Chapter Text
Eddie kisses him in the kitchen.
Bright morning sunshine spills in the window over the sink, picking out the golden flecks in Eddie’s eyes. He cradles Buck’s jaw with one warm palm, and Buck freezes for a moment, startled, before surging against Eddie. He’s still holding a hot mug of coffee that he barely fumbles onto the counter without dropping or spilling all over his shirt.
He rakes his fingers into Eddie’s hair and reels him in closer, Eddie’s firm thigh slotted between his.
“Eddie,” he pants as Eddie scrapes his teeth down his throat and sucks on the spot over his racing pulse.
Eddie hums as he rucks Buck’s t-shirt up and splays his hand over his back, hot like a brand on his bare skin. Buck gasps, which Eddie swallows in another heated kiss, licking into Buck’s mouth and doing his best to scatter all of Buck’s thoughts.
They stumble their way to Eddie’s bedroom, unwilling to detach their mouths for more than a second, but Buck knows Eddie’s house like it’s seared into his soul so he can steer Eddie past the lump in the carpet where the padding underneath has started bunching up and the pile of Chris’s shoes outside his door that marks his little bit of preteen rebellion, refusing to put them away no matter how many times they tell him to.
When they reach Eddie’s room, Eddie hooks his ankle around Buck’s calf, and they tumble onto the bed, Buck landing on top. He shivers at the way Eddie paws at his shirt.
“Off,” he growls against Buck’s mouth, and it takes him a second to realize Eddie’s talking about his shirt, too distracted by the taste of Eddie on his tongue.
He rips it over his head, then smirks as Eddie’s eyes darken and he swipes his tongue across his bottom lip, reaching for Buck to pull him down and crash their mouths together again.
This kiss lasts a long time, Eddie’s fingertips leaving trails of fire wherever he explores, skimming up his spine or into his hair or down to cup his ass through the thin material of his sweats. He’s hard and aching and can feel Eddie’s hardness against his hip, but even making out like this is more than he’s had in a long time and he doesn’t want to stop.
Eventually, Eddie wrenches his mouth away from Buck’s and stares up at him. He looks debauched already, hair mussed, lips wet and red, chest heaving with every breath. Buck wants to mess him up more, see what he’s like when he lets go completely and falls apart.
Eddie licks his lip and cups a palm around Buck’s shoulder, thumb digging into the hollow of his collarbone. “Can I?”
Buck nods. Whatever Eddie’s asking, the answer will always be yes.
Eddie smiles, something sweet and mischievous at the same time, playful and sexy as hell. It makes Buck want to press him into the mattress and kiss him until their lips are numb. Eddie moves before Buck can act on the impulse, though, flipping Buck onto his back and slithering down his body in a graceful, wanton slide that has Buck groaning.
“Lift up,” he instructs, and together they tug down Buck’s sweats and boxer briefs.
For all their desperation up to now, Eddie is surprisingly careful when he sucks the head of Buck’s dick into his mouth. Buck swears, arching his hips, and Eddie looks up at him through his eyelashes. It’s one of the hottest things Buck’s ever seen; Eddie, hair sweaty at the temples and falling messily over his forehead, smirking around Buck’s dick, fist wrapped around the base.
It’s almost enough for Buck to make Buck come immediately.
His dick twitches against Eddie’s tongue, and his muscles ache from the strain of not fucking into Eddie’s mouth.
Eddie pulls off with an obscene sound that’s loud in the quiet room. Buck groans, pressing his head into the pillow.
“You don’t have to hold back,” Eddie says, because of course he can read Buck so easily. “I can take it,” he adds, pumping Buck slowly, thumb gathering the precome at the tip.
“Fuck.”
He’s not going to survive this.
Grinning, Eddie swipes his tongue over the slit, then slides back down his dick, as far as he can go, which is pretty far, really. Buck’s big, and plenty of people in the past complained about sore jaws from blowing him. But not Eddie. He takes Buck effortlessly, working him over with enthusiasm, moaning around his dick, his other hand spreading Buck’s thighs wide.
“Oh, fuck, Eddie!” He sinks his fingers into Eddie’s hair, holding him in place. Not that Eddie needs it. From the way he’s determinedly taking Buck apart with his tongue and mouth, he’s happily sucking Buck off. “Where did you—holy shit—learn to do that?”
He pops off and smiles, crooked and private, and it somehow heats Buck’s blood even more than the hand he still has around his dick. “I have more skills than you know, Buckley.”
“Oh fuck.” He wants Eddie to demonstrate every single one of them on him.
Eddie screws his mouth over the head, sucking hard, and even though Buck wishes this could last longer, he can only handle so much before his orgasm builds at the base of his spine. He tugs on Eddie’s hair in warning, beyond speech at this point, but Eddie simply redoubles his efforts, and it’s so hot that Buck’s orgasm slams into him. He doesn’t recognize the sound that punches out of him, something between a sob and Eddie’s name. Eddie swallows like a pro, giving him little kitten licks until Buck pushes him off from oversensitivity.
“Wow,” Eddie murmurs, sitting back on his heels, tongue flicking out for a stray drop of come. Buck’s dick twitches halfheartedly, and Eddie smirks.
Buck wraps a hand around Eddie's neck and drags him down into a kiss, licking into his mouth on Eddie’s gasp. He can taste himself and, fuck, that’s always turned him on. Eddie writhes against him, his erection sliding in the groove of his hip. He grips Eddie through his pants, and he bucks, his head falling back on a moan.
“Please. Buck,” Eddie gasps, mouth open, voice rough like gravel. His lips are puffy and spit-slick and holy shit. That’s from sucking Buck’s dick. “Touch me. Please.”
“Yeah.” He fumbles with the button on Eddie’s jeans, awkward and uncoordinated, muscles still lax from his orgasm. “Yeah, I’ve got you.”
Eddie kisses him, gentle and slow. “I know you do.”
He huffs in annoyance, but eventually the button gives way. He unzips him hurriedly and shoves everything down Eddie’s thighs, suddenly eager to not just touch him but see him too. And oh, god. His dick is beautiful, thick and hard, and leaking steadily. He shouldn’t be surprised, though. The rest of Eddie is breathtaking. Of course he has a gorgeous dick.
Buck licks his palm, and that along with the precome is enough to slick his way. He feels good in Buck’s hand, heavy, and velvety soft. He jacks him slowly, base to tip and back down. He learns quickly what Eddie likes; he’s beautifully responsive, moaning Buck’s name when he tightens his hand, fingers digging into Buck’s bicep on every upstroke, inhaling through his nose, and biting his lip if Buck cups his balls.
He could do this for hours, just touching Eddie and finding out all the ways to make him squirm or beg for more or cry out.
Buck draws him into a kiss, already addicted to Eddie’s mouth. It’s sloppy, Eddie panting against him, more a clumsy press of lips than an actual kiss.
“Oh, shit. Buck,” Eddie grinds out, spilling over Buck’s hand and onto their stomachs.
Buck works him through the aftershocks. Eddie flops on top of him, completely limp. He’s heavy, but Buck welcomes the weight. He wraps his arms around him and scrubs his fingers into Eddie’s hair. Eddie grunts and nuzzles closer, kissing Buck’s neck.
They lie there for a while, Buck tracing random patterns on Eddie’s back, Eddie’s come cooling between them.
“We should clean up,” Buck says, not sounding like himself. It comes out way calmer than he feels. Now that the sex haze has dissipated, fear starts to creep in. He just had sex with Eddie. His best friend. The best thing in his life. His favorite person. If they ruined everything for the sake of admittedly amazing orgasms, Buck doesn’t think he could live with himself.
“Mm. Yeah.” He lifts his head off Buck’s chest and gazes down at him. His face is open, eyes clear, mouth curled in a familiar smile, fond and amused. “Wherever dark places your mind is going, stop. We’re all right.”
“Are we?”
