Chapter Text
The sun shining through the blinds woke Eddie slowly, and he rolled over with a groan to shove his head under his pillow. It was going to be a long day. He had started his new job at the 118 two weeks ago, and after his initial period of being eased into the work he was having his first 24 hour shift. As much as Eddie was genuinely enjoying his new job and his coworkers, he was apprehensive about being away from Christopher for that long.
He was even more apprehensive at the knowledge that he needed to find proper long term care for his son that didn’t involve putting his family out several times a week.
As if sensing his thoughts, he heard a call of “Dad!” from down the hallway, followed by the sound of Chris’ crutches clacking along the floor.
Eddie breathed deeply, enjoying his last moments of laying in his comfortable bed before rolling out quickly, like pulling off a bandaid. “Coming, Chris!” He called out, quickly pulling on socks to avoid the cold floors and sliding out of his door. Finding his son standing outside his room, Eddie grabbed him under the armpits and swung him up into his arms.
“Good morning, Chris! You’re up early! Ready for the day?” Eddie asked, feeling his heart warm at the sight of the grin on his son’s face.
“Yeah! I think Jimmy is bringing his frog into show and tell today. DId you know that frogs aren’t born frogs? They look like fish when they’re babies! And then they grow legs! ” Chris gushed, gesturing wildly and forcing Eddie to grip him a bit tighter before the kid wiggled out of his arms.
Eddie laughed, plopping Chris down on his stool in the bathroom. “Wow, where did you learn that, bud? I thought you guys were getting into biology next year?” Chris blinked at him blankly, shaking his head. “We're learning life cycles in science right now. What’s biology?” Chris pronounced the word slowly, the way he did when he was sounding out a new word. Eddie shook his head at himself. “Biology is a type of science, bud. Sorry, I think that gets divided up for you later. Life cycles, huh? Sounds like you guys are getting ahead in school.”
Chris grinned brightly up at him as Eddie deposited toothpaste onto his toothbrush for him. “Ms. Harris says we have bright futures! She says we are the smartest class she has ever had! I think me and Jess are the best, though. We always get the biggest checkmarks on our homework.” He said very seriously, looking proud of himself. Eddie handed Chris his toothbrush, ruffling his hair once he had taken it. “I’m sure you are. You are so brilliant, Chris.”
“Right! I’m brilliant.” Chris said around the toothbrush in his mouth, chest puffed up as he kept one arm on the sink to steady himself.
How did I get so lucky, Eddie thought to himself, quickly brushing his own teeth before moving into the kitchen.
As he placed some Eggos into the toaster, Eddie listened to Chris making his way into the kitchen, humming off-key to himself. “You thinking about joining chorus next year?” Eddie asked, watching Christopher fondly as he got into a dining chair.
“I think so.” Chris said, leaning onto the table and watching Eddie putter around the kitchen putting away dishes. “Mandy and Jimmy both said their parents are making them join, and I want to go with them! Can I, Dad?”
Eddie placed a plate of Eggos drowned in syrup in front of Chris, cringing a bit to himself at the amount of sugar he was giving his kid. “I think so, bud. I’ll work it out with Tía Pepa to make sure there’s someone to pick you up a bit later when I’m at work.”
Chris nodded, pleased, and continued digging into his waffles. Eddie looked at the clock on the oven nervously, glancing between it and the hallway leading to the front door. Pepa was supposed to be there any minute to take Chris to school, because Eddie needed to get to work soon. Eddie couldn’t help but feel like he was taking advantage of Abuela and Pepa, getting them to watch Christopher so often. He knew they didn’t see it as a burden; they were always happy to spend time with the ball of sunshine sat at his dining table. Unfortunately, Eddie also knew that Abuela especially was getting older, and looking after an energetic 8 year old could be a bit much for her without Pepa around to help.
Shaking his head, Eddie wiped Chris’ mouth of syrup, grabbing his now-empty plate and rinsing it off in the sink as he heard the front door open. Before he could try to do any more, Pepa was striding into the room and shooing him towards the door, insisting he go off to work and let her take care of the last of the clean up.
“Have a great day, Chris. Thank you so much, Pepa. Love you both.” Eddie left with a peck to both of their cheeks, locking the door behind him and speed walking towards his truck.
“So, Eddie, what do you think?” Eddie looked up from where he had been staring at his phone, blinking when he saw Chim watching him expectantly.
“Sorry, what?” He asked, tucking his phone back into his pocket.
Chim sighed deeply, shaking his head at Hen beside him. “See? I told you he wasn’t listening. What’s got you so distracted today, Eddie?” Eddie glanced between the two of them, sighing. He was supposed to have gotten a message from Pepa when she picked Chris up from school. It was only 10 minutes later than usual, but he was maybe a bit overprotective when it came to his son, and 10 minutes was enough to worry him.
He hadn’t actually told his team about Chris yet. Not for any particular reason, he just– hadn’t gotten around to it. He would tell them soon, he just wanted to feel a bit more settled on the team first. They were all perfectly welcoming, but sometimes Eddie could swear there was an air of sadness over them when they looked around, and he wasn’t sure how comfortable he was going to feel when he still didn’t know what that was about.
“It’s nothing Chim, don’t worry about it. What were you two talking about?” As he spoke, Eddie felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. As Chim launched into an explanation about the best brand of bubble gum from the local corner store– which, seriously? That is what he wanted Eddie’s input on? –Eddie surreptitiously checked his phone, letting out a small sigh of relief at the sight of a message from Pepa, saying the line was long but she had gotten Christopher.
Before Chimney could delve too deep on the intricacies of flavor and texture differences, the alarm went off. “Oh, thank God.” Hen muttered, jumping out of her seat. “I was starting to think I would have to listen to Chimney talk about gum for the rest of the shift.”
“Hey! You know, Buck would have appreciated that.” Chimney shot back, trotting after Hen. Eddie furrowed his brows, noticing a strange stutter in Chim’s step as he spoke, as if he had startled himself with his words. Shaking his head, Eddie followed the paramedics down the stairs, resolving to work that mystery out another time.
It had been a long shift. An easy one, but still a long one. Eddie was starting to think the easy shifts felt like they dragged on more than busy ones, although maybe he just hated feeling like he had nothing to do. So much downtime led to a lot of sitting around and watching the clock, eager for the moment that he was finally free to go and pick his son up from his Abuela’s house. Thankfully they only had four more hours of the shift. Eddie settled onto the couch in the loft, having laid awake in the bunkroom for just a bit too long listening to Chimney’s snores.
He was still sitting there 20 minutes later when Bobby came over and dropped himself onto a cushion next to Eddie.
Eddie breathed deeply, taking in the comfort of the quiet firehouse while he waited for Bobby to speak. “So, Eddie,” Bobby began, leaning back into the cushions. “We don’t really know much about you, here.” Eddie watched the older man cautiously, nodding in agreement. “That’s true. What would you want to know?”
