“Restrictions are finally letting up, Eds. It’s less about wanting to be away from you and more about wanting to go make friends and pick his own carrots and ride horses. By the beginning of the second week he’ll be counting the days until he can come home and tell you all about it.”

Yeah, Buck had had his worries at first–wasn’t nine a little young to do two weeks away from home? What if something bad happened? What if he got lonely?

But Chris had come home safe and sound, with the beginnings of a tan and tons of stories about all the fun things they did–and also a really delicious recipe for honey-glazed carrots.

Turning to the able to check out what Eddie brought a little smile to Buck’s face. His best friend knew him so well, he’d even taken note of Buck’s favorite kind of sandwich.

“You’re always so thoughtful, you know that? It’s sweet.”

And also one reason among many that I’m so much in love with you, he thought loudly.

He uncapped a beer for each of them and huffed a laugh.

“Well, Taylor decided her couch was the one that was staying,and it didn’t seem right to insist on keeping it after she left. I’m not that much of a dick. So, um… hopefully soon? I love these stools and all, but they are not suitable for movie-watching.”

“Definitely not movie friendly,” Eddie agreed as he lifted the offered beer to his mouth for a sip. He knew that Buck was right, that eventually Christopher would be excited to come home, though he was pretty sure that excitement had more to do with the fact that he’d have full access to his electronics; only a little bit of that would be to tell him about all his adventures. Instead Eddie would have to hear for at least a month how he was doing something wrong because at camp they did things differently. 

Buck had two days off, so, true to form, he was staring at the ceiling getting lost in his own head. Taylor had moved back out–that had been relatively painless, at least–and Eddie had been so caught up trying to get Chris ready for camp and getting back into form to officially return to the 118 that he’d had more time alone than not lately. At least his sister was back where she belonged; it was a major relief to know she was doing better and meeting her for lunch every so often was the highlight of the week. Mmm, lunch. His stomach was starting to growl. Glancing at his phone screen Buck was startled to realize that in fact it was about lunchtime. How long had he been lying there perseverating?

He snapped sharply to attention at the sound of a key in the door. For an instant he was confused; Taylor had given her key back, so who—?

A bright smile spread across his face as Eddie called that it was him, and he’d brought lunch. My hero, he thought with a warmth he didn’t want to examine too closely. He was well-aware of his own feelings for Eddie, and equally-aware the Eddie must never know. Straight best friend was straight; Buck had to respect that at all costs. The last thing he ever wanted to do was drive Eddie away out of disgust.

He hustled down the stairs, greeting Eddie with a smile.

“I swear you read my mind, I was just about to text and see if you wanted to come over. How’d the dropoff go? I know Chris has been chomping at the bit all week.”

A massive understatement, that. Ever since the prior year Chris had intermittently talked their ears off about how cool camp was and the friends he’d made. Nodding for Eddie to follow him to the kitchen Buck started getting plates for whatever it was Eddie had brought.

“I’d be a little offended that he was so eager to ditch me, but the way he’s been talking about that place i half expected it,” eddie said, carefully folding the the paper bag and slipping it out of the way for later. he wasn’t sure what he’d use it for yet, but he was pretty confident he’d find some use for it.

if he couldn’t, chris almost certainly would when he returned from the wilderness. after a rough year he was happy that he was able to do something fun for the boys. while he was getting a little better about being a helicopter parent there was still a part of him that was going to worry until christopher was back home; that he’d lean extra hard into his shifts at the station or time with buck to avoid being confronted how different his house felt without christopher around. or even small signs, like him forgetting to put his controller back where it belonged. 

eddie hadn’t anticipated picking up sandwiches after he’d dropped christopher off for his bus to camp. the original plan was to crawl onto the couch and get used to the hum of the house again; remember just how quiet life was when the only worry he really had was getting to work on time. then somewhere between the drop off location and his house he had instead decided to turn into a shopping center, emerging with a couple of subs, a six pack of beer, and a couple bags of doritos.then instead of finding his way back home he had instead rerouted himself across town, putting up with the summer vacation traffic to get to buck. 

it had never been a conscious effort to avoid buck. at least that’s what he told himself. more that there had been a perfect storm of coincidences that let him be more distant with his best friend than he had in a long time. now that things were slowly getting back to how they had been, eddie found himself almost over correcting.

When Eddie finally pulled away and got up to lock the door, it gave Buck a moment for everything to sink in. He could tell he was just watching Eddie with wide eyes, taking in the muscular form that had always impressed him but now just made him want to completely melt. It was real, it was awkward and clearly a big deal, but whatever he was feeling was definitely real and in ways it hadn’t been with other people. 

