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It all starts as a stupid idea that Eddie knows will not end well, but he can’t find it in his big, stupid heart to deny Buck anything.
Eddie looks across the wreck site and sees Buck sitting on a nearby bench, bandaging a woman’s hand and speaking to her with a kind smile. His eyes raise from her hand and lock with Eddie’s, and Eddie can immediately see the discomfort behind Buck’s tight smile. He starts moving before he can even think of what he’ll say when he gets to Buck.
“You good over here, Buck?” Eddie asks when he reaches Buck’s side, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah, baby, I’m good. Just finishing up here,” Buck smiles easily, as if he didn’t just flip Eddie’s world upside down with one four-letter word. He reaches up to squeeze Eddie’s hand that is on his shoulder, and his eyes meet Eddie’s; Eddie can see the silent plea in them, so he follows along.
Eddie’s shoulders relax, and he smiles brightly at Buck. “Good. Just checking. Let me know if you need anything, ok?” He leans down to press a gentle kiss to Buck’s hairline. Buck nods into it.
As Eddie is walking away, he can hear the woman tell Buck, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were taken. You two are super cute.”
“It’s no problem,” Buck responds. “Thank you.”
Eddie makes his way over to the ambulance and starts to help Hen and Chim pack everything up. As he’s finishing up, he feels Buck clap a hand over his shoulder.
“Thanks for that, man,” Buck sighs.
“You know I’ve got your back. She just wouldn’t take no for an answer?”
“Bingo. I like to think I have pretty solid excuses, but some people just find any way around them.”
“You got that right,” Eddie laughs, bumping his shoulder against Buck’s as they walk over to the engine. “It gets really exhausting.”
Before they climb into the truck, Buck grabs Eddie’s wrist. “Wait,” he starts. “You’re not interested in dating right now, right?”
Eddie takes a breath. He thinks for a moment. It’s not necessarily that he isn’t interested in dating . It’s just that he’s not interested in dating anyone except for his tall, blonde, annoyingly charming best friend. But Buck doesn’t need to know that just yet. “Yeah,” Eddie responds, desperately trying to convince himself that it’s not a lie. “It’s just a lot of work,” he shrugs.
“Agreed,” Buck smiles. “So…”
“So?” Eddie presses.
“So, maybe we could be each other’s backup.”
“Backup?” Eddie repeats.
Buck laughs. “Yeah, backup! Whenever anyone is giving us unwanted attention and we need help getting out, we can count on each other to back the other one up.”
“So, basically we’ll be fake boyfriends?”
“Exactly!” Buck preens. “But only when someone won’t take no for an answer.”
Eddie weighs the idea in his mind. He knows it’s not a good one, and that he’ll probably only end up getting hurt when Buck is interested in dating again and they call off their agreement, but he just can’t really bring himself to care. “Ok,” he shrugs. “Sure.”
Buck’s responding smile is blinding. “Sweet!”
Eddie laughs at the other man’s enthusiasm. “So, how do we go about this? Do we need to have some sort of trigger word to let each other know that we actually do need help?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s a good idea.” Buck’s eyebrows furrow for a moment. “We could use baby?”
Eddie’s heart stutters as his mind flashes back to five minutes ago, with Buck calling him ‘baby’ as he was treating the woman’s hand, and everything in his brain screams at him to come up with something different, because his heart simply cannot take Buck calling him by the pet name on a semi-regular basis, especially if it isn’t real; however, his heart says fuck it , and he smiles at Buck, nodding. “Yeah, baby is good. We’d never say it in casual conversation, so it’s a good trigger.”
“Isn’t it? Great, we have our signal word! Now we know when we need to get each other out.”
Eddie nods again, and Buck claps him on the shoulder once more before climbing into the truck.
Somewhere deep inside of himself, Eddie knows this is not going to end well.
*****
Buck slides out of the booth, and Eddie immediately misses the feeling of him pressed against his side. He watches carefully as the taller man walks over to the bar to collect his round of drinks, but his view is obstructed by Hen’s hand waving in front of his face.
“Earth to Eddie,” she calls.
Eddie laughs and rolls his eyes before locking them with Hen’s. “Sorry, what’s up?”
“Are you ever going to do anything about that?” Chimney asks.
“About what?” Eddie responds, feigning ignorance.
