#the difference is eddie's not quite ready so his body is turned a bit away from buck at an angle that closes them off a bit

[luvrxbunny]

fries

Pairing: Steve Harrington x F!Reader

Prompt: Semi-Public Sex

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, handjob, teeny bit of praise (lmk if I forgot anything)

WC: 1.6k

A/N: couldn’t figure out how to end this *crying in the distance*

You’ve all been drinking and smoking- more drinking than smoking. You all smoked on the way over here, hot-boxing Eddie’s van and stressing Steve- the driver- out. You made up to him by promising to be the designated driver tonight, but plans fell through when Eddie coaxed you into drinking with him. 

Luckily, Nancy was much more responsible than the rest of you, she didn’t even come out tonight, saying she had work or assignments to do- who knows. She offered to pick you all up whenever you were ready to go home, preferring to get you all at 2 AM than let any of you drive drunk. So you were uninhibited, taking multiple breaks to smoke in Eddie’s van before coming back into the bar for more drinks. 

You’re all sitting in a half-moon booth, you’ve ordered fries for yourself, getting extreme munchies from whatever strain Eddie currently has. Robin, Eddie, and Steve are all talking about something else, some band that Eddie doesn’t think deserves to make music..? Or something like that? All you’re focused on is how criminally unseasoned these fries are. 

You look around the table for salt but get distracted by Steve. He looks amazing tonight, he looks amazing every night, if we’re being honest. His hair is its usual, incredible, caramel brown color and his eyes are shining with the passion of his conversation. His hands are veiny, his thick fingers pointing accusingly at Eddie as he shouts about whatever band. His biceps are bulging with how hard he’s pointing, making the sleeves of his collared shirt pulled tight over his skin. You’re counting the moles up his neck when he turns to you, his thick eyebrows un-tensing when he notices your staring. His chocolate brown eyes soften when he takes in the small smile resting on your lips. 

You try to calm down and play it off like you aren’t madly in love with him but it doesn't quite work, it just manifests itself differently. “Can you pass me the salt, loverboy?” 

His eyes go wide. 

You try not to act too embarrassed at the words that have left your mouth. You’ve never called him that before, you’re worried that you feel much more for him than he feels for you so you try to limit yourself to ‘babe’ and ‘baby’.

You know how Steve used to be, you know he used to date around, that he was one of the most sought-after guys in high school, which is why it was a bit shocking when he confessed to you. You were never really popular, you’d see Steve around school but never really got involved, and you only showed up in your junior year. You cruised by unnoticed by almost the entire student body, except for the Hellfire club… and Steve apparently. He’d fallen for you in your limited time at Hawkins, he’d spoken to you here and there, simple interactions to you but for Steve, they meant a lot. You didn’t even realize he was pursuing you until graduation when he confessed. 

It’s been a year now and he’s just staring at you silently. You looked away from him in embarrassment but you’re forced to look back due to his silence. Eddie and Robin are still arguing, moving on without Steve and you’re looking at him again, trying not to pass out at his cuteness as you watch a blush spread over his face. 

He stays silent as he reaches across the table blindly, still staring at you as he grips what he rightly assumes is the salt and hands it to you. “Thank you, baby.” His brows furrow for a moment as he seems to blink back to life. 

“Loverboy?” He questions softly. You already turned your attention back to your fries when he speaks. He looks a bit sad, almost scared. “Sorry, what?” You say with a light giggle, hoping to bring his mood up from whatever brought it down. 

He scoots toward you in a way that’s just too adorable, the way he looks down at the bench to ensure there’s room for him before smiling up at you timidly and pulling himself closer. “I’m… I’m loverboy?” His tone brings a smile to your face as you turn back to your fries.

“Yeah. You’re my loverboy! And- and I’m your lovergirl! If you want I mean. I don’t know it’s- It’s so dumb.” You laugh nervously at his continued silence. “I think I heard it somewhere? It’s a thing I think. I don’t really know, it just came into my head I guess.” His hand comes to your thigh with a tight grip to stop your rambling. You take a bite of your fry before turning to him. 

His face is red. You’ve actually never seen him so red. He’s panting a bit as he lowers to you. You stare at him wide-eyed as you eat your fries, his eyes are flicking from your lips to your eyes and back down as you chew.  His lips are on yours the second you finish chewing, he’s whining and moaning into your mouth a bit louder than he should and you can’t help but smile against his lips. 

“W-what’s this f-” He cuts you off with another kiss, pushing your head into his mouth with a groan and you melt into him. His lips are a bit frantic against yours, they taste like weed, beer, and butter from the popcorn this bar has been serving. His tongue is soft and smooth as it slides into your mouth, pressing itself to the roof and gliding over yours with a moan before he pulls away. You’re delirious from the kiss, slow to open your eyes, and smiling the moment you do. His face has somehow turned an even deeper crimson color and his hands are rubbing the sides of your face, caressing you as he leans down to bury his face in your neck. You giggle at the action and he groans.

“I love it.” His voice is breathy and muffled but you can hear him perfectly. It takes you a second to realize what he means but the moment you do, you feel a heat spread throughout your body. You’re always sensitive for him, even more so when you’re high and extra needy when you’re drunk. Steve is the same way. 

He’s already scooting even closer to you, now pressing his boner into your thigh. “Call me it again? Say it again, baby. Lovergirl, fuck. Say it again.” He’s starting to slowly grind himself into your thigh and you look over to where Robin and Eddie were sitting. You notice they’ve ditched you both for a game of darts, very engrossed in it, giving you the perfect opportunity. 

You reach for Steve’s buckle immediately and earn a gasp from him. He leans back, giving you more access to his pants but holds a shocked look on his face. “What’re you doing, honey? Shit. Here?” You smile at him eagerly as you stick your hand into his pants, gripping his cock where it rests in his briefs. His hips twitch up into your hand, and his hand slides from the side of your face to behind your head as he pulls your lips to his, moaning into your mouth as you play with his slit, bringing more pre-cum to spill from him. 

He has to pull away to whimper your name as you begin to pump him. “What is it, loverboy?” He moans at the nickname, thrusting his dick further into your hand and begging you to go faster. “You’re so cute, Steve, such a sweet guy.” He whines your name on repeat like a prayer before pulling his head out, letting you see his face, how pink it is, and how desperate he looks. “Love y’so much, feels so good. You’re so dirty, baby. T-touching me in front of- holy shit.” He moans and kisses you briefly before pressing his forehead against yours, his hair tickling the apple of your cheeks. “In front of our friends like this. So good.”

His eyelids are fluttering as he tries to open them, to look at you as you pleasure him. You can tell his words are affecting him more than you, his hips starting to grind up into your hand, his hands trying to pull you closer to his face as he begins to whine for you. “I’m gonna cum, lovergirl.” 

A smirk grows over his face as the pet name rolls off his tongue, pulling a whine from you as you force his lips against yours. You moan into his mouth, groaning as you rub your tongue over his. His hips begin to stutter in their rhythm and you pull back. “Cum for me, loverboy.”

Steve lets out a last choked moan and starts cumming. You can feel his cock, tense, and pulse in your hand as he cums. His stomach tensing in time with his muffled moans, getting stuck in his mouth, behind his bitten lip. He’s forcing his eyes open now, willing them to keep your contact as he covers your fist in his cum. He curls in on himself with a groan as his cock spits out the last thick rope from his sensitive tip. 

He’s shaking as he huffs out slow breaths, trying to calm himself as you stroke his hair softly. He rests his head on your shoulder, panting your name with a light chuckle when you start pressing kisses to his head until he comes up. You start kissing all over his face then, ignoring his little giggles for you to stop, only listening when he grips the sides of your head with a beaming smile and kisses you. 

“Guys! Robin keeps cheating!” Eddie calls for you both in a teasing sing-song voice, jogging toward the booth. 

“You can’t cheat at darts.” Robin shouts back, laughing at him as she joins his journey over here. They’re arguing again by the time they reach the table, not noticing your struggle to pull your hand from Steve’s pants without getting cum on his shirt. 

“Guys, stop arguing. I’m calling Nancy.” Steve states with a hilariously stern tone. You laugh at the three of them as the duo begs Steve not to call her. 

Thank you so mcuh for reading! If you enjoyed, here's the rest of my Kinktober Works and be sure to check out my Main Masterlist!!

[rogueddie]

Vampire Eddie, Steddie Fic Rec List!!!

Important: READ THE TAGS! Also, leave a comment and kudos! These fics are amazing and I love them and I hope y'all do too 🦇

soundtrack of our summer (side a)

hawkeyedkoi

For over six months, after Hawkins and the Upside Down merge, Steve Harrington is plagued by nightmares. Vines choking him, Eddie dying, and a host of other nighttime horrors. It all changes one night in October 1986 when, instead of the Creel House or the trailer park, Steve dreams about a warm spring day at Skull Rock featuring one very familiar metalhead.

Sure, his subconscious' version of Eddie Munson makes some weird comments about being alive in the Upside Down sometimes, but that's just his brain's way of coping with Eddie's death ... Right?

Words : 100,042 Chapters : 11/11 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

Obey

Wrenegade (Wrenegadeone)

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t stop the fact that Eddie–,” Steve threw a hand out, gesturing to Eddie and ignoring the indignant look on Eddie’s face, “--wants to eat me,” Steve’s hand was back at himself, gesturing to his throat with dramatic emphasis.

“Just a little bit,” Eddie found himself saying while making a pinching motion, if only because part of him particularly enjoyed getting a rise out of Steve if given the opportunity.

Words : 65,042  Chapters : 17/17  Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

Feral

TheDeathsWish

Eddie has turned a bit… feral after coming back to life. It’s understandable, what with the whole being a vampire thing.

What Steve doesn’t expect is the gifts he keeps finding everywhere.

Words : 10,970 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

Hunger

Ash_Fountain

When a traumatic truth is revealed at a metal concert in Chicago, Steve decides to reveal his own secret to a distraught Eddie sparking a unique relationship.

Words : 33,265 Chapters : 8/8 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

You're Divine

OonionChiver

Eddie can’t seem to look away, can’t bring his ethereal gaze back up where it belongs. Steve thinks he should run, he should flee. A tiny part of him knows Eddie will chase him. Eddie will catch him, outrun him easily.

It's more than a little fucked up how that thrills him.

Words : 259,574 Chapters : 8/8 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

My Blessing

Undreaming

Back when Eddie was still human, he used to think it would be incredibly cool to be a vampire. Child of the night, Nosferatu, all that stuff from his beloved books. He would be untouchable and the people who wanted to hurt him just for being different would wither away and die of old age while he'd still be the same. But as he's learned during last 80-ish years, being a vampire sucks.

Words : 1,928 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

Devour

girafe13

Steve can’t look away. The sounds and voices from the church echo from a distance as the stranger leans in, propping his arm on the doorframe. Steve feels sweat gather on his brow. It’s only after he takes a step towards the stranger that he realizes he’s done so. Steve feels at the very end of a cliff, ready to fall willingly, anything to get closer to the ledge.

“Deputy ,” says the stranger, trailing off, pointing at his chest, not quite touching - oh, Steve wants him to, wants it like he needs air in his lungs - where his badge hangs. "Impressive."

Words : 36,899 Chapters : 10/10 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

A Secret In Your Throat

VampireEddie

Eddie returns - only it's not quite Eddie. Created by Vecna, a new being has taken over Eddie's mind - and he has his sights set on Steve Harrington. But what begins as a kidnapping may start to shift as Kas spends more time around Steve, and as Eddie tries to take back control of his body.

Words : 44,540 Chapters : 10/10 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

I didn't know that I was starving 'till I tasted you

Lihhelsing, tinkerbclla

Steve Harrington didn't really need much to be happy. He was finally signing divorce papers, ready to be free of his ex-wife. He liked his job at the coffee shop, especially because he got to do it beside his best friend in the whole world. And it didn't hurt that Steve's favorite customer, a guy with dark messy curls and a smile to die for, kept coming back to order his usual.

The only weird thing was that Eddie didn't seem to be drinking his coffee because his cup was always full at the end of the night. So Steve made his mission to find a drink Eddie would like, he just didn't imagine it would be something a little... Different.

Words : 16,063 Chapters : 1/1 Rating. : Explicit

AO3 : x

neighborhood gods

paxlux

It’s a legend. It’s a different kind of fairy tale, who wants to hear it. How one boy became wolf because of his stupid heart and the other became vampire because of his storybook courage. Keep an eye on the woods, there’s something out there.

Words : 13,335 Chapters. : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

How I’d Kill (to See You Again)

morningberries

“Are you going to kill me?” Steve’s voice was small, the question choking out of him without permission.

Did he even want to know the answer? It was probably as obvious as it seemed, as Eddie rose an eyebrow at him.

“Kill you? Oh, Stevie, I would never.” Eddie dropped to one knee by Steve’s side. His head leaned down, so close to Steve’s ear that he could feel his hot breath ticking against his hair. “I like my meals hot.”

Words : 66,826 Chapters : 10/10 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

Steve's Got a Date with a Vampire!

inairbinad

Eddie immediately pulled something out of his jacket—was that donated blood?—then tore into the bag and sucked its contents down like, well, water.

Then Steve had questions. The first of which being a hearty, “The fuck?”

Eddie drained the bag and let his head fall back to rest on the seat, exposing the column of his neck. Steve swallowed, cursing his brain to pay attention to what the hell was happening instead of being a slut for once. Eddie lolled his head to look at Steve and gave him a gleaming, bloody smile.

“So, funny story,” he paused. If Steve had to guess it must’ve been for dramatic effect. “I think I’m a vampire.”

Words : 33,485 Chapters : 7/7 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

You and Me (In the Center of the Apocalypse)

novacorpsrecruit

“Not g’na make it,” Eddie said, his voice shaking at the reality they were facing. “Not both of us.”

Steve glanced towards the gate. Eddie’s right. They both can’t make it through. Steve wouldn’t have time to even help Eddie through without the lining closing on him.

If Steve was gonna go through, he had to go now.

He couldn’t leave Eddie here to die.

Steve stepped back, dropping the stick.

“D-dingus?” Robin called. Her voice sounding far away. “No — no, Nancy we gotta — we gotta!”

The mucus lining started to bulge with their attempts to break the seal, the lining growing stronger, thicker, like healing skin. It slowly started to scar over, dark like a scab. It turned dark, hard, and solid. Steve couldn’t hear them anymore.

“You dumbass,” Eddie exhaled sharply. “You’re stuck.”

Words : 58,194 Chapters : 8/8 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

Steve Harrington: Vampire Hunter

Hbyrde

Steve Harrington is an animator. It’s a job that involves raising the dead; sometimes as a service for mourning relatives looking for closure, often as a tool for the courts to settle disputes.

Steve Harrington is also a licensed vampire hunter.

Two years ago, vampirism became legal in the United States, granting its undead population citizenship. With this new legal status comes a complication for Steve, as he finds himself tasked with helping the very creatures he is accustomed to killing.

Speaking of complications, Steve struggles in more ways than one when he finds himself working closely with none other than Eddie Munson, an undeniably sexy several-hundred-years old master vampire.

Words : 91,810 Chapters : 17/17 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

[helpimstuckposting]

I’m a ghost and you are a shadow

Part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven | part eight | part nine | part ten | part eleven

—

When they finally got around to leaving the backyard, once Steve had collected all the little bits of himself that felt tattered and stretched to their limits, he glanced back at his bedroom window. He caught the blinds swaying just a bit, as if someone had been peaking through and just stepped away. It was easy to imagine Eddie, pulling his mess of curly hair over his face to hide even though Steve hadn’t seen him. He wished he’d come back down.

Eddie was the only constant back in his world. He may have been states away, chasing some kind of purpose that Steve had lost among the bodies, but he called at least once a week. Just to say hi. Just to make sure they were both alive. Steve thought maybe he’d been so used to calling Wayne, he just didn’t know what to do without him. If Steve could be that filler in his life, that voice on the end of the line whenever Eddie reached for the phone out of habit, that was fine by him. It was the only thing he’d started to look forward to.

He wondered if his Eddie would be sad when no one picked up the phone this week. Steve felt a little like the small child hiding amongst the clothing racks again. He’s sure Eddie would notice. He’s just not sure if he’d care. Maybe he’d also send the nanny if he could.

Steve steeled his thoughts as they stepped back into the house, trailing slightly behind Robin as if that would delay the inevitable. She told him it was okay, that he could trust this different version of his mom but he wasn’t quite sure he could believe her. Maybe this Linda was different. That still didn’t make her his mother.

Back in the living room, Nancy, Max, El, and Dustin looked up when he entered. Dustin looked so apologetic that Steve almost felt bad for his reaction. He looked like he wanted to tell Steve sorry, that he didn’t mean to blurt that out, or that he didn’t mean to startle him but he couldn’t get the words out. Steve just nodded at him with a small reassuring smile and ruffled his hair as he passed, sitting back down on the couch with Robin.

They were back to the looking at each other thing, so Steve took pity on them and broke the silence.

“I'm okay, we can call her. Did you tell everyone else?” He asked.

Nancy shook her head. “We were waiting for you, we didn’t want to do anything behind your back.”

Steve nodded, heart squeezing tightly in his chest at the reminder that they cared enough to do that, to wait for him. He turned to the kids that were no longer kids, sitting together on the second couch, Dustin on the left and the two girls on the right.

“Still got the walkies?” He asked. Dustin nodded, pulling the two-way radio out of the bag at his feet.

“Always,” he replied.

“Are you ready?” Nancy asked, eyes caring and worried. She emphasized that it was okay if he wasn’t, if he wanted a few more moments to prepare for what was sure to be a stampede. Steve reassured her it was fine, that they’d have to say something eventually, and Robin squeezed his knee to offer her support, letting her hand rest there to keep him anchored to the spot.

“The rest of the boys should be in town. Will and Mike work at the arcade and Lucas is working at Family Video.”

Steve smiled, it seemed like they’d passed down their shitty strip mall jobs to the next generation. It was still so weird to know the kids were the same age he was when Starcourt opened, older than Robin was.

Dustin clicked the radio on and took one more glance at Steve before pressing the talk button.

“Mike, Will, Lucas, this is Dustin, do you copy?” He waited a few seconds, static coming through the other line. “I repeat, Mike, Will, Lucas, do you copy?” Another few seconds of pause. “We’ve got a 10-17, I repeat, a 10-17, do you copy?”

The line clicked in response. “Uh, what’s a 10-17 again?” Mikes voice filtered through the speaker.

“I think it’s a request for a pick up?” Will’s voice responded on the same line.

“That’s a 10-16, isn’t a 10-17 out of service? Why are you telling us you’re out of service? Over.”

The line clicked again, “That’s a 10-7, Mike,” Lucas’ voice responded. “Over,” he tacked on.

Dustin was clearly ready to vibrate out of his shoes in disappointment. The voices filtering through the static of the walkies made something fuzzy in Steve’s brain. The banter and the arguing and the crackling of the speakers, he could remember it like it was yesterday, like he hadn’t been missing it for four years. He was starting to get misty-eyed again and clutched onto Robin’s hand, still resting on his knee. She squeezed back.

“You’re all useless, it’s urgent business! I repeat, urgent business! Over!” Dustin yelled through the receiver.

Max rolled her eyes on the couch next to him and sunk back into the cushions, arms crossed. El followed her example, crossing her arms as well and relaxing into Max’s side.

“You don’t have to repeat everything, you know,” Mike answered back, tone snappy and impatient. The familiar sound of arcade games crackled out vaguely in the background and Steve could picture him leaning against the prize counter, rolling his eyes as he ignored some little kid in favor of answering Dustin.

“My shift is over in thirty minutes, how urgent are we talking?” Lucas responded.

“Uhhh,” Dustin glanced at Steve, eyes looking just this side of manic, “Try back from the dead urgent.”

“What?”

“Dead?”

“Who’s dead?”

“Who’s back?”

Dustin pressed the talk button to cut them all off again, “Just finish your shifts if you have to and meet back at Base Nora, he’s not going anywhere. Over and out.” Mike, Will, and Lucas tried calling out over each other, the line cutting in and out about ‘who’s not going anywhere?’ and ‘what are you talking about?’, but Dustin just clicked the walkie off instead of answering.

Max leaned forward again, arms still crossed against her chest, and looked at Dustin like he’d finally lost it. “That was the absolute worst way you could have handled that.”

“Yeah but how fast do you think they’ll get here now?” he responded. Steve shook his head as a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. He had to admit Dustin was clever. Rude as hell, but clever. Max just smirked back at him.

“Oh they are so fired.”

“I don’t think Keith can afford to fire them,” El laughed.

Keith, Family Video, the kids, it was all so similar to his world. If it was just this, just the party and Robin and Eddie, it would be fine. The fact that his house was Base Nora, that it was clearly well used by many people and filled with laughter and the sunlight of the morning peaking through the windows, it filled Steve with longing for what he’d lost in his world.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d opened the blinds in his house. It was always dark, quiet. He barely even turned the lights on most days, just fumbled through the house hungover and half blind. If it was just the kids they had to tell, he’d be excited to see their reaction, to know that everyone was safe.

However, with the conclusion of one task, the other much more daunting task was at hand. The lightness in Steve’s chest from the kids’ banter was slowly stripped thread by thread, unraveling the warmth he felt and replacing it with cold dread. Robin pulled him up and they all made their way back into the kitchen.

He glanced again at the picture wall, taking in the images he was too panicked to really see before. He stepped closer. There was a picture of the party at a beach, though Steve didn’t know where. He’d only ever seen beaches from expensive hotel windows, before his parents deemed him old enough to stay home alone. Here, the other Steve was smiling, arms around Eddie and Robin, who both had their hair up in buns, kids fighting in the background. There was another picture of the party in his living room, blankets strewn around the floor, kids huddled around with a movie on in the background. He couldn’t tell which movie, but the kids weren’t looking at the screen anyway, they were all huddled around laughing at he and Eddie, sleeping soundly splayed out on top of each other.

Steve wondered how much happier this Steve was. How much more he had. He did things, went places, surrounded by friends, always touching and talking and laughing. He had the party, all safe, he had his mom. But he’d died, left it all behind and Steve was in his place, taking that spot from him. It didn’t seem fair. Steve really didn’t belong here.

“Steve?” Robins voice called as softly as he’d ever heard her. He turned away from the pictures to where she was standing by the phone, already held in her hand. She tilted her head toward the dial on the wall, silently asking if he’d like to do the honors.

He shook his head but walked over to her, stepping in as close as he could. She wrapped an arm around his waist and held the phone to her ear, inexplicably dialing the Wheeler’s number. He glanced over at Nancy, leaning against the archway to the kitchen.

“Our moms have girls’ days sometimes. That’s where they all are now,” she whispered as Robin finished dialing. He could hear it ring. The phone anxiety was creeping back up on him, clawing at his throat. What if she’s mad they interrupted, what if she’s sad he’s not really her Steve, what if she doesn’t care, what if-

“Hi Karen, can I talk to Linda?” Robin’s voice cut through his spiral. He could hear Mrs Wheeler on the other end calling out for his mom, heard giggling in the background and wondered how many of their parents were there. Linda. Robin Buckley was on first name basis with his mother. The more things stay the same, the more they change or whatever the fuck that saying was.

“Hello? Robin?” His mothers voice called out through the speaker. Robin gripped his waist tighter, squeezing three times. He tapped her hand three times right back. It was okay. He’d be okay.

“Hi Linda. I uh… sorry to interrupt!” Robin responded.

“Oh, nonsense, is everything okay? You’re all there, right?” Her voice was so soft, so kind. The last time he’d heard the same voice it was cold, hard like stone. A frigid ‘We’re very disappointed in you, Steven’ tossed his way before his father threw down job applications on the kitchen table. He blinked back the memories and tried tuning back into Robin.

“-don’t really know how to explain it, we just… uh. It’s about Steve.”

It was silent on the other end of the line. The static counting down the seconds before his mother cleared her throat to respond.

“What about Steve, Dear?”

Robin turned to look at him, a vague panic in her eyes as she didn’t know how to respond. They probably should have thought this through more, figured out something to say before calling. It was too late now.

“Um… uh… Something… happened this morning and we think it’s, you know, campaign related,” Robin emphasized, as if she were adding a wink, wink onto the end of her sentence.

She continued, “There’s some, uh, gates we think have opened and someone’s stumbled back into our lives.” Steve felt her shrug helplessly, letting go of his waist to give Nancy a sort of ‘please help me, I’m drowning here’ look, gesturing frantically to the phone. She marched over to them and slid it out of Robin’s hand, stepping in between the two of them.

