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“You’re sure this isn’t a problem?” Buck smirked as Eddie spoke. It was his day off, but Eddie had called him at six in the morning because Carla had a family emergency, which meant Eddie needed someone to look after Christopher for the day. “I know it’s your day off but…”
“But nothing,” Buck said, moving closer to Eddie. “You know I would do anything for you and Christopher. That includes hanging out with him while you’re at work.” Eddie just sighed, letting his arms wind around Buck’s waist.
“You’re amazing, you know that right?” Buck smiled, pressing a gentle kiss to his boyfriend’s lips.
“Just helping out my two favorite people,” Buck said, kissing Eddie again before stepping away. “Now, get out of here. You know traffic from my apartment can sometimes be unbearable.”
“We wouldn’t have to worry about traffic if you weren’t so far away,” Eddie pointed out and Buck chuckled.
“Sounds like you’re starting a conversation you can’t finish right now, Eds.” Eddie just smirked before heading over to the couch where Christopher was sitting.
“Be good for Buck, alright?”
“I’m always good for Buck,” Christopher said with a grin. Eddie just chuckled before hugging his son.
“I’ll text you when I’m done with my shift,” Eddie said as he walked back over to Buck. “Maybe you guys could meet me at the house?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Buck said with a nod. Eddie kissed him once more before heading out of the apartment. Buck watched him go, waiting until the door was closed, before walking over to the couch. “So little man, what do you want to do today?” And as Christopher started suggesting ideas, Buck couldn’t help but smile. After all, he’d always give up his day off to spend extra time with Christopher.
“Thanks for the pretzel, Buck.” Buck smiled as he sat next to Christopher, the boy happily munching on a pretzel the size of his head. They had ended up going to the mall, since there was an arcade there that Christopher really liked. They had been walking around for a while, when Buck noticed the slight stutter in Christopher’s steps. The boy would never bring attention to needing a break, wanting to be as capable and independent as possible, but Buck knew they needed to stop, at least for a little. So, since they had been close to the food court, Buck had suggested a snack, which Christopher had been all for.
“Anything for you Superman,” Buck said, reaching over to ruffle the boy’s hair. Christopher beamed at that, earning a bigger from Buck.
“Dad says you spoil me,” Christopher said pointedly and Buck chuckled. He wasn’t surprised by the statement. Eddie essentially told him that all the time. And Buck had the same response every time; Christopher was worth it all.
“Well, your dad’s probably right,” Buck said and Christopher giggled at that. “But it’s only because you’re my favorite Diaz.” The boy set the pretzel down, Buck watching him and wondering what he was doing.
“Buck? Do you like dating my dad?” Buck tilted his head, smiling softly.
“I love dating your dad,” Buck said. “I love him and I love you. But you know that. So, any reason for this particular question?”
“Well, if you love us,” Christopher started, a small smile on his face. “You should live with us. After all, you’re always at our house anyways.” Buck chuckled as Christopher watched him.
“Like father, like son,” Buck said, before ruffling the boy’s hair again. “That is certainly a conversation your dad and I can have. But if you’re okay with that, you should tell your dad what you told me.”
“I did,” Christopher said. “This morning in the car.” Buck nodded, understanding why the location of his apartment had been on Eddie’s mind that morning. “I just think it would be really cool if you lived with us.”
“If I did, you know you wouldn’t get pancakes for breakfast everyday,” Buck pointed out, breaking off a piece of Christopher’s pretzel.
“I know,” Christopher said. “I just want you to live with us, so we can be a family.” Buck smiled softly, setting the food in his hand down.
“You’re the best, you know that?” Christopher just beamed up at him. “I love you, kid.”
“I love you too,” Christopher said, leaning towards Buck to hug him. Buck hugged the boy tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. When he pulled away, he couldn’t help but smile. Being in both Eddie and Christopher’s life was important to Buck. And no matter what happened, he planned to always play some part because they were just that important to him.
“Alright,” Buck said, sweeping up the parts of the pretzel they hadn’t eaten and depositing them on the tray in front of him. “What do you want to do next?” He got up, dumping the contents of the tray in the nearby trash, before turning to Christopher.
“Can we see a movie?” Christopher asked. Buck dug his phone out, ready to pull up movie times. He saw his phone battery was low and pursed his lips. Christopher tilted his head as Buck tucked his phone away.
“Let’s just head over to the theater and see what we can catch,” Buck said. Christopher nodded, securing his crutches on his arms before getting up. As they headed out of the food court, Buck made a mental note to charge his phone.
After all, he didn’t want his phone to die while he and Christopher were still out.
Eddie sighed as the firetruck headed towards the scene. Bobby had informed him that it was a bad accident, a car crash just off the freeway, which was chaotic enough, but then apparently one of the cars had spontaneously combusted, leading to an even bigger issue. Eddie pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. It was close to the end of the shift and all Eddie wanted to do was go home and cuddle on the couch with his boys.
