Work Text:
Buck is making a hot honey sauce from a recipe he found on TikTok when he’s assaulted by the sound of his doorbell ringing over and over again, accompanied by knocking too.
Buck eyebrows crease as he quickly wipes his hand on a towel, then slightly jogs to the front door.
As soon as he opens it, May walks inside, “Where’s my baby?” She asks.
Buck looks at her as he closes the door. “Uh…hi—hello. Why were you knocking on my door like you’re the police?”
May tilts her head slightly, “Well…”
“You are not a police officer, May.”
She flops down on the couch, looking around the living room, obviously searching for any sign of Theo. “Eh, close enough.”
“Not close at all.”
“Where’s my baby?”
Buck walks into the kitchen. May gets up and follows behind him. “Not here. He’s with Maddie.” He says as May sits on the stool at the island.
“Should’ve gone there first.” May groans, crossing her arms on the counter and resting her head on them. “Damn it.” She says just as Buck was about to continue making the honey sauce for his chicken tenders.
He stops in his tracks and turns to where May is at the island, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing…” she mumbles to the island counter, her forehead still resting on her crossed arms.
“May.” He waits for a couple seconds until her head rises and their eyes meet.
“Nothing.” She insists.
Buck doesn’t break eye contact. He waits to hear what May really wants to say.
“I needed a distraction.” She admits. “Theo helps me feel better.”
Buck’s heart melts, he understands that feeling wholeheartedly. Though, he feels that way with everyone in the 118 family.
“What do you need a distraction from?” Buck asks. “Ravi?”
“No! No, not Ravi. He’s great…” She pauses, she looks around the room, trying to dodge Buck’s gaze. She sighs deeply, “Um…I—I miss him…”
Buck rounds the island and pulls May into a hug. She wraps her arms around him immediately and the water starts to flow from her eyes. A second passes, then Buck is crying too.
He listens to her shaky inhales and exhales as she tries to calm herself down. It doesn’t seem like it’s working.
The two of them stay like that for a while. Buck starts to wonder if the position is uncomfortable for May, because it’s starting to be for him.
May’s breathing evens out, answering his question for him. He finds the best way to pick her up, which ends up being a bridal carry. He picks her up and walks with her down the hall to Chris’—the guest room.
It’s basically Chris’ room anyway. He doesn’t think he’ll feel any way about May taking a nap in there.
Buck walks out and goes to his bedroom. He grabs a piece of paper and takes out one of his T-shirts and his favorite old sweatpants that he used to wear when he was much smaller.
They’re probably still going to be a little oversized on May, but at least the sweatpants have drawstrings.
He goes back to the room where May is. He folds the clothes and places them on the nightstand.
He writes, ‘Usually a shower helps me feel better after moments like this. There are towels in the cabinet behind the door in the bathroom.’ Then he places the note on top of the clothes and leaves the room.
As Buck puts the macaroni and cheese in the oven, he hears the sound of a door opening and closing, then another. A couple seconds later, he hears the faint sound of the shower turning on.
About thirty minutes later, May pads into the kitchen. She sits down at her spot at the island. She looks like she feels better. Buck’s glad the shower helped.
“Hot honey tenders are done and so are the mashed potatoes. The macaroni and cheese needs like fifteen to twenty minutes.”
“‘Kay.” She pulls out her phone and goes on what Buck assumes is TikTok.
“Feelin’ better?”
“Yeah, thanks for the clothes. And the nap.”
“Anytime.” Buck grabs his phone from the counter. He isn’t even doing anything on it unless you count swiping in and out of the weather app.
His eyes shift from his phone to May’s face, making sure she’s okay. Which, he knows that she’s feeling better but…he just needs to make sure.
“Stop.” May says not looking up from her phone.
“What?”
“Stop looking at me like I’m gonna fall apart.”
“I’m just making sure you’re okay.”
“...I am.”
Buck nods, “Okay…”
A couple minutes later, Buck takes the food out of the over and pulls two plates out of the cabinet. He starts to plate both he and May’s food.
