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Come on, Buck, you can do this. You run into burning buildings for a living; you can muster up the courage to leave a note on your neighbor's door.
It all started a few weeks ago when Maddie had suggested he try making some friends outside of work. “You’ve got a wonderful family at the 118, and I’m so glad you have them, but I think it would be good for you to have people outside of work, too. People with different life experiences than yours. People who aren’t also running into fires and facing disasters day in and day out. Part of why the lawsuit was so rough on you is that your friendships are also wrapped up in your job. I just think it’d be good for you to have some friends separate from work, too. You love to bake! Maybe you could meet some friends at a baking club or something?” Maddie suggested as she gave him a hopeful look.
Buck hadn’t been able to get what she said out of his head since then, and life had presented the perfect opportunity to actually do something about it. He had a new neighbor who had moved in across the hall and had seen the guy carrying all kinds of plants into his apartment. Buck, thanks to one of his many ADHD hyperfixations, had tons of pots from plants that had died just cluttering up his apartment. Now he had the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone— possibly make a new friend, and clean up his apartment some without donating to some greedy corporation like Goodwill.
So, here he was, psyching himself up to write a note and leave it on his neighbor’s door, deciding that’d be less intimidating than asking face-to-face. That way, his neighbor had the option to just ignore him if he was too weirded out.
Hey neighbor, my name is Buck! Welcome to the complex! I saw that you like plants a lot, and I was wondering if you needed some more pots? I’ve got a bunch I’m trying to get rid of, and thought I’d check with you before donating them. No pressure if you don’t want them though! My number is 323-298-3660, so if you want them, just let me know. Again, no pressure!
That wouldn’t be weird, right? I mean, he does have lots of plants on his patio and hanging in his windows, so it’s pretty obvious to anyone passing by that he likes plants, right? Before Buck can lose courage, he walks across the breezeway and tapes the note to the door before scurrying back to his apartment. Nothing to do now but wait.
Turns out, he doesn’t have to wait long, though. When he’s leaving for his shift later in the morning, he sees that his note has been folded up and taped to his door. His neighbor responded!
Hey Buck, my name’s Eddie! Thanks so much for thinking of me with the pots. I was just planning a trip to the store to buy more pots for all my rooted propagations, so you have no idea how much time and money you just saved me. I’d love to come by sometime to see what kinds of pots you have. My number is 310-328-5310. Just shoot me a text, and we can figure out a good time for me to come by.
Buck was still smiling about the note and the possible budding friendship when he walked into the station, immediately drawing curious glances from Hen and Chim.
“What’s got you all smiley this morning, Buckaroo?” Hen asked.
“I may have made a new friend!” responds Buck excitedly.
“Oh, so suddenly we’re not good enough for you?” Chim asks incredulously, although the smile on his face negated any anger.
“Not at all, I love you guys, but my brilliant sister and your wife suggested I try making some friends outside of work, too. And that may be happening with my new neighbor, so I’m excited. I’m gonna text him about meeting up after our shift tomorrow.”
“I'm proud of you, Buck,” says Hen as she wraps him in a hug. “Me too, bud,” adds Chim as he joins the hug.
The rest of their shift goes by like usual— a few fires, some car accidents, and a cat stuck up in a tree. While waiting for Bobby to finish up their dinner, Buck decides to go ahead and text Eddie to try and make some plans for tomorrow.
Buck: hey, eddie, it’s buck! i’m glad you could use some of the pots! i’m working til tomorrow morning, but i’m free the rest of the day if you wanna stop by to see which ones you want. just let me know what time works best for you!
Almost immediately, Buck gets a response.
Eddie: Hey, Buck. I’m glad you texted! I’m free tomorrow from 3 pm-6 pm. Does that work for you? Buck: perfect! i’ll be home! Eddie: Great, see you then! Hope the rest of your work day goes well.
The rest of the shift passed in a blur. Buck was too preoccupied thinking about Eddie coming over. He was gonna have to straighten up a little when he got home. Wanted to make a good first impression on the person who could potentially be his first real non-work friend since moving to LA.
As soon as he got home, he got to work organizing all the pots and making sure they were relatively clean. He had 20 in total (he had really tried to make the whole plant parent thing work), and who knows how many Eddie would actually end up taking. Once he was satisfied with how things looked, he decided to get some sleep.
Hours later, he woke up to a faint knock on his door. He rolled out of bed, checked the time, and ran to the door to check his peephole. Sure enough, on the other side of his door was Eddie. Buck quickly fixed his hair and straightened his clothes before opening the door.