Bobby seemed to weigh his options before speaking, “What did you move to LA for? I know Hen asked last week. You said ‘new opportunities,’ but there must be something more to it than that.”
“I have family here. It’s good for us, better than El Paso was.”
“Us?”
Eddie cursed himself internally at his slip up, glancing around the firehouse while he thought. There was really no reason to be keeping Christopher from his coworkers, but–
“I don’t know much about you guys, either. I feel like there’s something major I’m missing. Sometimes Hen and Chimney look around like there’s something wrong even when we’re just sitting up here.” Eddie shot back, facing Bobby.
The other man’s face tightened. “We– we lost someone. Well, not lost, really, but–”
Bobby was cut off by the sound of Eddie’s phone ringing, and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket at the sound of Pepa’s ringtone.
“Tía? What’s wrong?” He asked in a rush, knowing she wouldn’t call him in the middle of his shift at this hour for nothing.
“Eddie, listen, Isabel was watching Chris, and– well, you know how she likes to get up at dawn to garden. She fell off her back porch, Eddito. Broke her hip. You need to come to the hospital and pick Chris up, or find someone who can. I have to go to work soon.”
Eddie froze, feeling like his world was crashing around him. He startled at the feeling of Bobby’s hand on his shoulder, the other man standing and gesturing for Eddie to follow him. Eddie followed blankly, realising that his phone volume was almost certainly loud enough for Bobby to have heard the entire conversation.
Bobby pulled a keyring off a hook by his office door, placing it in Eddie’s palm. “Bring him here. Take the battalion truck. Don’t crash or we might have problems.”
Eddie nodded rapidly, mouthing thank you at Bobby before sprinting down the stairs.
“Which hospital, Pepa? I’ll be there in 15.”
Chris loved the firehouse. Eddie knew he would, really, but he had been worried the whole drive back to the station just in case. Chimney and Hen had been fawning over him for the last hour, and Bobby was watching them from the kitchen with a fond look in his eyes. Confident in the knowledge that his son was in safe hands with his coworkers, Eddie stepped into the other room to talk to Bobby.
“Listen, Cap, I can’t thank you enough. I know this is… a bit of a shock, to say the least. Thank you for letting him stay here.” Eddie rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, feeling a bit silly now for not having told the team about Chris earlier.
Bobby smiled softly at him. “That’s alright, Eddie. I know you’ve been settling in, there’s no problem with going at your own pace. And you were right, earlier. When you said that sometimes it’s a bit weird here. You’re actually sort of, well– replacing someone. We were all really attached to him, and obviously we like you as well, but I think sometimes you being here sort of– reminds everyone. That he’s not.” Eddie was taken aback by the pain on Bobby’s face, trying to school his expression into something more solemn than the shock he could feel in his eyes. He hadn’t heard of a firefighter dying at the 118, he wasn’t sure how he could have missed something like that.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Bobby. Really. If there’s anything I can do–”
“No, we’re all ok, honestly. We’re just adjusting to him not being here anymore. Besides, I visit him twice a week, it’s not like he’s completely out of our lives.”
Eddie privately thought it was a bit strange for a fire captain to visit the grave of a dead crew member that often, but at the same time he knew how connected everyone at the station was. If this guy was really important enough that they functioned differently now, maybe it did make sense.
Unsure of what to say, Eddie just nodded in response and watched as Chim hefted Chris up onto his shoulders to try and grab the beam by the stairs.
“Well, thank you for sharing, Captain. I hope it gets easier for all of you.” Eddie said, finally, cringing a bit at his wording. I hope it gets easier? Seriously?
Bobby nodded in acknowledgement, watching as Chris finally snagged the beam and let out a crow of victory. “You know,” Bobby said, looking thoughtful, “I might have a solution for you. There’s a childcare center near here called Save the Day . It was started by some dispatch crew’s family members when they realized how many shift workers in LA struggled with childcare if they didn’t have a partner outside of the industry. They aren’t open overnight, of course, but they are open until 9 with the option to stay a bit late if a shift runs long.”
Eddie stared at Bobby in wonder. “Holy shit. I should have told you about Chris during my interview for the station, that’s perfect! Wait– How much does it cost? I know childcare isn’t exactly cheap, and LA is already kind of expensive–”
“Everyone at the 118 gets a discount. Perks of having an in at the daycare.” Eddie hummed in acknowledgement, thinking of Chimney’s girlfriend Maddie, who worked at dispatch. She must know the owners.
“I’ll look into it, Bobby. Thanks.” Eddie sighed in relief at the just the thought of a solution to his childcare problems. It didn’t quite help with the ongoing concerns about overnight shifts, but most of his shifts were going to be 12 hours anyway, as he had discussed with Bobby during his entrance interview. “Just let them know you’re at the 118, they’ll get you set up. And Eddie?” Eddie glanced over, looking away from where his son was now playing foosball with Hen against Chimney. “Thank you. For trusting us with your son. I know you had to bring him here, but you didn’t have to leave him with Hen and Chimney.”
“It was easier than I thought. I know I’ve only been here a few weeks, but I trust you all.” Eddie responded, matching Bobby’s smile with his own before heading across the loft to join his son.
Bobby had been right, the members of the 118 did get a discount. He didn’t mention that the discount made the service dirt cheap, but Eddie was more than willing to take it. Chris was going in for his first day at the daycare that day, as Eddie had an 8 hour shift and it was a weekend, so there was no school. He had debated asking Pepa to take him instead, but Eddie didn’t want her to spend all of her days off watching his son, and he thought it might be good for Chris to meet more kids his age, and hopefully other children of first responders.
Chris was one hell of a social butterfly, and had befriended seemingly the entire student body at his school. He was going to love meeting some more new kids to add to his social circle. Eddie had grown up largely alone outside of his family and a few close friends throughout the years, and he wanted better for his son.
So that led them here, sitting in the parking lot of Save the Day. Eddie couldn’t help but laugh to himself at how apt it was, with how the place had potentially saved his life when it came to childcare.
“Dad? Can we go in now, please?” Chris asked from the backseat, swinging his legs so hard in his excitement that he was rocking the truck. “Yeah, bud, sorry.” Eddie responded, hopping out of the driver’s seat and going around to help Chris down. The kid didn’t really need a ton of help anymore, but Eddie liked to do it anyway. It gave him an extra excuse to help his son.
Eddie placed his hand on Christopher’s back, guiding him towards the front door. He was pleased to see a handicap button beside the door, and he pressed it to let them inside. He had grilled the front desk staff a bit when he called to make sure their facility was capable of letting Chris experience the same things as the other kids without feeling left behind, and he was pleased to see that while the kid’s area was a bit lower, it was accessed via a ramp with no stairs in sight. The woman who answered his call had assured him that they were ‘uniquely qualified’ to take care of a child with a mobility aid and various mobility issues, and Eddie was hopeful that this would remain true.
