Work Text:
Listen…
It wasn’t like Buck was trying to be a disaster. He was very competent at his job. He was a highly trained professional with a skill set he used almost every day to help save people. He was a proud member of the LAFD and he… was running so late to his shift.
It hadn’t started out that way! It started like a totally normal day. Buck woke up, he sent his boyfriend a good morning text— and an even better good morning selfie— and even managed to make himself a protein shake for breakfast, all without having to rush to get into the shower. But then he had dressed for his shift, sent another flirty text to said boyfriend who was cursing him out for making him blush at the school drop off, and it all fell to shit.
Look, despite popular opinion, Buck wasn’t a complete idiot. He knew how to get out of his apartment. It was just that there wasn’t much he could do when the door handle fell off the moment he tried to turn it.
Buck stared at the entire door handle in his hand for about a solid ten seconds before his brain managed to come back online.
Ok. That… happens. But he should be able to get out—
Buck frowned as he tried to pull the door open and was met with the unyielding hold of his lock. The door gave a little but not much, wedged in tight like the lock had jammed it into the frame and refused to budge.
“Oh c’mon!” Buck muttered under his breath as he curled his finger in the small space that had been left by his door handle. Buck tried the door again, yanking once and then twice, before he let out an explosive sigh and dropped his stuff onto the table.
Ok. There was no reason to panic just yet. He just needed his tool kit which was… in his Jeep. Shit.
Buck looked around his apartment for something— anything— he could use to try and disassemble the lock from inside the door. He had a butter knife and a fork… might work? Buck went over to his kitchen and grabbed the possible tools before he dug through his bag for his pocket knife. The tip of his knife might work too.
Buck sat on his knees until they ached— and he would much rather have his knees ache for a whole other reason than him trying to take apart his lock, thank you very much— trying to work himself free but all he managed to do was work the handle on the other side loose. Not completely unattached. Just sort of… hanging there… utterly unhelpful to the situation. The screws that had been too small and delicate for the butter knife, fork, and pocket knife were holding on for dear life and refusing to budge.
Buck groaned as he tried to use his fingers to jiggle it free but the lock and handle just rattled in the door frame, mocking him.
He could kick it. Well, no actually he couldn’t. The door swung in and kicking it would only manage to destroy the door and possibly his foot.
Buck looked down at his phone and cursed at the time. He was going to be late to his shift now and the others weren’t going to let him hear the end of it.
It took Buck a few minutes to find his building supervisor’s number and even a few more minutes for him to sit and listen as the phone rang.
And rang.
And rang.
And rang!
The other line clicked on but before Buck could even get a breath, an monotone automatic voice filled his ear with an out of office message.
A humming picked up under Buck’s skin as the small glimmer of panic started to spark in his spine. He pulled his phone away from his ear and looked through his emails from his original lease for the emergency maintenance line. He wouldn’t necessarily classify being locked in his apartment an emergency but he really needed to get to work. Plus this could be! What if the building caught fire and he couldn’t evacuate? The fire escape was at the end of the hallway! This couldn’t be up to code.
Not for the first time, Buck found himself missing his old landlord which he knew was a little sacrilege. But Mr. Lozzano always answered his phone and even though he tried to fix everything on his own before he called in a professional, he at least cared. A company in Florida ended up buying him out and had tried hiking up their rent to make changes to the lobby that served absolutely no one and Ms. Perry, a retired HR manager on the fourth floor, had managed to rally the residents to stay firm about their original lease agreements. Their rents had stayed the same but the support from management had all but disappeared overnight.
Buck was pretty sure that was most definitely illegal but between the firehouse and Eddie’s place, he barely spent any time at his loft anymore to notice.
The line to the emergency maintenance line rang once before dumping Buck’s call into a generic inbox telling him to leave his name, phone and unit number, and reason for calling.
Buck left his message and waited all of five minutes before the humming under his skin curled around his stomach and had him pacing as he tried not to look at the clock.
What was the point of having an emergency maintenance line if you weren’t going to treat it like an emergency? It wasn’t like someone called 9-1-1 and then they said, “Hold on! Twenty minutes and then we’ll check our voicemail!”
