Work Text:
It was a week after their not-date where they had been able to make up, and also when Tommy had told Buck he ‘wasn’t even close’ in getting his coffee order right. But that was alright. They had made up, he had taken Tommy to his sister’s wedding (as a date!), he had come out to everyone who mattered, and now they were officially “dating”.
But back to the coffee order thing…
Last week Buck had ordered Tommy a coffee before the man arrived, as a sort of peace offering. He had ordered it the same way he knew Bobby and Eddie took thiers- black coffee, half-n-half, and half a scoop of sugar. Could he say why exactly he ordered that for Tommy? Not really, he just figured the man would have a similar coffee taste as Bobby and Eddie.
Judging by the expression the man made after taking one sip, it was nowhere close to what he preferred.
But that was alright, it was Buck’s first try, if Tommy didn’t like the basic cream and sugar in his coffee, it would take at least two tries to get it right.
So now, as he’s driving over to Tommy’s place for their next date - the man hadn’t told him what he has planned yet - he stopped at a coffee shop along the way. One that opened up less than six months ago, but has had a lot of good reviews so far.
He knew from last week that Tommy didn’t like the basic coffee cream and sugar order most people get, but instead of going for something crazy, like the list of ‘staff picks’ written on a sign outdoors, Buck figured he would stick to something on the simple side today. (But he would get one of the staff picks for himself, the oat milk and vanilla espresso sounded like a good combination.) He would get Tommy something slightly on the sweeter side this time. Oh, and since they were having a hot spell this week, he’d get it iced.
He ordered a basic iced latte for Tommy, praying that it was the man’s coffee order.
After he placed the order and it was completed, he picked both of the cups up and returned outside to his Jeep, setting them in the coffee holders and proceeded to make his way to Tommy’s place, Tommy meeting him as he knocked on the door.
“You got here early,” Tommy said as he pulled him in for a hug.
“Yeah,” Buck smiled and held up the cups. “And I brought drinks!”
“Oh?” Tommy said as he looked down at the drink Buck pushed into his hands. “Are you sure its the right order this time?” he asked playfully.
“Don’t look at it like that,” Buck said, a pout forming on his eyebrows and lips. “You’ll like it this time, I promise.” Tommy continued to look at the cup, slowly growing with condensation on its sides, warily. “At least taste it,” he said again, nudging Tommy’s side.
Tommy rolled his eyes and did as Buck said, looking at the cup once more before bringing it up to his mouth and taking a sip.
Buck looked up, an excited smile on his face and bouncing on his toes as he watched Tommy take a sip of the drink. The same moment he saw Tommy frown into his drink and his eyebrows scrunch together his smile fell.
Tommy took the drink away from his mouth, giving Buck a sympathetic smile as he patted his shoulder. “Nice try, but it's still nowhere near close.”
☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕
Buck huffed as he pulled into another coffee shop, this one down the street from the harbor station. Tommy had volunteered to work a double shift today, one of the other guys needing to take off for his kid’s baseball tournament, and since it had almost been a week since they’ve seen each other (their work schedules were not nice this month), Buck wanted to surprise the man by showing up.
If the surprise also included another attempt at getting his coffee order, Tommy would probably see right through him. But that was okay.
So he read over the little poster board above the cash register showing all of the options and items this coffee shop offered. Buck knew that Tommy had been here repeatedly before, on his previous visits to harbor station, he had seen little coffee cups and paper bags with the place’s logo printed on them.
To be honest, Buck hadn’t really given much thought to what order he would get for Tommy this time, more focused on the fact that he would finally be able to see him this week. But now standing here, he was trying to quickly make up his mind so he can get to Tommy sooner.
He read over the menu again, and in the bottom saw a little sticker, reading “Try out our famous Cold Brew! It’s what put us on the map!”
Buck didn’t know what ‘map’ they were talking about, but figured it couldn’t hurt. In fact, in his mind, it made perfect sense. Tommy didn't like his first attempt being the basic coffee order, so on his second attempt Buck tried something slightly sweeter - which also resulted in him being told ‘not even close.’
So now, Buck will go in the other direction - just a straight cold brew. He figured Tommy probably didn’t like all the added milk and sugar, so Buck won’t give him any of that. Just straight black coffee, no milk, no sugar. Maybe in Tommy’s mind, it made up for the giant sweet tooth he had.
