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"Hey, no. I said you could come look but not touch," the tone is firm and coming from the figure Buck spots between his Jeep and the car parked beside him.
He can only see the top of one figures head as he approaches, the SUV's dark tinted windows not allowing for a better view.
"Okay," a smaller voice grumbles the only thing alerting Buck to the presence of another person. "Can I at least get closer?"
Buck hears a laugh and the volume increases the closer he gets to his car.
"Yeah, that's fine," the voice is softer now, appeasing in nature and slightly amused.
Buck slows as he approaches, the cart wobbling a bit in one hand as he uses the other to reach for the keys he'd stuck in his back pocket. He peeks into the space between the two cars and spots a man with what Buck can only assume is his son.
He can't get a good look at either of their faces as the man's head is tilted off to the side, eyes entirely focused on the child whose nose is close to making contact with the small stand Buck had hitched onto his side view mirror a couple of months ago.
He almost doesn't want to disturb them, but there's ice cream actively melting under the unrelenting summer sun in his cart.
"Uhm, hi?" Buck quickly plasters a grin on his face before they turn around.
The man in front of him startles, shoulders coming up to his ears as he turns to face Buck. There's motion from beside the man's hip that catches Buck's eye. A small head is barely peeking out from behind the man's hips a head full of brown curls, blue eyes, and red glasses the only thing he can really see.
His gaze drags its way back up to the man in front of him and he's a sight to see.
Buck takes stock of his light wash jeans and the thin white Henley he's got on that hugs him in all the right places. When Buck's gaze does finally reach the man's face, there's a pretty pink blush scattered across the highs of his cheeks as he gives Buck a sheepish, dimpled smile.
"I'm so sorry," he sounds sligthly embarassed. His eyes are still a little wide, like he's been caught out doing something he shouldn't. "He was just really interested in the duck."
"It's really cool!" the boy pipes up as he manuevers his way to stand beside his dad.
"Yeah? I haven't seen it yet, the landing pad was empty when I went into the store."
"You don't know what the duck on your car looks like?" the man sounds confused, a small crease appearing between his brows.
"It's called Ducking," Buck says by way of explanation, but the crease between the man's brows grows deeper. "I'm not one hundred percent sure where it originated from but it's something Jeep owners do. It doesn't happen all the time, but I've got a collection of ducks along the front of the dashboard. There's a dip there that people call the "Duck Pond'. Kinda creeped me out when I first had it happen to me."
Buck remembers the first time he'd gotten 'ducked' and it had been confusing and a little unsettling. The duck had been left on his car door handle with a small note attached to it's neck.
In retrospect, a duck painted to look like a gingerbread man doesn't sound all that threatening but it'd been a little past 1am when he'd gotten back to his parked vehicle in a rather desolate car lot.
All concerns had been vanquished when he'd gotten close enough to read the note containing only an Instagram handle in neatly handwritten font. He'd grabbed it seating the duck across from him on the dashboard as he'd spent the next 10 minutes scrolling through suggested pages of people showing off their Jeep duck collection.
He'd ended up settling on finding it endearing and a bit odd, but he'd kept the duck anyway. He'd mounted it carefully on his dashboard and didn't think much of it until it had happened again. And again. And again.
He never knew when to expect it, but he'd eventually found himself hoping to find a duck waiting for him during his outings.
Buck had eventually bumped into someone as they were trying to figure out where to place the rubber duck in their hand seeing as his door handle and valley between the sideview mirror and his door were already occupied by other ducks.
He'd introduced himself to them and apologized profusely for not having a duck to give back which the stranger had only laughed at and said it was no big deal. This hadn't stopped him from feeling guilty about it though.
Buck won't ever admit to anyone how long he spent researching firefighter ducks that could be bought in bulk and lived in a box inside his trunk. Buck was nothing if not committed. If he was going to participate, the ducks had to speak to who Buck was.
"Can I see the other ducks?"
"Christopher, I'm sure this man is in a rush to get home and we have groceries to buy," he looks from the young boy back to Buck with an apologetic look in his eyes.
"It's no bother," Buck replies after spotting the soft, wide-eyed eye look Christopher was making at his dad. "I just need to get my groceries in the backseat and you can hop onto the passenger seat. Unless you're in a rush."
The man looks like he's debating an answer, eyes flitting between Buck and the cart full of groceries he'd nearly forgotten about.
"We're shopping for the bake sale at my school," Christopher tells him with a toothy grin.
"What are you making?"
"Hopefully, brownies," the man replies. "I'm pretty bad at baking, maybe the kitchen in general, but I found a simple enough recipe I don't think I can mess up too badly."
"He ruined the last two batches," Christopher offers up, Buck's gaze landing back on the young boy. "That's why we're here."
