For @eddiediaznetwork Eddie Diaz Week 2026, day 2 prompt: competition
Rated T, 827 words. Eddie and ballroom dancing.
Eddie’s allowed to look.
Here, waiting for his turn to lead Kaitlyn Cromwell in the waltz at the Southwestern Ballroom Dance Invitational, he can let his eyes linger on the male half of the couple currently performing.
He’s studying the competition. It’s opposition research. Reconnaissance. That’s why it’s okay to let his eyes slide deliberately up the boy’s body, to linger on his broad shoulders, his full lips pouting in concentration.
His form is impeccable. Eddie can’t see his back muscles through his black suit jacket, but from the way he’s holding his upper body, firmly upright but still fluid, he can imagine how strong and supple they are. He can imagine how that big hand feels on his dance partner’s waist. Eddie can imagine a lot of things, if he lets himself.
Today, he doesn’t. He won’t.
He’s focused on the boy because he’ll be dancing the same steps, trying for the same confident, graceful air when it’s his turn. There’s no need to study the girl’s part, no reason to spare her more than a casual glance, even though she’s been smiling shyly at him all day. He’s trying his best to ignore that, actually. There’s no time for distractions.
Eddie was surprised, at first, that his parents even agreed to let him do ballroom dance. He was so used to them separating him from his sisters, correcting him when he showed interest in the things they liked. They had Barbies, and he had G.I. Joes, at least until his mother found him playing house with them instead of war. He doesn’t play with toys anymore, that stuff’s for little kids. He was never allowed to help his abuela in the kitchen. His sisters learned the family recipes while Eddie was shunted outside to play soccer or capture the flag with his boy cousins. It’s fine, he can’t cook anyway.
When Sofia wanted to quit ballet and try ballroom instead, Eddie hesitated to ask if he could do it too. He’d always loved dancing, on his own, unguided, in private, but he thought he knew what his parents would say: ‘that’s not for you, Edmundo.’ But they allowed it, and Eddie knew better than to question their decisions.
He supposes it’s easier for his mother to drive him and Sofia to one practice after school instead of two. He supposes his father likes the emphasis on traditional gender roles. He supposes they’re both proud because he turned out to be good at it. Ramon and Helena can point to his trophies and brag to their friends about their son’s surprise talent. Sofia doesn’t win many prizes, but for some reason, that’s never been a problem for their parents.
So Eddie’s allowed to look, if it’s in service of winning. He can spend hours in front of the old TV in his basement, replaying videos of dancers performing the waltz, the samba, the foxtrot, and his mother will praise him for caring so much about the sport. He can admire the men’s athleticism, their agility, their strength, and no one will bother him. He can stop, rewind, pause, play, watch their bodies flex, writhe, undulate, over and over, in the name of coming out on top.
Eddie wants to be like them, that’s all. He wants to perfect the steps, spin sure-footed across the dance floor. He wants to lead, to support, to be the solid foundation his partner can depend on. It’s not about the way their arms bulge when they lift their partners, or the raw power harnessed, controlled, but not quite concealed by their precise movements. If Eddie watches some routines so many times he memorizes them, it’s just because that makes him a better dancer.
The couple finishes their waltz and leaves the dance floor. They didn’t make any glaring mistakes, but they didn’t attempt any of the more intricate steps either. Eddie smirks at the boy as they pass by him, feeling superior. He and Kaitlyn will score higher, easily.
But the boy returns his gaze, a challenge in his smile, and Eddie feels a little like the wind’s been knocked out of him. He has dark eyes and dark hair gelled firmly in place, just like Eddie’s. There’s a bead of sweat on his temple. Eddie licks his lips unconsciously and tries to ignore how his breath is coming faster now, how his heart is racing. It’s nerves, adrenaline before his performance, that’s all. The boy nods once in acknowledgment. Suddenly, it’s too much; more than Eddie’s allowed to look at. He turns away quickly, snaps himself out of it. Pulls his partner out onto the dance floor.
