Youtube ruined my life

"We're not just friends, you know that" from the prompt list 👀

Eddie Diaz was a beautiful man. Buck had long since been aware of that – aesthetically, Eddie was a very pleasing guy to look at. That had been obvious from the moment Buck had first met him, his stomach twisted in jealousy as he’d watched the rest of the 118 fawn over their new probie. The thing with Eddie was, he got more and more beautiful the more Buck got to know him. Eddie was a beautiful person to look at, sure, but he was a beautiful person in general, too – he was a brilliant father, and he was kind, and funny, and all of it made him even more beautiful to Buck.

He was a beautiful man, and Buck was more aware of it tonight, than ever. Eddie was wearing a new shirt. Buck knew that it was new, because Eddie had video-called him from the dressing room, a grumpy look fixed in place on his face as he tried on some new clothes. Buck had been working, so he hadn’t been able to go, and Eddie had never enjoyed shopping for himself.

It was flannel – which, sue him, Buck liked Eddie in – and it was a soft forest green and yellow, the colours complimentary to Eddie’s skin. He was wearing it open over a white t-shirt Buck had ironed (because Eddie had been late, running around his house, trying to find the left shoe of his favourite pair of sneakers) and he looked utterly, completely delicious.

Catching Eddie’s eye, Buck offered his best friend a small smile. The party was bustling around them, their friends and colleagues and their families enjoying some good food, and good drinks, the bar packed out to celebrate Chimney’s birthday. They’d needed an excuse to celebrate, and Chimney turning the grand old age of 40 had been the perfect moment to organise something.

It only took a minute or two, but Eddie made his way over, weaving through the crowd.

“Who were you talking to?” Buck inquired, as Eddie came to lean on the table next to Buck. It was a nice bar – Maddie had made a good choice. It had an outdoor terrace, string lights hung over the array of tables and chairs. Music was playing softly from inside the bar,

He hadn’t recognised the person Eddie had been talking to for the last twenty minutes, and Buck was curious. Eddie had gained a new sort of confidence, in the last few months, and Buck couldn’t blame someone for finding it attractive – Buck found it attractive. Eddie had a new haircut, and Buck knew there was a new tattoo hiding under the rough denim of Eddie’s jeans, and he was carrying himself a little taller, comfortable in his own skin now.

Buck couldn’t blame anyone for being attracted to him – but he was definitely going to be jealous if Eddie returned the attraction.

“Ravi’s housemate,” Eddie explained. “I was telling them that the weirdo staring at us was just my best friend.”

Maybe it was the alcohol, in his hand, that gave Buck a boost of confidence, but the words were out before Buck could stop himself. “Oh, Eddie,” he drawled, leaning a little closer to Eddie. “We’re not just friends. You know that.”

Eddie’s eyes widened, a little, but he responded in kind. “Do I know that?” he countered, raising an eyebrow. “If we’re not friends, what are we?”

“Oh, you know,” Buck grinned. “Acquaintances.”

Eddie laughed, the sound like music to Buck’s ears. “We’re acquaintances now, are we?”

“Mm, maybe there’s a better word for it, then,” Buck sounded impossibly flirty to his own ears, enjoying the way Eddie was watching him intently, clearly curious as to what Buck was about to do. They’d been dangling on the precipice of something for so long, now, and as everything had become so much more comfortable between them, healed and fixed and built back better, it had begun to feel as though it wasn’t a matter of if, anymore, but when. Buck hadn’t expected the when to be at his brother-in-law’s birthday, but some way, somehow, the moment felt right.

“Like what?”

“Boyfriends,” Buck suggested, the word tasting unfamiliar as it passed his lips. He’d never had a boyfriend before.

“Mm,” Eddie hummed. “Boyfriends feels a little juvenile, doesn’t it? Like we’re – twenty something, and in college, not grown adults with jobs, and a kid.

“Husbands, then?” Buck joked, enjoying the way Eddie blushed, at the prospect, shaking his head as he laughed.

“I think there’s probably a happy medium in between both of those,” Eddie suggested. “Partners?” he suggested, and Buck couldn’t do anything except smile in response. Over the years, Eddie had become his partner in so much – work, first of all, and then in friendship, parenthood, and now… Well, now Eddie was going to be his partner in love.

“Partners,” the term rolled off the tongue nicely, Buck had to admit. “I like it.”

“Are we really doing this now?” Eddie sounded slightly in awe, as though he’d been waiting for this moment for a long time. He probably had been – Buck had, too. “Here?”

“Why not?” Buck glanced around. “Life is – there’s no such thing as perfect, Eddie, but we’re happy. You’re doing well, you’re back in therapy, I’m in therapy, we’re working together again, Christopher is happy, and healthy. I think – I think that now, you and I get to be selfish, and have this,” he gestured between them. “I think we get to have us now, Eddie,” because he so believed they did – they’d waited so long, and worked so hard, to build a good, happy, stable life, and to be healthier people, and now, all Buck wanted was to be able to hold Eddie’s hand whenever he wanted, and kiss him goodnight, and fall even deeper in that love that felt like it was already etched into every piece of bone and tissue in Buck’s body.

Eddie’s smile was a little wet, but Buck knew the other man well enough to know that it was happiness, that was drawing those tears in the corner of Eddie’s eyes. “You think?” he asked.

“I know,” Buck confirmed. “We get to be happy, now – together.”

And in response, Eddie kissed him, finally, fingers wrapping gently around Buck’s wrist as he captured Buck’s mouth in a gentle, tentative kiss. It felt like a promise of what was to come, a future so bright that it blinded Buck. As they broke apart, Buck noticed Maddie and Chimney standing over Eddie’s shoulder, watching them intently, his sister and her partner exchanging equally as pleased smiles.

Buck definitely took a mental note to tease Chimney about the way he definitely teared up, watching Buck and Eddie kiss for the first time – after he thanked the other man for letting them have their quiet moment before he alerted the whole party to the fact that Buck and Eddie were finally together.

“I love you,” Buck breathed, and he could taste the happiness on Eddie’s tongue, sweet against the bitter remains of the sour beer Eddie had been drinking that evening.

Eddie breathed the words right back, grip tight and reassuring on Buck’s wrist. “I love you, Evan.”