Buck wakes and he can feel that he is still in his clothes from the previous day and is on top of the bed. As he opens his eyes to the darkness he sighs, he rolls his head and looks at his clock, it is just after three am. He went to grab his phone on instinct but then remembers he does not have one at the moment, which meant spending more money.
'Another job for tomorrow.' he chuckles to himself but also thinks of a surprise as well.
He could feel the need to pee so he stands kicking off his trainers as he walks to the bathroom and goes to the toilet, washing up and wiping some of the dirt off his face which he knows is most likely on his pillows now.
As he walks out he strips down to his boxers, chucking his clothes half-heartedly at the hamper but hears them hit the floor, but just slides back in the bed, the tiredness kicking in again. He flips over the pillow that had some mud on it over and rolls into the middle of the bed and nods off.
As he wakes in the morning, light from the gap in the curtains hits his face letting him know it's morning, he rolls over to check what time it is.
"Holy f.. mother!" Buck shouts changing words quickly at the sight of the person in front of him, his brain recovering quickly, there stood Chris smiling at him.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" Chris says looking worried.
"Just a bit Chris, you definitely have your dad's traits." Buck chuckles, "Why are you in here though? Your dad is in the other bedroom down the hall remember?"
"He isn't in there, and I wanted a drink, but he said I shouldn't go climbing on my own" Chris says and Buck panics wondering where Eddie was, surely he wouldn't leave Chris on his own, well not alone with him anyway
"Oh ok, tell you what? Make your way down and I'll be right there." Buck says remembering that he was not dressed.
Chris nods and heads out once Buck sees the door close. Buck jumps out of the bed and grabs some loose-fitting joggers and a baggy shirt before heading down. A downfall to no phone he cant ring Eddie, he has a landline in his office but doesn't know Eddies number, he could call Athena he thinks as he walks down the stairs.
"Buck, can we have pancakes?" Chris asks, taking Buck's attention from his racing mind.
"Erm, I don't think we can. I haven't been shopping yet." Buck explains he knew he needed to do a supply run later.
"Dad got some stuff." Chris explains.
Buck nods and looks in the cupboards and sees them filled with ready-made meals along with other junk stuff and sweets and chocolates. Nothing really too healthy for a kid, Buck shakes his head as he sees the flour pushed to the back of the cupboard and grabs it. He places it down and goes to the fridge, again he sees more unhealthy stuff and grabs the milk and some orange juice as well as eggs off the side. He pours Chris a glass of orange juice and passes it to him and notices Chris who is watching him intently.
"We need to have some serious words with your dad when he gets back, you can't eat all that unhealthy stuff." Buck says.
"It's because he can't cook." Chris chuckles.
"Is that so?" Buck grins back, he looks at the clock. It's just after 7 am so where was Eddie? There wasn't even a note anywhere, "I am just going to my office to get the phone from there, I will be two minutes so don't move." Buck explains as he heads out.
He walked along the hall to his office, he didn't mind looking after Chris, it was a nice distraction but some notice would have been nice. So he could have planned things, But then Buck starts to think things through and starts with the worse, what if he has done a runner and left Chris. No, Eddie wouldn't do that, he thinks back to the previous day and remembers their conversations about football and training but Eddie never mentioned anything about going out this morning. Buck thinks but then he could have zoned out as he was so tired, he enters his super organized office and heads to the side unit and he picks the phone and dials Athena.
"Boy, this better be goddam important, do you know what time it is?" Athena says, sounding slightly sleepy and angry.
"Sorry, but could you call Eddie? He's not here and I'm alone with Chris, I don't mind looking after him, but neither of us know where he is. And I don't have a phone to call him, and I'm pretty sure Chris doesn't have one either." Buck explains in a ramble.
"First off, I'll call him, and then second, you need to explain to me boy why you have no phone." Athena says, and Buck knew he was busted.
"It is all fine I promise, I'm sorting a new one later and I promise I'll come to see you and talk, but could you hurry as I don't really know what to do..." Buck explains.
"Buckaroo, you have looked after my kids and Hen's, you will be fine." Athena reassures him.