As if hearing Eddie’s thoughts, a man came around a corner and approached the front desk. The man was– well, beautiful, really, although that perhaps wasn’t the first thought Eddie should be having about someone who he was paying to take care of his son. He had dirty blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a smudge of pink above an eyebrow that Eddie was assuming was a birthmark. Eddie’s eyes travelled down, skipping past his broad shoulders to a nametag pinned to his chest, where ‘Mr. Buck’ was written in large, clear letters. Huh, Eddie thought to himself, wondering why that name seemed familiar to him.
“Hello there! You guys are new here, right? My name is Mr. Buck. What’s your name, man?” The man– Mr. Buck– stepped the rest of the way to the desk, grinning broadly at Christopher. It was as Mr. Buck– Buck?– finally reached the desk that Eddie noticed he walked with a limp, leaning heavily on a cane. Eddie’s eyes traveled back up, catching on the man’s shoulders and jaw and–
“I’m Christopher! This is my dad. My Tía Pepa says he’s a little slow in the mornings, so sometimes we have to give him a minute.” Chris told the man, and Eddie wiped a hand over his face, making a note to himself to discuss that with Pepa later. “Thanks, Chris,” Eddie got out, placing his hand back onto its spot on Christopher’s shoulder. “I’m Eddie Diaz, it’s good to meet you. The woman on the phone said to come in a bit early to do paperwork?”
Buck smiled at him, his eyes twinkling as he pulled a stack of papers out of a drawer. “Yep, I always say it’s the only bad part of leaving your kid with us. There’s a mountain of paperwork to fill out, but it’s all important, I promise. Allergies, vaccine information, social level, stuff like that. Helps us to take better care of him.”
“That makes sense. Is he allowed in while I do this? He’s been chomping at the bit since I let slip that y’all have an indoor jungle gym yesterday, not sure how much longer I can restrain him.”
Buck laughed, gesturing for Chris to step up to the gate that separated the lobby from the area that the kids were in. Eddie was surprised to see so many kids– five, maybe? –in there at 7 in the morning, but if Bobby was right and they catered to shift workers he supposed it made sense. He noted the dark haired woman in the play area with them, watching the children move around with an eagle eye, although she looked over and smiled at Buck as he approached with Christopher.
Eddie watched carefully as Buck lifted some hidden latch on the gate and let Chris into the play area. Christopher immediately beelined towards a boy who looked his age, chattering at him excitedly, pausing only briefly to wave goodbye at Eddie.
Shaking his head, Eddie sat down in a chair in the lobby, preparing to get to work on the stack of papers in front of him. Just as he picked up the pen Buck had handed over on top of the stack, he heard the other man get a bit closer.
“Do you have any questions about the facilities? I know it can be scary leaving your kid behind somewhere new for the first time.”
Eddie glanced up, looking Buck over. “Bobby– uh, my Captain at the 118, he seemed pretty confident in the place. I trust him. You have kids?” Buck looked at him strangely for a moment, before shaking his head, settling in the chair next to Eddie. “No, I don’t. I love kids though, and I get a little attached to the ones that are in here the most. One of the parents moved states, and we had struck up a bit of a friendship so I made her promise to vet the next daycare really well, and– well. That doesn’t sound very professional. I swear Bobby was right, we are a good place. Chris will be not just safe but happy here, I can tell.”
Eddie blinked at Buck, trying to process everything the man had just said. “Uh, sure, yeah. It seems like a nice place. The woman on the phone– she assured me Chris wouldn’t have any issues getting around and participating with his crutches. I assume that’s true?” Eddie hesitated a bit to ask the question, worried Buck might take offense to it, what with the way the man had been using his cane without ever once looking at it, almost like he didn’t want to. Or maybe Eddie was just looking too far into things, and he wasn’t looking at it because he was used to it and didn’t need to. You hardly know the man, Eddie.
“Yeah, absolutely. We have a couple other disabled kids who are here sometimes, and one of our frequent kids is in a wheelchair,” Buck reassured him, “When Mary– the owner– built the place, she built it to make sure everyone would be able to do the same stuff. She has a son that’s grown now that’s an ambulatory wheelchair user, so she was pretty well versed in what they would need.”
“Okay, yeah, that’s– I feel much better. Thank you, Buck.” Eddie responded, smiling at him.
Buck grinned again in return, carefully standing up. Eddie noted the sheer amount of weight Buck was having to put into his cane to stand, and guessed it was less for stability and more to do with one of his legs being weak for whatever reason. Not that they looked weak, they actually looked– Eddie scolded himself internally for even thinking about why the man would need a cane, but it was difficult sometimes to turn off the medic part of his brain.
“Well, thank you. I think I’ve finished all the paperwork, is there anything else I need to do? I should be heading out for my shift pretty soon if I don’t want my Captain to scold me when I get in.”
Buck laughed, grabbing the papers away from Eddie. “No, you’re good. I can’t imagine your Captain is that terrible.” Eddie chose to ignore the way Buck’s eyes were crinkled with amusement, feeling oddly left out of whatever joke was taking place.
They were 6 hours into their shift, and Eddie was struggling to suppress his anxiety about Christopher being in a strange place for that long. The place seemed great, sure, and Buck seemed like he was good at his job, and the woman in the play area seemed very focused on the kids, but… Ok, Eddie was definitely a helicopter parent.
He made sure that his own anxieties about Christopher’s safety didn’t stop him from doing things he wanted to do, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. Eddie had never left Chris with a stranger for this length of time. He had never left Chris with a stranger at all! Sure, it was a childcare facility so the strangers were qualified and literally employed to look after his kid, but–
Eddie was anxious. He knew everyone could tell, Chim had been telling horrible jokes for the last hour to try and make him laugh. Hen and Bobby, on the other hand, were constantly glancing between him and each other, clearly formulating some sort of plan.
“Okay, enough, what’s on your mind?” Eddie directed at Hen, cutting off Chimney’s latest tale of the ‘hilarious’ way he had gotten a pig down from a tree.
Chimney huffed in annoyance, sliding further down in his chair and crossing his arms like a toddler. Hen patted his shoulder consolingly, smiling at Eddie. “I’m just thinking– if you’re so nervous, you might as well call the place. Julie at the front desk is very sweet.” Hen said, nudging his phone on the table closer to him.
The thing is, Eddie knows Hen is right. He should just call, but he’s a little embarrassed about it, honestly. What if the place thinks he’s implying that they aren’t capable of taking care of the kids under their watch? No, that’s stupid. They probably get calls like this all the time.
Mind made up, Eddie nodded at Hen and walked off to the gym for some privacy, pulling up the daycare’s contact on his phone. It rings a few times before picking up, and Eddie can hear an odd scuffling sound on the other end of the line. Eyebrows furrowed, he pulled his phone back enough to check the Caller ID, and– yeah, definitely Save the Day. Shaking his head, he put the phone back to his ear, seemingly just in time.
“Hello! Thank you for calling Save the Day, this is Buck, how can I help you?” Eddie only feels more confused when he hears how out of breath Buck sounds, but moves on quickly. “Hi, yeah, this is Eddie. Diaz? I dropped off my son Christopher earlier, and I was just calling to– check in, I guess. I wanted to see how he was doing.”
