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Dumb.
You’re so dumb — Buckley.
Uh,
Maybe naive fits better.
Oh no, um… okay.
Dumb suits him more.
Today is another day Buck is acting a little strange. Compared to usual, he seems more restless, his words coming out with just a little more stutter than normal.
They have been friends for years — he isn’t even sure if this is their sixth year already — but he could say, without a doubt, that he knew Evan Buckley better than anyone.
Well… second to Maddie and Bobby, at least.
That’s why he can tell immediately that something is off today. And Buckley is clueless enough not to realize that he knows.
Strangely, today’s conversation starts with Marisol — his new friend, someone he’s recently grown close to. Yesterday, they went out together, just hanging out like friends who finally had the same they off.
And somehow, that is what set Buck off, the reason behind the odd look on his face.
“You should date her.”
There it is.
“God, Buck. We’re just friends… nothing more than that.”
Eddie sighs, shaking his head. It had to be the hundredth time Buck has tried to push them together. Playing matchmaker. But it doesn’t work. He doesn’t like Marisol, not like that — definitely not.
Because he already like someone else.
And that someone is unbelievably dumb.
Eddie has been sure he was gay four — maybe five — years ago.
The way his chest fluttered, the heat rising to his face whenever he was near him, even the simplest touches that close friends exchanged so casually — everything felt different.
And it wasn’t with just anyone.
It was only with Buck.
Only Buck.
That’s when he knows. Like, oh — he’s gay and he’s in love with Buck.
But he also knows Buck is a womanizer — a player. Maybe not quite Buck 1.0, but he’s still hot and still a mess.
The latest is Natalia, someone Buck had been seeing for a while before they broke up.
And they were all women.
So he never lets himself think too far, never dares to believe Buck might be bi, or even interested in men. Especially not when Buck keeps encouraging him to date Marisol.
If anything, that only made it clearer — Buck has never noticed. Never seen the way Eddie looks at him.
Meanwhile, the rest of the 118 practically has it all figured out — Hen especially, who often asks him about his feelings for Buck.
But… sometimes, he wonders.
Maybe Buck isn’t dumb. Maybe he isn’t clueless.
Maybe he just isn’t into men.
That was all.
“Uh… hey, Eddie.”
He looks up at Buck, who speaks with a slight tremor in his voice. The beer bottle in his hand stops just before reaching his lips.
Something strange began to stir in his chest. But he just smile.
“Yeah?”
“I… dammit. Okay — ” Buck takes a deep breath. “I think I’m bi. I… I like a guy, Eddie.”
“…uh, what?” He freezes. Not knowing how to react.
One, he’s shocked that Buck says it so directly.
Two, he’s glad Buck choose to tell him — because that meant their relationship was Buck’s safe place.
And three —
A tiny spark of hope flickers to life, slowly swelling until his fist-sized heart begins to race.
God, he was just complaining about him in his head. Like, minute ago?
“Eds, is it… weird?”
“No — no! Not at all, Buck. That’s… that’s great. And I’m so proud of you.”
A smile finally breaks through the tension in Buck’s face, a good sign that his anxiety is easing little by little.
And Eddie?
Hope fills him so much he almost blurts it out right then and there — how long he has liked, loved, this clueless idiot. Like, I love you. I love you. I love you. But he’s smart enough to keep it to himself. Still.
“And there’s something else I need to tell you.”
“Okay. Go ahead, man.”
He has no idea what kind of expression he’s wearing right now. Is he smiling too much? Looking ridiculous?
That must be why the idiot in front of him let out a soft laugh.
God.
I like you, Evan Buckley.
I love you.
Please, be mine.
And let me be yours.
Please —
“I… I’m dating Tommy.”
Oh.
Tommy.
Dating Tommy.
Tommy Kinard.
Right.
Oh.
Oh.
Ah.
So that’s how it is. Huh.
That day he saw Buck and Tommy at a restaurant…
Oh. It’s a date.
Maybe the dumb one wasn’t Buckley. Oh God.
Maybe it’s him.
The one who dared to hope for something more from a relationship that was never meant to be anything more than friendship.
Best friend. Just that.
Nothing more.
That’s it.
Oh, Eddie Diaz.
How did you ever think Buck could like you?
So stupid. So naive. So utterly foolish.
Because if Buck really liked him — that idiot would never hide it.
God.
“Hey… Eddie? I mean, me and Tommy… uh, you — you’re okay with it, right?”
“No — no, um. I mean yes, bud! I think you two are… good together, I guess.”
“You scared me.”
“Hah, sorry. Just surprised that two of my friends are dating.”
Buck still looks a little worried.
Eddie can already guess what kind of expression he must have shown, in that split second when Buck said he’s dating Tommy.
His vision blurs with tears. His eyes are hot. His head is spinning. But he can’t let his best friend feel bad. No. So he holds back and keeps a soft smile on his lips.
“So… it wasn’t weird. Right?”
“Buck. You know this doesn’t change a thing between us. Okay?”
In the end, Buck smiles.
A wide smile — the kind Eddie has always loved.
The heart that once swelled with hope now feels flooded, heavy, and completely weighed down.
And it aches enough to make his tears fall as Buck goes back to the stove, talking about how he fell in love with Tommy.
This doesn’t change a thing between us.
Right.
Because Eddie will always be Buckley’s dumb best friend.
Always.
Oh, Edmundo.
You’re such a fool.
It’s not that Buck doesn’t like men.
It’s that he never liked you.
You’re so dumb, Eddie.
No.
An idiot.
You’re an idiot.
The biggest one of all.