#it’s such a subtle but key part of eddie and his relationship with buck

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Something something about how all of Eddie’s traumas - well, shooting and now campervan have lead to him being out of contact/ unable to talk properly or at all to the 118, but to buck specifically and in increasingly limited degrees. Next to zero contact in the well and none directly with buck except cutting his line ( it’s always bobby or Chim on the radio to him). Then the shooting - he’s in and out of consciousness and can only check buck isn’t hurt. Now he’s on the radio - the line is open but words are laboured and difficult but there are more of them.

Something something about Eddie needing to talk - to use his words and how he didn’t after the well / he changed his will, but didn’t verbalise it. After the shooting he did have some of the words - he told Buck about said will - because he knew he needed to find them. And now in a season where he’s been playing word games against time and we’ve seen him being more verbal - what are we going to get

[alchemistc]

Oh, those prompts are so good! If you’re inspired, either 21. listening to someone’s heartbeat or 23. wearing someone’s clothes for Buck/Tommy? Thank you!

He's so fucking tired, is the thing. He's tired, and he's cranky, and this shift had taken ages to end, so when he sees the slash of bright bright blue bleeding out of his duffle and knows immediately what it is, something soft and achy blooms in his chest, and he ignores the subtle eyebrow from Lucy when he pulls it out.

The problem is she's seen Evan in this sweatshirt, less than a week ago when he'd dragged everyone out to trivia, when they'd all been well rested and happy to pepper Evan with stories about Tommy and the more sedate hijinks that Harbor station gets up to. Tommy ignores her look and shrugs it over his shoulders, dragging his head through the neck hole and not minding too much when the hood goes crooked, half stuck in his hair as he gets a wash of pleasant smells - Evan's aftershave, the detergent he uses, a hint of musk, Christ, he'd tucked it in to Tommy's bag unwashed like he knew exactly how much Tommy would want that.

Tommy does his level best not to look like he's huffing glue as he adjusts the hood around the back of his neck.

Donato bites her lip. Sighs, heavily. "Did you steal that, or are you guys in the part of the courting ritual where you do this exhausting shit on purpose just to point out how single the rest of us are?"

Tommy sends a half-hearted glare her way, gets another whiff of aftershave and tries his absolute hardest not to sigh like a lovelorn idiot. He's maybe half successful.

"You are choosing to be single. You have a great guy who'd absolutely love to lock you down, Donato." Tommy stuffs his hands into the front pocket and cocks a hip, and Donato frowns.

"He likes me too much. Don't trust it."

His huff of laughter cuts through the quiet of the locker room. "Hate to break it to you, Luce, but you kinda gotta open yourself up to the possibility of someone enjoying your company, if you want a glimpse at annoying, exhausting, stupid relationship shit."

"I'm trying to mock you, not get relationship advice from your domestically blissed ass."

It's not the first time someone has pointed out Tommy's supposed blissful status, but his body and his mind are so fucking tired and there are apparently, if Evan's last text is to be believed, a couple good cuts of steak seasoned and waiting for Tommy to fire up the grill at home. Which means there is also a man waiting for him there, too, a man with seemingly limitless energy and pockets of technically useless information, a man with silver-cast blue eyes and a birthmark over his brow that Tommy wants to bite every time he catches a glimpse of it out of the corner or his eye, a man he'd given his spare key months too soon just because he liked the idea of coming home to him, liked the idea of him creeping in while Tommy was passed out across his bed or shifting tools around in his garage or -

"Ugh. Gross. I'm leaving, now, tell Buck I said hi."

Tommy isn't actually sure he's going to do that, because he's just realized something that takes precedent, and no offense to Lucy, but she's already wormed her way into one of Evan's defining relationship moments and he's not giving her this one.

He waves her off and shoots Evan a text to let him know he's on his way.

Going home right away doesn't feel right, actually, now that he's thinking about it. He should get flowers, or - maybe learn a foreign language. How much Spanish have Christopher and Eddie taught Evan? Does Jee have some event he could crash?

(Tommy would like to point out that while he hasn't quite said it in words, he's not exactly upset about the way he and Evan are maybe a little batshit insane about each other. If Evan doesn't have any complaints, he's not going to put a damper on it, either.)

The drive home gives him enough time to talk himself down from hiring a skywriter, his cab awash in the scent of the armor-all Evan had spilled in it last week when he got distracted from 'helping' Tommy clean, the hints of scent from the hoodie that's maybe a little tight around the shoulders but still a perfect fit. For him. For Tommy.

Fuck. He should at least get the flowers.

Tommy makes himself keep driving. He's delirious with exhaustion, actually, that's why he keeps overthinking this, there's a steak dinner and a beautiful man waiting for him at home and Evan had probably gotten flowers at the market anyway. Because he does that, constantly, to the point that Tommy had run out of vases to keep them all in.

Tommy sits in the cab once he pulls in and tries hard not to romanticize the idea of Evan's Jeep looking right at home in the spot next to his.

Evan greets him at the door with a wide grin, a spoon in one hand, the other held under it to keep from spilling. "Taste," he says as a greeting, and Tommy opens his mouth more for the pleasure of seeing Evan's eyes light than any expectation for what's being put there.

Cucumber, vinegar, dill - he moans around the mouthful and barely chews before he swallows, suddenly intent to get his mouth on Evan's mouth. His duffle lands in the entryway with a thunk and he gets two hands into the hem of Evan's shirt, intent on tugging him in. "Hi," he says, and swallows whatever greeting Evan tries to return.