“Oh! Of course. Chris is doing great, Mr. Diaz. A little too great, actually.” Buck responded, laughing softly. “He’s befriended every other kid here, I’m a little worried they’ll unite under him to riot for more toys.”
Eddie barked out a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. “Yeah, that sounds like him, alright. If his reign gets too strong he’s easily distracted by candy. You can call me Eddie, by the way. Mr. Diaz sounds weird.”
“Thank you for the tip, Eddie. Was there anything else you needed? I can text a picture to this number if you want. I would have to do it from my phone though; we only have a landline here.”
Eddie paused, considering. It would be nice to see Chris, but he would be picking the kid up in two hours, and he didn’t want to inconvenience Buck…
“It’s no trouble, really.” Buck assured, as if he could hear Eddie’s thoughts.”
“I… yeah, that would be great. Thank you.” Eddie said finally. “No problem! I’ll send that over in just a moment. I do have to go, though– unless there was anything else you needed? It’s time for one of the staff to take a break, so I need to be back on the floor.”
“No, that’s all. Thank you again, really. Have a good one.” Eddie lowered his phone, hanging up without waiting for a response. Chris was doing fine. Great, even, if Buck wasn’t exaggerating, which Eddie had a feeling he wasn’t.
Heading back up the stairs, Eddie couldn’t quite suppress a smile on his face. Now that he wasn’t nervous about Chris anymore, he could think back on the call and– Buck had a nice voice. Eddie hadn’t noticed it that morning with how focused he was on getting Chris signed up for the daycare, but. Yeah. Very nice voice. Eddie had noticed how attractive Buck was, because honestly that was sort of hard to miss, but he hadn’t listened closely enough to take in his voice.
Back in the loft, Eddie looked up from his thoughts to find three sets of eyes already on him.
“So?” Hen prompted, leaning forward in her chair. “Feeling better? I’ve left Denny there a few times, and Julie was great about it when I needed to call the first time.”
“Yeah, I uh, I talked to Buck though. Maybe Julie wasn’t there today? He signed us in this morning too, so he knew I was talking about Chris. I feel better, though, he was very reassuring.”
Hen looked at Bobby with a glint in her eye before turning back to Eddie. “Buck, huh? I didn’t realize he was working the front desk these days. He’s usually on the floor with the kids.”
Eddie felt his brows crinkling, unsure why Hen was this curious about it. “Yeah, he said he had to get back to the floor. Maybe they didn’t have someone manning the phones?”
“Or maybe they have excellent Caller ID.” Chim muttered to himself, shaking his head.
Before Eddie could try to figure out what that was about, his phone buzzed with an incoming message. He pulled it out of his pocket, smiling at the sight of Chris with a makeshift cape made of a blanket tied around his shoulders, leading a group of kids with foam swords. Below the image was a message.
I think they’re gonna get me. hope your candy plan works
Eddie laughed, quickly typing out a message in response.
It will. Hopefully.
He saved Buck’s name in his phone– for future Chris-related business, of course– before pocketing it again, looking up to see Hen and Chim watching him with eerily matching smiles.
“Ok, y’all have got to cut out that twins from The Shining stuff, we talked about this–”
“Leave Eddie alone, guys, and please let’s try to settle down for dinner before we get called out again.” Bobby cut in, heading off to the kitchen to pull something that smelled absolutely divine out of the oven.
Hen and Chimney laughed, murmuring apologies to Eddie as they made their way to the table and settled down to eat. Once they had all settled down, Eddie found Hen watching him mischievously.
“Alright, Hen,” he caved, “out with it. What’s on your mind?”
“Well, we met Chris. Does Chris have a mother we haven’t met? Or are you flying solo?” Hen asked, ignoring Bobby’s warning look. Eddie let out a surprised laugh, not expecting that from Hen. “No, he does not. Well, yes he has a mother or he wouldn’t be here, but– Shannon and I are divorced. We agreed to divorce shortly before I moved here, and she gave up her rights to Christopher.”
Hen nodded, but Chim looked confused. “Why would she do that?” he asked after a moment. “I know we only met him once, but Chris is great. He gave me baby fever, and Maddie and I are nowhere near ready for that.”
Eddie nodded, unsure how to really respond. He knew Shannon leaving wasn’t his fault, but sometimes– sometimes he wondered if she would have stayed if he hadn’t gone to war. Maybe they wouldn’t have been happy, but they would have been able to raise Chris together.
“Alright, guys. Lay off.” Bobby said, giving Hen and Chimney a look. “At least wait until he’s been here a month to start getting nosy.”
“ Fine. ” Hen huffed, smiling at Eddie apologetically. “We just– we’re being concerned friends. Need to make sure our friend isn’t putting himself out there for nothing.” Eddie furrowed his brow again, noting that Hen had directed that last part towards Bobby, not him. Had he put himself out there? He didn’t think so.
Before he could decide whether or not he could be bothered to ask Hen what she meant, the alarm went off.
“Well, there goes that bit of peace. Suit up, everyone.” Bobby called out, hopping up from the table and leading them all racing down the stairs.
The last two hours of their shift had seemed to drag on and on. They spent nearly the entire time at a pileup caused by a drunk driver. Thankfully there were no casualties, but several cars were involved and the triage alone took nearly an hour. The clean up afterwards took just as long, and by the time they were back at the station with 10 minutes left in their shift, Eddie was ready to go get his son and head home.
Thankfully, when they pulled back into the engine bay B Shift was already waiting, and after a brief conversation with the B Shift captain Bobby dismissed them to go home. Eddie rushed to change and get out to his car, breathing in the night air deeply before tossing himself into the driver’s seat.
Finally pulling into the parking lot of Save the Day, Eddie sighed in relief at the sight of the lights on cheerily and the building not completely destroyed. As much as he trusted Bobby’s word that the place was nice, and his own instincts upon seeing it that morning, he couldn’t manage to stop being nervous.
Stepping in the door, Eddie glanced around the room, feeling his body go cold when he realized he couldn’t spot Christopher anywhere amongst the couple of kids still playing.
“Eddie! Welcome back! Chris is napping in our little bunkroom, did you want to come in to wake him yourself?” Eddie jerked his head over, feeling relief wash over him at the sight of Buck’s reassuring smile. “Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.”
Buck nodded in response, gesturing for Eddie to follow him through the gate into the playroom and then down a short hallway. “Back here we have our nap room as well as a quiet room for when kids are sent in with homework to do, or if they just want to read in peace instead of running around.” Buck explained, opening a door to the left. He raised a finger to his lips to silence Eddie, which Eddie thought was unnecessary seeing as he wasn’t talking, and stepped into the room.
