Reading Between the Lines
Pairing: Buddie, Tarlos, background Marcy
Rating/Warnings: Teen, Season 3 Spoilers (911 LS)
Inspired by: 911 Bingo Square ‘First Time’
Summary:
As Buck and Eddie slowly begin to adjust to being a couple rather than just partners, Buck is also trying to help his best friend TK through his own relationship struggles.
An alternate view from the Season 2 finale to the end of the S03:E04 of 911 Lone Star.
Special thanks to @alilypea and @sugaredmayhem for editing! This can also be read here on A03.
*****
~~The 126 Closure~~
As soon as Buck reached the top of the stairs, he could see the beginning of a frown grace Eddie’s face as he looked at his phone, brows furrowing as he continued to read the screen. Buck quickly strode across the floor, plopping down on the couch beside him. Buck let his knee gently lean on Eddie’s, attempting to offer a bit of comfort while not being too obvious.
The team was used to them being in close contact all the time anyways, but things were different now. Buck and Eddie were different now. To Buck, it seemed like all their touches before were simply casual, ‘hey buddy’ type pats and hugs. But ever since they started dating, all their touches had an extra warmth to them, sometimes accompanied by an extra ‘zing’ that Buck could feel shoot through his body, aided by the realization that he could in fact, touch Eddie now, and sometimes, that would lead to other activities….ones that definitely could not be undertaken in the fire station.
But Eddie jolted at the contact, frantically glancing around the room to see if anyone was watching and Buck had to push down the painful ache that surfaced at his reaction. Buck knew that they were both adjusting to being together, Eddie more so than him, but that sort of knee jerk reaction…it hurt.
“No one is around,” Buck said quietly, ducking his head down briefly to regain his composure. After a deep breath, he looked back up to meet Eddie’s gaze. He could see the apology in his eyes, but he knew that Eddie wouldn’t say anything about it, not in the firehouse anyways, so he trudged on. “Is everything okay? You look…bothered,” Buck finally concluded, thinking that worried might have been a better description but had a gut feeling that Eddie wouldn’t like that either.
Eddie sighed, his body relaxing as he sank back into the couch but the frown on his face remained. “You know how Marjan has been posting on her account about the 126?”
Buck nodded. Marjan had finally followed him back a few weeks after they got back from Texas, likely due to either Eddie begging her to or TK putting in a good word for him, or maybe a combination of the two. He had been able to apologize for making her feel uncomfortable back at the forest fires, and the two of them had settled into a casual friendship, but most of the time, Buck stuck to reblogging her videos while Eddie talked to her more frequently.
“They were still waiting to hear back about the rebuilding plans, right?” Buck wanted to confirm. His recent conversations with TK had been more focused on struggling with living with his dad and his boyfriend under the same roof, not so much on the 126 itself.
“Well, apparently there are no plans to rebuild. The 126 has been shut down,” Eddie said glumly, passing the phone over to Buck to show the video. Soon Buck had a matching frown as well.
“I’m going to give TK a quick call, okay? Give me a shout if anyone needs anything,” Buck said, heading back towards the bunks for a bit of privacy, Eddie nodding behind him.
Luckily the bunks were empty and Buck was able to call TK right away.
“I take it you heard the news,” TK answered the phone, not even saying hello.
“Yeah, Eddie saw it on Marjan’s feed,” Buck replied, leaning back against the headboard. “Are you guys okay? Do you have a plan of some sort? Maybe I can ask Bobby to send a letter of support or-”
“-Dad’s going in today to talk to the brass, hopefully that solves everything,” TK said, stopping Buck from his flurry of suggestions.
“You sound a lot more hopeful than Marjan,” Buck said, feeling a bit of relief that TK didn’t sound as worried.
“Well, my focus is getting a job in the first place so we can get out of this house. Can you believe that no one is hiring paramedics?”
“Well hopefully -” and before Buck could say anything more, the alarms went off in the station.
“Say no more, be safe. Say hi to Eddie for me!” TK said quickly, hanging up on his end.