Buck had a passing thought that maybe he should buy some coffee for the guys on Tommy’s crew, but most of them he hadn’t even really talked to yet, there was no way he’d be able to guess their coffee orders.
Picking up the orders at the end of the counter less than five minutes later, Buck left the little shop and headed to Harbor station, excited to finally be seeing his boyfriend again.
As he pulled up to the station, Buck noticed that the helicopter Tommy usually flew wasn’t there. It seemed he was out on a call right now. While that sucked, it didn’t stop Buck from going inside, he could only hope Tommy would return soon.
And luckily for Buck, just as he was approaching the pedestrian doors on the other side of the hangar, he overheard the sound of chopper blades with Tommy returning.
Walking through the station, he caught sight of Lucy as he passed through their kitchen area. “Is that you Buck?” She called out to him asking.
“Lucy?” Buck asked as he walked into the kitchen. He saw her standing amongst some of the crew.
“Who’s this?” one of the guys asked. Buck looked over at him, he hadn’t met him yet.
“Oh, that’s Buck, from the 118, he and Tommy started going out last month,” Lucy explained. “Buck meet Harrison, Harrison meet Evan Buckley - or Buck,” Lucy introduced them.
“Oh, so this is the ‘Buck’ you two have been talking about,” Harrison said.
“How often do you guys talk about me?” Buck asked, looking between the two furtively.
Lucy narrowed her eyes at harrison. “Exactly two times when you haven’t been here,” she said. Then her eyes noticed the drinks in Buck’s hands and they lit up. “So what did you get him this time?” she asked.
“Get him?” Harrison repeated, confused.
Lucy’s face split into a smile. “Buck here has been trying to guess Tommy’s order. So far he hasn’t been successful.”
“Wait, you’re dating Tommy for how long and you don’t know his order yet?” Harrison asked as he walked around Lucy to get to the refrigerator.. “Sure it's a bit… unexpected, but it's not that hard.”
Lucy waved her fork at him. “Were you not following? He’s trying to guess it,” she explained, then eyed the drink Buck put in front of Tommy. “Although I know from looking at it that’s not even close.”
Okay… that didn’t make Buck feel any better.
“Wait really?” Buck asked. He thought he had a good idea in his hands.
That was when Tommy came back inside, heading straight for Buck. “You did tell me you were gonna come today,” he said as he wrapped his arms around Buck from behind.
Buck managed to turn around without breaking Tommy’s loose grip around him. “I wanted to surprise you,” he said.
“Surprise me?”
“Yeah,” Buck said, smiling softly, then motioning with a tip of his head. “I brought you a coffee too, tell me if I got it right this time?”
Tommy smiled and leaned in just far enough to place a kiss on Buck’s forehead (eliciting groan from Lucy and Harrison still standing nearby). Tommy then let go og Buck and turned to pick up the coffee Buck passed to him.
Tommy looked at the cup almost fearfully, and Buck’s stomach squirmed. Tommy’s face looked even worse than the last two times he had tried the coffee Buck gave him, and he hadn’t even taken a sip yet!
“Tommy, you don’t have to torture yourself with that,” Harrison whispered to him. Buck mock-glared at the man, give him a chance at least.
Tommy lifted the cup and slowly took a sip of the drink - well really half a sip, if that. Before he quickly set it back down on the table and shook his head.
It appeared that the direction Buck took in getting to Tommy’s order was the opposite of where he should be going.
He heard Harrison let out a laugh as he walked behind him, stopping to pat Buck on the shoulder. “Nice try kid, hope you get it next time.”
☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕
Okay, so where had Buck gone wrong here?
He and Tommy had been dating for two months so far, and he was still no where closer to getting his coffee order right then when he first started. It was driving Buck crazy.
He had started with a basic coffee order - it was wrong.
Then tried something sweeter, a basic iced latte - still nowhere close.
And the last time, the cold brew - Tommy could barely look at the drink before tasting it.
So where did that leave Buck now?
Thinking back over all of Tommy’s reactions again, Buck knew there had to be some type of add-on after the straight black coffee cold brew reaction.
Last time, Harrison had given him the hint that Tommy’s order was something unexpected, but not hard.
Unexpected but not hard…
“Buck, why are you glaring at the menu?” Eddie asked from where he was standing next to Buck. Buck and Eddie had plans today, plans to go up to ____ for ___. And Tommy, who was supposed to be getting off a shift in twenty minutes, was going to meet them there. Buck and Eddie were both running a little early, so they decided to make a stop on their way there.
