Title: Mi Media Naranja
Fandom: 9-1-1
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Rating: Teen and Up
Tags: Getting Together, Fluff
Warnings: Not Maddie Friendly
Summary: It was like Eddie forgot about the months Buck lived in Peru.
Word Count: 3,138
Spoilers: Up Through Season 3
Beta: Grammarly



Buck had never had to struggle too hard to find a lover for a night. He never had trouble finding a lover for a night or two. It was finding someone for longer than a night or two he wanted. He hadn't tried too hard to find someone lately. Buck knew exactly why as well. He knew he was happy with his life and how it was.

"You need to date," Maddie said as she slipped a glass of wine over to Buck.

"No, thanks on the wine. I'm heading to Eddie's after this, and we are going to play games. I can't drink, or Chris will beat me."

"Doesn't he beat you all the time anyway?"

"No, that's me to Eddie. Chris and I are about half and half."

"Shouldn't you be letting Chris win?"

"No? Eddie doesn't want me to do that. He doesn't want Chris to win unless he actually wins. Chris is smart and would rather not be treated differently than I would treat anyone else. I think it's why he likes me like he does."

"Kids aren't meant to be taught that kind of thing."

"Let's not get into the whole participation trophy thing again. We are never going to see eye to eye on it, and I'm doing what Eddie wants. Your ideas of what Chris needs or wants don't matter. Eddie and Chris' do, and that's it."

Buck knew that as soon as he said it, he crossed another one of those lines Maddie had drawn in the sand. Her boundaries were ones to not be crossed, while his were fair game for Maddie to abuse.

"I should be heading out anyway. I need to pick up some food that Eddie and I will be making today and tomorrow."

"Chim said Eddie's not a good cook."

Buck rolled his eyes. "No, Chris likes to troll him for the things Eddie's burned when he's distracted. Eddie learned well from his aunt, his grandmother, and other family members how to cook. When given the time to do them right, the man makes amazing tamales, and the rice he makes? I sometimes feel like I could eat just it for the rest of my life."

"Are you sure you should be spending this much time with them?"

"They are my best friends. Why shouldn't I spend time with them?"

"You are stopping Eddie from moving on. He needs to find a mother for Chris."

"Chris had a mother, and Eddie does not want to put himself back out there. He was there when his wife died, Maddie. He's allowed to take as long as he wants to grieve the loss of her."

"I never said that, but he can't get over her if you are there. He will think you will be in that spot forever."

"I am not sure what you mean, Maddie. You make it sound like I'm standing in as his wife, and it's hurting him."

"You do everything with him. He's never going to stand on his own."

Buck wasn't sure what she was talking about. Was Buck hurting Eddie? No, there was no way he was. It was stupid. He did what Eddie wanted him to. He wasn't going to stop unless Eddie asked.

"That's his choice, and I'm not making him do anything." Buck stood up from the table and ensured not to scrape the chair across the floor. He was always careful not to do anything too aggressive around Maddie. "Bye."

"Evan, wait."

"No, I need to get going to get stuff from the stores so Eddie and I can get started on dinner. You knew I would be leaving soon. I'm done with this conversation. I'm done with never feeling like you respect any of my choices."

"I'm sorry," Maddie said with a few tears gathering in her eyes.

Buck knew she was a crier. She didn't do it to manipulate. It was just the way she was.

"Have a good day, Maddie."

Buck tried not to think too much about Maddie as he did the shopping needed, with the last-minute additions sent to him as Eddie started the prep he could do before Buck got there.

When Buck stepped into the Diaz house, he felt better. Especially at the way, Chris' face lit up when seeing him.

"How is my favorite Diaz?" Buck asked as he swooped in for a hug, picking up Chris as he did. Chris wrapped his arms tight around Buck's neck as Buck held onto him to carry the groceries and the kid into the kitchen.

"Well, I didn't ask for that; return him."

"DAD!" Chris said.

Eddie took the bags from Buck's hands to allow Buck to settle Chris down onto his own two feet.

"What? I didn't ask for a smart-mouthed kid to be picked up from the grocery store."

"You'd never take me back," Chris said.

"Well, no. I'm kind of stuck with you."

Chris huffed, and he looked at Buck for help.

"You wouldn't be happy without him in your life, Eds, and you know it."

"Fine. I guess." Eddie laughed and ruffled Chris' hair before he turned back to go to the stove.

The kitchen smelled the cornbread they would be using all day as a snack.

"Hey, changuito, can you hand me the garlic?"

Buck reached into the bag Eddie laid on the counter and got out the head of garlic he had picked up. He tossed it at Eddie with a smile.

"I'm gonna go play games."

"Better practice that Rainbow Road; I'm gonna smoke your little butt on it in a little while."

"Yeah, yeah, you can talk the talk."

Buck started to put up the groceries, setting the things on the island they would need. When he was done, he snagged an apple and started to cut it up.

"How does this taste, querido?"

