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“You got any plans tonight?” Eddie asks as they make their way out to their cars.
Buck sighs. “Nothing tonight. Just me, myself and I,”
“Really?” Eddie asks, raising his eyebrows as he looks over at Buck. “You don’t have any plans with James? I mean, it’s a Friday night, so I just figured…”
“Nope,” Buck confirms, shrugging. “He said he has to work late tonight, so it’s just me.”
“You wanna come over tonight? We can have a movie night,” Eddie offers with a small smile.
“Ah, thanks, but I think I’m gonna stay home. I need to catch up on some sleep. It’s been a week ,”
Eddie snorts. “That’s an understatement. Well, the offer still stands if you get bored. You know you’re always welcome at ours,” he says, gently clapping Buck on the back. “See you later?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you,” Buck says, nodding at Eddie.
Eddie ends up going out that night, since Christopher is over at a friend's house and Buck is at home, and he really doesn’t want to stay at home where his thoughts will get the best of him. He needs a distraction.
So, he goes to the local bar. It feels weird being there without Buck, because they always go together.
“Where’s your partner?” The bartender asks when Eddie flags her down for a drink.
Eddie chuckles at the question as he sits on one of the stools. “Well,” he leans against the counter. “Uh, he decided he wanted to stay home tonight. We’ve had a hell of a week on the job.”
“I imagine so with your line of work,” she says, handing Eddie a can of beer.
“Yeah, it’s an understatement” Eddie scoffs, and quietly thanks her before opening the car. He turns slightly, and glances around the bar, taking in his surroundings.
Eddie relaxes for a bit. He finds some people to talk to, and he even gets dragged out to dance for a bit. Until Eddie excuses himself to use the bathroom. Eddie pushes the door open, accidentally hitting someone. Eddie startles, and he looks up with wide eyes. “Oh, shit. I’m sor-” He stops when he recognizes the guy he’d hit instantly. It’s James. “Uh, James?”
James looks up, and Eddie seems him hesitate. “Eddie? Uh, hey. Funny running into you here,”
“Yeah, funny. Buck told me you were working late tonight,” Eddie says, stepping into the bathroom.
“Well, you see… I was supposed to work later than usual, but we finished early-”
“Well, he says you’ve been working on a big project, something you’ve been working on for months ?” Eddie asks, crossing his arms against his chest. “Does Buck even know you’re here?”
James chuckles, though it’s humorless. “Come on, Eddie. Does he need to know that I’m here?”
“I think he’d like to know,” Eddie argues. “He’s waiting at home for you, is he not?”
“Look,” James begins. “I love Buck with all of my heart, but… you know how he is. He can be a bit… much, you know? I just needed a little break is all. I’m just having fun with some friends, that’s all, man. So, I’d appreciate it if you kept this to yourself. Buck doesn’t need to know.”
“Right. Yeah, sure,” Eddie mumbles. “I’ll keep it to myself.”
“Thanks, man,” James says, clapping Eddie on the shoulder. “I’ll see you out there.”
Eddie watches as James walks out of the bathroom. He immediately pulls out his phone, because there’s absolutely no way he’s not telling Buck that his boyfriend is at the bar when he’s supposed to be at work. Eddie sends Buck a quick ‘we need to talk asap’ text. Buck’s probably asleep, but Eddie doesn’t care.
Eddie quickly uses the bathroom before going back out. He instantly looks for James, and he quickly spots him hanging out at a booth. He’s with a few other people as well, just like he said. Except, this time, Eddie sees him with his arms around another girl, and they look a little more than friendly . Eddie sucks in a deep breath as he stares, and then he pulls out his phone once more and snaps a quick picture, because Buck’s not going to believe him otherwise. Eddie looks down when his phone starts ringing, and sees that it’s Buck calling him, which surprises Eddie, because he thought Buck would be asleep by now.
Eddie hesitates, before making his way out of the bar. “Buck?”
“Hey, I got your weird text. What’s up?” Buck asks.
“I thought you’d be asleep?” Eddie asks, mumbling an apology to someone he bumped into on the way out of the bar. “I mean, it’s kind of late, isn’t it?”
“Can’t really sleep. Where are you?” Buck asks curiously.
“I didn’t want to stay home, so I kind of went to the bar,” Eddie says.
“Without me?” Buck asks, and Eddie can just picture Buck pouting right now, which makes him chuckle.
“Hey, you could have come with me, Buck. You said you wanted to stay in tonight,” Eddie says as he makes his way over to his car. “Anyways. Uh, look… about that text. Can I come over? There’s something I really need to talk to you about. It can’t wait, and I’d rather not do it over the phone either.”
“I mean, I guess. Not like I’m doing anything right now,” Buck mumbles. “Uhm, is someone dying?”
