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Buck is with his family — his best friends and the people he works with — at a campground.
Team Building Activity, the chief had called it.
They're circled around a fire that clicks and pops in the breeze. It entrances Buck almost as much as the whole experience does.
Hen nudges Chimney's side and asks, "pass me a marshmallow?"
Buck watches as Chimney reaches for a marshmallow and hands it to Hen, then as she stuffs it right into her mouth.
As everyone laughs, Buck smiles wide and looks to his left. Next to him, Eddie immediately reaches for a marshmallow and gently slides it onto the stick Buck is holding.
Buck mumbles a soft "thank you," as he starts warming the marshmallow up in the fire.
"Ropes courses feel so…" Ravi starts, squinting into the late afternoon sky. "Juvenile, I think. Like we're some AP kids pretending to relieve stress when we're all really concerned about the next test."
Multiple people fall silent as Bobby speaks up, "that seems specific."
Ravi shrugs and Buck snorts, "he's right, though."
Buck feels a warm hand wrap around his forearm and gently guide it back.
Right, the marshmallow.
Buck doesn't like his marshmallows to be burnt, or crisp, definitely not charred. He just likes to warm them up. Eddie must have noticed that the marshmallow was darkening.
Fuck, he loves this man.
Maybe… maybe tonight's the night.
Buck takes one breath and decides, fuck it. He has an idea that's far too romantic to pass up.
He's going to tell Eddie how he feels.
"Hey," he says, softly, leaning into his best friend. "I know a place near here, wanna take a drive?"
Eddie looks at Buck like he hung the stars that they never see; Buck wishes he could say he'd scrub the sky clean if it meant Eddie could see them.
Eddie nods softly, and Buck excuses them.
"Where are you taking me?" Eddie asks as soon as they're moving in the Jeep.
"There's this place right off the campsite... Mulholland Drive."
Eddie snorts, "I'm Texan, but I don't live under a rock. I know about Mulholland Drive, Buckley."
Buck smiles. "Okay, okay. Easy, cowboy." He taps the steering wheel a few times as he makes a gentle turn through the mountains. "There's this spot where you can see the sunset over the Los Angeles skyline. It's my comfort place."
With a hum, Eddie says, "I didn't know about that."
I don't need it anymore, Buck wants to say. I have you.
"I haven't been here in a while," he says instead.
A couple of minutes later, Buck is pulling off to the side of the road, making sure his car is angled against the cliff side.
"C'mon," Buck says as he unbuckles his seatbelt.
They round the car and Buck opens both doors to the trunk. Thankfully, he already put the seats back and set it up for the two of them to sleep.
"We should take a tent," Eddie had said, denying the offer. "It's not real camping if we're in a car."
"The doors will be open, Edds. I just don't want you to hurt your back trying to sleep on the ground."
"Fair," Eddie nodded. "But how will the car be better for that?"
"I can't believe you brought a mattress," Eddie snorts, glancing at the make-shift bed.
"It's for you, Edds."
"I know, I know," Eddie mumbles as he hops into the back of the car.
Ever since he got shot, Eddie's back is far more sensitive about where and how he sleeps. Buck had insisted (once or twice… or six times) that he take the seats out of his Jeep and set it up for them.
Eddie settles down on the edge of the car, allowing his legs to dangle out of it. When Buck climbs in, he bumps a shoulder against Eddie's. "Perfect timing," he says, watching as the sun begins to sink in the distance.
Eddie smiles and tries to repress a shiver, but fails.
Buck pretends not to notice, but when it happens again, he smirks. Buck's sleep shirt is thrown beside the mattress and Buck reaches for it, passing it to his friend.
When Eddie looks at him with a raised eyebrow, Buck shrugs. "I know that button-up is chilly. At least put this on. It's thick. Plus, the texture is really nice. It's like a cozy little home that you wear."
Eddie chuckles and looks down at the shirt for a considerably long moment before flicking his eyes back up to Buck.
Yeah, Buck thinks. Tonight is the night.
"There's something I wanted to talk to you about," Buck says once Eddie is comfortable in his shirt.
"Evan Buckley," Eddie starts, a teasing lilt laced in his voice. "Are you telling me you had an ulterior motive?"
Buck looks down at his hands and chuckles. "Yeah. I did. I do."
Eddie shivers again and Buck wraps his arm around Eddie's shoulder, pulling him in.
Eddie leans into Buck's side and Buck lays his head on top of Eddie's. Looking off into the various hues in the sky, Buck simply says, "I love you."
A breathy laugh is punched out of Eddie. "Me too." Eddie reaches a hand out and gently starts playing with Buck's fingers on his knee. "I love you, too."
Buck sighs happily. "I know."
Sitting here with his best friend tucked under his shoulder and Eddie's hair ticking his nose, Buck can't help but wonder...