Eddie and Kaitlyn win their division. Eddie stands on the makeshift stage, holding his latest statuette, feeling nothing but relief that it’s over. He scans the small crowd, finds the boy staring at him again. Still. Unabashed, unashamed that he didn’t place, triumphant somehow anyway. Just looking at Eddie, and seeing.
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kicking my feet and giggling thinking about eddie diaz who loves fatherhood and christopher and who is so brave and smart and kind and funny. eddie who loves his female friends and relatives and has interesting, developed relationships with carla and may and pepa and linda and hen. eddie who loves basketball and fighting and muay thai and video games. eddie who befriends anything that moves. eddie whose people skills save the day over and over - the kid in the well. the kid he got shot for. the kid he ran back into a burning building for when they read the number wrong. (eddie who loves kids). the guy whose heart he kept beating despite him threatening chris and buck and his whole family. the guy he talked into returning their engine. eddie who is so competent it has buck ripping his hair out when they meet. eddie who is cool and level headed with a gun to his head. eddie who got himself and his son out of his parents house when he was working three jobs to make ends meet. eddie whose whole Thing is taking care of people, so much so that his therapist has to tell him to cool his jets. eddie who just tries and tries and tries. eddie with the heart of fucking gold and eddie with more to give than he thinks anyone can take. eddie who is always going to fight to come home to his family. eddie who isn't alone anymore; hasn't been for a while. eddie who was raised so cold and grew up so warm. eddie, the light. the sun.
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No, but like, Oliver has made some insane acting choices when it comes to the delivery of some lines since Buck came out. But this is something I'm always gonna be stuck on. There's a lot going on on Buck's face, but relief is nowhere to be found.
And then he finished it off with that little look back at Eddie. Like. Nothing about this tells me Buck is actually feeling any relief that Eddie doesn't think that him being into men changes anything between them. Like.
narcissism
[nahr-suh-siz-em]
noun
a pathological form of self-love characterized by arrogance, self-absorption, a sense of entitlement, and reactivity to criticism.
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Unfortunately, the television show 9-1-1 on ABC is more likely to use “This Magic Moment” during a montage of a magician constructing increasingly elaborate illusions to woo their love interest until they ultimately injure themselves and have to be rescued by the 118, than during a romantic Buddie kiss
For @buckweek 2026, day 7 prompt: bi Buck / free choice
Rated T, 2,175 words, crack and fluff. Buck/Eddie Diaz, Buck/Sofia Diaz, it’s not about the Furby.
This is fine. This is totally fine.
Buck recently realized he has strong romantic feelings for his best friend. His straight best friend. His straight, male best friend. Nothing he can’t handle.
So he’s been trying to put some distance between them to allow himself to get over said feelings, and said best friend has responded by inviting Buck to hang out about a thousand times more often than he ever has before. Which is saying something, because they’re already pretty much attached at the hip. Which is part of the problem.
Every night it’s a different activity: movie night, pizza and beer, a baseball game, Chris’ science fair, checking out that new Thai place. If Buck makes up an excuse to avoid him, Eddie lays on the guilt, going on and on about how excited Christopher is, how much he’s looking forward to doing XYZ with Buck specifically. It’s a painfully transparent strategy that works every time.
Tonight is the worst one yet. Eddie’s sister, Sofia, is visiting from Texas for a few weeks. She’s staying at Pepa’s, and all the LA Diazes are going over there for her welcome dinner. Last month, Eddie’s aunt told Buck in a hushed tone that Sofia had finally left her cheating husband and was getting a divorce. She came to LA to decompress and not have to look at that pendejo’s face for a while (Pepa’s words, not Buck’s).
Before The Realization, Buck would have jumped at the chance to spend time with Eddie’s family. Now, the invitation is a hurtful reminder of his status, or lack thereof, in their lives. He needs to get over Eddie and move on, and he knows he can’t do that while playing happy family with Eddie and Christopher.
But Eddie all but begged him, and Chris had weaponized his puppy dog eyes, so here Buck is, standing on Pepa’s front porch between the two of them, about to meet the eldest sister of the man he loves.