“Hey! Come on in! I’ve got them all stacked up here, so take a look. See which ones you want, take as many or as few as you want. No pressure.”
“Wow, you weren’t kidding, you do have a bunch,” Eddie said as he took in all the pots stacked neatly along the wall.
“Yeah, they kept dying on me, but I was determined to try and make it work cuz I love having plants. They just don’t seem to like me.”
“Have you tried pothos? Those are notoriously hard to kill.”
“I had one I managed to keep alive for about 3 years, but even that one died. I either forget to water them, or I water them too much. So I just decided plant life must not be for me. I’m much more into baking these days. It’s surprisingly harder to mess up,” Buck says with a grin.
“Well, hey, if you ever change your mind, I’ve usually got more propogations than I know what to do with. I’d be happy to give you some.”
“Thanks, I may take you up on that. Wouldn’t want to kill them after you worked so hard on them, though.”
“Nah, no worries. I’ve killed my fair share of plants, too, when I was still learning. Even now, I fuck up from time to time and kill a plant.” Eddie says with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Well, like I said, I may take you up on that. For now, though, I’m just happy you can give these pots a new home. Whichever ones you want, I can help you take them over to your apartment if you want.”
“That’d be great, thanks! Honestly, I think I can use them all. As I said, I’ve got a lot of propagations that are ready or almost ready to be put in pots. And honestly, even if I don’t need them now, I’ll probably need them in the future.”
They get to work carrying the pots over to Eddie’s apartment, Buck trying to sneakily check out his apartment while he’s at it. It’s neat and tidy, just like Eddie seems to be. All of the plants make the space feel homey, but otherwise, the space is pretty bare— like a bachelor pad.
After all the pots have been moved over to Eddie’s place, they share a few more words but go their separate ways. Buck was kinda hoping for more, but at least it was a start. They knew each other’s names now, had each other’s numbers, and the possibility of more was right there.
They texted off and on for the next few months, never really hanging out, much to Buck’s disappointment. It always seemed like one of them was working or not home; their schedules never really lining up. So after months, all he really had to show for his effort were a handful of texts about misdelivered packages and plant updates.
That is, until one day Buck woke up after a shift feeling like absolute death. Honestly, he felt like he’d been run over by a fire engine in his sleep. His body ached, his head was pounding, his nose was stuffed up, and his throat felt like he’d swallowed razor blades. He managed to stumble to his bathroom and grab the thermometer out of his medicine cabinet. His temp was only 99.1, so he decided to wait to go to the doctor. He should probably call his sister or any of his friends, since they had more medical experience, but he didn’t want to bother them. They were all working today, helping people with actual emergencies. Buck would just have to power through on his own. He took some cold and flu medicine, made a cup of hot tea, and then wrapped up on the couch with his biggest blanket. All he had to do was get some good rest, and he was sure he could get over the worst of it.
Hours passed, and Buck just felt worse and worse. His head hurt so bad he could barely keep his eyes open, his body couldn’t decide if he was too hot or too cold, and he was coughing so badly that he could barely sleep. And on top of it all, his thermometer had died, so he couldn’t even check his temp anymore. He decided he had to do something more, but still didn’t want to bother his friends. You could always text Eddie…it wouldn’t be so crazy.
Buck: hey, eddie, sorry to bother you, but is there any chance you have any thermometer batteries (cr 1225)? i’m sick, and my thermometer decided now would be a great time to die on me. ironic since i feel like i’m dying.
Eddie: Oh no, I’m sorry you’re sick! I think I’ve got some, but let me go check.
A few minutes pass.
Eddie: I found some! I’m heading over to your place now.
Buck heard a knock at the door and went to answer it. Sure enough, there was Eddie holding a pack of batteries. He handed them over while looking Buck over in concern.
“Are you sure you don’t need anything else, Buck? You look pretty rough.”
“I’ve got meds and more tea than I’ll ever be able to drink. I think I just need to sleep it off. I did want to be able to keep an eye on my temp, though, in case it gets too high. If it gets too high, then yeah, I’ll go to the doctor.”
“Okay, if you say so,” Eddie says, still sounding skeptical. “You let me know if that changes, though, okay. I’m right across the hall.”
“Thanks, Eds,” Buck murmurs. The nickname feels foreign on his tongue, but it seems to make Eddie happy.
