Chapter Text
Buck sank back onto his seat and looked glumly down at his now cold scrambled eggs and soggy toast. Hen, Chim, and Bobby looked just as dismayed and Buck knew that they were all thinking the same thing - when the hell were they going to catch a break? After a shift from hell (thanks, Probie), they’d just wanted to have breakfast but that was apparently too much to ask, with a nearby customer choking on their eggs benedict. They’d cleared his airway, called 911, and he’d been safely escorted off to hospital by members of the 118’s B shift. Including one very apologetic probie…
Buck sighed, feeling more dismayed than the circumstances called for. Sure, it had been a rough shift, but he’d had worse. No, what was really getting him down in the dumps was knowing that Eddie was off on a date at this very moment with Ana. He was happy for him, he was - all he wanted was for Eddie to find that special someone who would give him the love that he deserved. Buck just wished that it could be him. Unfortunately, Eddie didn’t seem interested in him in that way and so Buck was left to pine away, his affection entirely unrequited.
Suddenly their waitress appeared at their table, her arms laden down with plates. “Here you go,” she said, replacing their old meals with new ones, fresh from the kitchen. “After saving that man’s life, we couldn’t have you settling for a cold meal. I’ll be right back out with some new coffee too.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Bobby told her, even as Chim started digging into his food, not waiting for anything this time.
“The owner is working today and he saw it all. He’s also comping your meals for you to say thank you.”
Hen looked at Buck in surprise. “Maybe our luck is changing?” she murmured.
His phone pinged with a message and Buck absently checked the message, then paused and read it again, a smile breaking out over his face. “You know what, Hen? I think it might just be at that.”
The last thing that Buck had expected that morning was to receive a text from TK Strand. Sure, they’d been keeping in pretty regular contact ever since they’d parted ways in Texas, but it was more the nature of the text that he’d not expected.
TK: So, I find myself unattached and in LA - you still up for getting together?
Buck hadn't actually been hitting on TK when he’d suggested getting together if TK was ever in the area, too caught up in being head over heels in love with his best friend to make a move on someone else. TK was taken anyway and over texts and Insta posts, he’d learned that he was seeing a cop by the name of Carlos. They’d seemed pretty serious, but several weeks ago, TK had gone quiet on social media and when he had started posting again recently, his posts were suspiciously lacking in a sexy boyfriend.
Buck didn't ask what had happened, just texted back with the name of a burger joint that they could meet at for dinner. It was obvious that Eddie was moving on, and wasn’t interested in Buck, so maybe it was time for him to do the same? TK was gorgeous, and they got along well, but he was also safe in a way because after he’d finished doing whatever he was doing in LA, he’d be returning to Texas. Buck knew that up front so he wouldn’t get attached, and Buck 3.0 knew that not every date had to turn into a marriage proposal. So long as he didn't fall back into his man whore days, what was the harm in having a little fun?
When he arrived, TK was already there, and Buck had to pause to drink in the sight of him. Dressed in skintight black jeans and a crisp white button down shirt with the top two buttons popped, he looked positively sinful. If it wasn’t for the dark shadows under his eyes and the slightly haunted look, Buck would have suggested that they skip dinner and head straight back to his place. He didn't though because first and foremost, TK was his friend and he wanted to catch up and be a shoulder to cry on if it would help at all. So he greeted him with a beaming smile and a bear hug that pulled TK off his feet. “It’s good to see you, man,” he said as he set him down.
TK was laughing but it felt brittle, like it hadn't been something that he’d done a lot of recently. “You too, man. Thanks for agreeing to catch up.”
TK slid into one side of the booth and Buck joined him, choosing to sit next to him, not across from him. “So, what brings you to LA?” he asked, opening the floor.
TK shrugged and picked up his menu, not meeting Buck’s eyes. “Just a vacation, needed to get away for a bit.”
“I take it things haven’t been the best back home?” Buck hedged.
A sharp, painful laugh erupted from TK’s mouth. “That’s an understatement.”
A waiter swung by their table and asked for their drinks order. “I’ll just have a coke,” Buck told him, having read between the lines of a few conversations that TK was on the wagon.
“Just a club soda for me, thanks,” TK said. Once the waiter was gone, he shifted in his seat a little so he was facing Buck. “Are you sure you wanna hear all of this?” he asked. “I made it pretty clear that I’m interested in hooking up with you, you don’t have to listen to all of my drama if you don’t want to. We can just skip to the good parts.”
