Crash

Summary: Buddie Fic. Established relationship. It's their first Christmas together, and Buck and Eddie are ready for a relaxing holiday free from drama and stress. Until the Buckley and Diaz parents show up, throwing their bubble of happiness into turmoil. Follows on from Every Breath You Take.

Disclaimer: I do not own 9-1-1 or anything associated with the show.

Author Notes: None at the moment. Thank you!

Set after season 6.

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Chapter 1

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Buck was late.

That was what happened when your boyfriend was pulling on his deep red button-up shirt and all you wanted to do was pull it off. If it hadn't been for Chris on the other side of the door calling out that he couldn't find his shoes, Buck was sure he would have lost any semblance of restraint he had left. But as it was, he managed to pry himself away from Eddie to go help Chris in his search.

And so, Buck was late.

Maddie had told him to be there for six, and it was closer to seven by the time he knocked at her front door with a sheepish smile on his face and a bottle of red in his hands. She rolled her eyes at him but stepped aside to let him pass, a small knowing smile on her face.

"Nice of you to finally make it," Chimney greeted, taking the wine Buck offered before chancing a quick glance outside and looking at Buck with a raised eyebrow. He didn't need to say anything, the mischievous glint in his eyes said it all, but that didn't stop him from saying it anyway. "What? No Eddie?"

It was Buck's turn to roll his eyes. "We do spend time apart, you know?"

"You could have fooled me," came Hen's voice from the entrance to the kitchen, she leaned against the wall with a beer in her hand. "You two are practically joined at the hip."

"And that was before you started dating," Chimney added with a grin.

Buck merely shook his head, an amused smile settling on his face. "You said it was wedding related, so I let him off the hook."

"I don't know whether that's sweet or insulting," Maddie added, closing the door and letting go of a light laugh as she ushered Buck further into the house.

"Oh, I am highly insulted." Chimney grinned as he placed the bottle of wine on the table and picked up of a bottle of beer instead, holding it out for Buck to take.

Buck took it without complaint and took a seat in the living area along with Maddie, Hen and Chimney soon following. He didn't need to ask where Jee was, Maddie had already told him Mrs Lee was looking after her for the night so they could make some progress with their wedding planning. Though, why that involved him and Hen, he still couldn't quite figure out. Not that Buck was complaining.

He hadn't had much involvement with Maddie's wedding to Doug, and he often found himself wondering how much decision-making Maddie had been given. So, he would admit it, quite happily and with a grin on his face, that he was excited to help her prepare for this wedding as much as she needed it. And though Eddie loved him and would suffer through awkward talks of napkin shapes, and bouquet arrangements, and colour schemes, Buck knew it was not his thing. So, Eddie was off to his aunts for a meal with Chris instead, and Buck was here, with Maddie, and Chimney, and Hen, on the edge of his seat, waiting for whatever big news about the wedding preparations that Maddie and Chimney wanted to drop on them.

"So, you might be wondering why we asked you here tonight," Chimney started, motioning between Hen and Buck.

"Well, I was," Hen answered, "but now I'm starting to get a little worried."

Chimney held his hands up. "Okay, fine, I'll just come out and say it. We've made a decision."

"A decision?" Buck questioned, brow furrowing as he looked at Maddie then Chimney. "What kind of decision?"

"Best Man, kind of decision."

Buck let the words circle in his mind a moment before sitting back and nodding, casting a glance toward Hen. "And you want Hen to be your Best Man."

It wasn't a question. He knew. And though he couldn't deny it stung a little, he smiled, genuinely happy for Hen and Chimney, and he held up his bottle in congratulations to Hen.

"It's nothing against you, Buck," Chimney continued, before Maddie took over.

"We just have a different role for you."

Buck raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate.

"I would really like it if you would be my Maid of Honour." Her smile was so soft and warm, the happiness there glistening in her eyes.

"I er…" Buck stumbled over his words, his thoughts refusing to get back on track, "that's er… Isn't there someone else? Someone… better?"

"Better than what? My little brother?"

"Well, yeah… you don't want me tagging along with you when you're choosing your dress…"

"Are you saying you don't want to help me choose my dress?"

"No!" Buck sat up straight at that and shook his head. "No, I'm not… But, I… I don't exactly know much about dresses."

"No," Chimney agreed, taking a swig of beer, "but you know your sister and you know what makes her happy."

"I trust you, Buck," Maddie added, reaching out to squeeze Buck's hand, and when he smiled, she added the next part, with a small look to Chimney. "There's just one condition."

"I don't have to wear a dress, do I?"

Chimney choked a little on his drink but recovered quickly, shaking his head. "No… But there are to be no clipboards. Got it?"

"Oh yeah," Hen laughed, "we can do without the Bridezilla style drama."

Buck shook his head. "Maddie would never."

"Maddie isn't the one we're worried about," Chimney continued, eyeing Buck up a moment before daring to take another drink of his beer. "Clipboard Buck, however…"

Buck would have fought him on it, but the doorbell went, and Maddie made to stand.

"That must be the food."

Buck placed a hand on her knee and stood instead. "Let me get it. What did you order? It wasn't the Greek food was it? Eddie is gonna flip if he finds out…"

But as he opened the door, the words died on his lips. It was definitely not the Greek food place. It wasn't even a delivery driver. Instead, beaming back at him from across the threshold were his parents who looked very much joyous and overly excited to be there.

