#evan buckely oneshot | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wikiangela · 11 months

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me, you, our kid and a dog

the dog fic is finally here! fluff, getting together, first kiss, reluctant dog dad Eddie, all three of them being adorable lol ❤️

words: 4.7k

[read on Ao3]

“You’re getting a dog?” Hen asks, piecing together the few sentences she’s heard. “As in… together? “Yeah.” Buck grins, opening his own locker as well “We’re not getting a dog. “But Eddie!” Buck almost whines, and, god, Eddie would give him anything he asked for, but he’s also stubborn, and he decided something already, he can’t just go back. Besides, does he really want to be stuck taking care of a pet on a rare occasion Buck’s at his loft? “Uh, you don’t even live together.” Hen notices, confused, a frown on her face. “Or have we missed something?” she and Chim exchange a look that Eddie doesn’t wanna look into. He’s already pretty sure he’s wearing his heart on his sleeve, and everyone knows how he feels, he doesn’t need confirmation. “No, but it just makes sense.”

______

It starts as a random remark on a sunny Sunday afternoon when the three of them are at the park. They’re just taking a walk, with the goal of getting ice-cream from the best ice-cream place in the city, according to both Buck and Chris – which is just an ice-cream stand in the middle of the park.

There’s a lot of people around, strolling and talking just like them, or having picnics, or walking their dogs… and that last thing is what starts a conversation.

Because a big dog runs up to Buck – Eddie’s not even surprised at how every single breathing creature, human or otherwise, is just enamored with Buck, he’s used to it – and he stops to pet it with the brightest smile. Meanwhile, the owner, a young girl probably in her early twenties, catches up and apologizes profusely, saying that the dog tugged the leash out of her hand, and assures that it’s friendly and it’s safe to pet her – which is what Buck’s already doing, anyway.

“Hey, pretty.” he coos, crouching down, both hands petting the dog’s head, while it pants happily, tongue out.

“Can I pet her, too?” Christopher asks, giving Eddie the most adorable pleading expression, and Eddie just can’t say no.

“Of course. Just be careful.” Eddie says and watches as Chris walks closer to Buck, who holds one of his crutches to prevent it from falling, when Christopher hurries to pet the dog with the brightest smile. This close, the dog is almost at his height, and Eddie gets a little anxious, but doesn’t let his overprotectiveness take over. Buck’s right there, there’s nothing to worry about.

“She’s so soft.” Chris comments, and the dog licks his face, making him giggle.

They stand there for a long minute, before Eddie apologizes to the girl for keeping her there, and she laughs and says it’s okay. Chris tells the dog it was nice to meet her, and gazes after her wistfully, when the girl finally walks away.

“You really shouldn’t pet strangers’ dogs.” Eddie mutters to Buck once the girl is out of earshot.

“She said it’s fine.” Buck whispers back.

“Not before you already pet it.” Eddie gives him a look. “Just saying, you should be more careful.”

“Next time I will.” he rolls his eyes, as they start walking towards the ice-cream stand again, conversation picking up where they left off.

“I wish we had a dog.” Christopher says suddenly, interrupting Buck mid-sentence, and it surprises Eddie a bit. He’s never mentioned it before, and Eddie’s never thought about a pet, and he doesn’t know how to discourage him from that, or how to say no without breaking his son’s heart. Because there’s no way they’re getting a dog.

“Man, I always wanted a dog growing up.” Buck says wistfully, and, well, now Eddie’s screwed. “My parents never agreed, though.”

“We should get a dog together.” Christopher says, looking at Buck with a wide smile, and Eddie has to step in before they start planning and saying no will become even more heartbreaking.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Dad! Why?” Chris pouts and stops to look at Eddie with those eyes that make any ‘no’ almost impossible to pass his lips.

“Yeah, dad, why?” Buck joins in, and his pout is almost equally irresistible. Eddie is not in the strongest position here. If he wasn’t absolutely convinced of his decision already, he’d fold immediately. And he feels like if they keep talking about this, they might just change his mind. He won’t have this.

“I promise I’ll walk him and feed him, and Buck will help!” Chris says, now stopping and turning towards Eddie.

“Eddie, come on.” Buck shoves his arm lightly.

“You guys are serious? You actually want a dog?” Eddie looks between them, and they nod, matching pouts on their faces. Shit, he’s not gonna fall for it. “No.”

“But-”

“No.” he repeats firmly, his heart breaking a little at his son’s defeated expression. “We all know that you will take care of it for a minute, and then it’ll fall on me, at least when Buck’s not home.” he adds quietly, not missing how he accidentally made it sound like Buck’s living with them, realizing that he’d love that more than anything, but choosing to ignore this for now, because he doesn’t have time for an am-I-in-love-with-my-best-friend freak out again (they happen more frequently than he’d like to admit lately, and he thinks he has the answer already anyway). “Or probably on Carla when we’re at work.” he continues. “And she’s not getting paid to take care of a dog.”

“There’s dog sitters.” Buck murmurs, and Eddie shoots him a look. They’re not made of money, for god’s sake. But then he sees tears in Chris’ eyes, and almost relents. Almost.

“Listen, it’s a no for right now, alright? But let’s revisit this conversation when you’re a little older?” Eddie asks, and Chris immediately lights up.

“How old?” he asks, and Eddie shares a look with Buck. Then, he looks back at his ten-year-old, and answers:

“Thirteen.” because it seems like a reasonable age where he’ll be able to actually take care of a pet, and also, a lot can happen in three years, maybe he’d want a different, more low-maintenance pet. Eddie could do a goldfish, for example.

“Fine.” Christopher relents, and looks at Buck. “We can wait three years.”

“Yeah.” Buck responds, a soft and surprised smile on his face. Like he still doesn’t believe they want him in their lives permanently, and he’s not expecting them to make such long-term plans involving him. “We sure can.”

“Just, we’re clear that we’ll have the conversation then, right? Not that we’re actually getting a dog?” Eddie adds, not wanting them to get too excited. He knows Buck could just get a dog on his own, it’s not like he lives with them (sadly), though as far as Eddie remembers, pets aren’t allowed in his building. But even if he could, Eddie’s pretty sure they’d still make this decision together. He doesn’t know exactly when it happened, but their lives became so intertwined it should be scary. It’s not, though. Buck is his partner, at and outside of work. In almost all the ways Eddie wants him to be.

“Sure.” Buck says dismissively, with a chuckle, like he knows they already won. Eddie really doesn’t like when they team up against him, because that’s usually how it ends, with them winning. They’re his two biggest weaknesses, they have an advantage separately, and together? Eddie’s surprised he managed to say no right now.

Then they continue their walk, Chris a little bit in front of them, starting a new topic, now wondering what ice-cream flavor he should get, while Buck throws his arm around Eddie’s shoulder, and Eddie feels like his whole body is burning. To anyone else they must look like a family, a couple and their kid. Eddie hates how comfortable he is with that, and how much he’d actually want that to be true. Maybe he’s coming to terms with his feelings for Buck, because now, thinking about wanting to hold his hand and kiss him, and spend the rest of their lives arguing about getting a dog while living together – it doesn’t make him freak out or panic. He feels settled. He’s smiling, and he’s content, and he wants countless more afternoons like this with his boys.

But for now, the dog conversation is over, for at least three years.

Or so Eddie thinks. And, boy, is he wrong.

Because from then on, the topic of dogs and pets is being brought up constantly over the next couple of weeks.

Mostly small mentions, Buck and Christopher talking about the kind of dog they want – a breed wasn’t specified yet, but definitely a big one, which prompts Eddie to wonder how Chris wants to walk it without the dog pulling on the leash and tripping him. Not that there’s gonna be any dog, that’s not happening.

And then, after a few days, the conversation extends to outside of home, when Buck drives them to work – because he stayed over, like he does pretty frequently, sharing the bed with Eddie because he’s not gonna sleep on the couch – they’re best friends, it’s normal. Or so Eddie’s trying to convince himself to avoid freaking out.

The whole drive over, Buck’s trying to convince Eddie to change his mind, and is still talking about it as they’re walking into the locker room, where Hen and Chimney already are.

“-and you have a backyard, which is just perfect-” Buck continues, not even bothering to say hi to their friends.

“It’s not big.” Eddie points out, opening his locker.

“But it’s enough! And we can build a doghouse together, that’d be so much fun!” he says excitedly, and when Eddie looks at him and sees his sparkling eyes and that smile, he almost gives in. “And I’ll take care of it all the time, too, you know I will.”

“Buck.” Eddie tries to be stern and wants to shut it down for now. They’re at work.

“You’re getting a dog?” Hen asks, piecing together the few sentences she’s heard. “As in… together?”

“Yeah.” Buck grins, opening his own locker as well.

“We’re not getting a dog.”

“But Eddie!” Buck almost whines, and, god, Eddie would give him anything he asked for, but he’s also stubborn, and he decided something already, he can’t just go back. Besides, does he really want to be stuck taking care of a pet on a rare occasion Buck’s at his loft?

“Uh, you don’t even live together.” Hen notices, confused, a frown on her face. “Or have we missed something?” she and Chim exchange a look that Eddie doesn’t wanna look into. He’s already pretty sure he’s wearing his heart on his sleeve, and everyone knows how he feels, he doesn’t need confirmation.

“No, but it just makes sense.” Buck shrugs, taking off his t-shirt in one smooth motion, and Eddie pointedly does not look (he sees him out of the corner of his eye anyway, he can’t help it, peripheral vision exists, okay?). He doesn’t look until Buck puts his LAFD shirt on, and he’s safe to turn to him without the danger of blushing or his eyes lingering where they shouldn’t. He kind of hates realizing he’s attracted to his best friend, because it’s making things weird, at least in his head.

“How does it make sense exactly?” Chimney asks, something smug in his voice.

“It just does.” Buck says dismissively, and Eddie wonders if he’s as confused as Eddie as to what has been happening lately between them. “And Christopher wants nothing more than to get a dog. He said he doesn’t want any presents for his birthday or for Christmas, just a dog.” he adds, and Eddie’s heart breaks a little. Has he said that? Not to Eddie. But if he did… They’re so gonna break Eddie sooner or later. But, again, he’s stubborn (which is probably where Chris gets it from, honestly).

“We’re not getting a dog.” he repeats for what feels like a thousandth time. It’s like a new catchphrase, and he doesn’t like it.

“But Eddie.” Buck pouts, and Eddie tries, really tries, but is aware he’s doing a poor job at that, to conceal a fond smile. Buck is just so adorable, and Eddie is- well, he’s maybe-possibly-probably in love with him. But they’re at work, and their friends are listening, and he doesn’t need the input, and doesn’t need them to know how much closer he and Buck are than they realize – though it might be too late for that, to be honest.

“Let’s talk at home?” he finally sighs, and Buck grins triumphantly. And Eddie knows he’s gonna give in sooner or later.

Especially since, once he gets home, Chris and Buck join forces once again, and Eddie can only hold out on his own for so long. With even his partner against him, there’s not much he can do. His son has websites of some local shelters open on his laptop, as well as a whole PowerPoint presentation about why it’s a great idea to get a dog. Eddie doesn’t know when Buck and Chris made it, but they did, and now they sit Eddie down in the living room and make their case.

And, well, obviously, Eddie’s heart is not made of stone. He sees the two most important people in his life be so passionate and excited about this, they already set their hearts on getting a dog, and Eddie’s been refusing long enough.

Once the presentation is over, he stands up from the couch, while his boys look at him expectantly and with so much hope, if he didn’t change his mind already, he would now.

“So? Can we get a dog?” Chris asks quietly. Eddie takes a deep breath.

“We need to set some rules first.” Eddie says, and cheers erupt. Before he can say anything more, he finds himself in a tight embrace by Buck and Chris, whom Buck lifted up into his arms, so they can both hug Eddie. They thank him, and are so happy, and Eddie knows he’s made a good decision.

He’s even more sure a minute later, when Buck, in all his joy and excitement, apparently forgets himself and kisses Eddie straight on the lips, just a sweet, chaste brush of lips, and when he realizes what he’s done, they both freeze. Meanwhile, Chris, still in Buck’s arms, has his arms around Eddie’s neck, and doesn't look at them.

There’s fear in Buck’s eyes, and Eddie gets it, the fear over the possibility of ruining everything, he feels it every time he has the urge to do something dumb like kiss Buck. Which, well, happened. And Buck initiated it. So maybe nothing’s ruined, if Buck feels the same. Because why else would he kiss Eddie?

So, Eddie smiles, which quickly turns into a grin, and Buck looks relieved, and then he beams, when Eddie leans back in, capturing Buck’s lips in a short, soft, tender kiss. It feels like coming home, like everything is where it’s supposed to be. Somehow, Eddie thinks they’re on the same page, and they both know they’re on the same page. They will need to talk later, but for now, the silent communication and understanding they’ve always had is enough.

“Ew.” they hear Chris groan, and they break the kiss with a laugh, both blushing. “At least put me down if you’re gonna make out.” he adds, and Eddie feels his cheeks get even warmer. He sees that Chris is smiling, though, and Eddie’s a little surprised, because it seems like he’s cool with him and Buck being… whatever they are now. Hopefully dating.

“Uh, here you go.” Buck mumbles, putting him back down, his face bright red. “So, a dog?” he asks, shyly looking at Eddie.

“When?” Chris immediately adds.

“Why don’t we drive down to the shelter tomorrow and have a look?” Eddie suggests. “But first, some rules.” he says sternly, not letting even Buck kissing him distract him, not completely, anyway. He can keep it together for a minute. “Every morning one of you walks it and feeds it. No dogs on the furniture, including the couch. It’ll get a bed in your room-” he points at Chris, who beams at him, “and that’s where it’ll sleep. It’s your responsibility.” he looks from Chris to Buck, they both nod. He’s also aware that most of any rules will get broken anyway, and that he’ll end up taking care of it, too, obviously, they all live under the same roof anyway. Well, not all… not yet.

“Are we building a doghouse in the backyard?” Buck asks tentatively.

“Dad, can we?”

“Yes, of course we can.” Eddie smiles, because he already said yes, and he’s not sure he’d be able to say no to anything they both ask him right now. “But let’s get a dog first, and then we’ll worry about everything else, alright? We’ll get toys and bowls and all that tomorrow, too.” he adds, knowing that it’s another question from his son. And it’s just hitting him now that it’s happening. They’re getting a dog. What is he getting himself into… But first, there are more pressing issues. “Hey, why don’t you go call Carla and tell her, to prepare her for what she’ll have to deal with when she’s here next time, and I’ll just talk to Buck real quick?” Eddie adds, and Chris just nods, gives them both a knowing look, as if he was sure what it is they wanna talk about, and goes to his room.

Once they’re alone, Eddie looks at Buck, who’s looking everywhere but at Eddie. He’s nervous, as if he didn’t get enough confirmation already. Eddie grabs his hand and intertwines their fingers, and Buck’s wide eyes land on him.

“Relax.” Eddie chuckles. “I just felt like maybe we need to talk at least a little bit.”

“Yeah, uh, so that was-” he stops, as if not sure what to say next.

“Unexpected.” Eddie finishes for him, still smiling. “But very, very welcome.” he says just to reassure Buck that he’s not reading anything wrong (Eddie’s not sure how he could but, well, it’s Buck), and tugs at Buck’s hand to bring him closer.

“Yeah?” his face lights up, and his eyes shine when they look into Eddie’s.

“Yeah.” Eddie gets even closer, their faces inches apart, both their smiles widening, as Eddie links their lips again. But then he pulls away, because he did want to talk. Nothing goes according to plan today, but he’s not complaining. “I’m happy you kissed me, because I was starting to think I’d never be brave enough.” Eddie admits. “I was worried I’d ruin things if you didn’t feel the same.”

“Which is?” Buck raises an eyebrow, his smile turns teasing, and hopeful, and of course he already knows, but Eddie will gladly spell it out for him.

