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-x-
Eddie staggers back, ripping his lips away from Buck’s, his heart beating furiously in his chest as he pants, eyes fixed on Buck’s clearly stunned face.
“Eddie.” Buck gasps, taking a small step toward Eddie, his hand lifting to touch, comfort and reassure the clearly panicked man, but without a word Eddie bolts.
“Eddie!” Buck calls after him, his steps following him until he feels a firm hand on his chest, pushing him to a stop.
“Come on, let’s get you checked out.” Hen says firmly, hand flat against his sternum, no doubt able to feel the rapid thudding on his heart beneath.
“What?” Buck’s eyes fly to meet Hen’s.
“I need to check you over.” Hen repeats.
“Do you know something?” He accuses her and she cocks an unimpressed eyebrow at him, removing her hand now that she’s sure he’s not going to continue after Eddie.
“I don’t know anything other than you need to give him some time and some space.” She replies, guiding him over towards the triage that had been set up to aid the walking wounded from the building collapse.
“But-but-”
“No buts, Buck. Just give him some room and he’ll talk to you about whatever is going on when he’s ready.” Hen tells him and Buck scoffs softly.
“This is Eddie we’re talking about. He’s not exactly known for talking about his feelings.” Buck huffs, dropping heavily onto the bed Hen is standing next to, pulling on a pair of gloves.
“No, he’s not. But this time he may surprise you. Let him work things out in his head before you try to talk to him.” Hen says, stepping closer to Buck to start her assessment.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” She asks, eyes trailing over Buck’s body for any clear outward signs of injury.
“No. I’m fine.” Buck answers, clearly distracted.
Hen tilts his jaw gently with her fingers, eyes assessing carefully. “So no pain? Anywhere?”
“Nope. I told you I’m fine.”
“You were trapped under a building.” Hen points out.
“It was part of a building and I am fine.” Buck answers, a little short.
“Did you bang your head?”
“No.” Buck replies as Hen continues her assessment, fingers pressing and prodding as she watches him carefully for any sign of pain or discomfort.
They carry on with the assessment, much to Buck’s growing annoyance, but he bites his lip after a single raised eyebrow shot his way when he goes to complain about how long it was taking.
Hen is thoroughly cleaning a cut in Buck’s eyebrow, making him wince at the sting of the alcohol in the wipe, when she decides to break the silence.
“So, what was it like?” Hen asks, a naughty intrigue in her expression as he shifts his gaze up to hers.
Buck doesn’t even try to stop the grin that spreads in an instant on his lips. Nor does he care about the blush he feels on his cheeks.
“It was everything.” He says wistfully, repeating the moment in his mind for the millionth time.
“Yeah?” Hen smiles softly as she continues to dab at his cut.
“Yeah.”
“It looked pretty intense.”
“It was. I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed like that before.” Buck admits softly, and Hen shakes her head affectionately at the dreamy expression on his face as she disposes of the used wipe in the biohazard waste bag.
But then the smile drops off his face and is quickly replaced by doubt and worry, as he bites his bottom lip.
“Don’t go getting trapped in that pretty head of yours Buckaroo.” Hen says gently, lightly tapping his temple before applying the butterfly stitch to his cleaned eyebrow wound.
“But, but wha-what if it meant nothing to him?” Buck worries, eyes flitting everywhere.
“Well there’s only one person who can answer that question.” Hen tells him as she takes a step back and Buck’s eyes land on her’s.
“Does that mean I’m cleared to go?”
Hen nods. “You’re free to go.”
Buck springs to his feet and is halfway out of the little makeshift cubicle when he remembers he’s still on shift.
“You okay?” Hen cautions, stepping over to him, hand landing on his back.
“Yeah. Yeah. I just remembered we’re still on shift.” He replies, shoulders slumping in disappointment.
“I think we’re nearly finished up here so it won’t be long before we head back.” Hen tells him, trying to sound positive and encouraging about the little bit more of a wait Buck’s got till he can speak to Eddie.
