Work Text:
Eddie was acting weird.
And Buck was going insane about it.
If he had to pinpoint it, it started about six weeks ago, when Eddie started picking up overtime like a mad man. It took a solid two weeks for Buck to notice that it wasn’t Eddie just being nice and covering for other shifts. And he wouldn’t tell Buck why. Every time he asked, Eddie would find a way to distract him or swiftly change the subject.
And yeah, that was enough to make Buck spiral a little at the time. Because it wasn’t like they were hurting for cash at the moment. They weren’t swimming in it by any means but they had plenty to cover everything and then some since Buck moved in roughly six months ago. And they had both remarkably avoided injury at work for the past couple years so there weren’t any medical bills to worry about. Chris didn’t have any big school or extracurricular expenses coming up so Buck was utterly stumped.
Then Eddie stopped working quite so much after about a month. But was still out of the house more than normal. He was off ‘running errands’ or ‘helping friends’ but none of the 118 and family knew anything about any of it. He was flighty and spacy when he was home and Buck couldn’t keep the panic locked away forever. Especially when Eddie started avoiding him. Not totally, but he’d flinch or shift away when Buck would try to touch him.
And Buck’s heart cracked a little more each time it happened.
Because he was pretty sure his boyfriend, his best friend, his partner in everything… was cheating on him.
Bobby tried talking him off that particular ledge at the end of their shift. And Buck thought he believed everything that Bobby said to him, but he couldn’t fight the dread sinking in his gut. So when the captain looked at him with sad sympathy and told him he could head out ten minutes before their shift was ending, Buck didn’t argue. Just ducked his head, grabbed his things without changing out of uniform and left in his jeep.
And wasn’t that another nail in the coffin of their relationship. They hadn’t carpooled to work in weeks. Buck couldn’t quite remember the last time Eddie had let him in the truck at all. He blinked away frustrated tears all the way home, slumped inside and sighed heavily at the state of the house. Dirty laundry strewn about, the living room in disarray, only added to when he swung his bag at the back of the couch. Buck managed to ignore everything until he got to the kitchen, planning to grab something to drink from the fridge and then throwing himself in bed so he could get up and clean the house before he had to pick Chris up from school.
Buck’s thoughts came to a halt when he saw the sink, overflowing with dishes. Dishes that Eddie said he’d do but didn’t because he was never home and couldn't help take care of anything when he was out doing-
The white knuckled hold Buck had on his emotions snapped with an angry laugh. He swiped at the tears trickling from his red rimmed eyes before yanking the long sleeves of his uniform top up and getting to work. He didn’t let himself think much as he shoved the dirty dishes around to make room. He let himself stew in all the emotions he had forced himself to shove down. He let the ache in his chest over take him just a little as he scrubbed at caked on food.
Thankfully, the salt from his tears didn’t make much of a difference in the effectiveness of dish soap.
By the time the front door clicked open twenty minutes later, Buck had the dishwasher running with one load and was aggressively working through the rest of the sink. He stiffened at the footsteps approaching the kitchen but didn’t slow in his task. He watched Eddie pause in the doorway out of the corner of his eye.
“Hey, you didn’t have to leave early for that, I was going to do those.” Eddie said with a halfhearted chuckle.
“Hard to do the dishes when you’re never home, huh?” Buck snapped.
Eddie ducked his head and sighed.
“Yeah I guess I deserve that.”
Buck scoffed and shook his head.
“Look, I’m sorry I haven’t been around. I told you I’ve been helping Paco with-”
“Save it.”
Eddie’s brows pinched at the outburst. Buck slapped the faucet off from where he’d been rinsing a plate.
“Buck, I told you I’ve been helping Pepa after she tried that DIY thing-”
Buck barked a humorless laugh, not bothering to dry his hands when he turned and locked his arms around his chest. He leaned back against the sink with faux nonchalance. Cold blue eyes, glassy with tears stared down his boyfriend. Eddie’s own eyes widened at the sight.
“You know, that’s really funny, because Pepa called me yesterday to ask if we all wanted to come over for dinner this week seeing as she hasn’t been able to reach you in months.”
Eddie tilted his head back, eyes on the ceiling as he huffed a breath.
“Dammit.”
“Any more lies you wanna try on me?”
Buck ignored the crack in his own voice.
Eddie settled his softening gaze back on Buck and took a step forward.
Buck mirrored him and shifted backward along the counter. Eddie’s face pinched with hurt. Buck forced himself to ignore it.
“Buck, listen, I can explain-”
“No. No, I’m done listening to your lies and excuses, Eddie. How long did you think you could get away with this, huh? How long were you going to string me along, keep me around here to take care of your house, your kid, your life while you ran off and lived it without me?”
His voice had risen to a yell by the time he was done.
Eddie shook his head, baffled.
“Buck, what the hell do you think is going on?”
An incredulous laugh broke through Buck’s throat. He threw his hands up, the betrayal lodged in his chest refusing to be contained.
