AN: This is probably the last of the fics I'll post tonight that already live on Ao3 (same penname), the other one is a multichapter fic that will take more time than I have since I've got to get up early to drive into work.

I'll be honest, I have no idea what this is outside of the original plot thought of "what if Chimney locked them in a closet to get them to confess but they were already together?". It's post 5B for sure and mostly canon compliant—or as canon compliant as you can be with a Buddie pairing. Tim—I know you read fanfics, just make it canon and everyone goes home happy!

Anyway, somehow that plot idea turned into me adding memes to this? Well-on Ao3 I've got them embedded and I'll be honest it's a far better experience seeing the photos, but I've done my best to try and describe them in the story so that not seeing them doesn't make much of a difference. Feel free to head that way for the embedded, or check out my bio for the links, but it's not necessary! The first meme is a photo I found circulating on twitter and have no clue who originally created it, so if you recognize it drop me a line so I can give proper credit! The second one came to me after seeing a TikTok of one of the "POV…" Pepe Silvia memes, so I hastily added a photo from Eddie in the 5B premier onto the photo and passed it off like it was an original Evan Buckley creation.

Oh! There's a bit of Swedish in this, but full transparency it's ripped from google translate so I imagine it's not exactly accurate but just know it's supposed to translate to "I love your ass".

Anyway, enjoy this…thing that I created to cope with 5B.


Three Minutes is a Perfectly Reasonable Amount of Time

It starts with Chimney locking them in the back of the ambulance after he wormed his way out of stocking the bus—despite a lot of complaining on Buck's part—and instead convinced Bobby that it was a job fit for Buck and Eddie.

"He knows we can just go out the front right, even if he's standing guard outside the back doors?" Eddie asked, eyebrows raised as he gazed at the doors. There were some muffled thumps where Chimney banged on the back, probably out of habit, before the silence filled the small enclosure as they were left alone.

Buck snorted lightly at the noise and rolled his eyes, "If he thinks this would be enough to get us to confess our undying—"

"Your undying," Eddie interrupted with a smirk.

"—love. Un. Dying. Eddie, which is what exactly what you called it last Saturday night."

"I was three shots past my tolerance level, you're lucky I wasn't trying to serenade you with my terrible Swedish accent."

"Who says you weren't?" Buck asked with a quirked brow. "The way you crooned jag älskar din röv really got me going." (I love your ass)

Eddie's face flamed redder, "Shut the fuck up Buckley, you know your Spanish accent is just as bad."

Buck's smile grew wider, "I'm a white guy from Pennsylvania, I think I get a pass on not being able to roll my 'r's', Diaz."

Eddie gave him alight shove to the shoulder, sending him stumbling into the door with a loud thump and subsequent yelp. "They're going to think we're fucking—"

"They can't possibly think I'm that easy," Eddie reasoned, pulling Buck back from the door while the younger man rubbed his shoulder with a scowl.

"Pent up sexual frustration can make you do irrational things," Buck reasoned with a pointed look.

Eddie flushed again, mind going back to the ill-advised beach hook up not long after he and Buck had finally gotten together just over two months ago. He was still finding sand in places he had no business finding sand. He'd say with absolute certainty that he was never having sex on a beach, no matter how romantic the setting or how convincing Buck thought he was.

With a shake of his head, Eddie hummed thoughtfully and tilted his head to concede Buck's point, "You think he is banking on us being too dumb—"

"Absolutely."

"—to use the front doors, or just too in lust that we immediately make out?"

"¿Porque no los dos?" (Why not both?)

Eddie sighed heavily, casting his eyes skyward briefly before shaking his head fondly. "Isn't it bad enough you showed my kid that commercial? My sweet, Spanish blooded son who used to be fully bilingual but now just parrots shitty Old El Paso commercials and makes memes in Spanish."

"He quotes those teleanovellas you both love just fine, mi amore," (my love) Buck snickered, barely dodging Eddie's attempt to smack his shoulder. His snickering devolved into belly laughing at Eddies' pouting while they both thought back to the first meme Christopher had sent Buck—a photo of his dad that Buck had snapped of him sneering in disgust at something they'd come across at a scene. Under the photo Chris had captioned it [disgusted in Spanish] and now Buck saw it every time he unlocked his phone.

