Chapter Text
It was a Wednesday night when Eddie knocked on Buck’s door, holding a six-pack. He was there because Christopher was at what he insisted was not a sleepover.
“Dad, stop calling it that. I’m not six. We’re just gonna play video games, order takeout and watch some movies.” Christopher had said.
“Oh so you’re coming back home tonight?” Eddie asked, his tone amused.
“Well, no, and then… we’re going to sleep.”Christopher answered, avoiding eye contact.
“So, a sleepover,” Eddie had replied with a mischievous smile.
So now, he was at Buck’s door to spend some time with Buck and Theo which probably would turn into a sleepover.
Buck opened the door and the sight did something to Eddie’s heart that was happening more often these days. Specifically when he saw Buck and Theo together.
Theo was in Buck’s arms, wrapped in a large towel, his soft hair damp from the bath he clearly just had, and his cheeks were flushed from the steam.
Buck’s t-shirt was soaked, and the front of his curls were dripping with water. It looked like Theo was still keeping bath time a challenge for Buck.
“Hi Eddie!” Theo said excitedly and waved.
“Hey, buddy,” Eddie smiled and stepped inside the house. “Did you have fun at bath time?”
“Yeah! I played with Ducky and his new friends!” Theo nodded.
“His new fr-“ Eddie let out a sigh and looked at Buck. “Did you buy him new bath toys again?”
“What?” Buck avoided Eddie’s eyes and closed the door. “You try to say no to that face.”
Eddie huffed a laugh and shook his head, placing the six-pack on the counter.
“Okay, you ready for story time, bud?” Buck asked Theo as he walked to bedroom. “What book are we reading tonight?”
A few minutes passed, Theo was in a fresh pair of pajamas and was settling in his bed when Buck called Eddie from where he was standing by the door frame. Eddie joined him and they both watched Theo focused on a few books in front of him, deciding which one he wanted based on the pictures.
“I cracked the code,” Buck whispered with a grin, looking down at Theo.
Eddie turned his attention to Buck. “What are you talking about?”
Buck looked at him, the grin still on his face. “He won’t make bedtime easy, right?”
“Four-year-olds rarely do,” Eddie said, waiting for Buck to see where he was going with this.
“Well, I cracked the code last night, and it worked like a charm.” He said proudly. “I should write a parenting book.”
Eddie scoffed. “Aw, look at you, fostering a kid for five minutes and thinking you’re an expert now. That’s cute.” He shook his head and looked back at Theo. “Give it a few more months and then get back to me, okay?”
Theo held out a book with pictures of dinosaurs on it, because he was obsessed with them for some reason now, and asked Buck to read it for him.
“Observe,” Buck said to Eddie as he walked over to Theo and settled on the bed with him tucked against his side.
Eddie watched them from the doorframe for a couple of minutes, a soft smile on his face that he couldn’t quite get rid of. He was smiling at the way Buck was trying to do different voices, at the way Theo giggled when Buck had failed miserably, and at the way that the two of them fit perfectly together.
“Eddie!” Theo looked up. “Can you do his voice?” He tapped at a picture of a blue dinosaur from his book.
“Sure,” Eddie said and slid into the bed next to Theo. And now the boy was happily tucked between the two of them.
They both started reading the book out loud. Eddie added a few lines every now and then when he thought they could make Theo laugh, and Buck was mentally taking notes for the next time he read to the boy.
When they reached the last page, Buck closed the book and placed it on the shelf.
“One more!” Theo practically yelled, his eyes wide and already searching for another book. “Buck! Please! One more.”
“No, Spider-Man. It’s time for bed now,” Buck said, placing a gentle hand on Theo’s back.
Eddie leaned back and watched them, waiting for the magic trick Buck bragged about earlier.
“Please! Just one!”
Theo was already reaching for another book on his shelf when Buck’s hand moved to Theo’s hair and started to scratch at his scalp gently, as if he was petting a puppy.
Theo’s hand stopped mid-air, and he let out a small, surprised oh.
Buck pulled the boy down to the pillow with his free hand, and this time Theo didn’t protest. He just lay there, melting into the touch, and mumbling something about another dinosaur book.
Buck kept going and in less than a minute, Theo’s eyes began to close despite not wanting to. His head lolled slightly to the side, and his small chest began to rise and fall in an even rhythm.
He tried to keep his eyes open, to fight the strong urge to sleep, but Buck’s touch was actually magic. Because in two minutes, Theo had fallen into a deep sleep, his body completely slack on the bed.
After Buck made sure the boy was asleep, he pulled his hand back, waiting a moment to see if Theo stirred. He didn’t.
They both slowly and very carefully climbed out of bed. Eddie left the bedside lamp on and Buck gently pulled the blanket up to Theo’s chest.
They stepped out of the room after Buck turned off the light and closed the door behind them quietly.
When they stepped away, keeping a good distance from the room, Eddie looked at Buck.
“Okay, I’ll admit, that was pretty impressive,” he said.
Buck gave him a proud grin. “What did I tell you? I’m definitely going to start on that parenting book now.”
“Don’t get too excited, wait to see if you can play that trick on him for Halloween when he has a bag of candy.” Eddie let out a chuckle and reached for the six-pack on the counter.
“I’ll handle it like the pro I am,” Buck winked at him and slumped into the couch with a tired sigh. “Okay, I am officially spent. Wanna order something?”
“Pretty embarrassing for someone who just claimed to be a pro, but sure.” Eddie sat next to him on the couch and handed him a bottle.
Buck glared at him playfully, placing the bottle on the coffee table for later, and opened the takeout app on his phone.
