Archive of Our Own

Buck’s phone is going off again, ding after ding from the group chat he was in with his coworkers, almost pack, at the fire station. He knows they’re trying to make plans tonight and usually he would reply. 

Usually he would make the effort because he loves talking to them, loves how much they care about him already, loves how they don’t treat him as weak like some people do omegas. 

But today he can’t make the effort, because it’s his time off and all he can do is hold a heat pack against his abdomen and continue to bury himself in his nest as the heat cramps ramp up once more. 

He is decidedly ignoring the group chat because there isn’t anything they can do for him. Even if they really did try to help, god, he loves them all so much already. 

But, fuck, he is miserable. 

Out of all of the side effects of deciding to stop sleeping with random people – mostly random alphas, and especially for his heats – being absolutely miserable isn't on his list. 

But being fired had been awful. He felt like a complete failure, even if he tried to hide it. 

So he'd sworn off getting around at all because he needed to learn how to be by himself anyways. And Bobby was dealing with getting his therapist removed from her job so Buck really didn't want to get into anything else. 

Especially after her. 

So he's by himself, in his new apartment because he didn't want to move in with Abby, especially after Hen sat him down and told him that the way she was getting in contact with him wasn't safe. 

Buck feels hypersensitive, though, the beginning of his heat rolling over him in waves. His body is coping without an alpha to help, not that he had one that stuck around, but having one did help. 

So now that it’s just him, he feels like he is going crazy. He feels as though he might snap the dildo he'd bought for this purpose right in half when he uses it for the first time. 

He didn't, thank fuck. That would've been the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to him, and he's been in some pretty embarrassing situations. 

Buck just wants someone to be there and hold him, that's all he’s ever wanted. He whines into his sheets. His phone is still going off and why the fuck didn’t he mute that damn thing? 

He grabs it, growling to himself and then the sound immediately tilts into another whine as his cramps make him curl back into a ball, phone clenched in his sweaty hands as he tries to not cry. 

It makes him feel lonely.

Especially as he looks at their texts, bleary eyes blinking at the screen as they talk about going out. Talk about the shift or which days they all worked together. Talk about who’s filling in for Buck while he is out. 

And the loneliness goes down a little when he sees that they’re asking how he’s doing, even though he can’t bring himself to answer right now. 

It’s nice to know that they care. 

But it doesn’t take the loneliness away entirely. Not when he’s been alone almost his entire life. He never got pack cuddles growing up and the only scent he ever carried on him was Maddie’s, and now her scent is even gone from all of her things. 

He wishes he had someone to just lay with him, to make him feel more than just an omega to fuck. Because that’s all he really was to the people he slept with, alphas or not, and he just can’t do that anymore. 

Not with the hollow feeling in his chest growing each time he got left behind. 

Which that sensation doesn’t help when he’s here, half delirious for a knot. The other half is just wanting to be held, to be loved while his body cramps and clenches because he was alone. 

Always, always alone. 

Most if not every heat he’s ever had has just been strictly sexual, even if he knew in his heart that’s not all a heat was.

Buck just wants someone he can trust to take care of him. It’s all he’s ever wanted. Even if he’s not a typical omega, he’s still an omega, and times like these, when his heat still has hours left to go and the pain is radiating through his core, he wishes he had that more than ever before. 

It’s painful and he knows an alpha would help but he doesn’t want anyone else in his new apartment if they’re not going to stay. 

So he decides to do something he hasn’t ever done in his life, desperate and wanting a little bit more. Something that’s crossed his mind through his endless online searching but he has never been brave enough to search for because he’s been too embarrassed to just ask someone he knew. 

Grabbing his phone, he types out frantically: 

Can I buy alpha’s clothes to help me with my heats?

Buck feels his face darken, flushed pink from all of the websites that pop up that are definitely not at all what he was looking for. But there are also sites he was looking for, so many of them, and he feels longing in his chest at the mere idea of simulating an alpha being close to him. 

It takes Buck longer than he will ever admit to anyone to narrow down the searches to one website that didn’t make him feel like gagging or send heat through his stomach. Because he just wants closeness, nothing else. 

The site he does end up finding is perfect. And it isn’t just for omegas either, alphas can ask for an article of clothing, too. And it’s just for trading clothing, no money required and no pictures, and the relief of that is enough to calm his cramps down a little as he looks. 

There is a nice list of items to choose from, what each person is willing to send and wants in return. It even has the important notes of their scents on them, and Buck feels himself smiling. Because it even gives the state so the person receiving an item will know how long it will take to get to them. 

This website isn’t for dating or hooking up, and the relief it sends through Buck’s body almost makes him cry. 

Someone can help him and he doesn’t have to sleep with them to get it. 

And he can have something that smells like alpha for his next heat so it won’t be so terribly awful. 

It is easy to click sign up and start filling out all of his information. The mere idea of having a hoodie, a blanket, pants, literally anything that smelled like alpha is too easy of a yes. 

Then he starts filling out his description, typing the words and saying them out loud so he knows that they’ll make sense if someone actually does read them. 

“I am looking for an alpha,” Buck whispers to himself, “Female or male, I don’t have a preference.” He feels himself flush down to his toes as he types, “I like warm and woodsy scents, and I don’t mind citrusy scents either. I’d need at least an XL if I receive a hoodie or pants, I’m pretty tall.” 

He exhales a little shakily but keeps that part in there. “I am in California and I have a P.O Box.” His shared house before certainly couldn’t get mail without someone else touching it first, so he’s had the P.O. Box for a while. 

“My heats are every four weeks.” He answers the question and then smiles softly at the next question because he knew it was coming, and why shouldn’t he help someone if they ask? He doesn’t mind. 

So Buck types, “Yes, I’d be willing to trade with an alpha as long as I like their scent first. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.” 

Then the screen loads and his profile is created and his stomach cramps, but it feels less terrible already at the mere chance someone will want to send him something. 

Welcome, Ev118 

Seeing it makes him a bit uncomfortable but he knows it’s not a good idea to use his name, and he’s certainly never using Firehose again in his life, so this works. And 118 is perfect – he works there and no one will make that connection. 

So he starts scrolling. It's a nice way to ignore the cramps that he still feels over the heat of his heating pad as he does so. He looked at scents over and over again for what feels like hours. 

Which makes him feel a little insane because he’s never really considered himself to be a picky omega. Definitely not when he’s sleeping with someone, at least, but now it feels like none of them really fit right. 

Maybe it’s the fact that he’s still in heat, even if it is the edges of it. It just makes him feel a little high maintenance when he reads a female alpha’s rose scent and scrunches his nose up in disgust. She probably smells lovely. 

Just not what Buck wants. 

He even filters to the state of California, because he was looking all over but that wasn’t getting him anywhere. He feels kind of ridiculous about it, at every no he scrolls past, every scent that doesn’t sit quite right with him. Because he likes apples and vanilla and pine and eucalyptus just fine. 

But they just don’t feel right. 

Alphas that wore anything smaller than a large are also filtered out, because he can still wear a large, albeit it’s really tight on him as he keeps working out to be stronger so he can protect himself and the people he cares about. An XL would be better. 

And he almost gives up when none of them have a scent he even remotely wants. He feels a little frustrated and it really isn’t good on his already high emotions. Not at all, and he is so close to just giving up and going to bed and trying tomorrow when he feels more clear headed, but then a profile pops up on his page and he freezes. 

It reads: 

Male Alpha 

Scent markers: Sandalwood and citrus

Clothing size: XL, But I have bigger clothes for comfort 

Location: California 

Top Likes: Family and Hispanic soap operas (don’t tell anyone) 

Screen Name: ED915 (sorry I’m not creative) 

“Sandelwood and citrus.” Buck exhales, blinking at the page with a soft sigh just thinking about how that would smell in real life. He giggles a little at the other facts about this man, this alpha, and suddenly he wants to know more about him. Just from this, because he says to not tell anyone about liking soap operas and that he’s not very creative about his username.

But Buck’s username really isn’t any better. So maybe they’re both not that creative. 

Though all of it together seems so divine and really it has to be some of his lingering heat talking, but he can’t bring himself to care at all, not when that scent is exactly what he’s been looking for for hours, long enough that the group chat on his phone has gone quiet. Everyone else is asleep.

So he immediately goes to request a hoodie from the alpha, because he said that he has bigger sizes for comfort, and Buck really enjoys comfort and actually feeling a little smaller than he actually is nice sometimes. A hoodie that would be a bit too big on him that smells like alpha sounds perfect. 

Especially for his next heat. 

The shipping information is automatically filled out to go to his P.O. Box and he can’t stop smiling because it really couldn’t get any easier than this. 

Then he messages the alpha and curls around his blankets in his nest, waiting and waiting for his request to be approved because now that the chance is there, he can’t think of anything else except for how sandalwood and citrus will smell all over him. 

But as he lay there, waiting, he doesn’t know that not even halfway across Los Angeles is an alpha that has just moved into his house, and is about to start the fire academy so he can support his pup and make him proud to have him as a father and get his family off of his back, doing laundry when his phone pings from the other room in the middle of the night. 

He is there though, in the silence of his new house, the sound of his phone interrupting the quiet he is trying to get used to. 

His pup is sleeping down the hall as their new surroundings slowly become the new normal for them. His own scent has slowly permeated through the house, making it theirs and no one else’s. 

Even if it is just them, a pack of two. 

And a phone notification that reminds Eddie that there are other people in this world. 

Eddie freezes right where he’s standing. 

That is the notification for that app he downloaded because he was lonely after Shannon left and nothing smelled like his mate anymore. Even if they aren’t even connected anymore, their bond broken in the light of the law, he was an unmated, unmarried alpha that was lonely. 

And that profile he created in the midst of his rut because he couldn’t think of anything else was going off and he all but races to get to it because— 

Fuck, he looks at the notification. 

Someone has picked his scent. 

