Chapter Text
“Heard this bachelor party needed a sexy dancer.”
“Yeah? Where they at?” Buck quipped, panning his phone up from Eddie’s abs to his pink cowboy hat, tilted in a ridiculous ‘howdy there’ style that Buck wanted to swat away (affectionately). He burst out laughing at the look of indignation on Eddie’s face.
Spurred on by the lethal combo of competitiveness, alcohol and a song with immaculate vibes, Eddie gave Buck a wink before slowly starting to unbuckle his belt, moving his hips in time with the music.
Buck’s laughter caught in his throat. He watched, fascinated, as Eddie slid the belt through the loops until it came loose. “Gotta go, Athena…” Buck spluttered, hastily stopping the messenger video. Eddie started smirking at him in triumph.
“Yee,” Eddie drunkenly declared, swinging the belt around his head like a lasso, “and haw, asshole.” He flung the leather band aside with a flourish, cringing when he heard it connect with something fragile.
“Smooth moves, Diaz,” Buck said, getting some of his lick back. Grinning, he reached up to pluck the hat from Eddie’s head and shoved it on his own dishevelled mop of hair. “What else ya got?
“Uhh, this,” Eddie replied, throwing his arms around to do the robot. He hid a smile when Buck started to break into giggles. “And, um, this,” he added, woefully attempting a TikTok dance Ravi had shown them last week.
“Stopstopstop!” Buck cackled, flinging a couch cushion at him. “Where’s my hot cowboy?!”
Eddie raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you liked that, huh?” he teased, swaying forward until he was standing either side of Buck’s legs.
Buck’s eyes widened as Eddie loomed over him, the ceiling lights framing his head with a gauzy halo. He looked like an angel. Or a moth in a pink bowtie floating up towards the light.
“A moth?” Eddie blinked in confusion, trying to work out how his rizz downgraded from scorching to insect.
“Ohh…” Buck realized, tapping the side of his hat. “Inside thoughts got out. My bad.”
Eddie’s attention strayed to the red wine stain on Buck’s t-shirt (helpfully outlining his pec muscle) and tried to keep his own inside thoughts locked down. “Hey, you wanna grab another…”
He punctuated the rest of his sentence with an inelegant yelp as the dance-frenzied crowd surged forward and pushed him straight onto Buck’s lap in a straddle. Neither man had enough immediate coordination for a solid landing, leaving Eddie to headbutt Buck’s hat off as he fell, while Buck gripped onto the first things he could manage – in this case, Eddie’s waist and left ass cheek.
Bracing his hands on the couch either side of Buck’s head, Eddie slowly leaned back and was met with the equally startled gaze of his best friend. This close, Eddie could see the lipstick remnants on Buck’s birthmark where one of the drag queens had given him a peck after he complimented their outfit.
(‘Whatta man, whatta man, whatta man….’)
Buck’s eyes followed the bead of sweat trickling from Eddie’s hairline, down the side of his face and curling under his jaw. His gaze flickered up when he felt Eddie gently rubbing something off his forehead with his thumb. “What’re you…”
“Lips… on you,” Eddie distractedly replied.
“… w-what?”
“Uh, lipstick… ‘s on you.”
(‘What a mighty good man’)
Buck swallowed roughly, fighting the overwhelming urge to nestle into Eddie’s hand still caressing his face. “We should move.”
“Yeah…” Eddie replied, aware of the warm palm on his torso – and elsewhere – he was distinctly not moving from.
“I’M GONNA HURL!” a voice cried out.
The spell broken, Buck and Eddie scrambled off the couch just in time to miss the splash zone. A very familiar nauseous-looking, dancing-amphibian-shirt man winced at them, wiping his mouth.
Eddie flung his hands up in annoyance. “Bro, again?! The hell’s wrong with you?”
“Don’t think we won’t sue, puke-boy,” Buck warned with an accusatory finger point. He stumble-stepped in front of Eddie protectively, all with the threatening air of a drunk kitten. “I know how.”
(‘He’s a mighty, mighty good man’)
* * *
A message alert startled both Eddie and Buck out of their reveries as they sat on the Diaz couch, the TV playing faintly in the background. They’d been home from the party for a while, each pretending to be thoroughly invested in the nature documentary on the screen while internally spiralling at all the revelations from the night.
Clearing his throat, Eddie leaned forward to grab his phone from the coffee table.
“Is that someone finally sending everything through?” Buck asked, drumming his fingers against his leg.
A smile spread across Eddie’s face as he checked the message. “No, just Chris texting me back from his sleepover.”
The tension melted from Buck’s shoulders as he broke into a grin. “Let me guess, you went the sincere dad route and got an eyeroll emoji in return.”
“Close,” Eddie said with a snort, showing Buck his phone. “Told him I hoped he was having fun and being safe and he sent me back some weird meme thing.”
Buck tilted his head to the side, squinting. “Okay, even I can’t make sense of that one.”
“Now who’s the grandpa.”
“Oh, still you, one hundred per cent.”
Eddie playfully shoved Buck’s shoulder while Buck threw him a satisfied grin and a socked foot to the leg in return.
“…animals will often put on a display to instigate a courtship,” David Attenborough’s soft voice floated from the television as the two continued to swipe at one another in happy ignorance. “Sometimes thoughtful, sometimes theatrical, but always with purpose.”
Another ding from a message interrupted the duo, this time from both of their phones.
“Truce! Truce!” Buck said, holding up his hands in a show of submission. He waited for Eddie to mirror his pose before getting in one last flick to his forehead. “You snooze, you lose, old man!” he cried out gleefully, leaping off the couch.
“Remind me again why I invited you to stay here?” Eddie groused.
“Because I’m awesome,” Buck retorted, digging his phone from his pocket. He entered the password and went into the messenger app where Maddie had started a new thread for just the three of them. “And because…” his thoughts ran headfirst into a wall as he registered the first photo in the chain.
“Oh,” said Eddie, peering at his own phone.
Buck kept staring at the image. A blissful-looking Eddie was standing with his arms outstretched, shirt sleeves being yanked off either side. And there was Buck, apparently stealing a sleeve away from some random woman with the most delightedly feral expression on his face.
‘Took this screenshot myself!’ the message from Maddie said underneath. ‘The video does it way more justice though haha! We sorted out the order of it all – message spam incoming. Enjoy!’
Each new notification chime rang down like a hailstorm. Buck hastily put his phone on silent as Eddie followed suit.
“I’d suggest another beer to see us through but given the circumstances…” Eddie trailed off with a wince. “How do you feel about late-night caffeine instead?”
“Like I’m going to regret it when I’m still wide awake at 3am, but what the hell.”
Buck trailed Eddie into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. While Eddie rummaged in the cabinet for their usual mugs a sudden thought struck Buck. “You have a coffee machine,” he blurted out.
He was met with Eddie’s puzzled frown appearing from behind the cabinet door. “You’re just figuring this out now?” He held up a novelty mug in each hand. “I’ve also got drinkware. And you’ll never guess what,” Eddie fake gasped. “There’s a whole-ass fridge here too.”
