Work Text:
“Good morning to you, my dear Henrietta!” Buck sings as he bounds into the loft. He grabs Hen from behind, throws his arms around her shoulders and kisses her cheek.
“What did I say about you calling me Henrietta, Buckley?” she asks, trying to swat at his head, “And if you’re gonna kiss me, you better shave your face. It’s scratching my skin, and my wife prefers it when I don’t come home injured.”
Buck laughs, letting go of her as Chimney comes up the stairs.
“Morning Buck, you’re looking scruffier than usual today.” Chimney says as he steals a bite of Hen’s muffin.
You’re so gorgeous…
Eddie glances up from his phone to see Hen attempt to steal her muffin back from Chimney, who quickly hides behind Buck. He takes in Buck’s appearance as he watches Buck laugh and can immediately feel himself blush. It’s been almost two months since he and Buck officially got together, since Eddie has allowed himself to openly appreciate the way his boyfriend ( boyfriend!!) looks.
Eddie has always known how beautiful Buck was, long before they started dating, long before he even recognized that he was in love with his best friend.
Eddie thinks Buck is beautiful all the time, and now that they’re dating, he does his best to remind Buck of that every chance he gets.
In the early morning, when Buck’s golden curls are untamed and twisting in all directions, the bags under his eyes are more prominent, and he has marks on his face from sleeping on the strings of his hoodie.
Before work, after he’s had coffee, when he’s more awake and his eyes are shining and full of life, freshly showered and shaved, hair neat and precisely placed.
At work, when he’s expertly performing rescues that make Eddie want to wrap him in bubble wrap, or when he’s in his element as Bobby teaches him a new recipe, or when he’s passed out on the couch, head resting in Eddie’s lap and long legs bent over the armrest.
Later in the evening, when he’s helping Chris with homework, eyebrows furrowed and one arm resting on the back of Chris’s chair as they work.
After dinner, when they’re all watching a movie together, Buck’s smile wide and eyes bright as he and Chris try to predict what’s going to happen.
When he’s scrolling through his phone before bed, and when he pulls Eddie into his arms, arranging them so Eddie can hear Buck’s heartbeat after a rough shift.
Every hug, every kiss, every touch, laugh, and smile; Buck is beautiful.
But that’s not what’s making him blush right now.
He’s blushing because he likes Buck - he likes likes Buck (he also loves him, but that’s besides the point). Watching his boyfriend move around the loft with ease, his warm smile lighting up the room, he feels like the geeky teenager in a high school rom com - the one who watches the captain of the football team with butterflies in his stomach, hoping to be noticed.
He’s blushing because Buck must have forgotten to shave this morning, and his scruff is driving Eddie insane. He’s blushing because he’s got a big, fat, teenage-esque crush on his ridiculously gorgeous boyfriend.
His boyfriend is always beautiful. But with that scruff, Buck is so hot Eddie forgets how to breathe. His massive crush is taking up all the room in his mind, making it difficult to concentrate on anything else. Considering that he’s just scrolling through his phone, it isn’t a big deal, but then the alarm goes off and he hopes he isn’t screwed.
The bell rings about five seconds after Eddie hopes it doesn’t; Eddie doesn’t believe in jinxes, but if he did, he most definitely jinxed himself, because he is absolutely screwed.
The call was simple, really. Or, it would have been if Eddie had remembered that there’s a time and place for everything.
It was a stereotypical kitten stuck in a tree situation, so once Eddie made sure Buck’s harness was secure, like he always did, his job was done.
He watched Buck lean against the side of the ladder truck as he pulled on his harness, noticing how the sun highlighted Buck’s features, giving him a soft glow. His smile was only accentuated by his golden scruff, perfectly contouring his jawline.
…I can’t say anything to your face…
Eddie had a complicated relationship with God, but he’s convinced that Buck was hand carved by Him. Or maybe by some talented artist, like Michaelangelo. There’s a poem in there somewhere, but Eddie was too focused on Buck’s gorgeously tan-from-the-summer face to find it.
