Work Text:
1/
A quiet morning is something Buck decided to completely give up on around five months ago.
Sure, there are moments of peace and quiet around his house, however, they might have been steadily decreasing with every passing day, with Theo gradually settling into their new, shared reality. In effect, Buck is struggling with the concept of being a… somewhat of a father figure to the sweet child less and less by now.
Theo stumbled… or more so torpedoed into his life with blunt force, leaving dust, glitter and smudges on walls (which Buck desperately hopes are chocolate, by the way) after him, without batting an eye. Unfortunately, Buck wouldn’t have it any other way.
He’s growing to love it, or maybe he’s loved it from the beginning. It’s almost as if it should’ve been harder on him, on them, a total switch on their lives. Buck, Eddie and Christopher suddenly turning into Buck, Eddie, Christoper and Theo is a shift he suspects really should’ve been more difficult.
The strange feeling in his chest that screams at him That’s what home feels like is… a subject he’s not going to indulge in as of now.
“Theo! I specifically asked you to be out of your pajamas by now,” Eddie’s voice sounds somewhere in the house, bouncing off walls with a disorienting echo. A muffled laugh escapes Buck’s mouth as he’s finishing plating breakfast for the four of them. Their life might be nothing short of crazy at the current moment, but Buck has got to admit they’ve managed to perfect the morning routine.
Well… almost, but he insists they’re nearly there.
“Eddie, my Eddie!” Theo comes running out of… somewhere, wearing half of his pajamas, arms in the air and a bright smile plastered on his face.
He smashes his entire body into Buck’s legs, almost making him drop the plates in his hands, “Theo, I have food in my hands, why don’t you go and change with Eddie while I put it on the table?”
Buck can’t help but smile at him, putting the plates down quickly. He decided a long time ago, long before Theo was even a conscious idea in his parents’ heads, that any child requiring attention is his biggest priority, no matter what he’s doing at the moment.
It works wonders with Chris, the now teenager appreciating being treated with attention and respect, so he assumes it must also work with Theo.
“My Eddie not happy today,” Theo’s smile drops as he realizes what was the initial reason he probably came running towards Buck. “Can you make Eddie happy, Buck?” the child whispers to him, grabbing onto his leg with a lot more strength that a five-year-old should have.
Maybe he should sign him up for some martial arts, he will bring this idea up with Eddie the next time they budget their expenses.
Yes, Maddie, some friends budget together, it’s fucking normal.
“Well, I don’t know Spider-Man, I think you could make him really happy if you got dressed just like you promised,” Buck decides his victory with how fast Theo runs back where he came from.
Eddie steps into the kitchen with a sigh and a hand draped over his face, rubbing meticulously at his eyes. The sweatpants hanging low on his hips look like they’re most likely Buck’s (which he feels normal about), but it’s not like they’re not sharing closets by now. Throughout the years, it was Buck who came over to the Diaz house most nights, acquiring one of Eddie’s dresser drawers in the process, but with Theo now living with him, the designated-hang-out-spot got changed, Eddie and Chris’ house no longer being the default.
Which means, Eddie and Chris have been spending a lot more time here, and by a lot more time Buck means most nights.
Which means, now it’s Eddie who has a drawer at Buck’s house, not the other way around.
It’s not weird, not really. With the house having three bedrooms, Chris has always had his own room, Theo eagerly made his presence known in the second room, and the third being Buck’s bedroom, it works out.
And really, Maddie, it would be so weird to let his best friend sleep on the couch when he has a bed for two and both of them get cranky if they don’t have a good night’s sleep.
It’s been a recurring discussion that may have led him to some conclusions, but he’s managing.
Really, there’s nothing to talk about.
Eddie’s demeanor sounds alarms off in Buck’s head, his best friend, while not being a morning person, still usually takes their routine with more patience than whatever this is.
“Hi, how did you sleep?” Buck beams at Eddie as the half-asleep man leans against the counter, crossing his arms in front of him.
“I’m extremely tired, your kid is not listening to me today, I haven’t had any coffee and I’m really not in the mood for a shift today,” Eddie slumps even more and looks out the window, his expression bordering on disgust at the sight of the sun outside. “Why is it so fucking bright?” he pleads into nothingness, or to Buck, it remains unclear.
And you see, Buck feels his insides physically turn into mush, because Eddie has come such a long way. Just a couple of months ago, he would have been guarding his true attitude like a fucking Cerberus, but now? Buck doesn’t even have to ask the question, his concern for his best friend’s wellbeing already implied between the lines, which he appreciates more than he’d like to admit.
