This was written by Ghostie.
Eddie
Eddie stretched his arms over his head, arching his back as best he could in the cramped position of sitting in the cab of the engine. As soon as their shift had started at eight this morning, they had been on the go. It wouldn't have been so bad but Eddie has been partnered with Abbott from B-shift since Monday - four days - after Buck had taken a week off work to go to Peru for an old buddy's wedding. It wasn't like Eddie didn't trust Abbott, he did - he just trusted Buck the most with his own safety. Nobody understood him like Buck, not even Hen or Chimney. They could communicate without words in the field. There have been times over the past week when Eddie had to remind himself to actually speak to his partner in order to get what he needed equipment wise on a call. After the third time Monday morning, Eddie had to apologize about his darkening mood. Abbott just shrugged and said he wasn't taking it personal, he understood the dynamics between Eddie and Buck - everyone at the 118 did, even the other shifts. Eddie just missed his best friend.
"Three more days, Eddie," Hen chuckled as the engine began backing into the station. "He'll be back in three days and you'll go back to having him at your side."
Not bothering with words, Eddie just rolled his eyes. They had all been counting down the days for him since he dropped Buck off at the airport early Monday morning before work. As soon as he walked in the locker room each morning one of them would say " six more days " or " five more days ". It was annoying the first two days but now it helped Eddie stay focused on the job - and wasn't that telling?
As soon as the truck rolled to a stop, Eddie was the first one out, shredding out of his turnout gear before heading for the stairs. Castillo - the man behind today - was sitting at the bottom of the stairs on her phone, and had looked up as he approached, Chimney and Hen right behind him.
"Lunch was just delivered." She nodded her head up the stairs. "And someone's up there waiting for you, Eddie."
Eddie turned to look over his shoulder at his teammates, they just shrugged. Taking the stairs two at a time, Eddie came to a halt at the top as he saw Buck sitting at the dinner table, leaning back with the front legs of his chair in the air, his knees clearly pressed against the bottom of the table, keeping himself from tipping fully backwards and crashing to the floor. In one hand was a bottle, in the other a stick. Upon further investigating - Eddie watched Buck blow on the stick and bubbles started floating around in the air - Eddie snorted.
"Hey, I thought you were coming back until Sunday!" Chimney called from behind Eddie, pushing his way past and heading straight for the food clearly sat out for them.
Buck jumped, dropping the bubble wand onto the table to grip at the end and keep himself from falling backwards, the front legs of the chair landing with a loud thud .
"Shit," Buck cursed, "I didn't even hear the trucks returning."
Eddie laughed as he made his way over to his best friend, foregoing the food as more of the crew joined them in the kitchen, all gathering around the spread of soups, sandwiches and salad from their favorite deli down the street - it was their go-to takeout on days like they've had this morning when Bobby didn't have the time to cook them a homemade meal. Eddie plopped down on the chair next to Buck, scooting close so their thighs were touching and dropped his forehead onto Buck's shoulder with a groan.
"Good to see you too, Eds." Buck chuckled, patting his hand over Eddie's chest before snatching the bubble wand off the table and dunking it back into the bottle still in his other hand.
"He's been miserable without you," Chimney spoke through a mouthful of BLT.
"It was like someone stole his puppy," Hen agreed with a nod as she joined them at the table, sitting across from them with a plate of salad and a ham and gouda cheese sandwich, and a bowl of tomato soup.
"So, why are you home early?" Chimney asked again as he dropped down into a chair next to Hen.
The rest of the team slowly started joining them, Bobby placing a plate in front of Eddie and another in front of Buck with a nod. Buck smiled his thanks before blowing bubbles from the wand to float over the table. Eddie had his eyes closed and was ignoring them now, his arm under the table clutching at Buck's pants at his knee like he was afraid Buck would disappear. Buck didn't mind.
"Wedding never happened," Buck shrugged his one shoulder not being used as a pillow, dunking the wand into the bottle once more. "Turns out my buddy's fiancée was sleeping with another dude, who crashed the rehearsal last night to spill his undying love for her."
Hen grimaced, "Ouch."
"Yeah, so I jumped on the earliest flight I could get this morning. Got into LAX around nine this morning."
"Who picked you up?" Bobby asked before taking a bite of his own BLT.
"Maddie," Buck blew more bubbles before flicking the bread off the sandwich Bobby had given him and popping the slice of Havarti cheese into his mouth, chewing and swallowing before he continued. "I texted you when I was waiting for her to get there."
"Wait, you knew he was coming back early?" Eddie grumbled, finally picking his head up to look at their captain at the head of the table with a pout. "Why didn't you say?"
"This," Bobby waved his hand towards Eddie as the man shuffled around so he could lean back into Buck, but also pick up his own sandwich and take a bite, "is why I didn't say anything. I needed your head on work, not thinking about Buck more than you already do for someone who's not your boyfriend."
Choking could be heard and everyone turned to Chimney, his face red as he made a fist and pounded on his own chest. Hen turned to pound a hand on his back a few times before Chimney took a deep breath and nodded that he was okay. He turned wide eyes on Bobby, who just shrugged and went back to eating his lunch. When he turned to Eddie and Buck, both of them were smiling at each other like idiots. Chimney watched as Buck dunked the wand into the bottle and held it out to Eddie - who puckered his lips and blew bubbles right at Hen.
"Boys, we're trying to eat." Hen huffed, trying to cover her plate with her arm.
"They're edible," Buck smirked, leaning forward where a bubble had floated towards him and opening his mouth to stick his tongue out, popping the bubble. "They're strawberry flavored."
Once again Buck held the loaded wand into front of Eddie - bubbles again floating across the table towards Hen and Chimney. Buck looked up to see Bobby looking at them, a look that clearly said " I know you're not working but that won't stop me from grounding you .", causing Buck to clear his throat and cap the bubbles, setting them on the table next to his plate and picking up his sandwich. Eddie pouted again, but huffed and laid his head back on Buck's shoulder, taking another bite of his sandwich.