"Yeah, but none of yours have you know CP."
"I know that, but just ask him what he wants to do and if you think he can't do it just explain you will wait till his dad gets back. Stick a film on or build Lego, after all, I did see what you got him so that should keep you both busy."
"I got him all that as I wanted to make him feel welcomed, but ok, I'll go make pancakes and please give me a call once you spoke to him."
"I will, now off you go." She explains before hanging up
Buck walks back down the hall, the office phone firmly in hand, and walks down the hall. He can hear the TV is on and the sound of something kid-like, as he enters the room, he notices Chris gives him a look like he is in trouble.
"Sorry, I should have asked..." Chris says his head down.
"It's fine, you can watch TV as I cook, ok?" Buck says with a smile.
"Ok, have you heard off my dad?"
"Not yet, but Athena will get in touch with him, don't you worry. Do you have a phone so we can call him?"
"Dad says I'm too young for one." Chris explains, Buck wants to agree but he also knows in situations like these, Chris having one would be handy.
He knows Athena and Hen's kids have one for emergencies.
"That's fine, how many pancakes would you like?"
"Five..." Chris says giggling.
"Five, hmm, I don't know if you will be able to handle five of my super pancakes, but we will see." Buck chuckles as he starts to make the pancake mix.
As he works the mixture he glances over at the phone it had been ten minutes and still no call back from Athena, and he was getting anxious about where the hell Eddie was and why no one had called him back. Surely there should be some answer by now.
He turns his attention to the hot pan and starts making the pancakes, he makes small ones but makes five of them and slides them in front of Chris who smiles at him. He hands a fork and syrup as he starts making some for himself.
"These are the best pancakes ever." Chris says.
"Well, you won't be having them every day, from tomorrow you will be having a healthy breakfast while you stay here." Buck explains he will get Chris some healthy food and speak to Carla and Eddie as surely as a footballer Eddie must know the value of nutrition.
"Aww, do I have to?" Chris sulks and Buck chuckles.
"Well, you want to be big and strong like your dad don't you? We have to eat loads of healthy stuff, but that just means when we have sweet things, we enjoy It more." Buck explains and Chris smiles at him.
As he sets his plate down with a cup of coffee the phone rings and Buck grabs it immediately, answering it. He moves to one side of the kitchen away from the sound of the TV and the prying ears of Chris who he has noticed is leaning more towards Buck than the TV.
"Hey, Athena?" Buck says trying not to laugh at Chris antics
"Hi, Buck, kind of a good news, bad news situation." Athena explains and Buck dreads to think about what she is going to say.
"I'll take the bad first." Buck says.
"Well, I can't get a hold on Eddie. I have tried his phone and some of the other guys but nothing as of yet, but don't worry the good news is I have Carla on the way right now." She explains, Buck wants to rant down the phone but looks at Chris who is eating and looking at Buck, he knows he can't panic him.
"That's fine, just keep me up to date." Buck says.
"Just like that, it's fine?" Athena questions.
"Yeah, gotta go my food is getting cold and Chris is staring at them, so I don't want to lose any." Buck snickers hoping Athena gets the hint.
"Ah, I'm with you, don't want to panic him. Ok, I'll speak to you later." She says.
"Bye Athena." Buck says.
"Bye." She replies as she hangs up.
Buck places the phone down and wanders over to his food, Chris attention is now back on the TV Buck couldn't believe the predicament he was in, he had been left with a kid, the dad nowhere to be seen and not answering his phone, the papers would have a field day if they got a hold of this. He just hoped that Eddie would turn up with some story like he went for a run but something happened or went for a drive as they were so busy and wanted to relax.
"Is my dad gone?" Chris asks and the question cuts through all of Buck's thoughts.
'Shit.' he thinks to himself, he takes a second to think before he answers.
"He is helping out Athena with something so will be back soon, in the meantime, Carla is coming over to look after you." Buck replies.
"Can't you look after me?" Chris questions.
"I would love to hang out with you buddy, but I need to go into town and get some stuff sorted." Buck explains as he finishes his food.
