Chapter Text
Surprisingly and unsurprisingly, nothing much changes between them after their kiss. The only difference is that now, Buck climbs into Eddie’s lap without second thought, plants kisses on his lips at any random time just “because I can, Eds.” He comes over just as much as he used to and still teases Eddie relentlessly, with the added bonus of the teasing behind closed doors. Buck still cooks and bakes for him and Christopher, still stands by Eddie’s side with a hand clasped in his when Chris returns home from Texas.
Buck goes back to normal at work, too, much to the tangible relief of everyone. He gets way too close to Hen when they talk and tramples over Chimney’s feet in the field and annoys Bobby endlessly during mealtimes. And none of them could ever complain, especially after feeling the open rift that had existed prior.
And Eddie couldn’t be happier, even now, as they stand in the middle of the mall the week of Christmas. Normally, this is Eddie’s definition of hell—and don’t get him wrong, it still kind of is—but watching Chris and Buck walk ahead of him, shopping list in hands as they rush through the stores, he doesn’t wish to be anywhere else.
“And we have to go to Build-A-Bear to grab a stuffy for Jee” Buck reminds, pointing behind them.
“And then GameStop, right?” Christopher asks. “You promised to buy me a new game for Christmas if I went shopping with you guys.”
Buck looks back at Eddie with a knowing look and a beaming smile as if to say, ‘this kid.’
Eddie hits him right back with a look that he hopes says ‘That’s your kid.’ It’s a joke that has become too real in the past few months, telling Buck that Chris is his when Chris acts crazy or wants something extremely expensive. Deep in his core, Eddie means it in full force. Every day Christopher shows more of Buck’s characteristics—his exaggerated storytelling, his desire for physical affection, his wit and sarcasm—and he loves every one of them.
Buck just smiles right back before turning to face in front of him as they turn into a candle store to grab something for Maddie.
Eddie follows and it’s only by chance that he catches the man in his peripheral. He doesn’t need to look over to see that Tommy has seen them already, he can see the way Tommy’s tracking Christopher and Buck throughout the store. Eddie’s far enough behind that he can’t be sure if Tommy’s noticed his presence at all.
Buck and Chris are picking up candles and sniffing them already, commenting back and forth on which ones are the best. He watches Christopher sniff one as Buck holds it to his nose and he crinkles his nose, yelling out “gross!” Buck folds with laughter, tossing the boys hair before placing the candle back and continuing to the next.
Eddie sees Tommy making his way over and wishes deeply that he would’ve just kept moving. Against Eddie’s wishes, though, Tommy makes quick work of closing the distance and before long, he’s standing back watching Tommy tap Buck on the shoulder.
Eddie moves closer to hear better, sees the way Buck’s face morphs into surprise and then a small, polite smile.
“I thought that was you” Tommy grins, “I guess I can still pick you out from a mile away.”
He is polite enough to acknowledge Christopher’s presence, though it’s only barely a smile. Chris, obviously feeling the tension and possibly the hurt of the slight brush off, moves further into the store. Eddie watches his son but lets him be as he begins looking at the soaps, instead focusing back on the conversation.
“Yeah” Buck laughs uncomfortably, eyes flickering around to find Eddie. “How…how have you been?” He encourages when Tommy doesn’t move along.
“I’ve been good, had a lot of time…to think.” Eddie’s stomach turns, already knowing where this is going. Buck bites his lips worriedly, clearly coming to the same conclusion. “About us and how we ended…and I think I was wrong.”
“Oh, I—yeah, I thought a lot about it too. I—” Buck starts, stalling and looking around, and Eddie decides to put him out of his misery.
“Tommy!” he forces cheer into his voice, approaching the man. Buck visibly relaxes when Tommy turns his head and meets Eddie’s eyes. “What are you doing here, man?”
“Finishing up some Christmas shopping” Tommy moves in to hug Eddie, but Eddie slows his step enough that Tommy must get the memo and changes his course, patting Eddie on his back. Even that move burns Eddie’s shoulder and makes him want to scrub his skin off.
Eddie nods, moving in next to Buck. “Same here, we put it off and now we’re stuck with this rush.” He gestures to the crowds outside the window.
Tommy nods, “It’s, uh, really good to see you guys, I know…things have been weird, and I’ve been meaning to reach out.”
