#tylerhunklin

Even before they were dating, Eddie tended to know when Buck was having a bad day – or about to have one. Buck was the kind of man who wore his heart on his sleeve, for the people he trusted, at least, and Eddie was lucky enough to be one of those people. For the people Buck kept at arm’s length, they only ever saw the bright, bubbly, always happy version of Buck – Eddie, he was lucky enough to know that his boyfriend contained multitudes. As happy and as bright and as bubbly as Buck was – and he was, he really was – Buck was also quiet, sometimes, and tended to get lost in thought, emotions mixed up in the pit of his stomach like a bad cocktail. Buck had been through a lot in his life, was all, and so he couldn’t always be the grinning man who bounded through Eddie’s door and brightened up every corner of Eddie’s life.

As often as Buck stepped in to pull Eddie up out of his bad days – Eddie had to do the same for his boyfriend. He was glad, in a lot of ways, that Buck was willing to let Eddie do that, and be there for him, and step into those dark places with him, because at least Eddie knew that Buck would never have to go through these things alone.

Sometimes, Buck needed tough love. Eddie could do that – he didn’t always enjoy it, but sometimes Buck needed tough love. Those days, Eddie dug down deep, and he found those last lingering bits of staff sergeant Eddie Diaz, and he forced Buck out of bed, and into the shower, into clothes and out into the world.

Other days – like today – tough love wasn’t what Buck needed. No, days like today, Buck just needed some plain old love, and Eddie was happy to provide. Buck had finished his shift late, and rather than come to the Diaz house, as he always did, regardless of how late it was, because Eddie never minded being woken up, he went home. That, even at almost one o’clock in the morning, was Eddie’s first warning sign. The second had been the fact that Buck hadn’t stumbled through the door, coffee in hand, ready to bring Christopher to school. Buck rarely missed an opportunity to be a part of the school run, usually behind the wheel of Eddie’s truck, one hand on Eddie’s knee as whatever popular pop song of the moment blared on the radio behind them. He loved the school runs – seeing Christopher off, and usually convincing Eddie to get breakfast after, the two of them squeezed into a shared booth, or around a tiny table, trying a new breakfast spot Buck had saved weeks previously in his notes app.

But there had been no Buck, and no text, and so Eddie had worried. Internally, of course, because he wanted Christopher to go to school without complaint, and Chris would put up a fight to get a day off if he thought for a minute that Buck was sad.

Quietly, Eddie unlocked the front door of Buck’s apartment, closing the door softly behind him. The loft was dark, and silent, and it was obvious, really, that Buck was upstairs. Toeing off his sneakers, Eddie set the groceries he’d bought on the counter, only pausing to stash away what needed to be in the fridge before he headed upstairs.

He couldn’t quite see Buck, but it was safe to assume that the lump underneath his duvet was his boyfriend.

“Hi, love,” Eddie greeted, crawling across the blanket, kneeling next to the lump that was previously Evan Buckley.

If this was any other situation, Eddie might have laughed, as Buck’s nose poked out of the duvet, his eyes wide and owlish as he blinked tiredly at Eddie. “I didn’t know you were coming over,” Buck croaked, his voice hoarse from not being used.

Eddie brushed Buck’s hair off his forehead, carding his fingers through the tangled strands. “You didn’t come over last night,” he explained. “I wanted to come and check on you and see if you were okay.”

Buck’s eyes were watery, as he replied. “I didn’t want to bother anyone.”

“Well,” Eddie huffed, tugging off his sweatshirt, already wearing his favourite slouchy pair of sweatpants. He’d figure it was going to be a day inside, rather than one spent out in the world. He tugged the duvet back from where it was wrapped around Buck, sliding under the covers. “Tough,” he hummed. “Bothering me is part of the relationship contract. You get unlimited bothering of me.”

Buck smiled weakly. “I do?”

“You do,” Eddie confirmed, wiping at the crusty tears that had dried into Buck’s chests, the salt crumbing away under Eddie’s touch. “Bad shift?” he asked.

Buck shook his head. “A bad brain day, I think,” he admitted, leaning into Eddie’s touch. “I don’t know why.”

