#bucks arm around eddies shoulders and buck just pauses and really Looks at eddie and dang those pain meds feel soo good and he’s too tired

[buckdiazlafd]

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[deans-angel67]

Bruises and Surprises

Summary: When Eddie is acting off and then comes home late Evan and Y/N start to worry. But when they find out why he's been acting off, it causes some problems.

Pairing: Eddie Diaz x fem!reader x Evan Buckley

Wordcount: 2.5k

Warnings: angst, fluff, swearing possibly, mentions of violence and injuries

A/N: This was inspired by @megalony Late Night Fights. I hope you guys enjoy this, thank you for the support.

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The four of them sat at Eddie's kitchen table that morning. Both Evan and Y/N had the day off, Chris was going over to a friends house for a sleepover today. And Eddie decided to pick up an extra shift at the fire house.

"You know you didn't have to take that shift Eddie." Y/N says as he pours coffee into a turmos mug. It was rare that the three of them had a day off at the same time. So naturally she was a little disappointed when Eddie said he chose to do an extra 12 hours.

"I didn't realize you were off today, I'm sorry mi amour." He says dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

"You got all your stuff ready Chris?" Chris nods at Eddie's question and then gets up to go grab his things.

"You know there's no harm in taking a day off right. I mean you've been working a lot lately." Evan pitches in concern evident in his voice. As he puts his mug down on the table.

"You should be taking better care of yourself Eds." She said putting a hand on her stomach, masking a slight discomfort that made it's appearance.

"You two are blowing this way out of proportion." Eddie had been acting off lately. He was shorter tempered and he had been picking up a lot of extra hours. He was tired and overall frustrated often. They were both a little worried. Y/N hadn't seen him act this way for a long time. She was getting really worried.

The last time Eddie had acted this way she ended up getting a call say that he needed to be bailed out of jail. But she hadn't seen any bruises or marks on him, maybe she was over reacting.

"Why don't you call in sick?" Evan proposed, only to receive a scoff from Eddie.

"I said I'd be there, Buck. Come on, Chris!" Eddie gave them both a quick kiss before his son finally entered the room. Y/N and Evan said goodbye to Chris and just like that the house became quiet.

"He's acting strange right?" She asked Buck, her hands wrapped around the mug as she stared at the dark liquid before glancing at him.

"Yeah, he is." Evan confirmed.

~~~

Y/N stood in the kitchen cutting vegetables for supper. Two hands made their way to her waist and then her front. Buck leaned his chin on her shoulder as she hummed along to the song playing.

"Why don't you go sit?"

"Babe, I'm fine." She told him pausing to look up at him, kissing him on the cheeks.

"You were sick all morning." He presses. She put the knife down and turned in his arms so she was facing him. Her hands came up to cup his jaw.

"I promis, I feel fine. Good even." She spoke softly giving him her full attention. He let out a sigh searching for something unusual in her features only to find nothing.

"You promis? And if you start to feel even a little off you'll go sit?"

"Yes baby, I promise." She gave him a sweet smile and a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, then let me help. What can I do?" Evan asked going over to the sink to wash his hands.

"You can take over cutting while I get started on the sauce." She took a pot out and placed it beside the one with water. They didn't get to cook together often. It was often Buck or Y/N never Eddie. They were scared they wouldn't have a kitchen by the end of it, or taste buds.

By the time everything was ready it was 8pm. Late compared to 'normal' hours but their schedule was so weird that they got used to eating at odd hours.

"Shouldn't Eddie be home by now?" Y/N asked looking up at Evan with worry.

"His call must have run late. It happens all the time." He reassured her wrapping a hand around her waist and hugging her, his head going down to her neck.

"We should wait for him."

They ended up eating an hour and a half later. Without Eddie.

It was 11pm when Y/N wanted to go to bed but was to busy paissing their living room.

"This can't just be a call Evan."

"Sweetheart-"

"Theres no way he has been on a call for over 3 hours!" He was also getting worried, he just didn't want to show it. It wasn't impossible, but another unit would have gotten there and they would have been able to go back to the station, and back home.

"Baby stop, please." He gently grabbed her arms stopping her movements.

"How about you go to bed-" she shook her head and open her mouth to protest but Evan stopped her.

"How about you go to bed and try to sleep, and I'll go down to the station and see what's going on." She let out a sigh, hesitating.

"Your exhausted and you have work in the morning, Sweetheart. I wasn't really asking." Evan made himself more clear. Her hands went to his biceps and his to her waist.

"Fine."

~~~

It was dark in the house when he came home. Using his hands to make sure he didn't run into anything.  When he reached the kitchen he turned the light over the sink on. He grabbed the first aid kit from the top of the fridge groaning from the pain it caused.

He took his shirt off letting it fall to the ground, he looked down spotting the dark bruises painting the various parts of his body. He took out some rubbing alcohol and cream setting them on the counter.

"Eddie?"

He turned around to find Y/N standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She was just about to fall asleep when she heard the front door.

"Baby where have you been? Why didn't you answer your phone?" She rushed forward only for her to stop a few feet away from him. A small gasp left her when she actually took the time to look at him.

"A call ran late, I'm sorry." He explained. She approached him gently running her fingure tips over a bruise on his stomach to which he winced.

"Eddie..." His name was spoken so softly he barely caught it.

"It was a rough one. It looks worse than it is, mi amour." He said, he put a hand on her arm trying to comfort her. But then she caught sight of his bloody and bruised knuckles. She took in a sharp breath standing up straighter. It all clicked in her head.

"You've been fighting again, haven't you?" She looked at him disappointment flooding her eyes.

"What? No, of course not." The slight hesitant in his voice told her otherwise.

"Edmundo, do not lie to me." She said angerly, tears welling up in her eyes despite her attempts to stop them. He took a deep breath closing his eyes and tilting his head slightly up.

He wasn't planning to do it again but a few weeks back an old buddy from back when he did illegal fighting contacted him. Said then needed someone because some guy left last minute. It was supposed to be a one time thing. But one turned to two, and two to three until it got out of hand.

"Baby-"

"Why!? Why would you possibly do that again?!" She was livid, rightfully so. She took a step back until she hit the kitchen island.

"It's complicated." He said looking back at her. Letting out a sigh, he didn't want to explain.

"Complicated? How could it be Complicated? This was in the past, we left it there, with the lawsuit, and the heartache and- and jail. We talked about this." 

"It's not the same. I'm careful I know what I'm doing." He tries to explain, but it wasn't good enough.

"You also knew what you where doing when you broke that guys nose!" She yelled, not hearing the front door over their arguing.

"That's not fair."

"Look at yourself!" He swallowed hard. He was littered with cuts and bruises. He knew he shouldn't come home looking like this.

"Eddie?" Evan stood at the other end of the kitchen, his voice caused them both to look over at him.

Y/N kept a concern look on her face but a weight on her shoulders was lifted knowing that Buck was home and okay, it was one less thing to worry about. Eddie seemed surprised, he though Evan was sleeping.

"Thank God, your okay. I've been looking everywhere for you." Evan drops his keys on the counter and rushed to hug his boyfriend. Y/N letting out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

Eddie inhaled sharply as Buck hugged him and winced. He returned the affection and then pulled away a little.

"Buck." It was strained and said through gritted teeth because of the pain. When he finally pulled away he got a good look at Eddie.

"What the hell happened?" He said anger in his tone. When no one answered he turned to his girlfriend for help.

"You don't talk about fight club right?" She said sarcasticly causing Eddie to roll his eyes.

"What?" Bucks face filled with confusing looking between the two.

"He's fighting again." She explained moving to the other side of the island to create space between her and the boys.

"What!? Why?" He turns to Eddie brows furrowed, he wasn't there when he did the fights in the past. Y/N was. He had heard of some of them from her, like the one where he broke a guy's nose so bad he choked on a piece of cartilage.

"Can we please not have this conversation again." Eddie felt like they were going around in circles, and it didn't help when his girlfriend just pick up the conversation where they left off when Evan arrived.

"They know what there doing as much as you do. How do you know how it's going to end? Next time it could be you, and they won't stay to help you, they'll leave you there." She didn't want to fight with her boys tonight, not with all the stress that she was under. Today was supposed to be a good day, and it only seemed to take a turn for the worst.

"Y/N-"

"She's right, I thought you were donne with it Eddie." Evan cuts in, concern and confusion evident on his face and in his voice.

"Apparently not." She muttered her hand rubbing her temple

"Do you know how much you scared us tonight?" Evan tried to make him understand. Y/N started to feel a slight discomfort, but she was unsure from what.

"I'm sorry." He really did feel bad, he knew he was extremely late. The missed phone calls and texts were unlike him.

He fished his phone from his pocket and set it on the counter. The screen was shattered and the back metal panel was missing a few pieces falling out of the phone as he sets it down.

"Eddie you can't start doing this again, I wasn't there when you did it before but Y/N told me it got pretty brutal." Evan explained his concern about his past, scared that it might repeat.

"Look it's just a few fights, and they help. I come home and I'm not angry or impatient." Eddie tried to reassure them but it wasn't working. He ran a hand through his hair.

"No, you come home bloody and bruised. Like thats any better." Y/N pitched back in sarcasm lassed in her voice. A hand going to her stomach now understanding where the discomfort came from

"Eddie you can't keep doing this, not after tonight." Evan almost pleaded.

"You don't get it!" He argued back, getting more frustrated by the minute. Y/N winced gripping the counter with her free hand.

"Then explain." Evan continued to try and reason with him but nothing seemed to work.

"I can't!" Eddie shouted, the two boys to engrossed in their argument to see the clear pain their girl was in.

"This isn't healthy, I though you talked about it with your therapist." Buck continued to try and understand.

"Evan-" He was cut off by Y/N.

"Uhh! Will you two stop!" She was hunched over, one hand still on the counter for support the other on her stomach. A pained look on her face.

"Y/N?" Eddie turned to her and took a few steps in her direction.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Evan was extremely concerned. He rounded the island and stood beside her placing a hand on her hip.

"You two are stressing me."

"Mi amour, that can't be stress." Eddie gently rubs circles into her back.

"Since when does stress cause you pain?" Evan asked, she stood back up straight.

"Since I've been pregnant."

They both look at each other, wanting to have confirmation they heard the same thing.

"Pregnant?"

"Baby, are you sure?"

"I was hoping for a little more excitement boys." She remarked.

"Okay, how about we get you to the couch?" Eddie spoke looking at Evan.

Once she was seated on the couch the boys sat on either side of her.

"How long have you known?" She looked over at Buck and took a deep inhale.

"A week." She leaned back until her back hit the couch and looked between the boy. Trying to see both their reactions.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I was going to, but you both have such a hectic work schedule that I was trying to find the right time. And then Eddie decided to work today so... This isn't how I wanted to tell you." She looked down at her hands in her lap.

She had spent so much time trying to plan the perfect moment. Tonight was gonna be it over some dinner the three of them. So they could figure out how to tell Chris together. But everything went wrong, it usually did with them. The execution was terrible, but the result was always good. Buck set a hand on her shoulder squeezing slightly to give her a little comfort.

"Where does it hurt?" Eddie asked concern painted on his face.

She looked over at him and set her hand on her lower stomach to show him. He reached over lifting her shirt a little and pressing a hand in different areas. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"I'm sorry baby." He apologized glancing between her and Evan. He hated that he had cause this. The stress and pain. He never wanted this to happen.

"It's just you two are constantly risking your life at work. I don't-"

"Hey, I get. I won't go to the fights anymore, I swear." Eddie stopped her to explain. He understood how much this meant to her to both of them. She gave him a small smile before it turned to a frown when she spotted Evan leaning down to be slightly above her stomach

"Now, you gotta stop giving trouble to your mom little guy." She let out a giggle running her hand in his hair only to lift his face and give him a kiss

"I don't think thats how it works Buck."

[spidermans-l-o-v-e-r]

Finish Line

Pairing: Eddie Diaz x Buck x Reader

Word Count: 4.8k

Notes: Hmmm….. this is a good one🤣🤣 obviously this is not true bdsm care please don’t think it is. But like I really cracked my knuckles with this one like?!! Good work me

“I’m just saying, Age of Extinction was total ass,” You say as you unlock the door to the loft and push it with your shoulder 

“No literally! We wasted so much-“ 

You and Eddie stop at the front door, Buck is on the couch, his head tilted to the side, his face twisted in confusion as he stares at the TV. You do a double take as you’re sure you can clearly hear someone being absolutely railed

With the loudest, fakest, moans any of you have heard 

Eddie pushes you the rest of the way in and practically slams the door shut behind you 

“Dude?! What are you doing?!” 

You set the grocery bags on the counter and come running over to Buck on the couch, a giggling mess. 

“Whaaaat is going on??” 

“I didn’t mean to pay for this I fucking swear but I did on accident and I was like fuck okay I’ll watch it I paid for it and how the fuck is she doing that?!” He points to the woman on the screen and your mouth drops open. Eddie walks over and covers your eyes 

“Buck!! Not in front of the children!” 

You slap his hands away from your face and roll your eyes 

“I do that pose in yoga anyway” You mutter as you turn to walk away but you’re stopped in your tracks by Eddie putting his arm around your waist and Buck pausing the movie 

“I’m sorry, you do what now?” 

“I’ve been doing yoga for years” You shrug “That’s called “King Pigeon” I’m pretty sure” 

You look it up as Buck hits play and one man absolutely rails her as she sucks off the other guy beneath her 

“Yeah see” You show them and they nod slowly 

“And you- you can do that?” Buck's voice is a little squeaky 

“I mean yeah, it took a long time to be able to do it though!” 

“Can-“ Eddie crosses one arm over his torso and bites his knuckles “Can we see it?” 

“Sure!” You unbutton your jean shorts and kick them to the side before removing your top 

“Can’t do it in those pants and you know I just thought I’d give you a thrill with my shirt off” you wink as you walk over to the side of the entertainment center and grab your yoga mat. Buck pauses the video again and they both focus on you intently as you roll out your mat and do a few stretches 

“Alright, one King Pigeon coming up.” You get on your knees and carefully start to bend backward, stretching properly as you get into position. You wiggle your toes as you grab your heels 

“Tada!!!” 

You hear the shutter of the camera and snort, staying completely still 

“You got your pictures?” 

“I’m going to draw clothes on you,” Buck says “But holy shit Y/N” 

“I can see why he wanted her in that position” Eddie mumbles and you hum softly, your interest peaked 

“I heard that Diaz,” you say as you slowly come out of the position, placing your palms flat on the floor as you let the blood in your head go back to where it’s supposed to 

“Are we gonna try that position? I feel like we’re gonna try it” Buck says as they both stand over you. You look up, biting your lip and smirking 

“Hi” you giggle dumbly and put the tip of your finger in your mouth 

“Jesus Christ” Eddie laughs as he walks away “You’re ridiculous”

Buck shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest “I’m horny as fuck and we’re getting nowhere… I think she’s got a great idea here”

Eddie looks at them as he starts putting the groceries away “You always think she’s got a point when she’s on her knees” 

You crawl closer to Buck, sliding your hands over his thighs “I’ve got an idea” 

Buck looks down at you dreamily “Anything you want Princess” 

“I told you not to indulge her” Eddie’s voice comes from the bottom cabinet 

“What if we had a little race?” 

Buck stops for a second, and so does Eddie. He places his hands on the counter in front of him 

“Go on”

“First one to cum wins,” You say, getting up and going to the couch, you drape yourself over it, putting one leg over the back and one foot on the floor, your body on display 

Eddie comes over, cracking a beer and handing one to Buck 

“You know what I think is a better idea?” He unbuckles his belt with one hand and steps in front of you, nodding at you to help pull his pants down. You lick your lips and do as he says while Buck takes a long swig 

“I think whoever cums first loses… the consequences? Well. I think I’ll keep those to myself for now” He cups your chin in his hand, tilting it upward 

“That sound good to you?” 

Buck comes over and takes your hand, putting it on his belt and you hurriedly undo it, pushing them down over his hips 

“O-okay” 

Eddie takes the remote and switches over to your guys' favorite video, the one none of you ever make it to the end of. He hooks his thumbs in his boxers, pulling them down slowly, letting his cock spring out. Your mouth is already watering 

“So we all go until one of us loses?” Buck does the same, tossing his boxers to the side 

“Mhm” you nod slowly, dreaming of just getting your hands on them 

Eddie goes to grab lube from upstairs and Buck plops on the couch next to you, reaching over and stroking your thighs 

��So like when you lose, I promise I’ll go easy on you” 

Your mouth drops open and you slap his hand away “When you lose I promise to give you back your soul once I’m done sucking it out!” 

Eddie hands you each a bottle and smirks “When you both lose I promise I won’t laugh” 

He sits down in the chair and gets comfy, putting his feet up on the coffee table and hitting play on the movie. 

It’s easy at first, keeping your hands off. Buck is the first to break, pouring the lube into his hand and sighing as he grabs his cock, stroking slowly. You giggle and he glares at you, reaching over and smacking your clit. You gasp loudly, snapping your legs shut and bat at his arm 

“Eddie!! He’s cheating!!!” 

Buck snickers and rolls his eyes “You’re such a fucking baby” 

“Your mom’s a fucking baby” You stick your tongue out at him and he’s on you faster than you can blink. He kisses you hard, sinking you further into the couch, and grinds down on you roughly, his cock slipping easily through your folds. You hold him to you for a minute, your eyes rolling back in your head before Eddie clears his throat. You snap back to reality and shove Buck away 

“Eddie!!” You shriek and he lets his head fall back against the chair as he bursts out laughing 

“Buck that’s totally not fair”

“In theory- hear me out-“ He puts his hands up, pointing at Eddie “I was grinding on her thus also cheating myself” 

Your mouth falls open as Eddie shrugs at you “He’s right” 

“You guys suck!!” You huff as you turn on your side and start pouting 

“I mean we could if you wanted” Buck wriggles his eyebrows and you kick his leg. 

