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Eddie Diaz realized he was in love with Evan Buckley at 6:45pm on Thursday, August 12th and he was completely, totally, blindsided.
The day started nice enough. It was one of the rare days where everybody had either been off or finished with their shift early that morning. The entire 118 and gang had been invited to the Grant-Nash house for one of Bobby’s famous barbeques. The weather was forecasted to be perfect and since everybody was free by early afternoon, they were all able to head over for an early dinner, meaning that all the kids could still be home in time to get to bed early.
Christopher was not looking forward to school in the morning, and he had made sure Eddie knew from the moment he had picked him up from school that afternoon. “But dad,” he drew out. “We haven’t seen Harry and Denny in….forever! Can’t we stay with them for the night?”
Eddie looked back and caught Christopher’s gaze in the rearview mirror as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I’m sorry buddy. We just can’t. I don’t think ‘Thena would like it too much if we all crashed with her tonight. Can you imagine me sleeping on her tiny couch??”
He smiled when he heard Christopher giggle from the backseat. “You’re too big!”
“Exactly, bud. My feet would be dangling off the edge.” Christopher let out a loud peal of laughter now. “What’s so funny, little man?”
“You! Sleeping on a tiny couch.”
Eddie just shook his head and continued on the way home, listening intently as Christopher was telling him about what he learned today at school. He was in the middle of telling him about what he had drawn in art class when he was suddenly silent. When Eddie looked up to see what happened, he saw Christopher looking out the window at the traffic passing them by. They were almost home now and were sitting at the intersection waiting for the light to turn. “You okay, Chris?’
“Daddy? Do you think Buck likes sleeping on our couch?” He asked.
Eddie hummed. “I’m not sure, buddy. I’m sure he doesn’t mind it, since he loves being able to make you breakfast in the morning. Why do you ask?”
“Well, you said that you can’t sleep on Athena’s couch. But, but we make Buck sleep on our couch all the time.” They had arrived home now and as Eddie opened the door to help Christopher down from the truck, he continued. “That’s not fair to Buck.”
Eddie felt a fullness in his chest, bright and airy. God, he was so proud of his kid. “You’re right. But we don’t have another bed.”
Christopher nodded as he made his way up the steps, Eddie following behind holding his backpack. “He can sleep in mine. I can sleep on the couch. I’m smaller.”
“I’m not sure, bud. Your bed is hardly bigger than the couch. I don’t think he would fit there any better.”
Christopher plopped down onto one of the kitchen chairs with a thoughtful hum. Eddie ruffled his hair as he walked past, causing the boy to smile and wave his hands up in protest.
“Do you want apple or cranberry juice today?” He asked.
“Um, cranberry,” Christopher decided and Eddie got to work gathering his afterschool snack. Then, “He could sleep in bed with you dad,” and Eddie choked on his spit.
He fought down a blush, god why was he blushing at that, he wasn’t a teenager, and stood behind Christopher, setting down a plate of sliced banana and a cup of cranberry juice before he sat down himself. He took a moment to parse his thoughts together before he spoke next.
“Well,” He said. “My bed isn’t really big enough for two people in it.”
“But, you and I have slept in your bed,” Christopher said, mouth full of mushed up banana.
“Chew and swallow before you talk, bud. You don’t want to choke,” Eddie reprimanded softly. “And yeah, but you're a lot smaller than Buck right now. And it’s been a while since we last had a sleepover in my room. You may be too big now. You’re a lot bigger now.”
Eddie could practically see the wheels turning in his son’s head as he finished chewing his last bite. “Then...we can build a fort!”
“A fort?” Eddie smiled.
Christopher nodded quickly, slurping down the rest of his juice. “Yeah! Amy in class was talking about how her and her older brother and sister have pillow fort nights on the weekends sometimes and they can all fit in there. Her brother and sister are like...way older than her, so they are way bigger.” He smiled widely, proud of himself for solving the problem. “So, we could all fit in there together and we can all have a sleepover and then Buck won’t have to sleep alone and on the couch because it’s too small.”
“Well, that’s a pretty good idea, buddy.” Eddie propped his head up on his hand, bringing the free one up to ruffle Christopher’s hair again. It was getting too long and hanging into his eyes. He was due for a haircut soon.
