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“You stole a fire truck.”
Buck flinches at Bobby’s wholly unimpressed tone as he stands in front of the ladder truck as Buck opens his door. He is in his classic I’m disappointed stance, arms crossed across his chest as he watches Buck with his patented I’m your dad and your behavior was upsetting eyebrow raised. “I made sure we didn’t take ours?” Buck offers, with his best, blinding puppy dog smile, and maybe it’s because he sounds tired (exhausted, really) or he looks like he’s been fighting wildfires 20 hours from home or just because his charm works on Bobby, because the older man grins and rolls his eyes, coming forward to give Buck a tight hug. “It was Hen, Bobby.”
“And I would have done the same thing,” Bobby answers, giving him an extra squeeze before releasing him. “How was Texas?”
“Hot. And humid.”
“Buck’s just upset his hair got all fluffy with the humidity,” Hen cuts in, smile big and wide and happy as she gives Bobby her own hug. “But he did come save me with his new Texan friend, so maybe we can forgive him his vanity this time.”
“Your new Texan friend?” Bobby turns back to Buck, and there’s....something? a flush? some embarrassment? that crosses his face.
“TK. We worked together at the front line when the two abandoners abandoned me. He was the son of the captain that was with Hen when their ‘copter went down. We had to do something,” Buck argues, glancing at Eddie, who’s getting everyone’s bags out of the compartments. “Also, do I need to repeat that Eddie and Hen abandoned me? They left me alone Bobby! You know I get in trouble when I’m left to my own devices!”
“And according to Judd, TK’s basically the 126’s Buck reincarnate,” Eddie cuts in, and Buck rolls his eyes, but that something is back, like there’s a tension in Buck that has to do with Eddie that Buck is trying his best to keep inside. “So Judd and the 126 and I obviously had to go along to supervise.”
“You know, I’m not a child, Eds,” Buck snarks, and Eddie grins back at him. “And you went along, so obviously you would have stolen the firetruck, too. Also, you don’t get to talk after you cut your line in that hole last year.” He takes the bag Eddie offers him, and their hands brush, and again, there’s that something again. Buck flushes as glances at their hand and...oh.
It hits Bobby all at once: Buck’s looking at Eddie differently.
What exactly happened in Texas?
“Well, once you get unloaded, you guys head out and go see your families and rest, okay? You did the 118 proud and represented the LAFD well, every one of you; you made me proud to be your captain.” With that he dismisses the rest of them, reaching out to stop Buck before he heads towards the locker room. “A word?”
Eddie’s watching them as they turn to head up the stairs to Bobby’s office, brows furrowed in concern, but Buck gives him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine, Eds. Will you grab my bag for me? You’re still fine with me coming to see Chris, right?”
“Yeah, Buck, of course.” He looks between Buck and Bobby again, still unsure, before adding, “I’ll pack the truck up?”
“We won’t be five minutes,” Bobby replies, and Eddie nods, finally turning towards the pile of LAFD duffels still left unsorted.
Both Buck and Bobby are silent until the door closes to Bobby’s office, and then Buck blurts out, “I know it was wrong and hare-brained, okay? But Hen was down and TK’s dad was down and we just-” Bobby holds up a hand, and Buck stops talking, eyes wide and worried again.
“Did something happen between you and Eddie in Texas?”
Buck’s face twists into questioning confusion. “Um...what?”
“Did something happen between you and Eddie in Texas that made you uncomfortable?” Bobby repeats. “Because you act like he burns you every time you’re close. Or like you’re hurt when you look at him? And if he did something to make you feel uncomfortable-”
“What? Bobby, no! It’s...it’s not like that.” The interruption trails off, and Bobby waits, because he knows Buck, and knows Buck needs a few minutes to gather himself and work through his answer in his mind before he talks again. It’s a practiced method between the two of them. “TK said something when we were packing up to leave Texas. I told him if he ever came to LA, we should meet up, because he’s a cool guy, you know? And um...he said he had a boyfriend and that...that it was serious, which I didn’t mean, and that’s good for him but I didn’t think I was flirting but apparently I was and I was confused and-”
He stutters to a stop again when Bobby squeezes his shoulders, head jerking up to look at Bobby, and he’s so worried, as if this is a confession of something he thinks is going to embarrass Bobby. “Buck, breathe-”
“And I’ve realized on our very long drive back that I think I like Eddie like TK was implying I liked him? And I don’t know how to tell Eddie, because I’m pretty sure he’s straight and I thought I was straight and now apparently I’ve made it weird.”
“I don’t think you’ve made it weird for Eddie at all, Buck; you’re still going to see Chris, right? And while I’m very, very proud of you figuring out something about you and that there’s something between you and Eddie, if you had done it at Christmas I would have won ten bucks, so I’m just a little upset at that.”
Buck barks out a laugh, but there’s a genuine smile on his face, his worry about how Bobby was going to react to his confession alleviated, and he rolls his eyes when Bobby grins back. “Eddie doesn’t know.”
“I think Eddie’s smarter than you’re giving him credit for right now. And I think you owe it to him and yourself to have a conversation. Because it could go awry, and maybe there are going to be hurt feelings, but...what if there aren’t? What if he likes you just like you like him? You don’t want to miss out on that possibility, do you?”
“You’re right. Of course you’re right, you’re like the best fire dad ever with the best dad advice.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far-”
“I would. Seriously, Bobby, I would never have been able to talk to my own dad like this. He would never have taken his son being...being bi, I guess? maybe? as smoothly as you did. Harry and May don’t know how lucky they are to have you and Michael for dads.” He puts down the picture he was looking at, because telling life-altering secrets is hard enough for Buck without having to look that person in the eye, and he looks out the office windows, stopping when he sees Eddie, still waiting in the garage bay, watching them both. Eddie raises an eyebrow, and Buck smiles reassuringly again, and they both see Eddie grin back. “You’re right; I don’t want to miss out on the maybe. I’ll talk to him tonight.”
“So why are you still standing in my office, kiddo? Get out of here, go enjoy your time off, call me if you need anything, okay? You know I’ll be there.”
Buck gives him a hug as he leaves, a small side-hug with a murmured, “thanks, Dad,” and Bobby watches as he bounds down the stairs, nudging Eddie with his shoulder as he meets him on the ground floor, talking animatedly as they both walk towards the sun. Bobby sees the something between them again, like a spark this time.
It’s later, and he’s relaxing with Athena on their porch, each with a cup of tea and a lounge chair as they watch the sun set when his phone buzzes with a text. It’s from Buck, and at first there’s a pang of worry, because Buck is like a son to him and he doesn’t want anything to go wrong for Buck, but when the picture finally loads, it’s of the sunset from Eddie’s backyard, and two men's tangled legs on Eddie’s patio. It’s captioned something happened between me and Eddie.
Bobby’s grinning as he tries to figure out how long it's going to be before he can tell Athena she won the pool.