Chapter Text
Maddie was indeed waiting for them when Eddie pulled up on South Bedford Street.
Buck had not questioned when Eddie had said something about taking him home. It could have very well been the loft, for all he knew. Christopher was on his school trip, nothing kept Eddie from staying at Buck's place.
But he was grateful for the minimum amount of stairs.
Eddie waved at Maddie while he unplugged Buck's seatbelt, before coming out of the car, then to the passenger side to get Buck down.
Buck had muscled up, ready to twist himself, but Eddie didn’t even give him time to think, moving his legs towards the door so Buck didn’t have to do it, and then lifting him like he weighed before putting him down on the ground.
Buck would have grumbled, argued maybe, but also, it had been so swift he didn’t have time to react, and Eddie released him immediately, as if nothing had even happened.
Maddie met them at the porch.
“Oh, Evan,” she whispered, brows furrowed in worry.
“I’m good Mads, I promise,” he said as she put a hand over his cheek, taking him in.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she asked, heartbreak all over her face. Buck winced.
“I didn’t know what was going on, I thought I was overreacting, I couldn’t imagine you getting up in the middle of the night, leaving Jee, to come to the hospital to be told I was just gassy.”
She rolled her eyes at him.
“Chim would have stayed with Jee. And I’ll come to the hospital with you no matter the issue, even if it’s nothing.”
“I know, Maddie. I’m sorry,” he replied.
“At least, I’m glad you had Eddie,” she said, squeezing Eddie’s arm, who offered her one of his patented grin.
“Just doing the same Buck did for me,” he said.
“I know. I’m happy you guys have each other.”
Buck zeroed on his body and mind, keeping everything under control. They were outside, there was a gentle breeze, but if he had a drastic smell change, neither Maddie or Eddie would miss it.
Thankfully, staying up or as up he could be, wasn't something he was comfortable for long, and the pain must be visible on his face, because Eddie was on his side in an instant, wrapping an arm over him, settling his hand over his ribcage.
“Do you want to come in for some late lunch, Maddie?” Eddie offered.
“No, thank you. I already ate my sandwich waiting for you guys, and the drive will take most of my break.”
“Maddie, I’m so-“ Buck started, but she was shaking her head.
“Nothing to be sorry about. I was going to take the day off, if Eddie wasn't there, but I know he’ll take good care of you.”
Buck sighed, before leaning a bit into hugging his sister, his nose filled with her hair and the smell of home, maternal, love. She dropped a kiss on his birthmark, caressed his face with a smile, and gave them a last goodbye.
Eddie was quick to get him inside the house, gently setting him down on the sofa. Laying across it, head propped on a cushion, Buck sighed as for the first time since he got out of the hospital bed, he felt comfortable again.
“Don’t move,” Eddie told him with a boyish grin that Buck returned with a huff. He then disappeared deeper in the house.
The anaesthesia was mostly gone by now, but what lingered was enough to lull him back into some sort of sleep-haze state.
An indefinite amount of time later, Buck felt a hand passing through his hair, and he looked up to see Eddie standing above him with a smile.
“Come on,” he said, “the bed’s ready.”
Buck, still in the limbo place between sleep and awake, let Eddie help him to his feet, confused about the bed they were talking about.
But Eddie guided him through the house, up to his bedroom, to his bed, up underneath the cover, a mound of pillows behind Buck's back to keep him propped up.
Well, that couldn’t be. Buck must not be awake completely, maybe he even dreamed all of what had happened today, because there was no way he was in Eddie’s bed.
Sure, the sheets appeared to be fresh, recently put on. But the room still smelt overtly of the Alpha. It was his den, the equivalent of an omega’s nest. People simply did not get into an Alpha’s den if they were not related to the Alpha by blood, like a child, or by bond, like a mate.
Buck was neither of those things, so he must have missed a step or something.
“Wha-“
“Go back to sleep. I’m gonna see what food I can scrounge for us, and I’ll bring my laptop to watch the Wolverine movies.”