Buck likes the idea of Eddie feeling safe enough in his presence to let go, maybe not shatter, but lower the walls built around him by years of attending church and stepping up. The amount of pain Buck feels for Eddie because of his upbringing is causing him some kind of mental whiplash every time his best friend mentions small aspects of his childhood.
Buck wants to put him in his pocket.
Which… Maddie, shut up.
The least he can do is take care of Eddie the best he can, and it’s only a bonus that it comes to Buck easier than breathing. It’s almost as if the default setting of his chaotic brain is protectprotectprotect every time he sees the other man in any sort of trouble, small things included.
“I believe Theo is already handled, your coffee is waiting on the table, and the shift is not for another five hours, which means you can take a nap after we drop them off, ” Eddie’s head snaps to Buck, the promise of coffee making his eyes perform a little dance, his irises reflecting the light falling through the curtains. “Oh, and I found your sunglasses yesterday so you’re good on the why-is-sun-outside front.”
Eddie’s eyes glimmering at him at seven in the morning is a thing his best friend has been routinely, for the lack of better word, gracing Buck with for the past… year? God, how has it been a year already? Turns out time flies when you’re basically living with each other and raising kids together and taking care of each other and-
It’s all good. All normal, Maddie, nothing to see here.
Eddie’s eyes trail around Buck’s face with an annoyingly unreadable expression, skimming around his birthmark and taking purchase back on his own eyes. He lets out another sigh, his shoulders dropping with newly found repose. Chris lets out a giggle, previously glued to his phone at the table, patiently waiting for the rest of them to sit down and eat breakfast together.
“It’s like your head’s a clipboard, Buck,” Chris speaks up, taking a sip of the orange juice.
“What do you mean?” Buck looks between the teenager and Eddie with a smile, making his way towards one of the chairs, which has been assigned as ‘his’ since the moment they first ate there together.
God, domesticity is a weapon and he feels like being held at gunpoint. Again.
Eddie chuckles behind Buck, taking a seat opposite of him and wrapping his hand around the coffee mug, “It’s cause you think of everything, almost like you know what will go wrong before it ever has a chance to.”
And look, Buck could be mad about this comparison, but the way Eddie’s eyes clash with his over the steam escaping his drink maybe… sort of… definitely takes his breath away. The tension occupying his best friend’s body seems to be falling apart, leaving him one relaxed limb at a time. Eddie’s brows return to their usual spot after furrowing for the past couple of minutes. Buck basks in the eye contact for a second too long, but in his defense, Eddie also could have looked away, the thing is - he never does.
“Yeah, well, you would be miserable without me,” Buck says, a satisfied grin plasters itself on his face as they begin to eat the eggs and bacon he’d prepared. Buck barely manages to put the first forkful in his mouth before Theo comes running in, his clothes situation unchanged from the last time Buck saw him.
Eddie’s the first one to announce the obvious, “Theo, come to the table after you do what I asked.”
“But Eddie-”
“No,” his best friend’s unwavering voice cuts through the kitchen air, making one corner of Buck’s lips start to lift.
Because, okay. Buck might be enjoying the Theo-Eddie duo a little too much sometimes, especially when Theo is met with the-
“Ohh, the Dad Voice,” Chris whispers against his next forkful of eggs, their eyes meeting with a matching amused expression.
“The final blow,” Buck plays along, him and Chris now resolving into a fit of giggles as Theo disappears into his room to change.
“Yeah, real funny, I thought you said Theo was handled?” Eddie’s brow quirks up at him, a small smile forming on his lips.
“Turns out there are some outcomes even my clipboard brain cannot predict,” Buck concludes, all three of them now laughing into their food.
2/
Friday afternoon shifts are probably Buck’s favorite, which he believes is understandable, considering the fact that almost every time they have a Friday shift they have the whole following weekend off. It practically feels like working a regular job, not one where you pull twenty-four hour shifts like it’s nothing.
He’s spread out on the couch, his legs entangled with Eddie’s.
Which is normal best friend behavior, Maddie, the couch wouldn’t be comfortable if they were completely glued to the opposite sides.
Eddie’s brows furrow in concentration, the pen dancing around in his fingers while he stares intently at a small book in his hands, because apparently he’s been on a sudoku kick lately. Buck’s heart might be doing a little flip every time he finds his best friend like that, especially at midnight in his (their?) bed, but it’s between him and God himself.