Eddie thought it was ridiculous but had long since given up trying to make Buck change it, having realize that the more he bucked against it, the more his boyfriend and son made him pay.

(He was well aware of the entire shared album on Buck's phone and Chris' iPad with dozens of memes with his face.)

"It's been what, five, ten minutes?" Buck asked, glancing at his watch.

"Three if we're lucky."

Buck tilted his head consideringly and moved towards the front of the ambulance to climb out of the front doors, "Long enough to make them think they've achieved something."

Eddie scoffed, following his boyfriend closely, "Three minutes is a little short, don't you think?"

"It's perfectly reasonable," Buck countered with a raised eyebrow.

Eddie sent him a challenging look, "Three minutes is a perfectly reasonable amount of time?"

"For—for certain things—Eddie, what—don't you dare!" Buck called out as Eddie sent him a smirk and slipped up the stairs towards the loft, loudly boasting about how three minutes was a reasonable amount of time for Buck.

"For certain things!" Buck yelled up the stairs as he sprinted after the other firefighter.


Their relationship started like this:

It was a sunny September morning after Buck crashed at the Diaz house after going to a Dodgers game with Christopher and Eddie. The game had gone into extra innings and ended with a walk off home run in the thirteenth inning, well past Chris' bedtime. It was worth it to see the excitement on the boy's face when the Dodgers beat the Giants, but the second the crowd began to disappear out of the stadium the boy had crashed, falling asleep slumped against Buck while Eddie gathered their purchases.

(Because Buck was impulsive and couldn't be trusted with a credit card and had spent an incredible amount of money on certified game balls and merchandise from the team store and insisted on the souvenir version of ever food item they ate. Eddie still wasn't sure what the hell he was going to do with a souvenir baseball helmet made specifically for nachos, but he stuffed it in the bag anyway.)

Buck had carried Chris through the stadium and got him settled into the truck without even waking him once, and when they'd made it back to Eddie's house he took care of getting Chris into the house while Eddie locked up behind him. After putting him to bed Eddie had insisted on Buck crashing in his room too, reasoning that a long night in stadium seats and then sleeping on a couch was a recipe for a bad back—though Buck joked it was because Eddie was old and had to think about arthritis.

In the end it was the morning light that woke Buck up from his slumber, snuggly cuddled between a thick blanket and the press of warm arms wrapped around him. The golden glow illuminated Eddies' face softly, highlighting the long lashes and the tiny freckle under his eye, and all Buck wanted to do was press a kiss to it, to nuzzle their noses together and melt into the embrace.

It felt special, waking up in that moment, like it was something so private for only his eyes, and Buck wanted nothing more than to experience it every day for the rest of time.

Instead he carefully extracted himself, pausing to card his finger's through Eddie's hair affectionately, and made his way into the bathroom to freshen up before starting breakfast. The clock on the coffee maker (the one that Eddie had traded Bobby his Hildy for) said it was just after eight in the morning, far too early to be up after their late night, but Buck was a morning person and knew there wasn't a chance he'd be able to go back to sleep now.

The smell of cooking bacon and the sweet scent of French toast was enough to rouse Chris, who stumbled in sleepily mumbling about walk off hits and oatmeal. Buck was struck by how similar he and Eddie were in their mannerisms, watching as Christopher slumped at the table, head in one hand with his eyes closed. The boy's hair was mussed, flat on one side and sticking up on the other and his glasses sat crookedly on his nose from where his cheek was pressed up against his hand.

Buck snapped a photo before Chris could catch on, sending it to Eddie with a quick 'this u?' caption. He made quick work of grabbing a glass from the cupboard before pulling out the carton of organic, full pulp sugarless orange juice that Eddie preferred.

"How do you want your eggs, bud?" Buck asked when he sat a glass of juice in front of Chris.

Chris blinked his eyes open slowly before glancing at the glass with a scowl. "Is that the healthy juice?"

"You know the Sunny D is hidden at my place," Buck whispered conspiratorially, earning a huff from Chris.

