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“Are- are you sure?” Buck asked. He still felt like he was in shock or something. Like he was in a dream of some kind. A good but weird one.
“We’re sure.” Dr. McIntyre laughed lightly. “Your thesis project was the most promising and we are offering this opportunity because of it. The flat is furnished, and close to campus. There are also nearby businesses that you are able to rent cars from should you need to travel to view the sights in person or visit other libraries. There have been a lot of researchers working on similar projects, but yours shows the most promise to tracking down a more solidified answer.”
“That’s … wow. This is incredible. When, uh, when would I leave?”
“Classes are meant to start in three weeks, so that’s when everything will be open for you. The first week in September.”
“Ok.” Buck nodded and licked his lips. “I’ll … I’ll do it. Yeah, I’ll do it.”
“Perfect. We went ahead and booked a flight in the hopes we could use it to entice you to agree or even just have available so you could make your plans around it if you did agree. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Have a good day, Dr. Buckley.”
“You as well, Dr. McIntyre.” Buck smiled as he shook her hand.
He stayed at the restaurant for another hour, flipping through the packet of information she’d provided him. It was … it was incredible. An incredible opportunity. And it would further the research he’d been working on. He had to tell Chris about it. Chris was the only one who knew that he’d gone and gotten a PhD in literature with a focus on oral traditions. More importantly to them both, Arthurian legends.
“Hey, Eddie, I know you’re probably busy, but I was hoping I could come see Chris?” Buck said into his phone as he got in his jeep.
“You wanna see Christopher but not me?” Eddie asked. “I feel like I should be offended by that.”
“No you don’t.” Buck laughed.
“I’m dropping him off at Pepa’s tonight for a bit, so why don’t you swing by there and see him?”
“Yeah, I can do that.” Buck said cautiously. “What, uh, what are you up to?”
“Got plans with Bosko.” Eddie said, and Buck tried not to clench his jaw. He … hated that he was jealous of her. How apparently Eddie was adjusting to having a new partner while Buck was still feeling like he was in limbo after the embolism and then the tsunami.
“Oh. Ok. I’ll, uh, talk to you later then.”
“See ya, Buck.” Eddie hung up before Buck could respond, which just made him hurt a little more. Clearing his throat so he wouldn’t dwell on it, he headed over to Pepa’s. She waved him in, giving him a hug once he was inside.
“Hey, Buck.” Chris said, giving him a big smile.
“Hey buddy.” Buck smiled back, sitting next to him at the table while Pepa and Abuela came in carrying coffee cake and coffee for them, milk for Chris.
“To what do we owe this long overdue visit?” Pepa asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Buck felt his face heat up.
“What do you think, Chris? Should we add them to the secret?” Buck looked at Chris who was smirking at his family.
“Yeah, I think they’ll be able to keep it.”
“Ok.” Buck ruffled Chris’ hair. “So far only Chris knows this, but after the truck bombing I was able to finish some schooling. I got my PhD in Literature.”
“Wonderful!” Pepa exclaimed happily.
“Congratulations, Evan.” Abuela said enthusiastically.
“Thanks. The thing is, my focus was oral traditions. Basically myths, or stories passed along by word of mouth. I, uh, got approached a few weeks back and again today and offered an opportunity. I wasn’t originally going to take it, but with everything that’s happened, I feel like it’s a sign.”
“What sort of opportunity?” Abuela asked, passing him another slice of coffee cake.
“A year long research project. Essentially pinpointing the time period the Arthurian legends originated.”
“You’re going to England.” Chris said softly.
“Do you not think I should do it?” Buck asked carefully.
“I think … I think you’re the smartest and best person I know. And if anyone can find the answer, it’s you. I’m just gonna miss you a lot.”
“We’ll work something out so you can visit me, ok? And- and we’ll go check out all the Harry Potter sights together.”
“I don’t know if dad will be ok with that.” Chris said, biting his lip.
“We’ll talk to Eddie.” Pepa said firmly. “Don’t you worry about that. You’ll call us once a week, at least, and as soon as we have something planned out, we will email you.”
“When are you leaving?” Abuela asked, sipping her coffee.
“Three weeks.” Buck sighed, eating the last of his second piece of coffee cake. “It’s set up so I’ll be there while school is in session so I’ll have access to the libraries.”
“You get to see the Oxford library?” Chris asked brightly.
“I do.” Buck smiled. “I’ll take some pictures for you and when you visit I’ll show it to you.”
“Cool.” Chris smiled happily. “We can have a going away party here, just the four of us.”
“That sounds really good, buddy.” Buck laughed lightly. “I gotta go, though. Gotta get up early tomorrow to call and work out putting my stuff into storage and putting in my leave of absence at work. Man. It almost makes me miss when I was living out of my car.”
“I can help pack.” Chris offered.
“We’ll let Carla know so she can bring him over.” Pepa laughed.
“Don’t tell her I forgot to include her!” Chris said, eyes going a little wide.
“We won’t.” Abuela chuckled.
“Just remember, unlike normal, I won’t be able to take the leftovers.” Buck said, pointing between the women.
