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Eddie was nervous about moving his and Chris’s lives to L.A.
But they had to get out of there. After Shannon left to be with her mother and gave Eddie full custody of Chris, Helena and Ramon were worse than ever, determined to claim Christopher as their own.
So Eddie contacted Pepa and Abuela, seeing if they knew there was a place nearby that Eddie and Chris could live. Turns out there was a home for rent ten minutes away from them, 4995 South Bedford Street.
So Eddie made a call, and now he and Chris have a place to call their own without Helena and Ramon constantly barging into their lives, berating Eddie, and trying to take Chris.
God, it feels incredible…well, as much as it is terrifying.
Eddie applied to the fire academy after enrolling Christopher into the closest school to their new home.
Chris is in first grade now, and Eddie cannot believe how much Chris has grown up on him already.
But Eddie is back and is never going to miss another moment in his son’s life again, and right now he’s nervous because it’s Christopher’s first day at his new school in this whole new city in a whole new state, 800 miles away from El Paso.
Not only does he have cerebral palsy, but he also has asthma and needs his crutches to get around and his inhaler just in case.
This scares Eddie because he doesn’t want anything bad to happen to his baby.
He wasn’t there when Chris had his first asthma attack at five; he was out looking for a job before deciding to move to Los Angeles.
But he vowed not only to himself but to Christopher that he would always be there for him no matter what.
But then those worries immediately disappeared as soon as he picked up Chris from his first day of school, and he went on a three-hour rant about all of the new things he learned and how incredible his teacher, Mr. Buck, is.
Eddie is really glad they moved to L.A.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck has always loved kids and always wanted to work in a field where he could work with them every day.
So when firefighting didn’t fit, he went to UCLA, got a degree in Elementary Education, and now teaches first grade at a very good school in Los Angeles so he can remain close to his found family at his former firehouse from when he was briefly a probationary firefighter, Station 118.
He’s been teaching for nearly a year at this point and loved all his kids greatly, but there was something different about one: Christopher Diaz, the bubbly little boy with bright red glasses and curly brownish-blonde hair that resembled Buck's own hair. He was so eager to learn, unlike most of his class. Chris actually listened to Buck with great interest, so Buck tried not to have any favorites, but Chris was his favorite.
Buck always asks his students on the first day of school about anything he needs to know about them; sure, most of the time it’s just silly little things like their favorite color is red, their daddy is a cop, etc., but when they actually have a medical condition, disability, or allergies of any sort, some kids tell him or hand him a written note from their parents explaining it to him.
Chris stole his heart the moment they met and then simultaneously broke it when Buck saw the crutches, and then he told Buck about his asthma and that he always has to keep his inhaler on him in case he has an asthma attack.
But despite what he has, he is the strongest, smartest kid that Buck has ever had in his class; he’s always smiling, listening, and asking questions.
Like today, they’re discussing the solar system—it’s their topic for the week—and Chris has non-stop questions about it; his curiosity is clearly piqued.
Buck can see some of his other students are annoyed by the constant interruption, but Buck is far from annoyed; he always loves to hear whatever this boy has to say.
It’s lunch period now, and Buck is holding the classroom door open as all of his students walk in a single-file line into the hallway to make their way towards the cafeteria.
Buck notices two boys pick on Chris and shove past him because he was moving “too slow,” frowning at their actions.
“Move, nerd, get those stupid sticks out of the way,” Chad barks, knocking his shoulder against Chris’s, slightly knocking the boy off balance.
“God, you’re so annoying,” Greg groans, forcefully shoving Chris’s other shoulder as he walks with his best friend, Chad, nearly knocking Christopher to the ground.
“Knock it off, you two!” Buck shouts, walking towards Christopher to make sure that he’s okay.
The two boys just ignore him, but Buck doesn’t really care; he’ll send something to their parents later, and then he puts all of his attention on Christopher.
But he notices that something is wrong; Chris is frozen in place, his chest heaving rapidly.
Oh, shit. He’s having an asthma attack.
Buck kneels in front of the boy, meeting his eyes.
Fuck, Chris looks petrified.
“Where is your inhaler?” Buck quickly asks, placing his hands on Chris’s shoulders.
