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Eddie looks at himself in the mirror, nervously adjusting his hair and clothes. He’s wearing a dark blue button down and a pair of black pants. And, of course, his good cologne.
He’s nervous. He knows he really shouldn’t be but it’s Buck. His best friend of eight years and things are about to change. Well, things already changed between them when they kissed in Eddie’s kitchen but now it’s real. They’re going on an actual date. He really doesn’t want to mess this up. He’s never felt this way about someone before and Buck means so much to him, he wants tonight to be perfect, he deserves perfect. So, he’s gotta make sure he’s looking sharp.
Buck is coming to pick Eddie up and drive them to the restaurant, so now he just has to wait for him to get here. He starts pacing in his living room, when he hears the knock on the door. He smiles and feels his body relax as he walks to the door.
“Bu-oh. Hen?” His face drops into panic, that he's trying to hide.
Hen walks past him and into his house. “Hey! I really need your help with something, I have no clue what to get for Chim’s birthd…” She trails off as she finally takes a look at him, noticing his clothes. She squints her eyes at him, like she’s trying to work out a puzzle. Her eyes widen and she raises her eyebrows.
Eddie is just darting his eyes between her and the door, trying to keep his cool.
“Are you… going on a date?”
Eddie feels sweat drip down his face. “Yes. Yes! I am so if you could make this quick please.” He smiles, hiding his worry. Buck is on his way and could be here any moment. This is not going the way he wanted.
“That’s great Eddie, I didn’t know you were dating again?” There's a slight strained tone in her voice that suggests she doesn't feel as happy about it as she is trying to seem. Eddie questioned it for a moment but brushes it off. He has other things to be worrying about right now.
Eddie internally groans, he really wants her to just leave. “Uh yeah, it kinda just happened. Well, you better be on your way.” He starts leading her to the door but then he hears knocking on the door. He freezes, his eyes going wide. Hen looks at him quizzically and looks at the door.
Eddie doesn’t move. He stands still, just staring at Hen, avoiding looking at the door, hoping the knocking will just stop. That Buck will just… come back later.
“Is that your date, aren’t you going to get it? You could introduce me to her!” She has a slight mischievous look on her face, he knows she wants to embarrass him in front of his date. No need of that, she’s done it many times already.
“Um, no…?”
She goes to speak but before she can, Buck calls out.
“Eddie? It’s Buck, can you open the door please? I don’t have my key with me.”
Hen’s look of confusion falls. “Oh, it’s just Buck, I’ll get it for you.” Eddie, still frozen, watches her open the door to Buck, who is also dressed similarly. He looks incredible, it makes him forget that Hen is even there, hell he thinks he forgets his own name.
Buck looks startled to seen Hen, he looks past her, eyes wide looking at Eddies own panicked expression. Both just two deers caught in headlights.
“Oh, hey, oh maybe you could help me! I don’t know what- wait.” she cuts herself off, noticing his appearance but what really does it is the flowers he’s trying to hide behind his back. She snaps her head back to meet his eyes, her mouth slightly open in shock, putting the pieces together. She frantically looks between Buck and Eddie.
“Oh, um, I’ll just go.” She starts heading out the door. Eddie, finally able to move, runs up to her, grabbing her shoulder.
“No, wait.” He looks at Buck, who gives him a small nod. Buck walks in, guiding Hen in too, who sits down on the sofa, staring up at them for a second before looking down at the floor, seemingly in deep thought.
“Ok, so I think as you have figured out, um, Buck is my date.” He says quietly. Buck puts his hand on Eddie’s back.
Buck carries on for him. “This is new-very new! This is our first date. So…yeah.”
They both stare at Hen, waiting for a response. They both didn’t really wanna tell anyone this soon, they were still figuring things out.
“Say something? You’re scaring me a bit Hen.” Eddie says. Hen looks up at them.
“I can’t believe it.” Buck and Eddie shift uncomfortably.
“I mean I actually gave up hope you two idiots would wake the fuck up. I mean Karen was a bit more optimistic but she doesn’t see you two idiots stumble around each other every day! Wait, this is the best birthday present for Chim, finally putting him out of his misery! Well, all of us. Oh my god Maddie! She is going to throw a party I swear. I don’t think anyone had it worse than her. I just-I can’t believe it!” She looks up at them, smiling.
Buck and Eddie are lost for words. They just stand there, trying to find what to say.
Eddie finally speaks “Sorry, what?”
“This is what I mean, you are both idiots. You were they only two people on the planet that didn’t know you guys are in love with each other.”
Eddie blinks at her. Was he really that obvious, was Buck that obvious? Are they actually both that oblivious?
“Wh- you knew? Everyone knew?” Buck clearly is thinking the same as him.
“Yes.” She replies, with a tired look on her face.
Eddie wants to ask more questions but before he can, Hen gets up.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to your date.” She leaves, leaving Buck and Eddie just standing in silence.
“Were we really that oblivious?” Buck looks at him, something sad behind his eyes.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Eddie, puts his hand on his shoulder.
“Well, I just-we could have had this-“ he gestures between them “so much longer ago. I wish I knew something before.”
Eddie feels the same but part of him knows that they both needed to get to this point, go through what they have before they could try this.
“Hey, no don’t blame yourself, I also didn’t even know. Even if I did, I don’t think we would have been ready at any other stage of our lives. We have both grown and learnt a lot since we first met and all of it had helped us get here, here to each other. We’ve gone through hell but we went through it to get to this moment. I love you so much Buck” He moves his hand to Buck’s cheek, wiping away his tears. “I would wait thousands of years if I meant in the end, I would get you.”
Buck leans forward, pressing a light kiss to Eddie’s lips. “I love you too Eddie, so much. You mean everything to me and I’m so happy I met you.” Eddie pulls Buck into a tight hug. They stay like that for a moment, holding each other.
Eddie pulls away. “Come on, we gotta make that reservation.” He chuckles.
They head towards the door but Buck stops and runs back to the living room.
"Almost forgot." He holds out a bunch of beautiful lilies. Eddie looks at them and then up at Buck, a stupid, lovesick grin plastered on his face. God, he loves him so much.
"Thank you, sweetheart" the nickname slipping out. "I'll just run and put these in water." He gives Buck a kiss on the cheek and puts the flowers in a vase.
He comes back out, takes Buck's hand and they walk out the door.