“Well,” Eddie said, wrapping his arms around Buck, hands sneaking underneath Buck’s t-shirt. Buck was a little sweaty, frankly, his skin warm to the touch, but Eddie didn’t mind – if Buck wasn’t already his boyfriend, Eddie was a dad, he was used to sweaty and pukey and everything that came in-between. “You know what Doctor Copeland would say.”

“You don’t need a reason to have a bad brain day,” Buck recited dutifully. “But it’s frustrating, still – to not know why I feel like this.”

Eddie ran a hand up Buck’s back, counting the bumps of his spine along his back. “I know,” he reassured, because he did know. The unpredictable thing about mental health was that sometimes, your mental health took a dive for no reason. You could log all the triggers you wanted, and they both did, but sometimes you were just sad for no good reason. “But today can just be a bad day,” he continued. “We can try for a better day tomorrow.”

“Yeah?” Buck’s voice was quiet, and tired.

Eddie nodded, caressing slow circles across Buck’s back, enjoying the way his boyfriend melted into his embrace. When it happened, it was one of those great moments in life where Eddie was reminded of just how much Buck did trust him, how much Buck needed him. Being needed – being needed was a good feeling, and it was even better when that need came from Buck. Buck, who could have anyone he wanted, and wanted Eddie.

“And if tomorrow isn’t better, we can try the day after that,” Eddie continued, pressing a kiss to Buck’s cheekbone. “Today though, we can just be here.”

“What about…” Buck began, trailing off, as though he couldn’t think of everything they should be doing, his brain foggy.

“The only thing we need to do is get Christopher from school,” Eddie reassured. “So, we’re going to lie here, for a while, and then we can try some food. I bought us something I can just reheat,” he paused, grinning. “Then we could try a shower, because you’re pretty gross.”

Buck snorted into the crook of Eddie’s shoulder. “You’re so rude,” he shook his head. “I’m sad, and you’re being rude.”

Eddie smiled, starting back up the slow, gentle circles he was caressing across Buck’s back. “Later,” he reassured. “Let’s just stay here for a while first.”

Buck let out a sigh, as though he could finally let go of a breath he’d been holding, as though he finally felt safe enough to. “Thanks, Eds.”

Eddie pressed a kiss to the side of Buck’s head. “Anytime, Evan.”

31. kitchen counter make-outs is anyone surprised i chose this

ao3

"Hey," Buck laughs, as arms wind around his waist from behind and a head dips into the space between his neck and his shoulder, "I was gonna bring you breakfast in bed."

Eddie huffs something sleepy and unintelligble into the fabric of Buck's sleep shirt.

"Wanna try that again, bud?"

Another huff, this one of disgust. Eddie turns his head so his mouth is against Buck's neck. "Bud?"

"You know." With Eddie's arms around him it's kind of hard to navigate cracking the egg in his hand but he thinks he does an okay job of it, only a little white spilling down the side of the cup to the counter. "Buddy. Mate. Old pal."

Eddie's teeth find gentle purchase in the cord of muscle that never fails to make Buck shiver. He tilts his head a little for better access, half-heartedly whisking the eggs with a fork.

"We're literally married," Eddie says when he lets go, softening the sting of the bite with a kiss. He moves up Buck's neck to the hinge of his jaw.

Buck pours a little too much milk into the eggs; his hand slips as Eddie's teeth find the lobe of his ear. "Stop the presses," he manages, setting down the milk carton with enough force it splashes. He blindly reaches back, finds Eddie's head, curls his fingers into his hair and tugs. Eddie lets out a soft, broken sound, and dips his head against Buck's shoulder again, breathing hard.

"Honey?" Buck tries, rocking his hips back as slowly as he dares. "Sugarplum? Sweetheart, baby—"

Eddie's arms, already a vice around Buck's waist, tighten. Buck contemplates the fire hazard of trying to scramble the eggs like this but then Eddie's lips find his neck, again, and fuck the eggs.

Eddie pushes him flush against the counter when Buck turns to face him, and he's so hard already, so hard so easily, and that's—that's the thing, isn't it, Buck thinks distantly, as Eddie's mouth finds his and proceeds to try and slip himself under Buck's skin—it's always been easy, with Eddie.

