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Buck did not mind flying. It was by no means his favourite mode of transport that was always driving. There was something freeing about driving across the country free to stop anywhere that took your fancy anytime. Music blasting, the windows down and driving down old country roads as fast as you dared. That is the way to travel.
However, there was something to say about the convenience of air travel. What would have taken him twelve hours to drive was only just over a two-hour flight. Much more convenient.
Buck boarded the plane and happily made his way to first class, he had upgraded himself last night on a bit of a whim as the extra leg room was easily worth the flight. He always booked an aisle seat anyway so his long legs had plenty of room. Buck found his seat and was surprised to see that the window seat was already occupied by a young boy.
Buck double-checked his ticket on his phone and made sure he had the right seat. He did. He then looked around for a parent or adult travelling with the kid. Surely he was not alone. There was no one around. Buck saw one on the flight attend, walk over and talk to him. He must be an unaccompanied minor.
“Can I help you find your seat sir?” A red-haired flight attendant asked him with a wide smile and a hand on his arm.
Buck weakly smiled back and moved back a small amount hoping she would then stop touching his arm, “4B.”.
“Just right there,” She smiled, directing him to the seat next to the young boy, “Please let me know if there is anything at all I can get you,”.
Buck moved quickly and sat down and placed his backpack on the floor and watched the flight attendant get back to her job.
“Hi!”
Buck turned next to him to see the most adorable kid smiling at over. This kid was the definition of cute. He had thick black-rimmed glasses that seemed a little too big for his face and with the beaming smile Buck could see a gap where he had recently lost a tooth. He was wearing what looked to be a superhero t-shirt with a plaid shirt on top with three-quarter pants and trainers. He looked young.
“Hello,” Buck greeted back.
“Do you know if we will be taking off soon?” The boy asked him but before Buck could even answer the question another came out of the boy's mouth, “Do they bring snacks around… before we…t..take off? My Tia Adriana said there would be snacks but I didn't…ask when…I hope there are chips…I like classic or cheese Doritos…What...What is your favourite?”
Buck was taken aback by all the questions. He loved kids but he only got to spend a short period of time with them on calls and normally there was a lot of other stuff going on and his job was to keep them calm and relaxed.
“I like BBQ,” Buck answered before the kid could ask him any more questions.
The kid nodded in approval of his choice and Buck felt an odd sense of pride in that.
“That’s a good…good choice,” the kid then said before asking, “Do you live in LA? Or are you from Texas…me and my…Dad just moved to LA…We used to live in Texas but now we live in LA, I like it a lot more, we have been to the beach three times!”.
Buck had not been expected to have been sat next to the world’s friendliest and chattiest kid, he had planned to read his new book on and listen to the latest episode of his favourite podcast but that did not seem possible due to this child. Not that Buck was too put out by that he himself was a chatty child that had been told to be quite a lot through his childhood. Buck was happy to talk to the kid.
“I also live in LA, I was just visiting a friend for the week,” Buck answered, turning his body to face the kid better, “How come you are flying alone?”.
It was something that he had wanted to know since he sat down.
“My Dad is meeting me at the airport! We’re going to get pizza on the way home,” he answered, not actually answering Buck’s question, “I was meant to be flying with my aunt Pepa but she got sick. My grandparent didn’t think I should fly alone, but I'm not a baby,”.
“Clearly, I mean you must be at least fourteen,” Buck flattered, guessing the boy's age at much older on purpose.
It was the right move as the kid once more smiled at him and let out a laugh, “You’re funny,”.
“Thanks,” Buck answered, holding his hand out to reach towards the seat next to him, “I’m Buck by the way,”.
“My names is...Christopher,” he answered, shaking his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Christopher,” Buck smiled as he shook his head.
“How are we doing over here?” a flight attendant said Christopher from the aisle where she stood next to Buck.
“I’m good, Jenny!” Christopher answered with the same bright friendly smile, “This is my new friend Buck,”.
Jenny smiled down at Buck. She seemed nice, “We’re taking off in a second so belts on guys,”.