“I’m trying to think of what Tommy would want today,” Buck said.
“Well what does he usually get?” Eddie asked casually.
Buck was silent for a second before admitting. “I… don’t really know.”
Eddie turned to look at Buck quizzically. “You don’t know his coffee order? Haven’t you been dating him for like… four months now? You’ve known nearly everyone’s at the station by the time you’ve worked two shifts with them, memorized them even.”
Buck’s eyebrows narrowed into a pout as he let a breath out through his nose. “Well, I got it wrong the first time and since then I’m refusing to let him tell me until I get it right.”
Eddie laughed, completely amused. “Somehow that just seems like something the two of you would have going on,” he said. When Buck turned his attention back to the menu, Eddie patted him on the shoulder. “Well, while you try to figure out what Tommy wants, I’m going to get my order.”
That left Buck exactly where he started. Only now Eddie was apparently completely amused by the knowledge of Buck’s problem. Typical Eddie, finding humor in his suffering. Buck will never forgive him for this. (He probably will.)
Anyway, Buck turned his attention back to the menu above him. Something that is unexpected but not complicated… unexpected but not complicated…
That’s when Buck saw the frozen drink options, the first one being a basic frappuccino.
A frappuccino?
Well it wasn’t really complicated exactly. And it’s definitely unexpected…
… maybe…
“What did you get him?” Eddie asked as Buck went to stand next to him as they waited for the drinks to be made.
“Frappuccino,” Buck said.
“Frappuccino?”
Buck shrugged his shoulders. “One of the guys on his shift said his order was unexpected but not complicated, I’ve already exhausted my options for whatever other drink fits that description.”
Eddie hummed. “Well you’re right about one thing, it’s unexpected and uncomplicated.”
Precisely seventeen minutes later Eddie pulled into the parking lot of the ___ right next to where Buck pointed out Tommy’s truck. As they got out of the truck, Buck passed Eddie the drink tray that held their three drinks. “You go meet up with Tommy at the entrance, I’ll pay the parking meter,” he said.
“What Buck? You don’t need to pay for that,” Eddie tried to protest.
“Nonsense, you drove, I’ll pay for parking,” Buck waved him off.
Eddie shook his head as he turned to walk towards Tommy. As he approached the man, Tommy raised an eyebrow.
“Buck’s paying for parking, he sent me on ahead,” Eddie explained as he passed Tommy the drink Buck ordered for him. “That’s for you - medium frappuccino.”
“Frappuccino?” Tommy asked.
“That’s Buck's attempt today,” Eddie explained.
Tommy looked down at the cup, a furrow appearing between his eyebrows.
“If you don’t want it, you can take the hot chocolate Buck got for himself,” Eddie said as he held up Buck’s drink.
“I’ll take Buck’s drink,” Tommy said.
☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕
Buck figured he might have been living in Los Angeles a little too long when, as soon as the temperatures dipped below 75 degrees, he pulled out all of his long sleeved shirts and hoodies to start wearing as it was now ‘too cold.’ (What had happened to the teen who had always insisted on wearing shorts throughout the cold Pennsylvania winters?)
And even though Buck knew, conceptually, it wasn’t that cold, it was also only the last week of September right now, it definitely shouldn’t be this cold this early in the year. At least wait until October for the high to only be in the mid 70’s.
Buck wasn’t sure which drink to order for Tommy today. His last attempt with the latte and two espresso shots had already completely exhausted his ideas. He was pretty sure Tommy was just playing with him now.
As he walked into his usual coffee shop, he noticed a sign right outside the front door advertising the fall flavors they had just brought back in stock. The usual maple, salted caramel, cinnamon, and … pumpkin spice.
Maybe Tommy liked pumpkin drinks? Everyone liked pumpkin spice flavored things in the fall, right? Buck certainly did.
It was the seasonal flavor, Buck had to at least give it a shot right?
‘’I’ll take two pumpkin spiced lattes - hot,’’ Buck tells the barista when he gets to the front of the line. She smiles at him and nods, Buck pays and waits at the end of the counter for them to be made.
And if Tommy didn’t like this, at least the warm temperature of the drink could warm Buck up.
When Buck walked into Tommy’s place, he found the man in his backyard, working on repairing part of his deck that fell down over the summer. When Tommy heard Buck’s footsteps as he walked up, he looked over and smiled at him. Noticing the two coffee cups in his hands, he asked. “What did you get for me this time?”
