#buck’s bisexuality is about Buck and not Eddie and some people can’t stand that

[epicbuddieficrecs]

Weekly Recap | April 1st-7th 2024

MERRY WEEWOO EPISODE DAY!!! I had a fucking terrible stream so I feel like I missed like 90% of buddie's scenes.

No thoughts, head empty, so happy to FINALLY be done with this long ass recap 😆 my ao3 history is very much still fucked. Oh well. Also gonna have to make a separate post for the podfics cause the rec was getting too long, tumblr couldn't handle it 😂

There's a couple of new people in here and maybe some people who have changed URLs, so if you know someone who's not tagged, please tag them in the comments!

Love your tags, comments, reblogs, everything! <3 My ao3 inbox is being SUBMERGED with fics, it's the best problem to have 😂

Complete

I can finally breathe by wikiangela/ @wikiangela (S7E4 Coda, BuckTommy | <1K | General); Buck's oh moment when Tommy kisses him.

and with each one, i'm a little more free series by honestlydarkprincess/ @honestlydarkprincess (Post-S7E4, Coming Out):

oh, bi the way (<1K | General): Buck comes out to Maddie. whenever you're ready (<1K | General): Buck comes out to Bobby. welcome to the club (<1K | General): Buck comes out to Hen.

rebirth by renecdote/ @renecdote (S7E4 Coda | <1K | General): “Bisexual,” he says aloud, just to hear himself say it, to taste the way it feels on his tongue not just as a word but as an identity. It feels like an exhalation, trembling at the edges but not just with fear, or excitement, but with relief. Buck knows what it is like to be reborn, but he has never had a kiss make him feel like this before.

whenever you're ready by honestlydarkprincess (Post S7E4 Spec, Coming Out | <1K | General): Buck comes out to Bobby.

I won't tell no lie by lamardeuse/ @lamardeuse (Post S7E4 Spec, Tommy POV | 1K | Teen): Tommy can't exactly say he's surprised when he opens his door on a Sunday morning to see Hen Wilson standing there. He just wishes he'd thought to put on a cup first because he has a feeling he's about to get kicked in the nuts.

An End Has a Start by eirabach/ @eirabach (S7E4 Coda, Tommy POV, Tommy&Lucy | 1K | Teen): Tommy is one minute late. Hell of a minute, though.

tell me that i'm all you want (even when i break your heart) by diazchristopher/ @captain-hen (S7E4 Coda | 1K | General): “What’s going on?” “You tell me,” Eddie says, gently. “Buck mentioned you were being a little…odd.” To his surprise, Chris scowls. “I bet he did,” Chris mumbles, scoffing, half-under his breath. Eddie stares at him, taken aback. “Chris? What does that—” “I want you to tell him to leave.” or; buck, christopher and eddie in the aftermath of 7x04.

Sleepy Call by Tizniz/ @tizniz (Pre-Buddie, Fluff | 1K | General): OR: Eddie takes an early morning call.

to loosen his grip by glorious_spoon/ @glorious-spoon (S7E4 Spec | 1K | Teen): Eddie's not stupid, and Buck's about as subtle as a brick to the face on a good day. Speculation for 7x04: Buck, Bothered and Bewildered.

babbling brook to nowhere by fallingthorns/ @fallingthorns (S7E5 Spec | 1K | Teen): Eddie has not stopped talking since they left the restaurant. He thinks that he kind of blacked out during the actual dinner, because he’s not really sure what actually was discussed or how they even ended up sitting next to Buck and Tommy. But as soon as they got back into the truck, it was like the dam breaking loose. “I mean, it’s so great,” Eddie says once they’re back in his bedroom, as he takes his shirt off in the closet. He’s not even paying attention as Marisol perches on the edge of his bed. “They’re two of my friends, it’s awesome.” He’s happy for Buck, because Buck deserves to be with someone who gets him and will love him like he deserves. He just . . . “Is Tommy too tall for him?” Eddie asks. “Like, they’re the same height.”

my heart is working overtime by lecornergirl/ @clusterbuck (S7E4 Coda | 1K | Teen): He reaches for his phone again, then freezes halfway through his contacts when he realises he can’t call anyone to talk through this. Maddie would kill him for telling her something like this over the phone. For—coming out, he supposes, trying the words on for size. That’s something he does now. As— He hadn’t really stopped to consider it until now. Bisexual, he thinks, experimental, and it settles somewhere deep inside of him, like there’s been a space waiting for it all along.

“Pops, I’m bisexual.” “Hi bisexual, I’m Pops.” by Maximoff_Wanda (Post-S7E4, Coming Out | 1,4K | Not Rated): Or: Buck comes out to Bobby.

every little thing the sun shows, well it’s worth it by wafflesofdoom/ @capseycartwright (Post S7E4 | 1,6K | Not Rated): after his kiss with Tommy, Buck goes to Hen.

pythagoras made some points by crimsonclad (S7E4, BuckTommy | 1,6K | Not Rated): Look for the helpers! Sometimes they are all trying very hard to help each other be gay in the correct configurations and doing their best, mostly. Tommy takes Eddie to Urgent Care, takes him home, and carries a message elsewhere in the city of Los Angeles.

Buck's Boyfriends by Tizniz (Buck/Tommy/Eddie | 1,7K | Teen): He’s too drunk to figure out the logistics right now. “I think I’ve been dating both of you.” OR: The one where Buck realizes he's dating Tommy and Eddie.

smile at me like you smile at him by honestlydarkprincess/ @honestlydarkprincess (S7E4 Spec, Getting Together | 1,8K | Teen): Buck hadn’t planned on doing anything to show his displeasure at the sudden friendship between Eddie and Tommy, despite the fact that it sent hot, furious jealousy coursing through his veins. Really, he hadn’t. It’s just…well, he was just going for the ball during their basketball game…unfortunately Eddie happened to get pushed out of the way in order for Buck to get said ball.

only need the light when it's burning low by fallingthorns (Post-S7E4 | 2K | Teen): Buck blinks and realizes that he could love Tommy, if he didn't already love Eddie.

you've ruined my life (by not being mine) by ummrys (S7E4 Spec | 2K | Teen): Or, Buck gets a little (a lot) jealous of Eddie's blossoming friendship with Tommy Kinard, and makes some bad decisions about it.

detours by oklahoma/ @sunshinediaz (Post-S7E4, 2K | Teen): “Take a detour,” he says, instead. “There’s construction on Sunset.” “Maybe one of these days there won’t be,” Buck says, smiles, and takes his leave. - Eddie and Buck have a talk. They somehow say everything and nothing at all.

Every Night I Come to You by giselleslash/ @gigi-gigi (S5, Love Confessions | 2K | General): Eddie has another sleepless night, but Buck is there. He'll always be there.

Family Feud: First Responders by Princessfbi/ @princessfbi (Secret Relationship | 3K | General): The FireFam go on Family Feud.

Right In Front of Me by Princessfbi (S7E5 Spec, BuckTommy | 3K | General): Tommy’s brows knitted together as his mouth turned down with worry. “Evan,” he said and Buck wanted to hear him call his name so many more times. “What happened? Did someone choke you?” “That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Buck said, clearing his throat again when his voice gave an embarrassing squeak.

inescapable (i’m not even gonna try) by buddiebuddie/ @buddie-buddie (BuckTommy, PWP, Post-S7E4 | 3K | Explicit): From that first press of Tommy’s lips against his— the moment when the pieces slid into place and something bloomed in Buck’s chest and hummed in his veins— he felt good, and grounded, and settled in a way he never had before. It’s been a few weeks, and the newness has worn off but the excitement hasn’t. The hunger hasn’t.

I would be lying if I said I'm not dying to worship you by Daughter_of_Scotland (Post-S7E4 | 3K | Explicit): Buck and Tommy have their first date. This is how it ends. (It ends really, REALLY well)

somethin' tells me you know why i lie by lecornergirl/ @clusterbuck (Madney Wedding Spec, BuckTommy | 3K | Teen): OR: buck brings tommy to the madney wedding. eddie is absolutely, definitively not jealous.

Never Saw It Coming...Or Did He? by Tizniz (PWP, Daddy/Mommy Kink | 3K | Explicit): Unable to deny his boyfriend anything, Eddie does. And his jaw promptly falls to the floor. Because Buck is standing there with that goddamn basketball under his shirt again. The clothing is stretched tightly over the round of what Eddie’s mind pretends is Buck’s belly. Pregnant belly. OR: The one where Eddie is 'Daddy' and Buck is 'Mommy'

sunbeam that hits at three to noon by fleetinghearts/ @shitouttabuck (Madney Wedding, Getting Together | 3K | Teen): or, having multiple wedding reservations under the same name was an accident waiting to happen and buck’s just trying not to jumpscare his best friend with the rather intense bridal suite decor in their very platonically shared hotel room

as lucky as us by hammersmiths/ @bucktommys (S7E4, Ravi POV | 3K | General): One of the first things Ravi learned when joining the 118 was to, under no circumstances, think too hard about Buck and Eddie’s relationship. But brother, they could try make his job easier.

soothe the ache in me by honestlydarkprincess/ @honestlydarkprincess (S7E4 Spec | 3K | Teen): Or, the one where Buck gets a headache while trying to take care of Eddie and Chris after Eddie's injury.

i'm a fine baby mama (but you knew that though) by colonoscopys (S7E4 | 4K | Teen): Look—Buck’s not jealous, per say. He’s just a little confused as to how you can spend the past five years being best friends with someone, and then find someone new to replace him in the span of a couple of playdates.

You’re too Sweet For Me by Garden_Haunter (Buck Coming Out, Post S7E4 | 4K | Teen): Tommy kisses Buck, and it tastes like freedom. (Or: Buck comes out to different members of his family.)

Nightcap by Inell (S7E5 Spec, PWP | 4K | Explicit): After their first date goes a bit astray, Buck invites Tommy to his loft for a nightcap. 

some things fall when they're meant to fall by sibylsleaves/ @sibylsleaves (S7E5 Spec | 4K | Teen): or, Buck tells Eddie some news. Eddie has a realization and breaks up with his girlfriend. Not necessarily in that order.

before you painted all my nights by heartbeatdiaz/ @loserdiaz (Canon Divergent, Getting Together | 5K | Explicit): In hindsight, maybe jerking off to a LAFD Calendar when Eddie was well on his way to become a firefighter himself… might not have been the best idea. He never really thought about the possibility of actually crossing paths with the person that's been starring every wildest dream and filthy fantasy of his.

’til storm breaks loose by markofalover/ @markofalover (S7E4 Spec | 6K | Explicit): He squeezes Buck’s bare, sun warmed skin before he drops the contact, and strolls over to where Chim and Tommy are waiting. If he stands a little too close to his teammate, well. He’ll never admit it. Buck comes back into his line of vision, already back to looking like he’s a second away from stomping off the court. Eddie’s giddy with it. …or, how an elbow to the face changes everything.

the art of making love. by dylaesthetics (Rommates, Getting Together | 6K | Teen): OR Buck’s loft gets flooded, making him temporarily move in with Eddie, who’s out and about dating guys now, apparently, and Buck tries to figure out why the hell the thought makes him sick.

no more mistakes, no more empty starts. by dylaesthetics (S7E5 Spec, Feelings Realization | 7K | Teen): Throughout his life, Buck has felt that something’s been missing. Some integral part of who he is, outside firefighting, outside the family he has built for himself, outside the trauma that keeps on piling up and overburdening his shelves. He doesn’t expect to find it in the dimness of his loft’s kitchen one Tuesday evening, the taste of a man still on his lips and his cologne lingering in the air, sweet and honest and real.

ain't no lie (bi bi bi) by 42hrb/ @exhuastedpigeon (S7E4 Spec, Eddie/Tommy | 8K | Explicit): Eddie fools around with Tommy, Buck is jealous, Tommy's just trying to have a good time

skin/heat/hair in your mouth by fleetinghearts (Getting Together | 8K | Explicit): or, eddie’s bad at camping, buck’s trying to make sure he doesn’t get hypothermia, and naked huddling for warmth is only like the third gayest thing happening in the great outdoors

now our love lives in the radio by heartbeatdiaz / @loserdiaz (University AU | 9K | Explicit): buck is the host of a college radio show and eddie has a big fat crush on him, what else can i say? featuring cinderella references and a bunch of himbos from buck's football team. 

teach me how to dance with you by goodboybuck (prettyboybuckley)/ @prettyboybuckley (BuckTommy, PWP | 9K | Explicit): OR: Buck explores the wonders of gay sex (slowly, with a really patient, sweet Tommy guiding the way and while having a lot of fun)

the mouth is the thing that craves by Underhung_Aura (Established Buddie, PWP | 11K | Explicit): eddie loves buck and he really love buck's cock

when i think about you (i touch myself) by glorious_spoon/ @glorious-spoon (PWP, Getting Together | 12K | Explicit): Or: the one where Eddie stumbles across Buck's old amateur porn, prompting a series of belated realizations on both their parts.

honey, when you call my name by HungryHungryHippo/ @hippolotamus (Post S5E11 | 12K |Explicit): Eddie witnesses the Buck/Lucy kiss, has himself a little panic, and decides to do something about it when Buck does his Buck thing and won't stop pushing Eddie's buttons 

🔥 of men and of angels by extasiswings/ @extasiswings (Eddie Sexuality Crisis, Getting Together | 13K | Teen): Eddie Diaz learns a lot as a kid. Boys aren’t soft. Boys don’t cry. Boys don’t kiss boys. As he gets older, he realizes that everything has exceptions. Boys can be soft sometimes. Boys can cry sometimes. And some boys kiss other boys. But Eddie likes kissing girls. And since he likes kissing girls, that’s the end of the story. Isn’t it?

🔥 what humans do by brewrosemilk/ @gayhoediaz (Getting Together, PWP | 18K | Explicit): "…and the thought that she had just escaped death by such a narrow margin made me realize the intensity of my feelings toward her.” Eddie swallows. “‘What’s the matter?’ I couldn’t tell her, so I kissed her instead,” Buck goes on, and since Eddie’s eyes are focused on the page, they drift ahead a little bit, and the next few lines have him swallowing once again, taking his hand back to brace himself against the mattress as he slowly starts to push himself up to sit. “Kissing is what humans do when words have reached a place they can’t escape from. It is a switch to another language. The kiss was an act of defiance, maybe of war. You can’t touch us, is what the kiss said. ‘I love you,’ I told her, and as I smelled her skin, I knew I had never wanted anyone or anything more than I wanted her…” Buck trails off when Eddie reaches for the book, gently luring it out of his grasp. 

WIP

🔥 Any Other Way by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Canon Divergent, S2 | 6/18 | 37K | Mature): In a switcheroo alternate universe, Buck spends young adulthood in the military, while Eddie, who has no idea Christopher exists, spends his twenties messing around, finally enjoying freedom away from his family’s expectations. When they both end up in Los Angeles, at the 118, some things are different, and others will be the same in any universe.

Both Bermuda and Golden (Lost but Doing Just Fine) by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/ @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (PWP, Threesome, BuckTommyEddie | 4/6 | 20K | Explicit): In which everyone has two hands and two holes and is keeping their options fluid. (Or: a collection of threesome fics.)

Fifteen First Kisses by tinygiantsam/ @watchyourbuck (Getting Together | 2/15 | 3K | Mature): Why would you have only one first kiss when you could have fifteen This is a collection of 15 different first kisses between Buck and Eddie.

#epic buddie fic rec #buddie #buddie fanfiction #buddie fic rec #buddie fanfic #buddie fic #bucktommy

[chevelleneech]

Both Buck/Tommy and Buddie shippers are being so dramatic about everything.

On one hand, you have people acting like Buck and Tommy is written in the stars and anyone who dislikes them are being unjust and hateful. On the other, you have people acting as if Buck can’t possibly be in a relationship with a man who isn’t Eddie, and claiming he can is somehow based in racism and hatred of Eddie.

Neither is true! The problem is that prior to 7x04, Evan Buckley was not a canon queer character. He was viewed that way by fans and Oliver Stark was all for it, but that does not change the actual canon history of the character. Therefore, the writers can only fix what they feel fits the current story. They can retcon a few things and so on, but both sides are acting like they’re right, and it makes no sense.