The shock that goes through him is a little embarrassing. Eddie can even smell it on himself because frankly he’d all but forgotten about signing up because things have been so hectic around his and Christopher’s new house, their new life here in Los Angeles.

So the last thing he’s been thinking about is this site. 

Now though, it’s the center of his attention. 

Because he hasn’t been with an omega since Shannon. Not a single one, because anytime he’s tried they always leave, sometimes fleeing when he didn’t want something for one night, even going as far as scoffing when he said he wasn’t a one night stand kind of guy. 

So he knew that the only way he was going to apparently get an omega was offering his scent up on a heat and rut site, and this site in particular was the only one that really made him feel comfortable because he didn’t have to hook up with anyone. 

They didn’t need to see him or find out he had a pup and run for the hills because he has already fucked up having a mate once and no one wants an alpha that has a track record for sending an omega running and leaving their pup behind. 

So yeah, he hasn’t had the best luck. 

Hell, with all of his studying and helping Chris with appointments and his new school that made Eddie want to pull his hair out, he rarely even has time to look at his phone, let alone meet anyone new, or try to. 

But in that time, this omega is the first one to send anything. The first one to request something at all. And it sends something close to affection through his gut at being picked by someone he has never even met before by his scent alone. 

Someone likes his scent? 

Eddie can’t fight opening the message any longer. And that might be a little pathetic but he can’t even bring himself to care because the urge to help is taking over his brain, and the words from the omega flow across his phone screen. 

Ev118: Hi! I think your scent sounds perfect, woodsy scents are my favorite! And you said you had hoodies that were bigger than an XL? Could you send one of those after you’ve worn it for a few days? ☺️

“Fuck.” Eddie exhales, a small smile coming over his face because the omega said his scent sounded perfect. And he fights the urge to answer this omega's request right away. The omega didn’t need it immediately. 

The urge was there, though. 

And he didn’t fight the urge to get the hoodie out of his closet before he actually goes to bed like he was supposed to hours ago. After he is freshly showered, he throws on the old Texas-themed hoodie – it has a damn set of horns on it and is a bit big on Eddie, but sometimes he likes it that way, and Chris does too. His pup looks adorable in it.  

But it’s definitely big enough on Eddie alone, so it will do. And he’s clean so the omega will get his fresh scent and not a scent that had sweat on it from the fire academy. 

Even so, he does feel a little ridiculous as he puts it on, simply because he isn't used to wearing a hoodie to sleep. 

But he does it. He does it because there’s an omega out there that might feel as lonely as Eddie does. Lonely enough to look for a scent online from somewhere just like Eddie did. It makes him want to help the omega even more. 

So he keeps the hoodie on for almost three days straight, only taking it off so he could shower and work. He doubts the omega wants any of his other smells. Eddie doesn't even want them. 

And it reeks of him the moment he takes it off for the last time to package it up and send it to the P.O. Box that was provided through the site. 

Smart omega. 

At least he knows that the omega isn't just providing an address to anyone. It makes him feel better about this, especially since he is sending something so full of his scent that he has to add tape to the box that would keep his scent locked away inside of it while it ships. 

Then Eddie sends the omega the tracking number the moment he drops it off at the office to be mailed out. 

He gets a reply before he can even put his phone back down and he smiles a little at the simple message: 

Ev118: Thanks! I'll check my mail and let you know when I get it :) 

So Eddie lets it be and focuses on his studies, and makes sure Chris gets his homework done and has a meal that he tries his best to make. Not that it's anything fancy, but Eddie thinks he makes some pretty damn good boxed Mac and cheese and canned vegetables.

Plus Chris seems okay with it, so he's alright with it. 

It's a week later when he gets another message, only this time he's sitting on the couch, letting a movie play for Chris as the boy leans on him, slowly falling asleep as the sun goes down. 

He opens the message and reads, 

Ev118: Hey! I got the package this morning, I've never used this before but I wanted to thank you for sending me the hoodie, it'll help so much. 

Eddie swallows, his fingers running through Chris's hair as the pup falls asleep against him, typing with his free hand. 

ED915: Sure no problem! 

ED915: I hope it helps you

Ev118: I have no doubt! :) 

Geez, the omega’s being earnest, they must really mean that, Eddie thinks, and it sends a longing through his chest because he doesn't know the last time someone besides his pup needed him or wanted him around, and some stranger is going to be comforted by his scent. 

It relaxes something inside of him. 

That feeling lingers even as he carries Chris to bed, while the pup snores softly into his neck until he's laying him down, tucking him in so he sleeps better. He's going to be playing the waiting game for a little while. 

Eddie doesn't know when the omega’s heat is, or when it's meant to happen. All he knows is it’s the four week mark provided in the profile. A profile he hadn't even looked at at first because all he could think of was helping. 

Now that he's looked, though, reading through what he is allowed to see, the omega provided scent markers. 

Berries and Vanilla. 

The mere thought of it makes Eddie wish he was brave enough to ask the omega for something of theirs. Because they'd also put that they were tall, specifically requesting an XL for that reason. 

Eddie wonders about them as the days go by. About the fact that they thanked him, that they haven't said anything else since that day. Not that they really have a reason to. They don't know Eddie from the next person, there's no requirement. 

So he just has to play the waiting game. And it's not that hard, really, with how busy he is overall. All of the appointments and classes and time he spends away from home and dinners with his Abuela makes time move faster, makes it easier to ignore the thoughts in his head about the fact that there's an omega out there somewhere that must smell like Eddie. 

It eases the loneliness that creeps around him as he goes through the motions; just knowing someone out there is carrying Eddie's scent relieves it. Somehow it makes him feel needed, and that's all Eddie wants. 

Especially when it's an omega – it's instinct and probably just him as a person. 

He doesn't regret it, not one bit. 

——

Buck feels his next heat simmering beneath his skin as he walks out of the firehouse after his final shift before his heat starts. This month, he carries a bunch of clothes from his pack mates as he heads out to his car. 

Having the pack in his nest is going to help so much. He feels giddy from the fact that they are all pack now, officially, knowing that at least with their scents he won't feel so alone this week. 

Even if he's got the alphas hoodie still waiting for him in a box back at his apartment. He feels anxious and already a little floaty, so he hurries home, knowing that he's going to be cutting it close. He always done so, at the dissatisfied tone of Bobby wanting him to go home earlier. 

Buck’s already embarrassed enough about taking heat leave anyways, wishing he could go back to suppressing his heat, but it's not good, especially not for an omega firefighter. He needs to be balanced, and actually going through with his heats works. 

And he hopes that the alpha’s scent will make it easier.

 He has a feeling it will. 

Because he had blushed scarlet red right there at his P.O. Box when he got the box out of there. He knew exactly what it was the moment he saw it, even if he couldn't smell anything. And he still hasn't. 

Hasn't because he wouldn't let himself open it, even as he stared at it every time he was stopped in the heavy traffic of LA on the way back to his apartment, and then every day where it rested on his dresser, waiting for him to work up the nerve to open it. 

He never did. 

Not until today, as he walks into his apartment and immediately takes a shower, taking off his scent patches and organizing his nest in a way that will work for the next few days of his heat. 

Then he opens the box, and the moment the hoodie touches his fingers he can tell that it was well loved, but not worn too terribly often. It’s Texas themed and big, a bit bigger than what he imagined an XL hoodie to be like, but he's not complaining. 

Not when it fits him nicely but still baggy enough that he'll be able to wear it comfortably. 

And the scent. 

Fuck, the scent. 

He sits down on his bed and shoves his face right into the hoodie, lifting it enough to where he can get a lungful of alpha. He feels like he could bury himself in it; breathing isn't entirely that important when he can just shove his face into the fabric and inhale that instead. 

The sandalwood and citrus hit his nose and he couldn't stop a whimper from falling out of his mouth if he wanted to, not that he did. Buck noses at the scent until he is panting. 

His face is flushed already, and he officially stops bothering to do anything but lay down and pull the hood of the hoodie up and tighten it just enough to where it felt like he was surrounded in alpha scent. 

Fuck, it's like magic. 

And it makes his heat so much easier that he could cry about it. With his pack around him in his nest and this alpha scent that definitely wasn't pack, he feels safe and sated. He uses the alpha’s hoodie for things that would likely embarrass the alpha if he ever found out. 

Buck doesn't even take the hoodie off in the throughs of his heat; instead he bunches it up and keeps it close and lets the scent completely surround him while he fucks himself on a dildo that would make some omegas blush. 

It is so fucking good. 

He finishes easier, he feels better afterwards instead of the gaping hole he felt when he was usually alone for his heats. 

His heat finishes a day earlier and as he lays there, sated and sleepy instead of shivering and lonely, though still sweating, he feels different. 

It was wonderful, and he actually feels safe right here in his bed. Buck can't help but smile to himself as the sensation goes through his body in waves. 

Is this how it's supposed to feel? 

Buck really fucking hopes so, and it's what makes him pull his phone out from where it's been charging on his nightstand, next to the waters and bowls he's going to need to clean up soon and opens up the app on his phone. Typing swiftly and without shame, he messages the alpha.

Ev118: Your scent helped a lot, it made my heat so much easier, holy shit you smell so good.

He doesn't even care that it's early in the morning, he's going to make sure this alpha knows that he helped him. It means a lot to Buck and who the hell even cares? Because the alpha smells so fucking good and Buck thinks that he deserves to know. 

ED915: Yeah? That makes me really happy to hear, omega.

Ev118: It's so good, I haven't even taken the hoodie off yet, it helped so much, it was the easiest heat I've had in years. 

ED915: I'm glad it helped, it's all I wanted when I sent it to you. 

Ev118: It did. Do you think if I sent it back, you'd wear it again like you did before and send it back? 

Ev118: And maybe… I could send something to you of mine if that would be okay? 

