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The first time it happens, Bobby doesn’t even think twice about it. They’re in the last few days of September, and the weather changes sooner than anyone was expecting. The station’s AC and furnace are locked in seasonally, so Bobby has minimal control over them by just a few degrees. So when it suddenly drops 20 degrees in LA in September, the firehouse thermostat is still set for mid summer heat. All Bobby can do is turn the AC up and try to keep it from kicking on. But it’s freezing in the station and only a few of them are prepared for cold weather. Bobby’s a Minnesotan through and through, so he doesn’t really mind the cold. He can’t help but give some of them shit for it while he sits comfortably in his t-shirt.
Until he sees Buck shivering on the couch, curled up into the cushions as if he’s trying to conserve every bit of warmth he possibly can. He wants to laugh, ask Buck how a kid born on the east coast can’t handle a little cold, when he notices that Buck is barefoot and trying to rub circulation back into his very white toes. Bobby’s eyes widen, and he turns around and heads immediately for the locker room. Bobby might be used to the cold, but he is also from the Midwest, and he’s used to weather changing at the drop of a hat. Plus, he really doesn’t like the feeling of cold air blowing on him sometimes, so he’s always got a hoodie in his locker just in case. He snags it and makes his way back to the loft, tossing it at Buck as soon as he’s close enough. Buck fumbles with the hoodie as it flies at his face, and he holds it up with a baffled look. Bobby laughs.
“Wear it, you look like you need it,” Bobby tells him, and Buck has the nerve to look away in embarrassment.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, the east coast kid can’t handle 60 degrees,” Buck grumbles, and Bobby raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms.
“Did I say that?” He asks simply, his tone a little annoyed but gentle. Buck looks up at him and drops his head. Bobby smiles. “Right, now put it on. Bad circulation?” Bobby guesses, and Buck nods, sniffing. He pulls the hoodie on and he sighs a little, closing his eyes and burying his nose in the sleeves that cover his hands. Sweater paws , Bobby's brain supplies, remembering hearing May call them that once. She had been cooing over Harry and his “adorable sweater paws”, and Bobby has to admit it is pretty cute. He feels a warmth in his chest, looking at Buck in his too-large hoodie. He must stare at Buck a little too long, because the younger man suddenly looks at him suspiciously.
“What,” he says slowly, and Bobby shakes himself. He grins, and Buck looks even more suspicious. Bobby shrugs.
“I think my hoodie’s a little big on you,” he says with a smile, and Buck frowns and looks down at his hands covered by the sleeves. Then he smiles and gives them a little flap, laughing when the sleeves flip every which way, and Bobby thinks he might actually combust from the warmth building in his chest. He’s suddenly overwhelmed with a fierce rush of affection for the young man in front of him, and Bobby thinks he might be crushed by it. Buck seems to suddenly remember he has an audience, and he stops flapping his arms and glances at Bobby, a steady blush rising on his cheeks. Bobby can’t help it, he lets out a loud laugh and reaches over and ruffles Buck’s hair. The young man yelps and tries to bat Bobby’s hand away, and Bobby chuckles and pulls his hand back. Buck scowls, and Bobby smiles. And then Buck frowns again and looks up at him.
“Why do you even have a hoodie? You seem like you’re not bothered by the cold,” Buck asks him in confusion, and Bobby smiles and starts to walk away.
“First rule of growing up in the midwest: always be prepared for the weather to turn on you. That, and I got used to carrying them around in the ice rinks,” Bobby tells him, walking backwards. “Now put your socks back on, but leave your shoes off. And bring a hoodie with you from now on!” he calls over his shoulder, now heading back down the stairs. He hears Buck chuckle softly behind him.
“Yes sir!”
