Buddie

Dual

Buck's POV

"Buck, it's your turn," Chris said.

Buck snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the cards in his hand, placing one on the table.

"Ha, I win!" Chris said, placing his last card down.

Buck gave him a small smile, but something was bothering him.

Eddie.

"Hey, Chris. Have you talked to your dad?"

After Eddie let Buck babysit Chris for the day so that he could go on a date with Marisol, Buck couldn’t stop but think about what they were doing on that date.

"No? I was here with you the entire time, Buck."

Buck nodded. He knew Chris was right because they played games ever since Eddie left - which Eddie might not be so happy about because Chris was supposed to be doing homework.

"I-I'll be right back, I'll just check on him."

Buck put down the few cards he had left in his hand on the table and took out his phone. He looked at Eddie's phone number and thought that it was a bad idea to interrupt his best friend’s date.

Only that the date made Buck really uncomfortable and he didn't really want Eddie going on dates.

What the heck is wrong with me? My best friend is allowed to have dates. With women.

Right when he decided not to call and put his phone back in his pocket, the front door opened and Eddie came in. Alone.

That made Buck smile for some unknown reason to himself.

"Eddie, you're back!" Buck hugged him before he realized what he was doing and then cringed at himself for being so eager. "How, um, how was the date?"

"Great!" Eddie said and passed by Buck to get to Chris.

That was weird.

"Hey, buddy! Did you have fun with Buck?" Eddie knelt down in front of Chris on the couch and hugged him.

Chris nodded. "The greatest fun. I won every game."

Eddie smiled, but then he gave a scolding face to his son. "Did you do your homework?"

"I gotta go." Chris said and stood up, walking straight to his room, leaving Buck to deal with the scolding.

Eddie placed his hands on his hips and looked at Buck with the same scolding expression.

For that, Buck panicked and let out an awkard laugh, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, we wanted to, but then we got caught up in a game and..." and I got thinking about you and your stupid date.

Eddie laughed.

"That's fine, I'll do it with him later. You should go home, you must be exhausted."

Buck couldn’t leave. Not before he gound out if the date actually went "great".

"Tell me about Marisol."

Eddie shook his head and sat on the couch.

"There’s nothing to tell. The date was great, she's a great girl. We talked about everything and anything. I really like her," Eddie gave Buck a smile without looking at him and he turned on the TV.

"Oh!" Buck said and immediately mentally slapped himself for saying that out loud.

Eddie's POV

Oh? What the hell does that even mean?

"What do you mean, 'oh'? You didn’t want me to have a great date?" Eddie asked, amused.

Eddie didn’t know why he even said the date was great. Yes, Marisol was a great girl, but he didn’t feel anything when he was out with her. He didn’t feel the need to touch her hand or kiss her or drop her home. He didn’t even go past lunch because all he wanted was to get home, to see Christopher. To see Buck.

"No, no, of course I did. I'm glad your date went well. You deserve to be happy." Buck simply said and smiled, but Eddie didn’t buy it. Something was wrong.

Did Buck like Marisol? Did he want to invite her out too?

"Do you like Marisol?" Eddie asked.

Buck's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Marisol. You don’t seem that happy that I asked her out."

For some reason, the thought of Buck liking Marisol made Eddie angry.

Why the hell would I be angry? I don’t like Marisol that way.

"What? No, that’s not true. I am happy. For you. I'm always happy when you're happy." Buck defended himself, still standing in the same place ever since Eddie came home, maybe just a tad bit closer.

"Then why do I get the feeling that you're not? Did you plan to ask her out?" Eddie was full on angry now.

"No, absolutely not," Buck said, frowning and got closer to Eddie, holding his hands up in surrender.

Eddie then stood up and faced his best friend.

"Well, you could at least pretend to be happy for me then. I like this girl." No, I don’t.

"Why are you getting angry?" Buck asked and Eddie knew he fucked up because Buck was now angry too.

"Because..." Eddie said, but couldn’t finish the sentence.

He didn’t know why he was angry either. Buck was his best friend. If he didn’t want to date Marisol, then Buck could ask her out instead, if he wanted to. So why would Eddie be so against the idea of his best friend going out with a girl after he had suffered so much after Taylor?

"Because what?" Buck asked and the two were only a step away from each other now. "I merely wanted to know how your date went. I am happy that it went great and I am happy if Marisol is the girl for you. I had no intention of asking her out because I don’t like her like that. It is your god damn business if you want to see her again, regardless if I like her or not."

Is it? Eddie regarded Buck's opinion very highly, and if Buck said he shouldn’t see Marisol anymore,  Eddie might as well never see her again.

"I think you should go," Eddie said through his teeth.

Buck's eyes went wide again and Eddie could almost see the fumes coming out of Buck's nostrils.

"Fine. See you at work."

Buck took his car keys and left the apartment. Eddie immediately regreted it and let himself fall onto the couch.

I am an idiot, he thought to himself. And I think I am in love with Buck.