The door opens, and Buck forgets all of his apprehension. He’s pretty sure he forgets how to breathe for a moment. In front of him is the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. She’s tall, with golden skin, huge, striking honey brown eyes and a wide, joyful smile that lights up her whole face when she sees them. Her thick brown hair falls down around her shoulders in gentle waves. She leans forward to hug Eddie, and Buck can’t help but notice her round, perfect ass (sue him, he’s only human). She’s-
“Eddie!”
“Sof!”
They part with matching megawatt smiles, one arm still wound around each other. Eddie puts a hand on Buck’s shoulder, a link between them. “Buck, this is my sister, Sofia. Sofia, this is Buck.”
Sofia is… well, she’s Eddie. Eddie, if he were magically transformed into a woman. A gorgeous, charismatic woman with Eddie’s laugh, who is currently staring at Buck with the same soft, open gaze Eddie often employs when he wants Buck to clean the gutters, or degrease the oven, or stop flinging himself into danger like his life is worthless. The one that makes Buck want to sleep on his couch, move into his house, curl up on his chest like a cat and stay there forever. Fuck.
“The famous Buck! I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I know you already.” And now Sofia’s hugging him too, soft against his chest, melting into him like they’ve known each other for years. He wraps his arms around her without really thinking about it, chasing the all too familiar warmth.
“Nice to meet you, Sofia.” It’s mumbled into her hair.
“Wow!” Sofia runs her hands up Buck’s back and along his arms. “You sure could carry me out of a burning building, couldn’t you?”
“Uh-”
“Sofia!” Eddie’s face is stern. “Leave him alone and let your nephew in.”
Christopher waves. “Hi, Tía.”
“Hi, Christopher!” Sofia gives Chris an abbreviated hug and leads them inside. In the living room, she takes Buck by the elbow. “Come on, everyone’s on the patio. You sit with me and leave my boring brother to our cousins.”
Buck steals a glance at Eddie, who’s already being waylaid by an uncle. Eddie is glaring at Buck and Sofia, jaw set like he can force them apart with his mind if he just grinds his teeth hard enough. Buck shrugs, trying to convey, ‘it’s not me, it’s her, I’m just being polite!’
And he sort of understands, he went through this when Chimney and Maddie started dating, but Buck’s a little offended despite himself. Does Eddie think he’s not good enough for his sister? Jerk.
Sofia leads Buck out to the big table on the patio. They tuck into a cozy corner and start dishing up Pepa’s excellent food. The chairs are crammed together to accommodate so many people, and every time Sofia reaches for a dish, she leans way over into Buck’s space or steadies herself with a hand on his forearm.
All through dinner, Sofia showers Buck with compliments.
“So, Eddie says you helped Chris with his AP European History project and he got an A?”
“Eddie loves your boeuf bourguignon, maybe you could make it for me sometime?”
“I saw your Instagram pictures at the pier, did you really win Chris a giant tiger and carry it around for the whole day? He loves that thing.”
“Eddie told me about the time you pulled off a rescue with just a belt and a safety pin, that was genius!” Buck glows.
Sofia’s interesting, too. She’s an environmental engineer with a passion for groundwater management, and she makes the topic sound fascinating. She grew up doing all the same sports and activities as Eddie since she was only a year younger, and still competes in martial arts tournaments on weekends. She promises to drag Buck out dancing while she’s in town.
An hour later, most of the food has been polished off and the sun has set, the table lit only by the string lights on the pergola and the glow coming from the sliding glass doors. The Diazes still at the dinner table are clustered in small groups, conversations muted to let the younger children sleep in their parents’ laps or nearby inside the house. Eddie and Christopher went in a while ago and Buck lost track of them.
Sofia is almost in Buck’s lap at this point. She gives an exaggerated shiver and lifts his arm, laying it over her shoulders and nestling into his side. He’s stopped resisting her physical advances; she’s nice and beautiful and honestly, it feels good to be so obviously desired by someone.
“I can tell you like to take care of the people you love.”
“Yeah, I do. Doesn’t everyone?”
“But don’t you ever wish someone would take care of you?” Sofia asks it without looking at Buck, which makes it easier to answer her honestly instead of sidestepping the question.
“Sometimes.”