The second message is definitely spur of the moment as Buck finally feels like he can move from his nest without feeling a whine form in his throat at the mere thought of leaving the comfort of everyone he loves. 

At least the alpha’s scent gets to come with him as he waits for the alpha’s response. Knowing his cheeks are pink because he's looking at himself in his bathroom mirror, looking flushed and happy and wow, Buck doesn't think he looks this good even when he's been fucked. 

But his phone dings before he can really think about that too much. 

ED915: Are you sure?

He looks in the mirror one last time before pulling the hoodie off of himself and sitting it down on the sink so he can fold it to send it back in the box it came in. 

Ev118: Yeah I'm sure! I think I'd really like it if you had something of mine, since I have something of yours to scent.

Ev118: And I smell like berries and vanilla if you don't hate that! You can say no, sorry if it's weird. 

Ev118: I won't be upset, just thought I'd offer. 

Ev118: But you can say no. 

Ev118: No worries! 

Buck doesn't even really realize he sent that many messages in succession until after he's already done it and he sighs a little to himself, wincing at the fact that his rambles happened with a stranger. He doubts the guy wants to worry about Buck’s scent. 

ED915: Of course you can send me something, omega, berries and vanilla sounds lovely. 

Lovely. 

Buck exhales.

The alpha thinks that Buck would smell lovely.

——

And Eddie knows it's lovely the moment he opens the box he received in the mail a week later. There's two boxes and the first one he opens is his freshly washed hoodie, with only the mere scent of whatever detergent the omega used to clean it.

It's the second box that makes Eddie feel a little feral. 

He pulls out the softest blanket he's ever felt in his life. It’s a soft light blue color that squishes underneath his hands as he pulls it out of the box. 

And the feeling running through him doesn't dim as he brings the blanket to his face, and the warm, comforting scent of omega drowned his senses. 

Berries and vanilla pulls a sharp groan from his lips as he breathes it in and he already knows he'll be sleeping with this. Hell, he might even let Chris smell it and see if he likes it. It's been so long since the pup had an omega scent that wasn't his Abuela and it might make him sleep as good as it's about to make Eddie. 

So he doesn't even hesitate pulling out his phone, sending a message to the omega. 

ED915: I got your package, and I was right, you do smell lovely. 

Ev118: Yeah? 

Ev118: The blanket’s okay right? You didn't have any preferences on your profile and I didn't want to assume. 

Ev118: But everyone likes blankets, right? 

Eddie chuckled to himself, unable to help it because it's hard to not notice little things about the omega. How they type and ramble as if they can't help themself, not even thinking about it beforehand. 

ED915: I do, this'll make my rut easier, thank you omega. 

ED915: Sorry if it smells a little like pup when I send it back, my son is likely to steal it, as soft as it is. 

EV118: GASP! 

EV118: You have a pup!!! I love pups 🥰

ED915: I love this one 

——

Later that night, laying in his bed after putting Chris to sleep, Eddie has the blanket with him. Has it laid over his body, his heart racing in his chest from the scent that's wafting around the room. He couldn't sleep. Not because he wasn't comfortable, no, he was very much comfortable. 

It was more of the fact that the omega just went to bed a little bit ago, and the omega that already helped him feel less alone just from texting him. 

Eddie shoves his face into the fabric.

Fuck, he's so lame. 

He doesn't even know this omega’s name and he's acting like this and all they wanted was an alpha scent for their heats. Not Eddie wanting this, wanting someone to talk to about nothing. 

He's never been the type for talking, but he thinks he'd listen to this omega talk as much as they wanted. And he wondered what they sounded like, if their voice was high or low, if they got excited when talking, or nervous. 

And Eddie couldn't even picture it, but it made him want it all the more with the fabric of the blanket covering him fully, easily and if he can snuggle into this, he thinks that the omega can. Since it's absolutely soaking in the omega’s scent. 

It makes him feel like a teenager again, because this omega smells like heaven, and scarily, a little bit like mate. Which was terrifying all on its own, for his alpha to like a scent that much that the thought is even in his head. 

It's scary, it's terrifying. 

Eddie wants to know the omega’s name. 

He wants to know it as he inhales the scent that now seems like it was in his bones, feeling like he can barely breathe without it. 

His phone pings next to him and his brow furrows; the only person he was talking to is definitely meant to be asleep. They had said that they had a shift tomorrow. 

It's the omega anyways, and Eddie scrambles to open the message. His racing heart feels like it comes to a complete stop. 

Ev118: I was gonna go to bed, but I feel like you should know my name? Since we're sharing scents and all, and I used your hoodie through my heat. 

Ev118: It's Buck, you can call me Buck. My name's Evan but I go by Buck. I think it's alright if you call me by my name. 

Ev118: Hopefully you're asleep, but when you wake up I'd like to know your name? You got one of those, alpha? Or would you like me to just keep thinking about your username when talking to you? 

Holy shit. 

Eddie rolls enough to sit up as he stares at his phone screen, looking around in the dark to make sure that somehow this is not a prank. 

Was the omega thinking the same thing? No— wait. 

Buck

The omega’s name is Buck. 

Evan, too. Two names, it feels like a gift he doesn't understand, because this omega is a boy. 

It's a male omega, and that's why his heart stops beating a little bit. Just because it must be in his profile, Eddie just doesn't understand anything to do with any of this shit, so he didn't know. 

He had been too focused on how nice and how good the omega scented and acted for it to matter. 

Now Eddie knows he's male and the thought makes his world tilt a little, because he's never been with a male omega before; his parents wouldn't have allowed it. It would've been a catastrophe if he tried after Shannon. 

They didn't even like Shannon, and they certainly wouldn't like Buck. 

Eddie exhales, realizing that he doesn't care. 

ED915: Eddie

ED915: It's nice to meet you Buck

——

Eddie Eddie Eddie. 

That’s the alpha’s name, Buck thinks it to himself as he lays in his nest, feeling childish and a little giddy. Fuck, Chimney would give him hell for this, but he doesn’t even care. 

Ev118: Are you telling me your username is just your initials? 

ED907: As if yours is any better, omega

The words make Buck flush again, face heating as he thinks about it, as the alpha, as Eddie teases him with his own words. And he continued to think about it because he really couldn't help himself. 

It remains on his mind when he goes into the fire house for his shift. The entirety of the 24 hours it simmers in the back of his mind that there is an alpha out there calling him omega and teasing him. 

He thinks about it while he eats with the crew at his next shift, thinks about it when they rescent the clothing that was in his nest, making him feel happy inside that there were people around him that want to do that for him. 

It all just makes him feel wanted. The sensation he feels when Eddie sends him things is different than this, though, and for once, the idea doesn’t scare him. Not when the alpha smells so nice and makes his heats easier in a way that not any person in his pack ever could. 

Because Buck thinks of them as his family now, his pack. 

His omega likes the alpha differently than just all that, and he can’t fit it into a box right now, not when he has to be careful, even if he thinks the alpha is trustworthy. He still needs to be careful. 

For his own sake and for Bobby's sanity. Buck thinks Bobby would be upset if he told him what he was doing. 

Because it could be dangerous, but he doesn't feel like he's in danger. Not when the alpha has been so nice to him and didn't even blink when Buck said he was an omega. 

Not that it happens very often anymore. 

But there's still some people out there that think he's unnatural. So it was nice that the alpha sent him the hoodie in the first place, 

And speaking of that hoodie ...

Ev118: I sent my hoodie to you over a week ago and it's still not in my bed? 

ED907: Oh excuse me? Last I checked it was my hoodie, not yours 

Buck can’t help but smile at his phone because he feels like he could hear the alpha teasing him, even if he's never heard the man's voice before. Hell, he doesn't even know what he looks like. 

Ev118: Is that how it is? I'm really missing my blanket in my nest so I'll need that back 

ED907: Sorry looks great in my den, and my pup has started sleeping with it. 

Ev118: You can't use your pup against me! Now I'll be sad even to just to scent it again 😭

——

Eddie will be mortified if Buck ever finds out what his scent does to him. How he wears the blanket Buck sent weeks ago all of the time. He sleeps with it in his bed and he shares it with Chris when they sit on the couch and watch movies. 

And Eddie remembers the first time he brought the blanket out and Chris had fallen asleep so quickly. The omega’s scent comforted him that much that fast. 

It had made Eddie's heart race just knowing that information. 

But he had also been sleeping better, even though now he has to shove his face into it to even get a whiff of the omega anymore. 

It's becoming a problem and he really needs to send the fabric back. Just so he can stop waking up with his face buried into fabric that wasn't great for the inside of his nose but it was so hard. This is the first omega scent he's had in a while that didn't make his nose curl up. 

Buck smells so fucking good. 

Eddie wants to wrap the omega up, even if he’s likely a bit taller than Eddie. He'd said he was tall, and he hasn't complained about the hoodie one bit, even as it lays against the sheets on his bed with the blanket, barely scented as well. 

He's never even met this omega and Eddie already wants to bring him home, to get the source of that mouth-watering scent in his face. He wants to see Buck’s face, him entirely, and those thoughts are so dangerous. 

Having something like that would be leaving the territory of the site's purpose at all. And maybe, just maybe, he could get the omega’s phone number, to remove that barrier, and maybe it'll make Eddie feel better for feeling this way over someone that's still a stranger. 

Even if he knows more personal details about Eddie than a lot of people in his life. 

He knows a part of it is his need for companionship, wanting someone around because he was never really good at being alone. But he's used to it, his little pack with his pup and his Abuela and Tia. He's used to it, but he does want more. 

But even if he wants those things, he knows better than to put that all on an omega that just needs Eddie's scent for his heats to feel comforted. 

Though there's a voice in his head that says that if Eddie was there, they wouldn't need to exchange clothes. He could give hi- the omega his scent from the source and comfort him directly. 