Buck’s brow furrowed and he dropped his hand down to rest on TK’s thigh. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, but I’m happy to listen if you need. I like to think that we’re friends, yeah?”
TK nodded. “Yeah, of course, man. Hell, you stole a firetruck for me - I’m pretty sure that’s 101 of How To Make Friends.”
Buck laughed. “I’m glad to hear that you agree. I guess that makes what we’re doing friends with benefits then which puts equal emphasis on the friends part as it does the benefits.” He squeezed TK’s thigh. “I’m all ears.”
TK nodded, chewing on his lip while he thought. “Okay, then - have you ever been in a relationship where you suddenly found out that you were much more invested than they were?”
Buck winced. “You just summed up my entire dating history.”
TK huffed. “Me too. Did I ever tell you the reason we left New York?”
Buck shook his head.
“I was with this guy, Alex, and I was so head over heels in love with him that it wasn’t funny. I booked us into this really fancy restaurant and got down on one knee and proposed in front of everyone.”
“I take it he didn't accept?”
TK bit his lip again and blinked rapidly, obviously holding back tears. “Not only did he not accept, but he told me that he was breaking up with me because he was seeing his spin instructor.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, it wasn't a great time. I’d been clean for a while but I ended up ODing. My dad got our crew and broke down my door, and they had to resus me.”
“Holy shit, I’m so sorry,” Buck said, and he removed his hand from TK’s thigh and slid it around his shoulder instead. “That sounds rough.”
TK leaned into him and nodded, his head resting on Buck’s shoulder. “My dad had been offered the 126 so he moved us both down there, hoping it would be a new start for us both. And it was - I finally found my place, you know? And Carlos, man, I thought he was the one.” He chuckled sadly. “It took me so long to let him in, I fought him every step of the way but apparently he thought I was worth it. I finally got my shit together and gave him a chance and things were so good.”
“Pretty serious?” Buck said, echoing TK’s words from their parting in Texas.
“I thought so,” TK said, “but then we ran into his parents while we were out one day and he introduced me as his friend. I was absolutely devastated but after I spoke to my parents, my mom said some stuff that made me think, so I went to talk to him. He told me that his parents had been accepting of his coming out but have never acknowledged it since then and he didn't want to ‘rub their faces in it’. Apparently he didn't want them to know that Carlos had somebody who loves him.” He sniffed, and hid his face against Buck’s chest. “It just made me feel like I was invisible, you know?”
Buck thought of how Eddie had left the station with a skip in his step that morning for his date with Ana; how Buck had been there for him through thick and thin, helped with Christopher, spent more time at their place than he did his own, would do anything for them but at the end of the day, he still wasn’t what Eddie wanted. He still wasn’t enough. “Actually, I do. I really do.”
The waiter returned with their drinks and asked if they wanted to place their food order. TK shrugged so Buck just ordered two of the house burgers and fries, and another two sodas for them.
“So, is it Eddie?” TK asked once they were alone again.
“Was I that obvious?” Buck asked.
“A little, and by a little, I mean a lot. It’s clear you’re in love with him, dude.”
“Yeah, well, I guess even if he figured it out, he’s not interested. He was out on a date this morning with one of Christopher’s old school teachers and she’s drop dead gorgeous, so I never stood a chance.”
TK sighed and leaned even further into Buck. “I don’t get it - we’re both nice, good looking guys, who are both kick ass firefighters. How the hell can we not get the men we love to love us back the way we deserve?”
Buck drained the rest of his coke. “No clue.”
“Maybe they just haven’t realised what they’re missing out on?” TK suggested.
“How do you propose we get them to figure it out? Plaster it across a few billboards and hope they see it?”
TK shrugged. “Why pay for ad space when Insta is free?”
Buck frowned. “What are you suggesting?”
TK tipped his head up to look at Buck and said, “I’m in town for two whole weeks - wanna spend them doing our best to show Carlos and Eddie exactly what they could be having if they got their heads out of their asses?”
He had to laugh. “Isn’t that the plot to numerous bad romantic comedies?”
“Eh, maybe? I had to get the idea from somewhere.”
“So just to get this straight - we document our hookups while you’re in town and hope like hell that it makes them so jealous that they come crawling back, begging to take you back, in your case, or start something, in mine. All the while, not falling for the traditional rom com trope of falling for each other in the process?”
TK nodded. “Yep, that’s pretty much it.”
“And if it doesn't work?”
“Then we get two weeks of spending time with a friend with the added benefit of really epic sex.”
Buck thought about and then nodded. “You know what? Sounds exactly like something that Dumbass and Dumbasser would do. I’m in.”