This most definitely had to be illegal. There was no way to get out and Buck was desperately trying not to feel like the walls of his open floor plan were closing in on him.
Okay. He couldn’t wait. He needed to get out. He needed—
Eddie picking up on the second ring brought so much relief to the humming in Buck’s skin, he almost cried. He didn’t because that would be ridiculous but it was very close.
“Hey! Where are you? Shift's about to start.” Eddie’s voice was definitely at the top of the list of sounds Buck loved to hear.
He shoved a hand across his face and felt a laugh bubble over his lips as the panic, soothed by Eddie’s voice, turned into something a little closer to disbelief.
“So,” Buck drew out as he turned to stare at his door handle. “I need your help.”
Buck explained the situation in as much detail as he could, pushing the stupid door handle on his kitchen table with his fingers, and did a pretty good job at only being mildly offended when Eddie started laughing so hard that a wheeze had crept into the sound.
“Eddie!” Buck didn’t whine but it was close because this was serious! It was a fire hazard!
Eddie laughed a few more times, gasping as he tried to catch his breath, before Buck heard him shuffling on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m on my way.”
“Thank you,” Buck breathed as he slumped down beside his island and settled in to watch the door.
“Love you,” Eddie said and Buck was never going to get tired hearing that. “Be there soon.”
“I love you too.”
Buck hung up the phone and glared at the empty messages where his building supe had definitely not called him back.
Twenty minutes later, Buck heard the distinct sound of familiar voices in the hallway and knew instantly that his boyfriend had betrayed him.
A sharp knock on the door brought Chimney’s smug voice. “Fire department! Anyone in there?”
Buck did his best to scowl at Chimney through the small opening he’d managed to pry free.
“You are so not funny,” Buck said and Chimney’s grinning face laughed back at him.
Hen’s face appeared through the opening, smushing next to Chimney until her glasses were practically pushing him out of view. “Buck? This is seriously not up to code. You should sue your landlord.”
Not that the thought didn’t cross his mind once or twice but Buck was more struck by the stunning realization that if everyone was there then that meant—
“Did you guys come in the truck?” Buck squawked, humiliation burning a blush up his throat and into his cheeks.
“How else were we supposed to rescue you?” Chimney chirped from the other side with a pop of his gum.
Buck groaned as he dropped his forehead against the door.
God, he was never going to live this down.
“Buck?”
Hen and Chim’s protests were muffled through the doors and Buck could only look up as Eddie pushed them both out of the way to stare through the small opening.
“The whole truck, Eddie?” Buck’s betrayal was not being kind to Buck’s rationality that Eddie was protective on a good day so calling in the cavalry really wasn’t as much of a surprise as it should be. “You couldn’t have stolen it at least?”
Eddie tried his key but even Buck knew it was a lost cause.
“No, he could not.” Bobby’s voice cut through and Buck winced even though Bobby couldn’t see him.
“Sorry Cap.”
“Well,” Bobby said and the door handle jiggled as someone tried to free it. “For once this isn’t your fault.”
Someone handed Eddie a screwdriver and he managed to pull the handle free so Buck could at least see all the way through the hole where his door handle used to be. Well, except for the lock still very much engaged.
“What are you going to list as cause for response, Cap?” Chimney quipped, shining a light for Eddie to try and jimmy the lock. “A Buckaroo trapped him in his room?”
Hen coughed out a laugh from somewhere to the side. “Victim was locked inside perpetual bachelor pad.”
“Hey!” Buck cried out. “I’ve been with Eddie for over a year. I don’t think I’m considered a bachelor anymore.”
There’d even been a romantic date night that involved getting dressed up suits and a hotel room to celebrate the occasion!
“Uh huh,” Hen said, unimpressed. “So, then why haven’t you moved in with him yet?”
Eddie choked but Buck couldn’t see what was happening before the dangerous end of Eddie’s screwdriver skimmed over the lock and jammed through the mechanism. A curse mumbled from the other side before Eddie tried to pull his tool free. Buck pressed at the other end to help but it was pretty stuck.