“M-My b-b-backp-p-pack,” Chris stammers between breaths.
Buck slowly rises to his feet, his heart racing. “Stay right here. I’m going to get it.”
Chris nods with a gasp. “H-H-Hu-urr-y.”
Buck runs back into his classroom, finding Chris’s Superhero backpack in his cubby, quickly pulling it out, going through every single pocket as he hunts for Chris’s inhaler.
He finds it eventually with a triumphant yell, dropping Chris’s backpack and sprinting for the boy, who looks like he’s about to collapse, his arms shaking.
“I got it here. Let me help you Buck says, sitting down, lifting Chris slightly, and bringing his inhaler to his mouth as Chris breathes it in, tears in his eyes. “It's okay, it's okay, Superman, I got ya.”
Chris tries to say thank you, but Buck doesn’t let him; he needs to focus more on his breathing right now than anything else.
Once Chris’s breathing has finally returned to normal, the boy throws his arms around Buck, holding him tight. “Thank you, Mr. Buck.”
Buck smiles, hugging Chris back just as tightly. “Of course, buddy. Come on, let’s go eat something.”
Buck then keeps an eye on Christopher for the rest of the day, making sure not to forget to speak to Christopher’s parents about what happened today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eddie is waiting outside the school like the rest of the parents for Christopher, a smile instantly spreading across his face when he sees Chris walk out of the school, a matching smile appearing on Chris’s face when he sees Eddie.
Eddie falls to his knees, his arms open for an embrace, holding his son tight.
“How was your day, mijo?” Eddie asks once the hug ends.
“Good, Mr. Buck helped me today.”
“Oh, yeah? What did he help you with?”
“He gave me a book about space! And he got my inhaler when I had an asthma attack.”
Eddie freezes, staring at Chris, unsure of what to say.
That’s when the most beautiful man in the entire world walks towards them.
Eddie sucks in a breath, starting at the man before him, completely mesmerized by his vibrant ocean eyes.
“Whoa,” Eddie exhales softly as he rises to his feet, staring at the handsome stranger.
The man smiles at him, blinding Eddie with it; the brightness of it is as bright as the sun.
“Hello, Mr. Diaz, I’m Evan Buckley, Chris’s teacher,” the man greets, holding out his hand for a handshake.
It takes a moment for Eddie to snap out of his trance, then he finally completes the handshake, smiling at Buck, still awestruck by those ocean eyes.
“I-I’m Eddie,” Eddie says dumbly, his face flushed. “C-Chris has told me a lot about you.”
“Good things, I hope,” he jokes, the handshake unfortunately ending…Eddie really liked holding his hand; it was so soft and fit perfectly with Eddie’s.
“Dad, why are you blushing?” Chris asks, snapping the two men out of their trance, Eddie blushing darker.
“I-I’m not,” Eddie stutters, glancing down at his son, who giggles, proud of himself. Eddie places his son in the backseat of his car, then turns back to Chris’s oddly hot teacher because Eddie needs to ask about what happened and why Chris had an asthma attack…no other reason…
“Mr. Diaz,” the man starts, but Eddie cuts him off.
“Eddie.”
The teacher smiles. “Then call me Buck.”
Eddie gulps and nods, just staring at the man. He probably looks insane; he feels insane right now.
Fuck, he’s never felt like this before; he has no clue what is going on with him.
Is he having a seizure?
Fuck, he hopes not.
“I just wanted to tell you about what happened today, and I am going to talk to the parents of the kids who caused his asthma attack today,” Buck explains.
Eddie’s eyes go wide. “Did they bully him?”
Buck nods. “They picked on him and shoved him in the hallway, knocking the wind out of him and triggering his attack. But I got his inhaler and helped him very quickly. He’s been just as energetic and curious as he always is, so he’s okay.”
Eddie nods, so grateful for this man. “Thank you,” Eddie breathes out. “Just, thank you, Buck.”
Buck nods, blushing. “O-Of course, Mr.—Eddie. I’m just glad that I was there so I could help him, because if it happened in the cafeteria, I wouldn’t have known.”
Eddie feels his eyes tear up as he looks back at his car, seeing Chris reading a book, probably the one Buck gave him; then he looks back at Buck. “I don’t even know how to thank you for helping him today.”
