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After the divorce, Eddie moves himself and Christopher to LA. It’s not something Shannon suggested – she gave up on trying to get him to come with her two and a half years ago and just left on her own. It just seems like the right choice for all of them. He and Shannon have joint custody of Christopher now, and Eddie would much rather be there while the two of them get used to each other again (and he gets used to trusting her again), and he doesn’t think he could handle being separated from Chris for weeks at a time. If they’re in the same city, Christopher can spend a few days a week with his mom, and the rest with Eddie.
Plus, he’s already been accepted into the LAFD, the application process of which started even before he and Shannon filed for divorce. At the time he applied, they were just starting the long distance couples therapy Shannon had begged him to do, and even though Eddie hated it at first, he’s pretty sure their divorce wouldn’t have been this amicable if they hadn’t done it. It also led to their therapist referring Eddie to another therapist for his PTSD, another thing he hated at first but in hindsight has to admit probably saved his life.
And then there’s his parents, of course. They’ve been a great help over the past two and a half years of him being a single father, but even now that he’s getting better every day, they still don’t seem to think he’s fit to take care of his own son. And they definitely don’t think Shannon is, set on holding her leaving against her forever.
He turns down the Chicago FD for good a day after watching the news coverage of a huge 7.1 earthquake in LA, anxiously waiting for Shannon to call him back and let him know she’s alright. He may not be in love with her anymore, but he still cares about her.
All of it put together with the family he already has in LA makes it an easy decision.
They live with his abuela for a few weeks while he looks for a place and attends every CAP he can to add to his own training and be as prepared as possible for the Fire Academy when it starts. It’s a free program that focuses mostly on physical fitness, but it’s kind of nice to learn a bit more about what to expect as a firefighter, and even to meet other prospective firefighters. He doesn’t socialize much, too busy working out a schedule with Shannon and arranging everything for him and Christopher, but it’s nice to occasionally talk to like minded people.
He and Shannon have done a lot of work in therapy, both separately and together, and while they agree that they weren’t right for each other in a romantic way, they also agree on Christopher, and wanting to be his parents. It took some time for Eddie to be able to accept that from Shannon, and to get over the hurt of her leaving and, when she finally did reach out again, asking for a divorce, but he’s getting there. The hardest part was trusting that she wasn’t just going to leave again, but she promised that she wasn’t going to do that to Christopher again. She told him she had to learn how to be a mom, and he’s been watching her do just that. It gets easier and easier leaving the two of them alone.
Out from the shadow of his parents and their contempt for both of their parenting, away from the scathing or condescending comments, co-parenting feels a lot more achievable.
The LAFD won’t pay him until he officially starts at the academy, so he helps out at one of his tía Pepa’s friend’s garage as a mechanic. It’s better than nothing, but he’s grateful that Shannon has a good job and is willing to take over the main financial responsibility for Christopher for the time being.
“I kind of owe you for the past few years anyway,” she says with a wry smile while they’re sitting on a park bench, watching Christopher on the playground. “It’s fine, Eddie. We can start splitting it 50/50 once you’ve found your footing.”
“Thanks,” he breathes, leaning back against the backrest of the bench. “They said I’d be hired for the next available Drill Tower, so it shouldn’t be too long.”
When he does eventually get hired, they’ve been in LA for five weeks. It turns out to be a good thing that he at least has Christopher’s school and their apartment figured out, and that he’s comfortable leaving Christopher with Shannon, because the Fire Academy doesn’t let up. Five days a week, he’s at the Drill Tower before dawn for the physically and mentally demanding classes. His past as an army medic and the ten CAPs he joined come in handy, but it’s not enough to make any of it seem easy.
It’s a 20 week long training, and for the first month or two, Eddie doesn’t have the energy to think about anything else. He spends the weekends and some weeknights with Christopher, but he’s usually too tired to plan anything super fun for them and worries about boring his kid, or missing out on even more valuable time with him.
So once he’s somewhat adjusted to the schedule, he starts thinking about what the two of them can do together. They’ve already done a lot of discovering around LA when they first got here, trying to get to know their new home. Some things aren’t possible for a kid with CP, and some aren’t appropriate for an 8-year-old.
It’s Pepa who first has the idea. They’re all at Abuela’s for dinner, and Christopher is in the kitchen with her, eagerly assisting her wherever he can.
Eddie and Pepa are setting the table when she suggests, “Maybe you two should take a cooking class. He’s clearly interested in it, and it couldn’t hurt for you to learn some more either.”
It’s true that Eddie isn’t the best cook and only knows the basics he needs to feed his kid, but he’s just never had the time to learn anything else.
“Do you think those are expensive?” he asks, already going over this month’s expenses in his head.
Pepa shrugs. “I would guess around a hundred dollars? But I’m sure Mami and I would be happy to chip in a little.”
Eddie slings an arm around her shoulder and squeezes her a little. “Thank you, Pepa. It’s a good idea, I’m gonna look into it to see if anything works for us.”
“Look into what?” Abuela asks from behind them.
“Pepa suggested that Christopher and I could take a cooking class together,” Eddie explains. “And I like the idea.”
“Nonsense,” his abuela says with a dismissive wave. “I can teach you, no need to spend money on it.”
“Mami,” Pepa disagrees, “they have to get out of the house.”
They switch to the kind of rapid Spanish Eddie finds hard to follow, but it ends with his abuela agreeing that a cooking class would be a great idea.
“You can still teach me more, abuela,” he offers. “Who knows, maybe I’m not as hopeless as I thought.”
“No one is hopeless, Eddito,” his abuela says seriously. “You just have not been given the opportunity to learn.”
Eddie thinks of his father yelling at him the last time he tried to cook anything and how he just stopped trying afterwards, and thinks that she might have a point.
“Maybe this is my opportunity,” he says.
It feels good, making the decision to learn something new. And it feels even better to realize it feels good – he’s still getting used to actually feeling things rather than just knowing what he should be feeling. It’s one of the best things about going to therapy and getting better, feeling actual joy and excitement again, at least from time to time. He’s still going to therapy, still in the process of getting better, but it’s nice to start seeing results.
Eddie does thorough research and finds a cooking school not too far from where they live that offers parent & child cooking classes for $72, which kind of seems like a bargain to him. The classes are three hours long and are taught by “experienced amateurs” (which is probably the reason for the relatively low price, if they’re not professional chefs), but the website looks friendly, promises small classes and a meatball class two weekends from now is still available, so Eddie figures it’s worth a shot.
Christopher is delighted when he tells him about their plans anyway, and Eddie would do pretty much anything to make his kid smile, including booking a cooking class taught by what he assumes will be an older lady who got bored after her kids moved out.
Two weeks later, he finds out exactly how wrong he was with that assumption.
Christopher wakes up early and excited the day of their cooking class, so obviously Eddie is up early too. But since the class starts at 10.30, it’s fine – they have a longer breakfast and Eddie intends to take his time getting ready, but eventually, Christopher gets impatient and Eddie caves.
It means that they’re at the school half an hour early, but the door is open as Christopher victoriously points out, so Eddie follows his enthusiastic son inside.
