Work Text:
“You don’t have to go, Buck” Taylor’s voice came flooding into his ear. Buck sat on his couch, dressed up in a maroon sweater matched with black jeans. Tears welled up in his eyes as he sniffled. “Abuela is expecting me there, I can’t disappoint her.” He muttered, looking up to see concern in not only Taylor’s eyes, but Albert and Veronica, who smiled at him sympathetically. As much as his date with Veronica was a disaster, she was a great friend.
Christopher coming to his house, when he got into a fight with his dad, had really struck him. The awkwardness and slight irritation he felt when Eddie spoke about Ana made sense. The night after Chris left with Eddie, the epiphany knocked all air out of him. He had stared at the TV with blank eyes as he took his new realization in. It all made sense, why all his dates ended so awkwardly, how he felt nothing beyond respect for his dates. He was in love with Eddie. His best friend. Edmundo Diaz. The man who had come storming into his life with his child. The two people who changed his life, the two people he would do anything and everything for.
The string of his heart pulled with every scatter of breath that left his mouth. Buck had broken down into tears, sobbing loudly into the dark apartment. His body shaking with pain and heartbreak. He saw the love struck face on Eddie’s face when he came back from his date with Ana the other night. In his pain and despair, he hadn’t heard the door knocking, his loud sobs had drowned it out.
Taylor was settling into her car when she had noticed a truck hastily pull into the parking lot and out came a frazzled Eddie Diaz. For a moment she had sat there frozen, she had said some pretty mean things to Buck, did she really hurt him that bad? She bit her lip. Before she could make her mind up to go back inside the building, a less frazzled Eddie came out holding a pouty little boy. She watched as the kid quietly sat inside the truck without sparing Eddie a second glance. Eddie had closed the door and wiped his eyes with his sleeve, then walked to the driver’s side and drove off. Taylor had thought to do the same thing, just turn her car on and drive away, but something was nagging into her mind. So she opened her door and made her way inside the building. Arriving on the fourth floor, she made her way to Buck’s apartment. She froze and her heart broke from the loud sobs that were coming from behind the door.
Taylor had knocked on the door, “Buck! Hey Buck! It’s me, Taylor! Are-” she bit her lip, not knowing what to do. She turned the other way and walked to Veronica’s apartment. The door had immediately opened when she had knocked. Albert looked at her in confusion. “Something is wrong with buck, you need to open the door to the apartment” was all Taylor said as she gave Albert and Veronica a grim look. Albert stared at her widely and dashed to his shared apartment with Buck after grabbing his keys. Taylor and Veronica weren’t that far behind. Veronica looked at her with concern as the sobs got louder once Albert had opened the door up. “Buck!” he exclaimed as he rushed to his roommate.
Buck looked up, his eyes were blurred with tears. He let out a small whimper of “Albert” as the man wrapped him up in his arms. Soon two other pairs of arms had wrapped around them. It had taken a while for them to calm Buck down. Once he calmed down, he noticed the people in his house and smiled embarrassedly at them. “I’m in love with Eddie” was all Buck had to say to make the group understand buck. Taylor had her doubts when she first met them. During the beginning of their date Buck all but talked about Eddie and Christopher, and Albert, he had taken part of the betting pool the 118 had placed on them. That happened 3 months ago.
“Ana is going to be there, Buck” Veronica scowled at him as Albert nodded along with her, “You won’t even let me call Maddie, who we all know can and will speak some sense into you” he huffed. “Maddie just had a baby, she doesn’t need to stress about my problems.” He wiped the tears away from his eyes, “I’m going there for Christopher, I promised him I will always be there.” He slipped his jacket on. The other three just looked at each other. “Just-” A laugh filled the tense room, and the three spoke up together, “Just don’t hurt yourself more, Buck” Taylor finished. Buck smiled at his friends as he left his apartment.
Driving to abuela’s house was hard. He knew Ana was going to be at the house. She was Eddie’s girlfriend . He parked his car, arriving only a few minutes late. He took a deep breath and pulled the smile that he had perfected so well the past years, A smile that Eddie once used to see right through, but since he started dating Ana, it was like everything that made them buck&eddie was a distant memory. Buck pulled his keys out, Isabel had given them to him after the well incident. He was wrapped up in warm arms the moment he opened the door.
