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The first thing Eddie did after telling Christopher they were moving back to LA, was make sure Buck wasn't going anywhere.
He had tried to move out shortly after the building collapse, but Eddie wasn't having any of that. The apartment hunt was shut down as soon as Eddie heard Buck was going on it. Besides, Buck wasn't able to resist Christopher's excitement at the prospect of living together.
Sure, there was only two bedrooms, but Buck and Eddie liked opposite sides of the bed anyways so it was easy for them to share. After living states away, the last thing Eddie wanted to do was be apart from Buck. Their lives already worked in symmetry, and this would only make things easier and better.
Eddie rejoined the 118 in easier fashion than he'd expected, and began forming routines with Buck daily. Life was so much simpler with Buck, and it helped Eddie fall more in love each day.
While Chimney's grand speech may have given Eddie the final push he needed to move back to LA, the real reason he was doing it was for Buck. As much as he hated having been back in El Paso, it had been good in some ways.
He got back Christopher, told off his parents, and finally accepted that he was gay. Years and years of repression fading away as Eddie finally smashed through the closet door. It had been easier to accept than he could have ever believed. Finally an answer to why his relationships with women were so messy, and why he never truly felt love or attraction for Ana or Marisol. He did love Shannon and always would, she was Christopher's mother after all, but he had romanticized their whole relationship, and probably never truly been "in love" with her.
Eddie Diaz was a gay man, and he was in love with Buck. It wasn't even a question or something to discover anymore. Those were just parts of who he was, simple as that.
He hadn't been ready to tell Buck yet, but was working up the courage. Especially with Christopher's constant badgering to just finally do it all ready. Everything had been going so great though, and he just wasn't at the point where he wanted to risk anything yet.
At least, everything had been going great... until yesterday morning.
Buck was taking over a shift from someone on the B side, while Eddie still had the day off. He had been looking forward to having a day off together that they could enjoy, but Buck was too nice and wanted to do things for others.
They'd dropped Christopher off at school together, and came back to eat breakfast before Buck left for the shift.
Over breakfast, Buck dropped a bomb on him.
He told him about the whole "encounter" he had with Tommy while Eddie was gone.
From the bar, to having sex in the bedroom, to calling Eddie the competition in the morning before leaving.
Buck apologized profusely, and Eddie assured him it was okay, but that was a lie.
This had Eddie fuming.
Someone else had put their hands on his Buck in their house.
Now that the competition's out of the way.
Eddie couldn't stop replaying that quote in his head.
So Eddie ended up spending his day off doing the biggest deep clean of their house he'd ever done in his life, including throwing out the mattress and getting a new one.
Buck noticed immediately upon coming home what Eddie had done, but hadn't pressed Eddie further about it. Just shook his head and laughed.
It should have made Eddie feel better, but it didn't. He spent the entire night awake while Buck slept peacefully at his side, thinking about it.
After how shitty of a boyfriend Tommy had been to Buck, then nerve of the guy to have sex with him while Buck was drunk and then only try and get back together because Eddie was gone.
Eddie was not going to let this slide by.
- - -
They both had the day off the next day, and while Eddie probably should have just spent time enjoying it with Buck, he had something that needed to be taken care of first.
He fired off a text to a number he hadn't clicked on in months, since there was no way he'd been planning to talk to him again after how he treated Buck.
Eddie: Kinard, meet me at the muay thai place we used to go to at 2:30. I'm not taking no for an answer.
Tommy: Hello to you too? Weird thing to send after ghosting me for months.
Tommy: But muay thai sounds good, sure. I'll be there.
"Wait, are you leaving? It's our day off." Buck had said as he saw Eddie head towards the door.
"Just have something to take care of. I'll be back in time for dinner."
"What is it you have to take care of? I can come with you if you want?"
Eddie shook his head, "It's a surprise. Only I can go. Promise I'll tell you later though."
He walked out the door with his gym bag and put that in the backseat.
As he started the car he hooked up his phone to the speaker and called Maddie.
Maddie wasn't someone he was quite as close to as the rest of the 118 family members, but he needed to vent and knew she'd agree.
"Eddie? Is everything okay? Did something happen to Buck?" Maddie asked frantically as soon as she picked up the phone.
It went to show how little they talked, that her instant reaction was thinking something had happened to Buck.
"Buck is fine, everything's fine." Eddie assured her. "I just have to ask... did you know he fucked his ex in my house?"
"O-oh! Wow Eddie, just coming right out with it."
"Sorry, but I'm a little pissed off that nobody told me this happened."
"Well... yes I knew, and I told him it was a bad choice for what it's worth. I can't stand that guy."
"You too?"
"Oh please, he's the worst. Apparently he treated Chim and Hen like garbage back before Bobby was captain too."
Eddie sighed, "Well, at least that gives me more reason to confront him now."
"Wait what?" Maddie started to sound worried. "You're going to confront him?"
"Yep, I'm taking him to muay thai right now. I didn't sleep for a second last night and I won't until I get this done."
It was Maddie's turn to sigh now. "Alright Eddie just... just be careful."
"You know I will." Eddie said with a chuckle.
"And Eddie... you know how he feels right? Buck?"
Eddie wasn't about to start getting his hopes up right now that Buck felt the same way he did.
"Don't know what you're talking about, Maddie."
"Come on Eddie, you see how he looks at you. Besides, you're good for him. He needs you. If anyone should be with him it should be you, and selfishly speaking you'd be the first of my brother's partners I'd actually like." Maddie said.
"Well, let's see how this talk with Tommy goes first before jumping to any conclusions."
"Alright alright, I'll leave it alone for now. Be careful Eddie."
"I will, thanks Maddie." Eddie said before he hung up.
