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Chapter 3: Hanging with the Gang
Los Angeles, August 2011
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Today is Buck's football game.
Eddie made sure that he and Chris were dressed in the school colors, yellow and blue.
Eddie also found a cute rubber duck in the bin of rubber ducks that he's collected for Chris these past couple months and packed that for Chris to play with—and to show Buck—at the game.
Buck and Eddie also Facetimed for a couple of hours after his practice last night. Buck attempted to talk to Chris through the FaceTime call, but the infant didn't understand what he was supposed to look at or where the nice blonde man's voice was coming from since he wasn't in the room with him and his dad.
Oh, and Eddie got accepted for one of the campus jobs he applied to. He's going to surprise Buck with that tonight at the game.
Pepa and Abuela were overjoyed with the news when he told them about it yesterday.
Eddie unstraps Chris from his car seat, putting the noise-blocking headphones on Chris's head so the noise wouldn't overwhelm Chris, because college sports games are intense.
When Eddie walks towards the bleachers, Karen and Hen spot him and wave him over.
He zooms over to them with a smile.
"Hey, Hen. Hey, Karen."
"Hey, Eddie," Karen greets, pulling him into a brief hug, standing from her seat, then sits back down. "Good to see you."
"You too," He smiles.
"Hey, Eddie," Hen waves.
Eddie waves back.
"You two look cute," Karen praises as Eddie takes the open seat next to her.
"Thank you. I may or may not have been deciding our outfits since yesterday..." It's true. He even asked Abuela and Pepa for their opinions on at least seven different yellow and blue outfit combinations for him and Chris.
Hen and Karen laugh.
"Trying to catch a certain player's attention, huh?" Hen asks with a smirk.
Eddie snickers. "No, I already got that. This is just for fun. It's more to impress the guy instead of catching his attention."
"Let me guess," Hen says with a teasing tone. "Blonde, blue eyes, number nine?"
"Yup," Eddie beams.
"Bah!" Chris exclaims, fisting his hands in Eddie's blue shirt, finding it quite entertaining.
"Aww," Karen coos at the infant.
"That kid is absolutely adorable, and he's also dangerous because he's going to give us baby fever," Hen teases.
"Too late," Karen whispers.
Eddie chuckles, then the intercom turns on, the announcer blabbing about the game and how the two teams haven't played since the disaster at last year's playoff or some shit, Eddie doesn't care. He only cares about one player and one player only.
Number 9. The tight end. Evan 'Buck' Buckley.
Eddie turns Chris around in his lap when the players run onto the field, having to pull the tiny fists off his shirt, easily spotting number nine by the benches with some of the other teammates.
"Buuuuba!" Chris yells, pointing to the big blonde man whom he and his dad like.
"That's right, mijo. It's Buck."
"Buuubaaka."
"Close enough," Eddie praises, kissing Chris's cheek.
He can feel Karen and Hen's eyes on him for the entire game whenever they aren't talking, watching him watch Buck, whether he's on the field or over on the bench.
Hen and Karen told him how they met and got together during halftime.
The two met in their junior year of high school; Hen was already best friends with Chimney (or Chim) since eighth grade. He's the one who set them up on a date, and it didn't end well. Chim called Karen, telling him Hen died, obviously a lie, and then the two met up again and hit it off. The reason Chim set them up was because they had met in a class and they had gotten along well, both developing instant crushes on the other, but were too afraid to say anything, so Chimney took matters into his own hands and set them up because Hen would not shut up about Karen.
"Wow," Is all Eddie can say when they reach the end of their story.
They were telling it in bits and pieces when there was a timeout.
"Yup. That's us," Karen beams.
"That'll be a fun story to tell your kids someday when they ask how their moms met."
Karen and Hen look at him admiringly for that sweet comment.
"Do you mind if we ask about his mom?" Karen asks kindly, gently holding Chris's tiny arm, making faces at him.
"Yeah. It's okay. What do you want to know?"
They talk off and on throughout the fourth quarter, talking about Shannon and his younger life, to how he got to LA.
He told the more fun side of it all, the happy memories that he'll one day tell Chris. Buck, too, if he wants to hear them.
In the final two minutes of the game, Hen, Karen, and Eddie are on the edge of their seats, Chris clueless to his dad's anticipation as he tries to fit his fist into his mouth, UCLA is down by a field goal, and they've got the ball.
