Archive of Our Own

It’s not like Eddie Diaz planned on this. Really, there was no scenario in his mind where he would ever be bringing his son’s teacher a freaking goody basket to class; a homemade goody basket, no less. Then again, Christopher has never had a teacher quite like Evan Buckley.

Honestly, when Eddie heard that Mrs. Mathers was going into early retirement for “reasons unknown” he’d been a little skeptical. Then he heard that her replacement would be a young man with only one year of teaching experience and well, that had him very skeptical.

Now, when he thinks about it, he’s not exactly sure what he thought Evan Buckley would be like. Maybe he was picturing some twenty-two year old with a douchebag haircut who would be singing children’s songs to the class instead of teaching them. Maybe he was picturing some kid who had absolutely no idea what he was doing, standing in front of a classroom and setting it on fire accidentally. Whatever he was thinking though, was nothing like the truth.

For starters, Evan Buckley wasn’t twenty-two, he was twenty-seven. He also was not some scrawny little kid. He’d been wearing a cardigan sweater when Eddie had first met him, and it was so tight on his arms that he could actually see the outline of his muscles there. He was tall, just a little taller than Eddie, with long legs that seemed to go on for miles in the black pants he wore. His pale blue eyes were friendly and gorgeous in a way that made Eddie never want to look away. And then he had smiled at Eddie and well, that had been the end of that.

And it’s not even that he’s really cute (which he obviously is); it’s that he’s such a good teacher. Christopher, who has always struggled with math, came home one day singing a song that Mr. Buckley had taught them to help with multiplication. He’d read a book, that he originally hated, and ended up loving it, while telling Eddie that Mr. Buckley ‘made it make sense’. He started drawing a lot more, because Mr. Buckley ‘said it could be in a museum one day.’ Evan Buckley was an amazing teacher and Christopher absolutely loved him. He didn’t baby his students. He held them accountable for what they did in the classroom, while making sure they had fun doing it.

And Eddie’s had a few conversations with Mr. Buckley since their initial first meeting. He found out that he had taken a few years off after high school to go backpacking and traveling with his older sister before he finally decided to move back to Los Angeles for college. He loves kids, so it only seemed right that he become a teacher. He’s funny and genuinely cares about his students. He’s pretty much the perfect package and Eddie definitely has a crush on him.

Which is why he is carrying a goody basket into the man’s classroom twenty minutes before any other student will show up. He knocks on the door, because he’s polite, but Christopher is way too excited and ends up barging on through.

“Mr. Buckley!” He greets happily as Eddie’s knock fades away. Mr. Buckley turns from where he’d been watering a freaking plant, and grins brightly when he catches sight of who’s in his room.

“Christopher! Good morning, buddy! You’re here early.” He doesn’t look put off at all, like most teachers might be. He looks absolutely thrilled to see Christopher. “And you brought your dad.” Mr. Buckley’s smile transfers over to Eddie, who is now looking at the floor in embarrassment.

“I uh, well, we wanted to give you this.” He extends the goody basket over to Mr. Buckley, whose eyes are now wide and watery. His mouth drops open slightly as he looks at the gift. “It’s your birthday, isn’t it?” Mr. Buckley looks at him in amazement. “Christopher told me, I swear I’m not stalking your FaceBook page or something.”

He laughs loudly and Eddie can’t help but smile at the lovely sound.

“You didn’t have to do this,” he says softly as he takes the basket and looks at it in awe.

“Yes, we did!” Christopher tells him. “It’s your birthday and birthdays mean presents. You have to get presents.”

Mr. Buckley smiles and leans down to ruffle Christopher’s hair, which has the little boy laughing. “Thank you, Christopher. This is the best gift. I can already see so many delicious things in here.”

“Daddy made them!” Chris says happily and Eddie’s face goes even redder when Mr. Buckley looks up in surprise. “Can I go to the reading corner now?” He asks in regards to the little library that Mr. Buckley has set up in the room. It’s also an arts and crafts space, so Eddie’s sure he’s really going over there to draw.

“Of course, Chris.” The two of them watch Christopher’s retreating figure before Mr. Buckley turns to Eddie. “You really did not need to go through all this trouble, Mr. Diaz.”

And now Eddie’s feeling kind of embarrassed because what if he’s somehow overstepped here? What if Mr. Buckley thinks he’s a weirdo or some kind of obsessed stalker? Fuck.

“It was mainly Christopher,” he says, looking down again. “He really wanted to do something for you. You’re his favorite teacher. I’m sorry if it’s too much. He just gets really excited about stuff like this.”

“Oh, my God, no!” Mr. Buckley sets the basket on top of his desk and then turns back towards Eddie. “It’s such an amazing gift. Thank you. I have a feeling you wouldn’t have said you made this stuff yourself unless Christopher told me, so thank you. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me, I think.”

Eddie laughs now. “I’m sure that can’t possibly be true.”

“Well, it’s definitely up there, Mr. Diaz.” He puts on a slight drawl when he says Eddie’s name and for a moment, Eddie wonders if he’s actually flirting with him. He doesn’t know what he would do if that were the case.

“Well then, you’re welcome, Mr. Buckley.”

The teacher laughs and shakes his head. “Call me Buck. I think we’re at the first name basis now, don’t you?” Buck. It’s not what Eddie had been expecting. Apparently he can see that, because Buck smiles sheepishly. “Yeah, I know. It’s a childhood nickname. The only person who really calls me Evan is my sister.”

“Okay, Buck,” Eddie agrees. “It’s only fair that you call me Eddie then.”

“Okay, Eddie.”

The two of them stand there, two feet apart, smiling at each other until it gets slightly awkward. Eddie really doesn’t want to move, but he also knows that Buck probably needs to get ready for his day so he finally forces himself to take a step back.

“Well, I should probably get going,” he says as he motions back towards the door and takes another step.

“Oh,” Buck says and if Eddie didn’t know any better, he would say that he sounded a little upset. “Okay.” And then, when Eddie turns around and takes another step away. “Early day at work?”

“Hmm?”

“Sorry, I just noticed your uniform is all. Figured you have an early shift today or something.” He gestures down to Eddie’s work shirt, pants, and boots.

“Oh! Sorry, yeah. It’s a long one today. Kind of why I wanted to come drop Christopher off myself. I won’t get to see him tonight.”

Buck nods. “So I’m assuming you won’t be at pickup then.”

“No, that’ll be Carla today.” Buck nods, the smile has all but fallen from his face and Eddie wonders if he said something wrong. He knows that he’s supposed to be leaving, and he definitely will in a second, he just needs to make sure that everything’s okay first. “Do you have any birthday plans?”

