#9-1-1 on ABC

[deadnatura11]

There's no "straight" way to eat a Ring Pop but Eddie "Homotron 5000" Diaz managed to somehow choose the queerest way.

Cheeks hollowed...

Hand curled in a light fist...

Big, brown, beautiful cow eyes looking up through his lashes...

Buck needs to start getting serious -

[dadbodeddie]

why is everyone pretending buck having an older partner is delusional or impossible. buck dated a 42 year old woman in his mid 20s he's been a milf chaser since DAY. ONE. and you're gonna pretend he wouldn't snack on some half-century penis. sure

[funsizedshark]

9-1-1 episode posters but they're movie poster inspired 🎬 (in order: kill bill, chicago, it's a wonderful life)

[mattzerella-sticks]

You know when Buck gets married he's going to be an absolute groomzilla. Imagine this but in a tuxedo:

[cloudybuck]

i was telling my bestie abt buck and eddie’s tattoos, the ones that wrap around their arms and she said it woulda been cute if they were matching. i reminded her that buck has a ring and something in cursive, and eddie has a cursive ring. . . 😏

[dragcnbreak]

buck on his date with tommy

[smutrotsmybraincells]

Caught [Eddie Diaz x reader NSFW]

It was your day off today, but you still decided to show up at the station, wanting to spend some time with your friends as they all had a shift today. When you walked in, you could hear the voices coming from upstairs, they were probably all eating something Bobby cooked. You walked past one of the fire engines not noticing your boyfriend who was putting some stuff in the back of one of them. You made it up two stairs before Eddie's strong arms gripped your waist and pulled you towards him. 

"Wha- Eddie!" You let out, turning your head to look at him. You smacked his arm playfully. 

"Hey," he grinned, letting you turn around in his arms. His eyes roamed your body, noticing the tank top and skirt you had on. He raised an eyebrow at you, because you usually never wore skirts, always complaining that they're stupid and one blow of wind away from you flashing everyone. 

"What's up with the skirt?" He asked, finally hugging you. You giggled into his shoulder.

"Ah, nothing," You mumbled, hiding your face in his neck. He hummed, his hands moving from your back down to your ass. You felt the exact second he realized you had no underwear under your skirt. 

"Y/N," he groaned, hiding his face in your hair. You looked into his eyes, grinning mischievously. 

"Ed-" his lips were on yours before you could say his name. He lifted you off the ground and carried you towards the fire engine, opening the door but not climbing in. He put you down, sat on the stairs of the engine, and looked at you expectantly. When you tried to sit on his lap he moved one of his legs and pulled you down, so you were now on his thigh. You let out a surprised sound that turned into a quiet moan when he adjusted his thigh. The fabric of his pants was rough against your center, making you move your hips trying to get some friction without realizing. 

"Eddie, someone could see us," you said, your voice shaking with want. 

"Let them." He grabbed your hips, helping you grind on his thigh slowly. You leaned forward, kissing him to keep yourself from letting out loud moans. Eddie kissed you back, knowing this was the only way to keep you quiet. 

"I-" you moaned louder than before, feeling the heat inside of you growing. Eddie smirked and reached down to lift your skirt so he could see your wet pussy grinding on his pants, leaving a dark wet spot that kept only getting bigger on his pants. 

"C'mon baby, cum for me," he mumbled, his eyes not leaving the spot where you met his thigh. You bit your lip to keep yourself from screaming his name, your head falling back. You opened your eyes for a second, almost falling off of Eddie, but his grip on the side of your waist kept you steady. 

"Eds-" you whined, which turned his attention from your pussy to where you were looking. And there, leaning against the railing looking down at you stood Buck. 

"Cum for me Y/N," Eddie said, keeping his eyes on his best friend. You groaned and whined as you finally came all over his pants, soaking them in even more of your juices. Your whole body was shaking as you came down from the high. You could still feel Buck's eyes on you as Eddie slowly lifted you to your feet. 

"We got caught," you mumbled. Eddie grinned. 

"Yes we did baby," he helped you to get to your car, as he knew you wouldn't want to go up to the rest of the team after this. Just as you sat down in your car the alarm rang through the firehouse, making Eddie curse. 

"Go, I'll sit here until I'm capable of driving," you said pushing him away from you when you saw him deciding if he should stay here with you or actually go out to the call with the others. He rolled his eyes but turned around and ran into the building, grabbing his stuff and quickly getting into the fire engine with the others. 

