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Athena’s strategically placed mistletoe in her house, multiple beautiful bundles hanging everywhere from above the entry stairs to the space above the fireplace. It’s a tradition, in their little homemade family, that if you get stuck under and aren’t comfortable kissing that you have to forfeit something else. Every year, it’s something new. Last year, it was fairly warm and if they got caught under the mistletoe, they had to jump into the pool. The year before that, at the firehouse, if they didn’t kiss the person they found under the mistletoe with them, they had to attempt to juggle with whatever items the team had chosen. Usually, they’d get away with a kiss pressed to the cheek or a kiss to the forehead so rarely was the forfeit taken but Athena still enjoyed watching her family debate in their minds if the inevitable teasing was worth it.
“Good morning ‘Thena!” Buck greets as he comes trapezing down the stairs into the living room with his hands filled with gifts and a bright smile on his face. Athena goes to meet him, pressing a welcoming kiss to his cheek and takes some of the presents that he had been carrying to drop under the Christmas tree.
“Thank you for bringing these Buckaroo. I’m sorry that you had to wrap all of these yourself.” Athena smiles when Buck waves her off, choosing instead to wrap his arms around her in a bear hug and Athena’s momentarily surprised by how small Buck manages to make himself in her arms. It makes her hate the Buckley parents just a little bit more each time. She swallows that down, pulling back to pat Buck’s cheek and shoos him off into the kitchen to help Bobby with cooking the meal for the team.
Tonight was their annual Christmas get together where they’d exchange small gifts and just enjoy themselves on one of the few days in December that most of them had off. Hen and Eddie and Bobby always were careful to attempt to get as much time off around Christmas and the winter break so they can spend time with their families. However, it left them taking a majority of shifts in the beginning of the month and Buck always worked himself over the top as the holidays came nearer. ‘The others have family to spend time with,’ he’d always claim and Athena would just hum understandingly and make sure to bring him coffee or a snack whenever she knew he was on a shift without most of his team. She says it’s just because she was already going and neither of them mention that they know she’s lying.
“Morning Buck, wash up and you can start with the vegetables!” Bobby greets and when Athena peers around the corner a minute later with a smile, she spots them standing side by side at the bartop working in perfect tandem.
***
Somewhere between Buck arriving and the party starting, Athena has cleverly hidden a few more bundles of mistletoe in the room in between opening the door for the guests and turning up the music. As more people come in, the noise gets louder and warmth settles happily into her stomach as she rounds back into the kitchen. Eddie’s leaning against the bar, smiling up at Buck through his lashes as he tries to steal from the fruit platter that Buck was tasked with setting up. He gets a few laughs before Buck slaps at his hand, tossing his head back with a groan when Eddie doesn’t seem phased from the slap and reaches back for another piece.
“Seriously Diaz, are you really sure that Chris is the kid out of the two of you?” Buck ribs, reaching forward to push against his good shoulder and laughs when Eddie stumbles back slightly. Eddie sends him a pout and Athena chuckles as she comes into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Bobby’s waist and pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“Boys. Behave.” She murmurs, leveling them both with a rather maternal look when they both jump to defend themselves and smiles when Buck drops his with a giggle when Eddie goes for the plate again. Athena decides it’s not worth saying anything more and hides her head in Bobby’s shoulder to hide her own laughs.
***
Eddie stays sitting at the bar as Buck cooks, head leaning in his hand as he continues to snatch snacks from the platter that Buck had been putting together. Bobby’s chuckling softly from where he’s stirring a pot on the stove every time that Buck makes an overexaggerated noise of outrage. Bobby and him have been talking quietly every now and then as they dance around each other in the kitchen and Eddie just enjoys being around them, letting his eyes trail Buck as he moves through the kitchen. He’s wearing a maroon button down today and has a santa hat settled firmly on his head courtesy of May who had run into the kitchen about thirty minutes ago. Buck had tried to duck out from her but had failed when Bobby blocked his exit which had caused an uproar of laughter from everyone around them. Eddie flicks the ball when Buck leans over to place the platter down and Buck levels him with a glare but the harshness of it is lost when the corners of his lips pull upwards just a little bit.