"I can hear you thinking," Eddie murmurs against the dimple in Buck's cheek because he's—he's smiling, and it's broken the kiss. He tries to school his face into something more serious but there's something—infectious, about the way he feels, whisked and bubbling inside like the eggs now languishing on the counter. Eddie pulls back and Buck meets his eyes for the first time that morning and they're brown and perfect and liquid and looking at Buck the way they looked at him at the altar, at the firehouse when he was down on one knee to propose, in their bedroom every other day when he's down on his knees to—well, you know—in the passenger seat of Buck's Jeep, that very first time they kissed, his cheeks flushed and chest heaving but his eyes, his eyes.

Buck brings his hands to either side of Eddie's face, brushes around the creases at his temple with his thumbs. "I'm just thinking about you," he says, simply, because there aren't the words to say the rest of it, to say the whole of it, to take everything that's in Buck's head right now and lay it out in front of him because to do so would take three lifetimes, at least, and Buck already has plans for this one.

Eddie crooks an imperfect eyebrow, and Buck loves him. He says, "yeah, but you're also thinking about breakfast," and Buck loves him.

"I don't wanna waste the eggs," Buck admits.

Eddie scoots close, into the space between Buck's arms that's reserved just for him, and presses a kiss to Buck's collarbone over his shirt. It's kind of the sexiest thing in the world, and Buck gets to have it forever.

"I can go back to bed," he offers. "You can still bring it to me."

Buck kisses the top of his head. "Nah," he says, and the way Eddie smiles at him is worth ten thousand ruined breakfasts. "I kinda like having you around."

"Is that so?"

"Uh huh," Buck says, turning back to the eggs, Eddie plastering himself against his back like a human-shaped octopus. "Good thing I married you, then."

Eddie hums in reply. Buck drops his left hand to where Eddie's is clutching his waist. He brings it to his mouth and kisses the palm.

11. Morning kisses that are exchanged before either person opens their eyes, kissing blindly until their lips meet in a blissful encounter.

You know I'm a sucker for morning kisses.

Eddie groaned as the alarm blared too loud and too early for any decent person trying to sleep in to a respectable hour. Don’t get him wrong. Eddie was an early rise for even the morning people. He had to be with the army then a kid and his job where the bell could go off any minute. But it was the first of two days he and Buck had off and the house to themselves in… Eddie didn’t even know how long. He just wanted to sleep in.

He grunted in his half state of consciousness as he flung his hand back for the alarm and slapped the bed side table a few times before his hand landed on his alarm clock with a solid thunk. The old piece of plastic he’d had since he was a teenager skidded in protest but it was used to the abuse of Eddie’s morning grumps.

Buck made fun of him for even still using an alarm clock in the first place but it worked fine for Eddie.

Even if he hated it.

Which he did. With a burning passion.

Buck's laugh was warm on his chest from his huff and Eddie sucked in a breath as he curled his arms around his broad shoulders to pull Buck closer to his side.

"Thought we weren't going to set an alarm," Buck said, half the words lost in Eddie's skin as Buck nuzzled to hide his face in Eddie's throat.

"Forgot," Eddie grunted before he rolled to take more of Buck with him.

He sighed as the warm embrace of Buck's skin against his and the comfort of sleep pulled him under again. Eddie wasn't usually one to sleep in. He was kind of an "once I'm up, I'm up" guy. But with the warm puff of air from Buck's lips and the comforting weight of him pressed on top of him, Eddie would've been insane to even consider getting out of bed.

He nuzzled his nose into Buck's fluffy curls that smelled like Eddie's shampoo and felt something rumble deep in his soul at the fact that Buck smelled like him. It was stupid and caveman and possessive but Eddie loved it and he knew Buck did too.

He felt as Buck's breath evened out as he drifted further off to sleep and Eddie followed after right on the drifting precipice of unconsciousness.

The alarm blared to life again and Buck jolted in Eddie's arms as they jerked awake. Eddie gritted his teeth and groaned into Buck's hair but before he could roll over, Buck's leg flopped over his hip and kicked the alarm right off the nightstand.

Something broke the moment the alarm landed on the ground but the blessed silence that followed was more than enough to make up for it.