Yes, Buddie shippers have Oliver and Ryan on their side for the most part. Yes, Oliver believes Buck has been queer all along and he thinks a lot of the headcanons about his character’s reaction to things make sense, but he is NOT saying it’s all true. He agrees Buck was likely experiencing some jealousy when Eddie first showed up, but that does not mean Tim Minear is going to make that theory canon. It’s fans and Oliver who think it, but that does not equal canon.

As well, with things being slightly retconned or adjusted to fit the story… Tommy is obviously no longer an asshole by proximity. He was rude to Hen and Chim, but we’ve seen he him interact with the two of them since in civil ways. We know Chim thinks he’s cool. Continuing to demand he apologize on screen is a waste of time. It was five seasons ago, and the story had to change to fit Tim bringing his character back. It happens.

As for Buck/Tommy shippers, y’all have got to get off the high horse of Possibility. At the moment, there are so many ways their relationship can go, and the only reason you all are so high and mighty about it, is because you’re technically never going to be wrong until you’re wrong. Which is annoying.

Yes, Tim could choose to have Tommy stick around for another season. Yeah, Buck and Tommy could be endgame. Yeah, Buck and Tommy could… any and everything is possible, but acting as if Tommy is the love of Buck’s life and deserves fan devotion is crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I like the character. He seems nice if a little cocky, but I like that. I like that he’s written as a grown man who, even though he’s changed, still has a little bit of asshole in him.

Because yes, what he did to Buck on their first date was rude. He didn’t explain anything and left him standing outside the restaurant as if he hadn’t just told him he’s never dated a man before, and as if they hadn’t just run into his best friend. It was a dick move. However, it’s also kinda realistic. So I dug it, but that’s also all we really know about him.

Tommy is an army vet, flies helicopters, was a firefighter, and is gay. Which he struggled to come to terms with, and can be a dick. The way y’all treating him like a savior is insane. Y’all are trying to rub it in people’s face that his relationship with Buck is canon while Buddie isn’t, and I don’t understand that. Buck wasn’t even bisexual three episodes ago, so where is this higher than thou attitude even coming from?

The only thing people should be focused on is the fact that Buck is now canonically bisexual. Tim liked the idea and Oliver loved it, so they finally made it happen. Now, his story has even more potential. I’d even go so far as to say season 7 is going to be a cleaning and re-establishing of all the characters, because so many of them feel a little different.

We’ve got bi!Buck, meaning we’ll get to see him in one or more relationships that he isn’t used to being in. We’ve got a new actor playing Harry, and he’s older, meaning they’re going to have to write to his strengths and build a storyline there that is more mature. Bobby and Athena almost died together for real for real, thus hopefully we’ll get to see their relationship evolve and what if it changes them in any way. Chim and Maddie are finally getting married, so we get to see them kickstart a new chapter together. Hen and Karen have a new child, which will hopefully bring them more storylines and hijinks as a family. And Eddie is dealing with forcing himself to accept a relationship he may not even want to be in. And he’s aware this time, which could result in him ignoring his fears or bowing out, then having to face what bowing out means.

Point is, there is no reason for all this drama.

Buddie is not guaranteed just because it is a popular want for fans, and an accepted theory by the actors and showrunner. They’ve all said it has to fit the overall story without forcibly gearing the writing in that direction. Which means it could happen two episodes from now or two seasons from now. We just have to wait and see.

At the same time, Buck and Tommy are not an established couple yet. They’re going on their second date, and it’s been said Tommy isn’t in the last few episodes of the season. So it’s possible he and Buck are still together, but Lou isn’t a series regular nor regular recurring, so he’s just not contracted to be on set. Which is fine, but acting like a quick breakup is also bad storytelling is ridiculous.

Fans have hated Buck’s relationships with women from the jump, and him breaking up fast isn’t exactly new. So if it happens with the first man he dates… okay. Tommy can become more than a stepping stone, but the writers aren’t obligated to make his first experience with a man something deep and profound. It can be fun and eye-opening and still have mattered, even if it ends fast.

Y’all have got to let the stories play out, and not scream bloody murder if your headcanon doesn’t become canon. Because truth be told, Buck being canon bi is the biggest flex of fan service I’ve ever seen, even if I think it adds to the depth of him. So I can’t imagine how difficult it is to be sure not to continue giving that same group of fans everything they want outright, when there’s so much more story to unfold.

Which means they can’t just make Tommy the love of Buck’s life because Buck/Tommy fans have ditched Buddie or were never Buddie shippers, and want to be right. But they also can’t have Eddie come out and he and Buck start dating, because Buddie shippers have waited five seasons. Just wait to see what happens, and in the meantime, enjoy watching Buck discover more of himself. With Tommy as his current love interest, and Eddie as his best friend.

#911 abc #evan buckley #eddie diaz #tommy kinard #buddie #bucktommy

[biasbuck]

BiAsBuck’s ficrec Fridays

Happy Friday everyone! How's the Madney wedding hangovers?!

Back again with another round of the fic I've been reading this week. You can find previous rec lists here. As previously I'm here for all buddie/bucktommy/buddietommy configurations and just excited by all the possibilities!

3 May 2024

all's well that ends well (to end up with you) by @buddie-buddie is such a perfect soft bucktommy 7x06 coda, post-soot scene. Finally getting a moment to themselves, with all the excitement and flirty banter of their dialogue (including Tommy's penchant for a little dry quip), and the sweet newness of falling into their developing relationship. I also really appreciated how the author portrayed Buck's parents as not being some mega villain cartoons but complicated people who hurt him but who are nonetheless trying - absolutely nailing that slightly scabbed over but not fully healed relationship.

to open up my arms and give it all to you by llovely @butchdiaz works as a great gap filler post-7x04 coming out to Chris moment, and I cannot overstate how much I love Chris and Buck's conversation and Buck's realisation moment (take two) here. SUPER Diaz-Buckley family shaped, with Buck coming over for dinner after a date with Tommy and updating Chris on his life as of late. Lovely and supportive.

why can’t i have two? by @prettyboybuckley say no to shipwars say yes to threesomes! Tommy and Buck invite Eddie over so Buck can break the news about his newfound relationship status and bisexuality. Eddie is supportive...otherwise he'd be a hypocrite (in theory.) Tommy and Buck decide the best thing to do would be to help him see if maybe he's sure in practice too. Love me some 'let us help you out with that' fic, and this one is a gem!

don't just stand there by laurenttheninth @smallandalmosthonest SPEAKING OF! In which Eddie interruptus and Buck is maybe kinda sorta okay with that actually. A+ accidental exhibitionism kink discovery, with fantastic dialogue characterisation and just really really fun established bucktommy and buddie dynamics all wrapped into one. Still a wip but each chapter can be read standalone.

Also massive shout out to @usereddie for this Eddie and Hen 7x06 buddie coda, in which Eddie goes to a trusted source for some self reflection. Packing an emotional punch into a ficlet.

PS - once again sending out the signal to ask if you have any henren authors/fic recs I should check out PLEASE let me know! I love them!

#biasbuck recs #biasbuck watches 911 #911 ficrec

[heart4buddie]

How about buddie + a lil kiss on the nose 💕

If there’s one thing Buck loves about Eddie’s body, it’s his arms. Strong and powerful and so sexy. If you asked him the second thing he loves about Eddie’s body? He’d tell you it’s the way Eddie scrunches up his nose at things.

Not that he’d tell anyone anything about what he loves about Eddie, because Eddie is his very straight best friend and Buck was a very bisexual man in love with him. That’s the way the cookies crumbled. At least until the day Eddie shows up back home from therapy looking like he’s been put through the ringer.

After he goes to check on Christopher playing video games in his room, he comes back out to the kitchen where Buck is heating up some dinner for them. Hes just put the chicken pot pie in the oven when Eddie blurts it out.

“So I’m queer.”

Buck’s grateful he’s already put the pan in the oven cause he’s pretty sure there would have been a glass and chicken pot pie mess to clean up at that declaration.

“That’s. Wow. That’s great Eddie. I’m glad you felt you could tell me that. Is this what you talked about with Frank today?”

“Yeah, I mean kinda. I’ve known for weeks that I wasn’t straight the way I always thought I was, but I didn’t know how to actually tell anyone. Franks been encouraging me to tell you for the past month.”

“I’m glad you did Eddie. Thank you for trusting me with this.”

“There’s more.”

“Okayyyyy.” Suddenly Eddie looks even more nervous and Buck’s wondering what could possibly make Eddie scared like that.

“Uhm, the reason he wanted me to tell you is because I’m in love with you.”

Buck stands there in the kitchen of his best friend and the love of his life and freezes. Here is everything he’s ever dreamed of in front of him and surely this is a joke right? The universe has never been that kind to him.

When Buck doesn’t say anything back, Eddie shuffles nervously and looks down at the floor.

“I just thought you should know. It doesn’t have to change anything. I just-“ but he’s cut off by the press of lips against his own. Buck tastes like beer and whatever spices he’d put in the pot pie and his own unique flavor that Eddie wants to bottle to keep for himself forever.

“God, Eddie I am so in love with you. I’ve love everything about you. The way you are with Christopher. The way you take charge on calls. The way you care for people. I even love your little nose scrunch.”

“My nose scrunch?” At that Eddie looks at him questioning and it inevitably causes his nose to scrunch up a little bit. And Buck can’t help himself. He just has to kiss it. He presses his lips against the tip of Eddie’s nose quickly and they both laugh at the sensation. From then on, it became part of their love language. Eddie would kiss Buck on the forehead and Buck would return it with a little kiss on Eddie’s nose.

Hen thought it was sweet. Chim thought it was disgusting to have to watch them be lovey dovey. Bobby just sighed and handed them paperwork while telling them to keep the PDA to a minimum while they were at work. Buck was fine with that, because now he had his family. Eddie, the love of his life, and Christopher who was like a son to him. He could keep the kisses down at work as long as he got to come home to a family that loved him and his boyfriend with the sexy biceps and the cutest nose in the world.

#buddie #911 fox #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie fic

[discoscoob]

I’m going to be honest here, when I was about 14-17yo, I was the absolute same when it came to mlm ships. I took everything as offense, erasure, and people being homophobic, until I grew up and understood that being anything other than queer is not a bad thing and nothing to be ashamed of. Do we need more LGBTQ+ content? Yes, absolutely. Is it a shame that there’s little to none queer representation in ST? Absolutely. But does it give anyone the right to harass other users? Absolutely not. Those young people need to learn how to control their emotions and that us shipping a straight ship doesn’t negate any of the above mentioned things of representation. It is buck wild that there’s people going feral over the fact that people interpret Eddie’s character as hetero. More than that, it is disgusting how much hate mail there is going around in regards to this, how little people care what their words do to other users. It’s somewhat similar to Billy-fans and anti-Billy people. The harassment from the antis is disgusting, including doxxing and publicly shaming small blogs over their hc’s. Bro, I am standing a dead character because I saw potential in his traumatic past, but I’m being pulled into group bullying for that. It’s horrendous how little people care about the well being of others and are ready to inflict actual, real-life troubles over some fictional characters. I know fiction is escapism, but some people can’t draw that line as it seems.

Exactly! As a bisexual person of course I want more representation, however one thing I don’t understand about people like this is like, you’ll get the Tommy H situation and people suddenly cling onto and sympathise with his character, despite the fact he joked about Jonathan being the one who murdered Will and he was the one responsible for spray painting ‘Nancy Wheeler is a slut’ on the front of the theatre, and explain that they do it because they’re “desperate for representation” but then they get two canonically queer characters who are into each other in Vickie (Vicki idk at this point) and Robin and they do nothing but trash all over it and attack the bisexual actress who plays Vickie and I’m like “that desperate for representation, huh?” apparently not when it comes to wlw rep, that you can afford to shit all over, but let’s sympathise with the slut shaming bully.

I’m sorry it just upsets me, even if they think that Vickie and Robin was rushed and should’ve had more time, I agree with that, it doesn’t give them a right to complete disregard it and act like it’s the worst rep ever and attack the actress for no good reason.

After that reaction, if we don’t get Vickie and Robin at all in s5 because Vickie’s character just disappears without explanation it will be their fault because of the backlash they caused. Then Robin probably won’t ever canonically have a girlfriend.

Even if they believe their criticisms of the ship are valid, you’ll never see people criticise mlm ships the way they dump all over wlw ships. The Tommy H situation is proof of that.

The “that desperate for representation” argument will never be valid if they only use it for mlm and then proceed to attack and criticise wlw ships, we’re desperate for representation too, stop trying to ruin it for us.

[alistairlowes]

untagged & unflitered 911 thoughts where i have nothing nice to say

the reason i can't stand this show rn because some people will see a little black girl get compared to an aggressive dog and go omg the parallel 🥺 this is so sweet

finding out eddie was suppose to be dating tommy fucking sends me because it just proved my theory they shifted that storyline onto anyone that they could and who as wiling to so they could have that major moment for 100th episode instead of idk maybe listen to why ryan didn’t want it and see it can apply further. the only person who gave a shit about bisexual buck was oliver. to the rest of them this is so fucking unserious. it should have been handled at slower pace and better.

keeping the line where tommy say 118 used to be regressive as he wasn’t contributing lmfao

buck casually inviting tommy to the wedding as if tommy wasn’t racist to the groom. like even if i forgive and forget i still wouldn’t want someone like that on my wedding christ alive

week to week writing sucks so much honestly because they can’t brainstorm any ideas. every conflict they write gets resolved by the end of the episode. buck has internalized homophobia/biphobia? don’t worry by the end of the episode he is asking a guy to go to a wedding with him no big deal

i came up with better plots when i used to play with barbie dolls

#vtalks #also eddie is ooc as fuck this whole season #actor who plays tommy has more common sense than that whole writing room from what i see is said in interviews

[clusterbuck]

calling out for somebody to hold tonight

(3.8k, rated T, complete) (read it on ao3)

Eddie walks into the club and feels—well, foolish, mostly.

He’s been fretting about this all day, constantly talking himself in and out of it, coming up with new worries at a speed that would impress even his most neurotic sister. But somehow, despite all of the ways tonight could actually go wrong—like if someone recognised him walking into Tom’s, or if he was unlucky enough to run into one of the 21st century’s remaining homophobes—the thing that’s had him so stressed he almost lost his grip on a firehose at work is the worry that he would look out of place. That he’d underdress, or, god forbid, overdress.

It’s not like he’s well-versed in the general dress code of LA’s gay clubs.

But he walks in, and feels a little stupid for ever worrying about it. The people surrounding him are dressed like, well, normal people.

He hadn’t exactly expected to walk in to a full-on orgy or anything. But maybe he’d expected a little more of the glitter and the exposed skin that he’d seen when they’d been on call at the Pride parade last summer.

And there’s some glitter, sure, but mostly everyone looks the way they have in every other club he’s ever been in. Not that that’s a long list.

He feels foolish for worrying about it, but mostly he feels relief. Because the outfit he’d spent so long agonising over—approximately two hours longer than he’s willing to tell anyone about, ever—blends in. In a tight black henley and dark jeans, he doesn’t stand out at all.

Eddie isn’t here for attention. He’s here to test a theory. And while some attention wouldn’t necessarily drive his experiment off the rails, he’s a little worried too much too fast might drive him off the rails.

His theory has two parts, and as much as he’s been turning it over and over in his mind, he can’t quite tell which part comes first and which logically follows from it.

The first part of his theory is that despite what he’s believed his entire life—despite what he’d been taught to believe, even when he felt a fluttering in his gut that suggested otherwise—he is bisexual.

The second part is that he’s in love with his best friend. That the thrill that shoots down his spine every time Buck so much as looks at him, every time Buck’s hand brushes his, on a call or in Buck’s jeep or stretched out on the couches in the station loft, is different from the warm glow of friendship. That the way he feels Buck’s absence whenever he leaves after a night at the Diaz house is rooted in bone-deep yearning.

And maybe there are other, easier ways to test this theory—ways that include Buck, specifically—but the only thing he can imagine that’s worse than telling Buck is if he tells Buck and is rejected. No matter how gentle Buck was with it—and Buck would always be gentle with his heart, he knows—he doesn’t think there’s any coming back from unrequited love.

