Eddie wakes to the sound of shuffling going down the stairs. He looks over at his clock and its four am. He sits up in his bed and can feel he isn't going back sleep anytime soon, so he gets up and walks towards the landing and looks down and see Buck just going through the door.
'Guess he couldn't sleep.' he thinks to himself.
He heads back to the bedroom and lays back down and tries to go to sleep. He knows he has to be up for training later so the last thing he wants is to be tired. He tosses and turns in the bed, struggling to get to sleep. He looks at his clock it's 4:45 am, so he decides to get up. He picks his phone up and fetches his headphones out and puts them in, slips some shorts on, and heads down the stairs listening to music. He heads into the garden taking in the fresh air and takes a seat on the chair in the garden. As he sits there he scrolls through his phone looking at pictures his sister sent of Chris and smiles. Eddie turns back to the news page and sees the update that the said gay player was from the north.
'Wonder who it is, I feel sorry for them.' he thinks to himself.
He sees its getting close to 5:20 am so decides he needs a coffee to help keep him awake. So he heads back into the kitchen and starts the kettle. Eventually, he got distracted by cleaning a cup and he pours the water and turns to the fridge to get the milk. But was then greeted by Buck smiling at him.
"Oh, shit you scared me, Buck!" Eddie says as he pulls his headphones out, he can feel his heart beating fast from the scare.
"Payback is a bitch." Buck jokes and Eddie smiles as he pours the kettle.
"I guess you couldn't sleep either, I heard you leave for the run and I couldn't sleep so eventually after giving up trying I came down for a coffee to help keep me awake. Would you like one?" Eddie asks.
"No, I'm going to try and get a few hours of sleep. I got meetings booked in at 1 pm and 3 pm, so need be ready for them." Buck explains
"Hope it's nothing too serious." Eddie says smiling.
"No, just some none football-related ventures I want to do. You know, so I have some income when I retire." Buck says and Eddie is taken back at how much Buck does think of the future and wonders why.
"You do like to plan for the future, don't you? I don't blame you. Ok, I'll leave you to it then. I'm going to head into the training ground round 9, the gaffer wants us running some drills earlier than we thought." Eddie says with a laugh.
"Yeah, I was going to say I thought we had a few weeks in. But looks like he does not need me." Buck laughs, "Do you need a lift? I noticed you still don't have a car yet." Buck questioned.
"I don't want to be a bother. I can get uber. Plus, I messaged Athena last night about sorting it out so I should have one." Eddie explains.
"It's no bother really. Wake me at 8:30 if I'm not down and I'll take you down to Cobham. To be honest I'll most likely hit the gym considering I'll be dropping you off." Buck says smiling.
"Thanks, man," Eddie says as he passes Buck placing a hand on Buck's shoulder and giving it a squeeze then walks down the hall.
He heads into the front room and picks up his iPad, puts his headphones in so he doesn't wake Buck, starts a film on it, and watches it till he nods off. He eventually wakes up and realizes it's just gone 8 am. So he gets up and heads to his bedroom, gets his kit bag and a change of clothes, and puts them in. He also takes his training kit into the bathroom and quickly showers as he dries off and makes sure he is ready in his kit. He quickly looks at his phone see's it 8:30 am, so walks down to Buck's room to see if he is up, he knocks and no answer.
'Must still be asleep' he laughs to himself as he walks into the room.
He is greeted by the naked sight of Buck, he could see every bit of him his smooth toned chest with tattoos, his low hanging cock, and his long legs Eddie had to fight licking his lips.
"Shit, sorry! I knocked, and you didn't answer so thought you were still asleep!" Eddie says quickly.
"Shit, Eddie!" Buck says, and he watches as Buck covers himself.
"Erm, I'll go downstairs, I'm ready to go when you are." Eddie says and turns to get out.
