Chapter Text
They finally did it. They confessed their feelings for each other and checked all the romantic boxes:
Pining for months? Check. Pulling away because they didn’t want to ruin their friendship? Check. Miscommunicating what they meant to each other? Check. Making up while staring deeply into each other’s eyes? Check. Kissing for the first time in the pouring rain outside of the Firehouse after a near-death experience that almost took them away from each other? Check.
Evan Buckley and Eddie Diaz were a romcom and everyone knew it. It was a weight off their friends and family’s shoulders when they finally figured their shit out and got together.
Since then, it’d been longing stares across Family meals at the Station. It’d been quick kisses in the shadows of their lives because it was so new and so precious. They wanted to keep what they had in a box and protect it because it was so hard to get in the first place.
At some point, Maddie asked Buck to tell her about their first date, because of course she did. Buck floundered and blushed, eventually confessing they hadn’t had it, yet. Eddie offered to take Buck anywhere he wanted, but every time Buck tried to decide he just… panicked.
What if they went on a date and found they weren’t romantically compatible? What if Eddie didn’t like the way he chewed his food? What if Buck found out Eddie was a public flosser? What if they ruined everything because going on an actual date would make it real?
Buck didn’t want to repeat what Maddie thought about his concerns, mostly because she used so many swear words. It took his big sister flicking his forehead and slowly explaining that Eddie and Buck had been slow dating since they met, for Buck to realize what an idiot he was being.
And Maddie was right. They already went on dates but called them ‘boys’ nights’, because at the time they were two bros, chilling in a hot tub, 5 feet apart because they weren’t gay. As it turned out, they’d been on casual, family, group, double, and intimate dates for years.
Buck’s overthinking and Eddie being overly cautious were the only things stopping them from going on their first official date. Buck left Maddie and Chim’s place, called Eddie, and told him he would love to go on a date with him whenever, wherever, he didn’t care.
So that’s how he found himself in the low light of a candlelit dinner, staring lovingly into Eddie’s eyes in the Diaz Family dining room. Eddie planned the whole thing. He picked Buck up at his loft, handed him a bouquet of pink and orange begonias, and opened the door for him.
By the time they got to Eddie’s house, Buck silently wondered why it took so long for them to do this. Everything was perfect. They talked like normal, laughed like normal, and acted like normal. It was like their best friendship was just amplified. The bonus was that whenever they wanted to touch each other, kiss each other, or hold hands, they just could.
Buck’s date clothes beautifully complimented the nice, dark outfit Eddie wore. Buck could smell the cologne the other man had worn on so many dates in the past. He liked the scent and marveled at how long he’d been waiting to be the one Eddie put it on for.
The sweet smell of Tres Leches lingered in the air as they quietly talked. When Buck said Eddie did everything, he meant everything, including ordering from their favorite restaurant and plating the food. Buck teased him about expecting a home-cooked meal for their first date, but Eddie insisted he didn’t want them jumping into action because he accidentally burned his house down.
It had been a few hours, and they’d moved to the couch. Buck wasn’t expecting them to do anything, especially considering Eddie knew he was dating Buck 3.0, who didn’t jump into bed with everything that had a pulse anymore. It was their first date, all they wanted to do was make out on the couch like teenagers.
Buck made the first move, he was a different version of himself, not dead. Who could resist a soft, compliant, sexy Edmundo Diaz who looked at him like he wanted to swallow his tongue? The younger man placed their wine glasses on the coffee table and swung his leg over Eddie’s lap. He was rewarded with a firm hand on his lower back.
Eddie stared up at him with dark, hooded eyes that spoke of sinful acts. Buck’s lips hovered an inch away from Eddie’s. They froze there, breathing each other’s air, and basking in the feeling. Eddie brought a hand to the back of Buck’s neck to finally pull him into the kiss when a loud ring snapped them out of their haze.
Buck jumped in Eddie’s lap causing the older man to stifle a groan. Smiling shyly at his partner beneath him, he leaned back to alleviate the problem. Eddie ran a hand over his face to calm down before reaching for his phone.
Buck shifted like he was getting up, but Eddie headed him off with a hand on his thigh. He answered the phone while stroking a sensitive spot in the dip of Buck’s hip. Buck shivered at the sensation, fighting very hard not to move.
“Hello?” Eddie glanced up at Buck and smirked when he saw the effect of his touch on the blonde. His smile dimmed as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the call. “Oh, damn, no that’s… Yeah, we can come.”
Buck left his fuzzy headspace when he heard the worry in Eddie’s tone. Only a few things made him sound like that, and Buck was on top of him, so it probably had something to do with his kid.
He moved to get up again, anticipating their need to leave, but Eddie kept stopping him. He looked at the brunette curiously, freezing when he motioned for him to wait.
“Okay, yeah, no it’s okay, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes give or take,” Eddie said, reaching up to stroke a thumb next to Buck’s mouth. He hung up and sighed.
“Is Christopher okay?” Buck asked as soon as the call ended. If Eddie was surprised that Buck guessed the call’s subject, he didn’t show it.
“Yeah, Bobby said he started feeling a little sick and asked to come home,” Eddie looked regretful, but Buck didn’t let him wallow for long. He leaned down and kissed Eddie’s cheek before getting up. Eddie finally let him stand as he looked at Buck in confusion.
“Well, let’s go get him,” Buck said, pulling Eddie up. Eddie stared at him for a second longer before bringing the blonde’s hand to his lips pulled into a soft smile.
They left for Bobby and Athena’s house to collect their kid. Their Captain arranged a sleepover for Harry and Christopher. Both boys had been talking about it for a week, and Eddie knew Christopher would be bummed that it had to end early.
The night found them tucking a nauseous little boy into bed and staying with him until he fell into a fitful sleep. Eddie stroked Chris’s hair and whispered soothing things to settle him down. Buck grabbed a popcorn bowl and camped out on the end of the bed in case he was needed.
They looked at each other and smiled while reveling in how their first date turned out. Chris was out like a light, a sheen of sweat on his forehead. Eddie ran a cool cloth over him and kissed his temple.
“I get a do-over,” he whispered, glancing at Buck who looked on sweetly.
“A do-over?” Buck cocked his head to the side and matched the older man’s hushed tone.
“We’re finishing this date, Buckley.”
Buck chuckled, freezing when Chris snuffled into his pillow. Their sick little guy wiggled around trying to get comfortable, settling after a few moments. Both adults held their breath and exhaled in relief at the same time.
“I’m always down for a second first date,” Buck said after some more silence. All his fears about whether or not dating the man he was falling for was a good idea had long since left. He would go on a million first dates as long as they were with Eddie.
Eddie smiled at him like he was something special and reached for his hand. Instead of feeling Buck’s fingers slip into his grip, he felt the edge of the popcorn bowl. Fast reflexes and a look of horror across Buck’s face were the only things that saved him from being covered in vomit.
Oh yeah, they were definitely trying again.