Buck grumbled in his sleep before he settled on top of Eddie.

But Eddie was officially "awake" and as much as he wanted to go back to sleep, he knew it was a lost cause. Buck's arms tightened around him as if sensing his consideration of even thinking of getting out of bed and Eddie let himself get pulled back into the warm cocoon of the blankets.

Soft, featherlight kitten kisses worked their way up from Eddie's throat to under his jaw in a way that always made him shiver. Buck arched up to leave a trail of blind kisses-- because Buck was still determinedly keeping his eyes closed-- up his chin to the corner of his mouth before he planted one on Eddie's lips, morning breath be damned.

"No," Buck mumbled against Eddie's lips before he swatted a hand over Eddie's face until it cover his eyes. "Go back asleep."

Eddie laughed as he pushed Buck's hand away and Buck's arm flopped around his neck in protest. Buck dropped his forehead against Eddie's chin and slung an leg in between his to keep him pinned. Clinging tight and sleepy and just too damn adorable for Eddie to say no. Eddie closed his eyes again as he dipped his chin down to press a kiss against Buck's forehead before he settled once more.

don’t you realize that there’s probably a little girl out there somewhere rocking a tiny eggplant-colored power suit, and she’s just dreaming about becoming a sports executive someday. she’s gonna read this article and she’s gonna think, “holy smokes. my dreams are possible.”

showering together is our favorite pass time, which might have something to do with the fact that we always end up laughing our asses off

“Shhh…”

Buck is trying to hush him but Eddie isn’t sure he has the right since Buck is laughing just as much. They’re both trying to hold it back but one look at the other is enough to set them off again.

“You’re going to wake up Chris,” Buck tries.

It’s true, they really should try to be more quiet since Christopher is sleeping just a few rooms away, but Eddie knows his kid and knows that he doesn’t wake up easily. He’s similar to Buck that way, they could probably both sleep through an earthquake.

“Remind me why I agreed to shower with you?” Eddie asks, faking a thoughtful expression. “Again? Why do I never learn?”

“Because,” Buck says and reaches his hands to Eddie’s hair, pushing the soapy hair up towards the ceiling where it had started to fall while they laughed. “It’s romantic.”

“I’m struggling to see the romance here,” Eddie says as Buck’s hands slide down his neck and rest on his shoulders, where Buck takes a hold of him and gently manoeuvres them so Eddie is under the water. It’s a tight fit, the shower is definitely not meant for two grown men.

But they make it work.

Eddie leans his head back to rinse off the shampoo and blinks the water out of his eyes, reaching towards the bottle so he can wash Buck’s hair. It’s getting longer, the curls clear to see now when the hair is wet. Eddie squeezes a generous amount of shampoo into his hands and pushes his fingers in Buck’s hair. The urge to retaliate and give Buck a weird soapy hairstyle is strong, but tonight Eddie would rather watch as Buck’s eyes flutter shut when Eddie uses just the right amount of pressure to massage his scalp.

It’s quiet for a moment, but Eddie has learnt that with Buck, it’s rarely quiet for long.

“You should shower with me more often,” Buck says, peeking one of his eyes open to look at Eddie while Eddie continues to wash his hair.

“Is that so?” Eddie asks, moving his hands to the back of Buck’s neck and down to his shoulders, continuing the massaging motion.

“Definitely,” Buck says, opening both of his eyes. “We’re saving so much water showering together. Think of the environment, Eddie.”

“Not sure I agree with you on that,” Eddie says. He’s keeping the playful argument going just for the sake of teasing, as they both know Eddie likes these showers just as much as Buck. Buck makes a lot of everyday things better. Lighter, more carefree. Eddie’s never had that before. “When we shower together the showers take at least three times longer than what either of us takes when we shower alone.”

“I didn’t know that you were in a rush to leave,” Buck says, obviously teasing.

“Shut up,” Eddie says. He moves his hands up to the back of Buck’s neck and urges Buck to tilt his head down a little, leaning up for a kiss. It starts a little awkward since both of them are smiling, but they get lost in it, so much so that the water starts turning cold.

Definitely not environmentally friendly, but Eddie is too happy to care at the moment. He'll find a way to compensate.