A soft ping of Buck’s phone takes him out of the trance of staring at his best friend, which, in all fairness, he didn’t even notice he was doing. It might be becoming a problem, with the way he seems to be unwillingly falling into staring contests with Eddie’s features on a daily (hourly?) basis.
3:12 Superman
Don’t be mad
Buck’s shoulders tighten at Chris’ message, his entire body shifting a little more upright at the suddenness of it. He doesn’t like the tension forming around his heart at the idea of anything being wrong, so he completely drops the, already abandoned at the cost of staring at the kid’s father, wikipedia search he’s been doing and responds.
3:12 Buck
whats wrong
3:13 Buck
Chris?
3:14 Superman
I got an F on this project I was meant to do over the week and kind of forgot
The beating of Buck’s heart slowly returns to normal when he realizes Chris is not in any immediate danger, quickly exchanged for a slight concern.
3:14 Buck
how do you ‘kind of’ forget about a project
3:14 Buck
can you submit it next week?
3:15 Superman
I guess I can but for now the teacher had to give me an F
3:15 Buck
great, you can do it tonight then
3:15 Superman
But I’m going to Jack’s today
3:16 Buck
no you’re not
3:16 Buck
you can go over the weekend
3:18 Buck
IF this project is finished by tomorrow
3:18 Superman
But I already told him I will come over
3:20 Buck
Christopher, i think youre smart enough to know that unfortunately school comes before video games
3:20 Superman
Buck please
3:21 Buck
sorry buddy, its decided
Buck sighs into his phone, dropping it next to him on the couch, which makes Eddie look up from his sudoku.
“What’s up?” he asks, closing the book and sitting up to fully face Buck.
Now, Buck is pretty confident in making decisions like this with his best friend’s son, the feeling of overstepping lost somewhere between five months to six years ago, but he still sometimes doubts if his calls are going to be approved by Eddie.
“Chris got an F on some project he forgot about, I told him-” his words are interrupted by the ringtone of Eddie’s phone, who picks it up from the coffee table and raises his eyebrows.
“It’s Chris,” he says with a smile playing on his face, the expression making Hen and Chimney momentarily pay more attention to the two of them. What can Buck say, they live for the drama.
“Go on then, pick it up,” Buck challenges, a smirk teasing its way onto his own lips.
Eddie presses the green button on his phone and puts it on speaker as soon as he notices the expecting looks from the rest of the team. He shifts, now leaning his entire body weight on Buck’s side, his head falling softly onto the indent next to Buck’s collarbone.
Which means they’re basically cuddling, and Buck is so normal about this.
Maddie, not now.
“Hey Chris,” Eddie puts on the most nonchalant voice Buck has ever heard him use, muffled chuckles of Hen and Chim resonating in the open space of the firehouse.
His best friend places the phone on Buck’s thigh, relaxing into his side even more. He feels Hen’s stare burn a hole in the point of contact between them and hears a weird noise coming out of her mouth, something that sounds awfully like trying to say something and being cut off by someone’s foot stomping on yours. Buck’s kind of glad he doesn’t have to hear whatever she wants to say.
“Dad, I got an F on a project I forgot about, but can I please still go to Jack’s today? I promise I will do it over the weekend,” Chris pleads on the other side of the phone, Buck’s brows rising even higher.
Eddie’s eyes meet his, a silent conversation playing out behind the short stare, his best friend’s evil grin forming on his mouth. Buck doesn’t know what to expect from this exchange, but it’s definitely not Eddie winking at him before exhaling quietly.
Eddie does not wink at Buck.
But it’s normal, it’s playful, it’s normal, and that’s what best friends do, Maddie.
Eddie also usually doesn’t curl up into his side, or have his face inches away from Buck’s, but weirder things have happened on Fridays, at least that’s what Buck chooses to focus on.
Friday = weird, it’s simple math.
“What did Buck say?” Eddie’s curious words leave the other end of the line silent.
“Well, he didn’t necessarily say-”
“Christopher,” Buck cuts in before he can finish the sentence, making all three present people’s heads snap to him in unison at the tone he used.
“Oh my God, why do you also have the Dad Voice,” Chris whispers, but Buck’s not sure they were supposed to hear it. “It was worth a try,” Chris mumbles on the other side of the phone.
“No, it wasn’t. Now you can tell Jack you’ll see him next week,” he adds calmly, Eddie’s approving nod making Buck’s smile grow a little wider.
“But you said I can go over there during the weekend!” Chris argues, Hen and Chimney’s giggles making Buck take a calming breath before answering once again.
