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Eddie is straight up blaming his parents for this. Sure, he wasn't really paying attention and he didn't really think it through before he acted, but it was still not his fault. It was something his parents had done when he was a kid. In his distracted state, his mind only remembered the familiar scene of his parents. And for that reason, Eddie can take no blame for his lack of thought. It will rest on their shoulders, though they'll never know because Eddie is never going to tell a soul. Enough people saw it in real time and Eddie was going to have to bribe or blackmail them.
Here's what happened…
Eddie was picking up a shift and suddenly needed someone to watch Christopher. He knew he could probably call Carla, but he always felt so bad when he called her last minute asking her to work extra hours.
He knew Buck wasn't working and Buck has always said he's up to help in any way he can, so Eddie hopes he doesn't have any plans and can take Chris for the day, until Abuela was supposed to have him. Eddie is lucky and Buck agrees to meet them at the station and pick Chris up.
Eddie scrambles to get some things Chris can occupy himself with together, just throwing legos and action figures into his backpack haphazardly. He grabs a poptart for Chris to eat in the car on the way there and ushers him out the door quickly.
Halfway there Chris pipes up asking for a drink because he's thirsty and Eddie realizes he left both of their water bottles on the kitchen counter.
As soon as he had the thought, he realizes he also left the chapter book Chris was supposed to be working his way through for school next to the water bottles on the counter.
Eddie curses in his head, apologizing to Chris and promises he'll get water at the station before he leaves with Buck.
So he's frazzled, to say the least. He's worried about being late, he's worried about what else he left behind, he's worried his kid is going to be dehydrated by the end of the day because drinking from glass cups is hard for him and he doesn't think Buck had plastic kids cups at his house.
He pulls into the lot with time to spare and lets out a breath. One thing out of the way.
Eddie helps Chris up the stairs, slinging the small backpack onto his own back so he can maneuver Chris more easily. He immediately forgets about the bag.
He sets Chris up at the table to finish his breakfast, hopefully before Buck see's it and lectures him about it.
("It's barely food, Eddie, it certainly isn't a good breakfast replacement.")
He gets him a glass of water, digs out a metal straw from the back of the silverware drawer, brandishing it triumphantly at Chris, who giggles.
Bobby is at the stove making something more suitable for breakfast, Hen is at the table listening to Chris chatter about a show he, Denny, and Harry all watch. A few other people are floating around in the lounge and near the kitchen.
Eddie is watching for Buck, ready to swoop in and hide the poptart wrapper in the garbage at the first sight of him. Which is exactly what he does.
He is still wiping crumbs from Chris's smiling mouth when Buck makes it up the stairs.
"Hey guys! Hi buddy, ready for the best day ever?" Buck grins at Chris, immediately making his way to the boys chair so he can plop down next to him. "We're going to finish that puzzle we started last time, right bud?"
To an outsider, it might sound like Buck was being sarcastic, but the last time Buck watched Christopher they went out and bought a puzzle together and it's been sitting out on Buck's coffee table because Buck promised Chris he wouldn't finish it without him. The one they picked had their favorite DC characters on it and they were still deliberating at whose house they were going to hang the finished product.
You'd think they were 80 years old, but it caused them both endless joy so Eddie left them alone about it.
Buck sat still and watched Chris stand up, waiting to see if he'd need help. When he didn't Buck grinned at him and said, "Sweet! Let's say bye to dad."
"Bye, mijo. Be good for Buck, please. Remember, Buck will drop you off at Abuela's later and I'll get you after school tomorrow. Carla will get you in the morning and drop you off. I'm going to have her stop at the house because I forgot some of your school stuff. Okay? Good. I love you."
Chris nodded at everything he said, probably because he knew the drill by now, but Eddie always liked to make sure he knew he'd be somewhere safe and someone would be there to pick him up when he needed.