Buck handed one of the cups to Tommy. “Try it,” he said.
Tommy lifted an eyebrow. “You’re not going to tell me what you got?”
“Just try it,” Buck said again.
Tommy took a sip of it, and didn’t immediately spit it out. Which Buck had to count as progress.
Instead he made a slightly questioning look down at the cup, took another sip, more slowly, then pulled it away from him and shook his head. “You were a lot closer that time,” Tommy said, smiling up at him. “But still not right.”
“Oh come on!” Buck exclaimed, throwing his hands up behind him. “You took two sips this time, that has to count for something, right?”
“Sure, it counts for you getting closer,” Tommy said, and passed the drink to Buck’s hands. “But I’m still not going to be the one to finish that. Nice try though.”
☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕
For the life of him, Buck just didn’t get it.
He always thought he was great at guessing people’s coffee orders. When he first arrived at the 118, he was able to get Chim and Hen’s on the first try. Bobby’s as well.
And okay, he might not have guessed Eddie’s but that was only because the man was a control freak when it came to his coffee and didn’t let anyone else make his.
And okay, he didn’t guess Taylor’s either, but that was only because she had gone ahead and told him before even giving him a chance.
He was able to guess Ravi’s before he even met the man, and that was only from the couple of stories he had heard about him as a probie before he moved to A-shift.
So how, in the eight, almost nine months that they had been dating, has Buck still not been able to get Tommy’s coffee order?
It was quite honestly making him despair at this point.
It was a damn coffee order. Buck knew almost everything else about Tommy. His favorite movie, favorite dessert, his dream vacation destination, the breed of dog he wants to get (a little wiener dog, surprisingly), the name he wants to give said wiener dog (Bean - which Buck finds hilarious), his biggest fears, and why he hasn’t talked to his dad in four years. So just why could Buck not figure out Tommy’s coffee order?
That’s when he noticed that the coffee shop he stopped in today was having a sale on their milk alternatives - specifically their oat milk.
Maybe it was the milk? Buck knew Tommy wasn’t vegan or vegetarian or anything but hey, Buck was at his wits end right now.
And oh fuck it.
Buck would test out if it was the milk. What was the worst that could happen? Tommy says he didn’t like it? That’s already happened so many times he’d lost count.
He went back to his second attempt with two changes: oat milk instead of regular milk, and hot instead of cold.
This had to be it, if not because Buck would lose his mind if he had to do this again, but because there were literally no other options that he could think of.
When Buck arrived at Tommy’s house ten minutes later holding two cups of coffee, he was giddy as he walked up to the man.
Tommy smiled as Buck pushed another coffee mug into his hands. ‘’What is this?’’ he asked. ‘’The fifth, sixth time?’’
Buck gave Tommy a big smile. ‘’Fifth time’s the charm?’’ he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Tommy smiled, and after sharing a quick kiss with Buck, he took the cup buck held out for him, looked down at it for a second, and brought it up to his mouth for a taste.
“What’s in this?” Tommy asked, looking at the cup like it would suddenly come alive and start eating his hand.
“Oat milk,” Buck said, smiling. “How do you like it?”
“It tastes… weird,” Tommy said. “First time I’ve tried oat milk, honestly. I don’t like it.”
Buck sighed and groaned, dropping his head and taking the cup back from him. “I’ll get it next time!” he declared.
Tommy smiled as he patted Buck on the shoulder. “Sure you will, Ev. I have full faith that you’ll get it one of these days.”
“You don’t have to say it like that,” Buck whined, whipping his head back up to look at him. “Have some confidence in me.”
☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕
It took precisely nine months, two weeks, and three days for Buck to figure out Tommy’s coffee order - if Buck could call it that.
And of course Chimney had to be the one to ruin the thing Buck and Tommy had going on.
It happened one December morning as the team was doing their annual ‘Neighborhood Toy Drive at the Fire Department.’ Buck had been convinced to rope Tommy in on the day they had to sort through all of the toys.
And oh boy were there a lot of toys this year.
Bobby had been tempted to call dispatch and request that their station be taken out of rotation for the next couple hours, until they got the giant pile of toys under control. Buck wasn’t sure if Bobby was successful in that, but he guessed that was for time to find out.
Anyway, in order to get more help with sorting the toy drive, everyone asked anyone they knew if they’d be interested in coming by to help. Chimney brought Maddie, Bobby brought Athena and May, Ravi brought his younger cousin who moved to the city for college this fall, even Hen brought along Denny and Mara.
