Eddie was finally able to convince the doctors to discharge him from the hospital the next morning. There were a lot of threats thrown around about signing himself out AMA without listening to their care instructions, but it finally did the trick. Eddie knew how to take care of himself. He'd been doing it for years.

He called his Abuela and convinced her to keep Christopher for a few days, without letting her know that anything was wrong. She probably knew something was up, since this was out of the ordinary for him, but she didn't press. Carla was still going to be helping, so the burden hopefully wouldn't be too much. Eddie just wanted to avoid Christopher seeing him like this.

The side of his face was one big bruise. And he was moving around like someone twice his age. All in all, he looked and felt like garbage. But at least the pain in his body was distracting him from the pain in his heart.

Eddie kept replaying his interaction with Buck in his mind. Had he been too harsh? Should he have given Buck a chance? So much inside of him was screaming that it was the right answer to let him back in, but he was scared. Everyone thought that Eddie the war hero was unshakeable, but that was a lie. Eddie was a failure. Eddie had to punch people and get punched just to make it through the day.

He took an Uber to the warehouse from the night before, sighing in relief when he saw his truck hadn't been touched. This obviously wasn't the best part of town, since they were able to have fight nights without any issues. He still wasn't sure who'd found him and called the ambulance for him, which was a miracle in and of itself. There were still a few good people left in this world.

What he had to do next was what he was looking forward to the least, but it had to be done. While he had the day off, he knew he wasn't going to be able to return to work for his next shift. And that meant going to Bobby and telling him what happened. Not all the details, of course, but enough to let him know what the doctors were saying about when he could go back on full duty.

Eddie slid out of his truck carefully, really regretting the size at the moment. Buck always teased him about driving something almost as big as the fire truck. He immediately shook off those thoughts. Now was not the time to think about Buck. Eddie had to focus on getting through this talk, then go home and rest as much as possible so his body could heal faster.

"Hey Eddie, I thought it was your day… off," Chimney greeted casually until he got a look at his face. "What the hell?"

"I'm here to see Cap. You know where he is?" Eddie asked, hoping to avoid an interrogation. He didn't even want to explain what happened once, let alone for multiple people.

"In his office, but again I ask, what the hell happened? Are you okay?" Chimney asked, setting down his rag that he'd been using to wipe off the outside of the ambulance.

"Is who okay?" Hen asked, hopping out of the back of the truck. Her eyes widened when she saw him. "What the hell?"

"That's what I asked. Still haven't gotten an answer yet," Chimney muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's nothing. I just need to talk to Bobby," Eddie sighed, trying to skirt around the duo. Hen shifted in front of him, getting a closer look at the visual damage on his body.

"Doesn't look like nothing. It looks like you went a few rounds with Mike Tyson."

"You've got to update your boxing references," Chimney scoffed, shaking his head in amusement.

"I don't think it matters at this point. And everyone knows who I'm talking about, so the reference is still valid."

"I'm just saying, you're aging yourself. If Buck was here, he would definitely be teasing you about it."

"I'm fine and I'm in a hurry, so would you please move?" Eddie snapped, feeling his nerves fray at the mention of Buck. Hen raised her eyebrows and Chimney was opening his mouth to say something else, but she stopped him with a wave of her hand.

"Go ahead," Hen said evenly, stepping aside to clear a path.

"Sorry," Eddie mumbled as he walked away, knowing that they didn't deserve his anger, but not really in a place to deal with making things right at the moment. He'd take a couple of their chores when he came back as a way to apologize. But staying and fixing things now would just open him up to more conversation and he didn't have time for that. And he was going to need all of his restraint for his talk with Bobby.

"Eddie, what the hell happened?" Bobby asked in alarm, standing up from his desk as soon as he walked in. Eddie was really getting tired of that question.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Eddie waved off.

"You sure about that?" Bobby questioned, walking around the desk to guide him into a chair. "Do I need to call Hen and Chim in here to check you over?"

"I just left the hospital-"

"Hospital!"

"And they gave me a clean bill of health."

"Eddie, what? You were in the hospital and you say it's no big deal?" Bobby exclaimed. "How did this happen?"

"I got mugged by a couple guys. It's nothing," Eddie shrugged, wincing as the movement pulled at his sore muscles. Moving around at all was going to suck for a while.

"That's not nothing! Where did this happen? What did the police say?" Bobby demanded, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "I'm calling Athena so she can look into it."