"I can hope, can't I?" Chris muttered before taking a long drink, frowning at the taste of organic, sugarless, and dye-less orange juice hit his tastebuds. "If you put sugar in this I'll tell you about the betting chart Hen made Denny promise not to tell me about."

Buck paused in the fridge, one hand on the carton of eggs. "Uh—"

"Like, just a-a teaspoon Buck. The tiniest amount of sugar. So small, barely noticeable, please." Chris begged, a hint of a whine inflected on the latter part of his request. Buck had to give it to him, the kid knew exactly what buttons to hit when he wanted something.

And listen—Buck was a responsible adult and knew when he was being swindled (especially when it came to anyone with the last name Diaz), but he was also well aware of how competitive the 118 could be when it came to bets and there were no ongoing bets that he knew of. So really, he couldn't be held accountable for how quickly he dumped a spoonful of sugar into the orange juice.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Chris hummed happily as he sipped on the now sweetened orange juice. He smacked his lips comically before turning to where Buck was standing, hands on his hips expectantly.

Buck stared down at him, gesturing for him to continue on with one hand and waving the eggs in the other.

"Over easy," Chris decided. "I can sop up the yolk with the French toast."

Buck's face pinched at that, barely repressing the full body shudder at the thought of runny yolk. "I don't know how you and your dad can eat runny yolk. It's just…yuck. Blech, absolutely disgusting."

"It's good," Chris shrugged, unphased with the older man's dramatics. "Better than dry cr-crusty eggs, anyway."

"Okay Edmundo Jr.," Buck replied affectionately, laughing quietly at Chris' annoyed huff. "How about you get on with your end of the bargain and we can all move forward from me getting swindled before nine-am by a ten-year-old."

"Eleven in a month," Chris reminded him seriously. "Anyway, Denny found a-a chart that his mom was hiding in her car."

Buck added a splash of water to the pan with the eggs before settling a lid over the top and turning the burner down to let the eggs steam. "What was on this betting chart?"

"Guesses from everyone on when you and dad stopped being dumb and kissed."

Buck nearly dropped the spatula, "It's—wait, what?"

"Denny said it was the '5.0 version', whatever that means."

"That—" Buck stopped himself as his brain processed the idea that the team had five iterations of a chart betting on when he and Eddie got together—

"Five?!" A new voice sounded, gruff and appalled as Eddie stumbled into the room to make a b-line for the coffee pot like a heat seeking missile.

"Sure," Chris shrugged. "If that's what 5.0 means, I guess."

"Who had this weekend?" Eddie asked as he poured out a cup, fumbling slightly while setting the pot back on the heating element.

"What?" Buck asked dumbly, completely confused by what was going on in the kitchen while neither of the Diaz's paid him any attention.

"I don't know, but Denny could probably find out."

Eddie nodded thoughtfully behind his mug, "Ice cream for discretion?"

"Ice cream for discretion," Chris parroted back before he left the kitchen in search for his phone.

"What?" Buck asked again, blinking at the boy's retreating form. Surely he wasn't reading this right—clearly Eddie was going to be put out and panicking that the team thought they should be getting together, right? Obviously Eddie wasn't repressing massive feelings for his best friend like Buck and there was no way that their platonic cuddling this morning could mean anything more…Buck was careful, right?

Chris was misunderstanding the chart, clearly.

Except for the part that the chart existed and Buck didn't explicitly know that it existed ten minutes ago so logically—

"I can't believe those chismosos had a bet on us," Eddie muttered, unaware of Buck's internal panic. "And five times!"

"What?!" Buck couldn't help it—it was the only word that made it through the brain-to-mouth filter since his brain was currently misfiring and most certainly not reading the situation correctly at all.

Eddie blinked up and finally caught up to Buck's panic. Immediately the older man was chuckling lightly, face soft and full of fondness, "Do I need to make a power point?"

"Yes," Buck demanded emphatically, nodding as he spoke. "I—absolutely, I need a damn flow chart because twenty minutes ago I was cuddling my best friend in his bed and then I was being tricked into giving a ten-year old sugar in exchange from information like he's some kind of mafia boss and now I find out our team thinks we're going to get together?"

