Chapter Text
Eddie is sitting up in the middle of the bed, back to the headboard, watching whatever is on TV. Which is on an entertainment center at the middle of the wall across from the bed—Buck has made this room, and the whole house actually look like a home since they’ve gotten together and he’s moved in—then his phone pings the familiar tone, the one Buck set for him. He picks up his phone, smiling, because it’s Buck who’s texting him.
He's so down bad for his fiancé.
Buck : hey, baby
Eddie: hey, cariño
Buck: can I come over…?
Eddie’s smile instantly disappears and his brows furrow. Why would he ask if he could come over? Buck lives here…
Something is wrong. Something happened at Maddie’s. His parents must’ve said something to him.
Eddie: you okay, amor?
Buck: can I come in…?
Eddie quickly slams the phone down onto his nightstand, throws the covers off, leaps out of the bed, and sprints to the front door as fast as his legs would take him.
He’s glad Chris is off at a sleepover tonight. Because he’s never run so loud or fast in this house before.
What he finds on the other side of the door breaks his heart. His fiancé is staring down at his phone screen, a piece of paper in his other hand, and visible tears in his beautiful ocean eyes.
“Oh, mi vida.” Buck looks up at him, his eyes softening, and the tiniest of smiles appears on his lips.
Eddie opens his arms for Buck, who takes the three steps to him quickly, clinging to Eddie like a lifeline, the tears falling and falling.
Eddie walks a few steps back, Buck coming with him—neither letting go of each other—to close the door, which he does with one hand before bringing it back to hold his fiancé close.
“Did your parents say something to you?” Eddie asks, gently, rubbing Buck’s back comfortingly.
All Buck can do is nod into Eddie’s shoulder, tears flowing down a lot slower now.
Eddie pulls back and takes Buck’s beautiful face into his hands, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears on his fiancé’s cheeks.
“I’m sorry, amor. I’m so sorry.” Eddie pulls Buck in, hands still cupping his face, and places his forehead to Buck’s, both of them closing their eyes. “You don’t deserve that. You’ve never deserved that. I’m so sorry, mi amor.” A few tears fall down Eddie’s face for the lack of love his parents have for Buck for no reason. For the love he deserves from them but they never give him.
Buck pulls back from the hold and gives Eddie a teary smile. Which Eddie returns.
“I love you, you know that, right?”
Buck nods, “I do, and I love you, too.” He swallows, “Jee drew us this.” He hands Eddie the paper, a proud little grin on his face.
Eddie smiles at it. “Whenever we see her next, we definitely have to thank her. She’s an artist.” Eddie walks around Buck and sets it down on the long, skinny table behind the couch—they’ll put it on the fridge later—that Buck put there. He’s made this house a home. Not only with the furniture, knick-knacks, and decorations. He’s made it home because he’s here.
He turns to see Buck standing in the same spot looking defeated and tired.
Eddie walks in front of him and plants a sweet kiss to Buck’s cheek. Which gets Buck’s attention.
“I know just what you need.” Buck’s lip turns upwards into a small smirk. “Come to bed with me.” He grabs Buck’s hands and walks him to their bedroom.
Eddie lets go of Buck’s hands, walks over to the bed, takes his shirt off and it ends up somewhere on the bedroom floor, throws the covers back, hops into the bed, and lies on his back in the center of the bed.
He makes grabby hands at Buck, smiling. “Come here, mi alma. I’m gonna give you cuddles, just like you need.”
Buck wears a grin the whole time: he slips his jacket off then throws his shoes to the side, his shirt is removed next,—he’ll take care of it all later—he then hops onto the bed with the love of his life holding him tight in his arms.
Buck clings to him, with his head on Eddie’s chest, listening to his heartbeat.
Eddie plants kiss after kiss into Buck’s messy golden curls.
Buck hums. “Thanks, Eds. You know just what I need when I need it.” He plants a sweet kiss on Eddie’s chest, where his wonderful heart is.
Eddie holds him tighter and slowly rocks them side to side to help Buck relax.
“I’m always here for you, mi corazón, always.”
“Hmmm. I love you.”
Eddie snickers. “I love you, too. And, hey, we’ll talk in the morning, okay? Just sleep, baby. I got you.”
Buck nods and hums into his chest. And the next thing Eddie knows, Buck has fallen asleep in his arms. Eddie falls asleep pretty quickly after him.
+++++
Eddie wakes with his fiancé no longer on top of him, or in the bed period.
Then he hears a…grunting sound?
Eddie sits up in the bed, and there he is, doing sit-ups at—Eddie looks at his old-timey clock on his nightstand—one in the fucking morning, on the floor, at the foot of the bed.