So now he’s here, three steps into a gay bar slightly off the beaten path whose Yelp reviews—of course he’d done his research—boasted a casual atmosphere, a solid beer selection, and a general lack of crowding, and suddenly he has no idea what he’s doing.

This is stupid, he thinks. What exactly is being here supposed to achieve? He hadn’t thought that far ahead, because most of his planning time had gone towards talking himself into going and then going back and forth over his wardrobe choices thirty-seven times.

For lack of anything better to do, he takes a seat at corner of the bar and points at a tap at random. The bartender sizes him up while pulling the pint, then sets it in front of him.

“First time here?” he asks, and Eddie nearly chokes on the sip of beer he’s just taken.

“That obvious?” He winces.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” the bartender shrugs. “Developed an eye for it.” He rubs at the counter with the rag in his hand, though Eddie can’t see any stains. “Do you want to talk about it?”

For a second Eddie is tempted to say yes, in the hopes that maybe the bartender could explain his own thoughts back to him. But then he considers what he’d actually say, and realises he has no idea where to even start. The bartender seems nice and all—and attractive, Eddie notices, then feels a flicker of joy at noticing—but he doesn’t deserve Eddie word-vomiting all over the place. He needs to sort through it for himself first.

“I’m just going to sit here, if that’s okay,” he says.

“Let me know if you change your mind,” the bartender says, and heads down the bar to another customer.

Eddie settles in against the wall and takes a long sip of his beer. It’s been a while since he last took a science class, but he’s pretty sure he remembers something about testing specific hypotheses.

Okay, hypothesis one, he thinks, and starts simple. I find men attractive.

He lets his eyes wander across the room and takes in the other people filling the bar. His gaze catches on several of them, cataloguing features almost without thinking about it.

The guy down the bar from him has eyes the colour of a summer sky, and they make something tug deep in his gut.

There’s a guy in the opposite corner with hair like spun gold, and his friend next to him has biceps so big they threaten to burst out of the sleeves of his t-shirt.

There are others, too, almost everywhere he looks, attractive men as far as the eye can see. It’s the kind of problem that’s not really a problem, except—a tiny voice in the back of his mind wonders if maybe he just appreciates these men aesthetically, the same way people appreciate a beautiful painting.

It’s what he’d told himself when he was thirteen and appreciated the men he saw on television. Aesthetically.

But then the man with the biceps stretches, pulling the fabric of his t-shirt even tauter over his arms and lifting it to reveal an inch of tanned stomach with just a hint of the outline of abs, and Eddie gets the sudden urge to lick a stripe up that stomach until he discovers the rest of the muscles hiding beneath.

Hypothesis number two: so maybe it’s not just aesthetic.

The door swings open, and Eddie turns just in time to see the man who walks in. There’s nothing much remarkable about him, he doesn’t stand out from the men around him, except for one thing—he has the reddest lips Eddie has ever seen on man, bar one. The second Eddie sees them he wants to take the man’s bottom lip between his teeth, only when he closes his eyes and imagines it the lips aren’t attached to this random man Eddie’s just seen for the first time, but to Buck.

And when he looks around again, he sees Buck everywhere: in the eyes of the man down the bar, the hair of the man in the opposite corner and the impressive musculature of his friend.

All told, it pretty much settles hypothesis number three: he’s definitely in love with his best friend.

Eddie drains what’s left of his beer and drops his forehead to the bar with a sigh. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows that none of this is actually news to him. That he didn’t come here to test the theory so much as prove it.

He’s lost track of the times he’s tried to talk himself down, tried to convince himself that these feelings aren’t real. That he and Buck are just friends and there’s nothing else there, and that there couldn’t be because he doesn’t think about men like that.

But it’s exhausting, and it only gets more exhausting the longer it goes on. Like every new denial is a stone sewn into the coat of lies he wears, dragging him further down each time.

There’s a certain freedom in sitting here, his forehead pressed to the oaken counter of LA’s most mid-range gay bar, and thinking the words well, I guess I’m bisexual to himself for the first time. In removing the limitation he’s set on himself for as long as he can remember, on a level so deep he’s not even sure he’s conscious of it. In sitting in this bar and thinking he’s not alone, that he’s surrounded by people just like him.

Then Buck flashes across his mind again, and the weight of the thought settles heavy in his chest. So much for freedom, he thinks—he can never tell Buck about this. Not when he knows it won’t be reciprocated, because how could it be? Buck could have his pick of partners, Eddie’s sure of that, men and women and anyone else. Eddie’s just the best friend—solid, sure, dependable, but not the object of carnal desire. Not the person you come home to at the end of the day.

Buck’s going to find that person, one day, and Eddie’s destined to live the rest of his life watching someone else have the life he so desperately wants.

He peels his forehead off the bar and props his chin in his hand, signalling the bartender and asking for tequila.

“Everything okay?” the bartender asks.

“I’m in love with my best friend,” Eddie admits, just for the novelty of saying it out loud. It’s not like he’s going to get many other chances. Then he downs the shot.

The bartender winces in sympathy. “And you don’t think—”

“Oh, never,” Eddie says, with a laugh that sounds hollow even to his own ears. “Can I get another tequila?”

--

The phone rings, jolting Buck out of the half-doze he’d sunken into. The tv is still on, but he doesn’t recognise the show, so he must have been out of it for a while.

The phone in his hand buzzes again, and Buck shakes his head to wake himself up and looks down at the screen.

Eddie’s face flashes across it, and Buck frowns. It’s late, past midnight, way past Eddie’s usual bedtime when he’s not on shift.

He hurries to answer the call before it stops ringing. “Eddie?”

“Is this Buck?” a voice that is definitely not Eddie asks, and something cold starts creeping up Buck’s spine.

“Yeah, it’s Buck. Who is this?”

“I’m calling because I found your friend’s phone and you’re listed as his emergency contact,” the voice on the other end says, and Buck’s stomach falls somewhere near the region of his feet.

“Is he—” he starts, but he can’t make his mouth form the next words.

“He’s okay,” the man says, and the relief is so profound Buck’s pretty sure he would have collapsed if he wasn’t already sitting down.

“Sorry,” the man continues, “I should have started with that. My name is Andrew, I’m a bartender. Your friend is fine, he’s just in need of a ride home.”

Buck blinks at the empty room around him. In all the time he’s known Eddie, he can’t remember ever seeing him properly drunk. And to be wasted enough that he not only needs a ride home, but can’t call Buck himself?

Andrew said Eddie is fine, but Buck isn’t so sure.

“Hello?” Andrew says. “Can you come get him? I’d put him in a cab, but I don’t think he should be alone tonight. Just in case, you know.”

“Yeah,” Buck says, and gets off the sofa to hunt for his keys. “Yeah, of course.”

“Great,” Andrew says. “I’ll make sure he stays put in the meantime.”

“Thanks,” Buck says, pulling on a shoe. “I’ll be there in—wait, you never actually told me which bar you’re at.”

“Oh,” Andrew says. “Right. We’re at Tom’s. It’s—”

“Yeah, I know the place,” Buck says slowly. “I’ll be right there.”

He hangs up and lowers his phone, staring at the wall.

Why is Eddie at a gay bar? Why is Eddie drunk off his ass at a gay bar?

For just a second something sparks within him, excitement and nerves and joy. If Eddie is at a gay bar, maybe that means—

Maybe the things he wants aren’t as impossible as he’s been telling himself they are. But if he wants to find that out, he needs to get Eddie home and sober him up.

Buck walks into Tom’s and immediately sees Eddie, slumped against the bar in the corner of the room.

Of course he’d have his back to the wall, Buck thinks with an amused huff.

The bartender looks over as he approaches, and Buck raises his hand in a wave. “I’m Buck,” he says. “Thanks for calling me.”

“Yeah, of course,” the bartender—Andrew—says. “Wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t.”

Buck shrugs. “We’re first responders,” he says, gesturing between Eddie and himself. “Been on a lot of calls because of bartenders who aren’t quite so diligent.”

Andrew, too, looks between him and Eddie, brow furrowed like he’s considering something. “Listen,” he finally said. “You said you know the place… I hope I didn’t—” he gestures at Eddie. “I hope calling you didn’t—”

“Kind of,” Buck admits, and Andrew sighs.

“Fuck. Tell him I’m sorry, will you? When he’s not mostly composed of tequila.”

“I will,” Buck promises. Then he pokes at Eddie, who groans and tries to bury his head deeper into the bar. “Come on, Eddie, let’s go home. I bet lying down sounds like a pretty good idea right about now, huh?”

Eddie makes a noise that could be an assent or could just be a general complaint about his situation, and Buck decides to help him along. The bar is loud, and filled with people who are looking at both him and Eddie with varying degrees of interest.

Buck is very interested in getting them both out of there.

He slips Eddie’s arm around his neck and wraps his own around Eddie’s waist, taking most of Eddie’s weight as they slowly ease up off the barstool. He takes a small step in the direction of the door and waits for Eddie’s tequila-soaked brain to catch up. It takes a while, but step by step they cross the bar.

Eddie sways into him with every step, heat radiating off his body in waves. Buck is grateful when they make it to the door and step out into the cool January air, because the longer he’s pressed against Eddie like this the harder it is to breathe.

His jeep is all the way across the parking lot. Buck looks between Eddie and the car, then makes a split-second decision and bends to pick Eddie up. Eddie’s drunk enough that Buck doesn't think turning him upside down is a good idea, which is how he ends up striding across the parking lot with Eddie in his arms like a blushing bride.

Eddie looks up at him, head lolling against his shoulder, and seems to finally register Buck for the first time. “You came,” he says, something like wonder in his voice.

“Of course,” Buck says. “Got your back, remember?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says, and nestles his face against Buck’s chest.

Eddie is easier to bundle into the car than Buck expected, and soon they’re on their way. Buck tries to ask Eddie where Christopher is—he’s not sure he wants to take Eddie home if, say, Abuela is watching Christopher at his house—but Eddie just mumbles something incoherent and slumps against the window.

In the end, Buck decides on the Diaz house anyway. Eddie’s probably going to be feeling pretty terrible tomorrow, but he might as well do it in his own house.

Eddie is docile as Buck helps him from the car, but as soon as they get into the house he turns to Buck. “Stay,” he says.

“Yeah, Eddie, I’m staying,” Buck says. “I’m gonna make sure you’re all right.”

“Stay,” Eddie says again, more insistently.

“I will,” Buck says, and wonders for a split second if maybe Eddie knows just how much he means it.

He helps Eddie take his shoes off, and together they stumble down the hallway to Eddie’s bedroom. He parks Eddie on the bed and ducks out to get a glass of water and some Advil, and when he comes back, Eddie is struggling with the buckle on his belt.

“Want me to help you with that?” Buck asks, setting the glass and pills on the bedside table.

“Don’t wanna sleep in jeans,” Eddie mumbles.

“Okay,” Buck says. “Okay.” He holds his breath as he unbuckles Eddie’s belt, then pretends to find something about the opposite wall deeply interesting as Eddie struggles out of his jeans.

He doesn’t turn around until Eddie is firmly in bed, tucked under the blanket. He seems to be drifting off already, but Buck sits on the edge of the bed and puts a hand on Eddie’s arm.

“Hey,” he says softly. “Take these Advil for me, okay? You’ll feel better in the morning.”

Eddie blinks up at him from the pillow. Buck half-supports, half-manhandles him back into a sitting position, and watches Eddie take the pills and makes sure he drinks all the water.

Eddie slides back down again, and Buck gets up and heads for the door.

“Wait,” Eddie says, voice plaintive in the dim room. “You said—stay.”

“I am staying,” Buck says. “I’ll be in the living room like always.”

“Stay here,” Eddie says, and reaches out a hand to him.

And Buck has never been good at saying no to Eddie. So he pads around the room to the other side of the bed and sheds his jeans, then lifts the blanket and crawls into bed with Eddie.

“Buck?” Eddie mumbles.

“Right here,” Buck whispers back.

Eddie rolls into him, settling his head on Buck’s chest and throwing an arm around Buck’s waist. There’s a faint odour of tequila wafting from him, but Buck presses his lips into Eddie’s hair anyway.

He might be going to hell for this, he thinks, taking advantage of Eddie’s drunken need for closeness like this. But he’s only one man, desperately in love with his best friend, and he’s long since learned to take whatever crumbs he can get.

--

Eddie wakes to sunlight streaming through the window and the warmth of a body pressed against him. He pries his eyes open, only to get a faceful of golden hair.

“Buck?” he mutters, then makes a face. His mouth tastes like something died in it.

“Mmph?” Buck shifts beside him, slowly blinking awake. “What—right.” He shifts a little more, until Eddie can fully see his face. “Hey,” Buck says. “What do you remember from last night?”

“Tequila,” Eddie says immediately, and Buck laughs.

“Definitely up there.”

“I went to—” Realisation dawns on Eddie as he remembers exactly where he acquired the tequila, and he twists to hide his face in the pillow. The movement makes his head spin.

“Yeah, you did,” Buck says softly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Eddie groans into the pillow.

“It’s okay,” Buck says. “We don’t have to.”

And Eddie knows Buck means it. That if he shuts it down, Buck will pack this conversation away in a box somewhere and never bring it up again unless Eddie does. And the thought is so, so tempting.

But there’s a part of him that doesn’t want that. That doesn’t want to hide. “I’m—” he says, face still buried in the pillow, then swallows around the dryness in his mouth. “I’m bi,” he finally says.

“Okay,” Buck says, and even with his eyes closed and shoved against a pillowcase Eddie can hear the soft smile in his voice. “Thank you for telling me.” His hand comes to rest on Eddie’s arm, thumb stroking in gentle soothing motions.

Eddie’s mouth, apparently, is no longer connected to his brain, because the next thing that comes out of it is “I’m also in love with you.”

He’s still mumbling into the pillow, but the words are clear enough.

Buck’s thumb stills on his arm, just for a moment, then his grip tightens and he’s trying to get Eddie to emerge from the pillow.

“Eddie, look at me.”

“No,” Eddie mutters.

“Eddie.” Buck prods at his shoulder, and Eddie allows himself to be turned over to face Buck.

Buck rests a hand on his face, tracing a line down his cheek. “You’ve got a pillow crease here.”

“Is that why you made me turn over?” Eddie grumbles. “Buck, just—”

“No,” Buck says. “I made you turn over because I want to see your face when I tell you I love you too.”

It’s Eddie’s turn to freeze. His chest feels tight, like his heart is too big for his body, and he can’t seem to make any of his limbs move. All he can do is lie there, staring up at Buck.

“You—” he finally manages.

“I love you,” Buck says, like it’s as simple as that.

“But what about—” Eddie starts, unable to find a way to finish his sentence. It feels like there should be so many things stopping Buck from saying those words to him, but his brain is empty.

“What about nothing,” Buck says firmly. “I love you.”

“I—oh,” Eddie finally manages. “Oh.”

“Eddie,” Buck says. His hand still rests on Eddie’s cheek and he moves it now, tracing Eddie’s bottom lip with his thumb. “Can I kiss you?”

“You should really let me brush my teeth first,” Eddie murmurs.

“I don’t care,” Buck says, and leans in to press his lips against Eddie’s. A second later he pulls away again. “Actually—”

“Told you,” Eddie smirks.

“I love you, but that is just—”

“I know,” Eddie says. “It’s in my mouth.”

Buck manages to wait until they’re halfway through brushing their teeth, then kisses Eddie against the bathroom sink until toothpaste spills out of their mouths.

“That’s disgusting,” Eddie informs him, and Buck grins.

“But you love me.”

Later, much later, Buck remembers the bartender from last night. “He wanted me to make sure you know he’s sorry,” he says from where he’s lying on the sofa, Eddie’s back settled against his chest. “That, you know, calling me kind of—outed you, I guess.”

“Are you kidding?” Eddie asks, twisting around until he can kiss Buck’s jaw. “I get how that could have ended badly, but I’m sending the guy a goddamn fruit basket.”

