Archive of Our Own

Buck walked into the station feeling really good. Like, really good. Confident, comfortable, relaxed, centered, all of it. His thoughts were still random, but they felt more mellow now. Not like he was going to burst if he didn’t blurt them out. He hummed to himself, bobbing his head a little as he changed into his uniform and headed to the loft to get some coffee. 

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Hen asked with a crooked smile as he filled up his preferred mug. Chris had gotten it for him at a market so he kept it at work since he was there more than home. 

“Have you ever seen a hypnotist?” Buck asked, leaning on the counter. 

“Nope. I’ve seen videos online of things people did while hypnotized and have gone on some calls, before you got here, for people getting hurt after being hypnotized, but never saw the need for it myself.” Hen said with a shrug before freezing and looking at Buck with narrowed eyes. “Tell me you didn’t?”

“Didn’t what?” Chim asked, joining them and getting his own coffee.

“Yeah, what didn’t Buck do now?” Eddie chorused as he leaned on the counter by Hen. 

“One, don’t be a dick, either of you, shift just started, and two, why is it you automatically assumed I did something wrong?” Buck asked, looking between Eddie and Chim. He felt a little irritated by their questioning. They were supposed to be his friends. Except … that wasn’t right. They were coworkers, sure. But since the whole cruise ship thing with Bobby and Athena they’ve been pretty distant. Hanging out with someone else. “Actually, never mind. I don’t care.” Buck shrugged and picked up his cup, heading for the couches to try and just enjoy the peace before starting maintenance for the truck. It was weird that he felt how much he actually didn’t care. It was kind of freeing.

“Buck, hey, we’re sorry, ok?” Chim said placatingly. “We didn’t mean to sound accusatory.”

“In their defense, I did sort of accuse you of doing something when they walked in.” Hen said apologetically. 

“Yes, but you weren’t accusing me of doing something wrong ; of being a problem, which is what their tone implied.” Buck accepted, smiling at her. “And I didn’t. Do anything wrong, that is. Actually, I don’t think anyone did anything wrong. It was a cool experience.”

“So has it worn off?” Hen asked curiously.

“Dude, you know that when a person goes under that they have cues that snap them into or out of the hypnotized state. I don’t know what the words or phrases he used were.” Buck shrugged unconcernedly. “He was just some guy at a bar who was hitting on me but decided to try and impress me with magic tricks and hypnotism.”

“You were getting hit on by a guy?” Eddie asked disbelievingly. 

“Yeah.” Buck frowned. “It happens.” he shrugged again. He was just too relaxed to care what Eddie’s tone meant. “Think he was frustrated that I didn’t fall for it right away, his pickup techniques.”

“But you did fall for it.” Chim snickered.

“Nope. Told him if he could successfully hypnotize me and find me there again another night I’d consider his offer of a drink. Did I do that alot early on? Peacock around and everything?”

“You did.” Hen chuckled. “It was adorable. Honestly all of us were hot messes when we met you.”

“Who do you think was worse?” Chim asked earnestly. “I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t, you cheated, and Bobby relapsed. All Buck did was sleep around.”

“Considering I didn’t sleep with anyone until I was 22, I think my sleeping around should be overlooked.” Buck said certainly. “And Hen got her shit together pretty quick once the other bitch was back in jail.”

“Thank you, Buck.” Hen laughed pretty heartily, but Buck just smiled at her, proud to have made her laugh so hard. 

“When did Bobby relapse?” Eddie asked cautiously.

“After we worked a plane crash.” Buck nodded.

“Yeah, when you and him nearly drowned to save the last woman that was trapped.” Hen said with an unimpressed raised eyebrow.

“I was on medical leave.” Chim shrugged when Eddie looked at him. “Recovering from being a dumbass while driving and getting rebar through the head.” Chim tapped his scar while Eddie looked horrified.

“Oh my gosh!” Hen said excitedly, snapping her fingers. “Remember when you totally treated Bobby to a father-son concert?”

“I didn’t want him to be alone.” Buck commented. “We all do stupid things when we’re left to our own thoughts, because all of us? We have had a lot of dark shit happen.”

“Do you remember anything the hypnotist guy said?” Chim asked curiously.

“Yeah.” Buck tilted his head. “He said something about being ‘unapologetically Buck’. Whatever that means.”

“You’ve always been unapologetically Buck.” Chim made a weird sort of confused face.

“Not even close, man.” Buck laughed. “I’ve always been apologetically Buck. I have always apologized for everything. Remember the catfish thing? I spent weeks apologizing for that when I was the victim.”

“I feel like I’m missing so much.” Eddie said hesitantly. 

“When I passed my probationary period someone catfished women with my picture. Like, the guy created a whole-ass myspace page. Chim and Hen only believed me when they pulled it up to show me.”

“In our defense,” Chim said quickly, “we couldn’t believe he’d never heard of MySpace.”

“Grew up practically Amish, dude. And school computers were only used for typing up our research papers or essays or whatever. Half of my shit was always still turned in, written out long-hand.” Buck shot a finger gun at Chim, making him snort. 

“I’m still glad you and Maddie knew calligraphy well enough to do Jee’s birth announcements.” Chim said gratefully.

“You’re welcome.” Buck nodded. “Definitely an underrated and underappreciated skill until someone suddenly needs something to look fancy.”

“I was summoned by the mention of Buck’s Amish-ness.” Ravi said, dropping onto the couch beside Buck and nudging into his space. “On that note, getting him to use a bank was a nightmare.”

“Hey!” Buck argued, shoving him lightly.

“He’s always had a bank card, though?” Eddie scratched his head.

“That’s a credit card.” Ravi pointed at Eddie. “Because he would pay the bill at the money center at the store in cash. I was glad to see he didn’t have his money stuffed in his mattress, though. He at least had it stashed in a safe. Until I got him to agree to using a bank for a lot of it.”

“Not all of it though.” Buck agreed. “Still got a few safes in a few places.”

“Maddie does that a lot, too.” Chim laughed. “I found her cashing a couple of actual physical checks and putting the money in a safe hidden in our room. She looked so embarrassed when I caught her.”

“Alright, boys, let’s get going.” Hen sighed as the alarm went off. 

They had a busy few hours, as rush hour usually produces. And then they were back at the station eating the chicken carbonara that Buck whipped up. Ravi had brought a speaker in and hooked his phone up to it, playing some upbeat music. Johnson made the mistake of trying to walk through the kitchen while Buck was dancing after the food was out on the table. Buck put a hand on her shoulder and twisted her around the small space like he’d done with people when he used to line-dance after a long week at the ranch he worked at in Montana. He smiled when she laughed and took his hand twisting herself under his arm until they were actually two-stepping around the kitchen towards the table where the song finally ended. 

“Thanks for the dance, Buckley.” She laughed, heading down the table to her usual seat. 

“Wanted to see if I remembered how to do it or not.” Buck shrugged, when he sat down and Eddie, Chim, and Hen were looking at him curiously. “Muscle memory took over, though.”

“Montana, right?” Hen asked, looking like she was trying to remember.

“Yup.” Buck said happily.

“Buck worked as a ranch hand.” Hen said to everyone else who was looking at her. “What? He and I talked a lot after Chim was out and Bobby was getting help.”

“Oh.” Chim said in sudden understanding. “THAT’S who you had whine-wine nights with.”

“I mean I had them with Athena as well, but she was trying to be back out in the dating world as a recently divorced woman. I needed someone to hang out with when Karen was working or pissed at me and Denny was with a friend.” Hen shrugged. “Besides, he was letting me live vicariously through him as he hooked up with woman after woman. Gave me all the salacious details he never told you guys.”