As he walks out he quickly grabs his kit bag and heads down the stairs. He slips his trainers on and just leans against the wall. Eddie couldn't shake the feelings he felt when he saw Buck, he knew he shouldn't feel this way but something about Buck kept them coming. Like something about the way he talks to him, the way how he flexes those muscles that just kept him locked on. Eddie sighed at himself, he didn't know what all these feelings were so quickly got his phone out and distracted himself with some videos of Chris. He hears Buck coming down and feels that this could be awkward, he looks at him as he walks towards him in the hall.
"Sorry about that Buck." Eddie says looking down not wanting to look at Buck.
"Hey, it's ok. We will see each other like that when we shower after games so it's all good you just did your ninja thing, plus I should have locked the door." Buck explains.
"Might have helped, and yeah we will." Eddie chuckled.
"Let's head off." Buck says smiling.
They leave and jump in the jeep and Buck drives them to the training ground talking about what the gaffer may have in store for Eddie which made Eddie feel at ease. Once there they parked up, Eddie follows Buck through the entrance and to the reception to get Eddie a locker key. At least he would have somewhere safe to place his stuff. Once the key is in Eddie's hand, he follows Buck as he gives a quick tour and explained where everything was and left Eddie to get changed in the locker room. Eddie entered there were players already in there, all of a sudden his nerves started as he walked in and looked at his locker key to see where he would be. He looks up and see's Mason and Kepa talking they turn and wave him over.
"Hey, you're training today then?" Mason asks.
"Yeah I am, just need to find my locker so I can get ready." Eddie explains.
"What number? Let me look." Kepa says and Eddie shows him the key.
"Ah, that would be this one here next to me." Kepa explains.
"Cool, at least I know you two, which helps." Eddie says as he opens the locker.
"Yeah, but by the time we are out there, and you've played for a bit it will be all good. Coach Han will introduce you to everyone else later." Mason explains.
"No Gaffer?" Eddie questions as he strips his training jacket and trousers off, so he was in shorts and shirt.
"He will be down later no doubt, but he will be watching so, no slacking." Kepa jokes and Eddie slips his football boots on.
"Right lads, form up!" Coach Han shouts.
Everyone wanders over to where he is stood, and Eddie can see some of the other players looking at him but he stands next to Mason and Kepa which helps his nerves.
"We have a new player with us today, Edmundo Diaz. He is going be playing Central defender so make him feel welcomed, right let's head out and get started." Coach Han explains.
They all start walking out and players start introducing themselves to Eddie and he explains to call him Eddie. They were all nice which made Eddie feel a lot better. As they got out onto the field Eddie noticed there were some players already out there, they were split into teams and set to warming up running up and down the pitch and other activities to get them warmed up. They move on to ball passing and player in the middle. They move on to a match and Eddie was enjoying showing his skills tackling, making sure the goal is kept clear, he pressed others who got the ball, and his side congratulated him each time he was loving it. Eventually, it was time for them to head back into the locker room and shower, as they wandered through the lockers Eddie was mid-conversation with some of the team as he clocked a shirtless and wet Buck walking through the lockers in wearing nothing but a towel. He turned to keep talking to the players to distract him, he sits at his locker and starts taking his boots off listening to the conversations going on around him.
"Missed you out their Buck." Mason says.
"Yeah, but not my training day, unfortunately. Wish I was though could have shown you up." Buck chuckles.
"Wouldn't have been hard if that were so. Not with the way he moved." Eddie hears Ross joke from the other side of the lockers.
"Screw you, not my fault Diaz over there can move quick!" Mason replies looking at Eddie.
"Don't bring me into it." Eddie shouts.
"Sounds like he kept you busy?" Buck asks.
"Yeah, he didn't move that quick when we played the other day." Mason says.
"What did you eat this morning Diaz?" Kepa asks.
"Just coffee." Eddie replies.
"Well, make sure you have some when we play a real game, we have not had a defense like that in ages." Kepa says.
"Well, with your big hands you should have caught it, not our fault you have a fairy grip." Someone shouts and Eddie can't see who said it.
