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Eddie and Buck are trying to stay professional, hiding their relationship so it doesn't cause problems for the 188.
But it's never that easy…
One
It's two weeks after Buck and Tommy's breakup, Eddie finding out he's gay, Eddie and Buck hooking up and them deciding to be in a discreet relationship as not to change the work dynamic. They wanted work to stay the same since their relationship could complicate things or make people treat them differently, nothing should change in the 118 if they keep secret and keep their mouths shut. Eddie isn't ashamed of his Sexuality or of Buck but this relationship was a big and new thing and they hadn't even told Chris about their relationship because they decided to wait until the one month mark in their relationship.
Their first slip up happens on a Thursday night. Eddie and Buck had a disagreement that morning about Buck cleaning up after himself. It was a cause of tension at work because whenever Buck left a plate or cup sitting out Eddie would give him a bitch face that instantly made Buck clean up after himself to prove a point. It was getting tense in their 48 hour shift!
At dinner time, spaghetti and meatballs, Buck and Eddie’s silent argument had reached a peak. No word about the cleaning disagreement was ever spoken but it was clear to both of them what they were trying to get across. Buck was eating like a mess to annoy Eddie and it was working, he was purposely dropping spaghetti on his shirt and excusing himself by saying he just needed a nap since he was tired. Eddie was staring so hard that pretty soon Buck would have a hole in between his eyes from the pure annoyance of Eddie’s stare. Bobby was finally the one to bring this weird thing up.
“Okay, what is going on?” Bobby blurted out, putting his fork down.
“Finally…” Everyone else at the table said in almost unison, glad someone broke this weird tension.
“Nothing, just waiting for Buck to clean up his messes” Eddie continued to eat, his plate still mostly full.
“I will get around to cleaning, just not right at this moment” Buck rolled his eyes, finishing his food with most of it on his shirt on purpose.
“I'll believe it when I see it”
Everyone was dumbfounded by this, these two were so obviously fighting but we're trying not to admit. It made dinner awkward, Hen and Chimney are trying to figure out wtf is going on but meanwhile Bobby and Ravi were wondering what was going on in the two men's heads. This awkward situation was broken when Buck threw his fork down and then walked away while keeping eye contact with Eddie which is very funny when Buck walks down the stairs then back up for one final stare.
“What the hell was that?” Hen said as everyone else stood up.
Everyone made their way to the kitchen island to clean up their dishes.
“Me and Buck got into a fight because he won't clean up after himself, clothes all over my house” Eddie told the story, moving his hands around quite a lot.
“Why are his clothes at your house?” Chimney questioned, arching one of his eyebrows.
Eddie turned slightly red, pushing the redness away quickly. He pushed his lips together until they turned white, he was trying to think of an excuse because telling the 118 before Chris was not Buck and Eddie’s plan at all!
“A pipe burst at his place, he needed a place to crash” As Eddie said that he pulled his phone out, quickly texting Buck the lie.
“Really, I've spoken to him a lot and he hasn't mentioned a broken pipe” Bobby said as he washed the dishes.
“He probably just forgot to mention it” Eddie said, looking over at Buck's left dishes at the table.
Soon Buck walked back upstairs, grabbing his dishes and putting them in the sink while still staring at Eddie, narrowing his eyes at him when the dishes landed in the hot water. Eddie rolled his eyes at Buck, this petty fight was getting exhausting.
“Oh look, he finally cleans up after himself” Eddie said sarcastically, smiling at him with a shit eating grin.
“Yeah, shocker right?” It's a rhetoric question, Buck is being petty in this situation. He will clean up when he and Eddie get home.
Buck spent basically everyday at Eddie’s but he kept his apartment so Maddie and Jee can come over without anyone finding out before Chris, it was the right thing to do.
“I'm going to take a nap.” Buck said as he walked away.
“Same” Eddie followed after him, getting Buck to look back at him while his grin got bigger.
Eddie and Buck walked into the bunk room. They had new mattresses on the bunks, they were gifted to the highest performing station with the best records so it was shocking that the 118 got them. Eddie and Buck laid down on two beds next to each other, staring at each other in the separate beds. The two started to smile, knowing this fight was stupid.
