One year later:
Eddie pulled another plate out of the dishwasher, a blue and white pastel ceramic plate that he had absolutely no memory of ever seeing or using before. Was it one of Buck's that he brought over after his lease expired three months ago and they officially moved him into their house? Did Buck go out and buy a whole new set of dinner plates since he always complained that Eddie had a "terrible taste in color"?
"What did that plate do to you?" Buck asked as he walked into the kitchen that morning.
"Nothing," Eddie huffed. "Just don't remember seeing this one before."
Buck narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side as he studied the plate. "I think that's one of Maddie's plates," he said. "I remember seeing a set that looked like that when I was at her place, she must have left it here when she came over for dinner last week."
Oh, that explained it then.
Eddie left the plate on the counter next to the fruit bowl and his gaze caught sight of the pile of mail he had brought in earlier.
The mail consisting of a print out of their water bill, an ad for the grocery store down the street from Chris's school, a random piece of junk mail for some magazine Eddie had never heard of, and the wedding invitation sent to them by his sister sitting on top of the pile.
Seeing that again made Eddie's move take a dip to irritation, which Buck immediately picked up on.
"Something's up," Buck said as he stood between Eddie and the counter he had been restacking the dishes on. "What is it?"
"It's nothing," Eddie said, looking up and at the cabinets behind Buck's right shoulder.
Buck pointed at him with a stare. "Really?" he asked. "You do remember I can feel all of your emotions right? What's up?"
Of course Eddie hadn't forgotten that. He could never forget that. Just like Buck could feel all of Eddie's emotions, Eddie could feel all of Buck's.
Like Eddie could feel Buck's disbelief and niggling rolling off of him right now.
But the truth was, everything was causing just a little bit of chaos in his life right now. Christopher had a big science project that was supposed to be complete and turned in this coming Friday, that he had only told Eddie about that afternoon while he had known about it for the past three weeks. His sister Sophia was trying to move to the area and Eddie was helping her find a place in the nightmare that was the LA real estate market. Buck had finally convinced him to switch to his station, and that created a storm of paperwork Eddie didn't know was possible.
So yeah, his life was full of chaos right now.
And the last thing he should be stressing over was the wedding invitation that had just arrived in their mail that morning.
Eddie definitely wasn't thinking about the wedding invitation sitting on the counter. The wedding for his sister, Adriana and her fiancé.
He definitely wasn't thinking about that.
Because thinking of that brought all sorts of other thoughts to Eddie's mind.
Thoughts as in the nature of their relationship. Where each of them wanted it to go. Where they saw themselves in five… ten… twenty years. When were they going to take the next step, and what would the next step be?
Eddie had wanted to get married, the thought had been in his mind for at least three months now. Chris had been increasingly asking him when they were alone if they would be getting married soon. "Everyone else's parents who are bonded are married, Dad."
But every single time he tried to bring it up to Buck, the man had conveniently, expertly changed the subject to something completely different.
"You know Bobby taught me a new recipe last shift. Do you think Chris will want to make it with me again?" is what he used this time.
Eddie sighed. "What did Bobby teach you this time?" he asked.
"Oh! He taught me a new chili recipe," Buck explained.
"Chili?" Eddie said. "That has to be what? The third chili recipe you've cooked. How many different types of chili are there?"
"Oh, this is a vegetarian chili," Buck elaborated. "Well, it uses beans, celery-"
Eddie's face scrunched up. "Beans don't go in chili," he said.
"What do you mean beans don't go in chili?" Buck asked. "Is this some Texas thing or something?"
Eddie just looked at Buck, shifting his eyes up and down his profile. "Beans don't go in chili," he repeated before he left the kitchen, leaving Buck to unload the dishwasher.
Xx?xXx?xXx?xX
"Do you want to get married?" Eddie asked Buck out of the blue one day as they were grocery shopping, Buck half leant down looking for the package with the best cut of steak.
"Nah, I wasn't really planning on it," Buck said off handedly, Smiling as he found his prize and stood up to place it in their cart.
That-
Out of all the answers, Eddie hadn't been expecting it to be that.
If there was one thing people knew about their relationship, Buck was the lovey-dovey one. The one who wanted to go through all of the 'relationship' milestones, and Eddie was sure if Buck was a scrapbooking person, they would have an entire binder full of photos and other things of their relationship.
Buck was the one who made sure they kept their relationship going, forcing them to have a weekly date night, even if the 'dates' happened during the day when Chris was at school. Buck was the one who kept track of their anniversaries, forming their bond, Eddie accepting their bond, Buck moving into Eddie's place.
So to hear that Buck didn't want to get married… Eddie didn't know what to do with that information.
But he could tell, from what he was feeling through the bond, that Buck was telling the truth with that answer. So where did that leave them?
"Hey Eds, do you think Chris would want to try these fish filets?" Buck asked as he walked by the seafood wall.
"Yeah," Eddie said, distractedly. "He'll be fine with those."