"Can I come with you? Please? I'll be good, I promise." Chris says giving Buck puppy dog eyes.
Buck looks at them and knows he can't resist them, but then the thoughts creep in, what would Eddie think if he came back to find his son gone? He didn't know what to do, it would keep Chris from wondering where his dad was.
"Fine, two conditions though, first finish them and then go get cleaned up as you have more syrup over your face than inside you Second, you have to follow what I say as it will be busy and there may be people who will come up to me if they recognize me, but I will keep you safe. Still, you have to stick close to me, is that ok?" Buck asks, but he knows he could drag Carla with him.
'What would the papers say if they saw me with a child? Shit.' Buck thinks.
"Yes!" Chris cheers and starts to quickly finish his food.
'Too late.' he sniggers to himself.
"Good, now I'll take these dirty plates so you can go and get ready." Buck explains as he takes the empty plates from the table and places them in the sink. He quickly wipes the table as he hears the front door open and close.
"Hello?" He shouts expecting to hear one of Carla's sarcastic replies.
"Hi." Eddie says as he hobbles through the kitchen door covered in mud with cuts on his face. Buck can see the redness of the blood in the sunlight oozing from the cuts as it drips onto the floor and the muddy wet trail Eddie has left behind him.
"Eddie, what the fuck happened?" Buck says instantly running over to take hold of Eddie before he fell, Buck could feel the coldness from Eddie's damp clothes.
"Erm, well, it's a funny story..." Eddie starts as Buck helps him to the kitchen stool and turns to the kitchen counter.
"Aren't they always?" Buck says as he grabs some cloth's and wet one, then hands them to Eddie.
As he heads to the cupboard under the sink to get the first aid box, thoughts raced through his mind; What if someone did this to him? It wouldn't be the first time a footballer player has been attacked whilst out.
"I mean it, it's a funny story, and don't worry no one did this to me. It's all me, sorry about the mess." Eddie says as Buck moves towards the counter, taking in the mess Eddie was in, he was head to toe covered in mud. Bar the face which Eddie had just cleaned but Buck could see the few scratches on the cheek and forehead which started to ooze blood again. He grabs a blanket from a side cupboard which he uses when he sits in the garden when it's cold and wraps it round Eddie.
"Ok, well I'll try to patch up the cuts, but I saw you hobble so I guess we need to get you to a&e." Buck explains as he opens the box and sits in front of Eddie.
"I will be fine. I think I just twisted it and maybe cut it, is Chris up?" Eddie questions.
"Yeah, I made him pancakes, Carla is on the way but he talked me into letting him come to town with me, Oh, Athena has tried calling you, we were worried." Buck says, the realization he had stated the 'we' a bit too much and it could be misinterpreted. He didn't want to ruin a friendship he was building, "I thought you had run off leaving me with Chris." Buck chuckles hoping it plays off as a joke and he sees Eddie staring but a smile appears.
"I would never abandon Chris, look don't laugh ok? I was up early and decided to go for a run before anyone woke, I knew you were in so if something major happened you were here, as I ran through the fields I saw two girls..." But Buck cuts him off.
"Oh, you don't need to say no more, didn't think you were an outdoors person, hope you made sure no one saw you, don't think the gaffer would like that story plastered over the papers." Buck chuckles and see's Eddie roll his eyes.
"Nothing like that you dog. Anyway, their dog got stuck in what I can now say was a well-hidden swamp, so I offered to get it out. Unbeknown to me, it was deeper than any of us thought. I fell in as my foot got stuck in some mud and I lost my balance and banged my head on something and before I felt something scratch me as I went under. But I managed to get back up, and I got the dog out which the fucker had been on a board so it was ok besides it being stuck. But then as I got out with the dog, I realized my phone was gone so it must be somewhere in the water, so now I need to get a new one." Eddie chuckles, "Ow!" He says as Buck spreads cream on Eddie's cut and tries not to laugh at Eddie's misfortune.