What you didn't see were the questioning looks he got inside the engine as Hen and Chim spotted the wet spot on his thigh. 

"I, uh, I spilled a drink on myself, didn't have time to change before the alarm," he said. Hen laughed at him, Chim rolled his eyes mumbling something under his breath. He didn't see Bobby's reaction as he couldn't see him from where he was sitting. What he did see though, was Buck's smirk as he looked from the wet spot on his thigh to his eyes. 

"A drink, huh?"

[purgatory-jar]

How is he hotter covered in boils????

🍂

Like my art? Commission me here!

[buddie2024]

Can I just say how much I love that oliver and the cast are explicity using the word "bisexual"? I feel like in most media when we see characters that experience this kind of attraction, they tend to not put a label on it, which is 1000% valid, but a lot of us DO use a label and there are so many stereotypes and misconceptions connected to bisexuality. It feels so nice to see the word and the identity being embraced and celebrated the way it is now.

[butraura]

sometimes I think about how Buck went out of his way to show off for Eddie and to Eddie in the gym and the basketball court and did the absolute most to get his attention... like you've been best friends for years and know each other intimately, arguably more than anyone else on the planet... you don't have to fight so hard Buck... Eddie will always come home to you...

[stelacole]

buddie incorrect quotes

Eddie: sniffing the air, suddenly alarmed "Is something burning?" Buck: leaning casually and seductively against the counter, smirking "Just my desire for you." Eddie: deadpan, pointing behind him "Buck, the toaster is literally on fire!" Buck: whipping around, panicked "Oh, crap!" grabs a towel and starts frantically fanning the flames "Why does this always happen when I’m trying to be smooth?!" Eddie: crossing his arms, amused but exasperated "Maybe because you can’t multitask to save your life?" Buck: shooting him a sheepish grin as he tries to save the toast "At least my feelings for you are hot, right?" Eddie: rolling his eyes, but unable to hide his smile "Buck, stop flirting and fix the toaster before we have to call 911." Buck: laughing, bit embarassed "Yeah, we'd never hear the end of it." Eddie: laughing, helping him "Nope, we would not."

[deadnatura11]

I think it would be funny - in a post-BT breakup, Buck still oblivious to his feelings about Eddie world - if there was an episode where Buck tries to manifest his perfect partner into existence, and every reference to this practice is immediately followed by Eddie just showing up.

For example:

"I'm waiting for the universe to send me a sign."

"A sign about what?"

"About my perfect match. If I manifest hard enough, maybe the universe will point me to where I need to go?"

"Buck, the universe doesn't just... hand out relationships or - or signs to people who want it bad enough!"

Cut to Eddie walking up the steps of the loft holding a package.

"The new signs you ordered for the loading bay just arrived Bobby."

"Perfect. Let's see what they look like."

Buck is still talking with Hen and Chimney while this is happening behind him.

"I know it won't be, like, the universe will point an arrow at someone going 'This Is the Love Of Your Life' but maybe I'll feel a certain energy in the air... or a spark?"

Eddie takes a sign from out the box.

"What do you think?"

"I think you're holding it wrong. The arrow should be pointed down, not up."

Eddie looks and sees the arrow pointing at him. "Yeah, don't need anyone thinking they can just park on my face."

Anyway the episode kinda plays like that for 44 minutes.

[911tvnews]

27 DAYS. 🐝🚨 #911onABC

[do-androids-dream-ao3acc]

Prompt: Tommy angst? 👁👄👁

I didn't know I needed this. But I did. And I loved it, so, thanks! I combined this prompt with one of my personal head canons that one poor soul on Discord agreed to talk with me about 😂 So, have Tommy angst (about Buck, of course) and the idea, that Tommy might not be so confident after all.

Kill the Pain Away

–– I was gonna hope to choke the fire I was gonna face up and let go Oh, I was gonna ally with the golden guising And by the light of dawn, I'd put my brave face on ––

That evening in Buck's loft was etched in Tommy's memory.

Yes, also because of their first kiss that started something Tommy hadn't expected, though he appreciated it all the more. Most of all, he couldn’t forget it because Buck, that inimitable man with his puppy eyes and this smooth face had managed to coax a secret out of him, and he had willingly revealed it. As he’d opened up, Tommy had meant every word: he had been jealous of the bonds the 118 found after his leaving. He still was, actually.

