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“Hey kiddo.” Eddie holds the door open while Chris climbs up into the car. “How was school?”
“It was good.” Chris settles in his seat and waits for his dad to climb in behind the steering wheel. “We all got seeds in science. We planted them to see how they grow. I can’t wait to see what my plants are.”
He goes quiet, and when Eddie glances up at the rear-view mirror he can see Chris's reflection, staring out the window, deep in thought.
“Hey, dad?”
“Yeah buddy?”
“Do you think we could have a garden at home?”
Eddie pulls a face remembering the plant Pepa had given him as a house warming gift when they first moved to LA. She’d called it low-maintenance, insisting that even Eddie couldn’t kill it but by the time he’d finished unpacking the plant had been black and crumbling.
“Dad?”
“I don’t have much of a green thumb,” he admits.
“Oh, yeah.” Chris frowns. “You kill everything.”
“Hey, not everything!”
Chris gives a little sigh and goes back to staring out his window.
“Oh.” He brightens, straightening in his seat. “Maybe Buck can help us.”
“You’ll have to ask him,” Eddie says. Knowing Buck, the answer will be a resounding yes. It seems he’ll take any excuse to come over and hang out with Chris, which works for Eddie because he’ll use any excuse to invite Buck over.
It’s almost embarrassing, to be crushing on someone this hard. Eddie’s an adult, not some lovesick teenager. He shouldn’t be getting butterflies at the thought of seeing Buck.
“Can we ring him when we get home?” Chris asks.
“Buck’s working kiddo, but I’ll send him a text and see if he’s free on the weekend.”
~
Buck is so completely in, because of course he is and Eddie falls just a little bit more in love with him.
Eddie is woken early on Saturday morning by the sounds of movement in the house and the loud beep of the coffee maker. He pads out to the kitchen to find Buck, pulling things from cupboards to make breakfast.
“I gave you a key for emergencies, Buck.”
“Your cooking is an emergency,” Buck calls back to him moving to the fridge and peering inside. “You have eggs, right?” His head disappears behind the door. “Found ‘em.”
Eddie leans against the doorframe and watches Buck move around the kitchen with ease. He doesn’t need to ask where everything is kept having spent enough time in there already.
He stands with his back to the doorway, cracking eggs into a bowl. Eddie wants to go to him, to wrap his arms around his waist and hook his chin over Buck’s shoulder.
He shakes off the mental image and steps into the room.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” Buck turns to look at him, rolling his eyes and fixing Eddie with a fond smile. “I’m making breakfast.”
Eddie has nothing to say to that. He’s certainly not going to try and argue when the alternative to Buck making breakfast is whatever cereal he can find in the cupboard.
He makes a vague ‘go ahead’ motion with his hand and sets about making coffee for them both, sliding one mug along the counter towards Buck before taking a seat at the table.
“Buck!” Chris appears in the doorway, one hand on the wall for balance. “What are you doing here?” He rushes up to Buck, wrapping his arms around the firefighter.
Eddie hides a snort behind his coffee mug at Buck’s over the top pout. “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten.”
“Oh, the garden!” Chris’s face lights up in joy. “You’re still going to help right?”
“Of course I am,” Buck reassures him. “Our garden is going to be amazing. You just need to promise not to let your dad touch it.”
“Because it will die?”
Buck nods sagely. “Because it will die.”
“Hey.” Eddie reaches with his foot to poke Buck in the leg. “What is this? Roast Eddie day?”
“Are you going to deny it?” Buck asks, whipping back around to face Eddie. There’s an easy grin on his face and he’s laughing as he shoos Chris away from the stove top. It makes Eddie feel giddy with affection and he has to look away before he’s caught staring at Buck’s lips.
~
After breakfast Buck takes Chris outside. They stand side-by-side on the barren back lawn to check out what they’re working with.
Eddie watches shamelessly from the kitchen while he washes up. There’s something about the easy way Buck interacts with Chris that makes his heart pound in his chest. With the window open he can hear them both talking as they make their plans.
“What are you thinking, boss?” Buck has his phone out, tapping away as Chris makes suggestions.
“We should have a vegetable garden next to the house,” Chris says, pointing.
“Vegetable garden?” Buck teases. “Since when do you eat your vegetables?”
“I like some vegetables,” Chris argues.
“Yeah, like what?”
“Carrots—”
“That’s one.”
“And tomatoes.”
“Okay.” Buck taps his phone against his leg, brow knit in thought. “Oh, what about strawberries?”
Chris nods. “I like those.”
“It’s a start,” Buck tells him, writing it down. He glances up, meeting Eddie’s gaze through the window. “You want to come to the hardware store with us?”
“What for?” Eddie asks, opening the window fully.
“Well, do you own a shovel?” Buck asks. “And we’ll need a hose or watering can, soil--"
“There’s plenty of dirt out there,” Eddie says, waving his arm vaguely.
