Work Text:
This is fine. This is totally fine.
Buck recently realized he has strong romantic feelings for his best friend. His straight best friend. His straight, male best friend. Nothing he can’t handle.
So he’s been trying to put some distance between them to allow himself to get over said feelings, and said best friend has responded by inviting Buck to hang out about a thousand times more often than he ever has before. Which is saying something, because they’re already pretty much attached at the hip. Which is part of the problem.
Every night it’s a different activity: movie night, pizza and beer, a baseball game, Chris’ science fair, checking out that new Thai place. If Buck makes up an excuse to avoid him, Eddie lays on the guilt, going on and on about how excited Christopher is, how much he’s looking forward to doing XYZ with Buck specifically. It’s a painfully transparent strategy that works every time.
Tonight is the worst one yet. Eddie’s sister, Sofia, is visiting from Texas for a few weeks. She’s staying at Pepa’s, and all the LA Diazes are going over there for her welcome dinner. Last month, Eddie’s aunt told Buck in a hushed tone that Sofia had finally left her cheating husband and was getting a divorce. She came to LA to decompress and not have to look at that pendejo’s face for a while (Pepa’s words, not Buck’s).
Before The Realization, Buck would have jumped at the chance to spend time with Eddie’s family. Now, the invitation is a hurtful reminder of his status, or lack thereof, in their lives. He needs to get over Eddie and move on, and he knows he can’t do that while playing happy family with Eddie and Christopher.
But Eddie all but begged him, and Chris had weaponized his puppy dog eyes, so here Buck is, standing on Pepa’s front porch between the two of them, about to meet the eldest sister of the man he loves.
The door opens, and Buck forgets all of his apprehension. He’s pretty sure he forgets how to breathe for a moment. In front of him is the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. She’s tall, with golden skin, huge, striking honey brown eyes and a wide, joyful smile that lights up her whole face when she sees them. Her thick brown hair falls down around her shoulders in gentle waves. She leans forward to hug Eddie, and Buck can’t help but notice her round, perfect ass (sue him, he’s only human). She’s-
“Eddie!”
“Sof!”
They part with matching megawatt smiles, one arm still wound around each other. Eddie puts a hand on Buck’s shoulder, a link between them. “Buck, this is my sister, Sofia. Sofia, this is Buck.”
Sofia is… well, she’s Eddie. Eddie, if he were magically transformed into a woman. A gorgeous, charismatic woman with Eddie’s laugh, who is currently staring at Buck with the same soft, open gaze Eddie often employs when he wants Buck to clean the gutters, or degrease the oven, or stop flinging himself into danger like his life is worthless. The one that makes Buck want to sleep on his couch, move into his house, curl up on his chest like a cat and stay there forever. Fuck.
“The famous Buck! I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I know you already.” And now Sofia’s hugging him too, soft against his chest, melting into him like they’ve known each other for years. He wraps his arms around her without really thinking about it, chasing the all too familiar warmth.
“Nice to meet you, Sofia.” It’s mumbled into her hair.
“Wow!” Sofia runs her hands up Buck’s back and along his arms. “You sure could carry me out of a burning building, couldn’t you?”
“Uh-”
“Sofia!” Eddie’s face is stern. “Leave him alone and let your nephew in.”
Christopher waves. “Hi, Tía.”
“Hi, Christopher!” Sofia gives Chris an abbreviated hug and leads them inside. In the living room, she takes Buck by the elbow. “Come on, everyone’s on the patio. You sit with me and leave my boring brother to our cousins.”
Buck steals a glance at Eddie, who’s already being waylaid by an uncle. Eddie is glaring at Buck and Sofia, jaw set like he can force them apart with his mind if he just grinds his teeth hard enough. Buck shrugs, trying to convey, ‘it’s not me, it’s her, I’m just being polite!’
And he sort of understands, he went through this when Chimney and Maddie started dating, but Buck’s a little offended despite himself. Does Eddie think he’s not good enough for his sister? Jerk.
Sofia leads Buck out to the big table on the patio. They tuck into a cozy corner and start dishing up Pepa’s excellent food. The chairs are crammed together to accommodate so many people, and every time Sofia reaches for a dish, she leans way over into Buck’s space or steadies herself with a hand on his forearm.
All through dinner, Sofia showers Buck with compliments.
“So, Eddie says you helped Chris with his AP European History project and he got an A?”
“Eddie loves your boeuf bourguignon, maybe you could make it for me sometime?”
“I saw your Instagram pictures at the pier, did you really win Chris a giant tiger and carry it around for the whole day? He loves that thing.”
“Eddie told me about the time you pulled off a rescue with just a belt and a safety pin, that was genius!” Buck glows.
Sofia’s interesting, too. She’s an environmental engineer with a passion for groundwater management, and she makes the topic sound fascinating. She grew up doing all the same sports and activities as Eddie since she was only a year younger, and still competes in martial arts tournaments on weekends. She promises to drag Buck out dancing while she’s in town.
An hour later, most of the food has been polished off and the sun has set, the table lit only by the string lights on the pergola and the glow coming from the sliding glass doors. The Diazes still at the dinner table are clustered in small groups, conversations muted to let the younger children sleep in their parents’ laps or nearby inside the house. Eddie and Christopher went in a while ago and Buck lost track of them.
Sofia is almost in Buck’s lap at this point. She gives an exaggerated shiver and lifts his arm, laying it over her shoulders and nestling into his side. He’s stopped resisting her physical advances; she’s nice and beautiful and honestly, it feels good to be so obviously desired by someone.
