The 118 was on hour six of an exhausting shift, which Eddie later blamed for the question that slipped out of his mouth before he even thought about it. Watching Buck talk and laugh with their friends made his breath catch in his throat and that's when he did it. "Marry me," he said.
The firehouse went silent. "What did you just say?" Buck managed to force out.
Eddie knew he could play this off as a joke, start laughing, but he realized he didn't want to. He straightened his shoulders and gazed directly into Buck's eyes. "You heard me. Marry me," he repeated.
"What the fuck," Buck murmured.
"Should we go?" Hen quietly whispered to the rest of the team.
"No, we're staying," Chimney whispered back.
"We should give them some privacy," Bobby admitted but he too didn't make a move to leave them alone.
"We're not even together, Eddie! What the hell?" Buck finally sputtered.
"That answers one question." Hen sat down on the couch and refused to budge.
"Yeah, I know. But we are literally co-parenting a kid together. It's in my will that I want you to raise Chris if something happens to me! I'm tired of ignoring whatever this is between us. And yeah, maybe we're skipping a few steps but fuck it. I'm in love with you. Marry me, Evan."
Buck couldn't stop gaping at him, now speechless. "Say yes!" Chimney urged.
"Chim!" Bobby chided.
Eddie waited patiently and only smiled at Buck, who finally managed to pull himself together enough to respond. "Yes!"
Now it was Eddie's turn to gape. "Yes?"
"Yes," he confirmed.
Their family started cheering but the two men ignored them, only focused on each other. Eddie rushed over to Buck and kissed him. "We'll get a ring after shift is over, how about that?"
"Sounds good to me. And for the record, I'm in love with you too, Eddie."
Eddie chuckled. "Good to know." Then he kissed Buck again.
"Cannot fucking believe this is happening." Chimney quickly hugged them both before returning to his text conversation with Maddie.
"About time. Congratulations to you two." Hen quickly hugged them.
The alarm went off and Buck and Eddie groaned. "Gear up, everybody. And it's about time." Bobby also hugged them and then the team started getting ready to rescue someone in need of their help.
It had taken Buck and Eddie a long time to get to this point and they hadn't gotten together in a way anybody expected but the impulsive proposal worked for them. They couldn't wait to get started on the rest of their lives, and tell Chris about their engagement.
