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“Fuck!” Buck shouts angrily as he walks into his apartment, the door slamming shut behind him. Buck takes a deep breath as he leans against the door, and closes his eyes.
Buck thought he was going to have a nice, romantic evening with his boyfriend. Turns out, it wasn’t very romantic at all. In fact, what was supposed to be a romantic evening turned into a screaming match, which is something they never do with each other. Two years they’ve been together, and they’ve never once fought with each other. Not like that, at least.
Sure, they’ve had bickering moments and disagreed with each other, but never fought with each other.
All because Eddie asked him to move in with each other, and Buck said no. He wasn’t ready, and Eddie was surprised to say the least. Buck surprised himself too, considering how much time he spends at Eddie’s house with Eddie and Christopher. Buck practically lives there already. But, Buck’s just not ready to move in with Eddie permanently. That’s a big step to take in their relationship.
That night, Buck barely gets any sleep. He spends most of his night thinking about Eddie, and the fight, and how he has to face Eddie at work the next day. He’s not going to be able to work with the man after all the words that were said.
Buck doesn’t like calling off, but after much debating, he decides to call off for the next two days. Luckily, Bobby is understanding even without Buck explaining why he’s calling off.
Bobby’s basically Buck’s father figure, he doesn’t need to question Buck.
~
When Eddie walks into work the next afternoon, he jogs up to the kitchen, where Chimney and Hen are already eating breakfast at the table. Bobby’s in the kitchen cleaning up.
“Talk,” Hen says as soon as she lays her eyes on Eddie.
Eddie stops dead in his tracks, and he looks at Hen, confused. “Uh, what?”
“Don’t act all dumb, you know what you did-”
“ Hen ,” Bobby warns, looking over at Hen with a glare. “What did I tell you? I said not to corner him.”
“What? Buck’s gonna call off for two days and you’re just gonna let that slide?” Hen asks.
“What do you mean Buck called off?” Eddie asks, frowning. “Buck doesn’t call off.”
“Well, he did this morning, and he sounded upset if I’m being honest,” Bobby says, and then he turns to face Eddie. “You’re dating the kid. Do you have any idea what this could be about? We just saw him yesterday afternoon and he was completely fine .”
Eddie scoffs, shaking his head. “So, just because I’m dating him means I’m supposed to know everything that’s going on with him?” He asks, crossing his arms against his chest.
“That’s totally code for he knows what’s going on, right?” Chimney whispers to Hen.
“Absolutely,” Hen agrees, and she looks over at Eddie. “You must have messed up real bad if you caused Buck to call off. So, talk to us, Edmundo. Maybe we can help.”
Eddie rolls his eyes, and makes his way over to the table to sit down. “I doubt it,”
“I’m married with a kid, Chimney’s engaged to Maddie with a kid, and Bobby has years of experience over any of us combined. So, I think we’d be able to help,” Hen retorts, crossing her arms against her chest.
“She is spitting out the facts,” Chimney agrees, nodding.
“Chim, what did we say about using lingo from today’s kids? It doesn’t make you look cool,” Hen says.
“Ouch. A knife to the heart, Hen,” Chimney mumbles.
Eddie lets out a sigh. He’s quiet for a moment as he thinks about what to say. “I asked Buck to move in with me last night,” he finally admits, nervously looking up at the three.
“That’s it?” Chimney asks, blinking.
“What do you mean that’s it ?” Eddie asks, frowning.
“I just thought it might have been something a little more serious than that,” Chimney mumbles.
“Chim, moving in with your partner is a big step in a relationship,” Bobby steps in, walking to the table. He turns, and he looks over at Eddie. “So, you asked Buck to move in with you. I don’t see the problem?”
“He said no,” Eddie says, which seems to have shocked everyone.
“He said no ?” Hen repeats, frowning. “But, aren’t you two like practically already living together?”
“Yeah, that’s why I thought he would say yes. He has so much of his shit already at my place, and he follows me home after work whenever we have a shift together. But he said no,” Eddie rants, huffing.
“Did you ask him why he said no?” Bobby asks curiously.
“Yeah, and it led to a screaming match. Now I’m pretty sure we’re not speaking to each other at all, and I’m worried this is gonna lead to a breakup,” Eddie mumbles, fiddling with his fingers.
“That’s- That’s impossible,” Hen says, shaking her head. “You and Buck have been through everything together, and I mean everything . You can’t let a silly little argument cause you two to break up.”
“But Hen, this wasn’t just some silly little argument. We were screaming , and we both said some things that we shouldn’t have said to each other, and Buck stormed out before I could apologize,” Eddie whines. “Fuck!” He buries his face in his hands.
