#eddiemaddie

[diazsdimples]

Buck is going to throw up. Probably. The panic attack is barely being kept in place as he flings himself from the driver’s seat of the jeep and races up the stairs of the Diaz house.

“Maddie!” he yells, kicking his shoes to the side and throwing off his jacket. Usually he’d knock but today, it’s an emergency. His brain isn’t working, not even considering the fact that he might be waking up his 3-month-old nephew as he powers through the house calling his sister’s name. “Maddie, are you home?”

“In here!” his sister’s voice echoes down the hall, originating from the kitchen. He finds her making lunch, the baby strapped to her chest in a muslin wrap, like a little joey in his mother’s pouch.

God, she’s glowing like this. She’d had a rough start, postpartum depression rearing its head in the first few weeks, but she’s seeing a therapist, and Eddie’s managed to negotiate some time off work. She still has bad days, but on the whole, she seems happier. Lighter.

Her brow furrows as she takes in his dishevelled appearance, and her hand comes up to cup the back of the baby’s head.

“Evan? What’s going on?”

Buck does a quick scan of their surroundings – they seem to be alone in the kitchen at least, but he needs to know if they’re alone in the house. He can’t do this if there’s a chance someone will walk in and interrupt.

“I-Is Eddie home?”

“No, he’s out getting Benjamin some new diapers. Why?”

“Good, I just – you can’t tell him what I’m about to tell you. You promise?”

Maddie’s brow furrows and she rounds the kitchen island, taking Buck’s arm and leading him into the lounge. She unwraps Benjamin and carefully places him in his bassinet before turning and giving Buck her full attention.

“Are you in trouble?”

God, isn’t that the question?

“No! I mean, yes? Maybe? Probably. Eddie’s going to kill me, at least.” Buck scrubs a rough hand over his face, hoping the slight sting will clear his head a little.

“I feel like a bit of context wouldn’t go amiss here,” Maddie comments with a raised eyebrow, her arms crossed across her chest. She looks decidedly unimpressed, and honestly, Buck can’t blame her. He’d be a bit annoyed if she burst into his house, announced something was wrong, and then proceeded to be extremely cryptic about it all.

“Adriana’s pregnant,” he blurts out before his courage wanes, and holy fuck, it’s one thing to know and a whole other thing to admit out loud.

Maddie’s expression pulls into one of confusion, and Buck can practically see the cogs turning in her head as she tries to connect the dots.

“Adriana’s…. pregnant?” she repeats slowly, and he nods. He feels like he’s swallowed a ball of lead, and there’s sweat trickling down between his shoulder blades, prickling his skin. “And what does that, uh, what does that have to do with you?”

Right. This part, admittedly, will be worse to reveal. This is where the disowning and being thrown bodily from the home of his sister and his best friend will come in. Buck is regretting a lot of choices right about now.

“A-Adriana and I, we’ve – uh – we’ve been, um, sleeping together, kind of.”

Maddie’s eyebrows disappear into her hairline, and Buck slouches a little further into the couch, making himself small.

“Kind of?” Maddie echoes, incredulous. “How do you ‘kind of’ sleep with someone. Did you trip and fall into her vagina?”

“Jesus, okay it’s not kind of, we are sleeping together. And now she’s pregnant and – fucking hell Maddie, I’m so screwed. I’ve fucked up.”

His sister looks less than impressed, and that makes Buck’s stomach roil. He feels sick, so so sick that he doesn’t know what to do with it.

“And I presume that’s why you don’t want me to tell Eddie this?”

“He’ll kill me, Mads! Please, you can’t tell him. He doesn’t even know that –”

“That you fucked his sister?” Maddie cuts in.

“Hey, don’t say it like that!” Buck says, affronted. “He fucked my sister too, by the way. First!”

“He’s my husband! That’s different!”

“He wasn’t when you started!”

Maddie holds up her hands in surrender, glancing nervously at Benjamin as he stirs in his crib. His little face screws up and he lets out a tiny whine that burrows deep into Buck’s chest, igniting a dormant protective instinct that only flares up when he’s around helpless creatures.

“Give me a second.” Maddie crosses the room and lifts her son into her arms, pressing a kiss to the soft hair on his head. He squirms in her arms, shifting and stretching before eventually settling back down. With a fond smile, Maddie makes her way back to the couch and holds the baby out for Buck to take, which he willingly does.

[originalcrime]

really hope “idk why we never talk to each other … hi, ryan” was a little nod to some maddie/eddie shenanigans this season like im on my knees …

[soldierandawar]

I respect rarepair shippers so much. Lowkey feel like yall are the backbone of fandom. When everyone else is falling apart yall are like, “what if I put these controversial or people that no one else really thinks about together.” And then you go and make some beautiful content. It’s great. Thank you for your service.

