One Last Time

2

Eddie

Buck heaved a giant duffel bag into the trunk of Hen's minivan. The baggage was stuffed with winter clothes and food, but mostly Chimney's endless bags of chips.

"Is this really all the room we have?" Maddie asked, placing a stylish suitcase on top. "I feel like we could last years in the wilderness with all this stuff."

Eddie, watching the two siblings squabble from a distance, smiled. He admired the playful attitude of Buck and Maddie. He also longed for the bondage the two had- something he and his sisters never experienced.

Buck placed his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe if you didn't bring so many clothes we would actually have some room for the rest of us." Buck looked up at Eddie, calling him over, "Ed, come load your stuff in."

Eddie swung his baggage into the trunk. Athena sat in the minivan's passenger seat. "Good luck closing it," she joked. Buck, Eddie and Maddie slammed the trunk closed, barely containing their overflow of necessities.

Soon enough, everyone jammed into the van. Bobby took his rightful place in the driver's seat, next to his wife. Hen and Maddie sat in the middle row, already in a heated gossip session about some celebrity that Eddie had never heard of. This left the three back seats cramped for the three men. Eddie took a window seat, scooching over as much as possible as Chimney and Buck climbed in. Chimney took the other window, leaving Buck plopping dramatically in the middle. Buck's shoulder pressed up against Eddie's sending a jolt of electricity through him.

Jesus, Eddie. Get a grip of yourself. It's Buck.

He still didn't know why he felt this way, swearing everything would remain the same between them when Buck came out. Was it that Buck was in a relationship with one of his close friends, Tommy? Or was it that Eddie pondered over the thought of Buck looking at him differently through their years of friendship? Either way, Eddie was dubious of the butterflies in his stomach whenever Buck was near.

As he looked out the window, the road was moving and the trees streamlined by him as they drove. Loud music was blaring on the radio, most likely DJ'd by Maddie who was singing along. On the chorus Buck joined in, letting his reputation fly freely. Eddie carefully watched the corner of his lips move as he sang.

The drive was endless. They stopped constantly. First Chimney complained of his small bladder, and then Hen needed some cold drinks, Bobby wanted to stop at some museum and Buck... Well, Buck couldn't sit still for more than five minutes.

"Thena', how much longer do we have?" Hen asked.

Athena glanced at her phone, "Still a while to go, we're behind schedule."

Instinctively, yet in an accusing manner, they glanced at Buck and Chimney in the back seats. "What? Bobby was the one who wanted to see the museum!" Buck defended. Eddie chuckled to himself.

"Okay, why don't we play a game, that'll make time go faster," Maddie suggested.

"I've got Go Fish in my backpack-" Chimney began.

"We don't want to play Go Fish, Chim," Maddie answered moodily.

Eddie felt like he was being reticent, not that it mattered, the van was still booming with laughter and conversations. He scrolled through his phone, looking at his son's fairly new Instagram account.

"How bout' Truth or Dare?" Hen said with a hint of menace in her tone.

"I'm all for it," Buck agreed eagerly, slapping his hands together.

Eddie noticed in the rearview mirror, Bobby rolling his eyes. "What are we? Sixteen? Again?" he criticized. 

"Oh come on Bobby, lighten up!" Athena fired back, playfully slapping his thigh. He took her hand, keeping the other on the steering wheel.

"Alright."

"Truth or Dare..." Hen paused to scan the entire minivan "Truth or Dare, Chim?"

Chimney sat up straighter in his seat, "Truth."

"What was the last white lie you've told?"

Chimney pondered for a moment as Eddie squirmed in his seat. He was silently praying he wouldn't get picked. What if it was a question about his relationships? There's no avoiding awkwardness there.

"Well, I did tell Jee-Yun that if she ate too many cookies, she'd turn into one!" He admits with pride.

"Howard Han!" Maddie exclaimed. "She told me about her nightmare yesterday, a giant cookie chasing her!"

The couple laughed out loud, joined in by Hen who had the most contagious laugh of them all. Eddie cracked a smile, glancing at Bobby, who was fully engaged. Chimney looked at the ceiling, "Okay, I choose Buck."

"Dare."

Everyone turned around to face Buck. Chimney grabbed a half-drunken Pepsi bottle from the trunk and handed it to Buck.

"I dare you to chug this," Chimney proposed. Bobby shook his head in the mirror again. Eddie tried to scooch over, giving Buck the full spotlight.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah, we do not want a mess in here!" Bobby said quickly.

"For real Cap, lighten up, it's my van," Hen interrupted. Eddie watched Buck unscrew the cap on the bottle and take a tentative sniff of the Pepsi.

"Challenge accepted." Buck began pouring down the Pepsi into his throat. Eddie couldn't help but smile at Buck's fear of a demolished ego, refraining him from making sensible choices. Buck drained the bottle within seconds, placing a fist over his mouth.

"Done," he said groggily, anticipating a large belch. "Diaz, you're next."

Eddie jumped in his seat. He sat upright as the attention was turned to him.

Just pick dare. The truth gets too complicated.

Yet, Eddie was worried about the types of dares Buck had in mind. He always seemed to go above and beyond these types of things.

"Truth," he blurted out.

Eddie, calm down, this is supposed to be relaxing.

Buck hesitated but with each second Eddie's heart seemed to beat faster, and faster. God, he hoped nobody checked his pulse.

"Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or a 100 duck-sized horses?"

Eddie almost choked with relief as he turned to face Buck who was still uncomfortable from the Pepsi.

"Does that classify as a truth? It's more of a would you rather," Hen debated.

"It's still a question," Buck argued. "What'd you say Ed?"

"Definitely the one horse-sized duck," Eddie replied. "Imagine fighting a hundred feral little horses."

Chimney mimicked a person dialing 9-1-1. "9-1-1 what's your emergency?" he answered as the operator. "Help! We've got a hundred mini horses rampaging into our house! Hurry!" he squealed in a high-pitched voice.

Eddie sunk back into his chair, lightened by the mood around him. He peered out the window, noticing silhouettes of mountains dancing in the distance. Buck, still pressed up against his shoulder, let out an anxious sigh.