Work Text:
It has been a long ass day at work. Everyone is exhausted and they end up leaving late because of a messy call half an hour before the end of the shift. In the parking lot, Buck barely takes one step towards his car before Eddie gently grabs his arm and tells him to just follow me home, man. I think we both need some time with Chris right now .
So Buck does as he is told and soon enough has an arm full of an excited nine-year-old. Face splitting into a beaming smile, Buck hoists Chris into the air and holds him tight to his chest as the boy laughs happily.
“Buck!” Chris clings back just as tight. “I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“He was here yesterday, Christopher,” Eddie chuckles.
As Buck gently lowers him to the ground, Chris turns to look at his dad with a put out expression.
“Yesterday morning , dad. Now it’s today night time ! That’s ages!”
Buck and Eddie share a glance, each trying not to laugh while Buck attempts to hide how genuinely touched he is that Chris missed him so much.
With Chris safely back on solid ground and Eddie sufficiently roasted, the three of them wander into the house on autopilot. Chris heads straight for the living room and takes his usual spot in the middle of the couch, immediately starting to flick through Netflix Kids while Eddie goes down the hall to grab a big blanket and a change of clothes for him and Buck from his room and Buck makes a beeline for the kitchen to make a start on the food.
“Is french toast and salad good enough for dinner?” Buck calls to Eddie, and turns his head to see him entering the kitchen with his arms full of clothes. “I don’t know if I can be bothered making anything too awesome right now.”
Eddie smiles gently, coming up behind Buck to sling an arm around his shoulder as he cracks some eggs into a bowl and starts to beat them with a fork. He drops a kiss on Buck’s shoulder before resting his chin on there to watch as the taller man cooks.
“Sounds perfect.”
Buck glances to his left to gaze at Eddie for a second before looking back down at his eggs to hide his blush. This intimacy is nothing new for the two of them but Buck still can’t help the massive amount of butterflies in his stomach.
He continues cooking as Eddie makes his way into the living room to see what Chris has chosen to watch. Come on, Buckley, he thinks to himself, Not the time.
--
Four episodes of Camp Cretaceous later, Eddie finishes washing the dishes and tidying up after Buck’s cooking. He stands in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, leans up against the wall as he dries his hands and watches Buck and Chris play with LEGOs. His heart swells for reasons he knows but doesn’t really want to name. Buck looks up and catches his eye, grin spreading impossibly wider.
Chris seems to notice that Buck’s attention has wavered, and he yells for Eddie to join them.
“Dad! We’re building a house,” he announces with a giggle. “The best house in the whole world!”
“Oh really?” Eddie smiles down at his son. “What makes it so great?”
Chris and Buck share an excited grin before Chris launches into an explanation of every room in the house. Eddie listens, leaning back against the couch and nodding and humming in all the right places as he basks in the happy atmosphere in the room. Buck chimes in occasionally but is mostly copying Eddie, having moved to sit next to him in the space in front of the couch, as he leans against Eddie’s side. Eddie takes a second to revel in the feeling of their shoulders pressed together before tuning back in to Christopher’s ceaseless rambling. He is pointing through the windows of various rooms on random floors of this high-rise apartment building he’s made.
“... and this room is for Harry, so the one next to it is for Denny, and this one is for Denny’s moms. Then this whole floor is for Carla, and this floor is for Abuela and Tia Pepa, and there’s this room in the corner for if Grandma and Grandpa come to visit.”
“Wow, bud, a whole floor just for them?” Eddie smiles, thinking how much those three will love to hear how much of Christopher’s dream home was for them.
“Yeah, dad, but I haven’t even gotten to the best part!”
Eddie looks over to Buck, feigning confusion. “I thought the enormous pool was the best part?” Buck, however, isn’t quite looking at him. Actually confused now, he looks back to Chris who is looking a little shy. “Come on, Chris, don’t leave me hanging here…”
Chris takes a deep breath and rushes out, “This whole top floor is for me and you and Bucky!”
