Work Text:
Eddie is having a pretty good day, actually. And he wasn’t even ignoring his Abuela’s words from yesterday! Frank is going to have a fucking field day at Eddie’s next appointment.
Eddie is well-aware that he is irrevocably in love with his best friend. It isn’t a secret that Eddie keeps from himself anymore; It is a truth that empowers him, a love that strengthens rather than drains.
All that Eddie has to do is open his damn mouth and tell him.
Do you remember how I said that when it came to relationships, Buck was like a golden retriever going downhill on a skateboard? Yeah, so it turns out dogs close their eyes when they do that. If you can’t see what’s going to hurt you, it won’t hurt right? Right?
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Anyway, Eddie was having a pretty good day, even if he was, technically, two minutes late to work. From the bay doors, he can hear a conversation that could fit right in at a high school debate competition: ‘Telling Your Crush That You Like Them: For or Against?’.
“Wait, people actually tell their crushes that they like them?” Eddie asks, the question dripping with sarcasm as he joins Chimney and Ravi in the station locker room.
“Yes, Eddie, some of us actually know how to communicate effectively,” says Chimney, matching Eddie’s tone. “What the hell do you do about your crushes then, if you don’t tell them?” he asks, leaning against the wall of lockers.
“Well, I made him the legal guardian of my son, in the case of my death, and then I got shot in front of him. That seemed to work,” Eddie surmises, finishing the buttons on his uniform.
Ravi’s head whips up and joins the conversation.
Eddie likes Ravi; he’s a good kid and a decent firefighter. Surely, he will add something of value to this conversation.
“So, you baby-trapped him?” Ravi accuses, grinning widely.
In the time it takes for his face to fall, Eddie has decided that he no longer likes Ravi.
The incident alarm sounds at that moment, saving Ravi from a t-shirt to the face, and A-shift moves for the truck and ambulance.
“From one man in love with a Buckley to another, I think you should start taking your own advice,” Chimney says, kindly.
“I don’t think there’s a therapist on this planet that could get me to do that,” Eddie huffs, closing his locker door.
A therapist, definitely not. But Evan Buckley, maybe.
-
Buck knows he has more than just ‘best friend’-ly feelings for one (1) Eddie Diaz. And he also knows that making your best friend the legal guardian of your son, when your girlfriend was right there, is not exactly ‘bro’ behaviour. He’s not entirely oblivious, credit where credit is due, but also how the hell is Buck supposed to bring that up in regular conversation?
“Hey, do you need anything from the grocery store? Also, remember how you made me Christopher’s other parent and then we never talked about it again? Oh, and I am in love with you. Can you preheat the oven?”
Buck would be lying if he said he hadn’t considered it.
And so, Buck has been enduring the sweet torture of micro-dosing domestic bliss for the last God-knows how long, but that is not going to stop him from leaning on the loft railing at the beginning of each shift so he can perfectly time a, totally, coincidental locker room entrance.
At 2 minutes past 8:00am, Eddie walks into the garage, right on schedule.
After waiting the customary 37 seconds, Buck makes his way down the stairs, stopping just out of sight of the glass walls (seriously, who the hell thought that was a good idea?) when he hears a truly unhinged phrase from Ravi.
“So, you baby-trapped him?”
Alas, the universe is a fickle deity, and the incident alarm sounds before the ‘DVD-Video’ logo can hit the corner of Buck’s brain and produce a viable thought.
Working on nothing other than muscle memory and ‘baby-trapped’ on loop in his mind, Buck follows Ravi to the engine, joined quickly by the rest of A-shift.
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Hot tip: if you have immense romantic feelings for your best friend, do not become firefighters because when you sit next to them in a fire truck you will be pressed against their side for an absolutely torturous amount of time.
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Their first call was uneventful, and the rest of the shift was quiet fine, mostly basic rescues and straight-forward medical calls. And so Buck finds himself standing in the slowly emptying locker-room with Eddie next to him, allowing the day’s adrenaline to seep out of him with every slow breath. He chances a look at Eddie, just as Eddie does the same. They both smile softly, and Eddie tilts his head toward the door, a silent but permanent invitation.
-
Neither one of them are certain of when their relationship shifted. Perhaps, they were always destined to end up as a family, together and in love. Either way, it has led to the most profound relationship both have ever experienced. A relationship enriched with comfort and desire simultaneously, that both are terrified to damage. But, at the same time it is the kind of relationship that strengthens with every look, word, and action. So, maybe, it isn’t so scary after all when sitting on the perfect couch, Eddie takes Buck’s hand, opens his damn mouth, and tells him how bright the sun shines when Buck is by his side.
Their family will call them ‘insufferable’ and ‘sickeningly in love’ because they are. But there is safety in love and a truth that strengthens rather than drains.