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Eddie and Christopher's return home was nothing short of a joyous occasion for everyone involved, and even that was putting it mildly.
Buck grinned at the dark ceiling of his bedroom as he remembered watching them pull into the driveway six months after he stood there watching Eddie drive away and the crushing relief that nearly cut him off at the knees. It was probably the best moment of his entire life and even hours later he still didn’t know who cried more when they finally reunited, him or Christopher, who’d tried his best to cling onto his teenage angst but broke the moment he was back home.
Or maybe it was Eddie, whose own façade of stoicism immediately gave way when he had both of them clutched tightly in his arms. They were silent, manly tears of course, because it was still Eddie but with how reserved he usually was? Buck decided that in his professional opinion, Eddie’s single tear counted as at least five of his own so it all evened out in the end.
Once they were done making a scene in front of all of their neighbors, Buck had ushered them both inside and tried not to bite his nails down to the quick as he watched them take in the house that looked like they had never left in the first place. It wasn’t the same furniture of course, and Buck had tried to make the house his own in their absence, but the moment Eddie called him to let him know that they were coming back? He hadn’t wasted time on putting everything back to its rightful place.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Eddie had told him over the phone when Buck said he’d already started packing up and was jumping into an apartment hunt straight away. “It’s your house now. I can find a new place for me and Christopher.”
“Absolutely not,” Buck had immediately protested, not willing to risk a single delay for their return to LA because it wasn’t like Eddie’s finances were at their best after such an impromptu move and job struggles either. “It’s still your home. I’ve just been… keeping it warm for you.”
And judging by the expression on Eddie’s and Christopher’s faces when they walked into such a familiar scene, they felt everything slot back into its place with the same resounding click that Buck had.
It felt like a dream, sitting at the new dining table in the old kitchen after he and Eddie had brought all of his things into the house, sharing a meal with the two of his favorite people in the world. It was almost as if nothing had changed, even if almost everything had. Christopher was significantly taller now, having grown like a weed in the way that only teenagers do and his voice was starting to crack, turning deeper and seeing him so grown up felt like a kick in the gut because he’d missed so much of it himself.
No wonder Eddie was adamant on moving to Texas. Thinking of it now, it was nothing short of a miracle he’d held out for as long as he had. The first few couple of weeks were rough, Eddie had confided in him in choked up whispers once Christopher was asleep at night. But once they inevitably worked things out? Well, Buck had known that Eddie was doing better, they still talked on a near daily basis after all but it was so much more impactful actually seeing that progress in person.
Eddie just seemed so settled, there was really no other way to put it. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling and maybe it was just the relief of finally being back home where he belonged, but something about the way he held himself made him seem more comfortable in his own skin than he’d ever seen him before. He’d grown his hair out a bit, let his curls run free rather than gelling them back, his skin tanned more than usual from the unforgiving Texas sun and god, he was somehow even more handsome than Buck remembered him being and it just wasn’t fair.
Though that could have just been his own personal bias talking. To say that the last couple of months had been revolutionary on a personal level would be the understatement of the year.
For one, after a lifetime of trying and miserably failing, Buck had finally learned how to enjoy being on his own. That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t beyond thrilled that Eddie and Chris were now back; he’d missed them like crazy and he couldn’t be happier that they were finally home. He’d simply found other ways to handle his loneliness with the help of his therapist, filling his time with productive things rather than meaningless flings.
There was also the fact that following a very ill advised hookup with Tommy, he was hit over the head with the realization that he was hopelessly in love with his best friend but obviously he couldn’t tell them that.
Instead, Buck proudly showed off the sizeable garden he’d cultivated in their backyard, a project he hadn’t hesitated to take up now that he had the space and the time to make it happen and he made Eddie promise not to go anywhere near it with his black thumbs. He told them all about his new friends and new recipes he’d mastered, about a dog he was thinking of adopting from the shelter he found himself volunteering at and the tentative plans he’d made about throwing a small get together in the house to celebrate their return.
They’d spent hours just talking and catching up until far too late into the day, but when they finally agreed to call it a night, Christopher had paused in the doorway of the living room and asked, very bluntly, “Are you seeing anyone?”
“Christopher,” Eddie had hissed at his son for some reason, giving him a reproachful look and Buck could have sworn that his cheeks were a bit redder than the moment before.
“It’s a perfectly normal question to ask, dad,” Christopher had told his dad, entirely unapologetic and turned back to Buck, eyebrow lifted as if asking, well?
“No,” Buck had said, blinking at the two of them, puzzled but also too happy to let it bother him at the same time. “There hasn’t been anyone since I ended things with Tommy.”