Buck leaned over and let Eddie hold the spoon up to him.

"I think it's good. Once it gets set, it'll be perfect."

"What are you doing with that?"

"Figured Chris and I could snack on apples. Dinner is hours away, and the smell will make us hungry. I bought the caramel we like and the chunky peanut butter to make the dip we both love."

"You two are weirdos. That does not belong together."

Buck stuck his tongue out at Eddie for the remark and danced away when Eddie swatted at him with the tea towel.

This was an old dance between them. Buck loved it and wanted it more, but Eddie wasn't ready for more. He wasn't ready for the family he had made them. When he was, he would see it. As long as his sister stayed out of everything.

"You looked a little off when you came in," Eddie said a few minutes later.

"Just Maddie butting in where I don't want her and getting upset when I push that boundary like you told me. She's not been happy with me about any of that."

"Well, she's going to have to get used to it. You respect her boundaries when she pushes them; there is no reason she should not respect yours."

Buck nodded his head. Eddie had good boundaries with his two sisters; like Buck, he was the youngest.

---

"Mi príncipe!" Eddie called out when Buck came into the living room.

"You are horrible," Buck said. He dropped the ice pack on Eddie's ankle, making Eddie jerk a little.

"Pendejo," Eddie said as he sat up to move the ice pack on his ankle better.

"You know you love me," Buck said. He grabbed the blanket from the back of the chair, only pausing a second as his own words washed over him. He tossed the blanket at Eddie next before he found the remote. There were still a lot of hours before Buck would leave to pick up Chris.

Eddie needed to stay off his foot as much as possible, given how badly it was swollen. Eddie had a bad reaction to the medication he had been given, making him a little more affectionate than he normally was, even with Buck. It was marked off the list of drugs to give him.

"Come and snuggle," Eddie said.

"We are too big for the couch; you need to sleep that off. I was going to get that casserole we like in the oven for lunch." Buck beat a hasty retreat after dropping the remote onto Eddie's stomach.

The kitchen was safe from Eddie's wandering hands and affectionate words. Buck had been called every affectionate word Eddie could think of instead of Buck's name. It made Buck feel like they were more than what they were.

It was adorable, and Buck had a few minutes of Eddie singing a song half in English and half in Spanish. It was adorable as hell, and Buck loved it. He would cherish it forever. He had an online storage place he stored everything in. He would make sure that he didn't lose it.

"I'm hungry!" Eddie called out ten minutes later.

Buck rolled his eyes at that and walked to the fridge to find something for Eddie to snack on. They were still about an hour away from lunch, and Eddie hadn't let anything go. Even when they had been in the back of the ambulance, Eddie hadn't let it go that Buck hadn't finished telling Eddie a story.

It had been the last call out of the shift. By the time they were back, the next shift would be on, and they would take care of the paperwork. Buck had worked on that for the both of them while he had been at the hospital with Eddie as they waited to find out what was wrong with his ankle. It had just been a massive sprain, so he could return to work and be the man left at the station. It was the best of what it could have been as Buck had been afraid it was broken. All because an idiot hadn't wanted to go less than fifteen miles over the speed limit in an accident corridor.

It just went to show that firefighters' biggest threat was drivers at the scene of accidents.

"Here," Buck said as he entered the living room and dropped a container with cubed cheese and pepperoni slices on Eddie's chest. It wasn't enough to make him too full, but it would tide him over until Buck got lunch ready.

"You always are the sweetest," Eddie said. He held out his hand.

Buck looked at Eddie's hand and tried to figure out what the man wanted.

"I want to pay you back for feeding me."

"Eat your snack and take a tap. You need to sleep off the drugs." Buck never wanted Eddie to have this kind of reaction again. Eddie was affectionate with Chris and his family all the time. He touched Buck more than anyone else who wasn't family, but it was nothing like this. He turned to head into the kitchen, turning on music in there to drown out Eddie's calls for him to come back, that he had a gift for Buck.

When the casserole was finally in the oven and cooking, Buck stepped back into the living room, happy to finally see Eddie asleep. He snagged his Kindle from the coffee table and settled in to read. Eddie was curled under the blanket, so Buck did without his blanket as he didn't feel like going into Eddie's room and getting another.

After ten minutes of reading, Buck realized Eddie wasn't asleep. He looked up to meet Eddie's eyes. Eddie looked hurt for a few seconds before it went away, and it was just that look of gentle affection he was used to seeing on Eddie's face. Buck wasn't sure about that look. He hoped it was just something of Eddie waking up, but he couldn't be sure.

---

Buck knew that there were phrases and words in Spanish he had never got to learn and others that made no sense if translated word for word. He swore earlier Eddie had said something that involved an orange and him. Buck hadn't ever really done much with oranges. He peeled and ate them on occasion while sitting in the station's fruit bowl. He liked orange juice well enough. He had never been covered in anything orange, unlike the story he had heard about Tommy Kinard before his time.

