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It’s Tuesday, 6am, and Buck’s been awake for far too long already.
He got home a little after midnight after a shift that ran way too long, making him miss a date he’d had planned for a month with a girl he met on Bumble. She wasn’t too pleased with him cancelling (again) but she understands; his job is demanding and he doesn’t have control over the calls he goes to.
Buck’s heard that one before... Part of him is worried that this is going to be like Ali all over again: that she says she’s okay with it, with this job, but that at the end of the day, she can’t cope with the risks and the schedules and they break up after a few months.
Everyone loves firefighters… until it’s a real relationship and it’s not just about the hot part of it (pun not intended). He’s at a point where he’s considering making an account on that website Bobby used all those years ago– but he’s not that desperate. Not yet.
So here he is.
Tuesday, 6am, with too much energy and too many thoughts in his head and no outlet to exteriorize them.
Maybe he should’ve followed Eddie home and slept on his couch? He’s not in a great head-space, maybe that would’ve helped. Eddie didn’t seem to be feeling too well either. Hell, maybe he should’ve followed Bobby and taken him up on his offer to sleep in the guest bedroom for the night.
With a sigh, he pushes his blankets off, gets up, makes his bed, and decides that even with only an hour of sleep, it’s time to get up.
He changes into some work-out clothes and gets to work on his exercises that he can do at home. Push ups, squats, weights… Once he’s cycled through everything, he goes for a quick run.
He’d honestly been hoping that it would tire him out and that he’d be able to sleep until noon, maybe, but he feels as awake as ever.
So he hops into the shower, gets dressed, grabs his keys, and before he can convince himself to not do what he’s going to do, he’s in the jeep on his way to the coffee shop he knows has the best cold brew and croissants.
By 8am, he’s quietly letting himself into the Diaz residence, coffees in hand and pastries under his arm.
It’s quiet: Eddie’s not up yet, and Chris is still in Texas.
Buck’s always envied Eddie for that; he can sleep through anything. (His exceptions are: if he hears that either Chris or Buck are ill, his alarm, or if he smells bacon.)
Which, fair.
Buck toes out of his shoes, places them neatly in their spot by the door, and makes his way through the house. He unpacks the pastries and quietly gets started on breakfast. He’s not sure why he’s so careful: he’s always up before Eddie and Eddie is never out before breakfast is served. (Then again, that might just be a ruse to get out of helping Buck in the kitchen.)
It’s painfully domestic, and Buck’s fully aware of that, but he can’t help himself. He loves doing this for Eddie (and for Chris when he’s here of course). If he could do this for the rest of his life he’d be happy. He doesn’t want to start over with a random person when he already knows he found the person he wants to be with.
Maddie thinks he should just rip the Band-Aid and tell Eddie how he feels.
Buck thinks that she’s insane for thinking that that would go well for him.
(Chim thinks that he wishes he wasn’t part of this secret.)
*
It takes Eddie a solid 45 minutes before he pokes his head into the kitchen, bleary eyed and looking massively confused.
It’s cute, really, and Buck’s heart feels so full.
“Hello?” Buck watches, listens, and Eddie just rubs his eyes with the collar of his shirt (which looks three sizes too big and Buck’s pretty sure it’s one of his own). “Did we have plans?”
“Nope,” Buck replies, grabbing Eddie’s coffee from where he’d set it to give it to him. “Here you go, Sleeping Beauty.”
“You calling me a princess?” His voice is low and hoarse and Buck’s not sure what to do with the flutter in his chest.
So he shrugs.
“If the shoe fits,” he simply replies, internally cackling at his own implication that Eddie could be Cinderella. “Drink.”
“Did you sleep over? What are you doing here?”
“Did I sleep over?” Buck snorts and goes back to his post at the stove. “We left separately last night and I went home, Eddie. Do you not remember getting home? Alone?”
“I–” the other pauses and takes a cautious sip of the coffee. He nods a few times and goes back for another bigger sip before he sits at the table. “If you were gonna come here, why didn’t you just sleep here in the first place?”
“I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be able to sleep, Eddie. Otherwise yeah, I probably would’ve just driven the both of us here and crashed on your couch.” He gives the pan he’s using a tap and lifts it up to flip the omelet he’s making before shaking the potatoes with the other hand. “Stupid long shift messing with my head.”
“What was that?”