Buck shuffles back to bed, taking the batteries with him, but falling asleep before he can even check his temp. He tosses and turns, a tangle of sweatpants and blanket, until he wakes drenched in sweat to the sound of someone banging on his door.
He slowly makes his way to the door and is shocked to see Eddie on the other side, a panicked look in his eyes and arms full of bags.
“W-what are you doing?” Buck asks, confused.
“You weren’t answering my texts, and I was worried. I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Eddie says as he pushes past Buck and into his apartment. “I also went and got all the things for some soup. My abuela used to make this for me every time that I was sick, and I swear it was better than any medicine.”
Buck is still standing by his front door, confused about how Eddie ended up in his apartment and why he seems to care so much. Sure, they had texted some, and they were friendly, but not “show up at each other’s home and cook for one another” kinda close. Not “take care of each other when they’re sick” kinda close. At least, not as far as Buck knew. He shuffled into his kitchen and was prepared to say something when Eddie walked up to him and stuck the thermometer in his mouth. That shut Buck up quick. The thermometer beeped, and Eddie grimaced as he looked at the reading.
“It’s 100.4…not great, but not as bad as I thought it’d be. When’s the last time you took some medicine?”
“Uhhh, a few hours ago, I think. Whenever you dropped off the batteries.”
“That was yesterday, Buck. You didn’t realize you slept that long?” Eddie asked as he immediately got some pills ready and handed them to Buck along with some water. “Here, take.”
Buck took the pills with no complaint, knowing they’d help him feel a bit better. “No, I didn’t. I guess I finally got sick enough that sleep took over.”
“Here, sit,” Eddie commands as he pulls a chair out for Buck to sit in. “I’m gonna make you some tea and then get started on the soup. Where do you keep your tea?”
“Top left cabinet, mugs are there too. Why are you doing this, Eddie? We barely know each other.”
Eddie scoffs before responding, “We know each other enough for me to be worried about you, Buck. I couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to you when I’m only across the hallway.” Eddie busies himself with making the tea, mixing in a heaping spoonful of honey before putting it in front of Buck. He gets to work cleaning and chopping the vegetables for soup, making it look effortless.
“Well, I’m grateful for you. You don’t have to do this, but I’m glad I don’t have to suffer alone.” They sit in comfortable silence as Buck takes small sips from the tea and Eddie quietly works over the stove. Before long, Eddie places a steaming bowl of soup in front of Buck and hands him a spoon.
“Careful not to burn your tongue, but this should help clear your sinuses. It’s my abuela’s secret family recipe.”
Buck takes a careful sip, blowing a bit on it first, and practically moans from how good it tastes. Eddie just chuckles and looks at Buck with an amused expression.
“So I take it you like it?”
“Like it? I love it, Eddie. You gotta see if she’ll give me the recipe.”
“Ahh, no chance on that Buck. She guards this recipe closer than any other family secret. Only family can know it. I can make it for you from time to time, though.”
Buck hums in contentment as he keeps eating the soup while Eddie cleans up. Before he can finish the bowl, Eddie has cleaned and put away all the dishes, set up a humidifier in his room, put fresh sheets on his bed, made him a fresh mug of tea, filled his water bottle, and put the rest of the soup away in the fridge for later.
“This is too much, Eddie. I don’t want to risk getting you sick.”
“Would you stop trying to talk me out of helping you, Buck. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be. You’re not a burden, Buck.”
Buck fought back tears at that, hiding them with his steaming mug of tea. “Thank you, Eds. I’m grateful you moved across the hall, and I’m grateful you showed up today.” Eddie looks at him with a soft smile and says, “Me too, Buck, me too.”
After finishing his tea, Buck shuffles back to bed and burrows himself under the covers. He could hear Eddie moving about the kitchen, but trusted him enough not to question what he was doing. Eddie walked into his room a few moments later with a bag of cough drops and a thermos, placing them on his nightstand.
“There’s tea in there in case you want something other than water to drink. It should stay warm for the next several hours. And these are the best cough drops in my opinion. They’re the only kind I use when I’m sick.”
“Thanks, Eds. This was all really nice of you to do,” Buck says with a sleepy smile on his face. He’s already half asleep in the fresh sheets, content after a nice warm meal and some company.
“Anytime, Buck. I mean it. If you need me, I’m only a text or call away. And I‘m gonna keep checking on you, so don’t make me bust down your door next time.”
“Ha, that I’d like to see. You’re so big and strong,” Buck says dreamily, clearly too out of it to realize what he’s just said.
