Work Text:
Buck’s phone starts ringing not even an hour after shiftend, Eddie’s name bright on the display. Calls between the two of them had become more frequent after Chris had gone to Texas, so Buck isn’t even surprised. He picks up after the second ring, Eddie’s face filling his phone screen.
“Chris wants to come home,” Eddie says, all in one breath, before Buck can even get a ‘hello’ in.
Buck stops in his tracks, thinks he even stops breathing for a second. “What?” he says, not because he hadn’t understood Eddie’s string of words, but because they seem too good to be true. Buck must be dreaming.
Eddie’s voice is shaking ever so slightly, Buck thinks he probably wouldn’t have noticed if he and Eddie weren’t so attuned to each other. But they are, so he has.
“Chris called, Buck. He said he wants to come home.”
And it’s everything Buck has wanted for the past, what, three months? A kind of relief he’s never felt before rushes through him and makes him feel dizzy. He doesn’t say anything, can only let out a light, disbelieving laugh. Eddie joins him, until they both have mirth shimmering in their eyes.
If anyone were to walk in on them during their phone call, they’d probably think Buck and Eddie are crazy people. Whatever.
Chris is coming home.
–
The second their call ended, Buck grabbed his keys and made his way to Eddie’s. He let himself in and followed Eddie’s voice to where it was coming from his bedroom, the door ajar.
His suitcase lay open on the bed, clothes having been thrown into it without care or a system, Eddie walking to and from his wardrobe for more clothes. His phone is shoved between his ear and shoulder, whoever is on the other side of the call probably telling him something he didn’t want to hear, assuming from the face Eddie pulls.
“Thank you, Bobby, but are you sure?”
Bobby, of course, Buck thinks to himself, making his way to the bed and starting to fold the clothes in and around the suitcase.
“Yeah, no, of course I get that. Thanks anyway, yeah? Bye.”
Eddie hands Buck another shirt to put into the suitcase while he hangs up, then tosses his phone onto the bed.
“Did Bobby not approve of your time off?” Buck asks, because why else would Eddie look so frustrated when he knew that his son wanted to come home?
“No, no, he did, but he couldn’t approve of yours. Said he can’t be down two people on such short notice.”
Which… doesn’t make sense, because when had Buck asked for PTO? He’s pretty sure he’d remember that.
Eddie must know what Buck’s thinking from looking at him, because he says: “I asked for you. Thought we could fly down together, but I get where he’s coming from.” Eddie’s eyes catch Buck’s, then. “Was worth a shot, though, right?”
“You wanted me to come with you?”
Eddie pulls the suitcase towards him to close the lid, fighting with the zipper a little. He knows he should probably cave and buy a new one, but he rarely goes anywhere anyway, so where would even be the point in that? Eddie much prefers to stay home, now that he feels like he has one.
He looks up at Buck, almost as if he had grown a second head. “Of course I did, Buck. You’re a part of this family, too. I think you tend to forget that sometimes.”
Buck shakes his head, a little at a loss for words. “No, no, I just– I don’t wanna overstep, you know? Step on your toes or something.”
“Well, you’re not.” Eddie heaves his suitcase up and off the bed, sparing a second to look at it. He doesn’t even know if he’s gonna need 90% of the stuff he packed, doesn’t know how long he will stay. The biggest part of him wants to just get his son and then get the hell out of there.
His mother will probably attempt to convince Eddie to stay at least a night, and he does want to see his abuela and his sisters so he’ll definitely agree, but still.
Eddie will have Christopher but he won’t have Buck, so he knows he will still feel as though something, some one is missing, because there will be.
“Let me at least drive you to the airport? You’re leaving today, right?” Buck asks. Before he knows it, Eddie is throwing him his bundle of keys.
“Was counting on you to do that, actually. I’m not putting myself through rush hour, and definitely not through that construction near your place.”
Eddie is almost out of the house before Buck’s head catches up with him, and then he’s rushing to catch up. There’s a flight to catch, after all.
–
The moment Buck starts Eddie’s truck, he reaches a hand out to change the radio channel and turns the volume up by one so it sits at 7.
In his peripheral vision, Buck sees the way Eddie opens his mouth to start speaking, but he’s shaking his head before Eddie can get anywhere.