“We’ll have the guest room ready so you can be out of your apartment and not have to worry about that before you leave.” Pepa added.
“I’d really appreciate that.” Buck said gratefully. He was really hoping he wouldn’t be living out of a hotel before he left.
“Don’t even worry about that. Now go home and get some sleep so Mama and I can plan while Christopher goes to take a bath before bed.”
“I’ll see you soon, buddy.” Buck hugged Chris when he got up and threw his arms around Buck’s neck.
“I’m stealing at least one sweatshirt.” Chris mumbled before heading to the bathroom.
“Thanks for letting me drop in.” Buck said, getting up and hugging each woman, kissing their cheeks.
“You are always welcome, nieto.” Buck blushed but smiled and waved them goodbye.
It took him two days to get the moving company set up to get his stuff put into storage before he was meant to leave. He talked to the realtor that got him the loft and set up a contract to lease it, since he’d bought it. He hoped that someone was willing to rent from him for what he was asking on such a short notice. All he really had left was to stop by the station to get the copies of his keys back and talk to Bobby.
“Buck?” Hen called, drawing his attention when he walked in. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Few things.” Buck shrugged. “I know this is gonna sound weird, but I promise I’ll explain when I talk to everyone, but can I get the key back to the loft?”
“Sure.” Hen said hesitantly.
“Thanks, Hen.” Buck accepted the key and dropped it in his pocket. “Didn’t want to have to get the locks changed for the new tenants, so this saves me.”
“New tenants?” Chim asked, joining them and frowning in confusion.
“Yeah. Leasing out my loft. So I kinda need my keys back. Think you can get Maddie’s for me? She hasn’t really been answering my calls or texts.”
“She’s picked up more therapy appointments.” Chim sighed. “I’ll get it from her, though.” He handed his key over when Bobby and Eddie showed up. Eddie was sporting some interesting bruises on his elbow.
“What’s going on?” Bobby asked, looking warily between them all.
“Getting my keys back.” Buck said. “I’m leasing out the loft and don’t really want to get the locks changed.”
“Why’re you leasing out the loft?” Eddie asked, not moving to hand Buck’s key over.
“Something I wanted to talk to you all about.” Buck said carefully. “I, uh, got an opportunity through UCLA for a research project. Kinda requires me to be on site for it.”
“Buck,” Bobby let out a sigh, “I told you when you were better you could come back.”
“I know.” Buck frowned. “And I still plan to. I just … I can’t just sit around and wait for whenever that is. I get that what happened scared you, and you don’t want to let me back out on a truck-”
“You aren’t ready.” Bobby said firmly, and Buck … he suddenly didn’t really want to tell them. “We can’t have the medics worrying about you as much as patients on a scene.”
“So you aren’t going to give me the key back?” Buck asked, swallowing though his throat was dry.
“Do you have an alternate to hand out?” Bobby countered. “That was the agreement.”
“I know, but I won’t-”
“I don’t have mine.” Eddie said, not looking at Buck and trying to hide his clenched fists. He looked angry about something.
“Why don’t you take another few days, Buck and then come back? So you have more time to think about everything?” Bobby offered.
“I-” Buck stopped when the alarm went off and Bobby and Eddie rushed off while Hen and Chim lingered a little. “Don’t worry about it, guys. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you.”
Hen hugged him, then Chim did, before they ran to the truck. Buck watched them go and just felt … alone. Bobby wouldn’t hear him out, and Eddie … something was going on with him. If Bobby wouldn’t listen, he’d go to the LAFD offices instead. He wasn’t going to just disappear. He was a little surprised that he was asked to stick around for a bit once he turned in his request. Meeting with the Chief was definitely not what he expected.
“Buckley, good to see you up and around and doing so well.”
“Thank you, sir.” Buck said, shaking his hand. “Can I ask why you wanted to meet with me?”
“Just wanted to check in and make sure you were doing alright once I saw the duration of your leave of absence.”
“I was offered a research opportunity, sir. Figured since I’m not cleared to work yet I might as well take it and just jump back in when I’m finished.”
“What do you mean you weren’t cleared?” The Chief frowned and flipped open the file on his desk. “Says here you set new records when recertifying. Even with the blood thinners, there are protocols in place to keep that from being an issue or concern. Firefighter Han was on some for a while after one of his injuries and was cleared the same way with the same safety measures in place for any incidents on the job.”
“I don’t understand.” Buck frowned, shaking his head. “Bo- Captain Nash said I wasn’t cleared yet.”
“That doesn’t make sense. I’ll give him a call and make sure he received our evaluation, but you were cleared two weeks after the tsunami.”
“You can talk to him if you want, sir,” Buck croaked, clearing his throat, “but I’ve already accepted the research position. I submitted a copy of my degree when I received it from UCLA this summer.”
“I saw that. Remarkable you were able to achieve a PhD while still working full time.”
“Thank you, sir.” Buck flushed. “The research project is in England, though, so I won’t be able to work even part time while I’m … anyway.”