Eddie rubs a thumb between Buck’s eyes, then traces the arch of his eyebrow and leans down to kiss his cheek. “We’ll always be good, Buck. I promise.”
“Okay,” he agrees, because Eddie wouldn’t lie to him.
Eddie kisses him, much softer than any of their other kisses, and it’s some time before they make it out of bed and into the bathroom to clean up.
Eddie asks him to stay, so he does. They have plans, after all, even if those plans consist of napping and watching a documentary about a man that murdered his wife while sleepwalking.
It all feels normal while they watch the documentary. Eddie provides a running commentary on the mistakes of the investigation and the state of the victim’s marriage, and Buck agrees or laughs at the appropriate moments, all while the thoughts of I know what you taste like and you’re beautiful when you come whisper-scream in his head.
They spend half an hour after the documentary googling further info and then Eddie makes them a late lunch, something that’s still kinda new. They eat their bowls of stir fry at the kitchen table, Buck hyper-aware of every time Eddie’s bare arm brushes against his.
“This is good,” Buck says around a huge mouthful, Eddie wrinkling his nose in disgust.
“You always sound so surprised,” Eddie replies, glaring at Buck over his fork. “I’m a good cook!”
“Now. You used to burn toast.”
“I was never that bad,” Eddie insists. Buck quirks an eyebrow, and Eddie flushes, kicking his foot under the table. “Shut up,” he mumbles.
“I’m just saying, you used to feed Chris a lot of frozen meals and leftovers from Abuela.”
Eddie pouts at him. It’s distractingly adorable. He wants to kiss him so badly.
Can he do that now? Is he allowed?
Scraping his chair back, Buck stands and collects their dishes.
It all feels very routine, Buck washing the dishes while Eddie sits at the table as they plan a weekend trip to San Diego for Chris’s birthday, delayed by more than a month already due to their schedule and the science fair, which Chris refused to miss, even for a fun weekend away.
“We can leave Friday afternoon maybe?” Eddie says. “Chris has a half day. We could pick him up from school and leave from there.”
Buck shakes his head, glancing over his shoulder at Eddie. He’d turned the chair to face Buck, legs kicked out and crossed at the ankle. The stretched-out collar of his henley shows off a purple love bite below his collarbone, standing out starkly against his golden skin. Buck imagines pressing his thumb there or fitting his mouth back over the spot, feeling the rumble of Eddie’s moan under his lips.
Flushing, he shrugs his shoulders and tunes back into the conversation. “You have therapy on Friday,” Buck says, turning back to the sink and away from the temptation that is Eddie.
“Right.” He huffs, and Buck hears the scrape of his stubble as he rubs a palm over his jaw. “And I probably shouldn’t reschedule that, huh?”
“It’s up to you,” he replies carefully. Eddie’s been doing better the past few months, but that doesn’t mean he’s done unpacking all his shit. He’s been thinking about going back to therapy himself, but something always stops him from actually making that call to Dr. Copeland.
“No, I should go. Frank will make a face at me if I don’t.”
Buck snorts. “Oh no! Not a Frank face!”
“You mock, but I feel like shit whenever he gives me the disappointed eyebrows.”
“Okay.” He swallows back his laughter and sets the last dish in the strainer. “So we get up super early Saturday morning and head out then. Or maybe Friday evening depending on how your appointment goes?”
“Yeah. That might be doable. I might be too tired to drive, though, depending on how much Frank goes rooting around in my head.”
Leaning against the counter, Buck crosses his arms. “Like you were gonna drive anyway.”
Eddie grins, eyes crinkling, and Buck’s teeth ache with how familiar and domestic this all feels. A few hours ago, Eddie had him in his bed, and now they’re talking about a roadtrip with Chris like Buck doesn’t want to sit in Eddie’s lap and kiss the fuck out of him.
“Hey. Where’d you go?”
When Buck snaps back to attention, Eddie is standing in front of him, an indecipherable look on his face.
“Sorry. Just—” He waves his hand, and Eddie grabs it, threading their fingers together and stepping closer. “Eddie.”
“Hm?” He crowds against Buck, using his free hand to trace his fingertips down the side of his face and along his jaw. Buck shivers at the touch and the heat in Eddie’s gaze, which strays to his mouth when he licks his lips. He leans in, mouth hovering over Buck’s.
It’d be easy to give in and let Eddie kiss him, but he squeezes Eddie’s hand, stopping him.
“Are we really doing this?” Buck asks. His voice wavers at the end, and he hopes Eddie doesn’t notice.
“Oh, we’re doing this.” He pauses, eyes tracing over Buck’s face. “As long as you want to?” Uncertainty creeps into his words, and Buck brushes his thumb over the back of his hand.
“I definitely want to.”
“Good.”
He closes the small distance between them and captures Buck’s mouth in a kiss that leaves Buck weak-kneed and craving more. He wraps his arms around Eddie and holds on, shivering when Eddie slips a hand under his shirt.
They don’t have time to do much before they leave to pick up Chris at school, but Buck uses the time wisely in learning the type of kiss that makes Eddie whine deep in his throat and the ones that have him clinging to Buck’s shoulders, and the ones that leave them both gasping.
^^^
It’s a good rescue.
Looking back, it was more dangerous than it seemed at the time, but Buck can just see the solution, laid out for him like a roadmap. Eddie is immediately on board, Bobby more hesitant.
“I can do this, Cap. I promise,” he pleads, and Bobby nods reluctantly.
There’s nothing like the euphoria of a smooth rescue and handing over two small boys to their terrified parents.
He rides the high for the rest of the shift. He wants to celebrate or to go home with Eddie, but he has a to-do list as long as his arm and Eddie has errands of his own. And they don’t need to spend all their downtime together. They’re not actually attached at the hip, no matter how much Chimney teases them about it. So he doesn’t expect to see Eddie and Chris until tonight. He promised them pizza and to help Christopher with his science homework. After, Chris wants to do another slideshow of pics from their trip to San Diego. He’s already talking about when they can go again; maybe this summer. It was a fantastic trip, even if Buck's enduring memory is finding secret moments to press against Eddie and kiss him.
He naps for a couple hours, then starts his to-do list with the dishes piled up on the counter.
When his door opens, Buck startles, nearly dropping the glass he’s putting away. He glances over his shoulder and sees Eddie striding toward him, a determined look on his face.
“Eddie? What—”
Eddie crowds him back against the counter and yanks him into a fierce kiss, all teeth and heat, Eddie’s fingers like brands as he cradles Buck’s jaw. Buck slides an arm around Eddie’s waist and threads a hand into the hair at the back of his head. Eddie nips at his bottom lip, then licks into his mouth, slipping a thigh between Buck’s. Buck goes hard so fast his knees sag, only the counter at his back keeping him upright.
“Jesus. What—” He groans as Eddie rucks up his shirt and skims calloused fingertips up his spine.
“Do you know how hot you were today?” Eddie growls, nipping at Buck’s jaw.
Buck grins, angling his head to give Eddie free rein over his neck. “Aw, Eddie, do you have a competency kink?”
“Shut up.” Eddie yanks him down into a kiss that sends heat pooling in Buck’s stomach. “I want you to fuck me.”
“Fuck. Eddie.” He grinds against Eddie’s thigh, desperate for more. There have been a smattering of sneaky handjobs and blowjobs since that first time a couple weeks ago—and plenty of kissing; Eddie likes to kiss, and Buck is more than happy to indulge him—but their schedules and all Christopher’s after school activities prevent more than a few stolen moments. And, Christ, does Buck want more.
“Take me to bed, Buck,” Eddie demands, and Buck is helpless to obey.
Eddie leads Buck to the steps. Buck stares at his ass, firm and round in his tight jeans, an extra sway to his hips that he pairs with a saucy look over his shoulder. Blood rushes to his dick so fast that his head swims and he misses a step. His hand shoots out to clutch the railing before he can pitch forward and break his nose on the step.
