Chapter Text
Buck has a ridiculous little skip on his walk as he enters the LAFD Academy again, his duffel bag hanging from his shoulder. He can’t help but wonder at the building, even though it’s not the first time he’s seeing it from the inside.
But today’s different. Today, he’s finally moving in, he will be living here for the next four months as he completes his training, and it’s exciting, because once Buck does, he’ll get assigned to a firehouse— he’ll get to do something, save people.
He won’t be useless anymore. Buck will make Maddie —and himself— proud, he knows he will. Walking past these doors seems huge, nothing has ever been this important.
“Good morning,” he says happily, reaching the receptionist counter. “I’m Evan Buckley, I was told I’m assigned room 15-A? I got the email last week,” he adds.
The man behind it pauses his typing and glances up at him, “Good morning, Mr. Buckley. Can I see your ID?”
“Yes,” Buck says, excited. He clears his throat, blushing, “I mean, yeah, here you go,” he opens up his wallet and hands the man his ID. Buck notices his name tag, William, it says.
William takes it, nodding as he types in his computer. Buck is doing his best to not start bouncing in his spot, he’s trying, very hard.
An eternity passes, and William gets up, grabbing a keychain, he smiles at Buck, handing them over, “15-A, first floor. Here are your keys.”
He looks at the keys and his heart skips a beat. They feel so light in his palm. This is it, this is where he’ll finally, finally belong, “Oh, wow. Thank y—”
“Your roommate should be moving in today, too, according to the system,” William adds, eyes on his computer.
Buck blinks, confused, glancing at him with his head tilted, “Roommate?” he asks, “I thought the rooms were individual.” He’s read it somewhere, he’s sure of it.
“Mhm, yeah, they usually are,” William nods, apologetically, “But we’ve got more candidates than usual this year, and not enough rooms for everyone. We’ve sent emails about it.”
“I don’t—” he frowns, “I don’t remember getting one. But it’s okay, I get it. I’m sure my roommate will be cool,” he nods to himself, picturing the bond he might form with his faceless person, the camaraderie they could have.
William smiles politely, “Welcome to the LAFD Academy, Mr. Buckley.”
Turns out, his roommate is not cool, not at all. Buck hates him. Eddie, what a stupid name, really.
Buck opens up the door, and is pleasantly surprised— the room isn’t as small as he pictured, it has the design of a studio apartment, it’s well equipped, too: there’s the wardrobe that he assumes they’ll have to share, the bunk-bed, two desks, a small table with two chairs, and a kitchen with a medium-sized fridge. On the other hand, there’s a little bathroom with a shower.
It’s very, very nice, he likes it. He lets out a sigh, and starts to carefully get his things out of his bag— to be fair, Buck doesn’t have a lot of stuff, it’s mostly his clothes, laptop, hygiene products and a few snacks. He didn’t have a job as he was getting ready to get into the Academy, and the only reason he wasn’t sleeping in his Jeep again was Maddie.
Maddie, who came back for him, he still couldn’t quite believe it.
Living with her as adults —not having to deal with parents that would hate him or ignore him— was good, but he knew he needed to do something with his life at some point, something meaningful, and as she started working as a dispatcher for the 9-1-1 call center, he started to research about the process of joining the LAFD.
So, here he is, so close to changing his future for good. Buck wants to organize his stuff, but feels a little lazy right now, so he leaves his bag open in the middle of the room, deciding to fix that later, and sits in one of the chairs, figuring he might as well wait for his roommate so they can agree on which bed will be for who, maybe talk and get to know each other, too. He never shared a room with anyone, he thinks it’s going to be nice.
Buck puts on his favorite TV-show on his laptop, opens one of the snack bags, and waits.
He waits, and waits, and waits. But his roommate never comes, not even after four episodes of Hotshots —Buck is not becoming a firefighter because his favorite show happens to be about firefighters, okay?—. Huh, maybe they decided the Academy wasn’t for them, after all.
Eventually, Buck gets up, stretches for a while, his back cracking, and decides a shower might be good. He’s quick with it. Just as he’s getting out of the bathroom, his towel hanging low from his hips and his hair damp against his forehead, the room’s door opens.
Buck, very manly, startles and yelps, figuratively clutching his pearls— well, he clutches his towel.
The man who just entered the room seems to startle for a second, too, but he doesn’t yelp, schools his face quickly, just raising an eyebrow, and closes the door behind him.
“Uh, oops,” Buck says, flushed, his heart beating so fast from the scare, “I’m gonna— I’m Buck. I’ll just—” he gestures vaguely at the bathroom, flashing him a smile.
“Sure,” the man says, not even smiling back at him.
Okay. Buck frowns and grabs some clothes from his bag —that’s still on the floor—, fleeing to the bathroom. Once he’s clothed decently, he stares at himself closely in the mirror, trying to make his wet hair look good, and wishing he could erase the acne marks from his face, because the man, well, his roommate, looks like a model, even thought Buck couldn’t get a good look at him— he was busy embarrassing himself, apparently.
He huffs, splashing his face with cold water. Everything’s fine, he was just caught by surprise.
Buck gets out of the bathroom, and his roommate is still in the same spot he was when Buck saw him. He clears his throat, reaching him, “Hey, funny first impression, huh?”