Jogging out to meet up with Eddie and to head towards the truck, Buck shrugged his shoulders. “TK says his dad has a plan, doesn’t sound too worried about things,” he explained briefly, shoving his feet into his boots and grabbing his helmet.
Eddie nodded, bumping his shoulder lightly into Buck’s. “Hey, I’m sorry about -” he started to apologize but was cut off by Bobby’s instructions as they climbed into the truck.
Buck shot him a small smile, hoping that Eddie would understand that he wasn’t worried about it. And then he shifted his focus towards the job they were about to drive to. He and Eddie could talk about it later.
~~Missed Communication~~
Buck carefully laid out the napkins next to the plates, and moved the silverware properly on top. Taking a step back, he surveyed his handiwork. It was a touch fancier than their normal meals together, but Eddie was coming over to his place, Christopher was at his Abuela’s, and Buck wanted to try to make it a bit more of a date night, in comparison to a wings and beer night. And so he had a salad all prepared, pasta just about to go in, and the grilled vegetables were almost done in the oven.
He took a deep breath, telling himself that he didn’t need to straighten the napkins or check on the food again. Bobby had given him detailed instructions, and even put up with Buck calling him a couple times to confirm. Buck wasn’t sure if it was the meal itself that was making him nervous or the lingering concern that he hadn’t heard from TK in a couple of weeks.
It wasn’t like TK always responded to his messages quickly, or that he was expected to answer them at all. But ever since returning from Texas, TK had become a good friend, a confidante. He was the one who helped Buck figure out his feelings for Eddie, helped him determine the best way to ask him out, and now they were dating. Buck was hoping that he would be able to do the same for TK; help TK out through this difficult time. But it was really hard to help someone when they never answered your messages or calls.
A knock on the door interrupted Buck from his spiraling thoughts. Wiping his hands on his kitchen towel, Buck went to greet his boyfriend. He was surprised to see Eddie standing there, a bouquet of tulips in his hand. Buck smiled as he reached for them, glad that he wasn’t the only one who interpreted that evening as more of a date. His smile broke out into a full blown grin when Eddie pulled out a movie from behind his back in his other hand.
“Hey, my favourite movie!” Buck exclaimed, leaning in to give Eddie a kiss, and then plucked it from his hands.
“Thought we could watch it after dinner?” Eddie said, coming through the door. “Abuela said that she could watch Christopher overnight,” he added casually, as if he hadn’t just dropped the bomb that he would be able to stay over.
Nights with just the two of them were special as it is, but an overnight, even better. After placing the flowers in the first container he could find, Buck reached out and grabbed Eddie’s hand, pulling him towards the staircase.
“Wait, what about dinner -” Eddie started to ask, but continued to follow Buck.
“We have all night,” Buck replied with a grin, not letting go of Eddie as they climbed the stairs. “And the vegetables have another 20 minutes,” he added with a smirk, pushing Eddie onto the bed. And he planned to use all of those 20 minutes, very well.
*****
After their pre-dinner activities, dinner itself which turned out excellent (Buck would have to send a thank you gift to Bobby) and cuddling on the couch while watching A Knight’s Tale, Buck couldn’t help but leap out of Eddie’s embrace as his phone beeped, signaling a reply to Buck’s last message to TK
Reading the message frantically, Buck shook his head in confusion at the content. Tucking himself back into Eddie’s arms and under the blanket, he passed the phone to Eddie. “Two weeks of no responses and that’s all he says? It doesn’t feel right,” Buck commented morosely.
“Well, maybe he just doesn’t feel like talking?” Eddie suggested, handing the phone back to Buck. He repositioned the blanket on both of them, his hand settling in Buck’s hair. “They are going through a lot of changes, Buck, I’m sure he will be fine. And I’m sure that he appreciates that you care.”
Buck nodded, continuing to lean against Eddie’s chest, his head feeling heavy as Eddie’s fingers massaged his head gently. “Eds, if you continue to do that, I might fall asleep on you right here,” Buck murmured, letting himself enjoy the sensation.
