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Buck sighed as he made his way towards the elevator. He felt guilty about everything. He had thought that Chase Mackey would focus on his health and his ability. But instead, he had focused on tearing down everyone in front of him and claiming that Bobby had favoritism for everyone but him. And while he wasn’t wrong, it had made Buck feel guilty. It made him feel like this wasn’t worth it, based on the way everyone had looked at him.
He stopped, when he saw the elevator doors still opened, but with his team (his former team, he supposed) inside. He knew he shouldn’t ask them to hold the doors, that much was clear with the way Eddie and Bobby avoided his gaze. So, he slowed down, hoping the doors would close before he reached them.
But then Chimney reached his hand out, stopping the door from closing. Buck paused, surprised by the action.
“Chim,” Bobby said, giving the man a look. Chimney gave Bobby a look back as his hand stayed on the door. It was almost a standoff between the two.
Then, Chimney stepped out.
“I’ll catch the next one.” Bobby looked between Chimney and Buck, an unreadable expression on his face.
“Same,” Hen said as she exited the elevator. A shocked expression crossed Buck’s face. This hadn’t been something he was expecting. Bobby could do nothing but watch the three of them as the doors closed. Once the doors were shut all the way, Buck just stared at Hen and Chimney, not sure what to say. Chimney just smiled and patted his arm.
“How about lunch at my apartment?” Buck just stared at him. “Maddie’s already grabbing food. Come on.” Buck stared at them, still confused. But when both of them nodded, he couldn’t help but feel a little relief.
Maybe he wasn’t so wrong.
“I’m still confused.” Buck was sitting at the table in Chimney’s apartment. Hen was on one side of him, a smirk on her face. Maddie was across the table from him and Chimney was walking back over from the kitchen. “It would’ve been easy for you guys to just side with Bobby. Why didn’t you?”
“Well I always march to the beat of my own drum,” Hen said. “And we both don’t necessarily think you're wrong. Maybe it could’ve been handled better, but your sleazy lawyer made several good points.”
“Bobby should’ve never kept you from coming back to work,” Chimney said, sitting back down at the table. “If he was willing to let me come back to work after I had a piece of rebar go through my head, then he should’ve made that same decision with you. Especially since my injury was probably worse.”
“This isn’t a competition,” Maddie pointed out and Chimney chuckled.
“I just,” Buck began, trying to find the right words. “Bobby’s your boss.”
“And you’re our friend,” Chimney said. “You would be there for us. In fact, you have been there for us. More times than we can count. So, we know what we’re doing.” Buck just smiled a little. He hadn’t realized how important it was for someone to see his side until Hen and Chimney did. A part of him was still disappointed that Bobby and Eddie hadn’t, but they had their reasons (well Bobby did, Buck wasn’t sure why Eddie seemed so mad at him). But looking at Hen and Chimney, who had taken his side, he couldn’t help but feel a little happy.
“Also, Chimney’s probably trying to impress Maddie,” Hen said with a smirk.
“He doesn’t have to try and impress me,” Maddie said with a smile before leaning over to kiss Chimney.
“Gross guys.”
“Grow up Evan.” Buck rolled his eyes but there was a smile on his face. And as they switched conversations, Buck couldn’t help but feel better than earlier. Maybe all of his problems weren’t solved, but it was nice having people on his side.
Eddie fought back a sigh as he stood in the park. He wasn’t sure who’s idea the team get-together at the park was and he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be there. A part of him had a hard time seeing the team outside of work without Buck. And a part of him was mad at Buck, for reasons he wasn’t even sure he understood. But, he knew it was better than brooding at home. And being at the park meant bringing Christopher, who definitely deserved a fun day after everything he had been through recently.
His son was currently watching Harry and Denny toss a football back and forth. He was standing near Denny, who was animatedly talking to Christopher. May was standing nearby with Athena and Karen. Bobby was manning the grill. Chimney, Hen, and Maddie were all in quiet conversation, something that would’ve been normal, if they didn’t keep looking around the park, like they were waiting for something to happen.
Eddie didn’t need to question their suspicious behavior because what they were clearly waiting for was a person. Specifically Buck.
“Buck!” It was Christopher’s voice that alerted him to the blonde’s presence. He couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming amount of emotions when he saw Buck. It only seemed to increase when Buck crouched down to hug Christopher, his son throwing his arms around Buck and hugging him tightly.