Buck frowned, wanted to make an argument of some sort, but he simply couldn’t read Eddie. The Alpha had not faltered in his application of the scent blockers, maybe even going overboard with it, and he just acted as per usual to Buck.
A twinge of pain distracted him anyway, as he tried to settle comfortably for both his bad leg and lower abdomen.
“I’ll bring you some painkillers too,” Eddie said, leaving Buck unable to say anything he wanted.
The thing was, Eddie’s bed was really comfortable. And with his smell all around, Buck knew he was safe, and he was out in minutes.
Buck wasn't sure what woke him up, but it looked dark outside, the room only lit by the street lampposts behind the blinds.
Buck tried to twist to see if his phone was around, but then his bladder made itself known.
And the pain that came with it.
“Ow, ow, ow,” he hissed, cramps deep in his lower belly, pressing against his tender insides. He needed to move, but sharp, stabbing pain kept coming in waves, his body urging him to go pee, as if Buck was willingly putting himself through the situation.
The bedroom door opened following rushed footsteps, lights coming from the hallway casting dramatic shadows as Eddie stood there.
“What’s going on?” he asked, already stepping in, coming towards Buck.
“Need to pee. Hurt,” Buck winced.
Eddie was by his side in an instant, trying to help Buck wrangle his way out of the covers, trying to move without causing him pain, but the not moving was worse, Buck needed to pee, like, yesterday.
Understanding that without even being said, Eddie decided to hoist him out of bed without any more preamble.
“Sorry,” he said softly, sounding sincerely apologetic, but Buck waved him off.
Waddling off towards the ensuite bathroom attached to Eddie’s bedroom, Buck moved like he had a ball between his hips, and he guessed he wasn't that far off.
He wasn't sure he could pee standing up right now, and wasn't that a doozy, but Eddie, once again, seemed to be connected straight to Buck, because he was there, pushing his sweatpants and boxers down, before helping him sit on the toilet.
Another cramp hit as Buck finally sat down, and all he could do was lean to the side, wincing through it, even though it pulled at his surgery’s holes. Eddie was holding him by the arms, as if he thought Buck was about to tip over.
But then, then, finally, relief!
Was Buck realising he was actually taking a piss, sitting down on top of that, in front of his Alpha best friend? Yes. Yes, he was fully aware.
But also, the euphoria of relieving a full bladder, especially when it was pressing against all of his sensitive insides, well… Priorities, right?
And like, not even twenty-four hours ago, Eddie had been three meters away from him while he had a condom-covered wand up his vagina. Sure, he had been behind a curtain, but let’s be real, for a moment.
The pain receded completely, just leaving him even more sore, but it was more comfortable than what had been going on just before.
“How are you feeling?” Eddie asked gently after a while.
“Like I wanna die,” Buck chuckled humourlessly.
“I know, buddy.”
Buck opened his eyes, not realising he had closed them at some point. Eddie had not bothered turning on the lights, so they just sat, mostly in the dark, Buck still on the toilet, and Eddie on the floor by his side.
“Remember you did the same for me, after I got shot,” Eddie pointed out.
“It just feel more… vulnerable,” Buck replied in a whisper. Eddie hummed gently.
“Are you hungry?” he asked then, out of nowhere, getting a surprised scoff out of Buck.
“Are you?” Buck waved at himself and their surroundings. That got a laugh out of Eddie.
“I am, actually. I was waiting for you to wake up. Come on, once you’ve eaten, you can get more painkillers."
Eddie helped him back up, pulling his boxers and sweatpants like it was nothing out of the ordinary, then hovered around Buck as he made his way back to the bed. Eddie didn’t manhandle him this time, letting Buck move in his own time, never rushing him, with far too much patience. Once he was settled back down, releasing a relieved sigh once most of the pressure and tension was taken away from the most tender areas, Eddie handed him his phone.
“I plugged it last night,” he said. “It’s not fully charged, but-“
“Thanks. How long have I been asleep?” The clock on his phone said it was just before ten pm.