“You okay?” Eddie asks, turning a concerned glance on him.
“Yep.” He has more of a bruised ego than anything else. Eddie’s lip twitches, and Buck huffs. “It’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny.”
Crossing his arms, Buck glares at Eddie, but it just rolls right off him.
“Don’t pout,” Eddie tells him, leaning close. With Eddie one step higher, he’s taller than Buck, and he kinda likes having to look up at him.
“I’m not.”
“Uh-huh.” He cups Buck’s face and hovers his mouth over Buck’s, not closing the distance, smirking when Buck huffs and kisses him. It’s slow, languid, the opposite of the urgency of a moment ago.
Buck wraps an arm around his waist and holds him closer. Eddie opens his mouth, and heat curls around Buck’s ribs. Embarrassment forgotten, he chases Eddie the rest of the way up the stairs and catches him by the bed. He kisses him, nice and sweet, rucking up Eddie’s shirt before whipping it over his head and tossing it wherever. He stares, licking his lips.
Eddie’s buffer than he’s ever been, and Buck’s mind races with all the possibilities his new muscles could provide.
“There’s so much I want to do to you,” he says, running a hand over Eddie’s chest and tweaking a nipple.
Eddie inhales and shifts on his feet. “You can play later,” he growls, shoving Buck onto the bed. Laughing, he bounces, then cuts off when Eddie straddles him. “Right now I need you to fuck me.”
“I think I can handle that.” He skims his palms up Eddie’s thick thighs then squeezes. “Think you can handle me?”
Eddie leans down and licks a stripe up Buck’s neck. “You have no idea how much I’ve been thinking about this. I can handle whatever you give me.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?” He bucks his hips, rubbing their dicks together, and drags Eddie into an open-mouthed kiss. “Have you done this before?” he asks when they pull back, Eddie’s breath ghosting hot over his cheek.
“Yes.”
He has questions about that, but those can wait until later.
They strip quickly, and Buck soon lays Eddie out on his back, lube in hand, and wonders how he got so lucky.
He opens Eddie slowly, deliberately, first one finger and then two, adding a third when Eddie’s wet and easy, enjoying the way Eddie clenches around his fingers and clutches at the sheets too much to stop just yet.
“I appreciate your diligence,” Eddie says, breath coming out in sharp pants, his thighs trembling, “but if you don’t fuck me right now I w—” He swears, his back arching.
Buck smirks and strokes Eddie’s prostate again. “What was that?”
“I fucking hate you.”
“Mm-hm.” He removes his fingers and wipes them on the sheet, reaching for the condom and ripping it open with his teeth. “I don’t think so.”
Eddie watches him roll it on with hungry eyes, dragging his tongue over his bottom lip.
“Is this what you want?” he asks, stroking his dick slowly, voice deep and rough. “You want me inside you?” Eddie whines, and Buck bites his lip and speeds up his fist, gratified by the way Eddie's gaze focuses on his hand. If he’s not careful, he’ll come right here, before he gets close to Eddie’s ass. Just having Eddie’s attention on him like this is intoxicating.
“Yes.” He shifts, the sheets rustling with his restless movements. “Please, Buck.”
He drops down for a quick kiss, a little lopsided. “I’m gonna make you feel so good.”
Eddie shudders, gripping his bicep. “Yes. Please.”
Slathering on more lube, he lines up and bites his lip when Eddie’s thighs clamp around him. He pushes in slowly, giving Eddie time to adjust and savoring the sweet slide.
He pauses once he’s buried deep. It’s been a long time since he’s done this, since he’s had anything besides his own hand, and lately Eddie’s hands and mouth. It’s been a long time since he’s wanted to be that vulnerable with someone else but with Eddie, it just feels natural, like an extension of their friendship, even if that sounds completely absurd.
He frames Eddie’s head with his forearms and leans in to trail kisses to his chin and cheeks, the tip of his nose. Eddie blinks at him, sliding his fingers into the short hairs at the back of Buck’s head.
“You okay?” Eddie asks, pressing a kiss to Buck’s jaw.
Buck nods and rocks his hips, punching a moan out of Eddie.
He starts slow, wanting this to last. He doesn’t know how long he’ll get to have Eddie like this, and he memorizes every moment, every emotion that flits across Eddie’s face and every noise he makes, the obscene sound of their bodies moving together.
Eddie is beautiful in his abandon, seeking the pleasure Buck offers in an uncontrolled way he never is in their real lives, like it’d all slip through his fingers if he loosens his hold even a fraction. Buck’s glad he can give this to him.
Eddie tightens his thighs and tugs at Buck’s hair until he lifts his head from Eddie’s chest, where he’s biting a mark into the spot above his heart.
“I’m not gonna break,” Eddie says.
“Huh?” He scrunches his eyebrows at Eddie’s amused smile.
“You gonna actually fuck me anytime soon or what? This is nice and all but—” He grunts, head falling back as Buck slams into him. “Yeah. Fuck, yeah.”
Buck grins and bites at the exposed arch of Eddie’s neck. Eddie meets his next thrust with a long moan, his dick smearing precome between them. Buck rolls his hips, changing the angle, and knows he hit Eddie’s prostate by the nails raking down his spine and the indecent noises tumbling from his mouth.
They find their rhythm then, Buck fucking him hard and deep, Eddie rocking into every thrust. It’s too much, and not enough. Buck hurtles to the edge faster than he’d like, but with Eddie beneath him and around him, Eddie kissing him hot and desperate, he can’t hold out much longer.
“Can you—” He dives in for another kiss, losing his train of thought in the hot press of Eddie’s mouth. “Can you come just like this? Untouched?” he asks minutes later. He dips his head and licks sweat from the hollow of Eddie’s throat.
“Don’t know.” Eddie chokes out a laugh and circles his hips in a way that leaves Buck breathless and spellbound, tethered to Eddie by more than where their bodies are joined. “Probably.”
The possibility is tempting, but Buck’s on fucking fire. “Next time,” he tells Eddie and wraps a hand around his thick cock, swallowing the taste of his own name as Eddie spills over his fist.
Eddie clenches around him, and that’s all it takes for Buck to follow him.
“Holy shit,” he says sometime later. He thinks he actually blacked out.
“You’re incredible,” Eddie murmurs, kissing his temple.
Buck tucks his head against Eddie’s shoulder and mumbles something unintelligible.
He should probably move. He’s probably crushing Eddie, but Eddie doesn’t seem to care, his arms looped around Buck's waist, their legs tangled. He feels wrung out, but pleasure still hums through his limbs. He presses his smile into Eddie’s warm skin.
“We should shower.” He wrinkles his nose at the smell of sweat and sex and the mess on their stomachs that grows more disgusting as they lie here.
“Mm.” Eddie kisses him, soft and slow, sweet like cotton candy, then pokes him in the space between his ribs. “If you’re nice, I’ll let you wash my back.”
Laughing, Buck pushes to his feet, then hauls Eddie up beside him. “You’re on.”
^^^
Buck hitches Jee on his hip and tickles her chin, grinning when she giggles and hunches in. She is so stinking cute, even if she has too much energy.
He looks up as the door opens, then frowns when he sees Eddie come in.
“Oh, shit. I forgot to text you.” And he just swore in front of his niece. He hopes she won’t repeat him. “Maddie got called into work and Chim is—well, I don’t know where Chim is. But Maddie asked me to babysit at the last minute and it’s been so busy I totally blanked on letting you know.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind hanging out with Jee today.” He shakes her foot and gives her his softest, sweetest smile, and she ducks her head shyly, hiding her giggle in Buck’s chest. “Unless you want it to be an Uncle Buck and Jee day?”
“No! No, stay. Please.”