“You don’t have to, Eddie. It’s part of my job, making sure my students are safe. Plus, even though we’re not technically supposed to, he’s my favorite.”
Eddie laughs. “Yeah, he’s pretty amazing.”
“He’s the best. He always has questions and teaches me some new things.”
Eddie cannot contain his smile. “He told me you even gave him a book about space.”
Buck giggles—it’s so goddamn adorable.
What the hell is happening to him? He’s so fucking confused.
“Well, our topic this week has been space, and he seems absolutely fascinated by it, so I lent him one of my many books in the classroom. He’s the most incredible kid that I have ever met.”
“Just…thank you again. I really appreciate it. We’re very new to Los Angeles, so I was very nervous that Chris wouldn’t find a home here, but with you, I’ve never seen him so happy and so Chris.”
Buck blushes brightly. “Well, I'm glad I could help. Chris is really one of a kind.”
Eddie couldn’t help but smile at him. “He is adorable when he blushes,” Eddie thought.
“Yeah, he is. He gets it from his mom.”
Buck frowned slightly. “Well, I bet she’s incredible.”
Eddie cocks his head, immediately noticing the sudden change in Buck’s expression. “D-Did I say something wrong?”
Buck quickly snaps out of his trance and shakes his head. “Oh, no, no, you didn’t…I, uh, just thought you were flirting with me, then you mentioned his mom and…”
Eddie can’t help himself and chuckles. “No, no, she and I are not together. She’s not in Peru "
Buck looks at Eddie, confused. “So you're not together?”
Eddie chuckles. “No, I'm very single”
Buck grins. “That’s good.”
Eddie bites his bottom lip, looking Buck up and down.
Jesus, this isn’t something a straight man would do. Well, that’s what he always thought he was; today is really making him question that.
“Really good,” Eddie mutters, licking his lips. “Wanna go out sometime?”
Buck blushes, smiling brightly. “Well, I usually don’t date parents of my students, but for you I think I'll make an exception,” he flirts heavily, making Eddie swoon.
“Oh, a little tease, aren't you, Mr Buckley?” Eddie flirts; surprisingly, it came easy to him. Flirting has never felt this easy before.
Oh, he might be gay and in love with this beautiful man before him.
“Oh, you have no idea, Mr Diaz, " Buck says with a wink, making Eddie melt.
“I-I…c-can I have your n-number?” Eddie then asks, stuttering slightly, blushing.
“You can have whatever you want,” Buck flirts, taking a step closer to Eddie, visibly checking him out.
Eddie’s jaw drops, and he clumsily hands Buck his phone so he can put in his phone number.
“There you go, hot stuff,” Buck says cheekily when he hands Eddie his phone back, his contact saved as Mr. Buck 😜.
Eddie can’t help himself and laughs, then shoots off a quick text to Buck so he has Eddie’s number. Buck quickly pulls his phone out of his pocket, smiling at it as he types something out, flipping the phone around to show Eddie how Buck has him saved as Mr. DiASS ❤️🔥.
Eddie blushes and snorts. “S-See you a-around then?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Buck says seductively, turning Eddie’s entire world upside down—figuratively speaking. Then Buck waves and smiles at Chris. “See you tomorrow, buddy!”
Chris beams, waving back, rolling down the window. “Bye, Mr. Buck! Thanks for the book!”
“Anytime, Superman!” Then Buck looks back at Eddie, winking at him before turning around and walking away, leaving Eddie there, frozen, his entire world shifted on its axis.
“Daaaaad, can we go home now?” Chris calls from the car, snapping Eddie out of his trance.
Eddie turns around and walks around the car to the driver’s seat, looking over at the doors to the school, seeing Buck there, talking to someone; then he glances over at Eddie and smiles.
Fuck, he really is gay.
At least he got a hot date and maybe a future boyfriend out of it.
Maybe even a future husband, and isn't that a wonderful thought?
I mean, “Buck Diaz” certainly has a nice ring to it.
And 2 years later, Eddie was proven right: Buck Diaz is currently sleeping next to him in their bed, in their house with their two daughters and son, Christopher.