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“I still can’t believe you’re leaving me!” Buck whines, for what is probably the tenth time today alone, as he leans back against the locker beside Eddie’s.
Eddie rolls his eyes – the same response he’s given Buck each time he’s complained – and fixes him with an exasperated look. “It’s for a week.”
“For now.” Buck interrupts. “That’s how they get you. They say it’s just for a week and then it’s “Eddie, will you cover this shift? Eddie, can you stay on for another week or, hell, a month.”
Eddie scoffs light-heartedly, buttoning up his LAFD shirt. “I’m not going to be gone for a month, Buck. I wouldn’t do that to Hen.” Buck splutters, looking more than a little offended, and Eddie laughs. “She’d kill me if I left her to deal with you on her own.”
“Uh- firstly, rude.” Buck says, pressing his hand to his heart in signature dramatic Buck fashion. “Secondly, what am I? Chopped liver?”
“Oh, please. I’m sure you can’t wait to be the most attractive member of the team again. I know your ego has been slowly shrivelling up ever since I joined.”
Eddie probably deserves the (rather harsh) shoulder bump he gets in response to that.
He chuckles to himself, slamming his locker shut, and leans his back against the cool metal to face Buck – who’s now moved to stand in front of Eddie.
There’s a small smile playing at the edges of Buck’s mouth, a glint of something fond dancing in his eyes that has Eddie’s breath hitching. “You’ve grown damn sure of yourself since we met.” Buck teases, stepping closer- and, is it hot in here? Eddie sure feels hot. It doesn’t help when Buck’s smile spreads, pearly white teeth making themselves known. “It’s all those single moms that keep flirting with you on calls, isn’t it?” Buck asks, a slight edge to his playful tone even as he leans forward, the faces literal breadths apart as he reaches a hand up to smooth Eddie’s hair down. “There. Can’t have you looking bad on your first shift.”
Eddie swallows, forcing his eyes to hold Buck’s gaze and not stray down to his lips – his lips, that are inches away from Eddie’s and so, so easy to brush up into if he just had the guts.
He shakes his head. “No.” he says, choosing to respond to Buck’s earlier question and not think about how Buck is quite literally trying to make him look his best for his first day with B Shift. When Buck quirks his eyebrow, head tilted to the side in a silent question, Eddie continues, “It’s not the single moms.” And, because two can play at whatever game they’re currently engaged in, Eddie prods a finger to Buck’s chest and pushes him back as he steps forward. He smirks, not missing the way Buck’s own eyes drop down momentarily, and says, “You didn’t deny it, when I said I was the most attractive one on the team.”
It has the desired effect; Buck stands there, mouth opening and closing in his best impression of a fish out of water, and Eddie laughs loud enough for it to echo throughout the locker room. He sees someone walking by outside send him a mildly concerned look but he can’t find it within himself to care.
“I hate you.” Buck finally says as Eddie finishes tying up his boots but his voice is soft and warm so it sounds more like an ‘I love you’ that has Eddie smiling into his collar. “You’re the worst. The absolute worst.”
Straightening up, Eddie sends Buck the best shit-eating grin that he can muster up. “I am.” he agrees, stepping forward again to brush dirt (yes, it’s definitely there, Eddie isn’t imagining it at all. Shut up.) off of Buck’s chest. “Shouldn’t you get going?” he asks then, eyes catching a glimpse of the time from Buck’s watch. “Christopher will nearly be finishing school.”
Buck snaps into action at the reminder, clicking his fingers together in some sort of silent acknowledgement, and he curses under his breath. “This is your fault.” he tells Eddie as he shoves his own uniform into his duffle bag. Eddie snorts.
“How is this my fault?”
“You distracted me!”
“Mhm,” Eddie folds his arms over his chest and watches as Buck pats down his jacket to make sure he hasn’t forgotten anything. “Shut up and get gone.”
“Wow,” Buck gives his eyes an exaggerative roll but his grin ruins the annoyed effect he’s going for, “tell me how you really feel.” Hooking the keys to his Jeep with his index finger, the little duck keyring that Christopher gave him last Christmas clanging loudly against the metal, Buck goes to pass by Eddie before stopping, his free hand coming to rest on Eddie’s shoulder. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, it’s lasagne for dinner. I’ll save you a plate; I know it’s one of your favourites.”