“Well, there could be worse things,” Eddie said quietly, as he continued his motions.
Buck let him carry on for a few more minutes and then sat up, groaning at the lack of contact. “Yeah, like the two of us falling asleep on the couch,” Buck said, standing up and gesturing for Eddie to do the same. “Now get your ass in bed,” Buck said, blushing at the suggestiveness in his wording, even though that’s what he meant…just maybe not that bluntly.
“Yes, sir,” Eddie said with a laugh, and Buck tried very hard not to react to that choice of words, at least until they were back upstairs. Pushing TK from his mind, he followed Eddie upstairs this time, an extra bounce in his step.
~~The Breakup~~
Buck was trying. He was trying very hard to keep Eddie’s words in his mind. That TK was going through a bunch of changes, juggling living with his dad, starting a new job, looking for apartments with his boyfriend; that he simply didn’t have enough time to also respond to Buck’s texts. But unlike the two weeks he had waited for a response before, it was almost a month now since Buck last heard from him. The last message had simply been ‘I got a job’ with a promise to tell him more about it later…but the later hadn’t come yet.
TK was a danger magnet, maybe even more so than himself, and obviously that was saying something. That was what concerned Buck the most. TK had come through a drug overdose, a shooting, a hostage situation and an arsonist…way more than anyone should have to deal with.
On top of that, Buck was hoping for some couples advice. He had already scoured the rules and regulations, making sure that it was okay for the firehouse to know that he and Eddie were dating, and it was. There were some hoops that they would have to jump through, sign some documents, but there was nothing saying that they couldn’t work together, they just couldn’t be in charge of each other. And Buck knew that he was putting the cart before the horse, because Eddie wasn’t even out at work, let alone ready to tell everyone at work that they were dating.
Buck had officially come out after having a few deep conversations with TK. He had always thought he might be bisexual, but never acted on it previously…other than a couple make out sessions on his travels. Hen was out, Bobby was super supportive of Michael, and so it only felt right to share his news with his fire family. Everyone was happy for him, and honestly, he thought that helped jump start the recognition of Eddie’s interest in him as well.
He was wondering if TK had any experience in helping someone come out, or had dated anyone still in the closet, but TK wasn’t answering him at all. After glaring at his phone for all of his second break, he decided to send a quick message to Marjan to check in. He was fairly sure she wouldn’t be bothered by his message, especially since he had been sharing all of her 126 updates with his followers as well, which was a fairly large number of people.
He had then tucked his phone back into his pocket, not expecting a quick reply, only to be surprised when he heard a beep indicating a response right away. Pulling it back out, he read Marjan’s response.
‘TK and Carlos broke up. Nancy hasn’t been able to find out why.’
Buck had to reread her message a few times, TK and Carlos broke up? That made no sense. He could see the three dots indicating that Marjan was typing again and waited as patiently as he could.
‘They are idiots.’
Buck found himself nodding in agreement. Not knowing what to say in response and figured he could respond to Marjan later, he quickly pulled up TK’s number and dialled. Not completely surprised that TK didn’t respond, Buck left a simple voice message, saying that he could call whenever he needed someone to talk to.
*****
Buck was surprised when later that night, he received a phone call back. Eddie had gone to read Chris a bedtime story, so Buck stepped out into the backyard to take the call, not wanting to be too loud inside. Taking a deep breath in the crisp L.A. evening air helped bring his attention back to the seriousness of the conversation he was likely about to have.
“So I guess you heard, I’m going to assume it was Marjan?” TK said, his voice sounding more subdued than normal.
“Yeah,” Buck responded, trying to figure out an easy way to say that he was checking up on TK without actually saying it that way but realized there was no way around it. “I was worried when I hadn’t heard from you,” Buck admitted, sitting down on the back step.
“Didn’t you hear? Everyone has everything decided for me, nothing to worry about,” TK responded bitterly on the other end but Buck swore he heard a sniffle as well.