Buck sighs, “It’s nothing. I just… I’m bummed that I had to cancel my date and I’m pretty sure she’s not going to want to reschedule. Again, I mean. That was like our third reschedule, all because of shifts running long or me needing to go in to help out. It’s not like I thought she was the one, but…” He sighs and reaches over to the cabinets to grab a plate. He slides the omelet on it, and then the potatoes next to it and cuts the heat on the stove before he goes to place it in the middle of the table. When Eddie reaches for a potato, he promptly slaps his hand away and points at him with narrowed eyes. He turns back to grab forks and yep, just like he thought, Eddie’s chewing something (probably potatoes). Buck can’t help but roll his eyes fondly at the sight and he takes a seat in front of his friend.
“Figured we could share, seeing as we have pastries, too.” He makes a point to tear open the paper bag of pastries so Eddie can have his pick.
“You’re too good to me, man,” Eddie says, and he seems to only have eyes for the food.
Buck snorts, “Don’t I know it.” It earns him a kick on the shin but he laughs nonetheless. “Did you have plans today?”
“I dunno,” he grabs a raspberry cheese danish and dips it into his coffee before he takes a bite, his eyes closing as he does. Buck watches him with, what he’s sure is, a fond smile on his face. If Maddie were here, she would tell him he looks like a lovesick idiot and Buck would simply Ignore her. “Laundry, vacuum, mow the lawn... Video games. You?”
“Already worked out, my loft is clean… I have to make cookies for the LAFD bakesale in a few days, but I need a truck load of flour, sugar, and eggs.”
“Is that why you couldn’t sleep?”
“Cause of the bake sale?” Eddie nods and Buck cuts himself off a piece of omelet. “Please. I’ve been a bake sale pro since I started doing Chris’. Nah, I dunno why I couldn’t sleep. Woke up at like four, got up at six, worked out, showered, and came here. Guess I just didn’t want to be alone?”
“We should find a bigger house together,” Eddie says, his mouth full of potatoes. It should be disgusting, but Buck’s never cared. He loves that Eddie can be fully himself around him. All impolite and no table manners. His Abuela would be so disappointed right now. “And move in together. Like, properly.”
“What do you mean properly?” He grabs the cheese danish from Eddie’s plate and watches as the horror dawns upon Eddie’s face. His eyes grow wide, his jaw drops a little, and Buck almost feels bad. Close enough that he just takes a small bite and returns the pastry to its rightful owner. “Relax, big brown cow eyes, I just wanted a bite.” Eddie mumbles something under his breath in Spanish and Buck laughs.
“I mean…” He takes a bite of the danish, as if scared that Buck might try to steal it again. “You’re here more than half the time, you do half the cooking and cleaning. I dunno, it would make sense. I just… I guess I really like having you around, you know?”
“R-Right.” Buck busies himself by drinking his coffee and he lets Eddie’s words wash over him. Oh how he would want that, too. Sure, he would want to be the person Eddie settles down with as well but living with Eddie? Name the time and the place and he’d be there.
“We should go to Costco,” Eddie says after a few moments, pulling Buck out of his thoughts, as if what Eddie’s just said wasn’t in any way, shape, or form something that Buck yearns for. “For your stuff,” he adds, when Buck doesn’t reply.
“Costco?”
“Yeah, Costco. You know… the store?”
“I know what Costco is, Eddie!”
“Have you… never been?”
“Have you? We’ve been friends, what, seven years now and I’ve never seen you go to Costco.”
At that, Eddie shrugs. “I go like once a month, Buck. Maybe not recently with Chris not being here, but with three mouths to feed, it’s cheaper to go there for some things.”
“I– what?”
“Chris, you, me? That’s three? What are you confused about, Buck?”
Honestly? He’s not so sure. Eddie’s allowed to go places without him.
Nevermind that they always go grocery shopping together, Buck’s totally fine with Eddie going to Costco without him.
But...
“I’ve never been to Costco.”
“You’ve never…” Eddie nods to himself a little bit, his eyes trained on Buck the whole time. Buck busies himself by having another bite of omelet and potatoes. “Well that settles it, I’m bringing you to Costco. I’m telling you, Buck, you’re gonna love it.”
His eyebrows furrow for half a second as a moment of confusion washes over him. He’s going to love Costco? People love the zoo, the aquarium, Korean BBQ– But Costco? Really? What’s so great about a big store with a lot of people?
“Do you already have a list of what you need?” Buck nods and just taps pats his phone that’s sitting on the table next to the plate. “Great. So it’s,” Eddie pauses to look at his watch, “9:15. I reckon we could go by ten-ish, take our time, try the samples, maybe have lunch there?”
“Have lunch... at Costco? What is it? Like an amusement park?”
