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“Why don’t you just go ask someone to dance or something?”
Eddie’s eyes flick away from the bottle of beer in his hand up to Ravi’s teasing face.
“I’m not feeling dancing, Ravi. I didn’t even want to come out tonight. I told you guys that I was perfectly fine to sit at home and play video games. Beer’s cheaper at home, too,” Eddie shrugs and makes a face at his bottle.
“C’mon, man!” Ravi excitedly places a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “This is your one child-free night to let loose and have fun!”
Eddie shakes Ravi’s hand off of his shoulder. “You and I both know that Chris has more nights out than I do, so technically I have plenty of child-free nights,” Eddie chuckles. “Besides, apparently there’s only one of us ‘letting loose’ tonight.”
Both of their gazes shift out to the dance floor where Buck is dancing with a beautiful brunette woman. Ravi smiles and looks at Buck in awe.
“I don’t know how he does it,” Ravi laughs, shaking his head, “I swear everywhere we go he’s chatting up someone, but around all of us, he’s just a big lovable idiot. I hate to say it, but I might need to ask Buck for pointers on the ladies.”
When Ravi turns to nudge Eddie and laugh with him, he sees Eddie tight-lipped, still staring at the dance floor with a burning gaze. Ravi looks back out and notices that he is still staring at Buck and the woman.
Ravi smirks, “Eddie, are you. jealous?”
Eddie’s eyes snap to Ravi. “Jealous? Jealous of what? Of— of Buck? What do I have to be jealous of?” Eddie sputters.
“I don’t know, you tell me,” Ravi says, still sporting his shit-eating grin. “Maybe you’re jealous of his game, or maybe… something else.”
“Ravi. I’m not jealous. I don’t get jealous.”
“Mhmm, just like you don’t panic.” Eddie rolls his eyes at him.
“I’m being serious. Jealousy is not my thing, I don’t want some bar hookup,” Eddie huffs.
Ravi snorts and says, “That’s not what your eyes say.”
He sets his beer down on the table and takes a breath to compose himself. “I have no idea what you’re trying to get at Ravi. I made it clear that I’m not here to look for a hookup, or even something that will turn into a relationship. What Chris and I need is stability, and right now our stability is with each other. No need to mess any of that up and bring in more people in his life that I drive away.” Eddie looks away from Ravi, guilty.
Ravi immediately drops the smirk and apologizes, “Eddie, no. I’m sorry. That’s not at all what I was trying to get at. I definitely wasn’t insinuating that you wanted to go home with her. I was just messing with you. I know you guys are in a good place and don’t want to mess anything up. I’m sorry Eddie, really.” Ravi wrings his hands nervously.
“It’s all good, Rav. I know you didn’t mean anything by it. Actually, I’m sorry I made things weird by airing out my issues.” Eddie downs the rest of his beer. “Anyway, next round’s on me. Same thing? Coming right up.” Eddie claps Ravi on the shoulder and turns away without leaving him room to respond.
As Eddie walks up to the bar, he shakes his head to clear his head. One thing Ravi says comes to his mind as he approaches the bar.
I definitely wasn’t insinuating that you wanted to go home with her.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Eddie’s thoughts get interrupted by the bartender asking for his order, where he orders three more of the IPA’s they were trying.
He leans against the bar, waiting for the drinks as Ravi’s words continue to float around in his brain.
What is with the emphasis on her? Is he trying to say I want to go home with someone else? Who does he think I was looking at? I mean, I was looking at Buck and the girl, but that’s just because I’m annoyed that he dragged me all the way here to ditch me. Very valid.
Before Eddie can delve further, the bartender slides over the drinks. Eddie thanks him, pays, and heads back to the table.
“Listen Eddie, really I’m sor-”
“Relax, man,” Eddie says, cutting off Ravi, “I mean it, it’s fine. I’m the one who took slight teasing and made it about my own issue. It’s all good” Eddie takes a sip of his new beer.
Ravi’s face sags with relief, “Okay, good. Now that I feel better about that, I should apologize in advance for what I’m going to tell you.” Ravi’s face shifts back to nervousness.
Eddie side-eyes him, “Oh god, what did you do?”
“Nothing!” Ravi waves his hands around, “I just– this girl– she said– or she asked– when you went up to the bar– and then– ugh,” Ravi gives up and sets his forehead on the table and sighs. “She’s just so pretty and wants to dance, but I don’t want to ditch you here all by yourself,” Ravi rushes out.
Eddie studies him for a moment. Ravi is blushing and flustered. “Nah, go get ‘em tiger. I’ll be fine here,” Eddie says with a small smile.