He turns his smile on Buck, more playful now, and brushes his fingers down Buck’s arm. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“Well, we’ve already covered the coloring and chasing Jee around the apartment points.” He boops her nose, and his insides go all mushy when she wraps her tiny arms around his neck and presses a wet, sticky kiss to his chin. “We were just about to have a snack and watch a movie. Wanna join us?”
“Sounds fun. You gather food and Jee and I will gather everything for a blanket pile.”
They used to do that when Chris was younger, before he got too cool to have movie nights every week and preferred going to a friend’s instead of spending time with his dad and Buck.
Buck pours Goldfish Crackers into a couple bowls and gets down cups for apple juice, Jee’s in a sippy cup; he learned his lesson after the Kool-Aid Fiasco ruined a throw rug. He keeps an eye on Eddie and Jee, dragging blankets and pillows to the middle of the living room, Jee barely able to see over the pillow she carries, trailing after Eddie with his arms loaded with blankets and the comforter from Buck’s bed.
“Wow, guys,” Buck says, balancing everything in his hands so he won’t have to make a second trip. “This is the best blanket pile ever!”
Eddie grins, taking the bowl and cup Buck passes him, then settles cross-legged on the floor. Buck sits beside him and gets Jee set up with her juice and crackers.
“What movie do you want, sweetheart?” Buck asks, sweeping Jee’s hair out of her face.
“Mouse!” Jee yells and waves her cup around. Buck’s very glad he went with the sippy cup.
Eddie’s nose scrunches in adorable confusion, but luckily Maddie had warned him that Jee’s obsessed with the live action Cinderella because she loves the mice. He queues it up, and Jee sits mesmerized from the opening scene. Buck shares a smile with Eddie, then laughs quietly at Eddie shoving a handful of Goldfish in his mouth.
Jee migrates as the movie continues, from sitting between them with her elbows on her knees to leaning against Eddie’s arm, her little hand resting on his leg, to fully sitting on Eddie’s lap, her favorite blanket clutched in one hand. Eddie cradles her easily, handing her crackers or juice on her demand or arranging a blanket over her legs, Jee wrapping him around her finger as thoroughly as she did Buck from the first moment he held her. Watching them, Buck’s stomach swoops, his heart feeling all soft and squishy. Jee is often shy, even around him sometimes, and it warms him to see her cuddled up to Eddie.
It’s a long movie, and Jee can only pay attention for so long. Her head starts to droop an hour in and before the end of the movie, she falls asleep, tucked in against Eddie’s chest, little fist under her chin and still holding her blanket, making soft snuffling noises that aren’t quite snores. She sounds like Chim, and Buck melts at the gentle way Eddie gazes down at her.
“We should probably take her upstairs to bed,” he says, heart in his throat, hoping Eddie doesn’t notice the roughness in his voice.
It’s something that’s always been in the back of his mind, this desire for a family, to be a better, more loving, present parent than what he had growing up, but lately, it’s been bubbling to the surface more and more, the situation with Connor and Kameron throwing his life—and what’s missing—in sharp relief.
He knows what he wants but not how to get it. Or how to keep it.
“In a minute,” Eddie replies, kissing the top of her head.
Eddie meets him at the bottom of the stairs and wraps him in a hug, pressing his lips to the hollow of Buck’s throat.
“Jee stay asleep?” he asks, trailing kisses along Buck’s collarbone.
Buck sighs and angles his head to give Eddie better access. “Mm-hm.” He skims his fingertips up and down Eddie’s spine and sags against him. He’d never give up Jee-time, but he’d been looking forward to seeing Eddie before their plans got derailed. “Sorry that today didn’t go like we planned.”
“It’s all right.” He kisses Buck, soft and slow, lazy like they have all the time in the world. “I’m adaptable,” he says once he pulls away.
Buck snorts. “Right. Says the man that had a meltdown in the grocery store because they discontinued your favorite flavor of Gatorade.”
“It wasn’t a meltdown,” he protests, pinching Buck’s side.
“Sure. It was just—” He cuts off with a grunt as Eddie crashes their mouths together, hand going to Buck’s ass.
“Eddie,” he murmurs against his mouth, trapping Eddie’s wandering hand against his thigh. “My niece is sleeping just upstairs.”
Rubbing against Buck, Eddie grins, something wild and wicked that spikes Buck’s pulse. “I can be quiet. Can you?” He whispers that last part directly in Buck’s ear.
Buck shudders and tries to think logically, but he can feel Eddie getting hard, and he’s impossible to resist.
And it’s hard to forget that just a few days ago, he followed Eddie up these stairs and fucked him for the first time.
Of course, Eddie senses when Buck surrenders. He grins, then kisses him quick and dirty. He guides Buck to the living room and spreads Buck out on the blanket pile.
“You gonna be quiet for me?” he asks, voice rough, fingers moving deftly at Buck’s belt.
Biting his lip, Buck nods and inhales sharply as Eddie works his zipper down and mouths at the head of his dick through his boxer briefs.
“Fuck,” he grinds out, hands flying up to grip Eddie’s hair.
Eddie looks up at him through his lashes and smirks. He frees Buck from his underwear then, hollowing his cheeks and swallowing greedily, fisting the base. An unholy noise escapes Buck, and Eddie pops off, jacking him slowly.
“You gotta be quiet,” he says and follows that by licking a stripe up the underside of Buck’s dick.
Buck strangles back a moan and digs his fingers into Eddie’s scalp. His hips snap up. He worries about choking Eddie, but he takes it like a pro, silently encouraging him not to hold back.
Eddie’s good at a lot of things, but he’s a champion at sucking cock.
Buck bites his fist to muffle his shout as he shoots down Eddie’s throat. Eddie milks him through it, pulling off to suck at the head, humming like it’s the best thing he’s ever had in his mouth.
“Fuck.” Flinging an arm over his eyes, Buck nudges Eddie away and gulps in air. “You could win awards for your blowjobs.”
Eddie smothers a laugh against Buck’s thigh, then tucks Buck back into his pants. “Thank you?”
“Don’t expect me to have good words when you’ve just sucked my brain out through my dick.”
“I would never,” he murmurs and kisses Buck.
Buck sinks into it, hand cradling the back of Eddie’s head to hold him there, as if Eddie’s going anywhere.
“I wanna suck you,” Buck says when they pull away for air, Eddie’s hot breath fanning over his cheek, hands soft as he strokes Buck’s sides. He wants more than that, wants to get his hands on Eddie and fuck him slowly, until Eddie is a beautiful mess, but that will have to wait for another day.
Eddie straddles Buck’s shoulders and feeds Buck his thick cock. He swallows him down eagerly, hands curled around the back of Eddie’s thighs to steady him. Eddie’s better at remaining quiet, even as he fucks Buck’s mouth, breathy moans and short gasps escaping as he rolls his hips.
Buck teases his hole, rubbing a thumb over the rim, and encourages him to thrust deeper, and Eddie grunts, his thighs trembling. He holds out for another minute, then stiffens with a low moan, fingers digging into the fluffy blanket beneath them. He slumps to the side, and Buck manhandles him down and into a sloppy kiss, chasing their combined tastes.
After Eddie breaks away to breathe heavily against his neck, Buck forces himself to stand and get them water, then settles back on the floor next to Eddie. They trade lazy kisses until Jee wakes up half an hour later, grumpy and hungry.
Eddie entertains her while Buck makes mac and cheese and dinosaur chicken nuggets, which she’s obsessed with right now. Eddie pulls faces at her, Jee doing her best to imitate him.
Hearing her giggle fill his apartment and watching Eddie grin at her, his cheeks flushed a pretty pink, makes Buck’s heart ache for the family he wants but doesn’t have.
^^^
Buck loves sex.
He’s never pretended otherwise. It’s fun, and there’s something gratifying about being able to get someone off.