Buck deflates further as he looks down at his watch, seeing about how much longer of their shift they have left.
“I’ll help you clean up.” He offers and Hen gives him a small smile.
-x-
The moment their shift is over Buck is out of there, all but sprinting to his truck, tossing “see you” over his shoulder as he goes, practically vibrating with a need to see and speak to Eddie. To know what the hell is going on and most importantly where they go from here.
-x-
After cutting the engine he takes a moment just to gather himself, to take a couple of deep breaths because he doesn’t know what he’s about to happen when he walks through that front door.
He knows that Eddie hasn’t fled the state, that was a concern that flashed through his mind briefly when he was loading the gurney with Chim back into the ambulance at the scene. So he’d done the mature thing of messaging Eddie, to let him know that he was okay and to ask if they could talk after his shift and Eddie had replied that Chris was going to Pepa’s for the night.
Buck took that as a good sign.
But now sitting in his truck on the driveway his stomach twists with nerves and his throat has gone dry as he stares at the front door.
Different scenarios run rapidly through his mind. Flashes of rejection, of joy, of delight and happiness, of heartbreak and sadness.
His phone vibrates in his pocket, snatching him back from the edge of a spiral he was just about to plummet into.
Buck’s brows furrow when he sees Eddie’s name, his heart shooting up into his throat as he unlocks his phone and opens his messages. He snorts and a smile forms on his lips at Eddie’s simple message.
Eddie 🤠
You can come in you know. You do live here.
Buck doesn’t answer, instead he locks his phone, pockets it, grabs his bag from the passenger seat and climbs out of the truck with a feeling of calm settling over him as he locks up and heads for the front door.
Once inside he finds Eddie sitting on the couch, one arm stretched over the back, fingers nervously tapping and the other gripping a beer. He doesn’t turn around or look back over his shoulder, just stays facing forward. Buck dumps his bag beneath the coat rack and spots a cold beer sitting on a coaster in front of ‘his’ spot on the couch.
He takes a deep breath before rounding the couch and snagging the beer from the coffee table and sits down on the opposite end to a visibly nervous Eddie, given his fidgeting and knee bouncing.
“Your couch is shit.” Are the first words that come out of Eddie’s mouth as Buck settles back, it nearly makes him choke on his mouthful of beer.
“Excuse me.” He coughs, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he leans forward to return his beer to the coaster.
“You heard. It’s like sleeping on a plank of wood. Feels like it when you’re sitting on it as well.” Eddie explains shifting deliberately with a grimace, but he still won’t look at Buck, his eyes still fixed ahead.
“Well excuse me for not having an acceptable couch.” Buck fires back with a smirk, watching Eddie out of the corner of his eye.
“No you don’t, but I do.” Eddie says, his voice dipping a little at the end as he glances over at Buck, whose brows have furrowed in confusion at what Eddie means.
“O-kay.”
“I’ve got a far more comfortable couch. In El Paso.” Eddie points out and Buck freezes, heart clenching with fear. Fear that this is Eddie telling him that he and Christopher are going back to Texas for good. That somehow that the kiss he didn’t even initiate had fucked everything up.
“Yeah?” He whispers, swallowing hard to keep his emotions under control. Not wanting Eddie to see how he’s on the verge of spiralling.
“I could- I could bring it back here.” Eddie says, nerves clear in his own voice as he turns his head slightly towards Buck, seemingly wanting to gauge his reaction.
“Yeah?” Buck replies, his voice a little stronger as hope starts to bubble in his stomach.
“Replace this thing with mine.” Eddie says, putting his bottle of beer on the coffee table, next to Buck’s.
Buck nods. “Yeah?”
“And we could stay. Me and Chris.” Eddie says, head now turned fully to look at Buck.
“Oh. Does that mean you guys are moving back?” Buck asks, the hope bubbles stirring a storm in his gut as he tries not to let it show too much on his face, but he is probably losing that battle.
“If you’ll let us?” Eddie asks, eyes big and bright.