“Yeah, laugh it up, chuckles,” Buck quipped, ignoring the smirk on Eddie’s face. “It just hit me that my coffee maker, along with a ton of other belongings, won’t be needed when we pack and move all my stuff.” He ran a hand through his hair, blowing out a tired exhale. “I dunno where the hell I’m going to store it all in the meantime.”
“I’ve got a little bit of space here,” Eddie replied, setting down the mugs. “And I’m sure your sister and the rest of the team could keep a few things in storage at each of their homes.”
“I don’t want to be a pain,” Buck said, sinking into the chair.
“You’re not.”
“Other people beg to differ.”
Eddie stood across the table from him with a wry smirk. “Do you hear that?” he asked, curving a hand around his ear.
Buck glanced up, narrowing his eyes. “What?”
“The echo of me from about four hours ago saying you’re not a burden.”
“Yeah, well,” Buck shrugged, pretending not to smile. “You also called me a dumbass too, so…”
“Only sometimes,” Eddie grinned, pointing at him meaningfully. “You gotta remember the finer details, man.”
Buck let out a forced chuckle. “I feel like that’s become the theme of the night.”
“Very true.” Eddie’s smile twitched as he finished making their drinks. He handed Buck his dinosaur mug from a museum trip eons ago (‘Have a roarsome day!’) and kept a steady grip on his own, a Father’s Day gift from Christopher last year (‘My favorite kid gave me this!’). “Shall we?” he offered, leading the way back into the living room.
The pair settled onto opposite ends of the couch leaving enough room for Jesus, and quite possibly Satan depending on how the rest of the night panned out. Eddie retrieved his phone and braved the messages, finding another text from Maddie before an influx of media. He read it aloud.
‘Athena said that technically her video should’ve come way after this shirt one, but she promised to keep it locked down ;)’
“Cool,” Buck said, strained.
“Probably for the best,” Eddie choked.
“Do we… hit play at the same time now, or?”
“Nah, the sound will get distorted. Be easier to share a screen.” Eddie eyed the distance between them before scooting more towards the middle. “I just wanna put out a disclaimer that the views and opinions expressed by Drunk Eddie do not always reflect those of Sober Eddie Diaz Enterprises.”
Huffing out a laugh, Buck inched closer on the couch. “Buckley Inc would also like to touch base and circle back to that,” he said, as Eddie placed his phone on a cushion between them. “Okay, Houdini, let’s see why your shirt disappeared.”
* * *
“D’you ever feel like your armpits are crying?” said Eddie, cramming a handful of fries into his mouth from a room service tray.
Buck stared at him with all the concentration he could muster. “Like when you wax ‘em?”
“Huh? No, the sweat,” he replied, lifting his arm to show off an impressive damp patch on his shirt. “This room’s three bazillion degrees.”
“Been in worse. ‘member that building fire? With the whoooosh and the pshhhh?” Buck emphasized each flame sound effect with a wild swing of the nacho plate he was holding. “Hotter than the sun!”
“No dancin’ at work though,” Eddie pointed out.
“Yeah,” Buck said sadly, scooping more salsa onto a chip. “There should be.”
“Like, what are we?” Eddie scoffed, words slurring. “In the fucken Footloose town? Not on my watch, pal. Do a dance, I don’t care.”
“Exactly,” Buck agreed, not knowing what Eddie was on about but supportive all the same.
Another song kicked in, making Eddie groan in frustration. “That’s a good one but ‘m too sweaty,” he complained, tugging at his collar like it was suffocating him.
Setting down the nachos, Buck stumbled forward. “I can help,” he insisted, grabbing Eddie’s arm and dragging him back to the improvised dancefloor. He began to bop in an uncoordinated rhythm, encouraging Eddie to join in as people filmed them. “Loosen your foot or whatever th’fuck you said!”
Breaking into laughter, Eddie started to jump up and down on the spot, flinging his arms out wide in an elated nirvana. He was free! He was euphoric! He was… entangled in some sort of tug-of-war involving his clothing?
Unbeknownst to him, Buck had rounded up a couple of volunteers to grab onto Eddie’s shirt sleeves and yank them off. The left one was tearing nicely, but Buck wasn’t impressed with the effort on the right. He quickly took over, pulling on the sleeve like it owed him money. With a defiant yell, Buck tore the material from Eddie’s arm and swung it around his head.
“Free armpits!” Eddie cheered, pumping his fist in the air as the crowd whooped it up.
Buck dove into Eddie’s body with a hearty cackle, hoisting him onto his shoulder and twirling them around in move that was one part WWE and one part inebriated Disney prince on ice.
“Free armpits!” Buck cried, letting Eddie down in a shaky dismount when he felt a hand swatting his butt. They stood in the middle of the melee, gripping onto each other’s waists and grinning as they waited for the world to stop spinning.
* * *
Eddie pursed his lips together, quickly exiting the recording.
Buck took a long sip of coffee.
“… the pursuit of a mate is largely more fascinating to behold when both mammals are eager from the outset,” Attenborough’s soft voice wafted from the TV.
“You wanna go ahead and—”
“Skip to the next video?” Buck blurted out. “Sure do.”
* * *
(‘Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight!’)
ABBA pulsated through the crowd as the two drag queens tried their best to show Buck and Eddie the ropes with the DJ equipment. Buck had headphones clamped on him like a lopsided tiara, smashing away at buttons and dials, while Eddie was content to point and gallop on the spot like a horse at the Kentucky Disco Derby.
“DJ Buckaroo in the houuuuuse!” Buck shouted in a deep voice, swinging around the unplugged headphones cord. He cheered Eddie on when he cupped his hands around his mouth to blast out his best airhorn impersonation.
“I love being DJs with you!” yelled Buck, throwing an arm around Eddie’s neck.
Eddie grinned, pressing their sweaty foreheads together. “Love bein’ DJs with you too!”
(‘Take me through the darkness to the break of the day!’)
* * *
Buck slowly sank into the depths of the couch, dropping his head back to stare at the roof like it contained his missing dignity.
“I’m never drinking again,” Eddie declared, voice muffled from behind the pillow he’d hidden his face into.
“Why did I keep on sending all this to Maddie?” Buck muttered in quiet contemplation. “I’ve basically just handed Chimney free bribery tools for life.”
Eddie dropped the pillow and slid down to match Buck’s depressed slouch. “Our team’s probably due for another weird disaster soon,” he mused. “Maybe we’ll all get taken out by a Sharknado and it won’t matter.”
“God, I hope so,” Buck sighed.
Retrieving his coffee from the table, Eddie burrowed back into the couch and held the warm mug between his hands. “I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever been that drunk before in my entire life.”
“Wish I could say the same,” Buck admitted with a small laugh. He rolled his head to the side to look at Eddie. “You’ve never woken up on a bus to Chicago wearing a Hello Kitty onesie and holding a Magic 8 Ball?”
Eddie fixed Buck with an alarmed but amused expression. “No.”
“Yeah, me either,” he smirked.
“The Evan Buckley lore never ceases to amaze me.”
