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“Remind me again why I married you?”
Buck makes a weak attempt of being offended, an indignant sound muffled into the crook of Eddie’s neck as Eddie shoulders the door to their apartment open – arm slung around Buck’s waist as the taller man practically leans all of his weight on him. The apartment is cold; left empty for the morning whilst they'd been at work and not expecting to be back until later that afternoon, just in time to pick Christopher up from school. Nobody had accounted for Buck falling victim to this month's sickness bug that’s been going around.
Luckily, it only seems to be a mild fever. Nothing too serious. Nothing that Eddie can’t take care of.
“Because I'm great in bed.” Buck sasses, winking up at him with a playful smirk. Adjusting the thermostat as they step further into the apartment, Eddie scoffs at Buck's delayed comeback but tightens his hold around him nonetheless.
The exasperated roll of his eyes and small shake of his head have become a familiar gesture whenever he’s in Buck's company. Eddie didn’t believe there was such thing as fond annoyance until he met Buck. “Idiot.” he mutters, carefully lowering Buck onto the couch after he brushes away the stray Lego pieces left from this morning’s building session with Christopher.
“Dork.” comes Buck's retort, smug face only just visible through a gap of the blanket that Eddie drapes over him. He makes a pleased sound, burying deeper under the warmth.
“Dipshit.”
“Jerk.”
“Nerd.”
“Hey!” Eddie laughs at Buck's outburst, “I'm not a nerd.”
“Darling. Sweetheart. Love of my life. You're a nerd.”
Buck grumbles unintelligible words, shuffling until his head is comfortably out of the blanket whilst his shivering body remains covered. “-you and your stupid facts and know-it-all shit, you're a fucking nerd!”
Eddie smiles fondly down at the man glaring at him. He reaches out, brushing hair out of Buck’s eyes and curling two fingers under his jaw, tilting his face up just enough to catch his attention. “Babe, you read all of the Harry Potter books three times-"
“Yeah, but they're good!”
“-last year alone!”
A pillow abruptly hits Eddie in the face, followed by a rather content, “Shut the fuck up.”
Eddie just clicks his tongue, meeting Buck with as unimpressed a look he can fathom. Buck bites back a snicker.
“You’re a feisty little nerd, huh?” he teases, earning him a groan.
When Eddie leans down, hands fitting perfectly around Buck's face exactly as they do every time – revelling at the rough touch of fresh stubble against his palms – Buck's smile falls. He reaches out to push Eddie away, face twisting to the side. “Nuh-uh, you can’t kiss me! I'll get you sick.”
“Cute.” Eddie chuckles, lips brushing over Buck's feverish forehead and smiling when the cool contact relaxes his husband. “You believe I could be taken down by such a measly fever.”
Buck swats at his arm, scoffing. “Fuckin' prick.” His wide smile highly contradicts his words.
Eddie doesn't bother gracing him with a response, simply choosing to hook a finger under the man's chin and lifting his face to his level before capturing Buck’s dry lips in a deep kiss. A muffled sigh, happy and at peace, escapes Buck's mouth, needy hands grabbing at the lapels of Eddie's shirt to draw him impossibly closer. When a tongue, hot and wet, slips past Eddie’ lips, however, he reluctantly pulls away.
Buck chases after his lips, pouting when Eddie leaves him with a chaste kiss before straightening back up. “Tease.” he pouts, causing Eddie’s lips to quirk into a light smile.
“Stop complaining.” Eddie chastises, lovingly running cool fingers through the man's sweat-matted hair. Buck shivers at the touch and leans into it. “Let me warm up some soup and get you some hot cocoa. We can put on a shitty reality TV and spend the rest of the afternoon kissing, if that's what you want. But only kissing! You need rest if you're going to get better.”
The grumbled reply seems vaguely agreeable with Eddie's suggested plan, and so he turns towards the kitchen.
A hand catches his just as he passes by Buck, turning to see the man smiling abashedly up at him. “Thanks, baby.” he mumbles, ghosting a kiss over Eddie's knuckles before letting him go.
Eddie would be lying if he said that those two words didn't cause him to be hit with a wave of undeniable fondness. Buck didn't need to say why Eddie had married him; his actions alone were answer enough.