“Yeah! And,” Christopher continued, “We can make one tonight after we get back from visiting Harry and Denny!”
“Christopher, I already said we can’t have a sleepover tonight.”
“But Dad. It’s just Bucky. I promise I’ll go to sleep early so we can go to school tomorrow on time. Plus it;s a sleepover at home, so I don’t think it counts.” Christopher looked at him with puppy dog eyes. Eddie was 99% sure that it was Buck that taught him that technique.
He managed to hold out for longer than he expected, almost a full minute, before he relented. “Alright, kid. But you have to ask Buck. We aren’t working tomorrow, but he may have plans.” He held up his hand in a high-five. “Deal?”
“Deal!” Christopher cheered, slamming his hand into his dad’s.
“Okay, now go get ready for dinner tonight. Buck should be here soon to bring us both over to Bobby and Athena’s.”
He shook his head and smiled as Christopher practically tumbled off the chair in his excitement. He watched his back until he was safely past his door frame and then, since he didn’t have much else to do, got to work tidying the living room and folding the clean clothes that had started to form a mountain on top of the dryer. He had been at it for the better part of 15 minutes, barely halfway through when he heard a car pull up the drive and a moment later, a key turning in the lock.
“Hello?” Buck called from the front door. “Eds?”
Eddie poked his head around the corner. “Over here!” He kept his head around the wall long enough to see Buck toe off his shoes before he made his way to where Eddie was standing. “You’re here early,” Eddie commented.
Buck shrugged, “I was getting bored at the loft, so I just came on over.” He started to pick up one of Chris’s shirts, folding it gently and setting it in the growing pile of folded clothes in the basket before picking up another. “That okay?”
“Of course. You don’t have to do that.” Eddie made to grab the shirt Buck was folding out of his hand, but he just pulled it up out of Eddie’s reach dangling it back over his head.
“I know, Eds. It’s fine.” When he seemed satisfied that Eddie wasn’t going to make another grab for the shirt, he deftly folded, put away, and grabbed another.
They worked side-by-side in silence for the next few minutes, until the mountain was contained into a few neatly folded piles. Buck offered to help Eddie put them away, but he waved him off with a quick hand.
“Don’t worry about it. You did more than enough. Besides,” he said, checking his watch. “We should probably get going soon. Also, fair warning, Chris is going to ask if you want to have a pillow fort sleepover tonight.”
Buck’s eyebrows shot up. “I’d love that, but on a school night?”
Eddie sighed, shoulders slumping. “He made a very compelling argument.”
Buck all but cackled at the look on Eddie’s face. “He used the puppy dog eyes?”
“You taught him well,” Eddie said. He leaned down the hall, raising his voice just enough to carry. “Christopher? You ready to go? Buck is here!”
He heard a faint “Yeah dad!” come from the bedroom before the door opened. Christopher came walking down the hall, face splitting into a wide smile when he saw Buck standing there. “Buck!”
Buck’s face softened in the way that Eddie figured was only reserved for Christopher alone. “Hey, buddy! How are you? How was school today?”
“It was good,” he rushed. “Can you stay with us tonight and make a pillow fort?” Christopher had just made it to where Buck was standing, so Buck crouched down so he was level to his face.
“Hmm,” he pretended to think. “I think that should work. I don’t have any plans for tomorrow.” He turned to Eddie, eyes twinkling. “Is that okay with you, Dad?”
Eddie must have eaten something off earlier today. That was the only reason he could think of for why his stomach would do a full flip. “Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “That’s okay with me.”
Christopher cheered again and without further prompting, made his way to the door. “C’mon, Dad, you’re so slow. I want to see Denny and Harry.”
Eddie rolled his eyes and smiled when Buck started laughing, dusting off his jeans as he stood back up. “Yeah, slow-poke, hurry up. Let’s get going.” He twirled his keys around his finger. “I think I’ve seen your Abuela moved quicker than you and she had hip replacement surgery.”
Eddie practically shoved Buck out the front door in retaliation, laughing when he stumbled off the front step.