“Oh Buck, you have no idea what you’re going to be walking into.”
*
And hell if he wasn’t right.
The parking lot is packed and Buck already feels the anxiety tingling at his fingertips. This is way too many people for a weekday. Are they not working? Retired folks fine, but he’s seeing a lot of thirty-somethings and he can’t help but wonder why they’re here and not at work.
Granted they’re probably thinking the same about him but that’s neither here nor there.
“Ready, Buck?” Eddie asks, a big grin on his face, sunglasses still on his nose. Buck’s not quite sure how to respond to that, truthfully. Had he not been the one driving he would’ve Googled Costco a bit more, see what all the fuss is about but he just didn’t have the time.
“As ready as I’ll ever be… I guess,” he mumbles in lieu of a proper answer.
He sticks to Eddie’s side and keeps quiet, following his friend’s lead.
He wonders briefly why Eddie’s looking through his wallet until he watches him scan a card at the entry and…
“Wow.”
To his right, Eddie nudges him to keep walking but Buck can’t help but look around.
Everything is massive and he’s already overwhelmed.
“First things first,” Eddie starts, and he pulls Buck to the side so people can still pass. He says a quick sorry to an older woman that’s trying to look at the display of batteries they’re next to and he turns to Buck. “We start on the left side– that’s all the appliances, the tools, pet stuff, cleaning supplies– anything that’s not food, really.”
“Do we need any of it?”
“No. But that’s the beauty of Costco! You never know what you’re going to find.”
“–Sounds like a problem for our wallets…”
“Then,” Eddie continues, ignoring Buck’s comment, “We land in the bread and pastries section. You know those big muffins you like? The blueberry ones? They’re from here. And it’s like, 2 packs of 6 muffins for cheap.”
“Oh…kay…?” He nods along but Buck’s already a bit lost. He’s also a bit confused because Eddie’s currently acting how Buck acts at the zoo: a man with a plan. It’s a bit unsettling… but also kind of attractive? He shakes the thought away.
Now’s not the time.
“So, then there’s the fruits and veg that are near the bakery section and then we have all the meats. Different cuts and like, larger quantities. I usually come here with Bobby before barbecues. Oh! And cheese. So much cheese, Buck.”
“I– what? You've been to Costco with Bobby?”
Eddie shrugs. “Sometimes. It’s nice, you know? He came with me to Home Depot when I needed things for Chris last year. He… I dunno, he gives me advice about stuff. Nice to bounce ideas off of and he’s just… Judgment free. Not that you aren’t! It’s just… different.”
“I get it, Eddie, I go to Bobby for a lot of things, too.”
Relationship advice, how to tie a tie, how to buy a decent suit, about his parents, new recipes he wanted to try out…Honestly about pretty much anything, really.
“Oh, I might pick up some chicken breasts, you’ve been saying you had a recipe you wanted to try out and my Abuela also needs chicken. Win-win.” As Eddie pushes the cart, Buck takes a step to the side to avoid a woman barreling through with her own. He has a feeling that he’s going to both love and hate this place. “Oh! TVs are on sale!”
“We don’t need a new TV, Eddie,” Buck comments, but he chuckles nonetheless. “Even with $500 off it’s still $3000.”
“The point is to dream a bit, Buckley! Come on!” Eddie tsks at him and they get started on the first few aisles. Smart watches, a Dyson vacuum (that Buck actually really wants), coffee machines…
“Wow, this place really does have it all, doesn’t it?” He asks, picking up a box of 180 Nespresso pods. He frowns and looks at the prices, “Jeez, you save like $30 getting them here instead of at the Nespresso store.”
“If we’re buying a Nespresso, can we get–”
“No, we’re not getting rid of the Hildy, Eddie. She’s part of the family.” Eddie mutters something under his breath and Buck follows along with a skip in his step. “Oh! Owala bottles. Nice. Been meaning to get a new water bottle.”
“Because you forgot a protein shake in yours again and you’re too grossed out by the mold to clean it so you threw yours out?”
“I–” He narrows his eyes at Eddie and picks up the pastel pink and green ones to put in the cart. “Ok now, I’m not here to get attacked and judged, I'm here to get baking supplies… and water bottles, apparently.” He wants to hit Eddie with another snarky comment but his attention is immediately diverted to the display that’s at the end of the aisle. “Oh! Tomato plants! I didn’t know they had plants at Costco! Eddie!” He looks back at his friend, who’s looking at him with a soft smile on his lips. “We could grow our own vegetables! $15 and it’s already fully grown and– they have petunia starters! Eddie! We could spruce up the front of the house! And oh! We could get a lemon tree– Okay, maybe not now but oh! One of these.” He grabs two of the planters and makes his way back to Eddie, where he’s now chatting happily with a woman who kind of looks like Buck’s great aunt Jane on his dad’s side– which, off topic. Buck knows that Eddie’s a nice guy but he’s never seen him chat with strangers at the store. It’s a new look on him.