His roommate blinks, “Yeah,” he says, and he doesn’t sound like he found it funny. He’s really handsome, though, Buck notices, objectively. “I’m Eddie Díaz.”
Eddie. Huh, suits him, it’s a cool name. “Oh. Nice to meet you. I’m Evan Buckley, but everyone calls me Buck,” he says, as charmingly as he can manage. “Guess we’re gonna see each other’s faces a lot.”
Eddie’s gaze flickers from Buck’s face to the clothes poking messily out of his bag on the floor, and then, to his half-eaten snacks— to be fair, Buck did leave crumbs across the table, but he was going to clean it, soon.
“Look, Buckley,” Eddie starts, and Buck frowns immediately, standing straighter. “If we’re gonna live together, we need to establish some rules.”
Buck blinks, he has a stupid, horny thought that he can’t help but blurt out. “You like being in charge, huh?” he asks, glancing him up and down. Eddie’s body is all lean with hard lines.
If Eddie realizes where Buck’s mind went, he doesn’t show it. “First of all, we have to set up a cleaning schedule— each one of us has to take care of their own mess,” he says, pointedly, and Buck clenches his jaw, a little offended.
“Hey, man. You just caught me by surpr—”
“Also, I don’t know about you, but I don’t like it when someone uses my things without permission,” Eddie keeps going. “We have to respect each other’s space, too, and—”
Buck interrupts him, tilting his head, “So, you really have a list of rules in your mind, or are you just coming up with these?” he questions.
Eddie stares at him, “Take turns taking out the trash,” he finishes.
“O-kay, is that all or…”
“Lastly,” Eddie says, because apparently he wasn’t done yet, “We don’t have to be best friends.”
Letting out an unamused huff, Buck turns around to pick up his things from the floor, “Or friends at all,” he mumbles as he gets up, loud enough to be heard.
“Good enough for me,” Eddie replies with a shrug, finally leaving his spot and taking a few steps around the room. “I’ll take the bottom bed.”
“No, I want that one,” Buck says, mostly just to annoy Eddie. If Eddie wasn’t such a dictator, he would say something suggestive, or let him choose whichever bed he wanted. But no.
Eddie gives him an unimpressed glance, and throws his bag on the bottom bunk, “Tough luck.”
Very maturely, Buck also throws his bag on the bottom bunk, standing in front of Eddie, “I got here first,” he says.
Eddie eyes him up and down, and Buck smiles wide— he does have at least two or three inches on the guy, but Eddie seems bored. “Do you always act like a child?”
“Do you always have a stick up your ass?” Buck shots back quickly, taking a step closer. He hasn’t picked a fight in a while, to be fair he’s not the best at it, either, but he manages, and just thinking about it sends a thrill through his spine.
“I’m not gonna fight with you, Buckley,” Eddie says, calmly, almost reading his mind. “Get the fuck out of my face.”
Don’t say it, Buck, don’t say it, he thinks to himself. “Or what, Díaz?” he asks with a grin, unable to stop himself.
“You don’t want to know,” Eddie replies like he’s in some action movie, and, oh, God, what an asshole. Who does this guy think he is?
“Oh, believe me, I do want—”
“Whatever, keep it,” Eddie interrupts him, grabbing his bag and putting it unceremoniously on the top bed, turning around to leave the room. Buck should feel triumphant, but it still feels like Eddie won this one.
Since most candidates are moving in today, there are no classes or training. Which means, Buck is spending the day in bed, scrolling through his phone. He calls Maddie and they chat for a while, and for some reason, Buck doesn’t mention Eddie. Eddie, stupid Eddie, who hasn’t come back to the bedroom since he left this morning. Where is he, anyways? It’s late.
While bored, Buck starts to think about how old Eddie might be, he seemed to be about his same age, but there was something about him and the way he carried himself that seemed… older, maybe more experienced.
Ugh.
Buck is staring longingly out of the window, loud music blasting from his earphones, when the door opens again.
He doesn’t even turn around this time, but discreetly lowers the volume down so he can hear what Eddie does. It’s practical— Eddie could be a serial killer trying to stab him from behind, Buck needs to be aware of his every move. Apparently, he goes to the bathroom, and Buck takes the opportunity to lower the volume even more, the shower is running for a few minutes only, then Eddie possibly dresses himself inside, which is something that Buck should have considered doing this morning.
Just a moment later, the bathroom door opens, Eddie getting out of it. Buck is still staring at the window when he notices Eddie turning off the lights and getting on the top bed. Once Eddie settles, Buck turns the volume up again, as much as he can, all the way up, and his ears might hurt but it doesn’t matter, he has a goal. A very, very important goal right now.
He starts drumming his fingers to the tune against the metallic bed frame, almost considers humming the lyrics, too, when Eddie, unsurprisingly, speaks:
“Do you mind?”
Buck pays him no attention, pretending he didn’t hear anything, his fingers still drumming.
“Buckley!” Eddie says, loud, and to his surprise, Buck jumps on his bed, startled.
“What?!” he replies, taking out his earphones, the music still blasting from them, loudly.
“I’m trying to sleep,” Eddie hisses, sounding annoyed, “Your music is too fucking loud.”
Buck hums, stares at the mattress, “You know, Díaz, I don’t remember one of your rules being to not listen to music,” he says, faux-confusion laced into his words.