“See, dad?” he’d heard Christopher say from the hallway as Eddie walked him to his room to say goodnight, despite Christopher’s insistence that he was too old for that now. “It wasn’t that hard.”
As he lay in bed now, Eddie’s body a line of tension next to him, Buck couldn’t help but wonder what Christopher had meant by that. At first, he hadn’t spared the slightly odd comment a second thought, but now that Eddie was acting like a single brush of their arms under the covers would send him bolting out of the house, maybe he should have.
Because maybe Eddie wasn’t as thrilled by the idea of sharing a bed with Buck as he’d made it seem.
But that didn’t make any sense, Buck tried to reason with himself. He was more than happy to stay on Maddie’s couch again or hell, even go to a cheap motel until he found himself a new residence but it was Eddie who insisted that there was no rush for him to move out. With Maddie and Chim dealing with a new baby, the housing market being the disaster that it was and with the grim state of his credit score, it would take both significant time and money for Buck to find a new place to live. Both of which he’d save if he stayed right where he was, according to Eddie.
However, the last time Buck checked, this house only had two bedrooms and one of them belonged to Christopher.
Eddie hadn’t let that observation deter him. He’d made it quite clear that Buck wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. And not only that, but he’d also firmly stated that neither one of them would be breaking their back by sleeping on the couch or the air mattress Buck had offered to buy as an alternative when Buck’s bed was more than big enough to fit two people.
“We’ve shared a bed before, Buck,” Eddie had very reasonably pointed out just earlier this evening when Buck had made one last offer to sleep up the couch. “I don’t mind if you don’t.”
Yes, but back then I didn’t know I was in love with you, Buck thought but obviously didn’t say. So here he was, sharing a bedroom and a bed with his straight best friend who he was in love with for an indeterminate amount of time knowing damn well that there was nothing he could do about it if he wanted to keep their friendship intact. Which, of course, he was determined to do.
And he was doing great. He was handling it like a professional. No, really, he was. Obviously, being hopelessly in love with your best friend was no easy feat but by now he’d had enough time to process the fact that he’s been in love with Eddie for a long time. Long enough that by now it was simply a core part of who he was as a person and it stood to reason that it wouldn’t make much of a difference just because he was now aware of it.
He did perfectly fine interacting with Eddie despite of his feelings after the initial adjustment period. That wouldn’t change just because Eddie was back to being a physical presence in his everyday life. He’d survived years of that without any issues.
…okay, so maybe Buck was lying to himself just a little because as he realized the moment Eddie was within the same state line as him, actively loving Eddie from afar was a completely different beast than suddenly being aware of his feelings while living with Eddie in very close quarters.
If one of them was going to be uncomfortable with this arrangement, it should have been Buck. But like he said, he was handling it and for once, he was confident that the awkwardness that settled between them the moment they got into bed and the lights were turned off wasn’t his fault.
So what the hell was Eddie’s problem then? As far as Buck was aware, nothing from his side of things had changed so why was he lying on the other side of the bed like he’d rather be anywhere else but here?
“Can’t sleep?” Buck finally gave in and asked after Eddie shifted until he was lying on his back again for the tenth time in just as many minutes.
Eddie sighed. “No. You?”
“Well, I’m trying but it’s kind of hard to get comfortable with you turning in circles like a rotisserie chicken.”
It was kind of disconcerting because thanks to his years in the military, Eddie was usually out like a light if he wanted to be. It used to grate on his nerves back during the pandemic days when Buck couldn’t shut his brain off to sleep despite his exhaustion while Eddie snored away with ease right next to him, just as troubled but used to sleeping in the middle of a war zone.
“Sorry,” Eddie murmured.
“Don’t worry about it,” Buck told him. “It’s been a long day and being back here must be weird after so long, right?”
“Not really,” Eddie admitted. “I’m very happy to be back. I just can’t seem to turn my brain off, is all. But don’t worry, I’m sure my exhaustion will catch up with me soon.”
“If you’re sure.” Buck had a very strong feeling that there was more that Eddie wasn’t saying but he also knew better than to ask. If Eddie wanted to tell him, he would. He had enough patience to wait at least a few days before he started pushing him for answers. “I’m always here if you need to talk.”
“I know, Buck. Thanks.”
Buck closed his eyes and willed his own mind to stop spinning but it was to no avail. With each rustle of sheets and with each quiet sigh, Buck had to fight against opening his mouth to pester Eddie with questions. Was it something he did with the house? Something he said during dinner? Was it his parents again, threatening to take Christopher away from him even though Christopher himself had made his opinion on that option clear as day when he announced that he wanted to go back home to LA.