The second time it happens, Buck is over for dinner. He’d been sniffling all through dinner itself, and at first Bobby just thought the kid was cold. Buck had told him that it doesn’t take much for his nose to freeze up, so Bobby figured that was probably it. But when he walks away from the table sniffing and rubbing his eyes, Bobby starts to think it might have something to do with the rainy day they’d spent the majority of their calls in yesterday. So he forgoes pouring any coffee for Buck and instead makes him some green tea with honey. He walks into the living room, handing Athena her coffee and Buck his tea, and the kid makes a face when he realizes it’s not coffee he’s holding. Bobby chuckles.
“It’s green tea, Buck. I wanna avoid you coming down with a cold after all that time in the rain yesterday,” Bobby tells him gently, and Buck scowls into his mug. But he wraps his hands around it anyway and buries his nose into the steam, trying to warm his nose up. Bobby sits down with his own coffee, and after one more look at Buck, he grabs the remote next to him. The fireplace lets out a soft whoosh as it ignites, and Buck instantly scoots closer to it on the couch. Bobby smiles, watching as Buck takes his first sip of his tea apprehensively. He looks like he’s expecting to hate it, but when he swallows, he sighs, and Bobby raises an eyebrow. Buck catches him watching, and rolls his eyes. Bobby laughs, and Athena grins, and they continue their conversation from dinner.
Twenty minutes later, Buck is still sniffing and he’s drained the tea completely. He looks like he’s trying to practically lean into the fireplace, and Bobby frowns. He’s looked progressively worse as the conversation has gone on, and Bobby can tell with one glance that Athena’s noticed it too. He doesn’t even bother asking, he knows the kid will immediately say he’s fine, so he quietly excuses himself from the conversation for a minute and heads upstairs. He heads for his closet and rummages around for a minute until he finds what he’s looking for. He almost reaches for his Minnesota Wild hoodie, the first one he finds, before remembering that Buck hasn’t returned the first one he leant him. So he grabs the LA Kings hoodie instead, and heads back downstairs. Buck is still curled up in the corner of the couch, and Athena is in the kitchen making him more tea. Bobby tosses the hoodie at him, and Buck blearily looks up when it lands across his face. Bobby is instantly at his side.
“Buck? Hey, buddy, you okay? You look like hell,” he murmurs, setting the hoodie and empty mug aside. Buck blinks, and he tries to burrow into the couch even deeper.
“Mm, just cold,” Buck mumbles, and he’s shivering. Frowning, Bobby presses the back of his hand into Buck’s forehead. He hisses sharply and pulls it away. Buck is running a fever, and Bobby kicks himself for missing it. His eyes are droopy and slightly glassy, and Bobby immediately helps him sit up and pulls the hoodie over his head.
“You’re running a fever, kid,” Bobby admonishes gently, leaning back as Buck pushes his arms into the sleeves. Buck just makes a noise and a half shrug, and Bobby shakes his head. “‘Thena, Buck’s got a fever. Did you finish turning May’s bedroom into a guest room yet?” He calls into the kitchen, and Athena is by his side in almost an instant. She too feels Buck’s forehead, a small sound of surprise leaving her throat. She stands up immediately and puts a hand on Bobby’s shoulder.
“Actually, I just finished it up yesterday. Come on, honey, let’s get you upstairs to bed. Bobby, do you have any sweatpants or anything he can wear?” Athena says, already heading up the stairs. Bobby can’t do anything but stare at her for a minute, admiring the way she immediately helps without even hesitating. “Bobby, baby, I appreciate the eyes, but answer the question please?” He blinks, realizing she’s stopped to look at him with an eyebrow raised, and Buck has the nerve to snort. Bobby waves a hand at the kid, who easily, if sloppily, dodges it with a laugh.
“Uh right sorry. Yeah, there should be some sweatpants in my top drawer,” he tells her, and she nods and disappears. Bobby looks back at Buck, who’s tipped sideways on the couch as if he fell over and didn’t even bother getting back up, staring appraisingly down at the hoodie he’s wearing. “What?” Bobby asks, and Buck looks up. He looks awful, but he makes a face, the same one he made when Bobby gave him the tea.