#911fic #buddie #buddie fic #hello!! i don't know!! i just had a thought and suddenly i am here!! #shush emma #emma writes #ps. told u the 1d lyric era is coming

[sulkybbarnes]

“I can’t help but think we just didn’t do right by you somehow. You won’t tell me who you are. Did we teach you shame? Did I teach you that? Cause it would break my heart if I had. Can’t you see what a good job God did here. Can’t you see how beautiful he made you?”  -Big Eden (2000)

Read on AO3

Eddie sits in his car for a long time, head bowed and his hands gripping at the steering wheel. If it weren’t for the tense shoulders and the white knuckled grip he might look as if he was praying. Maybe part of him is praying. For courage, for acceptance, for a lighter heart. Between him and all of that stands an ocean of turmoil and whirling thoughts.

Eddie isn’t exactly panicking, but he might be a few breaths away from it. For him, panic isn’t quickened breaths and swimming vision. It’s rigidity and a weight that sits heavily in his stomach. It’s fire spreading through his chest and into his limps, rendering him motionless, even when his brain races at the speed of light. Part of him wants to turn back, drive home, make dinner for his son, maybe call Buck to see if he’d join them. However, since Buck is part of the problem, that course of action might not be the wisest. 

Eddie sucks in a deep breath then let it out slowly. He isn’t afraid of his feelings for Buck any more than he was afraid to acknowledge his attraction to men. In his later years of life, after having a kid and a twice failed marriage, Eddie has become a pragmatic and introspective creature. Things just are to him. He takes them, examines them with care, then places them in place when he’s done looking at them. Sure, the process isn’t quite as clean or clinical as he makes it sound, but the end result of it is the same, no matter how long he dwells on an issue. 

So, yes, Eddie isn’t afraid of being attracted to men, part of him had always known that. Examined it, folded it neatly, and placed it on a shelf in his mind that he didn’t dust often. He isn’t afraid of his feelings for Buck. These are a steady, comforting thing that Eddie has grown accustomed to in the months since he first allowed himself to look at them. Something so good and true can’t be frightening, Eddie has decided a while ago and left it at that. 

What does frighten Eddie however is two things, and these two things seem to be intertwined together beyond any hope of Eddie untangling the mess of them. However he looks at them, Eddie cannot separate the two. Eddie needs to talk to Buck about his feelings for him, and he needs to tell his family about how he feels.. in general. About how he loves. About the way his heart beats. It isn’t a requirement, and he knows deep in his bones that he doesn’t owe any of them a declaration of his sexuality or who he is. But. This is a conversation over a decade in the making, and Eddie who is a father, a firefighter, and a goddamn adult refuses to cower for another month or year. 

And so, Eddie needs to tell Buck how he feels about him, and for him to do that, Eddie needs to tell his family that he’s bisexual. To have at least one person from his family to back him up when things inevitably go south with his parents after both revelations. Two things he needs to do, and they are tightly knotted in his mind. He could have told Buck first. Could have had whatever outcome that yielded to decide the next steps for him, but that’s not what this is about. Whether Buck takes or rejects him, Eddie needs to do this for himself. 

One person, Eddie repeats like a mantra. Just one person, Diaz.

Eddie lets out a final shuddering breath, releases his death grip on the steering wheel, and makes the short walk to his abuela’s house. 

He sends a silent prayer to the universe before he knocks.

----

No matter how old he is, the smell of his abuela’s house stays comforting. Eddie’s relationship with his parents was tumultuous at times as he grew up, his parents approval ebbing and flowing depending on what standards he failed to meet. They were never bad parents, but they weren’t big on comfort either. Theirs was a house of discipline throughout Eddie’s life, and so his grandmother’s house was a haven in comparison. One filled with his abuela’s warmth and her never ending quest to stuff him with comfort food.

Eddie could have gone to his sisters for this. He knows that would have made far more sense, with his sisters being younger and generally more open minded. He could have gone to his aunt too, who wielded a non-nonsense attitude and a keen eye for details and who probably already had an inkling about Eddie’s feelings for his best friend. Beyond his parents, his abuela might very well be the second hardest option, but possibly the most important one. Which is why he decided to start here. He curses his own decision making skills not for the first time today.

Whatever the outcome of this conversation is, he tells himself, it will be a hurdle he has cleared. One part of the knot unwinded. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s troubling you, Edmundo?” His grandmother sighs from where she sits on the couch across from him. “You’ve been too far inside your own head since you arrived. Tell me what’s wrong.”

To his horror, the gentle tone makes Eddie’s eyes sting. He taps against his knee twice and sits a steaming mug down, trying to figure out where to start.

“You’re right,” Eddie begins, “There’s something I want to talk to you about.” He looks at her for a long moment, waiting for her encouraging nod before he goes on. “I’ve been keeping something from you and everyone else for a long time. I thought it didn’t matter much. That it won’t hurt anyone if it stays hidden and I don’t act on it. But it’s hurting me, abuela. It’s been hurting me for a long time now, more than I ever thought possible.” 

Eddie wills his voice to stay steady but it must give him away, because his abuela moves to sit beside him. She reaches out and puts her hand on top of his, squeezing once.

“What is hurting you, Eddie? I never want anything to hurt you. Tell me.”

“There’s someone I have feelings for, someone I might be in love with,” The words tumbling out of order, without his permission. His abuela’s face clears, she smiles, and begins to speak but Eddie desperately shakes his head at her, so she keeps listening instead. “It’s not just that. It’s a man. The person I have feelings for is a man. That’s what I- it’s what I wanted to tell you.”

Eddie waits for a reprimand. He waits for shock or disgust or anger. It doesn’t come. 

Instead, several agonizing moments later, Isabel Diaz makes a wounded noise, followed by a deep sigh. She raises her hand to cup Eddie’s face and gently tugs until he’s looking at her. Eddie is ashamed to admit he almost flinches at the gesture.

“I see,” She says, her eyes watering. “It’s us who have been hurting you. Did we teach you shame? Is that what we did?” She questions.

Eddie doesn’t answer her. Where his eyes stung before, now there are tears gathering and spilling down his cheeks. Eddie doesn’t move to wipe them off. They have earned their release.

“You’re not angry?” Eddie asks instead.

“At you? No, never. At the rest of us? yes. I won’t lie, Eddie, I never expected this, but that’s on me not on you.” She sighs again, “I’m an old woman, heaven knows how much I’ve known and seen. Maybe.. maybe years ago I would have been less generous, and I don’t claim to understand it fully now, but I never want you to be ashamed of who you are. I never want you to hurt because of us.” 

Eddie feels his shoulders sagging with relief, a breath leaves him and it sounds wrenched and ragged despite his efforts at quelling. His grandmother pulls him down until his head rests against her shoulder, she wipes at the back of his head and murmurs comforting words in both English and Spanish. They set like that for long moments, Eddie feeling as if he can fully exhale for the first time in years, and his grandmother speaking softly with her arms wrapped around him.

“How long have you known? Does anyone else know?” She asks after a while.

Eddie pulls back and wipes at his face, smiling when he’s instantly offered some tissues and a now-cooling cup of coffee. 

“I’ve always known, I think, that I like both men and women. Since I was a kid. And, no, no one else knows. You’re the first person I’m telling,” He answers truthfully. He hadn’t even told Shannon about this. “I know they won’t be happy when it comes out. I just can’t hold it anymore.”

The “they” in question don’t need to be named. His abuela is as familiar with his parents’ set of beliefs as he is.

“Maybe not at first, but they’ll come around. People change with time, and your parents have good hearts.” His grandmother says with such conviction that he almost believes her. “And until then, you know your sisters will be on your side. Your Aunt Josephine too, and me.” 

“Thanks, abuela,” Eddie smiles at her gratefully and kisses her cheek. He feels dizzy with relief. Nothing that comes after this will be as difficult. 

“Now, tell me about that man of yours. Who is he?” His grandmother’s serious gaze lands on him, but her lips twitch with a smile. Eddie feels heat rushing to his face as if he’s twelve again and caught trying to sneak chocolates from the chocolate box.

“He’s not mine,” Eddie mumbles, and his abuela gives him a look that says and whose fault is that?. “We really don’t have to talk about this.” 

When that suggestion is met with a steely stare, Eddie falters then breaks, “His name is Buck? It’s Buck. From work. You’ve met Buck.”

Now his grandmother smiles, her eyes laughing at him. “Yes, I know who Buck is. I’ve only heard Chris rave about him and met him every other month for the past two years, Edmundo.”

Eddie brings a hand to rub at his eyes, now smiling too. 

“Why haven’t you told him then?” And before Eddie can answer, she adds, “Is that our doing too? That you’re afraid?”

“No, no, that’s not because of any of this,” Eddie answers, which is only half a lie. “We’re very close friends, abuela. You know how close, you just said it yourself. He’s so involved with Chris and our lives. I’m worried about what will happen if I tell him and it doesn’t work out between us. It’s why I haven’t told him yet.”

“You think he feels the same?”

“I think he does. I’m pretty sure of it,” Eddie confides, even though he has never said any of this aloud before, he has thought about it for months on end, “I’m not ashamed of how I feel, but I thought leaving it alone would be best. To protect what we already have.”

“Making that decision for him is cruel, and you are not a cruel man, Edmundo.” Abuela chastises, “You said you’re close? Then you should respect him enough to give him the choice.”

Eddie nods, eyes watering again. This conversation is so far out of the realm of what he expected that he feels the need to lie down, or cry, or both.

“I will,” Eddie promises, “I’ve been planning on it for a while. I just.. I needed to do this first.”

Oh, my heart, his grandmother murmurs as she cups his face again with gentle hands and draws him into a hug. Against her shoulder, Eddie lets out a breath of pure relief. 

------

Making that decision for him is cruel, and you are not a cruel man.

The words ring in Eddie’s ears for days after coming out to his abuela. He catches himself several times in the process of taking them out and looking at them. He never thought of his waiting as cruel to anyone but himself. His grandmother’s words sit heavy in his chest, making him vow to speak to Buck as soon as possible. 

Between their busy shifts and both of them having various family obligations, the chance to speak to Buck alone doesn’t present itself until nearly a week after Eddie’s conversation with his grandmother. 

They’re at Eddie’s house for the evening, having ended work a few hours ago. Chris fell asleep between them after dinner, about half an hour ago, and so Eddie carries him to his bedroom, kisses his forehead, and silently asks Chris to wish him luck as he heads back to the living room.

On the couch, Buck looks up at Eddie’s arrival and smiles. 

“You’re not kicking me out now that Chris is sleeping, are you?” Buck jokes, “Because I was really hoping for a beer.”

Buck gestures towards the table, where two beers sit waiting for them. It strikes Eddie then, just how comfortable Buck is in Eddie’s space, and how much Eddie likes it that way. He smiles and moves to sit next to Buck.

Eddie’s mind is swirling with ways to start the conversation he wants to have, when Buck beats him to it. 

“Will you tell me what’s bothering you?” Buck asks, his fingers toying with the neck of his bottle. “You’ve been off all week. Did something happen?”

Eddie looks at Buck for a couple of heartbeats. There’s no denying how beautiful he is, or how attractive Eddie finds him, but what catches his attention now is the ever present kindness in Buck’s eyes. Eddie has always envied Buck his openness and vulnerability. It was a kind of bravery that Eddie is only now starting to learn. Where Eddie is thoughtful and private with his emotions, Buck wears each one of his for the entire world to see. Eddie can’t help the bang of longing spreading through his chest, even as he sets out for his second scary conversation of the week.

“Yeah, something pretty important happened,” Eddie starts, placing the bottle back on the table and turning to look at Buck, who mirrors Eddie’s movement. “I told my abuela that there’s someone I have feelings for, and that this someone is a man.”

Buck blinks at Eddie in rapid succession, seemingly processing the information. His mouth hangs open for a moment before he frowns. “Shit, Eddie, why didn’t you say anything? That’s huge. How did it go? Are you okay?”

“I just came out to you,” Eddie states, because he needs to make sure that that part registered.

“Yeah, no, I noticed, but you also came out to your grandmother which sounds scarier,” Buck shoots back, his eyes filled with pure concern. Eddie badly wants to reach out and rub at the crease between his brows.

“Definitely scarier,” Eddie agrees and then grins, “But it went surprisingly well. Way better than expected. We even talked a bit about the guy.”

Buck’s expression clears into a bright smile, looking for all the world like sunshine in human form. His eyes are shimmering and he wipes at them with a laugh.

“Eddie, that’s great,” Buck punches his shoulder lightly, as if they’re still kids in highschool, and Eddie grins at the gesture, “That’s amazing, man. I’m really happy for you!”

“Thanks, Buck.” Eddie feels light as he says it, the combination of Buck’s blinding smile and him coming out to his best friend feeling heady and intoxicating. 

“And you’re alright?” Buck asks again, his hand nudging at Eddie’s knee then retreating. Eddie fights the urge to take Buck’s hand and place it back there, where his warmth seeped into Eddie’s skin.

“I’m all good. Just needed some time to process all of it. But I’m good now.” Eddie nods, “Feels like one of the hardest parts is over. My parents will be a different story, but I’m leaving that for later.”

“Yeah, I get that. Thank you for trusting me with this. Seriously.” Buck says gently, his tone gone soft. He’s obviously sincere with his words, but something flashes in his eyes akin to hurt. It catches Eddie by surprise as he tries to pinpoint what caused the expression. 

Buck chews on his lip for several seconds, painfully obvious in his distress, and then replaces the expression with a smile that is a mere flicker of the one he wore before. 

“So, do I get to meet this mystery man of yours?” Buck jokes, “Get him the best friend stamp of approval?”

And, oh. Right. Eddie came out to Buck, but he hasn’t told him how he feels about him yet. That Buck is the man in question. That Eddie’s heart has been his now for an embarrassingly long time. Long enough for the idea of Eddie loving anyone other than Buck to be laughable. Eddie’s heart aches with love for him so much, he feels his breath catching with it.

“Well, you’ll need to approve of it for sure,” Eddie says thoughtfully, “Just not in the way you’re thinking.”

Buck’s expression turns puzzled, but he still looks hurt, and Eddie could say more, he probably should say more, but instead he spares them both a long winded explanation and reaches for Buck instead. One of his hands rests against the back of Buck’s head, fingers brushing against his hair, while the other rests against Buck’s cheek. Eddie sees the exact moment realization dawns across Buck’s face, and in any other situation, he would laugh or tease Buck about it. Right now, his focus is solely on Buck’s parted lips. 

Eddie inches closer util their foreheads are nearly touching, but doesn’t close the space between them yet, needing a confirmation first. 

“Buck, can I kiss you?” Eddie asks, voice far steadier than he feels. Against his hands, Buck’s skin feels so warm and inviting. Buck’s blue eyes are fixed on Eddie’s and so Eddie sees the slow blink he does, accompanied by a genuine smile. The sun breaking through clouds.

“Yes,” Buck whispers, so close that his breath brushes against Eddie’s lips. “Yeah. Kiss me.”

And that is all the prompting Eddie needs before he leans in and finally -god, finally!- brushes his mouth against Buck’s.The first touch of their lips is chaste and innocent, a hello and oh there you are! of sorts, but then Eddie captures Buck’s lower lip and then they’re kissing for real. Eddie thinks distantly that he would never in all his life tire of this or take it for granted. His lips against Buck’s, his hand in Buck’s hair and stroking his cheek, being the one to hear the little noises Buck makes when the kiss deepens. Eddie takes all of it and holds it deep within his chest, letting it warm him from the inside out and settle him deeper into this newly found sense of comfort.

They pull back to catch their breath, and Eddie takes that for the opportunity of kissing the side of Buck’s mouth, then his cheek, and his mouth again where Buck is smiling again.

“So, I’ll take it you approve?” Eddie teases, startling a laugh out of Buck and earning himself another light bunch to the shoulder. 

“You’re a real jerk, you know that?” Buck’s voice is too fond to hold any heat, and he can’t seem to stop smiling. Eddie is suffering the same problem. “I don’t know how people can’t see it, but you’re such a jerk. You really had me worried there for a bit,” Buck tries to laugh it off, but the words are too honest for it to work. “Thought I’d lost you to some nameless guy coming in and sweeping you off your feet.”

“Nothing to worry about, bud,” Eddie’s heart aches again, this time for a different reason. If he needs to then Eddie will spend the rest of his life convincing Evan Buckley that he deserves to be loved, and that Eddie would never walk away from him. “No one else in here,” Eddie taps at his chest, “And I’m not going anywhere without you.” 