“Hi, Linda. We think you should come home and see for yourself. It’s a lot, so just… try not to freak out,” Nancy added. Robin smacked her hand to her forehead, that would definitely make someone freak out.

Steve didn’t hear the end of his mom’s call, just the whispered frantic arguing between Nancy and Robin. Eventually, though, Robin hung up the phone and they all looked at each other. At least that was over now. The actual explaining this though was going to be harder. Where did they even start? Everyone was going to flip out the second they saw him, and Steve was exhausted enough already. He couldn’t wait for this part to be over, he just wanted to rest.

This much energy, this many people and conversations and socialization wasn’t something he was used to anymore. It was a bit suffocating, but that could also have just been the panic. It would take about fifteen minutes to get here from the Wheeler’s house, same for the boys at the strip mall — though, Steve wasn’t sure if they’d finish out their shifts first or just make a break for it. They were never good at impulse control.

He decided to sit on the staircase at the entryway. He figured being right there would sort of rip the bandaid off, so to say. So, he sat on the cold hardwood steps, felt Robin plop herself down next to him, and he waited. The dark wood table against the wall of the entryway was the same in his world, though there was a vase of fresh flowers, recently filled. Alive. In his world, they were never real to begin with. Instead, there was a large vase of scented sticks, some minimalist bullshit decor that meant nothing. He stared at the flowers, outlined each and every one to keep his mind away from the panic, to keep himself rooted to the spot.

He used to sit here after saying stiff and formal goodbyes to his parents. He’d watch them leave, tell them have a safe trip, close the door behind them and then just… sit on the stairs. He’d sit for minutes or hours or whatever amount of time it took him to get over himself and get back on with his life. Who cared about some superficial woes of a rich boy? What was he going to say, that he missed parents he never really had? That he wanted his mommy? It was pathetic. So he’d dust himself off, though a spec of dust probably didn’t exist anywhere in the Harrington house, and call up Tommy and Carol to tell them he had the house to himself again. He could fill it with as many people as he wanted before they got back, he was fine.

Now, instead of shaking himself out of it, he was snapped back by the sound of high heels against the brick steps outside. He held his breath, or maybe he just forgot to breathe all together. Before the handle was touched, a stampede of sneaker noises caught up to the heals on the steps, the panting and gasped complaints bleeding through the door.

“Hi, Mrs Harrington,” he thought it was Will’s voice that filtered in.

“Hi, boys. I’m assuming you got a cryptic call as well?” She teased. She teased. He’d never heard that tone before in his life.

“Yeah, Dustin called right in the middle of our shifts!” Lucas accused, as if Dustin didn’t specifically tell them to finish their shifts before coming over.

“Aren’t you going to get in trouble for that?” She asked

“Oh please, Keith can’t afford to fire us anyway,” Mike muttered.

With the greetings out of the way, someone finally gripped the handle. The rattling of the metal put a fire under Steve’s ass and before he knew it, he’d booked it around the corner and just out of sight.

“Wait, Steve-,” Robin shouted after him, though the door finally opened and she was confronted with four startled faces before she could run after him.

“Steve?” Lucas shouted.

He muttered a quiet fuck under his breath and braced himself. He couldn’t just leave Robin floundering around by herself out there, that was too cruel. So, instead of being an absolute coward he took in a deep breath, held it for just a few seconds until his lungs felt stretched to their limits, and then he let it all go as he stepped around the corner.

—

Sorry about that one guys, I hate cliff hangers but I never know where else to stop these lmao you'll meet Linda Harrington in the next one! We'll also hear from Eddie 👀

I'm still adding to the taglist as well, so feel free to ask!

@weirdandabsurd42 @sirsnacksalot @space-invading-pigeon @aliea82 @goodolefashionedloverboi @emly03 @bestwifehaver @mentallyundone @13catastrophic-blues @estrellami-1 @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @likelylad @aellafreya @wxrmland

[hbyrde36]

Life is a Game (and True Love is a Trophy)

Chapter 11

Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9 Ch 10 ao3 link

*Eddie*

Eddie had never had a morning after.

How could he, when he’d never experienced a night before? 

Until now, anyway. 

And while they hadn’t gone all the way, so to speak, it was still the most sex Eddie had ever had, because it was the only sex he’d ever had. So he figured it counted.

It might have been his first, but he didn’t think anything would ever top this morning after. Whether last night was a one time thing or the start of something more, he’d always remember the day he woke up in Steve Harrington’s arms.

They must have shifted positions in the night. Eddie now found himself playing the little spoon with Steve’s strong arms wrapped around his waist. Though his body itched to move, to yawn, to stretch, he held himself still, basking in the heat of Steve's chest pressed up against his back, not ready to give up the moment quite yet. 

With the press of a soft kiss to his bare shoulder Eddie discovered that Steve was awake too and that perhaps he hadn’t been doing as well a job pretending to be asleep as he thought. He smiled to himself as Steve’s lips continued to make trail upwards. He tilted his head back, exposing his neck in invitation which Steve gladly accepted. 

“Good Morning.” Steve whispered in his ear.

Eddie turned in the other boy’s hold. Suddenly he couldn’t go another minute without seeing Steve's face. He looked ethereal in the soft morning light that filtered in through the thin curtains that covered Eddie's window. His hair was sleep tousled and his face still had the impression of sheet lines in it but Eddie was absolutely sure he’d never seen someone so beautiful in his life. 

He settled back down on his pillow, happy now to be facing Steve. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Okay?” Steve said incredulously. He leaned in to capture Eddie’s lips once with his own, before moving on to pepper what felt like every square inch of his face with dozens of little tickling kisses. “I think that might have been the best night’s sleep I've ever had.”

Eddie giggled, high and unguarded before promptly hiding his face in the other boy's neck. Steve was being entirely too cute and his heart was full in a way he’d never felt before. 

Steve’s arms tightened around him, pulling the front of their bodies dangerously close together. They were both growing hard, there was no hiding it since neither of them had bothered to get dressed again after making a mess of themselves last night. Eddie groaned, unable to stop from bucking his hips forward, pressing himself into Steve's thigh chasing a bit of friction. Steve moved against him as well, a soft moan falling from his own lips. Just then, a door slammed loudly somewhere else in the house reminding both boys that they were not alone in the trailer. And not only was it morning, but uncle Wayne and the girls were definitely awake and only a room away.

Eddie groaned again but for a very different reason this time. Steve chuckled and they reluctantly moved away from each other in unison. 

Steve sat up on the edge of the bed, most of his lower half mercifully still concealed beneath the covers. “We should probably get dressed before anyone comes bursting in here huh?” He said, looking back at Eddie over his shoulder. 

“Unfortunately.” Eddie agreed through a deep sigh. He waited until Steve was busy rooting through the bag they’d brought back from his old house before getting up to cross the room. He quickly pulled a clean pair of boxers on and then the first jeans he could find. It didn’t matter that they’d laid together naked all night, somehow the idea of walking around in the daylight exposed made him a little self conscious. 

He felt better being at least mostly covered up, and went to the closet to pick out a shirt. He glanced at Steve and found that he was still rooting through the bag even though he was fully dressed now in his own jeans and a soft looking worn yellow sweater. 

“We can always go back. If there’s something you wanted that I missed or anything.” Eddie remarked, trying to sound casual about it as he shoved an old black sabbath t-shirt over his head. 

“No, it’s fine. It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid to want your own things, Steve. What were you looking for?”

Steve sighed, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. “My letterman jacket.”

Eddie bit his lip and quickly turned back to the closet, as much to hide his face as to retrieve what he was hiding in there under a box of junk.  

“See? I know it’s silly and I don't even...” Steve trailed off as Eddie stepped back from the closet and held the green and white jacket out to him.

He looked at the floor as he spoke, too embarrassed to meet Steve’s gaze. “I don’t even know why I took it, honestly. It was hanging there on the back of a chair in your room and I just, I don’t know. I couldn’t leave it there.”

Steve didn’t take the jacket, instead he tucked a finger under Eddie's chin, tilting his head up until their eyes met. 

“Hey, I’m glad you took it.” 

Eddie swallowed hard, nodding a little as Steve did finally take the jacket out of his hand. He instantly went searching in the pockets. It wasn’t until then that Eddie realized what he was looking for. Steve didn’t really care about the jacket, he just wanted what was in it. 

“Oh.” Eddie breathed, reaching for his wallet on the nightstand .He quickly retrieved the polaroid that he’d been carrying around with him and handed it over. “Is that what you’re looking for?”

“Yeah.” Steve said, smiling broadly. “Thank you. It’s… it’s the only picture I have of us together. It means a lot to me” He looked at the image for a long moment then handed it right back. “Actually, could you hold onto it for a little longer? Keep it safe for me?”

Eddie nodded again, a little dumbfounded and at a loss for words as he tucked it back into his wallet. 

Steve cleared his throat. “I, um, I’d like you to keep this too. If you want to.” He said, nervously offering the jacket back to him as well.

Eddie stilled, and couldn’t bring himself to look at the clothing item in question. His throat was suddenly dry, palms sweaty. It couldn’t mean…

“Are you asking me to go steady, Harrington?” Eddie joked, or tried to at least. He expected Steve to joke back or something but instead he looked Eddie right in the eyes, expression serious. 

“Yes.”

“Oh.” Eddie said, voice barely audible at first. “Are you sure you want that? I mean… knowing what you do about me?”

“What? That you're brave, and sweet, and kind, and thoughtful, and… ”

“Steve.” Eddie grumbled. 

Steve knew damn well what he meant. Eddie was a mystery to everyone, including himself. He didn’t know where he came from or who his parents were. He had powers that he didn't understand, he might even be dangerous. He was kind of a mess. 

“I think I can overlook all that and see past it to your good qualities.”

Eddie couldn’t help but break out into a smile. “Such as?”

“Well, you’re pretty okay to look at.”

“Just okay?”

“Mhmm” Steve hummed, setting the jacket down on the bed before taking Eddie into his arms. They kissed, one, two, three times before Steve pulled back, suddenly looking nervous again.

“So, what do you think?”

Eddie marveled at how Steve could possibly think he would say anything other than a resounding yes. “I think you’ve made a big mistake here because you’re never getting rid of me now.”

“Sounds perfect.” Steve smiled and his whole face lit up with it like he’d just been given the greatest gift, as if he were the lucky one.

Eddie knew better. 

He huffed a laugh and shook his head at himself. “First boyfriend and I manage to bag Steve Harrington. Maybe there is something to all those Satan worshiping rumors.”

“Eddie.” 

“How else do you explain it?” Eddie teased.

Steve rolled his eyes, then paused, face screwed up in thought.

“Am I really the first person you’ve dated?”

Eddie shuffled his feet and fought to retain eye contact. “You're sorta my first… everything, Steve.” He knew he could have just not said anything and he probably would have gotten away with it, but he didn’t want to start their relationship with any sort of lies between them, even if it was a little embarrassing to admit.

He squirmed, watching as realization dawned on Steve’s face. “So yesterday, the kissing, and then last night… that was?”

“Yup.”

Steve slid his hands up and down Eddie’s arms eventually taking both of his hands and twining their fingers together. “Eds, why didn’t you say anything? I would have…”

The blush Eddie had been fighting off up till now rose up his face and neck. He rested his head on Steve's shoulder trying to hide it. “It's not really something you want to just blurt out in the moment. Besides, I wanted it. I wanted to take care of you.”

“Alright,” Steve murmured, kissing his hair.  “But next time–”

He was interrupted by the not nearly distant enough sound of a cabinet slamming and cups and plates being set out in the kitchen.

“If we ever get another moment alone–” Steve tried to continue, but as if the universe was intent on reminding them that their time for now was up, there came a rough knock on the bedroom door.

“Breakfast, boys.” Wayne called out.

-

“I think these are my favorite waffles so far.” El said around a mouthful of Eggo, butter, and syrup.

“So far?” Wayne asked, amused.

“She’s a bit of an aficionado.” Steve answered, grinning. “All that effort making them from scratch and I could have been buying frozen?”

Eleven giggled, nodding enthusiastically before turning her attention back to Max. The girls seemed to have become best friends overnight. It warmed Eddie’s heart to see, Steve must have noticed it too if the fond smiles he was sending their way were any indication. 

“So, what’s a guy gotta do to earn the homemade waffles, Harrington?” Eddie asked softly, lightly bumping his shoulder against the other boy’s.

Steve took his hand under the table and squeezed it. “I think we could work something out.” He said equally quiet.

Clearly the comment was meant for only his ears, and while the two girls were suitably distracted with each other (Max was explaining the basics of skateboarding to an enraptured Eleven), Wayne was peeking at them out of the corner of his eye.

Eddie wanted to kiss Steve right then and there at the table but he held back. Wayne might already be on to them and unless they cooled it Max and El wouldn’t be far behind. He squeezed back with the hand Steve was holding and reluctantly let it drop. 

When everyone was finished Wayne gathered their plates and set about washing them, refusing Steve’s offer of help. Eddie didn’t know who the old man was trying to impress, knowing full well that if it was just the two of them they’d have let the sticky plates sit in that sink all day. 

The phone rang, loud and shrill. Eddie jumped up automatically to answer it so his uncle wouldn't have to trail soapy water all over the place.

“Hello?”

“Hey, kid.”

It was Hopper, and he sounded absolutely exhausted. Memories of last night came barreling to the forefront of Eddie’s mind. In his happy haze he’d almost forgotten about the lab and the fire, but before he could say anything the chief was talking again.

“Listen, tell Wayne I'm sorry but I won't be able to make our fishing trip this weekend.”

What the fuck? 

“What do you mean, what about the– “

Hopper cut him off, loudly interrupting before he could ask any questions. “Just tell your Uncle exactly what I said, okay? I gotta go.” He hung up without another word.

Eddie stared down at the receiver still sitting in his hand and had a terrible feeling he was missing something. 

“That the school calling to tell me you didn’t show up again today?” Wayne asked from across the room.

“No, it was Hopper.” He replied. “Since when do you fish?”

“Ah, shit.” Wayne cursed, dropping the dish he was holding rather forcefully into the soapy water and quickly drying his hands. “Ed, what did he say exactly?”

Eddie repeated what Hopper had said word for word. Wayne visibly paled. 

“Okay kids. You got 5 minutes. Pack what you can.”

“What?” Eddie squawked.

“Have you ever seen me go fishing? It's a code that me and Jim worked out a long time ago.” Wayne said.

Ok, well that made more sense Eddie supposed. “What does it mean?”

The older man sighed, raking a hand over his face. “In a nutshell it means we need to get the hell out of here as soon as possible… and we might not be coming back.”

“Fuck.”

It hit Eddie all over again, everything the man standing in front of him had done and continued to do to keep him safe. Wayne had known since day one that something like this might happen, and he’d been prepared to cut and run at a moment's notice with no questions asked and no concern for the fact that he’d be ruining his own future.

Steve tugged Eddie’s arm, spurring him into action. Right, no time to dwell on it now, he could be sappy later. 

They rushed to his room. 

“I got the girls covered, '' Wayne called to their backs. “Meet out front, quick as you can!”

Steve's bag was still packed and sitting open on the floor. He zipped it up and threw it over his shoulder then began to help Eddie with his own. He had an old army surplus bag stuffed under his bed. He pulled it out and they began to fill it with clothes until it seemed like enough. 

Eddie scanned around the room wondering what was worth it to take. He wasn’t even remotely prepared for this scenario. He spotted Steve’s letterman jacket still sitting on the bed and added it to the bag, along with his battered old copy of The Hobbit. He snatched photos right off the walls, a few of him and Wayne, Claudia and Dustin, the boys.

Lastly, he looked up to where his sweetheart hung on the wall in front of the mirror. He hated to leave his beloved electric guitar behind, but it seemed silly to take it when he had no idea where they were going or exactly what kind of trouble they were running from.

Steve watched him, sad eyes full of sympathy as he rested a hand on Eddie’s back. “What about that one?” He suggested, tilting his head towards the old acoustic guitar that sat collecting dust in the corner of the room. “It’s light and you can play it without an amp.”

He had a point but Eddie still felt like it wasn’t important enough. Wayne was already shouting at them to hurry. He hesitated, and Steve made the decision for him, slinging the guitar over his own back with the shoulder strap and linking their free hands together. 

Eddie took one last look around the room as they walked out, years of memories etched into the walls. He hoped that somehow Wayne was wrong and they would be able to come back here eventually, but he wouldn’t hold his breath. 

The trailer park was calm and quiet as they loaded what little everyone had collected into Wayne’s truck and Eddie’s van. Neither of the young girls had any belongings and Wayne himself only had a few small boxes and bags.

“Max, Ellie, you want to ride with me or with the boys?”

El turned to her brother before answering. “Is it okay if I go with Mr. Wayne?”

“Of course, sweetie. You two keep him company, I've got this one.” Steve said, winking at her and hooking a thumb in Eddie’s direction. 

El grinned and she and Max climbed into the passenger side of the truck. 

Wayne walked over as he threw the last bag in the bed of his truck. 

“Now, you boys follow me closely. Where we’re going ain't all that far but it’s in the middle of nowhere.”

-

They rode in silence. 

Both too scared of what this all meant to manage any kind of conversation but they kept each other’s hands in a desperate grip over the center console. It only got worse when Wayne pulled off the paved road and onto a dirt one, barely distinguishable from the unbeaten path around it. The way was bumpy and they had to go slow until eventually the trees grew too thick and they had to stop altogether. 

There was a small cabin sitting in a clearing not far off, Eddie figured they’d just walk the last few feet.

“Hopper’s cabin?” Eddie guessed out loud once they had all gotten out of the vehicles, though he already knew he was right.

His uncle didn’t question it, just nodded in agreement. “It’s been in his family for years. When you came along, Jim was the first to realize we needed an escape plan if there was ever a risk you’d been discovered. He wiped all record of this place from city hall and what-not as best as he could, and we stocked it up with supplies. I hoped it’d never be needed but I'm sure glad we have it now.”

The cabin was neat, clean, and a lot nicer than the one Eddie had imagined, though it wasn’t any bigger unfortunately. It would be a bit of a tight squeeze for the 5 of them, but not much worse than home had been really so he knew they would make it work.

Predictably, Wayne insisted that the rest of them should take the only two bedrooms.

Max and El set off right away to explore their new and hopefully temporary home.

Eddie knew it was pointless to argue with the older man but he felt like he’d cost his uncle so much already. It didn’t seem right letting him give up one of the only beds too. 

“Wayne, I think… “ He looked at Steve before continuing, hoping the other boy would be okay with what he was about to offer. He must have understood and nodded encouragingly. “You should take the other room. At your age you should really be sleeping in a bed and me and Steve will be alright out here.”

“I know you didn’t just say at my age.” His uncle said, arms crossing over his chest.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean, you should have a bed!”

Wayne looked at them in turn and sighed. “Boys, look, there's two of you and only one of me, and I don’t want to assume anything…” He trailed off, raking a hand over his suddenly red face.  “I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready, but I think it’d be best for everyone if you had a little privacy. I’d just like to point out that the walls here don’t look much thicker than the trailer’s, so, keep that in mind.”

Eddie felt all the blood drain from his face. “Oh my god.”

“I'm not sayin’ I heard anything! But–” Wayne tried to continue, throwing his hands up in surrender, but Eddie interrupted him mid sentence.

“Oh my god Wayne, please stop talking. We’ll take the room and whatever else you want if you just please, please stop talking.”

Eddie chanced a sideways look at Steve. He’d been purposely avoiding the other boy’s gaze for the entire exchange, but they hadn’t yet talked about how open they wanted to be about their new relationship, and he was desperate to see how Steve was taking all this. 

To Eddie’s shock he was watching the whole thing with barely concealed amusement. Clearly he was fine, at least with Wayne knowing about them. The whole thing was still completely mortifying, but he was relieved that Steve was taking it all in stride. Eddie was pretty sure he hadn’t come out to anyone yet really and he knew from personal experience how nerve wracking it could be to be seen, really seen, for the first time. 

Wayne huffed a laugh and wandered off in the direction of the kitchen. Eddie snatched up his own bag as well as Steve’s and began to haul them both towards the bedroom they’d be sharing. He expected Steve to follow him, thought he had actually, until he overheard hushed voices on the other side of the cabin. 

“Thank you for all this, for taking me and El in before and bringing us along now. I uh, I know how protective you are of Eddie and um, I just want you to know that this isn’t… I really care about him.”

“I can see that, son. Neither of you is very subtle, just uh, so you’re aware.” Wayne gave another breathy laugh. “I’m happy for the two of you and I want you to know I’ve got no problem with it. I've known about Eddie for a while and I love him just the same as I ever have. I support him. You too, Steve. He's got a good heart, and I'm glad he found someone who can see that and appreciate it.”

“Thank you.” Steve’s voice cracked on the short phrase and Eddie had to sneak a glance out the doorway to make sure he was okay. 

Wayne had his arms wrapped around Steve, whose shoulders were shaking slightly. The older man was rubbing his back and murmuring to him quietly. 

Eddie retreated back into the room and slowly began to unpack. He was so thankful for his uncle at that moment, for the sort of man he was, and the kindness he was showing Steve. He knew now what kind of people the Harrington's were. He wondered when Steve had last been hugged by a parental figure. It’d probably been a long time, well before he had disappeared and gotten locked up in that awful place. He had El, of course, and now he had Eddie too, but there was something different about having a trustworthy grownup in your corner. Someone who’d lived a bit. Who knew what life could throw at you and tried their best to keep you safe from it.

Eventually Steve came to find him and Eddie pretended not to notice the slight ring of red around his eyes. Steve smiled as he helped to put the last of their clothes into drawers. He seemed remarkably lighter, as if some long carried weight had been taken off his shoulders. 

-

After all the drama of going on the run, their afternoon at the cabin was remarkably boring. There was nothing much to do except worry about the others and wait for some kind of word from Hopper. Wayne seemed sure the man would show up at any time. There was a phone on the wall, Eddie had noticed, but when he checked the line he found only dead air. 

The girls had found a stack of old board games in a cupboard and were spending their time playing round after round of checkers.

Wayne busied himself in the kitchen, going over their supplies and throwing some kind of concoction together for dinner. 

Eddie and Steve sat together on the couch trying to enjoy each other's company while stuck in the hell of waiting for the next thing to go wrong. 

They all heard it when a car pulled up nearby, brakes squealing a little as it came to a stop. It occurred to Eddie as they all rushed outside that it might have been smarter to stay hidden until they knew if their visitor was friend or foe. But Wayne had been right in what he said earlier, they were out in the middle of fucking nowhere, the odds of someone just happening upon them there were slim to none.

Eddie never thought he’d see Hopper’s police SUV and feel such immense relief. He knew he probably owed the man an apology, several in fact. He’d always given the chief a hard time, he couldn’t help it. Hopper was ‘the man’, part of the system that Eddie had spent so much time and energy railing against, but he was coming to realize that under all his rough exterior the chief was actually a good guy, and way less concerned about the law than he could have been. 

The driver's side door of the SUV opened and slammed closed, the sound echoing twice after as the rear passenger doors opened and closed. He wasn’t alone. 

Chrissy and Robin raced through the trees, making it to the cabin before Hopper had made his way around the other side of his car. 

Steve and Eddie turned to each other. Matching looks of surprise on their faces. 

“Are you guys okay?” Robin asked when they got close enough to not have to shout.

Eddie went down the steps to meet the two girls, Steve following close behind.

“Yeah we’re all fine, what are you doing here?”

Chrissy threw herself at him abruptly, hugging him tight. “I’m so sorry it’s all my fault.”

Eddie tried to look at Robin over her shoulder, searching for any clue as to what the girl in his arms meant, but she was already busy talking a mile a minute to Steve. 

He pulled back so he could see Chrissy's face. “What do you mean, Chris?”

“This, you having to run away from home and hide here. I should have known better than to come to your house last night. I should have known he’d follow me.”

“Wait, I thought, the fire- “ Eddie began, looking up to lock eyes with Hopper as he finally caught up to the group. “I thought this had something to do with the lab?”

“We’ll get to that in a bit but that's not why I gave you the signal to run. Jason Carver has been running around town all morning telling anyone who will listen that he saw Steve Harrington with you last night. That you’re the one who kidnapped him and have been holding him captive ever since. He also said you brainwashed his girlfriend and took Billy Hargrove prisoner. He thinks the D&D club at school is a front for your devil worshiping cult, and unfortunately there's a lot of small minded people in this town that want to believe him.”

“Fuck.”