Buck got his seatbelt on and then watched Christopher struggle with his seatbelt for a moment. His instinct was to offer to help but he waited for a second and Chris flipped it over and buckled it in. Buck smiled and turned his phone off, but not before sending a quick message to both his sister and the group chat to say he was about to take off.
The plane began to move forward as it got ready to take off.
“Buck…” Chris said and for the first time, the kid didn't sound happy and confident but rather wary and unsure of himself.
“You okay, kid?” Buck asked, concerned for his new friend.
Christopher did not respond and also did not look at Buck but rather down at his lap as he fiddled with the seatbelt.
“Are you scared of flying?” Buck asked, his voice low like a whisper.
“NO!” Christopher exclaimed looking at Buck, “I like flying…I just…my Daddy was with me last time and now he’s not,”.
Buck nodded in understanding.
“…would you hold my hand as we take off?” Christopher asked him as he looked up with wide eyes.
Buck smiled and held his hand out, “Sure, Buddy,”.
Chris looked up at Buck with big scared eyes, “It’s gonna be okay,”.
Buck held Christopher's hand and let the little boy squeeze it as tight as he could as the plane took off and got into the air. All while it was happening Buck kept talking to Christopher telling him facts about animals to hopefully keep him distracted.
Chris let go of Buck’s hand and smiled up at him once they were firmly in the air and then began with more questions, “Do we get snacks now?”.
Buck laughed, “Hopefully soon,”.
“Are you married?” Chris then asked, “Do you have kids?”.
“No…” Buck answered, taken aback by the question but still happy to answer. Thinking that one day he definitely wanted both of those things.
“Why not?” Chris asked.
That was a question. A question that Buck had asked himself a few times since his girlfriend had dumped him seconds before she walked through the airport doors never to return. Abby breaking up with him was a shock. He had loved her and had really thought that she loved him too. The real kicker had come when she refused to answer any of his calls and blocked him on all social media when Buck had tried to talk to her afterwards.
All he had wanted was a real explanation of what had happened. A conversation that was more than two minutes outside the airport. Buck thought he had at least meant more to her than that but clearly, he had misjudged her.
Buck had spent his summer moving into his own place and working on getting over the heartbreak that he had been left with.
“I guess I haven’t found someone to stay yet,” Buck confessed properly, going deeper than he should do when talking to a kid, “Everyone leaves,”.
Christopher looked at him seriously, “My Mom left. She missed my last two birthdays…I miss her,”.
Buck cursed himself for clearly triggering something painful for Christopher. He had really brought the tone down for them.
“Hey Chris, how many tickles does it take to tickle an octopus?” Buck asked him.
Christopher scrunched up his nose in thought and Buck let him think about it for a second before he answered, “Tentacles…do you get it Ten…tickles…”.
Chris let out a burst of laughter at the bad joke and Buck was glad to see that he had got the kid to smile again after he had brought the mood down.
“Want to hear another one?” Buck asked and Chris nodded with a big smile, “Want to hear a joke about a piece of paper? ...Never mind… it’s tearable,”.
Christopher groaned but then giggled at the joke.
“I’m sorry about your Mom, kid,” Buck then said and Christopher nodded the smile.
“It’s okay…I have my Dad and he’s the best,” Christopher boasted with a smile, “We go on adventures together, like moving to LA…I’m learning to surf…I just…some…sometimes I wish…,”.
“What?” Buck prompted when the boy went quiet.
“I wish my Mom could see me now,” Christopher whispered and Buck wondered why the boy was opening up to him of all people. He knew he needed to find the right words here.
“My sister…my big sister. She’s my favourite person ever. When I was growing up it was us against the world…and then one day she left me and I didn’t see her for a really long time and I missed her every day. I missed her so much” Buck told Christopher, making direct eye contact as he spoke, “Here is the good part of the story…she came back not that long ago. Sometimes people leave and we don’t always understand why but a lot of the time they have their reasons and it has nothing to do with us. It’s not our fault they leave. Sometimes there are things we need to do alone. My sister came back to me when she was brave and took her chance.
