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Today Eddie is off of work and Buck…is not. Chris is over at Hen’s, and Theo is with Maddie. Today Eddie can resume his ‘home alone with nothing better to do’ routine.
He honestly doesn’t know how it started, or when. Or if Buck even knows that he did this—does this—he doesn’t think so. Eddie just remembers letting himself into Buck’s apartment one day, noticing that he wasn’t there, texting him and realizing that he had a shift, and then just…staying for a few hours.
To be frank—pun not intended—he doesn’t know why he did that, or why he continued to do it. All he knows is that it helped calm his nerves. Buck being on shift without him always made him a little anxious. So, he guesses that being in his space helped him feel closer to him.
The first couple of times that Eddie did this he would just relax in the living room or the kitchen. What he was doing was already an invasion though he’s not sure if Buck would care that he was in his house, but he thought of Buck’s bed as off limits.
Over the years, Eddie convinced himself that Buck most likely wouldn’t care if he was in his bedroom, or on his bed. So, the bed slowly changed into not being off limits. Buck wouldn’t be mad. He probably wouldn’t even care.
Eddie’s definitely been in Buck’s bedroom before. He’s sat on the bed, but he’s never been in his bed, not without permission.
Today, Eddie wants to feel especially close. He kind of feels like he’s in mourning. Obviously, Buck isn’t dead, but he feels like he needs to be near him, especially after New Mexico and the withdrawal.
Being near Buck, of course, is unattainable at the moment so he feels like he’s grieving, which might be a crazy way to think, but it’s how he feels.
So, now Eddie is in his truck, in Buck’s driveway. He gets out of the truck and walks to the door, opening it with his key. In the living room, he sees some dinosaur toys on the floor. They’re the ones that Chris had given to Theo, it makes him smile.
Eddie has been awake since 6:00pm yesterday when Buck told him that he would have to fill in for someone on B-shift. He was over at Buck’s this morning helping to get Theo ready so he could go to his Aunt Maddie’s house. He went back home when Buck left for his shift, and stayed up in case something happened on shift, or if Chris or Theo needed him.
Eddie walks into Buck’s room and sits at the foot of the bed. Buck’s only working a 24 today, his shift started at 7:00 this morning. Eddie gets up and goes into the closet, grabbing one of Buck’s hoodies to put on.
Eddie sits back on the bed and pulls out his phone, opening some random game that he hopes will pass the time. The next time he looks, it’s 6:30 in the afternoon, only a little over twelve hours left until Buck is safe and at home. Eddie’s eyes are starting to get droopy. He doesn't know exactly when, but he finds himself succumbing to sleep.
When Buck pulls in his driveway, he notices Eddie’s truck there. He doesn’t really think anything of it since they’re always at each other’s houses, and Eddie has a key, so it’s only right that it’s used.
B-shift is usually pretty normal for calls, so whenever they get a crazy call, it’s the norm for A-shift. He’s just not used to emergencies A-shift like on B-shift, so when they do happen, he’s a little bit caught off guard. Their last call was one of those.
There was a fire at a baby shower, flames, and pink dust everywhere. At least nobody was seriously injured. The mom of the pregnant woman did take a nasty fall though.
And for some reason the pregnant woman’s friend seemed more concerned about the father of the child rather than her friend who is pregnant.
It took a while for them to ease the fire, given that some people were hurt and the venue was not small. All the decorations that were caught on fire were not helpful.
So, between getting many people out, helping as much as possible with their injuries, and putting out fires, Buck is tired. He really wants to shower and go to sleep, given that he still smells like burnt plastic. But if Eddie wants to hang out with him, then he’ll gladly stay awake. He’s a little glad Eddie’s here so he can tell him what all happened.
“Eddie?” Buck says as soon as he walks in the door. He drops his duffle bag at the door and turns around to lock it. As he continues into the living room, he still doesn’t see Eddie. If he was anywhere, it would be the living room.
Buck walks into the kitchen, just to make sure Eddie isn’t there. He’s not. Most likely in the bathroom, so Buck goes to his own room.
Buck opens the door and almost jumps out of his skin, gasping and clutching his chest in one of his hands. Eddie is sprawled out on the top of his comforter, his skin sun kissed from the shine of the morning light through Buck’s curtains.
He’s beautiful.