Buck looks at the cut and applies some more, he had picked up some tips from his sister. As he did he could feel Eddie's skin under his fingers, he gently pushed to make Eddie turn so there facing eye to eye. Buck moves more cream on to the other cuts but is drawn into Eddie's hazel eyes. He could feel a connection and it brought up feelings he liked but then the feeling of guilt came and he pulled away quickly wiping his hands.
"All done, if you want to come to town with us, I don't mind. And I'm sure your son would love that and it would make my life easier as I've never been shopping with a kid before. I just normally babysit at home." Buck chuckles, "But we also do have a kick about later with some of the lads as we got a new player, and Mason has him staying at his. So I said that it would be fun to get the new guys together as it made you feel ok meeting others outside the club. But if your foot is hurting, I can tell them it's off."
"No don't, we will go. It wouldn't be nice not to be the new guy and you are right, it helped loads meeting some of the guys outside the club. Less pressure" Eddie chuckles.
"Dad, your back!" Chris shouts as he enters the room.
"Right, well your dad can fill you in on what he has been up to, but first he needs to call Athena and explain everything. I'm going for a shower." Buck says as he turns to head upstairs.
"Can I still come with you please?" Chris says his pleading voice echoes the hall.
"Ask your dad, and don't forget to ask Carla" Buck shouts as he wanders up the stairs chuckling to himself.
As he gets up the stairs, he sits on the bed, he thinks back to what happened downstairs with Eddie and the feelings it brought up.
'Not now, why am I such an idiot, it can't happen especially so close to home I need to put a stop to this I need to keep busy and focus on other things.' Buck thinks to himself
After a few minutes, he remembered he needed to speak to Mason about later. So he dug his iPad out of the draw next to his bed and waited for it to load. It had been a while since he used it, he logged on to Facebook and video calls Mason.
"Hey up mate, looking a bit flustered there, and the picture is a bit shit... You on your old iPad again?" Mason greets him.
"Hey, yeah weird morning, and like I said at training I lost my phone. So I'm going to get a new one in a bit, we still on for later?" Buck asks but seeing the smile on his mate gave him the answer before Mason said a word.
"Of course, can't wait for you to meet Timo! He is brilliant! He speaks good English but does struggle so maybe dust off some of that German you learnt, but we have gotten on so well. Plus, I can see you two hitting off, maybe not like you and Diaz have though." Mason says with a grin and Buck couldn't understand what the grin was for.
"Yeah, Eddie is a good lad." he says smiling and looks at Mason whose grin is a full-on smile, "Anyway, about the kick about later, Eddie hurt himself this morning. I'll let him tell you his embarrassing story unless he tries to make it sound macho then I'll butt in, so he might not be able to play, and with having a game next week we can't risk him aggravating it. Still, I was wondering if it would be ok to bring his son?" Buck asks remembering the other week when they had a kick about and talked about Chris coming.
"Yeah, of course, he can come! Be nice to finally meet him, Kepa will be there too, and Pulisic. So there will be a few of us and I'll let them know he is coming, and obviously, we will be careful." Mason explains.
"Cool, but tell them not to, you know, make it obvious. I don't know the ins and outs of what happened but I know they both had run-ins with his last team and that they made it hard for them to socialize because of his son's condition." Buck explains not wanting to go into much detail.
"That's fine we will sort it out you know us; I'll see you at the playing field about 4ish." Mason says.
"Cool, will do, see you later." Buck says ending the call.
He gets up and heads into his wardrobe, grabbing a pair of jeans, a nice shirt, a jumper, along with socks and underwear before, heading into the shower. He strips down and lets the hot water pulse at his neck. It feels good to him, the warm water easing his muscles in his neck.
He eventually moves on to clean himself and gets out of the shower and dries off. As he dresses he can hear sounds coming from within the house, it was a lot better than the normal silence that filled his big house. He would normally put music on just to make it sound less silent, but the fact he knew it was actual people in the house, made him feel a lot better.
So he just stands there, listening to it, taking it all in. It was nice to have other people around he thinks to himself. This is what Buck wanted, a house full of people of laughter, and a good life. He knew that what he wanted clashed with the one he currently lived in, all alone by himself.