“That was before you tried to use your dad to overrule me,” he looks at Eddie, who’s got a hand over his mouth to muffle the laugh that’s escaping him involuntarily.
“You guys are the worst.”
At that, Eddie’s laugh halts, “You wanna make it two weeks, young man?”
“No…” Chris’ defeated voice echoes through the phone.
“Great, we’ll see you at home,” Buck concludes, but before Eddie can hang up the phone Chris’ voice sounds once more.
“Wait, can I at least go to Aunt Maddie’s? Is Theo there?” he asks, and Buck kind of melts.
Because of course, telling kids ‘no’ is hard as hell. But with the weirdly-shaped family they’ve built, it’s moments like these that make him glad Theo has someone looking out for him, someone who is not Buck or Eddie, someone who wants to spend time with him even though they’re a teenager.
Someone that’s like a sibling.
The voice resonating inside his head screams That’s what family feels like, and Buck wants to bury himself six feet under.
“Yeah, you can go to Maddie’s, I’ll let her know you’re coming,” he answers, just as Eddie says his own goodbyes and lets Chris know they’ll pick them up after the shift.
The silence after the phone call is close to deafening, so Buck takes matters into his own hands, “Do I really have the Dad Voice?”
“Yes,” a chorus of three voices, ranging from shocked (Chimney) through amused (Hen) to… fond?
His eyes snap to Eddie, who agreed with too much of something behind his words, but his best friend is ostentatiously not looking at him back.
Huh. Weird.
Buck once again feels a tingle of someone looking at him intensely, he’s just about to look around the room when he hears Hen clear her throat once, twice, three times, and Buck surrenders, “Oh my God, what?” he snaps with an awkward laugh, standing up and heading towards the kitchen.
She chuckles, before mumbling under her breath, “Nothing, I just didn’t know we could parent our best friend’s children now.”
And if that isn’t something to not think about.
3/
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, Theo!” Buck screams at Theo the second the kid emerges from the garden, “For the love of God, please don’t go into the house with those muddy feet,” Buck scrambles with the pans he’s currently holding in both hands, unable to stop Theo from starting to run around the living room, getting mud on everything.
And dear God, Buck just might lose his shit today. First, he slept through all of his alarms, which is fucking crazyconsidering the amount he sets each night. When he woke up, the other side of the bed was painfully empty, Eddie and Chris nowhere to be found, and he was already behind schedule with dinner preparations.
See, normally it would be a regular day, with their almost perfected morning routine in place, both kids already at their respective educational facilities, but unfortunately (or fortunately? Buck isn’t particularly sure where he stands on that one) there is some kind of school… education… teachers day? Anyway, what it means is Theo is not at daycare, causing fucking havoc on his life and Buck wants to kiss Theo’s daycare teachers on the mouth because how the fuck do they deal with this demon of a child every morning?
Buck scolds himself immediately for thinking that, resuming the chase after said child.
“Theo, get over here right now, what do you think you’re doing?” Buck pleads, feeling his vision start to blurry, he is too fucking overwhelmed and tired to be dealing with this right now.
What’s even worse than a kid smearing mud on every.single.fucking.surface. of his house is the fact that he has five hours until people start coming over for the dinner party he has optimistically decided to host and cater all by himself.
Well, he hoped Eddie would be there to help, but that’s just fucking stupid isn’t it? He really doesn’t know why he expects his best friend to come to his rescue every damn time he needs help with Theo, or his life in general, but he somehow finds himself taking it for granted, which as he just pointed out, is fucking stupid.
Buck decides he needs to get it together, because it’s a rare occasion today, considering that it’s a Wednesday and each one of his friends have a day off.
He settles on the fact that his dinner plans just went to shit, because the roast he’s planned to do takes almost five hours in the oven and an hour of preparation, which is fucking pushing it and he’s not having it today. So, instead of bravely tackling Theo to the ground and attacking him with a hose, he slides down the kitchen cabinet and takes a breath.
Which, by the way, is a nice fucking breath, thank you for asking.
He closes his eyes, the back of his head hits the cabinet with a little more force than necessary, and breathes.
This is nice.
What is not nice, however, is the sound of a key twisting in the front door and muffled conversation that hits his ears like from behind a glass.
“Shit,” he whispers, gathering himself from the ground and wiping away the wetness that started to gather in his eyes.
Eddie and Chris are back and he desperately does not want either of them to see him in this state, losing his shit because of a couple of things that went wrong, fucking pathetic.