“I’m in love with you.” Eddie responds, looking into Buck’s eyes, and he feels so much lighter now that he said it. He’s been denying it, wondering, freaking out over it for so long, but now it comes as easy as breathing, and it just feels so right. “I think I have been for a long time. We’re a family already, but I want us to be a family in this sense, too.” he squeezes Buck’s hand, where he’s still holding it. “I love you so much, Buck.”

“I love you, too.” Buck’s smile is blinding. And Eddie can’t resist leaning in to kiss it. “I didn’t even think, it was so-”

“Normal?” Eddie finishes for him with a laugh. “Yeah. Like we’ve always done it.” Because that’s what it feels like when he kisses Buck right now. It’s amazing, yes, but there’s nothing really groundbreaking, it doesn’t feel new, even though it is, it’s the most natural thing in the world, kissing Buck, like Eddie’s been meant to do it. “And if you want, I’d love to do this for the rest of our lives.”

“Wow, that’s fast.” Buck jokes, kissing Eddie again. “We just kissed for the first time, slow down.”

“Uh, we’re getting a dog together.” Eddie pulls away further to give him a look, eyebrows raised. “And we’re co-parenting a kid together, have been for longer than either of us probably realize.” he adds, and sees Buck’s face melt at that. “We’re pretty far ahead already.”

“That’s true.” Buck chuckles. “I can’t believe this is happening.” he whispers, bringing his free hand up to Eddie’s cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you.” Eddie can’t resist a smile. He gets to say it now. He gets to kiss Buck, and hold his hand, and be with him. And maybe they started it a little backwards, but they’re them. They’ve been partners and co-parents for so long, and they know each other better than anyone else. So, Eddie doesn’t think anything would be too fast. Hell, they could get married tomorrow and he’s pretty sure no one would even bat an eye, it’d seem like the most natural thing. But maybe not just yet. Not that, at least, he’ll work up to it one day. However… “And, you know, parenting a kid together plus taking care of a dog together will be just so hard while living apart.” he adds teasingly, and sees Buck’s eyes widen.

“Yeah?” he breathes out.

“Yeah. Might make it much easier if you, I don’t know, maybe move in soon?” he asks, trying to act as nonchalantly as he can, but not quite succeeding, because he’s excited. He hasn’t been this giddy in a long time. And, to be honest, Buck’s already kind of living with them, it’d just make so much sense. More than getting a dog together while living apart, that’s for sure.

“You want me to move in?” Buck tries to smirk, but awe and surprise overtake his expression.

“If you do, yeah.” Eddie says decisively, because now that it’s happening, now that he knows for sure that he and Buck feel the same, everything slots into place, and he knows exactly what he wants. He wants Buck in his life, in his home, forever. “That not too fast for you?” he slowly leans in again, not able to resist those gorgeous lips a second longer, now that he got a taste.

“Actually, no. Seems perfect.” Buck responds, meeting Eddie’s lips halfway.

When they go to the shelter the next morning, Chris is excitedly talking about dog names, and everything they need to buy, and all the research he and Buck have been doing on training dogs to pee outside, and teach them tricks – it’s adorable how excited he is, and now Eddie has no idea why he was ever opposed. Buck and Eddie walk right next to him, holding hands, smiling at each other, as they listen to their son.

______________

It takes maybe two weeks for the puppy to have Eddie wrapped around her little paw, any rules he made be damned. He’ll never admit it out loud, because he was the one refusing to get a dog in the first place, but she won him over completely. Buck and Chris tease him about it, and he pretends he has no idea what they’re talking about, which apparently they find really funny.

“Hey, I thought you said no dogs on the couch?” Buck asks, running his fingers through Eddie’s hair, as he walks around the couch to sit next to Eddie. Well, Eddie and their little puppy, Luna, who’s curled up next to him, her head on Eddie’s lap, and she’s soundly snoring as he absentmindedly pets her. Buck sits down on his other side, and puts an arm around Eddie.

“Did I?” Eddie mutters, looking down at the adorable dog, and wondering what he could have been thinking then. “I don’t recall.” he adds, and Buck laughs. Eddie immediately shushes him. “She’s asleep, shut up.”

“Wow.” Buck whispers and rolls his eyes. “And you didn’t even want her.”

“Shh.”

“You guys are inseparable now. This was supposed to be Christopher’s dog.” Buck notices with amusement, and he’s only half right. It is Chris’ dog. But she really likes Eddie, and what can he do about it? But they’re not inseparable. Eddie and Buck might be even more now, but not Eddie and the dog.

“She is. Yours and Chris’. She just sat next to me.” Eddie says, looking back at the TV that’s so quiet it’s barely audible. Buck and Chris have been obsessed with the dog since the moment they saw her, and she loves to play with them both, but for some reason, whenever Chris is not there, she ends up hanging out with Eddie more. Buck always jokes that she could sense who was skeptical towards her and made it her mission to change his mind. Maybe there’s something to it.

“And you woke up at four to walk her this morning. And two days ago.” Buck points out, having way too much fun with this. So maybe Eddie’s willingly walking her now after claiming that he won’t, because he’s not the one who wants a dog, so what? He’s allowed to change his mind… again. “And didn’t she sleep in our bed last night?”

“That’s irrelevant.” Eddie responds, not able to resist a smile. He still can’t believe it’s our bed, and our home, and our son, and our life… and our dog – as much as Eddie wants to deny it, she stole his heart, just like she did Buck’s and Chris’. He won’t say that, though. “Someone has to walk her when you two can’t, and she already woke me up.” he shrugs.

“Oh, of course.” Buck laughs and kisses his cheek. “So you guys are not best friends yet?”

“No.” Eddie responds immediately, but his hand is still petting the dog, and he involuntarily smiles when she blinks her eyes open. “Hi, look who finally woke up.” he says softly, and ignores Buck chuckling – or tries to, but it’s Buck, and his laugh is one of his favorite sounds. Luna turns over, demanding belly rubs, and Eddie obliges.

“I love you so much.” Buck says, and when Eddie looks up at him, he immediately meets his eyes, filled with so much affection, it still takes Eddie by surprise.

“I love you, too.” Eddie responds, and just the fact that he can say it now is still making him grin like an idiot.

“More than the dog?” Buck teases, and Eddie rolls his eyes, while Buck laughs once again. “I’m not hearing a no.”

“You’re insufferable.” Eddie leans over and kisses Buck, just to shut him up. He laughs into the kiss, and Eddie can’t believe how much he loves him, his heart is overflowing with it. One of them deepens the kiss, and Eddie’s just about to suggest they make the best out of Chris still being at school, while they have a day off, but then a few insistent barks interrupt them, and Eddie realizes he stopped petting the dog when he and Buck started kissing. He pulls away, and smirks. “Look, she’s just as clingy as you.”

“And apparently she wants all your attention, like me.” he looks at Luna. “You know he’s mine, right?” he gets another bark in response, before she apparently gets bored of not getting attention, and jumps off the couch, going to the kitchen, where she has her bowls and some of her toys, and they installed a dog door on the back door, so she can go to the backyard, where Eddie, Buck and Chris build a doghouse and fenced off a little area for her. It’s been a fun project, Buck was right. “Ha! Now I have you all to myself.” Buck grins, and leans in again.

Much later that night, they all watch a movie together, Christopher sits in between them, the puppy on his lap, Buck and Eddie’s hands intertwined on the back of the couch, because now that they’re allowed to, they never stop touching for longer than necessary. Maybe they’re both a little clingy. Eddie kind of loves it.

He looks at his family, his wonderful son, and his incredible partner, who’s holding his hand and smiles softly at him over their son’s head, and the dog that, there’s no denying, brought them together. Maybe it’d happen one day anyway, it probably would, but they got here quicker because Christopher and Buck really wanted a dog. And now they live together, they have a family and a life, and a future together. Eddie thinks that giving in to all the pleading and getting a dog was the best decision he could’ve made, and he’s so grateful for it.

He brings Buck’s hand closer and kisses his knuckles, just because. He’s just overwhelmed with how happy he is right now. He doesn’t think he’s ever been more content in his life. And when Chris groans and complains that they’re being gross and constantly making out (which they’re not… at least not with Chris present), they just laugh, and look at each other, and it’s perfect. Their family is perfect. Eddie wouldn’t change it for the world.

#911 fic #buddie #buddie fic #wikiangela writes #my writing #buck x eddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie oneshot #oneshot #buddie ficlet #buddie fluff #first kiss #getting together #silly fluff #the dog fic

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typicalopposite · 5 days

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Sooo yall tell me I’m not the only one ready for a Buck and Tommy watching Christopher moment 🥹 like come on

#911 #911 show #911 abc #911 season 7 #911 speculation #buck and tommy #bucktommy #evan buckley #tommy kinard #christopher diaz #am I still thinking about this show non stop? yes #could all these thoughts turn into oneshots…? also yes #we shall see

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make-me-imagine · 1 year

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'Tis the Season

13 Days of Halloween: Day 2

Plot: While decorating the firehouse for Halloween, you and the crew carve some pumpkins.

Pairing: Evan "Buck" Buckley x Gn!Reader

Warnings: None

Words: 625; very short I know, but it's cute I swear!

You lightly bit your tongue as you carved out another piece of the pumpkin. You smiled softly as the outline of the haunted house became more clear.

Hearing a thud nearby, you looked over to see Chimney drop another box of decorations on the floor.

"What did we do, raid a Spirit Halloween or something?" He asked as Bobby walked past.

"'Tis the season Chim." Bobby commented with a smile.

"Yeah, right, and how many pumpkins do we need?" He continued to complain as he looked around a the various pumpkins that had already been carved.

"Come on Chimney, I thought you liked Halloween?" Buck called out from across the table.

"I do, I just think this is a bit a bit much."

"He's only mad because he tripped over a pumpkin and spilled his latte." You said with a smirk.

"It wasn't a latte, it was a cappuccino, and it cost me like seven bucks." He defended as he placed his hand on his hips.

You and Hen locked eyes for a moment before you both rolled your eyes and chuckled.

"Then it serves you right." Hen said as she put up the Halloween fundraiser sign out front.

You smirked as Chimney grumbled. "Why don't you carve your own pumpkin, it's fun." You suggested.

Chimney frowned "No, thanks. I already carved some with Maddie the other night, I can't get the smell off my hands."

"And, done!" Buck called out as he finished his last pumpkin.

Chimney, walking up behind him stared at it for a moment "Ah, look at that...Michael Jackson."

"What?" Buck said with obvious offense and he looked back at Chimney "It's not Michael Jackson!"

Eddie, walking over looked at it for a moment "Yeah Chimney, it's clearly Madonna."

Buck sighed "It's not Madonna either."

You chuckled "Let me see."

Buck, turned it around, and you and Hen stared at it for a moment.

You assumed it had something to do with Halloween, so you shrugged lightly.

"Michael Myers?"

The others made noises of shared agreement but Buck just sighed and shook his head.

"No, it- it's supposed to be you." He looked at you with mild defeat.

You felt touched at the idea he tried to carve your portrait, but looking at it again, you repressed a soft laugh.

From beside you, Hen let out a "Oooh" as she nodded her head "I can see it!" She said, obviously lying.

"Yeah, no no I can see it now too." Eddie said with an amused smile.

"Okay, I get it, it sucks." Buck said as he turned the pumpkin back around.

"Yeah, it does." Chimney said as he patted Buck's shoulder and walked away.

Buck frowned as he looked at the pumpkin again.

You smiled to yourself as you quickly finished your own pumpkin, carving out the last detail. You set it down with the others you had carved. A ghost, a classic jack-o-lantern, and now the haunted house.

Looking over at Buck, he was still staring at his pumpkin in disappointment. You smiled softly and walked over to him. Sitting on his lap, you looked down at the pumpkin again.

"It really doesn't look like you does it?" He asked softly.

You repressed a smile but met his eyes and shook your head "Not at all. But-" you pressed a quick kiss to his cheek "-it's the thought that counts."

He smiled softly as he stared at it a bit longer "God, it does look like Michael Myers."

You chuckled and nodded your head before you leaned further against him, and he wrapped his arm around you.

"If anyone asks, that's what it was always meant to be." He added on in a whisper.

"'Tis the season." You said lightly mocking Bobby as Buck let out a soft breathy laugh.

xx End xx

Simple and short, hope you enjoyed.

General Taglist: @criminaly-supernatural, @caswinchester2000, @imaginesfire, @onuen, @rexit-mo, @witchygagirl, @alexxavicry

911/Buck Taglist: @spuffyfan394, @webreathfandoms, @locke-writes, @persephonesportal, @pockyandme, @soultrysworld, @averyhotchner, @iinmysights, @that-marvel-simp, @bellarkeselection, @shiftingwh0r3, @rqmanoff

#evan 'buck' buckley #evan 'buck' buckey x reader #evan 'buck' buckley/reader #911 #9-1-1 #evan buckley x reader #evan buckley imagine #911 imagine #13 days of halloween day 2 #evan buckley fluff #evan buck buckley x gn!reader #911 x reader #911/reader #oneshot #one shot #evan buckley oneshot #evan buckley one shot #911 halloween #118 x reader

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butraura · 2 months

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Seven Sentence Sunday

very sorry I've been very absent, I will go through some of the posts I've been tagged in! the only excuse I have is that I started binge-watching The Rookie, then I finished it, and watched it again, and well... rinse, wash, repeat. But I'm still writing, so that's something?

------

It’s simple: Declare your soulmate and you are bound for life. It sounds like marriage - in a way it is, but doesn’t require a ceremony. You may choose to marry your soulmate before or after Declaring, but it isn’t necessary. You might ask: what if someone Declares you as their soulmate but you don’t Declare them? Nothing. Both parties must mutually Declare for it to be binding. If not, the unreciprocated party is free to Declare with someone else.

What happens after you Declare? The rest of your life. It’s as simple as that. You and your soulmate are bound for the rest of your lives. You will never fall in love again, nor will you be able to untether the binds. Even in death.

Having a soulmate is very serious business and it isn’t something that should be rushed into.

This is why Eddie swore to himself that he’d never Declare.

On the one hand, it’s a beautiful thing. Bobby and Athena are in love, they are Bound, and they are two halves of a soul, Bonded for life. They are magic and light and inseparable.

On the other hand, Eddie’s abuela Declared to his abuelo when she was young, and the man died a few short years later. All this time, she’s been alone, unable to move on and find someone else.

It can be a blessing, yes. But to Eddie, it’s more of a curse.

He swore to himself that he’d never Declare.

But then he gets blackout drunk, eleven shots and six beers into a night out with the 118, and wakes up hungover.

And Bonded.

---

Tagged by @fortheloveofbuddie

Tagging: @steadfastsaturnsrings @watchyourbuck +anyone else who needs a tag :)

#this has been condensed in fewer sentences for the purposes of the post #there is a lot more where this came from #set to be a hearty oneshot #to be posted at the end of the month #soulmates au #buddie #buck x eddie #911 #eddie diaz #evan buckley #I'm still working this out but I do love it #pls enjoy

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donationwayne · 14 days

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Response Time (2k) Oneshot

Just realized I also never posted this fic over here SO. I am posting it now. Anyways, tooth rotting fluff before I start posting the myriad of angsty!buck fics i have locked and loaded

Read on A03 here

SUMMARY

The 118 respond to a call, which isn’t unusual in itself. But it might explain a lot to Probational Firefighter Evan Buckley’s new crew. In which the 118 meet Eddie and Chris for the first time.

“Buck, what are you doing at home? You still have at least another 12 hours before you’re supposed to be here,” Eddie points out in confusion, he glances at the stove to double-check the time. When Eddie finally turns to look at Buck, the sight of his husband in turnout gear finally makes him pause.

"Well, you see, I’m here 12 hours before the end of my shift because our neighbors called the fire department on you,” Buck replies, unimpressed.

“Are you fucking kidding me? They called the fire department?” Eddie complained in a bitchy tone. “It was only a small stove fire. I’ve already gotten it handled. There were only a few flames. Maybe they should mind their business.”

