We're Not Friends || Buddie

Never Let Go

Eddie wakes up with Buck's arm draped over him. His skin is warm against his. He can tell Buck is sleeping by his even, deep breaths. That's when he hears it, the reason he was woken up. Steps. Not just any steps, Chris' steps.

He turns around quickly and starts hitting Buck's arm. "Get up... now." He tries to be demanding, but still quiet.

"What? Why?" Buck just barely comprehends what Eddie was saying. He tries to hold onto him, but he rips himself out of his arms and is up on his feet.

"Chris is here, you need to leave, or hide or something." He is frantic in his words, and in his movements. Buck listens to him and stands up.

"Dad, I forgot my homework!" They can hear Chris yell from down the hall. If he's looking for his homework, they at least have a minute until they have to worry about him coming anywhere near them. That's if he even tries to come see Eddie, which he might not even do.

Eddie picks up his jeans from the floor and starts to put them on. "You might not want to wear those." Buck laughs, but then Eddie glares at him. "I'm sorry, not the time for joking..." He feels bad as Eddie huffs over to his closet. "Eddie, it's okay. I sleep over here all the time. Chris won't think anything of it."

"He will if he sees you in my room with barely any clothes on. He's a teenager Buck, he'll put two and two together." He pulls some clothes out of his closet and starts to put them on.

They hear a knock on the door, then Eddie glares back at Buck and mouths 'get down.'

"Dad, can I come in?" The doorknob starts to move. "Why is the door locked? You never locked the door."

Eddie puts on pants as Chris speaks. He looks back one more time, and he can't see Buck. "One second, Bud!" He yells as he throws on a shirt. He unlocks the door and opens it. "Sorry, I must have accidentally locked it last night." Real nice excuse, Eddie.

"Okay? Is Buck here?" How the fuck did he know that?

"Uhh... no, why would you ask that?" He walks out of the room and closes the door behind him as he walks Chris down the hall.

"His car is in the driveway." Shit.

"Uhh he had to leave it here while he did something..." Something... very specific.

"Okay..." Chris says in a tone that tells Eddie that he didn't believe him. Eddie couldn't call him out on it though. He was just happy at the lack of questions. It was unusual for Christopher. "I got my homework, so I need to go now. Jake's mom is waiting." Jake was the friend he stayed with the night before. His mom was taking them to school.

"Okay, have a good day at school, Bud." He messes up his hair a little, but not enough to piss him off. "Love you."

"I love you too, dad." Chris walks out the front door, and Eddie exhales. He feels like he is lucky to avoid everything he just avoided. Chris was a smart kid. A few questions, and he could break Eddie.

He goes back to his room, and Buck is still just standing there. "As soon as he's gone for sure, you need to leave."

"Why? It's not like he's coming back-"

"Buck, you need to leave..." He says sterner this time.

"I- I still need to wash my pants. I can't walk out in those." He knows it sounds like an excuse, but after hearing Eddie use that tone with him, he actually did want to leave. He knew he couldn't do anything to comfort him, so gone was the best thing he could be.

Eddie goes to his closet and tosses a pair of sweats at Buck. "Take these, then leave, please." Eddie walks back out of the room without another word.

Buck wonders if he said something wrong. He couldn't think of anything, and Eddie already seemed on edge when he woke up. Had he said something in his sleep? No one ever told him he talked in his sleep, but what if this was the first time? No, that's ridiculous. There had to be some reason Eddie was throwing him out of his house.