“I can tell you like to take care of the people you love.”
“Yeah, I do. Doesn’t everyone?”
“But don’t you ever wish someone would take care of you?” Sofia asks it without looking at Buck, which makes it easier to answer her honestly instead of sidestepping the question.
“Sometimes.”
She looks up at him then, with those deep, dark, earnest eyes. Pulls his hand down over her chest and intertwines their fingers. Tilts her head up like maybe she’s going to kiss him.
And Buck thinks, screw it. Maybe this could work. Sofia’s gorgeous, like seriously, a total fucking smokeshow. She’s smart, and funny, and sweet. She clearly knows a lot about him, and likes what she’s heard. She’s made her interest in him more than apparent tonight. And she’s so similar to her brother, it’s a little freaky.
Except that Sofia wants him, unlike Eddie, who’s his favorite person in the whole world but will never love Buck the way Buck loves him. Eddie doesn’t deserve to be subjected to a barrage of unwelcome feelings that he never asked for and can never reciprocate. Buck brings his free hand up to Sofia’s face, brushing a lock of soft, dark hair off her forehead.
“Sofia!” Eddie whisper-yells from the doorway through gritted teeth.
Sofia glances at him, then back at Buck, a small triumphant smile playing on her perfect lips. “Let’s go see what my brother wants.” She stands up to follow Eddie into the house. Buck stays frozen until she turns back to him. “You better come too.”
Reluctantly, Buck rises from his chair. Eddie didn’t summon him, hadn’t looked at him at all, and that alone tells him enough. Buck has the uncanny sense that he and Sofia are both about to get scolded, and feels a surge of annoyance. What did Eddie expect, introducing them?
Eddie’s already speaking to Sofia in hushed but angry tones when Buck trails into the kitchen after them, expression murderous. “-low, even for you!”
Sofia, on the other hand, is the picture of innocence. “I thought this was what you wanted? Every time I call you, you have a new story about how amazing he is. I know you never liked Javier. I assumed you were trying to make me fall for Buck!”
“Why would I do that? You live in El Paso!”
Sofia speaks slowly, enunciating her words. “Planes exist, Edmundo. And I’m here now. And you literally never shut up about the guy. Why don’t you want me to date him?”
“Because!”
When Eddie doesn’t elaborate, Sofia groans in a very teenage cadence. “Ugh, you always do this! It’s just like the Furby!”
Eddie’s eyes go wide, incredulous. “I said you could borrow it for Michelle’s sleepover, not keep it forever!”
“You said you didn’t even want it! You said it was for babies!”
“Of course I wanted it, it was mine!”
“You could have just told me that instead of getting so mad about it!”
“You can’t date Buck!” Eddie’s just plain yelling now, jabbing his finger in his sister’s face.
Sofia crosses her arms and squares up against him. “Why not? We’re all adults here, Eddie! You’re not in charge of me anymore! ‘Because I said so’ isn’t gonna cut it!”
“Because I’m in love with him!” Eddie shouts, then clamps his mouth shut, looking stunned.
Buck is in shock. He’s standing in the doorway right behind Sofia, he’s been here the whole time, but it’s like neither sibling has noticed he’s there.
Rather than looking surprised, Sofia smiles. She’s the cat who ate the big gay canary.
“Wow, Eddie. How does it feel to say what you want for once in your life?”
Buck must make a noise then. He doesn’t know, he can’t hear it over the ringing in his ears and the thumping of his galloping heart, but both Diazes turn to look at him with identical manic expressions. Both run a hand through their hair so it sticks up in the front at odd angles. Buck would laugh at the image if his soul weren’t about to vacate his body.
“Buck-” Eddie gets stuck there and freezes. His cheeks are blazing red.
“You- Eddie- you’re- Eddie-” This is going great.
Sofia sighs indulgently at them. “Buck, Eddie’s in love with you. I think you might feel the same way, based on the mountain of evidence I’ve heard about over the years?”
“Yes, yeah, yep.” Big improvement. He can’t even pretend to deny it. He doesn’t want to.
Sofia arches a supercilious eyebrow, just like Eddie would in her position. “Great. Do either of you maybe want to do something about that? Do you need me to smash your faces together like I used to do with my Barbies?”
That breaks Eddie out of his stupor. “Just don’t pop our heads off and bury them in the backyard.”
“That was an experiment. And I was five.”
Eddie raises an eyebrow but doesn’t dignify that with a response. He turns back to Buck. “I’m in love with you.”
Buck can feel himself loosening up, thawing out. He grins. “I heard. And you miss your Furby?”
“Shut up.” Impossibly, Eddie’s blush deepens.
“I love you too.”
“Thank God.” And then, as if a dam has burst inside him, Eddie rushes forward and grabs Buck by the cheeks. He smashes their lips together, not unlike a five year old playing with Barbies, but Buck doesn’t mind. The kiss gets better from there. Better, and better, and…
Sofia clears her throat, and they break apart reluctantly. “I’m gonna leave you to it, but just, you know, you’re welcome.”
Eddie glares at her again, but there’s no real heat to it. “Sofia, that was seriously so fucked up. You can’t treat people like this. How did you know that would work? Did you even know?”
Sofia shrugs. “I had a hunch. You’ve been braver lately, Edmundo, admit it. And honestly, it was a win for me either way.”
And Buck is so happy, elated, floating on air. He has the love of his life in his arms at last, it’s his perfect fairytale ending. But he looks between Eddie and Sofia, at two perfect smiles showing four pointy canines, and allows himself to consider, just for a moment, that it could have been a win either way for him, too.