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It starts when–
Well, no, it actually starts when Eddie is just a scared ten-year-old. He could hear his mom screaming in pain as another contraction hit while his dad’s voice saying ‘You’re the man of the house,’ echoed in his head.
The panicked child grabbed the keys to his dad’s new truck and rushed to the garage, determined to help.
He reached up to hit the garage door opener then ran to the driver's seat. He scrambled inside and sat down, realizing he could barely see over the steering wheel. He tried to remember how his dad started the truck (the few times he's seen him lately) and after a few unsuccessful attempts, he heard the engine start up. He hit the gas pedal and the engine revved, before he remembered he had to change gears.
He got the car into reverse and things happened quickly from there. He remembers hitting the gas pedal and the truck going back a bit too fast before an almighty metal screech.
He looked out the window and saw the side of the truck all torn up.
He was in deep shit.
______
Eddie still remembers the tongue-lashing his father gave him with his mother watching on from the doorway. And the spanking his mom doesn’t know about.
He never wanted to drive after that.
When he turned 16, he felt like the only kid in his class not excited to get his driver’s license. But he took the test anyway because he knew mom was getting overwhelmed with balancing all of Adri and Sophia’s dance lessons, sports practices, and after school activities. So he sucked it up, passed the driving test with flying colors, and proceeded to help his mom cart his sisters around for the next few years.
Teenage Eddie would never have admitted it, but he loved the time he had with them, the terrors that they were. He liked when Adri would fill him in on who was crushing on who in her class and taking Sophia to get ice cream after her first soccer goal. But he was always driving for someone else.
Even when he met Shannon, he would always drive because that fit into what his father drilled into him about being a man.
Eddie sucked it up. But he privately hoped that one day he wouldn’t need to be the one driving all the time.
1
When Buck first drove Eddie around, well, Eddie was reluctant.
His truck was blocked by a tree, thanks to the earthquake, and Buck graciously offered to drive Eddie to pick up Christopher and take them home.
While Eddie was glad to not be driving, he was trusting Buck with the most precious part of himself– Chris.
Buck just had to give him that smile of his and one look into his eyes had Eddie agreeing.
He still didn’t know Buck very well yet. Yes, they have each other’s back out in the field. But he’s heard that Buck can be a little… reckless.
But turns out he had nothing to worry about.
Buck might have pushed the speed limit a little getting to Chris’s school, however Eddie barely noticed while he was going out of his mind with worry.
But when Chris was in the car?
Buck had Chris smiling and laughing so quickly and easily, while his eyes firmly stayed on the road. He took turns slowly, came to a full stop for two whole seconds at every stop sign, and didn’t immediately speed through an intersection when the light turned green, looking out for anyone trying to run it the other way.
Eddie felt safe.
And he felt it was safe to trust Buck with Christopher.
For the first time since he moved to LA (hell, maybe even before that), Eddie relaxed back into the car seat.
2
A couple months later, and he and Buck were as thick as thieves.
It’s not the first time Buck has driven him around, but he’s always had convenient excuses before.
Today, Buck has been at the Diaz household for a few hours before Chris decided they absolutely needed to bake chocolate chip cookies.
Only problem is, Eddie doesn’t have the ingredients.
All three pile outside and Eddie starts for Buck’s jeep before he remembers that Chris is 7 and under state law, he has to be in his booster seat.
Eddie stops in his tracks and Buck runs into him, letting out a little ‘oof.’
“Everything okay?” Buck asks.
Eddie turns around. “Uh, yeah. Just. Chris needs to be in his booster seat.”
“Ah, that’s fine man, we can just hop in your truck,” Buck replies, before starting to round over to the passenger seat.
Eddie stops him with a hand on his arm.
Buck looks at him confused, a cute little tilt to his head. When Eddie hands him his keys, that confusion only increases.
“Why don’t you drive the truck?” Eddie says, trying to play it off like it’s nothing.
“Uh, sure, I guess,” Buck slowly grabs the keys.
Eddie gives him a smile and Buck seems to melt a little and shake off his confusion before nodding and going to hop in the driver seat.
Eddie gets Chris settled and hops in the passenger seat.