“No one knows anything, TK, other than the two of you broke up,” Buck said gently. “And I’m not calling to find out why, I don’t need to know unless you want to tell me. I just wanted to remind you that I’m here…well in L.A…but here if you need someone.” He did really, really want to know why they broke up, but also knew how hard it was to answer those sorts of questions.
That must have been the right thing to say, because he could hear TK let out a loud sigh. “Thanks Buck.”
He heard the sliding door open behind him and turned to see Eddie making a small motion if Buck wanted him to stay or go. Tilting his head next to him to hopefully communicate that he wanted Eddie to stay, Buck was confused when Eddie slid back into the house. But then Eddie reappeared with a blanket in his hands, and Buck couldn’t help but grin at his thoughtfulness.
Eddie squeezed in next to him on the step, wincing as his butt came into contact with the cold concrete, but then covered both of their shoulders with the large, plaid blanket that normally rested on the back of their couch.
“Oh, am I interrupting a date?” TK asked, likely hearing Eddie’s gasp through the phone.
“No no, I’m just over at Eddie’s for the night. Eddie just finished getting Christopher to bed,” Buck explained, seeing Eddie nod in confirmation.
“Just let me know if you want some privacy,” Eddie said loudly, making sure that TK could hear him on the other end.
“No, Eddie can stay…besides, I need to learn more about my best friend’s boyfriend,” TK replied in a teasing tone, although both Buck and Eddie could still hear the pain underlining his words. “Okay Eddie, what would you say is the silliest thing you’ve ever encountered on the job?” TK asked once Buck had switched him over to speaker.
An hour or so later, the three finally wrapped up their conversation for the evening. TK thanked them for the distraction and promised to call Buck back when he was ready to talk more. As Buck leaned into Eddie’s embrace, he couldn’t help but feel an ache in his chest, at the thought that TK no longer had someone to do the same.
~~Marjan’s One Woman Protest~~
“That’s it, I’m going down there,” Buck announced at the kitchen table, ignoring the rest of the 118’s strange looks sent first in his direction and then in Eddie’s.
“Why do you all look at me when Buck starts acting weird?” Eddie asked, waving his hands in Buck’s direction.
“Because you normally know what’s going on in that head of his,” Chimney responded, taking a large bite out of his apple.
“He’s right, and you normally do,” Hen agreed, glancing between the two men.
“The 126. It’s absolutely ridiculous that they want to tear it down,” Buck said, continuing to walk back and forth along the table. “Marjan’s going down to stop the protest again, but she can only be arrested so many times….and so I thought -”
“-no, absolutely not,” Eddie responded, leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms.
“But Eddie - “
“Eddie’s right, Buck,” Bobby added, shaking his head. “You’ve had enough trouble with the LAFD, Buck, you don’t need to add in Austin FD as well.”
Buck plopped down at the end chair with a groan, that’s exactly what Eddie had said the previous night. “Well then I need everyone here to tweet out Firefox’s videos, okay? We need to keep getting the word out.”
“I think you are forgetting that some of us don’t have a twitter, Buckaroo,” Chimney responded, through a mouthful of apple.
“But the ones of us do, will share it, okay? Hopefully that will help,” Hen reassured, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder.
Buck let out a small smile in Hen’s direction. Here’s hoping.
~~The Coma~~
What Buck couldn’t predict was that in about a month, he would be saying the exact same words...and for a much more devastating reason.
“Eddie, I…I need to go down there,” Buck finally said, their call with Marjan having finished over an hour ago. He had been staring at the wall in the loft in disbelief at the news. TK had attempted an ice rescue and ended up going into the water…a few hours later, he had fallen into a coma, having coded twice on the way back to the hospital. “What…what if this is my last chance to see him?” Buck said brokenly, a few tears starting to fall down his cheeks.
Eddie opened his arms and Buck didn’t hesitate to throw himself into them, tucking his face into Eddie’s chest. He was a jumbled mess of emotions at the moment, upset about TK being hurt while angry at him at the same time.