“It’d probably amaze me too if I could remember half of it,” Buck shrugged, finishing off his coffee. “That’s why I think I’m so determined to see all this through – at least I’ll have answers.”
Eddie nodded, glancing away from Buck to the peacock strutting around on the TV screen. “Wonder if we’ll like the answers to everything?”
“The Magic 8 Ball says, ‘ask again later’,” Buck replied in an ominous voice, smiling softly when Eddie laughed under his breath. He felt his phone vibrate in his hand and glanced down to see a text message from Maddie.
‘Please don’t worry about the deleted message in the chat from me! Got rid of it ASAP when I realized – your secret’s still safe. Love you!’
The best thing about someone telling you not to worry when you weren’t actually aware of any worries, Buck thought, is the way your entire body will have fifty heart attacks at once.
“Um, I’ve gotta… I’ve gotta go and take a leak!” Buck stammered, vaulting from the couch like something had bitten him. “Just wait there!”
“… I was planning on it?” Eddie’s confused voice rang out after him as he rushed to the bathroom.
Inside, Buck fastened the door and quickly dialled Maddie’s number, pacing the miniscule floorspace like he was on hot coals.
“Hey Buck! How’s—”
“Whatdoyoumeansecret?!” Buck yelped in a high pitch, immediately clapping a hand over his mouth at the volume.
Maddie paused. “Oh… You don’t remember that part either?”
Buck let out a hysterical laugh. “No, Maddie! I don’t remember shit, that’s kind of the whole point!”
“Well, it’s okay because like I said, I deleted the video as soon as I realized I’d accidentally included it,” she said, aiming for a pacifying tone. “Eddie won’t find out. No one will. Everything’s going to be fine,” she added quietly.
Goosebumps erupted on Buck’s arms like someone had blasted the AC. He came to a standstill, catching his reflection in the mirror and seeing a frazzled ghost peering back. “Eddie won’t find out what?” he hissed.
“Um, hang on, let me just…”
Buck gripped onto the sink as he heard Maddie shuffle around on the end of the line, overhearing snippets of conversation with Chimney.
“Check on Jee for me… Yeah, it’s Buck… Not going to say that, Howie… Can you please…” There was the sound of footsteps, a door closing and then Maddie was back on the call. “Sorry, we’re not long home after relieving the Lees from babysitting.”
“Just rip off the band-aid, Mads. Is it really bad?”
“No, it’s… candid, I suppose?” she replied, letting out a small sigh. “But I mean, you were also really drunk and saying a lot of stuff that night so who knows what’s going on in that head of yours.”
Buck scrubbed his face with his free hand and closed his eyes. “Send me the video please.”
“Are you sure?”
“Nope. But I still need to see it.”
“Okay.”
“When I die of embarrassment can you scatter my ashes somewhere cool?”
“Evan…”
“Sorry.”
“I’ll send it through now.”
“Thanks.” Buck perched on the countertop, willing his stomach to stop churning the regrettable amounts of food he’d consumed that evening. “Hey Maddie?”
“Yeah?”
“What did Chimney want to say before?”
She tried to disguise the smile in her voice. “He asked if you and Eddie had graduated from clown college yet or were still ‘Penny-wising’ up.”
“I hate that I want to laugh at that.”
“Me too,” Maddie said fondly. “Goodnight Buck, I’ll talk to you tomorrow… Hey, maybe even about that whole ‘dads’ thing from earlier to—"
Buck swiftly hung up the phone.
True to her word, Maddie sent through the video no more than twenty seconds later. Buck took a few deep breaths before pressing play.
* * *
“I’m so fucking excited for you Maddie!”
Buck had locked himself away in the bathroom of the hotel suite, struck with the sudden urge to send a message of congratulations to his big sister. He sat on the closed lid of the toilet, Eddie’s shirt sleeve around his neck like a scarf, as he held his phone up to record a selfie video.
“You’re gonna have the best, beautiful day and… ‘m so happy. Your Chimney’s pretty cool too.” He threw her a bashful grin. “Don’t tell Chim I said it; he’ll want friendship bracelets.”
He picked up one of the complimentary soaps on the sink and gave it a sniff; potent lavender and lemongrass hitting his senses like a sucker punch of bad memories. “Smells like mom and dad’s house,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “Oh! ‘member that time I broke mom’s good vase? Shit, she was soooo mad. But you said… you said it was a cat, so I didn’t get in big trouble. You’re such a good Maddie, you know that, Maddie?”
Without warning, Buck felt hot tears prick his eyes. He pressed at them with the end of the shirt sleeve. “You deserve all the nice things ever. You and Chim and Jee.” He sniffed, darting his eyes around the bathroom with a tired smile. “I’d like nice things too one day,” he murmured. “Maybe if I’m brave enough.” Buck felt his heartbeat in time with the thrum of music pulsing outside the room. The pink sleeve in his hand still had traces of a heady cologne lingering, reminding Buck of warmth and safety and love. He brought the phone closer to his face. “Hey Maddie,” he whispered, eyes alight with nerves and wonder, “I think… I think that whole time I was maybe tryin’ to get Eddie’s attention not…”
“Are you done in there?!” an unfamiliar voice yelled from the other side of the door, accompanied by frantic knocking. “I gotta piss so bad!”
With a jolt, Buck quickly stuffed the shirt sleeve into his back pocket and pasted on a smile. “I-ignore me… Just, the inside thoughts t-they… I need to go now! Happy marriage!” he spluttered before ending the video.
* * *
Eddie flipped through the channels on the television while he waited for Buck to emerge from the bathroom. He decided not to question why Buck had been in there for over ten minutes already – or the strange yelp he’d heard earlier. Despite the theme of the evening, some mysteries were best left untangled.
The late-night offerings on network TV were truly heinous, but when Eddie landed on a channel showing Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ music video, a spark crackled to life in his synapses.
“… you should try the… next time…”
Eddie frowned. Something was flickering around in his mind like a movie that kept buffering. He closed his eyes, willing the memory to come to the surface. Who was talking to him?
“… the way he looked…”
The chorus to the song kicked in on screen and Eddie was suddenly hit with the whole cinematic experience.
* * *
“You seem a little lost.”
Eddie glanced up from where he’d settled himself on the floor against the wall of the balcony to get some fresh air. A woman with pink hair was smiling at him.
“Lisa video game!” Eddie exclaimed, giving her a clumsy wave with the hand not currently holding a red solo cup he’d found on the ground next to him.
“Ahh yes, my full government name, thank you,” Lisa grinned. “What are you doing out here all alone? Where’s your man gone?”
“Bathroom,” he replied instinctively, taking a swig of the drink and screwing up his face. “Tastes like sewerage,” he shuddered.
Taking pity on him, Lisa swapped out his drink for her bottle of water. “Trust me, you’ll feel better.” She sat down beside Eddie, giving him a teasing nudge with her shoulder. “So, your little lap dance looked fun earlier.”
Eddie choked on the liquid he’d just gulped. “What?!”
“You and Buck all cozy on the sofa?” she said with an innocent smirk. “Very Magic Mike of you.”
“I dunno know any magicians,” he replied hoarsely, cheeks tinted with pink to match his shirt collar. “It wasn’t… we were just messin’ round.”