It startles a laugh out of Buck and he looks up to catch the man's hand sliding down his face. He would feel bad about finding this amusing if he hadn't spotted a flash of dimple in the gaps between the man's fingers. Buck can't help but notice he's got lovely hands.
"Can we not embarass your dad in front of a kind stranger?"
Christopher's giggles cause the man's face to light up and Buck's never seen a sweeter picture in his life.
"I'm Buck, by the way," he extends his hand out for the man to shake. "Maybe he can just embarass you in front of Buck."
"What kind of name is Buck?" tumbles out of the man's mouth who upon realizing what he's just said turns red faster than you can blink, color spreading out from the middle of his face up to his forehead and halfway down his neck.
Buck's hand drops and he laughs long and loud, head tipping backwards.
"Yeah, that's fair," Buck responds once he's managed to compose himself.
"Too many Evans at the academy," is stated at the same time as the man says, "I am so sorry."
"You need to stop apologizing, you've already done it twice," Buck tells him.
The man's mouth opens and then closes immediately.
"Was that gonna be another sorry?"
"Guess we'll never know," the man responds as he extends his hand towards where Buck lifts his to meet it in the middle. "I'm Eddie," he says as Buck's hand gives his a firm squeeze.
Buck can't help but take notice of how soft his hand seems to be, eyes drifting down to get a better look at it than earlier. Eddie's fingers are slim in comparison to Buck's but his hand is larger, it makes Buck's breath go a little funny as they let go.
"Nice to meet you, Eddie," Buck's mouth forms around the name like he's been saying it his whole life.
He looks up to catch the man's eyes which is a mistake because his eyes are so sweet and soft and brown and entirely focused on Buck. It's incredibly disarming.
He tears his eyes away to focus back on Eddie's son, hand reaching out in a fist bump, "And you, too, Christopher."
The boy gives him an even wider grin as his little fist nudges against his. Buck can see he's missing two teeth, one on the top and one of the bottom. He is quite possibly the cutest things Buck has ever seen.
"So you wanna see the ducks?"
Christopher's eyes grow wide with excitement, all shiny and blue.
"Sometimes I think he was born with the power to trick everyone into giving him his way," Eddie sighs, sounding resigned.
"This might burst your bubble a little about your son's possible superpower but I'm just a sucker for kids," Buck admits.
"Well, this one's had me wrapped around his pinky since the second they handed him over for me to carry," Eddie responds as he ruffles Chritopher's hair. "Alright come on, let's let Buck get into his car so you can get a look at those ducks."
Eddie scoops Christopher up crutches and all to carry him over to the passenger side of the Jeep. Buck watches them for a couple of seconds, feels the corner of his lip twitch up as Chris tries to lean in his dad's hold toward the hood of the car to get a better look at the row of ducks.
His alarm chirps as the doors unlock.
"You can just hop in with him and he's welcome to scoop them up if he wants a better look," Buck yells as he opens up the backseat to start loading in his groceries.
"You're too trusting," Eddie admonishes from the front seat as Christopher is sitting nearly at the edge of his knees trying to grab at the ducks.
"Not like you can really steal my car with a child in your lap," Buck responds as he buckles in the eggs which earns him a raised brow from Eddie.
"For all you know, we could be conducting the greatest rubber duck heist of all time," Eddie's eyes are filled with mirth.
"There's always more ducks where those came from," Buck shrugs.
"He could sit here forever, by the way, so just let me know when you want us out of your hair."
"I'm in no rush," Buck replies. "The only urgent thing in here was my already half melted ice cream."
"No offense as you're being very nice, but why would you offer to do this, then?," Eddie motions at his son and the ducks.
"If Christopher asked you to see a collection of rubber ducks you have in your car would you say no?"
"Well, I don't have a collection of rubber ducks and he technically didn't even ask you," Eddie quips back.
"I wouldn't have been able to live with myself knowing he was going to be carted around the grocery store with a frown on his face."
"You are not a real person," Eddie's voice is filled with disbelief.
"Honestly, this is the most exciting thing to happen to me all week," Buck responds. "My captain would not say he forced me to take the next couple days off, but that's exactly what happened."
"Captain?" Eddie's head tilts to the side in interest.
Buck doesn't think Eddie even realizes how he's subconsciously scooting forward to help Christopher reach for the farthest duck on the dashboard but Buck does and it makes him a little dizzy. He's never encountered a very beautiful man and his adorable son in the wild before and he thinks it could be bad for his health.
"Hold that thought," Buck responds as he finishes settling the last grocery bag in the backseat. "Be right back."
He rushes off to drop off the cart in the return area just across from his car and grabs the duck off the landing pad as he moves to open the driver side door.