“I’m going to go get… the stuff!” Eddie said before something clattered to the ground and Chimney was muttering about already having the stuff.
Buck, meanwhile, would really like to get out of his apartment now.
Bobby and Chimney both tried separately to pry the lock free with grunted instructions to Buck for help but all they managed to do was free the screwdriver.
“At least you’re stuck in your apartment, I guess?” Chimney said after some frustrated silences ended with huffed breaths.
“I’m serious, Buck,” Hen added, her words still muffled by the door as Bobby took a turn with the lock pick. “We’re suing your landlord.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time someone did.” Buck was sure.
“Well, if anything, the inspection from the fire inspector isn’t going to make them happy,” Bobby said as he took over for Chimney.
“Any luck?” Eddie asked, suddenly arriving with whatever it was he so desperately needed to get from the truck. Buck watched through the hole as Eddie’s hips passed over Bobby’s shoulder before he was leaning down to stare back at Buck who was definitely not pouting.
He wasn’t.
Except his loft, his safe place, was starting to feel like a prison.
“No,” Bobby said with an explosive sigh. He leaned back on his heels and frowned at Buck’s door before he shot Buck an apologetic look. “We’re going to have to kick it.”
Great. Buck could already read the eviction letter he’d get. But then again, Buck was stuck inside his apartment with a door that would not open and a group of firefighters on the other side that couldn't get in. And neither the emergency maintenance line or his building supervisor had called him back yet. If Buck wasn’t sure if this whole thing was illegal before he definitely knew now.
“Get back, Buck.” Eddie said and Buck scrambled to his feet to get a reasonable distance away. “Clear?”
“Yeah!”
The door shuddered with the hard punch of Eddie’s boot but stubbornly remained in the frame. Eddie swore before he kicked it again and but this time the door only shifted in the frame on one side.
“Geez!” Chimney whistled as his knuckles tapped a random pattern on the door. “What’s this thing made out of?”
“Let me try,” Bobby said and Buck’s eyebrows shot up as Bobby’s impressive kick didn’t even make the door move. Someone cursed again and Buck bent down to try and see through the hole again. “I think we jammed it even more.”
“It’s got to be an issue with the frame too.” Hen added and that claustrophobic feeling started cloying around Buck’s throat again.
“If you can get me a halligan,” Buck said as he inspected the skewed angle of his door. “I could wedge it while someone kicks.”
“How exactly do you expect us to get this through to you, Buckaroo?”
No one said anything for a moment and Buck tried to run through every scenario that didn’t involve having to take the sledgehammer to his wall before Bobby finally spoke up.
“We could get it to you on the balcony.”
“Cap,” Hen drawled and Buck didn’t need to see her face to picture the perfectly arched brow rising over the rim of her glasses. “We’re on the fourth floor. It’s not like we could crawl through the bushes.”
“Nope,” Bobby said and the sudden realization slammed into Buck with the heat of humilitionation again.
“Oh God.” Buck groaned. “Please don’t tell me you brought the ladder.”
Buck would never live down having to be rescued from his apartment by the ladder. Never! He would die and it would be written on his tombstone. Here lies Evan Buckley. Beloved brother, boyfriend, and idiot that needed a ladder truck to get out of his apartment.
“Honestly,” Buck added, his voice tight. “I’m fine guys. Leave me here. Remember me fondly. Tell my sister I love her.”
Bobby bent at the hips and shot Buck an unimpressed look through the hole.
“We didn’t bring the ladder truck, Buck.”
Then how…
They all seemed to understand at the same time and let out a collective sigh. Buck dropped back onto his butt and settled in to wait as Chimney’s heel squeaked on the floor as he turned.
“I’ll get the winch.” Chimney muttered under his breath.
Twenty minutes later, a lot of jokes to try and soothe the still growing cesspool of embarrassment threatening to swallow Buck whole, and a long winded conversation with his upstairs neighbors to let them inside, had Buck standing out on his balcony as Eddie repelled down the side of Buck’s building with a halligan strapped to his belt.
