"Buck?" Chris asked, with a hint of disappointment upon seeing the man outside the school.
"Hey buddy," Buck hesitated, "Your dad has to finish up some work, so he sent me. He said he'd be done around dinner but, until then me and you are gonna hang, 'kay?"
The less than enthused nod he received was expected.
Tuesday nights were reserved as Diaz family night. Eddie picked up Christopher from school and they spent the day together. It was Eddie's way of having quality time with his son, amidst their chaotic schedules. But recently he'd been needed on some new project and those family nights were now few and far between. So, Christopher was predictably disappointed when his father was once again working late.
Buck had been prepared for this, but it didn't make the ride to his apartment any more bearable. Usually, Christopher would be informing him of his whole day: what he'd learned, what conversations he'd had with classmates. Instead all that Buck got were monosyllabic answers to any questions he posed.
It didn't improve once they got to his apartment. Upon entering, Christopher sat at the table, pulling out his homework and just staring at it blankly.
Buck decided quickly there was no way he could let this continue. For one, it physically hurt him to see Chris so sad, but two, there was no way he was letting Chris be sad while hanging out with him. He had a reputation to uphold
Pulling out his phone, he clicked on the music app, knowing exactly what was needed in this situation. In seconds a drum beat started blasting through the speakers around his apartment.
Looking up confused, Chris watched as Buck began to dance to the beat, shoulders shimmying.
"Ow!" Buck struck a pose, arms in opposing L shapes, head angled down to his fist.
As the rest of the instruments started, Buck stepped side to side as he danced, slowly making his way to the kitchen table.
"I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I'm sure,"
Lip-syncing along with the words, he made a heart with his hands, moving it away from his chest like it was beating.
"And I just can't wait 'til the day, when you knock on my door"
Buck faked a frown, tapping his wrist before changing to knocking into the air.
"Now every time I go for the mailbox, I gotta hold myself down,"
He reached out an arm, hand on his chest and shaking his head dramatically. As hard as he tried, Buck couldn't stop the smile when he heard Chris giggle at his performance.
"Now I'm walking on sunshine, whoa. I'm walking on sunshine, whoa. And don't it feel good!"
As the chorus played, Buck came over to Chris, gently pulling up from his chair, moving his arms in time with the music. Together, they both started to dance, Christopher trying to follow along with Buck's dance "moves" when the second verse hit. He was too young to really know the song but he tried his best to sing along, mostly singing the chorus.
Eventually the song ended, fading out as Buck picked up Christopher and collapsed onto the atmosphere was lighter, the previous melancholic silence being replaced with bright smiles and breathless laughs.
"You've got some mad dance skills," Buck said.
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, we should be doing performances-"
Buck was cut off by a knock at the door, followed by Eddie entering. Eddie looked slightly out of breath, clearly having rushed over straight from work.
"Dad!" Chris exclaimed, getting off the couch.
Bending down, Eddie looked his son in the eye. "Christopher I am so sorry I couldn't come to pick you up."
"It's okay…"Chris shrugged, still looking disappointed. "I know you're busy."
"I am never too busy for you, okay?" Christopher nodded. "Good. Now the night is still young, so why don't you pack up your stuff and we can go get some food?"
"Can Buck come too?" Christopher asked, looking at Eddie hopefully. "He cheered me up. We danced."
"Did you now?" Eddie looked up at Buck with amusement. "Of course he can come Bud. Unless of course he had plans…?"
"No, but I wouldn't want to intrude-" Buck started to protest only to be interrupted.
"Great. Then let's get going."
As Chris went to go get his school things, Eddie stood up.
"I didn't know you were a dancer."
"I'm really not," Buck said sheepishly. "But he just looked so bummed. So I blasted some Walking on Sunshine. It's what Maddie did when we were younger. Never failed." Eddie laughed.
"Well seriously, thank you. You were there for him when I couldn't be. The way he sees it - the way we both see it, you're definitely a part of the Diaz family." Eddie said earnestly, clapping Buck on the back before going to help Christopher. Buck was speechless, almost overwhelmed by the warmth in his chest.
"So where are we heading?" Eddie asked Chris.
"Pizza!"
Buck followed behind them, locking the door for his apartment before embarking on his first family night with the two. First of many, even if he didn't yet know it.
So, while writing this I couldn't think whether Christopher would really know this song or not. The song came out it 1983 and going off the fandom wiki, Buck was born 1992 and Chris in 2011. Therefore I feel like Buck would def know it, but Chris it's hard to say. Kids Bop did a cover in 2006 and just dance had it in 2014 but those are either before or early in his life so...
(no I don't know why I googled all that either)
Anyways, this idea came to me on a walk and is like the first thing in like. months i've written. Or at least it feels like that. I'm getting my motivation back so here's hoping! This is my first 911 fic so i hope the characterization isn't completely off.
Thank you to my beta who makes my writing legible (literally had to point out that i wrote "sat the table.") I'm okay with concrit as long as you're polite. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
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