“You alright?” He stuffed his phone back in his pocket as Chimney spoke up. While not being on the same shift as Buck sucked, he was glad that he at least had Bobby and Chimney there (because Eddie had been stuck on the B-shift before and it always made him miss the people he usually worked with).
“Just ready to go home,” Eddie said with a sigh.
“Oh I feel that,” Chimney said with a nod. “Maddie texted me a picture of her and the baby and all I want is to see them both in person.”
“Heard that,” Eddie said with a soft smile.
“What’s Buck up to today?” Chimney asked, a slight smirk on his face. Though he and Buck had been dating for months now, Chimney still loved ribbing the two. He was sure Chimney would eventually find something or someone else to tease, but for now, he was dead-set on shooting Eddie or Buck a shit-eating grin anytime he mentioned their relationship.
“He’s hanging out with Christopher,” Eddie said as the truck pulled up to the scene. From the window, Eddie could see the smoke from one of the cars. Which car, he wasn’t sure, since the thick smoke was covering any discernible features of the car. They all quickly got out, Eddie turning to Bobby for instructions.
“Extinguishers now,” Bobby said. Eddie nodded as he and Chimney grabbed the fire extinguishers and quickly went to work putting the car out. Once the fire had been extinguished and the smoke started to clear, Eddie felt his heart drop.
Because the car that was on fire looked exactly like Buck’s.
He looked around wildly, trying to see if Buck was there. But when he didn’t spot his boyfriend or his son, he forced himself to take a breath. Owning a Jeep in California wasn’t uncommon. In fact, he was sure thousands of people had the same car as Buck. So, he took another breath, trying to calm down.
“Over here! Help please!” Chimney was already running over, the fire extinguisher switched out for his medical gear. Eddie tried to focus on work, jogging over to see if Chimney needed help. “He came tumbling out of the car as soon as it went up in flames. We tried to help but…” As Eddie reached them, he saw a body lying on the ground. And his heart sank even further.
The male on the ground was tall and broad shouldered. His arms were covered, so Eddie couldn’t see any tattoos. But as his eyes travelled up the victim, he noticed something on his face.
On the small part of the man’s face that wasn’t covered in horrifying burns was a simple red mark. Eddie bit down on his lip, turning away. It couldn’t be Buck. Buck was supposed to be hanging out with Christopher. His boyfriend was supposed to be having a relaxing day off, not getting into a horrible accident. He desperately patted at his pockets, searching for his phone.
“Eddie.” He felt Bobby tugging him towards the truck and it was then that he realized the reason he couldn’t find his phone was because his hands were furled into tight fists.
“The...the car,” Eddie said, his voice shaking slightly. “The mark on his face…”
“We don’t know anything for sure.” Bobby said.
“I…” Eddie finally located his phone, feeling a tightness in his chest. “I need to call him.” Bobby just nodded, letting go of Eddie’s arm. Eddie quickly dialed Buck’s number, the tightness in his chest only growing as he waited for Buck to pick up.
But the call went straight to voicemail.
“Eddie.” His hand was raised in the air, like he was going to throw his phone, but Bobby’s calm voice stopped him before he could act on it.
“The car, the mark on his face,” Eddie said, gripping his phone and trying to calm the panic and anger swelling in him. “He...he didn’t answer.”
“Eddie.”
“He has Christopher.”
“And I’m sure they’re both okay.” Eddie just shook his head, unable to believe that. “We don’t know that the person over there is Buck and we won't know until someone gets him to the hospital. So, right now, I need you to try and stay calm, okay? And I need you to wait in the truck.”
“Bobby.”
“That’s an order.” Eddie forced himself to nod, knowing he probably wasn’t in the best state to work. He climbed into the truck, squeezing his eyes shut. He was begging the universe, begging whatever higher power was out there that the body burned beyond recognition was not his boyfriend’s.
He was praying that Buck was okay, even when reality was making him doubt that possibility.
The truck was silent as they pulled into the station. Eddie could feel both Bobby and Chimney watching him. Clearly, they shared some of his worries, since they were going back and forth between glancing at him and texting on their phones (probably Athena and Maddie, not that Eddie was going to ask), but they hadn’t voiced those worries like Eddie had.
When the truck finally stopped, Eddie found himself unable to move. All he could see was that body on the ground. All he could see was Buck, ripped from his fingers when he was supposed to be safe and enjoying his day off with Christopher.
“Eddie.” The door to the truck opened and Eddie turned to face Bobby. Bobby’s face was neutral but there was a momentary look of relief on his face. “You’ve got visitors.” When he saw the smile cross Bobby’s face, Eddie nearly tumbled out of the truck. He looked around wildly, trying to find them.
