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This was a dumb idea. Buck knew this was a dumb idea.
Problem is: dumb ideas are kind of Buck's thing.
He blamed TikTok. Bite-sized videos were an easy way to kill the down time between calls, so he ended up watching way too many of them. There was always some new trend or craze making it's way around the internet. He'd laugh at them, sometimes sharing, and generally just rolling his eyes at the ridiculousness. As long as they didn't end up being a call, he didn't usually pay too much attention.
There was another that had made its rounds, circling around again every few months.
The setup was simple. Set up your phone and start recording a video with your best friend, then kiss them. See how they react.
Some would push their friend away, surprised by the sudden action. It wasn't an unreasonable response. Most would freeze. But some…
The friend would initiate the kiss, usually a chaste thing, a simple peck before pulling back. Then came the show. Surprise. Delight. A grin. Then, in the best? They'd come back for more.
They'd hit Buck in the heart every time.
Call Buck a sap, but he loved love. Who didn't?
He found himself watching more and more of the videos. There was just something so immeasurably special about catching that initial spark on camera. Watching someone's face light up with the aha moment. The epiphany of returned feelings.
The more he watched, the more a tiny corner of his mind started to whisper. Growing louder over weeks and months, until it gnawed on his forebrain.
Try it.
The thought first sparked when Eddie bumped his shoulder against Buck's as they curled over their hot coffee. Buck had been giving him grief about the PTA moms that always hit on him at school functions. Eddie got sheepish as ever, knocking their shoulders together a bit harder than he meant to as he told Buck off. The tinge of pink on his cheeks softened his word choice. Buck laughed, spilling his drink because he was looking at Eddie's blush and not his hands. His counterpart clicked his tongue, disapproving in Spanish, before grabbing a tea towel and giving Buck's shirt a cursory wipe. Buck will deny to his dying day that he giggled because he didn't, but Eddie was standing really close and touching his chest (with a towel, very platonic) and it made his stomach do the same fluttery butterfly nonsense (he'd come up with something more manly if he ever had to explain this) that he felt when he watched those stupid videos.
Stupid TikTok.
But there it was, the thought that Eddie was right there, chuckling fondly and shaking his head. He wondered how Eddie would react. He'd probably be surprised, after all, who wouldn't be? Or …
Maybe he wouldn't.
They had moved past “just friends" at some point in their relationship, the only problem being that Buck had no idea where they'd landed. Eddie was his best friend, his confidant, the one guy he knew he could turn to when everything was wrong and he just wanted something to feel right. He could be at rock bottom and he knew that Eddie would sit beside him in the darkness with a candle. Even if he didn't know what to say, or couldn't do anything to make him feel better, he'd be there. He did make him feel better, though. Eddie was funny, caring, and kind, always with a kind word for anyone. He felt… safe. Competent. If Eddie was in control, you were in good hands. He'd take care of everyone around him, even if he lapsed a bit, or a lot, when it came to himself. He was a good man, who, like so many, refused to see himself that way. He was also a sarcastic little shit.
Eddie had demonstrated this and snapped Buck, who definitely wasn't blushing, out of it. The seed had been planted, however, and the idea took root.
It was fed over the following months as Buck sought out more and more of those stupid videos. Some ended well, while others were stitched to a video of the kisser lamenting the end of their friendship as a result of the kiss, or maybe filming it. Seemed a bit dramatic, but it certainly garnered views, which he suspected was the actual purpose…
Some were fake, couples participating in the trend as a prank that really only amused themselves, leaving viewers like Buck feeling robbed and foolish.
There was one type that was his favorite. When the feelings were returned, there would be realization in the receiver's eyes, a kind of clarity that came in the face of the bold expression of reciprocated romantic feelings. Shackles were taken off of long withheld affection, or maybe it was awoken for the first time, but the receiver would give into their instinct and kiss the giver again. This would lead to soft smiles or even cutting the video off mid kiss, a result of the poster going back and editing the video after to cut off whatever they got up to next.
The more he watched, the more kissable Eddie looked. Or maybe he was just obsessed with the idea of kissing his best friend. The trend was an excuse to do it, but it was passing, so he needed to get a move on if he was going to do it.
