Work Text:
8th April
Prompt: Borrowing/stealing/sharing Clothes
Eddie had never noticed the importance of it until after a house fire gone wrong smack in the middle of a 24-hour shift.
Buck had barely acknowledged Bobby’s announcement that the team were offline for three hours to recuperate and restock as he slid out of the truck in silence and headed straight for the showers, not looking back at the concerned faces of the team. Everyone was feeling the effects of the fire, the call seemingly simple and easy when they were on their way an hour prior, though it quickly turned sour when the roof caved in mid-rescue.
Buck had been halfway up the ladder when the house had groaned loudly and there was no stopping it as it caved in on itself. His eyes had widened in horror, the fire reflecting off his blue orbs in a sickening dance as he continued up the ladder despite Bobby’s recall through the radio.
The call had come in a little after 4:00am when the eldest son of the couple who rented the house, a 17-year-old, had returned home after being at a friend’s party. He sobered up quickly enough when he spotted the flames flickering out of the downstairs living area window, immediately calling 911 while his girlfriend who had been the designated driver, called his mother’s phone frantically. When she didn’t pick up, the father’s phone was tried next and then the younger sister but none of the family seemed to be answering.
The 118 had showed up only seven minutes after the initial call but within that time, the fire had travelled up the house onto the second floor and taken out the interior pillars holding the upper level up. It only took another minute for Buck to start up the ladder before the roof caved in and the young boy’s cries echoed throughout the street as he watched the house engulf in flames.
Once inside the promptly fast-burning house, Buck found the mother and father buried amongst rubble in their bed, and with a heavy sigh continued to where he found the younger child’s bedroom. The roof on the backend of the house was only partially caved and he found the girl barely hanging on and carried her back through the flames and down the ladder.
It was only then, when on the ground again, that he realised she no longer had a pulse and started doing compressions while Hen worked around him. It was after fifteen minutes when Hen shook her head sadly up to Bobby who had to pry Buck off the girl’s body, the man watching in anguish as her older brother collapsed next to her dead body, cradling her in his arms.
His cries rang around Buck’s head for the entire drive back to the station, and not even the touch of Eddie’s knee to his own could snap him out of the daze he was in.
The team silently stripped their turnout gear and headed up to the loft, the time nearing 5:30am meaning Bobby was more than happy to get started on breakfast, hoping that by the time he had showered and was feeling more himself, Buck would join in helping him as a distraction.
Despite his high hopes, Bobby found himself more and more worried as it hit 6:10am and Buck was still not upstairs, his worried glance being all Eddie needed to head downstairs and check on his boyfriend.
They had a rule when in the firehouse; to keep the PDA to an absolute minimum, which sometimes meant comforting each other from afar with passing glances and text messages during tough shifts. It was mainly a way for them to prove they could be professional even in the worst of circumstances and although Bobby had told them many times they could loosen up a little now that HR was no longer breathing down their necks, they still kept up the mantra.
But sometimes their rule was a load of bullshit and Bobby knew there were times when all the other would need was a hug and a quick peck on the lips to get through till the end of their shift and he was more than happy to oblige as long as his firefighters were happy.
Eddie’s concern grew when he got to the bottom of the stairs and he saw Buck sitting on the floor in the locker room, head in his hands, knees pressed tightly to his chest. His PDA rule flew out the window quicker than it took him to swing the glass door open and fall to his knees, wrapping his boyfriend’s trembling frame up in his arms.
“Baby, you’re shivering. Why are you on the floor?” He looked around and found Buck’s zip-up LAFD hoodie on the bench, grabbing it so he could slide Buck’s arms in the sleeves when Buck shook out of his hold, pushing the zip-up away.
“No, I don’t want it.” Frowning, Eddie unfolded his knees and sat cross-legged across from Buck who had yet to lift his head from his hands. His hair was still dripping wet, arms covered in goosebumps that he imagined stretched up to his shoulders that were covered by his t-shirt.
“Buck I can tell that you’re freezing. What’s wrong?”
“You’re going to think it’s really stupid.” Buck’s voice cracked at the end of the sentence, a small hiccup escaping his lips causing Eddie’s heart to shatter.
“Nothing you could do or say would make me think that baby, tell me.” He leant forward and nudged his nose on Buck’s forearm, the silence between them only filled by Buck’s sniffles as he tried to control his breathing.
“I thought I had packed your zip-up, but when I opened my bag I found mine instead. I don’t want mine, I want yours.” His voice was barely above a whisper, Eddie having to strain his ears to hear him, a frown making its way across his face.
“I don’t understand Buck, what’s the difference?”
“The difference is I don’t like mine. I don’t feel safe in my clothes.” And well if that didn't make Eddie crack in two. Now he understands why Buck always had one of his zip-ups in his bag because when he was feeling insecure after a bad call, his clothes made him feel safe. Even before they were dating, Eddie noticed that Buck had very early on in their friendship stolen his LAFD zip-up meaning Eddie had to order himself a new one, and now it all made sense.
"Buck, baby, why didn't you tell me?" He huffed as he stood, Buck finally looking up at him through wet lashes as Eddie opened his locker and pulled out an old ratty over-head hoodie buried at the bottom of his bag. His heart swelled when Buck immediately reached up for it, sliding his arms and head into it to then bury his head deep into the collar, inhaling long and hard. The tension visibly disappeared from his shoulders, his sigh heavy making his body sag against the lockers in content. Eddie dropped down and wrapped him back up in his arms, Buck's head resting on his shoulder.
“I know it’s silly, but when I’m all in my head, and if I can’t exactly have you attached at the hip, the feeling of your clothes, the smell, it makes me feel sane, like I can breathe easily.”
“It’s not silly at all. I wished you’d have told me.” Buck just shrugged, making no move to lift his head off Eddie’s shoulder. “Besides, I like you in my clothes, with my name across your back.” A giggle slipped out of Buck’s lips, the man wrapping his hand around Eddie’s waist, pulling him closer.
Yeah, there work PDA rule was definitely out the window today.
“That’s very possessive of you, Diaz.”
“Don’t pretend like you don’t love it, Buckley.”