Buck blinked for a second, listening as Chris banged around in his room in search for his phone, no doubt losing the electronic just like his father did daily. "And!" Buck said again as a small crash sounded from Chris' room followed by the boys quick assurances that all was okay, "And a-aparently the mafia thing is a family trait since you just bribed him with ice cream for discretion."

"I was always going to get him ice cream today," Eddie reasoned as his leaned against the counter, one elbow resting on the sleek surface. "That place on the pier has a promotion going on where they give a free scoop after a Dodger win when you bring in your tickets."

Buck let out a disbelieving huff, "Really? We're ignoring the chart in favor for your frugalness?"

"It's a free deal!" Eddie defended himself. "It'd be a waste to not cash it in, especially since I know they have that butter pecan ice cream you love. Besides, I'm not worried about them thinking we're getting together because I know something they don't."

"You gonna share with the class, or?"

Eddie tilted his head, pulling a face as if he were seriously thinking over what Buck asked him causing the other man to let out a frustrated huff. In the end Eddie simply smiled and took a sip of his coffee, speaking from behind his mug. "What they don't know is that I'm not oblivious at all, just waiting until I know for sure that this isn't one sided and after this morning I'm pretty sure it isn't."

Buck didn't squeak, but it was near thing as he thought back to carding his hands through Eddie's hair and spending an inappropriate amount of time starting at his best friends sleeping face (that apparently was awake for all of that). "What?!"

Eddie was openly laughing now, head thrown back freely while his shoulders shook with the sound. "Dios its good that I love you for how awkward you are."

"Love?" Buck parroted. He didn't hear that right, surely Eddie meant— "Me?"

"Yes, even if you are turning my delightfully runny yolk into dust with how burnt those eggs are getting."

Buck cursed and moved the pan from the burner in an attempt to save the eggs from being overdone (it was a lost cause). When he turned back Eddie was behind him, smirking at him cockily and really looking back it was that fucking uptick of Eddie's lips paired with his intense gaze that set Buck off. The young firefighter was used to being the suave guy who could smooth talk anyone and here he was stumbling over words and burning eggs because of how fucking adorable his best friend looked at the news that their entire work family thought they should be getting together.

So Buck may have raised an eyebrow in a challenge, and he may have cocked his head just slightly, letting his own smirk reach his eyes as the energy around them charged. And he might have placed a hand on Eddie's hip, fingers digging in while the other man licked at his lips, eyes trailing his own as his tongue darted out.

The important part was Eddie attacking his lips like a starved animal, completely disregarding the fact that his kid was in the house and could walk in at any moment and be confronted with his dad kissing his best friend, but Buck wasn't going to complain because this moment was everything he'd been hyping up in his mind since Eddie walked back into the 118 and they got a fresh start in their lives.

The air around them was cracking, sparking to life with each drag of Eddie's tongue against his lips. Buck bit back a moan, pulling the man in closer by the waist to eliminate all the space between them in an effort to finally, finally, feel Eddie in a way that he'd been forbidden from for so long. He'd longed for this moment, so intimate and private and just them, and now it was his and it was Eddie's—just theirs.

The kiss was short lived because Eddie seemed to remember there was a kid present and because he was more concerned with the definitely over done eggs, which he promptly made fun of Buck for until Chris came back into the kitchen with his phone and a picture of the chart from Denny. He handed his dad the phone before disappearing off to change out of his pajamas since Buck had burnt the eggs and he "definitely had time to get ready for the day now that I found my phone".

"Fucking May?" Eddie swore when he realized who'd won the bet. "Seriously? The exact day?!"

"Its kind of impressive, honestly," Buck admitted looking at the chart and all the guesses. Most of the team had picked out week blocks to cover all their options, but May only had her name penned on the Friday date for this iteration of the chart.

"We worked together for what, three months?" Eddie continued, clearly put out that the young woman won the bet. "She's got too much Athena in her if she had it pegged down to the exact day. I think we spent maybe twenty minutes a week together when our shifts overlapped and most of it was talking about the word of the day!"

