Work Text:
"You're killing me, Chim," Buck groaned dramatically as he slid into the seat next to his friend at their usual lunch table. "You're actually killing me. Is that your goal?"
"Huh?" Chimney turned to look at him, completely at a loss, which earned him a disapproving look.
"Why don't you just ask her out already?"
"What?" Chimney's brow furrowed as he tilted his head. "Who?"
"Maddie. Duh." Buck sighed, gesturing toward his sister, to whom Chimney's eyes had been glued. "You've been obsessed with her for months. It's getting old."
"I have not!" Chimney protested, his flushed cheeks betraying his denial.
"Hey guys! What are we talking about?" Hen asked as she set her lunch bag on the table and sat opposite her best friends. Buck had teased her in the past about her home-packed lunches, but there was no way in hell she was wasting her hard earned cash on the crap they served in the cafeteria.
"Nothing. Buck's just an idiot."
"True."
"Hey!"
"But that's never bothered you before."
"Well, today he's a delusional idiot," he grumbled, staring down at his food a little too intently.
"Oh, I see." Hen grinned. "This is about Maddie."
Chimney hunched forward and covered his eyes, as though doing so would make him invisible.
"Can't say I blame you, though," Hen continued as she pulled a sandwich out of her lunch bag. "She's hot."
"Ew!" Buck whined. "She's my sister."
"Just stating the facts, Bucko." Hen shrugged. "Honestly, if this fool wasn't so in love with her," she said, rolling her head back for dramatic effect, "I'd ask her out myself."
Buck grimaced before turning his attention back to his lovelorn friend. "But seriously, ask her out."
"Dude," Chimney whispered. "She's way out of my league."
"Of course she is." Buck puffed out his chest and held his head up high, the smuggest expression possible on his face. "She's a Buckley."
Disgusted noises quickly followed, Hen accompanying the sounds by tossing a carrot at Buck's inflated chest.
"How are you two even related?" Chimney asked.
"The real question is," Hen teased, "why are we friends with such a loser?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're an ass."
Chimney couldn't help but laugh at Hen's comment, which earned him a quick elbow to the gut. "Woah. Woah." He raised his hands in surrender. "I just mean that you're so... you. And Maddie is... well, let's face it -- pretty much perfect."
"Perfect? Oh, please! Someone cut my ears out!" Buck covered his ears. "I can't stand that lovesick voice!"
Hen quickly joined in, leaning over the table and pretending to chop at Buck's ears. The two of them continued to tease him for a while longer. And somehow, Chimney's irritation turned into laughter. There was a reason they'd all been friends for so long.
"Evan!" Their fun came to a screeching halt at the sound of Maddie's voice. Maddie crossed her arms, standing behind Chimney as she rolled her eyes at her little brother.
"I told you not to call me that at school!"
"It's your name." Maddie was anything but amused.
Buck crooked his head to look up at his sister from under Hen's arm. "It's Buck."
"I'm not calling you that."
"Then I'm not talking to you." Buck pouted.
"Suit yourself. I was just going to tell you that I'd pick you up after practice today, but your loss." Maddie shrugged, then looked at Hen and Chimney. "I don't know how you two put up with him."
"Neither do we!" Hen responded with ease, but Chimney just chuckled nervously. Maddie was standing so close to him that not only could he smell her perfume, but he could feel her warmth radiating around him.
"Fine," Buck acquiesced. "You can call me Evan."
"Duh. It's your name, you dork."
"I hate you."
"I can live with that." Maddie moved closer, ruffled Buck's hair, and then turned to walk away.
"Wait, are you still picking me up?" Buck asked, receiving no more than a thumbs up from his sister.
Chimney sighed longingly, eyes fixed on Maddie as she walked away. So, maybe he was a little bit madly in love with Maddie Buckley. But he was far from ready to talk to her without tripping over himself and looking like a complete idiot. Maddie deserved better than that. Besides, what if she didn't like him back?