It’s not a fancy place but it looks warm and lived in, and not sketchy at all. The entrance is basically a big hallway with three doors on either side. There’s a class schedule up on one wall next to a small reception area, and Eddie glances over it. There’s cooking classes almost every day, but they also offer sewing and knitting classes, as well as computer classes.
The reception desk is empty, but next to their class on the schedule (“Cooking: Meatballs”), Eddie spots a room number, so he figures they’re allowed to just walk up to it. There’s also a name next to it: Evan Buckley. Maybe their instructor will actually be an elderly man instead of the woman Eddie pictured?
“Alright buddy,” he says to Christopher. “Let’s find the right room, then.”
They follow the room numbers down the hallway until the last door on the right. It’s slightly ajar, and when Eddie knocks politely, it opens further.
“Hey,” a cheerful, male voice says. “You guys are early!”
When Eddie spots the source of the voice, he nearly swallows his tongue.
The man is tall, with broad shoulders and huge arms, a sunny smile on his face that looks so genuine Eddie can’t help but smile back. There’s a splash of pink over his one eye, his hair is just the slightest bit curly, and his eyes are startlingly blue. He’s also about 80% legs, and leaning on a cane to walk.
Belatedly, Eddie remembers that he should say something too, not just stare at this guy approaching them.
“Uh,” he starts eloquently. “Sorry. This one was getting impatient at home.”
He places a gentle hand on Christopher’s shoulder and pushes him forward a little bit. His kid isn’t particularly shy but he hasn’t said anything yet, just watches the man in front of them with wide eyes.
The man smiles and leans down a little bit. Eddie gets the distinct impression that he would crouch down if he could.
“Hi,” he says, “I’m Buck.”
“I’m Christopher,” Chris says, and, nodding towards Eddie, adds, “This is my dad. We match!”
He’s pointing to the man’s – Buck’s – cane with one of his crutches, and Eddie watches as something darker passes across his face like a shadow before he fixes his smile again.
“You’re right, we do! It’s really nice to meet you, Christopher. How old are you?”
“I’m eight,” Chris announces proudly, and Buck gives him another grin.
“The perfect age for this class,” he tells him, and straightens up to look at Eddie. He stretches out a hand. “Hi, welcome.”
Eddie takes the offered hand and shakes it. “Thank you. I’m Eddie, by the way.”
“Hi Eddie,” Buck says, and Eddie laughs. “I’m Buck.”
“Hi, Buck.”
Eddie lets go of his hand somewhat reluctantly, aware that they’ve been shaking hands for far too long already. Silently, he curses his therapist for unrepressing him as well as he did.
Until a few months ago, Eddie definitely wouldn’t have recognized this instant attraction for what it is, wouldn’t have even let himself notice the way Buck looks. But he’s here to learn how to make meatballs, not stare at their instructor creepily, so it’s a little inconvenient at the moment.
“Well, uh, come on in,” Buck says, gesturing to the room behind him. “You’re the first ones here, so you get to pick whatever station you like best.”
The room is filled with ten cooking stations arranged in two rows, each station a kitchen block with a stovetop and an oven, a box each on the free counter space, and a footstool in front of it. There’s three fridges against the back wall, along with a dishwasher, a big sink and some more counter space. At the front of the room, there’s a single larger station and a stack of chairs.
Predictably, Christopher picks the one right in front of the instructor’s station, and immediately makes to climb onto the footstool.
“Hold up, buddy,” Eddie says. “Here are the rules: you can try everything while we’re here, but only when I’m there with you, alright? So no climbing things when I’m not there to have an eye on you.”
Christopher sighs deeply, but nods. “Okay, Dad.”
With his supervision, Eddie lets Christopher climb up on the footstool and take a peek inside the box on the counter. It’s filled with two aprons and what Eddie assumes are the non-refrigerated ingredients for today.
While Christopher admires the apron and then climbs back down to inspect the storage space under the counter (pots, pans, all sorts of cooking utensils), Eddie sneaks another glance at Buck. He’s by the instructor station, looking at the stack of chairs with an odd look on his face.
“Do you want me to set those up for you?” Eddie offers, pointing towards the chairs.
Buck throws him a startled look. “Uh, if you don’t mind? I keep forgetting I can’t – anyway. That would be great, thank you. I’ll just wait with Christopher, if that’s okay?”
“Sure, thanks,” Eddie says.
It’s none of his business, but he wonders if whatever happened to Buck’s leg is a recent thing, if he keeps forgetting about what he can or can’t do. It would explain why his legs still look almost as muscular as his upper body. Not that Eddie’s been looking – much.
“Where do you want the chairs?” he asks instead.
“Just around the cooking station,” Buck says, gesturing towards his station. “It’s for when I’m demonstrating things so you can all sit down for a while.”
Eddie starts arranging the chairs in a half circle and listens to Buck and Christopher talk behind him.
Buck asks what made them sign up for the class, and Christopher says, “My daddy’s a bad cook.”
“Hey,” Eddie complains, but he has to bite down on the corner of his mouth to stop himself from laughing. It’s not untrue.
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re here, then,” Buck says. “Anyone can learn how to cook. I wasn’t a very good cook until not too long ago either, until someone took the time to teach me. So we’ll teach your dad how to make some mean meatballs, tomato sauce and pasta, don’t you worry. And you’ll learn too!”
Christopher claps in delight. “I love meatballs!”
“They’re the best, right?”
Eddie glances over his shoulder to see Buck smiling at Christopher, and quickly turns back around.
It’s only 14 chairs, so Eddie is done in no time. “Is that enough or should I find more chairs?”
“No, we’re only seven teams today,” Buck says. “Thanks so much for your help.”
“It’s the least we could do in return for showing up here so early.”
“Please, it was great meeting you beforehand,” Buck protests. “That’s two less names I have to learn at the same time, and we already know each other a little bit.”
“Does this mean we get a good grade?” Christopher asks, and Buck laughs.
“This isn’t that kind of class, buddy,” he says. “There are no grades, we’re just here to learn and have fun. But,” he leans closer and drops his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “if it were, you’d get an A for sure.”
Christopher gives him a big smile and turns to Eddie. “See, Dad, it was good that we didn’t wait in the car.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie says fondly, running a hand through his son’s curls. “Why don’t you wash your hands now before everyone else arrives? It’s important to always wash your hands before you handle food.”
“Your dad is right,” Buck agrees. “There’s soap and paper towels back there by the sink, shout if you can’t reach something, okay?”
They watch Chris make his way to the back of the room, crutches clicking against the floor, and Eddie turns to Buck once he’s sure everything is safe for Christopher to reach.
“He was so excited for today, thank you for indulging him.”
“Of course,” Buck smiles. “I love kids, and Christopher is a super cool one.”
“Is that why you teach these classes?”
“Kind of,” Buck says. “It’s sort of a distraction from the fact that I can’t do my old job anymore. My sister got tired of me moping around, I was cooking a lot anyway, and then a neighbor told me she was teaching classes here and they were always looking for people to teach a few classes here and there. Turns out I really enjoy it.”
It sounds honest but careful, like he’s holding back the details – which Eddie doesn’t blame him for. He’s a stranger after all.
