“TK, you can’t pull stunts like that. You could’ve been seriously injured,” Carlos sighed.
They had just returned to Carlos’s apartment after a shift sent from hell. TK wasn’t in the mood to talk about what had happened, but he knew that they probably should. A call had almost gone terribly wrong. For the 3rd time on the job, TK was staring down the barrel of the gun. Owen had shouted at him to fall back, that it wasn’t his battle to fight, but TK didn’t take no for an answer. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt.
“But I didn’t! There’s not a scratch on me and I saved that girl!” TK shouted. “If we’re being technical, this was the best possible outcome.”
“That doesn’t make what you did any less reckless! You can’t disobey direct orders!” Carlos shouted back.
Okay so, Carlos was yelling. The man usually never lost his temper, so to see him fuming was strange. “So you’re taking my dad’s side in this? You think he was right to suspend me?” TK questioned, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline in disbelief.
“Yes,” Carlos said curtly.
TK rolled his eyes, “Well I’m sorry, but I was just doing my job. You know damn well you would’ve done the same, Carlos.”
“Your job is to protect people but when your captain says ‘fall back’, you fall back, Tyler.” By now, Carlos' eyes were filled with tears. The mere thought of losing TK again was extremely hard to process. It wasn’t even 6 months ago that he saw the man he loved laid up in a hospital bed for the second time. The fact that it almost happened for a third time today was a hard pill to swallow.
Carlos headed towards the hall closet and grabbed a spare pillow, a blanket and proceeded to set up for his night on the couch.
“‘Los…” TK said, barely above a whisper. “You don’t have to sleep out here.”
Carlos just shook his head. He wanted to go to sleep next to his boyfriend, more than anything. But he knew a little space was probably best for the both of them.
TK headed to their room begrudgingly, and slipped under the cream colored duvet. He drifted to sleep almost immediately due to the extensive shift he had endured. However, the man kept waking up every hour or so. No matter what TK did, it seemed he was only able to stay asleep for two hours max.
After TK had woken up for the third time, he decided enough was enough. He made his way to the living room and gently shook his boyfriend awake. “Baby? ‘Los wake up.”
Carlos opened his eyes almost immediately, clearly not having a good night’s rest either. He slowly sat up and pulled his boyfriend into his lap. He buried his head into the back of TK’s neck.
TK spoke up after several moments. “I'm so sorry, baby. I never meant to make you feel like your feelings weren’t valid or that I didn’t want to come back home to you.” He paused for a moment, “but I want you to know that I will always fight to come home to you. I’m sorry if I made you doubt that in the last few hours.”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t just you. I could've expressed how I felt without yelling,” he replied. “But I love you so much and the thought of losing you is too much to bear. It’s just so soon after everything that happened.”
TK nodded understandingly, “I love you too. I'll work on listening to directions a little more.” A yawn made its way out of TK’s mouth before he could continue. “Clearly we need to bed now. I couldn’t sleep without you and now I can barely keep my eyes open.”
Carlos nodded, wrapping TK’s legs around his torso, and headed back towards their bedroom. They settled into bed, cuddling close together; letting the day’s troubles bleed out of their bodies.
What mattered now is that they were both safe; they could go to sleep together, blanketed in each other’s love.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
why do people like to paint the rest of the fire fam as these malicious people? i’ve never gotten that vibe... from any of them. probably because it’s not there, but whatever. like do some of these anons.. have any sort of friends? have you never teased a friend all in good nature? it’s just so weird to see this constant, “yeah! they bully buck!” narrative. i love how you responded & i read everything. you word all your posts so nicely & i love your work btw.
i could not tell you.
i sass my friends all the time and they sass me. it’s the sign of a good and healthy friendship.
plus, consider their job. if buck thought any of the bullying was serious, i doubt he’d be confident PUTTING HIS LIFE IN THEIR HANDS.
anyway. thank you so much ;_; that means a lot to me because i generally just ramble in posts. this was wonderful to hear <3 thank you, keke!
me smirking to myself knowing you have more material to pull from. i can’t even begin to wrap my head around the amazing fics coming our way from you. you’re so talented, just wanted to let you know (though i’m sure you already do, haha).