It’s another half hour before any of you say anything, and the video is starting to get to your favorite part. You gulp, shifting a little and both Buck and Eddie look over at you for a second 

Your hand snakes between your legs and suddenly it’s all both men can look at. Their prized possession, because they both owned you. Mind, body, and soul. Eddie gives Buck a nod and they both let go of their cocks, you’re too busy watching the screen to notice, your fingers working your clit slowly. 

It’s your favorite part, when the first guy lays on top of the woman, making out with her before sliding his cock in, he pumps a few times as she moans, the wet sounds of their bodies slapping together. The other guy comes over, rubbing the first guy's ass before sinking his cock inside him. The harder he thrusts into him, the harder the middle guy thrusts into the woman on the bottom. It’s got you practically drooling as they go at it, his hips jackhammering in and out as she screams below them. The top guy pulls out and you’re moaning in time with her as she’s rolled onto the middle guy's chest and he stuffs his cock in her ass now. Your fingers speed up as she’s double penetrated, her eyes shutting as she holds onto the man on top of her, clawing at his back as he plows into her. It drives you crazy when Buck and Eddie fill you like that, stretching you so much you can’t walk the entire next day and they have to carry you 

You don’t notice Eddie coming over to sit on the armrest and glaring at you with a predatory gaze. Your leg opens up, your soaked pussy on display for them as you touch yourself, whimpering as you get closer. You slide your fingers through your folds before slipping them into your tight hole, feeling it grip them as you stroke that little spongy spot that makes your toes curl 

Buck looks up at Eddie and Eddie looks over at the video, they both know what’s about to happen next and exactly what’s about to happen to you. Buck moves a little, facing you now and crouching down a bit, like a tiger about to pounce on its prey 

Because that’s all they ever saw you as most of the time. Prey. 

The woman on the screen screams out as she’s cream-pied in both holes by the men at the same time and Buck pounces, ripping your hand away and shoving you flat on your back. Eddie stands over you while Buck’s mouth attaches to your clit, sucking as his fingers plunge in and out of you. Your back arches off the couch as you scream, grinding against Buck’s mouth as he drinks your sweet nectar. Groaning loudly while you cum over his tongue 

Your entire body feels like jello as he sets you back down and reaches for Eddie. Eddie gets down on his knees and Buck grabs his chin, spitting in his mouth before kissing him, passing your juices back and forth in a messy kiss

You stare at them, dazed and incredibly satisfied. Not really caring much that you came first 

Until you remember.

You don’t know the consequences of losing. 

Your heart starts pounding harder for an entirely different reason as you shakily get up 

“I-I have to go pee,” You say and Eddie pulls away long enough to give you a look 

“Hurry up” 

It’s short and demanding as he goes back to kissing Buck, who’s grinding their cocks together. 

You take a little more time than necessary, splashing cool water over your face and just trying to get your anxiety to calm down, because what the hell is Eddie about to do, and what is Buck one hundred percent gonna go along with?

You walk out of the bathroom and the boys are gone, you gulp as you look around. You’re just turning around from the kitchen when you look up, Eddie is standing at the top of the stairs. He gives you a little come here motion and you make your way to the bottom of the stairs 

“Hi” you wave shyly and he looks down at you, crossing his arms over his chest 

“Hello little one” He purrs and you know that voice and that name and god are you fucked. Buck appears next to him, biting his lip

“C’mere Bunny. We just wanna play” 

You walk up the stairs slowly, your legs are jelly, your heart is basically in your ass, and you’re starting to sweat. 

A nice Eddie is a dangerous Eddie. 

A wolf Buck is a dangerous Buck. 

“Sir” and “Daddy” let you walk past, eyeing you hungrily as you stare at the bed. The cuffs are hanging there, pink and fluffy, and there’s an assortment of toys at the end of the bed 

“Lie down” Eddie instructs and you do as you're told, putting your arms up and looking at Buck as he fastens them. You give him the sweetest, cutest, wettest, eyes you can muster

“Daddy?” You whimper and Buck nearly caves right there before anything is even started 

“Don’t you dare! She came up with the game herself!” Eddie yanks Buck away and he tumbles onto the mattress whining 

“Why do you have to play so dirty bunny?!” 

Eddie finishes tying you down, including carefully tying your legs together which is definitely new 

“Is this comfortable?” he asks as he finishes the knot and you nod 

“Yes sir… why-“

“That’s the surprise” He interrupts you as Buck messes with some stuff on the bed that you can’t see 

“I know this is also a new position, so if you’re that nervous I’d be glad to tell you what we’re about to do. But only if you feel you need to know, I want you to be honest with me”

You sigh, taking a minute to consider your options, you’re not sure why your thighs are tied together if it’s not really bothering you in that way. So you shrug and give him a little thumbs-up 

“I’m okay. I can wait” 

“Good, Now remember your safe word?”

Buck comes over to sit on the other side of the bed and you look at him, batting your eyelashes. He rolls his eyes and smirks as he strokes your side 

“He asked you a question”

You look at Eddie who’s got a little glare on his face and smile sheepishly 

“Hugh Jackman” You snort and Buck giggles because he absolutely came up with that and Eddie rolls his eyes 

“You two are ridiculous. Are you ready?” 

Buck holds up a small pink toy, waving it at you and you look at it suspiciously

“Yes Sir” 

He nods over at Buck who smiles cruelly, you hear the toy click on, vibrating in his hand as Eddie comes over and kneels on the bed, he taps your lips with his cock, still hard and flushed red from earlier. 

“Open up pretty girl” 

You eagerly open your mouth moaning around his cock as he moves his hips slowly in and out of your mouth.

“Jesus you feel good” He groans as you suck his cock, your tongue dragging over the thick vein running through it. You’re so distracted by Eddie that you don’t realize Buck's hands feeling your thighs, not until you feel that weird toy he had suddenly sucking at your clit. 

You writhe beneath Eddie suddenly shaking your head and he slaps your cheek. Your eyes widen as you stop squirming and he holds your face 

“Concentrate on the important things Y/N” 

He leans over you, forcing his cock further down your throat and you choke for a minute, your hips coming off the bed as Buck turns the toy up and Eddie smacks your cheek again, giving you light taps so you’ll look at him 

“Hey, hey, hey breathe. Focus on breathing. And remember, bite if you seriously need me to stop” You nod at him, giving him two thumbs up and he goes right back to fucking your face, his hips thrusting faster as he moans. 

“Fuck I love when she sounds like that,” Buck says as he turns the vibrator up again, and your body jolts 

“You want a turn?” Eddie turns to him and he shrugs, getting up 

“Yeah why not” 

They switch places, Eddie pulls away from you, laughing at your blissed-out face and the string of drool as he slaps your tits with his cock. 

“Be careful with her, you know how excited you get” 

“She can take it” Buck doesn’t waste time, immediately pushing his cock past your lips and leaning forward as he fully stuffs his cock down your throat 

“Jesus fuckin-“ he holds it there for a minute because he really doesn’t want to cum that fast. But he loves choking you on his cock and he’s knows it’s hopeless. He shifts himself, straddling your shoulders and Eddie shakes his head 

“You’re gonna cum” 

“You think I care?” He looks down at your pretty face, your makeup running, your mouth stretching to accommodate his size, your glazed-over eyes. He smirks as he pinches your nose shut and you shake your head back and forth, he moans hopelessly as fucks your face harder. He holds the sides of your head, his eyes shutting as he listens to the wet choking noises 

“You gonna swallow it for me bunny? Gonna swallow every last drop?” his voice is breathy and heavy with lust as he growls, shooting his load down your throat, he lets go of your nose and you gasp in air as he pulls away, spilling his cum all over your face. He flops back on the bed and you tug at the restraints, your body completely overwhelmed 

“I-I’m I’m gonna-“ 

Suddenly the suction toy is taken away and your mouth drops wide open, you buck your hips uselessly, trying to follow Eddie’s hand as he sets the toy down, but he just pushes your hips back onto the bed 

You nearly cry as he adjusts the ropes on your thighs and smacks your throbbing pussy 

“Awww but you’ve already cum little one, remember? You’ve already had your turn!” He smiles sadistically as he grabs a washcloth from a little bowl on the side of the bed, wiping your face clean 

“You wanna pick another one babe?” He looks at Buck who blindly stretches his arm out and grabs another toy. Eddie takes it from him, a large purple wand

“Ooh, this one’s double-sided!” He pulls the ropes back, clicking the toy on and spreading your soaked folds. He slots the toy in the ropes and pushes it right against your clit 

“No! No please no!” You’re nearly crying as the toy is trapped between your legs vibrating against your clit. You curl into yourself your hips grinding down on it as you make a high-pitched whining noise and Buck laughs 

“Awwww, you poor little baby. You need help?”

“Daddy, please, please Daddy” You’re begging now, feeling that coil tightening up in your belly again 

“She’s right Eddie, we should give her clit some rest. It’s double sided right?” 

“No- that’s- that's not what I me-“

Buck turns on the wiggling function and you scream as he sinks it deep in your pussy. You nearly roll over, fucking the air helplessly and they both laugh at you

Eddie comes over to the end of the bed, kisses up Buck’s torso, and opens his legs, laying between them 

“Since she’s oh so busy…” He looks at you, rolling your hips helplessly and you tug at your restraints again 

“And seeing as how I’m the last one to cum” He whispers in his ear, lining his cock up with his hole. Buck opens his legs more, wrapping them around Eddie’s waist 

“She’s about to cum” He murmurs, kissing Eddie slowly Eddie reaches over, pulling the vibrator from you, watching as you clench around nothing and scream in frustration 

“How did you know that!!” You squeak out as he tosses that toy aside and grabs a rose with a longer tongue than normal 

“I know your body better than you do gorgeous” He winks as Eddie traps the rose between your legs and the ropes, he pulls away from Buck for a moment and smiles when he whines. 

“For your own safety, since we’ll be busy” He frees your hands and pins them above your head 

“But if you touch yourself… even once” his voice is deep, threatening “I will make you pay for that… you understand me?” 

You gulp, biting your lip “Y-yes sir”

“Good girl. Now sit up and watch us” He winks before going back to Buck who captures his lips eagerly, running his fingers through his fluffy dark hair and tugging roughly. Eddie lines his cock back up again and thrusts into him, his head falling onto his shoulder 

“Fuck you feel so good” he moans lowly as his hands grip Buck's hips. Your mouth drops open as you watch your boyfriends going at it, Eddie pushes Buck's legs up to his chest, his cock plunging in and out harder each time as they both completely ignore you and the way you’re struggling against the ropes 

Eddie chases after his own high now, an animal-like lust taking over as his hips snap into Buck’s over and over again. His hands slide over his hard body, stretching across the gorgeous plains of smooth skin, enjoying the way his body flushes with need. 

“That’s my good boy… take this cock” 

You fall over onto your side, panting harshly, as you watch Buck wriggle and moan under Eddie, he looks over at you, reaching for you and you take his hand 

“You wanna cum now baby bunny? Hm?” He looks just as blissed out as you do as Eddie fucks him, his thighs slapping against Buck’s 

“P-please Daddy please I can’t take it a-anymore” 

“Too fucking bad” Eddie pulls your hands apart and pins Buck’s against his chest 

“Not until I’m done” his breath hitches, his thrusts becoming sloppy. Buck arches his back, his legs wrapping tighter around Eddie’s waist and shoving him in deeper 

Eddie reaches over, turning your toy up all the way and you scream again, rolling over and trying to grind yourself into the bed, your body moves in sync with Eddie as he cums in Buck, slamming his hips into him and holding it there, letting out a loud growl as he falls over onto him, still slowly, sloppily thrusting. 

Buck cums just as hard, thick, hot ropes splash over his chest as he cries Eddie’s name, his hips thrusting into nothing.

“I think I’m in love” He smiles deliriously and Eddie laughs, nuzzling his head into Buck's shoulder 

“Yeah me too” 

They both finally look over at you, panting harshly. The toy is still going and you’re on your back again, your legs bent, you don’t even look coherent anymore. 

“I think we killed her” Buck mumbles and Eddie coos at you while pulling out of Buck. Your eyes go down to the way tendrils of his cum drip between the two of them. It’s messy and it’s hot. 

“Awww I’m sorry baby girl did we forget about you?” He pulls the toy away and your body shudders under his touch. Your body taught and overly sensitive 

Buck rolls over gingerly and helps Eddie untie you, your limbs relax as they rub them gently, working out any soreness. Your eyes follow each move, they’re so slow and dazed 

“Can you even speak?” Buck chuckles as he rubs your thigh, nuzzling his nose against it. He can smell your sweet arousal, dripping and never released. You’ve practically made a little puddle underneath you. He kisses across your thigh, burying his nose against your clit and inhaling slowly 

“Fucking hell” He moans, languidly lapping at your clit. It’s so puffy and overstimulated at this point all you can do is cry, the tears fall and you cover your face, sniffling into your hands 

“What did we say about covering those pretty tears…” Eddie pulls your hands away, leaning down and kisses your tears, licking them away as he holds your chin in his hand 

“You deserve a present” He whispers in your ear “Doin' so fucking good. You haven’t cum once…” 

You look up at him, a little whimpering noise coming from your throat and he smirks, laying down on his back and maneuvering you on top of him with Bucks help. Eddie’s cock, still creamy with his earlier release slides into your ass with ease. He groans deeply, holding you there for a minute before Buck crawls in front of you two 

“You ready baby girl? It’s your turn” Buck gets on his knees, stroking his cock and tapping it against your poor abused clit. You reach out for him and he grins, leaning down over you and kissing you. He holds your face like Eddie had, pulling away a bit and spitting in your mouth 

“God you look so fucking stupid” He whispers, kissing down your sternum “Like a sweet little whore, just waiting to be used….” 

“We should get her in a glory hole one day” Eddie snickers as Buck rubs your thighs, spreading them slowly and lining his cock up with your entrance. He pushes the tip in, feeling you suck him in greedily 

“God that would be the dream, seeing her full of cum?” Buck sighs and thrusts into you, causing you to cry out, finally making a noise 

“What if we got that fake cum stuff and just… covered her in it?” Eddie thrusts after him and they start a smooth rhythm, thrusting in sync 

“I’ll look into it” Buck agrees as he captures your nipple in his mouth, sucking on the hard little nub and massaging the other. Eddie reaches over to the pile of toys and grabs a little riding crop. He hands it to you and grabs your tits, squeezing them together 

“Make him go faster” He whispers in your ear and Buck looks up just in time for you to bring it down on his ass. He gasps, his hips speeding up immediately and Eddie laughs wickedly 

“You’re such a good little doll” 

He speeds up in time with Buck and soon all three of you are moaning, it doesn’t take long, as soon as Buck's hand comes down on your clit you’re screaming for them, your back arching off of Eddie’s chest, squeezing his cock tighter as you squirt wildly, your juices dripping down the front of Buck’s body. The second you explode he does too, cumming in you at the same time Eddie cums in you with a shout. 

You’re so overstimulated you keep coming, over and over as Buck and Eddie ride out their highs inside you. You desperately cling to Buck, clawing deep into his back, his grip on your hips is bruising, leaving sweet purple marks of how hard they’d been fucking you and torturing you

Buck pulls out of you with a wet pop and you fall off Eddie and onto the bed, sobbing into the blankets

Eddie pulls you into his arms, chuckling softly and rubbing your back as you cry into his arms. 

“Awww lo siento mi vida… did we go too far?” 

Buck comes around and lies on the other side of you, his body conforming to yours and wrapping his arms around your torso 

“You need anything?” He mutters into your neck, rubbing your thighs and you shake your head, wiping at your eyes 

Eddie pulls away from you long enough to get your favorite blanket and the teddy bear you keep next to Buck’s from his childhood so they can be friends. He stops for a minute and rolls his eyes, grabbing Bucks too. 

He eases back into your arms and hands you the bear as Buck pulls the blanket over you, tucking you in. 

“You okay baby girl?” Buck holds his bear up to your face, giving you little kisses and you snort, hiding your face in Eddie’s chest 

“I’m not a baby!” 

“You’re our baby,” Eddie says, tilting your head up and kissing your nose “Now accept your teddy kisses” 

You facepalm and awkwardly turn on your back, taking the teddy bear and giving it a big dramatic kiss 

“Happy?” You look at them and Buck kinda giggles a little, shaking his head 

“Okay. Hear me-“

“Shut the fuck up” Eddie reaches over beating him with the pillow and Buck screams, yanking it from him 

“You have the fucking audacity when I caught you jerking off into her third favorite pair of yoga pants that she’d taken off with her underwear to go shower!” 

Eddie’s mouth drops wide open because those had been ruined that day and neither man would own up to it or tell on the other and you’d received four new workout sets as an apology and enough orgasms to forget all about it

“You did what?!?!!” You whirl on Eddie and Buck screams, already running down the stairs 

“I’m gonna kill you!” 

[steddieas-shegoes]

fired up

for @steddieholidaydrabbles prompt 'fireplace'

all of my holiday drabbles will be from the bear hugs universe. many of them could probably be read standalone, but will make the most sense and be enjoyed best if you read that first!

rated e | 694 words | no cw | tags: rushed handjobs, domestic fluff, modern au

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“Shit, Eddie, wait.”

Eddie’s too busy nipping at Steve’s neck to stop, but he does slow down. He hums for Steve to continue.

“Can’t do it on the floor,” Steve gasps as Eddie’s tongue circles a bruise he left on his shoulder the night before.

“Not gonna,” Eddie groans as he picks Steve up, still sore from doing a summer goalie camp a few days ago. He’s getting too old for the level he’s trying to participate with his players, but you won’t see him stopping. “Fireplace is right here.”

The brick is hard under Steve’s ass, and he’s getting too damn old to be fucking around on hard surfaces. Eddie makes him do stupid shit though; He always has.

“They’ll be here in a few minutes,” Steve reminds him.

Robin, Chrissy, and Rory are on their way to the house from Christmas shopping, and most likely will walk right in. The last thing they need is for Steve or Eddie to be naked in the living room when they do.