“I'm sorry, I'll clean when we get home” Buck finally said, earning a wider smile from Eddie.
“Finally! But just so you know, you ain't getting laid for the whole weekend for your pettiness” Eddie pointed at Buck, emphasising that he meant it.
“Aw come on! I never meant for this to go this far!” Buck complained, sitting up only slightly.
“Well too bad, because I ain't doing those things you like. Like when you get-” Eddie was soon cut off by approaching footsteps.
The two covered themselves in the blankets quickly and faked sleeping, just in time because a moment later the rest of the 118 entered as they decided to follow the men's lead in taking a nap so they could be ready for their next job. Buck and Eddie tried so hard not to break the act.
“I hope those boys get this fight sorted out or else I'll lock ‘em in a room until they either kill each other or make up!” Hen stated, her tone being serious and satirical.
Buck and Eddie grinned when she said that, but they hid their smiles in their pillows so the 188 couldn't see them. they can't wait to actually tell them all when they're ready.
Two
Eddie stayed over at Buck's last night for some personal time together. They had drinks, margaritas, then made their way up to the loft for some fun that ended with Eddie falling asleep with both his hands handcuffed to the bed and Buck fast asleep on top of him. Their drunken activities made them sleep in so they missed Maddie's call and texts about her and Chimney coming over with a load of clean laundry that Maddie had gratefully done for Buck after the washing machine broke in his apartment building.
The two men only knew of her arrival when Chimneys knocks on the door woke them both up, they knew it was Chimney because he had taken up singing and knocking the Harry Potter theme while he knocked on the door. Buck sat up, knowing that when he doesn't answer Maddie will use her spare key to open the door herself so it only gave him a minute for him to get dressed, uncuff Eddie and hide him before getting the clean laundry from his sister. Buck sprang into action while Eddie watched from bed, his naked form only hidden by a thin white sheet and his leg covering his crotch. Buck then searches for the key, he threw it last night and now it was gone at the worst time possible.
“Where's the key?” Eddie said, slightly panicking.
“I can't find it!!” Buck replied in a silent yell as to not alert Maddie and Chimney.
The sound of the key in the lock was unmistakable. Buck panics before taking out every blanket he owns and covering Eddie with them all, making sure he can breathe without being seen from any angle. Eddie grunted as soon as the blankets hit him but he didn't complain because he heard the front door open. Buck rushed downstairs to see Maddie putting the laundry down and staring wildly at Eddie and Buck's margarita leftovers.
“Did a margarita bomb go off in your kitchen?” Maddie said, picking up the pitchers and putting them in the sink.
“Yeah sorry, got a little too drunk.” Buck leaned on the kitchen island, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Must've gotten really drunk!” Chimney picked up the margarita recipe the two men had used. “This is enough margarita for two people!”
As soon as Chimney said that all four people in the apartment went silent, Maddie and Chimney both got on their tiptoes to see if they could spot anyone in the loft whilst Eddie hoped they wouldn't come up the stairs. Buck looked at two with disappointed stares before grabbing a nearby magazine, rolling it up and hitting them both. He practically just taps Maddie while delivering two big hits to Chimney. Chimney swears under his breath after the second blow while Maddie contains her laughter since she could burst out into giggles about it with Josh at work and also discuss whatever was going on here with Buck.
“Stop snooping!” Buck said in an obviously annoyed tone.
“We're not… we're observing your relationship situation” Maddie said, a drawn out pause was added for comedic effect.
“Well here's the news, I'm in one and the person I'm in isn't ready for our relationship to be public because of personal reasons” Buck said that all very straightforward.
“Alright man, sorry we tried to butt in” Chimney said, going over to Buck and patting him on the back. “Just glad you're putting yourself back out there”
Buck smiled at them both for understanding why he wasn't sharing. He picked up his laundry and ran upstairs, putting it on his dresser then finally finding the key which was behind a framed photo with a stock image In it because Buck was too lazy to print a new picture for it. He picks up the key before rushing back downstairs to say his goodbyes to Maddie and Chimney.
“Alright, see you later Buck!” Maddie gives her brother a side hug before opening the front door.
“Yep, see you later Buckley!” Chimney smiled at him, he then stepped forward and yelled upstairs. “BYE STRANGER!!”
