Chapter Text
Buck was about 20 minutes into his 24-hour shift when the 118 got a call to a possible overdose. Bobby was taking a rare day off for personal reasons, and so Chimney hopped into the captain’s seat of the engine while Buck drove, and Hen took the ambulance with one of the other paramedics.
When they arrived on scene, Buck hopped out of the truck and was surprised to see the Captain’s Battalion vehicle from the 136 pull up in a rush. Captain Cooper stepped out of the driver side and none other than Eddie Diaz appeared from the passenger seat.
“Eddie? What are you guys doing here?” Buck asked.
“I’m the one that called it in,” Eddie offered as they all jogged into the building together and climbed the stairs to the apartment.
Eddie quickly explained how he suspected this woman had been slowly poisoning her son and how the boy had just called him earlier with news that he’d dosed his mother with the poisonous eyedrops in retaliation.
“Jesus, that’s terrible,” Buck hissed right before Ravi breached the apartment door with a battering ram.
Once inside, Hen and the other medic went right to work on the mother while Chimney and Eddie checked on the kid. The whole scene gave Buck a sick feeling in his gut. It was terrible to witness a parent doing something so evil to their own child, hurting them intentionally. He couldn’t even begin to comprehend it.
They eventually got both patients loaded up into separate ambulances, and Buck was still shaking his head at the reality of it all as Eddie went into more detail about how he realized what the mother was up to.
“Makes our parents sort of look like saints, huh?” Eddie remarked a bit sardonically.
Buck snorted.
Since that night they’d watched baseball together a while back, he and Eddie had pretty much become inseparable. If they weren’t spending time at Isabel’s together, then Eddie was either inviting him round to his house to just chill and play video games or watch movies, or they’d make big plans for something to excite Christopher like a science museum or the aquarium. Buck’s life had never felt so busy and full, and he was loving every second of it. It was the first time that he’d ever looked forward to getting off work because now that meant he got to see Eddie and Christopher once again. And in the long moments of all their hangouts, Buck and Eddie had each shared the ugly details of their upbringings and how much they loathed their parents.
“I think you’re comparing apples to oranges there, Eds,” Buck eventually replied.
“You’re probably right. I’m just glad we got here in time.”
“That kids just lucky he met you,” Buck said as he was about to step forward and clap his hand against Eddie’s shoulder in a comforting sort of way.
But then, time seemed to stop for a moment.
Eddie and Buck stood there staring at each other, eyes wide and fearful, the rest of the world fading away.
There was a hole in Eddie’s shoulder.
There were warm droplets splattered on Buck’s face. Probably blood.
They were frozen together for an eternity. And then Eddie was falling, and Buck was going to lunge for him, but someone was pulling him away.
“You’ve got to get down Buck!” Chimney’s voice came through, but it was incredibly muffled, like Buck had cotton in his ears.
His friend pulled him down to the pavement behind one side of the 118’s engine. The sound of bullets ricocheting could be heard in the distance. Through the crawl space beneath the truck, Buck could see Eddie watching him as a frightening amount of blood pooled below his limp form. After a moment, his brown eyes fluttered closed.
***
Buck didn’t remember exactly how he got from point A to point B. All he knew was that he couldn’t let his friend die.
Because somehow, in a matter of a couple of months, Buck and Eddie had gone from strangers to sort-of-enemies to one of the most important people in each other’s lives. And he thought about Christopher and Isabel and Pepa and how Buck would be damned if he had to go home and tell them that Eddie had died right in front of his face and he’d done nothing to prevent it.
So, he crawled over to his friend, to the man with the beautiful heart who had let down his angry walls just for Buck, and he pulled him to safety.
They arrived at the hospital, and Buck barely had the wherewithal to shout to Chim that he was staying here with Eddie before he followed the doctors and nurses in that were pushing the gurney. Of course, he couldn’t go with them all the way to the operating room, but just before they ripped Eddie away from him, Buck grabbed the man’s cold hand and placed a sorrowful kiss against his knuckles.
“Come back to us,” he whispered. And then Buck was alone in a waiting room for what felt like another eternity.
Once he got his shaking under control, he dialed Isabel’s number and took a long, deep breath as the line rang.
“Hola, Buck. You’ll never believe this, but that neighborhood cat has started eating my Peruvian Lilies out front. We’re gonna have to figure something out to keep him away from there,” she started in before Buck had even said a word.
If it had been any other day, if the situation were drastically different, Buck would have chuckled at her garden gripes. Today, it only made his heart sink down a little further.