"I don't know how I got so damn lucky," he whispers.
Eddie turns his hand over and laces his fingers with Buck's. "I know. In the middle of all the chaos, and the pain… between the flames, we found each other."
"Like the thread of fate," Buck considers. Connecting their own story back to a belief they recently learned about, courtesy of Christopher's humanities class.
Eddie's hand squeezes once around Buck's own.
In this moment, Buck can almost see their future flash before his eyes. Birthdays and anniversaries and Christopher's graduation… rings, reading glasses, rocking chairs.
Buck pulls back and looks at Eddie. The lights from the city are reflecting against his brown eyes.
Eyes focused on Eddie's, Buck says, "I really want to kiss you, right now,"
"What's stopping you?"
Buck reaches around with his free hand and gently presses his palm against the side of Eddie's face. With a shared eyelash flutter, Buck leans in and presses his lips against Eddie's.
He expected it to feel normal, like they've done it a thousand times. Eddie is such an integral part of his life, they're like extensions of one another. He expected kissing Eddie to feel like coming home or like getting wrapped in a hug after a dangerous call.
But the feeling in Buck's gut right now is akin to fireworks. Against Eddie's lips, Buck releases a soft, breathy chuckle.
"You feel them too?" Eddie says, his breath tickling Buck's lips.
In lieu of response, Buck presses his lips against Eddie's again. His chest tightens with the force of the colorful explosions and the hand in Eddie's squeezes down.
Now that Buck has him, he's never letting Eddie go.
Eddie releases a soft mmm sound as he pulls away from the kiss. "We…" Eddie trails off as his hands begin skimming Buck's body.
"I know," Buck responds. He can't help it, though, so he pulls Eddie's face back in.
If he's not careful, he might get addicted to this.
Their kisses grow deeper and more passionate by the minute. He's not sure whose mouth opens for whom, but the slide of his tongue against Eddie's sends sparks down his spine. Buck knows, logically, that Eddie would never go for doing something in public, and neither would Buck.
Not that there isn't a little part of him that wants to… or a big part.
Eddie's hand finds its way to Buck's hip and lingers for a moment before his fingertips slip under the hem of Buck's shirt, grazing his skin.
Buck shudders, followed by a chuckle at his own expense.
"What?" Eddie smirks, tightening his fingers on Buck's body and nipping at his neck. "Can't take a little teasing?"
Buck groans, lifting his head up towards the sky. "You're an asshole." With a smile, Buck gently shoves Eddie back.
Eddie immediately leans back into Buck's space and says, "you like it."
"Yeah," Buck looks down at Eddie. "I love it."
Eddie's eyes glimmer in the night sky and Buck has to fight back the urge to make sure he isn't dreaming.
"Me too." Eddie closes his eyes on a soft smile as he relaxes into Buck's embrace.
For a few minutes as the night gets darker, they sit in silence. A strong smile tugs at Buck's lips, because everything about this is perfect.
"Do you think they'll believe it? The crew?" Buck asks quietly.
Eddie's shoulder rubs against Buck's chest as he chuckles. "Believe it? They're probably betting on it."
Buck shakes his head, smiling, because he understands so easily what Eddie means. He always does. "No – well, yeah, but – that we did it today? During the retreat?"
Eddie pulls back from Buck's grasp, his canines visible in his smile. "Honestly, I don't know if I even believe it. I mean, shit, I've pictured it a thousand times: confessing our feelings, our first kiss, and it's never been so…" Eddie shakes his head, looking off into the distance.
"Easy?" Buck supplies for him.
"Yeah," Eddie replies, eyes rounding back to Buck's. "Easy."
Buck holds the back of Eddie's neck with one hand and scrunches the fabric of his own t-shirt beneath the fingers of the other, pulling Eddie in for a kiss.
This time, when they meet, it's exactly what Buck expected. Despite the thrill, and the novelty, and the excitement, the kiss already feels normal. It feels like forever – like a photograph.
Eddie is clearly startled when Buck suddenly pulls back. Instead of explaining, he quickly reaches for the polaroid camera that was graciously lent to them by Christopher.
When Buck looks back at Eddie, he sees love and the darkening sky reflected back in his irises.
Pulling Eddie back into a kiss, he snaps a photo of the two of them. Something to cement the memory in their locker, or his wallet, or on his dashboard.
"I love you, Eddie."
"I love you, Evan."
Buck smiles at the use of his name – something that's never felt wrong, falling from the lips of the man he loves.
"We should head back," Eddie says, nodding his head to the side. "They're gonna worry."
"That's okay," Buck says, hopping out of the car. He holds his hand out for Eddie to take, dragging him in as soon as they're both on their feet. "We've got time."
We've got forever.