“Goodbye…” The goodbye from Eddie was loud but muffled enough to not know who it was.
Right after the front door closed Buck ran upstairs, taking the pile of blankets off Eddie and climbing on top of him to get the handcuffs off Eddie. The cuffs weren't fluffy so it was going to cause Eddie to have some bruising on his wrists in the following days but Eddie didn't care at all. As soon as Buck was done uncuffing Eddie he sat down on top of Eddie, reminiscent of their last night's activities and it got even more familiar when Buck felt something poking at him. Buck rolled his eyes before leaning towards Eddie and kissing him passionately.
Three
Buck and Eddie had finally told Christopher about their relationship and he was so supportive, saying how he always knew and called it years ago. Christopher kept up this joke until the call ended, Chris was planning on coming home in January so he wouldn't get to see his dad's for a little while but he was getting prepared for the day he and his dad can be together in peace.
At work the 118 have been trying to get clues on who Buck was dating, all they knew was he was a man and he was a little shorter than him. Buck loved seeing Eddie’s smirks as the 118 pried for more information that they weren't going to get because Buck is a good boyfriend and knows that too much can give it away when Eddie still doesn't feel right about telling everyone. Hen and Chimney were asking for more information, trying to get anything out of Buck just because their day had been so qu- slow… so very slow.
“Is he older?” Hen asked.
“Yes but not by a lot” Buck responded, sipping his coffee.
“Is he bilingual?” Chimney asked, earning a strange stare from Hen. “It means he's smart, two languages isn't easy” Hen shrugged, agreeing before looking back to Buck.
“He actually is, it's very sexy” Buck said, laughing at Chimney and Hen’s slight disgust.
“Has he met clipboard Buck yet?” Chimney asked, Him and Hen raising one of their eyebrows.
“Yes he has, and he likes him!” Buck said as he finished his coffee, standing up to put the cup into the sink.
Eddie, who was sitting on the couch reading a book, could feel himself turn red at Buck's words because it was 100% true. Eddie loved how bossy he was when he got his hands on a clipboard, it was a strange yet welcomed revelation into Eddie’s life because he's had so many in the last few months that liking your boyfriend to instruct you on what to do to him during sex wasn't the worst one. Eddie continued to listen in on the conversation, he was so focused on Buck's answers that he hadn't realised he was still on the same page of his book until Chimney came over and jokingly turned the page for Eddie.
“Seeing as you can't do this yourself-” Chimney said as he leaned over Eddie, backing up from him and smiling.
“Sorry… got lost in thought” Eddie blurted out, keeping his eyes away from everyone.
“Are you also trying to figure out who Buck is dating from his vague clues?” Hen said, turning to Buck with an exhausted expression on her face.
“Well I'm sorry that he's a private guy!” Buck shrugged, he then watched Hen and Chimney pull out their phones. “He has social media but rarely uses it so if you're looking for out of focus pictures, he's your guy”
Buck laughed, Eddie rolled his eyes at his comment. Eddie is great at taking pictures but it only seems to be when he doesn't want to post a picture that it turns out to be a good picture and Buck knew that to be true. Eddie doesn't post much because whenever he goes onto any social media the thing he was just PRIVATELY talking about is suddenly being advertised to him and it freaks him out so much that he avoids those apps as much as humanly possible, but he will go onto twitter to like Buck's posts and comment something every once and a while just to support his boyfriend.
Buck, Hen and Chimney soon fell back into conversation, it moved from Buck's boyfriend to baking because he has gotten incredibly good at it. Buck was doing new things with cookies everyday, it seemed like every morning now that Eddie woke up to the smell of cookies and one shoved into his mouth before he couldn't ask what kind they were. Eddie’s favourite was definitely the chocolate chunk drizzle ones, which were MASSIVE cookies filled with what seemed to be a chocolate bar each and then chocolate drizzled on after they cooled. Eddie recalled this memory with a lot of joy.
Eddie is happy that they aren't talking about him anymore, he can finally go back to reading his book in peace.
Four
It's Christmas soon, the date is the 18th of December, decorations are up and music is playing everywhere. Eddie Diaz has volunteered to host a Christmas party for the 118 and others, the party is in five hours. The tree is up and decorated, the smell of a peppermint candle is filling the air, gifts under the tree for the white elephant and the faint sound of ‘Last Christmas’ was coming from Eddie’s bedroom. Eddie and Buck were in that bedroom.
