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inawickedlittletown · 5 years

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I Belong With You, You Belong With Me, You’re My Sweetheart (one-shot)

Summary: Fake Dating - Buddietines Week Day 7

Buck is used to not really talking to Eddie at school -- they ran in different circles after all and had no mutual friends -- but then circumstances lead to Buck rescuing Eddie by pretending to be his date for the Valentine’s Day Dance.

“Ladies, ladies,” Buck said, slipping past Taylor. Everyone was looking at him including Eddie who mostly looked shocked and confused. “Eddie already has plans for Valentine’s Day and for the dance. With me,” Buck said and he reached over and grabbed one of Eddie’s hands pulling him towards him and past the girls. Eddie looked at him wide eyed, but he went with him and Buck just pulled him out of their grasp and down the hall away from them and from anyone that was whispering behind them.

“Oh my god,” Eddie said. “Buck, what did you just do?”

Ship: Buck/Eddie

Words: 13,876

Notes: This one is a tad bit late but it’s here! This began as a fic filling Day 1′s prompt - Secret Admirer because Secret Admirer felt very High School to me. But as I wrote it with no real plan things developed and this happened instead and I’m kind of a little obsessed with it which is probably how it go to be so long.

This is also 100% inspired by all the numerous HS romcoms I’ve watched over the years because I’m a sucker for them. Enjoy.

Titlte from the song “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers.

Read on Ao3

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The thing about Buck and Eddie was that they were friends. Best friends, really, if anyone cared to ask. But they were different. They ran in different circles at school. Eddie was the baseball team captain. He was popular and friendly with all the jock types. Buck wasn’t that guy. He was kind of the opposite. Buck was smart. If it wasn’t an AP level class, it was Honors and after school he was in numerous clubs. Environmental club, Academic Decathlon, Interact Club, and he helped out with the Drama Club too when he could.

Most people at school wouldn’t even believe that they were friends with how little they interacted. They just didn’t have the same classes and rarely saw each other in the halls and they had no mutual friends.

And maybe it was the not being in each other’s pockets all the time at school thing that made it hard not to admire Eddie from afar, because Buck was kind of in love with him. When they were on their own at his house or Eddie’s it was different, they fell back on how things had been before labels became more important.

“You’re staring again,” Hen said.

Eddie’s locker was just down the hall from Buck’s and he was standing there with his girlfriend, Shannon. Buck kind of hated Shannon. She was a cheerleader, because of course she was. They kind of fit that cliche perfectly. But Buck didn’t hate her because she was dating Eddie — maybe not as much as for other reasons.

Shannon was just...she was bossy and pushy and kind of stuck up. Buck had no idea what Eddie could possibly see in her. Because Eddie wasn’t like Shannon. He was nice and sweet and likeable in a way that meant almost everyone at school liked him.

“And I just can’t figure out which one of them you’re actually into,” Hen said.

“Oh, the woes of being bi,” Buck said with a grin.

Henrietta or Hen as she liked to be called was Buck’s best friend aside from Eddie. In all actuality he probably did see more of Hen than Eddie most days. The best part about Hen was how absolutely real she was.

Hen laughed. “Well, I’ve heard they’re not the happiest couple. She was yelling at him in the parking lot yesterday after school. Big fight. He didn’t even drive her home and they always drive in together.”

“Really,” Buck said with interest. He wondered why Eddie hadn’t mentioned it the night before when they were hanging out at his house. Usually they didn’t keep much from each other.

“Yeah, I guess she was mad at him for something anyway—”

Hen stopped talking just as Shannon poked her finger hard into Eddie’s chest, pushing him back into his locker and said something to him too low for them to hear and then turned and walked away even after Eddie called her name. She hadn’t made it far before she turned around again. She looked pissed, she was shaking with her anger.

“And you know what, Eddie, we’re over,” Shannon called back to him. “So, over.”

“Well then,” Hen said.

“Yeah,” Buck said and when he looked towards Eddie he found Eddie’s eyes on him. “Uh, Hen, I’ll be right back.”

Although they didn’t talk to each other much at school, it wasn’t like they were hiding their friendship or anything so Buck approaching Eddie wasn’t usual for them but Buck couldn’t ignore the shocked way that Eddie looked.

“Ed, you okay?”

Eddie shrugged his shoulders. “I guess so. I don’t know. That’s been a long time coming. I guess it’s just annoying she had to do it this week.”

That reaction seemed a little off to Buck.

“Why?” Buck asked. He leaned against the locker next to Eddie’s and watched him.

“It’s going to be silly,” Eddie said.

“Hit me with it.”

“It’s Valentine’s Day in a few days and with that very public break up, I’m going to be hounded.”

Buck broke out into laughter that actually made a few people glance at them. Hen was giving him a curious look.

“Cocky, aren’t you?”

Eddie closed his locker. “You’ll see. I’m being serious,” Eddie said and then he frowned at Buck. “What are you doing for Valentine’s Day, anyway?”

“Me? Nothing,” Buck said.

“You’re not going to the dance?”

Buck had sort of forgotten about the Valentine’s Day dance. He hadn’t exactly planned on going but of course Eddie would have gone to it with Shannon. Buck had no reason to attend and nor had he wanted to go and watch the guy he was kind of in love with dancing and spending the night with someone else.

“Why would I do that? I rather stay home or go to Athena’s. Anyway, see you around, Eddie. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Eddie muttered.

When he walked back over to Hen, she had her mouth open in shock. “So, it’s him you’re interested in then,” she said. “But also, since when have you just spoken to Eddie Diaz all casual-like?”

“You know he’s my best friend? We’ve been friends since we were kids.”

“I thought I was your best friend,” Hen said, mock offended.

“You’re my best girl friend, Hen. But him...Eddie I’ve known for forever.”

“I always forget he lives next door to you,” Hen said.

Buck laughed. It was just that he didn’t really talk about Eddie with Hen. He liked keeping that side of his life to himself. It felt like treasuring it because it was him and Eddie and their friendship was just for them. No one else could judge it or have a say in it. Just them.

As to his crush, well...that was more for himself and himself alone but he didn’t quite mind that Hen knew about it. He wouldn’t mind discussing how desperately in love he was and how much it was going to inevitably break his heart.

Buck got to witness exactly what Eddie had feared just a few hours later. He was walking out of AP History and Eddie was coming out of the English classroom across the hall and a blond girl ran up to him and wrapped an arm around his bicep. Buck though her name was Diana. She was a cheerleader like Shannon.

“Eddie, I heard about you and Shannon,” she said and her voice was just bubbly and annoying. “And I know the break up is probably hard but you’re free on Valentine’s Day now, right? Because I was thinking we could go to the dance together and—” Her hand kept moving up and down Eddie’s arm and Eddie was just letting her touch him.

“I — sorry, I—” Eddie stuttered out.

“No no, Eddie doesn’t want to go with you. He wants to go with me,” Taylor said, stepping past Buck and flipping her red hair behind her shoulder and stepping up towards Eddie.

Buck knew all about Taylor. She was the editor of the school newspaper and also a part of the AV club. But Buck knew about her because she was best described as thirsty but she was also shameless and Buck would never forget the one time he’d been dragged by Hen to a soccer game and how Taylor spotted him and for some reason decided to hit on him repeatedly until Buck told her he was gay. He wasn’t — he was bi — but it turned out to be the easiest way to get her to stop. And now she had her sights on Eddie.

Another girl was watching with interest and she looked ready to step in but Buck knew Eddie well and he knew when Eddie looked uncomfortable. The problem was that Eddie was too nice and as Buck watched, it was dawning on him that Eddie would end up saying yes to one of them because he couldn’t say no and then he would spend the night miserable on a date he didn’t even want. And because Taylor was self-confident and usually one to get what she wanted, it would end up being her. So, before he could stop himself he moved towards them, slipping past bystanders. He thought he heard Hen call his name.

“Oh my god,” Eddie said. “Buck, what did you just do?”

“Not like I outed you or anything and this will get people off your back. You looked super uncomfortable back there. Like you needed a rescue.”