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The last-minute invite to dinner from his Ta Pepa came at the right time. It saved Eddie from ordering in for himself and Christopher, and gave him an excuse to get out of the house and keep his mind occupied. Not that he would have been sat there all night worrying about Buck, getting nudged by Christopher's elbow every ten minutes because he wasn't paying attention to the game. Okay, so maybe he would have, but it was difficult not to worry when it had barely been a month since the man you loved had been kidnapped by a serial stalker turned killer.

It wasn't the first time he hadn't been with Buck since it had happened, but after the incident where Buck had gone out for milk and his phone had died, leaving Eddie unable to contact him… Eddie found he was still very much on edge about the whole thing. He would deny that he quickly hid his car keys when Buck walked through the door, cheerful grin in place and milk in hand. He would deny that if Buck had walked through that door mere moments later, he would have walked right into Eddie who had been planning to go out searching.

So, yes, the dinner invite gave him a chance to allow them both to breathe.

In theory, anyway.

His Ta Pepa answered the door with a mischievous smile that immediately made Eddie suspicious, but he decided not to question her on it, kissing her on the cheek as he greeted her and passed by her and into her house. Christopher was already ahead of him, heading toward the dining room whilst Eddie passed a bottle of wine to his Ta, his entire body falling still as one single word rang out through the house.

"Abuelo!"

With that, Eddie was moving, leaving his Ta to trail after him. He rounded the corner at the same time his mom entered the room from the other side, and Chris looked up from the hug he was currently embraced in to smile brightly at her. But she wasn't the reason Eddie suddenly felt like darting from the house. His eyes found his father as Christopher untangled himself.

Jaw tightening, Eddie cast his Ta Pepa a hard look, which she simply shrugged off, before plastering a forced smile on his face as he greeted his parents, giving them both hugs.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned, once he pulled away, trying his best not to let it sound like a fearful accusation.

"What, like we need an excuse to come and visit?" his mother asked, all bright and clearly oblivious to the tension running throughout Eddie. "Christmas is, what? Two weeks away? And you already said you couldn't make it to Texas, so here we are."

"Yeah, of course," Eddie forced out, swallowing the hard lump in his throat.

Ta Pepa clapped him on the back as she passed him by on her way into the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in just a few."

"I'll help," Eddie answered, glaring at the back of her head, knowing very much this was her doing. But she waved him off without even turning around.

"Nonsense, Edmundo. Sit down, relax. Catch up."

And that was what he was forced to do as his mother coaxed him into a seat at the table. He couldn't deny that Christopher was happy to see his grandparents or that his relationship with his father had certainly done a lot of healing over the last year, but to find himself unexpectedly face to face with them, it completely caught him off guard.

After all, it was just a matter of time before the topic was broached.

The topic of relationships, of dating life, of girlfriends.

Of Buck.

What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to tell them, knowing very well how he was raised? They were from Texas, the home of strong Christian values, of unwavering and often outdated stances and opinions of what was right and what was wrong.

They made it all the way toward the final few bites before anything was mentioned. That was when they made the mistake of asking Chris about his schoolwork, about his grades, and in particular, the improvement he had made in math.

"Buck has been helping me!" Chris happily exclaimed in explanation.

"Buck," Eddie's mother repeated, nodding into her glass, "I've heard that name before. He works at the station with you, right, Eddie?"

In that moment, Eddie found himself completely unable to form words. The simple answer was yes. That was all he had to say. There was no need to go into detail. No need to bring up the friendship they had formed over the years or that they had been dating since the summer just gone. No need to mention that Buck was not just his best friend, but the man Eddie loved.

And yet, to simply say yes felt like a betrayal.

"Well, I think it's time for dessert," Ta Pepa interrupted, saving Eddie from providing any kind of answer and looking at him with pity in her eyes. She pushed up from the table. "Edmundo, come help me out."

He took the opportunity to escape the situation and ran with it, entering the kitchen and spinning on the spot before his Ta could even make it through the doorway. That was where he ambushed her, just as she had ambushed him.

"What the hell?"

"Pshh," she answered waving a hand at him as she walked further into the kitchen. "Did you think you could avoid them forever?"

He had no answer to that, half wondering if maybe deep down, he had thought yes. Yes, he could avoid them forever.

"You have to tell them eventually," she added, softer this time, keeping her voice low enough so that the conversation could be kept just between them. "Or were you planning on just marrying the boy and keeping that secret too?"

"I… that's…" But Eddie stumbled over his words, unsure of how to answer. She had teased him once before about marrying Buck, but since then, she hadn't brought up the topic again.

"Oh, Edmundo," she said with a pout, placing a gentle hand on his cheek. "I know you've been looking at rings."

"Wait, what? How?" But as he heard Christopher's laughter from the other room, he knew he had his answer. "Chris… I told him not to go snooping on my computer."

He had yet to explicitly tell Chris of his plans to eventually ask Buck to marry him, but that didn't mean Chris wasn't able to put it together himself, especially if he had seen the webpages Eddie had accidentally left open on his laptop that one night. He cursed himself for his own carelessness, closing his eyes briefly and letting go of a deep breath.

"He just wants you to be happy, and Buck makes you happy." She moved to the oven, pulling a pie from it as she continued talking. "There's nothing wrong with what you have. You are one of the lucky ones. But, mi hijo, if you want to keep that, you have to tell them, eventually. No one deserves to be kept a secret."

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A/N: Much more to come...