And Eddie’s stomach definitely doesn’t flutter weirdly like he’s some love-struck teenage girl just because his best friend remembers what food he likes to eat. That’s a completely normal thing for Buck to remember. Eddie’s heart has no right speeding up the way that it is.
Except-
Except Buck then leans in and, in a blink and you’ll miss it kind of way, presses his lips to Eddie’s cheek before taking off out of the locker room fast enough that Eddie is surprised there isn’t a trail of dust following him out.
Eddie gets about two minutes to himself to simply attempt to process what the fuck just happened before the door is bursting open and someone is shouting his name. With a supressed sigh, and a head full of way too many confusing thoughts that frankly can be dealt with later and not whilst he’s at work, Eddie turns around and greets the guy standing in the doorway with a smile.
“You okay, man?” the guy asks. He’s blond and has a smile that could put Buck’s to shame, and he regards Eddie with a curious look. Eddie nods, wiping his clammy palms down the front of his trousers.
“Yeah, I’m good.” Eddie waves his concern off and is glad when the guy doesn’t push the matter any further. He offers a hand out to him. “I’m Eddie Diaz.”
The guy laughs, bright and cheerful, and takes the hand only to pull Eddie into a quick, back-slapping hug. “I know who you are, man! Everyone does. I’m Callum but I usually go by-”
“Cal.” Eddie cuts in with a knowing smile.
“Oh.” Cal looks taken aback and Eddie smirks.
“Ravi may have mentioned you once or twice.” Eddie tells him as he follows him out and towards the stairs, where the rest of the B Shift team will be waiting. And Cal might be in front of Eddie but that doesn’t mean that Eddie can’t tell that he is absolutely blushing furiously right now.
Also, the way that he trips up a step is a huge giveaway.
Eddie bites the inside of his cheek, making a mental note to tell Hen she totally lost their bet when he returns to the A Shift.
His smugness doesn’t last long.
As they reach the loft, a group of mostly unfamiliar faces turning his way out of curiosity, Cal sends a smile over his shoulder and asks, “So, was your husband rushing off to pick your kid up from school?”
Eddie looks behind him and debates the pros and cons of just throwing himself over the railing.
But he can already picture the unimpressed look on Buck’s face when he comes to visit him in the hospital so he, reluctantly, decides against it.
“Oh, he’s not-” Eddie goes to correct because he and Buck aren’t even dating, let alone married, but he never gets to finish his sentence because suddenly there’s two other people by his side, a woman with curly red hair bouncing excitedly and a shorter guy who looks fondly exasperated as he tugs on the woman’s arm in a vain attempt to calm her down.
“This is Jazmyn and Theo.” Cal informs him with a sweeping hand that gets batted away by the guy- Theo.
“I can introduce my own damn self.” Theo scoffs, and then turns to smile at Eddie. “Hey, Eddie, right?” Eddie nods, silently wondering how everyone seems to know his name but he barely knows anyone up here. Mostly, he recognises faces he’s seen in passing between shifts. “Glad to have you on the team.” Theo pats him on the back and adds, “Although, you’ve got some big shoes to fill; Madeline is one hell of a firefighter.”
Madeline is the woman Eddie’s covering this week (and possibly more in the future, but don’t tell Buck that) whilst she’s on maternity leave and Bobby finds someone more permanent to take her place for the next few months. He’s heard plenty about her and the daring stunts she pulls on calls. In a way, she reminds him of a younger, female version of Buck.
With a laugh, lifting up one foot and giving it a bit of a wiggle, Eddie says, “Good job I’ve got big feet then.”
The trio around him break out into laughter and Eddie’s grin widens, tension he hadn’t been aware he was carrying easing from his shoulders a little.
Theo squeezes his shoulder once, sharing a quick look with his teammates, and nods at Eddie in a rather final sort of way. “You’re gonna fit in just fine with us.”
Theo was right; by the end of the shift Eddie feels like he’s known the team for years.
He supposes that shouldn’t be that surprising. They’re a part of the 118, at the end of the day, each member handpicked by Bobby (a man who doesn’t play around when it comes to making sure his team are more a family than just work friends).
