ps. i absolutely lovee love lovee your writing style!!!!
hiiii! ahh thank youu so much!! š«¶š«¶ and ty for your patience! this was a fun one to write!!
you were probably expecting something angsty with this one, perhaps even a little post eddie getting stabbed number. but. i feel like thatās been done a million times already since the episode aired, and also i was in the mood for something softer so!! please enjoy some buddie suuuuuper platonically coparenting ;)
buddie | g | 1515 words | #20 "you need to wake up because i can't do this without you."
Buckās alarm hasnāt gone off yet. His phone sits on his nightstand, silent and dark screened, and the digital clock Eddie insisted on plugging in on his side blinks a glowing red 5:28 AM, which means heās still got nearly a whole hour left of beautiful, peaceful sleep before it will go off ā or so he thought.
He doesnāt hear the quiet rattle of the doorknob, or the slow squeaking turn of it. The hinges are silent as the door pushes open, and the footsteps inside are muffled by the plush of Buckās rug. Buck stays blissfully unaware of the third body now inhabiting his bedroom until it fists its little hands into the side of his comforter and clambers its way onto the mattress, teetering unsteadily for one second near Buckās knees before a single, high-pitched giggle rings out and the full weight of it flops, unceremoniously, right on top of Buck.
āOof,ā he wheezes, eyes flying open to be met with Theoās giant, toothy smile and his own big blue eyes mere inches away.
āWoah there,ā Buck rumbles, one hand lifting instinctually to cradle Theoās elbow, the other falling to Theoās knee, holding him steady and safely on the bed ā well, on Buck, because he is still very much squishing all of the air out of Buckās lungs.
Theo wriggles a little, his heels kicking into Buckās ribs as he gets comfortable.
āGamorning, Mr. Poop,ā Theo says, giggling some more.
Buck huffs out a laugh, unable to stop the corner of his mouth from ticking up into a small smile even though he knows he shouldnāt be encouraging that nickname. āTheo,ā he says, āgood morning. What did we say about coming into my room before the numbers on the clock say six zero zero?ā
Theo pouts. āTo wait ātill they do,ā he recites.
āThatās right,ā Buck says. āAnd they donāt yet, do they?ā
āNo,ā he agrees, and his pout deepens, his lower lip pushing out and wobbling dramatically. āBut Buuuck,ā he whines, stretching out the vowels in Buckās name. āMy tummy is rumbly! I want breakfast!ā
Buck chuckles softly, his own tummy rumbling with it, and he swears he catches the even quieter sound of Eddie laughing too, from less than a foot away. He hasnāt moved, hasnāt made another noise, hasnāt shown any other sign of being awake, but his back is to Buck and Theo, so Buck canāt see his face, and he knows that Eddie is a light sleeper. He knew it before, but a couple months of sharing a bed has really solidified that knowledge. Thereās no way Eddieās slept through all of this.
Which means heās pretending to be asleep right now. Faking unconsciousness to save himself from becoming the shiny new expansion of Theoās own personal jungle gym. Leaving Buck to fend for himself, still bleary eyed and fighting back yawns.Ā
If Buck were a vindictive man, heād redirect Theoās attention to Eddieās sleeping form, maybe plant the evil idea of giving him the same kind of wake up treatment Theoād given Buck into his little head.
But heās not. Heās a good friend, a great friend, even, and instead of encouraging Theo to jump all over Eddie too, he caves, breaking his own rule about keeping their morning routine consistent.
āAlright, Theo,ā Buck says, squeezing Theoās knee. āTell you what ā why donāt you go into the living room and watch some cartoons, and Iāll be out in a couple minutes to make you some breakfast, okay?ā
Theoās responding cheer is raucous and loud, more of an excited, unintelligible squall than anything coherent. His smile is big again, eyes scrunching up, and he leans forward to pat Buckās cheek before he scrambles to his knees, then his feet ā nearly stepping right on Buckās kidney and his bladder in the processā to climb off of the bed and scurry out of the room.Ā
Buck listens to the sound of his little feet pitter-pattering against the floorboards, briefly wondering if he should invest in a runner rug if the racing through the hallway is going to become a pattern ā which Buckās sure it will. The twinkle of music from Theoās cartoons bursting to life and the lack of screams and cries tell Buck that Theo made it without an accident, so he puts a pin in that idea for now.