“I...I did, but you didn’t have to—”

They stopped at the end of the hall and Buck turned to face him. “Look, I really had no plans. And I figure why not help you out. Not to mention you were right...”

Eddie sighed. “I — it’s just that no one is going to let this go. You know that, right?”

Buck chuckled. “I am willing to deal with that.” And maybe he was also willing to deal with how Eddie hadn’t let go of his hand at all since Buck had first grabbed it and how much he just wanted to keep holding Eddie’s hand for as long as he could. And if it had to be this way then Buck would take it because he would never get to do this any other way.

“Okay, then,” Eddie said and he was smirking as he drew even closer to Buck. “You know, they’re all watching us,” he whispered.

“You know I’m in Drama right?” Buck whispered back and maybe his heart was beating a bit too fast because Eddie was standing so close to him.

“See you later, Evan,” Eddie said and he seemed to realize in that moment that their hands were linked because he frowned and then let go before he walked away just as the bell rang and Buck was late for class.

He ran down the hall, glad to already have his books with him and when he sat down next to Hen, he could tell that everyone was staring at him and it wasn’t because he ran in late.

“So,” Hen said, “you move fast.”

Buck groaned. The whole school probably knew about him and Eddie. It was lucky that the whole school knew that Eddie was bi. He’d dated one of the soccer players last year right before he and Shannon got together. Buck had been on the sidelines of all of it. He remember when Eddie had told him about his crush on Carlos, the soccer player, and how agonizing it had been to watch Eddie pine when Buck was right there in front of him and pinning for him. Then, one afternoon Eddie had come over to Buck’s excited and a bit of a mess and it was to tell Buck that Carlos asked him out on a date. His first date ever. With the boy he liked.

It had crushed him a little but then the part of him that was Eddie’s best friend had shone through and he’d managed to be excited and ask for the details. And then he was there in Eddie’s room on the day of the date, helping him get ready and not allowing himself to pay attention to how his heart was breaking. That was when Buck knew that his crush wasn’t going to go away and that it wasn’t minor. He loved Eddie.

In the end, Eddie and Carlos didn’t work out. They went on quite a few dates and Buck remembered being extremely jealous when Eddie would cancel plans with him to go hang out with Carlos. As quickly as their dating started it faded. And then Shannon started hounding Eddie and that was that. Buck had sort of gotten to know Carlos after the fact, when he had stopped being so jealous. When Buck bothered to go to GSA with Hen and Karen he would find him there with his boyfriend TK.

Buck had never let any of it really get to him. If he couldn’t do anything about something then he couldn’t do anything about it. That was that. But he was the only one that had been there for Eddie through everything and it meant something. Buck was the one that Eddie came out to first — even before his family — and Buck had been the one to encourage him to not hide it. It was a non issue with most people and since Eddie was so likable no one ever gave him a hard time over it at least that Buck knew of.

“I — things happened,” Buck said to Hen.

Buck considered telling Hen the truth, how he was just helping Eddie out, but she knew he liked Eddie and she would just pity him and tell him not to do it. Or she would try and get him to tell Eddie how he felt. It was easier to keep the whole thing between him and Eddie.

“Now, we both know I don’t like boys, but even I can admit that that boy is fine,” Hen said as they walked out of class and towards their lockers after the period was over. “Now, details? When did you even ask him out? Or did he do the asking?”

“I — I didn’t,” Buck said and he figured it might be better to stick to the closest thing to the truth. “I just...I saved him from a bunch of girls earlier including Taylor and sort of implied I was his date for Valentine’s Day and he was just into the idea so that’s that. We’re going to the dance together.”

Hen closed her locker. “Really,” she said and Buck couldn’t tell if it was skeptical or not. “Wow. So, he likes you, then.”

If only he did. If only Eddie could see him as more than just his childhood friend.

“I guess so,” Buck said and shrugged at Hen. He’d just snapped his locker closed when Eddie arrived.

“Hey,” Eddie said and he nodded at Hen.

“Well, I’m going to see if I can catch up with Karen. See you later, Buck. Eddie.” From behind Eddie, she shot him a thumbs up.

“What are you going here?” Buck asked. “Don’t you usually go out to eat?”

Seniors and Juniors at their school were allowed to leave the school for the forty five minute lunch period as long as they were back in time for their next class. Eddie was usually out with his jock friends or come to think of it, Shannon. It was one of the reasons that Buck didn’t ever get to see him even during lunch.

“I kinda figured you could come with me?” Eddie said with that tilt of his head and a small hopeful smile.

“Oh,” Buck said. “Uh, sure. But I’m driving.”

Eddie grinned and Buck re-opened his locker to grab his keys. As they walked out, Buck could feel eyes on them. Some of them were curious glances, but others were glares. Buck decided to ignore all of them.

“So, what happened with Shannon, anyway?” Buck asked when they got to his car.

“That was a long time coming,” Eddie said. “She just...I don’t know, Buck, I liked her and everything but she wanted me to be with her all the time. She hated if I was hanging out with anyone but her and last night—”

“You were with me,” Buck said.

They hung out once a week or every other week if they were too busy, going over to each other’s houses and just playing video games — the ones from when they were kids. Or they would watch movies. Rarely, they did homework together. Last night had been a homework and movie night and Eddie hadn’t once mentioned Shannon. They’d been talking about the new musical the school was putting on and a lot about math and the movie they were watching but Shannon had never come up.

“And she wanted me to go with her to the mall,” Eddie said. “And she didn’t get that I had all that math stuff to learn and that...well…” Eddie trailed off.

“What?” Buck asked.

He drove them to Athena’s Bakery. One of his favorite places to go and one that he knew Eddie frequented often too. It had been a while since they’d been in there together. It wasn’t too far from the school and he managed to find parking right in on the street in front of it.

“I wanted to hang out with you last night,” Eddie said and when Buck looked at him, Eddie wasn’t looking back and if Buck wasn’t mistaken, his cheeks had gone pink.

“I always want to hang out with you,” Buck said and it felt like he was already admitting too much. He cleared his throat and opened his door. “Come on.”

Athena’s Bakery was owned by Bobby and his wife Athena. Buck loved it there. His sister Maddie had been the one to discover the place and take him and Eddie there when he and Eddie were back in elementary school. It kind of became their thing before Maddie went off to college. They went once or twice a week and Buck had loved the time spent with his older sister and best friend along with all the treats that Bobby could cook up. The three of them had acted as his personal guinea pigs whenever a new idea for a baked good arose.

It wasn’t too busy inside but there was still a bit of a line to the counter. The bakery had been decorated for the holiday. Pink and red hearts were everywhere along with small white teddy bears and advertisements for Valentine’s Day cookies.

“They’ve gone all out for the holiday,” Buck said.

“Hey, Buck,” Eddie said.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think I’ve said thanks yet. No one’s really bothered me since earlier.”

“They’re not even bothering about you going to the dance with me?” Buck asked, mildly curious.

Eddie shook his head. “No. They’re curious but they wouldn’t ask. At least not directly.”

“Good.”

“And you?”

“Just Hen. But then, she loves to tease me with anything. Maddie would get a kick out of this.”

Eddie laughed. “She would.”

When they got up to the counter, it was Athena that turned to them. “Buckaroo,” she said. “This is a nice surprise. And Eddie. The two of you together takes me back to when you were younger. We’re just missing Maddie. What’s the occasion?”

“It’s not like we stopped being friends,” Buck said.

“Now, I didn’t say that,” Athena said.

“We’re just having lunch together,” Eddie said.

Athena chuckled. “Alright, well if you’re sticking around I’ll just bring your usuals over to the table.”

“Sure. Thanks, Athena,” Eddie said.

They sat down at a nearby table and for the first time since this whole thing began, Buck felt awkward. This was a whole new territory in their friendship.

“So, I guess...how do we do this?” Buck asked.

“Well we have to go to the dance on Friday,” Eddie said. “And yes, Buck, we may even have to dance. And I guess you should be lucky it’s not baseball season. We just have to make it believable. Act like a couple.”

Buck shrugged his shoulders. “None of that sounds hard, Eddie.”