“Dad!” He let out a choked sob as he spotted Christopher and Buck standing by the side entrance to the firehouse. Buck was smiling, but when he saw the look on Eddie’s face, his expression changed. Eddie rushed over to them, pulling them both into a hug.
“Eddie?” Buck’s voice was soft as he wrapped his arms around Eddie. Eddie just tucked his face into his boyfriend’s shoulder, breathing in the all too familiar scent of Buck’s ocean breeze body wash and musky cologne.
“You’re okay,” Eddie whispered, tightening his hold on them. He felt Buck suck in a breath before hugging Eddie back just as tightly. Eddie was sure he would have to explain what he meant, but for now, he was just grateful to have his boys in his arms.
“So, are we going to talk about what happened at the station?” Buck and Eddie were on the couch, a movie playing on the screen. What it was about, Eddie wasn’t sure. He had tuned most things out except the sounds of Buck and Christopher, too relieved that they were okay to focus on anything else.
He hadn’t explained why he had rushed over to them, too embarrassed that he had assumed the worst at the scene. And luckily, Christopher had been far more interested in recounting the day and making suggestions for dinner and the movie they could all watch together. But now Christopher was fast asleep, having been tucked into bed not too long ago.
“It’s going to sound stupid,” Eddie said with a sigh, knowing he couldn’t avoid this conversation anymore. But Buck, ever the supportive person he was, just reached his hand out, interlacing his fingers with Eddie’s. “We had this call, an accident off the freeway. Two cars had crashed into each other and one burst into flames. When we got there and put the car out...it was a silver Jeep. And at first I thought I was being stupid, I mean a lot of people have a Jeep in California. But then the victim...god, I thought it was you Buck.”
As Buck tugged him closer, Eddie squeezed his eyes shut. Even though he had been wrong and Buck was fine, the thought of losing Buck and losing him in such a horrific manner was still haunting Eddie.
“I’m right here,” Buck whispered. “I’m okay.”
“I called you,” Eddie said, letting his eyes open to look at Buck. “It went right to voicemail.”
“My phone ran out of battery,” Buck said, his thumb gently running across Eddie’s cheek. “And by the time I was able to plug it in, I already had a missed call from you. I figured the shift ran over, so that’s why we swung by the station. But I’m sorry that you were so worried.”
“I’m just really glad you’re okay,” Eddie said as he let his hand come to rest on the nape of Buck’s neck. “Because I don’t...I don’t want to imagine a world without you. I want you around all the time Buck. I…” His voice trailed off, remembering the conversation he had had in the car with Christopher that morning. He smiled a little, letting his forehead rest against Buck’s. “I think you should move in.”
“Eddie,” Buck started, pulling away to get a better look at him. But Eddie just shook his head, continuing on.
“Buck, I know bad things happen,” Eddie started, taking Buck’s hands. “I know the world is unpredictable and our job is unpredictable but I want you around. I want you in as much of my life and Christopher’s life as possible. I want to come home to you when we’re not on the same shift. I want to wake up to you softly snoring.”
“I don’t snore,” Buck interjected and Eddie just smiled, pressing a soft kiss to Buck’s lips.
“Buck, I love you,” Eddie said, running his thumbs along Buck’s knuckles. “I love you and I want us to live together. I want us to be a family. All three of us.” Buck just smiled softly.
“You know, Chris said the same thing to me earlier,” Buck said.
“Yeah he brought it up in the car this morning,” Eddie said and Buck nodded. “So, this isn’t just because I was worried about you today. This is because we both want you here. With us. All the time.” Buck just smiled, something that always went straight to Eddie’s heart. “So, what do you say? Wanna live with us?”
“I’d love to live with you guys,” Buck said, leaning towards Eddie. Eddie just grinned, letting his hands come to cradle Buck’s face. “I love you guys so much and it honestly sounds like a dream come true.” Eddie chuckled as he kissed his boyfriend.
“You say that now,” Eddie said, pulling away and leaning back on the couch. “But wait until you have to deal with the mornings where Chris is grumpy or is trying to convince you to let him have an extra scoop of ice cream. Wait until you have to put your foot down with him."
“I can do that,” Buck said, moving so he was curled up next to Eddie. Eddie just gave Buck a look and the blonde pouted. “I can.”
“Whatever you say,” Eddie said, running his hand up and down Buck’s arm. Buck just fondly rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to the TV. Eddie just leaned over and pressed a kiss to the side of Buck’s head, earning a smile from the blonde. “I am really excited for you to move in.”
“Same,” Buck said, shifting closer to Eddie. And as the living room fell to a comfortable silence, Eddie couldn’t help but finally feel relieved. It had been a long and exhausting day, but everything had been okay in the end. In fact, curled up on the couch with Buck, Eddie knew things were more than okay. They were more than okay. They were all safe and happy and planning for their future.
And what could be better than that?