“Are you— oh my God,” Eddie groans, and mumbles under his breath something in another language, something that sounds very familiar to Buck.
“You insulting me in Spanish?” Buck asks immediately, quirking an eyebrow. “I used to live in Perú, I’ll let you know.”
“Shut up,” Eddie says, his tone exasperated, it makes Buck smile wide. “I don’t care. I want to sleep.”
“Ugh, boring. Okay,” Buck concedes after a while, turning his music off. “Sleep well, man,” he adds, sweetly, grabbing his covers.
“Fuck you,” Eddie replies, and Buck can’t help but blurt a laugh, closing his eyes.
To be fair, he’s tired, too, and the academy officially starts tomorrow morning. He buries his head into his pillow, deciding he might as well rest.
Then, there’s silence, and he quickly drifts off to sleep…
Buck jumps awake as he hears a combination of loud noises, he looks around, wondering where the fuck is he, and what the hell is that— and realizes everything is trembling.
“Fuck. What the—” he pauses, notices the bunk bed, and remembers, groaning. “Díaz!”
The bed keeps trembling. He gets up from it, and finds Eddie staring at him from the top, “Oh, hey. Did I mention I move a lot when I sleep?” he asks, moving back and forth, on purpose, very awake. There’s some kind of audio playing from his phone, too.
Buck puts a hand on the bed frame, trying to stop the movement. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he says, almost to himself. “We have classes tomorrow.”
“As if you cared,” Eddie replies, finally staying still.
“I fucking care,” he says, his tone hard. He takes a deep breath, shakes his head, “Okay. You got back at me, it’s done— can we go to sleep now?”
Eddie seems to study him for a second, “Sure,” he concedes, pausing the goddamn audio.
Thank god. With a nod, Buck throws himself at his bed, “And he accuses me of acting like a child,” he mumbles through a yawn.
“You don’t act like a child, Buckley,” Eddie says, sighing, “You are one.”
Buck doesn’t dignify that with a response, Eddie has just proved he’s not as mature and stoic as he pretends to be. He smiles into his pillow, feeling something funny inside, a thrill in his body.
Buck wakes up before Eddie, and leaves a little something on the floor. Well, a few of them, actually, specifically below the small stairs of the bed. He’s innocently brushing his teeth when Eddie groans, loud.
“I’m going to burn these,” Eddie says, glaring at him, one pair of Buck’s sneakers on hand, and another next to him.
“Huh. Didn’t realize I left them there,” Buck shrugs, going to the wardrobe to look for some clothes.
“I almost tripped.”
Buck nods, “I think you should be more careful, man.”
“You—” Eddie pauses, breathes in and out. “I’m gonna take a quick shower,” he says, apparently choosing peace, but dropping the shoes with more force than necessary. To be fair, Buck is a little surprised Eddie doesn’t throw them at his head— the guy must have a lot of self-control.
“I was going to…” Buck sighs, gesturing with his hand, “You know what? Okay, go ahead. I’ll go after you.”
Nodding, Eddie goes to search for his own clothes. “Clean up your mess.”
“Maybe,” Buck says noncommittally, grabs his phone, deciding to scroll on social media for a while before considering doing anything. “Don’t take too long.”
A few minutes pass, then half an hour, then an hour, and Eddie is still in the bathroom, even though the shower stopped running a while ago.
“Díaz!” he shouts, “Hurry up!”
He’s completely ignored.
Buck, for a split second, wonders if Eddie fell and hurt his head, maybe he’s unconscious on the floor… But then, he hears Netflix’s familiar opening audio coming from inside.
You’ve gotta be kidding me, he thinks to himself, as he realizes Eddie is fucking watching Netflix on the shower.
“Are you being serious!?”
Once again, he’s met with silence.
“I’m going to break that door down!” Buck warns, loudly, even though he’s not gonna do that, it’s gonna hurt.
“Shush, I want to hear this part,” Eddie’s response comes muffled.
Buck is going to kill him, then he’ll get immediately arrested because he can’t lie, not even to save his life, and he’ll probably get himself killed in jail, too.
After two episodes and many, many insults and threats coming from Buck, Eddie emerges from the bathroom.
“Shower’s all yours, man,” he says, casually, before Buck even opens up his mouth.
He blinks, “Oh my god. I’m going to kill you,” Buck replies. But first, before doing all that and ending up in jail, he desperately needs to pee.
Later, during their first class, Buck is huffing and puffing as Eddie seems to know everything about emergency protocols. He also knows everything, having devoured too many books about it, but Eddie manages to beat him on replying, every single time.
“Why the fuck didn’t you let me answer anything?” Buck hisses when they’re getting out of the classroom.
Eddie blinks, pausing, “Excuse me?”
A few candidates stare at them curiously, but end up leaving, until it’s only the two of them in the halls.
“You— you think you’re so smart,” Buck shakes his head. “And superior, but you’re not. You didn’t even let me—”
“I don’t remember shutting your mouth close myself every time you tried to speak,” Eddie says, quirking an eyebrow. “Maybe you’re just slow.”
“Stop being an asshole,” Buck replies, annoyed, pushing him. “You don’t—”
Eddie’s body barely moves, and he pushes him back swiftly, until Buck is cornered against a wall, “Don’t touch me,” he slowly says.