“Isabel,” he said seriously, “is Pepa there with you?” He didn’t want to break the news to the woman if she was alone. Buck was afraid such a shock would be bad on her health.
“Yes, she’s here. Buck, what is it? Is everything okay?”
He took another deep breath, and salty tears started leaking from his eyes. “No… I’m so sorry, but no. Everything’s not okay.”
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Eddie’s been hurt. He’s in surgery right now. I haven’t heard any news, so I don’t have any idea if he’ll make it.”
He could hear her sucking in a large gulp of air in horror. “What happened?” she practically whispered.
“He was shot. In the other shoulder this time,” he explained, referring to the other bullet wound Eddie had showed him recently from his time in the army, “Isabel, I don’t mean to worry you, but… there was so much blood, and he was unconscious by the time we got to the hospital. I want to be able to say that he’ll be okay, that he’ll pull through… but I really just don’t know.”
Where her voice had grown shaky before, now it was sturdy as ever. “You listen to me, Buck. Eddito is a fighter. He’s tough as nails, and he always makes sure to come home to his family. He will make it through this.”
Buck tried to let her words comfort him, but he was too afraid to get his hopes up. “What about Christopher? What do we tell him?”
“Pepa and I will pick him up from school at the normal time. We’ll pack some bags and stay over at Eddie’s until he can come home from the hospital. Are you able to stay there to give us updates?”
“Of course. I’ll stay here until the surgeries done and we know more about what’s going on. And then if you guys need anything, I can get whatever you want and bring it by Eddie’s later. Just say the word and I’ll do it. I’m so sorry, Isabel.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m just glad you were there to have my nieto’s back.”
***
Eddie survived the surgery, but he remained unconscious for a number of days. Throughout this time, Buck remained at the hospital more than anything. Lena and some of Eddie’s other crew mates stopped by a few times alongside Captain Cooper. Pepa and Isabel would visit in turns when they weren’t tending to Christopher. Buck would leave every once in a while to go home and shower and check Isabel’s mail and water her plants for her since she was staying at Eddie’s. Then he’d pick up all of Christopher’s favorite snacks from the grocery store and drop them off, hoping to do anything to cheer the boy up while they waited for Eddie to wake up.
Christopher was the strongest kid Buck had ever known. He was certainly upset about his dad getting hurt, but just like Isabel, he had no doubt that Eddie would make a full recovery soon enough.
So, when Buck wasn’t hanging around the three Diazes at Eddie’s house, he was fidgeting at Eddie’s bedside, pleading with the universe to just let him wake up so that Buck could look into those stunning brown eyes once again. So that Buck could see them roll at something dumb that he’d said. So that he could hear Eddie’s exasperated laugh just one more time.
And just as he was daydreaming about drinking beers with Eddie at the bar again, the man’s eyes fluttered open. Buck hollered for the doctors and they did some tests and quickly removed the breathing tube from Eddie’s throat.
“Is Christopher okay?” was the first thing out of Eddie’s pretty mouth.
Buck nodded adamantly. “Your Abuela and Tia have been staying with him at your house. I’ve been stopping by once a day to see if they need anything.”
Eddie gave him a fond look. “You didn’t have to do that, Buck, but thank you.”
“For the Diazes? Always.”
Buck grabbed his phone from the small table it had been resting on to charge and quickly facetimed Pepa so that Eddie could talk to her and Christopher.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Eddie wasn’t surprised to be greeted with lots of hugs and Abuela’s Tres Leches cake when Buck brought him home from the hospital. He clung to his son for so long that the hours seemed to fade away, and Christopher just let him, because he knew how much Eddie needed the comfort in that moment.
That evening, Abuela and Pepa looked reluctant to go, but after having already discussed the matter with Eddie, they gathered their bags and headed home.
“I figured one of them would be staying with you,” Buck mentioned as he did some light cleaning around Eddie’s kitchen after the women had left.
“They wanted to, but I don’t have a spare room, and I’ve gotta take the bed because of my shoulder. I refused to let either of them crash on my couch. I’m sure they’ll be back again before the sun even rises tomorrow.”
“I could stay with you,” Buck offered suddenly.
“What? No, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“Eddie, it would be no trouble, really. I’m young enough that crashing on the couch wouldn’t bother me. And I think it would be good to have someone here who can drive in case anything happens in the middle of the night. You know?”
“Still, you’ve got to get back to work, and you’ve got your sister and friends to worry about.”