A genuine smile slipped onto his face as he hugged Isabel back. “Mi hijo! No te he visto desde el pasado, parece que no has comido, has adelgazado. (my boy! I have not seen you since the barbecue, it seems you have not eaten, you have lost weight.) ” Buck started at abuela in confusion. Yes, he had spent a lot of time in Peru, but Abuela’s Spanish was nothing compared to small talks at the bar. Eddie must have seen his confused face as he chuckled and said “She’s saying she hasn’t seen you since the barbecue and it looks like you’ve lost weight, Buck” Buck let out a laugh as he unwrapped himself out of Isabel’s arms, “Why do you think I’m here abuela?” He smiled mischievously at her, “I really hope you made the Diaz special tamales” He slipped off his shoes and hung his jacket into the closet on his left. He tried to ignore the elephant in the room, and as much as he wished he could have ignored Ana, Eddie pulled him towards where his girlfriend sat. Ana sat in Isabel’s family room in a beige sweater paired with her black dress pants. Her curly hair laid beautifully on her right shoulder as she gave him a small smile. He could tell why Eddie couldn’t stop talking about her. She was beautiful. She was all Eddie wanted, and Eddie was all he ever wanted.
“Buck, this is Ana, Christopher’s teacher last year,” Eddie introduced them. The more Buck started at her, the more his heart ached. This was the woman that got Eddie’s kisses, the person Eddie wooed. He should have just listened to Taylor, Albert, and Veronica. Shaking off his feelings, he gave Ana his best enthusiastic smile and held his hand out to her. “Ana! Hi! I’ve heard so much about you from Eddie and Christopher, it’s so nice to finally put a face to a name” Ana smiled back at him and shook his hand. “Same, Christopher, only ever speaks of you.” An actual smile seeped onto his face as he beamed up at Ana. Christopher meant so much to Buck. If he couldn’t parent Chris in reality, he parented Chris in his imagination, The imagination where he would wake up next to Eddie in the morning, slip out and be attacked with the bundle of joy. The imagination where they would extend their family and add two more children. “He sp-” he was cut off by a loud squeal of “BUCK” with the sound of crutches hitting the floor. Surly enough, Christopher was hugging his waist. Buck laughed as he hugged the boy back tightly, pouring all his love into their embrace. “Okay, enough talking, I’m sure everyone is hungry” Abuela’s voice brought him out of his own little world.
Buck scooped up Christopher in his arms as he made his way into the dining room. Buck made a mistake to glance back to see if Eddie was following them. The strings of his heart pulled violently as Eddie placed a soft kiss on Ana’s lips. Tears welled up in his eyes as he glanced away. His mask of happiness slipped off his face for a millisecond, but it was enough for Isabel to catch it. Buck’s eyes met Abuela’s, and she gave him a watery smile back. Christopher simply wiped the tears in his eyes away. “I don’t understand that boy, we all see what is obviously in front of us, I don’t know why he is so blinded” Isabel huffed as she filled her plate with food. “Daddy is being stupid” Christopher sat down on his chair next to abuela. Buck chuckled as he ruffled the boy’s head. “We don’t speak that way, Chris.” He smiled softly up at Buck, “I love you Bucky”. Buck gave him a watery smile back, whispering the same words back as he placed a tamale and some pasta on Chris’s plate, then filling his plate with the same thing.
Soon enough, Eddie and Ana made their way into the dining hall. Buck kept his head down and quietly ate his food. He was thankful that no one spoke as they ate in the somewhat comfortable silence. “Bucky, can you open it up for me, it’s really hot.” Christopher’s tiny voice broke the quietness. Buck looked up at him and smiled softly. He reached over and opened the corn leaf up. It was still really hit and Buck knew Christopher preferred to eat his tamale with his hands, so he reached for the butter knife, cutting Christopher’s tamale into a tiny biteable size. He placed a soft kiss on Christopher’s forehead and went back to eating. His thoughts had consumed his mind. He paid no attention to the conversation Ana was having with Isabel.
Once dinner was done, and everyone was full, Eddie and Buck cleared the table. Eddie must have seen this was a good time for Ana and Christopher to speak. He pulled Buck into the kitchen with the plates. Buck smiled at Isabel, who was adding the last touches to her dulce de leche cheesecake. “I can’t wait to have a slice of Abuela.” He kissed her cheek and began washing the dishes. “Do you think Ana and Christopher would get along?” Eddie’s voice brought him out of his temporary bliss. For a moment Buck let his frustration cloud his mind as he snapped, “I don’t know.” He saw Eddie’s face fill with confusion. He sighed as he placed his hand on his shoulder, trying to ignore his beating heart, “I’m sorry, Eddie. Therapy with my parents is taking a toll on me, I don’t mean to snap.” He smiled apologetically at Eddie, “Remember, Chris has been through a lot, and it was one thing, her coming over as his teacher as your friend, and there is another thing seeing her as your girlfriend and introducing her to abuela.” Eddie’s brown eyes stared back at him with understanding, “just give him some time.”
His heart broke more when he made his way into the family room. He doesn’t know what Ana had said to Christopher that had made him beam so brightly up at her. Beside him, Eddie let out a breath of relief as his son smiled up at his girlfriend. Buck bit his lips and smiled at Eddie, giving him the “I told you so” glance. Eddie walked in front of him. Abuela’s warm hand rubbed Bucks back, comforting him, knowing how his heart was breaking into tiny pieces. He flashed Abuela a small smile, not bothering to hide the pain in his eyes. He should have really listened to them.