“I think most people, me included, prefer erring on the side of caution when it comes to smoke billowing out of open windows, Eddie.”

#911 #911 abc #buddie #buddie fanfic #fanfic #oneshot #buddie ao3 #eddie diaz #evan buckley #fluff #buddie fluff #buck x eddie #eddie is a terrible cook and is stand by that #the 118 #established buddie

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fionaswhvre · 7 months

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Seven Sentence Sunday

Tagged by @hippolotamus @jeeyuns 💕

ok this is just a crack! fic so bear with me

how i imagine s7 buddie speedrun to be

Buck falls asleep on Eddie's couch and Eddie realizes he is in love.

"I love you, Buck." Eddie says, to which Buck replies, "Oh- I love you too."

Christopher is at Abuela's so they fuck on the couch.

The next day, Eddie says, "Evan, will you marry me?"

Buck: "OMG you said my real name so yes!"

Chim makes a joke, Hen gives them good advice, Maddie says she always knew, Christopher calls Buck "Dad!" and Bobby & Athena warn Eddie to never hurt their son.

They live happily ever after.

Tags: @cal-daisies-and-briars @your-catfish-friend @revenge-of-the-assbutt @buttercupbuck @butchdiaz @eddiediaztho @eddiediazes @butchdiaz @buckleyobsessed @theotherbuckley @diazevan @caroandcats @aa-lionheart @cinematics123

#buddie oneshot #buddie #eddie diaz #evan buck buckley #buck x eddie #buddie crack #seven sentence sunday #crack fic #911 fox

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stefanmikaleson1864 · 2 years

Text

Life Without You

A/N: I hope everyone enjoys this it was requested by the lovely @hdxhe

If you like my work please comment like and reblog it means a lot to see interactions on my work

Never in a million did you think your life was going to end up the way that it did. Life at home was rough

. When you told your parents you wanted to join the army with your best friend Eddie they basically disowned you for reasons you will never understand.

You thought they would have been proud of you. But they weren’t those kind of people at all.

All you had was Eddie at this point and it was hard because he had a family of his own to worry about.

After the army you decided to move on from Texas and start a brand new life. Maybe a clean state and be able to live life on your own terms. You joined the fire academy and became a paramedic. You loved being able to work with the public and give back to people.

After the academy you joined 118.

Everyone there was so nice and kind and you actually started at the same time as Buck. The two of you hit it off right away and you guys were instantly best friends.

Though you always had a crush on him and thought he was cute. But he had a girlfriend Taylor.

You never liked her and it wasn’t because you were jealous. It was because she seemed to only care about herself. She wanted to advance her career no matter who it hurt.

You tried to tell Buck about it but he only defended her. Which wasn’t surprising because they were dating. You just didn’t want him to get hurt.

After a year of being at the 118 you were surprised when Eddie joined. You had no idea that him and Chis were even moving to LA.

Eddie told you that he never planned on it but he had to get out of Texas fast. He then told you how he came to LA because he knew you were here.

When Eddie Joined the 118 everyone was surprised that he knew you. After Eddie joined it felt like the missing piece was finally here. You loved hanging out with Chris again, he had grown so big from the last time you seen him.

Buck and Eddie and even Chris hit it off together. You all kind of formed your own friend group together.

Anytime you guys weren’t at work you were always with each other. Mostly hanging out at Eddie’s apartment.

You were really good with Chris becoming like a second mom to him. Always taking him to school and helping him with his homework.

It didn’t go unnoticed though. Buck was always watching and he admired you for it. It brought out some weird feelings for him.

Like when ever he saw you Chris he would see this future and this life with you. You him and a bunch of kids running around the house.

He always felt bad about it. Thinking of another women like that when he had a girlfriend.

He couldn’t help it though he never had these feelings for Taylor but when it came to you it was different. He wanted this whole life with you he never thought was possible.

It caused some problems in his relationship with Taylor though. He felt himself becoming more distant and puling away. Everyone at work even noticed it to. Buck wasn’t being his normal self anymore.

Like for instance you all were at work now doing inventory. Buck was just looking at his clipboard and staring into space.

You wanted to see him smile again. So you ran over to him and hugged him from behind.

Buck jumped in the air and you leaned over at him and whispered

“I thought we were over you touching a clipboard again” You said laughing,

You grabbed the clipboard and ran down the stairs with Buck chasing after you and laughing. Suddenly the bells go off and you throw the clipboard down and run to the truck.

Everyone gathered in and immediately took off. Buck was smiling in the back of the truck and everyone took notice.

“Hey Buck what got you smiling so hard” Hen said

“Oh me nothing I guess i’m just having a good day” Buck said

“Mhmm sure “ Bobby said making everyone laugh.

A few minutes later you all arrived at the scene. It was a pretty big fire and it got your heart racing from a combination of adrenaline and being scared.

“Okaye everyone be careful in there and team up to a person watch each other’s back in there” Bobby said

“Got it Cap” Everyone yelled.

You were paired with Buck and you both took off inside. You began clearing the hallways and rooms. You heard noise coming out of one room and went in to double check.

“LAFD call out now” You said.

You went further into the room and saw a pregnant women laying on the ground. Your heart broke into a million pieces for her. Your instincts took over and you called out for help.

“May day May day I need help room 200 on the east side” You called into radio.

You took off your mask and placed it on her to help with her breathing. It seemed like back up took a while because the smoke filled your lungs.

You had trouble breathing and then suddenly everything went black.

You weren’t sure how long you were out or what happened. You started coming to and all you saw was a white light and for a moment you thought you were dead.

“Am In in heaven” You asked not wanting to open your eyes to find out.

“Your going to wish you were what the hell is wrong with you” Bobby asked

“What do you mean Cap” you asked

You opened your eyes to look at him and he was giving you that worried father look.

“You risked your life in their we almost lost you” Cap said

“she is a pregnant mother what on earth would of you of done different leave her in there then two people would of lost their life,they have everything to lose don’t start acting like I have anything to lose we both know my life” You said trying to justify what happened.

Little did you know Buck and the rest of the team were outside waiting for you. Buck couldn’t handle the wait to he snuck back to see you. Him hearing that broke your heart so bad.

Buck’s heart broke into a million pieces. Hearing you say that hurt because he couldn’t imagine a life without you. It hurts too bad just to think about it.

Buck was about to go in when Taylor ran up to him. He had mixed emotions seeing her. One part of it was nice seeing her and the other part was disappointed seeing her.

“Hey Taylor what are you doing here” Buck asked

“I heard Y/N saved a pregnant women’s life that is an amazing story” Taylor said

“Are you serious right now” Buck said getting loud

“Why are you so surprised” Taylor said

“Because your just using her for your own good that’s not right you didn’t even ask if she’s okay” Buck said

“look “ Taylor began to say

“No just forget about it okay just go” Buck said

He walked away and walked into your room. Bobby was sitting at the edge of your bed and you both looked at him when he walked in.

“Hey Bobby do you think I could have a moment” Buck said

“Of course” Cap said heading out.

Buck took Caps seat and you reached out and gave his hand a squeeze.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again” Buck said

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to it was either me or her and” You were saying

Buck cut you off mid sentence

“No okay I don’t wanna life a live with you ever okay your way to important so what did you mean to Bobby I heard you” Buck asked

You looked down at your hands not want to answer. Buck lifted your head up to look at him.

“Look okay the truth is I don’t have family my parents disowned me when I joined the military with Eddie I haven’t talked to them in years so I don’t matter that Baby and Mom Matter more” You said

“Hey you look at me okay you matter I know what it’s like to have shitty parent’s okay but us here the 118 me you eddie and Chris were a family and I couldn’t imagine you not here okay I love you” Buck said

You snapped your head up and look surprised and taken back. You weren’t sure if he meant like in love or I love you as a friend. Buck was realizing what he said too.

So you decided to test the waters.

“I love you to you know were friends and family always will be I appreciate you saying that” You said

Buck gave you kind of a sad look before speaking up

“I uh didn’t mean it like that I meant more of it as I am in love you type of thing” Buck said. You could tell he was nervous.

You didn’t even say anything you almost tackled him and kissed him. He was surprised at first but then he kissed you back.

The kiss was short and sweet. When it broke you looked up at Buck.

“I love you too in no a friend way” You said laughing.

“Please don’t scare me like that again or do anything reckless” Buck said

“I’ll try and promise you that but who knows I like to take risk” You said laughing.

“I’m gonna die of a heart attack I see” Buck said laughing.

“Good thing i’m also a trained paramedic” You said laughing.

The rest of the 118 came barreling in after that.

“Hey Buck stop hogging her” Eddie said running over to hug you.

“Don’t you dare do that again do you understand me” Eddie said

“Yes sir” You said making everyone laugh.

“Is just me or is anyone else sick of hospitals” Chim said

“Hell yeah we are all” Hen said

“Well this better be the last time the nurses personally know us by now” Cap said

Everyone started laughing after he said that. Maybe Buck Was right this was the only family you needed.

You could life with that it was all you ever wanted. Now this life was just perfect.

#evan buckley imagine #evan buckely x reader #evan buckley fic #evan buckely oneshot #evan buckley #Eddie Diaz #bobby nash #hen wilson #howie chimney han #911 imagine #911 x reader #911 oneshot #911 one shot #911 fanfic #911 on fox #911 fox #requested

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buddie-buddie · 1 year

Text

we will find a way (through the dark)

9.2k - t - ao3 In which President Evan Buckley is kidnapped and Secret Service Agent Eddie Diaz falls apart.

This whole Wyoming trip was a bad idea. Eddie had said as much when the travel plans first crossed his desk. Buck, to his credit, had agreed. Neither one of them seemed to understand why a speech at an hour-long ceremony warranted a three-day trip, but that ship had apparently long since sailed.

“What’s there to do in Wyoming anyway?” Buck had asked one of his advisors. “Can’t I just fly in for the ceremony and leave as soon as it’s over?”

Eddie thought that was a brilliant idea. The less time they had to spend away from the White House– the less time they had to spend in Wyoming, of all places– the better.

Unfortunately, Buck’s team was prepared with an answer, quickly launching into some long-winded explanation full of Washington jargon like strategic and good faith and precedent-setting. It was buzzword salad, as far as Eddie was concerned.

The way Buck’s eyes seemed to glaze over as they spoke indicated he felt the same.

Buck going anywhere other than the White House or Camp David is already less than ideal, and heading to some rural area of Wyoming, where there’s bad reception, limited resources, and guns outnumber people 4:1 is pretty much Eddie’s personal hell.

Now that they’re here, his feelings haven’t exactly changed. His team is incredible, as is the entirety of the Secret Service. They’ve been hard at work clearing buildings, mapping travel routes, surveilling, and filling the gaps left by the less-than ideal amount of local law enforcement support they’ve been provided.

They’ve been here for a day and a half now, and while Eddie still isn’t feeling great about the trip, he’s no longer walking around with “resting bitch face so severe it might get stuck that way,” as Buck had so lovingly pointed out when Air Force One had first landed.

Tensions had managed to grow since their arrival, which Eddie knew could be attributed to Buck’s overall frustration with this trip in the first place. A frustration Eddie shared, tenfold.

Buck was exhausted after a particularly busy week, spread thinner than he had been in recent memory. Thinner than Eddie thought possible. And yet, somehow, even after all these years, Buck still manages to surprise him.

The night before they were set to leave Washington, Eddie had brought up the idea of postponing the trip. It had been a long, draining week and to add a few days of travel on top of it felt like a cruel and unusual punishment, at least as far as Eddie was concerned. It physically pained him to see Buck so stressed, exhaustion materializing in the bags under his eyes, in the dark circles that cast an unwelcome shadow across his face.

When Buck didn’t go for that, Eddie suggested shortening it to one day instead of three. He was met with protest, insistence that he’d rather go and be miserable than change his plans and disappoint his constituents. Buck had stopped for a minute, his half-packed suitcase in front of him, and promised that when they got home, he’d stay in bed for a whole day.

“I’ll allow it,” Eddie had said, wrapping his arms around Buck from behind and dropping a kiss to his temple.

“I have one condition,” Buck said, relaxing into Eddie’s arms, melting into his touch.

“Let’s hear it,” Eddie murmured against Buck’s ear.

“You,” Buck said, pausing and tipping his head back in an attempt to look at Eddie. “Have to stay in bed with me.”

Eddie grinned. He couldn’t help but squeeze Buck a little tighter, fondness unfurling in his chest. “Deal.”

“Yeah?”

Eddie nodded, turning Buck so they were pressed chest to chest, their foreheads resting against one another. “Yeah,” Eddie murmured, stealing a proper kiss.

The first day of the trip goes according to plan. Buck is exhausted, and Eddie can tell he’s losing steam towards the end of the day, but he still manages to keep a warm smile on his face until they make it back to the hotel room. Eddie follows him inside, locking the door behind them as Buck heaves a sigh and sits on the edge of the bed.

“You did well today,” Eddie says, toeing off his shoes and shrugging out of his suit jacket before crossing the room towards the bed.

“I– I feel like you guys are smothering me.” Buck’s reply seems to startle both of them.

Eddie tries not to take it personally. It’s not his fault there are fewer police officers in the entire state of Wyoming than there were students in his high school! Usually when they travel, local police come in to support the Secret Service. The small police population out here has meant fewer support officers than they’re used to. It left Eddie and his team feeling a little stressed, and they had come to the decision that the best way to fill the gaps and compensate for the change in routine was to increase the presence of Buck’s personal detail.

Instead of two agents shadowing him, they bumped it to three. Instead of four agents surrounding him in open air, they’ve had six.

Frankly, Eddie isn’t a huge fan of the change in routine, either. He’s been on edge since the second they got here. But if it means keeping Buck safe, he’ll adopt whatever changes are necessary. He might not like it, might spend all day longing for the status quo, but he’ll do it. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do if it meant keeping Buck safe. Nothing .

“I’m sorry,” Buck and Eddie say at the same time.

“No– no, Eddie. I’m sorry,” Buck insists, his eyes wide and searching as he holds Eddie’s gaze. “I– I don’t know where that came from. I just–”

Eddie sits down beside him. Their knees brush, and the tension in the air dissolves immediately. “You don’t ever have to be sorry for telling me the truth,” Eddie tells him. “I’m sorry that we had to change your detail. I don’t like it any more than you do.”

“There’s nothing here but open air and cows,” Buck grumbles, loosening his tie and pulling it over his head with a sigh. “Can’t we decrease it?”

Eddie shakes his head. Annoying as it is, it’ll be a cold day in hell when he does anything that could potentially put Buck in danger. “No, baby. I’m sorry.”

Buck makes a noise halfway between a groan and a whine, flopping back onto the mattress. Eddie sighs, taking comfort in knowing that even as tired as he is, Buck hasn’t lost his personality.

“We just have to get through another day and a half. Not even. First thing Wednesday morning, we’re on the way home,” Eddie reminds him. “And then I believe there’s a deal involving a bed and a locked door that’ll need your attention.”

The following afternoon is Buck’s big speech, the whole reason for the trip in the first place. He spends 15 minutes speaking at a ceremony to honor the 100th birthday of a national park that Eddie isn’t convinced he himself had ever heard of before learning of these travel plans. As Eddie expected, Buck absolutely crushes his speech, complete with a standing ovation before he waves goodbye and heads backstage to meet up with his team.

“Nice work,” Maddie says, beaming as Buck makes his way down the stairs, trailed by Eddie, Bobby, Chim, and Hen. He strides over to where she’s waiting with a few of his advisors and a flock of additional Secret Service agents.

Buck lets out a deep breath, relief and gratitude shining in his eyes as he thanks her. “Now what?” he asks, accepting the bottle of water Eddie passes him with a small smile.

“Now, you have to go get changed into something more appropriate for skeet shooting with the governor,” Maddie tells him.

