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Eddie fiddles with his phone, trying to book an Uber while simultaneously not crashing into anyone else at the airport when something catches his attention.
A hot pink glittery sign. We missed you.
“Dad !”
A bright smile breaks his face in two as he watches his two favorite people earth right in front of him. He’s had the absolute worst time in Texas between the fights, his parents unable to recognize their wrongs and his father quite literally having a heart attack when he told him Buck was in his will, followed with more arguments and he left early, leaving Abuela and Pepa to handle them.
The only comfort during his trip was provided by the numerous FaceTimes with Buck and Christopher.
“You should tell him mijo, that boy loves you.” His Abuela said when he broke down crying and came out to her in his childhood bedroom.
Buck has Christopher on his back, probably so he’d spot him faster and the thought warms his heart.
“I’ve missed you too.” Eddie says, taking Christopher from Buck and squeezing him, breathing him in and feeling all of his nerves ease instantly.
“Thank you for coming.” Eddie smiles at Buck who’s watching them with something in his eyes that Eddie can now recognize. Buck does love him, and he doesn’t know how he could’ve missed it, but his eyes are so gentle, so soft, so fond.
He grabs into his bicep and drags him into the hug, as Buck laughs and wraps his long arms around them both, enveloping them in his warmth.
“Of course we came.” Buck replies, and Eddie knows what he’s not saying. I’ll always come.
He’ll always be there for Eddie. He’s been his partner, his rock, his sole support for a long time and he’s a sure thing, the surest thing in his life except for his son. He’s been his constant ever since they met.
When Buck separates from them and Eddie puts Chris down, he has to catch himself before taking his hand, because it feels like the natural thing to do because they’re a family, because Buck feels like his husband and Christopher is definitely both their son and—
Eddie thinks he’s not the only one who feels that way but Buck is still dating Taylor Kelly, and he wants Buck to decide for himself. He wants him to actively choose to leave her, he doesn’t want to be just an out to a terrible relationship.
They make their way to Buck’s Jeep, and Eddie climbs into the passenger side, letting Buck help Chris in, trusting him entirely to do so.
Buck gives him one of his sunshine smiles, the one that brightens Eddie’s world so easily. He puts on some unfamiliar music and Chris makes a sound of approval as they both start singing at the top of their lungs.
“What’s that from ?” Eddie frowns, smiling nevertheless.
“We watched Starstruck last night.” Buck says, like Eddie knows what the fuck Starstruck is.
“There’s something about the sunshine, baby, I’m seeing you in a whole new light. Out of this world for the first time, baby, oh, it’s so right.”
Eddie can’t help but grin even wider, because he seems so carefree and happy like that, sunglasses on his nose and windows down, singing along the lyrics with their kid.
“Now that’s you’re here !” Buck points to him, his gaze intense as it lingers on him at the red light. “It’s suddenly clear. The sun’s coming through, I never knew whatever I do it’s better with you.”
Eddie blushes uncontrollably as Buck sings the chorus again, and it does feel right, so fucking right.
It feels like home.
***
“Hey !” Buck protests as Eddie bumps him out of the way, to get to Cap’s mac and cheese as fast as possible.
“You snooze you lose.” Eddie teases, stopping in his tracks when he spots Taylor, waiting for them.
“Hi.” She says, and Eddie smiles the way white people do when they see someone they know on the street because what else is he supposed to do ?
“Oh hi Taylor, what are you doing here ?” Buck says, looking slightly put off.
“Visiting.” She answers, like she does it constantly.
“Hey Buckley I—” Lucy trails off when she sees Taylor, looking more than uncomfortable. He wonders what that’s about. “I didn’t know you were coming here, Taylor Kelly.” She says, gaze calculating.
“Well, my boyfriend does work here.” Taylor says with a fake smile that fools absolutely no one.
“Yeah of course, I just didn’t know it was a thing to drop-by unexpectedly in a workplace.”
Eddie sends Buck a quizzical glance as the blonde shrugs, barely concerned by the frosty exchange.
“There is enough food for everyone.” Bobby says, trying to soothe the tension that’s been in the room ever since they saw the redhead.
