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was I just on your mind (I can tell from your smile) | buddie | 1.3k words | ao3
Have some family fluff, Eddie being endeared and teased about it and Buck hearing things he was (not)supposed to hear. As a treat.
Which is no surprise, he had anticipated it when he decided to take a 4-year-old boy into his care. A 4-year-old boy with Buckley genes and a love of climbing furniture that were not made for climbing. And Buck loves it. He truly loves to build obstacle courses or forts in the backyard and participate in the paper plane races. Itās justā¦ When Theo gets tired, he gets to take a nap and as much as Buck would love to join him, there is always a load of laundry to make, dinner to prepare, toys to clean up and oh, look the laundryās done and in need of being put away.
So he is not sure that inviting the Hans and the Wilsons for dinner today was such a wonderful idea. It definitely felt like one at the time. Buck just loves having them around and Theo seems to do so, too. Him and Jee-Yun became best friends almost immediately. It just feels more comfortable to have them here, instead of going over to whoever might want to host the dinner instead.
Now, Chim is playing with the small ones in the garden and the bigger ones are holed-up in Buckās guestroom, probably playing games and the remaining adults are in the kitchen, putting away the leftovers.
Buck means to join the last group but on his way there, he notices the crayons and plushies scattered across the couch, so he decides to tidy up when heās at it. He doesnāt mean to sit down and does not mean to let his head roll back and rest against the back of the couch. He definitely does not mean to close his eyes.
He is not asleep, itās more likeā¦ a stand-by mode. He lets his body relax just slightly, lets his eyes fall shut and lets the voices coming from all around him blend into a soft, comforting noise.
That is until he hears his name and some of his senses come back into focus.
"Canāt say Iām that surprised that itās Buck who crashed first," Karen says.
"Well, heās not fueled by sugar and spite like the other ones," Hen laughs.
Buck is about to stand up and show them just how much spite he is fueled by. But Eddieās voice stops him, keeps him in place.
"Letās give him a moment," he says and even with his eyes closed and with the distance separating them, Buck can hear the soft tinge in his voice. "He deserves it. He was half feral when we got here this morning with Christopher. Trying to start preparing everything and keep an eye on Theo at the same time."
"Itās good that the Diaz cavalry came to the rescue," Maddie says.
"I told him we could do it in my place, but he insisted," Eddie continues. "Theo likes having people around but Buck noticed that he still gets a bit more nervous and fidgety when he has the combo of people and an unfamiliar place to deal with. I didn't notice it before, but Buck is so fine-tuned to this kidās needs, itās incredible."
Hen hums and there is a quiet pause before she speaks, "Well, he seemed at home enough at your place when I dropped off Denny last week."
"Yeah, but-," Eddie falters before he continues. "What I mean is that Buck tries to give him as much stability as he can, you know? And I think he does such a great job. And I know Theo feels it. Itās incredible how much he justā¦ gets Theo and always goes the extra mile to make him feel seen and cared for. Theo still has nightmares sometimes, so I am not sure how much sleep Buck is getting lately and he is still doing all of this. When we got here this morning they were both here, cutting Theoās sandwiches into dinosaur shapes, just because - and I quote - that's so much more fun, Eddie, but what would you know about that," Eddie laughs after his - frankly horrible, if anyone asked him - impression of Buck. "He does such a good job here. He- heās incredible."
There is a long stretch of silence after that. Buck opens his eyes and stares at the wall hiding Eddie from his view. Eddie, who just said all those wonderfully kind things about him. Buck does not know if he should get up and go there to hug Eddie and never let him go or curl into a ball in his spot on the couch and sob.
"Oh, shut it! You know what I mean," Eddie scoffs, even though nobody said anything. Buck assumes there must have been some intense staring involved from inside the kitchen as well. "I just- Itās good they have each other."
"Itās good they have you, too," Maddieās voice is soft if slightly teasing.Ā
"And you know," Karen chimes in, more than slightly teasing. "Itās perfectly fine to be attracted to the strong, caring and competent. Thatās how I got mine."
Hen laughs and Eddie does too before he says, "Well. Strong, caring and competent is pretty sexy."
"Ew." Maddie says. "I mean- I agree and I am all for you two but could we not say this word in the context of my brother? You can go ahead and say that to him. Preferably when Iām not in this house."
Buck freezes, feeling like he is missing a bigger part of the conversation that he initially thought. But Eddie just laughs quietly again and adds, "Iām gonna go check on the backyard situation. For all we know, Theo and Jee couldāve already tied Chim down and buried him somewhere for us to find."
It takes Buck a moment to understand the implication of those words. And the implication is that Eddie is walking out of the kitchen, right into Buckās line of vision. Their eyes immediately meet and Eddie freezes, his slightly pink cheeks getting even darker. Right. Buck was supposed to be napping and not hear anything that was discussed not even twenty feet away from where he is. He wonders if he still can close his eyes and maybe add in a fake snore to keep up the facade.
Before he can do that, Eddie smiles at him, big and bright, even though his cheeks have moved past the light rose shade and are entering the ripe raspberry territory. And then Eddie - the fucker, with no regards to Buckās sanity - winks at him, biting his lip, before heading towards the patio. On his way there, he walks behind the couch and very deliberately drags his hand across Buckās shoulder and scratches lightly at the nape of his neck.
It makes Buck shiver, a violent ripple going through his entire body and coming to a stop where Eddieās warm fingers meet his skin. If Buckās brain was in any way functioning at the moment, he might have reacted in a matter very inappropriate for a family gathering.Ā
As if drawn by a magnet, Buck follows Eddie with his gaze. As soon as he steps outside, Theo yells "another Godzilla, look out!" and Eddie immediately plays along. He bends his knees, sticks his butt out and retracts his elbows, making his arms look T-rex-like. He lets out a weird, loud squawk as Jee charges at him with her foam sword. Eddie grabs her under his arm and starts chasing Theo who yells, clearly delighted.
Buck in his entire life has never been more attracted to anyone as much as he is attracted to Eddie Diaz at this very moment.
"Having some crazy revelations?" Maddie asks, appearing from nowhere. Or most likely, walking over slowly when Buck was busy staring at Eddieās ass. She drops onto the couch next to Buck.
"You might have been right," Buck says, his voice rough. He does not think he needs to specify further.
"I usually am," Maddie agrees, sipping her drink innocently. "Lucky for you, I am pretty certain that one is just as gone for you as you are for him."
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