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“Are you sure you don’t want me to help?”
“No. I’ve got it.”
Buck eyes Eddie, and the disaster he’s making in his kitchen, with no small amount of suspicion. It’s not that he doesn’t trust the man, because he does. Every day on shift he puts his life in his partner’s hands when they run into burning buildings or scale down a cliff with nothing but a rope keeping him from plummeting to the rocks below. He trusts Eddie with his life and, more recently, with his heart. He just doesn’t trust the man with his stove.
“Maybe you should turn the burner down a little,” he offers, casually stepping closer. Even from here he can see the butter is browning too quickly at the edges of the pan.
Eddie whips a look over at him. “Don’t touch the burner,” he warns, tongs pointed in Buck’s direction. “Bobby said medium heat. It’s on medium.”
Even as he says it though, he’s ducking down to check the dial once again, adjusting it slightly. Appeased, Buck steps back, allowing Eddie to keep working. He can’t just sit back, not when there are ingredients and packages scattered across every flat surface in his kitchen. As soon as he starts though, Eddie pins him with another glare. Right. No helping.
For some strange reason, Eddie wanted to make dinner all by himself. For a whole week now he’s been tucked up to Bobby’s side in the kitchen at every available moment as they study every step of the recipe. And even though the man is less than stellar in the cooking department, Buck had agreed to turn over his beloved kitchen to his partner for the night. And to step back, not helping at all. He’s mentally smacking himself for that one now.
The chicken gets flipped as per the recipe, then Eddie is sliding the pan in the oven with a pleased smile on his face. And okay, Buck is pretty proud of him because the skin looked nice and golden brown. With the sauce starting to come together on the stove, Eddie starts to flit around the kitchen, cleaning up.
Buck hoists himself up on the counter next to the stove, discreetly dipping the end of a spoon into the sauce that, again he’ll admit, he’s pretty proud of Eddie for making. From scratch. He’s not discreet enough though. The spoon is barely out of the pan before his hand is being smacked. Eddie arches an eyebrow at him, but Buck slowly brings the spoon to his lips to taste. And … okay so maybe Eddie isn’t a total disaster in the kitchen because that sauce is pretty good. He grins and gives Eddie a thumbs up to which he receives an exasperated, and full of love, eye roll.
Discarding his spoon into the already full sink, Buck settles back to enjoy the view. Eddie is bustling around the kitchen, a blur of movement, stirring the sauce, rearranging the herbs on the counter, bending down to peek in the oven, wiping down the island again. That’s when it hits him.
Eddie is nervous.
When the man zips by again, Buck reaches out for him, snagging his wrist and pulling him close. He hooks his heels around the backs of Eddie’s thighs, keeping him pinned between Buck’s legs and the countertop when he tries to pull away. He slides his hands up and down Eddie’s arms until those brown eyes finally meet his.
“Are you nervous?” he asks curiously. The blush that steals across Eddie’s cheeks and the way his eyes dart away are all the answer Buck needs. “Oh my god, you are.”
He doesn’t mean to laugh, not really, but the thought of Eddie being nervous over a run of the mill thing like dinner with his sister is absolutely baffling. When Eddie’s shoulders slump in defeat, posture sinking in, Buck quickly dips his head down and presses a kiss to those pouting lips. He cups his hands against Eddie’s jaw and tilts his head back up again.
“Hey, no. I’m sorry, it’s just … it’s just dinner with Maddie.”
Eddie rolls his eyes, but there’s still too much tension in his shoulders.
“Yeah, Buck. It’s dinner. With your sister.”
And Buck feels a bit like an idiot because he still doesn’t get it. “We’ve had dinner with Maddie and Chim dozens of times.”
“As friends.”
The words weigh heavily in the air for a moment as they slowly sink in. Oh, Buck realizes. This is their first dinner with Maddie and Chim … as a couple. His eyes widen in realization before they squint up in disbelief.
“And you think, what, Maddie isn’t going to like you or something?”
When Eddie tries to pull away again, embarrassment flashing across his face, Buck knows he hit the nail on the head.
“Oh Eds,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to his forehead, the slope of his nose, on his downturned lips. “Maddie loves you, I promise.”
“Yeah?” Eddie’s fingers run anxiously up the outside of Buck’s thighs as he meets his eyes once again.
“Oh absolutely, you’re one of her top ten favorite people for sure,” Buck tells him with a wide grin. “Might even make top five, if you don’t mind being tied with Josh.”
Eddie groans, exasperated. He drops his forehead to Buck’s shoulder as the other man chuckles.
Buck slips down off the counter, wrapping his arm around Eddie and presses a soft kiss to the side of his head. When he pulls back, the mirth from before is gone, replaced with something a little more open and honest.
“Seriously, Eddie, you have nothing to worry about. For most of my life, Maddie was the only person to know me better than I know myself. Until you. And this,” Buck squeezes his arms around Eddie for emphasis, “She saw this coming before either of us. So trust me when I tell you, she’s happy for us.”
Eddie nods, leaning up to press a kiss against Buck’s lips, murmuring a soft “thank you”.
“Now please, go change.” Buck pulls back from Eddie, wrinkling his nose in displeasure. “You’re covered in flour and grease and … I don’t wanna know what else. Please go shower.”
“But the chicken-”
Buck presses a finger to Eddie’s lips, cutting off his protest.
“The chicken is resting in the oven, the sauce is simmering on the stove, and Maddie and Chim won’t be here for at least another twenty minutes. I love you, but you stink.” Buck presses a kiss to Eddie’s lips before he nudges him out of the kitchen.
If Buck waits until the shower starts to throw an extra dash of salt and another sprig of rosemary into the sauce and lower the temperature on the burner, well no one needs to know about it.