And a family they really are, Eddie realises, as they travel back to the station in the truck with the euphoric feeling that comes from a good call and the knowledge that they’re all finally going home after this lingering in the air. Zeke, one of B Shift’s newest members, is currently dozing with his head resting on Eddie’s shoulder. Jo and Cal are bickering about sitcoms that Eddie has never even heard of. And Eddie is crowding over Jazmyn’s phone (whilst being careful not to jostle Zeke awake) as he and Theo help her pick out what dog she should adopt.
“That one.” Theo says, pointing at a Dalmatian that goes scrolling by.
“No. He looks too big.” Eddie says, “He’d end up taking over your whole bed and you’d be the one sleeping on the floor.”
Jazmyn points her finger at him and nods. “Point.”
Theo tuts and Eddie shoots him a smug smirk.
“Awe!” Jazmyn stops her scrolling and clicks on the profile of a small Jack Russell. The screen takes a moment to load but when it does it reveals a rather cute looking dog (if Eddie does say so himself, despite being more partial to cats), his left ear crooked and tongue lolling out. The dog almost appears to be smiling up at them. “What about him?”
“He’s cute.” Eddie admits, and even Theo can’t dispute that.
“Oh my Gods, wait,” Jazmyn squints down at her phone to read the background information about the dog and, as she finishes, she lets out a muffled squeal that has Zeke groaning in his sleep. Theo swats her arm and she rolls her eyes, ignoring him to carry on, “It says he was rescued from a house fire. The owners left him alone to go on vacation. The poor little guy! But also, isn’t that just perfect?!”
“What? Why?” Eddie asks incredulously.
Jazmyn gives him an exasperated look, nudging his ribs with her elbow. For a small girl, she sure is feisty. It’s the red hair.
“He was saved from a fire!” Jazmyn says, eyes widening as she waits for Eddie to understand.
“Oh!” Jazmyn grins, nodding her head vigorously.
“It’s a sign from the universe!”
Eddie has to bite his lip to prevent himself from telling her that the universe doesn’t send signs. Especially not about what shelter dog to adopt.
“I’m gonna get him.” she says decisively, tapping something into her phone at lightning speed. Eddie chuckles and leans back into his seat, deciding that he’s still got enough time before they get back to just rest his eyes for a moment.
“Yo, Diaz!” Jo shouts from the kitchen. Eddie leans his head over the back of the couch from where he’d been playing (and losing miserably) a game of Mario Kart with Zeke. “You wanna take some of your meds before we go out there today?”
Eddie frowns, the game now forgotten. “Meds? I don’t have any meds.”
“Uh- you sure about that?” Jo asks, pulling a small white box out from the medicine cabinet they keep upstairs. “These are yours, aren’t they? Or do we have another Diaz at the station?”
With a huff, and a quick apologetic smile to Zeke, Eddie pushes himself up from the couch. Cal looks up from his book, glancing between Eddie and the TV before folding his current page over and dropping it to his side. “Gimme!” he tells Eddie, making grabby hands for his controller, and Eddie rolls his eyes as he passes it over. “I am gonna whoop your ass, Z.”
“Oh, yeah? I’d like to see you try.” Zeke says, quitting the current race and putting it onto Rainbow Road, eliciting a pained groan from Cal.
Eddie shakes his head at the two of them, making his way over to Jo. “I literally have no idea what you’re talking abou-” he pauses as he reaches the kitchen counter, finally able to read the label of the box in Jo’s hands. “Oh.”
“Pollen levels are up today, I saw the warning.” Jo tells him, sliding the box of hayfever tablets over to him with a sympathetic look. “My brother has it, pretty bad actually. You better take these.”
Eddie flushes, hand automatically coming up to rub at the back of his neck. “Yeah, uh-” He wets his lip, eyes lingering over the white label stuck to the front of the box with ‘Diaz’ printed across it. He pushes the tablets back her way. “These aren’t mine. I don’t have hayfever.”
Jo gives him a look like she thinks he’s lost his mind and, honestly, Eddie isn’t too convinced that she’s wrong. “O-kay,” she says, drawing it out as she picks the box up again and goes to throw it back in to the medicine cabinet. “Well, if they’re not yours then whose are they?”
“They’re uh,” Eddie lets out a weak laugh, “they’re Buck’s.”
“Buck’s?”