Buck is the one to catch the ball and score the winning touchdown in the end, the crowd jumping up from their seats, cheering loudly as soon as it happens.
Eddie's so glad he brought the noise-canceling headphones for Chris.
Once the excitement dies down and people start leaving, Hen, Karen, and Eddie make their way off the bleachers, waiting by the field for Maddie, Chimney, and Buck.
Eddie takes off Chris's headphones once the noise dies down to the point where it shouldn't bother him, grabbing the cute little surprise from his bag and handing it to Chris to play with while they wait for Buck.
"Oh my God, that's adorable," Karen says, pointing to the rubber duck in Chris's hands.
It's a football player, with a little helmet and a football in his little arms.
The big surprise is that Eddie used some of his fancy paints that he's got—he mostly draws and sketches, but here and there he's inspired with a canvas and paints—and painted a 9 on the duck's back in blue for UCLA since the duck is already yellow. He even painted the helmet, too, so it matches the 9.
Eddie doesn't know why he did it, but when he saw that duck last night after giving Chris a bath in the bin of rubber ducks, the idea struck, and his brain wouldn't let him do anything else until that was done.
"Chris loves his rubber ducks, so I decided to customize this one a little bit."
Karen takes another look at it. "Boy," She scoffs.
Eddie laughs, and Karen joins in too.
"Now you must be Eddie. The man Buckaroo won't stop blabbing about," An authoritative woman's voice speaks from next to him.
Eddie turns around to see a short, scary-looking black woman in a security outfit.
"Y-yeah, that's me," He stutters.
"I'm Athena Grant-Nash, Coach Bobby Nash's wife." Oh, she's the football coach's wife and apparently the head of security, according to her ball cap. "Nice to officially meet you. Our Buckaroo," Buckaroo. That's cute. "Has been taking non-stop about you and little Christopher here." She waves at Chris, and he coos adorably at her, quickly returning his attention to his rubber ducky.
Eddie blushes. "Good things, I hope."
"Oh, yes," she smiles. "All good things."
"Eddie, you're here!" Maddie exclaims, making her way over to them, a smile on her face, Chimney following right behind her because they're holding hands and she's pulling him with her.
"Hey, Maddie," Eddie grins. "Good to see you."
"You too. And hey there, Christopher," She smiles at the infant, reaching out with her free hand to caress his arm.
"Blagh!" Chris babbles, looking up at her with a cute little grin.
"My god, he's so cute," She coos. "He's going to give me baby fever."
"That's what I said!" Hen exclaims.
"No. Maddie," Chimney scolds.
"I know, I know," She rolls her eyes. "Wait until after college, marriage, then kids. Yeah, yeah."
Eddie chuckles. "What's a couple more years?"
"Yeah," She squeaks with a laugh.
Chimney kisses Maddie's cheek, then walks towards Hen and the two get looped into a conversation about who knows what.
"Hey, Eddie," Maddie starts once Hen and Chim have walked off. "Karen and I have been talking, and we wanted to invite you to our usual Friday hangs. Where it's just us two."
"Yeah, Hen's off doing her internship, Chim, and Buck off at practice."
"Yeah? That sounds nice. I've got my new campus job and I'll work Fridays until 3. We can meet up afterwards."
"Yay!" Maddie beams. "We sometimes go to one of our apartments, drink some wine, or go out to eat, then have a cocktail and just gossip. But I'm thinking we'll go clothes shopping for you."
Eddie chuckles. "Yeah, I know I've got a simple wardrobe. My parents would've had an aneurysm if I ever wore anything more colorful and stylish than what I wear usually."
"Okay, then it's a date. We'll take you to the mall and shop around. Share some gossip," Maddie says. "How's that sound?"
"I'm so in," Eddie smiles. "I love me some gossip. Especially in telenovelas. Just text me the time and place, and I'll be there. I'm so ready for a wardrobe change."
"Yay!" Karen squeals excitedly.
"What's your number?" Maddie asks, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
Eddie chuckles. "My hands are full, I can tell you my number, then you guys can send it to the group. Make sure you tell them to text me their name first so I know who I'm talking to."
"We will," Maddie says, phone in her hand, ready to type in Eddie's number.
Eddie tells her, then she texts it to the group chat so everybody's got it.
"All done."
"Thank you, Maddie. You two just let me know when you guys want to meet up on Friday, and I'll be there. But I gotta be home no later than seven to feed Chris."
"Sounds like a plan," Karen smiles. "We can just pick you up at three from the campus library."