"Now, now, we all know the fairies are in the team up north." Someone else shouts from around the shower area.
Eddie can't see who is saying it but he finds it rude they talk like that about other people. They're meant to be a team, he knows it is just banter but it shouldn't be allowed.
"You fancy meeting up later? Want to try a restaurant in town?" Mason asks both Eddie and Buck.
"What time? I got some meetings to attend to later." Buck questions.
"Was thinking about 5ish later if you want." Mason replies.
"Yeah, could do. My second meeting is at 3 pm so I should be done by 4, as long as it goes to plan." Buck says smiling.
"Hey Eddie, do you need a lift back? I can wait for you if you need." Buck asks and Eddie picks up his stuff and stops to answer.
"Yeah, give me 10 minutes get showered and changed. I'll meet you at the reception." Eddie replies and walks into the showers.
As Eddie showers, he hears players going on about the news last night, and saying stuff about it. Eddie tunes it out and quickly finishes showering. He goes back to his locker and starts getting changed slowly finishing up.
"So, you coming later? You never gave me an answer." Mason asks.
"Yeah can do, might not be able to stay late, though." Eddie says.
"Yeah, that's fine. I understand you got get back." Mason says.
"Oh, another one who's on a tight leash." Ross chuckles as he walks past.
"No, I have a son that I need to speak to. He is still in the states actually." Eddie says back in a harsh tone.
"Oh sorry, didn't know mate." Ross says raising his hands in surrender.
"That's why we say think before you speak Ross." Kepa laughs.
"Yeah, I'll see you later. Sorry again." Ross says and disappears.
"Ignore what he said, most of us do." Christian says as he goes into his locker.
"Yeah, I will do, heard worse at my old club so it's cool." Eddie jokes.
"Texas right?" Christian asks.
"Yeah, you from the states too? I sort of hear the accent?" Eddie questions.
"Yeah, I was born in Hershey, Pennsylvania but moved to Germany to play in the Bundaslegue in 2015. So I was there for a few years before coming here." Christian explains.
"Cool, be nice to have another American to speak to." Eddie says.
"Yeah, but there is also Buck. He's from the same town as me did you not know that? We used to meet up for holidays, it's hard to do our holidays on your own over here." Christian chuckles.
"Yeah, be good to meet up and why didn't he say anything?" Eddie says and wonders why Buck hadn't mentioned it, to be honest, Eddie didn't hear an American accent on Buck. He decided he would ask later.
They finish up getting changed and everyone starts to leave, and Eddie grabs his bag and heads out he sees Buck sat there in his own world so he approaches and coughs, so he doesn't scare him.
"Oh sorry, was in my own world." Buck says as he stands up.
"I noticed, anything interesting?" Eddie asks as they head out.
"Just what kind of eco-friendly material I could use for my clothing line but then I ended up looking at growing my own vegetables and ended up looking at trying to be a vegan." Buck explains.
"Well, I didn't expect you to say that." Eddie chuckled.
"Yeah, I know it is weird but it's something I really want to do." Buck says, Eddie felt bad. Did Buck think he was taking the mick?
As they get to the jeep Buck opens the boot and they chuck the bags in and climb in, setting off back to his and Eddie can feel the tension between them, so he needs to explain himself.
"I did not say it was weird by the way, I was just saying It wasn't something I expected you to come out with." Eddie explains
"Oh, sorry, just used to people judging me about what I want to do." Buck explains.
"I get that. When I said about coming over here, I knew it would be a better life for me - but more importantly Chris. People found it weird, they couldn't understand why I would leave such a big country to live in a tiny one and in the most compact city of the UK." Eddie explains.
Eddie could not believe how easy it was to open to Buck. He did not know why he does but he enjoys being able to sound off to someone and not be judged for what he says.