Buck squinted up as the sunlight made Eddie look more like a descending angel than firefighter. The view of Eddie’s ass in the harness was also not bad. Definitely would be considered a perk to the awful morning Buck had had and absolutely no one could blame him for admiring the view. No one!
Eddie had his gaze trained on Buck and despite the faint traces of humor left in his eyes, Buck could still detect the worry in the downward tick of his lips.
Buck held up his hands to catch him and Eddie reached down for him as he eased himself the rest of the way.
“Hi baby,” Eddie said, quiet like he wanted that moment to be for just the two of them.
Eddie’s touch instantly washed away the prickling of panic in Buck’s blood and the weight of his boyfriend in his arms released whatever lingering tightness in his chest that had made it hard to breathe. Eddie kept one hand on him as he unhooked himself from his line like he was trying to feel for himself that Buck was fine.
“You okay?” He asked anyway.
“You had to bring everyone?” Buck grumbled because he still would’ve preferred no one knowing that Buck needed rescuing from his apartment.
Eddie’s chuckle was throaty and deep as he lifted a hand to cup Buck’s cheek before he fitted his lips over Buck’s for a quick kiss.
“No stops for my damsel in distress.” Eddie quipped and snickered when Buck punched him in the shoulder.
“A damsel?” Buck cried but Eddie jumped out of the way of Buck’s next swat so he could strut inside with his halligan in hand. “I am not !”
“You’re certainly stuck in a tower!” Eddie stared at the door with a sigh before he shoved the halligan into the seam. “All set, Cap.”
“You clear?” Bobby asked and Eddie shot Buck a pointed look.
Buck rolled his eyes skyward as he stepped clear.
“Clear!” Eddie called when he was satisfied Buck was a decent distance away. “Strike!”
A boot kick bellowed as Bobby kicked. Something cracked at the impact. Eddie found more give and adjusted before he called out again.
“Strike!”
Kick.
“Strike!”
Kick.
“Strike!”
Kick.
They did that for several minutes before Eddie spoke again.
“You know,” Eddie said, trying for casual but only managing to sound mildly suspicious. Suspicious in a way that wasn’t helped at all by the fact that Eddie kept his focus on the door and refused to even look at Buck.
Refused to let Buck help too because the moment Buck stepped forward the smug bastard was shooing Buck back with a flick of his hand.
“You don’t— Strike!” Another kick and an even louder crack sounded before Eddie was pushing and pulling the halligan so that Buck got a wonderful show of his biceps flexing in his shirt. “Have to be.”
Eddie left it there and Buck blinked as he tried to piece together what in the hell Eddie was talking about. Buck knew he was already due for his second cup of coffee and had been trapped in his loft for— Buck checked his watch— over an hour now but he was pretty sure even if he’d been properly caffeinated, Eddie still wouldn’t have made sense.
“Uh… babe?” Buck drew out when Eddie didn’t seem like he was going to say anything else to elaborate.
“Strike!” Another kick and the door finally gave a little.
“I’m going to need more words.” Buck leaned his weight onto his arms where he’d been propped up by his kitchen counter and lifted his brows when Eddie shot him a quick glance.
A nervous glance. One that was accompanied by the redness that tended to creep up into Eddie’s ears when he was feeling embarrassed.
“I’m just saying,” Eddie grunted as he threw his weight into the halligan again. “You spend most of your time with me and Chris anyway. Why not—”
Another grunt that made Buck swallow as the flush of heat pooled in his belly.
“Why not,” Eddie repeated. “Just do it? Strike!”
Another kick made the doorframe groan.
“I mean… if you wanted that is. I know how much your space means to you and I wouldn’t ask you to give that up just because—”
Buck’s thoughts were whirling a million miles a minute because Eddie still wasn’t actually saying the thing Buck thought he was saying. And if he was saying what Buck thought he was saying… But then there was the chance he was saying something different from the thing he thought Eddie was saying and if Buck just assumed that could be even more humiliating than needing to be rescued from his own apartment. His heart skipped a beat in his chest, making his ribs ache with hope and longing he wanted to cup in his hands and hold onto. But he needed Eddie to be clear. They’d spent so long wasting time because neither of them had been willing to say the thing they needed to and a year into their relationship had made communicating with one another as easy as breathing. They’d already operated on their own wavelength but committing to one another, kissing one another and acknowledging the thing that had pulled them in like gravity, had given them a whole new level of understanding. Eddie understood Buck’s wants and needs better than himself sometimes but that was Eddie for you. He never did anything by halves. You gave him your heart and he went above and beyond to make sure it was protected and cherished and so fucking loved that it was hard to believe he didn’t think he deserved the same in return.