“Stop that Eddie.” Buck shakes his head, slapping his hand again when he goes for the platter but in the same moment, a paper plate is set in front of Eddie that’s filled with various fruits and a small bowl of chocolate dip that Eddie hadn’t seen beforehand, “Seriously, you’re just doing it to mess with me aren’t you?”
Buck shakes his head, the top of the hat moving as he does so and he ends up with the ball in the front of his face which has Eddie unable to stop the smile pulling at the sides of his lips, even as he presses them together in an attempt to hide it.
“I’m also hungry.” Eddie agrees, pointing a strawberry at Buck before dipping it in the chocolate with a laugh at the outraged look on Buck’s face, “But yeah, mostly to bother you.” Hen snorts a laugh, coming up from the living room and she snatches an apple slice off of Eddie’s plate with a mouthed ‘thank you’ to him. Buck sighs, shaking his head at them before he turns to pull down some bowls from the cabinet next to the stove and as he sets them down, he ducks to hear what Bobby was saying. Based off of the light pink that dusts across Buck’s cheeks, Eddie’s willing to assume that whatever Bobby said was aimed to tease Buck.
“Happy Christmas Hen.” Buck greets instead, turning his head over his shoulder to shoot a wide grin her way before reaching to grab more bowls, “Let me guess, Denny’s disappeared to wherever Chris and Harry are?”
Eddie glances over at Hen, smiling slightly at the way the paramedic shakes her head in feigned annoyance at Buck being able to read everything so well.
“And Karen disappeared off with Athena.” Hen agrees, grabbing the other barstool and sneaks another apple slice off the plate. Eddie slides it in between the two of them and switches his head to the other hand so that he’s able to see both Hen and Buck.
“Homemade cider. No alcohol so the kids can have some too if they want.” Bobby says in lieu of greeting, sliding across two Christmas mugs of the caramel-colored liquid and Buck smiles over his shoulder as he grabs another set of mugs down. Eddie sips the warm liquid and hums in content, nodding his head as Hen makes a similar agreeing sound.
“Damn Bobby, one day I’m going to convince you to teach me this stuff.” Hen takes another long swig from her cup and hums again in content. Eddie pushes it over the bar towards Buck, who grabs it without hesitation and takes a small sip the first time before going back for more.
“Hey, that was mine!” Eddie protests when Buck sets the mug back down on the opposite side of the kitchen, the area where Eddie has been told multiple times that he is not allowed to enter. It’s not his fault that his lack of experience in the kitchen has followed him everywhere, ending with him being mostly banned from his own kitchen, but Buck’s using it to his advantage and that’s just not fair. Hen snorts into her cup as Karen comes into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Hen’s shoulders and resting her chin on Hen’s shoulder.
“That’s what you get for your whole stealing my food thing you were doing earlier.” Buck huffs a laugh and leans against the counter beside the oven as he pulls his mug closer to his chest. Eddie stands, intending to make his way into the kitchen but Bobby levels him with a quick look that has him slinking back. Buck throws his head back in a laugh that’s quickly cut off when Bobby levels him with a similar look until Buck joins Eddie on the other side of the bar. Karen and Hen are giggling quietly, wrapped around each other, but Bobby doesn’t glance at them as he levels the spatula he’d been holding at where Buck and Eddie were both standing.
“Out of the kitchen, both of you. Go say hi to people or something.” Bobby laughs slightly, shaking his head in exasperation as the two of them duck their heads and slip out of the kitchen with their metaphoric tails between their legs. Buck’s still holding the warm mug of cider close to his chest but he passes it back to Eddie as they pass the fireplace and he goes to sit on the couch when Chimney shouts excitedly. Everyone freezes for a moment and Eddie’s a second away from dropping the mug if Buck hadn’t been quick enough to grab the bottom of it to keep it from slipping to the ground. Hen and Karen poke around the wall, twin confused looks leveled at where Chim is standing until they follow his eyes. Hen’s face morphs into pure delight while Karen just shakes her head with a smirk, going back into the kitchen without a word. Oftentimes, she tends to avoid the shenanigans of the 118, though Eddie will stand by the fact that she eggs Hen on and asks for the gossip constantly.