“Is this your his first time at Costco?” The woman asks, she grins at Buck and Buck can’t help but grin back. Albeit he’s a bit confused, but he’s smiling anyway.
Eddie throws his head back as he laughs, “It’s his first time, yes. We’re here for baking supplies but I wanted him to experience Costco properly and not run through it.”
“Ah, the Costco experience. You’re lucky. My husband doesn’t want to accompany me here anymore.”
“Well now, that’s his loss. Buck and I love to run our errands together, don’t we, Buck?”
And Buck– Oh, his heart skips a beat.
What?
Did she just insinuate that they were a couple– and did Eddie not correct her?
“I– Sorry. Yeah. Way more fun together. Sorry, I got distracted by the plants. I wasn’t expecting any of that.”
“You’re fine, Buck. We’re in no rush. Just remember we’re here for flour, eggs, and sugar? Not for a whole garden?”
“Well, Eddie, if you didn’t want me distracted by literally every item that might exist, maybe we should’ve stuck with our local grocery store, hm?”
To that, Eddie raises his hands in defense and Buck takes the opportunity to grab the cart. “Oh! Is that an indoor herb garden?! Eddie! I Need that.”
“Have a good day, ma’am, I should keep an eye on this one.”
“Good luck!”
*
They make it through half the store, only adding a few items that they didn’t need– mostly because Eddie manages to convince Buck that no, they do not need the big Snorlax Squismallow for the house, no matter how cute it is, and that they do not need at $15 Tuxedo cake even if it’s delicious. Buck, however, manages to sneak in a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
After the meats and cheeses, they end up with the alcohol section, near the dairy fridge (which, odd to place that next to eachother), and Buck grabs a few bottles of wine. Because ”Why not, Eddie? Get it? It sounds like Wine n– Eddie, hey! Why are you walking away?! Wait up!” And Eddie grabs tequila, and they make sure to stop at every sample kiosk there is.
Buck’s not sure how he managed to go 33 years of his life without setting foot in a Costco– they’ve only been here an hour and he already knows that he’s going to be here once a month, just to make sure he doesn’t miss any deals.
“Well, first,” Eddie starts, crumpling his little paper cup that used to have a sample of a very midtasting frozen pizza, “You need a membership.”
“Done, I'll get one. This place is amazing, Eddie. Oh!” He crosses the alley to a stand of gift cards, going straight for the Costco branded ones meant to offer someone a membership. “See, if we actually lived together, we could share a card.”
“Pretty sure I could get you a card with my membership without needing us to live together, Buck. But…”
Buck frowns, the but making anxiety bubble in his chest a little bit.
“About what I said earlier…”
His brow furrows and he digs into his memories of the last couple of hours; so much has already happened today and they’ve already talked about so many things. Work? Chris? The garden? Abuela needing Tupperwares? Buck wanting to attempt cheesecakes? The massive $25 candles that were near the beginning that smelled like a forest?
He sighs. “I’ve got nothing, Eddie. What did we talk about?”
“Getting a house together.”
“I– Oh! You were serious?”
“Course I was serious,” Eddie replies nonchalantly as if that’s a normal thing to say while looking at gift cards. “Oh, spa discounts. Wanna go?”
“Eddie.”
“Oh! A go-karting one, I’ll take that one so we can go with Chris.”
“Eddie.”
“What do you want me to say, Buck? You don’t like your loft, I don’t like your loft. You love spending time with us, we love spending time with you. It’s like I said earlier: You cook, you clean, you pay some of the bills even if I tell you not to… It just feels… natural, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe if we were dating. Eddie, what if one of us dates?” It’s not that he wants to convince Eddie otherwise, but there are some flaws to this plan.
To that, Eddie grumbles and he pushes the cart back to the food aisles (Because there’s an order to how you navigate Costco, Buck. You start with the left, you do the fruit and veg, you go down the food aisles, and then you do the middle section.) “Wish it wasn’t weird to have roommates in your thirties and still want to settle down. So what if I probably love my best friend more than anyone I’ve ever dated. It’s not weird! Right?”