Eddie grins. "Sounds good to me. Can't wait."
"You, Eddie?" A man's voice asks from behind him.
Eddie turns around, facing an older man. Eddie instantly knows he's the coach because of the hat. It's the same hat he spotted in the first game, the day he met Buck.
"That's me."
"Nice to finally meet you, I'm Bobby Nash." The two briefly shake hands. "The football coach. Buck has told me a lot about you and this little guy here."
"Yeah, your wife Athena told me that."
Bobby grins when he hears Athena's name. "Well, Buck has talked non-stop about you two. You guys seemed to have hit it off pretty well."
"Yeah. We have. It's been a really good couple of days." Four days to be exact. But he doesn't want it to seem like he's been counting—even though he very much has.
Bobby smiles, looking at him knowingly, clocking him on everything.
"You guys all seem pretty close. Like your own little family."
"Yeah. We kind of are in a way. It started with Chimney, Hen, Karen, me, and Athena. Then Maddie and Buck came along. Athena and I took the two under our wings and helped them out because when they came here, they didn't have much. So they lived with us for a while before Maddie moved in with Chimney to an apartment they bought together, and then Buck got his own dorm with his football scholarship and ADHD diagnosis."
Eddie smiles. "I'm glad they found you guys."
"And I'm glad you found us," Bobby grins, pulling Eddie in for a brief side hug.
"Yeah, I am too," Eddie says when they pull back.
Athena walks over to them now, wrapping an arm around Bobby. "Welcome to the gang, Eddie and Christopher Diaz."
Eddie grins. "Glad to be here."
"Eddie! Chris!" Buck's voice calls from somewhere in the near distance.
Eddie spins around and sees the blonde running over to them with a massive smile.
Eddie walks over to him to meet them halfway, Eddie moving Chris to his hip.
When the two unite, they share a long, passionate kiss, Eddie throwing his free arm around Buck's neck while Buck wraps his arms around Eddie's waist, a hand on the brunette's ass.
Everyone's jaw drops as they watch the two men make out like they've done it a thousand times before.
Which they haven't had that many—yet—but they've done it a few times since they went on their first date Friday.
The gang didn't think that they'd gotten that far; they just thought that they two were pining over each other, wanting to make out with each other, not actually making out with each other.
They all lost that bet.
Well, except Athena and Maddie. They knew; they could see it in Buck's eyes when he told them about it over dinner on Friday night.
Maddie and Buck join the Grant-Nash's at their house for dinner every Friday or Saturday night, depending on the football schedule, talking about their week, and just spending time together like the family they are.
"Hi," Buck greets breathlessly, with a cheeky grin on his face when they pull away from the kiss.
"Hi," Eddie greets back.
"Bubbbababa," Chris says, trying to hand the rubber duck to Buck.
"Whatcha got there, buddy?" Buck asks in his baby voice, taking the rubber duck with one hand, the other still wrapped around Eddie. "Oh my God," Buck gasps, looking at Eddie. "Did you paint this?"
Eddie smiles, kissing the corner of Buck's mouth, arm around Buck's torso. "Yeah. I saw it, and the idea came to me, so I did it. You like it?"
"Yeah. I love it. You're really good. I could never draw my lines as good as this. Wow."
Eddie blushes. "Thank you. Glad you like it. It's one of Chris's favorites now."
Buck kisses Chris's head. "You guys are the best." Then he kisses Eddie's cheek. "Everyone's staring at us. Let's go listen to what they have to say."
Eddie chuckles. "Alright. But it's someone's dinner time. Would you like to do the honors while we listen to them?"
"Yeah," Buck chuckles. "I'd love to."
Eddie pulls away from Buck's hold, hands Buck Christopher, and takes the duck from Buck. Then he puts the duck in the backpack, pulls out a bottle of milk, and hands it to Buck, too.
Buck waits until he's standing still, standing by his friends/family, before he feeds Chris the bottle of formula.
"You've got to be kidding me," Hen says with an eye roll.
"What?" Buck shrugs. "He likes it when I do it."
Eddie smiles at Buck lovingly because he's already head over heels in love with Buck. Even though it's only been four goddamn days.
Buck's in love with Eddie, too. But he hasn't said anything because it's only been four fucking days.
It's way too early.
Hen scoffs teasingly.
"Hey, Eddie," Maddie interjects. "Wanna join us? We're going to go out and celebrate at the diner a few miles away."