“Yeah. Big, tall, golden retriever idiot from A Shift? He suffers pretty badly with hayfever but the usual tablets don’t really work for him.”
“So, help me out here, Diaz. Your boy suffers from hayfever and you have his tablets stored up here? Why?” Eddie tries not to think too hard about Jo calling Buck his boy because if he focuses on the way his heart flutters at that he might actually have another mental breakdown. And Frank would just fucking love that, wouldn’t he?
“Well, you see, Julian also gets hayfever and he has a habit of taking Buck’s meds because Buck can’t say no to people.” Eddie shrugs, trying to keep his expression neutral for fear that he might somehow give too much away. “If everyone thinks they’re mine, they won’t get taken.”
The next few seconds pass painfully slowly as Jo watches him with a scrutinising look in her eyes. Eventually, though, she shakes her head. “You are one strange man.” she sighs, sounding resigned to the fact that she’ll never truly understand Eddie’s actions. In all fairness, Eddie isn’t sure he understands half of them himself.
He laughs, not bothering to deny it, and walks around to join her on the other side of the counter. “You want a coffee?” he asks and she sends him a grateful smile, nodding before she goes back to finding whatever meds she was originally looking for.
“Two sugars, no milk!” Cal shouts from the couch and Eddie scoffs. He grabs another mug anyways.
“You’ve gotta come back to us soon, Eddie.” Hen is telling him as he changes into his uniform. She’s packing up her stuff, still waiting on Chim before she leaves, and has been complaining non-stop about how things haven’t been the same with him gone ever since Eddie stepped into the locker room. Not that he minds too much; it’s nice to be missed.
“I’ve been gone three days, Hen. I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
Hen huffs. “Oh, it’s bad. Buck’s insufferable without you! Did he tell you about yesterday?”
Eddie straightens. “Yesterday?” he asks, racking his brain as he tries to recall Buck mentioning anything about his shift last night during their phone call (that definitely didn’t last over three hours, it was a perfectly normal, ‘checking to find out where Buck had put the laundry detergent’ sort of phone call’, thank you very much).
Hen actually looks sheepish at that as she realises that she’s probably dropped Buck in it now. The guilt doesn’t last long, though, and she dives into a rushed explanation. “Okay, so – and you didn’t hear this from me,” Eddie shakes his head, zipping his lips in a promise that he won’t tell, “Buck may or may not have almost, slightly, gotten trapped in a building. I mean, it wasn’t entirely his fault because it sort of collapsed without any prior warning but also if he hadn’t have been being so damn reckless he probably wouldn’t have still been inside so really-”
“Hold up.” Eddie lifts a finger, cutting Hen off. “Did he, or did he not, get trapped?” And, okay, Eddie’s hand might be shaking right now but so what? That’s his business.
Hen swallows, avoiding his eyes. “It was only for, like, five minutes. Probably not even that. You know Buck, though; always gotta be the hero and give us all heart attacks in the meantime.” She tries to laugh it off but Eddie can’t bring himself to see the humour in this just yet.
“Fuck.”
Dropping down onto the bench, Eddie rakes his hand through his hair and takes a few steadying breaths – the sort that Frank had taught him to do whenever he feels another panic attack coming on. Not that he feels that right now. Not at all, because that would be crazy, right? Buck’s fine. Eddie knows that.
The door opens whilst Eddie is still staring down at his feet, slowly counting to ten in his head, but he doesn’t bother to look up.
There’s an awkward moment of silence, a horrible tension in the air, before Hen grabs her back and forces out a cheerful, “Well, I’m gonna go. Have a good shift, Eddie.” Eddie grunts something that might pass as a thank you, just as Hen slips out of the room, only pausing long enough to mutter a mildly apologetic, “Good luck.” to the person that just stepped in.
Which is why, when a hand lands on Eddie’s shoulder and familiar muddy boots with a scuff at the front in the shape of Christopher’s crutches step in front of him, Eddie doesn’t flinch.
“You okay, Eds?” Buck asks him, voice anxiously quiet as if he thinks Eddie might break. And it reminds Eddie of that night, broken glass and bloody knuckles, a comforting hand on his shoulder even back then.
“No.” he admits, voice barely above a whisper. “Not really.”
He looks up, meeting Buck’s worried blue eyes, and it hits him then. Everything that Hen said. How close he could’ve come to losing Buck, how he didn’t even know about it.