He lost his virginity a month after his 16th birthday to Brittany Woods, his girlfriend at the time. It was over too fast, of course, and Brittany, older than him by seven months and only slightly more experienced, promised him “it’ll be better next time.” She was right. After the first time he got her to come, sprawled between her spread legs, using his tongue and two fingers to coax her into a quivering squeak, his own pleasure was almost secondary. Orgasms were easy for him. He was 16 and constantly horny with a hair-trigger. Just seeing Brittany naked could practically get him there. But with Brittany, he had to earn it, and he set about doing that every chance he got.
Stacy, Beth, and Cheyenne followed Brittany. He got a reputation for being good at eating girls out. He didn’t mind. It was better than being known as the kid with the weird birthmark and absent parents. There was truth to the rumors anyway, and whenever he went to parties, girls always threw themselves at him. He never turned them down, even if he didn’t know them at all. Making someone swear and scream his name felt good.
Better than being home with his parents silently judging him and no Maddie to act as a buffer.
He spent more time in college at bars or frat parties picking up girls than he did in class. He couldn’t choose a major and all his classes were boring and too easy, too easy to skip or sleep through. Sex was easy too, and he loved flirting and the rush when a girl smiled at him and ducked her head, following him into a bar bathroom or unoccupied bedroom. Girls were sexy, with curves that made his pulse race, and he loved when they melted under his expert tongue.
When he left Pennsylvania—without Maddie—finding women to take home became even easier. Women at the beach for vacation seemed to lack inhibitions even more than college girls, and he had his pick most nights. He learned bottle tricks as well as how to mix drinks, and it was amazing how many times he drew someone in by flexing his biceps with a bottle throw.
He traveled and slept his way up and down the east coast before heading west. He expected more of the same. New cities, new jobs. New women.
He didn’t expect Declan.
Montana was beautiful and while being a ranch hand wasn’t necessarily his idea of a good time, he tried it out for a few months, spending days under the big sky and covered in mud and cow shit. Declan had been at the ranch for two months when Buck arrived and took Buck under his wing. He was beautiful too, with big green eyes, wavy auburn hair that fell into his eyes, and freckles dotted over his nose and cheeks.
Buck never really thought about guys before, not beyond occasionally finding one esthetically pleasing, but Declan quickly wormed his way under Buck’s skin. He noticed Declan’s hands first, large and firm on the rope, gentle with the calves. Then it was the curve of his smile and the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. He always seemed to be amused by something, often laughing good-naturedly at Buck when he inevitably got the rope tangled around his feet.
Despite never considering men before, when Declan kissed him one night by the bonfire, tipping Buck’s hat back and capturing his mouth in a soft but heated kiss, it was easy to sink into it and let Declan lead him back to the bunk room.
He found out guys aren’t all that different from women. Kissing is kissing, after all, and his dick didn’t care if the mouth blowing him belonged to a man or woman. But men were different in ways that excited and intrigued Buck. Declan was a patient and excellent teacher. By the time he moved on a few months later, Buck knew for sure he wasn’t straight, probably never had been.
After that, he was even less discerning, going home with whoever wanted him. Plenty did. He knew he was hot. He never had to try hard to find someone to warm his bed for the night. His nomadic life meant he never got attached to anyone, and he preferred it that way.
And then he landed in LA and the fire academy and all the reasons he had to run crumbled in the face of all his reasons to stay.
He met everybody at the firehouse as well as Abby, and suddenly he had a family, which he hadn’t had for far too long. Not that he had much of a family before. He never had anyone, except Maddie.
With Abby, he learned that someone coming back over and over and caring about him was wildly better than throwing his body at anyone with a pulse. She also broke his heart for the first time and taught him that he could heal after being left behind.
Ali barely stuck around long enough for him to miss her, and Taylor was several mistakes wrapped up in a pretty package that hid the traps underneath. It hadn’t been all bad, but in the end he still wound up with a broken heart and a living room without a couch.
In the last few years, he moved on from using sex to fill the missing pieces from his life. Call it growing up or whatever you like. He still loves sex, just in a healthier way now.
Which is why what he has with Eddie—whatever unspoken, friends-with-benefits thing they have going on—sometimes feels like backsliding, like letting his pleasure override his good sense, like inviting Buck 1.0 to guide his actions. But being with Eddie, every sneaky kiss or afternoon spent in bed, feels too good to stop.
^^^
“You need to buy a couch,” Eddie says between kisses, cradling Buck’s face, thumbs digging into the underside of his jaw.
“Don’t know,” Buck pants. “This seems to be working.”
Eddie hums and bites kisses down his throat to latch onto his favorite spot.
Buck hadn’t bought the armchair with vigorous sex in mind, but it seems to be holding up rather well under the circumstances.
He shifts in Eddie’s lap, driving Eddie deeper inside him, his dick grazing Buck’s prostate. He gasps, and Eddie takes advantage by plunging his tongue into Buck’s mouth. He kisses Buck hungrily, skimming his hands down to his ass, holding him open, and Buck forgets about the errands he should be doing, ignoring the burning in his thighs from maintaining this position for so long.
Eddie has the remarkable ability to steal all his attention and make the outside world disappear.
“Fuck. You feel so good.” Eddie grinds his hips up, dirty and unhurried, igniting a fire in Buck’s belly and sending sparks dancing along his skin.
“Yeah, you—fucking hell. Oh.” Head falling back, he lets out a throaty moan he’s never heard himself make before. “Right there. Like that. Keep—keep doing that. Eddie, fuck.”
Eddie swears, then wraps a fist around Buck’s dick, stroking in time with his thrusts, hand tight, slick with precome. Perfect.
Buck doesn’t want this to end, but he can only resist Eddie’s touch for so long.
He keens when he comes, muscles straining, painting their stomachs. Eddie grips his hips and grinds against him, fucking up hard. His fluttering shut, eyelashes a dark smudge against his flushed cheeks, his face goes slack with a look of pure bliss.
Jesus, he’s beautiful.
Buck slumps against Eddie’s chest, smearing the mess between them. Winding his arms around Buck, Eddie kisses his temple, gentle fingers slipping over his sweaty back. Buck sighs and tucks his face into the crook of Eddie’s neck, breathing in his familiar scent, the cheap soap he buys and the Old Spice aftershave he wears because it reminds him of his grandfather.
He could stay like this forever, but there’s come, gross and sticky, drying on his stomach, and his leg protests being bent like this, a dull throb echoing across the line of his scar.
Eventually, they stand up, Buck a bit gingerly, and clean up, then start the hunt for their clothes, scattered from the door to the living room.
“Shirt,” he says, picking up Eddie’s t-shirt from under the dining table and tossing it to him. Eddie catches it with a little grin. He’d basically mauled Eddie as soon as he came in the door, stripping him and dragging him into the living room before saying hello. Not that Eddie was complaining. “Wanna grab dinner before we pick up Chris?”
“Sure. Rizzo’s?” He looks Buck up and down, his gaze bold and heated, derailing Buck’s thoughts completely. “Gotta admit,” he says, hooking a thumb in Buck’s belt loop, “I like watching you undress better than putting clothes on.”
Slinging an arm around Eddie’s waist, he laughs against Eddie’s mouth but cuts off with a groan as Eddie sucks on his lip. God, he could do this for hours, just kiss Eddie until their lips are numb, but they don’t have the time today before needing to get Chris from school and make it to the theater for the movie Chris has been talking about nonstop for two weeks.
As if conjured by his thoughts, there’s a knock on the door. Buck whines and drops his head to Eddie’s shoulder, mentally urging whoever it is to go away.
“You should get that,” Eddie tells him, scrubbing his hands through Buck’s hair and brushing a kiss to his temple.
“Ugh.” He sighs as there’s another knock. “Can’t I pretend I’m not home?”
“Buck.”
“Fine.” He walks over and checks the peephole. “It’s Maddie,” he says, eyebrows knitted in confusion. He glances over his shoulder at Eddie and panics. He’s the picture of post-sex, rumpled hazy, mouth red and kiss-swollen. There’s no way Maddie can see them together and not figure out what’s going on. “Uh, can you hide?”