“You didn’t get enough of that at work?” Chim frowned.

“He never went into detail here.” Hen countered. “He’d mention going out but you and everyone else here would just groan and walk away or start talking over him.”

“We looked up a lot of gay porn together.” Buck agreed, bumping fists with her as she laughed loudly. 

“Not regular porn?” Eddie frowned.

“Why would I have Hen watch regular porn?” Buck frowned. “She doesn’t like guys, so she could care less what they were working with or doing. Besides, watching the women only stuff, they’re a lot more adventurous than men. After watching some of that, regular porn just seemed bland.”

“Very vanilla.” Hen agreed. 

“Granted I haven’t really had anyone that interested in anything but vanilla sex after I started sticking to, like, relationships over hookups. Man, I really need to get out more.”

“Surely it hasn’t been that long.” Chim scoffed, but stopped and frowned as he thought. “Crap. It has, hasn’t it? Natalia was a year ago already.”

“Yup.” Buck agreed. 

“Oh, you know what we should do?” Hen said, taking her dishes to the sink when she was done, “we should totally check out that club again. See if we can find you someone new to dance with.”

“I’m down.” Buck agreed, setting his own dishes in the sink.

“I’m so in.” Ravi added, dropping off his own plates. “I need a night out and some physical contact, even if it’s just dancing.”

“It’s more known for being an LGBT club, so fair warning.” Hen commented.

“I’m Pan.” Ravi shrugged unconcernedly. “So I’m still totally down. Maybe we can find some hot twink to hit on Buck?”

“That’s never a problem.” Hen laughed. “He’s like a magnet for them. But Buck wants someone to push him around as much as they want him to push them around.”

“Don’t shame me.” Buck flicked a towel at her, making her jump before snatching the towel away and snapping him with it. “Ow! Uncle, uncle!”

“Uh huh. That’s what I thought.” Hen said, balling the towel up and throwing it at his face. 

“Buck’s not gay.” Eddie said, moving the dishes to the dishwasher.

“Right.” Buck drawled, watching Eddie tense up a little at his tone. He smirked and winked at Hen and Ravi who were trying not to smile. “Straight or gay for you, huh? Nothing in between exists. Oh, wait, it does! There’s a whole community for it, I think. LGBTQIA or something, right Hen? Except, by Eddie’s standards, you’d be stuck with gay and not lesbian. Don’t reduce Hen to the second letter, Eds, that’s not nice. She’s totally the number one queer here.” Hen laughed and held onto Ravi’s shoulder to stay upright. “I’m cool with the guys that are gay, that’s fine for them. But I don’t like being told that the few times my eyes stray to check out someone’s ass, male or female, I get called gay for one and creepy for the other. I can be a bi disaster if I want.”

“You definitely are.” Ravi laughed, holding onto the counter as he and Hen kept laughing. 

“Wait, I gotta tell TK about this.” Buck pulled his phone out to text TK.

“You still talk to them?” Eddie asked, looking flustered and irritated. Probably at being called out.

“Yeah.” Buck shrugged. “TK thought I was hitting on him when we were leaving. Then he messaged me on insta saying I was now his favorite bi disaster and he was looking forward to watching the drama that is my dating life after looking through my posts. Carlos, his fiance, messaged me to apologize, but then he got dragged into a chat with both me and TK. Why? You don’t still talk to Marjan?”

“No.” Eddie said, his face scrunched up. “We didn’t really know them. We only spent a short time there, it wasn’t really long enough to make any sort of friendship.”

“Mm.” Buck hummed, sending his message to both TK and Carlos. “Guess that makes Tommy a special case since he’s here in the city.”

“He helped us rescue Cap and Athena.” Eddie said with a confused tilt to his head. 

“So that warrants you dropping your old friends?” Buck asked, crossing his arms and leaning back. He saw Hen pull Ravi away when the conversation was no longer playful. 

“I haven’t dropped anyone, Buck. Chim plays basketball with us. I still see you all here.” Eddie argued. 

“Good.” Buck nodded, feeling hurt all over again. Like when Eddie said he just clicked with Tommy. “Glad to know, to have clarification, I guess, that I warrant being a friend while we’re working together but not outside anymore.”

“Buck!” Eddie called, but Buck was already halfway across the loft on his way anywhere else. “Stop, man, it isn’t like that.”

“Then what is it, Eddie? Huh? Do you even know? You realize this same thing happens every time you get into a relationship too, right? Once COVID protocols were over, you had Ana over all the time. Even once you were back in the house after you were shot you kicked me out after a few days. Any hangouts we used to do were gone. Movie nights became nights Ana was there to spend time with you and Chris. Zoo trips, aquarium trips, they became things I could no longer do with Chris because you wanted him spending time with her instead. When you moved to dispatch, because you said Chris was scared, you didn’t say two words to me about it. I was your partner here, but I didn’t get a heads up that you were leaving. You know how much I struggled with feeling left behind and my abandonment issues and you did it anyway. AFTER you told me you agreed with Chim about what Maddie was going through. He punched me and you agreed with him. Did I still come when Chris called when you had a breakdown? Absolutely. Because my friendship is not contingent on dating someone new. Not like yours.”

“That isn’t true, Buck, you know it’s not.” Eddie said. He either actually believed that or was being purposely obtuse. 

“No? How many times have we hung out since you started dating Marisol? Huh? Go on, look through your phone if you need to, check the last time you said I could come over and not just to babysit while you went out. We met Tommy who, yeah, helped us out when he didn’t have to. But that’s because he felt guilty about a lot of the shit that happened while he worked here when Hen and Chim started. Now you’re not just blowing me off for a date, but for you to hang out with some guy we met at the same time because, what was it you said? Oh, yeah, ‘you just clicked’. I don’t want to be angry or upset with you, Eddie. It’s exhausting. I am exhausted from trying to keep up with you changing your mind so much. From watching you get into relationships with women who are exactly the kind of woman your family wants you to settle down with. You didn’t date Ana because you liked her. You dated her because she was intelligent, beautiful, and latina. You are dating Marisol because she is another beautiful latina. Everything Shannon wasn’t.”

“Don’t talk about her, Buck.” Eddie said in a warning tone.

“Why? Why can’t I? She was Christopher’s mother. But she was everything Ana and Marisol are not. She was white, she was fiercely independent, strong headed, and the mother of your son. She made you a father. Your parents hated her and you still chose her. So why are you fucking yourself over by dating someone that your family would love to see you with now? Why are you trying to force some other woman into the role of Christopher’s mother? He had one already.”

“I know he did.” Eddie said through clenched teeth, his hands fisted at his sides. “I was there.”

“Look, we don’t even need to be having this conversation. The last time we spent time together not in the station was on the docks after Bobby and Athena were safe. You’re still my best friend, Eddie. That’s not going to change. But you haven’t been mine in a long time. Maybe since before that day that led you to asking Ana Flores out. I don’t know. It’s fine. Hen still invites me over. Chim has apologized so many times for what went down when Maddie left that I’m about to sit on him until he agrees to stop.”

“No you won’t!” Chim yelled from the bay.

“I know that a lot of what I am, what I was born into, became, all of it, is highly frowned upon in, if not outright against, your religion. Or is there another reason Marisol hasn’t met anyone here? No one met Ana until she showed up during the blackout and you’d been together nearly a year by then. Christopher came straight to me when they got here. He hugged me and let me pick him up. You were the one who gave me a place in your family, Eddie. And you’re also the one who picks and chooses when that means something to you. Why don’t you tell Marisol that I’m bisexual and see how she responds? Hell, tell her Hen is a lesbian.”