“That’s fantastic, Buckley. Wish we’d have known sooner so we could give you a proper send off, but I’ll make sure this gets filed and we’ll have a position for you when you get back. You’re representing the best of LAFD while over there, though. I’m counting on you to make a good impression.”
“I will sir.” Buck agreed, standing up and shaking his hand, offering a small smile. He was in a bit of a daze as he drove to Pepa’s. He didn’t really say anything that evening, and Pepa didn’t mind that he was quiet, knowing he’d talk when he was ready.
He was surprised, at his going away party, that was meant to be a small gathering, the Wilsons and Chim were there. Chris shrugged because he hadn’t told anyone anything.
“We came over while you were out settling your storage unit.” Hen said with a small smile. “We knew something was up, but not what. They still won’t tell us, either. Just said the party was for you leaving for this fancy pants project you’re on.”
“Well I know you’re good with secrets,” Buck smiled at her before turning to Chim and narrowing his eyes at him, “but what about you? Think you can keep something kinda big from everyone?”
“Wait, even Maddie?” Chim asked, looking around with wide eyes. “I mean, I can give it a shot.”
“Just because I know it’ll get out eventually, I’ll tell you.”
“Wait! Can I?” Chris exclaimed.
“Go ahead, buddy.” Buck chuckled.
“Dr. Buckley is going to study at Oxford to research the origination of Arthurian legends!” He said proudly.
“Dr. Buckley?” Hen asked, looking at him with her eyebrows raised really high.
“Got my PhD at the beginning of the summer.” Buck said bashfully. He laughed when Karen screamed and hugged him tightly while Hen and Chim both looked to be in shock.
“Literature or history?” Karen asked, finally backing away.
“Literature. Emphasis on oral traditions.” Buck chuckled. “Got a minor in History since they sort of overlap in some areas.”
“So all this time you’ve been giving us random facts, it’s because you were in study mode and just absorbing everything.” Chim said, nodding as if he suddenly understood Buck’s behavior. “Well, it’s gonna suck without you, man, but I’m proud of you.” Chim hugged him just as tight as Karen had before Hen shoved him away and hugged him tighter.
“Oh, I’m gonna miss you, Buckeroo.”
“I’ll miss you guys, too.” Buck ducked his head when they just smiled at him proudly. “Probably won’t make it back for holidays for the duration of the project, but, well … you’re welcome to visit. Just let me know.”
“Oh, honey, we’d love to visit, I’m just not sure it’ll be possible.” Karen whined. “Not with replacing the roof and the heat and AC. But I will absolutely look at prices and save what I can and let you know. We want monthly phone calls, though.”
“At the LEAST.” Hen stated, pointing at him. “More frequently would be better, but we know it may not be possible.”
“Are we seriously the only ones who know?” Chim asked, patting his arm and still smiling at him happily.
“Yeah. Well, you guys and the Chief. I came by that day to get my keys and turn in my leave of absence, but that didn’t really work out so I went to the main office and turned it in. Found out, uh, that they had cleared me to return to work already. Guess Bobby didn’t really want to see me potentially get hurt again or something. Anyway, Chief knows, it’s in my file, my transcript and everything. He told me I’m representing LAFD, so no pressure.”
“Right.” Hen snorted. “Sure. No pressure. Sorry we couldn’t be there for graduation.”
“I couldn’t even be there for graduation.” Buck shrugged. “Still had my cast on and I was not gonna try and maneuver across the stage on crutches or in a wheelchair. I was not near as smooth on those as Chris is.”
“I’m kind of a pro.” Chris agreed, smiling brightly at him.
“You don’t have to keep it from Maddie for long, Chim. Just … just give me a month, if you can? That way I’m safely eight hours, a continent, and an ocean away and she can’t just swing by and yell at me for hiding it?”
“I’ll try, man.” Chim sighed. “But we’re totally picking you up when you get back.”
“We’ll have to get a party bus or something.” Hen snorted. “Even if it’s just our families. I’m sure Isabel and Pepa would love to have something big for your return.”
“We would.” Pepa agreed. “Now, we must call it a night. Evanito needs to be at the airport in a few hours and Christopher has demanded to stay up to see him off.”
“Ok, well, we’re going to count on Chris for updates if we see him before we hear from you.” Karen pointed at Buck before hugging him again.
“Love you guys.” Buck said, hugging everyone tightly before waving them off.
Carla showed up a few hours later, picking up Buck and Chris, who was barely staying awake, and took them to the airport. There were more hugs at the airport, and a few tears from Chris who finally let it sink in that Buck was leaving. There were a lot of whispered promises to always be available by phone or video call whenever Chris needed him, no matter what time it was.
He knew Eddie and Maddie didn’t use social media, let alone Bobby, so he took some pictures in the airport at his gate with a caption, ‘see you in a year, LA, Dr. Buck out!’. He slept as much of the trip as he could before they were landing at Heathrow. He took a picture of the guy waiting for him with his name on a sign before walking over to introduce himself and collect his luggage. He took a ton of pictures, planning to send them to everyone once he had time to shake off his jet lag.