Eddie gets an inkling that Taylor has figured out that Buck kissed Lucy and is somehow now marking her territory like an honest to god dog. He’s not surprised, she’s always been a bitch.
It’s not that he likes Lucy, because he doesn’t, but he really does not get why Taylor would be mad at her . It’s not like Lucy knew Buck had a girlfriend. It’s not even like she’s trying to steal him away now. At least he doesn’t think so. Buck’s been attached to his hip, and he hasn’t seen or heard Lucy flirt with him so he can only hope she hasn’t tried outside of work.
Anyways the point is, he doesn’t get why she would forgive Buck, but be an unbearable shrew to the ‘ other woman ’. Which by the way, sounds ridiculous when Buck is quite literally raising a child with him. If anything, Taylor is the other woman in his family and as much as he despises her, you don’t see him making snide comments. Well at least not out loud.
I don’t know why they’re fighting over a man who’s obviously in love with me , he thinks as Lucy sends quite possibly the scariest glare Eddie’s ever seen from anyone that is not Athena Grant to Taylor.
Silence falls at the table and Eddie sighs, resigned to the shit show that’s about to happen. “I said that out loud didn’t I ?”
Bobby nods, eyes wide. Of course he did.
Buck is watching, lips parted and cheeks flushed red as Taylor is looking between them, like she’s trying to figure out if it’s true.
“Oh my god .” She screeches, scrambling to get up. “You—” she points a finger at him. “You were right under my nose this whole time ! You have been— Of course ! Of course it’s you ! You have been spending your entire time with Eddie ! It’s Eddie this, Eddie that ! Oh my god. How blind was I ?” She laughs bitterly, turning to Eddie with a sneer. “And you, you never liked me. You always hated me because you were in love with my boyfriend !”
“I can promise you it was entirely your personality.” Eddie says pursing his lips. Go big or go home, right ?
“Don’t anger the beast.” Donato mutters urgently as Eddie hears Hen snort on the other side of the table.
Buck’s still silent, mouth opening and closing like a fish, blinking at a fast rate. “Um…” He turns to Eddie. “When ?”
“Two weeks ago.” Eddie says, the corners of his mouth lifting up slightly. “When you picked me up from the airport.” Buck shakes his head, eyebrows shooting upwards. “I just— I’m sorry I never meant to tell you, and definitely not in front of your… girlfriend.” He spares a fuming Taylor a glance.
“You weren’t going to tell me ? Ever ?” Buck’s eyebrows are knitted together and Eddie desperately wants to takes his frown away and also maybe disappear.
“Not ever just not now. You have a girlfriend.”
“That I got to get over you.” Buck snaps, and Eddie has to blink at his honesty. “We have spent literally all of our time together for two weeks and you’ve known and you didn’t think to tell me ? To include me in your decision-making ? You were going to let me believe my feelings were unrequited for how long ? Because it’s been long enough, Eddie, it’s been fucking years.”
“I know that and I’m sorry I just— I needed time.” Eddie says slowly, scrubbing a hand down his face.
“Nothing has changed.” Buck scoffs. “Nothing ever changes, you always do this ! You always make decisions for us without including me !”
“This is about me quitting again ?” Eddie asks, feeling his blood boil as he shoots up from his chair.
Buck follows him, waving his hands around. “It’s about you doing everything on your own until it blows up in your face ! It’s about you not ever including me in the process !”
“Because you absolutely include me in all of your decisions, right ? It’s not like you talked to me when you were convinced you had to transfer a few months ago ! And let’s not even mention the lawsuit.”
He knows it’s a cheap shot to bring the lawsuit up years after the fact but he’s on edge, and Buck is actually making sense and he doesn’t like losing arguments.
“How about the will ? Huh ? How about the fact that you didn’t tell me for a whole entire year ? That you watched me breakdown believing I was worth nothing when I found out about Daniel and you didn’t think to tell me about the will. You could have DIED Eddie and I would have been blindsided by it !”
Eddie has to restrain a pained sound at the words Buck chooses. Nothing . As if he isn’t Eddie and Christopher’s entire world. As if he isn’t the most important person in their lives.