“The Kings, really??” Buck says incredulously, and Bobby raises an eyebrow.
“You got a problem with that?” He asks, and Buck waves an arm tiredly. Bobby has to tilt his head back to avoid being smacked.
“Yeah it’s the Kings ,” Buck says, as if that explains everything, even as Bobby helps pull him to his feet. “Everybody knows the Pens are the best,” Buck mumbles, leaning heavily on Bobby as he stands. Bobby fights down a little pang of fear when he feels the heat radiating off of Buck. Instead he focuses on the surprise that Buck even knows what the Kings are .
“Didn’t know you liked hockey, Buck,” he says with a smile, carefully herding the wobbly kid towards the stairs. “How come you’ve never mentioned it? And wait, aren’t you from Hershey? Why aren’t you a Flyers fan anyway?” Bobby suddenly asks, his confusion over the choice of team currently taking over any other train of thought. He’s fairly certain the kid’s an Eagles fan, not Steelers, so he’s not sure why hockey would be any different. Unless… He tries to hide his smile as they go up the stairs, and Buck takes a few seconds to answer.
“Well, I mean, I kinda just started getting into it recently, and uh, I kinda just ended up picking the Penguins, I guess,” Buck says sheepishly as they head down the hall, and Bobby isn’t sure what he should focus on. The fact that Buck clearly only started watching hockey after he met Bobby, or that–
“You’re scared of Gritty, aren’t you,” Bobby simply states, and Buck’s eyes widen.
“No! That’s not– no, I just–” Buck sputters, but Bobby is laughing too hard and Buck is too flustered to make any coherent sentences. Buck walks into the bedroom Bobby gestures to, and he’s still spluttering. Athena looks up when they come in, and meets Bobby’s eyes over Buck’s head. He sees the amusement dancing in them, and he grins, excited to see what his wife does with this.
“What are we not scared of, Buck?” She asks innocently, and Buck groans. He flops down onto the bed, and Athena just laughs.
“Gritty, the Philly Flyers Mascot,” Bobby answers, and Athena raises an eyebrow.
“That adorable little orange fluffy thing?” Athena sounds shocked and incredulous, and Bobby nearly howls with laughter. He knows for a fact that Athena would rather drop-kick that mascot into the sun than call it adorable .
“You guys are mean,” comes the muffled reply from the pillow, and Bobby snorts. Buck sighs and rolls over, sitting up slowly. Bobby immediately lurches forward when Buck closes his eyes in a grimace when he does so, and Athena raises an eyebrow at him. Bobby pulls up short, letting Buck sit up on his own. Buck looks down at his lap, picking at the hem of the hoodie. “I’m not scared of him, I just don’t like him,” he grumbles, and Athena throws her head back laughing.
“Trust me, Buck, it’s okay. That thing gives me the creeps, too,” she tells him with a laugh, and Buck smiles. She walks over to the side of the bed, giving him a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead. Bobby watches as Buck instantly closes his eyes and leans into it, and he feels something in his chest twist. “Hmmm you’re still really warm, sweetheart. Why don’t you get changed, I’ll bring you some ibuprofen, alright?” She says softly, and Buck nods. Athena walks towards Bobby and the door. She rests a hand gently on Bobby’s shoulder as she passes him, giving him a quick kiss. “Make sure he sleeps, okay?” She whispers to him, and Bobby nods. She pats him on the shoulder and leaves the room, and Bobby focuses back on Buck, wondering how he got so lucky.
“Alright, come on, kiddo, grab those sweatpants and get changed. Bathroom is right there, and please try to get some sleep?” Bobby says, pointing first to the sweatpants on the end of the bed, and then the bathroom across the room. Buck groans as he pulls himself up off the bed, and Bobby smiles softly and grabs the sweatpants for him. He hands them to him when Buck is on his feet, and the kid looks at him gratefully. “Do you need anything else?” Bobby asks him, watching him carefully, and Buck shakes his head.