Despite himself, Buck wants to smirk, staring at Eddie’s hand pressing into his shoulder, “You’re touching me,” he points out, deciding to be as obnoxious as possible. “I’m defenceless.”
Eddie huffs, sounding annoyed, but he doesn’t retract. “You know what your problem is, Buckley?”
Buck gives him an unimpressed look, then smiles coldly, “No, I don’t, actually,” he says, shrugging. “Why don’t you enlighten me, hm?”
“You’re spoiled,” Eddie snaps.
“Spoiled?” Buck snorts, slowly raising his hands to Eddie’s chest— he’s going to send him flying backwards in a second. “You don’t know anything about me,” he adds in a whisper.
“I know enough,” Eddie replies, still close to his face. “It’s the first day of training and you’re already whining because the instructor didn’t give you a gold star on the forehead.”
Buck feels the heat creeping up to his face, he clenches his jaw, pressing his hands against Eddie. “That’s not true,” he says.
“It is, and I’m getting tired of it— this isn’t high school,” Eddie finally backs away, and Buck notices he’s almost disappointed at the loss, he tries so hard to not show it on his face. “Grow up.”
“Fuck you,” Buck spats, “You’re the one acting all entitled, thinking you deserve being here more than everyone else.”
“I’m here to become a goddamn good firefighter,” Eddie says, turning around, “I suggest you try and do the same.”
Buck frowns. What an idiot, and he does not need a gold star on the forehead, truly. Truthfully, he wouldn’t complain if he gets one, but still, it’s not like he’s dying to get one. Eddie doesn’t know anything.
“So, you and your roommate seem to be adjusting perfectly well,” says one of the candidates conversationally a few minutes later, while they are in line for lunch. “Heard you guys talking earlier.”
Letting out a huff of laughter, Buck says, “He’s a real piece of work,” he shakes his head, deciding to stop thinking about Eddie Díaz. He glances at the guy, “Think I saw you in class. I’m Evan Buckley.”
“Hey, I’m Benjamin,” the guy smiles, looking at him from under his eyelashes, and Buck sees something in his gaze, something he’s familiar with. “You can call me Benji, though.”
“Only if you call me Buck,” he replies, slyly. He’s not— he’s straight, and he’s never done anything with a guy, this is just fooling around. Buck enjoys to flirt, plus, Benji is cute.
Benji takes a step closer, “Oh, well, Buck, maybe—”
“Buckley!”
Buck turns around to the sound of Eddie’s voice, “What?!” he asks, annoyed.
“You left the AC on,” Eddie says, crossing his arms over his chest, his face stern— Buck ignores his biceps, processing the words.
Confused, Buck tilts his head, “No, I turned it off,” he assures.
“You didn’t, I was just in the room, and it’s on.”
“Oh. I don’t— I don’t remember leaving it on,” Buck frowns, he’s sure he didn’t. “Well, did you turn it off yet?”
“No,” Eddie simply says, “You have to do it— you’re the one that left it on.”
“Why are you trying to ruin my life?” Buck groans, staring pathetically at his empty plate, “I’m hungry.”
Eddie clenches his jaw, “Don’t care. I’m not your babysitter.”
“No, you’re just an asshole,” Buck mumbles, pushing past him to leave the cafeteria, putting his plate on one table.
He swiftly goes to their stupid room to turn the AC off, their stupid room that is completely far away from this part of the Academy. Buck remembers about Benji as he’s leaving the premises, turning around to look at him, and there he is, but somehow he can’t find his eyes. Ridiculously, Buck takes a look at Benji’s stiff shoulders and thinks the guy seems to avoid meeting his gaze.
Huh.
Maybe Benji isn’t into guys after all, either. Just another straight man that enjoys flirting.
As he comes back, the cafeteria is less crowded, but there’s still a pretty long line of people waiting for lunch. Buck doesn’t find his empty plate where he left it, and sighs as he goes to look for another one.
“Here,” says a voice behind him.
“Díaz, stay the fuck away or I’m going to punch you in the face,” Buck warns, without turning around. He’s so close to losing it, really, his stomach growling.
“I’d like to see you try,” Eddie replies with a huff.
Buck finally turns around, ready to fuck up his opportunity here at the Academy and break this guy’s stupid face, then he pauses as he looks down, perplexed, “What’s that?”
“Your lunch,” Eddie offers, impassible, not even missing a beat.
He blinks, staring at the plate Eddie is holding, his stomach growls. “Uh, is it poisoned?”
“Yes,” Eddie deadpans. “It actually is.”
“Knew it,” Buck replies, but his voice comes out smaller than intended, he grabs the plate, because he’ll die if he doesn’t eat something right now. “Um. Thank you,” he adds, a little flustered.
Eddie shrugs and goes to sit down, Buck hesitates— Eddie’s table is almost empty, with enough space for Buck to sit down, too. He frowns at the plate and blushes slightly as he realizes it’s full of food he was actually craving, a small smile trying to break into his face, but Eddie couldn’t possibly know that, he just probably took a guess.
Instead of sitting next to him, Buck goes to another empty table, although he feels it’s wrong somehow, which is ridiculous— getting him something to eat was the least Eddie could do. Right?
A few people come by to sit, they talk to him, and to each other.
Still, Buck wants to—
Well, he doesn’t know. Maybe he wants to turn around to see if Eddie’s still there, if Eddie’s looking at him.