“Strike!” Another groan and Buck could see Eddie’s movements for what they were now. Frantic and panicky in the quick way he moved and yanked on the halligan like he would very much like to get free and run away from the conversation. But he was having it anyway. “Just… because every minute you’re not with us I spend missing you. I’m just saying that if you wanted to, you could. You could—”
“Are you…” Buck started and then gaped at Eddie as he tried to catch up. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
Eddie’s next strike sounded a little more strangled than the others and the door popped free at the top. One more kick and they should be good.
“Or we could find a place,” Eddie said, grunting as he wedged his halligan all the way into the tightest part of the door right below the lock. “Together. Strike!”
Bobby kicked the door at the same time Eddie lifted the halligan and the door popped free with a sharp groaning snap . Buck would’ve winced if he wasn’t reeling at the sudden revelation Eddie had just stumbled through.
Bobby and Chim were both slightly out of breath while Hen was grinning at Buck and Eddie with a dip of her chin.
Buck was free. Buck was quite literally free but none of that mattered when all Buck could do was stare at Eddie who, with nothing else to do now that his job was done, was staring back at him.
Hen leaned her head in through the doorway. “You okay, Buckaroo? Do you require any medical assistance?”
Besides maybe a hit of the electrical pads to get his heart into a normal rhythm? No. He was fine. He was more than fine. He was…
Buck didn’t know if he could say it.
“No? Great. Bye!” Hen didn’t wait for a response before she all but dragged Chimney away.
“We’ll meet you two down at the truck,” Bobby said with a soft smile before he turned to follow leaving Buck and Eddie to stand there staring at each other.
The gravitational pull of Eddie was too strong to resist but Buck held onto the counter for dear life in case his knees buckled.
“Are you sure?” He asked because as much as he wanted to burst with happiness, Buck knew… he knew he was a lot.
And he knew Eddie would scowl if he said that out loud. Eddie would scowl and get grumpy and then kiss him hard like he was trying to snuff out the doubts and insecurities that still lingered in Buck’s bones no matter how much he tried.
But Buck was a lot and he knew Eddie would disagree. But moving in? Finding a place? Together? That wasn’t just Buck’s life. It was Eddie’s too and Eddie deserved the same fierce protectiveness towards his own happiness that he gave everyone else.
An unreadable expression clouded Eddie’s face before he swallowed and Buck could see the signs of one of the infamous Diaz Shutdowns getting ready to fall.
“I just… I know Hen was teasing but I’m not… I’m with you, Eddie. I don’t want to pressure you into anything.”
Eddie blinked at him still so careful not to let anything slip but Buck could see the cracks threatening to burst open.
“I wouldn’t be pressured.”
“You literally went running the moment moving in together was mentioned.” Buck felt like he needed to point it out. Not unkindly and he hadn’t noticed at first but that’s because he hadn’t thought Eddie wanting to move in with him was even a real possibility.
But now it was and Buck was fighting everything tooth and nail not to rush into things just for them to crash and burn. Buck had survived countless heartbreaks but Eddie was it for him. If they crumbled because they pushed too hard and too fast and something as stupid as which coffee table do we keep broke them, Buck would never recover.
Eddie’s cheeks went red as he shuffled his feet and he reached back to tug on his hair at the crown of his head. Buck’s eyes drifted once again to the bulge of Eddie’s muscles and it was only because they were finding themselves in a pretty precarious conversation that he didn’t try to talk Eddie into a quick make out session while they had the privacy.