“No, I’m good, I promise, Bobby. Thank you, I appreciate it, and I’m sorry for–” Buck stops abruptly when Bobby holds his hand up quickly.
“Don’t even think about apologizing, Buck. You’re sick, and it looks like it got worse out of nowhere. Athena and I are happy to help, we made this guest room for a reason,” Bobby assures him, reaching out to squeeze Buck’s shoulder. Buck leans into it, and Bobby holds on longer than he was planning to. But then Buck looks like he’s going to actually fall asleep standing there, so Bobby gently grabs both his shoulders and corrals him toward the bathroom. “Now go on, get dressed and go to sleep . And make sure you take the medicine Athena’s bringing up!” Bobby calls as the bathroom door clicks closed. He can hear Buck laughing, and he imagines the kid’s probably shaking his head.
“Okay, dad!” Buck yells through the door, and Bobby’s brain goes numb. He doesn’t even know how long he’s standing there before he feels Athena’s hand on his shoulder, startling him.
“Bobby?” She says softly, and Bobby blinks and looks at her, noticing the tears in his eyes for the first time. He sniffs and shakes himself, turning to her and grabbing her hand before he pulls them both out of the bedroom. He closes the door behind him, after Athena calls out a goodnight to Buck, and is quiet the whole way back downstairs. Athena lets him be quiet for a minute before she tries again. “Bobby? What the hell happened?” She sounds concerned, and Bobby quickly waves away her concern with a laugh.
“Nothing, it’s fine. I just…” he breaks off with a sigh. Athena sits next to him on the couch, rubbing his back gently and waiting for him to finish. “He was joking, of course, but he called me ‘dad’ and I just… froze,” he explains, voice hollow, and Athena smiles.
“That kid loves you so much, Bobby, I hope you know that. And he needs you, just like you need him,” she tells him, so confident, and Bobby just drops his head onto her shoulder.
“I love him too, Athena,” he says softly, and Athena kisses his temple.
“He knows,” she assures him.
The third time it happens, Bobby’s not even around. It’s mid-November, and the weather is steadily trending towards winter. The thermostat’s been set to heat since October, but in a big firehouse like this it doesn’t always circulate well. So Bobby finds himself a bit chilly after a particularly lengthy outdoor call, and he heads to the locker room in search of his hoodie. His Minnesota Wild hoodie. His favorite hoodie. His hoodie that he knows for a fact he brought in today. His hoodie that is not in his locker. Bobby stares at the empty hook he knows he hung it on when he got in, convinced he didn’t forget it. He takes a cursory glance around the locker room, but he doesn’t see it anywhere, so he decides to go looking for it. He passes Chim on the way out, and grabs his arm to stop
“Hey, Chim, have you seen my hoodie?” Chim’s eyes immediately widen.
“Uhhhh…. Your favorite one?” He says slowly, and Bobby frowns.
“Chimney where’s my hoodie,” he asks carefully, and Chimney grits his teeth and points up to the loft.
“Try not to kill him, Cap,” Chim says, slapping a hand on his shoulder and walking away. Bobby is left confused and slightly terrified, and he opens his mouth to call after Chim, to get him to clarify, but the man is already gone. Bobby sighs and makes his way towards the stairs, dreading whatever it is he’s about to find.
When he reaches the top of the stairs, he looks around, expecting to see some kind of disaster. He’s half expecting to see his hoodie in shreds, so he’s a little surprised to see the loft in perfect condition. And then he notices someone sitting on the couch, their back to him and a good drawn up over their head. A dark, forest green hood. Minnesota Wild forest green. Bobby sighs, reminding himself to give Chim a good smack on the back of the head later for making it so dramatic before making his way quietly over to the couch. Buck is curled up into the corner, his shoes on the floor and his feet tucked up underneath him. He’s got his nose buried in the neck of the hoodie, and Bobby watches with a widely growing smile as the kid rhythmically smacks the floppy ends of the too-big sleeves together. He’s clearly lost in his own little world, curled up in Bobby’s favorite hoodie for warmth, and Bobby couldn’t be upset even if he wanted to. He steps right up behind Buck, and clears his throat softly.