Screw it.
It was a rare night when Eddie was hanging at Buck's place. They usually stayed at Eddie's but apparently Christopher left for a last minute sleepover, so Eddie turned up at his doorstep. Buck put a plan into action. They'd hung out for a bit and watched a movie. Then it was time to make dinner. Buck set up his phone to record a video of himself cooking, innocuous in case Eddie noticed the camera.
His best friend sidled up next to him when he was mixing a bowl of sauce for the tacos. It was a recipe he'd seen online for knockoff jalapeno sauce and he wanted to give it a shot.
Eddie propped a hip against the refrigerator, crossing his arms. “What are you doing over here?"
Buck chuckled, grabbing a spoon and dipping it in the mixture before offering it. “Taste.”
Eddie raised an eyebrow as he accepted the spoon giving the sauce a taste. He gave a small him of approval, bobbing his head as he set the spoon aside. "S’good.”
Buck, damn him, didn't hear whatever else he said because his eyes were glued to those lips. Again.
"Buck?”
This was normally the point when he'd laugh it off, make a joke or just snap back into reality, but tonight… tonight he was on a mission. He was taking a risk. Shooting his shot, as they say.
“Why are you-"
Buck leaned in, closing the distance between them before Eddie could finish his sentence. The kiss was… not great. Buck was nervous, so it was fast and off center. Eddie was surprised, so he was frozen and stiff.
He knew this was a horrible idea.
Buck pulled back, rubbing the back of his neck. “I'm sorry. I just-"
He doesn't know how to finish that sentence. At this point, he's just hoping to throw words out there and hit on some lucky combo that excuses his impulses and keeps his friendship intact.
It's usually his favorite part of the trend, seeing the reaction, but this isn't two nameless strangers. He isn't curious, he's terrified. He may have just blown up the best thing he's ever had.
His brain knows he's being dramatic, but he can't hear his thoughts over the strangling anxiety of Eddie's freeze reaction.
He's rescued, as always, by his best friend.
“Hey. Don't apologize. You just surprised me."
As if he can read his thoughts, or maybe just his expression, Eddie laughs at him, tangling his fist in his shirt and reeling him in.
Eddie's mouth is soft and warm, tasting faintly of jalepeño from the sauce he used as a ruse to lure him in. This kiss is completely different from the first. It feels like home, in an apartment that hasn't for a long time.
Buck's anxiety stalls out as Eddie's long fingers curl gently around the base of his neck, the calluses against his soft skin making Buck shiver. He melts, leaning into his best friend and chasing that something-more-manly-than-butterfly feeling. Buck snakes an arm around Eddie's waist to pull him closer because, suddenly, it feels unacceptable for Eddie to be more than an inch from him. Eddie is in agreement, judging by how close he presses himself to Buck.
They step on each other's toes, but it doesn't stop Buck from deepening the kiss, he's got Eddie right where he wants him, and nothing has ever felt this right.
Eddie's hand that had been tangled in his hair, slips under his shirt to splay across his abs, mapping the muscles under strong hands. Dipping his tongue into Buck's mouth breaks something inside of him, or maybe it sets it free because without thinking, Buck is tightening the arm around Eddie's waist and lifting him onto the counter.
He hears a clatter behind Eddie, triggering loud music from the phone that he knocked over.
Baby, you're like lighting in a bottle. Can't let you go now that I got it-
Buck breaks the kiss in a panic, grabbing for the device to silence it. He completely forgot he'd been recording this.
Eddie laughs at him, “What are you doing? Come back here…”
"One sec!” Buck killed the app, but not before Eddie caught a glimpse of the screen.
"You were… shooting a video?"
“It was just… for TikTok."
Eddie frowns, “Wait a minute. I know that song. This is that trend you're obsessed with, isn't it?”
Buck flushes scarlet, looking away.
"You kissed me for a TikTok?”
"I….”
Eddie scoffs, rolling his eyes and getting off the counter. "Unbelievable.”
"Eddie, wait!” Panic shoots through him as he tries to grab Eddie's wrist and misses. No no no, this isn't how this was supposed to go. “Where are you going?!"
