Word Count: 5,544
Warnings/Spoilers: None in particular for this chapter.

"Happy New Year, Buckley!"

He attempted to match Chim's enthusiasm when the guy answered the door by offering a lopsided grin and a wave and dancing just out of reach of a hug when he saw the dangerous slosh of a drink moving towards him. It was clear Chimney was incredibly unsteady on his feet and he wondered when the guy had started getting into the alcohol.

"Happy New Year, Chimney. I hope I haven't missed too much?"

"Nah, man. Everyone's just chilling and drinking and having a good time." Chim stumbled a little, a hand fisting into Buck's shirt when he overbalanced. "If I don't make it to midnight, will you tell Maddie I'm sorry?"

Buck stared at the shorter man, blinked several times, and then shook his head. "How about this better idea where I take your drink now, ensure you have water the rest of the night, and then you and I don't have to deal with Maddie being furious at us both?"

Chim gazed at him with huge, misty eyes and the dopiest grin. It was rather concerning when it wasn't even seven o'clock. "You'd do that?"

"For you and my sister?" Buck tried not to feel like he was going to violently vomit into one of Maddie's pot plants at the thought of playing some sort of wing-man for his sister when he'd rather protect her from the potential of getting hurt by love for the rest of her life. "Nah, man. I'm doing this for me. Come on."

Buck would almost go so far as to say Chim fluttered his eyelashes in gratitude but that would be utterly ridiculous. He chalked it up to the significant inebriation. Plucking Chimney's beer from his hand, he guided him towards one of Maddie's arm chairs.

"Sit. Stay."

"Am I a dog?" Chim looked around, eyes sliding in and out of focus as he looked at Denny and Chris playing on the floor. "Hey guys, am I a dog?"

Buck rolled his eyes, unsure whether he should laugh or beat his head into a wall, and found Maddie in the kitchen. "Hello, sister dear," he greeted, sliding an arm around her shoulders and kissing the top of her head while she refilled several bowls of snacks.

"Brother bear," she replied with a smile, before stealing the bottle from his hand. "Is that Howie's?"

"Yeah, he seemed, uh…" Buck picked out several cashews from the bowl of mixed nuts, dodging her swatting hand because she would not convince him to eat the others and she never had. "I think the guy could do with some water, alright?"

She huffed, rolling her eyes and shoving the bowls of nuts and pretzels into his hands. "I told him he's a lightweight but does he listen to me? Of course he doesn't!"

Buck shook the bowl and made a delighted noise when he spied another cashew shift towards the surface, which was not at all what Maddie wanted to hear if the judgemental gleam in her eyes was anything to go by. "I'll…get him some water," he said hastily, juggling the bowls into one arm to dig out a glass from her cupboards and fill it.

He returned to find Chim with his head lolling on the chair, the grin on his face reminding Buck of people who got high. He pressed the glass into one of Chim's hands and then extended the bowls.

"Hey, thanks man." Chim started at the bowls, brow deeply furrowed and blinking slowly. "Are nuts safe for dogs?"

"I…think so?" he said, depositing both bowls in Chim's lap and then inching away so he could press light fingers against Christopher's shoulders as he crouched to greet the kid and Denny. "Hey, little dudes. How are we doing?"

"We're good," Denny said, sticking up both thumbs and flashing a big smile.

"Buck!" Chris held out his arms for a hug so wrapped his arms around Chris' waist while smaller arms secured around his shoulders. "Happy New Year, Buck."

"To you as well, champ." He kissed Christopher's cheek and Chris giggled and squirmed. "You want to make any predictions about next year?"

"No more tsunamis," Christopher said, very seriously. Buck released him with a small amount of trepidation and undoubtedly some very wide eyes. "You and my Dad don't need more things to worry about."

"Uh…" He blinked, glancing at Denny who was pursing his lips around a grin. "Well. It's sort of our job. To worry."

"Your job is to save people." With a small frown, Chris' eyes roamed the room before his face cleared into a smile. "And be happy."

Buck looked over his shoulder to follow Chris' gaze and saw Eddie watching them from near Maddie's staircase, eyes creased at the edges with the smile he was barely suppressing with the bottle against his mouth. It was one of those small, soft, fond smiles that Buck loved seeing Eddie wear. But so far, he'd only ever really seen it when they were hanging out in their own homes, not around other people. It still left him feeling light-headed.

"Y-Yeah? You think so?"

