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For a man who had spent his adult life relying on military protocols and LAFD standard operating procedures, Eddie had discovered that his most trusted manual arrived once a month in the mail, wrapped in glossy plastic.
It had been a few weeks since Eddie had graded Buck and written 100% GREEN. HE IS MOVE IN MATERIAL across the margins of page eighty eight. Eddie had the data. He had the absolute certainty that sharing a house with Buck was the only logical next step for them. What he did not have, however, was a plan.
Eddie was an ex army medic, he did not make major life transitions without an instruction manual.
So, he waited.
When the newest issue of Cosmopolitan finally appeared in his mailbox, courtesy of the yearly auto renew subscription Buck had gleefully purchased for him, Eddie felt a sense of relief. He waited until Christopher was absorbed in a video game and Buck was out running errands, then cracked open a cold beer, retrieved the stolen pink gel pen from the ceramic bowl on the coffee table, and opened the magazine, hoping for a follow up from last month's.
The universe was right on schedule.
Page 72 featured a bold, glittering headline.
READY TO CO SIGN? The 4 Flawless Ways to Ask Your Partner to Move In!
Eddie took a slow sip of his beer and leaned forward, his pink pen poised. According to the editors, moving in was a delicate move that required the right atmosphere. The magazine offered several options.
Option A was a grand, public romantic gesture. Eddie aggressively crossed that out.
Option C involved hiding the key in a dessert, which Eddie figured was a massive choking hazard for a firefighter.
He settled on Option B, The Intimate & Meaningful Milestone.
"Create a quiet, private moment," Eddie read aloud to the empty living room. "Cook their favorite meal, light a few candles, and offer the key when it’s just the two of you, ensuring the moment feels secure and entirely yours."
"Perfect," Eddie muttered. It was romantic, it was organised, and it was foolproof.
Eddie spent the next three days running black ops preparations. He went to the hardware store and had a shiny new brass key cut. He planned the proposal for Friday night. Buck’s birthday was on Saturday, and Eddie’s was on Sunday. A Friday night dinner would be the perfect quiet kickoff to their joint birthday weekend. Knowing better than to subject Buck to his own cooking, Eddie pre ordered an absurdly expensive spread from that upscale Italian place Buck loved, plating it on actual ceramic dishes so it looked homemade. He bought a single, ridiculously expensive candle that smelled like lemongrass and vanilla. He had a timeline mapped down to the minute.
At 6:45 PM, Eddie stood in his kitchen. The candle was burning. The pasta was keeping warm in the oven. Christopher was in his room, doing homework. The brass key was burning a hole in the front pocket of Eddie’s dark jeans.
At 6:50 PM, the front door knocked.
Eddie took a deep breath, smoothing his hands down his shirt. Intimate and meaningful. Secure and entirely ours.
The door swung open.
"SURPRISE!"
A wall of sound, bodies, and aggressively brightly colored balloons exploded into Eddie’s carefully curated moment.
Eddie froze, his brain completely stopped, as the entirety of the 118 family swarmed his entryway. Maddie was at the front of the pack, holding a massive, obnoxious banner that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUCK & EDDIE. Right beside her, Buck was laughing, looking slightly dazed but utterly radiant, wearing a party hat that someone had already shoved onto his blond curls in the driveway.
Behind them, the chaos multiplied. Bobby and Athena carried in stacks of Tupperware and a massive cake. Hen and Karen were trying to wrangle Denny and Mara, who immediately bolted toward the hallway to find Christopher. Chimney was aggressively blowing a plastic noisemaker, while Jee Yun laughed loudly from his arms. May and Harry trailed in behind them, carrying a small mountain of wrapped gifts, followed closely by Ravi, who was already eating a handful of chips he’d brought himself.
"Oh, my God, you look terrified!" Maddie laughed, abandoning the banner to pull Eddie into a crushing hug. "Did we actually surprise you? Chris said you had no idea!"
Eddie looked over Maddie’s shoulder. Christopher had emerged from the hallway, absolutely beaming with the smug satisfaction of a ten year old who had successfully pulled off a plot against his own father.
"Surprise, Dad!" Christopher cheered.
Eddie’s hand twitched toward the pocket of his jeans. His quiet, intimate, candlelit Cosmopolitan timeline was currently being trampled by a bunch of people.
"I, yeah," Eddie choked out, trying to force his facial muscles into a smile. "Total surprise."