The bubbles start to deflate as he forces himself to keep sounding positive.
“Well it is your house. I can’t really stop you. Just, you know, give me a little time to find somewhere else-”
“No Buck. We’re moving back to be with you. That is if you’ll have us? If you’re okay with that?” Eddie says, his confidence waning as he speaks, nerves clear in his voice.
“With-with me?” Buck asks, voice barely above a whisper as he points at himself.
“With you. You, me and Chris. A family. If that’s what you want.”
“Is that- is that what you want?” Buck questions, the hopeful bubbles soring in his stomach.
Eddie nods with a smile, his big beautiful brown eyes turning glassy.
“Yes. That’s what I want. I-” Eddie chokes on his words and takes a moment to compose himself, as Buck holds his breath, aware that Eddie saying what he wants is a huge thing, but whatever he says next could well be life changing for him as well.
“I want you. I want to be with you. I’m in love with you.” Eddie states, his voice clear and strong as he holds Buck’s gaze.
Tears quickly fill Buck’s eyes and he lets out a watery chuckle.
“I’m in love with you too. And I want to be with you as well. I want to be a family with you and Chris.” Buck tells Eddie tearfully and Eddie lets the tears fall as he nods.
“You’ve got us. Both of us. We’re yours.” Eddie sniffs and Buck surges forward and captures Eddie’s lips with his own.
It’s softer and slower than their first kiss, the one that took Buck completely by surprise as he stepped out into the daylight of Los Angeles after being trapped amongst the rubble of a collapsing building and fearing he’d never get out.
Eddie had just pounced on him, right there in front of everyone, crashing their lips together in a desperate show of relief that they were both still alive. It had taken Buck a long moment to react to the fact that Eddie, his best friend, the man he’d slowly realised he has been in love with for years was kissing him with such force and passion, but when he did, god he did.
He pushed back just as hard as Eddie pushed forward, hands pulling at Eddie’s waist, wanting him as close as humanly possible. Tongues fighting for dominance as they all but devoured each other, right until the moment Eddie reared back, eyes massive with shock and then he ran.
This kiss is slower, more meaningful, a kiss of love and happiness. A kiss full of possibilities for the future. For their shared future. Their future together.
Slowly, with a number of pecks Buck reluctantly pulls back, but he doesn’t go far as he toys with Eddie’s hair, eyes roaming adoringly over Eddie’s flush face.
“I love you.” Buck murmurs, and Eddie smiles warmly.
“I love you too.”
“So, when are you thinking of moving back?” Buck asks, fingers still playing with Eddie’s hair as he shifts to nuzzle in closer.
“When do you want us to?”
“Tomorrow.” Buck replies, a grin on his face, knowing that in all practicality tomorrow is too soon.
“Tomorrow it is then.” Eddie smiles, a cheeky glint in his eyes.
“Wait, seriously? H-how?” He stammers, stunned, pulling back a little to just look at Eddie.
“I’ve already booked my flight for tomorrow morning. I’ll pack the house and then drive back the day after. I spoke with Chris’s school earlier and he’s going to finish the year online. We can always go down in the summer to see his friends.”
“But what about your house?”
“My parents said they’d take care of it and deal with the realtor until it sells. I should make a profit given the repairs.” Eddie explains, looking a little pleased with himself.
“Wow. You’ve really got everything all planned out.” Buck chuckles and Eddie ducks his head, trying to hide the embarrassed blush forming on his cheeks.
“There is just one thing you didn’t factor in.”
Eddie looks up at him, brows furrowed in confusion.
“Me.” Buck grins.
“You?” Eddie sounds unsure as he shakes his head.
“You didn’t consider that I might want to go on this little road trip with you.” Buck says only to be met by Eddie’s beaming smile and a naughty twinkle in his eye.
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I booked you a ticket to El Paso then.”
Buck laughs before softly adding, “I love you.”
“Love you too.” Eddie murmurs, leaning up and kissing the love of his life.
-x-