Chapter 12

Thanks forever to @penny00dreadful for being the best friend, cheerleader, and beta in the whole fucking world💜

Taglist: @newtstabber @goodolefashionedloverboi @adaed5 @buckleybarnes @soaringornithopter @eddie-munsons-lunchbox @bestwifehaver @5ammi90 @sofadofax @ellietheasexylibrarian @manda-panda-monium @hardboiledleggs @mentallyundone @epiclazershark @herebedragons404 @estrellami-1 @paintsplatteredandimperfect @the-s-is-silent @brbsoulnomming @goinsteddie @steddie-there @yeahhhh-suga

[blueathens]

Ocean’s 9-1-1 - AGAPE SERIES

                     ACT TWO, CHAPTER 6

SONG: Stranger Things by Chase Atlantic QUOTE: “Man, this is why I could never rob a bank, I’m clearly not smart enough for it.”

A/N: Not proofread or edited.

A/N 2: This chapter is quite bad in my opinion due to me not having many ideas for what to do for it.

A/N 3: Also for the investigation scenes, the 118 dialogues are written on the right side in italics and labelled with who's speaking as they obviously all came in one by one, but in the show it combined them all together - i don't really know how to describe it...but I just thought maybe this be a better way to write this scene.

Previous || Next

Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

"Hello?" Kasey groggy voice answers the phone, not taking a single look at who was ringing her in the early morning. She slowly sits herself up in her car where she once was sleeping, and very tiredly rubs her right eye with the bottom of her palm.

"Did you know there was so many types of flour? There's self-raising, plain, wholemeal and– " Kasey yawned as Eddie's voice welcomes her on the other side. "Have you only just woken up?"

"Good morning Eds, how are you today? I was doing amazingly until this crazy man rang me to inform me on all the different types of flour instead of confessing his undying love for me."

"My undying love?" Eddie laughs as he picks up another bag of flour, spinning it around in his hand as he tried to read the uses of this type of flour. "It's seven in the morning, Kas, how have you just woken up?"

"Quite easily actually," Kasey sarcastically responded. "I opened my eyes and–"

"Do you think I can use cake flour to make pancakes?" Eddie questions, interrupting Kasey before she fell into an entire sarcastic rant, brows furrowing as he looked at the flour in his hand before shifting his gaze to the multiple bags of flour in front of him. "I was going to make pancakes but realised I had no flour."

"And you thought to call me to ask questions on cooking?" Kasey would have let out a loud laugh if her body wasn't still trying to wake up. "I'm flattered but I do think you should have called Bobby instead."

"Would he be up?"

"I wasn't," Kasey said flatly.

"I thought you would have been," Eddie responded. "You usually are."

"So is Bobby," Kasey mutters, "I think he's also at work already."

"Huh," Eddie nods. "Anyways, what flour?"

"I don't know," Kasey rubs her eyes again whilst Eddie purses his lips to stop the stupid smile that was playing at his lips from hearing Kasey's voice. "Wait until you get to the sugars," Kasey laughs slightly. "But we don't need to talk about that until baking a cake or something."

Eddie lets out a small sigh of relief as he allows his body to relax after hearing he doesn't have to worry about the different varieties of sugars.

"Anyways," Kasey yarns again, sitting herself up more against the window, "I'm pretty certain Bobby uses plain flour for pancakes."

"You sure?"

Kasey hums in confirmation and that was enough for Eddie to pick up the plain flour and toss it into his basket.

"Pancakes are easy to make, right?" Eddie questioned over the phone, and Kasey shot an eyebrow up at the next sudden question about cooking.

"I like this Kasey Strand you have pictured in your mind," she teases, "sounds like she's a pretty amazing cook."

"Shut up," mumbles Eddie.

"I think you'll make some pretty good pancakes," Kasey reassures him before she pulls the phone away from her ear to check the time. "I've got to get ready for work, Eds. You're coming in at 9 aren't you?"

Eddie nods before realising Kasey can't see him, "Er, yeah, yeah I am."

"Alright cool," Kasey smiles. "I'll see you in a bit! Good luck on those pancakes"

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"Hey! Hey!" A muffled voice said over the sound of slams against a window grabbed both Buck's and Kasey attention, both stopping and turning on their heel to stand by the drivers window, ready to aid the man slamming his window in desperation. "Can you tell me what's happening?"

Buck and Kasey gave a quick glance at one another before turning back to face the man. Buck licks his lip in thought, "Ugh, don't know, sir. We just got here."

"I can see that," the man lowers his face to the small gap that was in the off centre of his van door, but he stayed looking at the two young firefighters. "Do you know what the call was?"

"Two people down in the bank."

"Down? Like dead down? Injured down? Depressed down?"

"No," Kasey rolled her eyes and Buck snapped his neck to look at her, eyes squeezing shut as he listens to the next words that fell from his best friend's lips. "Their getting it down."

"You was called in for a dance party?"

Kasey stares at the man blankly. "Yes, we're the strippers that they hired."

"Oh," the man gives a form of a smile that was a mixture of gladness and slight excitement. "In that case–"

"She's not being serious," Buck sighs.

The drivers eyes widen, and the smile fell of his face. "M-my partner's in there."

Buck gives Kasey a look that she seriously shouldn't have made that joke, but Kasey's eyes moved to look down at her boots.

"Was your partner exhibiting any kind of symptoms of anything before entering the bank?" Buck called out loudly so he could be heard through the window.

"What?" The drivers face scrunches up. "No."

"Does he have any allergies or medical conditions?"

"No!" He states loudly. "He eats better than I do. He's-he's a pescatarian."

Buck holds his hand up in front of him. "Okay, well, uh, you just," he looks at Kasey, but she was still awkwardly staring down at her boots. "Sit tight!"

Buck pulls Kasey away with him in a rush, not listening to the last words of the driver as he was already onto scolding Kasey for the jokes she has been making recently, stating that there was a time and place for that.

"You're better than that," Buck states, hands waving all over the place. "It's bad when I'm the one telling you off."

"You're always telling me off." She rolls her eyes.

"Clearly I'm the only one who's been using our shared braincell recently," Buck shakes his head with a slight smirk. "At the moment it's like you're my child, call me daddy...I–" the two pauses at what Buck just said. "Never mind, that sounds wrong."

Kasey turns to look at him, horror was across her face as she stares at him. "Never," she emphasises strongly. "And I mean, never, say that again. That was horrible."

Buck nods, "we'll never bring this back up again."

"My therapist is going to hear about this." Kasey walks off into the bank.

"Therapist?" Buck calls.

"Yes," Kasey pauses as she keeps the door open whilst she looks over her shoulder. "Someone you talk to, not someone you sleep with."

"That was one time!"

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"All right. Get him started on O2. Ten litres." Bobby instructs, hands placed firmly on his hips whilst both Buck and Kasey came to stand on either side of him, pulling up their blue gloves. Bobby then turns his head to look at the woman that worked within the bank. "You said there's a second patient?"

Bobby, Hen, and Bobby wondered into the vault of the bank, a man was on the ground, twitching and gurgling.

"Same as the courier out front." States Hen as she takes a look at the man that had the same white foam bubbling in his mouth like the last guy.

She kneels down next to him, medical bag by her as she places a hand on the ground right by his head and a hand on his cheek. "Exhibiting extreme muscle spasms. Cap, pupils are dilated."

Eddie walks in and stands next to Kasey to also take a look at the man.

"I don't know what we're looking at here."

Eddie leans forwards slightly before shaking his head.

"Could be a nerve agent." Kasey looks up from the man to stare at the back of Eddie's head. She crosses her hands, body falling slightly stiff as she chews on her bottom lip.

"You've seen that before."

"Been trained for it," Eddie looks over his shoulder at Kasey, brows scrunching as he takes in her body language, he then turns his head back forwards to gesture a handout to the man. "Symptoms all line up. The fact that we have multiple people down. I can't say for sure until we run some tests."

"Hen you need to move," Kasey said, voice slightly strained and quiet. Eddie takes a step back, shoulder brushing Kasey's as they watch Hen move away from the man.

"You okay?" Eddie whispers.

"We had something like this in the field." Kasey mutters before giving a half shrug. "I don't really know, our medic apparently gave one of our guys some form of poison, but we didn't know until much later on though. She refused to help him...she then died a minute later cause another guy shot her dead." Kasey purses her lips with slight raised brows as she recalls an event from her path. "She ended up being a spy who needed to kill my team."

Eddie looked at Kasey with a screwed-up face and Kasey shrugs.

"Luckily we caught on quickly as we only had her that day, and, er, I honestly had no idea what was going on as I wasn't in the best of conditions."

Eddie understood that Kasey wouldn't want to talk about it any longer as he turns and leaves the vault, Kasey shortly followed, she knew she wasn't the one who needed to be in a rush. She only did a bit of medic training, nothing compared to what Eddie had to do, she was more in the combat not the medic side.

But something in Kasey felt off, like this was going to end up being what happened to her team, that they believed it was something else, but it ended up being something worst. She gives Hen a wary look, seeing if she was going to follow behind, and Kasey presumed she was as she was now standing up and moving away from the man.

"Step away. Step away." Kasey heard Bobby say as she walked out the vault, catching up to the two patching men who was being followed out by the blonde woman. "I need everybody's attention. We are now preparing for a possible chemical exposure incident. That means nobody in, nobody out."

There's a click.

"We can't risk spreading whatever may be present here."

Hen hears the beeping and turns around.

She runs in.

"Cap," Eddie says, the team turning around to see her rushing in. Eddie moved first. "Hen! Hen!"

"Hen! Hen!"

She falls to her knees behind the man's head, but his hands grabs her face.

"Wait...No. Stay calm, sir. Stay calm!" She attempts to pull his hands off from her face. "I'm with the LAFD. We got to get you out of here!"

The vault door was a second away from closing.

"No!" She screams as she pushes herself up, rushing towards the heavy metallic door, whilst both Bobby and Eddie tries to pull the bars of the front of it, trying to keep it open; but failed to.

The vault door was closed shut.

Bobby presses the side button of his radio, "Hen, do you copy?"

Hen pants, "I'm here, Cap. Making myself comfortable."

"Not too comfortable."

"How do we open this?" Bobby points his thumb behind him at the closed vault as he questions the woman.

"Uh, we don't. The vault operates on a time lock. It wont reopen until the start of business tomorrow."

"What if it's an emergency." Bobby asks.

"There is a number for the vault company on Mr Prentiss' desk."

"Show me."

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"I feel like a minion." Kasey mutters to her friends that were with her as they tried to open the vault in a various of different ways. Kasey turns to look at Eddie. "Look at Eds, Buck! He looks like a depressed minion, and you look like what's-his-name? Kevin!"

"Kas, what did I say about the jokes?"

"Just trying to defuse the tension," Kasey sighs as she slams her hand against the small screen of numbers. "I'm just nervous."

"We know," both Eddie and Buck voiced.

Bobby walks towards the trio, slight regret in his stomach that he told the three of them to work together on the vault.

This trio is a trio that should never work together, or it would be disastrous, but Bobby felt that them working together to attempt to open the vault – it couldn't go as bad as it already has.

"Not even a scratch," Buck alerts as he turns around to look at Bobby who was also in the same suit as the three of them.

Bobby walks towards the computer screen on the desk behind Eddie and Kasey.

"Okay, two people, 72 breaths a minute, we need to drill into that vault and get some air flowing."

"Doors are wired, Cap." Eddie waves his hand at the vault. "Running hot."

"We need to cut the power."

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All the lights were switched off, only the torches attached to everyone's suits were on.

"You know the man in the van," Buck begins as he talks to Kasey who was standing next to him. "I think he was commenting on our minion suits."

Kasey turns to where Buck was standing, not seeing each other clearly due to the dark, but both had two different smiles on their faces.

"Really?!" Kasey bounced in excitement. "What he say?"

"I couldn't really hear him, but I think he liked them!" Buck switches on his torch when he noticed he was one of the ones who didn't have their torch on. "I said okay to him and knew I had to come and find you."

"Wicked!" Kasey whispers to herself.

Eddie begins to drill into the vault and the duo turned to watch.

"How are you and Jamie?" Buck questioned his friend as the two of them haven't been giving any instructions for this part except hold torches to help Eddie to see.

"We're alright."

"You happy with him?" Buck tried, side eyeing his friend as her eyes stay on Eddie.

"I suppose," she shrugs. "We've only been going out for a few weeks."

"But you would know if you were happy with him, I knew I was happy with Abbie immediately."

Kasey furrows her brows. "What are you trying to say."

Buck stumbles on his words as his looks around the dark room as if it would give him some form of answer, "just, er, I'm just making sure you're happy."

"Sure," Kasey drags out.

"We're through!" Eddie yells as he pulls out the end of the drill to look at the hole he made before someone pushes a tube through it.

"Okay, Chim, power us back up." Bobby says in his radio. "Buck, crank the O2."

He turns to the oxygen tanks, twisting the dial, before letting go and turning round to face Bobby.

"We're wide open, Cap." The four of them look at the computer screen to see the two bodies on the ground of the vault. "Okay, now what?"

"Now we get in there."

"How are we gonna do that?"

"We're gonna crack this safe."

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"Chim and I are clearly the cool ones here," Kasey mutters as her and her team stand behind Bobby as he bends down. Her mask was in her right hand whilst her left hand pressed against her hip. "We're the only ones in our wicked minion suits."

She eyes the others in their usual uniforms.

"No idea why but–"

"Okay, we start drilling here," Bobby points to the blank wall that was surrounding the outside of the vault.

"Creating a crumple zone."

"Exactly."

"Then what?" A confused Buck asks.

"Then, I have an idea. But we got to soften it up first."

"Soften up a foot of concrete?" Chimney questions.

"Yeah, it beats three layers of tempered steel." Buck looks at Kasey with a grin. "Told you I'm the one using the braincell between us." He places both hands on the hammer that was once resting against his shoulder in one hand. "Let's do it."

The drill goes in first to make a few small holes in various of places of the area Bobby pointed out. Afterwards it was the hammer that was then used to smash against the holes that were created, using them as a marker to where to break down the wall.

"Okay, Chim, I need you back inside," Bobby demands, "eyes on the vault cam. If we're compromising their safety in any way, you got to let me know."

"Copy that, Cap."

"All right."

"How does Chim look adorable in this minion suit?" Kasey asks, ignoring the concerned looks Bobby and Eddie was giving her.

"Kasey," Bobby says, and she turns to look at him with a small frown. "Get into the fire truck."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

Kasey climbs into the driver seat of the fire truck, driving it forth until Bobby halted her with a signal of his hand. The three guys connect the line in front of the truck into the small hole made into the wall.

Eddie rushes forwards after a listening to the sound of rattling for a few seconds. "The wrench isn't going to do it, Cap!"

Bobby held his finger up, gesturing to Eddie to give him a second whilst he went on his phone. Meanwhile, Kasey was drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, humming a song that was stuck in her head whilst she awaited for her next instructions.

Buck jumped into the passenger seat of the fire truck. "Reverse the truck, someone just died."

"What?" Kasey snaps her head to look at him whilst she begins to reverse the truck.

"Keep on reversing."

"What do you think I'm doing, Buck?" At those words the area of wall they wanted to break, came out onto the wrench. Bobby and Eddie runs towards the hole, followed closely behind by Kasey and Buck who looked over Eddie and Bobby's shoulder only to see Chimney standing on the other side.

The vault door was now open.

"Hey, guys."

"Seriously?"

"Fucking hell!"

The four of them looked between each other before watching Chimney walk into the vault, mask now on his face.

"Hen! Can you hear me?"

There's a groan.

"Chim?" Hen dryly asks.

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"300,000 dollars."

"Tucked away on the 118 ladder truck. Any idea how it got there?"

HEN: "No, why would I?"

"You're with the 118. And you were at the bank when it was stolen."

KASEY: "Great observation, Captain Obvious."

HEN: "If by 'at the bank' you mean that I was unconscious and I was locked away in a vault, yeah. And I wasn't alone. "

MR PRENTISS: "Um...I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing. The doctors say I'm fine."

"Still feeling the aftereffects?"

"Do you have any idea what happened?"

MADDIE: "The call came in a little after 5:00."

KASEY: "I was in this minion suit for most of the time and for some reason Chimney looked freaking adorable in the suit! Yellow is his colour, just saying."

"I don't see how that's relevant."

KASEY: "Not to your question, no, but it's needs to be said. Anyways, we thought it was a nerve agent at first."

"On this report it says you've seen it before? When you was-"

KASEY: "I don't know much. A spy supposedly poisoned someone on my team and it looked a lot like what happened today."

"So you could've poisoned those people to help the 118 rob a bank?"

EDDIE: "That's a bold accusation."

"Looks like our money trouble is over. That's the text your sister sent you right after she took the 911 call. You care to explain."

BUCK: "Her landlord finally agreed to let her out of her lease and refund her security deposit. He'd been giving her some grief about it."

"You expect us to believe you just happened to take this call? And you just happened to dispatch  your brother's squad to the scene?"

MADDIE: "It happens more than you think."

CHIMNEY: "We're like a family."

KASEY: "The 118 is my family. So why would we purposely put Hen in danger?"

"That's what we're asking you."

KASEY: "Would you purposely put your own family in danger? No. I don't think so, so that question is-"

CHIMNEY: "I mean, a big, messy, extended family, but we take care of each other, we support each other. You know, we have each other's backs."

"Conspire."

BOBBY: "Conspire?"

"Conspire. You conspired with your fiancee's ex-husband to steal the blueprints to that bank."

MICHAEL: "Not stolen."

ATHENA: "You think they did what now?"

MICHAEL: "People request building plans all the time. Architects, contractors..."

"Terrorists."

KASEY: "You really think we have time to plan and attempt a robbery? Dude we save lives nearly every-day, and do you think we do this job for the money, because if we did, then we wouldn't still be working here, would we? Cause let's be honest, we don't get paid enough to risk our lives every day, but we do our job because we care about people, we care and want this world to be more safe."

"We-"

KASEY: "No wonder why people don't like you guys if you're throwing the word 'terrorists' around as if it's the same as 'I love you.'"

EDDIE: "Don't think I ever said the word 'terrorists."

"But you were the first to suggest it might be a nerve agent."

"And everyone figured  you knew what you were talking about. Coming from the military and all."

EDDIE: "It was part of my training. How to spot it. How to respond."

BOBBY: "We had to improvise."

"You do that a lot - improvise?"

BOBBY: "It's part of the job. See the problem, solve the problem."

KASEY: "Er, yeah, I suppose you're right. I do improve a lot, but what do you want us to do, have a cup of tea and a biscuit, so we can discuss a plan whilst someone dies right next to us. Yes, we be with you in a moment Jimmy, just got to decide what water pressure is needed to put out that fire."

MICHAEL: "I was trying to help a friend."

"Your ex's new squeeze is your friend?"

MICHAEL: "Hen is my friend. I mean, yes, Bobby's a friend, too. Hell, they're all my friends."

EDDIE: "I don't really know him."

HEN: "Someone said I seemed stressed? Who?"

BUCK: "Cranky. I said she was a little cranky that morning."

KASEY: "Buck and Eddie was hanging up a banner and I was blowing up balloons, Bobby was with Marty - he was someone checking our fire trucks - and Chimney was on his way to work for the first time since the incident."

"Did she seem stressed?"

KASEY: "Hen? I wouldn't blame her if she was stressed from talking to Buck. But we love Buck and-"

"That's not very professional."

EDDIE: "Who said we was in a relationship?"

KASEY: "What do you have against the 118 poly relationship?"

"It must be hard. Your wife losing her job at JPL."

EDDIE: "Yeah. Kids in general are expensive. But they're worth it, right?"

KASEY: "What you asking me about kids for? I haven't got any...right?"

EDDIE: "Y-yeah, okay, maybe I picked up a few extra shifts here and there, but it's not a big deal. Kasey and I are the ones who usually pick up the extra shifts."

KASEY: "I literally have no life so yeah I pick up extra shifts."

"300 grand does solve a lot of problems."

EDDIE: "I've got two full-time jobs: firefighter and dad. I don't have time to plan a robbery."

KASEY: "Why are you so curious on my sex life? Who said I slept with Eddie? We're both in relationships with other people. But how is that relevant?"

CHIMNEY: "I never said they slept together. But I'm not denying that the 118 has a bet going on to see when they'll get together. I've bet they would be together by next year."

BUCK: "My answer has changed about five times now due to their blindness...how long does a divorce take?"

BOBBY: "There is not a bet going on, that's unprofessional, and for those two members of my team? They are not together and will not be together as they are very happy with who they are already with."

"Six weeks at home,  guy like you, what you do for living,  you must've been climbing the walls."

CHIMNEY: "Well, more like redecorating them."

"Sounds like you had a lot of time on your hands. To think. To plan?"

CHIMNEY: "You mean to plot? Who did I plot with?"

EDDIE: "Yes, Kasey and I are together a lot, but that doesn't mean we're plotting to rob a bank."

"You rang her this morning to-"

EDDIE: "-To ask her about flour as I was making pancakes."

KASEY: "I was joking when I said I had no life. I'm not that sad of a human being. Jeez."

BOBBY: "No one on my team would do this. I am sure of it."

KASEY: "I was like ten when I stole that lollipop and I'm beginning to be creeped out on how you know that."

"We rang your family as we believe they could have been involved too."

KASEY: "How much longer of these pointless questions? I've got a dog waiting for his dinner."

"You moved here two, three years go. Minnesota, right?"

BOBBY: "Mm-hmm."

"Left there under a bit of a cloud, didn't you, Captain?"

"Truth is, you don't know the people you work with, and they don't know you. Do they, Captain Nash?"

"We have hardly any reports on you Strand, don't you think that's suspicious?"

KASEY: "No, cause they did that before and after the military for my own safety."

BUCK: "But i trust them. Kasey is my best friend, my sister, I - and Bobby? I trust him and I trust his gut. So when he said we needed to get into that vault, yeah, I believed him."

KASEY: "So, Bobby and I are now your top suspects or something? Might as well throw my dog into that list too."

"Captain Nash said you're aware of his past."

KASEY: "And? What has- hey! Cross 'Kasey's dog' off of that notebook of yours."

"You chose to run into that vault, Firefighter Wilson, believing that there was a nerve agent present. Why would you do that?"

HEN: "Because it's my job."

"Or maybe you were providing a distraction so one of your friends can do a different kind of job."

SAM: "I don't know what happened. I just did what the firefighter said."

BUCK: "The armored car driver."

KASEY: "He said he liked our minion suits."

SAM: "Those yellow suits that they were wearing was horrendous."

BUCK: "I thought he couldn't leave the truck."

SAM: "Then he said I was in danger. I had to get decontaminated. Look, I was scared, I did not know they were gonna rob the truck."

CHIMNEY: "Wait, so the money came from the armored car?"

MICHAEL: "Not the vault?"

HEN: "But I was in the vault the whole time. There's no way that's me."

"No you were the distraction. Getting everyone to look over there, so no one is noticing the man emptying the armoured car."

"So who's your partner?"

BUCK: "I'm so confused. Can you start over?"

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Kasey sat anxiously in her apartment.

It was the second time she's been here since the incident. Bear was sat next to her on her coach whilst she leaned her head back to stare at the ceiling, not wanting to take a look at the rest of her apartment.

The ceiling was something she was okay with, it wasn't in her eyesight much since her incident, so it didn't bring her back any memories. But being in her apartment was odd, it didn't make her feel safe, so she was sat there taking deep breaths as she tried not to break down or have a panic attack.

She fiddled with her fingers as she anxiously waited for her lovely surprise to arrive, having already been warned by Athena that she should go in her apartment as the detective and officers will be round with a warrant.

Jamie, her boyfriend, was in her apartment too. He was in the kitchen making coffee for both of them, completely obvious to his anxious girlfriend or what was about to happen.

The second Kasey heard a fist pounding against her door, she jumped up and rushed to open it, Bear following closely behind.

And there they were, the detective and officers with a warrant before they all shoved their way into the house. Jamie leaned back to look at what the commotion was, only for his eyes to widen to see the herd of officers barging their way into his girlfriend's apartment.

Kasey closed the door after the last one entered, she looked down at Bear and shook her head before commanding him to heal at her feet whilst she leaned against the wall, trying to breath as she stared up at the ceiling once again.

She was in the hallway...she was in the hallway...she was in the hallway...

Jamie walked up to her, two mugs in his hands and handed one over to Kasey who quickly took it to keep her mind occupied.

"Did you know about this?" He whispers to her as he watches them from the hallway.

"I'm not allowed to say." She blows the top of her mug to cool down her drink.

"Do you think I should offer them a drink."

"No, they won't be here for long as there is nothing for them to find." Kasey takes a small sip of coffee, her other hand that wasn't holding her drunk was behind her, clutching the radiator. "No one else but me and Athena knows about this. They'll take stuff like my laptop, but I'll get that back in a few days when they discover this is all a false accusation."