It was other parts that would be hard. The couple-y things that might be expected. Buck wouldn’t mind most of them. Hand holding and being close to Eddie...he was a little more concerned with kissing and with how odd all of it would feel because it wasn’t real. He would need to remind himself that it wasn’t real as often as possible.

Bobby brought out a plate for them with a few different types of baked goods including pink and red frosted cookies. He also had sandwiches for them made from croissants. Athena followed behind him with two iced teas.

“There you go, boys,” she said.

“It’s good to see you two together in here once more,” Bobby said.

“I don’t know why we don’t come in here more often,” Eddie said, looking at Buck.

“Didn’t feel right without Maddie, I guess,” Buck said. “And actually, how about we send her a picture. Mind taking it, Bobby?” Buck handed his phone off.

He and Eddie turned to look at the camera, smiling wide and Bobby took a few pictures before handing the phone back.

“Thanks,” Buck said and he and Eddie leaned over his phone to pick a good one.

“When is Maddie coming home?” Eddie asked while Buck sent the picture.

“Not sure. Maybe not until Spring Break...but last year she went to Mexico for Spring Break so who knows. Maybe not until after the semester is over.”

“Ah,” Eddie said.

“So, anyway, I really didn’t expect you to get hounded like that for the dance. I guess that’s part of the territory of being a big baseball star, Mr. Team Captain.”

Eddie picked up one of the sandwiches and rolled his eyes at Buck. “I guess it comes with that, yeah. Can’t fly under the radar like you do.”

Buck shrugged his shoulders and he started eating. They’d talked about this before. The whole label thing that happened when you started making choices about your identity. How no one in high school could be more than one dimensional in the eyes of everyone else.

“Not all of us are as cool as me, Ed,” Buck said with a grin.

“Yeah, well,” Eddie said.

People took note of them when they got out of Buck’s Jeep and walked back to school for their remaining afternoon classes. It was Eddie that grabbed his hand as they walked, swinging it between them. It felt kind of silly and Buck couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“What, are you going to walk me to my next class too?”

“You could walk me to mine,” Eddie said with a smirk.

Buck nudged their shoulders together as they walked. “I’m not that type of boy, Edmundo.”

“Don’t call me that,” Eddie said with a groan.

Buck just laughed. “You called me Evan earlier. I haven’t forgotten.”

In the end, they parted ways once they were inside and Buck missed the warmth of Eddie’s hand in his all the way to his locker where Hen was waiting with her girlfriend Karen.

“You and your boy are the talk of the school,” Karen informed him.

“That figures,” Buck said.

Buck didn’t see Eddie that afternoon when he was heading home, but he noticed that his car was still parked. But the next morning when he was getting ready to leave for school, he found Eddie leaning against his car, waiting for him.

“Uh, what’s up?”

“I figure my oh so gallant boyfriend can drive me to school today,” Eddie said complete with batted eyes that ended in cackling laughter.

“You’re the worst. So you know,” Buck said but he was grinning.

Buck threw his stuff in the backseat and Eddie climbed into the passenger seat and Buck wouldn’t mind doing this every morning, having the company of his best friend on the way to school. He didn’t mind getting to watch Eddie as he scrolled through his phone, his eyes a little bleary and full of sleep and his frame just lounging in Buck’s passenger seat like he belonged there.

“Hey, we going? Or do you want to be late?”

“We’re going,” Buck said and he got in and pulled out of the driveway.

They didn’t talk on the way there because it was too early and they were both still waking up so it was the radio playing that filled the noise and then after parking, Eddie waited for Buck to gather his things. Buck saw a few of Eddie’s friends wave at him when they passed by. He spotted Karen and Hen walk past and Hen gave him a subtle thumbs up while Karen waved.

“You’re such a mess. Why don’t you have a backpack to hold all of these?” Eddie asked.

“Pointless,” Buck said. He was holding all of his books and notebooks in a stack in his arms like he always did every day.

Eddie shook his head and reached over and grabbed half of them. “Come on, I’ll help you to your locker. I don’t know how you’ve done this every day without help.”

“There’s been some incidents,” Buck admitted.

He’d dropped his books plenty of times...but it was still better than a backpack because he could never fit everything in his bag and after ripping through two bags, Buck had pretty much given up on them.

Eddie hung around while Buck put everything away once they got to his locker. Eddie kept peeking into Buck’s locker. “You’re so unorganized. I really don’t get it.”

“Eddie, you’ve seen my room. I don’t know why this is surprising to you.”

“Yeah. I don’t know,” Eddie said with a chuckle. “Anyway, I will see you here for lunch.”

“Oh, um, sure,” Buck said. He hadn’t realized that they’d be doing lunch together again. But that probably fell into the category of the whole dating thing and Buck fixed the pile of his books in his locker.

Buck had expected Eddie to walk away because he was surprised when Eddie’s hand was suddenly on his back, warm and heavy and perfect, and Buck almost didn’t even register that Eddie was pressed against his side because in the next moment his lips were on Buck’s cheek just off of the corner of his lips and Buck gasped as Eddie drew back and walked away as if he hadn’t just almost given Buck a heart attack.

Around him people were watching and Buck had to duck his head into his locker as he tried to compose himself. When he had gathered himself and his things, Hen tapped his shoulder.

“We’re going to be late if we don’t head up. Come on, Buckley, can’t keep your head in your locker all day.”

In his mind all that Buck could register was that Eddie smelled really good, like he’d gone through the trouble of wearing cologne for some reason. And Buck was a little bit screwed because maybe it wasn’t the best idea to fake date your best friend for whom you’d been harboring a crush. It wasn’t going to end well at all.

Buck did see Eddie throughout the morning in the halls but he didn’t approach him and Eddie just sort of smiled and nodded at him and it felt familiar because they had never once gone through the whole trouble of ignoring each other. And when Eddie arrived at his locker, Buck was waiting for him.

“Where do you want to go today?” Buck asked.

“Anywhere. Whatever you feel like doing.” Eddie stared at him and his brown eyes looked so warm and inviting and Buck really really loved them.

“Well I’m not really hungry but we can go get something if you are,” Buck said.

Eddie shrugged. “I have a few snacks in my locker. Could tide me over.”

“Okay. Come on, we can go sit out in the courtyard, then.”

Not a lot of people liked to hang out in the courtyard for some reason even when it was nice out but there were a few tables out there and when they got out there they found a free one. Eddie filled Buck in on how his math test had gone after they sat down.

“I think I did okay. Thanks to you. And, see, that’s the thing that Shannon never got. I do care about my grades and how I’m doing in school but she just doesn’t and she didn’t care that I care. But, I think your help...well, it helped.”

Buck chuckled. “Well, I’m glad,” Buck said.

“I’m counting on you for finals,” Eddie said.

“You got it,” Buck said.

“So, the dance is in a couple of days.” Eddie said. “I already have our tickets so don’t even worry about that.”

Buck hadn’t even really thought about the dance because thinking about it, he knew, would make him just a tad anxious. The thing was that so far things had been easy. They were hanging out, there had been some hand holding and Eddie had kissed him on the cheek and it had sent Buck reeling, but nothing was out of the norm, except for how Buck had no idea how he was going to come out unscathed from the whole thing. The dance would be different...it would be so far out of his comfort zone and Buck had no idea what to expect.

In truth, Buck had never dated anyone. He just...he’d never been interested in pursuing anyone. There had been Abby the year before but Buck didn’t even count that as anything. They’d been good friends and for a moment Buck had been convinced that it could be turned into something more and he had the feeling that Abby liked him back but then Abby left. She and her family moved to Ireland and that was that. Buck was still friends with her on social media but they never messaged each other since she left and Buck had found that while it had stung a little when she was first gone, that that just disappeared after a while. And either way, by the time Abby had been an option, Buck had already been well aware of his crush on Eddie.

“Buck...are you...you’re still sure about this, right? Because we can just not go and it’ll be fine—”

“But everyone is expecting you to go,” Buck said.

Eddie tapped Buck’s hand on the table with his forefinger. “If you’re not going to be comfortable with it, I don’t care what anyone expects.”