“I wasn’t ready !” He exclaims instead, because they might be arguing in front of the entire firehouse, he’s not diving into very private matters there.
“Because you always think about how you’re not ready and never about what I need. I need you to talk to me and not wait until you’re broken and I’m picking up the pieces. I need to know what you do before it’s too late !”
“FINE.” Eddie explodes. “You want to hear it ? I LOVE YOU. I love you. I fucking love you. I have loved you every single second of every single day ever since you drove me to get Chris after the earthquake. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you and I will never love anyone else. I love you with every single fibre of my being. I love you so much it fucking hurts. I love you, Evan.”
“Good.” Buck breathes, his chest heaving as he’s crossing the distance between them, framing Eddie’s face roughly with his hands before he crashes their lips together in a bruising kiss.
Eddie’s anger evaporates instantly as he curls a hand around Buck’s waist and entangles another one in his hair, kissing him back just as enthusiastically.
“Take your shirts off !”
Buck laughs right into Eddie’s mouth as Eddie separates slightly from him to give Hen a look.
That’s when he notices Taylor’s rage contorted face beelining for them. He backs away, eyes wide, not wishing to get bitch-slapped.
“You SON OF A BITCH, I CANNOT BELIEVE I WAISTED ONE YEAR ON YOU—” She yells as Buck has the decency to look sheepish.
“I am so sorry for uh— this. You-You can keep the loft. I-I mean if you want to. I uh can get my things out and I can sign it over to you.”
He honestly can’t believe Taylor lasted so long and still wanted to cling to a relationship where her boyfriend gave absolutely no fucks about her. He still doesn’t get how she didn’t know about them, he knows for sure he wasn’t subtle and once he got out of his repression, he was able to notice how Buck wasn’t either.
Eddie backs away even more until he’s near Chimney who’s happily smacking his gum, watching the scene unfold before him.
“Dinner and a show. This place is really improving.” Chimney hums with a smirk.
“I never thought it would be me making a scene.” Eddie muses, still a little dazed by the feeling of Buck’s lips on his.
“Me neither, honestly.” Chimney says, crossing his arms over his chest as Taylor starts yelling again.
“Never a dull day at the 118.” Lucy chuckles. “Hey, um, look—”
“I’m not Taylor Kelly, I’m definitely not threatened by you.” Eddie cuts her off, unwilling to deal with whatever she’s going to say.
“Good.” She smiles, and he nods in return, still not getting over his natural dislike for her.
“That was like a movie.” Ravi tells him with a wide smile. “Or a Taylor Swift song.”
Now that he thinks about it, there might be a Taylor Swift song about this exact situation.
“I’m a little disappointed you didn’t kiss in the rain.” Chimney says, as Eddie rolls his eyes.
He watches as Taylor hurries out of the firehouse and Buck turns to look at him, with a small private smile and twinkling eyes.
Eddie tilts his head towards the stairs and Buck nods imperceptibly as they both make their way down, shoulder to shoulder.
Buck’s hand brushes against his, his pinkie out and Eddie intertwines it with his, smiling bashfully as his heart does jumps in his chest cavity. They walk together until they reach the bunks. Buck opens the door with his free hand and gestures to it. “After you.”
Eddie chuckles, grabbing Buck’s wrist and tugging him inside. He closes the door with his foot as he presses his lips to Buck’s.
They spring apart when a loud knock resonates on the other side. “You better not be doing what I think you’re doing !”
Eddie laughs as Buck presses his fingers on his mouth to shush him. “We’re not doing anything, Cap !”
The door opens and Bobby levels them with an unimpressed look as he takes in their close proximity. “I’m keeping this door open. This is a workplace.”
“Sure thing, Cap.” Eddie promises, with an innocent smile.
Bobby sighs, looking pained. “I don’t get paid enough for this.” He mumbles, walking away.
“I’m sorry, for yelling.” Buck says, frowning sadly. Eddie smiles, kissing his temple softly.
“It’s okay. You didn’t say anything you didn’t mean.” He says, echoing their conversation back when the Buckley parents were in town.