“I’m glad you found something else you like,” he says, and doesn’t press him for more information on his old job or his injury and whether or not those two are related. He knows all too well what it’s like having a painful past, and he recognizes the sadness in Buck’s eyes.
“Thanks,” Buck says, and Eddie fights the urge to put a hand on his shoulder, to maybe trace the sharp line of his collarbone with a thumb. He barely knows Buck, he needs to get a grip.
He should say something, or look away from him, but something about this man makes Eddie feel incredibly stupid, nothing but static in his brain.
Eddie doesn’t even notice the voices coming down the hall until they’re almost there already and Buck’s smile turns apologetic.
“I’ll just go greet them, too,” he tells Eddie, who tries very hard not to read into the fact that Buck seems a little bit reluctant too.
“Sure,” he says, “I’ll be right here.” And then he flushes because – what? He’ll be right here doing what? Waiting for Buck to pay him attention again? That’s pathetic, and Buck definitely has better things to do, but Eddie can’t help himself.
He doesn’t watch Buck greet the woman and the girl who have just arrived, choosing instead to join Christopher by the sink and wash his hands too. People keep arriving after that, mostly women with a kid each, only one other dad.
It means that Buck is busy welcoming everyone and showing them where to go, so Eddie follows Christopher’s lead and introduces himself to everyone, trying his best to remember their names.
Once everyone has been assigned a station, Buck returns to his and stands in front of it, leaning just a little bit against it. It’s probably not noticeable if you’re not paying attention, but Eddie is, and he knows what it looks like when you’re trying to avoid straining an injury too.
Buck looks over at him and Christopher – or maybe he’s just looking at the class, but they happen to be right in front of him. But then he winks, and Eddie figures he was looking at them. Judging from the way Christopher giggles, he thinks so too. Eddie, meanwhile, drops the apron he was holding.
“Alright,” Buck says, “welcome everyone, and thanks so much for signing up for this class! I think I’ve introduced myself to everyone, but just in case – my name is Buck, and I’m your instructor today. I’ll try my best to make everyone feel like they’ve learned something by the time you leave, even if you maybe know how to cook a little already. As you may know, I’m not a professional chef. But we here believe it makes us better teachers, because we still remember what it’s like to start out. Our goal is to teach you skills and recipes that you can use in everyday life. Before we get started, I would like to ask you all to wash your hands. Does anyone know why that’s something we should do every time we handle food?”
Christopher’s hand shoots up, and Buck gives him a smile. “Yes, Christopher?”
“So we don’t get dirt in our food!”
“Exactly,” Buck nods. “We don’t want any of the germs and dirt we may have gotten on our hands to transfer onto the food we’re going to be touching. So remember, always wash your hands with soap and water before you cook or eat.”
Next, Buck does a knife safety crash course that teaches them how to hold a knife correctly, how to hold the food they’re cutting, and how to chop food safely and efficiently. It’s only after that they actually get to the cooking part.
They get to practice their freshly learned knife skills by chopping onion for both the marinara and the meatballs, press some garlic and measure out the ground beef and pork, as well as the breadcrumbs they need for the meatballs. All the kids love getting to mix the ingredients and spices with their hands, and while the meatball mixture chills in the fridge, Buck shows them how to make marinara sauce, how to correctly cook pasta, and how to roll the meatballs.
He’s patient and funny and kind, taking his time with every parent and child team when he walks around while they’re rolling the meatballs and then cooking the marinara sauce while they’re in the oven.
“This is a great recipe,” Buck says, “because you can use it however you like. You can make just the meatballs or just the marinara and combine them with other things, they’re staples! And if you want to experiment with spices and herbs, that’s easy too. Add more or less garlic, or basil, or add parmesan or chili flakes, and it’ll taste different immediately. Cooking is about being creative, having fun, and trying things out.”
With Buck’s instructions and his helping hands, they all manage to make a pretty decent meal. It smells delicious too, and Eddie’s stomach growls.
“Well done, everyone,” Buck applauds them with a big smile. “If you want, we can all have lunch together in the next room over. Or if you’d rather take all of your food with you for your families, you’re free to do that, too. If you remember, you all made four servings though, so there’ll be leftovers anyway. And of course you get to take the recipe cards home with you!”
Almost everyone stays for lunch around the big table in the other room, but Christopher manages to coerce Buck into sitting next to them. Eddie lets him do it, because like this, he gets to sit and listen while his son asks Buck all sorts of questions. He learns that Buck is 27, has an older sister he lives with right now, loves nature documentaries (he thinks Buck just says that to agree with Christopher until the two of them start talking about a particular one in detail and Eddie realizes Buck isn’t just indulging Christopher, he’s genuinely interested in him and everything he says) and true crime and knows a lot of random facts about all kinds of topics.
The whole thing doesn’t help Eddie feel any more in control. In fact, watching Buck and Christopher become friends right in front of his eyes may be the worst thing that’s ever happened to him. Buck is too good to be true, and Eddie doesn’t have the time for a hopeless crush.
But he can’t stop looking at him, and he keeps laughing at everything Buck says. It’s getting embarrassing.
It goes so far that Eddie and Christopher stay behind after everyone else leaves with their containers of food and thanks to Buck. Eddie pretends it’s so he can stack the chairs for Buck again, which it is, but it’s also so he can keep talking to him just a little bit longer.
“So where did you learn how to cook?” he asks, glancing over at where Buck and Christopher are meticulously scrubbing one of the cooking stations.
“Oh, uh, my old boss – or I guess he’s a friend now – is a really good cook, and he used to teach me,” Buck says. “He was really there for me during my recovery, back when I was stuck in my apartment, and we kind of figured out that cooking helped with the stir craziness, so he kept teaching me more and more things, and I started trying stuff on my own. And then I got to talking to this elderly lady who lives on my floor because she cooks a lot, too, and she gave me some great tips. She’s the one who told me about this place.”
“Daddy, can we bring Mommy some of our food?” Christopher interrupts, and Eddie thinks Buck looks surprised by the question, like he hadn’t really considered Christopher’s mother.
“Sure, kid,” Eddie says. “We can drop by her place on the way home. We’re divorced,” he adds for Buck’s sake, and immediately wants to snatch the words back when he realizes how much it sounds like he’s just telling Buck that he’s single.
But Buck just smiles. “You seem to have an okay relationship anyway.”
“Now we do, yeah,” Eddie says, and thinks it would be better if he just stopped talking completely. He doesn’t seem to have a filter around Buck.
“That must be nice for you,” Buck says to Christopher, who nods.
“I used to miss Mommy a lot when we lived in Texas, but now I don’t have to anymore.”
“Oh, so you’re new to LA?”
“Yes,” Eddie nods, “moved here…four months ago? We have some more family here, apart from Shannon – Christopher’s mom – so that’s helped with the adjustment.”
“So have you gotten used to it yet?” Buck wants to know. “My sister’s been here for almost six months and she still complains about the traffic.”
“Does that ever stop?” Eddie asks with a grin.
Buck laughs. “No, I guess not. I mean, you get used to it, but it doesn’t stop you from complaining about it. Anyway, thank you both so much for all of your help! You’re a magician with the sponge, Christopher, this place is sparkling.”
