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After checking the time on his phone again and seeing that he’s been staring at the dark ceiling of the bunk room for almost an hour and doesn’t feel any closer to falling asleep, Buck admits defeat. As quietly as he can, Buck slips out from underneath the covers on his bed and tiptoes to the door, lighting the way with his hand cupped carefully around his phone’s flashlight. Once the door to the bunks closes behind him, Buck heads for the lockers. He digs his latest read – a book on the social history of the internet – out of his work bag and then jogs up the stairs to the firehouse loft.
It’s been a while since insomnia has ruined a 24-hour shift, and most annoying of all, Buck doesn’t even know what’s got him so wired. The last call they went on before heading to the bunks was a fire alarm at an office tower caused by someone heating up food in the communal microwave for way too long. All Buck had to do was stand there and look pretty – Chimney’s words, not his – and none of the other calls had been any more adrenaline-inducing. But, for whatever reason, his brain has decided it doesn’t want to sleep.
Buck settles along one of the couches lengthwise, propping himself up with pillows and pulling one of the new throw blankets Bobby bought last week on top of him. It’s fuzzy and thick – probably overkill for L.A., but Buck’s a little chilled up here as he was just sleeping in gym shorts and a t-shirt. He knows he’s risking having to sprint down the stairs to get to his pants and boots setup at his bunk if they get a call, but he hadn’t wanted to try and pull on any more clothes in the bunkroom and potentially wake people up by waving his phone light around. No reason for anyone else to have to suffer for his insomnia.
Buck’s barely finished the first chapter of his book when he hears soft footsteps coming up the stairs. Grabbing the receipt that he left tucked behind the first page to use as a bookmark, Buck twists his neck in the direction of the staircase to see who else is awake. When he crept out, everyone else had seemed pretty passed out.
Eddie’s head appears first as he slowly ascends the stairs, rubbing sleepily at his face, and Buck’s stomach flips pleasantly. He’s dressed in a t-shirt and his uniform pants, because Eddie’s a freak who doesn’t mind sleeping in his outside clothes. Buck gets that intense rush of butterflies at how soft and sleepy Eddie looks and finally there’s no undercurrent of guilt to dampen his giddiness.
Buck closes his book and places it on the coffee table, pushing himself up a little more as Eddie trudges over to him. “Couldn’t sleep either?” Buck asks quietly.
Eddie mumbles something unintelligible through a yawn.
Buck chuckles. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
Eddie shoots him a glare but there’s no heat behind it. He wanders over to the far end of the couch and Buck moves his feet out of the way so Eddie can sit down.
“Woke up and you were gone,” Eddie murmurs, pulling Buck’s feet into his lap.
“Oh.”
Buck feels himself blush, and hopes the dim light in the loft will hide it. He knows logically that Eddie wants him around – nothing was really left up for interpretation the other night when Buck had started talking about going back to his place and Eddie had all but dragged him down the hall and into his bedroom, kissing him senseless the whole way – but he’s still somehow surprised that this extends to their place of work. They decided to keep their new relationship development on the down-low for a few shifts, partly to just enjoy having it all to themselves for a little while and partly to prove to Bobby that they can still do their jobs even though they’re sleeping together now.
“I thought I was being quiet,” Buck says. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Shaking his head, Eddie sneaks one of his hands under the blanket to squeeze Buck’s ankle. “You didn’t. Had to go to the bathroom and your bed was empty.” He yawns again. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Just not tired for some reason.”
Eddie hums in acknowledgement, then tips his head back to rest against the back of the couch. Buck winces at the awkward angle of his neck.
“I’m fine,” Buck says. “You can go back to bed.”
Eddie lolls his head in Buck’s direction and gives him a flat stare, which has Buck laughing quietly. If their positions were reversed, Buck certainly wouldn’t be going back to bed and leaving Eddie up here by himself, and they both know it. Then Eddie shivers slightly, and Buck frowns.
“Are you cold?” he asks.
“A little,” Eddie admits.
“Come here, then.”
Buck lifts up the blanket, and Eddie wastes no time in draping himself on top of Buck so Buck can tuck the blanket around them both. Eddie gets his head under Buck’s chin and winds his arms around Buck’s torso, then lets out a long, deep sigh like he’s just finished the longest call of his life.
Well. So much for making a dent in his book, but Buck doesn’t want to disturb Eddie now that he’s all snuggled in.
“Comfy?” Buck asks.
“Mmhmm,” Eddie hums, sounding half-asleep already.
Buck thinks he’s going to be bored for a few hours, trapped on the couch now with nothing to do but stare at the top of Eddie’s head, but he must drift off at some point because the next thing he knows he’s startling himself awake with some sort of snorting noise. He winces, glancing down at Eddie, but he’s still snoozing on Buck’s chest. He’s deliberating how easy it would be for him to fish his phone out of the pocket on his shorts when something about Eddie’s sleeping form makes him pause.
He can see sweat on Eddie’s temples, and Eddie’s shirt feels a little damp where their chests are plastered together. Worry twists unpleasantly in Buck’s gut. Eddie said he was cold, and now he’s sweating? Does he have a fever? Hiding an illness is more Buck’s thing but maybe Eddie thought he could tough it out until their shift ends.
Buck manages to extricate one of his arms from under the blanket and feels Eddie’s forehead. It’s a little warm – not alarmingly so, but Buck might have caught it early as his temperature is starting to spike.
“Eddie,” Buck hisses, jostling him.
Eddie’s face scrunches into an undignified pout at being disturbed. “What,” he grumbles.
“Are you feeling sick?” Buck asks, a little urgently.
Eddie lifts his head to look at Buck. “What?”
“You– you’re sweating, and you said– you said you were cold, I think you might have a fever. Do– do you have any muscle aches?”
Eddie looks a little flushed and Buck panics, trying to struggle upright. He needs to get to the first aid kit and find some fever reducers, maybe get Eddie to take a cold shower –
“I was never cold,” Eddie mumbles.
“What?” Buck stops trying to escape the tangle of the blanket and Eddie’s limbs. “But earlier you were cold and now –”
“I lied!”
The admission comes out louder than Eddie must have been anticipating, because he cringes. They both hold their breath for a couple moments, listening to hear if anyone downstairs has woken up. When the only sound they can hear in the loft is the hum of the refrigerator, Buck relaxes slightly.
“Why did you lie about being cold?” Buck asks. It seems a strange thing to fib about.
Eddie’s flush gets even redder, and Buck recognizes it for what it actually is: an embarrassed blush. “Because I wanted an excuse to cuddle,” he admits sullenly, dropping his head back down onto Buck’s chest.
“Eddie,” Buck says, unbearably fond. “I am always down to cuddle. You don’t need to overheat yourself for that.”
With his free arm, Buck manages to wrestle the blanket off of them and onto the floor. He shivers a little bit at the sudden colder air on his exposed legs but he’s sure he’ll warm up soon enough with his space heater of a boyfriend on top of him. Eddie, however, makes an annoyed noise in the back of his throat and gropes around until he can grab a corner of the blanket and tug it back onto the couch.
“Eds, it’s fine,” Buck protests. “You’re too hot, I can deal –”
Ignoring him, Eddie lifts himself up slightly so he can stuff the blanket underneath him and cover Buck’s legs. He lays back down, tucking his head under Buck’s chin and starts rubbing his palms up and down Buck’s bare arms.
“Better?” Eddie asks, smug like he already knows it is.
“Yeah.” Buck wraps his arms around Eddie and kisses his hair. “Much better.”