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The consistent buzzing is somehow shaking the whole bed. It makes Buck groan into his pillow, while feeling around the bed trying to find his phone without opening his eyes.
Maybe he shouldn't still be sleeping, but it's his first day off after a 48-hour shift, so sue him from wanting to catch up on as much sleep as he could.
He finally finds the offending device, opening one eye just to make sure he's not ignoring something important before going back to sleep. But then he reads the contact name on the screen and shoots up.
He's definitely awake now.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Evan Buckley?" A voice he doesn't recognize asks and he's nodding as he runs a hand over his face trying to chase the rest of the sleep away.
"Yeah, that's me."
"We're calling from Durand School because you're listed as a contact for one of our students, Christopher Diaz?"
That was an awkward conversation that definitely didn't leave him tearing up. It happened after he had volunteered to pick Christopher up from school the 5th time because Eddie had errands to run, or had picked up an extra shift. He was washing the dishes after a movie night, and after putting Chris to bed Eddie had leaned into the sink next to him, drying the same plate over and over before asking if it was okay for him to add him as an emergency contact for Chris' school. It had him nearly breaking the plate he was washing because it slipped from his hands in the shock.
It still surprises him how easily Eddie had forgiven him, just letting him back into his and Chris' life. So he had said yes, trying not to let Eddie see how touched he was by the show of trust while Eddie seemed to be blushing all the way to the tip of his ears in the way he does when he asks for help.
"Yes, did something happen? Is Chris okay?" He asks, already kicking the covers away, fitting the phone between his ear and his shoulder, and calculating the fastest route for him to get dressed and out of the apartment.
"He complained of a headache to one of his teachers and he seems to be running a fever, so we were hoping you could come and pick him up? We tried his father, but we have a note that says he does shift work and won't always be able to answer."
Eddie had picked up an eight-hour that day since he had only worked the first 24 of Buck's 48 covering for the B shift.
"Yeah, I can get there in, maybe, twenty minutes? Twenty-five tops." He's already halfway into his jeans as he speaks.
"Great, we'll have Christopher waiting for you in the office."
He hangs up and pulls up Eddie's contact, calling him and putting it on speaker, throwing the phone on the bed as he searches for a hoodie and pulls it over his head. He gets the voicemail as he's picking the phone back up.
"Eds, they probably already left you a message but Chris' school called me too, I'm going to get him, I'll call you again once I have him home, hopefully you'll be back at the station." He says, racing down the stairs, and he's shoving his feet into the first pair of shoes he found when he adds, "or you can call me if you get this before I call again. Be safe."
Then Buck's out the door and in his Jeep, and he's pulling up at the school's parking lot faster than he thought was possible, getting the booster seat from the trunk and setting it up before racing to the main building.
"Hi, I'm Evan Buckley, I'm here for—" He's a bit winded introducing himself to the lady at the front desk when he hears a familiar voice call for him, even if it's with a lot less energy than usual.
"Buck!" Chris is sitting behind the desk with another teacher, looking a lot paler than usual and it twists something deep in his chest, but he still relaxes seeing him.
"—Christopher," he finishes, smiling at the kid as the woman nods, asking for his ID before typing something into her computer while he waits for her to allow him access.
"You can go get him now."
She had barely said it when he mumbles a thank you and is moving around the desk.
"Hey, buddy," he says, trying to keep his voice steady through the pang in his chest after he notices how uncomfortable he looks, kneeling in front of him, "your teacher said you weren't feeling good?"
"My head hurts and my throat is scratchy," Christopher tells him. Okay, so nothing too concerning, he probably just has a cold or the flu, he tells himself to see if that would make the tightness in his chest loosen.
It doesn't.
"And he also has a hundred and one fever," the teacher sitting with him says and Buck glances at her and nods.
"Dad is still at work, so I'm gonna take you home, okay?" He says, standing up, grabbing his backpack, and slinging it over one shoulder, "do you want me to carry you to the car?" He adds, even though Chris is beginning to say he's too big to be carried around because he seems to be in one of the moments where he wouldn't ask for it but wouldn't be opposed to it if Buck offers. It usually happens by the end of their trips to the zoo, when he is crashing from all the sugar Buck will deny letting him have and they are making their way back so they can go home and he's already tired from the day anyway, so if Buck offers, he almost never says no. Sometimes he even falls asleep before Buck can get them back to the car.
So he's not surprised by the weak nod he gets in response, he just props him on his hip, accepts his crutches when the teacher hands them to him, thanks them again, and makes his way out.