“Then you better come in less than that,” Eddie bites down hard on his nipple— when did he even get there?— and his hand rubs over Steve’s clothed cock.

“Fuck, Eddie. I can’t-“

“You think I didn’t notice you being on edge the entire car ride home?” Eddie asks as he breathes against his skin, licking the nipple he’d just tried to bite through. “I saw the way you shivered when my hand touched your thigh. I saw the wet spot on your pants from your dick leaking.”

Steve whines. Eddie’s good at taking him apart quickly, with words, with hands, with tongue.

His hand presses down harder and Steve bucks up into it. He’s close already and he doesn’t care that he shouldn’t be because Eddie is smiling at him in that knowing way that’s filled with love and promises.

He lets his head fall back and winces when he hits brick.

“Okay?” Eddie pauses to check in.

“Good. Don’t stop,” Steve moans.

“Not gonna.”

Eddie’s kissing him, tongue licking into his mouth so he can take the noises from Steve’s mouth, steal his breath like he’s been doing since they were teenagers whether they realized it or not.

His hand is relentless, and it shouldn’t be so hot. Steve feels the heat coiling in his stomach as he walks that fine line before toppling over the edge.

Lights flash across the room and both of them pause.

They hear a car engine.

“Better come now or you’ll be waiting a while,” Eddie says as his hand starts rubbing over Steve again. “Probably until tomorrow.”

“Please,” Steve begs, as if Eddie’s the one who can make him come faster. He’s already doing everything he can.

Eddie laces his fingers through Steve’s hair and tugs.

Steve comes with Eddie’s name on his lips and the fireplace grate falling over from his arm flying behind him to steady himself. Eddie is laughing. Steve is whimpering through the shockwaves, riding his high for as long as he can.

Car doors close and he can hear voices, familiar ones.

Eddie pats over the wet stain spreading across the front of his pants.

“Better hit the showers, baby. You made a mess.”

Steve groans.

The front door unlocks.

Steve rushes to the bedroom so he can do exactly what Eddie suggested.

“Daddy, look at what I got for dad!” He hears Rory yell as he starts the shower and strips his clothes off.

He tunes out the rest because he doesn’t want to ruin his own gift, but it’s hard not to rush out there and take a peek.

He strips, wincing as he peels his sticky underwear down. They really need to plan better so he doesn’t have to deal with wet material clinging to his over sensitive dick.

Then again, half the reason this was so hot was because it wasn’t planned.

Maybe next time they can at least set the pillows down on the floor in front of the fireplace.

He’ll figure it out.

For now, the bed looks especially cozy and soft and he can’t wait to take Eddie apart in it later.

[chronicowboy]

"Hey, Buck, you busy tonight?"

It's just the two of them in the locker room. They'd stuck behind to shower off their shifts whilst Hen had rushed home to relieve Karen of baby duty and Chim had sped off for a cake tasting appointment Maddie has been worryingly strict about.

"Yeah, man." Buck tugs on his jacket, watching Eddie fasten his watch out of the corner of his eye. For a moment, he's back at the tailend of an endless shift, blackout over, watching Eddie piece together a breakup in real time. The image of it sends a thrill through him as confusing as it is satisfying. He bites down on it and tastes blood. "Movie night? Like the old days? Or does Young Mr Diaz have another social responsibility he's abandoning us for?"

Eddie huffs a laugh, but it's wistful. Buck gets it, tries to remember the last time they sat down to watch a movie all three of them. Or, well, just the three of them.

"Nah, not tonight." He grimaces a little like he's been thinking the same thing as Buck. "But, uh, I do."

"Ah, I see." Buck nods as he busies himself with his duffel, it's already packed, neat as can be, but he fusses anyway. He can't face Eddie's gentle expression of apology, a sudden fragility in the way he holds himself. "Babysitting duty then?"

Eddie grimaces agin, his face twisting and scrunching and crumpling into a complicated expression of something to the left of disgust. Buck wants to smooth out all the wrinkles in his face until only the smile lines remain, he wants to revel in Eddie's obvious discomfort for reasons he can't explain.

"I wouldn't really call it babysitting."

"Yeah, you're right. Kid'd probably kill me for calling him kid never mind baby." Buck aches a little as he says it, remembers when Chris was small enough to swing up into his arms and over his shoulders, when he'd giggle til he couldn't breathe rather than complain until his lungs gave out from sheer teen angst.

"No, I mean." Eddie sighs, packing his own duffel now, stuffing things in haphazard in a way that always makes Buck feel a little crazy. But then all Buck can think of is whether Eddie's hiding in his duffel for the same reason Buck had. "Hen didn't rush home to babysit, did she?"

If only his duffel bag was big and sentient and hungry enough to swallow him whole. As it is, he just kinds of stops functioning halfway through zipping it up.

"Whuh, um, what?"

"Fair warning though." Eddie swings his duffel over his shoulder. "He's in a crappy mood at the moment. He told you about the new supply teacher who gave him a C on that short story he was really proud of?"

"Bitch," Buck mumbles, still functioning just enough to hate the woman that made Chris feel anything less than proud of his tale of dragon-fighting knights and best friends who Buck thought might have been a little bit in love—he'd been too afraid to ask, too afraid Chris would shut down and start thinking things Buck had to think when he realised who he was as a teenager, too afraid of what Chris had grown up around. Eddie snorts.

"We'll have a movie night soon though," Eddie tells him, still seemingly oblivious to Buck's pretty spectacular implosion. He looks up from his watch, meets Buck's eyes and winks. "Promise." He's off then, leaving Buck staring off into the middle distance like he didn't just turn the world upside down with one sentence. "Oh, um." Eddie smiles down at his shoes a little, rosy cheeked as he pauses in his stride. He glances up at Buck, another moment of hesitation before he drops his hand to Buck's shoulder. "Don't tell him I tipped you off, but he's got a little surprise." Eddie's eyes, molten vats of chocolate Buck wants to sink into, drown in. He's had the thought before. He doesn't know what it means. (He does, he really does.) "He's pretty excited about it, so..."

Eddie squeezes his shoulder once, then he's gone, and Buck. Buck tries to breathe beyond the burning want in his chest.

He's not going home to babysit. He's just going home to his kid.

[diazsdimples]

🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Please ignore that I'm doing this several months late 😬

🤠 - 24 for Ranch AU!

But that did leave him with an awful lot of time on his hands. Bobby and spare time have never been great friends – the last time he was left to his own devices for more than a day, he’d ended up knee deep in planning a lavish wedding that had ultimately been chucked out the door when he and Athena realised, they really didn’t need anything more than themselves and the kids. All that to say that it isn’t really surprising that Bobby downloads the Sims 4 onto his ancient laptop and creates a full-scale version of the ranch. He gets the dimensions off the listing, and with the help of a convenient floorplan and google earth, he manages to make a rather convincing version of the home. He does up the exterior to look just like the ranch house, complete with the large veranda and the ornate trims around the spandrels, and even manages to find a tile that looks exactly like the path leading to the front door. The interior is a different matter. Bobby doesn’t love the colour scheme either, and he can’t see himself coping with an oven as miniscule as the one that comes with the home, so he allows himself a little creative licence. It’s just a video game, after all. He’s not seriously planning it out. Several hours later, Bobby sits back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. Blessedly, Athena still has a job, which means Bobby hasn’t needed to worry about her finding out his momentary lapse in sanity, but it also means he hasn’t got anyone to show off his creation to – a thought that upsets him a little more than it should, were he being normal about the whole thing. He’s fiddling around with some of the furniture in the master bedroom when the front door bursts open and a furious looking Buck stalks over his threshold, followed by a harried Eddie. “What’s going –” “Bobby, you wouldn’t believe what that man made us do!” Buck explodes as he starts pacing the kitchen. Eddie leans against the countertop, running a hand over his face. “I know you said I shouldn’t let him get to me but I can’t, he’s just so –” Buck trails off, looking over at Bobby. His eyes flicker from Bobby’s patient expression to the open laptop, still displaying the Fake Ranch. “Are we… interrupting something?” “No.” Bobby goes to shut the laptop but Buck is quicker. “Is that the Sims?” Buck asks incredulously. “Man, you must be bored, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you play video games.”

❄️ - 24 for Frostpunk AU!

“You did it,” he repeats, praying his voice won’t betray him. “You’re safe.” At his words, Eddie’s eyes shut, and his brings his hands up to his face as he lets out a deep exhale. His fingers shake as he wipes a tear from his cheek. “I didn’t think we’d – I thought -” Eddie swallows thickly. He looks around the tent, eyes wet, and his gaze falls on a familiar mop of brown curls. “Is that – is that my son? Can I see him, please?” Buck squeezes Eddie’s shoulder again, offering him a smile. “Of course.” When Buck reaches Christopher’s bed, the kid looks up at him quizzically. It’s clear that he wasn’t as blissfully unaware of his father’s event as Buck had hoped, despite the small crowd of medics around him, all intent on distracting him. “Is everything okay with Dad?” he asks Buck, without preamble. Buck crouches down to Christopher’s level and brushes a loose curl out of his eyes. “Yeah bud, everything’s okay. Better than, actually – he’s awake.” Buck holds out his hand for Christopher. “Want to come see him? He’d like to see you.” Christopher throws himself into Buck’s arms, taking him by surprise. Buck catches him around the middle and hauls him up, carrying him to Eddie’s cot. The moment Christopher sees his father, sitting upright, awake and breathing, a great sob escapes his lips. Buck lowers him into Eddie’s waiting arms and pauses, not sure what to do as he watches father embrace son. Fat tears roll down Eddie’s cheeks as he holds Christopher as tight as he can, muscles shaking after weeks of no use.

[cjlouwho]

The Ultimate Treasure Hunt

summary:

When the opportunity to go on another treasure hunt comes up for the 118, they all join together for the adventure. However, this hunt may be life changing for a certain member of the team.

disclaimer: I have never been to California, so I'm sure a lot of the information here is wrong, although I used google to the best of my ability. Please suspend disbelief (as we do each week while watching 911) and, if you see something wrong... no you didn't. Also, there's a dose of everyone in this fic, but it is mainly bucktommy. You've been warned!

Read below or on ao3 (6.1k words)

“What?!” Buck groaned, exasperated as he cracked open the door.

First, there had been a single knock on the door, which he had gladly ignored in favor of taking Tommy's shirt off.

Then there were three knocks in a row, which caused them to pause, before Tommy continued kissing his way down Buck's chest.

Finally, a rapid and endless succession of knocks had Tommy flopping down beside Buck on the bed, declaring that he gave up.

Buck grumpily grabbed his own shirt off the floor and put it on before heading downstairs.

Which led to now, a sexually frustrated Buck standing at his door with all of his coworkers staring back at him.

Every. Single. One.

Even Ravi.

“Why are you all here?” Buck asked, both confused and annoyed.

“We need to come in.” Bobby sounded serious.

Buck stood straighter, his heart began to race. “Is... Did something happen? Maddie, is she-”

“Maddie's fine,” Chimney interrupted. “She's home with Jee. All good.”

“Christopher?”

“He's good too,” Eddie answered.

“So...”

“So we need to come in, Buck,” Hen whined.

“Yeah, you're being really weird, dude.” Eddie pushed his way past the rest of the group, getting closest to the door. “Come on, open up.” He opened the door, ignoring the resistance from Buck on the other side.

Everyone began to filter in, stopping when they noticed Tommy making his way down the stairs, tugging on his shirt.

“Tommy's here!” Hen exclaimed with a knowing smile.

“Yes, he is,” Buck replied. “It's the first time we've had forty-eight off together for almost two weeks.”

Buck had gotten right to it as soon as Tommy opened the door that evening. Tommy had suggested dinner first, but going two weeks without seeing his boyfriend naked made him hungry for something other than baked chicken.

“Hello everyone,” Tommy greeted, giving them a wave.

Chimney smiled. “Good to see you, Buddy!” he exclaimed, wrapping Tommy in a hug. “Solid as ever,” he noted.

“Okay, okay,” Buck pulled on Chimney's arm, “Let's not discuss the solidity of my boyfriend. Why are you all here, and how do I get you all to leave?”

“There's another treasure out there,” Ravi explained, speaking up for the first time since they'd arrived at Buck's door. He handed Buck a piece of paper. “Apparently, we all have to find it together.”

“Hey, if you wanted the treasure all to yourself,” Chimney said, eying Ravi, “you shouldn't have told Cap.”

“I didn't!” Ravi defended. “He read about it over my shoulder at the station.”

“Well, that's just a lesson on being aware of your surroundings,” Buck replied, looking over the paper.

“I'm confused,” Tommy said, “Another treasure? As in, there was one before?”

“There was,” Bobby replied, excited.

“Sort of,” Hen added.

“We were robbed,” Chimney explained.

“I was robbed,” Ravi corrected. “Technically, I found it first.”

“I don't really get what I'm reading,” Buck said, holding out the paper.

Hen grabbed it from him, “Different guy, real treasure,” she explained simply.

“This guy does treasure hunts around the US,” Ravi continued, “You get on a list, and when one comes to your area, you get notified.”

“How do you know this isn't a scam?” Buck asked. “What was found in the other hunts?”

“He posts about these hunts on YouTube, has a pretty big following,” Ravi answered. “I don't know what people have found. Everyone who participates has to sign an NDA.”

Tommy lifted a hand to speak. “But you guys have done this before?” 

“Ugh!” Eddie groaned. “We are wasting so much time. The hunt we did before was different from this one. Buck, please explain to your man so we can go.”

“It was a whole thing,” Buck said dismissively, “we searched for the treasure, showed up to a dead guy's house, were briefly accused of murder, blah, blah, blah.”

Tommy paused before answering. “Okay, I definitely want to circle back to the whole blah blah blah part later on, but yeah... yeah, I'm in.”

Buck's eyes widened. “You... you are?” He asked.

Tommy shrugged. “A treasure hunt sounds fun.”

“Excellent, excellent." Chimney clapped his hands together. “Let's get this show on the road. Grab your coats and shoes, boys, time's wasting.”

“Oh, wait, wait,” Ravi said, pulling something up on his phone and handing it to Tommy. “You both have to sign this.”

“What is it?”

“The NDA. All involved must sign. Once I send it, then we can start.”

Both Tommy and Buck signed, then handed it back to Ravi, who pushed a button that caused a whoosh sound on his phone.

“All good?” Hen questioned.

“All good,” Ravi confirmed. “Let's go.”

----------

“You rented a van?” Buck asked as Bobby slid the rear door open.

“There's a lot of us, Buck. You wanna ride in the bed of an F150?”

They loaded into the van one by one, Ravi calling shotgun since, “it was just supposed to be me”, and Bobby hopped in the driver's seat.

“Where are we even going?” Buck questioned.

Ravi pulled his phone from his pocket. “The first clue says 'LA is very bright, even so at night, but if you'd like to see the stars, come to me- you may even see Mars.'”

When no one spoke up, Buck rolled his eyes. “Come on, guys, that's like the most obvious clue ever. It's gotta be Griffith Observatory.”

“Oh, that's a good catch, Buck,” Hen replied.

Eddie poked at Chimney's shoulder. “I told you we'd need him for something.” 

Bobby put the van in drive. “First stop: Griffith Observatory.”

----------

“This is odd,” Buck said as the pulled up to the observatory parking lot.

“What is?” Chimney asked.

“There's no one here. This place stays open until like ten o'clock, it's usually packed.”

“People can rent it for private tours though,” Ravi suggested. “Maybe someone did that.”

“And what, never showed?” Eddie asked.

Bobby parked the van. "Let's go find out."

They walked up to the observatory entrance, where a piece of paper was taped to the door.

“Come on in,” Hen read. “We've been waiting.”

She glanced back at the group, met mostly with shrugs, before reaching for the door and opening it.

“Lights are on,” Tommy observed.

“Yeah, and no one's home,” Chimney added.

Buck began wandering around, eyes filled with wonder. “This is...”

“Weird,” Ravi said.

“Cool,” Buck corrected. “I, uh, I usually come with Chris on the weekends and it's a madhouse.”

“So, the first clue got us here,” Chimney said, “but did it say anything about where we'd find clue number 2?”

Ravi shrugged. “The first clue is the only one you get sent, the rest we look for.”

Buck walked over to Tommy, who was focused on a display that talked about gamma-ray bursts. “Hey,” he said, wrapping his arm around Tommy's waist.

Tommy smiled at him. “Hey back.”

“Are you really okay with this?” Buck asked. “It's, uh, kinda ridiculous I guess, and was thrown on us out of nowhere.”

“I don't think it's ridiculous,” Tommy replied softly. “It's kinda fun, actually.”

He could see the relief come over Buck. He got like that sometimes, too much in his own head. He'd worry that everything was going to come crashing down. That he'd be too much, or his coworkers- no, his family, would be too much. It didn't matter that they'd been together for close to two years now. That Tommy enjoyed the chaos, enjoyed the friendships and found family. Buck still had those moments, those doubts, and Tommy always found a way to make them disappear.

Tommy took Buck's hand, “Come on,” he said, leading them away from where everyone else was looking around.

“Where are we going?” Buck asked.

“The main attraction, of course.”

As they walked down the hall toward the Zeiss telescope, Buck made a few pitstops at some of the exhibits. He stared at a couple photographs taken from the telescopes, then he looked over at Tommy. “You remember when we brought Jee here last year?” He smiled at the memory.

“How could I forget?” Tommy replied, nudging Buck. “You found my way with children so attractive you asked me to move in with you two days later.”

Buck laughed, but the blush that rose on his cheeks let Tommy know he wasn't far off from the truth. “Actually, I think you found my planetary knowledge so irresistible that you had no choice but to move in with me.”

“That's not not true,” Tommy admitted. He leaned over and gave Buck a peck on the cheek. “Come on, let's go before the rest of the group catches up.”

When they reached the telescope, Buck looked at it like he was a kid staring at unopened Christmas presents.