When they come up for air Tommy's pulse is racing, Evan is breathing heavily, and he's pretty sure there is a spoon tucked into his back pocket, left there when Evan slung his arm back to get a handful of Tommy's ass.

"Hi," he says, finally, eyes lingering on the neckline of the jacket he'd snuck into Tommy's bag.

The significance of the moment finally catches up to Tommy - the memory something Tommy sometimes falls back on when he gets too in his head about where this is going - stumbling through the emergency room doors with the leers of exhausted firefighters echoing in his ears, Evan a vision in blue (this blue) barely letting him get an apology out before trying to eat his face off in front of three amused nurses.

"Hey," Tommy says, feeling the day just slough off of him. His left hand has tucked itself neatly between Evan's impressive pectorals, and he contemplates, for a moment, just saying fuck it to the steaks and shoving him back until he can press Evan to his sheets, blanket himself atop him, press his cheek there instead of his hand and listen to the steady beat.

Evan blinks back at him, his eyes doing something unbearably sweet, and Tommy has to tell him, he really, absolutely does, only -

"I'm in love with you," Evan says, laughing a little breathlessly once the words are out, hands pressing in at Tommy's waist, a sort of wondrous expression leaking in around his smile lines.

Tommy should maybe feel like the wind has been ripped from his sails, but the fever-pitch beat of his heart won't let him.

"Y-you don't have to, like, say it back. I just. God I like you so much but I'm also - I love you," he repeats, or amends, or - there's something settled, in his expression, like just saying it was enough, like he doesn't expect Tommy to feel the same.

Tommy waits a beat. Slides the hand on his chest up over the rasp of his end-of-day stubble, thumbing the crook of his chin, fingers dancing over his cheekbone. "Evan," he says, sounding a little breathless, which should be embarrassing but Tommy doesn't care, and Evan's gaze catches and holds as he waits for whatever Tommy has to say next

[strappingyoungbuck]

just the fact that. since the start of the show, a major part of buck's storyline relates to romantic and sexual relationships. the fact that he recognised constant one night stands weren't healthy for either party so he made the conscious effort to change. and it paid off! he had a good thing with abby, he matured for her and emphasised his best qualities in putting her first, being responsible and kind. and it gained him stability and, briefly, a home! he felt so comfortable he was very quickly practically moving in with her.

and he recognised that he needed a solid foundation to build up to a relationship like that. the fact that he held back, spent all that time talking to her on the phone, helped with her mother. they knew each other before their relationship really began and that's why he was so content with her.

and then abby had to put herself first. which she could have handled better than just leaving buck alone in her apartment but really. was buck actually fully oblivious to the end of their relationship or was he just hanging on to a good thing after it was already gone?

and then there's ali. i don't know how much there is to say there but i think it's key that she was never around for extended periods. buck had just finished a very emotionally intense relationship, probably his first serious relationship, so it seems the way he and ali started dating does make sense for him. but like. what really stands out for me is that he moved into his apartment For Ali. she pushed for him to stop living like such a bachelor and have his own space, only it was meant to be a space with her in mind. so, i don't think anyone really should have been surprised that he's so lonely. he's literally living alone in an apartment meant for a couple.

and so we see buck grow from someone completely reckless, irresponsible, living in a shared house to a man intentionally getting his life together not just for his sake but for the sake of the people around him. he's someone who can provide a sofa for people to sleep on, instead of relying on chim or maddie. he goes to therapy because he wants to be better, for his own sake. he steps up.

and then there's eddie. who is simply the logical culmination of buck's romance arc. there's that initial reckless jealousy, some remnant of buck 1.0 that rears its head, which switches in the course of one episode to complete loyalty and unfailing support. he meets christopher, he loves christopher, and he almost kills himself trying to keep christopher safe. he provides eddie with the support to put christopher in a good school, with someone to look after christopher whilst he works. they barely know each other and buck helps with the person most important to eddie, it's not exactly a subtle parallel to the beginnings of his relationship with abby.

and they're best friends! (oh my god they were best friends.) it's like everything with abby amplified by a thousand, because they know each other intimately, they risk their lives for each other. buck feels comfortable at eddie's home ("i'm not exactly a guest").

and the lawsuit is awful but. it's like watching a break-up where neither party realised they were in a relationship. it's like how ali couldn't handle the risks of buck's work so she left in case one day buck didn't come home, but eddie lived through that. buck wasn't there and eddie lost his co-parent and his confidante. but eddie forgives and buck sees how much he's really hurting and they can talk about it because buck Sees eddie.

abby left because she didn't know who she was after giving so much of herself away, and following both eddie begins and buck begins, both the characters and the audience understand about as much about eddie and buck as we're ever going to, really. there's a solid sense of self, lots of personal progression, and it is literally only logical from buck's point of view to end up with eddie, who knows ("i know you did") that buck has to take the risks he does, and who won't ever up and leave him (he was the first the run in and grab the rope!).

and buck has proved time and again he is a capable and worthy co parent for christopher ("there is no one i trust more"). he consistently steps up for christopher and for eddie. shannon left because she needed time, because she feared being married to eddie made her a worse mother. with buck, being with eddie makes them both better parents and better partners. they have each others backs!

like. don't do it for me, fox. do it for the narrative.