Because the omega didn't blink at him having a pup. It makes him smile when the omega gets a little sassy with him, some attitude in there that was playful and fun. And his scent makes his head spin and his eyes discolor dangerously into his alpha making a choice for him and he wants to press the omega against his mattress and put his nest in his bed— 

But he can’t. 

Eddie feels the panic in his chest at the thought of wanting more than the omega does. Wanting Buck and then disappointing him one day just like he did with Shannon. 

The last thing he wants to do is hurt Buck, so he doesn't want to be too much. Doesn't want more than he's allowed to have and Eddie’s never really been allowed to have anything at all that he got to keep. 

His phone chimes where it's hanging loosely in his hand, paperwork about the LAFD in front of him for an upcoming exam he's not even paying attention to. 

Ev118: My heat’s next week. 

ED907: The hoodie will be there on time. 

And after Buck’s next heat, Eddie has to take off one of the days where they were radio silent with one another and sit on his couch and try to not think about the omega at all. 

Not the omega wearing his hoodie and using his scent to get through another heat. Trying to not wonder if it was still easier. 

It makes him grip his couch a little harder. 

But he isn't expecting two boxes when he picks up the omega’s mail after his heat. Eddie had barely gotten through the current one without his alpha trying to track someone down he's never even seen before. 

So logically, he messages Buck, knowing that by now he's fully clear headed again. 

ED907: You sent more things? There's not a bug in here or something right?

And he only asks that because Buck had gone on a tangent in their messages about different kinds of bugs because he had watched a documentary about it and wanted to share, and Eddie’s a weak, weak man and read every single one. 

He’s been doing it every time Buck learns something new and the only thing he can feel about it is it being so fucking cute that Eddie could cry about it. How genuinely excited the omega seems about the random information. 

He wishes he could hear him talk. 

Ev118: There's no bug! 😂 I just figured that my blanket probably doesn't smell much like me anymore so you'd need something new if you're going to hoard the softness all to yourself. 

And with a small smile, Eddie tears open the box and he pulls out something that wasn't his first … a pair of sweatpants. Sweatpants that are long and worn a bit too much, decidedly don't do Eddie any good about how much leg the omega must have to fit into these. 

And the ass is stretched out a little, and the thighs. Jesus, Eddie might have a heart attack. 

They're going to be a little long on Eddie and the thought makes his heart race because these are absolutely drenched in the omega’s scent. 

The aroma is filling the space and his nostrils immediately and he can't help but inhale. 

Then there's the hoodie and Eddie realizes after he puts his hands on it that it isn't washed. 

Buck didn't wash this hoodie before sending it back to him and his scent is sharp against the hoodie, heated and warm, and the intensity of it almost sends him to his knees.

Eddie restrains himself because this hoodie will make his rut a breeze, even if Eddie can tell it’s only the scent Buck produces and there’s nothing else all over it. It’ll make it easy, just to have this, so he shoves it back into the box and shuts it before he does something awful like rub his face all over it. 

Buck texts him again before he can get anywhere else. 

Ev118: Are the pants okay? Are they too long? Send me a picture if they’re too long, I want to laugh. 

ED907: I’m not sending you a picture 

Ev118: Woooow, if you hate me just say that 

Eddie rolls his eyes and types back. 

ED907: Fine, give me a second. 

——

The picture is hilarious and Buck bursts out laughing as he walks out of the fire station, only lowering his tone when he realizes that there is a very good chance that someone could still hear him and he doesn’t want them to know about this. 

Not when Eddie feels like he was just his. 

The pants aren’t too terribly long on the alpha, but they do bunch up at the bottom and it makes his chest tighten with laughter, about how the alpha is a bit shorter than Buck is. 

And Buck is very well aware of how much leg he has, thank you very much. 

Though the pants aren’t too big by any means, it sends Buck into a slight spiral of sudden want as he climbs into his jeep, shutting the door and not taking his eyes away from bare feet and the scandalous picture of Eddie's knees down. 

Snickering to himself, he types out, 

Ev118: Oh shit, didn’t know I was talking to an alpha with short legs. I’d lose you in a crowd. 

ED907: You think you’re so funny, don’t you, omega? I swear, can’t even catch a break as a guy over 6ft anymore. 

Ev118: I do think so, and I am and you know it! Not my fault my legs are just too much for an alpha like you. 

ED907: Not too much, could never be too much. 

Buck’s heart flips in his chest as he reads the message, he knows, fuck he knows that the alpha is teasing and referring to his long legs but being told that he’s not too much? 

Oh it sends a heat and affection through his entire body. 

Eddie just says things like that as if they aren’t a big deal. But somehow, Buck knows that he means it, he seems like the type of alpha to say what he means. Or is at least not a liar and Buck doesn’t like people who lie, so he’d like to believe the man.

Ev118: Thanks Eddie ☺️

Ev118: Here’s my number, so we don’t have to talk over the app anymore :) 

Buck sends it before he can regret it, sitting down on one of the stools by his island, staring at their messages and waiting for Eddie to respond. To text him, to do anything and he wishes that he at least knows what the man looks like sometimes. To know what he’s thinking when Buck doesn’t. 

This is a bad idea, he shouldn’t have done it. The alpha’s just being nice to him because he’s on a lonely website where people just share clothes and — 

Unknown Number: Giving your number to strangers online is very unsafe, can’t believe you’re real sometimes. 

Buck smiles at his phone. Eddie didn’t text him immediately, but it was still quick, and he wonders if the alpha was thinking of what to say. Buck never knows what to say to new numbers and is usually just trying to not embarrass himself by giving them a fact. 

Maybe he’s wrong about what the alpha is doing.

Buck: Strangers don’t have clothes that smell like my heat but okay

Eddie: And you didn’t even warn me, you’re going to make my rut bliss, I swear it’s going to help so thank you 

Buck flushes again. He can’t help it, not when the alpha is so open about how much he likes Buck's scent. 

Buck: You’re welcome Eds, least I could do since you’ve been helping me.

Eddie: A nickname and a number in the same day, must be my lucky day 

And Buck actually spends the rest of the day glued to his phone. It’s his day off so he’s just been relaxing and taking it easy for once, but only because he’s glued to his screen, unable to help it. 

Eddie lightly flirts with him but doesn’t ever take it too far, and a part of Buck is disappointed about it, but at this point he’ll take what he can get. And attention from an alpha that actually seems to give a shit about him is good enough. He’d even call them friends at this point. 

Even if Buck's treacherous heart wants more, he just can’t help it. 

He’s always fallen easy. 

And it’s harder because he learns so much about Eddie while they talk about everything and nothing all at once. Learns that Eddie moved to California from Texas and his pup's name is Christopher. 

Buck learns that Eddie watches soap operas and can’t cook to save his life but he does okay if the food has instructions that come with it. 

Buck also learns that Eddie has two sisters, an omega and an alpha. 

He also tells Buck that he spends most of his time studying and training for his new job, but he doesn’t tell Buck what it is and he understands completely. 

So it’s only fair that Buck shares about himself, not that it’s really that hard, he loves talking about his family and sharing any information he can, especially since he knows Eddie is actually reading it all. 

So he tells Eddie that his boss is teaching him how to cook, but not telling the alpha that he’s a firefighter. He thinks that might be too close. That he’s learning a lot from him as another male omega. 

Buck shares with Eddie that he’s been all over the U.S and even outside of it before settling in California where he met his pack. 

He tells him about them without any specifics. How their pack only officially formed recently and before that he’d been alone since his sister got married. 

He shares how protective his pack is and how he secretly enjoys it, knowing that they care. Even sharing to him what Hen told him about Abby, even if he doesn’t use any names at all. 

That one doesn’t make Eddie very happy. 

Eddie: She basically stalked you, and your pack mate is right, what she did was illegal.

He doesn’t tell Eddie about Dr. Wells. 

And he has to move on from it, or he’ll think about it for too long again and he asks about Christopher so he doesn't blab about it. Bobby already took care of the woman for him, he doesn’t have to worry about it anymore. 

Buck: Does Christopher enjoy school? I was everywhere as a kid, couldn’t stay still 

Eddie: I’m actually trying to transfer him but I have no idea how to even go about it, it’s a nightmare dealing with it all. 

Buck bites his lip, swallowing at the implication that Chris doesn't like school or there’s an issue where he’s going, and he wants to ask, he does, but surprisingly Eddie beats him to it. 

And it’s a picture. 

It’s a picture of a little boy, maybe six or seven years old. He’s got bright red glasses and a huge grin on his face. He’s the most adorable kid Buck has ever seen. 

He’s got crutches. 

His little hands are holding onto them and Buck notices that they’re definitely keeping him upright. 

Buck understands now. 

Buck: Omg!!! He’s the cutest pup I’ve ever seen! Man I love kids, they’re so adorable. 

Eddie: He’s my world, I just want what’s best for him. 

Buck bites his lip again, going over the idea in his head before just asking. Because.. Eddie's area code is similar to his own, meaning that he must’ve gotten a new number when he came to LA. Because there’s a likely chance that they’re this close. Buck’s packages always come pretty fast from Eddie. 

So he throws caution to the wind.

Buck: I don’t mean to overstep, but I know someone that could help? If you wanted, she’s the best damn caregiver in California. 

Buck: Red tape’s worst nightmare. 

Eddie didn’t reply right away and briefly he wondered if he’d overstepped. Calling out how close they might actually be to one another. 

But finally a text comes in.

Eddie: I can’t ask you to do that for me Buck 

Buck: I’m not asking, I’m telling you it would be easy, she’d be happy to help you, I promise. 

Buck: And you’ve got so much going on already, let me make it a little easier for you. 

Buck swallows at the next message. Swallows so much that his throat bobs with it. 

Eddie: Omega 

Buck: Her name is Carla, she’s a beta and the nicest! Idk Chris but I think he’d love her :) The best for the sweetest looking kid around 

Buck: And his dad’s alright too

He makes sure to add the tease so maybe Eddie won’t get upset with him. 