“I—” Buck didn’t know if what he felt was relief or if it was disappointment because maybe Eddie didn’t want to go with him and he was trying to find an excuse to get out of it.

“Evan, seriously, are you—”

Whatever Eddie was going to ask was lost to Shannon approaching their table. Buck had no idea where she’d even come from, but there she was.

“So it is true!” Shannon said almost a little shrilly. “You really are dating him. You wasted no time at all, Eddie. Unbelievable. And then you wondered why I was mad every time that you blew me off for him.” Shannon didn’t even wait for them to react before she walked away.

“So that was…” Buck trailed off.

Eddie looked a little pink along the cheeks. “Yeah,” he said complete with a wince.

“And I think we do have to go to the dance,” Buck said. He didn’t need it to be real for it to grate on Shannon’s nerves and maybe Eddie would get something out of it too.

“But if you—”

“No, I think I do want to go,” Buck said.

That afternoon, Buck was the one waiting by Eddie’s locker after his classes had finished, so he got to witness as a few girls approached Eddie as he walked down the hall and Buck could tell that they were trying to flirt with him. One of them had even gone through the trouble of changing into a really tight tanktop that was way too revealing to fit in with the dress code. For a moment, Buck had to wonder if maybe Eddie would be interested in one of those girls. If maybe he wasn’t helping him by pretending to be his date when maybe Eddie did want to try and find someone else to really date.

When he got a closer look at Eddie’s face, it was definitely apparent that he wasn’t into any of those girls. He looked uncomfortable and annoyed and then he spotted Buck and he looked so relieved to see him.

“Buck,” Eddie said and he pushed past the girls with barely an apologetic look their way. “There you are.”

“Ah, yeah. Here I am,” Buck said.

In two steps, Eddie had crossed the hall towards him and then Eddie reached for him, wrapping an arm around Buck’s back and into a hug that Buck wasn’t expecting. Buck recovered quickly and wrapped his arms around Eddie. He felt Eddie’s breath ghosting on his neck and Eddie sighed against him.

“You okay?” Buck asked, his hand was moving up and down Eddie’s back.

“I think someone is either onto us or they just started a rumor that we’re not really together,” Eddie mumbled into his shoulder. “I’ve had a whole bunch of girls coming up to me and asking about the dance.”

“So we’re not believable enough,” Buck said.

Eddie slowly pulled back from Buck. “Maybe. Or they want to believe I’m available for their own sakes.”

“Should I write property of Buck and put it on your back or something?” Buck asked.

Eddie laughed, the tense way his shoulders were held dropping.

“You know what I think,” Buck said “I think it was Shannon. And maybe it’s not even that she thinks we’re not together. She just wants to make things hard for you. Or for us. She didn’t look very happy to see us together earlier.”

Eddie groaned.

When they left, their hands were joined together and Eddie was complaining about all the things that Buck was taking home with him without a proper backpack. He’d even gone to the trouble of throwing some of Buck’s books in his own backpack for him. They were bickering about it all the way to the car and there were definitely eyes on them but it was easy to ignore all of them if he let himself just focus on Eddie.

“What are you doing?” Buck asked when Eddie walked him to the driver’s side.

“Hmm, just trying to make them stop looking at us,” Eddie muttered before he opened the door for Buck.

“What? By showing what a gentleman you are?” He chuckled and got into the car. He expected Eddie to just close the door and walk around to the passenger side, but instead Eddie kept the door open.

People were watching. A few of the cheerleaders were trying to pretend they weren’t watching from a car parked a few down from Buck’s and then there were others. Some more inconspicuous than others. It felt strange and Buck had to wonder if Eddie felt watched all the time. He was just about to ask when Eddie took hold of his chin.

“Ed, wha—”

Eddie leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth again, he just pressed a chaste kiss that was over quick but that to anyone watching would have looked entirely like a real kiss.

It left Buck a bit breathless and he was glad to have a bit of time to get himself together while Eddie walked around the car to the passenger side. Eddie didn’t say anything after he got in the car and Buck didn’t know if he would have been able to keep conversation going so he was glad. It was only once Buck had parked his car in his driveway that Eddie turned to him.

“Thanks again, Buck,” he said. “I mean it.” And he reached over and gave Buck’s arm a squeeze.

When Buck got inside, the first thing he did was drop all of his stuff in his room and then he called Maddie because he needed advice before he did something stupid like let Eddie know how he felt and have the whole thing blow up in his face. And Maddie was probably the only person that could help.

“Hey, lil bro,” Maddie said when she picked up. “You caught me at a good time. What’s up?”

“Maddie, I think I screwed up,” Buck said and then he explained the whole thing. By the end of it, Maddie was laughing more than anything else.

“Only you,” she said. “But, Buck, you know I’ve always thought the two of you would end up together. Maybe you should talk to him about it. Tell him how you feel.”

“And ruin everything? I don’t think so.”

Maddie laughed. “Buck...if you say nothing you’re going to regret it even if he doesn’t feel the same way.”

Buck really didn’t like when Maddie made a good point, but he also knew that he wanted to keep Eddie in any way that was possible and that if he decided to tell him how he felt that things would change. He didn’t know if that would be for the better or worse but it was the last thing he needed. There was more than enough change in the horizon for them because in a few months they would be graduating and then they would be faced with real life. Buck was planning on going to university, but he had no idea what he wanted to do and for Eddie it all depended on if he could manage to land a scholarship for baseball. The future was uncharted and scary and Buck knew that the one thing he needed and that could control was if he had his best friend with him to face it...the last thing he wanted was to lose Eddie.

“Maddie, I just, I need to get through Valentine’s Day,” Buck said at last. “I don’t know what happens after that and we haven’t talked about it exactly. But it’s just hard and I feel like I already made a mistake making this happen in the first place.”

“Oh, Buck.” Maddie said. “He’s your best friend. Just — this will work out.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“It will,” Maddie said. “‘It’s you and Eddie. You forgive and forget. You laugh about all of this in ten years when you’re looking back.”

Buck rolled his eyes. “This is not giving me advice, Maddie.”

Maddie just cackled. “I guess my advice is that you should be honest with him. And that you should trust that he cares about your friendship as much as you do.”

“Thanks, Maddie.”

“And, I should add that you guys looked super cute in that picture you sent me from Athena’s. I miss their coffee cake so much. And the red velvet.”

“If you came home more often, you wouldn’t miss it as much,” Buck pointed out.

“I’ll try. I’m just really busy.”

“I know.”

When he hung up with Maddie, Buck did feel a little better. Less stressed about it, at least.

The days leading up to the dance felt both long and short all at once. Buck was dragged by Hen and Karen to get clothes for the dance since he hadn’t even considered that he had nothing to wear. Eddie thought the whole thing was hilarious when Buck told him about it on the drive to school the day after especially because it had taken hours for the girls to be happy with his outfit.

Every day, they drove to school together and they held hands on their way to their lockers and they lingered talking to each other about a movie or the last thing that Buck had been reading up on. Eddie found all the random facts that Buck had about random things amusing...or, well, he tolerated and allowed Buck to ramble about them. Unlike Hen, Eddie actually seemed interested in what Buck had to say but then it had always been like that between them and Buck shouldn’t have been too surprised.

They met up for lunch and usually they left the school to grab food from somewhere nearby. Often they just ate it in the car, listening to music and talking about things from their childhood because it was easy to fall back on memories like how he and Eddie had used to bike around their neighborhood for hours sometimes racing each other. Or how one summer it had been so hot out but they were insistent on being outside and both of their parents had been mad when they decided it was a good idea to cool off by running through the neighbor’s sprinklers.

Girls didn’t seem to be bothered Eddie as much, but Buck could tell that some of them were still holding out hope. It was just a little weird to feel possessive over Eddie and yet know that Eddie wasn’t his to feel that way over.

The dance was on Friday night and the morning of, Buck was surprised when he didn’t find Eddie waiting for him outside like usual. When he didn’t see Eddie’s car, Buck figured that Eddie had probably gone in early for one reason or another. He just wished that Eddie had thought to give him a heads up.