"Maddie and Chris planned the whole thing!" Buck beamed, crossing the room to wrap his arms around Eddie’s waist. He pressed a warm, enthusiastic kiss to Eddie’s cheek. "Joint birthday party! Isn't this amazing? Though, uh, why does it smell like fancy italian in here?"
"I was making pasta," Eddie lied smoothly, his soul leaving his body as Bobby walked directly into the kitchen, took one look at the expensive Italian takeout Eddie had plated, and immediately began rearranging it.
"Don't worry about cooking tonight, Eddie!" Bobby called out cheerfully, pulling a massive container of his famous homemade brisket out of a bag. "I’ve got the food covered. Athena, can you grab the extra plates?"
"On it," Athena said, already opening Eddie’s cabinets with the authority of a woman who owned the place.
Within ten minutes, Eddie’s house was completely unrecognizable. The romantic candle had been blown out by Chimney, who claimed it clashed with the smell of the brisket. The living room was a sea of torn wrapping paper, loud debates, and children running in circles.
Eddie retreated to the edge of the kitchen island, gripping a bottle of beer like a lifeline. He felt an exhausting wave of panic. He was a practical man. He had identified the reality (Buck was move in material), identified the goal (giving him the key), and built a timeline. Now, his timeline was in ruins. He couldn't do Option B anymore. There was no private moment.
"You okay, man?" Chimney asked, popping up beside him and stealing a carrot stick from a platter. "You look like you’re doing complex math in your head."
"I'm fine," Eddie muttered, taking a long sip of his beer.
"He's just overwhelmed by my excellent party planning skills," Maddie chirped as she walked past, balancing three empty cups. "Buck is in the living room trying to explain the history of the piñata to Ravi. It’s very cute."
Eddie looked across the chaotic, crowded room. Buck was sitting on the floor near the coffee table, gesturing wildly with his hands as Ravi nodded along. Buck was wearing one of Eddie’s faded shirts, the one that had mysteriously migrated to Buck’s side of the bed weeks ago. Buck’s eyes were bright, his smile wide and effortless as he caught Christopher trying to sneak his candy, and pulling the kid into a playful headlock.
Eddie watched them. He thought about the two tiered wooden vanity shelf in his bathroom. He thought about the plastic dinosaur bowls in his cupboards. He thought about the day he had stood in the firehouse loft with a ham and cheese sandwich in his hand and casually announced his sexuality to the world without a single drop of fear, because loving Buck was the easiest thing he had ever done.
Why the hell was he waiting for a quiet, private moment?
There was no such thing as quiet with the 118. This loud, intrusive, overbearing, intensely loving group of lunatics was their family. This was their life.
Eddie put his beer down on the counter. He didn't need Cosmopolitan’s Option B.
"Excuse me," Eddie said to Chimney, stepping away from the counter.
Eddie marched directly into the center of the living room. He didn't hesitate. He wove past Hen and Karen, stepped over a stray piece of wrapping paper, and stopped right in front of Buck.
"Eddie?" Buck asked, looking up, his mid sentence trivia about papier mâché dying on his tongue. "Everything okay?"
The room slowly began to quiet down. The intense focus radiating off Eddie was enough to make even Chimney stop chewing. Bobby paused with a pair of tongs in his hand. Athena raised an eyebrow.
Eddie reached into his front pocket. His fingers closed over the cold, ridged edge of the brass key. He pulled it out.
"My birthday is tomorrow," Eddie said, his voice remarkably steady, carrying clearly over the fading noise of the party. "And yours is the day after. Which means I technically have priority on making a wish first."
Buck blinked, looking adorably confused as he scrambled up from the floor to stand in front of Eddie. "Uh. Okay? I guess that’s how the rules work."
"Good," Eddie said. He reached out and took Buck’s left hand, turning it palm up. "Because I don't want to wait until everyone leaves. I don't want to do this quietly. I want you here. All the time."
Buck’s breath hitched. He looked down at his own palm as Eddie pressed the shiny brass key into it, folding Buck’s fingers closed over the metal.
"I want you to officially move in, Buck," Eddie said softly, staring directly into Buck’s wide, impossibly blue eyes, completely ignoring the fourteen other people staring at them. "I want your oversized hoodies permanently in my laundry basket. I want your weird milk in the fridge. I want this to be your house. Just as much as it’s mine and Chris’s."
The living room went dead silent. It was the exact same silence that had fallen over the loft when Eddie had revealed his Cosmo subscription.
Buck looked like his brain had completely stopped all over again. His face flushed completely red, from his collar all the way up to his hairline. He stared at Eddie, then down at his fist, then back up to Eddie.