Tommy let go of his hand, moving it to his back to gently nudge him forward. “Go on,” he encouraged.

Buck cautiously walked up the steps. “I feel like I'm committing a crime.”

“Well, it is highly possible we are. This is sketchy as all hell. Might as well enjoy it before we get formally charged, though.”

“Ha ha.” Buck looked into the telescope, his breath catching at the sight. “I- It's so... It's beautiful. Tommy, you gotta come look.”

Tommy walked up the steps as the rest of the group started filtering into the room. “Wow. That's... wow.”

“I know.”

“Alright, alright, no hovering,” Eddie said, standing at the bottom of the staircase. “We all get turns.”

As they all took turns looking in the telescope, Buck noticed a piece of paper lying on the ground. He walked over to it and picked it up. “Guys!” he called out. “I found the next clue!”

The group circled around him, Bobby leaving the telescope last. “What's it say?”

“It's a menu.”

“Why would a menu be our clue?” Tommy asked.

“It's to the Churro Factory at the LA Zoo.”

Chimney reached over and took the paper. “The Churro Factory has a menu?”

“Well, I've never seen a printed one before, but I know that's it. I- I might get them every time I go,” Buck said, then quickly added, “for Christopher, of course.”

Eddie nodded. “Of course.”

“They don't have much there and, quite frankly, the churros are underrated.”

“He means no one likes them but him,” Tommy explained, rubbing Buck's back.

He was met with a glare that held no true irritation.

“Alright,” Bobby said, “to the zoo!”

Buck reached for Tommy's watch. “The zoo closed like three hours ago.”

“And no one is at the open observatory,” Hen replied. “Make it make sense.”

As they began to leave the room, Buck looked over at the telescope, biting at his bottom lip.

“Go,” Tommy said. “They won't leave without us.”

----------

“How do we just walk into a closed zoo?” Ravi asked as they headed toward the gate.

Hen shrugged. “The same way we walked into the observatory.”

Buck started looking all around, taking note of every security camera he could see. “We're going to end up on national news, aren't we? Group of Firefighters Arrested on Multiple Counts of Breaking and Entering.”

Eddie stared off into the distance, thinking. “I would not do well in prison."

Tommy smirked. “Oh, I think you'd be very well liked.”

For a second, Eddie smiled. “Really?” He asked, mulling it over for a moment before realization hit him. “Wait-”

“Okay, guys,” Bobby interrupted. “No one's going to prison. This has obviously been well planned out and okayed by the establishments we're entering.” He picked up the pace, leading them into the zoo, before mumbling out, “Hopefully.”

Red rope lined the sidewalk of the zoo, leading them directly to the churro stand. While all the other fast food stations were closed and locked up, the Churro Factory was open, with lights on.

Eddie looked down at a paper on the countertop. “Make your favorite, clean your mess.” He shrugged. “I could eat.”

Hen opened the side door to get into the stand. “They left the soft serve machine going. Churros in a warmer. Even have little donut holes.” She picked one up, throwing it over to Buck with a smile. “Since it's your favorite.”

Buck rolled his eyes, but popped the donut in his mouth anyway, moaning at the taste. “I swear, I don't understand how anyone could not love this stuff.”

“Alright, just gotta say I will not be taking orders.” Hen grabbed a cup for the ice cream, “But I will be serving myself first.”

They all fixed themselves a treat, then sat at some nearby tables and benches while they ate.

“You know, I've had a lot of really weird nights,” Buck said to Tommy, licking ice cream off his spoon, “but this one takes the cake.”

Tommy smiled. “In a good way?”

“Mhm. Great way. First the observatory, now this. I don't even care what the treasure is.”

Tommy reached over and stole a bite of Buck's whipped cream. “Great lie, Ev. You totally care about the treasure.”

Buck didn't argue. “Okay, I do. It- It's gotta be good, ya know? All this stuff is so... elaborate. It's gotta be huge.”

“I don't disagree. A little bummed we can't actually see any animals though.”

“Oh, the animals start resting around four-thirty every day, wh- which is why the zoo closes at five. It would totally screw them up if they were out walking around in the viewing areas right now.”

“Are you two plotting ways to steal the treasure and leave the rest of us behind?” Eddie asked, walking over and sitting down next to Buck on the bench.

“Oh we'd take you,” Tommy joked. “Christopher too. Flee the country, somewhere the rest of them would never find us.”

“Yeah,” Buck agreed. “But I'd need Bobby, and he'd need Athena.”

Tommy hummed. “I'd feel bad leaving Chimney behind.”

“Which adds Maddie and Jee.”

Eddie bit off a piece of churro. “Hen's a must. And Karen and the kids.” Tommy and Buck nodded in agreement.

“We'd have to take Ravi,” Buck resigned. “He'd be lost without us.”

Tommy wiped off his mouth with the napkin in his hand. “Well, Evan, I think this effectively spoils all of our plans to run away with the treasure.”

Buck patted his thigh. “Afraid so.”

Once they'd finished their snacks, they began searching for what was needed to clean up. “Found it!” Chimney yelled, pulling out a plastic tub of cleaning supplies. He removed the items one by one until a paper fell flat into the tub. “Explore nature and culture from the inside out,” he read, then lifted the page so everyone could see. “There's a picture of a butterfly on the paper.”

“That's the slogan for the Natural History Museum.” Buck didn't even have to think about it. “They have a butterfly pavilion there.”

“You're on a roll tonight, Buck,” Bobby said with a smile. “No one else stands a chance.”

----------

It took about twenty minutes to get to the Natural History Museum and, just like the previous places, there wasn't another car or person nearby.

“The butterfly pavilion is this way!” Buck waved them in his direction, practically hopping out of the van.

“He's been trying to see this for a couple years now,” Tommy explained to the group, no one able to match Buck's pace. “But it's seasonal and the timing was just never right.”

Hen watched Buck fondly as he opened the museum door and whined at Eddie to hurry up. “He's certainly not wasting the opportunity.”

Everyone was entranced when they got into the pavilion. Thousands of butterflies fluttering around them, some landing on them as they walked around.

“This is so cool,” Buck said in awe, staring at the monarch on his hand.

Tommy couldn't take his eyes off of Buck. “Yeah, it is.”

“It's like... It's like they know me, or something.”

“Who? The butterflies.”

Buck snorted and the butterfly flew away. “No, you buffoon. Whoever set this hunt up. It's basically been everything I love.”

“You're not too far off,” Ravis said, coming up behind them. “The guy who does this does research on the people he chooses for a hunt. I'm constantly hearing about the things you do on your days off, and sometimes tagging along, so...”

“So the hunt is kind of tailored to you?” Buck questioned.

Ravi shrugged. “Us, I think. Oh, I gotta see that yellow one!" He scurried off before he could be asked anymore questions.

Buck reached out a hand for Tommy to take. “Walk with me?”

“Always.”

“This treasure guy really goes all out,” Hen said, watching two butterflies as they did a dance around each other.

“Yeah,” Chimney agreed, “but I haven't seen anything that leads us to our next spot.”

Bobby came up to them, holding a little figurine in his hand. “Because you've been too distracted by these little guys. Look what I found.”

Everyone came over to look, staring at the tiny ferris wheel in Bobby's hand.

“No note?” Ravi asked.

Bobby shook his head. “No note.”

Buck took the ferris wheel from Bobby. “The pier?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Buck looked confused. “It does?”

“Well, doesn't it?”

“I don't know,” Buck looked around, eying each member of the group. “E- Everyone's agreeing with me really quickly and it, uh, it's throwing me off.”

Hen rolled her eyes as she reached behind him and started to push him toward the door. “We're agreeing cause it's obvious, you just suck at letting someone else have a turn.”

“Yeah, and we'd like to sleep sometime tonight, if possible,” Chimney added.

----------

The ride to the pier took longer than expected, and everything was in the middle of closing down as they began their stroll. Buck was surprised that neither of the security guards that passed by them said a word to them and, if he didn't know any better, he'd swear one even nodded in their direction.

“I got cotton candy!” Eddie yelled, and Buck hadn't even realized he had trailed off from the group in the first place. He walked over to Buck, pulled a chunk of the cotton candy out, and handed it to him.

Hen put a hand on her stomach. “Ugh, how can you guys even eat that after the churros?”

Buck would've responded, but he was too busy stuffing the cotton candy in his mouth.

“Popcorn?” Chimney had a huge bag of popcorn in his hands, walking up opposite from where Eddie had come from. When had he disappeared?

“I think we need to go to the ferris wheel,” Bobby said, looking down to where the wheel was still lit up, despite the lights going off everywhere else.

Chimney took a handful of popcorn and shoved it in his mouth before pointing and yelling, “to the wheel!”

When they got to the ferris wheel, the attendant was still there waiting. He let them on in groups of two, Tommy and Buck, Bobby and Ravi, Chimney and Eddie. Hen decided to sit it out, not wanting her churros to make a reappearance that night.

“This is where we said I love you the first time,” Tommy said quietly, snuggling closer to Buck as the wind picked up slightly.

Buck smiled softly, looked over at Tommy and gave him a kiss on his temple. “I remember.”

Buck had taken Tommy on a tour of what he called his “greatest hits” showing him all the spots where some of his biggest personal disasters occurred. They'd gone to the spot the firetruck landed on him, the lot where Bobby and Athena's home once stood- the spot of his pulmonary embolism; where he was struck by lightning, even the outside of Maddie and Chimney's old apartment- where he was basically told he was never actually wanted by his parents, just needed. But it was when they got to the pier, and Buck was in the middle of telling Tommy about losing Christopher, that he realized Tommy had actually listened to all of his stories. He'd asked questions, comforted him when the conversations got rough. Tommy always either had a hand on Buck's back, or he'd link their hands together tightly, so Buck knew he wasn't alone.

Buck had stopped mid story, stared at Tommy like he did the first time they kissed, and when Tommy asked if Buck was okay, he just said it.

“I love you, Tommy.”

He wasn't scared, didn't even care if Tommy said it back. He meant it. More than he'd ever meant it before. He didn't just love him, he was in love with him.

It didn't take long for Tommy to say it back, as soon as he got over the initial shock. “I love you, Evan,” he breathed out, as though he'd been holding it in for far too long, “so much.”

They kissed, giggled and whispered like little schoolchildren, then Tommy had asked Buck to finish his story.

Buck wrapped his arm around Tommy's, the memory leaving him feeling warm against the coolness of the night. “You made that day perfect.”

“You make every day perfect.”

He said it with such ease, like he didn't even have to think about it. Buck knew he should be used to it by now. This wasn't the first time Tommy casually informed him that Buck being in his life made it better. He did it regularly, often in passing, like it was the simplest, most honest thing in the world.

“Really?” Buck questioned once the butterflies in his stomach flew away. “Even the day we moved into our place and I tried to replace the toilet but somehow I ended up flooding the bathroom with neighborhood sewage?”

“Oh God, don't remind me,” Tommy said with a groan, although he couldn't stop himself from grinning. “I still have nightmares about that smell!”

Buck laughed. “That was a disaster.”

“Yeah, and Maddie loved us showing up on her doorstep at midnight with a week's worth of clothes.”

“A true bonding experience.”

“Mhm. Definitely.”

The ride ended too quickly in Buck's opinion, but he knew they had more important things to do.

“Were we supposed to see something up there?” Ravi asked. “Because I got nothing.”

“There was a definitely an arrow in the sky, pointing us toward the east.” Bobby was convinced.

“That was a plane, and it was not pointing us anywhere.”

“While you nerds were going on a ride, I actually talked to the kind attendant over there,” Hen said, pointing to the man who was now closing up the wheel, “and he handed me this.” She held up a paper. “It's coordinates. Two, actually.”

“We're supposed to go to two places?” Chimney asked.

“This is all I got.” Hen handed the paper to Tommy. “Top one's got a drawing of a chopper on it and says 'hope you can fly.'”

Tommy studied it for a moment before speaking. “Okay. Okay, Buck and I will go to the first coordinates, you guys go to the second and we'll call when we get there.”

Chimney put his hands on his hips. “Wait, why do you guys get to go to the chopper?”

“Uh,” Tommy looked around to the group, “do any of you know how to fly a helicopter?”

When no one responded, he nodded. “Thought so.”

“Well, a couple more of us could go with you,” Eddie suggested.

“Some helicopters are two seaters,” Tommy explained, eying Eddie. “Would you like to hang onto the landing skids should the situation arise?”

Buck sighed. “Okay, guys, it- it's obvious I get boyfriend-of-the-pilot privilege, so lets, you know, get moving.”

----------

Once Tommy looked up the coordinates and saw it was only about a ten minute walk away, he and Buck set off on foot while the others took the van.

They arrived at a building that, at the top, had a helipad. “I've landed here a couple times for emergencies. Actually, once was after the tsunami.”

"First of all, show off,” Buck said with a laugh. “Second of all, sometimes I- I still can't believe all the times we were so close to meeting but, just, never did.”

“I know. It kinda sucks to think about, but everything happens when it's supposed to, right?”

“I think we did.”

Sure enough, a chopper was waiting at the helipad. There was a note on the door with another coordinates, stating that coming here was only the first part of the clue. It also mentioned that, should there be any others joining the expedition, they would see them again once they arrived.

“Why don't you shoot Bobby a text,” Tommy suggested as they got seated in the cockpit. “We'll call when we get wherever we're going.”

Tommy put the coordinates on his phone, then did a quick check before getting the chopper up and running.

“It's so beautiful up here,” Buck said, looking all around at the city lit up against the darkness of the night. They'd been in the sky for a while now, and Buck had no idea where they were going, but right now he didn't really care.

Tommy glanced at Buck. “Yeah, it is. Reminds me of when we first met.”

“That was a little less beautiful,” Buck recalled, but he was still grinning from ear to ear. “But, yeah. We've been on a lot of these rides since then.”

“No opportunities for my fake mouth static since the first time though, which is severely disappointing.”

“And it was so good too.”

“Oh, it still is, Evan. Trust me.”

Buck motioned with his hand to encourage Tommy. “Well, please, let's hear it.”

Tommy let out a hesitant breath. “I'm not sure you're ready.”

“I think I can handle it. Come on, hon, give it to me.”

“Okay, okay, but hold onto something cause this is- it's serious.”

Buck dramatically grabbed onto his seatbelt as Tommy cleared his throat and began a round of fake mouth static that had Buck turning down the volume on his headphones.

“Wow,” he said once it was over. “That was...”

“Amazing? Incredible? Earth shattering?”

“Just as terrible as the first time,” Buck laughed out.

“Aye!” Tommy feigned offense. “I literally won an award for that.”

“It, uh, might've had more to do with the rescues, but-”

“Semantics.”

“Is it though?”

“Well, looky there,” Tommy said, changing the subject as he began to descend, “we have reached our destination.”

They landed in a clearing smack dab in the middle of what looked like nothing but woods. Buck couldn't be sure though, because it was dark all around them.

“I swear, if we get murdered, I'm gonna come back and haunt Ravi,” Buck said as he unbuckled and got out of the helicopter. “Should we, uh, should we call the guys?”

Tommy paused, looking off into the distance. “I see a light this way,” he said, pointing toward a clearing through the woods. “Looks like a path. Let's go look,” he suggested. “We'll call in a minute.”

As they started down the path, small lampposts with flickering lights began to light their way.

“Where are we?” Buck asked with wonder in his voice.

“I think it's a state park.”

They came upon a white bench, which Buck wouldn't have paid much attention to if not for the small, black box sitting on top of it.

“You think it's for us?” he asked.

Tommy nodded. “I'd bet on it.”

Buck picked it up, opening it to find an old looking key. He smiled. “I think we're getting close.”

Tommy grinned back, reaching out for Buck's hand and nodding toward the path. “Let's keep going.”

“It's weird,” Buck said as he moved closer into Tommy's space. He always found himself doing that; he loved being as close to Tommy as he could, and he loved it even more that Tommy loved it. “I've known pretty much all the spots we've gone to tonight, but not this one.”

“Hm,” Tommy hummed. “Yeah, that is weird.”

It got a little brighter as they went on, and eventually they found themselves in a large, open area with tons of brightly blooming plants, and a gently flowing creek with a wide white bridge over it, connecting two separate gardens. Buck would've been fascinated by it, but he was too focused on the fact that he and Tommy were not alone anymore.

The rest of the group was already there, plus a few more. Athena, Karen, and, “Maddie? What are you doing here?”

She shrugged. “Carla came over with Christopher to watch Jee. Chim said something about treasure, and I'm not missing out. ”

Tommy let go of his hand and Buck took a few steps forward. “How- How did you all get here already?”

“We're like a twenty minute drive out of the city, Buck,” Hen told him.

“But... What-”

“Alright, alright, you've got the key, Buckaroo,” Chimney interrupted, snapping toward Buck for him to get on with it. “It's all you.”

Buck hadn't even noticed the treasure chest, set dead center on the bridge. Bobby was closest to it, but he was just standing there, a softness on his face that would have had Buck asking questions if it weren't for the fact they found the treasure!

Buck continued until he reached the chest, then bent down, placing the key into it. He turned it, but paused before opening the box. “So we all agree to share everything that's in here?” He trusted his friends, he really did, but it never hurt to clarify.

Bobby gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I think this one's all for you, kid,” he said before walking over to Athena.

Buck barely heard him. He was already opening the box to see a single ring lying on top of a fluffy, velvet pillow.

This is when realization should have set in. Actually, when he'd think back on it later, there were many times realization should have set in, but it didn't.

Instead, Buck picked up the ring to take a closer look. Black silicone with a red line around the center. “It's a ring,” he said to the group. “And it... it says something on the inside, I think.” He squinted, trying to focus on the words, but the low light from the nearby lampposts wasn't nearly enough.

“Buck,” Maddie was practically pleading, “turn around!”

“What?”

Groans came from the people all around him.

“Turn around!” Hen echoed.

“For the love of God, Buck!” Eddie yelled.

