He doesn't know what makes him do it. Not at first.
Then again, there has to be some force behind it considering one minute he's at home and the next he's on the highway going 120ph in a stolen U-Haul containing his best friend's belongings.
Buck has always been an action first, thinking later kind of guy.
He has the track record to prove it, so it shouldn't be surprising that when the haze clears from his mind that he realises what he's just done and he knows he's fucked.
He's just stolen a car, no not a car, a truck - a truck that happened to contain Eddie's entire life within it that was meant to be heading to El Paso. A truck meant to be heading to El Paso that was now being chased by a dozen LA branded cop cars with an LA branded firefighter driving it down the highway with no intention of stopping.
Shit. How did it come to this?
By default, he could always blame himself. That's what it usually came down to anyway. Buck always took risks, always pushed further, hit harder, fought back. He thought as he was growing up that he was invincible, that Maddie was all he ever needed.
Then he met Eddie and him as well as Chris carved out a spot in his blackened heart that barely gave him any time to get used to it before it was just his whole world and then some. No time to think, all the time to act. Figures.
He thought things would be okay, that nothing would be different when he started dating Tommy, but things he hadn't noticed - little things to a person that would mean nothing but in retrospect meant everything - started to fall into place.
The glamour of Tommy faded away and it left Buck with the cold reality that he was in love with his best friend. His best friend who most likely thought right now that he was crazy.
He hadn't gone to Eddie's with the intention of stealing the truck originally, he had gone there to drop off some moving supplies for him - tape and boxes and whatever - but he spies the keys lying on a nearby box and suddenly he doesn't remember a thing till he's flooring it though LA's main turnpike like a madman.
It was no wonder that when he realized what he's done that he finally, you know, stopped.
Too bad the cops didn't see it that way.
Apparently, stopping in the middle of a freeway in a stolen truck is a pretty sure fire way for the news choppers to find you, just as much as being boxed in by police cars and hauled out forcibly to be arrested on said freeway.
He can hear his phone going off in the back of his mind, just as much as it has been when he was driving, but he doesn't answer it. It's not like he can unless he does some sort of magic trick, given he's in handcuffs, so it will most likely remain that way for a while.
Eddie, unfortunately for him, finds him at the police station, sitting on a hard plastic chair in the lobby, looking like a kicked puppy.
Thankfully, Athena, surrogate mom of the heavens at this point, had managed to get the charges reduced, but not enough to the point where Eddie obviously had to corner him.
The air practically crackled with unspoken tension as the latter ran up to him, hands in fists. "Buck," Eddie said, his voice tight with a mixture of disbelief and simmering anger. "What the hell were you thinking?"
The slightly younger man stood up, running a hand through his already disheveled hair. "Eddie, listen, I can explain…"
"Explain? You stole my U-Haul! I'm supposed to be in El Paso tomorrow!"
"I know, okay? I know! But... but you can't go!"
Eddie's voice was thankfully softer then. "What do you mean I can't go, Buck?"
"You just…can't." He knows he sounds like a child right now, but if this is the one shot he had, the one shot he's going to have, he may as well use it. Eddie's already planning on leaving, just life everyone else over the course of his life has, so it won't hurt so much. Right?
"I can't let you go," Buck murmured, his voice barely a whisper, before it grew into a crashing inferno. " I get that you want to be with Chris and fuck, I miss him too, but you don't need to be El Paso for that. He has family here, he has Bobby and Maddie and Chimney and Jee and his school and his friends who love him and Carla and…and…"
Buck closed his eyes for a moment, hoping the tears he was holding back wouldn't make an appearance before he opened them, meeting Eddie's gaze head-on. "I'm in love with you, Eddie. I'm so, so in love with you."
He most likely should have led with that first, but before he even left Eddie could process all of that, before he could even get a response, Buck leaned in and kissed him and the world seemed to tilt on an axis that at first made him pull away, but not before a hand came grabbed his neck to pull him in closer.
When they finally actually broke apart, breathless and dazed, Eddie searched Buck's eyes looking bewildered and confused, but finally giving him an incredulous look that made Buck's heart hammer in his chest. "You stole a U-Haul for this?"
Buck chucked, a crooked, sheepish grin flooding in his face in response. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Eddie chuckled, shaking his head. "You're insane."
"Yeah, but you love me," Buck said, a hopeful glint in his eyes as he watched the latter. Eddie, to his credit, didn't hesitate. "Yeah, I do."
"Even with the dramatics?" Eddie responded instinctively, his hand finding its way to Buck's, fingers tangling as he chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "Yes, even those. You're unbelievable."
"Yeah, but I'm your unbelievable," Buck murmured, a newfound certainty in his voice as he clutched the hand like Eddie would simply float away from him. Not that he could actually go anywhere given- "Do I still have to pay the impound fee even if Athena can get me out of grand theft auto?"
Eddie laughed, a genuine, relieved sound that filled the sterile police station lobby. "Yes, you still have to pay the impound fee, you idiot. And explain to Chris why you're all over the news looking like public enemy number one."
Buck groaned, his head falling back. "He saw? Oh god, I'm so dead."
"He thinks it's hilarious," Eddie said, a smile playing on his lips. "He said you finally did something 'cool' for once."
Buck perked up, a grin breaking out across his face. "See? I'm a good influence."
"Debatable," Eddie countered playfully, but his eyes softened as he looked at Buck. "So, El Paso..."
Buck's smile faltered slightly. "So, stay?"
Eddie squeezed Buck's hand, his heart suddenly full. "Yeah, I think I'll unpack that U-Haul. There are a lot of people here who love Chris, and a lot of people who... well, a lot of people who would miss me."
"A lot of people, huh?" Buck teased, nudging Eddie with his elbow.
Eddie rolled his eyes, but his smile was wide. "Shut up. Because of this, you're helping me unpack."
"Deal," Buck said, his voice warm with relief.
As they walked out of the police station together, the LA sun blindingly bright, Buck knew he was still an idiot. He'd probably always be an idiot, prone to impulsive, reckless decisions, but this time, his idiocy had led him to something real.
Something worth fighting for.
The news choppers were long gone, but the story of Buck's crazy U-Haul escapade would likely be a fixture at the 118 for years to come, but for now, Buck didn't care. Why?
Because sometimes, the most reckless thing you can do is finally admit what's in your heart and sometimes, the most insane act of love is exactly what you need to get everything you've ever wanted.