“My sister insists on doing this dinner thing every year. She cooks for me and honestly, I’m just glad that she’s improved, because there used to be days where I had to force myself to eat her cooking so she wouldn’t be sad.” Eddie laughs at that and he’s happy to see that Buck’s smiling again. “I think her boyfriend is coming along tonight. It’s this fairly new relationship, but she seems to be all about him, so I told her it was okay.” He shakes his head. “Sorry, you probably don’t need to hear all of this.”

“No, no! It’s okay. I don’t mind at all,” Eddie reassures him, perhaps a little too eagerly. “That’s nice, though, about your sister’s new boyfriend. I hope it works out for her.”

“Yeah.” Buck clears his throat. “What about you? Do you have anyone special in your life?”

For some reason, Eddie starts laughing. He doesn’t know what it is about the question that makes it so funny to him. Maybe it’s the fact that Buck sounds so awkward asking it, almost like a distant relative would ask you during Thanksgiving lunch.

“No,” he says when he finally gets himself together. “It’s just me and Christopher. Do you?”

Buck shakes his head. “I try not to do the whole ‘casual’ thing anymore, and I haven’t really found anyone I want to be serious with, you know?”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” And it does. Eddie used to love fooling around with random people. He didn’t care who he was sleeping with or just casually seeing, but ever since Christopher, things are different. He doesn’t just have himself to think of anymore; he has his son. He can’t bring anyone into their lives unless he knows they’re a done deal.

Suddenly, another child walks into the room, bidding Buck a good morning before walking over to Christopher and Eddie realizes that he’s cutting it pretty close here.

“I should probably get to work,” he says slowly, because he really doesn’t want to. He wants to stay here and find out just what kind of person Buck wants to get serious with.

“Right, of course! Sorry for keeping you.” He looks a little bashful as he says the words and Eddie really needs to get out of here before he says something stupid like—.

“You can keep me any day.”

Buck’s eyes widen in shock and Eddie closes his as he curses himself out in his head for being such an idiot. Seriously, what the hell was that?

“Sorry. I uh, I meant to say that I…” he laughs and shakes his head. “I just meant that I didn’t mind the conversation. It was nice.”

Buck smiles and it’s honestly one of the most beautiful things that Eddie has ever seen.

“Well, anytime you want to have a conversation, you know where to find me.”

It sounds like flirting and Eddie wants to take it that way, but he knows better. Buck is his son’s teacher and he’s just really friendly and nice. He’s probably like this with all the parents.

“Have a good birthday,” Eddie tells him. “I hope the dinner’s nice.”

“Thanks, and thank you again for the gift, Eddie.” He tries not to go into cardiac arrest at the sound of his name falling from Buck’s lips. “It’s really nice. I love it.”

“There’s a small dulce de leche cake in there,” Eddie tells him. “You might want to refrigerate that.”

Buck’s face lights up. “Wait, really? Homemade?”

Eddie nods. “I haven’t made one in years, but it’s my abuela’s recipe so it should be good. If it’s not, I’m sorry.”

“I’m sure it’s perfect,” Buck says, with that same dopey smile. “Thank you. Now, go save some lives!”

“Alright,” he says cheekily. “Happy birthday again.”

He tries to ignore the way that Buck’s eyes follow him all the way out of the classroom. It’s not that hard to do when he’s trying to focus on calming down his racing heart.

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Hen is cackling as Eddie retells the entire morning conversation to her. She’s been an avid follower of Eddie’s crush ever since he told her that he had a thing for a guy who occasionally wears cardigans.

“This guy just sounds so cute!” She says happily. “And you made him a cake? How are you this whipped and you’re not even dating him?”

“I didn’t make him a full cake,” he says, face red. “It was very small. A slice basically.”

“Eddie, that’s still the cutest shit ever. Was he happy? Did he seem to like it? Please tell me you got his number.”

“I have his number.”

“That doesn’t count!” She says with an eye roll. “It doesn’t count when you get it because of a parent-teacher conference. You need to actually ask him for it.”

“Why would I ask him for his number if I already have it?”

“It’s the principle of it all! Look, would you text him right now and ask him on a date?”

Tempting. “No.”

“But what if you had asked him for his number earlier. Would you text him and ask him on a date then?”

Eddie frowns. “I don’t know. Either way, what does it matter? He’s my son’s teacher.”

“So? There aren’t rules against this, and even if there were, he’s only his teacher for a few more months. What are you so scared of?”

He could laugh at the question. What isn’t he scared of? There’s the fact that Buck might not even be into guys, which would be fine but humiliating in the moment. And Buck might like kids enough to want to be a teacher, but that doesn’t mean he wants to raise one. Kids are a lot of work and they’re not for everyone. Liking kids and wanting to be a parent are two completely different things. Then there’s the worst-case scenario: Buck does like him back. They date, fall in love, move in together, have a happy life. Then one day he decides that he’s not happy anymore and he leaves Eddie and Christopher.

But that’s just his mind getting way ahead of him. There’s nothing to be scared of because that will never happen, because Eddie’s not going to date Buck.

“Hen!” Bobby says as he walks over with a bowl of homemade salsa for them to try. “Are you still picking on Eddie over his crush?”

“Ooh,” comes Chimney’s voice as he climbs the stairs. “Did you finally ask out Hot Teacher?”

“No,” Eddie groans. “And I will not be asking him out.”

“Why not?” Hen and Chimney whine at the same time, earning them an amused look from Bobby and a glare from Eddie.

“Because I just find the guy attractive, that’s all. And I don’t even know if he likes guys!”

“Then find out,” Hen says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. It probably is. “Seriously, Eddie. It sounds like he’s at least a little interested in you.”

“I think you should go for it,” Chimney tells him as dips a tortilla chip into his salsa. “Who knows, it could be the year of love for all of us.”

Eddie, ready to get the spotlight off of himself, doesn’t hesitate to try and put the focus on Chimney now.

“How is that going by the way? What’s her name again?”

“Maddie, and it’s going great. We’re actually doing a dinner tonight with her family, I think. I’m excited.”

Eddie can’t help but smile at the excitement that’s clear as day on his friend’s face. He thinks that if anyone deserves a shot at love, it’s Chimney. He hasn’t met this Maddie yet, the whole thing is still kind of new, but he can tell that she’s a good person just from the way that Chimney talks about her.

“It’s just her brother,” he continues. “I’m not even sure if she has any other family out here.” He pauses and then smiles at Eddie slyly. “You know, I think her brother swings for your team. I could try to hook you two up, maybe help you get over Hot Teacher.”

Eddie groans. “Absolutely do not set me up with anyone ever, Chim.”

“Meeting the family?” Bobby asks, trying to switch the attention away from Eddie. “That’s serious stuff. You serious about her?”

“Yeah,” Chimney says quickly. “I really think I am. She’s… I don’t know, she’s different. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like her.”