***
For all of Buck’s talk of Eddie being the slow one, they still showed up at Athena’s doorstep 30 minutes late. It should have been expected. Buck, despite Eddie’s assurance that yes, he could drive the actual speed limit it would be fine, was extra cautious when he had Christopher riding in the car with him.
Athena smiled warmly at them when she answered the door, and Eddie was just able to see Harry and Denny hovering behind her on the steps leading down into the living area. Christopher let out an excited giggle and made his way over, ignoring Athena in his rush as she softly stepped out of the way of his crutches.
“There are my boys,” she said. “We were beginning to wonder if you were coming.” She greeted them both with a kiss on the cheek and ushered them inside. Buck gave her a quick hug back before heading off after Chris and the other boys, saying hello to everyone else as he got further into the room.
Eddie shrugged. “Buck was driving. I was expecting us to be a little later actually, but traffic was surprisingly light. I should have had us leave earlier. That was my fault”
“Oh,” she raised her eyebrows. “Buck drove you three here, did he?”
“Uh, yeah?” Eddie said. “It was just easier since we are on the way from his loft to here. Plus, he just promised Chris that they could build a pillow fort to sleep in tonight after the barbeque. So...it worked out.” She just hummed at him, shooting a glance over his shoulder and smirking. He twisted to see Hen turning away quickly, hiding a smile behind her hand. “What? What’s going on?”
“Nothing, sweetheart. Bobby is almost finished up with the grill, why don’t you come help me get everything else set up in the kitchen?” She patted his shoulder as she shut the door and made her way down the steps. He knew better than to not follow her. Athena was only pretending to ask him. He was expected in the kitchen to help.
The rest of the night went without issue. It was peaceful, calm in a way that Eddie hadn’t felt in a while. Everybody was laughing and having a good time and they all deserved it. Music was playing softly from the overhead speakers, and it was a perfect night outside. The patio doors had been opened so the kids could play in the fading light while the parents were all able to keep a watchful eye.
He smiled into his glass as he heard Chris’s happy giggle. The boys were taking turns catching lightning bugs. Harry had taken to catching them for Chris and depositing them into his hands, since it was difficult for him and his crutches to chase after the darting bugs in the dark.
He had just turned back to continue his conversation with Bobby when he heard Chris cry out. Eddie pivoted to see Chris on the ground, clutching his knee, with Harry and Denny hovering over him. Even from the kitchen he could see Chris’s lip start to quiver.
He moved to set his glass down on the countertop, ready to shoot Bobby an apologetic glance, which would of course have been met with an understanding nod. But, before he could make his way outside, Buck stepped away from his conversation with Maddie and Chim in an instant, almost quicker than Eddie could recognize, and was kneeling down in front of Christopher. The conversation had all but stopped completely when Chris had cried, all the parents well attuned to the sound of actual hurt, and the background music was soft enough now that Eddie had no issue hearing their conversation.
“Hey, hey there buddy. What happened? You okay?” Buck reached up a hand and brushed Christopher’s bangs back, wiping away the few tears that had fallen on Christopher’s face as he did so.
“Y-yeah,” Christopher sniffed, running a hand past his nose. “There was a bug right in front of me and I, I thought I could catch it but it was, it was too fast and my crutch got stuck and I fell down.” The words rushed out of him and he slumped forward at the end of his sentence, seeming like all the energy was knocked out of him. “I hurt my knee.”
“Ooh let’s see, superman.” Buck pulled Chris up onto his lap and looked at his pant leg. From the kitchen Eddie could see the fabric was torn, so that knee couldn’t have been a pretty sight. “You know what? It’s not too bad! But it probably hurts a little, huh.” At Christopher’s nod he continued. “Yeah I bet. Even Superman can get hurt sometimes.” He tickled Chris then, causing a slight giggle and smile.
“You know,” Buck whispered, leaning in conspiratorially, “I bet Athena has got some cool band aids that we can put on that to make it all better. Right Athena?” He raised his voice now, turning to look over his shoulder to where Athena was sitting at the dining room table with Hen.
“Oh, absolutely, boys. Come on, Christopher, baby. I think I’ve got some superhero bandaids with your name on them.”