And there Chris was– peacefully sleeping, just as Buck had said. Buck hadn’t been kidding when he called it a bunkroom, it looked very similar to the one at the firehouse with several twin beds lining the far wall, although they had partitions between them for a bit of privacy. Next to the door sat a man Eddie hadn’t seen before quietly reading, and he smiled at them politely before returning to his book.
Eddie walked up to Chris’ bed quietly, gently brushing his hair off his forehead before speaking. “Chris? Hey, bud, you ready to go home?”
Christopher’s eyes shot open, and he smiled hugely upon seeing his father.
“Dad! This place is the best. I get to come back, right? Freddie and Gary said they’re here a lot, so I might see them again if I come back!” Eddie smiled, pleased that he had had a good time.
“Yeah, bud. I think you’ll be here when I’m at work and you’re not at school.” He replied, helping Chris as he sat up in the bed.
Chris continued to grin as he shoved his legs out of the bed, putting his still-socked feet into his shoes that were sitting beside it. “Great. Mr. Buck is the coolest, Dad, he knows everything. ” Buck laughed awkwardly from behind them, and Eddie turned to see that his face had gone a bit red. “Oh, I don’t know about that, bud–” Buck started, but Eddie waved him off.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but my kid is a bit of a genius. If he says you know everything, I believe it.”
Buck ducked his head at that, and Eddie smiled to himself as he passed Chris his crutches, guiding him out of the room with a hand on his back. “We’ll see you next time, Buck. Have a good night!”
Buck had been working at Save the Day for nearly six months now, and he couldn’t believe how happy he was with it. There was a time right after the truck bombing where he was convinced his life was ruined forever. Sure, some things were– different, now, and some part of him would always miss the life he could have had– but he did genuinely love his new career.
One of his favorite parts of being a firefighter were the calls where they got to help kids, and now he was helping kids every day in a different way. He was there for them when their parents were busy and couldn’t watch them, and his endless research spirals that he knew occasionally irritated his family were beloved by the kids and useful for their homework problems. It wasn’t quite the same as saving them from burning buildings and tall trees, but he had also never had a loss working in the daycare like he had working in the field, so– it was a bit of give and take.
Working at the daycare was wildly different from the firehouse in several ways, but his favorite was the fact that he spent enough time with the kids to really get to know them. Jimmy loved all things superheroes but didn’t like animals, Kayla liked transformers and would pout aggressively if anyone tried to make her play princesses, and Christopher– well. As much as he tried to pretend he didn’t have favorites, he knew he did. And it was clear to all of the staff at Save the Day that his newest favorite was Christopher Diaz. The kid was so smart, and so bright, and so kind, and his dad was– well. Buck and Eddie got along like a house on fire.
Anytime Chris was staying at Save the Day, Buck kept an eagle eye on his phone. He and Bobby had developed a system where his old captain would send Buck a message whenever they were having a rough shift or Eddie seemed generally down, and Buck would send an image of Chris with a huge grin on his face participating in various activities around the facility to Eddie.
Some part of Buck felt guilty. It was clear that Eddie had somehow yet to connect Buck with the 118’s previous crew member, but he figured it could be forgiven if it was making Eddie’s day better. It was difficult for Buck, sometimes, talking to the man that had taken his place within Buck’s family. He knew they hadn’t actually replaced him in their family unit, and that they were forced to replace him on the team in order to continue serving the people of LA, but–
Eddie had the life Buck used to have. And no matter how much he also liked his life now, it would never feel quite right.
Buck’s leg twinged as he moved from the playroom to the front desk, serving as a painful reminder of the reason Buck was forced to leave his job in the first place. The truck bombing had been difficult to work past on an emotional level, and proved impossible to work past on a physical level. Buck shook the melancholy thoughts from his head, flipping through the day’s planner to see who all would be coming in that day.
He felt his heart skip a beat at the Diaz penned in for 8:00, scolding himself for the way he always got just a bit more excited when he knew the Diazes would be coming in. It was hard not to, though. He hadn’t quite been bold enough to message Eddie anything other than pictures of Chris with short messages attached, but they chatted for a few minutes every time Eddie dropped Christopher off, and Buck liked the man more and more every day.
So far their conversations didn’t often stray far from Christopher or Eddie’s work at the 118, but there were a few times Buck held close to his chest where they talked about seemingly nothing, and Eddie almost seemed to prolong the conversation unnecessarily. Regardless of the topic, Eddie was always a sight for sore eyes, and Buck had to focus rather hard on keeping his eyes from straying during their conversations.
Part of Buck was hopeful that Eddie chatted with him like that because he liked him, but realistically he was aware of the way Eddie’s eyes tracked Chris throughout the conversations, and he figured the man was probably just trying to get a few extra minutes of his son in every morning. Which– fair. Christopher was possibly the best kid Buck had ever met. If Buck had any sort of claim to him he would be doing the same thing.
Eddie was just– such a good dad. He cared so much about Christtopher, and he was kind to Buck and the other staff when he spoke to them, and Buck had maybe been grilling Bobby about him and– by all accounts, Eddie was a genuinely kind, wonderful man. Bobby seemed sure that he had some hardships, but nothing major, and Hen had been gently encouraging him to ask Eddie to hang out with him even as friends, but– Buck wasn’t sure. As much as his family tried to banish the thought from his mind, Buck was always worried about making new friends in case he burdened them. Or, even worse– they found out how much work he could be and left.
As if his thoughts had summoned them, the Diazes burst through the door, Eddie looking frantic. Buck furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the clock on the wall. 6:30. An hour and a half before they were meant to arrive.
“Hey, Eddie, Chris, everything alright?” Buck asked, coming around the desk to meet them, shaking off the last of his thoughts as quickly as possible.
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Jamison and Fredericks both started vomiting at the end of their shift, their captain thinks they got food poisoning from some iffy meat they shared. Is it ok that I brought him early? I meant to call, but–”
“It’s perfectly fine, Eddie,” Buck soothed. “Good morning, Chris. Want to head into the play area?”
“Can I go to the quiet room? We went to the library and got some new books yesterday!” Chris happily swung his backpack off his shoulder, opening it briefly to show Buck the impressive pile of books inside.
Buck led Chris towards the gate, grinning down at him. “Absolutely, bud. Miss Mary is in there right now, so remember if you have any questions about bugs…”
“Don’t ask her! I’ll come find you. I don’t wanna scare Miss Mary again, she’s really nice.”
With that, Chris headed off towards the quiet room. Buck watched him carefully, ensuring he got into the room okay before turning back to Eddie. The other man was looking at him with a crooked smile, hand still held slightly away from his body from where he had been guiding Christopher. “Do I want to know what that’s about?” Eddie asked, laughing disbelievingly.
“Mary is terrified of bugs. Your son loves bugs. It was not a great combination.” Buck explained, heading back towards the desk partially to sign Eddie in and partially to give himself something to lean against. It had been drizzling off and on for the last few days, and the dampness in the air was not agreeing with him. It didn’t help that he had forgotten his cane at home, leading to him having to ask Julie to place stools all over the building in places he frequented.