She manages to keep the grin off her face, but Chim fails, chuckling as he claps Buck on the back. “Now this, I can’t wait to see.”

It’s a twenty minute ride in the motorcade to the rifle club, where Buck is ushered into a sitting room and promised that the governor will be with him shortly. He takes a seat in one of the oversized leather chairs, directly beneath a taxidermy buck.

“It’s Buck-ception,” Chimney muses. Eddie grins, though it may have less to do with Chim’s bad joke and more to do with the horrified look on Buck’s face as he turns his head and sees the deer mounted directly above him.

“I miss Washington,” Buck grumbles.

Eddie doesn’t blame him.

Washington has the Oval Office, which is free of dead animals hanging on the walls. Washington has four times more law enforcement officers in its 70 square miles than Wyoming does in its nearly 100,000. Washington has Christopher. Washington has the Residence. Washington has their bed–– God, Eddie misses their bed.

Washington has their best memories and some of their worst ones too, but it’s home. And while Eddie’s never felt homesick when Buck’s in reach, he finds himself longing for the city just as much as Buck is.

He doesn’t have time to dwell on it, though, because the governor is striding into the sitting room and Buck is rising to his feet to shake the man’s hand.

“Mr. President.”

“Mr. Governor,” Buck says with a warm smile. Eddie remains in awe of him– how even when he’s somewhere he doesn’t want to be, doing something he doesn’t want to do, Buck still manages to be so friendly, so genuine. He still manages to share the best parts of himself. “Thanks for having me.”

The governor returns Buck’s smile. “Pleasure’s mine.” He leads Buck down a hallway to a private locker room, Eddie, Bobby, and Chim trailing behind them alongside the Governor’s security. The Governor motions for Buck to use the room on the left before heading into the room on the right himself.

Chim stands to the left of the door while Bobby walks through the room, returning a moment later with a nod to signal that it’s empty and safe for Buck to enter. He steps into position, standing on the right hand side of the door as Eddie moves to follow Buck inside.

“I think I can handle this by myself, guys.” Buck motions to the bag in his hand. Eddie tries not to take it personally. He knows Buck is feeling overwhelmed. He said as much last night. And yet, there’s still a pang of rejection at Buck’s words. But he shoves it down, nods, and steps to the side, as much as he hates the idea of Buck being out of their sight.

But it’s only for a minute. They’re in a building that’s crawling with agents, and this is a private room– Eddie remembers as much from when he saw the building’s plans during his briefing this morning. There are no exterior doors, no doors that connect to other rooms. Just a small changing area connected to a private bathroom. And Buck is only getting changed out of his suit and into whatever sort of skeet shooting attire Maddie put into the bag that’s slung across his shoulder.

He’ll only be a minute.

The Governor reappears a few minutes later, his own suit traded for a flannel shirt and a dark khaki vest with matching pants tucked into calf-high boots.

Eddie catches the way Chim’s eyes light up, already anticipating Buck’s getup. He shoots him a look, silently begging him to behave.

They wait for another minute before Eddie starts to get antsy. He has no idea what could possibly be taking Buck so long. He’s pretty efficient when he gets dressed in the morning, only slowing down to swap lazy kisses with Eddie as they move around the walk-in closet at the same time. That and tying his tie. But Eddie’s out here in the hallway and he’s hard pressed to believe Maddie would pack him a necktie for an afternoon at the rifle club.

Something must be wrong.

Eddie steps forward, knocking on the door. “Mr. President, all good?” He waits with bated breath for Buck’s answer, only it doesn’t come.

“Mr. President?” Eddie tries again, more insistent this time. Again, no response.

He looks between Chim, Bobby, the Governor, and the two state troopers trailing the Governor, concern written across all five of their faces.

Fuck.

Eddie doesn’t waste another second.

The door is unlocked, but there’s something blocking it. He’s able to twist the knob and push it open, but it only goes a few inches before he’s met with resistance. He slams his shoulder into the door, using all of his weight to push it open far enough that he can make it through.

A leather-trimmed bench has been dragged over from the middle of the changing area, if the dents in the carpet are any indication of where it once sat. It was shoved in front of the door, clearly meant to slow down anyone trying to make their way inside. Buck’s suit jacket is in a pile on the floor, just beside his dress pants and shoes. His bag lays sideways on the floor, a pair of olive green pants hanging out of the opening.

His white button-down is in the middle of the floor, stained red with what can only be blood.

There’s a lot of blood. Too much blood.

A trail of it starting in the middle of the room, leading out through a wide-open window.

Shit.

There are bloody footprints on the carpet. Three pairs in the middle of the floor – two made by shoes and one made by bare feet. By the window, there are only two pairs. Both shoes. They dragged him out.

The realization burns in Eddie’s chest, nearly breaks him. They dragged him out.

How did they all miss this? How did none of them hear it? Eddie thinks he might be sick.

Behind him, he hears Bobby radioing in a mayday and calling for a total lockdown. He hears boots in the hallway, voices echoing in his earpiece. The Governor’s saying something, the state troopers, too.

But he can’t focus on any of that. Not when Buck is gone.

No, not gone.

Taken.

The worst of it is the tiny black rectangle in the corner of the room. Buck’s panic button. Eddie beelines toward it, dropping down to get a better look. It’s still intact, which has Eddie trying to wrap his head around why Buck didn’t hit it– it must’ve been in his hand at some point if it made it all the way out of his pocket and across the room. Why didn’t he hit it?

He’s careful not to put any fingerprints on it, pulling a pen out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket and using it to flip the thing over. He’s not ready for the sight of the bloody fingerprint, just to the left of the button itself. It trails off, as if the device was knocked out of Buck’s hand before he could get his finger onto the button.

But he tried.

Something about that makes it even worse.

“Talk to me,” Eddie says, walking into the sitting room, which has since become, for all intents and purposes, Secret Service headquarters.

He just got off the phone with the director, briefing him on what had gone down. It’s been fourteen minutes since Eddie breached the door to the locker room and they discovered Buck had been taken. Closer to eighteen minutes since Buck entered the locker room in the first place. The pit in Eddie’s stomach grows steadily with each passing minute. He’s desperate for an update– a real update. Not just “Yeah, he’s definitely gone,” which had been the latest one a few minutes ago, before Eddie stepped out to call the director and try to tamp down the rage burning within him before it consumed him.

“We have footage,” Bobby says, looking up at Eddie from behind a laptop screen. He’s sitting in the same oversized leather chair Buck had been in before, the stupid taxidermy buck above his head.

God, what Eddie would do to go back to that moment. The things he would change. The things he could prevent.

“Let me see,” Eddie says. Bobby hesitates, one hand on the laptop screen, as if to shield Eddie from view.

“Eddie,” Bobby begins. “I just watched it. I think–” His voice is gentle and sympathetic in a way that has Eddie feeling absolutely terrified.

“No,” Eddie insists. He can hear the hysteria starting to creep into his voice. He clears his throat, takes a quick breath. “Let me see.”

Bobby hesitates once more, but Eddie steps up next to him, standing over his shoulder and staring down at the screen. Reluctantly, Bobby hits play.

It’s from an exterior camera, one that had a perfect view of two men dragging Buck out of the locker room window. Eddie stands there fuming, his blood boiling beneath his skin as he sees Buck, covered in blood, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs and a strip of tape across his mouth.

He kicks and claws, thrashing around as they pull him out of the open window and throw him in the back of a waiting golf cart. It has a miniature flatbed in the back, and one of the men jumps in beside Buck, locking his legs around him and holding a hand over his mouth to keep him still and quiet.

The other man throws a tarp over the both of them, concealing them from view, before jumping in the driver’s seat and speeding off.

And then they’re gone.

Eddie can’t breathe. Buck is gone– taken – on his watch. He’s out there somewhere, barefoot and covered in blood and at the mercy of the two animals who just dragged him through a window right under Eddie’s nose and Eddie can’t fucking breathe. His chest is tight and his head is heavy and everything hurts. He can’t–

“Eddie,” Bobby’s voice sounds far away, too distant to be coming from the man standing directly beside him. “Eddie, look at me.”

Eddie can’t get the words out. Can’t get the air in. Can’t do anything except stand here as his world falls apart and stammer out a broken, “They– I– I can’t–”

“I know.” Bobby’s voice is even where Eddie’s wavers, smooth where Eddie’s grates against the lump in his throat. But the fire in his eyes burns just as furiously as the one in Eddie’s. The undercurrent of anger that Eddie can sense coming off of him is just as intense as the one thrumming beneath his own skin.

And something about that is more comforting than the evenness of his voice ever could be.

“We’re going to get him back,” Bobby says, matter-of-fact. There’s no room for interpretation, no doubt behind his words.

“He’s… Bobby, I– I don’t–”

“He needs you,” Bobby says, his voice low. Quiet enough that it doesn’t draw the attention of the other agents coming in and out of the room, but loud in all the ways that matter. Keep it together , is what Bobby doesn’t say out loud. Keep it together for him. And fall apart later.

Eddie hears it all the same.

He nods, managing to get a shaky breath. And then another one. The heat behind his eyes eases up, the pressure in his head and the burn in his chest ebbing away with each additional breath. Not all the way, but it’s enough.

Bobby places a hand on his shoulder, squeezes reassuringly in a way that has Eddie’s chest aching for an entirely different reason.

And then Hen is running into the room, waving a sticky note in her hand. “I got a plate.”

“Let me have it,” Eddie says. Bobby, to his credit, doesn’t protest as Eddie grabs the laptop out from in front of him and pulls up the database.

Hen reads off the plate number and Eddie types it in. The system shows a match immediately. He pulls up the driver’s ID and his heart skips in his chest. That’s the same guy from the security video, the one driving the cart away. He’s sure of it.

If the way Bobby stiffens beside him is any indication, he’s sure of it, too. They share a small nod, and Eddie sends a silent prayer of thanks to every God he can think of before keying his radio. “All agents, be advised, we have an ID on one of our suspects. Dixon Allan, age 31. Driving a white Silverado with a busted left tail light. BOLO is going out now.”

“Last known address on our friend Mr. Allan is 129 Fox Hollow Road,” Bobby says, looking between Eddie, Chim, and Hen.

“Well, let’s pay him a visit,” Eddie says.

Eddie kills the Suburban’s engine three doors down from the house. The road has a more suburban feel to it than many of the streets Eddie’s seen since they first arrived two days ago. And yet, despite the paved streets and the houses close together, there’s not a single streetlight on the entire block. Though that’ll work in their favor. The sun is quickly setting, leaving them with only a few more minutes’ worth of daylight before the street is completely blanketed in darkness.

Another two cars pull up behind him, all of the agents careful to close their doors quietly and move silently as they head over to Eddie’s car.

Eddie swaps his suit jacket for a kevlar vest, rolling the sleeves of his white button-down up his forearms as Bobby steps up beside him, clad in his own vest.

“Eddie.” Bobby says, the fear on his face giving way to something softer, more compassionate. “I can go in first.”

Eddie’s chest squeezes, the onslaught of emotion catching him completely off guard.

“We have no idea what we’re walking into,” Bobby says, the compassion from his face bleeding into his voice and softening the razor-sharp edge of the truth behind his words.

“I know,” Eddie says solemnly. He knows Bobby is trying to protect him, offering to be the first one in, the first one to see whatever it is these animals have done with Buck. To Buck.

But what Bobby must not realize is that this – whatever it is they’re walking into – is what Eddie deserves. He’s the one who let Buck into that locker room alone. He’s the one who waited too long to breach the door and get inside. He’s the one who failed. He failed his country, failed his people. Failed Buck.

And whatever horror scene they’re about to walk in on, Eddie deserves every second of it. He can’t put that on Bobby. Not when all of this is his fault.

“I’ll lead,” Eddie says, the words scratching against the lump in his throat.

He’s saved from having to say anything more about it when his earpiece beeps, signaling an incoming communication. “All agents, be advised. SWAT is eleven minutes out.”

It’s Eddie’s boss, the director of the Secret Service. The unspoken words there are Wait for them. Which Eddie has no plans of doing.

Eddie keys his radio. “We’re moving in.”

“Special Agent Diaz––”

“Do you have any idea what can happen in eleven minutes?” Eddie demands. He gives zero regard to the reprimand he’s bound to get for interrupting his boss– and over the team comms for everyone else to hear, no less. “What they could do to him?”

“Stand down and wait for SWAT,” the director says. “That’s an order.”

“I don’t give a damn if it costs me my badge!” Eddie hisses, careful not to raise his voice to the point of giving away their position. “It’ll be on your desk first thing tomorrow if that’s how it has to be. But I’m going in there and getting my President. And I’m not waiting eleven minutes to do it.”

The comms are silent for a beat before Eddie keys his radio one more time. “Respectfully, Sir.”

“I would never ask any of you to disobey–” Eddie’s voice trails off as he turns to face his team, only to find them all in their vests, their weapons drawn. They’re ready to go.

“We know,” Hen says.

Eddie tries again, shoving down the ball of emotion that’s started unfurling in his chest. “No one is under any obligation to–”

Chim cuts him off with a wave of his hand. “Yeah, yeah. We’re all consenting adults here. Now, let’s go get our President back.”

Eddie nods. “Clip your lights on,” he tells them. “Stay light on your feet and wait for my signal.”

He’s met with a round of nods, each of the agents fastening their flashlights onto the top of their guns. As they’re walking down the sidewalk, approaching the house, his earpiece beeps again.

“Be advised, SWAT recommends breaching at the alpha side.”

Eddie knows that’s as close to a “You were right and I was wrong” as they’re ever going to get. He’ll take it.

At least his badge is safe.

“Copy,” Eddie replies. He directs the agents to different sides of the house, approaching the front door with Bobby, Hen, and Chim on his heels. He glances back at them, and once he sees they’re all ready, he turns to the door and kicks it in.

The lights are off, the entire house swathed in a darkness that feels somewhat fitting for the gravity of the situation. Eddie steps over the threshold gun first, feet second.

His stomach drops as he looks around. He freezes, the beam from his flashlight locked in place. His breath catches in his throat and from somewhere behind him, he can hear Bobby’s do the same.

The front door opens up into a small entryway, just large enough for a coat rack and a small table pushed up against the wall, holding nothing but a single set of keys– no doubt belonging to the white Silverado parked out front, the same one they used to flee the scene– and a layer of dust Eddie can see from several feet away. Directly ahead is an open door that leads to what looks like the kitchen. To the left, a hallway.

There are cobwebs in the corners and dust on the floor. The house is cold– too cold for anyone to be living here comfortably. But that’s not what has Eddie’s blood running cold, alarm bells going off in his head as he fights against the fire in his chest to get a clean breath.

There, on the hallway wall, set clearly against the white paint, is a bloody handprint.

Beside it, another one. This one messier than the first, the fingerprints trailing away, down the hallway, as if their owner dragged them across the wall.

As if their owner was dragged.

Not without a fight, though, if the fingernail scratches in the wall are any indication.

“Jesus,” Chimney mutters. His voice is empty, hollow in a way Eddie’s never heard it before. Almost as if he’s shut off his emotions, tamped them down in the way Eddie so desperately wishes he was capable of doing himself.

“Let’s move,” Eddie says, pushing the words past the fear that’s materialized by way of a lump in his throat.

He heads down the hallway, his heart hammering in his chest as his eyes scan the trail of blood and scratches on the wall. The need to find Buck is the only thing more powerful than the rage burning deep inside him. It’s the only thing keeping him moving forward, keeping him from falling apart.

The intensity of the blood against the wall trails off the further he gets down the hallway, the heavy, robust marks fading into barely-there traces with each step Eddie takes. He tries to take comfort in knowing that it means Buck wasn’t actively bleeding– at least not from his hands– but any shred of relief is lost to the fear and the fury dangerously close to consuming him.

The trail ends at the second door on the right. Eddie holds up his free hand in a silent signal to his team to freeze. The quiet footsteps behind him come to a halt, and he turns his head to see Bobby beside him.