“A few hours, but you needed it. I’m gonna go get you some food-“
“Will you come stay with me?” Buck had not intended to sound so… weak, but he did feel miserable, and not just physically.
“Of course, Buck,” Eddie replied with a smile.
They spent a good chunk of the night watching the Wolverine movies, as planned. They both dozed off from time to time, but Eddie didn’t leave him once, except taking the plates back into the kitchen.
The second time Buck really woke up again, the light coming through the blinds was enough to tell him it was past early morning. When he checked his phone, still in his hand, it indicated that it was just before nine am.
Eddie wasn't in the bed with him anymore, but his smell was all around, and Buck could have really let himself fall back asleep.
But the sound of voices coming from further down in the house made him nosy. He couldn’t really stand up without being heard, so he just held his breath, trying to hear who it was.
Until there were steps coming towards the bedroom, so he pretended like he had been on his phone when the door opened to Eddie.
Well, open was kind of a big word because he left just enough space to slither his way through, to then close it back quickly behind him.
Buck sat up a bit, frowning at his best friend’s strange behaviour.
Eddie took a moment before looking up to meet Buck's eyes, a remorseful expression on his face.
“What is it?” Buck enquired. Eddie took a deep inhale, held it for a second, before exhaling.
“Tommy is here.”
“Wha- how?”
“Went to see you at the loft after your shift, couldn’t find you, assumed you were at mine.”
Okay, so, his boyfriend wasn’t wrong. And yeah, he had not told him about the hospital visit, so he couldn’t know about the shift he missed. But coming to Eddie to find him-
“Apparently, you had breakfast planned, or something,” Eddie said with a shrug.
“No, we didn’t. We said we might try to see each other for brunch, but it depended if our shift was a good one or not,” Buck said, feeling annoyed that Tommy didn’t even try to check with him before showing up at his place. And the audacity of showing up at Eddie’s!
Ok, no. He couldn’t blame it all on Tommy. After all, Buck was the one who held up information.
He sighed. Then realized.
“Wait, did you tell-“
“Of course not. I said you were doing laundry, right now.”
“What?”
Eddie made a face, eyes widening, waving in Buck's direction, and then to the room.
Oh.
Oh.
Buck was in Eddie’s bed, in his den, and he probably smelled like Eddie to his bone-marrow.
“I- fuck,” Eddie hissed. “I could just have told him about the appendectomy, and like, you were too busy to let him know, that it happened during shift, and-“
“How do you explain-“ Buck looked around at the room.
“We could pretend you slept in Christopher’s bed.”
The both of them looked at each other, before Buck shook his head.
“Why are we acting like I’ve cheated on him or something.”
“Well…” Eddie said, once again waving in Buck's direction. “It could be wrongly interpreted.”
“You’re my best friend. You’ve done nothing but help me out and be nice to me in one of my weakest moments.”
Eddie looked at him, then nodded.
“So what should I tell him?”
“Maybe I should come with you and talk to him directly,” Buck sighed, lifting the duvet off of him.
“Maybe you should shower first.”
“Oh, do I smell gross now?” Buck tried to ask jokingly, but it sounded a bit more anxious than he had intended.
“No, but I can smell blood on you.”
The words didn’t connect straight away in Buck's mind, as he just looked down to see a small blood stain on his sweatpants, and a little bit on the fitted sheet.
“Fuck- Eddie, I’m so sorry-“
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Eddie said, already in his space to help him out of the bed. He led him to the bathroom once again, already divesting him of the incriminating piece of closing. “Pee first, before you hurt yourself again,” Eddie teased.
It felt so strange, because the words and the attitude didn’t match. The words could have cut deep through Buck's insecurities. But the way Eddie said it was the same way he teased Buck on how often he buckled his helmet wonkily, or when he was rubbish at Mario Kart.
Like they were just Buck and Eddie, Buck&Eddie, and not Omega Buck with a battered ovary and Super Cool and Chill Alpha Eddie.
