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It is immediately obvious that, in one way or another, Buck is upset when he enters Eddie’s house to follow up on their movie night plans.
Eddie watches him from the couch, head tipped on the back cushion, as Buck closes the front door and tosses his keys into the orange shaped ceramic bowl Chris made in art class before he kicks off his slides.
Once he turns around and spots Eddie, he jumps. Hand clutching the front of his brown sweater dramatically, he says, “crap, Eddie. Why are you so quiet?”
Frowning at Buck he ignores the question and asks, “what’s wrong?”
Buck rounds the couch, his socked feet shuffling on the carpet, and plops down onto it with a sigh. “Nothing, Ed’s.”
“Wrong,” Eddie says. “Your air is different.”
Turning to him with a smile shaping his lips, Buck huffs a laugh. “M – my air is different?”
He adjusts his position on the couch, twisting onto his thigh to face Buck. “Yeah. Or something is just off, I guess. You seem a little down.”
Buck sighs again, quieter this time. He looks down at his lap. “I was with Tommy, earlier.”
It says something that Buck is even aware of that sentence being enough of an explanation. Eddie holds himself back from making any facial gesture that would just upset Buck more. “Oh. Did something happen?”
“I mean, not really.” He angles his body towards Eddie, bringing a leg up on the couch. “Just, like, do you think acne is gross?”
Eddie’s brain pauses. He quickly picks up on the implications of Buck’s question and Tommy being mentioned one after the other. He decides to answer Buck before the man overthinks anything rather than beginning a rant. “No, of course not. That’s ridiculous.”
“Okay,” Buck nods but doesn’t say anything else.
Gently, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice, Eddie asks, “what did he say?”
Buck props his elbow on the back of the couch and lays his head against his hand. He traces patterns on his sweats with his other one. “Well, we were, like — y’know, getting intimate.”
Eddie squints and gestures for him to continue.
“We were kissing on my couch and he started, kinda, leading me to lay under him. Which is fine usually but – so, you know I used to have bad hormonal acne when I was younger?”
He nods.
“I sometimes still get breakouts randomly, mostly on my back. It gets really bad on my shoulders and is painful to lay on.” Buck looks up at Eddie, seemingly trying to gauge his reaction. Eddie doesn't have anything bad to give him. He continues. “I forgot about it when he was getting me under him but when I laid down it hurt. I asked if we could change positions to which he asked why. So, I told him and he said ‘you’re in your thirties, I don’t think it’s normal to still have that issue. Kinda turns me off.’
Taking a deep breath, Eddie starts, “Buck–”
“Not even sure how he was turned off, I still had my shirt on” he laughs, self-deprecatingly.
“Buck, stop. First of all, having acne is not an issue. Second of all, when you told him it hurt to lay like that he should’ve understood and readjusted your positions without any questions. And, third of all, it is completely normal and should not be a ‘turn off.”
The vehemence in his voice is very hard to control. Buck peeks over at him, eyebrows furrowed. He’s chewing on his lip, considering Eddie. Then, “yeah?”
“Yes, Buck, of course,” he pushes. “How he treated you wasn’t okay.”
Buck nods, mumbling, “I know. He sucks. My acne sucks. Everything sucks.”
Eddie sighs and looks at Buck's posture, noticing how he’s avoiding settling against his back. “Is it still bothering you? Your acne?”
“Yeah, it got really inflamed.”
“Alright, c’mon,” Eddie says, getting up from the couch. He makes his way to the bathroom, ruffling through the space under the sink.
Buck appears in the doorway. “What are you doing?”
“Chris has an extra bottle of his acne cream. His dermatologist gave it to him for the pain and swelling. Should be here somewhere.”
“Oh. No, Ed’s, it’s fine. It’ll feel better soon.”
“Well,” Eddie argues, “I want it to feel better sooner. Aha, found it." He shows the white tube to Buck, who looks apprehensive. “Wanna just try it?”
“Sure. I’ll just get it where I can.”
He goes to grab the tube. Eddie registers his words and pulls it back. “I’ll do it for ya.”
Pausing, face scrunched up, he asks, “are you sure?”
Eddie nods and turns to wash his hands. “Yep. Can you lift off your sweater?”
Buck does, slowly, revealing his tattoo filled torso. He folds the material and sets it on the counter, fidgeting as he watches Eddie. “Um. You really don’t have to do this, I know it’s…”
Eddie is already shaking his head. “Whatever you’re going to say, don’t. It’s not anything, bud. Just let me help, okay?”
“A – alright.”
“Can you turn around?”
He does, hands balled in front of him. His acne is revealed to Eddie. It’s sparsed out mainly across his shoulders but there are some spots that occupy his sides and lower back. Eddie feels horrible. He knows it must be throbbing with how red and inflamed everything is. “I’m gonna start now. I’ll try to be gentle.”
“Okay,” Buck whispers.
Eddie gets some of the cream on his fingers and begins. The skin is warm where harsh pimples reside as Eddie applies the ointment. He makes sure to get everywhere, doing it as softly as he can to avoid further irritation for Buck. “There. Was that okay?”
“Um. Yeah,” Buck says. “Thank you.”
“‘Course.” Then, Eddie gets an idea. “Hey, why don’t you go get comfortable on my bed? I’ll be right there.”
“Uh, sure.”
Eddie makes his way to the kitchen and opens the freezer. He shuffles around, looking for an ice pack. It’s long and should cover the worsened areas of Bucks back. Finding it, he grabs a dish towel and makes his way to his room.
Buck is laying on his stomach, slightly tilted to the side. His arms are tucked between the bedspread and his chest. His legs are curled.
Eddie sits on the bed next to Buck, who looks over at him, eyes curious. “I thought this would help too,” he wiggles the ice pack. “If you’re comfortable with it.”
Looking at the rag and ice pack, Buck doesn’t hesitate to nod. “Thanks, Eddie. Seriously.”
He shrugs, laying the towel down across Bucks upper back before setting the ice bag on top of it. “Just wish you didn’t have to worry about this. I know it hurts.”
“Yeah,” Buck mumbles. “It’s okay. At least it’s not constant like it used to be.”
Eddie sits up against the head board. “You shouldn’t have to worry about your boyfriend saying those kinds of things to you, either.”
Buck sighs. “You’re right. He makes me feel like crap.”
He shivers a little, then. Eddie grabs the blanket from the end of the bed and covers Buck with it, tucking it around him.
“I wish you were my boyfriend,” Buck whispers.
The admission hits Eddie slowly. He looks down at Buck who looks up at him with wide eyes. All he can do is smile something soft. “Me too,” he murmurs. “Guess you should break up with that other guy.”
Buck laughs. “Guess so. As soon as I feel like getting up again.”
“Rest however long you need,” Eddie says, joy evident in his voice.
“Okay. Will you lay down with me, soon-to-be boyfriend? Just not on top of me, of course."
Eddie tuts, pulling himself down next to Buck. He tucks his hand under his cheek, and lifts the blanket on him too. "Y'know I'm better than that," he jokes.
"Yeah, you are."
–
They still end up watching a movie, switching to the living room when Buck’s pain ebbs. He lays on his side with his head in Eddie’s lap, the break up text already sent to Tommy. Eddie's never loved movie night so much.