wedding bells
honestly I wasn't planning to post this because I thought it was too silly but @nymika-arts said I should so. if you like it you can thank her <3
[Read on AO3]
Buckâs feet are up on the coffee table, his head tipped back against the couch, eyes closed but not sleeping when Eddie sits beside him, mentally apologising to Hen and Bobby as he puts his own feet up on the coffee table and makes himself comfortable. The cushions bounce a little, tipping them towards each other, and Buck grunts at being displaced, then tips himself fully against Eddieâs side. Itâs late. They should both be in the bunks trying to get some sleep like everyone else, but Eddie came upstairs for a glass of water and found the glow of the TV and his best friend on the couch instead, a lure impossible to resist.
âWhat are you watching?â he asks. The scene that is playing out is vaguely familiar but not enough that he can recall the name of the movie or even the actors starring in it.
Buck opens his eyes, head lifting just slightly to squint at the TV. âUm, something about wedding dresses? I donât know, it was already on when I got here.â
They watch in silence for a few minutes, TV light playing across their faces, but soon Buckâs eyes are closed again, his head back on Eddieâs shoulder, and Eddie tips his own head back against the couch, too tired to figure out the movieâs plot when itâs already halfway through. Girl meets guy, falls in love with guy, denies that sheâs in love with guy, guy wins her over in the end. Something like that, probably. Everyone lives happily ever after.
The background noise of the movie and the warm weight of his best friend against his side is lulling Eddie towards a nap when Buck breaks the silence.
âDo you want to get married?â
âSure,â Eddie answers sleepily. âFall wedding?â
âWhat?â Buck frowns, and Eddie realises: oh, he meant do I want to get married generally not to him specifically. Then Buck is asking, âWhy fall?â
Eddie waves a hand: why not? âThe leaves are pretty.â
âThe leavesââ Buck stops, shaking his head. âWe live in LA, Eddie, weâre not exactly swimming in fall vibes.â
Vibes, Eddie mouthes at the ceiling. He blames Ravi and whatever influence heâs had on Buckâs vocabulary. Then he stops, thinks about it some more, and mentally apologises to Ravi for blaming him. Heâs pretty sure Bobby is the one who brought vibes into the firehouse.
âFall has good weather too,â he says. It was summer when he married Shannon and a low pressure system brought down biting, heavy rain that soaked them through as soon as they stepped outside the church. âNot too hot, not too cold, less chance of rainâŠâ
âDoesnât that happen in a movie?â
Eddieâs turn to frown. âWhat?â
âThereâs a movie where it rains during the wedding,â Buck says. âI canât remember if itâs supposed to be a good sign or bad sign, though.â
âI think itâs just a sign that itâs raining.â
Buck rolls his eyes. âIn the movie, Eds. Like a sign that sheâs marrying the right guy or the wrong guy, you know?â
Eddie thinks about fat drops of rain smacking him in the face, his hair sticking limply to his forehead, Shannon shivering against his side, not noticing or not caring as the hem of her wedding dress turns black from the mud.
He thinks about Shannon, pregnant, and the way it felt like a sign. The way it felt like a sign the second time too, but was just the universe mocking him for believing in something like signs.
âI think Hollywood makes rain seem a lot more romantic than it actually is,â he says, shrugging the melancholy away.
âYeah,â Buck agrees, something distant in his eyes like heâs remembering some awkward relationship moment of his own in the rain. âAnd snow. Itâs like they forget how cold and unpleasant it gets.â
He shivers as he says it, some phantom memory attached to that too. Eddie thinks about asking, but Buckâs past is a patchwork of old bruises and anything he doesnât willingly share is usually one he doesnât want poked at. If they were at home, on the couch or in the kitchen, nursing a six pack between themâmaybe then Eddie would poke anyway, ready to soothe any hurt it uncovered. Now he just nudges Buck with his elbow and says, âSo, fall wedding. No rain, no snow, we wonât sweat through our tuxes before we get to the end of the aisle.â
He catches it a beat too lateâweâand braces himself for rejection, for laughing it off, for fumbling through an explanation. His heart is torn, hoping Buck will think he just meant theyâd both be in tuxes and walking down the aisle because heâd be Eddieâs best man, and half dreading that thatâs all Buck will think when he pictures them at the altar together.
Exceptâ
âWe could have a destination wedding,â Buck suggests, his fingers idly pulling a loose thread on one of Eddieâs buttons. Eddie swats his hand away before he can unravel it completely.
âDestination weddings are expensive,â he counters. âWe should just get married at the courthouse and save all our money for the honeymoon.â
Buck snorts. âYou want to pull a Bobby?â
âI didnât say we wouldnât invite anyone.â
He wants to say all I need is you, me and Chris but everything this conversation has become already feels too dangerous. Too close to serious. Theyâve always been good at blurring the line between friends and whatever else they could be, but this feels too blurry even for them. Eddie wonders if he should pinch himself, just to make sure he isnât dreaming.