“What?” Eddie asks, stopping dead in his tracks. “Buck, no. Why would you ask that?”
“I don’t know, I’m sorry. Whenever someone wants to talk about something serious my brain immediately goes to bad thoughts. I mean, it sounds serious, so I just assumed,” Buck explains.
“Of course you do. That’s so typical of you. No, I promise nobody is dying,” Eddie tries to assure him. Except maybe your current relationship , Eddie can’t help but think. “I’ll be over soon.”
“Okay. See you in a bit,” Buck says, before hanging up.
Finally, Eddie makes it to Buck’s house. For a moment, Eddie hesitates and debates on whether or not he should actually tell Buck about what he saw at the bar. Eddie didn’t actually see James kissing the girl. He just had her arm around her, even though it seemed quite romantic.
Eddie bites his lip as he sits in his car, before pulling out his phone and calling Hen.
After a few rings, she finally picks up. “Do you know how late it is?”
“I’m in a pickle,” Eddie says, without even greeting her properly.
“You’re in a pickle?” Hen asks, chuckling tiredly. “Eddie, who even says that anymore?”
“Doesn’t matter. Look, I know it’s late, but I’m at Buck’s house and I just got back from the bar,” he says.
“Okay?” Hen replies, sounding confused and curious. “What does that-?”
“I saw James there,” Eddie tells her, and Hen instantly goes silent. Eddie takes a deep breath. “I ran into James in the bathroom. Buck told me that he was supposed to be working late. Apparently , they finished early and James went to the bar without telling Buck that he was going.”
“Well, Eddie. That seems innocent enough. He’s allowed to have his own life outside of Buck,”
“That’s not all,” Eddie says, before sighing. “He was with friends, and I saw him with his arms around another girl. Which isn’t a big deal. But, it seemed more romantic than friendly. Fuck, Hen. Do I tell Buck?”
“Absolutely, you tell Buck,” Hen says without hesitation. “If you think it was more than friendly…”
“It just seemed like it. I mean, he didn’t kiss her or anything…”
“Eddie, that doesn’t matter. Look, if your best friend saw your partner with their arms around another person who wasn’t them, you’d want them to tell you right away, right?” Hen asks.
“Yes,” Eddie mumbles. “I just didn’t want to cause any unnecessary drama for Buck. He’s been so happy.”
“Yes, but think how miserable he’d be if he later found out James was cheating far into their relationship, and he’d especially be devastated if he knew you didn’t tell him about this earlier,” Hen continues.
Eddie sighs. “Alright. I guess I should go tell him then,”
“Good luck, and let me know how it goes or if you need anything. Buck especially,” Hen says.
“Yeah, I will. Thanks Hen, and sorry for calling you so late. Love you, bye,” Eddie says, hanging out. Eddie takes a deep breath before finally opening the door and getting out of the car. He shuts the door, and makes his way up to the front door of Buck’s apartment. Eddie’s about to knock on the door, but it opens before he even has the chance. Eddie blinks as he stares at Buck, hand still in mid-knock. “Uh-”
“You were taking forever. I was waiting for you to knock,” Buck says.
“Sorry,” Eddie clears his throat. “Uh, I got- I got a phone call.”
“Is everything okay?” Buck asks, allowing Eddie into the apartment.
“Huh? Oh yeah. Hen was just calling me about something we were talking about at work earlier,” Eddie lies quickly. He turns, and watches as Buck shuts the door.
“Right,” Buck says, and he looks over at Eddie. “You wanna tell me what that text was about earlier?”
“Uhm,” Eddie hesitates. He looks down when his phone dings, alerting him of a text. He blinks when he sees that it’s from James. Buck gave him his number in case of emergencies. don’t tell buck i was there , is all the text says. Eddie scoffs at the text and rolls his eyes. “I don’t know, Buck. You tell me.” He shows Buck the message. Buck is his best friend. He’s not going to lie to him when Buck would tell him the truth.
Buck’s eyes widen, and he grabs the phone, staring at the message. “I don’t… what? Where ?”
“I saw James at the bar, Buck. You said he was staying at work late tonight, did you not?” Eddie asks.
Buck looks up at Eddie, and Eddie can see the tears forming in his eyes. He knows that Buck knows, and Eddie’s heart is breaking for his best friend. Buck deserved so much better than this. “Eddie-”
“I ran into him in the bathroom when I was there, and James said he wanted a night away from you. Because you were too much , and then I saw him with his arms around another girl. Romantically ,” Eddie says. “That’s all I saw. I didn’t see him doing anything else, but I just thought…”
“Thank you,” Buck whispers, and hands the phone back to Eddie.
Eddie blinks, and he takes the phone. “Buck-”
“I really appreciate you coming over and telling me about this right away, Eds. But, can- can you go please? I need… I need time to think about this,” Buck mumbles.