[lesbianrobin]

ok so here is my pitch for my dream buddie catalyst:

eddie and maddie are trapped in some sort of likely-fatal time sensitive situation together (drowning related probably because it's Them) (have they overused it yes is it still thematically appropriate YES) where one person could potentially sacrifice themselves for the other to survive. i want eddie and maddie using their combined experience and ingenuity to survive together and discussing who should be prioritized which means they talk about parenthood and how they both feel they've failed their children by "running," how their lives have been so defined by trauma and they don't want to scar their children any further by leaving them again. of course they're doing everything they can to get out together, but as the situation deteriorates throughout the episode(s) (c'mon something like this could be at LEAST a two-parter) they can't help returning periodically to the world's most morbid debate.

i want buck and chim on the outside both going out of their goddamn minds. they know that eddie and maddie are stuck (wherever), know that they're probably alive, but aren't sure in what condition and if they'll stay that way. rescue operations begin as everybody walks on eggshells around buck and tries to comfort chim, who wants absolutely none of it. time is running out.

eddie says that he couldn't possibly let maddie sacrifice herself for him and look buck and chim in the eye afterwards. maddie says that she couldn't do that either. she says that at least jee-yun would still have her father, and eddie says that christopher would still have buck. maddie says that of course none of them would just abandon christopher if something were to happen to him but—

and eddie cuts her off and says it's in my will. if i die, christopher will have buck. buck will have christopher.

they just look at each other for a weighted moment. maddie makes a decision. she says ...i meant it, you know. that i couldn't let you die down here (wherever here is i don't KNOW okay i'm not here to think up convoluted emergencies i'm here for drama) and look my baby brother in the eye knowing that i could have changed it. eddie says i know, okay, but it's different, you're his sister, and maddie says, yeah, but you're his... and she pauses. and eddie says what? best friend? partner? that doesn't—

and maddie says you're his. eddie, you're his.

and eddie... i want to see something slot into place. i want to watch him understand as maddie spills everything she's been suspecting since the day that buck came out to her and maybe since before she and eddie even met. maddie says you know, when i first came to california, you were all he talked about? you're still all he talks about. you and christopher. you're his. i couldn't... eddie, you're out of your mind if you really don't think that losing you would break him just as much as losing me. he would forgive us both, because he's buck, but i couldn't... i'm no saint, eddie, i want to survive. i don't want my daughter to grow up without me. but i can't do that to him. i don't know if he'd survive it. even if he did, the guilt would eat me alive.

meanwhile. buck is barely holding on to his sanity as rescue efforts are underway and time is running out. chimney is keeping it together as best he can but there isn't much that he and buck can do. he can't let himself fall apart because buck is already a stiff breeze away from clawing his own skin off and somebody has to keep their cool. something goes wrong—suddenly, their short amount of time has gotten shorter, and they may only have enough of a window to get one out before it's too late for the other. buck, who has been ranting and arguing and screaming this whole time... is silent. he is silent, and he stares straight ahead at nothing in particular, and we know that no matter which way the scales tip, his soul will be destroyed all the same.

eddie regards maddie for a moment. grief, heartbreak, anger, all flicker over him, but what settles is determination. he says that neither of them are going to leave again. that they'll survive together, or not at all, or leave it to the universe to decide.

of course they make it out. by the skin of their teeth, they make it out, working together, clawing their way back to life and love and possibility. maddie makes it out first, and eddie sees buck as she falls into chim's waiting arms. he watches as buck sees his sister, and reaches out to take her hand with trembling fingers and white knuckles, but there is no relief, no happiness in his red-rimmed eyes. just a deep, unspeakable grief, until his eyes slide past maddie and meet eddie's.

finally: relief. and then he is in buck's arms, a perfect parallel to chim and maddie, and we see eddie's face over buck's shoulder, and we know. he is in love, and buck is in love, and eddie knows, and he sinks into his partner's embrace with joy and acceptance.

after that, who knows? maybe a grand confession. a moment of quiet understanding. a passionate post-rescue kiss. a chaste, tender kiss in some kitchen or other. maybe eddie panics later, or maybe he's found peace for once. maybe buck has realized something and he makes the first move. maybe it happens immediately. maybe it takes a while, takes discussions about how it'll affect work and christopher and whether it's worth risking all that they have for all that they want.

and maybe they'll ask whether it's even a risk at all.