Eddie looks down at Buck lovingly and just shakes his head. “I’ll check in on you later, Buck.”
Eddie heads back to his place, the door to Buck’s apartment locking automatically behind him. Meanwhile, Buck gets some of the best sleep he’s gotten in ages, dreaming of strong arms, flowy brown hair, and soft smiles. When he wakes up, it’s dark out, and he feels significantly better. Still achey, but it feels like his fever broke, and it doesn’t hurt to keep his eyes open or swallow anymore. He checks his temp before drinking anything and is pleased to see that it’s back down to 98.5. He takes some more medicine, then drinks half his bottle of water before reaching for his phone. He groans when he sees he has 12 missed calls and a bunch of texts from Maddie, Bobby, Hen, and Chim— all of them wondering if he’s okay and threatening to come check on him if they don’t get a response soon. He fires off texts to all of them explaining how he’d been sick, and wasn’t surprised when they immediately responded, fussing at him for not telling them. He also has an unread text from Eddie, asking how he’s feeling.
Buck: hey, eds, i just woke up, and i’m feeling a whole lot better. thanks for all your help earlier.
Eddie: Anytime, Buck. And maybe once you’re feeling better, we can go out sometime? I’d love to take you to dinner when you don’t feel like you’re dying.
Buck sputters, shocked at what he just read. This couldn’t possibly mean what he thinks it means, right? Eddie probably just wants to go out as friends, right? He hesitates a moment before replying.
Buck: yeah, that’d be fun!
Eddie: Great! Looking forward to it. I’d really like to get to know you more. :)
Okay, now Buck was less sure that Eddie only wanted to go out as friends. But that was a concern for later. Right now, he wanted more of that delicious soup. And a shower, definitely a shower.
Buck got out of the shower and saw a text from Maddie saying she was on her way over to check on him in person. It was sent 20 minutes ago, so she’d surely be here soon. Buck got to work warming up a bowl of soup while he waited for her eventual knock. As soon as he opened the door for her, she was hugging him and fussing over him.
“You should’ve called me! I would’ve come over in an instant!”
“I know, I know. I just didn’t want to be a burden. And you all were helping people through actual emergencies.”
“You’re not a burden, Buck,” Maddie tells him with tears in her eyes as she reaches out to hold his hand.
“Yeah, that’s what Eddie said too,” Buck says with a wistful look on his face.
“Eddie? Who is Eddie?” Maddie’s thrown by the unfamiliar name, used to knowing everyone in Buck’s life.
“Oh, have I not told you about my new neighbor?” Buck asks. “I introduced myself a few weeks after you told me to make friends outside of the firehouse. We haven’t talked much, but he helped a lot while I was sick. Made this soup, brought me thermometer batteries, and made me tea. I tried telling him he was doing too much, but he said he didn’t mind.”
Maddie sees the look on her brother’s face and starts to wonder.
“And is he cute?” she asks with a mischievous grin.
“U-uh-umm yeah, I guess you could say he’s cute,” Buck sputters out.
“Oh, you like him! Oh, Buck, that makes me so happy. You deserve to have someone in your life who’s gonna be there for you like Chim is for me.”
“Well, I don’t even know yet if he likes me. Or men,” Buck retorts, “He did say he wanted to take me out to dinner and get to know me more once I was feeling better, but that could just be as friends, right?”
Oh boy, men are so clueless sometimes. “I think it sounds like he could like you, sweetie, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Now, tell me more about this Eddie.”
They chat for the next few hours— about Eddie, about work, and about Jee— until Maddie decides to head home and let Buck get some more rest. Buck promises to keep her updated.
He returns to work a few days later, well rested and feeling 100% again, and gets more ribbing from his 118 family. He promises that the next time he’s sick, he’ll tell them instead of trying to handle it on his own. Their group hug gets interrupted by the alarm bell going off, spurring them all into action. Buck doesn’t get a chance to text Eddie until over halfway through the shift.
Buck: hey, eds. i’m fully recovered (mostly thanks to your abuela’s soup, i think). still wanna go grab dinner sometime?
Eddie: Of course, Buck. :) Are you free tomorrow night?
Buck: uhh, i’m not off again until friday. are you free then?
Eddie: Yeah, I’m free! Does 7 pm work for you?
Buck: 7 pm is perfect. :)
Eddie: Great, I’ll see you then!
The rest of the week passes by in a blur until finally it’s Friday and Buck is getting ready for his dinner that may or may not be a date. He’s panicking a little, but trying to keep cool. No sense in stressing, right? He’ll find out soon enough what Eddie has in mind.