The flat was actually really nice and nearer to the campus than he expected. He got a bicycle to get to and from the library so he didn’t just have to walk. Walking into Oxford the first time was … surreal. What he liked best about his research was that he wasn’t following the usual trail of Arthurian legend published works. Those were all primarily from the historical point of view, and he was more interested in the origin of the tale itself.
Instead of getting the rods and screws out in LA, like was originally planned, he got them out at a London hospital, doing PT with them and using walking to class and cycling as extra exercise. As promised, he talked to Chris a minimum of once a week, sometimes more frequently. Pepa was trying to work out coming to see him over the break between Christmas and New Years. He’d talked to Hen and Chim once each on the phone, and they seemed like everything was mostly going alright. Which is why he was confused by Chim calling at nearly midnight his time.
“Hello?” Buck asked a little groggily. He’d stayed way too long in the library and his body and eyes were sore as he unlocked his door.
“Buckeroo! Tell me you know some cool facts about meteors.” Chim said, sounding cheerful.
“Sure, what kind of facts you lookin’ for?”
“Odds of a person getting hit by one and surviving?” Chim asked, and Buck could hear other people moving around, so they were most likely on a call.
“That’s actually an incredibly rare phenomenon. There’s only one person in history documented for being hit by one and surviving, and that was a man in the 50’s.”
“How do you know that?” A girl asked, before correcting herself, “why do you know that?”
“Buck was on the pier when the tsunami hit.” Eddie said, sounding like he was moving something. “He’s got a thing for natural disasters.”
“Wait, were you hit by one? Oh, man. You are gonna be infamous. The statistics for surviving a meteor strike, especially a direct hit, are less than one in a million. You are one of two people in recorded history to experience something like this. That is insanely cool!” Buck said excitedly.
“Yeah?” The girl asked, sounding hopeful.
“Yeah, dude. The odds of survival are so low, they don’t even have statistics aside from hypotheticals, which is what I was referring to with my rambling. You, my friend, are an amazing human being and destined for great things.” Buck said certainly.
“You’re amazing, Buckeroo. Thanks man. Get some sleep.” Chim said happily, sounding like he was closing the ambulance doors.
“Anytime!” Buck hung up and dropped into bed.
He was making good headway on his research, or at least he felt that way, and his project advisors agreed. He felt like he was close to something, he just wasn’t sure what it was. Picking up Chris, Pepa, and Abuela a few days after Christmas at Heathrow was an amazing relief. He hadn’t realized how much he missed them all until they were there. There wasn’t room in his flat for them to stay with him, so Abuela and Pepa were staying in a hotel around the corner and Chris was staying with him. He was curious how they’d convinced Eddie to let them take his son out of the country, but also wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Eddie texted him pretty frequently, but otherwise they hadn’t really talked. Even Maddie primarily texted him instead of calling.
Apparently Josh, May, Athena, Hen and Chim were setting bets on how long it would take anyone to realize where Buck was and what he was doing. Pepa found it hilarious and held onto the funds whenever someone changed a date or name or something. Chris, Denny, and Harry were keeping a separate pool going, but they wouldn’t tell Buck what it was about, nor any of their moms or matriarchal figures. Pepa introduced them all as Buck’s family to his project advisors, who were all thrilled that he had family visiting him for the holidays and told them how he worked too hard some days.
Chris was a lot more relaxed going back home now that he’d been able to see Buck and spent basically four days attached to him. Abuela had brought several spices with her and cooked him a ton of meals to freeze and eat so he could still have home cooked meals with some flavor, which made him laugh. It was such a relief to see them all again that Buck felt like a weight had been lifted from him, even though he had to watch them leave. Chris had brought the hoodie of Buck’s that he’d stolen and taken another one with him when they boarded the plane. It was massive on him, but he insisted he wear one and had another wrapped in plastic in his suitcase so it would still smell like Buck when he got home. Apparently the other one had lost his scent.
The next few months were spent traveling across Wales and Scotland as he tracked down more records. It wasn’t far, especially not having to deal with LA rush hour traffic. It was a beautiful country, too. He often went for runs to take in the sights. The best answers he found for his project ended up being in Scotland, though. He nailed down the start of Guinevere and Lancelot, along with Percival and Gwaine. Finding early mentions of Merlin nearly distracted him to the point of losing his progress on Arthur. But he hit a breakthrough and spent around eight hours straight on his computer typing up his paper before he crashed.
“‘Lo?” He answered his phone, barely awake. He glanced at a clock and saw he’d only been asleep for about two hours.
“Buck.” Eddie breathed, sounding sincerely relieved to hear his voice.
“Eds?” Buck mumbled, trying to wake up, but his brain was firmly in offline mode. “Time is it?”
“Around three in the morning.” Eddie said, sounding like his teeth were chattering.
“Mm.” Buck hummed. “Only went to bed a few hours ago. Had to try and write as much as I could while I had it fresh. Working a 24?”
“I was, yeah.” Eddie agreed. “Had a … close call and needed to hear your voice.”
“Wanna tell me ‘bout it?” Buck asked, rolling over so his phone was resting on the side of his face.