One hour earlier
Buck showed up an hour ago whilst Eddie was out getting party food so Buck snuck into his bedroom for an early Christmas present.
It was an exciting sight for Eddie to open his bedroom door to. There was Buck wrapped in red ribbon and big bow covering his crotch area, he was gesturing for Eddie to join him while the Christmas music playing was ‘all I want for Christmas is you’ softly played. Buck didn't even have time to say Merry Christmas because by the time he looked back at Eddie his clothes we're off, he should've gotten an award for how quickly he took them off, and in what seemed like a split second Eddie was unwrapping Buck from his ribbon to see the man underneath properly.
“Merry Christmas” Buck grinned up at the man. “Hope you like your present”
“Best present ever” Eddie whispered into Buck's ear.
Back into current time
The lovers were too wrapped up in them being together that the sound of Athena's car pulling up outside the house wasn't heard until her fist hard banged against the door. Buck and Eddie had prepared for this moment sp it was a simple job, The two get dressed in their clothes from before, Buck opens the window and climbs out of it then hides at the side of the house while Eddie walks out of his bedroom and to the front door.
This went perfectly, Eddie put on his Christmas sweater and opened the door to Bobby and Athena standing there with grins on their faces. Eddie invited them inside, going to close the door and catching a small glimpse of Buck running to his car whilst holding the red ribbon in his hands. He got into his Jeep which was parked not far down the street and drove away like the police were on his tail and he was a wanted killer. By the time Eddie turned to look back at Athena and Bobby they were gone, in the kitchen looking through the items Eddie had bought for the Christmas party and not looking very impressed by his selection.
“Really? Pre-made everything? You can't even make gingerbread?” Athena looked so disappointed.
Eddie now got why they were here, even though Eddie was hosting the party Bobby and Athena couldn't help but be in control of some faction of the situation which didn't bother Eddie but he would've loved a heads up of their arrival. Eddie just stood there as he watched Athena pick up every item, her gaze getting more and more irritated whenever she picked up a pre-made item that could easily be made. Eddie then noticed she and Bobby had brought along a large bag filled with many different ingredients and other things. As Eddie listened to Athena talk he grabbed a beer for himself and a coke for Bobby who kept glancing at his sweater.
“Why can't people these days be bothered with home made food!” Athena said that, not as a question but a statement. “Are you too busy to make food?”
Eddie took a deep breath, he was too busy an hour ago but now he was as free as possible and he could cook his own food.
“Fine, let's make some fresh stuff” Eddie shrugs his shoulders, his own smile meeting Athena's smile.
*
The party is going amazing, White Elephant went amazing with everyone having a strange but appreciated gift. The fresh food was a big hit, everyone said that it was the best food they had ever had and so many people had taken pictures of the recipes to use for themselves. Eddie bought a fair amount of alcohol, he didn't want anyone getting completely drunk and needing to stay in his house when he only wanted one person staying here right now. Buck was walking around the house holding a beer and wearing a headband with a mistletoe hanging off it.
Buck was walking around and jokingly asking for kisses, everyone got a good laugh out of his headband and Athena even gave him a kiss on the cheek with many compliments. Eddie is enjoying the night and he's planning something, something big that is going to be one step closer to Buck and Eddie living as their true selves around their friends but it's only one step and not the last. Eddie soon taps a spoon on his beer bottle gaining everyone's attention as he stands in front of the fireplace with all eyes on him, if Eddie from a few years ago saw him now he would have a panic attack.
“I have something I need to share…” Eddie clears his throat, his confession falls out of his mouth like it's the easiest thing to say. “I'm gay”
Everyone stewed with that information for a moment, Buck sat on the couch giving Eddie a supportive thumbs up and a discreet wink. No one spoke for about half a minute before a tipsy Josh spoke up.