The anguish in his eyes has Eddie feeling like he’s looking in a mirror. Bobby has the same clenched jaw, the same creased forehead, the same fire burning behind his eyes that Eddie feels in his own. But there’s something more there. Something softer. At first, Eddie isn’t sure what to make of it. Then, Bobby nods his head towards the door, a silent offer.

I’ll go first.

He doesn’t have to say it out loud–– Eddie hears the unspoken words loud and clear. He knows it’s Bobby’s last attempt to protect him. To shield him from whatever might be behind the door.

Later, he’ll let himself feel the gratitude. Later, once Buck is home and Buck is safe.

Later, he’ll find Bobby and he’ll thank him. He’ll tell him that he’s never had anyone care about him in the way that Bobby does. He’ll tell him how much the seemingly simple gesture meant to him. How he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget it.

Later, he’ll tell Bobby how even though it meant the world to him– maybe even more– he couldn’t take him up on the offer. He hopes Bobby will understand. No, he knows he will.

Later, he’ll tell Bobby “I had to do it.” And later, Bobby will smile and clap him on the shoulder and say “No, I know you did.” Later. Once this is all over.

But now, all Eddie can do is meet Bobby’s eyes and hope the look he gives him is enough to say all the things he can’t right now.

And then he moves.

The door is locked. Eddie wastes no time kicking it open. It slams against the wall, the hinges rattling as he barrels into the room, Bobby and Chimney immediately behind him.

The room is dark, illuminated only by the beams of their flashlights. There’s a startled whimper from the far corner, and it’s a miracle that Eddie hears it over the sound of his own heartbeat hammering in his ears.

“Buck!” Eddie crosses the room in three strides. Protocol says he needs to clear the room of any potential threats before entering, but he’s long past the point of giving a single damn about protocol.

Someone behind him shouts out a “Clear!” and he hears Bobby on the radio, updating the other agents on scene.

None of that matters to him. His sole focus is Buck.

Buck, who’s sitting in front of him, eyes wide and wet even in the bright light of Eddie’s flashlight. He’s on the floor in the corner of the room, his knees pulled up to his chest. His hands are bound behind his back and there’s tape over his mouth. His captors are nowhere to be seen. He’s alone.

For reasons Eddie can’t quite name, that makes the knots in his stomach coil even tighter. Buck was alone in here. Buck, who hasn’t been alone– not really, anyway– in years. Buck, who just minutes before being taken had insisted he’d be fine by himself.

Sure, the alternative is that Buck’s captors could’ve been in here with him, doing god-knows-what to him. And that’s hardly better than Buck being left in here alone. But something about the sight of him all by himself, tucked in the corner of the room and looking smaller than Eddie’s ever seen him, has Eddie’s stomach turning, his chest squeezing beneath the agony of it all.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Eddie promises, easing one corner of the tape up. He’s not sure if that last part is true. Not yet. But it needs to be.

“We’re here, we got you.” That part is true. They have him.

Finally, finally, they have him.

“Are you hurt?” Eddie asks. He can barely stand the half-second of wait time between his second and Buck’s reply, which comes by way of a quick head shake. No.

Eddie’s shoulders sag with relief, just as his radio beeps in his ear. “All agents be advised, we have both suspects in custody.”

Eddie lets out a sound that’s halfway between a sigh and a sob. The relief is palpable, coursing through him and soothing the frayed edges of what little remains of his sanity.

“We got them,” he tells Buck. “It’s over.”

Buck nods, eyes still shining in a way that feels like a knife to Eddie’s heart. “Gonna take this off, okay?” Eddie says, working hard to keep his voice calm and even. Buck nods eagerly. Bobby is there too, kneeling down at Buck’s side and starting in on the ropes wrapped around his wrists.

Eddie brings one hand up to the side of Buck’s face, and his chest squeezes at the way Buck immediately melts into the touch. He pulls the tape off with his other hand, dropping it to the ground as soon as it’s off.

Bobby gets the rope off at the same time and Buck collapses like a puppet whose strings have just been cut, falling into Eddie’s chest with a strangled noise that Eddie knows he’ll be hearing in his nightmares for years to come.

“I got you,” Eddie says, fighting off a sob he can feel building in his chest. He swallows it down and brings a hand up to the nape of Buck’s neck, holding him close. “I got you.”

Buck’s chest heaves as he draws in a shaky breath, fingers wound so tightly in Eddie’s suit jacket that his knuckles have gone white. “I got you,” Eddie says again. It’s just as much for Buck as it is for himself.

He holds Buck as close as he possibly can, buries his face in his hair and finally takes a deep breath for the first time in hours. His hair smells like sweat and blood, but underneath it all there’s still the familiar minty fragrance of Buck’s fancy conditioner. It’s barely recognizable, but Eddie clings to it just as hard as he holds onto Buck.

Bobby backs off, gives them a moment to hold each other, to breathe. To let it sink in that this nightmare is finally over. Eddie’s gratitude knows no bounds.

“I– I’m sorry.” Buck’s voice is ragged, trembling in the same way his hands are.

Eddie’s heart breaks all over again.

“Shh,” Eddie shushes him. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I-I told you… I told you not to–” Buck stammers. Eddie eases him back, putting just enough distance between them that he can take Buck’s face in his hands.

“Buck, please–” It’s all Eddie manages to get out before his voice cracks, hot tears stinging his eyes, threatening to spill over.

He blinks them back, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against Buck’s. “I’m sorry I left you,” he says, his voice wavering. He could apologize every day, every hour, every minute for the rest of his life and it still could never be enough. “I shouldn’t have listened, I should– I should have insisted.”

Buck shakes his head. “This is not your fault.”

“It is,” Eddie insists. “It is, I– I should have…” His sentence trails off when he registers the way Buck is shaking. He’s trembling in Eddie’s arms, his whole body fighting against what Eddie assumes is a combination of an adrenaline crash and the fact that he’s still barely clothed. Eddie lets go of Buck only long enough to stand up. Quick as their lack of contact may be, it’s still met with a sound of protest from Buck. Eddie helps him to his feet, and it’s the first time he gets a proper look at him, and it takes his breath away. There’s dried blood all over him. It’s caked onto his skin, his hair. It’s beneath his fingernails, stuck in the creases of his palms. Sweat-damp curls are plastered against his forehead, and dark circles hang beneath his weary eyes.

“Come on,” Eddie says gently. He wraps an arm around Buck’s waist, taking on his weight as he leads him towards the door.

He keys his radio with his free hand. “All agents be advised, I’m bringing POTUS out. Need medical on standby.”

“No medical,” Buck protests. “I– I’m fine. Just need a shower.”

“Yes, medical,” Eddie shuts that nonsense down immediately. He leads him out the door and towards the waiting ambulance.

Maddie is the first one to reach them, running over as soon as she sees them cross the threshold. She meets them halfway across the front lawn, pulling Buck into a tight hug. She’s the only person on Earth for whom Eddie would let go of his hold on Buck, and he doesn’t mind stepping back and letting them have a moment together. Eddie can’t make out what she says to Buck, but if the way his shoulders sag is any indication, it’s exactly what he needed to hear.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Eddie asks. Buck is sitting on the back of the ambulance, Eddie directly next to him. Buck’s head is resting on Eddie’s shoulder, and Eddie finally, finally feels like he’s able to breathe again. Buck is dressed in Secret Service issued sweats, a navy blue crewneck sweatshirt and matching pants. Hen had been quick to bring them over as soon as they made it out of the house, and Eddie’s not sure who was more grateful– him or Buck.

Eddie was quick to help Buck into them, hoping they’d help to fight against the chill in the night air. He had grabbed a rescue blanket off the back of the ambulance, too, and draped that over Buck’s shoulders in an attempt to get him as warm as possible.

“I– I promise,” Buck says, voice still a little wobbly. “My, uh, my wrists are a little sore. That’s all.”

“And your head,” Eddie reminds him.

“And my head,” Buck agrees.

There’s a small gash on Buck’s forehead, just above the spot where his birthmark kisses his eyebrow. It’s no bigger than an inch wide, and there’s an angry bruise already blooming across the skin behind it. The paramedics already cleaned it and applied a steri-strip, and Eddie was able to find a tiny bit of comfort in the knowledge that it wouldn’t need stitches.

That tiny bit of comfort was immediately chased away by rage when Buck explained that one of his captors had accidentally smacked his head against the window frame when dragging him out of the locker room, hence the injury. “It’s weird,” Buck had said, both to Eddie and to the paramedics as they tended to the wound. “He apologized. It was like… I– I don’t know. I almost feel like they didn’t want to hurt me.”

Buck had also said that they dumped him in the room, tied his hands behind his back, and left him alone almost immediately. They didn’t hurt him, didn’t demand information or national secrets. Didn’t make so much as a single threat. Not that they would have had much time to do so– Buck hadn’t even been there an hour by the time the Secret Service arrived.

It all certainly tracked with what Bobby was getting from Dixon, who apparently started talking before the cuffs were even fastened. Bobby had come by a few minutes before and pulled Eddie aside. Maddie was quick to swoop in and sit with Buck while Eddie was briefed. Apparently, the two idiots were hired by someone to whom the governor had an outstanding debt. They were only supposed to rough him up, but upon realizing the man they had jumped from behind was the president, they panicked and took him. How kidnapping the president of the United States was a better decision than aborting the mission and making a run for it, Eddie will never understand. But all that matters is Buck is here. He’s safe. And Eddie isn’t letting him out of his sight any time soon. Possibly ever.

Not even to deal with Dixon and his partner. Bobby had asked if Eddie wanted to speak with either one of them before PD took them away, to which Eddie had shaken his head. “You’d be wrong to trust me alone with either one of them,” he said.

Bobby nodded, understanding. “Why do you think I’m over here?”

“It doesn’t hurt, though,” Buck says, pulling Eddie out of his thoughts and back to the present. “My head.”

“There was a lot of blood,” Eddie reminds him. He feels sick at the thought of it, the visuals playing in his mind sending his stomach churning all over again. “It was all over the locker room. And on the walls in the house.”

“Not mine,” Buck says. “It was his. The smaller one. He tried to grab me in the locker room and I– I pushed him off. He hit his head on the corner of a locker. And then he must’ve gotten scraped up on the window, cause his arms were bleeding a lot. He got it all over me.”

Eddie remembers seeing the smaller of the two kidnappers get in the back of the golf cart alongside Buck, the visual of it seared into his mind. That would certainly explain the blood in Buck’s hair, not to mention the streaks of it across his bare body.

“Okay,” Eddie nods, comforted by the fact that Buck seems to be alright. At least physically. And for now, he’ll let himself take solace in that. For now, that can be enough.

He tips his head against Buck’s, their temples resting against one another as Eddie takes a shaky breath. Buck’s voice is so quiet, so small, Eddie almost misses it. “I fought back.”

“I know, baby,” he assures him, rubbing reassuring circles into Buck’s back. “I know you did. It’s over now. It’s all over.”

When they get back to the hotel, Buck beelines for the bathroom, eager to shower off the blood and the sweat still caked onto his skin. Eddie fights every instinct telling him to follow Buck inside, to keep himself plastered to Buck’s side. Instead, he tries to give Buck a little bit of space, tries to wait to follow his lead, painful as it may be. He leans against the door frame and watches as Buck turns the shower on and grabs a towel off the rack.

“Can you–” Buck says quietly, and there’s something uncertain in his voice, something almost a little bit shy, that Eddie hasn’t heard in a long time. He looks between Eddie and the shower, biting on his bottom lip. “I– I don’t… I don’t want…” His voice trails off, his question left unspoken.

Eddie hears him anyway. Understands him perfectly, in the way he always has. “Of course.”

He walks the rest of the way into the bathroom, kicking off his shoes and stripping out of his own clothes before helping Buck out of his. Steam fills the room as Eddie guides Buck into the shower and steers him beneath the warm spray.

Buck closes his eyes, tips his head back against Eddie’s shoulder, his back to Eddie’s chest. Eddie wraps an arm around Buck’s waist, holding him close as the water sprays over them. Eddie can’t bear to look at it, can’t stand the sight of the water running pink as it swirls around the drain. He presses a kiss to the top of Buck’s head and closes his own eyes, taking a deep breath and allowing himself to relax into the feel of Buck pressed up against him.

“Thank you,” Buck’s voice is so small, Eddie barely hears it over the sound of the running water. “I don’t–”

Eddie’s not sure how Buck was planning to end his sentence before his voice broke off. But it doesn’t change his answer. “It’s okay,” Eddie murmurs.

“I don’t want to be alone,” Buck admits.

“You don’t have to be.”

He feels the sob tear its way through Buck’s chest before he hears it. Buck crumples against him, falling into Eddie’s arms as the gravity of the day’s events seems to finally hit him.

“I’ve got you,” Eddie promises, taking on Buck’s weight and easing him onto the floor. He pulls Buck into his lap, holds him against his chest. He ignores the way the tiled floor is digging into the bottom of his thighs, and the way the water is beating on his back on the wrong side of uncomfortable. “I’m here.”

There’s a certain weight behind his words. They hang heavier in the air between them, as if they’re suspended in the thick cloud of steam. They’re more than just an assurance.

“I’m here,” Eddie says again. It's a promise. A pledge. And unspoken vow that he’ll never leave again.

They stay like that for a while, until the sobs wracking Buck’s body fade into sniffles, until the water starts to turn tepid and Eddie gently eases him to his feet just long enough to wash off. He turns the water hotter and work’s Buck’s fancy shampoo into his hair, massaging his scalp and scrubbing behind his ears in the way he knows Buck loves. Eddie’s stomach turns as it rinses out pink, the last of the blood disappearing down the drain.

He follows it with conditioner, the shower filling with its peppermint fragrance. Buck has been using this stuff for so long, Eddie feels like one of Pavlov’s dogs with the way the smell of peppermint instantly soothes him. It’s immediately grounding, and never more so than tonight, as it covers up the metallic scent of the blood washing down the drain.

Once they’re done and all of the hot water is gone for good, Eddie detaches himself from Buck just long enough to turn the water off and grab Buck a towel, passing it to him before grabbing one for himself. As they towel off and step out of the shower, Buck’s hand finds Eddie’s wrist, holding onto him as he guides them out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.

Buck stands over the dresser for a moment before crossing the room and pulling a t-shirt out of Eddie’s duffle bag. It’s the one he wore to bed last night, and as he turns it over in his hands, Eddie can see some of the lingering tension bleed out of his shoulders. He looks up at Eddie, who nods without hesitation. “All yours, baby.”

They make their way into bed, and Eddie relaxes instantly as Buck curls into his side. Eddie shuts the lights off and drops a kiss to the top of Buck’s head.

“Thank you for finding me,” Buck says quietly, the words muffled by Eddie’s t-shirt. But Eddie hears him loud and clear.

It feels like Eddie’s heart is splitting wide open. He wonders, briefly, if Buck is able to hear it do so from where he’s laying with his head atop Eddie’s chest.

“Thank you for fighting,” Eddie says, running a hand through Buck’s hair.

“I didn’t do much,” Buck replies.

Eddie shakes his head. “You did more than you realize. You fought back, you…” he takes a breath, clears his throat as he searches for the right words. “You bought us time. You fought to make it out of there. You… you gave me– you gave us hope. We needed that.”

He shoves all thoughts of what might have happened if Buck hadn’t fought out of his mind and instead tries to focus on this, on being here with Buck. He tries to focus on the feel of Buck curled up against him, tucked into his side like they’re two puzzle pieces slotting into place. Like the two of them were made for each other.

Eddie likes to think they were.

Buck’s eyes are shining as he props himself up on his elbow, looking at Eddie properly.

Eddie continues. “Even in our worst moments, we still make a pretty good team.”

Buck smiles for the first time since this whole nightmare began, and the sight of it alone does more to mend Eddie’s battered heart than he ever thought possible. “You think so?” he asks.

Eddie nods. “I know so.”