“Not really. Can you just … just talk?” Eddie asked, and Buck snorted.
“Sure. So. The earliest mention of the famed sorcerer Merlin was originally traced back to an old historian around 1130. He was originally thought to be a madman living in the woods before the tales twisted and he became a sorcerer that fought those who oppressed other people, poorer citizens. It was noted that many nobles and leaders often sought him out for his uncanny wisdom and intellect, regardless of how mad they saw him. It wasn’t accurate, though. See, oral traditions had him identified earlier. His name differed depending what part of the island the story was coming from. The Welsh called him Myrrdin, while the Scots called him … shit. I lost it for a minute. Anyway, original legends don’t have Merlin and Arthur really mentioned together, but I found a few insanely old and hidden journals, that I’m still trying to work on translating, that reference Merlin as Arthur’s protector. Like, he went to King Uther to petition him to allow him to protect his son, but the King saw Merlin for his madness. Not accepting that result, Merlin changed his appearance, so the story goes, so he could befriend Arthur.”
“Did he?” Eddie asked, sounding much calmer and more relaxed than when he called initially, but Buck was having trouble staying awake.
“Did he what?” Buck yawned.
“Did he befriend and protect Arthur?”
“Oh, yeah.” Buck hummed. “He stole Arthur away when the Saxons first invaded, killing the King and Queen, and kept him hidden, training him as a warrior and king as much as a wild man in the woods could. The general consensus of historians was that Arthur was merely a legend and took a final stand at … at Tintagel, in Wales. But that’s not what happened. Yeah, Arthur eventually took up the mantle of King, but not until he was well into his 30’s, and he didn’t actually have a stronghold or castle. When the Saxons were closing in on them, trying to squash the perceived rebellion, and the battle was turning to their favor, Arthur sent his knights out in groups with their citizens to areas of safety to hide as common folk in smaller villages. Lancelot was sworn to protect Guinevere and took her to Europe to protect her and Arthur’s unborn child while Merlin and Arthur headed into the northern wilderness never to be seen or heard from again. If magic were real, I’d hazard they lived insanely long lives, watching their friends and family prosper safely away from them.”
“Thank you.” Eddie sighed.
“Mm. Anytime, Eds.” Buck let out a heavy breath and fell asleep again to the sound of Eddie’s steady breathing.
When he finally surfaced, it was dinner time, so he showered and had some food before crashing again so he could finish writing when he got back to his flat in London. Scotland and Wales were beautiful, but he missed the city noise. He spent several weeks once he got back to London in the library and in coffee shops as he rushed to get the finishing touches done for his research. When he stopped, he realized he was done. Nine, nearly ten. months of research, and he … was done. He submitted his findings and slept for nearly two whole days after.
Checking his messages and mail after he was coherent again found a return ticket and copies of his research that was going to be published in the next few months. He actually got a bound copy of his research in an actual book format with his name stamped in, along with his research project team. It was … surreal. Packing up to go back to LA was a little bittersweet. He’d really enjoyed his time in England and was definitely going to come back and visit. Not including the times he’d already been asked to guest lecture. He did a sort of farewell tour of all the spots that he’d found he enjoyed spending time in before getting dropped off at the airport.
Now on the return part of his journey, he took a picture at Heathrow and captioned it ‘London, I’ve loved you this past year, but this boy needs LA and sunshine again! Dr. Buck, out!’. He was determined to sleep as much as he could on the flight back, and managed most of it. Once he was back in LA he finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the sunshine. He knew he was going to be exhausted from the entire day, since he’d essentially gone back eight hours in time.
“Buck!” Chris shouted once he was through security. Buck laughed and ran to meet him, picking him up and spinning him around in a tight hug.
“Oh! I missed you!” Buck closed his eyes and just breathed his kid in.
“Missed you too.” Chris said, his face pressed into Buck’s neck.
“Come on, Chris, our turn!” Chim called, making Chris snort as Buck put him back down before Chim was wrapping him up and hugging him tightly. “You were sorely missed, Buckeroo.”
“You really were.” Hen agreed, shoving her way forward to hug him just as tightly. “Oh, baby, we’ve missed you so much.”
“Missed you guys, too.” Buck laughed.
“How was your trip?” Pepa asked, hugging him as she got her turn before backing up to let Abuela hug him, too.
“Long.” Buck sighed. “Gotta get my bags, then I’m good to go.”
“We’ll meet you there.” Hen said, giving him an apologetic smile. “Forgot about the party bus and somehow they were all rented already unless we wanted to pay an exorbitant amount for one.”
“That’s fine.” Buck snorted. They grabbed his bags and walked them out, where Buck froze as Eddie was leaning against his truck that Abuela and Pepa were loading his bags into. “Eddie.”
“Buck.” Eddie said, sounding as relieved at seeing him as Buck was at seeing Eddie. They met between the doors and the truck and Buck didn’t know who was hugging who tighter. “Hope it’s ok I’m here.”
“Shut up.” Buck chuckled, realizing he was crying a little. “God, I missed you.”
