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“Honey, I’m home!” Buck shouts, as he walks through Tommy’s door. He tries to inject the energy he’s definitely not feeling. He and Tommy had planned a night out, since they both finally had a free night for the first time in weeks. Buck was looking forward to it all week, and of course his leg had to act up today, of all days. Bobby even sent him home early, giving him a knowing look and telling him to rest. Stupid weather changes.
“In here!” Tommy replies from the living room. Buck drops his duffel by the stairs and toes off his shoes before walking over. When he gets there, Tommy’s sitting in a nest of blankets and pillows on the floor. The lights are down low and there are snacks and drinks on the coffee table.
“W-what’s all this?” Buck was expecting to find Tommy getting ready for their date. Instead, he looks incredibly cozy in sweats and a worn t-shirt. He holds out his arms, beckoning Buck to join him. “C’mere, sweetheart.”
Buck walks the rest of the way there, stopping in front of Tommy, trying to figure out the best way to kneel down without wincing in pain. “Here,” Tommy sits up on his knees, wraps his arms around Buck’s torso and under his legs, before scooping him up and settling him on his lap in one fell swoop. “Welcome home,” he smiles, dropping a soft kiss to Buck’s birthmark.
“Hi,” Buck whispers back, nudging his nose agains Tommy’s. “Not that I’m complaining, but I figured you’d be in a suit by now?”
“Hm,” Tommy hums, “but the atmospheric pressure change today told me otherwise,” he shrugs, nosing along Buck’s jaw.
“Huh?” Buck doesn’t know how that explains the lack of suit. Tommy huffs fondly, shaking his head. “Tell me your leg’s not killing you?”
Buck ducks his head, definitely caught out. “Uh..”
“That’s what I thought,” Tommy says, tilting his head. “And I know how stubborn you are, baby. You were going to try to power through our date and knowing you’d be in pain kills me. So, here’s what we’re gonna do,” he gently sets Buck beside him on their blanket fort. “You’re gonna choose a movie,” he hands Buck the remote, “while I make some popcorn.”
Buck’s eyes follow Tommy, as he walks to the kitchen and he swallows back the sob threatening to escape his throat, busying himself with choosing a movie.
Soon enough, the smell of popcorn fills the air. Tommy’s back with a big bowl in one hand, and a small bottle and something that looks like a towel in the other. He hands Buck the bowl. “Eat,” he orders gently. He reaches for the remote and starts the movie Buck picked- When Harry Met Sally. “Great choice,” Tommy grins.
“What about you, aren’t you having some?” Buck shakes the bowl of popcorn at him.
“In a minute,” Tommy reaches for his bad leg and props it on top of his own lap. He rolls Buck’s pantleg up to just above his knee and uncaps the bottle he’d brought over. “Picked this ointment up earlier,” he explains. “It’s supposed to help relieve this kinda pain.” He squirts some in his hands, rubbing his palms together to warm it up, then starts massaging the smooth gel all over his leg, only using enough pressure to soothe and rub the ointment into his skin and around the aching joints.
Buck pauses the movie. Tears finally fall from lashes, both from the pain relief and Tommy’s depth of love and care. Tommy immediately stops what he’s doing, looking up at him with concern.
“Hey, hey what’s wrong? Am I hurting you?”
You’re actually putting me back together, mending all my broken, jagged pieces, he wants to say.
“Just the opposite,” he shakes his head instead. “You’re perfect, you know that?”
“Now that’s just not true,” Tommy says, with a small laugh. “Taking care of you is no hardship,” Evan.
“You’re perfect for me,” Buck counters, “and I have been, a hardship,” he swallows. “My parents-”
“- Were so, so wrong! Oh, let me count the ways,” Tommy interjects, frowning. “Seriously, Evan, I love you and I love taking care of you. It means so much to me that I get to be the person you feel safe with,” he says so earnestly. Buck believes him.
“Thank you for being so good to me,” he says softly.
“Of course.” Tommy sets the ointment down and unrolls what Buck now realizes is a heating pad. He watches Tommy plug it in and set the temperature just right, before covering Buck’s knee and shin with it. Oh, that feels amazing. He breathes a deep sigh and sags against Tommy, burrowing his head on his shoulder. “Perfect, I tell you,” he breathes contentedly.
“Yes you are,” Tommy tells him, eyes crinkling at the corners with Buck’s favorite smile. He reaches for one of the thicker blankets and covers them with it, then, restarts the movie.
“Best date ever,” he whispers into Buck’s curls, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
“Mhm,” Buck agrees wholeheartedly. “I love you, Tommy.”
“I love you, too.”