“You should try the Tom Holland rain special next time,” Lisa suggested, rolling her eyes good-naturedly when she was met with Eddie’s blank stare. She got out her phone and searched up a video on YouTube. “Lip Sync Battle? No? Do you know any pop culture, dude?”
Eddie squinted at the screen. “I know more than Buck,” he snootily replied, breaking into a grin when Lisa pressed play on a clip. “Spider-Man! Chris loves that guy.” He watched, engrossed, as Tom Holland busted out of a suit and straight into a Rihanna routine. “Dayuuuum, Spider-Man’s got moves,” Eddie said in awe.
“I’m sure Buck would appreciate them too,” Lisa said, waggling her eyebrows.
Turning a deeper shade of pink, Eddie gently swatted Lisa’s phone away. “Nah. Doesn’t need me… all up on him.”
“Are you kidding me? The way he looked at you on that couch!” Lisa let out a low whistle, giving Eddie a pat on the knee before she stood up. “Go out and get yourself an umbrella my drunk friend.” She gave him a salute before going back into the party.
Eddie chuckled to himself, shaking his head. Getting an umbrella, how absurd. Not that he couldn’t pull off some of those moves. ‘cause he totally could, he could kick Spider-Man’s ass. Maybe. Maybe half an ass. Like when Buck grabbed his ass before. That was nice. He shouldn’t be thinking about asses though. He should be thinking about… umbrellas!
Patting the side of his pants, Eddie found his phone and opened up the notes app, sticking his tongue between his teeth in concentration. He randomly slotted ‘UMBRELLA’ into the list he’d been making for Hen. Or should it be the fancy umbrellas because Buck deserved fancy. Like the Netflix bridge-a-thon thing Chimney watched at work where they had… Parasols! Parasol… parasol… why did that sound so familiar to something Eddie should remember?
He heard a crash from inside and looked up, eyes flitting past the trio of people who had knocked over a potted plant and straight across the suite to where Buck had just emerged from the bathroom. Eddie let a soft smile tug across his lips. There was his man.
The record scratch sound effect was cartoonishly loud in Eddie’s head as his thoughts caught up with him. “What…”
* * *
“… the fuck?” Eddie whispered to himself, not understanding if the spike in his adrenaline was a good or bad thing, especially when it tried to hijack his body once more at the déjà vu of Buck materializing from a different bathroom. The only consolation for Eddie was that for some unknown reason Buck was looking equally as flustered.
“You, uh, you okay?” Eddie asked, concern outweighing his own internal war.
“Me? Fine. Great! Couldn’t be better,” Buck answered with an unsettling painted on grin, the likes of which were usually only seen on serial killers and morning TV show hosts. He came to a halt near the couch, making a few aborted movements to sit down in his usual place before awkwardly landing on the arm. “You?”
The seating choice confused Eddie but he didn’t comment considering he was almost levitating from his own nerves. “Yep, also good. Just hanging out here, chilling and whatnot.” He cringed, primarily at discovering the word ‘whatnot’ was in his vocabulary, but also because the night had taken another weird turn on top of the already bizarre pirouette it was rotating on.
Buck nodded a little too emphatically, chewing on his bottom lip. “Have you, um, h-have you watched any more videos?”
“Nope. Not yet.” Eddie chanced a look at the TV and found Rick Astley shimmying around in a trench coat, Rihanna nowhere to be seen. “Was waiting on you.”
“Right.”
“Yep.”
They swapped too-bright smiles, Eddie fiddling with the frayed edge of a pillow, Buck picking at his fingernails, never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down crooning from the television.
“I’m gonna go and pee also,” Eddie blurted out just as Buck opened his mouth to speak. “Back soon!” he added, shooting finger guns at Buck before rushing off down the hall.
Once locked safely in the bathroom, Eddie let his forehead smack into the door with a heavy thunk. “Ow,” he muttered, closing his eyes and forcing himself to take a few calming breaths.
He didn’t consider himself the greatest of talkers, but right at this moment Eddie needed someone to vent to. Someone slightly more neutral than his co-workers but who still knew the context of the word vomit he was surely going to spit out. He fumbled with the phone in his hand and tapped out a text.
Hey, sorry, I know it’s late but are you still awake?
Eddie turned from the door and noticed that Buck had given everything a tidy while he was in there. A jolt of affection dug in Eddie’s chest, swiftly followed by a stab of unease as he registered it as a patented Buck stress clean.
I’m up – are you okay? You need me to call?
The message from Karen was a welcome sight. Eddie quickly dialled her number before he could change his mind.
Karen picked up on the second ring. “Eddie, hey, what’s going on?” she asked, voice laced with warmth and concern.
“I need to be talked out of buying an umbrella,” he said in a panicked rush. He was met with a brief moment of silence.
“… did you and Buck go home and get high?”
“What? No, I just,” Eddie sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re not near Hen at the moment, are you?”
“No, she’s gone to bed, I was just winding down with some peppermint tea.” Karen rustled around, apparently making herself comfortable. “Is this going to be something I maybe shouldn’t mention to her?”
“For now at least. Please.”
“Of course.” She waited for him to continue and was met with Eddie’s uneven breathing. “So, what’s all this about an umbrella?” she kindly prompted.
“It’s… complicated,” Eddie replied in a small voice. He sat on the edge of the sink, exhaling slowly through his nose. “Looking at all of these videos tonight has brought up some thoughts shall we say. Thoughts I haven’t particularly allowed to surface before.”
“Okay,” Karen said, keeping her voice light. “And what might those thoughts be?”
He worried at a piece of chapped skin on his bottom lip. “Well, I shouldn’t be let ten feet near a bottle of tequila again for starters.”
“I think we already knew that,” Karen replied, humoring him. “What else have you got?”
“Maybe that…” He swallowed nervously, closing his eyes and feeling all the phantom touches and heat on his body from the memories stirred up that evening. “Maybe you were right earlier, when you joked about looking at Buck with… y’know.”
There was a smile in her tone. “The heart eyes?”
“Yeah. Those.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“Scared,” he admitted in a whisper. He stood up from the counter and turned around to gauge his reflection in the mirror. The Eddie looking back at him was the still the same one he faced this morning whilst brushing his teeth, combing his hair, calling out to Christopher to choose the least-sugary cereal for breakfast. But if you cracked him open and peeled back his ribs, the little lock he kept around his heart had been picked.
“Only scared?” Karen asked.
Eddie shook his head, even though she couldn’t see him. “And relieved,” he said, giving himself over to a moment of honesty. He glanced down to where Buck’s spare toothbrush was huddled next to Christopher’s in the holder and allowed himself a tentative smile. “Sometimes when I’m near him I feel like I’m doing a puzzle that’s always missing a piece, and I never let myself understand why.”
“Eddie?”
“Hmm?”
Karen formed her next sentence slowly, trying not to spook him. “Are you going to let Buck know any of this?”
“Not yet. Or at all, I don’t know,” he murmured. “I’m not – I’m not ready. There’s too much to… And there’s paras— Jesus, I mean Marisol…” he broke out into a strained laugh. “I don’t even know if Buck would be on the same page.” He frowned when Karen immediately scoffed at him. “What?”