“Hide?” Eddie snorts. “Where?”
“Buck?” Maddie calls, knocking again.
“Coming!” he answers, silently pleading with Eddie. “Go upstairs! Please,” he tells Eddie, performing a quick self-check to make sure he’s presentable. He doesn’t want to hide Eddie, necessarily, but “Eddie just had his dick up my ass five minutes ago” is not the conversation he wants to have with his sister.
“Are you serious?”
“Eddie!” he hisses, hand on the doorknob.
Rolling his eyes, Eddie heads upstairs. Eddie being here is easy to explain; Eddie looking well fucked a lot less so. Once he’s out of sight, probably in the bathroom scrolling through his phone, Buck opens the door and smiles widely at Maddie.
“Hi!” he says brightly. Too brightly. Jesus Christ, Buckley, take it down a notch.
“Hello.” Maddie squints at him, brushing past him in the doorway. “You okay? You sound a bit funny.”
He bites back a hysterical laugh and shuts the door, fighting to keep from darting his gaze upstairs. “I’m fine. I was just, uh, working out.”
“Okay.” She eyes the weight bench that hasn’t been used in weeks, then turns to face him. “If you say so.”
Buck mentally face-palms and steers her toward the kitchen. He lacks a couch for her to sit on and in light of what just happened, he’s hardly going to invite her to use the armchair.
Oh, shit.
What did they do with the condom?
He wasn’t exactly thinking coherently, after. He hopes Eddie disposed of it somehow.
A quick glance at the living room shows it’s not lying on the floor or immediately visible as damning evidence, and he lets out a long breath.
“You sure you’re okay? You just went kinda green.”
Forcing a laugh, he side-hugs her, then offers a drink.
“Just water, thanks.” She leans her elbows on the counter and watches him move around the kitchen.
Buck feels like he’s ten all over again, pretending he wasn’t getting bullied at school and losing sleep over it and Maddie sussing it out with little effort. He’s uncomfortably aware of how well she knows him and prays Eddie didn’t leave any noticeable marks on his neck. He resists the urge to cover his neck but hunches his shoulders reflexively, then sets the glass of water on the island in front of Maddie.
“Is this just a random social call or is something up?” he asks, gulping down half his own water.
“Jee left her favorite blanket here the other week. Bedtime has been a nightmare.”
“Oh. Why didn’t you say something sooner? I could’ve brought it to Chim.”
“We were trying to wean her off it. Trying to convince her that any blanket would work, ya know?”
“But she’s too smart for that, right?”
Maddie smiles crookedly and tucks her hair behind an ear. “Yeah.”
“That’s my girl,” he says delightedly, grinning.
“You’re only saying that because you haven’t had to put her to bed.” She shudders, and Buck laughs.
“I’ll grab it for you.”
He’d tucked it into his dresser for safekeeping, so he takes the stairs two at a time, deliberately not looking toward the bathroom. Maddie buries her nose in the purple fluffy blanket when he passes it to her. He’s glad he decided against washing it. Jee would probably throw a fit because it doesn’t smell right anymore.
“You all right?” he asks, laughing a little at the relief on her face. “It’s just a blanket.”
“This blanket determines whether or not I actually get any sleep tonight. Besides,” she says, side-eyeing him. “I remember you sleeping with your blankie until you were, what, thirteen?”
“Twelve.” He flushes, hoping Eddie’s not listening right now. “And it was all I had once you left.”
Her face softens, and she cradles his cheek, stroking gently before dropping her hand. There’s nothing she can say to that. They’ve covered this territory already, and there’s no point in bringing up all the ways their parents failed him, failed them. He had Maddie, and that was enough.
“I should head out,” she says, finishing her water and sliding the glass toward him.
“So soon?” It takes everything in him not to look upstairs. Eddie is waiting for him, but he doesn’t see Maddie enough.
Nodding, she slings her bag over her shoulder. “My shift starts soon.”
“Okay.” He sighs, walking her to the door. “But we need to do lunch sometime. Just the two of us.”
She grins and hugs him tight. “I’d love that.”
“Well, that was fun,” Eddie says once Maddie leaves, sauntering down the stairs with a roll to his hips. Buck’s mouth goes dry. “I haven’t hidden from someone’s family since I started dating Shannon and I snuck into her room after curfew.”
Shame curls around Buck’s ribs. “I’m sorry. I just—”
Eddie stops in front of him and presses the tips of his fingers to his mouth. “Buck. It’s okay. I’m not mad.”
Buck frowns. He should be mad. Buck's mad at himself, for not being an adult and telling people the truth. Sometimes for getting into this situation in the first place.
“Buck.” Eddie backs him against the door, caging him in, and mouths at the underside of his jaw. “It’s okay. I get it.”
“Yeah?” He fits his hands to Eddie’s hips and pulls him closer.
“Mm-hm.” He kisses Buck, soft and short, then smiles. “You’ll just have to make it up to me,” he murmurs against Buck’s mouth, skimming fingertips down his chest to the button on his pants. He twists it in his fingers but doesn’t flick it open, a tease that Buck plays right into, whining into their kiss.
“How do you propose I do that?” he asks when Eddie lets him up for air.
Eddie smirks, then threads his fingers in Buck's hair, scratching at his scalp. Buck melts, closing his eyes, and angling into the touch.
“I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
“I do have a good imagination.”
Eddie laughs and kisses him, more insistently this time, nipping at his bottom lip before licking into his mouth. And while some guilt still lingers, Buck melts into it, bunching up Eddie’s shirt to get at his smooth, warm skin, and pressing a palm to the small of his back.
He reminds himself that this is Eddie, his best friend. This is different from anything he’s had in the past. In many ways, it’s more intimate than whatever he had with Taylor. They’re having fun and no one’s getting hurt.
Everything’s fine.
^^^
Buck lifts his head from his folded arms when something heavy lands on the table next to him.
“For your face,” Eddie explains when Buck simply blinks at the ice pack laying there.
“Thanks,” he grunts, then hisses as he presses the ice pack to his busted lip.
“Keep it on,” Eddie insists, covering Buck’s hand with his until he’s sure Buck won’t remove it. “And this is just because,” he adds and thunks an iced coffee in front of him.
“When did you leave to get coffee?” He’s usually sharply aware of Eddie, but his focus has taken a hit today.
“Just now.” He shrugs and reaches out like he’s going to touch Buck but abruptly shoves his hands in his pockets, glancing around the loft at their coworkers milling about.
“Where’s our coffee?” Chim asks from where he’s sitting at the island, stealing bits of the vegetables Bobby’s chopping for whatever he’s making.
“You didn’t get injured,” Eddie replies, sliding into the chair next to Buck.
Chim scoffs, a carrot tucked into the corner of his mouth. “It’s barely a scratch.”
“I got stitches!” Buck protests.
It’s hardly anything compared to other injuries he’s sustained on the job, but it hurts like a motherfucker every time he moves his mouth. A woman’s ginormous diamond ring caught him in the bottom lip in the process of removing her from her crumpled BMW, and she apologized several times while they cut her out of the driver’s seat. In the moment, Buck worried more about her crushed leg and the steering wheel wedged against her chest than the sting on his lip. It wasn’t until they packed her off to the hospital and Eddie stopped him from climbing in the truck with a hand around his wrist and a shocked “holy shit!” that Buck realized it was more than a simple cut. After a trip to the ER and six stitches, he’s been feeling miserable all afternoon.
“Don’t even try, Chim,” Hen says, swiping a pepper from Bobby’s pile. He purses his lips, but Hen just smiles sweetly. “Buck will always be his favorite.”
Buck’s cheeks burn with heat, despite the ice on his mouth, and he grabs the coffee to hopefully cool down. It tastes amazing, with just a hint of caramel and extra sugar. Perfect. Except…
“Ow,” he mutters, the stitches pulling as he wraps his lips around the straw.