He flops back against his pillow with a heavy sigh, lying there for one blissfully still moment before he flails an arm out to blindly reach for his phone. When he pulls it in front of his face, the clock reads 5:33. Buckās eyes flutter briefly shut, mourning the almost forty-five minutes of extra sleep he couldāve gotten if Theo understood alarms and the importance of sticking to them. As it is, Buck figures heās got maybe five minutes, if heās lucky, before Theo gets bored and impatient and comes running back in ā or worse, tries to raid the kitchen himself. The cerealās on a low enough shelf that he could do some damage.
Buck is just mentally preparing himself to get up, when from his left comes:
āOh, I fucking knew you were awake,ā Buck hisses, rolling immediately onto his side. It puts him mere inches away from Eddieās back, and Buck reaches out, curling his hand around Eddieās bicep.
āMm, no, mānot. Māstill asleep,ā Eddie says, trying to shake Buck off of him by curling more tightly into himself.Ā
It doesnāt work. Just encourages Buck to press in closer, practically plastering himself to Eddieās back now. The concept of personal space is long since forgotten now that heās got something to prove. Buck props himself up on an elbow too, giving himself enough leverage to peer over Eddieās shoulder and catch a glimpse of his face.Ā
He only just misses the brown of Eddieās very open eyes as he squeezes them shut again, turning his face more directly into the pillow to better hide.
āLiar,ā Buck accuses, pinching Eddieās side. He delights in the yelp it draws that Eddie tries so valiantly to stifle. āNobody can sleep through Hurricane Theo, not even you.ā
āDonāt know what youāre talkinā about,ā Eddie rumbles, and Buck can see him biting the inside of his cheek, keeping his smile at bay.
āEddie,ā Buck says, sounding so much like Theo earlier. āEddie, Eddie, Eddie,ā he goads, ācome on.ā
Eddie makes an exaggerated snoring noise, and Buck huffs his disbelief.Ā
āCome on, Eddie,ā Buck pleads. āYouāre supposed to have my back, right?" he asks, going for the jugular. āYou need to wake up, because I canāt do this on my own.ā
Without warning, Eddie rolls onto his back, practically right into the cradle of Buckās embrace, his shoulder pressing firmly into Buckās chest and hip knocking into Buckās too. He peers up at Buck with big, sleepy eyes. They blink slowly, unintentionally emphasizing his eyelashes, long and pretty in the hazy glow of the sun that slips through the curtains. Thereās a pillow crease indented into his cheek, a little crust of drool at the corner of his mouth. His hair is mussed, soft and curling across his forehead, and Buck only just resists the urge to brush the strands from his eyes. He lets Eddie do it himself instead, running his hand through his hair, which really only succeeds in getting it to stick up in an entirely new, endearingly adorable way.Ā
Buckās fingers clench into a fist at his side.
āIām up, Iām up,ā Eddie groans, voice low and gravely from disuse. āThat,ā he adds, pointing a finger at Buck, āwas not playing fair.ā
The tip of his tongue pokes out afterwards, wetting his lips, and Buckās eyes flicker. To the sudden dart of red, to the glisten of spit left against his scar. They stick and they stare, and his breath catches in his throat as he realizes how easy it would be. To lean the rest of the way down and justā kiss him.
Shit. Where did that come from?
āBuck?ā Eddie asks after the moment stretches too long without a response, tone going softer.
Itās like a bucket of cold water over his head. āHm? Oh, uh, you know thereāsā thereās no rules in this game,ā he says, but it's not nearly as confidently as he would have liked it to be.
Eddieās eyes dart across Buckās face, assessing and surveying. It makes Buck feel a bit like one of Paramedic Diazās patients.
What doesnāt make him feel like one of Paramedic Diazās patients, though, is the way Eddieās eyes suddenly drop to his lips. The way they linger there. Like maybe heās also thinking aboutā
Thereās no way. Thereās no way.
Buckās voice is shaky as he starts, āEddieāā
But, before he can finish, before he can even figure out how heās going to finish:
āBuuuuuck!ā Theo shouts from the living room, the impatience clear in his tone. āBreakfast!ā
āBe right there!ā Buck shouts back, and his eyes flicker down to Eddieās mouth one last time, quick and fleeting, before he rolls away from him and out of bed completely.