Chimney rolls his eyes. “Oh, please. I swear to God, you and Buck need to get your heads out of your asses before I pull them out for y–”
“Ok!” Maddie laughs, pulling Chimney’s drink away from him. “I think you’ve had enough for tonight, hun.”
Chimney makes grabby hands for his glass, but Maddie puts on a stern face that has him leaning back against the booth, pouting and crossing his arms across his chest. His resemblance to Jee-Yun genuinely frightens Eddie for a moment.
“Don’t listen to him, Eddie,” Maddie says softly.
Karen laughs. “Maybe listen to him a little bit. I want to tell you to take your time and wait until you’re ready, but I also want to play devil’s advocate and tell you to hurry the hell up because tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone.”
Eddie rolls his eyes and crosses his arms across his chest defensively. “I don’t even know what you’re all talking about.”
Hen raises her eyebrows at him with a don’t bullshit me look lining her features.
Eddie sighs and uncrosses his arms, curling his hands into fists before unraveling them and resting his palms flat against the table. “I just don’t want to mess things up. I can’t lose him.”
“Well,” Hen starts, “I’m not going to tell you what to do or rush you into doing something you’re not ready for, but just know that: 1. Buck loves you more than almost anything, and 2. You will never lose that boy.”
Eddie takes her words in and nods gently, smiling tightly as his eyes flit away from hers. He looks toward the bar and meets Buck’s eyes as he starts to make his way back to the table.
Buck places the drinks on the table, and everyone grabs theirs as he settles back into Eddie’s side, pressing against him from shoulder to hip. Buck turns to look at Eddie and smiles. Eddie returns the smile with ease, draping his arm across the back of the booth, brushing his fingers across Buck’s shoulder.
The group picks up a casual conversation revolving around Ravi’s love life, and the probie desperately begs them to talk about anything else.
Eddie throws his head back in laughter, and when he brings his chin back down, he notices a man walking up to their table.
“Hi, there,” the man smiles, running a hand through his brown hair. He looks directly at Eddie.
“Hi,” Eddie responds with a tight, but kind, smile.
“Sorry to interrupt,” the man starts. “I just saw you from across the bar and I knew I’d kick myself if I didn’t come over here and ask if I could buy you a drink. My name’s Derek.”
Eddie smiles gently before bringing his arm down a little further to press fully across Buck’s shoulders. Buck leans into the touch, and Eddie selfishly revels in it. “You’re sweet,” Eddie begins. “But I’m actually taken. And I’m also designated driver, so I have to make sure this guy makes it home safe. Huh, baby?” Eddie turns his head to look into Buck’s eyes.
Buck blushes – Eddie chooses to blame it on the alcohol rushing through Buck’s system – and buries his head into Eddie’s neck. If Eddie were just a bit tipsy, he might be able to ignore the press of Buck’s lips against his pulsepoint.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Derek stammers. “I honestly probably should’ve clocked that,” he laughs.
“No need to apologize,” Eddie smiles earnestly. “You really are sweet. I appreciate you coming over here. I hope you have a good rest of your night.”
“You too,” Derek nods before turning and walking back over to his own table. Eddie can see his friends patting him on the back as he picks up his drink, and he actually feels bad.
His feelings of guilt, however, are quickly replaced by amusement as Buck pulls himself out of Eddie’s and whispers, “Is he gone?”
Eddie laughs and rubs a hand across Buck’s shoulders. “Yeah, he’s gone. Thanks.”
“No problem, baby,” Buck winks.
“Oh, now what the fuck was that?” Ravi asks, exasperation dripping from his slurred words.
Everyone at the table laughs, and Eddie shrugs. “I wasn’t interested.”
“So you called Buck in as your fake boyfriend to scare the guy away?” Albert grumbles.
“Yeah. I wouldn’t say scare , but it usually works,” Eddie responds.
“Usually?!” Albert nearly shouts. “This is a recurring thing?”
This time, Buck responds. “Some people just don’t take no for an answer.”
Chimney goes to smack his head against the table, but Maddie’s hand softens the impact. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” he whines.
Buck turns to Eddie, a question in his eyes, and Eddie simply shrugs.
Across the table, Hen laughs breathily, bringing her drink to her lips and praying silently that these two idiots would get a grip sooner rather than later.
