#love how i started writing this fic and immediately had another tendonitis scare

[martyreddie]

written for the @summerofbuddie week 1 prompt: mixed media

synopsis: There is one point on the list, though, for which no matter how much digging Eddie does, he finds no rational reason to discard.

QUEERING THE MAP, it says, in big bold letters. A website. Completely anonymous. No sign ups, no follow ups, no nothing. All you have to do is tap on some place, any place, on a map of the whole wide world, write about your queer experiences in that place, and send it off. Niche enough that he’s pretty sure Buck doesn’t know about it; popular enough that it’s unlikely he’d stumble across Eddie’s entries if he did. As long as Eddie doesn’t do anything stupid and tag any places that could expose who wrote the message, like his house or the loft, he ought to be fine.

But, like, it’s a map. Eddie’s not going to get any real help from a fucking map. He’ll give it the courtesy of a five minute look-over. Afterwards, he can cast it aside like everything else.

Or: Eddie figures some things out, gets a second therapist, and tries his best at finding a way to keep Buck from noticing how obviously and hopelessly Eddie is in love with him. It's ironic, really, that what ends up exposing him are his anonymous musings on some niche internet map.

__

aka the post season 7 buddie queering the map fic in which eddie is just trying to figure out how to cope with how in love he is so that he can be normal around buck again :D

current word count at 47,529 with 3/5 chapters published, unrated because i'm not entirely sure where the road is taking me yet. aiming at weekly updates or sooner if possible updating intermittently because my arms yearn for tendonitis and I can't allow myself to indulge them :,)

[peachhcs]

yesss i loved that side angst plot where samy just starts being scared to tell will stuff and is holding back because she still is nervous from him breaking up with her out of the blue

part 4! i actually love, love writing angst, so here's another blurb about the injury & i can add more if you guys want a fully developed fic

au masterlist

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 5, part 6, part 7

ever since the headline dropped, will couldn’t sit still. he paced back and forth in the living room waiting for any update about samy. there had been nothing from gabe since the two talked when it happened and there was nothing from the family either.

the blonde was growing worried. why wasn’t anyone calling him? did they forget about him? did he not matter in telling because he wasn’t there anymore?

will was really starting to spiral.

patrick walked into the common space where he saw the younger sharks player looking a bit too pale then usual. “will? you okay?” the older man wondered.

the blonde spun around, “huh? yeah. sorry. i’m fine.”

“you don’t look fine. everything okay, kid?” marleau was basically will’s unofficial mentor and guardian living with him for a year, so he did want to make sure the boy was truly okay.

“well..my girlfriend, samy, got hurt in her game and i haven’t heard anything from anyone about how she’s doing,” will finally expressed his concern. patrick frowned.

“oh no. what happened?”

“i guess she hurt her shoulder when someone hit into her. they cut the stream and she needed to be helped off the field,” the blonde continued which made patrick’s frown even deeper.

“well, shit. that’s not good. you haven’t heard anything?”

will shook his head. just as he did though, his phone started buzzing on the coffee table making the entire wooden structure vibrate. he grabbed it, not even looking to see who was calling while patrick listened in.

“hello?”

“hey? will?” it was luke and for a second, a moment of relief rushed through the blonde, glad he was finally hearing someone’s voice.

“yeah? what’s up? is she okay? how is she? is it bad?” he rushed out all of his questions in one breath, patrick quickly squeezing his shoulder so he’d slow down.

“um, yeah. well..maybe. it’s been kind of crazy. she’s in surgery right now—“

“wait, surgery?” the boy’s mouth hung open, eyes bouncing over to marleau.

“the doctor said she tore a tendon when she got hit and fell. they said immediate surgery was needed..i dunno all the details though. mom knows more than i do. you can talk to her if you want," luke said but his voice faded out of the blonde's mind.

will's heart sunk at the idea of samy needing surgery and he wasn't there to be with her. sure, she's had surgery before back when she broke her elbow when they were younger, but that was different back then.

"will?" luke pulled the younger boy back into reality.

"sorry, i-i'm good. i hope the surgery goes okay," will's voice fell quiet, the only thing keeping him grounded was patrick's heavy hand on his shoulder.

"we'll keep you updated. i'll have her call you when she's well enough."

"yeah, thanks," the two hung up.

"so is she okay? what surgery?" marleau wondered as he watched the younger blonde sink onto the couch looking way worse than he did 5 minutes ago.

"shoulder surgery. she tore a tendon, i guess," will's voice faded off.

"shit, that sucks. i hope she gets better soon," patrick sympathized and all will could do was blankly nod.

the day went on and the whole time will waited for another call. he stared at his phone like it'd disappear if he looked away. the hours ticked by and the more worried the blonde became when no updates came. he constantly checked samy and luke's locations that were still at the hospital in boston. eventually, gabe and ryan's locations ended up there and for a split second, something in will's heart twisted seeing them there.

he knew they were close and treated samy like a sister, but it was something about seeing them getting to be there for her and he couldn't that spun his brain hard.

finally, will's phone buzzed. he grabbed it from the coffee table again, running to his bedroom and ignoring marleau and his wife's eyes following him in concern.

"hey, will," it was gabe. not samy.

the blonde deflated just a little bit, "hey. what's up?"

"we just saw samy. she's doing well. surgery went well," gabe cheered and first, there was relief flooding through will's chest, but that feeling was quickly followed by..hurt?

why hasn't samy called him yet?

"really? i'm glad. did she just get out?"

"yeah, she got out like four hours ago. ryan and i just saw her for an hour. seems to be in good spirits," the hurt continued building as gabe kept talking.

"oh."

"i think she was happy to see us after her mom hovering over her since she woke up," the darker-haired boy laughed and will couldn't even manage a fake laugh.

"she hasn't called me," the blonde couldn't stop the words falling from his lips. gabe fell silent for a second.

"oh. i mean she probably will soon. she's probably still coming to and stuff," for some reason, his words didn't sound convincing to will because four hours was plenty of time to come to and call your boyfriend to tell him you were okay—at least in will's opinion.

"yeah, right," the sharks player muttered.

"i can put her on if you want? we were just about to leave the lobby," gabe offered.

"no, it's okay. i'll call her later. she's probably tired and needs to rest," the blonde mumbled as he glanced at his clock and saw that it was almost 10pm in boston.

"yeah, yeah. don't sweat it, smitty. ryan and i are gonna head out, but we'll talk to you later," gabe's chirpy mood returned.

"yeah, talk to you guys later," they hung up.

will dropped his phone and that twist in his chest turned into more of a painful knot. the thoughts he had earlier began plaguing his mind. why wasn't she calling him?