Eddie narrowed his eyes at Buck’s gait, stepping forward and reaching a hand out to grab his elbow and help him the rest of the way. Typically Buck found that sort of act irritating, but he couldn’t argue with its effectiveness in this case, and he knew that as a medic Eddie probably hadn’t thought much about it. It helped that the action allowed him to feel the warmth of Eddie’s large hand on his elbow, not that Buck would ever tell anyone that.
“Listen, I have to run to work, but– thank you, Buck. Really. Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you guys, I can bring coffee when I pick Chris up later? Or, no, that’s probably too late to be drinking coffee–”
“It’s fine, Eddie, really. It’s my job, after all. And besides, don’t tell anyone else but Chris is my favorite.” Buck assured him, smiling at the man. “Have a safe shift. I’ll send some pictures of Christopher terrorizing Mary with his bug facts later.”
Eddie laughed as he turned, speed walking towards the exit. “I’ll see you later, Buck. Thanks again!”
Buck watched him get back into his truck and drive off, turning back towards the planner to finish perusing the rest of the day’s customers. Before he could get too far, he heard footsteps behind him.
“You know, you should really just ask him out. It’s getting a little sad at this point. I thought you were gonna kill me fighting for that phone the other day.” Buck sighed, turning to see his coworker Julie behind him.
“You know I can’t, that feels like some sort of breach of etiquette. Besides, if it weirds him out he might stop bringing Chris here, and I know he doesn’t have any other options, so it would make things more difficult for him, and– and I can’t, is all.” Buck responded, returning to the planner in front of him despite the fact that his eyes were too unfocused to read anything on it.
Julie came up next to him, gently leaning into him for a moment before dragging the stool from the other side of the desk closer. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Take it easy today, I’ll take care of the kids in the playroom.” Julie turned to go, gently squeezing his arm. “For what it’s worth, I really do think he would say yes.”
Buck slowly sank onto the stool, sighing deeply. He knows Julie means well– they had become fast friends when he started working at Save the Day, and he knows she wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, but he felt like he couldn’t have hope in this situation.
Besides, even if Eddie did think that he liked him back, there was no way he would stay once he learned why Buck was working here instead of with the 118, and how much it affected his daily life. It was one of the reasons Buck was kind of glad Eddie hadn’t connected the dots yet. Once Eddie realized what was going on, there was a chance he would look at Buck differently and Buck wasn’t sure how to deal with that.
Buck was peacefully sorting through applications for the center on the computer at the front desk a week later, divvying up ones that might qualify to send to Mary for her to look at them more in depth later. It had been a relatively slow day, with a maximum of 6 kids in the center at the same time. These were Buck’s favorite days, even if they were a little boring. It meant that each kid got more individual time with the staff to ask questions and just– communicate with an adult. Buck understood very well how beneficial that could be for kids, so anytime he was stopped and asked a question he would drop whatever he was working on to help the child out.
This did mean that on days where Christopher Diaz was in, Buck didn’t get nearly as much done as he should. Buck was just lucky he hadn’t forgotten his cane again today, as it had been another damp morning and with how much Chris was running him around to work out different problems with him, Buck knew he would be running into major issues without the added support that infernal stick provided him.
Thankfully, Chris was napping in their bunkroom, and Buck was taking full advantage of the time to get through the list of tasks Mary had left him when she went home to spend the evening with her husband for their anniversary. Just as Buck closed out the final application, he felt his phone vibrate from across the desk.
Hey, Buck. Sorry to do this to you, but we just got called to a major fire. Can’t guarantee I’ll be late but it’s a safe bet. Sorry again.
Buck frowned at the message from Eddie, quickly checking the time. 8:15, and Eddie was meant to be picking up Christopher right as they closed at 9:00.
it’s no problem. let me know when you are on the way. stay safe
Buck put his phone away, glancing over at the deserted playroom. The next task on his list was cleaning up all the toys. Mary tried to avoid giving him that one, as she knew it could be difficult for him sometimes to do all the squatting down and stepping over things that the task required, but sometimes it couldn’t be avoided. Buck took a deep breath, getting himself back up and heading down the ramp to get to work.
It was unfortunate that it had been another damp week. Buck hadn’t forgotten his cane again, but using it while cleaning the playroom made the take take significantly longer, so he tended to leave it leaning on the wall while he worked.
After about an hour and several breaks to breathe deeply, Buck was finished cleaning the playroom. He peeked his head into the naproom where Julie was still dutifully sitting while Christopher slept, and smiled at the sight of her reading a book on the makings of skyscrapers. “Hey, Jules. Want to go ahead and go home? Everything is cleaned and shut down, we’re just waiting on Mr. Diaz.”
Julie looked up from her book, raising an eyebrow at him. “You can call him Eddie with me, you know. I’ve heard you call him Eddie.” Buck ignored the heat he could feel on his face, reaching down and grabbing the book out of Julie’s hands. “Go on home, I’ll close up.” Julie smiled at him, standing and gently rubbing his arm on her way out the door. “Thanks, Buck. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Buck nodded in acknowledgement, sitting in Julie’s deserted seat and opening the book she had been reading to the first chapter.
Unfortunately, Buck had forgotten how in the zone he got sometimes while reading, and he was startled out of the book sometime later to the sound of knocking on the front door of the building. Quickly checking the time and seeing that it was nearing 10:30, Buck levered himself out of the chair stiffly and after a glance to make sure Christopher was still sleeping, he headed back out into the main area.
He was not surprised to see Eddie leaning heavily against the front door upon emerging into the lobby, and he couldn’t quite help the fond smile on his face. Buck knocked on the door before opening it to give Eddie enough warning to get back on his feet and then let the other man in.
“Hey, Eddie. Rough shift?” Buck asked, leading Eddie towards the nap room straight away. As much as he enjoyed the few minutes of chatting they usually did when Eddie came to retrieve his son, Buck was sure the man just wanted to head home tonight. “It was… yeah. Pretty rough. I’m sorry, I know you were meant to be home a while ago. I tried to get someone else to pick him up, but my Abuela and Tía don’t really drive this late if they don’t have to, and I know y’all technically are able to stay open late for this reason, but–”
“Eddie. It’s fine, I promise. Not like it was really any hardship for me, I just sat in a chair and read a book about skyscrapers while Christopher slept. Speaking of…” Buck swung open the door to the nap room, gesturing towards the bunk Christopher typically slept in.
Buck couldn’t quite suppress his smile at the way Eddie’s entire body softened as the man laid eyes on his son, feeling himself fill with warmth at how good of a dad Eddie was, at how much love he held for his son. Buck watched from the doorway as Eddie gently roused Christopher, grimacing a bit as his leg twinged at him again. There was a reason he wasn’t often on naptime duty– as much as moving around too much hurt, sitting in one position for too long could be worse. Buck leaned heavily into the doorframe, trying to take a bit of weight off his cane so his wrist wouldn’t hurt too badly in the morning, and waited patiently for Eddie to finish waking Chris.
