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Buck watches as Eddie pulls the weight up to him. Buck watches as Eddie runs down the stairs, only to be tripped by the Boston firefighter. Buck watches as Eddie picks up his hammer, biceps flexing through his shirt, and hits the block, over and over. Buck watches as Eddie runs to his LA turnout gear and expertly puts it on. Buck watches as Eddie comes running towards him with the red baton in his hand.
As soon as Buck can feel the baton in his hand, he tucks it into his turnouts and runs as fast as he can to where he can see his ladder on the floor. The Boston guy is only slightly in front, so Buck is not too worried.
He calculated it in his head before the race started. Boston is in the lead, with Buck and Eddie tied for second with the Nashville crew. As long as they beat both Boston and Nashville, and come first or second, they win.
Buck grabs his ladder and runs for the wall with the three on it, but he is stopped by a sharp pain in his right leg. He collapses to the ground, his ladder taking out a few other firefighters on the way down.
He tries to push himself back up. He can hear Eddie shouting encouraging words at him, but the pain in his leg is too much. He cannot do anything as he lies on his back, bright lights becoming too much. He squeezes his eyes shut tightly and tries to breathe.
He feels something squeeze his hand. Eddie. It has to be. Cause Buck feels as if he has been in this exact position before.
Eddie watches as Buck takes the red baton from him. Eddie watches as Buck runs swiftly to where the ladder is, lying on the floor. Eddie watches as Buck bends over to lift it, imagining how his biceps would be flexing if he did not have his turnout coat on. Eddie watches as Buck falls in a heap on the floor, the Boston firefighter using the bottom of his ladder to thrust it into his legs.
“Come on, Buck!” Eddie shouts. “Get up, Bud! You got this!”
It isn’t until Eddie’s ears are filled with the guttural scream of his best friend that he races onto the track, not caring about the other firefighters or the game.
“Buck!” Eddie crouches by his side, lifting the ladder off him and throwing it aside.
He slides his hand into Buck’s, squeezing tightly to direct Buck’s attention to him.
Buck squints an eye open, and Eddie can see his shoulders relax ever so slightly.
“Eds, get it off!” Buck begs, and his breathing rapidly speeds up, “Get it off!”
Eddie uses his free hand to cup Buck’s cheek. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.”
It doesn’t help. Buck is latching onto Eddie’s fingers so tightly that he is worried they might break. But he doesn’t care.
“Buck, we aren’t in LA right now, remember?”
It still doesn’t work.
“Evan!”
Buck’s eyes finally open fully, and he looks Eddie in the eye.
“We are in Nashville at the firefighting games. Some asshole used their ladder to trip you over, but you are okay.”
“I’m okay?” Buck asks, his voice quite vulnerable.
Eddie nods. “I’m here,” he says, his thumb reaching up to caress Buck’s pink birthmark, “You’re here.”
“I’m okay,” Buck repeats in a low whisper.
“We’re okay.”
“Eddie, my leg hurts,” Buck grumbles.
“Would you like me to have a look at it?”
Buck nods and lets Eddie help him up to a sitting position.
Eddie finally looks up and sees all the eyes on them. They are in the middle of the arena, with everyone watching silently.
“Do you think you could walk if you put most of your weight on me?” Eddie whispers to Buck.
He desperately needs to get them somewhere that they can have a little more privacy.
“I’m heavy,” Buck says.
“I can hold you,” Eddie says, trying not to cringe at himself. Don’t flirt now, idiot!
Buck gives him a small smile before nodding. Eddie gets on his feet before pulling Buck up to his own. Eddie guides Buck’s arm so it’s around his shoulders, and grabs his wrist to stop him from moving said arm.
Eddie can see that one of the Nashville firefighters - Blue maybe? - take a step towards them, probably intending to help hold Buck, but Eddie shakes his head. He’s got this.
“Will you boys be alright?” the Nashville captain asks. “What can we do?”
Eddie looks around, but he isn’t very familiar with this arena.
“Could you maybe lead us to somewhere a bit more private?” he asks, “And also grab a kit just in case?”
Captain Hart nods and turns to his team. He calls - Roxie? - over and she brings a kit with her. “Okay, follow me.”
Eddie snakes his arm around Buck’s waist to hold him up as they start to hobble over to the side of the arena.
Once they get out of the public's view, Roxie sets up two chairs, one for Buck to sit on and the other to prop his leg on.
“Evan, could I take a look at your leg?” Roxie calmly asks.
Buck looks over at Eddie, who is sitting on a chair next to him. Eddie nods and grabs Buck’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
Roxie must see the conflict on Buck’s face, so she says, “I’m an in-house physician at the 113, and I used to be a trauma surgeon.”
“You’ll be in good hands, Evan,” Captain Hart says from where he is standing at the door.
“Okay, but please call me Buck,” he replies, his voice strained.
“Okay, Buck,” she smiles. “Do you think you can get your turnouts off?”
Buck gives her a small smile, “Geez, buy a guy a drink first.”
Roxie chuckles. “Bold of you to assume I’m into guys.”
Bucks face blanches. “Shit, sorry. I-I didn’t realise.
Roxie laughs again. “I'm just joking, Buck. Well, I don’t like guys, but still.”
Eddie then squats in front of Buck and starts unhooking his turnouts.
“W-what are you doing?” Buck stutters.
“I’m pretty sure Doctor Alba here asked you to take your turnouts off,” Eddie quipped.
As Eddie pushes his turnout coat off, he can see Buck’s face go red. Smiling to himself, Eddie pulls the suspenders off, then unhooks his pants.
“E-Eddie?” Buck splutters.
“Lift up,” Eddie orders, ignoring Buck.
Buck immediately complies, lifting up so that Eddie can pull his pants off.