They scrolled through different places for several minutes and still couldn’t decide which one to order from.
“Okay, how about this new pizza place? It got four stars.” Buck turned the phone toward Eddie.
“Yeah, out of three comments,” Eddie skipped it. “Probably from the owner’s friends.”
“Hey, what about supporting new businesses?” Buck asked but didn’t fight Eddie when he took his phone.
“I’m not supporting a new business if it’s gonna give me food poisoning, Buckley,” he scrolled down again. “Oh, what about this taco place? It was really good last time.”
“Um, are you serious?” Buck furrowed his brows. “For someone who doesn’t like food poisoning, it’s bold of you to want to order from here again.”
“For the last time, it did not give you food poisoning, Buck,” Eddie let out a sigh. “You chose the extra hot sauce yourself.”
“For the last time, Eddie,” Buck straightened his back on the couch. “It wasn’t the sauce, it was the taco. You had the same sauce with your burrito and didn’t even flinch.”
“That’s because unlike you, I can handle spicy food,” Eddie said with a cocky smile.
“Take that back!”
“Nope!”
“Whatever, Diaz, I’m a foster dad now. I’m not gonna make myself sick again. I have responsibilities. I have to take Theo to school tomorrow and then drop by the grocery store because we ran out of his favorite milk, and the dry cleaner called-“
“Alright, alright!” Eddie raised the hand that was holding the beer in mock surrender. “We’ll order from another place, here.” He pressed the phone back into Buck’s palm.
“Thank you,” Buck said with a satisfied smile and looked through the app.
Not two minutes later, he snapped his fingers. “Got it. This Chinese restaurant is my second favorite.”
“Hm… I had Chinese last night,” Eddie said, resting his head against the back of the couch. Close enough to Buck’s that his curls were tickling Eddie’s face. “How about Italian?”
“Maddie’s been making a lot of Italian food lately,” Buck mumbled and scrolled down lazily. “So, Chinese?”
“I told you, I had Chinese last night.” Eddie tsked.
“And you can have some more tonight,” Buck said, completely unbothered and clicked on the restaurant.
Eddie didn’t say anything. He tilted his head back to have a better look at Buck, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.
“So, noodles, sushi, dumplings,” Buck said. “What do you want?”
Eddie took a sip of his lukewarm beer and remained quiet. “Hmm…”
Buck looked up at him and his brows furrowed slightly. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m just… thinking,” Eddie said under his breath and placed the bottle on the side table, looking at Buck’s hair more than he was looking at his face.
“Okay,” Buck said, still a little confused, turning his attention back to the menu.
Not a second later, Eddie’s hand was in Buck’s curls, scratching at his scalp hesitantly, like he didn’t know if what he was doing was going to backfire or not.
Buck froze, his thumb stilled mid-air and his eyes widened slightly.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked without even looking up at Eddie.
Eddie didn’t respond, but his touch became more confident. Like the slight change in Buck’s posture was proof enough that the plan he had in mind was working.
“Eddie,” Buck’s breath hitched when the scratches deepened and he fought the urge to close his eyes. “That’s not gonna work on me. I’m not four.” Though he didn’t make a move to pull his head away.
“Never said you were,” Eddie said, his focus entirely on his new discovery.
“Then… stop!” Buck tried to sound firm, but his body started to relax under the touch.
Eddie moved his hand right behind Buck’s ear and raised his brows. “I’m not holding you hostage, Buck.”
“You’re right.” Buck’s grip tightened on his phone, as if sheer willpower could make him move away from Eddie's hand.
He cleared his throat for no reason and moved his head back just an inch, and Eddie didn’t try to reach for him again.
A full minute passed in complete silence. Buck was scrolling down without even looking through the menu, trying to get his mind off the warmth of Eddie’s fingers. He could still feel the ghost of them through his hair.
Eddie didn’t move. His hand still rested on the back of the couch with a satisfied smile on his face that he made no effort to hide.
Eventually, Buck groaned and squeezed his eyes shut in surrender.
“You’re the worst,” he whispered under his breath and placed his head right back into Eddie’s palm. It fit perfectly. “This is abuse of power, you know?” He tried to sound annoyed but the way his eyes fluttered closed said otherwise.
Eddie’s smile widened and his hand scratched deeper into the blonde curls.
“So, Italian?” he asked in a low voice.
Buck let out a soft, satisfied sigh,(practically purring) and his body melted under Eddie’s touch.
“Fine,” he murmured, throwing the phone in Eddie’s direction on the couch. “Order whatever you want. Just… just don’t stop.”
Eddie didn’t reach for the phone immediately. He just kept going, not realizing his smile had softened at the way Buck looked so relaxed.
“Well, even if you weren’t sure before, we can say with confidence now that you and Theo are definitely related.” Eddie said.
“Shut up,” Buck mumbled, but there was no bite to it. “Just order the damn food.”
Eddie grabbed the phone, ordering the food as his other hand was still roaming through Buck’s hair.
“Okay, lasagna or pasta?” Eddie asked after a quiet moment. “We can get both and share.” He waited for Buck’s answer, not looking up, but it never came.
“Yo, Buckley,” Eddie called, half-focused on the menu. “Answer or I’ll order from the taco place.”
It was the soft snore that made him look up. Buck had fallen asleep and was using Eddie’s hand as a pillow.
“Okay, then,” Eddie blinked and raised his brows. “I guess I’m getting both.”
He shook his head in disbelief and looked down at the phone again, though his fingers never stopped the soft scratching.
“That’s not gonna work on me.”
Yeah, right! Eddie thought to himself. And I’m definitely going to use this against him.