Eddie wonders what that’s like; to see someone and know, without a doubt, that they’re it for you. He’s never really had that. Sure, he had Shannon once upon a time, but they weren’t like that. He and Shannon had been comfortable, familiar. They stayed together because of Christopher, because it felt like the right thing to do in order to be a real family, but they learned early on that that’s not a family. He cares about her and he does love her, but he’s glad they aren’t together anymore. Things are better this way. They’re both so much happier now, but he can’t help but wonder what it would be like to feel the way Chimney does.

“Hey,” Chimney says suddenly, “you know what? If tonight goes well, then I want you guys to meet her.”

“Now that sounds serious,” Eddie teases.

“Right? But really. I think it would be nice for her to meet everyone. She’s kind of new here and doesn’t know that many people, so it would be good for her to make friends.”

“You know I’m always down to meet new friends,” Hen says, “especially ones that have stolen the hearts of mine. Count me in.”

“I’ll be there,” Bobby agrees.

“Tell me we’re going somewhere with drinks,” Eddie jokes and Chimney laughs before nodding.

“Yeah, we can go somewhere with drinks.”

“I’m in, man.” He claps his friend on the shoulder and smiles. “I’m happy for you, really. I hope tonight is good.”

Chimney grins at him, but before anymore can be said, the alarm goes off and they’re back to work.

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In a rare case of the universe being on his side, Eddie has the weekend off.

He gets off of work at two on Friday, which means that he gets to pick Christopher up from school. He sends a text to Carla, letting her know that she’s completely off this weekend and she sends him back a champagne bottle emoji.

He’s usually first in line whenever he’s picking up Christopher, but today traffic is a nightmare. At least that’s what he tells himself. So maybe he took a little longer at home; showering and making sure he got all the leftover work off of him. Maybe he spends a little more time picking out something to wear and maybe he actually goes about fixing his hair up nicely. It’s not like anyone except for him will know the truth.

It works out, though. When he gets to the school, there are only two kids left with Buck, one of which happens to be Christopher. It’s only been about ten minutes, so it’s not like he’s breaking any kind of rules here, and Christopher looks completely fine as he shows Buck something in one of his folders.

Eddie decides to park his truck and get down and tells himself it’s definitely because he just wants to stretch his legs out a little bit, and it’s definitely not because he wants to talk to Buck again.

The other man is dressed up nicely today. He’s wearing black dress pants with a maroon button up that’s just a little too tight, so Eddie can really see the muscle definition in his arms. He starts to think about what those arms could do to him in the right situation, but his daydream is cut short when there’s the loud blare of someone honking at him. He startles and jumps up, turning to the right of him to see a lady in a minivan looking at him like he’s insane. He holds his hands up and mouths ‘sorry’ before stepping out of the way so that she can pull up to the curbside to pick up her child. As soon as he’s in the car, she zooms off and Eddie’s glad that she’s at least not the confrontational type.

“Eddie!” He looks ahead and sees Buck running up to him. The man looks worried and for a moment Eddie’s scared that he’s going to give him some kind of bad news, but then he reaches out and grabs him by his biceps and looks him over in a hurry. “Are you okay? What the hell was that?”

Eddie tilts his head in confusion. “What?”

“Mrs. Donaldson almost hit you! It’s like you were in some kind of trance, you practically walked into her car. Is everything okay?”

Fuck. That’s embarrassing. Is this the part where Eddie tells him that he’d been so busy daydreaming about him and Buck together that he’d nearly gotten himself run over? Absolutely not.

“Sorry, yeah, I’m fine. I just… long day at work, you know? I guess I need some coffee.” He laughs to try and get Buck to stop frowning, but it doesn’t work. If anything Buck somehow looks even more worried and Eddie doesn’t understand why. Is he this concerned about all of the parents or is it just Eddie? He wants to believe that it’s the latter, but he’s also not about to get his hopes up like that.

“I have a coffee pot in my room,” Buck says quietly, almost as if he’s a little shy about voicing this. Why would he be, though? “If you want to come in and make yourself a cup.” Oh.

Oh.

Eddie blinks as he looks at him in surprise. “Oh,” he says because he’s an idiot.

Buck quickly drops his hands from Eddie’s arms and takes a step back as Eddie immediately curls his hands into light fists to prevent himself from leaning forward into Buck’s warmth. His face is red as he looks anywhere but at Eddie.

“You don’t have to,” he says quickly. “I’m sorry, you probably have better things to do than hang out at an elementary school, and I’m sure Christopher wants to get out of here. Just ignore me. That was stupid.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Eddie says, stopping him. “That wasn’t stupid. It’s actually so nice of you to offer that. I’d love a cup of coffee.”

Buck looks up at him, hope written all in his eyes. “Really?”

“Yeah, as long as you have a lot of sugar because I can’t drink it black.”

“Shocking,” Buck says with a smile. “I didn’t take you for the sugar type at all, but lucky for you, I happen to have the taste buds of a twelve year old, so I definitely have a lot of sugar.”

“Lead the way,” he says and follows Buck back towards the sidewalk. Christopher is standing there with a look of wonder on his face, but he smiles as soon as Eddie approaches him. “Hey, buddy! How was school today?” He leans down to hug his son and Christopher melts into the hug happily.

“So fun, dad. I painted something new.”

“Really? Do I get to see it?”

“It’s in the room,” Chris says a little sadly and Eddie and Buck share a knowing look with each other.

“Well then I guess it’s a good thing that we’re going to hang out with Mr. Buckley for a little bit then, isn’t it?”

It’s amazing, the way that Christopher’s face lights up as soon as he hears the words.

“Really?”

“Yeah, is that okay?”

“Yes!” He says happily. “Come on, dad!”

Eddie laughs as he watches Christopher head back into the school eagerly.

“You know, I don’t think I was ever that happy to go to school,” Buck says as he and Eddie follow Christopher down the hall. They’re standing so close that their arms brush up against each other every now and then.

“I think it has more to do with going to your class than anything else,” Eddie says and Buck raises an eyebrow. “Don’t tell him I told you this, but you’re his favorite teacher.”

“Well, I am his only teacher, you know.”

Eddie laughs and shakes his head. “No, I mean in general. He’s never loved school the way he does now and that’s because of you.”

“Oh. Wow.” Buck smiles to himself. “That’s the kind of thing every teacher wants to hear, so thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, man. You’re the one I should be thanking here.”

“Guys!” Christopher says, poking his head out of Buck’s classroom door. “Come on, come on!”

Eddie and Buck cut their conversation short to follow Christopher into the room. Buck goes to make Eddie a cup of coffee and Eddie listens as Christopher tells him all about the different artwork he’s been doing. He gives him a little tour of the room after that and when Buck’s finally done with the coffee, Christopher has his head inside of a book that Eddie now knows he’s been reading during his free time for the past week.

“I didn’t know how much sugar you wanted,” Buck tells him, “so I figured I would just let you decide.”

“Thank you,” Eddie says as he takes the cup. “So how was the birthday dinner with your sister’s boyfriend? Did he pass the test?”