"Mhm. I know so," Chris said and Buck couldn't help but ruffle his hair even as the kid attempted to roll out of the way. Buck gave Denny's shoulders a quick squeeze as he stood and headed for Eddie.

"What is it with you always watching me?" he teased and Eddie laughed, some of the tension in his posture from a few days ago gone. It was a huge relief considering the rare occasions he'd seen Eddie truly cry, and Eddie's weird distance the following morning, like he'd felt guilty or ashamed that he'd broken down, had left Buck unsure what to do or say in the light of day. Chris had seemed oblivious to it all, buzzing around them with questions and hopes for the new year, so Buck had reined in his urge to speak and simply let Eddie have his silence.

"I'm watching my son and you just happen to keep getting in the way," Eddie retorted, gesturing at Chris who had resumed playing with Denny. "You say hi to him before me so often, I'm really starting to believe he is your favourite."

Buck grinned, bumping his shoulder into Eddie's. "You're important too."

"Oh gee. That sounded sincere," Eddie said, a dimple in his cheeks appearing as he evidently tried to avoid returning the grin. "Thanks so much, Buck. I'll be sure to get that inscribed on something to remind me on the rough call days. 'You're important too'. Real profound and touching."

"Asshole," Buck muttered, covering his desire to laugh with a light punch to Eddie's arm. Eddie stuck out his tongue as Buck dispersed back into the party in search of a drink, pointedly ignoring the way Eddie's laugh followed him through the room and settled around his shoulders like a fuzzy blanket.

He spent the evening drifting between different groups, his attention frequently returning to Chimney to ensure the guy was drinking water and consuming food to absorb all the alcohol so that maybe, hopefully, he'd be sober enough to remember he needed to kiss Maddie at midnight. Hen had approached to ask him about playdate venues for Denny and Chris at one point before Karen hushed her and said to worry about it some other time. At other times, Chris appeared and wrapped his arms around Buck's legs to hug him which was…actually incredibly comforting, and he soaked in the kid's presence before Chris wandered off to talk to someone else.

"I think we'll be taking off soon," Eddie announced when Buck was in the middle of reaching for another slice of pizza that Bobby had insisted was ordered to minimise some of the effects of all the drinking occurring around him. Buck sucked his lips between his teeth to avoid giving away how the thought of Eddie leaving made him feel as though his heart zig-zagged through his chest and instead focused on closing his fingers around the slice.

"But Daaaad!"

"You're falling asleep sitting against me, mijo," Eddie pointed out, nudging Chris with his knee to dislodge his sagging head from Eddie's thigh. Everyone had noticed Chris' slumped posture on the floor, his temple against Eddie's leg, but no one wanted to say anything because it was so cute. Maddie might've snapped a photo that Buck would request she send to him later.

"But it's New Year's Eve!"

"And your bedtime is usually eight-thirty, and it's already after nine. You watched the ball in New York drop. That's the important thing, buddy." Eddie combed his fingers through Christopher's curls and Buck didn't miss the way Chris' eyes fluttered closed again and he had the same sleepy little smile he often got when Buck read to him and was moments away from passing out completely.

"You'll be carrying him to the car soon," Buck said as he nibbled at the pointy end of his pizza slice.

Eddie's nose wrinkled and he checked the dregs of beer left in the bottom of his bottle. "Don't I know it. He'll be a menace to get up in the morning too."

Buck couldn't help himself when he watched Eddie raise the rim of the bottle to his lips. "Just tell him he has to listen to you because you're important."

It was clear Eddie nearly snorted the beer up his nose as he choked on the swallow, coughing and spluttering and drawing several murmurs of alarm from Maddie and Hen.

"You-" Eddie said through wheezing coughs, "-are a terrible friend."

Buck pretended to draw a halo above his head, tilting his head and fluttering his eyelashes at Eddie. He suspected Eddie would've hit his arm if he had better control over his body but he was still spasming around the coughs and attempting to curse him out without drawing the ire of Hen or Athena.

When Eddie did make moves to leave, Buck offered to carry Chris to the car. Peering at Christopher's angelic face which clearly showed he was out like a light, Eddie relented and gathered Chris' crutches under his arm. Once Buck had successfully navigated Maddie's uneven footpath, they fell into step. Buck deciding that all his attempts to avoid Christopher's Legos lately had been excellent training for manoeuvring Chris around anything.

"I don't know what I'll do without you now," he sing-songed, spying Eddie's truck several cars down the street. He strengthened his hold on Chris when he felt the kid shift slightly in his arms. "No one important is left. You're taking my favourite person away from me, Diaz. How will I cope?"