“Okay, okay!” Buck stood, ring still held between his fingers, and turned around. His breath caught in his throat when he saw Tommy there, kneeling, smiling up at him.

“It says 'to me, you are perfect,'” Tommy began, his voice shaky, but not from nerves. “Which I know is a little cheesy,” he admitted, “but it's true. Evan Buckley, getting to share this life with you for nearly two years now has been my greatest adventure. They say love finds you when you least expect it, and I think I can speak for the both of us when I say ours was a little unexpected. I love you so much. Every part of you. Evan, will you marry me?”

Stunned was too light of a word to use, if you asked Buck. He was frozen in place, mouth hanging open, unable to find words until he heard someone clear their throat behind him.

“You... you did all this for me? Th- the whole treasure hunt?”

“Yeah, yes. Yes, it was for you. For this.”

Buck sucked in a shaky breath, reaching down to hold onto Tommy's shoulders and pull him up. He put his hands on Tommy's cheeks, rubbing his thumbs gently along the scruff, staring into his eyes as his own reddened with tears. He leaned in, pressing his lips gently to Tommy's before deepening the kiss, moving his arms to wrap around Tommy's neck.

After a few seconds, Tommy pulled away slightly, resting his forehead against Buck's. “Is that a yes?” he asked breathlessly.

Buck nodded, sniffling. “Yes,” he said through shaky laughter. “Always, yes.”

They didn't hear the sounds of everyone clapping and cheering as Tommy let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, “Oh, thank God,” he said, his face scrunching up into a smile. “That could've been really embarrassing.”

Eddie cupped his hands over his mouth. “Put the ring on,” he called out, earning him a smack to the gut from Hen.

Buck laughed. He gave Tommy the ring, who then slid it on his finger. “I've got you one at home,” Buck admitted, using his other hand to wipe tears from his face.

Tommy was taken aback. “You do?”

“Mhm. Bottom drawer of the nightstand, my side of the bed. It says 'True love lasts a lifetime.'”

"I love you so much," Tommy said as he leaned in for another kiss.

"Love you more."

“Can we hug you guys yet?” Karen asked, bouncing slightly with impatience.

They laughed, letting go of one another to get hugs from their family.

When Buck got to Bobby, Bobby held onto him tightly. “I'm so happy for you, kid,” he said quietly, just loud enough for them to hear. “So, unbelievably happy.”

“Thank you, Bobby.” Once they let each other go, Buck asked, "You knew from the beginning, didn't you?”

Bobby nodded. “The second you walked into the hospital room with soot all over your face, I knew we'd end up here,” he said, giving them both a laugh. “You had the biggest smile I think I'd ever seen, and so did he,” Bobby pointed over to Tommy, who was laughing with Hen and Karen. “You're good for each other, Buck.”

Buck had to give Bobby another hug, tears filling his eyes once again. “I love you, Bobby.”

“Love you too, kid. Now, go,” he said, patting Buck's back, “be with your fiancé.”

They all headed to a 24 hour diner after all the congratulations had died down. Eddie immediately started on best man duties for Buck.

“You don't even have to ask. I already have a week's worth of bachelor's parties planned. We're starting with the 70's and working our way through each decade. I've got it all figured out.”

Tommy had already talked to Chimney a few days earlier, asking him to be his best man.

“You're getting beers and a movie marathon,” Chimney informed him.

Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. “I knew I chose correctly.”

After eating too many all-you-can-eat waffles and sharing desserts, everyone gave a final congratulations before heading home.

----------

Buck laid back on the bed, grabbing for Tommy's hand as he tried to catch his breath. He intertwined their hands and rested them on top of his chest, feeling his heart pound as he used his other hand to fiddle with the ring that now had a place on Tommy's finger.

“We're engaged,” Buck sighed into the dimly lit room.

“Would've done it a lot sooner had I known the sex would be that good.” Tommy turned onto his side as Buck laughed. He splayed his right hand over Buck's stomach, stroking up and down gently, giving Buck goosebumps. He pressed a kiss to Buck's bicep. “Did you like your proposal?”

“Like it? God, Tommy, it was... it was perfect. How did you get us into the observatory? The zoo? The history museum?!”

“I know people,” he replied simply.

"Of course you do. And you actually did know about the treasure hunt from before? I don't remember ever telling you about it."

"You didn't. When I went to Eddie about my plan, he told me. Not about the whole murder thing though, so I would actually like more info on that sometime."

"Noted. I- I can't believe you got everyone in on it. They all spent their entire night doing that for me."

"Couldn't have pulled it off without them."

“That makes it even more special.” Buck moved them around until Tommy's head was resting on his chest and he was running his fingers through Tommy's hair, slowly massaging his scalp. “I do have one more question though.”

“Hmm?” Sleep was already starting to take over Tommy. He never lasted long with a scalp massage.

“What was the NDA thing we signed with Ravi?”

“Oh, he was supposed to just send your sister a message saying we were getting started, but he came up with that whole thing himself. Probably should've read the fine print on that.”

“Oh God. It's something he's gonna use against me at work, isn't it?”

Tommy tucked himself in even closer to Buck, his eyes fluttered shut. “Most likely.”

Buck groaned, but didn't let himself stay annoyed for long. That was a worry for another day. Another day where he would clearly state to Ravi that whatever he signed was signed under false pretenses and would never hold up in court!

For now though, he reached up to turn off the lamp before pulling the covers up over him and Tommy. “I love you,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of Tommy's head.

“Love you more,” Tommy muttered back before they fell into a peaceful sleep.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

117 for 🐓:

---

 His first thought is sort of dramatic. Thieves. Thieves are coming for Buck and Mrs. Gladwell’s homes! To be fair, he heard a lot of Athena stories at Chrismtas dinner. 

He pauses his podcast and listens for a minute. And it is in listening that everything changes. 

“You have a key, just use a key,” comes a very familiar voice. Albeit, one he has not heard in person in half a year. 

“I can’t do that,” replies his favorite voice ever. 

Buck stiffens. What… What are they doing here?

“Why not? He gave it to you,” Chris says.

“Because he doesn’t know we’re here,” Eddie replies. “We can’t just barge into his house. What if…” 

“What if what? He’s not even home.” 

“Uh, nothing. It’s just rude. We can’t. We’ll just wait and surprise him when he gets here. It’s usually around this time.” 

Buck is grinning. He’s grinning. They came to surprise him? For New Year’s? That’s incredible.

“Okay, but, Dad, I really have to pee.” 

“Shoot. Fine, okay. We’ll unlock it, you go in there, and then come right back out and we’ll make it look like you never broke in.”

Buck is about to laugh out loud. Seems as good a time as any to give himself away.

“Or,” he says, walking around the corner and into view. Not just their view. Their view. He can see them. Right in front of him. Real. “I can unlock the door, and you don’t have to pretend anything.”

Eddie and Chris whip around to look at him. Christopher’s face breaks out in a huge, warm smile. 

“Buck! You’re here!” He beams. 

“I’m here?” Buck asks, striding over to them. “You’re here!”

He bends - though far less than he used to have to - to hug Chris. He wraps one arm around him, grabbing Eddie’s forearm with the other and squeezing. Like he needs to touch them both to make sure they’re actually real. 

“Surprise,” Eddie says sort of weakly. His voice sounds tight. 

Buck shifts his body a little, drops the hand holding Eddie’s arm, and opens the hug. 

“Come on, man, don’t make me choose,” he pleads.

Eddie laughs, then wraps his arms around both of them. For a too-short, precious moment, it’s all okay. Everything is okay. Something that has been broken since the spring is whole, and Buck feels a bone-deep sense of ease. He’s okay. They’re okay. They’re here. 

When Buck pulls away, he can’t hide the tears in his eyes. 

“Um, Buck,” Chris says.

“Yeah?” Buck asks.

“I love you and I missed you but can you open the door so I can pee?” 

Eddie and Buck both laugh. Buck steps in, pulls out his keys, and unlocks the door. 

“Make yourself at home,” Buck says. Like, please? Home. In this city. Where they belong?

Once Chris is gone, Buck turns to Eddie and pulls him into another hug. And… And it’s a bit different from the way they usually hug. For one, Buck is holding onto him so tight it hurts his arms. Two, Eddie lets his head drop onto Buck’s shoulder. It’s strangely intimate, for nothing at all happening. 

“What are you doing here?” Buck asks breathlessly when they part.

Eddie’s cheeks flush. “I miss you.”

“Eddie, god. I miss you, too.”

“Uh… I have something to say, and… And, I mean, I took a pretty big shot coming here, so can you listen before commenting?”

Buck blinks, surprised. “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

Eddie nods and takes a deep breath. 

“I almost ruined my whole life this year, at various different points,” Eddie says. 

Buck frowns. Damn.

“And I don’t think I realized just how close I was to really sealing the deal, but luckily… Luckily, I have a pretty observant kid.”

Buck wants to cry. They must be really talking to each other again. They must be… Oh god. Chris came here. With Eddie. Are they back under one roof?

“One of the mistakes I made, clearly, was thinking I could… That I could just be somewhere you aren’t without being miserable.”

Buck can’t help the way his jaw just sort of drops. That’s like… The most romantic thing anyone has ever said to him! And it wasn’t even said romantically! Wait. Right? It wasn’t said romantically, right? 

[dangerpronebuddie]

My darling Maggie, I need soft too.

So please, gimmie some Buddie + 37. ‘I missed you.’

🩵🩵🩵🩵

My darling Tanis, I hope this helps the need 🩵. I really enjoyed this one! 🥰

Buck checks his phone for about the eleventh time and sighs. Still nothing from Eddie. His flight had been delayed twice already. Chris had been so excited to meet Eddie at the airport, but when it got to be midnight and Eddie still hadn't arrived, Buck had to call off their surprise. Chris was too tired to protest much. Buck flips through the channels, staring unseeing at the TV screen. He decided he'd wait up for Eddie as long as he could. But it was approaching three in the morning and he had a shift later. He was just about to give up and pass out right there on the couch, when he heard keys in the door. His shoulders drop with relief at the sound. He had to admit, at least to himself, that he'd been worried since Eddie left a week ago. But his mom was sick and needed help, and Eddie wasn't about to let them down. So, Buck offered to stay with Chris, much to the kid's absolute delight. And Buck's. He stands and pads to the entryway. At first, Eddie doesn't see him. He's focused on trying to close the door with as little noise as possible, and failing miserably thanks to the squeaky hinge Buck had yet to fix. “You're late,” Buck says in a hushed voice. Eddie looks at Buck, a fond- albeit tired- smile on his face. “There wasn't construction on Sunset this time.” “Honestly, it probably would've been faster,” Buck comments as Eddie toes off his shoes. “How's everyone doing?” “Mom's finally better,” Eddie says on a sigh. “Dad has joined a golf club, a chess club, and a dancing club, all to keep out of mom's hair.” He sheds his jacket and hangs it beside Buck's before turning to face him. He looks exhausted. Like he just worked a double shift and then chaperoned a sleepover of ten rowdy kids. “And what about you?” Buck asks, pushing off the archway he was leaning against and stepping closer. “I…” Eddie pauses, like he's not sure he should say what he's going to. “I missed you.” Buck's heart swells. He doesn't think he's ever been told that in his life. Not even by Eddie. It feels… like heaven. Like being wrapped in a blanket straight from the dryer. Like… being loved. “I missed you too,” Buck says softly, wrapping his arms around Eddie and burying his face in his neck. Eddie sighs in content and practically melts against him, curling his arms around his waist. Buck takes a deep breath, smoothing a hand over the back of Eddie's head. He smells like sandalwood and citrus and home. Buck has been living in the Diaz house all week, surrounded by hints of Eddie everywhere, but nothing compares to the real thing. “I missed you so much,” Buck whispers, holding tighter. Eddie presses closer, his head against Buck's. “I missed you too, darlin’.” Buck's breath catches in his throat at the pet name, at the easy fondness in Eddie's tone, at the drawl that lingers from spending a week back home. He pulls back just enough to look at Eddie, who has to crane his neck to see him with their proximity. “Darlin’?” Buck asks, feeling his face heat, but smirking nonetheless. “Would you prefer sweetheart? Or baby? Or snookums?” Eddie teases. “I'd prefer husband,” Buck blurts out. Before the fear that he's too much can overtake him, Eddie stands on his toes and presses a soft kiss to the corner of Buck's mouth. “We'll work up to that, darlin’.” Buck grins and takes Eddie's face in his hands, pulling him into a deep kiss. It sounds ridiculous to say he's missed kissing Eddie when he's never done it before, but he has. He's missed his smiles and his laugh and his grumpy morning attitude. He's missed his touch, his voice, and even his kiss. And he doesn't have to miss him again.

Send me a soft prompt!

[spacecadet-ticklesinspace]

I was wondering if you've ever written for buddie before? They are trying to sleep but Buck keeps tossing and turning so Eddie uses tickles to tire him out. If you don't feel comfortable with buddie, it could also be set in the bunk room at the station with someone else like hen or chim

Go To Sleep

Summary: See prompt above :)

(Thank you for your prompt Anon ❤️ :) I'm sorry, I don't feel the most comfortable writing for Buddie ❤️ I hope you enjoy this one though ❤️ :))

"Can you lay still?"

Buck froze. "Sorry."

Chimney shifted to look at him. "Are you sleeping on a rock or something?"

"Not a rock," Buck replied.

"Sounds like it," Hen commented from her bunk.

"What then?" Chimney asked him.

Buck huffed. "Just go back to sleep."

There was a pause before Chimney shifted then went silent.

For whatever reason, Buck could not do the same. His mind was racing, making him feel restless when he should have felt exhausted.

Image after image rocking around in his head mixed with the late hour made sleep almost impossible.

A huff escaped the bunk next to him. "Seriously? Again?"

The blonde froze. "Sorry."

Hen pushed herself up a bit. "You know, if you really can't sleep, I'm sure the others wouldn't mind an extra hand with things."

Buck shook his head.

Chim shifted. "You hear what she said?"

The blonde squeezed his eyes shut. "Yes, but Bobby banned me."

"Technically, he's not here."

"Yeah, well technically, there's some people who will rat me out anyway."

"Eddie?"

"Maybe."

"No he wouldn't," Eddie responded.

Hen looked over at the lump. "Thought you were asleep."

The dark haired firefighter didn't even move. "Was. But none of you can shut up."

"Okay, not him." Chimney tried again. "Hen?"

Buck semi-smiled. "Definitely."

Hen settled back down into her bunk. "Only if you do something stupid."

"Again," Eddie added.

Chimney chuckled. "What about me?"

The younger turned to look at him. "You tell me."

The smaller firefighter's head was just peeking out over his shoulder so Buck could see the grin on his face. Chimney then laid back down. "I won't say anything, but I really think you should get some sleep."

Buck huffed in frustration. "I'm trying."

"Don't try as hard," Hen replied in a half asleep voice. "It makes it worse."

"I'll try . . . less hard then?"

As the room went quiet once more, Buck settled back into his bunk. His body was exhausted, but his brain, not so much.

He closed his eyes and did try to get his mind to relax, but the images soon came flooding back.

And a few minutes later, a trio of frustrated sighs filled the room.

Hen shifted in her bunk. "Seriously?"

Buck froze. "Sorry."

A pillow hit his leg.

"Hey!" The blonde lifted his head to glare at the head of dark hair across the room from him.

"That's it." Chimney spoke up before the room was flooded with light.

Buck blinked at the harsh change before a pillow was shoved over his face. "Hey!"

Someone straddled his hips to keep him down. "Go to sleep."

The younger firefighter grappled with Chimney's arms. "Get off!"

"Think asphyxiation is a bit of an over kill to use as a sleeping aid," Hen called out.

"If anything, it'll get him to lay still," Chimney shot back.

By now Buck had managed to push the pillow and arms partially off of his face.

"Sure it will," Hen sassed.

"Get his ribs instead," Eddie spoke up randomly.

Buck whipped his head over in the direction of the dark haired firefighter.

Meanwhile, Chimney grinned. "Great idea."

The pillow got shoved to the side. A second later, two hands dug into his ribs and Buck squealed. He latched on to Chimney's arms and tried squirming himself out from under the smaller firefighter, but all he succeeded in doing was kicking his legs out from under the blanket.

Eddie lifted his head enough to see what was going on. "Least that sounds better than the tossing."

"And the turning," Hen teased with a smile.

"SHUT UHUP!" Buck managed to get out as he continued trying to push Chimney's arms away.

However, the shorter firefighter managed to slip right past the defenses and dug his hands into the middle of the blonde's ribs.

Buck curled himself into a ball with a shriek, almost sending Chimney tumbling to the floor. He arched his neck to the side to hide his face into the pillow as his cackles got extremely loud.

Chimney chuckled. "Surprised no one's come in here to see if you were dying."

One of the blonde's hands managed to grab onto his wrist. "AH! PLEASE!"

"Alright, alright." The shorter firefighter backed off of his ribs and dropped down to his sides instead. "No dying on our watch."

"Balme B shift in the morning," Hen quipped and Eddie snorted in response.

The change in spots was enough to keep the younger firefighter laughing, but not enough to make it sound like he was dying.

"Your brain shut off yet?" Chimney asked.

"Yehes!" Buck shoved his arm. "Nohow stohop!"

The smaller firefighter chuckled as he stopped. "Gohood, now-ah!"

With the attack gone, Buck had grabbed Chimney's arms and rolled over the side, dumping his brother-in-law down into the space between the two bunks.

Hen pushed herself up a little more. "You gohood Chihim?"

Buck laid back on his back and muttered, "Hehe tohortures me and you ask ihif he's fine."

"Not torture," Eddie called out over his shoulder.

"Plus, you literally threw him down on the ground," Hen added.

Buck pulled his blanket over his head. "Whatever."

Chimney pulled himself up a second later. "Yeah, thanks for that."

The blonde didn't respond.

Chimney sat down on his bunk, rubbing his hip.

"You sure you're good?" Hen asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." The shorter firefighter smiled. "Totally worth it."