Buck made his way to Eddie, a soft grin appearing on his face as he realized that Eddie was looking back at him. Once Buck was close enough, Eddie reached out, hooking two fingers into the harness to pull Buck closer to him.
“Hi, baby” Eddie breathed out, close enough now that neither of them have to worry about Chimney gagging at them, or Bobby reminding them of the PDA rules that he, Hen, and Chimney had insisted upon
“Fancy seeing you here” Buck responded, crowding into Eddie’s space
“You’re such a dork.”
Eddie pushed Buck away, then put two hands on Buck’s hips to turn him around so he could make sure the harness was secure. Once he was satisfied, he grabbed Buck’s hand and led them back to the truck.
They climbed onto the roof, and Eddie clipped Buck in, then checked the harness one more time, and patted Buck on the back.
“He’s all ready, Cap.”
“Alright Buck, up you go” Bobby called
“Go get ‘em cowb— ow!” Chimney yelpped, as Hen jabbed him in the stomach “too soon” she hissed, and Eddie shot her a grateful look
Buck climbed up that ladder quickly, and Eddie couldn’t help but enjoy the view as he did. Reaching the top, Buck turned his head to look down at Eddie, who immediately stopped breathing.
The crush was getting ridiculous - all of Eddie’s thoughts suddenly turned into a long string of BuckBuckBuckBuckBuckBuckBuck
Eddie tilted his head back, grinning at Buck
“How you doing, handsome?” he yelled up, as Buck turned back to face the tree.
It was quiet for a moment, and then they could all hear Buck yell something down to them. They watched Buck struggle with the cat for a minute until he managed to secure it properly. He climbed down slowly, careful not to disturb the cat. He handed it to Eddie the second his feet touched the roof of the truck, and then he climbed down and headed over to where Chimney and Hen were leaning against the ambulance.
Eddie climbed down next, walking to where Bobby was standing, comforting a six year old Liz, the cat’s owner.
“Hey kid, I think firefighter Diaz has something that belongs to you.”
Eddie handed the cat to Liz, who offered him a huge grin, which Eddie couldn’t help but match.
“Thank you!” she squealed, giving Eddie an awkward side hug.
Bobby wished Liz and her mother a good day, and wrapped an arm around Eddie’s shoulder as the two of them walked back to the truck.
“So, where’s your partner?”
“I think he’s with Hen and Chimney by the ambulance.”
Once they were close enough, they could see Hen and Chimney facing Buck, who was sitting on the ambulance.
“What happened?” Eddie yelled, running over, Bobby following right behind him.
“Buckaroo got scratched up by a kitty cat” Chimney fake pouted, patting Buck’s head.
Eddie all but shoved him out of the way, cupping Buck’s face and tilting it to get a better look at the scratch. He grabbed the alcohol wipes from the first aid kit beside Buck.
“Eddie, I’m fine. Hen already cleaned it” Buck protested, hissing at the sting as Eddie began to clean the scratch.
Eddie hissed in sympathy but ignored him, thoroughly cleaning the scratch until he was sure it wouldn’t get infected. He threw the wipes away, not hearing Buck’s request to kiss it better, and climbed into the truck.
Once they get back to the firehouse, Buck climbs out of the truck, ditches his turnouts, and makes his way towards the locker room. Lost in thought, Eddie stays there until Hen notices him.
“Hey Eddie, everything ok?”
He blinks twice, then nods “Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking.”
“Don’t hurt yourself.” She smirks, and then he’s alone in the truck once again.
He climbs out of the truck, replaying the scene over and over in his mind, as he takes off his turnouts and puts them away.
Then, Eddie barges into the locker room, and Buck jumps, startled at the intrusion on the quiet that had settled around him. He watches Eddie yank his locker open and dig around in it, clearly a man on a mission. There’s a muffled “aHA,” and then Eddie pulls his head out of the locker and marches over to Buck, handing him an electric razor.
“Um, what’s this?” Buck asks, brows raised with an adorably confused grin on his face
“A razor. You use it to shave.”
“I know what it’s for, Eds. Why are you giving it to me?”
