Buck didn't stay long with Dixie at the bar. He chatted for fifteen minutes before leaving. The only reason he stayed was because he realized "shit, Maddie might be right," after that conversation with Eddie at the bar.
So he took the out and talked to Dixie for exactly fifteen minutes--counting down the seconds in his head.
And he returned to the hotel, being as quiet as possible in case Eddie was listening for his footsteps in the hall from his own room. (He was.)
Neither of them slept much that night.
Eddie knows none of this, he thinks Buck spent the night with Dixie. And he's totally Normal™ about it. He's not mad at Buck, nope, not him. ("I thought you were ready to settle down, not more meaningless hookups." But he doesn't say that to Buck's face.)
Buck tries to ignore the tension emanating from Eddie. But when they stop for dinner, and the waitress flirts with Buck (not that Buck notices, he thinks she's just being nice), Eddie snaps. Not loudly, not enough to draw attention to them. But Buck knows Eddie's upset.
They don't talk about it, like how they don't talk about Bucks bio parents getting divorced, like how they don't talk about the fight post funeral.
The tension follows them back to the car, until neither of them can take it anymore. What was karaoke and Buck throwing food for Eddie to catch on his mouth turned into another grocery store-like fight.
They both say things they regret.
And then the accident, and Bucks missing, and Eddie feels horrible.
Cue sexuality crisis, feelings realization on both ends, and pining that extends to season 10
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