It wasn’t until he’d made it to school and he had to haul all of his books and belongings into the school that Buck even really remembered that it was Valentine’s Day.

A fundraising tradition that benefited the Literary Magazine and gave them funds to print about a hundred copies of the submitted poetry, short stories, and illustrations was a part of every single Valentine’s Day. People could send anonymous or not-anonymous Valentine’s for two dollars. It consisted of a small note that could say as little as “Happy Valentine’s Day” or as much as a love declaration. The note went attached to medium sized chocolate lollipop rose or a real rose.

It meant that for the whole day the six or seven kids that ran the Literary Magazine would be running around the school with special permission to interrupt any classes within the first few minutes to deliver Valentine’s. The whole thing was silly in Buck’s opinion but a lot of people were into the idea and he could admit that even he didn’t mind that it meant their lessons were interrupted.

Buck had never once received a Valentine from the fundraiser in part because he’d never dated anyone and so he had no obligation to send anyone anything or receive anything in return. He and Hen had both made a pact back during their freshman year to never send each other Valentine’s and Buck knew that Hen and Karen had also made the same agreement. No one had ever even thought to send Buck an anonymous one either and Buck had never once minded mostly because the only person that he might have wanted to send one was Eddie and Eddie wouldn’t.

It was different for Eddie, he knew. Eddie received all kinds of Valentine’s. People just...they liked him. Buck remembered how surprised Eddie had been their freshman year, but Buck had known long before then that a lot of the girls had crushes on Eddie. Eddie was just approachable and easy to like and Buck definitely understood that. Eddie had gone from a little bit scrawny and skinny to taller and muscular. It was not surprising how many of the girls liked him. The girls and Buck.

Buck was already a little bit grouchy when he arrived at his locker and only got worse when he realized that people were looking at him and whispering and he knew that it had to be because he and Eddie weren’t walking down the hall holding hands and deep in conversation.

He didn’t see Eddie anywhere and Buck hung out by his locker waiting but Eddie never turned up. Around him there was a lot of pink and red and white decorations. Someone had gone out of their way to put up cut up paper hearts everywhere, Girls were carrying teddy bears or flowers or chocolate boxes or combinations of all three gifted by their boyfriends. Buck saw TK walk past with a bouquet of roses and Buck couldn’t tell if he was giving the roses to his boyfriend or if Carlos had gotten them for him, but either way he looked happy.

“Morning, Buck,” Hen said when she arrived at her locker next to his. She was all smiles and Buck figured that she had probably already seen Karen.

“What’s got you smiling?” Buck asked.

“What’s got you so grouchy?”

Buck glanced around. “All of this,” he said and opened his locker for the second time that morning. “How’s Karen?”

“She is lovely and surprised me this morning. She brought me breakfast. But I take it that you haven’t seen your boy.”

“Not at all,” Buck said and he felt a little bit silly about it because Eddie wasn’t really his boyfriend. They were best friends and anything past that...well, it was fake. They’d been faking.

Buck didn’t feel like continuing to wait around to see if he could even catch Eddie so he linked arms with Hen once she was ready to go and they walked to their first class and Hen filled him in on her plans with Karen for that afternoon.

First period started with three Valentine’s being delivered. One of them was addressed to Ms. Burke and while at first it was just funny because everyone thought a student had sent it to her, it kind of became more fodder for Ms. Burke to be teased because it came from another teacher.

The next period had a few more Valentine’s delivered but that was History AP and the History teacher, Ms. VanCleef allowed the few minutes at the start of the period for everyone to settle down before she got them back on track because she was that no nonsense type and Buck really admired her for it.

Eddie was supposed to be in class across the hall and they usually saw each other when they were leaving their classes and ever since the day when Buck had rescued him from Taylor and the others, they at the very least shared a smile or a look before they went in the direction of their next class but there was no sign of him which made Buck worry because he should have seen him by now.

Buck sent him a text as he walked to his next class, not even bothering to stop at his locker as he walked, but he passed by Eddie’s and Eddie was also not there. And Buck...he was starting to get worried.

“You okay, Buck?” Hen asked.

“Fine. Just worried now, I guess.”

Eddie responded as Buck got to his next class and Hen nudged him when he read it.

“He okay?”

“Yup. Said he’s sorry to miss me this morning.”

Buck was just putting his phone away when the girls playing cupid for the period walked in. They had a paper bag and were wearing fairy wings on their backs. It was all kind of silly. There were five Valentine’s and Buck and Hen watched as one was delivered to Lena Bosko who actually blushed when she received it but not as much as Jenny who was sitting next to her and was clearly the sender. It got even better when Jenny got the next Valentine and the sender was Lena. They were friends, Buck knew, but they certainly weren’t together.

Another went to girl sitting behind Hen who looked confused because it was anonymous and so she had no clue who had sent it. Buck was surprised when the third went to him. And it was from Eddie. Buck hadn’t expected it and when the Valentine was handed to him he almost thought that it was a mistake.

Evan,

Happy V-Day. Looking forward to tonight. I’m so glad you’re my best friend. - Love, Eddie

It was attached to a chocolate rose lollipop. He was so distracted by it that he missed who received the fifth Valentine and then the cupids were gone and class actually began.

“Eddie?” Hen asked in a whisper.

“Yeah,” Buck said.

Logically, he knew it was for show. Everyone would know that it was from Eddie and they were putting on the whole relationship so it only made sense that Eddie send him one but Buck still let himself feel just a little bit warmed by the gesture. And he kind of wished he’d thought of sending one to Eddie.

“Maybe it’s not so silly now,” Hen said back.

Buck rolled his eyes, but he still tucked the card with the message away in his book and his eyes kept going back to the chocolate. He felt so silly to treasure it — sillier to wish that it meant something or that it was real.

When he went back out to his locker before lunch, Buck was almost expecting to find Eddie there or to see Eddie at his own locker but still Eddie was missing and even though it had been just a few days of spending his lunch period with Eddie, he felt just a little empty when Eddie didn’t turn up. Buck was just about ready to head into the cafeteria to grab a snack before he went and hung out at the library when he spotted him.

Eddie was walking towards him and Hen at a fast pace but right behind him came Shannon. Shannon looked messier than Buck had ever seen her. Her hair was so clearly tangled, she didn’t have any makeup on, and her eyes were red rimmed and Buck couldn’t tell from afar, but he thought that she was crying. And they were arguing about something. Eddie looked livid.

“Woah,” Hen said. “That doesn’t look good.”

“Not at all,” Buck said.

He and Hen watched as Eddie reached his locker and Shannon reached him a moment later and it was only her body language that they could perceive, the way that her arms were kind of wrapped around her stomach, and the downturned lips. She was saying something to Eddie and Eddie just shook his head, hanging his head just by his locker door. Then, Eddie turned towards her and they spoke for a moment and then Shannon let out a loud sob and she threw her arms up in the air and she turned and left.

“I should probably go over there, right?” Buck asked.

“He’s your boy,” Hen said. “And that was his ex. Yes, you should go over there, Buck.”

Eddie was looking through his locker and Buck knew him well enough to know that he was doing it because he didn’t want attention from anyone that had seen the exchange between him and Shannon. He was burying his head in the sand. Buck didn’t know if he should go over there or not.

“Go,” Hen said.

“Okay. Okay. I will,” Buck said.

Buck closed his locker and he gave Hen a nod and then he walked towards Eddie. Eddie either didn’t notice that Buck was there or he did and he just didn’t want to acknowledge that he was there so Buck reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. Eddie startled and he glanced Buck’s way with a gasp.

“Oh, Buck. It’s just you,” Eddie said and his shoulders relaxed.

Eddie looked exhausted. From far away it hadn’t been easy to tell that like Shannon, Eddie was kind of a mess. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was flopping all over the place instead of contained by gel. His eyes looked bloodshot and when he looked at Buck there was something like desperation there.

“Ed, you okay?” Buck asked.