Never as much as now.

As a pilot, Tommy wasn’t able to just cancel his shift, couldn’t ask anybody to take over when he was already in the air. And so, while his thoughts were far, far below, he continued to circle above the city that seemed so much bigger than usual. And although he usually enjoyed escaping the hustle and bustle, would have exchanged the street for the clouds at any day, right now he wanted nothing more to be on solid ground. But right now, he couldn’t, and he had nothing but his thoughts and a text message he’d already stared at for about ten times. It was a tough shift, as it often was when air support was needed; it was hard to control the fire, but even harder to contain the one burning in his chest.

The text was from Hen, and he’d been wondering for half an hour whether she had only written because she felt she owed him. Those were dark thoughts, Tommy knew, but sometimes, they were unstoppable; especially up here, trapped in the cockpit which was meant to be his freedom. The message was terse, unemotional, yet it evoked so many emotions in him.

Buck injured during op. Heading to St Mary’s now.

Contrary to his fondness for Hallmark movies, Tommy wasn't interested in astrology, he didn't believe in fate and thought love at first sight was a beautiful but irrational myth. Meeting Buck, and more so, learning that the cool kid of the 118 was interested in him, had been... strange, and kind of overwhelming. As luck would have it, he made friends with Eddie very quickly, and both he and his boy mentioned Buck remarkably often. From this, Tommy gathered the man had taken his place at the 118 in an extraordinary way. They had only exchanged a few words during the breakneck rescue operation for Athena and Bobby, and when the next opportunity arose, Tommy was prepared to meet some kind of superman. Somehow Hen, Howard and even Bobby and Athena, who were adamant about thanking him personally, managed to weave Buck into every conversation.

Tommy was therefore surprised that the man turned out to be anything but one of the usual powerhouses, brimming with self-confidence; not one of those arrogant types who rush into every burning house but have no respect for their colleagues.

Buck looked like a surfer boy, but Tommy sensed that something was lurking behind this façade of sunshine. Something about Buck was purely Evan, and it was mesmerizing. 

Even more surprising for Tommy was to realize he was head over heels in love.

They had told him the man was a notorious womanizer, ironically they thought this was common ground, "you'll like him, you'll definitely have something to talk about, your exes". It was clear they meant women, because nobody in the 118 knew at this time. But Buck had sent out some very mixed signals in Tommy’s eyes, and yes, maybe he had been his gay awakening or some shit. Buck, at any rate, had been his awakening of sorts. Maybe Tommy was just a romantic deep inside, but this man, this man…

Tommy's radio crackled, and he bit his lower lip until it bled. Thinking of Buck distracted him, and that was irresponsible. How many times had his hand jerked to his phone, ready to answer the message, to ask questions, to beg for information. He hadn't done it because not only would it have been highly unprofessional; he shouldn't even have looked at the phone while he was on the job.

"10-19 for active units on scene, fire under control."

Tommy hastily tapped the intercom button, "Air support dismissed?"

"Copy that, air support dismissed."

Dispatch sounded almost cheerful, and perhaps there was reason to be – the fire was under control, according to the radio reports there were no casualties; these were the good, the satisfying jobs. Tommy, however, was anything but content. For the first time in a long time he wasn’t even interested in how the job had turned out. The cockpit was suddenly tighter than ever before, the ground much further away, and the loop he had to fly seemed to take so much longer. His hand gripped the controls so hard that his knuckles turned white.

That message could mean anything.

Anyone who was not interested in logic, in cool calculations, was not suited to be a pilot. In this respect, it was pointless to get carried away with what ifs. On the other hand, pilots without instinct were just machine operators. But his instincts weren't helping Tommy right now, except to remind him of all the things that could go wrong. Because one thing Buck really was: a fucking daredevil.

Tommy had experienced it once, during one of those dates that simply hadn’t happened because an incident had interrupted it. Every firefighter knew that a day off could very quickly turn into an emergency call-out. Like most in the services, they took it with humor, they collected the incidents and called them their overtime list, hours to make up for later in bed.

This one time, Tommy had happened to drive right past the accident on his way home, catching a glimpse of the 118 in action. Something inside him had struck a chord of wistfulness, but then he’d seen Evan. No, at that moment he had really just been Buck. Buck, who threw himself under a burning vehicle with a child trapped underneath.

