Chapter Text
When he'd first arrived at the station, he realized how little sleep he had actually gotten the night before. He could only pray that this shift would be an easy one. He managed to have 12 hours of light, manageable calls and no one noticing anything was different with him. Then, of course, they were called to a warehouse on fire. It was dark out but Buck could still see the smoke billowing in the sky as the engine pulled up. The scent of ash burned his nose. You'd think he'd be used to it by now, but it always caught him off guard somehow.
"Buckley, Diaz, you're on search and rescue! Manager says a field trip was going on and they're still missing a kid. Kid's name is Owen, he's likely to be on the delta side of the building. We don't know how structurally safe this building is, so do it as quick as possible."
They fixed their gear and masks on before heading inside the burning building. Occasionally they'd yell the kid's name, or 'LAFD, call out!' Parts of the building definitely looked like they'd like fall at any given moment, but they had a job to do here. They continued to where the kid was supposed to be.
Bobby radioed in, "You got eyes on the kid? The building could collapse at any moment, you both need to get out of there soon."
"Not without Owen." Buck kept searching the building, desperately seeking out the hazy image of a kid. "Eddie! Eddie over here!" Buck spotted a small kid in a striped shirt, curled up on the ground and weakly coughing. He knelt down and ripped off his mask, instead fixing it onto the kid. Who knows how long he had been inhaling smoke, he definitely needed it more than him.
Eddie rushed over and picked up the kid, shooting Buck a concerned look when he saw he'd taken his mask off. The walls began to shake and crack, indicating their time was running out. Buck began to cough as the air became almost entirely smoke and he could feel himself get a little dizzy. It was getting harder to see with all the fire and smoke. He would've gotten lost if it weren't for Eddie grabbing the end of his turnout coat and dragging him to the exit. As soon as they got out they handed Owen to Hen and Chim and Buck was given a fresh supply of oxygen. The fire was soon after put out, though there wasn't much left of the building. They all climbed back into the station, thoroughly exhausted.
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As they pulled back into the station, Buck and Eddie were the first to hit the showers. The smell of the fire clung to them and their turnouts. As Buck showered, he let the hot water run over him, let it get rid of his aches momentarily. He stepped out of the lockers and into the changing room where Eddie already was changing. Buck was still in just a towel, but it's not like Eddie hasn't seen it before. He started to change and didn't think much of it when Eddie looked up at him.
"Buck, is that a bruise? Did someone… hurt you?" Buck froze. The shower. The makeup. The marks from sex last night. Buck could play this off. If Eddie had only seen the marks on his upper body, he could play it off as an overenthusiastic partner, but if he had seen his cheek and the makeup had washed off, that was going to be harder to explain.
"What? No. Just Luke likes to get a little handsy during sex, that's all." Buck kept his head down, partially because he didn't want Eddie to see how his cheek looked, he hadn't even seen it himself in 12 hours, and also partly because he knew the second he saw Eddie's face, he was at risk of breaking down.
"Buck, he shouldn't be grabbing you hard enough to bruise, no matter the reason. Does he do this often?"
"Do what?"
'Hurt you."
"No. No, like I said at the bar the other night, he's a good guy, he makes me happy."
"Buck, will you look at me, please?" Eddie's voice cracked on the last word. Buck couldn't do this. Not when the love of his life was standing right in front of him, begging. He hesitantly raised his head, looking at Eddie. He heard a sharp inhale and a choked off noise. Eddie's face did multiple things then. He went from concerned, to heartbroken, to something he couldn't place, all in the span of a minute.
"Oh, Buck…" Eddie crossed the distance between them in a matter of seconds. His hand reached up and carefully cradled the injured side of his face. His thumb lightly brushed against the tender skin. "Did he hit you? Here?" Eddie's voice was so soft, such a stark contrast to Luke's at times.
"It's not like that. He didn't mean to. He's not doing it to harm me."
"Buck, if he's abusing you, we need to report this. It's not safe to be with him."
"No. No one can know… no one was supposed to know"
"Buck…" Once again, that sweet voice, that voice that sounded like Eddie would protect Buck from everything. Sometimes, Buck thought that Eddie was aware of that voice and the things it did to Buck. That he used it purposefully to make Buck go weak-kneed and willing to do whatever Eddie asked. He knew that was silly though, Eddie would never use something like that against Buck. And he'd never remain friends with Buck if he knew all the things he thought of Eddie. The very non-platonic things Buck thought. This time though, the voice just served to make Buck feel more and more like the layers of his skin were being peeled back for Eddie to see.