Which used to be the way Buck saw Eddie, when he first started at the 118. It did help to know the man was goofy and often fumbled his words, a disaster in social interactions that didn’t involve anyone he was comfortable with.
“Do you need to sit down or can you lean your body against me while I help you clean up?” Eddie said as he held a towel to cover Buck's modesty.
He didn’t want to sit down because if he was still bleeding, sitting down in his blood gave him the ick, but if he did, he wouldn’t need Eddie’s help.
“What about Tommy?” he asked, remembering his boyfriend waiting somewhere in the house.
“He can wait,” Eddie said matter-of-factly, still looking at Buck. “Sitting down?”
“No, I-“
“Okay, I’ve got you,” Eddie said, not even letting Buck conjure up a potential excuse.
Buck should have muscled up and sat down to wash himself. Not that he would have been more successful than he was now, Eddie once again the one washing his legs.
“I should have put a pad on. They said I might be bleeding a bit,” he mumbled to himself.
“You were preoccupied, in pain and tired. Don’t worry about it, Buck. I promise it’s not a little bit of blood that’s going to make me queasy,” Eddie said, careful but straight to the point in his task.
Except the blood comes from my vagina.
“Did you know the ovaries aren’t even attached to the fallopian tubes?” Buck said out of nowhere, and he could have slapped himself for that.
“Actually, I did know that,” Eddie said.
“When the ovary releases the egg, it’s just floating in there until the tube reaches out for it. Like, even if I had lost my left ovary, the left tube would have still reached for the egg released from the right.”
“Because they alternate,” Eddie added.
“Yes! How do you know that?” Buck said, frowning as Eddie stood up straight once Buck's legs were washed and rinsed, just holding onto him while Buck cleaned up his nether region. Eddie looked at him in the eyes with something akin to fondness.
“Wanted to be ready, in case Christopher was an Omega. I didn’t want to scramble and panic and make him feel no one would ever understand him. It was after Shannon left. I didn’t trust my mom to speak to him truthfully if it came to it. My dad described knotting like the braiding of life between an Alpha and an Omega. So most of my teenage years, I imagined my dick would look like macrame.”
“Jesus Christ,” Buck said with disgust.
“I let you imagine how it felt when I popped a knot for the first time,” Eddie giggled at the memory. “I thought something was wrong and it was going to explode.”
“Well-“
“Not like that. More like it was gonna pop, and my dick would fall off.”
“Jeez,” Buck chuckled as he finally was done with cleaning himself up.
“Yeah. So I didn’t want my mom to speak in riddles to Christopher. I could have asked my sisters, but they would have been taught by my mom too, so I was fully expecting heat being described at ascending closer to god through a temperature-induced trance.”
That made Buck laugh once again, as Eddie helped him climb out of the bathtub, wrapping him in a large towel. Eddie was so efficient and prompt, drying Buck off so quickly he didn’t have anything to do.
Then, he led him back to the bedroom to make him sit on the bed.
“I’m gonna go grab some clothes and the pads the hospital gave. Don’t do anything stupid, please.”
“You mean like wandering off in the house while naked?” Buck grinned.
“I was thinking more of bursting your ovary or something,” Eddie replied back with a similar grin.
“Eh! Too soon!” Buck exclaimed without heat, and Eddie was laughing.
Then-
Then, Eddie did something weird.
He was bent down so that he could be at eye level with Buck after he made him sit down, but he leaned forward.
Buck's heart stopped, as did his breathing. But Eddie didn’t kiss him, like Buck had imagined, the only explanation to what he was doing-
No, not the only explanation, as Eddie’s head moved slightly to the side, his nose grazing along Buck's cheekbone, before their cheeks came in contact.
It was brief, and it could be passed as simply natural movement as Eddie then straightened up and was already out of the room.
It happened so fast, Buck would have missed it, if it didn’t stir something in him.
Eddie had affectionately scented him.
They rubbed their smells into each other often, they didn’t have much of a choice, being in such close quarter and the nature of their job. Everyone did, they all came back home smelling of each other. The A-shift was pack after all, and the dynamics were in full-blown during emergencies.