“I called it!!!” Josh sounds victorious, he raises his arms in the air and grins wide. “Knew it from the moment I saw you, gay recognises gay”
Eddie began to laugh at Josh’s statement and soon so did everyone else, having a fun time with Josh's drunken words. During the laughter everyone stood up and began to hug Eddie, saying they were proud of him and telling him that they were happy that he was confident enough to just say it out loud with no hesitation. Eddie was impressed with his own bravery, as soon as the words ‘I'm gay’ left his mouth it was like a wave of empowerment came over him and he felt like he could walk straight over to Buck and kiss him but then he realised that's not the right thing to do right now.
Soon after the congratulations had died down the party went back to normal as almost everyone gathered in the dining room to build a big gingerbread house together, using any icing and candy from Eddie’s kitchen. So whilst everyone was distracted by the gingerbread house Eddie and Buck snuck into Eddie’s room, Eddie grabbing onto Buck's waist. Eddie pushes Buck against his bedroom wall, giving him small kisses over his face.
“What are you doing Eddie?” Buck smirks at him.
“I just want to use my Christmas present.” Eddie said in a flirtatious tone, he then looked up at Buck's mistletoe headband. “Maybe a kiss under the mistletoe”
“Well, instead of a kiss, how about…” Buck gets down on his knees, the mistletoe on his headband hitting against Eddie’s waist. “something different?”
This is the best Christmas present Eddie has ever been given.
Five
“How about my friend Dean? He's bi” Chimney showed Eddie another picture of a man. “No wait… he's already dating someone”
The only downside to coming out and being “single” is that all of your friends now try to set you up with people. It has been exhausting being offered to be set up on a date with practically everyone he knew. Karen and Chimney have been the worst for this but he doesn't want to tell them to stop because every time he gets annoyed it's quickly replaced with gratitude that they are finding good people for Eddie because they all said he deserved a good man. Unbeknownst to them he had gotten the best man he could possibly ask for sitting across from him at the dining table at the station, jokingly complimenting every man that the team showed to Eddie. Christopher, who has been home for three months now after he showed up on Christmas day during the 118’s Christmas shift, was finding this situation incredibly funny because he knew the truth.
This matchmaking mission didn't end at the station, it extended to jobs they went on and it was really not appropriate to do whilst someone has their hand stuck in an electrical box and could die with one wrong move. Eddie was trying to ignore these comments but it was getting hard, even the man he was rescuing was mentioning how he had a friend who was gay and was saying he could give Eddie his number. It was getting exhausting, and never ending, it didn't even stop when they got back into the truck.
“I got a friend named Steve, he's single- no wait… he's already dating an Eddie” Ravi was going to show him a picture but stopped when he remembered.
“Well good for Steve” Eddie said a little bluntly.
“What even is your type? That's a thing we should know!” Chimney said, looking through pictures of possible Bachelors for Eddie.
“I like someone a little taller than me and outgoing, someone who will make plans and take the lead.” Eddie was vaguely describing Buck.
“That sounds like Buck.” Hen said in a joking tone.
“Well too bad Buck is already dating someone, getting you a date would be easier if you were single.” Chimney’s gaze went to Eddie then to Buck as he spoke.
“Yeah no, Eddie’s not my type” Buck jokes.
“Rude!” Eddie joked, looking fake offended.
Everyone in the truck laughed, getting a kick out of the two men's antics. As soon as the truck was back in the station and everyone got out Eddie and Buck snuck away together, going into the bathroom for some private time away from the team. They went into a stall to kiss, Buck pressed against the wall while Eddie gently held him against his own body. Whenever they kissed it felt like fireworks and whenever they touched it felt so right to be together in this way.
“Do you think we should tell everyone?” Buck said, holding onto Eddie’s face.
“Why do you ask?” Eddie responded, his hands on Buck's waist.
“Because I live with you now and my excuses are running dry for why people can't come over anymore”
Buck officially moved into Eddie’s house, the loft has been given to some young couple who just moved to the city for their acting careers. Eddie and Buck have finally started 24/7 with basically no breaks so soon seems like a good time to tell their friends and family they're dating.
“How about we tell them at Karen and Hen's garden party?” Buck raised an eyebrow.
“Sounds like a great idea” Eddie smiled at him. “But let's get out of this bathroom, it's cold in here”
Buck and Eddie are finally going to tell everyone some amazing news, but Buck has an even bigger bit of amazing news he needs to desperately share.