Pleased, Christopher grins up at him. “Thank you for teaching us how to make meatballs.”
“Anytime,” Buck grins back. “I’m glad you had a good time, and if you ever want to learn more – we offer lots of classes.”
“Yeah, thank you, Buck,” Eddie adds. “My abuela will be so happy I learned something useful.”
“Well if your grandma is happy, I’m happy,” Buck laughs, and offers Eddie his hand for another handshake. Eddie takes it. “It was nice meeting you.”
“You too,” Eddie says, and makes himself let go after what is hopefully still an appropriate time. “Thanks again.”
Christopher gets a handshake too (which Eddie can tell he likes), and then there’s no more reason to linger. They wave at Buck and in the hallway, Eddie snaps a quick picture of the class schedule by the reception desk. Just to be safe.
Buck doesn’t always teach the weekend classes, but there are still a few over the next two months or so, and one late night, after staring at his name on the photo of the schedule for too long, Eddie signs them up for all of them.
He feels embarrassed about it the next morning, but at least the classes are actually beneficial for him and Christopher. He’s not sure what he’s hoping to achieve, though – only that Buck can never find out he exclusively booked his classes.
When he asks Christopher if he wants to take more cooking classes, he doesn’t mention that he’s booked them already. And just like he expected, Christopher enthusiastically says yes anyway.
“Can we see Buck again?” he asks.
Eddie usually tries not to lie to his son, but he thinks this situation warrants a small one. “Maybe, but he probably doesn’t teach all of the classes. It doesn’t say who the instructor is on the website.”
Christopher pouts. “I hope we see him again.”
“You really liked him, huh?”
“Yeah, Dad,” Christopher says, like it’s obvious. He sounds so grown up already sometimes, even though he’s only eight. “We’re friends now.”
“Well, then I guess we have to make sure you see each other again,” Eddie smiles, and secretly starts counting the days until Saturday two weeks from now.
When they walk into Buck’s pizza class half an hour early, his face lights up like he’s genuinely happy to be seeing them again.
“Buck! You’re here!” Christopher cheers, and Buck grins at him.
“I am! And so are you! I’m so happy you guys came back.”
“We need to stop ordering in so much,” Christopher says, a direct quote from Eddie.
“It’s more fun making pizza yourself too,” Buck agrees, and then the two of them are off, talking about all the things Christopher has learned in school over the past two weeks that he wrote down to remember to tell Buck.
Buck throws Eddie a smile over his shoulder, and it kind of knocks the breath out of Eddie. He hasn’t even said anything to him yet, but god, Eddie’s missed him. It shouldn’t be possible, when they’ve only spent four hours together, three of those with 12 strangers around, but it’s the sad, pathetic truth. Having a crush is humiliating, Eddie decides and drags his gaze away from Buck and to the stack of chairs instead. Maybe if he focuses on setting them up, he can get himself under control enough to have an actual conversation with Buck.
Over the next two months, Eddie and Christopher also join Buck’s class on making ravioli from scratch, an apple pie one, and one focusing on breakfast foods.
After the third one, Christopher asks to give Buck a hug, and from then on, they always hug before and after every class. Each time, Eddie and Christopher get there half an hour early and stay later to help with cleaning up, and each time, the three of them get to know each other better.
A lot of it happens more through the conversations Christopher and Buck have, and less through what Eddie manages to say, but eventually, whenever it’s just him and Buck, Eddie starts being able to hold a full conversation without embarrassing himself too much.
At the fourth cooking class they attend, Buck doesn’t have his cane anymore. When Eddie asks about it, he gives him a smile that’s carefully hopeful and explains that he needed it after suffering a crush injury to his leg, but that very slowly, the leg is healing.
“That’s good,” Eddie says, “I’m glad. Is it just the pain that’s getting better or are you regaining mobility too?”
“Both,” Buck says. “I’ve been going to physical therapy for almost six months now, it was about time.”
“Six months?” Eddie asks. “You don’t have to answer, but did you get injured during the earthquake?”
Buck makes a face. “It’s fine, we can talk about it. But yeah, that’s when it happened. Everything below my knee was essentially, uh…are you squeamish?”
Eddie bites down on a grin. “No, you can tell me about it if you want to.”
“Okay, well, almost all of the bones in my leg and foot were broken, I had an open tibia fracture, massive damage to the tissue and muscle, and I lost a lot of blood. They weren’t sure if I was gonna be able to walk without a cane ever again, but uh. I guess I’m stubborn. I can’t run a marathon, but at least I can get around without the thing again.”
“Wow,” Eddie says. “And you somehow found the will to learn how to cook in between all of that?”
Buck laughs. “I needed a distraction. My girlfriend had just left me–”
“Your girlfriend broke up with you after you got injured in the earthquake?” Eddie interrupts, wincing.
“I mean, she’d been gone for a while before that,” Buck shrugs. “But when she didn’t even come then, I kind of started believing that she wasn’t coming back, break up or no break up.”
“I’m sorry,” Eddie says. “I know what that’s like, I guess. Shannon disappeared from our lives overnight and then I didn’t hear from her again until she sent the divorce papers and asked me to come to therapy with her anyway.”
Buck lets out a startled laugh. “What? Both at the same time?”
“Yeah,” Eddie says with a laugh. “You know what I hated the most? That it actually helped. And not just with the divorce and our relationship, but also with a lot of crap I had internalized since my childhood or while I was in the army.”
“I’m finding out all kinds of new stuff about you today, Eddie Diaz,” Buck drawls. “I didn’t know you were in the army.”
Eddie shrugs. “It’s not something I talk about much. Don’t have a lot of positive memories of it, you know?”
“I can imagine,” Buck says thoughtfully. “Hey, did I tell you that I was still living at my girlfriend’s place when the earthquake happened?”
Grateful for the change in topic, Eddie laughs. “Didn’t you say she’d been gone for months by then?”
“Yes, and I was waiting for her to come back,” Buck says. “My sister got into town a couple of weeks before it happened, and she relentlessly made fun of me for it. Didn’t stop her from crashing there with me, though.”
“And now you still live together?”
“I wasn’t really in a position to look for my own place,” Buck explains, “and she felt safer living with me, too. At least until I started annoying her and she told me to find something to do.”
“Maybe she just wanted you to find a purpose or something,” Eddie smiles, and Buck rolls his eyes at him playfully.
“Yeah, but she’s my big sister and I get to use the less charitable interpretation.”
“Mh, yeah, that’s what my younger sisters always do, too.” Eddie narrows his eyes and Buck gives him an angelic smile that makes Eddie laugh, and his heart stumbles in his chest.
When they show up for their fifth class with Buck, Buck laughs.
“Are you guys taking all the classes we offer?”
“Just yours,” Christopher says cheerfully, and Buck’s eyes snap to Eddie, who’s trying hard not to blush.
“We’re just taking a few weekend classes,” he says. “So far they’ve all happened to be yours.”
Buck narrows his eyes. “What’s the next class you’ve signed up for?”
“Uh, cupcakes, I think.” He knows, because he double checks the printed schedule every time they come here, just to make sure it hasn’t changed.
“That’s one of mine, too!”