"You know what could have stopped them even sooner?" Buck asks, a mischievous glint in his eye. He’s looking more and more like himself with every passing moment, something for which Eddie has never been more grateful.

Eddie knows exactly where this is going. "We're still not giving you a gun. Nice try."

Buck lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine,” he concedes. “But what about a really sharp knife?”

"So you can end up with an accidental self-inflicted stab wound?” Eddie asks. “I don't think so."

"What about…” Buck begins, his voice trailing off as he inches closer to Eddie. “A super smart…” He brushes his nose against Eddie’s. “Absurdly handsome Secret Service agent…” he drops a quick, playful kiss to the corner of Eddie’s mouth. “...Who carries both a gun and a really sharp knife?"

Eddie grins, only for Buck to chase it away with a long, lingering kiss. "Deal," he murmurs against Buck’s lips as they part.

"Great,” Buck leans in again, smiling against Eddie’s lips as they kiss again. “I always did like Bobby."

Eddie can feel Buck’s chuckle rumbling in his chest, and despite his best efforts to keep a straight face, he can’t help but laugh alongside him. “You’re ridiculous,” he says fondly.

“Yeah,” Buck agrees. “But you love me.”

Eddie nods, stealing another kiss. “I do,” he promises. “I really, really do.”

Eddie wakes up slowly, a tiny, content sigh falling from his lips as he turns over and reaches for Buck. Only instead of finding his warm boyfriend, all Eddie’s fingers are met with are cold bed sheets. “Baby?” Eddie mumbles, his voice thick with sleep. He props himself up on his elbow and blinks slowly as his eyes adjust slowly to the low light.

It’s too dark for the bed to be this empty.

He glances over at the door to the ensuite bathroom, but there’s no light slipping through the crack at the bottom of the door. “Buck?” he calls, a little louder this time. When he doesn’t get an answer, he kicks the duvet off and swings his legs over the side of the bed, sitting up properly. He reaches for the lamp on the nightstand, clicking it onto the dimmest setting. It’s still enough light to have him squinting as his eyes adjust.

He rubs the sleep out of his eyes before standing up and looking around the room.

No.

No, no, no . Not again.

His stomach drops, his heart slamming into his ribcage. There’s a pool of blood on the carpet, just next to Buck’s side of the bed. And a trail of blood across the wall, leading from Buck’s side of the bedroom all the way to the door. Five lines for five fingers, fingernail scratches chasing after the bloody smears before cutting out abruptly at the door jamb. He stumbles, nearly falling over as he scrambles towards the hallway.

“Buck!” The scream tears its way out of his chest, shredding against his vocal cords as he yanks the door open. “BUCK!”

“Eddie.”

He blinks his eyes open. Buck is leaning over him, his eyes shining with concern. Moonlight pours in through the open window, dancing across his face as he looks down at Eddie. “It’s okay,” Buck assures him. He runs a thumb over Eddie’s cheek, his touch instantly grounding. “You were dreaming.”

Eddie swallows around the dryness in his throat and tries to catch his breath. His heart hammers in his chest as he looks around, trying to get his bearings.

They’re in bed, in the Residence. The window is open, just how Buck likes it. Buck is beside him. Buck is here. The walls are perfectly clean. No blood. No fingernail scratches. Nothing but wallpaper.

And Buck is here. Buck is pulling Eddie into his chest, holding him and murmuring “It’s okay,” and “I got you,” and “You’re safe.”

Buck is here.

Eddie’s breathing begins to even out, his heart rate slowing down as he holds onto Buck, his arms wrapped tight around him. “I’m sorry,” Eddie breathes.

“No need,” Buck says simply, as if Eddie waking him up in the middle of the night plagued with nightmares of something that happened months ago is no big deal.

Self loathing burns in his gut. He hates that he still thinks about that awful, awful night in Wyoming. He hates that everyone else seems to have moved on, and yet there’s a part of him that’s still right there, still standing in that blood-soaked locker room. Still kicking down that door. Still finding Buck, tied up and covered in blood.

He hates how vivid the memories are when they come. He hates how he feels like he’ll never be normal again. Like it’ll never stop hurting.

He hates the nightmares. Hates the sick, twisted dreams where he sees that bloody wall again and again and again. Hates the dread that consumes him, the darkness that lives inside him still, even now.

He hates that it ever happened in the first place. That he ever failed Buck like that.

Eddie remains in awe at how well Buck is doing since that terrible night. Sure, the two of them both clung to each other for the first few days after their return. And it was weeks before Eddie felt like he could breathe again anytime Buck was out of his sight. But Buck seems to be doing well.

He hasn’t been plagued by nightmares in the same way Eddie has. He doesn’t look like he’s going to throw up every time their schedules don’t line up and they have to spend a few hours apart. Not like Eddie does, anyway.

He’s doing well.

Eddie is not.

“Was it Wyoming again?” Buck asks after a beat.

Eddie’s breath catches in his throat as he nods. Buck passes him a glass of water from the nightstand. It makes something in Eddie’s chest ache.

Buck is so good to him, so in tune. He always knows exactly what Eddie needs, always before Eddie knows it himself. Eddie could live a million lifetimes and still never find the one in which he’s worthy of being loved by Buck.

“Y-Yeah,” Eddie says, his throat feeling better after downing half the glass of water. “I woke up and you had been taken again.”

Buck sighs. “Oh, baby.”

“I’m sorry,” Eddie is quick to say.

“For what?” Buck asks.

Eddie sighs, setting the glass down. “Everything,” he admits.

“Eddie,” Buck says gently, placing a hand on Eddie’s knee and squeezing reassuringly. “Stop being sorry for that.”

“But I–”

“You came and got me,” Buck says, cutting him off. “Like you always do.”

“I always will.”

Buck smiles, and still, even after all this time, it’s the most beautiful smile Eddie’s ever known. “I’ve never doubted that.”

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mvltisstuff · 10 months

Note

hi i have an eddie diaz request!

so eddie and the reader have been dating for a while, she’s also a firefighter with the 118, and after that special about them that taylor did aires, her abusive ex comes to find her. it’s kinda like the maddie and doug situation where he was looking for her since she left and she doesn’t tell eddie until something big happens and he has to save her which causes her to tell him everything.

thank you

all too well - e.d

summary: request

eddie diaz x reader

a/n: sorry for the unnecessary taylor slander in this i’m her biggest hater!!! warning for domestic abuse, very similar to maddie in season 2.

it was an innocent new segment. that’s all it was supposed to be. an informative post about the fire station 118 and how they work. taylor and her team had sauntered their way through the firehouse, gazing at the engines and the shiny structures that surrounded them. she recorded anything she could, despite requests of space and those who didn’t wish to be recorded.

y/n had been one of those, out of her relationship from her ex boyfriend. she was in active hiding, fleeing across the country to get away from such a man. he had been watching her every move, and she’d been meticulous in concealing herself. she’d heard of the situation maddie was in, dealing with the uncertainty of her location and condition. it was nightmare fuel, the thought haunting y/n in her sleep as she lay next to eddie at night.

she wanted to be able to tell him, but the more people who didn’t know, was better. she figured she’d be putting him in danger if eddie knew, especially the people around him. if something happened to eddie, she would never be able to move on from the life she wants to put behind her. the discarded ring of a man who was never truly her fiancé was something she needed to forget about.

the moment she saw the news segment had aired, her heart dropped. she fought to have herself removed, but that was not what happened. taylor removed other details of the day gone-wrong, but didn’t remove her identity. y/n had voiced her concerns very clearly to taylor and eddie, and eddie was pissed that no one would listen. she panicked as her name was splayed across the screen with a clean view of her face, easily recognizable. she knew he was looking for her.

she tried to reassure herself, but the joke was on her. she was now sitting in the familiar car with the disgusting smell of cigarettes and the sick excuse of a man. she was jostled awake in the moving vehicle. she didn’t dare to mumble a single word, her body frozen in fright.

“morning, sleepyhead,” the raspy and evil voice entered her ears.

“what did you do?” she managed to spit out.

he laughs grimly, in a tormenting manner. “you really thought i wasn’t going to find you? i’ll give it to you, it took a while but i finally have you where i want you.”

“why are you doing this, mark? i didn’t do anything to you.”

“you said we were supposed to be together. and you lied, y/n. you know i don’t like lies. like, come on, were you that stupid?”

“you kidnapped me in this car. i’m not the stupid one.”

“whatever you say, princess,” she moves her hand up to brush the hair out of her face when he grips her wrist painfully. “but if you ever say anything like that again, you will never go back.”

her eyes remain dry, feeling completely numb as she continues to stare forward. “you literally left me no choice! i love you! you love me and you just left me? you turned into a monster, a selfish, backstabbing person and it’s not my fault!”

“no, it’s not,” she complies, almost giving up entirely to make herself feel worthy. she plays into his act of the hero, when he’s been the villain in disguise.

he had driven her two hours out of los angeles, taking the backroads to avoid any interaction with people. y/n, in a complete terror, tries to formulate a plan in her head but everything is shut down by her own fears. “i have to use the bathroom, mark.”

“what? why?”

“because i am a human, it’s not like i had the chance before we left.”

“shit, fine. say anything and you’re dead,” he threatens, pulling up to an empty gas station with only a few workers inside. he lurks around, pretending that he’s browsing the selections. she speeds to the bathroom in the back, which looks like it hasn’t been occupied in years.

something in her mind switches, so she grabs a pen out of her pant pocket and searches around for anything she can. her eyes land on the paper towels, madly ripping one off and clicking her pen. she writes a message on it, prepared to hide it in her sleeve as they walk out. idiot she thinks.

“y/n!” mark bangs on the door. “c’mon, we have to go!”

she turns the sink on and off and discards of any evidence. she grabs the door and takes a deep breath, and swings it open to be confronted by the towering figure. she felt like he was feet taller, but he wasn’t. she had been so used to making herself feel smaller that she forgot the feeling.

the workers in the front had noticed the discomfort on y/n’s face. they could make an accusation, or believe that someone else would do something. “would y’all like to buy something?” one asked.

y/n looked at mark, scared for anything he react to. y/n steps closer to the counter, “yeah, can i get a pack of marlboro?”

“sure thing,” the other says and grab the pack of cigarettes from the back. he places it in front of her as y/n fishes for her credit card, swiping the note she’d written under it. somehow, marks obliviousness had missed the piece of white under it. she praised whoever made him this ignorant. after the machine dinged and the payment was made, mark grabbed her hand and moved out of the small store.

“i’m sorry,” she immediately begins to apologize. “it was a distraction to them.”

“whatever, get in the car.”

the workers had found the paper on the counter, all folded up and ink spilling through the back.

call 911, ask for sergeant athena grant.

two hrs out of la, gray toyota, license plate 2R7-983

the first man blanked, not knowing what to do but his suspicions were confirmed. the woman was not safe, so he did what he was told on the paper. he dialed 911.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” the soothing voice came through.

“uh, i’m in solvang, and we just had a couple come in and i think the woman needs help.”

“did you get the name of the woman?”

“the name on the card was y/n, i didn’t remember any last name. she had y/c/h, about y/h tall, and she left a note asking for athena… grant?” this man was properly trained for emergencies, giving all the important details and steps they’d need.

“and what’s your name?”

“tyler,”

“ok, tyler, did she mention anything else?”

“yes! she mentioned a grey toyota and the license plate.”

“perfect, can i have the plate number?”

“it says… 2R7-983.”

“did she seem distressed?”

“yeah, she was scared and she looked tired and, i don’t know she just looked like something was really wrong.”

athena had taken the information, instantly realizing the name. she knew y/n very well, from bobby, eddie, and just being in the system she had been around her. she loved her, y/n was a great person and was good at her job. she was a gracious human, never leaving an ounce of disrespect in her tracks.

“grant!” her chief called. “we got a call from dispatch requesting you on a case, we’ve got a woman named y/n, domestic abuse concerns and she left a note with your name on it?”

“y/n? as in y/l/n? with the 118?”

“i didn’t want to assume, but i believe it is. i looked at her files and she’s had some past calls with a man named mark peterson, believed to have taken her.”

“son of a bitch,” she curses. “do we have an idea of where they might have gotten?”

“they were seen in solvang, two hours out.”

“so we get personnel out there asap?”

“exactly. we get out there and get this guy.”

y/n and he had stopped at a small inn, getting a room and a hideout for the night. he used a fake name for the both of them, lying through his teeth to the receptionist at the front desk. y/n was forced to put on a fake smile and a thrilled appearance, which she thought she should win an oscar for. they settled in the room, and she slowly started to accept her fate.

back at the home, eddie was in a slight rush. she hadn’t responded to any texts or calls. she claimed they would meet up the next day, but there were no traces left of her. externally, he put on a cool front for his son, but internally, his heart was sprinting. she could be anywhere. she could have a dead phone, or she could be dead herself. he tried not to think of the former, but he couldn’t stop himself.

eddie had loved y/n the moment she stepped into the station on her first day. he didn’t think he had any more love left to give. but, she shined her radiant smile and her adorable personality and eddie was head over heels. he’s been through hell with shannon and everything, and he wanted to never take anyone else again. y/n showed him a new side, making him realize that he needed affection, and she was more thankful to give that to him. he felt like the best version of himself when she had been with him the past few years, and that’s all he needs. he couldn’t let himself breathe until he found her, calling anyone who might know. until, he finally resorted to the police, calling athena.

“hey, athena,” he rushes out. “y/n, i- i don’t know where she is and that’s really unlike her, so-“

“diaz…” she says, making anxiety rise in eddie’s body.

“what? what happened? is she ok?”

“we believe she was taken,” eddie’s heart sinks to the floor, immediately turning his blood cold. “do you know a mark peterson?”

“no, never heard of him. i’m going to find her,”

“absolutely not, eddie. we are finding her now,” athena tries her best to ease his terror, but it fails.

“then i’m coming with you, i’ll be at the station in 10.”

eddie sits shotgun in athena’s police car after he got carla to watch christopher. he couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing up and down and his fingers to quit fidgeting. athena takes note of this.

“she’s going to be alright, we’ve got a lot of evidence for this.”

“we don’t know where the hell she is, we have no answers.”

“you’re right, we don’t. but you think she’d want you to lose hope on her?” eddie looks at her, staring at her eyes on the road before turning his phone on. he’s confronted with a picture of y/n and christopher together, pure smiles on their face as his world is out of touch. it’s only on a screen, and there’s nothing he can do about it.

y/n sat, frozen on the bed of the hotel room. she was completely burnt out, thinking that she was stuck with him forever. that news segment. if only she wasn’t shown on the fucking news segment, he wouldn’t have reappeared in her life.

his fake smiles and taunting words had become nothing but useless ones. she was living in her nightmare of having to deal with him, but she thought back to eddie.

every single memory they’d made over the past few years came flooding through her head. from her teaching him how to cook, to their first kiss, to last night where she was in his arms. it was beyond her comprehension that this much could happen in 24-hours. the time of her shifts, her normal routines that she longed for right now.

it wasn’t until mark heard knocks on doors, asking how many people were staying there until she was snapped out of her thoughts. she noticed the red and blue lights from outside the window as mark swore to himself. “fuck! get in the bathroom, y/n.”

“n-no, i wanna stay here-“ she argued as he complained back.

“get in there now! i’m not asking you again, or i swear to god, y/n…”

the darkness in his eyes was what forced her to stand up, but leaving her jacket on the bed and taking her shoes off, leaving them in clear sight. the knocks got closer, before the own piece of wood separating them was banged. mark opened the door casually, like nothing was going on. it always scared y/n the most. the way he could put up this front and act like some innocent man.

“hello, officer!” he said politely. “can i do anything?”

“hello, sir,” athena said, knowing he was the one to be holding y/n. “may i just ask, how many people are in this hotel?”

“just me, miss.”