Eddie angrily throws the covers off and stands in front of his fiancée, hands on his hips. “What in the hell are you doing?”
Buck doesn’t seem fazed by Eddie’s sudden outburst and he doesn’t stop doing sit-ups when he says, “Working out.”
“Right, yeah, no, I got that,” Eddie snarks. “But you never do this. You do it at work, with me, not at one in the morning on our floor! You run at six or so sometimes, then you make me coffee and bring it to me in bed because you are the greatest human to ever exist.” Buck smiles softly at that. “But you never, ever do this.”
Buck doesn’t say anything in response. He just continues to do his damn sit-ups, grunting as he does so.
“Eh, good a time as any to start a new routine.” He says after a few seconds of silence.
“How long have you been doing this, exactly?”
“Well, what time is it?”
Eddie looks at his nightstand, at his clock for a second then back at his fiancé, “1:07 am.”
“Then over an hour, almost an hour and a half.” He sounds…proud?
What? Eddie wants to scream. “Alright, up.” He barks instead.
“Huh?” Buck asks, as he completes a sit-up, looking up at his fiancé, confused.
“Get up. Up, up.” Eddie demands. “Now!”
Buck’s eyes go wide.
They never yell at each other. So that gets Buck’s attention, and he does as he’s told.
Eddie shoves Buck down at the foot of the actual bed with his shoulders.
“Start talking, amor, or you’re on the couch tonight.” Eddie snarks, hands back on his hips.
Buck looks at him, wounded. “But you—we never…” Sleep apart. Because they physically don’t know how.
“Yes, baby, I know that. But if you don’t start talking, you are on the couch tonight. I’ll hate it, but you will!
Buck looks down at his feet.
“Hey,” Eddie says softly, hating that he ever yelled at Buck. He hates yelling at Buck. He never does much anyway, mostly when he’s being like this, closing himself off. Buck does the same to Eddie when he does the same thing, albeit he hasn’t closed himself off lately from Buck because he doesn’t feel the need to anymore. Eddie—and Buck—know that Buck will get there one day too. He’s definitely gotten better and better at it as time goes by. It’s just gonna take a little bit longer.
Buck finally looks back up at him. “Talk to me, mi alma.”
Buck just stares at him, looking like he’s about to break.
Shit .
And then it clicks in Eddie’s brain what might be going on here.
“Was this about what your parents said to you?”
Buck nods.
“Oh my God!” Eddie starts pacing back and forth, and Buck just follows him with his eyes. “Do you need me to kill them?” He stops right in front of Buck to ask. “Because I will stab them in their sleep. Trust me, I will, mi vida. I will do it!”
Buck believes him.
“No, it’s okay.”
Eddie gets down on his knees right in front of Buck and places his hands on the skin of his thick thighs. Buck’s wearing his short sleep shorts—Buck changed when he got up to workout, Eddie figures, and he also took care of the clothes they threw on the floor before they fell asleep—and they are like three inches long. Eddie loves them so, so much.
Eddie locks eyes with Buck as he says, “No, mi corazón, it’s not. Not when it’s got you doing sit-ups for an hour and a half at one in the morning. Talk to me. You know we both are terrible liars, especially when it comes to each other.” Buck lets out a breathy laugh.
“True.” Eddie snickers at Buck’s response.
“Talk to me.” Eddie takes a breath. “Please.”
Buck swallows, finally meeting Eddie’s eyes. “They, uh, said that I was unhealthy and needed to lose weight, and watch what I eat since I’m not getting any younger, so then I meet a cute girl and then have a bunch of kids before I get too old.”
Eddie blinks rapidly. “What. The. Hell?”
All Buck does is nod.
“Wait, is this why you were working out for almost an hour and a half? Because of something your parents said about your body?” Buck doesn’t offer any sort of an answer, so Eddie continues, “Because if you’re doing it because of them, I’m going to slap your pretty face to snap you out of it.” Buck snickers. “But if you’re doing it because you want to…first of all, I hate that you’ve not talked to me about this and second, if that is your wish, I’ll be by your side every step of the way, baby. Not saying that you need it because you are beautiful as you are.”
Buck grins at him, blush in his cheeks. “Really?”
Eddie nods. “Yup. And I’ll prove it to you.”
Buck blinks rapidly, “Wha-“
Eddie smirks as he gently forces Buck to lay down flat onto the bed, then climbing onto the bed, sitting himself on Buck’s perfect thighs, straddling him.
Eddie’s going to show Buck how much he loves him, as he is.