“Eddie, I think maybe you should take the day off-”
“No!” Eddie shouts, and he looks up at Bobby with wide eyes. “No, please. Don’t send me home, because Christopher is at school and Buck’s not talking to me, and I’ll be left alone with my thoughts, and that’s never a good thing. Please, I need to be at work. It’ll help distract me.”
Bobby sighs as he stares at Eddie. “Fine,” he says. “But, I’m not going to allow your relationship problems get in the way of my people and my patients. If I tell you to back out of a call, you listen to my orders.”
Eddie takes a deep breath, and slowly nods. “Okay. I promise,” he whispers.
Eddie does okay at the start of his shift, but he slowly starts getting aggravated because his partner isn’t next to him which makes him think about the situation, and eventually Bobby has to pull him away from a rescue so he can cool off. Luckily, Eddie doesn’t even hesitate when Bobby orders him to step back.
As soon as they get back to the firehouse, Eddie calls Buck. Unsurprisingly, Buck doesn’t answer. So, Eddie calls again, and this time, Buck does answer.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” Buck asks when he answers the phone call.
“I am at work. We just got back from a call. I have time,” Eddie says. “Buck, we need to talk.”
“I think you said plenty last night,” Buck retorts.
“So did you,” Eddie argues, before taking a deep breath, because he really does not want to start another fight with Buck, especially not over the phone. “Okay, look. We both said some things that shouldn’t have been said, alright? I didn’t mean any of them and I’d really like to apologize for it, but not over the phone. Will you please come over after my shift? We have to talk about this.”
Buck takes a deep breath. “Okay,” he finally says. “I’ll come over. But, what about Christopher?”
“I’ll see if Carla can keep him for the night,” Eddie says. “I- thank you, Buck.”
“I’ll see you later,” Buck whispers, before hanging up.
Eddie takes a deep breath. He sits there for a moment, before texting Carla, asking if she can keep Christopher for the night. Luckily, her immediate response is yes. Eddie reminds himself to give Carla a raise later. That woman deserves to be paid more for dealing with his shit constantly
Eddie walks up to the loft a while later. Hen and Chimney are lounging on the couch.
“Did you get a nap?” Hen asks, glancing over at Eddie.
“Huh?” Eddie asks, blinking over at Hen.
“You were gone for a while. Did you take a nap or something?” Hen asks curiously.
“Oh, no. I didn’t take a nap. I uh, I was talking to Buck on the phone,” Eddie mumbles, sitting down lazily on the couch. This obviously gets Chimney’s attention.
“And?” Chimney asks, earning an eye roll from Eddie.
“We talked,” Eddie says. “Well, we talked about talking later. He’s coming over after my shift.”
“Well, that’s something positive at least,” Hen says.
“Something,” Eddie mumbles. He wants to be hopeful, and he really does want to apologize to Buck, because he hates fighting with his best friend. They don’t ever fight like this, and he doesn’t like it.
Eddie makes it up until an hour before his shift ends, when everything goes wrong. There’s a car pile up, and they’re trying to help a couple dangling from the highway. Eddie’s at the top when he slips because of the rain, and he falls down and hits his head, causing him to pass out.
“Eddie!” Hen screams from where she’s at. Her eyes are wide with shock, and she quickly grabs her radio. “Firefighter down. We need backup. I repeat, Firefighter Diaz is down !”
Eddie is rescued safely and immediately taken to the hospital.
Unfortunately, that means Bobby has to call Buck and tell him there was an accident at work.
“Bobby? Hey, what’s up? I was just getting ready to hop in the shower and-”
“Buck, there’s been an accident,”
There’s a pause for a moment, and then Buck takes a deep breath. “How bad is it, Bobby?”
“It’s okay, Buck. He’s alive,” Bobby tells him, his voice calm and soft, because otherwise Buck would start freaking out, and Bobby doesn’t want that. “There was an accident during a pileup. He’s at the hospital and they’re taking really good care of him, I promise, but I just thought you might want to know. I know that you two are kind of fighting right now, but still-”
“Fuck that. I’m leaving the house right now, and- shit . I have to tell Carla and Christopher!”
“Buck, breathe, it’s okay. Just take care of what you need to take care of, and I’ll update you if there’s any new information,” Bobby assures him. “Be careful, please.”
“I will, thanks Bobby,” Buck says, before hanging up the phone.
Buck tells Carla and Christopher about the accident, and then he books it to the hospital. He knows Christopher wants to be at the hospital, but Buck also knows it would be best for him to stay with Carla. Buck just wants to get to the hospital and know what’s going on with his boyfriend.
As soon as Buck sees Bobby in the waiting room when he gets to the hospital, he immediately hurries over to his captain and falls into his arms, taking in the comfort that Bobby gives him.
When Buck finally pulls away from the hug, he quickly wipes away his tears, before looking up at Bobby, but his eyes are still filled with tears. “Bobby, wh-”
“Don’t,” Bobby warns. “Don’t start blaming yourself, Buck. You weren’t even there.”
