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Eddie is an idiot. He is a stupid idiot trapped in a hospital bed - again - and the thing he's most afraid of is Buck.
He had promised Buck, repeated the words over and over again, had insisted that Buck's 'bad feeling' was ridiculous and that nothing bad would happen to him just because they weren't on the same shift.
Eddie should've learnt sooner not to tempt fate.
Now, he's laying in a bed that might as well be made of cardboard for how uncomfortable it is with Chim in the seat next to him narrating the frantic messages Buck has been sending. His head is pounding with the remanants of the hit it took and his shoulder still aches from the pop it had made when he dislocated it.
Tale as old as time, Eddie had gone back into a burning house because of a child. A child he had saved but a child he had also traumatised with the blood that had poured from his head and his pained grunts as he had ran to safety.
Today, he was supposed to be safe, supposed to do exactly as he was told and not make any brash decisions because today him and Buck had decided to tell everyone.
Them being together wasn't secret, more so something they had been avoiding sharing due to the inevitable teasing that would follow. They'd had three weeks of peaceful romance, Eddie becoming addicted to calling Buck his and the feel of their hands wound together, a dream Eddie had hardly let himself imagine.
Chris and Theo had been nothing short of delighted when they found out and Eddie can confidently say he's never been happier now that he's allowed to attach himself to Buck at any given opportunity.
After almost a month of their quiet happiness, they'd decided this weekend was the best chance they had at coming out of the reveal unscathed. Buck was to pick Eddie up at the end of the shift and then they'd tell everyone using the excuse of having to pick up Theo as their escape plan. Simple and easy.
Unless Eddie decided to do something stupid and idiotic.
"How long until Buck's here?"
"You have maybe two minutes before you're being fretted over," Chimney helpfully replies, flashing Eddie a wide grin.
"Great." He tips his head back against the pillows with a wince, closing his eyes slowly.
Maybe he can pretend to be asleep when Buck gets here and then he won't have to face the wrath of a worried Buck.
He opens his eyes tilting his head to ask Chimney if he'll sneak in some coffee and then the door is swinging open cracking against the wall with a resounding smack that has Chim jumping out of his seat.
"Eddie."
There's Buck, filling the doorway with his wide shoulders, blocking out the light behind him. Eddie still can't get over the flood of happiness that rushes through him at the sound of Buck's voice alone.
He shuts the door with a quiet click and stalks to Eddie's bedside his eyes darting across Eddie compulsively cataloguing every bump and bruise. "You're okay?"
"More than," Eddie says allowing his eyes to take on the besotted gleam he's been reliably informed appears whenever he sees Buck. "Just a light scrape, all in once piece."
"Precautionary check really." God, Eddie kind of forgot Chim was even here.
Buck doesn't take his eyes off of Eddie's, his gaze intense and comforting all at once, "You still okay with telling them?"
"What - of course but, the plan doesn't really-"
Eddie is being kissed.
He hates being interrupted, would place it at the top of a list of his pet-peeves, right next to people mispronuncing names when they've been corrected hundreds of times but being interrupted like this? Eddie would happily be interrupted like this for the rest of his life.
His head is cradled between the breadth of Buck's hands, the callouses brushing against the sensitive skin of his cheeks and the tips of his fingers brushing Eddie's ears. Eddie doesn't even have to think, his hands immediately making a home in the curls at the back of Buck's head.
It's firey and fast and intoxicating and Eddie might slip a pitiful whine at Buck pulling away. They breathe each other in for a minute and then Buck lets go, standing straight from where he'd akwardly bent to reach Eddie's mouth.
Buck smirks, his mouth tipping up in a way that's always been dangerous for his wellbeing. His heart monitor beeps incriminatingly at the sight of it only making Buck more smug. "Good luck."
With that he leaves again, walking out with a swagger as he whistles cheerfully.
"What the fuck?"
Eddie sighs.
Chimney.
Buck is an evil menace born to torment him.
"What the fuck. I'm hallucinating, I've been forced to deal with you two so long I'm finally going crazy," he says nonsensically pulling at the roots of his hair. "Oh god what if I'm having another one of those insane dreams I-"
"Chim."
"Maybe I'm dead-"
"Chimney."
"Are we sure I didn't get the concussion I mean-"
"Chim I swear to God, please stop talking."
Chim meets his eyes something manic swimming in his expression.
"No one's insane."
"You guys actually kissed?" Eddie's slightly offended at his incredulity. Were they really that bad?
"We kissed."
"Oh no," Chim whispers. "Please tell me this isn't a secret."
"No secrets, that's kinda the whole point. Just - could you get Hen?"