Ravi peeks an eye over at Eddie, “Are you sure? We made you come here and now we’re both ditching you. I feel bad.”
Eddie waves his hand at Ravi. “Don’t. I’ll be fine here, I’m enjoying myself just fine. Besides, if I get bored I can always drag Buck away from his lady to hang out with me. He always comes if I need him.”
Ravi smirks, “Oh, I’m sure he does. Anyway, thanks man, really. I’ll catch you in a bit!” Ravi grabs his drink and hurries off to find his girl.
Eddie looks after Ravi, confused. Why is he so cryptic? He turns back to the table, sighs, and grabs Buck’s untouched beer to clink against his own.
“Cheers.”
Eddie goes back to drinking his own beer and starts to people watch. He wasn’t lying to Ravi when he said he was enjoying himself. He’s always enjoyed people watching in crowded spaces. Airports, malls, bars. There are always so many different kinds of people everywhere. Eddie’s eyes cast around the room.
A group of about 8 women celebrating a bachelorette party where the bride is way past her alcohol threshold. Old guy sitting alone at the bar, desperately trying to chat up the bartender in her early 20s. A couple grinding on each other on the dance floor. A couple fighting in the corner by the bathrooms. Another couple grinding on each other, maybe too indecent for a public space. A few guys-
Wait.
His gaze flicks back to the couple getting way too down and dirty, and his eyes bug out his head.
Buck?!?
Don’t get him wrong, Eddie’s heard about the Buck 1.0 days, but he’s never seen anything like what they describe and tease Buck about. Sure, he’s seen his fair share of flirty Buck, batting his eyes at the barista or getting a little too friendly with a patient on a call, but he’s never seen anything like this.
Is he being serious right now? This is damn near porn, and everyone in the club is watching. Okay, maybe not everyone, but if they look, they’d be getting an eyeful and a half.
Eddie can feel his own heated gaze, and he’s not surprised when Buck looks up at him, as if sensing someone burning a hole in his head.
Buck is sweaty and flushed, curls sticking to his forehead. He excitedly smiles and waves at Eddie, but Eddie only replies to him with a curt nod of his head. Buck looks confused and leans down to say something to his friend. Eddie looks down to his drink, where it is safe and G-rated.
What is he thinking? You can’t just be doing all of that in a public space.
Eddie pictures Buck, head thrown back, bead of sweat running down his neck while he grinds against the woman in front of him. In Eddie’s mind, his eyes trail down with that bead of sweat down his shirt, where it’s unbuttoned a few–
“Eddie!” Buck pops out of nowhere and startles Eddie out of his thought, “You got another round? Thanks, I’m super thirsty.” Buck downs half of his bottle in seconds, still sweaty and flushed. Eddie’s eyes follow a bead of sweat, before he catches himself doing it and looks away.
Eddie’s mouth feels dry. He wets his lips, “Um, yeah.”
Buck looks around, “Where’d Rav go? I thought he’d be with you?”
Eddie scoffs and looks back at Buck. “Yeah, well it seems like I’m the only one who’s not ‘letting loose’ tonight,” he says with air quotes.
Buck frowns and gets that crinkle in his forehead. “What the hell? I told him to stick with you and make sure you had fun.”
“Why? Leave him to babysit me so you can go off and recreate the Grind On Me Vines?” Eddie rolls his eyes and looks away.
“Wh-what? Eddie? What the hell? First of all, that reference is old as fuck, and honestly I’m surprised you even know what Vine is. Second of all, are you– are you mad at me?” Buck sputters, shocked at Eddie’s hostility.
Eddie rolls his eyes again and levels Buck with a look. “We’re the same age, Buck. You act like I’m a hundred years old. Obviously I know what Vine is. And to answer your question, yeah, kind of.” Buck’s eyes get wider. “That was basically indecent exposure out there. You’re a firefighter. You should know better.” Eddie finishes his rant by putting his hands on his hips, feeling more like a dad than ever.
“The dancing? Eddie, this is a club. Everyone grinds at the dance floor. Honestly, Jess and I were some of the only ones not basically fucking with pants still on,” Buck explains, flailing his hands around.
“I have never danced like that with anyone. Especially not in public. Maybe that’s what Jess does, but normal people don’t,” Eddie huffs.
“I could dance like that with my sister and it wouldn’t be weird,” Buck rolls his eyes. “Actually, wait. I take it back. It would be weird. But, Eddie, it was like, barely grinding. I could dance like that with you and nobody would bat an eye.”