Ridiculous, as he stated before.
He tunes out the chatter around him, wondering what should be his next move with Eddie.
While doing the drills, Buck breaks the all-time record of the first exercise. It’s 7:14 minutes, and he rescues his fake-victim at 6:59 minutes. He’s grinning so big while the instructor pats his back congratulating him, then, it’s Eddie’s turn to go in.
“6 minutes, 50 seconds,” the instructor says as he gets out, nodding. “Impressive, Díaz.”
“Thank you, sir,” Eddie replies, taking his mask and helmet off, a few strands escaping from his perfectly styled hair.
He gets a pat on the back, too. Buck opens up his mouth, and closes it again. Whatever. He doesn’t care, it’s not a big deal.
Still, when Eddie is close enough to him, Buck casually walks closer towards him and bumps his shoulder not so lightly. Eddie looks up at him, and does the same, harder. Ouch.
“Watch it,” Buck mumbles, even though he started it, and Eddie huffs, shaking his head to himself.
“Try that again,” Eddie replies, challenging.
Since that exchange, the rest of the training day keeps going like that. It’s like Eddie made his personal mission to beat Buck every single time after their talk in the morning— the events of Eddie being decent enough to get him food totally forgotten.
And Buck… okay, he’s competitive, and also a sore loser. Just something to have in mind.
“Buckley! Díaz! Your turn,” Firefighter Han shouts, and Buck internally curses the fact that there are no candidates with last names starting with the letter C, which means that they’ll have to do this together— they’ll have to be a pair every single time, it sucks.
This time, Buck promises himself he’s going to get out before Eddie does— and, yeah, they’re supposed to be a team, to the instructors it doesn’t matter which one of them finishes it faster, as long as they work together.
To Buck? It does.
“Copy that,” Eddie says, running to the building.
“On it!” Buck adds, following him suit.
The drill is similar to the first one they did individually. Though the building is actually on fire now, they have to put out the flames and get three adult victims to safety while passing the obstacles.
Everything’s good, Buck has gotten one of the weighted dolls out, and Eddie the other, there’s still one left, though, and the flames keep growing.
“You keep hitting it,” Eddie shouts, loudly, gesturing at the wall of fire. “I’ll get this one out and come back.”
Buck wants to argue, wishes he had suggested that, but there’s no time. “Copy!” he shouts back, focused on the fire.
But then, he turns around to watch Eddie extract the last victim, huffing as he hear claps, of course everyone congratulates the golden boy. In a split second, he decides to get closer to the flames, maybe he could fight it better up close— he could get out before Eddie comes back.
It’s not the right move.
“Do you have a death wish?” Eddie hisses as he drags Buck out, taking his mask off, his breathing labored. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing! I— I just thought I could make it faster,” Buck replies, rubbing his face, helmet in hand. He feels disappointed in himself, a little humiliated, too.
“You thought wrong,” Eddie says, and he seems pissed. “That’s not— this is a real fire, Buckley. You can’t just—”
Buck clenches his jaw, interrupting him, “Why the fuck do you care so much, anyways?”
Eddie glares at him for a second, and pulls away, he was very, very close to Buck’s face. “No. I don’t care,” he mumbles under his breath, averting his eyes, and it makes Buck’s chest twist, for some reason.
“Whatever,” he says, walking away to the other candidates.
He plops down next to Nadia, he met her today, she’s nice and likes to make fun of Buck. “Gotta work on your self-control, kid,” she says, patting his knee.
“Not you, too,” he groans, “I hate him. He’s so— annoyingly good at this. It’s frustrating.”
“Mhm, I don’t know about annoying, but he seems to be good, indeed,” Nadia follows his gaze.
Eddie is walking next to Bosko, another candidate. Buck frowns as he watches them too close to each other, he crosses his arms over his chest, “What’s going on with these two? Are they—”
Nadia interrupts him with a laugh, amused, “You mean what’s going on between my steady girlfriend of three years and your roommate? Nothing.”
“Oh,” Buck widens his eyes, a little bit surprised. “Sorry. Wait— that’s allowed?” he asks, a little dumbly. He’s met with a roll of eyes.
“Yes, it’s legal, you big idi—”
“No, no,” Buck quickly says, pushing her lightly, “I meant, here, being together during your training.”
Nadia shrugs, “Mhm. We’ve disclosed it in our forms, since they ask about romantic relationships. Just gotta be professional, and, they obviously let us know we couldn’t be roommates, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Buck frowns, “What? Why would I—” he blinks, the realization hitting him, “Oh, no. Hell, no. That’s not— it’s not like that. Díaz and I— We’re not… I’m straight.”
“I saw you hitting about eight people today, I’m pretty sure at least three of them were guys,” Nadia quirks an eyebrow at him.
Blushing, Buck nods. “Well, yeah, but that’s just… fun. I’ve never—” he trails off.
Nadia hums, “Okay, makes sense,” she says, sympathetically, patting his knee again.
“And— and even if I weren’t straight, Díaz is, and he’s also the worst person in the entire world,” Buck adds, almost shuddering at the thought of being with him, “Ugh.”
“He’s cute, though,” Nadia points out, unhelpfully. “And hot.”
“No, ew, he’s not,” Buck replies, grumpy tone in his voice, totally lying. Of course Eddie is cute and hot, Buck has eyes— but he’ll deny it until the day he dies, he swears. Not because he’s a man, but because he’s Eddie.