Tbe duck is baby blue with white clouds as wings and a little sun on his side this time. He places it alongside the rest of the ducks all scattered along the length of his dashboard.
"Sorry about that. To answer your question, I'm a firefighter."
"Right," Eddie nods. "You mentioned the academy."
"My dad's a firefighter," Christopher throws the words over his shoulder at Buck, not quite looking away from the duck in his hold.
"Uh, no. I-I'm not," Eddie stutters. "I still gotta graduate the academy and then see what station would even want me.
"You done any research on stations in your area, yet?"
Buck wants to ask if he's heard mentions of the 118, but bites his tongue. He could maybe ask Bobby if they're looking to fill a role, could name drop Eddie casually. Except he doesn't know Eddie's last name or his qualifications. The guy hasn't even graduated from the academy and Buck's brain is getting away from his as usual.
"Haven't really had the time, if I'm being honest. Life's been a little hectic with trying to get everything settled after we moved," Eddie tells him.
"Where'd you move here from?"
"Texas," Eddie says. "El Paso, specifically. Didn't have anything holding me back there, so thought I'd come here."
"Well, welcome to California. Do you have friends or family in the area? Seems like a pretty big move to handle all alone."
Buck speaks from experience. He remembers how hard it had been to really plant roots somewhere and essentially build his life again from the ground up. Buck thinks it must be so much harder with a kid. He finds it rather admirble.
"I have my tía Pepa and abuela in the area. I was very lucky they let us crash at their place until I found a place to rent. Would've gone insane otherwise," Eddie replies.
Buck feels himself relax at hearing that.
"How are you liking California?"
Eddie hums thoughtfully. His gaze lands on Christopher who has two of the ducks in a heated discussion about pizza toppings and Buck watches a dimple appear on his cheek. He drops a kiss on the crown of his son's head with a loud 'mwah.'
"It's good for us, I think," Eddie meets his gaze. "The people are nice."
Buck feels himself flush at the compliment, head ducking down as he tries to bite down a smile.
"I'm glad," Buck replies. "You two deserve that."
Eddie snorts.
"You don't think I'm being genuine?"
"I'm sure you are, but you don't know us," Eddie responds gently.
"You're a good dad and Christopher is a great kid. I don't need to know your whole story to believe that," Buck's tone responds in kind.
"Thank you," Eddie whispers before clearing his throat. "Alright, you have been very kind but this little guy is definitely overstaying his welcome, so we're gonna get out of your hair."
Buck feels himself deflate at this, he hopes it doesn't show on his face. He thinks it might when Eddie reminds him he's got groceries in the backseat.
"Let's say goodbye, Chris," Eddie says as he starts putting the ducks back in their place.
"Thank you for letting me see your duck collection. Dad says we have to go now," Chris doesn't sound all to happy about it.
"Before you guys go let me just grab something really quick."
Buck hops out of the car to rummage in his trunk for the cardboard box containing the ducks he usually leaves on other people's cars. He spots it almost immediately, it seems to have fallen over, the ducks spilling across the carpeting.
The bag he keeps alongside them filled with little tags that contain his Jeep instagram handle lays beside them and he debates attaching one on the duck he's about to gift Christopher. He doesn't have much time to weigh the pros and cons with Eddie's gaze on him from the front of the car.
He stalls for another second before grabbing a duck and a tag, sliding it on over its head as he rushes back to the front of the car.
"For you," Buck holds out the duck between both hands up to Christopher.
The boys face lights up again, hand darting out to grab at the duck, but stopping himself right before making contact.
"Can I?" he turns his face up to Eddie asking for permission.
"Go ahead," Eddie motions with his chin in the direction of the duck. "And what do we say?"
"Thank you so much," Chris is speaking to the duck rather than directly at Buck but he'll take it.
When Buck looks to Eddie, his neck and head are at a strange angle as he attempts to read the tag.
"It's my Instagram handle," Buck pipes up.
"I can see that," Eddie's voice sounds like he's struggling to contain laughter. "yougotbucked?"
"The strange way it sounds didn't occur to me until I'd become endeared to the name," Buck only feels a little defensive. "It's also not even my main account."
"I'm not judging," Eddie assures him as he starts fiddling with his phone that Buck never saw him reach to his pocket for.
His phone dings from where he'd left it in the cup holder. He grabs at it to find an Instagram notification that reads: @eddiebodywantsome started following you!
"And that's because you wouldn't have a leg to stand on?" Buck looks up at Eddie with a smirk on his face.
"Hey, I thought this was a judgment free space," Eddie says as he rises from his seat a bit, jostling Chris as he shoves his phone in his back pocket.
