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Buck felt rejected. Tommy felt uninvited.

I don’t think Buck ever truly understood what Tommy needed from him.

He didn’t need a grand gesture — Just a confident sign. A crack in the door. A flicker of warmth. Some signal that says: you’re allowed to try.

And when he gets that? He moves.

— Buck says he wanted Tommy’s attention → Tommy kisses him. — Buck says maybe he’s ready for something → Tommy says yes. Shows up to the party. Shows up to the wedding. — Buck and Tommy hook up → Tommy makes breakfast, unpacks the coffee machine, buys champagne like maybe this means something. — Buck says thank you → Tommy says, “And for you.”

He doesn’t storm in. He doesn’t force his way into anyone’s life. He just reads the room, and when he sees the smallest opening — he acts. Quietly, decisively, fully, with care.

But Buck never understood that. And that’s the real tragedy.

Buck’s emotional. He feels everything. But he doesn’t act on it without certainty. He spirals. He waits to be invited.

Tommy? He came out late. He lived through silence. He was in the Army. Under Gerrard. Engaged to a woman once. He knows how to live with restraint — and still, somehow, he shows up.

Especially for someone like Tommy, who spent years in places where silence was survival — he’s not going to beg. But he will take the risk, if you leave the door cracked.

And S8 Buck? Never did. Not enough.

During the breakup, Tommy said something real:

“I know how this ends. I’m your first, not your last.”

He put his fear on the table. Buck did try — he even said, “they can be the same thing”

But even that wasn’t something Tommy could hold onto. It was a maybe, not a confident yes.

And when Tommy reached for something solid? Buck didn’t say, “You’re wrong.” He didn’t say, “I want this.” He didn’t say, “Stay.” So Tommy left.

Later, at the bar, Tommy brought it up — said he thought about reaching out. He drove past Buck’s place. He typed the message.(bubbling) (But Buck never opened the door. So Tommy never hit send.)

Buck shut it down with : “No way.” No opening. No invitation. Just more confusion.

Then Buck invited him. And Tommy took that as hope. He didn’t just stay the night — he unpacked the coffee machine. He brought food. He probably bought champagne. He thought it meant something.

But when Buck lashed out:

“You know, I don't have to want to sleep with everyone I have feelings for. And I don't have to have feelings for everyone I sleep with.”

Tommy read the room again. Said, “Got it.” And left.

Not because he didn’t care. But because he’d learned to stop reaching where he’s not wanted.

And the part that breaks me?

Buck knew. He told Maddie the morning after: “I was cruel.” Said, “I should call him.” But he never did.

And this is where our headcanon comes in — because based on everything we’ve seen from Tommy:

If Buck had called. Even just a text. Even unsure, even messy. Tommy would’ve taken the chance. He’s always taken the chance.

So yeah. Maybe Buck felt rejected and abandoned. Maybe he thought Tommy gave up too fast.

But from Tommy’s side?

He’d kissed first. Said yes first. Shown up every time. He’d taken risks, again and again — every time Buck gave him a sliver of permission.

And Buck never realized how easy it would’ve been to meet him halfway.

He just needed one more sign.

And he would’ve come back. Like he always did.

PS: This is just my interpretation — canon-supported but built on emotional headcanon. Personally, I don’t think Tommy ran because he was scared. I think he didn’t see an opening. And Buck never realized Tommy didn’t need a guarantee — just a signal. Always open to thoughts, counterpoints, or things I missed — would love to discuss more 💬

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buck and tommy grocery shopping together and sometimes tommy sends buck on lil 'hey can you go grab (thing) from the other aisle?' fetch quests purely because whenever buck catches up to him again, his eyes light up and he gets all smiley for a moment and tommy finds it incredibly adorable

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“The trials and tribulations of Evan Buckley”

and it’s just his multiple near death experiences and everyone he’s ever loved abandoning him…

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"I said I'd get the groceries" but being empty-handed vs "not without feeding you" with an entire kitchen counter laid out with food and eggs being scrambled on the stove

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This is not discourse but it's so interesting to me watching how other people watch this show. Do I have hopes and wishes for what I would like to happen? (Buck and Tommy getting back together.) Yes.

But in general, I watch this show with the mindset of "whatever happens happens. I'm not in charge, and my panic/anxiety/anger/resentment/sadness/disappointment/etc. won't change the outcome or what's already come to pass so there's nothing to be done about it."

Obviously, there's no wrong way to watch a show, but I think a lot of this fandom needs to step back, breathe, and remember that this show is fiction.

Love you all, and try to stay positive and out of your own heads, okay? 😘

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No, but also think about the fact that Tommy couldn’t handle Buck being upset for like 5 seconds in the helicopter. He knew by Buck’s reaction that saying he was doing it for Chimney probably hurt him a little. And he immediately had to fix it.

Then he’s watching Evan at the monitor, breaking down. He sees him in pain, and he can’t fix it. Can’t even be with him. On the other screen, he watches Bobby take his last breath. Nothing he can do or say can change this situation. He’s in his own hell.