“You stole another one of my hoodies, didn’t you?” Bobby says, putting a false sternness into his tone that he really doesn’t think sounds all that convincing. But Buck nearly jumps out of his skin, whirling around so quickly he almost topples off the couch. “Whoa, easy, kid!” Bobby exclaims, reaching out to grab a fistful of his hoodie and keep him upright. Buck is wide-eyed and blushing and trying to look anywhere but Bobby’s eyes.
“Bobby! Cap, I uh-I’m sorry, I was cold and I remembered you said you always have a hoodie with you and-” Buck is rambling, fidgeting with the sleeves of the hoodie and sniffing after every other word. Bobby chuckles, letting go of the hoodie and coming around to sit on the couch next to Buck.
“Relax, kid, I don’t mind,” Bobby tells him, and Buck instantly relaxes. He still looks embarrassed, and Bobby smiles. “Although,” Bobby adds as a thought hits him, “next time I’d appreciate it if you didn’t rummage through my locker.” He hadn’t really thought of it until just now, and considering it’s Buck and he just grabbed the hoodie he had hanging up, it’s not that big a deal, but he still feels like he should say something anyway. Buck’s eyes widen, and Bobby can tell he hadn’t even thought of it either.
“Shit, Bobby, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about that, I–” Buck stops quickly when Bobby smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Buck. It’s fine, no harm done,” Bobby says, and Buck nods. “And bring your own damn hoodie to work next time!” This time Buck smiles, dropping his head and playing with the sleeves again. “Actually, do you even have your own hoodies?” Buck opens his mouth to answer and Bobby quickly holds a hand up to cut him off. “And no, the two you’ve already stolen from me do not count,” he quickly amends, and Buck’s mouth snaps shut with a sheepish smile. Slowly, he shrugs, and Bobby sighs and pinches his nose. “Okay well, I don’t really care if I get the first hoodie back, and I suppose you can keep the Kings one, but this one–” Bobby tugs on the hood and Buck makes a noise of protest as it slips off his head, “this one is my favorite hoodie and I don’t care how adorable you look in it, with your ridiculous sweater paws, I’m keeping it,” Bobby says sternly, but he’s smiling and he knows Buck can hear it in his voice. In fact, Buck has the nerve to look up at him and flap said sweater paws in Bobby’s face.
“Oh, you mean these sweater paws? You think they’re adorable?” Buck teases, and Bobby spits cloth out of his mouth with an exasperated laugh.
“Ew, Buck that just went in my mouth. Gross,” he splutters, pulling fibers off his tongue, and Buck laughs. Bobby looks back over at Buck, who’s pulled the hood back up over his face again, and he smiles softly. “What is it with you and my hoodies?” He asks, shaking his head with a laugh, and Buck suddenly freezes. Bobby stills next to him, not realizing that would get such a big reaction. “Buck? You okay?” For a moment there’s no response.
“They feel safe, I guess,” Buck says quietly, so quietly that Bobby would have missed it had he not already been holding his breath. Bobby doesn’t dare exhale, and Buck sighs and continues. “My dad was never really… he didn’t really make much of an effort with me. I mean, now I know why but it still doesn’t excuse it. He never passed clothes down to me, or gave me his old hoodies, or tried to get me to cheer for his sports teams. So I guess you letting me borrow your hoodies felt like, that little connection that I never really had with my dad,” Buck explains, and Bobby feels practically lightheaded. He finally reminds himself to breathe, just as Buck huffs a laugh next to him. “Or, I don’t know, maybe I just really like oversized hoodies,” he jokes, and Bobby chokes out a laugh through the pain in his chest.