Buck smiles, but it’s a little sad. “He’s a really good guy and it seems like he genuinely cares about her. That’s really all I want for her. Guy was super funny too. I don’t think I’ve seen Maddie laugh like that in years.”

Maddie. Something about the name sounds familiar, but he can’t place it. Oh well. There are a lot of people in the world with that name. He probably heard it on a TV show recently.

“Well, that’s good. I’m glad to hear it went well. Did you get completely wasted?”

Buck smirks. “Maybe a little. Maddie really liked the tequila that you put in the basket, so thank you for that.”

Eddie looks at him in surprise. “That was some pretty strong stuff, did you guys finish it all?”

“Maybe. I used to be wild in college,” Buck says slyly, “so my tolerance is through the freaking roof.”

“Oh, is it now?”

“Mhm, but it’s nice to know that you’re a lightweight.”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Eddie steps closer to Buck, playfully. “I’ll have you know that I was drinking my uncles under the table by the time I was eighteen.”

“A bit of a rule breaker, huh?” Buck’s suddenly standing really close to him, so close that Eddie has to tilt his head up just the slightest so that he’s actually looking him in the eyes.

“Used to be.”

“Not anymore?” Buck’s lips twitch upwards and Eddie gulps. Holy shit. Are they flirting right now?

“Well, maybe sometimes.”

Buck full-on smiles now and Eddie swears that he can feel the way his lips curve. Eddie blinks as he glances down at Buck’s lips. He’s so close that all Eddie would have to do is lean in just the slightest bit…

Christopher’s giggle echoes throughout the room and Eddie reels away from Buck. His eyes are wide as he looks over at his son, but it seems like he’s just laughing at the book. Eddie stares at him a little longer before finally turning his attention back to Buck.

The younger man is looking at him so intensely that Eddie almost wants to look away again. He’s never really had someone look at him like that and he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do or say right now.

“You should show me,” Buck says after a while.

“Show you?” Eddie repeats, confused. Buck nods.

“That you’re not a lightweight. We should go out one of these nights.” He says the words confidently, but the half smile on his face is anything but. He’s glancing between Eddie and the floor like he’s wishing he could sink into it. He’s nervous.

“Oh,” Eddie says quietly and clears his throat. “I don’t know if that's a good idea.”

Buck’s face falls and Eddie immediately feels like shit.

“Oh.”

“I don’t mean it that way!” He says to try and get the sad look off Buck’s face, “It’s just… well, you’re my son’s teacher. Isn’t that a little inappropriate?”

“It’s just drinks,” Buck says, sounding fairly amused. And wow, doesn’t Eddie feel like a douchebag. Of course it’s just drinks, and here he is acting like Buck just asked him out on a date or something. “How about I give you my number and if you ever want to, you can give me a call, okay?”

Eddie doesn’t even bat an eyelash before he’s agreeing with him. Drinks are okay, drinks are harmless. Having drinks with someone doesn’t equal sleeping with them, falling in love with them, and then having your heart broken by them. Drinks are easy. He can do drinks.

Buck rattles off his number, which Eddie already had, and when he puts it in his phone again, he can’t help but feel like Hen was right. It is different getting his number like this.

“I should probably get going,” Eddie says after a second. “I promised my abuela that Christopher and I would stop by for dinner.”

Buck nods. “Tell her that her recipe is definitely being appreciated.”

“Will do,” Eddie says with a laugh. “And thank you again for the coffee. It was good.” Buck raises an eyebrow as he looks down at the coffee cup in Eddie’s hands that’s practically still full. For a moment, Eddie’s sure that he’s going to call him out on it, but then he just smiles.

“Anytime you want a cup, you know where to find me.”

Eddie, to absolutely no one’s surprise, isn’t rushing to leave. Despite the awkward little turn at the end, he’s enjoying being in Buck’s company. He wants to talk to him, to get to really know him. It’s ridiculous and yet he feels like maybe Buck wants the same thing. Being friends could be okay, right? Maybe Eddie could get used to that. Maybe he can forget his stupid crush on Buck, because after all that’s all it is, just a crush. It’s not actually going to go anywhere and maybe being friends with him could be fine.

“I’ll see you Monday,” Eddie finally says and Buck nods.

“See you Monday.”

It feels like there’s something in between them, something unfinished, but Eddie doesn’t pay it any mind as he gathers Christopher up, who is now yawning and ready for a nap probably. He tells Buck goodbye and the two of them head out to the car.

“Are you and Mr. Buckley friends?” Christopher asks whenever they’re leaving the parking lot.

“Uh, yeah,” he says, not really knowing how to answer that question. “I suppose we are, bud.”

“That’s cool! I like Mr. Buckley.”

“Yeah? I do too.”

Christopher smiles at him before turning his attention away, and Eddie focuses on the road again in hopes of trying not to think about just how much he likes Mr. Buckley.

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The 118 doesn’t do nightclubs. They do bars and restaurants that could pass for seedy “clubs”, but they certainly don’t do nightclubs.

So Eddie really doesn’t understand how they ended up in Los Angeles’ newest nightclub.

“My girlfriend is inviting her best friend and brother,” Chimney had told them earlier that Saturday. “Her best friend, Josh, swears that this place is great. I don’t think she had the heart to tell him no.”

And honestly, Eddie can see the appeal. If he were younger, this place would be like heaven to him. He’s not younger, though and so while he loves Chimney, he’s not sure if he loves him enough to want to stay here all night. He promised to meet Maddie and he’s starting to think that as soon as he does, he might go back home. Watching The Lion King for the millionth time with Chris sounds a lot better than this.

Hen and Chimney do not share his feelings. The two of them are currently laughing and dancing horribly to some remix of a song that Eddie has never heard in his entire life. Hen is way past tipsy and Eddie wonders if he should call Karen. He decides that he’ll give her some more time. She seems to be enjoying herself and who the hell is he to take that away?

Chimney’s only had one drink so far and Eddie’s pretty sure it’s because he wants to be as sober as possible when Maddie finally gets here, which…

“Did Maddie say when she would be here?” He asks Chimney.

“Uh, yeah.” He checks his phone. “They were in traffic but they should be here any… Oh!” His face lights up and he points behind Eddie. “Maddie! Hey!”

Eddie turns around and sure enough, he sees a brunette woman waving over at Chimney with a huge grin. She’s beautiful in a very down-to-earth way and Eddie can see how Chimney had been drawn to her. There’s only one man with her though, and Eddie’s not sure if he’s the best friend or the brother.

“Hi,” Maddie greets as she hugs Chim tightly. They’re both smiling so big and Eddie can’t help but smile with them. “Sorry, I’m late. I really wasn’t expecting traffic to be so bad.”

“It’s Saturday night in Los Angeles,” Hen speaks up, “always expect traffic. I’m Hen by the way! It’s so nice to finally meet you.” She sticks her hand out for Maddie and the other woman gladly takes it.