TK grinned up at Buck and he couldn't help it - he curled his palm around TK’s cheek and leaned down and kissed him, sealing their deal.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Buck had TK pinned against it, their lips crashing together. TK looped his arms around Buck’s neck just as large palms grasped his ass and soon he was easily being lifted, his legs slotting around Buck’s hips easily. The kiss was hot and raw but thrumming underneath it was also a sense of loss. Both of them knew that they weren’t the person the other really wanted, yet they’d chosen to take comfort in each other. If TK couldn’t have Carlos’ strong arms wrapped around him, holding him close and simply being there in the moment, then this was the next best thing. The eyes that gazed down at him were an electric blue, not the deep, warm brown that he’d grown to love, but that could be remedied by closing his eyes and refusing to think of Carlos.
Dammit, he was thinking about Carlos.
He let his head tip back and thump against the door, and Buck latched on, sucking a stinging bruise to the hollow of his throat. The last hickey that he'd gotten from Carlos had faded weeks ago and as he’d stood in front of the mirror each morning, watching it disappear, his hope that Carlos would change his mind also faded.
He’d not been proud of his actions, but after they’d spoken, TK had given Carlos an ultimatum - if they were together, then they didn’t hide from anybody. He wouldn’t be someone’s dirty little secret, he wouldn’t participate in a lie. He didn't expect Carlos to invite his parents over to dinner or to even tell them immediately, he just expected that the next time they bumped into them, he was introduced as his boyfriend. Given that that might not happen for months and months, he hadn’t thought that he was asking too much.
Apparently he was.
It had hurt, more than the break up with Alex ever had, knowing that he wasn’t important enough for Carlos to fight for. That he was so easily discarded. He hadn’t thought that he had been unreasonable, and he sympathised with Carlos, he really did, but his mind had continued to spiral and he couldn't help but wonder who else Carlos conveniently forgot to tell that he had a boyfriend. The hot new cop who transferred in and liked to flirt with him? The guy at the bar who stood a little too close when ordering drinks?
He had to stop that. He’d known that when they were together, Carlos wouldn’t have cheated on him, but it was one thing to know that when you could shout to the world that you were together, and another thing entirely when you were introduced as ‘my friend, TK’. But none of that mattered now, did it? They’d broken up, hadn't spoken in weeks, had evaded each other when their paths crossed at work. Of course, TK wasn’t above torturing himself so he’d not unfollowed Carlos on social media, and if he religiously checked his feed throughout the day for signs that Carlos was moving on? Well, that was no one’s business but his and Instagram’s.
Of course he’d noticed that Carlos hadn't unfollowed him either.
He was pulled from his thoughts when he realised that he was being lowered onto a bed and he blinked, looking around curiously. Buck hovered above him, a knowing smile on his face. “You got a little lost in your head there,” he said, and then pulled the covers up to TK’s chin.
“Wait, what are you doing?” he asked, throwing the blanket off of him.
Buck raised a brow. “I’m putting you to bed, so we can sleep.”
“But what about our plan? You know, the epic sex?”
Buck sighed and lay down next to TK, cupping his jaw gently. “You were so out of it, so in your head, that I wasn't going to keep going. You weren’t really in the mood to consent.”
TK winced. “Sorry.”
Buck leaned in and kissed him gently. “No need to apologise. I get it, it’s hard.”
TK reached down and found Buck’s cock, and groped him through his jeans. “Looks like something else still is too,” he said with a smirk.
Buck chuckled. “Yeah, well, you’re hot as fuck, it’s pretty easy to get hard when you’re around.”
TK pushed him until Buck was on his back and then he swung his legs over Buck’s thighs to straddle him. “You’re hot as fuck, too, Buck.” He reached down and undid the button on his jeans and then his zipper. “I want you, I really do. This is me, consenting all the way. Now take off your damn pants.”
Buck laughed again, and the sound made TK’s heart hurt just a little bit less. He may not be Carlos but they were friends, and Buck had already proved that he wasn't going to treat him like a piece of meat. He was safe with him, safe to have a little fun with, to let off a little steam. Safe to conspire with to get their men.
Buck lifted his hips and shimmied both his jeans and his briefs down until he could kick them off, and then reached up and stripped his shirt off over his head. Once he was done, TK looked down and tried not to drool. Buck really was gorgeous. He was also different enough to Carlos that there was no way that TK could simply close his eyes and pretend that he was somewhere else, with someone else. Buck didn't deserve that and really, neither did he.