"I mean, I have a group chat with her and Ravi and Albert, so really not that far off." Buck admitted, eyes still roaming over the weeks that Ravi and Bobby had picked out—Ravi being next week and Bobby just he week prior.

Eddie turned to him with a look of surprise, "Wait—what?"

"I'm like the fun older brother for all of them—don't tell Chimney because he'll just be jealous and sad—so usually I'm their uber after a night out or answering life questions like how to fix the dishwasher and answer why chicken can't be pink like beef. Albert argued with me on that one until he got food poisoning, so I guess I kinda failed that one. We also share a lot of memes about the 118—oh shit, I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Fuck."

Buck was blanching, trying to decide if he could inch his way to the front door without Eddie noticing. It was a fruitless thought, he realized once Eddie turned to look at him full on, hand held out expectantly like Buck would willingly hand over his phone.

"You know what, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be uh…watering a cat? Feeding a cat. Neighbor cat—" Buck cut off by trying to make a break for the hallway while he tried to remember where his phone even ended up after last night.

He made it two steps before Eddie was snagging him around the waist and walking him back into the kitchen. Chris, who had overheard the commotion had vanished into Eddie's room to grab Buck's phone, shouting in triumph less than ten seconds later. Buck slumped against Eddie's chest, admitting defeat and instead twisted out of the mans grasp in order to restart the eggs.

Eddie snagged the phone from his son, pausing for a high five before tapping in the code while Buck cracked new eggs into the pan.

"These aren't half bad," Eddie muttered as he thumbed through the group chat's photos, laughing occasionally. "Wait—is that me?"

"…No?"

"When you try and explain why Hildy is rebranded Skynet to a guy who thinks Sara Connor is a character from Roseann." Eddie read aloud, shoving the phone at Buck.

Buck blinked, glancing at the screen and failing to keep the laugh from escaping him when he caught sight of Eddie's head crudely photoshopped onto a still from Always Sunny. "That's a personal favorite of mine. I'm really proud of that one!"

It didn't help that Eddie was making his trademark Grumpy Cat face, and it really didn't help that the other man was muttering about reconsidering his life choices about loving an insufferable—mumbled Swedish word that Buck was pretty sure was unflattering—but Buck was too busy swooning over the scarcely used accent to really care much.


To start they didn't plan on keeping it a secret from their family, at least not intentionally. There was a definite period of time where they were secretive with stolen glances and casual touches around the team, mostly so they could adjust to their new relationship at their own pace before their families descended upon them. As time moved on though it became something of a game to see how long it would take someone to figure out they were dating.

Eddie insisted that if they were so perceptive that May had the exact date picked out for when they'd get together, surely they'd be able to see the shift in their relationship. It wasn't like they were actively hiding it, in fact Buck would go so far as to say they were more tactile now than ever before and yet no one seemed to call them on it.

It was fun to see Chimney huffing in annoyance when they would play up being particularly oblivious, or Hen shaking her head in wonder, or one occasion where Buck was positive he heard Bobby praying for clarity for the two of them.

Chris thought it was hilarious and somehow extorted them out of twenty dollars' worth of Fortnite 'v-bucks' for his silence. Buck was concerned with how easily the kid fell into blackmail but Eddie assured him it was nothing he hadn't dealt with growing up.

("Sometimes I wonder if we should be encouraging him," Buck admitted as Chris gleefully redeemed the gift card.

Eddie shrugged at him, "The fun part about being a parent is letting your kid think they're getting away with something. Plus, I don't see the harm until it gets out of hand—I mean he's ten so the only thing he cares about right now is sneaking food and shooting people on video games. Besides, he only ever tries to pull one over on me when its something I'm going to get him anyway so it's not like he's getting spoiled by it. He's just going to be grumpy this time next month when it's not time for his monthly allowance for the game since he cashed it in now."

"Fair," Buck conceded. "I just have never seen someone so good at playing the field, especially at his age."

"Runs in the family," Eddie explained. "Adriana could bankrupt Bezos without breaking a sweat, and I'm not even exaggerating. She makes one hell of a lawyer."

"Should…should I be afraid of what I'm getting into with your family?"