“Totally not weird!” Buck chimes in. He reaches for an expensive pack of frozen pizzas and Eddie bats his hand away with a comment that they still have some at home. “So what if I prefer going out with you rather than on dates? I know you. I don’t want to get to know someone all over again.”
“Oh my God, tell me about it. Honestly.” His cheeks go a violent shade of red and he turns away, pushing the cart along with him. “Um, butter’s pretty cheap here too, if you need some.”
That’s twice now, Buck notes, that they start a conversation about moving in together and that Eddie stops it and leaves Buck hanging. Twice. He doesn’t want to push it but truthfully, Buck would love to live with Eddie and Chris. He’s pretty sure it would be the best thing to happen to him.
So if Eddie is just joking, it’s fine... but on the off chance that he’s serious? Buck really wants it to happen. He just needs to figure out what’s going on inside of Eddie’s head.
“So do we need anything in the freezer section?” Eddie asks, and Buck has to jog a little bit to catch up. “Frozen fruit? You’ve been on a smoothie kick. Maybe you could–”
“Eddie wait up–”
“–Grab some of the strawberries and pineapple? Oh! Get those chicken broccoli thingies, they’re good when we’re in a pinch–”
“–Eddie stop–”
“–And we don’t have time to–”
With a huff, Buck takes a few more steps and plants himself in front of the cart and grabs it so Eddie doesn’t have anywhere to escape. “Eddie. What’s wrong?”
“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong, Buck.”
“You’re being weird. Do you want to live together or not?”
There. Good job, Buck. Ripped the Band-Aid right off, Maddie would be proud. Or she will be, when he tells her about it. It wasn’t the specific one Maddie wanted Buck to pull off but God Damn if Buck doesn’t have too many Band-Aids to choose from anyways. What difference does it make?
Whether the next part hurts or not is pretty much depending on what Eddie’s going to say.
“Eddie?”
“Look, okay? It started out as a joke when I was looking at houses last month when I had that moment of I’m moving to Texas. After Chris said he didn’t want me to move, that he just wanted me to come get him I… I don’t know… I just started looking at houses here for fun.”
“Okay… so far that sounds nice? What would be so bad about that?”
“I was looking for a bigger house for us, Buck.”
“You were… really?”
“I– Buck, damn it. I didn’t want to say this in the middle of a Fucking Costco.” He passes a hand through his hair and Buck follows it with his eyes, captivated by how the strands just fall back, free of product and longer than they’ve ever been.
“Say what, Eddie? That you want us to move in together? Because honestly, I really want that too. Your house is more of a home to me than my own place.”
“I do. I really want us to live together… but…”
“But what? People will judge us? Who cares? They already judge us. The other day, Chim said that I’m over at yours so often that we’re almost in a common law marriage with how we do things.”
Eddie is quiet for a few seconds, and Buck studies his face. He doesn’t think that Eddie’s going to try to change the subject, not this time, but he also knows that Eddie’s currently spiraling. “What if that’s what I would want, though?”
At that, Buck frowns. “A… common law marriage?”
“Mhm,” Eddie agrees quietly, nodding along as he does. Buck keeps his eyes on him, waiting for the next part. This conversation is veering into an unknown territory and he’s not sure how to navigate it. “I um, fuck– can we get out of the freezer section?”
“I– yeah, sure.” He moves to the side to let Eddie push the cart and follows him until they’re tucked in the corner where tissues and sodas are kept. (Again, Costco, why the weird pairings of items?) “So you want… a common law marriage…with me? Eddie… do you…”
He can’t even finish his sentence.
What?
No. That can’t be right.
Right?
Buck would know if Eddie has feelings for him.
Right?
Right?
“Buck… Evan. What I’m trying to say, at Costco of all fucking places, is that doing errands with you is fun, having you around is always a good time, and I love our family that we’ve built and… I wanted to finally ask you out at some point this week. You know, do this right?”
“I– you wanted to ask me out?” Buck repeats, and he points at himself. He knows what Eddie means but he really needs for it to be spelled out right now because wow. Everything he’s ever wanted is just at arm’s reach– that’s never something that happens to him. To others, yes. But to Buck? Nooooo. Buck usually gets the short end of the stick. “Like,” he continues and wets his lips. “On a date?”
Eddie nods and Buck can tell that he’s struggling to keep eye contact. In what world would Buck say no, though? “I wanted to ask you out to that little Italian place? The one that opened near your place? And you know, wine and dine you.”
“Eddie, I’m pretty sure you’re the love of my life. Of course I’ll go out with you and move in with you and marry you and hell if you want more kids we’ll have more kids and I’ll coach little league and–” Eddie’s hands are on his face now and Buck’s mouth snaps shut. “Sorry.”