She looks up at him then, with those deep, dark, earnest eyes. Pulls his hand down over her chest and intertwines their fingers. Tilts her head up like maybe she’s going to kiss him.
And Buck thinks, screw it. Maybe this could work. Sofia’s gorgeous, like seriously, a total fucking smokeshow. She’s smart, and funny, and sweet. She clearly knows a lot about him, and likes what she’s heard. She’s made her interest in him more than apparent tonight. And she’s so similar to her brother, it’s a little freaky.
Except that Sofia wants him, unlike Eddie, who’s his favorite person in the whole world but will never love Buck the way Buck loves him. Eddie doesn’t deserve to be subjected to a barrage of unwelcome feelings that he never asked for and can never reciprocate. Buck brings his free hand up to Sofia’s face, brushing a lock of soft, dark hair off her forehead.
“Sofia!” Eddie whisper-yells from the doorway through gritted teeth.
Sofia glances at him, then back at Buck, a small triumphant smile playing on her perfect lips. “Let’s go see what my brother wants.” She stands up to follow Eddie into the house. Buck stays frozen until she turns back to him. “You better come too.”
Reluctantly, Buck rises from his chair. Eddie didn’t summon him, hadn’t looked at him at all, and that alone tells him enough. Buck has the uncanny sense that he and Sofia are both about to get scolded, and feels a surge of annoyance. What did Eddie expect, introducing them?
Eddie’s already speaking to Sofia in hushed but angry tones when Buck trails into the kitchen after them, expression murderous. “-low, even for you!”
Sofia, on the other hand, is the picture of innocence. “I thought this was what you wanted? Every time I call you, you have a new story about how amazing he is. I know you never liked Javier. I assumed you were trying to make me fall for Buck!”
“Why would I do that? You live in El Paso!”
Sofia speaks slowly, enunciating her words. “Planes exist, Edmundo. And I’m here now. And you literally never shut up about the guy. Why don’t you want me to date him?”
“Because!”
When Eddie doesn’t elaborate, Sofia groans in a very teenage cadence. “Ugh, you always do this! It’s just like the Furby!”
Eddie’s eyes go wide, incredulous. “I said you could borrow it for Michelle’s sleepover, not keep it forever!”
“You said you didn’t even want it! You said it was for babies!”
“Of course I wanted it, it was mine!”
“You could have just told me that instead of getting so mad about it!”
“You can’t date Buck!” Eddie’s just plain yelling now, jabbing his finger in his sister’s face.
Sofia crosses her arms and squares up against him. “Why not? We’re all adults here, Eddie! You’re not in charge of me anymore! ‘Because I said so’ isn’t gonna cut it!”
“Because I’m in love with him!” Eddie shouts, then clamps his mouth shut, looking stunned.
Buck is in shock. He’s standing in the doorway right behind Sofia, he’s been here the whole time, but it’s like neither sibling has noticed he’s there.
Rather than looking surprised, Sofia smiles. She’s the cat who ate the big gay canary.
“Wow, Eddie. How does it feel to say what you want for once in your life?”
Buck must make a noise then. He doesn’t know, he can’t hear it over the ringing in his ears and the thumping of his galloping heart, but both Diazes turn to look at him with identical manic expressions. Both run a hand through their hair so it sticks up in the front at odd angles. Buck would laugh at the image if his soul weren’t about to vacate his body.
“Buck-” Eddie gets stuck there and freezes. His cheeks are blazing red.
“You- Eddie- you’re- Eddie-” This is going great.
Sofia sighs indulgently at them. “Buck, Eddie’s in love with you. I think you might feel the same way, based on the mountain of evidence I’ve heard about over the years?”
“Yes, yeah, yep.” Big improvement. He can’t even pretend to deny it. He doesn’t want to.
Sofia arches a supercilious eyebrow, just like Eddie would in her position. “Great. Do either of you maybe want to do something about that? Do you need me to smash your faces together like I used to do with my Barbies?”
That breaks Eddie out of his stupor. “Just don’t pop our heads off and bury them in the backyard.”
“That was an experiment. And I was five.”
