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Eddie Diaz had always been an expressive person.
Not so much with his words, but with his face.
His face was like direct subtitles to whatever he was thinking and it got him in trouble a lot when he was a kid.
By the time he joined the army, he learned how to school his expressions. Keep a blank face.
But all of that went out the window the moment he got comfortable around the 118.
1.
He caught Hen snickering, making him realize he'd been attempting to kill Taylor Kelly with his eyes for the past however long.
His eyes staring straight into the back of her head as she talked into that dumb news camera.
"Not giving us a good rep here, Diaz." Chim jabbed, teasingly. "That mug of yours is still in line with the camera."
Eddie paled.
Crap, Chim was right.
He cleared his throat, dropping his gaze to the floor. "I'm gonna go... Uh, help with-" His eyes darted around, looking for an excuse. "Buck."
Hen snorted and raised an eyebrow. "You're going to help with Buck?"
"Mhm." He hummed, jogging off to go find the blonde.
Anything to get away from the Wicked Witch of the West that was currently plaguing the 118's apparatus bay.
It took longer than he'd like to admit, considering Buck only really hung out in a few places when he wasn't with the team, but Eddie found him.
The blonde looked up from the book he was reading with a quizzical expression, "Did I do something wrong..?" He asked, furrowing his brows.
"No." That probably wasn't a convincing answer considering the death glare that still graced Eddie's features. "Taylor Kelly's here."
"Taylor? I thought she moved."
"Well, she's back." Eddie pouted, dropping into the bunk farthest from the door with his back turned.
"So, you're hiding?"
"Not hiding." Eddie countered. "Strategically avoiding."
"Hiding." Buck confirmed with a nod, turning back to his book. "Any clue on why she's here?"
"Don't know, don't care. I just want her gone."
"Why do you hate Taylor so much?"
Eddie turned to look at Buck, his face said it all: tight frown, one eyebrow raised questioningly, angry eyes, and locked jaw.
All just to ask 'Really?' like Buck didn't already know why Eddie hated Taylor Kelly.
He wasn't particularly talented in writing, but Eddie was sure that he could write sonnets about his hate for Taylor Kelly.
Sonnets, haikus, villanelles, pantoums-
There wasn't any type of literary structure that would stop Eddie from expressing his disdain for that ginger witch.
But, as it turns out, Eddie didn't have to put a single word to paper to get the world to know his feelings about Taylor.
One late evening, Eddie and Chris were both on the couching.
It started out as a movie night, but the movie sucked so much that neither of them wanted to continue it.
Chris turned his phone, "Dad."
Eddie looked over as a video started to play across the screen.
At first, it was just audio.
'I don't like this conversation or this person, but I think I'm hiding it pretty well.'
Then it cut to a clip.
A zoomed in clip in the background of Taylor Kelly's news story.
Eddie was slightly out of focus in the background, but his glare was clear.
He buried his face in his hands, letting out a sigh.
Great, now the internet knew his hatred for one woman and his inability to control his facial expressions- AND THEY WERE MEME-ING IT.
He was a meme!
His life was over, he'd never live this down at the station.
"Don't send that to Denny." He pleaded, looking up at Chris with an uncharacteristic pout.
Chris just laughed at him- laughed at him. "Denny sent it to me. I bet Hen and Karen have already seen it by now."
Eddie groaned, flopping back against the back of the couch with a frustrated sigh.
"I hate the internet." He grumbled. "Back in my day-"
"Yeah, yeah." Chris interrupted him, dismissively. "Back in your day people didn't have the internet."
"No," Eddie explained. "They had it, but it wasn't mainstream and it was shit." He let out a wistful sigh. "And it was perfect like that."
Chris rolled his eyes. "Whatever, old man."
"I am not old!"
"Yeah, you're ancient."
Eddie sputtered, mock offended. "Buck's older than I am."
Chris paused, slowly turning to look at him. "...what?"
"We went to his thirty fifth birthday dinner!"
"Aren't you also thirty five?"
Eddie wrinkled his nose, like the thought of being thirty five disgusted him. "No."
Chris rolled at the floor, his eyebrows pinched tightly together and his lips pressed into a straight line.
One of the few traits he inherited from Eddie, the inability to mask facial expressions.
Chris looked almost betrayed, like he couldn't believe that Buck was really older than Eddie.
"I'm calling Buck." The teen announced, walking toward his room.
"He'll tell you the same thing!" Eddie sing-songed.
2.
"Is it bad?" Buck asked, trying to peak at his wound.
Eddie looked down at the large piece of rebar currently sticking through his best friend's mid-section. "No."
The blonde frowned, "How bad is it?" He asked, defeated.