“I love you too, you know?” Eddie says, barely higher than a whisper. His thumbs brush Buck’s cheeks up and down and Buck feels himself smile. “I don’t know why I was so nervous to tell you. I was 99.9% sure that you would say yes… But I was still nervous. Bobby told me to go for it.”
“Bobby? You told Bobby you liked me?”
“No… I told Bobby I loved you.” He smiles and if they weren’t in a fucking Costco, Buck would kiss him silly. “I sorta wanted his opinion?”
“You wanted his blessing, didn’t you?” When Eddie frowns, Buck’s smile grows. “He give you the shovel talk?”
“Of course he did,” Eddie replies. One last brush of Buck’s cheek and he pulls away– Buck uses this opportunity to take one of Eddie’s hands in his, and they finally leave the corner they’d been tucked into (not forgetting to grab a 24 pack of toilet paper as they do). “But he did say something along the lines of ‘it’s about damn time’ and ‘Athena and I are getting tired of watching you two circle each other’.”
“This has been a long time coming, huh?” He brushes his thumb against Eddie’s knuckles and the smile Eddie makes has Buck feelings so warm in his chest. The domesticity of it all comforts him like no blanket or hug ever has.
“I guess it has, yeah. I um,” he clears his throat and they somehow manoeuvre the cart into the next aisle where Buck thinks he can see big bags of sugar. “I wanted to wait a respectable amount of time after you and Tommy broke up before I asked you out but I was a bit worried someone would sweep you off your feet and I’d be too late. Kinda glad the date you had planned fell through cause of the shift.”
“Babe, come on.” Eddie turns slightly to look at him, one eyebrow raised and his lips curling ever so slightly. He’s amused, Buck notes as he goes through the mental picture book he has of all of Eddie’s different expressions. He likes it. He wasn’t sure how Eddie would react to a pet name, he doesn’t recall any of his exes using them… then again, he hadn’t had the pleasure of hanging out with them much.
Trying it though… it feels different on his tongue, foreign even, but Buck’s already developing a taste for it. He brings Eddie’s hand up to his lips and kisses it lightly. “I’ve had eyes only for you since you basically gave me your kid. I’ve been yours for a while… I just didn’t think you could be mine too.”
Eddie’s expression relaxes and the smile that’s on his lips now is one of the sweetest that Buck’s ever seen. Usually reserved for the private heartfelt moments, or when Eddie is watching Christopher play with his cousins at a 118 barbecue. It’s full of love and Buck holds onto the warm feeling coursing through him. That smile is for him right now.
“Retrospectively, I think you’ve subconsciously been it for me since you saved Chris from the tsunami, Buck. Consciously, though? A priest asked me why I was refusing myself juice and I realized that you’ve been the juice all along.”
“I– what? Was that English?” He puts the back of his hand to Eddie’s forehead. “Are you–”
“Stop that,” Eddie whines, shoving off Buck’s hand. “What I’m trying to say is that whatever the journey we took, I’m glad it landed us here.”
“At Costco, next to the massive bags of flour,” Buck completes with a cheeky grin, earning himself an eye roll from Eddie. As Eddie looks away, Buck takes the opportunity to kiss his cheek, reveling in the fact that he can do that now. “I’m gonna need my hand so I can pick that bag up.”
“That sounds like a you problem, to be honest,” Eddie replies, and he tightens his grip a little bit. “I’m comfortable just how I am.”
And what’s a man to do if not comply? Buck’s strong! He’s a firefighter, for crying out loud. He benches heavier than Eddie! So he does what’s expected of him: he walks to the bags of flour, crouches down into a half-squat (takes the time to send a quick glare to Eddie), and grabs the bag that’s on top of the pile, hoisting it on his hip so he can bring it to the cart.
“See? I knew you could do it.” He points to the pile that’s a little bit to the left. “Sugar’s there.” He shoots Buck a wink, and Buck shakes his head. He’s so gone for this man it’s stupid.
*
Once everything is loaded into the cart, Eddie guides them towards the middle section where the seasonal goods, the books, the clothes, and the snacks are. It feels neverending but Buck can’t wait to come back.
“How are there already Easter things here when we haven’t even passed Christmas? It makes no sense.” Buck laughs at that and he lets Eddie rant on about the selection of decorations before they stop near the Legos, where Eddie promptly turns to look at Buck and says a very stern: “No.”
