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What's love got to do with it?

Chapter 30

Notes:

As some of you might have noticed, this fic has now been turned into a series. There was one particular scene that I couldn’t quite fit into this fic that I was very eager to write, so I decided to post it separately as sort of an additional one shot to this universe. I feel like I’ve built up ‘size queen Eddie’ too much not to deliver, so if you’re interested in reading that pure smutfest, the story should be up over the next few days!

I can’t promise that I’ll add more to this universe because I have an insane amount of other ideas waiting to be written, so for now, I’m afraid that this is it. We’ve finally made it to the end! So here’s a giant THANK YOU to everyone for coming on this journey with me, for being so incredibly kind and supportive while I muddled my way through finishing my first ever long fic. I never would have made it this far without you and I hope you had as much fun reading this fic as I had writing it!

Chapter Text

Buck moved in less than two weeks after their love confession. Less out of their desperate need to spend every waking moment together - because they’ve practically been living together for months already – and more out of sheer necessity.

Because, as Chimney kept repeating, incredulous as he looked at the remnants of Eddie's bed frame stacked neatly against the wall of their bedroom, “You broke the bed.”

Both Buck and Eddie nodded, no shame to be found. Well, Eddie was mostly faking his nonchalance because he'd be damned if he allowed himself to be flustered in front of Chimney but Buck was feeling downright smug as he confirmed for the third time, “We broke the bed.”

Realistically, with two giant and very enthusiastic firefighters lost in the throes of their newfound love, the poor thing never stood a chance. Because not only did they absolutely nail the first part of Buck's plan – wrecking each other so thoroughly that Buck wasn’t sure he could get out of bed for anything short of an apocalypse, and even then he wasn’t sure his legs would cooperate – but they knocked out the second part at the same time.

Was there really any need to visit the rage room when they completely decimated Eddie’s bed instead?

Chimney looked as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to cry or laugh. "But... how?"

Buck rolled his eyes. "Did you come here to judge us or help us move?"

Chimney raised his hands in defense before he bent over and picked up a significant chunk of what used to be Eddie's headboard. "I'll have you know I'm great at multitasking."

He was also great at carrying stuff and he did agree to help with only the promise of free food as his payment so Buck figured they could let a few snarky remarks slide.

The three of them carried out the old mattress and the entirety of the bedframe, along with other minor items to make space for new ones. And there was a surprising amount of those going around. Buck still couldn't understand how he'd accumulated that much stuff for someone who barely spent any time in his apartment, and as someone who’d moved so often that the minimal lifestyle had become the norm.

But here they were, bringing in box after box after box and littering all available surfaces of Eddies – their – house. Because maybe, for the first time in his life, Buck found a place that he knew he’d stay for good. The moment he stepped into the station 118 and met his new team, he knew that he’d found a home in LA.  

But there was one item that Buck found himself unexpectedly hesitant to throw out.

"Are you sure you want to just throw it away?" Buck asked, looking mournfully at Eddie's ratty old couch.

They've already agreed that Buck would bring over his comparatively nicer and far more comfortable furniture – like his king size bed with a memory foam mattress which he suspected was Eddie's main reason for asking him to move in in the first place – but he never really considered that it would lead to this.

This being him getting irrationally emotional at the prospect of throwing out an old couch because of course he'd gone ahead and gotten sentimentally attached to it.

Though he couldn't see Eddie, he just knew he was rolling his eyes even as he wrapped his arms around Buck from behind and peeked at said couch over his shoulder. "Are you kidding me right now? You've been campaigning for me to get rid of it for months. And now you're suddenly having second thoughts?"

"It's just that- this couch is the where I slept over for the first time at your house,” Buck said. “Where we spent countless movie and game nights together, where we first broached the idea of getting together, where we made up after our first fight, where you told me you loved me for the first time-"

"I get the point," Eddie interrupted before Buck could go down that route and completely derail their plans for the day, which consisted of physical exertion of a far less fun kind. "Are you sure this is actually about the couch? Maybe you're just projecting."

Now it was Buck's turn to roll his eyes. Eddie attended a single therapy session and he was already throwing around all of these fancy terms and annoying Buck in the process, like the asshole that he was. But Buck still loved him, which was why he put some actual thought into his response.

By the time Eddie extended an official invitation for him to move in, Buck was basically already a semi permanent member of the Diaz residence. The majority of his clothes had long ago migrated to Eddie's dresser and he was barely spending any time in his actual apartment that he was still paying a ridiculous money to keep. It made no financial sense to keep it, Eddie kept saying, always the romantic. So Buck might as well pack the rest of his stuff and move in already.