“Don’t put me in this, Buck!” Hen yelled. 

“Fine.” Buck yelled back, snorting when he heard an audible sigh of relief. “Ask yourself a few questions while you’re at it; why is it you’ve never invited me to come play basketball with you? Or out to a bar or to the house to watch a fight, if it’s something you’re so interested in? Why is it you’ve gone to trivia nights with Tommy when you turned me down every time I’ve asked? Why is it the only time I’ve been able to rely on you to be there for me in the past three years is after I was literally struck by lightning? You want us to be just coworkers again? Fine. I’ll bring in the stuff you and Chris have left at my place and you can bring the stuff of mine that I know is still there, probably shoved to the bottom or back of your closet or something so it’s out of sight. And if you haven’t done it yet, you should probably update your will again and take me out of it as Christopher’s back-up parent.”

“He what?!” a few people exclaimed. 

“I’m not changing that.” Eddie said firmly. “Bu-” He was saved from having to respond as the alarm sounded and they had to rush to the trucks. 

No one said anything out loud on the way to the fire. But they kept flicking their eyes around, meeting someone else’s, asking questions without asking. Buck worked with Ravi while Eddie worked with Chim, since they were serving as the medics while Hen was acting captain until Bobby came back. None of it seemed to phase Buck, though. He didn’t feel conflicted or emotional or anything. He still talked to patients, when he was checking them over, telling them random facts to help them relax. 

“You can leave that to burn.” One young guy said, gesturing to the Taylor Kelly book in the floor of the car. “Was just trash anyway.”

“Really?” Buck asked curiously as he worked the jaws to rip the door off. “I thought it was hilarious, actually. Maybe that’s because I was one of her subjects.” He grunted as the door popped off and he could get in and check the guy over for injuries that were maybe not obvious.

“You were?” He looked at Buck curiously. 

“Yeah, we dated a while back and she was pissed when I broke up with her for doing a live story on my friends that survived a guy that used to work with us and turned out to be a psychopath.” Buck said, shining a light in his eyes and having Ravi hand him the c-collar since the guy definitely had whiplash at least. “I broke up with her because she promised to help them figure out what was going on by looking at some footage she had from the fire at the dispatch center. She could have waited even two hours to run the story and had the approval of LAFD for diligently assisting first responders. Instead, she called in her cameraman and they were there when the dick was being arrested and my friends were getting loaded into ambulances.” Buck kept talking while easing the guy out of the car and onto the ground since he wasn’t moving his legs. “Can you feel your legs?”

“If I did, it’d be the first time in my life.” The guy grinned. “Was in a car accident, like, a week out of the hospital as a baby and broke my back. Been on wheels ever since.”

“So you have those cool hand controls for driving.” Buck nodded. “I was always curious about those.”

“They do alright. It’s nice being able to drive myself without having to rely on anyone else.” The guy agreed. “Why didn’t you or the LAFD sue for publishing that book? Just out of curiosity.”

“It came out when the 710 interchange collapsed last year. We were the crew that was working on the upper span when it dropped. Didn’t have a lot of time. I mean, I kind of did because I was the only one besides Ravi here who wasn’t injured.”

“Buck landed on top of the ambulance, smashed right into the windshield and was lucky he didn’t break his nose among other things.” Ravi agreed.

“Glad you’re all ok.” The guy said as Buck and Ravi lifted him onto the gurney. “But I still think you should take the book to a lawyer and sue her for defamation of character. I bet you got a shit load of hatemail.”

“Nah, my online profiles are friends only, so if they tried to message me or comment on my posts they got blocked and reported. If it means that much to you, I’ll consider it.” Buck said when they reached the ambulance. 

“Give me a call when you do. I’m a lawyer. Mostly work in defense, not publishing law, but I know a guy.”

“How about when you get released, if you are still interested in this, swing by station 118 and let me know.” Buck agreed. 

“I’ll do that. Buck. I’ll remember that.”

“I’m sure you will.” Buck nodded as he shut the door and slapped it so they knew they could take off. 

“Her book was awful.” Ravi added when they were getting back on the truck as the accident was as cleaned up as it could be. “Like, it felt like trying to read through my sister’s middle school diary.”

“Yeah, that’s kinda what I thought.” Buck chuckled. “I laughed pretty hard about her trying to describe being involved with a first responder. Like, I know she writes some decent things, but it just felt stupidly forced and targeted for sympathy. She didn’t give up anything to be with me, aside from her apartment when we moved in together. She dramatized it so much.”

“I thought it was funny that she tried to describe our get-togethers at Cap’s house when she never came to those. She came to the Christmas thing, but she also did a story on that.” Ravi wobbled his head.

“She always said she had to work when Cap had a cookout.” Buck shrugged. “My favorite part was where she admitted to using sex to get me to stop talking so much.”

“Who we talkin’ about?” Hen asked, cutting into their conversation. 

“Taylor.” Buck said, grinning when Hen groaned.

“Why?” Hen asked.

“Our last patient had her book smoldering in the bottom of his car and he said to let it burn. Then he told Buck he should sue her for defamation of character because of it.” Ravi informed her. “Pretty sure he’s gonna come by sometime and bring another lawyer along.”

“I can support that.” Hen agreed. “Did she really use sex as a way to shut you up?”

“I talk a lot. Usually about something new that I fixated on, or something that I had researched before that I was thinking about. For someone whose job was gathering and reporting information, she never seemed to like what I talked about.” Buck shrugged. “Her loss, because I kill at trivia nights. Well. Until it gets into pop culture.”

“I’ll come.” Ravi offered. “You cover the random shit and I’ll cover pop.”

“Alright, Ravi.” Buck agreed. “Better bring your A-game. I get almost all the points for everything not pop culture related. Gives me enough of a lead I can still win or tie.”

“Awesome.” Ravi smiled. 

Buck was surprised Hen was able to wrangle a sitter in the short time since lunch so they could hit the club that night. They didn’t start until noon the next day, so they had plenty of time to recover if needed. A few others from their shift agreed to come for a couple hours, too, instead of hitting their normal badge and ladder bar. Buck hadn’t gone out to a club for a while and his wardrobe reflected as much. He had a ¼ sleeve button up opened over a tank top that clung to his body that he usually only wore to bed along with slim jeans and his new sneakers that he hadn’t gotten to wear yet. He even styled his curls instead of trying to hide them away. He thought he looked pretty good.

“Damn, Buck.” Ravi whistled when he caught up to their group waiting in line. 

“I had to scrounge for something to work for this scene.” Buck said, turning around so they could give him their verdict. 

“You’re gonna be beating ‘em off with a stick.” Karen laughed, giving him a quick hug. “Now go get us in.” Buck rolled his eyes but stood at the front of the group more and made sure he was visible. It didn’t even take five minutes of standing there and they were being waved forward and inside. A few of the group went and snagged a table while the others grabbed the first round of drinks. Johnson came, but her wife was chatting with Karen already about something, so she dragged Buck out when a country song came on and he twirled her around and they actually ended up in the midst of a small crowd. Her wife came out when they were done and took over, twisting away from Buck with a mischievous grin. They traded back and forth, both women taking turns dancing with each other and Buck as the song played out, before a guy jumped in as Buck’s partner. 