He busies himself in the kitchen, picking up the pans he’s taken out before Theo destroyed his favorite rug, and pretends to prepare ingredients for the roast, which he decides is salvageable if he cuts it up before cooking. See, he’s perfectly fine and a great problem solver.
“Oh my God, what happened here?” Christopher’s voice causes Buck to freeze, unable to turn around from the open fridge and face them because he just might break down into tiny, minuscule pieces over his ruined plans and disrupted routine.
He is literally so dramatic, what the fuck.
Eddie’s voice sounds firmly through the kitchen, “Theo, stop running and go back into the garden right now,” Buck feels fucking useless, he notices a slight shudder flow through his body as Theo listens to his best friend instantly. “Chris, would you hose down his legs outside? The water shouldn’t be too cold, just make sure his feet are clean before you come back inside,” Eddie’s softer voice sounds like a blanket against Buck’s spiraling thoughts.
Which, for the thousandth time, is a normal reaction to your best friend, Maddie.
Buck hears the backyard door snap shut, his head slumping lower with his shoulders. There we go, another nice breath, how lovely. He feels Eddie’s presence behind him, his knuckles whitening with the intense grip he still has on the open fridge door, the electric bill is going to be insane this month.
A steady hand trails down his arm, coming to a halt at his wrist, rough fingers curling around his pulse point with surprising accuracy.
Buck huffs out a laugh, “Are you checking my heart rate?” his voice comes out too close to trembling, fuck.
Not ideal. Buck really wishes he didn’t have to do this shit right now, that he could just rewind to seven in the morning, which is the time he was supposed to wake up at by the way, and do it all over again. He feels like a goddamn failure, pathetic excuse of a father figure that cannot plan a dinner and control a child at the same time because news flash, apparently it falls above his expertise on life.
“Buck,” Eddie’s voice wraps him in fucking sequins, or was it ribbons, semantics.
“Everything went to shit,” Buck whispers, his death grip loosening as he closes his eyes and sighs.
“I know. Talk to me?” Eddie whispers against his shoulder.
And, honestly? That’s just mean. Buck believes his best friend is aware of the effect this tone has on him, and it’s annoying. Because, to be fair, if someone that resembles your only lifeline a little too closely wants you to open up, you have no other choice than to comply. Buck’s body relaxes completely against his will as he turns around and leans on the, now closed, fridge.
There’s a thousand things with which Buck could start his list of things that went wrong today, but he chooses probably the worst possible option known to man, “You weren’t there when I woke up.”
Eddie huffs out a laugh at that, his eyes lingering (are they lingering? how the fuck do you define a lingering stare? Buck doesn’t know) on his pouting lips, “Did that disrupt your carefully crafted routine, baby?” Eddie’s soft voice echoes through his head, and Buck finds himself nodding without a second thought.
Wait.
No.
Baby?
Okay, Maddie, most friends don’t call each other that, but it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t just a slip up, right?
Right?
Buck might be internally hyperventilating.
He decides to postpone the spiral to a later date, as there are some more pressing matters to take care of as of now, “No…, yes? I don’t know. I overslept, and Theo just got mud on my favorite rug, and I need to pivot the roast because I don’t have time to do it as I wanted, and-”
“Buck,” Eddie’s hand comes up to cup his cheek, this is nice.
Postponed, postponed, postponed.
“Chris had PT this morning because his therapist is going away for the weekend,” his best friend explains, Buck would like to note that Eddie’s hand is still occupying his face and he’s being normal about it.
He falls silent, feeling his cheeks turn red because he fell apart and Eddie didn’t leave him alone, he was just being a good parent to Chris. God, Buck feels so stupid.
“How did I forget about that?” he mumbles as he pushes himself off the fridge’s door, falling closer into Eddie’s personal space.
“Okay, tell you what. Go take a shower, I’m gonna make you a cup of coffee and tackle the mess. Then, we can speed through the dinner plan for tonight and figure out what to do with that roast of yours,” Eddie’s thumb gently grazes his cheek, and Buck really cannot be held responsible for what he does next.
He brings his left hand up to the one holding his cheek, slowly lowering it back down. Eddie’s confused stare jumps between his eyes, trying to read Buck’s next action. It always works on call, their eyes needing only between one to three seconds to understand each other’s next move, but at this time, Buck’s not so sure it’ll work.
“What are you doing?” Eddie furrows his brows, clearly bothered with the fact he couldn’t easily figure it out. He notices Eddie’s eyes widen as he’s grabbing one of his shoulders and bringing him in for a hug.