Eddie watched as Buck stood, picking Christopher up and slinging him around his waist. Chris wrapped his arms up around Buck’s shoulders and tucked his head into his neck. “Hey Harry, man, can you get his crutches and give them to Eddie please?”
Harry just nodded and Buck made his way after Athena. As they passed by the kitchen, he saw Eddie staring at him, and Buck just smiled softly and dipped his head and winked as if to say “Hey, whatcha gonna do?”.
Eddie felt a pull in his gut, like something was finally slotting into place as he continued to stare after Buck and Christopher until they were out of sight. Oh.
Oh.
God, he was totally fucked.
Bobby, bless him, quickly noticed that Eddie was going through a capital C Crisis, and took the glass out of his hand before he could drop it. “Eddie...you okay there? You can go check on him if you want but I’m sure he’s fine.”
“No, no uh,” Eddie swallowed, throat clicking as his mouth was suddenly dry. He really wished Bobby hadn’t taken that glass from him. He really wished he had something to drown whatever feeling was bubbling up inside him. You know what it is, a voice inside him whispered. “No it’s not that,” he continued.
Bobby had put both glasses down and turned now to put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, pulling slightly so he was forced to pull his gaze from the bathroom door and look at the concerned expression on Bobby’s face. “Then what is it, ‘cause you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you feeling okay?”
Eddie saw nothing but concern in Bobby’s eyes. The man cared about his team like a family. He flashed back to his conversation with Bobby weeks before, weeks before he had gone on a series of failed dates with Ana Flores, and weeks before he suddenly realized he had been in love with his best friend for who knows how long. Months? Years now? How long had he been harboring these feelings and just hadn’t noticed?
He knew he had nothing to worry about with Bobby, of course he would understand, be nothing but caring, but that didn’t stop him from feeling nervous. He just had this realization and he had no idea where to start explaining.
“I’m in love with Buck!” he blurted out, as soon as he opened his mouth again, before closing it with an audible click of his teeth.
Well, that was one way to start.
He turned his head, but luckily the revelation hadn’t left their bubble, since nobody else was paying them any attention. Bobby jerked back in surprise at the outburst and his eyebrows pulled together in confusion, probably at the absolute zero context that Eddie gave him, but Bobby’s hand never left his shoulder. So, he took a breath and smiled sheepishly, bringing his free hand up to rub at the back of his neck.
“I...may...have just realized that I’m in love with Buck.”
Bobby smiled and gave his shoulder a squeeze before bringing his hand back down to grab their drinks, satisfied now that Eddie wasn’t going to drop Athena’s glass anymore, and handed it back to him. “Oh, well I’m happy for you.” He took a sip of his water before muttering. “It’s about time.”
Eddie laughed incredulously. “What?”
Bobby sighed and looked Eddie deliberately in the eyes, eyebrows raised in what he could only assume was what Buck referred to as his patented Dad expression. He’d never really been on the receiving end of a Dad look before. “Eddie, son, I think you are one of the last to realize how crazy you are for Buck...other than Buck himself of course.”
Eddie’s stomach turned, but his thoughts were too all over the place to figure out what was causing it. “Wh-, you all-...Really? Was it really that obvious?”
“Kid, anybody with eyes can see how in love you are with him.” Bobby laughed. Eddie could see it in his eyes he was-
“You’re enjoying this! I’m having a crisis Bobby.”
“I am enjoying this,” Bobby said, “because I’m happy for the both of you. Plus, it means I won the bet. Chim’s going to be pissed. He thought you wouldn’t get together until after Christmas.”
“Okay whoa, whoa, whoa,” His hands flew up, trying to physically stop the direction this conversation was heading. He wasn’t even going to touch on the bet. That was an issue for another day, once he had his whole ‘In-Love-With-His-Best-Friend crisis’ under control. “We haven’t...we aren’t together. There’s no way he likes me back.”
And now Bobby was definitely pulling the Dad look on him. Or maybe he learned this look from Athena. Maybe it was the Mom look. “Eddie I know you are smart, so why are you being stupid right now.” Definitely Athena.
“I’m not Bobby. There’s no way he could like me too. We’re best friends.” Eddie insisted. “I can’t tell him.”