Eddie’s slightly curled into himself, clutching his—wait…clutching Buck’s hoodie. Buck smiles to himself, walks out, grabs a throw blanket from his closet and goes back into his room to lay it over Eddie's body.
Buck’s a little confused. He pulls out his phone making sure he doesn’t have any missed messages for Eddie, he doesn’t. He wonders if something happened that made him come over. If so, he hopes Eddie’s okay.
He goes to his dresser quietly, trying not to wake up Eddie. He finds some comfortable clothes, then walks in his bathroom and starts his shower. He leaves the door cracked a bit, in case Eddie needs him.
When Buck gets done with his shower, Eddie’s still sprawled across the top of his bed. Buck stands by his bed in his sweats and T-shirt trying to figure out how to move Eddie over, get him under the covers, and get under the covers himself, all without waking him up.
Buck first takes Eddie’s phone and puts it on the nightstand on the charger. He then moves Eddie until he’s on one side of the bed, he only stirs a little.
Buck then tries to pull the blankets from under the man. He moves Eddie’s hips, trying to pull the covers down from underneath him. Once he gets it to his ankles, Eddie starts to move.
Buck stops all movements, watching to make sure Eddie doesn’t wake up. When Eddie stops shifting, Buck pulls the blanket over his body. He takes the throw blanket, folds it, and puts it on his dresser. After that, he slides into the bed and for some reason, that’s what makes Eddie awaken.
“Hmm?” Eddie mumbles into one of Buck’s pillows.
“Shhh. Just go to sleep. It’s okay. You’re okay.” Buck runs his hand on Eddie’s shoulder.
Eddie mumbles something else unintelligible, smushes his face into Buck’s pillow more, then he falls back asleep. Buck lets out a breath and lets himself fall asleep.
Eddie wakes up, still feeling a little tired. He doesn’t even remember falling asleep. He doesn’t even remember going home. The last thing he remembers is coming to Buck’s house, waiting for his shift to end so he could go home, and now he’s waking up.
Oh no.
Eddie takes in his surroundings. This isn’t his room. This is Buck’s room.
Shit.
He fell asleep in Buck’s room, in his bed.
Eddie looks down, he has Buck’s hoodie on, and there’s an arm thrown around his waist. Eddie’s heart drops. He realizes that there’s also warmth throughout his back.
He looks back, noticing Buck behind him. He tries to move Buck’s arm so he can slip out of the room, but when he touches his wrist, Buck wraps around him tighter. Like he’s scared he’ll leave. Eddie understands that feeling.
“Stop.” Buck mumbles. “Stop moving.”
Eddie lets out a quiet sigh. It is Buck’s bed and it’s not like he asked to have Eddie in his bed. Eddie reaches for his phone and sends Christopher a good morning text. He then plays one of the crossword games he has on his phone. Eddie’s still tired, but he doesn’t want to impose any more than he already has.
Buck doesn’t move until about 15 minutes later. He presses his face into the nape of Eddie’s neck, his lips slightly brushing against his skin. And Eddie feels…relief. Buck is home. He’s breathing. He’s safe. He’s next to Eddie—practically merged with him and…Eddie likes it.
Buck mumbles something against Eddie’s neck then presses his lips there, firmer this time. A second later, Buck’s breathing pattern changes. Alerting Eddie that he’s awake now. Before Eddie gets to say something, Buck is scrambling away from him, nearly falling off the bed.
Eddie turns to face him, grabbing his wrist, pulling him closer, away from the edge of the bed. “Whoa, hey. You okay?”
“Yeah, sorry, I kind of forgot you were here. I didn’t mean to attach to you like that.” He lets out a laugh.
“You were fine.”
Eddie watches as Buck rubs the sleep out of his eyes, his eyes blinking slowly. “Umm… Are you okay Eddie?”
Eddie lifts an eyebrow, “Yeah, what do you mean? You’re the one who tried to belly flop on the floor.”
“You’re here? And you slept in my bed.”
Oh… How did Eddie forget that he’s not supposed to be here? A couple of blissful minutes with Buck and the panic in him just eased.
“Oh, uh, I’m sorry.” Eddie apologies, even though technically, he fell asleep on the bed and somehow got in the bed.
“I’m not mad, just confused. Like I didn’t even know you were coming over—not that you need permission—and when I saw you in my bed, I thought that something happened to you, so I’m asking, are you okay?” Buck really looks at him, straight into his eyes.