“Who invited him?” Eddie asked, crossing his arms over his chest as the other adults approached.
“I did.” Eddie turned to look at Chimney, who sent him a challenging look. Eddie glanced at Bobby, who seemed to be studying Chimney as well. “It’s a public park.” Eddie wanted to say something, but Buck was making his way over. May, always very mature for her age, made sure the three boys stayed where they were.
“Hey you,” Maddie said when Buck approached. Eddie watched as Maddie moved to Buck’s side, Chimney and Hen joining her. Athena narrowed her eyes, looking back and forth between the four of them and Bobby and Eddie.
“What’s going on here?” Athena asked, pointing at the two groups. Karen, who found herself in the middle, next to Athena just looked back and forth, almost as if she was watching a tennis match.
“Seemed wrong for us to have a get together without our whole team,” Chimney said. “So I texted Buck.”
“He wasn’t invited in the first place?” Athena asked, glancing at her husband. When Bobby didn’t say anything, Athena scoffed and shook her head. “Well of course he’s welcome.”
“Athena,” Bobby said, a look of almost disbelief on his face. “He sued me. He sued the department.”
“And you’ve never made a mistake, Robert Nash?”
“Oh damn, full name,” Karen muttered, moving to stand next to Hen.
“I never sued someone just to get my job back,” Bobby said. Eddie watched as Buck’s head dropped, his gaze going to his shoes. “I’m mature enough to know what my limits are and to stop pushing.”
“Jesus Christ, Bobby.” Everybody’s eyes widened in shock at Chimney’s tone. “Pull your head out of your ass and see Buck’s side of this! He got hurt and you never assured him he’d still have a job when he recovered. Maybe, if you had done that, he wouldn’t have had to push so hard. Maybe if you had just been a good boss and friend, we wouldn’t all be standing here!”
“Damn Chim, go off.” Hen shushed Karen, but there was a slight smirk on her face as she did.
“He could’ve talked to us first,” Eddie said. “We all would’ve been there for him, if he asked.”
“Why should he have to ask?” Maddie questioned, leveling Eddie with a harsh look. “He was at your ceremony, no questions asked. Shouldn’t you do the same for him?” Eddie’s face paled.
“We’ve all been bad friends,” Hen said. “Chim and I just have the maturity to see that and do something about it.” Bobby was about to say something when Buck looked up.
“Can we just stop?” He asked, a sadness in his voice. “I didn’t come here to fight or watch you guys tear each other apart. I only came to say that I dropped the lawsuit.”
“Wait, what?” Maddie looked at her brother confused. “I thought…”
“It’s not getting me my job back,” Buck said. “Mackey was angling for money, not my job. And I don’t want the money. Maybe some of you think I was right and some of you think I was wrong. But it doesn’t matter.”
“You still have us,” Hen assured Buck and Karen nodded. Eddie felt Buck’s eyes fall on him and Bobby and noticed the slump of Buck’s shoulder.
“I don’t really think I do,” Buck said quietly. And then, before anyone else could say anything, he walked away. The group fell silent, barely able to watch Buck walk away. But Eddie was able to see the slump in Christopher’s body when he saw Buck leave without saying goodbye.
“So that didn’t go well,” Karen pointed out.
“I wonder why,” Athena said, her eyes going right to Bobby and Eddie.
“So he just sues Bobby and the department and we forgive him?” Eddie asked incredulously. “We just let it go after he told personal information to that scumbag?”
“Yes,” Maddie said. “You forgive him because he’s not doing it to be malicious. You forgive him because Buck would forgive any of you in a heartbeat. You forgive him because he wasn’t wrong.” Eddie didn’t say anything and Maddie sighed. “Chim, let’s go. I want to make sure my brother’s okay.” Chimney followed after her, shaking his head as he did. Eddie sighed as he felt Athena watching him. He heard Karen mutter something to Hen, before they went over to get Denny.
“You two need to fix this,” Athena said, looking at Eddie and Bobby. Bobby went to say something, but Athena continued. “You’re a team. Fix this.” Eddie sighed, knowing better than to argue with Athena. Instead, he made his way over to where Christopher was. If he was being honest, he didn’t know how to fix things. He was mad at Buck, but he didn’t know why.
“Dad.” There was a sad look on Christopher’s face. Eddie scooped him up and Christopher curled into him. “Buck left without saying goodbye.”