Buck laughs. “And that right there is why Chris is in charge of the garden,” he says. He ducks down to whisper something to Chris. Eddie doesn’t hear it but, judging from the smothered giggles, that’s probably for the best.
“Sure, I’ll come,” Eddie tells them, thinking at least if he goes with them, they can’t tease him behind his back.
~
They tease him to his face, loudly and with no remorse.
Eddie doesn’t mind. Their excitement is infectious and he can’t help getting swept up in it.
They leave the store with more tools than Eddie knows what to do with. He wouldn’t even know the names of half the things that end up in their cart, let alone what they’re used for. Still, Chris and Buck seem happy with their purchases and that’s enough for Eddie.
He leaves them to it once they get back to the house. It’s been made very clear that his help is not needed and Eddie has enough to do inside.
The life of a single parent means there are always chores to do around the house, but then Eddie will hear a laugh—Chris or Buck—and his attention will be pulled back out to the yard.
Eddie holds out for another hour before giving up the pretence of being busy inside. The day is warming up, so he stops by the kitchen to grab Chris's water bottle and fills another for Buck before heading out.
“How’s everything going out here?” He hands Chris his water and tosses the other bottle to Buck. “No ones chopped off any important body parts?”
“We’re making good progress, right Chris?” Buck takes a long drink. He caps the water bottle, dropping it in the grass. “Hopefully we’re done before it gets too hot.”
In one quick movement, Buck pulls his shirt up over his head, using it to wipe the sweat from his face before letting it drop to the ground.
Eddie should look away, should look anywhere other than at Buck. But with that one simple action Eddie has lost all capacity for rational thought.
“Uh...” He manages to tear his gaze away, but doesn’t miss the knowing smirk that tugs on Buck’s lips. He files that observation away to overthink about later. “You’re not overworking Buck are you?” He asks Chris, latching onto his son for a distraction.
“No.” Chris digs holes in the fresh dark soil. “Buck dug up the grass but I helped spread out the dirt and he said I could decide where the plants go.”
“Oh, so Buck is overworking you then?”
Chris grins and continues digging.
“I guess I’ll leave you both to it then,” Eddie tells them, but he doesn’t head back inside. It’s a nice day, and even if they don’t want his help Eddie is content to sit on the sideline and watch while Chris carefully decides where to put each plant they bought.
~
They spend most of the day outside, pausing only to eat lunch.
When they’re done, Eddie sends Chris to have a bath and then offers Buck the use of the shower. While the water is running, Eddie looks through his closet for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that will fit Buck, leaving them outside the bathroom.
Once everyone is clean, Eddie orders pizza. It’s not quite dinner time, but he can see Chris probably isn’t going to last much longer.
He’s guesses correctly. Chris crashes out on the couch halfway through the movie he picked to watch while eating. There’s still a slice of pizza on his plate.
“I think you broke him,” Eddie teases. He pokes Chris gently on the arm but his kid doesn’t even stir. “You completely wore him out.”
“More like he wore me out.” Buck blinks sleepily across at Eddie. “This gardening business is hard work.”
“You can crash here if you want,” Eddie offers. “You can drive home in the morning when you’re not so tired.”
“Mm, thanks,” Buck mumbles around a yawn.
Standing, Eddie scoops Chris up into his arms. The boy is all limbs and he realises with a start that soon his kid is going to be too big for this.
“Give me a minute to put Chris to bed, and I’ll grab you a blanket from my room.”
Buck doesn’t say anything. His eyes are closed, his head tipped forward, chin propped on his hand.
Eddie quickly tucks Chris into bed then goes to his room, rifling around for the blanket Buck usually borrows when he stays the night.
Buck hasn’t moved from his spot when Eddie returns to the living room. He lingers in the doorway, his eyes drawn to Buck’s sleep rumpled hair then down to the sliver of skin revealed where his shirt is riding up.
“I can feel you staring.”
Eddie flinches in surprise.
“Sorry,” he mutters, moving over to the couch to hand Buck the blanket.
“’s okay.” A sleepy smile pulls at Buck’s lips. “You do it a lot.”
That stops Eddie in his tracks.
“You, uh, noticed that, did you?”
The smile pulls wider. “I always notice you Eddie.”
Eddie’s mouth goes dry. “You do?”
Buck opens his eyes, his gaze fixing on Eddie’s with an intensity that steals Eddies breath.
“Always.”
Eddie licks his lips, trying to draw some moisture back into his mouth. His heart pounds at the idea of what he’s about to say.
“You know, my bed is much more comfortable than the couch.” He offers Buck his hand to pull him to his feet. “Just sleep,” he adds quickly. “But maybe in the morning we could talk about... more...”
Buck nods slowly, more awake now. “I’d like that,” he says. “More. If that’s what you want?” He accepts Eddie’s hand, rising from the couch.
“I want everything with you.”