“You’re my friend, Eds, and I’m worrying about you. Let me stay. I can still get to the 118 from here, I promise.”
Eddie knew it would be wise to have someone here all the time to help with everything, but he couldn’t help the strange feeling he got at the thought of Buck sleeping over. They were friends, but Eddie was sure that none of his other friends would ever offer to nurse him back to health while staying over on his couch, not even Lena. Because even though he and Buck had become friends, it never quite felt like just friends.
It felt like Eddie forgetting how to breath when Buck looked at him. Like Eddie having slight heart palpitations when Buck laughed at one of his lame jokes. It felt like he was falling a little bit in love with him each and every day that they’d known each other. Like Eddie was absolutely helpless to the charm and kindness that was Buck’s superpower.
And even though Eddie wanted to be infuriated that this had happened to him. That he had gotten gunned down in the streets of LA, shot in the shoulder once again, he couldn’t be bothered to feel angry at all so long as he was standing in Buck’s presence. So, he let Buck stay.
***
It took them about a week to fall into a routine. It was the beginning of summer, so Christopher had been out of school for a while now. This meant that the boy took his job of keeping his dad entertained very seriously. Eddie was prone to wakeup in a fit of pain pretty early each morning. Buck would make them something small for breakfast like eggs and toast, and then Eddie would take his next dose of meds and collapse on the couch. Christopher would gather Legos and books and his art set and arrange a workstation in the living room floor, talking Eddie’s ear off all day long while he went about his activities.
When Buck had to go in for a shift, Abuela and Tia appeared without fail to “mother hen” Eddie back to health with their worried looks and endless supply of baked goods. He wasn’t sure if they were trying to heal him or fatten him up.
And when Buck didn’t have work, he would pile up in the armchair or in the floor next to Chris or sometimes even at the other end of the couch with Eddie’s feet in his lap and read those god awful Spanish romance novels that Isabel had loaned him. Occasionally, Eddie would watch in amusement as Buck raised his eyebrows at a particular passage, then he’d lean over and show it to Eddie, asking, “Does that say what I think it says?” Eddie would glance over the lines of very detailed erotica and then simply nod his head as he watched Buck’s blush spread all the way down his neck.
It was sort of odd how comfortable Eddie was with Buck staying here. In reality, they’d only known each other for a few months, but it somehow felt like much longer than that. It would be normal for them to still feel awkward around each other, like they needed to put on a façade for the other, like they didn’t want the other to see the ugliest parts of themselves. Instead, it felt perfectly natural for Eddie not to shy away when Buck caught him shouting and sweating through a nightmare in the middle of the night. If it were anyone else, Eddie would have been embarrassed. But Buck just had a way of making a person feel valid and seen. He never passed judgment, nor made fun of Eddie in any way. He would simply give Eddie this look of unwavering support, and Eddie would share all of his deepest secrets willingly.
Lena stopped by occasionally to regale him with all the tales he’d missed out on while being away from the 136. She also liked to raise her eyebrows and make amused faces about the fact that Buck was staying on his couch.
“You went from enemies to house husbands real fast there, Diaz,” she muttered to him one day while Buck was only a room away in the kitchen making them all sandwiches for lunch.
“He’s just a friend helping me out,” Eddie hissed at her with narrowed eyes, “and shut up before he hears you.”
“I mean… we’ve been best friends for over three years, and I think you’d have to pay me a lot of money to sleep on this shitty couch for multiple weeks,” she went on, completely ignoring Eddie’s warning.
“Lena, I swear I’m actually going to murder you if you don’t stop talking right now.”
“Yeah, I’m so scared of you and that busted shoulder of yours,” she told him with a smirk.
He shot her his signature you’re-dead-to-me glare as he crossed his arms and pouted until Buck returned with a plate of turkey sandwiches.
Most of the time, Eddie could go on pretending that what he had said to Lena was true, that he and Buck were just friends. But Eddie could only pretend to be an idiot for so long, and he knew deep down that there was this underlying thing that had been there between him and Buck from the start. An instant sizzling connection. A sort of passion that left them always on each other’s minds from the very beginning. An invisible string that kept pulling them together, making them run into each other at unexpected places: the bar, the beach, and then Buck’s crew coincidentally being the one to respond to that call and Buck standing right in front of him as Eddie got shot.