"Oh, definitely. Sophia is a nurse and could kill you without a trace and Adriana could get her off faster than the ink could dry on an arrest warrant." Eddie said seriously.

"…Jesus Christ."

"Just Eddie, actually.")


The second time it happened it was Hen closing the door to the shower stalls and wedging a mop in the handle.

"Ten minutes boys, figure it out."

To be fair, they'd been arguing about petty things because Buck was still annoyed that Eddie ate the last of his fancy popcorn from Whole Foods. The entire team was tired of the bickering, but Buck wasn't about to back down out of principle and Eddie was holding firm that Buck had told him there was more at his loft.

(There was no more at Buck's loft—he'd been essentially living at theirs for the last week after his hot water heater exploded and a pipe in the neighboring apartment busted, flooding his place a second time in just as many days. So Buck had cleaned out his fridge and packed up most perishables to take to Eddie's after playing phone tag with his landlord about the timeline for getting his place inhabitable again.)

Eddie's phone chimed two minutes into the miserable silence and Buck felt himself scowling at his boyfriend as the man happily tapped away at the phone screen.

"Bobby is meeting the Instacart delivery person out front with your damn popcorn."

"Thanks," Buck said tersely, anger quickly fading as the grin on Eddie's face grew sweeter. "You didn't have to order more… we could have gotten more on the way home. I know you had at least fifteen bucks in delivery fees and it really isn't worth it."

"Plus ten for a tip," Eddie admitted with a shrug. "But we've got eighteen hours left of this twenty-four and since I can't make it up to you in a conventional way…"

Buck let out a breathy laugh despite his mood, "To be fair we have roughly seven minutes left and I can be quiet."

Eddie scoffed, "Buck—I love you, dearly—but you absolutely cannot be quiet. And I love that, a lot actually, but it's not exactly practical when we're locked in the showers at work."

Buck was smiling now as he leaned against the wall, slowly uncrossing his arms in his final concession as the left-over annoyance from this morning left his body. It was a dumb thing to be angry about, and he knew that, but the week had been a never-ending compounding string of bad luck with his loft and his Jeep (which was once again at the shop because the first mechanic replaced the wrong hose and he still had a leak) so the popcorn was the last straw.

Eddie stepped into his space, snaking an arm around his neck and pulling Buck in for a soft kiss—a light press of lips before the he was trailing his way along Buck's jaw. Buck sighed into it, letting his apology read through as he settled his hands on Eddies' hips, gently pressing against the firm muscles. It was comforting, feeling this with Eddie. It was love and affection, but also a little like belonging and a lot like coming home. Eddie pulled back slightly, letting Buck settle into his chest as the stress from the week melted away with the way the older man ran a soothing hand along his spine.

"I have a solution about your apartment," Eddie said after a long moment of silence.

"You going to sick your lawyer sister on him for failing to maintain the property?"

Eddie shrugged against the man, "I could, but I had a much cheaper option in mind."

"Stealing a hot-water heater?"

"It's taking everything in me not to make a hot-cold joke with how far off your guesses are, you know." Eddie replied with an eye roll that Buck didn't have to see to know was there. "You could just move in with me and Chris—you practically live there anyway and it's not like we don't need to upgrade my bed and the couch."

Buck froze against him for a split second before he was pulling back, face lit up in surprise. "You want me to move in?"

Eddie was nodding, "I mostly want that bed of yours, but I can tolerate the owner I guess."

"I'm brining my coffee maker," Buck replied happily, eyes sparkling with amusement. He pulled out of Eddie's grasp and began to bang on the door to let Hen know they'd worked it out.

"Absolutely not," Eddie said immediately, moving to snag Buck's arm and pull him back. "I—Buck! My house is strictly a Hildy free zone!"

(That was a lie—after that weekend his home was most definitely no longer a Hildy free zone.)


Moving Buck in only took one of their three off days thanks to most of his stuff being ruined with the pipe burst, leaving him with only a few pieces of furniture, the last bit of clothes that hadn't already invaded Eddie's closet, and his (large) book collection. All the sentimental items were packed away in a few boxes and the rest was left for the property manager to deal with when they came in to do all the repairs.

