For the Buddie First Kiss Week Day 5 Prompt: Domestic

When Chris and Eddie discussed his ninth birthday, they'd decided to have his party two days late so it would fall on a weekend and more of his friends could be there. They were having it at the park, and the theme was sports. Chris requested his skateboarding harness and all of his friends were told they could bring their skateboards, or their bikes, or whatever sports stuff they wanted so they could all play together. Eddie had ordered a cake and would pick it up that morning. There would be balloons, streamers, matching napkins and plates, and even little goodie bags for the guests filled with dollar store candy.

The point was that Eddie had a plan for the party. He and Buck had made up those goodie bags together, both kind of lamenting the lameness of them but consoling themselves that kids wouldn't care where the candy came from. Buck had helped him find and pick out the matching decorations after hearing Eddie's original plan for plain paper napkins and plates, because apparently that wasn't fun enough. But they had a plan now, one they'd made together.

Eddie wondered when that had started happening. When had it gone from "I have a plan" to "We have a plan"? When had he started planning outings, not just this party, with the assumption that Buck was going to be there with them? Because he did. He always called Buck to double check dates and make sure at least one of them was available, if not both, for whatever plans had to be made.

Hell, he'd brought Buck to Christopher's last doctor's appointment.

The point at the moment was that Christopher's birthday party was on Saturday but his actual birthday was on Thursday, and Buck had declared that not celebrating on his actual birthday just wasn't an option. That was how Buck ended up in the Diaz kitchen while Chris was at school, baking a cake and setting up smaller versions of the decorations they had for Saturday. The theme of the cake was racecar, or so he claimed. He'd gotten the idea from the internet and was attempting to use all the knowledge Athena and Bobby had instilled in him about baking and cooking to bring the idea to life.

It smelled good, at least. Eddie could smell it all over the house, even back in his room when he excused himself for an hour long nap. He hadn't meant to nap. He'd intended to simply change his clothes, but he'd sat on the bed, which turned into laying on the bed, which turned into waking up fifty-seven minutes later. Oops. But it was a sign of how comfortable he was around Buck that he'd been able to fall asleep at all – he didn't let his guard down around just anyone – and that he didn't feel awkward and guilty afterward. Buck understood the drag that came with their long shifts. And he was comfortable at Eddie's house, so he wouldn't feel abandoned or ignored.

Eddie changed his clothes without falling back asleep and then wandered back into the kitchen while running his fingers through his hair to make it less obvious he'd been asleep. Buck was at the counter, cake on a display plate in front of him. The cake looked nearly done – it had a base layer of red frosting and now Buck was trying to add the details. He'd added little triangle-like headlights in white that didn't' look too bad actually, and now he was piping on… wheels?

Instead of dropping his hand on Buck's shoulder like he may have done normally, Eddie slid his fingers into place, slow and easy. Buck didn't react, as if Eddie had been that tactile before.

Once Eddie's hand had been resting on Buck's shoulder for far longer than necessary, the taller man turned his head back to smile at Eddie.

"Hey," he said. "Think these look like tires?"

"I think they look like black and yellow nipples," Eddie answered with extra honestly, mostly so he could rile Buck up.

The blonde's mouth dropped open in affront and he looked down at his cake decorations. It wasn't all that bad, but Eddie's mind was a little dirty sometimes, and they definitely only looked like tires because they were on a racecar cake. Buck was no pastry chef, after all.

Buck turned suddenly and used his ziplock baggie piping bag to leave a trail of icing across Eddie's cheek. Eddie jerked back in shock and then leveled a bewildered look at Buck.

"Try again," Buck ordered without heat. "And beware. Your nose is next."

Eddie could push. He knew all of Buck's buttons. He could drag out this food fight just to see the way Buck's face lit up with excitement, the way he'd flush with joy when Eddie let him win. But he had to go get Christopher soon and Buck needed to finish the cake. Maybe he could push Buck's buttons later.