After he does that, he puts the rest of the food in containers, he puts the containers in the refrigerator, then walks to the living room.
May looks up, her eyes following him, “Uh, where are you taking the food.”
“We’re eating in the living room, come on. Oh, bring some water bottles out of the fridge, please.”
May gets up, takes two waters out, and follows Buck into the living room, sitting down next to him, placing the bottles on the coffee table in front of them.
Buck places his and May’s plate on the table, pulls the throw blanket from the back of the couch, lays it over their laps and picks up the TV remote, putting on Say Yes to the Dress. A show he knows May likes to randomly watch.
He sees her look at him in the corner of his eye. He thinks he sees a faint smile before she looks back at the TV, grabbing her plate from the coffee table. Buck mirrors her and grabs his plate as well.
They fall into a comfortable silence, sometimes interrupted by one of them criticizing one of the family members for being rude to the soon to be bride for no reason. Buck loves doing this. Just spending time with his family, people he loves.
After a while, May puts her plate back on the table and starts to remove the blanket.
“Where are you going?” Buck asks, placing his finished plate on the table too.
May stops her movements, “Home?”
“Oh. You have stuff to do?” Buck checks the time on his phone, it’s 8:30.
“Not really. Just wanted to get out of your hair. You know, relieve you of your duties.” May jokes.
His duties? “My duties? May, what?”
“I’m fine now. You don’t have to watch over me anymore or worry about me.” She shrugs.
“May, that’s not what this is. Yeah, maybe it was when you first came over, but I just wanted to spend time with you. I’m not—you’re not a task for me to complete. Or—or a problem for me to solve.”
May looks at him.
“Get back comfortable, you’re not leaving. We’re watching Say Yes to the Dress.”
“Okay…” She pulls the covers back over herself. “So…we’re having a sleepover?”
“Exactly.” He picks up the remote and rewinds it back to the part they were on before they started talking over it, then puts the remote back down.
Buck wakes up to the sound of his front door being opened. He looks behind him and sees Eddie walk in.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
Eddie hooks his keys on the rack, “Haven’t heard from you all day, wanted to check on you.”
“I’m good. Sorry for not responding.” Buck looks back at the couch.
The living room is slightly lit by a lamp in the corner of the room, along with the glow from the TV. Buck is at the corner of the couch while May is laid out, her head on the arm rest and one of her legs hanging off the couch.
Eddie walks closer, “Oh. You guys okay?”
Buck nods, getting off the couch and picking May up the same way he did earlier. “I’ll be right back. Just gonna take her to Christopher’s room.”
Eddie's face changes to confusion as Buck walks down the hall.
Buck places May in the bed, pulling the comforter down and over her body. He runs a hand on her shoulder then walks out of the room.
Eddie’s sitting on the couch now. Buck walks over and sits down next to him.
“Christopher’s room?” Eddie questions.
Oh. Had Buck said that out loud? “I—I mean, it basically is. He has a lot of stuff in there.”
“True.” Eddie scooches down, getting more comfortable. “Is May okay? Are you okay?”
“Yeah…just thinking about Bobby. We had a sibling's day slash sleepover.”
“That’s nice.”
“Yeah, it was.”
Eddie leans into him, “That’s good. I’m glad.”
“Mhm.” Buck yawns. “What time is it?”
“Like eleven something.”
“You came over at this time because I wasn’t answering?”
“I would’ve come sooner, but I was helping Hen with her sink. It’s been making that weird noise for weeks.”
“Mmm, you must be tired.” Eddie nods. Buck stands up and puts his hand out. “Come on, let's go to bed.” He says as he yawns again.
Eddie looks at Buck then at his hand then back at Buck. He grabs his hand and lets Buck lead him down the hall to his bedroom.
Eddie changes there, taking off his shirt and pants, then pulling on some shorts. His own shorts because he has a drawer in Buck’s dresser.
He then slides into bed next to Buck. They’re both hesitant to move, to get closer to one another. But after a while, Buck feels a warmth on his back, then an arm thrown over his waist. Only then does he let himself slip into sleep.