Buck still wasn't sure how she managed it, but with Adriana's help he was able to get his landlord to agree to letting him out of the lease early due to the water heater fiasco and state of his loft after it was flooded. She also managed to get them to agree to disposing of the ruined items once Buck cataloged and took photos of what was ruined to turn into his insurance company to get reimbursed.

"Where's the TV going?" Eddie asked as they did one final walk through to make sure they'd gotten everything that needed to go.

"Ravi is taking it," Buck said as he glanced out on the balcony to make sure he'd grabbed all his plants. "One of his roommates moved out and took the TV despite it not actually being hers."

"Yikes," Eddie whistled, carefully opening cabinets. "Forgot your colander, I'll add it to the box."

"Shit—thanks," Buck called out on his way into the downstairs bathroom. A quick glance told him everything he needed was gone except for the ruined bathmat. "I think that's it. Ready to head home?"

Eddie nodded, looping an arm around his waist once Buck was close enough. "I like the sound of that."

Buck quirked a brow, "Me thanking you?"

"Among other things," Eddie replied with a smirk. "Mostly I like to hear you talking about home and knowing it's my home too."

A grin spread across Buck's lips, blooming widely to show off his teeth and crinkle at his eyes. Eddie leant in and placed a soft kiss on the man's nose before letting their foreheads rest together. "I'm really glad I get to have this," he confessed quietly, thumbs lightly ghosting along Buck's lower back. "It's…I've always dreamed I'd get this, but I never thought it'd be real."

"I never thought I'd get this, get you…" Buck confessed just as quietly, moving to kiss at Eddie's cheek, placing careful attention to the small freckle under his eye. "I—It's never felt like this, you know? I…I didn't know it could be like this and I'm really fucking glad it's with you. It's what I've always dreamed of too."

Eddie's eyelashes fluttered against Buck's cheek, sending a spark down his spine as a flood of warmth washed over his body. "I love you so much, Eds."

"I love you too Buck," Eddie replied as he captured the man's lips once more.


The third and fourth time it was Chimney again, both times in the supply closet, though this time the firefighter stuck around to stand guard after Ravi took pity on them last time and let them out prematurely (Chimney's words).

It had been just over four months since they got together, and barely a month since Buck moved in and the two of them had been so sure that the cat would be out of the bag when Buck went into Bobby's office to update his address and beneficiary forms.

Clearly they'd been wrong because Chimney was still making jokes about being oblivious and Hen kept dropping words of wisdom about seeing things in front of them, all culminating until Chimney decided to intervene and lock them in the closet. Eddie was pretty sure that Chimney's antics coincided with each new iteration of the betting chart, and Buck had to agree.

This time Buck and Eddie had been playfully flirting all day, and by hour seventeen the rest of the team were at their wits ends and completely disgusted by how sickeningly sweet they'd been. Eddie had caught Hen complaining to Karen on the phone about how she was going to have to hire a sky writer at this point and now he wanted nothing more than to see what kind of message she and Karen could cook up.

When the door shut this time Buck immediately sent Eddie a devious grin before letting out the most pornographic moan Eddie had ever heard—and he heard plenty from Buck over the last few months. Eddie was practically choking on spit at the sound, face flushing as he bit out, "Holy fuck—what are you doing?!"

Buck's answer was to wink and moan again, adding a few open handed slaps against the door.

Twenty seconds later the door was wrenched open and a mortified Chimney stood on the other side, "I could have gone my entire life without knowing what you sounded like in bed."

"He was embellishing," Eddie remarked dryly before pushing past the two men and headed straight to the bay doors to go outside to cool off.

"How—why the fuck do you know that?!"


"I don't think they're ever going to figure it out," Buck said as he sidled up against Eddie at the first backyard dinner Bobby and Athena had put on for the year. The air was crisp in the way it always was in the spring time with the floral scent of flowers blooming around them. Buck always loved this time of year, when the plant life began a new season with their blooms. He'd always resonated with the symbolism—moving through the cycle of life into the next phase, allowing himself to blossom into a new iteration.