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I think I've finally figured out my biggest grievance with 911

I know there's a huge amount of suspending disbelief necessary to watching this show but the ongoing tendency to focus episodes on one or two characters singular arcs essentially freezes what the other characters are going through in a way that is honestly infuriating at times

eddie's relationship with chris and the aftermath of the kim debacle was basically sidelined for half a season as if he wouldn't be desperately trying everything he could to reach out to his son and I'm sorry but the small glimpses we got (a few facetime calls, the priest, shaving the mustache, the talk with brad) were not enough to convincingly overcome what happened in s7 when s5 showed eddie's healing arc in a far better way

them completely dropping the hook-up and the morning after between buck and tommy after buck explicitly said that he wanted to call tommy only to (presumably) pick it up again in 8x14/8x15 as if weeks/months haven't passed in the meantime is so unrealistic, as if buck isn't the kind of person who wants to make things right immediately and as if he wouldn't be tearing himself into pieces every day

brushing off denny's NDE in 8x05 and refusing to show the wilson family healing after something that truly traumatic is frustrating, especially since they sacrificed a good chunk of screen time for the main characters and their families on the altar of fucking brad

chimney has mostly been a sidelined character all season when I suspect the man has fair bit of trauma from idk seeing his pregnant wife bleeding out from a neck wound in his arms

there's a way to do an ensemble show that leans focus towards certain characters in certain episodes without sidelining the rest and I just think that 911 used to do far better in that regard

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y'all really think Ramon was out here lying to random strangers and specifically calling himself Chris's father out loud with his words (and Chris is of course too much of a helpless baby to have anything to say about that) instead of him just being the male figure of an appropriate age actually showing up to events and people making assumptions. tell me you never interact with actual people without telling me

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a gripe, one could say, i have with last episode’s hen storyline is that it felt very random. why were some people written to remember hen’s birthday and others were written not to? there wasn’t any real rhyme or reason to it, it didn’t change the meaning of the episode at all, nothing motivated by character or even theme, they were just random choices made by the writers.

but on a bigger scale, this plotline didn’t feel like an arc specific to hen and who she is, her experiences, her recent growth- it felt like a storyline they could have decided to give to pretty much anyone. tell me it wouldn’t make just as much sense to have everyone at the 118 accidentally forget chimney’s birthday- or ravi’s? or buck’s? causing them to feel overlooked and underappreciated? there could even be a case made that for some of those characters a storyline like this would make more sense and be more fitting than it did and was for hen. i’m not saying i would’ve rather seen that, and i did enjoy this storyline for hen. but i am making a point that this doesn’t feel like a hen storyline. it feels pulled out of a hat. why hen, you know? why this storyline, for this character, and why now? well at least the episode was pretty good

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are we as a society ready to talk about how many of bucktommys scenes involve eating together and "not without feeding you" and tommy making buck breakfast twice and bringing him coffee in the hospital and them making dinner together in the daddy issues scene . and the fact that maybe the reason buck baked whenever he wanted to call tommy wasn't a random distraction but because his entire relationship with tommy was focused on nurturing and nourishing and sharing and making food for each other was fundamentally important to them because of that. do you think buck associates tommy with eating well and feeling full in every sense. do u

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all of us: tommy only said that because he's insecure not because he actually thinks eddie was competition or isn't straight

the weirdos: BUDDIE WARRIOR TOMMY! HE THINKS EDDIE IS GAY!

literally ryan guzman: nah, tommy is insecure and he needs to lock in already, no one's trying to take his boy from him. if buck has any feelings for eddie that's embarrassing for him but he doesn't and he should marry tommy

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#one thing Oliver will do is hustle

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“this episode put a definitive end to buddie” “this episode confirmed that buddie is happening” guys. can we be serious for a second. there’s a reason why both sides feel like we’re eating well after that episode and it’s that tim is playing it right down the middle

buck and tommy fucked. it was in eddie’s house. it was the first time buck could spend the night there. he admitted that he used tommy as a distraction. he was genuinely happy to see that tommy was still there in the morning

they both wanted to get back together. tommy thought that buck had feelings for eddie. in response, buck got angry, but he also said he doesn’t have to sleep with someone to have feelings for them

buck said straight up that he isn’t in love with eddie. maddie didn’t believe him. buck said straight up that he isn’t pining for his best friend. he spent the entire episode talking about how much he misses eddie. he has spent the last four months pining over tommy

he wanted to call tommy. he will call eddie. he hasn’t spoken to either of them since they walked away from him because it’s too painful

like. all of this is in this episode. all of it. not half of it: all of it. the interviews skew more towards shutting down the idea of buddie happening, but there’s still a lot of intentional ambiguity and “who knows what tim will do/this is buck’s truth as he sees it right now/we did what we did and it’s up to the fans to take it how they will.” to say any of that is definitive is just incorrect

please. both sides are being fed and both sides are being played. while I personally believe that they are setting up buck and tommy to get back together, maybe permanently, that doesn’t mean that the buddie stuff isn’t there, or that it’s so crystal clear in the episode that they ONLY wanted to shut it down (why have maddie react that way if they did? why leave room for even a single seed of doubt?)

I am begging both sides to stop acting like the other side is crazy or “bad at media literacy” for seeing what they’re seeing. it’s all there, and it was put there intentionally so that both sides would keep watching and talking about this show

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In the conversation of buddie vs bucktommy, I think instead of being utterly shocked when folks ship the other thing, we could maybe consider that the show is telling both stories.

Do you really believe that every single one of the thousands of people in the other camp are stupid and media illiterate? I sure don't, and I think if you were to think about it, you would admit you don't believe that either.

Is it media illiteracy to recognize that the bucktommy breakup was open-ended and parallels third-act breakups of romcoms? No. Is it media illiteracy to notice how Buck still thinks about and cares for Tommy and therefore to hope that they might get back together? No.

Is it media illiteracy to think that Eddie looks at Buck with love during the poker date? No. Is it media illiteracy to pay attention to the parallels between Buck/Eddie and other couples on the show? No.

Rest assured, we are watching the same show, we are just focusing on different details and interpreting it differently. And the cool thing is media literacy allows for both of us to be right!

I'm just begging people to stop saying "teehee those people are so stupid and I'm so much better and right teehee." It's tired and old and hurtful and unhelpful.

Kindness is free! Thank you.

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remember bucktommy fans

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bonus from my last post : just buck saying only "tommy" cus i think it's funny (and cute)