“I’ve—” Eddie stared at a point over Buck’s shoulder with a fixed determination Buck had never seen on his boyfriend before. Eddie winced and tugged on his hair again before dropping his hand with a slap to his thigh. “I’ve been… wanting to ask… for a while now.”
Eddie hitched a shoulder up to his ear and it was a miracle that he wasn’t dragging his toe in the ground in front of him like he was admitting to some kind of crime.
“I just… I’ve been trying to find the right words to say and the right time but—” Eddie broke off with a sigh and closed his eyes as he shoved his knuckle up into his eyebrow. “But I… I know it’s asking a lot. I’m—”
Buck couldn’t stand the distance anymore. He reached forward and grabbed onto Eddie’s harness before he pulled his boyfriend to him. He slanted his mouth down, smothering Eddie’s questioning noise, and kissed away all the doubts and worries that had been plaguing his boyfriend for however long he’d been thinking about asking him; been thinking about asking Buck to move in with him.
Eddie responded almost instantly, fitting his hand against Buck’s cheek and swiping his thumb the way that always managed to make Buck want to melt on the spot. Buck kissed him hard and insistent but so soft and and gentle, teasing the seam of Eddie’s mouth with his tongue, and sucking on his top lip when he relaxed into the kiss.
One by one, each of Eddie’s muscles relaxed until Buck was practically holding him up by the harness and Eddie was melding their bodies together. His fingers slipped up into Buck’s hair, giving the curls a short tug that Buck knew meant Eddie was about to take over. He was a greedy kisser like that and it was a fact that Buck loved more than anything about kissing Eddie. That Eddie felt safe enough to take without hesitation. That he felt safe with Buck to be selfish and demanding and wanting.
Buck wanted Eddie to want this too.
He pulled away before Eddie could deepen the kiss and smiled when Eddie ducked his head to steal just one more peck before Eddie let him go. Not far. His fingers were running through the small hair at the nape of Buck’s neck with his thumb back to sweeping soft caresses onto his jaw.
A tiny breath escaped Buck’s lips and it was like the plug that released the last bit of reluctance.
“I want to,” Buck said, pressing into Eddie’s touch like he was starved for it.
Eddie didn’t look like he’d heard Buck for a moment. But then he blinked and a blinding smile overtook his face that Buck would happily bask under for the rest of his life.
But that was another conversation for a later time.
“Yeah?” Eddie asked even though he didn’t need to. Buck’s answer was the same.
“Yeah. If you want to—”
“I do!” Eddie didn’t even let him finish.
Buck grinned as Eddie reeled him in and kissed him once then twice on the lips before he was kissing everywhere he could reach. Buck’s nose, his cheek, his chin, and then back to his mouth and Buck finally let go of Eddie’s harness to slip his arms around him and pull him close.
Eddie crashed his lips against Buck’s and rolled up into a deep kiss that left them both breathless.
“I love you so much,” Eddie said between swollen lips and clawed fists of hair.
Buck sighed into his mouth and shivered, recognizing the heat of that voice Eddie got; the one that usually meant Buck was about to be taken apart and put back together again.
“I love you too,” Buck said before Eddie bit his lip.
Eddie pulled them back and spun until Buck’s back met the wall and Eddie’s hands were shoving under his shirt. The harsh material of his gloves on Buck’s skin made him moan into the kiss and he didn’t think that was a thing but he—
Eddie’s radio clicked to life on his chest.
“Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair!” Chimney’s voice made both of them groan as he they broke apart. “Your ride is still waiting so let us be out of here.”
Eddie grabbed the radio from his chest and grimaced. “That was terrible, Chim.”
“Would you have preferred there once was a Buck who knew how to fu—”
The radio clicked off as someone grabbed it from his hands. But Chim was right.
It was time to go.
A course of excitement thrummed through Buck at that and he knew overtime the bittersweet feeling would come too. The loft had been his first home; his first space that was all his and no one else’s. But that thrill, that rightness of being with Eddie was never going to change.
“Hey Eddie?” Buck said, pressing his forehead against Eddie’s.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming to rescue me,” Buck said and beamed when Eddie nuzzled his nose.
“Always.”
Yeah. Always sounded about right.