Eddie chuckled, shaking his head even though there was a smile painted across his lips that crinkled his eyes as well. "I feel so jaded, Buckley. You're not in it for me, you're only in it for my kid."

Buck decided that the way his heart gave a flutter at that particular sentence meant it was a traitor that deserved to be banished to the twenty-fourth level of hell. It wasn't fair that Eddie had no idea how he felt and would never return the feelings when he'd make teasing comments like that.

"Busted," Buck said when he realised he needed to say something but knowing there was nothing else he could say without putting his foot in his mouth. And chewing on it. Repeatedly. For the rest of the evening.

"You're the actual worst," Eddie retaliated, stalking towards him with outstretched fingers that were perfect for poking and tickling. Buck did a careful twirl away from Eddie's reach, dodging as best as he could but unable – or unwilling – to hide his smile at Eddie's huffed amusement behind him.

Between the two of them, they shifted Chris into his seat without disturbing him so much that he stirred awake and then it became…tremendously awkward, standing on a mostly quiet street in the shadows of two lights on New Year's Eve.

"So, uh…" Buck rubbed the back of his neck, glancing rapidly between the car, Eddie and the light above Maddie's porch in search of a way out of the situation or a way to cut all the tension that had descended like a swamp. "Drive safely? You know. Because people are out tonight. And might be crazy after drinking."

"Yeah." Eddie nodded, his own eyes darting a little wildly and screaming that he found the situation uncomfortable. Which did absolutely nothing for all the feelings Buck had zooming around him which were impossible to articulate or discuss or-

Buck hesitated, swallowed away the words, and pivoted on the ball of his foot to return to the party because putting distance between them seemed like the smartest thing even though he just wanted to wrap Eddie into his arms and not let go until midnight.

"Hey, Evan?"

He paused, lips pressing together as he looked back at Eddie. Who hadn't moved from his spot beside the truck. Who still looked like he wasn't sure what he was doing there on the side of the road.

"I hope this next year is better for you," Eddie said, his voice laden with uncertain but his eyes, at least, were steadier. "After everything that happened this year, I- You deserve to have a happier year."

Buck opened his mouth, closed it, blinked several times. "Thank you?" That wasn't meant to come out like a question. Why had it come out sounding like a question? Who said thank you to something like that? He'd hit himself in the head later.

"I just, um…" Eddie shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked from his heels to the balls of his feet, his gaze fixed on something over Buck's left shoulder. "After the other day and… Well, I mean everything you've done with Chris this year like saving him with the tsunami, or looking after him before and after that when I needed the help and you were off, which was totally taking advantage of free babysitting by the way and I shouldn't have imposed like that. And I know you were there as best as you could be after Shannon because of your leg and just- I-" Eddie's tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip and Buck wondered when it felt like his heart had swelled to be three times larger than it usually was. He felt like his ribs might crack open and expose just how much Eddie's thoughts were soaking and saturating his soul. "I just don't know what I'd do without your friendship, you know? And I- I just needed you to know I appreciate it."

Buck felt somewhat dazed as he stared at Eddie. It made him realise that, even after all their many conversations over the past few months, he wasn't sure Eddie had ever been so directly grateful with such obvious warmth and affection in his tone. He wished he could bottle how the words made him feel so that he could inhale it again on the bad days and the awful nights.

And it was so much to try to unpack and deal with and his brain just…couldn't. Saying something heartfelt in response was beyond him, because he'd end up regurgitating bodily organs and probably embarrassing himself. Eddie was his best friend and it was true, Buck had done a lot for Chris this year, but Eddie was still just his friend.

So he did what he always did when conversations got too close to poking at sore spots.

He deflected.

"That was a very long-winded way of saying I'm important to you too," he said, lips stretching into a crooked grin as he ducked his head to avoid the glare that Eddie threw his way.

Eddie flipped him off and grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "Ungrateful asshole," and turned towards his truck.

"Hey, Eddie?"

Eddie's eyes flicked over his shoulder, clearly guarded for another joke at his expense.

"Will you text me when you get home? So I know you're safe?"

It was Eddie's turn for his mouth to fall open slightly before snapping shut. "Sure," he conceded, gaze narrow on Buck's face like he was hoping to see straight through him or maybe that Buck would say more but…Buck couldn't put himself out there that way. Not yet. Not when he didn't understand what was really going on between them. "Have a good rest of your night."