“Me too.” Eddie rasped.
“Edito! Let’s go!” Pepa called, and Buck noticed they were all loaded up and just waiting on them.
“They’ve got a whole party set up, so I hope you’re ready.” Eddie cleared his throat and finally backed away just enough so he could look at Buck. He put a hand on the side of Buck’s neck and Buck wasn’t surprised they’d both let a few tears out. “You look good.”
“Me?” Buck scoffed, looking Eddie up and down. “What about you? Jesus, man, did you do anything but work out while I was gone?”
“Come on.” Eddie rolled his eyes, not taking his hand off his shoulder until they reached the truck and Buck climbed in the passenger seat. Pepa and Abuela chatted the whole drive back to Pepa’s place. Once they pulled in the drive, Pepa waved to Chim who came over and grabbed Buck’s bags, taking them inside to the spare room, which had become Buck’s room. Chris, Abuela, and Pepa led the way through the house to the backyard where a party was clearly going on. As soon as everyone spotted Buck a cheer of ‘welcome back’ resounded.
Athena reached him first, hugging him and cupping his face to check him over. He lost track of all the hugs after that. He chatted with everyone he could, listening to what all they’d been up to that he hadn’t gotten from the calls with Chim, Hen, Pepa, Abuela, or Chris.
“Alright.” Maddie said, drawing attention as everyone was just sitting down and enjoying the moment of peace. “I give up. I have to know what you’ve been up to, or where the hell you’ve been for the last near year.”
“I think we should take some guesses, first.” Athena said with a smirk.
“All I know is it was another timezone.” Maddie shrugged.
“Chim, I’m gonna get you a good bottle of liquor, man. Just tell me what you want.” Buck said, pointing at him.
“Consider it done.” He laughed happily.
“You weren’t at UCLA?” Bobby asked, tilting his head as he looked between Athena and Buck. But Athena was a fantastic cop, so he wasn’t going to get anything out of her.
“England.” Eddie said, sitting back.
“Anyone else?” Hen asked, smirking a lot like Athena had.
“Ok, Buckeroo, tell these people what you’ve been up to.” Athena said proudly.
“I was mostly in England, but I was also in Wales and Scotland a lot. So really the UK in general. I, uh, was hand-picked to conduct a research project on the accuracy of Arthurian Legends from the oral tradition perspective, because that’s what my degree focused on.”
“Degree?” Eddie asked, looking surprised.
“Doctorate of Philosophy in Literature, with primary emphasis on oral traditions and a minor in history earned shortly after the truck bombing.” Buck admitted sheepishly. “My final dissertation was about the progression of various myths and legends passed on via oral traditions and how they originated versus what they evolved into. Drew some attention and I was asked to see what I could find on King Arthur from the oral tradition aspect as opposed to the historical aspect, which is what a majority of scholars reported. Before me, anyway.”
“Can I show them?” Chris asked excitedly, and Buck nodded before Chris was pulling Buck’s final project out of his carry-on bag that he had brought outside on accident. “The Origination of Arthurian Legends as Associated with Oral Traditions by Dr. Evan Buckley, PhD.” He read the title proudly, passing it to his dad who looked at, stunned.
“That’s … well. I was presented with that after I’d submitted my final … dissertation, I guess. They awarded my doctorate before this so I guess this is more of an actual reference book or research publication for future scholars rather than a dissertation, but that’s … probably not the argument you want to hear.” Buck pursed his lips as several people snickered or smiled at his rambling.
“You got a doctorate?” Maddie asked, just as stunned as Eddie was as she looked over at the book in his hands.
“What, like it’s hard?” Buck smirked as he tilted his head, before everyone was laughing. “Yeah, I got a doctorate. Figured if I was gonna be doing research binges I might as well do them and get something out of it.”
“What made you choose literature?” Bobby asked curiously, smiling at the book as it was finally pried out of Eddie’s hands and passed around.
“Sort of just fell into it.” Buck shrugged.
“He’s always read.” Maddie said with a small smile. “Always had his nose in a book, especially if it had nothing to do with what he was supposed to be studying.”
“He’s got a bachelor’s in zoology, too.” Chris added emphatically.
“That was accidental.” Buck said, poking Chris in his side. “I was originally only doing literature, but then this guy distracted me with everything at the zoo so we had to learn everything we could about everything there.”
“You loved it.” Chris snickered.
“Love you more.” Buck grumbled, grabbing Chris and pulling him into his lap, making him laugh.
“This …” Bobby let out a heavy breath and swiped a hand over his face, “this is what you were trying to tell us about. That day you came by the station.”
“It was.” Buck agreed, his smile falling a little. “But you were all pretty stressed.”
“Don’t make excuses for us, Buck.” Bobby said sadly. “How did Hen and Chim know?”
“We followed him and found out he was staying here with Pepa after getting his keys back.” Hen admitted. “Only found out what he was doing the day he was going to the airport.”
“And now I get to find a place to live all over again.” Buck sighed, pursing his lips when Pepa and Abuela gave him unimpressed looks.