“Oh, my gosh, it’s so good to meet you! Chimney tells me the craziest stories about the things you two have done. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”

“Did he tell you about the Christmas that can never be spoken of?”

“He did,” Maddie says with a smirk.

“Wait, what happened during Christmas and why can’t we speak of it?” Eddie asks, confused.

“Oh, you must be Eddie!” Maddie says happily, ignoring the question. “Hi, I’m Maddie. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too, Chimney talks an awful lot about you,” he tells her as they shake hands.

“Don’t embarrass me,” Chimney says making them laugh. “And this is Josh, everyone! Maddie’s best friend from work.”

“Hey,” Josh says and Hen and Eddie smile and wave at him.

“Where’s your brother?” Chimney asks, looking around. “Did he not come?”

“He did.” Maddie looks around. “I think he said he was gonna go straight to the bar. He’s a teacher so he never gets to drink during the weekdays. He likes to really let loose when he gets the chance.”

“It’s true,” Chimney agrees. “She’s shown me a video of him drunk and singing Eye of The Tiger.”

“Aw, a teacher?” Hen asks. “What grade?”

“Elementary, he loves it.”

Hen gushes at the answer and Eddie’s mind immediately wanders to Buck. Maddie’s words remind him of the teacher that he’s somehow grown to like. He’s taken back to yesterday in his classroom, back to how they had almost kissed and how Buck had asked him about drinks. He wonders if he’s out right now with someone else doing just that. It wouldn’t matter if he was. It’s not like Eddie was anything to him.

Maybe Maddie will have a brother that he…

His thought process is cut off before it even really begins. Maddie. Why does that name sound so familiar to him? He thinks it over and his eyes go completely wide in realization just as he hears Maddie’s voice ring out.

“Evan! Over here!”

It’s like a bad slow motion scene in a movie.

Eddie turns around and his eyes latch on to none other than Evan Buckley. He’s grinning as he walks over to his sister with a drink in his hand, not quite seeing Eddie yet. He looks amazing. He’s wearing a tight black sweater and jeans. It’s such a relaxed look, different from the collared shirts and fancy sweaters Eddie usually sees him in. His hair isn’t gelled for once, and Eddie can see that he has wavy hair that looks so soft that he wants to run his hands through it.

Eddie can’t move or even think as he watches Buck come closer and closer. He’s such an idiot! How had he not put the pieces together before now? He glances around the room, but he’s not sure what he’s looking for. A distraction? An escape? He almost laughs at himself. He’s an adult. This is a totally normal situation and there’s no reason for him to act weirdly now. It’s fine. This is fine.

Buck turns his attention away from Maddie to look at the group with her and of course, his eyes land right on Eddie first. He doesn’t stop walking or stumble or anything dramatic, but he does blink twice and frown a little like he’s not sure if he’s actually seeing what he’s seeing.

“Buck,” Chimney cheers, not noticing that the other man looks completely out of it now. “I’m glad you could make it! I’ve been wanting to introduce you to my friend, Eddie, for a while now.”

Eddie’s reminded of Chimney telling him that he wanted to set the two of them up and his face goes red. Seriously, how the hell does he up end up in these situations? This is ridiculous and the ground can just swallow him whole right now and he wouldn’t complain.

“I uh, I actually know him,” Buck says, a little awkwardly. He searches Eddie’s face, wondering if it’s okay for him to say this and Eddie nods, even though he knows that Chimney and Hen are going to tease him for the rest of their lives. “I’m his son’s teacher.”

Chimney and Hen both frown before looking at Eddie then at Buck and then at each other. He watches as the realization washes over them. Hen gasps and then yelps in glee, clapping her hands and gasping in surprise.
“You’re Hot Teacher?”

“Hen!” Eddie snaps, glaring at her. The level of alcohol in her has loosened her tongue way too much for Eddie’s sanity.

“Hot Teacher?” Buck repeats, looking way too damned entertained right now.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Chimney says. “You’re Christopher’s teacher?”

“Yeah.”

“Holy shit. Small world.”

Eddie’s silent as he watches Buck’s face to try and get a grip on his feelings, but it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking right now. He doesn’t look grossed out at the Hot Teacher comment, and he’s not glaring at Eddie either. He looks amused and when his attention flutters over to Eddie, there’s a little smile on his face.

“Hi,” he says, softer, and Eddie gulps. This is really not helping his stupid crush. He feels like he’s back in high school with a crush on Aaron Anderson, the really hot senior captain of the football team. Buck’s a lot cuter though, and a hell of a lot nicer too. He’s the kind of guy that you get a crush on and it never really goes away, even if you hardly know him. Eddie can tell that Buck’s a very easy person to fall in love with and that’s why he’s dangerous. Eddie can’t be falling for anyone right now, especially not someone like Evan Buckley who looks like sunshine reincarnated. Because when he leaves, and he will, it’ll hurt so much more.

“Hi,” Eddie finally says.

“Wait,” Maddie interrupts their moment. “You’re Eddie Diaz? The one who made him the goody basket for his birthday?”

“That’s me,” he admits, a little embarrassed. “I heard you liked the tequila.”

“Oh, it was so good!” She gushes. “Very strong.”

Eddie smiles. “Well, I’m glad that you enjoyed it.”

Things are quiet for a few seconds before Josh asks Hen what she’s drinking because it looks so good, and then they’re normal again.

Except Buck is still staring Eddie, who’s trying to look anywhere else but at him. Of course, because things can never be easy for him, Buck slides up next to him.

“Can I ask about the Hot Teacher comment?” He asks, looking way too entertained. Eddie gives him an unamused look.

“No, you cannot.” He throws him a smile though, so the comment doesn’t sound so rude.

“I’m still going to ask.”

“I’m not going to answer.”

Buck grins as he takes a sip of his drink and Eddie watches him swallow the clear liquid. Something as simple as drinking should not look so hot, but yet here they are.

“I can’t believe I didn’t put this together,” Eddie says whenever Buck pulls the drink from his lips. “Chimney told us his girlfriend’s name was Maddie and that he was going to dinner with her brother. I honestly don’t understand how I missed this.”

Buck laughs. “Yeah, it sounds pretty obvious when you put it that way.” Eddie glares and he holds up his hands. “If it makes you feel any better, Chimney told me about his firefighter pal who had a thing for his son’s teacher. Maybe that should have given something away for me too.”

Fuck, could this get any more embarrassing? He sighs. There’s really no point in trying to lie anymore. Hen and Chimney have made it very obvious that Eddie has a crush on Buck.

“Look, I---.”

“It’s okay,” Buck cuts him off. “You don’t need to explain anything to me. I’m only messing around with you.” Eddie doesn’t say anything to that, mainly because he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to say. “You wanna drink?”

He considers it, and then decides that he doesn’t really have anything to lose here. “Sure, yeah.”