“Oh, that’s alright. We’ve been plenty busy running around after Chris”
“Yeah, I’m glad to see he’s back” Tommy smiles and Eddie just wants to punch it off of him, a remainder of anger left from Tommy and Buck’s breakup that Eddie would deny if confronted.
“I owe it all to Buck,” Eddie says while wrapping an arm around the other man, and it’s not fully a lie—Chris had decided to come back on his own, but it had been Buck who coordinated the flights and the pick-up time and who had mediated their conversation upon return. He doesn’t want to think of what might have happened without Buck by his side every step of the way. “He put it all together for us.
Buck just smiles, looking back up at his partner. “Nah, all I did was book a flight. The rest was you.”
He sees the curious look that flashes over Tommy’s face, but the older man stays quiet.
Eddie decides not to press the issue, the topic had already been beaten to death in the privacy of their home. “Honestly, between getting Chris back and planning the wedding, we’ve been pretty booked up” Eddie comments, pretending that he isn’t intending to drop such a bomb, and Buck chokes, trying desperately to stifle the laugh that bubbles out of him.
“Wedding?” Tommy parrots, jaw slightly agape. “W-who’s getting married?”
Eddie shoves down the laugh he wants to let out as Buck turns his face into Eddie’s shoulder. “Us” He purposely shoves the lift in his voice as though to say ‘duh’.
They don’t wear rings—it was too much of a hassle between their jobs and Buck’s uncanny ability to lose anything that’s not biologically attached to his body. It had been easier to get matching tattoos (after numerous serious conversations in which they swore to each other that even if they ever stopped being romantically attached, they would always fight to be a part of each other’s lives.) Tucked beneath their clothing just below their hearts across their ribcage. They didn’t need them as outward reminders; it was enough to have the commitment sworn between them the way it had always been.
“O-oh” Tommy physically recoils.
Eddie smiles wider, looking back at Buck.
The memory is still fresh in his mind even though it was nearly 6 months ago now. They’d had a particularly bad call, in which Buck and Eddie had gotten trapped in a burning house, with the roof falling around them. Buck had been clutching a little girl to his chest, shielding her from the flames and debris, while they mapped out a plan.
“Eddie, the stairs are gone. We’re going to have to find another way.”
Eddie’s eyes dart around the burning remains of the room, looking for a way out. “The window.”
Buck nods, before reminding him, “it’s the third floor, Eds.”
“I saw a ledge. I’ll radio Cap to bring the ladder around and we’ll wait. We can’t stay here.”
Buck follows his lead, pressing the button on his radio already calling out to team outside, warning them of the plan.
The window gets stuck briefly and Eddie switches plans, telling Buck to stay back as he kicks the glass out.
“Go first and take her!” Buck says, the cool breeze already adding fuel to the fire.
“No, Buck—” Eddie shakes his head, feeling the helmet shake on his head.
“There’s no time, Eddie! Go!” He cuts him off. The flames lick higher against the crumbling walls around him.
Eddie wants to argue, wants to say he’s not leaving without him. But the ladder is moving into position beneath them already and the fire’s growing louder. The little girl in Buck’s arms—Mable—is crying profusely. He knows Buck is right.
He forces himself to turn to the window and step out on the ledge, extending his arms to take Mable from Buck’s arms. He shushes a small comfort into her hair as he takes her, feeling colder instantly.
“Go, I’m right behind you!” Buck reassures as the ladder arrives right beside them. Eddie pauses, every ounce of his blood pooling towards his hand to grab the love of his life and pull him with him.
“Buck—”
“Eddie,” Buck says sternly, looking him right in the eyes, “I love you. Now, go.”
Hen is standing right in front of him, reaching for Mable, and Eddie shoves her into the woman’s open arms. “Buck’s right behind me” he tells her and she nods, beginning her descent.
“Time to go, Buck!” He yells, turning back to meet Buck’s eyes—a smile glimmering back at him.
It’s the last thing he sees before the floor gives out and Buck falls back into the fire.
Eddie feels like it takes his heart with him, fear clenching the open abyss in his chest.
“BUCK!” he screams. “Buck! No, no, no, Buck!” He cries out, trying to crawl back in the window. When he looks in, though, there’s no floor, just flames. “BUCK!”