Buck scrunched his nose when the thought of dealing with Chim reared its head. Maybe that thought was displayed clearly on his face because Eddie was laughing again as he climbed into the driver's seat. He stuck his hand out of the window and waved as he left and Buck, feeling idiotic standing there and watching Eddie drive away, waved back.

When he returned to the party, it all seemed to be exactly how he'd left it and yet it felt like there was a glowing piece of the puzzle missing, like Eddie and Christopher leaving meant that the sun had left the room and the colours seemed more washed out than usual and nothing was around to hold his attention.

"You okay, baby bro?" Maddie said, circling him at one point to sit on the arm of the chair while he nursed a beer and played with his phone. Eddie's text of 'we got home safe, happy new year b' was stencilled across his brain and making it difficult to concentrate on whatever Hen, Athena and Bobby were talking about.

"I'm good, Mads," he assured, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. She squeezed back and held on for a while, adding her own commentary to whatever Athena was saying which meant she knew what was happening even if Buck didn't and…as much as he sometimes loathed his sister getting together with his colleague for all the entanglements it caused, he was glad his sister genuinely fit in with the people that he considered his family too. After everything she'd been through with Doug, it was the least she deserved.

When midnight struck, and Buck observed all the various couples turn inwards and kiss, he felt the cold hollowness he so often associated with waking up after a nightmare alone seep from his chest and flit around the room. It sucked to be alone in a crowded room, realising the insidiousness of loneliness that could hit you out of nowhere and remind you that you had no one special. And Buck just missed that sometimes, but especially a time like now.

And then he caught Denny's eyes, who looked absolutely repulsed by all the kissing, and dissolved into laughter.

"Seatbelt?"

"Buck, you buckled me in!"

"Hey, maybe that's where my name comes from!" he said, peeking over his shoulder at Christopher in the backseat who rolled his eyes even though he wore the biggest grin. "Besides, you can never be too cautious, little man."

"Who are you callin' 'little'? I'm gonna be as tall as you by the end of the year," Chris retorted and Eddie's attempt to hide his snort with a cough failed miserably.

Buck cast his friend a withering glare and folded his arms over his chest with a pout, starting to wish he hadn't taught the kid so much sass during his time off over the summer. "You try to be nice…" he muttered, half to himself.

"Hey." Eddie's hand brushed his arm, drawing Buck's eyes towards him. "It's just his way of saying you're important."

And Buck… Buck was outraged at the wicked smirk that curled Eddie's lips and the crinkling at the edge of his eyes. "Hey, you don't get to-"

Eddie's trembling shoulders turned into full-blown laughs as he revved the ignition and backed out of his driveway. In the backseat, Chris was laughing too even though Buck wasn't entirely sure he understood the joke that Eddie was continuing from New Year's Eve. And even if Buck had wanted to continue scowling, just to be a brat, just to dig in his heels, the sound of Eddie's genuine laughter was… It was a really, really good thing to hear after the year he'd had and he couldn't help but smile at it too.

Chris chattered in the backseat about what he wanted to do at the park and how high he wanted to climb on the equipment – which meant Buck would watch him like a hawk in case he fell because he couldn't handle the thought of the kid getting hurt. Chris was so excited, so positive, that Buck started thinking about when he'd tried to find Chris' secret to remaining optimistic when they were on top of the fire truck in the middle of raging waters. It never ceased to amaze him that Chris functioned remarkably well in the aftermath of the tsunami, all things considered. He knew about the nightmares Chris, how he'd drawn Shannon drowning because he hadn't processed her death, but during the day? Chris seemed like he was okay, like any other normal kid, and Buck… Buck was not the same and he doubted if he ever could find the person he was before the water, and the bombing.

Eddie's fingers touched the back of his curled fist, drawing Buck's attention to his bouncing knee. He forced himself to release a breath and unwind his hand, offering Eddie a weak smile in response to the raised eyebrow.

"I'm okay," he quietly assured and though Eddie's eyebrows dipped into something disbelieving, he didn't push. Probably because Chris was still in the car, discussing the people on the streets or the shops or anything else that caught his eye.

It made Buck wonder if he'd ever been that sort of kid. He honestly couldn't remember talking much at home because he'd never felt like anything he said would be heard. He considered asking Maddie about her memories but he was afraid of her answer. She always had a different perspective to him, probably because of their age difference.

"This is awesome," Christopher marvelled as Eddie parked the car. Buck could hear the kid straining against his seatbelt to get a better look at the equipment. Buck had to admit, it did look fun.