"I don't know what your dad has at the house," Buck starts after he has Chris settled in the backseat, "so I need to stop for some supplies, do you mind waiting a bit before getting home?"
"It's okay," Chris nods, closing his eyes and leaning into the seat and Buck runs a hand through his curls before closing the door, giving himself a second to take a deep breath before running to the driver's side.
He's driving more carefully than he ever did, checking on Chris at every stop sign and red light, but he seems fast asleep every time he looks.
He still has his eyes closed when Buck pulls up to the grocery store near Eddie's, but he reaches his arms so Buck can pick him up once he rounds the car and he settles his head against his shoulder as if he's determined to sleep through the visit.
"We'll be quick, I just need to get something to make lunch, and for your head," he says, adjusting his hold on him as he nods, and Buck breathes in the scent of Chris' kids' shampoo when his hair tickles his nose with the movement.
Buck doesn't like how warm he feels where his forehead is tucked into his neck, so he makes quick work of getting everything he needs, this place as familiar as the one down the street to the loft, smiling politely when the cashier comments on how Chris must be wiped out if he fell asleep in the store, before heading to the pharmacy next door to get something for the headache and his throat and going back to the car.
Soon he's pulling up to the house and getting Chris and the groceries inside, leaving the bags in the dining room and taking Chris to his room.
"Do you need help getting into some pj's?" Buck asks, because the kid must be uncomfortable in his uniform.
"No, I got it," Chris tells Buck, moving to his closet, and he nods.
"I'm gonna call your dad and get your medicine, okay? You call me if you need anything."
"Thank you, Buck."
He moves back out of the room, pulling his phone out to call Eddie, and digging through the bags while he waits for his voicemail.
"Hey, I got Chris home, he complained about his head and his throat, and he slept the whole way here, so I think he has a cold, the school also said he had a fever so I'm gonna check again to see if I need to give him something for it. But it's not too bad, all things considered, just call me when you get this."
Buck's getting the thermometer from the first aid kit when Chris moves out of his room, and he props him on a chair to check his temperature.
"Are you hungry?" He asks, giving him some cough syrup, and Chris shakes his head.
"Not really," he says at the same the thermometer beeps to let him know it's done.
"Why don't we get you settled in bed so you can take a nap while I make something and we wait for the meds to kick in and see how you feel after?" Buck offers once he sees he is still at 101, pulling the children's Tylenol he had set on the table next to a cup of water, and Chris makes a face at it but nods.
"Okay," accepting the cup and pill, and getting up from the chair, and Buck follows him to his room, pulling the curtains to dim the room a bit and tucking him.
Buck watches him for a beat, stopping at the door before moving to the kitchen to get a soup started and he's debating if he should go check on Chris while it simmers when he walks into the kitchen, carrying one of his blankets and takes a seat by the table, wrapping himself with the blanket and leaning back into the chair.
"What's wrong, buddy?" He asks, heart twisting into knots over the way he keeps adjusting in his seat like he can't get comfortable.
"I can't sleep, laying down makes my head hurt more."
"Lunch is almost done, so why don't we eat something and then get you set up on the couch?"
Chris only nods, curling more into the chair and Buck makes quick work of moving around the kitchen, tidying things up, and getting two bowls set at the table.
Chris perks up while he eats, telling Buck about the day before he started feeling bad and filling him in on the latest schoolyard gossip, not as cheerful as usual but it still looks like he's feeling a bit better.
Soon Buck has both of them on the couch, Chris leaning forward as he tries to decide on what movie he wants while Buck fights the urge to fix the blanket where it's slipping from his shoulders.
Not that it matters because he gets to do it once the kid starts a Disney movie Buck knows he watched a hundred times before and moves back leaning into Buck as he settles in, so he adjusts the blanket so it's covering him properly and tries not to get emotional once he falls asleep on him not 10 minutes into the movie.
But, hey, it's not like anyone would know if he teared up a bit while running his fingers through Chris' hair.
The credits of the movie are rolling in when Buck hears the sound of keys in the door, and he turns as much as he can without disturbing Chris to watch as Eddie comes in, still in his uniform, being as quiet as possible as he moves.
"Hey," Buck greets, voice soft and Eddie raises an eyebrow at him once he notices Chris asleep on the couch curled up against him, "he said laying down on the bed made his head worse. I would say it was a ploy to watch movies if he hadn't fallen asleep the second we sat down."
"How is he?" Eddie asks, rounding the couch.
"His fever broke a while back, and he is definitely tired, he slept pretty much the whole time since I got him," Buck says, eyes following Eddie as he kneels in front of them.