As they have dinner and come back to the room, Buck, once again, wants to annoy Eddie, who is about to sleep. Maybe he’ll taunt the guy enough to make him want to physically fight, because somehow, he can still feel Eddie’s hand burning on his shoulder, and he can’t shake off the irritation at being beaten today.
To be fair, he doesn’t have a lot of ideas of what to do, his brain a little fried after the long day he had, which is why he ends up singing in the shower, loud and off-tune.
As he gets out, Eddie’s face is neutral, and he’s using his phone, not a single visible sign that he got annoyed by the singing. Ugh.
Tomorrow will be another day, though. Buck is nothing but persistent. He texts Maddie good night, and hugs one of his pillows, melting into his bed, suddenly exhausted.
Later, he’s once again woken up by the bed trembling, the movements coming from the top bunk. Buck groans, getting up, “Díaz, you asshole, I’m going to fucking k—”
He pauses as he stares at Eddie, the words dying in his mouth. This is nothing like last night, Eddie is trashing on the bed, his eyes closed shut, sweat dripping from his forehead, “No, no, no,” he mumbles, sounding desperate, “Don’t— No! Chris! Chris!”
Clearly, Eddie is having a nightmare.
“Díaz,” he starts, not knowing if he should touch him or not. Eddie doesn’t seem to hear him, “Diaz! Wake up!” he adds, a little louder. Again, Buck doesn’t know if he should wake up Eddie, but it sounds like the better option. Still, Eddie keeps mumbling under his breath, his chest rising quickly. “Díaz!”
Eddie’s eyes flutter open. “What…” he startles, his breath hitching as he sits on the bed quickly. “Where’s Ch—”
“Hey, hey,” Buck interrupts him, trying to sound soothing. “You— you were having a nightmare,” he says, and Eddie looks at him, but it seems like he’s far away, still. “We’re, um, we’re at the Academy. LAFD.”
Finally, Eddie blinks, “Buckley,” he breathes out.
“Yep. You want… a glass of water?” he offers, hesitantly.
“No,” Eddie says, rubbing his eyes, “I’m sorry. I—” he pauses, “I’m going back to sleep.”
“Oh, okay,” Buck nods, “Just let me know if…” he trails off, Eddie just hums once, turning away.
As Buck tries to sleep again, and hears the way Eddie’s breathing is still too labored, he wonders who Chris is. He must be someone important to Eddie, with the way he was desperately calling for him.
Huh.
Next morning, Buck wakes up to an empty room. He sighs and starts to eat his breakfast while scrolling on his phone. Once he’s halfway through it, and starting to devour a very interesting article about sharks, Eddie comes in.
They stare at each other for a second, and Buck locks his phone, sharks forgotten, waiting for him to say anything, he’s about to break the silence himself, when Eddie says, “Hey.”
Buck blinks, “Hi,” he replies, sounding hesitant.
He’s met with a loud sigh, “Look… About last night—”
“You don’t have to explain anything,” Buck says, quickly, “It’s okay, I get them, too,” because he does, his own nightmares are mostly about being back in Hershey, Maddie leaving him again, or getting lost in the world, not being someone.
Eddie clenches his jaw very noticeably, but finally nods, his shoulders seem to relax slightly. “Okay.”
“That doesn’t make us friends, though,” Buck adds, lightly. He takes another bite, and almost chokes as Eddie nearly smiles.
“Fuck, no. Of course it doesn’t,” Eddie rolls his eyes as he huffs, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge.
He opens it and starts to drink it. Idly, Buck wonders if Eddie had any breakfast yet. It’s very early, after all. He would also like to know where Eddie went earlier.
Buck almost wonders out loud, but instead, his mind goes to something else, “Hey, you don’t have to answer me,” he starts, and Eddie looks at him, “But, can I ask…”
“Nope,” Eddie immediately says, then, sighs deeply, sitting down. “Okay, go ahead.”
“Who’s Chris?”
For a second, Eddie’s whole body stills, and Buck is about to take it back or apologize, when he notices the way Eddie’s face softens, “My son,” he replies, the tone filled with so much love that it gives Buck goosebumps, he almost looks away.
He blinks, processing it, and gapes, “Oh. Oh! That’s… wow,” Buck replies, dumbly. He shakes his head, “How old is he?”
“Just turned five,” Eddie offers. Distantly, Buck realizes this is the most they have talked to each other without throwing threats or insults.
Buck swoons, “Adorable,” he says excitedly, before he can stop himself. He blushes, “I— sorry. I love kids,” he adds.
Eddie nods, his face still soft— which is a nice look on him. “I love this one.”
“Wait— how old are you?” Buck asks, tilting his head. He does seem too young to have a child, except, that could sound bad if he says it out loud. Also, Buck decides to keep his curiosity to himself and to not ask Eddie who Chris lives with while he’s in here.
“You’re asking too many questions,” Eddie replies, and it sounds almost teasing. “I’m twenty-four.”
“Mhm, I guessed mid-fifties,” Buck shrugs, “It could be the stern, obnoxious face.”
"Yeah? I keep wondering if you’re old enough to be here,” Eddie replies without missing a beat.
Smiling wide, Buck says, “I’m older than you,” proudly.
“No, you’re not.”