Eddie raises an eyebrow but doesn’t dignify that with a response. He turns back to Buck. “I’m in love with you.”
Buck can feel himself loosening up, thawing out. He grins. “I heard. And you miss your Furby?”
“Shut up.” Impossibly, Eddie’s blush deepens.
“I love you too.”
“Thank God.” And then, as if a dam has burst inside him, Eddie rushes forward and grabs Buck by the cheeks. He smashes their lips together, not unlike a five year old playing with Barbies, but Buck doesn’t mind. The kiss gets better from there. Better, and better, and…
Sofia clears her throat, and they break apart reluctantly. “I’m gonna leave you to it, but just, you know, you’re welcome.”
Eddie glares at her again, but there’s no real heat to it. “Sofia, that was seriously so fucked up. You can’t treat people like this. How did you know that would work? Did you even know?”
Sofia shrugs. “I had a hunch. You’ve been braver lately, Edmundo, admit it. And honestly, it was a win for me either way.”
And Buck is so happy, elated, floating on air. He has the love of his life in his arms at last, it’s his perfect fairytale ending. But he looks between Eddie and Sofia, at two perfect smiles showing four pointy canines, and allows himself to consider, just for a moment, that it could have been a win either way for him, too.
For @buckweek 2026, day 6 prompt: birthmark/ “actually, I go by Buck.”
Rated T, 1,149 words. Buddie, different first meeting, unrealistic minor injury for the sake of the narrative.
The Jeep jolted as it collided with the old truck right behind it, throwing Buck forward against his seatbelt and slamming his head into the roof. The truck that definitely had not been there twenty seconds ago. Buck heard the squeal and crunch of metal on metal. “Fuck!”
He did not have time for this. His shift started in exactly forty-five minutes, and probies couldn’t be late. Which wouldn’t bother him too much, except he’d already been late twice this week, and Bobby had threatened to have him scrubbing toilets until the end of time if it happened again.
A man leaned out the window of the truck, glaring at Buck. “Watch where you’re going!”
“How about YOU watch where YOU’RE going?”
“You hit my truck!”
Technically true, but Buck couldn’t afford the insurance hike or the repairs for this, so he doubled down. “You didn’t leave me any space! How do you think you’re gonna get my parking spot if you don’t let me get out of it, dumbass?”
He got out of the Jeep, jabbing his hand between them to illustrate how far over the line this dude’s stupid truck was.
The guy jumped out in return, his movements surprisingly graceful. He flexed his fists like he was restraining himself from punching something, and the move made his muscular forearms bulge. “Dumbass!? What are you, twelve?”
But then the dumbass stopped suddenly, squinting at Buck and gesturing to the left side of his head. “Hey, what’s that on your face?”
Buck had heard that one more times than he could count. He didn’t even blink. “It’s a birthmark.”
“It looks like you’re bleeding.”
“Very funny, asshole. You’ve never seen a birthmark before?” Of course this guy would be extra rude about his birthmark. People sometimes stared at his eyebrow like they were trying to crack a code, some even asked him about it, but they were usually polite at least. Most people ignored it completely. Not this jerk, apparently.
“No, really, let me see. I was a medic in the Army.”
“Uh, no, you don’t have to-”
But the guy wasn’t listening to Buck, already pulling a first aid kit out of his glove compartment and getting right up in his face. And- huh. He smelled good. Like cedar and sandalwood and sweat. Buck told himself to ignore it- he was angry, damnit. He was ignoring it so hard he didn’t notice what the man was doing until he felt cold antiseptic spray his face. “Hey!”
“Hang on.” The man was brandishing tweezers now.
“Wait a second!”
“Hold still.” A huge, strong hand gripped the side of Buck’s head, spanning his cheek to his the base of his neck. Buck obeyed, breath catching as the man leaned in closer.
“Ow!” A zing of pain, and the man was holding a shard of glass in his tweezers. He pressed clean gauze to Buck’s cheekbone.
“There. You’re lucky it didn’t get you in the eye.”