“But Eddie! Chris is coming home next week and it’s Christmas and he deserves the Firefighter lego set! Look,” he points at the price. “It’s cheaper than at the Lego Store!”
“Buck, our kid doesn’t need more Legos. Truthfully, he probably has all of these pieces already in the colour coded brick bins you sorted. He’s just missing the instructions.”
“Oh– Oh! Now that’s and idea. Wait–” He twists so he can grab his phone out of his back pockets. It’s not the easiest task, seeing as it’s the pocket opposite to his free hand, but he manages to get it out and unlocked. He opens his note app and starts typing one handed check out website legos plans all sets bricks
“That sentence makes no sense,” Eddie comments, and Buck sticks his tongue out at him.
“I understand myself. I think I heard of a website where you can put in what sets and bricks you have and it comes up with things you can build! Endless hours of coordinated fun.”
“Sounds cheap, I’m in. And no– put the little kit down too.”
“Eddie, it’s for Jee. Your sweet baby niece. For Christmas, Eddie.”
“Buck you’ve already gotten her five things.”
“Fine.” He puts it back with a grumble and they go back to making their way through the aisles.
Eddie grabs a 5-pack of black boxers, because of course Eddie’s boxers are from Costco and– “Wait, they have brands here?” Buck asks, grabbing the boxers when he realises they’re Tommy Hilfiger. “This place is a goldmine.”
“Gimme that,” Eddie mutters. “There’s legit almost everything you could need. Perfect place to be if there’s a zombie apocalypse, if you ask me.”
They finally reach the end of the aisles, with way more than either of them bargained for in the cart. Buck has everything he wanted, at least. They have a couple of boxes of snacks added, Buck’s plants, a new mop, and Scrub Daddys (the name of which made Buck dissolve into a fit of giggle-snorts for a solid 5 minutes. He’d never heard of them before).
They’re near the entry again and Buck spots display cases with what he assumes is jewellery. He hadn’t noticed them earlier but the one of the diamonds is reflecting light right into his eyes. “Eddie,” he starts, his eyes not leaving the cases. “Not to like, skip twenty steps or whatever– although if you look at it, we’ve kind already been dating for years already and we’ve passed so many relationship milestones that it doesn’t really feel like–”
“Buck, you’re spiraling”
“R-Right.” He clears his throat and finally looks at Eddie, “Sorry. I was gonna say… Would it be completely crazy to–”
“Get rings?”
Buck’s shoulders relax when he sees just how big Eddie’s eyes have gotten, like he understands where Buck is going with this and he’s on board with the craziness of it all.
“Because yeah, it would be totally insane. But we should totally do it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, Buck. We can take our time planning the wedding but I don’t want to be your boyfriend, it doesn’t sound… I don’t know, right. People have been assuming that we’re dating for years now, Chris’ teachers think we’re married– I know how our relationship is going to go. Let’s get engaged.”
“At Costco,” Buck says, and he’s smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.
“At Costco,” Eddie repeats.
The prices are way higher than Buck expected, if he’s honest. For some reason, he’d expected to find some sort of deal in terms of jewellery.
He wonders briefly why there even is jewellery at Costco but decides in the end that he doesn’t care because he’s shopping for engagement rings right now and that’s what matters.
“Oh, look at this one,” He says, pointing to a gold band. “Did you want diamonds or gems or anything? I think I kinda want something. Is that weird?”
“No, Buck,” Eddie replies, and there’s so much warmth in his voice. No mockery, just honesty and trust. “It’s not weird. You’re allowed to want whatever you want.”
“I do want to make sure that the diamonds used are ethically sourced, though,” Buck notes, and he leans closer to the glass to see if there’s a note or something. “Might have to do some research…Lemme…” He pulls out his phone, missing the endearing look Eddie is giving him, and opens a web browser. “Ok! According to the Costco website, the diamonds are ethically sourced! And the gold and silver are reclaimed and recycled– neat! What?”
Eddie shakes his head, “Nothing. I just love how passionate you are about things. Whether it’s the migration of Canada Geese or you know, making sure diamonds are sourced ethically. If you want to take more time to make sure, we can come back. I know you’ll wanna look more at the seasonal stuff… we could get decorations for the eventual new house? If… that’s still on the table?”
“God, I love you so much.” The words have barely left his lips that Buck reaches out for a now giggling Eddie’s cheeks to pull him in for a kiss– only realizing after a few seconds that it’s their first kiss.