Christopher, I’m not saying that your Mom will come back, I don’t know that. I’m saying that sometimes people leave us and they don’t really want to be gone and they find a way to come back,”.
Chris nodded and smiled at Buck, “I’m glad your sister came back,”.
“Me too,” Buck smiled and then his smile got bigger, “Hey! How do you organise a space-themed party?...You planet…Plan..et,”.
This joke went over the best as Christopher laughed again, this one loudest of all and Buck felt proud he had made the kid laugh. He hoped it had done an okay job talking to the kid and had not messed up.
“Chris! Look!… I think snacks are being brought out,” Buck said as he spotted Jenny coming down with the trolly. She chatted with the pair for a few minutes, mainly checking in on Christopher and making sure he did not need anything before she moved on to carry on handing out snacks but not before slipping them a couple of extras.
Buck and Christopher shared their snacks, splitting them between themselves so they got to try a bit of everything and Chris talked about all the things that he and his Dad had done since they moved to LA. Buck could tell that Chris had an amazing father by the way he spoke about him with such love and admiration in his voice. It sounded like Chris’ Dad took him to a different place to explore each weekend.
“We’ve not been to the zoo yet…BUT it is on my list and Dad says we will go soon,” Chris said as he finished his chips.
“I’ve been to the LA Zoo,” Buck answered without really thinking.
“Really!” Chris replied excitedly, “Did you have a good time?”.
Buck flashed back to the escaped tiger and the dead man, “It was really cool,”.
“Awesome!” Christopher said, “Maybe we can go together one day! Now that would be really cool,”.
“Super cool!” Buck agreed, thinking that would be really fun but also knowing most likely he would never see Christopher once they got off the flight, LA was a big city.
“How long before we land?” Chris asked.
There had barely been in the air half an hour, “A while yet, kid. Just less than a couple of hours,”.
“Are you sure?” Christopher asked, “Is your maths right?”.
Buck laughed at that, “I think so, kid,”.
“Hmm,” Chris made a disbelieving noise, “Can you please grab my backpack,”.
Buck grabbed his backpack and watched the kid get a plethora of things out of it, including two books, a pencil case, some Tupperware and an action figure.
Buck saw the red-haired flight attendant leaning down to root through his own backpack as a means of avoidance when her eyes landed on his. Buck waited till she passed before he sat back up, successful at avoiding her. Luckily it seemed like it was the other flight attendant Jenny who was in charge of looking after Christopher and hopefully that meant he could avoid the redhead for the rest of the flight.
“Buck, what are your favourite three colours?” Christopher asked.
Very much used to Christopher’s questioning by now Buck just answered honestly, “Blue is my favourite, then maybe green and then purple,”.
“Purple is a girl's colour!” Christopher responded instantly.
“Hey now,” Buck said playfully, “Colours are for everyone. Boys can like purple. The Minnesota Vikings wear purple and they are all boys. No such things are girls things and boys things, there are just things and people who like them,”.
Christopher seemed to think about this and then nodded before going back to looking through his pencil case, “Okay Buck,”.
Buck nodded back, turned and looked around the plane at the other passengers who were all settled down for the flight. Buck was enjoying the flight more than he expected he would have and he put that down to his chatty travel companion next to him.
“This is for you,” Christopher said after being quiet for nearly twenty minutes.
Buck looked back at his new friend and saw that Christopher was handing him something. Buck reached out to take it and saw that it was a bracelet and that it had been loosely tied together. It was by no means the neatest thing in the world but it was made up of six bits of string in the colours blue, green and purple.
As Buck held the bracelet in his hand Christopher began to explain, “It's a friendship bracelet, my Tia Sophia was teaching me how to make them, I’m not as good as her or my cousins at making them as it’s kinda hard for me with having CP…but..”.
Buck nodded at Christopher's words, he had noticed the boy's disability when he had sat next to him, but did not say anything as he did not think Chris was finished talking.
“But I made it for you because you held my hand and made me less scared…before.. when we took off…if you don’t want it…”.
“NO!” Buck said as Christopher tried to reach it and take it back, “I want it! No takes backs!”.
Christopher giggled at Buck’s outburst and Buck realised he had been a bit louder than he had meant to be.