He doesn’t even mind Buck messing with the seat, making room for those long legs of his. If Eddie had his way, Buck would be in the driver’s seat all the time.
At least he was smooth about getting his way this time, right?
3
“Hey, why don’t you like to drive?” Buck asks Eddie a few months later.
Chris is at Eddie’s Abuela's house for the night, so they’re on their way to grab beers at a hook and ladder bar closer to Eddie’s.
It’s not the first time they grabbed beers together and Eddie is still grappling with how to make it seem more like a date rather than a friend hang out. Every time he’s tried to broach the topic, Buck either changes the subject or doesn’t seem to get what Eddie’s hinting at, so he’s given up a little. But Buck’s worth it. Eddie’s fine waiting if he has to.
Tonight though, Eddie’s reluctance to drive was a little obvious.
You see, Buck had been staying at Eddie’s since their last shift and he somehow beat Eddie home from work, so his Jeep was blocked in by Eddie’s truck.
When they went outside to head to the bar, they looked at their cars and Eddie said, “Here, I’ll move my truck to a street spot so we can take your Jeep tonight.”
“Uh okay,” Eddie heard Buck say behind him.
Now, Buck’s making the turn off Bedford and brings up the question.
“What do you mean?” Eddie tries to play it off.
Buck snorts a little. It should be unattractive, but Eddie’s way past that phase. Nothing about Buck could be unattractive to him now.
“I mean, you always want me to drive,” Buck responds.
Eddie doesn’t respond for a bit, not knowing what to say.
“It’s fine I guess but I don’t exactly love it,” he says looking out the window and avoiding Buck’s eyes.
He feels a hand on his knee.
He looks over, and Buck’s pointedly looking at the road and not at him. The hand stays on his knee.
Just before they reach the bar, Eddie places his hand over Buck’s and tightens his grip.
4
A couple years go by and Eddie needs to hop in the driver’s seat a few times.
He nearly lost it when the truck exploded, trapping Buck underneath.
“Sorry you lost your chauffeur,” Buck joked in the hospital afterward. Eddie didn't find it very funny.
He played shuttle driver for a lot of Buck’s appointments after that.
The tsunami and lawsuit complicated things even more.
And just when he and Buck are getting into a place to get back to their dynamic, a fucking sniper shoots him in broad daylight.
And sure, Buck drives him around a lot after that. But Eddie’s not exactly in a good place to enjoy it.
After he takes a baseball bat to his room, he works on things. He works on himself.
And he owes a lot of it to Buck. Buck was the hand that reached down and pulled him from the pit of his depression.
But Eddie puts in the work.
He goes to therapy and learns to communicate and when he finally starts feeling like he doesn’t have a physical weight on his shoulders and a vice around his chest constricting his lungs, he takes steps to make himself even happier.
He talks to Buck.
He practiced a speech with Frank. He had something prepared that talked about how Buck’s smile felt like the literal sun, about how Buck caring for him didn’t feel patronizing like it would from anyone else, but how it made him feel cherished. It talked about how he made Eddie's heart burn so brightly he sometimes thinks his it would burn out of his chest.
But in the moment, Eddie only gets a few sentences into his confession before Buck interrupts him with a kiss.
Eddie didn’t choose the best place for his confession. It’s just, he found Buck cooking dinner in the kitchen after he came back from the session with Frank and he had to get it out then and there.
Eddie’s not sure how long the kiss goes on before he stumbles back and hits the counter.
“Ow, fuck,” Eddie hisses.
Buck rubs the spot on his hip that bumped into the kitchen island. Then he clears things out of the way behind Eddie and lifts him up on the countertop like he weighs nothing.
“Oh,” Eddie says, dazed. Buck’s lips move back to his and Eddie forgets everything else for a while. Everything except the feeling of Buck's lips on his, the stubble running across his face, the way one of Buck's hands was tucked in the perfect spot at his lower back as if it was made to rest there. At least until they smell the dinner burning.
And later, Eddie can’t find the paper with his prepared speech. He’s sure he left it on the counter but forgets about the search in his rush to get Chris off to school the next morning.