He wonders briefly how many times he’s almost kissed Eddie on impulse alone over the last couple of years. When Eddie was helping him recover after the truck bombing, when he noticed that Eddie kept his favourite snacks at his house, when Eddie survived the well, when he thought Eddie got shot after they got kept hostage… Then there was that time after a play Chris helped with at school– the both of them had hugged at the end and for a second, Buck had thought that they would kiss. The most recent time though was after Buck had woken up from his coma, when he’d realized that in this life, in the real world, Eddie was here.
He pulls away briefly, and he knows that everything he’s feeling is reflected in his eyes. He knows by how Eddie is looking at him, by how Eddie smiles at him and how he leans in to brush his thumb against Buck’s cheek before he places another chaste kiss onto Buck’s lips.
It’s not the most romantic first kiss of his life, but it’s with Eddie. That alone makes it the best last kiss he’ll ever have.
Passion can wait when the love is bone deep like right now.
“Let’s go pay?” Eddie whispers, his fingers scratching gently at Buck’s nape.
*
The total ends up being a number Buck wishes he could forget.
In the grand scheme of things, he knows that he’s saving on the eggs, sugar, and flours but the rest? Ouf. Most of it wasn’t planned and he knows he’s going to regret it. He has money– one of his roommates before he had the loft was studying to be a financial advisor and the gang had been his pet project to try and use what he’d learned.
Thanks to him, Buck had actual savings and he’d even managed to start accounts for Jee and Chris.
So no, what he was paying (Because Buck was refusing to let Eddie pay, so much that they had fought to insert their card into the machine) didn’t even dent his savings but wow, $582? Insane.
“Thank you,” Buck says, smiling brightly at the lady behind the register, ignoring Eddie’s muttering next to him. “Have a nice day!”
With Eddie’s hand on his lower back, he ventures forward, captivated by how the other employee had sorted everything into recycled product boxes in their cart. He’s about to walk towards the exit when Eddie’s hand moves from his back to his elbow, pulling him to the left instead.
“Food court time, Buck. It’s the best part.”
At that, Buck arches an eyebrow. “The best part? Really? How is the food court, of all places, going to be better than all of the free samples, the massive amount of meat for not that much money, or the giant tub of mayonnaise we saw?”
Eddie shrugs. “$1.50 hotdogs, man. And they come with a drink! Come on!”
“What if I want like, three hotdogs?” Eddie arches an eyebrow and Buck’s sighs. “Hypothetically! What if I wanted three but I don’t want three drinks?”
“Then you just tell them you only want the one drink when they give you the cups.”
“But the price will be the same?”
“The price will be the same, yes.”
Buck nods and looks up at the menu, his arms cross over his chest. “That price is stupid low, in comparison to everything we’ve bought.”
*
In the end, they get two hotdogs, two slices of pizza, and one of the giant cookies. Buck heavily doubts that it’s gonna be as good as the ones he can make but he’s curious enough to try.
As it turns out: he’s right. The cookie is good but for the price? Pretty mid. (As it turns out, he’s also impatient and he started with the cookie instead of keeping it for the end.)
The hot dogs, though? He would’ve had 5, especially at that price.
“Apparently,” he starts, pausing to properly chew his bite as he scrolls on his phone, “The CEO refuses to make the hot dogs more expensive ‘cause he knows that people that go through the doors end up probably spending way more than they intend to.”
“Is that so?”
“Mm. You know that’s why grocery stores are the way they are? Especially here– we came for grocery stuff, yeah? But you still made us go through the whole store, knowing we didn’t need anything else. It’s a strategy, they know their consumer.”
“That’s… actually really smart.”
“Yeah. So he doesn’t care if he’s technically ‘losing’ money to the hot dogs, Costco’s making the big bucks with other things. Oh! They also have a travel agency. Neat.”
“And the pharmacy, and the optometrist, and the garage area… and gas here is usually way cheaper than at regular gas stations.”
“I– Eddie!” He puts his hot dog down and stares at Eddie incredulously, eyes wide and unblinking. “We’ve known each other for nearly a decade and now you tell me about the magic of Costco?!”
And Eddie shrugs, “Dunno what to tell ya, Buck. Opportunity was never there!”
“Literally any time we needed groceries, Eddie! Or when I made lasagna for a pot-luck! Did you see the blocks of cheese they had?!”
“Yes, Buck, I saw the blocks of cheese.”
“They’re insane, Eddie!”
“I know, Babe, I know.” Buck positively preens at the nickname, sitting up in his seat a little bit. “Let’s get you a card with my membership when we leave?”
“Definitely. And oh! Let’s ask if they do weddings!”
He’s only half kidding when he says it.
-