As soon as Buck danced with one guy, he was bombarded with others vying for his attention. He danced a few more songs before going back to their table for another drink. He stripped off his outer shirt and chugged his drink before drinking half of his next drink. He was surprised when Maddie and Chim showed up a little later. And when an old school swing song came on, Maddie dragged him out to dance again. It was like they were back in lessons as kids again, laughing the whole time. When it ended, Buck turned and ran into someone he hadn’t expected to see there. 

“Uh, hi.” Buck said awkwardly, pressed up against Tommy’s chest as other people rushed onto the floor again.

“Buck, right?” Tommy asked, putting his hands on Buck’s waist. “Didn’t know this was the new scene for the 118.”

“Nah, me, Hen, and Karen have been coming here for a while.” Buck cleared his throat. “But we made plans with a lot of the others around, so they decided they wanted to check it out too. I didn’t know this would be your kind of scene.”

“I usually stick to sitting at a table or staying at the bar. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s usually smaller guys trying to get the attention of the bigger guys.” Tommy grinned. “But I don’t want a smaller guy.”

“Calling me a big guy?” Buck raised an eyebrow and put his hands on Tommy’s hips. 

“Six foot two, I’d guess, easily 200 pounds.” Tommy’s grin widened. “Definitely not small.”

“Kinda over small.” Buck teased, grinning back. “We gonna stand here like weirdos or we gonna dance?”

“Long as I can get my hands on that ass,” Tommy said, sliding his hands down Buck’s back, “I’m good with whatever.”

“I’ve been told I’m a handful.” Buck pressed back against Tommy’s hands. 

“I hope so.” Tommy laughed, finally moving his hips to the music. “Chim talks about you a lot.”

“He’s marrying my sister, so I’m not surprised.” Buck laughed. “Plus, we’ve worked together for like eight years now.”

“Huh. Since about when I left.” Tommy hummed, sliding his hands around Buck’s back and hips, squeezing a little. “Didn’t know they’d hire more from this persuasion.”

“I’m bi.” Buck shrugged, feeling Tommy’s arms and wanting to sink his teeth into them suddenly. “Everyone knew about the girlfriends, but none of the guys I talked to wanted a relationship, just a quick hookup.”

“Would you be opposed to dating after a hookup?” Tommy asked, grinding against him.

“I could be persuaded.” Buck groaned, biting his lip. “Let’s get a drink.”

“Let’s.” Tommy agreed, spinning Buck around so he was pressed against his back and walking them forward to their table. 

“Hey! Tommy! What are you doin’ here?” Chim called when they got close.

“I’m always here.” Tommy chuckled. “Never have anything quite this good to look at, though.” Buck rolled his eyes when he felt Tommy’s eyes rake over his body. 

“You told me you had plans.” Hen said, crossing her arms and glaring at Tommy. Buck tilted his head curiously. He wanted to ask what was bothering her but grabbed his drink instead. 

“Canceled, apparently. Said he had to talk to his girlfriend after someone at work said something to him.” Buck inhaled some of his drink and started coughing. 

“Eddie?” He croaked, once he was under control again. “Fuck, I didn’t mean to give him a complex or anything.”

“Should I even ask what you said to him?” Tommy asked, looking around the table before ordering another couple drinks from a passing server. 

“Buck just called him out for dropping nearly all of his other friends to hang out with you or the girlfriend of the time.” Hen said. “Granted he also suggested she was homophobic.”

“She was going to be a nun .” Buck said emphatically. “Tell me any nun you’ve ever heard of that is even slightly ok being around our kinds of relationships.”

“He’s got a point.” Karen agreed, clinking her glass with Buck’s. 

“I still wanna know about the will thing.” Chim interjected.

“What will thing?” Maddie asked curiously.

“Eddie told me, when he was released from the hospital after being shot, that he had his will changed so that if anything were to happen to him and he died, Christopher comes to me.” Buck shrugged. “But he hadn’t done it, like, recently, no. No, he did it after the well collapsed on him when that kid was stuck. And he sat on that for a year before telling me.”

“Oh.” Tommy said, sounding like he understood something. Everyone slowly turned to look at him. Buck had to twist a little since Tommy was still latched onto his back and had slipped a hand under his tank top. “What? I figured he was closeted, I just didn’t realize he was so far in denial. I thought the girlfriend was a beard for his family to stop asking questions. Don’t get me wrong, Christopher is awesome. But he’s Eddie’s entire world. And he gave him to Buck. Pretty sure he’s trying to trick himself in a way. Convince himself he’s straight and not stupidly in love with his best friend.” Buck snorted and shook his head, but he saw everyone else looking thoughtful.

“Hey, Eddie’s not in love with me.” Buck snapped his fingers, trying to snap them out of their weird synced trance. 

“You saying you’re in love Eddie?” Hen argued.

“That’s not what we were talking about.” Buck pointed at her. “You all were saying Eddie’s so secretly in love with me that even he doesn’t know it. I’m not waiting around for him to finally decide I’m worth his time. I love him like I love you guys. He’s never really been emotionally available, so I can’t answer that in the way you want me to. Maybe if he ever gave me a chance I could love him like that. But he hasn’t, and most likely never will.”

“Why don’t we dance some more?” Tommy asked right against the shell of his ear. “I’m not looking for love, not really. But I could go for some casual dates and sex along the way.”

“Does it make me easy if we have sex before we even go on a date?” Buck asked, turning his head a little. 

“Maybe it makes me easy.” Tommy suggested, making him laugh. 

“Please go dance or something if you’re gonna talk about sex.” Maddie groaned. “There are some things I do NOT need to know about my brother.”

Buck rolled his eyes but finished his drink as Tommy threw his back and dragged him back into the crowded dance floor. When another swing song came on, Tommy smirked and Buck was suddenly the one twirling around the floor as Tommy spun him around. It was a lot of fun and Buck laughed and smiled a lot. 

Everyone trickled out of the club after a few hours and Buck stumbled out with Tommy, still smiling and laughing about how much fun he’d had and how relaxed he still felt. Tommy ordered an Uber and pulled Buck into the car with him. 

“I work tomorrow.” Buck said as Tommy latched his mouth onto his neck.

“Me too.” Tommy said, the sound vibrating against his throat. “I’ll drop you off at your car.”

“I’m clingy when I sleep.” Buck gasped as Tommy’s hand cupped him through his jeans. “And I snore sometimes.”

“I’m twitchy when I sleep.” Tommy said as he nibbled on his jaw. “And I’m always up early, whether I’ve been drinking or not.”

“I’ll make breakfast for us.” Buck agreed before Tommy’s tongue was in his mouth. 

They made it inside somehow, Tommy locking the door that he pushed Buck up against. The man actually growled when Buck pushed back, but Buck could tell he liked it. So he pushed again until Tommy was the one pinned to the wall. Only instead of pushing back, Tommy gripped his hands on Buck’s thighs and picked him up. Buck immediately wrapped his legs around Tommy’s waist, because he did not want to fall on his ass. Buck hadn’t had that much fun with sex in a long time. He was used to having to be gentle, or go at whatever pace the girl he was with wanted. Having someone as big as he was, willing to be a little rough, was freeing. 

Tommy had gotten up early, as he said he would, but Buck was already getting out of the shower since they hadn’t gotten around to one when they’d finally tired themselves out. He snagged a pair of shorts and headed for the kitchen, whipping up some pancakes as promised while Tommy showered. Tommy kissed the side of his head when he got to the kitchen and just leaned against him while he finished the pancakes. 

“I’m gonna do something and you are going to stand there and let me.” Tommy murmured against his ear.