It sort of felt like the universe was screaming at them. Like maybe Isabel had a stern talking-to with whomever was in charge of things up there and decided that both Buck and Eddie needed each other in their lives constantly. And his Abuela was not someone to take no for an answer, so of course the universe would listen to any of her demands.
One night, he and Buck were sitting on the couch watching Ted Lasso, a sleeping Christopher spread out between them. And Eddie thought why am I trying to hide from this?
Buck was a good man. The kindest person Eddie had ever met, actually. He was so thoughtful and smart and understanding of anything Eddie was going through. He listened to him complain about his parents and never once tried to suggest that Eddie make amends with them. He saw right through to Eddie’s soul, right down to his heart, and still, he was here every day and night, taking care of him despite never being asked to do so.
Buck was sort of the most incredible person in the world, and Eddie figured he probably didn’t quite deserve to be with someone like that, but he also didn’t feel the need to keep these feelings hidden any longer.
“How do you do it?” he mumbled, loud enough for Buck to hear him clearly but quiet enough not to wake Chris.
“Do what?” Buck wondered with a puzzlement in his features as he gazed at Eddie.
“How do you, despite all the bullshit your parents put you through, manage to be the exact kind of person that people can’t help falling in love with?”
Buck sucked in a large breath and then held it, waiting for Eddie to elaborate.
“I wanted so much to hate you… or to not care about you. I was being stubborn and prideful in the beginning, and still you just made me love you all the same. Like I had no choice in the matter.”
“I’m…. sorry?” Buck said then, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.
Eddie rolled his eyes fondly.
“Buck, I think you’re… well, everything. You’re everything to me, anyway. You’re so kind and giving and my whole family adores you and you grow flowers on your terrace for god’s sake. And you’re obviously the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. And I never thought I could fall in love with someone in a handful of months, but you’ve made such an impossible feat feel as easy as breathing. So, I love you.”
Buck’s blue eyes were shimmering now, the sound of Ted Lasso giving some motivational speech in the background, and the sound of Christopher’s soft snores filling the space between them.
“I love you too, Eddie,” he muttered at last.
And they didn’t fling themselves into each other’s arms or share some passionate kiss. Instead, they shared a longing look and an intimate smile and then went back to watching their favorite show.
***
It was the next day that Buck suggested a date. Mentioned something about wanting to wine and dine him. Eddie initially put up a bit of a fight because it was a little difficult for him to use utensils right now with one arm in a sling, and he hardly wanted to make a fool of himself in some fancy restaurant. But Buck had been persistent.
“If you’ll just get Isabel to watch Christopher tomorrow night, then I’ll take care of the rest. Don’t you worry about a thing,” he instructed before placing a sweet little peck to Eddie’s hairline and taking off for another 24-hour shift.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buck felt a little nervous all throughout his shift. Had it been his plan all along to make Eddie fall in love with him? Perhaps. But did he expect it to actually happen? Not a chance in hell. Eddie was such a beautiful person inside and out, and to think that he had simply sat at the opposite end of the couch from Buck last night and declared his love like it was nothing, well, it was something plucked straight from Buck’s wildest dreams.
So, Buck was determined to make Eddie feel special and thoroughly loved for their first date. He knew Eddie didn’t want to have to go out somewhere nice while still wearing his shoulder sling, so his plan was to pick up a few things after his shift ended tomorrow and surprise Eddie with a candlelit dinner at his house. Eddie could even wear sweats if he wanted. Buck didn’t care.
***
He didn’t expect to show up at Eddie’s to find the man fully dressed in a nice button-down and khakis.
“How did you even get that shirt on?” was the first thing out of Buck’s mouth.
Eddie scratched at the back of his neck with his good arm. “Might have taken me a couple of hours…” he admitted.
“To get dressed?” Buck asked in alarm.
Eddie nodded. “You said you’d arrange everything for the date, so I figured the least I could do was look nice for wherever you’re taking me.”
“Oh, Eddie, I wish you had texted me… I’m not taking you anywhere.”
“What?” Eddie said, sounding quite dejected.
Buck quickly realized it must have sounded like he was cancelling their date.
“I planned on making you dinner here,” he explained as he gestured to the plethora of bags that he was still carrying, which Eddie had somehow managed not to notice, “if that’s okay with you?”
Eddie groaned. “This fucking shirt literally made me cry, Buck.”
Buck couldn’t help letting out a little chuckle, but he also shot Eddie a guilty expression. “I’m sorry,” he said as he carefully sat his bags down, “I should have given you heads up.” He reached out and pulled Eddie toward him, wrapping his arms carefully around the man’s waist, taking great care not to bump his shoulder. Then, he placed a gentle kiss to his forehead before moving lower to the tip of his nose and then finally to Eddie’s pouty lips.