And that seems to be the exact right thing to say because Buck’s eyes shimmer even as he rolls them at Eddie with a put upon groan. “Okay, fine. Works for me, I guess.” 

Eddie laughs at that, relishing the answering grin it draws out of Buck. They’re about to start kissing again, lips a breath apart, when Buck jumps back with an expression of pure shock, his face beautifully flushed.

“Shit. Wait, wait,” Buck says with comically wide eyes, “You told your grandmother about me?” 

Eddie throws his head back and laughs until his sides hurt.

#buddie #buddie fic #evan buckley #eddie diaz #911 fox #my stuff #umm so here's a fic no one asked for #benjisvictor #rafasilvas

[comablog2]

Migraine

Tagging: @felicitous-one @buckleystrand @cherishingstydia @chrrlees @tkandbuck @justsmilestuffhappens @black-forest-girl @haderofthesociety @lilywoood @translucent-bisexual @transbuckley

Buck doesn't like getting sick. He really hates it, because he doesn't want other people to take care of him. Also with everything that happened, he wanted to avoid being sick so he didn't have to stay home.

He forgets how bad migraines can be when he goes a long time without getting them, and he just had to get one before the end of his shift. He doesn't know what else to expect to try and lessen the pain in the bunks before driving home.

"Buck?" Eddie calls into the bunk room. On a normal day, Eddie's voice would make Buck happy, but not today. He buried his head into the pillow and groans softly. "Hey... You okay?" His voice softened when he sees Bucks head hiding in the pillow.

"I'm okay.. just a head ache." He whispers.

"Doesnt sound like it." Eddie says softly, the back of his hand caressing over his forehead. "You feel a little warm.."

"I'm fine..." He looks out from the pillow and winces hard at the light from the doorway. He shuts his eyes and covers it with a pillow.

"Migraine?" He asks softly, hand carefully massaging his scalp. Buck nodded, whimpering shakily. "Alright. I'm going to talk to cap about me taking you home. You can't drive."

"I can. I'll be fine." He whines quietly and leans into the touch on his head.

"No, Buck. Let me go talk to Bobby and I'll make sure you get home safe." He says softly and kisses his head.

Buck leans up into the forehead kiss and lays back into the bed to relax as much as he can. He tries to ignore the throbbing in his entire head, but it's so insanely painful and he feels like if he moves to much he might vomit. He doesn't want to do that, especially now.

Eddie comes back in a little while and kisses his forehead again instead of talking right away.

"Alright, you can't take the pillow, but I have a blindfold you can use for now until I get you to my house. We have black out curtains." He whispers softly. "Try to sit up but don't open your eyes, okay?" Buck slowly sits up and feels Eddie carefully tying the blindfold around his eyes.

"Thought my first time being blindfolded would be in a much sexier situation." Buck mutters softly. Eddie chuckles and carefully helps him stand. Buck trusts Eddie to lead him, and he hates how weak he feels.

"You gonna be Alright, Buck?" He recognizes Caps voice and he nods slowly.

"Itll pass. I just really need to sleep." He says softly, rubbing a hand across his forehead. "I'll be okay tomorrow!" He says shakily, not wanting to put on leave for a long time.

"If your not, you have lots of sick days you can relax a little." Bobby rubs his back gently and he can't help but smile. Eddie leads him carefully to the car, closing the car door as quietly as possible.

"I have some head phones if you want them."

"Silence doesnt really help. It's mostly light and loud noises that hurt." He said gently. Eddie smiles and rubs his back.

"Alright. Well Chris isn't home, so itll be quiet for a while." He says as he starts his car and begins driving. Buck leans back in his seat and shrugs.

"You can take me home. I can handle it."

"Oh and you think Tia Pepa wouldn't kill me for letting you take care of yourself? All my family have migraine problems. She'd kill me." He says softly.

Buck smiles and without his sight the drive to Eddie's house doesn't take too long. Eddie's a little glad he's blindfolded, because he doesn't see the looks that he gives him. He can't help his looks. Kissing his forehead made him feel so much more in love. He wanted to kiss those pretty lips of his and take care of him.

Eddie gets him into the house and on the couch, making sure he has pillows and blankets, and going to make some tea for him.

"Eddie?" Buck asks softly. Eddie's heart melts. It sounded so unusually small and soft.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for taking care of me." He says softly. Eddie goes over and strokes his hair.

"Of course. I'll always take care of you." He says softly. "Buck?" He asks softly. He's so close to his lips.

"Yeah?"

It could be his imagination, but Buck is leaning forward to him.

"I want to kiss you." He whispers softly.

"Please?"

Eddie kisses him softly, pulling him close and squeezing the back of Bucks neck gently. Eddie loves the feeling. He feels Buck move closer, feels his lips against him and his fingers tangling into Eddie's shirt, a small whimper passing from him.

Eddie pulls away quick, surprising himself. Buck chases his lips, a small whimper falling from his mouth. Eddie gently kisses him gently again.

"I didn't know I liked you like this.." Eddie admits quietly. "I mean I liked you... but.."

"Its more then what you thought?"

"Yes." He whispers.

"That's okay. I like you a lot too."

"I hope your head feels better soon so I could see those pretty blue eyes."

"Maybe if you kiss me enough my head will feel better." Buck says softly, bumping their noses. Eddie chuckles, and kisses him firmly, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth. Buck shudders and relaxes into the kiss.

The tea kettle whistles faintly and Buck whines.

"Please handle that." Buck whispers.

"Alright.. but I want kisses after."

"Of course."

#ao3 author #911 fanfic #911 buck #911 season 3 #ao3 link #evan buckley #ao3fic #fanfic #911 chimney #911 prompts #eddie diaz #prompt generator #story prompt #writing prompt #ask prompt

[evanbuckley-heartofgold]

Day 1: Related to Pride

@buddiefirstkissweek

Read on ao3

“Thank you for coming,” Buck says to Hen, nervously twisting his hands around his coffee mug. He’s glad he chose to do this at his house instead of over breakfast at their favorite diner. He feels safe here.

Hen smiles and squeezes his arm, clearly sensing his nerves, “Of course. Now, do you want to tell me what this is about?”

“Yeah,” Buck takes a slow breath. “Uh, I’ve been thinking about some stuff and you know me, I did a lot of research but everything I read just made me more and more confused and none of them said the same things and some of them said the awful things and I don’t know which to believe and I wanted to talk to you because-”

“Buck,” Hen gently stops Buck’s ramble, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m a little lost. What are you talking about?”

“My sexuality,” Buck leans forward towards Hen with a sigh. “I thought I was straight, but then I keep having these feelings and I…” He sighs. “I just don’t understand, Hen.”

She smiles sympathetically, “I understand, believe me. I’ve been there. What can I do to help you?”

“Can you just...explain bisexuality?” Buck asks. “That’s the one I’m most confused about.” He drags a hand through his hair, “Everything I read said something different and I don’t know which to believe.”

Hen smiles, “Okay, buckaroo.” As Hen begins to talk, it’s as if the puzzle pieces fall into place. He can’t stop the tears from welling in his eyes, there’s a word that fits him. He’s not crazy. “Buck?” Hen asks when she’s finished. She looks at him with soft, caring eyes. “Are you okay?”

Buck nods, quickly brushing his tears away, “I-I’m fine. Thank you, Hen. I just...I think that’s what I am.”

“I’m glad I could help,” Hen smiles at him. “Does this revelation have anything to do with a certain brown-haired firefighter?”

Buck blushes, “How did you know?”

“Boy, please, you’re not as subtle as you think,” Hen laughs.

“Do you think I should tell him?” Buck asks. “He’s my best friend and I don’t know if he feels the same. I don’t want to ruin what we have.”

Hen smiles, “You tell him when you’re ready, okay? I don’t want you to force yourself out of the closet because you think he deserves it. Give yourself some time to adjust, okay? And hey, if you figure out that maybe you’re not bi, that’s okay too. Just don’t do anything before you’re ready, okay?”

Buck nods and leans across to hug her, “Thank you, Hen.”

...

It’s two weeks after his talk with Hen that Buck decides to tell Eddie. He just can’t keep it in any longer. He has to know. So that’s how Buck finds himself standing on Eddie’s front porch at noon on a Saturday when he knows Christopher will be over at his friend’s house.

Buck is half tempted to turn around, to just go home and forget the whole thing. He should do that. Yeah, there’s no point in ruining something good. Buck is just about to turn around and leave, but the door in front of him opens before he can second guess it any more.

Eddie looks at him with a confused smile, his hair isn’t styled as carefully as it is normally and he’s wearing a perfectly fitting hoodie and jeans. Eddie leans on the door frame, “What’s up?”

Buck takes a deep breath, this is happening. “Can I come in? There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“Of course,” Eddie stands aside and lets Buck inside, following him into the living room. “Is everything okay?”

Buck nods quickly and sits down on the  couch, waiting until Eddie does the same before continuing, “I haven’t been honest with you, or rather I wasn’t honest with myself.” Buck takes a deep breath, “I talked to Hen a few weeks ago about something and she helped me realize something about myself but I-”

“Buck,” Eddie calmly interrupts him, placing his warm hand on Buck’s. “It’s okay. Just say whatever you have to.”

“I don’t want you to hate me,” Buck whispers, he looks down at his hands.

“There is not a world in which I could hate you, Evan Buckley.” As Buck looks up, he is struck by the sincerity and emotion in his eyes. Eddie won’t hate him.

Buck takes a deep breath, “I think I’m bisexual.” He doesn’t risk a glance up to see Eddie’s face. “Is that something you’re okay with?”

There’s silence for a moment and then Buck is being scooped into Eddie’s arms in a tight hug, “Of course I’m okay with that. Thank you for trusting me.”

“There’s something else too,” Buck pulls out of Eddie’s arms. This time he meets Eddie’s eyes when he says, “I’m in love with you. I think I have been for a long time.” Buck is quick to shake his head and redirect, “I-I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. We can just pretend this never happened and still be friends-”

Buck is cut off by Eddie’s hand on his cheek. He looks up at Eddie through his eyelashes and finds Eddie looking down at him with dumbfound adoration. “Buck…” Eddie breathes. “I’m so stupidly in love with you.” Buck chokes out a small joyed laugh. Eddie leans just a little bit closer, his eyes darting down to Buck’s lips. “Can I kiss you?

Buck grins and answers by leaning in and gently pressing his lips to Eddie’s. And...wow. Buck has kissed a lot of people, but none of them ever felt this comforting and just...right as this one. Eddie pulls him closer, hands finding their way into his hair. Buck laughs as they pull apart for air, Eddie smiles as he brings Buck in for another kiss.

When the pair finally pulls apart again, Eddie sighs happily and leans back, touching his lips reverantly. “Wow,” Buck seconds Eddie’s unspoken thought. “If I had known it was going to be like that I never would have waited.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Eddie prompts with a smirk. “Come here.” Eddie doesn’t have to tell him twice.

#buddiefirstkiss #firstkiss2020 #my fic #evan buckley #henrietta wilson #eddie diaz #buddie #buddie fic #buck/eddie #911 #911 on fox #911 fic #9-1-1 #9-1-1 on fox

[wolvesofinnistrad]

On AO3

          When Hen shoves the tickets in Eddie’s hands last minute he doesn’t get to ask much beyond “What are these?”

         “Baseball tickets. Got them for Karen and Denny and I but, well, shit came up.”

         Eddie looks at the tickets then back to Hen. “These are really good seats…”

         The look Hen gives him says more than her words. “I know.”

         “Sure you won’t be able to make it?”

         “Definitely not. I don’t want them to go to waste though, thought you could take Christopher.”

         “Tha-”

         “And Buck.”

         That makes Eddie pause. He’s forgiven Buck for all the drama, and they are back to being friends, but a day out with him seems a little more daunting than it would have last month.

         “No buts Eddie. That boy needs a little fun and relief after all he’s been through. All three of you do.”

         Eddie starts to say something but decides against it, nodding and smiling.

         “Thanks Hen.”

         “Don’t mention it. Have fun.”

         “We Will!”

         He waits until later to talk to Buck, avoiding it like the coward he’s apparently turned into. Finally, knowing he needs to do this before Buck makes plans or Hen finds out he’s a chicken he swallows his pride, sighs and heads over to Buck.

         “Hey Buck.”

         Buck looks up at the sound of his voice, a smile instantly passing over his face, albeit still a bit apprehensive.

         “H-hey Eddie.”

         He’s packing up, shift over and Eddie’s glad he caught him honestly.

         “So, uh, Hen had some baseball tickets and, well, they can’t make it anymore so she gave them to me.”

         “That’s great!” Buck pats him on the arm, though it’s clear by his expression he isn’t sure what this has to do with him.

         “Well, uh, I thought you could come with us. Me and Christopher?”

         It’s then Eddie realizes how different the smile Buck gave him before is, because this time it seems to engulf his entire face, lighting up his eyes in a way that makes Eddie feel like he’s staring at the sun.

         “You want me to come with you guys?”

         His voice is so hopeful and happy that Eddie can’t bear to say Hen all but forced him to do it. And in that moment as he nods and Buck grins and shakes his head up and down like a golden retriever Eddie forgets why he was so worried about this.

         It’s just Buck. Buck his best friend.

         Buck nearly jumps on him giving him a hug.  Eddie winces, but tries not to flinch away like the last time, he doesn’t need Buck to notice his sore body.

         Luckily, Buck’s too distracted with the idea of going to the game with the Diaz family to notice because he bounds out of the station with more pep in his step than Eddie’s seen in months.

         Christopher is, of course, overjoyed.

         Not so much about the tickets themselves, he doesn’t care too much either way about the game.  

         But a day with Buck?

         Christopher doesn’t stop talking about it the entire day.

         Or the next, or any of them really until its the day of the game.

         When Buck arrives he runs over, picking Christopher up and swinging him around for a big hug.

         “I missed you buddy!”

         “I missed you too Bucky!”

         Something pulls in Eddie’s chest when he sees it, its something he’s been noticing for a while, and after the tsunami even more, but then with everything that had happened with Buck after he’d kind of forgotten the way his stomach kind of swooped as he watched Buck so effortlessly show affection for his son, so genuinely enthused to be around him.

         Eddie didn’t bother looking anything up about the tickets, so he doesn’t notice anything different about the mess of fans swarming into the stadium along with them.  At least not at first.

         It’s only when the fifth rainbow flag passes by him that it starts to click, just the tiniest bit.  His eyes scan the crowd and there’s the usual fans milling about, talking and laughing or running off to the bathroom or their seats, but there’s also a ton of families.

         Families that look a lot like his family right now.

         2 men are swinging their daughter, he assumes at least, between them, they both have on Dodgers jerseys with a rainbow color scheme.  Another two men kiss briefly before one runs off to the concession stand.  2 women and their three children are waiting in line to buy funnel cake.  Another 2 and their son are carrying beers while their son swings a memorial foam finger around.

         His throat feels dry as he stares back at Buck and Christopher who are walking back towards him.  Christopher is riding on Buck’s shoulders, a little Dodger’s hat on his head that has a rainbow on the side.

         “Where’d you get that buddy?” Eddie asks, just to have something to say because his mind is kind of reeling from how this must look to everyone else.

         “Bucky bought it for me!  Isn’t the rainbow pretty!”  Christopher swings the hat around wildly, giggling like mad.

         Buck’s looking up to him, hands braced on either side of him to make sure he doesn’t fall and Eddie sees it, how clearly from the outside they look like every other couple here with their kid.  He doesn’t know how to describe the feeling he gets, so he tries not to think of it.

         Fumbling with his wallet he grabs a couple bills.  “How much was the hat?”

         Buck shakes his head, pushing the wallet away, his hand resting over Eddie’s for just a moment and sending a jolt up the older man’s arm.

         “Don’t worry about it, it’s my gift to Chris for not seeing him for awhile.  Sorry about that again buddy.”

         “It’s okay Buck.  I missed you.”

         “I missed you too Chris.  SO much.”

         Eddie has to turn away because his stomach feels like it’s full of butterflies and he really doesn’t know what the fuck is going on with him today.  He tells himself its just the weirdness of the entire situation.

         That’s all it is.

         It has to be.

         “So uh, let’s get to our seats, yeah?”

         Eddie leads them down to their seats, which he still can’t believe are this good.  He’s going to really have to thank Hen after this.