“Am I, now?” Buck snorted. 

He gasped when Tommy yanked the shorts down and … Buck gripped the counter when he felt kisses trailed down his back as Tommy knelt on the floor behind him. He knew this was a thing guys did together. He did. Objectively speaking. But knowing it and experiencing it were definitely not the same things. Looking down and seeing Tommy knelt between his legs, feeling that wicked tongue do things he’d never experienced before, had him nearly collapsing as his orgasm hit him. Tommy caught him, though and brought him down to his lap gently. 

“If you need me to retaliate,” Buck gasped, licking his lips.

“No need.” Tommy chuckled. “I took care of that myself. So your mess is on my cabinet, while mine is on the floor.”

“You’ve got a very dangerous tongue, Tommy Kinnard.” Buck said with firm belief.

“Well it’s yours for however long you want it.” Tommy said, kissing the side of his head again. “But we should clean up and eat so I can get you to your car before we both end up late for work.”

“True.” Buck hummed. He shifted his leg to get up, but hissed as his bad leg locked up. It took a minute for it to stop seizing. He almost felt more exhausted after than then after their sexcapades. “Really tired of that.” Buck said as he finally got up, pulling the shorts back up. But once he was standing, his bare leg was eye level with Tommy.

“Buck, what are these scars?” Tommy asked, tracing one with his finger lightly.

“Ladder truck bombing.” Buck said quietly, meeting Tommy’s eyes. “You remember it? Some kid was sending out bombs, one was on our truck. I, uh, I was the firefighter that got pinned under it.”

“I remember.” Tommy leaned forward and kissed his leg before getting up and adjusting his own shorts and pulling Buck in for a tight hug. “Chim never said it was you.”

“Not really a light hearted conversation topic.” Buck chuckled. “I’ve been through a lot of shit, man. I don’t know if you’re ready to hear all of it yet. Maybe. One day.”

“Maybe.” Tommy agreed, giving him a quick chaste kiss before letting the hug go and getting his cleaning stuff out to keep their messes from getting too sticky to clean up. 

It was a nice little breakfast and they kept conversation light. Tommy talked about the gym he’d gotten into and how much he enjoyed it while Buck told him about the new exhibits at the zoo he was looking forward to seeing. Tommy shook his head when he pulled up to the club and saw Buck’s jeep sitting there. Buck just shrugged and got out, waving him off once he got it started. He was really glad he had extra clothes in his jeep as well as his locker at work. He showered once more when he got in and got dressed, getting done in time for his shift to start. 

“I don’t think we should do that very often.” Hen said when Buck got upstairs.

“We don’t.” Buck laughed, patting her back gently. “It was fun though.”

“Hey guys!” Ravi chirped as he joined them. He looked about like Buck. Which was not hungover or tired like Hen and Chim. Chim was actually asleep on the table. 

“How’d your night end up?” Buck asked with a grin.

“Great.” Ravi smiled. “Got to console some poor guy that had danced with you and then lost your attention.”

“That was nice of you.” Buck chuckled.

“I thought so.” Ravi agreed happily.

“Buck, can you come down here?” Bobby called. Buck jogged down the stairs while he noticed Ravi and Hen wake Chim up to watch over the balcony.

“Oh, hey. Did not expect you’d be in this soon.” Buck shook the hand of the guy in the wheelchair from the previous day’s accident scene.

“I got released last night since I only got minor scrapes and bruises.” He shrugged. “Gavin Barstead. This is my friend, Jack Lawrence. He works in publishing law and had some questions.”

“Shoot.” Buck shrugged.

“Did you, and any of the firefighters in this firehouse, sign these?” He held out release forms that Bobby looked at over Buck’s shoulder.

“Those are what we had to sign when Channel 8 did that special interest story on us.” Bobby commented. 

“So you signed these for information designated for a news story?”

“We did.” Buck agreed. “But that was … five years ago? Six? Something like that.”

“Between five and six.” Bobby agreed. “But these look like they were taken and modified since the news station heading was on them when we signed.”

“Which means none of you gave Taylor Kelly permission to write about you.” 

“No, no one here would have done that.” Bobby shook his head. “Not after her expose on a paramedic, Jonah Greenway, tried killing two of us.”

“That’s all I really needed.” The man smiled in a sort of predatory way. “I’ve already spoken with Chief Simmons in the LAFD offices, but the book will soon be pulled from shelves and all proceeds from those already sold will go toward donations for first responders.”

“I also wanted to come by and thank you for getting me out of my car before it caught on fire.” Gavin interjected. “Bummed it’s gonna take another six months before I can get a replacement, but I’ll have one eventually.”

“Mind if I pick your brain about how it works?” Buck asked interestedly.

“Sure.” Gavin chuckled and handed Buck his card. “Give me a call and we’ll grab a coffee and I can explain the intricacies of operating a vehicle designed for the walking impaired.”

“Awesome.” Buck beamed at him, glad to have a first-hand reference for this particular rabbit hole of topic.

“I hope you understand what you’re getting yourself into.” Bobby chuckled, winking at Buck. “He does deep dives into research when he’s interested in something. Part of what makes him such an amazing first responder. Kids love when Buck tells cool facts.”

“I’m sure they do.” Gavin agreed. “We’ll let you know if we need anyone else’s statements or anything. Have a good day.”

“See ya!” Buck waved. 

“You should readjust your collar.” Bobby said smugly once they were gone.

“What?” Buck frowned and felt his collar before feeling a sensitive spot on his neck and groaning. “That dick.”

“Just try and keep it covered.” Bobby laughed, patting his arm and going back to his office.

“Oh, hey, pops? You heard from Eddie today? He’s not usually late.” Buck asked, readjusting his collar as he stood in the doorway.

“He’s taking a mental health day. I’m gonna swing by and check on him when we’re off.” Bobby said quietly. “Which I shouldn’t be telling you, as your boss. But I also know he’s your best friend and you’re worried. Want me to call after I’ve checked on him?”

“Yeah, that’d be great. I was gonna be over when we were off in a few days, Christopher has a plan for going to see an art museum, so I expect he’ll be pestering me about dating advice or something. Kind of like when Eddie had me talk with him last year about a girl he was talking to.” Buck nodded. “Don’t sugar coat it when you call. But also, if there’s something he isn’t comfortable with me knowing-”

“Buck.” Bobby gave him an unimpressed look. “I will tell you what you need to know. Ok? Now go start on your chores.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Buck saluted and joined Ravi at the rig to do inventory. 

Bobby had called as promised, but he just said Eddie decided he needed some time off to see his therapist and would be off for at least a week, if not more. It wasn’t very reassuring and Buck really wanted to send, like, an apology fruit basket or something for causing another potential mental breakdown, because that had not been his intention. As if reading his mind, Bobby told him that he didn’t need to do that and just taking Christopher for the day or two they were off would probably do Eddie some good. That didn’t stop him from getting a spa day gift certificate for Eddie and some scented candles that he had found soothing when he was getting overwhelmed. Before he’d been hypnotized, anyway. Because he hadn’t felt overwhelmed since he’d run into that guy. 

“You’re … different.” Christopher said, watching him weirdly. 

“Feel a little different.” Buck shrugged. “Have you heard of hypnotherapy?”

“Not really.” Chris shook his head.

“Well, it wasn’t really what I did, but I’m pretty sure I got hypnotized and, I don’t know. I just feel … better. More relaxed and less anxious all the time. It’s kinda nice.”