“Hen always says you two are oblivious, and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but holy shit, Diaz,” she snorted. “You think those heart eyes only go one way?”
“I can’t contemplate that right now,” he muttered, face heating up. “I should probably get back out there, do some damage control. I kind of ran to the bathroom in a weird hurry.”
“How weird?”
“Shooting finger guns at Buck like a crazed used car salesman weird.”
“Oh damn. Yeah, get off the phone.”
Eddie’s lips quirked in a smile at her quiet laughter. “Thank you,” he said, breathing a little easier. “For listening to me ramble.”
“Anytime, Eddie. I mean it,” Karen replied kind-heartedly. “Do I eventually get to find out what the umbrella thing meant?”
“Maybe on my deathbed.”
“Sooo, with your luck, a day that ends in ‘y’ then?”
“One more hospital visit, and I get a free set of steak knives.”
* * *
Buck sat perched on the arm of the couch like a taxidermy parrot, only lasting a full thirty seconds after Eddie ran off before resuming his freak out. Eddie had obviously picked up on his complete lack of chill and needed a time out from his overwhelming presence – Buck didn’t blame the guy. But it’s not like he could’ve just blurted out, ‘Oh hey, Eddie, I’m having an out-of-body experience right now because I’m thinking inappropriate thoughts about *your* body and also about how I nearly murdered you on a basketball court because I want to grow old with you! Hahaha! Can I still live in your house?’
No, what he needed right now was soothing reassurance he wasn’t about to blow up his life by saying something stupid to Eddie because he couldn’t keep his big, traitorous, yapping mouth shut. Scrambling for his phone, he opened up a video chat with Maddie, needing not only her calm voice but the visual of the understanding, supportive sisterly vibe she was so good at channelling.
“Maddie!” he yelped, not even waiting for the call to fully connect. “You gotta fucking help me, the bathroom video…” Buck’s sentence screeched to an unearthly halt when he realized who was on the other side of the screen.
“Heyyyyy, Buck,” Chim said with a sheepish wave.
Buck blinked. “You’re not Maddie.”
“Astute observation, I can see why Bobby keeps you around.”
“Why are you answering her phone?” Buck said impatiently, trying to peer behind Chimney to see if his sister was lurking.
“She left it in the kitchen after she went to bed,” he explained, setting up the device against something on the counter so he could go hands free. “I thought it might have been important, so I picked up,” he added, cutting a piece of leftover cake from the party.
“Oh, well, it’s not so don’t worry,” Buck said, attempting to wring out any trace of stress from his voice like a sponge. “Everything’s fine. Easy breezy! Peachy keen!”
Chimney raised an eyebrow. “As convincing as that was, you look like you’re about to not-so-spontaneously combust, and I don’t think it’s fair making Eddie scrape you off the wall.”
“Eddie? Who says I’m with Eddie, huh?” Buck scoffed.
“Pretty sure you’re in his living room, man. Either that or you’ve done a copy and paste of his entire house layout into your loft.”
“Okay, Architectural Digest, calm down,” Buck grumbled, a flush spreading up his neck.
Letting out a bemused snort, Chimney scooped up a forkful of cake and shoved it in his mouth. “I know I’m not as smart and dazzling as my wife, but I’m still a good listener if you need it.”
“It’s fine, Chim. It’s nothing, really,” he sighed, not meeting his friend’s gaze. “I should probably go.”
Chimney cleared his throat. “It’s just, uh, I heard you mention something about a video from a bathroom,” he said carefully.
Buck’s attention snapped back to the screen. “Why does that matter?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Because… Well, I actually would like a friendship bracelet one day,” he said, leaning on the counter as Buck took in a sharp inhale. “Which means I might know why you’re in a downward spiral right now,” he added with an apologetic wince.
The way all color and feeling drained from his body should be studied by scientists, Buck thought to himself as he nearly dropped the phone. “I can’t believe Maddie told you!” he seethed. “She promised me she wouldn’t! She—”
“Woah, hey, Buck! Buddy! Maddie didn’t tell me, I…” he hesitated. “Uh, not that I don’t appreciate the view of Eddie’s ceiling, but can you lift me back up so I can see that handsome face of yours again.” The swift jerk of the screen nearly gave Chimney motion sickness, and he reared back with a grimace at the murderous glare on Buck’s face. “There he is,” Chimney said with a weak cheer.
“If Maddie didn’t show you, then why have you seen it?” Buck said through gritted teeth.
“It was an accident, I promise,” said Chimney. “When I was in the hospital, I asked Maddie if I could look at stuff on her cell to jog my memories along,” he explained, picking up the phone and his cake to head to the living room. “She’d taken Jee to get food and I was watching videos when I stumbled across it. Maddie doesn’t know I’ve seen it. And you weren’t supposed to know either, except,” he settled onto the couch, offering Buck a wry look. “It feels like you might need to talk about it?”
Sensing the fight drain out of himself, Buck glanced in the direction of the hallway before deciding to head out to the backyard for a bit more privacy. He sat down on the edge of the porch and let the warm night air wash over him. “I’m in trouble, Chim,” he admitted, his voice quivering.
“Why do you think that?” Chim encouraged, trying to decipher the look on Buck’s face from the illumination of the moon and soft glow of light from the house.
“Because I can’t want Eddie’s attention like that,” he said matter-of-factly, attempting to mask the underlying pain. “It’ll ruin everything.”
Chimney took another bite of cake, offering Buck an easy shrug. “And what if it doesn’t?”
Buck huffed a derisive laugh through his nose. “Uh, did you miss the part where Eddie has a girlfriend and isn’t interested in men? Or maybe the part where if I do say something then I risk losing the best friend I’ve ever had?”
“Look, I don’t want to speculate too much on another person’s private life,” Chim said, setting his plate to the side. “But what I will say is that the bond you and Eddie share cuts a lot deeper than your standard friendship, and that’s gotta mean something.” He let the silence linger as Buck absorbed his words.
“You think so?” Buck said, soft yet still guarded.
“Buck, an entire hotel room of strangers thought they were celebrating a bachelor party for you and Eddie,” he replied, cocking his head to the side with a smirk. “And I like spending time with the guy too, but I certainly don’t have a key to his house.”
“It’s just for emergencies,” Buck mumbled, bowing his head.
Chimney pursed his lips and nodded. “You must have a lot of emergencies given all the time you spend there. Don’t you have your own drawer in Eddie’s room with spare clothes too?”
“Shut up.”
“Thank you for the comprehensive rebuttal, the prosecution rests, your honor,” Chimney grinned, a tiny smear of chocolate frosting stuck to his cheek.
Buck leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand. “I don’t think I should say anything, Chim. At least not tonight. I already feel like I’ve been through an emotional rollercoaster ten times over.”
“Yeah, your singing was pretty fucking awful,” Chim retorted, laughing when he could make out Buck giving him the finger. “Seriously though, bud, are you gonna be okay?”