“No, I’m not ever gonna leave that country station running, Eds. It’s just not happening. You can listen to that when you’re alone, but I’m not putting myself through that.” Buck is half laughing as he says it, and if he was going to be honest, he didn’t really mind the music, even liked quite a few songs.
It’s something that started years ago, a few months after Eddie joined the 118. Buck’s Jeep needed some repairs so Eddie had offered to carpool for the week that it would take, and when Buck had gotten into Eddie’s truck the first time, that country station was playing.
To be fair, the song had been awful, so Buck had pulled a face and changed the station without a second thought, and Eddie had laughed with his head thrown back in a way that made Buck stick with this charade. Over time, it just had become one of those things that had become theirs.
–
Maybe the traffic Gods of LA decided to be kind to them, considering the reason why they needed to get to the airport in the first place, or maybe Buck sped a little more than usual; either way, Buck pulled into the parking lot after maybe forty minutes when it should have taken them close to an hour. Eddie didn’t care, he could only really focus on one thing.
Getting to Christopher. Bringing him home.
“Hey, call me when you land, yeah? And when you get to your parents’ house. Or text, I don’t care, just–”
“Buck,” Eddie interrupted, a fond look on his face. “Of course I will. First thing, alright?”
“Alright,” Buck answered, and suddenly felt such a strong wave of déjà vu that it almost made him stumble a few steps.
He’s been here before, hasn’t he? At this airport, at these glass doors? Saying good-bye to someone, not knowing when exactly he’d be seeing them again.
But this wasn’t Abby. This was nothing like it had been with Abby.
This was Eddie, and while Buck wasn’t sure when Eddie would be coming home, he knew that Eddie would be coming home. If it would be two days or maybe a week from now, it didn’t matter.
That was the thing about Eddie. It was hard not to feel sure about him, when he had given Buck the things that he has. Hell, he’s written Buck into his will , that had to count for something, right?
It was kind of funny, though, this moment. The way it was mirroring his good-bye with Abby. Down to the size of the suitcase, because it was the only suitcase Eddie had. The way there was a sense of dread of losing someone important creeping up his spine, even if Buck knew that wasn't what was happening here.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Buck felt something slot into place. This sense of security he felt with Eddie, the amount of fear of ever having to live without him in his life that Buck carried inside.
Then, the words Tommy had said to him, even though he had tried his hardest to forget them after the breakup, started echoing in his mind.
I’m not your last. I’m your first. Tommy had said.
That’s not true , Buck thought now. Tommy may have been his first relationship with a man, but that didn’t really matter, did it? Buck wasn’t gay, he was bisexual. His first real relationship, that had been with Abby.
Abby was his first.
And maybe, just maybe…
“Buck? You okay?” Eddie’s hand on his arm was warm, like the brown of his eyes as they made contact with Buck’s.
Oh.
Oh.
Maybe he was staring his last right in the face. Maybe it had been in front of him all this time. Maybe.
Buck snapped out of his thoughts and nodded, grinning even when Eddie sent him a suspicious look.
“You sure? You kinda zoned out on me a little.” Eddie’s fingers squeezed Buck’s arm once, twice, before letting go.
Buck hummed and nodded his head once more. “I’ll tell you when you come back.”
Eddie tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, “Why not now?”
“To make sure your nosiness makes you actually come back,” Buck deadpans, cracking a smile at the huff that leaves Eddie’s mouth. He shakes his head, “Because your flight leaves in an hour and you need to go.”
He reaches a hand out to shove at Eddie’s shoulder, even though Buck wants nothing more than to pull him in, take Eddie’s hand in his and press a kiss to his knuckles, maybe to the little scars that he knows are there from his illegal fighting days. Yeah, he’d really like to do that actually. Who knew?
“Get your son.” Buck says, soft and quieter than before. “Bring him home.”
And come home to me, Buck doesn’t say, but the look Eddie gives him makes him think he heard the words anyway.
When Eddie disappears behind the glass doors, it feels nothing like a good-bye, because it isn’t. It’s a beginning, and Buck is pretty sure they both know it.
Two days or a week from now can’t come fast enough.