It’s a different kind of hug. It’s a hug Buck doesn’t think they’ve shared before, but Eddie is quick to adapt. As Buck’s arms tangle over Eddie’s neck, his slowly circle around Buck’s waist. He feels himself lean deeper into the other man, his nose tickled by one of Eddie’s strands of hair.
He squeezes his best friend tightly, his lips grazing Eddie’s ear as he whispers, “Thank you.”
Eddie’s thumb starts rubbing weird shapes on Buck’s waist, which is nice.
It’s really nice, but honestly an analysis of this whole interaction is so fucking postponed in Buck’s brain he doesn’t think he even notices it that much.
“I guess you’d be miserable without me too, huh?” Eddie teases, his head falling against Buck’s chest as they stand in the middle of the kitchen, still holding each other close.
“Shut up and make me coffee?” Buck bites back, resulting in feeling Eddie’s laugh more than hearing it.
He could get used to that.
4/
They manage to take care of the dinner disaster before people start falling into Buck’s (their?) house. Theo is napping in his room, Hen and Karen are in the backyard, discussing something with Chimney and Eddie, and Maddie sips an iced tea next to him in the kitchen.
“It smells amazing, Buck,” she states, stealing a carrot from one of the sides they’ve prepared.
“Thanks, I had a bit of a breakdown over this earlier, but I’m glad it worked out,” he admits with a sigh, chopping chives to put into the salad.
“A breakdown? What happened?” Maddie puts down her drink, giving Buck her undivided attention, just as Christopher comes into the room.
“Nothing major, I just got overwhelmed,” he deflects, sending his sister a silent plea to drop the subject while Chris is in the room. She nods in agreement and resumes stealing small bits of vegetables from the bowls.
Buck focuses his eyes on the chopping board as Chris rounds the counter and stands next to him. There’s tension oozing off the teenager, and Buck waits. He learned this a couple years back, when Christopher started to ask for permission on certain things, like going out with friends or extending his bedtime - teenagers will come to you if you’re patient enough.
“Buck?” there it is. Buck gives himself an imaginary pat on the back with how he has Chris’ tells down to a tee.
“Yes, Christopher?” he says, a smirk already coming onto his lips as he knows exactly what’s coming.
“CanIhaveasleepoveratDenny'stoday?” Chris’ voice sounds through the kitchen.
Buck laughs, throwing the chives into the bowl, “Bud, you’re gonna have to say this a little slower.”
“Can I please have a sleepover at Denny’s today?” Chris pleads, just as Maddie is throwing a certain look Buck’s way. What’s that about?
“Chris, we’ve been through this a million times before,” Buck sighs, leaning against the counter and facing the teenager.
“But Buck, please! There was no school today and tomorrow we have a half day,” Chris looks at him with begging eyes.
And listen, being a trusted adult is hard on good days, not to mention having to provide permission or discipline when it’s needed. Buck has to admit that he did, in fact, sign up for this many years ago. It’s easier when it’s Eddie taking care of Theo - Buck knows his best friend has experience with kids, even though he was not around when Christopher was this age. When it comes to him on the other hand, Buck still doesn’t trust himself sometimes when it comes to making decisions like this one. He scolds and reminds himself that Eddie trusts him with his son, which really should be helping, but instead it makes Buck’s shoulders tense.
He sighs once again and looks the teenager up and down, squinting his eyes at him, “And what did your father say?”
“He told me to ask you.”
“Oh did he now?” Buck quirks up an eyebrow, seeing Eddie coming in through the glass doors, “Delegating, aren’t we, Edmundo?” he teases.
Eddie’s eyes light up at Buck’s tone, the corners of his lips coming up, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, grabbing a salad from the counter and hurrying back outside.
“Traitor!” Buck screams after him, and laughs when Eddie puts the middle finger up without even looking his way.
“So… can I go?” Chris sends him the brightest smile Buck has ever seen.
He eyes him one last time, “Yes, but you’re washing the dishes on Saturday.”
“Thanks Buck! You’re the best!” Chris exclaims as he smashes into him with a bone crushing hug.
“Alright superman, you sure Hen and Karen are okay with this?” he questions before turning back to the sink to finish washing the chopping board.
“Yeah, Denny already asked them,” Chris says before following his dad back outside.
Buck feels his sister’s eyes at him. It’s a weird thing, how after so many years spent under the same roof and then even more apart, he’s still able to sense when Maddie’s biting her tongue, but it also has its limit.