"Sounds great," Eddie grins. "I'll need to drive in my car because of Chris's car seat. It took me way too long to get it in my car."
Everyone chuckles.
"I can drive us, Eddie," Buck offers. "If that's okay."
Eddie looks at Buck. "That sounds great. Thanks, Buck."
"Alright," Athena smiles. "Everyone, you know what to do. See you all at the diner."
Everyone breaks off into their groups and heads towards the parking lot while Eddie puts away the empty milk bottle, he and Buck now walking to his car in the parking lot.
"Are you really okay with me driving your car?"
"Yes, Buck. I trust you with Chris. That means I literally trust you with my life."
Buck freezes, looking at Eddie with wide eyes.
"R-really?"
"Well, yeah. Of course." Eddie digs his keys out of the backpack, handing them to Buck. "Just let me have the car until the end of the year. By then, I should be able to get a new—used—one."
"Y-yeah. 'Course."
"Oh, that reminds me that I've got to tell you something exciting," Eddie beams, taking Chris from Buck's arms, strapping Chris in his car seat.
"Oh?" Buck's intrigued, walking around to the driver's door, hopping inside.
"Yeah," Eddie says with a smile, plopping into the passenger seat, closing the door, and buckling himself in.
"So, what is it?" Buck asks with a cheeky smile, cranking up the a/c. It's hot in LA tonight, and it's not any better for the football players, considering what they were doing not even half an hour ago.
Eddie smiles at Buck. "I applied for a few campus jobs on Friday night. And I got hired for one of them."
Buck gasps with a happy smile. "Eddie that's amazing! I'm so proud of you! What's the job?"
"I'm a library assistant. I'll work Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for a few hours each. I get paid 12 dollars an hour. I'll help them gather pickup orders or put books back on the shelves."
"Sexy," Buck smirks. "I can see you wearing really cute sweater vests."
Eddie snorts. "Is everything sexy to you?"
"When it's about you, yes." Buck reaches over and grabs Eddie's hand, intertwining their fingers together.
Eddie grins. "Well, I don't have any sweater vests." Not yet. He might buy some Friday when he's out with Maddie and Karen.
"Eh. Still gorgeous. No matter what you're wearing."
Eddie can't help but blush. "Alright, Romeo, we ready to head to the diner?"
"Yeah. Can I ask you something first?"
"Of course."
"Will you be my boyfriend?"
Eddie breaks out into a wide smile. "I'd love to be your boyfriend. As long as you'll be mine too."
"God, yes," Buck breathes, surging forward, kissing Eddie hungrily, the center console digging into his side, but he doesn't give a shit; he's too busy kissing his new boyfriend.
That's right. Evan Buckley has a boyfriend now.
"Hmm," Eddie hums into the kiss, shortly after pulling away. "Ready to go to the diner?"
"Y-yeah. I would rather keep kissing you."
"Yeah, me too, but maybe another time," Eddie winks.
Buck bites his bottom lip, then he puts the car in drive and pulls out of the parking lot, driving them to the diner five miles from campus.
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When they walk into the diner hand in hand, Eddie carrying the backpack in his free hand, Buck carrying Chris in his free arm, everyone wolf-whistles at them because they are late.
Fifteen minutes late.
(Because they were too busy making out.)
"What took you two so long?" Karen asks with a smirk.
"Just chatting," Eddie lies, sitting in one of the two free chairs.
Buck sits next to him after putting Chris in the high chair that the gang must've asked for, which just fills Eddie with gratitude and love towards all of them.
God, he's so glad that he and Chris came to Los Angeles.
"Well, we were chatting and then I asked him to be my boyfriend and he said yes," Buck grins, grabbing the backpack from the floor, then he hands Chris the rubber duck.
Eddie grabs the backpack from Buck's lap, sets it on the floor, then pulls Buck in for a quick, deep kiss, pouring all of his love for this man he's only known for a couple of days into it.
The kiss lasts twenty seconds, and when the kiss ends, everyone's clapping, cheering, and cat-calling them.
The two men look at the group, holding hands, and both of them blushing.
"Now that's why they took so long," Hen teases with laughter, getting the rest of the group to laugh too.
"Alright, alright," Bobby interrupts. "Let's celebrate and leave these two alone."
"Damn, you always gotta ruin the fun, Bobby?" Chim jokes.
Eddie laughs.
Yeah, I really am going to like it here.
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