Work Text:
It was a normal day.
Normal calls.
Their shift had started with the cliché cat stuck in a tree, followed by a false fire alarm being pulled at a high school, a small contained kitchen fire and someone trapped in their bathroom. It was a pretty calm shift.
Calm. Not the other word, the 'q' word. No, it's never that.
They're 22 hours into their 24 hour shift when they get another call. An out of hospital birth.
A woman has gone into labour at the gym and she can't make it to the hospital in time.
They rush out of the firehouse, no time to lose as it's crucial to get there as quick as they can for her and the baby's safety
Buck hasn't had many experiences when it comes to helping someone give birth, other than that one yoga class during the full moon. And that won't be changing today, sure he's a skilled firefighter and would do just fine, but at the end of the day they have three medics with them so there's no reason for him to do anything.
He'll just be there to support her or the team in whatever they might need.
As soon as they arrive, a distressed man is running out of the gym door. He looks like he just went through war.
"She's in there, please help." He says as they reach him.
"What's her name?" Bobby asks as they make their way inside.
There's a small crowd gathering around a corner of the gym, multiple people looking nervous or anxious, clearly having no idea what to do.
"Isabella, she's a usual here." The man says. Buck thinks he might work here.
"Okay, Hen." Bobby says, gesturing at the woman. "You three do whatever you need to do."
"Buck, get these people away from her." Eddie tells him.
So Buck gets to it. He starts walking too close to the crowd, pushing them away without actually touching them. He repeats multiple times but it doesn't seem to be enough since some people just don't move out of the way.
"Excuse me, you need to step back ma'am." He tells one girl, who seems to be recording the whole ordeal.
People just have no respect for others anymore.
"It's just, I'm a Med student at Stanford and I really wanted to watch." She says, sounding hopeful that Buck might give her permission.
"I understand ma'am, but you can't be here. My team needs the space to work." He tells her, hoping she'll leave without any pushing.
Being a Med student does not give anyone a front row ticket to medical emergencies, besides, he's almost sure he saw her ogling at Eddie a few minutes back and that bothers him.
"Okay, fine. Can I at least get the hot guys number?" She says, giving up on her ruse.
He knew it.
"Well, no ma'am, he's working. He's also very taken." Buck says, the girl rolls her eyes and finally walks away.
Okay, he might have just told a little white lie.
Eddie is not very taken. In fact, this might be the most time Eddie has spent being single.
But the way that girl looked at him, the way her eyes had been focused on his biceps, bothered him. Those are his biceps to stare at.
Wait.
No, not his biceps to stare at, but like, no one needs to be staring at Eddie's biceps or any other part of his body. Not that Buck ever has.
He's not saying he has a crush on his very straight best friend, no that would be dumb. He's just, not a fan of the idea of Eddie dating anyone right now. He tries not to think on why it bothers him so much, that's a problem for future Buck and right now he prefers playing the role of oblivious Buck who has no idea what his feelings are.
Besides, like One Direction once sang, he's concentrating on other things right now so he can't be worried about his little white lie.
It's also not like Eddie is going to find out he lied.
When he reaches the team, he stands next to Bobby and tries to catch up to what the team is doing. Hen is kneeling in front of Isabella, the girl with a towel draped over her legs and pinching her face in discomfort. Hen is going through some medication Chimney brought back from the ambulance, probably looking for painkillers.
Buck is doing his best to pretend the previous interaction wasn't extremely annoying for him, but Eddie always sees through him.
"What was that?" Eddie asks, glancing quickly at Buck before looking back at Isabella.
Buck chooses to go with what the girl said, choosing to keep the crush on Eddie to himself. Eddie doesn't need to know that other people find him attractive, it's like none of his business.
"Some Stanford Med student wanted front row tickets." Buck whispers, not wanting the lady in question to hear.
"Isn't Stanford like 6 hours from here?" Eddie asks.
That liar. She lied twice to Buck.
Oh he is never letting Eddie go out in short sleeves ever again.
He watches as Hen tells her to start pushing, the screams taking over the silence in the gym.
As the minutes tick by, Hen and Chimney are encouraging Isabella to push or to take deep breaths, meanwhile Eddie is kneeled next to Hen, ready to get the baby. Both Buck and Bobby have been asked to help hold her or get towels for them and Hen keeps telling her she's almost done.
"Okay, Isabella, I need you to do one last push." Hen says, ready to catch the baby.
Isabella doesn't even scream as she pushes one last time, her baby immediately coming out into Hen's hands.
Buck's heart soars as he watches Hen quickly clean the baby before handing it over to Eddie. He wraps the baby in a towel and sits on the gym floor, immediately turning it around for her to be able to see it.
"Is my baby okay?" She asks, taking deep breaths in-between each word.
"He's okay." Eddie says, and Buck watches as her eyes fill with tears.
"Okay, I have to deliver your placenta but Eddie here is going to take him into the ambulance to check up on him, okay?" Hen informs her and she nods, her eyes immediately following after Eddie and the baby.
Buck's too.