Thank you so much for this very kind message, Keke! I’m pretty excited to get back to writing canon universe fics, thought I’m not sure when that will happen... but there will certainly be a lot of new things to play with when that inspiration strikes!
2) Who is always horny and will have sex at any time, at any place and at any time?
answer here
8) Who likes to wear the others sweatshirts?
To the surprise of no one, TK is the sweater/hoody thief. But you can’t blame him! They smell like Carlos’ cologne, and they’re really soft and cozy, not to mention that their shifts don’t always line up, and being able to wrap himself in Carlos’ clothes helps with missing him. Carlos finds it adorable.
20) Who falls asleep in the others lap and who carries them to bed?
TK again. Now TK could pick up Carlos, even though he’s slimmer than Carlos, he’s a strong guy, but Carlos is a light sleeper, so it’s impossible to pick him up without him waking up. TK, on the other hand, when he can actually sleep, sleeps like the dead, especially if Carlos has been running his hand through his hair. It works better than melatonin. So Carlos slides from under him and picks him up. His heart always skips at the way TK curls into him, totally trusting that Carlos will keep him safe.
height: 5'3.5 ((I didn’t care about the half inch until it means my younger brother isn’t half a foot taller than me, just 5.5 inches))
last thing i googled: the name and hours of a local restaurant I was recommending to a guest
song stuck in my head: hotel ceiling by Rixton had a whole moment in the discord last night and I’ve been vibing to it all day
number of followers: 496
amount of sleep i got: my app says I was in bed for 7:48, asleep for 7:39
lucky number: 7
favorite song: it changes with the weather, but y’all can pry American Honey from my cold, dead hands
favorite instrument: to hear? saxaphone. to play? kazzo.
dream job: hotel manager. maybe GM, maybe not, I haven’t decided how far up i want to go, but definitely up to front office management or something. I’m getting really close to it now, honestly, as soon as the pandemic breaks.
aesthetic: uhhhh ... where’s “it’s comfy and I like it?” because that’s pretty much it.
favorite author: Susan Mallery, for fiction. Non-fiction depends more on the subject matter than the author.
favorite animal noise: My dog makes this super happy little squeaky whine any time I come home or he hears my voice on the phone, and it’s the sweetest thing
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
The air in the room was thick with tension. The men weren’t as close to each other as they usually were. It was weird, to say the least, to sit with such a generous amount of space between them. The silence was uncomfortable as well; it was bordering on eerie at this point. This wasn’t the first time they sat in a noiseless room together, but something about the energy was off.
On the bright side, Christopher was finally in bed, thanks to Buck and two chapters of his latest Goosebumps book. Eddie had decided it’d be best if they talked about the disagreement they had earlier in the day tomorrow; after both of them had a good night’s rest. If they tried to hash it out tonight, he was sure that they’d just be talking in circles. Both parties needed a clear mind going into the conversation of Eddie jumping back into the dating pool.
Now, back to the issue at hand. Buck and Eddie were fighting.
Okay, fighting is an exaggeration, but things were certainly weird between them. Eddie had originally come by to pick up Chris, and he had figured Buck would fill him in on anything he deemed detrimental the following day. But, the look on his best friend’s face said it all. Whatever had happened between the time that Chris arrived at Buck’s house and Eddie coming by to get him, was something they needed to discuss sooner rather than later.
But seeing said look on Buck’s face made Eddie want to do nothing more than hold him close and assure him that everything would be alright. He had no idea what they had discussed, but the thought of either of the most important people in his life hurting was almost too much to bear.
Eddie wanted to place soft kisses all over Buck’s body; starting from his nose and ending at the tips of his toes. He wanted to love Buck unapologetically. He wanted to declare his love for the man; shouting it from the rooftop of the tallest building he could locate in Los Angeles. So yeah, there was no denying his feelings for Buck. But to risk losing one of the best friends he’s ever had? To risk ruining the amazing friendship between Buck and Chris? It wasn’t worth it. He had ultimately decided his feelings didn’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.