Eddie follows Chimney’s eyes next, once he’s sure that the cup is securely set on the mantelpiece and Buck’s halfway to making a comment when Eddie notices exactly why they were stopped. May’s sniggering on the chair near the tree, eyes lit up with mischief as she looks at them and Athena comes rounding the corner from where Harry’s room is just before Buck looks up. They’re both frozen, staring up at the green bundle hung above them. Eddie’s pretty sure that his heart has dropped into his stomach and he desperately wracks his brain for anything beyond I’m gonna kiss Buck, oh my god, Buck Buck Buck. It makes it really hard to think when Buck drops to meet his eyes and a bright red starts to spread from his neck all the way up to his cheeks as they look at each other.
It’s a silent conversation, quick and easy despite the uproar around them and then they’re both stepping forward without even a word shared. Next, Buck’s pressing a kiss to his lips, soft and perfect and something too close to love that Eddie’s pretty sure his heart has somehow simultaneously stopped beating and started racing at the same time. He’s pulling back too soon and Eddie resists the urge to chase after him, missing the feel of Buck against him but Eddie’s able to keep his feet to the ground.
“Whoa man, you don’t hesitate!” Chim shouts, clapping Buck on the shoulder before passing into the kitchen. May’s still laughing, but she’s turned her eyes back to the phone and Athena just gives them a knowing look before disappearing. His mind is too fuzzy for him to form the words but Buck’s still standing right in front of him, a small almost shy smile on his lips and Eddie barely manages to resist the urge to kiss him again right then and there. If he strains, he can hear Hen and Chim gossiping in the kitchen, whispering words that don’t quite hit home with him. Not when Buck’s standing right there with his hands shoved in his pockets and smile slowly dimming the longer that Eddie remains silent.
“Hey, hey, don’t do that.” Eddie whispers, keeping his voice intentionally low so that the music playing covers it and he takes a half step closer to Buck until they’re standing so close they’re practically touching, “I-I...come home with me after this? I-I...yeah?”
Eddie’s pretty sure that he’s blushing red as the lights flickering right now but Buck’s starting to smile again and that’s all that matters to Eddie in the long run. As long as Buck’s happy, Eddie doesn’t care.
“Yeah. I’d like that.” Buck whispers, looking down a little shyly and Eddie hates how he curls in on himself to make himself smaller but it’s also so perfectly endearing that Eddie’s heart races. Eddie checks that May’s not looking, her head down and eyes locked on the scrolling screen of her phone, so Eddie leans forward to press another quick kiss onto Buck’s lips. It’s somehow better the second time than the first.
***
Christopher’s fast asleep in bed, insisting on staying up to pop some chocolate chip cookies in the oven for Santa before he fell asleep halfway through. Eddie had put him down while Buck finished the cookies and the two sat in the dining room, ankles locked as they dunked them in milk.
“So…” Buck starts as he twirls the piece of cookie he was holding around in the glass of milk and avoids meeting Eddie’s eyes until he gently tugs on their linked ankles a few times.
“So?” Eddie repeats, leaning his head on his hands and looks at Buck until he gets a smile, “I-I’m done pretending Evan. I love you, I’ve been in love with you. Hell, I gave you my kid if something happens to me Buck. What do you think that means?”
Buck splutters momentarily, the cookie falling into the milk but he doesn’t spare it a glance as he flies to his feet and pulls Eddie up. Buck crowds him against the wall quickly and Eddie goes easily, smiling up when Buck leans down to kiss him again.
“I love you too Eddie.” Buck whispers moments later, resting their foreheads together in the light of the Christmas tree and Eddie’s never been a fan of the mistletoe tradition but here and now, Eddie loves it.