An hour into the party in Abuela's backyard, Buck wasn't sure what was going on, but he was pretty sure that Eddie's family thought Buck was so stray kitten taken in because he had nowhere else to go. The feeling wasn't new to Buck. He had never fit in anywhere like he did with Eddie and Chris, even the fit at the 118 wasn't as good as the Diazes, but it had been better than anything else in his life.

The kids were having fun, Chris running after various cousins of some number that Buck had no chance of keeping straight.

"So you are the Buck that Chris talks about?" a woman asked as she stepped up to him.

"I am. I'm sorry, I know that Eddie gave me your name earlier."

"No, he didn't, actually. That was my sister. We look just enough alike that most people don't realize we are not the same person, and no, we are not twins. My name is Caitlyn. I'm Eddie's cousin and the closest person to him outside of his sisters. We went to school together, and once he had left El Paso, I followed him up here because where he goes, I go. I just got here really late. My sister is thinking of following us up here since the fun parts of the family are up here."

"Well, this is where Pepa, Abuela, Eddie, and Chris are, so I can see that." Buck snagged the bottle of whiskey and poured a healthy measure into his glass before following with a little juice and then some lemon-lime soda. It didn't matter what the brand was. Once alcohol was in there, Buck found that it didn't matter. He would probably drink a few more of these. There was something there he couldn't put his finger on.

"You've been hiding on your own when Chris lets you out of his sight."

"Well, there are many people here who Eddie hasn't been able to see in a while. Ramon got sick, so Helena stayed with him, so he doesn't have his parents hovering and telling him how shitty of a parent Eddie is for wanting to parent his own son."

"Tell me how you really feel," Caitlyn said.

"Well, I could tell you more, but it looks like Eddie is coming over with someone. Who is that?"

"That's mi abuela, Catalina. She and Isabel are sisters."

"Ah, so it's that side of the family. I see.

"Tía abuela, te presento a mi media naranja, Buck," Eddie said as he waved his hand up and down Buck's body.

Buck looked at Eddie, trying to figure out why Eddie was introducing him as his orange. He didn't understand at all.

"Eddie, please tell me why you are introducing me as your orange. What am I missing?" Buck asked.

"You understood that?" Eddie looked a little worried at that.

"Eds, I worked in Peru for months. I picked up enough to be able to tend the bar. I have learned more over the years since coming here. Sometimes I'm too focused on the rescue, and things must be repeated, but outside of you and Hen, I think I know the most Spanish on the shift."

"So you have understood everything I've said?"

"Well, there are times you get going when talking to your family that between your way of speaking and the words I do catch, I understand a little but nowhere near word for word."

"All of the names?" Eddie was starting to look worried.

"Like when you call me endearments? Yes."

Eddie reached out, snagged Buck's drink from his hand, and drank it down. He looked like he was going to go for more.

"Perdóneme, tía abuela, prima," Eddie said. He wrapped his hand around Buck's forearm and tugged him along with him toward Abuela's kitchen.

"Eddie, what's wrong?" Buck asked.

"How could you just let me think you didn't know Spanish?"

"I've talked about bartending before; Eddie and I made it pretty clear that drunk idiots usually ordered in Spanish. If you didn't get that, I can't help you."

Eddie looked at Buck like he was seeing him for the first time. "So when I called you all of the cute endearments, you thought?"

"You didn't realize you were doing it. You've not talked about being ready to move on, Eddie. I wasn't going to force you into seeing it until it became something we had to do."

"I..." Eddie leaned against the wall, looking like he was so lost. "I was waiting for you to ask and thought you weren't ready either."

Buck stepped up, reaching out with a careful hand to touch Eddie's face. "So what is this with calling me an orange?"

"It's a...idiom. It's used for better half in Spanish. No two halves of an orange are the same, so it's not something I would use lightly."

"No, but it really confused the hell out of me trying to figure it out. I haven't done anything with the color orange or with an orange worthy of having a nickname that had to do with oranges."

"No, I've heard about Kinard."

Buck laughed, and he cupped the side of Eddie's face and enjoyed the feel of the flesh under his hand.

"Is this okay?"

"more than. More would be welcome as well."

"Good." Buck leaned in and kissed Eddie, taking that first kiss and enjoying it like it just might be the only kiss he ever got from him. He was shocked when Eddie pulled him the rest of the way in, fisting his hands in Buck's shirt so tight it actually hurt a little at his neck. He wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. "I'll be your half of an orange for the rest of our lives."

"Idiota," Eddie whispered before he pulled Buck back into a kiss.

Buck had no clue how long they stayed like that, trading lazy kisses like it was the most natural thing in the world. All he cared about was that they were a they now.

"FOUND THEM!" Chris yelled.

Buck looked to the side to see Chris standing in the kitchen doorway, smiling like he had won a huge prize. Buck was the one who had won the prize, and he wasn't going to give it up for anything.

The End