Chapter Text
Buck shook his hair out as they came back to shore, planting his board into the sand with a thwack of his hand to the top of it. The sun warmed his skin as he pulled his wetsuit down, leaning his head back to soak it all in. When he caught Eddie staring, he pretended not to notice, hoping the glow of the sun would hide the flush he surely had creeping up from his torso to his cheeks.
"Dad, can we get ice cream?” Chris asked from where he was stood between them, looking up to his dad with those pleading eyes; Buck knew the man was a goner.
“Sure, but first we should—”
“We should take Buck to Scoops,” Christopher declared with the most gleeful smile spread across his face.
Buck had seen the little shop that laid around the corner from Eddie’s store on several occasions, though he’d never gotten the chance to stop in.
Eddie looked from Buck, then down to Chris. “Why don’t you ask Buck if he’d like to go with us bud?”
Chris was quickly turning his attention on Buck, voice on the verge of pleading. “Buck, do you wanna get ice-cream with us? Scoops has the best!”
“Yea of course bud. I’d love to.”
A fond smile spread over Eddie’s face, one Buck had let himself become all too familiar with.
“I’m gonna change at my jeep, then I’ll meet you guys there?”
Chris nodded his head easily, Eddie giving him a curious once-over before finally agreeing as well; Buck always felt naked under his look, like he was completely exposed, all his layers laid bare.
They parted ways, Buck making quick work at his jeep to slip back into his clothes and out of the tight wetsuit, the hoodie and matching sweats comforting him wholly. Chris and Eddie were soon joining him, the three of them making their way to the shop, walking up the ramp so that Chris could follow along.
The door had that familiar chime as it opened, sweet scents of vanilla, chocolate, and caramel wafting through the air. There were fresh waffle cones being made, Buck’s mouth already salivating just at the thought. Upon approaching the counter, there were several buckets of ice-cream sat in the freezer, toppings lined all along the counter; Buck could spend ages in this place.
Chris stood leaned on his crutches, eyes wide as saucers as he looked to all the flavors. The guy behind the counter greeted the two of them by name, Buck raising his brows curiously.
“We might’ve come here a time or two,” Eddie said with a not-so-innocent look. The guy behind the counter, Ravi, according to his nametag, smiled over to Buck. “And who do we have with you today?”
“Buck!” Christopher answered excitedly. “He’s my best friend.”
Buck ducked his head a little shyly, Eddie sharing a private smile with him, one that warmed him like a tight hug.
Ravi looked between Buck and Eddie, a small smile crossing his face, one Buck couldn’t quite decipher.
“Chris, are we having the usual today; chocolate and cake batter with the cookie toppings?”
“Yes!” Christopher leaned from side to side on his crutches, watching anxiously as Ravi got to work making his masterpiece of ice-cream. Buck knocked his shoulder into Eddie, gaining the man’s attention. “So, what uh, what do you usually get?”
Christopher all but rolled his eyes, answering for Eddie. “Dad’s boring. He only gets vanilla with sauce.”
Buck tried and failed to stifle a laugh, Eddie glaring over to him.
“It’s not boring I just—” Eddie waved his hands dismissively, sticking his tongue out to the both of them. “Whatever. I’m a simple guy, ok?”
Once Chris had his cake batter creation, Eddie with his very ‘not plain’ vanilla with strawberry sauce, Buck moved up to take his turn. After scanning the selections of ice cream a few times, Buck finally found the one he was looking for.
“I’ll take the bubble gum please, with sprinkles.”
“Coming right up,” Ravi said, flipping the scoop in his hand before getting back to work.
When Buck turned back to Eddie, the man had his brows raised. “Bubblegum with sprinkles? I thought I only brought one kid with me.” It was Buck who stuck his tongue out this time, shoving Eddie playfully. “It’s what my sister always got me when I was a kid.”
Something softened in Eddie then, his deep browns searching over Buck once more. Buck hadn’t shared a lot of his personal life yet, Maddie always upfront in his mind.
As Ravi handed his waffle cone over, Buck took it happily, licking up some of the sweet sugary ice-cream.
“It matches your eyes.”
Buck looked up mid lick, Eddie looking almost a little shy as if he hadn’t meant to say those words aloud. Ravi made some choked off clearing of the throat noise, the two of them turning to see if he was ok.
“It’s all good guys. Enjoy your day. And the ice-cream’s on me today.”
They all thanked Ravi wholly, both Buck and Eddie sneaking in a few bills to his tip jar on their way outside to the deck. Buck followed them out to a table, the two seeming to have a particular one in mind. The view from the table looked right out to the ocean, the cool breeze whipping through.
“When did you start surfing Eddie?”
It was a question he’d thought often, and probably could’ve looked up online, but he wanted to hear the answer from Eddie himself.
“Well, I think I was about four the first time I saw surfing on tv, then my abuelo got me my first surfboard that year for Christmas; they couldn’t keep me off the water after that.” Eddie let out a chuckle, seeming lost in the memory for a minute.
“So, did you teach yourself, or?”
Eddie frowned, though it quickly disappeared as he caught sight of Christopher.
“Yea. My uh, my parents weren’t exactly supportive about it…said they wouldn’t pay for lessons or anything. So if I wanted to learn, I had to do it myself.”
Buck understood that completely; if he hadn’t had Maddie, he wouldn’t have gotten to do a lot of things.
“Well like I said before, you’re a pretty good teacher.”
Eddie gave that fond smile of his, the one he seemed to reserve just for him and Chris; Buck did not let himself get lost in it.
They ate their ice-cream in content silence after that, Buck trying not to get too lost on Eddie, focusing his attention out to the ocean.
“You’ve ah, you’ve got some ice-cream on your face.”
Buck turned toward Eddie, bringing a hand up to swipe at his face, Eddie shaking his head as Buck continued to miss.
“Here, let me.” Eddie was soon leaned forward in Buck’s space, his thumb swiping ever so gently across Buck’s lower chin. The movement was slow, Buck all but holding his breath. When Eddie seemed satisfied, he pulled his finger away. Buck watched with almost bated breath as Eddie seemed to debate what to do with the leftover ice-cream, eventually lifting it to his lips and licking it off.
Buck made some sort of strangled noise deep in his throat, quickly turning away from Eddie. Between the guy’s expert surfing, his soft looks, and now—whatever that just was, Buck didn’t know how he was going to survive these lessons.
They cleaned up afterwards, waving goodbye to Ravi as they went, heading back down the ramp and toward Eddie’s shop. When they came to Buck’s jeep, they all stopped, Chris already leaning into him for his hug, Buck easily opening his arms up to bring him in close.
“Thanks for taking me to ice-cream buddy.”
“Thanks for not being boring like dad.”
God, this kid and his sass; he definitely got it from his dad.
Eddie only rolled his eyes, reaching out to ruffle Chris’ hair. Buck blew a bubble with his gum that he’d collected from the ice-cream, Eddie sighing with exasperation.
“See you tomorrow for our next lesson?”
Buck popped his bubble, nodding his head.
“Yea Eds, I’ll be here.”
He wanted to reach out and pull Eddie in for a hug, but he knew his heart couldn’t handle letting go, so he settled for bumping his shoulder against Eddie’s as he passed.
“See you then bubblegum boy.”
Buck tried to hide his smirk as he walked away and got into his jeep, watching as Chris and Eddie headed up to their house, the one Buck yearned to be a part of.
Ice-cream was meant to cool you down, but all Buck felt inside was a warmness that spread throughout him, one he hoped never faded.