This was written by Ghostie.
"Did you know that the first time a guy gets flowers is at his funeral?"
Chatter around the table stopped, forks scraped on plates, and all eyes turned towards him. Buck squirmed a little at the sudden attention. It wasn't like it was the first time he spouted a random fact in the middle of team dinner - and it most definitely wouldn't be the last. This was a part of who he was, everyone was okay with that. They endured his random fact dumps because they loved him and knew it helped his anxiety. Sometimes, it would just be a single fact, sometimes it was an overload of facts not related to each other. Usually though it was just his closest friends that paid him attention at these times - not the whole team.
"That's-" Hen sat back in her chair.
"Kinda sad, actually." Chimney added.
"I mean, that can't be completely true," Jackson spoke up at the opposite end of the table. "I mean, there have gotta be some who have received flowers from a date, maybe."
Buck shrugged, "Probably, but for most-" He shrugged again, dropping his gaze down to his half-finished dinner of mushroom chicken and rice.
"I can say I'm in the majority," Chimney stated, stabbing a mushroom on his plate. "I've never gotten flowers before."
A murmur of agreement rippled down the table from the other men on the crew. Any more conversation was halted, as was the rest of their dinner, when the bells rang. Many shoved a final bite into their mouths as they all pushed their chairs back and stood. As Buck reached the stairs, he felt a hand on his shoulder that squeezed - instantly knowing it was Eddie. Together, they descended the stairs and made for their turnout gear, smiling at one another as they grabbed for their gear.
As the rest of the night and their shift progressed, there was no more talk of flowers. The crew went on a few calls through the night; thankfully nothing fatal for anyone. They got decent bouts of sleep and were able to get through a full breakfast the following morning before they were called out once more. Their shift ended just after lunch and Buck was the first one out the door. He had some things to get done before the weekly Buckley-Diaz movie night with Eddie and Christopher. He waved goodbye to everyone as he passed them on his way to the parking lot, but not before he stopped to remind Eddie he was bringing the pizza with him for dinner.
Two days later, the crew was back on for another 24-hour shift. Buck was the last one to arrive, pulling into his spot between Eddie's truck and Serrano's SUV. He grabbed the box of pastries he had picked up from the cafe - the start of their shift began in that weird time between lunch and dinner so Buck thought they needed a treat. Climbing out of the jeep, he reached into the backseat for his work duffel as well as a longer box he had picked up just before grabbing the pastries - locked up the jeep and headed inside.
He smiled at a few members already getting to work on their chores as he bypassed them for the locker room. When he entered the room, Chimney and Riley were still there getting dressed themselves. Buck sat his things down on the bench and flipped the lid off the longer box he had been carrying, lifting out two single yellow roses and turning to his teammates.
"Good morning!" Buck smiled as he held out a flower to each of them.
Chimney's eyes widened for a second before he chuckled and took the flower. "Morning, Buckaroo. Thank you."
"Thanks, Buck," Riley took his own flower. "Very thoughtful of you."
Buck shrugged, a light blush creeping down his cheeks and neck. He hummed before turning to get dressed and ready for the day. Chimney and Riley finished getting ready, careful of their flowers. They waited for Buck to shove his work duffel into his locker and pick up the box of flowers - the lid placed back on top. Chimney offered to carry the pastry box so Buck handed it over. The three of them exited the locker room and Buck instantly made a beeline for Jackson and Sanchez near the ladder truck, once again popping the lid off the flower box he now had carefully tucked under his arm.
"Morning!" Buck held out a flower to Sanchez, and once he took it, Buck held another out to Jackson.
"Thank you, Buck," Sanchez laughed.
Jackson nodded in agreement. Buck just smiled as he turned to where Marcus was headed for them. He held out a flower to the man, handing it over.
"I assume this has to do with that random fact you told us last shift," Marcus stated as he took the flower, lifting it to his nose for a sniff.
"Yes, it does." Buck nodded. "Everyone deserves flowers, even if they're just from a friend."
"Did I hear something about flowers?" Porter asked as he came around the ladder truck.
Buck turned to him and nodded, pulling another flower from the box to hold out to the man. Porter beamed as he thanked Buck and took the flower, practically cradling it to his chest. Buck soon followed Chimney up to the loft, pausing to hand off two more flowers to Maxwell and Paulson as they went. As they reached the top of the stairs, Buck had another flower in his hand and stepped up to Hen, who had been leaning over the balcony watching them below.
"I didn't want the girls to feel left out," he smiled at her.
"Never," Hen took the flower and leaned up to kiss Buck's cheek. "You're the best, Buckaroo."
Voyta and Mitchell were next as they sat on the couches between the stairs and the kitchen. They thanked Buck and stood to follow once they learned Chimney was carrying a box of pastries for the crew. Buck didn't notice as the rest of the crew had joined them upstairs. He was too busy handing over the last three women on the crew their flowers: Castillo, Serrano, and Meyers.
Buck sat the flower box on the table before fishing out the final two. He turned to the kitchen where Bobby and Eddie were standing and finally noticed everyone seemed to have gathered around, and not just for the pastries Chimney now had open for everyone to grab. Sitting on the counter was a large bouquet of different flowers - roses, alstroemerias, lilies, and a mix of white and yellow zinnias. They were all different shades of yellow; and there were green leaves and fern mixed in to add an extra pop of color. The bouquet sat in a tall white vase with a yellow bow wrapped around the neck.