*****
It’s a Saturday night in June, and Buck decides that he and Eddie should go to a bar, just the two of them.
“Eddie,” Buck whines. “Please! We never go out just the two of us anymore. It’s always with the team.”
“What’s wrong with hanging out with the team?” Eddie asks.
Buck groans. “Nothing. I just miss our ‘us-time.’”
Eddie wants to respond by telling Buck just how often they hang out at Eddie’s house, but he bites his tongue. Who is he to deny Buck anything?
It takes about fifteen minutes for Eddie to regret this decision. Across the bar, he can see the discomfort in Buck’s tense shoulders as a guy walks up to him and pushes him slightly toward the wall, basically pinning him in place. Eddie instantly starts walking up to Buck and just catches his strangled, “I just don’t think you’re gonna want to deal with my boyfriend when he gets over here.”
“I don’t see any boyfriend,” the man snarls.
“Turn around,” Eddie all but growls, and Buck’s eyes go wide. The man does as Eddie says. “Now you see him.”
The guy rolls his eyes. “Whatever, he’s not even worth it.”
Eddie lifts his hands to shove the guy back, but Buck catches his wrists in his hands before he can.
“Hey, I’m ok,” Buck promises. Eddie can’t really seem to hear him over the blood rushing to his head. “Eddie,” Buck continues, rubbing his thumbs across Eddie’s pulse points. He steps in front of Eddie and brings the other man’s hands to his own chest. “Eddie, baby, I’m ok.”
The pet name snaps Eddie out of his rage-induced daze, and he drops his hands – Buck doesn’t let go; he simply keeps running his thumbs across Eddie’s wrists.
“Let’s get out of here,” Eddie rasps.
“Yeah, ok,” Buck whispers. He guides Eddie out of the bar with a gentle hand pressed to the small of the shorter man’s back, absentmindedly rubbing circles into the fabric of Eddie’s shirt.
Once they’re in the car, Eddie takes a deep breath and turns to look at Buck, whose eyes are trained on the road and hands are clenched around the steering wheel so hard Eddie can see the whites of his knuckles.
“Buck,” Eddie says.
Buck hums.
“Are you really ok?”
They come to a red light, and Buck turns to meet Eddie’s eyes. He smiles tightly and reaches across the console to squeeze Eddie’s knee. “I am now,” He promises.
Eddie simply nods and turns his eyes back to the road as the light turns green. He expects Buck to pull his hand from his knee, but it stays there, his thumb rubbing small circles into Eddie’s thigh. Eddie leans his head back and closes his eyes, pretending for just one moment that everything is all right.
*****
Buck looks across the courtyard and sees Eddie engaging in conversation with an older woman, eyes expressive and bright as he most likely tells her a story about Chris. He smiles fondly when Eddie’s eyes meet his, and Eddie nods his head in invitation. Buck accepts instantly.
He makes his way over to Eddie, pressing against his side.
Eddie smiles up at Buck and breathes out an easy, “Hey, baby.”
Buck blushes at the pet name, but quickly slips into his “boyfriend Buck” persona. He slides an arm around Eddie’s waist, squeezing his hip bone gently.
Eddie leans into the touch, allowing himself to fully press into Buck’s warmth. “This is Nora, Preston’s grandma,” Eddie smiles.
“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you! We just love Preston. It’s always so great to have him over,” Buck beams.
“Well, the feeling is definitely mutual!” Nora grins. “Preston loves hanging out with Christopher and is always so excited to spend the night at your house. You’ve made quite the impression,” she laughs.
Buck’s cheeks redden. “That’s good to hear.”
“So, how’s teenagehood been treating you?” Nora smiles.
Buck sighs dramatically and squeezes Eddie’s waist again. “Oh, don’t even get me started. Listen, I love Chris more than anything, and he is an absolute angel ninety percent of the time, but this new attitude that comes through every once in a while is taxing to say the least.”
Eddie hums in agreement, and Nora smiles.
“Don’t I know it?” She laughs brightly. “I only spend about three days out of the week with Preston, but that attitude can be absolutely killer. He usually has enough sense to not bring it out around me,” she winks.
“Oh, you have to teach me your tricks,” Buck begs.