“Maybe dad should try that.” Chris pursed his lips. “We promised to talk more, to tell each other what was going on, but I don’t know what’s wrong right now.”

“Might be my fault.” Buck admitted with a sigh as they stood in front of another weird painting. 

“Why?”

“I, uh, think I lost my brain to mouth filter.” Buck faux whispered, and Chris snorted a small laugh. “Anyway, at work, after it happened, I kinda said a bunch of stuff. I felt … left out, I guess. I wasn’t able to hang out with your dad anymore, and he wasn’t ever asking me to, just asking me to come hang out with you. Which is fine, because obviously I want to spend time with my favorite Diaz.”

“That’s bisabuela.” Chris snickered.

“What can I say? She’s a great cook.” Buck grinned, walking along with Chris again. “I probably could have said things differently, but once I started I sort of couldn’t stop.”

“That’s not unusual.” Chris sighed dramatically, snickering at him again.

“Hey, don’t tease me or we won’t stop at that wings place when we’re done.” Buck threatened. Chris knew he wouldn’t follow through, though. Buck had been looking forward to the wings more than Chris.

“Would it be ok if I came and stayed with you for a few days?” Chris asked suddenly. “Just … I want to give dad space so he can focus on whatever’s bothering him and working with his therapist. I don’t want him to have to worry about me at the same time.”

“I mean, I don’t care, but you should probably talk to your dad about it.” Buck pointed out. 

“I will.” Chris nodded. “This place is weird.”

“You just now noticed?” Buck laughed. “So. Why are we really here?”

“Penny said it was cool. I wanted to see what she was talking about.” Chris shrugged.

“Well, as far as dates go, this isn’t really your style. You could always do the aquarium or the engineering museum.” Buck shrugged.

“That’s what I said!” Chris agreed enthusiastically. “I’m still figuring this whole dating thing out, but it seems silly to do something only one of us would enjoy.”

“True words, little man.” Buck nodded. “Let’s get out of here, get some wings, and maybe sneak some laps around the go-kart track before I take you home.”

“Yes!” Chris exclaimed happily, both of them giggling when a few people startled and frowned at them as they hurried out. He got a text from Tommy while they were at lunch, asking if he wanted to get dinner in a few nights. He grinned and replied back his acceptance. Chris gave him a raised eyebrow in question.

“Tommy asked me out to dinner.” Buck admitted. “Told him he has to wine and dine me.”

“I thought Tommy was trying to date dad, not gonna lie.” Chris nodded his acceptance. “Do I need to talk to him?”

“No, buddy.” Buck laughed. “Not yet, anyway. We’re just seeing how things go. I don’t really want to jump into a serious relationship, so we’re gonna keep things pretty simple for now.”

“Ok, but I’m gonna talk to him if this gets serious. You’re like another dad to me, Buck, so I gotta approve of your dates as much as dad’s.” 

“Awe.” Buck did not tear up. “Thanks, Chris. But that means I basically have to worry about you AND Maddie scaring off potential boyfriends or girlfriends.”

“Yup.” Chris agreed happily. 

When they got back to the Diaz house that evening, Eddie was waiting by the door. Chris rolled his eyes, but Buck only snickered and followed him inside. He made himself busy by putting a frozen casserole from Bobby in the oven for Eddie while Chris and him talked in his room. When they reappeared, Chris had a bag of clothes along with his backpack that was set by the door. 

“This is gonna sound harsh, but it’s not meant that way, ok?” Eddie said, looking at Buck quickly before focusing on Chris. “How did you accept Buck’s wanting to date guys so easily?”

“Dad,” Chris sighed like a disappointed parent, and Buck had to cover his mouth so he wouldn’t snort or laugh, “he’s part of the classic friend group trope. There’s the token straight, the sassy and independent lesbian, the bi-disaster, and the gay best friend. Buck’s obviously the bi-disaster. You should have seen how much he blushed when other single dads would hit on him while we were at the zoo together. It was embarrassing.”

“Hey!” Buck said indignantly, tossing the dish towel at him. 

“It was.” Chris retorted, not backing down. “Buck was always blushing, but when the single moms or dads would hit on you, you never noticed.”

“No one hit on me.” Eddie frowned, but Chris just looked at Buck in exasperation.

“Hey, he’s your dad.” Buck pointed out. 

“Yeah, and he’s your friend. Does he seriously not notice?”

“Chris, buddy,” Buck laughed lightly, “your dad used to use you as a shield when we were on calls and he was hit on. But only when it was stupidly obvious the person was hitting on him. If they were subtle, he didn’t notice.”

“Subtlety is stupid. If you like someone you should just say you like them and are interested in a date. Grown-ups make things way too complicated.” Chris groaned.

“That we do.” Buck agreed, pulling the pan out of the oven when it was done. “You wanna eat with your dad before we go?”

“Yeah, because I know that’s Bobby’s mac and cheese and I don’t want dad to eat it all.” Chris got up, grabbing some plates. 

“He’s like this because of you.” Eddie grumbled when he grabbed the pan from Buck and took it to the table.

“You’re welcome.” Buck chirped with a grin, making Eddie roll his eyes.

“When you’re feeling better, we should all go to the place again.” Chris said as Eddie scooped a helping onto his plate. “They had an arcade and bowling alley and everything.”

“You beat Buck and he pouted, didn’t he?” Eddie teased with a smirk at Buck who flipped him off under the table. 

“Maybe, but I still think it would be fun.” Chris shrugged. “But it’s not a date place, Buck. So no going there with Tommy.”

“I won’t.” Buck promised, grinning at him.

“Tommy?” Eddie asked in confusion.

“Oh, yeah, he, uh, he was at the club when we all went out the other night.” Buck admitted, not wanting to talk about going home with him and having really good sex in front of his kid. “We … talked and he asked if we could go out some time. So he texted me while me and Chris were eating lunch. We’re getting dinner in a few days.”

“So he wasn’t actually trying to date me?” Eddie frowned.

“No, he was.” Chris and Buck responded, snickering at each other.

“He said he thought Marisol was your beard.” Buck added.

“What’s a beard?” Chris frowned.

“When a gay or LGBT man dates a person to appease appearances. Usually the person knows they’re a beard, though. Like, if I was dating Tommy and called up a friend and asked her to pretend to be my girlfriend for dinner with my parents or something.” Buck explained. “Lesbians used gay men as their beards when their families would pressure them about dating men.”

“Because they weren’t always as accepted as they are now.” Chris nodded in understanding. “Which is really stupid. People like who they like. Why does it matter?”

“It doesn’t.” Buck agreed. “Some people are just really small minded about it.”

“Did you ever have to deal with those kinds of people?” Chris asked curiously.

“Once.” Buck admitted, not looking at Eddie. “The midwest is often called the Bible belt, right? So a lot of those people looked down on same-sex relationships. I was a bartender for a little while in one of those states and some guys didn’t like that I was equally flirty with both men and women.”

“They didn’t do anything, did they?” Chris asked nervously. 

“I’m fine, Chris, ok?” Buck reassured.

“They did.” Chris said sadly.

“It was a long time ago. I was not nearly as big at 22 as I am now. They all got arrested, so that’s something. They all got hate crimes and assault on their records. But I didn’t stick around that area much longer. Once I was all good, and they were serving jail time or on probation, I took off. But I’m good now. And I have awesome friends here who accept me for all that I am.”

“Sorry that happened to you.” Eddie said quietly. 

“Dude, you probably saw a lot of things like that in Texas. Being queer was definitely not something accepted there. You got a double dose of the disdain for it, being raised in Catholicism. Religions are weird in regards to relationships.” Buck shrugged. 