There was a huge, multicoloured jungle gym in the centre. At random intervals spiralling away from it were circles indented in the ground, where Buck could see other kids springing into the air so he assumed they were some sort of mini trampoline. There were pairs of swings, and some sort of rope climbing thing with a series of knots that twisted in on itself, and a small flying fox stretching from one end of the playground to the other.

"You won't climb too high, alright?" Eddie said, voice firm, and Chris sighed.

"Fine."

Buck pressed his lips together to hide his smile as he and Eddie unclipped and then went to retrieve Chris. Once his crutches were in hand, the kid almost bounded away, waving at a few kids although Buck couldn't imagine he knew them. Chris just smiled that much that he seemed to make friends instantly.

"He's a good kid," he said, elbowing Eddie who was watching with the sort of look that suggested he wanted to chase his kid and set up mattresses beneath all the equipment to spare him if he fell. "Congratulations."

"Yeah, he's pretty awesome," Eddie agreed, a small smile spreading when he watched Chris tip his head back and laugh at something a boy similar to Chris' height said. "Should we get a seat where we can watch him?"

Buck was tempted to join Christopher on all the equipment, because there were so many things that looked fun. He suspected Eddie knew that, given the way he looked at Buck a moment after he asked, but sure. Sitting was okay too.

They found a bench and watched Chris for a while as tested the mini trampolines. He wobbled a lot, using his crutches on the higher ground to steady him. They watched him discard his crutches by the jungle gym and start climbing, laughing at something a girl said who reminded Buck of Lucy, the kid who'd lost her mother while having milkshakes.

"What happened in the car?" Eddie said, the question slicing through his reverie and drawing his eyes away from Chris. "The knee thing. You went really still but then your knee-"

"Just thinking," he said, shaking his head and looking back at Chris. "It's a new year, right? I'm leaving the past where it belongs."

"Buck-"

"It's better now, okay?" He could shower without feeling like he was going to shake out of his skin and he could almost handle damp clothes without wanting to throw up. Even the nightmares had lessened, though they weren't extinguished. He put that down to all the extra time he'd spent with Chris. By reassuring his conscious brain that the kid was alive, the subconscious part that fretted about his safety had been soothed. "Please, Eddie. Not today."

He could still feel Eddie's eyes on him, the uncertainty coming off him in waves. He knew how many questions Eddie would want to ask. "I'm always here for when it's not today, you know."

Buck felt like his breath got stuck halfway into his lungs at the care, the way Eddie continued to reach out, even when it was barely a week ago that he was going to pieces in Buck's arms. He managed a tight nod, needing to end the conversation before it got too deep while they sat on a bench at a kid's park in the middle of winter. "I know, man. And I appreciate it."

It was a strange sort of silence that descended over them. It was simultaneously comfortable, like they'd simply run out of pointless words to say to each other, with an underlying tension that suggested there were so many important things being left unsaid. It was the sort of silence that Buck hated, where he felt like there was an expectation to fill it with inane commentary, except with Eddie he was afraid that he'd say something, let something slip, that his friend would seize upon and start investigating a feeling or a thought he wasn't prepared to face just yet. So Buck stayed silent. He wondered if Eddie kept quiet for the same reason, or if Eddie was impervious to tension Buck felt.

He did, however, zone into paying more attention to his surroundings when he felt Eddie shiver and adjust his arms beside him. Buck glanced across, eyebrow quirking.

"Told you that you should've brought your jacket," he said, tracing over the flannel shirt that Eddie was wearing on top of one of his typical Henley's. He wouldn't be surprised if there was a tank top beneath it all, but Eddie's insistence that it wasn't a particularly cold day had been met with Buck's dubious stare.

"Yes, well. Didn't expect this to be quite so open and breezy, did I?" Eddie muttered, tucking his hands under his arms and exhaling a breath that curled with misty whiteness.

Buck rolled his eyes and slid his jacket from his shoulders to drape around Eddie's. "Take mine."

"I-" Eddie frowned at him, shaking his head and picking at the fabric. "I can't. It's cold. You'll get cold."

"I'm from Pennsylvania. This is practically summer," he joked and it was Eddie's turn to roll his eyes and fix him with a dubious stare. "Seriously, man. If I get cold, I'll just take it back and you can suffer with the knowledge that I told you so."