“I’m going to have to be,” he said, trying to sound surer than he was. “If I act any stranger Eddie’s not going to let me still move in tomorrow.”
“Wait, what?” Chimney spluttered, holding the phone way too close to his face. “What happened to ‘I only have a key for emergencies’?”
Eyes widening, Buck quickly stood up and brushed off the back of his jeans. “Uh, nothing! Gotta go, Chim, thanks for the chat!”
“Oh, you mother-bucker! Don’t you dare hang u—”
Buck ended the call.
* * *
When Buck returned, Eddie was already waiting for him in the living room. Buck took a moment before making his presence known, watching Eddie sit on the couch while the glow of the television danced across his face. Melancholy twisted Buck’s lips as he processed just how unfairly beautiful his best friend was, even under the erratic lighting of an advertisement for heartburn medication. Something Buck probably need a large dose of.
“There you are,” Eddie said, turning his head as he caught Buck in his peripheral vision. “Thought you might’ve had enough and gone home, but then I saw your ugly-ass white sneakers were still near the door.”
Buck scoffed at him, hiding a smile as they returned to their easy banter. “They’re in fashion you octogenarian,” he quipped, flopping back onto his side of the couch. “I was just outside getting some fresh air - I might have overdone it with all the party food.”
“Oh, you think?” Eddie smirked, propping his elbow on the back of the sofa and leaning his chin on his hand. “I don’t know how you pack it all away, I’m kind of envious. You truly amaze me sometimes, Buck.” Not meaning for his voice to taper off so softly, Eddie quickly changed the subject. “Um, so are we still doing this video thing or…?”
“A-actually, I’m getting kinda tired,” Buck replied, scratching the back of his neck. Truthfully the caffeine had kicked in and the buzz of that was already causing havoc with his overwrought emotions, which was a disaster waiting to happen. It was safer for the both of them if Buck simply called it a night.
“Right, yeah, we should probably get some sleep if we’re going to be moving all your furniture and shit tomorrow,” Eddie nodded, sliding into an affable grin. “How many useless kitchen contraptions am I dealing with anyway?”
“That’s pretty funny coming from you, Mr ‘I used to burn the pasta water’,” Buck quipped, relishing the withering look on Eddie’s face.
“There’s still time to repossess your key, wiseass.”
“Hey, no takebacks now, Diaz; you’re stuck with me.”
Eddie couldn’t help the affectionate smile curling up his lips. “Yeah, guess I am,” he replied.
Buck ducked his head, breathing out a soft laugh. “You know what, I changed my mind. Maybe one more humiliating video for the road,” he proposed, ever the sucker for punishment. “Whaddya say?” he said, glancing up at Eddie.
“I think,” Eddie began, shifting to grab his phone off the coffee table, “that we should probably, finally, find out why the firefighter’s pants caught on fire, don’t you?”
“Well, there’s the whole ‘liar, liar’ defence, which I hear is pretty solid,” Buck grinned, scooting across to meet Eddie in the middle.
Their shoulders brushed together as Eddie settled in closer to share the phone screen. He scrolled down through a mixture of photos, screenshots, texts and videos, raising an eyebrow. “Jesus, we lived about eighty-five lives that night.”
“Crockett and Tubbs would be proud, question mark?” Buck said, holding his breath as Eddie skated by the ‘this message has been deleted’ portion with no reaction.
“Sure, let’s go with that.” Eddie kept scrolling, pressing his thumb down to pause when he saw a row of fire emojis before a video. “Bless you and your organizational skills, Maddie.” He gave Buck a nudge with his elbow. “Ready?”
“Aim and fire,” Buck exhaled, tapping play. To both of their surprise, the clip only lasted no more than ten seconds. In it, Buck was standing with an exaggerated pout, holding half a smushed cake in one hand and a charred dancing toad shirt in the other. Eddie’s arm came into frame as he pointed at Buck’s burnt pant leg and uttered ‘Stay in fire school, kids’.
Eddie furrowed his brow, playing it through a few more times. “That’s it?” he said, disappointed. “I mean, I’m not surprised that puke guy appears to be at the scene of the crime again somehow. But it’s not generating much else in my memories. Except… I think I grabbed a fire extinguisher maybe?” He turned his head to peer at Buck. “What do you remember?”
Quickly schooling his stunned goldfish impersonation into something more innocuous, Buck shook his head. “Uh, n-not much, but I know you’re right about the fire extinguisher. Very responsible of you - Bobby might’ve earned himself a new favorite work son." He laughed loudly, aiming for casual and coming off slightly deranged.
“God, I wish I could piece this one together some more,” Eddie said, genuine. “It might actually be funny.”
“Yeah, probably a real riot. Wish I could remember too,” Buck said with false exuberance, all the while his pulse was thrumming to a steady beat: liar, liar, pants on fire.
* * *
“If ’m gonna teach you how to waltz, you gotta come closer.”
The party had dwindled down to a few stragglers playing beer pong, a couple making out on the balcony and Buck (wearing a pair of blue light-up novelty glasses he’d been bequeathed), standing in front of Eddie like a nervous eighth grader at a school disco. He’d offhandedly mentioned to Eddie that he had plans to dance at the wedding reception, and therefore plans to ignore his own lack of rhythm, but apparently that didn’t sit right with Eddie ‘part-time dance tutor’ Diaz.
“C’mere,” Eddie cajoled, reaching out to grab Buck’s hands hanging limply beside his body. He placed one on his shoulder, and one on his waist, his warm skin a stark contrast to Buck’s clammy palms. “How th’fuck are you cold and sweaty at once?” he laughed.
“Science?” Buck said. Or at least he thought he said, seeing as all of his concentration was currently focused on not freaking out about being so close to Eddie’s bare torso once more. “You wanna bathrobe too?” he asked hopefully, nodding down at his own.
“Nah, too hot,” Eddie replied, lightly gripping onto the hem of Buck’s t-shirt as he thumbed through his phone.
Yes, yes you are, Buck thought feverishly. He tried to focus on something less distracting, scanning the messy hotel room but helplessly tunnel vision-ing back to Eddie’s face.
He zeroed in on the freckle underneath his left eye.
He wanted to lick it.
Fuck.
“What’re you doing?” Buck asked, hoping Eddie didn’t register the involuntary twitch of his hands at his intrusive thoughts. “Playin’ Candy Crush?”
“Lookin’ for a wedding-y song,” said Eddie, the hyper-focused tongue poking out between his teeth not helping Buck’s cause. He scrolled through a random playlist, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Fuckit, I’ll shuffle ‘em.”
Buck felt some of his tension fizzle away when the opening bars of Monster Mash suddenly began to play. He took one look at Eddie before they both started pissing themselves. “Ooh, romance,” Buck teased.
“Shaddup,” Eddie snorted, the apples of his cheeks flushing red. He hit shuffle a few more times before a slower, more modern song played. Offering a smug raise of his eyebrows, Eddie set the phone down on a table and took one of Buck’s hands in his own, positioning his other on Buck’s waist to mirror the hold. “Ready?”
Buck swallowed down what felt like a gallon of sand. “Mmm-hmm.”