Eddie then pulls his own turnouts off to get more comfortable. He can see Buck watching him out of the corner of his eye, face still red.
When he sits back down, he can see Roxie giving him a smug, knowing smile. He raises his brows, daring her to say something, but she doesn't, thank god.
“Okay, Buck, I’m just going to palpate the area. You tell me if it hurts.” Roxie pushes up Buck’s pant leg and starts using her thumbs to press into his skin.
Buck hisses in pain when she gets to the middle of his shin, so she stops.
“Have you ever fractured or broken your tibia?” Roxie asks.
Buck looks at Eddie as he answers, “Uh, yeah.”
“How long ago?”
Buck doesn’t answer.
“Around seven years ago, Buck had a crush injury,” Eddie explains, “He had a rod and several screws, which caused him to be put on blood thinners for a couple of years.”
“I get lots of pain flare-ups, but I can usually handle them,” Buck continues, having found his voice again.
Roxie nods, her brows furrowing as if she is thinking. “You guys are from the 118, correct?”
They both nod, and Eddie can see the understanding dawn on Roxie’s face.
“It might be worth getting an X-ray, but I don’t believe you’ve broken anything,” Roxie says. “Sometimes when our bodies go through traumas, our minds can go to the worst possible scenario when we feel pain again. It can be hard to differentiate the type of pain you are experiencing when our minds just go straight to the worst-case scenario.”
Eddie grabs onto Buck’s hand again. “See? I told you we would be okay.”
“Yeah, I should listen to you more often, Eds,” Buck smiles.
Roxie slides a compression bandage on Buck’s lower leg. “Keep this on to reduce the swelling, and try to RICE for a couple of days and see how it goes. I’ll also get you some crutches so you can avoid weight-bearing for a few days.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Buck says.
“You’re very welcome, Buckley,” she replies.
“Okay,” Captain Hart says, clapping his hands together, still standing in the doorway where he must have been the entire time, “Why don’t you boys go back to your hotel rooms, freshen up and get ready to go out tonight?”
Buck is sitting on his bed, watching as Eddie picks out clothes for him to wear tonight.
“You do know I can pick an outfit for myself?” Buck says, but with a teasing smile.
“You were taking too long,” Eddie replies. He lays out a pair of wide-legged jeans, a white top and a checkered button-up.
“Uh, Eddie?” Buck says.
“Mm?” Eddie hums, grabbing a pair of socks and Buck’s shoes.
“Can we talk about it?”
“Talk about what?” Eddie continues grabbing stuff and moving it around, avoiding eye contact with Buck.
“Eds.”
Eddie finally turns around. “I’m sorry.”
Buck is dumbfounded. Why would Eddie be sorry?
“What are you sorry about?” Buck asks.
“I didn’t want to do this like this.” Eddie is no longer looking at Buck, choosing to stare at his shoes instead.
Oh. Oh.
“Tell me.” Eddie shakes his head, so Buck tries again. “Tell me so I know we are on the same page.”
“I think I’m in love with you,” he shakes his head again, “No, I know I’m in love with you, and I think I have been for a while now.”
“I love you too, Eds,” Buck says. He reaches for Eddie’s hand to pull him closer to the bed. “I would tell myself that I couldn’t be because you were straight, but I guess that’s not the case.”
Eddie shakes his head, stepping between Buck’s open legs. He reaches down to hold Buck’s face in his hands and meets Buck halfway. As soon as their lips connect, Buck’s brain shuts off. Eddie is kissing him.
Buck grabs onto Eddie’s waist and pulls him onto his lap.
“Buck! Your leg!”
Buck rests his forehead against Eddie’s. “It’s okay. You’re on my lap, not my leg.”
“Still, you have to be care-”
Eddie is cut off by Buck’s lips back on his for a chaste kiss.
“We should probably go,” Buck sighs.
“I’m sure they could wait a bit longer.”
“As a group, we have decided that the winner of the 51st annual firefighting competition is Evan Buckley and Eddie Diaz from the LAFD station 118,” Cammie, the dispatcher, says into the microphone.
Eddie looks at Buck in confusion. He knew that the race had been stopped when he had been injured, but Buck had just assumed that they would have started it again after they left.
“This decision was made because, at its core, firefighting is all about teamwork, and there was no better team than that of our LA firefighters.”
Captain Hart hands the trophy over to them, and they lift it together as everyone starts cheering.
Later, Buck watches as Eddie laughs with the other firefighters. Buck watches as Eddie has his turn on the bucking bull - whether he was hard or not doesn't matter. Buck watches as Eddie grabs a disco cowboy hat and puts it on his head with a wink.
Most people have left by the time they are ready to go. They are sitting next to each other, finishing their drinks off.
“You know, I’m really glad Bobby nominated us for this,” Buck says.
Eddie smiles and nods. “Yeah, me too.”
“Do you think he knew?” Buck asks.
“Hm?”
“Bobby. Do you think he knew that this would happen between us?”
Eddie thinks for a moment before nodding. “I mean, he nominated us while I was still in Texas. He at least knew I couldn’t stay away for too long.”
“That’s true.”
“Why don’t we ask Athena when we get home?” Eddie suggests.
“That sounds like a great idea.” Buck stands, grabbing his crutches that he is only using because Eddie made him. “You ready to call it?”
Eddie looks up at him with a smirk.
“So, which one of you boys is gonna buy me a drink?”
Buck turns to see an older blonde smirking at them, batting her eyes suggestively.
“Sorry, ma’am, but we already have plans,” Buck replies, although he is not the least bit apologetic.
They start walking out, not bothering to hear her reply.
“You ready?” Eddie asks, holding the door open for Buck.
“Always.”