Chapter Text
Buck walked into the fire station throwing smiles at everyone, as he always did, unaware of Eddie’s eyes fixated on him.
“You look like a cartoon character,” Eddie startled at Chim’s voice.
“What?”
“Your eyes,” Chim smirked, “they look like Bugs Bunny with heart eyes.”
Eddie blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure,” Chim shrugged but wouldn’t wipe that smirk off his face, “whatever you say, Diaz.”
Eddie was saved as Buck reached the loft and said his good mornings. His eyes lingered on Eddie for a few seconds before moving on. Eddie thought he probably just imagined it.
They sat down for the breakfast Bobby prepared, chatting and bantering as they always did, then the alarm went off.
It was a simple call. Car accident, no casualties, some small injuries, and some angry drivers. Then Eddie’s eyes caught sight of one of the drivers staring at Buck.
The man was shorter than Eddie but he was still a fit guy. He had brown hair and blue eyes, eyes that he wouldn’t take off Buck. Eddie frowned and approached the man.
“Hello, sir, are you injured?”
“Nah, I’m good,” the man answered, sparing Eddie a glance, “I just wanted to know, that guy over there,” he pointed at Buck, “he works with you?”
Eddie straightened his back. Before he could answer, Buck’s eyes landed on them, widening. The man smiled and waved, and Eddie watched as Buck rushed towards them.
“Eliot?” Buck exclaimed, breathless.
“Hey, Ev,” The man - Eliot, apparently - pulled Buck in for a hug. Buck hesitated for a second before relaxing and hugging him back. Eddie stood there staring but out of the corner of his eye he could see Chimney and Hen exchanging looks.
“It’s been so long,” Buck said as he pulled back.
“Too long,” Eliot smiled. Buck looked down. Eddie cleared his throat.
“Oh, right,” Buck startled, “this is Eddie, he’s my, uh, my friend. We work together.”
“As firefighters?”
“Yeah,” Buck beamed, as always proud of what they did.
“Sounds about right,” Eliot replied, “you wanted to help people. Always the hero.”
“And you are?” Eddie interrupted, not caring if he sounded rude.
“I’m Eliot,” the man reached out to shake Eddie’s hand, and Eddie begrudgingly reached back, “I was with Evan in college,” his eyes shifted back to Buck, “we used to be… close.”
“Buck went to college?” Chimney joked, catching them off-guard. It seemed they were wrapping up at the scene. With nothing more than a few scratches and bruises, none of the drivers needed transport to the hospital, only advised to head to the ER if they experienced worsening symptoms. Their tight-knit group approached the three men and were all now listening in.
“Uh, close,” Buck rubbed the back of his neck, “I dropped out.”
“So you failed?” Chimney teased.
“Oh, he didn’t,” Eliot smirked, and Eddie hated that smirk, “he was passing everything with flying colors.”
“Then how come you didn’t make it?” Hen raised an eyebrow at Buck, who didn’t seem to be a fan of all the attention he was getting. Eddie sensed this and turned to Bobby, “are we done here?”
“Yeah, we’re heading back to the station,” Bobby nodded.
“But we wanna know more about college boy Buck,” Chimney objected. Eddie glared at him.
“Can I tag along? I’ve never been to a fire station before,” Eliot suggested.
“It’s not really a playground,” Eddie remarked offhandedly. Chim smirked while Buck gave him a strange look similar to the one he imagined that morning.
“Oh, we have people over at the station all the time,” Chimney urged, “you can try Bobby’s food and tell us more about Buck.”
And before they knew it, they were all back at the station and seated around the dinner table at the loft, Eliot having followed their truck on his bike. Buck looked like a deer caught in headlights, while their guest kept gazing at him.
“Tell us more about how Buck was back then,” Chimney conversed while Bobby served their lunch.
“He was amazing. Like I said, he was passing his courses with flying colors. But he chose to quit,” Eliot sighed, “I wanted him to stay, but he couldn’t.”
“Uh, I just, I realized it wasn’t, you know, the right place for me,” Buck responded.
“It makes sense that he ended up here, as a firefighter,” Eliot smiled as he dug his knife and fork into the steak Bobby had made, “I knew him well. He wanted to help people, save them.”
“You knew him well?” Eddie couldn’t stop himself. Buck tilted his head.
“Yeah,” Eliot shrugged, ”like I said, we were close.”
“How close?” Hen eyed them, like she could see something they couldn’t.
Buck looked at Eliot, who nodded, before sighing, “Eliot’s my ex.”
Chimney spluttered, almost choking on the piece of bread he was eating. Hen looked like a lightbulb had turned on in her mind. Bobby watched them, like a father observing his kids. And Eddie? Eddie didn’t know what to think.
“I thought you were straight!” Chimney said once he got his coughing under control.
Buck smirked, “I never said I was.”
“But- but Buck 1.0’s whole thing was all about women!”
“I actually never specified who I was sleeping with, Chim,” Buck smiled innocently, then his eyes landed on Eddie.
“I knew it!” Hen exclaimed, “see Chim?,” she looked at him, pleased with herself.
“See what?” Buck asked. Hen and Chimney suddenly had a panicked look on their face, while Bobby looked like he was about to facepalm.
“Nothing, nothing, don’t worry about it” Hen hurriedly answered while Chimney looked at Eddie, then at Buck, then back at Eddie. Then he just looked miserable. Eddie didn’t know what all that was about.
“Would you like some dessert?” Bobby interjected, asking Eliot, “we have chocolate pudding.”
“Oh, that’s Evan’s favorite,” Eliot pointed out. Eddie wanted the man gone.
The conversation veered off into other topics, the others asking Eliot about what he did, which Eddie did not care for in the slightest. Once lunch was done, they all moved to the couches to continue their conversation. Eddie had never wished for the alarm to ring more than in that moment, but maybe Chimney was right about curses, and he was cursed on that day, because time passed and no calls came in.
An hour later, Eliot was excusing himself, saying his goodbyes and thanking Bobby for the food.
“Hey, Ev,” he turned to Buck, “will you walk me out?”
“Oh, uh, sure.” Then the two were walking together and headed downstairs. Eddie couldn’t take his eyes off them.
“Be careful, Diaz,” Chimney startled Eddie for the second time that day, “you should blink or your eyes will dry out.”
Eddie didn’t care for Chimney’s jokes, or Hen’s knowing look, or Bobby’s exasperated sigh. All he cared for was that Eliot was giving Buck a piece of paper, before he reached up and gave Buck a kiss on his cheek. Then all Eddie could hear was ringing in his ears, and all he could see was Eliot putting his hands on Buck. And Eddie suddenly, finally, knew what he had to do.