Xx?xXx?xXx?xX
Buck always had a habit of pulling Eddie into a make out session as soon as they had a quiet moment alone. Whether it be after Buck distracted Chris with a new game or toy, or at one of Bobby biweekly barbeques when everyone else was distracted as Chris was occupied with Harry and Denny. Although with the latter, they were usually caught more often than not (ie. every time) and called out on it.
This time it was a Saturday morning when they had both happened to wake up much earlier than they usually did.
Chris was still asleep at this time in the morning, and hopefully he would remain so, or at least keep himself entertained, for the next little while.
When Eddie had first woken up, he had planned on getting a head start on the tasks he had planned for that morning. Tasks such as cleaning up the backyard from the mess Chris and Denny had created yesterday afternoon and repairing the piping under the bathroom sink that had started dripping last week. He really had to stop putting that second task off.
That was all put to the side though when Buck pushed him against the wall after he pulled a T-shirt and sweatpants on, and pulled Eddie's mouth into a kiss. To this day, even after a year of them getting together, Eddie was always amazed at how good the combination of Buck's physical affections and the closeness of the bond makes him feel.
Eddie was always going to regret those months he had pushed Buck away.
How much of this had he missed?
Buck nibbled on Eddie's bottom lip and Eddie started to kiss him back.
"You a good kisser, you know?" Buck said the next time they broke apart to breath.
"You tell me that every time you kiss me," Eddie replied.
"Well it's true," Buck said as he resumed the kiss, smiling into Eddie's lips.
The next time they broke apart, Buck wanted to take things to the next step, so he wrapped his hands around Eddie's hips and Moved Eddie around himself, pushing the man back towards their bed.
Buck pushed Eddie down on the mattress, holding him down by the shoulders. Eddie smirked up at him. "How long are you going to draw this out?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows, knowing that always tended to send Buck into a frenzy, a sensation Eddie loved feeling through the bond.
Buck leered down at Eddie, leaning over him. "As long as I want," he said, taking hold of the elastic band of Eddie's sweatpants.
"Dad!" they both heard and jerked their head in the direction of the bedroom door simultaneously as Chris called out. "Where's the screwdriver?"
Both Eddie and Buck groaned as Buck fell to his side on the bed next to Eddie. Eddie didn't need the bond to feel that Buck was feeling the same thing he was. When did the boy wake up, without either of them hearing him? And what could Christopher possibly need a screwdriver for? Whatever it was, he knew he couldn't stay in here while Chris got into some type of trouble.
"Sorry," Eddie said as he sat up. "I have to make sure he doesn't break or hurt anything."
"Don't mention it," Buck waved him off as Eddie left the room, running down the hall to see what Chris had gotten himself into.
Xx?xXx?xXx?xX
Usually, Eddie has no problem sleeping… or at least, falling asleep.
He had been on two ten-month long deployments where he heard mortar fire almost every night. He had shared a barracks with twenty other loud snoring men during basic training. Growing up, his house was only half a mile away from a freeway.
But tonight, as Buck's arm was draped across his chest and the man's face smudged against his shoulder, letting the world hear his snores, Eddie found that he couldn't fall asleep. The simple, off handed comment Buck had given him earlier playing over and over again in his mind.
Buck sneezed in his sleep then, waking himself up.
Blinking his eyes open, Buck looked up, and came in direct eye contact with Eddie's eyes, which were still wide awake and just watching and studying Buck's face.
"You still awake?" Buck asked sleepily.
"Yeah," Eddie said.
Buck's eyes narrowed as he blinked and yawned. "Why?"
Why?... Why was he awake? He wished he could answer that question.
Instead of answering, he just craned his neck forward and placed a kiss in the middle of Buck's forhead. That was one thing he realized in the last twelve months, if he ever wanted to shock Buck into silenece, he just had to kiss him.
He had used that trick more times than he was willing to admit, and either Buck hadn't realized Eddie did it to distract him or Buck enjoyed Eddie's unprompted bouts of physical affection, but Eddie loved seeing the man's facial reactions when he did so.
Even in the dark light of the night, Eddie loved seeing that shocked and surprised look on Buck's face.
"You kissed me," Buck said, dazed.
"I did," Eddie said, smiling.
"Why?" Buck asked for the second time that night, about something entirely different.
Eddie pulled Buck closer to him, putting Buck's head back down where it had been lying on his chest. "Go back to sleep," he murmured in Buck's hair.
Eddie waited until Buck's breath evened out, signaling he was asleep. And then he spent a good twenty minutes looking at Buck's face in the moonlight, relaxed and at peace. It was another side of Buck, the side Eddie knew no one else got to see.
And his thoughts ran wildly as he looked down.
Eddie knew, logically, that he and Buck didn't need to get married. It was growing increasingly common for people in serious relationships to just stay like that - serious relationships without the marriage, without the simple and unimaginative legal contract that said they were bound to each other. And that was without a soul bond holding them together.
… with a soul bond, even though it sounded terrifying on the surface, being able to feel the emotions and a physical pull to a certain person for the rest of your life, never able to pursue a physical romantic relationship with another person without fear of pain, once Eddie accepted it, let the idea and concept lead his life, it brought the greatest sense of euphoria, bliss, and contentedness he had ever felt.