“You should do what you think is best,” Eddie said finally, his arms still wrapped tightly around Buck. “I’m sure Bobby would let you take some vacation days off,” he murmured, letting his chin rest on Buck’s shoulder.
Yeah, Buck thought to himself as he allowed himself to continue to be held in Eddie’s arms, that would probably work out.
*****
Buck shifted his weight back and forth, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder as he waited for his ride to show. He had packed lightly, hoping optimistically that it would somehow signal to TK that he better wake up soon, even though the last update said that things weren’t looking that great. Marjan said that she was sending Nancy to pick him up, that she needed a break from hospital, even though Buck had tried to tell her that he could find his own way.
“Buck!”
Buck turned at his name, shocked to see Eddie waving at him and jogging over to him.
“You didn’t think that I was letting the two of you join forces without me again,” Eddie said with a grin, leaning in to give Buck a brief hug. “I took the flight out just after yours, Lena said she’d cover my shifts,” Eddie added to Buck’s unasked questions.
Buck just stared, trying to compute it all. Eddie…was in Austin…with him. It was surreal. “He’s in a coma, Eddie," Buck said, finally responding to Eddie's previous comment.
“I know, but it won’t be forever,” Eddie replied simply, and it took every bit of self control that Buck had in his body to not kiss him senseless for his answer. To some, it might have seemed inappropriate for the situation, but Buck knew that Eddie wouldn’t say it unless he really meant it. Knowing that Eddie wasn’t ready for a kiss in public yet, Buck just leaned in and bumped his shoulder lightly in response.
“And I rented us a car, so let’s get going,” Eddie said, holding up a pair of car keys.
*****
Buck felt shaky as he stood at the end of TK’s bed. Seeing the tubes, the monitors, the vent, everything was so vivid…so real. He didn’t even notice that anyone else was in the room until someone cleared their throat and his eyes jumped to the man who was sitting next to TK.
“Carlos…” Buck said, instantly recognizing the man from TK’s photos on Instagram.
“And you are…?” Carlos asked, looking at him suspiciously.
“Buck, I’m TK’s friend from -”
“-L.A. Yeah, you’re the one who helped him steal the firetruck…” Carlos added, his tone sounding wary.
Buck shifted awkwardly, not really sure what he had done to make Carlos so distrustful. He was about to explain a bit more about why he was there when Eddie suddenly made an appearance next to him. “Yeah, that’s Buck," Eddie said loudly, reaching out to take Buck’s hand in his.
And the movement was so normal, so comfortable, that Buck went right along with it, interlacing his fingers with Eddie's. He didn’t clue into the significance of Eddie’s action until he saw the change in Carlos’s demeanour, the man relaxing at the sight of the two of them together, and then everything started to fall into line.
Eddie was holding his hand. In public. And almost…posturing to Carlos at the same time.
Between the fear of seeing TK and the adrenaline of Eddie practically announcing their relationship to the whole world - well holding hands in front of one person wasn’t the whole world, but still it was the first time Eddie had ever done it in public - Buck felt like his legs were going to give out.
Luckily, Eddie noticed this as well, and after nodding to Carlos, helped Buck to one of the chairs back in the hallway, sitting down next to him, still holding onto his hand. They were still sitting like that when Marjan and Nancy returned.
“It’s about time, soldier,” Marjan commented, smiling at the two of them, as they sat down next to them in the waiting room.
“Same could be said for you, Firefox,” Eddie replied, nodding at her and Nancy’s tight grasp as well.
“Maybe when TK wakes up, we can do a triple date,” Buck finally spoke up, gazing in the direction of TK’s room, where Carlos had stayed.
“They still aren’t back together,” Nancy said wistfully, also looking in the same direction.
Several moments of silence hung over the group as they all reflected on Nancy’s comment, until Buck vocalized what was on everyone else's mind.
“No, I think they are…even if they aren’t ready to say it yet.”