“But I should have been there! I should have been at work. I’m his partner, and I wasn’t there for him, and now he’s in the fucking hospital,” Buck argues. “Again.”
“Between you and Eddie constantly being in the hospital, you’re both giving me gray hairs,”
Buck huffs with annoyance. “It’s not like we ask to be in the hospital as often as we are,” Buck grumbles. He shakes his head. “I feel like such an idiot. We were fighting over something stupid, and it was my fault, and we were going to talk about it after he got off work.”
“It’s none of my business, but… I can’t help but be curious. Why did you say no?” Bobby asks.
Buck lets out a sigh. “I- I don’t even know. He asked me, and he was so sweet about it, but then I started freaking out like I always do. I told him it was too early in our relationship for a big step like that. He said a few things, and then I said a few things, and we just started screaming at each other,” he mumbles. “I love Eddie with all of my heart. I’d love nothing more than to move in with him, to officially be a part of his and Christopher’s family, and now I’m scared that I’ve ruined everything,”
“Buck, there’s still time to make things right,” Bobby tries to assure him.
Buck looks up at Bobby, frowning. “But, what if-”
Bobby chuckles, and then he gently puts his arm around Buck’s shoulder. “You really have to stop with the what if’s, Buck. Focus on the now. You and Eddie will still talk, and everything will be fine,”
Buck sighs, and leans against Bobby. “I hope so,” he whispers. “I just want him to be okay.”
They wait for a couple hours before a nurse finally comes out and tells them that Eddie is awake, and that they’re able to see him. Buck, of course, immediately jumps to his feet. He looks over at Bobby with pleading eyes, desperately wanting to see his boyfriend.
“Go,” Bobby says instantly. “We’ll be here.”
Buck sighs in relief. “Thank you,” he says, before following the nurse to Eddie’s room. Buck hesitates once they get to his room, before finally opening the door, and stepping into the room. He looks up, and he frowns when he sees Eddie lying in the hospital bed. He seems fine, though his head is bandaged.
Eddie slowly turns his head, and he seems surprised to see Buck standing there. “Buck?”
“Eddie, finally,” Buck breathes, before hurrying over to him. He instantly leans down and he kisses him. “God dammit, don’t you ever scare me like that again, do you hear me?”
Eddie chuckles, and he looks up at Buck. “Now you know how we feel every time you’re brought in,”
Buck scowls. “Again, it’s not like I ask to be put in the hospital when it happens,” he grumbles. Buck gently cups Eddie’s cheek with his hand, examining him. “Are you, I mean… are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m just a bit banged up. I slipped and hit my head. They’re even letting me leave tomorrow,” Eddie says. “First thing in the morning. They’re keeping me overnight just in case.”
Buck sighs in relief. “Thank God,”
“Buck, what are you doing here?” Eddie asks. “I mean, I thought…”
“Eddie, of course I want to move in with you,” Buck says, cutting him off. “I love you, and I love Christopher. I want nothing more than to permanently be a part of your family.”
“But-”
“I panicked, Eddie. I'm sorry,” Buck explained. “I panicked, and you know how I get when I panic. I act like an idiot sometimes. I didn't mean to.”
“Unfortunately, I do,” Eddie says, before letting out a soft sigh. “I’m sorry, Buck. For all the things I said. None of them are true and I wish I could take them back, but I can’t. You’re not immature and I know why you’re reckless, those were horrible of me to say.”
Buck shakes his head. “I’m sorry too. I was just angry because of what you said. You’re not a bad father. In fact, you’re an incredible father. You love Christopher so very much, and I know you would go to the end of the Earth for him. Just like I would. My answer is yes. I want to move in with you.”
“Buck, I- are you sure?” Eddie asks, frowning. “I don’t want you to feel pressured.”
“You’re not pressuring me to do anything, Eddie. Trust me. I had plenty of time to think about this after,” Buck assures him. “Please, I want to move in with you. Besides, it doesn’t have to be right away. We can take our time. Whatever’s best for Christopher, and you.”
“No, Buck. I don’t want to take our time. If you’re ready, then so am I. Plus, I know that Christopher wants you to move in with us. I already talked with him about it. He’s ecstatic about the idea,” Eddie says.
Buck grins, and he leans down to kiss Eddie once more. “Then it’s settled,”
“Are we done fighting now? That was really awful,” Eddie whines.
Buck laughs, and nods. “Yeah, it was awful. Clearly. I can’t believe you landed yourself in the hospital,”
Eddie groans, and leans his head back. “It was raining, and I slipped! That’s perfectly reasonable!”
“You know, Bobby’s going to end up bubble wrapping us if we keep this up. Right?”
Eddie looks over at Buck, and grins. “Oh, absolutely. There’s no doubt about it!”