"Where are they looking?"

"All of our houses. They even got warrants in Texas for my family down there. The firehouse and their firehouse. It's all bullshit really."

"We're going to your place afterwards, Doctor," one of the officers states. "You can get in our car with us."

"Can't wait." Jamie rolls his eyes.

"I can't wait to get out of this hell of an apartment. Probably should start looking for a new place." Kasey sighs as she looks at her dog before looking blankly at the wall in front of her. She was struggling a lot by being in this apartment and she needed these officers to hurry up so she can just leave.

Kasey even made sure to take out all her stuff from her car and move it back into this apartment so it didn't look like she was sleeping in her car, or they would use that against her and say she was struggling with money. Which she wasn't, not really, she was just struggling in being in this apartment.

And the real reason she hasn't tried to look for a new apartment was because then she would have to go back into this one anyways and get all of her stuff and clean it up for people to look to rent it out.

"Should've put vodka in this coffee, think we're gonna need it."

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“Hey, Marty, thanks for coming.” Chimney says as he opens the fire trucks door as he sat in the inside of it.

“Hey. Yeah, I heard you guys were having trouble with the ladder. Was starting to think you guys, uh, don’t know how to use it.”

Another truck door opens, and Eddie leans out of the open window with a cloth in his hand.

“Well, you know how we operate. All our procedures and protocols.”

Buck and Kasey walk towards Marty.

“But maybe you could show us some tricks.”

“Yeah, you seem to know more about these trucks than we do,” states Bobby.

“Like where to hide 300,000 dollars of cash,” Kasey says as she crosses her arms and leans against the truck that Eddie was in.

Marty awkwardly laughs, “what are you guys talking about?”

Hen walks around the front of the trucks and appeared behind Marty.

“How are your hands, Marty? That alternative medicine still working?”

Marty looks round and all the fed-up firefighters before he dropped his toolbox, tools scattering everywhere, and making a dash for it, but he was stopped by the detectives that investigated every single one of them.

“Marty Collins,” the male detective spins Marty around by a hand on his shoulder. “You’re under arrest for bank robbery and murder.”

“Murder?” Marty questions as the handcuffs are put on him. “Who’d I kill?”

Kasey looks down at her phone as a message comes through.

Dad: No more of those unfriendly people are going to come to our homes, right?

Kasey: Suspect has just been arrested; we should all be good now.

“So,” Buck says as he sits himself down as they all moved upstairs to have their dinner. “Let me get this right. The fake nerve agent attack was a distraction for the armoured car robbery. Which was a distraction for the diamond heist. Crime is hard.”

Kasey laughs before she leans against Eddie to quietly talk to him, “do you think that soldier died from a nerve agent? Or was he poisoned by the spy or–”

“What happened to you on that day? As it sounds like it was your team giving you loads of different stories.”

“I was shot,” Kasey licked her lips, “and er, I was trying to sort myself out whilst my team went through those few minutes of hell. It was all quick and sudden…it’s just…if it was a nerve agent then someone else could have helped…couldn’t they?”

“I’m not sure, Kasey, is there a way for you to ask someone on your team about that day?”

Kasey shakes her head, “they all died within that week, we had another spy in the team, but I survived because I got called out to go into this other team where a medic could look at my wound. I came back and they were all dead, except the other spy who got away.”

Eddie gave her a sympathetic look; he knew how hard it was being out there.

“But they all died the same way, they all died like they were having a nerve agent attack…but that can’t be a coincidence…right?”

Eddie shakes his head, “maybe it was poison, and you were the only lucky one to get away.”

“Yeah, guess I should be glad I was shot.” Kasey purses her lips in thought. “It was a crazy week and I never really thought about it until now…think I kind of just blanked it out of my memory until now…until seeing something so similar to it.”

“I don’t think this will be something that will ever be answered, Kas.”

“I know…it’s just crazy.”

“It is…how old were you.”

“I was eighteen and it was my first week out in the field. They gave me a medal for that week too, for spotting the spies. I did nothing though, it – I don’t deserve those medals.”

Kasey shuffled back into her seat, not wanting to think about it any longer as she listens to Hen as she digs into her food.

“Franklin knew the bank and Marty knew us.”

“But how did they knew each other?” Eddie questioned with a mouthful of food.

“Brothers-in-law. Well, ex-brothers-in-law. Franklin had been married to Marty’s crazy sister. And when they ran into each other again, a plan formed. Franklin was the inside man. His job was to create a medical emergency in the bank. The kind that would trigger a hazmat response because Marty knew that we’d have to seal the perimeter to execute the Big Bird protocol. He gets the driver to leave the truck and empty all of his pockets. And while the driver gets clean, Marty gets rich. Except, how’s he gonna get all that money out of there? Can’t just walk it off the scene. He needed a mule. Or a team of mules. Us.”

“Not a bad plan,” Bobby says, “I mean, it’s crazy, but it could’ve worked. We bring the money back here and all he has to do is wait for the right moment to sneak in, access the ladder truck and retrieve the money. Except there want any because the police had already beaten him to the punch.”

“But how’d the police know exactly where to find the money?” Buck questions.

“Cause there was one variable that Marty didn’t count on,” Chimney tells them, “the double cross. See, Marty may have known everything there is to know about the LAFD protocol, but Franklin knew about the bank. He knew what was in that vault. He could steal those diamonds with his eyes closed. See, Marty’s plan was simple, but Franklin’s was more time-sensitive, so he told Marty the best day to rob the armoured car would be his last day. He knew there’d be a party at the end of day at the close of business. He’d start with Marty’s plan, then he’d improvise. Franklin made sure he collapsed inside the vault. He knew what our result would be. Then all he had to do was wait for the vault to automatically close and time-seal for the night. Then he’d have hours alone inside that vault while we ran our rescue protocols. It was a meticulous plan. But there was an unexpected complication.”

“Me,” Hen continues. “He was supposed to be in there alone. So me running in to save his sorry arse? A complication. He had to take me out, too. But now he’s playing ‘beat the clock.’ Soon as the cameras couldn’t see, Franklin swiped six million in stones and waited to be saved. All he needed was a clean gate away. He sends the police after us. So, while the police are investigating us…he could flee the country. New name, new passport, new life.”

“He just wasn’t fast enough,” informed Bobby.

“Marty knew he’d been double-crossed.” Said Eddie.

“He goes to confront Franklin.”

“So Marty killed Franklin,” Buck says proudly in the way that he was finally understanding the story.

“Man, this is why I could never rob a bank, I’m clearly not smart enough for it.” Laughs Kasey.

[swtki]

Dancing Days - Edward Cullen x Reader Smut

Anonymous said: 19&24 on edward smut? love ur writing!

A/N: Thank you so much :) also I’m so happy everyone is h*rny for Eddy. I decided I want to explore more period times with Edward, changing his persona in a certain decade, but still ultimately being in the same universe as cannon. This will play into the readers character a tad bit.

WARNINGS: 18+ CONTENT, SWEARING, S*X, VAMPIRES, ORAL SEX (MALE RECIEVING), VIRGIN! EDWARD, NON VIRGIN READER, GENDER NEUTURAL READER, MENTIONS OF WAR AND DEATH. 

19: “Fuck me like you want people to know”.

24. “Thing is, I’m a virgin”. 

_______________________________________

I brushed my hair into its usual part, making sure I looked flawless. The year was 1976, I was a senior in Highschool. It was a wonderful time to be a teenager, no longer afraid that my friends would die in Vietnam. Even in my dinky little Washington town, the culture was becoming our own. 

The Led Zeppelin record playing on my record player stopped suddenly, alerting me that I was no longer alone in my room. I turned, my expression soft as I saw my boyfriend, Edward.

“Whats up with you and this album? Everytime I come in, its always House of Th Holy on repeat.” I rolled my eyes, lifted the record in question off of the tray, and put it back snuggly in its case. 

“I can’t help it, Ed. Robert just speaks to me. I’m sure you’re like that with Louis Armstrong.” I waved my hand, walking back to my mirror to finish getting ready. 

“Maybe, but the music you listen to it’s...” Edward paused for a moment, sitting on my bed. “It’s suggestive, Y/N.” I turned to him, my eyebrow raised.

“Suggestive? What’s that supposed to mean?” I placed my hands on my hips, and waited for him to explain.

“Well, for one that one song says ‘Sipping booze’, I quite think that is blatant alcohol reference.” I looked at him, dumbfounded. Then, I started to laugh, and I walked over to him. Instinctually, he pushed his head into my chest, enjoying the comfort it brought him. 

“I love you, but god are we from two different Mars.” He chuckled, sending a rumble through my chest.

At school, I was an average kid. Fair grades, many friends, many ex friends. When Edward was paired up with me in math, I got through his cold, stone skin. At first, he was annoyed when I would fuck off, leaving him to do the work himself. Understandable, and once I realized how rude I was, I stopped. I talked to him, prodded him truthfully. I would ask him once we started dating if he had noticed me previously, because I had never noticed him. 

“Yes, I noticed that you were the only one who didn’t acknowledge me. Ironic I guess.” 

A year into our relationship, I would never let him go unnoticed. We walked the halls, hand in hand. Our outlooks were so different when it came to life. He was modest, I was free spirited. Edward was different from my boyfriends previously, I didn’t want to fuck things up, and I refused to even risk it. 

School went slowly that day, possibly because my head was focused on what I would ask Edward, my boyfriend of one year, about sex. About us and sex. 

I hadn’t told him that I wasn’t a virgin, I was worried he would only want a virgin girl, after all they can never look at you disappointed and say “I’ve had better.” A definite plus. Many a nights I tried to imagine him, moaning completely under my control. I wanted him, but I didn’t know if he wanted me. Surely in 50 years he had found a good fuck. I worried that he would be into someone else, forever tied to a vampiress. 

The end of the school day couldn’t have come sooner, my anxiety rising as I got into Edwards car, starting a long silent car ride. I tried to keep my mind off of it, an attempt to avoid the conversation until we were at my house. I kept my mind busy with the lush scenery outside of the passenger side window. 

“So... I know you want to ask me, and I know the answers to what I would ask you.” He said blatantly, putting the car in park outside my front lawn. 

“I don’t wanna talk out here Ed, lets go inside.” I swung my bag onto my shoulder. Thats the thing with Edward, I never have to say anything, just as long as I think it. 

My house was empty, making it easy for Edward to follow me upstairs to my room. I shut my door behind us, then turned to him. Unsure of what to say, I breathed in deeply.

“How long have you known that I wasn’t...you know?” He smiled, sitting on my plush navy sheets. 

“Y/N, I knew before I met you what I was getting into. Your ex had a lot of thoughts about that one night where you guys-” 

“Oh my god okay ew.” A blush rose upon my face, and I saw Edward laugh as he watched my body fill with embarassment. “Well why didn’t you say something?” I asked.

“I figured if it needed to be brought up, it would be. You and I aren’t exactly a physical couple so I didn’t worry too much.” I walked over to my bed, taking a seat next to him.

“I see...I mean it wouldn’t be a big deal for me so if you want to...” I bit my lip at him, his gaze turned to the other direction.

“Thing is, I’m a virgin.” My expression went from a seductive look, to a puzzled one. I wondered if I had heard him correctly. “I’m old school, Y/N. It wasn’t like how it is now when I was human. People didn’t just have sex in highschool, unless they were married because the man was off to war. So, it hasn’t been on the menu for me. You’re the first girl I’ve dated in fifty years, you know. And no, there was no vampiress or anything.” I smiled.

“Well, I don’t wanna scare you or push it or anything. It’s just you know-” 

“You want to touch me, to be touched by me.” his eyes trailed back to mine, looking deep into my soul.

“Yes, I want you, Edward.” I pressed my lips to his, pulling away jut as it got intense. I could feel his disappointment. “I want to...but I can’t let you down. Tomorrow night. I’ll call you and we can talk about everything we want out of it, I’ll give you a fucking fairytale, my love” I chuckled.

I called him that night as I had said I would. We talked about my first time, and everything I liked, followed by what he had seen on video, what he wanted to try, and his fears.

“I don’t want to kill you, darling.” He said.

“Then don’t. I won’t let you.” He laughed at me, enjoying my lack of seriousness.

The next night rolled along with a quick pace. I looked at the clock and saw that it was time for me to start getting ready. 

I made myself look simple, a small bit of makeup and hair product, but otherwise just a tank top and jeans. Sometimes, dating an old fashioned guy was a pain in the ass. Always complaining about suggestive behavior. But other times, my shoulders counted as being half nude.

“You look stunning, as per usual.” Edward said, stepping into my room. He was tense and barely moved. “I don’t know what to do..what usually happens with it if I’m not the one doing everything.”

If he had any blood flow, he would have been blushing right about then.

“We don’t have to do anything you know. We can just lay down and watch a movie if you want to, I just want to make you happy, Edward.” I walked over to him and put a strand of his messy auburn hair behind his ear. Without hesitation, he pressed his forehead to mine.

“I want to, thats the part that’s been eating me away ever since I met you. I want to make you feel good, I just don’t know if I’ll lose it and-“ I cut him off with a kiss.

“Even if you break my pelvis into pieces, I’ll still be happy. I’m always happy when I’m with you.” we both smiled, and suddenly the thick tension that once filled the room vanished. “I’ll take care of you tonight, just as long as you’re doing it for you. I just need to know you’re doing this for you, and you need to be sure you wont roll over afterwards and hate me.” I said, my hand clasped in his marble one.

“I want you, Y/N. I have no doubts that I’ll want you afterwards, too.”

I pushed his head down, level to my own. Our kiss was deep, filled with a years worth of hunger. My hands tugged on his hair, making him whimper. Suddenly, I felt my feet lift off the ground as Edward carried me to my bed. With a soft thump, the plush sheets surrounded my body. It was a contrast of warmth on my back, and Edwards cool body on my top.

His hands were balled into fists, clutching my duvet as if his life depended on it. I pulled away, panting for air.

“Sorry, I forget you need air.” He smirked. I rolled my eyes in response.

“Well, its a shame you don’t. Because I intend on taking your breath away.” we both made small laughs at my remark.

“What now?” He looked at me for guidance.

“Get on your back.” I said.

We switched positions, he was now on the bottom. My legs straddled his torso, I sight he visably enjoyed. I slithered my hands up to his head, cupping his face as I kissed him again. My left hand left its post, reaching down to the buttons on his shirt.

I paused, looking up at him once I got to the last button.

“Does it...work like normal or...” He threw his head back and laughed.

“It doesn’t have spikes, I can assure you its just like a humans. But Emmet did tell me to pull out so...I’m kind of worried about the implications of that but-“ I leaned down to shut him up with a kiss.

His hands were still at his side, resting on the bed. I picked up his wrists, and placed them on the side of my thighs. He squeezed them lightly.

My hands roamed over his bare chest, cool to the touch. I lached my lips onto his neck, causing his back to arch below me. I could feel his excitement beneath me, it gave me a big self esteem boost. His hand reached along my waist, tugging at my shirt. His eyes lit up at the sight of my bare chest. He reached for me but I pulled away to slide down onto my knees.

He looked confused, like I had left him high and dry.

“Sit on the edge.” I said softly, my knees burning slightly due to the rough carpet underneath them.

He rid himself of the unbottoned shirt, slidding over to me once finished. My hands slowly stroked his thighs, he was desperate for some type of touch.

I smiled, tugging on his belt until it came undone. He stayed silent, looking at me like I was the only thing in the world. I unbottoned the trousers, tugging on them. He kicked them off and was left in his breifs.

“Is it okay if I..” I looked up at him and he nodded frantically. I palmed him over his underwear, feeling how hard he had gotten from kissing. My fingers latched onto the waist band, pulling them down to reveal a pale yet pink cock. It wasn’t too big, but deffinitley satisfactory. I ran my finger over the tip, earning a small groan from the vampire. My eyes trailed up to him, so I could see him when I took him in my mouth.

He let out a breathy moan, eyes focused on my mouth. His lips were parted ever so slightly. I bobbed my head, and grotesquely sexual sounds arose from my throat. I felt Edward move a strant of hair out of my face, he looked at me like I was a god.

“Fuck..Y/N if you keep doing that there wont be anything for you, dear” He said in a breathy moan. I pulled back, my mouth feeling sore and tired. “Do you still want to?” He asked, grasping his hands on my waist.

“Yes, I fucking need you.” I threw off my jeans, I would worry about finding them later, I needed him. He layed back down, propping his head up on my pillows. Our lips collided in another kiss as I leveled myself with him.

“Are you sure?” I ask him, stroking his hard member.

“I’m sure.” He pecked my lips again as I got ontop of his lean figure. I spat in my hand, lubing up my needy hole.

“How do you want me to do this? I mean like slow? What do-“ He said with genuine worry.

“Fuck me like you want people to know” I whispered, “ Fuck me like you want the entire neighborhood to know that I’m yours and yours only.”

“I can make that happen, love.” He flipped me over, now being back to where we first started. He lined up his cock with my hole, running it around the tight area. I put my fingers in his hair, making a slight tug as he pushed into my body.

Pleasure filled my body as he filled me up, his cock stretched my insides in the right ways. Without pausing, he started to push his hips into mine, making sure not to hurt me.

He reached down to suck on my neck, adding to the pornagraphic moans in the room. My hands travled to his back, scratching my nails down the cold stone like skin. His moans echoed in my ear.

“Y/N, I can’t be on top I’m going to crush you” I laughed at him, tapping his side so he fell onto the bed. I swung my legs over him, sitting on his perfect cock.

“Perfect, fucking amazing.” He said as I steady myself onto him. His face was in a euphoric expression, the most relaxed I had ever seen him.

I began to rock my hips, sliding him in and out of me. His hands grabbed onto my hips, guiding me. Everything was a euphoric experience. My gut filled with that wonderful sensation.

“Edward I’m gonna cum, oh my god” I moaned out, picking up my pace.

Suddenly, the world went still. My eyes went black and I saw stars as my orgasm washed over me. My moans echoed in the room as my body twitched. A few thrusts up into my body and Edward pulled out of me, rubbing his cum out onto his hand.

I layed there panting while he sped to the bathroom, and came back with a clean cloth, wiping down my body. He put the cloth down, pulling up his underwear and handing me mine. I slipped the fabric on, slipping under the covers.

“Get in here, I wanna kiss you”

He laughed, obeying and slipping beside me. Our lips reunited in a soft clash.

“I love you so much, dear.”

[clusterbuck]

in the eyes of all posterity

(1.8k, rated T, complete) (read it on ao3)

tw: no one actually dies, but there's a lot of thinking about death

post-well, eddie makes an if you're watching this it means i'm dead video for christopher (and a little bit for buck, too)

Eddie sits in front of his laptop and stares at the grainy reproduction of himself on the screen. The image quality is—abysmal, really. And since posterity is kind of the whole point, he considers putting this whole thing on hold until he can acquire a different camera, something where the planes of his face are actually discernible.

But it’s taken him several days to psych himself up enough to actually do this, and if he stops now he isn’t sure he can make himself start again. And this is important.

Maybe the quality is a good thing, anyway. It smooths out the dark bruising under his eyes, blends it in and makes it looks like shadows from the uneven lighting of the room. Christopher doesn’t know the specifics of the well, but Eddie knows his kid is worried about him, knows he still looks like he was buried alive even days later. The mud washed off, eventually, but the haunted desperation in his eyes didn’t.

So maybe it’s a good thing that the camera softens some of it out. If, god forbid, this video ends up being the last thing Christoper has of him, at least he won’t look quite as wrecked as he currently feels.

He moves his mouse over to the record button, but he can’t make himself click it just yet. He’s never been too superstitious, but—the idea of preparing for his own death just feels deeply wrong. A small, irrational part of him worries that preparing for it is as good as letting the universe know he’s ready to go.

But the rest of him knows that when the universe decides to come for him, it isn’t going to care one way or the other how prepared he is. So he might as well do what he can.

Eddie takes a deep breath and hits record.

“Hey, Christopher,” he says, trying to remember to look at the camera and not his own face. “If, uh—if you’re watching this, it means something bad happened to me at work. Or—I guess it could have happened somewhere else, too, but work is most likely.”

Eddie is hit with a sudden, deep conviction that he should have planned this out. Should have prepared what he was going to say, written down some kind of script or at least some goddamned bullet points.

Except he tried that. Has been trying it for the past several days, really. And every time he managed to get something down, when he looked it over later it never felt genuine. It felt like someone took his feelings and shrink-wrapped them, freeze-dried them.

Rehearsing what to say might have made for a more coherent video, but if this is all he gets to leave behind, Eddie doesn’t need it to be coherent so much as he wants it to be authentic. He wants Christopher to remember the real him, and try as he might, he couldn’t get a pre-written script to feel real.

“There’s a couple of things I want you to know,” he says now. “First—and this is the most important one—I need you to know that whatever happened, it wasn’t my choice. I want you to remember that if I had a choice, I would come home to you every single night for the rest of time.”

Eddie sighs and scrubs a hand across his face. “But something happened the other day that reminded me we don’t always have a choice. This time it had a happy ending—I got to come home to you—but next time it might not. So I—I just wanted to make sure you’d have something to hold on to.

“The second thing I want you to know is something we’ve talked about before. I don’t know if you remember, I don’t know when you’re watching this—god, I hope you never have to watch this. But you might, that’s the whole point. So. It might be a while since we talked about it, but remember how I asked you who should look after you if I couldn’t be there?”

It was the first thing Eddie had done when he’d gotten home, that day after the well. Or—the second, after he’d spent just slightly too long in a shower just slightly too hot, trying to scald the memory of the mud off his skin.

It hadn’t worked. He still feels it every time he closes his eyes—the weight of forty feet of earth collapsing on him, the pressure of the mud surrounding him, the water attempting to breach his lips and replace the oxygen rapidly disappearing from his lungs.

But he got out of the shower and put all of that aside, at least long enough to sit down with Christopher. Long enough to ask the question he hopes he never needs the answer to.

Christopher looked thoughtful for all of ten seconds before asking, “If you can’t be there, can Buck be there?”

And Eddie felt steadier than he had since descending into that shaft. The question hardly bears thinking about, but at least he and Christopher were on the same page. Buck was his first choice, too—how could he not be?

Buck, who’s never treated Christopher like anything but a fully-formed person in a child-sized body. Buck, who accommodates Christopher’s needs as easily as he breathes, and goes out of his way to build accessible skateboards just because. Buck, who walked through a watery hell for hours on end to find Christopher, and who Eddie knows would do it again and again and again, as many times as is necessary.

Of course Buck was his first choice. His only choice, really. He stopped having other choices a long time ago.

“Buck’s going to take care of you,” Eddie says now. “Just like we talked about.

“This isn’t going to be easy for either of you, I know,” he says, and feels like the most arrogant man on the planet. Even if it’s most likely safe to assume that his son and his best friend will miss him if he dies, saying the words out loud feels—presumptuous, somehow.

But this isn’t about him, it’s about Christopher. And if he knows his kid at all, giving him something to focus on will help more than anything else. “So I need you two to look out for each other, okay? It might take a while to adjust, but I know you’ll figure it out. Together.”

He should probably tell Buck he’s changed his will, so Buck can be prepared. Just in case. It’s the rational thing to do. Guardianship of a child is not something Buck should be blindsided by, even if Eddie knows there’s no iteration of the universe in which Buck refuses to take Christopher in.

He’s tried, a couple of times. He’s picked up the phone and pulled up Buck’s contact, intending to invite him over so he can tell him about the changes he’s made to his will. But he stop himself every time.

Because the truth of his feelings for Buck bubbles under his skin every time Buck is near, and he doesn’t know how to lift the lid enough to tell him about the will and then clamp it down again before everything boils over—and it can’t boil over, not when Buck isn’t the least bit interested in anything but friendship.

He’s going to do it. He really is. He just needs to work up to it.

“I could give you all kinds of practical life advice,” he says to the camera now. “But I don’t know that it would be worth much if I’m not there to see the context. So instead I’ll tell you this: listen to Buck. Whatever it is, Buck will help you figure it out. The two of you are gonna get through it together. I know he’s always gonna do what’s best for you.”

Eddie takes a deep breath. “Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t ask Abuela or Pepa or Carla, but—if you ever wonder what I would think, I want you to know that I trust Buck to make the same decisions I would. I have absolute faith in him.”

He shifts his gaze a little, hoping that on the video it lands somewhere close to where he needs it to. “Buck, I know you’re watching this too,” he says. “I need you to believe everything I just said, okay? I need you to believe it because it’s the truth, and because I don’t know how you’re gonna get through this if you don’t.”