Eddie takes a deep breath, afraid Buck would say something like this. “Okay, if- if that’s what you really want,” he says. “You know you don’t have to go through this alone. I’m here for you.”
“I know,” Buck says. “I really appreciate you coming over and telling me, Eddie. I really do. I just… fuck. God, I just need some time to think about this. We can talk in the morning?”
Eddie stares at him for a moment. Buck looks so hurt and broken, and Eddie’s heart hurts for him, and all Eddie wants to do is comfort Buck. He never liked James to begin with, and not because he was jealous, but because James never really seemed as into the relationship as Buck was.
And now, James has only gone and potentially cheated on Buck, breaking his heart.
“Okay,” Eddie says, stuffing his phone into his pocket. “I’ll text you in the morning, Buck.”
“Okay,” Buck mumbles, and he looks down at his hands.
Eddie hesitates, before turning around and heading towards the door. He’s got his hands on the doorknob, but he stops when he swears he hears Buck sniffling, which means he’s crying, which means Eddie wants to kick James in the balls for hurting his best friend.
“Fuck it,” Eddie whispers to himself, shaking his head, before quickly turning around and walking back over to Buck. “No, I’m not going home, Buck.”
Buck blinks, and he looks over at Eddie. “Eddie, what-”
“I’m not leaving you when you’re clearly upset. I’d be a shitty best friend. So, come here-”
Buck’s lips wobble, before he collapses into Eddie’s arms, sobbing. “It’s not fair,”
“I know,” Eddie whispers, holding Buck close as he comforts the younger boy.
Eddie doesn’t end up going home. He stays with Buck and comforts him until he falls asleep.
In the morning, Buck calls James over to his apartment. By the time he arrives, Eddie is sitting at the kitchen island with some sweet tea that Buck so kindly made him.
“Buck, you don’t have to do this,”
“But I do,” Buck says, and he looks up at Eddie. “James lied to me, and you saw him with another girl. James is bisexual. It’s very possible that he cheated on me with her. How am I ever meant to trust him?”
“I know,” Eddie says calmly. “You do what you think is right. I’ll support you no matter what.”
“Thanks, that-” Buck stops when he hears the door open, and he curses himself for giving James a key to his apartment so early on in their relationship. Buck looks over, and sees James walking in.
James greets him with a winning smile. “Hey, babe. What’s-?” He stops when he sees Eddie sitting in the kitchen. He hardly reacts, though they both know he’s not happy to see Eddie there. “You have a guest.”
Eddie scoffs at the word guest . “This is Buck’s house. I’m not a-”
“Eddie,” Buck warns, before he walks over to James. “Thanks for coming over so soon.”
“Yeah, babe. Of course-” James goes to kiss him, but Buck quickly pulls back, stopping him. “Buck?”
“James, you lied to me. I know where you were last night,” Buck says.
“What-?” James begins, and he instantly looks over to glare at Eddie. “You fucking told him.”
“No, don’t even. He’s my best friend, James. What did you think he was going to do? Lie to me. Besides, if that’s the one thing you’re most upset about, then we have a bigger problem,” Buck snaps.
James looks over at Buck. “It’s not like I did anything-”
“Well, Eddie says that you had your arms around another girl. So, let me ask you. Did you kiss that girl?” Buck asks, and he takes a deep breath when James doesn’t say anything. “James, did you kiss her?”
“We kissed a couple times, but Buck, we were a little drunk-”
“No, drunk or not, you still kissed someone else. I don’t want your lame excuse, James. We’re through. Give me my key back,” Buck snaps, holding his hand out. “Now. Then I want you to leave.”
James scoffs, and he slams the key down on Buck’s hand. “She was better than you anyways,” he snaps, before turning around and storming out of Buck’s apartment.
Buck frowns as he stands there, trying not to let James’ words hurt him.
“Buck,”
Buck startles when he feels Eddie’s hand suddenly on his shoulder. “Eddie, I-
“Don’t listen to him,” Eddie says. “You’re a wonderful human and a wonderful boyfriend, and he’s the one who lost someone great.” He pulls Buck into a hug.
Later on, Eddie brings Christopher over to Buck’s apartment, still not wanting to leave the younger man alone after going through a breakup. He knows if anything will make Buck feel better, it’s Christopher.
“Superman!” Buck exclaims, bending down and allowing Christopher to hurry over to hug him.
Eddie smiles as he watches the two. “Christopher wants a movie night,”
Buck grins as he looks up at Eddie. “I think we can manage that, huh?” He looks down at Christopher with a bright smile on his face, the first smile Eddie’s seen on Buck since he told him the news about James. “Come on. Let’s go figure out what movie we want to watch.”
Eddie sighs softly as he watches Buck with his son, falling even more in love with the man.