But what Eddie had just done… it wasn't simply colleague, or pack, or even friend.
“I found some basketball shorts that you left,” Eddie said, waving them around like a flag.
“I didn’t even realise I had forgotten them here,” Buck said, pushing down what had just happened. After all, it didn’t mean anything, Eddie might just have been unstable straightening up and just so happened to get in Buck's face. Buck did that kind of thing all the time. It wasn't his fault his limbs were so long. “What did Tommy say?”
“I didn’t see him.”
“Maybe he’s gone,” Buck whispered, and Eddie shrugged.
“Maybe. Alright, I couldn’t find any clean boxers of yours, so it will have to be a pair of mine. I thought those-“
“Are those holes in them?” Buck hissed.
“They are one of my oldest pair,” Eddie sighed at his dramatics, “and looser ones. New ones would probably be tight on you, and I don’t want them to cut into your surgery scars.”
“My hero,” Buck said, and Eddie rolled his eyes, but he was already helping him putting his feet through the holes of both the boxers and the shorts.
“Got you that too,” Eddie said, pulling a large pad, almost a diaper at this point. “Do you want me to put it on for you?”
“No, I’m good, I can do it.”
Well, he should have thought about that before the boxers were on. Because Buck still couldn’t really bend forward, the pad was stuck wonkily on the insides of the boxers, but he wasn't going to complain. Eddie kindly didn’t comment on it or offer fixing it.
Once he was standing on his feet again, he finished getting dressed, Eddie giving him one of his larger t-shirts, while Buck wiggled to get the pad to sit properly. When he looked back at Eddie, he was giving him an unimpressed look.
“What?” Buck asked flippantly, as if he didn’t know.
“I didn’t say anything,” Eddie said with this tone of his, that made Buck either want to strangle him or get closer, maybe stuff his nose against the gland on his neck. Which was a wrong thing to think about your best friend.
“Ok, so what did we say we were going to say?” he asked before they left the bedroom to face Tommy.
“That you had to have an appendectomy during shift, that’s why you’re here.”
“And we can say you didn’t tell him when you open the door because it was so fresh and you didn’t have much sleep.”
“Sure,” Eddie shrugged like he didn’t care much about what Tommy believed about him.
“Ok, cool, cool.”
“Cool.”
“Cool … Let’s go!”
Eddie didn’t help him walk this time either, but was hovering close in case he was needed. Buck tried to relax his body, push the pain at the back of his mind like he did with the other ones.
But he couldn’t really compare it to anything else he had ever felt. Sure, his bad leg gave him some pain to think about, but there was something unique of a pain embedded so deep into your core. Buck wasn’t defined by his secondary gender, but physically, it was hard to ignore. As if it was the foundation of his body, like built form the ground up.
He was fine. He could play it cool for Tommy. Not like Tommy would notice anything in particular. He never noticed when Buck had a bad day because of the leg.
And he was good at hiding the pain, but even Ravi or Chim easily noticed.
Anyway.
“Evan! That was a big load!” was the first words Tommy said to him as Buck entered the room, Eddie following him closely.
“I’m sorry?” Buck said, confused.
“The laundry! Diaz said you were doing the laundry… half an hour ago!” Tommy said, checking his watch.
“Ah, yeah, uh- yeah that but, uh, I’m a bit in pain, you know from the appendectomy.”
“Oh, that’s still hurting? Didn’t you get it done last year?”
Buck turned to look at Eddie who had wondered to the kitchen, but he was also looking back at Buck, frozen halfway to eating a leftover piece of bread from their dinner last night.
“Uhm,” Buck started, looking back at Tommy, “yeah.” He just needed to test a theory. “But it’s like my leg, it’s kinda sore around the Santa Anas.”
“Evan, those things are not real, it’s just old wives’ tales.”
Buck chuckled, looking down, away from Tommy.
“Yeah. You’re right. Uh, anyway, what are you- I thought we would like decide after my shift to see about getting brunch.”