“Huh,” Eddie says, and wishes he was a better actor. “What a coincidence.”
“Are you bored of us, Buck?” Christopher asks, and it wipes the suspicious expression right off Buck’s face.
“What? No! You guys are my favorite students, I love it when you’re in my class.”
“Dad always gets up early so we can be here early too,” Christopher shares, clearly set on blurting out all of Eddie’s secrets.
“It’s tradition,” he defends himself weakly, but Buck looks pleased. He’s never once given Eddie the impression that they were bothering him when they show up early, and they’ve been staying longer and longer after every class because they couldn’t stop talking.
He’s pretty sure they’re becoming real, actual friends – he’s just not sure if he can hope for something more, or if the way Eddie feels about him would make Buck uncomfortable.
A week before he graduates from the Fire Academy, Eddie gets offers from Station 6 and Station 118. He meets with the captains from both houses, listens to them talk up their teams and their equipment and thinks it’s funny that they’re trying so hard to get him to choose them. He’s been putting in the work, and he knows he’s probably going to graduate at the top of the class, so this is a compliment. But no one has ever wanted him to work for them this badly.
He ends up choosing the 118 because he likes Captain Nash and especially likes the way he talks about his team. It sounds like they all really care about each other, and that seems like a good thing to him, when you have to trust your coworkers with your life.
The day after he graduates (at the top of his class, officially) and the day before he starts his first shift at the 118, Eddie takes Christopher to Buck’s cupcake class. The entire time they’re there, he tries not to think about how he doesn’t know when they’re going to see Buck next. He hasn’t wanted to book any more classes until he’s settled in with the work schedule at least a little bit, and it feels odd not to have a set date to look forward to.
He wants to tell Buck and maybe ask him for his number, but to do that, he’d have to admit that he’s been specifically picking the classes Buck teaches, and he’s still not sure that won't just freak him out.
But once again, he didn’t take his son into account, who refuses to keep any of Eddie’s secrets.
“Buck,” he says while the two of them are scrubbing one of the cooking stations and Eddie is, as always, stacking the chairs. “Dad said maybe we can’t come here for a while.”
Eddie looks over at them in time to meet Buck’s startled gaze. “You can’t?”
“I start my new job tomorrow,” Eddie explains, putting the last chair away and coming to stand next to Buck. “I’m going to work shifts, and I just don’t really know yet how that’ll affect our schedule, so I haven’t booked any more classes yet.”
“Oh.” Buck pauses. “What new job?”
“I’m a firefighter,” Eddie says, and saying it out loud kind of fills him with pride. “A probationary one, but still.”
Buck laughs, rubbing at his forehead with the back of his hand. “No way.”
“What?” Eddie frowns.
Buck clears his throat. “Nothing. I just feel like I could’ve guessed that. It suits you.”
“It does?” Eddie asks, surprised.
“Yes.” Buck nods decisively. “I feel like we know each other a little bit by now, and it makes a lot of sense.”
“Can we still see you?” Christopher pipes up, and Buck and Eddie finally look away from each other.
“Hey, how about this,” Buck says, leaning down to be closer to Christopher’s height. “I can give my phone number to your dad, and then the two of you can just let me know when you’ve got a bit more time again. Sound good?”
“I guess,” Christopher shrugs. “I’m still gonna miss you.”
“Aw, buddy, I’ll miss you too.” Buck runs a careful hand through Christopher’s hair and looks at Eddie even more carefully, like he’s not sure what he’s allowed. Eddie tries giving him an encouraging smile. “But we’ll see each other again, I’m sure.”
“Yeah,” Eddie assures them both. “Buck’s our friend now, remember? You said so yourself.”
The smile Buck gives him over Christopher’s head when he hugs him actually makes Eddie weak in the knees.
Having Buck’s number feels like a huge step for an hour or two, but very quickly it just becomes…normal. They text almost every day, mostly meaningless observations or comments, the occasional picture of food Eddie made (he’s never brave enough to follow it up with an invitation to come over and taste it), or a complaint about Buck’s physical therapist, or something Christopher asked Eddie to pass along to Buck. Other times, they have entire conversations via text, and Eddie almost finds it easy telling Buck things he’s never told anyone else before. He’s never had a friend like Buck before either – it’s just that he can’t forget that he also really, really wants to kiss him. And maybe drag him into his bed and have what he’s pretty sure would be the best sex of his life, and then wake up next to him forever.
At the same time, Eddie works his first few shifts with the 118. Everyone is incredibly welcoming, but it’s also obvious that they’ve known each other for a long time and know pretty much everything about each other, and nothing about Eddie.
It’s a little intimidating being thrown into a dynamic like that as the new, inexperienced guy, and he tries hard to do the best work he can, to impress them with the knowledge he has fresh out of the Academy, and from his time in the military. He doesn’t know quite as well how to impress them with his personality, always feeling a little awkward when he witnesses a conversation full of inside jokes and background information he doesn’t have. They try to include him, but Eddie doesn’t feel quite ready to open up to them yet.
It’s not unusual for him to come up to the loft and stumble into the middle of a conversation between Hen and Chimney, who are clearly best friends in- and outside of work.
“...and he just kept going on about him all night!” Chimney is saying, laughter in his voice. He and Hen are sitting at the table, and Hen is wearing a fond grin. “They’ve met like five times, but he’s got it bad, Hen. You should’ve heard the way he talked about him, he was all ‘he’s such a good dad, his kid is so cute, oh and he’s so funny! He seems like a serious kind of guy at first but he can actually be so silly and goofy! And his jawline!’” He pauses the impression he’s doing when he spots Eddie in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Oh hey, Eddie! We’re talking about another Eddie right now.”
“Yeah?” Eddie asks, stepping closer to them and taking a seat at the table. “Who’s that?”
“This guy Maddie’s brother met at work and is crushing on hard. He wouldn’t shut up about him at dinner last night.”
“Who’s Maddie?” Eddie asks, trying to place the name. He feels like he’s heard it before, but isn’t sure where and when.
“My girlfriend,” Chimney answers, and his whole face transforms. His smile turns endearingly soft and he flushes pink, which causes Hen to throw Eddie an amused look. “I thought I’d mentioned her around you before.”
“He talks about her all the time – they only made it official a few weeks ago,” Hen explains, “but if we’re being honest, they’ve been dating for months.”
“We were friends first!” Chimney protests. “We took our time to get here.”
“Yeah, and that’s great, I know you needed it,” Hen says. “But we all knew where it was going.”
Whatever Chimney replies gets lost in the ring of the bell as the alarm goes off, and the three of them jump up to jog down the stairs to the app bay. They’re called out to a fender bender, and Eddie gets to use the jaws of life for the first time.
He’s so excited about it he tells Buck in a text and gets back a “Go you!” while they’re in the engine back to the station, and turns his face towards the window to hide his smile.
Another thing he realizes pretty quickly, is that joint custody and childcare isn’t easy when you’re regularly working 24 hour shifts and your ex-wife has a 9 to 5 job. Technically, Shannon has Christopher when Eddie is at work, and he’s with him the rest of the time, but that still leaves some school days where Eddie’s abuela has to pick him up from school and watch him for a few hours. She keeps saying she doesn’t mind, but Eddie knows she doesn’t like driving and he hates having to ask her for this much help.