Buck doesn’t like yelling, he doesn’t like confrontation and he’s not one to tell people how he really feels when something bothers him. He’s one to bottle everything up and never talk about it and just throw his anger out of the window without addressing issues. Buck’s the ultimate people pleaser, so he doesn’t express himself if he thinks it’s going to disappoint people or create conflict.
Eddie’s the other way around. He doesn’t address things that hurt him, but whenever he’s angry, everything comes spilling out of him. He’s so easy to anger compared to Buck’s peaceful, easy-going nature, he doesn’t shy away from conflict.
“I just…” Buck starts before sighing, looking conflicted.
“Tell me.” Eddie urges him, cupping his cheek. “I want you to be honest with me, I promise I won’t get mad.”
“I don’t like it when you don’t include me into your decisions.” Buck says after a while. “I feel like my opinion or the way I might be feeling doesn’t matter to you.”
“Your opinion is the only opinion I give a rats ass about, well except for Chris.” Eddie tells him sincerely. “I just didn’t want to destroy your relationship, Buck. I made the decision to wait until you were single.”
“What if I just went through the motions and fucking married her because I thought it was the most I could get out of life ?”
Eddie’s heart squeezes painfully at Buck’s lack of self-worth. “I would have told you before you even proposed.” He promises him, swiping his thumb across his cheekbone. “I swear, I wasn’t going to let you make any mistakes like that, I just… I knew you’d break up soon. I mean she lasted longer than any rational person would have.”
Buck winces. “Yeah I really was a jerk.”
Eddie hums, kissing his cheek again. “Yeah, you were. And now, about me quitting… I didn’t know you still thought about it.”
“I totally understood why, Eds, you know that. I was never mad but it did… sting that you didn’t come to me first. It felt like I was at the same level as Ravi and Hen to you. It felt like you put some boundaries between us and it was your way of telling me to back off and that we weren’t really a family. I mean just us three, because of course the 118 is a family.”
Eddie inhales deeply. “I didn’t tell you before because I was afraid you’d ask me to stay.” He swallows, looking into Buck’s eyes. “I would have stayed for you, exactly because you’re my family. Just us three, we are a family, always.”
Buck’s eyes fill with tears as he nods and kisses Eddie chastely. “I love you.”
It’s the first time he says the words and Eddie beams, kissing him again just as soft. “I love you too.”
Buck wraps his arms around his waist tightly and drops his head to his shoulder, nuzzling into his neck. “I’m so glad you lost your brain to mouth filter today.”
Eddie chuckles, pressing a kiss to his hairline, scratching at the small hairs at the base of his neck. “Yeah, me too. I’m sorry about Taylor.”
“Are you really ?” Buck asks, voice tinged with amusement.
“No one even likes her.” Eddie says defensively as Buck laughs into his neck. “Look at how she behaved with Lucy.”
“I was going to break it off.” Buck admits. “I don’t like jealous people.” Eddie keeps silent, wincing inwardly. “Except for you and your petty ass.”
“I am not petty.”
“You are the pettiest man known to earth.“ Buck says with a huff of laughter. “You told your father you were gay while he was laying in a hospital bed with the heart attack you caused.”
Eddie isn’t able to contain the giggles that bubble out of his chest, because two weeks after the fact, it’s really fucking funny. Soon enough, they devolves into hysterical fits of laughter, bent over in two and holding their aching stomachs, tears streaming down their faces.
The noise must attract their nosy coworkers because Hen and Chimney peak into the room and frown in confusion as they try to hiccup through an explanation but aren’t able to, gasping for air as they keep laughing.
Eddie’s cheeks are hurting and he must definitely wishes he could stop but as soon as he’s able to sober a little, Buck’s eyes bring him right back to square one.
“What’s so funny ?” A confused Ravi asks and it sets Hen and Chimney off as they join them in their cackles.
Buck’s leaning completely on Eddie, and they’re barely standing upright, both having trouble not rolling down on the floor with the force of their laughs.
It’s the most he’s ever laughed in his entire life and it feels so liberating.
They’re interrupted by the alarm, and they instantly stop laughing, it works like a charm, as they gear up quickly and rush for the truck.
“Come on Mr Steal Your Man, can’t be late !” Chimney yells out to him as he rolls his eyes and follows him in.