And then Eddie understood where his anger was coming from. And he realized he had messed up.
“Mijo, do you want to help me with something?” Eddie asked and Christopher tilted his head. “Something for Buck?” Christopher nodded and Eddie pressed a kiss to his son’s head. He didn’t know if this would work, but he had to try.
Eddie sighed to himself as he approached the door to Buck’s apartment, Christopher a step behind him. He smiled a little as Christopher reached up to knock on the door. He didn’t know if this would work, or if Buck would even let him in the door, but he had to try.
He was a little shocked when the door opened, revealing Bobby on the other side.
“Seems we had similar ideas,” Bobby said, regarding Eddie. Eddie just nodded as Christopher made his way inside. By the time he entered the apartment, his son had already attached himself to Buck, who seemed happy to carry the boy around. As he walked further in, he noticed that Athena, Chimney, and Maddie were there. He also noticed Buck avoiding his gaze as he talked to Christopher. Eddie fought down a sigh that was threatening to bubble up. He’d never be able to talk to Buck if there were so many people around.
“Well Buckaroo,” Athena said with a smile. “We have to get going, but you take care, alright?” Buck nodded, a small smile on his face. He glanced at Bobby, who gave him a nod and patted his shoulder. “We’ll call you about dinner soon.” And then, Athena and Bobby left. Eddie couldn’t help but wonder what they had talked about with Buck. Had Bobby actually done what Athena said and fixed things with Buck? And if so, did that mean Buck would be receptive to what he had to say?
Luckily, Chimney took pity on him.
“Have you guys had dinner?” Chimney asked. “Because we were thinking about grabbing some stuff from that place down the block that Buck likes.”
“Dad and I were hoping we could have dinner and watch movies with Buck like we always used to,” Christopher said, that sweet innocence to his voice that everyone seemed to adore. And it seemed to work because it melted whatever discomfort from Buck and frostiness from Maddie that was permeating the air.
“That sounds really nice,” Buck said with a smile. He spared a glance at Eddie, who could only nod at Buck. Luckily, at that moment, Maddie took some pity on him as well.
“Christopher, do you want to help pick out what to get for dinner?” The boy nodded and Maddie walked over to the kitchen with him. Chimney glanced back and forth between Eddie and Buck before following them.
“Can we talk?” Eddie asked. “Maybe somewhere private?” Buck just nodded and headed upstairs. Eddie just followed after him, trying to calm the tightening in his chest. When they reached the loft, they both stood there awkwardly, Eddie not sure how to start this.
“Look, I know you're bad at talking but you showed up at my apartment.” Eddie sighed and nodded.
“I’m sorry Buck.” Buck just watched him, not saying anything. “You needed us there for you and instead of being there and being a good friend, I was just angry.”
“At me?”
“At everything.” Buck just tilted his head. “I didn’t realize why I was so angry until Christopher said something to me today at the park. He said that you left without saying goodbye and I...I realized I was taking my anger out on the wrong person.”
“I don’t follow.” Eddie sighed, running his hand down his face.
“The person I’m angry at is Shannon,” Eddie said and Buck frowned sadly. “Which is awful because she’s dead and I’m still pissed at her. I’m angry because she left. She left Christopher and she left me. Twice.”
“Eddie, she died. That’s not leaving.” Eddie squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force away those awful images of Shannon, lying in the ambulance crying.
“She asked for a divorce, right before she died.” He opened his eyes and looked at Buck, who was still watching him.
“You didn’t tell me that.”
“I didn’t tell anyone that,” Eddie said. “Because she was going to leave again. And that made me so angry.”
“What does any of this have to do with me?” Buck asked.
“I wasn’t angry about the lawsuit,” Eddie said, a regretful look on his face as he felt the tension melting away. “I was angry that you weren’t there. I was angry that…”
“That I left?” Eddie just nodded. “Eddie, I didn’t leave.”
“You weren’t around,” Eddie pointed out. “Christopher went through something, something with you and he needed you there.”
“You didn’t say anything,” Buck said. “Even before the lawsuit, you didn’t…”
“I brought him here,” Eddie said and Buck gave him a look. “I thought that was enough.” He had thought bringing Christopher over that day after the tsunami was enough to show Buck how much Christopher needed him. He thought telling Buck that he trusted him more than anyone with Christopher was enough.
But clearly it wasn’t.