Just let it go, he told himself. It was probably nothing anyway. He was just trying to distract himself from his own worries by latching on to Eddie’s instead. But then Eddie shifted again, followed by another frustrated sigh and Buck physically couldn’t keep his mouth closed for a second longer.
“Is it the bed?”
Though he couldn’t see how it could be the bed because Eddie wouldn’t stop gushing about how nice it was when he first moved in with him for those few months. Knowing Eddie, he’d never shell out that much money on what he thought was an unnecessary indulgence so there was no way he was missing whatever torture contraption he called a bed he had back in Texas.
“No, Buck. The bed is fine.”
No, Buck already knew the bed was exceptional, that was why he bought it so Eddie’s response wasn’t helpful in the least. He was just grasping at straws, now too anxious to sleep himself. Frustrated, Buck went to turn around and as he moved, his arm accidentally brushed against Eddie’s and when Eddie flinched so hard he nearly fell out of bed at the simple, innocent touch, Buck was struck with a horrifying realization.
It was him. Buck was the problem. Because despite him trying his best not to go down this road, he couldn’t deny that there was one major thing that had changed since the last time they shared a bed – Buck had come out as bisexual.
Buck tried to dismiss it straight away. He hadn’t even been willing to consider it before because it was too ridiculous to even contemplate. Eddie was far from homophobic; he’d accepted Buck with open arms and not once in all of the years that he’d known him had Eddie ever said or done anything to imply otherwise.
But the evidence presented to him now was pretty damning. Clearly, he was uncomfortable sharing a bed with Buck now when it had never been a problem before. So either he was uncomfortable with Buck being openly bisexual or he’d somehow connected the dots and figured out that Buck was in love with him on top of that, which was even worse.
“I think I’ll go sleep on the couch,” Buck said numbly, kicking off the covers tangled around his legs and sitting up to make his escape.
The lamp on Eddie’s side of the bed clicked on and he squinted against the bright light, taking it as an excuse not to face Eddie. Before he could escape, Eddie’s hand landed on his forearm, just a gentle touch that froze Buck in his spot.
“Don’t,” Eddie pleaded. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“Then what is it?” Because brushing against each other while sharing a bed had never garnered such a volatile reaction before and no matter what other excuse Buck tried to come up, he kept circling back to the same thing and it made him feel sick. “Because from where I’m standing, it seems like just being in the same bed as me has you on edge.”
“Maybe I’m a little bit on edge,” Eddie admitted, then quickly added, “But it’s got nothing to do with you. It’s- it’s me and my issues to resolve.”
Buck scoffed, ripping his arm out of Eddie’s hold. “Seriously, Eddie? You’re really trying to sell me that ‘it’s not you it’s me’ crap?” When Eddie stayed silent for one moment too long, Buck turned around, more than ready to leave their shared bed and said, “Screw the couch. I’m going to stay with Maddie for a while.”
“I can’t stop thinking about Tommy,” Eddie blurted out and Buck was glad he was still sitting down because hearing that likely would have ended up with him falling right to the ground with the way he lost all feeling in his legs. And in general. All he could think through the sudden numbness taking over his body was-
“My ex boyfriend Tommy?”
And here he thought things couldn’t get any worse. Or more confusing.
“Ever since you told me that the two of you hooked up again, I can’t stop thinking about it. And it’s even worse now that I’m in this bed,” Eddie said and for once Buck was entirely lost for words. “Every time I close my eyes, I see him here with you, on top of you-”
“I was the one on top, actually-“
“You’re not helping,” Eddie told him sternly and Buck let out a hollow laugh.
“Well I’m sorry if I’m not thrilled that my best friend is apparently into my ex who broke my fucking heart, Eddie.”
Because that was the crux of it, wasn’t it? All this time, Buck kept telling himself that he never stood a chance with Eddie because he was straight. But if Eddie wasn’t straight and he still didn’t want him, if he wanted Tommy instead? He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to get over that.
Eddie had been acting a bit off when Buck told him all about their last encounter, now that he was thinking about it. He left out some of the more damning details of course, like Tommy’s opinions on Buck’s feelings for his best friend, but apparently whatever he said was enough to catch Eddie’s interest. Was it the breakfast that Tommy had made him the morning after that had him fall for the guy, even though Buck couldn’t even keep track of how many times he'd done the same thing for him? Or was it the champagne he’d brought to celebrate their reunion, even though Eddie hated champagne?
Or had he been interested in Tommy from the moment they first met and Buck had just unknowingly gotten in the way of what could have been an epic romance between two friends by being his typical bumbling self?