The female firefighter chuckled before turning back to the blonde. "Buck?"

Buck didn't respond.

Eddie even lifted his head now. "Buck."

Out of curiosity, Chimney pulled the blanket up.

A few snores escaped the sleeping blonde.

The smaller firefighter let the blanket drop back down. "Finally."

Thank goodness," Hen commented as she settled back into her bunk.

Eddie laid back down. "Good work."

Chimney grabbed Eddie's pillow from where it had fallen on the floor after being on Buck's legs and chucked it at the dark haired firefighter. "You're welcome."

The dark haired firefighter glared at him, but still pulled the pillow back up so he could go to sleep.

Chimney shut off the light before settling into his own bunk. "Night Buckaroo."

The younger firefighter snored in response.

[doeeyeseddie]

Hey, if it prompts anything, how about no. 24. just really needed a hug sort of hug, for the soft prompts ask? No worries if not, and thank you either way.❤️

hellooo, thank you and here you go! I hope you like it 🩷

send me a soft prompt

[read on ao3]

Buck is on the firehouse couch when Eddie finds him, stretched out on it but not asleep. Eddie can tell from afar, sees that his body is rigid in a way it isn’t when he’s sleeping, even before Buck opens his eyes and squints at him.

“Hey,” he says quietly, and Eddie echoes the greeting in a low voice.

Buck sits up and makes room for Eddie on the couch, most of which he doesn’t need. He sits down so close to Buck their entire sides are pressed against each other, then turns a little so he can tuck his face into the spot between Buck’s shoulder and neck.

“You okay?” Buck asks, and his arms come up around Eddie, holding him tightly.

Eddie wraps his own arms around Buck’s middle, fisting the stretchy material of his uniform shirt. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Yeah, me either,” Buck murmurs. “That was a tough call.”

Eddie nods against his neck. It’s always tough when they get there in time and still can’t save someone, and tonight wasn’t an exception. It wasn’t anyone’s fault – just bad luck. But somehow, those can be the hardest to deal with. Someone’s life ended way too early tonight, and the only explanation is that they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. The unfairness of it all always makes Eddie think of Shannon.

And then Buck wasn’t in the bunk room with the rest of them. His steady breathing usually manages to lull Eddie to sleep, and the absence of it meant that Eddie was lying awake staring at the ceiling and thinking about his dead wife while aching to be by his very new, still secret boyfriend’s side. So he got up and went to look for him instead.

Buck strokes a gentle hand up Eddie’s back and presses a kiss to the side of his face, and Eddie wishes they were at home already, wishes he could just climb into bed with Buck, to hold and be held.

Eventually, Buck starts pulling away, but Eddie makes an unwilling sound and tightens his grip.

Buck laughs quietly and kisses his head again. “What if someone comes up? I thought we were keeping this quiet.”

“They’re all in the bunk room,” Eddie says, his lips brushing Buck’s neck. This close, he can see the goosebumps they leave behind, and it makes something in his stomach pull.

“So were you,” Buck insists, “until you decided to come up here.”

“To look for you,” Eddie says, and kisses his neck this time.

Buck hums, somehow sounding both pleased and concerned. “But you’re okay?”

“Yeah. Just really needed a hug.”

Buck squeezes him a little tighter. “I can do that.”

“Are you okay?” Eddie asks.

“Yeah.” Buck squeezes again. “This is helping. It’s just— it sucks, right? Doing everything right and it still not being enough?”

“Yeah, it’s the worst feeling. I’ll never get used to it.”

“I know,” Buck agrees. “Me either.”

They both pull back slightly, just enough to look at each other. 

“Hey,” Buck says, his face earnest the way Eddie loves. “I love you, you know?”

“You may have mentioned it,” Eddie replies just to be a shit, and kisses Buck’s laugh right out of his mouth.

When they pull apart, Buck looks a little dazed, which Eddie can’t help but feel smug about. But he can’t stop staring at Buck’s mouth, red and kiss-bitten, so he probably shouldn’t tease.

Instead, he runs a gentle thumb over Buck’s lips, smiling when Buck brushes a kiss to it.

“I love you, too,” he says. Not because Buck really needs the confirmation, but because he wants to say it. He wants to say it all the time, wants to shout it from the rooftops like some fucking cliché. “Do you think we should start telling people about us soon?”

Buck leans in for one more kiss, quick and warm. “Y-Yeah. I really want that, actually. I want to hold your hand in front of our friends. And I know we’ll still have to reign it in at work, but right now, I just feel–”

He pauses, and Eddie nods. “Yeah, it was a little…hot, almost? In the beginning. The sneaking around. But I don’t love feeling like I constantly have to hold back, to pretend like I’m not head over heels in love with you. I’ve done that for way too long already.”

Buck smiles, and his hand sneaks under Eddie’s shirt at his back, warm and familiar.

“Exactly. I love you, and I want people to know it. Our family, especially.”

Eddie cups the back of his head and brushes their noses together. “So let’s tell them. We can do it during the next 48 off, if you want.”

“I’m ready,” Buck says, closing the small distance between them once again.

It’s only Buck yawning right into Eddie’s mouth that has them pulling apart, laughing. Eddie brushes his thumb over Buck’s birthmark and presses a kiss to his cheek.

“Wanna go back to the bunk room and hope the rest of the night is quiet so we can catch some sleep?”

Buck’s barely opened his mouth to agree before the alarm rings out, and he groans around a laugh.

“I can’t believe you still don’t believe in jinxes.”

“That’s because they’re not real,” Eddie says, pulling Buck up off the couch with him and then stepping close to press one more quick kiss to his mouth. “Maybe we’ll get to sleep after this one, then.”

He grins and turns around to hurry downstairs, laughing at Buck’s indignant voice when he calls, “Eddie! Stop jinxing us!”

But he’s laughing too, following Eddie down the stairs and into the firetruck. Everyone else is yawning and wiping sleep from their eyes, and no one looks twice at how close Buck and Eddie sit, ankles and knees and thighs and shoulders knocking, and Eddie knows that everything is gonna be okay.

Even if they don’t get to sleep at all for the rest of this shift – he’s got a comfortable bed waiting for him at home and a boyfriend to crawl between the sheets with. They’ll catch up on sleep later, close enough for Eddie to not only hear, but feel Buck’s breathing that’ll lull him to sleep. He can’t wait. 

[octoberobserver]

Having It All - Buddie Fic

(Read on ao3)

~*~

“What about this one?”

“Uh…no. Too low.”

“You said that about the last three.”

“Yeah. The thing is, I don’t want a couch that you sink too far into. Chris likes—”

“Chris?”

Buck froze in the middle of the furniture store, tilting his head at Natalia, confused.

“Yeah. Christopher. I, uh, told you about him.”

Something crossed her face at that before she nodded slowly.

“Right. Your friend’s kid?”

Something twinged in Buck’s chest at that description of who Chris was to him.

“Eddie’s son, yeah,” he forced out, eyes casting around the showroom. “I’m leaning towards a pull-out for when he stays over.”

There was a pause at that.

“Your friend’s kid stays over at your place?”

Something was laced in her tone that he couldn’t really decipher. Confusion, sure, but something else too.

“Sometimes, yeah,” he shrugged. “He slept on the old couch once or twice, but it wasn’t the most comfortable, so a pull-out would make the most sense.”

Natalia nodded again before taking his hand and leading him to the right.

“Alright, let’s try this way.”

Buck let himself be led across the store, oohing and ahhing at various couches that he had absolutely no interest in until a salesperson approached them.

“Can I help you folks?” she asked brightly, eyeing Natalia’s hand where it was wrapped around his arm and no doubt drawing quick conclusions that made Buck’s stomach churn for some reason.

“We’re looking for a couch,” Nat smiled at her. “Preferably a pull-out, something that guests can sleep on.”

Guests.

Chris wasn’t a guest in Buck’s house. Just like Buck was never a guest in his and Eddie’s house.

The salesperson and Natalia continued talking, but he struggled to follow the conversation, his ears ringing loudly. Another painstaking, however-many minutes later had them heading back out to the parking lot, decidedly couch-less.

“Looks like we struck out,” Natalia remarked as they made their way to the car.

He tried not to read into her words, even as something ominous began to seep into his veins.

It doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t mean—

The shrill alert of a text broke him from his impending spiral.

He gave her an apologetic grin, unlocked the car for her and fished his cell out of his pocket, quickly checking the screen.

Eddie - 6:23 pm

Hey, you busy? Me and Chris could use your opinion on something.

He looked up, staring at the back of Natalia’s head as she hopped into his car, looking very ready to be dropped home.

Me - 6:23 pm

Hey, no, I’m not busy. I can be there in thirty. Will I pick up some take-out? 🍜

Eddie - 6:24 pm

Please. Yang Chow’s?

Me - 6:24 pm

Sure. Chris want extra eggrolls?

Eddie - 6:24 pm

Always. Kid is obsessed

Me - 6:25 pm

He’s got good taste. 🤣 See you soon

Eddie - 6:25 pm

Thanks, Buck. See you soon

With a small smile spreading across his face, Buck slipped his phone back into his pocket and climbed into the driver’s seat, feeling Natalia’s gaze lingering on him.

Slowly, he turned to her, his smile hardly wavering even when his stomach churned again.

“Thanks for today. We uh…we can try again another time, right?”

Her dark eyes shone with something he couldn’t explain before she reached over and squeezed his hand.

“Sure, Buck. We can try again.”

~*~

He let himself into the Diaz house with his key, carefully shouldering the take-out, a six-pack of Genuine beer and some soda.

“Yo, Diazes! Food’s here!”

Without waiting for a reply, he headed into the kitchen only to find the two of them already in there.

“Oh,” Buck blinked between them. “Hi.”

Chris and Eddie gave him distracted waves and murmurs of replies, both glued to Eddie’s phone, staring at it expectantly.

“Uh…” he edged closer to them. “What’s goin’ on?”

Chris’ head shot up at that, a gleam in his eye.

“Dad had a date today.”

He tried and failed to control his eyebrows as his heart thudded heavily in his chest. Feeling oddly unmoored all of a sudden, he slowly deposited the food down on the counter.

“Don’t look so surprised,” Eddie groused at whatever expression was on his face, finally looking up from his phone. “I told you I bumped into Marisol at the hardware store a while back.”

Buck opened the take-out and placed containers on the counter, keeping his hands busy.

“Uh, yeah, but you’ve had her number since we helped fix her place. I guess I’m just shocked you finally decided to do something about it.”

He knew they had exchanged numbers, ‘just in case anything went wrong,’ after he and Eddie and a few of the B-Team helped restore her ceiling, but if he was brutally honest, he never thought Eddie would do anything about it. Even with Marisol and her big, doe eyes looking at him as if he hung the moon the whole time they were in her house.

Buck had put the whole thing out of his mind. Eddie hadn’t been looking for anything at the time, so he had forgotten all about Marisol and her doe eyes and her phone number entirely.

Until right now.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Eddie grumbled as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. “It was just a coffee date. I’m not gonna overthink it.”

Buck and Christopher levelled him with deadpan stares.

“Alright, alright, I’ll overthink it a little,” he conceded, throwing up his hands and turning around to grab plates from the cabinet.

“So,” Buck held out his hands for the plates. “If you already went on the date, what did you need my help with?”

“I don’t need your help to talk to women, Buck.”

He threw him a smirk.

“Sure ya don’t.”

“I don’t.”

Christopher badly hid a laugh behind his hand.

“Buck, you didn’t hear him on the phone. It was…embarrassing.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes at both of them.

“Alright, I see how it is. Didn’t realize I was surrounded by a couple ‘a smooth-talkers.”

Buck and Chris grinned before gathering their own food and making their way out to the dining table.

The date talk dropped while they ate, Chris spending the time filling them in on his project for school and getting Buck’s opinion on his latest design, the real reason for their text earlier. Well. That and take-out.

It was later, after dessert and two episodes of Bob’s Burgers, while Chris was getting ready for bed, that he suddenly dropped a stack of papers in Buck’s lap.

“Uh, what’s this, bud?”

Eddie made a noise of intrigue as he sat next to him on the couch, beer in hand, leaning into him to try and see for himself.

Chris stared at the two of them.

“It’s so we can help you.”

Buck’s brow furrowed as his eyes darted down to the first page.

“Help me with what?”

“With picking out your new couch,” Chris exclaimed with a far-too-teenaged eye roll as if he was being deliberately dense.

“...a new couch?”

He glanced at Eddie, whose gaze was locked onto his son as if he had never seen him before.

Chris, however, was busy giving Buck another look of exasperation, impatiently awaiting his response.

“That’s uh…that’s real nice of ya, bud,” he began slowly, something uncomfortable unfurling in his gut. “I-I’ve kinda already started looking with Natalia, but this will be a big help.”

He could feel Eddie’s heavy stare burning into the side of his face as Chris nodded at him, something glimmering behind his glasses.

“Oh, okay. Well, I circled a few you might like.”

With that, he made his way out of the room and into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Buck shoved down the feeling that he had said the wrong thing. He waited a couple of beats before finally turning to Eddie, who, as predicted, was already staring back at him, his eyebrows practically in his hairline.

“That’s…kinda a big step,” he murmured, a myriad of emotions crossing his face so fast that Buck couldn’t pick just one out. “You’re, uh, ‘picking the right couch,’ then?”

He opened his mouth to reply, only to find that no words would come out.

“Buck!”

The sound of his name being called from down the hall saved him from his sudden muteness as he scrambled up off the couch, carefully avoiding Eddie’s eye as he made his way into Christopher’s room.

“Yeah, buddy?”

Chris was sitting at the edge of his bed, too old now to be tucked in but not yet old enough to part with his favourite dinosaur pajamas, even if they were at least two inches too short. Something about that made Buck’s heart happy.

What steadily seeped that happiness from him like a pinprick to a balloon, though, was the concerned look marring Chris’ face. With a hesitant glance over Buck’s shoulder, he lowered his voice so much that Buck had to take several steps closer to hear him.

“You’ll…you’ll still be around all the time, right? Even though you and Dad are dating other people now?”

The words struck Buck straight in the chest. Chris sounded all of nine years old again, his voice smaller and timid—an echo of himself a couple of years ago when he ran away to the loft. The ‘now’ also threw Buck too. But the implication was far too confusing to let himself delve into when his favourite person in the entire world looked like he might just burst into tears any second.

“Of course. I haven’t forgotten my promise,” he reached out and clasped his shoulder, catching and holding his gaze. “You still got me, Christopher. I’m not going anywhere.”

Chris gave him that look then, the one that held so much trust that it threatened to bowl Buck over each and every time he saw it.

“Okay. Good. Thanks, Buck.”

They hugged tight, if a little shorter than usual before Chris reached over to his nightstand for his book.

Clearing his throat, Buck made his way back towards the door.

“G’night, buddy.”

“Night, Buck.”

He closed the door with a quiet snap and let out the breath that had been caught in his throat the whole time.

“All good?” Eddie asked as he returned to the living room, his skin feeling itchy and hot.

“Y-Yeah,” he replied, but if Eddie caught his uncertainty, he didn’t say, his gaze wholly focused on the print-outs in his hands.

“I had no idea he did this, for the record,” he said just as Buck sat back down beside him on the couch and reached for his beer. “It’s…thorough.”

“Well, ya raised a smart kid, Eds. Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

The only sound between them for the next few seconds was of papers being shuffled as Eddie inspected each couch, and Buck watched him inspect each couch, feeling oddly nervous for some reason.

“Well?” he asked when he couldn’t take it anymore. “Any takers?”

Warm, brown eyes met his for a fraction of a second before Eddie glanced down, his face unreadable as he hastily deposited the papers on the coffee table.

“Not my call, Buck. I’ll leave that to you and Natalia.”

It was said in a simple and to-the-point tone, but it felt like a slap to the face all the same.

But again, if Eddie caught his reaction, he didn’t show it.

“You want another beer?” he asked, waving to his almost-empty one.

“Uh, sure, thanks.”

He felt rather than saw Eddie make his way back into the kitchen, his gaze homed in on the papers lying on the coffee table directly in front of him. Unable to stop himself from scratching the itch of curiosity that had been festering under his skin, he leaned forward and snatched them up, flicking through them more carefully.

There were couches of different shapes, sizes, colours, and fabrics laid out with scribbles, circles, and commentary from Chris, all matching Buck’s tastes to a tee. A warmth spread in his chest as he was reminded of just how much the youngest Diaz knew him. How much both Diazes did.

“I didn’t think we even had ink left in the printer.”

His head shot up, eyes locking with Eddie's as he held out a beer for him to take.

“Thanks,” he murmured, taking a sip and putting the papers facedown on the couch cushion beside him.

A short silence engulfed them as Eddie sat beside him, nursing his own beer.

“So,” Buck found himself asking without really thinking, “how’d the date go anyway?”

Eddie paused a beat before giving a short shrug, gaze focussing on the Genuine beer label.

“Good. She’s smart, funny, beautiful. It was…nice.”

Something clanged in the back of Buck’s mind at that.

“Hmm.”

Eddie’s eyes darted over to him, narrowing.

“Why ‘hmm?’”

Buck gave a shrug of his own.

“I dunno, Eddie. You’ve said ‘nice’ before, that’s all.”

Something unreadable flickered across Eddie's face before he stared back down at the label again.

Wincing at his misstep, Buck scrambled to fix it.

“But hey,” he bumped their shoulders together. “Nice is good! It’s early days, right? You’re still getting to know her. What does Chris think about you dating again?”

“Well, there’s been no smashed salad bowls or Ubers to your place, so I think that’s progress?”

An anxiety that he couldn’t name was lingering in his veins despite his and Christopher's talk.

“Have you talked about it? What it means?”

Eddie turned to him, their knees knocking against one another.

“It’s coffee, Buck. And he seemed pretty stoked when we were talking on the phone. Even if he spent the whole time roasting my flirting technique.”

“Well, it does need a little work.”