“Twenty-five,” he replies, “I’m a 91’s baby.”
“You are a baby, sure,” Eddie says, and Buck huffs out a laugh.
“I’ve been called baby many times, but it usually sounds way more flirty,” Buck offers, tilting his head, “And, you know, sometimes it ends up with—”
“Okay, shut up.” Eddie finishes his bottle, throwing it in the trash can.
“Boring,” Buck huffs, “Hey, you want some?” he gestures at his grilled cheese.
“Lactose-intolerant,” Eddie explains, shaking his head as he opens the fridge again, “Thanks, though.”
“Sure,” Buck replies, nodding, and his phone pings once, twice, he checks it immediately.
Maddie: On my way now!
Maddie: See you 😘
He smiles wide as he reads the texts, quickly writing something back.
Buck: Okkkk 😃
Once he locks his phone, Buck glances up because he could swear he just felt Eddie’s gaze on him, but Eddie isn’t looking at him.
Huh.
“You know, Evan, I’ve read about the changes they did at the Academy this year,” Maddie says while they are about to say goodbye, and Buck winces. “They assigned you a roommate?”
“Well, uh. Yeah, I’ve got one,” Buck replies, shrugging, like it’s not a big deal, “Unfortunately.”
Maddie hums, “You didn’t bring it up.”
“I hate him,” Buck offers, simply. Although Eddie wasn’t that bad this morning.
“You’ve known him for days. Why would you—”
Of course, speaking of the devil, Buck hears footsteps and sees Eddie coming down the stairs of the first floor. Eddie doesn’t spare him a glance, even though he must have noticed him, and Buck clenches his jaw, feeling annoyed again.
“Long story,” he tells Maddie, shrugging again, she’s just about to leave, anyways.
“I’ve got time,” Maddie says, smiling big and wide.
Once Eddie is out of earshot, he mumbles, almost unintelligible, “That’s him,” while discreetly nodding his way.
“Oh,” is all Maddie replies, blinking slowly.
Eddie is stopped by Firefighter Han, who starts talking to him like they are friends, Buck wonders what is that about, why would they talk? About what? What’s going on? He needs to know.
“That guy’s very cute,” Maddie adds, following his gaze, raising an eyebrow.
“What? No, he’s not that cute,” Buck says, high-pitched, he internally curses the fact that his sister always clocks him when he lies, so, he adds, “And it wouldn’t matter if he were, he’s an asshole, plus—”
Maddie interrupts him, head tilted. “He’s always been perfectly nice when I assist his team on a call,” she assures.
"Call?” Buck frowns, confused, “He’s a candidate, like me. Just started the Academy. We’ve never—”
Blinking once, Maddie says, “Uh, what? I’m talking about Firefighter Han. He’s been on the LAFD for years.”
“Oh. I— I didn’t—” Buck flushes, Maddie lets out a giggle, and he glares at her, “You’re not funny.”
“I think I am,” she says, “Your boy is also cute, though. What’s his name?”
“He’s not my—”
“What’s his name?”
“Don’t talk too loud!” Buck hisses, “He could be listening,” he adds, and Maddie gives him an unimpressed glance. “Díaz. Eddie,” he finally offers with a sigh.
“Aw.”
Buck rolls his eyes. “Stop it.”
“We’re gonna discuss this later,” Maddie smiles, and Buck is so deeply fucked. She glances at her watch, and sighs. “I gotta go now, but I’ll try and come see you next week.”
“Okay, Mads,” Buck says, hugging her. “About you coming to see me,” he clarifies, “Because there’s nothing to discuss about that other thing.”
Maddie hugs him back, fiercely. Buck feels his eyes burning out of a sudden, she’s small, he towers over his sister now, but ever since he was a kid, Maddie seemed to be gigantic, always protecting him, he knew nothing could ever go wrong if she was around.
“Love you,” she says, and he bents down to be at her height, Maddie kisses his forehead. “Talk to him,” she whispers.
“Love you too,” he replies, ignoring the last bit. “Take care, okay?”
“I always do,” Maddie promises, squeezing his shoulder. “You, on the other hand…”
“Hey,” he protests, frowning, and Maddie laughs.
“Bye, Evan, see you soon.”
“See you, Mads.”
He walks back to the room, throwing himself at the bed. Then, about twenty minutes later, Eddie comes in, too, moving some things around his desk with more force than necessary. Buck wonders what the hell is wrong with the guy now.
“Did you really bring a girl here?” Eddie finally asks, and Buck raises both eyebrows, taken aback, “We can leave, you know? This is not a pris—”
“Dude,” Buck says, interrupting him, and breaks down into a fit of laughter. Eddie glares at him. “That was my sister, Maddie. She’s a 9-1-1 dispatcher.”
“Oh,” is all Eddie replies, frowning.
“You got jealous?” Buck asks with a grin, stretching on the bed. “Don’t worry, Díaz.”
“No,” Eddie huffs, and there’s the faintest blush on his cheeks. “I was about to warn her to run away from you.”
“Well, Maddie’s gotta love me, that’s her job,” Buck shrugs, he glances at Eddie. “Besides, I’ve never really had any girl running away from me, you know? They usually run towards me.”
