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There are 168 hours in a week. For Buck, over 50 of those are spent at work.
Before he and Eddie started dating, they already spent another 30 hours minimum together outside of work. Buck was over at Eddie’s nearly as much as he was at his own apartment.
So when their relationship was made official, the only thing that changed was Buck sleeping in Eddie’s bed when he spent the night.
It didn’t take long for both men to realize that they slept much better with their partner. So Buck started staying over more and more often. On the off chance that Buck wasn’t planning on staying the night, Chris would beg for Buck to stay, or they would decide to have a few beers, or they would make plans for the next day. A few weeks into their relationship, Buck had practically, unofficially, moved in.
There are 168 hours in a week. For Buck, most of those are spent with Eddie.
A month or two into their relationship, when Buck ran to his apartment to check the mail, he realized how barren it had become. He poured a glass of orange juice, threw it away when he realized it was expired, and sat down to read his mail. That’s when he realized his lease was almost up.
Some would say that they moved too fast, that most couples don’t start living with each other that early. Honestly, though, they had been building up to this for a while. Their relationship was never conventional.
There are 168 hours in a week. For Buck, nearly all of them are spent with Eddie.
“I don’t know what to do, Hen.” Buck is sitting on a chair backwards, legs draped over the arm rests and his chin resting on the back.
“I don’t work with Karen, and we manage,” Hen offers.
“You don’t get it, though. We’ll be working different shifts. When you go home, Karen is always there. But at least one of us has to be with Chris while he recovers and… that means we’re going to be spending a lot of time apart.”
Chimney walks over from the kitchen to join them. “You should get those bracelets for long-distance couples. The ones where you tap them and your partner feels it.”
Buck fixes Chimney with an incredulous look, and one glance at Hen shows she is wearing the same expression.
“Chim, you’re my best friend. I love you. But do you not remember the Hildy fiasco?” Chimney just looks at Hen.
“Me and Chris pranked him by sending him a Hildy coffee maker. He grounded us from each other for a week.”
Hen snorts. “Bullshit.”
“Yeah,” Buck smiles fondly at the memory, “he made it a day and a half before caving. But still. Eddie doesn’t like technology. He would flip.”
Bobby sets his phone down and looks at the group in front of him. “For what it’s worth, Buck, last time he was in here without you, he seemed just as distressed about this. He might take it well.”
Distressed is an exaggeration… maybe. It’s not like they’re codependent, they’re just… heavily reliant on each other.
“You should at least talk to him about it,” Hen suggests.
Buck knows how that conversation would go, so instead of talking about it, he orders the bracelets. Thankfully, they arrive while Eddie is working.
“What’s that, Buck?” Chris’s voice is soft and weak from the couch, where he’s laying down. Buck walks over to him and sits on the ground by his head.
“They’re a gift for me and Dad, they’re a secret for right now, okay?” When Chris nods in understanding, Buck opens up the box and pulls the bracelets out from their packaging.
“Is the pink one yours?”
Buck laughs. “It’s salmon. And yes, the dark green one is for your dad, and the salmon one is mine.”
Chris glares at him. “That’s pink, Buck.”
“It’s salmon.”
“Pink.”
There are only two people as stubborn as Christopher Diaz: Eddie Diaz and Buck. So he chooses to stop this train before it derails. “Do you wanna see what they do?” Chris nods with tired enthusiasm and Buck works on setting them up while he hands a pamphlet to Chris and explains it. “So when one of us touches this little screen, the other bracelet will light up and vibrate. You can touch it up to ten times in a row, so me and your dad can come up with little codes for each other.”
Chris doesn’t know, but they already have those silent communications. When they’re holding hands, they will tap three times with their thumb. I love you. Or they’ll squeeze and tap with a different finger, twice. I’m scared. Four taps. I’m tired, let’s go. They have other codes, and they do this on other parts of each other’s bodies as well, but the general concept is still the same, so Buck is really excited for that feature.
“We just want to be able to share when we’re thinking of one another. You know, at our job, we can’t always check our phones. This is something that will let us talk to each other when we’re away.”
That night, Eddie comes home late, after Christopher has taken his pain medication and has been tucked into bed.
“Hey,” Buck greets him with a blinding smile and a kiss to his cheek.
“Hey,” Eddie chuckles, a question in his voice.
Buck backs up and grabs Eddie’s hands. “Hey, I got us something.” Before Eddie can say anything, Buck continues. “Please don’t freak out.”
“...Why would I freak out?”
Buck takes a deep breath and steels himself before reaching for the small box off to his side. He pulls out the green bracelet first, and gently secures it to Eddie’s left wrist, before holding the other in his hand.
Buck releases Eddie’s hand and taps his own bracelet.
Eddie jumps. “What the fuck.”
“Look, when one of us touches one of these, the other vibrates.”
Eddie looks at Buck like he’s grown four more heads and they’re all increasingly terrifying.
“I’ve just been thinking… since we’re spending so much time away from each other right now, and will be for the next few weeks,” Buck shrugs and fidgets by securing his bracelet to his own left wrist. “I just wanted to get us something special.” Buck looks up into Eddie’s eyes and sees fondness underneath the blinding fear.
“They… they, vibrate? When the other one is touched, miles away?”
“It connects to your phone, so you have to keep your phone near you.”
“Well, what’s the software on the phone? Is it an app?” Eddie starts pacing back and forth in front of Buck. “What permissions does it have to use? I’m sure it needs to run in the background the whole time, oh god all-”
Buck reaches out and stops Eddie with his hands on his partner’s shoulders, and dips his head to look Eddie in the eye.
“I know, Edds. I know. But… I know we’ve both been missing each other. This is a way for us to communicate. To let each other know when we’re thinking of the other, thinking of us. I know it might be scary for you, babe, but I think this would be really helpful for us. For me, at least.”
Eddie looks down at the bracelet with a rueful expression, like he’s blaming the green band and the two inch screen for the time he and Buck have to spend apart right now.
Buck explains the ten consecutive taps, how they can integrate a communication factor that they already heavily rely on when they’re actually near each other, and that seems to loosen Eddie up a bit. “Please? Can we just try it?” Buck moves to hug Eddie and whispers into his temple, “plus, they were really expensive.”
Eddie chuckles and nods. “Fine.” He lays a soft kiss on Buck’s jawline. “But if our house gets stormed by robots, or we get cancer or something… I’m blaming you.”
Buck laughs and holds Eddie tighter. “I’m okay with that.”