Eddie turned fully towards Buck and before Buck knew it Eddie’s arms were around Buck’s neck and he was hugging him — clinging to him, really — and Buck could only wrap his own arms around Eddie’s back. It was kind of amazing, getting to hold Eddie, and yet the reason for it couldn’t be anything good.

“Can we — Buck, can we go somewhere where no one is watching.”

There wasn’t a lot of people in the hall but that didn’t mean that they weren’t the focus of attention — or at least that Eddie was.

“I know just the place,” Buck said.

The library. No one spent a lot of time in the library especially at lunch and especially among the books. If anyone was there, they were usually in the computer lab and Mrs. Garson the librarian liked Buck and usually left him alone even when he brought food with him so when he walked in pulling Eddie along behind him she just smiled and nodded at them.

“Come on, no one will bother us back there,” Buck said and he tugged Eddie along.

All the way in the corner of the library where the non-fic books were located behind a few bookshelves there was a window seat. Buck kind of loved it there and not a lot of people knew about it. Eddie kind of looked surprised when Buck stopped in front of the window seat and he pushed him to sit. Buck stayed standing and he watched Eddie.

“Okay, what happened?” Buck asked when Eddie didn’t say anything. “You look...I’m sorry, man, but you look bad.”

Eddie sighed and he dropped his head into his hands. Buck didn’t think he’d ever seen Eddie like this. Despondent and so angry.

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear her this morning,” Eddie said at last.

“Hear who?”

“Shannon,” Eddie said. “She showed up at like 4am. She was really loud. I was so glad dad had an overnight shift and wasn’t home yet because he wouldn’t have liked that. My mom’s not a light sleeper luckily but she woke up my sisters. They’ve been annoying about it...blowing up my phone.”

That...well, Buck hadn’t expected any of that.

“Why did that happen? Was she drunk or something?”

Eddie shook his head. “No, she was just really upset. Wanted my attention,” Eddie said and he closed his eyes and sighed. There was so much more to this, he could tell.

“Buck, she told me she thought she was pregnant.”

And there it was. That...that was not what Buck was expecting at all and suddenly everything made sense. Shannon and the way she’d looked earlier and how upset Eddie was.

“She was crying and upset and I — I mean, how do you react to that, you know? And she’s telling me that we have to get back together because if she is pregnant then I have to be with her and—” Eddie trailed off with a groan and he looked straight at Buck. “She was being Shannon about it and she hardly even gave me the time to come to terms with any of it. I—”

It was a new weight on his shoulders, this thing that had come up in the early hours or the morning and that Eddie still didn’t seem to know how to deal with and it was just so damn unfair.

“Buck, she just kept saying that it’s all my fault and I just don’t even...like, she doesn’t even know for sure and I get that she’s freaking out. I am too. But we’re just...we’re kids, Buck. We can’t have a baby…”

Eddie looked like he was going to start crying any minute and his hands had gone through his hair so often that now it was sort of flopping down on his head and sticking up in other places. He looked lost and Buck just wanted to take it all away. He didn’t hesitate to move closer to Eddie and drop his hands on Eddie’s shoulders. Eddie looked up at him anguished and upset and Buck hated it. He hated seeing him that way.

“Look,” Buck said. “I can’t...I couldn’t imagine what you’re going through but you were with her for a long time so you must have cared for her then even if you might not now and if she’s pregnant — well, it doesn’t mean you have to get back together but it means that if she decides to go through with the pregnancy that she will be the mother of your child. Can’t change that now. And I’m sorry this is happening but right now she’s not even completely certain, right?”

“Right,” Eddie said. “I’m just...I’m freaking out, Buck.”

“I know,” Buck said and it hurt. It hurt to see Eddie in the state he was in and it hurt to think about what it might do to his best friend to become a father basically as soon as they were out of high school.

If she was pregnant and if she decided to keep the baby, it would be a part of Eddie’s life forever. He would become a father. Someone’s dad. Someone’s daddy. His whole life would change and everything would be different.

“And she’s not doing so well either,” Buck said because as much as he disliked Shannon, it could only be worse for her. It was her body...it was her life too. His hands were still on Eddie’s shoulders and the last thing he wanted to do was lose contact with Eddie but he stepped back and let him go when Eddie shifted a bit in the window chair.

“And I’m so angry,” Eddie said through a tired sigh. “I can’t even look at her. I’m so...Buck, we only had sex once. One time and—”

“And one time is all it takes,” Buck said, repeating what their health teacher used to say. He leaned on the shelf behind him keeping about a foot between them.

Eddie shot him a glare. “We used protection. She said she was on birth control. I just—-” he ran his hands through his hair in an agitated manner again. “Buck, I — I’m sorry for all this drama. Not exactly what you signed up for…”

Buck shook his head. “I’m your best friend. I’m here no matter what. What now?”

“I don’t know,” Eddie said and he was still staring up at Buck. “I just want to know for sure.”

So did Buck.

“That’s the hardest part,” Eddie whispered. “I don’t know what I need to prepare myself for.”

When the bell rang signaling the end of their lunch period, Buck didn’t want to leave Eddie and Eddie when he stood looked like maybe he didn’t want to leave Buck either. But short of skipping class, Buck didn’t know how they could stay together. When Buck suggested that maybe Eddie should go to the nurse and see if he could go home early, Eddie shook his head.

“No. I can’t. I just — I’ll be home freaking out.” Eddie reached over and with his shaky hand he grabbed Bucks. “To be honest, I just kind of want to be with you.”

Buck inhaled. “Oh,” he said.

As much as Mrs. Garson liked Buck, she still went to find them when he and Eddie hadn’t left for their classes.

“You boys are going to be late,” she said and then she looked at Eddie who still looked a little pale. “Unless you need to head to the nurse instead? I can write you a hall pass.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s — I was just going to take him there,” Buck said.

Mrs. Garson smiled. “Such a good boy,” she said and wrote them both passes to the nurse’s office.

Eddie waited until they left the library to shoot him a judgemental look. “That woman would do anything for you,” he said.

“She likes books and I like books. We’ve bonded,” Buck said and he was glad to see Eddie’s lips quirk up into a little bit of a smile.

Since everyone was in class they had the Valentine’s Day decorated halls to themselves and they took their time walking to the library. The nurse seemed to think that Eddie needed to go home and Buck persuaded her to let him drive Eddie home. He didn’t even fully know how he got away with it, but they went and grabbed their stuff and headed out.

“You know, I’ve gotten used to having you around to carry my books and you weren’t here this morning,” Buck said.

Eddie actually chuckled at that and Buck bumped his shoulder.

When they got back to their houses, Buck just left his stuff in his car and followed Eddie to his house. He’d been there so often that he just walked right on in and headed to Eddie’s fridge.

“I’m making lunch,” he stated.

He and Eddie went up to Eddie’s room after eating sandwiches and while a part of Buck wanted to leave Eddie alone so he could get some rest, Eddie didn’t seem to be keen on Buck leaving so instead, Buck pushed Eddie towards his bed.

“Rest up. I’ll hang out. Maybe I’ll read something. You have to have something worth reading around here.”

Eddie just rolled his eyes at Buck but he took off his shoes and dropped onto his bed and Buck could feel Eddie’s eyes following him as he walked over to Eddie’s desk where he sat down and pulled out his phone. There were a few texts from Hen all wondering where he’d gotten to. Karen sent one as well which meant that they were both equally as worried and probably not just about him. He shot them a text explaining that he’d taken Eddie home and then he looked over at Eddie who was still staring at him.

“Hey, Buck,” Eddie said.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks,” he said.

“Nap, will you?” Buck said.

“Never been good at that,” Eddie said, but he turned on his side and closed his eyes and Buck could have just watched him forever. He was beautiful.

“If you stop looking at me maybe I’ll go to sleep,” Eddie mumbled, glancing back at BUck.

Buck chuckled but turned back to his phone. He browsed through instagram for a while but it was boring to see everyone showing off their Valentine’s Day cards or teddy bears. Even the sarcastic anti-V-Day posts were kind of getting old. Hen had posted a selfie of her and Karen from that morning and even Abby had posted a picture of herself and a boy that must be her boyfriend. Buck didn’t feel one way or another about it.

