Work Text:
There’s nothing special about that Tuesday. Eddie comes home from work, to find Carla and Christopher doing homework on the kitchen table. He cleans himself up, changes into comfortable clothes and kisses Christopher hello. He says goodbye to Carla and sits with Christopher himself. Chris leans against him as he colours, showing off the badge he won for reading that afternoon, pulling faces at his math work that he has to complete. He asks Eddie if he can help with Abuela’s fence at the weekend. The sound of the door opening makes both of them look up and a big smile comes over Christopher’s face. It only gets bigger when the door shuts and Buck appears in the kitchen doorway, bags in his hands, rucksack on his back, a smile to match Christopher’s on his face.
“Hi,” he says and Christopher scrambles from the table and makes his way carefully over to Buck who pulls him into his arms for a hug when he’s close enough.
Christopher drags Buck to the table, sitting down next to him as he explains his day again and Eddie can’t stop the grin on his face when he ruffles Christopher’s hair as he moves to unpack the bags of groceries Buck has bought. He recognises the ingredients as the key ones for the pasta both he and Christopher adore and he notices Buck’s eyes are soft on him as he sets them out carefully.
Eddie never wants Buck to leave, he knows that, but he also feels awful that Buck buys and cooks them food so often. But when he turns, Buck is leaning into Christopher, helping him with his homework, smiling and laughing and light and Eddie realises that he’s happy here, that he’s chosen to be here with them and that makes his heart sing with happiness.
And it’s there, standing in his kitchen, his hands full of cheese and pasta and broccoli, looking as Buck and Christopher discuss dinosaurs, that it becomes a non normal Tuesday.
Because Eddie realises there and then that he is unequivocally in love with his best friend.
Buck’s blissfully unaware of his epiphany, even if Eddie is sure it must be written all over his face. He doesn’t know when it happened, when he fell in love with Buck, when he became such a central piece of their lives. All he knows is how he feels.
He’s operating on autopilot as he unpacks the rest of the ingredients, plus the few sneaky treats Buck slipped in. He can hear Christopher, so happy behind him, he can sense Buck, like he’s hyper aware of where he is and what he’s doing. Eddie blinks, tries to shake the daze out of his head, feeling like it’s stuffed full of cotton wool.
When he turns, Buck is giving him an almost confused, soft gaze, his head tilted to the side. Christopher hasn’t noticed anything different and he’s still talking nineteen to the dozen. “Come on, Mijo,” Eddie says, stepping over to him and kissing his forehead. “Time for you to wash up if you’re helping Buck cook.”
Christopher cheers and goes off to wash his hands and Eddie sits down in his chair next to Buck, who is still regarding him carefully.
“You alright, Eds?” he asks and Eddie pauses, his mouth open as he contemplates what he should do. Does he risk losing Buck by telling him? Or does he tell him because he’s sure there must be something there?
“I’m fine,”he says, and it’s the truth even if Buck looks suspiciously at him, because he is fine, he’s happy and he’s content, he’s just also unsure. And he can’t hold it in. “I love you,” he says.
Buck blinks, his eyes scrunched up adorably. “I love you too,” he says.
“No,” Eddie tries again, “I mean, I’m in love with you. I love you.”
Buck smiles then, reaches over and takes Eddie’s hands like he has done many times before. “I know,” he says gently. “I’m in love with you too, and I know you love me, even if you didn’t realise it.”
“What?”
Buck runs his fingers over Eddie’s knuckles. “You make me happy, you welcome me into your home and your family, you make me laugh, we spend time together, I can’t imagine my life without you. Eds, we’ve been in a relationship of some sort for years, even if it means we never kiss or do anything more, it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
It’s like another light had been switched on in Eddie’s mind, all the times he just thought they were being best friends realigning in his mind. He swallows as he raises his eyes to Buck’s, now seeing the look in his eyes and recognising it for what it is. “And what if I want more?” he asks, his voice low, “kisses, you in my bed, everything.”
Now Buck swallows, so hard Eddie can track the movement of his throat. “Then, I would say I’d like that too,” he whispers.
Christopher is washing his hands, they have dinner to prepare and Eddie knows this can’t go much further right now, even if he plans on exploring more later on once Christopher is in bed. For now, he leans in towards Buck, smiling as Buck repeats the action. They’re so close he can feel Buck’s breath skirting over his lips, see the way his eyelashes flutter shut into his cheeks.
The first press of lips, their first kiss, the first of many, feels like coming home to Eddie.