He doesn’t even know how to respond. Buck’s being so open and honest with him, and practically comparing their relationship to that of a father and son, and Bobby doesn’t know how to even think. So he does the only thing he can do in this moment, and he wraps his arms tight around Buck’s shoulders and pulls him in close. Buck makes a noise in the back of his throat and then he melts into Bobby’s arms, and Bobby rests his chin on the top of Buck’s head. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. He wants to say those words, but he doesn’t, instead just holding Buck for a moment and praying the kid feels how much he loves him through his touch. And then Buck’s stomach growls loudly. Bobby can’t help but laugh, and Buck starts shaking in his arms as he laughs too. Bobby pulls away, patting Buck’s stomach as the kid groans.
“Thanks for ruining the moment, hunger,” Bobby says, and Buck grins. Bobby shakes his head and stands up. “Well, I guess that’s my cue to make some food,” he says, and Buck nods. “Hey,” Bobby says quickly, waiting until Buck looks back up at him. “You keep wearing my hoodies, okay?” He tells him, and Buck’s eyes tear up and he nods. He sniffs, wiping them and swallowing hard, and Bobby smiles. “Just not this one, you can’t have this one,” he adds, grabbing a hold of both hoodie strings and pulling, hard. Buck yelps as the opening closes tight around his face, and Bobby walks away laughing. Buck is still spluttering on the couch when Bobby calls over to him. “You better not mess those up! They gotta be even!”
“I’m not the one who pulled them!!” Buck protests from the couch, and Bobby grins as he gets started on dinner, an idea already developing in his head.
A few days later, Buck is sitting in the living room after family dinner and Bobby comes back downstairs. He tosses a hoodie at Buck, and true to form the kid splutters and scrambles to catch it as it hits him in the face. Bobby plops down onto the couch next to him, grabbing the remote.
“Put that on, kid, there’s a game on. You’re about to be a Wild fan,” Bobby tells him, turning on the tv and scrolling to the right channel. Buck is slowly unraveling the hoodie next to him, and Bobby looks over to see the kid holding it out in front of him. Buck’s eyes widen, and he looks from the hoodie over to Bobby, and Bobby thinks his eyes might actually pop out of his skull they get so wide. Bobby follows Buck’s eyesight down to his own hoodie, the dark forest green and Minnesota Wild motif identical to the one in Buck’s hands. “Well, come on, put it on, Buck! The game’s about to start and I still gotta teach you the rules and the players’ names,” Bobby says, gesturing at the hoodie. Buck’s mouth drops open a little, and he glances over at Athena as if looking to see if Bobby’s lost his mind. But Athena is smiling softly at them both, and she simply shrugs.
“Don’t look at me, he’s tried to explain the rules to me many times and it’s hopeless. Maybe you’ll get it better than I did,” she says, and Bobby grins. It’s true, he had tried to explain hockey to her before, but she hadn’t been able to retain any of it. He’s hoping Buck won’t have such a hard time. Otherwise, this won’t be any fun. Finally, Buck seems to realize this isn’t some crazy joke, and he puts the hoodie on with a small smile tugging at his lips. He looks down at it, taking in the large sleeves and the almost imperceptible fraying on the hem. He quickly looks back up at Bobby, who simply shrugs.
“They only had the one size and it looked a little worn, sorry about that. Now pay attention,” Bobby says, and Buck looks like he might cry. But he doesn’t comment on the obvious lie, and Bobby’s grateful. He simply leans into Bobby a little bit, listening intently as Bobby begins explaining the rules of hockey as the game starts.
An hour later, they’re both yelling at the tv, cheering for goals and waving their hands over bad calls or cheap plays, and Bobby can’t help but laugh every time Buck’s sleeves flap around whenever he moves. It fills him with a warmth and a feeling of fulfillment he hasn’t felt in a long time, and it feels
good
.