Christopher, as expected, was nothing short of enthusiastic. He was ready to start the move immediately and lug Buck's stuff here all on his own if it meant Buck moving in sooner. Buck suspected it had something to do with having an extra hamster too, because they'd agreed that Spot would be taking residence in Christopher's room, right next to Skittles’ own enclosure.

Buck's apartment was nice, there was no denying that, and it was his safe space in the world for a long time. But it was never a proper home, not the kind he craved for his entire life and found with Eddie and Chris, right in this very house.

So no, he wasn't having second thoughts about moving in. He really was just mourning the loss of this shitty and musty smelling piece of furniture. But he couldn't help it, okay? It was where they started and while they had no intention of stopping now, letting go of all the fear and doubt was still hard.

Buck shook his head. "I'm going to miss it."

Eddie sighed as he pulled away, then prodded at Buck until he moved closer to it and sat down, sinking into the paper thin cushions, an errant spring poking him in the ass. Eddie settled into his lap a moment later, making the entire thing give an ominous creak at the added weight and leaned down for a kiss.

"Just imagine having a new couch instead of this one," Eddie said, leaning in closer to press a kiss to the long line of his neck. "Soft and plush and not smelling vaguely like feet and filled to the brim with dead skin cells of all the people who ever sat on it before us." Buck made a face at the mental image that Eddie planted in his head. "Sure, it might not have all the same memories attached to it as this one, but that just means that we'll have a whole new couch to make new memories on."

Buck nodded, tilting his head up to give Eddie more access for his biting, enticing kisses. "You, uh," he tried, clearing his throat. Eddie had long ago figured out all of Buck's weaknesses and he didn't hesitate to take full advantage of them when necessary. "You do make a good point."

Eddie pulled away and smirked. "So does that mean that we can finally get rid of this thing?"

Buck eagerly nodded and then whined when Eddie sat up and moved away from him. "Great. Now let's get going. We still have to bring in your bed and put it together, unless you plan on sleeping on the floor again tonight."

Buck pouted, even as he got up and took hold of the unoccupied side of the couch. "You just want me for my bed."

"The bed is definitely a bonus," Eddie said, not even trying to deny it. "Just think of all the new memories we'll be able to make there."

"Memories, huh?" Chimney said from the open doorway. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

"Memories?" Maddie asked, coming to stand beside him, a clipboard tucked under her arm and a baby strapped to her chest. She appointed herself as the head of operations, organizing the move in painful detail and keeping them all in line. Now Buck finally understood how everyone else felt when he was doing his time as a fire marshal. Buckley siblings really didn't mess around when they had a clipboard in their hands.

"You don't want to know," Chimney told her and she crossed over another item from her list.

"Catching Buck and Eddie making out instead of being productive, check."

"I'd say our making out was perfectly productive, thank you very much," Buck said. He wasn't dumb enough to explain why but Eddie's tactic had certainly worked. If they hadn't made out, Buck still would have been weeping like a baby over this stupid couch and that would definitely wreck her schedule.

"You're lucky I thought ahead and already penciled in this exact scenario in my schedule," she said, shaking her head. "So if you get this couch out right now, we'll be right in time to finish up everything else by nightfall."

"You heard the boss," Chimney said, smirking and turning to follow Maddie who went back outside to boss around someone else now that she made her point. "And oh, don't forget to lift with your legs!"

"Why did we invite him over again?" Buck huffed, bending down and lifting the couch with Eddie in perfect sync. Jesus, this thing was heavy. At least four washing machines kind of heavy, if not five.

"Because he's family and you love him," Eddie patiently said, panting as he led the way to the front door, then quickly switching directions and leading them to the back door which was somewhat wider because this thing looked deceptively small in Eddie's large living room. There was no way it was fitting through the front door.

"How did you even get this thing inside?" Buck panted, trying to figure out a way to fit it through the door leading to the yard and not dropping it on his feet at the same time.

"I didn't," Eddie said, setting down his side of the couch. "It came with the house."

"Great." Buck dropped his side and straightened out, wiping the sweat from his brow. “How did that thing even get inside then? Did they build the house around it?”

It was the age old question. What came first; the house or the couch?

"Okay," Eddie said decidedly, scowling at the too small doors and windows of his house as if they personally offended him. "New plan. We're keeping the couch. Maybe find a new house instead."