“Yeah…”
Buck nods, “Then what made you come over? And sleep on my bed?”
Eddie pauses for a moment. Thinking if he should tell Buck the truth. It can’t hurt, right? And now he won’t feel guilty. “I’ve been doing this for years.”
“Coming over and falling asleep on my bed?”
“Missing you.” Eddie clarifies. “Whenever you would have a shift without me, I would get…scared? Worried. So, I would go to your house to feel like I was near you. I would stay there until your shift ended or when you texted me that you were coming home, then I would go home, then come back if we had plans that night or if you wanted me to come over.”
“You were wasting a lot of gas. You are.” He corrects, given that Eddie still has this habit.
Eddie scoffs, “Yeah, tell me about it…but uh, this was the first time I fell asleep in here though.”
“Was it the first time you’ve been on my bed?”
Deny, deny, deny. “No.”
Shit.
He adds, “Just the first time I slept in here.” Right, like that’s better, weirdo.
Buck nods again, “Okay.”
“Okay?” Eddie asks, in a chastising tone.
“I—what do you want me to say Eddie?”
“You should feel some way. Get mad at me. Yell at me. Tell me I'm weird. Do something.”
“I don’t feel the need to do that. I don’t think you’re weird and I’m not mad at you either.”
“I broke into your house, stole your clothes and slept in your bed.”
“You have a key, open access to my house, that’s hardly breaking in. We share clothes all the time. And the bed thing, I just…don’t care. It’s not that big of a deal.” Buck shrugs.
Nobody says anything for a while.
“Are you still tired? I know I didn’t say anything yesterday, but you looked dead on your feet.”
“No, I’m fine.” He clears his throat, “I should probably go.” He starts to get up but Buck catches his wrist.
“Eddie. Go to sleep.”
“I’m good.”
“You’re lying. Lay back down.” Buck puts a hand on his shoulder and presses him back down into the mattress.
The next time Eddie wakes up, he’s alone in Buck’s bed, but he can hear noise coming from the living room. He rubs his eyes and gets out of the bed. When he gets to the living room, both Chris and Theo are on the floor building some LEGOs that Buck bought for them.
“Eddieee!” Theo says, running from his spot on the floor to hug Eddie’s legs.
Eddie scoops him up into his arms, “Hey buddy.”
“Are you done being tired now? You slept allll day.”
“Yes, I’m done being tired now.” He gives him a kiss on the cheek and puts him back down so he can resume his builds. “Chris, you okay? I thought you were staying at Hen’s another day.”
“I texted this morning saying that I wanted to go home. I think you fell back asleep though. Buck came and got me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was really tired. You still want to go home?”
“Home, Buck’s house, same thing. I’m good.”
Oh. Huh.
“Okay.” Eddie turns and heads to the kitchen, presumably where Buck is.
He’s right. Buck is at the counter making meal prep for next week. Eddie guesses that it’s a little past lunch time. He really did sleep all day. He walks up and stands next to Buck, his back leaning on the counter. Buck doesn’t even flinch, he probably heard him talking to the kids in the living room.
“Good morning.” Buck says, even though it isn’t morning anymore. He spars a quick glance to Eddie as he says it.
“Yeah, thanks for letting me rest.” Eddie rubs the back of his neck.
“Of course.”
Silence.
“Are you really not gonna say anything?” Eddie asks.
“About what?” Buck says, not looking up from the meal that he’s making.
“Buck.”
“Eddie.” He counters. “It’s not weird to me and maybe saying that makes me weird, but I really don’t care.”
“If it were Chimney, would you care? Or Ravi? Hen?”
He stops moving for a moment, then continues. “I mean, I would be confused about how they got in my house given that you and Maddie are the only ones with keys. Well, Chim probably got the key from Maddie. Then I guess Hen and Ravi could’ve—”
“Buck.”
“—gotten them from Chim who got them—”
“Buck.”
“What?” He looks at him. “I’m answering your question.”
“You’re focusing on the wrong part.”
“Eddie, I think you’re making something out of nothing.”
“Answer the question.”
“I guess it’d be a little weird.” Buck shrugs.
“Why?”
“Well, for starters, none of them have keys to my house.” He jokes, resuming to make the lasagna.
“Buck.”
“I don’t know Eddie. It’s different.”
“Why is it different?”
“Because you’re you.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means that it’s different.”
