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This was strange. One day his friend was behaving like he always did, and the next day he started asking nonsensical questions. But Buck was fine with it—he was his best friend, and there was nothing he could do that would bother him, as long as he could keep seeing his beautiful eyes and his bright smile.
“Hey Buck, next week, what time are we meeting up?”
Whenever they got together after a shift, they went straight to Eddie’s house in their own cars, so it was a strange question. Buck raised an eyebrow, not understanding the situation.
“I mean, our shifts match all next week, so I guess we’re going together, right?”
Buck was even more confused when he saw Eddie looking confused too.
Eddie tilted his head and asked, “But we won’t have time to change.”
“Oh, I guess we can each go home, change, and then meet up. Is that okay?”
There was definitely something strange going on—he had never had to change clothes to go to Eddie’s house before.
Eddie just nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Sounds good.”
Buck stayed still, watching Eddie walk away to get back to work.
They were both sitting on the station couch when Eddie asked another strange question.
“Buck, what are you going to wear next week? I wanted us to wear the same colors.”
If Buck weren’t so confused, he would find Eddie’s smile and the idea of matching colors really cute.
“Um, I don’t know yet. As soon as I do, I’ll tell you. Is that okay?”
He smiled when he saw his friend nod.
“I was thinking of wearing a tie, but I don’t know if that’s too elegant or not.”
“Um… a tie for work? Are you okay, Eddie?”
“No, dummy, a tie for after work.”
Eddie was acting weird. Why would he wear a tie at his own house? Still, he was a free man, so Buck had no reason to question what his friend wanted to wear in his own home.
“Sure, man. I think a tie would be fine if you want to wear one.”
“But are you going to wear one?”
Buck would do anything for his best friend—especially if it meant getting that beautiful smile in return.
“If you want, I’ll even go dressed as a clown,” he said, smiling as he saw Eddie laugh. “But yeah, I’ll wear a tie if you want.”
“That sounds good.”
Eddie stood up from the couch and walked away, not without leaving a kiss on Buck’s cheek.
Okay, that was really weird coming from Eddie—but Buck wasn’t going to complain. He loved it.
Buck was close to falling asleep in the bunks when he suddenly felt the weight of Eddie’s body on top of his.
“Eddie? What are you doing?”
“Shhh, I’m sleepy.”
He rested his head on Buck’s chest, and even though Buck found it incredibly cute, it was also incredibly strange. Still, he decided to close his eyes and wrap an arm around Eddie. He was too tired to think about how weird everything was.
When he woke up, Eddie was playing with his hand. Buck just let him. He loved his best friend and had already accepted that they could never be more than that. Even so, that didn’t stop him from enjoying the affection he was receiving.
“We need to get up now, Buck. Bobby’s going to get mad if we don’t work.”
That might have been the least strange thing Eddie said all day.
“You’re the one who has to get up. Bobby wouldn’t get mad at me—I’m his favorite, and he loves me.”
“Yeah, sure. Get up.”
Buck watched Eddie stand up. He was staring at his ass when Eddie suddenly turned around and, once again, left a kiss on his cheek. Before Buck could say anything about it, Eddie was already gone.
Then everything got even stranger—Buck didn’t know that was possible. Now it seemed like Hen and Chim were also having a stroke, because he kept getting questions from both of them.
Hen asked things like:
“Are you excited about next week?”
“Are you going somewhere fancy?”
“Do you already know what you’re going to wear?”
When Buck answered with indifference or sarcasm, Hen looked at him as if he were the one acting strange, which was pretty insulting coming from someone asking such ridiculous questions.
Still, there had to be something in the water, because Chim was doing exactly the same thing.
“Have you already told your sister about your outing with Eddie?”
“I always knew this would happen. I even bet on it.”
“Look at you now—what would rookie Buck think of you?”
That last question actually made some sense. Buck felt very proud of himself for how far he had come. It wasn’t that it had been wrong to sleep with everyone, but the reasons why he did it—and the places he chose—weren’t the best. He was very proud to say that he now really valued non-sexual intimacy.
Besides, he was so in love with his best friend that he simply didn’t feel like going out with other men or women. He much preferred sitting on his couch and sharing a good beer with his second-favorite Díaz. Bobby also seemed very proud of him, always congratulating him for the good things he did. Buck ignored the fact that Bobby only did that with him.
He was extremely sleepy, but also very hungry, which is why he was fighting sleep while sitting on the couch, waiting for Bobby to finish cooking. He was making something simple since they had just gotten back from a call.
Buck nodded off again—falling asleep for a few seconds, then waking up. He had been doing that for the last five minutes and was about to do it again when someone sat beside him and gently guided his head to their chest. From the smell of the cologne, he immediately knew it was Eddie. He let himself be held and sighed happily when he felt a kiss on his hair.
“Sleep peacefully. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to eat.”
The rest of the day was pretty much the same: nonsense questions, hugs, and kisses (which, once again, he didn’t complain about) from Eddie.
Now… everything changed at the end of the day, when it was time to leave.
Buck was getting into his jeep when Eddie stopped him and turned him around. He was about to ask if he was okay when he felt Eddie’s lips crash against his. He froze for a few seconds, but quickly Buck placed a hand on Eddie’s hip and deepened the kiss. They stayed like that for a while.
Buck only thought that he absolutely had to stop soon, or he’d have to drive very uncomfortably with an erection in his pants—and also how incredible the kiss was. Honestly, the best kiss of his life.
“I was scared you wouldn’t kiss me back,” Eddie said once they pulled away. “Good thing I didn’t let fear win. Best fucking kiss of my life.”
“I think exactly the same. Ten out of ten, would repeat,” Buck laughed, watching Eddie blush even more. “I wish I’d had more confidence—I would’ve kissed you way earlier.”
“Really? You didn’t seem very excited today. Everyone else was,”
There were those weird questions again.
“Excited about what? I’ve been so confused by all of you today.”
Stupid Buck—he must have said something wrong, because he saw Eddie’s happy expression falter a little.
Buck tried to think if today was an important date, or if next week was. They talked about it so much, but according to him, there was nothing. He knew everyone’s birthdays by heart, and none were close. He couldn’t think of anything else.
“Our date? You didn’t look excited about it. I told everyone about it, and they were all excited, but you acted indifferent. I thought maybe you said yes just so you wouldn’t hurt my feelings.”
“Eddie, sweetheart… what date? What are you talking about?”
He watched Eddie freeze for a few seconds, thinking.
“Shit! I forgot to ask you. God, I’m so stupid—I forgot to ask you if you wanted to go on a date with me.”
Buck couldn’t help it—he laughed so hard that some coworkers looked at him, alarmed.
“Stop laughing! This is so embarrassing. I told everyone we had a date.”
“Well, then ask me if I want to go on a date with you,” he said, still laughing a little.
“Buck, do you want to go on a date with me?”
As soon as he finished the question, Buck kissed him.
“Of course I want to go on a date with you.”
“Are you serious? You’re not just saying that so I won’t feel bad?”
Buck lowered his voice.
“Eddie, I have a very uncomfortable erection right now just from kissing you. I swear I’m not saying this just to make you feel better.”
Eddie laughed.
“I’m such an idiot. Don’t tell anyone this happened—I was so sure I’d already asked you out. They’re going to laugh at me so much, so keep my secret.”
“You know that’s not going to happen.”