Buck shook his head. He knew that at some point, they'd likely have to move and expand their living space if they decided to add more members to their family, and he was also aware that as long as he was with Eddie and Christopher he'd feel right at home. But he genuinely liked this house and after he spent so much of his life on the move, he wanted to finally settle down somewhere permanent.

"Or we text Bobby and ask him to bring an axe from the station on his way over?"

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to throw a moving in party on the same day you were moving in the first place, but it was rare for all of them to be free at the same time and they did offer to help, so why not?

Eddie perked up at the idea and pulled out his phone from his back pocket. But when he unlocked it, instead of sending the text, he simply stared at his screen.

"Eddie?" he asked, stepping around the couch so he could see what was it that grabbed Eddie's attention. When he peered over his shoulder and saw the picture on his screen, he felt like an idiot. Of course. How could he have forgotten?

The picture was of the three of them, taken last night on this very same couch. They took a lot of pictures together, because they were both sentimental saps and would no doubt one day cry over them when Christopher was old enough to move out, but they didn't often take such intimate ones. Not the ones where the two of them were kissing – or trying to, at least, but the wide smiles on their lips weren't very conductive to much more than a peck – with Christopher sitting in the middle of them grinning and helping guide Buck's long arm that was taking the picture.

And even more rare was the fact that the picture was taken on Eddie's request.

They were watching a movie and discussing final plans for their move when Eddie suddenly picked up his phone mid conversation and handed it to Buck, who’d simply blinked at it, confused.

"I want us to properly commemorate this moment," Eddie had said with a faint blush, but the features on his face were pure stubbornness as he added, "And share the news with my family."

And Buck was so fucking proud of him, okay? Eddie had come so far and he was so strong and what else was Buck supposed to do other than to kiss him silly and take all the pictures his heart desired?

They took dozens of pictures that Eddie carefully went through and picked out his favorite one; the one where the three of them looked so deliriously happy to be together and posted it with a caption that was just as sweet.

'Christopher and I are thrilled to finally welcome our favorite person home. We love you, Buck.'

A lot of his previous posts were vague and easily misinterpreted, just the way he wanted them to be but this one – with the two of them kissing plain as day – made it perfectly clear as to what exactly Buck's role in their lives was.

Buck wasn't going to lie, he might have shed a tear or two. Maybe a few dozen.

And as they've later found out – long after Christopher had fallen asleep and was carefully tucked away in his bed – sleeping on a mattress on the floor came with certain benefits. Mainly, no squeaking of the bed frame or the banging of the headboard against the wall. Just something to keep in mind for the future.

"How bad is it?" Buck asked, reading thorough the comments on the post as Eddie scrolled down. He'd silenced his phone and put it away as soon as he posted the picture and he'd yet to look at the reactions.

Buck's comment was first, just a bunch of kissy face emojis, closely followed by scandalized and seemingly ecstatic comments from his sisters demanding answers and congratulating him in equal measure. Yeah, Eddie was definitely right to assume that they would all get along perfectly well.

Their teammates and friends followed closely after with their own supportive messages, along with a lot of teasing that none of Eddie's family knew the context for and likely never would.

Not all comments were positive, though, which Eddie was bracing himself for. An uncle from his father's side had expressed his disappointment in Eddie's life choices, a few older distant cousins agreeing with him as well that Eddie immediately blocked and moved on. A lot of them just seemed confused by the news about their straight cousin suddenly having a boyfriend, but they congratulated him anyway.

All in all, it could have gone much worse.

"Better than expected," Eddie admitted and leaned into Buck who hugged him from behind. "Look. My mom even liked the post."

A tentative extension of an olive branch, if Buck ever saw one. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"I'm so proud of you," Buck muttered against his shoulder, pressing kisses against his threadbare shirt. His shirt, because moving in officially erased all of Eddie's previous hesitation to steal his clothes on a regular basis. "And I love you so much."

"I'm aware," Eddie said dryly, eyes falling shut as he melted into his hold. "You've said it three times today already."

"Only three?" Buck hummed, nuzzling the back of Eddie's neck. God, he smelled so good, Buck just couldn't help himself. "Then I have some catching up to do, because I'm pretty sure you've already told me you loved me five times today and we're barely halfway through the day."

Eddie tilted his head back to meet his eyes. "You're actually keeping track of how many times I say it?"