“It’s amazing Christopher!” Buck told him honestly as he tied it around his wrist, “I’ll always wear it….I love it,”.
Buck was actually pretty emotional about the gift and how much he loved it. He had not expected this whole experience when he got on the plane but he was really glad he upgraded his ticket and got to sit next to this amazing little boy.
“Do you like the colours?” Christopher asked up looking at him with a look that was all adorable eyes.
“They are perfect, you nailed it!” Buck praised him showing off the bracelet that was wrapped around his wrist, “These are definitely my favourite colours,”.
Christopher smiled at him before pointing at the book pointing out the top of Buck’s backpack and asked, “What is your book about?”
Buck quickly explained the brief premise of his book which was about time travel and as he spoke he tried to remember to keep it as kid-friendly as possible and not ramble too much. However, Christopher seemed really interested in the idea and began rambling about a movie he and his Dad had watched about an orphan who invented a machine to see memories and got to travel into the future and meet the family he would one day have. Buck struggled to keep up and Christopher explained the plot of the movie, jumping from point to point with excitement. Chris then asked Buck more questions about his book and this time Buck rambled on much the same way Chris had about his film.
The pair carried on chatting, Buck asking Chris about the books in his bags and Chris explaining that his Dad had bought him both to read on the flight home. The flight attendant stopped back to check on them, giving them both extra snacks which they ate as they carried on talking about books and then movies.
“I love watching movies with my Daddy…though sometimes he falls asleep halfway through the movie!” Christopher said as if that was the most ridiculous thing ever, “But he always pretends he hasn’t but I know the truth,”.
“Because you are so smart,” Buck added, loving hearing the stories Chris told about his Dad.
“Yep!” Christopher agreed with a nod. “Do you watch movies with your Dad?”
Buck paused as hesitated not wanting to bring the conversation down again by talking about the situation that was his parents.
“No, my Dad lives really far away,” Buck answered safely.
“That’s sad,” Christopher said with a nod, “My Daddy used to be far away when he was a soldier but he came back! Like you said before!”.
“Wow, that’s impressive,” Buck replied, so Christopher’s Dad used to be in the army. Buck thought that was interesting and wondered what he was doing in LA now, “I nearly joined the Navy once, but it wasn’t for me. Clearly I'm not as badass under pressure as your Dad,”.
Chris giggled at that and Buck quickly worried about if you could say the word badass to a kid.
“If your Dad isn’t around, who looks after you when you get sick?” Christopher then asked.
“Bobby,” Buck answered, surprised by how easily the words came out of his mouth, “Erm…he’s my boss and he’s kinda like my Dad sometimes…when I ended up in the hospital he sat by my bedside and told me everything would be okay,”.
“That sounds like my Dad,” Christopher smiled softly, clearly thinking about his father.
Buck nodded, “When I got out of the hospital he filled my fridge with different soup because my throat was sore and I couldn’t cook then…he’s actually been teaching me. We are learning pancakes next week,”.
“I love pancakes!” Christopher gushed, “My Dad always burns them or doesn’t make them right so…so…they aren’t very good,”.
“Oh no,” Buck replied with a chuckle.
“So now we go out to eat pancakes!” Christopher said happily, “So Daddy doesn’t have to cook, which is better for everyone,”.
“So who cooks if your Dad is so bad at it?” Buck asked, definitely not because he was curious if Christopher’s Dad has a special someone in his life. He definitely was not endeared with Chris’ description of his attentive father who apparently was a disaster in the kitchen.
“Abuela feeds us!” Christopher stated happily and then added, “And we get pizza! One time we had it two nights in a row…but…oh…I wasn’t meant to tell anyone that…”.
Buck could see that Christopher felt bad about clearly letting something slip that was meant to be between him and his Dad, “I can keep your secret,”.
“Thanks, Buck,” Chris smiles at him happily.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you to the city of Los Angeles. The local time is 01.07 PM and the temperature is a very nice 80 degrees. For your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisle clear until we are parked at the gate. Cabin crew, please prepare for landing,”.