“You’re staying here as long as you need, Evanito.” Pepa argued.
“Can we show dad our wands now?” Chris asked excitedly.
“Yeah, go grab some of our stuff.” Buck agreed, smiling as Chris hurried into the house to get some of their souvenirs to show off, Pepa following him to help. “Out of curiosity,” Buck looked at Eddie cautiously, “what exactly did they tell you they were doing between Christmas and New Year?”
“Visiting family.” Eddie said before crossing his arms and giving his abuela an annoyed look. “Really? You took Chris to another country?”
“Evan needed family for the holiday.” She shrugged unconcernedly. “You picked up extra shifts, and it was good for you to not have to worry about Christopher for a few days. A boy needs both his parents.”
“We saw all the Harry Potter sights.” Chris interrupted, dragging a bag out and showing off their wand boxes and some of their pictures. Chris put on his Slytherin scarf while Buck pulled on his Hufflepuff one. He tossed Eddie the Gryffindor scarf, and a Ravenclaw one to Maddie. Everyone crowded around Chris as he showed off the photo album they made of the four of them visiting all the Harry Potter locations as well as other landmarks in London. Buck blushed when he saw the pictures of him in the library studying, a small pair of glasses on that he’d gotten to help with the headaches he’d been getting while reading so much. There were even a few of him presenting to a few classes.
“Professor Buckley.” Maddie teased, and Buck tried to scowl at her, but his face felt hot.
“I’m gonna send an email about those pictures.” he grumbled.
“Since when do you need glasses?” Hen asked curiously.
“Since I was spending between eight and 16 hours a day studying old ass books that were in Old English, Gaelic, Welsh, or Scottish, not even mentioning what I came across in Ogham, before typing my findings up.” Buck admitted. “The Old English I could get, the others took me forever to translate. Strained my eyes a bit too much and had to get very low prescription reading glasses. Should be fine as long as I’m not spending that kind of time buried in research any time soon.”
“I want copies of some of these.” Athena said certainly.
“I had doubles printed, I’ll grab them for you on the way out.” Abuela agreed. “Christopher has some extras for Maddie as well.”
Buck started yawning while they were going through pictures and knew he was going to crash any minute, but he was comfortable with everyone there and chatting quietly as they looked at everything Chris was showing off. He didn’t even fight when Eddie pulled him to his feet and forced him into the house to take a shower and go to bed. It was really hard to stay awake long enough to shower, but as soon as he was out, he crashed hard on the bed, not even pulling the covers up.
It took him most of a week to get back into a normal sleep-wake pattern because of the time difference and not being driven by research all day every day. He was a little surprised to be called back to UCLA when school was getting out for everyone. Graduations were soon, and even Chris was trying to get some sort of summer schedule set up with him. When he got to campus, he was directed to the English department, which wasn’t surprising, but the panel of professors waiting inside the office for him was.
“Dr. Buckley, thank you for coming.” Dr. McIntyre said, standing up and shaking his hand.
“Dr. McIntyre. Nice to see you again.” Buck said, taking the seat she indicated for him.
“Your project produced astounding results, Dr. Buckley.” Dr. Carter said certainly.
“It was a fun project.” Buck admitted. “I really enjoyed getting to dig into it all.”
“It’s been reviewed by several experts and accepted.” Dr. Carter nodded.
“Ok.” Buck still didn’t know what they were expecting from him.
“You’re being awarded a PhD specifically for your research on Arthurian legends.” Dr. McIntyre said with a smug grin.
“I’ve … already got a PhD.” Buck frowned.
“And you have two Bachelor’s and a Master’s.” Dr. Carter stated.
“Here is an invitation to attend graduation should you choose to walk with the others.” Dr. McIntyre handed him a packet that he opened and looked through.
“My project was literary based, though, and my original PhD was in literature.” Buck said, tucking everything back away.
“Your dissertation for that degree was well written and presented for your literary doctorate. However, this most recent project was solely oral tradition based, not just as an emphasis. Just accept it, Dr. Buckley. You’re receiving another PhD, already approved by a combination of this panel and a panel of experts from the University of Oxford who would have waxed poetic about your work ethic and supporting research for days had we not interrupted.” Dr. Carter said with a heavy sigh. “You were unable to walk for your last degree. Consider this a delayed graduation ceremony if you’d rather think of it in that regard.”
“Am I walking with everyone else?” Buck asked, sitting back.
“Unless you would agree to speak for a short period?” Dr. McIntyre gave him a pointed look. “No more than 10 minutes.”
“How long do I have to decide?”
“Tomorrow. They want to have the programs sent to print the day after tomorrow.” Dr. Carter stated, looking pleased.
“I’m a terrible public speaker, but if you want me to talk, I guess I can figure something out.”
“See you this weekend, Dr. Buckley.” Buck waved them off and grumbled under his breath the whole drive to Eddie’s house. For his part, Eddie just raised an eyebrow when he stomped inside and went straight for a beer.
“Everything alright?” Eddie finally asked.
“No.” Buck whined. “They want to give me another degree.”
“Ok?”