"La generosidad," Eddie hissed and Buck didn't need to be fluent in Spanish to guess at what that meant. He grinned, sticking his hands in his pockets as Eddie pushed his arms through the sleeves of Buck's jacket and folded his arms across his chest again. There was another few breaths of silence and then a murmured, "Thank you."

Buck waved it away, bumping his shoulder into Eddie's. "Any time, man." In an attempt to keep his blood flowing, he decided to join Christopher, at least for a little while, to push him on the swings or run beside him on the flying fox. He jogged over to the kid and Chris was all too happy to grasp at his hand and drag him to the mini trampolines, and the rope maze, and the jungle gym.

"You're warm," Chris hummed, snuggling into him even though Buck was meant to be lifting him so that Chris could hold onto the flying fox rope.

"Yeah?" He looked over at Eddie, intending to call out something about wanting his jacket back, but Eddie was looking at his phone rather than them and the moment lapsed as he returned his attention to Chris. "Lucky for you then, huh?"

"Yep." Chris wiggled towards the edge of the flying fox platform and then fixed Buck with a very uncertain look. "Hey, Buck?"

"Yeah, bud?"

"Can we get ice cream after this?"

Buck wouldn't have said it was freezing, not after growing up on the east coast, but it was cold. Too cold for ice cream? Perhaps. He'd already lost his jacket and he could only imagine Eddie balking at the idea of ice cream, but maybe Buck could buy him a hot chocolate instead and satisfy both Diaz boys. "We'll ask your dad when you're done playing, okay?"

"Okay. You ready?"

"Am I ready? More like are you ready?"

Chris giggled, hips swinging as he clung to the rope. "Absolutely!"

He kept pace with Chris as the kid flew through the air, shrieking with bright laughter that stole its way deeper and deeper into Buck's heart. He didn't even realise how much he was laughing as he caught Christopher at the other end, swinging him in a circle before setting him on the ground. There was nothing he wouldn't do for this kid and at some point, he wondered if that would start to scare him.

"No, no, it's my treat," he said, batting away Eddie's hand and extending his card to the kid behind the counter.

"You really don't have to-"

"Look, Chris asked for ice cream and I passed on the message. That's like inviting you out for ice cream, right? And whoever does the inviting does the paying." Did that make this sound too much like a date? It totally made this sound too much like a date. His eyes felt very wide as he turned back to the kid to disrupt the conversation he was having with Eddie. He thanked her and shoved the ice cream cup and hot chocolate that Eddie had ordered firmly into his hands so that Eddie had a distraction from thinking this was a date. Because it wasn't a date. It had never been a date. It had been taking Chris to the park, because the aquarium was still a bad place to think about going, and getting some ice cream. But it wasn't a date.

They settled into a small booth in the corner of the shop with Chris tucked between them. Chris leaned into Buck's chest, shoving his spoon into the cup of ice cream and humming with satisfaction every time. It was adorable and Buck probably would have kissed his head if he hadn't been consuming sticky ice cream himself. He had a feeling getting ice cream sugars in Chris' curls was a bad idea.

"So, it turns out chocolate-banana ice cream is actually delicious," he said in an effort to make conversation. He shifted his shoulder to jostle Chris into paying attention. "How's your strawberry fudge sundae, little man?"

"So good," Chris said with a delighted grin as he attacked another curve of an ice cream scoop.

"I still think what you've got is too sweet," Eddie mused, sipping his hot chocolate as he eyed their desserts.

Chris and Buck both shook their heads.

"You can try some if you want." Buck held out a spoonful towards Eddie, who stared at the swirls of brown and yellow like it was a monstrosity with sixteen heads and fourteen of them breathed fire and two spat out poisoned darts.

"Or mine," Chris said, extending some of the pink and white ice cream with dollops of chocolate chips embedded in it.

"I'm good, mijo. Thank you for your kindness."

Eddie poked at his scoop of coconut like it was actually interesting. Buck supposed it was a step up from vanilla, but only just. He almost wanted to tease Eddie about lacking a sense of adventure or a sweet tooth but he couldn't find a line that didn't sound like it was laden with flirtatious innuendo and he already couldn't shake the thought that this felt like a date and it wasn't a date. So if he said something that made Eddie think he was flirting… God no.

"You two can have your sugar highs and I'll clean up the mess you make," Eddie said, which made Chris chuckle and Buck stick out his tongue. Eddie gave a slight shake of his head, but that dimple in his cheek was back as a small smile played at the edge of his lips and Buck felt like he needed to determine more ways to bring that part of Eddie out.

~TBC~