âAnd weâll have a party too,â Buck adds. âDo you think Henâs cake guy could do a wedding cake?â
âI think Henâs cake guy can do anything,â Eddie replies, his mouth somehow still working while his brain is spinning, spinning, spinning. He doesnât remember a lot of the time he spent under the influence of the LSD brownies, but heâs pretty sure it would have felt like this: everything heightened, one step to the side of reality, this unrelenting gravitational pull towards Buck even back then.
âI donât know what everyone complains about,â Buck says, head tipped back to smile at him. âWedding planning isnât so hard.â
Eddie smiles back, like itâs just another inside joke between them. Like this conversation isnât happening in the middle of a bubble, thin and wobbly and liable to pop at any moment. He wants to say you make everything easy but the edges of the words are too sharp, too real, and heâs not ready for the bubble to pop just yet. He wants to enjoy it, even though he knows it canât last.
The music in the movie swells as the girl finally gets her Big Damn Kiss and the start of her happily ever after. Buck smiles twists into something wistful as he turns back to the screen and Eddie wants to hold him tighter, but heâs not even holding Buck so it doesnât make sense.
âI miss kissing,â Buck tells him, quiet enough that it feels like a confession. âNotâI mean, I like sex too, obviously, but kissing just for the sake of kissing, you know?â
Itâs late. Everyone else is asleep downstairs. The glow of the TV and the dim yellow light left on above the stove make the shadows feel deeper around them, the night fuzzy around the edges. The movieâs final scene is rolling into the credits, another love song playing quietly through the loft. Their bubble hasnât popped yet.
Maybe itâs all of those things, or none of those things, that makes Eddie say, âI could kiss you.â
Buck goes still.
Eddie wonders if he could bite clean through his tongue so he can never speak again. Human teeth are crazy strong so itâs definitely possible, right?
Buck would know if itâs possible, he thinks, and then he really does have to bite his tongue so he doesnât laugh hysterically. God, why did he say that? Just because he was thinking about kissing Buckâhas been thinking about it for months going on yearsâdoesnât mean he should have said it. Heâs halfway to an apologyâan excuse, maybe, some way to laugh it off as practice for their hypothetical trip down the aisleâwhen Buck sits up, pulling Eddie upright with him.
âOkay,â he says. âShow me what youâve got, Diaz.â
His grin is all bravado, but Eddie knows him well enough to see the nervousness at the edges. It soothes him, somehow, knowing Buck is nervous too. Not that this isnât still a completely stupid idea, the kind of idea that they can never come back from and will probably regret in about two minutes, butâ
He cradles the back of Buckâs head, holding him steady while Eddie tilts his own head to fit their lips together. Gentle at first, growing bolder when Buckâs hands curl in the front of his shirt to pull him closer, tongue running along the seam of his lips until they open to welcome Eddie inside. Buck tastes like coffee, a little bit sweet like the vanilla syrup he keeps hidden away at the back of the cupboard in the kitchen. His breath is warm against Eddieâs chin when they break apart just long enough to breathe, lips lingering together, noses bumping, one kiss made up of a dozen smaller kisses.
Eddie pulls away first, forehead resting against Buckâs just for a moment before he drops his hand from the back of Buckâs neck and makes himself sit back. His hands are shaking, he thinks, and he doesnât know if itâs fear or desire.
âOh,â Buck murmurs, reaching up to touch his lips, an absent kind of movement like he doesnât even realise heâs doing it.
Eddie swallows, the taste of Buck still on his tongue. He shouldâsay something, do something, probably not lean in and kiss his best friend again (and again and again).
They both jump when the bell rings.
âEddieââ Buck starts, but thereâs no time. Eddieâs fingers are tingling, his heart stuttering in his chest, but his feet are already moving, muscle memory carrying him while his brain buffers trying to catch up.
âWe have to go,â he says, and heâs as grateful as he is irritated by the interruption of the alarm.
âEddie,â Buck says again, catching his hand to halt him before he can climb into the engine. Theyâve got seconds before Bobby sticks his head out the window to ask them what the hold up is, but it only takes a handful of seconds to say, âOctober.â
âWhat?â
Buck smiles, âLetâs get married in October.â
He ducks in close enough to kiss Eddie on the corner of the mouth, quick and lop-sided, and then heâs climbing into the engine with a bounce in his step, andâ
Oh, Eddie realises, he did mean he wants to marry me specifically.
(âSoo.â Chimney draws the word out awkwardly, looking around at everyone crammed into the engine together. âWe all saw that, right?â
âOh yeah,â Hen answers, her eyebrows raised above her glasses. âWe definitely all saw that.â
Eddie just shrugs, his knee pressing against Buckâs thigh, their eyes catching and holding, unable to help smiling at each other while everyone else looks on. âI have no idea what youâre talking about.â
Thereâs a round of âuh huhâs and âsure you donâtâs and a half-muttered âat least Iâm not finding out about this one four months laterâ from Bobby.
âBy the way,â Buck adds when itâs quiet again, âyouâre all invited the wedding.â
Theyâre still smiling at each other like lovesick fools when the engine explodes into a cacophony of exclamations around them.)
618 notes
·
View notes