“Wow! Landing already!” Buck gushed, the fight had really gone quickly with his chatting keeping him entertained, as he watched Jenny walk up and down and make sure everyone was ready for landing.
“I can’t wait to see my Daddy!,” Christopher said excitedly as he looked out the window.
“I bet he’s just as excited to see you, bud,” Buck enthused back as he leaned over to also see the view, “Wow, it’s clear today you can see everything! Look, there is the Santa Monica Pier!”.
“That is so cool!” Christopher gushed back as the two looked out of the window and pointed out all the different things they could see and began playing a game of guessing what people were doing.
“We are now making our descent,” The pilot said over the intercom, “Cabin crew, please take your seats for landing,”.
“Here we go,” Buck said, sitting back and watching Chris copy him. Jenny briefly stopped by and checked in on Chris before she went to take her seat for the dissent.
Buck naturally held out his hand for Christopher to grab which he did with a shy smile. The pair held hands as the plane landed on the LA runway. It was a smooth and easy landing with Buck keeping Christopher chatting throughout. He did not want the little boy to be scared.
As the plane landed and people began standing up and gathering their belongings, Buck turned to Christopher realising that they would now have to say goodbye. He was oddly sad at the thought of never seeing the little boy again and briefly thought about giving the kid his number but knew that was a horrible idea and that if Christopher told his Dad he got given a phone number by the guy who sat next to on the plane that would not go down well.
“Well it was a pleasure flying with you Christopher,” Buck said with a small smile at the young boy.
“You too, Buck,” Christopher said back, “Thank you for holding my hand,”.
“Thank you for talking to me and keeping me company on what would have been a very boring flight without you Christopher,” Buck praised the young boy, meaning every word he said.
Jenny came over at that point and Buck knew it was time to get off the plane and head home. Maddie had wanted to pick him up but she would have a shift and Buck didn’t want to take her whole day away and the rest of Buck’s family were all on shift. Buck had no problem taking an Uber home.
Buck and Christopher had their final goodbye and Buck left him with Jenny and headed off the plane. He texted Maddie and also the 118 group chat that he had landed. Buck grabbed his small suitcase off the luggage conveyor belt and walked through LAX.
As he walked through the airport Buck’s thoughts drifted, he was excited to get home. He loved his first place all of his own, he had only been there a week but it was the perfect little two-bedroom apartment for him with an outdoor terrasse. It was still a little barren and needed decoration but he would get there.
For the first time since his break up with Abby Buck thought about dating again. Maybe he was ready to get back out there again. Would be nice to have someone to be going home to now, rather than just an empty apartment. Maybe he would let Hen set him up as she had offered a few weeks ago, that seemed like a better idea than redownloading the dating apps.
Buck walked out into the main airport and saw the sea of people who were waiting to greet their loved ones. People rushed past him eager to hug their friends and family. No one was there for him so Buck quickly walked through the crowd thinking he would grab an iced coffee from the Starbucks and then jump in an Uber home where he would spend his evening watching true crime and ordering a curry.
“Buck!” A voice called, “Daddy! He’s right there! There is Buck!”.
Buck looked around for the source of the voice and saw Christopher rushing towards him. Buck ducked to the side so he was directly in Christopher's path as the young boy collided with him.
“Christopher!” Buck greeted happily, smiling at the young boy before looking over his head. Buck once again found himself looking for the adult who was meant to be supervising the child.
Thankfully Buck did not have to look far. As he saw an extremely handsome man who was watching them with a suspicious eye. Wow, was the only thought running through Buck’s head as he stared at the man. Of course, Christopher would have such an attractive Dad.
“Dad, this is Buck!” Christopher turned to say to the dark-haired man.
Buck suddenly felt under intense scrutiny at the man’s gaze that was fixed on him. He began to panic that he had overstepped talking to Christopher so much on the plane ride and that the young boy had told his father everything. Buck took a deep breath and hoped he was not about to get yelled at.
“Hello,” Buck said, flustering a bit due to the whole situation.