If only he had the balls to just come out and say it, perhaps he could’ve avoided this night sent from hell entirely.
So, that’s how they ended up here. In Eddie’s living room, acting as if they’d never spoken to each other a day in their lives.
“So you’re just not going to say anything,” Eddie finally announced after what seemed like a lifetime.
“I’m not sure what you expect me to say, Eddie.”
Buck’s tone was clipped.
“I want you to explain to me what conversation took place between you and Chris,” Eddie replied. “Because clearly, it was more serious than I had originally assumed.”
“I already told you on the drive over here,” Buck groaned. “I specifically said we had a heart to heart; nothing more, nothing less.”
Eddie crossed his arms and turned his body so he was facing the younger man. “Do you expect me to believe that, Buckley? Because the look on your face formed words before your mouth had the chance to.”
“You want the truth? Because I can give you the truth, Diaz,” Buck answered. “Chris told me that everyone leaves and when they do, he misses them, and it makes him sad,” Buck took a breath. “And now, you’re going to introduce him to yet another person, just for them to leave. He’s scared. And quite frankly? I don’t blame him, Eddie.”
Eddie took a second to absorb what Buck had just told him. He had no idea this is where the anger Chris expressed was stemming from. But how could he? This had been the first time the topic of dating had come up since Shannon’s passing. And now with the pandemic, feelings were bound to be amplified in all areas.
“Wait, ” Eddie said. “Did you just imply that you don’t think Ana is here for the long run?” His brows were furrowed and his tone was teetering on accusatory, but he couldn’t care less right now.
“Maybe I did,” Buck replied. And boy, did he look smug, with the outer parts of his mouth quirked slightly. He was testing Eddie; seeing how far he could push him until he reached his breaking point.
“That’s a bold statement to make about someone you barely know,” Eddie fired back.
Things were heating up, quickly.
“That’s rich coming from you,” Buck chuckled humorlessly. “You’re bringing someone into his life that you barely know!”
Eddie grimaced at Buck’s statement. He wasn’t wrong, per se, but he was in too deep. This was happening.
“That’s not,” his voice faltered, “that’s not the same and you know it.”
“Oh but it is,” Buck replied. “Humor me though. How well do you know Miss Flores?”
Eddie opened his mouth and then closed it. He knew she was Chris’s old teacher. He knew she was now a VP at a different school. He knew she was Latina. He knew she was beautiful, smart, and put together.
Okay, so maybe that was all that he knew.
“Ha! See. I know you, Eddie and you know me. But you have to admit, you don’t know anything that’s not surface-level about her.” He laughed again, “Your conversations are about as deep as a kitty pool.”
“I’m getting to know her, Buck,” Eddie replied, rolling his eyes. “Do you get into relationships and dive into their shit immediately?”
While Eddie waited for Buck’s response, he rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed two beers from the bottom shelf of the fridge and nodded his head at Buck, signaling him to move the conversation.
Buck walked up to the island, cracked open his Heineken, and took a generous swig. “No. But I also don’t have a mini-me to introduce my potential significant other to,” Buck said pointedly. “All I’m saying is that I think it’s a little early to be jumping headfirst into the deep end.”
“I didn’t ask you what your opinion was on my relationship.”
“I mean technically-” Buck challenged, but Eddie was fed up at this point.
“Why do you care so much anyway?” Eddie countered, cutting Buck off mid-sentence.
Buck was taken back. He wasn’t expecting that question, but he was quick on his feet, so he went rushing in with another answer.
“Because I care about Chris,” he said calmly. “I also care about you and I want you to be happy, I do. You deserve it more than anyone, but I just think you’re moving a little fast. There’s no guarantee she’s not going to walk out when it gets rocky.”
Buck sighed, “Or maybe she’ll decide that being with a first responder isn’t for her. Which I mean, fair; it’s not for everyone. Regardless, the point still stands. I don’t think she’s permanent in Chris’s life at the moment, so it’s weird, in my opinion, to treat her as such.”