Buck shrugged. "Not on purpose? It's kind of hard not to when you're basically making all my dreams come true.” And speaking his love language at the same time. It was as if once they finally said the words out loud, they couldn't seem to stop saying them and it was amazing, if obnoxious to everyone around them. He pressed a kiss against Eddie's slack mouth and grinned. "I love you, by the way. Like, love you squared so now we're even."

Eddie wrinkled his nose. "Are we sure that's how quadratic equations work? Aren't you technically ahead of me now?"

“I don’t know.” Buck frowned. Numbers had never been his strength, especially when they started stacking on top of each other and letters got involved. “Now I just feel bad for Christopher. With the two of us, he’s doomed when it comes to math. Maybe I should look into getting some lessons to refresh my memory?”

“He’ll be fine,” Eddie assured him. “That kid is smarter than the two of us combined. And if I wanted my partner to double as his free tutor, I would have made more of an effort to date Ana instead.” Buck raised an eyebrow and Eddie grimaced. “That didn’t come out right.”

“No, it did not.”

“Of course Ana was more than just a free tutor, I didn’t mean to imply that’s the only reason I was interested in her. That would just be plain mean and you know I’m not that kind of person. I mean, I’m sure she’s great at math and-”

Buck kissed him again, shutting him up before he dug himself into an even deeper hole. It was effective for about a minute, before Eddie gathered his wits and continued with his train of thought.

"And," he said pointedly, as if daring Buck to try and interrupt him again, "while I'm sure Christopher would like having her around, he absolutely adores and loves you and that's more than enough for me to know that I've made the right decision by not trying harder to make things work with her."

"And what about you?" At Eddie's confused look, Buck clarified, "All you've said are reasons why that decision was good for Christopher. But what about you? Do you ever look back and wonder what could have been?"

Buck wasn't sure why he kept poking and prodding at the topic. Probably because a deep rooted part of him was always going to worry that he was just a consolation prize instead of the big jackpot win. Buck wouldn't say that he was jealous of her or anything, but the mere thought that if Eddie’s and Ana’s first date played out even slightly differently, they might not be here right now, together, filled him with unease.

"No," Eddie said without any hesitation, reading him like a book and only confirming what Buck already knew but his stupid brain refused to let him fully believe. Eddie turned in Buck's arms and hooked his own over Buck's shoulders. "Not even for a second. I'm right where I'm supposed to be."

And what was Buck supposed to do after that proclamation? Not kiss him? He didn't think so. He leaned in and did, making sure to convey his matching feelings for Eddie through actions alone. With the way Eddie's pupils were blown wide when he eventually pulled away, he was pretty sure that his message was heard loud and clear.

"Besides," Eddie said in a low voice that always made Buck shiver in anticipation. "While Ana might have seemed like a perfect match on paper, there was just no spark."

"Oh?" Buck asked innocently, playing along. "And there is with us?"

Eddie nodded, biting at his lip as he moved in even closer. "Evan, we've got a whole fucking electrical storm brewing between us."

A sharp whistle broke their charged moment and they both turned to find Hen standing in the doorway, hands on her hips and looking entirely unimpressed. "Sparky, Randy, it's time to get a move on. We don't have all day and we're about to have a bunch of hungry pre-teens and a new mom on our hands. Is that really how you want to go out?"

Buck had all but forgotten that their house was currently full of people and at least half of them children. And as much as he hated that their moment was so mercilessly crushed, it was for a greater cause.

With sheepish smiles and mumbled apologies to poor Hen who had to witness their unintentional foreplay, they reluctantly pulled themselves apart and went back to work. They brought in the rest of Buck's furniture and ripped apart the old couch with the axe Bobby was kind enough to lend them, loading it up with the rest of Eddie's old stuff into their rented moving truck to be disposed of.

Thanks to Maddie and her meticulous schedule, the move was done in record timing. Everyone was gathered in their yard, celebrating with Bobby manning the grill while Buck and Eddie quickly unpacked the kitchen to find all the extra plates and utensils that Buck brought with him in the move. The plates seemed to have vanished, but Buck did unearth his air fryer and made an excited sound as he pulled it out of the box.

Eddie sighed from the other side of the counter and Buck narrowed his eyes at him, holding the appliance protectively against his chest. “You knew the two of us were a package deal when you asked me to move in with you so I don’t want to hear any complaints now.”

Eddie held up his hands in defense. “I’m not complaining. Look,” he said, rounding the counter and gesturing at the space on one of the worktops that Eddie always insisted be empty so they had more counter space to work with, “I think this is the perfect space for it. You wanna do the honors?”