And just for a moment, Eddie thinks about letting everything spill over. About telling Buck he loves him, just for posterity’s sake, so that even if he never gets to say the words to Buck directly they’ll at least be out in the universe.

But it doesn’t seem fair to Buck, to leave them behind after he’s gone. After he’s no longer there to witness the potential fallout.

So Eddie just sighs and looks back at the camera. “One last thing,” he says. “Christopher, never forget how much I love you. I told your mom once that being your dad is the single greatest joy of my life, and that’s going to be true whether I die at work tomorrow or in fifty years as an old man. I’m going to remind you as much as I can, for as long as I can—but tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone, so this is a reminder that will outlast me. I love you, and nothing is ever going to take that away.”

Eddie ends the recording and drops his head into his hands. He’d thought he’d feel lighter, getting it all on the record, but it turns out spending any amount of time actively thinking about the prospect of your own untimely death isn’t exactly the mood booster he’d hoped it would be.

It’s still a relief, though—knowing that if something does happen to him, he has an ironclad plan for Christopher, and a chance to say goodbye, even if only indirectly. It’s a relief, but now he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He doesn’t know how to switch back out of the morbid headspace he’s climbed into.

There’s a shuffling sound, and then Christopher peers around the door. “Dad?” he asks. “Do you wanna watch a movie with me?”

Thank god for his kid. “Yeah, buddy, I really do,” Eddie says. He picks Christopher up on his way out of the door, relishing the warm weight of his son in his arms, and Christopher squirms and protests that he can walk by himself.

“I know you can,” Eddie says, but he squeezes just a little tighter and kisses Christopher’s temple before setting him down. Just because he can.

[firemedicdiaz]

The Road Will Lead You Home Again

Fandom: 9-1-1. Pairing: Buddie. Word Count: 2201. Genre: fluff. Rating: teen+. Summary: Eddie goes over to Buck’s to pick up Christopher, or how 4x08 should have ended. Warning(s): alcohol mention. Note:  Beta’d by @fireladybuckley​.  AO3 link here. 

Buck jumped as his apartment door was thrown open and Eddie rushed in, his expression bordering on unhinged.  Buck hadn’t been expecting him for at least another five minutes given the distance between Eddie’s house and his apartment, but it was unsurprising that Eddie had taken speed limits and stop signs as suggestions more than anything considering the fear and restless energy rolling off him in waves.

“Christopher?”  Eddie barked, glancing around frantically.

Buck stepped closer, putting a hand on Eddie’s chest to stop him.  

“In the bathroom,” Buck explained.  “He’s fine.”

He could feel Eddie’s chest heaving under the strain of his emotions and a frantic rush up three flights of stairs.  Buck watched Eddie’s face, waited.  It took a few moments for his words to sink in, but Eddie finally relaxed a fraction, dropping his shoulders and meeting Buck’s eyes.

“I’m sorry about all this,” Eddie said with a shake of his head, reaching up to run a hand through his hair.  “We’re going to have a long, hard talk about boundaries when we get home.”

Buck shook his head, dropping his hand as Eddie calmed.

“Not until you’ve slept on it,” Buck said softly.  “Christopher is going through some stuff right now and he needs kindness, not a reprimand.”

Buck could feel the tension return to Eddie’s body even though they were no longer touching.

“You think you know how to parent my son better than I do?”

Buck raised his hands in an attempt to diffuse the tension as Eddie went on the defensive.

“I’m not saying that,” Buck said quickly.  “I’m just saying that we had a heart-to-heart and that I really think Chris could use some reassurance that this - you dating Ana - doesn’t mean that he’s going to be left behind.”

Eddie almost visibly flinched at Buck’s words, the anger leaving him in a rush, replaced by a sudden chill, an understanding.  Eddie cursed quietly and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Is that what he said?”

Buck nodded, turning on his heel and making his way into the kitchen.  Eddie followed along, leaning on the counter as Buck pulled two beers from the fridge and uncapped them, sliding one across the marble at Eddie.

“Between the shelter in place order and you dating again, he feels like everyone is leaving him,” Buck explained, taking a sip of his beer and regarding Eddie.  “He told me that you promised him the two of you would try new things together after the whole skateboarding debacle, but this kind of came out of nowhere.”

Eddie cursed again, the conversation from that day coming back to haunt him.  Of course Christopher was upset; bringing someone new into the family was a huge step, and Eddie hadn’t even asked Chris how he felt about it.

“Maybe you do know more about parenting him than I do,” Eddie said with a bitter laugh, his voice hollow.

“Come on, man, you know that’s not it,” Buck assured him, setting down his beer and coming around to Eddie’s side of the counter.  He put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze, and Eddie would be lying if he said Buck’s touch wasn’t exactly what he needed right then.  “Christopher came to me because he needed a friend, but he’s going to need his dad to walk him through this new normal.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Eddie lamented.

Buck’s hand stayed in place, its weight grounding Eddie as anxiety gnawed at him.  It was terrifying, the realization that Christopher was growing up, understanding more than Eddie was giving him credit for, and Eddie wasn’t sure he was ready to take on some of the big conversations they needed to have.  Shannon would have been great at it, and with her by his side it might not have been so dizzying, but he didn’t know how he was supposed to manage on his own.  

“Nothing worth doing is ever easy,” Buck said sagely like he was reading off a motivational poster.  “But it’s worthwhile, and you’re not alone.  You’ve got Bobby, and Hen, and - and you’ve got me.  I may not be a dad, but I was a pretty messed up kid.  If nothing else, I can tell you what not to do.”

Eddie’s heart ached at Buck’s attempt at jest.  Setting his beer down, he turned slowly to face his best friend, meeting Buck’s eyes.  There, under a veil of confidence and conviction, behind the hurt at memories of his own childhood, Eddie saw a shadow of something different, something more.  It was gone in a flash, before he could even begin to delve into it, but it made the gears in Eddie’s head turn a bit as he processed what that look might’ve meant.

Clearing his throat before he could get completely waylaid, deciding it was neither the time nor the place to dwell on whatever moment had just transpired, Eddie glanced around the apartment again.

“Christopher’s been in the bathroom a while, I should go check on him.”

“I’ll get him,” Buck interjected.  “Make yourself at home.”

Eddie agreed with a nod, watching Buck disappear further into the apartment before making his way to the couch.  Christopher’s crutches were propped against the side of it and Eddie relaxed a fraction at the tangible proof that Christopher was there and safe.  He rested his elbows on his knees as he sat, dropping his head into his hands and wondering just where he’d screwed up parenting so badly that Christopher didn’t think he could open up and talk to him about what was on his mind.

“If we need to take a break, I’ll understand.”

Eddie smiled and held up a hand.

“Hold on, hold on.  He and I can figure this out.  In the meantime, I don’t want you going anywhere.  Got that?”

Ana’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, not that he’d noticed it at the time.  He’d been too busy looking ahead to a future where he wasn’t so cripplingly alone.  Of course he had his coworkers and his family.  He also had Buck.  

Buck, who would drop everything to help out even without Eddie having to ask.  Buck, whom Christopher looked at like he’d hung the moon.  Buck, who was in his heart and on his mind even when he was miles away.  

But he needed someone in the in-between.  Someone whose touch could calm him, ground him, who could reassure him that maybe he wasn’t making an absolute mess of parenting, learning, and growing as a person.  Someone who could be his heart and his soul.  His best friend.

But he already had that too, didn’t he?

“I got it,” Ana’s voice called to him through the cobwebs, returning him to that moment.

“I’ll uh, talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

Eddie shook his head, dispelling the unwelcome flashback.  His heart beat heavily in his chest at the implications of the memory and he nearly jumped as a weight landed on the couch beside him.  Looking over, Eddie found Christopher sitting at his side, his head bowed and looking so much younger and more innocent than Eddie was used to seeing.

Any remaining anger that Eddie felt disappeared as Christopher worried with the hem of his shirt, not meeting Eddie’s eyes.  Eddie shifted closer, putting an arm around Chris’ shoulders and pulling him close, pressing a kiss into Christopher’s hair.

“I’m glad you’re safe, mijo,” Eddie murmured, holding Christopher tightly enough that the boy squirmed in his grip.  “You scared me.”

“Sorry, dad,” Christopher said quietly, keeping his gaze averted.  “I won’t do it again.”

“I appreciate that, but I want you to know that I’m not mad at you.  I understand.”

Eddie’s compassion piqued Christopher’s interest and he finally looked up, cautiously meeting Eddie’s gaze.  Eddie smiled, brushing a few stray curls away from Christopher’s forehead.

“I was wrong, buddy, and I’m sorry,” Eddie said softly.  “I should have talked to you before I started dating again.  That’s on me.  I made a promise to you and I broke it, and now I’m going to make it right, okay?”

“How?”  Christopher asked.

“By starting over,” Eddie replied with a courage that he wasn’t sure he could live up to.  “By breaking it off with her and by starting again with someone else, but only if that’s okay with you.”

Christopher considered the words for a moment and smiled, nodding as he leaned into Eddie again and wrapped his arms around him.  Eddie let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and embraced Chris, holding onto him for a long moment.  He glanced up as he sensed movement in the periphery of his vision and found Buck watching the two of them from the kitchen.

“Can you start over with Buck?”  Christopher asked, and Eddie’s heart nearly stopped as he wondered whether Buck could hear them from his vantage point.  Buck’s face gave nothing away, and Eddie operated on the hope that they were out of earshot as he agreed to something he thought he’d have a little more time to process before acting on.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Eddie whispered, holding Christopher just a little tighter to borrow some of the boy’s unbridled courage and enthusiasm.  “Do you think he’ll say yes?”

Christopher giggled.

“Yeah!  He promised he wasn’t going anywhere.”

Eddie’s heart leapt at the implications of Buck’s promise to Christopher, settling into a quick, erratic drumbeat as he wondered whether Buck’s sentiments would stay the same once Eddie came out and admitted that he’d love nothing more than to have Buck in their lives forever, and not just for evenings and weekends.

“Okay,” Eddie said quietly.  “Do you think I should do it now?”

Christopher nodded, giving Eddie a playful shove to get him going.  Eddie took a slow, deep, steadying breath and stood, slipping his hands into his pockets to keep himself from fidgeting as he made his way into the kitchen.  He could hear the drag of fabric on fabric as Christopher swiveled on the couch and he could feel Chris’ gaze on him as he made his way toward Buck.  Buck’s expression was quizzical as Eddie approached and he slid Eddie’s beer in his direction again as though sensing Eddie’s nervousness.  

“Good talk?”  Buck asked casually.

“Yeah, I think so,” Eddie replied.  “We came to an understanding.”

Buck raised an eyebrow, wordlessly encouraging Eddie to go on.

“I’m breaking up with Ana.”

Eddie had expected surprise, disbelief, maybe, but not the warmth and approval that Buck’s expression held.

“You’re a good dad, Eddie.  Chris is lucky to have you, and I’m sure you’ll find someone even better for you one day.”

Eddie picked up his beer and averted his gaze as he took a long swig.

“I’ve already got someone better.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie watched Buck tilt his head curiously.  He could feel those blue eyes burning a hole straight through him and he took another sip before setting his beer down.  The clink of glass on marble was louder than he’d intended as the bottle slipped from his nervous fingers and it didn’t escape Buck’s notice.

“Eddie?”

“I’ve had someone better for a while,” Eddie continued before he could talk himself out of it.  “I just hope he’ll have me back.”

Eddie looked over pointedly to meet Buck’s gaze.  He watched Buck process, the other man’s expression changing from confusion, to realization, to acceptance, and then to something else.  Something that made Eddie weak-kneed as he realized just how desperately he’d wanted to see it in Buck’s eyes for so long.  For longer than he cared to admit.

Approval.

“You mean… me?”

Buck had to be sure, of course.  He had feelings of his own, feelings his tone and the way the words caught in his throat when he’d asked Eddie about his date had nearly belied.  He’d never been good at reading people, though, and as much as he knew Eddie inside and out, he found it even harder to read him, and so he’d kept those feelings to himself.  To see them being reciprocated was something Buck was both desperate and completely unprepared for.

“Yeah, Buck, I mean you.”

Their gazes stayed locked as Eddie moved around the counter between them, closing in on Buck.  Eddie bit his lip, feeling suddenly shy, unsure of himself, and Buck’s heart swelled with love.  Buck broke into a soft, easy smile, reaching out to wrap his arms around Eddie as the other man stepped into reach.  Eddie sagged into Buck’s embrace, locking his hands around Buck’s waist and holding onto him, breathing him in.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.”

Eddie pulled back just enough to be able to see Buck’s face.  He chuckled softly, inhaling sharply a moment later as Buck tilted his head, pressing his lips to Eddie’s, effectively stealing his breath away.  The joy Eddie felt as they connected was so deep and fulfilling that any doubts he had went up in smoke and he smiled into the kiss as Chris’ cheers of celebration filled the air.

[charming-charlie]

One Lucky Kid

Title // One Lucky Kid

Pairing // Evan Buckley x Reader

Warnings // Nothing?? It’s kind of fluffy and fun.

Summary // It’s time to tell Station 118 that you are pregnant, and one person keeps giving you and Buck a hard time.

Word Count // 1.4k

Prompt // Can I request Evan Buckley x reader where reader is pregnant and just general fluff with the firefam please?

The day started out easily enough but once it reached mid-afternoon, peak nervousness hit.

You and Buck were dating for quite some time. The two of you were working out plans to move in together, and it was a headache. Not in a bad way, it was mostly in a ‘there’s too much to do’ type of way. You did not want to give up your place and Buck did not exactly want to give up his either, so there was a bit of back and forth over who was going to take the plunge and move.

Eventually, the two of you reached a nice agreement of finding a new place together, since that was fair and made both of you happy. Once the two of you decided on this new endeavor, Buck swept you up into his arms, carried you to the bedroom, and the two of you had a very fun night.

That was about a month ago.

You started to feel not-so-great after that. It reached a point where one night, you were boxing up some books and Buck was helping, and you felt sick. You had to take a break and your handsome boyfriend was right by your side. He rubbed your back as you sat down and that feeling did not go away for a while.

Once you started throwing up, Buck took you to the hospital. That was when you found out you were pregnant. The two of you were able to keep it quiet because you wanted to tell everyone at the station together.

Today was the day and your nerves were rattling.

Buck had the day off, which he requested specifically for this moment. He was holding your hand as the two of you walked into Station 118. The red trucks were glossy and shiny, the concrete floor looked well maintained, and it just felt inviting. It was a family firehouse. Everyone kept the place looking nice and welcoming, and your nerves were slowly easing up.

At least, until you saw Bobby and Eddie talking by the stairs.

“Hey Cap. Eddie,” Buck said as the two of you made your way over to the fire crew.

“Buck,” Bobby was pleasantly surprised to see one of his best firefighters strolling in on his day off, “what brings you here?”

“Y/N and I have something to share, actually. Can we get everyone?” Buck asked as he looked around. He didn’t see any of his other crewmates yet, but he knew they were around somewhere.

“If this is your way of saying you are moving or switching houses, I will kill you,” Eddie said so nonchalantly that you actually thought, for a split second, that he was serious.

Buck just laughed and shook his head. “No, nothing like that.”

“I’ll rally up the troops,” Bobby said with a smile. He disappeared, leaving you alone with Buck and Eddie.

Eddie and Buck had been best friends since the moment Eddie joined Station 118. You remembered, for a moment, when Buck told you the story. He thought there was going to be some jealousy and some competition with Eddie, but they instantly clicked and became fast friends. Since then, you and Buck hung out with Eddie and Christopher often outside the firehouse.

It did not take long for Bobby to return with the crew. Chim was there, with Maddie on his arm. Hen and Karen were also in attendance. It caught you by surprise since you were not expecting everyone.

“Is everything okay?” Maddie asked as she looked at her brother.

The fact that you both were there was different. Nerves seemed to be spreading their ugly head around the firehouse, since everyone looked different shades of worry.

Buck looked at you and extended out a hand, signaling that you should be the one to tell everyone. You inhaled deeply, smiling a little bit while you looked back and forth from everyone. The words left your mouth before your brain even had time to react.

“I’m pregnant.”

There was a look of surprised and shocked faces across Station 118. For a moment, you stood there, sort of awkwardly, wondering if your news was good news. Buck was still beaming proudly beside you, and you were slowly peeling your eyes off his fire family to look at him. The silence was deafening, borderlining on torture.

And yet it only lasted for a few seconds.

There were cheers and yells of congratulations. Bobby rushed to shake Buck’s hand and moved in to give you a pleasantly surprised but equally welcomed hug.

“Are you sure Buck is the father?” Chimney joked.

Maddie laughed and nodded while walking over to you and capturing you in a sweet hug. “Don’t listen to him. Congratulations.”

She let go of you and moved over to hug her brother.

There were congratulatory hugs from Hen, Eddie, and Karen that soon followed. Your arms were getting sore, the corners of your mouth were slightly aching from smiling, but you were not complaining. It felt so good. You felt included and overall, just genuinely happy.

“My wife is going to want to have both of you over soon for a get together. Be careful, she might try to steal your baby,” Hen whispered to you. Karen gasped and shoved Hen out of the way, shaking her head and you could not help but laugh.

If this was the environment that Baby Buck was going to grow up in, then this was going to be one lucky kid.

“I didn’t know the two of you were trying,” Chim said. A smile was slowly spreading on his lips. As much as Buck annoyed him somehow, it was obvious that Chimney was happy for the two of you.

Hen blinked and slowly turned toward Chim, a look of confusion plastered on her face. “Why in the world would you need to know that?”

“Buck and I tell each other everything,” Chim answered so quickly, his answer being made up on the spot.

Your head snapped in Buck’s direction, and you were desperately trying not to laugh as you played along. Your boyfriend, however, looked clueless. His eyes went back and forth from you to Chim and it took several seconds for him to realize what was happening. You were implying that Buck told Chim everything, like Chimney said.

“Wait, wait, wait. No. No, we do not tell each other everything,” Buck said, taking on the defensive as he looked at Chim.

The paramedic broke into a grin, giving Buck a firm nod. “Whatever you say, man.”

Buck turned to look at you and you just smiled. You pressed your body against him out of pure happiness and felt elated joy course through you when Buck slipped an arm around you and pulled you in close.

“Do you guys know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?” Maddie asked.

You shook your head and turned to look at her, your mouth slightly agape as you readied a response. Yet you were interrupted by a very dramatic—

“I hope it’s not a boy. Can you imagine a mini him walking around? One is enough,” Chim kept egging the two of you on with such antics, only this time, it backfired.

Hen, Karen, Eddie, and Bobby turned to look at Chim. From there, the words were flying out of their mouths and you had a hard time keeping track of who said what.

“What is wrong with boys?”

“Buck would make a great dad to a boy. Have you seen him with—”

“Denny?”

“Christopher?”

“Harry?”

“A mini Buck would be so much fun though. Think of the trouble both Bucks would get into.”

“It’s a known fact that boys are better than girls.”

“That doesn’t sound right but all we have to base that on is May so there’s—”

And it went like that, back and forth, among the members of Station 118. You and Buck just stood there, trying to follow the conversation but it was useless. Buck was lost a long time ago and you just gave up. However, you had to admit, it was kind of nice that the fire family cared so deeply about this.

Maddie was able to break away from the crew and grabbed you by the shoulders. Your eyes immediately snapped on hers and she was smiling so brightly, you could not help but smile in return. “If you need any help with anything, let me know. Howie won’t be invited,” she said, pushing you into her arms and squeezing you for another hug.

You hugged her back and nodded. It was times like these that made you realize just how lucky you were, and how lucky your child was going to be. Sure, you and Buck may get a hard time from some people, but the jest was part of the charm. If there’s one thing you know for sure, it’s that Station 118 is full of charm.

[darlingpetao3]

House of W (Multiple!Wells x Reader, Chapter 2)

Rating: T

Summary: After having to deal with the deaths of an infinite number of Harrison Wells in the Multiverse, you, a magic-wielding meta, have a breakdown and unwittingly create a happy, fictitious sitcom life with some of your favourite men. In a world of comedy and cameos, can Team Flash and an out-of-town magician break through your powers to save you? And what if you don’t want to be saved...?

Tag List: @fandomdancer @bluesclues-1234 @pinkdiamond1016 @crissymadlock @ensign-tilly @disneyoncerlover815 @marvel-lady10 @thecaptainsgingersnap @noctvrnalmoth @alexxlynn @dontbedumb3 @heyl0lwhatsup @ryou-cosmos​

PROLOGUE | CHAPTER 1

Birds tweeting, sun shining…

Big strong arms around you.

“Well, well, Wells,” you say with a scratchy morning voice and twist your body around in bed to see who’s got you in his grasp. Ah. “Good morning, Harry.”

“Good morning, (Y/L/N),” the scientist replies. You just love how strands of his hair stick up in place. Harry arguably has the best bedhead.

“You know dear, since we are married after all, don’t you think it would be more acceptable to call me by my first name?”

Harry chuckles and pulls you closer against him.

“You do raise a fair point. (Y/N).”

“That’s more like it.”

He kisses your nose. Shortly after he does, it starts to feel itchy. You feel like you’re about to sneeze. It wiggles and wiggles until—

“Achoo!”

Suddenly, Harry, who had been clad in his silky pyjamas is now- oh my.

“(Y/N), did you just sneeze my clothes away?”

You can hardly answer the Wells in your bed because you’re so enthralled by his lack of clothing under the sheets.

“Happy accident?” you offer innocently. Harry shakes his head and smiles as if to signify that you’re up to your old antics again.

“Come here, you,” he says and pulls the covers over you both.

* * * *

The scene is really quite comical.

Harry walks briskly with his long legs into work at S.T.A.R. Toys Manufacturing Inc. as you try to keep up with quick little steps and a clipboard… while H.R. trails behind you like a maniac with a tray of coffee.

“(Y/N), I believe you have some explaining to do,” Harry speaks to you over his shoulder. “Can you remind me why you’re at work with me? And why the numbskull, too?”

“Handsome numbskull!” H.R. jokingly clarifies. Harry rolls his eyes.

“I told you, honey,” you begin, “I decided it would be best for me to get a job instead of sitting around the house. Plus, an assistant here was the only position available. I thought that was terribly convenient. We can spend more time together now, isn’t that wonderful? As for H.R., I hired him as my assistant!”

“My assistant has an assistant?”

“Don’t question it, honey,” you tell him and pat him on the cheek. Just then, two young employees walk up to you. They look rather familiar, but you can’t place why at the moment.

“Good morning, Mr. Wells,” the pair greet Harry. “And Mrs. Wells. ...And Mr. Wells.”

“Ah, good morning Garcia. Runk,” Harry answers. “I trust your projects are coming along?”

“That they are, Sir,” the young man called Runk replies.

“We should have them finished and ready by end of day,” Garcia, the young woman, adds.

“I’m glad to hear it-”

“-Well done, chaps!” H.R. interrupts. “You’re all doing such magnificent work. All for the children.”

“All for the children,” Garcia and Runk agree.

Harry clears his throat and whispers to you, “I think assistants to the assistants should be seen and not heard.”

“I’ll have a little chat with him,” you tell your handsome boss husband. “Now, let’s build some toys!”

* * * *

After a long day at the factory, you, Harry, and H.R. all return home. The delicious scent of dinner greets you as you walk in the door.

“Mmm, I wonder what Sherloque and Nash are cooking up!” you think out loud.

“I hope it’s nothing French,” Harry says semi-bitterly.

“H.R., can you go see what they’re up to in there, sweetie?”

“I most certainly can, dearest!” he responds then disappears into the kitchen. You are sure to take this opportunity to have some more one-on-one time with Harry on the couch. As you sit, he sets his briefcase down on the coffee table and removes from it a small rocket ship. After turning it around in his hands, Harry hands it to you.

“I’d been working on this today,” he says.

“Oh Harry, it is so groovy. You do such fine work.”

“The idea came to me in a dream.”

“You make dreams come true for children every day.”

Harry turns to you. “I think I’ve always wanted kids. But I guess it’s never happened for me.” He looks into your eyes. “I think I’d like to have one with you someday, (Y/N). How do you feel about that?”

“I feel… I feel…” Your nose starts to wiggle again. “Achoo!”

“(Y/N), are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“Oh, yes, I’m completely and totally, whoaaaa!” You stand up to get a better look at yourself, finding that your tummy has a noticeable roundness to it.

“Are you…?” Harry asks. The rest of the Wells men come rushing into the living room.

“Qu’est-ce qui se passe?”

“I heard another sneeze!”

“Jumping juniper, (Y/N)’s pregnant!”