"No, you don't- you don't have to do that," Eddie mumbled.

"Why not? One of my people was hurt and I need to know they are taking this seriously," Bobby insisted, giving him a pointed look. When Eddie looked away guiltily, Bobby's look turned suspicious. "You didn't make a report, did you?"

"It wasn't a big deal. No need to involve anyone."

"Eddie, I'm not sure if you've gotten a look at yourself, because I don't know how you could say that with a straight face if you had."

"I can say that because I'm the one this happened to. All they did was rough me up a little and take a couple dollars out of my wallet."

"And you're okay with this happening to someone else when you could possibly prevent it?" Bobby challenged.

"It's not going to happen to anyone else," Eddie argued.

"And how do you know that? Did you know these guys?"

"No, but I know their type. They aren't going around stealing an old lady's purse."

"But they are the type who can take down a man who I know knows how to handle himself. Please tell me Christopher wasn't there when this happened."

"No, he's fine," Eddie mumbled.

"Well, thank goodness for small mercies," Bobby sighed, leaning against the edge of his desk. "Eddie, talk to me. What's going on?"

"I just came to let you know that I won't be able to go back on full duty for at least a week. But I can be man behind and do everyone's chores to make up for the extra load. Or I can still go on calls and help more with medical?"

"Eddie-"

"I know I'm leaving you in the lurch here when we're already a man down and I'm really sorry about that. But I'll do anything I can to make things easier for you. I didn't mean to cause any problems."

"Eddie, relax," Bobby said, setting a hand on his shoulder. He was relaxed. He was fine. Eddie was always fine. "I'm not worried about that right now. I'm worried about you."

"That's really unnecessary. This is just a couple bruises."

"And that's not what I'm talking about. You've had a rough couple of months."

"It's- I'm dealing with it. Actually, I already dealt with it. This has nothing to do with anything. Just a bit of bad luck," Eddie insisted.

"Eddie, you need to-" Bobby started, before the alarm went off and cut the conversation short. Eddie was never one to be happy when people had an emergency, but he was glad for the reprieve. "This isn't over, but it'll have to wait. I want an official letter from your doctor letting me know when it's safe for you to come back to work. Until then, you're benched."

"Yes, sir," Eddie murmured, trailing after Bobby as he quickly made his way out of the room. It was easy for him to slip away in the rush for everyone to leave, so he made a quick stop at his locker to grab anything he might need in the next week, and went back to his truck. He wasn't planning on coming back to the station until he was back on duty, no matter how much Bobby wanted to talk. Eddie didn't need to talk and he sure didn't need to do it with everyone else around. He was fine on his own.

The drive to his house felt like it took forever. There was still traffic from the morning commute, which was one of the biggest drawbacks of living in LA. He missed the openness of Texas. But what really made the drive worse was the discomfort in his body. The painkillers from the hospital had long since worn off, so he was feeling every ache and bruise. He also hadn't bothered to stick around long enough to get a prescription, so all he had at home to deal with this was some basic Tylenol or ibuprofen. But that was okay, because he didn't need anything else. A night of good sleep and he'd be back to normal. And since he had the house to himself, it should be easy to get.

At least, that's what he thought until he turned the corner onto his street.


Buck couldn't sleep after he left the hospital. He tossed and turned until the sun came up, then finally gave up on the idea altogether. There was no point, when the only thing on his mind was Eddie. Eddie hurt, Eddie in the hospital, Eddie telling him to leave.

They couldn't leave things how they were right now. Just because there had been a few hiccups didn't mean their friendship had to be over. People had disagreements all the time and worked through them, so why couldn't they? They still cared about each other, right?

Buck knew that Eddie was still one of his favorite people, no matter how it might've seemed over the past few weeks. He was just going through some things and made the best choices he could at the time. Maybe if he and Eddie actually sat down and talked, they could come to an understanding. And if Buck had to be the one to make the first move, that's just what he'd do.

He drove to the hospital just as visiting hours started, hoping to avoid an argument with the staff. But when he got there, he realized it didn't matter either way. Eddie had checked himself out before he got there. Buck tried to feel optimistic due to the fact that he was well enough to leave, but he couldn't help feeling worried about it too. Eddie was a grown man who could take care of himself, but he shouldn't have to do it alone.