Buck gently set down the air fryer into the spot and hesitantly stepped away, keeping a careful watch over Eddie and his reaction. His eyebrow twitched a little, but he seemed otherwise unconcerned. He even stepped in and plugged it into the extension cord they used for other appliances when they needed them.

“See? It’s a perfect fit, don’t you think?”

First the couch, now the air fryer. Buck wasn’t mentally prepared to get so emotionally worked up over inanimate objects today, but here he was, doing it again. Because Eddie had opened up his home to Buck without hesitation, made sure that their belongings were fully merged and had equal standing, solidifying this house as theirs, not just Eddie’s.

“Thank you,” he said, clearing his throat before emotions could overtake him. “But as a firefighter, you should really know better than to keep appliances plugged in while you aren’t using them-“

Rolling his eyes, Eddie pulled him into a silencing kiss and dragged him outside to finally join the celebration.

Food was incredible, the company even better. Buck and Eddie made their debut as hosts while the rest of their friends and family fawned over them and their inability to be apart for too long, teasing them one minute – with a lot of hints about marriage and more kids and the I told you so’s and finally’s – and wishing them all the best in the next one.

After dinner, Maddie, Chim, Hen, Karen and even Athena treated them with a truly passionate and mostly teasing rendition of ‘What’s love got to do with it’ – because Buck had made the fatal mistake of buying a home karaoke machine because he thought it would be fun – which was… fair, he had to admit. They must have been sitting on that one for a while because it sounded way too rehearsed to be an improvisation.

But after all the excitement of the night, Buck eventually excused himself and stepped to the side, stealing a moment alone to catch his breath.

Everyone was so supportive and thrilled for them and Buck was so fucking happy and he never thought he’d get to have this and- and it had all become so overwhelming all of a sudden and he just needed a minute to properly process it. To take it all in and convince himself that it was real, that he got to have this and keep it forever.

He wasn’t alone for too long, of course, sensing Eddie’s presence by his side before he even opened his mouth.

“How long do you think it’ll take them to realize that we’ve already gotten married?” Eddie murmured, making sure they weren’t going to be overheard and ruin the surprise.

Buck looked down at his gold wedding band and smothered his laugh. They weren’t intending on keeping their marriage a secret; things just played out that way.

After they broke the bed, they spent a long time that day just talking about everything, but mostly about their future. Particularly their future together, and Buck knew without a shadow of doubt that he wanted Eddie by his side until the day he died. Hopefully first, because losing Eddie would absolutely wreck him for good.

“Did you really mean it, when you said that you wanted to marry me?” Buck had asked and Eddie nodded, lifting Buck’s hand to his mouth and pressing a kiss against his left ring finger. “Let’s do it then. Let’s get married.”

Whenever he imagined getting engaged, he never saw himself as the one taking the initiative of actually proposing, too terrified of the possibility of the other person saying no. But not with Eddie. With Eddie, he felt secure enough that even if he was met with a no, not now, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

But Eddie, as expected, did not say no. In fact, Buck had to be the rational one and convince Eddie that they couldn’t just drive to the courthouse right that very second, mostly because Christopher would never forgive them if they got married without him there, and because they probably needed to sort out some paperwork before they showed up demanding to be married.

It took a few days to sort everything out, but finally, they were married. A week later, their wedding bands were ready for pickup and they were fully expecting to make the big announcement today at the party. But to their surprise, everyone who saw the rings on their fingers simply rolled their eyes or shook their heads in exasperation, dismissing them as yet another convoluted part of their unconventional relationship.

Though, to be fair to everyone, the two of them did joke about acquiring wedding bands to stop people from hitting on them before, so it was their own fault that no one believed them it was real now. Not that they went out of their way to convince them otherwise. After sharing their own incredulous looks about the situation, they’ve agreed that this opportunity to mess with them all further was just too good to pass up on.

“I don’t know,” Buck said now, standing shoulder to shoulder with Eddie, hands intertwined as they watched their friends and family have fun in their shared home. “But I can’t wait to find out.”

 

(It took their friends a little over a month to pick up on the fact that the two of them had gone ahead and gotten secretly married. Well, secretly married out of love rather than convenience, which was a relatively new aspect of their relationship.

It wasn’t until they showed up at work with matching tattooed wedding bands on their left ring fingers that they realized that oh, this wasn’t just them being oblivious dumbasses anymore. This was real. And what’s more, this was permanent.