Eddie: Alright Buck, send me her number 

Buck’s grin is wide on his face as he does so. 

——

Eddie meets Carla on a random Tuesday morning before he goes to the academy. She’s there exactly when she said she would be, and after he lets her in his house, she grins, sharp and certain, looking Eddie over. 

“Oh, Buck is going to be so jealous when he finds out you’re a looker.” She grins, paperwork in her hands. “Look at that face.” 

Eddie flushes; he can’t help it. Letting out a small laugh, he says, “He talked about me?” He can’t help but ask – usually he wouldn’t – but this woman knows Buck. She’s seen the omega with her own two eyes. 

Carla’s grin widens even more. “I thought you talked to that boy every day? Of course he talks about you, yapper he is. I already knew what you needed when you called me, and I assured him I’d be red tape’s worst nightmare.” 

Eddie exhales a sigh of relief. “Then I guess we better get started.” 

And she makes it look easy, going through the motions and finding a new school for Chris that will meet his pup’s accommodations. She even helps him sign paperwork to get him started and signed up and transferred. 

It’s incredible. 

Eddie feels the stress rolling off his shoulders each day. 

And they make a deal: she will watch Chris until he gets done with the fire academy. He doesn’t even have to figure that part out anymore, because there will be someone capable of watching him without Eddie being worried sick. 

The only obstacle is when they want Shannon to come, but Carla swiftly fixes that too. Their paperwork of being unmated now is finalized, so they have no reason to ask her to be there. By the time Carla is done, the alpha who’d requested her presence looks properly ashamed. 

The fact that this is all happening because of Buck makes his head spin. 

It’s the first time he calls the omega. 

The phone rings twice as he sits in the morning drop off line waiting to get out of here after dropping Chris off at his new school. Then it stops ringing and he hears the omega’s voice for the first time. 

“Eddie?” Buck questions and his breathing hitches. Definitely masculine but soft in a way he didn’t think was possible and there’s a little sound in the background. 

“Hey.” Eddie exhales, suddenly not knowing what to say now that he’s made this choice, but he talks anyway. “You aren’t busy, are you?” 

The line is silent for a moment and then the sound within the phone gets a little quieter. “No not really, I’m just on shift. Everything okay?” 

Of course Buck would ask if he’s okay. 

“Yeah.” Eddie exhales, “Everything’s fine, I just—“ he swallows before continuing, “I wanted to thank you for introducing Carla to me.” 

“Oh.” Buck breathes and god, Eddie can hear the smile in his voice. “Isn’t she the greatest? She told me that she got Chris in a new school, no problem! I’m really glad she was able to help. I told you.” 

Eddie smiles. “You’re the greatest.” He can’t help but say it, not when it’s been itching in the back of his throat for weeks, he’s been wanting to exclaim to this omega that this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for him and Buck doesn’t even know what Eddie looks like. 

“Anyone would’ve done it, Eddie, it’s fine,” Buck replies, and he sounds so sure about that that Eddie can’t help but sigh with a little grin. 

“If you really think that then you’ve got good people in your life.” He states it easily, as easy as breathing, because it must be true. 

“Don’t let them hear you say that, I’ll never hear the end of how great they are,” Buck teases, but his voice is soft. Oh, he agrees with Eddie. “But I work with them everyday, so we’ve got each other's backs.” 

“And I’ve got yours, you know that, right?” Eddie questions, wanting Buck to know that, even if they never cross paths, never meet one another and go about their lives because Eddie is a coward and— 

“Course, Eds, and I’ve got yours.” 

Buck makes it sound so easy. 

It’s exciting and scary and all Eddie thinks to say is, “I wish I could hug you right now.” 

He hears Buck inhale sharply, “Yeah?” And Eddie hums in agreement, he won’t take it back, even if he’s still afraid of this, of whatever this is. “I wish I could hug you too, Eds.”

And oh. 

The man’s voice is soft but honest, and yeah, Eddie wishes he could hug him. Not with any other intentions besides holding him close and getting that scent in his nose and providing comfort. He’s so fucking grateful and he doesn’t know what to do with all of this. 

He’s never wanted to give someone affection like he does with Buck and it’s terrifying. 

“Yeah?” Eddie says back and he hears Buck huff at him and he smiles, at least he didn’t offend the omega. “I just— you might not think this is a big deal, Buck, but it is— this is my pup, you helped with, no question.” He exhales. “So yeah, I’d really like to give you a hug right now, and not in a weird way.” 

“I don’t think hugging you could ever be weird, Eddie. Plus I’d get a good whiff of that scent up close.” Buck chuckles, still sounding entirely at ease and Eddie swallows at the mere thought of that happening, “And it might be actually so weird, but I’ve thought about hugging you before? I don’t know, I just... I have a pack now and they’re amazing but… I think it would be nice, coming from you. You make me feel less lonely.” 

Less lonely. 

God, Eddie makes him feel less lonely. 

So he’s not as at ease as Eddie thought he was with the way the omega rambles. Because those words are really close to a dangerous territory that Eddie fucking agrees with. But Buck seems like an affectionate guy, so it would make sense that he would like to be held.

“You make me feel less lonely too, omega.” 

Bucks breathing hitches again and fuck it’s such a good sound, Eddie might have a heart attack. 

“Good— um, we could...” Buck starts but then Eddie hears an alarm blare through the phone, loud enough that he has to pull it away from his ear a little but as Buck murmurs a, “Shit – Eds, alpha I’ve got to go, duty calls.” 

“Yeah, go go.” Eddie rushes out and he hears movement, Bucks rushing around and he hears others talking. 

“Text me later?” Buck asks and,

“Yeah, I’ll text you later, omega.” 

The phone goes dead, and Eddie sits there for a moment in silence because he knows that alarm bell. He’s heard it in training every single day for the past few months. 

His— the omega is a firefighter. 

Buck is a firefighter. 

——

Buck: My pants on you were a little long, but LOOK at this 😂

Buck can’t help but send the photo when he gets the pants in the mail. He knows he is bulking up and he is still nowhere near where he wanted to be, but the sweats Eddie sent him are a little short. Not short enough to not wear, but clear enough where he thinks it’s funny to send to the alpha. 

Eddie: That’s ridiculous, it should be illegal to have as much leg as you do.

Buck laughs, and now that he has heard the alpha's voice – because Eddie had called him – he knows exactly what all of his words sound like and it sends butterflies through his entire body. 

Even if he never gets brave enough to ask about them meeting after the alarm went off. But Eddie hasn’t asked about what he was going to say, so Buck hasn’t brought it up again. 

But he still talks to Eddie everyday, even when he is on shift, and now Hen knows he is talking to an alpha and getting comfort from his scent. 

The only thing she says after giving him a soft look is, “Be careful Buckaroo, you know heats are always harder without an alpha’s scent if you had one before.” 

And Buck knows that, he does. 

But he can’t help it, especially as he’s now wearing the sweats, wearing them and the hoodie Eddie had sent once more. He finally feels completely wrapped up in the alpha’s scent. 

It’s all over him, even from the waist down as heat surges through him after his last shift of the week the moment he gets back to his apartment. 

Being in his nest and surrounded by all of his favorite scents helps so much, but it doesn’t take away the fact that heats still sucked. It sucked that he is still alone; he might have been surrounded by the love of his pack at work, but no one is there now. 

His alpha isn’t there. 

And it fucking sucks. 

It sucks even though his phone goes off and Bobby reminds him to eat the food he made for him and he feels so cared for as Hen messaged right after to let her know if he needs anything. 

It is nice to know he isn’t completely alone. 

But it isn’t the same, and it still isn’t the same when his phone pings again and this time when he looks it was Eddie instead of his pack, and though he smiles, there is still a grimace as sweat comes over his brow

Eddie: How are you doing omega?

Eddie checking in on him as well means a lot to Buck, it did, but the only thing he could think to say in response is, 

Me: Hurting, Lonely. 

Eddie: I’m here, you know I’m here. 

——

Eddie clutches his phone in his hands as he leaves the academy for the day, getting in his truck and making his way home on autopilot more than anything because he can’t think of anything else besides Buck. He is lucky that Chris is staying with Pepa tonight, even if he doesn’t really want his pup gone while Buck is hurting. 

He wants at least one of them close.

But he lets him go anyways, and now the omega is lonely and hurting and Eddie can’t do anything about it, not really. 

As he pulls into his driveway and his phone starts ringing. It’s Buck, and the surprise makes him walk faster into his house because Buck is in heat and he’s calling Eddie. Buck’s never called Eddie while in heat, even if they do talk on the phone almost every day now since Eddie called him for the first time. 

And usually Eddie is happy to listen to Buck talk about his pack or what happened at work, even if Eddie hasn’t directly said that he knows that Buck is a firefighter. It seems as though since Eddie heard the alarm, Buck's secretive nature of his job has gone away. 

He talks about calls now, from small ones to big ones and how he’s tired of Bobby rotating random fillers with Buck or pairing him with the other omega because they can’t find another permanent spot right now until the next round of the academy is done. 

And he’s even sent pictures of everyone, everyone but himself just so, “Eddie, you have to put a face to a name, come on now.”

He hadn’t questioned it, but at least he knows what everyone looks like, even if Buck still doesn’t tell him what station he works for. It would be so easy to find out with all of their faces he has now. 

But he doesn’t do it. 

He doesn’t do it because Buck hasn’t told him what status he works at so he doesn’t want to overstep that boundary. But he knows Buck's schedule just from when and if they’re able to call one another. 

Buck can’t stay on the phone long when he’s on shift and they usually just text, and those texts go long without being answered when they’re called away and it makes Eddie want to finish training faster so he can be there too. With him, out there so he knows the omegas okay. 

But he still doesn’t ask at all. 

Eddie thinks he’s definitely gone a little crazy about the omega and it scares him. It scares him because he’s been thinking of Buck as his omega and really the only reason no one knows is because he’s afraid of saying it out loud, of the chance it won’t work out like that. 