         They pass quite a few more gay and lesbian couples, and others that he thinks might be straight ones before seeing little flags in different colors on them that he doesn’t quite recognize all of them.

         They take a seat, Christopher in between them and Eddie smiles, taking a breath of the fresh air, looking up at the sky and then back to Chris.  To Buck.  His boys.

         He doesn’t know where the thought comes from but it makes him smile, and when Buck turns towards him, he smiles too.

         If Buck has noticed anything odd about the huge amount of LGBT couples and their kids he hasn’t said anything, and Eddie’s at least glad for that.  Of course, Hen bought these tickets so it wouldn’t be on Eddie anyway he reassures himself.

         But then again, Eddie questions why he feels like he would even need to reassure himself if there’s nothing abnormal about any of this.  It’s just him and his best friend taking his son to a baseball game.

         The fact it must be, like, Pride night or something doesn’t mean anything.

         He’s certain of it.

         They laugh and chat, explaining some things to Christopher, when Eddie’s thoughts get a bit too uncomfortable he excuses himself to go grab them some drinks and food.

         As he’s walking towards the concession stand, which is pretty crowded with lines snaking down the interior hallway, one of the merch booths catches his eye.

         He stops for a moment, not sure why since he doesn’t really want to buy any of this overpriced stuff.  He feels pulled towards a board with a bunch of enamel pins on it and he realizes this is where all those people with the flags must have gotten them.

         He’s not sure why he keeps looking, but up close he can tell it’s not exactly a flag, or rather it is, but instead of a flagpole the flag is hanging from a baseball bat.  He sees the rainbow one which he recognizes, but there are so many others.  A blue, pink and white one that he remembers seeing someone wearing earlier, a mostly black and gray and white one, a couple weird ones that look like a desertscape and a police flag, but they have strange animal symbols and a heart on them.

         Then he notices underneath they say what they are and he goes back and rereads them.  He’s not really sure what it means under the Bear and Leather ones, or really half of them if he’s honest, but as he keeps scanning his eyes stop one and he feels his stomach clench.

         He’s seen it before, he can’t quite remember where, but he knows he has. The little pink, purple and blue lines seem so straight, even if he mentally laughs at the way that sounds.  His fingers reach out, wanting to touch it, feel it beneath his fingertips but he stops at the last moment, not sure why he should do that.

         Bisexual.

         That’ s what the little sign under the flag says, he stares at it, maybe for a bit too long.

         “Bisexual.”

         He hears the words, and for a moment he thinks he’s said them himself before there’s a hand pointing past him.

         “Sorry man, but yeah, I want a bi flag for my boyfriend, and then a gay one for me.  Thanks.”  The voice comes from a shorter guy beside him.  His skin is deep and dark, he gives the guy a bright smile as he passes him his card back and forth before taking the pins with him.

         Eddie follows him with his eyes, watching him walk over to a veritable tower of muscle.  The second guy, his boyfriend he guesses, picks him up and spins them both around after he’s been given the pin.  Eddie looks away when they start kissing, not sure why he’s stared so long.  When he passes by them on the way to the concessions he sees they’re putting the flag pins on their jerseys and he shakes his head.

         Get it together Diaz, he thinks.

         Once he has the food he takes it back, both relieved and weirdly disappointed he doesn’t see the two guys from before anywhere around.  Eddie shakes it off, walking back to his seats, seeing Chris yelling along with Buck, albeit a moment or two after, taking his cues from the man.

         He laughs, grinning as he slides into his seat and passes them their food.  Christopher immediately starts eating his mini donuts out of the little hard plastic baseball cap they’re sold in.  It was stupidly expensive, but he figured Chris would be excited to keep it as a memento.

         When he looks over to Buck his eyes are on the game, taking his hot dog and putting it to his mouth.  Eddie chuckles as he watches Buck shove far too much of into his mouth before finally biting.  He’s surprise the man doesn’t choke.

         And then his eyes shift sideways towards a guy sitting a seat down from Buck who’s staring at Buck like he wants to devour Him.

         Eddie narrows his eyes at the guy, giving him a royal stink face and once the guy notices he puts his hands up, flushing and turning away in embarrassment.

         A little surge of pride or satisfaction flows through Eddie and he’s not sure why.  He studiously ignores that seeing that guy so openly staring at Buck felt a little like jealousy.

         But that’s stupid.

         So stupid.

         He just didn’t want Buck to feel weird or uncomfortable.

         Not that Buck had even noticed or probably would have, his eyes seem to only go from the game to Christopher, although as he’s staring at Buck, and he can admit he is staring now, the man turns to him and gives him a quizzical look.

         “D’I got sumfing on my face?” Buck says with a too full mouth and Eddie cracks up.

         “Yeah Buck a bit of mustard.”

         Buck wipes at his mouth with his wrist but doesn’t get it.

         “Nope.”

         Again Buck wipes, and once more and neither time does he manage to eradicate the stray topping.          Eddie sighs, taking pity on his idiot best friend and reaches over, swiping his finger over Buck’s chin, his thumb catching for just a moment’ on Buck’s bottom lip and tugging at it.

         It’s only when he meets Buck’s eyes, or rather notices that Buck won’t meet his, cheeks subtly pinking that he realizes that was kind of weird.

         Do friends wipe the other’s mouths?

         Is that a thing bros do?

         God he hopes so.  He really, really hopes that’s a totally normal thing that guys do.

         After that Eddie busies himself with his own food, with Christopher who needs to go to the restroom after a while, and later with grabbing some peanuts from a vendor that’s yelling what he thinks might be a bit more suggestive slogans than is entirely necessary.

         Buck of course has laughed at every one of them which makes Christopher and then Eddie laugh like a domino effect.

         In fact Eddie’s almost forgot about the weirdness of earlier, getting out of his head and just enjoying the game, enjoying this day with what are honestly two of his favorite people.

         And that’s when he hears Christopher squeal between them and he looks down to see Chris frantically pointing up at the big screen.

         “What?”

         “We’re on TV!”

         That makes Buck and Eddie both look up, noticing at the same time what’s currently on the hugest screen in the stadium.

         It’s a camera zoomed in on Eddie and Buck and Christopher, and there’s a big rainbow colored heart overlayed on top of the image that surrounds all three of them.

         Eddie, quite frankly, wants to murder Hen in that moment.

         He turns to Buck and sees him blushing furiously, and he’s at least thankful someone is as embarrassed as he is.

         And then the chanting starts up.

         “Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!”  It feels like it’s coming from everywhere all at once, he flicks his head back to the screen and it’s still on them, waiting.

         Oh God it’s waiting for them to kiss.

         For him and Buck,

         To kiss.

         On live TV in front of thousands and thousands of people.

         “Kiss, kiss, kiss!” Christopher chants now between them, joining in with the rest of the stadium.  With seemingly the entire world it feels like.

         His eyes turn to Buck and he expects to see that same embarrassment, maybe even anger, but instead Buck just smiles, laughing.

         Then Buck shrugs and grabs Eddie by the front of his jersey, dragging him into a passionate kiss.

         Eddie’s entire world stops, sound rushing out, eyes closed, and it feels like the only thing that exists in the world is Buck’s lips pressed against his, the hand that’s snaked up to cup his cheek.

         Then the sound comes back in like the tides, a roaring crowd clapping and still all he feels is Buck.

         Buck Buck Buck.

         He kisses back, maybe a bit more eagerly than he intends to because this is the best thing he’s felt in years.

         God he forgot how good it felt to kiss someone.

         To kiss someone you really cared about.

         And it’s right as that thought passes through his head that Buck let’s him go, Eddie collapsing into a puddle of goo in his seat.

         Faintly he hears more whoops and catcalls, out of the corner of his eye he sees someone clapping Buck on the shoulder from behind.  Eddie’s mind is having trouble processing hat just happened, he feels like he’s drowning in endorphins though, his stomach bottomed out like he just went on a roller coaster.

         When he can finally move his head he turns to Chris, needing to check on him, to make sure that he isn’t freaking out, but he’s just, sitting there laughing and smiling.

         “Hey daddy!  We were on TV!”

         “Yeah…  Yeah we were kiddo…”

         Eddie feels breathless, he looks over at Buck and notices he’s staring at the field, or trying to anyway, his eyes slide towards him but as soon as he notices Eddie is watching him he casts them back out to the field.

         There’s a blush high on Buck’s cheeks.

         Eddie can’t believe that just happened.

         In fact, by the end of the game, after the fireworks have gone off, to Christopher and Buck’s utter delight, he almost thinks that maybe it was all some kind of dream or trick of his imagination.

         That is until he feels someone tapping him on the shoulder as they’re waiting for some of the crowd to die down before chancing taking Christopher out of the stands.

         “Hey, I thought you should have this.  It turned out really well.”

         The woman is smiling serenely, her hair is graying and she’s got a camera around her neck and another in her other hand.  IN the hand held out to Eddie there’s a photo, one of those instant ones, but a really good quality one he can tell just by glancing at it.

         “Me?” He says, a little confused.

         “Yes, you and your partner and son just looked so…  Adorable, I couldn’t resist,  I hope that’s alright.”

         He takes the proffered photo, and there it is in brilliant color.  Buck kissing Eddie, their lips locked together, a look of utter bliss on both of their faces.  Just beneath them is Chris with his head bent back screaming or laughing, clearly overjoyed.  And in the far back is the big picture on the screen, partially obscured, but just enough to see the opposite angle of them that everyone else saw.

         Eddie’s breath leaves him for a moment and before he can say anything a second woman is at the other’s side.

         She’s about the same age, but her hair is done up differently, or was before the heat of the day had messed with it.

         “We have to go honey or we’ll be stuck in even worse traffic.

         “Alright I’m coming, I just wanted these wonderful boy to have that photo.”

         They leave and all Eddie can do is shout “Thank you!” to them after they’re already halfway up the stairs.

         The woman stops and gives him a little wave before leaving with her partner.

         “Well that…  was a wild game.”

         “Yeah, it really was.”  Buck is smirking now, and since when did Buck’s smirk make Eddie’s mind stop working.

         Probably when he learned what it felt like to be kissed within an inch of his life by Evan Buckley.

         “You have a good game buddy?”  Buck is conversing with Christopher as the rest of the stands empty out into the hallways and lobbies.

         “Best day EVER!!!”  Christopher yells, laughing and smiling.

         Buck and Eddie share a glance, Buck biting his lip, Eddies eyes drawn to them before he breaks away.

         “Well let’s, uh, get going, yeah?”

         “Yeah, yeah.”

         They have to wait in a crazy line just to get out of the stands, and as they’re finally breaking into the main area he spots the same vendor from before, or just another selling the same things, he can’t be certain.

         His eyes catch on the pins again and his mind is chanting at him not to do this, that it’s stupid, that he can’t take this back if he does it. But his heart is just aching to touch the one from before.  

         “Can I have one of these?”

         “Which one you want?”

         Eddie turns, sees Buck coming towards him carrying a dozing Christopher who’s worn out by now.

         “The, uh, the bisexual one?”  Eddie’s certain his voice raises two octaves as he says it, but he doesn’t back down.  His eyes meet Buck’s and there’s recognition there, but no reproach, no disgust.

         Buck stands besides him, their eyes locked on each other, and as the man’s reaching for the pin Buck says “can you make that two Bisexual pins?”

         Eddie feels a grin splitting his lips.

         Buck smiles at him, and he realizes it’s one he’s never seen before.  It’s shy, private.

         Just for him.

         And really, the fact he knows Buck’s different smiles maybe should have clued him into some things before this.

         Buck puts the pin on Eddie’s shirt, and Eddie puts the pin he bought on Buck’s baseball cap.  He’s reminded of the two men that he saw before doing a similar ritual and he can’t help but smile.

         When they walk out of the baseball stadium they look like any other family there.

         Right down to their interlocked hands as they head to the car.

#eddie diaz #buck buckley #evan buck buckley #buddie #eddie x buck #9 1 1 fox #mine #fanfic #my fic #100

[chiefnooniensingh]

if it goes over their head - a buddie one-shot

A/n: based on @stiilesstilinski's gifset because it's just perfect.

Summary: Eddie and Buck are both bisexual disasters. Hen intervenes.

also on: ao3

Eddie was at the end of his patience. He didn’t know what the fuck he needed to do to make Buck see that he liked him. He’d been incredibly obvious about his advances, inviting him to family dinners, flirting near constantly at the firehouse, on calls, out on the town with Christopher… Either Buck was purposely ignoring his moves, or he was quite possibly the dumbest person alive.

Which, to be fair, was probably true.

They were between calls right now, having finally managed to eat a full meal prepared by Bobby, and everyone was hanging around, recovering from the excellent food, hoping against hope the next call was still far away. Buck was lounging on the couch in the TV area, and Eddie was staring at him. What did he have to do to make Buck see?

“Just go to him.” Eddie startled out of his reverie, seeing Hen standing next to him, looking exasperated. “I’m tired of watching you pine after him. Just tell him how you feel!”

“Easier said than done,” Eddie scoffed, scrubbing his face with a hand. “I don’t want to ruin the friendship we have, if he doesn’t feel the same way.”

Hen smiled sympathetically. “I get it, Diaz, but this…crush of yours in interfering with your work. You gotta deal with it,” she said, clapping him on the shoulder, “or people around here might deal with it for you.”

Eddie stared after her as she walked away, horror-struck. He was pretty sure ‘people’ mean ‘Hen and Chimney’ and if those two maniacs told Buck about his crush…hell no. Groaning under his breath, he got up and moved towards Buck, his stomach coiling.

“Hey, man,” Buck said, moving aside a little to make space for Eddie, who dropped onto the couch next to him. “That meal was the best thing I’ve ever had, I can’t believe how much I ate.”

Eddie laughed. “Yeah, you were kind of a maniac.”

“Hey, you ate almost as much as I did!” Buck exclaimed, punching Eddie in the shoulder.

“’Almost’ being the operative word, Buckley,” Eddie teased, and Buck snorted. It was the cutest thing Eddie had ever heard and his heart did a little skip. Biting his lip for a second, he made a decision. “Hey, Buck, can I ask you for some advice?”

“Yeah, of course, man. What’s going on?” Buck said, sitting up and looking serious. Eddie smiled. Buck was always there for him, no matter what. It’s what had made him fall for Buck in the first place.

“So I’ve been having this serious crush on someone.” It was happening.

Buck’s face lit up, a salacious grin forming on his face. “No way, Eddie Diaz with a crush? That’s a goddamn first!”

Eddie tried hard not to blush, but it was a losing battle. “Shut up. Anyway. I’ve been dropping them the most insanely obvious hints for, like, a year now. No response.” What the fuck are you doing? Eddie knew it was a coward’s approach, but he couldn’t get the words out.

“Wow,” Buck said, eyebrows raised and laughing a little, “they sound stupid.”

Eddie couldn’t help but smile. “They’re not. They’re really smart, smarter then they think they are. They’re just…really dense.”

Buck shook his head, letting out a puff of air. “Well…maybe you need to be more obvious?”

“More obvious?” Eddie said, letting out a laugh. He was pretty sure he’d done everything short of jumping Buck’s bones.

Buck pushed him away again but nodded. “Yes. I don’t know, like…‘hey, I love you!’.”

Eddie stared at Buck for a while. Sweet, clueless Buck. “Okay, I guess you’re right. Hey, Buck,” he said, looking straight into Buck’s eyes, his heart beating in his ears and his stomach coiling worse than ever, but he forced the words out anyway, “I love you.”  

Buck smiled broadly and clapped Eddie’s shoulder. “See! Just say that!”

Eddie didn’t know what he expected, but somehow this fit exactly in how this entire thing had been going so far. He stared at Buck for a second before dropping his head in his hand.  “Holy fucking shit,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. Buck didn’t seem to notice his exasperation.

“If that flies over their head,” Buck continued, smiling like he’d just saved the freaking day, “then I’m sorry, Diaz, but they’re just too dumb for you.” Before Eddie could respond, Buck rose and clapped Eddie’s shoulder once more. “Lemme know how it goes, man!” Then he walked off.