Chim still looks slightly shell shocked as he nods, calling Hen in with a shaky voice. When he sinks back into the chair next to Eddie's bed, he continues to glance between Eddie and the door as if Buck will walk in at any second and it'll happen all overall again.
Hen takes in the chaos of the room when she walks in and sighs wearily. "What did you do?"
"I think you mean what did Buck do," Chim helpfully corrects.
"Chim," Eddie groans, "don't make a big deal out of it."
"Big deal? Big deal? Eddie I just watched Buck try and eat your face."
Eddie closes his eyes, breathes deeply through his nose as silence floods the room.
"He what?" Hen shrieks.
"They kissed Hen, kissed. Kissed seems generous, it was very aggressive."
Hen turns to Eddie with a wide eyed look. "If you tell me it was plaontic I'll kill you. We're in a hospital, I'll make it look like an accident."
"I hate Buck," Eddie groans. Betrayed by his own boyfriend. "Me and Buck are dating. We were gonna tell everyone at the end of the shift. Plan fell through and now we're here. Please be normal."
Chimney and Hen share a shocked look, barely restrained glee breaking through the disbelief. "Be normal?" Hen repeats. "I'll be normal, so normal. Can we bring Ravi in here?"
These gossiping motherfuckers. This family is so nosy.
"Why not," Eddie snaps, "text Athena while you're at it."
"One step ahead of you," Chimney says tapping away at his phone. Fantastic.
Ravi waltzes in next, suspicious as he glances between them all. "What's going on?"
"Eddie and Buck kissed."
Ravi's face drops as he exhales a dramatic, and widely unnecessary in Eddie's opinion, gasp. "Kissed?"
"And," Hen adds, "they're dating."
"Thank God."
"Jesus Christ," Eddie mutters petulantly, "we weren't that bad."
He's met with the three dry and unimpressed stares of people who've seen too much.
"Okay fine just - leave me alone. Where's Buck?"
"Dating but still codependent," Ravi remarks, speaking as though he's recording behaviour for a documentary.
"Oh my god," Eddie whines. "Someone please get Buck, I'm not doing this alone."
Ravi runs out the door shouting Buck to appear from whatever hiding place he'd chosen. When he walks in, Eddie tries to ignore the telling beep of his heart monitor taking in the smug and all too pleased smile on Buck's face.
"I hope you're happy."
"Oh, I'm so happy sweetheart."
Eddie is going to rip this heart monitor to pieces. It starts beeping alarmingly fast and Eddie watches with horror as every face in the room immediately takes note of the incriminating noise.
"This isn't fair," he laments.
"Isn't it? You promised Eddie, promised you wouldn't do anything to get hurt and now look at you." Buck's gleaming smile is quickly turning down into a devastaing pout, the fear breaking through his shell of indifference.
Eddie reaches a hand out to urge Buck closer, "I'm fine, baby. I'm perfectly fine I swear." He smiles happily when Buck makes his way to Eddie's side, slipping their hand together and interweaving their fingers. Eddie looks up at him then, through his lashes in the way he knows makes Buck melt, pressing a kiss to his knuckles in a familar move.
Buck sighs, "Fine. I guess I'll accept it."
"You had fun, don't lie."
"Oh I know. You deserved it."
"Wow." Eddie definitely forgot they had company. "You guys are sickening," Ravi complains, and then softly, "I'm happy for you though. I guess."
Hen gives them wide grins, "I'm proud of you boys. So proud."
"But," Chim starts.
"But, we can do sentimental later," Hen finishes. "What we really need to know is when this happened."
Eddie cannot wait for this.
He had his moment of torture being ridiculed and harassed. Now Buck can have his. "Yeah baby," he teases, delighting in the flush of Buck's face, "why don't you tell them."
"Eddie," Buck whines.
Eddie steams ahead, "Remember when I came out at the station? Seems I caused a bit of a breakdown for a certain someone."
"I knew it," Hen cheers sticking her hands out expectedly. "Pay up, I told you Buck was being weird."
Buck squawks in disagreement flapping his free arm in a way that has Eddie endlessly endeared. "I resent that, I was not weird."
"Right," Hen deadpans, "choking on your coffee and spilling it all over the kitchen is a normal reaction to your best friend coming out. My bad Buck, I forgot."
"Shut up," he seethes, "I was trying my best."
Ravi and Chim hand over their money, glum and put out, Chim complaining, "You couldn't have been less of a disaster Buckley?"
"Thank you, Chim. Supportive as always."
Eddie feels his eyes start to droop after that, the exhaustion of the day catching up to him as the melody of Buck's voice and his families laughter fills the room. With Buck's thumb running circles along the tight muscle of Eddie's hand, it's easy to drift off, to let his body relax.
Eddie may be an idiot, a stupid one, but he's an idiot with everything he ever wanted.