Kiss and Run
A new exhibition has opened at an art gallery in town. It was an immersive experience of retro to modern technology. Chris had been dying to go check it out. He went so far as to drop leaflets into Eddie and Bucks duffels one night after they had gone to bed. These were soon found the next morning.
The exhibit included over 100 playable games, including classic Pacman all the way to the Nintendo switch.
Hen had already heard all about the place from Denny who had gone on a class trip there. Honestly Eddie thought it was a great idea judging from what he had heard. The only issue was that he was having to pull double shifts as the boiler had broken. He needed the extra cash to cover the cost. Buck was also pulling doubles in order to help Eddie out.
Buck and Eddie were trying to find a date to take Chris that matched their schedules as well as actually give him enough time there to enjoy the place fully. currently with the time each of them were off shift, they would only be there for an hour or so before the exhibition closed for the night.
Bobby had thankfully overheard their conversation and offered to move one of them to a 12 hour shift on a Tuesday if they swapped with Misha. This would allow for one of them to take a whole Wednesday off to be able to take Chris.
After some debate between the two, It was decided that Buck would take Chris, this was partly due to Buck's current obsession in the creation and commercialisation of technology.
—
Chris was practically bouncing with excitement, gripping Buck’s hand and tugging him toward the loft where the rest of the 118 were lounging between calls.
“I can’t believe we’re actually going!” Chris beamed up at Buck.
Buck grinned back as he helped Chris up the stairs. “You’ve been waiting for this for weeks, buddy. It’s going to be awesome.”
They made their way to the kitchen, where Hen, Chimney, and Eddie were gathered around the table, casually chatting as they ate lunch. Bobby was at the stove, finishing up a batch of garlic bread and salad.
“Look who's here!” Chim called out as Buck lifted Chris onto one of the empty seats before taking his own beside Eddie. “The dynamic duo graces our presence once again”.
Hen smiled warmly at them. “Hey, Chris! Are you ready for game day?”
Chris nodded enthusiastically. “So ready! They have old video games, robots, and all kinds of cool stuff. Buck and I are going to check out everything!”
Eddie ruffled his hair. “I'm sure I've got an old game boy somewhere I can look out for you if you want” He then handed over plates to both Buck and Chris. “You guys stopping by for a quick bite before heading out?”
Buck nodded “Yeah, figured we’d fuel up before we spend all day running around.” he said whilst loading the plates with sausages and mash.
“Help yourselves, there’s plenty to go around.” Bobby instructed, placing down the salad at the top end of the table.
Eddie leaned back in his chair, watching Chris laugh and chat with everyone. He knows he and Buck haven't been around much since the onslaught of shift had to start. Luckily for him Chris was taking it well. He didn't seem to mind that they would only really be home to sleep.
Buck seemed to lose track of time as he chatted and ate the large amounts of various food Bobby was making him eat. He then helped Chris with grabbing the last pieces of garlic bread right out from Chims hand much to his protest.
The time had slowly started to tick by. An alarm started to ring on his phone mid way through explaining the industrial revolution and its effect on poetry. Quickly he grabbed his phone to silence the alarm before realising that he set it in order to leave on time for once.
“Oops, sorry guys that will have to wait as our tickets are for an hour's time and we still have to drive and find parking!”
Buck then dramatically stood, his chair scraping loudly across the floor. He then grabbed Chris out of his seat, but not before leaning over to kiss Eddie. Eddie happily met Buck's lips.
“Bye, Love you!” Buck shouts over his shoulder casually as he and Chris race down the stairs.
“Love you too” Eddie says before turning back to his plate and scraping what Chris had left onto his own.
The rest of the kitchen however had gone dead silent. Hen, Chim and Bobby all sat there frozen.
Eddie continued eating like nothing had happened.
Finally he looked up at them after noticing the prolonged silence.
“What?” he asked confused “Is there something on my face?” he said wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Hen blinked, finally snapping out of her shock. “You—uh, you kissed Buck,” she stammered.
Eddie gave her a deadpan look, shrugging as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “Yeah, I did. What’s your point?”
Chimney gestures wildly, trying to find the words. “The point is that you and Buck… you’re... together?” he pointed accusingly towards Eddie. “Don't get me wrong I'm glad you're together but SINCE WHEN!”
Eddie nodded, his expression calm. “Uh, yeah. We have been for six months now. I thought you guys knew.” He went back to eating, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the entire kitchen had gone dead silent again.