“You seem like a beer guy,” Buck says as they make their way over to the bar. “Am I wrong?”

“You’re definitely not, I do love beer, but I’m not trying to drink that at a club.” He ends up ordering a glass of whiskey, which makes Buck curl his face up in disgust.

“I don’t know how you can drink that. Maddie loves dark liquor too, but it’s just gross to me.”

“What? It’s good!”

That’s how they end up spending the next ten minutes arguing over which liquor is the best. It’s a ridiculous conversation and yet Eddie finds himself having more fun than he has in a long time. The conversation moves from liquor, to their wildest teenage moments, to what college and the army had been like, to how they ended up where they are right now.

“I had this friend,” Buck says, smile on his face, “who was like ‘Dude, you could totally be a movie star.” He starts laughing even though he hasn’t gotten to the punchline, and Eddie’s sure it has to do with the fact that he’s a little tipsy now. “So he drags me to this ‘indie’ movie set, right? But the whole thing is kind of sketchy and then some guy in gold underwear comes up to me and asks if I’m into choking and bondage. Turns out the indie movie was a fucking porno.”

Eddie bursts out laughing and Buck throws his head back with him.

“When I told them it was a mistake, they tried giving me $20,000 just to stay.”

Eddie’s laughter turns into a gasp of surprise. “No shit? What did you say?”

Buck licks his lips before taking a sip of his drink. Eddie watches him in wonder, suddenly feeling like he’s about to hear something very interesting.

“Well,” Buck says, lips glistening now, “I told them that I’m definitely into choking and bondage, but that I wasn’t into recording myself getting fucked; at least not for a big audience. I think that should be kept between you and your partner, don’t you?”

Fuck. Eddie’s mouth has gone completely dry as he stares at the man in front of him. Buck knows what he’s doing, he definitely knows, and he also knows that he’s getting to Eddie, if the way he’s currently staring at him like he’s his prey is anything to go by. And he likes that way too fucking much right now.

“Yeah,” he agrees after clearing his throat. “I guess you’re right.”

Buck nods. “What about you? What are you into, Eddie?”

You.

Eddie’s face goes red. What is he into? There’s a lot that he’s into, but he’s definitely not about to tell that to Buck. He can’t stop his mind from wandering for a moment, though. He thinks about Buck’s words, about him being into choking and he has to stop himself from moaning at the picture in his head; Buck underneath him, mouth opened just the slightest bit as he looks up at Eddie through hooded eyes, Eddie’s hands wrapped around his neck just forcefully enough to make him gasp out in pleasure. He pictures himself tying Buck up to his bed and putting him completely under Eddie’s mercy. He pictures himself taking Buck apart, learning what makes him moan and what gets him so close to the edge, learning what makes his eyes go wide in surprise and what makes him want to melt into the sheets and be good for Eddie.

Eddie coughs and forces himself to get his mind out of the gutter. He can’t think about Buck like that, he can’t.

Why not?

He tells his brain to shut up, but it refuses.

What’s the point of staying away? He’s given you plenty of hints that he’s into you and you’re obviously into him. What’s stopping you? Christopher isn’t a reason and you know it. You’re scared of getting left behind again, but this doesn’t even have to be that. You can’t stop thinking about Buck. Just have sex once and get it out of your system. Maybe your crush is more of a lust thing.

Yeah, right. Not even he believes that last part. If this were a lust thing, Eddie wouldn’t have made him a stupid goody basket. Nice try though.

“I don’t know,” he finally answers, lying. “Never really thought about it.”

Buck hums before nodding.

Suddenly a new song comes on and Buck’s eyes light up. Their conversation is forgotten as he puts his drink down on the table and holds his hand out for Eddie.

“Dance with me?”

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “Uh, no. I don’t dance.”

“Somehow I don’t believe that at all.” Buck smirks. “Come on, you can just stand there and let me dance. It’ll be fun.”

“I think I’ll just watch.”

Buck rolls his eyes before shimmying back into the crowd on the dancefloor. Eddie laughs at him, but as soon as Buck starts dancing, his laughter fades away.

He moves his body to the beat of the music perfectly and God, does he know how to move it. The music seems like it flows through him, picking apart every tense muscle. He swings his hips seductively as he runs his hands all over his body, lifting his shirt up the tiniest bit as he does. The muscles of his waist and arms flex as he keeps moving to the fast beat of the song. Eddie follows his hands with his eyes and bites his lip as he imagines what it would be like to be the one touching Buck right now. He pictures his own slightly-darker fingers running along the fair planes of Buck’s torso, dipping and caressing each cut muscle as their bodies move together.

Apparently he’s not the only one wondering, because a guy walks up behind him and turns him around, leaning down to whisper something in his ear. Eddie watches as Buck nods and swings an arm over the man’s shoulder. Had he asked him to dance? Obviously, he thinks to himself. A surge of jealousy goes through him before he reminds himself that he has nothing to be jealous of. Buck isn’t his boyfriend. Hell, they’re not even really friends. At least, not yet.

But still, he watches as the guy runs his hands up and down Buck’s side and he grips his glass a little tighter. He watches as their hips move together, their chests practically pressed up against one another and he chugs back the rest of his drink. When the guy turns Buck around, so that his back is pressed to his chest and runs his hand up Buck’s torso to his neck, well, that’s when Eddie loses it.

He gets up from his seat and makes his way over to Buck. Like he can sense him coming, Buck opens his eyes and watches Eddie with interest and something else that he can’t place.

He doesn’t say anything as he grabs Buck’s hand and pulls him into his chest. The man must know better, because he doesn’t say anything as he leaves the two of them alone. Smart.

“I thought you said you don’t dance,” Buck teases.

“I lied.”

Buck smirks at him before he begins to dance again. If Eddie had thought that he looked hot from far away, it’s even worse when he’s up close like this. He can feel Buck’s warmth against him and it makes him want to do something stupid like dig his fingers into his sides and pull him closer. So he does.

Buck gasps at the sudden movement, but when he looks back up at Eddie, his eyes are hooded and his mouth drops open just the tiniest bit. He looks absolutely sinful and Eddie wants to trace his lips with his tongue.

They move together to the beat of the music; Buck’s arm thrown over Eddie’s shoulder as he all but grinds on his thigh. Eddie’s fingers are tangled in the loops of Buck’s jeans, keeping the younger man exactly where Eddie wants him.

And you thought going out for drinks together would be inappropriate. Look at you now.

He silences the voice in his head and instead focuses on how beautiful Buck’s throat looks as he throws it back. Eddie’s never really understood when people say that they find necks attractive, but now he kind of does. He wants to press his lips against the skin there and kiss, lick, and bite at it until Buck’s begging him for more.