He shakes his head and finishes getting changed, spraying aftershave and deodorant on, and heads down the stairs where he sees Chris coming out of his room heading back to the kitchen, most likely to continue watching TV There was no Eddie in sight but the trail of mud through the house, noticing the drops of blood spread apart, said otherwise.
"Guess I'll clean the mess." Buck says out loud to himself.
He wanders through the kitchen to the utility room and grabs the mop and bucket along with some floor cleaner. He walks back into the kitchen, pours some cleaner in the bucket, before placing it in the sink, and runs the water. As he does, he places the kettle on and gets some cups lined up ready.
"Chris, would you like a drink?" Buck shouts.
"No, thank you." Chris replies.
Buck turns the water off and hears the front door open and close and before he needs to guess he hears a voice.
"Oh hell no! You did not call me in just to clean up this mess." Carla's voice can be heard, and then she appears in the kitchen.
"Of course not, it's been an eventful morning, I was about to clean it up." Buck explains gesturing to the bucket in the sink.
"I will let you off then, so where is the troublemaker? I tell you what, you footballers do like to keep people on their toes." She chuckles.
"We do, and I think he is upstairs, I am not too sure." Buck states realising he had not seen Eddie since he came down.
"He went for a shower. Hey, Buck? Will Carla be joining us to town?" Chris asks.
"I wasn't expecting to be going to town. Thought I was here to look after you while they went out." Carla says giving Buck a stern look, but Buck smiles giving the 'please help' look and she smiles back, "but it would be fun, just stay close and if it comes to it we will push Buck here to the wolves and run." Carla grins.
"Wolves?" Chris asks with a confused look.
"It's what we call over-friendly fans, who want to grab us and have pictures like that, but don't worry I will have my disguise on." Buck says with a wink
"May need more than a hat and sunglasses." A male's voice makes Buck turn to see Eddie limping into the kitchen, a pair of jeans on and a tight white shirt under a red and black flannel.
"Are you sure you can walk on that? You look unformattable and the last thing we need is the gaffer on your case which means he will be on mine as you're staying here." Buck questions he sees Eddie shift but then smiles at him
"It will be fine; just give me some pain killers and promise we will take it slow round the shops and I'll be fine." Eddie says.
"Well, if he doesn't I'll be calling Athena on ya." Carla says
"Well, Maddie is popping round later, I can ask her to look at it, that way no need to let the club know just yet." Buck says as he picks the buck and places the mop in it.
"Deal, and let me do that. I did make this mess after all." Eddie states.
"No, you sit and Buck will clean and I'll make drinks. Going to need my caffeine, out in the busy town with two footballers of a big club and a kid? I mean doesn't sound like a bad idea at all." Carla chuckles which sets Buck off, now she said it out loud it did sound like a shit storm.
He heads down the hall towards the front door, following the mud trail to the mat which also needed cleaning. He opens the front door and looks out, it was a nice day he thought. He looks round and sees work vans next door, more work has been done on Eddie's house and he looks down to pick the mat and sees a pair of muddy trainers sitting outside. He figures Eddie left them there to dry out.
He places the mat outside, closing the door, and mops his way down the hall. He loved to clean, it gave him something to focus on aside from the shitstorm that was happening on the outside world. As he mopped away the mud and blood droplets he forgot how white his tiled hall was. Buck eventually reached the kitchen and gave the floor where Eddie had sat on the stool a quick clean. Buck looks at the stool and it was cleaned so he guessed Eddie cleaned it.
"Well, looks like we have time to drink these while we wait for the floor to dry." Carla says passing the drinks out.
"Yeah, so where do you need to go Eddie?" Buck asks.
"Just a phone store, sort a new phone." Eddie responds.
"Can I get one dad?" Chris asks and Buck sees the look on Eddie's face, it was a mix of confusion and maybe anger. Buck could not put his finger on it.
"I've told you before mijo, you are too young for one." Eddie explains, and Buck feels a sense of guilt for maybe putting the idea in Chris's head.