But Buck smells like mate. 

And so that’s why Eddie thinks he’s crazy, because Buck is a grown man and he doesn’t need Eddie sending him clothes over in Buck's actual size instead of Eddie's so Buck has plenty of clothes. 

Buck already has plenty of clothes and that’s why he has a dresser filled with clothes that are for Buck because he bought them before he even realized what he was doing because the omega is from Pennsylvania and maybe he’s still cold in California? He’s told Eddie he runs cold. 

And Eddie's brain apparently needed to fix that but he’s too much of a coward, and now Buck is calling him during his heat when he knows that this is the only time the omega will be running hot. 

“Eds.” Buck’s voice comes through the phone the moment he picks up, exhaled and soft and Eddie swallows around the sudden tightness of his throat.

“Buck.” Eddie answers fast enough that he barely listens to the end of the nickname that Buck has given him and did not take it back. “Hey.” 

A breathless laugh comes over the line. “Alpha, you seem caught off guard.” He says it so cheekily and now Eddie remembers why he only texts Buck when he’s around or in heat. Because he already feels the growl growing from deep in his chest just hearing him talk. 

He knows the moment Buck hears the sound because he whines, a sound that goes straight into his heart and down to his cock in a dangerous way. He feels like snarling, he feels insane, and the growl only grows from his chest and out of his mouth after that sound. 

“Eddie—“ Buck gets out, and it is wanting and quiet, unsure and submissive in a way he hasn’t heard from Buck before, especially not with the way he’s been imagining the omega. 

“Buck.” He rasps, very carefully keeping the growl behind his teeth where it belongs, but he doesn’t know how well he’s actually doing, “You okay?” 

“I’m okay.” Buck sighs and his voice stays in that same octave, but he is obviously clear enough to speak so maybe it is fine. They are still in safe enough territory, even if just hearing him like that makes Eddie want to rut against the air as he leans on his kitchen island. “I just wanted to hear your voice, I’m glad you picked up. I know that...” Buck cut himself off and Eddie knows what he means. 

“You know I’ve got your back. You call, I answer.” Eddie replies, hand gripping the island top because he can’t help it, not when Buck sounds like he does, breathless but aware. 

“Mhmm I know,” Buck states. “But I know I must sound all...” he trails off once more. 

“Absolutely intoxicating?” Eddie gets out, phrasing it as a question even if he sure doesn’t mean it that way. 

Buck whines again. “Alpha, you can’t just say that.” 

“Sorry,” Eddie huffs out, not really feeling all that sorry at all really. “I’m just really trying to keep it together. This is why I don’t call you when your heat is close.” 

The line on the other end is silent for a moment before he hears Buck again. “Oh, I can hang up... I’m—“ 

“No.” Eddie growls out, and he hears the hitch in Buck’s breathing. He exhales. “No, it’s okay, I can control myself.” 

“But you don’t have to,” Buck says, quiet and unsure still but it makes Eddie freeze. “I mean—“ 

“You don’t want me to control myself, omega?” Eddie asks, wanting to be sure, because this, this is something that they can’t come back from. Not with how crazy Eddie feels, with how much he wants this. 

“No, I want—” Buck gasps and Eddie's grip on the island tightens even more.

“What do you want, omega? Tell me.” Eddie rasps, trying to keep his hands to himself. 

“You,” Buck finally replies, his voice eager and honest and Eddie knows he’s hard against his training pants. “I want you and I want you to touch me.” 

Fuck.

Fuck. 

“You want me to tell you how I’d touch you?” he asks because he can’t touch him. No matter how much the omega wants it, Eddie can’t. But he can help with this, and Buck’s breathless answer of, “Yes alpha,” is all Eddie needs. He stalks to his own room, crawling into his den with the omega’s scent wrapped around it from how close he keeps all of the stuff he's been sent. 

“You don’t have to—“ Buck rasps. His voice sounds wet, and Eddie feels like he’s going to die before he even gets a hand on himself. “Just take the edge off please? Before I lose it.” 

Fuck, Buck wants him to do this while he’s completely present, before he’s not able to respond properly until he gets through it. 

It’s maddening. 

“Yeah, fuck-“ Eddie gets out, and he takes his pants off because he can’t wait, he needs to do this with him. He’s never felt so sure of anything in his life. “I’ll help you. Get comfortable, and tell me how you’re laying, omega.” 

“I’m, fuck—“ Buck whimpers, and Eddie hits his head against his mattress. “I’m face down, using a vibrator, it’s— god …” Eddie closes his eyes to imagine it. “I’m bad at prepping in heat. It's probably three fingers?” Buck sounds like he’s putting it inside himself now, and Eddie realizes that he must be on speaker.

With the way he can hear the bed shift and the broken off moan Buck lets out, Eddie can’t wait anymore and curls a fist around himself. 

“Yeah? You like being face down, baby?” Buck whines on the other end of the line, “Too impatient to really feel it, poor thing.” He croons, the edge of his voice still a growl and he slowly pumps his own cock. “Slow down, stay at pace with me.” 

Buck sounded like he couldn’t catch his breath, “I— okay,” his voice breaks, “It’s– ah fuck!-“ 

“Hitting a good spot, baby? Tell your alpha how it feels.” Eddie says, not correcting himself when Buck just pants through the phone in uneven breaths. 

“So fucking good,” Buck cries out, “Not as good as you’d feel though.” 

“Shit.” Eddie snarls quietly, moving his hand over his cock faster. “Go faster baby, pretend it's me. I’m right here, omega.” 

“Oh my god.” Buck gasps, his tone wet and needy and fuck, Eddie has to grip the base of his cock for a moment because if this is how Buck sounds on the edge, how would he sound in the middle of his heat. God. He moves his hand faster, uncaring as he stays in this fantasy. 

“I wish you were here with me, in my nest.” Buck chokes out and it makes Eddie squeeze his eyes shut tighter, he wonders how big the vibrator actually is and if he’ll be using it the entire time. “You’re close enough to meet people I know— I know you’re close to me—” Buck's breathless voice sounds pleading. 

“Eddie!” Buck lets out before Eddie can even think of a response, and he opens his mouth, feels the tips of his teeth against his lips and fuck, “Alpha—“ the voice turns into a whine again, a desperate, close sound and Eddie’s entire body shudders. 

His hand is a mess of precum, tightly locked within his fist to make the glide easier. “Say it again, omega.” He rasps around the way he’s drooling, drooling against himself because his teeth want to sink into an omega that isn’t even his. 

“Alpha—” Buck immediately answers him, needy and oh so intoxicating, and somehow he just knows the omega is close. He can almost taste it with the way his scent feels against him as he lays on this mattress. 

He can hear the vibrations of the toy, the phone must’ve moved from Buck moving on the bed and his free hand grips his sheets so tight he’s almost worried about ripping them. 

Not worried enough, though, as he speaks again. “God, omega, you smell so good, I’ve got you in my bed, you know that?” He feels drunk off of the berries around him, and the heady scent of omega still on the sheets from before he sent the hoodie back. “You smell so pretty, I know you’ve got to be gorgeous, smelling like this, pretty, pretty omega that smells like mine.” 

His voice feels like gravel as he gets closer and closer to the edge but it’s Buck's quiet, overwhelmed voice that does it for him, “Yours.” He moans out and Eddie knows, he knows that the omega just came like that. Face down in sheets he can’t see. 

It gets him immediately cumming all over his fist, his release trailing down onto his abdomen while Buck pants in his ear, and Eddie listens so closely as Buck catches his breath, like he needs a drink. The thought of even being here for it is enough for him to feel the rumble in his chest at making his omega finish, even though he wasn’t there at all. 

“Mmmmm, fuck.” Buck's voice comes through, at ease and relaxed now as Eddie tries to catch his own breathing. 

“Feel better omega?” Eddie rasps, tongue going over his teeth as he finally gets his eyes open.

“Mhmm,” Eddie gets from the omega in return, “Wanna see?” 

Eddie chokes on nothing, and winces when his teeth nicks his lip from the reaction, because Buck's words are slurring a little bit and, “You want to send me a picture of you?” 

Eddie gets the picture a second later and it’s not at all what he expected it to be. He expected a mess, he expected dirty, wet omega that he didn’t get to cuddle yet. 

Instead he’s looking at bright, blue eyes with gold tinting around the edges and fluffy curls laden with sweat, making them stick to the edge of a birthmark covering the omega's eyebrow. 

He’s looking at a beautiful, flushed face and a wide tired smile that makes his heart tick in his chest. 

He’s.. 

Buck’s perfect. 

And Buck makes a soft sound and Eddie speaks. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?” 

“Mhm, you did, alpha.” Buck murmurs and he sounds so tired now. “Bet you’re perfect too, I just know it.” 

“You haven’t seen me.” Eddie says softly, face red, feeling the heat on his skin. 

“Doesn’t matter.” Buck says sleepily, and it’s not long before he hears snores on the other end of the line and he huffs a quiet laugh. 

Fuck, he’s so screwed. 

And the texts that come through after Buck’s heat is over were making it worse. Because they didn’t talk on the phone anymore after that, Eddie didn’t think they should, not when Buck was actually in the throes of his heat, not able to actually consent because Eddie wasn’t there. 

He’s done now though and back to texting Eddie. 

Buck: You're not going to be weird now are you? 

Eddie: No Buck, I won’t be weird, how are you feeling? 

Buck: You’re already being weird.

He doesn’t know how Buck even could catch that, they haven’t spoken a lot, it’s literally the day Buck’s feeling better. But there’s an inch under Eddie's skin. The edges of something that is making him feel jittery and he doesn’t understand what it is or where it’s coming from. 

Like something is happening, but he doesn’t know what. 