Every firefighter suffered injuries at some point. They all had scars, and they were unduly proud of them. But some of them did not boast about the strength of the fire in which they were burned, nor about the weight of the steel that had trapped them. Some scars were rarely shown, and some were internal: all these were from saved lives. And Tommy knew what it was like to be the one to whom this happened. The one who was hurt. No one was really prepared for the pain, and no one liked to remember it. What Tommy hadn't known, however, was what it would be like to be on the other side. Anyone who got injured was afraid; a fact that was often left out of the bragging stories. But that kind of fear was completely different to the one he felt now, this fear was terrifying.

And how did this happen in the first place? A pair of blue eyes and a sunshine face, that wouldn't have been enough to penetrate his façade in the past. But somehow that's what it was all about. To look behind the guise. Making yourself vulnerable without hurting. Because what was really deep inside was beautiful, worth letting out and discovering –but it was still terrifying. He had only known the guy for a few weeks. Buck had stormed into his life, throwing himself into this crazy rescue operation with determination, a look in those pretty eyes that clearly said, you better get on with this, because I will walk through fire for these people.

There was something about him that magnetically attracted other people, and it wasn't just his handsome face or his sometimes awkward charm. Something about him had made a string in Tommy resonate that hadn't been tuned for a while. Something in Buck made people go through the blaze for him, too. Tommy would happily return to the fire that they had already successfully fought, would walk right through the embers if he had to, if only it was clear in the end that nothing had happened to Evan.

As the aircraft sank lower, he tried to relax his hand so as not to jerk the controls, but he couldn't stop his thoughts from wandering to that blank text message again and again. He had no regrets about leaving the 118; changing jobs had been the right decision at the time. But that dark voice inside him whispered that he should never have left, because these people were with Evan now, they had all the information they weren't sharing with him because he wasn't a part of them... That was irrational, after all, he would probably never have met Buck if he had stayed. He would never have met Evan. Evan, who had been hurt out there, probably in some reckless act; who may have been in pain, scared, but who wasn't alone.

Tommy, however, was alone, still high above the city, and as he got closer to the ground and the vehicles and people got bigger, he appeared to shrink. Would Buck even need him? What if everything wasn't so bad, and after all, his friends were with him… and Tommy, the onlooker, would get weird looks because he hadn't just called, hadn't just answered a message, but had rushed to the hospital with this panic in his eyes.

They had not yet given a name to what was between them. Tommy had been Buck's date for a wedding that had taken place unplanned in a hospital; and as they stood there, everyone had seen there was something, but what exactly? They hadn't suddenly turned up together wherever they went, hadn't picked each other up from work or introduced each other as "this is my boyfriend" at random meetings with friends. It was almost as if they had both navigated around this first, invisible cliff in their relationship.

So what if Buck thought it would be odd for him to show up at the hospital? After nothing but a few dates, far too few kisses and even fewer nights that Tommy remembered when the day was long and Evan was across town? Tommy wasn't part of the 118, and maybe not a real part of Buck.

He landed the aircraft mechanically, did the paperwork, answered questions and couldn’t have told how he got into his car. He didn't recall the trip to the hospital either, but he did remember putting on a confident, relaxed face in the elevator mirror.

They were all there, and his heart sank as cold fear crept up and down his spine.

Henrietta and Howard, whom they called Chimney for some inexplicable reason and who had somehow grown close to Tommy’s heart. The captain, Bobby, who made a more than just serious face. Ravi, who was no longer a probie, but was still busy getting coffee to distract himself or the others. Eddie, traces of dirt on his face, constantly scratching his arm, which looked suspiciously singed. Buck’s sister, Maddie, which was the most disturbing sight, because if she had managed to get here, things were serious. 

She was the first to catch sight of him, turning by chance as the elevator door opened, and then there was an expression flickering across her face that confused him, something he couldn't place. Howard's mouth formed a silent oh, as if surprised to see him, and Hen glanced first at Tommy, then at her phone. I shouldn't have come, Tommy thought, but everyone was here, and he wanted to be here, he wanted nothing more than to know what was going on.

He faltered, but started walking slowly towards them. Maddie suddenly approached him, touched his arm like some delicate flower and said, "Oh dear, I'm sorry, I should have called you."