“You’re so full of—”
“Guys, too,” Buck adds, smiling. That makes Eddie pause, and Buck’s smile widens. “I’m very inclusive— an ally, if you must.” He’s just talking out of his ass here, although he is an ally, he also really likes this, trying to fluster Eddie.
Eddie blinks, rolls his eyes, “An idiot, that’s what you are.”
“No one’s ever complained about me once they get to know me,” Buck adds, pointedly, “Would you,” he pauses for dramatic effect, licks his lips, “Would you like to see it for yourself?” he asks, mostly joking, of course. His heart is not beating loudly.
“Fuck, no,” Eddie’s response is immediate.
Buck laughs, shaking his head. “Figured,” he pauses, then, “Don’t knock it until you try it, though,” he says, wisely.
“Die,” Eddie replies, climbing to his bed.
“You first.”
A few hours later, Buck is woken up again. He opens his eyes in a startle, almost hitting his head on the top bed.
“Stop. No, no, don’t—”
He quickly gets up, shaking Eddie softly, standing beside him, “Díaz, hey,” he says, repeatedly, and Eddie keeps tossing and turning. “Wake up. Díaz.”
Eddie sucks in a breath as he wakes up, staring at Buck, “Shit,” he groans, covering his face with shaky hands.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Buck rubs his shoulder almost involuntarily, “Why don’t you, uh, come down and sleep on my bed?” he offers, admittedly a little afraid Eddie might fall from his own if he’s deep in another nightmare.
“… Okay,” Eddie says eventually, and Buck is surprised he agrees.
“Great, you good to get down?” he asks, and Eddie grunts, climbing down his bed, and immediately throwing himself at Buck’s, face buried in the pillows. He must be tired. Little smile on his face, Buck watches him for a second, and is about to climb up to Eddie’s bed, when Eddie speaks.
“You can… You can stay,” he says, patting the space next to him, mumbled, his eyes already closed. “’s your bed.”
“Uh, I don’t think we’ll both—”
“Buckley.”
“Fit,” Buck finishes, gulping.
“Top beds suck, Buckley,” Eddie says through a yawn, shuddering. “Stay.”
Hesitatingly, Buck nods, then remembers Eddie’s eyes are closed. “Okay,” he whispers, carefully joining him. They’re both tall, but not that big, Buck plans on properly bulking up after graduation, and Eddie is lean, yet still it’s a tight fit.
It’s not really possible to leave much space between them, the bed is designed for one person only, except, Buck tries.
And fails miserably.
Buck opens his eyes, just to realize it’s morning already.
It’s morning, and he’s clinging to Eddie like his life depends on it. Oh, fuck, he thinks to himself, leaning back immediately— he almost falls off the bed.
Taking a glance at Eddie’s relaxed features, noticing how young he looks like that, how calm, Buck starts to repeat in his head like a mantra that everything is fine, everything is fine, fine, fine, and goes to wash his face.
The truth is, he is not used to sleeping next to someone, no one asks him to stay over after a hook-up, and he doesn’t offer, and it’s good that way— neither of them can get attached, and there are no feelings involved. It’s how it should be, because Buck can confuse things sometimes, and he doesn’t need that. Plus, he’s not hooking-up with anyone lately, after he diagnosed himself as a sex addict a few months ago. And girlfriends… well, the last girlfriend Buck had was in his senior year of high-school, they managed to be together for roughly five weeks or so until she dumped him.
It was the right move, probably.
Buck never knew he would seek a body’s warmth as he slept, though, that he would hug them fiercely and inhale their scent.
But he did, last night with Eddie. To be honest, it was the most peaceful he had ever been, and Eddie didn’t seem to have another nightmare, either. He wonders if Eddie enjoyed it, too, or if he’s gonna wake up hating Buck.
He tries to be as quiet as possible as he leaves the bathroom, and stops in his tracks at seeing Eddie rubbing his eyes through a yawn.
Buck opens up his mouth, closes it again, then, “I—”
“Hey. Thanks,” Eddie says, blinking.
“Díaz…”
“I’ve been in war. Army medic,” Eddie tells him, getting out of bed. Buck blinks, surprised at the sudden revelation. “Did two tours. I— I hated being there, wish I’d never enlisted.”
“Oh, I didn’t know,” Buck whispers, feeling sad, finally approaching him. “I’m sorry.”
Eddie hums, “I’m sorry, too,” he says, looking at his hands for a second with a frown, almost as if he saw something in them. He glances up, “I’m telling you because, my nightmares— um, they’re mostly about it.”
“Are you…” Buck hesitates, “Are you getting help with that?”
“Yeah, therapy,” Eddie offers, “I need to get better if I’m gonna have my kid under my roof again. Uh, last night you helped, too.”
“Mhm. Sure, we can switch our beds, if it’s better for you not being up there,” Buck says, nodding, not asking more about Chris. “Anything you need.”
Something flashes in Eddie’s face, but it’s quickly gone. “Okay, yeah,” he nods, sounding almost disappointed.
Buck considers it for a second, and blurts out, “I was thinking about going to the gym, do you… do you want to come with?”
Eddie studies him, and Buck tries not to squirm in his spot, the guy’s eyes are deep. “Sure. You’ll embarrass me if you struggle with the weights I use to warm up, though,” he says, the corners of his mouth twitching.
Huffing out a laugh that does not sound like it’s coming from a school-boy, Buck goes to find his work out clothes, “Shut up, man.”