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Chimney couldn’t tell when things changed. When it stopped feeling like they were hanging out with friends from work, with his brother-in-law and his best friend who was also their friend, and it started feeling like double dates. Surely, Maddie picked up on the change before he did. One thing was for sure though, the irony wasn’t lost on either of them.
They still remembered early on in their relationship, when they were still just friends, how Buck doubted that. When he looked at them having habits, doing small gestures for each other like preparing the sauce the take out restaurant kept forgetting to include with their meal, and finishing each other’s sentences. Buck saw something in that, he saw that their friendship was evolving into more before it did. Now the tables had turned.
Did Buck really think they wouldn’t notice the way he was with Eddie? Or most importantly, the way they always seemed to end up touching each other? Usually it was in subtle ways like their knees connecting when they sat next to each other. Something that could easily be blamed on Buck’s ridiculously long legs, the guy could not fit into a seat properly. But lately, their hands kept finding each other.
It was a linger of their fingers as one passed a plate of food to the other, a reassuring squeeze in times of worry, a calming touch when they got angry or too excited. And every time Chimney saw it, instinctively, he shared a look with Maddie and their own hands joined. They’d found happiness with each other and they wanted nothing more than for their friends to do the same.
“Is the 118 still a firehouse or has it become a matchmaking service?” Karen commented as they all sat for dinner one night, watching Bobby and Athena whisper things to each other, Chimney and Maddie sneak kisses between conversation, and Eddie and Buck casually holding hands ‘because Eddie’s gets cold’. “I mean, sure there’s some amazing people there,” she put her arm around Hen and pulled her closer, “but this is getting downright ridiculous.”
“What do you mean? Buck and I aren’t dating.”
“The fact you knew precisely that she was alluding to you two makes it hard to believe,” Chimney said.
“Why aren’t you dating? You’d be great together, you practically are already. Everyone thinks you are,” Maddie said.
“Eddie’s straight,” Buck answered matter-of-factly.
“No, he’s not,” Hen, Karen, Bobby, Athena, Chimney and Maddie all exclaimed at once, taking both Buck and Eddie aback.
“Wait, is that the only reason?” Eddie said.
“Well, yeah, but that’s a pretty big one,” Buck seemed confused, “do we need another one?”
“I’m not straight, Buck!” Eddie had never sounded more exasperated, which was saying a lot.
Everyone laughed while Buck stared blankly back at his best friend, unsure where to go from there.
“Are you going to kiss him or something?” Maddie said, shaking her head at her brother’s slowness.
Chimney gave an encouraging tap to Buck’s shoulder, and sensed how nervous he was. They thought he loved being the center of attention, but now that he thought of it, maybe his love life was a different thing. This was an important moment, and possibly Buck would prefer keeping it more private. To everyone’s surprise, Eddie decided to make the first move, closing the distance between him and Buck, taking his head in his hands and locking their lips together.
“About time,” Chimney and Karen said together, while others cheered.
Buck hid his face in Eddie’s, who wrapped his arms tighter around him as though trying to keep him safe from all the interest put on them in that moment. Chimney could understand how after a few failed relationships, it was hard to put yourself back out there, to not only trust your heart to someone else but do it in such a public way, where everyone would know if things didn’t work out, once again. But Chimney was certain of two things: that he and Maddie were meant to last, and that Eddie was it for Buck. The four of them would grow old together, and sit on the porch telling embarrassing stories about their children to whoever would listen.
The dinner moved to other subjects after that, but Buck and Eddie’s hands remained interlocked until time came to go home.