The stranger’s face, so angry before, broke into a small, sort of lopsided smile. Buck could see his blinding white teeth, one pointy canine poking over his lip. His soft, full lip…
Buck was aware they were still standing very close together. He suddenly felt a little short of breath. He could feel the heat radiating off of the guy, and for some reason he wanted to lean into it.
Then he realized he’d almost actually been injured in this little fender bender.
“What the hell- glass? Where did that come from? I didn’t hit you that hard!”
“Ha! So you admit you were the one who hit me?” The guy gestured to Buck’s hair. “It’s plastic, actually.”
Buck reached up and felt the jagged edge of his broken sunglasses. They must have hit the roof just right when he- when the cars collided.
He smiled begrudgingly. “Well, thanks.”
Maybe he was more injured than he thought. Maybe a shard of sunglass plastic had been driven into his frontal lobe, and that was the reason he felt this way. Buzzy, off-balance, impulsive.
“Let me just-” The man brushed his fingers over Buck’s cheek, whisper-soft. Before Buck knew what was happening, he had smoothed a bandaid over the small cut.
“You can pay me back by fixing my bumper.”
Crap, that might be tough. Buck hadn’t been a probationary firefighter long enough to have built up any kind of savings yet. “Look, is there any way we can handle this… between us? I can’t take another hit on my insurance.”
The man studied his face with big brown eyes. Now that they weren’t flashing with anger, Buck could see the warmth in them, the playfulness.
“Hmm, I can think of a couple ways we could handle it between us.” The man smirked at Buck.
And that was- what?
Buck bluescreened for a second. The guy still hadn’t stepped back. His hand was still lightly holding Buck’s arm, making the hair there stand up, whole body electrified, on high alert.
“Uh-” He was caught, and they both knew it.
The man chuckled, like Buck was wrong for assuming his suggestion was anything but innocent. “I meant I know someone who owns a garage. He owes me a favor. I bet I could get the work done for a good price. I’ll text you with the quote?” The words were benign, but that devilish smile still played on his face.
Screw it, Buck hadn’t considered being with a man before meeting this one, but he’d always been open minded. If he was interpreting the vibe right, he was into it.
“Yeah, sure. You better get my number, then. Let me see your phone.” He plucked it out of the man’s hand and typed in his info, then texted himself and handed it back.
The guy held out his hand. “Eddie Diaz.”
“Evan Buckley, but actually I go by Buck.”
The man- Eddie- lifted his eyebrows in a very endearing way. “Buck? That’s funny, I’m training to be a firefighter and my instructor’s always talking about this cadet named Buck who broke all the records last year. What a coincidence.”
“What? Are you serious? That’s me! I was- I’m a firefighter. Went through the academy last year.” Buck could feel his cheeks heat.
Eddie looked him up and down in a show of feigned appreciation, but Buck could see through it. He was impressed. “Wow, didn’t realize I was talking to a celebrity. No wonder you’re such a bad driver.”
Buck shoved him with his shoulder, more as an excuse to touch him than anything else. “I was gonna offer to help you study, but if you don’t want me to…”
Eddie grinned and nudged him back. “Maybe there’s something else you can help me with.”
Then his lips were on Buck’s, just as soft as he’d imagined.
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For @buckweek 2026, day 5 prompt: “you clean up nice”/ outfits
Rated G, 905 words, fluff. Buddie with Theo on a special occasion.
“You clean up nice.” Buck gave Theo’s miniature sky blue tie one last playful tug and sat back on his heels.
Theo wrinkled his nose in confusion. “I didn’t clean anything, I just got dressed.” He pulled on the starched collar of his white shirt, tie immediately askew. “How long do I have to wear this? It’s itchy.”
Buck started to ruffle his hair, then realized he was undoing the half hour of hard work he’d put in to get it to stay in place. “Just for a little while, kiddo. Then you can take it off, I promise.”
Theo rolled his eyes and clambered up onto Buck’s bed, flopping down dramatically. His pants were wrinkling already. “Don’t call me kiddo! I’m not four anymore.”
“Oh, sorry. ‘Mr. Big Five Year Old,’ is that better?”
“Bu-uck!”