“How?”
Buck looks at him. “Because you’re my best friend. Because I’m the second person your son calls when he needs something, sometimes the first. Because you’re my son’s favorite person. Because you put me in your will. Because I’m the only one you trust enough to take care of Chris. Because I can’t imagine a life without you. Because you and those two boys are my family…Be—Because I love you.”
Eddie just looks at him, not saying a word.
Buck huffs out a laugh, “See? Now I ruined everything.”
“No.”
“What?”
“You didn’t ruin anything.”
“How? I just told you—”
Buck is cut off when Eddie’s lips press against his own. Buck gasps into it, leaving his lips partly open. He responds immediately, moving his lips with Eddie’s. Eddie’s hands cup his jaw and that’s when Buck realizes he doesn’t have his hands on Eddie.
As soon as Buck moves his hands, the rattling sound of glass breaking causes them to jump apart. Buck looks down to see one of his glass plates in pieces on the floor. Luckily, it was a plate with no food on it yet.
“No! Theo, stay.” Both men hear Christopher say. “Dad? Buck? What was that? Are you okay?” Chris yells from the living room.
“We're okay, just dropped a plate by accident.” Eddie shouts.
“Stay in there, both of you.” Buck yells, walking toward the closet to get the broom.
“Okay.” Both boys yell back.
Buck comes back with the broom and dustpan and begins to sweep the glass off of the floor while Eddie picks up the bigger pieces.
They both catch glances at each other the whole time. Buck pauses right before he sweeps up the last bit of debris and looks at Eddie. Eddie leans over and places a quick kiss on Buck’s lips.
It isn’t long at all, it’s very brief actually, but Eddie can’t help but want more. His lips are already missing the pressure of Buck’s. Buck rises and puts the glass pieces in a bag then puts the bag in the trash.
When he turns back around, he bumps into Eddie because he was very much in his space.
“Oh.” Buck clears his throat, “Hey.”
“Hey.” Eddie smiles. “You love me?”
“I—uh…yeah. I do.”
“Good.” Eddie gives him another kiss. “Glad to know you’re as crazy about me as I am about you.”
Buck tilts his head, “I don’t know about that. I never went to your house and slept in your bed without your knowledge.”
“Yeah, but you literally sublet my house.”
“That’s not the same.”
“Close enough, and I love you too.” Eddie says, leaning in for another kiss.
Buck closes his eyes as he waits for their lips to connect. He waits about two seconds before his eyes flutter back open, having not felt the press of Eddie’s lips. When he opens them, Eddie looks confused.
“Hey.” Eddie turns back to him. “What—what happened?”
“Shhh.” Eddie puts his finger on Buck’s lips, “It’s too quiet.”
Buck's eyes go wide at the word, but he remembers that they aren’t on shift. And quiet with a four year old doesn’t exist unless— “Theo!” Buck yells.
“Yesss!” He yells from the door frame of the kitchen, both he and Chris are there, and they’re smiling. They probably saw…
“Hey guys. Uh—how long have you been right there?” Buck looks at them, at Eddie, then back at them.
Chris moves his head in a so-so manner, “Long enough.”
“I thought I said to stay in the living room.”
“We did…for a while. Then I wanted to make sure neither of you were hurt, and Theo wanted to come with me. You guys are more than okay though.”
“Chris…” Eddie says.
“Are you dating now?”
“Uh…” Buck looks at Eddie for a second.
“Just say yes so we can all be free of your so-called friendship.”
“What does dating mean?” Theo looks at everyone in the room.
“It means that they love each other and kiss and stuff.” Chris adds.
“Oh.” He says as he runs back to the living room.
“So?” Chris looks between the two of them.
“Would that be okay with you?” Eddie asks.
“I mean, it beats kissing platonically.”
“Chris.”
“Yes. I—Buck and Theo are our family. It makes sense.”
“It does.” Eddie looks at Buck, leaning in slowly.
“Oookay.” Chris says walking out of the kitchen doorway.
“We’re dating now?” Buck asks.
“Would you prefer being married?”
“Uh, yeah. I would.” Buck jokes, but Eddie doesn’t look like he’s kidding. “You’re serious?” Eddie responds by tilting his head and smiling. “Eddie…”
“We can wait a bit if you want.”
“I don’t want that.”
“Okay, then we get married.” Eddie says while leaning in again.