“alright, i see. i saw this room was booked for two, and i’m assuming those articles of clothing aren’t yours?”

mark stops right in his tracks, wanting to pull y/n out of that bathroom and reprimand her for leaving her stuff. his face dropping, he didn’t know what to say. athena knew it too.

“mind if i take a look around? missing person warning, we have to be sure.”

his expression did not change, but he panicked on the inside. he was a quick man, but not quick enough to prevent athena’s abrupt hand against the closing door. she pulled him out, pressing him against the wall as she called for backup. “better luck next time, mark. let’s have a few words, you have the right to remain silent…”

y/n’s fingers were pressed in her ears, trying to block out any of the commotion or yelling that might’ve commenced. she’d already heard too much tonight, scared to traumatize herself any further. the noise concealed by her hands made her not even notice the opening of the door, and fearful to turn around and see his face again. she had been crying violently on the cold tiles of the bathroom, praying she’d be out of this mess. y/n’s instinct was to flinch at the hand pressed against her shoulder. eventually, she realized it was a humane one. she slowly turned herself around, locking eyes with athena. “we’ve got him, y/n.”

she sighed out in relief, but also in preparation for the storm of tears pouring out of her eyes. her hand went to cover her mouth in disbelief. she’d been hiding from this man for years, and she finally didn’t have to. she knew for a while that she wasn’t really free, she was just away from him. at last, the game of hide and seek ended, and it’s all going to be different.

her hand connected with athena’s, pulling her off the ground and out of the room. she was brought outside, lurking around the parking lot in desperate hopes for someone she loves. someone who’s touch can heal any wound. her dreams came true, when she saw eddie walking toward her.

“eddie,” she gasps out.

“y/n!” he runs closer, scooping her up into his arms and kissing her face frantically. “oh my god, i’m so sorry, mi vida, i’m so, so sorry.”

“i should’ve told you, i should’ve said something.”

“no, no, it’s not your fault. it never has been and it never will be.”

“i was so scared my life was over again. that i’d never see you or christopher, or hen or chim and buck or bobby and-“

“hey, calm down, ok? it’s all going to be ok, i’m here,” eddie doesn’t let go or let her release herself from his arms. she looks him dead in the eye, making sure he’s real and that she isn’t just searching for an answer. “they’ve got him, you never have to see him again. you won, baby.”

she won. she won? y/n didn’t feel like she won. the whole scenario still felt like a twisted prank, but it wasn’t. it was real, and she ended it. the years of making herself smaller and degrading herself because of one man were over. the time where she was continuously proven as less than had stopped.

she has eddie forever now, so if anyone had won, it was her.

786 notes · View notes

green-typewriterz · 8 months

Text

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED*

*requests are open for Buck ONLY

Hello!

I am a fic writer who is now opening requests!

what i will write:

angst

hurt

comfort

fluff

injury and the like

what i won't write:

Explicit content, I’m fine with kissing but no sex/ more as I am ace and sex repulsed

NSWF (only sexual I will do violence and swearing lol)

pregnancy or being a parent

minor x adult ships (eg Sterek)

If there is a topic you are unsure about feel free to message me and I will clear it up! I will most likely mainly be writing for:

EVAN BUCKLEY PLEASE SEND ME EVAN BUCKLEY FICS

SAM WINCHESTER

Kaz Brekker

Matt Murdock

Sidney Prescott

Amber Freeman

Wes Hicks

Tara Carpenter

Sam Carpenter

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Pretty much any teen wolf character

Finnick Odair

Johanna Mason

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wikiangela · 1 year

Text

I'd marry you with paper rings

another silly corny fluff, with a dash of pining and possessive Eddie, and friends to fiances ❤️

words: 3.4k

[read on Ao3]

“If we’re not married by the time we’re, like, forty, we should just marry each other.” he chuckles, and downs the rest of his beer. And Eddie… Eddie knows it’s a joke. Obviously. It can’t be anything but. But still, it does something to him. He’s thought about it, fantasized about it, but hearing it from Buck, even jokingly… “Why wait?” his tone is also teasing. He can play it off as a joke, while still looking for Buck’s reaction, for any indication about how he feels. (...) “Let’s just do it now and get it over with.” Or, Buck makes a joke that leads to an unplanned marriage proposal.

It’s a late evening, the house is quiet, Christopher is fast asleep already, having been tucked in by them both, was out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow. The kitchen is dark, only the small light over the stove illuminating the space, while Buck and Eddie sit at the table, bottles of beer in hands.

One of Buck’s hands is fiddling with the edges of a few pieces of paper tucked away in the corner of the table, drawings Buck and Chris did while waiting for dinner, that Eddie cooked – they take turns now, and Eddie’s getting so much better.

They had a late dinner today, because Buck was late – well, he wasn’t supposed to be here at all, to be honest. He had a date. Eddie tries to ignore the bitter, ugly feeling in his chest whenever he thinks about it. Similarly, he tries to fight the feeling of relief and satisfaction that Buck’s date apparently didn’t work out and he cut it short. To be with Eddie. With him and Chris. To come home to them. Well, he probably just didn’t like whoever he met and didn’t have anything else to do, but still. He’s here, and not with some random girl from a dating app. And Eddie’s happier than he should be that his best friend's dating isn’t going well.

To be fair, Eddie also had a date just last night, so who is he to talk. But it was awful. So now that’s what they’re talking about. How horrible they are at dating. While Eddie’s silently longing to be the one Buck takes out on a date, on many dates, that could lead to- he can’t hope. He can’t help that he does hope.

“So it didn’t go well?” Eddie sums up after Buck’s finished venting about how awful this date was. Another bad one. He’s been dating for a while now, and Eddie has tried to be supportive, but he feels like a piece of his heart is being ripped away with each date Buck tells him about.

“That’s an understatement.” Buck scoffs, taking another sip of his beer. “How about you? You didn’t tell me how your date went last night.” he asks, and Eddie cringes just thinking about it. He has no idea what he was thinking. It was just one date he reluctantly decided to go on when someone asked him out, because, well, he was tired. He’s still tired. He’s tired of feeling alone, of not having someone, and of Buck not realizing that he’s that someone Eddie wants. He was also very jealous, though he hates admitting that to himself.

“You know how I feel about dating.” Eddie responds, not looking at Buck, instead focusing on the beer in his hand, nail catching under the edge of the label. “It was weird and, uh, felt performative. I didn’t really feel like myself.” he shrugs, absentmindedly starting to peel the sticker away, it falls apart as he pulls at it, the condensation making it soggy. He focuses on that, it’s something to occupy his hands and eyes, and thoughts. “I don’t even know why I agreed to it.” he huffs, trying for a casual chuckle, but not quite getting it right.

“Yeah. I don’t know why I went back to dating, either.” Buck admits. “I just wanted to get back out there, you know? Maybe miraculously find someone I could maybe, eventually, settle down with.” he scoffs and shakes his head. “It’s so stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. We all just want-” he pauses and licks his lips nervously, averting his gaze again. “It’s okay to not want to be alone. To want to find a- a partner. Someone you can go through life with.” he muses quietly, trying to ignore the little voice in his head screaming that he already found his person. And that his partner is sitting right there, so close Eddie could just reach out and grab his hand and let him know… but he’s too scared. Not until he knows how Buck feels.

“I guess. I mean, that’s what I want. But it’s- it’s weird. The dates, I mean, they were all- None of them really felt right.” Buck continues talking, and Eddie wants to stop the topic of Buck’s dating life. He doesn’t want to hear another thing, or he won’t be able to contain his jealousy and heartbreak anymore, and he’ll do or say something stupid that he'll regret. But they’re friends first, and friends talk about this stuff, right? He kind of hates it. “It kinda- it kinda made me feel like Buck 1.0 sometimes.” Buck adds, quietly and almost forcibly, like he doesn’t want to actually say it, a blush coloring his cheeks.

“What do you mean?” Eddie frowns.

“I mean, some of them see what I look like and only want to hook up.” he grumbles a bit, blushing, as if embarrassed. And, well, Buck knows what he looks like, and Eddie would be lying if he said he's not the hottest person he's ever seen. And on one hand, Eddie understands those girls, because what wouldn’t he do to have Buck like this, all to himself – but there’s so much more to him, and Eddie can’t comprehend how someone can take one look at that bright smile and those blue shining eyes, that hide so much sadness and hurt too – how someone can see that, and talk to him for a second, with his passion and facts and excitement, and so much kindness and compassion, and not want to get to know him better. “But it’s not like anyone would stay once they got to know me better anyway. No one ever does.” he adds bitterly, and it takes everything in Eddie not to grab him by the shoulders and shake him and scream that there is at least one person who will never leave him, who wants him just the way he is, while knowing him better than anyone. A person that sees all of him, the good, the bad and the ugly, and loves and wants it all, despite and because.

“Buck.” Eddie doesn’t know what to say without spilling his whole heart.

“No, I know, I know. The right person will come along, right?” he shakes his head. “I don’t know. Dating is just hard. It’s hard to find someone you might even consider to want to spend your life with.” he sighs again, taking another sip of his beer. “It never goes far enough for that anyway.”

“Yeah. Dating is really not for me.” Eddie chuckles, because, yeah, he sucks at dating – not that he puts in much effort anyway, especially since his heart is already taken. “I wish I could just find a partner-” here’s that word again, and he sneaks a look at Buck to see if he picks up on it, on the connotation of it not only being a gender-neutral term, but also of Buck being his literal partner. At work, but still. “And settle down. Skip the whole dating part altogether.”

“Yeah.” they fall silent for a moment, before Eddie sees Buck smirk, and he knows he’s about to say something silly. “You know, we should make a pact.” he says, his tone clearly joking, and still a little bit bitter. “If we’re not married by the time we’re, like, forty, we should just marry each other.” he chuckles, and downs the rest of his beer. And Eddie… Eddie knows it’s a joke. Obviously. It can’t be anything but. But still, it does something to him. He’s thought about it, fantasized about it, but hearing it from Buck, even jokingly…

Before he knows it, his lips are moving and he says:

“Why wait?” his tone is also teasing. He can play it off as a joke, while still looking for Buck’s reaction, for any indication about how he feels. And if he doesn’t feel the same, well, at least Eddie will know and he’ll stop torturing himself with hoping and wishful thinking and daydreaming about his best friend. Or he’ll try to stop, anyway. “Let’s just do it now and get it over with.”

“What?” Buck looks at him with a confused frown and a nervous chuckle.

“I mean, we’re almost there, anyway, just a few years away.” he shrugs, clearly leaning into the joke. Nothing more. Just a joke. It’s fine. It’s not like his heart is pounding a thousand miles a minute, and his face is hot – he’s pretty sure he’s blushing, and he can’t let himself think about Buck seeing that. If he asks, Eddie will claim it’s from the alcohol. No big deal. It’s plausible.

“Uh.” is all Buck says for probably just a few seconds, but the silence feels like it stretches into minutes, or hours, and Eddie’s hands are starting to sweat. Almost the entire sticker is in little pieces on the table right now. Buck doesn’t say anything more until Eddie looks at him, immediately meeting his piercing eyes. He wonders how long Buck’s been staring at him when he wasn’t looking. And tries to read his expression, that looks suspiciously like a hopeful and excited smile. “Okay.” he whispers, licking his lips and clearing his throat, the only indication of any nerves.

“What?” it’s Eddie’s turn to ask. His heart is hammering so hard, he’s almost scared it’s going to rip through his chest and fall onto the table in front of him.

“I mean,” Buck swallows audibly and licks his lips again, eyes not leaving Eddie’s. Eddie can’t even avert his gaze anymore, he feels pinned, frozen in place, sinking in the blue of Buck’s eyes. “Why not, right? We’re single, we know each other better than anyone else will ever know us. We work well together. We get along.” he shrugs, smile turning sheepish, tone turning to more teasing again. “I'm sure we’d make a good couple, too.”

“You think?” Eddie tries to smirk, but he’s not sure he’s succeeding.

“Yeah. Plus, there’s another thing.” he bites his lip and looks over Eddie’s face, as if analyzing, gauging his reaction so far, wondering if he should say whatever he wants to say. Eddie lets himself hope that he knows what.

“What's that?” Eddie thinks he’s leaning closer to Buck now. It’s involuntary, like he’s being pulled by some invisible force. He leans his elbow on the table, facing Buck.

“You know, I can’t say I never- I mean, the way I feel-” he pauses, closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Fuck, I am bad at this.” he mutters, and Eddie chuckles. He thinks he knows where Buck is going with this, and he relaxes a little bit.

“Let me, then.” he puts his beer on the table, and then takes one of Buck’s hands. He’s not very good at it, either, but it’s Buck. Everything is easier with Buck, even the hard parts. Buck always makes him feel lighter, unburdened, like he can do anything. So he can do this. He takes a deep breath, and Buck’s wonderful eyes are back locked with his, shining with hope and uncertainty, and, well, what Eddie thinks and wants to be love, finally allowed to shine through, not hidden and concealed. Eddie allows himself to look at Buck the way he always does when Buck’s not looking, too, not bothering to school his expression. “I love you.” is what gets out of his mouth on an exhale, not evening meaning to say it. Buck’s eyes widen and fill with tears.

“Eddie.” he whispers, breath catching.

“I love you.” Eddie repeats with conviction. “I fell for you a long time ago, and I just keep falling deeper and deeper, and hearing about your dates is slowly killing me.” he admits, and Buck winces, looks like he’s about to apologize, but Eddie continues, “I don’t know where we go from here, but my heart belongs to you. I gave it to you with my son, years ago, and you can keep it forever if you want to. I love every little part of you, and I want you, I want it all. Forever. You’re my person. My partner. And-” his smile widens, turns more teasing, but still genuine, “I know we haven’t even gone on a date, but I would marry you tomorrow. Just say a word.” he finishes. He wishes he’d known this would happen, he could prepare, and now he had to wing it, and he hasn’t even scratched the surface of what he wants to say to Buck. But if this conversation goes where he thinks it’s going, he’ll have time. They’ll have all the time in the world.

“Who cares about dates.” is what Buck says with a watery laugh, his free hand comes up to cup Eddie’s cheek. “I love you so much, Eddie. I’m so in love with you, it physically hurts, knowing that I can’t have this- well, I guess I can now.” he chuckles again, a tone of disbelief in his voice. “For so long I was just trying to get over you, and here you are, saying you feel the same.” he shakes his head. “You and Chris are my whole world, and- and what we have- we don’t need to date, Eddie, I think we’re way past that. Let’s get married.”

“Seriously? Are you sure?” Eddie asks, feeling his cheeks starting to hurt from how wide his smile is. He feels himself leaning closer. Buck’s right, they don’t need dating, they’re far from a regular couple. They’ve been best friends, partners, even basically co-parents, for years. They’re so far ahead, it’s almost silly they’re not married already.

“Never been more serious or more sure about anything in my life. Please marry me?” he adds quietly but decisively. He’s closer now, too, their faces inches apart. Eddie’s gaze drifts between Buck’s eyes and lips.

“Yes.” Eddie answers, not quite believing that it’s happening yet. If this is a dream, he never wants to wake up. “Like I said, I’ll marry you tomorrow, or, hell, even tonight.”

“I’d love that.” Buck responds, his lips even closer, and Eddie’s aching to close the distance. “But Bobby would never forgive us if he didn’t get to officiate our wedding, we’ll have to hold off on that.” he adds, and they both laugh, as their lips finally meet for the first time.

Eddie imagined their first kiss many times over the years, in many different ways. He imagined it heated and desperate after a close call on a job, or drunken and sloppy after having one too many drinks when they’re out with the team. Or passionate and impatient, once he finally snaps and walks over and kisses Buck after he does something sweet and domestic, like cook dinner for them. And so many others – he’s fantasized about it way too much.