As much as he lov– enjoyed the moments where Eddie lingered, he was finding himself hoping the man would hurry up already so Buck could get back home to a nice, burning hot bath. Just as he was considering heading out to his lovely stool at the front desk to wait, Eddie stood up with Christopher in his arms. Buck felt himself go a little gooey at the pure love and contentment on Eddie’s face, and internally slapped himself for being so unprofessional. Eddie was just another single dad at the daycare, just because he was hot and sweet and got along with Buck’s family did not mean anything.
“Thanks again, Buck, I– are you alright?”
Buck refocused on Eddie at the question, finding the man watching him in concern. “Yeah, I’m good. Sorry, zoned out for a minute. You guys all set to go?”
Eddie didn’t move, narrowing his eyes in concentration. “You didn’t look zoned out, you looked in pain. Is your leg feeling alright?” At that, Buck turned as quickly as he could manage and headed towards the front desk to sign them out, trying to mask his limp as much as possible. The last thing he needed was to start thinking Eddie cared about him. “Leg’s fine, just acts up sometimes when it’s damp. I thought living in LA it wouldn’t be a huge deal, but either it’s been raining more often recently or I just notice it more now.” Buck replied flippantly over his shoulder, determinedly remaining standing as he quickly signed the Diazes out.
“We’ll see you again– Tuesday, right?” Buck checked, glancing up at Eddie again before quickly looking away.
“Tuesday, yeah. I’m off tomorrow. I hope your leg feels better soon, Buck.”
Buck watched Eddie’s back as he retreated, feeling himself relax a bit at the comforting sight of Christopher leaning his head into his dad’s shoulder, fast asleep once more. ‘ Hope your leg feels better.’ If only, he thought to himself, shaking his head aggressively as he finished closing up.
The next morning, Buck woke to his alarm and debated throwing himself out his window as he immediately felt the pain in his leg. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure he would manage to get that far. Stretching out his arm to reach his phone, Buck silenced his alarm before taking several deep breaths. His physical therapist was always telling him to breathe through the pain, but how the hell is he meant to do that when the pain doesn’t stop? There’s nothing to breathe through, unless he is meant to be taking slow, measured breaths for the rest of his life.
Wiping a hand down his face, Buck was unsurprised to find it come away slightly damp with tears. He had a handle on this, really. The bombing was over a year ago now, he had had plenty of time to adjust. Sometimes it just– it hurt. He had probably overdone it a bit yesterday, and it didn’t help that he had decided upon getting home that he didn’t feel like taking the bath that he knew he needed. He was paying for it now in a constant, throbbing pain going up his leg with fun bouts of stabbing pain to spice it up.
Buck flailed around for his phone again, hoping that if Eddie was off today maybe Bobby would be too. With any luck, the other man might be willing to come over and help him get his leg in order before his shift in a few hours. Buck unlocked his phone, squinting his eyes against the sudden brightness. He furrowed his brows at the sight of a text notification waiting for him– as active as the groupchat with his family was, they didn’t generally message before noon as they were all busy enjoying the mornings with each other. Buck wasn’t even a little butthurt about that. Opening the message, Buck found that it was the person he would’ve least expected– Eddie.
Hey Buck. Wanted to say thank you again for last night. Your leg feeling any better? I just dropped Christopher off at school, is there anything I can do to help?
Buck snorted to himself at how dad-esque Eddie’s texting was, before pausing and rereading the message. Eddie was offering to help him. With his leg. They hardly knew each other realistically, and they hadn’t ever texted about anything other than Christopher, but–
Eddie was offering to help him.
Shaking his head at himself, Buck tabbed out of the conversation with Eddie without responding just yet, opening his chat with Bobby.
hey, Cap. any chance you are free for a bit? leg acting up, could use a hand
He stared blankly at his phone as he waited for a response, and the texting bubbles soon appeared.
Sorry, Buck. On shift. I can see if Athena can come by before she goes in?
Buck dropped his phone down onto the mattress and groaned. As much as she would certainly try, there was no way Athena would have time to help him out before she had to rush to work. Buck picked his phone back up determinedly, reopening the text thread with Eddie after sending a quick no, thank you tho to Bobby.
it might be a bit much to ask, but could you come over? I have people to help usually but they’re busy
Faster than Buck thought possible, he had a response.
Of course. Send me your address.
Sending it off quickly, Buck began to attempt to sit up. As much as he was inviting Eddie over specifically because he was unlikely to be able to get out of bed on his own, Buck desperately wanted to clean up a bit before he arrived. His apartment wasn’t a wreck , exactly, but–
He had been forced to move out of the loft when it became clear his leg wasn’t going to heal properly, and the only place he could find on his daycare salary after spending a few months in Maddie’s spare room was– small. Bobby had called it cozy, but Buck felt that cramped was a bit more accurate. He kept the place as tidy as possible, but with how small the living area was it tended to look messy with all the books he had, and sometimes he didn’t put everything away properly because his leg was acting up, and– he just didn’t want Eddie’s first impression of Buck outside of work to be terrible.
It would already be a bit rough, what with Buck being unable to move, but it could be better. Mind made up, Buck grabbed his bad leg by the thigh, trying to drag it towards the edge of the bed. Unfortunately, his leg swiftly reminded him why he did not under any circumstances try to force it places it didn’t want to go, and Buck found himself flat on his back on the mattress once more, squeezing his eyes shut and trying hard not to audibly gasp at the pulsing heat he could feel running up and down the limb.
So maybe it was fine, actually, if Eddie saw his apartment a bit of a mess. He was already walking into a sweaty, teary-eyed Buck. Maybe it couldn’t actually get worse. Buck felt the tears of frustration at the corners of his eyes grow, and he grabbed his spare pillow from where it sat by his knees to smother himself a bit.
Defeated, Buck grabbed his phone again and fired off a quick message to Eddie to tell him to let himself in with the spare key under the mat.
Just as he was settling in to wait, Buck heard a knock on the door followed by a key in the lock, and he uncovered his face from the second pillow, turning his head towards his bedroom door. “In here!” he called out, wiping his eyes once more.
Eddie rushed through the door, looking more panicked than Buck had expected. “Ok, what can I do? Can you– are you able to get up?”
Buck sighed deeply, unsure what to really do. He and Bobby had a routine down, and he hadn’t had to deal with someone new helping him in– a while. “I can’t, no. There’s a, uh– a heating pad in the top drawer of my dresser. Could you grab that for me? And could you– could you run a bath? Sorry, this feels so ridiculous. I shouldn’t have responded, you should be enjoying your day off.”
Eddie raised a hand, narrowing his eyes at Buck. “Come on now, I offered. I want to be here; I want to help you. How hot do you like your bath?” As he spoke, Eddie moved over to the dresser and carefully extracted Buck’s heating pad, bringing it back over and plugging it into the outlet by Buck’s bedside table.