"What uh," Buck looked at Bobby as he held out a yellow rose to the man. "Who's bouquet?"
Bobby smiled his thanks as he took the flower from the younger man. "Yours."
"Mine?" Buck tilted his head to the side as he eyed the flowers.
"From all of us," Hen wrapped her hand around Buck's bicep and gave a squeeze. "We felt it was only right after you told us that guys don't get flowers until their funeral."
"We wanted to make sure that wasn't true for you, man." Chimney said around a mouthful of the powdered cherry turnover that he had bit into, his yellow rose still held in his other hand.
"Clearly you thought the same for us," Maxwell stated with a chuckle as he waved the rose Buck had handed to him around.
"It's who he is," Eddie was smiling at him, nodding his head towards the final rose in Buck's hand - this one red instead of yellow. "I assume since everyone else already has one, that one's for me?"
Buck hummed, still shocked at the bouquet in front of him. He handed the rose over to his best friend, who took the flower, his fingers grazing over Buck's hand as it was handed over. Eddie's smile grew as he brought the flower to his mouth, pressing petals lightly to his lips. Now with his hands empty, Buck reached out to run his thumb over the petals of one of the flowers.
"Hey, wait." Chimney looked around at the group, stopping on Eddie. "Why are all our flowers yellow but Eddie's is red?"
"Yellow roses symbolize friendship." Serrano answered.
"Do you boys have something to tell us?" Bobby asked.
"Tomorrow." Eddie answered, his gaze never leaving Buck's.
Buck finally lifted his own gaze from the bouquet in front of him to Eddie's, a deeper blush now on his cheeks and neck as he smiled big and brightly at the other man. Bobby just nodded as he turned to a cupboard behind him, grabbing a water pitcher and filling it halfway with water, before turning back to the counter.
"Everyone can keep their flowers from Buck in here until end of shift tomorrow," he stated as he sat the pitcher next to the bouquet, placing his rose into the water first.
Everyone followed suit before thanking Buck once again for their flowers and the pastries, digging into the treats. Eddie rounded the counter, his red rose still in hand as he pressed up against Buck's side. Buck pressed back as they stood there together.
"Thank you guys, this means a lot." Buck finally found his voice again, his hand running over the flowers of his bouquet once more.
Before anything else could be said, the bell rang and everyone took off for the trucks, finishing their pastries on the way. The whole shift went by pretty easily, no fatalities or too hard calls in the 24-hours. By the end of their shift the following afternoon, everyone was exhausted but still in good spirits - especially as they each collected their rose, hugged Buck in thanks, and headed home to their families.
"I'll see you in an hour with Chris, right?" Buck asked Eddie as they made their way to their cars, his arms wrapped around the vase of his bouquet.
Eddie nodded, his own rose in one hand and phone in the other as he was looking something up. "Yeah, I'll collect Chris and pick up dinner. Thai from that place around the corner from your place?"
"Of course," Buck unlocked his jeep and opened the passenger door to set the bouquet down on the floor, using his work duffel to try and keep it in place from falling over while he drove home. "I've already got beer and that watermelon juice Chris is obsessed with. And the cookies we baked yesterday for dessert."
"Alright," Eddie stuffed his phone into his pocket and patted Buck on the back. "See you in a bit."
An hour and a half later, Buck was just coming down the stairs from his bedroom when his front door opened and he heard the clacking of Christopher's crutches on the wooden floor. Eddie had texted him that they were running a little late because of traffic. Buck hopped down the last three steps and broke out into a smile when he saw Chris.
"Christopher!"
"Hey, Buck!" Chris's call back was just as enthusiastic; as if they hadn't seen each other in weeks, when in reality they had spent all day together just two days ago.
Buck opened his arms to the kid as Christopher wrapped his arms around Buck's waist for a hug. Buck hugged him back, still unbelieving that the kid almost came up to his chest - he was growing up so fast for only being ten years old. Chris pulled away from the hug but didn't go any further as he held his hand up- a single sunflower clutched in his fist.
"Is that for me?" Buck asked.
"Dad told me about the fact you shared," Christopher stated. "Sunflowers are my favorite so I wanted to get one for you too."
"He did, did he," Buck chuckled as he took the flower from the boy. "Well, thank you Christopher. I love it."
He looked up at Eddie, his mouth open to say something when he froze. While he had been talking with Christopher, Eddie had stepped around them to stand at the dining table. Buck had placed the bouquet from his team in the middle of the table when he had gotten home earlier, and Eddie had now placed the bags of food on the table before turning his attention back to Buck and Christopher, a bouquet of white gardenias in his hand.
Buck turned and took a step closer to the man, the clacking of Christopher's crutches passing them as he made his way to the living room; clearly knowing his dad and Buck were finally about to have a moment and didn't care to be witness. Buck stopped in front of Eddie and reached for the flowers as Eddie held them out.
"So this is the real reason you're late, huh?" Buck smiled sweetly as he held the flowers close.
"Obviously," Eddie chuckled, his own smile mirroring Buck's. "I have one more for you."
Buck watched as Eddie's hand that was behind his back moved and suddenly there was another single flower held out to him - this time a purple rose. Buck's smile grew at the sight of the flower, taking it from the older man with his free hand. Buck took a moment to look at the flowers before he leaned around Eddie, carefully placing them on the table before straightening up and stepping closer to Eddie.
Christopher smiled from his perch on the coffee table as he watched his dad and Buck finally, finally , have their first kiss.