“Because you need to shave” Eddie responds, shoving the razor into Buck’s chest
“You don’t like the scruff?” Buck asks, looking away, and Eddie can hear the hurt in Buck’s voice that he’s valiantly trying to hide
“Buck, no” Eddie drops the razor, which clatters when it hits the ground. He uses his now free hands to cup Buck’s face, trying to catch his eye “Baby, look at me.”
Buck does, because he would do anything for Eddie - they both know it, and Eddie is the same way.
…‘Cause look at your face…
“I love you, and I love the way you look. The problem is that I love it too much. You’re breathtaking, but your scruff makes you so hot it turns me stupid. Not to say you’re not normally hot, but just that it makes you hotter, if that’s even possible, and-”
“Eds, you’re rambling”
“Right, ok. Back to the point. Look, it makes you so hot it turns me stupid, and then I mess up and make stupid mistakes, like I did today.”
“When did you mess up?” Buck asks, confusion evident in his voice
“With the stupid cat”
“You think that was your fault?”
“It was!” Eddie insists “You looked down at me, and you were all pretty and lit up by the sun, and it made me so stupid that I forgot to think before I yelled up to you. I scared the stupid cat and made it attack you.”
“You’re saying ‘stupid’ a lot.” Buck responds with a grin.
“Buu-uck” Eddie whines, hiding his face in Buck’s chest.
Buck laughs, pulling Eddie in tighter, one hand on his lower back, the other carding through his hair. Eddie wraps his arms around Buck’s waist, and they stand silently for a moment, just holding each other.
Eventually, Buck breaks the silence.
“Eddie, the cat scratching me wasn't your fault.”
“Yes it was,” Eddie starts, pulling away from Buck so he can look at him properly “And now your pretty face has a nasty scratch-”
“Babe, just listen for a second. This wasn’t your fault, it’s not possible. I could barely hear what you were yelling, which means there’s no way the cat could have heard it, let alone be scared by it. I was the one who messed - I moved too fast, and the branch shook, so the cat got scared and jumped on me.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better” Eddie says quietly.
“I’m saying that because it’s true. Look. I can prove it.”
Buck lets go of Eddie, putting his arm in between them and points to a scratch on his hand.
“I didn’t put on my gloves, so when I shook the branch it scratched me. If the cat had jumped on me because of you, I wouldn’t have this scratch.”
“And you didn’t get it looked at? Or bandaged? Or taken care of?” Eddie nearly yells, grabbing Buck’s hand to inspect the wound.
“I was going to ask you to look at it, but you were so worried about my face that I kind of forgot. I was going to take care of it now before you barged in here and started blaming my facial hair for a work injury.”
“I blamed myself, Buck. Now, let me take a look at this.”
Eddie grabs the first aid kit Buck had been using and leads him to sit down on the bench. After examining it from every possible angle he determines that the injury is, in fact, not life threatening (like Buck had told multiple times throughout the examination, in between teases about Eddie being in Dad Mode ), Eddie cleans the scratch and places a bandaid on top of it. Then, he raises Buck’s hand to his lips and presses a gentle kiss on the bandaid.
“You sap.”
“Your sap,” Eddie corrects, poking one one of Buck’s cheeks “Did I make you blush?”
“Well, you’re not the only one with a crush on a hot firefighter” Buck responds, swatting Eddie’s hand away
Eddie puts the first aid kit away, and then leans against the locker
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. And I almost died because of my crush.”
“What?” Eddie’s eyebrows are raised so high they’re almost floating on top of his head.
“It was a couple months ago, before we got together. We were all outside washing the truck, and you were wearing that black tank top I like.”
Buck’s blush gets deeper, and Eddie delights in it.
“I uh, I got distracted watching you, missed the truck, and sprayed Hen with the hose. I think the only reason I’m still alive is because Hen had been trying to get me to tell you how I felt, so she just used that as ammunition.”
“So what I’m hearing is that having a crush on me actually saved your life.”
Buck laughs, grabbing Eddie’s arm to pull him down and kiss his cheek.
“Yeah, I guess it did.”
…You’re gorgeous