On top of that, Eddie can’t for the life of him figure out what kind of financial aid they’re entitled to as a divorced couple with two incomes and a child with a disability. They’ve managed to enroll Christopher in a school with smaller class sizes and more accessibility options, but it’s a lot more expensive. Along with the cost for Christopher’s PT, the surfing classes he’s just started taking, and the cost to turn the showers at his and Shannon’s places into accessible ones, it kind of adds up even with two incomes and the insurance he gets working as a firefighter. And if they have to pay for childcare as well, that’ll only get worse.
But signing up for one thing disqualifies them from something else, and the whole thing is so frustrating and overwhelming that he finds it hard to sit down with. But Shannon asked him to take a look, and they could really use the money.
So one night, after he’s been unsuccessfully poring over some paperwork for a few hours, he stares at his and Buck’s text thread for a minute, and eventually hits the call button instead.
“Eddie?” Buck answers it. “Hey!”
“I hope it’s okay I called,” Eddie says, already feeling soothed just from hearing his voice.
“Yeah, of course. Is everything okay?”
Eddie sighs. “Yeah, I’m just tired and frustrated tonight. I don’t know why I called you, I don’t wanna keep you from more fun things by complaining–”
“Hey, hey, no,” Buck interrupts him. “If you want to vent, I’m here to listen. What’s going on?”
He sounds so patient and like he genuinely cares, and Eddie’s last wall crumbles and falls. So he tells Buck about the financial aid and child care situation, complaining about the system and how complicated it is. Buck makes understanding and encouraging noises on the other end of the line but mostly lets Eddie talk. It helps more than he expected.
“Thank you,” Eddie says once he’s finished. “I think I just needed to get that off my chest.”
“Actually,” Buck says, “I may know someone who could help.”
“You do?” Eddie asks, surprised. “Buck, you don’t have to–”
“I can just give you her number. Her name is Carla, she’s a home healthcare aid, and she knows her way through the system better than anyone else I’ve ever met. You can call her if you want to, and I’m sure she’ll be willing to sit down with you and go through the paperwork. If you cook her one of your newly learned recipes, she probably won’t even want to be paid.”
Eddie laughs. “Buck. Seriously, thank you.”
“All I have to do is send you my friend’s number,” Buck waves him off. “It’s no big deal.”
“It is to me,” Eddie insists. “I’ve been feeling like a failure all night, and you’re giving me a way to hopefully find a solution.”
“You’re not a failure for getting confused by the system,” Buck says. “I mean, did Shannon get it?”
“No, she tried before me.”
“And do you think she’s a failure?” Eddie doesn’t reply, and Buck huffs out a laugh. “Of course you don’t. You’re a great dad, Eddie. You love Christopher so much and you would do anything for him. I don’t understand how you can forgive your ex-wife for leaving both of you and still be so hard on yourself.”
“I left them first.”
“When you enlisted?”
“Yeah,” Eddie says quietly. “And when I reenlisted without talking to Shannon first.”
Buck is quiet for a moment, and then he says, “Well, I’m no expert on marriages and yours especially, but I think I know you pretty well by now. And I’m sure you did it because you thought it was the right thing to do.”
“But I was running away too,” Eddie admits. “I was terrified, and I ran away.”
“But you came back.”
“And so did she.”
Buck laughs softly. “Yeah, I guess so, but I still think the situations are different. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t have forgiven her. Only you could make that decision, and only the two of you will ever know the full story, so you can ignore everything I say. But I think you should go a little easier on yourself. The way you constantly show up for Christopher…I wish I had a dad like that. Just getting to witness how much you two love each other is such a privilege.”
“Buck.” It comes out a little choked, and Eddie wipes at his burning eyes. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” Buck’s voice is so warm. Eddie closes his eyes and wishes he was here. “Now get some sleep, okay? I’ll text you Carla’s number.”
“Thank you,” Eddie says again. “Goodnight, Buck.”
“Night, Eddie, sleep well.”
Carla doesn’t just help figure Eddie out how to get financial aid, she also provides the solution for their child care problem: herself. Christopher loves her immediately, so does Shannon, and Carla can work with their weird schedule, so they hire her for those in-between times that Eddie’s abuela had to take until now, and everything feels a little bit easier.
Eddie settles in at work, starts to understand more of his coworkers’ jokes, opens up to them a little more too, and three weeks in, gets invited to a team cookout in Bobby’s fiancée’s backyard. He’s a little nervous because he’s only met Athena twice when she came over for dinner at the station, but she seems nice. Apparently her son isn’t much older than Christopher, and Hen has a son Christopher’s age too, so he doesn’t worry too much about it being boring for his kid.
Bobby offered him to bring Shannon too, but Eddie didn’t even ask her – they’re on good terms, yes, and getting better at co-parenting, but they’re not that kind of divorcees.
He’s also supposed to meet Maddie there for the first time, which he’s looking forward to after having heard so much about her, and Karen, Hen’s wife.
Christopher for his part is very excited to meet these new kids, and keeps bouncing up and down in the backseat.
His excitement doesn’t fade when they get there, and Eddie has to remind him to watch where he’s putting his crutches as they make their way to the front door.
Athena opens it and welcomes them inside with a big smile, and then Christopher is already being whisked away by Harry Grant and Denny Wilson.
“Already abandoned,” Eddie says, and Athena laughs.
“Come on down, Eddie, you won’t be alone for long.”
The backyard is already lively, filled with his coworkers and their families. Hen and Chimney are standing in a circle with a woman who must be Karen, and Bobby is by the grill talking to a man Eddie has never seen before.
Athena leads him over there for introductions and it turns out the man is her ex-husband Michael.
He laughs when he sees Eddie’s face and says, “I know this looks strange, but believe me when I tell you it's taken some time to get here.”
“I believe you,” Eddie says. “And now I understand why Bobby wanted to invite my ex-wife.”
“Oh you did not!” Athena laughs, and Bobby lifts his hands in defense.
“I just offered him the option. I thought it might be nice.”
“It’s fine,” Eddie smiles. “We get along, but I don’t know if we’ll ever be where you guys are.”
“And that is also fine,” Michael says. “It’s nice to meet you, Eddie.”
“You, too.”
He meets Karen next, an incredibly warm and smart woman (she’s an actual rocket scientist!) and then manages to convince Christopher to leave his new friends for long enough to introduce him to everyone, too.
“Where’s Maddie?” he asks Chimney a little later. “I was promised I’d meet her today.”
“You will,” Chimney says. “She’s on her way and very excited to meet you. Speaking of, I should get her a drink for when she arrives.”
Hen rolls her eyes and mouths “whipped” at Eddie, but she’s smiling.
“Oh, babe, can you get me a drink too?” Karen asks her sweetly, and it’s clearly a tease but Hen gets up to follow Chimney anyway.
“Anything for you, baby,” she says, kissing her wife’s cheek, and Karen watches her go before she turns to grin at Eddie.
“I have to remind her sometimes that she’s a little whipped, too.”
“It’s only fair,” Eddie nods.
“Look who’s here, everyone,” Athena calls from the house, and Eddie turns to look over his shoulder.