They all group around you in a half-circle to admire your belly and to declare their delight at the very abrupt surprise.

“Is this really happening?” you ask all of them, falling deeper and deeper into your happiness.

“I couldn’t imagine a better life with you,” Harry says and punctuates his final word with a kiss. Everything about this moment just seems… so much more colourful and vibrant.

And perfect.

~ ~ ~ ~

Barry had urgently messaged Cisco and Caitlin to meet him back at the Grand Central City Auditorium, where they had just seen Zatanna’s magic act. The plan—what very little of a plan he had—was to race to find Zatanna, the Mistress of Magic, and ask for her help.

Word on the street was that Miss Zatara’s act wasn’t mere illusions. People have said that she really does possess a special magical power. And if this was the case, she was their only hope to retrieve you from whatever world you’ve gotten yourself into.

They say sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.

Well, now Team Flash is going to fight magic with magic.

It took a bit of making a scene inside the venue with the security guards for Zatanna to finally come out of her dressing room to see who was causing the commotion.

“Hi, excuse me, what’s going on here?”

“Zatanna? My name is Barry Allen,” your brother introduces himself. “I was at your show tonight.”

“Flawless,” Cisco can’t help but add.

“Sure,” she says, probably very much wanting him to get to the point. “How can I help you, Barry Allen?”

“We have a bit of a magical issue. My sister has gotten herself into a situation. We need your help.”

Zatanna’s big round eyes squint slightly, but whatever she sees in these three strangers surely isn’t threatening.

“Your sister, you say?” The Mistress of Magic always did have a soft spot for family. “Where is she?”

“You better come with us and see for yourself.”

~ ~ ~ ~

“Wow, this is quite the setup,” Zatanna says, taking in the Cortex upon her arrival. “Now, you said that your sister is broadcasting her own sitcom?”

“That’s right,” Barry confirms. “I switched on the TV earlier, and there she was in black and white. But the weird thing is that her set looked almost identical to her home, except not because her real home exploded-”

“Yeah, that’s the weird bit,” Cisco pipes up sarcastically. “Definitely not that she’s married to four different versions of the same man.”

“What?” Zatanna looks entirely confused. “Okay, you guys are going to have to catch me up.”

“No problem. The episode is streaming online. On repeat.”

“Cisco, pull up the show on the monitors,” Barry orders. The engineer does so, and the crew proceeds to analyze the sitcom episode.

“This man... or these men, rather—you said they died?” Zatanna asks the room. The rundown the gang gave her on the way to S.T.A.R Labs was quite rushed, so naturally it would only generate more questions.

“That’s right. I saw them disappear before my eyes,” Barry confirms. “They sacrificed themselves for us.”

Zatanna hums in thought. “Whether they’re truly dead or not, she must be using an incredible amount of magic to create this world and broadcast this across the airwaves.”

“Guys!” Caitlin raises her voice. “We have an incoming broadcast!”

The monitors change after a bit of static. Now, instead of the episode Team Flash was watching, a brand new jingle comes through the speakers.

“Is this…?” Barry starts.

“She released Episode Two!” Cisco cheers. Everyone in the room shoots him a look. “What? I’m invested.” As they watch the new episode, they take frantic notes, searching for any kind of clues.

“Look!” Barry points at the screen to the familiar faces.

“How did Allegra and Chester get in there?” Caitlin wonders.

“They have a guest-starring role…” Cisco notes, possibly with a hint of jealousy.

“And who are they?” Zatanna inquires.

“They’re our friends,” Barry clarifies. “At least, I think they are. They can't be illusions, can they? Created by (Y/N)?”

“I’ll call them and see if we can hear their phones ringing in the show,” Caitlin suggests. As she attempts the call, the rest of the team stands and stares at the screens hoping for some form of ringing sound. This episode seemed to be styled more in the Sixties, so it was unlikely that they’d actually see Chester and Allegra pull out a cell phone.

Nothing. No sound.

They must not have their phones on them…

A little while longer passes, with even more analyses by Team Flash and Zatanna studying your power on screen. Once in a while, she’ll ask Barry for background information about you. Which brings her to ask the all important question:

“How did (Y/N) get her powers?”

Barry goes on to explain your origin story, which coincides with his own. It was that one fateful night where Barry was in his CSI lab at CCPD, and so were you. You had stopped by to see how he was doing after the whole debacle of Iris getting her laptop stolen and Eddie saving the day instead. (To Barry’s credit, he tried really hard to catch the criminal, he just wasn’t fast enough). But you were checking up on him when the Particle Accelerator exploded and sent a wave of extraordinary, uncontained power across the city. You saw the lightning in the sky and tried to get Barry away from holding that metal chain, but in doing so, you also got caught in the crosshairs of the accident. Your brother fell into the shelf of chemicals as the lightning struck at the same time you knocked over a box of evidence—stolen ancient crystals from the Central City Museum.

Zatanna takes in the story silently, nodding in the right places. She’s deep in thought when a voice comes from the entrance to the Cortex: “Hey guys, what’s going on in here?”

Barry rushes to the two younger members of Team Flash, Allegra and Chester. “How did you two get in there? How did you get out?”

“Get in where?” Allegra wonders.

“Come on! In (Y/N)’s sitcom,” Cisco says. “Did she send out a casting call or did she just tell you that you got the parts?”

Chester and Allegra glance at each other with identical furrowed brows.

“You really don’t know what happened, do you?” Caitlin asks them.

“What happened?” they reply in unison.

Cisco stands up immediately. “I’ll get the popcorn.”

As he replays the footage, both of the ‘guest stars’ shake their heads in disbelief.

“Wow, nope, don’t remember any of that,” Chester says.

“No,” Allegra agrees. “One minute I’ve got my feet up in the Lounge, and the next I’m here walking into the Cortex.”

“Interesting,” Caitlin muses. “Interesting, but beyond strange. It’s like they’ve been mind wiped of the experience. We need more answers.” The rest of the episode plays out to reveal the big cliffhanger at the end.

“(Y/N)’s going to have a baby?!” Cisco shouts. “Oh man, things just got real. I wonder who’s the father... You don’t think (Y/N) would turn her show into a Maury episode, do you?”

“Zatanna, is there anything you can do?” Barry asks desperately. “This is getting out of hand.”

“I can cast a locating spell. All I have to do is say the words of what I wish backward for it to take hold.” Zatanna readies herself. “(N/Y) etacol,” the magician utters with her eyes closed. Everyone in the room stands silent in case making any kind of noise would ruin whatever spell she has cast.

They hold their breaths.

“I’m getting something…” Zatanna says eventually. “It’s like a signal of sorts. I can see it in my mind. And it’s coming from… here.”

“What do you mean, ‘here’?” Barry presses.

“Here. As in S.T.A.R. Labs.”

[strawberryaziraphale]

reddie but it’s that one episode of friends where monica refuses to admit she’s sick and attempts to seduce chandler who is just trying to take care of her

Richie was supposed to be taking advantage of having the place to himself, writing material for his upcoming tour. So far, he’d only typed the words ‘my husband’ and had been lost in thought ever since. It was to be his first performance since he and Eddie had gotten married. He couldn’t stop smiling as he stared at his laptop, happily fiddling with his new wedding ring as he did so. Then, as if he’d been summoned by the power of Richie’s thoughts, Eddie trudged through the door.

“Hey, babe. I thought you were at work.”

“They sent me home,” Eddie croaked and, Jesus, he sounded awful. He removed his jacket and tried to hang it on the hook, missing completely and letting the garment fall to the floor. He sniffed, loosening his tie, “they said I can’t work if I’m sick.”

“That sucks,” Richie was on his feet and at his husband’s side in an instant, hanging the fallen jacket and taking his briefcase, “I’m sorry you’re sick-”

“I’m not sick!” Eddie snapped defiantly, attempting to walk over to the couch; he swayed a lot but ultimately made it, “I don’t get sick! I’m so careful.”

“Honey, it’s fine,” Richie gently manoeuvred Eddie to sit down and pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. Of course he was burning up. He rolled his sleeves, “okay, I’m gonna run you a nice relaxing bath and make you some soup. Sound good?”

Eddie leaned back against the couch in what he hoped was a seductive pose, “you gonna join me?”

Even with a runny nose and dopey expression, Eddie was still the cutest thing Richie had ever seen. That didn’t mean he was quite ready to infect himself just yet. He smiled, kissing the top of Eddie’s head, “I’ll be here when you get out.”

-

“Alright, what do you wanna do now?”

Richie looked up as Eddie hurtled into the kitchen, jogging on the spot in just a bathrobe. He gave the illusion of having loads of energy but Richie could tell he needed rest and a bit of TLC. He removed his Will Cook For Sex apron and took the prepared bowl of soup, offering it to Eddie.

“I’ll tell you what I want to do. Let’s watch a movie together, all comfy in bed under a big ass blanket and stay hydrated with lots of fluid. Sounds neat, right?”

“Okay,” Eddie ignored the soup and took Richie’s free hand, playing with his fingers, “but if we’re in bed, I don’t want to watch a movie,” he winked, coughing hard. Richie’s heart melted.

“Babe, you know me. I’d be all over you like a rash but...” he gestured at Eddie’s drippy nose which he promptly wiped. He helped Eddie to the couch and pressed the soup into his hands, “don’t take this the wrong way but I just can’t have sex with a sick person.”

“I can’t have sex with a sick person, either. That’s disgusting,” even as Eddie spoke he was trying to crawl across the couch to reach Richie only he got tired halfway and sank into the cushions. His voice was muffled where his face was pressed against the couch, “but I’m not sick. I’ll prove it to you right here, right now.”

Richie couldn’t help but smile, folding his arms, “sure you will.”

-

Thankfully, Eddie had fallen asleep after that, still uncomfortably pressed into the couch. Richie had effortlessly picked him up and carried him to the bedroom, tucking him into bed, kissing his forehead as he left him to rest. he went back to his laptop, fondly adding ‘my husband got sick recently’ to the start of his routine. He was definitely not going to pass up the opportunity to embarrass his darling husband. Richie was just about to add something about sick-Eddie being insatiable when he heard said husband’s voice drifting from their bedroom.

“Riiiichie.”

Resisting the urge to sigh, Richie stood and braved himself as he headed to the bedroom, “yeah, baby? You hungry? Thirsty? You want a-” he found Eddie sitting upright in bed, the bathrobe falling over one of his shoulders. He peeled back the covers, patting the empty space beside him.

“I’m only thirsty for your dick.”

"Jesus...” Richie ruffled his hair, “I thought you were sleeping.”

“I was. Now I’m ready for you,” Eddie shrugged off the bathrobe, immediately shivering. Richie was beside him in a heartbeat, pulling up his robe and fastening it for him.

“Oh, Eds, you know what gets me hot?” He tucked in his husband, pulling the thick blanket on their bed over him, “layers. Blankets. Hot water bottles,” he placed said bottle underneath the covers, caressing Eddie’s face softly, “fucking sexy.”

“I’m fine,” Eddie said hoarsely, trying to tug Richie on top of him, “I miss you. I just wanna make you feel as good as I feel.” Eddie finished his sentence with a rather aggressive coughing fit. Richie was a weak man but even he had standards. He sighed, sitting next to Eddie on the bed; he stroked his husband’s hair soothingly, pulling him against his chest.

“Just get some rest, honey.”

“I’m fine, asshole,” Eddie mumbled stubbornly, snuggling deeper into Richie. He was asleep almost instantly, snoring softly.

-

“Richie,” the comedian did groan this time but when he looked up he could tell something was different. Eddie looked weak and defeated as he traipsed over to where Richie was sitting on the couch. He sniffed, wiping his nose, “I think I’m sick.”

Richie raised his eyebrows, feigning surprise, “really? Not Eddie the Invincible.”

“Fuck you, okay? I admit it, I feel like shit,” he coughed for emphasis. Bless him he looked so sorry for himself. Richie closed his laptop again and gestured for Eddie to sit beside him. He obliged and held out some vaporub, “can you just rub some of this on my chest please?”

“Sure,” Richie instinctively reached for the small tub before his brain caught up with him. This was clearly a trap and Richie wasn’t stupid. He jumped up from the couch, pointing at his devious husband, “no, no, you sexy evil little bastard. I'm not falling for that.”

Rolling his eyes, Eddie just unscrewed the lid and undid his robe, “fine, have it your way. I’ll just do it myself.”

Oh, this was much worse. Eddie splayed almost naked on their couch, spreading the strong-smelling ointment across his chest, slathering his tattoo, letting out soft sighs every now and then. Richie couldn’t look away and he swallowed thickly.

“So you’re just...doing that?”

Eddie, who seemed to have remembered Richie was there, opened his eyes, furrowing his brow, “uh, yeah?”

“It’s working, I guess. I don’t know.”

Eddie slowed his movements, fixing Richie with a very judgemental look, “is this seriously turning you on?”

“Yes,” Richie groaned, lowering his head in shame, “the rubbing, the noises...you. I mean, how can it not turn me on?”

Eddie barked out an incredulous laugh, “are you kidding me? I’m sick here, Richie. I am so not in the mood. I couldn’t feel any less sexy,” Richie just wordlessly gestured at his pants which were noticeably tighter. Eddie shook his head, “what about all that shit about not having sex with a sick person?”

Richie scoffed, waving his arms frantically over Eddie’s body, “that was before all that vaporising shit. You can’t judge me right now.”

“Well, okay, if you really wanna have sex,” Richie was running off to the bedroom before Eddie had even sat up straight. Smirking to himself, he dropped the vaporub onto the table, “sucker.”

-

“So, yeah, anyway, after all that, I got sick,” Richie said as he turned to face his audience, glancing off to the side to where Eddie was standing proudly. He shook his head fondly, “bet you can’t guess guess how.”

[set-phasers-to-whump]

all this time been burnin’ with a fever

prompt: labor (leftover from day 6, used as an alt)

whumpee: eddie diaz

fandom: 911

heyo! i am gonna be honest i cannot figure out whether this fic sucks or is okay. i straight up have no idea. but oh well. hopefully it’s ok! this fic is pre-buddie but i suppose it doesn’t have to be? idk its a lil different from the usual pre-buddie stuff i write. also i don’t mention it in the fic but i don’t want people to worry about him so chris is like, at a sleepover :) hope you enjoy this! (title from deleter by grouplove)

When Eddie had laid down in the bunk room, he’d felt just a little bit off. He had attributed this to the current heat wave sweeping through Los Angeles, but now, he’s not so sure. 

The alarm is going off and around him, his fellow firefighters are climbing out of their bunks to respond to a worker trapped under heavy equipment at a factory. Eddie gets out of bed with the rest of them, trying to pretend like his head isn’t spinning from the movement. He takes the stairs down to the truck, not liking his chances of going down the pole with his weirdly-sweaty hands. 

He feels very slightly better when he sits down in the truck across from Buck. Slightly. His head has stopped spinning. Other than that, he still feels like absolute shit. He’s hot, and horribly sweaty (he can feel his hair sticking unpleasantly to his forehead), and his whole body aches like...like something. His head hurts too much to think of an appropriate metaphor. 

“You okay?” Buck asks. It takes Eddie a moment to register the fact that anyone has spoken at all, and another moment to figure out a reply. By the time he says, “I’m fine,” he’s pretty sure there’s no way in hell that Buck believes him. 

“Are you sure?” Buck asks, immediately after Eddie says he’s fine. Eddie sighs. He really doesn’t have the strength to insist right now. 

“Yes,” he says, and hopes that it’s enough. 

“Really? Cause, I don’t mean to insult you or anything, but you look kind of terrible.”

I know, Eddie thinks. I feel it, too. He says, “thanks, Buck. You’re so nice,” instead, and Buck just shakes his head. 

A few minutes later, they arrive at the factory. Wanting to prove to Buck that he’s okay, Eddie shoots up from his seat as soon as the truck parks and determinedly makes his way outside, fighting through a rush of lightheadedness and forcing himself to keep moving normally. 

The team heads into the building, the 911 dispatcher relaying information about their victim’s location. 

“First floor, back right corner.”

Bobby leads the way, and Eddie sticks close behind him. The air-conditioning in the building has been turned off, and the atmosphere inside is choking and dry. He feels himself start to sweat even more, and wonders how that’s possible.

“Wow,” is the first thing anyone - Buck - says, when the victim comes into view. Both of his legs are pinned under a very large machine, which appears to have fallen on its side. He’s conscious, but clearly going into shock. Hen and Chim get to work on him right away, as the rest of the team analyzes the machine and waits for the paramedics to give the go-ahead to lift it away. 

“You’re good to go, Cap,” Chim says, after a moment. “He’s stable for now.”

“We’re gonna need all available hands on deck for this one,” Bobby says. Hen stands up from next to the patient to join in the effort, while Chim remains with him, monitoring his vitals. 

Bobby instructs everyone to different positions around the machine. Eddie is at a corner, and he braces a hand against it as they prepare to lift. He can’t remember a time when he felt this weak, but he knows he has to fight through this, has to give everything he’s got and more, to make sure that they get this man free. 

“On the count of three,” Bobby says, and Eddie puts his hands on either side of the corner, pressing his feet firmly into the ground. He can do this. He has to do this. He feels so, so bad. 

“Three, two, one!”

They all lift simultaneously. The machine creaks and squeaks and comes up off of the ground, and there’s a dragging sound, and Eddie’s legs are starting to shake, and his vision is going dark around the corners and his head is hurting more and more and -

“He’s out!” 

They settle the machine to the floor. The second Eddie’s hands leave the metal, everything goes dark.

--

Eddie wakes up to the overpowering smell of ammonia. He reaches out a clumsy hand to bat the source of the smell away and hears Buck’s voice.

“He’s awake!” This is not directed at Eddie, but the next thing he says is. “I can’t believe you.” 

Eddie opens his eyes and finds himself staring up at Buck’s face, half-illuminated by what he assumes is a flashlight. “What happened?” he asks, trying to sit up. 

Buck’s hand presses him back to the ground, which is where he was heading anyway - even moving slightly upwards had made his head start to feel funny, and he really doesn’t want to pass out. Wait - 

“You passed out,” Buck says, his voice not quite snapping at Eddie, but getting there. “We set down that machine, and you hit the floor. You wanna explain that?”

Not really, Eddie thinks. “Don’t feel good,” he says, and this time it’s Bobby who speaks to him, stepping into his field of view for the first time and bending to crouch next to him. 

“I bet you don’t. You’re dehydrated and running a fever.” Eddie senses that there’s something else Bobby is going to say, but he’s interrupted by Buck.

“Even though you told me you were fine,” Buck says. “You passed out, Eddie. You’re just lucky that the patient was stable enough for Hen and Chim to check you over and make sure you weren’t, you know, dying or anything.” He sounds angry, and Eddie doesn’t blame him. He can’t believe he passed out on the job. He’s stronger than that, better than that. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. 

“Save it,” Buck says. “You think you can get up without passing out again? We need to get you back to the station.”

Eddie shrugs against the ground. This must be a good enough answer, though, because the next thing he knows, Buck’s hands are grabbing onto his own, and then Buck’s standing and pulling Eddie to his feet. 

Everything starts to spin, but Eddie resolutely does not pass out. He does lean forward until Buck is practically supporting all of his weight. They walk back to the truck, awkwardly, Buck all but carrying Eddie, Bobby walking next to them. 

The ride to the station is quiet. Eddie leans his head against the window and wishes that the glass was cool. But it’s warm, just like everything else, and he doesn’t think he’s ever been so hot in his life. I want to go home, he thinks, and it’s not until Buck replies that he realizes he’s spoken out loud.

“You’ll go home,” he says. “We’re just going back to the station to get your stuff, and then I’m driving you there.”

Some kind of hopeful feeling rises in Eddie at the thought of Buck bringing him home, caring for him, even, but he squashes it down and protests because he has to. “You don’t have to -”

“I’m doing it. End of story,” Buck says. Eddie flinches a little at the hardness in his voice, but he knows he deserves it. 

They arrive back at the station, and Buck tells Eddie to wait in the truck while he gets their stuff. Eddie slumps down in his seat and closes his eyes and tries to tell himself that he’s going to be fine, that it’s just a fever, but he’s aching and sweaty and exhausted and frankly miserable, and having a hard time believing that anything is ever going to be fine again. 

“Hey,” Bobby’s voice distracts him from his rapidly darkening thoughts. Eddie opens his eyes and sits up a little on the seat. Bobby sits down across from him and touches a hand to his shoulder. 

“Are you okay?”

That is...not what Eddie had been expecting him to say. He’d expected a stern talking-to, at the very least. Maybe some yelling. Not concern. 

He finds he doesn’t have it in him to lie. “Not really.”

“How long have you been feeling sick?”

Eddie shrugs. “I only felt a little off before going to sleep. I thought it was just the heat. It wasn’t bad until I woke up.”

Bobby nods sympathetically, and Eddie wonders why he’s not mad. Before he can think the better of it, he’s asking. 

“I am upset with you,” Bobby says, but his voice is gentle. “Coming to work sick doesn’t just put you in danger. It puts the team and the people we save in danger too. You should have told me how you were feeling before we went out on that call.”

Eddie nods. “I know,” he says, “it was stupid.”

“I won't argue with that,” Bobby replies. “I want you to get home and get some rest and plenty of fluids, and don’t even think about coming back here until you’re feeling a hundred percent.”

“Okay.”

Bobby stands to leave the truck at the same moment that Buck returns, his and Eddie’s duffle bags thrown over his shoulder, keys to his Jeep in hand. “You ready to go?” he asks, voice still distant but slightly less cold. 

“Yeah,” Eddie says, carefully making his way out of the truck, bracing his hands against it to keep his balance. Buck steps closer and takes on some of Eddie’s weight without either of them saying a thing, and they walk out into the parking lot. 

For the first few minutes of the drive, neither of them says anything. Then, they stop at a red light, and Buck turns to look at Eddie. 

“You passed out,” he says, stressing the words. 

“I know,” Eddie replies. “Don’t have to remind me.”

“We were on a call, and you just passed out,” Buck continues. “Do you know what that was like? Hearing something fall to the ground and realizing it was you?”

Eddie doesn’t answer. He’s too tired to formulate any kind of response, and anyway, he’s pretty sure that these are rhetorical questions.

The light turns green, and Buck starts driving again. “It was terrifying, Eds,” and a bit of softness creeps back into his voice with the use of the nickname. “We didn’t know why you collapsed. Honestly, you’re lucky that the ambulance already had a passenger, or you’d probably be at the hospital right now.”

“It wasn’t...wasn’t that bad,” Eddie says, suddenly realizing how much worse things could be - he could be in the hospital, for what is nothing more than a fever. 

“Yeah, we figured that out pretty quick when Chim started checking you over. Your fever wasn’t dangerously high or anything. You’re just sick. Normal sick, nothing scary. Chim said all you needed was some rest and some water and someone watching over you to make sure you actually got those things.”

Eddie nods, although Buck is looking at the road and can’t see him. “Glad it’s you,” he says. 

“What?”

“Glad it’s you,” he repeats. “Watching over me. I didn’t think...I mean...you’re mad at me. But you’re doing it anyway.”

Buck pulls into the driveway. “Of course I am,” he says. “Watching over you. And, I mean, I’m mad at you, too. Do you have any idea how stupid it was to go on a call like this?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says. “I just…”

“I know.”

Buck parks the car and gets out, and he’s opening Eddie’s door for him before Eddie’s hands have even found his seatbelt. Buck reaches across him and undoes it, wincing when his hand touches Eddie’s skin. 

“You really are burning up,” he says. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

A few minutes later, Eddie is in bed, dressed in lightweight pajamas and lying on top of the covers because it’s way too hot beneath them. There’s a large glass of water and a bottle of tylenol sitting on the bedside table, and Buck is in his bathroom getting a damp washcloth that Eddie had tried to insist wasn’t necessary. 

As soon as the cloth touches his forehead, though, he changes his mind. It feels wonderful against his overheated skin, and he sighs contentedly.

“Told you that would make you feel better,” Buck says, sinking down onto the edge of the bed. “You need anything else?”

You, Eddie thinks, but Buck is already here, taking care of him and worrying over him and making sure he’s comfortable even though he’s also still a little mad at him. It should be enough, Eddie thinks, but all he really wants is for Buck to lie down next to him. He can’t quite bring himself to ask, though. Even in his feverish state his inhibitions haven��t been lowered that much. 

So he doesn’t ask Buck to lie down next to him. The extra body heat would probably be unbearable anyway. But that doesn’t mean that Buck doesn’t stay. He does, and doesn’t give Eddie much of a choice in the matter. 

“I’m gonna go crash on the couch,” he says. “If you need anything, if you wake up and feel worse, anything, I’m right here, okay?”