He watches as Eddie sits on the floor of the ambulance, placing the baby on the patient bed. He takes out a stethoscope and begins his check up and Buck can't take his eyes away from them. He follows every single movement Eddie does, unable to peel his eyes away.
After Eddie is done, he stays in the ambulance with the baby, playing with his little hands.
Buck watches as Eddie coos, actually coos at the baby and suddenly he feels sick. His heart is beating way too fast, he feels a little light headed and that makes him tear his eyes away from the man.
What the fuck just happened?
When he looks back at the two of them, Eddie has the baby all bundled up again and close to his chest, a big smile on his face as he just observes the baby's face.
He feels dizzy.
Why is it that looking at Eddie with a baby makes him feel so dizzy? So out of control?
Eddie finally looks up from the baby and their eyes lock. His big brown eyes shine so bright it makes Buck feel light in the knees.
Fuck.
He's so in love with Eddie Diaz it's a joke.
As he watches Eddie turn back to look at the baby, he can feel his heart tighten and he's feeling so much right now he can't stop the next thought from forming.
He wants a baby.
Well actually, he wants a baby that looks exactly like him and Eddie.
And that's a problem. A very big problem.
No one is having thoughts of having babies with their platonic and very straight best friend.
No one in their right mind at least.
Buck's newest discovery about himself makes him slightly unable to remain calm so he does what he does best. Pretend everything is fine.
They get the woman up, put her in the ambulance with her baby and while they head to the hospital, Buck, Bobby and Ravi go back to the firehouse. Buck takes the chance of getting to the station ahead of everyone, and by everyone, Eddie, to hide in the bunks.
He lies on one of the beds, his back against the mattress, and as he stares at the ceiling he tries to come to terms with his new discovery.
So far here is what he knows. He knows Eddie is attractive and makes his body go funny, he knows he wants to see Eddie hold more babies, specifically their babies and he knows Eddie is straight and that he's not.
Okay so he's fucked basically.
He goes online, hoping he'll find anyone on reddit that had this same problem but it seems that he's the only fucked person to have ever existed so now he has no idea what to do.
He can't do this.
Buck can't be in love with Eddie I'm Straight Diaz.
He's wallowing in his shame when the door opens and Ravi walks in, a shit eating grin on his face.
"What do you want?" Buck asks him, knowing it's some stupid thing.
"So... what was with all that staring?" Ravi asks and Buck immediately sits up.
"You! You can help me!" Buck's enthusiasm seems to make Ravi sacred for whatever reason.
"With what?" Ravi asks apprehensive.
"So like, what does it mean when uh... when a man wants to see another man.... holding babies?" Buck asks.
He watches Ravi stare at him in silence.
"Is that supposed to be gay innuendo for anything because I'm not following." Ravi says and Buck chokes.
He's about to explain himself when Ravi glances to the side, catching a glimpse of his phone screen. Buck quickly closes his phone but it's too late.
"Oh my God. Were you looking up Mpreg?" Ravi asks and Buck's eyes almost fall of his head.
What the fuck did Ravi just say?
"I don't even know what that is!" Buck defends himself.
He did see that word like once through out research but last time he looked up a new word he learned what water sports actually mean and he has been traumatised ever since.
"I'll tell you if you don't ever ask me how I know this."
Seems like a pretty good deal.
"Okay, sure."
"It's when a man is pregnant. Usually by another man but girls work too." Ravi explains.
And oh.
Buck did not know that was a thing.
He glances around the room, making sure no one is in there before looking back at Ravi who still has that shit eating grin he walked in with.
"So there's people out there, that like, also want to see that?" He asks tentatively.
"Also? You imagining Eddie pregnant, Buckley?" Ravi says.
Well he is now.
That hadn't even gone through his brain as an idea but now he can't stop thinking about it.
He shakes his head, he needs to focus, he needs this shift to end so he can go home and forget this ever happened.
"I am not having this conversation anymore." Buck says getting up, taking his phone with him and walking away from Ravi before he has any new self discoveries.
By the time Eddie makes it back to the station, they have 20 minutes of their shift left and Buck is doing everything in his power to ignore Eddie.
He needs some time alone to process these new desires before he can look in Eddie's eyes again. So as soon as it hits two in the afternoon, he is beelining for his car, leaving the firehouse without saying anything to anyone.
The drive back to his loft isn't easy on him.
He's all hot and bothered.
Buck might be a retired blond jock but he's not dumb. He knows he can't actually get Eddie pregnant, but the idea of trying is what's making him have to fix his crotch four different times in a fifteen minute drive to his house.
He needs a cold shower and maybe some alcohol in his system.
Buck needs to get himself in control, how the hell is he supposed to go back to work tomorrow if he can't stop thinking about trying to get Eddie pregnant.
Yeah no, he needs to control himself.
As soon as he's home, he hops in a cold shower, tries to wash away all his inappropriate Eddie thoughts and hops out. It's all very fast. He puts on a random sweater that only after putting on he realises belongs to Eddie and turns to go downstairs only to hear the tv on.
He knows he didn't turn it on, he was a bit too busy with his hard on to do that.
He slowly descends the stairs, he goes to the corner and grabs the baseball bat off his wall and slowly turns the stairs corner.