"Sorry to hear that, but like I said the other day you do what's best for you and your son." Buck says. Eddie looks out the window and notices they are pulling in to a McDonalds and pull up at the drive-thru.
"What do you fancy? I got a meeting in like 45 minutes so I need to grab something quick as soon as I get in, I need to get ready." Buck explains.
"Oh, just a big mac meal with strawberry milkshake please." Eddie says.
Buck orders what Eddie wants, and he orders the same but changed the milkshake to Chocolate. Once they have paid and collected the food they get back to Bucks. They grabbed their bags, head in, leaving it in the hall, and head to the kitchen, and start eating. Buck starts dipping his fries into his milkshake.
"That," Eddie says pointing at the dipped fries, "is disgusting." Eddie says laughing.
"Have you tried it?" Buck questions.
"No, but who in the right mind would do that" Eddie says knowing Buck had him.
"Well, unless you have tried it, you can't judge." Buck grins and Eddie watches as Buck dips another few fries in the milkshake and eats them.
Eddie shakes his head and they eat their food. Once they are done Eddie, notices Buck check the time before grabbing their rubbish and getting rid of it.
"I'm off to go get changed, if a lady called Janet knocks could you let her in and make her a drink? Hopefully, she will turn once I'm back down." Buck asks, Eddie wonders why Buck didn't say anything earlier about having a lady around, and then it clicks that maybe it's a private thing.
"Of course, do you want me to go out till she's gone? To give you some privacy?" Eddie asks.
"It's ok, we're going to my office." Buck explains.
"Oh, she here for the meeting?" Eddie says and rubs his neck realizing he got it totally wrong.
"Yeah, my meeting for my clothing line. Anyway best get ready to wow her into helping to set it up." Buck says.
'Estúpido' Eddie thinks to himself.
He listens as Buck wanders up the stairs and Eddie puts his head in his hands at the thought of how much of an idiot he must have looked. After a minute he looks up and see's there's some mess on the side of the living area so starts cleaning it up. Cleaning the dishes in the sink and filling the kettle with water, ready just in case the lady is early. As he finishes up moving stuff around there is a knock at the door, Eddie wanders to it he opens the door to a smart-looking woman.
"Evan, nice to finally meet you." She says.
"Oh no, I'm not Buck. I mean Evan. I'm Eddie one of his teammates." He explains.
"Oh! Sorry, didn't expect anyone else my bad, I'm Janet." She says holding her hand out to shake and Eddie shakes.
"Yeah, it's ok. I'm stopping here until my house is ready, but come in he explained you were coming, would you like a drink?" he asks.
"Yeah, coffee will be fine, thank you." She says and Eddie leads her to the kitchen, making her a coffee.
"I will go see where he is, won't be a minute." He says smiling.
He starts walking to the stairs and notices their gym bags and picks them up then starts up the stairs with them where he sees Buck, all dressed up looking nice.
"Ah, forgot that, thanks." Buck says as he takes his off Eddie.
"Yeah, and Janet is in the kitchen." Eddie explains.
"Ah cool thanks," Buck says as he turns and tosses his bag in the room through the open door, Eddie notices that Bucks tie is not done properly.
"Come here." Eddie says and pulls Buck close.
"Who taught you to do a tie? It's a mess." Eddie laughs as he starts sorting it out.
"Erm YouTube, my dad wasn't any help." Buck says sheepishly. Eddie wanted to ask more but he knew Buck had a meeting so did not want to keep him.
"Well, there you go and after the meetings, I'll show you how to do it, ok?" Eddie says as he pats Buck on the shoulder and heads to his room.
He put his bag on the side and took out his dirty kit and gathered other dirty clothes then placed them by the door. He then went and cleaned the bathroom area and eventually sat back down on his bed checking his phone. He had a few messages off his sister, mainly more photos and one to say that his stuff was all packed up from his old house so he would need to send the new address to get it shipped over. His next one was about a box of clothes, his sister had sent him in the mail which would be turning up next week. He shook his head, he knew he should have asked his sister to bring them with her and Chris. Instead of hoping the post office would get it to him quicker. The last message was from Athena saying she would have his car sorted soon.