“Best friends who spend almost every off day together? Best friends who arrive at the firehouse together more often than separately? Best friends who alternate picking up Christopher from school? Best friends that have been effectively co-parenting Christopher for years now? I could go on Eddie, but I don’t think I need to”
“Um….” Eddie sighed. “Okay I see your point but-”
“There are no ‘buts’ Eddie.” Bobby cut him off. “It’s not my place to tell you how Buck feels. But trust me. Just tell him, okay?”
Eddie was about to respond when he heard Buck’s voice across the living room.
“Hey, Eds! Chris is pretty wiped out after that fall. Wanna head home now?”
Eddie responded with a quick “Sure!” and ignored Bobby whispering “Homeeee” in his ear. He grabbed Chris’s crutched from where Harry had propped them against a dining room chair and made his goodbyes. Turned out that Buck had already made his, so they were good to make their way to the door.
Athena walked them out, and as she hugged Eddie goodbye, she whispered “Just tell him, sweetheart” in his ear. Eddie leaned back in shock at her, only heading out the door when Buck called for him again. He shook his head as he opened the passenger door. Athena had been nowhere near the kitchen when him and Bobby had been talking.
She was terrifying.
***
Buck kept his promise when they got home. Christopher, despite the sore knee and the scrape on his chin that had been previously missed, still wanted to have a pillow fort sleepover with ‘His Buck’. Eddie tried to ignore how that made his stomach flip and insisted that he had to rest while Eddie and Buck made it for him.
They were 10 minutes into building the fort when Buck leaned in to whisper in his ear. “I had no idea 9-year-olds could be so bossy.”
“I heard that Buck!” Christopher yelled from the small pile of couch cushion he was sitting on. He had delegated himself the pillow fort planner, since he wasn’t allowed to actually build it, and had been ordering them how to construct the fort of his dreams. “Get back to work!”
Buck turned his head and gave a mock salute. “Yes sir!” and turned back to Eddie with a wink. There was no way Eddie was ignoring the stomach flip with that one.
Another 15 minutes later, they had a pillow fort built for a king. Well, one 9-year-old king and his two willing builders. Even Eddie had to admit, it was pretty impressive. It was stable, and Christopher had made them drag the mattress from Eddie’s into the living room to function as the base, tucking pillows and blankets along the side to make it wider. They had grabbed literally every pillow/blanket from the house, so it was comfortable too. They even were told to get the string lights from Chris’s bedroom, the star ones Buck had gotten for him on his last birthday. They had been plugged in and draped over the blankets and chairs that formed the roof of the fort and when the three of them crawled inside, there was enough space for them to lay down side-by-side.
And if Eddie was secretly glad Christopher had insisted on the star lights, if only for the reason that under the blanket he could watch them reflect off Buck’s eyes while he talked quietly with his son, well...it’s not like he was going to tell anybody.
As they settled into the space, Buck and Eddie sitting cross-legged and leaning against the couch that formed the back wall of his son’s fortress, Christopher nestled safely in Buck’s lap, Eddie felt what could only be described as soft hope. Maybe Bobby was right. Maybe he could have this.
Buck had rested his cheek on the top of Christopher's head, smiling as he was explaining random star facts as Chris’s eyes started to droop shut.
Eddie moved to take him from Buck’s lap when his head bobbed down so quickly that Buck’s cheek slipped off the top of his head. “Okay bud, I think it’s time to get to sleep. You had a pretty long day.”
Christopher grumbled and rubbed his fist across his eye, “But I’m not even tired.”
Buck laughed, “I think your body is telling you otherwise little man.”
Christopher yawned as he was moved into Eddie’s lap, not bothering to cover it before letting his head fall back onto his dad’s shoulder. “But….we haven’t even had story time yet Bucky.”
Eddie hummed, carding a hand through Christopher’s hair. “Well, if you hurry and go pick one out, maybe Buck can read one to you before you fall asleep.” He raised his eyebrows silently in question, and Buck just smiled before reaching out to pull Christopher to his feet, making sure that the boy was awake enough to be stable before he let go.
“I think that sounds like a plan. What do you think buddy?”