“I’d love to! I have Eddie’s number. I’ll be in touch,” Nora grins, reaching out to pat Buck’s arm.
Buck smiles at the touch and squeezes Eddie’s waist once again. “Sounds great.”
“We should probably head home,” Eddie says, turning to look up at Buck.
“You’re probably right. Chris hates PTA nights. Lord knows what Carla’s going through right now,” Buck laughs.
Eddie chuckles. “Oh, I’m sure she’s fine. Chris knows not to sass her.”
Buck hums. “True. Even more reason to get home; the later we are, the more pent-up sass we have to face when we get there.”
“Well, it’s been lovely speaking with you both,” Nora grins. “I hope to see you soon. I’ll pull together a list of tips,” she winks.
“Please do!” Buck calls as she walks away, and he can see her shoulder shake with laughter. He looks down at Eddie, who is still pressed against his side. “Let’s go home?”
“Yes, please,” Eddie smiles, tucking further into Buck’s warmth.
When they get to Eddie’s house, it’s a quick run to get Chris ready for bed and actually in bed at a reasonable hour.
“Goodnight, bud,” Buck says as he ruffles Chris’ hair. “Love you.”
“Buck,” he whines, half-heartedly trying to pull away from Buck’s hand. “Love you, too,” he smiles.
“I love you, Chris. Sleep tight, ok?” Eddie smiles.
“I love you, too, Dad.”
Eddie closes Chris’ door and follows Buck into the living room, stopping by the kitchen to grab two beers before joining the other man on the couch.
Buck takes a pull from the beer, settling into the back cushion. “So,” he starts. “Nora was giving you a hard time?” he asks, amused.
Eddie looks at him, his brows furrowing in confusion. “What?”
“Talk about a cougar,” Buck laughs, his shoulders shaking. “She seems sweet enough, though. Maybe she’s just lonely.”
“Nora’s married, Buck. She and her wife have been together for almost forty years.”
Buck’s eyebrows shoot up. “Huh?”
“Yeah, I thought you knew that.”
“I didn’t.” Buck thinks for a moment. “Why did you call me baby?”
“Did I?” Eddie asks, genuinely unaware.
“Yeah. I thought you needed out.”
“Oh,” Eddie says quietly. “I really didn’t even realize I’d said it.” He ducks his head, and Buck swears he can see the blush climbing up Eddie’s neck and over his ears. “I guess it slipped out.”
“Oh,” Buck smiles.
“Sorry,” Eddie mumbles.
Buck laughs softly and reaches out to squeeze Eddie’s shoulder. “Nothing to apologize for. I’m sure I’ll slip up at some point, too.”
“Well, since you’re being so nice to me about it, I guess I won’t tease you too much when you do.”
Buck shoves Eddie away gently. “Oh, shut up.”
Eddie laughs and immediately sinks back into Buck’s side. “I’m so grateful for you.”
Buck’s breath hitches, and Eddie pulls away to look him in the eye.
“I mean it. You just jumped right in with no questions to help me when I didn’t even need it. You always have my back, no matter what.”
Buck’s eyes shine with unshed tears, and he rubs his hand down Eddie’s arm. “Well, you always have mine. S’only fair.”
“I mean it, Buck. I don’t know where the hell I’d be without you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Buck smiles
*****
After a shift from the absolute depths of hell, Eddie decides that he simply cannot let Buck out of his sight for the foreseeable future.
He bumps his shoulder against Buck’s as they walk into the locker room and says, “You’re coming home with me.”
Buck doesn’t even try to argue.
Chris is long asleep by the time they get to Eddie’s house, so both men walk to his room just to check on him before making their way to the couch.
“You want a beer?” Eddie asks.
“Nah, I’m good,” Buck sighs.
Eddie plops down on the couch right next to Buck, who is scrolling through some random streaming service trying to find something to watch.
“We can catch up on Bake-Off ,” Buck offers.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Eddie smiles.
They get about twelve minutes into the episode before Buck leans his head back against the couch, his eyes fluttering closed.
Eddie reaches his hand up to card his fingers through Buck’s hair, scratching his scalp lightly and twirling loose curls around his fingertips.
Buck hums deeply and leans into Eddie’s touch, and if Eddie weren’t so tired, he’d swear he could hear Buck purring.
Eddie laughs breathily and lightly pulls on a curl. “Tired, baby?”
