"You know, you were the one that was so against bedside confessions, Eddie. So I'm just saying, if you don't want one you need to wake up soon. You hear me? Don't test me, Eddie. I will do it," Buck threatened.
He grabbed Eddie's hand and played with his fingers a little. "You don't have to worry. Christopher's at school. So he's not here listening to this. I know you wanted to wait to talk to him about us. I didn't steal that conversation from you. You get to have all of the fun of explaining to Chris that his best buddy is marrying - I mean, um, dating, his dad once we're official. So yeah. Wake up. Please," he rambled.
He fell into silence, just sitting with Eddie for a moment before he stood up. He ran his fingers through Eddie's hair, mourning the softness that was there before he was stuck in this hospital bed. Time was up, and he needed to leave to go to work.
It fell into a routine. Everyone was scared because of the sniper that had been targeting them, but after awhile, it was almost normal to wear the vests and to have protection with them. They ended up snapping at each other fairly often from the stress. Chimney was stressed because him and Maddie were barely seeing each other, Hen was stressed because she was waiting for a visit from Social Services about a new kid she was about to foster, Bobby was stressed because of the risk Buck took to help the construction worker by running up by himself, and Buck...he was just stressed because every time he shut his eyes he remembered what it was like to be thrown onto the pavement, staring into his best friend's eyes as they slowly shut. He remembered feeling the blood seeping through his shirt and tasting it while waiting on news in the hospital.
Now, he was also stressing out because he was worried about Maddie. Chimney had called him yesterday, asking if he would swing by to talk to her when he had the chance. She was constantly exhausted and stressed about the baby, and it had reached the point that she had just quit her job. Chimney was hoping that she might be willing to talk to him a little about what she was feeling, in case there was something she would share with him that she didn't want to talk to Chimney about. But also so that she could get his input on getting a therapist that she could talk to about it. Now that she wasn't with dispatch anymore, she couldn't continue to use their counselors.
He was planning on going over there later in the day, but first, he was going over to Eddie's house. He was ready for them to be official, and he was going to let Eddie know.
...But first he was going to panic for awhile. Just a little bit.
Buck: Did you know that dolphins sleep with one eye open?
Incoming Call: Eddie
He laughed as he answered the call.
"Okay, that one has got to be fake. That sounds exhausting," Eddie said.
"No, no! Apparently scientists have studied them to see how it affects their awareness after a few days. Nothing! They're just used to it so it doesn't make a difference," Buck said while shaking his head.
"But, like, why? I mean, I've heard people threaten that you should sleep with one eye open before, but I didn't think any animals actually did that," Eddie asked.
"Yeah, it sounds like it's because of all the predators they have to watch out for. Pretty crazy though, right?"
Eddie laughed, which sounded amazing. After so long of worrying about when he would wake up, it was amazing listening to him now that he was recovered enough to leave the hospital.
"So..." Eddie trailed off expectantly.
"So what?" Buck asked.
"You're nervous and deflecting with random animal facts. What's up?"
"I am not! ...Well, okay. I'm a little nervous. But anyway, I'm on my way to your house. So you might want to get dressed," Buck teased him.
Eddie hummed. "Alright, I guess I can handle waiting a little longer. But when have I ever not been dressed when you came over? I'm not the one that has answered the door naked between the two of us, Buck."
He blushed a little at the reminder. "That was one time! And you can't pretend you didn't like the view!"
Eddie laughed again. "Now, I never claimed I didn't like it. But next time I'd prefer for that to happen when I can actually do something about it," he teased back.
"Do something about what? Are you talking to Buck? Hi Buck!" Christopher yelled in the background.
"Hi Christopher!" Buck called back, hoping that Eddie had moved the phone away from his ear in time.
"Buck! I've got to tell you about this science project that I am working on. Ms. Black is letting us submit something for the science fair this semester. I was thinking about doing something about space. Or volcanoes. Oooh, or dinosaurs. But I can't decide on what to go with."
He hummed as he tried to come up with a suggestion. "Maybe you can combine your ideas? Then you can do some of everything."
"How would that work?" Chris asked.
"Well...maybe try looking into how dinosaurs went extinct? You could probably use that to combine space and dinosaurs."
There was silence from the other side for a moment before he heard Chris rambling to Eddie about his new ideas.