He gets up off the bed and grabs the dirty pile of clothes, heads down, then places them in the washing machine. He turns to make himself a brew and as he drinks, he looks out the kitchen window into the garden and enjoys the view and hears Buck approach.
"How'd it went?" Eddie asks.
"Went well! I've got the deal, just got to wait on samples but I can start getting the online shop made ready." Buck says smiling.
"Good to hear, you want a coffee? Guessing you could do with the caffeine, considering you have another meeting in like over a half-hour." Eddie says.
"Yeah please, this next one will be difficult, I think." Buck says Eddie was intrigued as to why it would be so.
"What makes it difficult? I know there are loads of restaurants out there, so making it work would be hard. But what do you have planned?" Eddie asks finishing the coffee for Buck.
Eddie can see Buck deep in thought so places him his coffee in front of him.
"I want to do a two-part restaurant, bear with me, it's hard to explain. Basically, there would be two kitchens one that focuses on Vegan gluten-free, and another would be special dietary needs. Where the other kitchen would deal with the normal meals, that way no cross-contamination. We would also offer takeouts and deliveries too. It sounds weird but I know not many places offer Vegan or gluten-free meals." Buck explains and Eddie laughed. He had noticed when Buck got started he went full speed and didn't slow down much.
"That sounds cool, and with the research, I'm guessing you done you know it will work." Eddie says with a smile.
He sees Buck smile back and takes a sip from his brew. They hear someone knocking on the door and Buck heads off to go answer it and presumes his next meeting is there. Buck walks into the kitchen and explains who Eddie is and offers the guy a drink whilst Eddie disappears into the living room and starts playing on the iPad. After a while, he hears Buck walk past with the client and watches as Buck closes the door and fist bumps the sky.
"Went well then?" Eddie chuckles as he walks down the stairs.
"Yeah, good day! Got what I wanted, where you off to? Anywhere fun?" Buck asks, Eddie laughed to himself as Buck had forgot.
"We are meant to be meeting Mason, remember?" Eddie says.
"Shit, yeah let me go get changed and we can head off." Buck explains.
"No rush, the uber won't be here for another twenty minutes!" Eddie shouts.
He sees Buck stop and turns around.
"I don't mind driving; I won't be drinking anyway." Buck says.
"Nah, you don't need to drink, but no need to have the stress of driving either. Just go get changed." Eddie says.
Eddie stands and waits for Buck, he can hear him banging around upstairs. Eventually, he sees Buck coming and gets a message on his phone.
"Uber is here." Eddie says, and they leave.
Whilst in the car they talk about where they are going and how good it should be.
"Nice way spend a Friday." Buck chuckles.
"Yeah, won't be able to get many of them when Chris arrives Monday." Eddie says.
"Whoa, he is here Monday?" Buck questions.
"Yeah, my sister is flying over with him, and then she'll flying back." Eddie explains.
"Oh, right that's good. What about your stuff from your old place?" Buck asks.
"Well, going to get it shipped. No rush because I wouldn't have anywhere to put them anyway." Eddie chuckles.
"Very true." Buck laughs.
They arrive at the restaurant and meet up with the other teammates and they spend the next few hours enjoying the food and atmosphere. Eddie laughs as Buck gets hassled by some girls, which he turns down but then they move on to the others. Luckily they avoid Eddie which he didn't mind at all, plus they spotted the paparazzi outside on the way in and the last thing he needs is a scandal. Eventually, ten pm hits, and some of the team start leaving and Buck explains to Eddie he has ordered an Uber because he has got to go, but he can stay. Still, Eddie decides he has had enough, plus most of the team have left. So he will leave too plus he felt a little bit tipsy. They all say they're goodbye to who is left and are in the car on the way back. When they got back to the house, Eddie feels tipsier now and hears Buck laugh as he tries to walk down the hall in a straight line. Eddie falls on to the sofa and hears Buck go to the kitchen, coming back with a bottle of water and hands it to him.