Eddie could only stare after him. He went over the conversation in his head, wondering if he’d still ben unclear about his intentions or if Buck was just that dense. How much clearer did he need to be? He was about to run after Buck to just kiss his stupid mouth, when he noticed Hen standing a few feet away, the most hilarious look of disbelief on her face. He just shook his head at her. Groaning out load, she paced forward and grabbed Buck’s arm to stop him from leaving. “Buck,” she said, her teeth gritting, “do me a favour, and go over that conversation in your head.”

“What?”

“Just…fucking do it, you absolute fucking idiot,” Hen said, in her most dejected and simultaneously most dangerous voice.

Buck sighed and stayed still for a while. Hen and Eddie both watched him, Hen with impatience and Eddie with bated breath. His eyes flicked to Hen every once in a while, whose eyeroll was so aggressive she looked in danger of getting her eyes permanently stuck that way.

Out of nowhere, Buck spun around and stared at Eddie. “What?!” he squeaked.

“There it is,” Hen sighed with relief. “You’re welcome!” And with that, she left quickly, leaving Eddie and Buck staring at each other awkwardly.

Eddie stood up, nerves coursing through his entire body. His stomach felt like it was about to send the food back up. “Buck…” he began, his voice quavering.

But Buck shook his head, holding up a hand. “Wait, what?” he repeated, still staring at Eddie like he didn’t really understand what he was seeing.

“Yeah,” Eddie said, unsure of what else there was to say. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you for a year. Thanks for the advice, by the way.”

Buck stared at him for a moment longer, which felt like an eternity to Eddie, who felt increasingly uncomfortable and stupid. “Oh my god,” Buck breathed, “I am so fucking stupid.”

“No, Buck…” But Buck moved quickly, closing the distance between them in two big strides. Before Eddie could say anything else, Buck grabbed Eddie’s face and crashed their lips together. Eddie froze for a full second, before melting into the kiss completely. The entire world faded away, with Buck still in full focus, and Eddie wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close and deepening the kiss.

This is what he had wanted for a full year, and it felt absolutely surreal to be kissing Evan Buckley, at the fire house, in front of all their friends and colleagues. But it also felt absolutely right, like his body had been made to fit exactly against Buck’s, like he was meant to kiss Buck. It was their first kiss, and it was messy and sloppy, and yes, their teeth also clacked together more often than was strictly necessary (or comfortable), but neither of them really minded.

Buck was warm, and his hands were steady on Eddie’s cheeks and it felt like home.

After what felt like an hour, but in reality probably was only a minute or two, the two of them broke apart, and immediately the world returned to Eddie. There were wolf whistles and cheers going up all around the fire house, and Eddie noticed Chimney slapping money into Hen’s hand with a half-amused look, and Bobby receiving some money from Athena. Eddie made mental note to ask which bet it was that they won.

Right now, he couldn’t really care. He stared up at the man in his arms, whose face was completely flushed and whose lips were red. Eddie could only assume he looked similarly wrecked. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” Buck said, and Eddie burst into laughter. “Really! I think I realized it when I saw you and Chris reunited after that tsunami. That what I was feeling for you went way beyond friendship.”

“Wow,” Eddie said, remembering the day better than he would like. He remembered that woman telling him Chris had been looking for Buck. He remembered seeing Buck, wet, dirty, bleeding, collapsing with relief, having just put everything he had into finding his son…he’d realized how much he cared about Buck right there, as well. “That’s when I knew as well.”

“I guess we’re both idiots,” Buck said, laughing hard.

Eddie chuckled, “Well, you more than me.”

“You think I haven’t been flirting? Jesus, Eddie, we really are both idiots.”

“Yes, you are. But you made me some serious cash!” Hen said, still collecting money from their colleagues.

Eddie and Buck turned to look at their friends, each and every one of them smiling at them with joy. It seemed all of them had known before either of them. Eddie looked up at Buck, who was smiling softly. “Hey,” he said, catching Buck’s attention. “Wanna go out tonight?”

Buck’s smile widened, looking like a kid who just got offered candy. “Very much so.”

“After our shift. I’ve got the perfect spot.”

“Interesting, I’m in.” Buck leaned in and captured Eddie’s lips in a kiss again. The two of them sank into each other, sparking another round of wolf whistles, which died down when they did not break apart after a while. Eddie could kiss Buck endlessly, but they were at work, so in the end Bobby broke them up with a smile and a gentle reminder that this was a workplace.

Eddie walked on air for the rest of the day.

#buddie fic #buddie ff #911 fox #eddie diaz #evan buckley #these two DUMBASSES is2g #my fanfics #my 911 fics #my buddie fics

[seaofashes]

Literally 1-4 could work together it doesn't have to be all of them but I just couldn't pick which one. Love your writing.

"Hey Eds." Buck said casually answering his phone.

"I need a favor." Eddie said on the other end of the phone.

"Uh...o-kaaay. What kind of favor we talking?" Buck asked suddenly intrigued. Eddie sighed out a bit annoyed before continuing.

"I need you to come over. It's a bit of a long story but to make it short I need you here in the next like 15 minutes before my parents get here. There in town and I...really don't want to deal with them today." Eddie said talking kinda fast.

"No worries man, I'm on my way." Buck answered.

"Thanks Buck."

"That's what friends are for right?" Buck said as he grinned and started his Jeep, tossing his phone into the seat as they hung up.

"Look if they ask anything-" Eddie started but was cut off.

"We have reservations that can't be cancelled and it's one of the only nights we have off so we can't reschedule date night. Carla is watching Christopher and we are getting ready to leave because we have to be there by 7:15." Buck said casually as Eddie helped him with his tie. Eddie nodded and stepped back to look at his handiwork.

"Try not too screw this up yeah?"

"I'm offended you think so lowly of me." Buck rolled his eyes.

"Actually the opposite, that's the reason I called you. I could have called someone else. Just seriously please don't be a smartass with them Buck, they get on my case enough as is." Eddie huffed as he did his own tie.

"Look I'm only here to establish an alibi...more specifically your alibi Eddie. But don't worry I'll bite my tongue and behave." Buck said as he leaned against the wall and looked at his best friend. Damn did he look good in that suit.

"I know you're always a good lil golden retriever Buck. So just keep it cool for a few minutes, just long enough to get rid of them okay?"

"So I'm wearing a suit just because you need to lie to your parents? And why has everyone just decided that I'm a human golden retriever?" Buck said throwing his hands up pouting.

"That look right there, you look like an adorable little confused puppy. Plus you've got a heart of gold Buckaroo. You're a puppy boy." Eddie laughed, completely ignoring the first question. Buck shook his head and mumbled something to himself as he took something out of Eddie's hair earning an odd look from his friend. Buck just shrugged a shoulder.

Before Eddie could say anything there was a knock at the door. "Be right there!"

Eddie made his way to the door and opened it pretending to be surprised. Aunt Pepa had called Eddie ahead of time to warn him his parents would be headed his way soon.

"Uh...hey. What are you guys doing here?" Eddie asked as he hugged his mother and shook his father's hand.

"Is that any way to greet your parents?" His father grumbled and Eddie sighed inwardly.

"Sweetheart why are you dressed up?" His mother asked taking in his appearance.

"I've got dinner plans tonight." Eddie shrugged and tried to back away as his mother fussed with his hair.

"Oh? And who's the lucky lady?" She asked but his father simply scoffed. "No, you're just trying to get out of dealing with us huh?"

"Hey Eds? We gotta get going soon or we'll be late." Buck called out as he came around the corner and stopped as he looked at his parents. Eddie silently thanked Buck for his timing of coming around the corner.

"W-who is this?" Both parents said at the same time.

"Mom..pop...this is Buck." Eddie said as he motioned for Buck to come over, Buck taking a spot close to Eddie.

"Buck? Kind of a strange name." His father mumbled and Eddie bit the inside of his cheek.

"It's uh...it's actually Evan but everyone calls me Buck." Buck said smoothly as he held out a hand to Eddie's father who reluctantly shook his hand. Eddie's mother smiled politely and glanced between them.

"This is the young man you work with isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Eddie said curtly getting a feeling that this conversation was about to go into a direction he didn't want.

"Isn't that against policies?" His father remarked.

"Actually as long as the captain clears it and feels it won't Impact your ability to do your job no it's not." Buck said with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Eddie I thought you were past this?" The man said ignoring Buck who felt Eddie tense next to him.

"I'm a grown man and I am not having this conversation with you, either of you right now." Eddie said clinching his jaw.

"We have talked about this before and we will again, I don't think it's fair to you or this family especially your so-"

"Sir with all due respect, if my father couldn't beat my bisexuality out of me growing up I don't think anyone will change it. For anyone. You can have all the conversations in the world but it won't change who you are as a person. It doesn't change anything about me, it doesn't change anything about Eddie. And it sure as hell doesn't change how great of a father he is to Christopher and I will have you know me and that boy get along beautifully so I don't think it really matters to him." Buck said as he placed a gentle hand on Eddie's shoulder as he spoke calmly. "Now it's great to meet you but it's our only day off and we have dinner reservations at 7:15 so we have to finish getting ready."

"I think it's time for us to go, we'll be at your abuela's but we will be seeing you soon Edmundo." His father said as he grabbed his mother's hand and they left. Eddie sighed as he leaned against the wall.

"Buck-"

"I'd prefer not to talk about it right now okay? Now can I please get out of this suit?" Buck groaned and Eddie couldn't stop the little laugh that escaped him.

"No can do Buck."

"What? Why?" He said confused.

"Because we actually have dinner reservations at 7:15. I'm driving." Eddie said as he walked away to retrieve his wallet and keys leaving Buck standing at the door, mouth open slightly and confusion setting in...was he going on an actual date with Eddie?

Buck sat there swishing the wine in his glass around slightly, he could feel Eddie's eyes on him.

"You're upset.."

"I...no I'm not I just kinda wish you would have told me this was an actual date before hand." Buck said looking up at Eddie.

"I mean I did. I wasn't lying when I told you what we were telling my parents."

"Yeah okay fair point, however I thought I was just being used as an alibi."

"Buck you'd never just be used as an alibi with me, you should know that by now man. But look if this bothers you too much we can go?" Eddie said and he couldn't help the bit of disappointment that crept into his features.

"What! No it's fine, it doesn't bother me Eddie. It's all good, we're good." Buck smiled that beautiful smile Eddie loved so much, and eyes fluttering as he looked across the table at Eddie. "Guess I'm just a bit surprised."

"Well don't be, I really like you okay? And so does Christopher." Eddie said as he took a drink and smiled and Buck's heart nearly exploded. He didn't see Eddie smile like that enough but it took his breath away every time he did.

Eddie went to say something else when his phone rang. "Hello?"

Eddie pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment, a momentary look of horror crossing his face before bringing the phone back to his ear.

"But-" Eddie stopped as he was cut off. "Cap come on nononono I don't need it off, neither of us do. Please call them back and say we're short staffed or something." Eddie pleaded and Buck looked at him, resting his chin on his hand.

"Fine...yeah...see you then." Eddie sighed and hung up as he muttered something in Spanish.

"Soooo..." Buck asked, brows raising a bit.

"They called Bobby." Eddie said miserably.

"Oh? And?"

"We now have tomorrow off, Jackson and Romero are filling in for us. Day after tomorrow Cap wants to talk to us first thing in the morning." Eddie said and Buck groaned.

"Shit.... okay. Okay wait....hang on I have a solution!" Buck said and Eddie's eyes lit up.

"Thank God.." Eddie exclaimed.

"It involves fire."

"Absolutely not?"

"Eds come on!"

"No Buck." Eddie shook his head incredibly. This was the guy he was in love with.

"Okay okay...what if I got stabbed? I'm still on blood thinners. Nothing major but like a shallow one?"

"Evan!" Eddie exclaimed and earned some looks from people at nearby tables.

"I'm joking don't get your panties twisted babe." Buck snorted as he took another drink and laughed a little.

"Hopefully tomorrow goes better than today did with them. Plus we'll have Christopher on our side, I dare them to try something with him there." Eddie said.

"True, he's a great kid man. You're a good Dad." Buck said smiling.

"So are you." Eddie said quietly and Buck dropped the glass in his hand, already profusely apologising to the waitress who came over and cleaned the glass.

"See this is why we can't have nice things Buckley. What am I going to do with you huh?" Eddie joked playfully. Buck smiled sheepishly, his smile faltering as he noticed the blood on his hand.

"Eddie...you still got that first aid kit in the truck?"

"Yeah why?" Eddie asked, not hiding the concern in his voice. Buck held up his hand showing him before grabbing a napkin and putting it to the cut.

Both men got up, Buck heading out to the truck and Eddie paying the bill before meeting Buck outside. The cut wasn't deep and they got the bleeding under control fairly quick but Eddie still kept asking if Buck felt okay.

"Eds I'm okay, it'll heal up in no time."

"I'm still going to worry Buck. Even before you were on thinners I worried. You sure you feel okay?" Eddie asked as he didn't move from where he stood in front of Buck who sat in the passenger seat sideways, legs hanging out the door.

"I'm fine Eddie...could use a kiss to make it better though." Buck mumbled as he glanced up at Eddie who laughed quietly as he leaned in and brushed his lips against Buck's gently, a hand resting on his jaw. Buck leaned forward a bit more deepening the kiss and both smiled as they broke away.

"Just to make it clear...we are dating now right?"

"Yeah Buck, we're most definitely dating now." Eddie said as he pecked Buck's lips again, arms wrapped around him.

"Ready to go home?" Eddie asked gently and Buck nodded as he hugged Eddie a little bit tighter.

"I already am though." Buck whispered in his ear and Eddie smiled.

Yeah...Eddie could definitely get use to this.

#prompt #prompts #seaofashes prompt fill #buck #eddie #buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckely #911onfox #911 #911 on fox #I hope you guys like this! #christopher #my young angel #and others too #are mentioned #slight tw #brief mention of past abuse #bi babies

[inawickedlittletown]

I’m With You (7/?)

Summary:

Having a crush was nothing to be ashamed of...lying to the family and friends of said crush about being the guy’s boyfriend, that was a whole other problem. When Buck saves the life of Andrew Diaz and accidentally makes a nurse think that he’s Andrew’s boyfriend, Buck soon finds himself lying to Andrew’s firefighter friends/coworkers as well as Andrew’s family including Andrew’s very suspicious and attractive brother, Eddie.

Based on the 1995 movie While You Were Sleeping.

Words: 3,644

Read on Ao3

Masterpost

Previous Chapter

--

“So, how was it?” Eddie asked.

Buck jumped when he heard his voice and then he turned to look at him. Eddie was standing at the door. 

“Sorry,” Eddie said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Buck shrugged at him. “I was daydreaming a bit. It gets kinda boring talking to someone that can’t talk back.”

Eddie walked around to sit at Andrew’s other side and he sat down. “And how was it last night?” 

“It was okay. Better than I expected, I guess. I liked your parents a lot.”

It had been better than Buck expected. He still had to keep up the lie, but other than that problem, it had been fine. Ramon and Helena had been just as nice as Pepa and Isabel and just like the rest of the family a bit surprised about Andrew having a boyfriend but surprisingly welcoming. They hadn’t even asked too many questions. Although, Buck did have to admit that Christopher took a lot of the attention off of him by being adorable. All in all, he’d had a good time, and the guilt about the lying hadn’t hit him until he was getting back to his house. 

“That’s good,” Eddie said and he did genuinely look relieved. 

“Were you worried about it?” Buck asked, curious because he hadn’t expected that. 

Eddie didn’t meet his eyes. Instead he was looking at Andrew again. “I — I didn’t know how well my parents would take finding out about you. And, look, I’m sorry but it was — it still is a bit of a surprise.” 

Eddie looked at him finally and Buck didn’t know what to say because there was nothing about that that could offend him because he was a liar and Eddie really did have every right to question him. 

“Which...Buck, you have to get where I’m coming from,” Eddie said. 

Buck hadn’t expected Eddie to push more than he had already. 

“I do,” Buck said. “But I am...I am his boyfriend. I—” Buck couldn’t say it. He couldn’t get himself to say ‘I love him’ when he didn’t know if that was true and when he definitely knew that Andrew didn’t love him and wouldn’t. Andrew didn’t even know who he was. 

“I know you are,” Eddie said. 

That was when Ramon and Helena arrived. Helena had a bandage of her arm but she was smiling. 

