buddie and "i can tell you haven't been getting any sleep"
"I can tell you haven't been getting any sleep."
Bobby's voice makes Buck pick up his head from where it was resting on Eddie's shoulder, but he doesn't move further away than that.
From the other side of the kitchen island, Bobby is looking at them with fond amusement in his eyes, and also something else so close to anguish it makes Buck want to pull out his phone and call Carla just to check that everything is okay, that the best pieces of himself are still safely tucked in, away from all harm.
"The nights this week have been... rough," Eddie says, his strained voice matching his words. "Gabi has been having trouble sleeping. We think it's being in a new house, you know? It probably also has to do with how excited she has been since the adoption was finalized. So she has taken to getting into our bed in the middle of the night."
The mere mention of their daughter sends affection traveling through all the corners of Buck's body.
"But that's honestly better than the nights she decides to get into Chris's bed," Eddie continues explaining, and the mere mention of their son makes Buck feel like champagne is flowing through his veins. "Those two together... They're too much for us to handle."
"Too cute," Buck says, letting his head fall back down on Eddie's shoulder. "Too sneaky. Too good. Too adorable. Too smart."
His words don't make much sense, but Bobby's chuckle lets Buck know he has been understood anyway.
"Yeah, all of that," Eddie says, and Buck feels him dropping a kiss on top of his head. "But don't worry, Cap. We're okay to be here."
"I'm not worried about that," Bobby assures them, and his eyes move away from them.
Again, Buck's hand twitch, and the way Eddie's shoulder has tensed slightly under his head tells Buck he's also feeling the despair that doesn't really belong to them but in a way does.
"Do you--" Bobby stops himself before he can finish the question, but he must see something in their faces when he looks back at them because he tries again. "Do you think you'd like to come around this weekend for lunch? Me and Athena would love to have you and the kids."
Buck doesn't even need to move to look at Eddie to know what their answer is, Eddie's hand settling on his hip and squeezing lightly more than enough of a confirmation.
"That sounds amazing," Buck says, sincere and excited.
Bobby's smile is small but bright, and he suddenly looks lighter, not exactly unburdened but just a little bit freer.
The urge to hear Christopher's and Gabriella's voices doesn't really leave Buck for the rest of the day, but he's come to learn that walking around with your heart outside your body tends to mean you always find yourself drifting closer and closer to it, even when you don't know where it is yet.
send me a ship and a sentence and i’ll write the next 5 (or more, probably)