Buck hadn't been left alone after his injury, even when he'd insisted that he was fine. There was a revolving door of visitors, with everyone coming to help him when they had the free time to do it. Maddie had been amazing, but the one person who'd been there for him the most was Eddie.

Eddie was always there, offering help with stuff before Buck even realized he needed it. He was practically living there, when he wasn't at work or taking care of Christopher, who was also a frequent visitor. Even after Buck was back to being mostly mobile, the Diaz boys were always around. They had developed a routine that felt so domestic and wonderful that Buck hadn't realized he'd been lacking. Part of the reason he loved his job so much was that it was so fast paced and unpredictable. But he found himself looking forward to the weekly pizza nights and helping with homework and all the other little things that Eddie did everyday without fanfare. Buck wanted that too and the taste of it that he got was addicting.

But then the setbacks started and he started pulling away. It wasn't a conscious choice at first, but more of a defense mechanism. Buck felt like he was going to lose what he worked so hard to gain, and part of that included Eddie. It was so easy to say nothing would change if he couldn't be a firefighter anymore, but that was unrealistic. Buck would have to find another job with new people and Eddie would have a new partner at work and they would slowly drift apart. It was like when you were in school and you promised your friends on the last day that things would stay the same, but they never would. And eventually you'd go years without talking and not notice or care. Buck was so scared that that was where they were headed that he started doing it himself. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard if he felt more in control. But now he'd screwed things up so badly and all he wanted to do was fix it.

Buck drove to Eddie's house from the hospital, eager to see the man mobile again with his own two eyes. But when he got there, the house was empty. Buck closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the steering wheel, letting out a groan of frustration. He should've sat in the parking lot of the hospital all night so Eddie couldn't sneak away. But he was prepared to sit here again, for as long as it took. Buck thought about trying Eddie's number, but he didn't want to tip him off that he was waiting. And the conversation needed to happen in person.

He only had to wait for about an hour until he heard the familiar rumble of Eddie's truck. Buck hadn't realized how much he missed that sound before now. He hopped out of his jeep as Eddie pulled into his driveway, feeling oddly nervous. This is what he wanted, but he was still worried about how it would go. Eddie probably wasn't going to invite him in for a beer and a movie.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie sighed, hunching over slightly as he stood next to his truck. Most people wouldn't have noticed, but Buck was hyper aware of any changes to Eddie's usual demeanor. And he already knew that Eddie had to be in pain after his ordeal.

"I wanted to check up on you. I went to the hospital this morning, but you were already gone."

"I was fine, so I left. And I had things to take care of."

"Things like what? Anything I can do to help?" Buck offered.

"Work things," Eddie replied tightly.

"Oh, so nothing I would understand," Buck scoffed, hearing some of his annoyance leak through without being able to stop it.

"I'm not doing this with you right now," Eddie snapped, whirling around and stomping toward his front door.

"Doing what? Talking? Because I'm pretty sure you had no problem saying what you felt in that grocery store," Buck shot back, trailing after him.

"Well, sorry if I'm not going to fall for another one of your ambushes."

"I wouldn't have to keep doing this if you would just talk to me!"

"Oh, now you want to talk. Does your lawyer need more talking points for your lawsuit?" Eddie hissed, jamming his key into the lock on the front door.

"That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair and we both know that," Eddie said with an ugly chuckle. "We need to stop pretending that anything we do can change that."

"Eddie, this doesn't sound like you," Buck mumbled, shaking his head. He would never say anything like that in front of Christopher. And anyone who did would get an earful.

"You sure about that?"

"Yes, because I know you!" Buck insisted.

"I used to think I could say the same about you," Eddie shrugged, stepping into his house and turning with his hand gripped around the doorknob. "I guess we were both wrong." Before Buck could say anything else, the door was slammed in his face and locked. He stood there with his mouth gaping open for a few seconds, trying to figure out if that actually just happened. It was one thing for Eddie to tell him to leave and another to forcefully shut him out. This wasn't acceptable.

Buck dug his keys out of his pockets, flipping through them to get to the spare Eddie had given him ages ago. While he was hesitant to use them before and cross boundaries, there was nothing stopping him now. Buck threw open the door, slamming it closed behind him to announce his arrival.

"What the hell are you doing?" Eddie demanded, shuffling back into the living room from the kitchen.

"I'm doing what we should've done a long time ago," Buck snapped, crossing his arms in determination. "We're going to settle this. Once and for all."