"Drink up." Buck laughs.
"Thanks, was a good night." Eddie says
"Yeah, and you got to meet the rest of the team you hadn't met yet. Anyway, I'm heading bed as It been a long day." Buck explains.
"What you got planned for the weekend? I know we're both off." Eddie questions.
"Not thinking about it, to be honest. I know some of the lads want a kick about Sunday but tomorrow? Not much." Buck replies.
"Was thinking I would go venture into the center of London. And I was wondering if you could join to show me the sites? So I then can take Chris and I won't be totally lost." Eddie says.
"Yeah, can do." Buck says.
"Cool, night then." Eddie says.
"Night." Buck says.
Eddie walks to the kitchen and goes into the garden closing the backdoor. He sits down on the chair in the dark, listening to the nighttime sounds and enjoying the cool fresh air. Eventually, he turns and heads in. The lights were off, he feels around the kitchen making his way to the light but ends up banging into something so he ends up rubbing his foot as the light flicks on.
"What you do?" Buck says.
"Well, someone turned the light off and I only know where that light switch was but then walked into the stool," Eddie said.
"Sorry, I thought you had gone bed. I couldn't see you down here where were you?" Buck questioned.
"I was in the garden." Eddie explains.
"Doing what exactly at this hour? "Buck questions.
"Just, wanted some fresh air that's all." Eddie says.
"Well, grab some ice and put it on the foot. The last thing I need is to be blamed by the gaffer that you got a bad foot and can't do anything. I'm heading back up try to avoid falling over anything else." Buck laughs as he heads back up.
"I hope you trip!" Eddie shouts up.
Eddie grabs a towel and fills it with ice and heads up to his room. Placing the towel on his foot and rests awhile. Eventually, it doesn't hurt so he goes to the bathroom and leaves the towel in the sink, and heads bed.
The next day Buck takes Eddie around the town, showing him all the best places he thinks Chris would want see and some he might have not thought about. Eddie couldn't believe how much Buck had thought about everything, they spend the whole day there. Eddie laughs at Buck who gets harassed by fans who recognized Buck but then Buck explained who Eddie was much to his horror and watched Buck laugh when he started getting pestered. They visit some bars and have some food and Buck explains the tube system. Buck laughs at the lost look Eddie knows that is on his face. They head back picking up Eddie's car. On the way back, Eddie enjoyed being able to drive his own car and Athena had also made sure he had a booster seat for Chris. Once back they enjoy a quiet night in just watching some films with Kepa and Mason, eating pizza, and discussing where they think the team will end up next season.
On Sunday, they spend a few hours playing with the lads; mainly just kicking the ball between each other and then doing piggy in the middle with the ball. Then Eddie watches as Buck cooks a Sunday roast with all the trimmings and Maddie comes around to chat and catch up and leaves. Eddie has a long chat with Chris, asking if he is ready for his trip and Chris explains what he has for the plane. Buck joins in and Eddie can't believe how well Buck is accepting Chris and Chris too is enjoying talking to Buck. Eddie was enjoying how nice the feeling was, being around people who liked him genuinely. He decides to go to bed early as he was picking Chris up but is shocked when Buck offers to take him so he didn't have to drive back. He accepts. He heads upstairs and settles down and goes to sleep, ready for the busy day tomorrow. He knows he will have to especially, with an excited Chris once he gets here. As he starts to settle he realizes he forgot to ask Buck about him being from the states, he makes a mental note to ask tomorrow. He closes his eyes and falls asleep.
DISCLAIMER: I have used real life football players and places, the comments and actions in this story are of my OWN imagination and NOT of the people I have used so please remember this when reading my story. Also I will be making a few surprises in this which again DO NOT reflect the real people.