“Okay,” Eddie says, and closes his eyes. “Thank you.”

He can hear the soft smile in Buck’s voice when he replies, “always, Eds.”

thanks for reading!!!!! i hope you liked this fic :) i feel like i usually write something that is like a little more hopefully pre-ship but i have become such a slut for pining!eddie so. here. 

[stydiaeverafter]

Ch2: One Bed, Two Hearts, Three Nights

Summary: Buck is extremely sore after a hard day of work—Eddie helps him out.

Rating: M

A/N: I'm so glad you're all enjoying the story so far. I had a lot of fun writing this 2nd chapter. I know it's a bit different from what we saw on the crossover, but things are progressing between these two, and it brings overall joy! Enjoy the chapter - I'm cranking up the heat!

Read on ao3

***

Chapter Two: 2nd Night  —

How was it possible to be this sore?

This thought had traveled into Buck's mind as he fell upon the bed as he and Eddie arrived back at the motel after their shift.

They had worked for hours without so much as a break but were making progress on the wildfire. It was enough to feel proud.

But Buck could barely move, even though he knew he was making the blankets all dirty. It was like having a chimney sweeper lie on your grandmother's new white sofa. Good thing it was just the disgusting unwashed motel comforter that could be burned afterward.

That's when he noticed Eddie standing by the bed. "Sorry, I don't think I'll be moving for a while," Buck groaned as he looked up at the ceiling noticing several distinct cracks.

"Nah, man, it's cool. Rest up, I feel it, too," Eddie replied as he bent his neck from side-to-side. "That shift was brutal. I thought I was going to collapse several times."

"Not you, Eddie Diaz. You were the most solid one out there."

"That I doubt," Eddie laughed, "but thank you." He shook his head, "There was that other firehouse, the 126, who were kicking major ass though. I could barely keep up with them."

"Seriously," Buck answered. "They were badasses in the field. When I grow up, I want to be just like them." Eddie laughed in response—Buck's favorite sound.

Buck didn't mention that it was bothering him that he couldn't seem to figure out where he'd seen that mysterious girl from, though. She had looked so familiar. However, tomorrow was another day. "I guess they're just used to the humidity on top of a blazing wildfire." Buck smirked as he looked up towards Eddie, "Probably why you were so successful, too."  

"One more day, and you'll be there," Eddie shrugged with an entertaining smirk.

"Not to be dramatic or anything, but I think I'll shrivel up into a melted carcass first."

"Lovely image. But hey, you're halfway there, so that's satisfying at least. The process won't be too grueling."

"I know! Even though I must say, my skin is silky smooth here. Just—"

"Like a baby's bottom?" Eddie suggested raising his perfect eyebrows. "Were you going to add that?"

Buck grinned mischievously, "Perhaps." Then he winked, which was Buck's pitiful attempt at flirting.

His partner knew just about everything there was to know about him. 

Well, not everything.

Eddie looked towards the bathroom, "Do you mind, while you're lying there turning into a corpse if I take the first shower tonight? I feel like I can't function with the smell of smoke on me, and I want to call Chris before it gets too late."

"Go for it," Buck responded as he sprawled out his arms, "I'll be here for a while."

Eddie looked at him with a beautiful grin, "Then I'll be sure to take my time."

"Just leave me some hot water, yeah?"

"Hey," Eddie snorted, "karma's a bitch, Buck. It was like Elsa's cavern when you were through with it last night."

Buck joined in with a chuckle and tilted his head up, "I don't know what's more amusing, the fact that you had to take an icy shower or the fact you're bringing Frozen into the conversation."

Eddie shrugged, "Chris likes it."

"Chris or you?"

His friend sat there for a moment then smiled slowly, "All right, fine. I like it. No, I love it, okay?"  

Eddie was too damn cute and soft when he wanted to be, usually only around Buck and his son.

"I get it. I get it. Just Let it Go, Eddie."

"Clever," Eddie applauded slowly. "Congratulations, you're a dork. I'm getting in the shower now."

"Be my guest," Buck answered, pointing to the door. He started humming the tune from Beauty and the Beast, a classic, and Eddie grinned again as he closed the door.

Buck smiled. He loved their playful banter. It was always just so comfortable being around the guy.

He touched his chest, and the humor drifted away. Buck recalled how when he had woken up this moment, Eddie had been holding him.

Buck exhaled, thinking about it some more. From the way Eddie's arms had been around him, his palms protectively on Buck's chest, to how Eddie had pressed his lips on his back, his hot breath a soothing embrace.

He had tried and failed miserably about not thinking about it all day. Their bare skin touching each other, and the fact Buck had been harder than a diamond because of it.

Buck had wanted to lace his fingers with Eddie's all day and ached to stay there, together, in their bubble of complete bliss. But duty, their duty, had called.

Eddie had finally woken up, even though Buck hadn't moved, and Buck had heard a shaky breath escape Eddie's mouth.

Slowly, as though his skin was being peeled off, Eddie had moved away and jumped out of bed. Perhaps it had panicked him, but luckily Eddie was polite and seemed happy as they had gotten ready.

But Buck had wanted to cry at the loss of Eddie's warmth, which was a surprise after how hot he had been all night.

Buck was surprised he had been able to focus on the job at hand at all. Now though, he had welcomed the thoughts back.

The room was cooler tonight, and Buck cursed, surprisingly. He debated turning the AC off so he could still sleep in boxer briefs and no shirt. He wanted and hoped to feel Eddie's body against his again even though he wanted to do a lot more than cuddle.

Hell, he wanted to straddle the guy and suck on Eddie's neck until his friend was moaning out his name, with fingers pulling his hair, messing it up entirely.

Buck wanted to move back-and-forth to feel that delicious hard friction that only they could create with one another till they were both sweaty and left panting.

God...he just wanted Eddie's hands all over him, to the point Buck started shaking, speculating about it.

He tried rubbing his arms to calm the aching need for Eddie just to take over his body and winced. Buck wanted it with his best friend in every way without ever seeing an end in sight.

"Do you want me to give you a massage?"

Buck sat up so fast that he cranked his neck, "What?"

Eddie was standing there with a towel around his waist, his hair curling slightly, and water droplets running down that gorgeous chest.

Buck wanted to lick it.

"You're rubbing your arms so hard it seems like you're going to snap them off," Eddie replied. "It's been quite the heavy lifting lately, so I could help relieve some tension if you'd like." He gave Buck a look that he couldn't quite place, "I'm pretty good."

Didn't Buck know it, yet God almighty, did he want Eddie to show him how good it could be in so many ways.

Just friends.

Did Eddie understand what he was offering? What it would mean to Buck?

Just friends.

Eddie was gazing at him with an intense look, staring as if he wanted to devour him.

Jesus, this didn't feel like just friends.

But he had to have Eddie's hands on him, and then, and only then, could he die happy. "Yeah, okay, thanks."

"I'm just going to give Chris a quick call first."

"Sounds good," Buck said. He looked at the bathroom, "I'll go take a shower, so you don't get dirt all over you again." On that clean sexy body, Buck wanted to add.

He shook his head—he was such a disaster.

Buck wanted to talk to Christopher again, but it probably wasn't the greatest of ideas with what he was thinking right now.

"Wouldn't want that," Eddie teased.

Being too turned on, Buck couldn't laugh. He just nodded.

Eddie's slowly faded, and Buck rushed into the bathroom and quickly closed the door.

He closed his eyes and put his head up against the bathroom door, catching the sweet scent of Eddie, wondering if there would ever be a time he wouldn't want Eddie Diaz.

Not in this lifetime, his heart whispered.

***

As Eddie talked to his son and Carla, he couldn't help but wonder what Buck had thought about before stepping into the bathroom. The strangest expression had masked up his face, and he had gone into hiding. Eddie acknowledged that Buck did that from time-to-time, but Eddie never wanted to push him for information that would make him uncomfortable.

There was still so much he didn't know about the guy's past. But then again, they all had a history, and sometimes, it wasn't welcomed with open arms.

His son had wanted to talk to Buck again, of course, but he didn't think Buck was in the mood with how he was feeling. Chris was disappointed, which made Eddie a bit sad. He hated denying his son of anything, but they exchanged their nightly farewells nonetheless.

Afterward, Eddie looked down at his hands. Had he really offered to massage his best friend, who he had deep feelings for? Sure had.

The truth was, he could see Buck was in a bit of discomfort, and he wanted to take care of him. The desire to do so was overwhelming. Also, Eddie hadn't been kidding; he was good at giving massages.

And there was the fact that he wanted, no, craved to touch Buck. The thought made him suddenly flustered, but he shook it off.

When Buck emerged without his shirt but comfy pants on, Eddie felt slightly disappointed. He had hoped for the same attire as last night, but then again, he wouldn't have been able to contain himself with Buck only in his underwear. No way.  No, this was the best move for both of them and Eddie's wandering hands.

"How's my little buddy doing?"

Eddie refrained from looking down at the front of his tight pants, surrounded by dirty thoughts, knowing good and well Buck meant his son.

"Chris is good. He and Carla are having a Marvel movie marathon and lots of popcorn."

"Ah man," Buck said, "sounds fun." Then he pouted, "He didn't want to talk to me? I tried to hurry."

Eddie's heart fell into his stomach, "Shoot. I didn't realize. I'm sorry. I thought maybe you were in too much pain, and it wouldn't be the best time."

"I am sore, badly, but I'm never too anything not to talk to that kid."

Beaming, Eddie acknowledged him, "He wanted to, so tomorrow, I promise."

"Deal." Buck rolled his shoulders and bit his full bottom lip that Eddie had dreamed countless times of sucking. "You seriously don't mind?" Buck asked with a sheepish grin.

"Of course not, c'mon."

"Where do you want me?"

Anywhere. Everywhere. Eddie cleared his throat, "The bed is fine." God,  why was he so nervous all of a sudden? This man in front of him was Buck, for crying out loud. You mean this gorgeous man you're in love with, his thoughts sang out, torturing him.

Eddie ran a hand through his hair, trying to gain some damn composure.

Buck collapsed ungracefully on the mattress and bounced. They both laughed, and it felt good to feel some normalcy for a change between them. Then again, he had always felt this way for the guy. Eddie had just forced it under the surface.

"Alright, Magic Fingers," Buck announced, propping his face on his crossed arms, "let's see what you've got."

"Magic Fingers, I like that, and be prepared to be amazed."

Buck exclaimed, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at Eddie, "I don't see all your essential oils out on display or hear your instrumental forest soundtrack in the background."

Eddie laughed, shuffling closer to the bed, "How many massages have you gotten?"

"Enough, and yet never enough if you know what I mean."

"Amen to that," Eddie answered. "Unfortunately, I left my essential massage kit at home, so you'll have to do with welcoming sticky humidity and the smell of sulfur surrounding us."

"Just spray your cologne in my direction," Buck replied, putting his face down into his arms, "it always smells nice."

Buck had noticed how he smelled, and the realization made his heart flutter. Eddie grinned, "Do you want me to?"

His friend just shrugged, "It'll remove the forever lingering smoke-smell out of my nose, so why not."

Alrighty then. Eddie walked over to the dresser, grabbed his cologne, and felt a bit ridiculous. But hey, if Buck wanted him to set the mood with a familiar and comforting smell, then so be it, he'd do it. Besides, it flattered Eddie that Buck thought he smelled good.

As he sprayed it around the room, but not too much, Buck made a noise of approval as he sniffed the air like a cute puppy, "Ahh, yes, there it is. Much better."

"I'm so glad I could be of assistance," Eddie said, putting the cologne down and coming back over.

"Now, if you could feed me a grape or two, then I'll be sure to leave you with a four-star rating."

"Why not five?"

"Well, you did forget the oils...so..."

They both laughed, and Eddie flexed his hands, feeling a bit tense himself, "Alright you, hold still."

"Yes, sir!"

Eddie tried to warm up his hands, but he was afraid they had gone a bit clammy. When he finally made contact with Buck's bareback, his friend jumped slightly and then stiffened. "Sorry..."

"No," Buck murmured, "no, it's fine."

He started at Buck's shoulders first, and the feeling of Buck's strong muscular shoulders were leaving Eddie weak in the knees.

When he added a bit more pressure, Buck moaned. Eddie froze, "Let me know if it's too much, okay?"

"It's perfect," Buck responded calmly. But as Eddie continued, he saw Buck's hand grab the sheet in his fist. He really must be sore, Eddie assumed.

Eddie moved to Buck's arms, wanting to help release some of the tension he was noticing, and Buck, as a result, opened his arms up wide, his cheek against the mattress, his eyes fluttering closed.

He was so fucking beautiful, Eddie could barely handle it.

Eddie so badly wanted to caress Buck's cheek with his fingers and then his lips. But he knew that would be going too far.

But he had to get closer—Eddie couldn't help it. He spread his legs on both sides of Buck's feet and leaned down, but not too much,

Eddie's hands slid over Buck's smooth arms until he was by the guy's hands. Buck released his fingers from the sheet and exhaled deep.

All Eddie wanted to do, was lace his fingers into Buck's...instead, he moved back up Buck's body. Buck's eyes fluttered open, and he watched Eddie for a moment, who quickly looked away before he got caught up in the mesmerizing gaze.

His hands trailed down Buck's body to his lower back and pushed deeply, knowing Buck would like this movement. Eddie was rewarded with a moan. That deep sound made Eddie want to do dirty, dirty things to his best friend.

When his palms were on Buck's hips, Eddie licked his lips. He craved to kiss and lick the smooth skin there.

As he started moving a bit slower, even further down Buck's body, he thrust his perfect hips into the mattress.

Holy shit.

Was Buck turned on? He couldn't be...but Eddie sure as hell was. He looked down at his own workout pants and saw the hard tent poking at the fabric.

Being this aroused, Eddie ached to move down to Buck's firm ass, which Eddie had luckily seen once or twice in the firehouse shower. It was a Greek statue of perfection. God, the memory had his body sparking with desire, with a passionate need he'd never felt before. One so intense that Eddie imagined spreading Buck's thighs out wide so he could lick up his hard thick length until Buck was practically panting and screaming out his name.  

As if Buck could read his thoughts, his hips started swiveling.

Fuck.  

Eddie had to end this. He had to stop right now before he straddled Buck and made sure the guy was leaking out in pleasure.

Peeling his hands from Buck's body caused him actual pain. It was torture. This entire act had been, but even more at the loss of touch.

Buck was biting his lip as he opened his eyes, obviously becoming aware of the loss himself.

They gazed at each other for a moment, and Buck breathed out slowly. "Um...I change my mind."

Eddie cleared his throat, not for the first time, "About what?"

"I'll give you five stars."

As Eddie smiled, he tried to shift his pants nonchalantly so Buck wouldn't see his obvious arousal. He didn't care if he woke up with the worst case of blue balls ever; Eddie refused to make his friend uncomfortable. Hell, they hadn't even talked about any of this yet.

Eddie looked down, hoping he hadn't already overstepped some unwritten friendship boundary.

"Hey," Buck said gently, breaking the silence, "thank you for that. I appreciate it. You were right about being pretty good, Magic Fingers; that was amazing." He started to lift his body off the bed, "I can move my shoulders again."

"Good," Eddie replied. "I'm glad."

Buck twisted back and smiled, wiggling his eyebrows up-and-down, "Would you like me to return the favor?"

Of course, Eddie did, but he didn't trust himself at that moment. Not with where his mind was so clearly taking him. Eddie's body was already sweating, and he felt like he was vibrating all over.

"Rain check?" He said. "I'm feeling pretty tired."

Buck's smile vanished, "Ah, yeah. Okay." Then he crawled to his side of the bed, "You're right. It's late, and we have day three tomorrow. Our last day."

Eddie quickly maneuvered into the bed, to be unseen. Once he was under the covers, he turned off the light.

"But hey, definitely a rain check, okay?" Buck replied in the dark. Eddie thought he caught a sense of longing, but he quickly shook that thought away. "I owe you."

"Absolutely. Pencil me in for tomorrow."

"Duly noted," Buck acknowledged, turning away to face the wall. Eddie could hear him sniff the air as if he wanted more of the scent, which resulted in Eddie smiling some more.

As he closed his eyes, Eddie realized Buck had kept his pants on. He wondered if the guy was finally getting used to the heat.  

***

Buck woke up sometime during the night and was pleasantly surprised and relieved that Eddie had once again wrapped his body like a snake around him. Sure, Buck was hotter than hell on earth, probably because he hadn't stripped down, which would've been dangerous with how out-of-his-mind-aroused he had been during that entire massage, but that didn't matter in the slightest.

He rolled his shoulders and smiled. Eddie hadn't been kidding—it had been a damn good massage, but what was more was who had given it to him. The way Eddie had touched his skin left Buck forever marked by the memory. He would now always crave more, especially when Eddie would casually touch him, which would indeed happen; the two were like magnets—attracted to close contact with each other.

So this moment, of Eddie holding him in his embrace, was Buck's oasis. He desired this type of warmth and connection that only Eddie could provide.

Ever so carefully, Buck brought Eddie's hand towards his mouth. Tenderly, Buck pressed his lips onto Eddie's rough knuckles.

He didn't let go of Eddie's hand afterward, nor would he ever again.

"I love you," he whispered in the dark. "I love you."

Eddie sighed in his sleep and snuggled in closer, his lips touching Buck's neck. How was it possible to be this in love?

Buck didn't sleep a wink that night, not that he minded. Instead, he embraced being in the arms of the most important person in his life.

[spnirwin]

Nobody Fights Alone - Part 1

Pairing: Eddie Diaz x Reader

Word Count: 1,717

Warnings: Mentions of cancer

A/N: We present to you the first installment in our angsty Eddie mini series! With bonus twin!Buck...just saying. This is a collaborative effort between myself and @anotherspnfanfic. If you want to see updates on your dash, throw us both a follow 😉 Let us know what you think!

You were standing in the kitchen washing the breakfast dishes as Eddie buzzed around you. He was shoving the things he would need for his shift at the 118 into his duffel bag. Everything seemed to be scattered in every corner of your shared apartment. 

“So, do you have anything planned for today?” he asked, pausing to glance up at you. 

“Not really,” you shrugged. “I might be grabbing lunch with Kelly but that’s it.”

“You should take some time to do something nice for yourself then. You've seemed a bit down lately and you’re always working so hard taking care of things around here. You deserve it.”

“Oh, my god, you sound like Evan,” you said, rolling your eyes. “He’s always saying I give too much, that I don’t take enough time for myself.”

“He’s right,” Eddie chuckled. “As your twin, he knows you better than anyone so you should probably listen to him. And me, because I know what I’m talking about, too,” he added, almost as an afterthought. 

You smiled and shook your head at him in response. Eddie left the room, presumably to try and figure out what was taking Christopher so long to get ready for school. As soon as he disappeared from sight, the smile dropped straight off of your face. You would be doing something for yourself today, but it was neither fun nor enjoyable. In fact, it was absolutely petrifying. 

A few minutes later Eddie reentered the room, Christopher in tow. “Go ahead and grab your backpack, buddy. We gotta go,” Eddie said as he walked over to you.

Your hands were stuck in the soapy, water filled sink when he approached you from the side. He rested one hand on your hip and looked at you earnestly. 

“Seriously, please take some time for yourself today. Even if it’s just to walk down the street and grab a coffee.”

“I will,” you said, nodding in agreement. He smiled and pressed a quick kiss to your lips, satisfied with your response.

Christopher had finished getting his things for school and was now waiting patiently for his dad. Eddie gave your hip a quick squeeze before crossing the apartment, grabbing his duffle, and meeting Christopher at the door. 

“Love you!” they both called out as they opened the door and stepped through. 

“Love you, too,” you called back, the door slamming shut behind them with an eerie finality. 

—

You looked around the doctor’s office, your leg bouncing up and down uncontrollably. To say you were nervous was an understatement. This was your second appointment this week. You had gone in for your yearly check-up, and while performing your routine breast exam the doctor had found a lump. Breast cancer was rare in women your age, but not an impossibility.

The door in front of you opened and a nurse stepped through, calling your name. You stood and followed her through the door and back to an exam room. Your nerves were skyrocketing when the doctor finally came and got you for your mammogram. When it was over, she returned you to the exam room where you waited again, this time for the results.

The waiting was the hardest part. You had waited three days between appointments, one hour in the waiting room, and now twenty minutes for your exam results. This was potentially just the beginning of the waiting, and it was already excruciating.

The doctor entered the room with a grim look on her face. She hadn’t liked what she had seen on the mammogram and wanted to do a biopsy. You would need to make an appointment with a specialist in a different part of the practice for a later date, but she wanted you to begin preparing now. Your head spun as you listened to her describe the procedure. It was pretty non-invasive, just a needle removing some cells that would be sent off to a lab and tested. You would be able to go home immediately after with slight swelling and minimal pain. The results would come back four days later. You could make your appointment with the secretary on the way out.

You walked back down the hallway toward the waiting room in a daze, unsure of how to process the information that had just been thrown at you. The doctor had insisted that there was nothing to worry about yet, but that did nothing to stop the influx of emotions that were currently coursing through your body. You stopped briefly at the front desk and made your next appointment for six days from the current one. Your motions were zombie-like as you exited the doctor’s office and headed home. 

—

You awoke the next morning feeling unsteady. You were having trouble processing. So you decided to pretend like everything was fine. 

This is exactly what you were doing when Eddie arrived home from his shift. He walked through the door and found you sitting at the kitchen table, joking with Christopher over chocolate chip pancakes. 

“Hey guys.” He walked over the table, stopping to ruffle Christopher’s hair and press a kiss to the top of your head. You put some pancakes onto his plate as he slid into his chair. 

“You have about five minutes until we have to leave for school,” you said to Christopher. He nodded in response before turning and starting to chatter at Eddie. 

While they talked, you pushed your pancake pieces around on your plate, not at all interested in actually eating them. You were so interested in looking down at your plate that you didn’t notice the small glances Eddie was shooting your way. 

“Alright, kiddo,” you said a few short minutes later. “Time to go.”

Christopher nodded, clearly disappointed, but stood anyway and walked to the counter to get his lunch. 

“I’ll clean this up,” Eddie said, gesturing to the breakfast remnants in front of you.

“Thanks,” you said. You moved to get up and follow Christopher but Eddie’s hand on your arm stopped you.

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just didn’t sleep well last night.” You shot him a small smile and stood up. Eddie’s eyes tracked your back the entire way as you walked toward the front door. 

He sighed as it opened up and closed behind you. The smile that you had attempted to give him hadn’t reached your eyes. Something was wrong. 

—

You ran circles around Eddie for the next six days. Every time he questioned your mood you managed to skirt around it or give some half baked excuse as to why you were acting that way. You knew he was hurt by your behavior, but you didn’t want to tell him anything until you had definitive answers. That way he didn’t have to share in as much of the waiting. It would be easier for him. You didn’t want him to worry if it turned out to be nothing.

You sent him off to his shift with a bright smile on the morning of your biopsy appointment. As you drove to the doctor’s office, you couldn’t help but feel guilty. He deserved better than what you were currently giving him, but at the moment it was all you could manage. 

As soon as you arrived at the doctor’s office, you were whisked away for your biopsy. The procedure was relatively quick with minimal pain. You were slightly tender and swollen, but it wasn’t anything noticeable that would impact the rest of your day. Now, it was time for more waiting. 

You were driving home when your phone rang. When you answered you were slightly surprised to hear Athena’s voice on the other end of the line. 

“Hey girl, you up to anything pressing right now?” she asked. 

You considered her question carefully before responding. “No, I’m just heading home.”

“Well you better turn that car around and head this way. I’m at the station making lunch and I would love it if you would join. I could use some help in the kitchen and I know a couple boys that would love to see you.” 

It was an invitation you couldn’t deny. If you did, you knew she would say something to Eddie or Buck and then they would definitely know something was wrong. 

“I’ll be right over!” You brightened your voice and it rose an octave. 

As you hung up the phone and turned your car around in the direction of the station, you wondered when your life had suddenly become such a lie. 

—

You wandered across the apparatus floor on auto-pilot. All you could think about was the test results you were waiting for.

As you approached the stairs, Buck came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your middle. You startled at the touch and let out a surprised gasp.

He released you instantly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He smiled, apologetically. “What are you doing here?”

You ran your palm across your forehead as you organized your thoughts. “Uh, lunch. Athena called and told me she was cooking for you guys today.”

“Awesome. I think it’s going to be a little while before it’s ready, but she’s upstairs. Eddie was over rolling hoses last I saw him.” He pointed towards the side of the truck as he explained.

“Okay,” you said, turning to head up the stairs.