“Says the Amish man to the Catholic.” Chris mumbled, but Buck laughed anyway. 

“Touche.” He said, still snickering.

“Ok, you are definitely taking him with you if he’s already this sassy.” Eddie pointed his fork at him. “He’s your son this week.”

“Yes!” Chris cheered, high-fiving Buck across the table.

“Do I need to let Carla know he’s with me or did you already tell her?” Buck asked, finishing and taking his plate to the sink. 

“I’ll let her know.” Eddie sighed, joining him at the sink while Chris snuck another half portion. “So. Tommy?”

“I guess.” Buck looked at him curiously as he rinsed the plates off. “I know I sort of swore off casual relationships, but I also am tired of putting so much into something when the person just leaves me anyway. Tommy’s alright. And he’s hot. Was definitely a new experience when he picked me up, though.”

“Like being manhandled, Buck?” Eddie asked, his cheeks a little pink.

“There’s a reason a lot of romance novel covers are of big buff guys, Eds.” Buck pointed out. “Lots of people like the chance to be with someone who can push them around. Maybe be a little rough with. I’m kind of a big guy. Not a lot of opportunities for me to find that. Guys like us are always expected to be the ones in control. To be the dominating one. When it’s equal strength, it’s a totally different feeling. I’ve picked you up before. It was a shitty situation, but it doesn’t mean I never thought about doing it in other scenarios.” Buck flushed and snapped his mouth shut. “Forget I said that.”

“Not a chance.” Eddie growled, turning to face the sink with him so Chris wouldn’t see or hear. “Seriously?”

“You’re insanely hot.” Buck said, his face on fire. “I’ve known that since we first met. Maddie has teased me about having a boy crush on you since basically day one.”

“And you say something now?” Eddie hissed.

“What part of Catholic Texan did you miss me pointing out?” Buck asked in exasperation. “You became my best friend, Eddie. I’ve never had that before. Did I occasionally fantasize about you? You have no idea. Has it affected our friendship? No. Because it’s too important to me. You and Christopher are too important to me to mess that up. But we shouldn’t talk about this right now. Not when I know you’re doing a shit-ton more therapy this week. When, or if, you are ever interested or comfortable enough to tell me one way or another, I can wait. We can stay friends. That’s not gonna be a problem for me. And I really fucking hope it’s not gonna be for you. I can’t … I can’t lose you, Eds.”

“You won’t.” Eddie said more gently. “Evan, hey, you won’t, ok? Did you send me spiraling the other day with your verbal diarrhea? Yes, you did. But you’re not losing me. So take care of our son this week. Honestly if you guys would rather switch and I take the loft while you two stay here, that would be fine, too. I’m really thankful to have you in my life. But you’re right. I need to figure some things out on my own. But I’ll get back to you about those fantasies at some point. When I’m ready. Ok?”

“Ok.” Buck sniffled and let out a shuddering breath. He let Eddie pull him into a hug and accepted the comfort. “Call or text if you need anything.”

“I will.” Eddie nodded against his shoulder and back away when Chris shoved between them to drop his plate in the sink. 

“You guys get weirder every year.” Chris muttered, shaking his head. Buck snorted as Eddie laughed. “Let’s go Buck.”

“Be good, mijo.” Eddie hugged his son and kissed his head. “Call every night, if you can. Gotta make sure Buck eats healthy food, you know?”

“Keep him away from midnight coffee, I know.” Chris rolled his eyes.

“Hey, I have decaf now.” Buck argued, following Chris to get his bags and take them to the jeep. 

“Try the tea, Buck.” Eddie called from the doorway. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Buck waved him off and drove him and Chris to the loft. “I got this installed, check it out.” Buck said once they were in the loft and Chris followed him to the living room. He pulled a lever and a full-size murphy-bed came down from the wall, settling behind the couch Chris, May, and Denny had picked out for him. 

“Cool.” Chris smiled and dropped onto it. “It feels like your mattress.”

“Same thing, just smaller size.” Buck agreed. “Can’t have you crashing on the couch or in my bed any time you’re here. And air mattresses are not good for the body.”

“I agree.” Chris nodded. 

They had a pretty good week together. It wasn’t really any different than before the cruise ship thing. He helped Chris with homework while Eddie was on facetime with them, harassing them both about getting distracted too much. Carla thought the whole thing was pretty funny. His date with Tommy was good, but Buck couldn’t stay the night and he couldn’t invite Tommy up since Chris was there. 

And then Buck got a call from the school about an incident with Chris and he practically stormed out of the firehouse once he told Bobby he had to go. 

“Mr. Buckley.” The secretary said, looking confused. “We were expecting Mr. Diaz.”

“He’s at an appointment and has his phone off.” Buck said as calmly as he could. “Mind telling me what happened?”

“One second,” She jumped up and headed into the office and the principal was coming out looking a little alarmed that Buck was the one there as well. 

“If you’ll step in my office, Mr. Buckley?”

“Hey, Buck.” Chris said defeatedly when Buck got in. He had a nice bruise already forming on his elbow and a little up his arm. Like he’d fallen on it. 

“So?” Buck asked, looking at the principal and the other student who had a parent in the office and was looking completely unphased. 

“There was an incident in the hall and Christopher shoved another student.” Dr. Jones said carefully. “As this is his first incident-”

“I need more context.” Buck interrupted. “What happened?”

“Hiram was harassing Penny about our relationship.” Chris said slowly. Buck squatted down beside Chris so he knew he had his attention. “So I told her it didn’t matter what other people said, as long as she and I were both happy. But he wouldn’t stop. He said we were worse than all the homos.”

“Hiram would not-” Buck glared at the other parent, cutting them off.

“You are not talking right now.” Buck stated calmly. “Christopher is explaining his side of what happened. Then Hiram can. If there is not a consensus of what happened, we can call Penny and have her come tell her part. Keep going, Chris.”

“I tried to stand between him and Penny, because she looked really scared, but he kicked my crutch and I lost my balance and fell. I didn’t shove anyone, Buck, I swear. I just lost my balance since it was suddenly gone.” Chris said with a small sniffle. Buck took a deep breath and stood up and looked at Hiram expectantly.

“He’s lying.” Hiram shrugged unconcernedly. “I wasn’t harassing Penny. I was just talking to her;  told her she didn’t have to pretend to like a cripple.”

“A what?” Buck asked in a tone that was deadly serious, looking between the other adults in the room who looked surprised by Hiram’s statement. “So let me get this straight if I can; I was called in to handle an incident where you were planning to punish Christopher instead of the student who is disrespecting the school’s inclusivity and zero tolerance policy? Is that what I’m hearing? That’s not even including assault on a disabled person.”

“Hold on!” Hiram’s father jumped to his feet in a panic.

“No. I was called from work to come deal with the fact your son is being bigoted and homophobic against mine. He’s getting suspended, at the least. If I find out this has been going on longer than today and the school staff chose not to intervene, then I’m sure the California State Board of Education would love to hear about it. If you haven’t done it already, call Penny’s mother so she can go home too. Staying around other kids after being openly harassed about something personal will only cause her more anxiety and stress. Christopher, grab your bag. We’re gonna go by the station so Hen can make sure there’s nothing hurt anywhere else.”

“He wasn’t hurt! He’s just being a baby!” Hiram exclaimed, shutting his mouth when three adults looked at him in various states of glares and disbelief. 