"That's my bad, I mentioned that Hen and Athena's kids have phones for emergencies... You know in case something like today happens." Buck says hoping Eddie sees his point of view.
"Oh, I have never thought about it like that, I just think of all the bad stuff you read that could happen, you know..." Eddie says rubbing his neck, Buck shakes his head at Eddie and tips the bucket water away as he moves to the utility room but listening to the conversations.
"Well, we could get him one and have them set it up for kid mode. As I know that is a thing now, plus, if he needs me, he can call." Carla explains.
"Maybe, let us see what the company says, but no promises ok mijo?" Eddie says as he ruffles Chris' hair, "What about you Buck? Where do you need to go?" Eddie asks and Buck keeps his focus on his drink.
He didn't want to get any more wrong feelings for Eddie, and he knew if he was going to so, he decided that he was going to try and avoid eye contact as much as possible.
"I need a phone, plus I want to peek at the sports shop and look at some football boots." Buck explains.
"Why do you need new boots? Don't you get sponsored to wear certain ones and get to have many pairs of them?" Carla asks.
"I do, but these are for..." Buck nods towards Chris and he can see Eddie's eyes fixed on him. Buck didn't know why but he can't help but stare and smile at Eddie, "He will need them for later at the kick about." Buck says shrugging his shoulders and looking down at his brew.
"But..." Eddie starts.
"That's a great idea! It's about time others met this sweet kid." Carla explains and Buck sees her staring at Eddie and he knows the look she is giving him. It's the 'go on I dare you to say no' look.
"Fine, but if it is too much for him we stop. ok?" Eddie explains.
"It's fine. Mason will have it all sorted, he will be safe. I'll even have Maddie turn up there ok? So she can check you out and then she will be on hand." Buck says smiling at the people in the room.
"You mean, I can play football with you and your teammates?" Chris asks, eyes widened.
"Yeah, not all of them, but some." Buck says smiling.
"OMG! This is gonna be the best day ever, can I get some blue boots like the ones my dad has?" Chris asks.
"We will see what they have in store, ok?" Eddie says with a tone of defeat.
Buck notices the big smile on Chris then the same smile appears on Eddie too. Buck leans back against the counter and watches as Eddie and Chris talk and plays a game along with Carla. He was enjoying the atmosphere, it was relaxing for him and again so different from his normal empty house. But at the same time, he knew he would have to be on guard, as he knows all too well that this could go away at any time and ruin everything for him. As he finishes his brew he looks at his clock, it was just after half eight.
"Time flies when you have fun, come on let's get a move on. I want to try to be in and out of the town before it gets too busy." Buck explains as he places his cup in the sink making his way to the kitchen door.
"It's London, it's always busy." Carla chuckles.
"That it is, but if you get in early you avoid a lot of tourists which we would want to also avoid. Because it means we could get stuck there autographing, so grab your stuff and we are on the move people." Buck chuckles as he walks to the door, the sound of people close behind him, he watches as Eddie goes to grab his car keys and Buck grabs them from the bowl before Eddie can.
"No chance, You're not driving with a bad leg, everyone in my jeep." Buck says smiling.
"But I'm fine to drive. My leg is fine, I promise." Eddie says.
"Ok, stand on the so-called fine leg and lift the other. If you can stay like that for 10 seconds I'll let you drive." Buck says seeing Carla shake her head behind Eddie.
Buck watches as Eddie puts his bad leg fully down and lifts the good leg up and Buck can see the strain on Eddie's face and knows he won't last.
"One... Two... Three.." Buck counts and Eddie falls landing into Buck's, who is quick to catch him by the arms and hold him steady. The feeling of Eddie's muscular arms in his hands makes Buck feel butterflies in his stomach. He would have savored this feeling but then the guilt feeling hits and he quickly straightens. Eddie upright and turns as he chucks Eddie's keys back in the bowl but also using this as the opportunity to hide his red cheeks.
"I win, come on in my jeep we go." Buck says.
"Hey, give me a retry, I'll do it." Eddie says behind Buck.
"Eddie, give up. You lost, let's just go." Carla says.
"Yeah dad, let's go." Chris chimes in.