“So you are the man who my kid can’t stop talking about,” Christopher’s father said. Buck really needed to find out his name. At least the man was now smiling slightly and did not look mad but instead rather confused, his eyes were locked on Buck.
“Ah…well, you have a great kid…” Buck replied wishing he had said something a little smoother but the whole situation had taken him by surprise and the fact he was being stared at by the world’s cutest kid’s incredible hot Dad did not help him.
“I like him,” he replied with a smile at his kid, clearly he was kidding and more than liked his kid. Buck could tell just by one look how much this man adored Christopher. Damn, he was ridiculously attractive, had the world’s nicest smile and was an amazing father. How was Buck meant to cope?
There was a pause.
“I’m Evan…” Buck said, holding out his hand for Eddie to shake.
“Eddie, Eddie Diaz,” he said, reaching out to shake his hand with a confused look on his face.
“You said your name was Buck!” Christopher chipped in from where he was standing between them. His eyes narrowed at Buck.
“It is!” Buck promised to Chris who was looking at him with confusion, “Evan Buckley …Buck…everyone calls me Buck…because that’s my name. Buck, is my name”.
Buck cringed. He swore he used to have game. He used to be smooth. This was painful.
Christopher giggled at his stumbling and to Buck’s surprise, Eddie was actually looking at him with a fond but small smile on his face. Eddie had a nice smile.
“It suits you,” Eddie told him, looking him directly in the eye, “Buck,”.
Buck really liked the way that Eddie said his name, “Thank you,”.
“Actually I should be thanking you,” Eddie replied, moving to wrap his arm around Christopher’s shoulder, “For taking such good care of my son. Christopher has been telling me all about his plane ride and his new friend,”.
Buck could not help but flush at Eddie’s compliment, “Christopher was a pleasure, you should be really proud of him,”.
“I am,” Eddie said with a nod, as he squeezed his son's shoulder.
“Daddy! Look he’s still wearing the bracelet I made him” Christopher boasted, “The one I was telling you about,”.
Buck held his left hand up to show off the colourful bracelet.
“Wow,” Eddie said, moving to take Buck’s hand lightly so he could take a closer look. Buck felt a spark as Eddie touched him, it felt like his whole body lit up, “This is amazing! Chris! Did Sophia show you how to do this, she was always making them as a kid,”.
Christopher nodded, “I’ll make you one, Dad!”
Eddie’s face lit up at that as he beamed at his son and Buck watched the exchange happily.
“Daddy, can Buck come with us to get Pizza?” Christopher asked and Buck’s heart lit up at that idea, he definitely wanted to spend more time with these two. Talking more to Christopher and getting to know Eddie. He definitely would not mind getting to know more about that man.
“I don’t know, kid,” Eddie answered his kid, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck and Buck wondered if that was a nervous gesture, “Buck might have plans…?”
Suddenly two pairs of eyes moved toward him, “I was just planning to grab a Starbucks before getting an Uber home,”.
“So you can come with us?” Christopher exclaimed happily, almost vibrating with excitement before he realised Buck had not actually said yes. He looked up at Buck with a hopeful expression.
Buck looked towards Eddie, away from Christopher, he wanted to say yes. He really wanted to go and get pizza with them but he did not want to overstep. Maybe Eddie was expecting him to say no, after all, it was only really at Christopher's insistence that he had been invited.
“Erm…” Buck said looking again at Eddie for a sign he could say yes, “I don’t want to intrude but if you don’t mind…”.
“We don’t mind,” Eddie said, putting him out of his misery, “I’d really like it if you join us,”.
Eddie then flashed up a softest smile and Buck was overwhelmed, he did not think he had ever liked a smile as much as he liked Eddie’s. Eddie should always smile like that.
“I’d like that as well,” Buck smiled back at Eddie. The two men just smiled at each other, eyes locked. Buck felt giddy.
“Then let’s go!” Christopher said impatiently he was now actually vibrating with excitement.
“You got it, Superman,” Eddie said to his son and then he turned back to Buck, “My car is this way,”.
The trio walked across the airport together chatting as they went,
“Where do you live anyway?” Eddie asked, “Maybe we can give you a ride when we are done?”.