This year he recognized how far he'd come from last spring where he was clinging to failing relationship, throwing himself into dangerous situations at work with no regard to his safety while his best friend was drowning in his own guilt and PTSD from a life packed with trauma. Instead of kneeling beside Eddie, gently prying a baseball bat from his hands as he sobbed, mourning the deaths of the soldiers he'd saved, he was leaning against him in the company of their blended families. Last year he was broken and spiraling, trying to cling to Taylor and to Eddie and Chris, to keep both relationships and families afloat and in the end he and Taylor ended in fireworks, burning everything to the ground and only leaving ashes behind as Buck tried to pick up the pieces of his life and keep supporting Eddie through his therapy.

Now he recognized how important his relationship with Eddie had always been, how they'd always hovered just on this side of the precipice and how every decision he made was always with the Diaz boys in his subconscious.

He got it now, with the way his life was flourishing and blooming with brightly colored petals that were his love for Eddie and Christopher. All the seeds he'd planted along the way had been nurtured through their journey both together and apart, and subsequently back again. It was precious and beautiful and left him feeling fulfilled and wanted every single day. Buck wasn't questioning his place in life anymore, wasn't learning how to live with the lead filled stomach for every decision he made. No, he was living it with his best friend, the man he'd give up anything for, and with a son who he'd stop at nothing to keep happy in life.

Eddie, sensing that Buck was lost in his thoughts again, slipped a hand around his waist, settling his hand in the other mans pocket while tugging him into his side. "Pretty ironic since iteration 7.0 had our pictures under the word 'oblivious' that they'd ripped from a dictionary."

Buck chuckled quietly, letting his head drop against Eddie. "I was really hoping Karen was going to go through with her plan to hack into the road signs to tell us to fuck already."

"I'm still mad at Athena for shutting that down," Eddie admitted. "Everyone's trapped on the 405 anyway, what would it hurt to have a message flashing for a couple of minutes?"

"A dozen traffic laws and a few felonies for hacking, apparently." Buck shrugged as he watched their families mingling. Across the backyard Chris and Denny had their Switches out to start up a Mario Kart tournament while Athena was topping off the wine glasses of Maddie and Karen. Michael and David where whispering with Bobby, no doubt about the latest true crime podcast they'd all started to listen too.

It was Hen and Chimney that caught his eye, and immediately Buck was shaking with silent laughter.

"They're going to murder us," He wheezed before turning his gaze to his boyfriend.

"Wanna give them a show?"

"I could be persuaded," Buck replied as he tugged at Eddie, turning him until the man was standing in front of him, arms wrapped around his torso.

"What if I wanted to see their response?" Eddie asked, face pressed close to Buck's.

"Shoulda been faster," Buck hummed nudging at Eddie with his nose.

"Thought you liked me slow," Eddie whispered against his lips.

Buck shivered in his arms and Eddie counted that as a win before he spun out of his arms and headed towards the drink table to grab another beer.

Somewhere Chimney was shouting about them while Hen was crowing in delight, but none if it mattered because Buck was moving across the yard to grab Eddie from behind, pulling him back into his chest with a solid thump. Eddie was laughing and trying to work his way out of the hold, stopping only when Buck finally caught his lips with his own.

"Fucking tease," Buck whispered against him before lightly shoving him towards the beers.

"Who had this weekend?" Karen called out.

"That would be me," Athena said smugly. "I'll send out my cash app after dinner."

"Wasn't this weekend," Eddie corrected as he handed Buck a bottle. "May wins, by the way."

"My day was next Thursday," May replied with a look of confusion. "Unless…"

Hen's eyes narrowed at the two men, "And how do you know that?"

"We have an informant," Buck shrugged, eyes skirting towards where Chris and Denny were sharing looks of annoyance at the interruption of them setting up their brackets.

Chimney glared at Buck and Eddie, eyes narrowed with one hand pointed at them accusingly. "Since it's not next Thursday I'm going to assume you meant May's last guess, meaning you've been together for three weeks and didn't bother to tell anyone?"

"Six months actually," Eddie corrected again.

A chorus of indignant shouts met their ears, but it was Chris who broke through with his annoyance. "I don't know how anyone can be surprised—they're not even subtle. It's so groooossss."