*
“Buck!” one of the kids yells, delighted, and Hen smiles while she’s pouring Karen a drink.
Buck’s kind of like a little brother to her, sometimes annoying but mostly just sweet, and she’s seen him grow up a lot over the last year and a half. It’s always sweet to see that the kids adore him this much too.
“Hen,” Chimney gasps, still by her side. “Are you seeing this?”
“Seeing what?” she asks, already following Chimney’s gaze – to where Christopher is excitedly hugging a stunned looking Buck. Christopher, who to Hen’s knowledge, has never met Buck before. “Oh! What?”
“How does Christopher know Buck?” Chimney asks, puzzled. “ We didn’t know Christopher until today.”
“Look,” Hen murmurs, nodding towards Eddie, who’s staring at Buck across the backyard. When she turns back to see what Buck’s doing, he’s just lifting his head and meeting Eddie’s gaze with that same slack-jawed look of surprise.
“Holy shit, they all know each other,” Chimney says. They turn to look at each other. “You don’t think…?”
“Does Eddie seem like the kind of guy to take cooking classes?” Hen asks, feeling a little bit hysterical. “Is it possible that he’s that Eddie?”
“I mean. A lot of it lines up,” Chimney says, gesturing between Buck and Eddie, who are now approaching each other with shy smiles. “But some of it…Eddie? You know how he is. I like the guy, but he’s not exactly the goofy, silly guy Buck kept going on about.”
“Maybe we just don’t know him very well yet,” Hen suggests. “To be fair, we didn’t even know he had a kid until a week ago.”
“And Buck definitely has a crush on him,” Chimney grins, still watching the two of them.
They’re standing close, Christopher still clinging to Buck, who’s got an arm around him. They’re laughing, and Eddie already looks like a different person.
His face is transformed by his laugh, but Hen’s seen him smile plenty of times, so that’s not what surprises her the most – it’s his posture. Hen has always thought that you could tell Eddie used to be in the military just from the way he holds himself, but it turns out she’s just never seen him relaxed before.
It makes her a little sad, but happy at the same time to know that he has the capacity and people who he can be relaxed around. She’s optimistic that one day, their team will be that for him too.
Chimney is definitely right about Buck’s crush. He’s looking at Eddie the way he looked at Abby during that Valentine’s Day/Welcome Back Party for Chimney, only less hopeful puppy and more…serious, somehow. Or grownup.
“Oh no,” Chimney says then, and Hen turns to look at him again. “We told Eddie Buck has a crush on him.”
Hen bites her lip. “It’s probably useless to hope he doesn’t remember, right?”
“Completely useless.”
“Well, maybe he won’t mind so much,” she suggests next, taking in Eddie’s smile and the way he’s nervously jamming his hands into his pockets.
Chimney hums. “That’s more likely.”
“The two Eddies are the same?” Maddie appears next to them, looking just as surprised as them.
“Hi Maddie,” Chim says in his smitten voice, kissing her cheek.
“Hey Maddie,” Hen echoes, and Maddie just waves a distracted hand at them.
“Is this actually happening?”
Buck and Eddie are still talking, still smiling, and while they’re watching, Buck reaches out a hand and wraps his fingers around Eddie’s elbow, just for a moment.
“Ohhh,” Chimney makes, and “bold move,” Hen comments.
“Buck kind of squeaked when he saw them,” Maddie whispers. “It was very cute.”
“I’ll go talk to them,” Hen announces, and ignores their whispered calls behind her.
Buck and Eddie look away from each other for the first time when she comes to stand next to them.
“It looks like you two have met before,” she says innocently. They both flush immediately, and she can’t resist. “What’s the story there?”
Buck narrows his eyes at her, but answers, “Eddie and Christopher have taken a few of my cooking classes.”
Next to him, Eddie blushes bright red. Bingo.
While Buck definitely knows they know he’s been telling them about Eddie for months, Hen is now also sure that Eddie has connected the dots. She’s pretty sure that’s a good thing, that Eddie likes knowing Buck has a crush on him.
They haven’t been talking to Buck about Eddie at all, because knowing Buck, they were all worried he would think they were replacing him, and she doesn’t even know if Buck knew Eddie is a firefighter, so his surprise makes complete sense. As for Eddie, it also makes sense if Buck hasn’t told him about his old job and the 118 – and judging from Eddie’s expression when he saw him earlier, he hasn’t. They couldn’t have expected to meet each other here.
“Well,” she says, “I guess I’ll leave you to catch up, then.”
They’re already too busy staring at each other again to look at her, and Hen smiles to herself while she’s walking back to her wife to bring her the drink she asked for.
This is the massive kind of coincidence that makes you wonder if it’s a coincidence at all, or if some higher power just really wanted these two to find each other. But whether it’s that, or if it’s all down to Buck and Eddie, she’ll be cheering them on from the sidelines.
*
Hen leaves, and Eddie goes back to looking at Buck in disbelief.
Buck has explained it all already, that he used to be a firefighter with the 118 until he got injured on the job during the earthquake, that Chimney and Maddie met through him and not the other way around – because that was the first thing Eddie said, “You’re Maddie’s brother?” – but Eddie still can’t believe it. Most of all he can’t believe that this means he is the Eddie Buck has a crush on. His mind has kind of screeched to a halt at that point.
But maybe the middle of a party surrounded by Buck’s friends and family (who happen to be Eddie’s new coworkers) doesn’t feel like the best place to do something about that.
“I missed you, Buck,” Christopher says, looking up at Buck with starry eyes.
“I missed you too, kiddo,” Buck says earnestly. “I can’t believe you’re both here.”
“So you weren’t always a cooking teacher?”
“No, I was a firefighter like your dad.”
Christopher looks between them. “Why did you stop?”
“Chris–” Eddie starts, thinking about how sad Buck looked, all those months ago. But Buck shakes his head at him with a small smile and turns back to Christopher.
“I didn’t want to, but I got hurt at work and couldn’t run or carry heavy things for a while. And you know those are all really important things as a firefighter, right? So I was upset that I couldn’t do any of that anymore and I did some dumb things and ended up needing another job. Turns out the cooking kind of saved me, and now I’m actually training to get back to firefighting eventually.”
“You are?” Eddie asks, surprised. He’s gonna ask Buck for details on the dumb things he did too, eventually, but maybe not in front of his son.
Buck grins. “Yeah! Told you I’m stubborn, even my physical therapist thinks I have a chance now.”
“That’s amazing, Buck,” Eddie says, genuinely happy for him. He can’t help imagining working side by side with Buck the way Chimney and Hen do, and he really likes the thought.
“Hey,” Buck says, his brow furrowing. “Why did you say ‘You’re Maddie’s brother’ like that earlier? Like you’d heard of me?”
“Oh, I have,” Eddie says, and notes with interest that Buck goes pink at that. “They’ve mentioned you.”
Buck looks like he equally wants to run away and ask for clarification, but Maddie steps up to them to introduce herself then and the moment passes.
It’s still a really nice evening. They move inside once it starts getting chilly after the sun goes down, all the adults squeezed around the big dining table, and Eddie thinks he could get used to this.
