Chapter Text
The bar is loud.
Music and laughter, glasses clinking, normal noise that should make the place feel crowded and warm. Instead, Buck feels like the entire room has gone quiet around him.
He only notices when the chair across from him scrapes back.
Eddie drops into it slowly.
Not casually. Not relaxed.
Slow. Controlled.
Buck looks up from his beer just as Eddie leans forward over the table, forearms braced against the wood. The movement pulls the leather jacket tight across his shoulders. His eyes are dark, locked directly on Buck like he’s trying to see straight through him.
Buck swallows.
“Uh” he starts, attempting a smile. “Hey, man.”
Eddie doesn’t smile back.
He tilts his head slightly, studying Buck like he’s figuring something out. Like Buck is a problem he hasn’t solved yet.
“You wanna explain something to me?” Eddie asks quietly.
The tone sends a strange flicker down Buck’s spine.
Because Eddie isn’t angry.
Angry Eddie is loud. Sharp. Defensive.
This Eddie is calm.
And that’s way worse.
Buck shifts in his chair. “That depends,” he says lightly. “Explain what?”
Eddie’s gaze doesn’t move.
“You” he says.
Buck blinks. “…Me?”
“Yeah.” Eddie gestures vaguely with one hand. “You.”
Buck laughs nervously. “Okay, that narrows it down.”
Eddie leans closer.
The table creaks slightly under the pressure of his weight. Buck instinctively leans back an inch, and Eddie notices immediately.
His eyes sharpen.
“See,” Eddie murmurs, “that right there.”
“What?”
“That thing you just did.”
Buck frowns. “I leaned back.”
“Exactly.”
Buck lets out a breath. “Eddie, if this is about earlier”
“It is.”
Buck groans softly, dropping his head into one hand. “Come on, man, I said I was sorry.”
“That wasn’t an apology.”
“It was absolutely an apology.”
“You smirked while you said it.”
Buck looks up defensively. “That is just my face.”
Eddie stares at him.
Buck holds the stare for about two seconds before cracking.
“Okay,” he admits. “Maybe a little smirk.”
Eddie exhales slowly through his nose.
There’s a beat of silence between them.
Buck shifts again. “Look, it was a joke.”
“You deliberately provoked me during a call.”
“I did not deliberately”
“Buck.” Eddie cuts in.
Buck sighs.
“…Okay maybe a little.”
Eddie leans back slightly now, folding his arms. His expression isn’t angry.
It’s calculating.
“You ever think” Eddie says slowly, “that maybe you do this on purpose?”
Buck frowns. “Do what?”
“Push.”
“I don’t push.”
Eddie raises an eyebrow.
Buck immediately deflates.
“…Okay sometimes I push.”
“Sometimes?” Eddie repeats.
Buck shrugs helplessly. “It’s kind of my brand.”
Eddie studies him again, that same intense focus from earlier returning.
Buck feels heat crawl up the back of his neck.
“What?” he asks.
Eddie’s voice drops just a little.
“You’re a brat.”
Buck chokes on his beer.
“I’m sorry…what?”
Eddie doesn’t even blink. “You heard me.”
Buck wipes his mouth, coughing. “You can’t just say that like it’s a diagnosis.”
“It is a diagnosis.”
“That is not a real psychological term!”
“Feels pretty accurate.”
Buck points at him accusingly. “You’re enjoying this.”
Eddie’s mouth twitches.
Barely.
But Buck catches it.
“Oh my god, you are.”
Eddie shrugs.
Buck leans forward now, mirroring the earlier posture Eddie had. “You’re unbelievable.”
“And yet” Eddie says calmly, “you keep doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“Testing me.”
Buck opens his mouth to argue.
Stops.
Because the truth lands somewhere in his chest before the words can come out.
Eddie notices.
Of course he does.
He leans forward again, voice softer now.
“So what’s the goal here, Buck?”
Buck looks away.
The bar noise rushes back in around them.
“I don’t know” he admits finally.
Eddie watches him for another long moment.
Then he sits back, grabbing his beer.
“Next time” Eddie says casually, “maybe try not poking the guy who knows exactly how to handle you.”
Buck’s head snaps up.
“What does that mean?”
Eddie just takes a sip.
And smiles into the glass.
Buck stares at him across the table, heart beating a little faster than it probably should.
“Eddie” he says slowly.
“Yeah?”
“…I don’t like the way you said that.”
Eddie’s smile widens slightly.
“Yeah…I know.” he whispers slightly.