Eddie started them off in a gentle sway, which was a nice contrast to the already not-gentle sway of the room. Buck was thankful the room service food and switch to water was working as a stopgap to some of the alcohol, but they were still living in Drunksville, population two.
“Woah, easy now, Fred Stairs,” Buck cried out, tripping over his own foot as Eddie endeavoured to move them backwards.
“Fred who?” Eddie exclaimed, steadying them as best he could.
“The olden times dance guy?” Buck tried his utmost to keep upright as they went into another reverse step. “Are you tryin’ to break my ankle as basketball revenge? ‘cause that’s honestly fair.”
“Quick question,” Eddie said, leading them in the most careful turn in ballroom history. “How d’you be a human every day when you’re actually a little baby deer?”
“Fuckoff,” Buck retorted, ignoring Eddie’s chuckling when he immediately stumbled over nothing. “Okay, I give up, I fucken suck at this.”
“Just watch my feet and do the counting thing,” said Eddie, squeezing Buck’s hand for reassurance. “One, two, three. One, two, three…”
“Onetwo… three. One… twothreeone.”
“Dude, how’re you on, like, five?”
“I don’t know!”
“One, two, three!”
“One, two, threeonetwo… three.”
“Buck! Holy shit, it’s just counting!”
“Welp, get another lightning to zap me ‘cause the math’s gone!”
Growling in annoyance, Eddie dropped Buck’s hand to haul their bodies closer together. He looped his arms around Buck’s neck, glaring at him until Buck got the hint and nervously slid his hands around Eddie’s naked back.
Buck held very, very still, fearful any sudden movements on his behalf were going to unravel in a Jurassic Park shaky glass of water giveaway of his feelings stomping through the room.
“Are you mad?” Buck murmured.
“No,” Eddie grumbled.
“Sure? ‘cause you have your mad face on.”
Eddie plastered a sarcastic smile on his lips.
“Now you jus’ look constipated.”
“Be quiet ‘n move,” Eddie muttered, turning his head so Buck wouldn’t catch the amused quirk of his mouth.
“Saw that,” Buck grinned.
The music was like a peaceful lullaby ballad as they swayed together on the spot. Both men kept their heads deliberately angled to the side, gazing over each other’s shoulders.
“This is nice,” Buck said quietly, feeling his stomach brush against Eddie’s as they breathed in sync. “Dancing’s kinda nice.”
Eddie let out a noncommittal hum. “Can be very nice,” he nodded, licking his bottom lip. “… ‘specially with the right dance partner.” He turned just as Buck did, their faces close, and offered him a small smile. “Guess you’ll find out t’morrow, huh.”
“Yeah… I guess,” Buck replied, his answering smile laced with sorrow. He let out surprised exhale when Eddie hesitated before leaning in and grazing his cheek against Buck’s, gently resting their heads together while they continued their languid movement. Buck closed his eyes, sliding his hands across Eddie’s flushed, taut skin until his fingers interlocked. He felt a puff of warm air hit his collarbone as Eddie softly stroked his thumb against Buck’s neck.
There was singing nearby to the tune of Happy Birthday. “Happy wedding day to you! Happy wedding day to youuuuu!”
Three things then happened in quick succession. Buck and Eddie sprung apart. Pete the party shirt guy tripped over a pink, glittery cowboy hat. And a cake, lit with candles, flew through the air and dropped at Buck and Eddie’s feet.
Startled, Buck fell backwards and landed on the couch, his eyes widening under his novelty glasses in alarm when he realized the leg of his pants was on actual goddamn fire.
“Shit!” Buck yelped.
“Fuck!” Eddie ran to the kitchenette, bowling through the beer pong game.
“I’ll save you!” Pete screamed, buttons flying everywhere as he tore off his toad shirt and made a dive to swat Buck’s leg with the garment.
Buck hurriedly moved out of the way of his misguided heroics just as Eddie returned with a mini fire extinguisher, quickly putting out the flames on Buck’s clothing, and on the burnt carpet Pete was now attempting to valiantly smother with his dancing toads.
The trio breathed heavily as the remaining people in the suite took it as a sign to get the hell out while ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ (Shrek 2 version) cosmically played from Eddie’s abandoned phone.
“Are you hurt?” Eddie grunted, as he dropped the extinguisher and knelt down next to Buck to methodically examine his leg.
Buck shook his head. “Didn’t get skin, ‘m okay.”
“I’m okay too if you were wondering,” a timid voice piped up.
They both whipped around to Pete in the same furious manner.
“I just wanted to do something nice to make up for all the puking,” Pete whimpered shirtless-ly, holding half a smooshed cake in his hands. He lifted it up for them to see. “You still want a piece?” he asked, wincing as the remaining groom cake topper promptly fell off.
Buck and Eddie met each other’s bewildered gaze and immediately burst out laughing.
* * *
“… Buck? Buck!”
Snapping out of his daze, Buck realized Eddie was looking at him in concern. “Sorry, what?” he asked, voice cracking.
“I lost you there for a second,” Eddie said with an uncertain smile. “Are you okay?”
Not really, no, Buck thought. Instead, he forced himself into a jaw-splitting yawn. “Think it might be time to hit the hay! It’s been a long night.”
Eddie looked as though he wanted to prod further but ended up nodding along. “Yeah… it has,” he replied, standing up from the couch and collecting the empty coffee cups for the dishwasher. “I’ll get the stuff for your bed.”
“Maybe we’ll just look at the rest of the messages together tomorrow?” Buck offered.
“Sounds like a plan.”
* * *
The moonlight filtered in through Eddie’s bedroom window as he lay under the rumpled covers, staring up at the roof. He wondered if Buck was still awake in the other room, not able to hear the man’s usual freight train snoring. Loud as it was, it was usually a nice white noise for Eddie to fall asleep to whenever Buck stayed over.
He’d been trying, and failing, to not entertain any thoughts of what else might have happened at the party. But the siren call of the message thread was singing out to him, and he was merely but a man with a degree in making dumb fucking decisions. Eddie grabbed his phone from the nightstand and opened up the messenger group, scrolling through to the end. He clicked on the second last item, a Snapchat photo of himself and Buck next to one another cheesing at the camera. He couldn’t help but snort at the caption pasted across their faces.
‘The Tubbs Twins’
Eddie had a vague recollection of them reaching an impasse on the ‘who is actually Crockett’ debacle, which then morphed into each of them vowing to be Tubbs instead when someone at the party pointed out he was pretty cool too. Turns out, drunk Eddie and Buck were very impressionable.
The last offering in the thread was a video. Eddie wavered before pressing play.
* * *
In the living room, the glow from Buck’s phone lit up his face. If he wasn’t already hyped from the constant adrenaline of the evening, the lingering caffeine was also there to be an understudy for his nervous system’s Off-Broadway production of ‘So You Decided to Fuck Around and Find Out!’
He didn’t mean to revisit the message thread without Eddie, but curiosity was a fickle fiend so of course he was going to dive right back in. Buck noticed that after the fire hazard video there were only a handful of other things to look through. When he got to the end he was met with a video, the still frame on the front featuring a blurry close up Eddie’s face. What Buck really ought to do in this moment, he thought, was put his phone down and attempt to get some sleep.