A fire lights up in the pit of Eddie’s stomach at that. Huh? Eddie waves him off, “Get real, Buck. Quit trying to justify it and just admit that what you were doing out there should have at least been taken to the bathroom.”
“Dude. I’m telling you, I don’t know if you were looking at the wrong people, but Jess and I were barely touching. I was only out there because she asked me to dance because her friend ditched her, and I thought I could go for a while and trust Ravi not to ditch you. Jokes on me I guess,” Buck says as he scans the room, presumably looking for Ravi.
“Nah, I got the right people. I know who I was looking at. It was absurd.”
Buck laughs loud, “Absurd? Are you kidding me? It was basically one foot apart middle school dance rules with us. She said she’s married.”
Eddie chokes on his drink, “You were dancing like that with a married woman? Buck!”
Buck’s face drops, “No, wait! Apparently they’re in a sort of open relationship, at least that’s what she told me, but she said she wasn’t looking for anything anyway. And neither am I! So, we were just dancing for fun!”
“Okay. Whatever you say.”
Buck looks exasperated. “Do you want me to prove to you that it was strictly for fun?”
Eddie looks at him suspiciously, “And how would you do that?”
“Dance with me.”
Eddie almost drops his empty bottle before placing it on the table.
“Buck, I am not grinding with you.”
Buck chokes on his own spit, “Eddie! It’s not grinding. Literally just dancing. Come on,” Buck downs his beer and holds his hand out for Eddie to take.
Eddie gazes down at his open hand.
“Fine. But if you try to put your dick on me I will punch you in the balls,” Eddie says as he brushes past Buck’s hand and heads to the dance floor.
Buck laughs, but follows behind him.
Once they get out to the dance floor, Eddie has no idea what to do with himself.
I did not drink enough to be out here.
“Actually Buck, I believe you, we can head back to the table now.” Eddie tries to sidestep Buck but gets blocked by the man himself.
“Oh, no. You think I’m going to let you go back? I finally got you back out on the dance floor! It’s been forever! C’mon Eddie, please? For a couple of songs at least,” Buck pleads with his puppy-dog eyes. Eddie knows he already gave in the moment Buck tried to stop him.
“Fine. You get three song, Buckley. That’s about all I can handle before I need to switch to tequila,” Eddie says, holding out his hand for Buck to take.
Buck laughs and cheers, “Yay!”
For the first song, they mostly just bounce around a little because it’s a basic wordless club song. Buck adds in some cheese old dance moves like the shopping cart and the twist, while Eddie laughs at him and copies his moves.
After the first song ends, the beginning notes of Gimme More by Britney Spears start playing, and the club erupts in cheers, including Buck and Eddie. Almost everybody is on the dance floor shouting the lyrics and dancing with each other.
As Eddie and Buck are singing to each other and dancing, Eddie noticed a bead of sweat trailing down Buck’s neck again.
Why do I keep noticing that? That’s so weird of me. So what if Buck’s hot?
Because you want to lick it. And yeah, Buck is hot.
Eddie immediately stops dancing, eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar.
What the hell?
Buck’s hot?
Oh my god, Buck is hot.
Buck is so hot.
“Eddie!”
Eddie gets shaken out of his epiphany.
“Yeah, what?”
Buck has both hands wrapped around Eddie’s biceps, presumably has been actually shaking Eddie. “What the hell happened? Are you okay? Do you need to sit down and drink water or something?” Eddie’s eyes flick down to Buck’s hands.
Buck has nice hands.
Stop it, Eddie! Think of something to say to him!
I know something I can say to him.
No, stop. Think of a lie or something.
“I, um, think I left the oven on,” Eddie cringes as his very unconvincing lie slips past his teeth.
Buck looks relieved. “Oh my god, you scared me. I thought you were going to pass out. Anyway, no it’s not on. I remember shutting it off after I took the pizza out, and I double-checked before we left, because that always happens to me. So we’re all good!” Buck says with a smile.
Of course he remembered that and checked back. God, I love him.
Wait.
Actually, yeah. That feels right.
Eddie feels like a weight has been lifted off of his chest at the thought. He almost had a heart attack because of Buck’s hands, but he feels weirdly at peace admitting that he’s in love with him. Speaking of Buck’s hands, they are still very much on his arms as the song shifts into a familiar beat.
You have got to be fucking joking.
As Buck registers what song is playing, he bursts out laughing, laughing so hard he’s basically doubled over Eddie’s body, holding onto his shoulders for dear life.