"Thanks Buck, you've got him inspired now," Eddie laughed into the phone. "We might need to stop and get some supplies for his project too."
He joined in on laughing as he pulled up to Eddie's driveway. He hurried out of the car before he could lose his nerve and hurried to the door.
"Dad! Dad! Someone's here! Do you think it's Buck?" Christopher was shouting.
"Chris! Let me answer the door!" Eddie yelled, but it was ignored.
"Buck!" Chris yelled. He went to scoop up his favorite Diaz and gave him a hug.
"Where's your old man hiding?" he asked him.
"Old man? I see how it is," Eddie complained as he walked over to them.
When Buck had decided to come over, he didn't really have much of a plan. He just couldn't stand the thought of going another day without being official with the man he loves. He wanted to be able to tell the world how much Eddie was loved. He wanted to go on dates with him, without having to come up with a plausible reason for why it wasn't a date if he was asked about it. Hell, he wanted to be able to tag Eddie in posts on Instagram and include all of the kissing emojis he wanted. Although he didn't have a plan, he figured that he did his best work spontaneously anyway.
They gradually moved towards the kitchen, and Buck began getting to work trying to find something to put together for them to have for lunch.
"How do you guys feel about having some chicken wraps?" Buck threw out there, trying to get ideas.
Chris grinned in challenge, "How about chicken nuggets?"
Eddie just rolled his eyes, looking fond as he did it. "How about something heal-"
Everything went silent and the lights turned off.
"Power's out!" Chris yelled out.
"Maybe a breaker tripped?" Eddie suggested before he began digging for a flashlight.
"Could be," he agreed.
He played the distraction for Christopher while Eddie went to look at the breaker box. But it didn't take long for him to come back, shaking his head.
"Well, we may as well go out then. No point sitting around in the dark," Eddie said.
They packed up Christopher's crutches and moved into Eddie's truck before driving around looking at what there was to eat. Buck was busy with calling the electrical company to see what was up with the power. He ended up nudging Eddie and Chris to go inside the restaurant ahead of him while he wrapped up the conversation.
It didn't take him long, but it was long enough that they had gotten up to something while he was gone. They looked very suspicious and Christopher was even giggling when he came back. Eddie just smiled and shook his head at him when Buck shot him a questioning look.
Although it wasn't expected, it did end up being a lovely lunch out with his favorite people. And he was able to tease Eddie a little by playing footsie under the table.
Christopher kept getting excited and almost giving up what was going on, but each time Eddie managed to keep him distracted by having him talk about his science project. It was totally unfair.
Sadly, their forks quit scraping plates and their drinks came to an end. He didn't want the lunch to come to an end. He felt desperate. He was looking around for a solution so that they could stay where they were, so that they could stretch out this moment a moment longer. Eddie caught his eyes, and he looked as if he knew just what was going through his mind.
Our waitress came walking by then, and Eddie flagged her down.
"Can we go ahead and get that dessert?" he asked.
Dessert? What dessert?
"Sure thing!" she said with an excited squeak.
Eddie just raised an eyebrow at him and kept sucking the last few drops of his drink to avoid answering his questions.
Soon, she came back with her tray and placed small plates down for each of us. Then, she placed down the main plate which had a small cake on it. On the white frosting was a message written in blue lettering, "Will you join our family?"
His mouth dropped open, and he looked up at Eddie, who had a slightly worried look on his face but enough hope in his eyes to take his breath away. He turned to look at Christopher and see what his reaction was. Did Eddie manage to talk to him about it after all? Chris was just wiggling in excitement.
"Really? Can I?" I ask them.
Chris laughed at him, the little meanie. "Silly, Buck. You're already family."
He half-stood so he could lean over the table and pull them into a hug without getting covered in cake. He turned his face towards Eddie and whispered in his ear, "You beat me to it!"
He sat back down and took in the whispers that had sprung up. He hadn't even noticed the sudden silence. Then, he noticed that a few of the workers were peeking out of the kitchen, trying to hide that they were being nosy about the outcome.
"Who wants the first piece?" he asked.
Later, when things settled down and the day had passed, they went to bed together for once. They cuddled together on the bed, relishing in the moment and not wanting the day to end just yet.
"Just so you know, I call dibs on proposing," Buck warned him.
Eddie just laughed at him in the darkness.
"We'll see!"