Tommy's false smile of confidence crumbled.

"I assumed you were on call, you didn't answer," Hen said, who had somehow also appeared next to him, "I didn't want to worry you, so I kept it short."

Well, now you've got me worried, Tommy intended to say, because he recognized very well that she was using her first responder voice, the tone reserved for patients and relatives. Now he noticed that they were all surrounding him; it was frightening, but there was nothing but genuine concern on their faces.

"Buck already asked for you," Bobby said, and Tommy finally found his voice again.

"What's going on anyway?" he asked.

All of a sudden, the tension was released. He received encouraging pats on the back, was pushed to a seat, and Hen sat down with him and laid out in concise words a story he had heard many times before.

Tommy had known firefighters who kissed a St. Florian badge before a job, yet it rarely helped – things just went wrong sometimes. Someone stumbled over the hose, jammed the ladder or grabbed the axe at the wrong end. And sometimes a fire could not be contained, with a flame so bright you could no longer see, a roaring so deafening you could no longer hear. Then you were at the mercy of danger, and those were the missions that no one would forget. The ones where no lives could be saved, there were only casualties. It was bad, and it was reflected in every single face around him.

"But he's conscious?" Tommy asked, tuning out the list of injuries he had just heard, concentrating only on Bobby's words. Buck had asked for him.

Bobby and Hen exchanged a look, and Bobby said, "I'll ask the doctor if you can see him."

I'm not a relative, Tommy thought to say, but he could see in the other’s eyes that it didn’t matter. They were family, even if not by blood, and an unwritten law allowed emergency services to be with their wounded in times of need. And all of this screamed that he was a relative after all, at least in spirit. Maybe because he had been part of the 118 before, but maybe mainly because he belonged to Buck.

If that was true. If Buck wanted that, too.

But it seemed that everyone else accepted this, just as they included him in their care and concern. It was almost pleasant if he hadn't been so tense; so full of adrenaline, as if he was about to turn a corner of a building already burning brightly.

And then, again without knowing exactly how he had put one foot in front of the other, he stood in Buck's room. All of a sudden, the strain actually disappeared, as is often the case when reality has overtaken your worst expectations and you can finally focus on the truth. The truth was that Buck looked very young and very vulnerable amidst all the equipment and tubes and bandages, but the truth was also that he was alive; and as bad as everything was, he was going to get better.

Tommy pulled up a chair, sat down and grabbed Buck's hand without thinking. Did it matter if Buck actually wanted him? Perhaps a very selfish thought, because right now Tommy seemed to need this touch much more than Buck, who was asleep. It was a misjudgment, because those beautiful blue eyes opened, and even though his gaze wasn't completely focused, it was directed at Tommy.

"Evan," Tommy said softly, the name flowing from his lips as easily as the weight that was taken from his mind in that moment.

"I was wondering when my boyfriend was gonna show up," Buck mumbled sleepily, but with that inimitable grin that neither a few broken bones nor a bunch of painkillers could seem to take away from him.

Tommy's heart stumbled, but he smiled.

"It's not like I could interrupt a perfectly good job to console you for your lousy one."

"Console me now, think I need it."

"Call me your boyfriend again, and I might," Tommy said, while his mind kept repeating the truth: Evan wanted him.

"I've already bragged to all the nurses about my handsome boyfriend."

Buck’s voice got softer, his words choppier, but Tommy held his hand long after he fell asleep.

He had no intention of letting go of it anytime soon.

[mattzerella-sticks]

entendre (ao3 link)

Chimney asks Eddie a very innocent question: How's Buck's head?

Chimney first sought out Buck after arriving at the station. When Chimney couldn’t find him anywhere, he instead looked for Eddie. There was a higher-than-average chance for Buck to be wherever Eddie was. If Buck wasn’t glued to Eddie’s hip, then at least the other man might know where Chimney should search next.

               Eddie sat alone on the couch upstairs, until Chimney plopped down beside him.

               “Chimney,” Eddie said, closing his book. “Morning.”

               “Morning, Eddie.”

               “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

               “You know where Buck is?”

               “And you think I do?” Chimney hit him with a baleful stare. “I’m not his keeper.” He dialed up the intensity of his gaze. Eddie cracked. “…He’s doing a coffee run cause our machine broke.”

               “Our machine broke?”