How he wasn’t there to protect him.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he snaps, pushing Buck back just enough so that he can stand up, almost eye-to-eye with him now. Buck frowns, a flash of hurt across his face, and if Eddie wasn’t feeling so angry right now he would probably feel bad about that.
“Leaving work?”
“No,” Eddie pokes at Buck’s chest. “I thought I told you! I thought I made it perfectly fucking clear a year ago that you,” Eddie holds his breath, his hand curling into a fist against Buck’s chest. He squeezes his eyes shut, exhaling slowly, and feels warm fingers wrap around his wrist.
“Eddie, what’s going on?” Buck asks, and there’s actual fear in his voice now. Fuck. Eddie groans, blinking his eyes open to look at Buck because if he doesn’t he’s afraid he might just collapse into Buck’s chest.
“You are not expendable.” Eddie says, keeping his voice steady and deadly clear. He doesn’t understand how many times he has to say it to Buck for him to finally understand. “You can’t just go doing reckless shit and not think about the consequences!”
Realisation must sink in because Buck’s shoulders sag. “Hen told you.”
Eddie lifts a challenging brow. “Yeah, she did. You certainly weren’t going to.”
“Because it was nothing!” Buck insists, lifting his palms up – and, no, Eddie definitely doesn’t mourn the feeling of fingertips over his pulse point at all. “I swear! It was an accident, I didn’t do it on purpose. It just happened, Eddie. Things like that happen on the job.”
Eddie chews the inside of his cheek, searching Buck’s face but there’s no need; he believes him already. He sighs, suddenly exhausted, and runs a hand down his face. “I know. Shit, I know what can happen on the job but still-” He groans. “That still doesn’t change the fact that-”
“That you weren’t there.” Buck finishes for him because of course he knows exactly why Eddie is freaking out. It would concern him, really, except Eddie is well aware that Buck knows him probably better than he knows himself.
Eddie nods. Buck lets out a weak chuckle, his hand coming up to grab the nape of Eddie’s neck and tug him forward. Eddie lets him, stumbling the few small steps to close the gap between them, his head settling perfectly against Buck’s chest. He can feel Buck tracing circles into his hairline, the light touch sending shivers down his spine, and he buries closer, encompassing himself with that familiar smell that is just Buck. From here, he can hear the steady thrum of Buck’s heart, just underneath his blue shirt, and he closes his eyes, his fingers curling into Buck’s shirt and holding him closer. “I can’t lose you.”
Something soft and warm presses to the top of Eddie’s head, a barely there brush of lips, and Eddie honest to God thinks his heart might shatter right then and there.
When Buck speaks again, his voice is hoarse, “You’re not gonna lose me.”
Eddie gives a miniscule shake of his head, his own words muffling into Buck’s chest, “You can’t promise that.”
“I can.” Buck lets out a small huff of air that could pass as a laugh. “It’s cute that you think I won’t be haunting your sorry ass if I die.”
Eddie would roll his eyes if they were open. Instead, he gives Buck a light punch – which, really, it’s more of a pat, a stroke of fingers down Buck’s arm, but who’s gonna say anything? “Shut up, you dick.”
Buck laughs, louder this time, and Eddie feels fingers carding through his hair so gently that he practically melts under the touch. “Never.” Buck whispers, hand coming to rest over Eddie’s jaw, pushing him up and away from Buck’s chest so they can meet eyes. Eddie swallows thickly, trying not to get lost in those baby blues, as Buck runs the pad of his thumb over Eddie’s cheekbone. “I promise, I’m being extra careful out there. I have to. I’ve got you and Christopher to come home to.”
And it’s the way Buck saying ‘come home to’ as if he doesn’t have his own apartment, as if Buck thinks of Eddie’s house as home, makes Eddie want so badly for that to be true. More than he’s ever wanted anything in his life before. And isn’t that something?
Doesn’t that just say everything?
Fuck.
He might be in love with Buck.
But now is definitely not the time to drop some life-altering, earth-shattering revelation like that so Eddie swallows his feelings down, blinking back the stinging in his eyes, and forces a smile onto his face (not that it takes much effort; it never has when he’s with Buck). Leaning slightly into Buck’s palm, eyes fluttering closed for just a millisecond, Eddie replies, “You do.”