TK moved down Buck’s legs, dropping kisses along his torso and biting lightly at his hips, until he was face to face with Buck’s cock. It was the biggest that TK had ever seen in person and just sucking the head into his mouth had his jaw stretching wide. He heard Buck gasp from above and then fingers were twining into his hair, scratching at his scalp, keeping a point of contact. He licked around the crown, lavishing attention on the sensitive nerves of the frenulum, then pressed his tongue into Buck’s slit, tasting him as precome gushed out.
He lost himself then, but not to the past, but in what he was doing in the here and now. Buck’s cock was perfect and TK was hard and throbbing himself from having it in his mouth. He pushed up on his knees so he could reach down and scrabble with the fastening of his own jeans. He cursed as he tried to shove them down his hips, annoyed that he’d chosen his most skin tight pair for the evening. Eventually he had to concede defeat and he pulled off Buck’s cock so he could scramble off the bed and get rid of the fashionably offensive denim.
Buck watched with hooded eyes as TK stripped, his hand wrapping around his length and stroking lazily, the skin slick with TK’s spit. TK frowned and as soon as he was naked he climbed back on the bed and slapped Buck’s hands away. “Stop that, this is mine tonight,” he chided.
“Yes, sir,” Buck conceded and wrapped one hand back into TK’s hair, while the other traced patterns on TK’s bare shoulder. He happily took Buck’s cock back into his mouth, pushing himself further, taking in more. Unfortunately, physics won out in the end. TK simply couldn't open his jaw wide enough to fit Buck’s massive girth down his throat, not without his back teeth causing serious damage. From the sounds that Buck was making, he didn’t seem to mind.
It was hot, so fucking hot, and TK knew that he now had a new kink. He wasn’t overly tiny - he was 5’9 - but compared to Buck he was. And everything about Buck was bigger - his hands, his shoulders, his cock. TK was discovering that he enjoyed making someone so much bigger than him gasp and writhe beneath him. He was pretty sure that if Buck were to use his size and strength against TK, he’d find that hot too. Well, they had two weeks - there was more than enough time for that.
His own cock was leaking pre like no one’s business and he grabbed it in his left hand, spreading the slick over his skin and pumping it furiously. Buck’s hips were jerking now, and with his right hand, TK stroked the rest of his length, fumbling a little until both hands fell into the same rhythm.
“TK, gonna come,” Buck warned, his hips snapping up of their own accord and slamming his cock into the back of TK’s mouth.
He didn't pull off, wanting to saturate himself in Buck, so he just tightened the seal that his lips made and swirled his tongue around the length and then he felt thick, salty fluid fill his mouth. He pulled back, swallowing as much as he could but some dribbled from his mouth and down his chin. That was enough to send him over the edge as well and he cried out as he spilled over Buck’s shins. Then his knees finally gave way and he face planted against firm abs, breathing hard.
A large, warm palm settled on his back and rubbed soothing circles there. They remained where they were, enjoying the silence until Buck finally began to move. TK grumbled and wrapped his arms around his waist, urging him to stay where he was, causing Buck to laugh. “If I don’t go and wash my legs off now, the only way I’m getting your dried spunk out of my leg hair is to shave them.”
“Would that be so bad?” TK asked, his voice muffled against Buck’s stomach.
There was a pause and then Buck said in a rather solemn tone, “The hair helps to hide my scars a little, so yeah, I’d like to keep it.”
TK had honestly not even noticed the scars but it was obviously a delicate subject so he didn't say anything, just rolled off Buck and allowed him to go and get cleaned up. He returned not long after and rolled TK over, wiping him down with a warm washcloth. He’d not realised that he’d smeared himself in his own come.
Once they were clean, Buck shoved him unceremoniously over to the other side of the bed. “I can’t sleep on the left side,” he muttered, and then he pulled TK to him, tucking him under his chin.
“Thank you,” TK murmured, pressing a kiss to Buck’s throat.
“You’re the one who gave me the awesome blow job, I should be thanking you.”
“Maybe you can thank me tomorrow by returning the favour?”
Buck laughed and the whole sound reverberated through TK’s body. “Deal. Night, TK.”
“Night, Buck. Sleep well.”
And they both did. In the morning, TK woke first and he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Buck’s tousled curls peeking out from under the comforter. He grabbed his phone and snapped a photo and then, before he could second guess their plan, he posted the photo to Insta, tagging Buck in it.
TK Strand: What a sight to wake up to 😍 #adorbs #thosecurls #sexhair
There was no going back.