Eddie turns to the ceiling and throws out a few silent curses to whatever God or higher power decided to bestow Eddie with the gift of Grind With Me playing right after he realized he was in love with Buck.
“Alright, bud,” Eddie pats Buck on his head that’s currently resting on Eddie’s shoulder, as he’s still wracked with giggles, “Time’s up. Time to go back to the table.”
Buck shoots up off of Eddie’s shoulder at that, still clutching on both shoulders with his hands. “No way! You said three! This is the third.”
“Then we can come back after.”
“Like hell! It takes a lot to get you out here once. I’m cashing in my third dance now. And what better song to do it to than the actual Grind On Me?” Buck exclaims as he wiggles his eyebrows.
Eddie rolls his eyes, “You’re ridiculous.” But Eddie relents and puts his hands on Buck’s waist, keeping distance, and slightly swaying.
Buck chuckles, but his chuckles fade off as he sways with Eddie. Eddie looks up at him, expecting him to say something else, but his breath catches in his throat at the way Buck is looking at him.
Eddie knows Buck’s faces, and he’s seen this face before.
Buck wants something.
Buck wants him.
Eddie’s eyes trail down to Buck’s lips without his permission, and back up to his eyes. Buck’s eyes are wide, and he looks shocked.
Eddie leans in closer, testing the waters. Bucks breathing gets more shallow as his eyes flick down to Eddie’s lips in return.
Suddenly, they’re kissing.
Eddie doesn’t know who moved first, but he would put money on it being himself.
There is no slow start to their kiss. As soon as their lips touch, it’s like a fire has been lit between them, and they’re immediately devouring each other. Eddie drags Buck’s body flush against his own by his waist, and Buck grabs Eddie’s face with one hand, and has his other on the back of Eddie’s head.
Eddie’s not sure if they’re even dancing anymore, or if they’re just fully stood still making out on the dance floor. He doesn’t even care. The only thing that matters right now is the feeling of Buck against him. Eddie shifts forward and unintentionally brings their hips together in a grind. They simultaneously groan into each other's mouths.
Eddie does it again. And again. And again.
Until finally- “Eddie, stop,” Buck pulls away with a pant.
Eddie panics, “I’m sorry, oh my god, oh my-”
“No!” Buck panics now too, still out of breath. “I fully consent to whatever the fuck is happening, but you cannot keep doing that or else I’m going to come in my pants.”
“Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um, should we, uh, get out of here or something? I have the house to myself tonight, and I don’t have an attic, so no squatters there.”
Buck laughs and playfully slaps his chest, “Fuck you, too soon.”
“That’s the plan,” Eddie says under his breath.
Buck hears him, and his eyes get dark as he leans in to kiss Eddie again.
Eddie stops him with a hand to his mouth, “Nuh uh,” he tuts. “You’re a firefighter, you should know better about indecent exposure.” Eddie smirks.
Buck licks his hand and laughs when Eddie pulls it away with a disgusted face.
“Okay then, Mr. Firefighter. Lead the way.”
As Buck and Eddie head over to Buck’s truck in the parking lot, Eddie says, “I cannot believe we just recreated the Grind On Me Vines in a club. That’s so embarrassing.”
Buck laughs and grabs Eddie’s hand, “Eh, not as embarrassing with the love of my life.”
Eddie abruptly stops walking which causes Buck to stop too because of their conjoined hands. Buck has a confused look on his face.
“What did you just say?”
Only then does it dawn on Buck what slipped out, and he stands with his mouth opening and closing, trying to find something to say.
“Uh, I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Say it again.”
“What?”
“Repeat exactly what you said.”
“Uh, okay,” Buck says, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “Not as embarrassing with the love of my life?”
Eddie smiles. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Nothing can really be embarrassing if I’m with the love of my life.”
Buck perks up so much you can practically see a tail wag. “I love you,” he breathes out before crashing his lips to Eddie’s. They continue kissing for a while before they finally break apart.
“I love you, too,” Eddie smiles up at Buck.
“C’mon Diaz, we’ve got an empty house to get to,” Buck says before turning around to walk to the truck.
Eddie hangs back for a second before smacking Buck’s ass, then tangling their fingers together and smiles up at Buck sweetly.
“You’re such a shit,” Buck laughs.
“Yeah, but you loooove me,” Eddie taunts as Buck leans down for another kiss.
***
“Hey guys, are we ready to head out?”
Ravi approaches an empty table. He takes a second to scan the emptying club. Did they really just–
“Those dicks left me. They deserve each other,” Ravi grumbles, exasperated, but with a small smile on his face.