Buck stared at him disbelievingly, shaking his head before speaking. “Hot. As hot as it can go, really. Are you sure?” Eddie glared at him for that, reaching out and gently touching Buck’s shoulder. “Yes, I’m sure. I know we haven’t properly, like, hung out or anything, but– I don’t know. I think of you as my friend. Is that weird?” Eddie looked nervous, hovering next to Buck’s bed uncertainly. “I– yeah. I think of us as friends too, Eddie. Sorry, not yeah as in it’s weird, but yeah as in… I don’t know, actually. I’m a little scatterbrained.” Eddie snorted, gently placing a hand on Buck’s ankle.
“Yeah, I can only imagine. I’ll go get the water running. You have epsom salt?” Buck nodded, gesturing towards the cabinet under the sink that was visible through the door to the bathroom, and Eddie headed over. Buck laid his head back onto his pillow, listening to the sounds of Eddie getting the water running and carefully measuring out the epsom salt. Something about it felt almost painfully domestic, which was a shame as Buck wasn’t really sure how much more pain he could take at the moment.
Buck looked over at the sound of Eddie returning to the side of the bed, and found the man looking at him sympathetically. “Is it ok if I massage your leg? Would that even help at all? I know sometimes it doesn’t, but I’m pretty good at it. Anytime Chris has a rough PT session we watch cartoons and I massage his legs.” Buck felt like he was going to melt in place, not sure how to respond to Eddie’s genuine offers of help.
“I– yeah, that would be great, actually. Just– it looks rough, ok? It’s been a while since the accident, but it didn’t heal great, and the scars are– just try not to look grossed out or I might disintegrate out of embarrassment.” Buck managed, gesturing towards his leg for Eddie to uncover it.
“I won’t be grossed out, Buck. I’ve definitely seen worse than a healed injury, regardless of how badly it healed. Thank you for trusting me with this.” With that, Eddie carefully peeled back the blankets, exposing Buck’s leg to the air. He typically slept in boxers and a t-shirt, and he was both grateful for and regretful about that fact right now. It made this whole process easier, but it also meant there was a bit more of his skin on display than Buck would like with how much the leg of his boxers had ridden up throughout the night.
Buck held his breath as he watched Eddie take in the mangled flesh before him, but the man’s face remained clinical as he carefully ran his fingers down Buck’s leg from just above his knee down to his ankle. Buck winced as he went over a particularly tender spot on his calf, and Eddie’s eyes narrowed as he took in the movement. “Ok. How tender is your leg? Are there any spots I should avoid?”
Buck shook his head, leaning further into the pillow so he didn’t have to watch Eddie during the process.”It’s, uh– pretty tender. Don’t worry about it though, it’s always rough to start but it won’t hurt for too long.” Buck could see Eddie nodding out of the corner of his eye, and tensed as he prepared for what he knew was coming.
Shockingly, the first minute or so of Eddie gently pressing into his muscles and feeling around didn’t hurt too badly, but once the other man really started to dig in–
Buck groaned, loud and long, at the feeling of Eddie’s hands pressing into the especially tender spot on his calf. It had the mix of pain and relief that he was used to from this type of massage, and Buck couldn’t quite manage to suppress the sounds that were ripped out of him. After a few minutes of that, Eddie stopped for a moment to give Buck a breather, and Buck opened his eyes to see Eddie looking oddly flushed. Maybe he was tired? Buck was aware of how exerting massages could be, though he always assumed that was because he was doing them to himself.
“That, uh– any better?” Eddie coughed around his words, rubbing a hand over his face. Buck chose to ignore whatever the hell that was about, wiggling his toes experimentally. “A bit better, actually. Holy shit, man. What are you, some kind of miracle worker?” Buck asked in amazement, realizing he could actually bend his knee without feeling like his leg was going to shatter into pieces. Still hurt, but– progress.
“Must be,” Eddie laughed, “ready for that bath? I think it’s nearly full.” Buck nodded in response, carefully swinging his legs off the edge of the bed. “I might need some help getting in there. I– I don’t know how to thank you, man.” Eddie smiled at him, reaching out to help get him to his feet. “It’s no problem, Buck. Honest. I’m glad I was able to help. Now let’s get you in that bath.”
The sound of the water rippling around him and Eddie puttering around in his bedroom nearly lulled Buck to sleep. The warmth of the bath and the soothing epsom salt had his leg finally feeling back to normal– or, the normal he had grown used to over the last year. He was just beginning to close his eyes and settle in when he heard a knock on the door.
“Hey, Buck. I don’t want to rush you, but– your phone was vibrating a bunch. Alarm says you need to head into work. If you want I can call them and let them know you’re out sick?” Buck forced his eyes open, grumbling as he sat himself upright. “No, no. It’s alright, I’ve already used up too many of my sick days. If I called out everytime I had a bad day– well. I wouldn’t make rent, that’s for sure. Give me just a minute and I’ll be out.”
Buck grabbed onto the bar Bobby had installed on the side of his shower, levering himself to his feet carefully. Somehow his leg was actually feeling the best it had in a couple weeks, and he was able to get himself out of the tub, dry, and into fresh clothes with relative ease.
Buck emerged from the bathroom still dripping a bit of water from his hair and with his shirt sticking to his damp skin, but feeling much better. He found Eddie sitting on the edge of his bed, scrolling through his phone aimlessly. At the sound of Buck closing the bathroom door behind him, Eddie looked up.
“Thank you, man. Really. Don’t know what I would have done, Bobby was busy and I know I could have asked Maddie to come in, but she’s been so busy lately, and…” Buck froze at the strange look Eddie was giving him, looking down at himself and then back up at Eddie. “What? Do I have something on my face?” Eddie shook his head slowly, blinking rapidly before responding. “Sorry! No, I was just– thinking. What were you saying?”
“Just– thanks. For being here. Don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t texted me this morning.” Buck said, watching Eddie consideringly. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but he could have sworn Eddie was looking him up and down.
Eddie grinned, finally getting up and taking a step into Buck’s space. “Well, I guess I’ll have to text you more often.” Buck felt like he couldn’t breathe all of a sudden, his senses filled with how close Eddie was. He smelled– great. Buck kind of wanted to bottle it up for bad days. In a totally non-creepy way.
Before he could think enough to respond, Buck’s final alarm went off, letting him know it was time to leave for work. “Shit!” he spat out, rushing around to gather his uniform from the various places it had been thrown the previous night in his haste to get to bed. “I have to go. Thank you again, Eddie. Really. And you’re right, you should text me more. For now though I have got to go, so–”
“I’ll get out of your hair. It was good seeing you, Buck.” Eddie responded. Buck looked over his shoulder at the man with a grin as he prepared to change, and paused briefly once more when he found Eddie’s eyes to be– lower than strictly necessary. Meeting his eyes, Eddie raised his hand in a dorky wave before backing out of Buck’s room and heading out the door.
Buck sighed, leaning his forehead against the wall to collect his thoughts before yanking his pants on and grabbing his cane, striding towards the door and attempting to do up his belt with one hand.