Buck wanders to his jeep and gets in, he watches through the mirror and sees Eddie lock the front door and they climb in. Buck is thankful that Carla sat in the passenger side seat and Eddie is in the back seat with Chris.
The drive is filled with conversations with a grilling from Carla who wanted to know the ins and outs of the team and whatnot. All the questions help to take over the whole drive, as they pull into the parking space Buck slides his hat and glasses on. Buck knew they would most likely get spotted but he hoped they didn't.
They climbed out and headed round to the phone shop. Of all the things Buck could be preoccupied with, he watched as Eddie limps and feels bad he has dragged him out when he should be resting.
Once in, Buck goes with one advisor whilst he watches Eddie go with another. They explained to Carla to take Chris to the toy store as they did not know how long they would be.
As Buck sorted his new phone he couldn't help but look over and watch Eddie, he didn't know what was drawing him in but he had to keep fighting. After nearly an hour of messing and looking around, Buck had his new phone with his number transferred over and his cloud backup on so he had everything back on his phone. He thanked the advisor and joined Chris and Carla as they waited for Eddie who eventually came out looking flustered but with a new phone in hand.
They leave the store and make their way slowly to the sports shop and Buck watches as Chris looks at the different boots, his crutches left on the side as he uses the shelves to look at them. He then finds himself looking at Eddie, again who looks like he is having a heated debate with the clerk of the shop.
"I'll be back in a second, Eddie looks like he needs help." Buck says gesturing towards Eddie.
"I think he does; he is no good with people or using people skills that I have clearly noticed. I've got my eye on Chris, go." Carla says.
As Buck approaches Eddie and the clerk, he can make out the conversation.
"You have no right to make that kind of assumption, and what may be best for my son." Eddie says.
"I'm sorry sir but I just needed to ask as I don't want to sell you something that may lead to your son hurting himself." The clerk starts, and Buck can see the anger in Eddie's eyes he hasn't seen him get like this before.
"What do you think we will do, sue you? Are you f…" Eddie starts.
"Eddie, all ok here" Buck interrupts.
"No, this jackass has explained that he doesn't feel comfortable selling us football boots for Chris due to him not being able to walk properly." Eddie snarls looking at the clerk.
"Can we see the manager please?" Buck says politely, and the clerk disappears, "Eddie calm down, will you? It will be ok." Buck explains noticing Eddies clenched fists, he had never seen Eddie like this
"No, it won't. Who does he think he is for refusing me?" Eddie says
"He is most likely doing his job." Buck explains as he sees the manager coming over.
"My clerk explained you wanted to talk... Oh! Mr. Buckley, I didn't know it was you. How are you?" The manager explains.
"All good, look there may have been some miscommunication between everyone." Buck says looking at Eddie who seems to calm a bit "We just wanted to buy some football boots for his boy. I understand where your clerk is coming from, but we're both professional players and you know me. We just want to show his son that having a handicap won't stop him from doing sports" Buck explains.
"I understand that completely and I can only apologize, my clerk was doing his job, but if you are sure you wish to buy a pair I will not stop you. Let us sort you out a pair at a discount, of course." The manager explains.
"No need for the discount, we will pay full price and thank you." Buck says.
"Thank you, Mr. Buckley" The manager states, "And I apologize to you too sir." The manager says looking at Eddie.
"It's fine." Eddie says and walks off.
Buck shrugs his shoulders at the manager and follows Eddie. He sits down next to Carla as Eddie helps Chris pick a pair of boots that looked pretty similar to Eddie's. After a lot of persuasion, Chris reluctantly takes them off and they pay for them.
They leave the store and Buck notices the smile on Eddie's face as they listen to Chris explaining what he wants to try later while they headed to a restaurant for something to eat.
Buck arranges for Maddie to turn up at the playing fields so she can check over Eddie and just in case something does happen. After a few hours, they are back at Buck's house, bags on the side and all tuckered out. Chris heads for a nap and Buck decides to do the same. As he heads upstairs he sets his alarm for 3:30 pm, enough time to get up, get changed, and get them to the fields.