“Oh.” Eddie’s face falls, a frown pinching his eyebrows together. “Sorry. I didn’t think—”
“It’s fine.” He cradles the cup close to his chest, as if Eddie would snatch it out of his hands, and takes another sip, wincing at the pain that shoots through his lip. The caffeine hit is totally worth it.
Eating is harder, however, even though Bobby’s roast melts in your mouth and he mashed all the veggies. Such a small injury shouldn’t cause this much trouble.
The evening and half the night crawl by with very few calls coming in. Buck hesitates to use the Q-word, but he says it in his head so he hopefully doesn’t anger the universe.
Hen and Chim play cards. Bobby catches up on his endless pile of paperwork. Buck tries to read, but his lip hurts too much to concentrate so he ends up bothering everybody else instead. After he beats Chim too many times at poker, Chim shoos him off. He collapses onto the couch next to Eddie. He’s pretending to watch TV but really looking up cat memes on his phone and half dozing, curled up in the corner of the couch with his boots up on the coffee table.
He really is beautiful, from the tips of his spiky hair to the swell of his biceps, straining against his sleeves, to his trim waist, and down to his bony ankles. Buck has to sit on his hands so he doesn’t touch him. That’s getting harder lately, holding back when they’re around other people. All he wants to do is kiss him, constantly. But he’s a responsible adult. He can keep his hands to himself while on shift.
“Hey,” he says, knocking his knee against Eddie’s.
Eddie snorts awake, blinking owlishly at him. It’s terribly adorable. Buck digs his nails into his thighs so he doesn’t crawl into Eddie’s lap and kiss him stupid.
Eddie rubs a palm down his face, then cocks his head at Buck. “What?”
“I’m bored. Talk to me.” He gives Eddie his cutest smile and watches Eddie fall for it, just like he knew he would.
Facing Buck, he inches closer, his knee pressed against Buck’s thigh. “And talk about what? The laundry I need to do? Or the bills I need to pay this weekend?”
“Sure. Whatever you want.” He rests his cheek on the back of the couch and dares to skim a finger over the bumps of Eddie’s knuckles. “Just like listening to you.”
The amusement in Eddie’s eyes softens into something fonder, and Buck swallows. For one frozen, crazy moment, Buck thinks Eddie’s going to throw caution to the wind and kiss him, here in the loft in front of everyone, but he blinks and sits back, glancing around to make sure no one saw.
Buck nudges him. “So tell me about your laundry. How many loads do you think it’ll take?”
Laughing, he shakes his head. “You can’t possibly wanna hear about this.”
“You’re wrong. I want—” He stops before he says something truly embarrassing. “Whatever you want. Just talk.”
“Okay.” He settles back and grins. “I think I’ll start by separating the lights from the darks…”
Around 2 a.m. after they’re both too tired to keep talking, he slumps into a bunk, but his attempts to sleep go nowhere. His lip throbs, and his mind keeps straying to Eddie and the rare alone time they’ll have with Chris going to a friend’s house after school. A whole day to themselves. What a luxury.
Buck throws back the covers and wanders out to the app bay. As if conjured by his thoughts, he finds Eddie standing by the doors, staring out at the darkened night.
“Thought you were sleeping,” Eddie says when Buck shuffles over and drapes himself over Eddie’s side.
“Couldn’t,” he replies around a yawn, burying his head against Eddie’s shoulder and closing his eyes. His lip twinges. He should probably ice it again, but being here with Eddie dulls the pain.
Eddie reaches up and runs a hand through Buck’s hair. “Me either.”
It’s one of those weird nights where nothing’s going on and he should be able to fall right to sleep, one of the nights he longs for when they get call after call and hardly get back to the station before they’re racing out again. Instead, his thoughts tread in circles and sleep eludes him.
He presses a kiss to Eddie’s shoulder. He shouldn’t be clinging to him like this, in public, but he can’t muster the energy to care right now.
They stay like that for a few minutes, Buck basking in Eddie’s warmth and the hush of the station.
“How’s your lip?” Eddie asks.
“Hurts. Feels like it’s gonna split open every time I move my mouth.”
“If you didn’t talk so much.”
“Hey!” He pinches Eddie’s side, and Eddie laughs, sharp and golden. It wraps around Buck’s chest and eases some of the tension he didn’t realize he was carrying.
“Let me see.” Shifting, he holds Buck’s face and turns him into the light. “It looks all right. No further damage. You’ll be okay. Should ice it again, though.”
“Yeah. Does it look terrible?”
“Are you fishing for compliments, Buck?”
He smiles, ignoring how that makes his stitches pull. “Maybe?”
“You’re still pretty,” Eddie assures him. “Just makes you look rugged.” He trails his thumb over Buck’s bottom lip and gently presses on the sore spot. Buck whimpers.
“I’m more upset that I can’t kiss you,” he murmurs, darting his tongue out to lick Eddie’s thumb. “I had plans for after shift.”
Eddie’s eyes darken, and he leans in to press a soft kiss to the undamaged corner of Buck’s mouth. “We can do other things,” he says, smirking.
“Oh? Like what?” Despite his throbbing lip and the fact that they’re in the app bay where anyone can walk up at any time, Buck sways closer, his nose brushing Eddie’s cheek.
“You’ll just have to wait to see.” He squeezes Buck’s hip and steps back, a devilish smile curling up his mouth at Buck’s pout. “Just a couple more hours.”
The alarm blares through the station, and Buck sags in relief. He could use the distraction. Not that he wants anybody to be hurt, but, well, Eddie is hot as fuck, and Buck needs a reminder sometimes that he can’t maul him in public.
Especially tonight, holy shit.
“You’re coming home with me, right?” Eddie asks, slamming his locker closed.
“That was the plan.” He tongues at his wound, ignoring the pointed look Eddie gives him. He’s so happy this shift is over. He thought it would never end.
“You’re still up for it?”
“I can for sure get it up for you,” he says, waggling his eyebrows.
Eddie rolls his eyes and kicks at his ankle. “Grab your stuff, idiot.”
They stop for breakfast on the way home and as soon as they’re through Eddie’s front door, his whole body relaxes, sloughing off the tension and weirdness of the shift.
“Come on.” Eddie takes his hand and leads him to his bedroom.
Buck flops onto the bed with a groan, then grunts when Eddie lands on top of him, covering him like a living weighted blanket.
“Oof. You shouldn’t have had that last piece of bacon.”
“Shut up.” He pinches Buck's side, then leans up on his elbows as Buck laughs. “Wanna nap first?”
He slides his hands under Eddie’s shirt and trips his fingertips up the knobs of his spine. “No. Been thinking about this for hours.”
“Yeah?” Eddie smiles, smug and so pretty, and nips at Buck’s chin.
“Mm-hm.” Gripping the back of Eddie’s neck, he rolls his hips up and drinks in the moan that punches out of Eddie. “Wish I could kiss you.” The pain might be worth it, even if he pops his stitches. He can never get enough of kissing Eddie.
“You’ve had a rough time of it, huh?” he says, stroking Buck’s cheekbone. “Let me take care of you.”
Taking care of him seems to be Eddie-speak for I’m gonna drive you crazy by kissing every inch of your body and not let you touch me.
By the time Eddie rolls the condom on Buck and straddles his thighs, Buck is practically sobbing with need. They don’t often have the opportunity to be indulgent like this, and he loves and hates this side of Eddie. He can only be so patient before all his nerves fray. But the release will be even sweeter.
Eddie lines up and sinks down, bottom lip caught between his teeth. Buck’s hands flex against the sheets, his thighs trembling with the effort of holding back. Eddie rocks his hips, starting up a slow pace, steady and controlled.
“Can I touch you?” his fingers ache from his grip on the sheets, from holding back. “Eddie, please.”