He, of course, pushed play.
* * *
“How many legendarys out of ten would you give the party, Diaz?”
Eddie lay down on the porcelain ground while Buck filmed him from above. He regarded Buck with a lazy grin. “Eleven!”
“Hear that, Chim?” Buck crowed, flipping the camera to his face to gloat. “Best party ever! Too bad you slept all through it, old man!”
“Haha! Good one!”
Buck turned the camera back on Eddie, zooming in on the cake crumbs stuck to the edge of his lips. “What should we do next? Oop, shit!” he cried out, dropping the phone as the video cut out.
* * *
Buck started breathing heavily, breaking out into a cold sweat as memories flooded back.
He knew exactly what they did next.
* * *
Eddie rubbed the side of his ribs where the phone landed on him. “Think you broke something,” he groaned pathetically. “Always tryin’ to maim me.”
“Ooh, lemme play my tiny violin,” Buck smirked, reaching over into the tub with a wobble to grab his phone and send the video to Chimney.
“Hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“… fine, you win.”
Shoving his phone into his pocket, Buck offered Eddie a dazzling smile. “What’s my prize?”
“Gettin’ into this giant, fucken salad bowl bath thing with me,” Eddie declared with a grandiose gameshow sweep of his arm.
“I’m not gonna fit in there with you!”
“Yeah, you will. C’mon, long legs.” He patted the tiny space next to him where he was lying flat on his back, legs hanging over the side of the tub. “Get creative.”
With a put-upon sigh, Buck climbed in, narrowly missing elbowing Eddie in the face as he contorted himself into a prone position. “This better, y’majesty?” he mocked, flinging his legs over the side next to Eddie’s.
“Much.”
They lay there quiet for a moment, lines of their bodies pressed firmly together, gazing up at the hotel ceiling. There was toilet paper strung across most of the light fixtures, one of many messes they’d vowed to clean up before check-out. Buck was sure Eddie had set an alarm for them after Pete had scurried away, so he wasn’t worried. Little tidy, little straightening up, room would be good as new.
“Tonight was the most fun time,” Buck enthused, knocking his knee against Eddie’s.
“Chim should get hitched every month,” said Eddie earnestly. He frowned at the humungous red wine stain covering most of Buck’s thigh. “How’d you get that?” he gestured lazily.
Buck shrugged, letting out a small ‘ooft’ when Eddie’s arm dropped onto his stomach without warning. “Dunno,” he replied, waiting for Eddie to realize he mistimed the limb landing. But there it stayed, draped over Buck like a seatbelt. “M-maybe I’ll remember tomorrow.”
“We’ll remember all the things, ‘s okay,” Eddie comforted him.
“Promise?”
Eddie held up the hand currently vacationing on Buck’s chest and stuck out his pinky finger. Grinning happily, Buck hooked his own pinky around it and tugged three times for luck.
“Eddie?”
“Mmm?”
With concerted effort, Buck squeezed his legs into the tub and twisted his body so that he was on his side. He waited for Eddie to pretzel his own body into the same position, curling their legs together and facing one another like opposing quotation marks, letting their bodies do the talking.
“I love… I love being this with you,” Buck said softly.
Eddie gave him a tender, sad smile. “Love being this with you too.”
Buck’s eyes flitted towards Eddie’s mouth. Lifting his hand from where it was jammed between their bodies, Buck gently swiped away the cake crumbs with the pad of his thumb. “Had a little…” he said, breath hitching when Eddie turned his head a fraction to catch his lips on Buck’s caress.
With a trembling hand, Eddie cupped Buck’s jaw, sweeping his own thumb across Buck’s plump bottom lip. “You too,” he said hoarsely, no trace of anything on his skin.
They leaned in closer, hearts racing. “Should probably say g’night,” Buck murmured, closing his eyes. He felt the press of Eddie’s forehead against his own, his hot breath mingling in with Buck’s equally erratic breathing. “W-we need to say it.”
Eddie brushed his lips against Buck’s, tracing his thumb over his cheek in soft strokes. “Goodnight, Buck,” Eddie whispered on a shaky sigh, feeling the absence of warmth when Buck reluctantly pulled away.
* * *
The clock had just gone past midnight. Buck stood at the kitchen sink in the dark, gulping down a glass of water. He felt hot and cold all over, and also kind of itchy like he wanted to unpeel his skin and disappear. But the worst part was the torturous way he knew he’d keep replaying the memory in his mind just to feel that tiny spark of connection buried deep in the yearning.
“Shit, sorry, didn’t think you’d be in here.”
Buck nearly let the glass slip from his hands at Eddie’s voice, clutching it just in time as the kitchen light flickered on. “Oh! Hey! Yeah, I um, couldn’t sleep and I was… looking up random Wikipedia pages. Got thirsty.” Yeah, you sure did, his treacherous mind taunted him. Willing himself to calm the fuck down, Buck gave Eddie a smile as he approached. “You?”
“Uh, yeah, pretty much the same except substitute Candy Crush for your Wikipedia rabbit hole.” Eddie fetched his own glass from the cabinet and filled it with water from the jug in the fridge. “Shouldn’t have had that coffee, huh?” he said ruefully, taking a sip of his drink.
They stood across from one another, each looking contemplative.
“We’re okay, aren’t we?” Eddie suddenly blurted out.
Buck blinked rapidly, taken aback. “Y-yeah, of course,” he stammered. “Why wouldn’t we be?” He gave Eddie a nervous laugh. “Can’t scare me off with your karaoke singing, Diaz, no matter how hard you try.”
Eddie’s mouth curled up in a smirk. “Ditto.”
“I’m gonna try and knock myself out,” Buck said, lifting his glass in a farewell. “Goodnight, Eddie.”
“… Night, Buck.”
Hoping his smile didn’t quake, Buck hastily left the kitchen, grateful that Eddie appeared to have no clue as to why he was having a little internal breakdown at a simple exchange of goodnights.
Eddie waited for Buck to leave before setting his glass down on the counter and burying his head in his hands.
* * *
“Should probably say g’night,” Buck murmured.
Eddie was drawn to him like a magnet, not even realizing he was inching forward until his forehead was touching Buck’s. His whole body was vibrating with electricity, one more spark was going to make him explode.
“W-we need to say it.”
‘This is the part where you pull back’, Eddie thought, while simultaneously wanting to crawl under Buck’s ribcage. ‘Take away your hand’, his inner voice encouraged, while he felt Buck tremble under his touch. ‘This is wrong,’ he thought, as his lips danced across Buck’s in a way that felt so right.
“Goodnight, Buck.”
* * *
Eddie turned off the kitchen light and made his way back to the bedroom, figuring he had about six or seven hours to get his shit together before acting normal around Buck. Or as normal as he could be with the knowledge that his feelings for his best friend were very much not best friend-like, just as said best friend was about to move in. Eddie was eternally thankful Buck had no recollection how the night of the party actually ended.
Everything was going to be fine.
Absolutely fine.
(Cue the big, fucking colossal violin).