               “B-Shift,” Eddie shrugged. He shifted in his seat, drawing his knee up and turning to better face him. “Why are you looking for Buck?”

               “Wanted to ask him something…” An impish grin crept itself across Chimney’s face as he eyed Eddie anew. “Though I guess I can ask you, too.”

               “Ask me what?”

               “How Buck’s head is?”

               If Eddie had been eating he would have choked. Had he been drinking Eddie would have spit it everywhere. Fortunately for Chimney, all Eddie could do in response to his question was shut down and then power back on as a spluttering, stuttering mess.

               After a few false starts and unintelligible muttering, Eddie finally squeaked out – “How would I know anything about that?”

               “Well, you saw him yesterday? Didn’t you?”

               “I did, but…” Eddie had lowered his voice now, glancing about the room. Only no one paid them any mind. “How do you know?”

               Chimney blinked. “Because Buck told me?”

               He mentioned it on his way out after babysitting Jee last night, when Chimney and Maddie were coaxing him to stay and let Chimney look over a nasty bump on the back of his head he got knocking his head into an open cupboard door because he and Maddie returned earlier than they planned and surprised him. “It’s fine,” he muttered. “I’m fine. I’m on my way to meet with Eddie, anyway. If it gets more serious he’ll handle it. You know how he is with this kind of stuff.”

               They let him go because they understood. If Eddie suspected there was more of an issue with Buck bruising his noggin, Chimney doubted Buck would even be working today.

               Still, Chimney had to ask. Maddie made him promise to report back to her before she let him leave that morning.

               What Chimney didn’t know was why Eddie would act squirrely about a diagnosis. Unless.

               “Shit,” he hissed. “Is it really bad? Is that why he’s out getting coffee?”

               “What? No! No…” Eddie paused, taking slow, deep breathes. With every rise and fall of his chest, his face grew less and less red. “He’s… it’s good. Really good. Seriously, there’s been no complaints here. The coffee and how he – and that… have nothing to do with each other.”

               “Okay?”

               Eddie leaned in closer, his heavy gaze locked with Chimney and setting alarms off in his brain. Why? Chimney could not think of a reason. “So?” he said so softly Chimney strained to hear him. “You know?”

               “Course I know,” Chimney replied. “I was there when it happened.”

               Eddie’s eyes bugged out wide. “The whole time and you didn’t say anything?”

               “It’s not like it happened all that long ago?”

               “And Maddie…?”

               “…Knows, too.”

               In an even more shocking progression to their conversation, Eddie releases what Chimney guessed was the most weighted sigh he ever saw him give and offered him the blinding white smile hiding behind it. “That’s great,” Eddie told him. “I’m glad you know. That someone knows.”

               “Knows what?”

               Buck had walked in at that moment, holding a cardboard tray with three coffees. He leaned forward and handed two of them away, one for Chimney and the other for Eddie.

               “You know what,” Eddie purred.

               Chimney gagged. “What?”

               Then Eddie, holding onto Buck’s wrist, guided his hand close and pressed a feather-light kiss against the knuckle as he accepted his drink.

               Buck flushed at a faster rate than Eddie had. “Eddie!”

               “It’s okay. It’s only Chimney.”

               “Yeah! Chimney!”

               “But he knows.”

               Buck rounded on him. “You know?”

               Chimney didn’t know what was happening earlier. But the pieces had come together pretty handily these past few seconds to inform him of the picture. A pretty obvious picture. How had he not known?

               “You two?” he gasped. His eyes bounced between a tomato-faced Buck and a slowly paling Eddie. “You’re –“

               “Chimney! Eddie!” Buck spoke over him. “I need your help fixing a wobbly bunk. Now!”

               Both men grabbed an arm and lifted Chimney from his perch and hustled him towards the bunks, with Chimney able to catch a quick glance of both Hen and Bobby looking at them with confusion. Not enough time to signal for help as his friends undoubtedly dragged him to the bunks to murder him and keep their secret safe.

               When Eddie shut and locked the door after them, neither man murdered him. Immediately.

               Though their desire to was palpable, especially with Chimney – practically shouting – “How long have you two been dating?”

               “Keep your voice down!” Buck whisper-yelled at him.

               “Dating! You two!” Chimney accused, “How long?”

               “A few months,” Eddie supplied. “But you said you knew –“

               “I didn’t say anything of the sort!”