Buck placed a hand on your shoulder to keep you from turning away. “Are you alright? You seem distracted.”

You plastered a smile on as you nodded. “Yeah. It’s just been a long morning.”

You could see that he didn’t quite believe you but he let it go, for now. You continued up to greet Athena and thank her for the invite.

Eddie walked up next to Buck as you cleared the top step. Buck looked over at him before he looked back up. “Does she seem off to you?”

Eddie frowned. “Yeah, she’s been off all week. She didn’t even come say hi to me just now. Did she say anything to you about something going on?”

Buck shook his head. “No, just said it’s been a long morning.”

Eddie sighed as he headed over towards the weight room, deciding to give you some space until lunch was ready.

—

[detectivecarlosreyes]

In Case of Emergency (Ch 7/10)

Ao3 | 2/13.3k | Buddie | Status: Incomplete

Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 7: You obviously haven't tried my cereal! Just a little slice of domesticity between Buck and Eddie, with Eddie planning on surprising Buck with a thankyou dinner for organising a Christmas that didn’t involve being apart from his son. Set post 3x10: Christmas Spirit.

All Eddie wanted to do was make Buck dinner as a thank you for playing a part in organising Christmas with everyone. He knew that even with Buck adamantly saying otherwise, that the main reason for it was for him and Chris. He saw the way Buck looked when Chris had asked to have Christmas with him, and he knew that Buck hated letting anyone down, especially Chris.

So, he had messaged Maddie, asking her to keep Buck distracted and out of the apartment for the afternoon while he got to work on a lasagne, sourcing the ingredients and letting himself into Buck’s apartment as a surprise for him when he got home. It was nothing extravagant, but he knew how much Buck appreciated a home-cooked meal and that it was one of his favourite meals.

It was no secret that he was not the best in the kitchen, oftentimes when they did have dinner at his place it involved either takeaway or Buck being the one doing the cooking. Which is why he thought he might try his hand at doing something unexpected, as a form of appreciation instead of more gifts.

Unfortunately for him, even with confidence, a well-laid plan and a solid recipe, a meal could be easily undone by a cook’s ineptitude and this time was no exception.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

It had been a few months since they’d had that morning conversation and things have been going steady for Eddie and Buck. It felt right and easy, easier than either of them could have thought it would be. They decided that day to go slowly, privately for the time being as they learned more of each other through this new lens of their relationship.

They were pretty sure that the others hadn’t picked up on anything different between them and they were perfectly content to keep a lid on their relationship in the workplace; that was something that they had made clear with each other at the very beginning, to keep their personal life separate from work, and away from prying eyes at least for the time being.

However, despite their attempts at keeping their relationship quiet for as long as possible, there was no escaping the observant eyes of one Maddie Buckley, who, after a couple of months of putting two and two together, eventually managed to coax the truth out of Buck before dinner one evening while Chim was still on the way from his apartment. She had been quick to both celebrate the development and promised that she’d keep their secret until they were ready to publicly be a couple.  

Throughout those months Buck was over at Eddie’s more often, spending more and more time with him and Chris. By Christmastime, Buck was surprised to learn that he was Chris’s second choice after knowing that he couldn’t spend it with his dad. It was heart-warming to know that his boyfriend’s son already saw him as family enough to want to spend Christmas with him and, he couldn’t bear disappointing the kid.

It didn’t take much to get the idea set into motion, especially once he shared it with Athena and let her have full reign in getting everything organised. That day was his gift, making sure everyone in the team could still have the chance to celebrate Christmas on the day and in his head, he said it was for everyone but deep in his heart he knew the true reason was that it was always meant to be a gift for Eddie and Chris.

He never expected any sort of thank you, that was never the purpose nor the point of having Christmas in the firehouse, besides seeing everyone’s joy was thank you enough. He certainly never expected to find Eddie preparing dinner in his apartment while he’d been out with Maddie taking advantage of post-Christmas sales in the limbo week before New Year’s.  

Even from the other side of the door, he could hear the sounds of someone in the kitchen and he grinned to himself knowing there to be only one person who had both the access and the comfortability to be in his apartment without him being present.

This was something that had become a common occurrence between each other. Letting themselves in regardless of whether or not the other was home, Buck doing it more often than Eddie; making themselves comfortable knowing that the other would be home soon. So, it was quite the pleasant surprise for the roles to be reversed especially as he saw the amusing sight of Eddie frowning at the dish in front of him, skewer in hand.

“What’s all this?” he uttered as a way of announcing his presence, unable to contain himself as he closed the door with his foot and watched as Eddie startle minutely as he placed the mysterious dish back in the oven before fiddling with the timer dial and then smoothly leaned one arm against the countertop beside him, in an attempt to mask his earlier surprise.

“And a hello to you too,” responded Eddie with that near mocking tone that Buck couldn’t help but love. It was enough for him to immediately drop the bags where he was standing and stride over to his partner, in more ways than one, and quickly kiss his lips in apology and greeting.

“Hey there,” he murmured as he loosely wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist before breaking eye contact with Eddie as he surveyed the kitchen with a furrowed brow before returning his gaze back to Eddie’s, “I didn’t forget any plans, did I? If I knew you were here, I would’ve come home earlier.”

Eddie hummed contentedly and brought his arms around Buck, keeping their bodies impossibly close, “Nope, no plans. I just wanted to surprise you with dinner to thank you for what you did for Christmas.”

Touched that Eddie felt the need to thank him for something that he felt didn’t need thanks, he looked away bashfully, “I didn’t really do anything, just talked to Athena about it, she did all the work.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, I’m sure you did more than you let on. No matter, it meant the world to Chris,” Eddie tilted his head up and claimed Buck’s lips with his own before parting once again, “and to me, so thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Buck said softly, and pecked him on the lips once more before stepping out of Eddie’s arms and moved past him to look over the saucepans still holding some of the leftover sauces, “So, what did you decide to make?”

With his back to Eddie, he didn’t see the frown fall on his face, but he could hear the hint of barely concealed irritation colour his voice, “Lasagne. I was hoping Maddie would keep you out for a bit longer, so it’d be ready by the time you got home, but it’s not going exactly how I planned.”

“I knew she was up to something, there was just something in the way she was acting.” Buck shook his head as he murmured to himself, bemused, now understanding the conniving glint in his sister’s eyes.

“Anything I can help with?” he asked Eddie as he sampled both of the sauces and felt his mouth water in response, half surprised how well they’ve turned out.

Eddie hip-checked Buck to move him away from the oven door as the timer went off and reclaimed the oven mitts to bring the dish out of the oven. The cheesy top was a deep golden at this point and the edges were darkened to a near-burned look.

Buck watched with mild amusement as Eddie skewered it again and groaned in frustration, “Only if you know anything about softening the pasta sheets, I used the oven- ready ones because they were supposed to be easy but they’re still crunchy in there. I hoped that maybe the extra ten minutes I put it in for would’ve helped.”

Seeing the tension in Eddie’s shoulders and knowing how much he hated feeling like he was failing at something, Buck crowded up behind him, placing his hands on Eddie’s hips and pressed a kiss to his shoulder as he peeked over, reaching around to make his own assessment.

“Not all hope is lost just yet. We might be able to salvage this with some boiling water, plastic wrap, and foil,” he said thoughtfully as he stepped back and leveraged himself up to sit on the island bench unfazed as Eddie looked at him expectantly before frowning.

“Oh, I see, by we you mean me?” he responded in playful sarcasm with a hand on his hip as he took in Buck’s new position.

Buck laughed and spread his hands in an open gesture, “Eds, I am entirely confident that you can do this without me.”

“Except for the fact that I have no idea what I’m doing. This isn’t part of the recipe.” Eddie shot back a hint of anxiety in his voice, causing Buck to relent in his teasing, and clearly explained what needed to be done, suppressing a smile when Eddie’s face flooded with relief over having instructions to follow.

Half an hour later, he was watching with bated breath as Eddie cut through the now soft and pliable layers of the lasagne, looking as though he expected the dish to be completely inedible, much like the few dinners he’d attempted in the past.

It seemed in Eddie’s eyes it was nothing short of a miracle, considering his track record, and he voiced as much as they ate at the table, asking how he could have possibly known how to salvage their dinner aside from scraping off the sauces and trying again with a different pasta.

“Believe it or not, I did the exact same thing the first time I made it after moving away from home.”  Buck shrugged as he answered between mouthfuls, “and then searched online how to fix it without losing the whole batch.”

“Damn, and here I was thinking that you figured it out all on your own.”

“Sorry to disappoint but the internet is and will always be my best friend when it comes to cooking, it has yet to fail me on fixing any meal.” Buck proclaimed and then added as an aside, “not to mention, Bobby is a vault when it comes to problem-solving food.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Shortly thereafter as the dinner itself came to a close, the topic of conversation gravitated to Buck's shopping when Eddie’s eyes drifted to the abandoned bags by the door, reminding Buck of the gift that he’d almost forgotten about until now, having been caught up in the domestic vision of seeing his boyfriend cooking for him.

“Now I know you said Christmas lunch was a gift in and of itself, but I ordered this well before I even came up with that idea and it seems even more fitting that you get it now.”

He watched with pursed lips as he slid the already wrapped present across the table to Eddie, suppressing what was probably a shit-eating grin as he did so, knowing exactly how Eddie was going to react.

Eddie eyed it suspiciously as he opened it before standing arms outstretched as he dryly read the words out loud, “I can’t cook for shit, but it’s my turn.”

“Flip it over,” Buck suggested with a snort unable to contain the amusement of his own joke to himself especially when he could see how much effort Eddie was putting into trying to keep a straight face as he continued, “who says I can’t cook? You obviously haven’t tried my cereal!”

“One side for me and one side for Chris,” Buck supplied lightly, barely able to keep the laugh from his voice.

Eddie rolled his eyes in mock annoyance but couldn’t maintain the façade, eventually breaking down into chuckles as he threw the apron back in his face, “you’re a menace.”

“You know you love it,” Buck responded smugly.

“Hmm,” Eddie hummed thoughtfully, coyly playing off his amusement as he bracketed Buck’s body with his arms and distracted him with a kiss before speaking against Buck’s lips, “that’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

[sulkybbarnes]

This is a birthday present for one of my most favorite people and a wonderful, beautiful person! @letitialewiss I love you tons and I hope that this little fic brings you a smile today. Happy birthday, Kim 💖💕

“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”

-Jane Austen, Emma

The problem with Eddie’s feelings is that they tend to get all encompassing, until they’re clinging to every inch of him, covering every piece of cloth he wears, trailing behind him on the floor. 

He always feels things deeply, be it grief or love or joy. Feelings tend to grip Eddie’s heart and make a home there until he is ready -or willing- to express them. And it’s that latter part, really, that gives him the most trouble. While Eddie feels every emotion and holds it close, he can seldom find a way to describe how he feels, the words sticking in his throat and refusing to budge. 

He’s become better with it over the years by virtue of becoming a father and an adult, he’s a far ways away from where he started years ago. No longer holding everything in until it tears him to shreds, but he needs practice still. Growing up the way he did, with expectations and responsibilities always looming over him, made it far easier to bottle things in or set them aside rather than voicing them.

Eddie taught himself to talk out his thoughts and emotions with Chris, making sure to set a good example for his son. He talks to Chris about grief and love and fear, in small portions and words carefully chosen to show his son that he is allowed to feel things and voice them too. He tells Chris that he loves him often, and he’s never had any trouble expressing that love and gratitude for his little boy, but that talent seems to extend only to Chris and things that have to do with his well being. Outside of matters connecting to his son’s happiness and safety, Eddie has a harder time voicing his feelings. Especially when they connected to Eddie’s happiness and well being.

Eddie struggles with waves of grief that crash over him without prior warning, and he still tells his abuela that he’s fine when she asks. He feels exhausted between work, house chores, and being a single parent, yet brushes off Hen’s concern with a smile. His heart is overtaken with longing when Buck does something endearing, but he shakes his head and laughs it off when Buck asks Something on my face? 

He acknowledges these feelings, he just doesn’t necessarily know how to voice them yet. Be it to ask for help or to tell a certain someone that their smile makes Eddie’s days more bearable. This isn’t a new problem, but it’s one he’s only been working through over the past two years or so. Eddie is getting better at it, he is, but some things can’t wait for him to work through every learned behavior and every wall he put up to protect himself. And so, Eddie decides to take action where words fail him.

It’s a simple enough solution, really. 

Eddie knows his heart and the way it beats differently whenever he’s around Buck, and if he can’t outright tell Buck how he feels then he can show him. He made the realization about his feelings quite some time ago and spent hours in his own head since; examining every moment from different angles and thinking through what it all means. He reaches a conclusion, after months of carefully not putting a name to what he feels, when it all comes crashing down around him soon after the train wreck and his run-in with Abby. 

The protectiveness Eddie felt that day towards Buck was a fierce thing that couldn’t be ignored. Eddie wanted to grab Buck and shield him from hurt. He wanted to hold his face and ask what Buck needed Eddie to do. He wanted to tell Buck that he loved him, and that Eddie and Chris would never walk away from him. Every thought and emotion that came after that day resonated throughout Eddie’s body and lived in every part of him. He couldn’t tame the feelings or leave them unnamed. 

Eddie loves Buck. He loves him fiercely and completely, the way you can only love someone you know like your own heart. 

Eddie knows this beyond a doubt. He names the feeling and sits with it for a while, then embraces it and makes his decision. He loves Buck, and he thinks -hopes, really- that Buck might feel the same way. And so, all Eddie has to do now is show Buck, if he can’t outright tell him. 

He has to put his heart out there to be weighed and measured, and to hopefully not be found wanting. So. Piece of cake.

-------

The problem with trying to woo Evan Buckley is that Evan Buckley seems to have absolutely no fucking clue when he’s being wooed. It isn’t because Buck is oblivious or unaware, but the fact that they’re as close as they are makes any attempt at typical romance futile. Eddie asks Buck out for dinner but it ends up being another Tuesday night with them having dinner and drinks like they do every other week. He allows himself to be tactile, brushing against Buck more as they walk, or putting a hand to his arm, but quickly realizes that these touches aren’t out of the ordinary. In fact, they’re so tactile that it’s habit now and Eddie only noticed just how tactile they are when he tried to up the ante. Next, Eddie tries to cook them dinner and it turns into a memorable night of him and Buck and Chris cooking together, and his son and best friend gently teasing Eddie about his cooking skills all evening. He even tries complimenting Buck’s shirt, an endeavor that earns him a knowing look from Hen and a smirk from Chim, only to have Buck smile bashfully and duck his head with mumbled thanks. 

Eddie’s most recent attempt was to bring Buck flowers when he and Chris visited him for game night a couple of weeks ago. However Buck took the flowers from Chris with a beaming smile and a comment on how the Diazes always knew how to brighten up a place. Chris went into an excited spiel about gardening and growing flowers at school with his teacher which Buck listened to with rapt attention and a wide smile, and that had been the end of that.

None of the little casual steps to dating someone would work on Buck, and Eddie quickly realizes that the reason behind it is that he and Buck have been doing almost everything a couple would do for a long time now. They’re too intertwined for a dinner invitation or casual touches to spell out romance. Every attempt he makes at a gesture ends with Buck giving Eddie grateful smiles and warm looks, but remaining completely unaware of Eddie’s intentions. Making Buck happy and spending time with him is always a triumph, but Eddie’s heart aches with the need for more. To hold Buck’s hand, and kiss him, and whisper to him all the things Eddie would never tell anyone else.

“You’re being very quiet tonight,” Buck says, nudging Eddie gently until Eddie looks at him. They are at Eddie’s apartment as is the habit these day when they’re both off from work. Chris is stretched out on the couch between them, watching a movie with his head resting on Eddie’s lap and his legs stretched out towards Buck.

“Just thinking,” Eddie shrugs with a half smile, willing his voice to remain steady and casual.

“Really, is Mulan giving you a lot to think about just now?” Buck asks in a teasing tone which draws a laugh out of Eddie. He has lost count of how many times he and Buck have sat through the same Disney movies with Chris. Eddie tends to use the time to tune out and occasionally rest his eyes for a bit, while Buck makes comments and exchanges looks with Eddie when Chris laughs at them.

“It’s a very serious movie,” Eddie answers gravely and relishes Buck’s amused grin. Buck focuses back on the movie -always far more invested than he’d like to let on- and Eddie takes the opportunity to look at him. The ease with which Buck inhabits this space, the gentle upturn of his lips, and the laughing looks he shoots Eddie when Chris giggles at something. 

The entire evening so far has been another domestic night that Eddie wouldn’t trade for the world.

Earlier, Eddie has watched with quiet amusement as Buck reacted dramatically to Chris’s comments about the movie before this one. Eddie had been so entertained by their combined theatrics that he had relented at the end of the first movie and allowed a second one for the night. Now Eddie looks between them and feels his heart bursting with warmth. His hand itches to reach for Buck’s hand and he fights the urge down for what feels like the hundredth time tonight. 

Buck shoots him a questioning look as if sensing Eddie’s eyes on him. Buck’s lips twitch again into another smile that Eddie isn’t sure what to make of, but it gets Eddie smiling too. They go on that way for a while, slowly exchanging longer looks until neither of them is looking at the screen anymore.

“TV is that way,” Buck remarks lightly after a little while, tone still teasing and a little playful. Eddie loves him like this, with mirth in his eyes and a boyish smile. “You should be watching the movie.”

“The boss is asleep, so I’ll get away with it,” Eddie says, gesturing at a now-sleeping Chris. 

Buck laughs softly and rests one hand on the headrest between them. He looks down and bites his lower lip -immediately drawing Eddie’s eyes there- then shoots another unreadable look at Eddie. 

“You gonna tell me what you’re actually thinking about now?”

Eddie mulls this over for a few seconds then figures -sure, why the hell not. 

“Let me take Chris inside and then we’ll see about that.” Eddie answers and appreciates that Buck accepts this with an easy hum. 

They work around each other in perfect harmony; Eddie scooping Chris up in his arms to take him to his bedroom, while Buck pauses the movie and starts cleaning up. By the time Eddie comes back outside, Buck has moved to the kitchen and is putting leftovers away in the fridge. 

“You don’t have to do that,” Eddie says as he always does and gets rewarded with an eyeroll from Buck. Eddie falls into place next to Buck, silently doing the dishes and mulling over what to say. This too is a familiar dance for them; easily working together be it at a rescue mission or at home to make dinner or clean up. 

Eddie finishes up then turns around to watch Buck’s back as he puts things away. If usual dating steps won’t cut it for making his feelings known, then Eddie will have to voice how he feels. Outright tell Buck what he’s thinking. He could kiss Buck and that should say it all but a small barrier of doubt holds Eddie back. He needs to know that Buck wants this as much as Eddie does before taking that leap. 

“I’ve been trying to date someone,” Eddie blurts out before he can overthink it, then realizes that he said someone instead of you and closes his eyes in quiet despair. Old habits.

“Oh,” Buck frowns and puts down the two beers he had just retrieved. He looks away long enough to get the bottle opener, but when he turns back it’s with a smile. Eddie thinks it looks forced. “That’s great. Is that what got you all quiet? And what do you mean trying?”

“I mean I keep doing dating stuff but it won’t stick. All the dating things I’m doing are being read as friendship.” Eddie elaborates a bit, curious to see if Buck will catch on.

“What kinda stuff?” Buck hands over Eddie’s bottle but keeps some space between them. Eddie is now positive that the smile and cheer are forced. His stomach does a little sweep at the implication.

“Giving compliments, going out for dinner, cooking together, spending the day together, long phone calls -you name it,” Eddie keeps his voice steady, fully sure that Buck will catch on by the end and feeling his heartbeat double its speed. Buck blinks at Eddie then takes a long swig of beer.

“Cooking together sounds really serious,” Buck volunteers with a measured tone, “but I guess it can be read as friendship depending on the situation. Although if you have done all these other things and she still doesn’t get it, you should just say something. Or buy her flowers.”

Eddie almost starts laughing at the memory of Buck thanking Chris for the flowers Eddie bought Buck a couple of weeks ago. 

“Did the flowers thing too,” Eddie raises his eyebrows and can no longer bite down an amused smile.

“Damn, that didn’t work?” Buck sounds genuinely offended now on Eddie’s behalf which makes the whole thing funnier. “How could that not have worked?”

“Well, it apparently didn’t spill out what I wanted it to, but it brought on a smile so no loss there.” Eddie answers truthfully then feels his chest squeeze tight when Buck’s face falls. “You really have no idea what I’m talking about, huh?”

Buck gives a weak smile at that and shrugs. 

“Guess I wasn’t as caught up on your life as I thought I was, Eddie.”

Eddie knows every expression Buck wears and has cataloged every look and smile Buck has shared in his presence, so he knows that everything about Buck at the moment screams of insecurity and false cheer. Eddie can’t stand the thought of making Buck feel that way.

“How did you like the flowers I brought you two weeks ago?” Eddie says conversationally. 

“They were beautiful,” Buck’s eyebrows shoot up at the sudden change in conversation but his face breaks into a real smile. “lilies and roses. I tried to keep them alive as long as I could.”

“And the dinner I cooked for you a week before that, did you like that too?”

“Chris and I did most of the cooking,” Buck rolls his eyes but laughs; the conversation being one they’ve had several times already. “But if you want to call chopping stuff up cooking for someone, then be my-”

Buck trails off towards the end of his sentence. Realization finally -finally- dawning. 

“Oh.” Buck says, and then, “Eddie?”

“I’ve been trying to date you,” Eddie states, the words springing into the air between them and anxiously waiting for Buck’s response. “I think we skipped the usual dating stage but I had to try for it. To properly date you.”

“You had to try,” Buck repeats, tone disbelieving but with an undercurrent of laughter “To date me. Because..?”

“Because I like you, Buck,” Eddie breathes out, the words expanding through his chest and almost mocking him with how much of an understatement they are. “I like you a lot. Enough to buy flowers and attempt cooking and agonize over how to tell you that green makes you look great. Hell, if I liked you less I might have been able to say something sooner.”

Love. If I loved you less, Eddie thinks, but doesn’t say it yet.

Buck is almost gaping by the time Eddie is done talking. He blinks a few times in quick succession, and then finally ducks his head with the most beautiful smile Eddie has seen to date.

“I like you too,” Buck says quietly, then laughs at Eddie’s questioning look, “A stupid, embarrassing amount. Shit. If I had known that’s what the flowers and the compliments were for. Eddie, I’d have-” Buck lets out a slow breath, “I just couldn’t let myself hope. I wanted it too much.”

Eddie finally breeches the few steps between them and moves to plant himself in front of Buck. He reaches up a hand to cup Buck’s jaw and run his thump against the stubble on Buck’s cheek.

“Will you go out on a date with me, Buck?” Eddie asks warmly, his eyes not leaving Buck’s face and his smiling lips for a second.

“Yeah. Yes,” Buck grins, “And I think I owe you dinner for-” Buck shrugs, “Taking this long to get it.”

“Get it? I literally had to tell you,” Eddie points out laughingly, because he might be dying to kiss Buck but it’s his duty as Buck’s best friend to never let him live this down. 

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Buck groans and squeezes his eyes shut before giving an exasperated sigh. “I guess I owe you flowers too and-”

Eddie never gets to hear what else he’s owed because his self control finally snaps and he kisses Buck mid-sentence. It’s messy at first but so exhilarating that Eddie feels a rush through his body. He pulls back momentarily to look at Buck and finds him smiling blissfully with his eyes closed. 

Eddie swoops in for another kiss, this one slower and lasting longer. He runs a hand through Buck’s hair, grabs gently at his cheek with the other, while Buck’s own hands press against the small of Eddie’s back and occasionally roam to his waist.

When they break apart, they’re both panting for breath and smiling. Buck rests his forehead against Eddie’s for a few heartbeats, and one of his hands comes up to cup Eddie’s jaw. 

“I forgot what I was going to say,” Buck laughs.

“Doesn’t matter,” Eddie kisses the corner of Buck’s mouth and relishes the smile it draws. “We have plenty of time for you to remember. Maybe on our next date.” 

Eddie punctuates that statement with another kiss. 

Buck, seemingly no longer interested in words, hums his assent then kisses Eddie hungrily, effectively ensuring that Eddie forgets his words too for the moment. Eddie thinks that it isn’t such a loss because he now knows how to show Buck his feelings, and he knows that -when he needs them again- the words will be there for Eddie to tell Buck just how much he feels about him.

Eddie’s chest thrums with excitement at the prospect of a future spent telling Evan Buckley how much he loves him, but he elects to let their kisses do the talking for now. There will be plenty of time for words later.

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