And of course Buck asked Tommy to come along. It was kind of expected at that point, that Buck invited Tommy to everything and vice versa. No one even questioned it.
About thirty minutes into the sorting of the toys, Chimney got fed up. “That’s it. I can’t do this anymore,” he called out. “At least not until I get some coffee. Buck!” he called out. “Come on, lets go on a coffee run.”
“Me?” Buck asked. “Why do I need to go with you?”
“Yes you,” Chimney nodded as if it was obvious. “You’re the one who has everyone’s order here memorized. So you need to come with me.”
Buck could hear Tommy quietly laughing from where he was sitting next to him, and Buck glared down at him. “He’s right Ev,” Tommy said, wagging an eyebrow. “You know everyone’s coffee order here.”
Buck could feel his cheeks growing warmer. Tommy knew what he was doing here - and worst of all, it was working.
Buck nodded. “That’s right,” he told Tommy. “I know everyone’s.”
“Come on Buck,” Chimney called out again. “I can’t wait much longer.”
“I’m coming, Chimney!” Buck yelled as he got up from where he was sitting next to Tommy to follow the man. “It’s not like you’re going to die if you need to wait another thirty seconds.”
When the two reached the order counter of the coffee shop down the street, they started by apologizing profusely for the large order they were about to put in. Then they started.
“So, we’ve ordered one for Bobby, Athena, Eddie, Hen, Karen, you, me… Maddie,” Chimney went through the mental list of everyone they had put an order in for so far. “What does Tommy want?”
“Tommy? Hmmm…” Buck said thinking. What should he try to get Tommy this time?
“Oh come on, don’t tell me his is the order you’re having trouble remembering,” Chimney said before turning back to face the barista. “For the last one we’ll take an iced chai latte with mocha syrup.”
Before Buck could even say anything, what he heard Chimney say made him freeze. An iced chai latte? For Tommy?
Chimney turned back to face Buck and saw his face of pure and utter confusion. “What?” Chimney blinked. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know that’s Tommy’s order?”
“I… I-” Buck said, his words being caught in his throat.
Chimney laughed. “You didn’t know Tommy’s order. How long have you been dating him?”
Buck huffed, totally despondent. “Just pay the woman and let's get going.”
Buck didn’t know what bothered him more, that Tommy’s order had been so obvious but he overlooked it for so long, or that Chimney of all people had the man’s order memorized.
When they got back to the station, Buck and Chimney passed around the drinks. And Buck would deny it if anyone said so, but he had a large pout on his face as he passed Tommy his drink.
“What’s wrong?” Tommy asked.
“Chimney put your order in,” Buck muttered. “He wouldn’t even let me think about what I should get for you this time.”
“Oh,” Tommy said, and his face softened. “I’m sorry.”
“I just…” Buck started again. “Have so many questions.”
“Yeah,” Buck nodded, no longer pouting, but now determined to find answers. “Like… How did I miss getting you that? And how does Chimney know your order?”
Tommy shrugged. “I just… don’t really like the taste of coffee? And I guess my order is different enough that it imprinted in Chimney’s memory?”
Buck gave Tommy a look of pure confusion. “You don’t like the taste of coffee?” he said as if it was a thought he had never heard before. “What?”
Tommy shrugged again. “I’ve tried it a lot of different ways, as you’re well aware of by now. I just don’t like it. Can’t stand the taste really.”
“But the pumpkin spice latte, you can barely taste the coffee in the pumpkin spice lattes,” Buck protested.
Tommy looked down, and… was he embarrassed? “Most people can’t,” he said. “But I can, and I don’t like it.”
“But… the mocha?” Buck asked.
Tommy shrugged. “Mocha is just another word for chocolate syrup - at least at Starbucks,” he explained.
“Wait, hold on a moment,” Chimney said, coming over and interrupting them. “You knew about Tommy’s sweet tooth since our wedding, and it never occurred to you that Tommy would have gone for one of the sweetest… creations you can make at a coffee place?”
“To be honest, I’m kind of surprised you hadn’t tried something without coffee yet, especially after the cold brew attempt,” Tommy said.
“You- You could have at least given me a hint!” Buck said. “Just a little nudging here or there?”
“I’ve- I’ve been doing that all along,” Tommy said.
Buck looked down from Tommy. “Well… you could have given more obvious hints,” he said quietly.