“Oh yeah, Cyrano? Any tips?”

Buck chuckled at that, punching his shoulder half-heartedly and allowing himself to ask the question that had been on his mind all evening.

“What got you to finally call her, anyway?”

Eddie picked at the label with a blunt nail, mumbling, “I almost didn’t. But, you know. Pepa’s right. I think it’s time to put myself back out there.”

They sat with that for a second, and between one sip of beer and the next—

“What about dating someone you rescue? I thought that ‘never ends well’?”

The words were out of his mouth before he consciously thought them. He didn’t mean to sound so defensive, but he knew it came out that way regardless.

Eddie stared at him for a long beat, that same unreadable something swimming in his dark eyes.

“Well. I’ve been wrong before.”

He took another sip of his beer, breaking eye contact.

“Like you said, it’s early days. And I like Marisol. I don’t think it’s…it’s not like how it was with Ana. I’m not having panic attacks or whatever, not yet anyway. I’m just not sure if I feel…”

“Any magic? Or chemistry?” Buck asked tentatively, remembering what he had said about Shannon, what felt like eons ago.

Eddie cleared his throat, shuffling in his seat a little, head still tilted downwards.

“Not yet. Doesn’t mean I won’t, though. Right?”

“Right.”

Time ticked by, the Diaz clock on the mantle never sounding as loud to Buck as it did right then. Just when he was about to suggest they put on a movie or something, maybe even that guilty-pleasure telenovela that he got sucked into a while back, Eddie spoke up again.

“And you?”

Their eyes met.

“What about me?”

“How’re things with Natalia? You’re going couch shopping with her. That’s huge.”

“It is?”

“Buck.”

With a sigh, he sank deeper into the couch, his shoulder brushing Eddie’s as he stared at the coffee table.

“Yeah, it’s huge, but I guess I realised that it’s less about the perfect couch itself and more about me choosing a couch for myself. If that makes sense?”

Eddie made a noise of affirmation.

“Okay. I think I get it. So, it’s something you’re sharing with her but not making it all about her?”

Was that what he was doing?

“Uh, right,” he agreed anyway, an uncomfortable feeling sinking from his chest into the depths of his stomach. “I’m just…figuring things out. Right now, things are ni—good.”

“Hmm,” Eddie’s eyes were glinting bright when Buck dared to look at him. “You were gonna say, ‘nice.’”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Uh-huh.”

He wasn’t sure what caused the floodgates to open at that moment. If it was Eddie’s gentle teasing, the camaraderie of shared beers and good company, or something else entirely, but suddenly, words were tumbling from him at an alarming rate.

“But I can’t help but second-guess myself. I just—I don’t know, Eddie. I’ve been so afraid of making the same mistake again, and when she left and came back, I…I thought it meant something. But now, I can’t help but think I might’ve…”

“Rushed things? Maybe forced it a little?”

“Yeah.”

And there it was.

A breath shook loose from deep within him, a weight that had, unbeknownst to him, been pressing down on his body, now lifted.

“Well,” Eddie elbowed him, that glint in his eye ever present, “you did say that she knows you better than anyone after exactly one coffee date, Buck.”

“Hey!” he scoffed, elbowing him back. “You know that’s not what I meant. I just…things felt different with her than they did with Taylor. Or Ali. Or Abby.”

“And that’s why I didn’t call you on it,” Eddie held up a hand in surrender. “Because you said you feel like she sees you for who you are and what you’ve been through. Sees more in you than you see in yourself. I didn’t wanna argue with that.”

“You didn’t? Even when you thought I was rushing or forcing things?”

Eddie shifted on the couch then, turning fully toward him, resting his beer on his knee where it pressed into Buck’s thigh.

“I wanted to…let you figure things out for yourself. Not argue with you after you d-died and were clearly goin’ through something,” he swallowed, waving his free hand. “But now I gotta ask, what exactly does that mean, Buck?”

“What does what mean?”

“You said you feel like she sees you. But sees you how?”

“I…” words died in his throat as he struggled to understand what Eddie was asking. “I’m not sure,” he admitted quietly, more to himself than anyone else. “I just felt like she might be someone different. Someone who sees who I am and still stays, you know? That’s all I want.”

Eddie’s brow furrowed at that, his ‘thinky face’ (as Buck and Chris called it) working overtime.

“Someone who sits with you,” he muttered so lowly that if Buck weren’t sitting right next to him, he would have definitely missed it.

Clocking the confusion that no doubt marred Buck’s face, he continued, “I asked Bobby how he made things happen with Athena. And he said that it wasn’t about making things happen. It was more accepting things. Sitting down with someone when they need it.”

Buck’s stomach flipped.

“Stepping in with them.”

“What?”

He scrambled to turn to him, mirroring his stance, one knee bent and pressing into Eddie’s, his beer resting atop it. Alcohol notwithstanding, they could have passed as kids at a slumber party, gushing about their crushes.

Grinning a little at that thought, he explained, “I asked Bobby a long time ago how to navigate things with Abby, and he said…he said I should step in with her. You know, be there with her through the difficult times."

Eddie nodded.

“We can always trust Bobby to give sage advice.”

“Yup.”

“And you think Natalia is the one to do that? To stay and step in and sit with you?”

He should have expected it. It was the natural follow-up question to that, but it still rocked him all the same.

“I uh,” he cleared his throat, focused on his hands. “Maybe? I—look, I know she left. But honestly, I didn’t blame her. And she did come back. That’s gotta mean something, right?”

Slowly, he raised his head and met Eddie’s dark eyes, already looking at him with something he couldn’t decipher.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” he replied after what felt like an eternity. “You ever gonna talk about that, by the way?”

Buck’s heart lurched.

“Eddie.”

“Buck, she helped you deliver your—”

“He’s not my son.”

“Maybe not,” a hand landed on his forearm, squeezing. “But you did help bring him into this world. In more ways than one. It’s okay to talk about that.”

“Wow. Therapized Eddie is full of wisdom, huh?”

“Not as much as I’d like.”

Buck frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” Eddie shook his head, leaning forward, catching his eye. “Look, I didn’t get too involved when you spitballed the donation idea. I kept out of it because, ultimately, it was your decision and not my business—”

“Eddie, you’re my best friend. I always want your opinion on—”

“I didn’t think it was a good idea, Buck.”

A beat of silence passed.

Two.

Three.

“I know.”

A harsh puff of breath left Eddie as he squeezed his arm again.

“I knew it’d crush you if I told you that…so I didn’t. But now I realise, I should have been there for you more than I was. I’m sorry.”

“You are there for me, Eddie, always,” Buck argued automatically, his hand falling down on top of his as he eagerly tried to make him understand. “But I don’t think…I don’t think I woulda listened, anyway. Cause I think I thought, maybe, as messed up as it sounds, it might be my only shot at being a dad.”

“Buck—”

“I know, I know. Donor, not Dad.”

Eddie looked conflicted at that, like he wanted to say something but was holding himself back.

And Buck didn’t have the courage to push him on it.

Eventually, Eddie took back his hand and asked, barely above a whisper, “Does Natalia want kids?”

His heart lodged in his throat.

“We’ve only been dating a few weeks,” he rasped. “It’s kinda soon to—”

“But it’s a dealbreaker, right? If she doesn’t?”

He wiped a hand down his face, feeling a wave of tiredness crash down on him all of a sudden.

“Yeah. I think it might be.��

Tonight was a night for confessions, it seemed.

Eddie tilted his head to the side, trying to catch his eye.

“Okay, well, you invited her to help you choose the couch. You’re inviting her into your life. To step in and sit down with you. To stay and be your…partner.”

The word ‘partner’ echoed between them.

Buck fought a wince at how odd it sounded.

“...Yeah.”

Eddie gave a tiny shrug.

“Then I guess you have some things to talk about, huh? Maybe not now, but soon.”

A heavy silence followed that.

Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

Tick—

“Ravi said once that what we all want in a partner is knowing they have your back.”

He hadn’t thought about that in a while. And the conversation it had spurred between him and Maddie about what love really was. That dumb, nightmarish Adam Sandler movie about amnesia.

Always doing the same thing. Making the same mistakes, never having the chance to learn or make a different decision…like a hamster on a wheel.

That was what he had said.

Maddie thought it was romantic.

But over a year later, it still sounded like a bad dream to him.

Is that what I’m doing? Running on a wheel?

“Do you think she has your back?”

He jumped at the sound of Eddie’s voice, having gotten lost in his own thoughts.

“I don’t know.”

It was honest, if only half-so. The full truth was he was afraid to find out. Somehow, he knew Eddie knew that without him saying a word, though.

So every day is the best day ever? Is that really love? Shouldn’t it be when you’re at your worst, they’re at their worst, you have every reason to give up, and you still decide you wanna try again?

He remembered, with vivid clarity, asking his big sister this. Knowing that she didn’t have the answer, not really, but needing to ask it aloud anyway, unnerved by a call where a husband forgot his wife, their unborn child and seven years of his life. Still, he wasn’t sure why he thought about it sometimes, even as recently as last week and right this second. But he did. Sitting here on Eddie’s couch, in Eddie’s house, with Christopher down the hall, Buck again asked himself what love really was.

And thought this time, he might just have an idea, even if he wasn’t sure what that meant yet.

“Well, wait and see, I guess,” Eddie again unknowingly broke through his reverie, knocking their knees together. “‘Cause I might not know much, but I do know that’s what it’s all about, Buck. What we’re looking for. Someone who will step in, sit down, stay with you, and have your back.”

He caught Eddie’s eye.

Yeah. That’s it.

“Magic too,” he smiled gently, despite his heart picking up speed, rattling against his ribcage. “Chemistry.”

“Yeah,” Eddie chuckled. “Magic and chemistry too. That’s not too much to ask for, right?”

They laughed.

“Hey, if Bobby and Athena, Hen and Karen and Chim and Maddie can have it all, so can we.”

“Yeah. So can we.”

They leaned in at the same time, knees pressed tight, clinking their beer bottles together.

“To having it all,” Eddie toasted, his voice teasing.

Buck smiled back, his tone maybe a tad too serious. “To having it all.”

~*~

Wisps of light shone through the crack in the drapes of the Diaz living room, basking Buck in a glow strong enough to wake him.

Groggily rousing from a vivid, pleasant dream (where he, Eddie and Christopher were at a theme park, but instead of riding a rollercoaster, they rode a giant couch that looped and spun them to exhilarating heights), he blinked his eyes open.

He had fallen asleep sitting up, his neck resting against the back of the couch at a weird angle, yet miraculously, he was pretty comfortable, with no aches or pains. Just something heavy pressing into his side.

And that something was breathing.

Glancing down, he was met with the top of Eddie's dark hair, his temple resting on Buck's shoulder.

Something warm flooded his chest at the sight that he didn’t allow himself to examine too closely. Instead, he turned his attention to what truly woke him—the buzzing of his phone that lay face up beside his leg.

Slowly and gently enough not to dislodge Eddie, he picked it up, tapping the screen to life and revealing a new text message.

Natalia Dollenmeyer - 09:13 am

Hey! My client canceled today. You ready for some more couch hunting? 🛋️

His eyes flickered back down to Eddie, a small smile spreading across his face as he scrunched his nose up in his sleep and let out the tiniest snort.

Me - 09:15 am

Think I’m all couched out for now|

He paused mid-text, guilt festering in his gut before he forced himself to continue.

now. But we could have dinner later instead? 7 pm?

Natalia Dollenmeyer - 09:17 am

It’s a date 💋

Buck gently pocketed his phone, letting out a deep breath. Blinking, he noticed Chris’ papers lying next to him. With careful movements, he flipped to the last couple of pages he’d missed last night, only for his stomach to lurch at the very last one. There, staring up at him, was a familiar blue suede couch with large, square cushions.

Eddie’s couch.

Christopher included the Diaz couch in his list for Buck.

The same couch he had just awoken on for what felt like the thousandth time.

Huh. Eddie must have missed this last night too.

The soft shutter click of a camera had his eyes darting up to the grinning face of Christopher Diaz, slowly lowering his dad's cell phone from where he stood in the open doorway of the kitchen.

"Sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “I promise I won't send it to Carla, no matter how much she asks."

Buck stuck his tongue out at Chris just as he felt a stirring against his shoulder.

“Time’sit?” the very groggy tone of one Edmundo Diaz was followed quickly by the loud cracking of his neck and an even louder groan.

“It’s just after 9.”

“We gotta stop fallin’ asleep on this thing,” he grumbled, his eyes blinking open and meeting Buck’s.

“It’s more comfortable than most,” Buck gave a soft shrug as Chris let out a quiet laugh. “See? Says so right there.”

He handed Eddie the page rife with Christopher’s neat handwriting, circles and arrows, and waited. Silently, he watched as his face ran through about a dozen different emotions before finally settling on confusion.

“Chris…” Eddie began, his brow furrowed as he stared down at the picture. “That’s our couch.”

“Yeah,” Chris confirmed, the ‘duh’ audible in his tone.

“And why did you put our couch on Buck’s list?”

“‘Cause he likes it. I mean, it’s pretty much his couch already ‘cause he falls asleep on it all the time. Even on nights he doesn’t mean to stay over. Which is why I just found you sleeping on it, too, I guess. Kinda proving my point, Dad.”

Buck froze, Chris’s words ringing in his ears.

It’s pretty much his couch already.

“Alright, smartass,” Eddie retorted, heaving himself up off the couch in question and running a hand through his hair, mussing it up even more. “Why don’t you use that big brain of yours to help me make Buck breakfast for a change, huh?”

Christopher’s eyes danced, glancing between them.

“Pancakes?”

Eddie looked to Buck, who had to shake himself a little.

“Pancakes?”

Buck smiled, something warm pooling into his stomach.

“Pancakes.”

With that decided, father and son made their way to the kitchen, Buck’s gaze trailing them from where he still sat on the couch, feeling as if he was simultaneously figuring something out and missing something entirely.

“Buck?”

His eyes snapped up to where Eddie and Chris were standing in the doorway, watching him.

“Yeah?”

“Come on. You’re on coffee duty. I’m not in the mood for Hildy’s sass this morning.”

Chuckling, Buck stood up and followed his partner and his best friend, stepping into the kitchen, sitting down at the table and staying with them as they made breakfast, steadfastly banning him from anything but chief barista.

And it may have been just another ordinary Sunday morning, like countless mornings with the Diazes before, but somehow, if he allowed himself to think about it…

It felt like magic.

[babygirl-diaz]

All It Takes Is Some Trying

Summary: In which Buck finds Eddie's old CD collections and gifts them to him.

***

“What’s wrong?” Buck asked Eddie as he unpacked the grocery bags in the kitchen. There was a sullen look on Eddie’s face that bothered him. 

“Just something Chris said today that struck a chord with me,” Eddie replied, putting the groceries away. 

“What did he say?” Buck stopped unpacking and gave Eddie his full attention. “I mean, he’s 12, Eddie. He’s going through his rebellion phase. You can’t take anything he says to heart.” 

“No, it’s not that.” Eddie frowned. “And thanks, Buck, for reminding me he will soon have a rebellious phase, too.” He paused before adding. “Today, I was about to get out of the truck to walk with him to his class, but he stopped me. He said he was and I quote, “Good.” Like, what the hell is that even supposed to mean?” 

Buck burst out laughing at that. “That means he’s growing up. He doesn’t want Dad walking him to 7th grade, or he doesn’t want you to fall for another one of his teachers.” 

“Well, he knows the latter won’t happen because I am dating his other favorite human,”                                                                                   

Eddie said with a roll of his eyes as he opened the box of cereal and started dumping it into the cereal container. 

Buck moved around the kitchen and island and stopped behind Eddie. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. “You really think I’m his second favorite person?” He asked. 

“No, you and I share the title of his favorite person,” Eddie replied and stopped what he was doing to lean back against Buck. “He would let you walk him to class.” 

“Oh, come on, that’s not fair, baby. I don’t think he would let me walk him to class either,” Buck told him, kissing behind his ear. 

“He’s growing up so fast, Buck,” Eddie said, with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I don’t like it.” 

“You can’t stunt his growth. That’s not how it works. He’ll grow up and he’ll become his own person, and you’ll just have to live with it.” 

“Yeah, but even now, he is hiding away in his room. God knows doing what, and I barely see him.” Eddie huffed. 

“You gotta talk to him like he’s a teenager because ultimately that’s what he is. Don’t treat him like a child.” 

“He’s still a child. My child,” Eddie insisted. “I can’t just let him go.” 

“I am not telling you to let him go.” Buck sighed. “Okay, come on, I found something earlier today. I think it will take your mind off this whole thing.” He pulled away from Eddie and took his hand instead. 

“I don’t feel like it, Buck.” Eddie tried pulling his hand back. “Besides, I gotta put the groceries away.” 

“The groceries will still be there,” Buck told him. “This is way more important.” He dragged Eddie to the living room. “Okay, close your eyes.” 

“Buck, I don’t have time for this,” Eddie said, annoyed. 

“Come on, Eddie, just humor me.” 

“Fine,” Eddie grumbled and closed his eyes. 

Eddie retrieved a box he had left behind the couch and brought it over to Eddie. “Okay, open your eyes.” 

When Eddie did, his eyebrows immediately furrowed. 

“Ta duh!” Buck said excitedly and handed the box over to Eddie. 

“What’s th-” Eddie stopped mid-sentence and his eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, these are my old CDs from when I was a kid. Where did you get them?” 

“Last week when we drove down to your parent’s place, I was in the attic, helping your abuela look for something when I came across these,” Buck replied, grinning at him. “She told me how you would save up to buy these and then stay in your room for hours listening to them.” 

“How did I not see you bring these to the car?” Eddie asked as he browsed through the collection. 

‘I was sneaky.” Buck smirked and shrugged. His heart melted at the smile on Eddie’s face. He looked so in awe of the collection. 

“Let’s play something from here,” Eddie said all of a sudden. 

“Yeah?” Buck asked excitedly. “Do you even have a CD player?” 