Eddie pauses, looking down at the LEGO house. He moves a little closer until he is sure of what he is seeing: one floor, three rooms. “Tell me more, buddy,” he says, smiling reassuringly. Chris is once again full of energy.
“This big space is our living room and there’s the PlayStation and there’s my skateboard and there’s the couch.” Chris pauses to take a deep breath, before pointing at the smallest of the two remaining rooms. “That’s my room. My giant teddy bear is in the corner.” He stops again.
“Chris,” Buck stage-whispers. “Do you want me to take off the lid so he can see?”
Chris nods frantically, staring hard at the building and fidgeting with the hem of his hoodie. Buck, with more than a little bravado, lifts a napkin off of the roof of the last room. Eddie’s breath catches in his throat.
Sitting side by side on what is probably meant to be a bed are two little LEGO firefighters.
Chris looks up at Eddie, smiling softly. “It’s you and Buck’s room. You’re right next door to me.”
There is a stretch of silence that Eddie accidentally leaves a beat too long, before Eddie reaches into Christopher’s room and picks up the little LEGO kid that was sitting next to the bear. He looks at it for a second before gently clicking it into place next to the firefighters on the bed.
“There,” he says, quietly. “That’s better.”
Chris squeals with joy and throws himself into Eddie and Buck’s laps. They hug him tight between them, and Eddie lifts his head from Christopher’s back to look at Buck. He reaches across the gap to wipe a tear off of Buck’s face, who looks so shocked and happy and confused that Eddie can’t help but laugh.
Pulling back from the hug, he takes a deep breath to steady himself and pretends he doesn’t see Buck doing the same.
“I’m gonna set this up in the living room, Chris, but I think you should start getting ready for bed. It’s getting late, kid.”
--
Chris goes to bed with minimal complaints after only three chapters of Sea of Monsters from Buck, and then Buck and Eddie go back to the couch to watch a movie. They press as close together as always, Eddie with his left arm around the back of the couch and Buck with his head resting on Eddie’s shoulder.
As a private jet blows up on the screen and Bruce Willis smiles smugly, Buck shuffles slightly, pushing his face further into Eddie’s neck. His nose brushes Eddie’s skin and he smiles to himself. He steadily slips further down the couch and into Eddie’s arms, and so he makes the executive decision to wrap his own arms around Eddie’s middle and get comfortable.
Eddie’s mind races. Again, this intimacy isn’t a new thing for them, that much is obvious based on the kiss he presses into Buck’s hair without a moment’s hesitation. The thing is-
The thing is.
It hits Eddie just now, right in this moment with Buck laying almost in his lap, that actually this is new. He hasn’t felt this comfortable, this content, this safe and happy with someone other than Christopher in he doesn’t know how long. Only in the last two and a half years has he felt so...
This whole evening felt so natural. He didn’t even have to ask Buck to make dinner, Buck didn’t have to ask Eddie to get him a change of clothes. Buck has his own apartment, he has other stuff he could be doing, right? He doesn’t have to be here, with Eddie and his son.
But he’s here anyway. He’s here with me, on this couch, right now.
Eddie steels himself to do this. He takes a deep breath and taps Buck’s head.
“Hey,” he murmurs. “Buck, hey. Can we talk for a moment?”
Buck tenses up and pulls away. Puts a little distance between them. Still not much. They’re closer than they have any right to be.
“What’s up, man?” He tries to sound unaffected and calm. He fails.
“Why haven’t we done anything about this,” Eddie gestures vaguely between the two of them, “thing we’ve got going on? I mean, seriously, Buck…”
Eddie fills the gap between them again. He grabs Buck’s thigh, the one closest to him, and pulls it onto his lap. Buck’s arm comes up around Eddie’s neck, Eddie with one hand on Buck’s waist and the other moving to cup his face. He runs his thumb along Buck’s cheekbone a couple of times, slowly and gently.
