#usercombat

fake dating + bodyguard AU

what an absolutely iconic combination tbh

"if anyone sees us," eddie hisses, dragging buck down the deserted hallway, "this was--"

"i know, i know, entirely my idea," buck supplies cheerfully. well, as cheerfully as it is possible to whisper while being manhandled down the back corridors of a large convention center.

"and i still don't think--"

"that it's a good one, yeah, we've covered that one too." buck tries to shake eddie's hand off, but the grip on his bicep just tightens.

buck definitely doesn't shiver in response.

"my way or the highway, buckley," eddie says. "if you want out of here, you'll do as i say."

"honestly, you should be thanking me," buck says, ignoring the flash of heat that runs up his spine at eddie's commanding tone. it's not like it's something he'll ever get to explore anyway. "that was the world's most boring presentation, and i got you out of it."

"did you forget the part where this is your job?" eddie asks. "the part where you need them on your side if you're gonna be the youngest senator in pennsylvania state history?"

"nobody's going to notice one missing face in the audience," buck says with a dismissive wave.

"you're the guest of honour!"

"so we'll tell them there was, i don't know, a family emergency," buck says easily. "that always gets people on your side."

"your parents--"

"really," buck says, interrupting eddie before he can finish the thought. they've been having such a good time, it seems like a shame to mar it with the parents who will remain unmentioned. "i'm doing you a favour. it's not like i'm trying to drag you out to the club, you know, i just want to take off my belt and these uncomfortable shoes and not be on all the time."

"and how is that doing me a favour?" eddie asks, but his tone is softer and his grip on buck's arm loosens just a little.

"please, like i don't know your shift ends the second i'm in my room for the night. go home to your son, eddie."

"yeah, okay."

they fall silent for a moment, carefully padding down the hallway, when suddenly the echo of brisk footsteps carries down towards them. buck freezes, and beside him eddie's gaze darts between the bare walls and the locked doors.

buck shakes his head to clear it and struggles to assess his options. it's not exactly a question of life or death, but the optics of leaving a presentation put on specifically for him... depending on who's coming down the hallway, it could be the death knell for his senate campaign.

there's a small niche in the wall a few steps ahead of them, and it catches his eye.

"sorry about this," he says, and hopes against all hope that the element of surprise will be enough for him to get eddie to go along with him.

and it works. he guides eddie into the niche and covers his body with his own, pressing his lips to eddie's just as the sound shifts from an echo to the sharp clack of high-heeled shoes.

eddie stills in surprise, but only for a second. then his hand is on buck's waist, pulling him close, and his mouth is surprisingly pliant against buck's, soft and warm and welcoming. buck leans into him without meaning to, like it's a real kiss and not just a hasty effort to save his political ass.

the footsteps stop just behind him, and buck tightens his grip on eddie's lapel and fights to keep all his attention on eddie's mouth.

(it's not difficult.)

"oh!" a voice behind him says, and the person takes a few steps. "i didn't--uh, sorry!"

the footsteps scurry away in the direction buck and eddie had come from, decidedly faster than they'd been before. buck doesn't move, not until the echo fades away, when he finally drops his head to eddie's shoulder.

"sorry," he mutters. "i shouldn't have--it was just the first thing i thought of."

eddie doesn't say anything for a second, and when buck looks up he finds a flush creeping across his face. eddie swallows, twice, and blinks, slowly, with too-bright eyes.

"no," he says, "it's okay. it was good--uh, it was a good idea. smart."

"you don't think she--"

"i'm sure she would have said something if she'd recognised you," eddie says, slipping further back into his composed bodyguard persona with every word. "it's probably fine."

"your lips to gods ears," buck mutters, and eddie huffs a laugh.

"okay," he says. "think we can make it back to the hotel without any more incidents?"

"i make no promises," buck says, and eddie elbows him, and for a second it feels like nothing has changed between them.

but eddie is quiet as they finally make it out of the conference centre, and his hands hang awkwardly at his sides, no longer clutching buck's arm. a sinking feeling takes hold in buck's stomach, and only grows as they cross the street to the hotel.

there'd been a second, just after the kiss, when he'd thought maybe eddie had been into it. when he'd seen eddie's pink cheeks and wide eyes, heard the way his voice caught on it was good--

but it was all gone now, vanished in an instant when eddie flipped the switch back to bodyguard mode, and now all that's left is an uneasiness that's never existed between them before.

he didn't want it, buck thinks. i made a snap judgement and miscalculated like usual and now he's going to put in for a transfer, yet another person leaving me.

well, isn't that just typical.

by the time they get to the door of buck's hotel room, eddie is more distant than buck remembers ever seeing him. eddie watches him open the door and does a quick sweep of the room, then steps outside and nods at buck.

buck slips halfway into the room, then turns back to look at eddie. "good night," he says, trying to muster a smile. "say hi to christopher for me."

