Work Text:
Their fight was stupid and Buck knows it. Walking out on Eddie in the middle of it was even stupider, if that’s even possible. And for the first prize, the stupidest thing he’s done this evening was coming out here to a frozen lake to ice skate in the middle of nowhere.
Evan Buckley doesn’t ice skate.
And yet here he is.
He puts on his skates and off he goes.
He doesn’t fall at all this time, which is a nice accomplishment; he can go brag to Eddie when they are on speaking terms again. Which means he needs to defuse his anger and go back to apologize for being an irrational ass.
He skates deeper into the frozen lake full-speed and takes his time to tire his body and disengage his mind, with his focus only shifting between his feet and the ice. He starts to make his way back to the shore when he hears a cracking sound. And then another sound followed by an echo. He’s nearing his target when the last crack reverberates through the silent evening.
By the time he understands the situation he’s in, it’s already too late. He’s falling into freezing cold water.
He’s going to have to take himself out of this mess because help is not coming. No one knows he’s here. He had run through the door without even saying goodbye. And now he’s the idiot that got himself trapped and in a very uncomfortable position.
But he can do it. He can save himself.
Buck takes a deep breath and then another, he tries to relax and figure out the best way out of the lake. He kicks and punches through the thin layer of ice surrounding him and he manages to take himself nearer the shore, where his feet touch solid ground. Once he gains momentum, he propels himself to the shore in two swift and powerful steps, breaking the ice with his skates.
The snow pillows his body while he rests, panting and shivering on the cold ground. Buck considers his options. He’s getting used to being this level of screwed. Eddie’s not coming to find him after that ridiculous fight.
He needed to cool off and so did Buck.
It seems like the universe has a funny sense of humor, because he cooled off alright. Buck snickers at his own ridiculous thoughts. He tries to take off his skates, but his fingers are not collaborating with him. They feel like rocks and his hands tremble. The amount of energy he spends just while sitting upright and bending his knees make him pant in agony.
He throws himself on the snowy floor again and looks up at the sky. A million or more stars are titillating in the distance. The moon is small and far away. Buck pats his jeans down, trying to find his phone. It’s not there. It must’ve fallen in the water. He sighs in desperation as he looks up and around him.
Buck is captivated by the night sky. It’s clear and dark, but also brightened by the stars that surround him. The moonlight illuminates the lake and the snow shimmers under it.
Time moves slowly after that.
Eddie stares at the wall. His eyes shift from the wall to his phone. It’s been three hours since he pushed Buck away. Three hours since he made a face and spat out a comment that was completely out of place. Everything he said had come out bitter and hostile.
And now he’s worried and on edge.
This wasn’t the way he imagined their first night when he planned this trip. It was supposed to be romantic and soft, featuring lots of cuddles by the fireplace. Eddie decides it’s time to let go of his pride and call Buck. They’ve both had enough time to cool off from their ludicrous fight. He calls and texts and calls again, but he gets no answer at all.
Eddie’s brain goes to catastrophe response mode in an instant. He walks out of the cabin and the cold air makes him shiver. He sits in their car making a list in his mind with every single place Buck could’ve run off to.
The lake ranks first, at the top of the list. It’s walking distance from the cabin and Buck had been dying to go there to watch the stars. Eddie parks the car near the lake two minutes later and starts colling out for Buck, getting only the most terrible silence in response.
He walks around the park, making his way to the shore. When he finds Buck, at first he only recognizes a figure sprawled on the floor. He approaches slowly and recognizes Buck lying on the snow; his breathing is slow and shallow. He looks pale, a frozen frown on his face. Eddie searches around, checking Buck’s surroundings. He knows he’s looking for blood even if he can’t even admit it to himself. He notices Buck’s right foot is only covered by a sock and his left foot has an untied skate.
The other skate has been discarded to the side and the shoes are nowhere to be found.
“Buck!” Eddie yells at him as he rushes to the still body. “Buck, come on, wake up.” Eddie shakes him vigorously until Buck opens his eyes and blinks repeatedly.
“‘Ds,” Buck mumbles.
“Oh my God, how long have you been here?”
“Don’t know…”
“Fuck, okay, let me-” Eddie tries to help Buck stand up. He wants to move him to his car to take him out of these soaked up and frozen clothes. He manages to get him sitting, but Buck groans and shakes with every movement.
“Can’t... I can’t.” Buck’s legs are like two rocks and his body goes limp when Eddie tries to pull him upright, almost falling back to the ground.
“Buck, I need you to listen to me...”
“Mhmm?” Buck blinks and shakes his body, trying to take off his coat. “Take it off, Eddie! Off!”
“No, no, come on, listen to me, we need to get you to the car and get you warm, okay?”
“‘Mkay,” Buck answers as he goes limp against him.
Eddie’s reaching a state of pure frenzy. He manages to take Buck’s left skate off and searches around for the shoes.
“Buck, your shoes? I can’t find them.”