“Mhmm,” Buck sighs.
“Go to sleep. I’ll watch over you.”
“Mm, you always do,” Buck breathes out.
Eddie watches the rise and fall of the other man’s chest and after less than a minute, he knows Buck is asleep. He allows himself to keep his eyes trained on the steady flow of Buck’s breath for a few moments before turning his attention back to the TV.
About twenty minutes later, Eddie is still running his fingers gently through Buck’s hair. He hears Buck’s breath hitch, and the other man jerks up out of his sleep.
Buck turns to Eddie with wide eyes. “You–”
Eddie looks at him with concern, moving his hand down to cup Buck’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?” he asks.
“You called me baby,” Buck breathes.
Eddie just smiles. He brings his hand up once more to curve around Buck’s jaw, rubbing his thumb across Buck’s stubbled cheeks.
“It’s just us,” Buck stammers, eyes still wide. “We have no reason to pretend.”
“Who says I’ve been pretending?” Eddie asks earnestly.
Buck’s shoulders relax, and his eyes return to their normal size. “Eddie,” he breathes out, bringing a hand up to rest on Eddie’s waist.
“Buck,” Eddie breathes back. He lifts his hand to run it through Buck’s hair, rubbing a soft thumb across Buck’s birthmark. Buck leans into it, and Eddie has no idea what to say besides, “I love you.”
Buck’s breath hitches, and he squeezes Eddie’s waist. “Eddie,” he repeats.
Eddie leans forward to rest his forehead against Buck’s. “I love you so much,” he sighs.
“I love you, too,” Buck exhales. “God, I love you so much it physically hurts me sometimes.”
Eddie pulls away quickly, keeping his hand curved around the back of Buck’s neck. “I don’t want it to hurt you,” he almost whimpers.
Buck smiles. “It’s a good hurt.”
Eddie laughs. “Is that even a thing?”
“Oh, trust me. It is,” Buck smirks, winking.
“Oh, of course you have to go and make this about sex,” Eddie teases.
“Hey, you’re the one who claims hurt can’t be good. I’m more than happy to show you,” Buck suggests.
“You’re impossible,” Eddie says with a fond smile.
“Yeah, and you love me for it.”
“I really do.” Eddie brings his hand back around to cup Buck’s jaw, and Buck leans into his palm. “I really want to kiss you.”
“Then what the hell are you waiting for?” Buck all but whines.
Eddie uses the hand against Buck’s jaw to bring their lips together, moving them together languidly. He feels Buck sigh into the kiss and uses his other arm to wrap around Buck’s waist and pull the taller man into his lap.
Buck gasps in surprise but quickly recovers, diving back into Eddie’s lips. He brings both hands up to hold Eddie’s face as Eddie grips his waist firmly.
Eddie licks into Buck’s mouth, and Buck moans into it, whining when Eddie breaks away to kiss down his neck.
“Eddie,” Buck groans.
Eddie responds by biting down on Buck’s pulsepoint.
“Oh, my God, Eddie,” Buck breathes, using his chin to nudge Eddie’s face up to press his mouth back against his own. Buck grinds down into Eddie’s lap, and his brown eyes shoot open to look at Buck.
“Are you ok?” Eddie asks, chest heaving.
Buck laughs breathlessly. “Yeah, baby, I’m good. You’re good. God, you’re so–”
“Good?” Eddie finishes with a toothy grin.
Buck smiles and rubs his thumbs across Eddie’s cheeks. “The best.”
Eddie leans back in and presses a soft kiss against Buck’s lips. “You’re not too bad yourself,” he counters, pulling away just enough to rest his forehead against Buck’s.
Eddie flips Buck over so he is now pressing the taller man into the cushions of the couch, and Buck laughs loudly as Eddie resumes kissing down his neck.
Eventually, he pulls away to look down at Buck, who is beaming up at him. Eddie runs his hands up and down Buck’s sides, leaning in to press another sweet kiss to his lips.
Eddie isn’t quite sure when exactly he fell in love with Buck, but if you asked, he’d probably say he’s loved him the whole time. Through everything. Some people are simply made to love each other. Eddie can, however, say with complete certainty that he was made to love Buck, and he is lucky enough to live in a timeline where Buck was made to love him right back.