"He's not like that. You don't know him like I do. You don't know him at all!"
"I know that he's hurting you Buck! I can see finger shaped bruises on you and a hand shaped mark on your cheek! What am I supposed to think-" Eddie's voice raised in volume, but Buck could hear the desperate undertones in it, the concern buried underneath the apparent anger.
"Eddie, please, not here."
"Where then? Because this conversation is happening right now, whether you like it or not."
"The roof" Buck muttered quietly. Eddie sighed before gently grabbing Buck's wrist and tugging him towards the stairs leading up to the roof.
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The door to the roof quietly shut and then it was just them. No chance for anyone to overhear them or see them. Just them and the stars.
"Say something, anything…" Eddie pleaded.
"What do you want me to say, Eddie? That I'm so pathetic that I let myself get hurt; that I can't fight back against someone? And I couldn't even keep it a secret. You found out less than a day later, and you're back to being mad at me. I've ruined everything. I had a perfect boyfriend and me and you were making up and now it's all gone up in flames because of me."
"Buck, I'm not mad at you- of course not. How could you think that? All I feel is anger at this man who hurt you and disappointment in myself for not being there for you. How could I ever be mad at you right now?"
"Because I'm a fuck-up. And a parasite. I never know when to let go and I always mess up relationships."
"No. You're not. Don't say that about yourself because you're not. I have never once thought that. And careful because that's my best friend you're talking about there. You're smart, and kind, and caring. You help everyone around you without giving a second thought to yourself. You help me. All the time. Can't you let me give back a little? We don't have to tell the others, but at the very least you need to get those bruises looked at and stay away from your apartment for a few days."
"You don't get it. He doesn't do it to hurt me. It's for my own good. He's helping me."
"If it's not to hurt you, it's to control and isolate you. To make you his and his only. And in what world is you being hurt for your own good? How could that help?"
"You know I've always been a lot."
"No, actually, I don't know. I've never thought you were too much. Ever. You're perfect, Buck. Screw whatever this jackass thinks."
Buck scoffed. "Really? What about at the grocery store. When you told me I was exhausting and needed to stop making my problems everyone else's too? You know what I'm talking about. And sometimes I don't even realize that I'm doing it. Luke just helps me by telling me to stop."
"I didn't really mean that. I was just… looking to hurt you. To be cruel. I never believed any of what I said, Buck. You're just the right amount of everything. Even when you end up accidentally hurting someone, it's only because of your massive heart. And these past few weeks I've been acting stupid. I was hurt because it felt like you were leaving me and Chris behind. That you weren't even thinking of us. But that was unfair and selfish of me. I forgive you, okay? To be honest, I forgave you weeks ago.
"I was just too proud to admit that I was really more upset that you were so easily able to give up not talking to me for weeks during the lawsuit. That you were able to live without me. Because I can't. I can't live without you. So you need to leave him. Or else, god knows what he might do next. I don't want to be called to identify your black and blue body if he ever takes it too far!" By the end, Eddie is breathing heavily and his heart is beating so loudly he can hear his own heartbeat. Eddie looks like he's about to cry, and Buck could never last long against him.
"You don't need to worry about things like that. That'd never happen. Luke would never do that and I'd never let him take me from you."
"You don't know that. You don't know what he's capable of." Eddie's pretty brown eyes, the ones Buck loved so much and thought of whenever he looked at Luke for too long, were brimming with tears and turning red.
"Alright. Alright, you can take a look at me and we'll figure this out together." The next hour, Eddie examined and looked over him with such care, Buck felt like he could forget about everything that happened yesterday. Afterwards, when Eddie deemed him okay, Eddie led him to the couch in the communal area and told him to rest. He sat down and guided Buck's head into his lap and softly carded through his hair. The motion was so relaxing he was half asleep a few minutes later, sprawled on the couch and Eddie. A few moments later, Buck felt Eddie shift, so he too was on the couch, his legs on the outside of Buck's and Buck's head on his chest. He felt a soft blanket being pulled over him and he finally fell asleep.
He didn't see the loving look Eddie gave him as he slept or the knowing glance passed between Chim and Hen or even the found look in Bobby's eyes as he passed by them both. Eddie fell asleep soon after, arms protectively wrapped haphazardly around Buck, so neither of them heard the shutter of a picture being taken.