Chapter Text
Eddie didn’t really have a choice. Maddie and Chimney just left on vacation, he wasn’t about to impose on Hen or Bobby and their families, and the doctor wouldn’t discharge Buck without an assurance that somebody would be able to keep an eye on him for at least 24 hours. So he was coming home with Eddie.
“Where we goin?” Buck mumbled from the passenger seat of Eddie’s truck. Eddie had explained it while they were at the hospital, but the painkillers they gave him were strong.
“I’m taking you to my house until you’re feeling better.”
“Oh. That’s nice. I like your house.”
“Yeah?”
“Mhmm. It’s warm and happy and it smells like you and it makes me happy.”
Eddie flushed a little, and then sternly reminded himself that Buck was high and probably didn’t mean it the way Eddie took it. “Well I’m glad.”
“Hey Eddie?”
“Yeah Buck?”
“I feel really happy right now.”
They came to a red light so Eddie glanced over at Buck and he was pretty sure his heart actually skipped a beat. The way the streetlights illuminated his face, the gentle, almost dreamy look Buck was wearing as he looked at Eddie was breathtaking. Eddie couldn’t look away from the soft smile that slowly grew on his face until the car behind him honked and he realized the light had turned green. He gave his head a shake as he continued driving. “It’s probably all the drugs they got you on,” he said, to remind himself as much as Buck.
There was no response, and when he glanced over again Buck’s eyes were closed and there was a bit of drool coming out of the corner of his open mouth. Of course.
Buck was snoring softly when Eddie pulled up to the house, and he almost felt bad about waking him up when he went around to the passenger side. Buck blinked a few times and then his eyes focused on Eddie and he smiled. “Hi Eddie!”
“Hey bud, let’s get you in the house.” He helped Buck out of the truck, being careful around his broken arm.
“Are we at your house? I like your house.”
“You mentioned that. Come on, let’s go.” He went around to Buck’s uninjured side so he could use him for support, and he was pretty sure Buck sighed when he wrapped his arm around Buck’s waist. He helped Buck into the house and then towards his room.
“Are you taking me to your bedroom?” Buck asked, and the way he said it made Eddie blush.
“Just to find you some clothes to sleep in.”
“Oh.”
He sat Buck on his bed and went to his dresser. Just as he grabbed a couple things for Buck to wear he heard Buck fall back on his bed and let out a groan of pain. Eddie rushed over to his bed and leaned over Buck, his eyes squeezed shut in pain. “Hey, you okay?”
“My arm hurts? Why does my arm hurt?”
“You broke it trying to be a hero and saving some kids’ cat today.”
“Is the cat okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.” Buck smiled and opened his eyes and only then did Eddie realize how close he was hovering, when Buck’s eyes widened. “Eddie are you gonna kiss me?”
“What? No.” He pulled back quickly, trying not to think about doing exactly that.
“Oh. That’s unfortunate.”
“What?”
“Huh?” Buck seemed genuinely confused, so Eddie let it drop because he probably didn’t even mean it. This was going to be a hard night.
“I got you some clothes to sleep in. I’ll let you get changed while I set up some blankets on the couch.” He helped Buck sit up and then went out to the living room, grabbing a few blankets and a pillow from the hall closet. Once everything was set up he went back to his room, only to find Buck sitting in the exact same position, but with his shirt halfway up his torso on one side, frowning.
“I can’t.”
Eddie wanted to kick himself for being so dumb. How did he expect Buck, while high on painkillers and his arm in a cast and sling, to be able to get changed by himself? And then he realized exactly what that meant.
“Here, I’ll help you.”
This wasn’t at all how he had imagined undressing Buck for the first time. And he had imagined it a lot. He had to help Buck pull his good arm out of the shirt first, then carefully bring it over his head and down over his cast. He tried to think about it clinically, but the intense eye contact Buck was maintaining was making that very difficult. After he helped Buck into the tank top he had picked out, he realized that was the easy part.
“Stand up.” Eddie helped Buck get to his feet, and then knelt down in front of him. He could do this. He could be professional about undressing his best friend slash guy he’s secretly in love with without making it weird. At least until Buck wobbled a little and put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder to steady himself. Eddie looked up at Buck and instantly regretted it because looking at him from this angle was making him feel all sorts of things. But he had to push all of that to the side because this was definitely not the time. He made quick work of removing Buck’s pants and helping him into the pajama pants, and then Buck practically threw himself onto the bed. “Hey, come on, I got the couch set up for you.”
“Wanna sleep here,” Buck mumbled, pulling away from Eddie’s attempts to help him back on his feet.
Eddie sighed. “Fine, I’ll go sleep on the couch.”
“No.” Buck grabbed Eddie’s arm. “Wanna sleep here with you.”
Eddie had to take a couple deep breaths because this? This is not how he saw his night going.
“Okay, fine. At least get under the sheets.” He helped get Buck situated in the bed and tucked him in, changed into his own sleepwear, and crawled into the other side of the bed.
As soon as he was situated, Buck turned over and clung to him like a magnet, resting his head on Eddie’s chest. “You’re the best,” Buck mumbled.
Eddie brought his hand up to stroke Buck’s hair, allowing himself this moment to feel what it would be like if Buck was his. “You’re pretty great yourself.”
“Mmm. I love you.”
“I love you t– wait, what?”
“Hmm?” Buck rolled his head back to look up at Eddie with that intoxicated smile.
“Did you mean what you just said?”
Buck stared at him blankly for a second. “I don’t remember. But probably.” He closed his eyes and nuzzled back into Eddie’s chest, and within seconds was breathing deeply in sleep.
Eddie probably wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight. He was probably going to spend the whole night thinking about what Buck said and wondering if he meant it. But one thing was for sure, they were definitely talking about this in the morning.