- - -
Eddie slid on his muay thai shorts, glaring at the person a few lockers away from him.
He had immediately groaned when Tommy came in. He knew he'd be seeing him and yet the sight of his stupid face was still disgusting to Eddie.
"Hey, Diaz! It's been a long time, I've missed you." Tommy said as he walked over to him.
Eddie tried his best to force a smile on his face as he responded, "Well you know, I usually would prefer not to see people who dump my best friend."
Tommy laughed, "I have missed that sass of yours. Should we get started?"
Eddie secretly rolled his eyes as Tommy walked in front of him and they made their way over to the mat.
The sparring had started off light at first, getting back into the rhythm of things as it had been a while for both of them.
They started standing, before fully moving down onto the mat which was all part of Eddie's plan.
He kicked Tommy hard in the side, forcing him to the ground.
"Geez what the hell man, that was rough."
Eddie smirked and kicked his other side even harder in response.
"Christ Eddie, what are you doing?"
Eddie then grabbed both of Tommy's arms pinning them to the mat, and he straddled Tommy.
"What the fuck are you-"
"Shut up, Kinard." Eddie snarled.
Tommy fought to get Eddie off of him, but Eddie was using every bit of strength and love for Buck he had to keep Tommy pinned.
"You think you can come into my house and put your hands on Buck after the way you treated him?"
"Oh... Evan told you about that?"
"Buck. Buck told me about it." Eddie spit in his face, "His name is Buck. Don't fucking call him Evan again. If you even took two seconds to get to know the person that was supposed to be your boyfriend, you'd know he doesn't like to be called Buck. You'd also know he doesn't like basketball and wouldn't choose that as an anniversary gift. Or maybe you wouldn't ditch him outside a restaurant just because he was scared to come out or give him ibuprofen when you know he's allergic. You didn't do a damn thing for him."
Tommy once again tried to shove Eddie off him, but Eddie held in place. "Oh please, Evan and I care about each other."
Eddie scoffed, "You care about him? Gee then, where the hell were you these past months? Bobby died, one of the people Buck loved most in the world, and you couldn't bother to show your face after the funeral. You use Buck when it's convenient for you so you can have someone to sleep with, but you never gave a shit about his feelings or his interests."
"You know what Diaz-"
"No, you shut your mouth!" Eddie was yelling at this point, thankfully the gym was empty. "I don't want to hear that you ever went near Buck again, that you put your hands on him again. You stay the fuck away from him for good, got it?"
Eddie didn't give Tommy a chance to nod, before he pulled back his fist and punched Tommy square in the face.
Tommy's hands flew up to cover his face, his nose already bleeding.
Eddie's hand stung a bit from the contact but he couldn't care less. He released Tommy, sat down on the mat, and threw his head back letting out a relieved sigh with a wide grin. "Fuck, I needed this."
"You needed to fucking punch me?" Tommy yelled, his words muffled by his hands still covering his face.
"God, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."
Eddie got up, leaving Tommy to sit there on the mat like the child he was. One last thing popped in his mind though that he had to get out before he left.
"Oh and by the way, there was never a fucking competition. You know full well I win every time."
With that, Eddie walked away with a wide smile on his face. This would be the last time Tommy Kinard ever showed his face near him or any of the 118 members.
- - -
Buck watched with wide eyes as Eddie walked through the door, noticing his bruised hand immediately.
"What the hell happened?" Buck frantically asked. "Are you okay? What happened to your hand? Where did you go."
Eddie left out a happy breath, the smile still on his face, "I punched your ex boyfriend."
"You punched Tommy?"
Eddie shrugged, "I mean you have to admit, he had it coming."
Buck ran into the kitchen to get the first aid kit, and came back taking Eddie's hand in his.
"Why did you do that Eddie?" he asked as he wrapped up Eddie's hand.
"You think I was going to let him go free after he came into this house and took advantage of you? After how shitty he had been to you throughout your relationship? Nobody gets to treat you like that and get away with it." Eddie continued. "So I took him to muay thai, pinned him down, and scolded him for how he acted towards you before I punched him."
Buck flushed, "I- wow Eddie. I don't know what to say."
"Then don't say anything." Eddie said. "I'll say something. I love you."
Buck paused in shock, "I- you- what?"
"I love you."
"Eddie that doesn't make any sense, you're str-"
"Don't say that word." Eddie interrupted calmly. "I don't want to hear that word. I'm not... that. Definitely not. I'm gay."
"You're gay?" Buck asked, even more shocked than before.
"That's correct, and I'm in love with you."
"Eddie..." Buck said, blushing hard now. "Since when?"
Eddie hummed, "I mean, realistically? Since we pulled the grenade out of that guy's leg. But I didn't fully realize it until I was in Texas. Being away from you like that was one of the most painful experiences of my life."
"I love you too." Buck said quickly. "So, so much."
Eddie smiled, slight tears forming in his eyes. He cupped Buck's cheek with his non bruised hand and leaned in close. "I'm going to kiss you now, okay?"
"Yes, you should do that. Do it now please." Buck said excitedly.
They wasted no more time before connecting their lips, slotting together like puzzle pieces. Like their lips belonged together, were meant for each other.
The kiss lasted until they were breathless, and Eddie leaned forward to press a quick peck to Buck's birthmark.
"Come to bed? I want to hold you." Eddie said.
Buck nodded and pulled Eddie toward the bedroom. They changed into their nightclothes and cuddled up together in bed, Buck resting his head on Eddie's chest. Eddie wrapped his arms around Buck, pulling him impossibly closer.
They lay there for a while just soaking up each other's presence, before Buck spoke. "Thank you, for sticking up for me by the way. It means the world."
Eddie kissed his forehead, "You are my world, Buck."