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Buck loved Bobby. He did, the man was like a father to him. However, sometimes Bobby decided that it was time to learn new recipes, and they always happened to be when Buck was on shopping duty. Luckily for him, he was not with Bobby doing the shopping. He had Eddie with him, who was just as open to complaining about the most random items on the food list.
“Cap does realize this is an average grocery place right? I don’t think they sell lobster here at all.” Buck looked down at this list with an exasperated expression. He pulled the pen out of Eddie’s front pocket and crossed it off the list. They had only managed to actually get 3 of the items Bobby had asked for, choosing instead to just get staple foods others could cook with if it came down to it.
“I had to google what a longan was. I don’t think they sell any in the whole state and yet he put them on the list.” Eddie grabbed a box of pasta, put it in the cart, and kept moving.
“I think I might take over cooking if he wants to keep experimenting. Chim egged him on to put even more of those stupidly hot peppers in the chili. I couldn’t feel my mouth the whole rest of the shift.”
Eddie let out a chuckle. “You better. I get experimenting and all, but he tried to put sausage in the waffles. I still don’t understand his explanation.”
Buck fired off a quick text to Hen, telling her that they had gone rough on their shopping mission. They were under budget for the week and that’s all that was going to matter.
“Let’s go check out before Bobby texts and asks us to somehow acquire fresh truffles.” Buck bumped into Eddie’s shoulder as they walked. Eddie bumped back into him. Neither was sure when it had become a thing for them to do, but it happened a lot. It was just sort of a thing of reassurance at this point.
The two were walking out to the truck they had for small errands when Buck saw someone and looked like a deer in headlights.
“Buck, you good bro?” Eddie was concerned, and looked around the parking lot. He didn’t see anyone he knew, but the was a guy who was waving in their direction.
“Eds, I’m going to apologize for this in advance.” Buck sounded apologetic, but didn’t give Eddie any time to respond. He pulled Eddie into a kiss. It was soft and sweet. Buck didn’t try and rush the kiss, content to keep it going as if they had all the time in the world.
Eddie was incredibly confused, but he wasn’t going to stop what was happening. He had spent the last month trying to work up the nerve to ask Buck out, and here this situation was being handed to him on a golden platter. He had heard the many rumors about Buck 1.0, and it was clear the man had the skills to back it up. Eddie resisted the urge to whine when Buck pulled back. He wasn’t ready for it to end, but he also needed an explanation as to why.
“Sorry about that. My ex Jason looked like he wanted to talk. After he cheated on me then left I wasn’t exactly thrilled to talk to him, and I knew kissing you would keep him away.” Buck had the decency to at least look sheepish. It was a half assed excuse really, but it was already said. They could have just gotten in the truck and left, but no, Buck had to be impulsive. “I uh, hope this doesn’t mess up our friendship at all.”
Eddie was not expecting what Buck said at all. He needed a second to wrap his head around what Buck had said. It wasn’t about Buck returning his feelings, it was about hiding from an ex. Somehow, the fact that Eddie didn’t even know about the ex made it even worse. Was Buck afraid to tell him that he dated a guy? Eddie wasn’t going to judge him for that. He had never explicitly told Buck he was bi, but he thought he had dropped enough hints that it was clear. He needed to talk to Hen, she always had sage advice to give him.
“Yeah no, we’re cool,” Eddie did his best to keep his voice level, not letting any of his feelings of disappointment through “let’s not tell anyone at the station about this though. I don’t know about you, but I’m not up for the teasing.”
Buck gave Eddie a smile, and that was that. Both stored the memory away, silently agreeing to not talk about it. It was eating away at both of them. Maddie always teased Buck about his boy crush on Eddie, and Buck was starting to think it might be something a bit more than just a crush. He realized he probably screwed up any chance he had with Eddie. If he said anything, Eddie would probably think it was just a joke. He knew in hindsight he probably shouldn’t have done it, but it was probably the only chance he was ever going to get to actually kiss Eddie. He felt like he took advantage of his friend, but Eddie easily could have pushed him away. That had to be a good sign, right? The kiss felt like it was meant to be. It didn’t just feel like any of his hook ups, it was closer to the ones he shared with Abby. Then again, it could have just been muscle memory. Eddie hadn’t shown any interest in Buck, or so he thought. Sure, they sometimes got a little flirty, but that was something best friends just did. It wasn’t worth the risk for Buck to try anything again. Eddie was his best friend, and it wasn’t worth losing him over Buck’s feelings. Buck was going to squish those feelings down in a tiny box, and never open it up. He and Eddie just weren’t meant to be.