And the way that Buck’s face fucking lights up at those two words makes Eddie think that maybe, just maybe, Buck might love him back.
“Okay, seriously? How is this fair?” Theo is complaining, head shoved into the fridge, as Eddie makes his way up to the loft.
“It’s favouritism, that’s what it is.” Jazmyn states, crossing her arms over her chest. The moment she spots Eddie she points an accusing finger at him, scowling.
Eddie holds his hands up in surrender, stepping over to join them. “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it, I swear.”
Theo pops up from out of the fridge, holding a little blue tupperware container. “Where the fuck is my leftover enchiladas?”
“Uh, excuse you. Our.” Jazmyn corrects him with a huff.
“Enchiladas?” Eddie frowns, peering over the counter to get a better look at the container in Theo’s hands. “Oh!”
“How come you get leftover, homemade food and we don’t?”
“Bobby doesn’t love us, that’s why.” Cal whines, literally manifesting out of thin air to sprawl dramatically across the counter, a hand thrown over his face like some sort of damsel in distress. “We’re the lowly, forgotten misfits. We’re gonna have to start begging for food like that British orphan kid. Please, sir, may we have some more?”
Eddie kicks at Cal’s legs, shaking his head. “I seriously don’t get what Ravi sees in you.”
Cal peeks out from under his arm, shooting Eddie a wicked grin. “My dashing looks, of course.” He winks, and adds, “Among other things.”
“Anyway,” Eddie grabs the container Theo’s thrown next to Cal’s head and takes a look at the lid, where a neon pink sticky note has been left. It has his name written on it, in pretty blue cursive, alongside a small heart in the corner of the note with a smiley face inside. He laughs. “Bobby didn’t leave me this.”
Jazmyn furrows her brows. “How do you know?”
Eddie taps the note, not doing a very good job at battling the smile currently taking over his face. “This is from Buck.”
Cal scoffs. “Of course it is. See,” he points at the others, pushing himself up to lean on his elbows and it surely isn’t hygienic to have lying across the counter like that, “that’s where we went wrong. We didn’t marry some strapping dude who knows his way around a kitchen.”
“We’re not married!” Eddie cuts in before anybody else can derail this whole conversation and Cal whips his head around, lifting one perfectly arched brow at him.
“Not yet you’re not.”
Eddie groans and throws his head back to glare at the ceiling. He genuinely doesn’t know if they’re just messing around with him or if they actually believe he’s dating Buck.
“So,” Theo clears his throat, leaning against the counter and ignoring Cal as he flicks at Theo’s fringe. “Are you gonna share?”
Eddie glances down at the leftover enchiladas in his hand, knowing full well that Buck used the recipe that Eddie’s Abuela taught him last summer after Eddie almost burnt the kitchen down frying fucking onions, before looking back up at the others. “Nope.” he says, popping the ‘p’ and shaking his head, clutching the container and ducking his head when he has to run from three hungry people chasing him across the loft.
Eddie’s phone buzzes in his pocket and he pulls it out, trading in the view of passing trees from his seat in the truck for his lockscreen (a picture of Buck and Christopher posing with the medal Christopher won at the science fair the other month, both with matching smiles on their faces).
Coincidentally, there’s a new message from Buck.
Eddie swipes his phone open, feeling his face split into a grin as he’s instantly greeted with yet another picture of his two favourite boys; this time with green paint splattered over their faces, some even reaching up into Buck’s golden hair. Eddie pretends that he totally doesn’t want to wash it out for him. Chris has his palms up to the camera, his entire hands covered in the stuff. It looks like the set production of the next Shrek is taking place in his home.
Underneath the picture, Buck has written: ‘The new Picasso right here!’
Eddie snorts. He quickly types out a reply.
‘There better not be any paint on my furniture.’
The little chat bubble pops up and disappears a couple times before Buck responds with: ‘Ye of little faith. I’m wounded, Eds. Truly hurt.’ alongside a bunch of crying emojis that have Eddie rolling his eyes.
‘You will be hurt if I find any green on my new cushions, Evan.’
‘You and you’re fancy new cushions. I swear, sometimes I think you love them more than me!’
Eddie’s heart skips at that last bit. If only Buck knew how wrong he was.