"You..." Buck’s voice cracked. He swallowed hard, his eyes rapidly filling with tears. "You're asking me to move in? Right now? In the middle of our surprise birthday party?"
"I had a whole quiet, romantic plan," Eddie admitted, a fond, exasperated smile breaking across his face. "But then our entire family broke into our house. And I realized I didn't care. I just wanted to give you the key."
Buck let out a strangled, wet sound, half laugh, half sob. He didn't say a single word. Just like he had in the firehouse kitchen months ago, Buck closed the distance between them in a split second. Both of his hands came up to grip the collar of Eddie’s shirt, dragging him down into a messy, desperate, enthusiastic kiss.
Eddie’s hands found Buck’s waist instantly, pulling him flush against his chest. He kissed him back with everything he had, feeling the cold press of the brass key against the back of his neck where Buck’s fist was tangled in his hair. It felt like the easiest thing in the world.
"Oh, come on!" Chimney groaned loudly from the kitchen, slapping a hand over his eyes. "First the firehouse, now the living room! Gross!"
"Oh, shut up, Chimney, this is beautiful!" Hen cheered loudly, clapping her hands.
"It's about damn time!" Maddie yelled, smiling but teary.
Buck pulled back, resting his forehead against Eddie’s. They were both breathing heavily, both smiling like absolute idiots.
"Yes," Buck whispered fiercely, his eyes shining. "Yes, Eddie. Obviously, yes."
"Good," Eddie smiled, pressing a quick, firm kiss to the corner of Buck’s mouth. "Now go put that on your keychain before you lose it."
The rest of the evening was a loud, joyous blur. The cake was cut, Bobby’s brisket was devoured, and Buck spent the entire night practically glued to Eddie’s side, his thumb anxiously and happily rubbing the edge of the new key in his pocket. By eleven o'clock, the 118 had finally cleared out, taking their chaotic energy with them. Christopher had gone to bed, completely thrilled with his successful party planning.
The house was finally quiet.
Eddie stood in the kitchen, exhausted but entirely at peace, loading the last of the plates into the dishwasher. Buck walked into the room, wearing his sweatpants, holding two fresh glasses of water. He put one down on the counter next to Eddie and leaned his hip against the island.
"Hey," Buck said softly.
"Hey yourself," Eddie smiled, closing the dishwasher door and turning around to lean against the counter beside him.
Buck bumped his shoulder against Eddie’s. "So... you had a romantic plan, huh? Let me guess. You were waiting for the new issue of Cosmo to arrive in the mail to tell you how to do it."
Eddie choked on his water, coughing violently. He stared at Buck in horror. "How... how did you know that?"
Buck bit his lip, trying and failing to hide a massive, wildly fond grin. "Because... hypothetically... I might have been looking for a phone charger a few weeks ago. And I might have found the last issue hiding under your lamp."
Eddie’s face burned hot. "You snooped?"
"I didn't mean to!" Buck laughed, his eyes crinkling. "It just fell open! To page eighty eight. The one with all the bright pink gel pen notes in the margins."
Eddie groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Oh, my God. You saw it. You saw the green lights."
"I saw the green lights," Buck confirmed, reaching out to gently pull Eddie’s hands away from his face, lacing their fingers together. "I saw the part where you wrote 100% green, he is move in material in all caps."
"I am never going to live this down," Eddie muttered, though he didn't pull his hands away.
"Eddie," Buck said, his voice dropping into something impossibly soft and thick with emotion. "I saw that, and I realized you were just... waiting to figure out how to ask me. Because you always need to do things the right way. So..." Buck shifted his weight, looking suddenly a little shy. "I might have gone back to my apartment the next day and packed up all my stuff into boxes."
Eddie stopped breathing. "You packed your boxes? Three weeks ago?"
"They're sitting in my living room," Buck smiled softly. "I’ve basically been living out of a suitcase waiting for you to get your magazine instructions."
A slow, helpless smile spread across Eddie’s face. He looked at this incredible, ridiculous man who knew all of his neurotic, insane flaws and loved him purely because of them, not in spite of them.
Eddie stepped forward, crowding Buck back against the kitchen island, wrapping his arms securely around Buck’s waist.
"You're incredible, Evan Buckley," Eddie whispered, brushing a soft kiss against Buck’s jaw.
"I know," Buck hummed happily, tilting his head to give Eddie better access.
Eddie laughed, a bright, happy sound echoing in the quiet kitchen. He pulled Buck in for a real kiss, slow and deep, realizing that he had absolutely everything he ever wanted right here in his arms.