               “You asked me how Buck’s head was?”

               “Yeah, because he –“ Chimney froze. He shuddered. “Why would you think I was asking you about that?”

               “I don’t know! That’s why I was caught so off guard!”

               “But why do you think I’d ever want to know about Buck’s sex life?”

               “I guess I – I thought it was you trying to be funny? To let me know that you knew…” Eddie clucked and cut his hand across the air. “Why were you asking about Buck’s head anyway?”

               “Because he hit it yesterday before he left my place.”

               “He did?” Eddie’s glare moved from Chimney to Buck. “You did?”

               “Buck didn’t tell you?”

               “In my defense,” Buck quickly spoke up, “it stopped hurting by the time I made it to your place.”

               “You drove while it was still hurting?”

               “It’s not like you asked me how babysitting went right away,” Buck scoffed. “No, you jumped me at the door, and conversation happened a few hours later.”

               Chimney gaped at them. “…Hours?”

               They had almost forgot about him. Almost. Of course Chimney’s fat mouth would draw them from the edge of a lovers’ spat.

               “You,” Buck prodded his chest. “Can’t say anything about this. To anyone.”

               “Even Maddie?”

               “Especially Maddie!”

               “…It’s not like she wouldn’t be happy for you.” He glanced to Eddie, “For both of you.”

               “It’s not because of that,” Eddie said. He ran his palm across his chin. “We know that there wouldn’t be any issue from… any of you.”

               “Then why keep it a secret?”

               Eddie didn’t answer. He looked for Buck to speak.

               “Because we’re still in the early stages of it. Navigating and… figuring shit out,” he explained. “Only Chris knows about us.”

               “And me.”

               “And you.” Buck squinted, his finger becoming sharper, thicker, as he poked the space above his heart. “So here’s what’s going to happen.”

               Chimney winced.

               “You’re keeping this secret for us, too, now. Got it?”

               He propped one eye back open. “That’s it?”

               “That’s it,” Buck nodded. “You say nothing until we’re both ready for people to know about us. Understand?”

               “Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.”

               Neither Buck nor Eddie appeared remotely confident in him.

               “I can do it!”

               “Promise.”

               “Yes, yes. I promise.” Chimney batted Buck’s finger off him and brushes the invisible print from his shirt. “Now can I go, or do Bert and Ernie have anything else they want to say?”

               He pushed his luck, he was aware, but the twin expressions of disdain were far too hilarious for Chimney to care. Chimney didn’t wait for their approval. He darted back into the main bay while tossing a saucy wink over his shoulder.

               So distracted, he nearly ran into Hen.

               “What was that all about?” she jerked a thumb at the bunk door, which had been closed yet again after Chimney sprinted away.

               “It’s kind of a funny story…”

               Chimney almost did it. He really did. If he hadn’t had caught himself, Hen would be in on the secret, too.

               But Buck and Eddie would never trust him with anything, ever, again.

               He sighed. “But Eddie and Buck explain it better,” he said, pushing the excuse onto them to imagine.

               She didn’t seem to believe him regardless. “You sure?”

               “Yeah.” He guided her up the stairs. “Let’s go see what Cap’s got cooking, huh?”

               Chimney will do his best to keep this secret. He’ll redeem himself from the last secret he tried to keep. Nothing will pry this from him – not even a bomber.

By the end of their shift, everyone knew about Buck and Eddie. But Chimney insisted it wasn’t his fault, even as Bobby led the two to his office for them to fill out paperwork.

               He had only told an innocent bystander trapped in her car, to keep her awake while the others fetched the saw and the jaws. Except, at the angle he laid inside the crunched plastic frame, his radio was accidentally pressed and the morning’s misunderstanding got broadcast to the entire squad.

               The key word – accidentally – being highly stressed.

               How was he supposed to know what happened? He didn’t find out his story was carried over the airwaves until they pulled the woman from her car, and he shimmied out after her, and once he was on his feet again Chimney caught Buck glaring his way, holding the saw and aiming it toward his neck.

               How was he supposed to know?

[cloudybuck]

my sister gave me a birthday gift— i actually screamed. the chokehold this piece of fanart has on me is actually insane and when i found it was coming in a sticker form?! i knew i had to have it!

thank u @timeshareindestin for keeping my little buddie heart alive during this winter hiatus! ❤️🥹