“That didn’t take long,” Eddie said 

“Just went to give blood,” Helena said to Buck. “The hospital suggested it would be a good idea. So Ramon and I went. It didn’t take too long.” 

Buck nodded and then looked towards Eddie. “And were you too scared of needles?” he asked.

Eddie chuckled and shook his head. “I can’t,” Eddie said. 

“I can’t fathom why that’s still a rule,” Ramon said with a shake of his head. “It’s discriminatory and wrong.” 

It took Buck a moment to catch on, but then he did and he gasped. “You’re—”

“Bi,” Eddie said. “Kind of why it was a shock when you showed up,” Eddie said and he looked like he was finding the whole conversation amusing. 

To Buck, it felt like being thrown into an ice cold pool and expected to just keep swimming without any reaction to the cold. Eddie was bisexual. Suddenly it made some sort of sense that Eddie had been skeptical from the first when it came to his brother being suddenly interested in men. It was because Eddie was the bi one.

“Andrew didn’t tell me his brother was bi,” Buck said eventually and then remembered that Eddie and Andrew’s parents were there. 

Eddie had given up his seat for his mom and moved to the foot of the bed. “Andrew doesn’t tell anyone much, does he?” 

Buck only nodded and then he looked back at Andrew. He was still attracted to Andrew because nothing had changed about his appearance, but that attraction had faded some in knowing that being with him was very much unattainable. 

“I hope you’re taking care of yourself, Buck,” Helena said, shaking Buck from his thoughts. “I know all of this is very hard.” 

“I’m okay,” Buck said. 

He really wasn’t. He was having some sort of existential crisis and it was all his doing because he was kinda sorta an idiot. And when it was all over and he was left on his own again, it would be his fault then too. 

“You know, when these two were boys,” Ramon said, “they used to get up to all kinds of mischief.” 

“Did they?” Buck asked. 

Eddie groaned. “Papa, please don’t.” 

“Why, mijo. That’s part of all the fun of meeting a boyfriend.” 

“Yes, but somehow, I don’t know why you have to include me in all of this,” Eddie said. 

Buck raised an eyebrow at him and then looked back at Ramon. “I would love to hear any stories you want to tell me.”

Eddie groaned again. He pulled up a chair and sat down, closing his eyes and then when he opened them again he grabbed his phone and focused on the screen. 

“Andrew is the younger but he always wanted to do whatever Eddie was doing,” Helena said. “Followed him around to Eddie’s frustration. Used to steal his toys.”

“And break them,” Eddie added. 

Buck turned to look at Eddie who barely glanced at him before his eyes were back on his phone. 

“Sometimes, yes,” Ramon said. “But he was always a good boy. He was meant to be a first responder. He always wanted to help people. When Andrew was fifteen he saved someone from a fire. One of the neighbors on our street. Eddie, you were friends with their daughter, weren’t you?” 

“What?” Eddie asked. 

“The girl that lived across the street. Your friend?” 

“Oh...Liz Martinez?” 

“Yes, that’s the one. Anyway, it was her mother that Andrew saved,” Ramon said. “He just ran right into that house before the firefighters had even arrived and he got Mrs. Martinez out.”

“Wow,” Buck said and his eyes were back on Andrew. When he looked at Eddie, he didn’t know what to make of the look in his eyes. “Is that what — what made him want to be a firefighter?” 

“I think so,” Helena said. 

The thing about being at the hospital was that it was a bit depressing. It also reminded Buck of all the lies. With Andrew’s family there, Buck felt both better and worse. He wasn’t alone in the room with Andrew feeling guilty about not belonging there because with Andrew’s family, it almost felt like he did. He just wished that the whole thing was real. Not even the Andrew aspect of it, but his family. 

“He was in the newspaper for that,” Ramon said and there was pride in his voice. 

Helena told stories about Andrew growing up. How he loved sweets and often tried to hide them all over his room when he was kid and how when he was a teenager he’d snuck out of the house late at night often enough that his parents had given up on trying to stop him. 

“He never got into any trouble over it,” Helena offered. 

“And Eddie, he ever sneak out?” Buck asked.

Helena actually laughed at that. “No, Eddie would have never. He wasn’t rebellious at all.”

Buck looked towards Eddie who actually did look like he was busy on his phone. Or he wasn’t reacting to the conversation and listening. Buck couldn’t really tell. 

Learning about Andrew made Andrew all that much more appealing. His parents painted a good picture and yet everything they told him was about the past. About Andrew as he was a child or when he was growing up and nothing about the man that he’d become. And maybe it was that they didn’t know the adult version of their son well enough. It was still nice hearing stories about Eddie and Andrew as kids. 

“They tried to bake a cake once for mother’s day,” Ramon said. “The one time they decided to team up.”

“And they wouldn’t let their sisters help,” Helena said, shaking her head fondly. 

Eddie looked up. “It wasn’t their idea.” 

“It didn’t go well,” Ramon said. “It wasn’t edible.” 

“And it left me a very messy kitchen,” Helena said. 

“The boys did clean it up,” Ramon said. 

“Not very well,” Helena added. 

Buck also got to hear about Eddie falling out of a tree and breaking his arm and how Andrew had been the one to call 9-1-1. Eddie made a sort of scoffing noise at that story but didn’t add anything to contradict what happened. 

“Andrew annoyed him the entire time he was in a cast,” Ramon said. “Trying to help. You were what, fourteen or fifteen?” 

“Fifteen,” Eddie said. 

“And why were you up a tree?” Buck asked curiously. 

“I was...there was a frisbee stuck up there,” Eddie said. 

There were other stories. Ones that were silly and that made Buck wish that he’d had as good a childhood as Eddie and Andrew had had. 

Eventually, Eddie stood up. “I have to get going,” he said. 

“Do you want me to drop you off?” Ramon asked. 

Eddie shook his head. “I’ll get an uber. Abuela and Pepa said they were picking up Christopher from school so you don’t have to worry about that. But I’ll go before I’m late.” 

“Or I can take you,” Buck said. “I — I should get going too. I’ve been here all morning.” 

He didn’t know why he offered other than that he didn’t think he wanted to stay in that hospital room with Andrew’s parents. Eddie looked like he didn’t know if he should take the offer or not, but then Buck stood up and walked towards him and nudged him. 

“Thank you for all the stories,” Buck said to Ramon and Helena.

The two of them smiled at him and Ramon waved them off. Buck followed Eddie out of the hospital room. 

“They really do like you,” Eddie said. 

“Oh. I’m glad,” Buck said.

It wasn’t until they had made it out to Buck’s Jeep, that Buck had built up enough courage to speak to Eddie and ask. 

“So, why didn’t you tell me you were bi? Sorry, that’s rude. I just mean, it kinda makes sense why you were surprised about me and Andrew now.” 

Eddie shrugged his shoulders. “Honestly, I figured you already knew.” 

“Andrew clearly doesn’t talk about things with anyone,” Buck said and he felt dirty saying it because he was just adding on to the lie and he hated it.

“I guess you could say that,” Eddie said. 

Buck had gotten them out of the parking lot when Buck remembered that there was something else he wanted cleared up. 

“So, that time you fell out of a tree? What really happened?” 

Eddie didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he kept his attention out the window and then Buck felt his eyes on him. 

“I guess there’s no harm in telling you,” Eddie said eventually. “Andrew was sort of the reason it all happened in the first place. He got the frisbee stuck up the tree on purpose and if it hadn’t been mine I wouldn’t have even bothered to get it. Then he was the reason that I fell. He distracted me and he kept shaking the tree a bit and I slipped and fell. So even though my parents want to think that he was some sort of hero that day by taking care of me, it’s his fault it happened in the first place.”

Buck wasn’t too surprised. He’d grown up being the annoying little brother so he got that aspect of having a sibling. 

“It was easier to just let him be the hero,” Eddie said. “I was older and anyway, I was on pain meds for a while. Made me less angry at him.”

Buck laughed at that. He followed Eddie’s directions for where he was going. 

“I think your parents just wanted me to hear nice stories about him — nothing too embarrassing. And what about the fire? Did that really happen?” 

“Yeah, that did. He saved the neighbor. It was — nobody would stop talking about it. I wasn’t too surprised when he decided he wanted to actually be a firefighter. My mom might say she’s proud of his choice, but she wasn’t happy back then. Tried to stop him multiple times.” 

“And somehow she wound up with two of her sons as firefighters,” Buck said. 

He took the next turn as Eddie directed him. 

“I was in the Army first,” Eddie said. “Can’t blame her for wanting to keep at least one of her sons out of harm's way. I think by the end of it they were just glad he wasn’t in the Army with me.” 

Buck had a lot of questions. He wanted to know more about how Eddie had wound up being a firefighter and how he and his brother had even come to be in LA when their parents were from Texas. He wanted to know more about where Christopher fit into that picture as well as Christopher’s mother. 

He settled for saying, “you were in the Army?” 

Eddie nodded. “Afghanistan.” 

“I was almost in the Navy,” Buck said. “Well, the Seals, I should say. It didn’t work out in the end.”

Buck didn’t really like to talk about the time in his life when he’d wanted nothing more than to be a Navy Seal. How he’d trained and had made it far enough to realize that the dehumanizing aspect of it wasn’t for him. The whole turning off the part of him that cared, to be ruthless and single-minded and follow orders. None of it had been for him or what he’d expected it to be. Buck didn’t often think about it and hadn’t for a long time. 

“It wasn’t for me,” Buck said with a shrug and he was glad when Eddie didn’t pry. 

Instead, they were both silent for a while before Eddie asked about Legolas.

“I was thinking about bringing Chris by tomorrow,” Eddie said. 

“He’ll like that,” Buck said. “I, um, I have to say that having him around last night really gave me a good buffer with your parents. Made it easier.” 

Eddie chuckled. “Good,” he said. 

When Buck pulled up to the station it was just in time to see Hen arriving and before Eddie could even get out of the car, she was motioning for him to get out too and he couldn’t say no. So he parked and the two of them got out and Buck wasn’t expecting for Hen to pull him into a hug. But it was nice to hug her and to know that it was so genuine and caring. 

“Come on, you should join us,” Hen said. “Cap is making lunch and I’m sure he won’t mind if you hang around.” 

“Uh...sure,” Buck said and he followed her inside. Eddie came up behind him. 

Buck had never been to a fire station before and as he walked in, he took it in almost like a child would. The firetrucks and the ambulance that stood at the ready in all their glory were more impressive than anything. 

“You want to see them up close, don’t you?” Eddie asked. 

“I — yeah, maybe.” 

Eddie chuckled. “I’ll show you if we have time.” 

Hen took him past the trucks and then towards some stairs. Buck noticed that Eddie didn’t join them, going off on his own likely to get changed. Hen just took him up. 

“Look who’s stopping by today, Cap,” Hen said. 

Bobby was in what appeared to be a kitchen, but he looked up and he smiled when he saw Buck. 

“Oh. Well, you’re more than welcome to join us for lunch, Buck.” 

“If it isn’t any trouble. I don’t want—”

Bobby motioned him over, smiling. “I don’t mind.” 

Buck moved across the space, past a long rectangular table to the kitchen. There were a few other firefighters sitting where some sofas had been placed and the ones that looked over just nodded at him. 

“I’ll be back. Gotta get changed,” Hen said and disappeared down the stairs. 

“How are you doing, Buck?” Bobby asked. 

“I’m okay. Just waiting for him to wake up, I guess.” And waiting for everything to be over and for his life to get back to normal. 

“We all are,” Bobby said. “But he will.”

“I know,” Buck said. 

He sat down on one of the stools and watched as Bobby moved around the kitchen, putting a salad together. 

“Is this how it is at every firehouse? The captain cooking for everyone?” 

“There’s a lot of trust that needs to be in place among firefighters — among any first responders. We’re like family and eating together is a way to make that real. Not every firehouse is like this and in most places everyone takes turns cooking. I like to cook. It’s a stress reliever for me and I wouldn’t say I trust any of my crew to not give all of us food poisoning.” 

Buck laughed at that. 

“He’s talking about Andrew and Eddie,” Chimney said, dropping his hand onto Buck’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“Hey,” Buck said. 

“Those boys are a fire hazard in their own kitchens,” Hen added and she took the stool next to Buck. 

Buck laughed. “Good to know.” 

By the time that Eddie had made it upstairs, they had moved over to the table and Buck found himself sitting between Hen and Chimney. Eddie sat across from him and all of it just felt natural and nice. They all included him, even the other firefighters that Buck was introduced to on the spot. 

“You know,” Hen said halfway through the meal, “this is the first time in a while that a call hasn’t interrupted our lunch.” 

“And now you’ve cursed us and it’s going to happen,” Chimney said. 

But a call didn’t come and they all just laughed. Bobby told Buck about how they were all ready to go for any call that came no matter what they were doing. It was the nature of the job. 

“We’ve lost many a meal that way,” Chimney said.

“Everything Bobby cooks heats up well afterwards,” Eddie said with a roll of his eyes. 

There was a lot going on around the station even when there were no calls and after lunch was over everyone started on their duties. For Hen that meant cleaning up after lunch, Chimney was checking on the stock of supplies in the ambulance, and while Bobby disappeared to do paperwork, Eddie led Buck down to look at the firetrucks. 

“They’re kinda intimidating and impressive all at once,” Eddie said. “I mean, growing up you dream of being a firefighter, right?”

“Yeah,” Buck said. 

He felt a little like a kid allowed to do whatever he wanted in a candy shop when Eddie opened the door to one of the trucks and showed him what it looked like inside. And when Buck asked, Eddie let him go in too. Strangely, it felt like being where he belonged but Buck had no idea why. He got out and Eddie showed him  all the things that a firetruck carried. 

“I’m — this is amazing,” Buck said. 

“It should be Andrew showing all of this off to you,” Eddie said.

Buck was ashamed to admit even to himself that he’d forgotten all about Andrew. 

—-

Having Buck around was different. 

Eddie hadn’t expected for Buck to stick around after they arrived at the station, but he didn’t mind that he had. Buck was just excitable and he got along with everyone, fitting right in and talking to everyone around him like it wasn’t his first time at that table. Eddie could tell that Bobby liked him. Hen already seemed to have a soft spot for him and Chimney seemed intent on including Buck. 

It didn’t hit Eddie until he’d showed Buck all the interesting parts about the firetrucks that it should have been his brother showing off his job to Buck and bringing him over to the station for lunch. It felt just a little like overstepping but Buck didn’t seem to even realize that, instead he looked adorable as he looked around. After the firetrucks, Eddie expected Buck to leave but he didn’t so Eddie gave him a tour of the whole fire station.

“I’ve only ever had to call 9-1-1 once in my life other than the accident with Andrew,” Buck said eventually. “And all these people came out to respond on the call. It was crazy but impressive. It was a car accident, nothing to do with me but I saw it and it’s just...there’s a lot to be said about there always being people ready to run in and help.” 

Hearing Buck talk about it like that made Eddie feel warm all over. He knew there was a nobility to his job — a reason why first responders were lauded as heroes. That wasn’t why Eddie had joined the LAFD. It had been more to do with brother already being a part of it and Eddie needing some way to cope after Afghanistan and after returning home and having his wife just pick up and leave. Being a firefighter was an adrenaline rush, it was an escape and something that Eddie needed to feel sane and feel like himself. It didn’t hurt that it meant he was helping people. 

“Anyway,” Buck said with a cough. “I should go. It was — thanks for showing me around.”

“It was fun,” Eddie said. “And thanks again for the ride.” 

Buck gave him a nod and Eddie watched him walk away and he knew that he had a problem.

--

Next Chapter

Notes: 

In the US (I’m not sure about other countries), men who have had sex with other men are not allowed to donate blood unfortunately. The movie has a plot point about the main character giving blood so I wanted to throw a bit of a reference at that even if the situation is completely different. Really this fic is turning out kinda different than the movie in a lot of ways. 

Let me know what you all thought of this chapter and I hope everyone enjoys the S3 finale tonight. 

If anyone wants to be tagged for future chapters just let me know. :)

Tagging: @tranquility-or-chaos @diazbuckleysworld

#911 fox #911 fic #buddie #buddie fic #buck x eddie #911 fox fic #fic #my fic #I'm With You