after season seven

Chapter 11: Eddie

Buck is not at work again. I know he had a rough day yesterday but it is very unlike Buck to not be on time to work two days in a row. I knew I should have stopped by this morning.

"No Buck again?" Hen asks as she approaches me in the gym.

"Nope. I think he may have broken up with Tommy last night though. Who knows what happened."

"Finally! I've been waiting for him to dump that asshole. I'll have to let Karen know. She'll be so excited!"

"Hey, hey, hey! It has been confirmed yet so let's wait to hear the news from Buck. I am hoping it's true though."

Hen smirks at me and shakes her head before leaving to drop her stuff off at her locker. I continue working out when my phone vibrates in my pocket.

I quickly put down the dumbbells and my mind immediately goes to Chris. I pull my phone out of my pocket and I'm surprised to see Buck's name flashing across my screen instead of my son's.

"Buck? Where are you?"

"I'm-" I hear faint sounds of Buck vomiting before he can finish his sentence.

"Buck! Are you alright?"

After a few more seconds of gagging noises, Buck finally responds. "Sorry, I was just calling to tell you that I'm hungover right now. Can you let Cap know that I can't come in today?"

"Yeah, absolutely. Are you sure everything's okay though? Do you need me to bring you anything?"

"No, I'm all good. I just need a day to regroup. I'll be fine tomorrow."

"Alright, but let me know if you need anything okay? And I just have to ask, did you break up with him?"

"Yeah... I did."

"Thank god. Okay, I'll see you soon."

"Yup. Bye."

Buck hangs up before I get the chance to respond and I'm about to put my phone away when I get a text from Christopher.

C: Hi dad

E: Shouldn't you be at school right now?

C: No dad its summer!

E: Oh, right. Well how are you little man?

C: Im okay. I just missed you and Buck.
C: I was gonna call u but i know ur at work.

E: You can call me anytime, Buddy.

C: Okay. Love you dad.

E: I love you, too. I'll call you and we can talk longer tonight.

Talking to Christopher always brightens my day even when he is a 12 hour car drive away.

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"Do you guys want to go out for some drinks? It's our day off tomorrow." Chim asks me and Hen while we're in the locker room after our shift.

"You know what? I could use a drink. Count me in!" Hen exclaims as she high fives Chimney.

"Eddie, you in?"

"I think I'll pass tonight. Sorry, Chim." I wouldn't feel very comfortable going out for drinks knowing that Buck is home alone right after a breakup.

I head to my car and call Christopher on my way home but he doesn't pick up. He's probably in bed already due to the time difference. I need to get better at knowing his schedule.

I pull up outside my house not expecting anyone to be there but Buck's Jeep is parked right out front. What is he doing here?

I quickly get out of my car and lightly jog to the door, feeling almost giddy at the thought of seeing Buck again. "Buck?" I call out as I open the front door.

I get no response for Buck so I start looking around in confusion when I notice him passed out on my couch. Again. It's bad enough that he sits down and passes out on it when I'm home but the fact that he came to my house specifically for my couch? Something must be wrong.

"Buck." I whisper as I lightly shake his shoulder. "Buuuuck."

Buck murmurs quietly and then goes back to sleep.

I find myself sitting down beside his sleeping form and just staring at his face. His eyelashes fluttering over his cheeks and the fullness of his lips is mesmerizing. He has been so stressed out lately but he seems very peaceful in his sleep. I study his features and just take in his beauty for a few more minutes before it starts to feel a little weird that I'm just staring at my best friend like this.

I attempt to wake Buck up again and he finally opens his eyes and groggily glances at me. "Oh, hey Eddie."

"What are you doing here, Buck?"

"I used my key!" He smiles while holding up the house key that I gave him a few years agl.

"Yeah... I figured. But why are you here?"

Buck's smile fades and he looks down at his lap. After a few moments he speaks again. "I wasn't comfortable at home and I didn't have anywhere else to go."

I don't know how to respond to that. The silence between us gets to me so I reach out and rub his shoulder. "You know you can come here anytime, right? I just wanted to make sure everything was okay with you."

"Yeah, thanks. I should probably get out of your hair now."

"You could stay the night if you want. I know how much you like my couch." I smirk at him. "We have tomorrow off so we could chill together."

"Okay, yeah. That sounds pretty nice."

"Do you need anything before bed or all you all set?"

"I'm all good. Thanks... for everything. You're a really good friend."

I feel a small pain in my chest as he refers to me as his friend which doesn't make any sense because we are just friends. Right? There's no way he could feel anything more for me. "So are you, Buck." And with that I head in the direction of my bedroom to get ready for bed.