Eddie doubts he could ever love anything more than he does Buck.
Eventually, he just sends: ‘Those cushions don’t cover my son in green paint.’
If he worried that he’d taken too long to respond, he needn’t have because Buck doesn’t mention it. Instead, he gets a string of laughing emojis sent back.
And then, about a minute later as if Buck had debated on sending the message at all, he receives: ‘Stay safe out there. See you when you get home x’
Eddie blinks.
And stares at the message, not quite taking the words in, long enough that Cal kicks at his ankle – unnecessarily harshly, in Eddie’s opinion – and snaps him out of his head.
Cal raises a knowing brow at him, eyes darting down to the phone in Eddie’s hand. “Something interesting?”
“No.” Eddie says, perhaps a little too quickly. “Nothing. Nothing here, nope. Why- Why do you ask?”
Cal snorts. He fiddles with a loose thread on his sleeve, an almost bashful smile gracing his face as he says, “You’ve got that look in your eyes. Full of wonder and disbelief. It’s the same look Ravi gets whenever I tell him how much he means to me.” And it’s weird – in a good way, just unexpected – seeing Cal so serious and- Soft?
Eddie chews his lip. Buck calling his house ‘home’ fills his head. The stupid little kiss he added to the end of the text, too.
Cal’s taps the toe of his boot against Eddie’s calf, grabbing his attention back. There’s a seriousness in his eyes, gentle but firm, and Eddie braces himself for what he’s about to hear.
Somehow, “Just- Take it from someone who’s normally the cause of the sort of smile you’ve got on your face right now, he really cares about you. Even if you think you don’t deserve it.” isn’t what Eddie expected.
He takes a sharp intake of breath. Because that’s just it, really, isn’t it? Eddie knows that he’s in love with Buck. He’s probably known that, somewhere deep down, since the day he met the idiot. Hell, he’s even pretty certain that Buck is in love with him, too.
But accepting that love? That pure, unconditional love, the only type of love that Buck knows how to give out. Eddie hasn’t done anything to earn that sort of devotion.
Cal’s just hit the nail on the head there.
Finishing a twelve hour shift at 7am rather than his usual 7pm is more than a little disorientating, as Eddie comes to realise. Throw in the fact that he hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep all week thanks to the construction work taking place on his street and Eddie is basically an honorary member of the walking dead as he trudges into the locker room at the end of his shift.
His shift isn’t even technically over; he’s still got another half an hour left. He needs to grab his phone charger, though because usually he just shares Hen’s except she isn’t here. Honestly, it’s a real inconvenience for Eddie.
The only thing (besides the prospect of finally, finally, going home) that manages to perk him up just a little bit is seeing a familiar face – well, familiar back, technically – across the room from him. Don’t ask how Eddie recognises Buck’s back; he’ll never tell.
Upon hearing the door shut behind Eddie, Buck swivels in his spot, shirt buttons still undone. Eddie’s eyes may or may not linger a tad too long on the dips and curves of Buck’s torso but he’s only human. Sue him.
“Oh, hey! I was hoping I’d catch you.” Buck says the moment he spies him, far too bright and cheerful for this fucking time in the morning. Even the sun is barely awake.
With a groan, Eddie runs the palm of his hand down his face as if that will somehow wake him up, pulling his phone from his pocket to check the time. He frowns down at the screen because, yep, it’s still not quite seven. “You’re early.”
Buck shrugs, a pale flush creeping up his face that only causes Eddie’s frown to deepen. Since when does Buck blush? Any other day, he’d quip back at Eddie with some snarky remark that would probably have Eddie laughing and fighting back against the flood of butterflies in his stomach.
“Like I said,” Buck says, rubbing at the back of his neck, “I was hoping to see you before you went.”
“So you came in early? On a Friday?” Eddie asks.
Buck shrugs again. “Well Carla already took Chris to school. He wanted to meet up with his friends before classes started.” He says it as if his morning routines revolve around Eddie’s son and, really, Eddie supposes it’s been that way for a while. Buck is as much a parental figure in Christopher’s life as Eddie is.
It’s startling just how unsurprising that revelation is.
“Alright,” Eddie takes a step further into the room, “what was so important to tell me that you abandoned your reruns of The Big Bang Theory.”