"It looks like a racecar cake," he admitted.

"Damn right," Buck said with a victory nod. "No need for insults here, Firefighter Diaz. Life is short. Make it sweet. And stop making fun of my artwork."

Then his eyes narrowed slightly, like he was curious about something he saw. He set the piping bag down and reached for Eddie's face. "You know, you've got something –" And he dragged his finger over Eddie's cheek, wiping away the icing he, himself, had put there.

Buck was Eddie's partner. A part of Eddie had known it for awhile – the part that had let Shannon go long before she'd reentered their lives, long before she left again. That part of Eddie was always there, but also quiet. It held onto things he should have known but chose to ignore. Buck had been a part of the Diaz household for so long that it was more like the Buckley-Diaz household. There was a drawer of Buck's clothes in Eddie's dresser, some clothes hanging in Eddie's closet, some toiletries in the hall bathroom, a few of Buck's video games were sitting by the TV, and the pantry was regularly stocked with Buck's favorite snacks. They shared grocery duty, for goodness sake. This had become Buck's home somehow without Eddie really noticing.

When Buck pulled his icing covered finger back and licked it off, Eddie's mind whispered, "I think I'm in love with him," because he'd realized he didn't know what his life would be without Buck in it. Losing Buck would be like extricating one of his own organs. So he whispered it in his mind – "I love you" and "I want us to stay together".

In front of him, Buck had turned away, unaffected by the moment, and was talking about the cake. "So when you get back with Chris, I'll have this on the counter and dinner on the table, and we won't let him have any of it until after he eats. But of course you're gonna have to enforce that, because I also want some of this cake. I worked hard on it so I deserve the second slice. And then after dinner and cake, we can – "

But he didn't finish the thought because Eddie had grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him back around. He didn't crash their mouths together in a desperate realization. Instead he gently cupped Buck's face and leaned in slow, in the microscopic chance Buck didn't reciprocate his feelings.

The kiss was light and almost chaste. It was over in a second. It was an everyday kiss, not the kind to move mountains.

When Eddie leaned away, Buck was smiling shyly above him. "Wow," he said, laughed nervously, and then ran a hand through his short hair. "So that was – I mean, I liked it."

"Yeah?" Eddie asked, chest thumping loudly.

Buck laughed that nervous chuckle again. "I mean, I thought our first kiss would be, like, after I got the nerve to ask you to dinner or something equally romantic, but this – I mean, kitchen kisses are nice too. It was… I guess it was kind of domestic, right?"

"Kind of," Eddie agreed, smiling warmly. Buck was so cute when he was flustered. A blush was creeping up his pale neck and Eddie wanted to touch it. So he did.

"I think I like domestic kisses," Buck admitted, leaning over and looking straight into Eddie's eyes. His voice didn't sound entirely domestic, but he smile certainly was. "Think we could arrange something like that on a regular basis?"

A laugh escaped Eddie before he could catch it. Then he was nodding and caressing Buck's fading blush. "Yeah. I'll need to talk to Chris first, but I definitely think that's something we can arrange."

"Good." Buck imitated Eddie, fingers coming up to caress his neck. "Well you need to go get Christopher. And I need to finish dinner. But, uh, how about one for the road?"

Eddie didn't say anything. He just tilted his chin up and kissed Buck, quick and domestic. Buck's smile was wide and happy, and he leaned down for another one. And another. And almost a fourth, except Eddie started laughing and that set Buck off, and they really needed to get it together or else Eddie was going to be late.

Buck kissed him one more time before pushing him toward the shoe rack. It was so completely comfortable to add kissing to the list of things they already did together that Eddie was surprised it had taken them so long to start. Now that they had, however, he never wanted them to stop. At the door, he turned back and caught Buck staring at him. They smiled at each other, both shy but excited, and then Eddie left to get Chris. He had a feeling Chris would be ecstatic to hear about this new development.

….