It was their first real kiss, and Buck was sure that even if he never got to kiss Eddie again, the perfect curve of his mouth and delicious taste of his tongue would be imprinted on his brain forever.
“If it’s any consolation, it does look pretty spectacular on you,” he mumbled against Eddie’s mouth.
The man’s only response was to pull Buck’s bottom lip hungrily between his teeth.
***
“So, when were you planning on telling me that you’re dating my nieto,” Isabel said to him as Buck was cleaning out her gutters one afternoon, and he nearly fell off the ladder.
“Uhh, I thought Eddie had already mentioned it.”
“Nope. Nobody tells Abuela anything anymore. I had to find out from Christopher that apparently his dad and Buck kiss sometimes now.” Her tone of voice said she was annoyed, but the tender expression on her face said that she was incredibly happy for them.
Eddie had finally been allowed to stop wearing his sling, and so Buck had stopped staying over on his couch as it just wasn’t a necessity any longer now that Eddie could drive his truck again. Still, that didn’t stop Buck from hanging out with the Diazes constantly and occasionally spending the night in Eddie’s bed.
“I promise you’ll be the first to know about any more developments in our relationship,” Buck finally offered.
Isabel nodded approvingly and went back to weeding her garden beds while Buck worked on the gutters.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The 118 was hosting a canned food drive for a nearby homeless shelter, and since Eddie was still a couple weeks away from passing his physical and getting back to work, he’d had the spare time to spend all day with Christopher cleaning out their pantries and gathering any non-perishables to donate.
They didn’t tell Buck that they’d be showing up, wanting to give him a nice little surprise in the middle of his workday.
And surprised he was, but also overjoyed.
It was Hen who spotted them first. Eddie had mingled with Buck’s crew a couple of times now, but he still didn’t know them all very well. He hoped to change that soon though.
Hen greeted Eddie and Chris with a grin at the table setup where she was collecting the canned food. Then, she turned around and shouted in the general direction behind her, “Buck! You’re ‘smokin hot firefighter boyfriend’ is here to see you!”
Eddie’s entire face flushed in embarrassment. “Please tell me that’s not actually what he calls me when he talks about me to you guys.”
Buck came bounding up to the table then with an immaculate smile. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s the truth.”
Eddie rolled his eyes. “You’re unbelievable.”
Buck leaned across the table and planted a chaste kiss to Eddie’s lips before proceeding to pretty much ignore him. Instead, he started chatting with Christopher and offered the boy a tour of the firehouse because “it’s way cooler than the stinky 136 where Eddie works.”
Buck’s Captain Bobby approached the table next as Eddie was in the process of handing over his donations to Hen.
“How’s the shoulder?” he inquired.
“Pretty good, all things considered. Should be back to work in a few weeks.”
“That’s great, Eddie. I know Buck’s been pretty worried about you, so hopefully once you get the all-clear from the doctors it will put his mind at ease.”
“He worries too much,” Eddie noted.
“He just cares about you a lot,” Bobby countered.
“Trust me, we have to listen to his dramatic prose about how in love with you he is at least twice a shift. He cares a lot,” Hen supplied as evidence of Bobby’s words.
“Did he tell you how much of a dick to him I was when we first met?”
“I believe his exact words were, ‘I think this guy hates me, but I also kind of think he wants to fuck me,” Hen informed him, and Eddie’s face went red once again.
Bobby cleared his throat to ease the awkwardness. “You should come to family cookout with him this weekend. And bring Christopher too. My stepson and Hen’s son will both be there, and I’m sure they’d all get along great.”
“I don’t want to impose on a family gathering…” Eddie tried to protest because he wasn’t sure Buck would be ready to take that step with him.
“Eddie, Buck has told us all about how the Diazes took him in with the warmest welcome. We’re Buck’s family, so let us do the same for you.”
“Okay,” Eddie relented.
“Plus,” Hen added, “I want to watch Maddie give you the talk about how she’ll kill you if you break her little baby brother’s precious heart.”
The three of them all laughed, and Eddie’s eyes fell on the far end of the firehouse where Buck was holding onto Christopher’s waist as he helped the boy slide down the firepole.
“I’m not worried,” he told them confidently. Because he knew that breaking Buck’s heart was the last thing he ever wanted to do.