(Weeks later Buck tells him to grab some cash to tip a delivery driver from his wallet and Eddie spots it in there, next to a photo strip of Buck and Chris from a zoo trip. Eddie grins and gently tucks it back into place.)
Now though, they’ve been on a few dates. When they can make it out the door at least.
Eddie’s never felt so giddy.
He and Buck automatically go to their spots in the car– Buck in the driver’s seat and Eddie his passenger.
Tonight, they’re heading to a steak restaurant in West Hollywood Buck heard about from someone on B-shift.
They hop in the car and Buck makes a few turns before he chuckles.
“What is it?” Eddie asks, reaching over and putting his hand on Buck’s thigh, rubbing it up and down.
“Hey now, you might not want to do that until the drive home if you still want steak,” Buck says, placing his hand over Eddie’s, stilling it. “I figured it out.”
“Figured what out?” Eddie asks.
“You, Eddie, are a passenger princess,” Buck says, and Eddie sputters a little.
“Excuse me?”
“It’s not a bad thing, babe,” Buck defends. “You just… liked to be cared for in that way.”
Eddie remains silent, still not happy with the title. He pulls his hand back.
“Hey,” Buck says, grabbing Eddie’s hand and lacing their fingers. “Thank you.”
“...For what?” Eddie asks, confused.
“For trusting me to take care of you,” Buck responds. Eddie melts a little. “Getting to care for you? Well, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Maybe being a passenger princess wasn’t so bad.
5
The 118 teases them a little bit after that. It didn’t take them too long to notice Buck always drives. But when the teasing starts, Buck and Eddie just shrug, grab each others hands and smile, content.
(And if Buck has moved on from just calling Eddie his “passenger princess” in the car to also calling him princess in bed? Well, Eddie doesn’t kiss and tell. But he’s very satisfied.)
It’s about six months into their relationship when Eddie feels like the l-word could jump from his mouth at any second.
He's been trying to keep it at bay, telling himself it has to be special.
Tonight they’re at Tia Pepa’s house, and a lot of Eddie’s extended family gets to meet Buck for the first time.
Buck takes it like a champ, surprises Eddie’s cousins when he responds to them in Spanish when they try to talk shit in front of him.
Buck eats too many of Pepa’s taquitos and tres leches cake while Eddie drinks to much of the sangria.
He’s leaning in to Buck a little too much, acting giggly in a way that he wouldn’t be if sober, when Buck tries to wrangle him and get him home.
Pepa stops them on the doorstep and holds her hand to Buck’s face.
“Thank you for taking care of him, chico,” she says.
Buck looks at Eddie, takes in his glazed eyes and disheveled hair, and smiles. “Always.”
Eddie might not be sober, but that cements his desire to marry this man.
Buck gets him to the car and lifts him into the passenger seat. Buck even leans in and buckles his seatbelt for him.
Eddie grabs him when he goes to pull away.
Buck gives him a smile and chuckles. “Hello there, princess.”
Eddie pulls him into a kiss. When Buck pulls back with a hum, Eddie can’t keep it in anymore. “I love you.”
Buck freezes.
“I know I’ve had a few drinks, but I’ve felt it for a while. I love you. I love you so much I feel like I could do anything. I love you so much sometimes I feel like I’m floating. I love you so much that I can’t stand being away from you even for a sec—”
Buck cuts him off with a kiss. “I love you too,” Buck says when he pulls back. Eddie can see those blue eyes glistening. “So much, Eddie, you have no idea.”
Eddie chuckles a little. “I think I do.”
They both giggle before Buck rounds the truck and hops in the driver’s seat to take them home. His hand lands securely on the top of Eddie’s thigh.
And Eddie? Eddie begins to plan.
+1
It takes a few months for everything to come together.
Christopher helps. He finds out what Eddie’s planning and insists on it, actually. And Eddie couldn’t begrudge him that. He loves how much his son loves Buck.
But finally, it looks like things are set.
Hen agrees to take Chris for the weekend and he and Buck have three consecutive days off.
The last shift before their anticipated weekend, Eddie stands nervously outside of Bobby’s office. He steels himself and knocks on the door.
