Buck shrugged- he knew Maddie would probably drag him along so he wasn’t sitting at home alone, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go.
“I heard it’s the place to be and I could use some company.”
“Y-yeah,” Buck said.
“Good. So Saturday,” Tommy smiled. The bell rang.
“Saturday,” Buck echoed.
Buck didn’t see Tommy for the rest of the day, but he did have classes with Eddie, Shannon, Taylor, Hen, and Eva. When the school day was done, he sat on the bleachers to wait for Maddie to be done with cheer practice. He pulled out his book and settled in, but then a shadow took away the sunlight.
“What are you still doing here?” Tommy asked.
“Waiting for my ride.”
“Or you could show me around town,” Tommy offered.
Buck gave him a curious look, but ultimately agreed. The school wasn’t that far from the center of town, so he pointed out different shops along the way and they ended up at Shadow Grill where they went inside to get a drink and play some pool. He texted Maddie where he was so she wouldn’t worry and then just enjoyed his time with Tommy.
“Why did I only see you in history?” Buck asked.
“I’m actually a senior, but I already had world history and American history on my transcript,” Tommy explained.
“Ah, so you got stuck with local history.”
“Exactly,” Tommy said, “And I’m curious as to how a small town like this can have an entire class devoted to its history.”
“A small town is the perfect place for a class like that,” Buck said, “Shadow Falls has an annual Founders Day celebration and a Founders Ball. There’s a museum and a historical society. And a lot of the founding families are still here.”
“Really? Like who?” Tommy asked.
“Well, there’s Mayor Diaz’s family,” Buck started, “And the Wilson’s- not Hen Wilson’s family, Karen Wilson. It gets confusing, but it’s a common last name. The Kendal’s- my sister’s boyfriend is a Kendal. There’s the Martin’s- that’s Taylor’s family, but she’s trying to distance herself from them and use her middle name as her last name. If you call her a Martin she will verbally rip you to shreds. And then there’s my family- the Buckley’s.”
Tommy gave him a considering look, “I think you’re forgetting one.”
“No I’m not. I was listing the ones who are still around,” Buck said, “There was one more- the Kinard family. But their only child died in a fire that almost took out the whole town.”
“If the Kinard family is gone, then who runs the Kinard boarding house?” Tommy asked.
“That old place on the edge of town that never has boarders?” Buck scoffed, “That was just named in honor of the Kinard’s to remember them as part of our history.”
“If you say so, you know more than I do about all this.”
Tommy was lying. Somehow he knew Tommy was lying. But why would the new guy know about a long dead Shadow Falls family?
Maddie showed up not long after that and they went home, but Buck couldn’t get Tommy out of his mind. They were in the middle of dinner when Bobby snapped him out of it.
“Earth to Buck!” It clearly wasn’t the first time Bobby had been trying to get his attention.
“Yeah, what were you saying?” Buck asked.
“I was saying that if you aren’t going to be on the football team this year, then you have to get a job.”
“What? Maddie doesn’t have to get a job!” Buck complained.
“Maddie is cheer captain and a member of HOSA,” Bobby said, “She’s also already applied to colleges and is well prepared for her future. If you aren’t going to be involved in extra curriculars, I want you doing something productive.”
“What happened to fun Uncle Bobby?” Buck knew he was being a brat. He knew this was a low blow, but he couldn’t help the words from falling out of his mouth.
“I can’t take care of you and be the fun uncle at the same time,” Bobby said, more kindly than Buck felt he deserved, “I’m sorry it had to go this way, kid.”
The following week went by in a flash. Buck spent his days after school applying to different places around town and he interviewed at Shadow Grill as a bus boy. And then Saturday came and Buck was meeting Tommy outside of the field so they could sit together.
They ended up finding Shannon and Eddie already on the bleachers and joined them. Buck expected to miss playing when he watched the game, but ultimately found he didn’t. He had never been close with the other guys on the team, and as the only freshman on varsity he was mostly a bench warmer. It was much more fun to sit with his friends and have a good time.
Over the stadium, the full moon shined brightly- the perfect early fall night to spend outside. It was peaceful and enjoyable until someone from the opposing team ran into Doug and Doug started a fight. It would have seemed out of the blue if Buck wasn’t already familiar with Doug’s temper- it was why he hated that he and Maddie were in a relationship. Every time he looked at her he was assessing for injuries and thankfully so far he hadn’t seen any, but he knew it was only a matter of time.
Doug was kicked out of the game and whatever lead they had was gone. Buck and his classmates filed out with the defeat hanging over their heads. When they got to the parking lot, they saw Doug yelling at Maddie as if it was her fault that they lost and not his. Buck saw Doug raise his hand to slap Maddie, but suddenly Tommy was at her side, holding Doug’s wrist just inches from Maddie’s face.
“You will not harm Maddie,” Tommy said.
There was something eerie about the way Doug’s hand just dropped after that.
“Are you okay?” Tommy asked Maddie and then Buck was rushing forward and wrapping her in a hug. She was crying softly into his shoulder.
“Let’s get you home.” Buck started leading her through the parking lot to her car.
He heard some shuffling behind him and then Tommy’s voice saying, “Let them go.” It was the same strange way of speaking he did when Doug tried to hit Maddie.
Buck shook his head and tried to focus on getting his sister home safely. Maddie gave him the keys and he drove home.
Maddie settled on the couch and Buck went to make them hot chocolate, but when he went back into the living room she was already asleep. Then there was a knock on their door.
“Now’s not the time Doug-” But his words died on his lips when he saw Tommy on the other side of the door.
“I just wanted to make sure you were both okay,” Tommy said.
Buck smiled, “A little shaken, but good. Thank you.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“I made hot chocolate, but Maddie’s already asleep,” Buck said, “It’s a nice night- we could drink it on the porch.”
“That sounds great.”
Buck grabbed the mugs and joined Tommy outside.
“Thank you for helping her tonight,” Buck handed him the mug.
“Of course- no one deserves to be treated like that,” Tommy said, “Had that happened before?”
“I don’t think so,” Buck said, “But Doug has always kind of been like that. I think it’s only gotten worse lately.”
Tommy frowned, “Well, it’s good that she has you to look out for her.”
“Yeah. It’s me and Maddie against the world,” Buck said wistfully.
“Siblings have a special bond.”
“Are you and Eddie close?” Buck asked.
“Yeah, we are,” Tommy said, “We grew up together- best friends. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
“It’s nice to have someone like that- who you can rely on,” Buck said.
Their conversation turned to more trivial things as they sipped their hot cocoa. Buck was in the middle of animatedly talking about something he had seen on the Discovery channel recently when suddenly Tommy’s lips were on his and Buck was returning the kiss.
But then just as suddenly as the kiss started, Tommy pulled away and wouldn’t even look at Buck- his whole body turned.
“Tommy-”
“You should go inside, Evan.”
Buck felt whiplash from how hot and cold Tommy was running, so he didn’t fight it, “Goodnight, Tommy.”
He grabbed the two mugs and walked back inside- locking the door behind him.