“I’m gonna go finish laundry,” Eddie said, not without giving a pointed look to Buck.
Then it was just Tommy and him in Eddie’s living room.
“Did we say that? I can’t remember, sorry. But I know you don’t say that to Diaz, right?” Tommy chuckled, carrying on their conversation like there had been no interruption.
“What?”
“Waiting to see if your shift went well before going over to his place. Either it goes well or not.”
“What?” Buck said again, trying to understand what Tommy was saying. But the background soreness of his lower abdomen was not so background anymore, and his breathing picking up from the pain. He needed to sit down.
So he walked around to the sofa, where Tommy was sat, and lowered himself slowly and painfully.
“Evan,” Tommy said like he was talking to a child.
Buck finally looked at him through the light fuzziness around the edges of his vision.
Tommy gave him a pointed look. Buck must look confused, because Tommy sighed.
“Come on, Evan. I’m not stupid.”
“But I am, so you might have to explain it to me.”
Tommy sighed and stood up, coming to stand on the other side of the coffee table, hands on his hips as he shook his head, almost disappointedly.
“You smell like him, Evan,” Tommy eventually said, and Buck frowned.
“I-“
“Have you two bonded?”
“What?” Buck cried out, before wincing at the pain that the movement caused, folding a bit over himself.
“I’m not stupid. I knew this was coming. But I expected at least some decency from you, if not from Eddie, to put an end to our situation.”
Situation.
Buck wanted to laugh, too much going on.
“I don’t know what you think was coming, but you’re wrong. Of course Eddie and I aren’t bonded. He’s straight, and he dates Betas,” Buck said. Tommy scoffed at that, and between that reaction, and Buck's pain, the confusion and surprise quickly shifted to anger.
“And it’s ironic you knew it was coming, when you couldn’t even remember that I didn’t have an appendectomy last year, it was Eddie. I spent the night in the hospital, and if I came to Eddie’s house, it’s because he stayed with me before and after the surgery. But you wouldn’t know what it looks like to have someone rely on you. And I did say first that I didn’t want to go to brunch today, but to your insistence, I said maybe. You just ignored that. Or didn’t pay attention, whatever works best for you.”
Tommy didn’t even look sheepish, or apologetic. At best, his ego was slightly bruised.
“Sure, Buck, if you say so.”
Buck was rearing to retort something back, but he was interrupted.
“I think you should go,” Eddie said from the hallway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, looking straight at Tommy.
Tommy looked confused there for a second, his demeanour changing around Eddie, as always, like he was the one he really wanted to impress here. Eddie’s cold tone seemed to be hurting more than anything Buck had said.
“Su- sure, yeah. Uh, I’ll call you for the next basketball game,” Tommy said.
“Kinnard,” Eddie sighed while shaking his head. Again, Tommy looked hurt at Eddie’s rejection. Buck wanted to remind him he was still in the room, but he was sitting down and couldn’t stand up without help he was pretty sure, making him feel slightly vulnerable.
“Eddie,” Tommy breathed out, almost a plea, and Eddie gave him a look, pushing away from the wall.
“You need to leave.”
Tommy nodded vehemently, gathering himself, before he turned to look at Buck.
“Buck. I guess I’ll see you around,” he said awkwardly.
“I guess not,” Buck replied, and that was enough, Tommy turning around and finally leaving.
Buck sighed, eyes closing as he leaned his head against the back rest of the sofa.
A hand came to intertwine into his curls. He opened to see Eddie upside down above him.
“Alright?”
“Yeah,” Buck nodded slightly, closing his eyes again as he leaned into the touch.
“In pain?”
Buck grunted, the hand scratching his scalp gently.
“I’m sorry about Tommy,” Eddie said flatly.
“Are you, really? Because I’m kind of not.”
“No, not really.”
Buck smiled.
Eddie’s hand moved along his forehead and across his jaw like a caress, before coming to rest on his throat, thumb between his pulse point and his scent gland.
“Rest some more,” Buck heard as sleep enveloped him once again.