At this point, Eddie knew he had a "lying face." Buck had pointed it out on several occasions.
Furrowed brows, lips pressed into a firm line, shifty eyes. Obvious stuff.
"Uh..." Eddie hesitated, how could he make this not seem awful. "Just don't move and I think you'll be okay."
"You think?!" Buck tried to sit up, doing the exact opposite of what Eddie just told him.
Eddie pushed the blonde back until he was laying flat on the floor, keeping one hand on his shoulder and one hand over the wound to slow the bleeding.
Help was ten minutes out, he didn't know if Buck had ten minutes.
"Just stay with me, Buck." Eddie pleaded.
Buck nodded, his eyes flickering closed for a moment. "How long?"
"Ten m-"
"Not how long until help arrives, how long do I have left?"
"You're not dying here."
Buck didn't open his eyes, but his breathing remained steady.
Eddie patted Buck's cheek, "C'mon, you know the drill. Eyes open."
The blonde shook his head. "I don't wanna open them and see you lying."
"I'm not lying, I won't let you die here." Eddie assured him.
Buck peeked with one eye, staring up at Eddie almost hesitantly.
Satisfied with whatever he saw, Buck soon opened both eyes.
Eddie chuckled, "See? Not lying."
The blonde mustered a weak smile in response, placing his hand on top of Eddie's.
They'd be okay.
Just ten minutes...
3.
While Buck was recovering in the hospital, Chris and Eddie regularly came to visit.
Chris brought along his Switch for entertainment, he even let Buck make a Mii in his new game.
Tamagotchi Life or something.
Eddie could never get the name right and had long since given up on the effort.
Buck turned the device for Eddie to see, showing off his creation. "Whaddya think?" He asked, grinning proudly.
He guessed he should give Buck some credit for attempting to navigate a new game while being doped up on painkillers, but that Mii was the ugliest thing Eddie had ever seen.
Unable to stop himself, Eddie wrinkled his nose and faked a smile. "Uh, it's... Something. What is it supposed to be exactly?"
Chris snorted, peering over Buck's other shoulder to get a look at the screen. "Why is he green?"
Buck pouted, laying the Switch down in his lap. "He's supposed to be Kermit."
"The frog?!" The Diazes asked in sync.
"Duh." Buck rolled his eyes. "Who else is named Kermit?"
"Your doctor, for starters." Eddie commented.
Buck scoffed, "I don't think my doctor's a muppet."
Eddie laughed, gently patting Buck on the shoulder. "They got you on the good stuff."
"Mhm."
After a moment, Buck spoke again. "You don't like it." He said, lolling his head back to look up at Eddie.
Eddie shook his head. "It was creepy."
(4.)
"Muppets are creepy..."
Eddie raised an eyebrow, "The big, bad firefighter is afraid of puppets?"
"Muppets." Buck corrected, crossing his arms over his chest. Or trying to, he was a little uncoordinated.
"Right, sorry."
"Mm, no you're not. You're smirking." Buck mumbled, poking Eddie's cheek.
"I can smirk and be sorry."
"But you're not."
"You're right." Eddie admitted. "I'm not sorry."
"So mean..."
5.
Buck had passed out long before visiting hours were over, but Eddie stayed a little while longer. Just in case he woke up and needed something.
Eddie let himself relax, knowing that Buck was safe and the worst had already passed.
Chris looked up from his Switch for a brief moment, catching sight of Eddie. "You have a weird look on your face." He stated, bluntly.
Immediately, Eddie furrowed his brows and frowned. "No I don't."
"You did." The teen insisted. "You had this goofy grin on your face and your eyes were like-" Chris scrunched his nose. "Weird."
"So I'm not allowed to smile?" Eddie asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Not like that."
"I was smiling normally!"
Chris shot him a deadpan stare.
Eddie's frown deepened. "What was wrong with my face?"
"You're all in love." Chris said. "It's gross."
That made Eddie go silent.
Love.
Jeez, was he that obvious?
He was getting all gooey this whole time with Buck and even Chris could tell?
Did Chris not want him to get with Buck? Is that why he pointed it out?
Chris weakly slapped Eddie's arm, just trying to get his attention. "Stop worrying. I don't care if you date Buck, just don't do anything gross in the house."
"We won't do anything in front of you." Eddie promised.
"I take it back, you can't date Buck. You're going to infect the house with your grossness."
"No take backs!"
Chris groaned, rolling his eyes. "I actually hate you."
"No you don't." Eddie replied.
"I really do."
"You love me." Eddie continued, just to get a reaction out of Chris. "Number one dad mug, remember?"
"I hope it breaks."