“I think it’s time I leave, I have to be at the school early, comes with being the vice principal, my ride should be here” Ana laughed awkwardly as she stood up. “Thank you so much for having me. Mrs. Diaz, and it was so nice to meet you Buck” She smiled politely at them and Buck smiled back at her. His heart selfishly smiled as she said her goodbye, but it took a second for it to break again as Eddie placed his hand on her waist, It felt wrong even looking at them like that, so he looked away. She kept quiet as she slipped her coat on and wore her shoes. Christopher, Abuela and Buck watched as Eddie escorted Ana out of Isabel’s house.
Buck smiled as Christopher brought out the Jenga box. As the two stacked up the bocks, Abuela stood up to cut the four of them slices of her cheesecake. Eddie came into the house with a blank look, the look that would come on to his face if he was ruminating something. “Daddy, are you okay?” Christopher’s concerned voice brought Eddie out of whatever was boiling up in his mind. “Yeah, bud. I just realised something that I didn’t know before.” He walked over to them and sat down next to Christopher and kissed his son’s forehead gently. Eddie looked up and flashed him a fond smile, Buck couldn’t help but smile back at him. Abuela made her way back into the room with the slices of cake on a tray. Buck watched with a wide smile as Christopher scrambled up, knocking the Jenga blocks over, trying to grab his slice as Eddie held him back by gripping his shirt. Eddie laughed as she shook his head and gave Buck a hidden smile. Buck smiled back at him, confused, tilting his head slightly to the side.
An hour later, Christopher was worn out, and laid across Buck’s lap, “I think it’s time we call it night” Buck spoke softly as he ran his hand through Christopher’s hair, smiling fondly down at the boy. “Abuela,” Eddie spoke up. “Is it okay if Christopher stays at your place? I have something I need to do.” Buck looked at him in confusion. The only thing he could think of was Eddie heading to Ana’s place or Ana being at Eddie’s place. He tried not to tear up as Abuela flashed him a look, letting him know she thought the same thing. “Of course I can Eddio” She kissed Eddie’s cheek, then Bucks’ as she helped Christopher up. They said their goodbyes as Eddie and Buck left the house. Without a word, Eddie wrapped his hand around Buck’s wrist and pulled him towards his truck. Before Buck could say anything, Eddie pulled the passenger side of his door open and pushed buck inside.
Buck sat with surprise and confusion as Eddie sat down in the drivers seat. “Um-” He was cut off by Eddie holding his hand out. They spoke no words as Eddie pulled out of Isabel’s parking lot. “Eddie my je-” He spoke up again, trying to make sense of what was happening. “Do you trust me?” The sudden question made buck blink up at Eddie from the passenger side, “I- y-yeah, of course i do” Buck stuttered out. Eddie smiled “Then trust me.” The man in the passenger seat shook his head and let out a small chuckle, He never really understood Edmundo Diaz’s impulsiveness, and the team called Buck the impulsive one.
Neither one of them said a word as they drove into the darkness. Buck noticed the familiar roads leading up to the Diaz house. It just made Buck more confused, “Eddie, what is going on” He spoke up as Eddie parked his car. The man in question said nothing as he made his way into his house. “Eddie” Buck watched as Eddie nervously stood near the kitchen. His eyes burned to where Buck stood.
“You’re always there!” He finally exclaimed. Buck’s heart clenched as Eddie ran his hand through his hair. “Family dinner, family outings, you know everything about Christopher, from how he likes his egg done to how he likes to eat his tamales with his hand.” Tears welled up in Buck’s eyes “I never meant to-” In a flash Eddie was in front of Buck. “You know my son the way I do, Buck. Hell, you know Christopher better than I do. He ran to your place, he told you what he was feeling when he was sad.” Eddie’s brown eyes started into bucks blue ones. “How did I not notice?” Eddie placed his hand on Bucks cheek, “how did i not notice the person who has everything I need was right in front of me?” Buck started at Eddie with wide eyes and jaw slightly dropped. “Why did it take Ana writing it out to me to realize that I always had what I needed, that Christopher had everything he needed?”
Eddie placed his head on top of Buck as he slightly tiptoed. Buck sent him an amused smile as he wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist and leaned his head down, their nose brushing. “How did I not notice how in love I am with you, Evan” Buck let out a wet chuckle, “Took you long enough to catch on.” Buck smiled as his lips slightly touched Eddie. Butterflies flew around them, pulling them closer to each other, “I love you so much, Edmundo Diaz.” Eddie let out a laugh as he punched Eddie’s shoulder, “I don’t like being called Edmundo.” And with that Eddie pressed his lips onto Bucks’.
And if they got busy and left a trail of their clothing leading up to Eddie’s room, no one has to know!