Especially to Buck next to him, their arms or shoulders constantly brushing because they’re sitting so close. They haven't talked much since this afternoon, because somehow, Eddie seems to have gone back to swallowing his tongue every time he so much as looks at Buck, but they’ve stuck close all evening, and every time Buck smiles at him, Eddie’s heart trips in his chest.
When Christopher falls asleep on the couch, Eddie figures it’s time to say goodnight. He gets hugs from everyone, which feels weird because it doesn’t feel weird, except from Buck, who says he’ll accompany them to the car and help carry their stuff. Behind his broad back, Hen and Chimney give each other very unsubtle meaningful looks.
Eddie picks up Christopher, who wakes up enough to give everyone a sleepy wave before his head drops back down onto Eddie’s shoulder.
Buck takes Christopher’s crutches and opens the front door for them, and then it’s just the three of them on the dark street.
“Thanks,” Eddie tells him after he’s buckled Christopher into his seat and stepped back so he could give Buck a hug. “I’m really glad you were here today.”
Buck closes the door of his truck softly and smiles at Eddie. “Yeah, me too. I thought it was a huge coincidence that you’re a firefighter, but this…”
“Yeah,” Eddie laughs. “I still can’t really believe it.”
“I guess you’re kind of stuck with me in your social circle then.”
“I wouldn’t call it stuck,” Eddie says, running his fingers along the car door and not looking at Buck. “I would’ve kept you around anyway.”
Buck makes a small sound. “Good.” He clears his throat. “Yeah, uh, that’s good.”
Eddie lifts his head to smile at Buck again, taking in his wide eyes. Even if he wouldn’t have believed Chimney’s assessment, he’s pretty sure now that his feelings aren’t one-sided. But Christopher’s asleep in the car, and the others are inside waiting for Buck to return, so Eddie resolves to wait just a little bit longer.
“Okay,” he says quietly, “I’ll see you soon?”
“Yeah,” Buck nods. “Soon.”
He opens his arms with an adorably unsure look, but Eddie doesn’t hesitate to step into the embrace. Buck’s arms tighten around his shoulders and Eddie wraps his own arms around Buck’s middle, head tucked against his shoulder. His nose brushes Buck’s throat and he feels Buck shiver, but neither of them moves.
They just stand there hugging in silence for a few long moments, and then Buck reluctantly lets go.
“Text me when you made it home?” he asks, and Eddie nods, letting his hands drag as he takes them off Buck’s waist.
“I will,” he promises, and keeps looking at Buck as he gets in the car, doesn’t take his eyes off him until he starts the engine. And even then, he keeps sneaking glances until he disappears from his view in the rearview mirror.
At home, he makes Christopher brush his teeth and then tucks him into bed.
“Did you have a good time today, buddy?” he asks, and Christopher nods sleepily.
“The best. I’m so happy we saw Buck again.”
“Me too,” Eddie smiles. “Hey, Christopher, how would you feel about seeing him more from now on? Here at home with us, and maybe we can go to the zoo together or something.”
“I love Buck,” Christopher says around a yawn. “He can stay with us forever.”
“Yeah?” Eddie asks softly. “That’s good, because I really like him. And I think I would like to ask him to be my boyfriend. Is that okay?”
At that, Christopher perks up a bit again. “Yes! Do you think he’ll say yes?”
“Maybe,” Eddie says. “Yes, I think so.”
“Good,” Christopher says, and from one breath to the next, he falls asleep, a smile still on his face.
Eddie kisses his forehead and closes his bedroom door behind himself carefully, then goes to sit on the couch.
He hesitates only for a second, and then pulls his phone out, opening his texts with Buck.
So, he types, what would you say if a guy from one of your classes with a really cute kid and (apparently) a good jawline asked you on a date?
He sends the text and barely 30 seconds later, his phone starts ringing with an incoming call from Buck.
“I would say yes,” Buck says breathlessly before Eddie can say so much as a hello. “And I can’t believe they told you about that!”
“Well, to be fair, they were talking about you and I just happened to overhear the end of it, so I never got a name,” Eddie starts explaining and then stops, because– “Yes?”
“Yes,” Buck laughs. “Eddie, I’ve been wanting to ask you out for weeks. I just wasn’t sure you’d want– you know because you’re you and I’m me and I’m such a mess–“
“So am I,” Eddie interrupts him. “You know what a mess I am. But I like you exactly as you are, and I would really like to take you on a date.”
“Tomorrow?” Buck asks hopefully, and Eddie laughs.
“Tomorrow works.”
They’re quiet for a few moments and then Buck sighs. “I really wish I could kiss you right now.”
Eddie bites his lip. “Tomorrow.”
“Yeah?”
“If I don’t kiss you first.”
Buck laughs. “So you don’t think we shouldn’t kiss on the first date?”
“We can kiss before the first date,” Eddie says, and he’d be embarrassed by how eager it comes out if Buck wasn’t clearly just as eager. “I’ve waited long enough.”
Buck laughs again, and it comes out breathless. Eddie knows the feeling.
“Hey,” he says, to distract himself from wanting to pack Christopher back into the car and drive to wherever Buck is right now. “You described me as silly and goofy to Hen and Chim?”
“You are!” Buck laughs. “Maybe not the first time we met, but once you started relaxing…”
Eddie hums, and thinks that there are probably very few people who would describe him as silly. But there are very few people who he’s allowed himself to let that side of himself out around, so maybe it makes sense. And for him to have let Buck in so quickly says even more.
They stay on the phone a lot longer that night, and the whole time Eddie keeps thinking that this will be even better once Buck is here on his couch with him.
*
“You ready?”
Eddie looks over at Buck in the driver’s seat, hands still on the steering wheel even though he’s parked the jeep almost a minute ago.
Buck takes a deep breath and then turns his head to smile at Eddie. Four months into seeing that same expression directed at him every day, it still makes Eddie’s heart trip. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
He leans over the middle console to kiss Eddie softly. Eddie smiles into it and lifts a hand to cup the back of Buck’s head and keep him there.
They kiss like that for a minute, slow and sweet, until Eddie pulls back with one last peck.
“Okay,” he says, “let’s go. If you’re late on your first day back, they’ll never let us live it down.”
“Mm, yeah,” Buck agrees, but pulls Eddie into one more kiss anyway. Eddie doesn’t want to resist.
He does know that there’s a cake waiting for Buck inside though, probably with a pun in elaborate frosting, so he fumbles for the door handle behind himself.
Buck pulls back when he gets the door open and huffs out a laugh. “Okay, okay. I thought you made us come early so we could make out in the parking lot before work for a while.”
“Maybe next shift,” Eddie grins and jumps out of the jeep.
He rounds the car to meet Buck on the other side. Buck’s already wearing his uniform today, dark blue and freshly ironed, and Eddie thinks it’s a show of restraint on his part that they even made it out of the house when his boyfriend looks like this.
But he can’t wait to find out exactly how well they work together, even if it means he has to keep his hands mostly to himself for roughly 50 hours a week.
“I’ll hold you to it,” Buck says, and Eddie laughs.
He reaches out to tangle their fingers and pulls Buck towards the fire station, where their family is waiting for them.