“Come in,” he hears Bobby say, and he opens the door to see Bobby sitting down with his reading glasses on, working on a report.
“Eddie,” Bobby sits up, surprised. “What can I help you with?”
Eddie shuffles a little and looks both ways before closing the door and taking the seat across from Bobby’s desk.
He takes a breath and looks Bobby in the eye. “I want your blessing.”
Bobby looks even more confused.
“Uh, okay. What for?”
“...I want to ask Buck to marry me tomorrow.”
Bobby blinks. “Oh,” he says, sitting back. “OH.” Bobby’s eyes sharpen and he looks Eddie over from head to toe. “And you’ll treat him well?”
Eddie nods rapidly. “Yes Bob– er, sir. I’ll treat him like a king.”
Bobby stares at him for a little longer and smiles. “I know you will,” he says softly. He reaches a hand across the desk and Eddie hesitantly takes it. The grip is a little tight, but Bobby’s smile widens. “You have my blessing, Eddie. Welcome to the family.”
—
The next day, Buck’s rambling a little bit as he and Eddie get ready for the day.
“This documentary was so interesting, Eds! If Chris was here he’d back me up. Like, did you know the Milky Way smells like rum and raspberries? But like, how do they know, Eddie? How do they know?”
Eddie just smiles as they make their way to his truck.
Buck goes to get in to the driver’s side before Eddie stops him. “No, I’m driving this time.”
Buck freezes. “Uh, what?”
“Mmm, yep,” Eddie says, trying to remain unphased.
Buck looks nervous though. “But, uh, why? I thought you hated driving?”
“Mmm, it’s a surprise,” Eddie says, looking at his nails.
Buck reluctantly rounds the other side and gets into the passenger seat.
“Um, I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?” He says after making sure Eddie buckles his seat belt. “Eddie? Princesa?”
That makes Eddie look Buck in the eye and soften. “No, Buck. You’re perfect,” Eddie says. “But we’re not going to the grocery store.”
“We’re not?”
“Nope,” Eddie says, before starting the car and pulling out of the driveway.
“Do I get to know where we’re going?”
“Mmm, nope,” Eddie replies.
Buck keeps questioning Eddie the rest of the drive until Eddie turns on the drive up to Griffith Observatory.
Eddie sees Buck freeze out of the corner of his eye.
“Eddie we can’t be here,” Buck says in a rush.
“And why not?’ Eddie asks.
“Chris would kill me if I saw the exhibit without him!” Buck responds.
Eddie laughs and grabs Buck’s hand. “Well lucky for you, I have Chris’s blessing.”
Eddie holds Buck’s hand the rest of the way and doesn’t comment when he sees Buck hurriedly text someone (probably Chris) with his other hand.
Buck’s a bit restless when they get out of the car, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Eddie probably walks a little too slowly for Buck’s liking, but he wants to savor the moment.
“Relax, sweetheart,” Eddie says, and Buck’s shoulders lose a bit of their tension, but don’t fully drop.
But Buck slowly comes around as they explore some of the special exhibits. He starts adding a few extra facts from the documentary he and Chris watched here and there.
When they round the corner to the viewing area, Buck’s back to his normal exuberant self before he spots some familiar faces. “Uh, Bobby, Maddie? What are you doing here?”
“Buck!” another voice calls.
“Chris!” Buck yells, turning around. Eddie takes it as his chance, pulls the ring box out of his pocket and drops to one knee.
Buck turns around, sees Eddie and immediately starts tearing up. “Eddie?” he whispers.
“Buck. Evan, you make me feel the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. I feel free when I’m with you. Will you keep making me the happiest man alive and marry me?”
Buck’s chin wobbles. “Y-yes!” he chokes out, dropping to his knees to hug Eddie.
Buck and Eddie hear the cheers from their family behind them, but the two are in their own little world.
Later, when the happy couple drives home, Buck hops in the driver’s seat after getting Eddie settled and laughs.
“I should have known something was up when you decided to drive today,” Buck teases.
Eddie shrugs, the smile feels like it’s permanently etched across his face. “Well, I figured what’s one more time? Now, I’ll have you here to drive me around for the rest of our lives.”
Buck beams and starts up the car.