6x12 coda || word count: 646 || read on ao3
Every morning is the same. Buck wakes up, and doesn’t fully breathe until his phone is in his hand and the message thread with Bobby is open.
Buck can’t breathe, his chest feels tight and his hands shake ever so slightly.
And Buck can breathe again. Bobby is okay. He’s alive and well, probably enjoying a cup of coffee with Athena like Buck knows they do every morning that they can. The knot in his chest unfurls and Buck can move, can start to get ready for the day.
He gets a few steps towards the bathroom, intending to shower, when he doubles back and grabs his phone. Opening his text thread with Eddie, Buck types out a message and presses send.
While Buck waits for a response from Eddie, he opens the next thread in his phone.
morning buddy! i hope you have a great day at school is sent to Christopher and Buck isn’t surprised that Chris is the one who responds immediately.
thanks, buck! can you help me with my science assignment tonight?
Buck is grinning, looking forward to tonight. Normally he, Eddie, and Christopher have dinner on Fridays and watch a movie but since Buck is still on medical leave right now, they’ve been able to have them more frequently. Tonight Buck had promised Chris homemade pizza and he mentally went through his shopping list while he waited for Eddie to respond.
He wasn’t too concerned, Eddie wasn’t known to be quick with replies on text, if you really needed to get a hold of him it was always best to call. But as the minutes ticked by and still no response, Buck began to get worried.
Shit, what if something happened? No, if something was wrong then Chris would have told him— but what if Chris didn’t know? What if something had happened to Eddie while he was sleeping or he slipped in the shower or—
Buck felt himself starting to panic, starting to spiral, and suddenly he was pressing Call on Eddie’s contact and shoving the phone against his ear, heart pounding in his throat.
“‘ello?” Eddie slurred, his voice heavy with sleep.
Buck let out a broken sound, an almost hysterical wave of relief crashing over him and making it so he couldn’t talk.
“Buck?” Eddie asked, now sounding alert. “What’s wrong? What happened?” Buck could hear the rustling of Eddie’s blankets, imagined they were being thrown off as Eddie rushed out of bed.
“I’m fine, I’m fine, sorry, I just— you weren’t answering and I panicked and I couldn’t breathe,” Buck rambled, sitting down on his bed and trying to calm his heart, calm his breathing.
“Hey, hey, I’m right here,” Eddie reassured him softly. “I’m okay. I’m at home with Christopher and both of us are okay. We’re okay.”
“Y-yeah?” Buck gasped out, his body finally starting to relax the more he listened to Eddie’s soothing voice.
“Yeah,” Eddie confirmed. “I promise.”
“Okay, that’s good, that’s— that’s real good,” Buck mumbled, closing his eyes.
They were quiet for a minute, just listening to each other breathe on the line, Buck’s heartbeat finally slowing down.
“Come over,” Eddie said. “We’ll take Christopher out for breakfast and get those stupidly expensive coffee latte frappuchinos you like.”
Buck laughed. “That is not even close to what they’re called.”
Buck could somehow hear Eddie’s smile. “Yeah, but I made you laugh, didn’t I?”
“Yeah,” Buck sighed, affection clear in his voice. “I’ll be right over.”
“We’ll be here,” Eddie replied and Buck got the feeling he was talking about more than just right now.
Just before Buck got into the shower, his phone beeped again and when he checked it, there was another message from Bobby.
And Buck didn’t even have to think about it. All good! he sent back.