“Yeah. Yes. Touch me.”
Buck chokes out a noise he doesn’t think he’s made before and grabs Eddie’s ass, urging him to speed up. Eddie smirks and circles his hips, drawing a low moan from Buck.
“Fuck, you feel amazing.” Buck digs his heels into the mattress and thrusts up hard.
Eddie swears, scratching his nails down Buck’s chest, thumb grazing a nipple.
“I really want to kiss you right now,” Buck pants, shifting restlessly against the pillow and squeezing Eddie’s hip.
“Me too.” He braces on Buck’s shoulder and rolls his hips, and they both groan. “We’ll just have to—fuck—make up for it when your lip heals.”
“I—fuck, Eddie.” He wishes he could take a picture and show Eddie how hot he is right now, head thrown back, messy hair falling in his eyes, skin flushed, muscles flexing as he rides Buck’s dick like he was born for it.
“I’m close,” he gasps. He grinds down, taking Buck deeper, and makes the sexiest little whimper-sigh.
Buck's hips hitch, and he wraps a hand around Eddie’s dick, jacking him a few times before Eddie cries out and spills over Buck’s hand and onto his stomach. Buck’s orgasm slams into him a minute later, Eddie clenching around him.
Eddie drops beside him, body completely limp, their legs tangled. Buck manages to drag off the condom and toss it in the trashcan by the bed.
“Holy fuck,” he says breathlessly.
Eddie giggles and nuzzles Buck’s shoulder until he wraps his arm around him, fingers lazily grazing the dip above the swell of Eddie’s ass.
He didn’t know sex could be like this. Fun and intense. Sweet. But everything with Eddie is different and unexpected.
Eddie presses a kiss to his shoulder, then grins up at him. Buck’s lips tingle, imagining kissing Eddie’s smug smile away.
“That was amazing,” Eddie says, brushing a kiss to the corner of Buck’s mouth, so close to where Buck wants him. Buck whimpers.
“Gonna kiss the hell out of you when my lip is better.”
“Is that a promise?”
“Yes,” Buck growls, and Eddie laughs, eyes crinkling.
“Can’t wait.”
^^^
Eddie is, without a doubt, the best friend Buck’s ever had.
Of course, Buck’s raging jealousy nearly ruined everything before their friendship could spark to life.
Seeing Eddie in the locker room, seemingly at ease and more knowledgeable, stirred up all his fears and insecurities. At that point, he still thought he might get fired after one more screwup, and Eddie waltzed in looking like Buck’s replacement. And then he was nice and actually good at his job, and Buck’s fear morphed into anger and exploded all over Eddie.
It took a grenade and an ambulance blowing up for Buck to get his head out of his ass and see Eddie for what he really was, a warm, genuine, capable, loving man. Buck chipped away at Eddie’s walls and together they learned to show each other their soft insides.
They’ve seen each other through some dark times and some truly horrific things and shared the good days too. They’ve laughed and comforted, become so entangled that Buck doesn’t know how he’d survive without him.
And as a bonus, Eddie brought him Chris, who is amazing. Chris is smart and funny and loves random facts as much as Buck does. He’s bright and happy and makes Buck’s life immeasurably better just by being in it.
Eddie is his best friend, but Chris owns a piece of his heart.
Right now, however, he wants to bury them in this immense pile of laundry and leave them there.
“Diazes!” Two heads swivel toward him, Eddie with his mouth open and Chris wide-eyed. “Great. Now that I have your attention,” he says as they stare at him. “Chris, your dad didn’t throw your shirt away or deliberately ruin it in the laundry or anything else.”
“But—” Chris tries at the same time Eddie says, “I told y—”
Buck holds up his hands, cutting them both off. Dealing with a tween’s dad is sometimes as frustrating as dealing with a tween.
“Chris, when was the last time you wore the shirt?”
Chris scrunches his nose, thinking. Buck has no idea why this particular shirt, gray with pictures of beakers and the periodic table on it, is so important, but Chris has been in a tizzy about it all day. When he couldn’t find it, it alternately led to bickering with Eddie and giving him the silent treatment. Buck will never admit that Chris is adorable sitting on the couch with his arms crossed and pouting.
“Last week,” Chris answers finally. “I wore it for science club.”
“Good. Okay.” He eyes the pile of dirty clothes they’ve searched through at least five times. “Carla hasn’t done laundry since then, right?”
“No,” Eddie says slowly. “Not that she mentioned anyway.”
“Hm. Oh, hey. You had a sleepover at Liam’s that night, didn’t you?” Chris nods, and Buck lifts an eyebrow. “Do you think you maybe left it there?”
Chris’s face brightens. “Oh!”
It would hurt if Buck bangs his head against the wall, he reminds himself.
After a phone call to Liam confirms the shirt is at his house, Buck claps his hands and turns to his boys.
“Now that that’s taken care of, what do we want for dinner?” he asks.
Of course, Eddie says pizza while Chris yells, “Chinese!”
Buck sighs and puts his hands on his hips, feeling the full force of two sets of Diaz puppy dog eyes trained on him.
“Chinese,” he decides, laughing as Chris whoops.
“Oh, the betrayal,” Eddie laments, holding his hand over his heart and swooning onto his bed. “I knew you’d take his side.”
“Because I’m his favorite,” Chris says, smug.
“You’re both so dramatic,” Buck says, but he can’t repress a smile.
He pulls Eddie to his feet and herds them out to the living room.
After enduring arguments between Eddie and Chris about getting egg rolls (yes, Chris insists) and what movie to watch (Iron Man, Eddie’s pick), and whether Chris can stay up late (no), Buck sighs as quiet blankets the house. He stretches out on the couch, tracking Eddie as he comes in from the kitchen. He didn’t bother with gel this morning, and his hair falls over his forehead, soft and messy. He wears worn jeans with a hole in the knee and a t-shirt that used to be Buck’s before Eddie stole it and refused to give it back, claiming it wouldn’t fit over Buck’s massive shoulders anymore anyway. He looks cuddly and sweet.
Buck grunts as Eddie flops on top of him, tucking his arms against Buck’s side and gently head-butting him in the chin.
“I’m sorry you got stuck in the middle of our shit,” Eddie tells him.
“You know I don’t mind.” He runs a hand up Eddie’s back and brushes a soft kiss to his cheek.
“Mm.” He lifts his head for a proper kiss, pressing close. “Still. I’m sorry.” He kisses Buck again, light, barely-there kisses that do nothing more than tease.
Buck doesn’t know how to tell Eddie that he’d happily play mediator to all their disagreements, that it means more to him than he can put into words how much Eddie trusts him with the parts of himself that no one else gets to see, that even his and Chris’s pettiest arguments show more care than Buck ever got from his parents, so he just deepens their kiss until Eddie is panting into his mouth, hard-on rubbing insistently against Buck’s.
“We should move to the bedroom,” Eddie gasps between kisses, rocking his hips in a way that has Buck’s skin catching fire.
“Yeah.” They should be more careful than this, with Chris just down the hall, but Eddie’s mouth, hot and urgent against his, scrambles his thoughts, narrowing his focus to the quickest way to get Eddie off.
“Buck. Bedroom.” Pushing at Buck’s chest, he licks kiss-swollen lips and sucks in a deep breath. “I’ll let you fuck me.”
He arches an eyebrow and strokes Eddie’s sides, right above his waistband, and smirks as Eddie’s next breath shudders out of him. “Oh, yeah?”
“It’ll be a huge sacrifice, but I—” He inhales sharply when Buck cups his dick through his jeans. “I’m willing to make it.”
“It’ll be huge, all right,” Buck says, waggling his eyebrows.
Eddie snorts, then bends to kiss him. “Idiot. Come on, bedroom.”
Buck steals one more kiss, then rolls to his feet and follows Eddie down the hall.
It’s such a short journey compared to the distances they’ve already traveled together.