And another thing, when he was with Buck, everything just had a way of working out and making sense than it had without Buck. Everything except for this marriage subject, that was.
Xx?xXx?xXx?xX
When Eddie thought about it, he and Buck had talked about everything except marriage. They talked about their finances, drama regarding each of their parents, career aspirations, health conditions and doctor's appointments, whether they wanted any more kids besides Christopher, you name it, they have probably talked about it.
But somehow, they had never had a serious conversation regarding the topic of marriage.
That was, until today.
Eddie could feel it right as he drove into their driveway after his next shift. Buck was waiting for him. Buck was feeling impatient and…
Like he really had to talk to Eddie about something serious.
That feeling made a chill go up Eddie's spine.
Their relationship hadn't had any major problems at least since Buck moved in when he was recovering from his broken leg. Sure their relationship had started off really rocky, and they had gotten into the occasional dispute about beans in chili or what color they should paint the walls of the living room, but nothing major, nothing they would have to sit down and have a serious discussion about.
He let out a shaky breath as he put the truck in park, turned the engine off and got out. Buck knew he was home by now, there was no point in putting it off.
When he went inside, Eddie was surprised Buck hadn't immediately sat him down to start grilling him on whatever it was that had put him in this mood. Instead it was Chris who came straight over to him to ask for help regarding some of his math homework.
"I asked Buck, but he doesn't know how to do it," Chris said.
Eddie looked over at Buck, who was making dinner in the kitchen. "Hey, I know how to do it," he said, defending himself. "I just don't know whatever crazy method his teacher wants him to use."
Oh, so it seemed they were just going to put off whatever was obviously bothering Buck until later. Eddie could do that - for now.
Later, after Chris was put to bed, Eddie sat down next to Buck on the couch in the living room and when Buck still hadn't said anything regarding what Eddie knew the man was dying to talk to him about, he took it upon himself to break the silence.
"Alright," he said as he turned his shoulders to look at Buck. "What's wrong?"
Buck's eyebrows turned up slightly. "What are you talking about?"
It wasn't lost on Eddie how they had almost this exact same conversation less than a week ago, only now their roles were reversed.
"Are we really going to play this game?" Eddie asked.
"Like you weren't like this first," Buck threw back.
Eddie rolled his eyes. "I know something's bothering you," he said. "I could feel it from a mile down the road. What is it?"
"I can say the same thing about you," Buck said. At Eddie's confusion, Buck continued. "You've been feeling off and bothered by something for the last week and a half."
"That's -" Eddie started.
"Don't you dare say it's nothing," Buck said, interrupting him. "I could feel something… buggy you for a while now. What is it?"
Eddie let out a shaky, frustrated breath. How does one even start this conversation?
"Well you know how… you know how Adriana sent us that wedding invitation last week?" Eddie started.
"Yeah," Buck nodded. He had seen it. Buck had only met Eddie's sister twice in the last year, and the woman's husband once for a short five minute conversation, but he didn't seem that bad of a guy. "Why do you not like the guy she's planning on getting married to?" he asked.
"No, it's not that," Eddie shook his head.
"Then what is it?" Buck asked again.
"It's just - It got me thinking and all…" Eddie rubbed his hands on his legs, getting the sweat and jitters off of them. "Were you ever thinking about…"
"Thinking about getting married?" Buck finished Eddie's question. At Eddie's nod, Buck paused for a second, thinking. "I mean… we never talked about it…"
"It's probably the only thing we haven't talked about," Eddie said.
"Is that why we're having this conversation now?" Buck asked, deflecting.
"We were going to need to talk about this eventually," Eddie shrugged. "Why not now?"
"Okay," Buck sighed. Then nodded, "Okay… I guess it's just… Do you want to get married?" he asked Eddie instead.
Eddie let out a noise from the back of his throat. He hadn't been expecting such a direct question like that. "I - I wouldn't be opposed to it," he said, his gaze slowly wandering away from Buck's face. At Buck's continuing wide eyed questioning look, Eddie rephrased his answer. "Yeah… Yeah, I guess you could say I do want to."
"You…" Buck blinked, then blinked again, then swallowed a lump in his throat. "You want to get married?" he asked.
Eddie sputtered. "I mean…" he started. "That's not - How do I put this?"
Buck grabbed Eddie's hands then, held them close as he looked deep into Eddie's eyes. "You want to get married?" he repeated. "Just say yes or no."
Buck was really going to ask him this now, wasn't he?
"Yes, I do," Eddie said.
Buck's face then split into a large grin, one almost stretching from ear to ear. He then reached his arms out and wrapped them around Eddie, pulling him into a hug. "Then let's get married," he whispered into Eddie's ear.
"Just like that?" Eddie asked.
"Yeah," Buck nodded. "Just like that."
As they were still sitting on the couch an hour later, Buck pulled into Eddie's lap with Eddie's arms wrapped around him, Eddie had to ask, "Was that your version of a proposal?"