Eddie keeps walking, Bucks heart hitting the floor when he grabs his jacket off the back of the chair.
“Eddie!" Buck chases after him. "Wait, can we please talk about this?! Don't go!"
“Talk about what, Buck?" Eddie is angry, but Buck can see the hurt underneath. “This is just a game to you. Some cute little trend you saw on social media. Well, I hope you get lots of likes, or whatever."
"Why are you mad at me?”
“Because you tricked me into it! You used me for views on a fucking post!”
Buck stops, the words sinking into his chest like an arrow. “I wasn't trying to trick you, Eddie. I wanted to kiss you…"
"For a trend. I know. Well, I hope it was worth it.” Eddie turns on his heel to leave.
"Eddie!"
This is bad. This is going from bad to worse. Eddie's mad about the TikTok, he thinks Buck used him for attention on social media. He has it all backwards and Buck is running out of time to explain.
“I didn't kiss you for a trend! I used the trend as an excuse to kiss you!”
Eddie gives an irritated huff, doorknob in hand. “What difference does it make?"
Buck approaches slowly, like Eddie's a startled animal that will bolt out that door if Buck makes the wrong move. “It gave me the push, the excuse, I needed, to set aside my fear and do something I've been wanting to do for a long time…”
Eddie frowns, closing the door, a small victory. “What do you mean?"
What were once butterflies have now turned to bats, no, pterodactyls, in his chest, swirling and snapping with razor sharp claws and beaks.
“I mean… I wanted to kiss you. Not for some stupid trend or just for kicks, but… because I like you. I've liked you for a long time, but I was scared… I didn't want to ruin our friendship or weird you out…”
Eddie sighs heavily, "So you thought kissing me on camera was a good way to make a move?”
Buck cringes, "Yes…?"
His best friend doesn't look impressed.
“Look, I thought, if it went badly, we could just laugh it off. Just stupid Buck trying a stupid TikTok trend…”
"You're not stupid, Buck.”
"I know, but you know what I mean. We could just write it off as a joke or whatever, but… it didn't go wrong. To me, anyways…. It went… really right…”
Eddie sighs, running a hand through his hair. "That… makes sense, I guess."
The tight band around Buck's chest loosens a fraction when he says that.
“But then you saw the app and you were mad and I panicked."
“I thought it was a game. Like, you just wanted to shoot this dumb little video and that was it. I didn't…. I didn't know how you felt.” Eddie's fiddling with the jacket in his hands as he talks, wringing the material, flicking one of the buttons back and forth.
Buck reaches out and gently takes the jacket from him.
"I thought I finally had you, that you finally saw me, but then… it was just for social media.”
"It wasn't for social media, Eds…" Buck hooks a finger under his best friend's chin to bring his gaze home.
Coffee eyes are nervous, uncharacteristically so for his best friend. Eddie was a confident man, competent in his work and comfortable in his skin, unless he was talking about his feelings. Then he became anxious, reserved, it was like his confidence was fitness and he'd always skipped heart day.
“I care about you, Eds… more than anything. More than I've ever cared about anyone. That's why I was so scared that I'd lose you, if…”
Eddie gave a disapproving huff as he covered Buck's hand with his. “You're not going to lose me. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
“You were headed for the door…"
“I would've come back. I'll always come back."
His gaze was steady, the promise in those eyes unwavering.
“Eds…” Buck traced the features of his best friend's face with his gaze. He was so beautiful, and he was right here, and Buck had probably made a move in the worst way possible, but… “Can we try again?"
“I'm not recording another kissing video with you, Buck."
“No," Buck laughed, shaking his head. “Not a video, just… Can I kiss you again?”
Eddie rolled his eyes, "You don't have to ask, Buck.”
Buck definitely didn't giggle as he leaned in to kiss him again.
“Fucking TikTok trend…” Eddie chided between kisses, hands on Buck's hips pulling him close.
Buck laughed into his mouth as he closed the distance again.
“Stupid TikTok…stupid trends…”
He had a feeling Eddie would never let him live this down. He could never regret it, though. It got them here.
And here was pretty great.