“Do you really think I’m that stupid?! You’re never home! You won’t tell me where you’ve been, what you’ve been doing. You sneak out of bed in the middle of the night and you haven’t let me touch you in weeks! I mean the last time you were this distant you were having an affair with the doppelgänger of your dead wife! You know, I thought you cared about me enough to at least end things if you were done with me instead of fucking someone else.”
It was the first time he’d said the thought out loud and it hurt even worse hearing it than it did feeling it.
Eddie blinked at him in silence. Then had Buck’s jaw dropping in shock when he chuckled and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
“You think I’m cheating on you?” Eddie asked, shaking his head in amusement.
“And you think that’s funny ?”
Eddie sighed one last soft laugh and settled an unbearably fond look on Buck. Buck sputtered on an angry reply, not noticing Eddie shoving a hand into the pocket of his jeans, his eyes fixed on Buck. Any words were stopped by the clack of something being forcefully placed on the table. His eyes flicked briefly to the black box Eddie was pulling his hand from-
Black box.
Black velvet box.
Like you’d keep a ring in.
“Wh-what…” Buck stuttered, eye glue to the object.
“You wanted to know why I was working so much?” Eddie began, words barely over a whisper as not to disturb the fragile quiet.
“Why I was sneaking around?”
Buck eyelids fluttered for a moment before he looked back up at Eddie, who was smiling softly back. He nodded towards the box.
“Open it.”
Buck’s body listened to the command before his brain could catch up. His hands shook as he pulled the lid back, the hinge creaking at him. His breath froze in his lungs when his gaze snagged on the thick band winking up at him, a built in light in the box making it glow. There was a ring of blue- a shade that nicely matched the color of his eyes if Buck wasn’t mistaken- sandwiched between strips of shining silver Buck could do nothing more than blink at it, hands clenched in disbelief.
“I was working more to afford that without digging into our savings.”
Eddie crept forward with each sentence.
“I was sneaking around to find the perfect ring. I was lying about it so it would be a surprise. I haven’t been home because I’ve been scouring the city for weeks trying to find the perfect way to do it.”
He stopped in front of Buck, his chest brushing against the fingers wrapped around the symbol of their future.
“I haven’t let you touch me because I’ve had that thing in my pocket the whole time, waiting for the right moment.”
Buck broke on a watery laugh, his face shining as brightly as the ring from the tears that wouldn’t stop.
“And me accusing you of cheating was the perfect moment?” He choked out, the words only slightly colored with self depreciation.
Eddie carefully peeled the ring box from Buck’s hands with a grin.
“What better way to convince you that I wasn’t?”
Buck breath was stolen again as Eddie sank carefully to one knee, right there in their kitchen.
“You don’t have to-” Buck started.
“Shut up.” Eddie said gently.
“I had a whole big thing planned. And seeing as the rest of it got screwed up-” He raised a brow at Buck’s little flinch- “I’m doing this.”
Buck gave a wobbly smile and simply nodded, too stunned to do much else at this point.
“Evan Buckley, will you marry me?”
Eddie’s voice shook ever so slightly, blinking back tears in his chocolate brown eyes.
“You sure?” Buck blurted.
Eddie laughed and cleared his throat.
“Absolutely.”
Buck grinned and couldn’t stop the bobble of his head.
“Yeah, I’ll marry you Edmundo Diaz.”
He barely had the words out before Eddie was on his feet, arms like iron bars around Buck’s back, kissing the living daylights out of him. It wasn’t a great kiss- they were both smiling and sniffling against tears for their lips to connect much, but it was perfect for the moments that led them to it.
Eddie pulled back after a minute, bringing the ring box back between them. Buck watched with a twinkling smile as his boyfriend fiancé gently pulled the ring out of its velvet bed and dumped the box on the table. He let out a shaky breath when his hand was grabbed, the cool metal of the ring slipping on his finger. They both stared for a moment, basking in the promise of a lifetime before Buck had to break the silence.
“Next time you want to surprise me with something, give me a clue so I don’t spiral, would you?”
Eddie snorted. He let Buck’s hand drop and settled his own on either side of Buck’s neck.
“Yeah I probably could have handled that better.”
Buck grabbed onto Eddie’s waist with a raised brow.
“You think?”
Eddie chuckled with a shake of his head. He pulled Buck forward into another kiss, this one slow and leading. Buck let him but pulled away when Eddie’s tongue flicked at his lower lip.
“Am I allowed to touch you now, cause I’ve been dying over here.” He groaned in exaggeration.
“Any way you want, fiancé .” Eddie taunted.
Buck let a half feral grin take over his face and relished in Eddie’s surprise yelp when he bent and threw Eddie over his shoulder.
“You’re gonna regret that offer!” Buck promised with a grunt.
Eddie’s delighted laughter echoed through the house as Buck carried him to their room.
Later there is lots of talking, some crying- both happy and sad tears in regards to the clusterfuck that the proposal turned into. And when they pick Christopher up after school- after a much needed nap- Buck doesn’t answer Eddie’s questions when he swings them by Bobby’s house before they go home.
Eddie will hound Buck about it until he’s settled against the headboard in bed while Buck riffles through his clothes on the floor.
The questions get answered when Buck tosses a matching black box to him.