"Buck!"
Eddie is sitting on his couch, a concerned look on his face as he eyes the bat in Buck's hands.
"Eddie? What the fuck are you doing here?" Buck asks exasperated, putting the baseball bat down.
"I came to check on you. You were weird at work with me and now you're trying to kill me, so." Eddie says and okay Buck hates this. He hates that they know each other so well that Eddie noticed Buck was off in only twenty minutes.
"Well, I did not know it was you who broke into my house." He says still standing, he chooses not to sit next to Eddie.
That's too close. Too dangerous.
"Does it count as breaking in if you have a key?" Eddie jokes.
Buck is trying to concentrate on not getting another 'impregnate Eddie' thought so he doesn't laugh. Eddie notices though and immediately takes a deep breath.
"I can hear you thinking from here, what happened?" Buck has never been more glad that that saying isn't literal because he'd be so fucked.
"Nothing." Buck says, he's still avoiding Eddie's eyes.
"Buck, come on. You can't even look at me. Did I do something?" Eddie's voice cracks and Buck decides right then and there that he won't be the reason Eddie is sad.
Hell, if this goes wrong, which it will, he'll just hand in his resignation tonight. He just can't have Eddie thinking he's done something wrong.
"It was you, with the baby." He finally says.
Eddie stares at him for awhile so Buck starts to sweat. He's not going to make him say it out loud is he? That's just mean and will end up being awkward for both of them.
"Okay, what?" Eddie finally says. He looks so confused, like he tried to put it together but couldn't so now he needs to ask.
"When I saw you with the baby today. It was... uh... hot, I guess." Buck doesn't guess, he's sure of it, but he doesn't want to scare him away.
"You thought I looked hot with a baby?" Eddie repeats and Buck only nods, he can't say it again. "What do you mean with that? Like what does that mean for you?" Eddie continues and fuck Buck wants to be anywhere else but here right now.
"Eddie, please. Don't make me say it." Buck pleads with him.
He can't do this. He can't ruin the best thing that has ever happened to him because of what happened today.
Eddie won't ever look at him the same way again after he hears it.
"Please, Buck. I need to know." Eddie says, standing up and walking towards him.
Buck begins to walk backwards, both of them walking the entire length of his apartment only stopping when the kitchen counter digs into his back.
"Eds.."
"Please." Eddie begs.
"I love you, Eddie. I love you to the point my legs go weak when you simply smile at me. I need to be around you all the time and when that's not enough, I want to find a way to get even closer. Seeing you with that baby made me want to have that with you, have a life with you." Buck finally confesses.
He feels a weight leave his body as the words come out of his mouth. Years of wanting and needing Eddie finally being out in the world.
The feeling of having Eddie know how much he means to him overwhelms him, he’s exposing himself to possible rejection, he knows that but it’s worth it.
"You mean that?"
Eddie's words surprise him.
He was expecting yelling, rejection, Eddie leaving the apartment by slamming the door and never talking to him again.
Instead he has Eddie looking at him in a way he's never been looked at. He's got Eddie's big brown eyes pouring love right onto him just from the way he's staring at him.
"I'm obsessed with you, Evan Buckley. You have no idea how much I want all of that with you, how much I want everything I can possibly have with you. Being this close to you isn't enough. I always need more. More of you. I love you so much it makes me feel insane." Eddie confesses.
Buck's legs go weak again, but this time he has Eddie to catch him.
Eddie's hands curl around Buck's waist, squeezing him twice.
"Eds, I love you too." Is all Buck manages to say without breaking apart right in front of him.
When Buck finally tastes Eddie lips, it tastes like salty tears, like years of pining, like all the love they’ve held for each other finally being poured out into the open.
Eddie pulls Buck closer to him and Buck groans into his mouth. Eddie respond immediately, his knee going in between Buck's leg and pressing against his dick.
He groans loudly once more.
Having Eddie being so pressed to his body makes Buck insane. He wants to get closer, he wants to pull Eddie's body flush against his.
They're both smiling when they pull away. Buck hadn't even noticed he was crying when Eddie suddenly wipes his tears, a pout on his lips.
Buck can't even find that sweet of him because Eddie's swollen red lips are doing things to his brain.
"So I’m hot when I'm with kids, huh?" Eddie teases and Buck shoves his head in Eddie's neck, planting small open mouthed kisses.
"Very hot." He mumbles into his skin.
"Wanna do something about that?" Eddie says and Buck stops.
He pulls away from his neck and stares into Eddie's eyes. What is Eddie insinuating?
"What do you mean, Eds?" Buck asks tentatively.
He can't mean what he actually thinks he means.
"You wanna try for one?" Eddie jokes, a small smirk on his face.
What.
"What?"
"I mean, I do miss it. And obviously we can’t have a baby, but who knows maybe if we try enough we ca- AH!." Eddie can't even finish his sentence before Buck is carrying him over his shoulder and making it up the stairs.
This is the best day of his life.
Who knows maybe some day there will be a tiny lookalike of theirs running around, but for now, Buck will be glad to keep trying.