Christopher nodded and shuffled out of the fort, yawning again and stretching as Eddie reached to hand him his crutches. He watched his son as he shuffled off around the corner, feet dragging in his sleepiness and chuckled, turning his head back to Buck to see him already looking back at Eddie.
“If we hadn’t already taken all the comfortable items from his room,” he said, gesturing with his head to where Christopher had disappeared, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he crashed in there and didn’t make it back.”
He watched Buck’s shoulders shake slightly as he laughed, then sighed, turning his own head now to look after Christopher. “Yeah. I wouldn’t be surprised either. He’s wiped out.” He paused, and looked aidelong back at Eddie. “He’s a great kid. You did a fantastic job with him, you know? You do a fantastic job with him. I know you don’t believe it sometimes...but it’s true.”
Eddie had to take a moment to collect himself after that. Of course, Buck could see through to his doubts. He’d hardly ever said anything out loud, never wanting to draw attention to the negative, but leave it to Buck to pull it out in the open like it was nothing.
Eddie cleared his throat and reached out his foot to tap against Buck’s knee. “So do you.”
Buck laughed softly, and reached his own foot out to tap back on Eddie’s leg. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Buck,” Eddie sighed, “that you’ve been as much of a parent to him these past few years as I have. Chris loves you.” The I love you was unsaid, but Eddie could feel it bouncing around in his chest, just waiting to explode out. “You are everything to him, Buck. To us.”
He was saved from having to deal with whatever Buck would say, because Eddie had definitely not meant to let that last bit slip yet, by a slightly more awake Christopher coming around the corner, book in hand.
Finally, a little more than an hour after they had got home, they were all settled into the fort, Chris lying nestled between Buck and Eddie as Buck read his favorite book to him. Within minutes of Buck starting Christopher’s self proclaimed ‘most favorite book ever’, he was fast asleep against Eddie’s chest. Buck still finished the book for good measure, and Eddie couldn’t help but smile at him as he continued to read in very dramatic, very hushed, character voices despite his intended audience being as far from listening as possible.
Buck closed the book and rubbed a hand across his face before turning to Eddie. “What?” he whispered. He was laying down on Christopher’s Spiderman pillowcase (Chris wanted to make sure that his favorite person was sleeping with his favorite pillow. The grin Buck shot him was well worth not being his own son’s favorite) and god, there must be something wrong with him because there was no right for Buck to look that attractive while laying on a child’s pillowcase.
“Nothing.” Eddie managed to whisper back.
“You were staring at me.”
“No I wasn’t.”
“Yes you were,” Buck insisted, a smile across his face and the star lights, still on above the blankets, twinkled in his eyes.
“Hmm,” Eddie smiled, shifting Chris down to lay fully on the pillow ground. He turned on his side and propped his head up on his hand, felt a comfortable warmth spread through him before settling in his gut. “Nah, I think you were imagining things.”
Buck laughed quietly, as not to wake Christopher and rolled his eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”
Buck had just turned away to set the book outside the opening of the tent when that same warmth from before shot out of Eddie’s chest like a firework. Before he could think better of it, he whispered, “I’m in love with you,” voice carrying across the enclosed space to fall, hopeful and heavy, into Buck’s arms.
He had never seen Buck turn back so quickly. For a moment Eddie was worried for the integrity of the blanket fort, as Buck’s arm had whipped out to hit one of the support chairs in his haste. But it stayed, perfect and stable.
“You what?” Buck’s voice pitched up, and Chris made a disgruntled noise, shifting in his sleep before settling back down. He grimaced before looking back up at Eddie, his eyes wide and his cheeks flushed. “You what?” he whispered this time.
Eddie leaned in closer now, close enough that it felt like this was only for them. As if he hadn’t just had a coming to Jesus moment with Bobby not two hours ago that brought things into sharp perspective.
“I’m in love with you, Evan Buckley,” he whispered, eyes flicking between Buck’s eyes, to his flushed cheeks, to his slightly parted mouth, and back up to his eyes.
“Oh my god, okay, so I heard that right.” Buck looked like he still couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Eddie laughed softly. Now that he had said it, he just felt relief settle all the way to his toes. “Don’t laugh at me you jerk,” Buck stage whispered. “You can’t just spring that on a guy.”