He squeezes Buck’s side before sliding his hand underneath the sweater and as soon as his hand comes in contact with Buck’s warm skin, he knows that he needs more. His skin is slightly damp from dancing and for some reason, that’s nearly intoxicating to Eddie. His mind wanders again; this time to the picture of Buck sweating underneath him as Eddie fucks him relentlessly. He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, inhaling the cologne that the other man is wearing. It reminds him of the woods and spring, and it quickly becomes his new favorite smell. Just being near Buck is starting to drive him insane. This one little touch isn’t anywhere near enough for him, and judging by the way Buck’s now looking at him, he thinks it’s safe to assume that the other man feels the same way.

Buck takes his arm off of Eddie’s shoulder and places his hand on his cheek instead and then he does the same with his other hand. He presses their foreheads together as the song changes and Eddie closes his eyes, rubbing circles into Buck’s waist.

“It’s not just you,” Buck says, breath ghosting over his lips. “I want you, too. Wanted you since that stupid parent-teacher conference.”

And Eddie, because he has zero restraint, leans forward and presses his lips to Buck’s. The other man drops his hands in surprise before reaching out to pull Eddie even closer to him, which he honestly hadn’t even known was possible.

Their lips move against each other, rough and demanding. Buck is everywhere and yet Eddie still wants more. It’s still not enough.

Like Buck can read his mind, he pulls away from the kiss and takes ahold of Eddie’s hand, leading him out of the crowd. He has no idea where they’re going and he really doesn’t care as long as he’s with Buck. That still doesn’t stop him from raising an eyebrow in shock when he sees that they’re heading over to the restroom area.

“Why do I feel like I’m twenty-one again?” Eddie jokes and Buck turns around to throw him a smile.

“Because that’s when you have the most fun.”

The restrooms are nicer than he thought they would be; they’re definitely nicer than any other club restroom he’s ever been in. He only gets to marvel at the room for a mere two seconds before Buck is all over him again.

The kiss isn’t so rough this time around. Buck guides Eddie’s lips with his own and it somehow feels like he’s falling into a trance. Kissing Buck is different from anyone else he’s ever kissed before. He feels like he could do this for hours and never get tired of it. Hell, he wants to do this for hours. He wonders if Buck would let him.

“I locked the door,” Buck whispers. “So we better do this quickly before we start to get some really pissed off people banging on it.”

And just like that, it’s like Eddie’s woken up from a dream.

What the hell is he doing?

He pulls away from Buck abruptly and the other man frowns in confusion.

Now that they’re away from the loud music and colorful lights, he can think clearly again. Was he really just about to have sex with his son’s teacher in the restroom of some club? He shakes his head to himself even though he knows damn well that the answer is yes, because he was definitely about to do that. Fuck, he still wants to do it. Buck looks absolutely wrecked and they haven’t even done anything except for kiss. He wants to know what he would look like when Eddie made him come undone, but he can’t. He can’t have a one night stand with his son’s teacher, especially not when he actually likes said teacher. And maybe this would be enough for some people, but it’s not enough for Eddie.

“Eddie?” Buck asks as he takes a tentative step forward. “Are you okay? I’m sorry if I--.”

“No. No, don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He runs a hand over his face and sighs in frustration. Why does he always have to get himself into these kind of situations? “I just, I need to go. I’m really sorry, but I can’t do this; not with you, Buck.”

The hurt on the other man’s face says a hundred words, but Eddie forces himself not to say anything. He just needs to get out of here before he does something that he can’t take back.

“I don’t understand. I thought you--.”

“I’m sorry,” Eddie cuts him off, “I have to go.”

He bolts out of the restroom and leaves the club without telling anyone where he’s going. They’ll text him if they’re worried or maybe Buck will tell them what happened, although he really hopes that he doesn’t. He doesn’t need to try to explain that at work on Monday.

As he drives home, he tries to forget the broken look on Buck’s face as he fled the restroom. It proves a lot harder than expected, especially when he can still feel him everywhere. That kiss is imprinted on his brain and he’s not sure he could forget it even if he wanted to.

.

.

.

Eddie’s a chicken, a completely over roasted chicken.

He’s been avoiding Buck like the plague this past week. His work schedule is a little hectic this time around, so it’s not like he doesn’t have a reason for avoiding the other man, but on his off day on Wednesday, he does tell Carla that he’s not feeling well so she picks up Christopher despite the fact that he’s completely fine.

He hadn’t planned on avoiding Buck, but everytime he thinks about having to see him or talk to him, he remembers Saturday night and then he’s running for the hills again.

Today he doesn’t have that luxury.

The school had a half day mainly because of some faculty meeting, but also because it was the end of the grading period and the parents needed to go by and pick up their child’s report cards.

Eddie’s supposed to be meeting with Buck in ten minutes and, as he sits in his car in the parking lot, he wonders if he could get away with just driving off and asking if the report card could be mailed to him. Probably not.

He taps his fingers against the steering wheel, getting more and more anxious as it gets closer to three.

When the clock reads 2:57, he knows that he’s out of time. He takes a deep breath and turns off his truck and forces himself to get down.

The walk to the classroom seems longer than usual, but that might just be because he’s walking at a snail’s pace. He hovers outside of the door for ten more seconds before he finally decides to walk in.

Buck is standing at his desk reading over some papers. He looks exhausted, and a part of Eddie has to wonder if maybe he has something to do with that, but yet still so handsome. Eddie wants to walk over there and pull him into a hug, or lay his head on his chest. He wants, he wants, he wants.

He clears his throat and Buck looks up. His eyes widened for a second before he blinks and offers up a smile that doesn’t look the slightest bit sincere. When he speaks, the purely formal tone tears at him; Buck had really never used that detached tone of voice on him, and after Saturday, hearing it makes Eddie want to bang his head against the wall.

“Mr. Diaz, hey. Come on in. I was just getting Christopher’s things together.” Great. He’s back to Mr. Diaz now. Eddie hesitates before he finally steps inside of the room and makes his way over to the desk. “He did really well this grading period. He had a little bit of a slip with his history grade, but I’m confident we can bring that up this time around.”

“Oh,” Eddie says. “Okay. That’s good.” It’s not that he isn’t proud of Christopher, because he is, but it’s hard to focus on that when Buck’s acting like nothing happened between them the other night. A part of him wants to say something, but what would he even say? ‘Sorry I almost fucked you in a club restroom?’ Yeah, right.

“He’s expressed an interest in joining the Creative Writing team and I think it could be really beneficial for him. I put the forms and rules and information packets in this folder, that way you can take them home and look them over later.”

“Okay,” Eddie says as he takes the folder, pride swelling in his chest.

“That’s really all I have,” Buck tells him. “Usually this is the part where I tell the parents that their kid has been acting out, but Christopher isn’t like that. He’s probably my best student if I’m being honest.”

Eddie smiles at that. “He adores you. I think you’ve made him love school and learning in a way that he never did before, so thank you for that. Really.”