“What the hell are you on about? I’m not into Tommy,” Eddie wasted no time in saying and great, now they were back to the other, even more awful possibility because Eddie sounded downright disgusted by the mere idea of being into Tommy. When Buck turned to face him, the expression on his face only confirmed his suspicion.
“Then why does it matter that we hooked up again? I’m an adult, Eddie. And I’m getting really sick and tired of people judging me on who I choose to have sex with,” Buck said, staring Eddie down as if daring him to try and argue. “Was it the best idea? You already know it wasn’t. But that doesn’t mean you get to lecture me about it. I am allowed to sleep with whoever I want. And if you have a problem that it’s men I’m choosing to sleep with now-“
He was interrupted mid speech by Eddie leaning in and kissing him, right on the lips, stealing all of the words right from his open mouth.
“I don’t care who you sleep with,” Eddie told him once he pulled away, cradling Buck’s cheek in his hand and Buck made a disbelieving noise because he’d lost the capacity of making actual words. “Fine. Maybe I do care a little. Maybe I care that it was Tommy of all people. I care that it was here, under my roof, in my bed-“
Buck found just enough words to point out that, “Technically, it was both my roof and my bed at the time-“
“It should have been me,” Eddie told him, staring him directly into the eyes and willing him to understand. “It should have been me the entire goddamn time, if only I wasn’t so blind to my own feelings until it was already too late.”
“You’re jealous,” Buck realized, lips still tingling with the ghost of Eddie’s kiss. Not disappointed, not disgusted. Jealous. Of Tommy. Oh, how the tables have turned.
“Desperately,” Eddie agreed, not even trying to hide it or put any distance between them despite the way his entire being was practically vibrating with nerves. “I couldn’t sleep for days after you told me and I couldn’t figure out why it bothered me so much since he’s hardly the worst ex you’ve ever had.”
There was definitely a bit of judgment in his tone now but Buck was too stunned by these new revelations to call him out on it.
“For a minute there I was genuinely worried that I might not be as okay with you being into men as I thought I was,” Eddie said and there was that lovely blush again. But even through his embarrassment, he continued with his confession. “It took me far too long to figure out why the idea of him being with you in our home pissed me off so much. Why it made me want to do something crazy, like invent a time machine so I could go back in time to that very same night and drag him out of your bed with my own bare hands.”
“Why?” Buck asked in a whisper, though he had a pretty good idea what the answer would be.
“Because it wasn’t until it happened here that I realized that it could have been me instead,” Eddie admitted in a whisper, just as quiet as Buck’s question but no less fierce in its meaning. “That I wanted it to be me. Because I’m selfish and I want you all to myself in more ways than I ever let myself acknowledge and he’s the only one who’s ever felt like an actual threat.”
“It was never a competition,” Buck said sharply, not because he was annoyed by the show of possessiveness – that was doing it for him more than what was probably healthy if he was being honest – but because the idea that Buck would ever choose someone over Eddie was so absurd he wasn’t even willing to entertain it. “I’ve always been yours, even when I didn’t know it.”
With that, Buck decided that he’d had enough of talking, if only for the moment. Now it was his turn to shut Eddie up with a kiss and with the way Eddie kissed him back, practically devouring his mouth with a passion that Buck had never quite gotten in return from most of his partners, he was fully on board with his plan too.
Not that Buck had any solid plans. Those went right out of the window with the first press of Eddie’s lips against his. He just wanted Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. Any way that he could have him, any way Eddie wanted him in any position that he could physically manage. All he had to do was ask.
Judging by the hard line of Eddie’s erection pressed against his own, he had a pretty good idea of where this was going and he was not complaining in the slightest.
“How long?” Eddie asked between feverish kisses and the tugging of clothes that felt far too stifling in the raging inferno that engulfed them now that the emotional dam between them was finally broken.
But if Eddie wanted a more detailed answer, he really should have saved it for some other time. Preferably when he wasn’t in the middle of scrambling Buck’s brain by touching and kissing him everywhere he could reach like he’d die if they weren’t touching for even a single split second. It was both flattering and distracting in equal measure.
“How long have I felt this way or how long have I known that I’ve felt this way?” Buck managed to ask in between kisses, separating from Eddie just long enough to sit up and take his shirt the rest of the way off, giving Eddie’s hungry hands more places to touch him without any barriers. “They’re two very different questions.”
When faced with Buck’s bare chest, Eddie apparently decided that it didn’t matter anyway. Buck had already declared that he was his, both with words and actions and that was enough for him. Though a part of him was clearly still clinging to the Tommy of it all, asking Buck things like, “Did he kiss you like this, too? Did he tell you how beautiful you are, how good you feel under his hands?”