“Why not?” Eddie asked. “It’s true. I think I have been for a long time and I finally realized just how much.”
“You...aren’t joking right?” Buck asked. “You wouldn’t do that.”
“You know I wouldn’t Buck. I wouldn’t joke about this. I’m serious.” Eddie couldn’t stop the smile on his face if he tried. “I’m in love with you,” he said again. “I’ll say it as many times as it takes to make you believe it.”
“God you are going to be the death of me,” Buck groaned, plopping face first into the pillow. Eddie just laughed, reaching over to brush his fingers through Buck’s hair. He was pleasantly surprised to find it felt as soft as it looked.
“You know,” he said, after the silence had stretched and Buck had shifted to a more comfortable position, “you haven’t responded yet.”
Buck looked up from where he had shoved his head into the pillow, finally shaking Eddie’s hand out of his hair. “To what?”
Eddie smiled and leaned in further, now just a breath away and hovering over Christopher. “To me being in love with you,” he smirked.
Eddie laughed freely as Buck shoved his face back into the pillow, the blush from before, that had calmed while he was playing with his hair, back in full force and now forming up over his ears. He threw his own head back on his pillow, biting on his hand as his shoulders shook from laughter, trying to not wake Christopher.
“I’m sorry Buck, I don’t mean to laugh.” He pulled his hands away from his face and turned again to look back at Buck. “You’re just so cute. And I just feel so happy to have said it.”
Buck mumbled something into his pillow that Eddie wasn’t able to hear, still blushing over the tips of his ears.
“What did you say?”
Buck groaned quietly before pushing himself up leaning over Christopher to balance one of his hands on Eddie’s chest. He got close enough to brush his nose against the side of Eddie’s before he said, “Of course I love you, idiot.”
Now it was Eddie’s turn to blush as Buck finally leaned in the rest of the way and pressed his lips against Eddie’s. Eddie sighed into the kiss, bringing one of his free hands back up to card his fingers through Buck’s hair again.
There weren't any fireworks like people talk about when you kiss the love of your life. It just felt like a key finally slotting into place. Like every atom in his body settled down with relieved sigh and said finally. We’re home.
They kissed once, twice, three more times before Buck pulled back, giving Eddie a chaste kiss on the cheek. He settled back against his pillow and Eddie couldn’t do anything in that moment but stare at him.
Buck laughed at the dazed look on his face, holding a hand out, palm up, above Christopher’s head in invitation. Eddie would have been an idiot to not reach out and meet him halfway, squeezing their hands together as their fingers interlocked.
“I’ve been in love with you for ages, Eddie,” Buck said. “I just never thought...I never thought you would feel the same way.”
“God,” Eddie groaned. “You mean we could have been doing this a long time ago?”
“Well,” Buck laughed. “I think we were both pretty blind to our feelings for a while there.”
Eddie grinned across the top of Chirstopher’s head. “You can say that again. The entire team apparently has a betting pool going according to Bobby.”
“According to-” A yawn interrupted Buck mid-question and when he looked at Eddie again, his eyes drooped, fighting sleep. “Okay, I love you so much, and we definitely need to talk about this, but I am so tired. Didn’t get much sleep last night either.”
“Go to sleep Buck. We’ve got all the time in the world. I’m not going anywhere.” Eddie pushed himself up long enough to kiss him softly on the forehead, Buck humming happily. “I’ll even make breakfast so you can sleep in. You deserve to rest.”
“No way in hell,” Buck muttered. “I don’t want burnt pancakes.”
“Good night, “ Eddie insisted through a laugh. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Buck whispered, squeezing his hand one last time before his eyes drifted shut.
Eddie Diaz realized he was in love with Evan Buckley at 6:45pm on Thursday, August 12th. At 8:32pm, he fell asleep early, lulled by the sounds of his son’s breathing and Buck’s quiet snores. At 7:13am the next morning, he woke to his son flopping on his stomach as Buck stood above them with a tray of un-burnt pancakes in his hand, smiling before leaning down to kiss Eddie on the forehead, a whispered promise of what was to come.