Buck: Can’t believe you’d just use my name like that, for shame 

Eddie: Oh of course, how could I ever just use the name that you picked 

Buck: You’re so annoying 

Buck: But besides you being annoying, I still think I want to meet you 

Eddie: What? 

Buck: You're annoying, not dumb, Eddie. I know you understand what I said. 

There it is, that’s the feeling he was expecting to come. The panic, the fear of it all. Of something he has wanted, has thought about before coming to life. It expands in his chest. 

Buck wanting to meet him in person is everything he ever wanted, it’s what he’s been wanting to ask. 

But the feeling that’s in his entire body at this moment feels anything but good. 

Eddie: Don’t you like what we have already? 

Buck: Of course I do, but it seems like we are past just texting and talking on the phone now, don’t you think? 

He does think, Eddie does think that they were past this. Especially after Buck’s heat and him helping him so much with Chris without him being here, without knowing about Eddie, he did it anyways just because that’s who he is as a person. 

He’s good. 

Buck’s so fucking good. 

Buck: C'mon Eddie, don’t leave me on read. 

And Eddie's not. And he thinks now that he’s somehow tricked Buck. Tricked him into thinking that Eddie wasn’t messed up, that he hasn’t already lost one mate because he wasn’t a good alpha and he could lose Buck too if they meet. 

He could lose having someone to talk to everyday that wasn’t obligated to see him like the guys at the academy. The omega is one of the best things that’s ever happened to him and he can’t ruin it by Buck finding out that he’s not a good alpha. 

He's barely a good enough father with how his parents tried to take Chris when he was younger and how now they barely speak to him, even if they were somehow pleased when Shannon was out of the picture.

Buck: At least call me, we can talk about it like that, I’m sorry for just dropping it on you. 

And fuck, they’d despise Buck. For simply being a male omega, he wouldn’t be good enough, and if they ever met then Buck would see where Eddie came from. Where there’s people in his life like that, even hundreds of miles away from him. 

Buck: I just thought you might’ve wanted this too? You sure seemed that way. 

Eddie doesn’t want that for the omega. He can’t even keep him safe from it. He can’t even get them to talk to Christopher like he’s a normal kid when they do actually call to talk to him. 

No one even knows that Eddie's been talking to Buck. 

Even if Abuela suspects something, and he knows she’d love Buck no matter what, she and Pepa both. And Chris knows about Buck, but he doesn’t know the extent of it because he’s a kid and— 

Buck: Eddie. 

Eddie finds himself leaning on his bathroom counter, staring at himself while his phone is still open on Buck’s contact beside him. Bubbles popping up and going every time he has the courage to glance down at it, every time another message does come through, he reads them all and can’t bring himself to reply.

Not while he’s trying to calm his breathing down. He’s on the edges of a panic attack, he knows he is. 

And it’s not fair. 

It’s not fair to Buck because there’s nothing else Eddie wants more in this world to be able to hold him, to meet the omega and see that face in person. To see him smile and laugh and cry and whatever other emotion he has. Eddie wants to see him talk about facts in person. 

Eddie wants Buck to meet Christopher. 

But he needed to keep the omega safe from himself. Eddie can’t hurt him later if he hurts him right now. 

Eddie: No. 

A month passes with complete radio silence from Buck. Everything in the house has lost the lingering scent that seemed to try and stick around as long as possible. It makes his rut agony. 

With only hints of the omega’s scent left in his bed, he feels half feral the entire time. 

Eddie can only imagine how Buck’s heat is going. 

Yet here Eddie stands, graduating from the academy and getting offers from various fire stations while Buck must be in so much pain. Because Eddie knows how awful it is to go through a heat without an alpha’s scent after you’ve had one for a while. 

That’s why the sites he met Buck on exist in the first place.

And he has to ignore the marks on his calendar, letting him know he should be sending something else to make sure it got to Buck on time, but he doesn’t. The days come and go and he doesn't send anything. 

Not until the week is over and Buck’s heat is done. 

The day after Eddie accepted a position at the 118, he got his first text.

Buck: You’re a coward, Eddie.

He knows. 

Fuck, he knows. 

——

Buck finally feels like his insides aren’t trying to kill him when he walks into the station that morning. His entire heat was mostly just sweat and sadness. Nothing took the edge off and his entire body was still feeling it, the sensation of rejection. 

It is like nothing he’s ever felt before, even if Hen did warn him all those months ago. 

He didn’t know it would feel like he was dying, and he still feels disgusting, but he is here and Hen is walking towards him already. He tries to smile at her but she just shakes her head and opens her arms. 

“C’mere Buckaroo, let me scent you,” she says, and he basically falls into her, and then he notices that none of them are wearing their patches yet, and fuck, he must look awful for them to want to do this for him. 

Then Hen starts scenting him in earnest, similar to how one might scent a pup. He knows she can’t help it, and honestly, it’s making him feel better. By the time he gets to Bobby, the rejected sensation in his gut is a lower simmer instead of an inferno. 

Being rejected by the one that Buck thought might’ve been his mate is the worst feeling in the world. 

But he still feels more at ease when their shift does start and they all cover up their scents and get to work. 

Plus, they keep touching him. Usually it would be embarrassing, but that’s not what’s happening today. 

Today they’re getting a new probie.

An alpha probie.

So if anything, their actions make him feel better and safer. Even if he might not even come across as an omega at all, and that’s fine with him. 

Even if the alpha’s gorgeous. 

And really, he’d appreciate the inappropriate glass windows to their locker room if he was feeling better as the alpha puts his uniform on. 

It doesn’t really help when Chimney bumps him with his shoulder. 

Then he and the alpha lock eyes and he tilts his own head in confusion when the alpha’s eyes widen in shock and surprise. 

He’s moving towards them all suddenly, and he feels Bobby at his back as it happens. 

He feels confused. 

Especially as the alpha walks right up to all of them and he reaches his hand out towards Buck, even if he hasn’t blinked at all, just staring with wide brown eyes that don’t make any sense to him. 

Buck reaches his hand out by instinct alone to shake the alpha’s. 

“Eddie Diaz. It's nice to meet all of you,” he states, and it’s so fucking familiar that it makes Buck’s head spin as their hands connect.

He feels like he’s heard his voice before. 

The thoughts swirl in his head as he shakes his hand. “Buck, Even Buckley.” He replies, again, out of pure instinct alone. 

“And I’m Hen, if anyone cares.” Hen states, and he can hear the grin in her voice. Buck rips his hand out of Eddie’s. 

Of course his fucking name would be Eddie. 

How much worse can Buck’s luck even get? 

__________

Buck can feel Eddie’s eyes on him as they go about their day. 

It makes his hackles rise at being observed so closely, especially when the alpha looks away when he catches him, as if he was never doing it at all. 

It makes the tension in their firehouse grow. Buck can feel it in their pack bonds. 

So he decides that if Eddie is going to look at him, if he’s going to try and test Buck somehow now that they’re going to be partners, then Buck might as well give him a show. 

Though it seems like Eddie's patience is endless if not abrupt, as if he doesn’t want to talk to Buck at all. 

It makes his lip curl in annoyance. 

“Not if they want me to answer.” 

Fuck you. 

Buck doesn’t get it, and he still doesn’t get it when they’re pulling a live grenade out of a man’s leg. Eddie seems frantic, eyes darting around the entire space of the ambulance while Buck puts pressure on the guy's leg. 

“Are you good?” Buck asks and it’s as if his simple question settled something in Eddie as his focus sharpens onto Buck. 

His gaze is steady as they stare at one another. “Yeah, omega, I’m good.” 

“Excuse—“ Buck starts, but before he can continue Eddie has the grenade out of the man’s leg, and into a box before he’s being pulled out of the ambulance. Then he starts talking again before he can stop, not even fully steady. “You can’t just say that.” 

Eddie looks at him for a moment as Bobby walks over to them and smiles softly at him. 

“You’re a badass under pressure.” 

Buck's entire face flushes as Bobby pats him on shoulder, his own eyes wide as he looks at Eddie. “Me?” 

Eddie nods, his gaze oddly soft, “You can have my back any day.” 

Bucks mouth opens and closes, “Or— you could have mine.” He hears himself say and he tilts his head down a little, not able to help it. 

Not when Eddie has decided he's going to talk to Buck and smile at Buck like that, even as the ambulance explodes behind them. 

It's later when he figures it all out. As they’re working on the aftermath of an earthquake when he finds out that Eddie has a pup. 

A pup named Christopher.

It’s too much of a coincidence, especially when Eddie shows him a picture and then the alpha’s entire body freezes when he looks at it. 

Because Buck’s seen that pup before. 

“Eddie?” Buck questions softly, his eyes not looking away from the phone screen as Christopher smiles at him. 

The universe has to hate him as he looks at the exact same picture that Eddie showed him of the boy through text months ago, before they stopped talking all together. Before Buck tried to forget that the man ever existed. 

The man that is apparently standing right next to him. 

It’s no wonder that his voice sounded familiar. He’s heard it before, he used to hear it every single day. 

Buck straightens. “I love pups, thanks for showing me,” he says when Eddie doesn’t reply to the sound of his own name, and turns the phone away from himself. “C’mon.” 

“Buck.” Eddie whispers, and he turns just as he was going to walk away, to keep himself busy and makes eye contact with Eddie. 

“Later.” Buck nods to himself. “Right now we have a job to do.” 

Eddie's entire frame crumbles and he feels terrible immediately, but Buck can’t do this right now. 

He walks away. 

——

Eddie was planning on telling him. He wanted to text Buck or just pull him aside to ask him to talk. He’s wanted to do it for days but hasn’t gotten the courage to do so. 

It’s no wonder Buck called him a coward. 

Especially as the rest of the team makes it clear that Eddie doesn’t need to take anything Buck does to heart, after their first shift. When the team was tense and off, Eddie found out why. 

Chimney had told him that Buck’s been feeling down. 

Hen told him that his alpha rejected him. 