“Okay, okay. I just meant you look great. You can take off the jacket until we have to go out-” It was pointless to say, because Theo was already shedding his little gray suit jacket and starting to run away. “Hey, hold on a second! I wanna talk to you!”
He grabbed Theo by the waist as he tried to leap out the door, wrestling him to the ground. Theo dissolved into giggles, hair and tie already done for. It would be a miracle if he made it through the afternoon without staining his shirt, but Buck was laughing too. He couldn’t bring himself to care much about stains and scuffs and messy hair on a day like this.
“Wait, okay, wait!” He released the boy, and they both sat on the floor, backs against the foot of the bed, gray trouser-clad legs stretched out in front of them, feet flopping out to the sides. One pair of sneakers, and a much larger pair of shiny dress shoes. Buck nudged Theo’s shoulder with his elbow.
“I wanted to talk to you. I know this is a big day. There are lots of people out there who love you, and want to celebrate with us, and it’s gonna be great. But if you start to feel like it’s too much, and you need a break, just tell me, okay?”
“Okay.”
“This first part might feel a little long and boring, but it’ll be over soon. And I need you up there with me, you have an important job to do.”
Theo looked dubious. “Just standing, right?”
“Yeah, but really important standing.”
“And then party!” Theo’s face lit up.
“Yes, then party.”
“And cake!” Theo jumped up and started for the door again, as if the cake were already waiting for him on the other side.
“And cake. Love you, kiddo.”
“Not kiddo!”
Buck grabbed him by the ankle. “Love you, man. Dude. Bro. Buddy. Pal.”
Theo fell down onto the plush rug, cackling. “Bu-uuck!”
A soft knock on the door interrupted their roughhousing. “Everything okay in there?”
And then the door opened, and Buck forgot to breathe for a moment, because Eddie was standing above him.
Eddie, in a warm tan suit jacket, hair perfectly arranged, pale blue tie matching Buck’s and Theo’s but neatly knotted around his neck, glowing with happiness. “I thought you guys were getting ready? Christopher’s waiting in the kitchen. Even the teenager is faster than you guys.”
And oops, Buck realized he was only half dressed, still in his undershirt, curls going wild from their wrestling match. Theo, pristine a few minutes ago, was already rumpled and somehow missing one shoe. He sprang to his feet, barely able to take his eyes off Eddie.
“We were. Are. Almost ready.” Buck grabbed his dress shirt off the bed and pulled it on.
“Hey, hi. Come here.” Eddie stopped him in his tracks, pulling Buck into a kiss and starting to fasten his buttons for him.
“Hi.” Buck’s thoughts went hazy momentarily before he came back to himself. “Not that I’m complaining, but isn’t this bad luck or something?”
Eddie laughed, a soft exhale Buck could feel on his neck. It made him shiver.
“I don’t think we need luck. It’s never really been our thing, anyway.” He finished with the buttons and smoothed Buck’s collar down. “I wanted to see you.”
Buck couldn’t argue with that. He leaned back in to kiss Eddie again, intertwining their fingers. He could feel Eddie’s smile against his lips.
“I should get out there. Everyone’s in the backyard already. Maddie’s coming to get you in a few minutes.” Eddie swiveled at the waist, but kept his lower body pinned against Buck’s like he couldn’t bear to part yet. “Come on, Theo.”
Theo was at the dresser, building pyramids out of rolled up socks, used to Buck and Eddie’s mushiness. He was now missing both shoes. “Coming.” He didn’t move.
“Grab your shoes, kiddo. We have to go.”
Theo finally gave up on his project and retrieved his sneakers from under the bed.
“What, so Eddie can call you kiddo but I can’t?”
Theo shrugged. “Yep.” He ran out the door, finally freed.
Eddie picked up Theo’s suit jacket with one hand, the other one still firmly clasped around Buck’s. He turned back to give Buck a parting kiss, grinning so wide their teeth knocked together. Buck didn’t mind in the slightest. “See you out there.” One more kiss. “You’re gonna be stuck with me now, Buckley.”
Buck squeezed his hand one last time before letting it drop. “Can’t wait.”