The outrage that followed their realization was well worth the initial secrecy, just like Eddie insisted it would be.

“How did you expect us to just know without telling us?” Hen had demanded, looking at her wits end.

“We’ve been wearing our rings for weeks now,” Eddie had said in their defense, which was true. They were planning on waiting until the official ceremony later this year to exchange them and finally start wearing them, but as soon as they arrived, neither one of them could help themselves. Buck most of all, because he still had a hard time believing that any of this was real.

He was married. To Eddie. Some days he still woke up lying next to his husband and it blew his mind all over again.

The tattoo idea came from Eddie, surprisingly enough. He’d gotten sick of watching Buck pout every single time he had to take the ring off for work. But wearing one on the job was too risky because of one simple reason – degloving. Buck wasn’t one to get easily grossed out, but even the thought of degloving made his stomach turn.

And since they both liked tattoos, this option made the most sense. They wouldn’t be able to get rid of them if they tried and they’d pose no threat of an injury. Being practically branded as Eddie’s – and Eddie as his – had its own appeal, too.

“How were we supposed to take that seriously when the mental gymnastics going on in your relationships so far have been fucking outstanding?” Chimney demanded. “And seriously, getting platonically married? Isn’t that a little too much, even for you?”

“Oh, there’s nothing platonic about this,” Buck said. “We’re officially in love. Have been for a while now. You guys seriously didn’t notice?”

And here Buck thought that they were pretty obvious. It’s not like they were going out of their way to hide. They were wearing their matching wedding rings for fucks sake. And after their friend’s continuous insistence that they’ve been in love from the very start, the fact that it took them this long to realize they were properly in love and married was, quite frankly, kind of embarrassing.

Hen threw her hands up and stomped out of the room. “I can’t with you two!”

Chimney pointed a threatening finger at Buck. “Great, you’re in love now. But you’re going to have to be the ones to break the news to Maddie, because I’m not doing it.”

“Oh, Maddie already knows.”

Buck would never be able to keep it a secret from her. She’d kill him if she found out he got married without saying a single word. And unlike some people he knew, she could actually keep a secret to herself, as evidenced by everyone’s clear shock at the announcement.

Chimney followed in Hen’s footsteps as he threw his hands up and left the room, muttering something incomprehensible under his breath.

Bobby simply let out a long suffering sigh and rubbed at his forehead. “Are you really married? This isn’t another just another arrangement?”

“It’s all very real, Bobby, we promise,” Eddie was quick to assure him and suddenly Bobby’s frown gave way to a blinding grin.

“In that case, I think congratulations are in order,” he said, and pulled the two of them into a crushing hug.

Hen and Chimney made their way back into the room a few minutes later, congratulating them along with everyone else who had grudgingly come to accept that they’ve been outsmarted but were too genuinely happy for them to be truly annoyed about being played.

Since the ceremony they had in mind was still months away, Bobby was kind enough to gift them with a few days off early so they could at least indulge themselves a little. And when everyone involved in the grand ‘when will Diaz and Buckley get their shit together’ bet – that was apparently still impossible to determine the winner of, much to Hen’s utter despair – agreed to just give them money in lieu of a wedding present, well.

Let’s just say that neither one of them was about to refuse that offer.  

Not when despite being in a well earned honeymoon period of their relationship, they couldn't actually go on an actual honeymoon just yet. Their plans for a big trip for their little family of three were postponed for next year, because Eddie had expressed the desire to go down to Texas to finally introduce Buck to his family. Call him petty, but Buck couldn’t wait to see Eddie’s parents’ reaction when they found out the two of them had gotten married. And neither could Eddie.

“As long as you keep all the details to yourselves, the money is yours to do with whatever you want,” Hen said as she handed them a very hefty envelope and Buck mimed zipping his mouth shut while Eddie thanked her profusely for such a generous gift.

“You deserve it,” everyone had grudgingly admitted and Buck, for once, wholeheartedly agreed. And not only because the bet was at their expense and they rightfully deserved to at least get a cut. 

After everything they’ve been through in their relatively short lives, all of the obstacles they’ve overcome and all the heartbreak they survived, they deserved nothing but happiness.

And Buck vowed – and will gladly do it again in front of an audience comprised of all of their closest friends and families on the day of their wedding ceremony, just like he vowed to Eddie (his husband, his very best friend) and their son every single day, be it with words or through actions – that he’ll spend the rest of his life doing his best to give them just that.

Their happy ever after.)

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