Chapter 7
It’s a week and a half after Buck arrived back home when Eddie calls him, Buck frowns when he realizes it’s not a facetime. The two men had been facetiming nearly every night since he got back to LA. “Eds?” He answers, walking out of earshot of everyone as he was at work.
“Buck.” Eddie breathes out, he hears a sniffle. Had Eddie been crying. Before he could ask though, the other man started speaking again. “Chris told me he doesn’t want to come back to LA.” And Buck freezes.
“Shit.” He speaks. “Okay, that’s okay.” Buck says, shooting Bobby a look as he makes his way out of the firehouse to have a bit more privacy.
“It’s not okay Buck! We were supposed to come back to you.” Eddie groans and shakes his head, even though Buck couldn’t see him. Eddie was so frustrated, but he understood that Christopher wanted to be around the rest of the family.
“Eds, you need to calm down.” Buck says and Eddie just takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “You don’t need to come back to me because I’ll just come to you.” He tells the man.
Eddie didn’t think Buck was serious about moving to El Paso, he thought he was just saying it to make Eddie feel better about the situation he was in. He didn’t want Buck to uproot his whole life just because of some mistake. “You can’t do that; your whole life is in LA.”
“No Eddie, half of my life is here in LA the other half is in El Paso.” And doesn’t that make Eddie’s heart swell in his chest. “I’ve already talked to Maddie about it. I told her that if for some reason you and Chris don’t move back, I’m moving out there.” The man says plain and simple. “Bobby knows too. I want to be there for you and Chris and our baby girl.”
Eddie nods his head even though Buck can’t see him. “If you’re sure.” He says.
“I’m one hundred percent sure Eds. I’m not missing out on anything else.” Buck hums and that’s when the tones go off and he has to go. “Alright, I have to go but I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”
“Yeah, okay. Love you, Buck.” Eddie hangs up at that.
Buck pulls the phone away from his ear and gapes at the device, eyes wide. Did Eddie just say he loved him? He must have heard that wrong, because there was no way that the man just said he loved him and hung up.
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Eddie gasps as he hangs up the phone, eyes wide because he can’t believe he just told Buck he loved him, let alone told him over the phone. “Adri, I just told Buck I loved him!” He shouts, walking through the house to find his sister in the kitchen, a bored look on her face.
“Uh, and what’s wrong with that?” She raises an eyebrow, leaning against the counter.
Eddie just groans and runs a hand through his hair. “I didn’t want to tell him over the phone! Hell, I don’t even know if I wanted to tell him at all. He probably doesn’t feel the same way.” Eddie mumbles. “I’m making him uproot his whole life to come out here to help with the baby.”
“Eddie.” Adriana starts. “Did you specifically tell him he needed to come out here to help out or did he say he was going to?” She asks.
“Of course I didn’t tell him he had to. He just said that’s what he was going to do, but he wouldn’t be doing that if I wasn’t pregnant.” Eddie groans and sits at the kitchen table, hand on his stomach.
Adriana just shakes her head and pushes herself off the counter, joining Eddie at the kitchen table. “I’m pretty sure he’d move out here even if you weren’t pregnant.” She tells him, giving him a pointed look. “He loves Christopher, I think you and Chris are enough to get him to move out here, baby girl is just a bonus.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Eddie sighs. “I just don’t want him to regret it is all. I don’t think I can handle him resenting any of us because he came out here and regrets it.”
“I don’t know much about the guy, but I don’t think that would happen. Buck sounds like he’s a good person, and it sounds like he cares about you guys a whole lot.” Adriana tells him, taking a sip of her coffee and humming softly. “Anyways, are you going to stay in this place or will you and Buck find a bigger place?” She asks.
Eddie’s place in El Paso was only a two-bedroom house. “No, we’ll probably need at least another room.” He tells her and then continues to speak when she gives him a look. “When he came to visit, he just slept in my bed with me, it went fine. I’m sure we can just continue sharing.”
“Seems likely.” Adriana says. “Are you ever going to tell me what you chose for the baby’s name?” She asks, changing the subject and Eddie silently thanks her for that.
“Nope, Buck and I are keeping it a secret until she’s born. You’re lucky you even know the gender. We were going to keep that a secret too, but he talked me out of it.” Eddie tells her and stands up from his chair, going over to the fridge to get a bottle of water.
“Well, tell him thanks for me.” Adriana chuckles and stands up as well. “I’m going to get going, call me if you need anything.” She tells him and walks up to him, pressing a kiss to his cheek before walking out of the kitchen.
Eddie waits until he hears the front door close before letting a few tears fall down his cheeks, thanking god that Christopher was in his room, probably busy playing video games with his friends. This whole situation was just stressful, but he knew he’d get through it somehow.