He moved easily when Eddie came back to the bed, his arm slipping around the man with ease as he listened to him “I don’t wanna rush either… I just know that whatever this is, I like it a lot” he said, his free hand going to Eddie’s cock and matching the other man’s rhythm “Eddie, it’ll be perfect whenever it happens because it’ll be us… so we’ll go at whatever speed works for us, learn what this is together… and do a whole lot more of this” he whispered before going in for another firm loving kiss.

He couldn’t believe how intimate everything felt, it felt even more intimate than anything he’d ever done before and he was just making out and giving Eddie a handjob. He let out the tiniest little sounds of pleasure into the kiss, his hand moving just a little faster on that impressive length. He pulled back just a little with a smile as he kept stroking and hugging Eddie close “You know, this is so much better than our game nights” he whispered playfully, smiling tenderly to Eddie while letting out the occasional little moans as he felt his cock throbbing under the man’s firm touch.

Eddie knew that he was moving fast again. That in some ways it was his m.o., that it was easy for him to fast track something that worked. Though now he had plenty of outs. He had the bet that he’d won, the fact that Buck had been his friend longer than he’d known the last person he’d been in a relationship with. He knew that they were excuses though, he might have been able to cite them to make himself feel better but that didn’t change the fact that this was who he was. 

It was easy to like this version of himself though, when being with Buck could feel this good, when it meant feeling Buck holding him close. If anything that was the better park oft he arrangement for him. He got more out of feeling his head pressed against Buck’s, the way Buck’s arm was still wrapped around him, the ease that came from stealing soft kisses anytime he felt that he might be too loud, than he did from the excellent hadnjob he was on the receiving end of.

they absently lean into the temporary touch, just like they always do whenever eddie is so close, smile softening the tiniest bit. as soon as the plates are set down next to them, buck dishes up the rice & stir-fry toppings for both of them. “i’ll take a beer. there’s a fresh pack on the top shelf.” what they don’t mention, however, is that the beer in question is one of the more expensive flavors that eddie loves, but rarely buys simply due to the price; so sue them for wanting to spoil their best friend a little.

kind of like how my relationship with eddie was impacted mostly by the vaccine gate and less so about his antics before... even now feel weird about wanting to continue writing him but never motivated enough to find an alt.

eyes narrow the slightest bit over their coffee at eddie’s delayed answer, not fully believing him. but right now isn’t the time to probe. not when they’re still half asleep, breakfast needs to be made, & christopher will be joining them in a few minutes; buck will make sure to find time later to follow up. “yeah, for sure. i wouldn’t have made it back to the loft in one piece,” they agree with a hum, emerging from the fridge with a carton of eggs, veggies, & cheese. “how do omelets sound? should we wake chris up before or after they’re made?”

that gets an even louder laugh out of buck, perfectly imagining eddie’s fictional scenario with isabel. mostly because they can absolutely see it happening. they manage to calm back down quickly enough, though a grin continues to linger as they continually glance over at eddie in amusement. “this wouldn’t just be small, but downright stupid, so i could see him doing it,” he points out with a half-shrug. “then you should make yourself useful & grab dishes so we can eat it.”

as soon as buck’s coffee is made to their liking, they take a long, slow sip, humming happily. eyes open & look up at eddie as they laugh into their mug, still hovering right in front of their face. “kinda silly, but not lame.” & sweet, if buck says so theirself. “i was apparently tired enough that i slept pretty great. how about you?” buck asks, taking another sip before moving towards the fridge to see what their options for breakfast are.

laughter fills the open kitchen as buck shoots him a look. “you’re telling me, eddie diaz, lover of all things his abuela cooks for him, is suddenly anti-red beef? are you trying to break isabela’s heart by turning down her hard-cooked meals?” they tease, bumping their elbow against eddie’s knee before reaching for their beer & taking a sip. “& if we can’t handle a small kitchen fire on our own, i’m pretty certain cap would fire us on the spot. so please don’t try & prove me wrong.”

buck goes the rest of the night without waking again, only stirring in the morning when the smell of freshly brewed coffee makes its way to the living room. taking that as their cue to wake up, they sit up, stretch out their limbs, & shuffle into the kitchen, rubbing the last bits of sleep from their eyes.

“morning,” they greet eddie with a soft, sleepy smile, going straight to the cupboard to grab their own mug. “chris still asleep?”

buck snorts as they glance over at eddie, smirk in place. “i knew you weren’t listening to me while you were getting chris ready. you liar.” not that they really believed the man’s mostly-absentminded responses while he packed up his kid’s backpack for the night. nor did they take any real offense to it, given they’d do the exact same thing if they were the one in charge of getting chris set. “beef stir fry,” buck reminds him, attention going back to the food in question. “at this point if you’re not down for it, you’re on your own. just don’t burn down my kitchen if you decide you want something else.”