“So…” she starts, trying to sound nonchalant, not really succeeding.
“Spit it out, Mads,” he sighs, wiping the now washed piece of wood with a paper towel.
“Chris asks you for things like that a lot?” she murmurs, taking a sip of her now watered down drink.
“Things like what?” Buck’s eyebrows furrow against his will, he decides now’s the time to give her his full attention.
“Things kids usually ask their parents.”
Well, okay.
Buck thinks for a second. Like, sure, there are some details about his relationship with Christopher that might come off as… parental? But of course he’s sure nobody looks at it this way.
Right?
5/
“Can we have popcorn?” a quiet voice makes Buck slowly open his eyes, refocusing on Theo standing at the bottom of the bed. He has to admit he’s a little confused, not really sure what time (or year if he’s being specific) it is, but he does recognize the soft murmur behind himself.
“Theo, buddy, why do you want popcorn?” Eddie mumbles, and Buck’s whole chest is blooming at the sound. Pathetic.
He hears his best friend sit up in bed, deciding in a split of a second not to reveal he’s awake. He can feel Eddie sigh just as much as he can hear it, the other man patting the bed, gesturing for Theo to climb in. Buck doesn’t dare move, not wanting to burst the bubble of those two too soon.
“We need to eat breakfast first, we can have popcorn when you get back from daycare, okay?” Eddie says softly, clearly aware of Buck still sleeping (pretending).
“But-” Theo starts to protest, Buck is fighting hard not to react.
“Shh, Theo, Buck is still asleep,” his best friend reminds Theo, the kid giggling quietly in response.
“Can we eat pancakes?” the kid tries to whisper, but as it usually goes with children his age, he’s failing miserably.
“Hmm, I don’t know. I guess I could eat some pancakes,” Eddie says, his voice imitating indecisiveness, and Buck is only a man.
He doesn’t know when exactly his heart started to do gymnastics every time his best friend’s voice softly hits his ears. He couldn’t tell you the exact moment it happened, but he could with all conviction tell you he doesn’t want it to stop. Buck stirs, pretending to wake up, and rolls over to face Eddie and Theo.
And isn’t this the best thing in the whole world. His best friend, sitting in his bed with hair that could’ve been stuck by lighting and they still wouldn’t look as bad as they do right now. His kid, in Eddie’s lap, cuddled into him still wearing his pajamas, a huge smile on both their faces.
“Buck, can you make pancakes?” Theo throws himself at him, he catches the kid in a tight hug, wrapping him in the covers. Buck hears Eddie laugh next to them, and his heart is so full.
“I heard you wanted popcorn, young man? I’m glad Eddie pushed the idea out of your head,” he laughs, squeezing Theo even tighter in his arms.
“Eddie always makes aaaaaall the rules,” Theo exclaims, throwing his small arms into the air to show them how many rules, exactly, he thinks Eddie makes. Buck decides this is a very accurate depiction of the amount.
“Hey, rules are important!” Buck hears his best friend say with humor tainting his words, just as Eddie’s hand comes up to Theo’s head to ruffle his, a little too long now, blond locks.
“Yeah Theo, Eddie makes all the rules because he cares, and that’s why we love him,” Buck concludes, Theo laughing at that and nodding his head, “Now go get dressed, I’ll get started on the pancakes in a minute.”
The kid quickly jumps off the bed, which Buck would be more concerned about if Theo’s jumping wasn’t a daily occurrence by now. He plops back down onto the bed, laughing silently at the ridiculousness of the five-year-old.
Buck puts one arm under his head and twists his neck to look at Eddie, who’s already staring right into his eyes. Now, Buck is a patient man, he’s tried to put the feelings away and schedule crash outs to a later date, but every person has their limits. He cannot be blamed when he smiles brightly at his best friend, and-
“You know, I think I missed the moment when I fell in love with you.”
Which, ideally, would be the thing Buck could say.
Instead, he hears the words loud and clear in his own eardrums, and Eddie’s mouth is moving, and-
Wait.
“Wait, what?” Buck asks, still a little unsure if this isn’t just his mind playing some sick jokes on him. Eddie chuckles, leaning to put his whole weight on his forearm, slightly angling his upper body towards Buck.
“I said, I think I missed the moment when I fell in love with you,” Eddie shrugs as best as a person partially laying in bed actually can, and Buck is at a loss of fucking words.
“You just said that you love me twice in a span of one minute and I think my brain is kinda fried, so can you give me like, two business days, give or take, to get back to you with an appropriate reaction, or…”
“Or I could just kiss you and see what happens?” Eddie asks, one corner of his lips lifting in a smirk.