Buck had started browsing a few of his usual haunts on the internet and had lost himself to reading up on meteorites on Wikipedia when Eddie’s phone started ringing.

Eddie groaned. “That’s Shannon,” he said. “It has to be.”

The phone stopped ringing and then it vibrated multiple times as texts came in and Eddie groaned again. “I don’t want to deal with this.”

“Want me to look?” Buck asked.

Eddie’s phone was on the bed with him and Buck got up and grabbed it. All the messages were right there on the lock screen but Buck typed in Eddie’s birthday and the phone opened. He went straight into messages and clicked on Shannon’s name.

Eddie! Pick up Eddie.

Damn it, pick up!

!!!

Eddie!

Seriously?

Don’t be such a child.

Okay. Fine. I guess I’ll tell you over text.

I was wrong. I was wrong and I’m sorry.

I got my period.

I’ve been scared about it for days now and the test was positive but I’m not. Okay.

You can go back to being happy with your boyfriend. It’s what you always wanted anyway.

You’re not going to be a dad.

Kinda wishing you would at least answer me now...

Buck couldn’t help but chuckle as he read. “She’s not pregnant,” he said as soon as he was finished.

Eddie sat up at once. “What?” he asked.

Buck shoved the phone his way and Eddie grabbed it at once and Buck could physically see the tension leave his shoulders and then he was laughing. He dropped his phone on the bed next to him and he just kept laughing and Buck couldn’t help but join in. The laughter was relief and knowing that all the worrying had been for nothing.

“Oh my god, Buck. I’m so...I’m relieved. I’m so relieved.”

“I can tell,” Buck said. “And to be honest, so am I.”

Buck sat back down and Eddie seemed a little lost staring at his phone for a while. He typed something and sent it and then he turned back to Buck.

“Thanks for being here for all of this.”

“Where else would I be?” Buck asked.

“Literally anywhere else,” Eddie said and he bit down on his lip. “All of this...the fake dating thing. Everything you’ve done for me...you’re amazing, Buck.”

Buck grinned. “And...we should celebrate your lack of fatherhood.”

Eddie nodded and grinned. “Well, we still have the dance in a few hours.”

“I was actually thinking of stopping at Athena’s for some cookies but yeah, the dance.”

Eddie was still smiling and he looked a little bit sleepy and a little bit messy and he was just so perfect. It kind of hurt to look at him — to know that he existed and he was so wonderful. That Buck could call him his best friend.

“You forgot?” Eddie asked.

“There was a lot going on,” Buck said.

Buck had almost forgotten about the dance and also what day it was and suddenly he remembered the chocolate rose that Buck had left behind in his locker and the message that Eddie had sent him with it.

“Yeah,” Eddie said.

“So,” Buck said, “since I’m assuming you’ll be fine now and do need to rest, I’m going to head back over to my house and I’ll see you later. For the dance.”

Eddie sort of frowned but then he nodded. “Okay,” Eddie said. “Thanks again.”

Buck walked to the open bedroom door.

“Hey, by the way, I’m glad you’re my best friend, too,” Buck said and he turned and looked at Eddie hoping that Eddie would know why Buck was saying it.

Eddie just grinned. “You got the Valentine,” he said.

“Sure did,” Buck said. “Thanks.”

Buck spent the rest of the afternoon texting Hen and then getting ready. He finished reading the wikipedia page on meteorites somewhere in that time too.

Since Eddie’s car was still back at school, they’d agreed that Buck was going to drive them. The dance was actually happening at school in the gym. Buck expected it to be decked out in pink and red. It was going to be tacky and obnoxious.

Eddie was already waiting outside for him, when it came time to go. He looked better. Actually, he kind of looked amazing and as Buck approached, he felt his heart start beating faster because for a moment he let himself think about how he and Eddie would be going to the dance together and that Eddie would be his date for the night. They would spend the night together and they were going to dance and talk and to the rest of the school they would need to look like a couple. It wasn’t real...but he could dream.

“You clean up well,” Eddie said and he whistled.

Buck rolled his eyes and hoped that he wasn’t blushing.

“You too. Should we go?” Buck said.

“Yeah, come on,” Eddie said but he didn’t move towards the car and instead he stepped closer to Buck, reaching up to fix the collar of his shirt. His fingers lingered there by Buck’s neck, brushing against his skin so lightly that it might not have happened at all and then he smiled before stepping back.

Eddie played with the radio on the drive back to the school even though it was a short drive. He was nervous, but Buck couldn’t figure out why because if either of them shouldn’t have been nervous, it should have been Buck. When they walked towards the school, their arms brushed because they walked so close together but Buck couldn’t make himself reach out and take his hand.

They could hear the music even as they approached the open doors of the school and there were a few other people approaching the school as well. It was when they had made it past the doors and were walking down the hall that Eddie reached over and grabbed his hand, slotting their fingers together. When Buck looked at him, he only smiled and they kept walking.

The gym had indeed been decorated. There were balloons everywhere and someone had set up an area for pictures right at the entrance and there was a small line forming as people waited for their pictures to be taken. It was mostly couples but also groups of friends too.

Farther down away from them a table laden with snacks and drinks was set up. A few teachers were floating along it as if they expected the cliche of someone spiking the lemonade. At the furthest corner was the DJ. A lot of people were already dancing to a Rhianna song but there were more sitting at the tables or standing around catching up with their friends.

“See, not that bad,” Eddie said as they walked in.

A few people were looking at them but Buck didn’t care. Eddie pulled him towards an area where chairs and tables had been set up. He smiled and greeted a few of his friends as they walked and they all sort of nodded at Buck. It reminded Buck yet again how different their circles at school were.

As Buck looked around, he found a few familiar faces. Carlos and TK were standing close together and whispering to each other but not dancing. Buck was surprised when he spotted Hen.

“Um, she told me she wasn’t coming tonight,” Buck said.

“What?” Eddie asked.

“Oh. Hen. Actually, I’ll go say hi to her. Be right back,” Buck said and he left Eddie in the next moment, dropping his hand and missing it just as soon as he’d stepped away.

Hen noticed Buck right away as he approached her. “Hey,” she said. “He’s looking better.”

“Oh. Eddie? Yeah. He is,” Buck said. “But what are you doing here? I thought you and Karen had different plans.”

“We did...and we did all that and then figured we’d come to the dance. She’s in the bathroom right now. But you and your boy look good so I take it everything is all cleared up.”

Buck grinned and nodded even if Eddie wasn’t really his boy. His best friend only. Even though Buck wanted him to be more than just that. It would never happen.

“You both look a lot better,” Hen said.

It was the relief, Buck figured. The knowing that everything that happened during the afternoon was something they could laugh about later.

“And...you should probably go rescue him,” Hen said and motioned behind Buck to where Buck had left Eddie.

Taylor was talking to him and she’d taken hold of his arm and was trying to apparently take him out to dance with her. She was persistent for some reason and Eddie was trying to shrug her off but he was just too nice and Buck could tell that if she pushed just a little more that Eddie would probably go with her and then getting Eddie back would be a task and a half.

“Better stick close to him,” Hen said with a cackle.

“Apparently,” Buck said and he rushed back towards Eddie, dodging past people as he went. As he got closer, Taylor seemed to lose her persistence but she didn’t let go of Eddie, her manicured fingers staying on Eddie’s forearm and that kind of grated on Buck.

“Buck,” Eddie said.

“That’s me,” Buck said and he smiled at Eddie before dropping the smile when he looked at Taylor.

Despite the look that Buck settled on Taylor, she didn’t seem to want to let Eddie go so Buck wrapped an arm around Eddie’s waist, pressing himself against Eddie’s side. Eddie’s arm slid around his back and then in an act of pure courage and daring he reached for Eddie’s jaw and turned his face towards him.

“Babe, you want to go dance?” Buck asked and he leaned closer to Eddie and pressed their lips together in a quick chaste peck.