Eddie dropped a kiss on his son's forehead and stood up to face Buck. He felt like he had to apologise for leaving Chris's water bottle at home because it felt inevitable that Chris would, at the least, spill a glass at Bucks house, and at the worst, spill and break a glass.
"So, I forgot his water bottle at home. I know you don't have kids cups, so just watch where he keeps it. He's not great about knowing where his elbows are. If he breaks a glass I'll buy you a new one."
Buck raised a hand to stop Eddie, laughing slightly, "No worries. I bought some of those No-Spill sippy cups that he likes. The ones that don't look like a regular sippy cup, because they're for big kids." At that he turned to Chris and winked, like they were both in on the joke and Chris grinned up at Buck.
Eddie felt a little bit more of himself unwind. He should have known Buck would make it all okay.
"Okay, so then I'll see y'all later. Thanks so much for this Buck, you don't know how much I appreciate it."
Buck nodded distractedly, "Yeah, yeah I know. Aren't you forgetting something?"
Eddie blanks. Shit, what else could he be forgetting. He wracks his mind and comes up blank. Then all of a sudden a memory surfaces.
His dad at the door, grabbing his keys and wallet off the table by the door. His mother stands, hand on her hips, waiting.
"Well, aren't you forgetting something?"
His dad smiles at her, pretends to pat down his pockets and says, "Oh yes."
Then she leans her cheek out towards him and he obliges, kissing her soundly.
"Thank you. Have a nice day, honey."
His parents didn't do it everyday, he's sure it would have gotten old fast. But they did it a lot.
Eddie doesn't even pause to consider, he just leans in and kisses Buck on his cheek, his hand coming up and holding the other side of Buck's face so the kiss lands squarely.
Buck gapes at him. Chris giggles. All the normal, casual chatter and noise from behind him stops. The silence that ensues is the silence of his team Not Minding Their Own Business.
Eddie, suddenly, realizes that's probably not what Buck meant. He flushes. "I-I.."
He doesn't know. He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know what he was thinking. Actually, he wasn't thinking. He just kissed his best friend on the cheek in front of his son and their co-workers. He obviously did not think that through.
Buck laughs, not meanly, just so genuinely surprised that he can't help himself. "I meant Chris's backpack, but thank you for that."
Duh! Eddie wants to smack his own forehead. He left the backpack on his own back and completely forgot about it.
Eddie knows he's blushing. He's blushing like he hasn't since highschool.
He tries not to scramble, but he's sure his movements are more jerky and quick than they'd normally be. "Right. Here, sorry."
Buck is grinning, "It's okay. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
And then Buck kisses him on his own cheek.
It is not dissimilar to what Eddie had just done. Bucks hand cups his cheek, fingers curling around his ear. His lips press, briefly but firmly, against his cheek. Buck is smiling though, and laughing slightly, so Eddie can feel his soft puffs of laughter exhaled onto his cheek.
Then he winks at Eddie. Like they are both in on the joke and Eddie can't help the smile that is taking over his face.
He is suddenly aware, again, that the kitchen is unprecedentedly silent. He is washed over with embarrassment and quickly wipes the smitten smile off his face.
"Okay!" He says, way too loud, "Bye, son. Be good, I love you. Text me if you finish your puzzle today." He shooes them toward the stairs and Buck laughs again, but let's himself be herded.
He swings Chris up onto his hip and manages to hold the backpack in his hand, saying goodbye to his friends in the room before quickly descending the stairs.
Eddie waits, basking in his last moment of silence when Buck and Chris are still too close for Hen to explode at him.
But then, to his surprise, it's Bobby who talks first.
"A kiss on the cheek? What are you, living in the 50's?"
Eddie, caught by surprise, gapes for a moment. As soon as Hen crows in laughter, he frowns at them. "Yeah, you'd know Bobby, isn't that when you grew up?"
It's not his best work. Definitely not his most mature (jesus, Buck is really rubbing off on him in the worst way), but at least it's something he can hide behind as he escapes to the locker rooms.