Dear God, the smirk is what will kill Buck.
No, seriously, that’s going to be on his tombstone, Here lies Evan, he fought bravely but was killed in the end by his best friend’s smirk directed at him in bed at like six in the morning.
This is a little long to put on a piece of stone, but Buck is sure Maddie will figure it out.
Oh God.
Maddie.
“Oh my God, my sister was right,” Buck groans, putting both his hands on his face, but he can’t help the smile stretching on his lips.
“What?” Eddie asks, laughing as he grabs Buck’s wrists to put his hands back down.
“Maddie said we are totally not normal best friends and I told her she was insane on numerous occasions,” Buck says, not able to control how big his smile is getting.
“She will not let us live this down,” Eddie concludes, bringing his face closer, and closer, and-
“Wait, are you sure about this? I need you to know I actually have a kid-” Buck says, quickly interrupted by Eddie’s bright laugh sounding through the bedroom.
“I think I’ll manage. Also, we have two kids, how dare you,” Eddie concludes, before his lips gently land on Buck’s.
Now, Buck has kissed a lot of people in his life, and usually it’s pretty straightforward. You know, mouth, mouth, lips, lips, kiss, kiss, probably jumping into bed, over. This, however. Buck does accept the fact that his head is faster than most, with the whole undiagnosed ADHD thing etc. He does not accept how Eddie’s lips on his suddenly make everything else go quiet.
Buck hears Eddie exhale against his mouth and he gets on with the program. He brings his hands up to the other man’s waist, squeezing experimentally.
“Buck,” his best friend whimpers in response, and dear God, this is the best day of Buck’s life, “Baby.”
Buck blue screens.
Baby.
“Eddie, I need you to never call me anything else ever again,” he murmurs between the kisses, and his best friend just laughs.
+1/
“Baby, can you wake up Chris?” Eddie’s voice sounds through the house, boxes of stuff covering the better part of their, now shared, living room.
“No, I’m currently fighting with bacon!” Buck yells back, laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
Not even three months ago, after dating for a little over half a year, they’ve decided Eddie and Chris should just move into his house, which is going… as well as one might expect.
“And losing, I see,” Eddie comes into the kitchen just as Buck takes the, decently burned, bacon off the pan.
“Hey, I tried! Not my fault Theo cannot stay still for more than two seconds,” he laughs in response, ruffling the kids hair.
“That’s because of A… D…,” Theo says, but stops himself in the middle of the sentence, contemplating on the next letter.
“Did you mean ADHD, bud?” Eddie chuckles, crouching down in front of him.
“Yes!” Theo laughs, jumping into Eddie’s arms without missing a beat.
“Okay, Spider-Man, go use those powers to wake up your brother,” Eddie adds, and Theo disappears behind a mountain of boxes.
Buck lets himself have a moment to take his reality in. Never, not even in his wildest dreams, could he have predicted just how perfect his life will turn out. He allows his eyes to linger on the man in front of him, the same one who oh so casually admitted to loving him on a random school morning, and has not stopped admitting it everyday ever since.
“Hey, you,” Buck says, placing his fingers on Eddie’s waist, where they’ve managed to carve out a spot for themselves a while ago.
“Hi baby,” Eddie smiles brightly, hooking his arms around his neck, and pulling him into a slow kiss.
Buck could lie and tell you the silence accompanying their kisses went away after some time, but he considers himself a pretty decent, honest person. When Eddie’s lips meet his, the world stops, the sounds become muffled and his senses genuinely focus all their attention on his best friend.
Because, yes, they are still best friends, thank you for asking.
And, okay, Maddie, maybe they were never normal.
“Ew, can you guys do it somewhere else?” Chris’ tired voice sounds through the kitchen. They break apart laughing, the unimpressed teenager staring right at them, “Also, remind me why I decided to move here? A small demon woke me up today, which I don’t remember agreeing to.”
“Good morning to you too, Chris,” Buck laughs, flipping the pancakes with practiced ease.
“Yes, hello, now can we circle back to my question?” Chris asks, humor tainting his words.
“Because your dad makes you pancakes and burnt bacon in the morning, and you love him as much as I do,” Eddie says, laughing hard when Chris takes a bite of the, rather crisp, dark piece of bacon.
“You’re right, this is perfect,” the teenager concludes, and Buck, well.
He believes this is exactly what the voice in his head meant when it whispered That’s what family feels like all those months ago.