Buck is silent again and Eddie can only hear his relentless chattering teeth. When Eddie turns to look at him, he finds him sprawled on the snow again.
“Buck, wake up, come on. Your shoes?”
“Don’t know.”
Eddie needs to make Buck move and he needs to make it happen now. He pulls him up with one big push and starts guiding him to the car. He has an arm across Buck’s waist and another holding on to his chest. Eddie feels Buck trying to cooperate as much as he can, but he’s too clumsy and weak to do anything other than put one foot in front of the other, not even getting to hold his body weight with his two feet.
When Eddie catches a glimpse of their car, he sighs in relief and gathers the last of his strength to push Buck for the few steps left between them and the car.
Eddie lets Buck rest against the car while he searches for a blanket in the trunk. “Can you take your gloves off?”
Buck puts his hands together in front of him and shakes his head.
“Let me help,” Eddie pleads, moving place the blanket on the backseat. He grabs Buck’s hands with his, but Buck takes them away from him. “Buck, please, let me help you, we need to take you out of those clothes and warm you up, okay?”
“I’m c- cold.”
“Come on, give...” Eddie tugs at Buck’s arm. He’s desperate to help, but Buck is stubborn and, apparently, a bit out of it.
When he finally gets him to give him back his gloved hands again, Eddie takes the gloves and pulls from them both at the same time. Buck shivers at the contact of his skin with the cold air.
“Now the coat, Buck.”
Buck shimmies out of his coat and Eddie throws it to the back seat.
“I have a blanket, so if you take the rest of it off, I can cover you and get you to the cabin, yes?”
“I’m- tr- I’m tr- trying, ‘ds,” Buck replies as he takes his pants and socks off all in one move.
Eddie closes the distance between them and helps him take off his hoodie and t-shirt. He takes the pile of soaked and frozen clothes and places them in the back seat. The blanket is old and ragged, but he’ll have to make do. He spreads it out and wraps Buck as tight as possible.
“‘Tchs,” Buck complains.
“What?”
“It- tchs.”
“It itches?”
“Ye-”
After Eddie’s certain Buck is settled on the passenger’s seat, he closes the door, walks around the car, and takes his seat. He starts running the engine and turns the heating on in the highest setting. “I’m sorry, it’ll be for just a moment and then we can take it off at the hotel, we’re not far at all.”
Buck puts his hands over the vents right in front of him and groans as Eddie rushes them to their cabin.
It’s warm inside their room and Buck drops the blanket and sits beside the heater, but Eddie wraps him up again with their duvet and leaves him there to draw a bath for him.
The water is scalding hot and it emanates a nice warm steam that fogs the mirror in seconds. Eddie leaves the bathroom while the bathtub is filling and finds Buck right where he left him. His hands are reaching up to where the hot air flows from the heating and his head is hanging low, looking at the carpet.
“Buck,” Eddie calls out for him. “Come on, the water is ready.” He grabs him by the shoulder and Buck looks up at him.
“‘Mkay.”
Eddie guides Buck to the bathtub, now with a more helpful attitude from him.
As Buck soaks in the warm water, his mind starts to feel less foggy and more alert. He takes a look at Eddie, who’s sitting beside the bathtub on the floor. It’s silly feeling self-aware of his nakedness, but with Eddie wearing even his coat, Buck shifts in the water uncomfortably.
Eddie’s quiet and perched over the side of the bathtub, staring at Buck with two big brown eyes that radiate warmth and peace. Their fight had been stupid and they had both clearly put it behind them. He would be dead if Eddie hadn’t found him, but there’s something deep inside of Buck that condemns himself.
“Eddie.”
“What, Buck?”
“I’m sorry I left.”
“No. I’m sorry... I-”
“Nah, I was being stubborn. You were right.”
“The lake showed you, huh?” Eddie smirks and Buck relaxes at the sight. Eddie being at ease helps soothe Buck’s guilt.
“The lake is very wise… and mean. But wise.”
“I’m sorry, I should’ve been there.”
“You’re here now.”
“I was almost too late,” Eddie’s voice is filled with affection and it makes Buck fall in love all over again. His heart skips a few beats when Eddie pushes himself off the floor and stands up, towering over Buck.
“But you weren’t,” Buck assures him, submerging himself completely underwater. When he comes back up, Eddie is bent over him with a smile on his face. Buck surges up and crosses both his arms behind Eddie’s neck.
With the little strength Buck has left, he lets the weight of his whole body pull Eddie closer to him. Eddie stumbles and grabs both sides of the bathtub with his hands, but it doesn’t prevent him from falling right on top of Buck on the tub.
“My clothes… ” Eddie’s fully clothed, he hadn’t had the chance to take off his coat but Buck couldn’t care less and is now giddy to have him in his arms. Eddie’s coat floats around them like a cape. “Buck!”
“You saved me. My hero...” he murmurs as he plants a kiss on Eddie’s cheek.