“I love you. I’ve been loving you for a while. And I think-” he sneaks in a kiss to Buck’s forehead, “- I think that you feel the same. I know for sure you love Chris and he absolutely adores you, but…” He trails off, slowly moving to bump his forehead against Buck’s. “I need to know if you’re planning on doing this, man. If you’re willing to try and build something great with me.”
Buck is silent for a while. He doesn’t pull away, in fact he pulls himself further into Eddie’s lap and presses their foreheads together more firmly, but he doesn’t speak for long enough that Eddie starts to squirm a little. Buck laughs softly.
“I think that’s the most words I’ve ever heard you say at once without yelling.”
Eddie tips his head back against the couch in exasperation.
“You are such an asshole,” he chuckles, pushing away slightly until Buck pulls him right back in.
“I love you too. Stupid. You and Chris are the centre of my universe. I didn’t want to push this before you were ready. Or before I was ready, actually. Anyway,” Buck shifts closer again, brushing his nose against Eddie’s. “I wasn’t sure if you were just a really generous, affectionate friend.”
Eddie laughs loudly for a good few seconds before gently placing a hand on either side of Buck’s face. He licks his lips, and his eyes track Buck’s tongue as he does the same.
“Not quite.”
They push forward at the same moment, neither sure who technically kisses who first. It’s calm and closed-mouthed, yet full of passion. Eddie pulls back for less than a second before pushing back in, holding Buck as close to his chest as he can. One of Buck’s hands snakes up to the back of Eddie’s head, somehow managing to get the two of them even closer together. Buck’s mouth opens a little and Eddie follows suit, not changing their pace or intensity but adding another level of intimacy to the kiss.
They kiss for a few minutes before Buck breaks the kiss and lifts himself up onto his knees so that Eddie has to tilt his head back to look at him. He drops a quick kiss to Eddie’s forehead and slowly slides backwards to stand in front of the couch. Eddie looks put out and opens his mouth to complain about the loss when Buck interrupts him.
“It’s getting kinda late, Eds.” He smiles down at Eddie and holds out a hand to help him up off the couch. “I should probably be getting back to my apartment.”
Eddie pouted jokingly, trying to hide how actually upset he was about the news.
“I suppose I should let you get some sleep after that shift.” Eddie huffs out a laugh which Buck returns.
“Yeah,” Buck replies as he picks his jacket up off of the floor and starts to wander towards the door. “As much as I was enjoying that, I am freaking exhausted. If it’s alright with you, I could come back tomorrow?”
Eddie falls silent for a minute, looking over Buck’s face. He takes in Buck’s slightly swollen lips, his hair which is starting to regain its natural curls, the blush on his cheeks and the bags under his eyes. He thinks about everything he realised earlier, about how much he loves the man in front of him, about how much his son loves him. He begins to smile.
“Why don’t you just stay here for the night?”
Buck looks taken aback.
“Seriously, Buck… you’ve got a toothbrush. Your spare work bag is here, not that we’re on shift tomorrow. You’ve got pyjamas in my drawer for God’s sake.” Eddie steps forward to carefully reach out and take Buck’s hand. “Besides all that, Christopher would be so excited to see you stayed over.”
Buck grins, ducking his head to look down at their joined hands before gazing back at Eddie. “You can’t just use Chris against me every time you want to kiss me for longer.”
Eddie tugs Buck towards him and starts to walk backwards down the hall, pulling Buck towards his bedroom.
“Can’t I?”
And who is Buck to deny the truth?
--
In the morning, Eddie wakes feeling warm. He can feel one of Buck’s hands resting against his torso, t-shirt rucked up to his neck so Buck can press his face into Eddie’s chest. Their legs are wrapped around each other. Eddie doesn’t think he could get any happier.
Then the door squeaks open, and Christopher lets out a screech that sends Buck shooting upright in bed.
“BUCKY!”
Chris flings himself up onto the bed with a little help from Buck, and he settles in between the men, reaching out to hold hands with both of them.
Eddie gets happier.