Buck probably should have told Eddie to forget all about him since he certainly had, shouldn’t have encouraged him by shaking his head no and gasping, “No, never like this,” but he wasn’t a saint, alright? He was only human and telling Eddie to drop his possessive caveman act was just not in his vocabulary right now. Or in his best interest because he was just as selfish as Eddie was and being so openly desired was pressing all of his buttons.
And it wasn’t like he was lying either. Before tonight, he thought that sex with Tommy was good, great even. If he were just lonely, he could have hooked up with anyone. But just a few kisses with Eddie were enough to entirely unravel him and change his entire perception of what being truly wanted, both body and soul, could feel like and already he knew there was no going back.
So even though Tommy was the furthest thing in his mind, their time together already paling in comparison to the way Eddie was making him feel with just his hands and lips alone, he wasn’t above playing into it to rile Eddie up even more.
When Eddie asked, “Did he leave marks?” Buck responded with a strangled moan and guided Eddie’s mouth to his throat and let Eddie’s marks cover up the ghost of Tommy’s that never existed in the first place, because Tommy always found them a bit childish and immature for men their age but Eddie didn’t need to know that.
When Eddie asked for details of what they did, of how Tommy had him right in this very bed, Buck told him just to watch the flames in Eddie’s eyes burn that much brighter.
Once they were both fully undressed, he reached for his nightstand to grab the bottle of his favorite lube and panicked when he couldn’t find any condoms. To his relief, he managed to shake the last condom from the box he had shoved in the back of the drawer. The mere idea of pausing this now, even if it was for a quick brief of potentially going without one was enough to make him want to scream.
Eddie’s hands trembled as they reached out to touch his naked body and when Buck pressed the bottle of lube into Eddie’s hand, Eddie only stared down at it and then at Buck with a helpless sort of panic, his previous confidence nowhere to be found. “I don’t know how- I’ve never-“
“Just kiss me,” Buck ordered as he took hold of the lube himself and Eddie did, visibly grateful for the help. He’d show him next time how to work him open himself, Buck decided. He didn’t have the patience for that now and Eddie seemed perfectly happy with their current arrangement anyway, kissing Buck senseless and grinding against him like a man possessed the entire time, even if it wasn’t exactly helpful for Buck’s current task.
Edde’s hands were still trembling even as they touched him all over but so were Buck’s, more lube ending up on his bed than his hand. It wasn’t fear though, let alone reluctance. Just excitement mixed with incredulity it was happening at all.
Buck was two fingers deep in himself when rational thoughts managed to break through his haze of lust and it occurred to him that maybe he should at least make the offer to slow things down. This was more than likely Eddie’s first time with another man and while he seemed fully on board with the proceedings, the last thing he wanted was to push Eddie past his comfort zone and risk sending him running for the hills if it all got to be too much.
“It’s okay,” he managed to say between frenzied kisses. “It’s- it’s fine if you want to take things, uh, slow,” he finished on a bitten off moan when Eddie moved his hungry mouth to his neck again since Buck was too busy talking to properly kiss him back. And maybe groping him as he was offering to stop was sending the poor guy mixed signals but he just had to say it, had to make sure that Eddie knew he was in this for more than just one night. “We have time.”
Eddie stared down at him with an incredulous look which, fair enough. He simply said, “I think we’ve waited long enough, don’t you?” and Buck was tearing open the condom packet before he’d even gotten the last word out.
While it was true that Buck didn’t have to want to sleep with people he had feelings for and that he was allowed to sleep with people he didn’t have feelings for, it was just as true that he could sleep with people he did have feelings for. In fact, it was his favorite kind of sex. He’d been on his best behavior these last couple of months and just like Eddie, he was more than done with waiting.
“I had a plan, you know,” Eddie panted against his mouth as he pushed inside him for the very first time, his entire body shaking with the effort of staying still and giving Buck the time to adjust as he slowly sank down on him, though Buck wasn’t sure if that was even possible.
The feeling of Eddie inside him was so overwhelming that Buck had to fold himself over Eddie and bite into his pillow to keep his sounds contained. It had been a while since he’d done this with anyone but himself and he was too impatient to put as much care in preparing himself as he probably should have. But he clutched at Eddie all the same, assuring him that he was fine to keep going even though he felt like he was being split at the seams in more than one way.
“I was going to take things slow,” Eddie confessed with a huffed laugh once they were fully pressed together, swallowing Buck’s desperate whine with a kiss. “Wine and dine you, all that romantic stuff to prove to you that I’d treat you well. That you don’t need anyone else, only me.”
Personally, Buck found being railed within an inch of his life to be plenty romantic but he understood what Eddie was getting at.