“It’s my job.” Buck shrugs the compliment off, a faint pink dusting across his cheekbones.

Eddie’s smile wavers a little as the silence between them grows, heavy and tense. There’s really no reason for him to still be here, but Buck hasn’t kicked him out yet and he doesn’t want to leave, at least not while things are still like this.

He runs a hand through his hair and sighs.

“Look, Buck, can we talk about what happened the other night?”

Buck’s cheeks redden a little as he shakes his head. “That’s really not necessary, Eddie. We can just chalk it up to us being drunk and leave it at that.”

“I wasn’t drunk, though, and I don’t think you were either, were you?” Buck just looks down, but it’s all the answer that Eddie needs. “I don’t want things to be awkward. It was a mistake, let’s put it behind us.”

Buck starts to nod before he seemingly catches himself and fixes Eddie with a glare.

“It might have been a mistake to you, but I was very much aware of what I was doing. I wanted to kiss you. I wanted to do more. I won’t say sorry about that, but I am sorry that we’re on different pages here. We can forget about it, that’s fine, but I won’t call it a mistake, because for me, it wasn’t.”

Eddie’s mouth goes dry.

“Do you think that I regret kissing you?” He asks, incredulously. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t regret kissing you, Buck. Fuck, that’s all I can even think about lately. You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while now.”

Buck tilts his head in confusion. “I don’t understand. I thought you said--.”

“I didn’t want a one night stand with you,” Eddie tells him, slightly put-off by the miscommunication. “And I think we both know that’s where it would have ended up. There’s a lot of reasons I refuse to have a one night stand with my son’s teacher, but the main one is because I really do like you, Buck. One night wouldn’t be enough for me. I wanna get to know you, really know you, not just know your body.”

Buck smiles. “Are you saying you want to go steady, Mr. Diaz?”

Eddie snorts. “Yes, but… I have to know that this is something you would take seriously. I mean, I’m not some single twenty year old who can just do whatever he wants. I have a son, a son who adores you, and I can’t bring someone into his life like that if they aren’t serious.”

“I can’t tell you where we’ll end up,” Buck says. “I don’t know where you and I will be a week, a month, or even years from now, but I can tell you that I’m serious about this. I wasn’t lying when I told you that I’ve wanted you for so long, but it’s not just the sexual stuff I want. I enjoy your company and I always look forward to the days that I know you’re coming to pick up Christopher. I like you, Eddie, and I’d like to take you out, too. If that’s okay.”

Instead of answering, Eddie walks over to the other side of the desk and pulls Buck into him as he kisses him.

He’s tired of denying himself this. They’re both adults and they both want this. Buck’s right. Who the hell knows how this will end up? Maybe it ends with them together and happy, maybe it doesn’t, but either way, he deserves to give it a try. He deserves to have this happiness.

Buck melts into the kiss and Eddie wonders how he’s gone his whole life without kissing Evan Buckley. They move against each other like they were made for one another and a small part of him has to wonder if maybe that’s the truth here.

“You know,” Buck says against his mouth before tugging on Eddie’s bottom lip with his teeth playfully, “we could always try to finish what we started the other night.”

Eddie laughs softly. He runs his hands up Buck’s sides so lightly that the other man shivers at the ghostlike touch.

“Yeah? Maybe you should buy me dinner first.”

Buck hums. “I don’t know. I’ve always been more of a dessert kind of guy.”

Eddie snorts and it’s definitely the least attractive thing he’s ever done, but Buck just continues to grin at him.

“That was horrible, Buck, like really. Do you actually tell people that?”

“Only the people I really like.” He leans down and licks at Eddie’s lips before nibbling on the bottom one. Okay, so he definitely has a thing for biting. Noted.

“Don’t you have more of these to get to?” Eddie asks in regards to the report card pick ups.

“We have time.”

Well, if they have time…

Eddie looks back towards Buck’s desk and gets an idea. Buck must see it written on his face because he grins wickedly as Eddie maneuvers them so that he can push Buck onto the desk. The desk is practically cleared aside from his computer and the report cards, so they don’t have to worry about knocking anything over.

Eddie fits himself in between Buck’s thighs and cups his face in his hands as they continue kissing. He hopes that Buck never gets tired of kissing him, because Eddie is starting to feel like he might have found his newest passion in life.

“Think I like having you on top of me,” Buck jokes.

“Yeah?” Eddie kisses his cheek and then down to his neck, which makes Buck moan out loudly. He kisses his neck tenderly for a few seconds, before he bites at the skin there, softly enough so that it won’t leave any marks but just hard enough that it has Buck hissing as he arches his back. “Think I like having you under me.”

His hands reach down in between their bodies but before he can do anything else, there’s a loud ringing and the two of them jump apart. Buck sits up from the desk and clears his throat as he looks around for his phone, sighing when he sees that it’s just a stupid alarm that he had put on to let him know his next appointment should be arriving soon.

“Guess that’s my cue,” Eddie says. Buck pouts at the words and his lips look so inviting that he just has to lean forward to kiss him. When he pulls away, Buck’s smiling brightly at him. “Do you like Chinese food?”

“Yes,” Buck drags out, sounding more like a question.

“Good. Tonight’s Chinese night for dinner. You should come over.”

Buck’s eyes widen and he suddenly looks very nervous. “Um… come over? Like to your house?”

“That’s the idea, yeah,” he laughs. “Unless you don’t want to.”

“No! No, I want to. I really want to. I just… is this is date or am I just going for dinner?”

“It’s a date, Buck. Christopher will be there too. I hope that’s not a problem.” It’s a trick question. He has to know that Buck isn’t going to be scared off by the idea of essentially becoming a father figure to Christopher, because that’s what he’ll be if this thing does work out between them, and God, Eddie really hopes that it works out.

“A problem? Are you kidding me? Of course it’s not a problem.” Buck looks at him like he’s insane and it eases Eddie’s nerves right away. “Will it be a problem for him?”

“Doubtful. He seemed ecstatic when he found out we were friends. I’m sure this will send him over the moon.” He’ll have to sit him down and talk to him once he gets home, but he can already imagine the pure glee on his the son’s face.

Buck smiles softly but there’s a look on his face that looks Eddie know just how much that actually means to him.

“We’re really doing this?” He asks and Eddie nods.

“We’re really doing this.”

Buck brings their lips together and kisses Eddie again, like he just has to make sure that this is real.

“Can I ask you something though?”

“Of course.”

“Did you really call me Hot Teacher behind my back?”

Eddie pushes him away with a groan and as Buck laughs loudly, the sound echoing all around them, he finds himself feeling happier than he’s been in ages. The pull he feels when he’s around Buck is nothing he’s ever felt before and he never wants to lose it.

And when Buck starts humming ‘Hot for Teacher’ by Van Halen, well...Eddie just presses short, teasing kisses to his lips until the only sound they can hear is the beautiful laughter that falls from them.