“They want to give me another degree and they want me to talk at graduation this weekend.”
“Ok.”
“What the hell am I gonna do with a second PhD?” Buck complained.
“What were you going to do with the first one?” Eddie chuckled, getting a beer himself.
“Nothing.” Buck shrugged. “Well, maybe guest lecture occasionally, but that’s it.”
“So treat the speech like an intro to a guest lecture.”
“Stop being so reasonable.” Buck pouted at him.
“Stop pouting like a brat.” Eddie argued.
“No.” Buck said petulantly, fighting a grin when Eddie laughed.
He hung out with Eddie for a while, helping him with laundry and watching a movie with him until his eyes got tired. He didn’t even argue when Eddie dragged him to his room to make him go to sleep in a bed and not on the couch. He … did not expect to wake up in the morning with Eddie curled around his back and holding onto him with a pretty firm grip. And a very obvious morning erection pressed against him. That was when he realized how long it had been since he’d had any sort of sex. It had been more than a year, because Ali had broken up with him shortly after he got out of the hospital from the bombing, and his body was very suddenly interested. He groaned and rolled over, twisting in Eddie’s grip until his face was tucked under Eddie’s chin and he could just breathe him in and try to calm his body down.
“Buck.” Eddie mumbled, pressing closer to him, making him hiss as his own morning erection made itself known when Eddie shifted.
“Fucking stop, Eds.” Buck whined, gripping Eddie’s waist.
“Really want me to stop?” Eddie asked, pressing his face into Buck’s hair.
“I- it- it’s-” Buck huffed in annoyance at not being able to think as Eddie grinded against him again.
“Tell me no, Buck.” Eddie whispered. “Tell me that you haven’t thought about it, about us. Tell me I’ve been imagining things when I talked to my therapist about all the confusing things I felt around you.” Buck couldn’t answer and just groaned before rolling to his back, pulling Eddie on top of him, gasping at the weight suddenly pinning him down.
“I- I haven’t- not- not since-” Buck couldn’t speak as Eddie rolled his hips.
“Me neither.” Eddie said in a low voice. “Not since Shannon.”
“You- so- you like guys now?” Buck asked to try and distract himself, sliding his hands over Eddie’s very defined back.
“No, not guys. Just you.” Eddie argued, before kissing him. Buck groaned again before flipping them so he was pressing Eddie into the mattress instead. He thought maybe they’d just … go slow, try out a few things, or just get off together. He wasn’t fully prepared for Eddie to just open himself up to Buck and tell him, demand him, really, to fuck him like he missed him. Which … was not hard to do. Because he had missed Eddie every time his mind was free from his research. He’d see something in a cafe and think about how Eddie would enjoy it, or see a boxing gym and think about Eddie hitting the bags. How, on car rides, Eddie would ask him a question while he drove and actually listen to his answers.
All he could think and feel was an endless loop of Eddie.
“You know,” Buck said, gasping for breath when he lay beside Eddie who was also still getting his breath back, “people said that Guinevere and Lancelot were together, that she cheated on Arthur with him, but that wasn’t true. He refused to touch Guinevere, knowing she belonged to the King, the true King, to Arthur. But Lancelot belonged to Arthur as well. Guinevere married Arthur and even had his child, but he often slept with Lancelot as much or more than his wife.”
“Arthur and Lancelot, huh?” Eddie asked, looking over at Buck, his eyes soft with fondness.
“Yeah.” Buck nodded. “Guinevere knew, but didn’t care. Merlin and Arthur tried to dispel the rumors about Guinevere and Lancelot, but she found them entertaining, as did Lancelot. Because they knew the truth. Lancelot enjoyed belonging to the King as much as Guinevere did.”
“And who belongs to who in this scenario?” Eddie asked curiously.
“We belong to each other, obviously.” Buck scoffed. “Can’t believe I had to go away for a year for us to figure this shit out.”
“Might not have happened otherwise, Buck.” Eddie laughed. “You leaving sent me into therapy with an actual desire to get my mind right.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Buck pouted.
“Dad!” Chris yelled through the house as the front door slammed open and Carla called after him to be more careful.
“Shit!” “Fuck!” Eddie and Buck cursed, barely getting a blanket up before the bedroom door was thrown open.
“Buck.” Chris snickered, clearly amused. “What, uh, what are you- you doing here?” he asked, grinning from the door.
“Um.” Buck looked frantically at Eddie, but Eddie was covering his mouth, trying not to laugh.
“Tell Carla we’ll be out in a minute, mijo.” Eddie finally got out between laughs.
“Uh huh.” He said, still snickering at them. “Buck’s making breakfast since he’s here!” He yelled, shutting the bedroom door.
“You heard your kid.” Eddie laughed, “go make him breakfast.”
“Brat.” Buck grumbled, leaning over and kissing Eddie once more before getting up and stealing a pair of shorts and a shirt from Eddie’s drawer and heading for the kitchen, greeting Carla when he got there, rolling his eyes when she smiled at him knowingly. He felt a little better when Eddie stumbled out, having a little trouble walking and a lot of trouble sitting at the table.