“That’s very sweet and all,” Buck panted at him, clawing at Eddie’s shoulders as tiniest, purely instinctual movements of Eddie’s hips pushed all the air from his lungs. “But I already knew that and if you try to take it slow now, I’ll never forgive you.”
Eddie didn’t need to be told twice. He simply held Buck by the hips, hard enough to bruise and let Buck set the pace as he reminded him, “No one else is ever going to touch you like this,” and, “You’re mine, Buck,” that had Buck half out of his mind, especially combined with his cock that pressed relentlessly against that spot inside him that made him see stars.
“Shh,” Eddie told him as he thumbed away the overwhelmed tears that Buck hadn’t even realized were leaking out of his closed eyes. He was sweating so much from the effort it took to keep himself from breaking entirely apart to notice the difference. Yeah, he really should have known better than to half ass the preparation step of this whole ordeal. It really has been a while and Eddie was a lot to take. He could feel him in his throat. “You have to stay quiet, remember?”
“You stay quiet,” Buck hissed through clenched teeth, pressing them to Eddie’s chest when the bastard only laughed at his struggle. “This is your fault anyway.”
He tried to readjust to a less intense angle but it was impossible to find one and he had to bite back another too loud whine with a firm reminder that he was no longer alone in the house. After months of living without the need for volume control, that would be another adjustment he’d need to make. One he’d be more than happy to make even. Eddie was just not making it easy at the moment.
“Wanna switch positions?” Eddie offered sympathetically, though there was no hiding that pleased smirk of his.
Buck shook his head, pushing himself up to his shaky legs and staring down at a sprawled out Eddie with a wicked smirk of his own. “I’m fine. We’re in the middle of rewriting history here, right?”
Eddie had made it very clear that he wanted to erase all memory Buck had of Tommy in this bed with his own touch and he was doing a great job of it. He could hardly remember Tommy’s last name, let alone what they got up to in their time together.
Buck, fully on board with that plan, was determined to deliver on his side of things by riding Eddie straight through the mattress. Not only because it quickly became one of his favorite things to do in bed since he first tried it, but because he knew he was pretty damn amazing at it too.
Which was what made it all the more frustrating that his legs were refusing to cooperate, shaking like he was a newborn foal and only allowing him to lift up so much before he was right back to where he started, scrambling for any kind of purchase as he rode the maddeningly thin line between too much and not enough.
Eddie’s eyes softened and he used his grip on Buck’s hips to keep him in place, putting his enviable abs to good use to sit up and press a gentle kiss to Buck’s mouth.
“How about we make some new history instead?” he suggested and at Buck’s nod, he helped Buck lift up and turned them around so Buck was face down on the bed, his face pressed to the pillows that muffled his groan as Eddie pressed inside him again from behind, slow and steady and impossibly deep in the best possible way. “You can make all the noise you want now,” Eddie whispered hotly against the back of his neck before he pulled out and did it again and it was all a blur after that.
Yes, this was definitely the best day of his life, Buck decided as he held on for dear life, mauling his poor pillow in a feeble attempt to cling to some sort of coherency. But it was near impossible with Eddie’s hands roaming all over his overheated body, lingering on his hips and ass like it had its own gravitational field he simply couldn’t resist, all the while whispering the sweetest of filthy fantasies directly into his ear of what he’d do to him next time.
He wasn’t even being rough or fast, but the unerring precision of his aim and the thrusts that were as steady as a metronome were enough to undo him and as much as Buck wanted to stay in the moment forever, his cock had other ideas and it wasn’t long before he was hurtling closer to the edge.
“Eddie,” he managed to warn, his voice rough like he was gargling gravel and feeling the responding shudder in Eddie’s body where it was pressed tightly against his own told him that he wasn’t the only one who was barely hanging on by a thread. With how long they’ve both waited for this moment, it was no surprise that it wouldn’t take long for that simmering tension to snap.
They’ll make up for it next time, when it didn’t feel quite so new and overwhelming. Because there would be a next time, of that he was sure and that thought alone nearly had Buck shooting off without any touch to his cock at all. But then Eddie reached down under Buck to grab his cock to help him along and all it took was a handful of clumsy, too dry strokes of Eddie’s hand before he was gone.
He came with a shout that was just barely muffled by his pillow, clenching so hard around Eddie that he nearly pushed him out. But Eddie remained right where he was, muffling his own pained groan against Buck’s back, the frantic grinding of his hips working them both through their orgasms.
They stayed pressed together like that for a while until they caught their breaths before Eddie pulled out and went to dispose of the condom. Buck watched him go, already thinking of a potential second round but when he turned onto his back and saw the mess that he’d left on the sheets, he couldn’t help but snort out a laugh.