"night," eddie says and turns on his heel without another word. he exchanges a curt nod with chimney, who's settled in for the night shift, and disappears silently down the hall.

buck closes the door with a sigh. he'd been looking forward to being alone in his hotel room all day, but now the silence is heavy with the lack of eddie and all he can think about is how he'd fucked it up again, and now eddie's never going to want to see him again.

despite how hard he tries not to, he falls asleep thinking about eddie's lips on his.

--

in the morning, buck wakes to an angry knock on his door. it flies open before he can do much more than sit up in bed, and karen marches in, eddie in tow.

for the life of him, buck can't decipher eddie's expression.

karen flings a newspaper down on the bed in front of buck. there, front page above the fold, are two images side by side: one of buck and eddie walking down the hallway, clearly recognisable, and one of them tucked in the niche with their bodies pressed against each other.

"i--" buck starts, and closes his mouth when he can't think of anything to say. then, "but how?"

karen unfolds the newspaper to reveal a headline proclaiming SECURITY CAMERAS REVEAL SENATE-HOPEFUL'S SECRET SEXCAPADES.

"security cameras," buck mutters. right. he glances at the images again and notices they're timestamped, neat black-and-white numbers in the bottom right corner.

so there's no pretending the second picture is someone else.

he reads over the headline again and snorts. "it was hardly a sexcapade."

karen heaves a long-suffering sigh. "that's not--"

"not the point, i know," buck says. "but--we can spin this, right? you can spin it?"

"you're damn right i can spin this," karen says. "we'll just lean into it. america loves a love story."

buck looks up so fast he hears his neck crack. "you don't mean--"

"i do," karen says, and gestures between him and eddie. eddie, who--buck is pretty sure--would rather be literally anywhere else in the word right now. "as far as the media is concerned, this is happening. forbidden love. very media-sexy."

eddie still won't look at buck.

send me a trope mashup

this got away from me big time and im gonna be honest it doesnt even fully fit the request but i hope you like it

buddie | 1845 words | read on ao3

Eddie has never been especially tech savvy—and that did not exclude social media. He has an instagram account that his niece helped him make before he left Texas so he could keep up with her journey as a photographer—which, in his—only a little bit biased—opinion, she was gonna be famous for someday.

He also tried facebook to keep up with other relatives and friends from Texas—but as it turned out most his friends from Texas were also Shannon’s friends—which made things complicated—and the rest were a little too eager to call her a bitch for leaving him and Chris—which, despite Eddie’s own complicated feelings, sat with him about as well as getting shot. As for his relatives—well, the important ones he could always call.

The point is, Eddie’s never been one for social media, and then he gets a job as the LAFD’s liaison at dispatch and suddenly twitter becomes a staple of his life from 9-5, Mondays through Fridays.

And somehow—somehow—that leads Eddie here, sitting at his desk, staring at a tiktok he knows his best friend made—and he’s pretty sure it’s about him.

(Logically, he knows exactly how it happened—people on twitter will occasionally send him links to tiktoks about fire safety, asking about the accuracy of the content—and this is what he’s technically being paid for now, he supposes—and then a link leads him to a video that was unmistakably taken at the 118’s firehouse, and the voice behind it—without even a sliver of doubt—belonging to Buck. And then Eddie had clicked on the account it belonged to—and here he is.)

Here he is, staring at the last video posted on the account—well over a year ago—it’s not really a video, just a shot of a ceiling with block of text and some song Eddie vaguely recognizes from the radio playing over it.

The first thought he had upon seeing the video, was that he recognizes the shot of the ceiling as the bit just above Buck’s bed in the loft. The second thought he had—and still has—is that Buck is talking about him.

‘Guys please stop asking me for updates on my best friend- it’s never gonna happen. He’s straight, and has a girlfriend now, and I’m happy for him- he deserves to be happy.’

The comments are turned off, but that doesn’t matter, because Eddie’s already gone through Buck’s other tiktoks. He’s already found the video posted a few months before the last, another shot of the ceiling above Buck’s bed with text over it, there’s no music playing this time, and Eddie swears he can hear—what he thinks is—his own soft snores. The date on the video lines up with when Eddie was quarantining at Buck’s—when he had been sleeping in Buck’s bed.

‘When I pictured finally getting to share a bed with my best friend I didn’t expect it to be because of a global pandemic 😒’

So yeah, he’s almost positive it’s about him, and he has no idea what to do about it.

———

It almost feels like a joke to play out a part When you are not the starring role in someone else's heart You know I'd rather walk alone (I'd rather walk alone) Than play a supporting role If I can't get the starring role

Buck watching Christopher and Eddie ⤷for @soullistrations