A hand lands on his shoulder, dragging him back from throwing himself in right after him. “Buck, he’s—the floor—he—” There’s a familiar panic seizing at his words, babbling nonsense at whoever is beside him, “I need to—”
“Eddie, we have to get down. This roof is going and we’re going with it if we don’t move.” Hen warns and Eddie thinks he would prefer it if the house swallowed him whole. “Think of Christopher”
And she’s right—of course she is, she’s always right. He can’t leave his son without a family, especially if the one person Eddie trusted more than life itself was—
He barely manages a nod and allows Hen to manhandle him down the ladder. It feels like the longest descent of his life.
When his feet touch the ground, he breaks off into a run toward the front door. The IC must have ordered someone in after Buck before Eddie reached the ground because the door is opening, and two bodies are limping out.
Buck on the right, Johanson on the left, dragging the other man.
“Medic!” Johanson calls out, “We need a medic!”
Hen’s running up to meet them, but Eddie feels like his whole world just slowed and narrowed to just him and Buck. Buck’s soot covered face moves up to meet Eddie’s eyes and Eddie’s heart stutters.
Eddie’s knees give out without warning as the exhaustion and relief slam into him, but he doesn’t move his eyes from Buck’s face the whole time.
He’s alive. He’s alive. He’s alive.
“Eddie!” Chimney appears at his shoulder, “Come on, bud, let’s get you checked out.” He pulls tightly on Eddie’s shoulder, but Eddie shakes his head, moving to his feet with a renewed fire under him.
Chimney must feel the heat because he doesn’t pull him away, instead watching as Eddie makes it to Buck’s side where the blonde is sitting on the curb being checked out by Hen. He drops to his knees in front of him, grabbing for Buck’s hands and a sob rips out of him when he feels the warm, alive hands in his.
“Buck” He breathes because his chest is aching and he really should get checked for smoke inhalation.
“Hey, fancy seeing you here” Buck quips, just as breathless but just as much a pain in the ass as normal.
“I see you’re feeling alright” Eddie teases and Hen distantly mutters something about letting her be the judge of that. “Scared the shit out of me.”
“Couldn’t let you steal the spotlight” Buck laughs out but it quickly twists into a rough cough.
How could he be this lucky? To have his best friend, who could smile and laugh after falling into an inferno, who could still make him smile and laugh when his heart was still recovering? He was the love of his life, it was reaffirmed every day, but when Buck had fallen through that floor, Eddie felt like his life had ended with it.
“Marry me.” It’s not in line with the teasing, it’s too abrupt and too far off the way Eddie had meant to ask, but he can’t find it in his to regret the words. Buck’s eyes snap up to him, looking ready to question or argue or—Eddie doesn’t care what. “Marry me.” He says again, clenching his hand around Buck’s.
“Yes” Buck says and Eddie wastes no time before gathering him up into his arms. Hen, who had been very much eavesdropping until this point, sits back on her heels and watches in awe.
“Yeah, I guess I have you to thank for it.” Eddie claps a hand on Tommy’s shoulder just to see the shock cross his features and revels in the joy it brings him when it comes to life. “If you never let this one go, I would’ve never pulled my shit together to tell him I loved him.”
He can’t help himself, placing a finger under Buck’s chin to meet their eyes before planting a brief but firm kiss to his lips. He feels Buck melt into his arms.
“I-“ Tommy stutters and Eddie loves to see this man, who always exudes cockiness and smug righteousness, falter at the revelation. He recovers quickly and shoves a polite smile on his face, “I-I’m really happy for you, Evan.”
“It’s Buck.” Buck corrects and Eddie’s heart swells with pride. “But thank you. For…you know, everything.”
“I should be going…you know, got to beat those crowds” Tommy flicks a thumb over his shoulder. “Congratulations.”
Tommy practically trips over himself to get away and Eddie knows he has a dumb smile across his face when Buck slaps his chest, pulling away slightly, but laughs all the same. “That was so mean.”
Eddie shrugs, “I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.” Buck looks at him through his eyelashes and Eddie doubles down, turning to face him, hands never leaving Buck’s. “If he hadn’t been such an idiot to let you go, I would’ve never gotten the best thing in my life.”
Buck blushes, hiding his face again. “You can’t say shit like that.”
“Try and stop me” Eddie smirks, pushing up Buck’s chin to lay another kiss on his lips.
“Come on, loser. We have shopping to do.”
“Alright. Now, where did our son run off to?” He asks as he loops his fingers through Buck’s and tugs him deeper into the store.
Yeah, he wouldn’t trade this for anything.