Chapter Text
It’s Eddie’s day off, and he’s got a plan: he’s taking Buck out of his house.
It’s been two weeks since he’s been on blood thinners (and two weeks since he’s been told he can’t go back to work yet) and that only prospect has thrown him back to a place where Eddie hates seeing him.
He gets it, or thinks he gets it, cause Buck has been quite silent about it (as usual) and Eddie can only work on assumptions and Buck’s body language. Which turns out to be a problem, because he’s barely seeing Buck. He texts him, but the only replies he’d get are “i’m fine :)” or “i’m meeting maddie” or “i’m tired sorry”. And he calls him, just because Eddie wants to hear his voice and tell if he’s fine or not, but he’s barely had time to say a thing when Buck is hanging up.
Eddie wonders if he should give him some space, if he should wait until he’s gathered enough energy to leave his bed and get dressed and step back into the world. That’s it until he needs to wonder no more.
He’s making dinner (or trying, at least), when he hears Christopher’s voice coming from his room. At first he thinks he’s talking to him, but when he gets closer he finds out he’s talking to someone. Not just someone. Buck. On speaker.
“There’s no way you’ve watched more Disney films than me. I’ve watched them all!” Chrispher shouts at the phone .
“Excuse you, but last time I checked I had an advantage of twenty years over you. Those are a lot. And ,” Buck stresses, “I’m watching now all the ones I had missed.”
“That’s not fair! You’ve got all the time in the world to binge films now. Watch something else!”
“You wish! You’ll never catch up to me, little man.”
Chris’ all answer is a very indignant, very long “ Buuuuuuuck” , and Buck’s suddenly laughing (laughing!) out loud uncontrollably. Eddie can’t hide a soft smile and warmth spreads all over his chest. He’s not ready to hear Christopher’s next words, though, and Buck probably neither.
“I miss you Buck,” he mutters, and Buck and Eddie gasp at the same time.
“Buddy…” Buck whispers, and Eddie can clearly hear how his voice shatters. “I-I miss you too, Christopher.”
“Then why haven’t you visited me?” he asks in another whisper, and Eddie chooses to come into the room before both Buck and him get their hearts broken. He knocks at the door as if he’s just arrived and pops his head into the room.
“Dinner’s ready!” And he tries to sound cheerful, but he thinks it sounds more strangled than anything else. Christopher is laying on the bed with Eddie’s phone on his pillow. “You’re talking to someone?”
Christopher looks at the phone and nods. “Buck.”
“Hey Eddie!” Buck says too cheerfully. “What are you poisoning Chris tonight with?”
“Very funny,” Eddie rolls his eyes, and before he doubts himself, he asks: “Hey man, what about spending my next day off together with Chris?”
Christopher’s eyes shine in excitement and Eddie messes up his hair with a smile. But Buck is silent, too silent for a while.
“I…” he starts, voice small and fragile. “I think maybe another day?”
“Yeah, sure man, no worries.”
And Buck hangs up.
And Eddie doesn’t like that he can perfectly picture Buck’s miserable face.
Doesn’t like that Chris’ eyes are not shining anymore.
Doesn’t like that he also misses Buck more than he's willing to admit.
So he comes to a conclusion: if Buck won’t come to the Diaz house, the Diaz house will come to Buck. Buck doesn’t need more time alone, he needs to be reminded he’s still Buck.
It’s ten in the morning of a Saturday when both Diaz boys knock on Buck’s door. When five minutes go by and Buck still hasn’t answered, Eddie grabs the set of keys Buck gave him for emergencies. Is this not one?
“Morning sleeping beauty!” Eddie shouts as soon as he steps into the apartment.
“Eddie?” Buck mumbles from the bed. “What are you…?
“We’re going on an adventure!” Chris exclaims from the foot of the stairs.
“And we won’t take no for an answer.”
Buck groans, but that doesn’t discourage Eddie and Chris from their mission.
“Buckley!” Eddie says once he reaches Buck’s bed upstairs. He can’t help but smile at the sight of a very sleepy man in his pajamas. He must confess that morning Buck is one of his favourite Bucks. “I wouldn’t make Chris wait too long, you know how impatient he can get.”
And he smiles, and winks, and takes his sheets off him. Buck looks at him with something he can’t fully grasp but desperately wishes to. There’s a vulnerability to his eyes that he can’t quite understand.
“Do I have to?” Buck moans.
“Yes!” comes Christopher’s voice from downstairs. “We’re kidnapping you and you can’t put up any resistance.”
“Chris!” Eddie’s expression is half surprised, half amused, mouth hanging open and eyes wide. Buck, on the other hand, is fully amused and before Eddie realizes, he’s up with his hands behind his head.
“Fine, buddy,” he smiles. “Where are you taking me to?”
“We’re going to the swimming pool, Buck!”
“Okay, but you gotta teach me some swimming tricks, I heard you learnt new ones.”
And Eddie looks at Chris with wonder. He knew that his kid could do magic, but now that he’s restoring the faith of a person who had stopped believing in it, he thinks that Christopher might be the greatest magician that ever existed.