Promptly at 7, there’s a knock on Buck’s door, and when he opens it, the sight of Eddie standing there in a crisp button-up and slacks takes his breath away.
“Uh, hey, you look really good,” Buck says before he can stop himself. He had meant to follow Eddie’s lead on whether this was a friend thing or a date thing, but Eddie looking so handsome caught him off guard.
“Thanks, you look pretty good yourself,” responds Eddie with a flirty smirk on his face.
Oh. So maybe this was a date. Buck couldn’t wait to talk to Maddie about this.
“You ready to go?” Eddie asks, breaking Buck out of his stupor.
“Yeah, yeah, totally.” Buck shuts the door behind him and follows Eddie to his truck. He’s taken aback when Eddie gets the door for him. None of his exes had ever done that for him—it was nice.
They make easy conversation on the way to the restaurant, chatting about their interests. Buck shares about some of his favorite things he’s baked, and Eddie shares about his history of MMA fighting. Before long, they pull up to the fancy Italian restaurant that Eddie chose and head inside.
“You ever been here before?” Eddie asks as they wait for their table to be ready.
“A couple times, but it’s been a while.” Before Buck can say more, the hostess comes to seat them.
They sit in comfortable silence as they look over the menu until their waitress comes to take their order. Once she’s gone, Buck beats Eddie to the punch and asks what he does for work.
“I’m actually sorta in between jobs right now. I just moved from Texas, but I was a medic in the army. I’m going through the fire academy now, but then I’ll be a probationary firefighter.”
“No way! I’m a firefighter!! Small world, huh?” Buck says in shock, “I work at the 118. I’m biased, but I think it’s the best station in LA.” He’s grinning and looking at Eddie over the rim of his glass.
“Hm, I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Eddie smiles back at him.
They keep up a steady conversation about work and other things until their food comes out. This is nice, easy, Buck thinks. They’re getting to know each other, but at the same time, it feels like they’ve known each other forever.
“Yeah, I don’t actually know how much longer I’ll be living in that apartment. I’m hoping to move into a house soon. Need a bit more room,” Eddie seems hesitant for the first time since they sat down.
“Oh, really? Why’s that?”
“So, I actually have a kid. He’s still living with my parents back in Texas while I get settled here, but I want to bring him out here as soon as I can. I miss him so much.”
“I can’t imagine how hard it must be to not be with him,” Buck responds sympathetically. “What’s his name? What’s he like?”
Eddie seems to relax at Buck’s words and kinda stares off into space. “His name is Chris, and he’s incredible. He’s so smart, way smarter than I ever was at his age. And so tough. He’s got cerebral palsy, but he doesn’t let it get him down. Just faces life head-on and faces his fears every day. I love him so much.”
“I can tell. He probably turned out so great from having a dad like you. What about his mom?”
“Uh, she passed away a few years ago. Car accident. It was hard on both of us for a while, but I think it also brought us closer together. I didn’t want to leave him with my parents, but it seemed like the right idea at the time. I can’t wait to have him here with me, though. I just need to get placed at a fire station and get childcare sorted for when I’m on shift.”
“Hey, maybe I can help with that. I’ll talk to my sister about who she uses. She works at the dispatch center, and her husband works at the 118 with me, so their schedules are crazy busy, too. Maybe they know someone who can help watch Chris?”
Eddie’s face breaks out into a grin. “You’d do that for me, Buck?”
“Yeah, of course I would. I got your back.”
“Thanks, Buck, I really appreciate it. I’m always so nervous to bring up Chris on dates, cuz you never know how people are gonna react to the whole ‘single dad’ thing.” Eddie looks down sheepishly.
“Oh, so this is a date?” Buck bites back a grin. “Good to know.”
“Yeah, at least I hope it’s a date. I really like you, Buck, and I want to keep getting to know you.”
“I’d like to keep getting to know you, too, Eddie. And I’d love to meet Chris whenever you feel comfortable.” Buck reaches across the table to hold Eddie’s hand, and they share a smile.
The rest of their date goes well, and Eddie drops Buck off at his door hours later with a kiss goodnight, a promise of more to come. Buck floats through his shower and skincare routine before falling into bed. Maddie will be thrilled to hear about this tomorrow, but for now, he needed sleep. And maybe he wanted to stay in his happy date bubble a little longer. Buck fell asleep thinking that maybe he had a hope of getting abuela’s treasured soup recipe after all.