But this one is soft and gentle, and almost hesitant at the beginning, before Eddie deepens it. It’s unhurried, exploring, and tender, and full of so much emotion, and love. If Eddie was even sappier and cornier than he is, he’d say he can feel his heart sing and dance with happiness, and he feels simultaneously lighter than air, and more grounded than he’s felt in years. He’s almost dizzy, intoxicated with Buck’s taste on his tongue, Buck’s skin under his fingers, where one of his hands is on Buck’s waist, sneaking under the shirt, while the other he places on the back of his neck. Both of Buck’s hands are framing his face, and his skin feels tingly wherever Buck touches it. It’s the best damn kiss of his life, and he never wants it to stop. Though he also can’t wait to share all the other kinds of kisses with Buck at some point.

In the end, Buck pulls away first, and Eddie chases after him, leaving one, two, three more lingering kisses, until Buck’s laughing, gently grabbing Eddie’s arms to keep him in place.

“Wait a second, Eddie.” he runs his hand through Eddie’s hair, looking at him with such fondness, Eddie almost melts on the spot. “I just realized something.”

“What?” he tilts his head in curiosity, but he also feels every nerve of his body longing for Buck. He needs him all over himself. Now that he got a taste, he can never look back, he wants more, more, more.

“We just got engaged, and I don’t even have a ring.”

“Who cares about a ring?” he dismisses, wanting to get back to kissing. But Buck frowns.

“Eddie. We need a ring. I need people to know that you’re taken.” he says, tone serious, and Eddie’s heart flutters. He’s Buck’s.

“I’m yours.” he says out loud, tasting the words, almost in wonder. It feels right.

“Yeah. And we need to make it official.” he looks around the kitchen, and his gaze falls on the pieces of paper on the table. His face lights up. “Oh, I have an idea.”

Eddie watches, awed, as Buck goes through the drawings, finds one of his own, which consists of mostly multi-colored doodles, and rips two stripes away. Then, he folds it, a little awkwardly and hurriedly, and somehow makes them into two rings, measuring it against their fingers to get it right – Eddie’s amazed, because, for real, how does Buck know how to do everything? When he’s happy with it, he gets out of his chair and drops to one knee.

“Eddie Diaz, will you marry me?” he asks, beaming, and holding out one of the colorful rings.

“I already said yes.” Eddie chuckles.

“I know. But I have a ring now. I mean, it’ll have to do until I get an actual ring.” he says, as he slides the ring onto Eddie’s finger.

“Come here.” he hunches down and grabs Buck’s chin, bringing his face closer. “You’re ridiculous. I love you.” and he kisses Buck, this time hard and passionate. It’s brief, over way too quickly, but he pulls away to grab the other ring and put it on Buck’s finger, as well. “Now it’s official. We’re getting married.” he adds, not able to contain a grin. He’s going to marry his best friend. It’s not a dream, not a fantasy, not wishful thinking. This is happening. His best friend, with whom he’s head over heels in love, loves him back, and they’re getting married.

“We’re getting married.” Buck repeats, his happy, giddy expression surely mirroring Eddie’s.

“How did we get here from talking about our terrible dates?” Eddie asks with a laugh, now only feeling satisfaction at the thought of Buck’s dates. He wins. He has Buck, all of him, body, heart and soul, forever. He’s Buck’s and Buck is his.

“Stop.” Buck groans, leaning his forehead against Eddie’s. “I didn’t know that you- but you do. You’re my partner, that I want to spend the rest of my life with.” he grins. “Uh, this-” he pulls away to gesture between them and to the table, with the discarded pieces of paper and almost empty beer bottles. “This was actually a perfect date.”

“This wasn’t even a date, sweetheart.” Eddie leans in to kiss his lips again. “I know we said we don’t need to date before getting engaged, but now that we are, of course I'll take you out. I’ll wine and dine you, and woo the shit out of you.” he says, and Buck laughs. Eddie wants to listen to that laugh for the rest of his life. And he can. He will. “Dates with you will be the only ones that won’t be awful.”

“First of all, you don’t need to woo me, I’m already yours. And second, prepare for a lifetime of awesome dates with me. It’s gonna be so fun.” he smirks, and then kisses Eddie again. Eddie pulls at his arm, to get him back on the chair, because the angle is making his back hurt. But of course Buck has a better idea, and he climbs into Eddie’s lap, straddling him. Eddie briefly thinks that he hopes his chairs are sturdy enough to support two grown men, but if not, well, who cares? He has the love of his life in his arms, he’s engaged – which is wild, since he was single a mere twenty minutes ago – and he’s making out with his fiance in his kitchen, while their kid sleeps soundly in his room.

Life couldn’t be better. And the future looks so bright and promising now, like never before. He can’t wait to spend a lifetime with the best friend he’s ever had.

____

Tag list (if you want to be added pls interact with this post): @idealuk @thebravebitch @this-is-moony-lovegood @greenfairrryy

#911 fic #buddie #buddie fic #wikiangela writes #my writing #buck x eddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie oneshot #oneshot #buddie fluff #first kiss #getting together #pining #friends to fiances #accidental love confessions #proposal #marriage proposal #engagement

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blueathens · 1 year

Text

Normality - Agape

ACT THREE, CHAPTER 1

SONG: Look After You by The Fray QUOTE: “You and Eddie have each other numbers?”

A/N: Not read through or edited - also been written in a rush

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Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

“So why have you never introduce me to Buck before?” Kit curiously asked as they awaited for him to arrive at his surprise party.

Kasey shrugs.

“He’s cute,” he shyly mutters before lifting his cup towards his lips. “Do you know if he be into…me?”

Kasey turns her head to face Kit, brows furrowed before they shoot right up, and her eyes widen when she realised what he meant. “You like Buck!” She whispered loudly, face scrunching when Kit slapped the back of her head with his free hand whilst throwing her an angry glare.

“Shut the fuck up.”

Kasey supresses her smile before turning her head to look elsewhere, “I don’t think we ever talked about it,” when really they did, a few months after Buck joined, he admitted that he likes both woman and guys, but he wasn’t ready to tell anyone that yet, and Kasey promised to keep it a secret.

“Oh.”

Kasey places a comforting hand on his back and rubs it gently.

“Hey, come on, he’s here,” Hen utters to the group outside and the two friends looked at one another before heading inside Athena and Bobby’s house.

“Hey,” Kit bumps his shoulder against Kasey as he bends down slightly to whisper in her ear, “have you told Eddie about – oh, I’ll take that as a no by the look you’re giving me.” Kit shuffled away as his eyes went to look at the stairs by the front door, Kasey too turned to face that way after throwing one more glare to the side of Kit’s face.

“Oh, I’m so glad you guys were able to come,” Athena greeted at the front door.

“Thank you for having us over.” Buck laughs as he and Maddie both walk through the front door, and with a curious look from the corner of her eye she noticed a faint blush on Kit’s cheeks.

She rolls her eyes, “man, you’re down bad for this loser.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Kit hisses back.

“Surprise!” Everyone screamed as the trio got halfway down the stairs. Buck jumps back in shock, hand over his heart, before his usual smile returned back to his face.

Buck hugged Eddie first, then Kit, then finally Kasey.

His hand rubs the top of her head and her face scrunches up as he messes up her perfectly done hair, before he brings her close to his chest, arms wrapping around her as he sways them both. “How were you able to keep this a secret from me?”

“Well unlike you, I can keep secrets.” Kasey teased back as she pulls herself away from the hug she was sharing with Buck.

Now standing against a wall, Eddie and Kasey stands shoulder-to-shoulder, their hands brushing together between the small gap between them, whilst their other hands held their drinks.

“TK still coming down?”

“Think he said his plane lands at 8am tomorrow, but he said he’s gonna stay at a hotel tomorrow because I’ll be working, then after tomorrow I’ve got a few days off.”

“And where are you guys staying?” Eddie suspiciously question.

“I, er,” Kasey hesitates, “my place obviously.”

Eddie hums, “you sure about that? Because I went over to your place the other day to drop something off for you, but Ms Matthews said you are hardly ever there.”

Kasey freezes.

“Well, I – Buck?!” Eddie turned to look over at Buck as he begins to cough more furiously, Kasey was already placing her drink down and heading towards Bobby and Buck, Eddie following closely behind.

But before either of them could reach him, he fell to the ground with blood coming out from his mouth.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

“Buck?” Kasey called out loudly through the dark and quiet apartment after she opened his door with the spare key Buck handed to her when he got this place.

Kasey was finally on a few daybreak and on the way to pick TK up, she decided to come and see Buck since it’s been a few days after being released from the hospital and Bobby already warned Kasey on how Buck isn’t happy that he wasn’t allowed to come back yet.

It felt odd not hearing any music in his apartment as there was always some form of sound happening around Buck, he hated the silence, found it boring, so he always needed sound around him. But there was no sounds anywhere within the apartment.

Kasey frowned as she walked up the stairs to the loft, only to see the tall man that she could proudly call her best friend was in bed with many covers on top of him.

“Evan,” Kasey tried as she sat down onto the edge of the mattress and gave Buck’s thigh a soft tap to which he groaned out.

He sounded exhausted and Kasey frown deepened at that.

“Buck, Bobby told me about the hospital and you wanting to come back to work,” Kasey mutters as her hand stayed on Buck’s thigh in an act of comfort whilst he stayed under the covers. “But you must know that these things we got to be patient for and build ourselves up for.”

“I already did though.” Buck stated, his voice rough with sleep. He peered out from the covers to look at his best friend. “I did, I was doing well – I was getting better.” His face was ghostly pale and Kasey took that chance to lean forwards and touch the bottom of the lamp on the beside table, only touching it once so the light wasn’t so harsh. The bags under his eyes looked darker than when she saw him in the hospital after the fall in Athena’s garden. They were even swollen, and Kasey presumed he had been crying not that long ago. “I am better, you know I am Kas, I’m better, right?”

Kasey’s body froze at the sound of his voice and the words he spoke, and for some reason it took her back to when TK had his first relapse. It was the same words, him saying he was better and asking her if she believes it’s true too.

But those times were two very different experiences, but it still made Kasey’s heart drop.

“I thought you were.”

Those were the same words she said to TK those years ago and now she’s repeating them to her best friend who didn’t seem himself anymore.

“But you still need some more time to heal – to let your body heal – and that’s okay, Buck, it’s okay to take some time away just to heal…a fire truck fell on you, and you aren’t going to get better just like that, it takes time and that’s okay. And the second you’re fully cleared you can come back, you know you can come bac–”

“Even you don’t believe I’m not better.” He scoffs with his dry voice. “But I am and I’m ready to work again, Kas.”

“You don’t look it, Buck,” Kasey softly says. “You seem tired.”

“You work when you’re tired,” he said pointedly as he raised an eyebrow.

“That’s,” she hesitates, “not sleeping well and being tired from an injury is very different.” Buck’s eyes flicked down to the blankets covering his entire body, hiding any evidence that he was injured, that he wasn’t okay really – except his face showed it all to Kasey. “If you went back to work now you will get worst. You have to take these things day by day.”

Kasey sighs.

“Have you spoken to anyone since Bobby?” Buck shakes his head. “So you’ve been alone in this dark apartment for these last couple of days?” Kasey looks around the slightly lit room to see his phone on the other side of the room. “Guess that’s why you weren’t answering anyone’s messages or calls.”

Kasey looks around the room more not noticing any dirty plates or cups and it perked a question within Kasey as she knew that people who feel down wouldn’t be in the mood to do chores such as cleaning up and sometimes not even taking care of themselves. “Have you eaten much?”

“I’m not that hungry.” He admits as he avoids Kasey’s eyes. “The meds make me feel sick.”

“I’ll make something easy for you,” Kasey smiles. “You might need something in your stomach.”

“Don’t you have to pick up TK?”

“He can wait, you need me right now.”

Buck smiles to himself as he watches Kasey go down the stairs and turn on some lights before beginning to make some noise within the house by pulling out pots and pans from his cupboards. He pulls himself up, so he was propped against his headboard.

He wanted to ask Kasey how easy it can be addicted to pills, not that he wants to be, he just…he fears that he’s taking to many medications, and it will soon make him addicted. He knew Kasey would have idea due to her past, but he was afraid that it would trigger something, make her remember things she shouldn’t.

He didn’t want to hurt her; she was getting better.

But he was scared that these medications will make him an addict, he’s heard of stories where people fall dependent of the medications doctors prescribe after an injury, how they fall into that addiction accidently as they just wanted to numb the pain a little more.

Even when he was younger he noticed how people around him fell into addictions, whether that was with drugs, alcohol, sex, foods, or cigarettes. He always noticed how diluted or bloodshot their eyes were, and Buck saw his very own red and tired eyes in the glass of his phone and the camera, he threw his phone across the room from fear that this was the beginning of an addiction.

He never once thought he was just tired or sad or not actually okay, he immediately thought it was the drugs that made him look not okay even though they were helping with the pain in his body. He didn’t even realise he was hungry until he heard Kasey begin to cook.

He wondered, for some reason he wondered that if Kasey didn’t come today he would have become dependent on his medications.

Without Kasey coming, Buck wasn’t going to get up and start to look after himself, he was just going to have a pill whenever he felt slightly in pain from something, even if it wasn’t his leg that was hurting.

Buck didn’t want to fall apart, he knew how horrible it felt from the small stories Kasey has mentioned from her and TK’s past, he knew how horrible it was from some stories Bobby told and the stories Hen told about her ex and how it made her as a witness to that felt.

Buck didn’t want to be addicted, but he wondered if he already was because he was so dependent on his best friend, not in an unhealthy way, but in the way that she’s just there holding his hand, taking these things step by step, she doesn’t pull him out of the dark, instead she guides him out from his darkness with comforting words of honesty.

Buck was addicted to Kasey as he needed her.

If she ever walked away from this friendship, this family, he knew he wouldn’t be able to survive.

He thinks maybe no one would be able to since Kasey was the team’s safety net, the glue, the person you can just count on.

Maybe the entire team was just addicted to Kasey Strand, and Buck thinks this is the only addiction he will allow himself to have.

There was no pain with this drug, no suffering, no side effects, no nothing. Instead it felt hopeful.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

“How’s Buck doing?” TK questioned as he sat in front of his sister at a café by the beach, next to some wooden pier that had games running across it.

“Not liking the fact he can’t come back to work yet,” Kasey shrugged as she cut into her steak. “We all want him to come back, but we don’t want him working if it’s just going to make him worst. I just wish he knew that he has to allow his body to fully heal before doing anything extreme like saving lives again.” Kasey sighs as she shakes his head. “Bobby failed to mention though that Buck has already said he was quitting.”

“Oh?” TK raised his brows. “And do what?”

“I don’t know, I just want him to rest and get better.”

“Buck’s not going to do that,” TK points out. “Neither would you.”

Kasey stayed quiet as she dug into her late lunch.

“Why haven’t you been living in your apartment Kas?”

“Huh?”

How does he know this?

“Eddie called me when he found out, asking me if I knew,” he tilts his head slightly to try and read his sister’s face, “I obviously didn’t.”

“You and Eddie have each other numbers?”

“To look out for you.”

“Wow,” Kasey sarcastically draws out, “didn’t know I had secret babysitting agents.”

TK decided to ignore her comment. “Are you living in your car again?”

The last time she was sleeping in a car was whenever her and Gwen got into bad fights or she was too fucked up with drugs to want to go home to face either Owen, Gwen, Enzo, or TK.

“I’m trying to look for a new place,” Kasey simply says, “just been to busy to do anything with the looking.”

“Or are you holding it off because you think one day you be ready to live there again despite what happened?”

“Other people do it.”

“You shouldn’t compare your trauma with others, your trauma is your own, and it’s okay if you can’t live there, Kasey.”

“But I know I will be–” Kasey stops when she hears mutters around her. She turns her head to look around before stopping at the sight of the sea. Her face drops.

The water has fallen suddenly.

“Kasey? What is it?” He questions, the inner of his brows drawing closer together at the look of sudden shock and fear on her face. Hesitantly, he turns his head to look out to sea to see a abnormally large way heading this way.

“TK,” Kasey breaths. “Run.”

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