"He didn't say anything while he was getting ready this morning," He says, looking troubled, resting his hand on Chris' forehead before running it through his hair.
"From what he told me he started feeling bad when he was already in school," Buck tells him and Eddie runs a hand over his face, "why don't you go shower and change? I got him, it's okay," he adds and Eddie raises an eyebrow at him, standing up.
"Are you trying to tell me I smell bad?"
"You smell like smoke, man, is hard to get anything else," Buck teases, and Eddie huffs out a laugh, shaking his head, "there's also soup in the kitchen."
"Yeah, thanks," Eddie says, squeezing Buck's shoulder, moving further into the house.
Buck's scrolling through his phone, absentmindedly moving his fingers through Chris' hair when Eddie comes back, sitting on the coffee table in front of them. He looks conflicted, hair still wet from the shower, watching them.
"I should get him in bed, I don't think he's waking up any time soon," he says and Buck looks down at the kid asleep on him before nodding, and moving his arm.
"Yeah, sure," he mumbles, swallowing around the lump in his throat. He knows Chris will be fine in his room, knows, and he hates that so much, that a cold is far from the worse the kid has been through, but the thought of letting him out of his sight makes something hurt in his chest so much he's fighting the urge to rub at it to chase it away.
So he just watches as Eddie picks him up, following them like a lost puppy, smiling once Chris stirs awake because of the movement.
"Dad," he says, dragging out the word, wrapping his arms around Eddie's neck.
"I'm just getting you in bed, buddy," he says, dropping his head to his hair.
Eddie tucks Christopher in, propping him up a bit with more pillows and Buck watches from the doorway, still smiling as Chris clutches a stuffed bear Buck got him on one of the many trips to the zoo, and he actually seems like he will fall asleep this time while Eddie talks softly in Spanish and runs his hands through his curls.
And suddenly Buck feels like he's intruding, witnessing something that's not for him to see, so he retreats into the kitchen as quietly as he can, putting dishes away, cleaning the table and counter until Eddie walks in, shoulders dropping after he sits by the table and Buck sits down next to him.
"You okay?" He asks and Eddie runs a hand across his face, gaze unfocused as he looks at the wall across from him.
"We caught a five-alarm right before the school called, it was brutal. No casualties, but a lot of chemicals. It was some type of cosmetics factory, I think? But no way anything was up to code, the way it went up, it's a miracle they evacuated everyone before it got worse," he explains before sighing and looking at Buck, "I'm sorry I didn't answer."
"Hey, that's why you have me listed," Buck says, tapping Eddie's foot under the table with his, "and you know I never pass on a chance of spending time with him."
"But you didn't sign up to spend your day off with a sick kid."
"It's not like I had any plans other than lay in bed all day."
"Still, thank you."
"You know I'd do anything for him," Buck says, grinning, trying to lighten the mood but Eddie still looks guilty, so he sighs, straightening up in his chair, "Eddie, do you trust me?"
"Yes," he answers so fast it seems automatic and Buck doesn't know what to do with the way that makes him feel.
"Can you trust me with this then? I'm always gonna come when you call. Both of you, any time, you need me, I'm there," he says, and Eddie tilts his head, searching his face.
"You know it goes both ways, right?" He asks, and Buck wants to joke, to deflect, but something in Eddie's face stops him.
"I know."
Eddie is still searching his face but Buck doesn't know for what or if he finds it because he shakes his head, before nodding and leaning back on the chair.
"So what do you say, you hang around for a bit because Chris is gonna be disappointed if he wakes up and you're not here, we can get Thai from that place up the street that doesn't deliver at your place," he says and Buck chuckles, raising an eyebrow.
"I cooked," he teases and Eddie shrugs.
"That's for Chris."
"I can make more if you think you're gonna poison your kid," he laughs, and Eddie looks offended, knocking his foot on Buck's.
"Are you saying no to Thai?" He asks, raising an eyebrow and Buck shakes his head.
"Never."
"You wanna go check on him, don't you?" Eddie asks, face softening while looking at him, after a few seconds where Buck kept fidgeting with the ends of his sleeves.
"A little, yeah," he admits, and Eddie laughs.
"Go," he says nodding towards Chris' room, "I need to find the menus anyway."
Buck knows Eddie's lying. The menus are carefully put away in the drawer next to the fridge, they both know that, but he still gets up as fast as he can without jumping off the chair and if Eddie notices him tripping over his feet as moves out of the kitchen he doesn't comment, he just joins him by Chris' door after a few minutes, handing him a menu.
And standing there, Buck can't help but think this is what home feels like.