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It’s the monthly crew night out and they’re all at a karaoke bar this time. Eddie hates these sorts of things, but there’s always been one person that can make it bearable. And it’s even better now they’re together, even if no one else knows yet. It’s not that they’re embarrassed - more that they want time to savour with just them - and usually it’s OK, because when they’re at work they’re professional. Here though, out in a bar, it’s harder for him to keep his eyes and his hands away from his boyfriend.
It doesn’t help much that Buck looks incredible tonight. He’s wearing black pants, tight and fitted over his calves and thighs and a blue shirt that makes his eyes sparkle. He’s rolled the sleeves up so Eddie can glimpse the tattoo band on his arm that he now knows the taste of and he’s undone the top button of the shirt, to show off his collarbones. Eddie wants nothing more than to just go over there and kiss him, to lick over the golden skin on offer to him, to press his lips against the birthmark that always draws him in.
But it’s more than just physical beauty. Buck is laughing, free and happy, with Maddie and Chim currently, his head tilted back as he grins wide and pure and he radiates so much joy that Eddie would be drawn into him like a moth to a flame even if he wasn’t dating him. He pulls everyone into his orbit and Eddie knows he always has and always will and it makes him love Buck even more than he thought possible.
They’re so mismatched, he thinks, Buck is easy to talk to, drawing people in, making them happy and then there’s him, completely the opposite. And yet, Buck loves him, chose him to be his partner and he knows he’ll always choose him. It’s overwhelming and mind boggling at the same time and Eddie loves it.
He can spend hours just watching Buck, but at the firehouse he can hide it better. He can distract himself with chores, with training, with the gym, with calls where he has to focus 100%. But here there’s nothing else to grab his attention except Buck and so he stares and he can’t stop, even if it must be obvious that he’s staring.
He only blinks and looks away from Buck when he feels someone slide into the booth next to him and looking over he sees Ravi and Hen. Hen has that all too knowing look on her face again, but Ravi looks so bemused as he gazes at first Eddie and then where he’s looking. “Hi?” Eddie half asks, puzzled as to what’s actually going on.
Hen hides her chuckle when Ravi blinks at him, like he’s unsure about what to say or do and then blurts out in one rush, “she’s dating Chim?”
“What?”
“Maddie?”
Eddie feels his mouth tick into a smile as he gazes back over to where the trio are sitting, Buck now trying to feed Chim a chicken wing and being pushed away for his troubles, all of them laughing.
“I know Maddie is practically married to Chim,” is all he says, his eyes never leaving the form of Buck. the way his stomach swoops as he finally glances over to the table and their eyes meet. Buck’s grin is private and crooked despite being all the way across the bar, biting on his lip as he stares back at Eddie, the fire starting to lick through his veins at the obvious affection seen on his features. “I don’t have a crush on her, if that’s what you’re worrying about. And even if I did, which I don’t, Chim is my friend and I would never do that to him.”
Ravi gives him another look but then shrugs and grabs his drink and forgets the conversation. But if Ravi is easily placated, Hen is another matter and she is still watching him carefully.
“No crush on Maddie, then,” she says, leaning in close like she’s sharing a secret with him.
“Nope, no, not at all.”
“Anyone else then? Because I’m pretty sure our Buck has a crush on you if the way he’s been watching you all night is any indication…”
Somehow Eddie manages to get away from Hen and her comments, and even though she teases him she never actually embarrasses him by calling him out in front of the entire crew. But he needs a break from the relentlessness and so he hides in the corridor to the restrooms for a few minutes, just to get away from them. It’s there that Buck finds him, acting like it’s just coincidence but Eddie can tell it’s not from the way he takes Eddie’s wrist carefully and pulls him into an alcove where they can’t be seen.
“Are you OK?”
“I am now,” Eddie admits, looping his arms around Buck’s neck and feeling his heart rate settle into something more regular.
“Have they been giving you grief? Want me to ask them to stop or take the heat off you a bit?”
Eddie tilts his head so he can look into Buck’s luminous eyes, the way he’s biting at his lower lip as he looks so concerned at Eddie. God, he’s so in love with him it’s ridiculous.
“They’ve just realised I have a crush on you,” he says, “well, on someone, but it’s definitely you I have a crush on.”
Buck’s eyes sparkle in the dim glow of the bar, his face lights up as he smiles. “Oh,” he says, and he sounds so pleased. “You have a crush on me, do you?”
Eddie lets his eyes linger over his body, back up to his face and then presses a kiss to his birthmark, then to his forehead, his nose, his ear, his jaw and then, only then, finally a soft kiss to his mouth. “Maybe just a little one,” he says, trying to sound like he’s not wanting to laugh.
“Well, maybe I have a little crush on you too,” Buck says and he presses closer and this time the kiss isn’t as chaste as before.
Eddie’s not sure how much longer they’re going to be able to hide this, when they return to the table, giddy, lips still tingling from Buck’s kisses. Because he knows it’s so much more than just a crush. This is forever.