He avoided looking at Eddie’s eyes as he pulled him towards where everyone was dancing, leaving Taylor behind. Buck gulped and tried not to be too panicked when he finally turned to look at Eddie again. And then, he realized that he actually had to dance. The song playing was something fast with a nice beat and so he moved his hips and arms and Eddie just laughed at him but then he was joining in, moving with Buck. Eddie was actually a good dancer. He had moves and rhythm and at one point back when they were kids he’d been in dance class but that was before his interest in baseball won out.

“Try to contain those movements, Evan. You’re just flailing all over the place,” Eddie said and he was laughing.

The song changed into something a bit slower and Buck didn’t know how they were supposed to do this. A lot of the couples around them had pulled their partners close into a slow dance and Buck didn’t know if he would survive being that close to Eddie. But Eddie reached for his hands and pulled him towards him and then he dropped Buck’s hands in favor of draping his arms on Buck’s shoulders. He was smiling wide and moving slightly and it took Buck a moment to put his hands on Eddie’s waist because it felt just a little bit awkward and then as they moved together less so.

“Hey,” Eddie whispered. “This is easy, see. And Taylor is totally shooting daggers at you. Thanks by the way. She does not know the meaning of the word no.”

“You can say that again,” Buck said and shrugged. “No boundaries with that one. Even though you’re not really...anyway—”

“I’m not really what?” Eddie asked and he almost stopped moving altogether.

Buck rolled his eyes. “Well, this is all fake, isn’t it.”

Eddie hummed. They were both silent for a while and then Eddie spoke again. “And what I still fail to understand is who benefits from all of it. The whole faking it thing.”

“You, I thought,” Buck said and he frowned at Eddie just a little confused. “Keeping the vultures away or whatever.”

Eddie laughed and when he did he moved even closer to Buck. “Buck, I didn’t need you for that. Yeah, it would have been a little annoying with Valentine’s Day and all and the dance but it wasn’t something I couldn’t handle. I’ve been single before, you know?”

“So, all of this...it was kind of pointless,” Buck said.

Eddie sighed and he shook his head. “No. Yes. No. I — spending more time with you this week has been amazing. It’s been a lot of fun and I...Buck, I…”

Eddie stopped moving entirely and he was staring at Buck.

“What is it?” Buck asked.

“Today was supposed to go a lot differently than it did,” Eddie said at last. “I was going to be brave.”

“I don’t think you were planning all the pregnancy drama,” Buck said with a roll of his eyes and he stepped back from Eddie but Eddie stopped him and he pulled him back into a dance. It was still slow. Ed Sheeran, Buck thought.

“See, I had a plan,” Eddie said. “I was going to take you to Athena’s for breakfast. I even called Bobby last night and he was going to have something waiting for us. And I was going to tell you then.”

Buck didn’t want to hope. He didn’t want to allow any of that to enter his mind because if he did then it might change everything and not in a good way. But Eddie was looking at him with so much warmth.

“Tell me what?” Buck asked.

“The real reason Shannon and I broke up. Why we were arguing,” Eddie said. Buck could tell he was nervous and instinctively when he looked at Eddie he wanted to convey that it was okay and that whatever he had to tell him would be fine with Buck. There was nothing that could ruin their friendship.

Buck gave Eddie’s side a squeeze. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”

“Uh. Yeah, sure.”

Buck grabbed hold of Eddie’s hand and they were walking towards the gym exit past all of their dancing classmates and then those who were just standing around and talking. Somehow, Buck heard Hen calling his name through all of it. She and Karen were next up for pictures and she was hailing them over.

“Pictures first?” Buck asked.

Eddie sort of shook his head and he chuckled. “Yeah...okay, sure.”

TK and Carlos were just finishing up their pictures when they joined Hen and Karen. There were some cute shots between them from what Buck could tell.

“Ever regret dating him?” Buck asked in a whisper.

“Who? Carlos? No...although I don’t think we were ever really that interested in each other. It was more the appeal of having a boyfriend,” Eddie whispered back.

“Oh,” Buck said.

Eddie shrugged.

They took pictures with Hen and Karen. Silly ones where they were all making faces at the camera and a few serious ones with the four of them. Eddie pulled Buck away before Karen and Hen could make them do another set of poses and Buck waved at them as they left, letting Eddie tug him away by the wrist.

Out in the hall there were plenty of other people lingering so they kept walking until they were almost at the other side of the school where there was no one around.

“What is going on, Eddie?” Buck asked.

Eddie came to a stop by a frosted window and he turned to face Buck directly. “You’re my best friend,” he said. “I’ve known you for what feels like forever and we’ve done so much together. Been through a lot together. I know you so well, Buck, but I didn’t see you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just — just let me get this out, okay? Because I really need to. I can’t — I can’t keep—”

“Okay,” Buck said and he waited for Eddie to begin again.

“This happened a few months ago,” Eddie admitted. “It was Thanksgiving and we were at your house and remember Shannon was calling me but I missed a bunch of her calls? But we were hanging out with Maddie and she was telling us about her new boyfriend and she knew I was busy. But anyway, you went to help your mom with something and it was just me and Maddie and she pointed out that my phone kept ringing and that’s when I looked and saw it was Shannon. So I told Maddie it was my girlfriend and Maddie kind of got annoyed with me for not picking up the phone.

“I guess she thought it was rude but most of the time when I’m hanging out with you I don’t want to pick up the phone or let anything else in. And when I said that to Maddie she kind of got even more annoyed with me and told me that I was being — her exact words were deliberately obtuse.”

“Sounds like Maddie,” Buck said with a grin.

Eddie chuckled and nodded. “Yeah. Your sister is quite something. But anyway, it made me pause. Because I kept thinking about her words that night and then the next day I was with Shannon and she was mad at me because I never got back to her that night and you texted me in the middle of it. I had left something at your house. I answered you right away. She got even angrier at me. We argued all weekend long and then we got back to normal. Except that Maddie had gotten me thinking.”

“Not a good thing...all that thinking,” Buck said and he nudged Eddie’s foot with his own.

Eddie sort of sighed. “I never noticed, Buck. Maybe because I’m deliberately obtuse or just because I didn’t want to notice it, but there was that day in December and you were cleaning your car and I was just getting home and I knew what my problem was. I like you. I’ve liked you for longer than I’ve known and from the moment I noticed it I couldn’t not notice it anymore. And Shannon...well, she realized what was happening pretty much right away.”

Buck didn’t know what to do with all the information that Eddie had just given him. He had no idea if he had heard right and if what Eddie said meant what Buck thought he meant. He didn’t want to give himself any false hope but it was possible that he’d been wrong all along.

“She hated it and I couldn’t break up with her over it. Not when I — when I was sure that there was no way you would feel the same. I mean, I did like her at one point — thought I might love her, even. But it just got worse and worse. She was so jealous and I didn’t know what to do and then she was demanding that I not see you at all and that pretty much led to the break up.”

“So I was the reason,” Buck said, surprised. “Me.”

Eddie grabbed his hands. “Yes, because I’m kind of stupidly in love with you. And when you suggested this whole fake dating thing to help me out I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t not try and get even a tiny piece of what I wanted. But these past few days, it made me realize I had to tell you. So here I am. I’m telling you. I love you, Evan.”

And it was there in the way that Eddie said his name. Eddie was one of the few people that called him Evan...that maybe even knew that it was his name. And when Eddie said it, he said with a caress, like saying “Evan” was a cherished thing. It was saying “I love you”. Buck could hardly believe it. This wasn’t at all how he expected the night to go.

“Buck...um, you haven’t said anything—”

Eddie gave Buck’s hands a squeeze and Buck shook himself out of the stupor. “Ed, I’ll have you know that I’ve been in love with you for a long time now.”

“Oh,” Eddie said.

“Yeah,” Buck said. “Always been yours, I guess.”

Buck had no idea which one of them moved first, he just knew that in the next few seconds, their lips had met and that Eddie was cradling his face and that Buck was being kissed and that he was kissing back and that it wasn’t fireworks and jolts of electricity or any of that nonsense but that it was right. It was them and it was so right. Him and Eddie.

#buddietinesweek #buddie #buddie fic #911 #911 fox #911 fic #911 fox fic #buckxeddie #buddie high school au

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