Buck cracks a smile at that, but points a playful finger at Eddie. “Hey, I know you watch those with breakfast, too. Chris tells me all of your dirty little secrets.” Eddie snorts, tilting his head as he waits for Buck to actually answer his question. “I figured you’d be tired after today,” Buck says, waving his hand vaguely around him. “There’s some leftover pancake mix in the fridge back home, all you’ve gotta do is cook them and I figured even you’re not that bad in the kitchen-”
Eddie holds up a finger, effectively silencing Buck.
“You mean to tell me that you came to work early just to tell me that? You couldn’t have just stuck a note to the fridge?” At this, Buck manages to look guilty. The blush on his cheeks darkens and Eddie’s suspicions grown.
“Well,” Buck glances back at his still open locker, his duffle bag hanging out. “I uh- I may have also run to the pharmacists. Y’know, the twenty-four hour one? I know you used up your last Advil the other day so I was gonna slip a fresh box in your locker for when you finished. You always get migraines when you break your sleep schedule.”
Buck shuffles on his feet, eyes trained on the floor, and he looks like he’s waiting to be told he’s done something wrong.
But, for the life of him, all Eddie can think about is how Buck knows him so well.
Eddie blames the sleep deprivation for what he says next.
“I love you.”
Buck’s head shoots up, eyes wide and alight with something. “I- you-” he stammers, tongue darting out to wet his lips, and Eddie’s heart aches (and, no, it’s not just because it’s currently hammering a mile a minute in his chest). Eddie watches, holding his breath, as Buck quite literally collapses, tension seeping from his shoulders and his face softening, his eyes focused so intently on Eddie like he’s the only thing in that matters in the world right now- no, scrap that. Like he is Buck’s entire world. His voice is barely more than a whisper, almost as if he’s scared that if he speaks too loudly he’ll shatter this moment, filled with awe and unbearable hope when he simply says, “Eds.”
And fuck it.
Eddie is tired.
Tired of dancing around things that they both clearly already know. Tired of pretending that everything is fine. Tired of waiting.
Eddie wants Buck. More than he’s ever wanted anything else.
Crossing the room, closing the gap between the two of them in three long strides, is barely even a conscious decision. Before he knows it, Eddie is standing in front of Buck, his hands reaching up to cup Buck’s face in his palms so gently. He holds Buck’s gaze just long enough for Buck to know that he can back out, right now, if he wants to. But Buck doesn’t step away; instead he lets out this quiet, needy little whine, his breath hot over Eddie’s face, and Eddie is so done waiting. He dives in, dragging Buck into a dizzying kiss that has his toes curling.
Buck doesn’t even tense, doesn’t hesitate or pull away. He wraps a hand around the nape of Eddie’s neck, pulling him impossibly closer, kissing Eddie back slow and purposeful, like this is a regular Friday morning occurrence and Eddie isn’t teetering on the edge of another mental breakdown, a small, pleased sigh slipping past his lips.
When fingers creep upwards, teasing at Eddie’s hair, Eddie folds. His other hand comes to settle on Buck’s waist, more than a little happy that Buck still hadn’t managed to button up his shirt when his palm splays across warm skin. The contact sends visible shivers through Buck and Eddie smirks, grazing his teeth over Buck’s lower lip and drawing a breathless moan from him.
“See?” a chirpy voice from behind him pipes up, startling Eddie enough that he would’ve stumbled back onto his ass if it wasn’t for the way Buck catches him, hands finding home on Eddie’s hips. Eddie pretends that doesn’t make his heart sing. “What’d I tell you?” Cal continues on as though he hasn’t interrupted anything of important, completely missing (or intentionally ignoring) the death glare Eddie sends his way. “So married.” he finishes, with a flourish of his hands, and then meets Eddie’s eye and fucking smirks. The bastard.
Buck squeezes Eddie’s hip, a subconscious action probably, as his brows furrow together adorably. “Married?” he asks, glancing between Eddie and Cal. “We’re not married.”
At this, Eddie laughs. Bright and warm, feeling happier than he has in literal months. He turns, focusing his full attention back on Buck as he runs a knuckle down Buck’s cheek until he can hook his finger under Buck’s chin, tilting his head down. “Baby, we’re kind of married.”
And then he leans in and kisses Buck again just because he can.