Eddie knew Buck was right. He wanted to say it. The words were at the tip of his tongue. If he could just–
“I’m a permanent fixture in Chris’s life,” Buck blurted out, nervously brushing his palms against his jeans.
Eddie raised an eyebrow at the younger. Surely Buck didn't think he could be anything but a permanent fixture in Chris’s life. He meant so much to both of them; Eddie and Christopher. Buck was a crucial part of the Diaz family; no ifs, ands, or buts.
“I never said you weren’t. Is there something I’m missing here?” Eddie asked, letting out a nervous laugh.
“I-,” Buck began. “Nevermind. Now’s not the time.”
“Buck, c’mon,” Eddie pleaded. “There’s no better time than right now.”
“I can’t,” Buck muttered. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I can't tell you like this,” he finished in a hushed tone.
Eddie frowned. He placed his beer bottle onto a swirled marble of the island and swiftly walked over to his best friend who stood just three feet away. He placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and rested his thumb on Buck’s collarbone, rubbing it back and forth across the clavicle covered by milky skin.
“Buck. You know you can tell me anything,” Eddie said. He gave the man's shoulder a light squeeze and continued to rub his thumb across the length of the prominent bone, letting Buck know it was okay to speak whenever he was ready.
“Did you ever stop and think about why I jumped into the dating pool right after you did?” Buck asked, eyes trained on the floor.
“I-I figured–,” Eddie stumbled slightly, trying to find the right words. “I just assumed you were tired of being single.”
“That and the fact that the person I wanted was whisked away before I had the chance to tell him how I feel,” Buck replied, voice cracking. His throat felt like it was closing and he felt the familiar sting towards the back of his eyes, a sure sign that the waterworks were on their way. “God. This is pathetic.”
“Hey. Look at me,” Eddie said, coaxing Buck’s head upward with a feather-light touch to his chin.
Buck tried to avoid eye contact by going against the grain of Eddie’s touch. He couldn’t breakdown, not now. He'd almost made it to the end of their.. conversation? Whatever. At this moment, he wished for nothing more than for the ground to swallow him whole and return him to real life in 14 to 17 business days. He couldn't tell Eddie how he felt now. Not when Eddie was finally happy.
He couldn't make something about him. Again.
He couldn't be a bad friend to another person within two hours.
So why did Buck blow up his spot? Beats him.
“I like you, Eddie,” Buck confessed. “But, that doesn't matter now. I missed my chance; you're with Ana. I won't take away your happiness. I can't take away your happiness; not now, not ever.”
Buck sighed and reluctantly stepped out from under the older man’s touch. “I should leave. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Eds.”
“Buck,” Eddie started gentle yet firm. “The only way you could take away my happiness is if you walked out, through that door.”
“Huh?” was all Buck managed to say.
“You bring me happiness, Buck. You are my happiness. Well, besides Chris, but that should go without saying.” Eddie rubbed his hands together and continued, “I like you too.”
Buck chewed on his bottom lip, trying to think of what to say in reply to Eddie’s declaration.
“How long have you felt this way? How come you didn't tell me, Eds?” he asked.
“Longer than I’d like to admit. But I couldn't risk messing up everything just for feelings that could've been one-sided.”
“And that’s why you went out with Ana?” Buck questioned.
“Partially. I needed to start my journey to real happiness. Then Ana conveniently reappeared, so I thought, why not y’know?”
Eddie continued before Buck could respond. “Ana isn't you, Buck. That's what I'm getting at. She's sweet, funny, and intelligent, but she's not you. She doesn't hold a candle to all that you are.”
Buck began to chuckle, which soon turned into a full-on fit of giggles. Once he was done with his laughter and caught his breath, he spoke once more. “We’re a pair of idiots, aren't we?”
“That we are," Eddie said. His eyes crinkled as a genuine grin graced his face. "Though I must say, there's no one I’d rather be an idiot with besides you.”
They wanted to kiss. Boy, did they want to kiss. However, the men also knew Eddie had to break things off with Ana first. It was just the right thing to do. But in the meantime, they could hold one another in the soft glow of Eddie’s kitchen and exchange words so sweet you'd think they had been dipped in honey. They would be together soon.