“The bruising on his arm says otherwise.” Buck said firmly. “Keep up that attitude and you’ll no longer be a student here, period. I’ll make sure of it.” 

“Thanks, Buck.” Chris said gratefully, once they left the office. 

“Alice, if you can call Eddie and tell him I handled this, that would be great.” Buck said to the secretary. “Because I’ll tell him, but he’s going to call here first, I almost guarantee it.”

“I will.” The woman nodded frantically and Buck led Chris out of the office to the jeep that was more or less parked haphazardly on the curb. 

“Let’s … not tell your dad I kinda lost it in there, huh?” Buck said once Chris was settled. 

“I’m just glad you were able to make it.” Chris shrugged. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be on a call or not.”

“We just got back from one, so I came as soon as I was no longer covered in ashes.” Buck hummed. “You did the right thing, Chris. Standing up for Penny when she was scared. It was really brave.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with Hiram.” Chris sighed. “He wasn’t like this last year. We were all friends, but this year he’s being a total jerk.”

“I’m sorry, bud. Alright, let’s have Hen check you out and then we can go home and try to relax a little, ok?”

“Ok.” Chris sighed and got out, following Buck inside and sitting on the back of the ambulance. 

“Hey, Chris. What happened?” Hen asked, squatting down and grimacing at the bruise forming on his arm.

“A kid was mean at school and Buck yelled at them.” Chris said with a smirk at Buck.

“When I said not to tell your dad, I didn’t think I’d have to say not to tell these guys, too.” Buck sighed.

“Guess you should have specified.” Chris chuckled. “I’m ok. Just sore. Buck already promised me ice cream.”

“I did no such thing. Lies! Slander!” Buck argued, drawing a bigger laugh from Chris and a snort from Hen. He hadn’t promised ice cream, but it was almost a given that they’d stop for it anytime Buck picked him up from school.

“Why,” Eddie said with a heavy sigh as he walked in and over to them, looking rather wrung out, “did I get a call from the school begging me not to sue them?” Buck pursed his lips when Chris and Hen both cracked up laughing.

“No idea. Weird.” Buck finally said, giving Eddie an innocent look.

“You ok, mijo?” Eddie asked, sitting beside Chris.

“I’m good. Buck made sure Hiram was getting suspended. Pretty sure his dad was ready to pee himself, along with Dr. Jones.” Chris said happily.

“So he didn’t say anything about getting the California Board of Education involved?” Eddie asked, looking at Chris who wasn’t able to suppress his smile. 

“Doesn’t sound like me.” Buck shrugged. “But I do know a guy who’s on the board.”

“Please don’t shut the school down, Buck.” Eddie said with a small quirk of his lips that was almost a smile. “Wanna come home with me and watch movies until Buck gets off work?”

“We should go to the loft. I can show you the cool bed Buck got for me.” Chris countered.

“Ok buddy.” Eddie kissed his head when Hen was done putting some cream on Chris’ arm to keep it from hurting too much and to help with the bruising. 

“Put some ice on that when you get there.” Hen directed. “Make sure you stretch a little, too. It’ll keep it from feeling so sore and stiff.”

“Thanks for getting him.” Eddie said sincerely once he stood up.

“I didn’t mind.” Buck shrugged, giving Eddie a small smile. “He’s my kid this week, remember?”

“He’s your kid more often than that.” Eddie snorted. “I swear, he wasn’t this sassy when it was just the two of us.”

“He was also six.” Buck pointed out, winking at Chris who snickered as he stood up. “Pretty sure he’s just a normal teenager right now.”

“Grab some take out when you get off. We can watch movies and just relax tonight.” Eddie told him, walking away with Chris.

“Did you really threaten to get the board of education involved?” Hen asked quietly. 

“I may have suggested they’d be interested to know that the teachers at such a prestigious school were allowing bullying and harassment in contradiction to their policies.” Buck smirked. 

“Oh, Buck. Never stop being you.” Hen chuckled, patting his arm as she headed up to the loft. 

“Don’t know how to be anyone else.” Buck commented, following after her. “Oh, how did Karen like the thing?”

“She loved it.” Hen smirked proudly. “Definitely doing that again.”

“Doing what?” Chim asked hesitantly, seeing them talking. 

“Something you couldn’t pull off.” Buck stated. “It-”

“Nope!” Chim put his fingers in his ears and walked away. “I am NOT getting in on your sex talks. You guys can keep those to yourselves.”

“Good.” Hen grinned. “He always gets flustered when I even hint towards bedroom activities.”

“Technically this was a kitchen activity.” Buck countered, bumping fists with her. “But I get it. Not everyone is as comfortable discussing sexual activities out loud.”

“Their loss, really.” Hen agreed. 

“No doubt.” Buck nodded, freezing mid step as the alarm sounded and they headed for the rigs.

It was actually really nice getting to the loft and having dinner with both Eddie and Christopher. Eddie looked a lot better than he had the past week or so. After a movie was watched, and Chris was in bed, Buck and Eddie sat on the patio for a little while. He could tell Eddie needed to sleep, but from the looks of the bags under his eyes, even if he went home, he most likely wouldn’t get any. So instead of letting him drive home, he managed to get Eddie to lay down in his bed and just rest for a minute. Almost as soon as he was horizontal, he was asleep. 

Eddie ended up staying with Buck and Chris at the loft for almost two weeks, slowly losing the bags under his eyes and looking more alive than either of them had seen him in a while. Tommy even came over a few times, while Buck was at work and Chris was at school and he was off, to keep Eddie company, texting Buck throughout the time he was there letting him know how Eddie was doing. He stopped whining about needing a babysitter on the second day Tommy showed up, though. Especially when Tommy took him out to try out different kid friendly things, family friendly things, to see how he would feel about them and maybe going with Buck and Chris. 

“You have a beautiful family.” A woman said, a happy smile on her face as Buck, Chris, and Eddie waited in line for the go-karts. 

“Th- thanks.” Eddie said, looking a little stunned. 

“Thank you.” Buck chuckled. “Just don’t tell anyone we skipped afternoon class for fun instead of the doctor appointment we said we were at.”

“My lips are sealed.” She laughed, miming zipping her lips as she shrugged and walked away.

“Huh.” Eddie said curiously.

“What?” Buck asked, following Chris as the line moved.

“I didn’t … I didn’t panic. Or feel stressed when she said that.” Eddie said in confusion.

“Ok?” Buck frowned, waiting for him to say more.

“I panicked when someone said that about Ana and me and Chris together. I had a full on panic attack that I could have sworn was a heart attack.” Eddie said, smiling a little. 

“Buck’s family, dad. Your brain is just catching up to it. Now let’s go so I can beat you both!” Chris said excitedly, handing Buck his crutches while he got into his cart. Buck snorted, shook his head, and set them aside. 

“You did great.” Buck said proudly, beaming at Eddie as he headed for a cart himself. “Now you gotta catch us.”

“Oh, you’re on.” Eddie laughed delightedly, getting into his own cart. “Loser buys lunch.”

“Winner picks.” Buck threw back.

“I get unlimited arcade time if you’re gonna make out.” Chris threw back at them cackling as he took off. 

“Get him!” Buck shouted, and Eddie laughed as they charged out and tried to catch up with Chris. Eddie ended up buying lunch, but Chris also ended up with a lot of arcade time when Eddie pinned Buck to the wall behind the building, kissing him demandingly. Tommy pouted at them when he found them there, but still hugged them both, kissing Eddie’s cheek exaggeratedly until Eddie shoved him off, laughing the whole time. It was fun spending time together.