[thatbuddie]

i know it could be just the place to rest in between takes but…. madney + buddie double date save me…. save me madney + buddie double date….

[hoziersong]

okay eddie's whole situation sucks rn but it's the PERFECT segue for him to get to interact with maddie. who also knows what it's like to feel like you've failed your child. i mean we know the best way to strike up friendships in the 911 universe is through shared trauma right. wouldn't this be perfect

[bibuckaroo]

okay, i got here late so i don’t know if somebody ever thought of that, but like eddie and maddie appear in the same episode so i keep making connections with them because there are so! many! parallels! (and pls 911, why can’t you just make them besties? i’m on my knees here, two beautiful brown eyed people) and ever since that scene with maddie talking about how cute chim is and buck thinking she meant eddie (and how insane is that now that buck is canonically bi?), i couldn’t let go of the idea of maddie not clarifying that it was chim she was talking about (maybe because buck didn’t make the kid comment) and her and eddie actually do become really close because they both adore buck, meanwhile buck and chim think there’s something going on between them because buck tells chim maddie thought eddie was cute and they’re both freaking out (chim knows fully well why he’s freaking out but buck is just so, so confused, it’s his sister and the guy who was his instant best friend, shouldn’t he be happy for them? but instead he just gets a feeling that it’s so wrong) and then, there’s a rollercoaster of misunderstandings but with a happy ending ofc.

and if you want to take a step further, the reason maddie doesn’t clarify is because she realizes buck truly does have a crush and decides to put the fake dating trope to good use (this is fake dating with a twist, guys), propositioning eddie so they can see if buck and chim would be interested in them like that. pls, someone write this!!!

[cranberrymoons]

i mean i do want eddiemaddie scenes as much as the next guy but i a little bit understand why we haven’t gotten them 🤨 because left alone in a room together and running out of small talk after five minutes, maddie (who is insane in many of the same ways that buck is insane) would eventually say sooooo…… when are you going to ask my brother out? and then eddie would have a another panic attack

[starburst-and-sunshine]

buddie fans pisses me off sometimes. no, tommy didn't hang out with eddie because he wanted to kiss him and he didn't kiss buck just because he couldn't kiss eddie. buck is NOT someone tommy settled for. eddie and tommy are friends; gay people can hangout with people of the same sex without trying to kiss them you loser. the scrapped eddietommy storyline was as much of a thing as the scrapped eddiemaddie storyline (not)

[eddiegettingshot]

jlh is a buddie warrior because she's an eddieryangirl and buddie means she gets to do eddiemaddie. like this is so clear to me now.

[diazsdimples]

UHHH I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT BUDDIE DATING EACH OTHERS SISTERS?!!?!?!?!?

Well good news, I have plenty of Lore!

Not only are Eddie and Maddie dating, they're married!!! Eddie was a little hesitant to propose, considering their shared history with marriage and he didn't want to push or move too fast, and it wasn't until Buck came over and was like "dude, just do it. Maddie won't stop moaning about how she's given you a million hints" that he finally grows a pair and does it.

Buck and Adriana meet at the wedding and promptly start a messy friends with benefits situation that involves a lot of sneaking around lest either of their siblings find out, and a whole truckload of denial regarding feelings from both parties. Buck almost breaks and tells Eddie when Eddie comes round one day with the baby while Adriana is over, and Buck has to hurriedly shove her under his bed in the loft. And then Eddie will. not. leave. He gives Buck the baby and then settles down on the couch and starts talking about pretty much anything and everything, all the while his sister is upstairs, naked, and trying very hard not to sneeze because Buck never vacuums under his bed.

And then Adri gets pregnant and they can't keep it secret anymore and shit get real

[originalcrime]

and if i said the hotshots versions of maddie and eddie should be dating as a little nod

[mischiefbuckley]

Jennifer and Ryan constantly mentioning the lack of Eddie and Maddie scenes and them interacting in the show the past few months in interviews like yes please give me the EddieMaddie besties era for season 8 I would love to see it

[lesbianrobin]

the eddiemaddie parallels drive me crazy but i will say sometimes i think about it too hard and i'm like damn... sigmund freud woulda loved evan buckley 😔💔

[thatbuddie]

romcom meet cute, anybody? 👀

[hunybody]

so who is making the eddiemaddie parallels amv set to no children. it can’t be me because i’ll throw up but it should be someone. here look it’s easy: the lyric says ‘and i hope that if i ever found the strength to walk out you’d stay the hell out of my way / i am drowning’ and it would be spliced up with eddie and maddie fighting with their parents and leaving their families and maddie in the ocean and eddie under the water.