Buck hadn’t mentioned anyone knowing, but with the way Hen looks at him, he knows that she knows that there was an alpha involved in Buck’s life that left him. 

She doesn’t know it’s him though, that’s for sure.

And he wants to explain to the omega, wants to say anything to him. Because he’s met him now and it had hurt when Buck didn’t recognize him, not even his voice.

But he knows it’s what he deserves. 

Especially as he watches the omega work, still around Eddie and the ease of the way they work together makes his head spin. Because Buck is completely ignoring him but it’s still working as if they’ve done this together for years. 

But it doesn’t stop the silence from being deafening, even as people yell for help and rubble is cleaned up and day turns into night. 

And it’s still quiet when they’re all told to go home. 

Then his truck doesn’t start and the omega is there. 

“C’mon, you’ve got to get Chris right?” Buck asks. His face is so clearly hiding something, Eddie can tell. 

“Buck you don’t have—“ 

“Get in the jeep, alpha.” 

Buck says it and turns around and walks away and Eddie’s hopeless to follow. Just hearing that word in that voice again makes his insides curl. Even if Buck sounds pissed or sad. Eddie’s not sure which, but the emotion is there.

Eddie tries and fails to ignore the emotion so clearly written on the omega’s face while he drives them to Chris’s school, the directions on the omega’s phone as they go, telling him which roads to avoid in the aftermath of the chaos.

Eddie swallows now that they’re alone. 

“Buck—“ he begins, but he doesn’t get far.

“You broke my heart. We’ll talk after we get Chris,” Buck replies, his voice low and sad now as they pull up to the school. Eddie nods, getting out of the jeep and going to get his pup. 

_________

Chris is excited to see him, completely unaffected by the earthquake as he narrates the day he’s had as they walk into the jeep. 

But he doesn’t expect to smell berries and vanilla in the flesh when he puts Chris into the back of Buck's jeep. 

It’s fresh and makes him freeze, body locking up as he scents mate for the first time in over a month. Prominent but soft as it wafts around the jeep.

“Daddy, it smells like your blanket in here!” Chris says excitedly, and that’s what gets him moving again, even though his body feels like it’s trying to reset. He hears the hitch in Buck’s breathing up front. 

“It does, doesn't it,” He says softly, nuzzling Christopher’s hair after the pup’s settled. “That’s Buck. He came with me to pick you up.” 

Buck turns in his seat, and his eyes are a little watery, but Eddie doesn’t point it out. “Hey Superman, it’s nice to finally meet you.” He smiles, and it’s a nice one, a real smile directed at his pup. One he’s been wanting to see for so long. 

And the only thing he can think about as they head to his house is that he fucked up. 

It repeats in his mind the entire way, listening to them both talk to one another as if they’ve done this a thousand times before. 

It’s easy. 

It’s easy and Eddie didn’t even give it a chance. 

And now as they pull into his driveway, he regrets that choice. Not that he didn’t the moment he told Buck no, but now it’s really setting in what he’s done.

“Come inside?” He’s asking before he can stop himself. The ache from today’s work is barely resonating with him right now as he turns to look at Buck. 

Buck, who blinks at him. “Yeah, okay.” 

It doesn’t mean he knows what to do when they’re all inside. He can scent Buck around him as he puts Chris to bed, at how the pup is so excited that Buck’s here as he yawns while the covers are put over him. 

Buck who’s sitting on his couch, waiting for Eddie. 

Eddie, who wants to fix this more than anything, but doesn't know how. 

But as he walks back into the living room and Buck’s still there, he decides that he’s going to try anyway. 

So he sits, leaving some space between them. 

He should've done this weeks ago, hell, he should’ve done this months ago when he felt brave and couldn’t talk himself out of a life he didn’t think he deserved but sitting here, looking at Buck makes him really realize that he could’ve had it. 

He should’ve sent the omega a picture so he would’ve recognized Eddie. It wasn’t fair to him for only Eddie to know. 

Especially when he was too much of a coward to just tell him. 

“Eddie.” Buck speaks first. “Take your scent patch off.” 

Eddie rips the damn thing off without preamble, and really, the action stings a bit, but he doesn’t even care. The omega’s eyes close the moment he catches Eddie’s scent, and he feels like an asshole all over again. 

“Fuck, it really is you,” Buck murmurs and Eddie watches his lip wobble, “God, you’re such a fucking asshole.” 

“I know.” Eddie agrees, he knows. 

“I thought you saw me. For once in my life, I thought I had an alpha that wanted me for me, not my face, not what I could provide, not anything but me.” Buck speaks so softly. His voice is laced with sadness. “I even— I showed you my face. You talked to me during my heat.” 

“I wanted you.” Eddie states, speaking just as he sees tears well up into Buck's eyes and he can’t help but scoot closer. “I wanted you so bad that I could barely think.” 

“Then why did you tell me no?” Buck asked, looking directly at Eddie, unshed tears in his bright blue gorgeous eyes. Eddie moves so close that their knees are touching. 

“Because I was afraid.” Eddie states, swallowing. “I was afraid that we’d meet and I’d fuck it up and lose you anyway. That my family–” 

“Do you think I would’ve asked you if I gave a fuck what anyone else thought?” Buck asks, his voice was a little sharper, but not accusing. “You should’ve just told me instead of icing me out.” 

“I know.” Eddie exhales. “I know that now, and I’m so sorry for hurting you— I just—“

“Wanted to hurt me now rather than later?” Buck questions and he knocks their knees together, "That's stupid, but I get it.” 

Eddie blinks at him, “What?” 

Buck exhales. “I get it, I do. I’m a male omega. There’s still some old fashioned people out there.” 

“I didn’t want you to think I was one of them because they were.” 

Buck smiles at him a little sadly. “Eddie, I know you’re not like that, and I can handle parents being disappointed by me. I haven’t talked to my own since I was 18.” 

Oh. 

“Fuck,” Eddie exhales harshly. “I ruined all of this, didn’t I?” 

Buck hums a little softly, the sound wet. “No I don’t think so.” 

Eddie snaps to look at him again, and the omega is still smiling sadly at him. “Buck—“ 

“You could make it up to me.” Buck states, their eyes don’t break from one another, “and give me my hoodie back.” 

Eddie exhales a surprised laugh. He thinks he might be dying. “You don’t mean that,” he says, ignoring the way Buck's eyebrow raises. “You can’t just forgive me like that.” 

“I don’t forgive you.” Buck’s lip curls up. “That’s why you’ll have to make it up to me.” 

It clicks in Eddie's head and he thinks that he has to be dreaming.  

“You’re going to let me court you?” 

Buck sniffs, “Well, if you’d ask me.” 

Eddie feels relief for the first time in over a month. 

He really doesn’t deserve Evan Buckley, but he’s sure going to try. 

——

And try he does. 

Buck walks into the station everyday with a new gift – small ones, but still gifts. 

His favorite coffee that somehow Eddie has figured out, and flowers he doesn’t even know the names off. Gifts he has to look up and research. 

He gets texts again, links to topics that Eddie thinks that he would be interested in, and then listening at the station when Buck tells him all about it. He actually listens, just like he did when they talked on the phone. 

But now Buck gets to see his face, how his gaze doesn’t stray. How he’s genuinely listening and gives a shit about it. 

It makes his stomach roll dangerously. 

And it only worsens when he starts going over to the Diaz house on the regular. With and without Chris being there. 

They have dinner, and Buck shows Eddie how to make some easy meals that the pup might like. They watch movies and curl underneath the blanket that Eddie still has that is technically Buck’s. 

It even smells like him again. 

He’d scented it and given it back to the alpha before he went back to his apartment.

The flush on Eddie's face is worth it. 

Then they start going out too. 

To the zoo and the museum with Chris, then he’s taken on dates and walks and it’s all so perfect. 

He feels like Eddie really wants him. 

He just didn’t realize how much Eddie wanted him until he walked into the fire station and saw Eddie standing next to Bobby with his head tilted into submission. 

Buck froze, his final step pausing as he stood there watching them. 

They were speaking so quietly that Buck couldn’t hear them. 

Then Bobby looked over at Buck and smiled softly. 

Then the man nodded and Buck understood. 

Eddie just got permission from the pack alpha to mate with Buck. Old school and outdated. 

But Eddie did it anyway because Bobby was more like a father than anyone else ever would be, and Eddie knows that. 

And so Buck kisses him the moment Bobby walks away, bullying the alpha into a less open space and pressing their lips together before Eddie can even say a word to him about it. 

It’s magical and he swallows Eddie's sound of surprise that quickly turns into a low growl of approval as he kisses Buck back. 

Their lips glide together right there in the hall and it seems like Eddie’s gotten with the program and presses close to Buck, their chests touching as the alpha holds him by the hips to press them together. 

“You gonna bite me now?” Buck asks, a breathless tease in his voice when he needs air, “now that you’ve gone old school?” 

“Wanted to do it right.” Eddie breathes out, his voice rough, and Buck wants to bite him. “Had to show you I meant it.” 

“I love you.” Buck says against Eddie's mouth instead of actually replying because he thinks Eddie’s proved enough and Buck can’t take another day without this scent constantly in his senses. 

Eddie kisses him hard, presses him up against the wall but cradles the back of his head so he doesn’t hit it against the wall and oh, Buck would do awful things to him if they weren’t at work. 

He loses himself in the kiss instead. That he can do. And Eddie swallows every sound he makes. 

“Oh, good lord,” he hears from down the hall and their lips break apart but they don’t move away from one another as they both look to see Hen standing there. “First the handshake and now this. Karen is going to kill me for missing this.” 

Buck can feel Eddie's shoulders shaking and it’s what makes him burst out laughing and then they’re staring at one another again. 

“We’re gonna be mates, Hen.” Buck says through his smile and he sees her soften. 

“Shocker.” She says and he laughs even more. 

Yeah, shocker indeed.