Chapter Text
Chapter 1:
“It's Just a Scratch”
“Ow!” Buck yelps with a sharp inhale, feeling something run across his knee, startling him and shooting pain up his leg.
“What happened?” Tommy comes around the corner from the stairs, worry creasing his forehead, arms outstretched, reaching for Buck.
“I cut my leg on something,” Buck’s searching for the source of the minor injury, hoping to remove whatever danger lurks around the coffee table.
“Here, let me see,” Tommy guides Buck to the couch, gently pushing him to sit down so he can assess the damage. He moves his hands gently around the scratch, warm fingers softly probing Buck’s knee.
“Do you think I’ll keep the leg,” Buck teases, “Dr. Kinard?”
Tommy looks up, his cheeks rising as he smiles at his boyfriend, “It’s hard to tell, I might need to do a more,” he raises his eyebrows, “in-depth assessment.” He rises, poking at Buck as he does, “Let me get the first aid kit, I’ll be right back.”
Tommy takes off for the bathroom, leaving Buck to make sure he hasn’t gotten any blood on his hardwood floors, it’s happened before and it’s a bitch to clean. Luckily the scrape doesn’t seem to be bleeding too much, and Tommy is already heading back to the couch, alcohol swab and Band-Aid in hand.
“Remember, if you behave for Dr. Kinard, you just might get a treat,” Tommy teases, moving to open the supplies.
“Oh really?” Buck asks, raising his eyebrows in return. “I’ll be sure to be on my best behavior, then.”
Tommy laughs as he cleans up the wound, smoothing out the bandage and adding a quick kiss to the injury over Buck’s knee, “I think you’ll be okay.”
“Thank you, I feel like I’ve already healed,” he pulls Tommy in for a kiss as Tommy stands and Buck continues, “Now come on, we’ve got a movie to watch.” He pats the couch cushion next to him, scooting over so Tommy can join him, grabbing the television remote from the coffee table.
Tommy squeezes in beside him, wrapping his arm around Buck’s shoulders as he slumps into the cushions, pulling the blanket next to him across them both. “What’s screening tonight?” Tommy asks Buck. They’ve been making their way through AFI’s top 100 list, since so many of Tommy’s cultural references go clear over Buck’s head.
Buck pulls up his phone, looking at the list they’ve created, “Well, it looks like we’ve got a thriller on the docket. Rear Window,” he tells Tommy, looking over his shoulder at Tommy who is looking down at him.
“Ooh, okay well settle in, this one’s bound to keep you up tonight,” Tommy says, turning off the lamp beside them as the movie starts.
They watch the film, or at least as much of it as they can while Buck interrupts with interesting facts, anecdotes, or questions. Tommy doesn’t mind, indulging in all of Buck’s interruptions, eager to hear more.
Buck tells Tommy about the time “Bobby and Michael got into a little bit of a sticky situation with Michael’s boyfriend, David. You see, the apartment building across the street from Michael…” Buck continues, Tommy completely enamored by Buck’s storytelling, eyes urging him to continue whenever he pauses.
The night ends with a steamy make-out session on the couch as the film concludes, credits rolling as Tommy and Buck wrap themselves in each other, excited to cross another film off their list. “That was a good one,” Buck notes.
“I thought you might like it,” Tommy adds as he turns the lamp on.
They stand and stretch, heading off to the bedroom, “Do you work tomorrow?” Tommy asks, unable to recall off the top of his head from the calendar on the fridge if Buck is scheduled. “Yeah, I’ve got the next 48,” Buck says dejectedly. Normally he’d be excited to work, but these days he’d rather spend his time basking in the glow of his relationship with Tommy.
“Don’t sound so excited,” Tommy responds sarcastically, throaty chuckle coming out along with it. “I’ve got a 24, but don’t worry, we’ll be able to see each other in a couple of days. Plus, we still have the night together,” he adds, smiling.
Evan grabs his hand and tugs him into the bedroom, eager to show Tommy just how much he’ll miss him over the next 2 days, and Tommy gladly lets himself be led anywhere Evan is taking him.
----
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
Buck wakes with a start, rudely interrupted from his peaceful slumber by his alarm. He flips over, blindly palming the nightstand looking for his phone with his eyes still closed. His hand finds the offending device and turns it off, and as he unceremoniously drops it, he can hear the thud of the phone landing on the floor beside the bed.
He takes a deep breath and unearths himself from the duvet, opening his eyes one at a time to the morning. As he sits up, he hears the shower running from across the room and knows Tommy has already gotten his day started.
Buck stretches his neck and back, twisting himself trying to figure out just what feels off. He doesn’t feel “sick,” rather, he feels “off kilter.” He moves through his body in his mind, trying to find the root of the feeling. Eventually finding nothing, he stands up, grabbing his cell phone as he does.
He pitches forward, only slightly, as he reaches down to grab it, catching himself and plopping back on the bed. He shakes out the cobwebs in his mind and stands up again, this time successfully, and moves over to the dresser, grabbing a t-shirt and boxers before heading to the bathroom, rapping on the door.
“Tommy?” He raises his voice a little so Tommy can hear him.
“Morning! I’ll just be another minute, come on in,” Tommy replies.
Buck swings open the door, and he hears a small gasp with a loud “Evan! Shut that, it’s cold!” from behind the shower curtain.
Buck smiles, kicking the door shut with his toes and walking over to the sink.
“How did you sleep?” Tommy asks.
“Fine, I guess,” Buck replies blearily, rubbing his eyes.
“You guess? Feeling okay?” Tommy asks, and Buck thinks it’s sweet how quickly he has learned Buck’s tells, always seemingly knowing just how Buck is doing.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine, just tired.” Buck responds, adding toothpaste to his toothbrush and turning on the water, “GAH! Evan, stop!” He can hear Tommy wildly scoot away from the shower head, “Give a guy some warning next time,” he continues.
“Sorry,” Buck says, shutting off the tap, “I’ll m-ke it uh to –u w-n y’re d-ne,” he says as he brushes his teeth, and he can hear Tommy’s crinkly smile in his response, “You better.”
After Buck finishes brushing his teeth, he peels the curtain back, Tommy turning to offer a kiss. Buck sticks his hand in the shower, pulling some water from the stream and splashing it on his face. He runs his hands over his face and pulls back, grabbing a towel off the wall as he does. Buck dries himself off and sends a quick “I’ll be downstairs, starting breakfast,” to Tommy, hearing his “Be down in a minute!” in reply.
Buck heads down the steps, pulling his t-shirt over his head as he does, and as he’s walking he notices the scratch on his leg is looking a little red. He makes a mental note to clean and re-bandage it after breakfast as he moves into the kitchen.
Grabbing a glass and filling it with water, he stuffs the pain reliever he grabbed from the bathroom in his mouth, swallowing it with a swig after the glass has been filled.
He goes to the fridge, grabbing his ingredients for breakfast, and starts on some omelets as he hears the water shut off in the bathroom, Tommy’s footsteps moving across the tile.
Buck can’t help but smile as he continues through his peaceful morning. After he and Tommy part ways at the door with a gentle kiss goodbye, Buck again experiences a quick rush of dizziness, pausing as he walks to his jeep. He doesn’t think much of it, but he’ll have to keep an eye on it if it happens again. For now, Buck tosses his bag in the back seat, hopping in the front and turning over the ignition, heading off to the 118 for his shift.