“Of course I do!” Eddie replied with as much enthusiasm. “I’ll be right back” He went to the room and after a few minutes and a lot of noise, he came back with a CD boombox. “Had this thing hidden somewhere deep under my bed.” 

“Why do you even have it?” Buck asked as he examined the round blue top-loading CD player. 

“That doesn’t matter. Aren’t you just glad that I do?” Eddie asked. 

Buck gave him a suspicious look before browsing through the collection. He pulled out a CD case that still looked in mint condition, apart from the dust, and immediately recognized it. “Hey, Maddie used to have this CD. She had the biggest crush on Enrique Iglesias,” he recalled. “She’d listen to Hero on repeat all day long. She even said that the girl in the music video looked like her. I got so tired of that song that I hid her CD.” 

“You didn’t!” Eddie gasped. He took the CD case from Buck and examined it. “Somewhere deep down, I had a crush on Enrique too. But I just never wanted to admit it. My favorite was always Escape. Although, Hero was my second favorite.” He hooked up the CD player and put the CD into it. 

Soon the sounds of guitar blared through the room, followed by Enrique Iglesias’ voice, as “Escape” started playing. 

“Weren’t you like 9 when this album came out?” Buck asked. “How did you score the CD?” 

“My abuela. She was a huge fan of Julio Iglesias. She knew how much I wanted this album, so she gifted it to me on my birthday,” 

Buck nodded before bopping his head along with the music. His feet soon started moving to the music too, and he held his hand out towards Eddie, “Can I have this dance?” 

Eddie raised his eyebrows and laughed before giving his hand Buck. 

The two started dancing to the music. Buck twirled Eddie around and caught him in his arms and the two laughed before singing loudly, “If you feel like leaving. Then I”m not gonna make you stay. But soon you will find that, you can run, you hide, but you can’t escape my love.” 

“What are you doing?” 

Buck heard a voice and looked over to see Christopher standing there with an unamused look on his face. “Dancing,” he smugly told the kid. 

“Yeah, I can see that, Buck.” Chris rolled his eyes. “What’s that? Is that a new speaker?” 

“Not just a speaker, it’s a CD player,” Eddie replied, turning off the music. 

“You have one of those?” Chris asked, sound a bit more curious now. He went over to the CD player and looked at it in awe. “So cool,” he said under his breath, but Buck heard it anyway. 

“Yeah, Buck found my old CD collection, so we were just playing them,” Eddie told him and showed him the box with the CDs. 

“Can I see them?” Chris asked as he took a seat. 

“Of course!” Eddie put the box on Chris’ lap and let him look through them. 

“Who were you singing along to?” Chris asked. 

“Enrique Iglesias,” Eddie told him and sat down beside him. 

“Wow, there’s a lot of pop music in here,” Chris noted. “Is this Fearless by Taylor Swift?” He asked, picking up one of the CDs. 

“Okay, that’s not mine. Pretty sure that one belonged to Adriana,” Eddie replied, taking the CD from Chris and putting it aside. 

“It’s okay, dad, I like Taylor Swift too,” Chris said, putting a hand on Eddie’s arm. 

“She’s cool. I secretly liked her songs, but it was a no-no to admit it out loud as a boy,” Eddie told Chris. 

“That’s silly. You should be able to enjoy whatever music you want to.” 

“Couldn’t agree more, kid,” Eddie replied. 

Buck watched the pair interact and smiled. He was proud of himself for having found this CD collection. At least it was something that got the father-son duo talking again. 

“Dad?” Chris said after a few minutes. 

“Yeah?” Eddie turned to look at him. “What’s up?” 

“I’m sorry I didn’t let you go to class with me today. I just wanted to do it on my own. I hope you understand.” 

Buck noticed the sad look on Eddie’s face, but then he smiled at Chris, nonetheless. “It’s okay, kiddo. I get it. You don’t want your old man around all the time.” 

“It’s not that! I want you around!” Chris insisted. “I just- I want my classmates to see me as someone who is independent. That’s very important to me.” 

Eddie nodded in understanding. “I get it, Chris. You don’t need to explain yourself.” 

“Thanks, dad,” Chris said appreciatively. “Can we listen to this?” He asked, pulling out a CD. 

“This is the mixtape I made your mom during our senior year,” Eddie recounted, as he took the CD. 

“That’s why I wanna hear it.” Chris paused for a second before adding, “I mean, only if it’s okay with Buck?” 

“Of course! Why wouldn’t i be okay with it?” Buck asked and took the CD from Eddie and put it in the CD player. 

“Who’s this dude?” Christopher asked frowning. 

“James Blunt.” Eddie visibly cringed at that. “In my defense, this song was really famous back then, and it represented exactly what I felt for your mom.” 

“It’s such a stalker song!” Buck laughed. 

“I agree with Buck on this one!” Christopher teased. 

“Hey!” Eddie huffed at them, but then a small smile creeped across his lips. 

Buck wanted to capture and keep this moment forever.

[spidermans-l-o-v-e-r]

One Puff or Two?

Pairing: Eddie x Reader

Word count: ….we ain’t gon talk about it

Notes: You don’t understand how funny this ask is because my friend made me laugh so hard he gave me an asthma attack and I had to pause our movie to take my inhaler it was h i l a r i o u s

“Not bad, not bad” Buck pats Eddie on the shoulder as they walk into the station. They’d just come from the gym and were getting ready to start their shift. Eddie had admittedly gone a little harder than he should have when Buck mentioned you’d be there too tonight. 

He would finally ask you on that stupid date that Buck had been nagging him about the entire time they’d been working out. He said you two would be absolutely adorable together 

His chest is a bit tight as he comes up the stairs, you’re sat in a chair with your feet up, reading some book you’d been meaning to get around to for ages. 

He goes to the fridge for a bottle of water and cracks the lid 

“Hey um-“ he coughs a little and clears his throat “You busy this- this weekend?” 

He’s coughing through the entire sentence and you look up at him from your book 

“Are you okay?” 

Y-yeah! Yeah no I’m-“ he coughs again and puts his hand on his chest, bending over to breathe for a second “I’m fine, anyway what-“You get up from your seat and come over to him now, guiding him down into a chair 

“Hey?? come on look at me babe” You put your head on his chest listening to his breathing and frown. His hand comes up and he rubs your hair 

“If-if you wanted-” cough “to touch m-“ cough cough “all you ha-had-”

“All I had to do was ask ha-ha very funny. Stop talking!” You finish his sentence for him as he keeps coughing and taking in short shallow breaths 

“I can’t believe you’re flirting with me when you’re having an asthma attack” You get up and pat his pockets down to see if he’s got an inhaler but there’s nothing 

“I ca- I can’t-“ 

“Please for the love of god stop talking. I’ll be right back okay!! Stay here!” 

You run downstairs telling Bobby what’s happening and grab an emergency inhaler from the truck before running back upstairs. You’re gonna need one in a minute with all the running around 

Eddie is still hacking up a lung when you drop to your knees in front of him and shake the inhaler before priming it. 

“Do you even have an inhaler??” You scold him and he rolls his eyes and shrugs because he does, he just can’t tell you that right now. You hold it up to his lips and he winks at you before taking the first puff 

“Oh my god” you mumble as he holds his breath for a minute, he blows out slowly as you rub his thigh in time with his breathing. He leans back in his chair and slouches a bit 

“Yo- you should stay o-on your knees for me-me” 

You glare at him and he chuckles to himself while you wait for him to take the second one 

“Have you always been this annoying?” You hold it up to his lip again and he takes the last puff. You wait for him to blow it out slowly again and then get up 

“Are you feeling better?” You step forward and ruffle his hair and he leans into your touch. Your “Awww” is cut short as he wraps his arm around your waist, pulling you down into his lap 

“I feel much better” he nuzzles your nose “And you didn’t answer if you were busy this weekend”

Your cheeks flush and you shrug at him “No I’m not busy… why?” 

“Oh, no reason… just thought maybe you’d uh…. maybe you’d like to go out with me? It’s the least I could do you know, you saved my life and all” 

You snicker as you cross one leg over the other and lean into him more, you wrap your arms around his neck and now it’s his turn to blush as he holds you in his arms

“Just a little way to say thank you huh?” You wriggle your eyebrows and he nods 

“Mhmmm… maybe dinner at that one Italian place you really like and then back to my place for a movie?” 

“Are you asking me to Netflix and chill?” You laugh 

“I don’t think that’s what the kids call it anymore, but yeah I guess that is what I’m asking… minus the chill part I mean- unless like… you know that’s something you want to happen”

“Did you just talk yourself out of getting laid?!” Buck comes up the walkway with Eddie’s normal inhaler and puts it in his shirt pocket, patting it lightly “I thought I taught you better than that!” 

You go to get out of Eddie’s lap but he keeps you there, holding you tighter “Oh shut up! You’re ruining the moment… So what do you think? oh savior of mine?”

You giggle at him and Buck and give him little finger guns 

“It’s a date” 

“Jesus she’s as dorky as you are!” Buck facepalms

[prosperdemeter2]

Perspective flip for any one of the rewrite fics (I love that series)

stuck chapter 10

Bobby didn’t consider himself a stupid man.

Still, even Athena had laughed in his face when he asked her in a quiet voice - once the shock of the day had worn off and he had scrubbed his hands raw in an effort to clean Buck’s blood off of them - just how long Buck and Eddie had been a thing. “Long before they started working together.” Athena had said decisively and then narrowed her gaze at him in suspicion. “Don’t you go saying anything but support, Bobby.”

He had been offended at the suggestion. “Why would I?” He asked with a blush.

“After all they’ve been through,” Athena told him sternly. “They don’t deserve to have to explain themselves to you.”

So Bobby wasn’t planning on asking, really he wasn’t.

He hadn’t been planning, either, on running into Eddie at the hospital.

He shouldn’t have been shocked. He wouldn’t have been able to leave Athena’s side if it were here in Buck’s place (and it certainly made things look very similar to how they had been when Bobby had first met Eddie, actually. After the allergic reaction, with Eddie curling his body around Buck’s longer one as if to shield him from view. Teasing instead of condemning, looking at him the same way Bobby had noticed him looking at Buck every single day.). Bobby paused, lingered by the window into the room. “He looks worse than he is.” Maddie said from the end of the hallway, her voice shaky and eyes watery but her smile real and bright.

Bobby could see Buck in her - they had the same smile, the same sparkle in their eyes, the same fighting spirit. She had a coffee cup in her hand, steam curling up to wrap itself around her chin, and her phone in the other, the screen lit up to show her background - a picture taken what must have been not too long ago, the Buckley twin smiles on both her and Buck’s faces, a ferris wheel in the background (they had gone to the pier, Bobby remembered because he had run into them there, Athena and the kids on a ride and Bobby taking a break from the crowd by the railing. Neither of them had noticed him at first then and Bobby had been able to observe, the way he always did, how Maddie wrapped her arm through Buck’s, stole his backwards ballcap to pluck onto her own head and kissed his cheek.). “Has he woken up yet?” Bobby asked because he didn’t know what else to say.

Athena waved Maddie into her side, squeezed her tight around the shoulders and held her there, strong and comforting. “No.” Maddie shook her head with a frown. “But the doctors said that we’re just waiting on the sedation to wear off.”

“Looks plenty awake to me.” Athena snorted and nodded towards the window they were huddled around.

Bobby flushed and Maddie coughed into a laugh. Bobby was okay with a lot of things - he didn’t care who Buck dated, who Eddie slept with, what any member of his crew did. That didn’t mean he wanted to see it.

“He…” Maddie cleared her throat, her cheeks a light pink, and looked curiously at Bobby. “He’s really happy.” Her expression turned begging, a hint of threatening, even. She narrowed her eyes and swept her gaze down his height before meeting him head on. Courageous and daring. “He deserves to be happy, okay? Don’t mess that up for him.”

The threat was clear. The meaning behind it even clearer. Bobby’s opinion mattered, for one reason or another. He was Buck’s superior, his Captain, maybe even his friend.

He would never do anything to… to threaten that happiness.

Bobby nodded. “I wouldn’t dare.”

Besides, who was he to judge? Bobby was the reason why Buck was in that hospital bed in the first place, the reason why his happiness was threatened, the reason why he almost lost more than months of recovery. They were lucky, Bobby knew, that they didn’t have to bury any of their crew-mates. No one should have gotten hurt in the first place, but Freddy Costa had wanted to hurt someone and he had, unknowingly, hurt the one person who… who Bobby was pretty sure he wouldn’t recover from losing on the team.

That wasn’t fair. Bobby loved all of his firefighters - Hen was a wonderful friend, Chimney was one of the people Bobby was closest to, Eddie was a single father that Bobby respected more than he had words for. But Buck… there was something special about him. Something about the way he took to life that reminded Bobby what it was like to live. He hadn’t had much when he took over as captain for the 118 - nothing but bravado and a hope to repent for all of the death and destruction he had caused back in Minnesota. Buck could have washed out so easily, under the wrong leadership he would have. He challenged Bobby every step of the way. But he was one of the best Bobby had had the pleasure of working with. He had heart.

His heart, apparently (from what Bobby had overheard in the back of an ambulance), belonged to Eddie Diaz (who Bobby had seen cry when Buck said the words. It was true, then, in a way that Bobby feared most things in the world weren’t. It wasn’t fake, it wasn’t a fluke, it wasn’t a game. It was the sort of all consuming love that Bobby had thought, once, only came once.).

(He had thought parental love, parental fear, could only be extended to the children he had shared DNA with too, once.

He was wrong about that too.

Bobby had felt the gut twisting fear he did when Buck was trapped under the engine once before. He thought it was pretty terrible of him that he was glad this had a different outcome. He would do anything for Robby and Brooke to be back again - he wouldn’t trade Buck to make that happen.)

Softly, he knocked his knuckles against the doorway and, slowly, Eddie pulled back, his hand still as gentle as Bobby had ever seen it against Buck’s scraped up cheek. They passed something between them softly and Eddie’s eyes met his with barely an ounce of anything but relief in them. “Hey,” Eddie’s fingers tapped Buck’s cheek until he was blinking his blue eyes open. “Look who’s here.”

[bumblebee-be]

i’m always a sucker for forehead kisses or just soft warm cuddles if that sparks anything?

Eddie gets to watch as it happens this time. He doesn’t leave the room for beers and come back to a softly snoring Buck passed out on his couch. No, this time… this time it happens slowly. They’re watching some movie- Eddie hasn’t really been able to pay attention, far too distracted by his own thoughts and how fucking soft Buck looks like this, curled up on Eddie’s sofa- and Eddie gets to see as Buck’s blinks grow longer, slower. As his head droops lower, finally resting on his own shoulder. How his breaths slow, becoming deep and even. How the lines of his face melt away as he’s lulled deeper and deeper into sleep. 

It isn’t until Eddie’s absolutely positive that Buck’s asleep that he begins to talk, his voice barely above a whisper as he studies Buck’s face.

“I lied to you,” he confesses, his fingers absently picking at a loose threat in the fabric of the couch. “I didn’t mean to- not really, at least. I just…” Eddie takes a slow, heavy breath, closing his eyes for a moment.”I don’t know how to tell you that you’re the last thing I saw as I fell. That my last thought wasn’t This is it, but It’s okay. He’s okay. I don’t know how to tell you that and not also tell you that it brought me peace, knowing you were okay. Knowing that I wasn’t losing you. It’s selfish- I know that. But- even then, man, I knew that if you died, I would too. The part of me that matters, at least. And it did. It did die. I felt-” his voice trembles and he moves his fingers to wrap around Buck’s wrist softly, pausing for a moment until he can find the rhythm of the other man’s heart.

“I felt myself die. I died with you, when your heart stopped. I was dead for three minutes. I think they were probably the longest minutes of my life, Buck. And I was- I was just a ghost after that. Barely there, hanging on by a thread as you fought to come back. I couldn’t- I couldn’t even look at you. It just hurt so fucking much, to see you like that. To not be able to do anything. I just- I couldn’t. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry I lied to you earlier.”

Eddie’s fingers trace up Buck’s arm, featherlight even over the sweater, up to his face, tracing over the birthmark above his eyebrow carefully. Buck huffs softly in his sleep, turning his face further into Eddie’s touch. Something warm and gooey melts inside Eddie’s chest, seeping into his veins like golden honey as he catches his breath, properly cradling the side of Buck’s face now. “I’m sorry I’m not brave enough to tell you yet. I will,” he promises, the oath settling next to his heart. He brushes his thumb over Buck’s cheekbone. “Soon. When we’re both ready.”

Buck makes a soft sound in his sleep, shifting a little. Eddie can’t quite help himself, he leans forward, crossing the short distance between them, and presses his lips to Buck’s forehead, brushing over his birthmark ever so softly. He pulls back after a few moments, an ache building in his chest. He wants, so much. Soon, his mind murmurs, his heart beating along with the promise. He smiles softly.

Then- Buck’s eyelashes flutter, his eyes opening slowly. He blinks owlishly at Eddie, who’s frozen with his hand fitted along Buck’s jaw. He can’t move, his breath caught in his throat. But Buck’s mouth merely lifts in a soft smile, turning further into Eddie’s touch, his lips brushing the inside of Eddie’s wrist as his eyes fall closed. 

“C’mere,” he murmurs sleepily against Eddie’s skin, shifting slightly to make more room for Eddie to slot in beside him. He opens his eyes again, meeting Eddie’s gaze with tired blue eyes filled to the brim with love and whispers, “Please.”

Eddie swallows hard, nodding carefully. “Yeah,” he breathes, brushing his thumb across Buck’s cheek. “Yeah, of course.” It takes a bit of fumbling (especially with a very groggy Buck), but they make it work- Eddie lying on the couch on his back, Buck curled into his side, one leg thrown across one of Eddie’s, Eddie’s arms around Buck’s waist, buck’s face pillows on Eddie’s chest. 

For the first time since Buck’s heart stopped, Eddie feels like he’s truly breathing.