At least there was a sheet this time to catch the mess. It made cleanup that much easier.
“What’s so funny?” Eddie asked as he returned, eying the mess before he sighed and went to hunt down a change of sheets from the closet.
“Nothing,” Buck told him as he stretched out over the bed like a satisfied cat, only moving when Eddie bullied him to the other side of the bed so he could take the sheet off and repeated the process while haphazardly putting a fresh one on the bed when Buck insisted that he still couldn’t feel his legs. “I’m just happy.”
He watched as Eddie all but melted at his bashful confession and welcomed him with open arms as he climbed into the bed, the lamp clicking off and covers pulled up over them to fight off the nighttime chill. Their showers could wait until the morning.
“Just in case it wasn’t already clear, I love you, Buck,” Eddie whispered in the quiet of the room, his voice heavy with sleep as the exhaustion finally crashed down on him.
Buck’s eyes stung with unshed tears and he held Eddie even closer at the admission and after months of keeping it to himself, he finally admitted for the first time aloud, “I love you, too.”
*
In the morning, Buck woke up wearing nothing but a smile. He was alone in bed, which wasn’t ideal but as he lay there, he could hear the muffled noises of the other occupants of the house. The clanging of the dishes in the kitchen, and water running in the bathroom. All this time he’d been trying to make this place a home but it was only now that it felt truly lived in.
Soon enough, he stumbled out of the bedroom with bleary eyes, drawn straight to the kitchen by the tantalizing scent of freshly brewed coffee and pancakes, a weekend tradition for the Buckley Diaz family that he’d missed more than he could put into words.
He wasn’t sure how Eddie would act in the light of day after everything that happened last night but he needn’t have worried at all. Eddie batted away his hand that reached out to steal a pancake even though there was a sizeable mountain of them already on the plate and directed him to a second mug of coffee that was already sweetened to his preference.
So far, so normal. Almost disappointingly so. But the moment Buck jumped up to sit on the counter and nurse his coffee while he contemplated the state of their relationship, Eddie was abandoning the pancakes to bully his way between Buck’s legs to claim his good morning kiss that Buck eagerly returned. Or as much as he could, seeing as he was smiling far too wide for a proper kiss.
“How did you sleep?” Eddie asked him with a smile mirroring his own and all of the little doubts Buck had evaporated into thin air.
His mind drifted to a familiar scene months earlier when he woke up in the same house, sitting in the same spot but with a different man in front of him, asking him that very same question and couldn’t help but laugh. “I can confidently say that this is the best night I’ve had in this house.”
Obviously, there was no way for Eddie to get the reference but he smiled at him indulgently anyway, his hands settled on Buck’s waist, fingers dipping under the loose fabric of his shirt to roam over his skin. Probably seeking the marks he’d left there last night that Buck had reluctantly covered up in order not to traumatize poor Christopher on his first day back home.
“This still doesn’t feel real,” Eddie admitted, shaking his head in disbelief. “I mean, everyone told me that I was an idiot for ever thinking that you wouldn’t feel the same but still. I didn’t think it would be this easy.”
Now, Buck could have inquired about who exactly Eddie meant by everyone or made a joke about Eddie’s implication that he was easy but like, was he wrong? Besides, he knew that Eddie wasn’t talking about the sex, but rather the seamless way they came together once their feelings for each other were finally out in the open.
He expected an adjustment period, some kind of transition from friends to lovers before they got to the stage where each touch and kiss felt natural but it seemed they skipped straight over those and landed right into a relationship. But running into obstacles along the way was inevitable in any relationship and Buck he wasn’t naïve enough to think it would all be smooth sailing from here.
They still had a lot of things to figure out, like dating while cohabitating, co parenting and coming out to everyone but when it came to actually getting to this stage after months or even years of mutual pining? Like Eddie said, it was all remarkably easy. But with how well they fit together, in all meanings of that word, Buck couldn’t say he was too surprised by it either.
“I don’t know,” he said with a hum as he squirmed under Eddie’s touch, the hard countertop he was sitting on accentuating the delicious soreness of his body that brought back the memories of the previous night. “It feels pretty damn real to me.”
“Did I hurt you?” Eddie asked worriedly, as if Buck was complaining.
Buck immediately put his worries at rest. “It doesn’t hurt, not really. I actually quite enjoy it, being able to feel you even now.”
The sooner they had the discussion about getting tested and possibly ditching condoms, the better. It wasn’t something Buck had ever been comfortable enough to try with anyone else but with Eddie, it was all he could think about. After all, if it all played out like he hoped it would? Eddie was going to be his last.