Hen put her hands up, exasperated. “You thought we knew? Eddie, how could we possibly have known? You two didn’t exactly announce it.”
Eddie chuckled, wiping his hands on a napkin. “We weren’t really keeping it a secret, either. I mean, we weren’t exactly being subtle.”
The team exchanged looks, trying to piece together any signs they might have missed. Bobby finally spoke up, clearing his throat as he leaned back in his chair. “Six months, huh?”
Eddie nodded, taking another bite of food before replying. “Yup. Six months yesterday, actually.”
Chimney groaned, letting his head fall into his hands. “I can’t believe it. All this time, and we didn’t know. You know what this means, right?” He looked over at Bobby, who was casually sipping his coffee, a barely-there smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Hen’s eyes widened in sudden realisation. “No way… Bobby, you won the bet!”
Bobby set his mug down with a satisfied smile. “Looks like I did.”
Eddie frowned, his fork pausing mid-air. “Wait, what bet?”
“We had a small little tiny bet of when you and Buck would get your act together and finally be together” Chim admitted sheepishly.
Bobby shrugged, his smile turning into a grin. “Well, to be fair, you two weren’t exactly easy to read. I had to guess just like everyone else.”
Eddie looked at him confused. “But…”
Bobby gave him a look. One that said ‘Don't say another word’
Eddie tried to keep a straight face, but a smirk broke through as he shook his head. “Right, because you had no idea.” He let out a soft laugh and resumed eating, enjoying the little moment of victory.
“Unbelievable!” Chim said in defeat. “Does Maddie know!”
Eddie stifles a laugh “ You didn't realise that us 4 going to dinner last time was actually a double date did you?”
Chimney did a rather impressive goldfish impression.
“SHE KNOWS” he finally stammered out. “But I even told her about the bet and she didn't say anything!”
Eddie just laughed.
Bobby was more than happy to receive the undoubtedly quite large betting pool.
Athena was ecstatic at the revelation, and also that Bobby had somehow won the bet. He had promised to treat her to a night of luxury and all of a sudden she was no longer mad about losing anymore.
—
Eddie came home to a quiet house. Christopher was already in bed as he made his way as silently as he could through the house taking a peek into Chris’s room.
He dumped his duffle outside the door of his own room and pushed open the door. He heard the sound of the shower running as he changed into a pair of sweats leaving his top half bare, he climbed into bed leaving on a side light bathing the room in a soft glow.
He heard the shower turn off as a freshly coconut butter smelling Buck emerged into the room.
As his gaze lands on Eddie a soft smile graces his face, his damp curls falling lightly on his forehead in a way that made Eddie fall in love with him all over again.
Eddie smiled back as he watched Buck change into a pair of boxers. Eddie lightly patted Buck's side of the bed.
As Buck climbs in he automatically curled up against him, resting his head on Eddie’s chest. Eddie wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close. For a few moments, they just lay there in comfortable silence.
Eddie pressed a gentle kiss to Buck’s hair, his fingers tracing idle patterns on Buck’s back. “So,” he began, his voice low and filled with amusement, “you’ll never guess what happened at the station today after you left.”
Buck shifted, tilting his head up to look at Eddie. “Oh? What’s that?” he asked, though there was a hint of a knowing smile on his lips.
“Well,” Eddie said, drawing out the suspense, “the team finally found out about us.”
Buck snorted softly, a grin spreading across his face. “Took them long enough,” he murmured, nuzzling against Eddie’s chest. “How did they react?”
Eddie chuckled. “Shock. Disbelief. And then Hen and Chim realised Bobby won the bet. You should’ve seen their faces.”
“That was the best part of signing those relationship disclosure forms. I can’t believe we managed to fool them for this long just for some extra cash." Buck laughed.
“Do you think they’ll ever forgive us for outsmarting them?” Buck asked with a lazy grin, his eyes still closed.
Eddie hummed thoughtfully. “Oh, they will. Eventually. Once they get over the shock and realise we’ve been playing along with their little game this whole time. Besides, once Bobby hands over our share, I think they’ll be too amused to hold a grudge.”
“I was hoping to last a little longer but at least we can buy Chris a new Lego set.” Buck sighed. “I just got a bit caught up, sorry, took me till the car to realise I had kissed you.”
Eddie pulled him closer. “Well I'm not mad. It was pretty funny actually, I love you,” he whispered, his voice full of warmth.
“I love you too,” Buck replied, his voice already drowsy. With a final squeeze, they both drifted off, tangled up in each other’s arms, sharing a quiet victory in their little secret plan.