"This has been really nice of you, by the way. I know I said that already but as much as I've been having my own troubles adjusting, so has he," Eddie rests a hand on Chris's head before ruffling his hair. "Alright, bud. I'm serious this time we gotta go."
Chris lets out a sigh, there's a displeased pout where a smile had been just seconds before. "Do we have to?"
Eddie huffs out a laugh. "You signed us up for the bake sale, little man. Time to face the consequences."
Chris grumbles out an okay as Eddie maneuvers Chris off his lap onto the passenger side seat and himself out of the car.
"Let's say goodbye to Buck," Eddie says as he grabs Chris and hoists him onto his hip. He makes to grab for Chris's crutches where they've been resting against the center console but they slip out of his grasp one landing inside the car and the other onto the pavement.
Eddie lets out a small sigh before moving to pick them up.
"Let me," Buck offers. He doesn't allow Eddie to get in a word before he's out of the car and rounding the hood of the car.
Eddie moves out of the way once Buck comes to stand beside him allowing Buck to pick up the crutches before he hands them off to Eddie.
"Thanks, Buck," Eddie says as he wraps his hand around the crutches taking them from Buck.
"Not a problem," Buck assures him having not yet letting go of the crutches.
They stand there for a few more seconds just taking each other in until Eddie clears his throat and looks away and then to Christopher.
"Okay, Chris. It's goodbye for real this time," Eddie bounces Chris a bit in his hold to rip his attention from the line of ducks that adorn Buck's car.
"Bye, Buck," Chris gives Buck a little wave, the endearing kind little kids do where the wrist is doing most of the work and their hand is flopping around.
"Bye, Chris. It was really great to meet you," Buck offers Chris another fist bump and this time makes an explosion sound with his mouth when their fists collide.
"Whoa, you guys gotta be more careful," Eddie says as he fake stumbles backward like they experienced a real blow back.
This delights Chris. Buck wonders if he ever has a bad day with all his easy smiles and laughs.
"Bye, Eddie," Buck offers him a small wave that feels ridiculous and somehow very little all at the same time. "It's been a pleasure to host you both in my Jeep but I won't hold you from bake sale business any longer."
"Pretty sure I'm just gonna walk in there and buy the bakery brownie pack they have for eight bucks," Eddie admits.
"No shame in not being able to bake, but maybe tell Chris no more signing you up without consulting you first."
"You make it sounds so easy," Eddie chuckles. "This is not the first nor the last time he will do this to me. I'm pretty sure the PTA moms are onto me selling store bought goods."
"I'm sure you're easily forgiven," Buck says with a shrug as he gives Eddie what is hopefully a subtle once over.
"Kathy A. would have a few choices words to say about me," Eddie shivers as he says this.
"You seem difficult to dislike," Buck shoots back.
"I'll put you in touch with the PTA moms so you can hold a consensus," Eddie replies solemnly. His face scrunches up the next second before he says,"Sorry but we do really gotta go."
"So you've been saying," Buck responds as he shuts the passenger side door, molding his spine to the shape of the jeep door to make room for Eddie to get through.
"Okay. Okay, I'm going," Eddie says this more to himself than Buck as he starts making his way out from inbetween the cars, shoulder sliding unintentionally against Buck's chest as he squeezes past.
"You trying to convince me or yourself?" Buck's a bit amused at the reluctance Eddie seems to have about going as well. It's not necessarily like Buck wants him or Christopher to go either.
He's been having a bad couple days with Bobby putting him on mandatory leave. Eddie who seems like a wonderful dad with his equally wonderful son have left him feeling lighter than he has in days.
Eddie doesn't respond just gives Buck one final look back and offers him a half smile as Buck gives them both another wave. Chris is at this point too preoccupied with the duck in his hands to give Buck the light of day again.
Eddie rounds the corner fully disappearing from view and Buck takes a few more seconds before he moves to get back in the car knowing that he'd otherwise stare after them until they were out of sight.
Buck's groceries have been packed away, a lovely memorial for his tub of ice cream was had, and now he's laying on his couch staring at the ceiling when his phone dings from where it's laying atop the coffee table.
Buck reaches for his phone, the screen lighting up automatically as he reads the notification: @eddiebodywantssome sent you a message
Buck clicks through to the new chat.
eddiebodywantssome: I don't mean to sound like a stalker but do you always do groceries around 3pm on a Sunday at Trader Joe's?
yougotbucked: It's possible…
eddiebodywantssome: Any chance you're off shift next Sunday?
yougotbucked: It depends who's asking.
eddiebodywantssome: I just ran into a duck who's looking for a new home. Told him I kinda know a guy.
yougotbucked: You should've started with that. I'll be there!