Plus one
The garden party is amazing, everyone Buck and Eddie know and care about is here right now. Everyone is so happy, not a single frown in the entire place. Eddie and Buck are just observing everyone around them, Josh is with Hen and Chim asking to be set up on a date, Christopher and Denny are sat on Denny's Nintendo switch in a corner, Bobby is at the grill making burger, Karen and Maddie are listening to Jee as she rambled on about what she wanted her new little sibling to be named, and so much more happiness surrounded them both. This was the perfect setting to come out with their relationship with.
Hen and Karen had set up a Karaoke area with some microphones and a projector set up to put those lyrics videos on a white sheet and sing along with it. Eddie and Buck had decided to do a song before announcing they were a couple, getting everyone's attention on them both. Buck covered the projector with a clipboard so no one could see what Eddie was typing, it took a minute but soon enough they both had microphones in their hands. Buck turns to everyone as Eddie is about to press play.
“Are you all ready?”
Then the opening to ‘Whatta Man’ starts playing as Buck removes the clipboard to show off the Lyrics on the projector screen. They both get into their spots and begin to belt out the lyrics to the song, singing so loud that the neighbours may complain but they don't care. Everyone soon joined in on the sing along, getting into the music and having an amazing time with the two men. Buck had confessed to Eddie that he heard this song in his head when he first saw him and Eddie found that adorable. As the song ends the two men laugh whilst staring at each other.
Eddie then brings over a microphone stand, putting his microphone on it while people around them chanted encore! Eddie ignored their shouts and eventually everyone calmed down, he also saw Christopher walking towards the projector but he ignored him so he could make his announcement.
“Uh… I have something to tell you all” Eddie cleared his throat.
“WE ALREADY KNOW YOUR GAY!!” Josh yelled.
“It's not that again!” Eddie said, trying to not laugh. “It's something bigger!”
Everyone held their breath, waiting for what he was going to say. Eddie grabbed Buck's hand, holding it tight.
“Me and Buck are dating!” Eddie got the words out so fast that it didn't even register into most people's heads at first. “We've been together for six months!”
Soon people yelled things like ‘I KNEW IT’ or ‘CONGRATULATIONS!’. Eddie was so caught up in the joy of the situation he didn't even notice Buck let go of his hand, he didn't notice Christopher at the laptop and he didn't notice the music starting. He did turn around to face Buck when he began to sing. On the projector screen was a scene from a descendants movie that he and Buck watched with Jee and Christopher once and Eddie said how cute he thought the scene was. It's from the third movie and Buck is singing the song but replacing the female pronouns with male ones.
Is this going to be cringe? Yes. Do I care? No, because I had four songs to pick from and I chose this one.
“I met this boy who rocked my world like it's never been rocked” Buck began singing, causing a string of aw's and for Eddie to feel slightly embarrassed. “And now I'm living just for her and it won't ever stop.”
Buck backed up a bit, his hand not holding the microphone clenched around something. Everyone but Eddie noticed so people became a lot more interested.
“I never thought that it could happen to a guy like me, but look at what you've done you got me…” Buck got down on one knee, holding up an opened ring box with an engagement ring inside. “down on my knee”
After Buck got down everyone else stood up, eagerly waiting for Eddie’s response to this question. Eddie looked at the ring, a big grin not leaving his face as he took his microphone off its stand.
“Will you marry me?” Buck held up the box more.
“Oh god…” Eddie muttered, everyone's faces faltered for a moment before Eddir got down as well and pulled out a ring box with an almost identical ring. “I was gonna ask the same thing!”
“But with ‘you belong with me’ playing!” Christopher yelled. “I knew about both of these!”
Soon after Buck and Eddie were wearing their engagement rings while everyone congratulated the both of them and Christopher kept on boasting about how he knew already. The night has been perfect. Buck and Eddie sat at a table talking about weddings and Bachelor parties, at the sound of the word party Albert walked over to them both and said “if you guys have a Bachelor party, I'm joining in!”. Albert was here visiting and was very much hinting at moving back here, he was also not so well hiding a crush on Ravi.
The night ended with Eddie, Hen, Chimney, Ravi and Albert drunk at the Karaoke area. They were all belting out ‘Right Round’ and dancing around the backyard.