Eddie’s faced flushed, but he cleared his throat and pushed on with their conversation, still not fully convinced. “You’re sure? I wasn’t too rough or anything?” he asked and god, he forgot just how fucking sweet Eddie could be sometimes and that made him fall in love with him that much more.
“It’s just been a while and it was more than I’m used to taking, is all.”
Eddie blinked at him for a second, brows furrowed as he tried to puzzle out the meaning but once it hit him, his face was a picture of smugness. “Oh really? Huh. How… interesting.”
Buck rolled his eyes and nudged Eddie with his foot. “It’s not about the size, but how you use it. Everyone knows that.” Eddie only lifted an eyebrow at him, waiting for Buck to either confirm or deny it and Buck probably shouldn’t be feeding into his ego even more but there was no denying that smug was a very good look on Eddie. “But fine, if you really want to know, you’re uh, exceptional at both.”
Eddie caught his foot and hooked it over his hip, crowding against Buck to whisper against his lips, “I’d hope so, since you’re definitely the best I’ve ever had.” He laughed under his breath at whatever expression came over Buck’s face at that very bold admission. “But try not to let it get to your head.”
It was too late for that. Buck’s ego had already inflated three sizes at least and they were only on day one of being together. As Eddie kissed him again, nice and slow and thorough, he idly wondered what the odds of him surviving their relationship were. He couldn’t wait to find out.
“Really? In the kitchen?” Christopher said and the two of them quickly broke apart to look at the doorway of the kitchen where Chris stood, judging them both. Buck tried to pull back on instinct because they hadn’t talked about anything really, let alone on how they’d break the news to Chris but Eddie didn’t let him go far, his arm around Buck’s waist keeping him firmly in place.
“Get used to it, kid,” Eddie told his son, ruffling his hair as Christopher passed next to them to grab the cutlery for their breakfast that Buck had all but forgotten about. “It’s your fault, anyway.” At Buck’s questioning noise, he turned to him to explain, “When I came out to him, the first thing he asked me was how long you and I’ve been secretly dating. I still don’t think he believes me that we’ve only ever been just friends.”
“Until now,” Buck said and Eddie gave him another peck on the lips before he released him and stepped away to grab the plates.
“Until now.”
Christopher sighed, loud and dramatic at their sappiness but he couldn’t fool either of them with his put upon act. The kid was very clearly pleased about them being together and they all knew it but he still had to keep up the pretense.
“If you break his heart, I’m never speaking to you again,” he said and coming from Christopher it was a very valid threat since already he’d proven that he had a stubborn streak that could rival his dad’s.
“Are you talking to me or Buck?” Eddie asked and Christopher only shrugged.
“Both.” He piled his plate high with pancakes and turned to Buck to ask, “Do we have any whipped cream?”
“Who do you take me for?” He risked ruffling his hair too as he passed by him to fix his own plate and narrowly missed a crutch aiming for his shin. “It’s in the fridge.”
He and Eddie shared an amused look over his head as he rifled through the fridge and pulled out the whipped cream and a bowl of blueberries, his favorite. Then, he paused and asked, “Why do you have a bottle of champagne?”
Buck froze as he remembered the bottle he’d found in his fridge after Tommy stormed out of the house following their argument that for some reason he could never bring himself to throw out. It was a nice bottle and he didn’t want to waste it but he hadn’t exactly had many occasions to celebrate anything in the last few months either.
So it just sat there, in the corner of his fridge, taking up space but it did serve as a good reminder as to why making up with Tommy and getting back together with him was a bad idea. Sure, maybe he did end up being right in the end about Buck’s feelings for Eddie, but any guy who wanted to celebrate the crushing loss of his best friend was not the kind of guy he could ever be with.
“To celebrate your return, of course,” Buck said and grabbed three glasses from the cabinet because screw it, why not? “Come on, let’s open it now.”
There was something poetic about using that very bottle for this purpose instead, to welcome his boys back home and to start this new chapter of his life with them. Christopher was too delighted about being included in their adult activities to roll his eyes at Buck’s sappy speech about being so happy they were finally all together where they belonged.
As expected, Chris didn’t make it to even one full sip out of his allowed three before he made a face and spit it right back into the glass and declared it disgusting. Eddie, who was well aware of the origins of the bottle made that same exact face after he downed the whole glass like it was a shot, drinking it purely out of spite and all Buck could do was shake his head at him and laugh as he sipped slowly from his own glass, savoring the taste.
It might not be his own drink of choice either, but the company made it taste that much sweeter than it was originally supposed to be.