“I didn’t leave,” Buck repeated. “And even if you thought I did, I don’t understand how that connects to Shannon.”
“She left,” Eddie said. “She left both of us. And…” He tipped his head forward, knowing that once the words were out there, he couldn’t take them back. “You did too. You left just like Shannon did.”
He heard Buck suck in a breath, realization probably striking through him. Eddie had known for a while now that his feelings for Buck weren’t exactly platonic. But he had ignored them, because it was never the right time, because tragedy kept striking, and because Eddie was scared. He was scared that he was feeling something that wasn’t reciprocated. He was scared that he was going to get his heart broken again.
And mostly, he was scared that he would lose Buck. Permanently.
“You know.” Even as Buck started to speak, Eddie couldn’t look up at him. But then, he felt Buck tip his chin up, forcing him to look into those blue eyes that he adored. “If you’re going to admit that you’re in love with me, you could at least look at me.” Eddie’s lips parted in shock at the statement and Buck just smiled. He was about to say something when Buck closed the space between them, sealing his lips over Eddie’s in a kiss.
Eddie nearly tumbled forward into Buck, maybe out of shock or maybe out of a need to be close to Buck. One hand grabbed at Buck’s waist, leaving no space between them. The other grasped the nape of Buck’s neck, angling him further down, to deepen the kiss. Buck just smiled into the kiss, winding his long arms around Eddie.
When they both finally pulled away, panting slightly, Eddie could only stare at Buck in awe. Buck just smiled, pink dusting across his cheeks.
“I love you too,” Buck said and Eddie couldn’t help but smile. “And I’m really glad you came over tonight.”
“Well, I owed you a few apologies and explanations,” Eddie said and Buck just smiled at that. “Although, it seems like I wasn’t the only one who decided to stop by.”
“Well Maddie and Chim wanted to make sure I was okay,” Buck said. “And Bobby well...he, uh, he apologized for not being more helpful during all of this. For not telling me that I’d always have a place at the 118.”
“We all should have told you that,” Eddie said. “It’s kind of not the same without you there.”
“Yeah, because I’m awesome.” Eddie rolled his eyes fondly and Buck chuckled. “But, since I dropped the lawsuit, Bobby said he’d give the chief a call.”
“So, you’re coming back to work?” Eddie asked and Buck shrugged, but there was a smile on his face. “Well good. It’s much better when we can have each other’s backs. If you still want me to have your back.” Buck just shook his head fondly as he reached for Eddie’s hands. Eddie let his fingers interlace with Buck’s.
“You could have my everything,” Buck said, a sweet smile on his face. “If you wanted.” Eddie tried to come up with something to say, some witty or sweet remark. But, he just settled for pressing a kiss to Buck’s lips. His tips turned up into a smile as he kissed Buck, realizing that for the first time he wasn’t feeling angry. In fact, he was feeling happy. True, unadulterated happiness.
“Food’s on the way!” They both chuckled as they pulled apart, Chimney’s voice floating through the apartment.
“Guess we should head down there,” Buck said, his thumb running over Eddie’s hands. He started to move towards the stairs, but Eddie stopped him, tugging him back towards him.
“We’re okay, right?” Eddie asked. Buck just smiled and squeezed Eddie’s hand, earning a smile from Eddie.
“Better than okay,” Buck said. Eddie nodded and followed Buck down the stairs. When they finally reached the living room, he noticed Maddie eyeing them. But her expression softened when she saw the hands intertwined.
“Buck!” Eddie let his hand fall away as Buck scooped Christopher up, the eight-year-old smiling brightly at them. “We ordered your favorite. And we picked a really good movie.”
“Figured we could just take care of all of that,” Chimney said, with a slight smirk. “So you two could...talk.” Maddie elbow Chimney, who just chuckled. “Though it is nice to have full numbers for Team Buckaroo.”
“I told him not to call it that,” Buck said, glancing at Eddie. Eddie just chuckled, nodding a little.
“Yeah it doesn’t have the right ring to it,” Eddie said and Chimney gave him a look. “I think family is the correct term.”
“I like the sound of that!” Christopher said, looping his arms around Buck’s shoulders. Buck just pressed a kiss to the boy’s head before looking back at Eddie, an adoring smile on his face.
“Me too.” And as they all settled on the couch, Buck squished in the middle and Eddie’s hand wrapped firmly around his, everything finally felt right.
They were all where they were supposed to be.